Khalzaan

[Khalzaan]

Basic Information Race: Human - Vantha Birthday & Age :14th Spring, 485 AV, 25 Years old. Gender: Male. Physical Description Standing at around 5'11 this man is solidly built with an olive skin tone and black hair with a barely noticeable dark blue tint. His eyes are normally light blue but change color readily depending on his mood. His body is better developed than the average person, with particularly well developed chest and arm muscles. A small amount of stubble partly obscures a strong jawline. He normally wears: Simple and sturdy black pants and boots, a matching belt with an ornate silver buckle, and a dark black sleeveless leather top. A silver torc hangs around his neck, three silver rings are worn on his right hand(index finger, ring finge, thumb), silver bracer like bracelets encircle both wrists and a silver armband wraps around his right bicep. All of the jewelry is unadorned by stones, but carved with various small symbols and glyphs, a rapier in a black leather scabard typically sits at his left hip. Character Concept "There's nothing I can not do, with the exception of an honest day's work." Khal is intelligent, disciplined, capable and completely opposed to using any of those qualities for anything remotely constructive. Lazy, narcissistic and borderline sociopathic he instead directs his energies towards the various scams and cons he uses to make his living. Worship While it couldn't be said that Khal really worships anything but himself there are three gods in particular he holds in high esteem: Ionu, the trickster; Khal likes to consider himself something of a trickster and enjoys what he does not just for the monetary rewards, but also for the thrill of deceiving people. Yshul, the goddess of theives; Despite the fact that his methods differ, in his own way Khal is as much a thief as any cut-purse. Sagallius, the puppeteer; Manipulation is something Khal lives by every day, he also greatly admires the fact that this god climbed his way from mortal to divine. Character History "I want what all men want, I just want more." Khalzaan's father was a successful merchant operating a ship out of Avantha and of the coolwater hold. He traded products further south, mostly those harvested from the northern sea life, and brought back goods from the south in return. Khalzaan's mother died when he was only two, and he stayed in his father's estate being taken care of mostly by various hired caretakers and nurses. Unfortunately despite his father being quite strict his caretakers were never very able to discipline Khal and he was an insolent and lazy child, shirking his responsibilities whenever he could. He was a capable student, and learnt quickly despite avoiding at least half of his lessons with his assigned tutor. When he was fifteen Khal developed an immense crush on a member of the whitevine hold that lived close to his father. His first few attempts to draw her attention were rebuked soundly by the girl, who was older, very popular and wanted little to do with a lazy, mostly dirty younger boy. This was to be an important catalyst in his life, as it drove the boy to abscond with some of his father's money and use it to buy a book on magic, specifically hypnotism. Convinced that mastering this ability was only a matter of time and that it would fix all his problems the boy devoted himself shockingly diligently to it's study. Spending hours every day attempting to meditate, staring into mirrors and testing himself over and over again. It took over a year before the abilities started to manifest and Khal wasted no time in putting them to good use, almost immediately he started to insinuate sublte thoughts and vague feelings in others for his own amusement, given he was still in the grip of puberty at the time most of his energies were directed at invoking lustful feelings in any attractive girl he could find. Even his burgeoning hypnotism skills could only carry him so far however, and so it was that he threw himself into other areas as well. Going from almost perpetually dirty to almost fastidiously clean, becoming highly vain and taking elaborate care with his appearance, to the extent of learning about and devoting some time each day to muscle building exercise. He showed little care for actually being stronger or fitter, just so long as he looked better. These combined efforts began to turn events in his favor and he quickly started to become famous as a menace to anyone who wanted to keep their daughter's chastity intact. Everything was going well until when he was eighteen and his father kicked him out of the house on account of being useless. Khal immediately moved in with one of his lady friends for a time, and during a conversation her friends were having about magic he corrected them on several points, earning him a reputation as an expert on magic and causing several of her friends to quiz him about various myths. Each of these Khal lied about with exquisite grace, making up fabrications and stories easily. When one of them asked if there could be a magical cure for a pox her brother was suffering he announced that not only was there a magical cure, but he could obtain it for her. Using his secret magical contacts of course and he would need at least ten gold marks in payment first. Thus it was that Khal embarked on the life that has supported him ever since, from that one cure he moved on to selling 'magical' nets and spears, fur cloaks and jewelry, love potions and swords. Each time using his magical skills to induce others to trust him and to feel awe in the presence of the 'magic' artifacts. Coupled with his natural flare for dramatic storytelling common amongst the Vantha. Unfortunately people quickly began to become aware of the cons and when he was almost twenty years old Khal barely escaped ahead of a group of angry customers, slipping aboard a ship heading south, and then joining up with a merchant caravan heading toward Sunberth. Wisening to the fact that his particular con seemed to make people want to hurt him he paid several of the caravan's guards to give him rudimentary sword fighting lessons during the journey. Once he arrived in Sunberth Khal set himself up in a small inn room, and went about purchasing himself a sword, as well as building a disguise. Once his money started to run low he set out for the first time to seek a mark, making his way into taverns to find someone obviously drinking away their problems. Using powder on his hair to make it look white, as well as a false beard and simple make up to make him seem older, he also dressed in a fancy silk robe to complete his image and approached the man, declaring that he had divined that he might need his help. Several hours later he walked away two hundred gold marks richer, leaving the man with a 'magical' sword to dual his arch rival with. His act continued to improve as he lived in the city, Khal becoming better at picking his targets and adding more details, catches to every magical item that could explain any failure to function if he was confronted. He also sought out and paid a Reimancer to teach him some of the basics of that art, using very small amounts to put on impressive seeming light shows for his clients to further sell the idea of the magic item. A simple rigged crossbow pointed at his door at all times when he slept and he never went out to make money without a disguise firmly in place. His womanizing continued, as his skills with hypnotism improved he became very capable at inducing the right emotions and idle thoughts into the heads of pretty women to make them wake up the next morning in regret. He wasn't above spending his hard earned money on whores either when the mood struck him or he was feeling particularly lazy. Things went well for Khal until his work finally caught up with him again, one of his former marks saw him re-enter his tavern in disguise and gathered his gang to exact retribution. Luckily the intruding gang made so much noise that Khal awoke and heard them crashing through doors in search of him, hastily he packed his belongings and left through the window gracelessly, just as the first crashed through his door and took a crossbow bolt to the chest for his trouble. Hitting the ground still mostly undressed the conman made his way further into the city, put on his clothes and then found the next merchant caravan leaving the city. This time making his way towards Syliras. Gnosis Gnosis Rank God Illusionism One Ionu Skills Skill Level ++Source++ Skill Level ++Source++ Hypnotism 30 30SP Reimancy 16 10SP, 6XP Storytelling 10 10RC Sword fighting 9 5SP, 4XP Body Building 7 5SP, 2XP Running 3 3XP Lore Magic Legends Picking up barmaids Self Discipline Nine for the Price of one Surviving a Dhani Attack for Dummies Signs of Overgiving Equipment and Possessions   Sword Iron Rapier, 20 Gold Marks   Armor Night-Leather Armor, 60 Gold Marks   Jewelry Torc, Armband, buckle, two braclets, three rings, 12.5 Gold Marks   Clothes Boots, trousers, cloak, Starting Package   Misc Silk Robe, 5 Gold Marks Ivory Dice, 0.8 Gold Marks Disguise Kit, 50 Gold Marks Waterskin, backpack, toiletries, basic foodstuffs, eating knife, flint + steel, Starting Package   Ledger =100.0 Gold Marks (Starting Package) +500.0 Gold Marks (Cashed in home) -148.3 Gold Marks (Equipment) === 451.7 Gold Marks Thread List : 30th Summer 508: How to start a fire. (Closed) 12th Fall 510: Light-fingered reading. (Closed) 59th Fall 510: Tankard Tales (Open) 60th Fall 510: Training in Tens (Completed) 61st Fall 510: Night Walking (Open) 63rd Fall 510: Late Night Snack (Completed)