Melani Starsmite's page

Step 1 Satin is an attractive woman, usually dressed in tall robes and distinctive green lipstick. Her lustrous black hair shines. But conversation can be uncomfortable, thanks to her desire for manipulation and sharp tongue. She enjoys opportunities to test her ability to mix truth with half-truths and outright lies. Her faith has made Satin’s eyes seldom change whatever emotion she imitates or performs.
Step 2 She wants to create the ultimate altar, a fiery gate to Hell. Firstly by gaining divine magic, arcane friends and wealth, and then summoning more and more powerful devils. Finally the sacrifice of creatures of mortal and angelic strength during a ritual of living hell which should lead to the right atmosphere.
My goal as a player is simple, Satin is certain in her faith and I’d like to see that faith tested – especially where her friend and one-time lover Kol is concerned. Kol’s family should bring into focus – how bad her own childhood was. Further along how far down the dark path will her desire for revenge on Iomedae take her. One final secret could be what were the circumstances of her conception - something her mother never told her saying "she was a curse."
Step 3 Satin knows that Kol must die, but doesn’t want to be the cause. She must if her own future is to be guaranteed. She isn’t afraid to kill him, but she has never done that to anyone before. Satin prefers to act through others. Her secret is a fear that her heart may not be strong enough to do it.
Clariona, the mother of Satin, is waiting in Longacre to capture or kill her daughter.
Step 4 Harlotta the imp is a friend to Satin, but she isn’t sure of his motives and high intelligence. Although the imp is drawn to her, he is never around much unless he wants to be.
Kol is a central character to the future of Satin, she has feelings for him, the one friend she ever trusted. Maybe there is a way to keep her friend alive by trickery, more likely he is destined to die.
Sathursta, the fire mage of Asmodeus, is an extremely fanatical and ambitious servant. He is headed to Longacre with many plans for his future. And as a former lover, he hates his rival, Satin.
Step 5 She flinches at the sight of any dog or hound. A big one attacked her during her childhood, it was meant to be playful but she was too small and afraid to even forget the event. Another led to her capture in Vermillus.
Secondly Satin prays between 10 and midnight, her faith is renewed by this ritual and she becomes waspish if interrupted.
Lastly she is more than happy to let others lead and do the heavy lifting. Never has Satin believed in equality, but she knows her own strengths and abilities.

A Golden Dawn
Satin’s parents, Clariona and Severnal Del Pierre, were at home in Kenabres and in the faith of The Lady of Valour, Iomedae. Their son and daughter grew dutiful and obedient too, with the same silver blond hair of the family line. Severnal was a priest destined for high office when his wife fell pregnant again. A termination was discussed, especially because Clariona had entered training as a knight Templar, but mercifully they both agreed where their duty lay.

Morning has Broken
Severnal held his wife’s hand through the pain, deafened by her screams of pain, until Satin was borne in a slithering wash of bright green blood. A baby’s first wail is a sign of health usually but he saw his devil child’s forked tongue. Clariona had already fainted from exhaustion while her husband left in horror. Clariona did not recover for two days, didn’t understand why no one visited her, and was kept away from her new born, told by her bodyservant that Satin was feverish. Then Severnal arrived and explained about the “bloody green goblin” she had birthed. Angry at her obvious betrayal and infidelity, her demanding husband forcibly set out the lost face in Kenabres if they all remained. Weakly, Clariona agreed to look after the children, not realising that Severnal meant alone and away from the capital. Clariona gradually faced up to a future alone. Her husband had chosen Iomedae over his family and she would never see him again.

Alone and Lonely
Vermillus on the coast of Lastwall became their home. Clariona, no longer on a path to paladinhood, joined the port watch and rose to the rank of Captain. Her blunt honesty and strong sword arm was matched by a will to succeed. But at home she had no time for motherhood, gradually her son and daughter left to be with their father back in Kenabres. A place she could not go. That left Satin. And left she was. Her mother’s blame, the name of green goblin and the lack of any real company drove Satin out onto the streets.
There she played with the watch children and street urchins, learning to hide her true nature behind a mask. Time passed more slowly for a half fiend like her but eventually Satin befriended a boy – Kol. Together they fell into scrapes and other dangers by day and night. Kol was a runner for a local gang, a boy able to handle himself and more than a little in love with Satin. Coupling was a savage and brutal battle of wills, leaving both of them drained. But she enjoyed their time together and home held no warmth. But slowly she learnt to trick her mother into telling a little of the watch patrols and its methods. Clariona never realised that the information Satin passed directly onto Kol and his gang. She became valuable for the first time in her life, enjoying the power of deception.
But then one night Kol and Satin attempted a burglary. Partly because she was a great lookout with her infernal darkvision. Unfortunately Kol clumsily woke the occupants by mistake. Before either could escape – the owner set his hounds free. Satin’s legs still bear the bitemark although she tried to cover the wound as the Watch took them.

When the wounds came to light, the green blood led the Officer to the truth of Clariona's past. Then the Knight Commander of the Watch gave her a simple choice, leave or perform a ritual of expiation – to mete out the punishment on Satin. Clariona wanted her career and position of authority, her very life, more than her child’s love.
In the open square of Vermillus, before a crowd of onlookers, Clariona whipped Kol until he collapsed. Then his gang took the man away for healing. Satin could not believe what happened next. Her mother smiled and began to whip the clothes and flesh off her back, mercilessly and with pleasure, Satin’s sobs increased as her robe fell away with the wounds spurting green blood as the people cheered. Finally in a prepared speech, the watch captain explained who her was, a devil child that should be sent back to Kenabres for trial.

Red sky at night
As the sun turned from gold to crimson, behind the warehouses of the docks, Satin gripped her jail bars and vowed to all the Gods that she would get her revenge. The words of Iomedae, duty, honour, and valour, were all false and weak people twisted them to suit their own ends. They would pay dearly for their lies.
And her father answered. That is her true father who had lurked in the shadows. And Satin listened. Eating up the truths that the strong understood duty and order kept the weak in line. With his help, she could be one of the strong. No one else listened – they never had – and so Asmodeus had mastered another willing servant.
As the guard caravan headed north, a newly healed Kol and his gang broke Satin free with the help of a three-eyed imp and his poisonous tail. As they all left, the cackling devil stabbed each fallen guard again and again, a memory that the pair never forgot. That night the imp, Harlotta, found them alone planning to travel to Cheliax. The consular imp agreed to take them, on a promise that she would join the church and he would not. The outlaws consented and soon enough entered the borders of the Kingdom where Harlotta and his oath split them. Kol headed for Longacre and Satin for Westcrown. In Longacre, Kol married a local merchant's daughter and settled down into the family business.

The shadow of a burning brazier
Harlotta led Satin deeper into Cheliax – each step a little bit hotter with the imp fanning the flames of her anger. Yes she had been betrayed by her dutiful father of Iomedae. The same applied to her loveless brother and sister, leaving Satin alone with her mother. Her mother – the woman who whipped her bloody. Satin gained automatic status as a tiefling, the consular imp opening doors into the faith. There in the words of the Asmodean Monogram, Satin found a calling. The words resonated with her. Duty. Obedience. Mastery. And as a fiendish vessel, her mentor, Tamard, the priest of the Lord of the Pit, found fertile soil for the future. A woman of rare passion, fueled by hate for Iomedae and versed in trickery.
She naturally joined the ranks of the Healers, devilkin capable of spotting strength in others by channeling the hellfire of Asmodeus.

A Bad Egg Boiled
Then Clariona came to Longacre. Working for the insurgents, but also seeking any signs of her evil daughter she stumbled across Kol one day. The elder woman's desire for vengeance led her to kidnap Kol's children, blackmail him into sending Satin a letter to bring her to Longacre. A love letter to trap Satin. And to safeguard her plan, Clariona captured Kol along with his wife and children. Later on she would decide what to do with them but for now Clariona lied to her friends that they were evil, spies for Cheliax.

A shepherd’s warning
There came a day when the secluded training was over, Tamard gave Satin a final audience. He showed her Kol’s letter that spake of love and friendship. Tamard explained that Kol was her next test of faith. Kill or be killed. Simple - go to Longacre and put Kol's heart in a box. Satin bowed and left, spending hours in preparation, buying equipment and learning all she could of the town and its people.
Then she prayed. It turned into a vision with a furnace filled with hot screams and wailing death culminating in Satin’s success along a path ending with an altar of hellfire and damnation. The greater glory would come from the ending of the Reclamation. Satin had to create a place of intense worship which would one day bridge the divide to the Throne of the Archfiend. She held that vision in her green heart.

A Snake at the breast
So Satin left. Prepared and ready to kill Kol. Meanwhile Tamard turned to another - Sathursta, a mage capable of hiding in crowds, spying and watching to ensure Tamard's orders were followed. His last order was to kill Satin and Kol if the woman failed his test.

A New Dawn
Now Clariona watches and waits – an elderly bodyguard. Bitter and desperate because time is against her, the mother wants her daughter captured or killed.

I'm a fifty year old player living in the UK and the number of posts doesn't truly matter to me. Its how much energy and effort we all put in and whether or not the team gels - especially when its only four. My best games have had players willing to chat about anything and everything including sport, family and real life. Pathfinder is my favourite edition of the game, but Greyhawk and Ravenloft are my favourite settings. Currently most of pbp games have slowed down although I have shelved those characters for when and if the DMs have found their mojo again. P.S. I prefer playing spellcasters but I'm going through a "rogue" phase.

Many clerics pray to or make evil bargains with fiendish powers, devoting body and soul to the insane plans and wicked aims of their despicable patrons. But these mortal clerics are often just shallow beings searching for quick power or the caress of true and final oblivion—few truly grasp the full scope of the entities they worship. Fiendish vessels, through their fiendish heritage, share an innate connection with their patron, and that connection grants them understanding and power. A fiendish vessel has the following class features.
Alignment: Unlike normal clerics, a fiendish vessel's alignment must match her patron's.
Domains: A fiendish vessel must select the Daemon, Demon, or Devil subdomain ( 88–90) as one of her domain choices, based on the fiendish patron she chooses to serve.
Channel Evil (Su): At 1st level, a fiendish vessel, rather than channeling positive or negative energy, instead channels the pure evil power of her fiendish patron. This ability is similar to channeling negative energy, but instead of healing undead and dealing damage to living creatures, this blast of evil energy automatically heals evil creatures and debilitates good creatures within its burst.
Channeling this evil causes a burst that affects all creatures in a 30-foot radius centered on the fiendish vessel. In the case of evil creatures, the amount of damage healed is equal to 1d4 points of damage and increases by 1d4 at every two levels beyond 1st (to a maximum of 10d4 at 19th level). Good creatures in the burst receive a Will saving throw to negate this damage. Good creatures that fail their saving throws are sickened for 1d4 rounds. Good creatures with a number of Hit Dice less than or equal to the fiendish vessel's class level – 5 that fail their saving throws are nauseated for 1 round and then sickened for 1d4 rounds instead. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + 1/2 the fiendish vessel's level + the fiendish vessel's Charisma bonus. Neutral creatures are unaffected by this burst of evil energy.
A fiendish vessel may channel this energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + her Charisma modifier. Doing so is a standard action that does not provoke attacks of opportunity. A fiendish vessel can choose whether or not to include herself in this effect. A fiendish vessel must present her unholy symbol or use her familiar as the divine focus for this ability.
For the purposes of feats that affect channel energy, this ability counts as channeling negative energy. If the feat changes the way the fiendish vessel channels or deals damage with her channeling, use the amount of damage this ability heals evil creatures to determine the damage-dealing potential of the affected ability. For instance, if a 5th-level fiendish vessel takes the Channel Smite feat, her channeling deals an additional 3d4 points of damage to living creatures on a successful hit (though they may save to negate the damage).
This ability replaces channel energy.

Fiendish Familiar: At 3rd level, a fiendish vessel's patron rewards her with a fiendish servant. The fiendish vessel gains an imp, quasit, or cacodaemon familiar based on the patron she worships. This ability is identical to the wizard's arcane bond with a familiar and the Improved Familiar feat, using the fiendish vessel's character level in place of the wizard level.

This tiny fiend acts like a perverse, manifest moral compass. Furthermore, this familiar can act as a living divine focus and unholy symbol for her spellcasting if the fiendish vessel so desires, which means that when she uses her channel evil ability, its burst can be centered on the familiar instead, as long as that familiar is within 30 feet and line of sight. A fiendish vessel's familiar tends to be fawning and subservient to the fiendish vessel. Should her familiar die, the fiendish vessel's patron replaces the familiar with an identical one within 1 week, without the need for a special ritual. Furthermore, the fiendish familiar gains the following special abilities beyond the standard familiar special abilities.

Fiendish Augury (Sp): At 3rd level, the fiendish vessel can ask the familiar whether a particular course of action will bring good or bad results for her in the immediate future. This ability acts like the augury spell, with a caster level equal to the fiendish vessel's level, with the familiar acting as the mouthpiece for the spell. This ability can be used once per day.

Fiendish Divination (Sp): At 9th level, the fiendish vessel can use a more powerful form of divination to gain intelligence from her patron through her fiendish familiar. This ability acts like the divination spell, with a caster level equal to the fiendish vessel's level; the familiar acts as the mouthpiece for the spell. This ability can be used once per day.

Extra Divination (Sp): At 13th level, the fiendish vessel can gain intelligence from her patron more often each day. She can use fiendish divination up to 3 times per day.

Fiendish Summoning: When casting summon monster spells, a fiendish vessel is limited to summoning fiendish creatures and evil outsiders of the same alignment as her patron.

Associated Domains: Evil, Law.
Replacement Power: The following granted power replaces the touch of evil power of the Evil domain. Devils are a race of lawful evil outsiders.
Hell's Corruption (Su): You can cause a creature to become more susceptible to corruption as a melee touch attack. Creatures touched take a –2 penalty on all saving throws and must roll all opposed skill checks twice, taking the worse result. This effect lasts for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your cleric level (minimum 1). You can use this ability for a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Scythe of Evil (Su): At 8th level, you can give a weapon touched the unholy special weapon quality for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your cleric level. You can use this ability once per day at 8th level, and an additional time per day for every four levels beyond 8th.
Domain Spells: 1st—command, 2nd—align weapon (evil only), 3rd—suggestion, 4th—unholy blight, 5th—dispel good, 6th—planar binding (devils only), 7th—blasphemy, 8th—unholy aura, 9th—summon monster IX (evil spell only).

Granted Powers: You are a master of illusions and deceptions. Bluff, Disguise, and Stealth are class skills.
Copycat (Sp): You can create an illusory double of yourself as a move action. This double functions as a single mirror image and lasts for a number of rounds equal to your cleric level, or until the illusory duplicate is dispelled or destroyed. You can have no more than one copycat at a time. This ability does not stack with the mirror image spell. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Wisdom modifier.
Master's Illusion (Sp): At 8th level, you can create an illusion that hides the appearance of yourself and any number of allies within 30 feet for 1 round per cleric level. This ability otherwise functions like the spell veil. The save DC to disbelive this effect is equal to 10 + 1/2 your cleric level + your Wisdom modifier. The rounds do not need to be consecutive.
Domain Spells: 1st—disguise self, 2nd—invisibility, 3rd—nondetection, 4th—confusion, 5th—false vision, 6th—mislead, 7th—screen, 8th—mass invisibility, 9th—time stop.

+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Charisma: Tieflings are quick in body and mind, but are inherently strange and unnerving.
Darkvision: Tieflings see in the dark for up to 60 feet.
Skilled: Tieflings gain a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Stealth checks.
Fiendish Resistance: Tieflings have cold resistance 5, electricity resistance 5, and fire resistance 5.
Pass for Human: Discrimination against tieflings with horrifically fiendish features is so intense that even tieflings look up to those precious few of their kind who can pass as human. These tieflings have otherworldly features that are so subtle, they aren't often noticed unless the tiefling points them out (for example, eyes that flash red in the throes of passion, or fingernails that are naturally hard and pointed). Such a tiefling doesn't need to succeed at a Disguise check to appear to be human and count as humanoid (human) as well as outsider (native) for all purposes (such as humanoid-affecting spells like charm person or enlarge person). The tiefling does not automatically gain his associated outsider language (but may select it as a bonus language if his Intelligence score is high enough), and he may not select other racial traits that would grant him obviously fiendish features (such as the fiendish sprinter, maw or claw, prehensile tail, scaled skin, or vestigial wings alternate racial traits). This ability alters the tiefling's type, subtype, and languages.
Languages: Tieflings begin play speaking Common and either Abyssal or Infernal. Tieflings with high intelligence scores can choose from the following: Abyssal, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Goblin, Halfling, Infernal, and Orc.