About Manush KarapetyanManush Karapetyan
Familiar, Pillbug the green scorpion:
Pillbug CR – Greensting scorpion (Pathfinder RPG Ultimate Magic 232) N Tiny magical beast (vermin) Init +3; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +8 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 19, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +2 size) hp 4 (1d8) Fort +2, Ref +3, Will +2 Defensive Abilities improved evasion; Immune mind-affecting effects -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft. Melee sting +5 (1d2-4 plus poison) Space 2½ ft.; Reach 0 ft. -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 3, Dex 16, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 2 Base Atk +0.75; CMB +1; CMD 7 (19 vs. trip) Feats Ability Focus (poison), Agile Maneuvers Tricks Come, Fetch, Quiet Watch, Seek, Sneak, Stay Skills Climb +11, Heal +1, Perception +8, Spellcraft -1, Stealth +19; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth SQ come, empathic link, fetch, finesse weapon attack attribute, quiet watch, seek, sneak, stay -------------------- Special Abilities -------------------- Agile Maneuvers Use DEX instead of STR for CMB Come [Trick] The animal will come to you on command. Darkvision (60 feet) You can see in the dark (black and white only). Empathic Link (Su) You have an empathic link with your master. Fetch [Trick] The animal will get a specific object. Finesse Weapon Attack Attribute Finesse weapons use Dexterity on attack rolls. Immunity to Mind-Affecting effects You are immune to Mind-Affecting effects. Improved Evasion (Ex) No damage on successful reflex save; half on failed save. Poison (DC 12) (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 12; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect sickened for 1 round; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitution-based. Quiet Watch [Trick] The animal stands watch and alerts master quietly, if able. Seek [Trick] The animal moves into an area and looks around for anything that is obviously alive or animate. Share Spells Spells with a target of "You" can be delivered by a familiar with a range of touch. Sneak [Trick] Creature stays hidden. Stay [Trick] The animal will stay where it is. Background:
The Karapetyan family has three defining traits. One, it is numerous - some would even say extensive. Two, at some point in the past they have been cut off from their innate First World magic, and since then they have sought to replace it through arcane study, artifice and alchemy. Three, they are prone to disastrously bad financial decisions. It is that last trait that now finds most of them in various forms of servitude across Varisia - something that Manush aims to remedy.
Originally from Whistledown in the Sanos Forest, the Karapetians spread out far and wide across the last century and a half, although not always by choice. Various criminal organizations took an interest in their particular talents (and their gullibility, let’s be fair), pressuring or outright forcing them to craft, mix and fabricate various illicit items and substances. It is how Manush’s sister Ruzan ended up in Korvosa making shiver and other drugs for various crime lords, or how her brother Talar found himself in Riddonport crafting traps for wealthy pirates. Manush herself was forcibly apprenticed by the Sczarni to an alchemist and poison-maker in Sandpoint, one Aliver Podiker. As a guarantee of good behaviour, her twin Khajag and her other twin Vartkes are held in Magnimar by the Gallowed gang. For the first decade or so Manush did keep her head down and did as was told, but lately the gnome has begun to chafe at the situation. The Sczarni she works for have been getting bolder as well, and although they don’t trust Manush enough to let her in on their plans, she has been carefully gathering scraps of information with the intention of taking it to Belor Hemlock. As much as she tells herself that she is only doing this out of civic duty and that she cannot afford feelings in her situation, the truth is that she’s been pining after the Shoanti man for years. Still, if the local Sczarni gang does go down, she judges that to be her best chance to free herself, then her twins, and from there gradually work on the rest of her family. It is an endeavour that will take a lot of money, and a lot of time - time that some of them do not have. Already several of her more distant relatives have begun to Bleach, stuck as they are in one place and forced to do the same things over and over. One thing at a time, though. The first step is to free herself. Family connections:
Lilit and Kamsarakan Karapetyan, Manush’s parents are indentured to the Exemplary Execrables in Korvosa as anything and everything from stage hands, painters of backdrops, make-up and costume artists and even actors. The dynamic life in the city keeps them safe from the Bleaching for now, and they tend to be optimistic, carefree people. Their letters, when they manage to send them, are filled with quotes from plays, vivid descriptions of the performances and gossip about the rest of the staff. But what Manush can read between the lines fills her with dread and revulsion.
Khajag and Vartkes, Manush’s twins, are in Magnimar serving the Gallowed Sczarni gang. Like Manush and their sister Ruzan, their skill lies in alchemy and mixing substances together. While Manush is specializing in poisons, the others are making drugs. The separation is taking a heavy toll on all three of them, and since their correspondence is closely monitored they have developed a secret code to communicate more freely. They joke that Manush is the most balanced of the trio, with Khajag being the youthful spirit and Vartkes the old woman. All three of them pay homage to Magdh, not just as triplets but also in the faint hope that their devotion might restore their lineage’s connection to the magic of the First World. Talar, Sevatch and Ruzan are Manush’s other siblings, scattered across Varisia. Ruzan is also in Korvosa, like their parents, making shiver for various crime lords. Lately she’s been writing about a particular man’s rise to power, someone nicknamed the King of Spiders. Talar is in Riddonport, and his skill with gears and mechanisms has earned him the unenviable position of trapmaker for rich pirates - it is his responsibility to see that their treasure doesn’t get stolen. Sevatch is a slave in Kaer Maga, where her gift with languages has her working as an interpreter. Various aunts, uncles, cousins, the most notable of which is aunt Alenoush, a Bleachling living in Turtleback Ferry. Sandpoint NPC connections:
Aliver “Pillbug” Podiker, Manush’s master, an exacting alchemist and herbalist. No one can say of Aliver Podiker that he has a pleasant personality, but he is a fair man and taught Manush a lot of things during her apprenticeship. She does have a soft spot for the shop name and Aliver’s nickname, as she finds pillbugs fascinating and endearing.
Jubrayl Vhiski is another matter entirely. As the leader of the local Sczarni, Manush is ultimately working for him - and also holds him responsible for her situation. She loathes the man, but with her twins still in the power of the Gallowed gang there is little she can do against him. For now, she is collecting every shred of information and evidence she can find, in the hope that the sheriff can use it to bring him down. And if not… she is a poisoner, after all. Alright, poisoner apprentice, but still. Belor Hemlock is Manush’s unrequited crush of many years. She finds the somewhat aloof Shoanti irresistible and loves his dedication to his work. Lately she’s been trying to help him with his investigation into the Sczarni, although she has to be very careful to not give herself away to her ‘employers’. Vachedi. Even though most people give the town’s jailor a wide berth, perhaps intimidated by his physique and his scars, Manush has found a kinship with the man. His family is also enslaved, and Manush uses her correspondence with her sister Sevatch to get news of Vachedi’s sons in Kaer Maga. Brodert Quink. As the resident scholar of Varisian history, the old man holds a special interest to Manush, who shares his interest in Thassilonian ruins. She enjoys listening to his lectures and occasionally engaging in debates with him. Jargie Quinn. Everyone needs a bit of whimsy in their lives, and Manush needs that a little more than most. She’s drawn to the Hagfish not by the drink, the games or even the seafood, but by the ‘yarning’ that its customers engage in - and none better than Jargie himself. Another reason for her interest is the rumour that Jargie used to have a seelie wife, although no one can agree on exactly what kind. Hannah Velerin treated Manush more than once in the beginning of her apprenticeship when she collected new alchemical burns almost every week. Since then, the gnome has taken to visiting her shop often, drawn by Hannah’s gentle and maternal personality - although officially it is to acquire reagents for her master. She has learned much about curative herbs from Hannah, and Manush likes to help her out whenever she has a bit of free time. Appearance and personality:
Manush has a very slight frame, even for a gnome, which causes many to confuse her for a child. She likes to keep her violet hair tightly braided and out of the way, but more as a measure of work safety than a personal or aesthetical choice. Similarly, she never wears loose clothing, her nails are always trimmed and she forsakes jewellery (pretending for a moment that she would be allowed to own any). She is always very careful with her clothes and her gear, and the first few mistakes have taught her to be meticulous in everything she does. Perhaps the opposite of how people expect gnomes to be, but the Karapetyans were never your regular gnomes anyway.
Another lesson that Manush learned early was to be inconspicuous. Your masters don’t like you underfoot, or when you ask questions, or when you say or do anything they disapprove of. So she learned how to be unobtrusive, to listen carefully and to shadow quietly. Manush is very smart and loves languages. A favourite pastime is to think up puns that work in at least two different languages, but also learning new languages is Manush’s, well…. love language. It is why she learned Shoanti, and one day hopes to surprise Belor with something clever and witty that he won’t be able to help but appreciate, and then… Ahem. Another thing that Manush likes are what most people would call creepy-crawlies. Pillbugs, snakes, scorpions, spiders, centipedes - she likes to learn about them, observe them, and occasionally she keeps them as pets. So far the one who has lasted the longest is her greensting scorpion which she has named Pillbug (she names all her pets Pillbug). |
