Rhea Vav

Rhea Vav is a half-orc life cleric that is a player character of Within the Wicked Wilds campaign. She is a follower of Helm and hopes to live up to her mother's legacy, but yearns for a unique imprint on the world. She's young and cautious of everything, terrified of ruining her chances to leave a mark on the Land of the Lost.

Rhea Vav, artwork by Player Kris (Kao).

Appearance

Rhea is only 1/4 orc, but that small amount overpowers her features and general genetic make-up. Her father was an elf and so she has pointier ears than the typical half-orc. Her skin is a light tea green like her mother's but with an odd hue from her wood elf heritage and she has sharp blue eyes. Her black hair is cut just above the shoulders and usually pulled half-back. She's tall and muscular due to the mix of her heritage and her training as a Free Defender.

Backstory

Growing up in the City of Galik was hard for many, but for Rhea, she had proper schooling and a warm bed and a full stomach every day without fail. Her mother is a proud woman, a member of the elite Lyreguard. She raised Rhea staunchly but with love. Rhea has only ever met her wood elf father, Cassius, a hand full of times. Her childhood was mostly spent under the care Rohari, her mother, or Rhea's step-grandmother whom she just called her grandmother and lived with them. She purposely woke up before dawn to help her mother put her armor on, always asking what was in store for the woman that day. Her step-grandmother, Taphsyse, helped her understand that her mother was a hero out protecting the city every time she watched her mother leave with tears in her eyes. Her grandmother had a few choice words about her father but she did her best to not let young Rhea known her dislike for the elven man.

Rohari Vav as a young adult. Artwork by Surrealkate, commissioned by Player Kris (Kao).

When Rhea was six years old, her mother married a half-orc man, Doragar Jata, who took Rohari's last name. When her younger sister was welcomed to the world three years later, Rhea felt like her family was finally complete. She's always gotten along well with Doragar because he helped with her insecurities about her skin and tusks, both of which were different than her mother's. Her orcish heritage was very obvious in her build and in her tusk length, while her skin has a slight discoloration due to her father's wood elf genetics. She considers Doragar her father in all ways except biological, but because they're both orcish, most people assume he is her birth father anyways. Her younger siblings now total three as she is 21 years old. There's Nyota (12), Ikeno (8), and Vargan (8). Her mother had always wanted a big family, just like she had had growing up. Rhea has numerous aunts and uncles, not all of which her mother is still in contact with, but there had always been a shadow of a large family over the Vav clan.

Rhea had always felt some kind of pressure to live up to her mother's legacy. The woman specialized as a cleric of Helm, something she did not take lightly. Rhea was raised with religious morals though they were never overtly strict. She did her fair share of regular teenage-hood drama without worrying she would be sentenced to the depths of the Nine Hells. No, instead, she knew what awaited her at home after breaking curfew was an angry mother and grandmother who would ground her, while her adoptive father would sneak her dinner after she was sent up to her room. But when Rhea showed interest in following Helm, her mother was more than excited to show her what it meant to be a devout follower. From the time of late teenage-hood on, Rhea followed Helm with fervor, guided by her mother.

"Never betray your trust. Be vigilant. Stand, wait, and watch carefully. Be fair and diligent in the conduct of your orders. Protect the weak, poor, injured, and young, and do not sacrifice them for others or yourself. Anticipate attacks and be ready. Know your foes. Care for your weapons so they may perform their duties when called upon. Careful planning always defeats rushed actions in the end. Always obey orders, providing those orders follow the dictates of Helm. Demonstrate excellence and purity of loyalty in your role as a guardian and protector." - Rohari Vav to her daughter, Rhea.

With her clerical training completed as a young adult, Rhea found what she hoped was a new purpose in joining the Free Defenders. But over the past two years, she's felt sedentary. Bored. Impatient. She does not ask for hardship, but she certainly does ask for heroics and adventure. She's restless, and feels her commitment to her vows as a cleric faltering as she waits for some grand adventure to hit her, like it had her mother. Her mother had been throw into the deep end of dangerous quests when she was Rhea's age and handled it... well, the best she could. Rohari, Rhea knew, had been left with many scars. Some were physical, but others were in her mind. She woke up every once in a while to her mother's panicked screams from the nightmares that plagued her. Rhea doesn't want that, even if she has someone like Doragar there to comfort her in the late hours of the night. She wants successful adventures she can be proud of and unhaunted by.

This, is where Rhea's story truly begins.

Features

Racial

• Darkvision. 60 feet, only shades of gray.

• Menacing. Proficiency in the Intimidation skill.

• Relentless Endurance. When you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead. You can't use this feature again until you finish a long rest.

• Savage Attacks. When you score a critical hit with a melee weapon attack, you can roll one of the weapon's damage dice one additional time and add it to the extra damage of the critical hit.

• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Orc.

Background

City Watch - Watcher's Eye

Your experience in enforcing the law, and dealing with lawbreakers, gives you a feel for local laws and criminals. You can easily find the local outpost of the watch or a similar organization, and just as easily pick out the dens of criminal activity in a community, although you're more likely to be welcome in the former locations rather than the latter.

Skill Proficiencies: Athletics, Insight

Languages: (Chosen: Elvish and Celestial.)

Equipment: A uniform in the style of your unit and indicative of your rank, a horn with which to summon help, a set of manacles, and a pouch containing 10gp

Class - Life Cleric

Proficiencies

Armor: Light armor, medium armor, heavy armor, shields

Weapons: All simple weapons

Skills: Medicine and Religion

Disciple of Life

Your healing spells are more effective. Whenever you use a spell of 1st level or higher to restore hit points to a creature, the creature regains additional hit points equal to 2 + the spell's level.

Channel Divinity

At 2nd level, you gain the ability to channel divine energy directly from your deity, using that energy to fuel magical effects. You start with two such effects: Turn Undead and an effect determined by your domain. Some domains grant you additional effects as you advance in levels, as noted in the domain description.

Channel Divinity: Turn Undead

As an action, you present your holy symbol and speak a prayer censuring the undead. Each undead that can see or hear you within 30 feet of you must make a Wisdom saving throw. If the creature fails its saving throw, it is turned for 1 minute or until it takes any damage.

Channel Divinity: Preserve Life

Starting at 2nd level, you can use your Channel Divinity to heal the badly injured.

As an action, you present your holy symbol and evoke healing energy that can restore a number of hit points equal to five times your cleric level. Choose any creatures within 30 feet of you, and divide those hit points among them. This feature can restore a creature to no more than half of its hit point maximum. You can't use this feature on an undead or a construct.