About Valery Arlandt / VelvetBackstory:
To Lady Martella Lotheed Note: Strictly confidential! The agreed upon sentence must be spoken prior to opening this notebook, or the explosive runes contained within WILL explode! You have been warned, and I will not be liable for any damages! Foreword ‘Dearest Partron, Contained within are my findings concerning your commission – a detailed investigation on the background of the tailor girl working in the Thread Rare. As you suspected, her real name is not ‘Rose’ or ‘Rosie’, but rather Raesilia Talbot, daughter of the current Duke Talbot. As you can well imagine, being a member of the leading mercantile family in Taldor complicated the matter quite a bit, and extended this investigation to current political situation of the family. Due to the good nature of our business relationship, I conducted this research free of additional cost. Methods Methods used to obtain additional information may or may not have included lockpicking, seduction, disguises, bribery, strong alchohol and potent soporifics (not necessarily in that order), among other tactics best left undisclosed. I am pleased to report that no casualties were required, nor did I sustain any injuries. As far as I am aware, provided you destroy this letter, there should be nothing that can be traced back to either of us. I am looking forward, however, to how the Talbots react to the guard locked up in the cupboard in his mere undergarments, along with the note that Count Stalvan sends his regards and will take good care of the relics in their vault. When, of course, nothing was taken! (Though I would not rule out that certain particularly valuable pieces were hidden around their estate in very creative places) I suspect their frantic search and tally will last for weeks. One must have a bit of fun at times as well, I find, or things get a bit dull. I am also convinced that you are crafty enough to use this embarrassment of their security to your advantage in the game of politics, should you desire to do so. I did, of course, attempt to simply stir up a conversation with the girl in question, disguising myself as a patron. I must admit that her skill in making court fashion is indeed quite something! However, I was unable to stir up any meaningful conversation. I then attempted to follow her after hours, but found that she had somehow given me the slip on more than one occasion. I suspect that she has illicit skills in subterfuge that quite possibly rival my own. Background The background of the Talbot family is, as many things in Oppara, a Façade. While the outside world knows them as a group of staunch conservatives, the internal family politics are not nearly as pretty and united. One clear example of this is the tale of Raesilia’s mother, Talia Zespire-Talbot, who was recently either exiled or murdered by the family on the counts of being a dangerous dissident. I highly suspect, however, that she was only the most recent woman in a long line of these, and that official records of their existence have simply been erased. Usually, the conflict surrounding these ‘dissidents’ had one common point of conflict: inheritance, or ‘indentured servitude’, as they themselves would call it. As a family viewing themselves as merchants first and nobles second, their ‘lands’ and ‘authority’ are actually based on primarily on profit and amassed wealth. In their interpretation of the Taldan conservative doctrine, women are not allowed to inherit either fortune nor prestige, nor actually own significant amounts of wealth themselves, which is automatically given to the male family members at regular intervals. Furthermore, upon birth, the woman of the family receive nothing to work with while the men are handed a disproportionally large slice of the family fortune, generation after generation. I’ve been told on good faith that this system does not particularly stimulate women to succeed. In my reserved opinion, this ingenious breeding ground of absolute hatred from the female to male members of the family led to many ‘great successes’. For the mother of the girl in question, I suspect few will forget how she insulted this ancient Taldan doctrine, the Talbots and the ‘good’ general himself, right in Pythareus’ face in the middle of high society during last years’ Grand Exaltation celebration. I also know that the marriage of her to her husband was not a happy one, even as far as arranged marriages are concerned, and that at least one of Raesilia or her brother are illegitimate. And wouldn’t that be something? What if the head of house had to name a bastard son as an heir, since his daughter wouldn’t qualify? Of course, you probably know she disappeared under mysterious circumstances not long afterwards. A more amusing, distant example is how the illustrious and intentionally childless Tabetha Talbot once tricked her idiot brother into selling almost the entire family’s holdings to a Qadiran merchant for a single camel named after him. Better that, she reasoned, than that her brother inherited one more copper of her own hard work. While not the target of this investigation, a brief inquiery on the brother of the subject, the official heir named Remington, makes him out to be a coincided mule wasting his non-earned wealth on debauchery, expensive courtesans and torturing exotic animals and -allegedly- slaves imported for that very purpose. In my professional opinion, he is a walking disaster exemplifying the degenerate state of Taldan High Society, and should be stopped from succeeding the head of house Talbot at any cost. Too much of the economy is directly or indirectly dependent on House Talbot, and I can only dread the economic recession that would take place if he were ever in charge and unchecked. But I digress. I believe the above is sufficient background to be able to answer your concise questions at the time of commission. Answers to specific questions 1. Can you confirm her true identity? See above. Your suspicions, as discussed earlier, have proven correct, and are apparent in your other questions. Though really, we both knew this going in. Would you have taken her to those social events as a protegee if you doubted it would benefit you as well? And didn’t the reactions of some patrons say enough? 2. Why would she have reduced herself to a simple store maid? What does she hope to achieve? Taking the family background into account, as well as the state of her missing mother, I assume the goal is to start distancing herself from the family under a convenient commercial guise. Vanity is everything to the Taldan Social elite (no offense meant), and the latest and most exuberant fashion is mandatory to all of the major families. To not do so would signal weakness, which can be a life and death matter. As such, the choice of becoming a tailor seems to be a wise one. Surely there would be many other nobles willing to offer a favor here and there for an exclusivity deal, or a discount? Especially if others also know her real identity and they believe it can also bolster their ties to one of the more wealthy families. I suspect that she chose this indirect path to build her own social network separate from that of her family. As to why she hasn’t broken ties with them yet, perhaps she feels her network or power base is not yet strong enough, or that she is simply remaining in the family - regardless of a problematic relation with her brother and father – to act as in inside source of information for a third party. One of which could be her patron (namely: you) or the entourage of princess Eutropia. Of course, there is also the possibility that common knowledge about a Count’s daughter working as a mere seamstress in a clothes shop would be a huge slap in the face of the prestige of the Talbot family. It makes me wonder if the family is even fully aware of what exactly she is doing, and if not some cover-up tales or deals with external parties are in place to keep up this charade, until it is too late and it moves to the domain of public knowledge. 3. I suspect there is more to her - that she possesses skills she should not have, and that there is something I am still missing. What is your take on this? What sort of training each member of the large houses undergoes no doubt varies from house to house, with their different specialisations. However, I believe it is a safe assumption that each direct family member of the Dukes and Counts receives some training that helps them survive in the turbulent court life. It obviously wouldn’t do for the first assassin or cup of poison to do them in. Whether this is based on physical or magical self-defense, surbterfuge or a combination of the three, is hard to say. I have never seen her fight. That said, there are troubling rumors surrounding this particular one. Some claim her mother is still alive, and has started an illicit trading or smuggling network with the express intent of destroying House Talbot along with General Pythareus, and that the subject in question is part of this. 4. Anything else to add which might be helpful to me? You tend to leave your window open for too long. Look behind you. Signed,
"Of course, you could have simply asked me all this in person, my lady, though you technically still did. A heartfelt thanks for the tailoring set it allowed me, which will surely help in crafting your next delightful gown!" The elder woman turned around slowly, and laughed. Raesilia herself. She should have known. Personality:
On the surface of her social identity, Raesilia is somewhere between polite, opinionated, charming and playfully flirtatious as the situation warrants. In high society, her goal is to strengthen the positive image useful connections have of her and she switches depending on what she believes works best for her targets. She is also, however, a trickster constantly on the lookout for opportunities to mess with her political enemies, such as by turning their attentions and suspicions towards eachother. In her daily ‘job’ as a tailor, she does have genuine love for her craft and attempts to elevate the store’s patrons to very heights of their fashionable selves (such as the other party members, if they visit the store?), always willing to offer suggestions and feedback on what would best suit them. On a deeper and more hidden level, she absolutely hates her brother and father and the perverse decadence that characterizes current Taldan high society. However, while she dislikes the male-based structure of ruling and inheritance, she does not hate men in general (in fact, her natural attraction is based towards them). Overall, she is tentatively hopeful for the future despite her family situation, having put her faith in the eventual ascension of princess Eutropia and the much anticipated repeal of the ancient and outdated Taldan inheritance law. On the other hand, she is enough of a realist to know that giving up the male-centric power structure might not come without significant and potentially bloody conflict. In case this does occur, she has promised herself to at least play some part in pushing things along in that direction. With training from both her own upbringing and some more illicit training from agents of her mother, she went about transforming part of herself into a spy that can function in all aspects of court life – with lethal force if absolutely necessary. In the past, her Vigilante persona practised these skills in the field and has been commissioned by Martella Lotheed for clandestine endeavors, even before meeting her real self in the Thread Bare. In her social identity as Raesilia, she only engages in combat as an absolute last resort, and depends on her wits to both avoid and escape from such situations. She relies on her skill to influence guards if a fight somehow broke out at the Grand Exhaltation event, and on agents of her mother stationed near the shop on watch to intervene if an attempt was made on her in the Thread Rare. If the clothing store itself does not have a guard inside, she would consult with the owner to hire one herself if necessary. Her Vigilante Identity, Velvet, is not bound by her public image and thus has no qualms about using whatever means are necessary to get a job done. If careful preparations, lockpicking, hand-made disguises, forged documents, lies and potentially use of sedative alchemical products are not enough, she is not above using her looks and seduction as a temporary weapon, with her rapier and dagger being the failsafe. That said, she does not like killing, and has only done so once: on a target that resembled her brother in depravity, carefully selected for her by her mother. For this reason, she is in the process of learning to fight with non-lethal weapons, with the eventual goal of developing an unarmed fighting style capable of crossing blades with anyone. The perfect spy should not need a weapon. Appearance:
Depending on when and where she is, her outfit tends to change. Naturally, Raesilia has shoulder-length blonde hair which weaves into a sophisticated curling pattern leading to a simple bun in the back, yet with carefully selected strands allowed to fall their full length. She regards the world with sharp blue eyes, possesses a long neck and a beautiful, ovalish-shaped face with just the right combination of softness and detailed curvature. She has an corresponding slim yet athletic figure. In her social identity, during her daily job, she tends to wear loose-fitted, casual dresses that slightly downplay her curves while attempting to retain a credible fashion sense. Some potential outfits she could wear are these: https://www.pinterest.at/pin/481251910173910063/ https://www.pinterest.at/pin/108227197269150316/ (coupled with a darker hair paint, or coloured lenses to make her eyes match the garment) In her social identity, yet in High Society, she tends to wear formal, Victorian-style dresses for that specific occasion, which she prefers to make herself if time allows. In contrast, her vigilante persona, Velvet, wears a combat-ready outfit of either lamellar leather or a breastplate, mixed with leather components that offer decent protection but also subtly accentuate her curves and figure. The outfit also contains a black cloak and sports a colour palette of exclusively dark colours, from brown to purple and black, to aid her to fade into the night. She prefers a long, auburn wig and brings a plumed hat for good measure. She might also wear a Victorian-style black half-mask of which the upper edge is adorned with fake gems, but only if she believes there is a real risk of recognition by someone familiar with her social identity, since she dislikes the opulence. Her displayed weapon is a rapier, though she also carries a dagger and another hidden dagger on her. Build/What can she contribute in and out of combat, and progression moving forward:
Game-mechanically, she is a heavily skill-focused character build that can probably function well as the party’s ‘rogue’ as well as their face (though I suspect that everyone in this campaign will be good at the social role). These skills focus heavily on social ones, stealth and thievery. I plan to really go strongly into bluff, diplomacy, sense motive and disguise to develope her as an infiltrator and socialite. Half of her vigilante levels grant social abilities that boost her performance in the intrige side of things one way or another. These include lots of free skill bonusses, but also more active things such as instantly disguising herself as a mundane person of any type with a +20 bonus to the disguise check. By the end of the campaign, she could also disguise herself as anyone with the same bonus, such as being a body double for princess Eutropia if she ever heads into a dangerous situation. Other abilities are I.E. a nonmagical permanent 'innocence' effect and a combination of non-magical voice altering abilities that allow her to change her voice and throw her voice over certain distances. Essentially, she uses pure skill and wits to get ahead. Admittedly, however, she lacks the trapfinding ability and I would need to find a workaround for this if they future prominently in the AP. I know there is a campaign trait for another AP that could grant it, or perhaps I could take a level of rogue. Next to the rogue skills, she has a large focus on being the party’s tailor and disguise-making specialist. I plan on focusing her heavily on role-playing and finding clever solutions to problems rather than relying on force. On the combat side, she is very weak at level 1 but should be pulling her weight from level 2 onwards. It's weak at first because she starts out as a dex character without weapon finesse or pirahna strike; she is specialized for social abilities rather than combat. However, at level 2 she gains a vigilante talent which grants both weapon finesse and a scaling damage buff for finesse weapons which fixes both accuracy and damage decently. At level 3, she gains pirahna strike and from there she is a fully functional melee damage dealer (with low hp but decently high ac). From there, I eventually plan to make her an unarmed damage dealer for the style and flavor factor. The perfect spy shouldn't need a weapon. On effectiveness, it's probably eventually comparable to a monk. I’m hoping for a scene where a seemingly fragile high society lady in a ballroom gown beats the tar out of group of unsuspecting bad guys with her Fist of the Avenger! Or, you know, accusing a guard of inappropriateness and ‘accidentally’ slapping him unconscious, hoping to also sucker punch the second guard when he checks on the first. Something about me:
I'm a thirty-ish (vague because it makes me feel younger!) physician from the Netherlands. I grew up on the Baldur's Gate games along with the Super Nintendo RPG classics (Chrono trigger, Lufia, etc) and have been hooked on RPG's ever since. I started playing tabletop RPG's with 3.5 but it was a bit too complicated for a group of 14-15 year olds like us to really grip beyond a base level. I moved to D&D 4e from there and then to pathfinder when it became more popular around here and 4e died. Since I was working then and had the income to support it, I frequently travelled between Germany, England and the Netherlands for the weekend-long pathfinder conventions. I would have done this more often but had to skip last year due to becoming a dad and this year due to Covid-19. Having played most of the later seasons of PFS and through one AP (Wrath of the Righteous), I consider myself decently experienced in pathfinder first edition but not overly so. I still occasionally make a mistake here and there and keep learning from them. I'm not into rule-lawyering and try to avoid arguments about the rules at all costs. They tend to sour the experience for at least 1 person at the table. On PBP, I'm fairly new and have only started doing this last year. My first experience there was a bit rough since I had to try and get a grasp of things in the middle of a level 15/mythic tier 6 campaign that went pretty wild pretty fast! When the GM stopped there, I paused for six months and came back afterwards. Now, I am in one homebrew PBP campaign and one Iron Gods campaign where I jumped in midway. If you want to check those out to get an idea of my posting style, the aliases are Sorogar and Elrys. On posting, I post at least once per day and try to make reactive and engaging (and hopefully amusing at times!) posts, following the stickied PBP guides and commendments on the forum as best as I can. With the iron gods campaign progressing a bit slowly, I am confident I could do at least two additional campaigns simultaneouisly before time issues become a problem. Why I’d really like to join this campaign:
I love roleplaying and intrigue. Especially in PBP format, I vastly prefer that over the combats. I also really want to see what happens in this path since many of the pathfinder society adventures I have played have tie-ins to the Taldan political situation and the start of War for the Crown. To me, it feels like the story of Taldor and the Pathfinder society are both unfinished without it. That is also why I voted it as my number one pick in the selection process of GM_TBD's campaign. In real life, I’d attempt to bribe the GM if I could! Though sadly that option isn’t available now. Hopefully the effort put into her backstory and the writing are good substitutes? Feel free to check my two active aliases, Sorogar and Elrys, if my writing and posting style suits your interest. Statistics:
Raesilia (Rose) Talbot / Velvet
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AC 21, touch 15, flat-footed 16 (+5 armor, +5 Dex, +1 natural)
Rose hides her +1 mithral chain shirt under her clothes both in Vigilante and Social identity. It has no ACP.
Speed 30 ft. (20 ft. in armor)
Dignity's Barb, Deadly aim: +8 vs AC, 1d8+5 Hidden strike: 3d8 extra damage is target is unaware of Rose, such as by stealth or invisbility. 3d4 instead if target is only denied dexterity to ac or flanked. For ranged attacks, must be within 30 feet of Rose. --------------------
Feats: Noble Scion, Skill Focus (Diplomacy), power attack (EiTR), Agile manuevers (EITR), weapon finesse (EiTR), precise shot, Rapid shot, Rapid Reload, Deceptive (+2 bluff/disguise, agent system rank 5). Traits: charming (good looks), rising star. Skills Acrobatics +7, perform: dance + 13, Profession: cook +8 (+2 when making traditional Taldan Cuisine), Perform: String +9 (masterwork Violin +2), Appraise +5, Bluff +16 (+1 vs. characters who could be attracted to you), intimidate +10 (vigilante identity: +3), Climb +5, Craft: clothing +17 (masterwork tools: +19), Diplomacy +16 ( +1 vs. characters who could be attracted to you), Disable Device (with masterwork tools) +16, Disguise +11 (extra +20 to appear as part of polite society while in your social identity), Knowledge (engineering) +5, Knowledge (local) +5, Knowledge (nobility) +12, Linguistics +5, Perception +10, Sense Motive +11, Sleight of Hand +11, Stealth +13 (+2 to move silently), Swim +5. *Her background skills are knowledge: Nobility and Craft: Clothing. Above stats assume her masterwork tools are used for tailoring. **Craft: clothing breakdown: 6 ranks, 1 int, 3 class skill, rising star +1, Noble Scion (Talbot) +2, masterwork tools (masterwork tailoring kit) +2. *** Current feat configuration/class feature setup does not have social grace or persuasive. Languages: Common, Elven, Hallit SQ dual identity, social grace, social talent (social grace), vigilante specialization (avenger) Other Gear: +1 mythral chain shirt, +1 amulet of natural armor, +2 belt of dexterity, Circlet of Persuasion, Dignity's barb +1, Mw dagger, dagger, Mw rapier, Mw sap, cloak of resistance +1, normal Rapier (at home), Spring-loaded wirst sheathe x 2, Potion of invisibility, 4 x alchemist's fire, Potion of Vanish rank 2 x 2, antitoxin, antiplague, Potion of cure moderate wounds, Potion of cure light wounds x2, Mw thieves tools, masterwork tools (craft: clothing, perform: dance, profession: cook), Mw Violin, extremely fashionable noble's outfit, extremely fashionable gala dress, similar hunting/casual outfit, (all self-crafted), 200 gp jewelry artisan's outfit, vigilante outfit, Mw tool stealth: padded footpads (+2 move silently), sleeves of many garments, fashionable accessories, rare perfume 1 dose, +/- 1000 gp. --------------------
Noble Scion: + 2 craft clothing, + 2 Knowledge: nobility. Once per day, substitute a knowledge check for a craft check. Social talents: Mockingbird: Nonmagical voice/sound mimciking, counts as combination of Ventriloquism, Ghost Sound and Vocal Alteration. Any Guise: Gain a third Idenity; any mundane figure. Brilliant planner: Once/day spend 1 minute to produce 1 item worth 600 gp or less which could have been acquired in a city. You pay for the item. Vigilante talents: Lethal grace (Gets weapon finesse as a bonus feat. When attacking in melee with dex mod to hit but having str mod to damage, add half level to all damage rolls). Volatile arrows: 3 + int mod/day Arrow deals extra damage to target as if it was hit with an alchemist bomb. Inspired Vigilante: Gain an inspiration pool equal to your level. Inspiration is never free and doesn't count as inspiration for other qualifications. Rising star trait: + 1 craft: clothing, + 1 sense motive, +1 survival. Once per day, add + 2 to a bluff, diplomacy or intimdate check. Start with masterwork tailoring tools, gift from your patron (Martella Lotheed). List of Agents, Charm 3, Subterfuge 1:
Beatrice Merosett
Deria Irving
Anna Irving
Chloe Talbot
Maurice the Unfazed
Mattias Vinroy
‘Sandman Jack’ and ‘Ol’ Copper’
In the past, House Talbot has made use of his services whenever the sum of his rates along with the expected bribes to the local officials and risks of losing illegally smuggled goods were deemed significantly cheaper than paying legitimate taxes to the regional nobles. Well, that, and the proper margins for legal representation fees so that the family could deny any involvement in such affairs. His associate, a mute named ‘Ol’Copper’ by Jack, allegedly acts as a courier of sorts, though his exact background and extent of involvement remains unknown. Jack is always amused whenever someone asks him if Copper used to be a law enforcement agent of some kind, whereas Copper then only grimaces. Wardrobe of potential future outfits:
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