Argent Wings Take Flight (Hell's Rebels AP)

Game Master Sensen

You will encounter a faerie dragon within the middle third of the first book of the AP. He can, should you play your cards right (fairly easy) become her familiar if you’re so inclined later down the road. I’m not saying don’t buy a pseudodragon, but I figured this is something worth mentioning.

did you know that at this time, Lady Nocticula was dual wielding handcrossbows and reloading them with her tails? Shadowshooting simply isnt very effective vs demonlords.

Tell Shensen I pay her 666 gp if she puts the name Cayden Caylean on Lady Nocticulas wings, its an inside joke between those two, dont worry.

I am willing to gift you a scroll of flight, because you absolutely cant, but the three tails are best managed by 3 stage hands casting mage hand.

No, you pronounced that term in Abyssal in an anachronistic fashion, its goes like that. Yes, it is currently pronounced differently, but Lady Nocticula always uses proper grammar and pronounciation.

The chronology is wrong, at this time, S-benoth already tried to betray her and they were at war.

There must be absolutely no yellow on her costume. She never wears this color since the whole Fiasco with trying to summon H-Ur via the "king in yellow" to get him to Alyushinyrra in order to murder him.
That war sucked harder then Mahathallas attempts at relevance, the effing squigglies dont drop any loot worth having, and their souls, or what passes for them, are not consumable.

Lucy would have been rather confused (and information overloaded), but certainly would take all these "suggestions" very very seriously.

Julian Sullistan
LN Human Warpriest
Senses: Low Light Vision

STR 15 DEX 10 CON 12 INT 14 WIS 14 CHA 10

BAB 0 CMB 2 CMD 12
Speed 20 ft
Space 5 Reach 5

2 Handed Melee
Longsword +2 (1d8+3/19-20/x2)
Morning Star +2 (1d8+3/x2)

1 Handed Melee
Longsword +2 (1d8+2/19-20/x2)
Morning Star +2 (1d8+2/x2)
Dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20/x2)
Shield Bash +2 (1d3+2/x2)

Ranged
Longbow +1 (1d8/x3)

AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16
Fort 3 Reflex 0 Will 4
hp 12

Acrobatics -5, Appraise 2, Bluff 0, Climb -3, Diplomacy 0, Disguise 5, Escape Artist -5, Fly -5, Handle Animal , Heal 2, Intimidate 0, Knowledge (engineering) , Knowledge (religion) 6, Perception 3, Ride -5, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 6, Stealth -5, Survival 2, Swim -3, Use Magic Device 1

Toughness
Point-Blank Shot

Common
Draconic
Celestial

Armour:
Scale Mail, Small Wooden Shield

Weapons:
Longsword, Longbow, Dagger, Arrows (30), Morning Star

Adventuring Gear
Warpriest Kit (Medium Creature)

None

PP
GP 4
SP 5
CP
Gems/Jewels

Blood of Dragons (low-light vision) (UCa 62): You gain low-light vision*.

Fed-Up Citizen (APHR 10): You gain a +1 bonus on Disguise checks* and Disguise is a class skill for you.*

When someone uses Detect Good or Detect Law on you, your effective HD is four lower than their actual total. Divine casters treat themselves as standard aligned creature for these purposes.

You gain +1 trait bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects.

Armor and Shield Proficiency: You are proficient in Light, Medium and Heavy Armor. You are proficient with shields (excluding tower shields.)

Weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons.

Aura (Ex) (ACG 60): You have a particularly powerful aura corresponding to your deity's alignment.

Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)

Focus Weapon (Ex) (ACG 60): You gain Weapon Focus as a bonus feat.

Sacred Weapon (Su) (ACG 60): Weapons you wield are charged with the power of your faith. When you wield a Medium version of a Sacred Weapon - your deity's favored weapon or one in which you have Weapon Focus - you may deal 1d6 damage instead of the weapon's normal amount.

Spontaneous Casting (ACG 61): You may convert the stored energy of a prepared spell into a cure spell of the same level or lower.

Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)

Holy Strike (ACG 66): You can touch one weapon and grant it a good blessing for one minute. It deals an additional 1d6 damage against evil creatures and is treated as good for overcoming damage reduction. This does not stack with the holy weapon special ability.

Blinding Strike (ACG 68): You can create a flash of sunlight in one of your opponent's eyes, blinding them for one round. A Reflex save reduces this to dazzled for one round. Sightless creatures are unaffected; creatures with light blindness or sensitivity take a -4 penalty on the saving throw.

Level 0
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Light

Level 1
Divine Favour
Divine Favour

Julian was born in Old Kintargo of a merchant shipping family.
While he was growing up, he went with his parents on a couple of cruises where he learned the use of the bow.
Soon after he reached the age of 14, his parents ship went down with all hands leaving him an orphan.
With nothing else to really live for, he turned to the one thing that seemed to keep his parents spirits up, religion.
For the next 4 years, he followed the church of Iomadae, which was practiced under restrictions, whom taught him the use of the blade.
Soon after the crusade became active, he stopped openly practicing the churches doctrine, and soon after the proclomations, he started getting fed up with the current leadership of the city, and ended up in the square in protest.

-23 years ago deposited as a Baby inside of Mialari Docurs Boarding School, with a diamond attached to pay for child raising duties, as well as the name "Lucy".
Not like, at the gates, but in Lady Docurs private office, and all the doors were locked. Lady Mialaris boarding school does have a sidebusiness for offering pretty good and fair education for... results of certain planar missteps, Mialari thinks Lucy is the product of a Succubus or Alu and some unusually lucky adventurer who probably was an Aasimar.

-23 to -6 years ago. Raised at the boarding school, well educated, noted for using her innate alter self ability to purchase booze outside inspite of age restrictions and other mischevious but not mean acts.

-5 years ago to -1 year ago
Opera career, her breakthrough was playing an supporting Anti-Tar-Baphon Vampire in the well acclaimed play "Carrion Crown", before that she played a hard nosed Irriseni Mercenary captain in "reign of winter", an evil Lilitu Demon in "War for the crown" and a Lamashtu worshipping Aasimar with some hideous deformations in "Rise of the runelords". She is known for not using stuntmen/stunwomen, and does all of the martial parts herself.

last year:
Having been picked and mentored by Shensen, he career got a lot better, as her performance as "an Alu Demon who really thinks she is Runelord Sorshen!" was really well received. Unknown to her, her demonic grandmother was in the audience and liked it too. She was then slated for a much bigger role in "Huntress of heroes"
I hope you dont mind using past APs as opera titles.

Generalized ties to NPC:

--Sensen (Idol/really cool big sister)
--Mialari Docur (mother figure)
--Hetamon (colleage/friend) former work colleague because he was tailoring a lot of opera costumes, they were also dating, but a check revealed they were relatives so they stopped dating.

--She is seen as a posh snobb by many Tieflings in the poor quarters. Some in the cloven hoof society think she is a great "brand ambassador", others remark that things she uses as costumes are expensive enough to feed a tiefling familiy for one year or more.

--Feel free to have her "somewhere between affably evil and chaotic neutral" grandmother show up on occassion, it could be interesting if some of the devils are old foes of her grandmother (likely also from the long time where Nocticula was Lady in Shadows), and may want to get Lucy in particular because she could be used to summon "dearest grandmother" into an infernal deathtrap.

art

The familiar creaking of the front door invades the solitary gnome's studying.

Please refrain from traipsing mud on the carpets. I just had them cleaned.

The rustling of metal, along with the unmistakable rough sounds of laughter are returned as a retort.

I was not expecting....

The 2' tall gnome standing next to a stuffed chair, holding a book and apparently readying for bed as befits his current attire, squeaks at the unexpected, but unmistakable presence of a trio of dottari.

Ah, hello gentlemen. May I help you? And, perhaps, why you are in my home.

The unmistakable sounds of laughter erupt from the militarily dressed dottari.

A bit unnerved by the apparent pronouncement of unrelenting violence emanating from the trio of dottari, the gnome grins as he begins brainstorming.

Taking a few steps backwards, the nervous gnome trips over a broom that then smacks down on the fresh gotten jar of honey on the table!

Blue eyes following the progress of said honey pot (psychic manifesting flawlessly forthcoming), the Mesmerist lands with a thump on the floor. The tumbling honey pot follows him like a bee to...well...

Just as the grinning gnome Vanishes, the smell of delicious honey fills the small abode.

The shifting sounds of creaking armor, the unmistakable smashing of furniture and the unrelenting cracking of tables, chairs and the new chandelier reach the invisible (but sticky) gnomes ear.

Reacting as anyone would, he stands and climbs out of the kitchen window! Unfortunately, he lands in the bushes which seem to be filled with vermin! Spiders crawling and creeping decide by the hundreds to go check out that sweet, sweet scent that suddenly sprouted!

Sighing (but screaming inside), the panicking gnome gags, crawls, hacks and slashes his way to freedom! He runs away deciding that rent was too high in that neighborhood anyway....

Sleeping in the park tonight. Then tomorrow....

Taldo is a proud son of the Silver City of Kintargo and Cheliax. His family has been in Kintargo for generations. As long as his family can remember they have been craftsmen, operating in the tanning business. Their original location was on the riverbank in the Redroof District. As the city expanded, they moved the tannery to the outskirts of town on the north-west bank, near the Night Road, allowing them to take advantage of the herds coming in from Nidal.

Taldo’s father is a shrewd businessman named Toridan the Tanner, who started his business career inheriting his father’s tanner shop, but in time he purchased; the nearby slaughterhouse, meatpacking plant, soap making facility leather works, and eventually a large upscale butcher shop. Toridan had several children with his first wife who passed away from a lingering disease. A few years later, seeing a business opportunity, he married the much younger Shaela, the only daughter of the well-to-do butcher, Festidious. As Festidious’ only child Shaela and Toridan became not only husband and wife but business partners as well.

Taldo’s older siblings ran the other aspects of Toridan’s businesses and Shaela ran the butcher shop with her father, Festidious and mother Cecile. When Taldo was little he spent a lot of time with his Grandmother Cecile. It was she who, when he was throwing a temper tantrum, learned he was a bloodrager. She taught him how to recognize when he was losing his temper and how to control it. Being a sorceress herself she taught him about hiding the heritage they shared and how to understand spell casting. During the time they spent together she told him about the different groups that had resisted the thrice-damned House Thrune, focusing on Kintargo history. She also introduced him to her goddess Milanite. They spent many mornings in grandma Cecile’s rose garden talking about all of these things. Of course if anyone asked why she kept roses the answer was simple, they used rose petals in the wash water and soap to remove the smells from the butcher shop and tannery.

As Taldo became a teenager he spent a lot of time working and learning the crafts of many of the other business, but always made time for his grandmother. He learned she was not the only family member who served gods other than Abadar, who his father claimed to serve, using their facilities for banking. Most of his siblings worshiped Desna or Cayden Cailean. He became a worshiper of Milanite, but publically claimed Abadar, like his family members. He learned that his grandmother was one of the priestess.

When Taldo was a young man his maternal grandfather, Festidious died, and he began to spend most of his time at the butcher shop, helping his mother and grandmother. He moved from his father’s house and lived upstairs over the shop. Around the same time he volunteered for the “outer-city” watch that many of his family were part of, putting to use the simple weapons skills he had learned from his grandfather and other family members. It was after he moved to the shop that he learned just how involved his grandmother was in other activities; coming home late in the evening or spending the entire night in Kintargo. When he would ask her about it she would tell him that the less he knew the better.

Everything changed after Thrune’s representative, Paracount Barzillai, arrived. That morning of the seventh of Abadius, Taldo awoke before dawn as was his habit, noting that grandma had not returned from the city, as had become her habit more and more. He noticed the odd smell of sulfur, brimstone and smoke in the usual smell of brine and seaweed as the fog settled, but thought nothing of it. By the time his mother arrived to open the shop Taldo became concerned with his grandmother’s absence. Hearing the Devils Bells ringing off in the distance, His mother, also concerned, agreed that Taldo should go into the city to inquire of grandma’s friends to see what was going on.

Taldo arrived near the Opera House a few moments after 7:00, just in time to hear the declarations implemented by the new Lord-Mayor: Paracount Barzillai Thrune. As the city guard and the Dottari began to force the crowd’s dispersal, Taldo was not able to find his Grandmothers friend. He returned home with the oppressive news. Since that morning Taldo has spent the last week carefully asking questions concerning his grandmother and for general news about what is happening. Speaking to each trusted customer he knows at the shop, and in the evenings going into the city to different establishments to hear word of what is going on in the city.

Julian Sullistan
LN Human Warpriest
Senses: Low Light Vision

STR 16 DEX 12 CON 12 INT 14 WIS 14 CHA 11

BAB 0
CMB 2
Speed 20 ft
Space 5 Reach 5

2 Handed Melee
Longsword +3 (1d8+4/19-20/x2)
Light Flail +3 (1d8+4/x2) Disarm, Trip
Heavy Pick +3 (1d6 +4/x4)

1 Handed Melee
Longsword +3 (1d8+3/19-20/x2)
Light Flail +3 (1d8+3/x2) Disarm, Trip
Heavy Pick +3 (1d6 +3/x4)
Dagger +3 (1d4+3/19-20/x2)
Shield Bash +3 (1d3+3/x2)

Ranged
Longbow +2 (1d8/x3)

AC 16,
Touch 10,
Flat-Footed 16
CMD 12

Fort 3
Reflex 1
Will 4
hp 10

Acrobatics -5,
Appraise 2,
Bluff 0,
Climb -3,
Diplomacy 0,
Disguise 5,
Escape Artist -5,
Fly -5,
Handle Animal ,
Heal 2,
Intimidate 0,
Knowledge (engineering) ,
Knowledge (religion) 6,
Perception 3,
Ride -5,
Sense Motive 2,
Spellcraft 6,
Stealth -5,
Survival 2,
Swim -3,
Use Magic Device 1

Fast Learner (ARG 77): When you gain a level in a favored class, you gain both +1 hit point and +1 skill rank instead of choosing either one or the other benefit or you can choose an alternate class reward.

Point-Blank Shot (Core 131): You get a +1 bonus on attack and damage rolls with ranged weapons at ranges of up to 30 feet.

Weapon Focus (Longbow) (Core 136): You gain a +1 bonus on all attack rolls you make with this weapon.*

Common
Draconic
Celestial

Armour:
Scale Mail,
Small Wooden Shield

Weapons:
Longsword,
Longbow,
Dagger,
Arrows (30),
Light Flail
Heavy Pick

Adventuring Gear
Warpriest Kit (Medium Creature)
Dungeoneering Kit (Medium Creature)
Cooking Kit (AA)
Grooming Kit
Gear Maintenance Kit
Fishing Kit
Grappling Hook
Adventurers Sash

None

PP
GP 71
SP
CP
Gems/Jewels

Blood of Dragons (low-light vision) (UCa 62): You gain low-light vision*.

Fed-Up Citizen (APHR 10): You gain a +1 bonus on Disguise checks* and Disguise is a class skill for you.*

When someone uses Detect Good or Detect Law on you, your effective HD is four lower than their actual total. Divine casters treat themselves as standard aligned creature for these purposes.

You gain +1 trait bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects.

Armor and Shield Proficiency: You are proficient in Light, Medium and Heavy Armor. You are proficient with shields (excluding tower shields.)

Weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons.

Aura (Ex) (ACG 60): You have a particularly powerful aura corresponding to your deity's alignment.

Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)

Focus Weapon (Ex) (ACG 60): You gain Weapon Focus (Longbow) as a bonus feat.

Sacred Weapon (Su) (ACG 60): Weapons you wield are charged with the power of your faith. When you wield a Medium version of a Sacred Weapon - your deity's favored weapon or one in which you have Weapon Focus - you may deal 1d6 damage instead of the weapon's normal amount.

Spontaneous Casting (ACG 61): You may convert the stored energy of a prepared spell into a cure spell of the same level or lower.

Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)

Holy Strike (ACG 66): You can touch one weapon and grant it a good blessing for one minute. It deals an additional 1d6 damage against evil creatures and is treated as good for overcoming damage reduction. This does not stack with the holy weapon special ability.

Blinding Strike (ACG 68): You can create a flash of sunlight in one of your opponent's eyes, blinding them for one round. A Reflex save reduces this to dazzled for one round. Sightless creatures are unaffected; creatures with light blindness or sensitivity take a -4 penalty on the saving throw.

Level 0
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Light

Level 1
Divine Favour
Divine Favour

Julian was born in Old Kintargo of a merchant shipping family.
While he was growing up, he went with his parents on a couple of cruises where he learned the use of the bow, both in defence of his ship, and for meat.
Soon after he reached the age of 14, While he was left in the churches care, his parents ship went down with all hands leaving him an orphan.
With nothing else to really live for, he continued the one thing that seemed to keep his spirits up, religion.
For the next 4 years, he continued following the church of Iomadae, which was practiced under restrictions, and persecution. The followers some of whom taught him the use of the blade.
When the crusade became active, he stopped openly practicing the churches doctrine, and was soon getting annoyed further and further by the government.
When the proclomations, came down, he finally got fed up with the current leadership of the city, and soon found himself in the square in protest against the excesses of the current government.

CG Tiefling Swashbuckler 1
Alternate racial traits: Prehensile Tail (Fiendish Sorcery), Bullying (Skilled), Maw or Claw (Spell-like ability)
Class archetype: Dashing Thief

Init: +4

-------------------
DEFENSE
-------------------
AC: 17/14/15 (+4 Dex, +3 armor (+1/2 Dex to flat-footed AC))
HP: 11
Fort +1, Ref +6, Will +1
Defensive abilities: none

-------------------
OFFENSE
-------------------
Speed: 30 ft
Melee: rapier +5 (1d8/x2), claw +0 (1d4/x2)
- or 2 claws +5 (1d4/x2)
Ranged: light crossbow +5 (1d8/19-20)

Special:
Panache 3/day
Deeds - Derring-Do (Acrobatics/Disable Device/Escape Artist/Sleight of Hand/Swim), Dodging Panache, Opportune Parry/Riposte

-------------------
STATISTICS
-------------------
BAB: +1
CMB +5 (+8 to disarm/steal, +7 to dirty trick/feint/reposition/trip)
Str 10, Dex 18, Con 13, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 16

Bonus Feats: Weapon Finesse, Power Attack, Combat Expertise, Weapon Focus (blades, heavy)
Feats: Deft Maneuvers

Traits: Ever Wary, Ex-Asmodean (attack/damage)

Skills (total armor check penalty -1):
Bluff +7 <1 rank>
Diplomacy +7 (+2 vs Chelaxians) <1 rank>
Disguise +4 <1 rank>
Intimidate +3 (+2 vs Chelaxians) <untrained>
Knowledge (nobility) +3 <1 background rank>
Sleight of Hand +7 <1 background rank>
Stealth +4 <1 rank>

Equipment: rapier, light crossbow, 20 bolts, Chelaxian parade armor, mw backpack, glass cutter, glue paper (5), grappling hook, silk rope, mw thieves' tools, reversible cloak (brown cloth/fur-trimmed silk), 3 gp

"Where in the world is Linna Carmiani?"

It was a question whispered for months in the halls of the Asmodean temple in Kintargo. When Linna was born, a tiefling with human parents and human lineage, it was heralded as a portentious event; this previously-unknown house had clearly gained Asmodeus's favor! Various nobles in Kintargo made occasional (small, modest) donations to Linna's family to provide for her upbringing, lest they be seen as turning their backs on one of the Dark Prince's chosen, and when Linna finally came of age she was sent to the temple. Priestesshood, it was said, was her birthright.

That's when the dreams started.

The city of Kintargo was gripped by a red clawed fist; Linna was a sword wielded by unseen hands to slowly pry it open. A Chelish man was shackled to a stone wall by chains covered in red pentacles; Linna raised a smith's hammer to smash them. Commoners in the streets of Kintargo cried out as flames licked at them from all sides; Linna was a tidal wave dousing the streets with cool water.

The dreams varied, but each night the message was clear: Far from being a vessel of Asmodeus's will in Kintargo, Linna was instrumental in driving him out. Worse still, she liked it. She fled the temple, afraid her inner turmoil would betray her, but she told no one about the dreams or her intentions. To everyone else, she simply vanished.

A month passed. Three months. Six. Linna stayed as far from Kintargo as she could manage. The dreams subsided, but she couldn't stop thinking about them. Am I really supposed to be some sort of liberator?

Then, a new dream. A Kintargo noble house in flames. The commonfolk rioting in the streets. The city is a rag soaked in oil, a voice seemed to say. All it needs is a spark.

Linna decided it was time to return. She remembered stories from her childhood about a famed folk heroine-- for in her imagination the mysterious figure always looked like her-- named Jackdaw. That's who I'll be, she told herself. If Jackdaw was ever real... she's about to make a new appearance.

Linna doesn't know this, but her strings are being pulled by the goddess Milani. My plan is for her to prestige into Rose Warden.

Staying Up on Current Events. Linna will quickly discover, upon returning to Kintargo, that the first part of her most recent dream was all too real-- a noble house has indeed gone up in flames. When she learns of a protest gathering in Aria Park, she wants to see for herself just how close to bursting the situation really is.

The Long Roads Coffeehouse is one of numerous small restaurants, eateries, and coffee houses scattered across the Villegre district of Kintargo in Cheliax. It is located north of Villegre Park.

Seated at a lone table, school books perched precariously perhaps prepared for escape, Anansi the Spider enjoys a nice hot cup of coffee. The properly dressed gnome presented the look of a student at the Alabaster Academy. His hair actually colored a boring brown, while even the exposed skin on his face and arms is a rather ordinary tan colored if a bit ruddy. Wearing the midnight blue robes of the Academy hides any other pertinent (or not pertinent) efforts at further examination.

The Academician studiously studies his book. A giggle sound approaches his position.
Test this week, Anansi?

Standing at his table, Laria Longroad winks at the Gnome.

Anansi only expresses an injured facade.
Studying is not a crime, Laria.

The Halfling laughs.
But pretending to be a student for free is.

The gnome only looks surprised (with a bit of mischief).
Tuition is expensive, my dear. Besides, I change identity every 4 years.!

The proprietor of the Coffee shop only curtsies, as she whispers
Heard tell of dottari looking for person of interest in that debacle at Sunset Imports. Best take underground until I send for you.

Anansi the Spider frowns.
Weren't supposed to be anyone there. Simple smash and grab, but somehow there were dottari everywhere! Got it. Low profile. Just get home and have tea then.

Laria laughs.
Smash their Will to resist your honeyed words, you mean.

The grinning gnome toasts his coffee cup to the departing halfling.

==========Fallen From Grace==========

Alexius Vashnarstill is a relatively unimportant younger cousin of house Vashnarstill. Born and raised in Kintargo, he was destined to join the military and fulfill his noble family’s obligation to provide knights to the queen a certain number of months each year. Like all noble sons, he was trained in scholarly topics as well as martial arts, military strategy and so on. The boy was particularly adept at dueling with falcata and buckler in the manner of the Taldans and quickly found himself a rising star in the regions dueling circles. He attended – and won – many dueling tournaments, rubbing shoulders with prominent military leaders and royalty. It was just after one such tournament when the fates changed for Alexius. Returning to the family estate alone after taking first place, Alexius was set upon by three assassins, likely hired by a rival duelist from another noble family. Alexius was able to fight off, but not kill, the assassins, but not before receiving a grievous leg wound. The blade the assassin used must have been cursed, for despite having the wound healed with divine magic, not leaving so much as a scar behind, the young duelist was left with a prominent limp. Not even eighteen months at a healing monastery atop the Kullan Dei mountains in Tian Xia helped.

Alexius’ military future was over before it had begun. Everything he had been training for was gone. His mother was not too displeased that her son would not be going off to war, but Alexius was. His attitude quickly turned dour and he turned to drink to ease his emotional and physical pain. He had no interest in following his family members into politics or business and spent the nights drinking and womanizing and the days sleeping. At least now he had something in common with the head of the household, Sendi. His family could only bear his loud, drunken rants for so long and they eventually built a small, single room cottage in a secluded corner of their property for him. His affinity for corvidae led to the family calling the cottage the Rookery'. The increased privacy seemed to suit him, and he spent years partying the nights away.

The closest thing to friends Alexius could be said to have were other bored young noble men and women. They would gather to discuss banned topics and consume forbidden literature, always talking of how much better they could run the city if they were in charge. None of them meant any of it. Those spoiled nobles would be the last to do anything to jeopardize their lives of luxury and excess. While the higher ranking nobility certainly did not approve of these secret meetings (that everyone in the city knew about) there was nothing the royal family could do to stop them without angering many of the noble families that the crown needed to maintain control of the city and the region.

Reason to Protest: Protest the Government! The hellish, Orwellian (he exists, right?), soul-crushing curfew placed by the new regime has destroyed Alexius’ social life. While he never drank tea before or after sunset, no one tells him what he can drink or when.

Alexius Vashnarstill is a young chelaxian noble and he looks the part, his preferred outfit tending to draw the eye - an exotic costume he picked up on one of his oversea trips in his youth. He is tall and slender with trimmed brown hair and sideburns, brown eyes, and usually more than a couple days stubble. He wears black, fitted silk trousers and shirt, black calfskin gloves, a red velvet waistcoat, a high collared black longcoat and a tall top hat. The unusually tall hat and long, narrow coat exaggerate his height and slims his figure, lending him a somewhat unnatural look. He walks with a prominent limp and utilizes a fashionable cane, the silver head styled to look like a ravens beak. He is loud, brash, and selfish, with little patience for anyone but himself. Most nights he can be found closing bars or in bed with some lesser noble’s wife or daughter. He shows no drive or desire to accomplish anything with his life or improve himself in any way.

==========Hatchlings==========

Like all children, especially the children of the affluent, Alexius always sought to rebel against his parents and society in general. He never felt much of an attachment to the other noble children and would oft ditch his chauffeurs to go exploring the city on his own, a brief respite against the boredom of endless classes on royal lineage and naval tactics. Already familiar with the high-walled gardens, well-kept estates, and fancy shops of the upper district, he began to roam further afield, to the lower districts his family rarely visited. One day, around the age of eight, he found himself in the Devil's Nursery: the slums on the southeastern corner of Kintargo where the tieflings and other undesirables resided.

Initially, young Alexius was attracted by the colorful scales and horns the tieflings sported, though in the Nursery he was the one that stood out in his fine clothing. Most of the adults gave him a wide berth, not wanting to get tangled up in noble business. The noble child found himself drawn to a group of tiefling children dressed particularly flamboyantly, outfits fashioned after the dress of pirates and swashbucklers. Or at least what pirates and swashbucklers dress like in the minds of children. On first approach, the children lead Alexius into an dilapidated alley. They were intent on robbing the young noble, but the boy - years into his battlefield training at this point - recognized the oncoming ambush and, using a combination of his training and sheer size, managed to outwit and outfight the urchins.

Alexius was intrigued by the lifestyle of the tiefling gang. He was aware that people often resorted to robbery to sustain themselves, but had never known any such persons in his personal life. It sounded more interesting than classes on heraldic banners. Alexius joined the gang, who called themselves the Hatchlings, and entered into their informal tutelage. The lives of the Hatchlings was the opposite of his own life of privilege. They were concerned with where their next meal was coming from, rather than grand political schemes. General Steelbeard taught Alexius to face opponents as equals on the open field or in the arena, to use falcata and buckler to cut down threats to the crown. The Hatchlings taught him that a well placed kick from the shadows will down an unsuspecting opponent with ease. Alexius' mother, Lady Elaida Vashnarstill, taught him of logistics and trade routes. The Hatchlings taught him to disable wagons in claustrophobic alleys, making them ripe for plundering. Sir Hawthorne taught Alexius to be chivalrous and honorable. The Hatchlings taught him to pick pockets and cut purses. Instead of marching forth, heraldry held high, the Hatchlings kept to the rooftops, their cloven hooves adepts at climbing the imperfect walls. Of course, Alexius engaged in larceny and burglary for the thrill of it, while the Hatchlings stole to survive.

Despite the seemingly duplicitous nature of the tiefling gang, over the years Alexius found them to be better friends than the lords and ladies of the courts and far more honorable than most 'honest' businessmen. Beyond the Hatchlings, the denizens of the slums seemed to genuinely care for each other, where his peers in the upper city only cared about what one could do for them. He grew particularly close to an aiuvarin tiefling girl a bit younger than himself, Mythryssia Valxses. Mythryssia was feisty and temperamental, the opposite of the lordly gentleman Alexius was supposed to embody. As the years went by, fondness turned to youthful romance. Alexius only once mentioned 'rescuing' the proud tiefling girl from poverty. Such talked turned out to be a huge mistake, as Mythryssia aggressively did not need anyone to save her, and it took some time for the young man to get back on her good side, the gift of a simple but fine silver pendant of a raven helping him win her back over.

Mythryssia played the helpless waif well, easily able to fool marks into looking left while the Hatchlings went right. She was in fact a naturally gifted actress and singer. Skilled enough that joining the opera was not an unrealistic aspiration, barring systemic racism against tieflings. She got some local attention performing in small, no-budget plays, but there was no future for her in Cheliax, which she and Alexius could both see. After many tears and arguments, Mythryssia finally accepted Alexius' offer to help, specifically to find her a patron - likely in Absalom - that could grant the aspiring actress access to the schools and opportunities she needed to have a chance at success without the oppression tieflings faced most anywhere else. Correspondence with various artist-promoting houses in Absalom went well, until Alexius - then seventeen years old - finally received a response from one lady Hightower, who was interested enough to want to meet Mythryssia and had extended an eager invitation for the girl to visit her in Absalom.

The letter had been delivered to him on the Vashnarstill estate. Reading it filled him equally with melancholy and hope. Alexius' place was in Kintargo. As much as the idea of sending her away hurt him, he wanted Mythryssia to be happy, safe, and free more than he wanted her for himself. With trembling hands, he stowed the letter safely in an inset coat pocket and left the manor. He did not travel straight to the Nursery, his route instead plodding and winding this way and that throughout the city as he wandered almost aimlessly, trying to forestall the inevitable delivery of the letter that would take Mythryssia. He finally passed into the oddly comforting walls of the Devil's Nursery as the sun began to set, the city walls casting the entire place in shadow. None of the usual suspects had seen Mythryssia for a few hours, and she was not at her home with her parents. It was not unusual for the children of the Nursery, especially the Hatchlings, to disappear for hours or even a few days as they pursued their own goals, so Alexius was not overly worried. But as darkness fell and the night drew on, his worry grew, some unexplained voice whispering in the back of his mind that something was wrong. Increasingly panicked, he roused the Hatchlings that he could find, much to their collective annoyance, to help him search for her. They looked through the night with no luck.

As dawn was breaking over the city, a scream from one of the Hatchlings marked the end of their search. Behind rotted crates in a dead end alley, they found Mythryssia. Brutally murdered, her only substantial possession, the silver raven pendant, gone.

Nobody cared about one more dead tiefling. Even Alexius' mother, sympathetic - heartbroken for her son, even - though she was, was firmly dutybound to the family, and had never approved of his infatuation with the distracting tieflings. Despite his position of nobility, no amount of rage or bribery could convince local law enforcement or government to investigate, and his assertions that he suspected the murderer to be a hellknight were openly ignored. The nobility simply clucked their tongues and encouraged him to turn his focus back to his military studies where it belonged which, seemingly, Alexius eventually did.

Alexius had grown up in two worlds. He did not enjoy his destiny as a warrior and diplomat, but the privilege was nice and he was good at it. His escapades with the Hatchlings were fun, but were not building up to anything meaningful. With the loss of Mythryssia, the needs of the Vashnarstills and the Crown didn't seem to matter anymore.

Alexius Vashnarstill is dead.

==========The Raven==========

The Raven stood on the city wall south of the Devil’s Nursery, gazing into the slums below him. He was an intimidating figure: steel breastplate over thick, knee length gambeson; sturdy knee-high leather boots and matching leather gauntlets; a ragged, hooded cloak that almost touched the ground and concealed his head. But that was not why they called him the Raven. A macabre steel mask shaped like a raven’s beak protruded from the hood and obscured his face. Large, flat glass eyes granting vision while protecting the face from harmful vapors or liquids. A hulking, brutal pugilist, blood dripping from the spikes of his black gauntlets. A Hellknight lay groaning and bleeding on the walkway behind the parapet on which the imposing figure stood. The Thrune dog rolled onto her back, the pool of blood rapidly spreading beneath her. ”You can’t just… let me die.” she gurgles, coughing up blood.

The Raven turns his head to look from the slums to the dying soldier. ”I can’t?” he asks in a thick elven accent. He turns and drops to the walkway, squatting next to the woman, bringing up a gauntleted hand to tap the side of the beak covering his face. ”They say this is worn by doctors in some places. Doctors! I do consider myself a doctor…” He says, his voice casual and unconcerned. A dagger, the handle of which was intricately carved to resemble a large black feather, protruded from the woman’s stomach. The Raven grasped the dagger and pulled it free of the woman’s flesh and armor, increasing her blood loss and hastening her death. ”But not that kind of doctor.” He hisses as he lowers his beaked face near to the woman’s ear, his voice trembling with rage and hate. ”You pay for your crimes against that poor tiefling with your life.” The woman’s eyes flash with confusion – no doubt she could not differentiate one tiefling she had brutalized from another – and then the light goes out of her eyes as the life leaves her body.

Suddenly overcome with weariness, he sits back on the parapet, dangling his legs over the slums, and sighs, rubbing his face through the steel mask he wore. How long can I keep doing this? What is it going to change. His actions had had effects on the new Thrune regime, but it was too little. Too slow. The impoverished people of Kintargo were little more than slaves, and that isn’t even to mention the literal slaves. He was only one man. He stands, glancing back at the woman for a final time to ensure she was dead. ”I need some friends. A lot of friends.”

==========The Raven==========
Male human (Chelaxian) vigilante 1
CG Medium humanoid (human(?))
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4 (+6 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light)
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Defense
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AC 19, touch 13, flat-footed 16 (+6 armor, +3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2 (-1 penalty vs. compulsions, or -2 if they know your true identity)
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Melee dagger +4 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . dagger +4 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . spiked gauntlet +5 (1d4+2) or
. . spiked gauntlet +5 (1d4+2)
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Noble Scion of Vashnarstill, Power Attack, Weapon Focus
Traits child of kintargo, clever wordplay, cunning liar (any city)
Skills Acrobatics +3 (-1 to jump), Bluff +6, Climb +2, Diplomacy +6 (+10 when in your social identity), Disable Device +5, Disguise +3 (+23 to appear as part of polite society while in your social identity), Intimidate -1 (+1 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Linguistics +3, Perception +4 (+6 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Stealth -1 (+1 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Swim +2
Languages Common, Elven, Infernal, Tengu
SQ dimdweller, dual identity, empty mask, finesse weapon attack attribute, social grace, social talent (social grace), vigilante specialization (avenger)
Other Gear breastplate, dagger, dagger, spiked gauntlet, spiked gauntlet, concealable thieves' tools, wrist sheath, spring loaded (2), 21 gp
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Dimdweller +2 to Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth when in conceal due to darkness.
Dual Identity (Ex) Each identity maintains own alignment, can switch over 1 min. Magical means treat an ID as non existant while not adopted.
Empty Mask -1 to Will saves vs. compulsion, or -2 vs. those knowing your true identity.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use Dexterity on attack rolls.
Noble Scion of Vashnarstill You are a member of a proud noble family.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Social Grace (Diplomacy) +4 circumstance bonus to selected skill while in your social identity.
Weapon Focus (Close Weapons) +1 Attack.

==========Alexius Vashnarstill==========
Male human (Chelaxian) vigilante 1
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4 (+6 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light)
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Defense
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AC 13, touch 13, flat-footed 10 (+3 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +5, Will +2 (-1 penalty vs. compulsions, or -2 if they know your true identity)
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee sword cane +4 (1d6+2)
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 17, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 8
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Agile Maneuvers, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Noble Scion of Vashnarstill, Power Attack, Weapon Focus
Traits child of kintargo, clever wordplay, cunning liar (any city)
Skills Acrobatics +7, Bluff +6, Climb +6, Diplomacy +10, Disable Device +9, Disguise +3 (+23 to appear as part of polite society while in your social identity), Intimidate -1 (+1 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Knowledge (local) +7, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Linguistics +3, Perception +4 (+6 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Stealth +3 (+5 while benefit from concealment or full concealment due to darkness or dim light), Swim +6
Languages Common, Elven, Infernal, Tengu
SQ dimdweller, dual identity, empty mask, finesse weapon attack attribute, social grace, social talent (social grace), vigilante specialization (avenger)
Other Gear sword cane, average cost of living (10gp/month)concealable thieves' tools, noble's outfit, signet ring, 21 gp
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Special Abilities
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Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB
Combat Expertise +/-1 Bonus to AC in exchange for an equal penalty to attack.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Deadly Aim -1/+2 Trade a penalty to ranged attacks for a bonus to ranged damage.
Dimdweller +2 to Intimidate, Perception, and Stealth when in conceal due to darkness.
Dual Identity (Ex) Each identity maintains own alignment, can switch over 1 min. Magical means treat an ID as non existant while not adopted.
Empty Mask -1 to Will saves vs. compulsion, or -2 vs. those knowing your true identity.
Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use Dexterity on attack rolls.
Noble Scion of Vashnarstill You are a member of a proud noble family.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Social Grace (Diplomacy) +4 circumstance bonus to selected skill while in your social identity.
Weapon Focus (Close Weapons) +1 Attack

I'm somewhat tempted to take the Psychometrist archetype, it would ultimately be stronger and more interesting and varied, but he would do, like, no damage until about level six so that's probably not viable lol.

Level 1 (Avenger Vigilante) - FCB: +1 SP; Feat: Noble Scion: Vashnarstill; Human Feat: Weapon Focus (Close); Social Talent: Social Grace (Diplomacy)
Level 2 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Vigilante Talent: Lethal Grace
Level 3 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Social Talent: Safe House; Feat: Shield Gauntlet Style.
Level 4 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Vigilante Talent: Fist of the Avenger
Level 5 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Social Grace (Bluff); Social Talent: Renown; Feat: Shielded Gauntlet Attack.
Level 6 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Vigilante Talent: Signature Weapon. (Retrain Weapon Focus to Two-Weapon Fighting)
Level 7 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Social Talent: Great Renown; Feat: Shielded Gauntlet Master.
Level 8 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Vigilante Talent: Steel Soldier.
Level 9 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Social Grace: TBD; Social Talent: TBD; Feat: Improved Two-Weapon Fighting.
Level 10 (Vigilante): FCB: +1 SP; Vigilante Talent: Armor Skin.

If trade is the lifeblood of a city, then the streets are its veins. The phrase was an odd one, to be sure, gleaned from a half-remembered sermon by some stuffy Abadaran preacher in a city long ago, but in her many years as an itinerant healer, Zada Sirakil had found a strange sort of sense to it. The streets were the veins of a city, with all that entailed - at first glance, the expansive boulevards of the luxuriously appointed Greens district seemed to be markers of a glorious city, free of tyranny and strife, but when you left behind the vast administrative organs of the city, you began to see the decay, sprawling out like a vast sore as the city grew bloated, too bloated to care for all its people. Of all the streets of Kintargo, the cramped alleyways of the Devil's Nursery were among the worst - fitting, given the average Kintargan's opinion on the area's inhabitants. Yet unlike the cruel doctrine of the city's Asmodean temples, with their ironbound hierarchies, Zada believed that all were worthy of kindness, even the devil-blooded who made the Nursery their home. Her wanderings had taken her to the city of Kintargo just a few months ago - though Chelish by name, the city was famous (or infamous, depending on one's loyalty to the ruling dynasty) for the lax control the Imperial Heartlands were able to exert over their far-flung holding, and she had believed (rightly or wrongly) that her Desnan faith would not be quite as vehemently hunted down as it would have been elsewhere. Her work with the downtrodden quickly led her to the Cloven Hoof Society, a small but enthusiastic group devoted to helping what was perhaps the most destitute neighborhood that Kintargo had to offer. Her services to the people of the Nursery would have been considered little more than begging in Kintargo's wealthier districts - telling stories, tending wounds, crafting poultices and other remedies for scrapes and bruises - but for Zada Sirakil, the looks of gratitude on the faces of people unused to such help from outsiders was better than any coin the noble families of the Greens had to offer.

A pacer by nature, Zada's feet had always seemed to have a mind of their own as her thoughts wandered, bearing her to and fro on the whims of chance. Only when her idle musings were interrupted by the sound of a knife coming free of its sheath did she realize that her wanderings had led her into a dark alleyway, far from what few roads ran through the Nursery. "Okay, lady, turn around real slow now..." Turning, she saw that a pair of tiefling youths, lean with hunger, had stepped in to block the exit of the alleyway, amateurishly made knives in their clawed hands. The taller of the two, a boy with hooves for feet, stepped forward, brandishing his knife. "Look, lady, we don't want to have to hurt you, so hand over your coin purse!" Behind him, the other youth, a girl with matted hair, nodded mute assent, holding her knife uncertainly in two hands. Others, arguably those better suited to survival, would have seen only the knives in the hands of the youths - no more than teenagers, really - but what Zada saw first and foremost was two people in need, barely even registering the taller one's ultimatum. "Oh, by all the gods, look at you two - you're skin and bones! No, what you two need is a hot meal, if I'm any judge." The young man grinned, raising his knife threateningly. "Yeah, you better believe... um..." He trailed off, caught off-guard by her unexpected response - lowering his weapon, a pair of translucent membranes sheeted over his eyes in a sideways blink as he processed her words. "...Run that by me again, lady?" Zada's shook her head, glancing back and forth between the two young tieflings. "Why, you two are practically starving! Well, I'll certainly put a stop to that!" Looking around the alleyway to get her bearings, the healer smiled. "Just a few streets over is the place where I work - we'll get some food in you in no time. It's this way - follow me!" Setting off down the alleyway, her bewildered would-be muggers in tow, Zada looked between the two youths. "So tell me, what are your names?" The taller tiefling rushed to keep up with the healer, every one of her long strides equaling about one and a half of his own. "Siv the Sh... my name's Siv, lady." He nods to the shorter girl, cantering along at a half-run to keep pace with the other two. "That there's my sister Sav. She don't talk much." Zada smiled at the two siblings. "Well, Siv and Sav, it's very nice to meet you. It seems chance smiled on you today - smiled on me, too, because I got to help you get what you need!"

"And do either of you have any experience as a groom?" The impeccably-dressed human peered over his spectacles at the two applicants, one eyebrow twitching upwards as he examined Siviro's ragged vest and poorly-made peasants' clothes with the air of a master painter inspecting goblin graffiti. Before the young man could speak up, the other applicant, a brown-haired human with an Isger accent, interjected. "Of course - I've watched the drivers in my grandfather's caravan for years." His eyes flicked to Siviro as his lip curled into a sneer. "I don't imagine you'd see many horses in Devil's Nursery." Siviro shrunk under the glare, but he returned his attention back to the stablemaster in time to stammer out a passable lie. "I've got some experience. I used to work for a butcher, and I could calm down oxen about to go to the chopping block." The corner of the stablemaster's mouth twitched upwards in a smirk. "Let us see, then." Without another word, he led the two applicants out to the back of the stable, where a simple track had been set up on the manor's green, an elderly horse tethered alongside it. "Whichever of you two can best guide a horse along this track, you'll get the job." The Isgeri man simply smiled, mounting the horse with a practiced air and steering it along the simple track using only his knees. The horse, old and well-trained, slowly plodded along as directed. As the man hopped down from the horse, he shoved the reigns into Siviro's hand with a sneer. "Your turn, 'spawn."

Siviro approached the horse with caution, tentatively reaching out to touch its flank and jerking his hand back as the horse's eyes revolved in panic. The Tanessen stable was the only one he could find that would even hear him out, making at least a pretense of looking past his horns and hooves to his actual qualifications. If he lost the job, he would have nothing left. Irritated, he moved up to the horse again, whispering in its ear as he had seen accomplished grooms do - though his words were a good deal less comforting. "Look, you stupid horse, I need this job. If I don't get it, my family goes hungry. If I don't get it because of you... I know a few tanners in Devil's Nursery who don't ask questions." The horse's eyes revolved again, but before Siviro could mount it, it bolted. The young tiefling looked apologetically back at the stable master, only to glance towards his horse as he saw the sneers on their faces turn to surprise. Behind him, the horse was galloping across the green at full speed, panic in its eyes as it maneuvered, riderless, around the track. After a moment, Siviro turned back to the stunned stablemaster. "...So does this mean I get the job?"