Shay Muldoon

A True Man of the River Kindoms
Shay Muldoon follows the 6 river freedoms of his homeland out of national pride and faith in his deity. They are both regionally upheld by the folk of the River Kingdoms and revered as the canon law of Hanspur.


 * Say what you will, I am free:


 * Often vocal about politics and such, but he knows when such talk can get him into trouble. This discretion is most pertinent in places where speaking out against the local authority constitutes treason or another equally heinous offense.


 * Oathbreakers Die:


 * Shay is a trustworthy sort, and values the trust he places in other people. While not always forthcoming with the truth, his word is worth his life and he has no pity for people who break a solemn oath. When such times arise where Shay needs to give his word, he often swears on the Sellen, a river which holds great personal importance to him.


 * Walk Any Road, Float Any River:


 * Shay has travelled from Mivon to Xer and from Pitax to Cassomir, the whole length of the Sellen River and both its eastern and western tributaries. He has a time honed knack for aquatic navigation. Whenever Shay finds himself under the governance of dislikable rulers, he often leaves that land to find another which is more suitable.


 * Courts Are for Kings:


 * In his travels, Shay has learned the general laws and customs of other nations and how not to step on other people’s toes. He will not directly disobey any laws laid out by those in charge unless they interfere with his other river freedoms.


 * Slavery Is an Abomination:


 * Shay would get along well with the Eagle Knights of Andoran, as he sympathizes with slaves and the other downtrodden people of every land. His power to aid those unfortunate people is limited, but he can always offer them safe passage by river.


 * You Have What You Hold:

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 * Shay has a loose grip on his own property, what little he has, but respects others. While not a bandit, he is not above making petty and impertinent requests from others. “Shameless begging” is one way to put it, and he fairly good at it. It's one of the reasons he gets along so well with beggars. All told, Shay has surrendered his possessions to more bandits than he has combated. Those bandits he had bested in combat were not slain.

Humble Worshipper of Hanspur
A fundamental driving force for Shay has been his faith in Hanspur. It has guided him through life. Even in his early years, Shay could have been considered a divine cleric of Hanspur, as he had supernatural affinity towards water and water travel. The esteem that Hanspur holds him in was only increased by his holding to the ideals of the 6 freedoms of the River Nations, even outside its borders. Shay’s powers over the elements were very limited though, as to be indistinguishable from river acumen and good fortune.

Shay expresses his faith through his chosen profession as a boatman and river guide, following in the footsteps of his god. He is also a skilled carpenter and makes driftwood shrines regularly, passing them downriver or adrift at sea to be of aid to other wayfaring travelers. Part of his skill in navigation and carpentry are due to his worship.

Shay understands that Hanspur is not necessarily a benevolent god, but neither is he a malevolent one. The river is his domain, and it must be allowed to flow freely. Freedom is the core tenant of the Water Rat, and Shay interprets this as a freedom from bondage and persecution for one's race, ethnicity, ideals, or beliefs.

For more information about the god Hanspur, follow this link:

http://karzoug.info/srd/deities/Hanspur.htm

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Born of Blood and Water
Shay's family and the events surrounding his birth have always cast a shadow over his life. His father, Bray, was a self-appointed robber-baron, with a foul temper and a murderous inclination. While he was even tempered and generous with his bandit followers, he was excessively violent towards his marks when they did not surrender their goods, often brutally maiming them or drowning them as a sacrifice to Hanspur. Shay’s mother, Gretta, was a village crone, a wise woman of Hanspur. She only fed his father’s sacrificial practices, saying that human sacrifice was the only way to prevent truly disastrous flooding and droughts.

Between the two, they had only one child. Shay was supposedly born as a blessing from Hanspur after many years of infertility, but not from normal worship. Shay’s father had finished another vicious raid on a merchant barge, but something had changed. The merchant on the barge had brought his family. After watching her own father’s leg get cut off by a wild swing of Bray’s greatsword, the merchant’s daughter grabbed a piece of cutlery and ran into the fray. She stabbed the robber-baron deep in his leg as Bray hesitated to cut down a little girl. He ended up throwing her in the water, where she started to drown. He didn’t mean to kill a child, as he had never done so before, but her leg became entrapped by a rock under the fast-flowing current. Even as Bray tried to save her, her life fled from her body. From that day on Bray was a broken man and he lived lived a different life, one of simple boat making. Every year he would build a shrine to Hanspur to guide the soul of another man he killed in his past life. Shay was born less than a year after his father changed his ways, and the man was intractable about the subject of his days as a robber-baron. Bray had lost the esteem of his bandit followers, though he and his family were well protected in a way, as the men who served him stayed clear of his house-raft. Few other bandits dared to assault a vessel bearing a wise woman of Hanspur.

Gretta was not pleased with Bray’s change to a sedentary lifestyle, though they had more than enough gold to live comfortable, simple lives. She was always a bit unstable and favored sacrifices rather over other acts of worship. After Shay was born, which she attested was a miracle from the Water Rat himself, Gretta left Bray to take care of the child, while she joined the large Hanspur priesthood in Riverton. Bray lived a life of disappointment afterwards, blaming himself for the loss of his wife, the terrible deeds he committed in the past, and the son he just couldn’t seem to connect with. He got quite good at making boats though, and when Shay departed on his 16th name-day, it was on good terms, as his father had made him a fine river vessel. It served well for several years before it was irreparably damaged and refashioned into a shield.

A Boatman's Skills
His time as a river guide endowed Shay with a very special set of skills. Shay was quite fit and agile from years of manning boats and rafts, though he had never crewed a proper sailing ship like a caravel. His advanced swimming skills were easily paired with the use of his fishing spear, making him just as capable of protecting himself under the waves as on land. While he was never better at fighting while submerged, he certainly was not worse. Shay had never held a “real” blade. His experience stemed entirely from the use of spears for fishing. While he would never call it a trident, as it was an odd term to him, Shay’s fishing spear was a capable killing tool, and one which he could make more of. Years of manning the till, paddling upriver, and spear-fishing made Shay very fit. He may not have been able to read well, but he was strong enough to man-handle a catfish or wrangle a gator.

Making a shield is a lot like making a boat… if you don’t mind that your shield looks a lot like it came off a boat. Shay wore a shield of that unique design, made by his own hand. It was carved from the remains of his only inheritance, the boat his father built for him.

Early Adventuring Life
Shay was initially motivated by the great deeds he had seen other adventurers accomplish throughout his travels. He liked the idea of being well regarded by the masses and receiving due rewards in the process. It all sounded like a win-win. His naiveté attitude is what carried him down the path of the adventurer.

While he had gone afoul of several bandits over the years, those that would not take meager belongings he had to offer them, Shay had never killed a man. He understood the plight of the common bandit, and what drove men to do such things. He also appreciated their forthright nature, demanding goods instead of stealing them through subterfuge or taxation. This is why he was apt to offer what he could, and only fought to defeat and humiliate such enemies, not to kill them. He had fought violent beasts of the wilderness and not held back though. What's more, he was quite skilled at killing dangerous fish, like pike, tigerfish, and snakeheads.

Shay has learned a thing or two about scuffles and has a natural affinity towards the use of his fishing spear (trident). This comes partly from the favoritism of his deity towards this weapon. Monsters roam the lands, and Shay has seen more than one, but discretion is one of his virtues, and a river troll is nothing to mess with. That being said, his fishing spear has skewered a few dangerous aquatic creatures.