Anything But Normal Rogue's Gallery

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Sebak of Gauros
Male Tiefling Warlock 2 [Race MM, class ComArc]
Medium Outsider (Native)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Height: 5' 4''
Weight: 156lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Red
Age: 25

Str: 10 (+1) [2 points]
Dex: 16 (+3) [6 points, +2 racial]
Con: 8 (-1) [0 points]
Int: 14 (+2) [4 points, +2 racial]
Wis: 12 (+1) [4 points]
Cha: 16 (+3) [16 points, -2 racial]

Class and Racial Abilities: Native outsider, +2 Dex, +2 Int, -2 Cha, Darkvision 60 ft., +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Hide checks, darkness 1/day as a spell-like ability, Resistance to fire, cold, and electricity 5, Automatic Languages: Common and Infernal. Eldritch blast 1d6, least invocations, detect magic at will. Ignore spell failure from light and medium armor (due to Battle Caster feat).

Hit Dice: 2d6-2
HP: 9
AC: 18 (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
ACP: -3
Init: +3 (+3 Dex)
Speed: 30ft

Saves:
Fortitude +0 [+0 base, +0 Con]
Reflex +2 [+0 base, +2 Dex]
Will +4 [+3 base, +1 Wis]

BAB: +1
Melee Atk: +1 (1d4-1/19-20/x2/S, dagger)
Ranged Atk: +3 (1d6/x2/60 ft./eldritch blast)

Skills:
Bluff +16 [5 ranks, +3 Cha, +2 racial, +6 Beguiling Influence]
Diplomacy +11 [0 ranks, +3 Cha, +2 synergy, +6 Beguiling Influence]
Disguise +8 [5 ranks, +3 Cha, additional +2 synergy to remain in character]
Hide +4 [0 ranks, +2 Dex, +2 racial]
Intimidate +16 [5 ranks, +3 Cha, , +2 synergy, +6 Beguiling Influence]
Knowledge (arcana) +3 [1 rank, +2 Int]
Listen +1 [0 ranks, +1 Wis]
Spot +1 [0 ranks, +1 Wis]
Use Magic Device +7 [4 ranks, +3 Cha]

Feats:
Battle Caster (1st level) [ComArc]

Languages: Abyssal, Common, Draconic, Infernal

Invocations Known [ComArc]
Save DC +3
Least – Baleful Utterance, Beguiling Influence

Equipment:
Flame-heart, +1 breastplate – 1,350gp. This elegant breatplate is worked with subtle images of flames in various shades of red iron. Sebak claims it wards him against fire in order to deflect suspicion of his own heritage. He claimed it from a priest of Kossuth that put his armor down in order to walk through flames. Since he was no longer using it, Sebak made sure it didn’t go to waste.
2 MW daggers – 604gp
Backpack - 2gp
Courtier’s outfit and jewelry – 80gp
Disguise kit – 50gp
Bedroll 5sp
Waterskin 1gp
50 ft. silk rope 10gp
Trail rations (20 days worth) 10gp
Belt pouch 1gp
Tent – 10gp
Flint and steel – 1gp
3 bottles of fine wine – 30gp
Tankard – 2cp
Traveler’s outfit (Free)

Light warhorse, saddle, saddlebags, bit and bridle – 166gp

Money
389gp, 4sp, 8cp

~~~~~

Appearance: Sebak is a short but well-built young man. He shows his Mulan heritage with sallow skin and a smooth cap of jet-black hair, but there the similarity to his parents ends. His eyes are a dark red that glows when he is under the influence of strong emotions. And anyone who watches him speak for several minutes is usually a bit startled after a few moments. He has long fingers with black fingernails, and six fingers on each hand. He tends to wear red robes with black trimmings and onyx beads sewn into the embroidery, with elaborate rings on each of his twelve fingers. On the back of his neck he has a birthmark in the shape of a red hand with black fingernails.

Personality: Sebak presents a kind of arrogance and veiled scorn for most that he meets. He assumes most will assume the worst of him, and to a certain extent, he enjoys playing up to expectations. He’s gotten fairly far in life by lying and deceiving, and rarely decides to do otherwise unless he feels the person deserves his respect. He perversely enjoys cultivating an aura of menace, and gets some enjoyment out of frightening people.

Background: Sebak was born to perfectly normal parents in Thay, right on the boarder of Rasheman. His devilish heritage was apparent in his eyes, his hands, and his usual birthmark. As an only child, his parents chose to raise him rather than drown him, as his neighbors insisted he do. The priest insisted that there was no evil inherent in his soul, which calmed their fears somewhat. However, though his parents were somewhat afraid of him, they took him farther away from town to avoid taunts and attacks.

Sebak grew up in a household where his own parents were afraid of him, walking quietly to avoid disturbing him. Whenever he went into town, which was rarely, people pointed and stared, calling him “devil child.” Though it hurt him inside, he covered it by living up to their expectations, setting frights into those who ridiculed him. He was scarcely thirteen when he left his home, never to return.

He traveled as far away from Thay as he could, going north and east, lying and deceiving to get by. As he traveled, he began to pick up bits of lore about the planetouched and their magic, and was delighted when he began to manifest sorcerous powers. Though different than the other sorcerers he met in his travels, he nevertheless passed himself off as one. He was hired by a few people who could use a magician with flexible morals, and learned to exercise his power to line his purse.

However, he knew most people saw him as inherently evil and cruel. The birthmark that had branded him as some devil’s property seems to whisper to him in the darkness, trying to push him into acts of further depravity and heartlessnss. But Sebak did not submit to the taunts of children, his parents’ fear, or the preconceived notions of nations full of people, and he would not submit to a patch of skin!

Still, it left him feeling somewhat hollow and heartsick, and it was in this state that he ended up in Secomber, on the border of the North and the Western Heartlands. As usual he tried to find a mark to give him room and board, and had decided on the home of Rodel Vance and her guardians. She was blind, and did not treat him differently than any other lad from her village. For Sebak, this was a new, almost earth-shattering experience to be treated as someone… normal. She was kind, and her Aunt and Uncle treated him well. Rodel saw past his lies and smooth deception, but also didn’t seem to care when he finally confessed (a first for him) that he had come into her home under false pretenses.

From then on he treated Rodel as a treasured friend, one of the very, very few that he can count. She has given him perhaps the one true kernel of goodness in his soul, and it is that which he uses to combat the darkness within him.

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen
Male Blink Dog Hexmaster 5 [race MM/Custom, class CW/Custom]
Medium Magical Beast
Alignment: True Neutral
Height: 2' 6'' at the withers
Weight: 84 lbs.
Fur: Russet Brown
Eyes: Blue
Age: 22

Str: 10 (+0) [2 points]
Dex: 20 (+5) [6 points, +6 racial]
Con: 12 (+1) [4 points]
Int: 16 (+3) [10 points]
Wis: 12 (+1) [2 points, +2 racial]
Cha: 18 (+4) [8 points, +1 levels, +2 enhancement]

Racial and Class Abilities: Magical Beast (1 HD), natural bite attack (1d6), +3 natural armor, +6 Dex, +2 Wis, Darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent, dimension door at will as a free action (50% failure chance), blink activate/deactivate as a free action (50% failure chance), Automatic Languages: Common and Blink Dog.
Greater Hexblade's Curse 3/day (-5 on attacks, damage, saves, ability checks, and skill checks OR -8 on one saving throw OR -13 on two skills; Will DC 20 negates; duration 24 hours; range 60'), Arcane Resistance.

Hit Dice: 1d10+1 plus 5d6+5
HP: 41
AC: 18 (+3 natural armor, +5 Dex)
Init: +5 (+5 Dex)
Speed: 40 ft.

Saves:
Fortitude +4 [+3 base, +1 Con, +1 resistance, -1 luck]
Reflex +8 [+3 base, +5 Dex, +1 resistance, -1 luck]
Will +5 [+4 base, +1 Wis, +1 resistance, -1 luck]
- +4 on all saves vs. spells and spell-like abilities

BAB: +4
Melee Atk: +4 (1d6/20/x2/SBP, bite)

Skills:
Bluff +11 [5 ranks, +4 Cha, +2 competence]
Diplomacy +8 [0 ranks, +4 Cha, +2 synergy, +2 competence]
Disguise +8/+18 [0 ranks, +4 Cha, +2 synergy, +2 competence, possibly +10 disguise self]
Gather Information +17 [9 ranks, +4 Cha, +2 synergy, +2 competence]
Intimidate +21 [9 ranks, +4 Cha, +2 synergy, +4 charm bangle, +2 competence]
Knowledge (geography) +11 [8 ranks, +3 Int]
Knowledge (local) +11 [8 ranks, +3 Int]
Knowledge (religion) +5 [2 ranks, +3 Int]
Sneak +14 [9 ranks, +5 Dex]
Spot +7 [6 ranks, +1 Wis]
Survival +12 [9 ranks, +1 Wis, +2 synergy]

Feats:
Ability Focus (curse) (flaw: No Combat Training)
Curse of Paranoia (flaw: Unlucky)
Track (blink dog bonus feat)
Daunting Presence (1st level)
Empower Curse (3rd level)
Curse of Ignorance (bonus Hexmaster)
Dark Companion (6th level)

Languages: Common, Blink Dog, Dwarven, Elven, Gnoll

Spells Known (Spell Points/Day – 10, Cantrips 3/day)
Save DC +4, Caster Level 5th
2nd Level – Nightmare Lullaby, Phade’s Fearsome Aspect, Tongues
1st Level – Disguise Self, Disquietude, Unseen Servant, Spirit Worm
Cantrips – Detect Magic, Ghost Sound, Open/Close, Shadowplay, Silent Portal, Sonic Snap

Equipment:
Periapt of Baleful Influence - 9,750gp.

Shard of the Dark Paths – 4,725gp.

Charm Bangle - 9,100gp.

Collar of Safety - 1,000gp.

Treats - 1,862gp, 5sp total.

Money
12gp, 5sp, 0cp

[sblock=None-Core Feats, Spells, and Equipment]
Feats: Ability Focus (curse) [MM p. 203], Curse of Ignorance [DR 339 p. 92], Curse of Paranoia [DR 339 p. 92], Daunting Presence [LM p. 25], Empower Curse [DR 339 p. 92], Obtain Familiar [CA p. 81, traded in for Dark Compaion alt. class ability, PHBII p. 47]

Spells: disquietude [SC p. 68], nightmare lullapy [MoF p. 110], Phade's fearsome aspect [DR 333 p. 72], shadowplay [DR 326 p. 74], silent portal [SC p. 190], sonic snap [SC p. 195], spirit worm [MoF p. 123]

Equipment:
[/sblock]

~~~~~

Appearance: Lupaz is a sleek, agile hound with dark russet fur and a strange pattern of dark fur markings on his face and shoulders. His unusually vulpine features make him appear more cunning and intelligent than a normal canine, and make his breed impossible to place for those familiar only with the ordinary breeds of dog. He wears a battered leather collar with an apparently cheap silver ornament and a strange shard of dark crystal dangling from it, as well as a silvery bracelet around his left forepaw. When he's excited and isn't bothering to hide his unusual intelligence, Lupaz's features bear a perpetual sly grin, but most of the time he assumes the demeanor of an older and somewhat world-weary dog, not inclined to react much to the attentions of others.

Personality: Lupaz's personality is an odd mix of fatalism and impulsiveness. He has not had a terribly happy life, and this background combined with his faith in the general transparency of the future to the wise gives him a certain fatalistic spirit; he does not react emotionally to any but the greatest affront, and has a strong belief in the inevitability of the vast majority of events. Something does remain of the passionate blink dog approach to life, however, and when he is roused by a particularly difficult problem or finds himself in a particularly chaotic situation Lupaz becomes alert and focused on the task he has set for himself - his long period of service to the weirds has shown him that while most things are inevitable, decisive action at crisis points can make all the difference in the world. His secret hope is that one day one of these crisis points, which he haunts the edges of in the pursuit of his duties, will reveal to him the mystery of his benighted fate. This hope, however, is deeply held, and even Lupaz is uncertain how he will react if confronted with the unknown agency that has pulled his destiny so far out of kilter.

Background: Everything started out well, but by the time Lupaz was growing out of his puphood and into a full-fledged member of the pack, things started to go wrong. He would lose the course of the invisible ethereal paths followed by all mature blink dogs, and get separated from the hunting pack, or fell a healthy-looking animal that would turn out to be diseased and render the whole pack sick for days, or guide a party of trusted adventurers past the dire bear that had just awakened from hibernation that very morning. Already the elders of the pack were wondering what was to be done when disaster truly struck, in the looming form of a nameless displacer beast packlord whose cruelty exceeded even the tolerance of his wicked kin. The Beast stalked the pack, striking them down one by one, and they stalked it in return, seeking the Beast's resting place and selling their lives dearly to wear it down, a deadly game of cat-and-hound that would finally be lost, and all due to Lupaz.

A twig snapped underfoot at just the wrong moment, bringing the Beast down in a sudden fury of rending claws, ethereal turbulence from an impossibly failed dimension door prevented a planned retreat, and finally, most horribly, a panicked flight in a driving storm led Lupaz directly to a litter of newborn pups. Three times Lupaz sought to fight alongside his brothers and sisters, three times the curse struck, and three times Lupaz was the only survivor of his hunting party, as though fate was mocking him by sparing him. After the third time, it became clear that the pack no longer had a chance to defeat their malignant foe - too many had fallen. The lives of most of the pack were lost in vain, though they had fought bravely and selflessly, and all because of him. He fled, to spare his packmates the pain of exiling him, and wandered alone in the shadowy reaches of the Tanglebloom Forest, wandering far and forgetting his home before stumbling through blind chance on Dorakell, an outpost of the Kingdom of Knowledge. Lupaz wonders to this day whether it was good luck or ill that thus set his life on its current path, but he nevertheless found purpose again in the raucous bazaars of the border city. Hearing tell of the weirds and of their knowledge of fate and destiny, he was able to rouse himself from the bleak purposelessness into which he had settled and set out for the court of Taala, prince of the Kingdom of Knowledge, excitedly making the journey in less than a day.

Arriving at the citadel, he sought entry but could not make himself understood. Finally, he resorted to resting at the gates of the palace in a last hope that someone familiar with his kind would come by and offer succor. But again, insidious fate struck. Visitors to the court of Taala began to find their luck turning sour as critical documents became inexplicably lost, messengers fell ill and brought the plague back to their native cities, and ambassadors found their own tongues twisting against them. As word spread of the strange misfortunes that struck those who sought the guidance of the weirds of late, the Kingdom of Knowledge’s reputation started to become shadowed. Angrily, Taala ordered his diviners to seek the cause and drag them before him and his counsel of weirds that the offender might be punished. And so Lupaz got the audience he sought, but not in the way in which he had hoped, as he was bound in chains of pure elemental earth and torn with cutting ethereal winds to prevent any escape and taken before the furious omnielemental prince.

All who saw Lupaz's humiliated entrance thought that this was the end of it, that this accursed mortal pestilence would be eradicated in but a moment of fire and ice, but Taala spared Lupaz for a reason that he never bothered to explain to his court; his weird councilors had detected a strange knotting in the blink dog's fate, as though he were destined to find himself at many crossroads and turning points of destiny as a bringer of ill omens. And so Taala ordered Lupaz released from his bonds and sent to the courts of his rivals as a curiosity and beast of burden. Sure enough, where Lupaz went, ill omens followed - a rival would find the elemental leylines of his land weakening on the eve of a key ritual or wild beasts would devour a messenger long enough for Taala's emissaries harden a king’s heart against their competitors. Powerful and unscrupulous elements of Taala's court, who had surmised on their own the truth of their lord's sudden change from wrath to mercy, began surreptitiously to train Lupaz and bind his accidental power with powerful geases. Eventually, the disasters stopped and Lupaz was allowed to stay in the palace for a day and have his audience with the weirds.

What they told him horrified him. They, the great weirds, repositories of the Kingdom of Knowledge's greatest secrets, could not discern why Lupaz's fate was such a strange entanglement, nor why his luck was so cruel. All they could do was offer him a deal: a year of service to their prince for a single question asked and answered. It was a slim thread of hope, but as the weirds spoke Lupaz could feel the years of dejected wandering opening below him like a dark abyss, and he quickly agreed. And so Lupaz came to be an observer at critical moments, following instructions whose source he has never discerned, instructions that lead him to ensure that the prophetic visions of the weirds come to pass. He served in this was for ten years. Receiving his orders via magical sending, Lupaz has no real contact with any members of Taala's court, except on the one day a year he is allowed to come to the palace and ask the weirds his lone question. At these times, the hound of ill omen finds himself the target of petty officials who hope to enlist him in the foolish squabbles of Taala's court. His refusal to engage in these power struggles alone ensured that he remained a despised outsider among the elemental aristocracy, but his usefulness still kept him in favor with those influential members of the court with the authority to call on his services.

Only recently has Lupaz left behind this steady and quiet work behind the scenes, as a result of his careful questioning of the weirds. It has taken him ten whole years, but he has finally narrowed down the location of someone who can provide him with the answers he seeks to the bustling port city of Bluegorge, a city situated on the cliffs on either side of the great Crystalline Falls and, not coincidentally, one of the Kingdom of Knowledge's most frequent and important trade partners. He is aware that the terms of the questions he has posed allow that the individual he seeks has since moved on, but he has nevertheless drawn on the goodwill of a decade of unstinting service to begin taking more and more assignments in this region and, under his own recognizance, gradually developing the contacts necessary to find the trail of his quarry. It was this rekindled hope that led Lupaz to do something he would never ordinarily do, something that would finally bring him once again to the attention of elemental royalty.

Bluegorge, it seemed, had somehow become a ripe prize in the eyes of the dangerous humanoid tribes living nearby - fire-aligned ogres from the adjoining cliffs, cunning water-aligned kobolds from deep within the Crystalline Falls itself, and, most terrifyingly, a vast horde of vicious gnolls from the nigh-endless Sea of Grass. The weirds' prophecies revealed the city's inevitable destruction – and the creation of another dead end, something the desperate blink dog found himself unable to tolerate after long-suppressed hope had been kindled in him once again. Certain that fate was acting against him just as he was nearing his goal, Lupaz went against his better judgment and abandoned his usual fatalism in favor of decisive action. As ogres sacked Bluegorge's outer defenses and kobolds sabotaged and murdered in the very streets of the city, he headed out into the trackless Sea of Grass in search of the gnoll horde the weirds had foreseen would deal the death blow to the ailing city. Eventually, pushing his network of contacts and his own tracking abilities to their limit, he located the horde of thousands of hate-crazed gnolls and their demonic leader, the glabrezu Narfellanax. Though divinations held Bluegorge's defeat to be inevitable, Lupaz had a plan.

Disguising himself as one of the numerous hyena watchdogs in the camp, Lupaz watched and listened as the horde prepared to march, learning the goals and powers of the leaders of the gnoll horde as he did so. Once the horde finally gathered and set out to raze Bluegorge, they began to be plagued by accidents and other problems. Gnoll hyena riders scouting ahead of the main force encountered dangerous monsters regularly, their normally peerless survival training failing them; powerful gnoll champions fell in routine internecine challenges against trivial opponents; and the horde's leaders grew increasingly paranoid day by day, their will eroded by the constant flow of mishaps and untoward signs. By the time an entire week had passed, fraught with the possibility of discovery, the rabid conglomeration of tribes was beginning to fracture under the stress, losing entire tribes to desertion and leaving only the most fanatical of the gnolls to carry out the destruction of Bluegorge. But the horde was now less than a day's march from Bluegorge's already battered and disorganized militia - and the reunification that the ensuing frenzy of battle and bloodlust would bring to the horde. Too many still remained for Bluegorge to survive, and so Lupaz put a plan into action he had hoped not to need.

The shaman Crookfang, spiritual advisor to the horde's leaders and consort to demons, was the perfect pawn. Lupaz had come to her at night in the form of a demonic hyena, terrifying her guardians into submission and delivering prophecies to her regarding the next misfortune to befall the horde, visiting her again and again throughout the weeks he spent in and around the gnoll camp. Although doing so increased the danger of his covert manipulations many times over, it gave Lupaz the ear of the horde's most powerful individual. By now enraged at her inability to stop the cursed fate of the horde despite advanced warning and terrified by her newfound patron’s increasingly dire premonitions of failure, Crookfang prostrated herself in fear and supplication before her perceived ally, listening to Lupaz's words as he told her just what to do to ensure the horde's victory the following day.

On the morning of the final day, the very eve of battle, Crookfang challenged the glabrezu Narfellanax, convinced by Lupaz's machinations that the demon was no true worshipper of Yeenoghu, that he was instead the cause of the horde's misfortunes. The arrogant demon accepted her challenge, and the two fought a pitched battle to the death before the assembled horde for the right to be war leader for the incipient battle. Though Crookfang was a powerful cleric and had been apprized of the demon's weaknesses by Lupaz, the demon's sheer power and hatred was insatiable - he would not be denied the blood of Bluegorge's citizens. After a long battle, Crookfang was on the verge of defeat when suddenly the watching horde fell silent. A huge hyena with sunken red eyes and scorched, blackened fur stalked into the camp, sending seasoned gnoll hunters fleeing with a glance. With a long howl, the hyena-demon sprang into the bloody circle and laid a dread curse on Narfellanax, inspiring a fanatic's rage in the almost defeated Crookfang. Striking from the ground, she cast a lethal spell, blackening the demon's flesh with a touch and casting it from this plane. As the victorious cleric rose to her feet and prepared to gather her horde, she heard an unexpected sound - vicious, mocking laughter from her prophetic ally and savior. With a blasphemous utterance taken from Crookfang's own holy texts, the high shaman and new war leader was stricken with madness, tearing her own flesh and hurling herself at the assembled horde, gibbering madly. Under the blades and fangs of her own horde, Crookfang died, leaving the strange hyena-demon the only voice of authority in the leaderless horde. And when the great hyena-demon vanished at the turning point of the battle, apparently slain, the gnolls were at last defeated in the Battle of Reeds, as that day came to be called. Deprived of three divine leaders in the course of one day, even their fanatical morale broke and they devoured one another in their desperate bid to escape.

Although he had risked death a hundred times to do it, Lupaz had managed to turn an impossible last stand into a desperate and hard-fought success for Bluegorge’s defenders, and won out when even the weirds had predicted certain failure. Though Lupaz never declared his involvement in the salvation of Bluegorge, there isn't much that can be hidden from Taala when he becomes curious. Such a reversal of the fortunes predicted by the weirds happens only once in a dozen years or more, and the feat, though it brought Lupaz's nerves - and his luck - right to the shattering point, also brought him to Taala's attention for the first time since his long-ago audience in chains. Pleased that Lupaz had done the seemingly impossible and saved a valuable ally of the Kingdom of Knowledge, Taala chose to grant Lupaz a place on his most recently completed island ship as a reward, he said, to the Kingdom's oft-forgotten mortal servants. The resources of the Kingdom were to be laid open to these mortals, their position secured, and Lupaz knew that finally this would be enough for him to find the answers he sought, if indeed anything would be enough.

Of course, this kind of good fortune can't last, and especially not for Lupaz. The insurrection of the time elementals strikes Lupaz as almost inevitable now that the giddiness of his victory and reward and the despair of his exile from the Kingdom have passed. Now he is unsure what to do, knowing that he has made powerful enemies in his lifetime, any of whom could be sent after him at the time lords' whim - the Beast of long ago, the banished glabrezu Narfellanax, even the gnoll shaman Crookfang, plucked from the very moment of Lupaz's betrayal - not to mention all the others whose life Lupaz has influenced, always for the worst. Lupaz has never known precisely what party or parties in Taala's court gave him his missions, and he is well aware that should one of those parties prove to be the time elementals themselves or one of their allies, a few words whispered in the right ears would be all it would take to earn the lasting enmity of dozens of powerful individuals and organizations. Still, he sees no other way but forward - he can only pray that fate is on his side. Or at least, that it is against his enemies...

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor
Male Illumian Unfettered (Clever Blade Saint) 5 / Duskblade 3 [Race RoD, class AE(Tra)/PHB2]
Medium Humanoid (Human)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Height: 6' 4''
Weight: 196lbs
Hair: Black
Eyes: Bright blue
Age: 30
XP: 30,000

Str: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Dex: 18 (+4) [10 points, +2 level]
Con: 10 (-) [2 points]
Int: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Wis: 10 (-) [2 points]
Cha: 14 (+2) [6 points]

Class and Racial Abilities:
Illumian [Races of Destiny, 51]: Luminous Sigils (Su): soft blue sigils float around his head with the intensity of a candle. Glyphic Resonance (Ex): immune to glyphs cast by a caster level less than his HD. -4 save vs. glyphs cast by a greater caster. Power Sigils (Su): VaulUur (soul of grace): +3 to all Dex and Cha based checks and skill checks. Illumian Words (Su): VaulUur: 2/day expend spell slot as a swift action to add 1d6 per spell level to sneak attacks until the beginning of next turn. Final Utterance (Su): upon death for 1rd/HD the words of his life are heard nearby. +2 saves vs. spells with the shadow descriptor. Superior Literacy: literate. Speak Language is always a class skill. Automatic Languages: Common, Illumian; Bonus: Any;
Unfettered [Arcana Evolved, 85]: Weapon Profs: simple, martial, and exotic agile weapons; Armor Profs: light and shields. Armor Bonus (Ex): +2 AC when wearing light or no armor. Parry (Ex): Add Int bonus to AC vs. one opponent. Bonus Feat: Defensive Stance (AE, 135) Sneak Attack (Ex): +1d6 sneak attack;
Blade Saint [Transcendence, 54] - Clever Blade school: First Form (Unfettered 3) - Base Trickery: +2 attack when opponent takes a circumstance penalty to attack based on terrain or if the terrain confers a bonus to the Blade Saint. (ie Higher ground nets him +3 attack). Second Form (Unfettered 5) - Sneak Attack: +1d6 sneak attack;
Duskblade [Players Handbook 2, 19]: Weapon Profs: simple, martial; Armor Profs: all except tower shield. Spells Known: 4 0th; 4 1st. Spells per day and saves based on Int. Arcane Attunement (Su): 5/day cast one of dancing lights, detect magic, flare, ghost sound, read magic. Armored Mage (Ex): cast in light armor w/ light shields. Combat Casting: gain feat. Arcane Channeling (Su): cast any touch spell as part of a melee attack, no attack of opportunity, spell must have casting time 1 standard action or less.

Hit Dice: 8d8
HP: 50
AC: 21 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +2 Class); +2 vs. one opponent in melee. +1 vs. all melee.
ACP: -1
Init: +4 (+4 Dex)
Speed: 30ft; Fly 60ft (average)

Saves:
Fortitude +4 [+4 base, +0 Con]
Reflex +10 [+6 base, +4 Dex]
Will +4 [+4 base, +0 Wis] +4 vs. fear
+2 vs. spells w/ shadow descriptor

BAB: +8
Melee Atk: +11 (2d6+6/20/x3/P, long spikestick)
Ranged Atk: +12 (1d8/x3/110 ft./P, longbow)

Skills:
Bluff +16 [11 ranks, +2 Cha, +3 racial]
Diplomacy +20 [9 (1cc) ranks, +2 Cha, +6 synergy, +3 racial]
Gather Information +8 [3 ranks, +2 Cha, +3 racial]
Jump +9 [5 ranks, +2 Str, +2 synergy], -1 ACP
Knowledge (nobility) +7 [5 ranks, +2 Int]
Open Lock +8 [1 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial]
Sense Motive +5 [5 ranks, +0 Wis]
Sleight of Hand +10 [1 rank, +4 Dex, +3 racial, +2 synergy], -1 ACP
Sneak +15 [8 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial], -1 ACP
Tumble +20 [11 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial, +2 synergy], -1 ACP
Balance +9 [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial, +2 synergy], -1 ACP
Concentration +4 [0 ranks, +0 Con, +4 feat]
Disguise +5 [0 ranks, +2 Cha, +3 racial] +2 in character
Escape Artist +7 [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial], -1 ACP
Intimidate +7 [0 ranks, +2 Cha, +3 racial, +2 synergy]
Perform +5 [0 ranks, +2 Cha, +3 racial]
Ride +7 [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial]
Use Rope +7 [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +3 racial]

Feats:
Enhanced Power Sigils (1st level) - power sigils grant additional +1 [RoD, 152]
Defensive Stance (2nd level Unfettered) - +1 dodge bonus to AC in melee [AE, 135]
Battle Touch (3rd level) - touch spells cast by Vaukriel last 1 full round [BoEM3, 20]
Combat Casting (2nd level Duskblade) - +4 Concentration checks in Combat
Tumbling Attack (6th level) - full action: opposed tumble check -5; if successful you can attack as if flanking opponent alone [Tra, 59]
Runic Sun (SUPER SPECIAL FREE THING) [Tra 71] - 2/day 30' burst Fort save DC 16 or take -2 penalty on attacks for 1rd. Glow w/ gold light 60' radius for 1hr.

Languages: Common, Illumian, Abyssal, Ignan

Spells Known [PHB2]
Save DC +2; Spells per day: 5 0th; 6 1st
0th – acid splash, disrupt undead, ray of frost, touch of fatigue
1st - blade of blood [PHB2, 103], kelgore's fire bolt [PHB2, 116], shocking grasp, rouse [PHB2, 123]

Equipment:
Beacon of Dawn, +1 roguefriend [BoEM3, 40], evil outsider detecting [BoEM3, 40], flametouched iron [ECS, 127], dire [AE, 160], long spikestick [AE, 158] – 9,620gp. Like his own nickname, this weapon's name is a mockery of its true form. The Beacon of Dawn is a twisted dark metal monstrosity with sharp angles and skin-tearing spikes on all sides.
Gift of Sin, demonic feathered wings [FF, 210] - 10,000gp. When captured and tortured in the foul prison of the demon lord Garguel, Vaukriel's gracious host gifted the Illumian with great big black wings grafted directly on his back. The wings are a symbol of the depravity and mockery that Vaukriel suffered during the time he was incarcerated.
Heaven's Raiment, +1 leather coat [AE, 166] of courage [BoHM, 40] - 4,350gp. This leather coat has been dyed a deep royal blue. It is embroidered with gold-lined clouds forming a peaceful heavenly scene across the back. The trim is an intricate gold embroidery of knotwork along the collar and down the length of the front.
Joreth's Ring, ring of magical might (1st) [AE, 224] - 1,000gp. This simple gold band features a feathered motif as it wraps around the wearer's finger.
Shard of Electricity, empowered spell shard (shocking grasp) [MoE 116] - 1,500gp. A tiny shard of crystal, inscribed with arcane runes, banded with mithral, hangs from a silver chain.
Composite Longbow - 100gp - carried
20 x Bodkin arrows [AE 155] - 10gp - carried - ignore 2 points of armor based AC bonus.
Potion of Lesser Vigor [CompDiv 186] x6 - 150gp - in backpack
Backpack - 2gp - worn
Disguise kit – 50gp - in backpack
Bedroll 5sp - on ship
Waterskin 1gp - in backpack
50 ft. silk rope 10gp - in backpack
Trail rations (20 days worth) 10gp - on ship
Belt pouch 1gp - in backpack
Tent – 10gp - on ship
Flint and steel – 1gp - in backpack
Traveler’s outfit - (Free) - worn

Money
184gp, 5sp, 0cp

~~~~~

Appearance: Vaukriel would appear quite human if a bit on the tall side if it weren't for a few striking characteristics such as the pale blue sigils floating around his head, or perhaps the large black feathered wings on his back. Vaukriel has piercing blue eyes and deep raven black hair. He proudly wears his leather coat, Heaven's Raiment which has been fitted to allow his black wings freedom to expand. The wicked weapon he wields was all he was had when he escaped the prison of Garguel, though before forging it into the spikestick it is today, it was only the painful chains that had been wrapped around his feat and hands.

Personality: Vaukriel struggles within himself. To his friends he puts on a good show of being a very passionate individual, driven by hope and courage. Yet ever since his incarceration, the Illumian has been dealing with very difficult issues within his own mind. Terribly scarred from the ordeal, Vaukriel has never opened up to anyone about what happened to him and why he has large black demonic wings or why he carries a wicked stick barbed with horrific twisted pieces of blackened iron. Something new is bubbling to the surface of this once peaceful creature, something that could errupt if given the right circumstances.

Background: When first taught the Ritual of Words Made Flesh, Vaukriel was full of hope and courage, much as he tries to be even now. As a young Illumian he did what all the other students in his cabal did, study the myriad ways in order to try and best understand the entirety of their world through language. When he was old enough, Brightstar Vaukriel left the cabal with high hopes.

He travelled across the vast oceans, past the great fields, and over the Stonemaw Mountains until he finally reached his destination, the Kingdom of Knowledge. Where better to learn the secrets of the multiverse than the land of prophesy. Almost completely unheard of in the Kingdom, the Illumian was something of a curiousity among the court. It was perhaps through luck or perhaps skill, that Talaa, the omnielemental prince found a hint of greatness in the young Illumian. Tasked to pierce the sky and journey to the realms of the gods, Vaukriel set out on yet another great quest.

As he ascended fate tore him astray. The young Illumian was captured by the agents of Garguel, a fiend enamored with corruption and the innocent. Dragged down into a hellish world of pain and death, Vaukriel was taken to the Pits of Suffering where he was tossed into a prison cell little bigger than a house made for a dog. Tortured and mocked by Garguel, Lord of Perversion and Depravity, Vaukriel faught long and hard to hold on to the hope that he had once thrived on.

Lord Garguel and his court often enjoyed draging the poor Illumian out to be ridiculed. After one particularly devilish insight, Garguel caught onto the idea that the Illumian with his sigils and his quest to ascend to the palace of the gods, must've been seeking to become an angel. Lord Garguel arranged for Vaukriel to be grafted with a pair of large black demon wings forever to be called Angel of Splendor, a title that will haunt the Illumian till his death bed.

Prolonged expossure to the debauchery of Lord Garguel's court renewed something within Vaukriel. Catching on to a wave of hope, the Illumian tore himself free of the terrible barbed chains that held him prisoner and took wing in an effort to escape the black Pits of Suffering. Having overheard one of Lord Garguel's guests speak of a doorway through which he had come from the great city of Entridiope, Vaukriel knew how to escape. Guards and demons fell to the Angel of Spledor as he wrapped his binding chains around a stough piece of wood from the cell door. Armed with the Beacon of Dawn, he freed himself from captivity.

Returning to Talaa's Kingdom, the battered and beaten Vaukriel flew with renewed strength. Little time did he have after his return before things in the court of his patron began to turn sour. With new companions, the Illumian sets out on a new quest, where this one will lead is a completely different question.

[sblock=People Known]There are several people at Court you can think of that might be powerful enough to help, though their reactions to the coup would be mixed, at best. Despite the tragic circumstance that gifted you with flight, you had attracted a few admirers that respected your strength in learning how to fly. There are two sylphs, sisters actually, that you had come to know and admire. The elder of the two, Shasera, was great friends with a mighty cloud ray, a colossal beast some say is big as the sky. Also, there was a powerful air elemental, Tk'sssar'assa that lived on the high peaks of the Stonemaw mountains, one that claimed to have divine powers. Certainly he was served by the whimsical spirits of the air, flying monkey-like creatures with powers over wind and weather. You met them briefly on your journey up the mountain, right before you were captured by Lord Garguel's minions.

Shasera might not mind the time elemental's rule, as she and her sister were ambassadors of other air creatures. She would not be affected, one way or the other, with changes in laws, provided her status as an ambassador was kept intact. Tk'sssar'assa, on the other hand, would probably be furious. He considered himself a God of the Mountain Air, and was rather old-fashioned and reactionary in his views. He would considered the time elementals to be upstarts in the Kingdom of Knowledge.

In addition, your illumian heritage brought you to the attention to a very occasional visitor to Taala's court. A shuyarn, a rune angel that called herself Sen, had appeared in Taala’s court only a handful of times since you had been there, but each time she came on a mission of utmost importance. Of importance to who, you never could say, but she gifted Taala lavishly with powerful scrolls for the privilege of seeing the weirds. She always stopped on her way out of court to bow to you, and you seemed to recognize her in a deep way that had nothing to do her appearance. The last time she had smiled at you, a queer expression of face and words that still sometimes haunts your dreams. She’s never spoken to you, but you have the unshakable feeling that she is sympathetic to you personally. [/sblock]
~~~~~

Sources:
Races of Destiny [RoD]
Arcana Evolved [AE]
Transcendence [Tra]
Players Handbook 2 [PHB2]
Eberron Campaign Setting [ECS]
Magic of Eberron [MoE]
Book of Hallowed Might [BoHM]
Book of Eldritch Might 3 [BoEM3]
Fiend Folio [FF]
Complete Divine [CompDiv]

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy
Female Nereid Beguiler 2 [Race Stormwrack, class PHII]
Medium Fey (Water, Extraplanar)
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Height: 5' 4''
Weight: 156lbs
Hair: Shimmering Aquamarine Tresses
Eyes: Deep Pools of Azure Blue
Age: 42

Str: 6 (-2) [0 points, -2 racial]
Dex: 20 (+5) [6 points, +6 racial]
Con: 16 (+3) [6 points, +2 racial]
Int: 21 (+5) [10 points, +2 racial, +2 enhancement]
Wis: 12 (+1) [0 points, +2 racial]
Cha: 24 (+7) [10 points, +6 racial, +2 enhancement]

Class and Racial Abilities: Extraplanar(Water) Fey, -2 Str, +6 Dex, +2 Con, +2 Int, +2 Wis. +6 Cha, Low-light Vision., +8 to Swim checks and Hide checks underwater, Drown attack, Air Breathing at will, Control Currents 3/day, Control Water 1/day, Wall of Ice 1/day, Summon Water Elemental 1/day, Resistance to fire and cold 10, Deflection (Charisma to AC), Displacement (50% miss chance, Shawl (pin her and disarm it, then destroy it and she dies in one hour), Speak with Animals (Su), Automatic Languages: Common and Aquan.

Armoured Mage, Trapfinding, Cloaked Casting +1 DC, Surprise Casting

Hit Dice: 5d6+15
HP: 46
AC: 33 (+5 Armour, +5 Shield, +5 Dex, +7 Deflection, +1 Enhancement to Nat), 22 Touch, 28 Flat-Footed, (and 50% Miss Chance)
ACP: 0
Init: +5 (+5 Dex)
Speed: 30ft Land, 40ft Swim

Saves:
Fortitude +6 [+1 base, +3 Con, +2 Resistance]
Reflex +10 [+3 base, +5 Dex, +2 Resistance]
Will +9 [+6 base, +1 Wis, +2 Resistance]

BAB: +2
Melee Atk: +0 (1d4-2/19-20/x2/S, dagger), +0 touch (Drown DC 20)
Ranged Atk: +7 (spells)

Skills:
Appraise +5 [0 ranks, +5 Int]
Balance +7 [0 ranks, +5 Dex, +2 Synergy]
Bluff +18 [8 ranks, +7 Cha, +3 Competence]
Climb -1 [0 ranks, -1 Str]
Concentration +11 [8 ranks, +3 Con]
Craft +5 [0 ranks, +5 Int]
Diplomacy +24 [8 ranks, +7 Cha, +6 synergy, +3 Competence]
Disable Device +6 [1 rank, +5 Int]
Disguise +28 (+30) [8 ranks, +6 Cha, +2 synergy to remain in character, +3 Competence, +10 Circumstance]
Escape Artist +5 [0 ranks, +5 Dex]
Forgery +5 [0 ranks, +5 Int]
Gather Information +10 [0 ranks, +7 Cha, +3 Competence]
Heal +1 [0 ranks, +1 Wis]
Hide (see Sneak)
Intimidate +12 [0 ranks, +7 Cha, +3 Competence, +2 Synergy]
Jump +1 (+5) [0 ranks, -1 Str, +4 in water due to speed, +2 Synergy]
Knowledge (arcana) +10 [5 rank, +5 Int]
Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +10 [5 ranks, +5 Int]
Knowledge (local) +6 [1 rank, +5 Int]
Listen +4 [3 ranks, +1 Wis]
Move Silently (see Sneak)
Open Lock +6 [1 rank, +5 Dex]
Perform +10 [0 ranks, +7 Cha, +3 Competence]
Ride +5 [0 ranks, +5 Dex]
Search +5 [0 ranks, +5 Int]
Sense Motive +9 [8 ranks, +1 Wis]
Sleight of Hand +8 [1 rank, +5 Dex, +2 Synergy]
Sneak +13 (+21) [8 ranks, +5 Dex, +8 racial in water]
Spellcraft +11 [4 ranks, +5 Int, +2 Synergy]
Spot +4 [3 ranks, +1 Wis]
Survival +1 [0 ranks, +1 Wis]
Swim +7 [0 ranks, -1 Str, +8 Racial](can always take 10 and run)
Tumble +13 [8 ranks, +5 Dex]
Use Rope +5 [0 ranks, +5 Dex]

Feats:
Practise Spellcaster [Complete Arcane]
Improved Feint [PH] (used for Beguiler class abilities)
Weapon Finesse [PH]

Languages: Aquan, Auran, Common, Ignan, Sylvan, Terran

Spells Known [PHII]
Save DC +4
All the 1st level spells on the list

Equipment:

Protean Shawl—a wreath of swirling seafoam, Ianissa's shawl is an expression of her energy and life essence, just like that of any other Nereid. However, unlike most Nereids, Ianissa's shawl was infused with the essence of Proteus, shapeshifting fey lord of Change. As such, it allows her to shift shapes as a Hat of Disguise, except as a Transmutation rather than Illusion effect (like a Changeling). 1800 gold value.

Anemone—Ianissa's hippocampus friend is her constant companion, and they love to play together amidst the waves. Anemone is loyal to Ianissa unto death, and he knows that she feels the same way about him. 2000 gold value (includes cost of training for riding and combat, so could be less) (Stormwrack)

Necklace of the Sirens—Ianissa received this beautiful pearl and sapphire necklace from Leucosia, a sirine who became one of Nissa's best friends during her reawakening with Proteus after escaping from Ananke. Leucosia imbued the necklace with her own essence and that of her sisters, hoping that it would help Ianissa open up more and become more assertive after years of abuse. It grants a +3 Competence bonus to all Charisma-based skill checks. 4500 gold value (Necklace based on Circlet of Persuasion using DMG rules)

Circlet of Understanding—Perhaps both the most hated and most dangerous piece of Ianissa's apparel, this circlet of pure solid platinum is etched with symbols representing the flow of time unto eternity. After convincing Nissa that she was worthless, terrible, and stupid, Ananke bestowed this circlet upon her charge, an item that undeniably made the little nereid even smarter and played a key role in learning her two divination spells. Despite Proteus's continual protestations against it, even today Nissa feels inadequate and stupid while not wearing the circlet, and she refuses to part with it despite the awful memories. After careful magical analysis, Proteus was able to determine that there is not a secret malefic enchantment on the circlet to let Ananke control Nissa or something worse, but he still covered the thing in wards immediately to prevent Ananke from using it as a focus for her divinations. Only time will tell if Proteus was successful, or if he was outmatched by the mistress of inevitability. The circlet grants Nissa a +2 bonus to Intelligence. 4000 gold value (just a Circlet of Int from the DMG).

Bracelets of Fleeting Elsyium—The only connection Nissa has to the father she never knew, this pair of bracelets made of gold and water resistant mystical wyrwood, was sent to Clymene from Tithynos's realms. Although it is unclear whether it actually came from her father or was instead the gift of a well-wisher, Nissa would wear the bracelets often as a child, daydreaming about her father and how wonderful he must be, longing to meet him some day. Although she has still never met him, she considers her father to always be with her as long as she wears the bracelets, and she therefore treasures them second only to her cloak. For their part, the bracelets reinforce Nissa's already-strong fey heritage, granting her a +2 enhancement bonus to Charisma. 4000 gold value (bracelets built based on DMG guidelines and the Cloak of Charisma).

Mother's Loving Embrace—It may not be her most valuable item monetarily, but Nissa treasures this magical shifting cloak above all other material possessions, though she would never place even this most treasured of possessions above the life of a friend or her dear Anemone. Able to shift to fit her as she grows older and shimmer into many different colours, this cloak was originally used as a swaddling blanket when Nissa was just an infant. It was enchanted personally by Clymene to keep her dear daughter safe, and it has been successful to this day. Even when Ananke imprisoned her, Nissa never truly despaired while her mother's cloak was near, until the day that the cruel time elemental proclaimed it a crutch and took it away. Even the heartlessly impartial time elemental realised how much the cloak meant to Nissa, however, and despite being willing to stoop to physical torture, the girl's plaintive and frightened sobs and trauma after losing the cloak and being struckby her mother moved even Ananke's heart, at least a little. When Nissa finally mastered her first divination spell, Ananke returned the cloak, leading to one of Nissa's only happy days between her mother's fury and the day her godfather set her free. The cloak grants Nissa a +2 resistance bonus to all saving throws. 4000 gold value (just a Cloak of Resistance from DMG).

Miera, Protective Water Aeon—During Nissa's adventures with her fellow crewmates (before they were crewmates of course), they helped save Miera from a cruel and corrupt water elemental crime lord. Although she is unable to communicate on much more than an empathic level, Miera and Nissa became quick friends, and Nissa makes sure to spend time talking to Miera each day (although the little spirit can only talk back via empathy, so she sometimes looks funny doing so). As a water aeon, Miera can only effect the physical world as an extension of another being of water with whom she has bonded. Before, she had been forced by intimidation and brute strength into a bond with the elemental crime lord that left her feeling violated as she was used for evil. Now, she lives happily with Nissa, often curling up along Nissa's left arm, where she enjoys being pet and looking around at Nissa and her other friends from her perch. When Nissa is in danger, Miera springs to action, deflecting blows against her nereid friend with a shield of water.
Miera is mechanically equivalent to (though much cooler than) an intelligent +4 animated mithral buckler, granting a +5 Shield Bonus to AC, no ACP, and no spell failure, with the +1000 intelligent item enhancement. She has 10 Int and 12 Wis and Cha, 30 foot vision and hearing, and can communicate through empathy. Miera is Neutral Good. SUPER-SPECIAL FREE ITEM gold value.

Gift of the Deeps—This light sash is made of an unusual variety of seaweed that is extremely silklike. Skillfully embroidered with a beautiful pattern of schools of fishes swimming through the currents, the sash was a gift to Nissa from Kuralaq, the locathah shaman who taught her how to hide amongst the blendingfish. It is a symbol of acceptance amongst the locathah and other creatures of the deep earned through respect and training. It grants a +1 enhancement bonus to natural armour. 2000 gold value. Belt based on the Amulet of Natural Armour from the DMG.

Dress of the Current's Eddy—This lovely dress is one of Nissa's favourites, particularly to wear into battle. Like the cloak, it can change size to fit her, and also like the cloak, she has had it since she was little. It was gifted to her by Krysthos, a powerful paralemental prince of mineral as part of a request for Clymene's aid in divination, for Krysthos was a noble paraelemental who sought aid from the seeress of Fame to find a way to show the 'greater' elementals the virtue of his people and his paraelemental brethren. When she puts on the dress, Nissa remembers how kind, chivalrous, and charming he was when she was just a little girl, and she prays that he has not fallen from his ideals to join with the murderers who staged the coup, since in the end, the coup came close to Krysthos's goals. Unfortunately, Proteus had no idea that the coup would happen or that Ananke and the time elementals would enlist the aid of the paraelementals, among others, so if Krysthos really has turned bad, he could use the dress's connection to perform divinations on Nissa fairly easily. The dress itself is a masterpiece that could only have been created by a being that is at one with the essence of the components that create it. Forged of a combination of a rare underwater mineral called shalyne, which is similar to mithral but shares a consistency with soft fabric, rather than metal, and elemental water, the dress is even coloured a pure azure blue that compliments Nissa's eyes perfectly. Minor enchantments were woven into the dress as well to protect the wearer above and beyond the protection granted by the shalyne foundation, a move that scored major brownie points for Krysthos with Clymene at the time. This dress functions identically to a +1 Mithral Chain Shirt, so it grants a +5 Armour Bonus to AC with no ACP or spell failure. 2100 gold value.

~~~~~

Appearance: Nissa is a beautiful woman whose fey heritage is never more apparent than when she is in the water. Although her godfather's gift grants her the power to change shapes, she is usually encountered in either her natural aquatic or terrestrial forms. When amidst the waves, Nissa's whole body swirls and shimmers, nearly transparent as it takes on the eddies of the water around it, making her incredibly difficult to see when she wishes to be unseen. On land, she appears as a delicate and pale elf with long flowing aquamarine tresses, deep azure pools of eyes, and a distinctive shawl of sea foam that surrounds her and represents her essence. On most occasions, she wears a lovely azure dress that compliments her eyes, a blue and red embroidered sash, a pearl and sapphire necklace, two bracelets of gold and wyrwood, a small fashionable cloak, and a solid platinum circlet covered with symbols. Perched on her arm is her constant companion, Miera, a playful water aeon that defends Nissa fiercely, deflecting attacks with swirling eddies of water.

Personality: Nissa was bubbly and gregarious as a child, and though she was spoiled beyond belief, it did not lead to arrogant petulance as it does for some. She always felt empathy for those less fortunate than she, and was quick to make friends with just about everybody. After her imprisonment for twelve years, she became shy, quiet, and reclusive, a shadow of her former self. Recently, thanks to her godfather Proteus, and all her new friends, she has been able to open up again, but she has still not completely shaken the pall of inferiority and despair that Ananke wove around her, sometimes closing up from the outside world to sort out her feelings. Nonetheless, she is at most times back to a semblance of her former self, and she loves meeting new people and talking with them. She feels incredible empathy for Miera and any others who have suffered, and she always seeks to help those in need. Still, she is mercurial and carefree in nature when she can shake off the numbing order forced upon her by Ananke, and so she flits from person to person and place to place with a joyful enthusiasm that might make her father proud. The idea of an isleship, in Nissa's opinion, has to be the most awesome thing ever, at least since Uncle Proteus took her to see the Leviathan of the Deep, and the idea of sailing across the Endless Falls, meeting new people and seeing new places, brings a shining smile to her face. If only the thoughts of the coup, Ananke, and her beloved mother did not bring tears to her eyes when she is in a secluded place, all alone...

Background:

Ianissa, or Nissa for short, had an auspicious birth. She was born to a mix of two noble cultures of the Endless Falls. Her mother, Clymene, was the water weird prophetess of Fame. A beautiful creature of elemental water, Clymene was in constant demand by high class visitors and adoring fans who fawned over her in their continued insistence to learn of their future fame or perhaps receive the knowledge that would fulfill their dreams.

Although she was once a fair and virtuous maiden who believed only in the ebb and flow of fame and knowledge together like the current, the attention and flattery changed Clymene over the years until she eventually became a vain hedonist, adoring the company of feckless flatterers and beings of superficial beauty and placing their council above that of some of her closest and oldest friends, including Proteus, fey lord and seer of Change. Pride for her power increased as well, as she eventually grew to consider those who lacked her Second Sight to be inferior, though still beings that should be aided by those greater than they to escape the dangers of their ignorance. As her excesses grew, however, so did her beauty, and her power of prophecy never diminished, fueled by her continued obsession. Eventually, she came to the attention of Taala and became a temporary consort, if not a bride. While in this position, she earned great wealth for herself and prestige for her family by increasing the wealth and fame of the Kingdom of Knowledge through her prophecies. Departing on amicable terms, she returned to her own substantially increased holdings, where she began to take fewer and fewer supplicants for her prophecy, no longer giving it out to all in need who requested it but instead requiring prostration and flattery before she would deign to meet with them.

It was perhaps fitting, then, that her next major dalliance came with Tithynos, the fey lord of Evanescence, keeper of the fleeting moments of beauty that remain within the heart forever. Outwardly possessed of handsome, if a bit effeminate, features and a dazzling smiles, Tithynos is a dual-faceted mystery, for none but the wisest sages of the mind can tell if he is a being of profound otherworldly wisdom or just the hedonistic purveyor of pleasures and beauty that he appears to be. Unlike with Taala, Tithynos's dalliance left Clymene with child, and it is thus that Ianissa was born, the child of both fey and elemental bloodlines, both noble and respected. But as was the 'blessing' of her father, Ianissa's auspicious birth would lead to a joy that was only short-lived.

On seeing the infant Ianissa, Clymene rejoiced at her daughter's beauty, proclaiming her immediately to be the next great seer of the family, some day to become a prophetess like her mother. From a young age, Clymene fawned over her daughter, giving Ianissa everything she could ever ask for and more and showering her with love, affection, and material things.

Clymene brought over all sorts of friends for Ianissa to talk to and play with, ranging from 'mommy's friends', like nobles, well-to-do merchants, and even children of Taala, to wondrous creatures of the Kingdom of Knowledge and beyond, including tojanidas, sea lions, nymphs, sylphs, sirines, tressym, and many others. Ianissa's favourite new friend was a young Hippocampus who she named Anemone. The two grew so close that the triton who owned Anemone's mother gifted him to Ianissa, partially to win the favour of Clymene, and they have been friends ever since, able to speak together via Ianissa's innate talent to speak with animals.

Also of note were two others of her mother's friends. Proteus was still somewhat distant from Clymene compared to their younger days, but his heart was warmed by Clymene's loving treatment of her daughter, and he graciously accepted the title of Ianissa's godfather. When Clymene was busy and couldn't take care of her daughter, Proteus would take Nissa on wondrous trips to visit strange and exciting places and creatures that Nissa had never seen, even in her mother's domain. Nissa was always very close with 'Uncle Proteus', and the childless fey lord of Change treated her like a daughter, unlike her true father, who had already moved on. On the day when Ianissa was first able to form her shawl of sea foam, Proteus gave her a kiss as he touched the shawl and infused it with some of his own power, allowing her to change shape, although not as well as her godfather himself.

Aside from Proteus, the other important figure was Ananke, Nissa's godmother and the time elemental lady of Inevitability. Ananke was stern and strict, and because of this, Nissa quickly came to vastly prefer time with 'Uncle Proteus' to that with 'Aunt Ananke'. It is possible that the clear lack of affection led the time elemental to grow bitter with the young nereid, as Ananke was not an evil being. Perhaps it might have been the way that Nissa lived in luxury despite not even being an elemental, while Ananke and all time elementals were second class citisens in the Kingdom of Knowledge. Whatever it was, Ananke grew to resent the young Nissa, and they became more and more distant, even as Clymene and Ananke became closer and closer, as the lady of inevitability whispered secrets for forestalling the inevitable and remaining beautiful forever into Clymene's ear.

As soon as young Ianissa learned to read, her mother immediately began training her in magic in an attempt to begin young Nissa's rise to seeress. Unfortunately, although Ianissa took to magic easily and showed incredible potential in Enchantments and Illusions, thanks to her fey roots, she could not progress in Divinations as fast as her mother desired.

Now, it is possible that no being in all of the Endless Falls could have met the expectations of the vain and somewhat-deluded Clymene, but this caused the water weird to begin to have doubts that she couldn't resolve, for she refused to accept that her teaching skills were not exceptional or that her daughter was not the most talented creature in the Endless Falls (aside from herself of course). Upset and in danger of having her vanity assaulted, Clymene turned to the person she always turned to when she wished to escape a dreaded inevitability, Ananke. Ananke told Clymene exactly what the seeress wanted to hear: that Clymene was perfect and wonderful, but it was only through Clymene's incredible quality as a mother without peer, and not through any fault of mother's prowess or daughter's potential, that young Nissa had been unable to learn divinations. Clymene had been too lenient on Nissa in her love, Ananke explained. Ananke herself would be honoured to become Ianissa's new instructor, and she promised to deliver.

And so it was that Ianissa was handed over away from the loving bosom of her mother and into the bower of the harsh no-nonsense time elemental lady of Inevitability. Despite the well-kept, if spartan, trappings of Ananke's home, this felt like a prison to Ianissa, and her heart was broken as she was separated from her mother, Uncle Proteus, and even Anemone (who went to stay with Proteus). At first, Ianissa worked her heart out and tried harder and harder, pushing herself nearly to the point of a mental breakdown to learn divinations, but she couldn't do it. And meanwhile, despite this, Ananke sent scathing reports back home to Clymene, praising the incredible talent that lay within the young nereid, from her mother's side of course, but indicting Ianissa for being lazy and disrespectful. Ananke asked for permission to use more drastic measures, but Clymene refused. Meanwhile, eventually Nissa just gave up and actually stopped trying, her willpower and self-esteem collapsing in the face of Ananke's continual litany of Nissa's inadequacies, of the superiority of time elementals and the strict emotionless rule of law and inevitability over the trivialities of the fey. She cried herself to sleep every night, dreaming of freedom, of her mother's love, her uncle's laugh, and Anemone's whinny, of the evanescent gleam of the twinkling starlight.

Once Nissa had well and truly stopped trying, Ananke continued her plan by inviting Clymene over to view Nissa's 'lazy and disrespectful' behaviour first hand. Through continual poison pen letters, Ananke had begun to almost convince Clymene that Nissa refused to try because she hated her mother and wanted to give the family a bad name, among other terrible things, but the water weird seeress still could not quite believe it. However, while Clymene surreptitiously watched without being seen, Nissa unwittingly played her part perfectly as a listless child who has surrendered the will to continue and is no longer trying. Clymene was outraged. She had trusted her daughter over her dearest new friend, and this is how the lazy, spoiled, unappreciative little bitch repaid her love? She stormed into the room and broke Nissa's heart again by verbally abusing her daughter and eventually slapping her and storming off as quickly and angrily as she had entered, while the young girl, in tears worked to form the first syllable of the phrase 'Mommy...I love you...I'm sorry', which went unheard in the silence of Ananke's halls.

After this, Ananke was able to get Clymene to approve drastic measures with ease, in her own words, with a girl as lazy and spoiled as Ianissa, it was inevitable that it would come to this (and everyone laughed at the almost-pun even though it wasn't funny), and it was thus that the time elemental began applying carefully-regimented torture to her lessons. Ianissa, broken and full of despair, was completely susceptible to Ananke's methods, and truth be told, the time elemental wanted this demonstration of her own power to succeed so much that she began using her best methods and spells and even researching those of others to teach the damn girl a divination—any divination! And after years of harsh treatment, she actually met with success. Nissa learned not one, but two divinations, albeit rather weak ones. Ear of the Changing Tides (Comprehend Languages) and Reveal the Secrets of the Depths (Detect Secret Doors).

Nonetheless, Ananke considered this a great success, and she paraded Ianissa back home to perform the spells in front of an audience that included Clymene, who was thoroughly convinced by this that she should believe Ananke on all things involving Ianissa and continue the training. It was at this first time that Ianissa was allowed to leave Ananke's domain, however, that Uncle Proteus realised just how terribly his little Nissa was being treated. He immediately begged Clymene to let Nissa roam the waters free and happy once more, but the water weird was completely convinced of Ananke's words, and she would not hear of it. Discussion became an argument, and eventually Clymene banished her longtime friend from her domain forever, never to return on threat of imprisonment for trespassing. Angered and upset, Proteus tried to locate Nissa but was completely unable to make it past Ananke's wards, let alone rescue the little nereid. Nonetheless, he bided his time, realising that even against Ananke, an opening would come some day. It was inevitable.

And although Proteus didn't know what it was at the time, Ananke's meeting with the other time elementals that began to foment the seeds of rebellion against Taala would be just the opportunity he was looking for. At great danger to himself, Proteus broke past Ananke's wards, battled her guardians, and found the place where Ianissa lay, despondently staring at the ceiling. Making a joke about saving the princess from the evil castle to cheer her up, he carried her off before Ananke could leave to check on her wards. Despite having good warning as the first wards were shattered, Ananke couldn't leave the meeting. It wasn't time yet. Besides, as time was on her side, her victory was inevitable.

Proteus brought Ianissa to a hidden place, not daring to bring her to his own realm lest a spy detect her there and cause him to become an international criminal. Since he had used an alternate form to rescue Nissa, he managed to pin the blame on a rival time elemental, for the moment. Proteus had brought Anemone, who was just as excited to see Nissa as she was to see him. Okay, maybe not quite as excited, but he hadn't been locked up with a time elemental who was torturing him for a decade. Nissa cried tears of joy as Proteus explained her predicament. And despie anything her godfather would say, she vehemently refused to believe even one bad word about her mother. Nissa loved her mother more than anyone else in the world. And she still does.

Proteus took Nissa to visit everything she had missed most for the last twelve years. Well, everything except Clymene's loving embrace, as that didn't seem too likely to happen any time soon. Proteus felt bad about that, though, and unable to disillusion his goddaughter, he often contemplated taking Clymene's form to console the poor nereid, but he eventually decided against it, lest it crush her heart more if she later learns the truth. Proteus was disheartened that the gregarious little girl who had become friends with everyone and charmed her mother's guests with her kindness and good nature had become shy, reserved, and sad. Under Proteus's loving tutelage, Ianissa was allowed to eschew divinations or any other study of spells except the ones she liked the most (though she will never forget those two divinations to her dying day), and she was able to focus on things she liked to do as she learned how to hide amongst the blendingfish that swim the seas in secret, dance with the nymphs, and sing with the sirines, although she could never do the latter two very well and so eventually just took to tumbling dance moves that require agility more than flashy charm, though her new friends always told her she could become great at either performing art if she could just open up. Eventually, Proteus was heartened to see that Ianissa had become at least a bit more of the person she once was, and as her soul strengthened and her wanderlust for evanescent encounters, inherited from her father, grew greater. So despite a bit of sadness to see her go and wariness for her safety, Proteus was mostly overjoyed when Ianissa asked to leave to go off on adventures, though he made her swear on the ancient waters of the gods that she would not go to visit her mother (he blamed Ananke for the lack of safety there and left Clymene out of it).

...

Later, after joining with her latest friends and adventuring together, Ianissa made the mistake of being thrust into the spotlight as the recipient of a great gift from Taala. This brought her whereabouts to Ananke's attention once more, and the time elemental was infuriated beyond measure that the 'spoiled princess' would receive such an honour. Thus, Ananke was among the leading backers of the coup, though she had been part of similar meetings with her time elemental brethren for years. They had time to wait for the perfect moment. They were masters of time. Gathering allies from among the lesser elementals and even from personal friends like Clymene herself, the coup exploited the gift to stage a coup that led to Taala's destruction—and now Nissa flees for her life before the wrath of the many enemies she and her friends have just made...and her teacher, the one old enemy she dreads most of all...

Tempest Wintersquall
Male Half-Air Elemental Hadozee 'Winged Deck Ape' Spellthief 5 [Race MoP188, SW41, Class CAdv 13]
Outsider (Air)
Alignment: Neutral
Height: 5'7" (Medium)
Weight: 87lbs (still has the same bulk as a Hadozee but his elemental heritage has made him much lighter)
Hair: White, long and tangled mane - always has a 'blown by the wind' appearance.
Eyes: Pale Blue
Age: 25
Exp: 30,000

Str: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Dex: 18 (+4) [6 points, +2 Racial, 2 Template]
Con: 15 (+2) [5 points, +2 Template]
Int: 12 (+1) [2 points, +2 Template]
Wis: 10 (+0) [0 points, +2 Template]
Cha: 18 (+4) [13 points, -2 Charisma, +2 Template, +1 4th]

Class and Racial Abilities:
Hadozee - Gliding (40'; negate damage from falls depending on distance); +4 racial bonus on Balance and Climb
Half Elemental - Deflection Bonus +1; Immune to Air, Cold and Disease effects; 1/day - Obscuring Mist, Wind Wall, Gaseous Form.
Spellthief - Proficient with simple weapons and light armour (no arcane spell failure chance when wearing light except when casting spells stolen from other casters); Sneak Attack+2d6; Steal Spell (0-2) - Forgo 1d6 sneak damage and instead steal a spell or a spell slot for 1 minute (standard action if the target is willing); can then cast the spell the following round, treat as if cast from the original spell owner (must have all components) or use the power of the spell to cast one of his own spells; either way the power must be used within 1 hour; can posses a maximum number of stolen spells equal to class level (5), 0 level treated as half a spell; can only use metamagic feats on stolen spells if the original spell owner had the spell prepared with a metamagic effect; doesn't work on psionics or spell like abilities; Trapfinding; Detct Magic - Use detect magic a number of times a day equal to Cha bonus, minimum once; caster level equal to class level; Spellgrace - +1 bonus to saves vs spells; Steal Spell Effect - Siphon an active spell effect from another creature; forgo 1d6 sneak damage and instead gani the effect of a single spellaffecting the target (standard action if the target is willing); gain effect for 1 minute per class level (5 mins) or until spells duration is reached; if the spell duration hasn't expired after the steal time has expired then the spell returns to th original spell owner; only steal effects that could have been cast on the spellthief (no personal for example), can still supress the effect on the target though for 1 minute per class level (5 mins); Steal Energy Resistance - Siphon off target's resistance to an energy type; forgo 1d6 sneak damage and instead gain resistance 10 to an energy type that the target his resistant to (standard action if target is willing0; reduces the target creatures resistance; lasts for 1 minute or, if the result of a spell, the duration of the spell; effects do not stack with multiple uses; Spells - 2x1st level known, cha bonus; Steal Spell-Like Ability - Temporarily steal a spell-like effect; forgo 1d6 sneak damage, instead gain one spell-like ability; can originate from class, race, template or any other source, any level but max 1/3 of caster level (2nd); can only use the spell-like ability once and the target must have it available to steal; cast as though being used by original spell-like abilit owner; must be used within 1 minute of stealing, can't be used by original spell-like ability owner until the effect is used or the minute is up.

Hit Dice: 5xd6
HP: 6+16+10=32
AC: 21 (+5 armor, +4 Dex, +1 natural, +1 deflection)
ACP:
Init: +4 (+4 Dex)
Speed: 30ft / Glide 40ft

Saves:
Fortitude +5 [+1 base, +2 Con, +2 Cloak]
Reflex +7 [+1 base, +4 Dex, +2 Cloak]
Will +6 [+4 base, +0 Wis, +2 Cloak]
+1 saves vs spells
Immune to Air, Cold and Disease effects

BAB: +3
Melee Atk: +1 Magebane Tigerskull Club +6 [1d8+3, X4, 8lb, Bludgeoning and Piercing] - +2 disarm and trip attacks; +3 attack vs arcane users and +2d6 damage
Ranged Atk:

Skills: 6+1x4=28 +6+1 x4 = 28 total 56

+4 racial bonus on Balance and Climb

Appraise (Int) 1 [0 ranks, +1 Int]
Balance (Dex) 10 [0 ranks, +4 Dex, +4 racial, +2 Synergy]
Bluff (Cha) 4 [0 ranks, +4 Cha]
Climb (Str) 6 [0 ranks, +2 Str, +4 Racial] c/c
Concentration (Con) 8 [6 ranks, +2 Con]
Craft (Int) 1 [0 ranks, +1 Int]
Decipher Script (Int) 2 [1 ranks, +1 Int]
Diplomacy (Cha) 4 [0 Ranks, +4 Cha] c/c
Disable Device (Int) 9 [8 ranks, +1 Int]
Disguise (Cha) 4 [0 Ranks, +4 Cha] c/c
Escape Artist (Dex) 4 [0 ranks, +4 Dex] c/c
Forgery (Int) 1 [0 Ranks, +1 Int] c/c
Gather Info (Cha) 4 [0 ranks, +4 Cha]
Heal (Wis) 0 [0 Ranks, +0 Wis] c/c
Intimidate (Cha) 4 [0 Ranks, +4 Cha] c/c
Jump (Str) 4 [0 ranks, +2 Str, +2 Synergy]
Know - Arcana (Int) 2 [1 ranks, +1 Int]
Know - Local (Int) 2 [1 ranks, +1 Int]
Listen (Wis) 0 [0 ranks, +0 Wis]
Perform (Cha) [0 Ranks, +4 Cha] c/c
Open Lock (Dex) 12 [8 ranks, +4 Dex]
Ride (Dex) 4 [0 Ranks, +4 Dex] c/c
Search (Int) 9 [8 ranks, +1 Int]
Sense Motive (Wis) 0 [0 Ranks, +0 Wis] c/c
Sneak (Dex) 12 [8 ranks, +4 Dex]
Speak Language (Int)
Spellcraft (Int) 5 (7) [2 ranks, +1 Int, +2 Synergy (+2 to Decipher Scrolls)]
Spot (Wis) 0 [0 ranks, +0 Wis]
Surivival (Wis) 0 [0 Ranks, +0 Wis] c/c
Swim (Str) 2 [0 ranks, +2 Str]
Tumble (Dex) 12 [8 ranks, +4 Dex]
Use Magic Device (Cha) 9 [5 ranks, +4 Cha]
Use Rope (Dex) 4 [0 Ranks, +4 Dex] c/c

Feats: Storm Magic (FrB 50 - when casting in a storm +1 caster level) SWAP? - fly-by attack?; Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Tigerskull club)

Languages: Common, Hadozee, Auran

Equipment:

Heward's handy haversack (2,000gp) Tempest purchased this haversack when he was chasing down information regarding his father and the real reasons his mother had died. It was purchased in a bazaar on The Slab.
Chitin Plating +1 (4,000gp) ToM 216 (Silthilar Graft) - Tempest had lived with the Silthilar for a number of years. He had proven intelligent and keen to learn. He had watched the experiments of his strange adoptive parents with at first apprehension and then, as he grew to realise that the experiments actually improved the recipient, fascination. It wasn't until he was almost ready to leave home that he underwent his own enhancement. And he hopes to have many more.
Aram's Shirt+1 Mithril Chain Shirt (2,250gp) - One of the first people Tempest befriended upon leaving his commune was Aram, a roguish tiefling of questionable scruples. An outsider may have wondered whether Aram was truly a friend of Tempest or if he was really just a con artist taking a young, impressionable, newly arrived teen for a ride. But Tempest could see no wrong in him. Tempest came to worship the ground he walked on, putting up with the bullying and teasing (which grew worse the longer Tempest stayed with Aram) as a younger brother might accept his elder siblings teasings, in an effort to be accepted, loved and respected. Tempest was with Aram when he died, when he was ravaged by the wizard's spell. The only thing remaining of Aram was his chain shirt which Tempest scooped up, tucked under his arm and, with tears flowing from his eyes, fled with a curse and a promise of venbgeance spat over his shoulder at the spell caster.
Shank+1 Steel Magebane Tigerskull Club (8315gp) XXlb CArc 143; FrB 78 - masterwork; Shank is a solid club of steel that has been modelled on the primitive Tiger Club. The whole weapon is one solid piece of metal. The shaft is carved with runes that form a maze down the haft. Inside the groove of the rune maze flows a viscious red fluid. The fluid never leaves the channel it flows down and has never stopped flowing. Carved atop Shank, and still of the same piece of metal as the haft, rests the stylised fanged skull of a cat-like beast. magebane - against anyone/thing with arcane spell or spell like ability effective enhancement level is +3 and deals an extra 2d6 damage
Cloak of Resistance +2 (4,000gp)
Masterwork light crossbow (335gp) XXlb
40 bolts
Earplugs (3sp) -lb (A&EG 22)
Marbles (2sp) 2lb (A&EG 24)
Rope, elven 40' (100gp) 10lb (A&EG 24)
Hat, broad-brimmed (8gp) -lb (A&EG 29)
Spell components ??
Food and drink

Money
791gp, 5sp, cp +5,200gp

Spells - bonus spells 1/1/1/1
1st level (2 known)

~~~~~

Appearance: Tempest is rakish, no other word better suits him. He wears only a chain shirt, belts and harnesses for his pouches and weapons, and a hat and cloak (that constantly flutters behind him). Chitinous plates cover his body around which tufts of coarse, tangled, long hair sprout. Unusually, for a Hadozee, he has light blue eyes and very pale fur, which contrasts strongly with the pale purple blue chitin plates that are fused to his limbs.

Personality: Tempest loves to travel, life is all about exploring and getting into trouble. Life is a challenge, it is there to be grabbed with two hands and shaken violently. The unpredictable is what makes life worth living. And recognising this fact means that occasionally one must turn a blind eye, or maybe even step, ever so delicately and cautiously, across the boundary of what is normally considered good and right.

In general, Tempest is cheerful, friendly and inquisitive but, on the rare occasion when he gets riled, he is very hard to handle. When he sets his mind to a task he likes to see it through to its conclusion. Unfortunately, he is always ready to adopt a new challenge and so often has multiple irons in the fire at any one time. He’s recently realised he has a passion for ships and is enchanted by the land ship.

Tempest is looking for his father - he wants to exact retribution for his mother’s death. He has only recently discovered his father’s name and so searches for clues as to his whereabouts. Something nags at him and he is worried that the name he has learnt is a pet name or nickname and not his father’s real name. He has a strong feeling though that his father is alive somewhere.

He is also looking for the spell caster that killed his friend Aram.

The pale Hadozee collects spell components and loves to play with trinkets. He likes to meet new people and appreciates a good fruit and vegetable meal.

Background: Tempest crept quietly down one of the tunnels that wound through the base of the Slab Easy to see why they call these things the Riddle he thought bitterly as he stopped once again to try and get his bearings.

He’d learnt only hours ago that the Witch Herrenassa could, apparently, see into the past. That she could join with a client and take them back to see, with their own eyes, what had transpired in a previous time. It was said that she could even help a client revisit a past life. It was also said that she was the get of a Time Elemental. Tempest didn’t want to go that far back though, he only wanted to see his mother alive, he only wanted to see how she had died, and, more importantly, who his father was.

Of course, as Azeth’s luck would have it, the Witch was found deep within the Riddle. A dark dangerous district that wound through the bowels of the Slab. The tunnels of the Riddle harboured lunatics, cut–throats, thieves, and diabolists, and they were the more upstanding citizens of the district. The Riddle was a place that only the deranged, desperate, destitute, diseased or disposed of ventured to. It was a place of nightmares. And, a place that Tempest knew he could find an answer.

This knowledge, that an answer was but moments away, was the only thing that drove the pale Hadozee on. The knowledge, that, with luck, he would finally have an answer; an answer to one of the many mysteries that plagued his past.

Suddenly, the floor began to rock in great bounding heaves and Tempest had to grab at one of the many railings bolted at various heights along the wall to keep his feet. Damn turbulence he thought bitterly as his stomach heaved and bile rose in his throat Why’d they choose to build this place here? he thought, his anger rising ”On top of a huge bloody slab of rock dancing in the heat wave of the biggest friggin flame geyser known to exist in the Endless Falls. Are you people freakin’ crazy?” he hollered letting his anger get the better of him, his voice bouncing off the tunnel walls and echoing down the corridor.

He had been in The Slab now for two days, forty-eight hours of sleepless, street pounding, arse-kissing fun he thought venomously as he trudged warily through the shadows cast by the flickering flames that could be seen through the regular rents placed strategically in the outer walls two desperate days of trying to find out something of my past.

He had been confident he would find an answer here. After all, the Slab was one of the great trading cities. One of the key economic powerhouses of the world, a place where, not only were commodities used for trade but so to were the lives of the world’s people bought and sold and, more importantly for Tempest, so was information readily available. A place that, unfortunately for Tempest’s stomach at the moment, balanced precariously on the heat waves generated by the phoenix of the Bloodgeyser, a great pillar of flame that roared upwards hundreds of feet into the air, providing the energy that kept the cities foundries powered.

Hours after the heatquake, and after more than one almost deadly encounter with some of the nasty denizen’s of the Riddle, Tempest finally stumbled, bedraggled and sore, to the cave mouth that led to the lair of Herrenassa. It was there that Tempest learnt of his origins, learnt how he came to be what he was. It was in that dark, dank cave that the Witch Herrenassa unravelled his past. It was in that lightless, rank pit that the Witch held his hands in her vice-like grip and uttered those mystic, dark words of power. Those words that gripped Tempest's soul and drew it into the witch’s body. It was there where he saw…

- Time slipped backwards -

An attractive Hadozee with caramel fur, splashed with bands of black, soared gracefully on the air currents that danced gleefully between the masts of the carefully manicured airship. The golden sails that drove the vessel forward flapped fiercely in the buffeting winds. Their surface glistening with small beads of ice that had encrusted them because of the frigid, arctic winds. The name emblazoned on her side proclaimed her to be the WinterQueen.

His mother, for surely that was who she was, cavorted on the breezes that played so mischievously about the sails and masts. She danced with such gay abandon, such joy and exuberance, that tears spilled from the eyes of the empty shell that was his body, frozen in time back in the Witch’s lair.

-A quick jump forward -

The she-Hadozee again danced between the masts but this time more seductively, this time she coupled with an invisible partner, this time she was joined by a mate.

Over what seemed like hours Tempest watched the relationship between his mother and her mysterious lover develop. It was obvious that his mother had fallen in love, and, what became more obvious as the scenes played before him, had also fallen pregnant. Fallen pregnant to a capricious air elemental that must be his father, a spirit that, it proved, would led to the death of his mother.

The female Hadozee was hopelessly in love and would do anything that the evil spirit demanded of her. She was blind to its influence, lusted only for it, and drew breath only to live for it - but it felt nothing for her. She was but a pleasant diversion, something to be used and tossed away. And when she eventually was abandoned, she descended into madness. She threw herself, and the babe that was suckling at her teats, over the edge of the ship, plummeting them both hundreds of feet to their doom.

But somehow Tempest had survived, whether it was due to his fathers influence, his mothers last minute effort or just plain luck he had survived. He had fallen to earth, to a heavily secluded area in Winterdeep. Winterdeep with its deep, dark, secluded valleys, that were cut leagues wide and hundreds of miles deep into the earth. The deep valleys that were liberally covered with massive trees. Trees that were hundreds of feet round, that stretched joyously skyward, their limbs buzzing with a magical desire to reach the blazing warmth of the sun. The limbs that bore villages and hamlets and communities of various types. The limbs that were used as the byways of Winterdeep, for it was too dangerous to tread the floor of the valleys - that way led to only cetain death. The limbs where Tempest had found a home.

He was raised by the Hive, a swarm of Silthilar (LoM 168) that made their home deep in the mystical heart of Winterdeep. These ancient, intelligent beings nurtured Tempest as well as they could. It was them that taught him how to attack the very ability of a spell caster to cast, the essence of what drove their spells. They taught him how to use that power back against the caster. It was them that taught him his true nature, awoke the powers that were the only gift he valued from his father.

But as he grew older he realised that he didn't fit. Sure, he could speak with the awakened plants and animals that had agreed to allow the Silthilar to experiment, or become enhanced as he saw it. But they all had alien minds, the Silhilar were ancient beyond reckoning and had transcened the flesh and consequently the ability to cater to what was required of it. The animals and plants, awakened though they were, were still driven by their base, animalistic natures, their inate desires. And so, with a heavy heart Tempest tamed an Earthsky chariot* and, driving the elemental almost to death, managed to make it to the Saddle.

* Earthsky chariots – floating clumps of elemental earth that can be used to ride the thermals of the forest. They have a dim intelligence, and are impossible to domesticate for they die within a week of being captured, they also die if they are away from the magic of Winterdeep for more than a handful of days (depending on the Con of the Earthsky Chariot). No one knows the true name of the species and no one has ever communicated with one, although they are known to speak their own crude language.

----------

Tempest was simply reporting to Taala on a shipment of pure element when he somehow lost the ship's manifest. One minute it was there, tucked under his arm, and the next just gone. He searched for as long as he could but to no avail. He backtracked a little way, walking back past the panting hound that lolled against the wall, but still couldn't find the record of the ship's cargo. Fronting up to Prince Taala's court Tempest was reprimanded and ordered to travel to Bluegorge and join the impending fight against the Narfellanax hordes as punishment. During the fight he was instrumental in saving the ..... and for his brave deeds won himself a commission on the merchant ship Earthhawk, captained by Helix Turnbukle, who was in the employ of a mysterious elemental that Tempest knew only as the lady of inevitability.

----------

One of the first people Tempest grew really close to after leaving the Hive was Aram, a roguish tiefling of questionable scruples. An outsider may have wondered whether Aram was truly a friend of Tempest or if he was really just a con artist taking a young, impressionable, newly arrived teen for a ride. But Tempest could see no wrong in him. Tempest came to worship the ground he walked on, putting up with the bullying and teasing (which grew worse the longer Tempest stayed with Aram) as a younger brother might accept his elder siblings teasings, in an effort to be accepted, loved and respected. Tempest was with Aram when he died, when he was ravaged by the demon wizard's spell. The only thing that remained of Aram was his chain shirt. A chain shirt that Tempest scooped up, tucked under his arm and, with tears flowing from his eyes, fled with. With a curse and a promise of vengeance spat over his shoulder at the evil spell caster Tempest swore to himself that he would find out more about this demon. He later learnt that the spellcaster that had killed Aram was named Garguel, Lord of Perversion and Depravity, Tempest doesn't know much else about him though.

----------

Tempest served aboard the elemental sailing ship Stormdancer for a while where he befriended a darfalen named Fee’utikoo. Unfortunately, he was forced off the Stormdancer when he was setup and falsely arrested while the ship was trading in Bluebottom.

----------

The Saddle is the closest trading port to the Cliffs of Vilanuue. The saddle has a reasonably large roost of raptoran's who are preparing to journey into the world at large. It is used as a nursery where wordly raptoran elders teach the younglings what to expect, and is also were the raptorans trade from. The Saddle is a port that is suspended between two huge mountains. Tempest met and befriended a raptoran in the Saddle named only Shriek. He stayed in Saddle for almost half a year, hanging around the docks and watching the elemental ships dock and load and unload their exotic cargoes. Having no money, and nowhere to stay, Tempest moved in with Shriek for awhile. He also attended some of the raptoran classes with Shriek. He got a job as a labourer on Flannigan's Dock and spent every moment he could questioning the sailors and merchants learning what he could of the elemental ships. After about 6 months of living at the Saddle, six of the best months of his life where he had many an eye openinig experience with Shriek, he managed to secure a berth on the elemental Sailing Ship Stormdancer.

----------

Met, and became good friends with a bastardental named Alierin, Who Has Kissed the Storm, when sailing with the Harssaf (MM3/82) Pirate Lord Ember Surefire aboard the Blazinghawk. One day though she disappeared, and so did the Captain's prized spy glass. Surefire pursued the woman for all he was worth, his red hot anger driving him, and his crew, on. Tempest didn't have the heart for the chase and grew tired of the Captain's demanding ways. He abandoned ship a month after Alierin had departed, never to see her, or the Captain again. Although he is sure that the Captain took his own departure equally as sourly as he did that of Alierin, for when Tempest fled he had the pirate Captain's faourite cloak tucked under his arm.

----------
What Tempest thinks of the others

Trebuchet - Strange fellow this one. Tempest gets no end of pleasure from referring to him as 'Bucket'. Got a sense of humour too, and can crack the funniest, most inappropriate jokes at the most inopportune time - a trait that Tempest loves. He also likes the fact that the ironman doesn't eat food and that he normally passes his share of fruit and vegetables the Hadozee's way.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor - Tempest has known 'Angel' the longest of his current companions. During the couple of years they have journeyed together Tempest has learnt to trust the Illumian implicitly. He also knows what haunts the man for they share a common enemy and this sharing has bonded them close, almost like brothers. Tempest loves to play 'sky-chasies' with Angel and is constantly challenging the Ilumian to see who can do the most daring aerial manouevers.

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen - Tempest loves hanging out with 'Puzzle', one of his favourite sayings is "everything looks brighter when you've got the hound for a companion - there's always someone nearby who feels they're in a worse situation than you". He prefers doing jobs that require stealth and tact with Puzzle being present, if there is any chance that something will go wrong for the mark then it ususally will when Puzzle is on the case (in fact Tempest had a sneaking suspicion that, as a lark, Puzzle might have been responsible for the time he spent in Bluegorge, he vaguely recalled a dog lounging about near where he lost the documents).

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy - 'Niss' was a bit of an enigma to Tempest. He liked her, there was something in her elemental nature that called to him, but she frustrated him. Her insistence on helping those less fortunate then herself meant that several of his plans had been folied and that he had lost a small fortune in '(guilty)donations'. But, he couldn't stay angry with her, he was sure she didn't do it deliberately, didn't do it to punish him, her motivations were too simple for that and he didn't think she had a mean bone in her body. He was also wary around her, he knew about her relationship with Ananke and had recently worked out that he had worked on a ship that she had sponsored. He was afraid of how Niss would react once he told her of the connection.

Oobobooboo - If Trebuchet is weird then this dude is out of this world. Tempest couldn't believe that he was travelling, sharing a camp fire and eating with a spineless, gutless jelly. The bumbling jelly man was funny to watch though, and Tempest enjoyed the way he tried to imitate others. Oobobooboo had surprised Tempest one day by stretching his gelatinous body so that he sported wings not unlike Tempest's. Tempest liked being surprised and enjoyed the jelly's unpredictability. He was also pretty sure that 'BooBoo', as he liked to call him, would prove very useful in helping with a little job he had in mind.

[sblock=Campaign Notes]In Taala’s court, you know only a few of the Powers that Be, mostly from the times you were shipping pure elements. Earthmaster Geb, a half earth elemental gulgar, was a fair and honest man in a court full of truthful intrigue. Airmaster Shess, a pure air elemental, was the one that gifted you with your gift of personal winds. Apparently she was something of an admirer.

Of course, you also know of a few other captains. There’s Tash Kess, ghost elf hexmaster captain of the Damned Curse of the North, a ship and crew you mused were thematically suited to Lupaz, though the hound likely didn’t know about it. Tash was one of Taala’s more brutal employees, head of his more aggressive fleet of ships. Tash was allowed a certain amount of excesses in exchange for keeping the northern border safe.

The Crazed Compass was captained by an odd gnome by the name of Grosek Ironarm. The man literally did have an arm made of iron, and two legs too. Half his body had been pruned away and replaced with magic-enhanced clockwork, the result of a horrific experiment by a mad runic guardian. While the transformation doesn’t seem to have affected his skills as a captain, Grosek’s judgment is sometimes a little faulty. He can go into psychotic rages when fighting golems and other constructs, and has been known to literally rip apart enemy ships with his bare hands. While somewhat mad, Grosek owes his life to Taala, as the omnielemental was the one that freed him from further experimentation.

And the Sand Skipper is captained by a dust genasi named Dross, a lean and hungry woman with astounding powers of the mind. Her ship is hardened against fire, and she often sails the currents of sand, fire, and waste in the Sea of Fire and Ice. She often returns with ancient treasures and a hold full of minerals, and has a reputation for being able to sniff out gold from miles away. [/sblock]
Notes - To be continued...

Detail why he no longer travels with his mentor - what happened to him? Saw him sail into something and hasn't seen him since. Why was he not on the ship??

Detail relationships with current companions and how they have developed. Detail how they all came to be aboard the earth ship and what Tempest's motives for being aboard are.

Describe previous service to Prince Taala. Connections and hooks to be used include:

Taala oversaw the Kingdom of Knowledge, a small but powerful country no more than a few hundred square miles. It contains the massive Iceangel Lake and the twin mountains Ironguard and Stonemaw.

The great elemental weirds, keepers of knowledge and oracles without peer, reside in unusually high numbers in the kingdom, and Taala controls access to all of them. Those seeking their counsel pay homage and tribute to Taala or fumble through on their own wits.

Sources

FrB = FrostBurn
MoP = Manual of the Planes
Sw = Stormwrack
CAdv = Complete Adventurer
FrB = Frostburn
RoW = Races of the Wild
ToM - Tome of Madness
CArc = Complete Arcane
MaoF = Magic of Faerun

Oobobooboo
Neuter Sentient Acid Ooze [Custom ECL 8 Template]
Small Ooze
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Height: 3' 6''
Weight: 42lbs
Hair: (none)
Eyes: (none)
Age: 2 (conscious for 6 weeks, base ooze was 5 months old, base elf was 185 years)

Str: 22 (+6) [10 points, +2 racial, +2 Enhancement +2 Levels]
Dex: 20 (+5) [10 points, +4 racial]
Con: 20 (+5) [10 points, +4 racial]
Int: 6 (-2) [2 points, -4 racial]
Wis: 6 (-2) [0 points, -2 racial]
Cha: 6 (-2) [0 points, -2 racial]

Class and Racial Abilities:
Acid (Ex) acid secreted by an sentient acid ooze does not effect metal or stone
Improved Grab (Ex) To use this ability, an ooze man must hit with its slam attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold but cannot constrict or pin
Vexing Grapple (Ex) Ignores relative size differences when making grapple checks but cannot pin. In addition, when maintaining a grapple an ooze man can attack with a single one-handed weapon in addition to dealing acid damage
Attacks that hit a grappling sentient acid ooze deal half their damage to the ooze and half to their grappled opponent
Liquid Body (Ex) Sentient acid oozes can fit through any opening a viscous liquid could pour through
Blindsight(ex) 60'
Blind, immune to gaze attacks
Immunity to illusions, decapitation, poison, sleep effects, paralysis, polymorph, and stunning
Considered and ooze rather than a humanoid for the purposes of charm person, hold person etc.
+2 save versus other mind-effecting spells and effects
75% chance of normal damage when hit with a critical
Not subject to flanking
Sentient acid oozes eat and breathe, but do not sleep
Sentient acid oozes may use the body, neck, wrist and 2 ring slots but cannot effectively use items that use the feet, chest, face, head or hand slots
Note - Due to close proximity all of its life Oobobooboo is proficient with its chain blade and chaos (Tylonian) armor, but it would have difficulties adapting to a different chain blade (much less a regular bastard sword) or regular heavy armor

Hit Dice: 6d10+30
HP: 75
AC: 26 (+10 armor, +5 Dex +1 Size) [+1 AC per size catagory difference]
ACP: -3
Init: +5 (+5 Dex)
Speed: 20ft [30ft without armor]

Saves:
Fortitude +10 [+2 base, +5 Con +3 Resistance]
Reflex +10 [+2 base, +5 Dex +3 Resistance]
Will +3 [+2 base, -2 Wis +3 Resistance]

BAB: +4
Melee Atk: +11 (1d4+5+4d8 acid) or (3d6+5) [+1 to hit per size catagory difference]
Ranged Atk: none
Grapple +15 (d2+d4+5+4d8 acid)

Skills:
Climb +4 [1 ranks +6 Str -3 Armor]
Stealth +20 [8 ranks +5 Dex -3 Armor +10 Competence]
Swim +5 [2 ranks +6 Str -3 Armor]

Feats:
Flaw: No Time for Book Learning (Dragon #324 http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?No_Time_For_Book_Learning,all)
Flaw: Short Attention Span (Dragon #328 http://realmshelps.dandello.net/cgi-bin/feats.pl?Short_Attention_Span,all)
Compensate for Size (Arcana Evolved 132)
Speed Burst (Arcana Evolved 145)
Extended Reach (SavSp 34)
Monstrous Grapple (custom - improved grapple with prereq of improved grab)
Unengaged Grapple (custom – both you and your opponent receive their Dex bonus during a grapple you initiate)

Languages: Common (broken)



Equipment:
Gagme, Chain Blade [Chaositech p22] 5,200gp. The basket hilt, rendered as mutated mollusk, on this black and leaden weapon has twisted over the years to the point that humanoid hands cannot fit within. The Guild of Shrieking Stars might have retained the malignant chaositech device regardless, had it not been for a Master of the Temple claiming that it had activated of its own accord to explain the gruesome death of an initiate. The weapon sounds like a gas-powered chainsaw when engaged.
Gnomish Chaos Armor +1, Heavy Tylonian Armor with +1 'to hit only' Spikes [Arcana Evolved p74] 13,050gp. This appears to be maximillian full plate in a deeply stylized wickedly spiked gothic motif. The finish of the armor resembles a liquid mirror. It was discarded by the Guild of Shrieking Stars becauce some of the spikes are ingrowing and regrow if trimmed.
Little Doll Bracelet, Armband of Reduction [Arm&Equip p129] 2,000gp. The finish one this fine sized bracelet looks like plastic. The bracelet wasn't intended to be thrown out, although its own magic did make it smaller than intended. Its previous owner, Initiate Tekkaken lost it in a labcoat pocket that was later thrown out after being splashed with radioactive demon ichor.
Puissant Band +2 [equivalent to Gauntlets of Ogre Power, uncustomary slot] 6,000gp. This plain titanium band was flushed violently through the disposal gate along with its owner, a hapless bodyguard, moments after the guard was infected with a zombie virus an adept was experimenting with.
Special Gift: Ooze Elemental Amulet +10 hide. 1 hr/day of 50% miss chance divided in any increment.
Money
70pp

~~~~~

Description: Oobobooboo is a small bright pink ooze that typically takes a roughly humanoid form, a fat teardrop with arm and leg pseudopods. A number of metallic objects can dimly be seen floating within its mass, most notable is a gnome-sized suit of jagged-looking armor, sans boots, vambraces, and gauntletes. Occasionally Oobobooboo withdraws most of its body within the suit, like a hermit crab, leaving only blob-like hands feet and face to betray its nature. The armor, when revealed, is unearthly, intricately designed but everchanging and adorned with razor sharp spikes all with a liquid mirror finish.

The ooze-man's scent is sharply acrid. And while it can produce a sound recognizable as spoken language, its 'voice' is reminiscent of a continuous burp. Its gestures are lithe, almost hypnotic, but alien.

Personality: Having only recently having achieved sentience, everything is new to Oobobooboo. It takes childlike pleasure in any number of commonplace things, dashing about in innocent enthusiasm. In the short time since it arrived in the Kingdom of Knowledge it has gotten a reputation as a troublemaker. And while not malicious, those that try to reign in its
boisterous behavior find that it doesn't quite seem to grasp the concept of rules in general.

Background: Beneath the smog-choked skies of Technochitlan, a sprawling urban realm on a prime material plane 'next door' to that of Endless Falls, Oobobooboo was formed in a horrifying experiment. Xenovus, 4th circle adept of the Guild of Shrieking Stars was seeking to fuse a humanoid test subject with a living spell. The result, however, was disappointing. The spell, in this case a Mestyl’s Acid Breath, appeared to simply dissolve the fire elf it was supposed to merge with. Afterward the ooze collapsed backing into a pool and quivered. Disgusted Xenovus pulled the lever to have the creature dumped through the disposal gate, a mystical designed to get rid of dangerous experiments extra-dimensionally. Building the gate had required a tremendous amount of the guild’s resources, but had already paid for itself in terms of equipment and personnel not destroyed by improper disposal of potential dangers.

The quivering ooze landed in a grotto deep beneath the Kingdom of Knowledge, amidst the detritus of previous guild failures. One such, was a chaositech chainsword with a hilt that couldn’t be made to fit human hands. For years the ooze bathed in the mutative glow of the malevolent weapon mindlessly eating slime and fungus. In time the energies given off by the weapon awoke a latent sentience in the creature.

As the awakened ooze slowly gathered its faculties, the gate once again opened and an amalgamation of mouths claws and scales fell through. Immediately the thing attacked. The ooze sought shelter amidst the pile of equipment, occasionally lashing out with pseudopods. But the maddened newcomer seemed immune to the ooze’s acidic flesh. Just before it was about to be dug out of the relative safety of the junk pile, it latch onto the chainsword that had ushered in its awakening, and in a stroke of luck, activated the relic at the same time. A few slashes with the dangerous weapon drove the many-mouthed beast off. Not wanting a repeat of the episode, the ooze slithered off in search of a new home, dragging with it both the strange weapon and a makeshift ‘shell’, a suit of gnomish armor.

A strange and wonderful world awaited the ooze on the surface. Beings of all description rushed to and fro, most making complex vibrations that it could feel all along the surface of its body. Curious, it tried to imitate those it saw, following them while shaping itself into a crude copy of their forms. Many tried to avoid the inquisitive stranger, and more simply outpaced it. But a few stopped to make vibrations at it, which it tried to replicate by capturing air bubbles and pushing them back out to its surface. Apparently, early attempts sounded like “oobobooboo”. And the name stuck.

Oobobooboo soon became a figure of some amusement throughout the city, saying “Boo” from outhouse pits just as people when squatting down or driving shopkeepers to distraction by sliming their wares and then repeating everything they said. Within several weeks Oobobooboo became something of a jester to Taala’s court. While some, including Taala found his antics comical, others were merely annoyed. In particular, Taala’s earth elemental wife Gurunda vibrated violently whenever the sentient ooze came near, a behavior which only encouraged it to seek her out for play. Yet, when the omnimental king announced that the island ship was to be given to mortals and everyone started vibrating like crazy, Oobobooboo chose to stay with those Taala had gifted with the unique vessel, for among them were some of the first to befriend the strange talking ooze.

Trebuchet
Neuter Warforged Warmage 8 (Race ECS, Class CompArc)
Medium Living Construct
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Height: 6'
Weight: 250lbs
Hair: None
Eyes: Glowing Red
Age: 7

Str: 10 (+0) [2 points]
Dex: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Con: 14 (+2) [4 points, +2 racial]
Int: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Wis: 10 (+0) [4 points, -2 racial]
Cha: 18 (+4) [10 points, -2 racial, +2 levelups, +2 item]

Class and Racial Abilities: Construct type, living subtype, immune to poison, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, effects that cause the sickened condition, and energy drain. Cannot heal damage naturally. Healing spells/abilities only heal half damage. Stasis at 0 through -10 HP. Does not eat, sleep, or breathe. Composite plating: +2 armor bonus, as light armor. Light Fortification, 25% chance to avoid critical hits/sneak attacks. Natural weapon, one slam attack for 1d4+Str.

Armored Mage (medium), Warmage Edge (+5), Advanced Learning (3rd, 6th), Sudden Empower

Hit Dice: 8d6+16
HP: 57/57
AC: 21 (+5 armor, +2 Dex, +2 Deflection, +2 shield)
ACP: -2
Init: +2 (+2 Dex)
Speed: 30ft

Saves:
Fortitude +6 [+2 base, +2 Con, +2 resistance]
Reflex +6 [+2 base, +2 Dex, +2 resistance]
Will +8 [+6 base, +0 Wis, +2 resistance]

BAB: +4
Melee Atk: +4 (1d4-1/20/x2/slam)
Ranged Atk: +6 (spells)

Skills: 44
Concentration +13 [11 ranks + 2 Con]
Craft (Blacksmithing) +10 [8 ranks + 2 Int]
Intimidate +9 [7 ranks + 2 Cha]
Knowledge: Arcana +7 [5 ranks + 2 Int]
Knowledge: History +7 [5 ranks + 2 Int]
Spellcraft +12 [8 ranks + 2 Int + 2 synergy]

Feats:
Mithril Body (1st level) [Eberron Campaign Setting]
Eschew Materials (3rd level) [PHB]
Extra Edge (6th level) [CompArc]

Languages: Common, Draconic, Elvish

Spells Per Day (Base DC: 14)
0 - 6/6, 1 - 7/7, 2 - 7/7, 3 - 6/6, 4 - 4/4

Spells Known
0 - Acid Splash, Disrupt Undead, Ray of Frost, Light
1 - Accuracy, Burning Hands, Chill Touch, Fist of Stone, Hail of Stone, Magic Missile, Floating Disc (Adv Learn), Lesser Orb of Acid, Lesser Orb of Electricity, Lesser Orb of Fire, Lesser Orb of Cold, Lesser Orb of Sound, Shocking Grasp, True Strike
2 - Blades of Fire, Continual Flame, Fire Trap, Fireburst, Flaming Sphere, Ice Knife, Acid Arrow, Pyrotechnics, Scorching Ray, Shatter, Whirling Blade, Repair Mod Damage (Ecl Learning).
3 - Fire Shield, Fireball, Flame Arrow, Gust of Wind, Ice Storm, Lightning Bolt, Poison, Ring of Blades, Sleet Storm, Stinking Cloud.
4 - Blast of Flame, Contagion, Black Tentacles, Orb of Acid, Orb of Cold, Orb of Electricity, Orb of Fire, Orb of Force, Phantasmal Killer, Shout, Wall of Fire

Equipment:
Minor Seal of Gethry (Buckler +1), 1165
A round metal disc with straps on the inner surface specifically designed to be used in conjunction with the special shield mounts on a warforged's arm, though with a few minutes work it can be reset to work normally. On the facing side is the heraldric crest of the nation of Gethry - a gryphon's head in profile, with a serpent dangling from its beak and the Great Tree outlined behind it. The shield is a badge of honor granted to worthy troops upon mustering out, in recognition of exemplary service in the Gethry armed forces.

Shawl of the Ogre King, Cloak of Charisma +2, 4000
Shortly after leaving Nastung, Trebuchet was working as a blacksmith in a town called Hadij. The town became beset by increasingly numerous and organized raids from ogres dwelling farther up the foothills. Trebuchet and a band of adventurers who had stumbled onto the situation all tracked the ogres back to their den, and there dispatched a powerful and dangerous creature...an ogre mage. Styling itself 'the king of all ogres,' it was using the normally reclusive ogre tribe to collect booty and expand his power base. Upon vanquishing the monster, Trebuchet took its cloak, in lieu of another reward. The shawl...more of a cape on a normally-sized person...is a deep burgundy shade with gold thread trim, and seems to 'pose' itself dramatically to suit the wearer's mood and words, regardless of any prevailing winds.

Gultug's Safety Harness, Vest of Resistance +2, 4000
Liberated from the huge, burly, foreman of the ogres during Trey's campaign against The Ogre King near Hadij. The vest is thick, durable leather that looks inexpertly tanned and crudely made. Not only is the vest itself hard to damage, but it strengthens the mind and body of its wearer as well.

Kethry's Blessed Ring, Ring of Protection +2, 8000
The barony of Ethena, on the outskirts of Gethry, had fallen on hard times and as he passed through, Trebuchet was asked to see the baroness of the land. She asked him to seek out a witch that had cursed the land, and bring back her ring as proof she was dead. He discovered the witch, but because he stayed his hand for a moment, she had a chance to explain that SHE was the baroness, transformed and exiled by the REAL witch who had taken her place in the castle! The blight on the land was because the throne had been usurped, not from any 'curse.' The baroness gave her ring to Trebuchet, who took it back to the witch in the castle. As she exulted, Trebuchet took her by surprise...even more so when the baroness herself appeared and attacked! Finally things were set to right again, and Trebuchet was allowed to keep the baroness' ring as a token of thanks. It consists of three thin bands all twined together; one platinum in the center, and two gold.

Band of the Falling Leaf, Ring of Feather Fall, 2200
When dwelling for a time in the arboreal city of Nastung, nestled in the leaves and branches of Great Gara Forest, Trebuchet found that his bulk and size made some of the crossways bit tricky to pass. After a near-fall that might have been deadly, he saved his funds to purchase this enchanted ring from the local magister. It is a simple-appearing band of gold, inlaid with silver filigree in the shape of interlocking vines and leaves.

Skywalkers, Boots of Levitation, 7500
A thief was raiding Nastung's most prominent merchants by night, and no one seemed able to much as to catch a glimpse of him, let alone stop him. Trebuchet was hired by the local merchant's guild to help guard. With help from his magical abilities, he discovered the thief coming in from above, using enchanted boots and ropes to manuever skillfully and silently over everyone's heads. Unfortunately, his magical assault proved too powerful, and the thief was killed. Worse yet, the thief was none other than the son of a prominent Councilman, who immediately demanded Trey's arrest. Trebuchet was finally released, but exiled from Nastung as well. As he left the great city forever, the father of the man he'd killed threw the magic boots at him...a gesture of grief and anger. Trebuchet took them with him, seeing them as a reminder of the consequences of his actions. The boots are short in length, finely crafted leather, with sturdy soles. They're also dyed bright blue, and have a white 'stormcloud' emblem on either side. When activated, small white clouds form under the soles and bear the user aloft.

Watcher, custom docent, special origin
The earth scholars of Taala's court managed to find a curious thing, a gem-studded sphere, that was found in ruins of the same age as him. They brought it back to court and were delighted to find that it fit in a plate on his chest. It's a docent that calls itself Watcher. It's a small mithril sphere with small blue gems arranged around its center like eyes. It claims its job is to keep you from harmful magic, by alerting you to its presence. Int 16, Wis 15, Cha 14. Speaks Common, Terran, Aquan, Auran, and Ignan. Spot +2, Search +3, Listen +12. It can detect magic and detect scrying at will.

Mundane Items
Backpack, 2gp, 2lbs
Caltrops, 1gp, 2lbs
50' silk rope, 10gp, 5lbs
Grappling hook, 1gp, 4lbs

Money
120gp, 9sp, 10cp

~~~~~

Appearance: Trebuchet is a stocky, tall warforged with broad build that makes him look stronger than he actually is. His mithril plated hide is pocked with odd hinges and closed flaps of unknown purpose. His head has a bit more of a skeletal cast to it than most warforged, with a prominant cheekbone, but sunken cheeks, and the suggestion of teeth along where his lower jaw fits against his upper. His eyes glow red, deep in the sockets. The same dull red has been inlayed and painted along his highlights as well.

Personality: Belying his intimidating appearance, Trebuchet ("Trey" to his companions), is actually very good natured. What makes it a bit unsettling is that his cheerfulness surfaces even in situations where it doesn't seem appropriate. While Trey seems, by his statements and attitudes, to be a bit bloodthirsty, this is not actually the case. Trey wishes for nothing more than to be useful, and to fulfill a purpose. His unique construction and training have made him into a living arcane weapon, and Trey interprets his 'purpose' as being destruction as a result. Thus, he takes great pride and joy in the destruction that he wreaks, which can easily be mistaken for darker emotions by those who do not understand his rather simple psyche. Trebuchet is conditioned to obey orders of those he recognizes as being higher 'rank' than he is...which includes most of the adventuring party he travels with.

Background: Trebuchet was discovered half-buried in a stone wall, deep underground in the ruins of some ancient fortification. At the time he was assumed long inactive, and treated as just another artifact from the dig. One of the handlers however decided to try to repair some of the damage to his body...and was shocked when the ancient war machine awakened from its damage-induced stasis! Centuries of disuse and neglect appeared to have wiped most of his memory clean. Fortuantely, this also engaged the 'learning mode' wherein the warforged can pick up new information quickly. In mere months he was fluent in Common, and weeks after that, he had learned basic skills in weapons and other areas. Although largely ignorant of his past and abilities, the newly named Trebuchet did understand magic on an almost instinctive level, and with some practice became able to unlock the magical devices and runes graven into his own body to produce devastating displays of destructive power. All of this was viewed with some delight by the generals of Gethry, who saw great potential in the machine man, or 'warforged' as he came to be known (a term he translated himself from his broken memories) as an instrument of battle in Gethry's ongoing conflict with the savage halflings and men of the Westlands who took issue with Gethry's expansion into their territory.

He was assigned to a squad of human warriors to act as a sort of heavy "siege unit" and magical assault battery. It was over his association with these battle-hardened (and not entirely stable in some cases) veterans that Trey developed the seeds of what would flower into his current personality. Unfortunately (from his perspective) the war ended not long after Trey had been introduced to the battlefield.

Social and political pressures following the war resulted in the warforged being granted full citizen status, and he was released from his compulsory military service. Trebuchet had trouble adapting though. In both magical and mundane skills, he was proficient only in combat. While he managed to hammer out a living using his self-repair skills to work metal craft items, he found it a profoundly dull existence, using only a fraction of his potential talents. But when the village he was working in was attacked by an ambitious tribe of ogres, led by an ambitious ogre mage, everything changed for Trebuchet.

During the campaign to fend off the giant army, Trey met a group of 'adventurers,' who it seemed made a lifestyle of going around, doing stupendously dangerous things, and collecting the spoils therof. They had come this time to help defend the village. Trey lent his considerable talents to the fray as well...and when the battles were finally over and the village picking up the pieces that were left...Trebuchet joined the adventurers, and made their agenda his own.

In time he and his newfound friends joined the court of an Omnimental ruler in the fabled Kingdom of Knowledge. After serving as a royal guard, offering his services in several battles, and cooperating with the inquisitive researchers of ancient lore, Trey became one of a group that was rewarded with the grant of an incredible elemental vessel...one that earned them the ire of vastly powerful beings, and put an end to the reign of an elemental king...

Ekilu ka Wooli (Ekilu the White)
Darfellan (SW) Spirit Shamen (CD) 6/Storm Lord (CD) 2

Alignment: LG (With CG tendancies)
Age: 21
Gender: Male
Height: 5'0"
Weight: 176
Eyes: Blue
Hair: None
Skin: All White

STR: 18 [+4] (6 points +2 Racial +2 Item)
DEX: 10 [--] (4 points -2 Racial)
CON: 12 [+1] (4 points)
INT: 12 [+1] (4 points)
WIS: 18 [+4] (10 points +2 level)
CHA: 12 [+1] (4 points) (See Spell Effects)

Hit Point: 58
Hit Dice: 8d8 + 8
Armor Class: 23 (10 base + 5 Armor + 5 Shield + 2 Natural + 1 Deflection), 11 Touch, 23 Flat Footed
Initiative: +0
BAB: +5
- Melee: +9
- Ranged: +5

Speed: 20’ (Swim 40'(50'))

FORT: +12 (8 Base + 1 Con + 2 Feat + 1 item)
REFL: +3 (2 Base + 0 Dex + 1 item)
WILL: +13 (8 Base + 4 Wis + 1 item)

Abilities:
Racial
- +8 Swim, may take 10, 40' Swim speed, can run while swimming
- Hold Breath: Can hold breath Con * 8 rounds (96 Minutes)
- Bite: 1d6 + 1 1/2 Str as Primary
- Echolocation: Blindsense 20' underwater
- Racial Hatred: +2 to hit and damage Sahuagin
Spirit Shamen
- Spirit Guide: Ookatooli - Storm Spirit - Power, Conflict, Vengance
-- Alertness
-- Folow the Guide: May make second will save vs enchantment spells 1 round later
- Wild Empathy +7 (6 level +1 Charisma)
- Chastise Spirits: 6d6 vs Spirits within 30', DC 17 Will, 4/day
- Detect Spirits: As Detect Undead but for spirits
- Blessing of the Spirits: Protection from Spirits (As Pro Evil) till dispelled, takes 10 min to activate.
- Ghost Warrior: All weapons gain Ghost Touch ability, and uses normal AC vs incorperal attack
Stormlord
- Enhanced Javelins: Thrown Javelins considered +1 magic weapons
- Electricity Reistance: 5
- Shock Weapon: Spears or Javelins considered a shock weapon (+1d6 electrical), for up to 1 round after leaving hand
Spells
- Scales of the SealordLasts 8 hours per casting, +2 Natural Armor, +10' Swim Speed, -2 Cha vs non-aquatic)

Feats:
1st Level
- Endurance
3rd Level
- Great Fortitude
6th Level
- Weapon Focus: Spear

Skills:
Concentration +6 (5 ranks + 1 Con)
Heal +9 (5 ranks + 4 Wis)
KN: Geography +6 (5 ranks + 1 Int)
KN: History +3 (2 ranks + 1 Int)
KN: Nature +8 (7 ranks + 1 Int)
Language (1 CC rank)
Listen +9 (3 ranks + 4 Wis + 2 Feat)
Prof: Sailor +9 (5 ranks + 4 Wis)
Spellcraft +3 (2 ranks + 1 Int)
Spot +9 (3 ranks + 4 Wis +2 Feat)
Survival +11(13(15)) (7 ranks + 4 Wis + (2(4)) Synergy)
Swim +17 (5 ranks +8 Racial + 4 Str)

Languages:
- Darfellan
- Common
- Aquan

Spellcasting:
Caster Level: 8 (Druid Spell List)
Save DC: 10 + 1 CHA + Level
Spells Known or Available:
Oth level – 3 Detect Magic, Light, Resistance(6/day)
1st level – 3 Speak with Animal, Lessor Vigor (CD 186), Hawkeye (CD 166) (7/day)
2nd level – 2 Cloudburst (CD 158), Bear's Endurance(7/day)
3rd level – 2 Scales of the Sealord (SW 121), Call Lightning (6/day)
4th level – 1 Cuse Serious Wounds(5/day)

Equipment:
Melee weapons
-Storm's Fury Spear +1, +11 (1d8+7+1d6, 20/x2) Fine spear engraved with bolts of lightening (2302gp, 6lb*)
-Spear +1, +10 (1d8+6+1d6, 20/x2) Normal Spear or Long Spear (Reach) (Spear (2), 4gp, 12lb*) (Longspear 5gp, 9lb*)
-Bite, +9(4) (1d6+6(2), 20/x2) Natural (Secondary) Attack
-Hand Axe, +9 (1d6+4, 20/x3) Hand Axe (6gp, 3lb)
-Dagger, +9 (1d4+4, 20/x2) Dagger (2gp, 1lb)

Ranged weapons
-Storm's Fury Spear +1, +7 (1d8+7+1d6, 20/x2, 20 ft.)
-Spear, +6 (1d8+6+1d6, 20/x2, 20 ft.)
-Seaman's Bow MW Compositie Short Bow +4 Str, +6 (1d6+4, 20/x3, 70 ft.) Fine bow of an able seaman (675gp, 2lb*)
-Javalin, +6 (1d6+5+1d6, 20/x2, 30 ft.) (Q18 18gp, 36lb*)
-Dagger, +5 (1d6+4, 19/x2, 10 ft.) Dagger

Note: All weapons are Ghost Touch, all spears or javalins are Shocking, and all javalins are +1 at least.

Armor
-Name Mithril Chain Shirt +1 (AC +5, ACP 0, Max Dex +6) Description (2100gp, 12.5lb)
-Spirit's Shell Animated Mithril Heavy Shield of Arrow Deflecting +3 (AC +5, ACP 0) A Mithril Clam Shell that snaps arrows out of the air. Said to be animated by the spirits of the sea. (10020+???gp, 7.5lb)
[sblock=Spirit's Shell]Your shield, Spirit's Shell, was further enhanced by a water genasi priest in Taala's service. Now the sturdy little clam can open up and bite arrows and other projectiles, snapping them out of the air before they can even hit you.About once a month, the shell opens of its own violition, revealing an arrow seemingly made of mother of pearl. You find it to be particularly effective against monsters of the spirit type.[/sblock]



Miscellaneous Items
- Wind's Defense, Ring of Protection +1, Golden Ring carved with swirling winds given to him by Fee, unbeknownst to Ekilu (2000gp, -lb)
- Shark's Gloves, Strength +2, Sharkskin gloves with runes carved along the insides, removed from a Sahuagin chief (4000gp, -lb)
- Vest of Resistance +1 (1000gp, 1lb)
- Adventurer’s Outfit (-gp, -lb)

- Efficient Quiver (1800gp, 2lb) (Objects inside don't count againt weight)
-- Weapons noted above
-- 59 Arrows (3gp, 9lb*)
-- 1 Mother of Pearl Arrow (-, -lb*)

- Handy Haversack (2000gp, 5lb) (Objects inside don't count against weight)
-- Bedroll (1sp, 5lb*)
-- Flint & Steel (1, -lb*)
-- Grappling Hook (1gp, 4 lb*)
-- Rope, 50' Silk (10gp, 5lb*)
-- Wand of Cure Light Wounds (50/50chg) (750gp, -lb*)
-- Potion of Enlarge (50gp, -lb*)
-- 2 Waterskins (2gp, 8lb*)
-- 6 Days Rations (3gp, 6lb*)

-Belt Pouch (1gp, .5lb)
--Amulet of Everburning Flame (110gp, -lb)

* Weight not counted due to container
Weight Carried: 32.5 lb
Remaining money: 136 gp 9 sp

Encumberance
Capacity: 100, 200, 300
Lift: 600
Push/Drag: 1500

Description
Ekilu is slightly tall for a Darfellan, and a bit larger as well. He wears simple sailors clothing built to get wet, with his mithril shirt underneath, sharkskin gloves, a quiver and sack over his shoulders, and a belt pouch with an amulet that is enchanted with continual flame on it. However, his skin is a stark white, with not a spot of black on it. While many other races may not give him a second glance, it is something of note to those familiar with the Darfellan. His eyes are a deep sea blue, and seem soulful and deep, and he has no hair.

Personality
Ekilu is a man of two minds. His heritage leads him to be calm, thoughtful, and contemplating. His storm spirit guide leads him to be aggressive, confrontational, and even vengeful. As a result, he displays a wide array of emotions. Generally, he keeps a reign in on his spirit guide, and looks for a calm and thoughtful way out of a situation, but he can be spurned on to act quickly, sometimes without warning, and it is often rash and exacting, though rarely random. He bears the burden of his race on his shoulders, though mostly by his own choosing. He has managed to calm down much since Fee entered his life, and Ookatooli has been more passive of late.(6)

Background
Despite a raging storm, Ekilu’s birth was celebrated by all in the Weilishootili tribe(1), for the birth of a whiteskin was a rare sign for the Darfellans. He was raised by the tribe as a whole, with the elders thinking that his arrival was as a sun of all Darfellans. Ekilu was dubbed Ekilu ka Wooli, which means Ekilu the White in Darfellan. He was once told that his parents picked the name Ekilu, but that was all he knew.

The elders and the tribe argued with what was the best way to raise him, and eventually decided to let him seek his own path instead of guiding him. They hoped that this would allow him to fulfill his destiny without interference from mortal hands. So they let Ekilu choose what to learn, what to explore, and simply answered questions or provided limited guidance when he asked for it. As a young man, Ekilu seemed to find interest in many things, and learned of history, nature, the lay of the lands, as well as more practical skills in healing, survival, swimming, and sailing. He was treated with kindness and patience, and taught to think before he acted.

Ekilu stayed with many different families in the tribe, who each showed him a little bit of the Darfellan culture. However, many of the families were torn asunder by fighting while he was there. It took many years for the elders to see a pattern, and even then they felt it was worth the risk. Finally, once one father broke down and nearly killed his wife, Ekilu was given a house of his own, and it was agreed that the elder girls of the village would spend alternating times taking care of him. By this time, he was age 8, and was fairly advanced for his age in many of his skills. As he grew older, many of the girls tried to court him while they took care of him, but he was generally dedicated to following his own path, and showed little interest in them.

Little was it known that Ekilu was receiving guidance from a spirit guide since his birth. The storm spirit Ookatooli had affixed itself to Ekilu when it saw the wondrous child born. While not apparent to Ekilu much at first, Ookatooli’s presence was felt as he began to mature. While Ekilu learned of the calm and deliberate Darfellan way, Ookatooli spoke of conflict, of power, and even of vengeance. The spirit urged Ekilu, who learned to use the spear and javelin to some degree of mastery at it’s urging. It spoke of conflict, past, present and future. Ekilu kept Ookatooli’s urgings to himself for some time.

On Ekilu’s 15th birthday, he could keep Ookatooli’s words to himself no longer. He spoke to the town elders of what Ookatooli had been telling him for days. Ookatooli spoke of a large contingent of Sahuagin coming to invade the tribe’s lands. He said they were coming for some kind of portal. Ekilu’s words were considered by the elders, but his words split the tribe at a deep rift. Some wished to run at Ekilu’s insistence, while others wanted to stand and fight, or even those who did not believe Ekilu’s warning, but most of the elders felt differently, called for the town to leave the next day. A girl, who had just taken to watching Ekilu that day, gave him a ring, saying that it would protect him on his coming journey, and he accepted it as a token of faith. Most of the tribe packed what they could and left the next day to follow Ekilu. That night, the Sahaugin attacked, slaughtering those who were left, with few survivors(3). The Darfellan’s that remained were forced to continue more inland, and while many survived, they began to integrate with other races in the various cities and villages through the land. Many looked to Ekilu for guidance, but he was disappointed that he could not save them all.

Ekilu broke away from the tribe, fearing that perhaps he would bring more conflict and vengeance down on them, while seeking to find vengeance of his own against the Sahuagin. With the help of Ookatooli, he began to manifest control of magic, and an understanding of spirits that moved the world. He rarely spent a year in any one place, with constant conflict He spent time sailing, as a healer, as a scout, and even as a warrior, but never staying for long.

His latest job however, kept him going for a while. As an experienced sailor and navigator, he had become an officer on one of Prince Taala’s ships. His understanding of spirits impressed the prince when he had the chance to meet him, and the job gave Ekilu a sense of pride and relief, knowing that serving in Prince Taala’s steed helped protect all his people, without him putting them at risk by being near them. Someday, he had hoped to be given access to the oracle weirds, to ask of his destiny.

However, there was another Darfellan in the service of Prince Taala as well, Fee’utikoo(4), who served aboard the Stormdancer(5). Fee, as Ekilu grew to call her, was a spirited warrior woman, who was quite intrigued to find Ekilu. While he avoided questions about his past, and she hers, they became close while serving together. Ookatooli even encouraged Ekilu’s time with her, as they sparred, laughed, and spoke in their native tongue of things long forgotten for the two wandering Darfellans. An association turned to friendship, and friendship later to love, as the two became truly close. Ekilu made it his personal mission to make sure Fee came back alive, and despite many voyaged where combat and conflict followed, he lived up to his personal promise.

During one of the missions of the Stormdancer, they ship fought a tribe of Sahuagin. Visions of dying tribesmen flashed in Ekilu’s head, and he lashed out at any and all Sahuagin he could, leaving a wake of blood, gore, and Sahuagin parts. When the battle was over, Ekilu had torn the tribal chief’s head off with his bare hands, and Fee was right beside him, having finished off those Ekilu had failed to kill on his rampage towards the chief, staring at him in disbelief. He burned the head, keeping the chief’s gloves to remember the encounter by. Later, Ekilu was saddened by his burst of rage and anger, and began to suspect Ookatooli’s influence, but Fee reassured him that they had deserved what they got for the continual slaughter of their people. That eased the weight a little, but he was uneasy about his loss of control.

As the couple grew closer, Ekilu revealed his past, talking about how his tribe felt he had a destiny, and how he let them down by not saving all of them. Fee simply smiled, and told him that he was just one man, and it was unfair that he feel he need take his entire race on his shoulders. Fee has helped ground Ekilu and given him some perspective on his goals and destiny in life. Together, they have made a fine team, though in the back of Ekilu’s mind, he worries that a great conflict is coming, and he may have to leave her.

Indeed, soon Ekilu was designated by Taala as the first mate of the new Island Ship, under captain Manarro Merricanath (Captain Merri). Meanwhile, Fee was made captain of the Stormdancer. On their last day together, they agreed that it was best they parted ways for now, but they swore to find each other again. In a way, Ekilu was relieved that the separation was not a result of some great conflict, but a friendly parting where they both went on to better things. Still, he misses Fee greatly, and waits for the day they can be together again with great excitement.

Footnotes
1. The largest remaining tribes of the Darfellans remaining after they were scattered by the Sahuagin, or at least at the time. The tribe lived in along a rocky break in part of the Earth Wall(3), where they were able to build a dock for 2 small fishing boats, and use the numerous caves in the rock formations to get to the water as well. It is rumored that some of those caves lead to the waters of the elemental plane of water. The location of the tribe gave it shelter from the Sea, and from any incursions from land as well, with steep rocks rising around much of the village, and only a narrow winding road leading out through them. Simple farms lined the edges where the ground was soft enough, and some caves and seabeds were used to harvest vegetation.
2. The Earth Wall is a line of rocks, cliffs, and maintains along the edge of the Sea of Fire and Ice. There are few ports along the wall, but none are very large, or give easy access to the cities that support them. It is common for some cliff cities to have stair and pulley systems to raise and lower people to docks on the cliff side.
3. It is rumored that the Sahuagin sought a portal to the elemental plane of water, but many Darfellan believe that Ekilu somehow lead them to the tribe, or that they simply sought the Darfellans to slaughter again. The Sahuagin have settled the area somewhat, and caused a collapse in the cliffs to block the road going inland.
4. Fee’utikoo was the last girl to care for Ekilu before he led his tribe away from their village. However, she has never revealed this to Ekilu, and Ekilu only remembers that she looks vaguely familiar, but it has been a long time since he has been close to another Darfellan. She is a powerful and strong willed warrior and sailor.
5. The Stormdancer was an elemental sailing ship built to withstand sailing heavy storms in the more unstable seas that touched elemental planes.
6. Ookatooli’s passiveness is due to a lull in where the spirit feels he is needed to take part in a more active roll. Ookatooli generally has steered Ekilu into conflict, or brought it to Ekilu. However, Ookatooli is part of the reason Ekilu is special, and he is likely to guide him where he is needed.

Meeting the others:
Ekilu had met Nissa several times through his journeys on the Stormdancer, and he met up with her again in the small coastal town of Arete in the kingdom. Her friend, Aldri, had been abducted and used as a labor and pleasure slave by a gang led by a water elemental crime lord. Ekilu and Fee offered to help; knowing that dealing with such crime lords was in the best interest of the kingdom. Nissa started poking around after Aldri, where she eventually discovered what happened and heard about the brave strangers, so she came to ask their help as well. Vaukriel and Tempest were their names, and Fee had served with Tempest prior to Ekilu serving on the Stormdancer. The gang had sent a few sneaks to attack Tempest and Vaukriel at the inn, so they knew they were involved in this mess anyway and decided to help.

The five of them managed to break up the local gang members in an assault on their hideout. It was a fierce fight, and after downing the leader, the demoralized thugs began to run. Ekilu, almost in a battle rage, slew one of them, despite the fear in the thug’s eyes belaying that he might have yielded. Screams emanated from the other room, and the few remaining thugs dropped to their knees and begged for quarter. The others ran to the screams while Fee attended to Ekilu, and there they found Oobobooboo standing over a badly injured thug. Aldri wasn't there, but they found out where the crime lord’s main headquarters was, and discovered that this guy was wanted for all kinds of piracy, smuggling, prostitution, kidnapping, and worse.

Together, with their new found ally Oobobooboo, they managed to corner and defeat the crime lord, though Ekilu struck him dead before the others could offer him quarter. Still, it was a victory over a vicious crime lord, which earned them the favor of Taala. The others eventually saw Taala and were publicly declared heroes. However, Fee and Ekilu had already served the king. He offered Ekilu the first mate’s position on the Isle ship, and Fee the captaincy of the Stormdancer. Ekilu was on the Isle ship only a short time before many of his companions from the crime lord encounter joined him on it.

Fealings on the others
Trebuchet (Shayuri) - Trebuchet is a fitting name for this construct. He seems a bit too happy to be in conflict and combat, unlike Ekilu who would rather be done with conflict. However, he is a fine companion, and his ever-alert eyes and prompt following of orders are welcome on the ship.

Brightstar Vaukriel, Angel of Splendor (Erekose13) - 'Warrior' puts on a happy front, but Ekilu can tell, as one man of deep contemplation himself, that there is much more beyond the surface. Still, he seems a good man who's intent is to do the right thing, and Ekilu has no problems working beside the brave warrior.

Tempest Wintersquall (D20Dazza) - 'Sailor' could just as easily be called 'Prankster', but that would be disrespectful. He works hard, when he sets his mind to it, which seems to be fairly rarely. Having helped with the Crime Lord, Ekilu has some respect for him that he might otherwise have trouble finding. Fee seems fond of him as a friend, and he seems to make her smile. Ookatooli tells Ekilu he should be jealous of her, which Ekilu finds ridiculous, given he's of a different species. But still, he does make Fee laugh...

Lupaz, the Hound of Ill Omen (Kelleris) - 'Hound' is not the most pleasant creature to talk with, as he has a rather fatalistic view of life. Ekilu had pondered discussing fate with him, but he can't bring himself to take such an accepting view of what must happen, particularly as he was taught that it was his destiny to change things for his people. But while he finds little common ground with the hound, he bears the hound no Ill will, and is glad to have him as a companion.

Ianissa, daughter of prophecy (Rystil Arden) - 'Empath' seems a little too unsure of herself, despite being a skilled empath. Ekilu has met her many times, and finds her playful spirit refreshing. It is nice to find someone else who can swim such as he can.

Oobobooboo (Voidrazor) - 'Jester' or 'Ooze', Oobobooboo reminds him of Ookatooli, which means that he seems to trust him, perhaps much more than he really should for such a child like and chaotic being. In fact, Ekilu regards him much like a charge, and watches out for the Ooze.

Source Guide:
CA - Complete Arcane
CD - Complete Divine
CV - Complete Adventurer
SW - Stormwrack

”Captain Merri,” Manarro Merricanath
Male Duskling [MoI pg. 10] Totemist [MoI pg.29] 4/Chaos Incarnate 4 [MoI pg. 21]
Medium Fey (Incarnum)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Height: 4' 11''
Weight: 115lbs
Hair: Navy
Eyes: Deep blue
Age: 109

Str: 10 (+0) [2 points]
Dex: 16 (+3) [6 points, +2 levels]
Con: 18 (+4) [10 points, +2 racial]
Int: 12 (+1) [6 points, +2 racial]
Wis: 14 (+2) [6 points]
Cha: 10 (+0) [2 points]

Class and Racial Abilities: +2 Con, -2 Int, can invest essentia to improve speed by 5ft. per point invested (if wearing light or no armor and carrying no more than a light load), low-light vision, essential pool increased by 1. Meldshaping, wild empathy, totem chakra bind (+1 capacity), totem’s protection, aura of chaos, detect law, chakra bind (crown, feet, hands), expanded soulmeld capacity +1, incarnum radiance 1/day, proficient with simple weapons, and light and medium armor and shields (but not tower shields).

Hit Dice: 4d8+4d6+16
HP: 58 (62 with totem avatar shaped)
AC: 20 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +3 natural)
ACP: 0
Init: +4 (+3 Dex, +1 Sea Legs)
Speed: 30ft

Saves:
Fortitude +8 [+8 base, +0 Con]
Reflex +8 [+5 base, +3 Dex]
Will +7 [+5 base, +2 Wis]

BAB: +5
Melee Atk: +5 (1d6/19-20/x2/S, cutlass)
Ranged Atk: +8

Skills:
Balance (shipboard) +10 [0 ranks, +3 Dex, +2 Sea Legs, +5 Sailor’s Balance]
Handle Animal +7 [7 ranks, +0 Cha]
Knowledge (geography) +5 [8cc ranks, +1 Int]
Knowledge (nature) +8 [7 ranks, +1 Int]
Listen +2 [0 ranks, +2 Wis]
Profession (sailor) +17 [11 ranks, +2 Wis, +4 sailor’s bracers]
Spot +2 [0 ranks, +2 Wis]
Survival +9 [7 ranks, +2 Wis]
Swim +11 [7 ranks, +0 Str, +4 sailor’s bracers]
Tumble (shipboard) +5 [0 ranks, +3 Dex, +2 Sea Legs]
Use Rope +7 [0 ranks, +3 Dex, +4 sailor’s bracers]

Feats:
Sea Legs (1st level) [StoWr pg. 93]
Sailor’s Balance (3rd level) [StoWr pg. 93]
Bonus Essentia (6th level) [MoI pg. 35]

Languages: Common, Sylvan, Aquan

Meldshaping
Save DC +2
Chakra binds (totem, crown, hands or feet) – 1
Essential pool – 10
Soulmelds – Totemist 4, Incarnate 4

Soulmelds shaped

Incarnate
Hands – Lucky Dice, bound to hands chakra, 1 essential invested = Allows +1 luck bonus to different types of rolls to Merri and all within 30 ft. for 1 round. [MoI pg. 77]
Arms – Sailor’s Bracers = +4 insight bonus on Swim, Profession (sailor), and Use Rope checks. [MoI pg. 84]
Shoulders – Wind Cloak = DR 2/magic versus ranged attacks. [MoI pg. 92]
Feet – Cerulean Sandals = Allows to walk on water like water walk spell. [MoI pg. 63]

Totemist
Waist – Phoenix Belt, 1 essentia invested = fire resistance 5. [MoI pg. 82]
Throat - Ankheg Breastplate, 2 essential invested = +4 armor bonus. [MoI pg. 57]
Heart – Totem Avatar, 3 essential invested = 4 extra hit points, +3 natural AC. [MoI pg. 90]
Crown (totem) – Frost Helm, bound to totem chakra, 3 essential invested = cold resistance 15, can stun up to 4 targets within 20 ft for 1d4 rounds unless they succeed on a DC 17 Fortitude save. [MoI pg. 67]

Other Essentia Investments: none currently

Equipment
Backpack - 2gp
2 daggers – 4gp
+1 darksteel (MaoF pg. 178) dagger – 3,802gp
Ioun stone of resistance +1 – 2,000gp (A&EG pg. 134)
4 potions of cure light wounds – 200gp
Pearl octopus – 5,000gp [GW pg. 71]
Hammock (A&EG pg. 22) – 5gp
Spyglass – 1,000gp
Sextant – 250gp (StoWr pg. 108)
Waterskin - 1gp
50 ft. silk rope - 10gp
Trail rations (20 days worth) - 10gp
Belt pouch - 1gp
2 courtier’s outfits and jewelry – 160gp
Explorer’s outfit x5 – 50gp
Traveler’s outfit (Free)

Money
57gp

~~~~~

Appearance: Captain Merri is a short and lithe duskling with blue-gray skin, an unruly shock of hair and bushy beard both in navy blue, and dark blue eyes. He wears loose clothing in shades of gray and dark blue, and distains shoes. In a faint echo over his own body is the ghost-like form of the mighty gray render. Dark chitinous plates protect his chest and throat, and a belt of glowing fiery feathers encircles his waist. Surmounting his head is the pale while nodule and mandibles of a frost worm, and his feet are covered with slightly glowing blue sandals. Pale blue leather bracers encircle each wrist, and a pale silver cloak, ever blowing in the breeze, flows from his shoulders. From time to time you can see him playing with some dice in his hand.

Personality: Merri is entirely dedicated to sailing, and considers the fact that he’s won the captaincy of an isle-ship the greatest thing that’s happened in his life. He’s a friend of the underdog, and his glad to see things being shaken up.

Background: Little is known of Merri’s background. He is native to the Kingdom of Knowledge, is rather old, and has served Taala of his own will for many decades. He’s probably one of the stronger practitioners of incarnum in this part of the world, but he often speaks of vague others that far surpass him. He is an excellent captain and has worked with a crew of mixed water and salt genasi with great success.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Crew of the Khora Aisa

Coming soon...