Rafael Ponticello

Rafael is a level 3 dhampir far traveler ranger. His highest stat is dexterity and his lowest is intelligence.

A medium height male human of average build, about 30 years of age, dressed in foreign-looking layers of brown and orange. He stands like a tree, feet planted and not shifting his weight. He wears an explorer's bag and a quiver on his back. Out of the bag sticks the neck of a stringed instrument. In his left hand is a bow. He has dark shoulder length hair, light skin, and gray-green eyes. He has a pet goose called Goosifer.

Rafael grew up the son of a hunter in far away Birmingmack. His family was poor but they lived comfortably. He has a few siblings. He fell in with a bad crowd as a teenager. He drank a vial of unknown blood on a dare. After this he developed a tireless hunger - a gnawing urge to drink fresh blood. He concluded it must have been some vampire blood, possibly enchanted.  Regardless of why, that day he became a dhampir.

He fled his homeland to avoid losing control and hurting anyone close to him. He thinks he probably killed some people in this time, but his memory of it is indistinct. In his wanderings he heard of Guishanpai (not far from Oro) and revealed everything to the head of the dojo d'Ooh'n'Ooh. Eventually he was assigned the task of raising a goose to adulthood without drinking blood. Goosifer was the eighth goose, the first survivor.

If Rafael went without blood for more than a few days, his appearance would worsen. By about a week his appearance was at its worst: his skin would look somewhat pale, wrinkled and thin. In contrast, when he had "fed" recently, he was an image of vitality. After his training, he satisfied his thirst for blood by hunting small game, but it is a poor substitute. He still remembers the incredible taste of power that accompanied his addiction.

After he drank humanoid blood, Rafael sometimes felt a summons in his dreams or when his mind is drifting—he thought maybe his tainted blood remembers its original owner. His highest priority was to kill that vampire. After a week or two of adventuring with Goosifer, Elysia, and Sr. Bridie, the vampire Cordona was killed. At the Pedarox temple of Selune, Rafael was cured of his dhampirism and became human again.

Compared to other people, Rafael is:

Rafael historically dealt with his problems by concealing and avoiding them. Time around trustworthy friends has shown him the value of honesty.

Rafael keeps a journal of his adventures.