Love it. All of it.
Azlain has a complicated relationship with the Order of the Rack. He's very helpful to them, but only after he's learned forbidden knowledge for himself. Their mission helps ensure secrets stay secret, and Azlain likes that.
As a talented lawyer, he'll just have to find another loophole to exploit which would allow him to legally have forbidden knowledge.
Azlain already fits the bill for their goals and methods, so perhaps he's secretly a member of their order, or will become one? I'm not sure if a character has to actually have levels in a Hellknight prestige class in order to be a Hellknight.
Edit: While doing some research into Hellknights, it occurred to me that the wording of the Evangelist's Aligned Class ability would allow it to be applied to another prestige class.
I'm guessing this wasn't intended, but I'm not sure if it's actually an overpowered option or not considering the number of issues in qualifying for two prestige classes, and the fact that most prestige classes paizo has put out are sub-par.
I wanted to bring it up, as it would allow Azlain to be an actual undercover Hellknight Signifier. Totally fine if you don't want to allow it. It was just a thought.
@ Yiannisph,
Looking at Vulpus I can see the Kitsune could make an excellent fit for the group. You clearly have a mind to make up ideas for the mission Queen Abrogail will eventually give the PCs, corrupting other nations for Cheliax on the down-lo.
The fact that he's a Bard will help, as will the fact he's a Kitsune.
My concern is his near anti-social personality. Can you see 'Vulpus' evolving his personality so that he trusts the other PCs and shares with them what he learns as he works with them in the campaign? There has been, and I anticipate rather a lot more, much splitting-up of the party. One PC goes to deal with NPC A and another PC goes to deal with NPC B. And we usually segue when the PCs get back together to compare notes and what they've learned. If Vulpus isn't the kind of guy who wants to share info with the PCs, I don't know how well he'll fit with the needs of the campaign.
Of course, you can come up with any reason you want to make him view the group differently than he views the rest of people-kind -- maybe he just gets tired of being so alone and just wants to risk trying to trust someone -- a PC. Maybe Asmodeus comes to him in a vision. Maybe he joins the PCs for mutual gain and when Queen Abrogail summons you all for the long-term mission overseas, scares him into joining the group completely -- whatever reason you want to come up with.
That's entirely fair. I've made him out to be rather paranoid, probably went a bit overboard. I can tone that down a bit, but I think that kind of mentality is the only way you get a character with that set of abilities.
Working with others as equal is going to be new for him, but he can certainly warm up to the idea. He also knows that, having made a deal with House Thrune, he best keep it. While he's working towards being a master of deception, Cheliax has at its disposal many casters of incredible power. He wouldn't enter that deal with any intention of betraying it. It could even be an Infernal Contract if you'd like, though I'd like to avoid constraining him as much as that would imply.
That's what I was imagining bringing him together with the party, despite his original nature. But I'll go back and tone down his personality so he's been mostly a loner, rather than aggressively anti-social
Despite this, it would take a while before he was totally honest about personal details about himself and his history, but he wouldn't lie about information gathering or objectives.
I have updated the personality section to reflect these new ideas, as well as including some personal reasons that Vulpus wants his interactions with Thrune to be successful.
I hope this addresses your concerns.
I need an Alignment for Lucius Difax. (and his Vigilante Alter-Ego)
@ Azlain,
I'm ready to introduce Azlain when you are.
You are currently making your discovery in Delhaven in Parego Spera -- I'll PM you with the details. You can reply with how you want to go about the next step.
Damn - if I'd realised this was open again I'd have thrown Ahreni, Fallen Angel into the mix. UnRogue/Assassin/Master Spy... sounds like the perfect game for her.
Let me know if you ever need someone else? :)
@ Lucius Difax and Azlain,
Feel free to introduce your PCs in Discussion. A quick and brief show of the Crunch, your mechanics & build, is sufficient.
We can get you into Gameplay almost immediately. And we can continue, obviously, to communicate through PM when needed.
Sorry for my absence the last few days. Last week was rough and I'm only now back on top of life again.
DM, I got your PM and I like the information you gave me. I'm pretty much ready to go.
Did you see the spoiler above? Can I get a ruling on that?
How do you want to handle Azlain's introduction? Should I just jump in with a first post, or would you like to set the scene?
I briefly looked at the HellKnight Order of the Glyph then promptly forgot about it. Of course.
Looking at it now -- at what level do you get the 2nd and 3rd Boons? The 2nd Boon is fine at 13th but Oh Boy, that 3rd Boon is wicked.
But the Crunch doesn't scare me too much. I'm trying to get a better handle on the Fluff.
Confirm or modify the following:
Azlain wants secret lore at all costs -- like Geryon. But he will readily burn books for the Order of the Rack and as a supporter of the Order of the Glyph, will tow the line on House Thrune's version of the True History of Cheliax. As long as he gets to learn the actual history first.
.
Have you taken a gander at the HellKnight tab in the Campaign Info section?
You may be interested in the Order of the Cipher.
I purposely didn't include the Order of the Glyph because it seemed almost nonsensical to me when I looked it over, way back when. It seemed redundant to me with the Order of the Rack, and since it came from the Order of the Scourge, it just seemed odd to me. And maybe even too narrow of purpose.
But if you really like the Order of the Glyph I can absolutely take a fuller look at it and get an idea of how it would function in my game -- our game.
I believe the 3rd boon is gained at 20th level, and as far as I can tell, the PrCs don't grant early access, like the divine ones.
I briefly looked at the HellKnight Order of the Glyph then promptly forgot about it. Of course.
Looking at it now -- at what level do you get the 2nd and 3rd Boons? The 2nd Boon is fine at 13th but Oh Boy, that 3rd Boon is wicked.
It's 9th level for the PRC which would be 15th or 16th for Azlain.
Confirm or modify the following:
Azlain wants secret lore at all costs -- like Geryon. But he will readily burn books for the Order of the Rack and as a supporter of the Order of the Glyph, will tow the line on House Thrune's version of the True History of Cheliax. As long as he gets to learn the actual history first.
Confirm. All that is accurate. He'd even be happy to work with the Order of the Rack directly to purge anything he discovers from, well, everyone else. Secrets work best when they're really really secret.
Have you taken a gander at the HellKnight tab in the Campaign Info section?
You may be interested in the Order of the Cipher.
I hadn't seen that order. I like it. Similar in purpose and function, but with a much wider scope. That's definitely more Azlain's style. He doesn't actually care much about the secret history of Cheliax beyond the fact that it's a secret. Azlain is good at playing politics, but is actually fairly apolitical. He sees it all as a means to an end.
Basically, Azlain is a complex layer of lies.
At current he is a male lawyer, who is a now-famous member of the Darklight Sisterhood, but is also a secret member of the Order of the Cypher (posing as a covert agent of the Order of the Scourge) on loan to the Order of the Rack, sent to root out secrets that the Rack might be wastefully destroying, all because he's really just a devour disciple of Geryon.
Oh, I like complicated. It's what makes PbP fun for me.