Chulyen
From Ditjes&Datjes
Chulyen, previously known as Running Mouse and Talks with Foxes is a female Deva Shaman of the Fox Spirit, and a member of the posse that worked under Marshal Sneed to clear Tombstone of it's most visible criminal elements in the Taming of Tombstone adventure.
When Marshal Sneed was fired by the sheriff and a new marshal appeared in town, Running Mouse resigned from service as deputy marshal and started off with her real adventuring career, in the The Prospector's Daughter adventure.
Contents |
History
Childhood
Running Mouse was born to the foremost adviser to the chieftain of the fox tribe. During her childhood, she clearly showed she was predestined to become one of the greatest advisers the tribe had ever known, the Ethos and Logos of her ideas were of very high quality, being reminiscent to the advises of some of the more revered ancestors.
Her only problems were a lack of Pathos and a lack of courage; even though her reasoning about the necessity of taking chances (both socially and physically), she never dared executing the plans herself, preferring to let others take the risk.
Training
The Elders of the tribe knew she would never be able to fix the lack of Pathos, but they did have a solution for the lack of courage. They apprenticed her to Talks with Foxes, the tribes foremost spirit talker. He taught her almost everything she knows, but still she lacked courage.
Spirit Walk: the Betrayal
At the end of her training, she was told to go on a spirit walk. This dangerous ritual would have forced her to show courage, but it backfired. One day before she should have left, she summoned the tribes Guardian Spirit, and forced it to 'protect' her during the spirit walk. This caused a part of the guardian spirit to break off, giving her a spirit companion, but leaving the tribe weaker. During her spirit walk, she discovered this had happened, and did not dare return to the tribe. She fled to Tombstone instead.
A year in Tombstone
Once having arrived in Tombstone, she immediately fell into a depression. She spent most of this depression on the floor of the The One-Eyed Nymph Saloon, drinking whiskey in too large quantities. When the saloon was closed, she left for her tent in the Tent Village, where she would only get out in order to leave for the saloon again.
There was only other event of notice during this time, which occurred at the second day after arriving in town. She went to the local tattooist and had her fading spirit walk paint redone as a tattoo, signifying her resignation with being on her spirit walk until the end of her life.
Divine Providence
She was present in the saloon when the Taming of Tombstone adventure started. She eventually saw the necessity of her involvement, and considered it divine providence since it occurred exactly one year after her spirit walk started. After this occurrence, she suddenly found the courage to start changing her personality and since then she served the posse as the resident healer.
Personality
Running Mouse is known to her friends as Mouse, as she would like them never to know of her shame. Upon their first meeting, Althaea asked her whether she knew 'The Truth' , she answered: "If you're searching for the truth, I'm the wrong person to ask", misunderstanding the actual question.
Mouse officially holds all of the Fox' aspects in an equally high esteem, but, as with all her tribe's shamans, holds some virtues to be higher than others. She always held Remembrance, Mercy and Compassion as the most important, while she never had a real use for Courage, Cunning and Service. These latter virtues are currently developing as she gains a bit more hands-on experience with the less desirable aspects of society. Innocence, Creativity and Justice always came automatically to her, Justice and Innocence going hand in hand, and Creativity somehow a given.
She is not afraid to verbally express her disgruntlement with how justice is sometimes invoked in order to legitimize unjust decisions. This also ties in to her problem with the Gods generally and the Aedonian Church specifically: she considers the concept of "Aedon is the one and only god, so whatever we do in his name defines right" plain wrong. One of the worst examples of this follow from the type of judging as done by Judge Sneed, who asks the gods for "guidance" and follows this blindly, without considering whether the gods are actually qualified to make those decisions. Running Mouse believes as Rattlesnake teaches: "Justice is blind and should always be meted out by, and on the responsibility of, the wise, lest it be abused for Evil". She does, however, also realize this is considered heresy and will not openly criticize this method to any but her friends. She did try to get a new Judge appointed in Tombstone, but this gambit failed miserably.
Mouse feels worst when such Justice leads to a legalized murder, such as a death penalty. These punishments are always forced upon the defenseless, and often executed too soon, without the possibility of rehabilitation, thus letting Justice overshadow Compassion, a higher level virtue. She has, up till now, always shunned such public executions, only showing up that evening to remove the body (if that is still not done, which it never is) and perform a cleansing ceremony. She refuses to kill intelligent enemies for similar reasons.
During combat, she prefers to hide behind Captain Dapper Vanhelden and her spirit companion, and refuses to kill non-monster enemies, due to her abhorrence of the death penalty.
Current Events
Fox Tribe leaves Fox
Mouse recently discovered her tribe has fallen to Chaos, abandoning the ways of the Fox. She discovered this during The Prospector's Daughter adventure, where the posse came upon a field of slain fox tribe members. Ashamed One who Fishes for Salmon with Spear, an old childhood friend that almost made Shaman instead of her, was found slain on that field, in full shaman's clothes, holding the totem that had belonged to Talks with Foxes during her training. The battlefield also showed that recently a ritual had been undertaken there to forcibly remove a spirit companion from a shaman, of which Salmon was the logical recipient.
This most heinous of rituals, closely related to the way in which Mouse obtained her own Spirit Companion, send her into a rage, and, having followed the tracks, she found out two members of the fox tribe had performed it. They were using the power, gained from the removal of the spirit, to summon forth a Demon from Chaos, making their crime even greater. These two told Mouse everyone had either converted to worshiping Chaos or was branded as traitor to the tribe. She responded: "Those that have left the tribe are not traitors, but those that have left Fox are", after which they asked her who she was. When she responded with her full name (which was the first time the posse heard it), they visually responded to that name and fled.
Rise of the Hyena Tribe
During the Cult of the Glassmakers adventure, Rabbit who hops without sound came to warn Mouse of the Hyena Tribe, the name of the separatists of the Fox Tribe. She also obtained some more information from him about them:
- They are led by Strong Bear, the Fox Tribe's chieftain's son
- They have ousted most of the Fox Tribe from their lands
- They are hunting the shaman's of the Fox Tribe to obtain their spirit companions
- They had dispatched a warband to capture Running Mouse and remove her spirit companion
She took the last warning to heart and started to prepare the posse for the possibility of a raid by some demons, undead or whatever unnatural threat she could come up with. Althaea was willing to help, and Garret Jr. was even happy about the prospect of being attacked for [[some reason.
Regretfully, the posse was not as well prepared as they could have been, seeing as how the Hyena Tribe showed up simultaneously to The Glassmakers, who were raiding the alchemist. During this fight, it became clear that the Hyena Tribe worship Yeenoghu, the demon lord of Gnolls and savage butchery. They did not seem aware of his demonic stature though, making the subversion even more dangerous. After the fight, interrogation revealed they were attempting to rebuild Fox, hunting down Fox shamans to "liberate" their companion spirit.
During the same adventure, the posse went to Gateborne Abbey, which should have been a Aedonian monastery, but evidence of heresy was ever present. In the basement, a statue of Yeenoghu was found along with a powerful gnoll priest, showing the demonic subversion of religions a lot more widespread than Mouse was entirely comfortable with. Because of this, she slowly became aware that returning her tribe to the real worship of Fox was going to take a lot more than simply convincing her tribe.
The First Cracks
The posse also found a kitsune down there, who was apparently leading the cult of the glassmakers. These powerful fey are often mistaken as agents of the Fox Spirit, mainly because they look like a fox. Mouse's teacher told her once that they all used to be agents of Fox, primarily embodying the trickster aspect of Fox. Most went too far though, and thought that betrayal was the ultimate trick. Nevertheless, they should always be treated with the utmost respect, for nobody but they know for sure whether the betrayal was a trick after all.
The kitsune in question was captured on Mouse's request, but when Mouse told the rest of the party it was not for interrogation purposes --claiming anything she said was suspect anyways--, Althaea killed her. While Mouse was scolding Althaea about this rash decision and the possible consequences of her action, Captain Dapper threw the body on a nearby fire, out of a total lack of respect. Because of this, Mouse became extremely disappointed with the other members of the Posse, which is generally seen as the first indication of the problems to come.
Goals
Even though mouse is officially still on her spirit walk, she intends to return her tribe to its former greatness. She currently has decided the first step has to be rooting out the Evil that introduced Chaos into the tribe. She realized her actions may have left Fox weakened in such a manner to not be able to resist it, and will, if necessary, give up her current career in order to save her tribe. She will need conclusive proof it was her fault, and that giving up her spirit companion will work, though, something she will not easily believe.
Achievements
Apart from making new friends and having send a message to the Chaos elements in her old tribe, no real steps towards achieving her goals have been made.
Others about Running Mouse
- "Who?" - Anonymous childhood friend
- "Mouse is a sheriffs best friend. A real asset in the battlefield, and always good for some healing spirit-mumbo-jumbo. I don't think she really enjoys the fighting, but she doesn't complain either. I don't know what really does enjoy her though, she's a bit of a mystery... but that's because she's an elf right?" - Garret Jr.
- "By the gods, she's grumpy!" - Judge Sneed
- "Mouse is hiding so much of her true self. I hope she will still be as nice when it eventually all comes to light." - Althaea Truth Seeker
- "Apparently she too is capable of going to questionable lengths to achieve what she considers necessary..."- Althaea Taint Slayer
Current Stats
====== Created Using Wizards of the Coast D&D Character Builder ====== Chulyen, level 21 Deva, Shaman, Zealous Demagogue, Eternal Alpha Spirit Companion Spirit: Stalker Spirit FINAL ABILITY SCORES Str 13, Con 15, Dex 12, Int 24, Wis 26, Cha 10. STARTING ABILITY SCORES Str 11, Con 13, Dex 10, Int 16, Wis 18, Cha 8. AC: 32 Fort: 27 Reflex: 32 Will: 34 HP: 127 Surges: 9 Surge Value: 31 TRAINED SKILLS Nature +23, Insight +25, Perception +23, Religion +24, Arcana +25 UNTRAINED SKILLS Acrobatics +11, Bluff +10, Diplomacy +12, Dungeoneering +18, Endurance +12, Heal +18, History +19, Intimidate +12, Stealth +11, Streetwise +10, Thievery +11, Athletics +11 FEATS Divine Secretkeeper: Ritual Caster Level 1: Auspicious Lineage Level 2: Tail of Service Level 4: Stalker Spirit Adept Level 6: Divine Secretkeeper Level 8: Restful Healing Level 10: Skill Focus (Arcana) Level 11: Nimble Spirit Level 12: Tail of Remembrance Level 14: Tail of Justice Level 16: Tail of Cunning Level 18: Tail of Compassion Level 20: Tail of Courage Level 21: Tail of Mercy POWERS Power User Choice: Spirit Pact Power User Choice: Cunning Fox Shape Power User Choice: Healer's Mercy Power User Choice: Tail of Compassion Shaman at-will 1: Watcher's Strike (retrained to Spirit of the Tempest at Level 19) Shaman encounter 1: Twin Panthers Shaman daily 1: Spirit of the Healing Flood Shaman utility 2: Spirit Call (retrained to Arcane Mutterings at Level 10) Shaman encounter 3: Lightning Panther Spirit (retrained to Spring Renewal Strike at Level 4) Shaman daily 5: Earthrage Spirit (retrained to Cleansing Wind of the North at Level 8) Shaman utility 6: Sudden Restoration (retrained to Guided Shot at Level 13) Shaman encounter 7: Call to the Blood Dancer Shaman daily 9: Ancient Warlord's Inspiration Shaman utility 10: Primal Gust Shaman encounter 13: Spirit of the Killing Shot (replaces Twin Panthers) Shaman daily 15: Reparative Spirit (replaces Spirit of the Healing Flood) Shaman utility 16: One Spirit, One Body Shaman encounter 17: Flesh Ripper's Claws (replaces Call to the Blood Dancer) Shaman daily 19: Tree Father's Bounty (replaces Cleansing Wind of the North) ITEMS Adventurer's Kit, Potion of Healing (heroic tier) (2), Circlet of Mental Onslaught (paragon tier), Sextant of the Planes (paragon tier), Gloves of the Healer (paragon tier), Spear of Yanauluha +4, Crest of Vigilance Eternal (paragon tier), Drowmesh of Essence Inviolate +3, Ring of Protection (paragon tier), Belt of Sacrifice (paragon tier), Healer's Brooch +4 RITUALS Amanuensis, Seek Rumor, Magic Mouth, Comprehend Language, Enchant Magic Item, Hand of Fate, Transfer Enchantment, Tree Shape, Endure Elements, Brew Potion, Disenchant Magic Item, Wizard's Curtain, Remove Affliction, Object Reading, Share Husk, Raise Dead, Call Wilderness Guide, Sending, Battlefield Elocution, Arcane Lock, Consult Mystic Sages, Tree Stride, Leomund's Secret Chest, Speak with Dead, Cure Disease, Phantom Steed, Analyze Portal, Inquisitive's Eyes, Chameleon's Cloak, Scribe, Eye of Alarm, History Revealed, Demicache, Hallowed Temple, Mark of Justice, Primal Prison, Ritual of Retrieval, Sentinel Eye, Telepathic Bond, Endure Primordial Elements ====== Copy to Clipboard and Press the Import Button on the Summary Tab ======
