Jona Clay

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Male human bard 1/ranger 3/rogue 3

Before Combat: Jona does everything in his power to avoid combat through diplomacy and compromise.

During Combat: Jona relies on Combat Expertise and attempts to inflict only nonlethal damage. The entire time, he constantly tries to defuse the conflict by looking for compromises or means to get his enemies to back down.

Morale: Jona is willing to die to protect his friends and family, but he won’t die cheaply. He’s quick to flee a pointless death and is insightful enough to warn friends and neighbors so they can’t be used as leverage against him.

For 10 years, Jona Clay was a Pathfinder—and a good one. His fame and fortune rose quickly throughout Absalom and the lands beyond. Then one day he simply disappeared, leaving behind no hint of his fate.

The truth of the matter is that, while traveling through central Avistan, he stopped at a small village and was approached by a young boy, who in his hero worship asked Jona to teach him how to use a sword so that he, too, could become a Pathfinder. Amused, Clay spent the day showing the boy the basics and encouraged him to come to Absalom to join the ranks of the Pathfinders when he was old enough. He left an old short sword with the boy for practice and said goodbye. Not 2 days later, Jona saw smoke on the horizon; he soon learned that the boy and all of his kin had been killed by bandits. The village had no organized defense, and when the bandits began looting, the boy ran out to challenge them with the sword Jona had given him—and was immediately slaughtered.

Months of horrible dreams followed Jona. He returned to the Grand Lodge of Absalom, but still his nights were filled with visions of drowning in a lake of blood, small hands dragging him to the bottom. Finally, he packed his things together and left Absalom without saying goodbye. The only thing left in his room was his sword. No one in the city ever saw him again.

Or so they thought. Unknown to anyone from his former life, Jona in fact disguised himself and bought a house under an assumed personality. There he settled down, pretending to be a recent arrival and never mentioning his former life. He found a nice girl that made him laugh and he married her. When trouble comes, Jona settles it with a cool head and a steady hand, never reaching for his “walking stick” except as a last resort. Despite the weight of his secret—a past his wife and friends have learned not to probe too deeply—Jona Clay has finally found something greater than all the discoveries of the Society: a home.

Boon: Jona knows the locations of several half-explored sites of interest that may still hold treasures for brave adventurers, but he only shares them with people whom he trusts—and whom he believes can survive the dangers there.

Source: NPC Guide, p. 5