Narissa Nokolo's page

Sneak attack +2d6

Mwk Greataxe +7 (1d12+6, 20/x3)
Dagger +6 (1d4+4, 19-20/x2)
Sap +6 (1d6+4, 20/x2)

+10 Acrobatics (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex) [+2 trait to get through creature's square or avoid AOOs]
+7 Bluff (1 rank + 3 class + 3 cha)
+10 Climb (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex)
+9 Disguise (3 ranks + 3 class + 3 cha)
+10 Escape artist (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex)
+12 Intimidate (3 ranks + 3 class + 3 cha +2 racial, +1 morale)
+4 Perception (1 rank + 3 class + 0 wis) [+2 trait on all sight based checks]
+9 Perform [Dance] (3 ranks + 3 class + 3 cha)
+5 Sense Motive (1 rank + 3 class + 0 wis + 1 morale)
+10 Sleight of hand (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex) [+2 to hide dagger in wrist sheath]
+10 Stealth (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex)
+10 Swim (3 ranks + 3 class + 4 dex)
+9 Use Magic Device (3 ranks + 3 class + 3 cha)

Tenacious: Once per day if Narissa fails a Fortitude save, Will save, or Constitution check, she can reroll the save or check. She must take the second result, even if it is worse.

Mask (Ex): Narissa has a mask that is a symbol of the terror she strikes into the heart of villains. Abilities granted by her class other than undercover faith function only while she is masked. Putting on or removing her mask is a move action. While masked, she uses the name Blackeye, although she doesn't actually gain any bonuses on a disguise check and it shouldn't be too hard to figure out who she really is.

Undercover Faith (Ex): When not wearing her mask, Narissa can take on an utterly mundane identity as if she were a vigilante with the many guises social talent. While in a mundane identity, Narissa cannot wear her mask; putting it on while in a mundane identity immediately ends the mundane identity and its effects. Changing into this mundane identity takes 1 minute and must be done out of sight to preserve Narissa’s secret. The time it takes to change into a mundane identity cannot be decreased.

Ki Pool (Su) 6 points: As long as she has at least 1 point in her ki pool, Narissa treats any Acrobatics skill check made to jump as if she had a running start. Narissa can spend 1 point to increase her speed by 20 feet for 1 round. She can spend 1 point from her ki pool to give herself a +4 insight bonus on Stealth checks for 1 round. Or, when Narissa does damage to a target, she can expend 1 point from her ki pool to affect that target as if she had cast fumbletongue (CL 3). The target can attempt a Will saving throw (DC 14) to negate this effect. She can spend one point from her pool to give any weapons she wields the Vicious special property for 3 rounds. She can spend another point to end this effect early. For 2 ki points, she can use any ninja trick she qualifies for but doesn't know for three rounds. Any additional costs must also be paid for.

Each of these powers is activated as a swift action. The ki pool is replenished each morning after 8 hours of rest or meditation; these hours do not need to be consecutive.

Stern Gaze (Ex): A mask of the Living God is trained to sense deception and strike fear into the hearts of his foes. At 3rd level, he gains a morale bonus equal to half his ninja level on Intimidate and Sense Motive checks.

Sneak Attack (+2d6): If a ninja can catch an opponent when he is unable to defend himself effectively from her attack, she can strike a vital spot for extra damage.

The ninja's attacks deal extra damage anytime her target would be denied a Dexterity bonus to AC (whether the target actually has a Dexterity bonus or not), or when the ninja flanks her target. Bonus damage from sneak attacks is precision damage. Should the ninja score a critical hit with a sneak attack, this precision damage is not multiplied. Ranged attacks count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet.

With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (such as a sap, whip, or unarmed strike), a ninja can make a sneak attack that deals nonlethal damage instead of lethal damage. She cannot use a weapon that deals lethal damage to deal nonlethal damage in a sneak attack, even with the usual –4 penalty.

The ninja must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot, and must be able to reach this spot. A ninja cannot sneak attack while striking a creature that has concealment.

All simple weapons plus kama, katana, kusirgama, nunchaku, sai, shortbow, short sword, shuriken, siangham, wakizashi, bolas, sap, whip, greataxe, falchion.
Light armour.

Narissa is a tall muscular half orc. Her most noticeable feature, or lack thereof, is her missing right eye. An empty socket is left behind, marred with scars. She usually covers this with an eyepatch. Her hair is cropped short, and looks as though she did it herself with a knife. The axe strapped to her back is impressively large. The scars of battles long past mark her limbs and body.

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The nameless half orc lies broken on the cold stone floor. Her limbs twisted, but somehow painless. Sweat mats her brow. She lies there for an eternity, before a thought coalesces in her mind.
Who am I?
"That's better isn't it?
The gravely voice tears her mind apart, causing pain to reverberate through her skull. Who or what it is, she has no idea.
Where am I?
"You can think now can't you? I gave you that. Your mind was broken before. You could be outthought by a mutt."
She struggles to see, but something on her face blocks her view.
What am I listening to?
"Say something, half breed. Anything at all."
She struggles to speak, lips dry and unresponsive. She feels the pressure of a mask against her tusks.
"I-i"
She coughs, feeling blood splattering the inside of the mask.
"W-who am-?"
She trails off, and the voice is overtaken with a dark laughter, malicious and unpleasant to listen to. It feels like someone smashing her head with a hammer.
"Oh poor little nameless slave. Who are you? WHO ARE YOU?"
The scream causes her to whimper.
"You are no one. You are nothing. You don't exist. If we killed you, no one would know the difference. A brain dead orcling, with all the stupid of your greenie parents."
The dead certainty in the voice crushes her completely. She knows instinctively it speaks the truth. Th voice pauses, and for a moment the only sound is her laboured breathing.
"Would you like to be someone?"
A mounting fear climbs in her. She doesn't understand. She struggles to speak, her cracked lips formed words for the first time in her life.
"W-why m-m-me?"
"It was your turn."
The voice almost sounded friendly that time, as if trying to comfort her. She spits the blood out of her mouth, smearing it against the cool porcelain on her lips and swallows the rest. The fear is gone. Calm has taken over. Her choice is clear. Her voice comes clearer now.
"W-what will it c-cost?"
"Your body. Your mind. Your heart. Everything and nothing."
It sighs, breathing for the first time.
"Do you accept the terms?"
The half orc, barely a child, took a deep breath.
"Yes"

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The burning building silhouetted the nameless masked warrior. A blackened shadow, she stalked through the night looking for more. Her ear twitched, a sound catching it. Closing her left eye, she turns letting her magic eye scan the darkness. A lone child, crouched behind a tree. Silently sobbing for its parents. She doesn't hesitate. The orders were clear. No survivors. If she was especially good, The Master might let her have a blanket tonight. It got dreadfully cold on the floor.
"Ohhhhh child"
She sings into the night, the cold air kissing her flesh. The axe comes off its sheath with practiced ease, and she spins it, the familiar heft comforting. She pauses for a moment and pushes her ki into her limbs, feeling for wounds. One of the guards had been a particularly good shot, and an arrow was embedded in her chest. It had missed her vitals, and she was sure she would live.
"AHHHH!"
The child had realized she could see it. Screaming, it turned to run. She smiled, the cool kiss of the mask on her face. It was white, and wrapped neatly around her face, protecting her anonymity. She tested the ground beneath her feet, and accelerated rapidly, catching up in mere seconds. The boy tripped on a root, and collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Wide eyes staring at her. At least it had the decency not to beg. She began to raise the axe.
"Ah!"
Pain tore through her, like a lightning bolt through her centre. She glanced down, and saw an arrowhead emerging from her chest. She was still staring down as another joined it, adding to the pain. Blood began soaking her front. She could feel the demon's disappointment flowing into her. She made a half turn before the third one landed, in her upper arm. The poison flowed through her system and she dropped, the world fading into darkness.

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It took years before the mask could be removed without killing her. Years of fighting and struggling to control her mind, her very own body betraying her. Years of mental discipline, meditating in the woods quietly. Her mind was a broken thing, torn to shreds by the many magical compulsions that had kept her obedient. Words were hard, and she had to relearn how to speak. Sometimes she would fail and rampage until the elf put her down again, always with the same poisoned arrows. Her memory worked in fits and sometimes she would awaken screaming, having dreamed the horrors she had performed. Other times she knew not who she was or what she was and the ignorance was bliss. And then one day, she came to, her mind strangely focused. Cool air kissed her face, and she touched her cheek in wonderment. The mask was off. The elf was sitting by her bed smiling sweetly at her.
"Do you have a name?
"I- N-no"
Tenderly, the elf brushed her hair back.
"May I name you?"
She paused. She'd never had a name before. But what harm could it cause?
"Y-yes"
"You remind me of someone I once knew, a very long time ago. Her name was Narissa. She too, was taken by the masks. I think she'd be proud to have you bear her name. Do you like it?"
"Yes"
Narissa smiled. She had a name. Then sleep took her once more.

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Her mind wasn't perfect and her body had been severely damaged during the healing period. It took several more years for her to recover her strength, building up her mind the whole time. The elf called herself Marion Nokolo, and had been tracking the efforts of the masked ones for decades. Someone, she knew not who, was kidnapping children and enslaving them as warriors. Using a collection of old magical masks, they managed to revive an old art of channeling ki throughout your body to achieve amazing results without using conventional magic. As hard as Narissa tried, she could never use her ki the way she could when she wore the mask those years ago. Marion continued to track the movements of the masked group, with the eventual goal of ending the person responsible. She forbid Narissa from coming with her until the half orc was ready. Narissa was the first time a masked person had ever been cured that Marion knew of, and the two of them grew quite close. Worried that Marion was getting old and slow, Narissa trained her body constantly, pushing herself to be up to her previous standard.

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Marion left and never came back once. Narissa waited for months, months of silence and lonesome. The voice of the demon spoke to her, and she saw things out of the corner of her right eye. For the first time since it had come off, she donned her mask once again. It tried to turn her back, the magical tendrils reaching into her brain to pick it apart. But things were different now. Narissa had a name. She had an identity. She knew how to think. She mastered the mask, and took it's knowledge for her own. That was when she learned the truth, that her eye was where the demon in the mask had taken root in her. Without a shred of remorse, she cut her eye out and left the cottage. She was completely alone, with one task burned into her mind. She was going to find Marion's daughter. She would nurse her back to health and be there to tell her that she wasn't alone. That she had a name. That her mother had named her Narissa.