Verene Tanaquil's page

Amazing Initiativeᴹ (Ex) The creature has a bonus on initiative checks equal to its mythic rank. As a free action on its turn, it can expend one use of mythic power to take an additional standard action during that turn. This additional standard action can’t be used to cast a spell. It can’t gain an extra action in this way more than once per round.
Archmage Arcana (Wild Arcana)ᴹ (Su) As a standard action, you can expend one use of mythic power to cast any one arcane spell without expending a prepared spell or spell slot. The spell must be on one of your arcane class spell lists and must be of a level that you can cast with that arcane spellcasting class. You don’t need to have the spell prepared, nor does it need to be on your list of spells known. When casting a spell in this way, you treat your caster level as 2 levels higher for the purpose of any effect dependent on level. You can apply any metamagic feats you know to this spell, but its total adjusted level can’t be greater than that of the highest-level arcane spell you can cast from that spellcasting class.
Alertness (Ex) While a familiar is within arm's reach, the master gains the Alertness feat.
Bonus Hit Pointsᴹ Whenever you gain an archmage tier, you gain 3 bonus hit points. These hit points stack with themselves, and don’t affect your overall Hit Dice or other statistics.
Deliver Touch Spells (Su) (Thamyris) If the master is 3rd level or higher, a familiar can deliver touch spells for him. If the master and the familiar are in contact at the time the master casts a touch spell, he can designate his familiar as the “toucher.” The familiar can then deliver the touch spell just as the master would. As usual, if the master casts another spell before the touch is delivered, the touch spell dissipates.
Divination Specialization (Focused Arcane School: Foresight) Specialist wizards receive an additional spell slot of each spell level they can cast, from 1st on up. Each day, a wizard can prepare a spell from his specialty school in that slot. This spell must be in the wizard's spellbook. A wizard can select a spell modified by a metamagic feat to prepare in his school slot, but it uses up a higher-level spell slot.
Eldritch Breachᴹ (Su) You are adept at breaching magical defenses and overcoming resistance to your magic. When attempting a caster level check to dispel an effect, overcome spell resistance, or otherwise determine whether your magic affects a target (such as with knock or neutralize poison), roll twice and take the higher result.
Empathic Link The master has an empathic link with his familiar to a 1 mile distance. The master can communicate empathically with the familiar, but cannot see through its eyes. Because of the link's limited nature, only general emotions can be shared. The master has the same connection to an item or place that his familiar does.
Extend Spell An extended spell lasts twice as long as normal. A spell with a duration of concentration, instantaneous, or permanent is not affected by this feat. Level Increase: +1 (an extended spell uses up a spell slot one level higher than the spell’s actual level.)
Familiar A familiar is an animal chosen by a spellcaster to aid him in his study of magic. It retains the appearance, Hit Dice, base attack bonus, base save bonuses, skills, and feats of the normal animal it once was, but is now a magical beast for the purpose of effects that depend on its type. A thrush familiar can speak one language its master speaks and grants a +3 bonus to Diplomacy checks.
Forewarned (Su) You can always act in the surprise round even if you fail to make a Perception roll to notice a foe, but you are still considered flat-footed until you take an action. In addition, you receive a bonus on initiative checks equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum +1). At 20th level, anytime you roll initiative, assume the roll resulted in a natural 20.
Hard to Killᴹ (Ex) Whenever you’re below 0 hit points, you automatically stabilize without needing to attempt a Constitution check. If you have an ability that allows you to act while below 0 hit points, you still lose hit points for taking actions, as specified by that ability. Bleed damage still causes you to lose hit points when below 0 hit points. In addition, you don’t die until your total number of negative hit points is equal to or greater than double your Constitution score.
Improved Evasion (Ex) (Thamyris) When subjected to an attack that normally allows a Reflex saving throw for half damage, a familiar takes no damage if it makes a successful saving throw and half damage even if the saving throw fails.
Mythic Powerᴹ (Su) Mythic characters can draw upon a wellspring of power to accomplish amazing deeds and cheat fate. This power is used by a number of different abilities. Each day, you can expend an amount of mythic power equal to 3 plus double your mythic tier (5/day at 1st tier, 7/day at 2nd, etc.). This amount is your maximum amount of mythic power. If an ability allows you to regain uses of your mythic power, you can never have more than this amount.
Mythic Spell Loreᴹ I You can learn a number of mythic spells equal to your tier and can expend mythic power when casting them to enhance the results. To select a mythic spell, you must be able to cast the non-mythic version or have it on your list of spells known. Every time you gain a new tier, you can select an additional mythic spell. (T1: slow; T2: heroism)
Mythic Spellcastingᴹ I You can learn a number of mythic spells equal to your tier and can expend mythic power when casting them to enhance the results. To select a mythic spell, you must be able to cast the non-mythic version or have it on your list of spells known. Every time you gain a new tier, you can select an additional mythic spell. You can take this ability up to three times. Each additional time you take it, you can select an additional number of spells equal to your tier and you gain one additional mythic spell whenever you gain a tier. (T1: fireball T2: protection from evil)
Opposition School (Enchantment) A wizard who prepares spells from his opposition schools must use two spell slots of that level to prepare the spell. In addition, a specialist takes a –4 penalty on any skill checks made when crafting a magic item that has a spell from one of his opposition schools as a prerequisite.
Opposition School (Necromancy)
Prescience (8/day) (Sp) At the beginning of your turn, you may, as a free action, roll a single d20. At any point before your next turn, you may use the result of this roll as the result of any d20 roll you are required to make. If you do not use the d20 result before your next turn, it is lost.
Share Spells The wizard may cast a spell with a target of “You” on his familiar (as a touch spell) instead of on himself. A wizard may cast spells on his familiar even if the spells do not normally affect creatures of the familiar's type (magical beast).
Speak With Master (Ex): (Thamyris) If the master is 5th level or higher, a familiar and the master can communicate verbally as if they were using a common language. Other creatures do not understand the communication without magical help.
Speak with Animals of Its Kind (Ex): (Thamyris) If the master is 7th level or higher, a familiar can communicate with animals of approximately the same kind as itself (including dire varieties): bats with bats, cats with felines, hawks and owls and ravens with birds, lizards and snakes with reptiles, monkeys with other simians, rats with rodents, toads with amphibians, and weasels with ermines and minks. Such communication is limited by the Intelligence of the conversing creatures.
Surgeᴹ (Su) You can call upon your mythic power to overcome difficult challenges. You can expend one use of mythic power to increase any d20 roll you just made by rolling 1d6 and adding it to the result. Using this ability is an immediate action taken after the result of the original roll is revealed. This can change the outcome of the roll. The bonus die gained by using this ability increases to 1d8 at 4th tier, 1d10 at 7th tier, and 1d12 at 10th tier.
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Bonus Feat Humans select one extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled Humans gain an additional skill rank at first level and one additional rank whenever they gain a level.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency Wizards are proficient with the club, dagger, heavy crossbow, light crossbow, and quarterstaff, but not with any type of armor or shield. Armor of any type interferes with a wizard's movements, which can cause her spells with somatic components to fail.

Thamyris
Male Hermit Thrush Familiar (reference picture)
NG Diminutive animal
Init +2; Senses low-light vision; Perception +15
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DEFENSE
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AC 20, touch 16, flat-footed 18 (+2 Dex, +4 size, +4 natural)
HP 24 (HD 7)
Fort +0, Ref +4, Will +7
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OFFENSE
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Speed 10 ft., fly 40 ft. (average)
Melee bite +5 (1d2–5)
Space 1 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
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STATISTICS
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Str 1, Dex 15, Con 6, Int 9, Wis 15, Cha 6
Base Atk +3; CMB 0; CMD 5
Feats Skill Focus (Perception)
Skills Fly +12 (+2 Dex, +6 Size, +1 rank, +3 class skill), Perception +15 (+2 Wis, +7 master rank, +3 class skill, +3 Skill Focus), Stealth +24 (+2 Dex, +7 master rank, +3 class skill, +12 Size)

Thrushes are small, plump birds that eat fruit and insects. All thrushes are known for their beautiful songs, but thrush familiars are also capable of actual speech.

Thamyris is rotund even for a thrush. He watches everything and everyone carefully, ever alert for danger, but usually keeps his peep of a voice low enough that only Verene can hear his sometimes acerbic comments. He was her pet before he became her familiar - a wild bird that she left breadcrumbs for on her windowsill, who decided one winter to come in where it was warm. His favorite food is dried cherries and he hates to be cold.

First Priority: Invisibility Sphere, Sleet Storm, Shrink Item, Clairaudience/Clairvoyance, Aqueous Orb, Wind Wall, Tongues, Mad Monkeys, Communal Resist Energy, Protection From Energy, Wall of Nausea, Adhesive Spittle, Aura Sight, Dispel Magic, Fly, Blood Money, Tears To Wine, Windy Escape, Tiny Hut, Burst of Radiance, Merge with Familiar, Anticipate Peril, Make Whole, Feather Fall, Floating Disk, Expeditious Retreat, Stone Shield, Mirror Image, Ant Haul, Admonishing Ray
Secondary Priority: Communal Protection From Evil (buy scroll), Suppress Charms and Compulsions (available to copy), Rope Trick (buy scroll), Bull's Strength (buy scroll), Fox's Cunning (buy scroll), Owl's Wisdom (buy scroll), Eagle's Splendor (available to copy), Touch of Gracelessness (buy scroll), Locate Object, Thunderstomp, Spider Climb, Ear-Piercing Scream, Detect Thoughts, Burning Disarm, Create Pit, Heightened Awareness, Web Bolt, Mudball, Cat's Grace, Glitterdust, Endure Elements
Third Priority: Vanish (available to copy), See Alignment (buy scroll), Detect Secret Doors (buy scroll), Ventriloquism (not checked), Commune With Birds (N/A yet), Summon Monster II (buy scroll), Reduce Person (not checked), Communal Mount (not checked), Ghost Whip (not checked), Paranoia (not checked), Knock (not checked), Splinter Spell Resistance (not checked), Visualization of the Body (not checked), Visualization of the Mind (not checked), Pierce Facade (from scroll)

Verene Perception: [dice=Perception, Verene]1d20 + 10[/dice]
Verene Perception, heightened awareness: [dice=Perception, Verene, heightened awareness]1d20 + 10 + 2[/dice]
Thamyris Perception: [dice=Perception, Thamyris]1d20 + 15[/dice]
Prescience: [dice=Prescience, #/8 remaining]1d20[/dice]
SR: [dice=Caster level check to overcome spell resistance, X 1]1d20 + 7[/dice] And another +4 vs. demons
SR: [dice=Caster level check to overcome spell resistance, X 2]1d20 + 7[/dice] And another +4 vs. demons
Magic missile wand: [dice=Magic missile v. X, CL 5, damage 3d4+3 force, #/50 charges remaining]3d4 + 3[/dice]
Spellcraft: [dice=Spellcraft]1d20 + 17[/dice]
Diplomacy, most: [dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 23[/dice]
Diplomacy, Gather Information: [dice=Diplomacy]1d20 + 18[/dice]
Kn:Arcana/Planes/Religion/History: [dice=Knowledge (Arcana/Planes/Religion/History)]1d20 + 17[/dice]
Kn:Nature [dice=Knowledge (Nature)]1d20 + 13[/dice]
Kn:Local/Engineering [dice=Knowledge (Local/Engineering)]1d20 + 12[/dice]
Kn:Nobility/Dungeoneering: [dice=Knowledge (Nobility/Dungeoneering)]1d20 + 11[/dice]
Kn:Arcana/Planes/Religion/History/Geography, heightened awareness: [dice=Knowledge (Arcana/Planes/Religion/History/Geography), heightened awareness]1d20 + 17 + 2[/dice]
Kn:Nature, heightened awareness: [dice=Knowledge (Nature), heightened awareness]1d20 + 13 + 2[/dice]
Kn:Local/Engineering, heightened awareness: [dice=Knowledge (Local/Engineering), heightened awareness]1d20 + 12 + 2[/dice]
Kn:Dungeoneering/Nobility, heightened awareness: [dice=Knowledge (Dungeoneering/Nobility), heightened awareness]1d20 + 11 + 2[/dice]

An orphan of the Crusades like so many others before her, Verene was adopted as a baby by a family of devout worshipers of Iomedae in Kenabres. From an early age she desired nothing more than to aid her parents in their fight, and to honor the sacrifice of the birth parents she couldn't even remember. Her resolve crystallized on that day of fire, fear and blood when Khorramzadeh the Storm King first came to Kenabres. She burned to pledge herself as a blade in Holy Iomedae's service, to be able to send demons shrieking back to the Abyss and to keep her loved ones hale and whole. For four years she trained and toiled to shape herself into a weapon of the Lady's will. And on her eighteenth birthday she kept the vigil, all the long night through; and at sun's rising swore her vows, body and soul now and for ever to the service of the Just Queen of Heaven.

But Iomedae was silent.

At first Verene thought she had displeased the goddess. She performed rituals of purification and of penance, and tried again. And again. Her father and mother attempted to comfort her, telling her that she could serve the Crusade in other ways; pointing to the spiraling birthmark on the back of her neck as evidence that her path might lie elsewhere. But Verene would not listen. Whatever her birth parents had been, she was and would be Iomedae's servant. She became convinced that the goddess was testing her faith, and eventually embarked upon a pilgrimage to the holiest sites of the church, scattered across Avistan and Garund. It led only to the same silence, and to her first crisis of faith.

If Iomedae would not hear her prayers, Verene thought, perhaps another god would. Perhaps in her narrow-minded insistence on the One True Way, she had been shutting herself off to signs from a different faith, one where her true destiny lay. She entered an even longer period of wandering and self-reflection, seeking out temples large and small, familiar and foreign, giant cathedrals and secret mystery cults, and asking for the lowliest work they had in exchange for learning something of their faiths, morals and philosophies. Some places she stayed only a week or two; others, months or even a year. But if at the end of the year no sign had come, no sacred peace, no certainty, Verene moved on. The gods did not hesitate to make themselves known to the ones they did choose, after all. And no answer was its own kind of answer. She had to trust that she would know, when she had found her path.

But the gods were silent.

So came her second crisis of faith, the one that growing up in a Crusader city, shepherded and safeguarded in every way by divine intervention, had left her unprepared for: The gods did not care. Or they did, but not for her, and not for most people in the world. For Verene had now seen too many desperate prayers in desperate circumstances go unanswered to cling to her old childish faith in fate and mysterious ways. It was the closest she came to true anger, but even this was unsustainable. The miracles worked by divine magic, for some people, were real. They did real good in the world. It was simply that they were randomly and often unfairly applied, rarely helping the most vulnerable lay believers who needed them most. And only those who had sworn themselves to a higher power could work the greater magics of healing - well, and those who had so mastered arcane powers that they might as well be gods themselves.

And so Verene came home, a dozen years later, defeated. There was no point to having faith. The gods were playing their own game. If they were going to hear you, they would, whether or not you even knew you were praying to them; and if they weren't, they wouldn't, no matter how deeply you believed or how obedient you were. Her new perspective saddened her parents, but they reached an uneasy peace by avoiding the topic. After a time, Verene found piecemeal work as a translator of Tien and Vudran, which she had learned on her travels. And she applied herself to the study of simple magic, putting all gods and religion as far out of her mind as it is possible to do in Kenabres.

After three years, the passage of time has made it easier to laugh as well as wince at the memory of those painfully well-intentioned and self-serious days of her wandering, but it has done nothing to soften her convictions. And magic comes easily to her mind, far more easily than enlightenment ever did - but it does not feel like victory.

Alma Tanaquil (Mother, 68yo female Taldan human retired cleric of Iomedae) — Verene’s mother is a gifted healer who has been in the divine service of Iomedae since she was a teenager who was called to the Third Crusade, and who was an active duty crusader all the way through the limping end of the Fourth Crusade. (Her grandmother was a younger daughter of Taldan nobility who came to Mendev in response to the First Crusade and was knighted by the Crown for her service, becoming Lady Tanaquil. The title passed on to Alma's aunt Valeria, a true battleaxe of a noblewoman now well into her eighties; but the last name remains along with an insistence on education, good manners and noblesse oblige.) She has reached a remarkably old age for a cleric stationed on the edge of the Worldwound; but one consequence of that is that her eyesight and hearing are starting to fail. Around four months ago, the Church summoned and then permanently reassigned her to Nerosyan, so her talents would be more convenient to them and farther from the front lines.

Before her pilgrimage, Verene always had a good relationship with her mother, who loved her and supported her ambition to also enter Iomedae’s service, then reluctantly acceded to the pilgrimage she undertook when that failed. While she was away they kept in touch with letters as much as possible, but twelve years is a long time. When Verene returned to Kenabres, her atheism (or ‘rejection of Iomedae’) was the cause of awkwardness and even arguments between them before Verene moved to live with Sibylla, and the relationship is still somewhat strained. Verene also has still not told her mother how much her magical studies have progressed, in part because Alma encouraged her to consider the path of arcane study rather than pilgrimage many years ago.

Merrit (Father, 66yo male Kellid human retired carpenter) — The son of Sarkorian refugees who worked as laborers and then started their own business creating permanent houses in New Kenabres for the waves of people that the Worldwound pushed out of Sarkoris, Merrit has taken up artistic woodcarving in retirement after passing on the business to a niece several years ago. He is an easygoing man with a quick wit and a love of puns. Moving to Nerosyan was a wrench for him, as it meant leaving most of his family and friends behind, but he did it without complaint to support his wife and her religious calling.

Prosper of Hannaloth (Magic Teacher/Friend, ??yo male Taldan(?) human(?) noble dilettante) — A wandering dilettante who about eighteen months ago, in exchange for translating an entire ancient book about the Tian god of the undead Fumeiyoshi, offered to teach Verene some simple magic and thus set her on the path to becoming a wizard. Seeming amused by her in some way, even after their initial deal was done, he has continued offering sporadic lessons; but as he is only in Kenabres about one week in three, and not on any regular schedule, Verene has mostly learned through self-directed study. He seems to be a youngish man, no more than twenty-five, but always looks noticeably tired and broken-down whenever she sees him; he has blue eyes, very pale skin, a long face, and a bit of a crooked nose. He often changes the color and style of his hair. He usually wears brightly colored but hard-worn clothes (never the same outfit from one visit to the next) and some kind of wide-brimmed cloth hat, and always carries a dark wooden cane with a silver top, although he doesn't seem to have a limp. From the way he speaks he must be a nobleman, or at least well-educated, but gives only the toponym “of Hannaloth” as his surname and is generally cagey and deflective about his origins. Verene has decided he is probably running from debt collectors and has made it a point not to ask or learn anything more about him, where he stays in Kenabres, or where he goes when he leaves. That way if she is ever asked, she can honestly say she doesn't know anything about him. Anyway, nothing annoys a purposefully mysterious person like pretending not to notice the mystery.

Sibylla Lennis (Landlady/Friend, 48yo female Chelish human retired crusader) — Owns a home in New Kenabres that she operates as a long-term boarding house, with space for herself and four other people. Verene has rented a room from her for approximately two years. Sibylla is from a farm in western Andoran (as of the end of the People's Revolt) originally, but has been in Mendev long enough to have the accent. She has a thin horizontal scar on her left cheek and is missing the first knuckle of the ring and pinky finger on her right hand. She fought in the Fourth Crusade as a low templar and then a regular crusader, and has a tattoo on her shoulder of the symbol of her old mercenary company, the Sunhawks. She always wears a silver ring on her right ring finger.

[DECEASED] “Old” Arthek (Housemate, 77yo male Kellid human retired scout) — A venerable male Kellid ranger who still remembered fleeing the fall of the last great city of Sarkoris as a boy. His name was simply Arthek, but he was commonly called Old Arthek or Arthek Elder, to distinguish him from his first son, also named Arthek and commonly called Young Arthek or Arthek Younger. His eleven children by three different wives over his lifetime are grown up now, with their own families and professions (most of them soldiers or merchants), but Eithne's parents were both killed when she was very young, so Old Arthek took her in. She is the only child of his youngest daughter. He was talkative and opinionated, prone to telling stories or boasts of his exploits against the demons, as well as the stories and songs of his people. Getting caught in a conversation with him and another Sarkorian old-timer who liked to reminisce could mean an encounter that went on for hours. Arthek could be grumpy, close-minded and stubborn: he distrusted the arcane magic Verene had been learning recently, but Verene had been bringing him around with cantrips of mending and cleaning for Eithne's clothes, which made his life easier. However, he was also generous to family and friends, patient with and a good carer for Eithne, and had no disdain for ‘women’s work’: he helped Sibylla with household chores without needing to be asked, and often brought her small presents or things he had found with no reason or strings attached. His body was found left in the fountain near Sibylla’s house, along with many others: they had been used in some ritual. The group laid them out with respect near the wall instead until their bodies can be properly buried.

Eithne (Housemate, 8yo female Kellid-Iobarian human child) — Old Arthek’s granddaughter is a young half-Kellid girl of about eight with dark hair and green eyes, energetic and fierce. She is a tomboy who likes sparring with the neighborhood boys with wooden weapons.

“Sister” Iris (Friend/Project, ??yo female tiefling [Mendev] merchant) — A tiefling street merchant/tinker who sells fake religious relics to the gullible along with her legitimate business.

Sergeant Diermut Volus (Project, 46yo male Taldan-Kellid human guardsman) — A rigidly religious and suspicious human guardsman to whom Verene has nevertheless been cordial and explained the details of her research on request. She thinks he is starting to come around to liking her despite himself.

Shingye (Client/language student, 71yo female samsaran [Zi Ha] oracle) — Verene’s most recent client for translation services and then as a language tutor in Taldane is a mysterious samsaran woman with two followers or bodyguards: Yuei (Language student, 23yo male Tian-Min human samurai) and Tanaki (Language student, 20yo male Tian-Min apparent human [actually kitsune] rogue).

Yuka White Bear (58yo male Erutaki human merchant) and Kari Halvasdottir (63yo female Ulfen human merchant) — Family friends, a married Erutaki-Ulfen couple who still go on trading trips to the Crown of the World twice a year.

Janis — A male halfling paladin of the Knights of Kenabres, originally from Varisia.

Gunvor — A heavily scarred female human paladin of the Knights of Kenabres and refugee from Irrisen.

The road is bad.

In one sense, of course the road is bad. Go to any given corner of the world, and people may dress differently, eat differently, walk and talk and fight and even sleep differently, but the one consistency will be: the roads in late spring will be bad. If this is normal, can it really be bad?

In another sense, Verene watches as the cart jounces from rut to rock to sucking mud with bone-jarring force, and doubts that its passengers care about normal. Those who can are walking, to spare the horses, but the cart's current occupants are not so lucky. "Convalescent's better than dead," one of the older soldiers joked to her around the fire last night, "but not so's you'd notice."

He smiles at her now, grey-faced, and says hoarsely, "You've a pretty voice, lass. Don't suppose you know the mountain song?"

Verene bows her head. She knows the one he means. As the cart rolls inexorably toward Kenabres, she takes a deep, steadying breath, and begins to sing.

"On tomorrow's painted wagon, in a yester-dreamin' day
I rode to heaven, never thinkin' I'd be back this way
Now I'm standing at your doorstep, with my halo turning gray
Open up your gate, Marianna..."