Argus Galven

Argus Galven a gentleman pirate from Amn.

Personality
Argus is a cautious man when it comes to his personal relationships, born and bred into the intrigue of a large merchant house in Amn, he keeps his friends close and his enemies closer (or dead). He surrounds himself with allies, trusting them to watch each other as much as they watch his back and truly allows very few people within reach of his heart – a master of intrigue who maintains that a sharp dagger can never be so cruel, or dangerous as a sharper wit, Argus knows that a well placed lie, or a poorly placed truth can wreak more devastation than a throat being slit in the night.

To those he truly holds close, Argus is a loyal man who takes his duties very seriously and places himself behind those that he truly serves. Cianier is one such person, his ‘sister’ is the other and of late Edlyn looks to become a third. He does not form such a bond lightly or quickly as once it is forged he throws himself into the relationship with all the gusto he can to ensure that he ceases using the person and begins to truly embrace them.

Beyond this cynical view of friendship and companions, where all but a handful are tools to be used within the limits of a specific task, Argus is a man who is fond of indulgence and decadence who is prone to displays of bravado and derring-do. Known to have a woman and welcoming bed in near every port the Wraith frequented, Argus, when not on duty, enjoys fine company and finer wine, and as much of both as he can claim. When on duty, or otherwise working, he is a tea-totaller who set aside his wants and needs in order to better serve those he cares for.

His networks are extensive and his use of them is full and colourful, he is an intelligent man who relies on cunning and wit to avoid, where possible, tests of skill – though he does this for comfort’s sake, rather than fear of a true test of his abilities. Preferring shadow games to outright confrontation and implication over statement, Argus favours subtlety and diplomacy where few others might. This holds true even with himself and those treasured few whom he holds in true and high regard. Where subtlety fails him, a truer and more relaxed Argus emerges with a roguish grin, bearing steel and setting-to with all the confidence of one who believes in and follows the whims of fate and fortune.

His sense of humour is dry and cheeky, a tease and one who falls back on games that leave definition in the hands of the beholder, Argus has devoted himself to the two women in his life and presses himself to follow them at all times. One, his ‘sister’, he holds as his ward while the other, his captain, is their guardian whose talents do not include watching her own back – which is where he views his role in life as beginning. Recently, with Cianier’s retirement from the sea, Argus has found himself stressing and worrying over her absence and Sorsha’s suffering with her mentor being away. He does not begrudge Cianier for he is a man that does not tend toward grudges – those that earn his ire do not live long enough for a grudge to form. But he does worry about their future, especially now that Edlyn has been drawn into his life...

Appearance
Argus is a man of average height and slight build, though years of working aboard ship’s has transformed his lean muscle into a sinewy mass on which there is no fat to spare. His skin tans easily thanks to his heritage, indeed, were he to not see the sun for months, he would still appear to have just set foot inside from a long day spent outside enjoying the summer. Covered in nicks and small scars from his many duels and scrapes with death, he has taken to treating those scars as art to compliment the tattoos that adorn him.

He keeps his dark hair long, though wears it bound back in a loose ponytail, he is either clean-shaven or sports a slender and tightly trimmed goatee – he is always well presented. He favours colourful clothing in the modernised style of Amn and the Sword-Coast and wears, at all times, a slightly curved, subtly jewelled rapier at his side and a dagger on his other hip. He is never seen without a splash of dark purple on his attire, if he is not wearing his resplendent purple coat he is wearing either a sash about his waist or a scarf around his neck. He is proud of his position in life and does not take many steps to hide his allegiance – unless his present assignment might call for greater discretion than normal.

His voice is soft and he is well spoken, though this, as with all aspects of Argus, are subject to the moment. He is an actor, amongst other things and when not aboard his ship, he could as easily appear a beggar as he might a prince. While he is a proud man, he is not so proud as to let that vice hinder his prospects in life.

History
Argus was born as the first and only son to a wealthy, and therefore powerful family in Amn. A merchant family to whom he was pride, joy and heir alike. His first few years were ones where the privileged youth learned all manner of sins in the name of the games he was being raised to play. Counting coins and secrets alike, gossip that could be worth far more than a shiny jewel and rumours one could drown within all came to the child’s ears and so he was raised. Tragedy struck when he was nine and his mother – a powerful heiress in her own right – fell ill. She died with in a week, leaving her son to grieve and his father to plan. Even as a lad Argus suspected something to be amiss with his mother’s death, today, he knows better than to think that it was a natural illness. Within the month, his father had remarried.

Argus step-mother was a beautiful young woman with a charming smile and soulfully dark eyes. Yet he resented her and the affections that his father showed to her. The lad was still mourning and did not then, understand, that his father had sought a new wife within days of burying his first. Still, justice has a way of rearing its head and Argus’ father paid for the poisoning of his faithful wife. The newlyweds had scarce settled into their home when she went missing, she returned a few days later and would not speak of her absence yet, three months later, it was plain that she was pregnant.

Argus watched his father reject the young woman, heard their arguments and in that, the young lad took pity on the trophy-bride. He found that he blamed his father, not this woman, for dishonouring his own mother and so took a shine to his step-mother and began looking forward to the day his half-sister would be born. He did not, then, understand that the child would be no sibling of his. In truth, his father did not know this either, his anger was simply because he did not want his new wife to be bed-ridden so soon after their wedding. The awaited day came and it was on that day that everything changed. His father was a proud man, happy with his life and his lot within it and happier still with his young wife who revealed, moments after the revelation that his second child was a daughter, that she could not possibly be his. After all, horns only sprouted on tiefling heads and tails were not gifted by those of reasonable and respected Amnish heritage – Argus father was no devil-touched bastard of an infernal bloodline.

The ugliness that ensued ensured Argus, then Sergio, retreating from his father who cast his wife into a small room at the villa’s farthest reaches. Alienating the adulterous woman and her bastard daughter rather than face the shame that his trophy wife had betrayed him and their marriage vows. Tension within the family escalated over the months and then the years until Argus, at his mother’s behest, stole his sister and fled into the night with little more than a purse of coins and a small pack with blankets and clothing in it. He did this because, while he still learned from his father, the 11 year old knew that his father had gone mad and it would not be long before he began taking his anger and shame out on his son, as he did his wife.

A year spent on the streets, surviving on his wits alone and scraping by on borrowed wealth and unwitting generosity, he raised his sister and gave them the best life he could until he heard word that things had settled in his household. Sorsha was four by then and eager to get back to their parents – she did not get to come with him to their old home, left in the care of Argus’ few friends while he stole into the house only to find it a twisted shrine to his father’s madness.

The blood was fresh on the walls, the stink of hatred a rich scent and the panting rasps of a manman formed that alarm which sent Argus fleeing his mother’s empty room and escaping again into the night. He does not know what happened that night, though did find out that his father had lain a trap having known that his son would be listening out for an all-clear to return home to. Argus did the only thing he could, sure now that his father had lost his mind and would stop at nothing to erase the last slight against his name.

Argus spirited them aboard a merchant vessel, leaving everything behind to slip away from father’s hold. They stayed hidden until Baldur’s Gate was reached, at which time they slipped ashore while guards harassed the sailors and began a search for contraband from Amn. Three days later and Argus had bartered for passage to the one city he felt could accept the sister who had lived her life thus far with a hood drawn over her head. That he bought passage using the captain’s own wealth was simply a game to him, though earned him the captain’s ire for that man was a pincher of pennies and noticed the loss the moment he opened his strongbox to add his new coin to his stash.

Two days north of Waterdeep and the captain pulled into a small cove to make rendezvous with a shady ship that was waiting for them. The enterprising captain, after completing his deals with the pirates presented the unusual elven captain with a pair of slaves that he felt might fetch a fair price to one with the right connections. Argus had not sensed the betrayal until it was too late and his slight, boyish shoulders were neatly pinned by sailors he had little chance at beating off and escaping from. While his sister screamed and cried, her hood drawn back to confirm the captain’s suspicions of a tiefling (which certainly fetched fair price to the right folks).

To Argus’ dismay, the pirate captain stepped close and inspected their teeth, had the sailors back away while she considered the deal for but a moment before meeting the merchant’s price. The merchant, now wondering if he should not have pushed for a better deal, tried to back out only to find Cianier less than receptive to those efforts. She pressed him to accept the fee he had initially demanded and he had accepted, all the while staring at the children he was selling to her. The merchant, sense coming to him, accepted and the deal was done.

Argus soon found himself with his sister and the pirate alone in a richly decorated cabin aboard the galley. She presented them with a deal, after asking their history of them and receiving it in full. Mercy was shown them both that day for reasons that later in life became apparent to Argus – his sister had, essentially, saved his life. The deal was light, they would help out aboard the ship until it made port, at which time they would be freed.

A token service and one that young Argus saw through, he watched then as Cianier knelt before his sister and forced that girl to meet her eyes – a light touch under the chin and a careful smile being given to the tiefling before the wizard inspected the girl’s hands and tested her mind with a few light phrases and riddles that the child met the challenge of easily. While Argus moped the decks, his sister was set to work keeping Cianier’s office tidy, shelving books and the likes until port was made, Argus, staring out over Waterdeep and knowing only that a vast unknown awaited he and Sorsha, asked if his work had pleased the captain. It had, and so he slunk away that night, only to return in the morning and suggest that the Wraith sail.

Something in the suggestion amused Cianier who saw little harm in following what she thought was a game. She enjoyed having the kids around and followed it mostly in hopes they would stick around, rather than slip into Waterdeep and the disappointments of that city. Argus’ instruction had them waiting a day north of Waterdeep, sitting in the path of a richly laden merchant sailor slinking along the coast for Neverwinter.

The fight was brief – secrecy had been that merchant’s ally and greed had left his crew a few hands short to make room for cargo that soon filled Cianier’s holds. She insisted then that Argus and his sister stay, offering the lad a place as her informant, and the girl a chance at an apprenticeship. It was an offer that Argus accepted and has not looked back and found himself regretting over the years.

From a boy into a man, from a loner to the captain’s lover and right-hand man, Argus has prospered and continues to do so now. His networks are vast, his contacts are impeccable and his mastery over the seas has come to rival that skill of his Mistress, whom he often fills in for while she is away and studying, or pursuing her personal goals. It is a life he is content to lead and has been taken with for it is a life of freedom from law and constraint that is filled with a brotherly camaraderie that he adores – the sense of family he spent so many years without has returned in the form of the crew who, more than anything else, watch each other’s backs and show all the mercy to their mates that they do not show their enemies.

Adventure #1
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Character Sheet
Name: Argus Galvén

Race and Age: Human, 31.

Class and levels: Fighter/Rogue/Dread Pirate (4/7/2)

Height and Weight: 5’9”, 180lbs

Eyes and Hair: Bright blue, black.'''

Alignment:Chaotic Neutral

Deity:'''Tymora

Allegiance:Archmage Cianier Dy’Nien Challenge Level:13

'''Abilities and modifiers: '''


 * Str: 14 (+2)


 * Dex: 20 (+5)


 * Con: 16 (+3)


 * Int: 16 (+3)

Wis: 13 (+1)


 * Chr: 18 (+4)

HD: 113 (4d10/7d6/2d8)

Initiative: +5

Speed: 30ft.'''

Reach:5ft/5ft

Encumbrance:'''


 * (light)


 * (medium)

(heavy) '''

Saving Throws:''' Fortitude: 9


 * Reflex: 14

'''
 * Will: 4

Base Attack Bonus:'''


 * +11/+6/+1

Melee Attack: (rapier) +18/+13/+9

Ranged Attack: +16/+11/+6 '''

Special Attack:'''

Special Abilities: Sneak Attack +4d6 Trapfinding Evasion Uncanny Dodge Trap Sense +2

Seamanship Two-weapon fighting Fearsome Reputation +2

Skills: Appraise 10 Balance 10 Bluff 8 Climb 12 Craft - Decipher Script - Diplomacy 5 Disable Device 0 Disguise 0 Escape Artist Forgery - Gather Information 6 Hide 5 Intimidate 11 Jump 11 Knowledge Listen 5 Move Silently 7 Open Lock 1 Perform 3 Profession 15 Search 5 Sense Motive 8 Sleight of Hand 7 Spot 13 Swim 11 Tumble 5 Use Magic Device - Use Rope 5

Notes: ranks only.

Feats: Twin Sword Style, Weapon Finesse, Quick Draw,Combat Expertise, Improved Feint, Deft Strike, Dodge,Mobility,Spring attack,Leadership

Inventory:

Bracers of Armour: +4

Rapier: +2 Blurstrike

Dagger: +1

Belt of the MantaRay: This belt appears to be made of leather, with a exquisite buckle stylised into two interlocking halves of a manta-ray. When the wearer fully enters sea-water, the cloak of the manta ray adheres to the individual, and he appears nearly identical to a manta ray (as the polymorph spell, except that it allows only manta ray form). He gains a +3 natural armor bonus, the ability to breathe underwater, and a swim speed of 60 feet, like a real manta ray. Although the cloak does not enable the wearer to bite opponents as a manta ray does, it does have a tail spine that can be used to strike at opponents behind the wearer, dealing 1d6 points of damage. This attack can be used in addition to any other attack the character has, using his highest melee attack bonus. The wearer can release his arms from the cloak without sacrificing underwater movement if so desired. Crafted for him by Cianier.

Admiral’s Tricorn: ''+5 to profession: sailor and all Charisma based checks while worn (including Leadership) The wearer’s voice is magically amplified so it can be heard clearly by anyone within 100ft. +2 morale bonus on attack roles, saves and skill checks to all allies within vocal range.''

Captain’s Lantern: ''An exquisite brass and green-glass lantern that constantly protects the ship to which it is attuned with an alarm effect. The captain may press a copper coin to its base, speak a command word and create a lantern token. The bearers of these tokens do not trigger the alarm. The captain may turn the alarm on or off at any time with a command word. The captain may, at any time, negate all lantern tokens and turn them back into common copper coins.''

Magnificent Captain’s Coat: ''This coat protects the wearer from getting wet in rain or sea-spray. The wearer benefits from ‘endure elements’ vs. cold. The effects of powerful winds are reduced by one for the caster. +5 competence bonus to balance and profession: sailor checks.''

Magically enhanced Brigantine: (gimme a minute to fetch my notes :P)

Treasure: Arrrr! To find that, ye’ll need me map and ye can’t be havin’ that.