Otto Klaus, Warforged Gentleman and Hired Killer

[enbot]

Player Name: Enning

Character
Name: Otto Klaus
XP: 2150, L2
Gender: Male
Age: Unknown
Height: 5' 10"
Weight: 200 lb
Deity: Correllon and others
Alignment: Neutral
Languages Known: Common, Elven

Race: Warforged
Class: Ranger
Fighting Style: Two-Blade Fighting Style
Ranger: Prime Shot
Background: Occupation - Military (+2 to Athletics)

Final Ability Scores, with racial adjustments
STR: 18 (+4)
CON: 14 (+2)
DEX: 16 (+3)
INT: 8 (-1)
WIS: 12 (+1)
CHA: 10 (+0)

Starting Ability Scores: 16, 16, 12, 12, 10, 8
Point Buy Array: 9, 9, 2, 2, 0, 0

HP: 36 --> 12 base, +14 Constitution, +5 Toughness, +5 levels
Bloodied: 18 HP or less
Healing Surges: 8 --> 6 base, +2 Constitution
Healing Surge Value: 9 HP

AC: 18 --> 10 base, +3 armor, +3 ability (Dexterity), +1 level, +1 LORTEK Gauntlet
Fortitude: 16 --> 10 base, +4 ability (Strength), +1 class, +1 level
Reflex: 15 --> 10 base, +3 ability (Dexterity), +1 class, +1 level
Will: 13 --> 10 base, +1 ability (Wisdom), +1 racial, +1 level

Initiative: +4 --> +3 Dexterity, +1 level

Skills
Acrobatics +8 --> +5 trained,
Arcana 0
Athletics +11 --> +5 trained, +2 background
Bluff +1
Diplomacy +1
Dungeoneering +2
Endurance +9 --> +5 trained, +2 racial
Heal +2
History 0
Insight +2
Intimidate +3 --> +2 racial
Nature +7 --> +5 trained
Perception +7 --> +5 trained
Religion 0
Stealth +3
Streetwise +1
Thievery +3

Feats
L1: Weapon Proficiency (Rapier)
L2: Weapon Expertise ("Arael’Sha" light blades)

At-Will Attack Powers
L1: Marauder's Rush (MP2)
L1: Twin Strike (PHB)

Encounter Attack Powers
L1: Off-Hand Strike (MP)

Daily Attack Powers
L1: Jaws of the Wolf (PHB)

Utility Powers
L2: Let's Dance (CFP)

Worn Equipment[/u]
Head Slot: E.P.I.N. Goggles (night and thermal vision)
Neck Slot:
Waist Slot:
Hands Slot: LORTEK Gauntlet (+1 AC)
Arms Slot:
Feet Slot: LORTEK Guard (stand from prone as minor action)
Armour Slot: Wyvernhide Hide Armour (+1 lightning resist)
Weapon Slot: "Arael’Sha" blades
Ring Slot:

Other Equipment[/u]
1. Climber's Kit
2. Field kit
3. Wintershot AWP (+1 cold damage)
(100gp debt)

[enbot]

Background Story

“Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror...
No one ever said elves are nice.”

-- Terry Pratchett, 'Lords and Ladies'


One could say that Otto Klaus was created on a whim.

The time was a few centuries after the formation of Terün. Within Cabus, the spread of new technologies and strange creatures was inspiring new fads and fashions. Fickle yet passionate in their pursuits, fey looking to impress the courts constantly threw themselves at new sources of amusement or competition. For a period, exotic mechanical race mounts were of fashion. For another, it was the sampling and testing of pharmaceutical cocktails. For the next, it was the domestication of shadow creatures as pets.

Eventually for a time, the warforged became the object of fey curiosity.

Before the joining of worlds, fey constructs usually served as host to other creatures, such as a spirit or elemental being. Warforged by contrast were machines fully sentient; artificial autonomous beings. Intrigued, several fey noble houses or kelirs decided to try their hand at developing their own sentient constructs, interpreting the common warforged in their own image. It became almost like a game: to see which kelir could do better, and to see how much superior their creations could be versus their foreign counterparts.

And they did. Blending stolen technology with native craftsmanship and ingenuity, Cabus warforged were built to the tastes and demands of their patron kelir. Because they were not mass-produced for war but commissioned as one would do a work of art, many such warforged produced took on uniquely individual designs; most tending to fey aesthetic values of grace and beauty, some with weird and mixed shapes.

Otto Klaus was crafted under the commission of eladrin kelir Veln. Schooled in the appropriate martial disciplines, Otto served kelir Veln as bodyguard, duelist and on occasion, assassin. Fey courts were notorious for their politicking and machinations. Although open fighting was frowned upon as inelegant, cloak-and-dagger killings, gentlemen duels and arranged "accidents" were not. Warforged creations proved useful as both social and protective escorts; requiring as their fey masters did no sleep.

Noting his potential and the meticulous pride he took to his work, the kelir assigned Otto to the personal guard of one of the their youngest daughters, Gwendolyn. A precocious and beautiful girl, Gwendolyn Veln's intellect was matched only by her cunning ambition. She gained a significant amount of respect for and from Otto; introducing him to the arts and philosophy. In return, Otto proved a loyal aide, with a role in several of her courtly schemes.

A series of social embarrassments, forged alliances and unfortunate "accidents" later, Gwendolyn eventually found herself forerunner kelir heir. A promising position; in time she would soon be appointed matriarch-to-be. Not long after, Gwendolyn announced that she was releasing Otto from his obligation to the kelir, terming it a reward for his service.

Otto suspected another reason; that their fondness for each other might prove a weakness during her challenges as upcoming heir. He knew it was not uncommon during fey feuds for families to exile their young for their own protection. Kelir heirs were expected to focus on learning the finer points of courtly intrigue and increasing their magical abilities. If Gwendolyn proved weak, she would be open to attack.

Regardless, his boon was welcome. For as long as he had admired the fey's innate grace and beauty; he had also observed their pride and cruelty. When called for, his hands were stained by it. The whole process was not only messy, it was unnecessary. There was no skill, no beauty in suffering. It was a part of his work Otto did not enjoy.

In addition, a warforged's presence was barely tolerated among common fey society. Some were starting to shun warforged as some odd form of half-blood, a creature part living part machine. Even within the kelirs Otto could hear unkind mutterings; whispers concerning the fates of his less useful brethern. Life in the fey could be very fickle.

Before any of the other influential kelir members could take notice or change their minds, Otto quietly took his leave and disappeared, striking out for Qualibu.

* * *



"Kaylee, do come in please."

The young artificer paused in the half-lit doorway, searching for the source of Otto's voice. On a stand next to the entrance was a little speaker box.

"Could you kindly come into the kitchen?" The speaker box continued, "I would come out to receive you but I am ah, rather inconvenienced at present."

Kaylee didn't know any other warforged who owned a kitchen, let alone installed one of their own design. When she had worked up the curiousity to ask, Otto had rather proudly explained that he was learning how to cook. To delve into the culinary arts, he said. It was a tricky enterprise considering he could neither taste or eat, but it hardly dampened his enthusiasm.

Besides, Otto had said, there were occasionally house guests to entertain.

Lugging her bulky work bag both hands, Kaylee stepped into the kitchen. Her eyes widdened at the figure slumped on the floor against the kitchen counter. It gave her a weak wave. Kaylee barely noticed. She was fixated on the long steel bar protruding from Otto's left abdomen.

"What the hell! Otto!" She scrambled to his side, emptying her bag of its mess of wires, chemicals, mechanical parts and tools. "What in the- what happened?"

Otto tried to sound reassuring. It was a feat considering he could barely feel his left side. "Just a work-related accident. Nothing to worry about."

Kaylee looked him in the eye, horrified. "You're impaled on a metal rod."

Otto glanced downwards. "Actually I disabled most of my pain receptors so I'm feeling quite alright," he said helpfully. Kaylee shook her head and started getting to work. She attached a few cables to his chest to monitor the construct's energy signatures and vital signs. The cables were attached to a small orb that glowed and pulsed a white-yellow glow.

"So what job was it this time?" Kaylee asked, assembling together what appeared to be a multi-pronged welding tool. "Murder anyone interesting?"

Otto sensed the distaste in her voice. "You know I have standards when it comes to my work."

"Well maybe those standards aren't high enough," Kaylee snapped.

Although his expression remained unchanging, she knew the warforged was a little taken aback by her tone. Over the few years they had known each other, the artificer that also freelanced as Otto's doctor had developed the uncanny ability to tell what Otto was feeling.

"You're a warforged. You go out and you kill, I get it."

Goddamn, Kaylee thought, she was getting emotional. But it was hard to turn back now. She was upset. Otto had become more than a mechanical construct to patch up every few weeks or so.

She sighed. "By Ioun I know why you do it. But if you're going to get yourself killed you could at least do it for some reason that matters."

Otto regarded her stoically. His signature twin blades lay by his side on the floor, humming softly and thoughtfully. For a long moment neither of them spoke.

"We are actors. We are the opposite of people," Otto recited from memory, his thoughts faraway. "The single assumption that makes our lives bearable is that somebody is watching."

Kaylee blinked. "I'm not sure what that means."

The fact that he even remembered the quote pleased him. Otto started to explain. "It's a line from a play. A human one... "

He then noticed that the orb wired to his chest had suddenly started to pulse a rapid distressing red.

"Kaylee?" Darkness started to crowd into his field of vision. Otto tried to focus. "This might not be the most prudent time for ethical-"

He felt the rod being yanked out of his side and the world went to black.

***

Several weeks after the incident, Otto Klaus walked into an E.P.I.N. recruitment centre.

[enbot]

Personality Traits

"Pride is the difference between and an assassin and a thug.
Style is the difference between an assassin and an artist."

Although he takes lives with apparent ease, Otto Klaus is a gentleman and an artist.

Polite and well-mannered and possessing a rather dark sense of humor, Otto generally cooperates with others and remains civil, even in disagreements. He does have a defined code of ethics about who and where he will not kill and will act to prevent what he views as the unnecessary loss of life.

Originally built to serve a society rich in crafts and eldritch enchantment, Otto identifies with the values of the god Corellon: god of spring, beauty, the arts and patron of the fey. As such, Otto treats life and death and all of its aspects as art. Everything he does, wonderful or wicked, is an attempt to reflect this ideal.

Mannerisms and Appearance



Constructed according to an aesthetic philosophy common to the fey, Otto Klaus represents a interesting departure from traditional warforged design. His designers had worked to emulate something of the form and elegance of their fey eladrin masters, fitting strength and dexterity onto a lighter and smaller frame. Lean and lithe, Otto is outfitted with compact body armour; some parts of which bear intricate fey-inspired designs.

Scarcely larger than the average human, Otto's built and size allows him walk and blend in with common society with relative ease: casual excursions into the city usually require little more than a trenchcoat and hat. Otto usually wears a fedora.

[Dungeon Master]

Introduction to a new word:
Peaceforged (simple servants and the like, often feminine, structured to look like the race of the master)

Nice background