About Valena Dalloway VersadeThe Tragedy of Margareta Alekto:
Margareta “Meg” Tisiphone Alekto was a first-generation transplant from Sandpoint to Magnimar, her family moving in pursuit of new job opportunities. Her mother and father—Nyxia and Uraio—believed themselves—rightfully so—of being capable enough of managing a glassworks of their own, and they knew the Kaijitsu family would never let their own business out of the family, so the Alektos packed up their infant daughter and the rest of their life and moved to the big city. Meg—for her part—was not interested in glass. She was always a salt-of-the-earth woman with a modest dream: to take care of children not her own. She would never have her own children, so she would make do as best she could with sating those maternal instincts elsewhere. Her parents found success and artistic acclaim and put both to the service of their daughter, eventually helping her secure a nanny position for the Versade family, specifically with the youngest daughter Valena, her dashing husband Corioles, and their two daughters Eudora and Euphemia. The family was at the height of society in no small part due to the Versade dedication to extravagant public events, and their nanny was often seen in the background, her hands on each daughter’s shoulder. The Young Versades, as they were often called, were celebrity inspiration for people common and highborn in the way that beautiful, charismatic people in the public eye often are. Thus, it was all the more tragic when the city woke to the news that Valena had murdered her two children and their nanny before disappearing.
The Tragedy of Valena Versade:
Valena Dalloway Versade was everything she was expected to be: beautiful, charming, and happily married with children. And it killed her a little every day. Her marriage was an alliance of convenience that increasingly proved itself inconvenient each day. Corioles was kind enough until she probed him about where he disappeared to periodically or where his scars came from. Even when he was at his best, she felt absolutely cold at his touch. She loved her children as best she was capable of, which—to their misfortune—was not enough. Her family had done little to show her how proper, sincere affection should be given, and her husband did little to educate her. She began to balk at the life she had become trapped in. From the moment she was born, her every move in life was planned and scheduled for. Her only outlet was her parties, and she grew increasingly wild and flamboyant at them. She would wake up hungover the next day to children she barely knew, and that guilt alone would propel her into another restless night. She resented Meg for how much the twins adored her and herself for how it was her own fault for abandoning them to a nanny in the first place. Then, one night she came home earlier from a function for a change of clothes. Corioles was washing up and had left a costume on the bed. It was some kind of strange jester’s outfit, as best she could gather, full of oranges and reds. Upon closer inspection, the reds were recent and temporary additions, a particular carmine dye natural to the body of most mortal beings. She pulled back at the realization, stepping back into the wet chest of her husband. She escaped by a mixture of dumb luck and the mild swordplay training she had acquired as a noble scion. She didn’t sleep that night. She went to the apartments of her closest friend, Sapphira Deverin, and told her everything. By the morning, Valena discovered she was a murderer from the town crier out her window. Sapphira gave Valena all the money she could spare without notice, and told her beloved friend to run.
Goals:
Here we come to Meg’s current problem: she has no idea what to do with herself. In many ways, she feels as though she needs to start her life all over again. She simply is not strong enough to face the judging eyes of an entire city upon her. The real Meg had talked about a debt she was owed by a Daviren Hosk for something to do with fighting some goblins, and fake Meg figures that that is as good a place to start as any. She has always been a worshiper of Cayden Cailean, though usually more for the drinking and partying than for adventuring, and has all but decided to let the whims of luck and adventure take her in whatever direction they will. She has given herself until the end of the festival to find a direction for herself. Anything that helps her get stronger would help, too. She saw how frighteningly terrible Corioles is when he unleashes his true talents, and should the opportunity arise, she may need to end him herself. People:
Sapphira Seton Deverin is a fellow noble from Magnimar and has been Valena’s longest and most enduring friend. They met as children at a charity function held by Sapphira’s father and still saw each other regularly every week up until Valena was forced to run. In contrast to the vivacious and irony-poisoned Valena, Sapphira is thoughtful, polite, and steady. Sapphira has known for a long time that she has held feelings towards Valena, and it took every bit of strength in her soul to not run away with her. She has kept her rendezvous with Valena the night of the murders a secret quite successfully thanks to her private lifestyle and meticulous efforts to cover tracks. In the meantime, she has begun the slow and steady process of gathering evidence of Corioles’ wrongdoing. Partly out of a desire to see justice done and partly out of a desire to see Valena. Corioles Wickham Versade is currently attempting to track down Valena via his covert connections. In public, he plays the part of the wronged husband perfectly, never quite allowing himself to seem pathetic while still engendering pity. He already has would-be Mrs. Versades seeking after him, but he is taking care to not seem callous by encouraging them publicly. He sees his soon-to-be ex-wife as an idiot debutante who only got away from him due to luck, so he believes it is only a matter of time. She is simply not competent enough to escape him and his friends. Savasha Versade is Valena’s mother and sometimes ally. Their relationship had been strained by Savasha’s increasingly anxiety over the lavishly expensive parties that Valena held, but Savasha and Valena have always been such kindred spirits in personality that it has been difficult to cause any lasting rift between them. Savasha remains privately unconvinced of her daughter’s guilt, knowing that Valena’s bitingly sarcastic tongue and devils-may-care attitude hide a deeply kind heart. Nevertheless, she is a practical woman and knows overwhelming evidence when she sees it, plus she is thoroughly charmed by Corioles.
Memory:
Corioles was gone on some sort of business trip for trade negotiations. It was the middle of the afternoon. The sky was clouded over, and the air was filled with diffuse light. Valena, Meg, and Sapphira sat in the parlor as Eudora and Euphemia laid down on the floor and drew. Eudora looked over at her sister’s work and commented, with a superior tone. “Why are you drawing so many people? We are drawing a family picture.” Eudora held her head high, undeterred by her sister’s criticism. “That’s daytime mom and that’s nighttime mom.” She pointed to caricatures of Meg and Valena, respectively. Sapphira smiled as she leaned forward, setting her open book on her knee. ”How lucky you two are to have not one, but two mothers.” She turned her smile to Meg and Valena in turn, lingering on the latter. Valena stared back at that enigmatic expression, the ever so slight upturn of the lips and her lidded eyes. She matched it as best she could, but she never knew what she was supposed to take from it. Or perhaps, she didn’t want to admit that she knew.
Physical Description:
“Meg” is a tall woman, slightly over six feet, with the long build of a dancer. Her torrent of brown hair is usually down and free-flowing. Just as free-flowing are her smiles of which she has an endless repertoire, one for every slight emotional permutation, her expressive brow doing a great deal to assist in that endeavor. Her skin tends to a red flush from all the alcohol she drinks. She looks similar enough to actual Meg that she tries to get by with a minimal disguise: a bit of makeup to make her eyes larger, more androgynous and practical clothing, and she dyes her hair blonde. However, the biggest difference between the two is Valena’s c-section scar, and she takes special care to not let it ever show. Personality:
She has never enjoyed book-learning particularly and gets impatient at long explanations, preferring to learn by doing. Her prodigious instincts when dealing with people and social situations combined with her privileged upbringing have left her feeling that few tasks are outside her reach. She has difficultly restraining her tongue and tries to maintain an attitude of ironic, witty amusement. She’d rather make light of something than deal with it and thus tends to come across far more callous than she is, a fact that her husband made good use of in his framing of her. She actually finds herself enjoying this new freedom she has found, even as that freedom makes her feel all the more guilty for what led to it. She enjoys the more rough-and-tumble lifestyle of the road and how empowered she feels holding a weapon in her hand. About Sapphira:
As I’ve developed Meg’s character, Sapphira has become more-and-more important, so I have realized it is probably a good idea to go into more detail about her. However, as she is an NPC, I have no plan to enumerate her entire history. I want that to remain flexible for the GM’s story. So, I’m gonna steal an idea from a writing class I took. There are some basics about her character personality that I consider pillars of who Sapphira is: 1. She is incredibly smart
2. She is motivated by a genuine desire to help people
3. She’s a big ol’ lesbian who’s in love with Valena, and she’s realized it for a while
4. Sapphira will do anything to protect Valena, and vice-versa
5. She is also a psychic spellcaster
All other details about Sapphira and her circumstances are negotiable, and the presence of these “pillars” do not mean they cannot be complicated by other elements, as long as such complications do not affect the structural integrity of the pillars ;) Stat Block:
Valena Dalloway Versade
Mesmerist (vexing daredevil)/7, Esoteric Knight/9 CG Medium humanoid (human) (varisian) Init +9 Senses: Perception +1 -------------------- Defense -------------------- AC 39, touch 22, flat-footed 31 (+11 armor, +7 dex, +3 deflection, +2 natural armor, +4 shield, +1 dodge, +1 insight) HP 140 Fort +16, Ref +20, Will +20 Conditional Modifiers +2 will vs charm and compulsion, +2 fort vs poison and drugs, +4 fort vs alcohol Special Defenses Evasion Immune Poison -------------------- Offense -------------------- Speed 30 ft Melee Irreconcilable Differences (+3 Cold Iron Rapier) +26/+21/+16 (1d6+12/18-20), Cold Iron Dagger +21/+16/+11 (1d4+1/19-20), Brass Knuckles +21/+16/+11 (1d3+1/x2) Ranged Hand Crossbow +21 (1d4/19-20), Cold Iron Dagger +21 (1d4+1/x19-20) Special Attacks Dazzling Feint (Piercing Strike, Surprise Strike), Hypnotic Stare, Painful Stare (+2d6+3), Mesmerist Tricks 8/day (Mesmeric Mirror, Psychosomatic Surge, Mask Misery), Psychic Esoterica (Eldritch Weapon, Eldritch Armor, Step Through Reality, Phantom’s Armory) Mesmerist Spells Known (CL 12th; concentration +17): 4th(4/day)—Dimension Door, Freedom of Movement, Telepathic Bond, Tough Crowd 3rd(5/day)--Sending, Displacement, Major Image, Invisibility Sphere 2nd(6/day)—Mirror Image, Placebo Effect, Lesser Restoration, Tongues, Apport Object 1st(7/day)--Vanish, Psychic Reading, Ill Omen, Faerie Fire, Invigorate, Remove Fear Knacks--Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Message, Read Magic, Ghost Sound -------------------- Statistics -------------------- Str 13, Dex 24, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 12, Cha 21 Base Atk +14/+9/+4; CMB +15; CMD 34 Feats Weapon Finesse Nemesis (Corioles Versade) Weapon Focus (rapier) Improved Feint (b) Fencing Grace Greater Feint (b) Favored Prestige Class (esoteric knight) Power Attack Great Fortitude Mesmerizing Feint Prestigious Spellcaster Weapon Specialization (rapier) (b) Dimensional Agility Critical Focus Dimensional Assault Blind-Fight (b) Greater Weapon Focus (rapier) Alternate Racial Trait(s) Silver-Tongued Traits Friends and Enemies Iron Liver Strong-Willed Skills (armor check penalty -2) Acrobatics +25 Appraise +7 Bluff +29 Climb +5 Diplomacy +26 Disguise +14 Escape Artist +7 Fly +9 Heal +1 Intimidate +10 Knowledge (arcana) +4 Knowledge (dungeoneering) +4 Knowledge (history) +4 Knowledge (local) +4 Knowledge (nobility) +4 Knowledge (religion) +4 Lore (wine) +19 Perception +1 Perform (dance) +9 Ride +7 Sense Motive +21 Sleight of Hand +19 Spellcraft +4 Stealth +11 Survival +1 Swim +5 Use Magic Device +22 Languages Taldane (common), Varisian, Goblin SQ Consummate Liar (+3), Martial Weapon Proficiency (rapier), Towering Ego, Manifold Tricks (2), Mental Potency Gear Celestial Armor (+5 glamered and slick due to eldritch armor), +3 darkwood buckler with symbol of Kyonin, Headband of Alluring Charisma (+4), Irreconcilable Differences (+3 Cold Iron Rapier) on Weapon Cord, Cold Iron Dagger, Brass Knuckles, Gamboge Nodule Ioun Stone (normal), Hand Crossbow, Cold Iron Crossbow Bolts (15), Disguise kit (5 uses left), Belt of Incredible Dexterity (+5), Sihedron Ring, Ring of Protection +2, Silver Amulet of Natural Armor +2, Cloak of Resistance +5, Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone (cracked), Dusty Rose Prism Ioun Stone (normal), Incandescent Blue Sphere Ioun Stone in Wayfinder, Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone (cracked), Neverspill Goblet, Slippers of Spider Climb, Handy Haversack, Ring of Evasion, Spell component pouch x2, Traveler’s Clothes, Explorer’s Outfit (Borrowed from Sapphira), Hollow-heeled boot (Versade signet ring inside), Silk Rope (50 ft), Hip flask, Smoked glasses, Cards, Grooming Kit (with lipstick “borrowed” from Sapphira), Fine Wine (bottle), Bottle of Chelish Red, Stiletto Boots, Backpack (masterwork), Bandolier, Holy Weapon Balm (1), Antiplague (2), Antitoxin (1), Tanglefoot Bag (1), Holy Water (1), Ear plugs, Coffee Pot, Dragon’s Blend (42), Stein (6), 634 gp 5 sp 9 cp Potions/Oils:
CLW x1 Bless Weapon x0 Darkvisionx1 Flyx2 Elixir of the Peaks x2 Wands:
CLW (14 charges) CLW (50 charges) CLW (50 charges) CLW (50 charges) Magic Missle (CL 5, 16 charges)
Scrolls:
Joyful Rapture x1 Shadow Walk x1 See Invisibility x1 Breath of Life x2 Invisibility x1 Calm Emotions x1 Glitterdust x1 Valiables:
HP: 97/140 AC: 43/24/32 Saves: F16/R22(evasion)/W+20+2 will vs charm and compulsion, +2 fort vs poison and drugs, +4 fort vs alcohol Immune: Poison Hypnotic Stare: Painful Stare: Active Implanted Tricks 3/7 used): Mesmeric Mirror (Seamus, unused), Mask Misery (herself, unused) Hero Points: 1 Spells/Conditions: freedom of movement, apport object precast, telepathic bond, displacement, Perfect Blessing (ac/hit/ref), resist fire 30, communal resist acid 30, communal resist electricity 30, eldritch weapon (keen), potion of fly, potion of darkvision 0: (Dancing Lights, Prestidigitation, Mage Hand, Message, Read Magic, Ghost Sound)
Irreconcilable Differences:
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