Shrasta (Backstory Sample)

This is a backstory draft for a Pathfinder character. This backstory contains a lot of relationships and hooks to the existing world, in contrast to Machalite (Backstory Sample).

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Statistics

General Statistics

• Ancestry: Vishkanya (Old Blood)
• Class: Investigator (Forensic Medicine)
• Allomancer type: Rioter
• Birthsign: The Lover
• Languages: Common, Vishkanya, Ysoki, Draconic, Thieves Cant, Sign Language

Starting Equipment

You get your class’s kit for free plus a Level 1 magic item of your choice.

• Magic Item: Cloak of Feline Rest. Previously belonging to Pahala, Shrasta stole this cloak the night her death was announced. This remains as one of the few items belonging to his prior life.
• Purchases:
  • 2 gp: Leather Armor
  • 3 gp: Steel Shield
  • 1 gp: Mirror
  • 9 sp: Caltrops (x3)
  • 1 sp: Whip

The Zaharhatya Clan & Related Characters

Sanguis Noster Non Coagulatur

Since the burgeoning rise of the Stiltonistas, Vishkanyan venom had always been a prized asset. Though many have lent their venom, the pool of poison was thinned by the particularly ruthless Zaharhatya clan. In time, the Stiltonistas grew in power, and the Zaharhatyas continued alongside them as their faithful daggers in the dark.

The matriarch during proto-Parsonia’s earliest days, Sabmaan Zaharhatya, brokered a deal with the Stiltonistas. The Zaharhatyas will remain an independent, but loyal, arm within the Stiltonista family tree. In this agreement, Sabmaan stressed the importance of maintaining the Zaharhatya identity and the indispensable value of their venom.

Parents

• Mother (Shakti) and Father (Uddeshi) are both deceased due to natural causes unrelated to the Stiltonistas. Father died around 10 years ago at approximately age 70, and Mother died a few months after at a similar age.
• Had three children in their 30s, each about two years apart.

Pahala Zaharhatya

• Eldest sister, reported deceased during service to the Stiltonistas around 15 years ago. Scent used to cover assassinations was Zinnia.
• Stiltonistas claim she had been killed and discarded during an assigned assassination, but rumors say the Stiltonistas had larger concerns about her ability to lead the Zaharhatya clan as matriarch. No body was ever located.
• Though adherent to her familial duties, she also displayed unending compassion to those around her. Before her untimely disappearance, she was preparing to take the mantle of matriarch.

Vaaris Zaharhatya

• Second-eldest sister, current matriarch of the Zaharhatya clan and premier assassin to the Stiltonistas. Scent used to cover assassination is Gladiolus.
• Certainly holds a measured disdain for unnecessary violence, but accepts this as a necessary consequence to maintain power and uphold the family identity.
• Born with near-total hearing loss, but miraculously showed the abilities of a Tineye. Parents and mentors eagerly took this as an omen from Ruin: the shaping of something new by dismantling the old. She is fluent in sign language.
• Married to Dost Dhoka’dena. Currently looking continue and expand the Zaharhatya lineage.

Dost Dhokha’dena

• Late 40s Vishkanya Woman. Wife to Vaaris Zaharhatya and childhood friend of Shrasta.
• Serves as the primary interpreter for Vaaris and logistical organizer for the Zaharhatya family.
• Shrewd and cunning, works to focus Vaaris’s ambition towards productive goals. With an intellect able to match Shrasta’s, Dost was one of his earliest friends outside of his siblings when his lack of potent venom felt alienating.
• I KNOW A GUY: Able to act as a contact with the Stiltonistas and their resources, though Shrasta is vehemently opposed to doing so unless in the most dire of consequences. More likely to be called upon as an informant, despite Shrasta’s separation from the family business. Doing so usually comes with a steep but friendly price. Becoming less likely with each passing year, the two’s drifting friendship would have typically found home over a shared drink.

Arglar Burakrin

• Younger, middle-aged Dwarf Man. Works at the Shoregate docks.
• One of Shrasta’s previous patients. Due to a workplace incident, Arglar disfigured his left leg. Shrasta amputated and affixed a prosthetic, allowing Arglar to continue his work and livelihood.
• Upbeat and rambunctious, always read to help Shrasta grift at pool.
• I KNOW A GUY: Able to act as a contact at the docks, providing passage and resources for a price.

Yeddar Yeez

• Elderly Ysoki Woman. Runs a hostel in The Hollow.
• Kind yet sassy, bakes a mean cheesebread and heckles untidy guests. Shrasta visits on occasion to make sure she is doing well, but she is generally more than capable of taking care of herself apart from an odd job here or there.
• WAITING TO BE CALLED: Helped Shrasta shortly after he left his life with the Stiltonistas, and helped him find a role in this new and unforgiving borough. In time, Shrasta found his footing and moved to Shoregate.

Background

What was life like growing up with your family?

• Life in the Zaharhatya clan is summarized succinctly in one word: Obligation. See the Zaharhatya Clan heading for more details.
• Raised in part by his parents, the Stiltonistas also served as an equal mentor to the Zaharhatya children. Sheltered from the unsavory aspects of the business until they had aged past adolescence, the Stiltonistas provided key education and training from a young age.
• The first born daughter, Pahala, was adept at the lessons put before her— though she was hesitant to show the killer instinct obligated from a Zaharhatya. Fortunately, it was the second born daughter, Vaaris, who earned the attention of the clan. Many say Pahala took after their father, while Vaaris was more like their mother and matriarch. Lastly, Teesara Zaharhatya was born— small, unpromising, and alabaster-eyed.
• All their lives, the three children got along perfectly. Division only appeared when the Stiltonistas opened their eyes and showed them what they’ve been training for.

What is your relationship like with your family now?

• Today, Shrasta has largely cut ties with his family and shed his name. After his mother’s death, no more is Teesara Zaharhatya. Shrasta now walks in his stead. With loving father, reliable mother, and compassionate sister all gone from this world, he holds little interest in maintaining a relationship with his sole, ruthless sibling.
• Removed from the resources afforded by the Stiltonistas, Shrasta finds more familial bond with the rest of the city’s underprivileged. The resilience to persist resonates within him, and he will defend that to his dying breath.

Where did your character learn the skills they already have?

• Despite being born into a clan renowned for their venom, Shrasta did not develop the toxins as readily as his siblings. Perhaps foretold by his alabaster eyes, his venom remained as impotent as the day he was born. This effectively rendered him useless to the Stiltonistas, but the weight of his name carried his worth. Instead of being cast away, the Stiltonistas paid their due respects to the Zaharhatya name and trained him in medicine: a key skill for the returning thugs of the syndicate.
• Shrasta took to this mendful aspect of the business keenly, and his mind consumed information with insatiable hunger. Connections formed easily, strengthening knowledge with knowledge until his breadth pushed passed anatomy and across a multitude of fields.
• In a routine examination, Shrasta was found to possess the ability to burn Zinc. Though the Stiltonistas were eager to take advantage of another allomancer in their ranks, the sensation of burning metal never sat well with Shrasta, and he was stubborn to hone this skill.

What is a secret your character doesn’t want people to know?

• Shrasta harbors the secret of his identity and its ties to the Zaharhatya Clan. Deeper in his heart, he holds the memory of the single assassination he had performed. Known only by Pahala and Vaaris, he had begged them to bring him on a mission and fulfill his familial obligation, even if just for once. His venom was weak but still inevitable, and the look of suffering on the victim’s face still tears through him. At that moment, every ounce of familial obligation disappeared from the young Vishkanya.
• Though used only once, scent used to cover assassination was Aster.

Goal

• Shrasta aims to provide care to those who cannot reach it through traditional means. He does so in efforts to attone for the pain his lineage has caused.

Hope

• Shrasta hopes to free his family from the violence demanded by the Stiltonistas. Though he knows there are many insurmountable barriers to this.

Dream

• Shrasta dreams of a way to dismantle the Stiltonistas, or at the very least redirect their methods towards a more humanitarian angle.

Fear

• Shrasta fears to be returned to the familial obligations owed to the Stiltonistas. In addition, he fears his reputation to the destitute will be marred once they find that many of their own had been hurt by his family.

Miscellaneous

• Favorite croquet team is the Harpies after Yeddar taught him the intricacies of the sport.
• Favorite dish is seafood linguini.
• Finds magic, occultism, and allomancy to be unnerving.