Baragh son of Lard

Special Equipment:

A talisman made of crocodile claws that has been worn by every seer and High chief of the Bakali, which he wears around his throat. It indicates the office held by the anointed of the Godess Nerath. He also carries a wooden staff with a chunk of crystal attached to the top. With this staff he performs his spells. It was a gift from his mentor, upon their parting.

Appearance:

He is a strange and sometimes fearsome looking mixture of the reptilian and human. His bulky, heavily muscled body is covered with tiny copper hued scales,each the size of a coin. His fingers and toes are topped by fearsome looking claws that could disembowel a human easily and his head resembles that of a crocodile,albeit with a much higher forehead. In addition he also possesess a slender, prehensile tail that can sometimes act as third hand. Unlike a lizard however, he walks upright and is capable of covering a great distance on his poweful hind legs. The only piece of clothing he wears is a leather kilt, as he finds clothes cumbersome and uneccessary.

Although his less than handsome appearance has an unfortunate way of making negative first impressions, his gentle and peaceful nature has won him friends among those able to overcome their initial revulsion and foolish prejudices

Background:

When Nerath the mighty dragon Godess created his race, she gave the Bakali the vast, primaeval swamps and marshlands on the mysterious continent of Sagoth as their home. There the Bakali flourished and thrived as simple fishers and gatherers for millenia, undisturbed by the rest of the world.

But this tranquil existence of the lizard folk could not edure forever. On the holy day of Klad in the month of Larsis, the shamans and elders of the five tribes gathered to select Lard,as high chieftain and seer. For the next three days and nights, the lizard folk celebrated the coronation of their new leader with much merry making and feasting. Then on the third night, doom struck. A ship of human and dwarvish sailors thrown of course by a violent storm,found themselves beached on the vast sandy shores of Sagoth. Weary and famished from their long journey, they explored the interior of the land and soon encountered an adult male bakali which they captured, after overcoming their initial awe and disbelief. It took them some time to understand the meaning and importance of their find, but when they finally did, they lost no time in sailing off to reveal to the wider world the existence of the Bakali,once they'd picked up enough supplies. Within three weeks of this, a vast fleet descended on the hitherto unknown continent of Sagoth, unleashing a wave of terror on its unfortunate people. Thousands of Bakali were slaughtered when they tried to fight back against the slavers and thousands more were enslaved and carried across the vast ocean to be sold there as curiosities to wealthy collectors. In the end Lard and the combined warriors of the tribes made a brave but futile last stand against the invaders. For all their courage,they were no match for the discipline and steel weapons of the invaders.

The last desperate remants of the Bakali,led by Lof,mate of Lard,fled to the the mosquito infested swamp of Dar where they were safe,for the humans were terrified of the diseases carried by the mosquitos and thus avoided venturing there. It was at this last refuge that Lof's young hatchling came into the shattered and bleeding world of his people. Filled with anguish for the loss of her beloved mate and people, she named her child Baragh or 'the avenging one''. Twenty five years passed and the infant Baragh came of age. On his twenty-fifth name day, the young Bakali was declared High chief and seer by the shamans and elders who had survived the traumatic events of twenty-five years ago. With this heavy burden came the realization that he would never be able to free the sacred lands of his people, if he continued to hide with them. One night as the rest of the village slumbered, he snuck out of the hut he shared with his mother and left behind all that he had ever known, for a future fraught with peril and uncertainty. As he had anticipated, once well beyond the refuge of the swamp, he was swooped upon by a trio of trappers. To their utter astonishment, the young lizardman made no attempt to defend himself, but serenely watched as they bound him with chains. Shaking their heads at their unusual luck, the trappers set off on a trek that lasted for five days, determined to sell their captive for a handsome fortune to some slaver at the nearest costal port. Never once did Baragh have doubts about what he had set out to do and try to escape. When they finally reached their destination, a ramshackle and flea bitten port town,they lost very little time in handing him over to a wealthy merchant. The very next day, he and his new master boarded a ship bound for a far away city. Giving the beloved land of his ancestors a final glance, he silently vowed that he would return one day to free it. It was this burning thought that kept him alive throughout the long and ardurous voyage across the ocean.

After three weeks of agony spent in the cramped, stinking hold of the ship, they finally touched at a great bustling port city. Leaving the ship, he was struck by the vastness of the city and its great crowds. As the awed Baragh was led to the slave pens where he was to be sold, something happened that would alter his destiny for the better. A passing elf named Silvan, happened to cast his eyes on the merchant and his accquisition. Looking beyond Baragh's fearsome appeareance, he took pity on him. Like all his kind, the elf abhorred slavery and decided to free him.He approached the merchant and soon negotiated a price for the captive's freedom. It was under these circumstances that Baragh's tutelage under the elf begun. Silvan a skilled mage, imparted the secrets of magic to his young protege and was pleasantly amazed by Baragh's unsusual pace of progress.

At the end of fifteen years, Baragh knew it was time to leave his master. Bidding a painful farwell to the elf he had come to love as a father,he begun his wanderings to find a hero willing to aid him in his quest. Only when he can free his land, can Baragh, high chieftain and seer of the Bakali, return.

Roleplaying Notes:

Any PC in search of glory, could aid this peace loving seer in his quest.