SirEddy
2015-07-07, 04:55 AM
This may be a bit ambitious of a first post on this site and within the homebrew section, but why not! Might as well take a plunge into the deep-end. The mythos classes created by Xefas, as well as the community that has contributed to them, are some of my favorite things within the homebrew section and I have always enjoyed the concept behind them. The idea of creating individuals who are a living story and excel beyond the normal boundaries of their kind and peers is too enjoyable an idea for me to not get behind. The mythos characters I've gotten the chance to play as have been some of the most entertaining characters for me to play in my D&D career.
When it comes to official/published marterials, one of the splat-books I've fallen in love with (yet have sadly never had the chance to ever try out) was the Elder Evils book. The stories of some of the beings and their immense power are always a good read for me, some of my favorites being Atropus or Father Lymic. What appealed to me most was that they all lacked divinity of any kind, or at least most of them do.
So, I figured, why not take a shot and combine two of my favorite concepts for one of my favorite roleplaying systems! Here is my take on it. It is not entierly complete, as I do lack a sign for Sarvan; I was trying to figure out one that matches his theme of hatred, anger, and natural affinity for violence, and though the Blood Moon is the most appropriate, I'm trying to think of my own to use. Regardless, here is my attempt at creating one and I hope you enjoy reading about Sarvan!
Do please forgive any mistakes I made with some of mechanics and the number crunching. I did have to dive into some mechanics I had never used, so hopefully they were not butchered too much. If you do enjoy this read and have not looked at any of the mythos designs, I highly recommend it. Even if you don't intend to use those mechanics, the fluff of them all are still very wonderful and entertaining to read.
Sarvan Raelthorne: On the Wrong Side of Heaven
Much of his history has been lost through the ages, records destroyed and removed by many parties. What is known is that Sarvan’s story began in a simple village, way back when the world’s order was being shaped by the hands of gods, and not long after humans had first been made. They were to replace to their vicious ancestors, and were now granted a chance to make something of themselves in this world.
His village was a religious bunch, people who prayed day in and day out to the deities that watched over the world, praying to them for their protection and their mercy. They prayed for better harvest, bountiful hunts, fair weather, and protection from the evils that lurked on the reaches of society. Sarvan was one of the hunters of his village, a man also trained to fight should the need arise and so they may defend themselves from the occasional attacks of monsters. Their life was well, but it seemed that though these humans tried to appease the creators of the world, they were not the race that the gods had chosen to further the events of the world. Sarvan’s village came under attack from the predators that lurked beyond, ravaging and destroying all that there was. Those villagers cried out for mercy, and though the warriors fought hard, the gods showed no care and so the village and all its people were burned, maimed, torn asunder, and flayed alive.
There remained only one survivor by the end of the massacre, gravely wounded and barely clinging to life. Through his sheer determination, his refusal to die, Sarvan was left broken on the ground. He pulled himself from the rubble, and a few days later found himself upon the next village over. With him he dragged the bloodied, ruined bodies of monsters he had stumbled across on his way there, each one torn to ribbons by his bare hands. There he was nursed back to health, oddly enough by the local priests of the village. They told Sarvan how lucky he was to have survived such an ordeal, to have pulled through it all and to have made it to a safe haven; they told him that clearly the gods were watching out for him. (Knowledge [History] DC 32)
He though saw it a different way, as he remembered how, not only did he, but his family and friends, call out for the gods to save them, they were also ignored by those they had been told watched out for those who worshiped them. Sarvan did not see the gods blessing in him, rather it had been his own will and determination that had seen him through the massacre and to this village, with the severed heads of some of the monsters in his hands. It had been his own skill and abilities, not the mercy of the gods, that had allowed him to reach the point he had. He had learned it would not be the gods that would carry the mortals of the world to greatness; it would be their own will to fight and their own ambition that would carry them to deeds that would be legendary.
From that day, Sarvan Raelthorne “The Apostate” was born, as he swore to never swear allegiance to or serve any god, for they would not see mortals to legend. It would be mortals themselves who would achieve such results.
His journeys began with him simple travelling the world, with no real goal in mind other than to improve his own martial abilities. He travelled to wherever he felt he would find violence and war, places where he could test his abilities with his hands and blades; he sought out the places that blood was shed, and made plenty of such locations himself in his journeys. Slowly his legend was built, built upon the corpses of whoever dared to stand in his way; or whoever was simply unlucky to find themselves there. (DC 36)
Soon, he became more than just a warrior, as people began to flock towards the warrior who had denounced the gods. At first, many had believed him to be a blessed warrior, and the many that came to him asked who it was he served. He always had one response, “I bow to none, for none will ever care to listen to us mortals; we should not give them our praise, for they will give us nothing in return.” Though somewhat unsophisticated and even blasphemous to the normal ways of many in the world, he slowly began to build a following. Sarvan was becoming more than a warrior now, he was becoming a leader; people flocked to him so that they too could obtain the freedom he seemed to have found.
He became a hero to many, despite his blood-soaked name. Humanity especially turned to him for his guidance, as other leaders sought to emulate his abilities and prowess, a gift free from the restraints of following the deities who supposedly watched over the world. Sarvan had no issues with offering such guidance either, for he saw it as important that people separate themselves from reliance upon the gods above. He desired to break the hold that the gods had on the mortals of the land, and slowly he began to achieve this goal.
To the point, that even the gods above began to notice. Before, they had simply pushed aside the words of this lowly human, for he was nothing to them and they believed he could not hope to sway even the flies on the rotting pieces of garbage that littered some streets. However, as the years went on, even they were forced to show their attention to the following he was building, as this anti-theist movement began to grow rapidly under his direction. It was most prevalent in the humans that the gods had considered to simply be a throw away race so long ago. (DC 37)
Sarvan’s mission though came to an abrupt end, as at the height of his following, they had gone from simply preaching against the gods to actively stopping their influence. Priests and clerics found themselves being cut down by Sarvan and his followers. They were now adamant about destroying what place the gods had in this world, freeing all mortals from the iron vice that was the grip the gods had on mortals everywhere.
It was a mission though that was not to be completed; for even though the gods may not always care for the mortals who follow them, they would not stand for such an affront to their own pride and honor. They refused to see the mortals they had created and allowed to even exist ruin their influence. Even The Apostate’s almost godlike martial ability was not enough to lead his followers through the attack they found themselves in, beset on all sides by the followers of many gods. Though the battle was brutal, bloody, and rivalled any massacre seen before, Sarvan showing just what human determination and raw skill could achieve on the battlefield as he tore legions of divine followers apart with both his bare hands and the legendary two-bladed sword he wielded (a sword forged by his own hands), it was not to be a victory for the anti-theists. In the end, they saw their mission come to an end on that desecrated ground, a land that some say to this day remains muddy from the amount of blood that was spilt upon it.
The gods forced the humans back into line, and it seemed that they had now brought the world back into the order they had once made. They sought to fix the damage that had been caused by The Apostate and his followers, and it was with the hands of their non-human mortals that they set to this mission. (DC 40)
Again though, they had underestimated the adamantine-like will that Sarvan possessed, and so many did not notice that even death could not hold back Sarvan’s mission to eliminate their influence. Not long after the battle, in the spot he had fallen, Sarvan fought his way out of the Abyssal planes and found his body being reconstructed upon the mortal plane. Alive once more, Sarvan looked around at the ruins that had once been a verdant valley, now littered with thousands upon thousands of corpses, his followers littered amongst the mounds that also consisted of his enemies. To see all his work brought to end by the very thing he now hated so much, to see everything he had shed so much blood, sweat, and tears for brought down brought a feeling he knew well to the surface. Hate; but not just the hatred he had known for so long. No, this hatred swelled to levels even he had never felt before; it felt like the very hellfire he had just recently escaped was now burning inside of him, forever burning away any thought of mercy or sense that he had once before. No, now all he desired was to see everything that had stood against him and humanity broken, beaten, crushed, torn asunder, flayed, annihilated, and obliterated.
It isn’t understood how the gods failed to notice, or maybe to them they just figured it was the work of some other monsters they had created. In a way, they were correct, as The Apostate was now something more than just the human warrior their followers had faced not long ago. Alongside his martial skill and abilities was a new power, a strength that seemed infinitely fuelled by his searing anger. This beast wanted everything that did not share his blood dead, for it was they who had stood against him and brought everything he had held so dear to destruction.
Sarvan, The Apostate, rampaged across the lands, targeting everything that had once stood against him. Villages leveled, towns destroyed, cities burned, citadels broken, temples desecrated, nations annihilated, and entire continents ravaged. If they stood in service to any god, or belonged to anything that was not human, it felt a wrath that even the gods did not know could exist. Sarvan once again was not alone, as again Sarvan seemed to exert a powerful influence upon the humans of the world. Now though it was not a principle that united them, instead it was an infectious rage that drove them onwards to violence. (DC 42)
Finally, the gods had to face the horror they had created, especially when one of their own had chosen to end this chaos. None remember the name of this god who had chosen to face The Apostate in single combat, the god who had been so brave, though some would say foolish, to face him. Perhaps they had simply thought that their own divinity would protect them, that even in defeat that would simply rise again to crush the heretic. The gods watched in horror though, as not only did Sarvan Raelthorne face down and win against this god, many of them noticed how the god was not simply banished back to whatever plane they had existed in. It was gone, completely and utterly. Its priests, clerics, and paladins felt like something inside of them was ripped straight from them, as their powers and abilities all vanished entirely. The god had not simply been banished back to their plane, they were gone; all of the other gods could feel it, Sarvan had truly removed this god from existence.
They could not sit back this time; they could not leave it to their followers to defeat this being that stood against them. Though many feared that they too might face a similar fate, the more powerful of their kind assured them that together they could defeat Sarvan and his followers. The battle that followed, one that strangely took place on the original battlefield that Sarvan and his followers had been defeated upon before, was like something from the tales of the apocalypse. The lands was torn asunder as The Apostate and his beasts tore mountains from their very place to bee used as weapons against the gods they fought, and even the divine protection the gods had offered no defense against the attacks of the monsters before them.
By the battles end, a few more gods had been erased from existence, and whatever landmarks had stood at the battle site was destroyed. Nothing remained but a ruined landscape, as well as all the bodies of Sarvan and all his followers. The gods had won once more, but not without losing a few of their own to the horde. Once more they had stopped The Apostate and his anti-theists; once again they had saved their place as the rulers of the mortal world.
Their victory though could not be savored for long though. They had now dedicated their attention to finding where Sarvan’s soul had gone, so that they could see to it remaining where it was sent. However, they learned too late that his soul had been thrown to the Abyssal planes, and once more Sarvan fought his way literally through hellish plane to reach the mortal plane. This time there was no hesitation though, as the gods once more descended upon the beast. (DC 45)
They knew though, that they could not simply kill him; the denizens of the Abyssal Planes did not care enough to dedicate all they had to holding back Sarvan, in fact to them they found a sadistic sense of enjoyment to what he was achieving. The gods made one other plan, and instead they focused all the power they had to sealing away The Apostate. A brutal fight, though one that was much easier for the united deities as they only had to face Sarvan; and despite his incredible martial abilities backed up by his immense hatred, it was nowhere near enough power to allow him to defeat the gods united. In the end, the gods sealed Sarvan away deep below the ground, beneath the bloody battlefield they had fought him three times on now. Deep below, they constructed a prison dedicated solely to the purpose of keeping The Apostate back. Finally the gods had found a way to contain him, and now to this day Sarvan remains sleeping deep underground in this prison.
It’s been thousands of years since that day, and now the land has slowly been reshaped by the natural order of the world so that on what was once a ruined landscape stands a swamp, one that is now a place of horror stories. Very few in existence today know of the battles that had been fought upon this scrap of land, and even fewer know The Apostate and his followers had been the one who had fought upon this battlefield. The gods had saw to it that almost every record of The Apostate’s existence had been removed from the annals of history, as they fear the possibility of some foolish person possibly freeing Sarvan from his prison hundreds of miles beneath the soil. (DC 50)
Goals:
Sarvan's goals are very simple, wipe out all non-humans from the world and destroy any last trace of them or their blood. (DC 35)
His other desire though is to eliminate all divine influence and any followers of the gods, with his greatest desire being that all the gods and divine being are wiped from existence entirely. (DC 40)
Sarvan Raelthorne, The Apostate
CE Medium Mythic Human Bellator 20/Teramach 20
HP: 968 (20d10 + 20d12+480+40 Improved Toughness+8 Vile Feats) Fast Healing 6
AC: 40 (10 + 14 Nat. A. + 12 Dex. + 4 Enchantement), Touch 40, Flat-Footed 28
Initiative: +16
BAB: +20/+15/+10/+5
EAB: +10
Fortitude: +30 (+18 + 12)
Reflex: +30 (+18 + 12)
Will: +30 (+18 + 12)
Abilities: Str. 34, Dex. 34, Con. 34, Int. 21, Wis. 18, Cha. 16
Aura: Biting Hatred 30ft
Languages: Common
Immunities: Anathematic secrecy
Melee: (-2 Attack and Damage rolls against Humans or those with the [Human] Subtype)
Unarmed +53(x2)/+48(x2)/+43(x2)/+38(x2)(3d6+28/17-20 plus 1 vile plus 6 Ability Drain of choice)
Feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike (Mythos)
Superior Unarmed Strike (Bonus)
Roofwalker (Mythos)
Leap of the Heavens (Mythos)
Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Two-Weapon Defense (Mythos)
Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Power Attack (Mythos)
Monkey Grip (Mythos)
Improved Sunder (Mythos)
Dodge (Mythos)
Defensive Throw (Mythos)
Combat Reflexes (Mythos)
Stunning Fist (Mythos)
Extra Stunning (Mythos)
Improved Initiative (Mythos)
Weapon Focus: Two-Bladed Sword (Starting)
Cleave (Human Bonus)
Weapon Specialization: Two-Bladed Sword (Human Bonus)
Vexing Flanker (Mythos)
Adaptable Flanker (Mythos)
Natural Heavyweight (Mythos)
Improved Critical (Mythos)
Power Critical (Mythos)
Improved Trip (Mythos)
Great Cleave (Bonus)
Improved Bullrush (Mythos)
Greater Weapon Focus: Two-Bladed Sword (Bonus)
Improved Grapple (Mythos)
Brutal Throw (Mythos)
Power Throw (Mythos)
Throw Anything (Mythos)
Imperious Command (Mythos)
Apostate (Mythos)
Insane Defiance (Mythos)
The Vasharan Legacy (Level)
Improved Natural Armor (Excellency)
Leap of the Heavens (Excellency)
Power Attack (Excellency)
Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting (Lvl. Feat)
Willing Deformity (Level)
Abominable Form (Level)
Deformity: Face (Level)
Overwhelming Critical: Unarmed Strikes (Level)
Devestating Critical (Level)
Vile Natural Attack: Unarmed Strikes (Level)
Insane Defiance (Mythos)
Leap Attack (Level)
Deformity: Skin (Level)
Deformity: Tongue (Level)
Improved Toughness (Level)
The Monster's Mythos:
Exceptional:
All-Consuming Rampage Release- Torn Muscle Ignorance
Casting Stones at Sheeps- Boulder Hurling Jotunn Stance, Lamb-Sniping Pitch
Dismembering Gorebeast Fury- Break Down The Meat, Bone-Rattling Force, Skin Parts Like Water
Fury Is Freedom
Psychotic Sapience-Brutalizing Devolution- Vomit Forth Apocalyptica
Retribution Will Follow- Resistance Is Futile, Provoking The Hellborn
World-Breaker Grip
Fantastic:
Humanity-Reaving Psychosis Echo- Merciful Abyss-Gazing Nightmare Therapy
Joyful Cessation of Retraint- Pouncing On Helpless Prey
Perpetual Rage Engine- Gamma Giant Expansion
Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar- Paroxysmal Demon-God Clangor
Screaming Meat Shield- Transmute Armor To Coffin, Enemies-As-Plowshares Rampage
Solipsistic Reality-Rejecting Devolution- I Can See Forever
Tireless Abomination Vitality- Simmering Slaughter Preperation, It Came From The Depths
Legendary:
Hero-Sundering Hands
Meaningless Force-Of-Nature Devolution- Shrieking Heartbeat Agony
Untamed Apocalypse Shintai
Rampaging Through Papre Cities- Gaia-Disfiguring Hate
Protagonism-Devouring Legend Singularity- Death-Is-Death Conclusion
Exalted:
Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance
Body Of Samsara's Supernal Monster
The Iron Mythos:
Exceptional:
Armament-Forging Soldier Sagacity (Weaponsmithing)- Casual Perfection Master, Excellent Alloy Admixture
Stone Dragon Seed Awakening- Blood-Soaked Seed Germination, The Seed Of Knowledge Sprouts, Violence Takes Root
Empty-Handed Pugilists Knack- Humiliating Heel-Sweep, Impressive Feat Abundance (Arrow-Catching Wits)
Peerless Parkour Athleticism- One Jump Ahead Of The Hitmen, Sure-Handed Athelte Practice
Steel Avalanche Style- Twin Blade Pincer, Ambidexterous Razor Wrath
Fantastic:
Heroic Panoply-Forging Puissance- To Create Wonders Unparalleled
Neutral Jing Expression- Failure-Punishing Patience
Root Of The Stone Dragon- Sprouting In Crimson Soil, The Root Of Knowledge Grows, Violence Stems From Practice
Fearsome Warrior's Blade-Wrath- Half The Size, Twice The Boldness
Leaping Warrior's Assault- Proximity Eliminating Strike
Legendary:
The Stone Dragon's Stem Flourishes- Fibers Quenched With Blood, Knowledge Sprouts And Branches, Perfect Violence Blossoms
Standing Against The Horde- Everywhere At Once
Wind-And-Lightning Execution- The Red Gale Of Death
Exalted:
Zenith Of The Nine Arts- Mastery Of The Basics, The Sublime Way
My Story Doesn't End Here
Mythic Human:
Exceptional:
With An Apostate Yell
Heart-Freezing Atrocity Void
Fantastic:
United We Hate
Termach Excellencies:
Hands Like Bloodied Meat-Hooks
Inhuman [Ability] Proliferation- (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution- Purchased Twice)
Nothing This Big Should Move This Fast
Unassailable Juggernaunt Rancor
Pouncing Beast Ascension
Casting Off Restraint
Obstreperous Shell-Cracking Mien
Primal Jump Perfection
Heroes' Misfortune
Bellator Excellencies:
[Ability] Cross-Training Regimen- (Dexterity and Constitution)
Agency In Steel, Undiminshed
Impeccable Equipment Maintence
Singular Craft-Weaponsmithing-Innovating Prodigy
Singular Craft-Armorsmithing-Innovating Prodigy
Step, Step, Cut
The Stone Dragon's Roots Grow Deep- Mountain Hammer, Stone Vise
Imposing General's Command
Mobility-In-Armor Stratagem
Unmatched In Craft-Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, Bowmaking
Quality Muting Prowess
Biting Hatred (Su.): Sarvan has become absolutely consumed by his hatred for non-humans and the divine to the point that it radiates out of him in a damaging aura, seeming to burn and eat away at the body and essence of those who do not share his heritage as a human. Any non-human within 30ft of him takes 2d6+Sarvan’s Con. Modifier each round, ignoring all resistances, damage reduction, regeneration, and can affect creatures that are ethereal or incorporeal. Those with the [Human] subtype or with an immediate human ancestor (such as a human parent) only take half-damage from the aura. Full-blooded-Humans are immune to this aura. Those with a divine rank take double damage from the aura, while those with divine spells or divine based martial disciplines take damage equal to 2d6+ (Con. Mod. x 1.5) regardless of race.
Divine Enervation (Su.): All divine spellcasters lose the ability to regain spells so long as they remain within 1,000 miles of Sarvan.
The Iron Mythos: These extraordinary abilities are the tales of Sarvan’s warrior abilities. These Mythos each grant him various special attacks, traits, and feats.
Equipment Mastery:*A Bellator's implements of battle are as much a part of him as battle itself is. A first level Bellator gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat, and is not fatigued by sleeping in armor.
A third level Bellator may apply the benefits of any feat that applies only to a single kind of weapon or armor, and may be purchased multiple times to apply its effects to additional weapons or armor, (such as Weapon Focus or Armor Specialization) to all applicable weapons or armor that he is proficient with.
A fifth level Bellator may undergo a special training exercise, lasting one hour, in which he practices with a weapon that has an Enhancement bonus to its Attack and Damage rolls. Noting the ways in which the weapon's magic alters his movements to be more effective, he learns from its tutelage, and can thereafter replicate the benefit through sheer skill. At the conclusion of the exercise, he permanently gains the practiced weapon's Enhancement bonus to Attack and Damage with all weapons. Training with a higher Enhancement bonus overwrites a lower one.
A seventh level Bellator may sheathe drawn weapons and shields as a free action. Two wielded weapons or a weapon and a shield may be sheathed as part of the same action.*
A tenth level Bellator applies the highest current Enhancement bonus he is receiving to Attack and Damage rolls made with a weapon as an Enhancement bonus to his Armor Class, as he learns to turn his specialized offensive training towards blocks, parries, and general battlefield awareness.
The Monster’s Mythos: These extraordinary abilities are the tales of Sarvan’s rage and hatred. These Mythos each grant him various special attacks, traits, and feats.
Scarred Flesh:*It is not befitting a monster to wear the armor of men. As long as a Teramach is not wearing armor (including armor made light enough to no longer be considered armor for some purposes), they add their Strength modifier as a Natural Armor bonus to their Armor Class. This does not visually alter their appearance. Rather, they merely endure the wounds inflicted upon them, inhumanly continuing their rampage even as they are slashed to ribbons or, especially at higher levels, perhaps their skin, hardened by the countless scars of past battles, merely shrugs aside the blades and arrows of those that come to slay them.*
Primitive Brutality:*It is not befitting a monster to wield the tools of men. A first level Teramach gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat (and is proficient with his own unarmed attacks, if that needs to be said).
At 3rd level, a Teramach also gains a curious kind of proficiency in improvised violence. They suffer no penalty for wielding improvised weapons, but only ones that they have acquired in the current encounter (or within the last minute or so, if one balks at the concept of a 'scene' or 'encounter'). After the encounter ends (or a few minutes have passed since all the action has died down), so does the Teramach's proficiency. Their skill is one of passion and adrenaline, inflicting harm without thought, wrenching loose iron bars and stone doors to break their prey in the heat of a single, horrific moment. After a man has been killed with his own dinner table, that table's purpose, and its charm, are gone. The Teramach cannot coax more enthusiasm into it, any more than an artist can simply disgorge inspiration on command.
At 5th level, a Teramach adds a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls made with his unarmed attacks and improvised weapons that his Primitive Brutality grants him proficiency with, and such weapons may bypass damage reduction as if they were magical. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +2, and they also bypass any damage reduction that may be bypassed by a special material (silver, cold iron, adamantine, etc.). At 13th level, this bonus increases to +3, and they also bypass any damage reduction that may be bypassed by a particular alignment. At 15th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 17th level, this bonus increases to +5.
When it comes to official/published marterials, one of the splat-books I've fallen in love with (yet have sadly never had the chance to ever try out) was the Elder Evils book. The stories of some of the beings and their immense power are always a good read for me, some of my favorites being Atropus or Father Lymic. What appealed to me most was that they all lacked divinity of any kind, or at least most of them do.
So, I figured, why not take a shot and combine two of my favorite concepts for one of my favorite roleplaying systems! Here is my take on it. It is not entierly complete, as I do lack a sign for Sarvan; I was trying to figure out one that matches his theme of hatred, anger, and natural affinity for violence, and though the Blood Moon is the most appropriate, I'm trying to think of my own to use. Regardless, here is my attempt at creating one and I hope you enjoy reading about Sarvan!
Do please forgive any mistakes I made with some of mechanics and the number crunching. I did have to dive into some mechanics I had never used, so hopefully they were not butchered too much. If you do enjoy this read and have not looked at any of the mythos designs, I highly recommend it. Even if you don't intend to use those mechanics, the fluff of them all are still very wonderful and entertaining to read.
Sarvan Raelthorne: On the Wrong Side of Heaven
Much of his history has been lost through the ages, records destroyed and removed by many parties. What is known is that Sarvan’s story began in a simple village, way back when the world’s order was being shaped by the hands of gods, and not long after humans had first been made. They were to replace to their vicious ancestors, and were now granted a chance to make something of themselves in this world.
His village was a religious bunch, people who prayed day in and day out to the deities that watched over the world, praying to them for their protection and their mercy. They prayed for better harvest, bountiful hunts, fair weather, and protection from the evils that lurked on the reaches of society. Sarvan was one of the hunters of his village, a man also trained to fight should the need arise and so they may defend themselves from the occasional attacks of monsters. Their life was well, but it seemed that though these humans tried to appease the creators of the world, they were not the race that the gods had chosen to further the events of the world. Sarvan’s village came under attack from the predators that lurked beyond, ravaging and destroying all that there was. Those villagers cried out for mercy, and though the warriors fought hard, the gods showed no care and so the village and all its people were burned, maimed, torn asunder, and flayed alive.
There remained only one survivor by the end of the massacre, gravely wounded and barely clinging to life. Through his sheer determination, his refusal to die, Sarvan was left broken on the ground. He pulled himself from the rubble, and a few days later found himself upon the next village over. With him he dragged the bloodied, ruined bodies of monsters he had stumbled across on his way there, each one torn to ribbons by his bare hands. There he was nursed back to health, oddly enough by the local priests of the village. They told Sarvan how lucky he was to have survived such an ordeal, to have pulled through it all and to have made it to a safe haven; they told him that clearly the gods were watching out for him. (Knowledge [History] DC 32)
He though saw it a different way, as he remembered how, not only did he, but his family and friends, call out for the gods to save them, they were also ignored by those they had been told watched out for those who worshiped them. Sarvan did not see the gods blessing in him, rather it had been his own will and determination that had seen him through the massacre and to this village, with the severed heads of some of the monsters in his hands. It had been his own skill and abilities, not the mercy of the gods, that had allowed him to reach the point he had. He had learned it would not be the gods that would carry the mortals of the world to greatness; it would be their own will to fight and their own ambition that would carry them to deeds that would be legendary.
From that day, Sarvan Raelthorne “The Apostate” was born, as he swore to never swear allegiance to or serve any god, for they would not see mortals to legend. It would be mortals themselves who would achieve such results.
His journeys began with him simple travelling the world, with no real goal in mind other than to improve his own martial abilities. He travelled to wherever he felt he would find violence and war, places where he could test his abilities with his hands and blades; he sought out the places that blood was shed, and made plenty of such locations himself in his journeys. Slowly his legend was built, built upon the corpses of whoever dared to stand in his way; or whoever was simply unlucky to find themselves there. (DC 36)
Soon, he became more than just a warrior, as people began to flock towards the warrior who had denounced the gods. At first, many had believed him to be a blessed warrior, and the many that came to him asked who it was he served. He always had one response, “I bow to none, for none will ever care to listen to us mortals; we should not give them our praise, for they will give us nothing in return.” Though somewhat unsophisticated and even blasphemous to the normal ways of many in the world, he slowly began to build a following. Sarvan was becoming more than a warrior now, he was becoming a leader; people flocked to him so that they too could obtain the freedom he seemed to have found.
He became a hero to many, despite his blood-soaked name. Humanity especially turned to him for his guidance, as other leaders sought to emulate his abilities and prowess, a gift free from the restraints of following the deities who supposedly watched over the world. Sarvan had no issues with offering such guidance either, for he saw it as important that people separate themselves from reliance upon the gods above. He desired to break the hold that the gods had on the mortals of the land, and slowly he began to achieve this goal.
To the point, that even the gods above began to notice. Before, they had simply pushed aside the words of this lowly human, for he was nothing to them and they believed he could not hope to sway even the flies on the rotting pieces of garbage that littered some streets. However, as the years went on, even they were forced to show their attention to the following he was building, as this anti-theist movement began to grow rapidly under his direction. It was most prevalent in the humans that the gods had considered to simply be a throw away race so long ago. (DC 37)
Sarvan’s mission though came to an abrupt end, as at the height of his following, they had gone from simply preaching against the gods to actively stopping their influence. Priests and clerics found themselves being cut down by Sarvan and his followers. They were now adamant about destroying what place the gods had in this world, freeing all mortals from the iron vice that was the grip the gods had on mortals everywhere.
It was a mission though that was not to be completed; for even though the gods may not always care for the mortals who follow them, they would not stand for such an affront to their own pride and honor. They refused to see the mortals they had created and allowed to even exist ruin their influence. Even The Apostate’s almost godlike martial ability was not enough to lead his followers through the attack they found themselves in, beset on all sides by the followers of many gods. Though the battle was brutal, bloody, and rivalled any massacre seen before, Sarvan showing just what human determination and raw skill could achieve on the battlefield as he tore legions of divine followers apart with both his bare hands and the legendary two-bladed sword he wielded (a sword forged by his own hands), it was not to be a victory for the anti-theists. In the end, they saw their mission come to an end on that desecrated ground, a land that some say to this day remains muddy from the amount of blood that was spilt upon it.
The gods forced the humans back into line, and it seemed that they had now brought the world back into the order they had once made. They sought to fix the damage that had been caused by The Apostate and his followers, and it was with the hands of their non-human mortals that they set to this mission. (DC 40)
Again though, they had underestimated the adamantine-like will that Sarvan possessed, and so many did not notice that even death could not hold back Sarvan’s mission to eliminate their influence. Not long after the battle, in the spot he had fallen, Sarvan fought his way out of the Abyssal planes and found his body being reconstructed upon the mortal plane. Alive once more, Sarvan looked around at the ruins that had once been a verdant valley, now littered with thousands upon thousands of corpses, his followers littered amongst the mounds that also consisted of his enemies. To see all his work brought to end by the very thing he now hated so much, to see everything he had shed so much blood, sweat, and tears for brought down brought a feeling he knew well to the surface. Hate; but not just the hatred he had known for so long. No, this hatred swelled to levels even he had never felt before; it felt like the very hellfire he had just recently escaped was now burning inside of him, forever burning away any thought of mercy or sense that he had once before. No, now all he desired was to see everything that had stood against him and humanity broken, beaten, crushed, torn asunder, flayed, annihilated, and obliterated.
It isn’t understood how the gods failed to notice, or maybe to them they just figured it was the work of some other monsters they had created. In a way, they were correct, as The Apostate was now something more than just the human warrior their followers had faced not long ago. Alongside his martial skill and abilities was a new power, a strength that seemed infinitely fuelled by his searing anger. This beast wanted everything that did not share his blood dead, for it was they who had stood against him and brought everything he had held so dear to destruction.
Sarvan, The Apostate, rampaged across the lands, targeting everything that had once stood against him. Villages leveled, towns destroyed, cities burned, citadels broken, temples desecrated, nations annihilated, and entire continents ravaged. If they stood in service to any god, or belonged to anything that was not human, it felt a wrath that even the gods did not know could exist. Sarvan once again was not alone, as again Sarvan seemed to exert a powerful influence upon the humans of the world. Now though it was not a principle that united them, instead it was an infectious rage that drove them onwards to violence. (DC 42)
Finally, the gods had to face the horror they had created, especially when one of their own had chosen to end this chaos. None remember the name of this god who had chosen to face The Apostate in single combat, the god who had been so brave, though some would say foolish, to face him. Perhaps they had simply thought that their own divinity would protect them, that even in defeat that would simply rise again to crush the heretic. The gods watched in horror though, as not only did Sarvan Raelthorne face down and win against this god, many of them noticed how the god was not simply banished back to whatever plane they had existed in. It was gone, completely and utterly. Its priests, clerics, and paladins felt like something inside of them was ripped straight from them, as their powers and abilities all vanished entirely. The god had not simply been banished back to their plane, they were gone; all of the other gods could feel it, Sarvan had truly removed this god from existence.
They could not sit back this time; they could not leave it to their followers to defeat this being that stood against them. Though many feared that they too might face a similar fate, the more powerful of their kind assured them that together they could defeat Sarvan and his followers. The battle that followed, one that strangely took place on the original battlefield that Sarvan and his followers had been defeated upon before, was like something from the tales of the apocalypse. The lands was torn asunder as The Apostate and his beasts tore mountains from their very place to bee used as weapons against the gods they fought, and even the divine protection the gods had offered no defense against the attacks of the monsters before them.
By the battles end, a few more gods had been erased from existence, and whatever landmarks had stood at the battle site was destroyed. Nothing remained but a ruined landscape, as well as all the bodies of Sarvan and all his followers. The gods had won once more, but not without losing a few of their own to the horde. Once more they had stopped The Apostate and his anti-theists; once again they had saved their place as the rulers of the mortal world.
Their victory though could not be savored for long though. They had now dedicated their attention to finding where Sarvan’s soul had gone, so that they could see to it remaining where it was sent. However, they learned too late that his soul had been thrown to the Abyssal planes, and once more Sarvan fought his way literally through hellish plane to reach the mortal plane. This time there was no hesitation though, as the gods once more descended upon the beast. (DC 45)
They knew though, that they could not simply kill him; the denizens of the Abyssal Planes did not care enough to dedicate all they had to holding back Sarvan, in fact to them they found a sadistic sense of enjoyment to what he was achieving. The gods made one other plan, and instead they focused all the power they had to sealing away The Apostate. A brutal fight, though one that was much easier for the united deities as they only had to face Sarvan; and despite his incredible martial abilities backed up by his immense hatred, it was nowhere near enough power to allow him to defeat the gods united. In the end, the gods sealed Sarvan away deep below the ground, beneath the bloody battlefield they had fought him three times on now. Deep below, they constructed a prison dedicated solely to the purpose of keeping The Apostate back. Finally the gods had found a way to contain him, and now to this day Sarvan remains sleeping deep underground in this prison.
It’s been thousands of years since that day, and now the land has slowly been reshaped by the natural order of the world so that on what was once a ruined landscape stands a swamp, one that is now a place of horror stories. Very few in existence today know of the battles that had been fought upon this scrap of land, and even fewer know The Apostate and his followers had been the one who had fought upon this battlefield. The gods had saw to it that almost every record of The Apostate’s existence had been removed from the annals of history, as they fear the possibility of some foolish person possibly freeing Sarvan from his prison hundreds of miles beneath the soil. (DC 50)
Goals:
Sarvan's goals are very simple, wipe out all non-humans from the world and destroy any last trace of them or their blood. (DC 35)
His other desire though is to eliminate all divine influence and any followers of the gods, with his greatest desire being that all the gods and divine being are wiped from existence entirely. (DC 40)
Sarvan Raelthorne, The Apostate
CE Medium Mythic Human Bellator 20/Teramach 20
HP: 968 (20d10 + 20d12+480+40 Improved Toughness+8 Vile Feats) Fast Healing 6
AC: 40 (10 + 14 Nat. A. + 12 Dex. + 4 Enchantement), Touch 40, Flat-Footed 28
Initiative: +16
BAB: +20/+15/+10/+5
EAB: +10
Fortitude: +30 (+18 + 12)
Reflex: +30 (+18 + 12)
Will: +30 (+18 + 12)
Abilities: Str. 34, Dex. 34, Con. 34, Int. 21, Wis. 18, Cha. 16
Aura: Biting Hatred 30ft
Languages: Common
Immunities: Anathematic secrecy
Melee: (-2 Attack and Damage rolls against Humans or those with the [Human] Subtype)
Unarmed +53(x2)/+48(x2)/+43(x2)/+38(x2)(3d6+28/17-20 plus 1 vile plus 6 Ability Drain of choice)
Feats:
Improved Unarmed Strike (Mythos)
Superior Unarmed Strike (Bonus)
Roofwalker (Mythos)
Leap of the Heavens (Mythos)
Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Two-Weapon Defense (Mythos)
Oversized Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Improved Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Greater Two-Weapon Fighting (Mythos)
Power Attack (Mythos)
Monkey Grip (Mythos)
Improved Sunder (Mythos)
Dodge (Mythos)
Defensive Throw (Mythos)
Combat Reflexes (Mythos)
Stunning Fist (Mythos)
Extra Stunning (Mythos)
Improved Initiative (Mythos)
Weapon Focus: Two-Bladed Sword (Starting)
Cleave (Human Bonus)
Weapon Specialization: Two-Bladed Sword (Human Bonus)
Vexing Flanker (Mythos)
Adaptable Flanker (Mythos)
Natural Heavyweight (Mythos)
Improved Critical (Mythos)
Power Critical (Mythos)
Improved Trip (Mythos)
Great Cleave (Bonus)
Improved Bullrush (Mythos)
Greater Weapon Focus: Two-Bladed Sword (Bonus)
Improved Grapple (Mythos)
Brutal Throw (Mythos)
Power Throw (Mythos)
Throw Anything (Mythos)
Imperious Command (Mythos)
Apostate (Mythos)
Insane Defiance (Mythos)
The Vasharan Legacy (Level)
Improved Natural Armor (Excellency)
Leap of the Heavens (Excellency)
Power Attack (Excellency)
Perfect Two-Weapon Fighting (Lvl. Feat)
Willing Deformity (Level)
Abominable Form (Level)
Deformity: Face (Level)
Overwhelming Critical: Unarmed Strikes (Level)
Devestating Critical (Level)
Vile Natural Attack: Unarmed Strikes (Level)
Insane Defiance (Mythos)
Leap Attack (Level)
Deformity: Skin (Level)
Deformity: Tongue (Level)
Improved Toughness (Level)
The Monster's Mythos:
Exceptional:
All-Consuming Rampage Release- Torn Muscle Ignorance
Casting Stones at Sheeps- Boulder Hurling Jotunn Stance, Lamb-Sniping Pitch
Dismembering Gorebeast Fury- Break Down The Meat, Bone-Rattling Force, Skin Parts Like Water
Fury Is Freedom
Psychotic Sapience-Brutalizing Devolution- Vomit Forth Apocalyptica
Retribution Will Follow- Resistance Is Futile, Provoking The Hellborn
World-Breaker Grip
Fantastic:
Humanity-Reaving Psychosis Echo- Merciful Abyss-Gazing Nightmare Therapy
Joyful Cessation of Retraint- Pouncing On Helpless Prey
Perpetual Rage Engine- Gamma Giant Expansion
Post-Traumatic Brutality Roar- Paroxysmal Demon-God Clangor
Screaming Meat Shield- Transmute Armor To Coffin, Enemies-As-Plowshares Rampage
Solipsistic Reality-Rejecting Devolution- I Can See Forever
Tireless Abomination Vitality- Simmering Slaughter Preperation, It Came From The Depths
Legendary:
Hero-Sundering Hands
Meaningless Force-Of-Nature Devolution- Shrieking Heartbeat Agony
Untamed Apocalypse Shintai
Rampaging Through Papre Cities- Gaia-Disfiguring Hate
Protagonism-Devouring Legend Singularity- Death-Is-Death Conclusion
Exalted:
Land-Shaping Limitation Ignorance
Body Of Samsara's Supernal Monster
The Iron Mythos:
Exceptional:
Armament-Forging Soldier Sagacity (Weaponsmithing)- Casual Perfection Master, Excellent Alloy Admixture
Stone Dragon Seed Awakening- Blood-Soaked Seed Germination, The Seed Of Knowledge Sprouts, Violence Takes Root
Empty-Handed Pugilists Knack- Humiliating Heel-Sweep, Impressive Feat Abundance (Arrow-Catching Wits)
Peerless Parkour Athleticism- One Jump Ahead Of The Hitmen, Sure-Handed Athelte Practice
Steel Avalanche Style- Twin Blade Pincer, Ambidexterous Razor Wrath
Fantastic:
Heroic Panoply-Forging Puissance- To Create Wonders Unparalleled
Neutral Jing Expression- Failure-Punishing Patience
Root Of The Stone Dragon- Sprouting In Crimson Soil, The Root Of Knowledge Grows, Violence Stems From Practice
Fearsome Warrior's Blade-Wrath- Half The Size, Twice The Boldness
Leaping Warrior's Assault- Proximity Eliminating Strike
Legendary:
The Stone Dragon's Stem Flourishes- Fibers Quenched With Blood, Knowledge Sprouts And Branches, Perfect Violence Blossoms
Standing Against The Horde- Everywhere At Once
Wind-And-Lightning Execution- The Red Gale Of Death
Exalted:
Zenith Of The Nine Arts- Mastery Of The Basics, The Sublime Way
My Story Doesn't End Here
Mythic Human:
Exceptional:
With An Apostate Yell
Heart-Freezing Atrocity Void
Fantastic:
United We Hate
Termach Excellencies:
Hands Like Bloodied Meat-Hooks
Inhuman [Ability] Proliferation- (Strength, Dexterity, Constitution- Purchased Twice)
Nothing This Big Should Move This Fast
Unassailable Juggernaunt Rancor
Pouncing Beast Ascension
Casting Off Restraint
Obstreperous Shell-Cracking Mien
Primal Jump Perfection
Heroes' Misfortune
Bellator Excellencies:
[Ability] Cross-Training Regimen- (Dexterity and Constitution)
Agency In Steel, Undiminshed
Impeccable Equipment Maintence
Singular Craft-Weaponsmithing-Innovating Prodigy
Singular Craft-Armorsmithing-Innovating Prodigy
Step, Step, Cut
The Stone Dragon's Roots Grow Deep- Mountain Hammer, Stone Vise
Imposing General's Command
Mobility-In-Armor Stratagem
Unmatched In Craft-Weaponsmithing, Armorsmithing, Bowmaking
Quality Muting Prowess
Biting Hatred (Su.): Sarvan has become absolutely consumed by his hatred for non-humans and the divine to the point that it radiates out of him in a damaging aura, seeming to burn and eat away at the body and essence of those who do not share his heritage as a human. Any non-human within 30ft of him takes 2d6+Sarvan’s Con. Modifier each round, ignoring all resistances, damage reduction, regeneration, and can affect creatures that are ethereal or incorporeal. Those with the [Human] subtype or with an immediate human ancestor (such as a human parent) only take half-damage from the aura. Full-blooded-Humans are immune to this aura. Those with a divine rank take double damage from the aura, while those with divine spells or divine based martial disciplines take damage equal to 2d6+ (Con. Mod. x 1.5) regardless of race.
Divine Enervation (Su.): All divine spellcasters lose the ability to regain spells so long as they remain within 1,000 miles of Sarvan.
The Iron Mythos: These extraordinary abilities are the tales of Sarvan’s warrior abilities. These Mythos each grant him various special attacks, traits, and feats.
Equipment Mastery:*A Bellator's implements of battle are as much a part of him as battle itself is. A first level Bellator gains Quick Draw as a bonus feat, and is not fatigued by sleeping in armor.
A third level Bellator may apply the benefits of any feat that applies only to a single kind of weapon or armor, and may be purchased multiple times to apply its effects to additional weapons or armor, (such as Weapon Focus or Armor Specialization) to all applicable weapons or armor that he is proficient with.
A fifth level Bellator may undergo a special training exercise, lasting one hour, in which he practices with a weapon that has an Enhancement bonus to its Attack and Damage rolls. Noting the ways in which the weapon's magic alters his movements to be more effective, he learns from its tutelage, and can thereafter replicate the benefit through sheer skill. At the conclusion of the exercise, he permanently gains the practiced weapon's Enhancement bonus to Attack and Damage with all weapons. Training with a higher Enhancement bonus overwrites a lower one.
A seventh level Bellator may sheathe drawn weapons and shields as a free action. Two wielded weapons or a weapon and a shield may be sheathed as part of the same action.*
A tenth level Bellator applies the highest current Enhancement bonus he is receiving to Attack and Damage rolls made with a weapon as an Enhancement bonus to his Armor Class, as he learns to turn his specialized offensive training towards blocks, parries, and general battlefield awareness.
The Monster’s Mythos: These extraordinary abilities are the tales of Sarvan’s rage and hatred. These Mythos each grant him various special attacks, traits, and feats.
Scarred Flesh:*It is not befitting a monster to wear the armor of men. As long as a Teramach is not wearing armor (including armor made light enough to no longer be considered armor for some purposes), they add their Strength modifier as a Natural Armor bonus to their Armor Class. This does not visually alter their appearance. Rather, they merely endure the wounds inflicted upon them, inhumanly continuing their rampage even as they are slashed to ribbons or, especially at higher levels, perhaps their skin, hardened by the countless scars of past battles, merely shrugs aside the blades and arrows of those that come to slay them.*
Primitive Brutality:*It is not befitting a monster to wield the tools of men. A first level Teramach gains Improved Unarmed Strike as a bonus feat (and is proficient with his own unarmed attacks, if that needs to be said).
At 3rd level, a Teramach also gains a curious kind of proficiency in improvised violence. They suffer no penalty for wielding improvised weapons, but only ones that they have acquired in the current encounter (or within the last minute or so, if one balks at the concept of a 'scene' or 'encounter'). After the encounter ends (or a few minutes have passed since all the action has died down), so does the Teramach's proficiency. Their skill is one of passion and adrenaline, inflicting harm without thought, wrenching loose iron bars and stone doors to break their prey in the heat of a single, horrific moment. After a man has been killed with his own dinner table, that table's purpose, and its charm, are gone. The Teramach cannot coax more enthusiasm into it, any more than an artist can simply disgorge inspiration on command.
At 5th level, a Teramach adds a +1 enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls made with his unarmed attacks and improvised weapons that his Primitive Brutality grants him proficiency with, and such weapons may bypass damage reduction as if they were magical. At 10th level, this bonus increases to +2, and they also bypass any damage reduction that may be bypassed by a special material (silver, cold iron, adamantine, etc.). At 13th level, this bonus increases to +3, and they also bypass any damage reduction that may be bypassed by a particular alignment. At 15th level, this bonus increases to +4. At 17th level, this bonus increases to +5.