Annurian's page

Alignment True Neutral, Pharasmian
Class Unchained Summoner (Soulbound), with the Shattered Psyche curse
Race Shabti
Party Role Mainly Support Caster (buffing the party, crowd control, etc... the unchained summoner spell list toolkit); potentially also Face, Damage Dealer via the Eidolon, Some Skills.

Pitch The character is a Shabti created to replace an evil wizard as he died and was dragged to the planar depths. Tortured for years, he was finally able to escape due to a miracle: adventurers raided an infernal dungeon he was tethered to, and left a portal behind. Pharasma took compassion on the poor, lost, broken soul, and bound him to a psychopomp to guide him through his new life... And potentially find the wizard which fooled death to pay for eternity.

The bards sang about a place called Styx - the River of Souls. In the stygian currents, souls would run like water, forming waves on their way to their final repose. Such was the journey to the underworld, and the different planes of existence; the wind that would blow through such path was that of a goddess voice, and this was the last journey for the redeemed and the forsaken.

There was, then, a necromancer of great power and experience; a man that would disrupt the cycle and bend undeath to his will. Even in the unimaginable length his power would reach, there was still place for greed - for that's power's ultimate precipice, the will for more power. And so, the mighty bargained for more power with the entities of the Abyss, and his very soul was the coin.

The lifespan of three men had passed when the time to pay was reached - and so the soul was ferried to the depths, and there it cried and was tortured for even more lifespans, its very essence fueling the demonic engines. For all that time it struggled and was kept in despair, until finally that place - the keep named Burning Gauntlet - was raided by adventurers. They were coming not for that soul, but for a different, irrelevant artifact; and as they departed, leaving a portal behind, the little soul escaped.

It was as the moment the portal was crossed that the mistake was noticed by Death itself; for as the goddess stared at the human looking eyes, she understood she had been fooled. Even the Abyss itself was fooled, or didn't care for the exchange; but the truth was that soul wasn't the right one. That creature was, in truth, a shabti.

Right before dying, the necromancer reached the River of Souls, and there he cast his net; and while most souls passed freely, several were caught in the thread, many of such shredded in such process. The evil wizard wasn't interested in the entities as a whole, but happy to collect as many fragments as he could, and with such fragments he tinkered like a sculptor. Slowly tapping them together until the entity resembled his very soul; slowly until the ruse was done, and he escaped the final embrace.

Now free, the shabti was looked with curiosity and pity. His mind wasn't actually his own, but bits and pieces of different individuals forming a shattered psyche. The poor man was etched into serving the mage's sentence, and endured through all this time. The beautiful Lady of Death held his crying face by the chin, and with her nails delicately cut the stitches that kept his mouth arcanely shut. As she blinked, he breathed again, and one of her own servants - a psychopomp - was tasked to guide him back to the mortal planes, and there help him find his purpose. Could he maybe seek that necromancer, in the name of Pharasma, and make him pay for his crimes? Or was there something else, much larger, at stake? She didn't say a word. That's not how she operates.

Initially, he just lied down under the warm sun for hours; multiple voices spoke at the same time, in different languages. He had the muscle memory of swinging swords and shooting arrows; he had knowledges from times past, from things he didn't live - or maybe did. He knew prayers to different deities, and could even mutter cantrips and arcane spells. He decided to call himself Annurian, as for the name seemed to resonate well with the many voices speaking in his head. He wasn't reincarnate, but a whole new entity, cursed with a mind of eternal turmoil, relieved with his freedom, and genuinely happy to simply be... alive?

Annurian wandered for days, followed by Phaester, the psychopomp, until they finally reached that somewhat desolate place. Phaester took to rest as they approached the town. Diamond Lake was rotten to its core, surrounded by ancient ruins and cairns through the goblin infested hills. Yet, there were opportunities there; miners swinged their pickaxes underground, soldiers guarded a decrepit garrison, and prophets walked the streets talking about the end of the world. There were fishers and merchants, bakers and prostitutes; a true paradise of corruption and misery, and still a place a lot more inviting than where he lived his entire existence.

After a long and lonely walk, Annurian finally reached a temple. As image of Pharasma could be seen in the well kept entrance, surrounded by white lilies, right underneath the inscription saying "The Cult of the Lady of Mint". The rune in the center of Annurian's chest seemed to vibrate; it was an ink black drawing of the holy symbol of the Lady of Graves, and the shabti instinctively knew this could be the place for him. The cultists at the place were fervorous religious zealots; and while Annurian would respect their dedication to the mission and somehow understand the importance of protecting the nearby graveyards from robbers, in truth he felt this was all too mundane.

His true interests were on the souls themselves, not the bodies, but he understood that keeping an eye on these graverobbers was likely the best way to find necromancers. While he wasn't accepted at their ranks exactly, he was welcome to accompany and help them, and so he did, and night after night he'd be visiting the graveyards with the robed men and chasing away all those outlaws interested in fast coins by ransacking the dead bodies. It was disrespectful, so Annurian - and Phaester, to a good degree, despite the fact he was rarely summoned - were in agreement with the task, but internally they were talking to these men, interviewing them, and trying to find the right connections to escalate the food chain.

And in the goddess work, while walking through the dark tombs... Something on the hills seemed to be calling for them. It was like a loud breeze in the cairns; and while Annurian considered that one of the souls used to build him was asking for help on the ancient ruins, he also imagined something much, much more sinister could be brewing.

Very tall and with almost shiny, dark skin, Annurian looks very human in a first glance - but after examination, it feels clear he's far from being one. His eyes are equally black, but lifeless; he doesn't eat, drink or sleep. His presence is powerful, like a shining beacon within a small room; and while he tries to operate and behave humanly, due to the memories of his creator and the souls used to do so, he still gives a strong impression of being an outsider no matter where he is. He is bald and somewhat muscular, with long and well toned limbs.

Annurian is absolutely neutral - it's not a matter of not having a morale compass or knowing the difference between law and chaos, but actually a combination of being deeply involved in the natural cycle of life and death, plus all the conflicting alignments from the different minds composing his own. He is a calm and collected individual, with patient eyes and an overall behavior that seems to suggested he's in peace despite the turmoils on his head. In truth, he has difficulties thinking or concentrating, and is constantly battling for balance within his thoughts - as if always negotiating between several different individuals with different interests and backgrounds.

Phaester is an Yamaraj psychopomp - but not one of the huge, majestic ones; he's just a cub, very, very young. He looks like a dragon of sorts, feathered like a crow, with an overall death aura around him. He stays biped most of the time, unless he's allowing Annurian to ride him - in such situations, he goes on all four. His wings are still nonfunctional due to the young age, the same applying to his other natural attacks and skills. He's intelligent, stoic and obsessed with his hatred towards undeath.

Annurian
Male shabti soulbound summoner 1 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 5 227, Pathfinder Unchained 25, Tyrant's Grasp: Midwives to Death 82)
N Medium outsider (native)
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3 (+7 to spot things that will immediately hurt you)
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Defense
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AC 16, touch 12, flat-footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)
hp 10 (1d8+2)
Fort +2, Ref +2, Will +1 (+4 trait bonus on Will saves to disbelieve specifically protective illusions); +4 competence bonus vs. mind-affecting effects
Defensive Abilities immune to undeath, resist level drain
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20) or
. . sickle +2 (1d6+2) or
. . spear +2 (1d8+3/×3) or
. . unarmed strike +2 (1d3+2 nonlethal)
Ranged light crossbow +2 (1d8/19-20)
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1/day—suggestion (DC 17)
Soulbound Summoner Spells Known (CL 1st; concentration +3)
. . 1st (2/day)—mage armor, lesser rejuvenate eidolon[APG]
. . 0 (at will)—detect magic, guidance, mending, read magic
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Statistics
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Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 19
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 14
Feats Dirty Fighting, Eidolon Mount[UW], Mounted Combat
Traits voices of solid things (witchmarket), dangerous curiosity
Skills Appraise -1, Craft (sculpture) +5, Heal -3, Knowledge (history) +3, Knowledge (planes) +3, Knowledge (religion) +3, Perception +3 (+7 to spot things that will immediately hurt you), Ride +4, Sense Motive -3, Spellcraft +8, Survival -3, Use Magic Device +8
Languages Common, Necril
SQ curse (shattered psyche), eidolon (unchained), immortal, life link, past-life knowledge, shattered soul
Other Gear chain shirt, crossbow bolts (100), dagger, dagger, light crossbow, sickle, spear, belt pouch, flint and steel, masterwork backpack[APG], masterwork sculpting tools, weapon cord[APG], wrist sheath, spring loaded, wrist sheath, spring loaded, 25 gp, 6 sp, 1 cp
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Tracked Resources
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Crossbow bolts - 0/100
Dagger - 0/1
Dagger - 0/1
Mounted Combat (1/round) - 0/1
Spear - 0/1
Suggestion (1/day) - 0/1
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Special Abilities
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Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Dirty Fighting Forgo flanking bonus to make combat maneuver not provoke attack of op.
Eidolon (Unchained) Can summon a powerful aspect of an outsider.
Eidolon Mount Your eidolon is capable of serving as a combat-trained mount.
Immortal (Ex) You do not age naturally, and cannot die of old age.
Immune to Undeath (Ex) You cannot become undead, spells/effects that would make you undead have no effect.
Life Link (Su) Damage that dismisses Eidolon can be taken by you. It weakens if not in 100 ft.
Mounted Combat (1/round) Once per round you can attempt to negate a hit to your mount in combat.
Past-Life Knowledge (Ex) Treats all Knowlege skills as class skills.
Resist Level Drain (Ex) No penalties from energy drain, dies if reduced to neg. levels = HD. No save to remove neg. lvs.
Shattered Psyche Your mind is crowded with dozens of voices, fragmented snippets of your past lives. You take a -2 penalty on all Intelligence-based skill checks, Wisdom-based skill checks, and concentration checks. You gain a +4 competence bonus on saving throws mad
Shattered Soul (Ex) Bringing Shabti back to life requires CL check = DC 10 + Shabti's HD.
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Dangerous Curiosity You really don't know when to stop looking. You gain a +2 trait bonus to Perception checks, and Perception is always a class skill. You also gain a +4 trait bonus on Will saves to disbelieve specifically protective illusions, such as a disguise self on a medusa, and on Perception checks to spot things that will immediately hurt you, such as a well-concealed symbol of pain.

Phaester CR –
Biped
N Medium outsider (psychopomp)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+1 Dex, +4 natural)
hp 6 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2
Immune death effects, disease, poison
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft.
Melee improvised earth breaker +4 (2d6+4) or
. . unarmed strike +4 (1d3+3 nonlethal) or
. . slam +4 (1d8+4)
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Catch Off-guard
Skills Knowledge (planes) +2, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +5
Languages Common
Other Gear improvised earth breaker[UE], sledge
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Tracked Resources
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. . -none-
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Special Abilities
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Catch Off-Guard Proficient with improvised melee weapons. Unarmed foe is flat-footed against your improvised weapons.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Eidolon Mount Eidolon is capable of serving as a combat-trained mount.
Immunity to Death Effects You are immune to death effects.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.

Phaester CR –
Quadruped
N Large outsider (psychopomp)
Init +1; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +4
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Defense
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AC 14, touch 10, flat-footed 13 (+1 Dex, +4 natural, -1 size)
hp 6 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +1, Will +2
Immune death effects, disease, poison
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Offense
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Speed 40 ft.
Melee improvised earth breaker +3 (3d6+4) or
. . unarmed strike +3 (1d4+3 nonlethal) or
. . bite +3 (1d8+4)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
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Statistics
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Str 16, Dex 12, Con 13, Int 7, Wis 10, Cha 11
Base Atk +1; CMB +5; CMD 16
Feats Catch Off-guard
Skills Acrobatics +1 (+5 to jump), Knowledge (planes) +2, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +1
Languages Common
Other Gear improvised earth breaker[UE], sledge
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Tracked Resources
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. . -none-
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Special Abilities
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Catch Off-Guard Proficient with improvised melee weapons. Unarmed foe is flat-footed against your improvised weapons.
Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only).
Eidolon Mount Eidolon is capable of serving as a combat-trained mount.
Immunity to Death Effects You are immune to death effects.
Immunity to Disease You are immune to diseases.
Immunity to Poison You are immune to poison.