Tallak

Tallak the Mad
"Not on my watch"
Class:	Thaumaturge
Heritage:	Ulfen Human
Gender:	Male
DOB/Age:	2nd of Calistril 4693AR
Alignment:	Lawful Neutral
Player:	Sam

Tallak, also known as Tallak the Mad, is an Ulfen thaumaturge who travels Golarion as an itinerant monster hunter and paranormal investigator.

History

Tallak grew up in Hammerfall, a walled village situated along the border between Irrisen and The Land of the Linorm Kings. When he reached maturity, Tallak brought honour to his family by following in his father's footsteps to become a member of the village's night watch. However, on the eve of Tallak's twenty-second birthday, whilst he was on watch, a pack of Blizzardborn infiltrated the village, and the entire hamlet was razed to the ground.

Crippled by the guilt of failure and the grief of losing his village, Tallak wandered the tundra of his homeland for months, telling all he came across of his tale. Few believed him, and it was during this time that Tallak was branded "Tallak the Mad".

Becoming a monster hunter

Tallak had long carried his night watch lantern with him, and it was when he came across a village apparently beset by a poltergeist that he found a use for his belief in his lantern. Whilst being laughed out of the village's only tavern on account of his story, Tallak's lantern revealed a number of trapdoors buried in the snow around the edge of houses. His curiosity piqued, Tallak descended into the caves below the village, and found their poltergeist to be only a trio of goblins equipped with snowshoes. Tallak coerced the goblins into leaving the area, and though he was not lauded as a hero, the townsfolk rewarded the wanderer with a few coins. It was from this moment on that Tallak seized the profession of itinerant monster hunter.

Lifting a curse

Whilst travelling along the northern borders of Varisia, Tallak came across a tribe of nomadic orcs from the Realm of the Mammoth Lords who were searching for a healer to lift a curse from one of their tribe. Tallak offered his services to the tribe, and was ultimately sucessful in lifting the curse from Kishki, the afflicted.

Hunting a vampire

Whilst staying in Galduria, Tallak began investigating strange disappearances from the local tavern, the Old Booktree. He initially suspected the barman of kidnapping patrons, but the threads of the mystery eventually led to the Twilight Academy. Unable to fake enough arcane knowledge to infiltrate the castle, Tallak relied upon using a student, Aurath, to gain access to the academy; in the dead of night, Aurath smuggled Tallak into the castle via the sewers, and slew the corrupt professor whilst they slept.

Locating the Dark Archive

Whilst travelling through Varisia, Tallak heard rumour that a fragment of the Pathfinder Society's great text The Dark Archive had been lost whilst its keeper was travelling through Varisia. Keen to find out more, Tallak suspended his freelancing for a while, and made for Magnimar, where the rumour seemed to have originated. After a few weeks of investigation, skulking through abandoned buildings and dark alleyways, Tallak eventually came across an abandoned Pathfinder Society Lodge. In this ruined symbol of failed exploration, Tallak found his quarry - The Dark Archive.

The Travelling Tome

Main article: Dark Archive diary

Ecstatic at the bounty of information this tome provided, Tallak invited three old acquaintances to join him in Magnimar, where they made good on their mutual interest in the paranormal, and started studying the tomes many pages together. However, the archive held its own secrets.

Personality

Tallak is often inscrutable, most likely carried away by a piece of research or a new theory. When the time comes for combat however, he is possessed of a stern resolve, and a great commitment to preserving the life of his fellow man - commoner and adventurer alike.