He's certainly not full of hot air.

Quote Originally Posted by Lakota Windsong


That mark on your skin, little one - many would tell you it is a mark of the Dragons of Argonnessen, the great Prophets... I tell you this is only a half-truth. That mark there is the mark of the Wakiya, the sacred Bird whose beating wings stir the air and call the thunder. It is the great secret of our House, known only to those who bear Wakiya’s mark from birth.

It is said that once a generation, the Wakiya tilts back its beak like a mask, lifts off its feathers like a blanket, and takes the shape of a man. It does this so that those of us who share the blood of Lyran and of Selevash may know the secret song carried by the wind...

The Build
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Lakota Windsong of House Lyrandar
Half-Elf, Fighter 4/Dragonmark Heir 5/Wizard 1/Bladesinger 10

ACFs:
Half-Elf Fighter
Immediate Magic (Abrupt Jaunt)
Martial Wizard
Skilled City Dweller

LAKOTA WINDSONG
{table=head]Level|Class|Base Attack Bonus|Fort Save|Ref Save|Will Save|Skills|Feats|Class Features

1st|Half-elf Fighter 1|
+1
|
+2
|
+0
|
+0
|Tumble 4 ranks, Gather Information 4 ranks, Perform (dance) 2 ranks, Perform (sing) 2 ranks, Concentration 2 ranks, Balance 2 ranks, Jump 4 ranks|Least Dragonmark (Gust of Wind)|Blade focus

2nd|Fighter 2|
+2
|
+3
|
+0
|
+0
|Tumble 5 ranks, Gather Information 5 ranks, Balance 2.5 ranks, Jump 5 ranks, Concentration 2.5 ranks|Combat Expertise|

3rd|Fighter 3|
+3
|
+3
|
+1
|
+1
|Tumble 6 ranks, Gather Information 6 ranks, Balance 3 ranks, Bluff 4.5, Concentration 3 ranks|Favored in House|

4th|Fighter 4|
+4
|
+4
|
+1
|
+1
|Tumble 7 ranks, Gather Information 7 ranks, Balance 3.5 ranks, Bluff 5 ranks, Concentration 3.5 ranks|Expeditious Dodge|

5th|Dragonmark Heir 1|
+4
|
+6
|
+3
|
+3
|Tumble 8 ranks, Gather Information 8 ranks, Balance 4 ranks, Bluff 8 ranks, Concentration 4 ranks|Lesser Dragonmark (Sleet Storm)|House status

6th|Dragonmark Heir 2|
+5
|
+7
|
+4
|
+4
|Tumble 9 ranks, Gather Information 9 ranks, Balance 4.5 ranks, Bluff 9 ranks, Concentration 4.5 ranks, Intimidate 2 ranks|Dragonmark Prodigy (Updraft)|Additional action points, improved least dragonmark (Updraft)

7th|Dragonmark Heir 3|
+6/+1
|
+7
|
+4
|
+4
|Tumble 10 ranks, Gather Information 10 ranks, Balance 5 ranks, Bluff 10 ranks, Concentration 5 ranks, Intimidate 4 ranks||Improved lesser dragonmark (Sleet Storm)

8th|Dragonmark Heir 4|
+7/+2
|
+8
|
+5
|
+5
|Tumble 11 ranks, Gather Information 11 ranks, Bluff 11 ranks, Concentration 5.5 ranks, Intimidate 7 ranks|Greater Dragonmark (Control Winds)|

9th|Dragonmark Heir 5|
+7/+2
|
+8
|
+5
|
+5
|Tumble 12 ranks, Gather Information 12 ranks, Bluff 12 ranks, Concentration 6 ranks, Intimidate 10 ranks|Combat Casting|Improved greater dragonmark

10th|Wizard 1|
+7/+2
|
+8
|
+5
|
+7
|Tumble 13 ranks, Concentration 9 ranks|Improved Unarmed Strike|Abrupt Jaunt

11th|Bladesinger 1|
+8/+3
|
+8
|
+7
|
+9
|Tumble 14 ranks, Concentration 13 ranks||Bladesong style

12th|Bladesinger 2|
+9/+4
|
+8
|
+8
|
+10
|Tumble 15 ranks, Concentration 15 ranks, Acrobatic Backstab skill trick|Improved Grapple|Lesser spellsong

13th|Bladesinger 3|
+10/+5
|
+9
|
+8
|
+10
|Tumble 16 ranks, Concentration 16 ranks, Bluff 12.5 ranks, Swift Concentration skill trick||

14th|Bladesinger 4|
+11/+6/+1
|
+9
|
+9
|
+11
|Tumble 17 ranks, Concentration 17 ranks, Bluff 14 ranks||Song of celerity (2nd)

15th|Bladesinger 5|
+12/+7/+2
|
+9
|
+9
|
+11
|Tumble 18 ranks, Concentration 18 ranks, Bluff 15.5 ranks|Dragonmark Visionary (Storm Touch)|

16th|Bladesinger 6|
+13/+8/+3
|
+10
|
+10
|
+12
|Tumble 19 ranks, Concentration 19 ranks, Bluff 17 ranks||Greater spellsong

17th|Bladesinger 7|
+14/+9/+4
|
+10
|
+10
|
+12
|Tumble 20 ranks, Concentration 20 ranks, Bluff 18.5 ranks||

18th|Bladesinger 8|
+15/+10/+5
|
+10
|
+11
|
+13
|Tumble 21 ranks, Concentration 21 ranks, Bluff 20 ranks|Mighty Dragonmark|Song of celerity (4th)

19th|Bladesinger 9|
+16/+11/+6/+1
|
+11
|
+11
|
+13
|Tumble 22 ranks, Concentration 22 ranks, Bluff 21.5 ranks||

20th|Bladesinger 10|
+17/+12/+7/+2
|
+11
|
+12
|
+14
|Tumble 23 ranks, Concentration 23 ranks, Bluff 23 ranks||Song of fury[/table]

Stats
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Starting Stats (32-point buy):
Str 16/Dex 12/Con 12/Int 16/Wis 8/Cha 12

Level boosts:
4: Dex +1
8: Str +1
12: Str +1
16: Int +1
20: Int +1


Spells and Dragonmarks
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Dragonmark Powers
Gust of Wind 4/day
Updraft 4/day
Sleet Storm 3/day
Control Winds 3/day
Storm Touch 2/day

All dragonmark SLAs have a caster level of 17 before items.

Wizard spells per day
{table=head]Level|0lvl|1st|2nd|3rd|4th|5th|6th|7th|8th|9th

10th|3|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

11th|4|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

12th|4|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

13th|4|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

14th|4|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

15th|4|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

16th|4|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-|-

17th|4|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-

18th|4|3+1|2+1|1+1|-|-|-|-|-|-

19th|4|3+1|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-

20th|4|3+1|3+1|2+1|-|-|-|-|-|-[/table]

Conjurer, Abjuration/Evocation banned.

Sample Spell Lists
Lakota focuses on touch attack spells that can be pre-cast to hold the charge, as well as buffs and teleportation spells that work well with Song of Celerity. Some common spells prepared include:

1- Blockade, Mage Armor, Enlarge Person, Benign Transposition, Silent Image, Lesser Shivering Touch
2- Dimension Leap, Heroics, Wraithstrike, Fearsome Grapple, Mirror Image
3- Haboob, Regroup, Haste, Shivering Touch, Vampiric Touch

On a typical day, Lakota might have the following spells prepared:

0- Detect Magic x2, Caltrops x2
1- Benign Transposition, Enlarge Person x2, Silent Image, Lesser Shivering Touch
2- Dimension Leap, Heroics x2, Mirror Image, Fearsome Grapple
3- Regroup, Haste, Shivering Touch x2

Good feats to pick up via Heroics:
Improved Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm, Improved Trip, Martial Study (Iron Heart Surge), Martial Study (Mountain Hammer), Single Blade Style, Riposte


Suggested Items
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Stat boosters that increase Lakota's Strength, Intelligence and Constitution or Charisma are always vital. While Lakota's dragonmark DCs are based off of Charisma, most of them have rider effects even on a successful save, so Charisma is less essential if you wish to shore up Lakota's hit points.

There are several dragonmark-specific items that are not essential, but will assist Lakota. Dragonmark scepters are a steal at 1000gp each, and provide more uses per day of your dragonmarks. A dragonshard focus can improve your CL - I highly recommend getting at least a +1 focus, as CL 18 will allow you to go from a completely calm sky to tornado level winds with Control Winds. Channeling Rods, especially Quicken and Empower varieties, are also quite useful.

With your preferred fighting style, you will want a decent longsword made of pandemonic silver, preferably with a wand chamber. Wands and pearls of power are a great way to extend your daily spells. You'll have an excellent AC boost from your Bladesinger levels, but once you learn Greater Spellsong, a decent suit of light armor would also not go amiss. Before then, you will either want to rely on Mage Armor, or get a nice suit of padded thistledown armor.



The Wakiya and the Sea Drake
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Steady now, little one. These shores seem calm now, but the Dragonreach is deceptive. See that rocky outcropping there? Steer the boat that way, and I will tell you how it came to be. It is the place where the great Wakiya had terrible battles with the Sea Drake of Dragonreach.

The Sea Drake was an old thing, and tired. She slept for hundreds of years at a time, carried about by the secret currents underneath the waves of the Dragonreach. But when she awoke, she was a terror to behold, destroying the boats that dotted the sea. These were the days before the Windwrights, when our House used its mastery of the wind not to fly through the air, but to control sea-bound boats such as these.

And so it was that the Sea Drake woke off the shores of Aerenal, and she was hungry, and she was wrathful. First she ate all the fish off the shore, so that the fishermen brought home naught but empty nets to their families. When that did not satisfy her, she began to eat the men and women who worked those boats. And each day, she drew closer to the island of Aerenal.

Now, as it happens, the Wakiya had taken man-shape, and was living in one of these towns on the island. He was a handsome half-elf, who bore all the marks of Lyran’s house, and even in man-shape he knew the singing of the winds. And the Wakiya knew that the Sea Drake would bring grief to all his house.

And so the Wakiya took a boat, and filled it with fish, and set out on the turbulent waters of the Dragonreach. As he sang, the winds carried him to where the Sea Drake was resting. The Sea Drake heard his singing, and smelled the fish, and she was hungry.

The Sea Drake swung her great talons to strike the boat, but just then, the singing winds blew the boat away. Again and again the Sea Drake struck, and again and again the boat was blown just out of her grasp. Frustrated, the Sea Drake drew herself out of the water entirely and flung herself at the Wakiya and his boat.

Now, it is known that we of House Lyrandar have great mastery over the winds, but it is told that when the Sea Drake surfaced, the Wakiya called a storm such has never before been seen. And he drew power from the storm, and drew his singing blade. And the whirling winds carried the blade’s song even as they blew to a frenzy, and though the Sea Drake was a mighty and brave creature, suddenly she knew fear.

The Wakiya did not hesitate. He struck her with his blade and with his mighty fists that crackled with lightning. He grabbed the Sea Drake and, with a whisper of song, the winds drew them high in the air, far above the churning waters of the Dragonreach. And when the winds brought them to their highest point, the Wakiya threw the Sea Drake down, down, down, where she crashed into the ground and was still.

For many years, neither beast nor man would go near the place where the Sea Drake fell. But as time passed, her body hardened to stone and became this outcropping that we are sailing toward. And it is here that we of House Lyrandar take those that bear signs of being this generation’s Wakiya, come to re-teach us the songs of wind and thunder and steel. And it is here that I take you, little one...


The Legendary Wakiya (Build Explanation)
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Lakota Windsong combines the powerful Mark of Storm with the unique fighting style of the Bladesinger to harry and destroy enemies.

His dragonmark powers come online fairly early thanks to Dragonmark Heir. By level 8 he is tossing out the powerful Control Winds, and by level 9 he can use it to bring about hurricane-force winds from completely still air. In areas with any wind at all, or with the addition of a dragonmark focus, he can instead summon tornados.

His other abilities are also useful. Gust of Wind provides excellent utility and also helps him deal with fliers at the low levels. Sleet Storm provides battlefield control not subject to SR. Updraft, which he learns via Dragonmark Prodigy, is especially handy. He uses it to shift position or "fly" as a swift action, to activate the AC boost from Expeditious Dodge, and offensively when combined with grapples. Storm Touch (learned via Dragonmark Visionary) is a powerful multi-touch spell like Produce Flame, which deals 9d6 points of damage per strike and can stun enemies.

He begins all fights with his sword, a longsword made of pandemonic silver, sheathed. Often he will open with a Control Winds or Sleet Storm, then move and draw his longsword. When he draws it, the moaning of the pandemonic silver is carried by the winds to instill fear in all enemies within 30 feet. This is his bladesong, and it forces all enemies to save or begin cowering. The DC increases with the power of the winds, all the way up to DC 28 in tornado-force winds.

Lakota does not focus on raw damage. He mixes up unarmed strikes and slashes with his longsword, using his open hand to deliver devastating touch spells such as Shivering Touch and Storm Touch.

Because his fighting style is not worried about damage, Lakota is surprisingly defensive. With items, Lakota's Intelligence of 28 adds a significant boost to his AC thanks to Bladesong Style. When combined with Combat Expertise and Expeditious Dodge, this is a hefty dodge bonus of +16 to AC (or +28 to AC, with Improved Combat Expertise via Heroics) - and, as a dodge bonus, it even applies against things like touch attacks. With close to full BAB and attacks that trigger off of touches, Lakota can easily swallow the Combat Expertise penalty without hurting.

In addition to Storm Touch, Shivering Touch and other touch spells, Lakota also uses those touch attacks to begin grapples. This can be mixed seamlessly with the rest of his attack routine. Once he has an enemy grabbed, he can spend a swift action to use Updraft and shoot himself 170+ feet in the air. At the apex, he can drop his enemy as a free action, dealing an additional 17d6 damage, then float down safely himself.

Although he does not consider himself a mage, Lakota uses some basic magics to augment his abilities. Song of celerity is especially important here, as he can do things like swift action Enlarge Person, standard action Control Winds to summon a tornado, move and draw his pandemonic silver longsword (causing all within 30' to make a DC 28 will save or cower) on the first round. On the second, he can full attack including an unarmed touch attack to grapple, then swift action Updraft and drop his enemy.

At the highest levels, this is even more potent. Song of fury plus Haste means he can cast Haste as a swift action, attack six times with Storm Touch (dealing 54d6 damage and forcing six saves version stun), grapple his enemy, and the following round Updraft, drop him for more falling damage, land next to him, and do it all over again.

Out of combat, Lakota is still useful. Favored in House, House Status, decent social skills (particularly Bluff and Gather Info) and fear effects all play well here. Gust of Wind and Control Winds both have non-combat utility options, as well. And his spells also can assist him in this regard.


Lakota Windsong in your game
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Lakota Windsong should be easy to add to any Eberron campaign, or non-Eberron campaigns where the DM allows dragonmarks.

If your DM does not mind mixing setting specific material, consider taking the Zhentarim Fighter ACF, which will give you Skill Focus (Intimidate) at third level. If you do this, I would recommend replacing the ranks in Gather Information with Intimidate.

This build was made assuming action points were not in use and therefore ignored the additional AP that Dragonmark Heir provides. However, if your game includes them, you may want to consider replacing Mighty Dragonmark with Storm's Riposte. This will give you a counter-attack as an immediate action any time someone makes a melee attack against you. This triggers even on a miss, and lets you do things like set up off-turn grapples. If you do this, consider picking up a +3 dragonmark focus instead of the +1 variety, so that you can still create tornadoes from no wind. Also, look into the Unfettered Heroism spell to be able to use Storm's Riposte every round.

If flaws are allowed, there are several feats that could come in handy. Scorpion's Grasp can allow you to initiate grapples as part of an unarmed attack, which can come in handy. Martial Study (Iron Heart Surge) is always an excellent choice and will aid you defensively. Dragonmark Spellturning is another excellent defensive option.

Build Snapshots

Level 5: Half-Elf Fighter 4/Dragonmark Heir 1

Starting off with a level in the half-elf fighter sub level dramatically improves your skill totals. Blade focus lets you switch between longswords and rapiers, while later qualifying you for Bladesinger.

You begin as a standard fighter with a magical flair, supplementing your sword swings with Gust of Wind (which is especially nice against flying enemies that would otherwise be your bane) and Sleet Storm.

Level 10: Half-Elf Fighter 4/Dragonmark Heir 5/Wizard 1

Dragonmark Heir gives you a pretty significant power boost. By ECL 9 you're tossing around CL 15 Control Winds. Go ahead and flip to the SRD, and see how powerful tornadoes and hurricanes are. We're talking effects strong enough to destroy entire armies. If you've managed to pick up a pandemonic silver longsword, you're also tossing around a DC 25 or 28 fear effect to boot.

Updraft pulls triple duty, giving you a way to reposition yourself as a swift action, allowing you to trigger Expeditious Dodge while still full attacking, and working offensively when combined with grapples.

You also start dabbling in spellcasting. This is especially handy for immediate action teleportation, but immediate access to wands and first level spells such as Enlarge Person certainly doesn't hurt here.

Level 15: Half-Elf Fighter 4/Dragonmark Heir 5/Wizard 1/Bladesinger 5

Bladesinger augments your spellcasting a bit while also keeping up your melee potential. Bladesong style is worth an easy +5 to AC at this point, which stacks with Combat Expertise and Expeditious Dodge. Lesser spellsong means that you are guaranteed to successfully cast defensively even in melee range, and song of celerity is allowing you to quicken an Enlarge Person, Fearsome Grapple or Heroics when necessary. Swift Heroics is especially handy, letting you pick up things like Improved Combat Expertise, Improved Disarm or Martial Study (Iron Heart Surge) and use them in the same round.

All of your relevant combos are online, and you can grapple, Updraft and drop your enemies for an additional 15d6 damage as a swift action. Improved Grapple and Dragonmark Visionary give you yet more touch attack options and combine nicely with your fighting style, letting you take advantage of Combat Expertise without fear.

Level 20: Half-Elf Fighter 4/Dragonmark Heir 5/Wizard 1/Bladesinger 10

Third level spells mean you can consistently toss out Shivering Touches, which completely ravage just about anyone without spell resistance. Song of celerity can now quicken third level spells like Haste and Regroup. For a capstone, combine song of fury with Haste and Storm Touch. Make six Storm Touch attacks for 54d6 damage (including six chances to stun), grapple your enemy, Updraft as a swift action, and drop him for another 17d6 damage (or more, with dragonmark focii).

Mighty Dragonmark boosts your DCs slightly, which is nice for things like Storm Touch (the stun rider on that is pretty nasty, considering you get one touch per caster level) but the big draw is the CL boost. Now, with just a +1 focus, you can go from completely still air to tornado with a single Control Winds.

Sources
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Pandemonic silver weapons: Complete Warrior
Dragonmarks, Dragonmark Heir prestige class, Favored in House: Eberron Campaign Setting
Mighty Dragonmark, Dragonmark Prodigy, Dragonmark Visionary: Dragonmarked
Expeditious Dodge: Races of the Wild
Half-Elf Fighter substitution: Races of Destiny
Martial Wizard: SRD
Immediate Magic: PHB2
Skilled City Dweller: Cityscape web enhancement



The Song of the Wind (Thoughts on Bladesinger)
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Bladesinger is an interesting prestige class. There is a lot of flavor behind it, but its mechanics seem a bit off. It immediately reads like a gish class, with full BAB and casting requirements, but with its odd fighting style and laundry list of required feats, it would not fit in most gish builds.

Thinking about what interested me in Bladesinger, I realized that the biggest trap was looking at the class and focusing on the "+1 to existing spellcasting level." The Bladesinger is NOT a spellcasting class; in that it is thoroughly outclassed by Abjurant Champion, Swiftblade, Spellsword, and even the lowly Eldritch Knight. I knew that I did not want to focus on the casting element, because if I did, there would be no way to justify not taking one of the above classes.

So, what are we left with? We've got a class that is clearly intended to fight in melee, with a particular one-handed style meant to invoke thoughts of dancing and song. The smattering of magic is obviously intended to be used in melee, as abilities such as Lesser Spellsong (which, alongside Combat Casting, allows you to always successfully cast defensively) indicate. The one-handed style immediately made me think of using that open hand for touch attacks and unarmed strikes, and of a light-footed character who dances around enemies, switching between striking with his sword and his fist.

This is the image that I kept in my head when cooking Lakota. I wanted a character that, more than anything else, takes advantage of the longsword/open hand style. Improved Unarmed Strike was a must, and that led me to think about grappling. But what about the sword? What would draw this character to use a blade, rather than solely fighting unarmed?

The name of the class is what gave me the next bit of inspiration. I had recently been reading a post on pandemonic silver, a special material found in Complete Warrior. Blades made of pandemonic silver release an unearthly moan when drawn. This terrible noise causes all enemies to save or begin cowering, and it is carried by the howling of the wind. In windy areas, the DC increases, from a piddling DC 10 in areas of no wind, to the incredible DC 28 in tornado-level winds.

From there, it all fell together. Instead of focusing on casting, I decided to make a member of House Lyrandar, whose blade carried the song of the wind. The Mark of Storm both gave me an incentive to play an elf/half-elf, and provided scaling abilities that weren't dependent upon caster level. Thanks to Dragonmark Heir, the character could bring hurricane-force winds from completely still air as early as ECL 9, draw his pandemonic silver sword, and proceed to fight with a mix of unarmed strikes and sword slashes. I built on the wind and storm theme, taking inspiration from the Lakota and Ojibwe mythology about thunderbirds or the Wakiya.