Taizo Davaari's page

Iyasi Hanado Scimitar
Enhancement +4 Int 16 Wis/Cha 12 Ego 16

Arcane Pool 4 points

Alertness (Ex): While a magus is wielding his black blade, he gains the Alertness feat.

Black Blade Strike (Sp): As a free action, the magus can spend a point from the black blade’s arcane pool to grant the black blade a +1 bonus on damage rolls for 1 minute. For every four levels beyond 1st, this ability gives the black blade another +1 on damage rolls.

Telepathy (Su): While a magus is wielding or carrying his black blade, he can communicate telepathically with the blade in a language that the magus and the black blade share.

Unbreakable (Ex): As long as it has at least 1 point in its arcane pool, a black blade is immune to the broken condition. If broken, the black blade is unconscious and powerless until repaired. If destroyed, the black blade can be reforged 1 week later through a special ritual that costs 200 gp per magus level. The ritual takes 24 hours to complete.

Energy Attunement (Su): At 5th level, as a free action, a magus can spend a point of his black blade’s arcane pool to have it deal one of the following types of damage instead of weapon damage: cold, electricity, or fire. He can spend 2 points from the black blade’s arcane pool to deal sonic or force damage instead of weapon damage. This effect lasts until the start of the magus’s next turn.

Teleport Blade (Sp): As a standard action, a magus of 9th level or higher can expend an arcane point from his or his black blade’s arcane pool, and can call his black blade from as far as 1 mile away, causing it to instantaneously teleport to his hand.

Transfer Arcana (Su): At 13th level, once per day, a magus can attempt to siphon points from his black blade’s arcane pool into his own arcane pool. Doing so takes a full-round action and the magus must succeed at a Will saving throw with a DC equal to the black blade’s ego. If the magus succeeds, he regains 1 point to his arcane pool for every 2 points he saps from his black blade. If he fails the saving throw, the magus becomes fatigued (but can try again). If he is fatigued, he becomes exhausted instead. He cannot use this ability if he is exhausted.

A lean narrow faced man with a dark complection for a Tian Taizo is not handsome, indeed the unkind might claim he has a rodentine appearance - that is not helped by his constantly flitting gaze. He affects a neat goatee and dresses in light silken garments that give him plenty of freedom to move, favoring blues which are his family colors.

Taizo is a dutiful and loyal man who genuinely cares for others and wishes to spare them pain. He is socially rather awkward, but his earnestness and willingness to go out of his way to help has earned him many loyal friends over the years. Despite being widely renowned for his heroism he still has something of an inferiority complex compared to his brothers who have all settled down and had children and seem to be living proper adult lives while he is messing about.

In love with the silver dragon Ayalerill he is uncertain whether such feelings are proper, and his now frequent visits to the dragon's lair - he teleports there - remain mostly platonic for the moment. Ayalerill thinks he is an idiot for dithering, but is enjoying the chase and making the strait laced young Tian uncomfortable.

Iyasi Hanado committed ritual suicide some 200 years ago, unable to live with the dishonor of his family name and indeed some of his own actions. But for some reason Iyasi's spirit could not find its way to the afterlife instead it found itself swallowed by the very blade that Iyasi had used to kill himself, his blood coating the blade and turning it midnight black. Since his death Iyasi has sought to redeem his family by helping to protect the people of Minkai, and has done so through aiding those he finds worthy.

Taizo Davaari was born the third son of a minor noble house. With little interest in religion and lacking the requisite skills to become a successful merchant he attempted to apprentice to the Master known as Kenjirro of the Feathers. Kenjirro was an ancient man who worked for the Imperial Governor of Wanshi province and had become fabulously wealthy amassing a collection of unusual items and creatures for study. But secretly the old man was conducting more sinister research in private seeking Lichdom.

He spent five years with Kenjirro, serving the old man, studying and training with the sword in his spare time to burn off his frustration at being unable to fully grasp the magics he was being taught. He was talented, indeed, exceptional, with certain types of spell, but so much more that younger and less experienced apprentices seemed able to master eluded him. Having noted his skill with the sword, and perhaps frustrated himself by Taizo's failures Kenjirro began sending him on jobs for the Governor, and acquisition missions for the wizard's own collections.

On one of these missions to retrieve a magical amulet lost when a brash young nobleman ventured into the great dark caverns below Mount Yogan. After harrowing battles against various eyeless horrors, and an encounter with the silver dragon Ayalerill who lead him to the young nobleman's grave in exchange for his aide saving her eggs from a Derro city. While Ayalerill attacked the city, Taizo snuck in invisible and stole her eggs back. Ayalerill gifted him with a magical ring that would allow him to evade hostile magics and the breath of her kind in thanks and promised to name one of her young for him once they hatched.

The dragon then lead him to the haunted cavern where the noble had fallen. The cavern was the home of the Oni Ogre Mage Gyatho the Skintaker, a growing power of darkness in the midst of assembling an army of Morlocks who worshipped him as a god. It was upon the body of one of the first Morlocks he slew, that he discovered a black scimitar which seeme to fit his hand perfectly. And to his astonishement the blade spoke to him. It was from Iyashi that Taizo learned why he failed as a wizard, he was no wizard, but a magus!

Iyashi had been in service to the very noble Taizo sought, but was surprised Taizo sought the amulet. Why would you want a ruined Phylactery? The blade asked, revealing that Gyatho had taken the amulet as well as the young nobles body into his Fortress, and that it was likely with the Oni's horde in his great iron vault. Iyashi told Taizo about the Grimlock's slave smiths captured Svirfneblin.

Together they raided the smithy slaughtering Grimlocks by the dozen and using and illusion to send the remaining creatures pursuit off in the wrong direction as they escaped with a half dozen grateful Svirfneblin smiths. While the little grey folk proved too afraid to dare entering Gyatho's Fortress one of their number offered up an adamantine axe, his family had long held promising it would cut through the iron vault door like butter.

Having forged a pact with the Derro and a huge tribe of Grimlocks Gyatho lead his forces to the surface seeking to raise the city of Hiyoshai. But Taizo was able to send warning via Ayalerill and the city beat the Oni's forces back striking during the day upon the plains when the creatures were at their weakest and breaking the host.

Meanwhile Taizo invaded Gyatho's fortress slaying his elite guards and demonic pets and cutting his way into the great iron vault. Taking the broken phylactory and a fortune in platinum he fled.

Returning to Wanshi Taizo gave his master a clever forged copy of the broken phylactory he had persuaded the svirfneblin to craft in exchange for some of his stolen platinum. The avarice in the "kindly" old man's eyes as he reached for the evil thing told Taizo all he needed to know and he went to the Church of Shizuru with his suspicions. But when the Church sent men to investigate Kenjirro the old mage slew them all, and enacted his plan unleashing the great army of wights he had been slowly assembling in the catacombs beneath the city using a simulacrum to prevent anyone noticing his absence.

Taizo helped defend the city saving thousands of lives by holding the undead hordes back from the docks long enough to let people board the ships and flee. Kenjirro had not been truly prepared for his uprising and his forces were eventually destroyed, but the wizard himself fled seeking a new ally - the defeated Ogre Mage that his foolish apprentice had recently brought to his attention!

Horrified at the prospect of what Kenjirro and Gyatho could do together and feeling responsible Taizo sought out a team of bold companions who would accompany him into the depths of the earth to end the dire threat to Minkai forever.

The battles were terrible, but eventually they prevailed. While his companions dealt with the terrible Ogre Mage, Taizo fought an invisible battle with his old master, finally managing to strike the old man down after receiving terrible wounds. He took the old mage's prized possession his ring of wizardry and returned to the surface seeking a quiet life...

But quiet life proved to be exceedingly dull after about a week, and Iyashi's moaning was intensely irritating. With the rediscovery of the ancient tomb there was little they could do but go into peril once more.