Sabrian Melchazier, Astrologer.
Sabrian Melchazier is an astrologer and astronomer. His shop is in the Posh District, and mainly caters to upper class clientele. He also will make ‘house-calls’ to his favoured clients, though this is pretty rare. He only does readings by appointment. Some of his clients include Thomas Haljan’s youngest sister, various noble-women, and rich merchant’s wives.
Sabrian also conducts readings for less wealthy people, though he doesn’t drop his prices. He also doesn’t take kindly to walk-ins – if you knock and he lets you in, he might let you make an appointment, but he mainly stays with his clients. He does seem to be uncannily accurate, and nearly all of his predictions have been true - at least that’s what his clients claim…
Sabrians’s shop is a normal house in a wealthy neighbourhood. The only distinguishing feature is a strange sun symbol above the door. A small, neatly kept front yard has two beds of rosebushes, tended by Phillip Dusaine (Sabrian’s Gardener), and blooming brilliantly in the spring. A small cobblestone path leads from a little gate up to the steps, and two windows (curtained when Sabrian is conducting a reading), have window boxes of roses underneath them. Inside the house proper, a small hallway, with a polished oak floor, is where Sabrian usually meets his clients. A hatstand and mirror are down the far end, and two doors on each side of the passage lead to Sabrian’s study (left door) and the sitting rooms, where the reading are usually conducted. The door to Sabrian’s study is usually left ajar, and his desk, covered in star charts, his telescope (bought at great expense from the north), and bookcase (about fifteen books, nearly all on astrology) are visible, all of the finest black teak, and on a thick, crimson carpet. A large raven is kept in a cage here – Sabrian refers to it as Antiphacles, and fusses over it most of the time.
The sitting room has several large, plush, armchairs, all covered in very fine, maroon-dyed leather. Though the window lets in the sunlight through most of the day, Sabrian closes the thick, velvet drapes when he is conducting a reading. A large, low mahogany coffee table sits in the middle of the room, in the centre of the armchairs. A large, golden brazier rests on the table, usually burning incense. Sabrian has had this room carpeted in the same cloth as used in his study, and the walls are fine, light brown oak, undecorated by pictures. When he has clients, Sabrian usually brews a pot of tea (served in very fine, gold-glazed pottery), and serves a tray of biscuits and pastries.
Sabrian himself is a swarthy, tallish man. He has very white teeth, a black, neatly trimmed beard, and dark black hair, with very dark eyes. He is usually dressed in a deep crimson robe, of the finest water silk. He often wear a golden torc around his neck, which has the heads of two serpents at each of its’ ends. He is usually impatient with visitors, except for his clients, who he treats with great courtesy and deference, often assuming a debonair and very charming persona.
Unfortunately for these ladies, Sabrian has no real talent in either fortune-telling or magic. He can cast a few spells from scrolls and wands, mainly augury, detect thoughts, and very occasionally, a clairaudience/clairvoyance spell. He uses these to get a rough idea of his client’s hopes, and uses the augury to ask whether or not these hopes will come true. He’s also very intelligent, and records his observations, transcripts of discussions, and all results in a small journal on his desk, written in code (if his clients read it, he claims it is his native language). The raven is a bird he pretends is his familiar. The fact that if can’t stand him is why it’s in a cage.
Sabrain is also one of the three fences in the city. He runs his confederation through the efforts of his ‘Gardener’ Phillip Dusaine who coordinates sales. Sabrain keeps a lot of cash on hand in his strongbox (found under his desk), and he usually deals in smaller, portable goods, converting jewelry especially, and small art objects, etc. Most of these are taken to foreign cities by a variety of means. Some by Sabrain, some by his clients, and others by Carson Bilgewater, an excellent swimmer, who takes them downstream, and then rides out to wherever he’s taking them to be sold. Carson has no idea who Sabrain is.
Sabrain’s reciprocal arrangement has him sell small trinkets as part of his business, given to him by his foreign contacts. He only does this with a few small items he selects from what Phillip shows him. He never keeps a full shipment at his home, just what he intends to sell.
Sabrain is a ruthless man. He is cold, calculating, and very much unattached to his clientele. That said, he is a brilliant and cautious man. He won’t criticise his clients, keeps his mouth shut, and never resorts to blackmail, save for the occasional indirect effort at someone he doesn’t have as a client. Phillip handles nearly all of the main day to day running of Sabrain’s affairs, though Sabrain keeps him on a short leash.
Sabrian Melchazier, Male Human, Rogue 6,: HD 6d6; hp 23; Init +5; Spd 30; AC 11; Atk + 4 base melee, + 5 base ranged. Dagger +4 (MW 1d4), Thrown Dagger, +6 (MW 1d4); AL NE; SQ: Sneak Attack +3d6, Uncanny Dodge (can’t be flanked, never looses DEX bonus to AC) Evasion. SV Fort + 3, Ref + 9, Will + 4; STR 9, DEX 13, CON 10, INT 16, WIS 11, CHA 18.
Skills: Use Magic Device +15, Bluff +15, Appraise +12, Diplomacy +13, Profession (Astrologer) +9, Forgery +12, Sense Motive +11, Innuendo +9, Read Lips +12, Hide +10, Move Silently +10, Pick Pockets +5, Perform +5.
Feats: Skill Focus (Use Magic Device), Skill Focus (Bluff), Skill Focus (Sense Motive), Improved Initiative.
Plot Hooks -
1. The PC's are hired by a nobleman to investigate the astrologer who his wife is spending hundreds of gold pieces on. How deeply do the PC's penetrate Sabrain's web of deceit? What will happen when the discover his true motivations? Will they get out alive?
2. Sabrain is blackmailing the PC's patron, via Phillip, who is using an intermediary's servant. The PC's are left with the difficult task of cleaning up the nobleman's dirty secrets - or hunting down the blackmailer.
3. The PC's are told they must go and have a reading done by Sabrain by a noblewoman friend of theirs. Will they discover that he's a fraud, or will he actually put them on the track to a worthwhile cause?
4. Sabrain has seen, via an augury, that the city will come under attack from an enemy. In an uncharacteristic move of charity, he decides to save his home. Can he and the PC's convince Lady Kelvin before it's too late?
Tactics – Not much of a fighter, Sabrian prefers to leave most of the fighting to Phillip. He will attempt to escape most of the time, but if pressed, will attempt to get sneak attacks with Phillip flanking, and use his wands to stand off and fight if possible.
Possessians – Wand of Augury (34 charges), 5 potions of clauraudience/clairvoyance, four MW daggers, Wand of Detect thoughts (44 charges), Wand of Magic Missile (3rd level caster, fully charged)
Phillip Dusaine, Male Human, Monk 5. HD 5d8+5; hp 32; Init +; Spd 40; AC 16; Atk + 5 base melee, + 6 base ranged. Unarmed Strike +6 (1d8+2), Thrown handaxe +6 (1d6+2); AL LE; SQ: Stunning Attack (DC 14), Deflect Arrows Feat, Still Mind (+2 vs. enchantment), Evasion, Slow Fall (20 ft), Purity of Body. SV Fort + 5, Ref +7 , Will + 6; STR 14, DEX 16, CON 13, INT 11, WIS 14, CHA 10.
Skills: Tumble +11, Move Silently +11, Innuendo (cc) +4, Listen +10, Hide +11.
Feats: Weapon Focus (Unarmed Strike), Expertise, Improved Disarm.
Phillip Dusaine is a cheerful man, usually dressed in plain workclothes. He often whistles to himself while tending Sabrain’s rosebushes, and takes great pride in his garden. He has plain brown hair, a dusting of freckles over his crooked nose, and blue eyes. He was born down on the docks of Mor’s End, the son of a prostitute. He has no parents, and raised himself on the streets. He was taken in by a travelling monk when he was twelve, and was taught how to use his fists as lethal weapons on the road. The monk tried to instill in Phillip a respect for law, order and good. He managed to instill in Phillip a sense of personal order, but only towards his own discipline.
Phillip, though he knows he’s breaking the laws of Mor’s End, has managed to twist the original teachings of his master so that he now believes that he is above the law of men. He would never break his personal code of discipline and structure, but is ruthless and cold-blooded with the lives of others. He is loyal to Sabrain, however, mainly because of the money he gets paid.
(Edit- added more plothooks)
