Illiam Taal's page

About Illiam Taal

Male Halfling Wizard 3
CN Small
Init 3; Senses ; Perception +5
DEFENSE
AC 16; Touch 14; Flat-Footed 13
HP 18; Wounds —; Non-Lethal —
Fort 1 ; Ref 4 ; Will 3
DR —; Immune —; Resist —; SR —
OFFENSE
Speed 20; With Armor 20;
Melee +0 gauntlet (1d2-2, ); B;
Melee +0 dagger (1d3-1, 19-20); P/S;
Ranged +5, 10ft dagger (1d3-1, 19-20); P/S;
Ranged +5, 50ft sling (1d3-2, ); B;
Spell-Like Abilities
Shift 7/day, Adaptable luck 3/day
Spells Known/Prepared
2st—Create Pit (1), Invisibility (1), open slot (1)
1st—Grease (1), Color Spray (1), Silent Image (1), open slot (1)
0th—Mage Hand, Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, Daze
STATISTICS
Str 6, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 10, Cha 12
Base Atk 1; CMB -2
Feats Scribe Scroll, Additional Traits, Craft Wondrous Item
Skills Bluff 10, Disable Device 6, Diplomacy 2, Intimidate 2, Knowledge Arcana 10, Knowledge Local 8, Knowledge Nature 8, Knowledge Religion 8, Perception 5, Sleight Of Hand 12, Spellcraft 10, Stealth 14
Languages Common, Halfling, Dwarven, Elven, Gnome, Draconic
SQ Adaptable luck, Shift, Summoner's Charm, bonded object (ring)
Gear (See character sheet)

Illiam Taal proudly describes himself as a "conjurer of cheap tricks," and will remind anyone vehemently if they question why he, as a spellcaster, does not throw fireballs or magic missiles, or summon monsters to fight for him. He may try to be loyal to his party (at least when he thinks they'll live long enough to return the favor), but he's ultimately in it for himself. He sees allies as a means to an end, and rules as a list of things that should be done covertly.

His spellbook is a deck of cards, and he calls his spells "tricks." When preparing his spells, he copies key pieces of them (though not enough for anyone but him to identify them) onto scraps of paper. He then takes any material components from his spell pouch, and wraps them in the paper. While not strictly necessary to the spell, these bits of paper are annihilated with the components when the spell is cast. He hides these in a concealed pocket in his sleeve (so that he can literally have "a trick up his sleeve."

The son of a whore, Illiam grew up in a brothel. As one might expect of a boy growing up in a brothel, Illiam never knew his father. The only father figure he had was a human wizard named Verisimilius, who had a soft spot in his heart (or at least a hard place in his pants) for halfling women. The wizard always stayed with Illiam's mother when he came to town, and never paid attention to Illiam until the day that Illiam stole his spellbook. He searched frantically, and when he found Illiam, he was shocked to discover one of his spells copied, in a usable form, onto the face of a playing card.

After this incident, Verisimilius took Illiam under his wing, and started to teach him about magic, and every time he came to town, he would have new stories of adventuring, treasure, and the monsters he defeated to get it. Unfortunately for Illiam, a few of these stories were greatly exaggerated, while the rest were made up entirely. The man was a hedge wizard, little more than a traveling salesman, making his money going town-to-town to sell low-level wands and scrolls. This left Illiam with a very inaccurate idea of what adventuring entails, and while he is incredibly clever (though not half as clever as he thinks) and a very quick study, he would grow up particularly naive about life as an adventurer.

As Illiam got older, he would sneak into the concert hall whenever notable musicians would come to town and listen from the rafters. Then, using his eidetic memory to recall each note, he would pretend to perform this music using a combination of fake instruments that he had constructed and the Ghost Sound spell. These apparently expert performances combined with his young age made him one of the most successful street performers in the city. As he grew, he would sometimes disguise himself as a small and sickly human child to better cash-in on the sympathy of passers-by.

This harmless deception wasn't the adolescent halfling's only source of spending money, though. He engaged in pickpocketing and confidence tricks, competing with his disreputable, magicless friends. When they discovered that he was using illusions and other "tricks" to augment his petty crimes, he was recruited to participate in larger burglaries and heists.

When he wasn't busy using his magic to help separate marks from their gold and possessions, he hung out in taverns where gambling was popular and used his magic to cheat... thereby separating marks from their gold and possessions. Rolling telekinetically controlling dice, changing the faces of cards, even throwing darts at an illusory board. It's this last one that got him in trouble, when he was swindling a member of the city's most powerful crime syndicate. If he had bothered to ask the man's name, he might have anticipating the bodyguard bumping into him as he was throwing. The intention was only to make Illiam miss his shot, but when he lost his concentration and the dart board disappeared, Illiam knew he had to get out of there.

The gang members chased him out of the tavern and through the streets, intending to do him all manner of harm. Illiam lead them down streets and alleys, almost losing them several times before he turned down a dead-end alley. This wasn't just any dead-end alley, and Illiam had practiced here in case he ever needed to lose pursuers like these. He hid behind a crate on one side to listen for the men running around the corner. He created a silent image covering the end of the alley to make it appear, from the point of view of his pursuers, to continue to the next street. He added a copy of himself at the far end, forcing the men to run at full speed to catch up, and they hit the wall with more force than Illiam expected, and he couldn't help laughing as walked away from the incapacitated thugs.

Illiam thought he was in the clear, but the next day he caught word of more hooligans searching for him. This trouble wasn't going away, and he knew he wouldn't be able to hide for long if he didn't leave the city. He remembered the tales of adventure that he had heard as a child, and decided that he could make far more money that way. For every story, he had thought of a clever way to triumph over the threat without working too hard, and he was confident that he could handle any situation that might come up. Unfortunately, the life of a real adventurer would turn out to be much more difficult than he was told.