Ysabot Vaskel's page

Background: Ysabot Vaskel (EEZ-uh-BOE VAZZ-kuhl) spent her
first ten years assuming she was her mother’s natural born daughter.
But when orc raiders stole her mother away, Ysabot’s entire world
came crashing down. Her stricken father nearly drank himself
to death. And, from his drunken ramblings, she pieced together
the truth of her adoption. Some soul had left her on the doorstep
of a local church as a baby, and the priests of the Lady of Graves
convinced the Vaskel family to take her as their own. After all, her
father’s impotence had failed to give his wife a child. So, it all made
perfect sense.
But the trauma of her mother’s abduction, combined with her
coming adolescence, began to unravel poor Ysabot’s mind. Strange
voices began calling to her at night. Voices only she could hear.
She tried to ignore them at first, afraid to mention their disturbing
whispers lest everyone doubt her sanity. She left home at the first
opportunity, enrolling in a nearby all-girls’ school. Only when
the Professor ventured to her school as a guest lecturer and took
an active interest in her exceptionally bright mind, did she finally
confide in someone. He helped her understand her changeling
nature, the unlikely offspring of a green hag, left to be raised by
some unwitting family until her real mother called her home. He
cautioned Ysabot against heeding the hag’s call, explaining in detail
what would happen if she did. Instead, he offered her a chance to
travel and study with him until the voices stopped.
She did exactly that. But, ever curious, she also plied the Professor
to further research her origins while learning under his tutelage.
Together, they conducted various auguries and harrow readings
into the guiding influences on her life. She never learned anything
more about her real mother, but she did learn of her adopted
mother’s fate, as well as the existence of the half-orc baby, Agrimar,
to which she’d given birth while in captivity. Ysabot made it her
goal to seek him out, to rescue Agrimar from the dark influence of
the orcs, and also to punish those who’d abused her mother. The
Professor helped her complete that task. And now she, and her
“brother” Agrimar, owe him a great debt. One they can only hope
to repay.
Physical Description: Ysabot is quite diminutive and rail-thin
compared to her “brother” Agrimar. She weighs only 110 pounds,
but stands 5-feet, 6-inches tall with long black hair and a very pale
complexion. She most frequently wears a blue, hand-made robe
and matching cloak, and is almost always accompanied by her
black cat, Persimmon.
Personality: Ysabot typically keeps her own counsel until she can
thoroughly process every bit of information about a particular
situation. Many take the quietly thoughtful girl as timid, but she
proves calculating and bold when she chooses to speak her mind.
Ysabot also takes great satisfaction and confidence in outlasting her
hag mother’s call. Even as she broadens her study in the mysteries of
witchcraft, she’s determined not to let it sway her to the evil her true
mother intended. In this regard, she feels a kinship with the inner
struggles of her half-orc “brother” and looks after him as surely as
any true sibling would.
Advancement
Ysabot adds a level in the witch class each time she advances. She
prefers to always enhance her skills in Craft (alchemy), Knowledge
(arcana), Knowledge (nature), and Spellcraft, but adds a new
rank in Bluff, Diplomacy, and Sense Motive as she can. At 2nd
and 4th level, Ysabot picks up the misfortune and fortune hexes,
respectively. At 3rd level, she spends her new feat on an Extra Hex
to gain access to cackle, thereby extending the effects of her other
hexes. In terms of advancing her spells, Ysabot learns dancing
lights, jump, and mage armor at 2nd level. She then adds false
life at 3rd level, followed by cat’s grace, hold person, and ray of
enfeeblement at 4th level. As soon as she can, Ysabot acquires
an alchemist’s lab so she can use her Brew Potion feat and Craft
(alchemy) skill to create items to further support her companions.
Roleplaying Ideas
• On occasion, Ysabot still hears the siren call of her hag mother,
urging her to join their coven and become a green hag.
• Ysabot is an especially curious girl, particularly when it
involves mysteries of arcane alchemy and spellcraft. She
obsessively collects unusually gross reagents from the
strangest specimens.
• Ysabot’s cat familiar, Persimmon, often spies on her
acquaintances, allies, and enemies alike. He seemingly
shows up at the most inopportune times and unreachable
places, unnerving those who cross his path.
• Ysabot views herself as a protector, first and foremost of her
“brother” Agrimar, but to the rest of her companions, as
well. She always seems to know more than she lets on,
maintaining an air of cleverness and playfulness that can
annoy the impatient. And she sometimes lashes out at those
who belittle or devalue her “brother” upon learning of his
orc heritage.

PERSIMMON, CAT FAMILIAR
N Tiny magical beast
Init +2; Senses low-light vision, scent; Perception +5
Defense
AC 15, touch 14, flat-footed 13 (+2 Dex, +1 natural, +2 size)
hp 3 (1 HD)
Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +3
Defensive Abilities improved evasion
Offense
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +4 (1d2–4), bite +4 (1d3–4)
Space 2-1/2 ft. Reach 0 ft.
Statistics
Str 3, Dex 15, Con 8, Int 6, Wis 12, Cha 7
Base Atk +0; CMB +0; CMD 6 (10 vs. trip)
Feats Weapon Finesse
Skills Climb +6, Perception +5, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4
Climb, +4 Stealth
SQ alertness, empathic link, share spells
Stored Spells 0—all; 1st—burning hands, cure light wounds,
hypnotism, identify, inflict light wounds, obscuring mist