About Filraen GhaunRise of the Runelords:
This thin, wiry elf wears a red robe covered in twisting runes and carries two curved swords with decorative hilt guards on his left hip. Three pouches sit above the swords and two scroll cases hang on the opposite side of his belt. A small mithral chain runs from his pocket to his belt, likely attached to either a pocket watch or a wayfinder; a spellbook hangs next to several glass vials containing liquids of varied colors on sash across his chest. He wears a metal-backed leather gauntlet with fingers ending in claw-like points on his left hand, his sword hand is bare. Eyes the color of ice glare out from beneath a mop of blond hair and the cowl of the red, sigil-covered hood pulled up over his head.
Filraen Ghaun CR 18
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Diverse Training Filraen adds his eldritch knight levels to his fighter and wizard levels for the purpose of meeting the prerequisites for feats. Elemental Arcane School Instead of specializing in one of the standard eight schools of magic, a wizard can choose to specialize in one of the four elemental schools of magic. Filraen has chosen to specialize in the Void element. Unlike a normal arcane school, each elemental school requires the wizard to select his opposed element as his opposition school; Filraen’s opposition element is Fire. He must expend two spell slots to prepare a spell from his opposed elemental school as normal. Like a normal arcane school, an elemental school grants a number of school powers and one bonus spell slot of each level the wizard can cast. This bonus spell slot must be used to prepare a spell from the elemental school's spell list. Scholastic (Ex) Filraen gain 2 additional skill ranks each fighter level. These ranks must be spent on Intelligence-based skills. As a lore warden, all Intelligence-based skills are class skills for Filraen. This ability replaces the lore warden’s proficiency with medium armor, heavy armor, and shields. Reveal Weakness (Su) As a standard action, Filraen selects a foe within 30 feet. That creature takes a penalty to its AC and on saving throws equal to half (1/2) Filraen’s caster level for 1 round. He can use this ability fifteen (15) times per day. Spell Bond (Su) At 1st level, a spellbinder selects any one spell that he knows as a bonded spell. As a full-round action, the spellbinder may replace a spell of the same or higher level as his bonded spell with his bonded spell. At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, a spellbinder may select another spell he knows and add it to his list of bonded spells, to a maximum of nine bonded spells at 17th level. Filraen has bonded with blood money, chains of light, dispel magic, and invisibility. Upon reaching 4th level, and every two levels thereafter, Filraen can choose to select a new spell as a bonded spell in place of one with which he is already bonded. In effect, he loses the bond with the old spell in exchange for forging a spell bond with a new spell. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. Filraen may swap only one spell bond at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell bond at the same time that he gains two new spells known for the level. Spell Critical (Su) Whenever Filraen successfully confirms a critical hit against a target, he may cast a spell as a swift action, as if that spell were modified by the Quicken Spell feat. The spell must include the target of the attack as one of its targets or in its area of effect. Casting this spell does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The caster must still meet all of the spell’s components and must roll for arcane spell failure if necessary. Void Awareness (Su) Filraen’s ability to recognize the void allows his body to react to magical manifestations before becoming aware of them. He gains a +3 insight bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities. Pathfinder Society Organized Play:
This thin, wiry elf wears a red robe covered in twisting runes and carries two curved swords with decorative hilt guards on his left hip. Three pouches sit above the swords and two scroll cases hang on the opposite side of his belt. A small mithral chain runs from his pocket to his belt, likely attached to either a pocket watch or a wayfinder; a spellbook hangs next to several glass vials containing liquids of varied colors on sash across his chest. He wears a metal-backed leather gauntlet with fingers ending in claw-like points on his left hand, his sword hand is bare. Eyes the color of ice glare out from beneath a mop of blond hair and the cowl of the red, sigil-covered hood pulled up over his head.
Filraen Ghaun CR 18
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Challenge (Ex) Once per day, Filraen can challenge a foe to combat. As a swift action, he chooses one target within sight to challenge. His melee attacks deal one extra point of damage whenever the attacks are made against the target of his challenge. He takes a -2 penalty to his Armor Class, except against attacks made by the target of his challenge. The challenge remains in effect until the target of his challenge is dead or unconscious or until combat ends.
Champion’s Finesse (Ex) Filraen gains the benefits of Weapon Finesse with light or one-handed piercing melee weapons, and he can use Charisma in place of Intelligence for the purpose of qualifying for combat feats. This counts as having the Weapon Finesse feat for meeting feat prerequisites. This ability replaces the cavalier’s Mount ability. Diverse Training Filraen adds his eldritch knight levels to his fighter and wizard levels for the purpose of meeting the prerequisites for feats. Edicts Filraen must guard his sworn charge with all he has; his health, his honor, and his very life. If his charge is a place, he must keep intruders out. If it is a thing, he must keep it safe from thieves and restore the item to its rightful place if taken. Elemental Arcane School Instead of specializing in one of the standard eight schools of magic, a wizard can choose to specialize in one of the four elemental schools of magic. Filraen has chosen to specialize in the Void element. Unlike a normal arcane school, each elemental school requires the wizard to select his opposed element as his opposition school; Filraen’s opposition element is Fire. He must expend two spell slots to prepare a spell from his opposed elemental school as normal. Like a normal arcane school, an elemental school grants a number of school powers and one bonus spell slot of each level the wizard can cast. This bonus spell slot must be used to prepare a spell from the elemental school's spell list. Order (Ex) Filraen belongs to the Order of the Dragon. Scholastic (Ex) Filraen gain 2 additional skill ranks each fighter level. These ranks must be spent on Intelligence-based skills. As a lore warden, all Intelligence-based skills are class skills for Filraen. This ability replaces the lore warden’s proficiency with medium armor, heavy armor, and shields. Reveal Weakness (Su) As a standard action, Filraen selects a foe within 30 feet. That creature takes a penalty to its AC and on saving throws equal to half (1/2) Filraen’s caster level for 1 round. He can use this ability fifteen (15) times per day. Spell Bond (Su) At 1st level, a spellbinder selects any one spell that he knows as a bonded spell. As a full-round action, the spellbinder may replace a spell of the same or higher level as his bonded spell with his bonded spell. At 3rd level, and every two levels thereafter, a spellbinder may select another spell he knows and add it to his list of bonded spells, to a maximum of nine bonded spells at 17th level. Filraen has bonded with chains of light, dispel magic, heightened awareness, and invisibility. Upon reaching 4th level, and every two levels thereafter, Filraen can choose to select a new spell as a bonded spell in place of one with which he is already bonded. In effect, he loses the bond with the old spell in exchange for forging a spell bond with a new spell. The new spell’s level must be the same as that of the spell being exchanged. Filraen may swap only one spell bond at any given level, and must choose whether or not to swap the spell bond at the same time that he gains two new spells known for the level. Spell Critical (Su) Whenever Filraen successfully confirms a critical hit against a target, he may cast a spell as a swift action, as if that spell were modified by the Quicken Spell feat. The spell must include the target of the attack as one of its targets or in its area of effect. Casting this spell does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The caster must still meet all of the spell’s components and must roll for arcane spell failure if necessary. Tactician Filraen gains the Outflank teamwork feat as a bonus feat. As a standard action, he can grant this feat to all allies within 30’ who can see and hear him. Allies retain the use of this feat for three rounds. Allies do not need to meet the prerequisites of the feat to gain the bonus feat. Filraen can use this ability once per day. Void Awareness (Su) Filraen’s ability to recognize the void allows his body to react to magical manifestations before becoming aware of them. He gains a +3 insight bonus on saving throws against spells and spell-like abilities. Pathfinder Society Chronicles:
1st level: 0-01 Silent Tide, 0-02 The Hydra’s Fang Incident, 0-04 The Frozen Fingers of Midnight
2nd level: 0-03 Murder on the Silken Caravan, 0-05 Mists of Mwangi, 0-06 Black Waters 3rd level: 0-09 Eye of the Crocodile King, 0-11 The Third Riddle (GM), 0-08 Slave Pits of Absalom 4th level: 0-10 Blood of Dralkard Manor, 1-43 The Pallid Plague, 1-45 Delirium’s Tangle 5th level: 0-49 Among the Living, 0-47 The Darkest Vengeance, 0-48 The Devil We Know, Part IV: Rules of the Swift (GM) 6th level: 0-21 The Eternal Obelisk, 1-29 The Devil We Know, Part I: Shipyard Rats (GM), 1-30 The Devil We Know, Part II: Cassomir’s Locker (GM) 7th level: 1-51 The City of Strangers, Part I: The Shadow Gambit (GM), 1-52 The City of Strangers, Part II: The Twofold Demise (GM), 1-41 The Devil We Know, Part III: Crypt of Fools (GM) 8th level: 0-26 Lost at Bitter End (GM), The Harrowing (GM) 9th level: 2-Sp Year of the Shadow Lodge (GM), Curse of the Riven Sky (GM) 10th level: 1-36 Echoes of the Everwar, Part I: The Prisoner of Skull Hill (GM) 11th level: 1-42 Echoes of the Everwar, Part II: The Watcher of Ages (GM), 4-10 Feast of Sigils (GM), 4-12 The Refuge of Time (GM) 12th level: 1-46 Eyes of the Ten, Part I: Requiem for the Red Raven (GM), 1-54 Eyes of the Ten, Part II: The Maze of the Open Road (GM) 13th level: 2-05 Eyes of the Ten, Part III: Red Revolution (GM), 2-22 Eyes of the Ten, Part IV – Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained (GM), 4-Sp Race for the Runecarved Key (GM) 14th level: Way of the Kirin (GM), Academy of Secrets 15th level: Siege of the Diamond City, Sins of the Saviors 16th level: Dead Heart of Xin (GM) 17th level: The Witchwar Legacy 18th level: Spires of Xin-Shalast 19th level: Extended Travels (boon) Personality:
Character traits, motivations, goals. History:
Filraen, like many elven youths, spent his formative years training to wield magic. Unlike most elves, Filraen’s training was specific and purposeful; like all gray elves, he learned to wield magic to fight the aboleths deep beneath the seas. As all his people for generations dating back to ancient Azlant, Filraen was born, and would die, locked in permanent struggle to wipe the aboleths and their veiled masters from the face of Golarion.
However, Filraen did not conform to the norms of his people. Like their ancient foes, the elves of the Mordant Spire are masters of enchantment and illusion. However, the elves eschew the study of the aboleths’ native environment, the Dark Tapestry and the Void. Filraen, ostensibly motivated by youthful zeal but also driven by a competitive desire to prove himself superior to his kin and his masters, secretly began his study of the Void. Unfortunately for him, the Spire sees all that transpires and it was not long before the inexperienced mage’s actions were whispered in the ears of those who could hear the Spire’s song. As punishment for daring to delve into the Void between the stars and treat with the enemy, Filraen was stripped of his mask and exiled from the Mordant Spire. Cast out into the world, the warrior-mage did what comes as naturally as breathing to his people; he sailed. Convinced that if he simply demonstrated the power of his own unorthodox methods he would be accepted back into the fold, he sailed for human lands and first spotted land near the Lady’s Light, an ancient Thassilonian tower. He sailed along the coast then, hunting and fishing to survive. After spending nearly eight months at sea in his skimmer, he sailed into the harbor at Korvosa. After learning the name of his landing site, he immediately sought out the Acadamae; the school rejected the strange outlander out of hand. Stymied, he instead headed inland, abandoning his ship and setting out for Cheliax and Osirion, lands steeped in magical tradition. He worked his way south, skirting Nidal and Molthune by passing along the Molthuni side of the Mindspin Mountains, far enough up that he would not be worth the trouble even if a patrol were to notice him. Eventually he made his way to Westcrown. Unfortunately for the elf, the Mordant Spire’s libraries suffered from their isolation – the capital, now in Egorian, was far back the way he’d come. Not all was lost, though; knowledge of the Pathfinder Society had reached as far as the Spire, where occasional Pathfinders were received and the agents of the Spire maintained functional relations with the Decemvirate in Absalom. Sure the Society would be brimming with hidden knowledge, the elf determined to break into Deephaven, the abandoned Society lodge in Westcrown, and learn what secrets the Society hid there. Fortunately for Filraen, Deephaven’s defenses were more than a match for him. However, his weeks-long effort to crack the lodge’s sealed doors did catch the attention of two parties. The first was the Pathfinder Society itself, who took a passing interest in someone attempting to breach the old lodge despite its grim reputation. The second was the Chelish attaché Paracountess Zarta Dralneen, who coordinated the operations of Imperial Cheliax’s agents within the Society while disguised as a Chelish diplomat at the Absalom embassy. Dralneen made the elf an offer: she would provide him with access to the knowledge he sought, but in return he would need to join the Society and act as an agent for her within its ranks. Resentful of the debt and of his failure, Filraen at first rejected her. However, as weeks passed and his belly emptied within the walls of Westcrown he was forced to reconsider. He finally relented, and a pleased Paracountess hastened him to Absalom to present her new find to the Grand Lodge. Surly at the best of times, Filraen’s time in training was a neverending struggle between himself and his teachers. He resisted instruction, defied authority on principle, and generally made working with him as difficult as possible. He viewed the tasks as beneath him, considered himself accomplished already in his long years spent fighting aboleths. Finally, after three long months he was granted the opportunity to take his Test early; some of the masters privately hoping that he would simply fail and be gone. The defiant elf passed, earning his commission and his Wayfinder. Following the completion of his Test, Filraen spent the next five years engaged in almost uniformly successful field work. Filraen paired at first with a Taldan priest of Gorum, a Qadiran mage, the wizard’s two bodyguards, and a mad gnome sorcerer. That companionship ended early in Filraen’s career, and he would spend the rest of it traveling with a trio of Ulfen warriors and two halfling bards who also maintained only a tenuous relationship to the Society. Together, the band dealt fought Hellknight breakaways, defended the Sothis lodge from invaders, twice crossed blades with the Shadow Lodge, and in their most successful days as field agents even mounted an expedition into the Mana Wastes. All the while, Filraen fed information back to Cheliax in exchange for greater access to their forbidden knowledge. All that changed, though, when they were called on by the Ten for an ordinary escort operation. Beyond 12th level:
Filraen joined his Ulfen companions in delivering the Pale Maiden to Galt. There they were embroiled in a series of assassinations that brought Filraen face to face with five members of the Decemvirate themselves and even granted him brief access to Skyreach. What he saw disturbed and angered the elf, for the Ten had held all their power in reserve and despite what he perceived to be loyal service they had denied him access to the knowledge he had spent years seeking. With this knowledge came a cold clarity; he resolved to follow the path of the Shadow Lodge and take access to all that their towers and vaults denied him; the Ten were no more than an obstacle now, though one that might later prove useful. His thoughts carefully secreted behind magical wards, he began to secure his station within and without the Society in pursuit of his new goal.
Accepting a post as Venture-Captain at large for the Society, Filraen went about cementing his fame. While purchasing spell components from a favored dealer in the God’s Market, he happened across a promising individual in a prison cell: a half-vampire warrior with a grudge whose magical and alchemical augmentations, most at the hand of Imperial Cheliax’s finest retired marines, made the bitter and angry dhampir an excellent candidate for delving dangerous tombs and cutting down both menaces beneath the waves and the outsiders that Filraen fully expected to turn on his allies. Moreover, Filraen recognized many of the traits he had displayed himself upon being cast from the Mordant Spire. Unable to resist, the elf inquired after the prisoner and upon discovering that the mutant was to be hanged, Filraen made him an offer; the dhampir’s service in return for his life. The warrior, Iorden of Longacre, accepted the bargain and Filraen arranged his field commission that very day. With his protégé out in the field fulfilling his obligations to Zarta and the Chelaxians, Filraen turned his attentions back to the Acadamae. One more repository of ancient summoning knowledge awaited him, and he would have it by hook or by crook. Securing an invitation to the Breaching Festival, Filraen became an unwilling participant when an old adventuring companion appeared as a contestant, and an unwitting defender of the Acadamae when the sky opened up and fiends from the lower planes poured forth on the grounds. In return for stemming the fiendish tide and after threatening to reveal the Headmaster’s true legacy as the progeny of a Duke of Hell after ripping it from the offensive wizard’s mind against his will, Filraen was granted a tenured position at the Acadamae that allowed him to turn his cramped office in the Hall of Conjuration into a new base of operations, warded against the prying eyes of the Ten, the Spire, and any other enemies he might have forgotten. Here, he could immerse himself in the knowledge of the Acadamae as well as study another ancient empire that had caught his interest. The ancient Thassilonians had mastered a form of magic that Filraen wished to master as well. Using Sin Magic, the Thassilonians had perfected their specialized schools to an art from, developing them beyond the ken of any mortal mage. Fortune of fortunes, the Paracountess herself had agents involved in the hunt for a cult devoted to one of the Runelords who were rumored to dwell in slumber since the days of Thassilon itself. Filraen made contact with one, a summoner and Signifer of the Order of the Gate from the disgraced Chelish House Henderthane named Lucy. Through her and her brother, Signifer Alastor Henderthane of the Order of the God Claw, the elf gathered knowledge of the Thassilonians. Meanwhile, he turned to his longtime adventuring companions to pursue another lead into the Storval Plateau, where a stone giant wizard was practicing Thassilonian magic while raiding into Maginmaran territory. The Ulfen set out, taking one of Filraen’s new Hellknight allies in tow as none of his three friends were terribly gifted socialites. While the Ulfen ferreted out rumors of the Thassilonian stone giant, matters to the south stirred. The entire Society turned its efforts to the hunt for Runelord Krune, and Filraen was no different. When Krune had finally been found, he arranged for Iorden to be among those sent to kill the Runelord. Armed with Filraen’s training and his own magic, Iorden and Alastor were among the Pathfinders that laid Krune low. Unfortunately, Filraen’s efforts were stymied as the Decemvirate whisked away the artifacts of office Filraen so hoped to acquire; the Dragon-Tooth Spear and the Rod of Runes. While the Decemvirate whisked both artifact to the vaults deep beneath Skyreach, beyond Filraen’s ever-lengthening reach, both Alastor and Iorden recovered valuable knowledge from the spear about Krune’s conjuration magic. The Hellknight returned with another prize; a Varisian boy with a mind gifted in magic, whom Filraen immediately arranged to have admitted to the Acadamae to study. While his machinations in Magnimar turned for the good, Filraen’s Ulfen allies faced a grimmer fate. No word had come south, and Lucy had not returned. Filraen put out the word amongst the Seekers that their fellows were in danger. While discretion had been his byword in defying the will of the Ten up to now, the elf gathered together other disenfranchised Seekers to retrieve his friends. They succeeded, and in the end revealed to him that the giant Mokmurian had discovered something far more terrible in the Mindspin Mountains; another Runelord stirred in his prison, and this Runelord was among the greatest and most terrible mages of his or any era: Karzoug the Claimer, Runelord of Greed. Filraen immediately set about making arrangements. Concealing his find from Toff and his puppet-master Lorsakur, the elf claimed a leave of absence for, “Field research,” and set out to the ruins of the Black Tower. Unfortunately he was turned aside by his Ulfen friends for one final battle as the bard Evan called their company out of retirement for a final trip to the Worldwound to offer aid to Nerosyan. After the brief detour and weathering the Siege of Nerosyan, the companions again went their separate ways and Filraen returned to the Black Tower and the Thassilonian library beneath it, hoping to learn more of Karzoug. He took the Varisian boy, Limas Edward Gheed, with him as a research assistant and to maintain the boy’s training; despite how useful the boy is, and how talented his mind, Filraen still can’t quite shake the feeling that something is wrong with him. However, Karzoug’s awakening would leave Filraen with no time to spare pondering the boy’s wrongness. Filraen discovered much in the libraries beneath the Black Fortress, and with his new “allies” he hastened to pursue their next lead – Runeforge. While Gallard Stormeye left to the town of Sandpoint, he sent the wrestler Ursus the Breaker in his stead. The five entered the ruins of the Runeforge and encountered the last survivors of Thassilon’s height; agents of the Runelords left to pursue their master’s wishes into perpetuity, forever chained to the sustaining magics of the demiplane. The companions laid three of the former apprentices low before leaving the other two penned in their eternal prisons; before departing, FIlraen and Morgrym Anvilstrike both acquired Runeforged wepaons from the pool of elemental arcana in the Runeforge. Now only one foe remained; the Pinnacle of Avarice itself. However, to locate it the band would first turn to the ancient knowledge of the White Witches of Irrisen. They were forced to cut a deal with the witch queen Elvanna; in return for knowledge of the location of the ancient city of Xin-Shalast, the party would retrieve the Torc of Kostitchie from its frozen prison beneath the Veil of Frozen Tears. Unaware of the brewing conflict between Elvanna and her mother, the band retrieved the torc from it’s keeper; the leader of the last group sent to recover the Torc by Elvanna. Despite incurring Kostitchie’s wrath in the process, the intrepid band now had the final clue necessary; the Vekker clan of dwarves would know the way to the Pinnacle. At the peak of the world, the group finally encountered ancient Thassilon’s last bastion. Giant soldiers led by their rune giant masters waited, and with them Karzoug’s champion. After a long and grueling slog through his forces, finally the group met Karzoug and his inner circle in open combat. The magical assault was brutal, but brief. In the end Karzoug was defeated, but the group realized there was a far worse foe left… Mhar, the World Thunder, slumbering beneath the Pinnacle of Avarice since time immemorial. Epilogue:
With Karzoug defeated and sealed away by an imprisonment spell, Filraen and his companions went their separate ways. Filraen remained in Karzoug’s ruined tower, gathering to him the former servants of the Runelord of Greed. With promises of gold, gems, and the vast riches of ancient Azlant he recruited Karzoug’s former high priestess as his majordomo, and magical compulsions have brought the surviving rune giants into the fold along with their cloud and storm giant subordinates.
There is where Filraen remains, ever watching over the slumbering Mhar and imprisoned Karzoug, and ever watchful to the west, looking for the stirring of sunken Azlant and the ancient aboleths that destroyed both Azlant and Thassilon; a menace that he and his people opposed even as his own kin shunned his assistance. He gathered the evils of the mountain to him, and outwardly embraced their darkness. He watched, and waited, and knew that should the day come, he would turn the evil at his side against a far worse foe, either beneath their feet or beneath the waves, to let darkness consume darkness, and if he is granted his final wish, to consume him with it. |