Taliesin's Way of the Wicked

Game Master Merddyn

While he appears to have a cool and affable disposition, Crimjack is also a hopelessly proud and vain man. These flaws occasionally drive Crimjack to extreme acts of violence or rage whenever he deems himself to have been insulted by lesser men. Those who have known Crimjack over a long period of time begin to recognize that while charming and affable, he can also be a cruel creature that displays deep seated character disorders and clear sociopathic tendencies.

Height: 1.91m
Weight: 83 kg
Eyes: Blood Red
Hair: Silver Gray

Raising a child of devilish descent proved difficult, as Jack was physically larger and stronger than his brothers early on, and he displayed some very difficult personality disorders from an early age. His brothers grew to fear him, and in time, even his own mother began to grow weary of his pension for violence and trickery. In spite of this, Lord Barek insisted in keeping Jack at home, safe from prying eyes of the Markadian authorities. Nevertheless, rumors of the existence of a tiefling in their midst began to ruminate in the royal court. Initially, this proved to be only a minor nuisance, but eventually Barek Daersynah was directly challenged by the Victor. Though he denied it thoroughly, Markadian had his suspicions and kept the family at an arms distance and removed them from the corridors of power.

Unhappy at their loss of standing, Barek finally decided it was time to distance himself from his son. Asked to leave, Jack was given a small estate and sent off on his way. For many years, Jack remained satisfied with the life of luxury the stipend from his parents afforded him, and he lived a frivolous existence. This was not to last though, as in time his parents grew old of age. When his brothers eventually took over the estate, Jacks stipend was dramatically cut, and all knowledge of his existence was denied. Compounding troubles for Jack, the purges Markadian IV made Jack a natural target given his devilish ancestry. In order to save their own skin, Jacks relatives completely disowned him, and even gave up his location to the Markadian Inquisition. When soldiers arrived at his small estate, Jack was forced to flee for his life and live off the land.

Bitter and upset with his family, and particularly the government of the Markadian dynasty, Jack rebranded himself Crimjack, and turned to a life of crime and dissension. While theft, robbery and all manners of violence and petty crime were common place for him, he eventually aimed for higher game, and sought revenge against the very government that had marginalized him. Attacks on tax collectors, Markadian government institutions and prominent figures became more common place for Crimjack. In time, Crimjack began to let his minor success go to his head. He began preaching openly against the government, trying to recruit like minded individuals to his cause, blaming the government for all manners of problems. It was then that he caught the attention of authorities, and he was apprehended in city of Glastenhall not too long afterwards. When his crimes became public, Crimjack was charged will all manners of crimes, the most serious of which was the charge of Sedition and carries the death penalty. Presently Crimjack awaits his fate in Brandescar Prison.

However, it was the discovery of arcane talents that truly captivated Yehlara, and she began to dedicate herself to its study. Her parents, initially excited and happy for her, began to worry when long nights of study became days, locked in her room leaving only to eat and occasionally interact with her parents. While she seemed no worse for the wear; as happy and passionate as ever, the absence of their daughter from their lives drove Talathel and Merisille to a deep grief; and, one day, when she claimed she was too busy to come with them, they broke her door and saw the fruits of her research; a shadowy, dark face, coated in shadow, whispering to her, a scorpion on her lap comfortably, and an angry glare on their daughter’s face. They were furious; the old ways were vile, how could Yehlara dare touch on them? But their fury did not ‘correct’ her, but enraged her; how could her passion for knowledge be wrong? How could they have the audacity to be angry at her, when it was her who was the injured party?

That was a turning point. There was little they could do to stop her; Yehlara was too old, and too strong-willed to back down to any scolding they gave, to any warning or explanation of how this would lead her back to the old way. She did not care. Indeed, she realized; if this, something which made her happy and wise and stronger than even her parents, was part of the so-called ‘old way’, what else could she learn by delving into the old histories, studying the old gods and their ways? Feeling they had no options left, her parents gave word to the authorities; but even they did not know how deep into old lore she had managed to go, through obtaining scraps through underhanded means or communing with the very shadows that gave her power. On evidence of this, and to her parent’s horror, Yehlara was chiefly charged with heresy after refusing to denounce her ways and instead proudly proclaiming her superiority to those trying her, a crime which could only be punished by death; though evidence of her consorting with dark powers and a deep blasphemy were also made plain. Embittered and determined, Yehlara has been sent to Branderscar to be burnt in only a few days- but she has bigger plans.

You are completely right, most of her relevant pace has been, more or less, a string of fate. As a servant born into a family of servants who were content with their staion, that was the way of life she knew. However now that she has seen her potential and with a clear individual to blame for her imprisonment, she is no longer content to sit and let life happen to her. The driving force in her life right now is revenge on her former master. He ruined a good thing for her. Despite having been running cons for a couple years, it was the only part of her life that she had control over after a childhood of servitude, and he took that away from her.

Out of combat, he has great social skills thanks to the Conversion Inquisition.

Everything had seemed perfect. Sartur had been Cardinal Joffey's personal secretary for three years. No one had ever assumed he was anything but a devoted cleric.

The cover had been difficult for Sartur. He was wise enough to craft convincing lies but to protect the mentor he had to give up his identity entire. His name was changed in favor of a moniker the mentor had chosen: Elrys Kerr. Sartur Holt was tied however tangentially to the mentor, and if Sartur was discovered there could be no connection.

Sartur now saw the wisdom in that.

The door to Sartur's cell opened. In stepped his most recent torturer, an inquisitor of the church who was known as The Left Hand since the Talingarde nobility had no desire to know what he did with the prisoners in his charge. The Left Hand always wore a smile, but today it seemed exceedingly bright.

"Well, Kerr, I have some good news and some bad news," The Left Hand said.

Sartur remained silent.

"The good news is that you are leaving my care today."

Sartur looked up. Could it be? Had the mentor done something?

"The bad news is you will be boarding a transport to Branderscar."

Sartur's heart fell. He had known Branderscar would probably be his final destination, but at least there had been some hope that he would be released.

"You see, Elrys, the cardinal woke up. He told us everything. And with Cardinal Joffey's position, his word seals your fate better than any trial." The Left Hand backed out of the room, and two sap wielding guards came in to shackle Sartur. "Have fun."

•Alignment: LE, Check

•Classes: Inquisitor, Check

•Background Skills: Craft (Book), Profession (Scribe), Check

•Traits: Attempted Murder (Campaign), Secret Keeper (Faith), Deep Cover (Social), Pride (Drawback), Check

•Starting Wealth: No equipment, Check

•Background that meshes with the above: Check.

Now, with Wocket being raised with her mother's victim's perspective, what does she feel about her mother now? Is there any ambivilence or hesitation when she thinks about it?

He is servile and obsequious with his betters, though he hates himself for it. Most of his brother and sister ratfolk are scavengers, and he is quite familiar with the notion of keeping down "in his place" in society to get ahead. He also feels great loyalty to those he identifies as family. Since he has been exiled from his brood, anyone who helps him avoid imprisonment and execution will have his enthusiastic support and obedience.

Maybe a good way to put it is that he expects to be treated the way he treats his eidolon. He is its master, it must do what he tells it, but if he abuses it he may find that it does not serve him as well as it could. Likewise, Nibs will serve his masters well as long as the upstairs-downstairs agreement holds; they provide for him and protect him and he does what they tell him to do.

I can improve it by:
* switching back to the Elemental bloodline, sticking with the burning fire of vengeance imagery, and a ruined alchemy guild.
* switching to the High Treason trait, using indomitable will imagery, and keeping most everything else.
* re-tooling the background to better explain the Sedition charge, and sticking with the mechanics as I have them.
* whatever else you might suggest.

To answer the second point: It kept her broken, thinking her mother was wicked. Carrying that around and feeling like she deserved to be oppressed killed a lot of the gnomish glee in her. As an adult, just hearing that the story might have another side brought back all that emotion, and every insult, shove, and kick over four decades suddenly burned all at once. She needs to see her mother as a martyr. It's the glue holding together a broken beast of burden. As long as she can hold her mother on a pedestal, and fight for what she understands to be that legacy, then her life has meaning, and the power in her blood will grow.

It might be that he even had some success drawing some to his cause before capture; my initial thought has been for Crimjack to be a sort of Robin Hood character, though one who is decidedly less noble than that of Robin of Loxley, possessed of far more sinister goals.

To directly answer your question though, as someone raised in the wilderness, he would surely be more comfortable in the countryside than in the big city... evil or not, he is still a Ranger at heart.

One night when Kern was just a young man, his mother did not come home. She had never explicitly told him what she did to earn her coin or obtained the books and objects that he loved so much, but he had often suspected it was either prostitution or theft. The next morning he left their apartment in search of her. Although he never got a complete answer as to what had become of her, through the neighborhood rumours he came to the conclusion that she had been caught attempting to steal texts and heirlooms from a noble house and had been killed in the process.

Kern was filled with guilt that his love of objects and books had caused her death, as why else would she have been trying to steal those things? He swallowed his feelings and tried to find a way to support himself and continue his studies in her honor, but he was unable to find employment due to his drow-ish features, and he was reduced to menial tasks and crime just to survive.

Over time, his guilt started to become replaced by a hatred for Talingarde itself, as they were the ones that took his mother from him and ruined his life. If the nobles did not so zealously guard their texts she would have had no need to steal them. If the guardsmen were encouraged to be less heavy-handed when dealing with the lower classes she might still be alive. If the city was not ruled by religious bigots he would be able to earn an honest living despite his coloration and heritage. This hatred grew and began to affect his studies.

He spent all of his free time with the tokens that his mother had obtained for him, and he began to channel new abilities as he obsessed over several of them. A finger bone from one of the local nobles who had had his hand mauled in a duel and the ornamental dagger that she had obtained from one of the Mitran churches began to speak to him, and his studies began to concentrate on how he could use these objects and other similar ones to fix things.

His studies had taught him of Talingarde before the rise of the Darius family and the monotheistic Mitran government. He could only believe that if the Mitrans were brought down that the end of their rule would end the injustice that had permeated his life. His hatred continued to grow along with his knowledge of how to utilize differing implements in ways that might help him overthrow the Mitrans.

He eventually learned that underneath one of the Mitran temples there was a room where relics of other religions were kept, supposedly to "protect" the people from their "unholy" influence. Feeling that obtaining some of these items would increase his power to the point where he could start planning his campaign to bring them down, he enlisted some of his acquaintances from the streets to try and get into the temple, promising them any loot that was found other than the relics.

The night of the heist went extremely well. They got into the temple basement safely, found the hidden room, and loaded up their bags. Upon leaving they found a squad of guardsmen and priests waiting for them. The guards had been watching him over the last months, and they had been overheard in their planning. The heist had only been so easily completed as the damned Mitrans wanted to catch them red handed.

Kern's compatriots were separated from him. As the most intelligent of the group and the only one carrying heretical relics, he was easily identified as the planner and organizer of the group. The others were taken to be interrogated in the local jail as simple thugs and thieves, but Kern was informed that his plans of heresy and sedition were known...and now that they finally had caught him in an act of high theft he could finally be taken to Branderscar where he belonged.

* She holds to her basic codes of behavior, but also knows she can't do this alone. A well worded agreement, (or perhaps a contract? :) ) could lock her into the group's tactics without much chance to object. After all, the goal is the thing, and she knows she couldn't plan something this big with any chance to succeed. This type of scenario leads to her throwing a weapon at an unarmed enemy's feet , screaming "Pick it up!" then killing them as soon as they do to accomplish the job, but hold to her beliefs.

* Last involves the rest of the group. Silarsha is pretty much non-religious, she goes to the temple on holidays,etc. But doesn't worship a particular deity. Given her personality, the recent trauma, and lack of good decision making, I could see her getting recruited to convert to the worship of Asmodeus;possibly with accompanying shift to LE, the Dark Lord's methods become her own as she starts to see the value their use.

I hope the answer is sufficient.

And so it probably was inevitable that she would wind up with a group of Sczarni among the caravan. They caught her trying to steal some food. They admired her spirit though, and took her in. It was the Sczarni who would teach her subtlety. They taught her how to lie, how to run con jobs, and... how to dance. They also taught her that worship of Urgathoa was something that should be kept quiet. By the time she reached Korvosa, she had a "family," and all they required was absolute loyalty and a percentage of her take.

Over the next few years, she actually grew to be quite valuable to her new friends. Not only was she a superb confidence artist, her innate gifts and moral flexibility proved quite useful in removing troublesome enemies of the family. It wasn't always easy staying ahead of the law or the various factions of Korvosan life, but she finally had something of a home.

And then she met Dexter Drake. A dashing young Chelaxian, Tara saw him only as a mark. Sure he was handsome, but more importantly, he was wealthy. But her relationship with Dexter did not go according to her plan. She had merely wanted to steal a few things and go her separate way. But Drake was surprisingly honest with her. He was indeed rich, because he was an excellent, and cunning, business man. Like her, he tended to value people by what he could gain from them. And he proposed a partnership. Drake had acquired a winery that made excellent Chelish wines and he was looking for a way to cut "transportation costs" (by avoiding import taxes through smuggling). With his wine and her smuggling friends, they could reap huge rewards.

Tara and Drake made a smashing team. Still operating in Korvosa, their operation moved into Magnimar and Riddleport as well. They profited, the Sczarni family profited, everyone was happy. Getting married was almost an afterthought. Dexter even managed to convince her that her religion was bad for business. But he had one more place he wanted to move their operation into: Talingarde. This operation would be a little more challenging as neither of them had any agents on the ground. But the potential profits could set them up for life.

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FORMULA BOOK
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1st: adhesive spittle (DC 14) , cure light wounds (DC 14) , enlarge person, long arm, shield

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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Alchemy (Su) When using Craft (Alchemy) to create an alchemical item, you gains a +1 competence bonus on the Craft (alchemy) check. In addition, you can use Craft (Alchemy) to identify potions as if using Detect Magic. He must hold the potion for 1 round to make such a check.

Anatomist You have studied the workings of anatomy, either as a student at university or as an apprentice mortician or necromancer. You gain a +1 trait bonus on all rolls made to confirm critical hits.

Brew Potion (Ex) You receive Brew Potion as a bonus feat. You can brew potions of any formulae you know (up to 3rd level), using your alchemist level as caster level. The spell must be one that can be made into a potion. You do not need to meet the prerequisites for this feat.

Enduring Mutagen Because of special training, your unique body chemistry, or the uncovering of an alchemical secret, your mutagens last longer. The bonuses and penalties granted by your mutagens last for 1 additional minute per alchemist level.

Formulae An alchemist may know any number of formulae. He stores his formulae in a special tome called a formula book. He must refer to this book whenever he prepares an extract but not when he consumes it. An alchemist begins play with two 1st-level formulae of his choice, plus a number of additional forumlae equal to his Intelligence modifier. At each new alchemist level, he gains one new formula of any level that he can create. An alchemist can also add formulae to his book just like a wizard adds spells to his spellbook, using the same costs, pages, and time requirements. An alchemist can study a wizard's spellbook to learn any formula that is equivalent to a spell the spellbook contains. A wizard, however, cannot learn spells from a formula book. An alchemist does not need to decipher arcane writings before copying them.

Mutagen (Su) You know how to create a mutagen that you can imbibe in order to heighten your physical prowess at the cost of your personality. It takes 1 hour to brew a dose of mutagen, and once brewed, it remains potent until used. You can only maintain one dose of mutagen at a time - if you brews a second dose, any existing mutagen becomes inert. A mutagen that is not in your possession becomes inert until an alchemist picks it up again. When you brew a mutagen, you select one physical ability score - either Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution. It's a standard action to drink a mutagen. Upon being imbibed, the mutagen causes you to grow bulkier and more bestial, granting you a +2 natural armor bonus and a +4 alchemical bonus to the selected ability score for 10 minutes. In addition, while the mutagen is in effect, you take a -2 penalty to one of your mental ability scores. If the mutagen enhances your Strength, it applies a penalty to your Intelligence. If it enhances your Dexterity, it applies a penalty to your Wisdom. If it enhances your Constitution, it applies a penalty to your Charisma. A non-alchemist who drinks a mutagen must make a DC 13 Fortitude save or become nauseated for 1 hour - a non-alchemist can never gain the benefit of a mutagen, but an alchemist can gain the effects of another alchemist's mutagen if he drinks it. (Although if the other alchemist creates a different mutagen, the effects of the "stolen" mutagen immediately cease.) The effects of a mutagen do not stack. Whenever an alchemist drinks a mutagen, the effects of any previous mutagen immediately end.

Paranoid You believe that someone or something is always out to get you, so you have a hard time truly trusting anyone. Anyone who attempts an aid another action of any type to assist you must succeed at a DC 15 check instead of the normal DC 10 check.

Sneak Attack (Ex) At 1st level, a vivisectionist gains the sneak attack ability as a rogue of the same level. If a character already has sneak attack from another class, the levels from the classes that grant sneak attack stack to determine the effective rogue level for the sneak attack's extra damage dice (so an alchemist 1/rogue 1 has a +1d6 sneak attack like a 2nd-level rogue, an alchemist 2/rogue 1 has a +2d6 sneak attack like a 3rd-level rogue, and so on). This ability replaces bomb.

Throw Anything (Ex) You gain the Throw Anything feat as a bonus feat. You add your Intelligence modifier to damage done with splash weapons, including the splash damage if any. This bonus damage is already included in the bomb class feature.

What stuck with him that day, as much as the loss of his best friend, was the apparent frailty of the human form. Kellam, who had always been a strong and active boy, had his body broken in ways Declan had never imagined possible. Declan himself found that he too was far weaker and less capable than he thought. No matter what he did, the same thoughts kept returning. This inability to help, this physical weakness, there had to be a way around it. Surely we could be so much more than what we are. We don’t have to accept these limitations, do we?

As he grew into his teenage years, he showed himself to be a gifted young scholar. His fascination with the mortal anatomy continued, and he channeled this into an interest in the study of alchemy and medicine. He spent time in schools and with tutors in Talingarde, and ultimately left the country to study at the University of Lepidstadt in Ustalav. In Ustalav he truly began to flourish in his academic life; it’s also where his experiments began in earnest.

At first, he used himself as a test subject, experimenting with mutagens and other compounds as much as he reasonably could. This had obvious limits, so he began studying with animals, exploring their anatomies, testing potions and poisons, and so on. No one much cared if he used a few dogs for experiments, after all. He even had the opportunity to study cadavers as part of his medical training. Declan found that all this was unsatisfying, though. He needed live subjects to truly unlock the secrets of anatomy, to understand the limitations of mortal bodies, and ultimately overcome them. Fortunately for him, he found a handful of likeminded individuals in shadowy Ustalav. During his collaboration with them, he was also first introduced to the worship of Norgorber.

He spent several years in Lepidstadt, studying and learning all sorts of things, legitimately or otherwise. Declan spent a short time there after graduation as well, but chose to return home to Ghastenhall. Talingarde was a country with a great wealth of knowledge he could draw upon, and grand cities full of enough people that someone going missing every once in a while wouldn’t draw a great deal of attention. Upon his return to Ghastenhall he established a small clinic, practicing medicine and creating and selling alchemical items. This cover allowed the good physician to create a new laboratory where his work could continue.

Unfortunately for Declan, he made a mistake. One evening he followed a seemingly drunk man through a poorer part of Ghastenhall, intending to collect another subject for study. He underestimated the man’s resilience, however, and his intended target ended up escaping. An investigation into the disappearances was already in progress, and the victim’s description of his attacker led to Declan’s arrest a few days later. He was initially arrested for attempting to kidnap someone, but a search of his lab soon caused a bit of a scandal. There they found his laboratory and the remains of a number of test subjects, as well as rescuing one he was still keeping alive. This earned him a number of murder convictions, among others, and a trip straight to Branderscar. Now he sits in a dungeon, waiting to be silenced forever by those too afraid and too small-minded to appreciate his work.

He generally maintains a calm and collected demeanor. While he can be quite friendly and has good bedside manner, he is usually quite clinical and has an air of professionalism about him. This serves him well as a scholar and doctor, but this same behavior can be quite unsettling when he's engaged in more "reprehensible" acts. He sees cruelty as a tool, a means to an end. Nothing more. As such he does not enjoy it for its own sake, but he thinks little of engaging in it in the course of his experiments. He approaches his work with the same attitude and coolness, whether that work is mixing herbs to treat a cough or cutting open a screaming test subject.

Declan's calm and clinical exterior, while not an act as such, at times conceals the gears that are constantly turning in his head. He is incredibly determined, and passionate about what and who he dedicates himself to. This can come out at times, cracking through his clinical persona and revealing the raging intellect beneath. He is also convinced that most people cannot or will not appreciate what he's trying to do, and will do what they can to stop him. It's not all-consuming, but he truly trusts very few people, and he spends time gathering information and planning for betrayal.