Praxedis Duvanti's page

Init +6 Senses Perception +7
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DEFENSE
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AC 18, touch 15, flat-footed 13 (+3 Armor, +4 Dex +1 Dodge)
hp 10
Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +1 (+2 vs enchantment spells and effects.) (-2 vs Swarm Distraction)
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30

Melee +4

Ranged +4
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STATISTICS
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Str 10, Dex 18, Con 14, Int 12, Wis 13, Cha 10
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD +14
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TRAITS

Drug Addict (Campaign):
Someone you know has become addicted to shiver, a drug distilled from the venom of tropical arachnids known as dream spiders. The drug induces sleep filled with vivid dreams, during which the user’s body shakes and shivers, giving the substance its street name. You’ve always thought of shiver as a problem of the lower class, but then someone you know overdosed on the stuff. You’ve done a bit of investigating and have learned that the villain who got your friend addicted in the first place was a crime lord named Gaedren Lamm. Unfortunately, the guards seem to be focused on the bigger dealers. They don’t have time to devote many resources to what they’ve called “a bit player in a beggar’s problem.” It would seem that if Gaedren’s operation is to be stopped, it falls to you.
Personal Addiction: You were the addict. You blame Gaedren for your brush with death and hate how his drugs are causing similar problems among other youths. Fortunately, your body recovers quickly from toxins, and you gain a +1 trait bonus on Fortitude saving throws.

Elven Reflexes (Race):
One of your parents was an elf and you’ve inherited a portion of your elven parent’s quick reflexes. You gain a +2 trait bonus on initiative checks.

Cunning Liar:
You were forced into hiding or willingly went on the run at a young age, and learned to reading others’ interests to inform your lies. You can use your Intelligence or Wisdom modifier in place of your Charisma modifier on Bluff checks.

Entomophobe (Drawback):
A harrowing experience with insects when you were young instilled in you a deep-seated fear of vermin of all description, especially when they swarm together. You take a –2 penalty on attacks against vermin, and you take a –2 penalty on saving throws against the nauseated condition of a swarm’s distraction ability.

FEATS

Dodge:
Your training and reflexes allow you to react swiftly to avoid an opponent’s attacks.
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your AC. This bonus increases to +5 against attacks of opportunity caused when you move out of or within a threatened tile. A condition that makes you lose your Dex bonus to AC also makes you lose the benefits of this feat.

Deft Maneuvers (Replaces URogue Finesse Training 1):
You are skilled in a variety of dextrous combat maneuvers.
Prerequisite: Dex 13.
Benefit: You do not provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a trip or disarm combat maneuver. In addition, you receive a +2 bonus on checks with trip and disarm combat maneuvers, and you can make a Bluff check to feint in combat as a move action. You also receive a +2 bonus to your Combat Maneuver Defense whenever an opponent tries to trip or disarm you.
Normal: You provoke an attack of opportunity when performing a trip or disarm combat maneuver. Feinting in combat is a standard action.

SKILLS
(11 points; 8 class, 1 INT, 2 Background)
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Acrobatics* +8 = DEX 4+1+3
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Appraise +1 = INT 1+0+0
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Bluff +5 = WIS 1+1+3
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Climb* +0 = STR 0+0+0
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Craft +1 = INT 1+0+0
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Diplomacy +4 = CHA 0+1+3
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Disable Device*† +9 = DEX 4+1+3+1 (+1 Trapfinder)
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Disguise +0 = CHA 0+0+0
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Escape Artist* +8 = DEX 4+1+3
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Fly* +4 = DEX 4+0+0
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Handle Animal† +0 = CHA 0+0+0
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Heal +1 = WIS 1+0+0
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Intimidate +0 = CHA 0+0+0
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K (Arcana)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Dungeoneering)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Engineering)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Geography)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (History)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Local)† +5 = INT 1+1+3
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K (Nature)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Nobility)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Planes)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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K (Religion)† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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Linguistics† +5 = INT 1+1+3 (+1 Background)
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Perception +7 = WIS 1+1+3+2 (+2 Keen Senses)(+1 Trapfinding)
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Perform +0 = CHA 0+0+0
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Profession† +1 = WIS 1+0+0
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Ride +4 = DEX 4+0+0
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Sense Motive +1 = WIS 1+0+0
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Sleight of Hand*† +8 = DEX 4+1+3 (+1 Background)
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Spellcraft† +1 = INT 1+0+0
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Stealth* +8 = DEX 4+1+3
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Survival +1 = WIS 1+0+0
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Swim* +4 = STR 0+1+3
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Use Magic Device† +0 = CHA 0+0+0
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ACP -1
*ACP applies to these skills
Non-Standard Skill Bonuses

+2 Perception (Half-Elf)
+1 Disable Device (Trapfinding)
Wisdom to Bluff (Trait)

Languages Taldane, Elven, Varisian, Infernal

HALF-ELF

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

Ancestral Arms:
Some half-elves receive training in an unusual weapon. Half-elves with this racial trait receive Exotic Weapon Proficiency or Martial Weapon Proficiency with one weapon as a bonus feat at 1st level. This racial trait replaces the adaptability racial trait. Elven Curved Blade

Elf Blood:
Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.

Elven Immunities:
Half-elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against enchantment spells and effects.

Keen Senses: Half-elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.

Blended View:
Prerequisite: low-light vision. Half-drow whose non-drow parent had low-light vision might be blessed with a legacy of versatile senses. Characters with this trait keep their low-light vision but also gain darkvision to a distance of 60 feet.

-ROGUE (UNCHAINED)-

Sneak Attack:
If a rogue 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 rogue’s attack deals 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 rogue flanks her target. This extra damage is 1d6 at 1st level, and increases by 1d6 every 2 rogue levels thereafter. Ranged attacks can count as sneak attacks only if the target is within 30 feet. This additional damage is precision damage and is not multiplied on a critical hit.
With a weapon that deals nonlethal damage (such as a sap, unarmed strike, or whip), a rogue 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—not even with the usual –4 penalty.
The rogue must be able to see the target well enough to pick out a vital spot and must be able to reach such a spot. A rogue cannot sneak attack while striking a creature with total concealment.

Trapfinding:
A rogue adds 1/2 her level on Perception checks to locate traps and on Disable Device checks (minimum +1). A rogue can use Disable Device to disarm magic traps.

Finesse Training (Ex): At 1st level, a rogue gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. In addition, starting at 3rd level, she can select any one type of weapon that can be used with Weapon Finesse (such as rapiers or daggers). Once this choice is made, it cannot be changed. Whenever she makes a successful melee attack with the selected weapon, she adds her Dexterity modifier instead of her Strength modifier to the damage roll. If any effect would prevent the rogue from adding her Strength modifier to the damage roll, she does not add her Dexterity modifier. The rogue can select a second weapon at 11th level and a third at 19th level.

1st (0 / Day)

2nd (0 /Day)

3rd (0+0 /Day)

Consumables:

Acid Flask (2)
Rations (5 Days)
Torches (10)
Candles (2)
Sling Bullets (10)
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Magic Items:

Potion: Cure Light Wounds
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Elven Curve Blade
Dagger x2
Light Mace
Sling
Studded Leather Armor
Iron Holy Symbol (Milani)
Thieves Tools
Pickpocket's Outfit
Backpack
Waterskin
Grooming Kit
Bedroll
Belt Pouch
Notebook
Pen & Ink
Flint & Steel
Mess Kit
Soap
Rope, Hemp 50'

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Carrying Capacity
Light 0-33 lb. Medium 34-67 lb. Heavy 68-100 lb.
Current Load Carried 0 lb.

Money 8 GP 8 SP 5 CP

Prax uses the name Prax only, never Praxedis and never Duvanti. She and her family are completely estranged from each other and haven’t spoken in over four years.

The Duvanti family is a cadet branch of the Leroung family. While the Leroungs are one of the five great noble families of Korvosa, their Duvanti distant cousins are counted among the Dock Families, of minor prestige compared to the great families, but very wealthy due to the rights of control they hold on two of Korvosa’s shipping wharves.

Always looking to move up by parlaying their substantial income into greater social standing, Prax’s mother Caterucia was engaged be married to a member of House Ornelos, a huge step upward for House Duvanti. Caterucia however was beyond displeased with the match. She loathed her husband to be who, to be fair, was and is quite repulsive in several ways. Caterucia’s attempts to cancel the marriage by appealing to her family were absolutely rejected, so Caterucia took the matter of destroying the coming betrothal into her own hands.

She had only a short time to work with, so she took the shortest and easiest path available to her. She initiated a string of trysts with an elf, one of Perishial Kalissreavil’s entourage by the name of Alavar. Everyone in the know was aware of the elven ambassador’s and his various aid’s proclivities. Perishial and his entourage regularly circulated through the parties and feasts of the city’s notables, and if Caterucia did not find them that way soon enough, she could go visit the enclave where the Mierani Forest elves lived in the South Shore district. There was no need to be subtle or coy about it. Such trysts had happened scores of times before and would happen many scores of times again. It was uncomplicated, since all parties knew it was not about romance or a future. It needn’t be a secret since Perishial Kalissreavil and his people were diplomats, legally and practically immune from retribution by families or jilted young women who didn’t understand the rules or thought they would be an exception to them.

As soon as Caterucia could confirm her pregnancy she informed both her fiancé and her own family. The wedding was off of course. It was a great insult to House Ornelos. House Duvanti was tainted by scandal. Caterucia disappeared from public sight for around three years. When she did quietly emerge again, it was with a three year-old Praxedis and a new husband. Raffiano, Caterucia’s husband, was a commoner, but also a wealthy and ambitious lawyer with a desire to enter politics. Caterucia had fallen very far, but she had a marriage she was satisfied with. It is true she had underestimated the long-term damage her reputation would suffer; she would never again be welcome in the high social circles she had traveled in before the scandal. But, Caterucia is stiff-necked if anything, and she has contented herself as best she can with living quietly and letting her name serve as a stepping stone for Raffiano’s career.

Young Praxedis is the one who suffered the most for her mother’s actions, and all the reactions to what she did. Raffiano never took to the girl. He is neither sentimental nor given to emotion. Caterucia had gotten what she wanted from Praxedis before she was even born. It would be wrong to say Caterucia didn’t love Praxedis at all, but the burden of having her was the message Praxedis received most clearly. Things only worsened when Caterucia and Raffiano had a daughter, and then a son of their own and the amount of not quite benign neglect Praxedis experienced increased.

Oddly, considering the embarrassment she caused the whole family, the single relative of hers who did seem to have affection for her was her grandfather. Crusty old Stregino Duvanti, head of House Duvanti, found Caterucia admirable after the she went such extreme lengths to sabotage the wedding she didn’t want. He would never have said this in a million years, he never stopped being angry about it. But, the determination and backbone it took for his daughter to do what she did, spoke well of her mettle. She truly was his daughter. If he couldn’t show his pride in his daughter, he could transfer those feelings to his grand-daughter.

Stregino wasn’t one for displays of tenderness, but he did insist Praxedis must come when her parents visited, rather than staying home with a nanny, which is what everyone else would have preferred. He bought her small presents, and he himself paid for most of the things Praxedis benefitted from in her childhood.

Stregino passed away when Praxedis was fifteen. Until that time she had received most of her education from tutors. But tutors were expensive, at least compared too what her parents were willing to pay. Instead she was sent to a boarding school of middling quality across town. By her mid-teens though, Prax had decided if she was her family’s embarrassing dirty little secret, she would be very embarrassing. After a few months Prax was expelled for a variety of misdeeds. Prax was send to a lesser school where standards were lower next, but she didn’t last long there either.

After the second expulsion, Prax’s parents stopped trying with her. Short of barring the windows to her room and keeping her locked away all the time, they couldn’t control her. Prax began staying away from home for days at a stretch. Eventually she stopped coming home at all. Her parents didn’t look for her, but her father did come to get her from jail twice after she had been arrested. The first time he took Prax home, but she only stayed overnight. The second time he gave her a purse with twenty gold coins and told her not to come back home again, she was no longer welcome there.

Over the next couple of years Prax got by through working a little, or finding boyfriends she could stay with, or petty crime. Usually more than one of these things at any given time. Petty crime proved to be the most reliable and often least complicated means among the things she tried. Prax didn’t go in for big risky things or situations where violence was likely. She ran various scams, picked pockets, all the little things she learned from the street kids she met. If she worked somewhere for a while and didn’t like the proprietor or boss, Prax would wait a few months and rob it since she knew the place well. She pilfered from her parents’ house a couple of times.

Prax also picked up a couple of habits that weren’t necessarily cheap. She used alcohol and flayleaf regularly and to excess, as well as harlot sweets on occasion if she needed the boost for certain varieties of scams or cons.

But then Prax fell in love with a guy named Lenuzo. Lenuzo was a Milanite priest, of which there were practically none in Korvosa. They would come across each other here and there out in the streets or some other place where people gathered. Lenuzo never actually preached at Prax, he had too much savvy for that sort of thing. Instead, he would say something about being sure or believing that she had a role to play in making Korvosa a better place. All she needed was to wake up and look for the signs showing her the way. Eventually his comments came with a little flirting as well. Prax thought he was crazy or just ridiculous, but he was cute and she did like the flirting.

With time they got to know each other better, and like each other better. As they spent more time together they sort of became friends, but quickly moved past friendship to love. Prax moved into his cheap little flat in Bridgefront. With time, Prax was swayed by Lenuzo, becoming a worshipper of Milani as well. He helped her shed her addictions and, if Prax didn’t exactly find the straight and narrow path, she did at least cut back on her criminal activities and become selective about her targets in alignment with Milanite social philosophy. When Prax expressed a desire to help Lenuzo with his ministry, he told her that he was biding time in Korvosa waiting for communication telling him the time had come for him to go to Cheliax. When he arrived there he would connect with a local branch of the Bellflower Network. Aside from his regular duties as a priest, he would be assisting with a plan to establish a new western or northwestern route for smuggling halflings out of Cheliax.

Prax immediately volunteered to accompany Lenuzo. After all, she had skills that could be very helpful with the kind of work he would be doing. After some long conversations Lenuzo agreed to take Prax with him. The two of them helped each other learn Infernal, and otherwise prepare to blend in when they arrived in Cheliax. Praz took greater vows to further Milani’s goals. When word came that everything was set for them to leave, Prax and Lenuzo sailed for Corentyn. Things went sideways almost as soon as they disembarked. While they were at sea, the group of Tillers they were to contact were exposed. The branch of the Bellflower Network they were to be working with was rolled up, and all the locations it had used were put under surveillance.

Prax and Lenuzo immediately walked into the trap. As they fled the dottari, Prax and Lenuzo were separated. Prax escaped the pursuit and hid for a few days. She searched for Lenuzo as well as she could manage and eventually learned that he had stood and fought, preferring to die rather than be captured. Prax waited a few more days, sitting with her initial grief until she could manage a clear head. She found a ship bound for Korvosa and willing to take passengers on without a lot of questions, and returned home.

Back in Korvosa, Prax ditched her faith in Milani. Clearly Lenuzo had been wrong about her having some purpose to fulfill. She took up her old habits and lifestyle again, except this time around there was something new. A drug she’d only vaguely heard of in the past had become easier and cheaper to get. Shiver became the linchpin of Prax’s routine for most of a blurry and disturbed year. Recently though, Prax has been working hard to kick her shiver habit with success. After knowing, or knowing of, several shiver users who have died, Prax thinks maybe she might have one small purpose after all. It wasn’t hard to get a name, Gaedren Lamm. She might not be able to eradicate shiver in Korvosa, but Lamm is innovating somehow. Maybe if she kills him, nobody else will be quite so clever and the supply will recede like in the past. Prax expects he will be taking precautions and be protected. But if she can get in with just enough time to take her shot before she’s cut down, she promises not to miss. It’s a small purpose, but then she’s only ever lived a small life anyway. It seems a fair trade to her.

Height: 5'5" | Weight: 115 | Hair: Dark Brown | Eyes: Hazel Green

Appearance

Prax is only 5’5” tall, on the short side for a half-elf. She is also string bean skinny. Either Prax’s body type strongly favors her elven side minus the extra height, or she’s woefully underfed.

Her dark brown hair and hazel green eyes contrast with her pale skin, adding to the impression that Prax isn’t exactly hearty and robust. Although she’s been clean for a little while now, all the drugs probably haven’t helped. She is in good condition though, stronger and sturdier than she looks. She has one visible scar, a straight, thin line about 2 inches long running diagonally across her left cheek. It healed well and isn’t all that noticeable except for up close.

Prax’s clothes are the typical street wear of common people in the city, practical, durable, items of canvas, cotton, and wool depending on the season. She’s a bit shabby though, her things show lots of color fading and repairs from long wear.

While she certainly isn’t a classic beauty, Prax is fairly attractive if the above is one’s cup of tea.

Personality

So, a couple of notes about my ideas about what Prax is all about before I get into personality stuff.

First, Prax isn’t exactly herself at game opening. She’s not all that mentally healthy. She’s recently lost the most important person in her life. She has also been using drugs heavily until quite recently. I wouldn’t describe her as suicidal, but she doesn’t really care much if killing Lamm gets her killed as well. She doesn’t see her life as having much value at all. She is depressed for sure. I don’t expect her to remain in this state. The campaign will give a two things she needs in short order. First, she needs a sense of purpose. The coming events after Lamm is taken care of will give her that fairly quickly. Second, she needs some people in her life. The party will give her that.

The second thing is that in Prax’s background I implied she is a former inquisitor who quit after the botched mission to Cheliax. I didn’t say it directly in case I don’t end up choosing to multi-class into inquisitor, but I wanted the hint to be there in case I do. She was new to it all, and when things went bad so quickly she just walked away from it all. She hasn’t rejected Milani, but rather she sees herself as not actually up to the tasks involved, another thing she tried that didn’t work out. When she has her purpose again, she’ll return to service in one form or another depending on which of the three build paths I choose.

Prax isn’t much of a people person, but she’s not a misanthrope. She’s introverted and is used to spending time alone. Her past life hasn’t provided her with many examples of well-intentioned, caring people so she tends to be suspicious of others until she has some sort of evidence they are trustworthy. This is why she used harlot sweets so often if she needed to adopt a persona the was outgoing and bubbly for a longer-term scam. The high would put her in a frame of mind to be expansive and upbeat, things that exhaust her if she must sustain them for very long.

In some ways Prax resembles her mother. She can be very stubborn. If she feels pushed for forced by others, Prax reflexively pushes back. The easiest way to get a ‘yes’ from Prax is to insist she say ‘no’. Prax grants almost no consideration for what is conventional or traditional. Her independence is her top priority. Also like her mother, Prax keeps score. She doesn’t forgive easily, nor does she forget. She might not be consumed with vengeance over every little thing, but she also doesn’t clear a person’s ledger just because it’s been a while or because everyone deserves a second chance. This is why she was sympathetic (eventually) with Lenuzo’s appeal to a possible better world. She knows her own family. What little she saw of other families of the same or better social rank showed them to be no better. Therefore Prax is just fine with the idea of removing them all to get them off the backs of their class “inferiors”. Not that the common people are better people, as a rule they’re not. But, it’s not fair for the nobility to leech off them. Obviously Prax can also be cynical about people in general. Despite this fairness does matter a lot to her.

In their relationship, and in their respective views of faith, Prax and her partner Lenuzo were quite different. Lenuzo was a visionary and philosopher who was more at home thinking about and discussing what a free and equal society would look like and how it would work. He was immersed in principles and ethics. Prax is far better at concrete problem solving and innovating to fix a discrete problem like ‘but how do people get fed in your utopia?’ or ‘how do I find the money to pay rent tomorrow so we have a place to live?’ rather than ‘what is the nature of justice?’. Perhaps this is why Prax came back alive from Cheliax and Lenuzo did not. In the moment, he chose to make the symbolic gesture of becoming a martyr. He could have made other choices, like accepting arrest on the chance Prax could find a way to break him out of jail. Prax on the other hand was at the same time thinking very hard about how to stay both free and alive and how to get back to Lenuzo, who would probably need her help to get away.