Blackwood: Frog's 5 Scars

In sharp contrast to Cannibal Ox and Dust, the taciturn Frog rarely discusses his past or his problems. His story's only clues? The scars he bears, new & old. A favorite past time among the fellowship when he's out of earshot is to speculate and spin yarn.
How did he get them? How long did they take to heal?

A long scar on his brow lends a serious look. Since its nearly faded away, Pin thinks he received as a child. Whatever hit him, hit him hard. His parents were River folk, that's why he's called "Frog".

A ragged swathe of shiny tissue bands his forearm and a missing pinkie finger are surely the sign of a struggle for survival. Cannibal Ox swears up and down that he was raised by wolves. The marks came from a fight for dominance- or fighting a Howler!

The opposite shoulder bears a spearpoint's puckered kiss. Obviously saving his wolf pack from foul hunters. "No good deed goes unpunished" Dust chimes in, "he's obviously called "Frog" because he has no fur!"

Kestrel recognizes a tattoo across the meat of his palms - the Brand of the Hartsworn. A band of Errants dedicated to finding the cairns of Wulf Ember-Eye and his Last 13. They hadn't been heard from in some time.

A burnt orange mark, crooked and deep across his thigh, draws the wildest stories. It's shape and color are ready fuel for Ox and Dust's over eager imaginations. Tall tales tattled aside, Ceryneia suspects the blemish's true origin. The Sun-Eater, a beast chronicled in books written shortly after the Kingdom of Light's fall. Fed bonfires and firecats by Fair Lords should man's dreams of flame encroach too deep.

But they're all just stories anyway.
Right?
 

CULTURE - Woodkin- Keen Ears- Growing up in the Blackwood, Frog gets +2 to Notice checks involving hearing. Superstitious - Frog starts with the Luck Edge and the Superstitious Hindrance.
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - An ancient Howler mask. Scavenged from a cairn in the deep Blackwood.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D6 Agility D8 Vigor D6 Smarts D4 Spirit D8
SKILLS - Athletics D6, Boost/Lower Trait D10, Fighting D8, Notice D6, Stealth D8 Survival D6 Thievery D4
PARRY 7 TOUGHNESS 8 (2)
EDGES - Arcane Background ((Ancestor Worship) Channeling the spirit haunting his mask), Luck (+1 Benny per session), Magical Trinkets (Once per session, Frog has the right magical trinket for the job.), Frenzy (Make 2 Fighting attacks at a penalty.)
HINDRANCES -  Arrogant (Major, Raised in the wilds and a member of the Hartsworn. He's seen the worst the Blackwood has.), Cautious (Minor, "Measure twice, cut once" has never steered him wrong.), Illiterate (Minor, Frog just doesn't have a head for letters.), Quirk (Minor, Fidgets with his Trinkets when he's anxious.), Vow (Minor, To find the Pheasant Dart and slay the Sun-Eater.)
ANCESTOR WORSHIP POWER -  Boost/Lower Trait

EQUIPMENT

Axe (1D6+1D8 Damage), Hauberk (+2 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Buckler, Badge of Errantry, Ancestor Beads, Errant's Kit, Full helm

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here. 

This backstory was generated using the Ultimate RPG Backstory Guide by James D'Amato. You can find that here. 

Blackwood: Breathless Pin

Once upon a time there was a young lady who was apprenticed to a  master clockmaker, she showed glimmers of genius and was quick to solve a problem. As long as there was work, everything went well, but when the master's patron was bankrupted she was dismissed, and the master told her she could go wherever she wanted. 

Her parents were dead and she no longer had a home. So, she went to her brothers and asked them to support her until she found a patron. The brothers, however, had hardened their hearts against her and said "What can we do with you? You are too old to find a husband! Begone and make your own way!"

Left with nothing but her tools, she set out into the Wider World. 

Crossing heath, mountain, and sea, she ended her travels in the city of Farwater Beach. There she finds what she was seeking: a home. The apprentice clockmaker built beautiful works, and became a journeyman, and in time she was considered a master.

This bothered her, however, because she had not ascended through the ranks in a traditional manner. To be a master she needed to construct a masterwork. No one could doubt her ambition as she set out to build an automated man.

As word of her project and her progress spread, it caught the attention of those in high places. The clockmaker was approached by an envious noblewoman who bought what she could not make and took what she could not buy. Three times the clockmaker refused the noblewoman, irritated with each interruption as she creeped nearer completion. 

The noblewoman was determined that if she could not own the clockwork man, then no one could. Through her influence a gang of ruffians burned down the clockmaker's workshop with her inside. Delirious from breathing in the smoke, she loosed the incomplete masterwork and fell. Smothered by the burning remnants of the life she had built.

The workshop had become an oven, though they would fare better without air than their creator, the extreme heat played havoc with his springs and sprockets. Surely he would have perished there too, if a fellowship of errants hadn't fought their way into the building to make sure there were no victims.

CULTURE - Automat - An incomplete masterwork that can't be duplicated. Construct (Doesn't need to breathe/sleep/eat, etc.), Cannot Speak (Amelii's prototype larynx was unfinished when the "accident" happened), Clueless (He wasn't raised in a traditional manner, -2 on Common Knowledge rolls), Dependency (His key is in a place he can't reach, someone else must turn it), Noisy (His gears and springs grind,whir, click and clack. -2 on Stealth rolls)
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - A locket containing a picture of their creator, Amelii Rozse.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D8 Agility D8 Vigor D8 Smarts D6 Spirit D6
SKILLS -  Athletics D8 Fighting D8, Knowledge (Classics and Music) D6 Lockpicking D6  Repair D4, Weird Science D8 
PARRY 8 TOUGHNESS 8 (2)
EDGES - Arcane Background (Clockwork), Aspiring Student (J'Osudeau)
HINDRANCES - Code of Honor (Major, Breathless Pin is dedicated to the Errant virtue of Benevolence, maybe he can teach Cannibal Ox.) Loyal (Minor, Dust and Lady Ceryneia pulled him from the fire. Now no one gets left behind.), Vow (Minor, To avenge the death of Amelii. Kestrel has leads.)
CLOCKWORK POWER - 10 PP - Warrior's Gift (Pin can imitate the fighting style of anyone he's seen)

EQUIPMENT

Lancing Sword (1D8+1D6 Damage, +1 Parry, Ranged 2/4/8), Hauberk (+2 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Buckler (+1 Parry), Badge of Errantry

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here. 

Blackwood: Kestrel

A shabby, little town at the end of the Elk River, Lehm was once known for its fine pottery. Lead by Burgomeister Franz Fluss, the town prospered under a firm and fair system of taxation for the common good. In the Elder King's absence, taxation and tithe turned into corruption and tyranny. Chief Sentinel Jurgen Shining cited the oncoming winter and seized goods in excess for years.When that fierce winter finally came howling, the provisions distributed were meager. The townsfolk did without and many perished. After that the town started to dry up as people moved away, the river changed course, and their stranglehold cinched tighter. Jurgen never suspected his doom would take flight from young Kestrel's bow.

Orphaned by that cruel winter, Kestrel dealt out justice her deceased friends and family would never know. Eluding capture, she traveled the riverways and trails in the company of outlaws, pagans, and Errants until she fell in with Dust and Breathless Pin. Despite their counsel she still hunts the wicked the Sentinels can't, or won't, touch.

CULTURE - Woodkin - Kestrel starts with a +2 to Notice, the Luck Edge, and the Superstitious Hindrance.
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - A kestrel's embroidered silhouette attached to her gambeson, a gift from her departed parents. Looking a bit careworn she kisses it for good luck.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D6 Agility D8 Vigor D6 Smarts D8 Spirit D6
SKILLS - Athletics D8, Fighting D6, Healing D6, Investigation D4, Notice D10, Shooting D10, Stealth D6, Survival D8, Tracking D8
PARRY 5 TOUGHNESS 6 (1)
EDGES - Assassin, Aspiring and Worthy Student (Falcon School), Luck, Marksman
HINDRANCES - Emotional (Minor, Kestrel followed her heart after Dust.), Superstitious (Minor, A hundred little rituals for good fortune), Wanted (Major, The Sentinels come down hard when you kill one of their own.), Vengeful (Minor, Nothing angers Kestrel like the guilty escaping their just reward.)

EQUIPMENT

Bow (2D6, Ranged, 12/24/48), Hatcher (2D6, Thrown 3/6/12), Dagger (1D6+1D4, Thrown 2/4/8), Gambeson (+1 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Errantry Kit, Hearthbread, Cap Helm

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here. 

Blackwood: Lady Ceryneia, Warden Between Wild Wood and Worked Stone

Born to  an Errant Classicist and Pagan Huntsman, Ceryneia isn't a noble in any traditional sense. She is afforded the title at the Neighbors' insistence. Specifically the self styled "High Lord" Manu, who pursues her hand in... matrimony? Eluding her erstwhile suitor, she fell into Kestrel and Breathless Pin's company.

CULTURE - The Margin - No one's too sure where Ceryneia came form, and she's tight lipped about her past. She starts with the Ambidextrous Edge.
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - Her antlered cowl, crafted by her own hand.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D6 Agility D6 Vigor D6 Smarts D8 Spirit D8
SKILLS - Fighting D8 Healing D8 Herbalism D8 Knowledge (Beastcraft, Classics, Elves, Religion) D6 Notice D8
PARRY 6 TOUGHNESS 6 (1)
EDGES - Ambidextrous, Arcane Background (Herbalism), Aspiring and Worthy Student (Stag's Crown Treatise), Two Fisted
HINDRANCES - Heroic (Major, Despite Ceryneia's disdain for both hapless humans and malicious elves she doesn't want to see anyone hurt), Outsider (Minor, Not really home anywhere), Zealot (Minor, "Don't stray from the path, you idiot."), Vow (Minor, Once the 3 Signs have come to pass, she must marry High Lord Manu. The Elder King's absence is the first sign.)
HERBAL DRAUGHTS (her draughts are teas, steeped in a gourd) - 5 PP each - quickness, boost/lower trait, armor

EQUIPMENT

Quarterstaff (1D6+1D4 Damage, Parry+1, Reach 1), Gambeson (+1 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Errantry Kit, Hearth Bread, Hatchet, Herbalist's Kettle, Sling (2D4 Damage), Antlered Cowl (as a cap helm)

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here. 

Blackwood: Dust, the Night's Own Child

Hailing from the far edge of the Elder Kingdom, Dust has come a long way. Falling in with Cannibal Ox and company in to Walk the Margin. Their companions do know their mother was also Elfmarked, and rumored to dabble in witchcraft. They've also learned that you don't ask about their past because once they start talking about home, they won't stop. You would think all the abuse and bullying at the hands of peers would dampen Dust's spirit, instead it seems to have had the opposite effect.

CULTURE - Elfmarked - The circumstances of Dust's birth is the seed of local gossip and stories in their hometown. Their dull, black eyes and fuzzy antennae betray otherworldly parentage. Dust gains +5 PP for Arcane Background (Elfpact) and -2 Cha from stigmatized appearance.
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - A headband given to them by their mother before leaving home. Keeps the antennae out of their eyes.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D4 Agility D8 Vigor D6 Smarts D6 Spirit D8
SKILLS - Fighting D8  Investigation D10 Notice D6 Knowledge (Elves) D6 Pact D10 Stealth D6 
PARRY 6 TOUGHNESS 6 (1)
EDGES - Arcane Background (Elfpact), Beast Sight (Moth eyes provide low light vision), Leaf Step 
HINDRANCES - , Enchanted (Minor, When the moon is full Dust transformed into an eclipse of various moths), Emotional (Kindness) (Major, Dust is moved to provide succor and kindness that they've hardly experienced.), Big Mouth (Minor, Naive and quick to trust.)
ELF POWERS - 20 PP - blast (a powerful gust), confusion (hallucinogenic pollen)

EQUIPMENT

A Flintbladed Hatchet (1D4+1D6 Damage, Thrown), Gambeson (+1 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Elf Totem x2, Errantry Kit, Hearth Bread x3

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here. 

Blackwood: Jacek Brandt (Cannibal Ox)

Nothing spoke to young Jacek like the folkstories and dime novels of Errants on the Margin. Every caravan that made its way to the big city of Span, there was always more stories to pore over and memorize. More daydreams and fantasies for the giant Jacek to act out, more topiaries to shatter with a sloppy imitation Elder King's Palm. Once he was old enough to leave, he left home to make his delusions reality. Unfortunately the stories never provided instruction on where to start. So he faked it until he made it, leaning on his impressive size and the moniker "Cannibal Ox" he earned a fearsome reputation that is largely bluster. Lady Iron took pity on him and trained him in the Tortoise School before cutting him loose.

CULTURE - Riverfolk - Growing up on the move from city to city afforded Jacek a taste for the wider world. And taste everything he did. Jacek starts with Persuasion D6 and the Brawny Edge as well as the Mischievous hindrance.
BADGE OF ERRANTRY - A drinking vessel carved from an auroch's horn.
RANK - Seasoned
STATS - Strength D6 Agility D8 Vigor D12 Smarts D4 Spirit D6
SKILLS - Athletics D6 Fighting D6 Intimidate D10 Knowledge (Battle) D6 Notice D6 Persuasion D8
PARRY 6 TOUGHNESS 10 (1)
EDGES - Aspiring and Worthy Student (Tortoise School), Brawny (Cannibal Ox is a big boy)
HINDRANCES - Mischievous (Minor, Jacek doesn't like to break character, even when it makes things worse.), Overconfident (Major, There's nothing Cannibal Ox can't or won't do!), Pacifist (Minor, you can make a principled argument for nonviolence. Cannibal Ox quails at the sight of blood.), Vow (Minor, Jacek is quick to swear himself to right wrongs.)

EQUIPMENT

3 Section Staff (2D6 Damage, Parry+1, Reach 1), Gambeson (+1 armor to torso, arms, and legs), Errantry Kit, Hearth Bread x2, Hachet, $145 set aside for a Treasure Map.

The 7 Errants are a fellowship of heroic martial artists and wanderers for Eli Kurtz' Blackwood setting - a mash-up of Wuxia action and frontier fairy tales. You can find the book for sale here and a free quick start bundle here.