Sebi Moncrief's page

Arcane Bond (Amulet) (1/day) (Sp) Use object to cast any spell in your spellbook. Without it, Concentration required to cast spells (DC20 + spell level).

Birthmark +2 save vs. charm & compulsion

Bloodline Arcana: Arcane (Ex) When a spell level is increased by a metamagic feat, it gains +1 DC.

Circlet of persuasion +3 competence bonus to CHA-based checks (skills already included).

Haunted Retrieving stored gear is a Standard action or worse, dropped items land 10' away.

Mediator +1 DC for [charm/compulsion] effects that result in peaceful acts & don't give ongoing control.

Power Attack -2/+4 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.

Sacred Council (4/day) (Su) As a move action, you can call upon your ancestors to provide council. This advice grants you a +2 bonus on any one d20 roll. This effect lasts for 1 round. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to your Charisma bonus.

Two Minds (1/day) (Su) You gain a +2 bonus on Will saves against enchantment spells or effects. At 7th level, you may reroll a failed Will save once per day as an immediate action. You must take the second result, even if it is worse.

Voice of the Grave (-2 saves, 7 rounds/day) (Su) You can use speak with dead, as the spell, for a number of rounds per day equal to your oracle level. These rounds do not need to be consecutive. At 5th level and every 5 levels thereafter, the dead creature takes a cumulative –2 penalty on

Wisdom of the Ancestors (Divination 90%, 1/day) (Su) Once per day, you can enter a trance in which you commune with the spirits of your ancestors. This trance lasts for 10 minutes, which must be uninterrupted and during which you can take no other actions. When you come out of this trance, you have gained mystical insight into the future. At 1st level, this insight acts as an augury spell with 80% effectiveness. At 5th level, the insight takes the form of a divination with 90% effectiveness. At 8th level, the knowledge you gain is equivalent to a commune spell. None of these spell effects require material components.

Sebi cuts an imposing figure walking into a room. Tall and lithe, her neck is long and she holds it high and proud. Her hair is light and smooth and drapes over heavy armor etched in Moncrief-forged runes. Her eyes are cool and calm, businesslike in every respect, but careful observance reveals a slight and subtle lack of confidence in them, in her gait, and in the way she holds herself, as if she's waiting for someone to tell her what to do next.

Sebi is a young woman with a lot on her mind. She is frequently absent-minded and distracted but is also good-natured, and always tries to do the right thing for her family and the people of Andoran. She knows all too well the folly of her ancestors, and sometimes breezes or a burbling brook will carry messages only meant for her.

She is the young matriarch of a declining house, and the responsibility surrounding her is noticeably palpable, almost suffocating. She has very little time for pursuits other than family business, despite the family throwing suitors at her almost daily. This causes her to react poorly to those outside the family that ask about such matters.

Her temper can get the better of her at times. An overachiever beyond compare, Sebi knows she ought to the best at whatever she attempts, and gets angry when she fails. Often she takes this anger out on those closest to her. She is quick to anger and slow to apologize.

There stands an old, decrepit oak on the banks of the River Foam. Its bark is pitted and scarred, and its sickly branches sag with the weight of years, reaching down to caress the water. It looms at an odd angle, poised as if to fall into the current and be taken away at any moment, yet it does not fall, day by day, year by year. It never falls. The place around it has the feel of magic, of history, of a curse echoing throughout a family’s lineage, of the women that learned to use their family’s curse for good, and this magic's first utterance was at this old, dying oak crouched on the banks of the River Foam. Herein lay the history of the Moncrief family, and of Sebi Moncrief, 11th matriarch of the warlock’s curse.

A long time ago, the Moncrief family came to Falcon’s Hollow to oversee lumber export operations. The flow of lumber from Falcon’s Hollow had almost disappeared lately, and it was the Moncrief matriarch that was to right what had gone wrong. A warlock had recently made his home in the nearby forest, and the lumber workers would not go into the forest and provoke the warlock; many of their number had been hurt by spells and traps. The Moncrief matriarch went alone into the tangled wood to plea for a stay in hostilities. In the heart of the forest, the warlock offered a deal to the matriarch: the lumber trade could continue, but only from trees that the warlock chose, no others could be cut down or the deal would be broken. An arcane sigil would mark each tree that was allowed to be cut down. And so it was agreed, and for a time, the town and the forest lived in harmony. On the eve of her daughter’s wedding, however, the Moncrief matriarch made a terrible mistake. Sighting a decrepit tree along the river, and near the sight of the wedding, the Moncrief matriarch ordered for it to be cut down. When the axes fell, and started to bite into the tree’s bark, the warlock appeared in a rage. The deal was broken; the tree had not been marked to be cut down. And so the warlock proclaimed a powerful curse on the Moncrief line:

A deal was wrought, a deal so plain
For every chop of bark, a crisis shall your line be paid
My blood, my will, for this curse to be lain
On ‘til the end of time, so your grief may never fade.

So it was that down through the ages the Moncrief family have remained afflicted. Some have sought to combat the crises of their day, thinking it their duty to protect the people from their family’s curse. Others have attempted to hide or use magic to alter the curse or research ways out of the curse. Most have met a grisly end. The family has declined much in the years after, and their standing has been greatly reduced, though they persevere on.

But time, as with all things, has an effect on magic. Not simply content to wither away, the family arcanists set to work in order to break the curse. And though their efforts were in vain, they managed to contort the magic just enough to allow a modicum of it to be used in the bloodlines of the family. Every generation following their revelation, there is born a girl in the family with the ancient warlock’s arcane sigil on her skin as a birthmark, marking her as the next matriarch. These women are able to use the curse to their advantage, to mold it with spellcraft from every calamity wrought on their ancestors, from every tear shed, from every crisis manifested on them throughout ages past.

Sebi Moncrief is the eleventh matriarch of the Moncrief family. Though young, at 19 years old, she has worked tirelessly to preserve her charges and her family’s standing, maneuvering within Andoran’s political circles as well as negotiating trade agreements and sitting on government tribunals.

She grew up in a dilapidated mansion outside Olfden. From a very young age she was trained in the matters of state and spellcraft by her aunts, as she was raised communally, never knowing which aunt was her mother. “All good knowledge is equal,” the aunts said whenever Sebi would ask about her. “Knowledge of your mother would only cloud your ability to accept our teachings equally, and so affect your judgement, your ability to make the tough choices ahead for the family.” She took many trips to the site of the curse in her youth, and sat beside the old oak on the river. It cleared her mind after her aunts' endless studies. She could always hear her ancestors the clearest there.

Sebi has seen portents of a growing storm coming for her homeland, and her ancestors have whispered warnings to this effect many times. She believes this is her crisis, and she does not know if she is ready. Doubts rage within her: her age, her control of the curse’s magic, her recklessness. But whether it is truly the curse at work or not, she knows she must secure her family’s well-being at all cost. She is the matriarch after all. They look to her. She has petitioned the Supreme Elect to aid in negotiations to buy the time her family and her people require.

Sebi was trained by eleven aunts in the secluded mansion on the outskirts of Olfden. Though her lessons were primarily in spell and speechcraft, the group also acted as a small mimicry of the People’s Council, with frequent bickering, infighting, and backstabbing being the norm throughout the day’s training, and was meant to be a simulation of things to come for young Sebi. Though they were family, their lessons were harsh and unyielding. They never passed up the chance to tell her when her performance fell short of the mark, even in pretend negotiations: ”Talks are ended and your family lay further in disrepair. You are failing every one of them right now.”

Six aunts were focused primarily on instructing academic pursuits:

Carovella Moncrief: a bookish woman in her middle years with two children in the Andoran military, is an expert on the history and regions of Andoran at the college in Almas (and possible associate of Mr. Ravenheart?).

Dolin Moncrief: a severe-looking witch with a knack for political maneuvering and widower to three different politicians over the years, ever growing in influence. Expert on nobility and arcane study.

Amara Moncrief: an impossibly old crone with patchy, wispy hair, Amara is always surrounded by rumors of insanity due to conversing with creatures from beyond the material plane for so long. Expert on the planes and linguistics.

Kalie Moncrief: an energetic woman in her late twenties with knowledge of even the subtlest of details regarding spellcraft that would rival most libraries, leading to questions of how she obtained such knowledge.

Pasha Moncrief: of Andoran and Qadiran descent, Pasha disproves any suspected familial loyalty with a quick smile and compliment. People are open books, and she knows what makes them tick.

Pem Moncrief: hoarder of religious talismans and luck charms of all kinds, Pem is a shaking, paranoid middle-aged woman with a cacophony of trinkets hanging about her at all times.

Three aunts concerned themselves primarily with mannerisms and customs associated with high society:

Yalda Moncrief: a dilettante and daredevil in her youth, she discovered she could set a table and banter with guests far better than steal the plates and silverware.

Wren Moncrief: sister to Pem, Wren holds herself in the highest of regard, believing herself to be royalty, and delights in looking down on others. Just being around her is claustrophobic, as she sees everything in the starkest terms of a right way and the wrong way to go about things with no room in between. (This is Sebi’s mother. Her memory remains intact.)

Rosangelina Moncrief: a beauty to launch wars, Rosangelina is an actress and playwright of high repute, and many comment on her warm manner and kindness. Her act continues far beyond the stage, however, as she is cold, calculating, and utterly remorseless.

The last two aunts were integrated in to teach the price of falling for deception:

Galgra (assumed name: Carolyn Moncrief): A green hag from the forests of the Darkmoon Vale that lost her coven to adventurers, Galgra was put on retainer by the Moncriefs and mixed in among the aunts to torment Sebi until she saw through the hag’s deceptions. Sebi was able to overcome the creature, but still carries a lengthy scar across her spine from Galgra’s claws.

Taylis Moncrief: a Thrune spy that was married into the family to gather information on the famed arcanists. The Moncriefs have known about Taylis for a long time and sent her to Sebi’s training grounds as a test. Much subtler than Galgra, Taylis was meant to show the nonmagical side of deception. Sebi discovered Taylis’s treachery just before her training ended, believing her to be a friend amidst vipers for the longest time, and this has further damaged her trust.

The one family member that still holds Sebi’s absolute trust is the caretaker of the family villa in Almas. Caldur Moncrief is an unassuming man that looks older than his middle-years would suggest. He is a relatively low-standing member in relation to the Moncrief hierarchy, and is content to sweep and clean and cook for family members, singing softly to himself when anyone stays at the villa. He is particularly fond of Sebi, offering honest advice on matters as much as he is able. Something that is unknown even to him is that he is Sebi’s father. A rat-catcher from the slums of Almas, Caldur won over Wren in their youth with impassioned speeches on freedom and equality for all, and the two had a secret tryst resulting in pregnancy. His memory has been modified many times over the course of his life. He does not remember much of that time now gone by, and instead remembers always being a Moncrief and being groomed to be the villa’s caretaker someday. Though he cannot remember Sebi is his child, his paternal instincts show through at times in subtle ways. Because of the trust Sebi affords him, she has yet to notice this pattern. Also, if present, the aunts quickly intervene and change the subject or escort Sebi away when this happens. They have always sought to distance the two.

The Moncrief family is known throughout Andoran and beyond primarily for their arcanists and their innovations in magic law and theory. For generations, the arcanists of the Moncrief family have desperately probed the family curse's magic, looking for weaknesses and loopholes to use against it. And for generations, Andoran has reaped the benefits of this frantic search in the form of an outpouring of new spells, magic items, and enchantments with which to combat its enemies. The Moncrief family is at war with their own curse, and war always promotes innovation.

The family name is old and prestigious, but every generation there are a few less to carry it on, and each member fears their name being eroded away by time. They have many holdings across Andoran, and a family villa in Almas that serves as a gathering place. The Moncrief estate in Oldfen is more of a remote training ground than a residence. It is where the matriarchs are trained by their aunts, before being ready to function in public as the family's voice and face.

Though their prestige and standing continues to decline, they are still very much a national force involved in Andoran's political structure. While some may criticize the family for being decadent and corrupt, or simply mired in misfortune, a bright spot in the form of their newest Matriarch, Sebi Moncrief, has rekindled at least a portion of the hope borne in the People's Council and the Supreme Elect for the Moncriefs. Sebi has shown herself to be a more than capable negotiator on more than one occasion. Due to her age, many in Andoran's political environs thought she could be easily manipulated, but all soon learned the opposite is true, due to the harsh training endured at the Oldfen house.

Once such incident was widely reported in Almas's papers and on the tongues of public criers. After discovering Taylis Moncrief's treachery at the Oldfen house, Sebi learned of a another Thrune spy that Taylis had been in contact with, and of a mission of sabotage directed at a shipment of Moncrief wands headed for the Taldan front. Law enforcement was sent to the warehouse to apprehend the spy. The saboteur was caught in the warehouse but managed to overpower his captors and held the soldiers and the warehouse workers hostage with the deadly wands. Sebi found herself in the right place at the right time with the help of her contacts, and her ancestors. Accompanied by strange breezes whispering within the warehouse, she talked the hostage-taker down for hours before the man finally relented and released the hostages, accepting arrest.