Askani Hilthandr

Askani Hilthandr A thoughtful, socially awkward monk under a vow of silence, trying to understand not just the world around him, but the complexities of his own ancestry. Askani is a soul torn between being the gentle academic he was bred to be, and the chaotic monster his own blood demands he becomes.

Personality
While in his own heart, he is someone who has quite a few things to say, he does not speak at all, for he is under a vow of silence. And will be under this until he has attained a certain level of understanding... unguided in his way of learning what this level of understanding is, the only piece of information he was given was that he would know when he had reached that point, and he would be allowed to speak once more. The order which trained him and set him on his path not only have no name, but also no set location and refuse to keep the monks under their command in one location. Because of this, Askani has for all intents and purposes, been tossed out on his own to learn how to survive and function without their aid. They only allow those who can fend for themselves to be one of their rank, and seem to think the best way to weed out the weaklings is to allow the world have their way with them.

Many who hear of him or his order assume that they are some sort of warrior sect, but it is in fact almost the opposite. While Askani himself may be a generally more hostile individual, his sect is relatively pacifistic. Learning how to fight, they are taught combat is only to be used as a last resort, when your enemy is refusing to listen or when reasoning is not an option like as such a time you're attacked by a beast unable to communicate. Askani on the other hand, is a little bit different from most of those in his order. While he is not likely to become outright violent even for things most normal people would, he is likely to get violent for things most others in his order would not. This is in part due to to his inexposure to the world and his eagerness to quickly adapt to it. He has seen that the world is not a pretty place and is finding it difficult to combine the sheltered teachings of his order to the hostile things he has to face on a daily basis.

Askani himself mainly keeps his mind on one thing and one thing only. Understanding. He puts this even farther ahead than his self development. If given an opportunity to develop himself physically or to grow more in his understanding he will always choose the latter, for he puts wisdom before any and all things. He sees it as being invaluable, and considers most of those who focus on improvement their skills in nothing but combat to be a bit foolish. Life is not about violence, and even if it was, you need a strong mind before you begin focusing on getting a stronger body, in order to achieve your full potential. Askani feels that while a strong body is good in it's own right, the mind must be spectacular above all else.

He does not dwell on the prospects of good or evil. While he does understand what leads one to consider one or the other such a thing, he cannot truthfully say he is on either side of their continuing struggle. He feels it is not his place to interject himself into their actions and has been led to believe his own destiny is down a different path altogether. Somewhere in the middle. But what it is exactly, remains to be seen.

Appearance
Askani is a relatively tall individual, standing at about six feet and four inches in height, not that it matters much to him. As far as he is concerned, one could be 20 feet tall or 2 feet tall, and still be an idiot. In fact, it is his very thinking in this direction that leads him to very rarely take an interest in personal presentation. He will wash himself simply on the basis of personal hygiene and not wanting to be filthy, or attract infection, but all things such as creams and oils to make him appear fresher are nothing but an annoying distraction as far as he is concerned. Nothing but vanity.

He is very likely to be wearing something based on functionality rather than fashion. Even if something looks utterly ridiculous, if it helps him complete whatever task he is attempting to undertake, he does not give even the slightest bit of a damn what it makes him look like.

Being of average build, there is nothing spectacular about him, and he is not going to get picked out of a crowd for any abnormality. With the exception of one, which are his eyes. As a result of his Abyssal Inheritance, his eyes are now in a permanent state of glow [Eyes of the Abyss]. It is something he wishes were under his control, as while he appreciates being able to see in pitch black, he does not appreciate having heads turn in his direction whenever people get a whiff of his eyes. It is because of this that he wears a blindfold. It is thin enough for him to see through it, and with his ability to see in the dark, see perfectly, and at the same time it hides the glow from his eyes almost completely. It would still be a bit tangible in a dark area, but in areas of even mild light, it is essentially impossible to notice.

History
There is not much about Askani's life to be told before now. He has been extremely sheltered, as he was born within the confines of his Nomadic order, and until he was allowed out into the world, had never met anyone who was not one of his sect. The order to which Askani belongs has no fixed name, not much that could be used to identify them, with the exception that the members of the order know to whom they belong. Unlike most monasteries, they do not specialize in combat and enlightenment, and are actually more of scholars than anything else. Seeking education and wisdom above all else. Of course, they do train their students in some ways of combat, as they know the world is not a pretty place and it would do one quite a bit of good if they were equipped to protect themselves from the world outside. Askani himself actually took even more of an interest in combat, and is thus a bit more proficient than the average monk in his sect. They do have enforcers, and quite powerful ones at that, but that is not to e Askani's role.

Always being kept a secret is his heritage. Something he has researched extensively, under the disguise of simple education. Once he had his first vision at the age of fourteen, Askani did not allow himself to rest until he properly understood all that was happening to him. As far as he knew, no one else had any visions like his, and he asked in such a way as to not alert anyone to his condition. He was not quite sure what they would make of it, and did not want to risk the possibility of his being outcasted. When it become obvious he was having at least two symptoms of someone with demonic ancestry - visions of the future [Precognitive Visions], and random knowledge of unstudied magic, despite being unable to actually carry the spells out [Keeper of Forbidden Lore], it became clear to him he had to keep his situation a complete secret from all of those around him. He continued some more study on fighting, leaning how to combine the hand to hand combat techniques taught to him by his order, to fighting with a sword in hand as he had studied one of the enforcers of his order doing, and was able to branch out into a different section of combat [Swordsage], while still keeping his focus on his studies.

But combat was far from his sole interest, not as much as mental self development is. That, and finding out his true heritage are the things he is focused on. He does not do much in the way of trying to keep to the wishes of his order now that he is out, but he does live according to what they taught him. To be polite to everyone you meet, to never be cruel, and be only ready to do what is necessary to accomplish a goal. That is to say, do not go over the top, and do not indulge yourself needlessly, especially when the consequences might be intense. He keeps to these and all other teachings of his order, with the exception for him being that he puts quite a bit of focus on his fighting skills as well, especially with the level of violence he has seen out in the world. After two robbing attempts and a raid he once watch take place on a village, he feels now more than ever, that he must be ready and willing to defend himself if, and when the need calls for it.

Now he focuses on two things. Acquiring more wisdom and discovering his ancestry. He wants to know more about himself and what he used to be. Where he is from, where his ancestors were from, and how best to use it to his advantage. He feels he may not be able to acquire his full potential if he does not even know where it all started for him.

Beckoned by a force that seemed to call to his very soul, Askani followed a seemingly invisible force out into the open deserts. It is a force that he can barely trace, as it is not even audible, but for the tug on it's soul it seems to possess. It led him to the desert, and it practically took hold of him. He found it close to impossible to get himself away from it, and it caused him to kill the people surrounding it. Eight of them, and the only thing that stopped his conscience from ravaging him were that the people who possessed 'it' happened to be the sort of thing he would normally have no problem destroying. Demon-worshipers. Ones who worshiped a book, the book that drew him to it. The book he killed them for in a bloodlust not of his own being.

He took the book along with him as he began heading to waterdeep, and while he barely studies it, he does occasionally take a glance at it. Although he is quite careful how he does so, for he knows that there is something uncharacteristically dark and sentient about the item, and he is not quite sure what it is.

Character Sheet
Name, Type: Askani Hilthandr, Male Human Monk (2), Swordsage (1); Medium Humanoid (Human) Hit Points: 21 Initiative Modifier: +4 Speed: 40 feet [monk] AC: AC 18, touch 18, flat-footed 14 Grapple check: +4 Attacks: +4 (handheld), +6 (missile) Special Attack(s): Flurry of Blows, Stunning Fist, Still Mind, Fast Movement, Evasion Special Qualities: Darkvision (30ft) Stances and Maneuvers:

Saves:
 * Burning Blade (DW1)
 * Stone Bones (SD1)
 * Wolf Fang Strike (TC1)
 * Sudden Leap (TC1)
 * Sapphire Nightmare Blade (DM1)
 * Counter Charge (SS1)
 * Child of Shadows (SH1) (Stance)

Abilities: Str 14, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 18, Cha 16
 * Fort: +3
 * Ref: +7
 * Will +9

Skills:

Appraise Int 2 = +2 Balance Dex* 10 = +4 + 6 Bluff Cha 3 = +3 Climb Str* 2 = +2 Concentration Con 0 = +0 Craft_1 Int 2 = +2 Craft_2 Int 2 = +2 Craft_3 Int 2 = +2 Diplomacy Cha 3 = +3 Disguise Cha 3 = +3 Escape Artist Dex* 10 = +4 + 6 Forgery Int 2 = +2 Gather Information Cha 3 = +3 Heal Wis 4 = +4 Hide Dex* 4 = +4 Intimidate Cha 3 = +3 Jump Str* 10 = +2 +4 +4 [speed 40] Knowledge (arcana) Int 7 = +2 +5 Knowledge (religion) Int 6 = +2 +4 Listen Wis 7 = +4 +3 Move Silently Dex* 9 = +4 +5 Perform_1 Cha 3 = +3 Perform_2 Cha 3 = +3 Perform_3 Cha 3 = +3 Perform_4 Cha 3 = +3 Perform_5 Cha 3 = +3 Ride Dex 4 = +4 Search Int 2 = +2 Sense Motive Wis 8 = +4 +4 Spot Wis 4 = +4 Survival Wis 4 = +4 Swim Str** 4 = +2 +2 Tumble Dex* 7 = +4 +3 Use Rope Dex 4 = +4

Climate/Terrain: Any Treasure: None Alignment: Lawful Neutral Allegiance: None Spells Per Day: None Spells Known: None Feats


 * Combat Reflexes
 * Improved Unarmed Strike

 Abyssal Heritor  As a result of his Abyssal Heritage, there as some aspects of Askani that set him apart from most other human individuals. These things are more or less kept a secret to all those around him, even and especially the leaders of his order. With the exception of his eyes, which he is unable to hide.

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 * Ordered Chaos
 * Eyes of the Abyss
 * Precognitive Visions