Name: Mathias
Race: Dwarf
Class: Fighter/Thief (Investigator kit)
Age: 43
Birthday: 13th Amthyte 273 (1/13/273)
Height: 4'2"
Weight: 156 lbs.
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Brown
HP: 27/27
AC: 7 (-2 from leather armor, -1 from style specialization)
THAC0: 16
# attacks/rnd: 1
Level: Fighter(5)/Thief(6)
XP: 22,000/20,000
Next Level: 32,000/40,000
STR: 16
| Hit Probability: Normal | Dmg. Adjust: +1 | Weight Allowance: 70 lbs. |
| Max. Press: 195 | Open Doors: 9 | Bend Bars/Lift Gates: 10% |
DEX:
14
| Reaction Adjust: 0 | Missile Attack Adjust: 0 | Defensive Adjust: 0 |
CON:
12
| HP Adjust: 0 | System Shock: 80% | Resurrection Survival: 85% |
INT:
11
| # Langs: 2 | Spell Level: 5th | Chance to Learn Spell: 45% | Max # Spells/Level: 7 |
WIS:
9
| Magical Def. Adjust: 0 | Bonus Spells: None | Chance for Spell Failure: 20% |
CHA:
9
| Max. # of Henchmen: 4 | Loyalty Base: 0 | Reaction Adjust: 0 |
Thief abilities:
Pick Pockets: 15% (-5% from leather armor)
Open Locks: 80%
Find/Remove Traps: 80%
Move Silently: 40% (-10% from leather armor)
Hide in Shadows: 35% (-5% from leather armor)
Detect Noise: 15%
Climb Walls: 50% (-10% from leather armor)
Read Languages: 25%
Saving Throws:
PPDM(11), RSW(12), PP(11), BW(13), S(13)
Languages: Octhanian, Dwarven
Weapon Proficiencies: Single-Weapon Style Specialization (-1 to AC), Club, Cutlass, Dagger, Pistol
Nonweapon Proficiencies: Alertness (10), Forgery (13), Gunsmithing (12), Information Gathering* (11), Observation* (11), Reading/Writing (12), Rope Use (14), Seamanship (15), Swimming (16) [*from kit]
GEAR:
On head: (nothing)
On torso: Tunic (blue); Overcoat (heavy leather); Shoulder holster (holding pistol)
On hands: Gloves (leather)
On waist: Belt; Belt pouch (large) x2; Belt pouch (small); Sword scabbard (holding cutlass); Club (attached with leather loop)
On legs: Breeches (good cloth)
On feet: Boots (soft leather)
In right boot: Dagger sheath (holding dagger)
Leather armor (5 gp) [15 lbs.]
Club (N/A) [3 lbs.]
Cutlass, masterwork (312 gp) [4 lbs.]
Dagger (2 gp) [1 lb.]
Pistol (1,000 gp) [4 lbs.]
Pistol shot, 30 rounds (30 gp) [1/2 lb.]
Belt pouch, large (1 gp) [1 lb.]
Belt pouch, large (1 gp) [1 lb.]
Belt pouch, small (7 sp) [1/2 lb.]
Signet ring, Octhanian Trade Guild (5 gp) [Negligible]
Spyglass (1,000 gp) [1 lb.]
Thieves picks, masterwork (330 gp) [1 lb.]
30 gp in coins
TOTAL: (2,716 gp, 7 sp here; assume another 400gp worth of equipment was lost at sea) [32 lbs.]
(So he's got 1,884 gp stored in a vault somewhere with the Octhanian Trade Guild.)
APPEARANCE:
The top of his head is balding, but it's still mostly covered with short, coarse, stubbly hair, which is brown going gray. His neck and chin are also covered in the same coarse hair of the same color. He wears a blue tunic beneath a large, brown overcoat that goes down to his ankles; between tunic and coat hangs the shoulder holster which contains his pistol. From Mathias' belt hang two weapons: a custom-forged, exquisitely crafted cutlass, which he received to commemorate his 10th anniversary at PCPD, and a standard-issue VLE-510s model Compliance Enforcement Weapon, a.k.a a long, rubber-coated rod about as large around as a silver piece, with a grip at one end, a.k.a a club.
PERSONALITY:
Mathias is known for being gruff and to-the-point. He understands that diplomacy and tact are tools that some people are frequently able to leverage to get the job done, but he's never had the patience for that kind of delicacy. That said, over the years he has learned that there is a time when the most prudent thing to do is to shut one's mouth. Someone who knew him very well might even be able to pinpoint the exact moment when he's reminding himself of this by the way he scowls whenever biting back an acerbic remark.
A lot of people walk away with a negative first impression of Mathias, complaining that he's bawdy, pushy, and disrepectful of boundaries. But those who manage to get past his gruff exterior tend to find his implacable levelheadedness and down-to-earth no-nonsense attitude likable, and his fierce loyalty and unwavering honesty make him very valuable friend.
HISTORY:
* Served in the Vaneil navy 18-24
* Worked as a town guard under one of the Wardens of Paradise City, promoted up to "lieutenant" rank
* Now a retired cop, working as a private investigator for the Octhanian Trade Guild
CURRENT YEAR: 316 Bludsin 2nd (2/2)
BORN: 273 Amethyte 13th (1/13)
Clan: Blackcairn
The Blackcairn Clan is so named after the basalt monolith overlooking one of the three quarries they control on Varneil. The first Blackcairns established and began working those quarries early in the island's history, and in doing so cornered the market in Octhanian masonry materials. Practically all stone construction on the islands is crafted from Blackcairn stone, as the only alternative is to import it all the way from the mainland -- so over the years, the clan has garnered quite a bit of wealth and prestige.
Mathias was born to Thaddeus Blackcairn, an stern instructor at Varneil's only naval academy, and Elmyra Blackcairn, a doting mother who'd lived a sheltered, privileged life and had a somewhat warped view of how things worked as a result. His disjointed family life left him with a somewhat cynical understanding of relationships, but despite that he still deeply respects his father and loves his mother. The academy where his father taught (he's retired now, of course) is the Seasworn Defense Institute of Learning, located in the major industrial port of Rokash at the eastern end of the island.
Growing up in Rokash exposed the young dwarf to the hustle and bustle of the big city, the coarse, colorful mannerisms of dockyard workers, and the eclectic mix of races and nationalities that major ports inevitably accumulate. Mathias found himself fascinated by the people of his city and the invisible network of connections and associations between them that seemed to hold society together. While he was never the brightest student in any of his classes, his natural curiosity and diligent study habits allowed him to make it through the curriculum at SDIL with passing marks at the age of eighteen, when he enlisted in the Varneilian Navy.
Most of his naval career was spent doing deckhand work, sleeping in a bunk, or playing cards between shifts, but there were a few incidents where they'd engaged with bands of pirates at sea. Only three times in his six years of service, and each of them in small numbers, thankfully, but those attacks left an impression on Mathias. They had shown him the truth of the sea -- how slippery the rule of society and law and righteousness can become once you're a certain distance from the shore, and how brashly lawless anarchists were willing to operate when there was no firm hand keeping them in check.
Then he became a cop. In some ways, the lessons he'd learned from being attacked by pirates at sea helped shape the cop he would become -- strict, by-the-book, just-the-facts-ma'am clean police work -- but the lawless gangsters and thugs lurking in the slippery corners of Paradise City were a different sort of breed from pirates. Not anarchists, not flouting their subversion of the law and the rights of decent folk -- but dealing quietly in back rooms, hiding in the shadows and secretly plotting. Sure, there were the occasional drunks starting tavern brawls, domestic disputes and disturbances of the peace to mix it up, but for fifteen long years with the Wardens, what gradually ground him down were the organized crime networks, the syndicated thieves operating throughout the city. No matter how many busts he made, how many street-level perps he helped put away, the black markets always seemed to manage to keep humming right along.
He'd gotten tired of it, so he announced his retirement in 312, at the age of thirty-nine. He enjoyed the freedom of being jobless a little while, and spent some time visiting with long-lost nieces and nephews that had just been wee little tikes when he'd last seen them, and look at you now! During one of these visits, his cousin Nimitz (twice removed) mentioned that the Guild was on the lookout for ex-law enforcement to expand their security division. Intrigued, Mathias followed up on this lead, and was hired almost immediately as their "In-House Consultant for High Crimes against Guild Property". Since then, he's traveled all across the islands working on cases, and was pursuing another such criminal investigation when the suspect forced him to walk the plank. The crew of the Tiaru were miraculously nearby and saved him, and now here we are!
it does make the background more colorful.
