Dor, the Half-Orc Paladin

2006-03-15T14:04:00.000-05:00

DnD Online Games - Arphahat's Game

This is excerpted from a private thread of a game in which I took part.

DM	03-05-2006 12:55 AM

Arphahat's Game

Ok
as a traveler you start out in a room in the inn connected to the
church of Flarnanghn or however you spell it... So start roleplaying!

Arphahat

03-05-2006 03:06 AM

Introduction

A
massive creature lies on a bed under several blankets, snoring loudly.
With a snort, he sits upright abruptly. His eyes are wild and angry, as
they scour the room. The creature blinks several times in rapid
succession and slowly the anger fades from his eyes. It was a dream, a
dream that has haunted him since he discovered the truth.

Though only fourteen, Dor is huge. At 7 feet tall and 400 pounds, he is
an large even for a Half-Orc. His black, shoulder-length mane is wild
and unkempt, despite his best efforts. He runs his fingers through the
mane now, remembering the dream...

He had found his Pa. The location and details changed from dream to
dream, but the premise remained the same. This time, the encounter was
in the middle of a field at night, during a thunderstorm and Pa was
twice as tall as Dor. Pa smirked at Dor and Dor swung his massive
greatsword in response, severing Pa's head... only the body suddenly
still had its head and was laughing; laughing at Dor.

“Stop laughing at Dor!” he shouts, recalling the dream. He turns and
sits with his feet on the floor, head in his hands. He rubs his eyes
and thinks.

“Harky says Dor ree-flect-on-dream,” he mumbles. “Ask Har-o-nus for guide.”

Harkin was the kindly old cleric who raised Dor from birth. The typical
“fat-friar”, his smile and gentle eyes could always calm the seemingly
unending sea of rage that resided in Dor. He grew to love Dor as his
own son, and Harkin was the only father that Dor ever knew. When Dor
had asked about his birth parents, Harkin was truthful as he always was
when he spoke with Dor....

Dor's mother, Cathra, had died during childbirth while in the care of
the church. Cathra had been a simple peasant in a little village that
no longer existed; it had been destroyed during an Orc raid. The same
Orc raid in which Cathra had been brutally assaulted and raped by an
Orc. She was taken prisoner, but had found a means to escape. She had
stumbled upon the sanctuary where Harkin would later be charged with
her care.

The rage that developed in Dor concerned Harkin, and he had pressed the
trainers to instruct his young charge in the ways of a paladin. Though
they were hesitant, Harkin's persistence eventually convinced them to
appease the old cleric. While Dor did not have much in the way of
intellect (he took after his father is this regard), he did have a
simple faith and a remarkable insight. He would never be well received
as an ambassador, but the trainers came to realize that he would still
be a remarkable paladin. Upon the completion of his training, Dor was
ordained into the ranks of the Paladins of Heironeous; Harkin had never
been so proud.

The sanctuary in which he had lived could no longer provide any
additional training; he would receive further instruction from the
Temple of Heironeous in Saltmarsh. So, Dor and Harkin bid one another a
teary farewell (Dor had never been apart from Harkin) and Dor set off
on his own for the first time. He had arrived at the inn last night.

Dor stands and dresses in his simple clothing. His shirt and trousers
are nothing of any note, but his cloak, sword and scale mail all bear
the insignia of Heironeous. Around his neck hangs the simple wooden
icon made for him by Harkin. Though worn with age, the wooden symbol of
Heironeous is treasured by Dor due to the creator of the object.

After a quick breakfast at the inn, Dor carefully re-reads the simple directions and heads off toward the Temple of Heironeous.

OOCThe
dream and details known to Dor are not necessarily the truth. Instead,
it might be possible that Cathra had been embarrassed by an affair she
was having with an Orc and made up the story. Or, perhaps Harkin had
found him on the steps of the the church and made up the story about
his mother. At any rate, the point is that if you feel that there is a
better plot tie in or a story-arc, you can feel free to change the
details of what really happened as compared to what Dor believes
happened.

Also, my intent with this character is to play a different style of
Paladin (obviously.) It won't be anything like a “Jedi-style”
character; instead, Dor is very angry and is simple-minded. I don't
want the character to become a fallen paladin, so please work with me
when it comes to questionable calls. I am the type of player who
actually enjoys keeping OOC information separate from what the
character knows, so anything that we discuss OOC would not be used to
Dor's advantage IC.

Edit: Also, after looking at the other characters in the group, that
Dor is the healer. Would it make sense for me to switch his skill in
"Sense Motive" to "Heal" then?

Edit 2: Oooh... and 250lbs really isn't that heavy for someone who is 7' tall. Could I up that to 400?

Arphahat

03-07-2006 12:27 AM

The Temple of Heironeous

Dor
carefully considers the directions written on the crumpled parchment.
After more than a few wrong turns, he arrives at the temple.

The temple is impressive to behold, at least it is to Dor. Standing
before the towering structure, Dor stares toward its peak with a gaping
mouth. Much bigger than home. He staggers up the front steps of the temple, still amazed at its height, and strides through the double-wide entryway.

Inside, Dor's amazement continues. Ornately decorated, the interior is
embellished with elaborate murals on a tall ceiling supported by
massive pillars, life size paintings on the walls and statues
everywhere.

Dor sees a man that appears to be a cleric who is performing some task,
oblivious to his arrival. Looking down at the parchment again, Dor
calls out: “You Wy-deeg?”

The cleric appears slightly taken aback by Dor's inquiry, disrupted
from his task at hand. “N.. No, I am not Wiedig. He is in the back,” he
says, pointing toward a passage at the back of the temple.

Dor grunts his appreciation in the direction of the cleric and abruptly
turns toward the passage and walks to it. Wiedig is the head of the
Temple of Heironeous in Saltmarsh and is the individual that Dor was
instructed to contact. Dor's advancement as a Paladin would continue
through the instruction provided by Wiedig and the completion of the
quests he assigned.

An older man in elaborate vestments sits at a desk, quill in hand,
scribbling on a parchment. When Dor enters, he looks up from his
writing briefly, then returns his attention to the parchment.

“Ah, you must be Dor”, he says slowly, distracted by the words he is
composing. “I have many important tasks, quests, to discuss with you.
The first being,” he says as he sets the quill into its ink bottle and
rolls and seals the parchment, “to deliver this message for me.”

DM	03-07-2006 04:54 PM

The message is adressed to a tailor named Golan.

Arphahat

03-07-2006 08:49 PM

The Quest

Dor reaches forward and takes the parchment.

“Take this important message to Golan. He is a tailor on the other side
of town. He will not be surprised to see you. When you are finished,
please see Cadwyn; you likely passed him on the way to see me. He will
have additional tasks... quests... for you.”

Dor drops to a knee, bows his head and says, “Dor hon'rd ta bring glory
ta Har-o-nus widda completion of dis quest,” as he was taught to do.
Then, he quickly stands, turns and heads toward the exit.

While Dor was not surprised by his “quest,” he was disappointed.
Throughout his training, he had been routinely dismissed as a
simpleton, as one who could only accomplish the most trivial and least
important of tasks. This was not the first “important quest” that he
had been sent on...

At the sanctuary, where Dor had lived, his first “quest” during his
training had been to clean the stables. Followed by unloading the
wagons. Numerous times, he had delivered important messages which were
simply routine. Dor had returned to Harkin after that first day, angry
and incensed.

As he walked through the streets, looking for the tailor, Dor remembers
the conversation he had with Harkin. “Harky, they no want Dor! They
make Dor do stupid choirs! Why, Harky, why?!” he spit the words out,
breathing heavily, fighting back the tears and rage. Harkin put a
gentle hand on Dor's shoulder and gave him a little smile. “Dor,” he
said soothingly, “the choirs you completed today weren't stupid. They
weren't trivial. Though you may not have seen it, every task you did
today helped one of our order, and in helping our order, you served
Heironeous in his battle against Hextor. Not every quest can be about
saving the world. But every quest is important and should be treated as
such. Do well on the little tasks and you will be trusted with the
larger ones.”

Dor approaches the tailor's. He was disappointed not by the quest, but by the way in which it was assigned. Every quest important and should be treated as such.

Dor enters the tailor's shop and walks to the man who appears to be the
owner. He says, “Message for Golan,” extending his hand holding the
parchment. Harky would be proud.
Dor had taken Harkin's words to heart and had earned a reputation at
the sanctuary as being extremely dependable; he would earn that
reputation again in Saltmarsh.

OOC

Let's do a sense motive check for this encounter with Golan, with the
previous encounter with Wiedig and an extra roll for any extra
characters Dor might encounter.

“Sense Motive for Golan”

Dice Roll:

Dice Roll: 1d20+6
d20Results: (18) + 6 (Total = 24)

“Sense Motive for Wiedig”

Dice Roll:

Dice Roll: 1d20+6
d20Results: (4) + 6 (Total = 10)

“Sense Motive for someone else”

Dice Roll:

Dice Roll: 1d20+6
d20Results: (5) + 6 (Total = 11)

DM	03-08-2006 12:20 AM

You notice that Golan looks kind of nervous but that is all.

Arphahat

03-08-2006 01:11 AM

With
a slightly trembling hand, Golan takes the message from Dor. He turns
as he opens it and begins to pace as he reads the contents. Dor waits
patiently, hands held behind his back, swaying ever so slightly from
leg to leg, anticipating that a responding message will be needed.

Dor notices when Golan finishes and asks, “Do you wanna send message
back wit Dor?” pointing at his chest with his index finger on the
annunciation of his name.

“Y-Yes, I suppose that would be appropriate,” Golan responds. He starts looking around for parchment and ink.

Dor decides to look around the shop while he waits.

Spot

Dice Roll:

Dice Roll: 1d20+2
d20Results: (3) + 2 (Total = 5)

DM	03-08-2006 01:00 PM

Actually:
Golan reads the letter and then turns to regard you and asks if you
have any armor that you might want to wear for the task the the Cleric
sent you for or any weapons if so he advises you to fetch them from the
inn (which is just a few buildings down the street) and then return,

Arphahat

03-08-2006 08:38 PM

“Dor
ready now. How can Dor help Golan?”, Dor says, as he had dressed in his
full armor for his first visit with Wiedig. Wiedig must have been
testing Dor with his seemingly insignificant wording of this quest,
trying to see if Dor would react. Dor had passed the test.

DM	03-08-2006 08:49 PM

Just wait here then. Uumm you can sit over there he says pointing to a bench next to the door.

Arphahat

03-08-2006 08:59 PM

Dor sits on the bench, grasps his wooden holy symbol and meditates upon the virtue of patience.

DM	03-08-2006 09:11 PM

As you are sitting on the bench a wizard comes in and accepts a job from the tailor. It sounds like they are going to help you.