'Uncle Harun' Rais's page

About 'Uncle Harun' Rais

LIONS BLADE RIVAL: Joff Gianti aka ‘Uncle Harun Rais’
XP 1600
Human sorcerer (infernal) 6
NE Medium humanoid (human)
Init +1; Senses Perception +7
DEFENSE
AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 15; (+2 Dex, +4 mage armor, +1 ring of protection)
hp 27 (6d6+6)
Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +4; +2 vs. poison
Resist fire 5
OFFENSE
Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Ranged
Special Attack corrupting touch (shaken for 3 rounds) 7/day
Spells Known (CL 6th, Concentration +10, seven 1st, six 2nd, four 3rd /day)
3rd – fly
2nd – hideous laughter (Will DC 18), invisibility, scorching ray(B)
1st – charm person (Will DC 19), hypnotism (Will DC 17), mage armor, summon monster I, protection from good(B)
0 (at will) – arcane mark, daze (Will DC 16), detect magic, mage hand, message, prestidigitation, ray of frost
STATISTICS
Str 12, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 10, Wis 8, Cha 18,
Base Atk +3; CMB +4; CMD 16
Feats Eschew Materials (B), Deceitful (B), Iron Will, Spell Focus (enchantment). Greater Spell Focus (enchantment)

Skills Appraise 1 (+4), Bluff 6 (+15), Disguise (CC) 1 (+7), Diplomacy 3 (+10), Fly 1 (+6), Intimidate 0 (+4), Knowledge (arcana) 1 (+4), Linguistics (CC) 2 (+2, Kelish, Skald), Ride (CC) 1 (+3), Spellcraft 1 (+4), Stealth (CC) 1 (+3), Use Magic Device 3 (+10); Armor Check Penalty 0
Languages Common (Taldan), Kelish, Skald
SQ
Combat Gear potion of cure light wounds (2), wand of grease (CL 1, 10 charges, 150 gp), ring of protection +1, alchemist’s fire (4); Other gear silver holy symbol of Irori
(3450 gp)

Joff Gianti is currently known by the name of Harun Rais in the border communities of the Plains of Paresh in northern Qadira. A wandering purveyor of camels and horses, with his nomadic family, they bring news and gossip in their wake. He has spent four years building up this identity, and his ‘family’ is a trusted source of information about Qadiran border raids.

The entire family consists of imposters, some few trained in actual camel and horse trading skills (and they quietly tease ‘Uncle Harun’ for his lack of acumen in the family trade, to quell any questions his occasional misstatement could raise), and they bring news of terrible raids and imposters and untrustworthy locals, to stir up trouble along the border with Taldor. ‘Harun’ will occasionally stage one of these border raids himself, flying invisibly above isolated communities by night and raining destruction upon them, although he is far more likely to wreak carnage through misinformation and poisonous insinuations.

What none of the professional troublemakers he has adopted and seduced into his ‘family’ are aware of are his true loyalties, thinking him little more than a clever and powerful bandit, who is welcomed into communities that he plundered only a season past, under the guise of Taldan insurgents. Joff, and his sister Jhovan (pronounced yo-wan), are secretly members of an Absalom merchant family, that wishes to instigate a ‘minor’ border conflict between Qadira and Taldor, so that their family’s ships can snatch up the contracts of those Taldan and Qadiran shipping concerns that will be temporarily redirected for military preparedness actions. While their sailors and merchantmen prepare for a ‘war’ that may never come, the Gianti family will arrive conveniently at the docks where their contracted shipments await transport, and offer their services at a fair rate, hoping to both cash in quickly on the sudden influx of business, but also to poach some long-term contracts from those who will be reassured that the Gianti ships would never leave their customers waiting, and could never be pressed into service in some nationalistic navy.

Few of the brigands who travel with ‘Uncle Harun’ would much care, even if they knew his agenda, although some might question what sort of man would dedicate years of his life towards a long-sighted scheme to provoke two powerful nations to the brink of war, just to fatten his family’s purses…

Joff has not had contact with his sister Jhovan for six months or more, and while they do not regularly risk communication, he has grown concerned as to whether or not her own cover, as a travelling priestess-adept (generally of Abadar) on the southern border of Taldor, stirring up discontent in her own way, has been blown and she has been captured by the ‘prancing ponies,’ as he thinks of the Taldan military. He also greatly desires a chance to capture a reputable looking Taldan scout, well within Qadiri territory, preferably with carefully-planted evidence of atrocity at hand (doses of the same poison used on a nearby well, flasks of alchemist’s fire similar to that found to have burned down a caravanserai, etc.), whom he can torture, drug and enspell into confessing to Taldan perfidy, to stir up the local communities and border patrols.

Boons Those who assist him in tracking down the current status of his sister, or in helping to enact a raid or ‘provocation’ that stirs conflict between Taldan and Qadiran border patrols, will find that he can, as Uncle Harun, procure them camels and horses at reduced rates (although the quality of his stock is rarely exceptional, and he is more likely to supply pack-camels and workhorses than steeds trained for war or serviceable for racing). While he is unlikely to reveal his true nature to anyone, for any reason, unless they are already a member of his family from Absalom, ‘Uncle Harun’ can also arrange quiet transportation on merchant ships with morally flexible captains, or put disreputable sorts in touch with fences and black marketeers scattered around northern Qadira.

He may teach a favored ally a ‘trick of the trade,’ such as how to use the Disguise skill to enhance an attempt to sell a sickly or poor quality camel or horse at the same prices one would command for a healthier specimen, or how to obscure or remove brands on stolen livestock, as well as dye their coats, or alter distinguishing features, so that they can be resold without incident. (DC 15 Disguise check to raise the DC to Appraise the animal by +2 for quality or by +4 to recognize provenance.)