Aldimar

Aldimar Bjarnssonn

Concept: The Melancholy Prince, Caste: Eclipse Anima: A whirling maelstrom of stones that stack upon themselves to reform an ancient edifice of the First Age, silhouetted with an eclipsed sun in the background

Attributes
Strength	•••		Charisma	••		Perception	••
Dexterity	•••••		Manipulation	•••		Intelligence	••••
Stamina	•••		Appearance	••		Wits	•••

Abilities
Archery	•••• (Mounted)		Athletics	••
Awareness	••		Brawl
Bureaucracy	•		Craft
Dodge	•••• (Mounted)		Integrity	•••
Investigation	•		Larceny
Linguistics	••• (Poetry)		Lore	•••• (Teaching)
Martial Arts			Medicine
Melee			Occult	••
Performance			Presence	••
Resistance	•		Ride	•••• (Horses)
Sail			Socialize	••••
Stealth	•		Survival	•••
Thrown			War
Other Abilities: Lore (Teaching, Incarna, Northern History) Caste Abilities: Bureaucracy, Linguistics, Occult, Ride, Socialize Favored Abilities: Archery, Dodge, Integrity, Lore, Survival Supernal Ability: Lore

Other Traits

Willpower: 5

Merits: Familiar •••, Influence •••, Language ••• (Old Realm, High Realm, Old Realm), Quick Draw •••• (Archery), Resources ••

Flaws: Megrims (Defining • Willpower Dif 5 to resist • Triggers with severe emotions, botch on roll, or when out of Willpower)

Exaltation Traits

Essence: 1 • Personal Motes: 13 • Peripheral Motes: 33 • Invested Motes: 0

Sanctify Oath: 10m, 1wp. May elect to cause anima flare if desired. Storyteller determines exact curse, based on oath broken. Diplomatic Immunity: Shades, spirits, demons, and Fair Folk may not attack Eclipse or allies if they are approached on legitimate business; entities will observe local hospitality. May attempt to provoke Eclipse or allies into breaking the hospitality, however. Eclipse Charms: May learn non-Solar Charms with the Eclipse keyword for 8xp.

Limit: 9 • Limit Trigger: Lost Glory: When Aldimar gives someone else credit for his deeds or someone else attributes his greatness to another, roll 3 dice and add successes to Limit.

Intimacies

Minor (+2) • Major (+3) • Defining (+4)

Principles

• The past was glorious and more perfect than the world now (Defining) • I seek my freedom above all things (Major) • Deception and lies are the tools of cowards (Minor)

Ties

• My familiar Frostmane (Affectionate Love • Defining) • My Academies in Monument (Devotion & Responsibility • Defining) • My cousin Eetu (Hero Worship • Major) • Ancient Historical Sites (Contentment and Peace • Major) • Historical works and epics (Quiet Enthusiasm • Major) • "Uncle" Jod (Familial Affection • Major) • Sesus Tobin (Hatred • Major) • My mother's legacy and memory (Deep Sadness • Minor) • My body of poetic works (Embarassed Pride • Minor) • My mentor Soaring Hymn (Awed Respect • Minor) • My family (Protectiveness • Minor) • The elegant Seven Veils Toccata (Awed Respect • Minor) • Learning new languages (Fascination • Minor)

Combat Traits

Health Levels: -0 • -1 • -1 • -1 • -2 • -2 • -2 • -2 • -4 • INC

Soak: Chain Shirt Natural: 3 • Armored: 3 • Total: 6 • Hardness: 0

Defenses: Parry: 2 • Evasion: 4 • Resolve: 3 • Guile: 4

Weapons
Weapon	Accuracy	Damage	Defense	Overw
Composite Bow	-2/+4/+2/+0/-2	+9	-	1
Tags:	Lethal, Archery (Long), Mounted
Hand Crossbow	-2/+4/+2/+0/-2	+7	-	1
Tags:	Lethal, Archery (Medium), Crossbow, Mounted, One-Handed, Piercing, Slow, Concealable
Dagger	+4	+7	+0	1
Tags:	Lethal, Melee, Thrown (Close)
'
Tags:

Charms

Excellencies: Archery, Athletics*, Awareness*, Bureaucracy, Dodge, Integrity, Linguistics, Lore, Occult, Resistance*, Ride, Socialize, Survival Archery: Phantom Arrow Technique, Sight Without Eyes, Trance of Unhesitating Speed, Wise Arrow Athletics: Graceful Crane Stance, Monkey Leap Technique Awareness: Sensory Acuity Prana Dodge: Reed in the Wind Integrity: Enduring Mental Toughness Linguistics: Flowing Elegant Hand, Letter-within-a-Letter Technique Lore: Harmonious Academic Methodology, First Knowledge's Grace Resistance: Ox-Body Technique (x1) Ride: Flashing Thunderbolt Steed, Master Horseman's Technique, Seasoned Beast Rider's Approach Survival: Food-Gathering Exercise

Experience

General

Experience Total: 25 Experience Unspent: 9

Solar

Experience Total: 23 Experience Unspent: 6

Crafting

Experience Total: 0 Experience Unspent: 0

Aldimar Charms • Aldimar Experience

Dramatic Systems

Lore

• Introduce a Fact: Once per scene, may attempt to "know" something relevant to specialties and backstory
  • Introduce Fact: Introduce the fact to the Storyteller. Storyteller may veto.
  • Dice Pool: Intelligence + Lore • Difficulty set by ST
  • Results: Success allows character to introduce fact into the scene.
• Challenge a Fact: ST may call for a reflexive Intelligence + Lore roll to discern if the character knows a given or introduced fact is false.

Equipment

• Composite Bow: Ranged Accuracy: Close -2, Short +4, Medium +2, Long +0, Extreme -2 (n/a w/o Charms) • Tags: Lethal, Archery (Long), Mounted
• Hand Crossbow: Ranged Accuracy: Close -2, Short +4, Medium +2, Long +0, Extreme -2 (n/a w/o Charms) • Tags: Lethal, Archery (Medium), Crossbow (+4 to raw damage of withering attacks), Mounted, One-Handed, Piercing (1i to ignore 4 armor soak), Slow (action to load; may be flurried with attack), Concealable (Larceny dif 1 to hide on person)
• Daggers (2): Tags: Lethal, Melee, Thrown (Close)
• Chain shirt: x
• Clothing: Fine clothing, fur mantle
• Possessions: Small pouch of coin
• Jewelry: Silver ring, owl pendant (belonged to his mother)
• Frostmane: Fine tack and harness, saddlebags

Merits

Frostmane (Familiar •••)

God-Blooded Horse
Essence: 1 • Willpower: 4 • Join Battle: 4 dice • Speed Bonus: +4
Personal Motes: 50
Health Levels: -0 • -1 • -1 • -1 • -2 • -2 • -2 • -4 • -4 • Inc
Actions: Feats of Strength: 8 dice (may attempt Strength 4 feats) • Senses: 5 dice • Read Intentions: 5 dice • Stealth: 5 dice
Resolve: 3 • Guile: 1

Combat

• Attack (Kick): 6 dice, Damage 14
  • Brutal Kick: Enemies human-size and smaller that take 5+ damage from Frostmane's withering attack are knocked back one range band and fall prone.
• Combat Movement: 12 dice (see Swift-hooved)
• Defenses: Evasion 3 • Parry 1 • Soak: 3 • Hardness: 0

Merits

• Swift-hooved: Frostmane applies double-9s on all rolls to disengage, withdraw, or rush.
• Share Senses: Aldimar can share Frostmane's senses by concentrating and taking no other actions, as long Frostmane is somewhere within long range of him.

Charms

• Measure the Wind: 5m • Simple • Instant. Frostmane can use this charm to determine the nature of it’s rider. This reveals, broadly, what the individual is — a mortal, a demon, another god, a denizen of the Wyld, and so forth. If an Exalt is scrutinized, Measure the Wind provides a strong “feeling” of their patron, allowing the Charm to tell a Solar from a Dragon-Blooded (and, incidentally, to tell what Elemental Dragon or Maiden a Terrestrial or Sidereal derives from, although the Castes and Aspects of other Exalts remain indistinguishable to the Charm). Measure the Wind can pierce mundane disguises, but not any deception created or reinforced by Essence, such as Solar Larceny Charms or Lunar shapeshifting.
• Wind-Touched Hooves: 10m, 1wp • Simple • Indefinite. Frostmane may travel overland at a speed of sixty miles an hour. He may run over quicksand, rivers and even the surfaces of lakes unimpeded. He may make leaps of up to two range bands as part of his movement. In combat or a test of speed, he adds two successes on all movement rolls, in addition to ignoring hindering terrain.
• Soul of Winter: Permanent. Frostmane is immune to all cold damage and negative environmental penalties arising from a frozen or cold environment. His hooves strike frost where they fall, putting enemies off-balance. Frostmane may spend 4m on a withering attack to increase the damage of his attack by +2. This has no effect on a decisive attack or on targets protected from the cold.

Background

• In the icy Frostveldt Plain outside of Svartsten there is a herd of horses sacred to that god of that plain, Samehfadh, who appears as a great horse of frost and stone.
• Because it is a tradition among the best riders and horsemen of Svartsten to stalk the herds and make off with one of their foals to train to take a mount, Aldimar decided to do likewise when he was not quite an adult, though was obviously a skilled horseman already.
• After nearly a week of getting near the herd and making them accustomed to his presence, he saw the foal he wanted: a beautiful grey-blue foal with a white mane. Eventually, he made his move, roping the foal and then escaping back home, where he was lauded for his find.
• Several days later, when he was training with Soaring Hymn, a furious blizzard blew in on them, heralding the arrival of Samehfadh. He was angry at Aldimar's theft of what turned out to be a god-blooded son. The god of the Frostveldt apparently bred a god-blooded foal to grow into a strong stallion or mare to lead his herd every generation.
• Fortunately, Samehfadh was unsure of his ability to defeat Soaring Hymn, and so went away, grumbling.

A Prince of His People (Influence •••, Resources ••)

• The warrior-nobility of Svartsten do not consider Aldimar a very good prince. He is not blooded in combat, he prefers peaceful contemplation over warlike strategy, and he does not enjoy the rough-and-tumble past-times of most of his kin.
• In contrast, however, Aldimar takes the literacy of his people very seriously.
• He financially supports no less than three small academy for the children of the working class (two in the Smokes, one in the Wanderers), and he himself shows up to teach at these academies himself.
• He also sponsor's the Prince's Lottery once a year - a drawing in which the people submit the names of the cleverest among them who have been trapped by lives of want and toil.
  • The five people whose names are drawn from the lottery gain a year in which Prince Aldimar pays for their living expenses, allowing them to not work while they learn to read and hone other skills, which he sees they get the opportunity to learn.
  • When the year is done, he assists them in finding places of work where they can use their new skills.
• As a result, Aldimar wields a great deal of influence both among the wealthy - for many of their best new workers were provided by him - and among the poor.

Polyglot (Language •••)

• Aldimar speaks the Skytongue natively.
• He has learned High Realm from court diplomats.
• He has encountered and learned Old Realm in his studies.
• He also speaks the tongues of several tribes of Icewalkers.

Quick on the Draw (Quick Draw ••••, Archery)

• Aldimar's fine, sure, quick hand with a quill or brush extends also to his skill with the bow, thanks to Soaring Hymn's lessons. He suffers no Defense penalty for taking the Draw/Ready Weapon action. If he flurries a Draw/Ready Weapon action with an Attack action, the flurry penalty is reduced to -1 rather than -3.

Important Places

The Amber Cup Academy (E7)

Terrace of the Wanderers • Monument
The Amber Cup is intended to be something of a supplementary education site. While it is Monument tradition to send one's children to the monasteries of the city to learn, many families do not do so. Either their children are needed to help care for other children while parents work, or they are needed to work themselves - many of the children of this and lower districts don't have the luxury of time to attend the lengthy classes at the monasteries. In response, Aldimar created the Amber Cup, which holds two sessions: one class from the early morning to noon and another from early evening until the eighth bell or so (after which groups of children are accompanied home by the academy's staff). Each child enrolled is provided with two meals and a single outfit of good clothing, so the Amber Cup has swelled in its attendance by many of the folk who see the academy as preferable to sending their young up to the monastery in patch-cloth at times of day when their families cannot afford to see them away.

The Stone Hawk Academy (F2)

Terrace of the Perfumed Clouds • Monument
An academy established for the young of the district's poor, the Stone Hawk is already quite crowded, serving as it does not just the young of the Smokes, but also many of the Out Wall families. The children in this academy range from ages 6 to 12, roughly. Aldimar ensures they are given one set of good clothing each, as well as fed two meals while they are in attendance. He knows that many simply send their children for the free food and garments, but that's good enough for him - the children here learn quickly, and some of them even show such promise that they are graduate to the Ice Stallion Academy. This academy is a three-story building, with a small food garden on the roof.

The Ice Stallion Academy (F4)

Terrace of the Perfumed Clouds • Monument
The third of Aldimar's academies, it is named for Frostmane. This academy is a small two-story building in the Smokes, one tucked away in the deeps of the district between the eastern road and the river. The Ice Stallion academy is where many of the very promising students from the Stone Hawk "graduate" to. Aldimar provides a small allotment of funds to the students here, paying them for their time while they learn and sharpen their educations - a necessity in a district where most of the children of this age bracket (12 to 15 or so) are already working to help support their families. The locals are oddly confused by this, but most of them shrug and suggest that if the crazy horse-prince wants to throw his money to kids for keeping their noses buried in books, who are they to argue?

Important Figures

Family

	King Bjarn Ragnarson King of Svartsten • Father While a fierce-visaged warrior makes for an excellent hero-king, he does not make for the best father. Oh, he isn't just a savage, of course; he wishes nothing more than for our people to join the larger world. But above all, he is ambitious, and that ambition always extended to me. I do not hate him, but I know I am a terrible, terrible disappointment to him, with interests in neither war nor politics nor economics. He thinks I do not see him at court events, watching me, subtly shaking his head at me occasionally. But I do. I know.
	Queen Gyselle The Witch-Queen of Svarsten • Mother (Deceased) My mother was a mystery to the court. Father returned from war with her riding beside him, an owl on the pommel of her saddle, and she never left her side thereafter. Though she was the second of his wives, she bore him a child before the queen he left in Monument, Ludaya, could manage to do so (mostly because my mother conceived me when she first met my father, away at war). She was fey and feared, keeping company with her owl. It was whispered that she knew things she shouldn't have been able to know, and practiced dark magics. Some even say that she learned her arts from the Witch of the Woods. For myself? I loved her deeply, and she fostered in me my love of the wildernesses and ancient places. She understood my dark moods and praised my poetry. If she was a witch, her powers did not save her, for she died from a sickness of the lungs. Though she died five years ago, I still grieve her loss terribly.
	Queen Mother Kalmenia The Dowager-Queen of Svarsten • Grandmother My grandmother and I have a...polite relationship at best. She never liked my mother, and some of that has bled into her relationship with me. She did first train me to hold a sword, however, though I hated it and frequently fled or hid from those childhood training sessions.
	Queen Ludaya The Silver-Queen of Svarsten Ludaya was jealous of my mother - she'd married my father right before he departed for war, and when he returned, he brought with him another bride, already pregnant with an heir! She outright despises me, as well, and constantly works to drive a wedge between myself and her first-born daughter, Ithyah.
	Princess Ithyah Bjarnsdottir Princess of Svarsten Despite her mother's dislike of me, Ithyah and I have been on-and-off friends over the years, though we have also been bitter rivals before as well. She has just turned 19, and is a blooded warrior.
	Queen Anja The Sword-Queen of Svarsten Queen Anja and I do not get along. Frankly, she finds me contemptible - to her, men ought to be warriors, and a man my age should have already written a name for himself in the blood of his enemies, or died trying. She doesn't hesitate to use nasty names for me - unman and eunuch are her favorites - but she does not dare to do so around the others of my family.

Friends

	Frostmane Loyal Companion • Familiar (•••) Frostman is my first and only real companion. I spend hours with him everyday, and he always has some kind of feedback to give on my poetry (he hates free verse, it seems - the quickest way to get his approval is rhyme, no matter how doggerel). I frequently sneak him into the gardens at the palace, letting him roam and eat what he likes - including Queen Gyselle's prized chrysanthemums. The Master of Stables is a bit frightened of him, and the stable-boys are in awe of him, so I'm the only one that takes care of him, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
	Soaring Hymn Friend & Teacher A friend of both my mother and father, I remember going with my mother to visit the monasteries that are Soaring Hymn's home and responsibility. Shortly after my mother's death, I came back and she put me to work to take my mine off of my grief. I scribed for her, and in return, she taught me a weapon no one had ever really shown me how to use before: the bow. Though it upset my father, I love the calm, steady hum of the pull and release of the string, and the foresight its distance from battle lends me. To this day, Soaring Hymn and I remain friends.
	Eetu Cousin My cousin and role model through much of my childhood. I knew instinctively that father wished that I was as good a son as he is - he's a warrior and takes his responsibilities with the city guard quite seriously. He also has a head for business that is quite enviable, enough so that he'd take the prestigious role of quartermaster for the guard. Despite this, Eetu has never mocked or bullied me; in fact, he has stepped up to those who would before.
	Jod Unofficial Uncle "Uncle" Jod has always been my sanctuary. When I was a boy, and Grandmother or the arms-master were frustrated at my inability (or inattention) at learning the arts of war, I would sometimes run away, fleeing the palace entirely. The tall towers of the Guilds Towers always drew my attention, and I was a boy of ten or so the first time I wandered into Jod's workshop and hid from my Grandmother's men behind the plunging basin in his shop. He found me, and we had snacks and talked (the fact that he had a duck as a pet was nothing short of glorious to me as a child). Mother found me and complimented Jod on his work, and gave me permission to return there in the future, which I often did. All his apprentices and other workers know me, and generally ignore me when I show up, fuming or near tears, to take my customary seat in one corner of the forge. He even set up a small table there for me, where I write the absolute worst poems on purpose. He did seem to like the one I wrote that's meant to be recited to the rhythm of his hammer on anvil, though.
	Ryken The Sword-Monk Though I've known him for years, I don't truly feel as though I know Ryken. He is quiet, secure in his skill, and looked up to by others for his gifts. I find his calm to be very soothing, and sometimes when I come to the monastery, it's to visit him, not Soaring Hymn. We don't talk much, though, which is sometimes just what I need.
	Seven Veils Toccata Artful Personage Quite honestly, I was very dazzled when I first encountered Seven Veils Toccata. When I was younger, I just assumed that everyone else saw in her what I did, and that's why they were so taken with her: beautiful, artistic, graceful, a quick wit, and someone who created beautiful music. As it turns out, most of the court claimed that's what they appreciated in her, but mostly wanted to bed her. I'm not confused about that - even I can see that she is incredibly lovely. I just...feel like intimate time would be wasted when we could instead be singing or discussing art, and I sort of feel like it would end with her being disheveled, and I can't bear the thought of that.