Qa
 | |
| Level | 4 |
| Race | Wild Gnome |
| Class | Rogue 2, Barbarian 1, Fighter 1 |
| Armor | Masterwork Leather, +1 Buckler |
| Weapon(s) | Spiked Chain |
| Hometown | The Scarlands |
Born: ????
Died: 27 Wintercusp 1400 FI Killed by Scrags near Onarach Landing.
Killed by a Scrag troll. 2/1/1 Rog/Barb/Ftr
The basics of Qa's background. The party might have picked this up through casual conversation over the weeks that they traveled together.
Wild gnome warriors don't train for individual combat, but rather have developed a system of small squad tactics, which 5-8 gnome teams fighting together, and each member having a certain role to play, and usually a secondary function as well. Remember, gnomes are small creatures, so they do less damage, they weak racially, but they're smart. They live in a land populated by 6 and a half foot orcs, 12 foot giants, and so forth.
Qa worked in an offensive role in one such team, which was sent to scout ahead of the main body of the band. They came upon a small orcish encampment. Some members of the team wanted to go back and swing wide to avoid the conflict, as the band was low on resources at the time. You pressed for action, though slightly outnumbered, and convinced the team to go along with you. You attacked, but were defeated and captured, losing two gnomes in the battle. You spent the next two days captive among the orcs, who cruelly extracted information from all of you about your band. You managed to escape, but not before two more of your group had fallen victim to orcish questioning. The survivors managed to carry warning of pending orcish attack in time to save the band, but the losses were heavy. After the battle, many considered the entire affair your fault, and cast an osteracon against you. AFter the count, you were sent into exile by a substantial margin.
You wandered for a time in Gildenhome and Hakan, but felt especially an outsider among so many strange gnomes. In time you learned of a city, Wydmoor, far to the west, often described as a haven for the desperate or alone. You have spent many months on that journey, and will soon arrive.
Qa is not his real name, it is a nickname because - as Trope dictates - Gnomish names are closer to familial histories and take forever to recount.
The Scarlands are a massive, arid, rocky wasteland in the middle of Gildenhome. It is home to a large number of very brutish creatures. Giants. Orcs. Gnolls. It is also the largest per-capita concentration of Gnomes outside of Hakan. Grathel'feggn - The Wild Gnomes - make up almost 60% of the non-monster population of the Scarlands. While most Gnomes returned to Hakan after it was restored as the Gnomish homeland, the Grathel'feggn stayed behind in their harsh and forbidding adopted homeland. Dwarven Law exists not at all in the Scarlands, except to an extent near the Dwarven War College in the far north.
Wild Gnomes are not so different from their Hakani cousins in many ways. If anything, they are even more zealously freedom loving, eshewing the comforts of urbanity to make their living among the hard wastes. Though they live in Gildenhome, most would consider their home simply to be "The Scar." They speak Gnomish, although a unique dialect, and maintain Gnomish traditions and customs, adapted for wilderness life. They wander in small, semi-nomadic bands of - at most - a dozen families. Hakani Gnomes look at their wild cousins with a mixture of bemusement and confusion. Gnomish cultural solidarity pretty much keeps Hakani Gnomes from outright disdaining the Grathel'feggn, but they certainly do not understand why they insist on fighting out a meager existence in the wastes when the restored homeland is always open to them.
Leaders of many of the larger bands of the Grathel'feggn are officially granted several representatives Paggebedalon, the Gnomish parlement, but only in time of great crisis to they make the trip. Their votes are held and used "in trust" by the Speaker for the Gnomes.
Combat: Qa, like many of the Grathel'feggn, use unusual weaponry, especially those that provide reach. (As they are so often outsize by their foes in the Scarlands) In this case, Qa is built around the Spiked Chain. He is fast and agile, and his reach weapon along with his improved init. and combat reflexes feat allows him to rush into the fray early, pull of a sneak attack, then maintain control of large areas or choke points, controlling the momentum of the battlefield. Rog levels are primarily for evasion, sneak attack, and some key skills. (Some points should probably be shaved somewhere and put into survival, as well).
SPOILER: Qa's Character Sheet
