Yafeu's page

AC 17, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+3 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 15 (2d8+2)
Fort +1, Ref +7, Will +3
Defensive Abilities Uncanny Dodge

Speed 30 ft.
Melee Dagger +2 (1d4+1/19-20/x2) and
. . Masterwork Whip +4 (1d3+1/x2) and
. . Shortsword +2 (1d6+1/19-20/x2)
Ranged Shortbow +5 (1d6/x3)

Str 12, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14
Base Atk +1; CMB +2; CMD 16
Feats Additional Traits, Bard Weapon Proficiencies, Weapon Focus (Whip)
Traits Prehensile Whip, Scholar of Ruins (Knowledge [geography]), Theoretical Magician, Wharf Rat
Skills Acrobatics +9, Appraise +6, Climb +3, Disable Device +5, Escape Artist +8, Knowledge (arcana) +7, Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4, Knowledge (engineering) +3, Knowledge (geography) +8, Knowledge (history) +7, Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +6, Profession (sailor) +4, Profession (smuggler) +4, Sleight of Hand +8, Spellcraft +8, Stealth +9, Use Magic Device +7
Languages Common, Osiriani, Osiriani, Ancient
SQ Archaeologist's Luck +1 (6 rounds/day), Bardic Knowledge +1, Clever Explorer +1
Combat Gear Arrows (20), Dagger, Masterwork Studded leather armor, Masterwork Whip, Shortbow, Shortsword, Whistling arrow (20); Other Gear Acid, Backpack, masterwork (38 @ 37 lbs), Bedroll, Belt pouch (1 @ 2 lbs), Belt pouch (2 @ 0.5 lbs), Belt pouch (3 @ 0.375 lbs), Bullseye lantern, waterproof, Canvas (sq. yd.), Chalk, earring, Fishhook, Flask, Flint and steel, gold ring, gold ring with carnelion, Magnet, Marbles, Musical instrument, masterwork: reed pipe, Musical instrument: guitar, Pathfinder chronicle (Knowledge [arcana]), Periscope, Pocketed scarf, Powder, Sack (empty) (2), semi-precious gem (3), Silk rope, Thieves' tools, masterwork, Twine (50') (2), Waterskin, Wrist sheath (1 @ 1 lbs)

Acid - 0/1
Archaeologist's Luck +1 (6 rounds/day) (Ex) - 0/6
Arrows - 0/20
Dagger - 0/1
Whistling arrow - 0/20

Archaeologist's Luck +1 (6 rounds/day) (Ex) Gain Luck bonus to attack, damage, saves, and all skills.
Bardic Knowledge +1 (Ex) Add + 1 to all knowledge skill checks.
Clever Explorer +1 (Ex) Half time to use disable device.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Retain Dex bonus to AC when flat-footed.
Wharf Rat You gain a +2 trait bonus on skill checks involving climbing and rope use, and a +4 trait bonus on Appraise checks to determine the value of large quantities of bulk goods without opening their containers.

Yafeu is a compactly built young man. His dusky olive skin, straight black hair, black eyes, smooth cheeks, and overall lack of body hair mark his origins as Althesian. The recitation doesn't live up to the attractiveness of the combination. Wearing his hair long, but under a loose scarf and hat, a plain but stout linen shirt, breaches, and a belting sash, Yafeu cuts a fine figure. The short sword on one hip and whip on the other convey a sense of dangerousness. The sharp, measuring gaze, and the knowing grin following it, only reinforce the faint menace he radiates.

Yafeu's dress, stance, and accent place him on the wharf. Small gleams of gold at fingers, throat, and ear mark him as relatively successful. There remains an open question as to what he is prosperous at - what is his profession? Clearly he is not a lord, priest, mage, or soldier. His surety of bearing and quality of clothing and jewelry rule out simple labor. It is perhaps no accident that Yafeu could be taken for an itinterate trader, a pirate, or something less mundane.

"Today I'm a messenger. Just a courrier. But get back to me tomorrow, and maybe we can do business."

Yafeu was a lifelong, serial felon. Raised on his father's boat, he was always aware of 'extras' secreted in hidden places - high value items kept off the manifest, for personal hand delivery only. It was only later that he understood that these special items were the fruits of careful exploration through the blasted remains of the once-prosperous principality of Althesia, near the headwaters of the Laurel. Items of great wonder came out in those hidden places - panes of 'glass' clear as water and impossible to scratch, chip, bend, or shatter. Fabulously light and ever-sharp knives. Recipes for remedies and simples, beers, and spirits. And fabulous stories.

Yafeu, his father, and their compatriots catered to the practical, the collector, and the curious. And few were more curious than Yafeu. As he grew into a slight and nimble adolescent, he participated in these explorations. He was inducted into the community. His code was the honor of theives, but his heart that of a scholar.

The passing of Yafeu's father was at once personally devastating, and at the same time a non-event in Yafeu's life. Yefeu was 17, and had learned the business of an honest river freight hauler, as well as the more lucrative but risky business of extracting and smuggling forbidden artifacts. Yafeu had the contacts to pick up the family business without a beat.

After several years of independent operation (within the web of the underground artifacts community), Yafeu was approached by a special client. 'Magpie' had previously been very stand-off-ish, though consistent and lucrative. Magpie approached Yafeu in person, and painted him a picture. Magpie was an actor in the famous city of Danel - not a key player, not central - but on the inside. And the flow of artifacts and information from Yafeu's network had drawn official attention. Magpie had a unique proposal for going to ground - he would arrange for Yafeu to be sponsored to citizenship in Danel itself; receive the training of any citizen, and gain access to information as a nominal member of the militia. Such an arrangement would also provide an excuse for Magpie to intervene if Yafeu were ever later implicated in possession and smuggling activities.

Probe and prod and turn over, inspect all its teeth, and ask it to turn its head and cough, Yafeu could find no deficiency in this proposition. It seemed a win at every turn, with the only downsides that he must suspend operations for the duration, and expose himself to official (if 'friendly') attention. What Yafeu (as essentially a rural bargeman with some specialized skills) failed to compass was that the traps and hooks in Magpie's deal stemmed not from any deficiency, but from surplus - it was more than it seemed. Magpie represents a powerful faction in Danel. Magpie's faction had been jostling at a low level with several other factions for access to and control of Yafeu. Magpie was laying out a marker on Yafeu, a subtle warning to factions seeking to erase Yafeu and his knowledge that Magpie would make that an expensive and visible proposition.

Yafeu's father Machmud crashed into the gunwales. The hollow crunch of a breaking clay jug carried over the deck and into the cabin. Yafeu wound the pillow more closely around his head. Machmud would be ill, and have a sore head tomorrow. Yafeu would be putting out of the quay without Machmud's help, but would suffer his wraith if they missed the tide. So Yafeu was determined to sleep, and ignore his father's unchangeably bad behavior.

'Yes, we should be away tomorrow,' thought Yafeu, 'If the goods are not as expected, or if the sale doesn't go smoothly, then as wise to be upriver several hours.' The previous day's boost had been perfect. Nasir and his boys had met them at their river mooring with horses. They'd ridden through the evening to a deserted palace off the beaten track, near the barrens. A few hours of exploration, some prying out of semi-precious stones, rolling up some carpets and wall hangings. And the real prize, a set of scrolls and texts dedicated to the forgotten death goddess Pharasma - beautiful works of art locked into a concealed cubby - hidden away and deserted. Just as the customer had said. Though the customer hadn't known how to find the cubby, or open it, nor how to disarm the swinging blade trap that guarded it. Those small things aside, a clean boost. No interruptions. No lurking monstrous beasts or poisonous vermin.

Yafeu felt something must go wrong. This had not been the boost of the tomb of a megalomaniac lordling, or relieving a wealthy merchant of the contents of his warehouse. There was something.. impious.. about lifting the contents of a shrine, even if only a small household shrine. 'We'll be well away tomorrow. It's a new river every day,' he thought to himself. He shook his head, 'it's only some outdated superstition,' seeking reassurance against his fears. He tried to find sleep despite his father's drunken ruccus.

Machmud had taken a portion of their wages - the portion Yafeu had not cached on board the ship - and gone celebrating. It was a good payday. Nasir's local man, Efuss, had collected the goods from the ship's concealed stowage, and left for the sale. Efuss had left them the lion's share of their price. Machmud had met him in town later for the balance. Machmud had come back late, drunk, and with several more jugs of wine - so Efuss must have delivered the balance. Yafeu drifted off while calculating where upriver they could convert the remainder of their wages to supplies and a cargo - preferably somewhere lacking in wine merchants.

Yafeu rose before dawn. It was very quiet, only the lapping of the river water, and the earliest of fishing crews punctuating the silence. Yafeu looked to Machmud's bunk, but it had not been slept in. He busied himself about the cabin briefly, folding his bunk away. He left his father's bunk down, anticipating that he might want to nap later. Yafeu went out on deck with broom and rag, anticipating cleanup before being able to cast off. He looked around the small ship, and it didn't take long to find his father.

Machmud had tangled his feet in the lines. He'd stumbled and crashed through a rail. He hadn't gone in altogether, but rather had been suspended by his ankle from the tangling lines. His torso had been immersed to the waist, head down.

[i]'So Pharasma has had her due. How better for the long-forgotten Goddess of Fate and Death to express her displeasure?' Yafeu thought numbly, considering his father's fate. Pondering his own fate. Pondering whether superstition was so out of date.

"The young Yafeu? Yes, I've a good feeling for his character," responded the man some called 'Magpie'. "I know he's an unlikely recruit. He's a rapscallion, rogue, vagabond, and criminal. But for all that, he's got a good heart and a sharp mind." Magpie's sharp eyes looked across his desk, "Yafeu was raised without a mother, on a river boat with his late unlamented father. He had no other family, except the loose network of river-side smugglers that allowed his father to stay drunk and lazy, but still in posession of his boat. In those times, Althesia was closed, and there was much demand (and profit) to be extracted from old ruins. Yafeu was small, clever, capable, and could be wherever he was needed. His training was makeshift and happenstance, but effective."

"Yafeu's father died in a squalid and undistinguished way three years ago - Yafeu was 17. Yafeu kept the family franchise operating. From time to time he would bring help onto his boat, but never for long, and always from a small circle of known associates." Magpie tapped a nail on his polished desk, "Yafeu was very fortunate. His father passed shortly after the change of government in Parshien, opening the younger settlements of Althesia to outsiders. The network of scoundrels Yafeu's father had done business with had a sudden need for his services. They knew him from years past, and steered the worst of the cutthroats and exploiters away from him."

Magpie chuckled. "Yafeu knows many things. He's an intellectual omnivore. He can disassemble a lock faster than I can blink. But he does not study people. After his father's death, Yafeu was exceptionally vulnerable. In slightly different circumstances, with slightly different friends, well..." he gazed into the distance for a moment. "Yafeu is a very lucky young man. He's charming. He works hard and observes the honor of theives. He doesn't assume the best of those he meets, he expects the best. And he expects the same of himself. Frankly I've been amazed at how frequently truly villanous characters respect Yafeu and deal fairly with him."

"Naive? No - Yafeu isn't naive. He knows evil. He lives with cruelty, calousness, and exploitation every day. And he hates evil in the abstract. When he meets people, however, he finds evil to be disappointing and saddening. It's a queer burden he places on people." He looked a bid more sharply, "No, I haven't seen him faced with intentional evil, or immorality. Knowing him as I do, I suspect he'll take the elemental on its own terms, and not attempt to treat with it on a moral basis. True, malignant evil? I'll be shocked if he is anything other than an implacable, if canny and realistic, foe of the darkness. Otherwise my recommendation of him to the Organization was badly mistaken."

"Oh yes, after his father's death. Part of what kept Yafeu in demand was his knowledge of the ruins, temples, and crypts across the Althesian wastes, along with his explorer's bent, and a certain flexibility about legalisms. Many of the adventurers and bravos flowing into Althesia hired Yafeu's services in the next year or so. He added value to each venture that he hired onto, and he ensured that his value increased because of each venture. I came to know Yafeu during this time. Many of the delivered items from upriver he delivered directly. I would ask him from time to time how the ventures progressed, and what he carried. He was always very careful - he never said he knew what was in packages that were sealed. But he also does not dissemble with great skill. Yafeu opened and inspected every item he delivered here. When pressed for details of dates or names, he would refer to his own journal, and in that journal were frequent transcriptions from scrolls, or sketches of artifacts, and other esoterica beyond the mundane details of business."

"But I was not alone in recognizing Yafeu's growing value in Althesia. Representatives of other organizations - from Danel and elsewhere - also dealt with him, each supporting their own projects. Yafeu was very busy in that time." Magpe looked intently at his guest, "Yafeu was not unique - rare, but not unique. Until the day he came to me with an issue. His manner was somewhat insolent and 'tough', but it barely masked his concern and disillusionment. One of our field operatives (no, I'll not name names) tried to draft Yafeu into an internal power play - and hang all the blame on another field operative. Yafeu explained to me that he was not going to be held responible for pointless internal squabbles. He dumped the original fee, the item, and the responsibility back in my lap. He said he didn't want to lose business with the offender, or the intended mark, but that he didn't have time or inclination to finesse everyone's feelings and confidence." Magpie chuckled, "No, not much patience for negotiating personalities. Nor for soothing the foolish and self-serving."

"So I solved the internal issue. More importantly though, I prevailed on a well-respected friend-of-a-friend-of-the-family in Danel to sponsor Yafeu to citizenship and training in Danel. I quietly arranged for extensive and glowing recommendations from many of Yafeu's customers outside the organization. Yafeu is among the lowest profile affiliates ever. For now, it suits him."

"So yes, I've been watching him, and quietly mentoring him. He's well situated for recruitment. I feel that we need to explicitly recruit him before he independently discovers the extent of our interference in his affairs. Yafeu understands aligned interests, and quiet evaluation, and even compartmenting information for protection. But he hates being manipulated. If we want him to act as an agent of the organization, we have to get his willing cooperation. Otherwise, we risk alienating him altogether."