House Motto: "Patience is Our Sword"
Coat of Arms: Raven perched atop a tower, on a blue field. A quill pen and sword are crossed atop the escutcheon, which is in turn supported by two white lions.
Titles: Baron of Garrowglade, Spymaster Emeritus
Organizational Memberships: Order of the Heralds (Mendev), Monastery of the Seven Forms (Taldor), Sovereign Court (Pathfinder Society)
Inspiration: Lord Rook was originally inspired by a combination of Doran Martell and Mad-Eye Moody
Story, Description, Role:
Fame and Fortune:
A few years ago, Lord Rook managed to stop an international conspiracy by successfully impersonating the Princess of Taldor (as a decoy/bodyguard) for a day. Still, he's been mostly put out to pasture for decades. His exploits over the last half of his life have been subtle and wide-reaching, making and losing fortunes through trade, working to help other noble families rise and fall, and training his children and grandchildren to be adventures in their own right. He's come to power as a member of a number of influential organizations, including the Pathfinder Society, and seen that power mostly evaporate as younger and more ambitious faces force him out. Before he was made a Baron, though, Sir Marion had plenty of adventures, though perhaps not quite the "storybook hero" kind. As an inquisitor of Irori, he's traveled across half the world, recovering ancient texts from numerous ruined cities and dungeons; as a former leader of the Summer Crows, he's fought in skirmishes and raids in countries many of his countrymen have never heard of, as well as building up a fine collection of international curiosities and magic items. Through the Pathfinder Society, he's also in correspondence with some of the world's surviving retired heroes, though many of them he's never actually met.
Bio:
Born to one of Taldor’s ancient noble families, Marion Rook was the second son of a second son, destined to inherit none of the wealth or land of a family spread too thin to support yet another nobleman. Along with a few cousins and squires, he was sent off at a young age to fight and die in glorious battle at the Mendevian Crusades—but this failed to produce the desired effect, and so the young knight was enlisted in a variety of unusual mercenary companies, journeying from Garund to Vudra as he learned to fight with any weapons available. While he was not especially strong or tough, the young Marion was a quick learner, skilled at patience and self-perception, and possessed a remarkable ability to dodge, block, or shrug off nearly any attack. Eventually, his talents brought him to religion—and Marion joined a company of holy warriors of Irori, the god of self-perfection and pursuit of knowledge.
That was, of course, over fifty years ago. As the Empire continued to crumble, House Rook found itself surrounded by enemies, and one by one, the young Sir Marion’s family were killed off in duels, plagues, assassinations and wars, until the holy warrior received a letter asking him to return home immediately before his estates were forfeit. Reluctant to go, he found himself convinced by an older, wiser priest—something was rotten in the State of Taldor, and though the fighting and religious practices he had learned would be strange at home, his native land needed all the valiant truth-seekers and champions of law and order it could get. And so at the age of thirty-five he returned, as the new Lord Rook, to his family home and lands in ruin.
Over the next decades, the oft-nicknamed Lord “Inkwell” Rook became known for his steadfast refusal to become involved in wars or feuds, using persuasion, forgery and spycraft to always remain on the side of the royal family. Eventually, he was even made Spymaster to Stavian II for a brief time, though upon the Prince’s death he spent most of his time at home, gathering relics, building up his estates, and raising a family. There was much truth and knowledge in Taldor for a dedicated inquisitor to find, and while Lord Rook made plenty of enemies, the seasoned adventurer had little to fear from courtly squabbles. Still Lord Rook acquired a reputation for foiling and humiliating dozens of would-be assassins in creative ways.
Now, after over forty years in Oppara, his children are all grown, with children of their own. After decades of family vacations to cursed tombs and forgotten ruins, the more adventurous members of the family have gone on to their own success; and despite the countless relics, tomes, and maps he's donated, the Pathfinder Society recently passed him over for venture captain of its Oppara lodge, a snub that the old lord is still bitter about. Too old to hunt and ride like he used to, and no longer needed by his family for much of anything, the octogenarian Lord Rook, commonly rumored to be immune to death, has bought a small manor in Oppara and set his sights on finding new ways to keep from getting bored—which, at the moment, mostly involve games of Sending chess played out against other retired adventurers across Golarion.
Description (Lord Rook):
A crippled man in his seventies, barely able to walk under his own strength, usually carried around by an animated chair he paid a great deal to have enchanted. A survivor of many wars and assassins attempts, he walks when he must, limping, on a wooden leg, and his left hand has been replaced by an ornately-carved clawed prosthetic of solid Mithral.
"Lord Inkwell" dresses somewhat plainly—with his many heirs seeing to the actual maintenance of his estate and ventures (and, these days, keeping most of the profits), he's got little need to show wealth of extravagance, and he's never had much taste for finery except when it helps to make a point. Spending most of his time away from his family lands, with only a single servant at his small family villa in Oppara, he's begun to enjoy the role of "uncomfortable old truthsayer." Popular with some of his nation's wilder nobility, and fiercely unpopular with the rest, the venerable Lord Rook nevertheless carries enough clout from a lifetime of service to impose on any social setting he sets an eye on—and in the stuffy anterooms and chambers of the ancient, wealthy city, he can be quite imposing indeed. Perhaps frustratingly, though, nobody's tried to assassinate him in over a decade, and he's beginning to wonder if this means nobody takes the old inquisitor seriously anymore.
Description ("Atticus" Rook):
While the old remaining leg isn't what it used to, Lord Rook has been practicing the same monastic exercises for half a century, and can move with enough grace to hide his limp pretty effectively—as long as nobody expects him to walking too quickly, this is quite useful in selling any of his many disguises. Chief among these is Atticus Rook, Lord Inkwell's youngest son and the black sheep of the family; "exiled" to live with his father in the city villa for slights against decorum and propriety, Atticus Rook is a convenient fiction, allowing his "father" to ride the streets of Taldor as a young, easily-overlooked man of little fame, listening in forums and gathering rumors to aid in the constant search for truth, illumination, and hidden relics.
Role:
Literal armchair commander. Lord Rook is decent in a fight, provided he can actually reach his enemies—which he often can, standing on his own two feet for quick bursts of surprising agility to land nasty surprise punches. But his strengths lie more in disabling his enemies, communicating their weaknesses, and coordinating the men around him, like in his old mercenary days; and, of course, in surviving just about anything that gets thrown at him. (Specializing in buff spells, melee debuffs, and anti-magic tactics)
Years of observing human strengths and failures also means that Lord Rook usually has a pretty good idea of what everyone around him is thinking, letting him communicate almost wordlessly with his allies and get the drop on almost any situation. (Bonded Mind+Solo Tactics+Signature Skill=approximate telepathy?)
* * *
Offense and Defense:
Speed 15 ft.
Initiative +13 (or higher via sense motive), gives allies +8
BAB +12/+12/+7/+2, CMB +9
HP 124/124 (3d10+12d8+30+12 favored)
DR 5/magic, Snatch Arrows 2/day
AC 31/32 haste, Touch 26, FF 25 (Dex +5, Wisdom +8, Armor +3, Monk +1, Deflection +2, Natural +2)
Fort +20, Ref +18/+19 haste (Evasion, use ally's roll), Will +22 (immune to detect thoughts etc.)
CMD 35
Equipment:
Mithral Hook Hand, Spell-Storing (2.5k)
Monk’s Robe (13k)
Boots of Speed (12k)
Medium Animated Object (4.5k gp)
Stone of Good Luck (20k)
Dispelling Amulet of Mighty Fists (4k)
Gloves of Arrow Snaring (4k)
Invulnerability Bracers of Armor (9k) (grants DR 5/magic)
Decoy Ring (12k) (on withdraw/helpless/unconscious, invisibility and creates decoys)
Ring of Sustenance (2.5k)
Ring of Arcane Signets (1k)
Dark Blue Rhomboid Ioun Stone+Wayfinder (10.75k)
Meridian Belt (1k)
Ring of Mind Shielding (8k)
Circlet of Persuasion (4.5k)
Vest of Escape (5.2k) (secret pockets, +4 to Disable/+6 Escape)
Lenses of Detection (3.5k) (+5 to Perception/Survival to track)
Traveler's Any-Tool (0.25k)
Noble’s Outfit + Jewels (0.3k)
* * *
Estates and Nominal Holdings:
Castle Rook and The Barony of Garrowglade
Garrowglade is a relatively modest estate, with several a hundred hides of land, located near the foothills of the World's Edge Mountains, in a calm area just far enough South of the Porthmos Fork to be insulated from river pirates. While generally a sleepy backwater, the local fortification sits on a safer, if slower, trade route from Casmaron to Oppara, and much of the Rook family's historical income has come from small but consistently beneficial spice trade. A nearby village of a few hundred lies technically within the Barony's jurisdiction, though it remains practically independent. These days, the business and politics of the Barony are mostly carried out by Lord Rook's oldest son, the Baronet Bellarius Rook, with little remaining input from the old man.
The Castle
Castle Rook was built as a countryside fortification, though in his lifetime Lord Inkwell expanded the grounds and modernized the comforts of the estate quite a bit, adding extensive libraries and housing for several exotic snakes, birds and flowers. In addition to providing shelter and stores, it also oversees the family lands, serves as a meeting hall for traveling dignitaries, hosts the occasional monk or priest, and serves as a town hall for important meetings in the nearby village of Garrowglade. A large number of the bedrooms and lodgings are generally left vacant, reserved for guests or family reunions.
* * *
Holdings in Oppara
Now spending most of his time in the capital, Lord Rook currently resides in the guest house of Lady Bellflower, a wealthy niece who is also married to his personal physician, Doctor Janus.
The Manor
Alongside several personal servants, Janus and Bellflower live in a sizable manor on the outskirts of the city (though nothing compared to the garish homes of proper nobility). The house in which Lord Rook currently resides is only a single story high, and thus suitably lacking in stairs. The good doctor has also built a sizeable observatory, similar to the one at Castle Rook, to indulge a personal hobby.
Completely Unnecessary Rook Family Tree:
Lord Canarius Rook (deceased)
...↳Lady Bellflower Rook + Doctor Janus
......↳Nerius and Isabella Rook
Lady Alexandra Rook (deceased)
Lord Marion Rook + Lady Tamora Green (deceased)
...↳Sir Bellarius Rook, Baronet of Castle Rook + Lady Arabella
......↳Cassius, Eiredor, and Septimus Rook
...↳Sister Hestia, Evangelist of Irori
...↳"The Twins" Sir Marcus and Dame Gabrielle, of the Pathfinder Society
...↳Sir Constantine Rook, leader of the Summer Crows Mercenary Company
......↳Lucia and Quintus Rook, legitimized bastards
......↳Vipsania Rosencruz, Arlinius, and Claudius
...↳Brother Kent, Assistant Abbot of the Seven Forms
...↳Sir Theodoro Rook (deceased)
...↳Atticus Rook (fictional)
