Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali's page

TRAITS:
Bruising Intellect: Use INT instead of CHA for Intimidate
Greater Purpose: +1 on saves vs death; +1 on CON checks to stabilize while dying
Enduring Stoicism: +2 on saves vs emotion or fear effects; +1 to Intimidate
FEATS:
Agile Maneuvers: Use DEX instead of STR for CMB (free with feat tax rules)
Dodge: +1 dodge bonus to AC, increases to +4 vs AoO
Extra Hex: Extra Witch hex

Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute: use DEX bonus for attack rolls using light weapons (from feat tax rules)
Protecting Veil: Her veil acts as her familiar. It stores spells like a spellbook and she must commune with it every day to prepare spells
Trickery (Infernal Contract): Gain Misfortune Hex for free at 1st level; Every day must deal 1d6 damage to self while communing with familiar and decorate veil with the blood
Ghostwalk: After using a hex, can use move action to take 5' step and vanish

Evil Eye: (DC 15, 7 rounds, Will save to reduce to 1 round) Foe within 30' takes -2 penalty to choice of AC, Attack Rolls, Saves, Ability Checks, or Skill Checks
Healing: Heal touched creature for 1d8+2; each target can only benefit once per 24 hrs
Misfortune: (DC 15, 1 round, Will negates) Foe within 30' must roll all d20s twice and take the lower result; each target can only be impacted once per 24 hrs

Strength 10 (+0)
Dexterity 15 (+2)
Constitution 12 (+1)
Intelligence 18 (+4)
Wisdom 12 (+1)
Charisma 9 (-1)
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Acrobatics +2
Appraise +4
Bluff -1
Climb +0
Diplomacy -1
Escape Artist +2
Fly +6
Heal +6
Intimidate +9
Knowledge (Arcana) +8
Knowledge (Nature) +9
Knowledge (Religion) +6
Perception +3
Ride +2
Sense Motive +1
Spellcraft +9
Stealth +2
Survival +1
Swim +0
Use Magic Device +3
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Background Skills:
Knowledge (History) +9
Linguistics +6

Lvl0 (DC14) - All
Lvl1 (DC15) - Adhesive Spittle, Animate Rope, Cause Fear, Command, Cure Light Wounds, Hex Vulnerability, Inflict Light Wounds, Long Arm, Mage Armor, Murderous Crow

Combat Gear
Dagger (3)
Sickle
Other Gear
Ashiftah Veil
Backpack
Bedroll
Belt pouch
Candle (10)
Chalk (10)
Courtesan's Kit
Flint and Steel
Ink and Inkpen
Journal
Soap
Spell Component Pouch
Alchemist's fire (2)
Currency: 17g 4s 1c

Amestri al-Naadhira Batgali (Amestri, daughter of Naadhira of the Batgali tribe) was born of merchant stock in Qadira. Her parents hoped to improve their standing and join a merchant house through her, and as such were very interested in increasing her prestige. As all Qadirans are conscripted for military service, they decided that they would have her trained in arcane arts so that she could join the Ashiftah, or "Battle Witches".

The Ashiftah are one of the most feared portions of Qadira's armies, veiled women who drift through the battlefield like phantoms in the mist, calling down curses and misfortune on their enemies while remaining untouched. Having a daughter that joined the Ashiftah would be a great honor for the family and the tribe.

As she came closer to the age of conscription, Amestri had shown no talent for the arcane arts of the Ashiftah, no matter how much training her parents obtained for her. Out of desperation, her mother made a pact with a daemon on her behalf, which resulted in giving her the necessary power and skill, but came with a price.

Amestri's soul is held forfeit, and in order to be able to continue to utilize her powers she not only needs to remain veiled like all Ashiftah, but she must harm herself in a blood sacrifice every morning and use that blood to decorate her veil. Although she successfully joined the Ashiftah and obtained honor for her excellence in battle, the daemon's price was too difficult to hide. A high ranking member of the guard became suspicious of her odd behavior and learned of her pact, which was in opposition to the official religion of Qadira. As the nation follows Saranrae, the goddess of redemption, she was kicked out of the Ashiftah and exiled until such a time as she could be redemption from her pact. Her family was stripped of what status they had and pushed down into the peasant class for their actions in damning their daughter.

Amestri traveled north into Taldor, where as a Qadiran she was seen as the lowest of the low, and it was impossible to consistently find work or shelter. in order to survive she was forced to steal from serfs and laborers, and hex merchants on the road, taking what she needed to live plus extra to pawn for gold. Almost every day she had to commit an act that went against her ideals, so she pushed north to get out of Taldor as quickly as possible.

In Galt she fared better, being able to obtain work with revolutionary groups and merchants, but the nations extreme xenophobia often led to her being persecuted by random strangers. Although she was always able to defend herself, she left enough people wounded, cursed, or dead that she found much to regret there as well.

Despairing of ever finding a release from her pact, and feeling more and more separated from Saranrae the more unscrupulous deeds she was forced to do, she continued into the River Kingdoms. Despite there being no centralized government and all too many bandits and skirmishes, the River Kingdoms were a much better place for Amestri. She was able to find honest work most of the time, and began to feel more at peace. After several years working as a guard or a healer for several different cities, she heard of the University of Lepidstadt in Ustalav.

Stories of the radical research being conducted at Lepidstadt intrigued her. When she discovered that there was also groundbreaking work being conducted in both the arcane and divine areas, she thought that she may have finally found a place where she could find out how to get out of her daemonic pact and hopefully return to Qadira to be a true Ashiftah and servant of Saranrae. She traveled towards Lepidstadt, but on the way she was running out of supplies. She stopped in Redleaf to try and earn some money, where she found a group hiring mercenaries to clear out the surrounding area of the undead that remained from the Whispering Tyrant's rule. She was assigned to a team, and they headed into the woods.

Now Amestri awakens in a strange room with people that she feels a vague connection to, with no memory at all of what has transpired since the day she went into the woods outside of Redleaf. She has no concept of where she is or how long has passed.

Amestri is greatly embarrassed by the pact in which her mother bound her, and to keep it a secret she attempts to hide her morning ritual of cutting herself. Unfortunately this ritual is necessary for her to retain her power, and she is unwilling to stop doing it as she would feel lost and useless without her Ashiftah skills. She does realize that the wounds might be able to be hidden but the blood on her veil can not. If confronted about it she will fake having a compulsive mental issue which results in the cuts, as in her opinion being viewed as unstable or insane is less embarrasing than admitting what her mother did to her.

Not knowing what happened to her in the recent past, but that her daemonic pact is still intact, she desires nothing more than ending it and finding redemption through Saranrae. This has pushed her to the point where although she will still fight like a desert demon when necessary, she will always try to convert opponents before fighting, and stabilize fallen opponents so that they have more time available to repent. Only if she is completely sure they are never going to change their ways will she give them a form of final redemption through death.

In her day to day interactions, Amestri is almost formally polite. She is friendly and well mannered, and does not try to rock the boat unless absolutely necessary. She relies on her manners and lets others take the front when it comes to diplomatic situations. When politeness will not fix an issue, she will try intimidation. If even that does not work she will become the "battle witch" she was trained to be.

Her veil is not only her uniform as an Ashiftah, it is the source of her powers as a witch. In Qadira it is commonly believed seeing the unveiled face of an Ashiftah would bring misfortune to the viewer. Having been raised to think this, she will do anything possible to never bare her face, even to opponents. If her veil is torn or lost she will attempt to hide her face however possible until she can manufacture another veil out of whatever material she can find. She does this not just to maintain her status and abilities, but to save others from the curse of seeing her without the protection of her covering.

Amestri will continue to try and find ways to do good deeds as much as possible, and to repent for not just her unasked for daemonic pact but also for what she has done in the past. Her passion for not just saving herself but also helping others find redemption will continue to grow. Mechanically, she will probably take the Evangelist prestige class to continue this spiritual growth, and also to round out her utility more into the martial area without losing what battlefield control skills she already has.