Ostog the Unslain

Defense

Offense

Statistics

Description

Male human barbarian 4

Played by Erik Mona

The Steaming Sea crashed with thunder the night Ostog the Unslain betrayed Girt Bear-Wearer and was left for dead in the violent waters west of Varisia. The corrupt and arrogant lord of the Linnorm Kings, a thegn with an eye on a local throne and the will to sell out a score of huscarls in the taking of it, Girt Bear-Wearer had beset a final indignity upon his crew as they rowed south for summer’s raiding. When the boatlord had the berserker Snorri Snurlleson whipped for insubordination, the valorous men among the dragonship’s crew arose as one, challenging their leader’s rule and claiming control of the vessel.

But Girt Bear-Wearer was not known for the employ of valorous men, and so the rebels found few allies among the crew; the revolt that struck like lightning had ended by the final peal of the echoing thunder. Great heroes fell on that day. The twin warriors Bolgi and Bjarni, slayers of the frost wolf Kuldnir, went down in a flurry of swords and handaxes. Brave Hrolf Harfargr, leader of the insurrection and old consort of the Linnorm Queen White Estrid, swung his mighty brand Gnarlfang to drink deep the blood of those loyal to the Bear that day, but an arrow to the eye laid him low. And at the center of the ship, a young oarsman named Ostog took eleven deep cuts to the trunk from the daggers of seven men before toppling into the sea. But as the sagas of Bolgi and Bjarni and Hrolf Harfargr were coming to an end, that of Ostog the Oarsman was just beginning.

Somehow, Ostog managed to survive nearly a dozen murderous strikes, clinging to life on the turbid sea among the floating corpses of his unfortunate brothers of the oars. By intuition alone Ostog swam directly to shore. By sheer tenacity he powered his way to the coast, his pouring wounds leaving him always one or two strokes away from the final ebb of life. Of all the traitors, Ostog alone emerged upon the solemn shores of Sandpoint. He had survived! If he was to be a hero, as fate and the high seas had decreed, then let him have a hero’s name. Thus Ostog the Oarsman became Ostog the Unslain.

Within days, Ostog had spent his pitiful savings on wenches and drink at the Rusty Dragon. As he contemplated his grim fate at the bottom of the jug of ale purchased with his last few coppers, fate again guided the hero’s way by putting him in the path of the cleric Vorn of Gorum, associate of Sandpoint’s Sheriff Belor Hemlock. Vorn’s contacts have brought a nonstop series of unusual exploits into Ostog’s life. From the exploration of derelict houses along Sandpoint’s periphery and the forlorn caverns beneath the town to investigations of the Devil’s Platter and encounters with the cult of Pazuzu, the ghost of a murderer, and even a battle against his reanimated oar-brothers Hrolf Harfargr and the rest, these increasingly dangerous adventures serve the double purpose of confirming Ostog’s conviction that he cannot be killed and furthering his legend. His bard ally Styrian records Ostog’s every major and minor victory so that no aspect of his remarkable tale is lost to posterity.

So convinced is Ostog that he cannot die that the young warrior refuses to wear armor of any kind, virtually daring the gods to disprove his theory. Most of the time, Ostog drapes his considerable frame with a deep green cloak marked with an ornate clasp from the northlands. When battle begins, he casts the cloak to the ground, revealing the powerful musculature and trunk-like arms of a born fighter. Dozens of grisly scars—some shockingly deep— mar his otherwise appealing bare chest. Still in his early twenties, Ostog wears his long, full blond hair to his shoulders. His forked beard, meticulously trimmed, shows hints of red among the gold.

Boon: If his attitude is helpful, Ostog the Unslain can share a bit of his “unkillable” defensive technique after a day of training, granting the allied character a +1 dodge bonus to AC—but only when the character wears no armor.

Source: NPC Guide, p. 57