About Ishara of YledIshara of Yled
Witch Spells Prepared (CL 1st; concentration +5)
Ishara's Spell Poppet
Background Skills (Craft (Alchemy), Knowledge (History)) Bonethrall (Su) At first level, a gravewalker can take control of an undead creature within her aura of desecration by forcing her will upon it (Will negates, DC 15). If it fails the save, the creature falls under her control as if she had used command undead (once control is established, the undead remain controlled even if outside the witch’s aura). Intelligent undead receive a new saving throw each day to resist her command. The witch can control up to 1 HD of undead creatures per caster level. If an undead creature is under the control of another creature, the witch must make an opposed Charisma check whenever her orders conflict with that creature’s. This replaces the witch’s hex gained at 4th level. Cantrips Witches can prepare a number of cantrips, or 0-level spells, each day. These spells are cast like any other spell, but they are not expended when cast and may be used again. Cantrips prepared using other spell slots, due to metamagic feats for example, are expended normally. Child of the Temple You have long served at a temple in a city, where you picked up on many of the nobility's customs in addition to spending much time in the temple libraries studying your faith. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Knowledge (nobility) and Knowledge (religion) checks, and one of these skills (your choice) is always a class skill for you. Dodge Your training and reflexes allow you to react swiftly to avoid an opponents' attacks. You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat. Fear of Mortality You have a passion and lust for life, and as such are terrified of the possibility of dying before you enjoy every last experience. When below 25% hp, you are shaken. Hex Witches learn a number of magic tricks, called hexes, that grant them powers or weaken foes. At 1st level, a witch gains one hex of her choice. She gains an additional hex at 2nd level and for every 2 levels attained after 2nd level. A witch cannot select an individual hex more than once. Unless otherwise noted, using a hex is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. The save to resist a hex is equal to 10 + 1/2 the witch's level + the witch's Intelligence modifier (DC 15). Martial Weapon Proficiency (Scythe) Choose a type of martial weapon (scythe). You understand how to use that type of martial weapon in combat. You make attack rolls with the selected weapon normally (without the non-proficient penalty). On the Payroll Whether he needed a bodyguard in a rough neighborhood, a guide to an isolated archeological dig, or information on a specialized topic, Professor Lorrimor was never shy about hiring professionals to help him attain his goals. Over the course of his long career, thousands of people throughout the world served his needs and benefited from his generous wages (usually covered by his academic benefactor at the time). He had contacts in most areas of expertise in every corner of the known world, a knack for recognizing talent, and a desire to be surrounded by the best and brightest at all times. Whatever job the professor originally hired you for, your performance captured his attention, and he hired you many times throughout your career, sometimes even for jobs away from your home, always paying your expenses and compensating you well for your time. In your area of expertise, you are among the best. Your years of hard work have paid off, granting you an additional 150gp in starting wealth. Possess Undead (Sp) A gravewalker may take direct control of one of her undead minions within her aura of desecration, as if using magic jar; the witch’s poppet acts as the soul receptacle for this ability. The minion gets no saving throw against this ability. This replaces the witch’s hex gained at 8th level. Pragmatic Activator While some figure out how to use magical devices with stubborn resolve, your approach is more pragmatic. You may use your Intelligence modifier when making Use Magic Device checks instead of your Charisma modifier. Spell Focus (Necromancy) Choose a school of magic. Any spells you cast of that school are more difficult to resist. Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select. Spell Poppet Each gravewalker carries around a gristly, inanimate poppet stitched from human skin and stuffed with shards of bone, fingernails, and grave dirt. A gravewalker’s spells come from the will of evil spirits residing in the poppet, and its ability to hold spells functions in a manner identical to the way a witch’s spells are granted by her familiar. The gravewalker must commune with her poppet each day to prepare her spells and cannot prepare spells that are not stored in the poppet. This ability replaces familiar. Strength Patron 2nd—divine favor, 4th— A gravewalker replaces some of her patron spells with the following: 4th—command undead, 6th—animate dead, 12th—create undead, 14th—control undead, 16th—create greater undead. These replace the patron spells.
Since joining the Temple and meeting the Professor, Ishara has learned what pleasures can be had in the toils of the mind. She relishes the chance to debate with people of dissimilar opinions, approaching this “game” as she does most things in life, analytically and with as little emotion as possible. Of course, she never expects much to come out of such mental sparring sessions; she'll continue to do as she's done before, and the other will more likely than not continue being misguided. In regards to necromancy, she views the creation of undead as merely a means to an end. If she were bringing a person back to unlife against their will or robbing the Gods of a soul they were due, she might agree with the dissenters and followers of Pharasma in regards to their view of necromancy. But to her, once a person's soul has departed from their earthly existence, it matters little what happens to their remains. If they could be put towards a higher good than food for the worms, then they ought to.
Life in Corpselight was difficult for Ishara; the hours they forced the chattel to work were long, the tasks arduous, and if the taskmasters weren't pleased with your performance, food would be scarce. But even for one so young as Ishara was, the girl faced these horrors with a quiet dignity. Her one saving grace was the voice of her imaginary friend that whispered in her ear, all day and all night, of the power she would soon wield. Not all of the chattel were so lucky. One such girl, whose name Ishara cannot recall but whose face she'll never forget, had taken ill and wasn't able perform to their overseer's liking. Human illness was not something the undead were empathetic to, and so the girl had to face the cruelty of their undying shepherds. Ishara had tried to comfort the girl and sneak her what food she could spare, only to be spurned for her kindness. Until then, Ishara hadn't noticed the wide berth the other children gave her, as if unsettled by a chilling aura the young soon-to-be witch gave off. Wounded, Ishara left off trying to help the sickly girl and watched with a detached coolness as her health deteriorated over the next couple of days. By the time the overseers discovered the body, none suspected the bits of missing skin and hair or slivers of bone as anything more than decomposition or predation by wildlife. Life went on for Ishara, spending her days toiling in the fields and her nights secretly playing with her imaginary friend, now housed in the body of the doll it taught her how to make. Later, when one of the skeletal overseers would come to take away her treasured poppet, Ishara instead took away the undead's will, intending on using it to release herself from the farm. Though the young girl didn't get very far in her attempt, she did garner the attention of High Priestess Alcaniel Elmaren, cleric of Urgathoa and one of the only humans in power in Corpselight. Realizing that the girl had the potential to become a Blood Lord one day (the aristocratic class of Geb made up of powerful necromancers, living and undead), Alcaniel brought the girl to the City of Yled, to be brought up in The Temple of Urgathoa as a future priestess. Life from then on was markedly different for Ishara. Tutors were brought in from every college in Geb to teach the former chattel how to read and write in a number of languages, including the ones most used in their undead government, and a variety of other lessons a future Blood Lord might need. On top of these lessons, Ishara was also indoctrinated into the Temple once her grasp of Common, Osiriani and Necril was good enough to recite the holy vows. In her time as a fledgling priestess and necromancer, Ishara would often brush elbows with members of the Whispering Way, who frequently worked in tandem with the Temple of Urgathoa. Although she valued the insight they were able to share on her burgeoning powers, the story she learned of the organization in her history lessons made her leery of joining their order. Years later, Ishara, now a Priestess of Urgathoa, would be visited by Professor Lorrimor, come to Geb learn more of the country's necromantic practices. Although the two didn't quite see eye-to-eye in regards to the moral and ethical implications of necromancy, Ishara still grew to respect the man's opinion and breadth of knowledge over the course of his stay. In their all too brief time of knowing each other, the Professor often consulted with the priestess, going so far as to invite her to travel to far-off colleges to co-host lectures on morality, Geb politics or religious rites. She knows something is wrong when the recent letter she receives from Ustalav does not bear his familiar handwriting. Although faced with the transience of life every day at the Temple, it is with a heavy heart that she prepares for the journey to say goodbye to a brilliant flame snuffed out too soon. |
