(C) 1996 S.D. Anderson A u r o r a D r a k e n e l 137 lbs, 5'9", Strawberry Blonde, blue eyes Leather Armor, 19 years old PD: 1 DR: 1 Move: 5 Dodge: 4 _Knife_: 1d-1 imp; 1d-2 cut; Parry: 6 _Staff_: 1d+1 Cr; 1d Cr; Parry: 7 Punch: 1d-4 cr; Parry: 6 Kick: 1d-2 (1d-1 wearing boot); A t t r i b u t e s ST: 9 DX: 12 IQ: 14 HT: 10 _total_: 55 pts A d v a n t a g e s High Pain Threshold [10] Literacy [10] Attractive Appearance [5] Magery -3 [35] _total_: 60 pts S k i l l s Area Knowledge "A" 13- [1/2]; Area Knowledge "B" 13- [1/2]; Climbing 11- [1]; Cooking 13- [1/2]; Elvish 13- [1]; Fast Talk 12- [1/2]; Knife 12- [1]; Merchant 12- [1/2]; Native Language 14- [0]; Running 7- [1/2]; Staff 11- [2]; Survival: Woods 13- [1]; Survival: Other terrains 10- [0]; Tracking 13- [1]. _total_: 10 pts S p e l l s Ignite Fire 15- [1]; Create Fire 15- [1]; Lend Strength 15- [1]; Lend Health 15- [1]; Minor Healing 15- [1]; Seek Food 15- [1]; Test Food 15- [1]; Cook 15- [1]; Detect Magic 15- [1]; Identify Spell 15- [1]; Analyze Magic 15- [1]; Itch 15- [1]; Spasm 15- [1]; Pain 15- [1]; Clumsiness 15- [1]; Dexterity 15- [1]; Paralyze Limb 15- [1]; Wither Limb 15- [1]; Deathtouch 15- [1]; Scroll 15- [1]. _total_: 20 pts D i s a d v a n t a g e s Self Defense Only Pacifist [-15] Code of Honor [-10] Overconfidence [-10] Vow: Understand her dreams [-5] _total_: -40 pts Q u i r k s Speaks with a Backwoods Accent [-1] Still a Virgin [-1] Likes to Climb Trees [-1] Enjoys sunsets [-1] Sleeps in Fetal position [-1] _total_: -5 pts TOTAL: 100 pts Equipment: Light Leather Armor; _Staff_ enchanted staff; ST 3 _Powerstone_; Backpack; 1 week's rations; Waterskin & Wine; Heavy Blanket; Personal Basics; Large Knife; Lantern; 1 pt oil. Cash: 6 silver florins 27 copper farthings ($87) BACKGROUND: Aurora was raised near an elven settlement. Her mother died a couple of years after her birth and she was orphaned at 12 when an elven hunter's bad aim killed her father. Too young for marriage and without a dowery even if she were old enough, she was spared a life of prostitution when the aunt of the elf who killed her father, Chizarire Bictu'shadameru, took pity on the girl and let her stay with her. She was taught to read, usually by reading some book or paper Chizarire gave her aloud. Coming across a parchment that Chizarire had left on a table, she read it aloud. The parchment was a scroll. It worked, and she found herself levitating. Aurora clearly was a mage, and Chizarire arranged for her to be apprenticed to an elven mage of some renown, Ust En'Atir. Ust traveled about a circuit within the elven territories. She went with him, becoming a bit of a curiousity, both by simply being a human and by traveling with Ust through lands few humans were ever permitted to see. Under Ust's training, she became a wizard with respectable skills. Ust had hoped to train her to become an enchanter, a difficult but very profitable trade. She was partly through that training when her dreams began. The dreams were of mystical subjects, recurrent and quite intense. It reached the point where the dreams became the only thing she could focus on. Solving them was something that she had to do, if only for the sake of her sanity, so she quit her studies and began a quest to find answers. Her homeland was often depicted in the dreams. It had to mean something. She found her father's grave, and a riddle carved into the tree near it. Several parts of the riddle echoed parts of her dreams. No one could answer her questions about the riddle, not even when it first appeared. Some remember that a wizard was hanged on that tree by a group of Witch Hunters several months ago. They killed one or two other mages, and burned out the elven village Aurora stayed at. Nothing more recent has been heard of them than 2 months back. They may have moved on. Others think they're waiting for wizards to show themselves again before they act. The hunters wear hooded robes (think of a KKK outfit in forest green). No one knows their identities or purpose. Aurora has a problem. She'd hoped to pay for her next part of the quest by selling scrolls of the spells she learned. Not only has her market vanished, but even selling the scrolls might get her killed. She cached the 10 she'd made, put them in a box, sealed it in beeswax and wrapped an oilskin over the wax. The box is buried 8 yds southeast of the riddle tree, one yard deep. She will take it with her if hired to guide the PCs. Due to her pacifism, the spells of last resort (_wither limb_ and deathtouch_) will NOT be one of these scrolls. (Learning them was something her mentor required of her despite her objections.) The most likely ones in the box are Minor Healing, Analyze Magic, and Dexterity. Others may be there by GM fiat or on a roll of 8-. She will be VERY reluctant to make a deathtouch scroll for anyone she knows is likely to iniatiate a fight. Right now though, she's without the home she expected to winter in, really low on cash and unable to practice her profession. Her knowledge of the area, allows her to work as a guide. This is an ideal time for the PCs to encounter her. Notes to GM: "Area A" is the immediate vicinity and "Area B" is a region the PCs should be interested in going to, preferably one that the PCs aren't all that familiar with. Aurora will warn any obvious wizard types of the potential threat from the hunters. Should she be hired, she will keep her own spell craft ability a secret, both out of concern about the hunters and as a safety precaution. A lecherous PC who forces himself on her could be in for a nasty surprise or two. The most vivid image of her dreams is of a large monastery on a mountain. One has been described to her, and lies in the general direction the PCs are going.