Maksim Mikhaelovich

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Full Name
Maksim Mikhaelovich Haelin

History/Background
Maksim is the son of a minister, a mundane priest of St Cuthbert (an almost forgotten demigod or an exarch of Moradin, depending on who you ask). His father was last of a long line of priests to the Lawkeeper (as old Mikhail called him), and a bitter, unforgiving man, who armored himself with a dour, judgmental frown and a gray crumpled hat. Mikhail would often attend the investigations of crime and judge harshly, calling for the letter of the law to be enforced, and daring anyone to challenge the judgment of the law.


 * The god of retribution, St. Cuthbert of the Cudgel, exacts revenge and just punishment on those who transgress the law. Because evil creatures more commonly and flagrantly violate laws than good creatures do, St. Cuthbert favors good over evil, though he is not good himself. The no-nonsense order of St. Cuthbert does not suffer fools gladly or abide evil in any way. His clerics concern themselves with the needs of the common people over nobles or the well-educated. They are zealous in their desire to convert others to their faith and quick to destroy their opponents.

Maksim's mother died when he was 9. Maksim has fond memories of his mother, but remembers that she was usually sad. He has come to realize that his natural talents as an ardent surfaced occasionally when he was young, amplifying his mother's depression and making his father even more miserable to be around. Mara died in a severe depression one winter, and it changed his father. Normally dour and unforgiving, Mikhail began to drink, neglecting and often beating his son for some imagined slight. By the time he was 13, Maksim had taken over the family business, as his father was frequently too hung over (or still too drunk to deliver his sermon). Mikhail blamed his son for the dwindling number of his flock; not that there had ever been that many.

And in truth, Maksim's natural empathic abilities weren't helping the situation. His father's frustration infected him, and he passed on the frustration to those around him, isolating the pair of them from the rest of the village. The rage he channeled from his father was worse; after one beating, he felt a murderous rage flow through him. The next morning, the village found two men nearly beaten to death by their drunken fellows after an argument blew way out of proportion.

Awakening
By the time Maksim was 15, he was already considered to be a little crazy. Considered to be an instigator by most of the villagers who had children; Maksim's tendency to ... blur his emotional state with those around him made other kids want to hang around and find out what would happen next. A group of them were out in the woods, past the point where most of them were supposed to be... since many of them weren't supposed to be seen with Maksim.

The group of them were set upon by wolves, feral creatures whose hunger had drawn them closer to the village than they were normally found. Three of them ran immediately, but Maksim and another boy hesitated, as one of the girls they were with... one who Maksim had strong feelings for, managed to trip when her dress got caught in the growth. Her fear hit him, the other boy's fear hit him, and his own fear hit him, harder than he had ever felt in his young life. He felt the desperation of the wolves, the rage of the alpha at the hunger he felt. And as he swung the stick he had grabbed on his way to the girl, he reflected it all back at them, channeling it as a weapon before everything went black.

When he woke several hours later, he was alone, and face down in the dirt. He made his way back to the village to find the parents of his friends were speaking to his father, accusing him of... something. His friends had  felt  Maksim attack the wolves, and it scared them.

From then on, Maksim tried to withdraw into himself, as any boy would do in this type of situation. But while he could keep his eyes averted, he could still feel the fear and loathing around him. He could feel their anger lash him like his father's belt. But what hurt him most of all, was the girl. From others, he felt rage or fear, loathing or suspicion. From her, he felt nothing. He had saved her life and she just moved on without a second thought. To this day, he tells himself he has forgotten her name (Anya).

Leaving Home
Old Mikhail died during the following spring thaw. Maksim sat with him, listening to his father succumb to a wet rasping cough that had grown worse and worse over the course of that winter. Most of the village knew that Mikhail was dying, but between the old man's acerbic nature and the loathing which most of the the villagers now felt for the boy... . Mikhail died with only his son in attendance, who could feel the loathing his father no longer even tried to hide. After he had passed, the villagers watched Maksim carry his father's body to the small run-down chapel, and then set the building ablaze. No one said a word to him while he watched the building burn, an unreadable expression on his face, and most tried not to look at him when he picked up a backpack and walked out of town, never to be seen by any of them again.

Finding a Path
For years, Maksim wandered. Each village he came to reacted to him much in the same way... the suspicion over a stranger in their midst was tolerable for a while, but eventually, his abilities would begin reflecting the suspicion, which would turn to anger, and so on... When the villagers realized the source, Maksim usually found himself fleeing for his life. But even when this wasn't the case, he always had to leave before things got bad. Cities were even worse, while city-dwellers were less skeptical of strangers, the press of people and emotions was so bad that someone usually died within the first two days. Living in the wilderness wasn't a choice either, since Maksim did not have the skill to live off the land. So he kept moving, learning to leave before his power caused problems.

It was in one village where he heard a rumor about an old manor on the outskirts of town. It was rumored to be ... wrong in some fashion, but Maksim decided to check it out anyways. If it turned out that the rumors were just a matter of people being morons, the manor might be a good place for him to stay. Far enough out of town for him to not cause problems, yet close enough that he wouldn't be in complete isolation.

When he reached the manor, he was struck with a sense of ‘wrongness’ emanating from the residence. As he crept closer, he heard the sounds of battle coming from within. As he reached the front door, he saw a wiry man fighting against strange unearthly plants. Maksim grabbed a makeshift spear and went to aid him. After they had beaten the aberrant vines, the battlemind introduced himself as Elias. Elias was surprised that Maksim had no idea what he was (an ardent), or that he had little to no control over his empathic abilities.

Each morning and each night, Elias taught Maksim to harness his power, and each day, they reclaimed a piece of the manor from the aberrant infestation that had corrupted it.

It took them the entire summer, but they managed to completely purge the taint of the Far Realm. And then Elias simply vanished. One night he was there, the next morning, he was gone, leaving his glaive Fellreaver behind as a gift, and the only evidence he was truly even there.

Adventuring
Emboldened by gaining a level of control over his abilities, Maksim decides to become an adventurer. He still is not entirely comfortable in large groups of people, but no longer needs to worry about "slipping". His initial forays into the adventuring life have been as a freelancer, which has allowed him to keep people at arm’s length, and leave a group before he feels he might start slipping again. Brightstone Keep is a likely starting point for him.

A few weeks&dagger; ago, something changed. He found himself distracted... more distracted than usual. Something was ... beckoning his attention northward. The company he had signed onto noticed that he was more scattered than usual. After a skirmish with some orcs, one of the bruisers decided to express his dissatisfaction with Maksim's attention span by grabbing his chin and physically directing his attention. Unexpectedly, (to both the bruiser and to Maksim) the ardent exploded in a burst of light. He left the group shortly after that, and began heading northward, signing on as a caravan guard. And about a week ago, the beckoning stopped. Maksim was left with a strange sense that he had missed something... that he was too late, but he was also struck with a sense of being alone. At least until the whispering started...

It started with unintelligible whispers, which caused Maksim to jump at unseen shadows. But then he started to recognize that it was a single voice, urging him to hurry... that he would be needed, that Maksim would have to stand in "his" place (whoever he was) else IT would reform unopposed.

Maksim thought that someone was messing with him, and the other guards went along with the accusations, thinking that one of them might actually be playing a long con on Maksim. But when Maksim started considering that he might be developing telepathy (while he had never exhibited telepathy, he understood what it was, since people had often questioned whether that was what his power was based on.), he started questioning whether someone was  thinking  at him. The other guards stopped talking to him at this point. Between the sense of urgency in the voice and the sense that he had worn out his welcome in the caravan, Maksim left the caravan, and headed east into the marsh. He promptly got lost...

&dagger; a few weeks before joining the party
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View on Law and Order
Maksim has a respect for law, but has seen a darker side of how it's been enforced. His father crushed a boy's fingers in judgment for stealing bread, and claimed that he was showing leniency (since they would heal over time). But Maksim was there a week later when the villagers found the boy and his younger sister dead in a ditch, having starved to death. He believes that the laws are important guidelines, but that too often, those that enforce them forget that they are there to protect society from itself.

What happened to your eye?
(Maksim is missing his left eye) "Troll took it out... I was with a group and one of our first gigs was tracking down a group of bandits. The bandits must have figured out that they were being followed and they led us straight through a troll warren. Only a pair of them in there, but they ripped our ranger Torin's arm off before anyone realized what we had stumbled into. We barely got out of there, but not before one of the beasts took a chunk out of my face.

Theme: Ordained Priest

 *  Smiting Symbol  (encounter)
 * Close blast 3; 1d8 + highest ability modifier radiant damage, and the target takes a –2 penalty to attack rolls until the end of your next turn.

Level 1
''Energizing Strike and Focusing Strike are exceptionally useful. Demoralizing Strike was useful...but a little tough to use when the defense debuff was needed, since I need to hit to inflict it.  The Daily seemed to be useful, but it needs something to inflict penalties on saving throws''
 *  Demoralizing Strike  (at-will)
 * 0: target takes a -2 penalty to all defenses until the end of your next turn.
 * 1: target takes a (Con mod +2) penalty to Will until the end of your next turn. (Con mod =2)
 * 2: target takes a (Con mod +2) to all defenses until the end of your next turn.
 *  Energizing Strike  (at-will)
 * 0: one ally gains temporary hit points equal to one·half your level + your Charisma modifier. (Cha mod=5)
 * 1: one dying ally within 5 squares of you regains hit points equal to your Charisma modifier
 * 2: you or one ally within 5 squares of you can spend a healing surge.
 *  Focusing Strike  (not augmentable: human bonus at-will)
 * 0: you or one ally within 5 squares of you can make a saving throw.
 *  Implanted Suggestion  (Daily)
 * Hit: 2[W] + Charisma modifier damage, and the target is dazed (save ends)
 * Miss: Half damage.
 * Effect: The target is affected by your suggestion (save ends) Until the suggestion ends, whenever the target makes an attack, one ally adjacent to the target can make a melee basic attack against it as a free action after the target's attack is resolved.
 *  Wind of Sympathy  (Feat)
 * Benefit: When you use your second wind, one ally within the radius of your Ardent Mantle can use his or her second wind as a free action.
 *  Hafted Defense  (Human Bonus Feat)
 * While wielding a polearm or a staff in two hands, you gain a +1 shield bonus to AC and Reflex.

Level 2

 *  Inspiring Fortitude  (Utility)
 * Daily: You use your second wind, and each target gains temporary hit points equal to 10 + your Constitution modifier (Listed as "Invigorating Presence" in some source books)
 *  Armor Proficiency: Scale  (Feat)

Level 3
Worked well for battlefield control.
 *  Unnerving Shove  (at-will)
 * 0: push target # of squares equal to Con mod
 * 1: if target dazed, push it # of squares equal to 1 + Con mod
 * 2: push target # of squares equal to 1 + Con mod *and* it grants combat advantage to those adjacent at end of push

Level 4

 *  Martyr's Surge 
 * When you use your ardent surge while bloodied, the hit points regained by the target increase by 1d6.

Level 5
Looking at multiple powers...choice will largely be based on party choices
 *  Invitation to Defeat   - Close burst 5, (No Damage) Pull targets 5 squares. Any target pulled to a square adjacent to you is weakened (save ends). Until the end of your next turn, enemies are weakened while they are adjacent to you. In addition, until the end of your next turn, any enemy that takes damage while adjacent to you also takes psychic damage equal to your Charisma modifier. (Sustain Minor: The effect persists.)
 *  Specter of Doubt   - Inflicts psychic damage when target attacks (save ends), make a dazing attack when save is failed

Level 6

 *  Evade Attack  (encounter, interrupt) When an ally is hit by an opportunity attack, teleport them a number of squares equal to your Charisma modifier.
 *  Level 6 Feat TBD  (Feat)

Level 7
Retrain one At-Will power...considering the following
 *  Courageous Strike  - Grants +2 to AC for me and adjacent ally against target. Augment 1 changes this to all defenses, but Augment 2 is largely useless (keys off Wis)
 *  Forward Thinking Strike  - Grants a +1 to hit, and Augment 2 enables charges from 1-2 allies.
 *  Stolen Strength  - Reduces target's damage rolls (Augments are iffy for effectiveness)

Possible Feats
where a MC feat gives a skill, retraining one of Maksim's existing skills to Arcana might make sense...
 *  Outraged Vengeance  - Allies gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls against any target granting combat advantage from your ardent outrage power.
 *  Martyr's Surge  - When you use your ardent surge while bloodied, the hit points regained by the target increase by 1d6.
 * Attack bonuses
 *  Heavy Blade Expertise  - +1 to hit with heavy blades, and +2 to all defense against opportunity attacks
 *  Weapon Expertise  - +1 to hit with heavy blades
 *  Human Ingenuity  - When you spend an action point to make an extra attack, you regain 1 power point.
 *  Sly Dodge  (Rogue): Training in Bluff or Intimidate, Once per encounter, gain Cha mod bonus to AC against an opportunity attack [Stacks with Heavy Blade Expertise's defensive benefit]
 *  Student of Battle  (Warlord): Training in a skill, extra heal 1/day

Current Items

 * Armor: +2 drakescale armor (lvl 6)
 * Neck: +2 Amulet of Elegy (Lvl 7)
 * Weapon: Fellreaver: +2 magical glaive (lvl 6)
 * Head: Fey-Blessed Circlet (Lvl 8)

Weapon

 * Staggering Weapon (Level 7, AV)
 * Property: When you use a power with the weapon keyword that slides a target, you can add this weapon’s enhancement bonus to the number of squares the target slides.
 * Power (Daily): Free Action. Use this power when you hit with the weapon. Slide the target a number of squares equal to the weapon’s enhancement bonus.

Armor

 * Reinforcing Armor (AV, Level 94+)
 * Property: If you take damage from a melee attack, you gain a +1 item bonus to all defenses until the start of your next turn.
 * Bloodiron Armor (AV, Level 8+)
 * Property: When you hit a target, you gain a +2 item bonus to AC against attacks from that target until the end of your next turn.

Top Wishlist Choices

 * Boots of the Fencing Master (Feet, AV, Level 7)
 * Property: When you shift, gain a +1 item bonus to AC and Reflex defense until the end of your next turn.
 * Power (Encounter): Minor Action. Shift 2 squares.
 * Curse Eye Tattoo (Wondrous, Level 8)
 * Property: When you spend an action point to take an extra action, one enemy within 10 squares of you that you can see takes a –2 penalty to saving throws (save ends).
 * Belt of Blood (Waist Item, AV, Level 10)
 * Property: Your healing surge value increases by your Constitution modifier while you are bloodied.

Purchases
Stuff that is below the drop range for our level, and would need to be purchased
 * Luckbender Gloves (Hands, Level 6+, AV)
 * Power Encounter (Free Action); Use this power after you make a damage roll for a melee weapon attack. Re-roll one damage die, using the second result even if it's lower. Top choice is actually "Gloves of the Healer", but that's out of the range
 * Dragonskin Tattoo (Wondrous Item, AV2, Lvl 3)
 * Property: When you spend an action point to take an extra action, choose acid. cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. You gain resist 5 to the chosen damage type until the end of the encounter.
 * Bracers of Respite (Arms, AV, Level 2+)
 * Power (Daily ✦ Healing): Free Action. Use this power when an ally adjacent to you regains hit points. You or one other ally adjacent to you regains 1d8 hit points.

Backup Wishlist
Stuff that is out of our level range, or that are back-up choices if DM doesn't like one of the items on the wishlist
 * Gloves of the Healer (Hands, AV, Level 12+) -   Top choice, but currently out of range  
 * Property: When you use a power that lets one or more creatures spend a healing surge to regain hit points, one target regains an extra 1d6 hit points.
 * Power (Daily ✦ Healing): Standard Action. Spend a healing surge. An adjacent ally regains hit points equal to the value of the healing surge you lost.
 * Gauntlets of the Ram (Hands, Level 8, PHB)
 * Property: Add 1 square to the distance of any push effect you create. Good effect, but it seems "expensive" to be the effect of a lvl 8 weapon
 * Antipathy Gloves (Hands, AV, Level 10)
 * Property: An enemy must spend 1 extra square of movement to enter a square adjacent to you. An enemy that is pulled, pushed, or slid moves through those squares as normal.
 * Power (Daily): Standard Action. Make an attack: Ranged 10; +13 vs. Reflex; on a hit, the target is restrained (save ends).
 * Battlestrider Greaves (Feet, Level 12, PHB)
 * Property: +1 item bonus to speed while wearing heavy armor.

Other ideas for Weapons
Maksim will stick with a reach weapon, but feats or enchantments may suggest that the glaive (heavy blade) should be switched with a polearm (axe) or long spear.
 * Carnage Weapon (Level 8, Dark Sun Campaign Setting) - Axe, Heavy Blade: May not be available in setting
 * Property: When you roll the maximum result on at least one of this weapon’s damage dice, the target takes extra damage equal to twice the weapon’s enhancement bonus
 * Shielding Blade (Level 4+, D381) - Heavy Blade
 * Property: You gain a +1 shield bonus to AC.
 * Whirlwind Weapon (Level 3+, PHB:DB) - Polearm, Spear
 * Power Encounter (Free Action); Trigger: You hit a target with a weapon power using this weapon. Effect: Make a melee basic attack against the same target. If you hit, you deal no damage, but the target grants combat advantage until the end of your next turn.