About Josephus Fynch
Josephus Fynch
Human (Mwangi) ranger (guide, urban ranger) 7
CG Medium humanoid (human)
Init +6; Senses Perception +19
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Defense
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AC 21, touch 14, flat-footed 17 (+7 armor, +4 Dex)
hp 46 (7d10)
Fort +6, Ref +10, Will +6
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Offense
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Speed 30 ft., push through
Ranged +1 frost composite longbow +12/+7 (1d8+2/×3 plus 1d6 cold plus Manyshot and Point-Blank Shot)
Ranged (Deadly Aim) +1 frost composite longbow +10/+5(1d8+6/×3 plus 1d6 cold plus Manyshot and Point-Blank Shot)
Ranged (Rapid Shot) +1 frost composite longbow +8/+8/+3 (1d8+6/×3 plus 1d6 cold plus Manyshot and Point-Blank Shot)
Melee masterwork short sword +9/+4 (1d6+1/19-20, x2)
Special Attacks combat style (archery), ranger's focus
Ranger Spells Prepared (CL 4th; concentration +6)
2nd—wind wall
1st—glide, gravity bow
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Statistics
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Str 12, Dex 18, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 14, Cha 14
Base Atk +7; CMB +8; CMD 22
Feats Deadly Aim, Improved Precise Shot, Manyshot, Point-blank Shot, Precise Shot, Rapid Shot, Leadership
Traits Suspicious, I Know a Guy
Skills Diplomacy +9, Disable Device +18, Escape Artist +10, Knowledge (local) +13, Perception +19 (+22 vs. traps), Sense Motive +13, Stealth +15, Survival +16
Languages Common, Polyglot, Varisian
SQ favored community (Absalom +2), terrain bond, track +3, trapfinding +3, wild empathy +9
Combat Gear quick runner's shirt, caltrops, tracking powder; Other Gear +1 mithral breastplate, +1 frost composite longbow (+1 Str), boots of gusto, cape of free will +1/+2, eyes of the eagle, gloves of reconnaissance, belt pouch, belt pouch, belt pouch, belt pouch, blue book, glass cutter, grappling arrow, masterwork thieves' tools, masterwork tool, mwk (survival), masterwork manacles x2, periscope, vial, wire, wrist sheath, spring loaded, 473 gp
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Special Abilities
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Favored Community (Absalom) (Ex) +2 to rolls when in Favored Community (Absalom), cannot be tracked. Not slowed by difficult terrain within a favored community, and may move through citizen's spaces as allies. Allies within LOS and hearing gain +2 Initiative, Perception, Stealth, Survival and don't leave tracks within Absalom.
Ranger's Focus +4 (3/day) (Ex) +4 to hit and damage focused target.
Wild Empathy +9 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
Quick Runner's Shirt (1/day) As swift action, take an extra move action to move on your turn.
Gloves of Reconnaissance (10 rounds/day) Can see and hear though up to 15 ft of solid materials.
Boots of Gusto (3/day) Add 1d6 to Acrobatics, Climb, Escape Artist, Fly, Ride, or Swim; if 6, roll another 1d6.
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History
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Josephus Atten was a teenager when his father was killed in the line of duty as a member of the city guard. His mother died in his youth, leaving his father to raise him alone. His father – a talented investigator and a bastion of integrity – was killed while chasing a violent murderer that had plagued the Petal District, but he managed to capture his own killer before the man’s poison claimed him as well. Josephus was heartbroken by the loss of his father, vowing to follow his footsteps in protecting the citizens of Absalom. He joined the city watch as soon as he was of age.
It took a few years for his rosy visions of the city watch to disappear. His father had kept him shielded from the graft and corruption that ran rampant for many of the watchmen. Josephus worked in the Token Guard, the Harbor Guard, even the Puddles. Many of his brethren turned a blind eye to crime when the price was right, but not Josephus. He fought the corrupt within the city guard as hard as he chased down criminals, earning plenty of enemies on both sides. Eventually – perhaps to get him removed from the day-to-day law enforcement in the districts – he was offered a position as a detective to investigate killings.
It was a far different man that took a commission as a detective than the idealistic youth who had first joined. Despite his cynicism, Josephus excelled as an investigator stationed out of Starwatch Keep. Unlike many of his profession, he didn’t simply resort to spells to speak to the dead, arguing that the dead were often as blind as the living to the details around them. He followed the evidence where it led, solving several killings that some had claimed were unsolvable. For a decade, he investigated murders in the city, solving three quarters and never resting on the remaining.
His final case was the one that broke his spirit and prompted his retirement. A killer was stalking wealthy young women of Absalom in the Petal District, slaying them and waiting for their families to pay for their resurrection – then killing them again, leaving messages in blood that their souls belonged to him now. Josephus spent a year on the case, following clues even as divinations failed. After seventeen murders (of twelve different women), he solved the case – at great cost. The murderer was a scion of the wealthy and influential House Dureanz, and every magistrate that he brought the evidence to refused to sign a warrant. Josephus called in every favor of his twenty-year career. He gathered every honest lawman that he knew and led them to the doorstep of House Dureanz. When the night was over, the captive Coran Dureanz had confessed, two of his men were dead, and Josephus’s career was finished. Unable to cover up Dureanz’s misdeeds, the magistrates quietly held trial and sentenced him to a life sentence – but Josephus was told in no uncertain terms that it was time for him to retire.
Retirement did not suit Josephus, so he cashed in his pension to start a new business as a bounty hunter and private investigator. He recruited Benjen Grachs, the younger brother of one of Coran Dureanz’s victims and a trained physician, to assist him. Josephus managed to convince a few of the honest lawmen to join his organization in the hopes that they could do some real good without having to worry about politics, and poached a few promising young guards as well. With a decent network of unsavory informants gathering the pulse of the city, Josephus has a real opportunity to protect the citizens of Absalom, a chance to work on some old cases - and a chance to investigate the nagging hunch that Coran wasn't working alone.
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Organization
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Fynch Investigations Josephus converted his father's house into an office from which to run his investigations, only to see it turn more into an underground infirmary run by Benjen. When they receive a knock at the door, it might be someone looking for a discreet doctor or a discreet investigator - or both. The townhome is situated in Eastgate near the boundaries of the Coins and the Docks, in a neighborhood that has grown quite rough around the edges. His years of investigations has given him a sizable network of informants, some of whom are willing to break into a mark's property to secure evidence for him. A half-dozen honest former officers have joined him in his quest to rid the city of crime from outside the system, and several barristers and clerks assist him in any way that they can.
-- Rooms: Alchemy Lab (+10 gp, Goods, or Magic), Bedroom (+3 gp or Influence), Infirmary (+14 gp or Influence), Office; Earnings +21
-- Teams: Bureacrats (+4 gp or Influence), Robbers (+4 gp, Goods, or Influence), Apprentice (+4 gp, Influence, or Magic), Soldiers (Leadership, +5 gp, Influence, or Labor), Scofflaws (+2 gp or Influence); Earnings +19
