Kizarmak Altin's page

Blade Lash, Burning Hands, Grease, Ray of Enfeeblement, Shocking Grasp, True Strike

At 1st level, the magus gains a reservoir of mystical arcane energy that he can draw upon to fuel his powers and enhance his weapon. This arcane pool has a number of points equal to 1/3 his magus level (minimum 1) + his Intelligence modifier. The pool refreshes once per day when the magus prepares his spells.
At 1st level, a magus can expend 1 point from his arcane pool as a swift action to grant any weapon he is holding a +1 enhancement bonus for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, the weapon gains another +1 enhancement bonus, to a maximum of +5 at 17th level. These bonuses can be added to the weapon, stacking with existing weapon enhancement to a maximum of +5. Multiple uses of this ability do not stack with themselves.
At 5th level, these bonuses can be used to add any of the following weapon properties: dancing, flaming, flaming burst, frost, icy burst, keen, shock, shocking burst, speed, or vorpal.
Adding these properties consumes an amount of bonus equal to the property’s base price modifier. These properties are added to any the weapon already has, but duplicates do not stack. If the weapon is not magical, at least a +1 enhancement bonus must be added before any other properties can be added. These bonuses and properties are decided when the arcane pool point is spent and cannot be changed until the next time the magus uses this ability. These bonuses do not function if the weapon is wielded by anyone other than the magus.
A magus can only enhance one weapon in this way at one time. If he uses this ability again, the first use immediately ends.

You can choose to take a –1 penalty on melee attack rolls and combat maneuver checks to gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class. When your base attack bonus reaches +4, and every +4 thereafter, the penalty increases by –1 and the dodge bonus increases by +1. You can only choose to use this feat when you declare that you are making an attack or a full-attack action with a melee weapon. The effects of this feat last until your next turn.

You gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff checks, and Bluff is always a class skill for you.

You gain a +1 trait bonus on attack of opportunity attack rolls made with daggers, swords, and similar bladed weapons.

At 1st level, a magus learns to cast spells and wield his weapons at the same time. This functions much like two-weapon fighting, but the off-hand weapon is a spell that is being cast. To use this ability, the magus must have one hand free (even if the spell being cast does not have somatic components), while wielding a light or one-handed melee weapon in the other hand. As a full-round action, he can make all of his attacks with his melee weapon at a –2 penalty and can also cast any spell from the magus spell list with a casting time of 1 standard action (any attack roll made as part of this spell also takes this penalty). If he casts this spell defensively, he can decide to take an additional penalty on his attack rolls, up to his Intelligence bonus, and add the same amount as a circumstance bonus on his concentration check. If the check fails, the spell is wasted, but the attacks still take the penalty. A magus can choose to cast the spell first or make the weapon attacks first, but if he has more than one attack, he cannot cast the spell between weapon attacks.

With a light weapon, elven curve blade, rapier, whip, or spiked chain made for a creature of your size category, you may use your Dexterity modifier instead of your Strength modifier on attack rolls. If you carry a shield, its armor check penalty applies to your attack rolls.

A rather short, scrawny young man of apparent Kellid heritage, Kizarmak has a sallow, pale complexion bespeaking underexposure to sunlight and all-too-frequent exposure to noxious alchemical elements. He habitually covers his unkempt, stringy black hair with the hood of a (now ragged, travel-worn) dark cloak in which he defensively wraps himself.

Natives of Numeria who find themselves graced with the intellectual capacity to manipulate magic are typically faced with a dispiriting array of obstacles to realizing that potential. A nation where barbarism is the rule, interrupted only by a scattered handful of more or less 'civilized' settlements, offers little opportunity for formal education of any sort, let alone the arcane variety. An aspiring wizard's best chance lies in finding a mentor among the land's de facto rulers, the Technic League, who jealously hoard their knowledge and monopolize magic just as they do everything else of value in Numeria. And frustrated ambition often foments petty cruelty and desperation in equal measure.

Thus were the circumstances into which Kizarmak Altin, son of a metallurgist in the skymetal-smelting town of Torch, was thrust. Possessed of a sharp mind and afforded a fair, if informal, education, Kizarmak did not share his father's love for the science of ores and alloys, and had no desire to follow him in a trade that promised slow death by heavy-metal poisoning, lucrative as it may be. Instead, Kizarmak set himself on a path he hoped would ultimately liberate him from the limited prospects of Numeria altogether. Mustering his courage, he approached the Technic League's tribute collector during his monthly embassy to Torch, and petitioned for apprenticeship.

Somewhat amused by this audacious demonstration of pretension and naivete - and, upon reflection, in the market for a new drudge capable of assisting with his experiments - the magus deigned to test the young man's intellect with a few cursory questions. When Kizarmak's answers seemed to suggest he was at least better than dull-witted, the envoy agreed to take him on for an indentured apprenticeship - or what would amount to coerced menial labor for a sociopath in return for whatever scraps of magical lore Kizarmak could infer along the way. And there was one further condition. The League are a fractious and paranoid lot, and Kizarmak's would-be mentor demanded a demonstration of unfaltering loyalty: Kizarmak must denounce his family for sedition against the Black Sovereign; assaying precious metals was a profitable concession, and the envoy had his eye on claiming it for himself once Kizarmak's father had been evicted from the office.

With a hard-hearted determination that surprised even himself, Kizarmak signed the proscriptive document and turned his back on Torch for the last time. Kizarmak was no fool, however, and if his act of filial betrayal had stripped away any vestige of sentimentality in his conscience, then this placed everyone, his master included, on equal footing. He took the man's measure and set about biding his time, waiting for the opportune moment. It was years in coming, but in that time Kizarmak learned much, and became truly powerful. Dangerous, in fact - more dangerous than his master suspected. He had come to trust Kizarmak, and let his guard down; passing on the broad staircase of his Starfall manse one evening, Kizarmak plunged a blade into his erstwhile patron's back and sent him tumbling to the foyer floor, choking on the blood filling his lungs.

Before the body was cold, Kizarmak had stolen away into the night, carrying the secrets of the Technic League magi, a fair stash of gold, and a feeling of profound satisfaction. He made his way deep into the Numerian wasteland, no particular destination in mind, but certain that his victim's peers (once they finished ransacking his property) would be on his trail. Then one night, huddled in the lee of some ancient skymetal bulkhead, a strange dream impinged upon his fitful sleep...