Codee

Class and Abilities

Codee is a level 5 Fighter, level 1 Dragonmark Heir

She has been trained, like all her countrymen, as a soldier in the Karrnath military. The rigorous demands coupled with her own persistance have given her great endurance.
As a member of House Deneith gifted with the Mark of Sentinel, she was not destined for a simple soldier's life. Codee was groomed to become an elite bodyguard, able to Blind-fight to protect her ward no matter what the conditions. With her advanced training, a Power Attack can often cleave right through enemies. A great cleave has been known to keep her blade moving until every opponent within reach is dead on the floor.

Favored Gear

Weapons

Masterwork Greatsword: +9 to hit, 2d6 Damage + 5, 19-20x2 Critical
The sword used by her grandfather, Cale D'Deneith, in his youth with the Karrnath military. It may have passed from his hands long before he became a Deneith legend, but the old blade is a fine piece of craftsmanship.
Masterwork Spiked Chain: +5 to hit, 1d8 Damage + 5, x2 Critical, 0-10 Range
Commissioned in a fit of pride, as a younger Codee imagined standing out from the ranks of her peers with such an exotic signature weapon, she has not yet gained the skill in using it with which she weilds a sword. But it has served her well in stopping more nimble opponents when her armor slows her in battle.

Armor

Masterwork Breastplate: +5 AC, +3 max Dex, -3 Armor check penalty
After life on the front lines of Karrnath's military, Codee grew used to sleeping armed and ready for battle. While this may be simply a spare set of armor she keeps handy in case of need, she regularly sleeps in it while in hostile territory or on the job.
Masterwork Banded Mail: +6 AC, +1 max Dex, -5 Armor check penalty
Her old suit of armor, and as fine a piece of work as money could buy from Sharn's forges. Codee holds no attachment to it despite long years of keeping her body in one piece. She'll likely sell it off if she can get a good price for it, but in the meantime, it never hurts to have a spare.
Masterwork Enchanted Full Plate: +9 AC, +1 max Dex, -4 Armor check penalty
Her primary suit of armor, commissioned especially for her and forged in her homeland of Karrnath. As a trade for some useless glamorweave frippery, Codee feels she obviously got the better end of the deal. But then, this suit of armor has been something the bodyguard has been dreaming about since she was a grunt on the front lines watching her commander. It's usually polished to a ridiculous shine.

Other

Gloves of Holding (? - I forget what they actually are called).
Who needs a scabard clunking about when you can simply draw your sword from your gauntlets?

The Circlet of <insert demon here>
While 'foisted' is a more appropriate term than 'favored', the thin circlet from a sunken temple in Q'barra has certainly defined the warrior lately. It is the prison of a demon, and for months after she put it on, Codee was subtly under its control. She has since managed to snap out a bit, and can now distinguish what are her own thoughts, and what comes from the circlet, but she is unable to take it off. It is also bringing about some changes in the team leader. Her teeth seem to be growing sharper, her way with words more persuasive... and her men more paranoid.

Impressions

"I don't like her hat."
-Schwabus

Personal History

Codee d'Deneith comes from a fairly notable line in one of the oldest Dragonmarked houses. Her grandfather Cale was something of a recent legend, having died saving his ward - A prince of Breland - during the Last War. He too bore a Mark giving him the ability shield other, which caused it to be referred to as the 'martyr's mark' among some of the Blademark and Defender's guild. Cale d'Deneith died before Codee was born, but she grew up in the shadow of his legend. Her mother Celise was an unmarked scion of the house, and was married quite promptly to a distinguished career military man of the Blademark, the loyal, if unremarkable, Janos Winterwood. Although like any citizen of Karrnath, Celise did a tour of duty with the military, she prefered to make a life of politics and jostling to get House Deneith a better position in various regions of the country, and used her words more than her blade. Codee, as a young lass, found all that too fussy and idolized the clean 'friend versus enemy' outlook of combat. Her mother kept insisting she'd grow out of it one day, and appreciate what words could win as well, but Codee is a grown woman now, and hasn't yet reached that point.

A dragonmark can appear at any point in a person's life, though puberty is traditional. At puberty, however, Codee's skin was still as unblemished as the day she was born, and she was beginning to resent that her father was not of the House bloodline, perhaps having decreased her chances for honor and glory as a marked member of House Deneith. But after one particularly strenuous day of military training - perhaps more standard in Karrnath than learning to read and right well - she felt the muscles of her shoulder grow hot to the touch, and was afraid she had torn something in the workout. It was, to her relief and delight, only the beginnings of her dragonmark appearing there, just at her right collarbone. The Martyr's Mark, just like her grandfather.

House Deneith has a reputation to uphold, so after Karrnath's superb military training, Codee sent through another round with House Deneith instructors. A marked scion of the House had to be a superb example of House Deneith standards, after all. Can't have some young girl make it seem they weren't the best of the best. She still was required to serve in Karrnath's army, but there has been a long understanding between House Deneith and Karrnath, and the delay before Codee took up arms against the Imperialist Valenar elves on the borders of the Talenta Plains was not even blinked at. Fighting mounted opponents, she made certain to stay sharp with her riding skills, and even adopted use of the exotic spiked chain, for when she simply couldn't maneuver her steed within sword's reach. Perhaps it was this extra training, or perhaps the dragonmark she bore on her shoulder, but when Codee did finally join the front, she felt a certain responsibility to look out for her comrades. She felt this responsibility a little too deeply for her own good, judiciously using her dragonmark each day to shield whomever seemed to be in the worst way.

Most of the time, this simply meant she was the most haggard when her company took a break from the fighting. But her squad did seem to suffer fewer casualties - and the Deneith scion felt even those few deaths very personally. On several occasions, Codee even found herself protecting one of their halfling allies. By the end of her tour of service, the tribe she had fought alongside most frequently fervently promised to make assistance available to her in return, should she find herself in need in the future.

A good record to come home with, but House Deneith wasn't so pleased about Codee's conduct risking herself for front-line grunts. Her family's favor is substantial, and her own conduct honorable, but the House now has an unwritten decision to wait and make certain she'll actually live long enough to do something good for House Deneith before they bend over backwards to do anything more for her.

For her part, Codee feels her military service was an excellent experience, and she did just what she should have. She might not be aware of how it affected her character and values precisely, but service for Karrnath has had a lasting effect. As a bodyguard, she is expected to act protective of a ward or client. But leading men into battle has also made her incredibly protective of her comrades. Having fought with the enhanced undead shock troops of the Karrnathi military on her side, and passed through Fort Zombie and Fort Bones on the way to other (more well-provisioned) postings, she's quite comfortable with the sight and idea of undead. Not that she assumes much in return, but the sight of undead neither frightens her, nor causes her to go into a righteous fury to kill them off. Elves, on the other hand, may have lost such courtesy with her. House Deneith training included much on how to be professional and neutral, and she knows that there are more than one tribe of elves... But having fought against them for much of her military service, some prejudice is inevitable. She's much quicker to fall back on violence if an elf appears to be acting hostile or suspicious.

After a bit of rest and further training, House Deneith advised Codee to go into private bodyguarding for a while, and set her up with contacts in the Defender's Guild. Which is where her story begins to blend with that of others. While her grandfather's legend still resonates enticingly in her ears, in truth, Codee was somewhat frightened of the idea of being solely responsible - be it for a task, or a life. Her personality would be likely to drive herself to exhaustion, rather than sleep with her ward unguarded, or take a vacation. And it's one thing to put yourself at risk to save someone when you have comrades in arms to help support you in turn. It's another to know that if you push yourself to the brink of death to accomplish something, there's no one to pull you back from it.

Read on to more of Codee's story as she meets up with the others in the Team Backstory