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Grasping at Shadows

Night itself has been banished from the valley of Karpad, by edict of its baron. Mystic flames keep out the darkness, but fear remains. For a decade, neither man nor monster troubled Karpad’s peace. Now, a broken promise and an unspeakable debt have turned the very shadows against the valley and its lord. With townsfolk disappearing one by one, can the heroes protect the people of Karpad from otherworldly vengeance?

Grasping at Shadows is a horror-tinged Pathfinder adventure for 4th-level characters, which will bring them to 5th level. This urban- and dungeon-based adventure will see the heroes pursue an insidious kidnapper, uncover the secret of a noble family, and confront the horrors of the mysterious Shadow Plane.

Adventure Background

Stepan Boroi , the ambitious third son of a minor baron in Ustalav, was not content to see his eldest brother inherit the family lands. Amidst the detritus of generations that fill the crumbling Boroi manor, Stepan discovered an ancient looking glass, acquired centuries ago by an ancestor of sinister repute. Instead of reflecting the Boroi manor, the glass revealed the Other Manor, the house as it exists on the Shadow Plane. And where Stepan’s reflection should have been, there was instead a dark figure, taller than a man, with eyes like distant stars. This was Nicasor, baron of the Other Manor, a hand of night.

Hand of Night:

Stepan and Nicasor struck a dark bargain. Nicasor would help Stepan succeed his father as baron. In return, Stepan promised that when he married, he would give his firstborn son and heir to Nicasor until the boy turned eighteen. Nicasor planned to transform the boy on the Shadow Plane, and return Stepan’s heir as a ruthless, loyal, puppet ruler. Over the next months, Stepan’s brothers mysteriously disappeared. Stepan was crowned Baron of Karpad when his father died shortly thereafter. Neither bandits nor monsters troubled Stepan’s realm, and villagers whispered that the shadows watched over their valley by night.

After nearly ten years of idyllic rule, Stepan finally took a wife, a beautiful noblewoman from Caliphas named Anya. Two months ago, she bore him a son. But time and love have changed Stepan, and softened his iron heart. Stepan could not bear to surrender his son, and he has broken his pact with Nicasor. Furious, Nicasor promised to take what it was owed, and to ruin all that Stepan holds dear.

Fearing Nicasor’s wrath, Stepan has freed a lurker in light (Bestiary 2) long imprisoned beneath the manor. This cruel fey despises all who serve shadow, and was only too happy to pledge its service to Stepan in exchange for freedom. The lurker has arranged for continual flames to be placed throughout the manor and village, making the town brightly lit even at night. To conjure allies with his ritual gate ability, the lurker abducts and sacrifices townsfolk. The baron’s dire pronouncements have made the villagers blame the disappearances on unseen shadow monsters - and on the town’s very real population of fetchlings (Bestiary 2), humans whose ancestors dwelt on the Shadow Plane. As Nicasor bides its time and plans its retaliation, Karpad threatens to dissolve into paranoia and violence.

Act I: Dread of Night

A. Arrival
The adventure begins with the party’s arrival at the isolated township of Karpad, in the valley that bears its name. The town is visible from a great distance in day or night, as its thatched roofs and cobbled streets are brightly lit by hundreds of continual flames. Higher up the valley slopes, more magic similarly illuminates a large, ancient manor.

The PCs could visit Karpad for several reasons:

• A relative of one of the lurker’s victims hires the party to find out what happened to her vanished kin.
  
• The party needs information from a retired adventurer who settled in Karpad - they soon discover that he was among the first to disappear.
  
• Suspicious of the dark circumstances under which Stepan took power, Baroness Anya’s brother hires the PCs to check on her, and ensure that her new husband treats her well.
  
• Anya is a PC’s friend or family. She summons the party to Karpad via a frightened and confusing letter.

Upon arrival, the party is greeted by what threatens to become a public lynching. A mob has cornered three fetchlings in the town square. The mob’s leader, a farmer named Emil, accused them of abducting his son. Emil has no real evidence, but his words are a spark to the dry tinder of the townsfolk’s fear and anger. If the party successfully intervenes, they gain the gratitude of the fetchlings; otherwise the three are hanged.

B. Karpad
The townsfolk all tell the same story:
Three weeks ago, Felix the blacksmith disappeared. Baron Stepan gathered the townsfolk and warned them that shadowy horrors were infiltrating the valley. To protect Karpad, hooded mages working for the baron conjured hundreds of magical lights that illuminate the town day and night. Since then, however, six other people have disappeared. Many in the town suspect that fetchlings are behind the disappearances, and popular sentiment is growing towards burning their ghetto.

At the manor, Baron Stepan is morose and withdrawn. Terrified of his own shadow, the Baron has trapped it in a book of night without moon (Round 1, variant) - though its loss has only made him more unstable. The paranoid baron keeps his wife and infant son in the manor’s tower, under constant guard. Stepan and Anya say that a horror from the Shadow Plane wants to take their child, and will kill them and destroy Karpad unless they comply. Baron Stepan keeps his bargain with Nicasor secret from both the party and his wife. If the party is not already investigating the disappearances, Stepan and Anya beg them to do so, offering compensation.

The fetchling ghetto is secretive and hostile, though depending on the opening scene’s outcome, the PCs may be warily welcomed. The fetchlings do not know why the disappearances are happening; they are terrified of how their neighbors have turned against them. If the PCs gain the fetchlings’ trust, they may discover a family of Nicasor’s sleeper agents dwelling secretly in the ghetto.

C. The Truth
The lurker’s first abductions were to summon tallow worms (see below), who could create continual flames to assuage the baron’s fear of nocturnal infiltration. The lurker desires five more victims, to summon his mate. He hates fetchlings, but avoids kidnapping them to help turn suspicion towards the ghetto. Baron Stepan does not know that the lurker is behind the abductions. If the baron found out, he would be horrified, but Stepan’s dependence on the lurker and his fear of the dark would force him to ignore the creature’s depredations.

Tallow Worm:

The lurker has carried out five more abductions than the villagers realize, to provide hosts for his tallow worms. The resultant thralls maintain their stolen identities when not assisting the lurker. If unmasked they prove craven and manipulative. Killing a tallow worm extinguishes many of Karpad’s continual flames, causing widespread panic among the townsfolk.

D. Investigating the Disappearances
When the party arrives in Karpad, the lurker has collected two victims in a chandlery (candle-maker’s shop) shuttered shortly after the baron lit the town with magic. The lurker makes one abduction every other day, giving the party six days to solve the mystery before the lurker ritually sacrifices his prisoners.

The party can find clues with Diplomacy gather information checks, and/or by investigating the homes and friends of the disappeared.

• The lurker disposes of bodies in a nearby river, but several became tangled in roots where the riverbed is shallow. The bodies have wax embedded under their fingernails from their imprisonment in the chandlery upstream.
  
• A victim’s child saw the lurker as he accidentally wandered into shadow. The child describes “a little man with dragonfly wings who was watching mommy. He saw me looking at him, and put his finger to his lips to tell me to be quiet. Then he flew up to one of the magic lanterns and I couldn’t see him anymore.”
  
• A victim’s wife explains that her husband believed a secret society in the town was behind the disappearances. He thought that Lucian the chandler and Magda the midwife were both members. Both are tallow thralls, and can be caught and interrogated or followed back to the chandlery.
  
• One local saw a fetchling at a victim’s house right before her disappearance. This is a red herring (for a failed gather information check) – the fetchling was the missing woman’s secret lover.

The lurker in light invisibly observes the party’s investigations. If the party seems stymied, or the adventure’s pace slackens, the GM should have tallow thralls try to lure off a PC to kidnap. After the ensuing fight, the PCs can interrogate the thralls or chase them back to the chandlery when they retreat.

E. The Chandlery
The lurker keeps his victims imprisoned in vats lined with wax in the basement of this boarded-up building. The entrances and ground level are heavily trapped. The lurker and the remaining tallow thralls fight the PCs here to protect their captives. If the PCs have brought a mob, or if the fight goes against the lurker, he gleefully sets fire to the building, threatening both the party and the prisoners.

Inside the chandlery, the party finds the hooded robes the tallow thralls wore when posing as the baron’s “mages.” The lurker has the baron’s seal and a set of keys to the castle. If the lurker’s life is threatened, he tells the party that he is under the baron’s protection, and attempts to escape back to the manor.

Intermezzo: Night’s Black Agents

At this point the party is likely ready to confront Baron Stepan about everything he’s been hiding from them. If not, the baron invites them to the manor to interrogate them about the violence and upheaval their actions have caused in town. Either way, the situation with Stepan is interrupted just as it reaches a climax by the arrival of a wraith assassin sent to kill him. Stepan recognizes the wraith as what remains of his eldest brother, and has a screaming breakdown. With the town’s lights partially or completely shut off by the demise of the tallow worms, Nicasor is ready to take his revenge. If the party has failed to solve the mystery after six days, or has avoided killing the tallow worms, Nicasor attacks anyway, sending fetchling sorcerers capable of snuffing out the lights with darkness spells.

In addition to the assassination attempt, Nicasor has launched several other incursions.

• Fetchling rogues riding gloomwings (Bestiary 2) fly to the top of the manor tower to steal away Anya and her son.
  
• Shadows and shadowgarms (Bastards of Erebus) assault Karpad, herding the townsfolk into the central square to transform them into shadows.
  
• Nicasor’s sleeper agents from the ghetto attack the town’s few priests, and hunt down anyone fleeing town.

Nicasor hopes to spread Karpad’s forces too thinly to fend off his attacks. The party may have to make hard choices about who to protect. If the PCs gained the trust of Karpad’s fetchlings, they help deal with Nicasor’s sleeper agents. If the lurker or any tallow worms are still alive, they put aside their enmity with the party to fight against the shadows.

Once Nicasor’s forces have been repelled, the baron (or Anya or the majordomo, if Stepan died) thanks the PCs profusely. Stepan is badly shaken, and with even a small push he confesses his remaining secrets. He asks them to bring the fight to Nicasor, either to rescue his wife and son (if the PCs failed to protect them), or to save the town from future attacks. If Anya is present, she gives the party her mother’s ward for protection (otherwise they receive it if/when they rescue her). The baron brings the PCs to the dungeon under the castle, and shows them the looking glass, warded by bright lights and protective circles. The PCs can walk through the mirror to enter the Other Manor.

Mother’s Ward:

Act II: Through a Glass, Darkly

A. The House of Night
The Other Manor is dark and freezing cold. Its walls are blurry and slowly undulate, as if the house itself were breathing. This is not far from the truth – powerful enchantments have given the Other Manor a malign intelligence and a semblance of life. Outside its windows stretch the endless wastelands of the Shadow Plane.

The house itself opposes the party as they make their way through it. Using shadowy illusions, the Other Manor attempts to hide vulnerable areas and lure the party down secret passageways. The substance of the house moves as well, opening yawning pits, sealing doorways to trap and separate the party, and sending animate objects to attack them. Meanwhile, Nicasor’s shadows and shadowgarms hunt for the party in the halls.

Bright light paralyzes the Other Manor, and it cannot use its powers anywhere the party can create sufficient illumination. The source of the Other Manor’s enchantment is its heart, an enormous, pulsating black pearl that sits in a secret room at the middle of the house. Tendrils of dark power run like veins from the pearl into the floor, walls, and ceiling. The pearl is guarded by a shadow mastiff and its fetchling handlers. The Manor does its best to hide its heart, but it cannot stop the walls adjacent to the secret chamber from weeping telltale black fluid.

The party may also find unusual allies in the insectoid d’ziriaks (bestiary 2) that Nicasor keeps prisoner. The d’ziriaks are being used as living incubators for gloomwing larvae (fortunately months away from hatching). If Anya was abducted, she is here as well, awaiting gloomwing implantation. If the party helps them, the d’ziriaks can tell them about the weaknesses of the Other Manor, as well as about Nicasor.

B. Upstairs
Incongruously, the upper floor contains a nursery, well-lit and almost welcoming. The nursery is guarded by a monstrous “nanny” – an animate scarecrow (Tome of Horrors Revised) bundled up in an old woman’s cast-off clothes. If the baron’s son has been kidnapped, he can be found here. The upper floor is also home to the baron’s second brother. Driven mad by his imprisonment in this realm of gloom and despair, in death he has become a muttering allip.

Nicasor awaits in what would be a study, were this a mortal mansion. The hand of night is calm and urbane, and expresses little interest in fighting the party (though it is chagrinned by any damage to its home).

“Baron Stepan and I made a bargain, as his ancestors and I have done in ages past. I fulfilled my end. Now I will have what is owed me, one way or another. Everything has its price, in your world as in mine.”

If the party tries to negotiate, Nicasor is reasonable, but ultimately demands either the child or the barony itself as the price for ending Stepan’s debt and its vendetta. A peaceful solution is unlikely, though a clever lie might lure Nicasor from his sanctuary. If the party retreats without an agreement, Nicasor lets them go (as long as they’re not leaving with its prisoners), but resumes gathering shadows for another assault.

In combat, Nicasor animates the party’s shadows, then snatches a vulnerable PC, and skitters to the ceiling with his prey. If the party didn’t destroy the Other Manor’s heart, it uses all its powers to defend its master.

Conclusion

Stepan’s servant smashes the mirror once the party returns. Karpad is much the worse for wear, but its remaining people are safe. If Stepan lives, and Anya learned of his plans for their child, she asks the PCs to take her and the boy with them when they leave the valley. The baron is a broken man, consumed by the suffering his crimes have caused yet unable to atone for them (though compassionate PCs might be able to help). If Anya stays, she becomes the effective ruler of Karpad.

The Black Mirror
==========
Amidst the barren sands of the Mana Wastes, there lies an inky stain: the Black Mirror, a lake of tar a mile wide. Everything is still here. No bird calls; no errant wind disturbs reflections on the lake’s oily skin. Only the carcasses of the giant golems that fell here puncture the lake’s surface, their desiccated limbs and faces forming islands in a dark sea. Voracek (R3), herald of the dark lord of Elemental Earth, has built his stronghold amidst this desolation. If his plans are not stopped, the power that felled the vast golems will return to smother all Golarion.

During his interminable war with the archmage Nex, the necromancer Geb constructed two enormous golems from the bones of giants and the skin of angels. Geb named them Bane Titans, and at his command the golems destroyed all that Nex could send against them. Fearful of their might, Nex compacted with an extraplanar power: dread Ayrzul, lord of Elemental Earth. Nex promised countless slaves and relics to the Fossilized King in return for his aid against the Bane Titans. Draining his vaults of skymetal, Nex constructed an artifact called the Conduit, through which Ayrzul could manifest his power on the material plane. On the battlefield, Nex’s servants activated the Conduit. Ayrzul’s wrath poured through as a sea of living tar, dragging the Bane Titans to the ground and destroying them.

But Ayrzul betrayed Nex. The Conduit did not close when the battle was won. More and more writhing tar gushed forth from the Conduit, accompanied by Ayrzul’s elemental host. Realizing that the endless tar would soon consume both their kingdoms, Nex and Geb briefly put aside their hostilities to fight the Fossilized King. The two wizard-kings drove Ayrzul’s forces back to the Conduit, and destroyed it. This done, they returned to their endless feud.

Although the tar became inanimate when the Conduit was destroyed, a vast quantity of it still remains, forming the Black Mirror. The lake stood silent for centuries until Voracek’s arrival. Atop the long-dead Bane Titans in the lake’s center, Voracek forced kidnapped smiths to forge his pilfered skymetal into a new Conduit. Soon it will open.

If the new Conduit becomes active, the Black Mirror will again be suffused with Ayrzul’s might, and his armies will return to Golarion. With the Conduit protected by Ayrzul’s horde, the Black Mirror will begin to spread. Left unchecked, it will cover the entire surface of Golarion, creating a new realm of Elemental Earth – one ruled by Voracek in Ayrzul’s name. Over millions of years - a blink of an eye for an immortal - the bones of everyone entombed beneath the tar will slowly become fossilized, slaves to the Fossilized King.

I. The Conduit (CR 10 or 13)
==========
Seven rune-encrusted platforms form a loop, anchored by bridges to the eyesocket of an enormous golem’s lifeless face, half-submerged in the tar. Above the loop floats a seven-pointed metallic star nearly 20 ft across. Its shape seems wrong, somehow, and it hurts your eyes to stare at it. The star spins slowly in the air, making a sound like a knifepoint scraping across glass.

There are seven slaves on the loop, one chained to each vertex by his ankle. They are smiths and mages abducted to build the Conduit. Months of brutal slavery have broken their wills. Now they perform a final service for Voracek: the ritual to open the Conduit (it cannot be performed by an outsider, native or otherwise).

Perception and Knowledge (arcana or religion) checks reveal more information. If a higher DC check is made, give the information from lower DCs as well.

Knowledge (arcana or religion):
DC 15 The metal star is the Conduit, forged from seven skymetals.
DC 20 The Conduit is boring through the boundary of the Material Plane into the Plane of Earth, and will finish in minutes if not stopped.
DC 25 Skymetal alloys disband when charged with enough positive energy (like healing magic)

Perception:
DC 15 The seven humans chanting hoarsely are chained to the platform by their ankles; they look haggard, miserable, and terrified.
DC 20 The ritual is near completion. A small sinkhole has appeared beneath the metal star and is rapidly widening.
DC 25 The metal star looks “wrong” because it is an impossible object whose angles and edges should not be able to meet in three dimensions .

Treat the surface of the Black Mirror as if it were quicksand (Pathfinder Roleplaying Game 427). However, earth-subtype outsiders, and anyone bearing a holy symbol of Ayrzul (like those in area G), can walk on or burrow through the tar as if it were earth. Fires lit on the Black Mirror do not extinguish normally; instead, at the end of a round, fire spreads to a random adjacent 5 ft. square.

Once this encounter begins, the PCs have 15 rounds until the sinkhole expands to the size of the Conduit, at which point Ayrzul’s power can manifest (see the Development section). Don’t penalize the PCs for scouting – if a scout makes the DC 20 Perception or Knowledge (arcana or religion) check, inform him that the ritual is nearly complete, but give the PCs time to arrive in force before starting the countdown. If the PCs delay, reduce the countdown to 10 rounds.

There are several ways to stop the Conduit. If four slaves are incapacitated, the ritual halts. The slaves have AC 12, 20 hp, Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +6. They can be killed, physically removed (they are held by standard manacles), or talked down. The slaves are terrified of Voracek; controlling them requires a DC 30 Diplomacy or Intimidate check; attempting to influence multiple slaves with one check inflicts a -2 penalty per additional slave. Once the Conduit is fully active, the slaves become irrelevant.

The Conduit can be broken. It has AC 6, hardness 15, and 60 hp; Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +5; and break DC 28. It is also 10 ft in the air above a rapidly-widening sinkhole of tar. The Conduit can support 300 additional pounds before falling. While the Conduit is intact, it cannot be pushed beneath the tar. Bringing the Conduit to the ground does not disrupt its activation, although it does make the Conduit easier to strike. If enough positive energy is poured into the Conduit to heal the equivalent of 60 hp, it disintegrates. Destroying the Conduit works even once it’s fully active.

Killing Voracek has no effect on the ritual or Conduit.

Creatures:

Voracek waits on the golem’s head, kneeling in prayer. Elementals wait burrowed under the tar by the bridge connecting the golem head to the loop.

When the PCs arrive, Voracek rises. “I knew you would come,” he says, “Ayrzul has sent you. You are the final tribulation I must face before I am exalted.” Voracek lacks the subtlety to stall effectively, but he will let the PCs waste time with idle threats. The elementals use earth glide to move close to the PCs while remaining beneath the tar. When combat begins, Voracek stamps his foot (an immediate action), signalling the elementals to attack.

Tier 7-8 (CR 10):

Voracek CR 9
XP 6,400
hp 116 (R3)
=====Tactics=====
During Combat Voracek crushes his elemental gem, then rages and attacks the strongest foe. He uses empowered strikes, power attack and destructive smites to quickly destroy opponents. He uses knockback to pitch foes into the tar. Voracek uses dispel magic or summoned creatures against flying foes.
Morale: To defend the Conduit, Voracek fights to the death.

Large Earth Elementals (2) CR 5
XP 1,600 each
hp 68 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 122)
=====Tactics=====
During Combat: the elementals herd foes away from the Conduit, bull rushing them into the tar and fighting there.

Tier 10-11 (CR 13):

Voracek CR 9
XP 6,400
hp 116 (R3)
See above.

Greater Earth Elementals (2) CR 9
XP 6,400 each
hp 136 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 123)
=====Tactics=====
During Combat: the elementals herd foes away from the Conduit, using awesome blow to knock them into the tar and fighting there. If the Conduit is under direct attack, they defend it.

Huge Earth Elementals (2) CR 7
XP 3,200 each
hp 95 each (Pathfinder RPG Bestiary 122)
=====Tactics=====
During Combat: See large earth elementals above.

Development: If the Conduit is fully opened, 1d4 large (Tier 7-8) or huge (Tier 10-11) earth elementals emerge from the sinkhole each round. The Black Mirror becomes animate. Treat this as a black tentacles spell (CL 8th) affecting the entire surface of the lake. It does not impede earth-subtype outsiders or those bearing Ayrzul’s holy symbol. If dispelled while the Conduit is open, the tendrils return 1d4 rounds later.

All of these effects cease immediately if the Conduit is destroyed. If the PCs fail to stop to the Conduit, the Black Mirror also begins to expand, increasing its diameter by 5 ft every hour and eventually threatening all Golarion.

So, is it just me, or is Nyrissa just not all that evil?

The lords of the First World ripped her heart out and killed her husband for no legitimate reason. Her desire for revenge is very sympathetic. Furthermore, her evil plan isn't all that evil - sure, it would be kind of annoying to be faced with the choice of leaving your home in the Stolen lands or being trapped in the stolen lands for ever, but no one has to get hurt or killed for it to work. For the record, I think this moral ambiguity is very cool.

As my PCs learn about her, I think there's a significant chance that they'll be all "screw the first world bosses!" and want to help Nyrissa, even if they don't quite want to go along with bottling their kingdom.

It seemed strange to me that Nyrissa contacted every two-bit lord in the stolen lands and tried to seduce them, but doesn't bother with the PCs. So I had Nyrissa appear in dreams to the party's ranger, the one who is wearing the Stag Lord's helm. He resisted her temptations, but managed to get her hooks into our Warlock another way.

Has anyone dealt with portraying Nyrissa as more sane and sympathetic in their games? Any tips or pitfalls?

The Gentleman Knave
Portrait: 10
Description: At the mention of the Gentleman Knave, ladies swoon, peasants cheer, and merchants glower. Tall and dashing, this honorable bandit is the terror of Taldor’s highways and the toast of its taverns. In secret, however, he is a traitor loyal to an enemy nation, and his plans will see Taldor burn.

Motivations/Goals: The Knave was born Acton Venarys, in Qadira. Descended from Taldan nobility given as hostages after the last war, Acton dreamed of reclaiming the Venarys lands in Taldor. When he traveled there, however, the Grand Prince refused to hear his suit, and the nobility ostracized him. Furious, Acton swore to see Qadira humble Taldor.

Today, as the Gentleman Knave, Acton lays the groundwork for a Qadiran invasion. From his base in the Verduran Forest, the Knave disrupts trade and travel, provoking and exhausting Taldor’s men-at-arms. He spreads stolen wealth amongst the poor, growing his legend and inviting brutal reprisals against the peasantry. He undermines popular lords by framing them or their men for bloody crimes. The Knave’s ultimate goal is to foment an uprising against the aristocracy. With Taldan forces occupied by an insurrection, the Knave’s high-ranking Qadiran allies will push for a swift, devastating invasion.

Schemes/Plots/Adventure Hooks:
- One of several fabulous gemstones stolen by the Knave from the merciless Count Galanos turns up in a nearby village. The PCs have only days to recover the rest before Galanos burns the village for its “defiance.”
- The Lion Blade Menas Dimitrion suspected the Knave’s treason, and entered the Verduran Forest to find proof. He never returned. The PCs are commissioned to find Dimitrion.
- Serfs calling themselves the Knave’s Men have seized the town of Faldamont, threatening to execute local nobility if the army intervenes. Can the PCs prevent the Knave’s machinations from causing a massacre?

The Gentleman Knave CR 9
Male human rogue (rake, APG 134) 10
CN Medium humanoid (human)
Init +5; Senses Perception +12
=====Defense=====
AC 25, touch 16, flat-footed 19 (+5 armor, +5 Dex, +1 dodge, +4 shield)
hp 78 (10d8 + 30)
Fort +5, Ref +13, Will +5
Defensive Abilities evasion, improved uncanny dodge
=====Offense=====
Spd 30 ft.
Melee +1 rapier +13/+8 (1d6+1/18-20)
Ranged shortbow +12 (1d6/x3)
Special Attacks sneak attack +5d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th)
2/day – vanish (DC 13)
=====Tactics=====
Before Combat: Unless surprised, the Gentleman Knave casts shield before fighting.
During Combat: The Knave and his band of thieves prefer to strike quickly and disappear. In pitched battle, he challenges noble opponents to single combat; if refused, he targets spellcasters. He feints and uses bravado’s blade. The Knave is merciful unless his secret is threatened – then he fights to kill.
Morale: The Knave flees immediately if badly outnumbered. Otherwise, he fights until another day triggers, then retreats with vanish. If cornered he surrenders graciously, planning to escape later.
=====Statistics=====
Str 10 Dex 20 Con 12 Int 14 Wis 8 Cha 14
Base Atk +7/+2; CMB +7; CMD 23
Feats Combat Expertise, Dodge, Improved Feint, Iron Will, Toughness, Weapon Finesse
Skills Acrobatics +18, Bluff +18, Diplomacy +18, Disguise +15, Escape Artist +18, Intimidate +15, Knowledge (local) +10, Perception +12, Sense Motive +12, Sleight of Hand +13, Stealth +18, Use Magic Device +15
Languages Common, Kelish, Goblin
SQ bravado’s blade, rake’s smile, rogue talents (another day, befuddling strike, major magic, offensive defense, surprise attack)
Combat Gear potion of cure serious wounds (2); Other Gear +1 mithral shirt, +1 rapier, shortbow, belt of incredible dexterity +2, cloak of resistance +1, entertainer’s outfit, wand of disguise self (27 charges), wand of shield (39 charges), 297 gp

Still-Water Meditant (Monk)
The Still-Water Meditant seeks enlightenment through studying human nature. The monk learns to discern a man’s true thoughts from his face and predict his movements from his body, while she herself strives to be like still waters: placid, remote, and unknowable.
Read the Ripples (Ex)
At 3rd level, the Still-Water Meditant can read a humanoid or monstrous humanoid’s surface thoughts from up to 20' away by observing his face. This takes 30 seconds and requires an opposed Sense Motive check against the target’s Bluff. This ability replaces still mind.
Ride the Current (Ex)
At 4th level, the Still-Water Meditant can analyze an opponent’s fighting rhythm with Sense Motive and strike when he’s off-balance. This is a move action that denies the target his Dexterity bonus to AC against the monk’s next attack. The DC of this check is 10 + the target’s base attack bonus + his Charisma modifier or 10 + his Bluff bonus, whichever is higher. This ability replaces all slow fall abilities.
Quench Suspicions (Sp)
At 5th level, the Still-Water Meditant can use ki to manipulate others, as if using the spell charm person. This is a standard action consuming 1 point of ki. Her caster level for this effect is her monk level, and the save DC is 11 + her Wisdom modifier. She may have only one creature charmed at a time, and the monk uses Wisdom instead of Charisma in opposed checks to command him. At 9th level, and every second level thereafter, the monk chooses an additional type of creature to target with quench suspicions. Targeting a non-humanoid creature consumes an additional ki point. At 11th level, the save DC increases by +3, and the duration to 1 day/level. This ability replaces high jump, purity of body and diamond body.
Flow Like Water (Ex)
At 7th level, when the Still-Water Meditant readies an action, she need not specify what action she will take, or its trigger. The monk may use her readied action at any time before her next turn, and may interrupt any character's action after it has been declared. This ability replaces wholeness of body.
River Changes Course (Sp)
At 12th level, the Still-Water Meditant can influence a creature as if using the spell suggestion. This is a standard action consuming 2 points of ki. Her caster level for this effect is her monk level, and the save DC is 13 + her Wisdom modifier. This ability replaces abundant step.
Submerge Spirit (Su)
At 19th level, the Still-Water Meditant’s consciousness is so tranquil that it cannot be distinguished from the world around it. She permanently gains the benefits of the spell mind blank. This ability replaces empty body.

Aura Moderate Illusion CL 8th
Slot ---; Price 15,000 gp Weight 1 lb. Description
This black grimoire's pages are mostly blank, but a few contain rough watercolor silhouettes. The Book of Night Without Moon is a repository for trapped shadows. To sever a shadow from its owner and add it to the book, a character must place the book in the shadow of a willing or helpless victim with 5 or fewer hit dice, and trace the shadow’s outline in ashes, a simple ritual taking 5 minutes. A creature whose shadow is stolen must make a DC 18 will save or be sickened by a nameless melancholy until its shadow is returned.

As a standard action, the book’s bearer may release a shadow from the book, conjuring an illusory duplicate of the shadow’s owner as if with the spell Shadow Conjuration (DC 18 will save to recognize that the conjuration is an illusion). The shadow is intelligent and can follow complex commands, but cannot speak. The shadow serves the character who released it for one hour or until destroyed, whichever comes first. Then the shadow returns instantly and permanently to its original owner, wherever he or she may be. It will not return to the book and may not be stolen again.

A Book of Night Without Moon purchased or found as treasure will have 2d6 shadows present inside it, chosen by the DM from the Summon Monster IV list.

Construction
Requirements Craft Wondrous Item, Shadow Conjuration Cost 7,500 gp