Riuzi is a young male tengu who dresses in more-or-less traditional Varisian flowing, colorful clothes and scarves. He has a bird-like attraction to bangles and shiny things, which translates to him having many bangles, necklaces, and earrings dangling from him at any given time. (On most people it would cross over to garishness, but with his charm and magnetism he’s able to pull it off.)
While he only stands 4’10” tall, he has a bit more muscle under his feathers than the average tengu. When he thinks there might be danger he wears studded leather under his colorful scarves and bangles, and carries a steel shield that used to be his grandmother’s in Minkai.
Riuzi typically has an easy smile in his crow-like eyes, and is gifted at putting others at ease. He’d typically rather avoid a fight through a bit of diplomacy or deception…but he isn’t afraid to fight with his beak, when he needs to.
Backstory:
”Hmmmm, that’s an interesting question. Why did Grandma Tsutara and Grandpa Marrak travel with the Kaijitsu family aalllll the way from Minkai to Varisia?” Riuzi’s mother Skwavi gently groomed her neckfeathers with her beak, considering. ”I know they worked for them. Your grandmother was a guard, I believe, and your grandpa a chef. But why did they come all this way? They never spoke much of it. Your grandpa…I bet he’d have gone wherever, just for adventure and a chance to learn new cuisines. I sometimes got the sense that it meant more for your Grandma…but that maybe she promised someone not to talk much about it? If there’s more she knew, it died with her.
”Anyway, that was such a long time ago, and I was never terribly interested in old things. Mostly I was just busy making a life for us, especially after your father disappeared…”
The dwindling Rik-Tuk family are all that are left now of a small group of Tengu that once worked for the Kaijitsu family, and fled with them from Minkai to Varsia over a century ago. Some of the Rik-Tuks continued to migrate over the last hundred years–wandering Varisia and beyond–but a few took roost in Sandpoint.
Riuzi never met his grandparents and barely recalls his father. His mother was born right here in Sandpoint, and she chose a Varisian first name for him. When Riuzi was a teenage fledgeling and starting to explore beyond his family, he would sit entranced for hours in the Rusty Dragon, watching the gamblers and fortune-tellers. After a few weeks of watching–and no small amount of cajoling–Riuzi managed to persuade Zendo Marisciu (a Varisian fortune-teller who was getting on in years) to teach him how to read peoples’ fortunes with a deck of Harrow cards.
Zendo taught him the basics…and then marveled as he realized that Riuzi had an inborn power to coax power and real knowledge from the Harrow cards (and also from other relics and esoterica that the young tengu sometimes found in the Junk Beach or in a mostly-collapsed ruin a little ways outside of town). Before long, Riuzi was rarely seen without a deck of cards in his hand…and the cards somehow dance around and rearrange themselves of their own accord.
Now, Riuzi is ready to stretch his wings (literally and metaphorically). He’s found a few minor, broken trinkets that he’s sure must’ve been Thassilonian, but he wishes he could find more, and learn about the wonders and horrors of that bygone age. In the meantime, he lives with his mother Skwavi, who works at the Glassworks. Riuzi spends a great deal of time playing cards, reading fortunes, and hanging out with his mentor, Zendo Marisciu. He still loves listening to the old Varisian fortune-teller’s wild tales, and indulging the old man’s tendency to wax philosophical on esoteric topics of all sorts.
(Motivation: Riuzi grew up in Sandpoint, his mother and his mentor both live here, and he’s plenty motivated to keep Sandpoint safe. More generally, he’s excited by the idea of exploring ancient ruins to find relics and other esoterica, which he has an intrinsic draw to and connection with.)
Ancestry: Tengu Boosts: Str, Dex
Background Ability Boosts: Str, Cha
Class: Thaumaturge Ability Boosts: Cha
Four free ability boosts: Str, Dex, Con, Cha
Name Riuzi Rik-Tuk
Race Tengu
Class Thaumaturge 1
Ability Scores: Str +3, Dex +2, Con +1, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +3
Perception: +5 (expert)
Speed: 25 ft.
Languages: Common, Tengu
Background: Fortune Teller
DEFENSE
AC 17
Saving Throws: Fort +6 (expert), Ref +5 (trained), Will +5 (expert)
HP: 15
OFFENSE
MELEE
Beak (piercing, deadly d8) ◆: 1d20 + 6 (trained), 1d6 +3 P
Shield ◆: 1d20 + 6 (trained), 1d4 +3 B
RANGED
Bola ◆: 1d20 + 5 (trained), 1d6 +3 B (20 ft range, Trip, Nonlethal)
Javelin ◆: 1d20 + 5 (trained), 1d6 +3 P (30 ft range)
FEATS
Ancestry Feats:
Squawk ↺
You let out an awkward squawk, ruffle your feathers, or fake some other birdlike tic to cover up a social misstep or faux pas. You get a failure on the triggering check, rather than a critical failure. All creatures that witnessed you Squawk are temporarily immune for 24 hours
Class Feats:
Scroll Thaumaturgy:
Your multidisciplinary study of magic means you know how to activate the magic in scrolls with ease. You can activate scrolls of any magical tradition, using your thaumaturge class DC for the scroll's DC, rather than a particular spell DC. If a spell is on the spell list for multiple traditions, you choose which tradition to use at the time you activate the scroll. You can draw and activate scrolls with the same hand holding an implement, much like you can for esoterica.
General Feats:
N/A
Skill Feats:
Dubious Knowledge
You're a treasure trove of information, but not all of it comes from reputable sources. When you fail (but don't critically fail) a Recall Knowledge check using any skill, you learn a bit of true knowledge and a bit of erroneous knowledge, but you don't have any way to differentiate which is which.
Oddity Identification
You have a sense for spells that twist minds or reveal secrets. You gain a +2 circumstance bonus to Occultism checks to Identify Magic with the mental, possession, prediction, or scrying traits.
CLASS ABILITIES
Esoteric Lore - a special lore skill that can be used to Recall Knowledge regarding haunts, curses, and creatures of any type, but that can't be used to Recall Knowledge of other topics
Implement - Deck of Harrow Cards (Tome)
While you hold your harrow cards, they arrange themselves spontaneously to reveal useful information: gain a +1 circumstance bonus to all skill checks to Recall Knowledge.
During your daily preparations, you can gain the trained proficiency rank in two skills of your choice until you prepare again. You retain the benefit as long as the tome is on your person, even if you aren't holding it. At 3rd level, you're an expert in one of the skills and trained in the other, and at 5th level, you're an expert in both skills. Since these proficiencies are temporary, you can't use them as a prerequisite for a skill increase or a permanent character option like a feat.
Exploit Vulnerability ◆
Frequency once per round
Requirements: You are holding your implement.
You retrieve an object from your esoterica with the appropriate supernatural qualities, then use your implement to stoke the remnants of its power into a blaze. Select a creature you can see and attempt an Esoteric Lore check against a standard DC for its level, as you retrieve the right object from your esoterica and use your implement to empower it. You gain the following effects until you Exploit Vulnerabilities again.
Critical Success - You remember the creature's weaknesses, and as you empower your esoterica, you have a flash of insight that grants even more knowledge about the creature. You learn all of the creature's resistances, weaknesses, and immunities, including the amounts of the resistances and weaknesses and any unusual weaknesses or vulnerabilities, such as what spells will pass through a golem's antimagic. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis (see below). Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Success - You recall an important fact about the creature, learning its highest weakness (or one of its highest weaknesses, if it has multiple with the same value) but not its other weaknesses, resistances, or immunities. You can exploit either the creature's mortal weakness or personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Failure - Failing to recall a salient weakness about the creature, you instead attempt to exploit a more personal vulnerability. You can exploit only the creature's personal antithesis. Your unarmed and weapon Strikes against the creature also become magical if they weren't already.
Critical Failure - You couldn't remember the right object to use and become distracted while you rummage through your esoterica. You become flat-footed until the beginning of your next turn.
EQUIPMENT
Studded Leather, AC +2 , Dex cap +3, Check Penalty 1, Str +1, B1
Steel Shield, B1, AC +2, Hardness 5, HP 20
