About MahbLN Female Human (Varisian) Witch (White Haired Witch) 15 [Fav: 12 Spells, 3 Skills]
Init +4 (+0 when surprised); Senses Low-Light Vision; Perception +20/+24 (w/Familiar) : -4 to avoid surprise --------------------
HP 92 (15d6+30)
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Melee
Space 5 ft.; Reach 20 ft. Special Attacks
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 15th; Concentration +14)
Witch Spells:
Basic CL:15; Evocation CL:16, Chain Lightning CL: 18 ; Concentration +27
> 8th
> 7th
> 6th
> 5th (Maximized Spell Limit)
> 4th (Quicken Spell Limit)
> 3rd (Ascendant Spell Limit)
> 2nd
> 1st
> Cantrip
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BAB +7; CMB +6 / (Hair) +17
Feats & Traits:
Brilliant Spell
Defensive Combat Training Dodge Spell Focus (Evocation) > Greater Spell Focus (evocation) Spell Penetration > Greater Spell Penetration Spell Specialization > Greater Spell Specialization Varisian Tattoo Weapon Finesse (Finesse Rogue) Improved Familiar Ascendant Spell [+5 Spell Level; 3rd max] Maximize Spell [+3 Spell Level; 5th max] Quicken Spell [+4 Spell Level; 4th max] Traits Blood of Dragons (Low Light), Focused Mind Mad Skillz:
Acrobatics +5 Appraise +11 Bluff +5 Climb +0 Craft (alchemy) +19 Craft (poison) +17 Diplomacy +2 Disguise +7 Fly +22 Heal +20 Intimidate +19 Knowledge (arcana) +25 Knowledge (dungeoneering) +22 Knowledge (history) +19 Knowledge (local) +18 Knowledge (nature) +25 Knowledge (planes) +25 Knowledge (religion) +20 Linguistics +11 Perception +20 +24 w/Familiar Alertness; +16 to avoid surprise Profession (herbalist) +18 Profession (midwife) +11 Ride +9 Sense Motive +20 +24 w/Familiar Alertness Spellcraft +28 Stealth +19 Survival +6 Swim +4 Use Magic Device +2 Equipment:
Private Palanquin (Two-Wheel Tumbril)
> Cauldron Agile Spell-Storing Darkwood Hanbo (cane) [contains Vampiric Touch] Cloak of the Hedge Wizard (Divination)
Encumbrance: 15 of 26 lbs - LIGHT Special Abilities:
Ascendant Spell Imitate mythic version of a spell. +5 Levels. Maximize Spell All variable effects of a spell are maximized. +3 Levels. Quicken Spell Cast a spell as a swift action. +4 Levels. Brilliant Spell Preparation (Slot Reserved, 6th Level) Prepare spell as STAND action. Spell Focus (Evocation) Spells from one school of magic have +1 to their save DC. > Greater Spell Focus (Evocation) +1 to the Save DC of spells from one school. Varisian Tattoo (Evocation) Spells from chosen school gain +1 Caster Level. Spell Specialization (Chain Lightning) Cast Chain Lightning as +2 Caster Level. > Greater Spell Specialization Sacrifice a spell to cast your specialized spell. Spell Penetration +2 on CL Checks to defeat SR. > Greater Spell Penetration +2 on CL Checks to defeat SR. Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in dim light, distinguishing color and detail. Resiliency (1/day) (Ex) When brought to 0 Hp or less, gain 15 temporary HP for 1 min. White Hair (Grapple) (Su) After successful HIT, make FREE grapple attempt without gaining grappled condition. White Hair (Constrict) (Su) After a successful grapple, SWIFT to do constriction damage. White Hair (Pull) (Su) After successful HIT, SWIFT to make CMB to pull target 5' closer. White Hair (Strangle) (Su) A grappled opponent is considered strangled and cannot speak or cast verbal spells. White Hair (Trip) (Su) After successful HIT, SWIFT to make Trip attempt. Witch's Familiar (Ex) Gain the services of a special familiar that stores spells. > Deliver Touch Spells Through Familiar (Su) Your familiar can deliver touch spells for you. > Empathic Link with Familiar (Su) You have an empathic link with your Arcane Familiar. > Familiar Bonus: You gain the Alertness feat while your familiar is within arm's reach. > Speak with Familiar (Ex) You can communicate verbally with your familiar. > Scry on Familiar (1/day) (Sp) You can scry on your familiar, as the spell. > Share Spells with Familiar Can cast spells with a target of "You" on the familiar with a range of touch. Mahb's Digs:
There is a little known animal trail leading deep into the woods. If one were to follow that winding trail through the thick woods for a few miles, one might slide down a small, crumbling escarpment into a muddy plain - a lesser tributary of the river. There, the large trees give way to stumpier bog oak, hazel thickets, and sawgrass. Anyone determined enough to cross the marshy lands would eventually arrive in the shade of the far escarpment.
A rocky outcropping takes up a good chunk of the escarpment and holds a rough cave entrance that is blocked with a stout, rough-cut, wooden door showing gaps at the top and bottom. Smoke issues from the top gap along with a little light and the smell of alder smoke. A modest stripe of moss along the bank surrounds a path of river-rounded stepping stones that leads towards the door. If one were brave enough to knock on that door... The ancient door creaks open and a wave of alder smoke strikes. Along with the smoke is a fetid reek, one that would cause a genteel visitor to gag. And a tall man would have to stoop to enter the home. This house is well and truly a rough-hewn and arched cave, no more than 15' at its widest and stretching straight back into the hillside approximately 30'. At the far back is a wider semi-circular chamber with a stone bench carved out of the wall on three sides. At the furthest extreme is a hearth and cauldron at a low boil. An old woman kicks at the fire and sorts through a messy shelf for ingredients to add to the brew. She pays her visitors little mind as they advance... which is not an easy task. Walking from the doorway to the back chamber is an obstacle course. Visitors step over and around collections of skins, bones, plants, rocks, and small barrels filled with Gods-know-what. All the while they must brush aside or avoid hanging meats, bunches of drying herbs, and an impressive collection of taxidermied and preserved animals suspended from the cave roof in action poses. A seagull in flight stares down, its mouth open to screech. Overseeing the cave and blending in perfectly with the taxidermied beasts is a large, rough-feathered raven with a well-scarred beak and disconcertingly intelligent eyes. Appearance & Demographics:
For those who would dare the cavern and approach the back chamber, they finally see Mahb - the ancient and ugly hag. Many hard winters have passed Mahb by. She is a stooped and bony old woman with a shaggy mane of grey hair and a face so wrinkled it could pass for a prune. By the firelight, her one good eye glitters black. The other is a rheumy white thing that seems to stare everywhere and nowhere. Her clothes are threadbare, patched, and dirty. There is a smell of earth and mold about her... which is fitting because she looks to be about a decade older than dirt.
Mahb's appalling looks and questionable hygiene are only improved (slightly) by the mystical tattoos dotting her body. If she rolled up a soiled sleeve, exposing her nearly fleshless bicep, Mahb's favorite and roughest tattoo would be seen. In Draconic, the text reads "Born to Ride" underlined by a crude silhouette of a broom in flight. Age: 80 (Venerable)
Backstory:
Mahb's life has been full of deeds - both fair and foul. With a plain face, keen mind, sharp tongue, and a witch-born soul... Mahb was never going to be popular with the common folk. Early on, she found more companionship among the fey, wild beasts, first world creatures, and crawling things of the dark woods and bogs. For years she practiced her craft alone, living on the outskirts of towns across Avistan and bartering her skills for needed supplies. With no bonds of friendship or romantic entanglements, she focused solely on mastering witchcraft. It was a lonely existence but it worked. She forged herself into a powerful occultist.
In her 50's, when Mahb assumed (incorrectly) she was at the height of her powers, she chose to make a name for herself... in the hope that she'd gain the public acceptance that has always eluded her. She moved into a large town, plied her trade openly, and displayed her mastery over the elements and the forces of life and death. And it worked. Mahb became the go-to person for all manner of local troubles. Plague of Rotting Flesh? Stemmed. Ghoul invasion? Wiped out. Necromancer raising an army of the town's dead? Sent to Hell. Portal to the Abyss opened? Consider it shut... And then there were all the usual ailments that wound up at Mahb's door: garden variety poisonings, diseases, unwanted pregnancies, and infections. Mahb was lauded and respected... but not liked, except by the few people that could overcome their prejudices to her profession, her looks, or her sharp tongue. There was also a downside of fame. All the wizards, witches, paladins, priests, and witch-hunters that wanted to make their bones by besting a famous witch. She spared a few, but most wound up as notches on her broomstick. And then there were the irritating suck-ups: the less skilled witches, green hags, and night hags that wanted Mahb to join their covens, instruct them, help them rule the world... yada yada yada. Mahb was an 'old school' witch, accumulating knowledge and power by working alone. Covens were for the weak who couldn't stand on their own. The harmless sycophants she brushed off - none too politely - and the evil ones she destroyed. And it would be fair to say she sometimes mistook one group for the other. The bloom was off the rose for her. Fame was a trap and had brought her no closer to the acceptance she wanted. Noting her own folly with a cackle, Mahb returned to where she began... moving back to the deep forests, swamps, and small isolated villages. Now, one would think that fame would pursue her as some of her deeds were indeed sung of by bards. But when you have Mahb's temperament and alarming willingness to curse bards with lifelong poxes, fumbletongue, or other career-ending disfigurements... the wise quickly made a point of forgetting the lays of Mahb. And so she vanished from history and her deeds were ascribed to other witches. For the last score of years, Mahb has lived in her cave and stalked the nearby forest and swamp to make her living - foraging for rare mushrooms and fungi for sale... and more interesting uses. She is careful to hide the true measure of her skills from the local villagers. She visits infrequently and only to trade her foraged goods for necessities. She is tolerated but draws unfriendly glances when she isn't shunned. The stupider children throw rocks and mock her... until those same children contract disgusting ailments which vanish overnight once they apologize to the crazy old woman. Mahb does, however, fill a niche role in the community which keeps them from driving her out. She is an herbalist, quite knowledgeable (in a crusty sort of way), and a solver of personal issues that townsfolk don't want to tell their neighbors or pastor about. Need a boy or girl to fall in love with you? See Mahb.
Personality:
Mahb is a crusty, sharp-tongued, cackling, pragmatist. She looks like she ought to live in a gingerbread house and be busy shoving children into an oven, but her heart is generally in the right place. She has no tolerance for sycophants, generally undervalues 'pretty people', but has grudging respect for those that stand up to her or clearly march to the sound of their own drummer. So while she can be abrasive, she isn't obnoxiously so (which I think is important in RPGs) and has a very thick skin. She can be playful in a rough sort of way and has a wry sense of humor. She is very egalitarian - treating 'normals' with the same respect as high-level characters. Private Palanquin:
HP: 150 ; AC/CMD: 18/24 ; Hardness: 8 ; Speed: 40' ; Fort: +2 ; Ref: +2 ; Will: +2
Basics: 500 lbs. ; 10' cube ; Can move 12 hrs/day ; holds up to 4 Medium or 1 Large creature
Anything in palanquin is protected from magical or mundane observation. Acts as a Mage's Private Sanctum when the door or gate is closed. The door is Arcane Locked, and anyone opening the door without the command word sets off an audible Alarm. |
