Nibs the Wicked's page

Nibs was caught performing a vile ceremony in his underground chamber; he had captured five others of his race and knotted their tails together before ritually killing them as part of a spell to bind a strange otherworldly being to him known as the Rat King. This evil outsider burst forth from the fresh corpses compelled to serve the novice summoner, and unfortunately for Nibs the authorities arrived immediately afterward. Yet this was not the crime that Nibs was charged with-- The authorities were looking for Nibs because he had also murdered the head librarian at one of the pre-eminent magical colleges in Matharyn, in order to gain access to an evil tome with a particularly understated title called The Conjuration of Legends. This book, inked with the blood of dark ones from ages past, would allow Nibs to realize his dream of becoming king of all the ratfolk, by ritualistically stealing the Rat King's crown and taking it for his own.

Life was not easy for Nibs, it should be said; ratfolk are among the lowest of the lower classes in Matharyn, and perhaps he would have received mercy if he had been born a human or an elf or even a halfling. Instead, his involvement with the theft at the High College allowed the patriarch of his brood, a low-stakes crime boss called Feyling, to cast him out of the tribe. So much for clan loyalty! Not that it matters much, as Nibs was captured soon after-- probably "ratted out" (so to speak) by his former boss. Nibs will certainly be executed for his crimes, but he believes that Feyling will also suffer for his betrayal, whether or not Nibs can mete out justice himself.

Always outside human society looking in, Nibs grew obsessed with arcane magic and would often sit in the tunnels beneath the grand library listening to the wizards and sorcerers practicing their spells. He spent all of the pittance he received for serving the gangs on improving himself, learning to read and write and understand the basics of magic theory. But magic seemed to him the answer to all of his problems: he wouldn't have to work or serve, and he could punish those who had wronged him. Once he could understand them he began sneaking into the library and stealing books, which he read voraciously. He learned about devils and other outsiders and how they can be bound by occult rituals, and he knew he had found his calling.

The Rat King lives inside all ratfolk, or so the legends told. Nibs plotted his ceremonial summoning very carefully, to ensure that the spirit would be forced to serve him and not the other way around. And yes, the creature that emerged looked exactly like him in every detail, except for brief afterimages when it moved, almost as if many identical copies of itself were overlapping the same space. But while the essence of the Rat King was summoned into this eidolon, a great deal of himself was also subsumed into the body. This permanently altered Nibs's brain chemistry, awakening a feral rat aspect that immediately became visible on his face, causing him to snarl and snap whenever he tries to speak complex arcane formulae. This makes him furious, but he tries to pretend it is perfectly normal.

If he were to somehow escape imprisonment and execution, Nibs dreams of running his own empire, probably underground but eventually even on the surface. Perhaps summoning the spirit of the Rat King has inflamed these desires, but it gives him joy to picture driving Feyling and his henchmen from their burrows and alleys near the Matharyn docks, and setting up a gang of ratfolk all loyal to him instead. He would steal Feyling's own bodyguard, Berger, and make him protect Nibs as his new lord and master. Perhaps he is even thinking too small-- he could imagine one day setting up and leading a criminal organization that spans all of Talingarde. With his eidolon's help, he might someday become the literal Rat King, and bring his subjects to the better life that they have been denied for too long.

Nibs and his eidolon appear more or less like ordinary ratfolk. His fur is dark and his eyes are black, and he wears clothing like other humanoids-- often dressed all in black like a ninja, or a deep gray cloak like a rogue. He has often pretended to be a halfling on dark nights, adopting a slightly boisterous and broguish dialect to keep surface folk from looking at him too closely. His voice is rough and whispery, with a slightly lower-class accent and an occasional growl or snarl as his sharp teeth get in the way of his words. He is generally not very clean, and looks especially dirty after being imprisoned for the journey to Branderscar. When summoned, Nibs and his eidolon both have a glowing red rune inscribed on their tongues.

Left to his own devices, Nibs is calculating and quiet. Around other creatures-- particularly those who are bigger and stronger than he is-- he is obsequious and servile, though he hates this instinct in himself. He loves magical things: scrolls, wands, wondrous trinkets of all sorts. He thinks of himself as a great and powerful wizard and enjoys things that encourage this charade. He also likes rats in general, and he devotes hours to caring for them and training them. He is afraid of cats and other creatures that typically prey on rodents, partly for himself and partly on behalf of his many pets.

Class Skills: Craft (Int), Fly (Dex), Handle Animal (Cha), Knowledge (all) (Int), Linguistics (Int), Profession (Wis), Ride (Dex), Spellcraft (Int), and Use Magic Device (Cha)

Nibs is a bit like Rocket Racoon: wry, a little sarcastic, violent, and scrappy. He is angry at the world and at creatures of other races, especially humans, though escaping prison and execution has changed his perspective somewhat. He feels strong pack loyalty, but only to the people who theoretically serve him or the same masters that he serves. While he can pretend to work with others, part of him is always looking out for himself.

Nibs is a serious implementation of the old "three gnomes in a trenchcoat" idea. Swarming and Teamwork Feats are the focus of his mechanics.