Hazel Sawyer
From Praemal
One of the Midwood player characters.
The eldest of three children, Hazel Tegwen Sawyer has always been one for wandering. In younger years it was merely a fascination of the woods that drew her; in adolescence a desire to win her father's respect and praise; since her recent foray into Fibber's Cairn and an unpleasant incident with a kobold, she has been determined to eliminate the threats surrounding her home and surrounding her friends, particularly the gnome cleric Bufer.
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Background
From an early age, Hazel was her father's daughter. She toddled after the woodcutter even when her mother bade her stay near their small home in a glade on the northern edge of town. By the time the family's second child arrived, 5-year-old Hazel was accustomed to lengthy walks in the forest at her father's side, stern admonitions not to touch the equipment, and lazy rides home at dusk on the back of Twig, the family's draft horse, logs rattling and bumping along behind.
For her seventh birthday, Jack presented his daughter with an axe specially made for her grip and heft by Therurt Glangirn at the smithy. Though expensive, the axe soon proved a good investment as Hazel took to the work with glee, splinters and all. She nearly ended her fledgling lumberjill career with one moment of childish inattention, but Mother Bridger healed the slice in her calf and left nothing but a thin scar behind.
Faced with her father's guilt-ridden anger and her mother's tears, Hazel pleaded to be allowed to continue learning a lumberjack's trade. The restless, eager curiosity of her childhood became pragmatism, discipline and caution - traits she learned from watching her father. It's only been recently, since her close association with Bufer, that her adventurous side has once again shown itself. But she is often still slow to act, especially when she's working through a problem, and only reluctantly accepts a leadership role when it is thrust upon her.
Hazel is supportive and protective of her younger siblings, even though she doesn't understand her sister's fascination with boys or her brother's penchant for heading recklessly into mischief. She views both with tolerant affection, willing to act as a lookout so long as she feels they aren't in danger. Though she loves them both, Hazel feels more of a kinship with Reed, who currently carries her first axe with him wherever he goes -- with a bit of swagger in his step for it -- and considers her an authority on most things.
The ranger views her friends Bufer and Kat as surrogate siblings; both bring out protective instincts in her. She respects their intelligence and considers both teachers of a sort, even when she questions the wisdom of their decisions.
Clashes with her father have grown more frequent as Hazel has shown no inclination to give up her tomboy pursuits for more girlish behaviors. She feels he's being unreasonable and resents what she senses as his disappointment in her; he's disappointed in and angry at himself for what he perceives as his own mistake -- indulging and encouraging her childhood interest in his work at the expense of her future happiness as an adult woman in a small community. She's learned taciturn stubbornness from her father, so both tend to view the matter as an uneasy silent truce between them and misread the other's intentions. Hazel's mother is the peacemaker and confidant in the family, and it's possible her gentle persuasion will eventually heal the rift, if Hazel doesn't go haring off on some far-flung adventure.
Appearance
Years of work as a lumberjill and a careless attention to social customs has given Hazel the appearance of a teenage boy.
Neither beautiful nor homely, 21-year-old Hazel has plain attributes that make her unremarkable in a crowd.
Her face, like her mother's, is round and full - and it's about the only thing on Hazel that is. Her legs are long and lean, her torso flat, her arms and shoulders thick with muscle.
She's average-to-tall height for a woman; a few inches taller than her mom, a hand shorter than her dad. Her exposed skin is usually lightly tanned from her time spent outdoors, and occasionally reddened from sun- or windburn (her nose is almost always peeling in the summer), but unexposed skin is a cross between peachy and pasty white.
Her observant hazel eyes are a match for her mother's, showing brown in some lights and green in others. When her mother can get her to sit still for a trim, Hazel's sandy brown hair hangs evenly around her face in a bowl cut. Mostly, though, it's raggedly shorn just above her ears when she gets tired of strands falling over her eyes.
She tends to have an open, friendly expression, but is content to avoid being the center of attention.
Her clothes are well-tended, though not from any concern of hers - her mother and sister are the fabric mavens in the family. Hazel tends to come home with bits of grass, leaves and sap littering her clothes. She wears boots in the winter and moccasins in the summer. Her clothes are typically brown or undyed wool; her cloak, mostly a dark green, is actually a patchwork of pockets that her sister used to practice various stitches.
Her axes dangle from a belt around her hips; the hafts slide through loops and the heads are encased in hard leather coverings that slip off. She carries a pack in case she finds something interesting to bring home, but it often hangs mostly empty on her back.
Her birthday is Newyear 23, 700.
World view
Hazel's first trip to Middleborough, as part of the team tracking fugitives -- and friends -- from Maidensbridge, has broadened her interest beyond home. She's curious about her father's family, whom she's never really met, but worries they might view her as a backwards country cousin. It wouldn't do to embarrass her father. She knows her relatives have worked in the timber industry for generations, but her father rarely speaks of any family beyond his wife and children. Hazel has a smattering of relatives in Maidensbridge on her mother's side, most of whom work in the Day family dairy, and an aunt and two cousins in Foxton on Moss.
She has been raised to think of kobolds as thieving vermin, but she's content to live and let live so long as apple raids don't escalate into violence. Her encounter with Pick has made her both more curious and more wary, and prompted her to begin learning Draconic. She is determined to further study the kobolds, ascertain the threat they pose to her home, and take whatever steps are necessary to ensure the safety of her family and friends. She's aware of Bufer's desire for diplomacy; she'll follow his lead unless the prospect of peace becomes untenable. She's still wary of Flower, but that won't stop her from asking him to be her Draconic conversation partner while Kat's away.
The dwarves' plight, though, twangs the heartstrings of girlish romantic sympathy; Hazel hopes they will find a way to retake Glangirn, but the clans' politics are beyond her simple interest. She considers Emus a stalwart friend in an older brother / kindly uncle way, and her feelings on the subject will likely be shaped by the views he shares with her.
Hazel's family has never worshipped Lothian. Her father doesn't speak of religion; her mother prays to Estanna and has taught her children to do the same. Based on her mother's stories, Hazel believes her maternal great-grandmother, now deceased, may have been a cleric of Estanna. If pressed, she'll profess nominal belief in Lothian for the sake of appearances.
The Tarsisian Empire seems irrelevant and distant to her. So far as she is concerned, the baron is the ultimate authority. Her impression of him is that of an older, more focused Kat -- perhaps made of sterner stuff, but with the same driving curiosity. His secrecy is perhaps appropriate in a ruler, but disturbs Hazel because though the baron knows of the kobold threat, he has not begun preparations in Maidensbridge to strengthen and unite the populace. In fact, the party's appearance in the baron's court deepened Hazel's respect for the constable more than anything else.
Stats
Hazel Sawyer
Neutral good female human ranger 5
Strength: 14 (+2)
Dexterity: 15 (+2) Temp: 14 (+2) (centipede damage)
Constitution: 10
Intelligence: 12 (+1)
Wisdom: 14 (+2) Temp: 11 (+1) (music damage, ooze damage)
Charisma: 9 (-1)
Hit points: 6/28
Armor class: 18 (16 flat-footed, 12 touch), additional +1 from Dodge against selected opponent
Speed: 30 ft.
Spell resistance: 0
Grapple: 7
Base attack: +5
Snig's +1 Battleaxe: +9 melee (1d8+3, 20/x3)
MW Handaxe: +8 melee (1d6+2, 20/x3)
Two-handed: +7/+6 melee (1d8+3, 1d6+1)
MW Composite longbow, +2 draw: +8 ranged (1d8+2, x3, 110 feet)
Saving throws: Fortitude +6, Reflex +7, Will +3 (additional +1 to each when wearing cloak)
Feats and skills
Feats: Alertness, Armor Proficiency (light), Dodge, Endurance, Great Fortitude, Shield Proficiency, Track, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Proficiency (martial, simple)
Skills: Climb 4 (3 + 2 - 1 ACP), Concentration 3 (3 + 0), Handle animal 4 (5 - 1), Heal 4 (2 + 2), Hide 5 (6 - 1 ACP), Jump 1 (2 - 1 ACP), Knowledge geography 6 (5 + 1), Knowledge nature 8 (5 + 1 + 2 Survival synergy), Listen 11 (7 + 2 + 2 Alertness), Move silently 8 (7 + 2 - 1 ACP), Profession lumberjack 3 (1 + 2), Ride 4 (2 + 2), Search 8 (7 + 1), Spot 9 (5 + 2 + 2 Alertness bonus), Survival 7 (5 + 2) additional +2 on finding and following tracks (from Search) and on avoiding natural hazards or getting lost (from Knowledge geography) and in aboveground natural environments such as aquatic, desert, forest, hill, marsh, mountains or plains (from Knowledge nature), Use rope 4 (2 + 2)
Languages: Common, Draconic, Gnomish
Ranger class abilities
Favored enemies: Bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot and Survival checks; bonus on damage rolls.
First: Humanoid reptilian. +4 bonus
Second: Humanoid human +2 bonusWild empathy: Influence animal attitudes within 30 feet, line-of-sight only; 1d20 + ranger level + charisma modifier.
Combat style: Two-weapon
Animal companion: Hazel has been chosen by Severn, a young male mountain lion. A ranger's animal companion is similar to a druid companion, but is only equivalent to half the ranger's level. Hazel can handle her companion as a free action, or push him as a move action. She receives a +4 circumstance check on all wild empathy and Handle Animal checks related to Severn. She can also share spells with Severn, opting to have any spell she casts upon herself also affect him, but only when he is within five feet. She can also cast spells on Severn as a touch range spell instead of on herself.
Spells: Hazel can cast a select set of divine spells; she must prepare her spells in advance. At fourth level, she can currently cast 1 spell per day. The DC for saving throws against her spells is 10 + the spell level + her wisdom modifier (+2).
1st-level Ranger spells: Alarm, Animal Messenger, Calm Animals, Charm Animal, Delay Poison, Detect Animals or Plants, Detect Poison, Detect Snares and Pits, Endure Elements, Entangle, Hide from Animals, Jump, Longstrider, Magic Fang, Pass without Trace, Read Magic, Resist Energy, Speak with Animals, Summon Nature's Ally IPrepared spells: Magic Fang
Gear and wealth
Regular gear: Backpack, silk rope (40 feet), waterskin, whetstone, hooded lantern, oil (2 pints), torch (1), flint and steel, rations (3) (biscuits and jerky)
Specialty gear: Tindertwigs from Pennywort's stash, 1 talisman to ward off evil from Mother Bridger, 1 tanglefoot bag, 1 wand of cure light wounds (used: 4 charges)
Wearing: Explorer's outfit, Friendship Band from Bufer, +1 magical cloak of resistance (previously owned by Artos Nachtmann)
Weapons and armor: +1 masterwork battleaxe (Snig's), masterwork handaxe, masterwork composite bow with +2 draw, quiver with 40 arrows, +2 chain shirt (+6 to AC, -1 ACP, no swim penalty)
Money: 313 gold, 2 silvers, 1 copper
Experience points: 11,672
