About Demibaroness Alyczandra DeLaiseAppearance:
Standing a willowy 5’10, Alyczandra possesses a haunting beauty. Thin buts shapely, with dark red hair, pale skin and eyes closest to silver in color, most would think her an exotic human at first glance. On closer inspection there is something different though: a stare a bit too feral and bicuspid teeth just a bit too long. She dresses well, clearly cares about her appearance, and has the bearing and demeanor one would expect from Chelish nobility. The very observant might notice scaring on her arms, perhaps from an accident, yet clearly not fully healed and repeated (obeisance to Achaekek). Some might catch her eying themselves or another, with a look that could oddly be mistaken for hunger… Personality:
Hard-bitten (literally) and cynical, Alyczandara loathes most everything, a hatred that will likely grow as her Vampiric “condition” evolves. The one element she values though is Belonging: to be part of a group with a shared vision and goal (such as the Mantis’ and the Party) is invaluable. This belief, felt and acted on more than spoken, comes from having had no such belonging for most of her existence. Alyczandra generally dislikes other nobles, despite her title and her willingness to use it to advance her aims. Despite her bitterness, she is quite skilled at appearing charming and socially adroit, finding ways to relate to most. Aside from the organizational goals of the groups she belongs to, Alyczandra has two primary motivations. Her first, and most overt, is to ready herself to join the Red Mantis Assassins. She is near-fanatical in pursuit of this endeavor and her desire to gain her god Achaekek’s favor. She reveres Asmodeus as well, but more in a perfunctory sense. Driven and disciplined, she takes a regimented approach to tasks and has a self-confidence more derived from her preliminary Mantis training than her adopted noble heritage. Her second motivation, more unconscious but even more inexorable, is her descent into Vampirism. She is both fascinated by and fearful of this, with both reverence and rage towards her mother’s “gift” to her. Full Stats:
Demibaroness Alyczandra DeLaise
Female dhampir (Chelaxian) unchained rogue 3 (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 2 89, Pathfinder Unchained 20) LE Medium humanoid (dhampir) Init +4; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +14 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 20, touch 14, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +4 Dex, +2 natural) hp 21 (3d8+3) Fort +0, Ref +7, Will +2; +2 vs. disease and mind-affecting effects Defensive Abilities danger sense +1, evasion, negative energy affinity; Resist undead resistance Weaknesses Sunlight Vulnerability (Sickened Condition in Sunlight) -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee mwk sawtooth sabre +7 (1d8+4/19-20) or mwk sawtooth sabre +5 (1d8+4/19-20)x2 or silver short sword +6 (1d6+3/19-20) Ranged light crossbow +6 (1d8/19-20) Special Attacks sneak attack (unchained) +2d6 Spell-Like Abilities (CL 1st; concentration +5) 1/day—charm person (DC 15), command (DC 15) -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 8, Dex 18, Con 9, Int 8, Wis 12, Cha 18 Base Atk +2; CMB +6 (+8 dirty trick, +8 disarm, +8 reposition, +8 steal, +8 trip); CMD 15 (17 vs. dirty trick, 17 vs. disarm, 17 vs. reposition, 17 vs. steal, 17 vs. trip) Feats: The Bitten, The Dying, Agile Maneuvers, Alertness, Combat Expertise, Deadly Aim, Deft Maneuvers, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (sawtooth sabre), Power Attack, Toughness, Two-weapon Fighting Traits chelish noble, red mantis bleeding Skills Acrobatics +10, Appraise +0, Bluff +13 (+14 vs. members of Chelish aristocracy), Climb +0, Diplomacy +9 (+10 vs. members of Chelish aristocracy), Disable Device +13, Disguise +10 (+11 vs. members of Chelish aristocracy), Escape Artist +5, Fly +5, Heal +2, Intimidate +10 (+11 vs. members of Chelish aristocracy), Knowledge (nobility) +6, Linguistics +6, Perception +14, Ride +5, Sense Motive +10, Sleight of Hand +9, Stealth +11, Survival +2, Swim +0 Languages Celestial, Common, Draconic, Infernal SQ finesse weapon attack attribute, heir to undying nobility, resist level drain, rogue talent (combat trick), trapfinding +1 Other Gear chain shirt, light crossbow, mwk sawtooth sabre[ISWG], mwk sawtooth sabre[ISWG], silver short sword, belt pouch, masterwork backpack[APG], masterwork thieves' tools, noble's outfit, signet ring, silver unholy symbol of Achaekek, 99 gp
Personality: Hard-bitten (literally) and cynical, Alyczandara loathes most everything, a hatred that will likely grow as her Vampiric “condition” evolves. The one element she values though is Belonging: to be part of a group with a shared vision and goal (such as the Mantis’ and the Party) is invaluable. This belief, felt and acted on more than spoken, comes from having had no such belonging for most of her existence. Alyczandra generally dislikes other nobles, despite her title and her willingness to use it to advance her aims. Despite her bitterness, she is quite skilled at appearing charming and socially adroit, finding ways to relate to most. Aside from the organizational goals of the groups she belongs to, Alyczandra has two primary motivations. Her first, and most overt, is to ready herself to join the Red Mantis Assassins. She is near-fanatical in pursuit of this endeavor and her desire to gain her god Achaekek’s favor. She reveres Asmodeus as well, but more in a perfunctory sense. Driven and disciplined, she takes a regimented approach to tasks and has a self-confidence more derived from her preliminary Mantis training than her adopted noble heritage. Her second motivation, more unconscious but even more inexorable, is her descent into Vampirism.She is both fascinated by and fearful of this, with both reverence and rage towards her mother’s “gift” to her. Background: House DeLaise is small but mildly influential noble house in Egorian, its influence almost entirely due to being an early backer of Houser Thrune as it ascended to the Throne of Cheliax. The current master of House DeLaise, a selfish, aristocratic but handsome man named Celquin serves House Thrune as a minor diplomat while also engaging in mercantile endeavors during his travels. Celquin had two sons via his meek and thoroughly cowed wife, Anna-Felise, while having countless trysts during his travels. One of these encounters involved an enchanting woman in Ustalov that was unlike any Celquin had been with before. They one met one evening at a party, and stayed up the whole night in each other’s arms, and only just before dawn did the woman reveal her (magically disguised) true self: a vampire by the name of Aleckandara. Horrified, Celquin fled, but no chase was given and the man hoped to forget the event ever happened. He would not get his wish. Just over nine months later, Celquin’s servants notified him that a baby girl in a silver bassinet had been left at the front gate, with a wax-sealed note. Aleckandara’s message was clear: Celquin would raise the child or Alexkandara’s next visit with him would be far less pleasant than the first. A dedicated Asmodean, the Egorian temple priests advised him in private not to cross Aleckandara, whom they knew to be a powerful vampire from an ancient lineage her kind counted as nobility. Celquin then resigned himself to his fate, forcing his wife to parrot the line that the child was somehow hers. A weak lie, it was never fully confronted due to Celquin’s wealth and power. They named the girl Alyczandra, as her mother’s note had demanded, and by right she inherited the title of Demibaroness (Chelish Noble Trait), though her two older “brothers” ensured she would get no money or land. She was a pariah in House DeLaise from the start: given the bare minimum in terms of education and support (Int 8, starting money no better than any other PC), she was demeaned by her brothers, ignored by her adopted mother and mainly tolerated by her father, only because he knew the price he would pay if he seemed to be her demise. As she grew, she accompanied Celquin on his travels, mainly to escape House DeLaise. Feeling he could evade culpability for her death would she get into some trouble, Alyczandra was allowed to roam free wherever they went. Several years ago, her father travelled to Ilizmagorti, on Mediogalti Island, to both sell some high-value goods and, surreptitiously, to arrange with the Red Mantis Assassins to have an enemy of House Thrune eliminated. As is the Mantis’ wont, they demanded an unexpected price for the job: the usual gold, plus Alyczandra must be pledged to become a Red Mantis Assassin herself. Unbeknownst to Celquin, the then-19-year-ol
Background:
House DeLaise is small but mildly influential noble house in Egorian, its influence almost entirely due to being an early backer of Houser Thrune as it ascended to the Throne of Cheliax. The current master of House DeLaise, a selfish, aristocratic but handsome man named Celquin serves House Thrune as a minor diplomat while also engaging in mercantile endeavors during his travels.
Celquin had two sons via his meek and thoroughly cowed wife, Anna-Felise, while having countless trysts during his travels. One of these encounters involved an enchanting woman in Ustalov that was unlike any Celquin had been with before. They one met one evening at a party, and stayed up the whole night in each other’s arms, and only just before dawn did the woman reveal her (magically disguised) true self: a vampire by the name of Aleckandara. Horrified, Celquin fled, but no chase was given and the man hoped to forget the event ever happened. He would not get his wish. Just over nine months later, Celquin’s servants notified him that a baby girl in a silver bassinet had been left at the front gate, with a wax-sealed note. Aleckandara’s message was clear: Celquin would raise the child or Alexkandara’s next visit with him would be far less pleasant than the first. A dedicated Asmodean, the Egorian temple priests advised him in private not to cross Aleckandara, whom they knew to be a powerful vampire from an ancient lineage her kind counted as nobility. Celquin then resigned himself to his fate, forcing his wife to parrot the line that the child was somehow hers. A weak lie, it was never fully confronted due to Celquin’s wealth and power. They named the girl Alyczandra, as her mother’s note had demanded, and by right she inherited the title of Demibaroness (Chelish Noble Trait), though her two older “brothers” ensured she would get no money or land. She was a pariah in House DeLaise from the start: given the bare minimum in terms of education and support (Int 8, starting money no better than any other PC), she was demeaned by her brothers, ignored by her adopted mother and mainly tolerated by her father, only because he knew the price he would pay if he seemed to be her demise. As she grew, she accompanied Celquin on his travels, mainly to escape House DeLaise. Feeling he could evade culpability for her death would she get into some trouble, Alyczandra was allowed to roam free wherever they went. Several years ago, her father travelled to Ilizmagorti, on Mediogalti Island, to both sell some high-value goods and, surreptitiously, to arrange with the Red Mantis Assassins to have an enemy of House Thrune eliminated. As is the Mantis’ wont, they demanded an unexpected price for the job: the usual gold, plus Alyczandra must be pledged to become a Red Mantis Assassin herself. Unbeknownst to Celquin, the then-19-year-old woman had managed to keep herself alive and unscathed on the streets of Ilizmagorti, and the Mantis’ took favorable notice. Initially shocked and fearful of the cult’s demand, Celquin thought he saw an out: if Alyczandra died under the Mantis’ care, her vampire mother couldn’t blame him. The man therefore accepted, House Thrune’s enemy died a bloody death, and the following year the Mantis’ began arriving at House DeLaise to begin Alyczandra’s training. The Red Mantis’ fascinated Alyczandra from the start: they seemed not to care about her heritage and sought to build her up (if roughly), not just tear her down. Of course, basic martial training was left to House DeLaise guards, and she was told in no uncertain terms that she would need much more real-world experience before she could truly be one of them. But they educated her on Achaekek, the Assassin of the Gods, and the basics of the trade. The training sessions occurred all over the world, wherever she traveled with Celquin, and proceeded well until a fateful return to Ustalov. The night before her next training session was to begin, Alyczandra was kidnapped by her Vampiric mother, and tormented over the course of six days (The Bitten Feat). Drained repeatedly until nearly dead, only to be revived again, she suffered greatly under what Aleckandara would claim was a needed “toughening up”. A powerful but sociopathic creature, Aleckandara delighted in the “quality time” with her daughter and infected her with Vampirism as a result. To this day Alyczandra is unsure why her mother let her go. The 6th night of her captivity she was dumped unconscious at the feet of her Red Mantis trainers, who claim to have arranged her release. With barely any time to recover, she staggered through the Mantis’ training before returning home to recover at House DeLaise. But she never really did recover. Back home she would sneak out at night, the only time she was truly comfortable anyway. Instead of just practicing forms or praying to Achaekek as she normally would, she began to seek out her new addiction: blood. Alyczandra quickly learned that sentient creatures were the only source that really satisfied. Terrified slips, bullied into silence (+10 Intimidate) became a source for her craving, but word began to spread that something was terribly wrong with the noble daughter who never quite fit in. As fate would have it, at this time Celquin was contact by Thrune representatives, who “suggested” that House DeLaise could verify its loyalty by providing assistance against the rising Glorious Reclamation. A request for assistance from Archbaron Fex in the disreputable backwater of Longacre was noted. The location ensured no one from the house wanted to go, which gave Celquin the opportunity to order Alyczandra to do so. This affirmed his loyalty to Thrune, and, at least in his mind, made it the Mantis’ fault once again if she died. As she begrudgingly packed up to leave for Longacre, Alyczandra found two unexpected items in her belongings: a pair of finely-made Sawtooth Sabres, the signature Red Mantis weapon. There was also a note from the Red Mantis trainers instructing her to see this time as a test. She was to do her father and Thrune’s bidding, build her capabilities, and when the time was right her training would be completed. The next night she left for Longacre in a House DeLaise wagon with one servant, saying farewell to no one. |
|
