***I put this back story together for a friend who was playing my Sunless Citadel Campaign.
RedRack - Half-Elf Monk
(Twin Brother to Wyren)
You have been wondering longer then you've let people know. Yes you were raised and trained by the Hin Fist halfling monks, but your training with them ended years ago. You learned all that they could teach you very quickly. You memorized their fighting techniques (which only sort of worked for you since they used a lot of moves focused for smaller being fighting larger beings). You accelerated through their ranks quickly. When you reached the highest rank, you were left wanting. Master Keru summoned you to his private garden one day. There he told you that the Hin Fist Monks had nothing left to teach you. He told you of a legend that says every thousand years a child is born that possesses the mark of the wanderer. This child is destined to become one of the Great Monk. These monks have no order, no dojo, no sanctuary. They will lead a struggled life, but in that struggle they will find harmony and center. When that happens, they become invincible, and able to defeat even the greatest of foes.
In Master Keru's lifetime, he has met one such Monk. His name was Kai Lin. This was many years ago when Master Keru was much younger. Master Keru trained under Kai Lin for a few years before Kai Lin left to continue his wandering journey. "I see in you the same mark that I saw in Kai Lin. RedRach, I believe that you may be a wandering monk. I know you are tormented in your soul, and you struggle to find center. I believe you will never find center behind these walls. Yes you have learned our ways of fighting, but you struggle to find peace with our methods of meditation and values. You will never fully find peace here. I have been your master for many years now. I love you like my own son. But I cannot keep you here and keep you from your destiny. I hereby banish you from the Hin Fist order. You will pack your things and leave at once. RedRach this i implore you to find your center. "
As you sat in shock in front of your Master, you struggled to contain your anger. Using every technique given you by the Hin Fist order, you reply to your master with "NO. I will not leave. I have been an outcast my whole life. I'm not even of any true blood. I'm only half elf. I have found friends that I consider family and will not leave. I can learn, I can train and I will be a full Hin Fist Monk. I do not believe in this foolish legend. Kai Lin never existed and he is a story made up to inspire young troubled youth. I am not a troubled youth, I have proven that by achieving highest rank in your order."
Master Keru smiles at you and says, "Your right, it is not your order. In your heart you feel a pull to leave. You feel like you don't belong. RedRach, its because you belong out there. Only out in the world will you find your center among the chaos. Your road is not easy, nor is it desirable, but it is yours to travel. It is time for you to go" With those words he stands up. Out of habit you do the same and bow to him. He ushers you out of his garden. Teec, another Hin Monk and a good friend is waiting there holding your belongings. Its a backpack half empty of some old clothes, a couple tokens and that's it. You've never owned much.
As you take the backpack from Teec and bow to him, you turn to Master Keru. Your anger inside starts to well up behind the dam you have created with mental meditation and you start to feel frustration, anger, and hurt. This is your home. He's asking, no, telling you to leave your home. How could he do this to you. "Master, how could you do this? This is my home. You cannot send me away from my home". the eddy breaks and anger fills your mind. You throw your pack on the ground in refusal. Being the stubborn being you are, you refuse to leave. "I will not leave the only place that I can call home. the only place that is familiar to me." You form your body in the Sturdy Wall Stance. "Master, you will have to force me to leave, for I will not go willingly".
With a motion faster then your brain can calculate what has happened, Master Keru slides under your arms disabling you first with a blow to the ribs and stomach. This offsets your stance just enough to get a sweeping attack to the ankles. As you begin to fall, he somehow picks up your backpack and slides it through your arms and over your head. with the weight of the backpack offsetting your stance even more, he kicks you in the chest which lifts you off of the ground 3 inches. His last move is one you've never seen before. This must either be a well kept Hin Fist secret, or he picked it up somewhere else. He brings both of his hands together with the palms outward. The are pulled back to his chest and then are released with incredible speed. As they contact your body, there is a force behind them more then just muscle. You land 20 feet away in a skid to a stop in the dirt. as you lay there tears fill your eyes. You rise slowly. Master Keru closes the door to his dojo. Teec stares at you for a couple of seconds, and then turns and walks away. You see no one else in the streets, the gate leading out is open. You turn towards it and start walking. Again, you are cast out.
A week later as you were sleeping on the side of the road heading south, you were awakened by the snapping of twigs. As you sat up to see what might be near, pain filled your head and darkness filled your mind.
Later you wake up in the cell where we started the campaign. You lied to your group and told them you were ambushed while traveling with the Hin Fist trading caravan.
Jump ahead to the night you stayed in the Black Mug inn. As you left the lively night of drinking and listening to Trevor Talltail, you made your way upstairs to your room. Your mind is still clouded with the past weeks events. You pull out the gloves Rak gave you and play with them for a while. They seem to brighten your mood a bit as you climb around your room. Still feeling very unsure about this quest you have just accepted and unsure if you even want to help this lady, you consider taking back the gloves and leaving tonight. These "adventurers" your with have no need of you and your talents. They'll be fine without you. Again fear, hate, anger all creep in your mind. You throw the gloves on your bed and sit on the ground next to your bed. You've struggled to meditate since you left the Hin. At this moment though, you feel compelled to meditate. You know it will at least help clear your mind. As you try to fight the urge, you hear a whispering in your head. You jump up on your feet and look around the room. You check the door but no one is there. You look under your bed and out the window but the street is empty. After some searching you sit on your bed. The urge to meditate grows and you look down to see your legs crossed on your bed and your hands pressed together. You slowly close your eyes. As you do, you have an image of a smooth stone form in your mind. As you focus on this stone, you feel a wave of thoughts, emotions, and energy begin to crash on the stone. The stone wavers, shudders and eventually is crushed. You open your eyes. The room is still empty, but you are covered in sweat. As you close your eyes and release your mind, you find yourself in a small grove of trees. You have never seen this place, but you feel somehow close to it. Like you've been here many times. As you walk towards the center of this grove, you see a small opening in the trees. It is full of a bright white light. As you enter the light you feel a sense of warmth, and harmony. There is a small brook flowing, some green moss covering the ground and a warm light filling the space. You sit on the moss and observe the water. A voice says: "There you are". As you look up you see the image of a man sitting across from you. He looks much like you but older. He is Half-Elf, same eyes, but with bright white hair and many wrinkles.
"I have been waiting for you for many years. I thought you would have reached out to me sooner. My name is Kai Lin. I am the wandering monk. Like yourself, but I no longer have a corporal body. I have longs since transfigured and now live among the planes." But you already know the stories, or fairy tales. Know that they are all true. I have passed my days on this world, wandering, learning, helping and defending. We come from a long line of monks that have been destined to protect this world. We are called every 900 years. We are born of the spirit and called to wander and protect. It is no easy path that we take. For it is lonely, hard, and confusing. But in that confusion, we are made whole, pure, and perfect. As you learn to center your mind and body, you will discover powers untold. I will teach you all I know. I will open your mind to the knowledge we wandering monks have gained over these many many years. With this knowledge, you will become a great monk. This comes at the price of your identity. Your home, your loved ones, your friends will be left behind. You RedRach will no longer be known as RedRach, you will become wanderer. You will find you cannot stay in one place for very long. You will be summoned to many places. For there is great evil in this world. We are called as guardians of this world to protect it from that evil. Your new friends will be a help for you for a time. Aid them in their quests, for they also have destinies and will lead you to do much good. But, attach yourself to none. This calling is not a choice. It is thrust upon you. I am sorry. Truly I am. I know of its suffering, of its remorse. I have loved and lost that love. I have lived and seen many evils. But, I have served, saved, and cleansed this world of many wrongs. You Wanderer, are the next in line to carry forward and continue our work. "
As you try to take this all in, the only thing that comes to your mind is where you came from. you ask Kai Lin.
"Your Mother was an Elf, and you father a human it is true. Your father is dead and was a good man. Your mother lives and is happy but morns the loss of you and your twin brother. Your twin has a destiny different from yours, but one of Light. He pursues a different path then you, but will purge this world from much evil. "
Enough of questions, we only have little time left, for the morning light is about to peak.
"You see that stone in the stream there?"
You look down and notice the same stone you imagined in your mind the first time you started meditating.
"That stone is the key to your first lesson." Kai Lin says. "You need to learn the art of clearing your mind and centering your body. First meditate on this rock till nothing exists in your head. Then, very slowly open your mind and let the rest of it wash over the stone. Let all of your thoughts and frustrations, emotions, and past wash over it. Do not let the stone waver. As you hold the stone still and let everything wash over it, you will become centered. Once in centered state, you will be able to move quicker, and strike harder. Your enemy will not understand what hit them. Your movements will be blurred and they will fear you. do you understand? Try it"
You slowly nod your head. You look down at the stone and close your eyes. You see a perfect image in your mind of the stone. Its as if its physically in your mind. You start to open the gates which hold back the flood of your mind and emotions. it bursts open and rushes past the stone. Again, the stone wavers and shudders and is washed away.
"Stop trying to take it all on at once. Just let a little out at a time." says Kai Lin. "Try again. You must master this to unlock the rest of our secrets"
Again you see the rock in your mind. Before you open your mind, you decide to let the thoughts of your training as a monk come out first. They rush over and the stone stands firm. Then you think of your expolsion from the monastery and the stone begins to shudder. As it passes, the stone is still there. You then let the emotions of your new knowledge of your family out. The stone hums but does not move. Soon you let everything else out and you are left with an empty mind, and feel a peace within your soul. As you open your eyes, you are standing in the Centered pose inside the grove. Kai Lin is smiling with a look of pride.
Pointing to a tree to the right of you, he says: "punch that tree and see what a centered mind can do".
You near the tree and go into a low offensive stance. You take in a long breath and as you release it, your fist moves forward faster then you've ever felt and strikes the tree. the force of the blow is so intense it shatters the trunk. Splinters explode everywhere and the top half of the tree lands several yards away. As you look around, you see hundreds of trees destroyed in this manner.
You hear Kai Lin behind you "Lesson learned". With that you awaken suddenly. You are sitting in your room on your bed. Your clothes are soaked in sweat, you body is shaking, and your stomach feels as if it might consume your insides. the morning light is shining through the window. You notice your right fist is red and slightly bruised.
You hear a slight knock at the door and a soft voice say: "your clothes are washed and prepped. I'll leave them at the door. If you have any other laundry just leave it on your bed and I'll get to it later this morning." Then you hear light footsteps walking way.
You retrieve the fresh clothes take a shower downstairs in the bathing room, and head to breakfast.
Here is what you learned:
If you spend a full round in combat "Centering" Your next 2 rounds will have a +2 to hit and a +2 to damage. Each time you center, there is a 20% possibility that "Perfectly Center" and the rest of that combat you get those same bonuses. Roll percentile dice to see if you get it. Now, if you are interrupted in centering (take damage, a spell, or some adverse condition) you must make a concentration check to stay centering or you break concentration. Make this on your character sheet. Call it Centered under special abilities.
Also, the girl that left your clothes is the one that gave you cookies. She is Kerowyn's Niece.