About XanosMale Human Cruoromancer Necromancer Wizard 6 Threads:
Corpse in wall w/ book Poison pool Animate Treant and Minotaur Fix Golem Destroy Mitran temple Fix Pit Traps Fix Forge, Tavern and Alchemy Lab Background:
None know where the Necromancer called Xanos came from. There are a dozen stories that all conflict, told generation after generation to Mitran youths. The core of those stories is this- An offering was made to Mitra long ago in the form of a woman with a beautiful voice who was taken into Mitra's kingdom to become the Primarch of the heavenly choirs. Xanos wanted the girl as his own, so he rebelled. He vanished after cursing Mitra and all his followers, disappearing for many years. When he returned he came with a plague of death and destruction. Then he vanished again. Throughout history he would occasionally return, each time bringing a new wave of horror with him. Any undead-related uprising is usually attributed to him by superstitious mitrans, though most more rational people consider him merely a legend at this point. He is considered the progenitor of a number of different kinds of undead. Vampires and mummies chief among them. Some particularly zealous theologians attribute the creation of all undead to him, though given that gods such as Urgathoa exist, that seems very unlikely. Today, his name is synonymous with betrayal and long-brewing evil plots. He is said to be a tempter who leads people astray by teaching them lies disguised as teachings that convince people that they are more important than Mitra. To Mitrans, anything that advances the self at the expense of the soul is called a Xanos Bargain. ============================== Xanos is a philosopher. He thinks of the gods as slave masters and wants to advance the idea of breaking free of their control. Here is the philosophy he has developed over the years- Life is Bondage, every aspect of mortal life, from desire to emotion, to breathing and eating is a form of control. It limits us and makes us small, servile and unable to take responsibility for our own actions. It is these things that allows the gods to justify their treatment of us. To Know Freedom You Must Know Slavery, we all have many masters. We must accept them, serve them dutifully in order to understand what it is they ask from us and why, and then we must rebel against them with every fiber of our beings. Personhood is earned. Death is Peace, Peace is Failure, when we die we no longer struggle, which means we can no longer learn or grow. Peace is the ultimate acceptance of what is. In life and death we are subject to the whims of the gods. When we die only they decide if we get another chance. The game is rigged. Death is the ultimate shackle, the ultimate surrender of personhood. The Spiral Must Be Broken, the cycle of life, death and rebirth is like a cosmic whirlpool that sucks down every living thing, churns it at the bottom and then spits it out back to the top again. Every living thing tries to fight the current. They all lose. To be free we must leave the waters. That philosophy colors his approach to every situation. He has existed for centuries exploring ways of breaking free of what he thinks of as divine tyranny. Now, having been captured, drained of power, and imprisoned in Branderscar, he is forced to start over. To some that would be devastating. To Xanos it is an opportunity to try a new way. Appearance and Personality:
Eyes: Black Hair: Bald Skin: Very dark Height: 6'5 Weight: 210 Ten Minute Background:
Xanos is a philosopher. He thinks of the gods as slave masters and wants to advance the idea of breaking free of their control. Here is the philosophy he has developed over the years- Life is Bondage, every aspect of mortal life, from desire to emotion, to breathing and eating is a form of control. It limits us and makes us small, servile and unable to take responsibility for our own actions. It is these things that allows the gods to justify their treatment of us. To Know Freedom You Must Know Slavery, we all have many masters. We must accept them, serve them dutifully in order to understand what it is they ask from us and why, and then we must rebel against them with every fiber of our beings. Personhood is earned. Death is Peace, Peace is Failure, when we die we no longer struggle, which means we can no longer learn or grow. We are subject to the whims of the gods, and only they decide if we get another chance. Death is the ultimate shackle, the ultimate surrender of personhood. The Spiral Must Be Broken, the cycle of life, death and rebirth is like a cosmic whirlpool that sucks down every living thing, churns it at the bottom and then spits it out back to the top again. Every living thing tries to fight the current. They all lose. To be free we must leave the waters. That philosophy colors his approach to every situation. He has existed for centuries exploring ways of breaking free of what he thinks of as divine tyranny. Now, he is forced to start over. To some that would be devastating. To Xanos it is an opportunity to try a new approach. Xanos' Goal: Destroy the entire Mitran religion. Normally he wouldn't single out a particular religion in his personal crusade to escape the gods, but they made it personal. His tools for this goal will be their own religious texts. He plans on creating their version of Revalation. He figures that since they already wrote the book on how their world is going to end, he might as well just use it. My goal as a player: Become a lich, and perhaps eventually even shed his corporeal form entirely, breaking free of the mortal plane to exist as a being of pure intellect and will. What Xanos Knows: His name isn't actually Xanos, and the body he is in is not his own. That means when he signs the contract, he will be signing a false name in someone else's blood. It will be utterly meaningless, just like the god and the church who employ it. That said, he's completely willing to work with them to complete his other goals. What Xanos Doesn't Know: His philosophy has spread in dark whispered corners and a cult has formed which elevates him as a saint/god of rebellion. He's going to hate that when he find out. Sir Renfield the Witch-Hammer has been dispatched to deal with the budding Xanos cult. A legendary witch-hunter, one of the church's most successful and ruthless sons. He trained most of the current generation of Inquisitors and wrote the actual book they use in their hunts. Xanos was his "White Whale" for years, and the final feather in his cap before he retired. He was the one who managed to capture Xanos when he was at his strongest, and bring him to Branderscar for execution. He's going to be very upset when he finds out Xanos escaped from Branderscar. The Other Xanos: An experiment years ago with a Simulacrum created a weaker version of himself. They parted amiably, both pursuing their shared goals separately. The double is still out there somewhere, and now their roles are reversed. Xanos does not know the whereabouts of his artificially created double, or if they will still be allies if they meet again. It could be that his double is the one responsible for the rise of the Xanos Cult. 1) Xanos doesn't like bodily functions. When he isn't actively doing something, he tries not to twitch, move blink, scratch or any of the other things that people normally do. He even breathes as little as possible. He considers everything his body does that is not purposeful to be something that needs to be mastered an overcome. He tries to ignore base impulses like sexual desire and emotional reaction. He even dislikes eating and does it as little as possible. Sleep is his least favorite activity. He considers it an enormous waste of time. 2) Xanos has very little respect for the sanctity of life. He considers nearly everyone to be insignificant and almost always controlled by shackles they cannot fight against. He has no respect for addicts, carousers, the lazy, the stupid, or people who swear oaths that limit them. He respects people who manifest their own will into power and anyone intelligent enough to have a good debate with him. 3) Xanos sees power as a means to an end. It is a step along the path, not the end of the path. Even if he succeeds in his goal to destroy the Mitrans, it will not be enough. Every goal is part of a larger agenda that ends with the death of the gods themselves. Because of that, Xanos is almost never satisfied or content. He is a workaholic of the worst sort. Neutral Evil Medium Humanoid (Human) DEFENSE
HP: 35 {6 +6d6 [19], -6 Con, +8 toughness} Fort: +2 {+2 wizard), -1 Con, +1 resistance}
CMD 13 {+3 bab, +1 Str, -1 Dex} -=OFFENSE=-
Dagger +4, 1d4+1, 19-20 crit STATISTICS
Traits
Signature Spell: +1 Caster Level, Animate Dead Gifted Adept: +1 Caster Level, Animate Dead Drawbacks Umbral Unmasking: You cast no shadow whatsoever, or the shadow you do have is monstrous. Under normal lighted conditions, this is not hard to observe—but uncommon to notice. Creatures that succeed at a DC 15 Wisdom check notice it plainly (an additional Perception check may be required based on environmental conditions). This telltale sign of wickedness cannot be concealed by misdirection, nondetection, or illusions, except those that also affect shadows (such as invisibility). Race Traits
Feats
Mage's Tattoo [necromancy] (7th level) Skills
+7 Stealth* (6 ranks, -1 dex, +2 eq)
ACP -0 *ACP applies to these skills -=Languages=-
Special Abilities:
SPECIAL/CLASS ABILITIES Wizard Favored Class: Wizard taken 6 times. +1.5 Caster Level to Necromancy spells Power over Undead (Su) You receive Command Undead or Turn Undead as a bonus feat. You can channel energy a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier, but only to use the selected feat. You can take other feats to add to this ability, such as Extra Channel and Improved Channel, but not feats that alter this ability, such as Elemental Channeland Alignment Channel. The DC to save against these feats is equal to 10 + 1/2 your wizard level + your Charisma modifier. At 20th level, undead cannot add their channel resistance to the save against this ability. Bolster (Sp): As a standard action, you can touch an undead creature and infuse it with negative energy. It gains a +1 profane bonus on all attack rolls and saving throws, as well as 1 temporary hit point per Hit Die and a +2 bonus to its turn resistance. The bonus on attack rolls and saving throws increases by +1 for every 5 wizard levels you possess. These bonuses last for a number of rounds equal to 1/2 your wizard level (minimum 1 round). The bonuses and temporary hit points are immediately dispelled if the creature is within the area of a consecrate spell. You can use this ability a number of times per day equal to 3 + your Intelligence modifier. Blood Infusion (Su) When a cruoromancer casts a spell of the necromancy school, he can opt to infuse that spell with his undead-tainted blood as a swift action. As he increases in level, the power and effects of such infusions become more potent. Each time a cruoromancer uses blood infusion, he drains a portion of his own blood either by cutting himself with a blade or by opening a scab from a previous wound. When he does this, he takes an amount of damage equal to 1d4 + the level of the spell being infused. A cruoromancer can only affect a spell with a single type of blood infusion. At 1st level, he can infuse his necromancy spells in either of the following ways. Focused Infusion: When the cruoromancer uses this infusion, he adds +1 to the DC of the infused necromancy spell. Sickening Infusion: When the cruoromancer uses this infusion, any creature damaged by the infused necromancy spell becomes sickened for 1 round.
Blood Command (Su) At 5th level, a cruoromancer can control up to 5 Hit Dice worth of undead creatures per caster level instead of the normal 4 Hit Dice of undead when casting the animate dead spell. He also gains the following blood infusion ability. Commanding Infusion: When using this infusion with animate dead, the cruoromancer can create a number of Hit Dice of undead equal to three times his caster level instead of twice his caster level. This ability replaces the 5th-level wizard bonus feat. Spells:
Wizard Spells Opposed Schools: Illusion and Evocation
...+2 caster level Animate Dead (gifted adept, signature spell)
-=0th (at will), 4 memorized=- Disrupt Undead
-=1st (3/day, +2 bonus, +1 Necromancy)=-
-=2nd (3/day, +1 bonus, +1 Necromancy)=-
3rd (2 per day, +1 bonus, +1 necromancy)
4th (none yet)
Consumables and Reagents:
Scrolls
Mage Armor x2
Potions
Alchemical Gear[i]
Bandoleer (8 slots)
Satchel (not readied)
Belt Pouches
Reagents
Unlearned books and spells:
---Unlearned Spells---
GEAR/POSSESSIONS:
Armor: Haramaki
-Unslotted-
In Satchel[i]
[i]In travel chest[i]
[i]in false bottom
Carrying Capacity
Money Platinum: 125
Undead Minions:
Channel Energy (HD = Wizard Level):
Animate Dead (Hit Dice = caster level x 5): 60 HD max from most recent casting
Command Undead Spell (no limit, duration differs for each casting)
Bodies (unused)
Theme Music:
Notes:
In his private quarters you also find a family “bible” of the House of Havelyn. This ancient holy book in praise of Mitra also features a chart detailing Lord Havelyn’s family tree. The books is quite valuable (450gp) but would be incredibly difficult to sell as it obviously belongs to Lord Havelyn. You can cannibalize the gold embellishments to sell (100gp). You see that one name has been blotted out from the Havelyn genealogy. That name ‘Samuel Havelyn, Cardinal of Mitra’ can still barely be discerned. Samual would have been the Commander's brother. ===================== Retrieve book from hole in cavern wall Read Journal of Brother Zander Trask. |
