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Message: <blockquote data-quote="BLACKDIRGE" data-source="post: 678141" data-attributes="member: 1953">Grummok (age 75): Male Gargoyle Rog 4/Asn6; CR 14; Medium Magical Beast; HD 4d10+10d6+84; hp 147; Init +8; Spd 45 ft., fly 75 ft. (good); AC 28 (+6 Dex, +4 natural, +6 studded leather armor, +2 ring); Atk +19 melee (1d6+6/19-20 x2, 2 claws), +15 melee (1d6+2, bite), +15 melee (1d6+2 gore) or +18/+13/+8 melee (1d4+7/19-20 x2, +3 distance fleshgrinding dagger); SA sneak attack +5d6, death attack, poison use; SQ darkvision 60 ft., uncanny dodge (Dex to AC, can’t be flanked, +1 vs. traps), +3 saves vs. poison, DR 15/+1, freeze, evasion; AL NE; SV Fort +14, Ref +16, Will +6; Str 18, Dex 22, Con 22, Int 17, Wis 12, Cha 12.    Skills (104 pts): Bluff +6, Craft (poison making) +8, Disguise +10, Escape Artist +12, Gather Information +10, Hide +29, Intimidate +5, Listen +10, Move Silently +24, Open Lock +12, Search +10, Sense Motive +8, Spot +10, Tumble +12.  Feats: Multiattack, Weapon Finesse (claw, bite, gore), Exotic Weapon Proficiency (garrote), Improved Initiative, Improved Critical (claws)     Languages: Undercommon, Terran, Drow  Possessions: +3 shadowed studded leather armor, boots of elvenkind, wire garrote, ring of advanced magic fang +2*, belt of giant strength +4, +3 distance fleshgrinding dagger, +2 dagger, ring of protection +2, head band of intellect +2, gloves of dexterity +4, ring of minor elemental protection (fire)  Assassin Spells Prepared: (2/2/2; save DC 13 + spell level): 1st -- change self, angry ache. 2nd – alter self, darkness. 3rd – invisibility, sadismFreeze (Ex): Grummok can hold himself so still that he appears to be a statue. An observer must succeed at a Spot check (DC 20) to notice Grummok is really alive.Evasion (Ex): If exposed to any effect that normally allows a character to attempt a Reflex saving throw for half damage, Grummok takes no damage with a successful saving throw.Death Attack: If Grummok studies his victim for 3 rounds and then makes a sneak attack within the next 3 rounds with a melee weapon that successfully deals damage, the sneak attack may also paralyze or kill the target (Grummok's choice). A victim who fails his or her Fortitude saving throw (DC 19) against the kill effect dies. If the saving throw fails against the paralysis, the victim's mind and body become enervated, making him or her completely helpless and unable to act for 1d6+1 rounds.Poison Use: Grummok is trained in the use of poison and never risks accidentally poisoning himself when applying poison to a blade.*ring of advanced magic fang: These plain unadorned steel rings operate as the standard ring of magic fang by adding an enhancement bonus to attack and damage rolls, in addition the advanced form increases the base damage die by one.Jen Kedar Everhate was more than a little shocked when Grummok dragged a bedraggled human man into the guildhall and announced that he had found a suitable apprentice. The human, a middle-aged specimen of the race, named Hek, appeared in now way to be “suitable” for anything other than scrounging among the collected refuse in the Ghetto of Outcasts. But Jen Kedar had learned to trust Grummok’s instincts, as they had served the gargoyle well in the past, and was intrigued to see what Grummok could make of the disheveled human. The guild master approved Grummok’s selection and made the necessary arrangements for Hek’s training and accommodations but only after he had delivered a stern warning to both master and apprentice concerning the price of failure; loss of prestige for Grummok and death for Hek.Hek turned out to be a pleasant surprise for both Grummok and Jen Kedar, taking to the training with a will and surpassing the other apprentices with ease. The human’s keen intellect and natural agility allowed him to navigate the treacherous yearlong training that all fledgling assassins were required to undertake completely unscathed. Jealousy among the other apprentices was inevitable and Hek found himself the subject of frequent amateurish assassinations, all of which he avoided with diplomatic subtlety and skill. The assassination attempts suddenly ceased when the dismembered and half eaten corpse of Hek’s most obvious rival was found in his master’s chambers, an unmistakable warning from assassin to assassin. When his initial year was complete Hek was allowed to accompany Grummok on contracts and proved to be a useful and trustworthy ally on the gargoyle’s secretive missions. Hek obeyed Grummok’s every command to the letter and learned much in the way of stealth and murder. A genuine trust and even affection developed between Hek and Grummok as they learned to rely on each other’s skills and talents. Grummok was the only creature in the entire city who had shown Hek any kindness and the human felt a twisted bond of loyalty to his monstrous benefactor. Grummok’s trust was not granted so easily and it came only after Hek managed to rescue his master from a potentially lethal situation.Six months after Hek and completed his initial training Grummok and his apprentice had been assigned to slay an upstart mage who refused to join the local mage guild and pay his respects to the guild master. The mage was a flamboyant fire genasi invoker named Vastinus Firecloak who made his home in the Ghetto of Artisans, ironically not more than a few blocks from the assassin’s guildhall. Grummok and Hek had carefully monitored Vastinus’s comings and goings and had learned that his ego and overblown confidence in his own abilities were so great that he kept no guards or even personal servants. Vastinus’s home was an opulent two-story affair that featured a tall wrought iron fence surrounding the entire property. Grummok and Hek had learned that the main gate that led to the house was trapped with a devious and deadly ward. Any who approached within one foot of the trapped gate and did not utter the pass phrase were targeted with a fiendish spell that reduced their bodies to nothing more than a small pile of loose ash. As deadly as the trap was it demonstrated the arrogance and ignorance of its creator, for he had done nothing to protect the air space over his demesne allowing Grummok to simply fly over the fence and the warded gate to easily gain access to Vastinus’s property. On the night that the assassination was to take place, Grummok took to wing and flew over Vastinus’s warded fence, carrying Hek, to land silently right outside the mage’s front door. The gargoyle then began to search the door and its jam for wards and traps. After a few moments Grummok was satisfied that the door was not trapped and was in fact only locked and motioned Hek forward to test his skills on the complicated locking mechanism. Hek had the door open in a matter of seconds, and with a smile and a grand flourish stepped aside to allow his master entrance into their mark’s house. Grummok motioned for Hek to stay put and then like a stalking shadow crept silently into the darkened house. Hek stood patiently outside Vastinus’s front door cloaked in the thick shadows that seemed to cling to everything in the dark city of Erelhei-Cinlu. He knew, from dozens of other missions, that his master was a quick and efficient killer and his sentry duty would likely be short. But after ten minutes had trickled by, Hek began to worry. Grummok usually had finished the deed long before now and the pair should already be on their way to the guild house to collect their bounty. Fear and a chill sense of alarm crept into Hek’s bones and he felt with utmost certainty that something was wrong. Hek decided that the longer he waited the more likely Grummok would not return at all, and he had no wish to face the treachery of the assassins guild without the protection of his gargoyle master. Fearing the worst, Hek palmed one of his throwing daggers and cautiously entered the silent house. The front door opened into a spacious foyer tiled with deep green marble and dominated by a huge spiral staircase that wound its way up into the silent darkness of the second story. A short hallway led off the foyer to the north and Hek could make out four doors evenly paced along the hallway’s length. The last door on the right caught Hek’s attention, for a soft glow of illumination protruded from under the jam and the barest of whisper of a voice drifted through the thin wood to Hek’s assassin trained hearing. Hek was unable to distinguish any comprehensible meaning from the voice so he moved silently down the hallway to stand in front of the impeding door, straining his ears to make words out of the muffled sound. “…the fools! I knew that simpering idiot, Madastrac, would try something like this.” The contempt and anger in the voice was audible even through the door and Hek could hear footsteps as if the speaker were pacing back and forth while delivering his tirade.“I have no need of their pathetic little guild! I am Vastinus Firecloak! I pay tribute to no man and especially not to that fat flatulent toad of a sorcerer, Madastrac.” Vastinus paused for a moment allowing Hek to realize that the mage’s audience was likely Grummok, but why in the nine hells would the gargoyle sit and listen to this conceited oaf.“And furthermore, now Madastrac has shown his true colors. The coward! Hiring an assassin instead of dealing with me personally.” The speaker paused again as if in thought and then continued with obvious mirth shining through his rant. “In fact, when I have finished with you my scaly friend I think I will make a little expedition over to the mage guild and rouse the impotent fool from the safety of his guild hall. Hah! How I would dearly to love to see that overstuffed craven’s fat crisp in one of my famous violet fireballs.” Vastinus finished with a chuckle.Having heard Vastinus refer to “his scaly friend” Hek knew that Grummok must be within, immobilized or worse. The human assassin tuned out the blathering of Vastinus and opened the door slowly, just a crack, so that he could peek inside undetected. The room was obviously Vastinus’s study for the large chamber was lined with heavy oaken bookcases. A chandelier of crystalline globes hung in the center of the ceiling and provided illumination, obviously via magical enchantment, to the entire room. The floor was plush with thick carpeting and the only furniture were two immense broad backed chairs, stately and comfortable that dominated the center of the room. Grummok stood motionless by one of the chairs while Vastinus continued to rant, striding back and forth in front of the gargoyle occasionally waving his hands to drive home some part of his tirade. Vastinus was a Genasi, a mortal whose blood was mingled with that of an elemental, a fire elemental in this case. The mage was tall and thin with a tangled nest of bright red hair that seemed to move like the crackling dance of flame itself. Vastinus was clad in a simple white robe, belted with a wide yellow sash, that sharply contrasted with the Genasi’s reddish skin and his only armament was a gracefully curved dagger thrust into his belt.Hek noted that Grummok’s body was completely still and that he held his favorite dagger in his left hand, there were none of the twitches or minor contortions that a body would experience when asked to stand completely still and Hek’s keen eye determined that Grummok must be under the influence of some kind of enchantment. If Hek did not act soon Vastinus would eventually tire of hearing the sound of his own voice and slay the helpless gargoyle. Hek decided that it was now or never and kicked open the door with a resounding crash to hurl his dagger at the wide-eyed mage. Vastinus’s seemingly endless babble died with a choked gurgle as Hek’s dagger buried itself in the genasi’s throat. Vastinus hand frantically scrambled at the hilt of Hek’s blade jutting from beneath his chin as his bright red blood coursed down his robes staining them in streaks of rushing crimson. With another dagger in hand Hek rushed across the room to drive his second blade into Vastinus’s chest, piercing the mage’s heart and ending his life. With the immediate threat eliminated Hek turned to Grummok who still stood immobile resembling nothing more than a terrible statue. Hek guessed that the spell would eventually wear off and busied himself by stripping Vastinus’s corpse and perusing the myriad books that lined the walls. Hek did not have to wait long as a few moments later Grummok suddenly convulsed his arm arcing out in a vicious blur finishing the movement he had begun before Vastinus’s spell had ensnared him. When the gargoyle had gathered his wits he turned to his apprentice and stretched his fanged mouth in a tight, forced smile. “Well Hek, it seems you learned a bit more on this outing than I had intended. I am in your debt.” With that the gargoyle slammed his dagger back into its sheath and stalked from the room, shame and rage clouding the air around the veteran assassin.Hek stood alone in the Vastinus’s study letting Grummok’s words rattle around in his head. The gargoyle was absolutely right, Hek had learned more than was intended; he had leaned that his master was not invulnerable. Hek found Grummok waiting for him in the foyer a brutal frown creasing his bestial features. Hek had to stifle a laugh; the gargoyle obviously was not used to relying on anyone and resented it immensely. Well, Hek thought, perhaps he was not the only one who had learned something this night.</blockquote>

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