[hider= Mona Holcombe ]

[hr][hr][center][h1][b][i][color=fff79a]Mona Holcombe[/color][/i][/b][/h1][/center]
[center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/a0/00/a1/a000a112c8babae60ebe0fada8f2d5ba.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][b][color=fff79a][h3]Human, Warlock (The Celestial), Level 03[/h3][/color][/b][/center][center]━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━[/center]
[center][color=fff79a][b]STR:[/b][/color] 10 (+0) [color=fff79a][b]DEX:[/b][/color] 10 (+0) [color=fff79a][b]CON:[/b][/color] 14 (+2) [color=fff79a][b]INT:[/b][/color] 14 (+2) [color=fff79a][b]WIS:[/b][/color] 14 (+2) [color=fff79a][b]CHA:[/b][/color] 18 (+4)[/center]
[center][color=fff79a][b]HP MAX:[/b][/color] 24	[color=fff79a][b]Armor Class:[/b][/color] 13	[color=fff79a][b]Movement:[/b][/color] 30ft	[color=fff79a][b]Spell DC:[/b][/color] 14 [/center]
[center][color=fff79a][b]Alignment:[/b][/color] NG	[color=fff79a][b]Defenses:[/b][/color] N/A [/center][hr][hr]
[center][url=https://ddb.ac/characters/60657123/KxfPjW][b]Full Character Sheet[/b][/url][/center]

[hider= Description ]
[center][color=fff79a]	“Gaze upon her countenance, and rejoice; for so her visage is divine and her temperament fair, so too can thine character become within and without.”
[i]Book of Evensongs[/i][/color][/center]

From the outsiders’ perspective to the devout followers of All Things Good, Mona has cultivated a pious yet approachable look. She appears to be in her late twenties, a woman with a fairly average shape and form (if not slightly more athletic due to her constant travels and occasional hostile encounters) for a human. Golden brown heavily freckled skin and almond eyes contrast her almost unnaturally cream-colored hair, its curly lengths reaching past her shoulders.

To fellow religious folk, she welcomes their approach with a blessed smile and radiant eyes.

Her preferred colors are soft whites and creams complemented by shades of browns, evident by her flowing long dresses and corsages. The bodice is layered with inverted tones, though no matter her choice of wardrobe she always bears an amulet that adorns the center of her chest; a rather inexpensive piece of jewelry in the silhouette of a horse head profile with the telltale horn. The perimeter is silvered metal, and within is obsidian glass that shines whenever the caster evokes the patron's power.

Besides the amulet, she’ll rarely equip anything else unless on an adventure. A simple quarterstaff is kept to her quarters until she is required to hike; a plain dagger that she usually hides within the sheath of a leather belt; and a component pouch, attached to said belt filled with various reagents.

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[hider= Personality ]
[center][color=fff79a]“Beware, as dawn proclaims forth the revelations of day, so thus dusk forewarn the veil of night.”
[i]Book of Testimonies[/i][/color][/center]

Once a nameless face within the masses, young Mona sought to stand out from her delegation by way of unpopular research. Various gods of good are popular among the humans and halflings, so the very nature of pursuing godly power turned her own community’s noses up at her as a dangerous fool. Regardless, her searching granted a sense of fulfillment all on its own. The thirst for power and knowing, a sense of individuality.

Thanks to her patron’s just judgement, her intentions and deeds seem contrarian in nature. Indeed, altruism and other acts of selflessness are ultimately lost on her soul as she reveals in privacy. There are no prayers to an understanding god, but rather admonishment from master to prisoner. A life sentence to become an unwilling champion for the forces of good. [i]Can she keep this up indefinitely?[/i]

Besides Mona’s eternal internal conflict, she makes appearances almost seamlessly. A few years of persistent memorization along with her youth spent in faithful provinces prove effective as a counterfeit cleric. By following the guidelines set forth by her patron, the mask of a devout follower to All Things Good easily outweighs the deception as long as none involved are harmed. And so she ventures forth, reluctantly with one foot in oblivion.

When the faux enlightened warlock is granted personal time to enjoy herself, she will take up disguise and visit various vices -- as long as evil is not beset upon others by her doing so. She finds it difficult to keep grievances to herself, but her guard may be down around various accomplices and companions. The one thing she can take great joy in during her holy demonstrations is her freedom of interpretation. Good is the goal, by means of law or chaos is left to the covert priestess.

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[hider= Backstory ]
[center][color=fff79a]“Angels have fallen, and demons ascended. Look not to the heavens for justice, but to the hells.”
[i]Book of Testimonies[/i][/color][/center]

Throughout Mona’s childhood, she was subject to the extensive teachings of her parish as every empty-headed child was. The droning of every morning lesson, the punishment for every sin committed, the collective aversion to her presence; with no objective reason for her being treated as a pariah, at least none explained to her. It came as no surprise to any townperson or clergyman that she attempted to stray from the proverbial flock by way of secular books imported from some foreign country or following whispers that teased a more understanding community.

[i]‘A cult’[/i] they would hiss. Her parents. The vicar. The congregation. [color=fff79a][i]Of course they wouldn’t understand.[/i][/color] While she attended the lessons to eternal holiness, she also lurked about the lesser known organization’s meetings. Their teachings made sense. They appealed to her nature, promising fame, fortune, wealth, and power. The gods were little more than well of power to drink from. All one needed was desperation and confidence in committing a grave act and ritual.

Fortunately for the [b]Covenant of the Faithless[/b] (or unfortunately according to the annals), an inclusive society of those who shelter the shunned and feed the godless, long-term member Mona, now twenty-three, has taken a right-hand position of the Faithless pastor. Her life dedication to advancing the Faithless for her own gain was apparent to the inner circles, though her schemes soon ran antagonistic to their objective. Where they tried to garner support from the downtrodden masses, she would recruit men and women to carry out secret missions.

Only a year passed in this position before the day came. Mona managed to grow the Faithless in her vision, and grabbed the attention from the Church of Light. News of a dark society gathering cult members drew zealous crowds, and soon a troop of paladins and clerics were sent to squash the blasphemers. The church expected hostile resistance. Their arrival heralded the end of the Faithless, thoroughly jailing or banishing the most resistant members. What the miniature crusade did not expect, however, was a holy leader among the Faithless.

For that very morning, Mona concocted a ritual. Incense. Eldritch symbols. Jars of unidentifiable liquids and solids. A dark, silent room. With her senses depraved, she established an unlikely spiritual connection to a being from the Upper Planes. She could feel the torrential power reverberating along the strings of fate as she sought a divine source. Oblivion obfuscates her physical senses, though she does not require them.

This astral search bore a single entity that she could not identify. But its power lie just within her metaphysical reach. With a single tap into its existence, divine energy flowed through her. A sensation she had never experienced before, cut off immediately as she drew the gaze of the entity before her. A horned being, speaking to her directly, its voice ephemeral and choir-like.

[i]“A siphon? From a mortal. You deserve retribution. And so it shall be done.”[/i] The fear of divine judgement stunned her spirit, but the entity continues. [i]“Your punishment lies in spreading the will of all things good. Acts of selfishness are no more, lest you wander oblivion. I will grant you the way.”[/i]

Relief? [color=fff79a][i]“An understatement.”[/i][/color] Now her fate is clear, despite the contrasting ideals and life goals to her own.

Those in need of healing of their ailments called upon a certain traveling cleric, who also happens to be able and willing to defeat evil enemies. While the truth behind the source of her power is deceptive, the Unicorn accepts that as per her pact. To all who divine her alignment, she appears as Neutral Good, though she will hardly mind confessing she would prefer to do what she wants rather than the will of a greater being (Chaotic Neutral).

However she feels, a delegate of a particular church within one of Avonshire’s villages decided she was the perfect candidate to assist the Sheriff. 

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[hider= Bestiary ]
[center][color=fff79a]“Call the hordes your flock, name the devils your clergy. The masses consider your lies whilst the divines ink your final weights.”
[i]Book of Evensongs[/i][/color][/center]

[b][color=9e0039]Radish[/color][/b]
A Sprite acting in service of Mona, an everpresent reminder of the Unicorn’s message. It quite literally sits on her shoulder, pushing her toward opportunities of redemption and cautioning her of evil roads.

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[hider= Extras ]

☑ Vastly prefers the company of opportunists over “holy book thumpers.”
☑ Has tried various native delicacies around Avonshire, and absolutely loves what one called a “beef wellington.”
☑ Not a glutton for any particular vice, though she will partake in any and all of them… time and company permitting.

☒ Organized religion, especially those that prey on the weak-willed.
☒ Her patron.
☒ Flying things. She doesn’t fear anything that flies, but she has a strong distaste for anything with wings. Yes, that includes Sprites.

🕀 Covenant of the Faithless. While the inner circle was severely diminished, many of the lower caste members continued their practice in private small groups. They are of no great influence, but they can offer shelter and resources, should she need them.

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[h2][color=fff79a][i][b]Mona Holcombe[/b][/i][/color][/h2][i][b][color=fff79a]Human, Warlock (The Celestial), Level 03[/color][/b][/i]
[color=fff79a][i][b]HP:[/b][/i][/color] 24/24 [color=fff79a][i][b]Armor Class:[/b][/i][/color] 11	[color=fff79a][i][b]Conditions:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=fff79a][i][b]Location:[/b][/i][/color] Darenby
[color=fff79a][i][b]Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=fff79a][i][b]Bonus Action:[/b][/i][/color] N/A
[color=fff79a][i][b]Reaction:[/b][/i][/color] N/A 
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[hider= Role]
[center][color=fff79a]“There are two ways to shine light in the darkness: to become the lantern, or the mirror that reflects it.”
[i]Book of Evensongs[/i][/color][/center]
A dedicated healer and supplemental magical ranged damage. Can assist in religious activity, especially those requiring some pious gravitas.
[/hider]

[hider= Changelog ]
[sub]10/26/2021
**5:30PM PDT: Character Sheet moved to CS Section.
**10:30PM PDT: Created "Changelog" -- Fixed incomplete thought in "Backstory" -- Inserted character reference image into top of CS in accordance to template.
10/27/2021
**10:30AM PDT: Fixed Spell Save DC (16 -> 14)
10/31/2021
**11:53PM PDT: Changed Radish's color from white to a color.[/sub]
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