Beshra Bleak's page

A dual-cursed oracle must choose two curses at 1st level. One of these curses (oracle’s choice) never changes its abilities as the oracle gains levels; for example, an oracle with clouded vision never gains darkvision 60 feet, blindsense, or blindsight. The other curse comes with its normal benefits.

Class Skills

A dual-cursed oracle gains no additional class skills from her mystery.

Bonus Spells

These bonus spells replace the oracle’s mystery bonus spells at these levels: ill omen (2nd), oracle’s burden (4th), bestow curse (6th).
Revelations

A dual-cursed oracle gains a new revelation at 5th level and 13th level. These are in addition to the normal revelations she receives at 3rd level, 7th level, and so on. In addition, the cursed oracle may select the following revelations in place of a mystery revelation.

Revelations:

Misfortune (Ex): At 1st level, as an immediate action, you can force a creature within 30 feet to reroll any one d20 roll that it has just made before the results of the roll are revealed. The creature must take the result of the reroll, even if it’s worse than the original roll. Once a creature has suffered from your misfortune, it cannot be the target of this revelation again for 1 day.

Wind Sight (Ex): You ignore penalties on Perception checks based on wind and the first 100 feet of distance. At 7th level, as a standard action, you can see and hear into any area (as if using clairaudience and clairvoyance) within range as long as there is an unobstructed path for air to travel between you and the target area (this does not require line of effect, meaning the path can turn corners and go through spaces no smaller than 1 inch in diameter). You can use this ability a number of rounds per day equal to your oracle level, but these rounds do not need to be consecutive.

Curses

Blackened: Your hands and forearms are shriveled and blackened, as if you had plunged your arms into a blazing fire, and your thin, papery skin is sensitive to the touch.

Effect: You take a –4 penalty on weapon attack rolls, but you add burning hands to your list of spells known.

Legalistic: Whenever you break your word (either purposefully or unintentionally), you become sickened for 24 hours or until you meet your obligation, whichever comes first. However, once per day, you can make a vow to yourself that grants a +4 morale bonus on any one roll you make while trying to fulfill a promise made to another individual.

She has a fondness for hoop earrings, and tends to wear dark soft clothing, favoring purples and blacks. She almost always wears a pair of elbow length purple leather gloves - taking them off only when alone unless she has no option - that hide her burned hands and forearms.

Going through her mother's possessions she found wanted posters, and mementos for the Pirate Captain, Cutthroat Catelyn. And another poster torn and crumpled depicting the notorious reaver Johnathan Bleak, known throughout the sea as Bloody Bleak, Captain of the Crimson Guillotine.

Seventeen years old Beshra sought out Captain Bleak, asking about for his wherabouts, leaving the tiny apartment she and her mother had shared with their scant few valuables. A day later she awoke, in a filthy bed in a cheap dockside Inn, to find a dagger at her throat and a fearsome white haired woman studying her intently. This was the Priestess Kerith Windblown, her mother's former first mate and servant of Besmara the Pirate Goddess.

Kerith told her how they had been captured by Bloody Bleak, and how after he stole all their plunder the Captains began a torried, on again, off again, love affair. Sweet had two demonic cat headed advisors, creatures called Rakshasas who worked fell sorceries on his behalf, but Captain Catelyn managed to slay one of the monsters in their initial clash.

When Cutthroat Catelyn discovered she was pregnant Sweet seemed please, and immediately set out to sea. His reaving became worse than ever seemingly more focused upon butchery than plunder, he began sending plague ships into smaller ports, and torturing victims for weeks before killing them. As news of his evil deeds got back to her even Captain Cutthroat was horrified, and she began to notice something terrible happening to the child in her womb, it seemed to have claws and she could feel a malevolent presence forming inside her.

Catelyn visited a Priestess of Iomedae who told her her unborn child was possessed, acting as a vessel for the return of a Rakshasa. Great evil done by the parents of a babe during pregnancy allowed the creature in the Priestess explained, and the only way to counter it was for her to atone for her sins and try to become good. So Cutthroat Catelyn gave up, her ship, her plundered riches, and her name, for her child and fled into obscurity, spending the next five years living in a temple of Iomedae as a servant. After five years she was asked to leave, having seduced a half dozen priests and acolytes.

Beshra was born wrong, her eyes were distinctly feline, and the tops of her ears extended catlike covered in soft black fur. Worst of all she had a panther's tail. Even so she was a beautiful babe, her oddities making her exotic as much as frightening.

She has always been aware of an alien presence dwelling within her, the impotent trapped soul of the Rakshasa Tharash. Over the years the two have reached an uneasy compromise, rather than engaging in an eternal struggle for control of Beshra's body they would make a series of deals, whenever Beshra needed access to the Rakshasa's knowledge or to be able to read the thoughts of those around her Tharash would exact a promise in exchange, usually for some minor evil deed, or for her to stop praying to Iomedae, which was pretty dull anyway.

Upon her thirteenth birthday the Rakshasa exacted a promise that she would drink a bottle of rum, from the tavern her mother now worked at. Curious anyway, she happily agreed, and once she was half way through the bottle the Tharash's offer to let her use his ability to detect thoughts once a day in exchange for letting him have control of her body until dawn seemed more than reasonable, especially when he said that she need only, "say the word," and he would return control sooner.

The Rakshasa killed a dozen people, laying about him with magical flames and snatching up a sword as he sought out the woman who had slain him, and then trapped him - her mother. But despite her years of exile from the seas Cutthroat Catelyn was no easy foe, she battled Tharash in the tavern even as his magics turned the tavern into a blazing inferno. Finally she mamanged to wrestle her daughter's slighter frame to the ground, apologize and force her hands into the flame. She held them there for long minutes until the Rakshasa's unholy resistance to flame was overcome and the skin began to blacken and char.

Beshra who had been wailing impotently in her own mind the entire time, her drunken stupor swiftly faded, finally had the chance - with the Rakasha reeling in agony - to rasp, "the word." And she was in control of herself once more, her arms blackened ruins as her mother dragged her from the burning wreckage.

After the fire her mother watched her with constant suspicion, and even though she understood it, and could feel Tharash watching with hate from her eyes, she began to avoid her mother as much as possible. Then she found her dead and could not believe how she had treated the woman who had done and given up so much for her. Then Tharash pounced upon her weakness once again and offered her the name of her mothers murderer if she would agree to become a Pirate. She agreed.

But knowing she was not ready, and that with her ruined hands she would never wield a cutlass like her mother she asked Kerith to teach her to become a Priestess of Besmara. Kerith's methods proved unsuitable, but Beshra seemed to find an instant conenction with the Pirate Queen goddess, as soon as she entered her shrine. She spent a few years learning with Kerith and then set out seeking a berth from which to begin her rise.