Count Julan

Note: Padded cuirbouilli limb and skirt, plate breastplate. Iron scimitar, iron target shield. Light crossbow and case containing 12 arrows stowed on horse. Total Encumbrance = 36. Fatigue = 9 (29–20).

* Weapon damage is doubled against humans, after armor, and doubled on all blows to the right arm, also after armor has been penetrated. Thus, if he hits the right arm of a human, after armor, then subtract quadruple any damage remaining.
** Bladesharp 6, Strength 4, Truesword x1, Parry 3 (on shield).

Bladesharp 6, Demoralize (2), Heal 5, Detect Enemy (1), Parry 3 (known by allied spirit), Protection 6, Dispel Magic 6, Farsee 1, Repair 1, Endurance 1.

Worship Yanafal Tarnils x1, Truesword x3, Shield x10, Extension x3, Detect Truth x3, Find Enemy x1, Turn Undead x1, Oath x1, Heal Wound x2, Spirit Block x2, Mindlink x3, Macro x3, Spirit Shield x2, Divination x2.

Communication +15: Fast Talk 83%, Orate 94%, Bargain 70%.

Agility +6: Boat 38%, Climb 70%, Dodge 86% (−ENC), Jump 75%, Ride Horse 91%, Ride Wyvern 101%, Swim 50%.

Manipulation +19: Conceal 104%, Devise 90%, Sleight 42%.

Knowledge +7: Animal Lore 43%, Battle 73%, Evaluate 64%, First Aid 79%, Human Lore 88%, World Lore 62%.

Perception +17: Listen 97%, Scan 106%, Search 73%, Sense Assassin 93%, Track 87%.

Stealth −4: Hide 80%, Sneak 61%.

Magic +20: Ceremony 76%, Enchant 66%, Summon 30%.

New Pelorian 85/65, Tarshite 50/30, Pavic 43/34, Carmanian 32/13, Firespeech (Dara Happan) 20/15, Praxian 17/—, Sartarite 17/—.

Raised scimitar attack (+35%), +4 to effective CON against poison and disease, raised CON (5 points), raised DEX (3 points), Sense Assassin skill, recover magic points at double speed, scimitar is blessed to do double damage to the right arm after armor is penetrated; never use axes, hammers, tools, thrown weapons (except thrown dagger), flails, maces and mauls, or spears, never use poison, tithe 90% of income, never participate in an ambush, never refuse a challenge to one-on-one combat, wear no armor on head.

Julan carries very little personal cash. 7,500L ransom from the Lunar government.

Special Items: Scimitar has matrix for Strength 4 inscribed on the hilt, with the condition that only Truth-rune cultists may use it. Strength spell increases Julan's STR to 26, his damage modifier to +2d6, his fatigue by 12, and increases all of his manipulation and agility-based skills (including attack and parry) by 06%.

Two gems set into the pommel of Julan's scimitar are magic crystals that store 18 and 11 magic points respectively. The pommel also features a beautiful cameo of the Red Goddess carved in red jasper, worth 4000L.

A small ebony death rune contains a Yanafal Tarnils cult spirit called Verus (POW 30), who knows a reusable Oath spell. Condition of use is that a Divination is cast to Yanafal Tarnils each time an Oath is proposed, to gain the god's sanction of the Oath's veracity. In addition, the user must swear an Oath of his own, that he will not call upon Verus's powers capriciously or maliciously.

Julan wears iron armor but derives greater protection from his enchanted belt buckle. Shaped from iron into an inverted Law rune, this unique matrix provides the wearer with effects similar to those of a Damage Resistance spell. It has an impossibly long Duration, but this could expire at any time. Known as the Badge of Arir (after the pre-Lunar Pelorian general who wore it). Lunar researchers learned the item has a number of user conditions, but what they are has never been discovered. The enchantment is unique and apparently not reproducible. So far it has worked for everyone who has worn it.

Julan's scarlet Coder Cloak has no magical enchantments. He sometimes wears his magic belt buckle as a clasp for the cloak.

A small sheet of copper, stamped with the first 49 stanzas of an obscure Lunar poem "Anchoritenus and the Grand Flagellation." Scan reveals there are tiny numbers scratched above the letters of the first lines — these are keys Julan has written to help decode the unique cipher used in his communications with his superior, Appius Luxius. The copper sheet is usually kept rolled up and twisted around his wrist like a bracelet.

Left on the steps of a Foundling Home in Good Shore with a note bearing his name, Julan's upbringing as an orphan was made more comfortable by the large anonymous benefaction that came with his cradle. He received a nobleman's education and, more importantly, a solid grounding in Lunar virtues from the Teelo Norri sisters. Julan's benefactor, the nuns reasoned, must be someone of rank and privilege who might wish to claim his son again one day. The nuns did not want this mysterious person to find their child to have been brought up an illiterate oaf.

Nothing was heard from the benefactor again until Julan reached maturity, when a paid commission into the Heartlands Army was delivered to him. As a young tribune, Julan was one of the few Lunar soldiers to personally excel at the disastrous Building Wall Battle of 1605, and he went on to attain Sword status during the troubles of Starbrow's Rebellion in 1613. As a Sword of Yanafal Tarnils, Julan saw that he had probably risen as far as he could. Even an orphan can rise through the army ranks with enough ability, but Julan's further progression in Lunar circles was stymied because of his lack of family connections and wealth. Frustrated, he hung around the edges of Lunar high society for several years, until he caught the eye of Appius Luxius and was recruited into the Coders. Here Julan found an outlet for his ambitions and, his energy rekindled, he threw himself wholeheartedly into the job. His charisma and leadership qualities soon shone through, and he was promoted to lead the Coders.

Recently, Julan was made a Count of the Imperial Bath, merely a courtesy title, but one that has nevertheless assisted him in his dealings with high Lunar officials. Julan is unaware of the identity of his mysterious benefactor, whose last overt act was to send him his iron scimitar, on the day of his induction as a Sword of Yanafal Tarnils.

Appearance: Tall, raven-haired and blue-eyed, Julan is the embodiment of Lunar manhood, so striking-looking that people turn their heads as he walks by. His simple taste in clothing accentuates his handsome appearance. In defiance of current fashion, Julan is clean-shaven and wears his hair short. Although receding at the temples, on Julan this simply looks like a virtue, rather than a flaw in his features.

Personality: Julan strives hard to fit the mold of the Yanafal Tarnils rune lord: just, chivalrous, brave and honorable. This has been at the expense of his sense of humor, although he is known to lighten up somewhat when off-duty and relaxed. Julan's unusual upbringing has given him many aristocratic virtues, but little of the snobbery or arrogance that sometimes comes with rank. He exhibits genuine friendliness to decent people of all classes, though he treats those he considers base or dishonorable with polite, icy disdain.

During idle years at the Lunar court, Julan developed a well-earned reputation among the jaded noblewomen, and he was involved in a number of scandals. To avoid such entanglements in the future, Julan has sworn an oath of continence, and now only consorts at the Uleria temple, where he becomes a respected and well-favored customer. Julan divides his leisure time between the Uleria temple and gambling, always in respectable establishments, and always with restraint. Noble pursuits like hunting or hawking bore him. He never drinks to excess in public; in private, he occasionally overindulges, and becomes quite maudlin.

Residence: Julan maintains a permanent room at the Moonlighter's Inn (O-19), a three-star establishment that caters to the Lunar officer class and their friends. Moonlighter's is also conveniently close to the Uleria temple and the gambling hall Silbar's Fancies, two places Julan spends much of his leisure time. Julan's room has a well-made lock and is sparsely furnished. He rarely keeps anything of value there, except a small portrait of Anderida's daughter Johana on the bedside stand. Julan never entertains guests in his room.

Relationships with Other Coders: Julan and Anderida act like long-time buddies, and their friendship has never been any more than that. However, Julan once asked for Anderida's daughter's hand, something Anderida has said Johana can decide for herself when she is of age. To Eslas he is also very friendly, though he tends to keep her at arm's length, as the admiration he reads in her eyes goes further than just friendship. Julan shares a special empathy with Nose Ring, as they both grew up without parents. He finds Maculus' eccentricities often exasperating, but values his unique talents and tries to give him time off for research and study when practicable.