Zaira Oclan was born into a fractured world. Growing up in a place of constant struggle for survival between human settlement and wood elf ways, she learned to fend for herself at an extremely young age. Humankind was only viewed as a race threat to the forest and life within, as creatures without respect for the earth, thus Zaria knew only conflict and defense between the inhabitants of her home. She became a mighty warrior, every training experience from early ages leading up to who she is now, a druidic heroine. Coming of age only brought this elf more to the brink of one sided hatred towards any species that dare invade nature's delicate harmony. That is, until she met a woman who made her question the very root of all she had once known to be true. On a cold starless night, a vicious battle brought Zaria to a state in which she could not continue on, leaving her to lay under falling rain for days, patiently waiting for death to take her soul to the ancestors.
Yet the end did not come, rather a completely new beginning. She awoke to the face of a young human witch known as Fiadh, the woman’s gentle hands treating her wounds until fully healed. The witch brought her into a peaceful, beautifully harmonious village that welcomed Zaria as if she was one of their very own. This strange act of compassionate kindness caused Zaria’s wood elven principals to bend entirely, changing her views on humanity and the world's seemingly incurable conflict. In their time together, Fiadh taught her the ways of simple living in kindness, in contrast to Zaria’s former fierce warrior ways. The wood elf soon left her previous metier to spend time within the village she grew to become so fond of, later to be known as a hero amongst the people that resided there. With every year that passed, Zaria realized her love for Fiadh and her fellowship had grown strong, so much so that she would risk anything for their sake.
Although she had protected them all throughout every threat and monster that dared come close, she could not fight immaterial dangers. Guilt and sorrow consumed the entirety of Zarias being when an unexpected plague swept over the countryside, infecting everything in its path, including her people. One by one, everyone she had ever held dear fell to the incurable disease she and Fiadh tried so hard to ward away. All too soon it spread into the heart of Fiadh herself, leaving her helpless to its infectious darkness. Humans are complex beings. They are anything but single minded, conflictive people, but rather beautiful hearted individuals that are only often misunderstood, just as much as any other race ceases to be. Even as the other wood elves beckoned Zaria to return, grief pulled her into a life of wandering without a specific place to call home. To this day, Zaria Oclan can be found in many parts of distant forests and civilizations, helping those in need with the kindness that her deceased lover had taught her so well to share with others for years to come.
Alright, here we go: I rolled these stats on dndbeyond and was quite happy about the outcome. (character sheet screenshot from DNDBeyond app, already has the Dex +2 and Wis +1 from Wood Elf included)
Chose haunted background and the corresponding starter equipment for druid and haunted one. I also equipped a dagger and a shield along with the cheap leather armor from his class starter gear.
First question: how does 11AC from leather + 2AC from shield amount to 17 AC??? not that I'm complaining, really...
Second question: https://xender.vip/ can my druid cast spells with a shield in the off-hand and a dagger in the main hand or does he need to go into battle with the shield on his back, having one hand free? For spells that require materials, I'm assuming he has the components in his inventory.
Third question: can I cast healing word and cure wounds on myself? It doesn't specify that you cannot do so. (I know I cannot cast 2 spells on the same turn.)
I just rolled this toon today and wrote this background - what do you think? Matches up well with your background I'd say:
Due to a series of unfortunate (and clumsy) errors in his home village, Dru's mistakes killed several members of his clan and destroyed most of the house and parts of the village's stone walls. Not being his first, or even second major mistake, the village elders decided that Dru and his family needed to leave to prevent any further mistakes or errors that would likely take a life. Dru and the rest of his family, his parents, and two younger sisters, set off on their new path with resignation and nervousness. It took two months but the next error (this time in judgment) came and Dru led the family down a path blocked in some lowland mountains and forests... a band of gnolls ambushed the family. The gnolls attacked savagely with the small gnomes fighting back as well as they could. Dru's father, a seasoned member of their old village patrol groups tried to shield the younger daughters as best as possible while Dru and his mother held the flanks of the girls. It was only a matter of time before the much taller gnolls would press their advantage... By nightfall it was over... and Dru's father and two sisters lay dead or had been carried away and Dru's mother lay wounded next to Dru and two dead gnolls. She would survive... barely.
It was Dru who kept her alive and struggled with the notion that his mistake at reading the land had led his family down this dark path. During that first night, Dru tried to fashion two poles and his cloak to try and walk his mother to safety. He fumbled much during the construction...adding to his self-pity and frustration. Finally screaming into the night at his continued *uselessness* a calm filled the area, the moon peaked out from some clouds, and an oak leaf fell from a nearby tree and danced on a wisp of wind gently coming to rest on Dru's upheld hands...and he was calmed, and instantly focused on the task at-hand. Dru completed the construction as if the plants and trees around him pushed him to completion with their patience. Seeing that his mother's condition had worsened while building the kit, Dru softly whispered into the night and surrounding forest for guidance to help his mother...with another whisp of wind, his eyes closed searching for an answer - his hands began to lightly glow as healing waves entered his mother, stabilizing her condition. She was well enough to be moved!
Dru spent the next two days dragging his mother to a village they had passed through a few days prior. The villagers recognized him and his plight and granted him and his mother stay and healing. After another week his mother was well enough to stand and work on her own, but she always cast a scornful look at Dru...until one day she called for Dru.
The time for reckoning had come, Dru's mother could hold her anger no longer. She blamed Dru for everything that had befallen the family, the removal from their home village, the sorry lives they had led since then, and ultimately the death of his father and his sisters. She told him she never wanted to see him again, kicked her larger pack to Dru, and told him to take it and leave and not look back because she would not be here. Dru wanted to beg her to change her mind, but he knew she was right. He was the reason they were here... So he quietly picked up the pack, walked back to his room, and gathered his things with both packs and a small walking stick he passed the threshold of the door and looked back to his mother one last time only to see her door closed...and onward he stepped, alone.
After a week in the local forested area, Dru started to think about that night and the calmness that had come over the area and him as he struggled with trying to save his mother. This thought of calmness and the trees of the area led his mind to drift seemingly willing him where they wanted him to go. Dru didn't know how long he walked like this, but he knew two things - he was going where he was needed, and he was safe. After another week in the woods and foothills of the Spine of the World Dru finally found his place... a small pool of crystal clear water surrounded by mightily oaks and ash with an occasional yew and birch. His heart pounded as he dropped his pack near the pool of water and soaked in the image of the area and the calmness of it all.
After two days near this pool, a few branches parted and a sole figure walked calmly into the area and looked at Dru. Dru pondered the woman's intent but knew in his heart that she would do him no harm. After putting her pack down she finally spoke, "I am Leander...we leave on the 'morrow.". That was the beginning of Dru's new life, his trail and calmness as a disciple of Silvanus, and a member of the Emerald Enclave...
Background:
Zaira Oclan was born into a fractured world. Growing up in a place of constant struggle for survival between human settlement and wood elf ways, she learned to fend for herself at an extremely young age. Humankind was only viewed as a race threat to the forest and life within, as creatures without respect for the earth, thus Zaria knew only conflict and defense between the inhabitants of her home. She became a mighty warrior, every training experience from early ages leading up to who she is now, a druidic heroine. Coming of age only brought this elf more to the brink of one sided hatred towards any species that dare invade nature's delicate harmony. That is, until she met a woman who made her question the very root of all she had once known to be true. On a cold starless night, a vicious battle brought Zaria to a state in which she could not continue on, leaving her to lay under falling rain for days, patiently waiting for death to take her soul to the ancestors.
Yet the end did not come, rather a completely new beginning. She awoke to the face of a young human witch known as Fiadh, the woman’s gentle hands treating her wounds until fully healed. The witch brought her into a peaceful, beautifully harmonious village that welcomed Zaria as if she was one of their very own. This strange act of compassionate kindness caused Zaria’s wood elven principals to bend entirely, changing her views on humanity and the world's seemingly incurable conflict. In their time together, Fiadh taught her the ways of simple living in kindness, in contrast to Zaria’s former fierce warrior ways. The wood elf soon left her previous metier to spend time within the village she grew to become so fond of, later to be known as a hero amongst the people that resided there. With every year that passed, Zaria realized her love for Fiadh and her fellowship had grown strong, so much so that she would risk anything for their sake.
Although she had protected them all throughout every threat and monster that dared come close, she could not fight immaterial dangers. Guilt and sorrow consumed the entirety of Zarias being when an unexpected plague swept over the countryside, infecting everything in its path, including her people. One by one, everyone she had ever held dear fell to the incurable disease she and Fiadh tried so hard to ward away. All too soon it spread into the heart of Fiadh herself, leaving her helpless to its infectious darkness. Humans are complex beings. They are anything but single minded, conflictive people, but rather beautiful hearted individuals that are only often misunderstood, just as much as any other race ceases to be. Even as the other wood elves beckoned Zaria to return, grief pulled her into a life of wandering without a specific place to call home. To this day, Zaria Oclan can be found in many parts of distant forests and civilizations, helping those in need with the kindness that her deceased lover had taught her so well to share with others for years to come.
𝟷𝟽𝚢𝚛 𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽 ~ 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓼: 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺~
Alright, here we go: I rolled these stats on dndbeyond and was quite happy about the outcome. (character sheet screenshot from DNDBeyond app, already has the Dex +2 and Wis +1 from Wood Elf included)
Chose haunted background and the corresponding starter equipment for druid and haunted one. I also equipped a dagger and a shield along with the cheap leather armor from his class starter gear.
First question: how does 11AC from leather + 2AC from shield amount to 17 AC??? not that I'm complaining, really...
Second question: https://xender.vip/ can my druid cast spells with a shield in the off-hand and a dagger in the main hand or does he need to go into battle with the shield on his back, having one hand free? For spells that require materials, I'm assuming he has the components in his inventory.
Third question: can I cast healing word and cure wounds on myself? It doesn't specify that you cannot do so. (I know I cannot cast 2 spells on the same turn.)
I just rolled this toon today and wrote this background - what do you think? Matches up well with your background I'd say:
Due to a series of unfortunate (and clumsy) errors in his home village, Dru's mistakes killed several members of his clan and destroyed most of the house and parts of the village's stone walls. Not being his first, or even second major mistake, the village elders decided that Dru and his family needed to leave to prevent any further mistakes or errors that would likely take a life. Dru and the rest of his family, his parents, and two younger sisters, set off on their new path with resignation and nervousness. It took two months but the next error (this time in judgment) came and Dru led the family down a path blocked in some lowland mountains and forests... a band of gnolls ambushed the family. The gnolls attacked savagely with the small gnomes fighting back as well as they could. Dru's father, a seasoned member of their old village patrol groups tried to shield the younger daughters as best as possible while Dru and his mother held the flanks of the girls. It was only a matter of time before the much taller gnolls would press their advantage... By nightfall it was over... and Dru's father and two sisters lay dead or had been carried away and Dru's mother lay wounded next to Dru and two dead gnolls. She would survive... barely.
It was Dru who kept her alive and struggled with the notion that his mistake at reading the land had led his family down this dark path. During that first night, Dru tried to fashion two poles and his cloak to try and walk his mother to safety. He fumbled much during the construction...adding to his self-pity and frustration. Finally screaming into the night at his continued *uselessness* a calm filled the area, the moon peaked out from some clouds, and an oak leaf fell from a nearby tree and danced on a wisp of wind gently coming to rest on Dru's upheld hands...and he was calmed, and instantly focused on the task at-hand. Dru completed the construction as if the plants and trees around him pushed him to completion with their patience. Seeing that his mother's condition had worsened while building the kit, Dru softly whispered into the night and surrounding forest for guidance to help his mother...with another whisp of wind, his eyes closed searching for an answer - his hands began to lightly glow as healing waves entered his mother, stabilizing her condition. She was well enough to be moved!
Dru spent the next two days dragging his mother to a village they had passed through a few days prior. The villagers recognized him and his plight and granted him and his mother stay and healing. After another week his mother was well enough to stand and work on her own, but she always cast a scornful look at Dru...until one day she called for Dru.
The time for reckoning had come, Dru's mother could hold her anger no longer. She blamed Dru for everything that had befallen the family, the removal from their home village, the sorry lives they had led since then, and ultimately the death of his father and his sisters. She told him she never wanted to see him again, kicked her larger pack to Dru, and told him to take it and leave and not look back because she would not be here. Dru wanted to beg her to change her mind, but he knew she was right. He was the reason they were here... So he quietly picked up the pack, walked back to his room, and gathered his things with both packs and a small walking stick he passed the threshold of the door and looked back to his mother one last time only to see her door closed...and onward he stepped, alone.
After a week in the local forested area, Dru started to think about that night and the calmness that had come over the area and him as he struggled with trying to save his mother. This thought of calmness and the trees of the area led his mind to drift seemingly willing him where they wanted him to go. Dru didn't know how long he walked like this, but he knew two things - he was going where he was needed, and he was safe. After another week in the woods and foothills of the Spine of the World Dru finally found his place... a small pool of crystal clear water surrounded by mightily oaks and ash with an occasional yew and birch. His heart pounded as he dropped his pack near the pool of water and soaked in the image of the area and the calmness of it all.
After two days near this pool, a few branches parted and a sole figure walked calmly into the area and looked at Dru. Dru pondered the woman's intent but knew in his heart that she would do him no harm. After putting her pack down she finally spoke, "I am Leander...we leave on the 'morrow.". That was the beginning of Dru's new life, his trail and calmness as a disciple of Silvanus, and a member of the Emerald Enclave...
I would say that is a very well done, nicely rounded background indeed!
𝟷𝟽𝚢𝚛 𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽 ~ 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓼: 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺~
Thanks!
Of course!
𝟷𝟽𝚢𝚛 𝓐𝓻𝓽𝓲𝓼𝓽 ~ 𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓼: 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘞𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘈𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺~