Kristina: A PC's backstory

This is a little piece I wrote several months ago for a character I am now playing in a Pathfinder 2E game. A conversation elsewhere reminded me of it, and I figured I would share it here as a little bonus. Hopefully it will provide a bit of entertainment. :)

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Kristina's world had become pain and darkness, with occasional flickers of light from a growing fire.

She didn't know why she had bothered to try protecting that awful woman who called herself a mother, or thrown herself at the people who had broken into their apartment. It wasn't like her body was useful enough to even protect herself.

Still, Kristina's failure hurt for more than just the injuries that were probably going to kill her even without the fire. It wasn't fair that she was stuck with this frail little body, that she couldn't stop bastards from breaking into her own home, that she was far too weak to even be more than a vague nuisance who had been knocked down and kicked until she'd blacked out.

It was the scent of smoke that had woken her up, but that only made her aware of her fate without giving her the power to do anything about it. Her attempts to move had been pitiful, even when she'd managed to overcome the pain. She couldn't even crawl enough to see if her shitty little outdated phone had been left behind so that she could call for help.

Kristina had always hated being helpless, but no amount of effort had ever made her stronger. To be so powerless in the face of such cruelty made her want to cry, but it hurt too much to even do that.

"Now this might be a tale worth altering." A man's voice spoke, but Kristina couldn't see or hear anything else; there where no footsteps. She tried to respond, to ask for help, but barely a whisper escaped her throat.

"Ah, let me help with that," the unknown voice said. Her pain dulled and became distant, as did the scent of smoke and even the flickering of fire. Instead of darkness, the space around her seemed filled with a strange, directionless light that clearly illuminated the destroyed apartment. "You can stand up and speak now, though I should let you know that this isn't exactly real. It's an illusion of sorts, so that we can converse. You are in fact, still dying, but we have all the time we need to talk here."

She got up slowly, and there was no pain in her movements. There was still that dull echo of pain, but with it so distant her head had cleared and she could think once more. "Who, or maybe what, are you?" Kristina asked the seemingly empty space of the front room.

"My name," a man said as he seemingly stepped in from the hallway, "is Zagaroth. As for what I am, well, we'll get to that, but suffice it to say for now that I am not human."

No kidding. Other than the weirdness that was going on, humans didn't have hair that seemed made of soft metallic gold, nor golden eyes that glowed like molten metal. The black and silver getup was sharp though, and the crimson cape certainly stood out. It all seemed a little too real and vivid against the dullness of the apartment.

"Well, Mr. Zagaroth," Kristina said, "assuming this isn't a death hallucination, I can only assume you want something from me, though I can't imagine what." She could see the sprawled body of her mother, but it didn't bring all of the emotions that she would have expected. No horror or revulsion at the death or the violence, no grieving at the death of her mother, nor any sort of satisfaction that the woman who had abused her for so long was gone. Instead, Kristina just felt sort of sad.

"I believe you have exactly what I need, which is simply yourself, if you are willing to do something for me, and assuming that I understand you well enough."

Kristina stared at him suspiciously as she asked, "What do you mean myself?" He couldn't mean her body, unless he was one of those weirdos who enjoyed the starving waif look. Not that Kristina had been starving, usually, but her body had refused to gain any form of strength. A soul was part of the bargain in some stories, but she didn't think hers was anything special.

Zagaroth looked amused when he replied, "Not what crossed your mind, nor do I recommend being overly grateful should we strike a deal. One of my wives can be hot tempered. As for your soul, well, I don't want to have it per say. Your soul is you, and I want you to work for me because of the strength I see in your soul."

One of his wives? What, did he have a harem? But Zagaroth continued talking before she could think of how to ask about that. Though wait, did that mean he'd read her mind?

He gestured at the eerily still destruction around them. "Despite everything in your life, you acted to defend another. It was your body that failed you, not your will or spirit. And bodies, well, those are easy to replace. Strong souls are much more valuable. Now come, I want to see if what I glimpsed in my search was correct."

He strode past her and headed toward Kristina's room.

"Hey, wait!" she said as she chased after him. "What do you think you are doing‽"

Zagaroth stood in the middle of her room examining everything, and he had a rather satisfied expression. "Oh, I think we'll get along splendidly."

Kristina became more acutely aware that this was some sort of dream when reality started doing weird things. Objects around her room were being highlighted somehow, and her third-hand computer began to glow before images started flowing out of it.

Her health had forced her to practically be a shut-in, and Kristina had plenty of empty time in which to become a bit of a weeb with all the associated escapist fantasies. Books, manga, anime, video games and web stories were all represented in the objects and images that were now floating in the air. It was rather embarrassing to have it all on display like that.

"Stop that!" she said. "What do you think you are doing with my stuff?" Okay, it wasn't actually her stuff, but it represented her stuff.

His smile was a little smug as he replied, "Oh, just making sure that I had the right idea. I do think we'll get along just fine."

There was something more intense about his presence now, and a gesture brought a selection of her geekery to the fore. "I can't say my true form is quite as cute as some of these, but I think you might still appreciate it."

She glanced at the images with wide eyes before looking back at him. Was he implying... ? Kristina gulped and stepped back. All of the images in front of her depicted certain scaled, golden-eyed creatures of infamous power. "You can't mean it."

"Ah, but I do. Oh, but about my wives, I have two, and they are not dragons. They are nine-tails."

Kristina didn't think that was any better. If anything needed to be as scary as a dragon, a nine-tailed kitsune would fit the bill.

Assuming she wasn't hallucinating of course. That was still on the table.

"How can you possibly need my help with anything?" she asked. "Why would you pick me?"

"That's simple. Power comes with limitations and responsibilities. For this, I need a mortal whose ethics align well enough with mine to give them my blessing. But there is a price of course, though that also comes to the why."

He nodded toward the main room. "I think we can agree that your life here is over? Even if you were healed to your normal health and rescued, there is little enough to bind you here. There are a few people who would be genuinely sad with your passing, but you've not formed close enough bonds to set anyone to deep grieving. Thus, the first price I ask of you is smaller than it would be for others: You will be leaving this life and world behind."

He was right. Even if she were not dying anyway, this life would not be hard to walk away from if given a chance.

"The second price I ask of you, is to take on a task for me, a quest if you will. I can not tell you much about it at this time, there are others involved and rules that bind even me, but I can say that I will be able to give you the power and strength to accomplish the goals that will be set before you. But there are no guarantees. Skill, choices, and simple luck will all have their roles."

Of course this came with a quest. Kristina was getting isekaid. Well, her other option was dying.

"The third price I ask is an oath. Part of the reason I picked you is that I want someone for whom following it will come naturally. My priests and champions are protectors, and you need to be able to put protecting people before all other concerns."

Wait, was he saying that he was a god?

The image of her room began to darken and a sense of a much larger space grew around her. At the same time, Zagaroth's shadow seemed to extend backwards toward an indistinct but towering bulk, and it gave the impression that the form she saw before her was but a projection of a much larger self.

"As for the reward I offer: a new life, in a new body, along with the power and skill you so desire. I also rather suspect that you'll enjoy what I have in mind for that new body of yours."

New images formed, variations of her old self but healthier, and with that health came beauty. Though opinions might vary, the options he was presenting her with all included variations on a 'dragon girl' motif.

Not that Kristina minded that idea. Becoming a part dragon did admittedly sound cool.

While her thoughts swirled, a new person walked into the scene. "Though I should mention," the red-haired kitsune woman said, "that while my father will be granting you power and strength, your training on using it will be with me." She bowed slightly and smiled. "Sakiya, goddess of passions, at your service. In this case, I will be representing the passion so many of the protagonists of your stories display for fighting."

It was all rather overwhelming and Kristina felt weirdly stretched out, as if... oh. Yeah, that vague sensation was the pain of her real body. It was so distant now. A new life was in front of her, one she wanted. She was connected to both, but she couldn't stay that way.

Kristina looked between Sakiya and Zagaroth before asking, "So, this dragon stuff, can we do it in neon? And I mean over the top glowing cyberpunk stuff here. If I'm going to get a shot at this, I might as well go all in."

"Oh, she wants to show off and stand out," Sakiya said happily. "You were right father, I am going to like her. Yes, we can arrange that, and maybe some more stuff that you'd like. Many of the planets in our universe have advanced technology as well, and we do want you to feel comfortable."

Yeah, this was going to work. Kristina grinned at Sakiya and then turned to Zagaroth to ask, "So, what exactly is this oath you want from me?"