Flint Gray

## Flint Grey

Mercenary, Bounty Hunter, Private Investigator, High Cleric

## **Backstory**

### Actaeon and Khalida

Cernunnos Fowler was once a normal human born in the city of Daggermark, his father was a cocky yet cheerful sharpshooting Pathfinder from Osirian named Actaeon Fowler and his mother was a gentle and kindhearted Oracle of Charon by the name of Khalida Nevermore.

Actaeon joined the Pathfinder Society at the age of 16, having proven his worth by traveling to Mechitar and stealing the helmet of one of the five former Knights of Ozem while also obtaining the ire of the Harlot Queen, Arazni. After a successful 30 year career as a Pathfinder Actaeon retired to Daggermark, attempting to leave the many enemies he had made in his career in the past. Although his retirement was shortlived, as he then acted as part of Daggermark's Calvary Regiment alongside Lord Martro Livondar soon after he married his wife Khaldia Nevermore.

Khaldia was destined to be an oracle from birth when she was born from the corpse of a woman who was hung while pregnant during one of the many wars for territory and renown in her homeland somewhere in The River Kingdoms. The land never had a name, as it was conquered and reconquered and re-titled over and over again. Khaldia died that day, cold and alone with not one to protect her. How she was revived and how she grew in favor with Charon isn't currently known, as Khaldia never spoke of the reasons as to why.

The story as to how and why they got married changes every time one asks them. Sometimes Acteon will claim he rescued her from being held captive in a crystal prison. Other times Khaldia claims that it was love at first sight when the two met on the boat to Daggermark, though the validity of either story is unknown to everyone except the two.

Either way, the two had three children. First came Cernunnos and then the twins Dabria and Dearil. As the oldest, Cernunnos was given a red pendant that was enchanted by his mother. It was said to have the power to protect

### Early Life and Daggermark

Life in Daggermark was a lot simpler than most would often think, given

that Daggermark's two most well known organizations were Assassins and Poisoners, it was a lot like how Abasalom is now. Separated in multiple districts, the laws were loose yet reinforced. Deaths were often, but regulated like business by the two organization. They were like mobsters, never liking new blood coming in and upsetting the balance that they ever so delicately carved out.

The Fowlers lived in the more rich district, given that Acteon was serving Lord Livondar. Neither organization ever seemed to bother the Fowler family, just the opposite in fact. Khaldia Nevermore and Lady Janna Smilos, the head of the Daggermark Assassin's Guild, were mother-friends for years so the Fowler and Smilos children often played together. So then it came to a surprise one day that Actaeon was found dead in his bed, with the signature kris that was a calling card of the Daggermark Assassins stuck between his ribs.

Cernunnos was but 15 at the time, with the twins being 10 years old. By her word, Lady Janna claimed that she had no knowledge of why Acteon was murdered but Khaldia did not believe her as the Lady had warned Actaeon about his position as Lord Livondar's "lapdog" bringing its own dangers to him and his family. Cernunnos was an analytical child, never one to let small details get past him and this felt all wrong.

Using his mother's own shrine to Charon and his father's skull, he channeled the unholy energy into the skull by using a ritual from Khaldia's notebook. There, he made a deal with one of the Harbingers of Charon by trading a shard of his soul for the power to relive his father's last memories. That's when he saw it.

Lording over Acteon's body was a monstrous suit of profane ebony armor covering a desiccated corpse, clutching a helmet in one hand while holding the murder weapon in the other. Detailing the vision he saw to Khaldia and Lady Janna, Khaldia went and opened an often-locked chest in her and Acteon's room, finding that the helmet, the relic that the Pathfinder Society allowed him to keep, was gone.

Khaldia, too soft for her own good, never informed her son about the helmet nor who Acteon was before Cernunnos was born. However, Lady Janna explained that the being in his vision was a Graveknight, specifically one of Arazni's five champions.To find out why his father had to die, Cernunnos one day left the city of Daggermark with naught but his father's pistol, skull and armor which at the time didn't fit him correctly, leaving only a note on his bed for his mother and siblings. There, he sneaked on board of a merchant's vessel that would be passing the capital of Geb, Mechitar.

### Cernunnos And Mechitar

Arriving to Mechitar at the age of 16, Cernunnos's search eventually found himself at the gates of the Cinerarium, where Arazni resided. At the time, though, it was enchanted so only the dead could enter the Cinerarium so Cernunnos, well, died! Temporarily. Using a special poison he bought from Tragshi's guild, he temporarily died while hiding in a cart of gifts from another country and was revived inside of the Cinerarium.

Once he was in the Cinerarium, Cernunnos searched around the giant obsidian pyramid for the graveknight that killed his father and thus ended up finding himself in the upper throngs of the throne room. The five knights all stood shoulder-to-shoulder, between the Harlot Queen herself and an apparent ambassador.

Although due to Cernunnos climbing on one of the massive chandeliers and falling off upon the ambassador, it was revealed that the ambassador was one of Lady Janna's assassins who was on a suicide mission to attempt to at least harm Arazni and her champions with holy water and a wand of mythic consecration. But they were immediately cut down once their deception was foiled.

Impressed by Cernunnos's tenacity and quick-thinking, Lady Arazni was tempted to award Cernunnos until he spoke.

*"My name is Cernunnos Fowler! You killed my father! I have come for my revenge!"*

At first, Lady Arazni was confused but then let out a laugh, before explaining exactly the situation of the matter. About how his father had stole the graveknight's helmet and had repeatedly gained the ire of Geb's citizens with his actions as a Pathfinder. Defeated, Cernunnos had collapsed in front of the Lady and her champions.

After a moment's thought, Lady Arazni herself approached Cernunnos and spoke these soft words.

*"You remind me of someone I knew when I was your age. Maybe it's that tenacity, maybe it's that conviction. Or maybe it's that stupid pride that you both seemed to share. You came all this way and have impressed me, time and time again. So I shall grant you a gift and send you on your way."*

With that, Arazni took the helmet off of the graveknight that had slayed Acteon and disenchanted it of its necromatic energy, before bestowing it as a gift to Cernunnos. Struck with the anger that his father had done something like this, he disavowed

Acteon.

After the encounter with Lady Arazni, for the next 10 years he served in the kingdom of Geb as a bounty hunter, hunting down people like Acteon who dared to commit crime in Geb. Using his analytical prowess and abilities, Cernunnos became a force to be reckoned with, until his death.

### Death

Cernunnos one day was killed in his sleep, stabbed in the chest with an Assassin's Kriss. He laid dead for about ten years until his corpse was discovered by one of the Graveknights who were searching for one of the Bloodstones of Arazni. It appeared that the blood crystal in Cernunnos's enchanted necklace was a shard of the heart and the enchantment that was once on the pendant, having hidden the artifact's magical aura, seemed to have ended upon his death.

### Unlife

For his years of service to Geb and finding a shard of one of the Bloodstones, Lady Arazni had Cernunnos resurrected. The dark arcane energy the once demi-god flooded into Cernunnos, bringing him back at the cost of 30 years of his life. Yet, for some reason he ages far slower than normal humans, maybe due to the fact he doesn't have a complete soul or maybe due to his mother's ties to Charon. Cernunnos, thankful of Lady Arazni's gift, left Geb in search of the one who killed him.

However, after 5 years of searching, he found no traces of his assassin or any reason as to why he was even killed in the first place. With hazed memories and age catching up onto his coattails, he decided to retire to Absalom. Only to quickly find himself restless, he works as a bounty hunter and detective inside of the great city.

He met a lot of people, the spunky youth Phoebe and the Construct Oracle Dala. He also became both an informant and a retainer for the Absalom Guard.

During a festival, Fowler, Dala and Verus all protected the town from some dragons. Fowler, willing to sacrifice himself to protect his friends and the town was taken in by the great Dragon God. He had made a contract with the Dragon God, written in spoken word, that he will serve the dragon until his death. The contract, born of blood and fire, was held true. Until Fowler died.

### The True Death of Cernunnos Fowler

Fowler had a plan, a devious yet... unscrupulous plan, a plan with many holes. A plan that wouldn't ever work. Except for those who hold an intense amount of strength, ego and luck. Luckily, Fowler was one such man.

He studied himself in silence during his stay with the dragon in his quazi-real plane, where years in the plane were but days in the material plane. He found why his body was so cold and why he couldn't age: He was Gravetouched, those who were revived with negative energy often done by great lichs or necromancers. Azrani, in all of her power, could never perform such a holy ritual like Resurrection without somehow corrupting it with her aura, thus when Fowler was revived: he became Gravetouched. Learning all that he could with the help of the dragons of this quazi-plane, he found that upon his death, there was but a chance to survive, but as an undead.

Fowler, knowing the risks, charged his Bone Razor with all of his arcane energy, passing it onto the blade. But before he could commit to the deed, the great Dragon God found his workspace and brought his unholy fire down upon it, drenching Fowler in evil fire. But... this is exactly what Fowler was waiting for. Using the dark energy of the flame he was bathed in, he struck his heart with the bone razor and passed it and the fire's energy into his body, killing him.

Through a shrewd combination between the razor, his arcane energy, the dragon's unholy fire and his own determination: he had done it. He had passed into undeath.

His flesh was burned and melted away, muscle and sinew burnt from his body. But his blood only boiled, attaching to his bones. Through his arcane defiance and determination, he had done it, but not unscathed. The dragon's own fire and essence burned into his bones and fragmented soul, filling the shard that was once there with an eternal flame, causing his aura to be filled with the same flame that ignited his change but the pain of the eternal flame wracked his soul, setting him back and wounding his soul. Having fulfilled his contract, Fowler was banished by the Dragon God to Abbadon.

## Carter Slade

The Wraith of Flame and Ash and his Nightmare, Ash Gray

### Meeting Carter Slade

There, years passed like minutes. He wandered the Hellscape, learning about the extent of his undeath. At first, it was unbearable, insanity inducing. Until a Wraith of Flame and Ash riding upon a steed of flame wandered by, finding the undead cleric beyond wits end.

At first, the two were hostile: Fowler lashing out like a mindless creature but after what seemed like years of fighting, Fowler worked out his insanity. The Wraith, named Carter Slade, went through a similar situation to Fowler. Similar enough that he spared the man.

Carter Slade was not just a gunslinger, he was *the* gunslinger. One of the first Legendary Gunslingers, to be exact. Back during the early Starstone Age, when Aroden was still alive, Carter was one of the many adventurers that flocked to Absalom looking for fame, fortune and power. He was most often hired out by the House of Tevineg to hunt down those who broke their agreements with the house. He was famous for presenting his brashness and unwillingness to budge to any demand when he didn't bend his knee to Aroden when his services were called. But there were legends. Some legends say that his gaze was enough to cull any argument, others say that his gaze burned people alive. There are legends that say he was more accurate than Erastil with his bow, some say that he was the first to invent the revolver as he claimed "One bullet is not enough", while some curse his name as some ragged devil-whisperer.

Despite being a legend he was but a human, so age eventually caught up to him. But, per his service, the Matron of House Tevineg at the time met with Carter Slade on his death bed with a contract. The gift of endless age in exchange for being a servant of Asmodeus. Obviously the dying man took the deal, finding his soul damned as he died and was reborn. The Carter Slade that was reborn was an exact copy of Slade himself, but the real Carter Slade was taken to Hell. Not one to bend his knee to anyone, be they man or god, his pure determination and burning spite broke the contract's seal before he even reached Hell, damning him to be a wraith of flame and ash, ever wandering the evil planes. His actions and spirit attracted a Nightmare to his side which he named Ash Gray. Ash Gray had become more than a mount to Carter Slade, but an extension of his will.

### The Birth of Flint Gray

Undead Flint Gray and his Phantom Steed

Carter Slade trained Fowler, who himself was already an apt gunman, in the ways of a Legendary Gunslinger. Though in his diminished state, he would have to rekindle the power that was burned away on his own. Years passed further by, and the name Cernunnos Fowler become lost to him for that was not who he was anymore. He eventually took up the name Flint Gray.

Flint Gray, after exploring the hellish planes alongside Carter Slade, attracted his own Nightmare. Drawn not by his evil soul, but by the determination that emanated like a flame from his pure essence.

Thanking Carter for the years of company, training and the return of his sanity, Flint hopped back to the Material Plane with the Nightmare.And began his ride towards Absalom from the other side of the world.

Mounting his steed, he rode all the way back to Abaslom, to face the city he hasn't seen in more than a hundred years, but for them: It was only a few days.

### The Zephyr Incident

After a few months of doing his work within the city, including minor events such as taking over the Duke St. James Manor and hunting after some more notorious criminals, Flint Gray disappeared for a while when the earthquakes seemingly destroyed his home and the Zephyr Incident began. However, riding in like a bat out of hell, Flint assisted the guard in taking down the evil necromancer Jaerrick of The Zephyr and destroying the Zephyr Stone. Doing this along with assisting Erica Piper in taking down Lucia Sol, Flint garnered some fame and was given the now-returned Duke St. James Manor for his service, where he works out of to this day as a Mercenary, Private Investigator and High Cleric.

## **Appearance**

### Human

Flint Gray, unlike his former self, was much older and a bit different in certain ways. He was much taller now, over a foot taller than the once already tall Fowler. His frame was still thin and his nose like a beak. But he no longer would wear those spectacles and lets his eyes peer over everyone.

As yellow as envy, those eyes. Eyes that bore holes in all that they looked at, eyes that could dive right into another's soul. The sclera of his eyes were the color of dried blood, a contrast of color can be seen when his eyes were bloodshot. His pupils were like thin yet long diamonds, touching to the top and bottom edge of the iris. The yellow iris was far larger than an average human's, taking up the majority of the sclera. A fire burned behind those eyes. Permanent light purple bags from years of restless sleep hung heavy underneath his eyes and crow's feet dotted at the edges of his face, more so than the last.

He also had this smile, a handsome smile that seemed to draw and disarm those who looked at his glistening white teeth, though closer study would find that the canine was just a tad bit longer than average, the other one missing. Laugh lines were hidden in the long grey beard.

His hair was now fully gray, but with hints of where black used to be. His hair went down way farther than his ears, going all the way down past his shoulders. Fowler would have kept them tied back, but Gray lets it all hang down normally.

The main ensembles of his outfit was his leather duster and his hat, however they've changed

His leather duster was custom made, cut long so that the hem would go down to his knees. Four metal buttons, each about a half foot between each other went from the waist of the coat to the collar. The left sleeve was normal, going all the way down to Fowler's wrist and stopping about a half inch from the beginning of his palm while wide enough to allow spastic hand and arm movement, but the right sleeve was cut short and had three small belts to secure the sleeve to the arm. With a short cape that wouldn't go beyond the shoulders, which also had a belt to secure underneath the neck, the collar was a formal design with lapels that would go out a bit far from the neck. The jacket had a few more addons, like a gold star on the breast similar to the one Carter Slade had. The tail and sides were no longer pristine, instead burnt with holes here and there.

His hat was also leather, but lined with wool with a wide yet flat, even brim. A dark black that contrasted with the duster's dark yet faded browns. The crown was pointed by design, with two dents and a deep crease that pointed a bit forward and down when worn correctly with a brown buckle set that rested around the crown. His hat was messed up, with long creases along the edge. There were multiple holes now in the brim, and an ace playing card was bent out of the strap.

Beyond that, his outfit was rather plain. Black canvas slacks with a bandoleer as a belt which held two holsters for small firearms, two hocks to hold books, an empty sword sheath and two different spell component pouch. All were designed in a similar way, leather with bronze buttons and claps. Worn soldier's boots that were secured to the foot and ankle with two separate belts and a sleeveless leather tunic with a chain shirt sewn in that was fastened tight and made to fit securely to the body. He had a red bandanna around his neck, and a bandoleer across his chest, carrying all sorts of odds and ends, including a dragon's tooth.

### Undead

In a somewhat gruesome transformation, Flint can become his burning undead form. His jacket begins to smolder and fire would be thronged from his head and where his neck was. He'd become a burning skeleton, covered in flame and a thick layer of boiling red blood. His yellow eyes would be replaced with two yellow spotlights, staring out far and wide at anyone who got close.

## **Personality**

Flint is a man of many things, but unlike his younger self he is now more calm, laid back, however this does not make him lazy. He still holds a deep intrinsic sense of both his surroundings and his company compounded only by his desire to pull out and dissect every wriggling detail.

Analytical in nature, Flint often times plays his role as the cool head of the group, but assumptions of his bland personality would be a failure of one's perception. He is now rather calm, but would grow cold and quiet, especially when something's amiss, ready to spring into action.

Fowler has a way to cohere information and details from others. At times he can be rather disarming, other times he can be threatening with his burning gaze and sometimes he can push people's buttons in just the right way to force his way under their skin. He has a great sense of self and understanding of people, a requirement in his line of work. Quick to crack a joke to clear the air or to hold the door for another person, he often times is an all around good person that can buckle down and get things done.

Now calm and collected, Flint often times takes to being lax, able to stay calm in even tight situations.

When it comes to his work, he is calm, cool and often times professional. He would often times take the lead, making sure everything was done right.

## **Allies**

* Charon (God)
* Geb (Country)
* Daggermark (Home City)
* Daggermark's Assassin's Guild (Friends of The Family)
* Janna Smilos (God Mother)
* Carter Slade (Teacher, Father Figure)

## Neutral

* Hell Knights (Somewhat Hostile)
* Erica Piper (Target/Contractor)
* Whispering Way (Cult He's Interacted With)
* Tenora Claw Conquistador of Flame and Loyal Servant of the God Claw (Target/Contractor)

## **Enemies**

* Bounty Targets
* Some Criminals
* Osirion
* Dragons