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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janos Audron" data-source="post: 216051" data-attributes="member: 4649">Janos Audron, Mark IIMale lich Nec 5/Sha 1/Red 9/Acm4; Medium-size undead; HD 19d12; hp 118; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 26 (touch 15, flat-footed 25); Atk +8/+3 melee (Staff of Time Stop) or +8/+3 melee (1d8+5 [Will DC 29 half] plus paralysis, lich touch) or +9/+4 ranged touch (by spell); AL LN; SV Fort +10, Ref +11, Will +21; Str 11Dex 12Con –Int 40Wis 17Cha 30    Height 6’ 5”. Weigth 215 Lb.Skills:Alchemy +35Bluff +16Concentration +32Craft (Poison) +37Diplomacy +15Hide +40Knowledge (Arcana) +30Knowledge (History) +30Knowledge (Monsters) +20Knowledge (Nature) +20Knowledge (Religion) +20Knowledge (The Planes) +20Listen +22Move Silently +30Scry +20Search +23Spellcraft +30Spot +11Feats:Craft Magical Arms and ArmorCraft Wonderous ItemsGreater Spell Focus (Necromancy)Insidious MagicMagical Artisan (Craft Magical Arms and Armor)Magical Artisan (Craft Wonderous Items)Pernicious MagicScribe ScrollShadow Weave MagicSkill Focus (Spellcraft)Spell Focus (Enchantment)Spell Focus (Necromancy)Tattoo FocusTenacious MagicSpecial Attacks:Paralyzing Touch (Su): Creatures touched must succeed at a Fortitude save (DC 29) or be permanently paralyzed.Fear Aura (Su): Creatures of less than 5 HD in a 60 ft. radius that look at the lich must succeed at a Will save (DC 29) or be affected a though by a fear as cast by a 19th-level sorcerer.Special Qualities:Archmage High Arcana: Mastery of Elements, Spell Power +1, Spell Power +2, Spell Power +3, Immunities (Ex): Immune to cold, electricity, polymorph, and mind-affecting attacks.Red Wizard Abilities: Specialist Defense (Necromancy) +4, Spell Power (Necromancy) +4, Circle Leader, Scribe Tattoo.+4 Turn ResistanceDamage Reduction 15/+1Undead QualitiesEnhanced Intelligence. Janos Audron has read a Tome of Clear thought and has a +5 inhernt bonus to his Intelligence, included above.Enhanced Charisma. Janos Audron has read a Tome of Leadership and Influence and has a +5 inhernt bonus to his Charisma, included above.Wizard Spells Per Day: 5/9/9/9/8/7/8/7/6/6 Base DC = 31 + spell level, 34 + spell level for Enchantment, 41 + spell level for Necromancy. Wizard Caster Level: 19th. Specialized School: Necromancy. Prohibited Schools: Divination, Conjuration.Possessions:Bag of Holding type IVCloak of Charisma +6Dark SkullDennis the Peasant (see below)Headband of Intellect +6Helmed Horror (see below)Lyre of BuildingShar’s Blessed Book (2 times)Staff of Time Stop (50 charges left)Vest of Resistance +5Wizard Tower (see below)Mithril Breastplate +1 of Spellcasting and Haste. Also provides a +10 bonus to Hide and Move Silently (like a Cloak and Boots of Elvenkind).Bladed Boot +1 with 7 times the Spellblade enhancement against the following spells:Chains of VenganceDisintegrateDispel MagicHalt UndeadHealThief of SpellsUndeath to DeathBladed Boot +1 with 6 times the Spellblade enhancement against the following spells:Antimagic AuraControl UndeadGreater Dispel MagicImprisonmentTemporal StasisTranslocation TrickFoci / misc equipment:Simbul’s Spell Trigger (Focus)Helmed Horror Creation RoomRing with Black Sapphire (glowing purple)Magic Jar (Focus)Spell List:Level 1Change SelfCharm PersonChill TouchKaupaer’s Skittisch NervesMage ArmorRay of EnfeelblementShieldSpiderclimbSpirit WormLevel 2Cat’s GraceEagle’s SpledorFox’s CunningGhoul TouchInvisibilityKnockSpectral HandLevel 3FireballGentle ReposeMagic Circle Against ChaosSecret PageVampiric TouchLevel 4Dimension DoorEnervationFearGhorus Toth’s Metal MeltImproved InvisibilityPolymorph OtherLevel 5Dominate PersonFeeblemindGriswold’s GreymantleKiss of the VampireLeomund’s Secure ChestMagic JarLevel 6Circle of DeathDisintegrateGeas/QuestGreater Dispel MagicMass HasteProrogate DeathShadow CanopyLevel 7Antimagic AuraControl UndeadFinger of DeathGreater IronguardLimited WishPlane ShiftSpell TurningTeleport Without ErrorLevel 8AntipathyHorrid WiltingMind BlankPolymorph Any ObjectSkeletal GuardUtter ThrallLevel 9Energy DrainMeteor SwarmMordenkainen’s DisjunctionSimbul’s Spell TriggerSoul BindTwo MindsWail of the BansheeWishDennis the Peasant Compagnion: Dennis the Peasant; Medium-Size Human; HD 1d4; hp 2; Init +0; Spd 60 ft., Fly 200 ft.; AC 22 (touch 10, flat-footed 22); Atk +7/+2/+2/+2/+2/+2 melee (2d6+7 Bite, 1d8+3 Claw, 1d6+3 Wing, 1d8+10 Tail); Fort +3; Refl +0; Will +0; Str 25Dex10 Con 17Int 10Wis 10 Cha 10Skills: Jump +8Profession (Farmer) +6Knowledge (Farming) +4Craft (Toolmaking) +6Feats: Skill Focus (Profession (Farmer))Skill Focus (Craft (Toolmaking))( "He turned me into a Dragon". And he didn't get better. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /><img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f644.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":rolleyes:" title="Roll eyes    :rolleyes:"  data-smilie="11"data-shortname=":rolleyes:" /> <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f60e.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":cool:" title="Cool    :cool:"  data-smilie="6"data-shortname=":cool:" /> )Helmed Horror Companion: Megaira Medium-Sized Construct; HD 13d10; hp 66; Init +1; Spd 30 ft., Air Walk 30 ft.; AC 19  (touch 11, flat-footed 18); Atk +12/+7 melee (2d6+4+1d6/19-20, Flaming Burst Greatsword) or +10/+5 ranged (1d10/19-20 Heavy Crossbow); Fort +4; Refl +5; Will +7; Str 16Dex13 Con –Int – Wis 16 Cha 12Skills: Listen +4Spot +4Feats: CleaveGreat CleavePower AttackSpecial Qualities:Air WalkFeather Fall (Sp)Construct ImmunitiesImmunities (Ex): Immunte to Magic Missile, Fireball, Meteor Swarm, Mordenkainen’s Disjunction, and Mind-Affecting attacks.See InvisibilityWizard Tower:This tower was built in one day. One morning, the people of The Shaar saw an enormous globe of pure darkness [shadow canopy]. Those who dared to approach couldn't see anything, but they heard someone play a lyre [of Building]. Whoever it was was quite skilled (20 perform check). The playing lasted the entire day, and when the darkness retreated, they saw a tower. Not a 'normal' one. The tower was about 90 ft. high, but was pitch black and had twisted forms. They were afraid of it: they sensed a great evil. They rode out to gather their companions, but when they returned, the tower had grown. It had walls 6 feet think, and it was enforced with multiple layers of iron [Wall of Iron, I included the material components in my possisions (17000 GP), FYI]. Whoever lived there unleashed powerful spells and devil on the horde that gathered to destroy the building. The losses would've been huge, but strangely enough, the man wanted to make an agreement. Basically it came down to the good old: "you leave me alone, I leave you alone, and we don't ask questions." The people in the Shaar generally drive miles around the tower, for they don't want to hear the screaming from some poor soul in there...and neither do they want to ride into some strange trap...The tower has 5 levels. 3 Above ground, 2 below. General purposes of the floors:B2: The creation room. This room is never totally dark, for there are many strange alchemecal substances that radiate a red or blue glow. It gives the room a spooky appearance. This room also holds the special equipment needed to build a Helmed Horror (including the torturing equipment) and half the wall is filled with small bottles with, mostly black, substances.B1: Summoning Room. A permanent Summoning Circle and 4 permanent Magic Circles are crafted on the ground. Usually the visitors are Devils to help him in his quest for power, but sometimes Nishuru's too, to recharge the staves, or sometimes even Succubi for the more ... exotic pleasures.F1: The welcoming room. In case there Janos would want to invite guests in his house (other than for his own goals), this is where he'd welcome them. A pleasant room with comfortable, and quite expensive furniture. Also, this floor houses the kitchen and the rooms for personel (in case he ever needed to eat).F2: Private Quarters. This is where Janos spends his time in quiet contemplation. A comfortable chair, a fireplace and a nice view. Here is the one place that he can find rest. When sitting by the fire, looking over the Shaar, something comes over him that gives him a feeling of peace...something he strangely longs for...F3: The Library. Books. Rows of books. And then some more. This is Janos' lifework. All his knowledge is stored here. All kinds of books and tomes on a great variaty of topics. From poison to angels and from history to technology. Everything Janos knows is stored here (probably because he has written down what he knows).History:Fire. Torture. Insanity. Pain. Endless suffering, without hope of freedom. The images were always the same. He saw himself, chained, humiliated, tortured by things far beneath him. Things he could have slain with ease when he still had the power. When he was still out there, free. Not only free from the chains, but also from the marks, the marks that bound him to the Devil.The images came when he closed his eyes, whenever his consciousness passed away. "No rest for the wicked", never had he heard a more true saying. They started as flashes, as some quick glance into the future. But when the years passed, and he continued working for Him, the images grew more intense, became more frequent and only after a long time did he realise it was him who was the victem...Life. He laughed at those who desperatly clang to it. At them unable to see that all life ended in death. Eventually. For him, death had been a release. The release from a weak body. The release from Time. A Passing to a more pure state. The next logical step for those who had the knowledge and the money.But deep in his heart, or what was left of it, he had to admit that death did not only bring good things. With endless time, he grew bitter, cold, alone. It did not come suddenly. Else, he would have detected it, stopped it, cured it...whatever. But he didn't see it coming. It came gradually. Of course, now, looking back at it, he noticed the subtle signs that he missed when he was still young. When he drowned all his feelings in the hate in his soul. Every little grievance, insult, mistreatment and other crimes against him, he remembered. He spend his young days plotting against those who had wronged him. Their deaths were painful. Pleasing to watch. And yet, there always was this sense that something was missing. An emotion he never knew after he died...something small, fragile ... but untouchable. It seemed like it eluded him. And it was very skilled at that. In time, when the sense grew that he was somehow incomplete, he turned to other ways to satisfy himself. Power, wealth, knowlege. Goals he also had in life. Then, they were unreachable, now they were so easy to get. And as his knowledge and power grew, so did his emptyness. And all it takes is one Devil to turn your own feelings against you...Late on night, when he was delving into the secrets of protecting his wealth and his library using creatures that fully obey you, he found a piece in one of his tomes. It contained instruction for a ritual to gain insight in the construction of magical guardians.Sometimes, he could even see the irony of the whole situation. Of course he had skimmed the tome when he bought it. And he specially prepared it to make it resistant to insects and water damage. Never had he noticed that piece of paper. He should have been suspicious, but back then, his lust for power was greater than his common sense. Even the sacrifice of elves and humans seemed perfectly logical ... at that time.That same night, he performed the ritual. The thing that appeared was obviously not human. It radiated immense power. But it kept his end of the 'bargain'. It filled his mind with arcane secrets, so obscure, so evil that most mortal would have gone insane, or maybe died from shock. He knew the creation process for what was commonly known as a Helmed Horror.He began the construction. It was a diffictuly task, mentally draining, and costing many GP. When he finally had it completely assembled, he searched his mind for the activation method. And what he found shocked even him ... well, a little.He thralled a cleric and forced him to return his family. They weren't delighted to see him again. They had lived quite a nice live with their God. And now, to have that taken away and to face your killer, especially when he's family, wasn't exactely something that made them happy. But their power was no match for his skills. He enslaved them, tortured them. Made them suffer for weeks. And finally, he killed them again, only to capture their souls to activate his masterpiece: the Helmed Horror.The Helmed Horror...yes. For years it was his pride. Too bad he didn't have any family left to create another one. Together with it, he became a assassin of some renown. Eventually, even the High Lords of Waterdeep were too afraid to accept any gift that looked valuable without checking it, double checking it and casting Disjunction on it, just to make sure that it wasn't a Helmed Horror. Janos made good money. He was a high skilled, versatile, morally bankrupt man. For one like him, there are always deals to be made, and money or power to be gained. But when the years passed a strange feeling came to him. Guilt. He could surpress it. His family had hurt him. Many times. His act was justified. ... right? And with his guilt, his doubt grew. He became restless, wanted the satisfaction of a job well done to ingore his feelings.His jobs became more frequent. His methods more brutal. His pleasure of his work declined and his doubt and guilt kept on growing. He was losing it. Sometimes, he spent entire weeks, just sitting in his chair, looking over the infinite vastness of The Shaar. Sometimes he'd go to rather unpopulated area's of Toril, and kill everything he encountered. And it was this random slaughtering that evenrually brought him to reason.One night, after he had burned a few fishermen in Chult, he passed out. He remembered passing out. And he remembered waking up. But when he woke up, he wasn't the same anymore. He had a strange desire. To kill, to hurt. There was a pain in his head, a hunger in his soul and ... a mark on his shoulder. He recognised it. Mephistopheles had claimed him. That night, he fought the pain, he fought the hunger. Back in his tower, he called out to all the Gods. That someone would have mercy. He noticed nothing... he went to his room. He accepted what he had done. He accepted that what he had done was wrong ... so wrong. He felt the guilt, and didn't fight it. For the first time, he accepted what he had done. And he cried. He felt totally helpless, totally alone. The Gods had forsaken him.He saw the Helmed Horror. It had changed. Not so much physically: for anyone else, it had stayed the same. For Janos, however, it was, instead of his most priced possession and most useful tool, the embodiement of his guilt. The Helmed Horror was a burden he had to carry. That moment, he made a vow. He swore to all the Modrons of Mechanus that he would free his family from their prison, and that he personally would see to it that they went to where they belonged...Then came the Oerth War. He fought. With renewed strenght he fought. He had a goal in life, well unlife, but that's not the point. He fought against the shade, side by side with people who clang to life. People he used to mock. They died around him, selflessly sacrificing them for the greater good, for the survival of Toril. And maybe, just maybe, he thought while he saw them fall around him, is giving your life for a good cause better than clinging to your hopeless life. The truth of that thought struck him, hard. It was him who clanged so desperately to life that he had passed through death, only to live forever. He was the person he mocked, he laughed at. He bowed his head in shame, ready to kill himself and taking as many shades as possible with him. But he didn't. He still clang to life. And he had a goal. He was different ... he thought.With the Oerth War ended, and a Domain of Hope created, Janos hopes to find a way to release his family from the prison. Eventually, he want to be forgiven, so that he too may find rest, the rest that he denied himself. The rest that he will never get if Mephistopheles has it his way...*** This is the updated version. There may be some modifications to the character (I still have to spend like 50000 GP and 2100 XP), but this is his background (I might add some details if I feel like it, but don't expect spectacular changes). Also, his skills and equipment got a bit modified. Still a Darkskull though <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" /> ***</blockquote>

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