Levisvia Vasvion

Photinè Michèle's page

226 posts. Alias of rutaskadis.


Full Name

Photinè Michèle

Race

Human

Classes/Levels

Arcanist (Harrow Student) 4 | HP 18/18 | AC 11 T 11 FF 10 | Fort +1 Ref +2 Will +5 | Spells L1 5/5 L2 2/2 | Arcane Reservoir 7/7 | Active Effects: none

Size

Medium

Age

42 (born 6 of Erastus, 4677)

Alignment

Neutral

Location

Taldor

Occupation

Noble

About Photinè Michèle

Human Arcanist (Harrow Student) 4
N Medium Humanoid
Speed: 30 ft.
Init +5 Perc +6

DEFENSE
HP 18
AC: 11 T: 11 FF: 10
Fort +1 Ref +2 Will +5

OFFENSE
BAB: +2
Stiletto Boots +2-4 (1d4)
Malphene's Rapier +3-4 (1d6)

ABILITIES
Str 10 (+0) ; Dex 12 (+1) ; Con 11 (+0) ; Int 18 (+4) ; Wis 12 (+1) ; Cha 15 (+2)

Skills:

Bluff (4) +11
Diplomacy (4) +14
Intimidate (4) +12
Kn. Arcana (4) +11
Kn. Local (4) +11
Perception (2) +6
Sense Motive (3) +7
Spellcraft (3) +10
UMD (4) +9

Appraise (3) +11
Kn. Nobility (4) +12
Linguistics (1) +8

Occult Skill unlocks:

Automatic Writing
Hypnotism
Phrenology
Prognostication
Psychometry
Read Aura

Class Features:

Arcane Reservoir (Su)
Arcanist Exploits
Psychic Reader (Ex)
Tarot Reservoir (Ex)
Divine the Mysteries (Ex) (5th Level)
Trump Card (Su) (9th Level)
Greater Exploits (11th Level)
Magical Supremacy (Su) (20th Level)

Spellcasting:

Arcane Reservoir: 7/7

0-Level Spells (6 prepared)
Resistance
Detect Magic
Arcane Mark
Mending
Message
Prestidigitation

1-Level Spells 5/5 (3 prepared)
Hypnotism
Deja Vu
Color Spray

2-Level Spells 3/3 (1 prepared)
Invisibility

Spellbook ;

0-Level Spells
All

1-Level Spells
Mage Armor
Aphasia
Charm Person
Hypnotism
Sleep
Negative Reaction
Touch of Gracelessness
Color Spray
Magic Weapon
Ear Piercing Scream
Deja Vu
Animate Rope
Mount

2 Level Spells
Glitterdust
Touch of Idiocy
Blur
Flaming Sphere
Web
Invisibility
Summon Monster II

Arcane Exploits:

Quick Study: The arcanist can prepare a spell in place of an existing spell by expending 1 point from her arcane reservoir. Using this ability is a full-round action that provokes an attack of opportunity. The arcanist must be able to reference her spellbook when using this ability. The spell prepared must be of the same level as the spell being replaced.

Feats:

Psychic Sensitivity (Bonus) You gain access to occult skill unlocks for any skills in which you have ranks. If you have no ranks in the appropriate skill, you can’t use the occult skill unlock, even if that skill can be used untrained.

Improved Initiative: Your quick reflexes allow you to react rapidly to danger. You get a +4 bonus on initiative checks.

Skill Focus (Diplomacy): You get a +3 bonus on all checks involving the chosen skill. If you have 10 or more ranks in that skill, this bonus increases to +6.

Spell Focus (Enchantment): Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against spells from the school of magic you select.

Traits and Drawbacks:

Child of Oppara: Your family keeps a small manor in Aroden’s View or Senate’s Hill. You gain a +1 trait bonus on Appraise and Knowledge (nobility) checks, and one of these skills is always a class skill for you. In addition, you start play with a noble’s outfit, a signet ring, and a single additional nonmagical item worth no more than 200 gp.

Extremely Fashionable (Bluff): Whenever you are wearing clothing and/or jewelry worth at least 150 gp (and not otherwise covered in gore, sewage, or other things that mar your overall look), you gain a +1 trait bonus on Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidate checks. One of these skills (your choice) is a class skill for you.

Bruising Intellect: Intimidate is always a class skill for you, and you may use your Intelligence modifier when making Intimidate checks instead of your Charisma modifier.

(Drawback) Hedonistic: You are a creature of pleasure and comfort. Whenever you spend a day without gaining reward or treasure (at least 10 or more gold pieces) or spending an hour on entertainment or pleasure, attempt a DC 20 Fortitude save at the end of that day. If you fail, you begin the next day fatigued. This fatigue lasts 4 hours, or until you receive a reward or sufficient entertainment or pleasure.

Languages:

Common (Taldane, Galtan), Elven, Gnomish, Halfling, Sylvan, Draconic

Equipment:

Malphene Trant's +1 rapier
Noble’s Oufit x3
House Aurelius Signet Ring
Jewelry x2
Hat
Boots, Stiletto
Harrow Deck
Perfume Kit
Wizardess' Journal
Potions of CLW x2
Wand of Mage Armor (50 charges)
Mulberry (Cracked) Ioun Stone
3395.17gp

Family:

The firstborn of Philippe and Marie Michèle of Galt, who bore thirteen daughters.

Lived as a ward of her cousin Araine Maret of Taldor and his wife Elise from the ages of thirteen to nineteen.

Married to Alram of the noble house Aurelius at nineteen years of age; Alram died two years later, shortly after the birth of his first and only male heir.

Bore one son, Michel Aurelius, at twenty and one years of age.

Life:

The oldest of thirteen girls, Photinè was born and raised by shopkeepers in Isarn. She began displaying a natural talent for magic at a young age, and at thirteen (long before the births of her youngest sisters), she was sent to live as a ward of her cousin and his wife in northern Taldor; they were not nobles, but Maret was a certainly wealthy up-and-coming wizard. They had no children of their own, and offered her a comfortable life, as well as instruction in both magic and the finer points of courtly behavior and etiquette.

She met her husband when she was eighteen; a soft-spoken nobleman of the house Aurelius who owned land in northeastern Taldor, on which crops grew with abundance; much of his fortune came from the sale of wine distilled from his grapes, as well as the trade of olives, figs, dates.

Alram Aurelius greatly admired the young woman. He was much older, and Photinè never loved him, but he was kind, intelligent, and offered her a prosperous position; she grew very fond of him over the next year, accepting his offer of marriage when she was nineteen. They were happy, for a time;

He died suddenly, shortly after the birth of their first and only child; a boy they called Michel, after his mother’s maiden name.

Although the title and authority technically passed to Michel, Photinè took on the management of her husband’s estates and affairs until the only Aurelius heir came of age; by that time, she was thirty-nine, and has filled the three years since with near constant travel and festivities. She stays most often in the Aurelius' summer house in Oppara, using it as both a private haven and a place to throw lavish parties.

Personality:

The fire and blood of Galt, tempered with the cool grace of Taldor.

When she was young, Photinè was used to having everything provided for her: first by her parents, her relatives, and then by her husband; she developed quite a taste for the finer things in life, and could perhaps be described as ‘spoiled’, but she was also bright and beautiful, so came across as charming.

She was naturally skilled, both magically and socially, and glided through life with relative ease; studying only when she fancied it, flirting with whoever she wanted.

After her husband died, leaving her alone with an infant son and his estate, she was adrift for the first time in her life; but she was as stubborn and prideful as she was clever, and determined to keep his affairs in perfect order until such time as her son was of an age to take them over.

It was hard, uphill work, certainly, but in time, she found she was rather competent at it. It brought her fulfillment in a way that nothing else ever had:

Managing and providing for the house and the landworkers, keeping the books, representing the interests of the House Aurelius and the trade of their resources, practicing careful diplomacy at the meetings and parties where she used to simply drink herself into oblivion and wake up in someone else’s bed. (Now when she wakes up in someone else’s bed it’s a carefully calculated power move.)

At the same time, Photinè brought up her son, Michel. He was a good boy: quiet and sensitive like his father, quick and clever like his mother, and the two of them were very close. From the time he could speak in full sentences, she included him in as many of his House’s affairs as was appropriate, teaching him what he needed to know through immersion and experience. This was supplemented with tutoring in writing, reading, history, athletics, and etiquette.

This could not last forever, of course; when Michel reached his eighteenth year, he was more than ready to inherit his father’s estates. He took over the affairs with swiftness and ease, assuring his mother that she could rest easily now, for she would always be provided for; it was his turn to care for her.

Suddenly, Photinè was a teenager again; everything she could want was provided for her; she had the freedom to travel whenever, wherever she wanted; she could flirt, drink, attend raucous festivities; she had time to study magic again. And she threw herself into all those things with vigor, hoping they would somehow offer the same sense of purpose she had grown accustomed to over the last eighteen years.

It is there that she is today, gliding through life like she did when she was young; but it feels different now. Her success in holding the House Aurelius together, perhaps even improving it’s name, seems to be forgotten now that a man stands at it’s head. Her son cares for her deeply, but now has the busy life of a young noble. She hides her feelings well, but is lonely, and feels purposeless.

Beliefs:

Her emotions run deep, but years of practiced diplomacy have taught her to never reveal them.

Photinè is decidedly against Taldor’s law of primogeniture; she managed her husband’s House for nearly two decades, with great success, but received none of the credit for it.

She is disillusioned by Taldor’s staunch refusal to move forward. She considers herself Taldan, having lived and worked here most of her life, but her Galtian roots shaped some of her views on society; she has a hard time understanding why people are so resistant to change, but feels powerless to do anything about it, and so often acts as if she doesn’t care.

Although she is naturally skilled in magic, it is only within the last several years that she has begun actively studying it. During her teen years, she felt she didn’t need to, relying instead on her raw talent; after that, she was simply too busy managing her husband’s House to have much time to devote to anything else. She began studying tarot and other occult magic mostly because they make fashionable and diverting displays at parties, but has since found she does have actual interest in them.

Appearance:

Portrait

Photinè is a mature but attractive woman, her figure and face owed to luck and a life of wealth. She is slightly taller than average, standing at 5”8, and when she chooses to complement this with high heels, she can look most gentlemen in the eye. Her skin is smooth and pale, beginning to show signs of age around her mouth and eyes. She has thick, dark brown hair that reaches her waist when worn down, but it is most often pulled up in a fashionable style.