Leonard

[Leonard]

L E O N A R D

Details
Alias: Klaus Frankenberg
Real Name: Leonard
Race: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 35 years old
Height: 5'8"
Weight: 126 lbs

Birthdate: 9th of Cinderfall, Searing, 86th Year of the Age of Steel
Birthplace: Free Cities of the North

Profession: Con-artist
Housing: Frankenberg Residences

Fluencies: Common, Echitharese
Conversationals: None
Ineptitudes: None

Appearance
Leonard is a man of average height, with medium-length dark brown hair and black-colored eyes. He has an athletic build physique. He tried to keep the altercations on his body to a minimum (Permanent tattoos, piercings, etc.) to make it easier for him to blend in and harder for people to identify him based on identifying marks.

Personality
Leonard is a complex individual whose personality often shifts depending on the mask he wears. He can switch from easygoing to cold and ruthless in an instant. However, some traits remain constant—his adaptability, quick thinking, and a touch of paranoia. Those fortunate enough to earn his trust describe him as ambitious, loyal, protective, authoritative, and hot-headed.

But those unfortunate enough to face his wrath see a different side: a cold, ruthless man, unsympathetic to those who wrong him, regardless of age. Rather than going straight for a kill, Leonard prefers to bleed his enemies dry, making them suffer mentally or financially before delivering the final blow—or pushing them to do it themselves.


History

► Show Spoiler

Let me start my story with the question “what will you do if you win the lottery of life?” Born into a filthy rich and influential family, loving parents, servants at your beck and call, getting the best treatment in every establishment you visited, generally speaking having the best that the world could offer. It’d be nice right? And no, don’t get me started on that commoner bullshit about those upper class who envies the commoners because of their seeming freedom in life, with no responsibility, restricted lifestyle, sample the best foods and drinks, play boring lawn games, the political back-stabbings, ass-kissing, and boring social events. That’s probably a rumor started by a commoner who envied the upper class. Personally, if I won the lottery of life, I’d let my imagination run wild. The sky’s the limit, right?

But what if you won the other “lottery” of life. Deadbeat dad, absentee mother, jackass brother, thieving cousins, born into debt, develop a gambling habit, and well, you know the rest. It’d be great if there’s a reset button to life. But, sadly real life doesn’t work that way. A guy once said, “Life isn't fair, so you have to play the best game you can with the cards you're dealt.” Great insight, unless you’re dealt a ‘six feet under’ card, there’s not much you or anyone could do. Guess that guy got a point though, play the best till your last.

The truth is life hands out reset buttons. You just need to be keen enough to see it. For me, it came in the form of Old Joe. He’s not even that old and I don’t even know his real name, it’s just easier to say Old Joe than “that bearded fiddler guy at the corner of King’s street near Mama Karla’s shop”. I never noticed it but Old Joe’s been there ever since I remember, playing his fiddle as people passed him by. One of the things I envy about Old Joe is that he got free goodies from Mama Karla’s employees. Growing up in a household like mine, who wouldn’t want it. As days passed I finally mustered up the courage to approach him and asked him to teach me. It was quite hard. Days have gone by and the fiddle became my escape from reality. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

It’s not unusual for Joe to be gone for a day or two. But it’s been a week and he’s still not back. So I began searching his usual haunts. That’s when I found his fiddle hidden in one of his usual haunts, his dirty and battered hooded cloak. I guess he must’ve been dealt the ‘six feet under’ card. That guy wouldn’t let that fiddle out of his sight. So I took his fiddle and coat and began walking back toward the corner of King’s street. I stopped a few meters away from Old Joe’s usual place, the rumbling of my stomach reminded me that I haven’t eaten since morning. I didn’t know what came over me at the time, but I duck into a nearby alley, put on Joe’s cloak and made my way toward his usual spot, and began playing the fiddle. A passerby tossed a coin at my feet without even looking in my direction. The rumbling in my stomach grew louder. I looked up and against my better judgment made my way toward Mama Karla’s shop. I was five steps away from the door when it swung open. A young girl came out and handed me a package, she smiled and tried to look under the hood, but I kept my gaze downward. As soon as she disappear behind the door I let out a sigh of relief and slowly made my way back to Joe’s usual corner. I finished the content of the package in record time. Havingn’t felt that satisfied in quite a while, with the rumbling of my stomach ceasing, I resumed playing the fiddle.

As if something clicked in my head, it dawn on me that if I could pass on as Old Joe, then what would stop me from being somebody else? It quickly became an addiction. Making and casting aside identities when it suites me. Not having to be tied down by anything. I could be anyone I want to be as long as I’m convincing enough. I learned early on that I could get by without having to change my appearance. I only need to be convincing enough and be good at memorizing.

Long story short, I ended up in Kalzasi under the alias of one Nikolas Von Meyer, sole heir of his family’s winery back in Atinaw. It’d be easier to explain the amount of fortune that I brought with me to Kalzasi without looking guilty. My addiction to chasing thrills and adrenaline puts me on the radar of the denizens of the Midden. Well, not the whole of Midden per se, but one person. He turns out to be a vengeful, egotistical, and narcissistic bastard who couldn’t stand being humiliated at the gambling tables. Turns out that bastard is the leader of a group of like-minded individuals (more brawns than brains though) and decided that he would bleed me dry of my inheritance as revenge. One thing led to another and I found myself confined in a dark small room within the Midden.

Which lead me to my second major reset button, my new cellmate, a member of both the Zaichaer Defense Corps and Order of Reconciliator, Specialist Klaus Frankenburg. Poor lad must’ve done something to garner that egoistical bastard’s wrath. Days turned into weeks. In a way, I saw myself in Klaus. The lad’s a good kid came from a not as dysfunctional family like mine, made a few wrong decisions, and ended up here. His only regret is that he should have gone back home when he got the letter that his grandfather fell ill. He last saw him when he was five years old when his parents divorced and his mother took him to Kalzasi. He found the letters that his mother had hidden and wanted to make amends. So, he wanted to tie up some loose ends (Which unfortunately is THE vengeful, egotistical, and narcissistic bastard), making sure that what trouble his mother gets into won’t follow him back to Zaichaer. But as fate would have it he ended up here, stuck in a dark small room with me.

Life sure has a twisted sense take on the phrase “carrot on a stick”. After the countless shitty hand that life threw my way, it dealt a good hand and like the helpless addict that I am, I welcomed it with arms open wide. The events leading up to my escape and the escape itself felt unnatural, everything lined up so perfectly, as if someone or something out there wanted me to escape. I’m not the kind of person who would leave anything up to chance, with the stars aligned in my favor and the magical mumbo jumbo up my sleeve (The summoning arcana, and that’s a story for another day. It’s the closest call I’d have with death. Took me almost two seasons to recover from the trauma of it, truly an eye-opening experience.) I escaped with my head intact.

Looking back, I should have at least given Klaus a proper burial. It was after all thanks to him that I have a home to go back to in Zaichaer and a new life. So, I did what any other sane person would do in my shoes, raid Klaus’s ‘base of operation’ (A room at an inn). After resting and turning the room inside out I found the piles of letters that he stashed away under the floorboard along with a silver ring edged with the black and electric blue gemstone, a rusty pendant, a diary, and a couple of thousands of dranari. I’m not the kind of person to go skirt-chasing with death, so after getting some much-needed shut-eye, I scoured through the various dead-drops throughout the city and left instructions along with several dranari for my crew (Courtesy of the late Klaus Frankenberg). Then I hop on an airship bound for Zaichaer.

To be honest, Zaichaer is the kind of place where “you need to see with your own eyes instead of hearing stories”. I decided to stay for a few days in the city, to get a feel of the place while further studying the letters. After establishing another dead drop for my crew, I hired a carriage to take me to Klaus’s township. Truly hit the jackpot on that one, turns out Klaus wasn’t exaggerating when he said that his grandparents were loaded. It’s a win-win situation for everybody (Well maybe except Klaus’s cousins). I got a nice place to settle down (perks included) and the old couple was reunited with their long-lost grandson.

And maybe, just maybe, I could finally have a place to call home.

[Leonard]

S K I L L S

Skill	Skill Level	Proficiency
Deception	25/100	Apprentice
Summoning	25/100	Apprentice
Spycraft	25/100	Apprentice
One-Handed: Blades	25/100	Apprentice
Leadership	20/100	Novice
Instrumentals	5/100	Novice

Thread	Points Awarded	Points Spent	Running Total
Starting Package	+110	0	110
Leadership	+0	-10	100
Deception	+0	-25	75
Summoning	+0	-25	50
One-Handed	+0	-25	25
Spycraft	+0	-20	5
Instrumentals	+0	-5	0
Approval Reward	+15	0	15
Spycraft	+0	-5	10
Leadership	+0	-10	0

[Leonard]

I N V E N T O R Y

Items
1. General Starting Package
Items:

• 1 Set of Clothing (Cloak or Coat and footwear included)
• Flint & Steel
• A rusty pendant which belonged to Klaus' mother
• Klaus Frankenberg's Abjinurium Edged Ring

► Show Spoiler

Abjinurium Edged Ring
Item Type: Runeforged Artifact
Quality: Greater
Charges: 4

A silver ring that is edged with the black and electric blue gemstone of abjinurium. It was presented to Klaus upon his completion of Reconciliator Training. The ring is specifically tied to Klaus’s aether signature and thus its abilities can only be unleashed by Klaus. The band of the ring has three pictograph runes inscribed upon it. The ring's abilities can be activated by pressing the corresponding pictograph rune and then clenching the fist. The ring is reinforced with steel qualities and can stand up to a considerable amount of duress before breaking. It is imbued with the following properties:

Provided the ring is not damaged, charges expended return at the rate of 1 Charge every 4 hours.

Abjure (1 Charge) - By pressing the first rune on the band, it will release a pulse of energy drawn from the abjinurium edge. This pulse will nullify the effects of (1) Apprentice or lower level magic that is not actively being channeled. The effect is completely extinguished. Magic that is actively being channeled by a mage or an artifact is simply suppressed for up to (1) minute before returning to normalcy. This ability can only affect (1) magical effect at a time. Multiple effects require multiple uses of Abjure.

Shield (1 Charge) - By pressing the second rune on the band, the properties of the abjinurium edge will be projected into a shield roughly the size of an average Heater shield , centered on the ring. Magic up to the Apprentice level of mastery will be blocked by the shield. It will last for up to (1) minute.

Sanctuary (2 Charges) - By pressing the third rune on the band of the ring, the bearer can be coated in a layer of abjuration type magic. His body is fully covered and he is rendered protection against magic up to the Journeyman level of mastery. This effect will last up to (5) minutes.

Note: Abjinurium artifacts presented to Reconciliators are embedded with their aether signature. That means that unless Leonard goes to a Runeforger who can remove the aether signature, the abilities of the ring are inaccessible to him. This is likely to be a difficult, expensive, and potentially treasonous offense in Zaichaer as it raises questions as to where the individual came by the ring.

Housing



Ledger
1. Starting Gold, +500 gp. 500 gp Total.