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Queen Ileosa Arabasti CR 18
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XP 307,200
Female devil-bound human aristocrat 2/bard 16
NE Medium humanoid (evil)
Init +9;
Senses true seeing; Perception +22
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DEFENSE
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AC 43, touch 30, flat-footed 34 (+8 armor, +5 deflection, +9 Dex, +4 dodge, +5 natural, +2 profane)
hp 230 (2d8+16d6+162); regeneration 20
Fort +23,
Ref +28,
Will +23; +4 vs bardic performance, sonic, and language-dependent effects
DR 10/adamantine;
Immune fire, paralysis and other movement-impairing effects, poison;
Resist acid 10, cold 10;
SR 22
Weaknesses susceptible to
Serethtial
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OFFENSE
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Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
Melee +4 dancing icy burst adamantine rapier +26/+21+16 (1d6+8/18-20 plus 1d6 cold)
Special Attacks bardic performance 43 rounds/day (countersong, dirge of doom, distraction,
fascinate, frightening tune, inspire competence +5, inspire courage +3, inspire greatness 3, inspire heroics, soothing performance,
suggestion)
Space 5 ft.;
Reach 5 ft.
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 18th):
At will –
minor image
3/day – quickened
charm monster
1/day –
greater teleport (self plus 50 pounds of objects only),
unholy blight
Spells Known (CL 16th):
6th (3/day) –
geas/quest, irresistible dance
5th (6/day) –
greater dispel magic, mind fog, song of discord, shadow walk
4th (7/day) –
cure critical wounds, dimension door, freedom of movement, hold monster, summon monster IV
3rd (8/day) –
confusion, deep slumber, displacement, gaseous form, slow
2nd (8/day) –
cure moderate wounds, detect thoughts, mirror image, misdirection, sound burst, suggestion
1st (9 day; 3 used) –
cause fear, cure light wounds, feather fall, grease, hideous laughter, silent image
0 (at will) –
light, mage hand, mending, open/close, prestidigitation, resistance
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TACTICS
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Before Combat When Ileosa notices the PCs entering the Sunken Queen, she casts
freedom of movement on herself. As the PCs draw near, she casts
stoneskin from her
ring of spell storing and uses inspire heroics on herself, gaining a +4 dodge bonus to AC and a +4 morale bonus on saving throws.
During Combat Ileosa’s first act in combat after she emerges is to activate inspire courage; she uses Harmonic Spell to weave a
greater dispel magic into the activation as well. On this and the two rounds to follow, she hits the PCs with quickened
charm monsters as well. On the second round, she uses inspire greatness on herself and two remaining allies, combining it with a
mind fog on the PCs. On the following rounds, she uses a bardic
suggestion combined with attack spells (common
suggestions include, “Lay down your arms and bow before me”, or “Return to Korvosa and hide, you coward!” or (to the appropriate PC) “Return to the floor below to find and take the largest purple gem you see.” She releases her
dancing rapier to attack foes as soon as any good targets are within her reach – as she does, the illusion that makes it appear to be a fan collapses, revealing her weapon for what it truly is.
Morale Although vain and egotistical, Ileosa knows when she’s been beaten. If reduced to 30 hit points or less, she decides to abandon her goals and flees. Unfortunately for her, the Sunken Queen’s qualities slow her flight somewhat. She flees via
dimension door to area
B7, physically exits the structure, and then uses
greater teleport to flee to Cheliax. If Ileosa escapes in this manner, see “Continuing the Campaign” for some notes on what she might do next.
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STATISTICS
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Str 18,
Dex 28,
Con 28,
Int 15,
Wis 13,
Cha 36
Base Atk +13;
CMB +17; [b]CMD 36
[b]Feats Craft Wondrous Item, Extend Spell, Forge Ring, Greater Spell Focus (enchantment), Harmonic Spell*, Persuasive, Quicken Spell-Like Ability (
charm monster), Spell Focus (enchantment), Weapon Finesse(B) *See below for description.
Skills Bluff +34, Diplomacy +21, Intimidate +21, Knowledge (history) +18, Knowledge (nobility and royalty) +12, Linguistics +5, Perception +22, Perform (oratory) +24, Perform (string) +20, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +21, Use Magic Device +34
Languages Common, Draconic, Elven, Infernal, Thassilonian, Varisian
SQ bardic knowledge +8,
contingency, contract bound, jack-of-all-trades, lore master, versatile performance (oratory, string), well-versed
Combat Gear wand of magic missile[i] (CL 9th, 34 charges); Other Gear [i]+4 dancing icy burst adamantine rapier (disguised as a fan),
Crown of Fangs*,
amulet of natural armor +5,
bracers of armor +8,
cloak of flight (as
wings of flying, save that the cloak does not appear as wings when in use),
gloves of Dexterity +6,
ring of major spell storing (contains
heal, stoneskin),
ring of splendid security*
*See below for descriptions
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SPECIAL ABILITIES
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Contingency Ileosa used a
scroll of contingency to set up this effect – if she’s ever brought below 10 hit points,
cure critical wounds (CL 16th) is cast on her.
Contract Bound (Ex) Ileosa has forged a contract with an erinyes devil, granting her the benefits of the devil-bound template. Although she enlisted the aid of a contract devil to get more out of the contract than the erinyes bargained for, Ileosa’s immortal soul remains just as forfeit if she is slain. If this occurs, she cannot be brought back to life without the permission of Sermignatto; if that devil is slain, the contract itself reverts to Sermignatto’s hidden master, the Duke of Hell known as Lorthact.
Exceptional Stats (Ex) Ileosa was destined from birth to achieve greatness and glory – it is to Korvosa’s great misfortune that her path took her along one of cruelty and arrogance. Her ability scores were generated using 32 points, rather than the standard 25-point elite array. Additionally, she possesses a potent artifact and her gear was determined as if she were a PC rather than an NPC to account for her vast wealth. These advantages increase her total CR by 1.
Harmonic Spell This feat allows Ileosa to weave bardic performance effects into her spellcasting. By casting a harmonic spell, she can activate one of her bardic performance effects as a free action. The bardic performance is incorporated into the spell’s casting time, and its effect lasts for as long as the spell’s casting time plus 5 rounds thereafter. Activating a bardic performance ability with Harmonic Spell consumes 2 rounds of her total bardic performance allotment for the day, but does not affect the effective spell level of the spell being cast.
Inherent Bonuses Strength +3, Dexterity +4, Constitution +4, Intelligence +3, Wisdom +3, Charisma +5; all gained at 14th level.
Jack-of-All-Trades Ileosa can use any skill, and considers all skills to be class skills.
Lore Master Ileosa can take 10 on any Knowledge skill check she has ranks in. Twice per day, she can take 20 on any Knowledge skill check as a standard action.
Susceptible to Serethtial (Su) The infusion of Kazavon into Ileosa’s soul has given her an unexpected weakness. Against the weapon
Serethtial, her regeneration does not function. In addition, each time she takes damage from
Serethtial she must make a DC 25 Fortitude save to avoid gaining a negative level, as the sacred blade carves away portions of the power granted her over the past several months by the draconic relics.
True Seeing (Su) Ileosa continually benefits from true seeing, as the spell.
Versatile Performance (Ex) Ileosa can choose to substitute her Perform (oratory) or Perform (string) skill bonuses for their associated skills (Oratory – Diplomacy, Sense Motive; String – Bluff, Diplomacy).
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RING OF SPLENDID SECURITY
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Aura strong abjuration; CL 16th
Slot ring; Price 180,000 gp; Weight -.
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DESCRIPTION
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This extravagant ring is heavy with precious jewels. Even were the ring itself not magical, it would be worth thousands.
As fashions go in and out of style (or as your fancy shifts), you can alter the appearance of your armor, clothing, and even weaponry as you see fit at will with a standard action; this change is illusory and does not affect the actual abilities of gear or weapons (although drastic changes in size are beyond the scope of this ability.
A ring of splendid security’s primary purpose, though, is to grant you protection from harm. As long as it is worn, the ring grants you a +5 deflection bonus to AC, a +5 resistance bonus on saving throws, and spell resistance 22.
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CONSTRUCTION
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Requirements Forge Ring, minor image, resistance, shield or shield of faith, spell resistance; Cost 90,000 gp, 7,200 XP
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CROWN OF FANGS
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Aura strong enchantment; CL 20th
Slot head; Price – ; Weight 4 lbs.
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STATISTICS
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Alignment LE; Ego 10
Senses 30 ft. vision and hearing
Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 10
Communications empathy
Spell-Like Powers alter self[i] at will, [i]dominate person 3/day, major image 3/day, mirror image 3/day, mislead 3/day
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DESCRIPTION
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Donning the Crown of Fangs – fashioned by Ileosa out of the Fangs of Kazavon – grants the wearer a +6 enhancement bonus to Constitution and Charisma, as well as regeneration 20. Only the blade Serethtial can inflict lethal damage on the wearer.
In addition, the wearer gains the personal benefits of the spell foresight. This spell grants the wearer a powerful sixth sense, instantly warning her of impending danger. The Crown’s wearer is thus never surprised or flat-footed, and gains a +2 insight bonus to AC and Reflex saves. This insight bonus is lost whenever the wearer would lose her Dexterity bonus to AC.
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DESTRUCTION
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The Crown of Fangs is destroyed if struck by a holy sword forged by a once-mortal god.
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EXPLANATIONS
Well, just like the woman herself, Queen Ileosa’s stat sheet was a tricky little bugger. So – what changed?
- Bardic music became bardic performance, and increased in usage from 16/day to 43 rounds/day
- The types of bardic performance changed a little – the distraction, dirge of doom, soothing performance and frightening tune bardic performances were added
- Added the versatile performance class feature; I decided not to add any more Performance types because I just couldn’t see Ileosa using them. (I mean, Ileosa using Perform (comedy)? Please!)
- Added the well-versed class feature, and updated the Saves section
- Added the lore master and jack-of-all-trades (Jill-of-all-trades?) class features
- One more feat was needed as a 16th-level character as per Table 3-1 (PFRPG 30) (I’m ignoring her aristocrat levels as useless, so her CR 18 is for a bard 16 +2 CR for the devil-bound template and her ridiculous wealth and owning the Crown of Fangs), so I picked Persuasive (so she has even more of a chance to verbally whip you into shape). As her racial bonus feat, I decided on Weapon Finesse (a big, butch greatsword just doesn’t say “Ileosa” like a rapier does).
- The Bard’s spell progression had changed a tad:
- She can cast spells more often – Ileosa’s spells/day changed from 4/8/7/6/6/5/2 to At Will/9/8/8/7/6/3
- She knows more spells – instead of 6/5/4/4/4/4/2, it’s now 6/6/6/5/5/4/2. I added the following spells:
- 4th level – summon monster IV (to bring in cannon-fodder whilst preparing another onslaught on our heroes – a hellhound or fiendish lion sound good)
- 3rd level – deep slumber (just another way to show off her “Bow down before me!” schtick)
- 2nd level – mirror image (“Missed me! Amateurs!”) and sound burst (being such a petulant little @#@%$#%, shrieking her disdain at these peasants interfering in her apotheosis makes perfect sense)
- 1st level cause fear (“Run from me you fools!”)
- Her skills changed a fair bit:
- Concentration no longer exists – that became Spellcraft instead
- Speak Language became Linguistics
- Listen and Spot points went into a pool, and came out as Perception +22
- Diplomacy and Intimidate went up by +2 due to her new Persuasive Feat
Phew!! Obviously, GMs out there can fiddle with this as they wish…