Xeno the black widow's page

spoiler=Background of House Aquila]
House Aquila was once a major house of Kintargo in old Cheliax under the God Aroden with many of it's leading lights served as generals for the empire. House Aquila's fortune was linked to Aroden and his death meant the slow death of the house. That was until Elenora's father Lucius Aquila. Lucius come to power over the suspicious death of his father Marcus, a proud man who headed a house with a great name but no power or finance, and who kept faith with a long dead God. When Lucius came to power he lost no time, forging deals with not only with the church of Asmodeus but also with one of Asmodeus's more ambitious devils underlings. As a result of coupling House Aquila to this fiendish path Lucius has acquired some of the house's old power and much wealth but also a daughter born of devil mother, Elenora.
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spoiler=Background Elenora Aquila]
Born into luxury Elenora had little to worry about. Her nanny and maids served her every whim as a young child and later governesses and maids served the increasingly lazy young woman. Her father, Lucius, distressed by his pride of joy’s lack of motivation tried various methods to motivate her (Long talks about duty, forbidding her to go to parties, taking away money and toys, hitting her etc.) until he found the key. He kidnapped and sold her best friend into slavery, leaving enough evidence for her to know it was him.
It worked, with revenge as her driving force she threw herself into her studies of martial and magical studies. Not only learning to make the most of her quick mind and body but also as much as she could about her father’s business.
What she learnt scared and horrified her. He used the poor and defenceless, particularly young woman to make a fortune (PG13 version). Her vengeance against her father gradually widened to a wish to help those he or similar people in the city had hurt.
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spoiler=Now]
Xeno has been operating for a year now. Dealing with farther's business or any of the institutionalized immorality of the city has turned out to be much more difficult than she had suspected. Taking out the odd corrupt or evil individual within an organisation at most times isn't difficult however, they are just replaced, usually by someone just as bad. The kingpins who control these organisations are either too well protected, or hard to identify.
Her father's businesses are the same if not worse, even striking at the middle people are hard. It is as if the demons Lucius has deals with give them warnings. She has spent several evenings waiting on a roof top on the route that the Madam of one her father's brothels always uses to go home only to find on that night she used a different route. She has freed a few of the slaves that work for him but half the time they turn to old work just as a way to earn a living.
As a result she has mostly been dealing with individual thieves, muggers and rapists rather than making the large impact to Westcrown that she would like and hoped to make.
Lucius is, of course, having her watched and followed and is secretly proud of what he has made of his daughter, she has the skills to make family Aquila famous again. His spies have even have mislead the authorities to avoid her being caught by the Hellknights, or created a distraction to stop from trying to interfere with a crime being perpetrated by people with vastly more skill with the sword than Elenora possesses. He doesn't want her killed during her rebellious youth before she settles down to kills him and take control the the family businesses.
Since Barzillai Thrune's come to power Xeno has been laying low but keeping an eye on her city. It has come increasing clear that while her father oppression must be faced it will not be possible until the power that allows people like him to thrive is removed. For that she needs help, rumors indicate that surviving members of the resistance to the mayor will be at the protest.
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spoiler=The Protest]In Xeno's opinion The protest is a silly idea. The mayor will come down on it hard. I tight group of political enemies could be taken out with a half dozen fireballs. That said he probably isn't at that point yet. Better to scare them with the hellknights and citizens' militia group, then fireball the more extreme group that form the next protest.
Xeno is attending the protest for several reasons: There will be trouble and she want to be there to help as many as she can escape the disaster. She is confident that she can allude almost any hellknight and everyone chasing her will be one least killing, and or arresting those that can't defend themselves. She might be able to identify others that she can work with in the longer term and in more intelligent ways to overthrow the mayor. Lastly she suspects her father might be there as a member of the citizens' militia group, its unlikely that he would do the heavy lifting but he might be there coordinating things, and it would be fun to rub some dirt in his noise.
Mechanically: She is looking for trouble but in a totally different sense than indicated in the players guide, so 'protesting the government' the best fit.
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spoiler=Rumours]Rumours of Xeno have spread in Kintargo. Most of the rumours are among the poor where she is usually called The Black Widow, both because she dresses like a wife in mourning but also because of the black bite marks she leaves behind which some refer to as black widow bites or simply as spider bite (she leave black X's left using arcane mark).
When she is referred to as Xeno it is generally only by those that have had direct contact with her and even then quietly like it is her real name that they are secretly privy to. Few if any that have heard her referred to as Xeno have the knowledge of ancient languages to understand it.
The rumours of her vary from the truth to the ridiculous. It has been claimed that she: A demon opposed to Asmodeus, an angel dedicated to Aroden protecting his ancient city, or a rebel Hellknight. However the most persistent rumours of her origin relate to the Black Widow clothing. They claim that she is either a ghost of young wife killed by her husband or that she killed her own husband (some say on their wedding night) because of something he did to her and either way is now out for revenge on all men.
The Hellknights know of her but as yet she hasn't made enough of a problem to be worth hunting for, however any of them capture or kill her for the chaos she represents. The standard city guard are more varied in their opinion. Most are happy to let her do their job and bet with each other about how long until she turns up dead having irritated the wrong person. Others are greedy for fame and reputation they would acquire if they captured her.
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spoiler=Appearance as Xeno]
Xeno wears simple tight black tunic and breeches along gloves, boots and a veil. Altogether the only part of her physical body that is visible is an occasional lock of red hair poking out from under the veil. On her belt is the thin blade of a rapier and pouch. If given the chance to observe close up the material used in all her clothing is of a very high quality.
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spoiler=Appearance as Elenora Aquila]
Elenora wears elaborate dress, delicately embroidered over its entirety in red and gold, with the occasional touch of black and white for highlights. As if the house colours were not enough prominently embroidered over her chest is the gold eagle flying in a red sky of house Aquila. The dress is long and voluminous from the waist down and on the sleeves but tight around the chest and stomach and her neck and shoulder are bare to show off her unfortunately cheap jewellery. The expensive jewellery sold to pay for more important equipment.
Draped across her neck and shoulders are a number and gold chains of and a gold chocker containing a large red stone, one assumes a ruby. Her hair is fire red is interlaced with more gold in many small plats and gathered together by a hair net of gold studded with many small rubies. Poking through the hair are two small horns, the only obvious sign of her demonic heritage.
Around her waist and almost lost in the fabric of her dress are a rapier and two purses attached to a belt. Inspiration for the clothing
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spoiler=Goals and motivations]
Kill or drive off the Mayor and his flunkies. Destroy her father's businesses and wealth leaving him a beggar or similar. Defend the defenseless (particularly females) and punish the immoral. She will give people a chance to surrender and if they do let them off a warning. Anyone who has had a warning get no more chances or warnings. Find people to work with towards the common goal of purifying the city.
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spoiler=Notes on gender]
I am male, and generally avoid playing female characters out of respect and the fact most males play females as asexual or sexual fantasies. I will try to play Xeno somewhere down in the middle (and PG), at least a dialed down from the portrayal of Zorro in film (Zorro being one of the major inspirations for Xeno). If there are any females in the group firstly I apologize and secondly I would appreciate any advice (or criticisms) on how I am playing her.
Additionally she is in no way inspired by the Avenger's character, the name 'black widow' came from how she is disguising herself.

Elenora Aquila AKA Xeno AKA The black widow
Female Tiefling magus 1
Chaotic Good Medium Outsider/Native

Init +4
Perception -1

• Defence
AC 17, touch 17, flat-footed 13 (+7 Dex, +3 MW Studded leather)
HP 10 (8/lv +2 con/level)
Fort +4, Ref +4, Will +1
resistance 5 vs fire/cold/electricity
CMD 14

• Offence
Spd 30 ft.
Melee
Rapier +4 (1d6 18-20/x2)
Options:
•Spell combat -2 to hit and cast a spell
•Arcane pool enhanced +1 to hit +1 damage
Ranged
None currently

• Statistics
Str 10(+0), Dex 18(+4), Con 14(+2), Int 16(+3), Wis 8(-1), Cha 10(+0)
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 13

Favoured class: +1/4 per lv to arcane pool (Currently = 1/4 = 0).

• Racial Traits
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Charisma: Tieflings are quick in body and mind, but are inherently strange and unnerving.
Native Outsider: Tieflings are outsiders with the native subtype.
Medium: Tieflings are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Normal Speed: Tieflings have a base speed of 30 feet.
Darkvision: Tieflings see in the dark for up to 60 feet.
Skilled: Tieflings gain a +2 racial bonus on Bluff and Stealth checks.
Spell-Like Ability: Tieflings can use darkness once per day as a spell-like ability. The caster level for this ability equals the tiefling's class level.
Fiendish Resistance: Tieflings have cold resistance 5, electricity resistance 5, and fire resistance 5
Fiendish Sorcery: Tiefling sorcerers with the Abyssal or Infernal bloodlines treat their Charisma score as 2 points higher for all sorcerer class abilities.
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.

• Skills (2+3 ranks/level=5 ranks + 2 Background) (Armour check penalty = 0)
Acrobatics untrained = +4*
Bluff untrained = +2 (+2 racial)
Climb 1 rank = +4*
Disguise 1 rank = +1 (additional +2 if using kit)
Intimidate untrained = +0
Knowledge (Local) 1 rank = +4
Knowledge (Nobility)# 1 rank = +8 (+1 Trait and class skill from Child of Kintargo)
Perception untrained = -1
Perform (Dance)# 1 rank = +1
Sense Motive untrained = -1
Spellcraft 1 rank = +7
Stealth 1 rank = +12* (+2 racial, cloak of elvenkind)

*Armour check penalty applied
# Background skills

Concentration = +6 (+1 Caster lv, +3 Int and +2 Trait)

• Languages
Taldan (Common), Infernal, Abyssal, Draconic, Halfling

• Traits
Focused Mind:
Your childhood was either dominated by lessons of some sort (whether musical, academic, or other) or by a horrible home life that encouraged your ability to block out distractions and focus on the immediate task at hand. You gain a +2 trait bonus on concentration checks.
Child of Kintargo:
You had the fortune (or perhaps the misfortune, depending on your viewpoint) to be born into one of Kintargo’s noble families. Your experience growing up among the city’s well-to-do has given you an
upper hand when it comes to knowledge of high society, and you start the game with a modest inheritance. With the new situation in Kintargo brewing, there is much concern about an eventual restructuring of the city’s nobility. Already, one noble estate has burned to the ground under what can best be described as suspicious circumstances, but whether the government or rebels were responsible depends on whom you ask. With this trait, the assumption is that you belong to a minor noble family (and can make up your family name). In this case, your family keeps a small manor in the Greens. If you want to be a member of one of Kintargo’s major noble families, you must take the Noble Scion feat at 1st level.
You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (nobility) checks, and Knowledge (nobility) is always a class skill for you. The Noble Scion feat (see the sidebar on page 11) does not have a Charisma prerequisite for you. In addition, you start play with a noble’s outfit, a signet ring, and a single additional nonmagical item worth no more than 200 gp. If you take the Noble Scion feat, your last name is probably Aulamaxa, Aulorian, Delronge, Jarvis, Jhaltero, Sarini, Tanessen, or Vashnarstill; if you’re not human, you were adopted into the family. If you don’t take this feat, you can
make up your last name.

• Reason for Protest
Tagging Along: You hadn’t planned on going to the protest. Maybe crowds bother you, or you worry that it might get out of hand, or perhaps you’re just not political. But when you found out a close friend (one of the other PCs works best for this friend) was planning on going, you reluctantly agreed to come along, if only to make sure your friend stays out of trouble. You aren’t as interested in joining the protests as you are keeping alert for anything that might escalate the protest into something more. Someone has to watch out for your friend, and who better to do that than you? You gain a +2 bonus on all Perception and initiative checks made during the protest itself.

• Feats
Weapon finesse: With a light weapon, rapier, whip, or spiked chain made for a creature of your size category, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armour check penalty applies to your attack rolls.

• Special abilities
Arcane Pool (Su) 4 points/day: At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/2 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells. At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves. At 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, keen, shock, shocking burst, speed, or vorpal. Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property's base price modifier (see the Magic Weapon Special Ability Descriptions). These properties are added to any the weapon already has, but duplicates do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses and properties are decided when the arcane pool point is spent and cannot be changed until the next time the magus uses this ability. These bonuses do not function if the weapon is wielded by anyone other than the magus.
Spell Combat (Ex): At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

• Magus Arcana
None currently

• Magus spell casting
Cantrips (DC 13) In Spellbook: Acid splash, Arcane mark, Dancing lights, Daze, Detect magic, Disrupt undead, Flare, Ghost sound, Light, Mage hand, Open/close, Prestidigitation, Ray of frost, Read magic, Spark.
Memorized (3): Arcane mark, Daze, Prestidigitation

First level spells (DC 14) In Spellbook: Feather Fall, Grease, Reduce Person, Shield, True Strike, Vanish
Memorized (1+1): Shield, Grease

• Equipment weight of carried gear 24 lbs;
Worn/Carried by Xeno
Rapier 20 gp 2lb
MW Studded leather Free (with trait) 20lb
Spell component pouch 5 gp 2lb
Traveller’s outfit (Xeno costume) 0 gp
Pouch, Belt 1 gp
contain coin 5.99gp

Normally Left at home when dressed as Xeno
False-bottomed Chest 52 gp

In normal part of the chest
Noble's Outfit Free with trait
Jewellery 100 gp
Perfume 5 gp
Whetstone 0.01 gp
Traveller’s outfit (Everyday around the house clothes) 1 gp

In false bottom of chest
Disguise kit 50 gp
Spellbook 0 gp
Traveler's outfit (spare Xeno costume) 1 gp
+ other Xeno costume if dressed as Elenora

Carried on her if dressed as Elenora
Noble's Outfit (or courtier's depending on event)
Jewellery
Rapier
Spell component pouch
Pouch, Belt