Matam's page

From whence do Gaedren's "Little Lamms" come? Few know, fewer ask, and, if you know what's good for you, then you won't be asking either.

Matam was a slave child raised by other slave children. His origins are obscured by that vile trade. For all he knows, he is a dark skinned and dark haired human. Admittedly, his milk white eyes are odd. Most assume he is blind. (It helps with the begging.) He believes his eyes and his ability to cause momentary forgetfulness are either a curse or a blessing from the gods. Matam lays odds on Desna or Norgorber. The Song of the Spheres and the Grey Master are the only gods who ever seem to smile his way.

The other enslaved children raised him as best they knew how. Certainly, Gaedren had little desire to change diapers or soothe a colicky babe. As he grew older, his "brothers" and "sisters" taught him how to use his clever fingers to relieve their fellow citizens of their coin. However, he was most skilled at moving and sitting very quietly. It was almost as if the young would could disappear if not carefully watched. Being very little seen, he was very easy to ignore. All sorts of people do and say all manner of things when they believe that no one else is there looking. Secrets are their own currency, and Matam filled Gaedren's purse full of secrets. Spying taught Matam more about Korvosa than any of siblings ever did. He also learned the languages of the peoples oppressed by the Chellish invaders -- the Shoanti and the Varisians.

Yet nothing lasts forever.

One night, soon after the boy and become a youth, Matam was spying on two of Korvosa's finest -- two thieves who had been heard bragging that they had discovered a secret passage into a noble family's estate. Gaedren wanted to know that secret; he sent Matam to collect it.

Matam was hiding in the shadows as the thieves revealed the location of a secret passage.

"Wazzit doing?" a third voice whispered.

Matam strained to discern the origin of that third voice.

"Wazzit doing?" the voice whispered again. This time the voice came from right behind him.

Matam twisted only to see a shadowy reflection of himself speaking to him. Strangely, this did not terrify him. What happened next, however, did.

Just as Matam realized that the two thieves had stopped talking a hand shot down into the shadows and grabbed him by the scruff of the neck!

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? The rats have gotten so very, very large this year, Aramis."

The second thief responded, "Yes, yes, the rats have gotten big, but that just means they are better eating, Bertram."

That comment got Matam screaming. What he saw next terrified him. The shadow from in between the barrels leapt upon the thief called Aramis and scored him with its claws. The man pulled out a dagger and did his best to stab the shadow, but both man and shadow did not interact properly. Almost as if they were on two different worlds that had brushed against each other.

Bertram dropped Matam, and Matam fled.

Unsurprisingly, Gaedren was unimpressed by Matam's story of talking shadows. He beat the boy for lying and being incompetent. None of the other Little Lamms did anything to defend him. When Gaedren heard rumors of that the two thieves were eviscerated in their bolt-hole he went from unimpressed to worried. The boy was now a liability. He beat Matam and left him for dead in an alley. Again his fellow Little Lams left him to his fate.

Yet, the boy did not die. He was drifting on the edge of consciousness, waiting for that final sleep.

"This bad. Why you lie there? Get up."

"Leave me alone," Matam told the figment of his imagination. "Let me die."

"You no die. You me."

Through blurry and bruised eyes, Matam looked up at the shadowy apparition. It did look like him.

The next thing he knew it was carrying him down alleyways towards the Varisian camp grounds. Skulking next to a brightly covered wagon it set Matam on the ground, knocked on the wooden panelling and disappeared.

An older woman emerged from the wagon. She was a tall, handsome woman, and though her tan face is unlined there is more white than black in her hair.

"Tut, tut, child, someone has done you an unkindness. Don't you worry now, let Mother Murela take care of you."

With these comforting words, the priestess of Desna knelt and healed the beaten child in a flash of starlight. The spiritual and mental wounds that the boy had suffered were not so easily cured. He was skittish and refused to stay with the wagons. Knowing that kindness and gentleness were able cures, Mother Murela did not press him; she did however keep a bowl of stew ready or a place by the fire.

For his part, Matam spent most of his time wandering the streets of Korvorsa and skulking around with his shadow, Tamat. Matam thought that Desna must of sent Tamat to him. How else had the shadow known to take him to Mother Murela?

While Desna may have saved him, it was the Grey Master who provided. Matam was deft as ever at sneaking and stealing, but he began to make a name for himself as a peddler of secrets and discreet messenger. His petty magics easily facilitated such a life. Over the years he has been able to make a name for himself as reliable and knowledgeable. But he does not gather secrets for secrets sake. He knows that each secret is a coin and that with enough coins he would be able to purchase Gaedren's life.

Height: 5'11"
Weight: 111 lbs

Matam is thin and usually looks hungry, but still possesses an ethereal masculine beauty. Life in the streets has been rough, but has done little to mar or conceal how attractive he is. His "blind" eyes give him a slightly otherworldy look. If it wasn't for Tamat, Matam might have ended up working in a brothel as a teenager.

Matam has trust issues. His best friend is his own magically animated shadow. He wants to trust people, particularly Mother Murela, but life has taught him that trust can be death. Not only his personal experiences amongst the Little Lamms, but also the treachery he sees in his clients.

He takes great pains to not show how fearful and mistrustful he really is. Those who now him find him to be both a pleasant and connvival young man. Only Mother Murela knows how scarred he truly is.

Matam is a devote worshiper of both Desna and Norgorber. He venerates Desna for saving him, and the Grey Master for giving him the skills to take down Lamm. Sometimes he feels like the two gods are gambling over his destiny and his soul.

Destroy Lamm!

Become a respected underworld figure and powerbroker.

Payback Mother Murela for all the kindness she has given him over the years. He is very protective of her and her clan.

Male Fetchling Summoner (Shadow Caller)
CN Medium Native Outsider
Init +2; Senses Perception +0, Low-Light Vision, Darkvision

Defense

AC 12, Touch 12, Flat 10
HP 9 (1d8 +1)
Fort +1; Ref +3; Will +2

Offense

Speed 30

Crossbow, Light +2 (1d6+2, 19-20, x2, P)

Summoner Spells Known (CL 1st; Concentration: +5)

1st -- Mage Armor, Rejuvenate Eidolon (Lesser)

0 -- Detect Magic, Guidance, Mage Hand, Message

Spells per Day:

1st -- 3

0 -- Unlimited

Spell-Like abilities:

1/Day: Memory Lapse (DC 14)

Statistics:

Str 10; Dex 14; Con 13; Int 14; Wis 10; Cha 19

Base Attack: +0; CMB: +0; CMD: 12

Feats: Extra Evolution

Traits:

Vagabond Child: (+1 Sleight of Hands checks, Sleight of Hand is a class skill)

Unhappy Childhood: +1 to Reflex saves.

Racial Traits:

Darkvision: Fetchlings can see in the dark up to 60 feet.

Low-Light Vision: Fetchlings can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

Skilled (World Walker): Fetchlings have a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (Local) and Knowledge (Nature) and a +2 on Stealth checks.

Shadow Blending (Su): Attacks against a fetchling in dim light have a 50% miss chance instead of the normal 20% miss chance. This ability does not grant total concealment; it just increases the miss chance.

Shadowy Resistance: Fetchlings have cold resistance 5 and electricity resistance 5.

Spell-Like Abilities (Subtle Manipulator) (Sp): A fetchling can use memory lapse once per day as a spell-like ability. When a fetchling reaches 9th level in any combination of classes, he gains shadow walk (self only) as a spell-like ability usable once per day, and at 13th level, he gains plane shift (self only, to the Shadow Plane or the Material Plane only) usable once per day. A fetchling's caster level is equal to his total Hit Dice.

Skills: Diplomacy +5, Knowledge (Local): +7, Sleight of Hand +7, Spellcraft: +6, Stealth +8

Languages: Common, Shoanti, Varisian

Favorite Class: +1 skill point (Summoner)

Equipment: Backpack, light cross bow, Bolts (30), thieves' tools (Tamat carries them)

Class Features:

Eidolon: A summoner begins play with the ability to summon to his side a powerful outsider called an eidolon. The eidolon forms a link with the summoner, who, forever after, summons an aspect of the same creature. An eidolon has the same alignment as the summoner that calls it and can speak all of his languages. Eidolons are treated as summoned creatures, except that they are not sent back to their home plane until reduced to a number of negative hit points equal to or greater than their Constitution score. In addition, due to its tie to its summoner, an eidolon can touch and attack creatures warded by protection from evil and similar effects that prevent contact with summoned creatures.

A summoner can summon his eidolon in a ritual that takes 1 minute to perform. When summoned in this way, the eidolon hit points are unchanged from the last time it was summoned. The only exception to this is if the eidolon was slain, in which case it returns with half its normal hit points. The eidolon does not heal naturally. The eidolon remains until dismissed by the summoner (a standard action). If the eidolon is sent back to its home plane due to death, it cannot be summoned again until the following day. The eidolon cannot be sent back to its home plane by means of dispel magic, but spells such as dismissal and banishment work normally. If the summoner is unconscious, asleep, or killed, his eidolon is immediately banished.

The eidolon takes a form shaped by the summoner's desires. The eidolon's Hit Dice, saving throws, skills, feats, and abilities are tied to the summoner's class level and increase as the summoner gains levels. In addition, each eidolon receives a pool of evolution points, based on the summoner's class level, that can be used to give the eidolon different abilities and powers. Whenever the summoner gains a level, he must decide how these points are spent, and they are set until he gains another level of summoner.

The eidolon's physical appearance is up to the summoner, but it always appears as some sort of fantastical creature. This control is not fine enough to make the eidolon appear like a specific creature. The eidolon also bears a glowing rune that is identical to a rune that appears on the summoner's forehead as long as the eidolon is summoned. While this rune can be hidden through mundane means, it cannot be concealed through magic that changes appearance, such as alter self or polymorph (although invisibility does conceal it as long as the spell lasts).

Life Link (Su): Starting at 1st level, a summoner forms a close bond with his eidolon. Whenever the eidolon takes enough damage to send it back to its home plane, the summoner can, as a free action, sacrifice any number of hit points. Each hit point sacrificed in this way prevents 1 point of damage done to the eidolon. This can prevent the eidolon from being sent back to its home plane.

In addition, the eidolon and the summoner must remain within 100 feet of one another for the eidolon to remain at full strength. If the eidolon is beyond 100 feet but closer than 1,000 feet, its current and maximum hit point totals are reduced by 50%. If the eidolon is more than 1,000 feet away but closer than 10,000 feet, its current and maximum hit point totals are reduced by 75%. If the eidolon is more than 10,000 feet away, it is immediately returned to its home plane. Current hit points lost in this way are not restored when the eidolon gets closer to its summoner, but its maximum hit point total does return to normal.

Summon Monster I (Sp): Starting at 1st level, a summoner can cast summon monster I as a spell-like ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + his Charisma modifier. Drawing upon this ability uses up the same power as the summoner uses to call his eidolon. As a result, he can only use this ability when his eidolon is not summoned. He can cast this spell as a standard action and the creatures remain for 1 minute per level (instead of 1 round per level). At 3rd level, and every 2 levels thereafter, the power of this ability increases by one spell level, allowing him to summon more powerful creatures (to a maximum of summon monster IX at 17th level). At 19th level, this ability can be used as gate or summon monster IX. If used as gate, the summoner must pay any required material components. A summoner cannot have more than one summon monster or gate spell active in this way at one time. If this ability is used again, any existing summon monster or gate immediately ends. These summon spells are considered to be part of his spell list for the purposes of spell trigger and spell completion items. In addition, he can expend uses of this ability to fufill the construction requirements of any magic item he creates, so long as he can use this ability to cast the required spell.

Shadow Summoning (Sp): When a shadow caller uses his summon monster ability or casts the summon monster spell, he typically summons creatures from the Shadow Plane or creatures closely associated with shadow. When a creature on the summon monster spell list indicates that it is summoned with either the celestial or the fiendish template based on the alignment of the caster, the creature summoned by the shadow caller has the shadow creature template instead . Furthermore, the summon monster lists are modified in the following ways (these changes also apply to using a higher-level summon spell to summon multiple creatures from a lower-level list).

Summon Monster I: No changes.

Summon Monster II: A shadow caller cannot summon Small elementals or lemures, but instead can summon zoogs.

Summon Monster III: A shadow caller cannot summon dretches or lantern archons, but can summon augur kytons.

Summon Monster IV: A shadow caller cannot summon Medium elementals, hell hounds, hound archons, or mephits, but can summon allips , gloomwings , and shadows.

Summon Monster V: A shadow caller cannot summon babau, bearded devils, bralani azatas, Large elementals, salamanders, or xills, but can summon shadow mastiffs and shae.

Summon Monster VI: A shadow caller cannot summon Huge elementals, erinyes, lillend azatas, or succubi, but can summon cloakers.

Summon Monster VII: A shadow caller cannot summon bebiliths, bone devils, greater elementals, or vrocks, but can summon greater shadows.

Summon Monster VIII: A shadow caller can only summon derghodaemons and young umbral dragons.

Summon Monster IX: A shadow caller can only summon interlocutor kytons and nightwings.

This ability otherwise functions as and replaces the summoner's normal summon monster spell-like abilities.

Shadow Eidolon: A shadow caller's eidolon is at once a thing of shadow called from the deep of the Shadow Plane and his own shadow; the two are inseparable. When his eidolon manifests, his shadow lengthens and finally detaches from him as a creature unto itself. For as long as the shadow caller's eidolon is manifested, he and the eidolon do not have distinct shadows, regardless of the presence or absence of light. This lack of a shadow replaces the magical symbol that identifies the summoner and his eidolon.

This ability alters the summoner's eidolon ability.
Eidolon:

Tamat (Biped)

Description: Tamat is an indistinct, shadow reflection of Matam, though Tamat teeth and nails are much sharper than Matam's.

Init +1; Perception: +1 Darkvision

Defense

AC 13, Touch 11, Flat 12
HP 11 (1d10 +1)
Fort +3; Ref +1; Will +2
All attacks have a 20% miss chance to hit Tamat due to Shadow Form.

Offense

Speed 30

Base Attack: +1; CMB: +4; CMD: 15

Attacks: Bite +4 (1d6+3), Claw +4 (1d6+3), Claw +4 (1d6+3)

Power Attack: Bite +3 (1d6+5), Claw +3 (1d6+5), Claw +3 (1d6+5)

(Tamat can hit incorporeal creatures, but corporeal creatures take half damage from his attacks.)

Statistics:

Str 16; Dex 12; Con 13; Int 7; Wis 10; Cha 11

Evolution Points: 4

Evolutions: Arms (Free), Bite, Claws (Free), Improved Damage (Claws), Legs (Free), Shadow Form

Shadow Form (Su): The eidolon's body becomes shadowy and more indistinct. This shadow form grants the eidolon constant concealment (20% miss chance), and its melee attacks affect incorporeal creatures as if it had the ghost touch weapon property. The eidolon's melee attacks deal only half damage to corporeal creatures.

Features: +2 Natural Armor, Dark Vision, Share Spells

Feats: Power Attack

Skills: Acrobatics: +5, Disable Device: +5, Perception: +4, Stealth: +5

Tamat's Class Skills (Chosen at first Level): Acrobatics (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Craft (Int), Disable Device (Dex), Knowledge (planes) (Int), Perception (Wis), Sense Motive (Wis), Stealth (Dex), Survival (Wis), and Use Magic Device (Cha)