Khonnir Baine -- NPC's page

"You do a penance in pain, Mr. Wexley? Fair enough. You hold onto the leg. You know where to find me if you change your mind."

Khonnir rolls out a map and consults with Garfaulk. "About a week travel. It isn't too far."

Sorry, important bit forgotten.

"You know, Mr. Wexley, you got quite a limp. Ever wish that it would simply... go away? You came back with a cybernetic leg from the ruins. I could custom fit it to you. I could install it with a little bit of surgery. Sure, your appendages would be one fourth robot, but to walk without pain? No longer limping? I would do it in a heartbeat. You tell me if it is something you would do."

A single cybernetic leg provides no mechancial benefit other than RP potential. If Ton could find a second leg: "A cybernetic leg completely replaces a normal leg, from the hip to the foot. It can take the place of a leg lost to a severing wound. The leg is fully functional and no different in appearance from a regular leg, although cyberart can be added to the leg at no additional cost. A cybernetic leg does not increase a user’s Strength score. If both legs are replaced, they increase the user’s base land speed by 10 feet and grant a +5 bonus to CMD against trip attempts and a +5 circumstance bonus on Acrobatics checks."

"My dear boy. Had you asked me a month ago, I would have never let you out of my sight. But you are getting older. You want to learn more about your parents. Your birth parents, that is. Your capabilities have grown much with your new friends. And they are competent too. You are as safe with them as anywhere other than locking you in your room... No, you must go. They need you and you need them. Val and I will be alright. And who knows... maybe if the threat to Torch is eliminated, her and myself will come travel with you next time."

As the party breaks up, Khonnir says, "Anyone feel free to find me to ask more questions. But it is probably time for you all to get going, maybe within a couple of days after you do the rest of your preparations. You know that Hellion probably has plans a foot, and they aren't to send Torch a gift basket."

Khonnir grabs Ton's arm as they leave. "Hold up, elf. I'm sorry to hear about your family. We've all got baggage, and a long-lived elf like yourself has had more time to pick it up than others. I myself lost the one I loved from sickness too, a long time ago. And I know that I would do whatever I could to help Zeke and Val."

"Listen, I've been watching you handle that technological gun. It is a short stubby thing, probably can't fire at a distance worth a damn. Take this contraption that I've built. It should give you a fair bit of accuracy, though it will slow down your rate of fire. Just attach it to the top of the pistol, and the laser will guide your aim."

He hands you a laser-sight. You can attach it to your pistol, and could attach it to any future gun you get though a few minutes work. It allows you to triple your ranged increment of the gun and continue to hit touch AC, but it takes a full round action to fire it this way. In a magus' case, you could combine the shot with a spellstrike to get one spell off too. One shot, one spell. Not all this spell combat-spell strike magus craziness.

"Not much. I can point it out on a map. I know it is a wasteland ruled by gangs, not a city... though surrounded by a huge wall of rusted metal. Scraps of the spaceship pushed in a pile over thousands of years. I think Father Joram knows someone who lives there."

Khonnir nods his head at Garfaulk. "I do think Sanvil Trett will be there. From what you said, he was very interested in the wireless technology. Scrapwall is the next logical destination."

"I have the same question about Hellion. Who is that? Who was Meyanda? They are not connected to the Technic League. At least... I don't think so. I have some knowledge of the League... you see..." He pauses for several seconds, not sure how to proceed. Then he blurts it out in a rush.

"You see, maybe you have already figured this out by now. I am a Technomancer, a wizard who uses his power to alter and control technology. And I was employed by the Technic League. I was a low level associate, but I was certainly a member two decades ago. But please don't hold that against me. I am now an outcast and traitor. I dwelt in Starfall, and spent my young adult years working as a scribe in the Palace of the Black Sovereign himself, during the period of time when he was still in his youth; a powerful and handsome man like none other. I was noticed due to my diligence and eventually recruited by the Technic League, and taught the mysteries of interweaving magic and technology. But while still in only in my thirties, I could not help but get get a sense of the nefarious and evil intentions of the group. Certainly the Technic League already rule Numeria by controlling the Black Sovereign. But they have plans to do more, somehow. I'm not sure. Anyway, one day when out in the city, I saw a couple of Starfall guards harassing and stalking an orphan street girl, just a young Kellid girl. I killed the guards, and fled with the girl, knowing my crime would be discovered, and eventually we arrived at Torch. Of course, Val and I got along great, and it wasn't too long before she was calling me dad. We both needed a family, you see. And just a short time later we added Ezekial to our motley crew."

"That is a long explanation to say that I know the Technic League. This Hellion is not part of the League. It seems that she or he is another thing entirely. And he and Meyanda were siphoning power off of the Torch for unknown reasons. And that is what I want you to discover. That is what the town council wants you to discover. This machine, the one Ulreth was hiding? It was picking up the power transmissions from the machine Meyanda was using, and it was sending it on. Based on my calculations, aided by Zeke and Garfaulk and La-RA, the machine was sending the power to Scrapwall. And giving headaches to half of Torch in the process."

"The town council will pay you 12,000 gold to investigate Scrapwall, find out who Hellion is and why he wanted this power, and make sure he (or she) never threatens Torch again."

"What do you need the money for, then? You are being really tight lipped about it. In any case, those are good questions. We will get to those, because I think they are at the center of this whole mess. Anyone have a question on the Numerian history? Just laying the groundwork."

"I knew you were a pragmatic elf, but aren't you curious? You've been wandering in an underground spaceship for days, and you don't even care about where it came from. Don't even care about where the Technic League came from. Don't even care about where androids came from. You are richer now than you've ever been in your whole life and still just asking about the money. Hmph. Well, what about the rest of you?"

"That is, until now. Twenty five years ago, a powerful Kellid chieftain named Kevoth-Kul forged an alliance with the Technic League to gain the support he needed to claim the title of Black Sovereign Today, the Technic League controls the city of Starfall, and with it, access to the land’s most notorious and deadly ruin:Silver Mount. Kevoth-Kul has become self-indulgent and sedentary since his coronation. Everyone whispers that the Technic League are more than partners, but have some sort of hold on him... Thus making the Technic League the true rules of the County of Numeria. I'm not sure what their goals are anymore besides the collection and consolidation of power, political and technological. I'm sure you know that they claim that all technological items in the country officially belong to themselves? As if any group could control such power and not be torn from within from constant infighting and civil wars. The Technic League would be much more powerful if they weren't killing each other off every 20 years."

He pauses and looks at you to see if you have any questions.

"After the event, other tribes fearful of triggering a similar event began to systematically bury and conceal the strange technological ruins. Even traveling in regions known to house such ruins became taboo. Although the name of the chieftain who caused the event has been lost to time, the prohibition against exploring the ruins persists to this day. And for thousands and thousands of years, that was the case. Until about three hundred years ago."

"Explorers and outcasts broke taboos and came from beyond Numeria’s borders to explore the places where they could still gain access to the broken pieces of the starship. As word of the wonders of Numeria spread, more and more treasure seekers from far-flung lands came looking for strange fortunes and power among the alien ruins. One such group of treasure hunters formed the so called Technic League... a group which has grown and grown over the last 300 years. This powerful and corrupt cabal of spellcasters seek to control and exploit the technology hidden in the land’s dangerous ruins. However, internal strife and treachery have plagued the Technic League since its very inception, and control of the group shifted every few years from one leader to another, and they were really never much of a threat."

"The largest section of metal became known as Silver Mount, around which has been built our current capital city of Starfall, but across the hills and plains of the country fell innumerable smaller pieces of this metal mountain. Including here at Torch, where landed a very strange piece, a habitat module designed to keep an alien race imprisoned in a copy of their native environment. The propulsion thruster of that habitat module became the Torch itself, of course."

"Since the Rain of Stars, the Numerian countryside has been exposed to strange energies and alien substances that have mutated much of the local fauna and flora. The Kellids, the indigenous peoples of this Country, are a hardy folk, though, and despite this calamity, their culture endured. Their survival can be attributed partially to a deeply ingrained cultural taboo against technology, which originated from a singular event that took place, maybe 7 thousand years ago. Before this catastrophe, many Kellid tribes had been exploring the strange ruins left in the wake of the Rain of Stars. But one particularly headstrong chieftain delved too deeply into a ruin in the Felldales searching for weaponry that could subjugate his enemies, and he accidentally triggered a weapon more powerful than he could ever have imagined. The resulting explosion obliterated his entire tribe, poisoned the land for miles around, and left a blast of light and a looming mushroom cloud that served as a grim warning to all those who witnessed it."

"I have your next task. But before we get there, before I send you out on another mission to save Torch, there are things you should know. History. Technology. Things that will give you a very important frame of reference in your travels."

"Eight thousand years ago, give or take a large handful of centuries, a disaster from above struck this land. The Kellid elders claim a mountainous meteor of flaming steel plummeted to the ground, trailing debris as it fell and scattering relics of mysterious, unearthly magic across Numeria. Chunks of extraterrestrial metals and alien materials as small as fists and as large as cities slammed into the plains, burying themselves in Numeria’s soil and bathing the landscape in otherworldly energies, an event that would be forever remembered as the Rain of Stars. Of course, we all here in this room now know that this meteor was a ship- a huge ship from the stars, a ship gigantic beyond comprehension. Before meeting La-RA, I had no idea why it fell on our world. But what she said to me of her memories gives some insight. There was some type of space battle out there. Our planet seems to have been the unlucky recipient of the debris."

"Heh, happy to do it. You keep my son safe, you hear? Zeke needs a little watching over. Treat him like a little brother, ok, Sam?"

"I'm glad you are so easy going about it all. One body, two souls... I hope the two of you can continue to get along so well! And I'm glad you are willing to continue on with the group. I am getting really close to cracking the code of that strange machine. I think it will give us a definitive answer for the next step."

"The way you and Charles flip back and forth, back and forth, we need to find a weapon that suits both of you. Take this dagger... I magicked it up a bit, so that at command it can instantaneously take the shape of what you would like... Within reason, I assume. I only got a chance to play with it a little. Watch..."

He concentrates, and turns the dagger to a sickle and back into a dagger.

It is a +2 glamered dagger. This is what is says about the glamered property: "A glamered weapon can be commanded to change its shape and appearance to assume the form of another object of similar size. The weapon retains all its properties (including weight) when so disguised but does not radiate magic. Only true seeing or similar magic reveals the true nature of a glamered weapon while it is disguised. After a glamered weapon is used to attack, this special ability is suppressed for 1 minute." I think there are gray areas for this property. We will play it that as a free action you can transform it to any light melee weapon (simple, martial, or exotic). So it can be a dagger, a sickle with the trip property, a light mace for bludgeon damage, a handaxe for slashing damage, etc.

Khonnir approaches Charles one day when he sees that it is Sam in control. For someone who knows both, it isn't hard to tell... the body language and the facial expressions are completely different.

"Tell me Sam, what did you see on the other side? When you died. And what did it feel like to come back? I came so close myself. Would surely have died if your brother and the others hadn't saved me."

Khonnir nods. "I respect your decision. Your metal body could very well decide whether you live and die. Whether your friends live and die. It is good for you to see it as a blessing rather than a curse."

"I made this ring for you, and was going to give it to you whatever your decision. Metal body or not, you will need protection. This ring will prevent your defenses from going down when you are in the midst of the rage that comes to your people."

The ring of controlled rage removes the rage penalty to your armor class.

"I think it will get worse, Wulf. It will get worse and worse and worse until eventually the metal will choke you and you will die. Eventually there will be no skin left on you, and will be more akin to a robot than a man... from the outside, at least. And I think I could cure it now, but I won't be able to fix it later after it progresses too far. Will Val still love you when you are metal from top to bottom? Will you have the capacity of love?"

"But here's the catch. The metal makes you tough. It blocks spells and weapons, doesn't it? Do you want to lose that...? You may need it in the battles to come, and I am sure your challenges have just begun."

He is giving you a chance to change your superstition feat now. Because your feat selection is so tied in who Wulf is, it is now or never! Is Wulf ready to commit to being a metal monstrosity for the sake of the team?

"Calm yourself, my friend. I can see that you truly care for her and this is not a conquest or fling for you. You are a Hero of Torch, you saved my life, and I trust you."

"Your metal skin... caused by a nanite swarm, was it not? A swarm of tiny microrobots so small that it would appear as particle of dust. It is not unheard of for such things to escape their prisons from below ground and tear through Kellid villages...Happens a couple of times every hundred years or so. Listen...I have the ability to heal you, if you wish it. It is not too late. The process can be reversed and you can go back to normal flesh and blood."

Khonnir Baine grabs Wulf's elbow one night and pulls him into a dark corner of the bar.

"Now don't lie to me. I know you've been knocking boots with my daughter. She's a grown woman and can do what she wants. But you have to tell me what your intentions are, barbarian."

Like any father, he portrays a mix of sadness at having to let go of his daughter and a little veiled anger...

I'd heard of a mystery man in town and wanted the scoop fer my audiences. What I saw was the power of a firearm. Thas what got me hooked on em. Saved us all, then rode it of town. Been pursuing him and the tech since."

"It seems to me, then, that this mysterious stranger may in fact be pursuing YOU."

A couple of days after the Beautiful Mind incident with LaRA, Khonnir pulls her aside from further calculations.

"I know the others have been working with you, LaRA, but I just wanted to... express my concern to you. As your group eventually leads this place and seeks new adventure... in fact, I think I am close to understanding this machine, which will help guide you, I believe... I want you to be cognizant of how others in the country of ours react to androids. It is a dangerous place. And you stick out like a sore thumb."

"The Technic League... they... they say they own all technology. That includes Androids, which they enslave by the hundreds. Whatever android they can get their hands on. It's ridiculous, I know. And if they weren't so powerful it would all be hogwash. But they practically rule the Country. They have the Black Sovereign so under their thumb that he, our supposed King, can barely piss without asking for permission."

"Take this gift. It isn't much... but a creative and analytical mind can find a million ways to use it, I'm sure. It will keep you safe."

He hands over a hat...

Hat of Disguise, Greater
Aura faint illusion; CL 3rd; Slot head; Price 12,000 gp; Weight — lbs.

DESCRIPTION: Like a hat of disguise, this garment allows its wearer to alter her appearance. It functions as an alter self spell (as opposed to disguise self). The hat becomes a part of the disguise and can be a hat, a helmet, a headscarf, and so forth.

The challenge here of course... can someone like LaRA be an actor? looking forward to it!

Garfaulk damn near dropped the mug, though kept his composure best he "H-he was here?" He looked down at the coat, checking the pocketss only to did the paper. "I didn't know he was a dwarf. Or that he knew I knew who he was... our that I exist... how could he...

The dwarf fell back into his chair, stunned. "abd he knew I'd be... well. Ain't that sumthin. Notice anything else bout him?"

"This is familiar to you? Have you met this mysterious stranger before? I wish I could tell you more. It all happened so fast. Old dwarf, big bushy white beard. Oh, he also had a gun holstered on his side. Nice looking pistol."

"Boisterous? Yes, indeed, I suppose you are a bit more fun than many of the dwarves I've met before. But you are still level-headed and use your noggin under pressure. You care about your friends. You bring out the best in them. That's what a good leader does."

Khonnir rummages under the bar and pulls out a box. "I was waiting until it was just the two of us before I gave this to you. A leader needs to look good, am-I-right? Thanks for pulling "my arse" out of that cave." He says this last part in his best Garfaulk impression.

It is a beautiful leather coat, and when Garfaulk puts it on it drops to his calves. A duster- perfect for a gunslingin' SOB.

Gunman's Duster: This long, loose-fitting coat grants a +4 armor bonus to AC and a +2 luck bonus to the wearer’s touch AC against firearm attacks. If the wearer is a gunslinger or has the Amateur Gunslinger feat, she begins each day with 1 additional grit point. This extra point does not increase her maximum grit total. When the wearer uses the gunslinger’s dodge deed, the deed’s dodge bonuses to AC increase by +1. If the wearer is not a gunslinger, she may use the gunslinger’s dodge deed once per day. The awesome thing is that this is clothing, not armor, so no max Dexterity bonus. So get yer Dex up, Garfaulk!

whoops, forgot I had a Khonnir alias...

Khonnir spends time with all of those in the party, Garfaulk included. At some point, the perceptive wizard picks up on Garfaulk's melancholy.

One night as the two stay up late at the bar, Khonnir says, "Do you know what feature I have always admired the most about dwarves, my friend? They are stoic. Not much gets them down, on the other hand, not much really gets them up. They are clear-headed, stable, and reliable. Take this group of heroes you have been with the past week...they are not like you. Hot-headed, morose, ambitious, too-quiet, too-loud, too intellectual, too emotionless... It is amazing how they run the gambit of emotions. And here we have a dwarf, right in the center of it all. You, Garfaulk, you are the glue that holds them together. They need a leader. As you go forward to what will sure to be more adventures, and more danger, they need someone to rely on. A rock. Can you be that person for them?"

"Zeke... Father...dead. Ghartone."

Khonnir falls asleep again.

"Zeke. Zeke. Zeke."