Hah, that does sound cool. Given the differences in my setting - Kobolds are a "standard" race rather than a "monstrous" one - I may swap them out for draconic (3.5 template) Goblins. Especially since the group got attacked by a gang of Goblins and Goblin Snakes led by an advanced Barghest earlier, and the Barghest managed to kill the general, I imagine they'd be likely to be a little worried about running into another one... or perhaps two!
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Advanced Feral Old Green Dragons = tatzylwyrms. ^____^
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Advanced Feral Old Green Dragons = tatzylwyrms. ^____^
1) He has "the mad" in his name!
2) See the obituaries for 65% of his posts!
3) We love him anyway, might be a madman but he's our madman!
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Advanced Feral Old Green Dragons = tatzylwyrms. ^____^1) He has "the mad" in his name!
2) See the obituaries for 65% of his posts!
3) We love him anyway, might be a madman but he's our madman!
Darn skippy! ^___^
:)
Dragons of the Northlands
A bit more of my setting by way of explanation: the region north and west of the Stolen Lands is the Northlands, a barren, rocky, mountainous region reminiscent of real-world Morocco. This area is home to barbaric, uncivilized tribes of bestial humanoids, including your standard Monstrous Humanoid types like Centaurs, Harpies, Lizardfolk, etc. as well as the more 'unhuman' members of my setting's PC races . These tribes are kept in a constant state of conflict by the true rulers of the region: most of the world's most ancient dragons, who use the lesser residents of the region - intelligent and animalistic alike - in an eons-going game of living chess referred to by the few mortals to know of its existence as "The Long Game".
Obviously Ilthuliak, Choral , and the now-deceased Silver Dragon would have been participants in this game, to one degree or another. I've already mentioned Ilth once to my players, as an ancient black dragon who once lurked in the swamps and forests of the Stolen Lands, a sort of verified bogeyman for the entire region. And while Olorunium might see the Stolen Lands as theirs by right and just waiting to be colonized, the Dragons see it just as strongly as a proper part of the board of their Game.
I'm mainly trying to decide who, if anyone, should have Shadrach (my Pitax) in their pockets. Given the rate at which my party is advancing, my plan to add an extra chapter between WotRK and So1kS is looking to be unnecessary, so I was going to roll the Choral bit into WotRK somehow. On the one hand, he has Engelidis in his entourage, has met and is working for Nyrissa, with whom Ilthuliak is allied; he could be, in addition to searching for Briar, attending to the black dragon's desires, plans, and goals on the Material while Ilth is away studying and undergoing her metamorphosis in Thousandbreaths. The arrival of not-Choral could be the (now Blue) dragon taking advantage of the black's long absence and seeing her territory as up for grabs, and with the PCs' kingdom and Shadrach at war seeing a perfect opportunity to sweep in and claim things once the fighting has both sides winded or one side beaten.
Alternatively, in addition to his agreements with Nyrissa, Shadrach's leader Havelock could be in cahoots or a pawn of not-Choral, and his arrival in the region an answer to the "challenge" placed by the party battling against his proxy, and choosing to move in and take care of the problem of these interlopers personally.
Yep, back on page one, Here's a link. The one correction I'd make would be to put Falchos and Tiressia in Summer Court rather than Wyldfae, but have them be unaware that it's Nyrissa causing all the problems - they're familiar with her tale, and might be able to point the PCs in the right direction, if asked the right questions and properly compensated for the knowledge (for a gift begets a gift!). I also intend there to be a rivalry between Tiressia and the Dancing Lady, once my PCs get back to seeking them out.
The Twigjacks and Springheel Jane in my revamp of Chapter 3 are Winter Court, the Spriggans are Summer.
I have People of the North, but no spare funds for Reign of Winter at the moment, sadly.
Alright! Now that that's done, here's my rewrites of the inhabitants of the Ruined Keep. This is for a level-8 party of 5.
CR 9 XP 6400
Male quickling rogue [Assassin] 7
NE Small fey
Init +15; Senses low-light vision; Perception +21
Defense
AC 27, touch 23, flat-footed 15 (+11 Dex, +2 armor, +1 dodge, +1 size, +2 natural)
hp 146 (4d6+7d8+66)
Fort +10, Ref +20, Will +12; +2 versus Poison
Defensive Abilities evasion, natural invisibility, supernatural speed, improved uncanny dodge; DR 5/cold iron
Weaknesses slow susceptibility
Offense
Speed 120 ft.
Melee +1 keen vicious short sword +16/+11 (1d4/17–20 +2d6 [1d6 to Rigg] plus poison DC 16) and +1 corrosive short sword +16/+11 (1d4/19–20+1d6 acid plus poison DC 16)
Special Attacks death attack (DC 19), sneak attack +4d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th; concentration +7) 1/day—dancing lights, flare (DC 13), levitate, shatter (DC 15), ventriloquism (DC 14)
Statistics
Str 12, Dex 32, Con 22, Int 22, Wis 20, Cha 16
Base Atk +7; CMB +9; CMD 31
Feats Dodge, Improved Initiative, Improved Two-Weapon Fighting, Mobility (B), Spring Attack (B), Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (short sword)
Skills Acrobatics +25 (+61 jump), Bluff +17, Craft (trapmaking) +19, Escape Artist +25, Fly +0, Knowledge (nature) +19, Perception +21, Sleight of Hand +24, Stealth +29, Survival +16, Use Magic Device +17
Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan
SQ poison use, poisonous practitioner +2, rogue talent (fast stealth)
Combat Gear blue whinnis (5 doses: injury, DC 14; 1/round for 2 rounds; initial 1 Con damage, secondary unconsciousness for 1d3 hours; cure 1 save); Other Gear bracers of armor +2, +1 keen vicious short sword, +1 corrosive short sword
Special Abilities
Death Attack (Ex) An assassin may study a target for one round to deliver a particularly devastating sneak attack. Studying a target is a standard action. A death attack automatically fails if the target notices or perceives the assassin as a threat while studying. On the following round, if the assassin makes a sneak attack against the target and the target is denied its Dexterity bonus to AC, the target must succeed a Fortitude save or die. The DC of this save is equal to 10 + ½ the assassin’s level + the assassin’s Intelligence bonus. If successful, the target takes sneak attack damage as normal and is immune to the assassin’s death attack for 1 day. This ability replaces the 6th level rogue talent.
Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex) Rigg can no longer be flanked. This defense denies another rogue the ability to sneak attack Rigg by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target does. Rigg already has uncanny dodge (see above) from his quickling abilities, allowing his racial hit die to stack to determine the minimum rogue level required (15) to flank the character.
Natural Invisibility (Su) A quickling is invisible when motionless. It loses this invisibility and remains visible for 1 round in any round in which it takes any action other than a free action.
Poison Use (Ex) A quickling is never at risk of poisoning itself when handling poison. They usually use blue whinnis on their daggers.
Poisonous Practitioner (Ex) An assassin gains a +1 bonus on Fortitude saves made to resist poisons and increases the DC of any poison she uses by 1. These bonuses increase by +1 for every four levels after 2nd. This ability replaces trap sense.
Supernatural Speed (Su) A quickling moves with incredible speed. Save for when it remains motionless (at which point it is invisible), a quickling’s shape blurs and shimmers with this speed, granting it concealment (20% miss chance). In addition, this ability grants the quickling evasion and uncanny dodge (as the rogue abilities of the same name).
Slow Susceptibility (Ex) A quickling that succumbs to a slow effect loses its supernatural speed ability and is sickened.
CR 9 XP 6400
Male grimstalker fighter [Brawler] 5
NE Medium fey
Init +10; Senses low-light vision; Perception +17
DEFENSE
AC 22, touch 15, flat-footed 17 (+5 Dex, +4 armor, +3 natural)
hp 126 (8d6+5d10+58)
Fort +10, Ref +13, Will +7; +1 versus fear
DR 5/cold iron
OFFENSE
Speed 40 ft., climb 20 ft.
Melee 2 claws +17 (1d6+7 plus poison) plus rend 2d6 w/1 claw; rosewood armor spikes +15 (1d6+2 plus poison) when grappling
Special Attacks sneak attack +3d6
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 8th; concentration +11) 3/day—control plants (DC 21), tree shape
STATISTICS
Str 14, Dex 22, Con 18, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 16
Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 27; +2 with/vs. bull rush, drag, and reposition
Feats Ability Focus (Poison), Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Improved Natural Attack (claw), Improved Rending Fury, Rending Claws, Rending Fury, Weapon Finesse, Weapon Focus (claw), Weapon Specialization (Claw)
Skills Acrobatics +22 (+26 jump), Climb +20, Escape Artist +20, Intimidate +16, Knowledge (nature) +18, Perception +17, Stealth +21 (+29 in forests), Survival +10
Languages Aklo, Common, Elven
Combat Gear +2 rosewood armor, gauntlets of ogre power +2, 5 oils of greater magic fang +3
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Close Control (Ex) At 2nd level, a brawler becomes skilled at forcefully moving his opponent around the battlefield. The brawler gains a +1 bonus on bull rush, drag, and reposition combat maneuver checks. The brawler also gains a +1 bonus to CMD when attacked with the bull rush, drag, and reposition maneuvers. These bonuses increase by +1 for every four levels after 2nd (to a maximum of +5 at 18th level). This ability replaces armor training 1.
Close Combatant (Ex) At 3rd level, a brawler gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +3 bonus on damage rolls with weapons in the close weapon group. Both of these bonuses increase by +1 for every four levels beyond 3rd (to a maximum of +5 on attack rolls and +7 on damage rolls at 19th level). This ability replaces weapon training 1 and 2.
Poison (Ex) Claw—Injury; save Fort DC 22; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Dex; cure 2 saves.
CR 9 XP 6400
Female baohban sidhe bard [Dervish Dancer] 3
CE Medium fey
Init +6; Senses low-light vision; Perception +22
DEFENSE
AC 24, touch 17, flat-footed 17 (+6 Dex, +1 dodge, +7 natural)
hp 138 (9d6+3d8+60)
Fort +12; Ref +15; Will +14; +4 versus bardic performance, sonic, language-dependent
OFFENSE
Spd 30 ft.
Melee 2 claws +13 (1d6+5), bite +13 (1d6+5)
Special Attacks battle dance (distraction, fascinate [DC 18], inspire courage +1, inspire competence +2) 11 rounds/day, blood drain, captivating dance, dying words, versatile performance (dance for acrobatics or fly), well-versed
Bard Spells Known (CL 3rd; concentration +10)
1st (4/day)—charm person (DC 18), curse of ineptitude (DC 18, swift), grease (DC 18), pacifist (DC 18)
0th (at will)—detect magic, ghost sound (DC 17), lullaby (DC 17), message, open/close, prestidigitation
Spell-Like Abilities (CL 10th; concentration +17) At will—detect thoughts (DC 18); 1/day—entangle (DC 17), suggestion (DC 19)
STATISTICS
Str 21, Dex 23, Con 22, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 24
Base Atk +6; CMB +11; CMD 28
Feats Alertness, Combat Reflexes, Dodge, Great Fortitude, Mobility, Weapon Finesse
Skills Bluff +22, Craft (woodworking) +20, Disguise +22, Escape Artist +21, Knowledge (nature) +20, Perception +22, Perform (dance) +22, Sense Motive +22, Stealth +21
Languages Aklo, Common, Elven, Sylvan
SPECIAL ABILITIES
Battle Dance A dervish dancer is trained in the use of the Perform skill, especially dance, to create magical effects on herself. This works like bardic performance, except the dervish dancer only affects herself, and does not need to be able to see or hear his own performance. Battle dancing is treated as bardic performance for the purposes of feats, abilities, effects, and the like that affect bardic performance, except that battle dancing does not benefit from the Lingering Performance feat or any other ability that allows a bardic performance to grant bonuses after it has ended. Battle dancing benefits apply only when the bard is wearing light or no armor. Like bardic performance, it cannot be maintained at the same time as other performance abilities.
Starting a battle dance is a move action, but it can be maintained each round as a free action. Changing a battle dance from one effect to another requires the dervish dancer to stop the previous performance and start the new one as a move action. Like a bard, a dervish dancer’s performance ends immediately if he is killed, paralyzed, stunned, knocked unconscious, or otherwise prevented from taking a free action each round. A dervish dancer cannot perform more than one battle dance at a time. At 10th level, a dervish dancer can start a battle dance as a swift action instead of a move action.
Dervish dancers gain the inspire courage, inspire greatness, and inspire heroics bardic performance types as battle dances, but these only provide benefit to the dervish dancer herself.
Blood Drain (Ex) A baobhan sidhe can suck blood from a grappled or helpless opponent; if she establishes or maintains a pin, she deals bite damage and drains blood, dealing 1d4 points of Strength damage and 1d4 points of Constitution damage each round.
Captivating Dance (Su) When a baobhan sidhe dances, all living creatures within 30 feet that view the rhythmic swaying and movements of her body must succeed on a DC 23 Will save or become utterly enthralled and captivated. Creatures that are sexually attracted to females who view this dance suffer a –2 penalty on their saving throws. A creature that makes its save cannot be affected again by the same baobhan sidhe’s captivating dance for one day. A captivated creature is dazed (it cannot attack, but can defend normally). This continues for as long as the baobhan sidhe dances. A baobhan sidhe can move and act normally (including using her spell-like abilities) while maintaining her dance. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Dying Words (Sp) When a baobhan sidhe is slain, she utters a curse as a free action (whether it’s her turn or not) that affects her killer as if it were a bestow curse spell (caster level 10th). The target can resist the curse with a successful DC 23 Will save. If the save fails, the target suffers a –6 decrease to its highest ability score. The save DC is Charisma-based.
That looks nasty Orthos! Rigg is one tough cookie already, and adding assassin levels is just icing. My players never managed to kill him, so he will become a recurring villain. If suggest the same if you have a similar circumstance.
That looks nasty Orthos! Rigg is one tough cookie already, and adding assassin levels is just icing. My players never managed to kill him, so he will become a recurring villain.
Same here, good to have an upgrade :)
2. Fey and Eldritch Horrors Don't (Usually) Mix.
It's funny you should say that, though, given that one of Lovecraft's greatest influences was likely The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen, which basically sets in motion many of the best Eldritch tropes in a story based on horrific fey in the woods, and does it seamlessly. As if the two were MEANT to be together.
Meanwhile, see what your disbelief has wrought!!
That looks nasty Orthos! Rigg is one tough cookie already, and adding assassin levels is just icing. My players never managed to kill him, so he will become a recurring villain. If suggest the same if you have a similar circumstance.
He's the only one of the batch to survive. He fled the party at 2 HP remaining with multiple bleed effects on him, nicked one of the Grimstalker's potions (and distracted him by telling him the party was going after the Dancing Lady), and by the time he was healed up and ready to pursue (my Rigg owed the DL a debt and was a bit infatuated with her, so he was going to try to come to her rescue after sending Teorlian in to get hammered) the battle was mostly over. He'll be plotting his revenge and making plans to hunt down the PCs in the future, especially the Spymistress Lilith, who was the only one who could reliably spot him.
2. Fey and Eldritch Horrors Don't (Usually) Mix.It's funny you should say that, though, given that one of Lovecraft's greatest influences was likely The Great God Pan by Arthur Machen, which basically sets in motion many of the best Eldritch tropes in a story based on horrific fey in the woods, and does it seamlessly. As if the two were MEANT to be together.
You are absolutely correct. Fey and Eldritch Horrors DO belong together... in the context of a story.
But the actual Fey and Horrors themselves? They don't get along. Nor should they.
And that dichotomy is intentional, and desired.
Fey can be alien. Very alien. And very eldritch. Heck, the word eldritch itself simply meens "eerie, weird, spooky". And that they certainly should be. They should be representative of every weird, unexplainable, undiscovered dark corner of nature. But the key is that last word - nature. They are part of the world. They are, in a sense, normal, in that as strange as they are, this is still their world too, their reality, and they play by the same rules of existence (even if their rules of behavior are, likewise, bizarre). Deep-sea life, microscopic life, remote region life are all weird and strange and often unnerving, but they are nevertheless natural and proper parts of our reality.
Aberrations, on the other hand, are not. They are alien to our world somehow. Often alien to our reality. They do not live, exist, abide by normal rules of biology, of anatomy, of physics, of time and space. Their very existence is a blot on the natural order. They live in defiance of nature as it should be, as living resistance to the very building blocks of reality. They are from Elsewhere, from Outside, from Beyond, and this place is not their home.
The two, as characters, could not be more diametrically opposed. And that, as plot devices, makes them perfect together.
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One of my players - the duchess - was told by an NPC I've created with minor, uncontrolled precognition (the Old Beldame's apprentice) that a strange red eye was observing her, or would be observing her in the future. Curious and a little worried, she performed a divination asking what it was. The answer is Vordakai's Oculus of Abaddon, of course, but since she asked about the eye itself and not its user/wearer, this is the answer her spell got:
"Eye of crimson, eye of depth
Eye of sorrow, eye of death
Hear thy sinister siren call
Marching off to eternal slumber all
Deepest Stygian depths you see
Plucked from boatman's skull for thee"
Nice!
That's excellent Orthos, thanks for sharing that consider it stolen if my PCs try that...
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Blood and Blades
I mentioned the Northlands, their draconic rulers, and their anti-human, anti-civilization sentiments above; given that Armag in Blood for Blood is supposed to be a barbarian warlord attacking from the wilds to drive back civilization and establish his dominance, it only makes sense to have him be a Northlander tribal leader. Of course this requires reskinning him as a non-human; after some consideration I went with Lizardfolk, meaning he'll need to schedule his initial charge for early spring, so the party can't just hold out until winter forces him to retreat. That said, he'll have some non-reptilian allies - particularly the Black Sisters, who are becoming Harpies, as I replaced Gyronna with Irshya, my setting's Goddess of Envy and patron of Harpies. So should he be forced into winter conflict, he'll at least have access to magic that will keep some - though likely not all - of his forces active enough to at least play defense until spring comes - read "defend the barrow mounds long enough for him to claim Ovinrbaane and raise an army of undead that doesn't give a care about the weather".
I've decided that Shadrach is going to be under the thumb of Choral's replacement, a blue wyrm named Cuorvhain. Cuorvhain is mostly concerned right now with Ilthuliak's absence, and has tolerated the presence of humans long enough to test the waters before launching an offensive into her territory. Armagk's attacks are the first of this, caused by the dragon nudging the lizardfolk and their harpy handlers into an uneasy alliance with his human pawns, but the unexpected alliance between Armagk, Shadrach, and Drelev has stymied further infiltration, even more so when Drelev pointed Armagk toward the tombs where Ovinrbaane rests.
There's yet another puppetteer in this chapter, who will probably be more the chapter's final boss than Armagk - a vampire lord connected to my group's dhampir Spymistress. I've already tied him in a bit to the region: several of his other proteges, spawn, or "experiments" have gained infamy for their antics in forwarding his agendas (or dying trying), as well as having Lilith be aware that in ages long past he studied at the feet of a powerful necromancer named - you guessed it - Vordakai. While Drelev may be allied with Shadrach and Armagk's tribes, it's this vampire who really pulls his strings. Fort Drelev was yet one more of his hideouts and outposts, scattered across the lands, and specifically was one of two attempts to gain a foothold in the barbaric Northlands. After dealing with Fort Drelev, the party will be in an interesting quandary: head to the tombs first and deal with Armagk before he seizes Ovinrbaane and bolsters his army with the tombs' dead, or pursue the lead back to the vampire's current lair.
As for Cuorvhain, he's allowing the humans for the moment, but once he's assured he can seize Ilthuliak's territory - either by confirming her absence or death, or thinking his forces strong enough to claim it by force - he'll invade, bring one of his more monstrous tribes down to colonize the region, and obliterate the humans completely - Shadrach, Drelev, and the PC's kingdom, with little regard for his prior alliances or agreements. After all, the Northlands don't tolerate humanity. Cuorvhain simply chose to delay the necessary obliteration as long as convenient for him... and encouragement from Nyrissa, of course, to allow Shadrach's seekers to find Briar for her before they're all destroyed. The blue dragon's attack will ensue likely after Shadrach's fall, and make up the second half of WotRK.
Of course, Cuorvhain is unaware of Nyrissa's alliance with Ilthuliak, or that the now-much more powerful black dragon is sequestered away in Thousandbreaths, and well on her way to becoming a superpowered Tarn Linnorm. It's a win-win for Nyrissa: Cuorvhain delays his attack until she gets Briar back, then wipes out the humans, clearing the land of its infestation, after which she can allow the empowered Ilthuliak to destroy him and reclaim her territory, or Cuorvhain is defeated in his conquest attempt, and Ilthuliak can come back to reclaim her territory without contest, minus of course the parts Nyrissa seizes to take back to Titania once her plan is complete.
Tonight the group begins the final dungeon run/loot gathering phase before I initiate another Hargulka attack (probably around summertime ICly, it's early spring in Iomrall now). The plan right now is first Candlemere starting tonight, then the Lonely Barrow, then the King of the Forest and the mysterious Mazewood (order yet undetermined). During whichever is the final phase Hargulka will send his trolls on yet another attack, at which point the party will be able to put their newly-formed military to the test, and then track the trolls' trail back to Hargulka's lair.
My refurbished Candlemere Tower will be the first challenge, if everything goes according to plan. In place of Wisps, the isle is overrun with Notes - flying oozes, the weakest and most mindless members of the Song. Within the tower itself, in addition to the remnants of the Song's cult (and mentions of their unspeakable homeworld of Acheron and the alien things that spawned them there) they will face more Notes, four species of Song (largoes aka "lull turtles", ritardandos aka "sluggards", andantes aka "walkers", and pianos aka "soft serpents"), as well as Nieve, a Winter Court Huldra sent by Desdemona to establish the "restraining bolt" of Candlemere by luring the Song here in the first place; Nieve has in the years since been corrupted by the Song, becoming one of them in the form of a Dissonant Creature, a template I'll post along with the various Song types after the adventure is done. And at the top of the tower is the living restraining bolt - a massive Songspawn known as a Chorus, a living dome of countless mouths ever singing.
Removing the Dark Song's presence and purifying Candlemere will have little effect at the moment other than the removal of an obvious threat, but will have repercussions - such as the visiting of Candlemere Cultists later and, of course, Nyrissa being able to move forward with her plans for bottling the Stolen Lands in earnest now that the restraining bolt is gone - down the road. If the players manage to cure Nieve and remove the Song's corruption rather than simply kill her, she'll be able to give them more information on the nature of Candlemere and the purpose for its creation, but they won't have time likely to re-establish the restraining bolt... and their populace will look poorly on any attempts to do so in any case.
I've reflavored the Lonely Warrior to suit my party more - rather than some barbarian warlord, he's actually an imprisoned, wight-ified Yamabushi Oni, imprisoned on these distant shores by a long-forgotten naga shugenja. He has levels in Sword Saint Samurai, and be most interested in having a worthy duel with Takeshi, doubly so now that the Ronin has been reincarnated into naga form. In place of the skeleton guardians, he has a malevolent spirit he attempted to create/summon in an early attempt to escape the tomb, which since that failed is now forced to animate the bones of his guardians, victims, and prior attempted tomb raiders in the form of a Bonestorm. The tomb's hidden entrance will be surrounded with kami wards, set by the old shugenja before departing, to prevent him or any other undead from escaping.
Grigori tried to blame her oddities, as with the half-elf (elves in my setting come from the other continent, so they're nigh-unheard of here), on being fey or feytouched, and thus as much a threat to the kingdom as the denizens of the forest; a not-unreasonable claim, given she lived in the Narlmarches for quite some time and is close friends with Perlivash and the rest of Za-Lord's Guard. That had some traction until he got talked in circles by the Duchess Oracle (they had exactly the same Diplomacy, Bluff, and Sense Motive modifiers, but my dice betrayed me as soon as Grigori came under fire, while hers rolled nothing lower than a 15) at which point much of the populace has dismissed his claims as fearmongering.
However, I imagine things will stir up in chapter 4, when I plan to have her sire - one of the puppeteers behind Drelev - start making his presence more active.
CR 14 - XP 38,400
Male Half-Jabberwock troll fighter [Dragon Warrior (Black)] 7; Champion 1
CE Large dragon (augmented, giant, mythic)
Init +5; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +12
Defense
AC 27, touch 10, flat-footed 26 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size)
during rage: 25, touch 8, flat-footed 24 (+7 armor, +1 Dex, +10 natural, –1 size, –2 rage)
HP 182 (normal)/230 (max) (6d8+5d10+2d12+108); regeneration 5 (acid)
hard to kill/to the death: death at -90, remains conscious and not staggered in negatives
Fort +14, Ref +5, +8 vs. Acid, Will +5, +7 during rage
Immune fire, paralysis, sleep
Weaknesses mythic flaw (furious rage, 1d4+1 rounds)
Offense
Speed 30 ft., fly 60 ft. (average)
Melee +1 darkwood thundering morningstar +25/+20/+15 (2d6+20 +1d8 sonic on crit + DC 14 Fort deafening), claw +16 (1d6+6), bite +16 (1d8+6)
or two claws +23 (1d6+6 plus rend) and bite +23 (1d8+65)
Ranged 2 eye rays +12 touch (4d6 fire + burn DC 24 Ref) 1/1d6 rounds
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks burble (DC 19 Will/Reflex), burn 2d6 fire (DC 26 ref, 1d4 rounds), improved vital strike (+4d6), rend (2 claws, 1d6+12), sudden attack +1, whiffling
Tactics
During Combat Hargulka almost always opens battle with Dazzling Display, hoping to shatter his opponents' confidence before moving in for the kill. Hargulka uses Power Attack and Vital Strike tactically, adjusting when he uses them to strike foes with lower armor classes or to remain mobile and prevent powerful foes from getting full attacks on him in the unlikely event that he’s outmatched. Single ranged opponents are targeted by his Eye Rays. If multiple melee opponents surround him, he will attempt to knock them down with Wiffling or Burbling. His necklace of fireballs is somewhat legendary among his minions—he uses it against foes that try to hang back and avoid melee combat against him (starting with the most powerful first) or against a large number of foes that seem to be teetering on the brink of death. His own fire immunity makes him unafraid of using it melee however.
Morale Hargulka fights to the death, going swiftly from arrogantly confident to enraged to panicked as his defenses and hit points erode and it becomes more and more obvious that the PCs are indeed going to kill him.
Upon finally being reduced to -90 hit points and struck with an acid attack to overcome his regeneration, Hargulka at last falls unconscious and dead. One round later, a gleaming green light shines from within his mouth and eyes and severs his head from within; it then floats up ten feet into the air and announces in Sylvan in an echoing, alluring woman's voice, "He comes. He comes, and he cannot be stopped. It is too late for you. The promise will be fulfilled. These lands are not for you. Be gone... be gone... be gone!" The head then explodes in a shower of green electricity, dealing 13d6 points of damage – half electricity, half acid – to all within 30 feet of Hargulka's corpse.
Statistics
Str 35, Dex 12, Con 30, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 16 (includes +2 INT +2 CHA from iron crown)
Base Atk +11; CMB +26; CMD 35
Feats Cleave, Dazzling Display, Improved Initiative, Improved Vital Strike, Intimidating Prowess, Iron Will, Multiattack, Power Attack, Vital Strike, Toughness, Weapon Focus (morningstar), Weapon Specialization (morningstar)
Skills Knowledge (dungeoneering) +7, Knowledge (engineering) +8, Intimidate +31, Perception +12, Survival +8
Languages Common, Draconic, Giant, Sylvan
SQ draconic resistance (acid), draconic prowess, half-Jabberwock traits, hard to kill, mythic power (+1d6, 13/day), to the death
Combat Gear necklace of fireballs (1 8d6 fireball, 2 4d6 fireballs, 3 2d6 fireballs)
Other Gear +3 hide armor, +1 darkwood thundering morningstar, rusty key to treasure chest (wedged inside a skull on his bracelet; Perception DC 20 to locate), iron crown (+2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma), ring of the jabberwock's blood (grants Half-Jabberwock template, becomes nonmagical on Hargulka's death)
Special Abilities
Burble (Su) A Half-Jabberwock can burble once every 1d4 rounds as a standard action. This blast of strange noises and shouted nonsense in the various languages known to the Half-Jabberwock (and invariably some languages it doesn’t know) affects all creatures within a 60-foot-radius spread—these creatures must make a DC 19 Will save or become Confused for 1d4 rounds. Alternatively, the half-jabberwock can focus its burble attack to create a 60-foot line of sonic energy that deals 6d6 points of sonic damage (DC 19 Reflex save for half). The confusion effect is mind-affecting; both are sonic effects. The save DC is Charisma-based.
Dazzling Display While wielding a morningstar, Hargulka can make an Intimidate check to demoralize all foes within 30 feet who can see his display as a full-round action.
Eye Rays (Su) The Half-Jabberwock can project beams of fire from its eyes as a ranged touch attack as a standard action, with a range increment of 60 feet. It projects two beams, and can target different creatures with these beams if it wishes as long as both targets are within 30 feet of each other. A creature that takes damage from an eye beam suffers burn.
Hard to Kill (Ex) Whenever Hargulka is below 0 hit points, he automatically stabilizes without needing to make a Constitution check. Bleed damage still causes him to lose hit points when below 0 hit points. In addition, he does not die until his total number of negative hit points is equal to or greater than twice his Constitution score.
> To the Death (Ex) When below 0 hit points Hargulka does not fall unconscious and does not take damage from acting normally. He does not die until his total number of negative hit points is equal to or greater than three times his Constitution score.
Mythic Flaw (Ex) Furious Rage: Whenever Hargulka is demoralized by the Intimidate skill or hit by a critical hit, he goes into an uncontrollable rage. This functions like the barbarian’s rage class feature, but he does not gain a bonus to his Strength or Constitution score. This limits the actions he can perform and gives him a penalty to your Armor Class. The rage lasts for 1d4 rounds plus a number of rounds equal to his mythic tier (1), but he is not fatigued after this duration expires.
Mythic Power (Su) Mythic characters can draw upon a wellspring of power to allow them to accomplish amazing deeds and cheat fate. Hargulka must choose one ability score as the one most associated with his mythic potential (Strength). Hargulka can draw upon your mythic power a number of times per day equal to his mythic tier plus his mythic ability score's bonus (1+12=13). In addition to abilities gained from his mythic path and overall mythic tier, Hargulka can expend one daily use of mythic power to increase any d20 roll he just made by rolling 1d6 and adding it to the results. Using this ability is an immediate action that is taken after the original roll is made and the results are revealed. This can change the outcome of the roll.
Sudden Attack (Ex) Hargulka can expend one use of mythic power to make a melee attack at his highest attack bonus as a swift action (in addition to any other attacks he might make this round). When making a sudden attack, Hargulka rolls twice and takes the better result, and adds his champion tier (+1) as an insight bonus on the attack roll. Damage from this attack bypasses damage reduction.
Whiffling (Ex) A Half-Jabberwock’s wings and violent motions create a significant amount of wind whenever it makes a full attack action. These winds surround the monster to a radius of 30 feet, and are treated as severe winds—ranged attacks take a –4 penalty when targeting a Half-Jabberwock while it is whiffling, and Small creatures must make a DC 10 Strength check to approach the creature. Tiny or smaller creatures in this area that fail a DC 15 Strength check are blown away. See weather for further details on the effects of severe winds.
In other news... they've still got Candlemere to finish and I think the Lonely Barrow is next on their list, but after that, the group has made it pretty clear they intend to attempt to deal with the King of the Forest rather than kill him. I believe the plan at the moment is to offer him Ilthuliak's former territory and their backing in the Long Game (including protection, in case of Ilthuliak's return) in exchange for his alliance and assistance against the trolls, and once they discover them a request that he corral his goblinoid servants so another Barghest incident doesn't happen.
As the King has been upgraded from Forest Drake to Forest Dragon in my game, he's a little more potent than he was before, if a bit on the young side, but he's still a more fitting participant in the Long Game than Jaekah, and if they can make an agreement he approves of he is Lawful and will keep to his word. If not....
... and I just noticed that Hargulka's statblock does not account for his Multiattack feat. -_-
Those claw and bite attacks in the first offense line should be at +21 each.
Yeah, my party is significantly ahead of the curve - I expect them to be at or nearly 11th by the end of the chapter, as after all those quests plus Hargulka and the rest of the trolls they'll still have the Owlbear Colossus to deal with. I'll be bringing them a bit closer to the into expected experience level by removing a lot of the excess stuff from Varnhold Vanishing - pretty much trimming it down to just Varnhold, the tribal interactions, and Vordakai's tomb, and getting rid of 90% of the sidequests.
Excellent ... you can buff up ol' Vordakai nicely then ... he'll need it. ;)
Oh certainly. He's going to have bare minimum three tiers of Archmage.
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Which means full lichdom - yay! ^_______^
Eyyyup. I imagine the party will be scouring his lair looking for the phylactery, scrambling to find it in the few days they have before he regenerates.
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That's if they beat him, you mean. They may well be scouring the tomb for a safe hiding place after getting their butts handed back to them. :P
Oh, one quick question...Owlbear Colossus?
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If indeed!! Heheheheheheheh.
And Yep. Hargulka's dead-man's switch/secret weapon, courtesy of Nyrissa.
Since (thanks to Dudemeister's helpful RRR rewrite) I removed the unmentioned and frankly irrelevant side-bit about the hunters trying to charm the giant owlbear, but I wanted to keep the "owlbear theme" of Kingmaker present, I've - again, thanks to Dudemeister - come up with an alternate origin for the oversized critter.
Hargulka has an agreement - a "contract", if you will - with Nyrissa "in the event of an untimely demise" that he, of course, believes will never happen. But why turn down a "free" contingency? (Hargulka doesn't really "get" fey.) She gave him not one but two Jabberwock rings - the one he wears, the ring of the jabberwock's blood, which gives him his Half-Jabberwock template, and one that he placed on an owlbear pet of his, the ring of the jabberwock's rage. As per his agreement with Nyrissa, only one of these rings can be active at a time; Hargulka, being in control of the agreement, can manually switch between the two rings which one is active, but he so loves the enhancements brought on by his template - not the least of which is his newfound fire immunity, hence his title "Fire-Eater" - that he's chosen to never do so. However, should one of the ring-bearers die, that ring immediately becomes inactive, as happened with the Stag Lord's ring of the jabberwock's skin. Thus, when/if Hargulka finally bites the dust, his ring will go dead... which will cause the owlbear's to automatically activate.
The ring of the jabberwock's rage does three things. First off, it causes the owlbear to grow. Immensely. It becomes size Colossal. Secondly, it fills the owlbear with fury, driving it into an angry destructive rage. And thirdly, it fills the owlbear with a portion of Nyrissa's power. This doesn't cause her to actively control it - she's far too busy for that - but she can use it to "nudge" it into specific actions, such as pointing its rampage toward the PCs' kingdom.
I have not yet statted the Colossus, mostly because I'm still trying to decide how I want the battle to go. What I do not want is another simple "run up and beat it to death" fight - they'll get plenty of that from Hargulka and his trolls, though Hargulka's strength and immunity will serve him well the party has already determined they'll be needing to barrage him with acid to truly kill him, and thanks to the Oracle's primal manipulation revelation, the Rogue's alchemy, and the Magus's black blade, they'll have plenty of it to go around. I want the Owlbear to be a very cinematic fight. I want them to climb the monster to attack its head, going for the eyes or perhaps a big Jabberwock rune on its forehead displaying Nyrissa's power's presence. Or maybe they have to destroy the ring to put a stop to it, as Nyrissa's energy makes the owlbear unkillable otherwise. I haven't really decided anything specific just yet, beyond it's huge, it's powerful, it's destructive-minded, and it can't be beaten in a straight-up normal fight.
look at Kobold press on monday-tuesday I have an article coming out there that will help you customize that owlbear further in an organized manner. You'll like it, it will give you some options
So noted =D
If you're going for a more cinematic fight, why stop at Colossal? Treat it like the Oliphaunt of Janderlay - a walking, killable battlefield, one the PCs can see coming from miles. They'll know it's not something they can poke to death with sticks that way.
As for how to bring it down, don't come up with simply one weakness/Achilles heel. Cook up several unique ways tooled to your players so all the PCs can participate in bringing King Kong down. The last thing you want is someone who gets to watch this epic showdown, but not play in it, because he doesn't have the specific skills to assist.
101 Not So Simple Templates features the Walking Fortress template. Use that perhaps?
If you're going for a more cinematic fight, why stop at Colossal? Treat it like the Oliphaunt of Janderlay - a walking, killable battlefield, one the PCs can see coming from miles. They'll know it's not something they can poke to death with sticks that way.
That kind of is what I was shooting for, actually.
As for how to bring it down, don't come up with simply one weakness/Achilles heel. Cook up several unique ways tooled to your players so all the PCs can participate in bringing King Kong down. The last thing you want is someone who gets to watch this epic showdown, but not play in it, because he doesn't have the specific skills to assist.
Definitely.
101 Not So Simple Templates features the Walking Fortress template. Use that perhaps?
So noted. Will investigate!
Chase rules? With certain portions to "damage" while running after it?
So noted =D
This is what I was mentioninghere.
So, a short summary of what's happened in the past few weeks.
The party completed Candlemere, clearing out the Dark Song and uncovering a massive cache of magic items (they're terribly behind WBL and it's started to show, so I kind of tossed stuff at them for them to use or sell; they'll get a similar cache, though mostly of money and other minor items with a few magical trinkets mixed in, from the Lonely Barrow), but Duchess Elegy died to the boss after getting critted on an AoO. Unfortunately, Elegy decided to take this as an opportunity to slip out of her debt to Queen Mab, and decided to refuse the call of the reincarnate spell the party attempted to use on her.
This, of course, Mab would not allow to stand, and went to personally fetch Elegy's soul herself, demanding an explanation. The duchess managed to sweet-talk herself out of major trouble, but Mab would not let the sleight go unpunished. Thanks to a (possibly deliberate) reinterpretation of Elegy's excuses, Mab determined that she "needed more time" and thus returned her to life in the body of an Aranea, deeming that as the longest-lived mortal race (Aranea in my setting can live up to 1500 to 2000 years, metamorphosing into Arachne around age 800) she would have plenty of time to gather the skill required to complete Mab's task and pay her debt. To make sure she wouldn't forget her due again, Mab marked both her human and spider form's backs with a birthmark/tattoo of her own symbol in highly-noticeable blue, and gave Elegy the Arctic template, turning her skin extremely pale and her hair bright white. (Given Elegy was formerly black-haired and had some minor Olori [my setting's equivalent of the Romani] ancestry, the change was very noticeable.)
Mab, escorted by her Le'Fay knight Sharlin, made the trip to the Stolen Lands personally to deliver the reborn Elegy to the party, who had gathered their council in a near-panic over the past three or four days to discuss what to do about the duchess's refusal to return to life. Her presence of course did not go unnoticed in the current climate, and the sudden cold snap in the early autumn - right in time for the harvest - will kick up some much-maligned Unrest for the party. Mab forced Elegy to remain in spider form while her party gave her a much-deserved third degree, then provided some information on the status of the Stolen Lands - how the destruction of a powerful Summer noble some time in the past had allowed the land to be suffused with the essence of fey nobility, and how both courts had gone to war over the region attempting to claim the discarded power. Mab herself, when she grew tired of the battles, had arranged for the Dark Song to be summoned to the region - sacrificing one of her best agents, Nieve, a Huldra Wilder, to get the job done - to serve as a restraining bolt, for neither court would dare to try to seize the inherent energy in the land with the presence of the Song's corruption there. However, with the party defeating and slaying the Song, that restraint is gone (though the isle of Candlemere itself is still infested with the weird aura, and will require cleansing before anyone will settle there) and the war can now freely resume, as soon as one of the courts is ready to make a move. Mab herself seems disinterested, but should Summer make a move she might change her tune... or she might simply attempt to have the party deal with it, as any threat to the region by either court is, in turn, a threat to their fledgling kingdom.
She also offered to tell them what she knew about Nyrissa... but for a further price. No one in the party seemed very interested in taking her up on the offer. She - or perhaps her daughter, Desdemona - may come back later to repeat the opportunity.
Elegy spent the following week with the group's Diplomat, Akiniyi the Arachne, learning how to shot web and other aspects of her new body, and managing to open up a little about her own issues in the process. Lilith the spymistress shadowed her for a while, then spent the following few days being introduced - individually one by one - to the now-250+ members of Perlivash's "Forest Guard", comprised of Little Fey, local animal and magical beast life, and minute dragons like himself. The rest of the party stayed in the capital, working on their various local duties.
All in all, this was part of both Mab and Nyrissa's plans. Nyrissa wants to seize the Stolen Lands, reclaiming her stolen nobility, and present it as a gift to Titania in hopes of being made whole again and restored to her place in the Summer Court; now that Candlemere's restraining bolt is gone, her plan can move into full sway. Mab, on the other hand, is less interested in the scattered remnants of Nyrissa's nobility and more interested in her stolen love - she wants Briar, a stronger and more concentrated energy, and feels that if she can nudge Nyrissa into making the first move, the Queen of Forgotten Time's efforts to recover the lost blade will flush it out of whatever hiding place it's currently been secured away in (which happens to be Lord Archmage Beltasar Havelock's scabbard) and make itself visible for Elegy to seize. Summer, in turn, has played the same game - the Summer Lady, Cordelia, arranged to get the sword Red Right Hand into the hands of Magister Errol, with the intent of it destroying and then becoming Briar, thus securely putting the weapon in the hands of a Summer agent, as she (probably correctly) estimated that the Magus would be loathe to part with his Black Blade, regardless of the name it wears or the intellect that inhabits it.
Four months remain until the colony of Iomrall faces its second winter, one that may come slightly early due to the untimely visit of Queen Mab and the lingering aftereffects of the Winter Monarch's presence. Other than a chance of the Wild Hunt riding at Hallow's Eve in two months, those will likely be months of relative inactivity for the party, allowing them to devote the autumn to finishing the three major remaining quests in the region. Here they are, in the order the party has decided to tackle them, and with the changes I've included.
The Mazewood: Located in the midwestern Narlmarches (where the book's map sticks the Hodag's lair), this is a place in the marches where the borders between the Prime and FaeReie are thin. It is from here that the predecessors to many of the forest's current fey population - including Perlivash and his growing "Guard", Tiressia and Falchos, and Melianse - made their way onto the Prime and settled in the region. On the Fae side, the region is a confusing, labyrinthine briarwood, a natural maze that constantly shifts, changes, and moves (think like the tunnels from of Leaves for lack of a better comparison). The place is a frequent and favored hangout of Puck, who enjoys the randomness and unpredictability of the region as well as his ability to influence and control it to some extent, and is likely where the party will first encounter the Summer Jester. There's little combat to be found here - most things won't be hostile, just lost and disoriented, though some might be predators native to the shifting realm; Puck himself will likely take up the majority of the party's attention here.
The Lonely Barrow: I've replaced the Lonely Warrior here with a cairn wight version of a Yamabushi Tengu Oni, as I'd like his weapon (now a +2 fey-bane cold iron katana) to go to the party's Samurai, who's probably the worst off for treasure in my group thus far and hasn't ever gotten something that seemed explicitly put there for him. The story is that the unruly Oni was slain and its spirit sealed within the tomb by an old Naga shugenja who had wandered this region in ages past; Takeshi will be able to recognize the Senkakuan carvings and old runes in Nagastrani when they find the Barrow's entrance. In addition to replacing the skeleton guards with a Bonestorm and rebuilding the Warrior himself, the cairn will be decorated with carvings of daemons and the Warrior's crypt will be replaced with a cyclops skeleton, hoping to foreshadow Vordakai a little more.
The King's Forest: Nuozelas, the King of the Forest, is a Mature Adult Forest Dragon instead of a simple Forest Drake. Unlike most of his kind, he is Lawful Evil, due to years of exposure to the ways of this land's Green Dragons, who he has come to associate himself with after leaving the Senkaku Islands from whence most Imperial Dragons hail in my setting. As such, he is willing to negotiate with mortals, provided they give him the respect he feels he deserves - as his self-granted title displays. Nuozelas is no fool, and has been lying low for fear of Ilthuliak's return, but if convinced her absence is for good, or properly has his ego stroked and his pride swollen, he could be persuaded to become more active in the Long Game. Or the party could just attack him, kill him and his draconic goblinoid servitors, and take his hoard. Y'know, whichever.
Come Winter: Regardless of where the party is with their dungeon-crawling, come the end of the month of Iunory - Yuletide, the Solstice, and the depths of the winter season - Hargulka, aided by several amulets of warmth created by his sage Enlort, will unleash his army on Iomrall. Thankfully, the group is already putting their own army together, and should have a force available come winter to repel the attack, and from there will be able to track the stragglers and survivors back to Hargulka's lair and take the fight to the troll king himself. Should they not do so - for fear of the weather at the time, if nothing else - Hargulka will simply send another attack a few weeks later, hoping to wear them down enough that he can send in the Talonquake (colossal owlbear) and finish them off in one fell swoop (a dangerous prospect in his eyes, since empowering the Talonquake's ring requires him to deactivate his own, stripping himself of his precious Half-Jabberwock template; but if he thinks it will be able to finish the job and prevent the PCs from coming after him while weakened, he'll risk it for just long enough for the owlbear to do the job). The PCs will then be able to locate the lair, battle and defeat Hargulka, and then be alerted to the presence of the owlbear and be able to battle it, ending Chapter 2 at long last.
The one remaining hanging thread is Rigg Gargadilly, the lone survivor of the battle at the ruined keep. If the PCs look to be breezing through Hargulka's lair easily, I'll have the fey assassin pop up there, having attached himself - in an informal sense, no contracts here - to the troll king for a chance at revenge for the death of the Dancing Lady. If the PCs are having noted difficulty or battles are seeming too dragged out and long, I'll delay his arrival and have him show back up later - Chapter 4 will have a section where several "discarded" memorable villains (thus far only including Rigg and Dovan, and maybe Grigori, but others are likely to pop up in the future as the PCs encounter more things in Chapters 3 and 4) make reappearances thanks to the intervention of a certain dread vampire.
So I've been pondering Nyrissa for a while, and after some debate I've decided that I am going to rebuild her as an Oracle with the Theurge mystery rather than simply leveling her up from her in-the-books build or something else like that.
The main issue I have is picking a Curse for her. Legalistic is redundant, since I play (most) Fey as being unable to break contracts, lie outright, etc. as part and parcel of their very nature. Any of the others though I'm up for, if there's reasonable flavor justification for why she has it. Suggestions?
The two I'd recommend the most are Wasting and Wrecker, oddly enough. Both come with great benefits for Nyrissa, but huge drawbacks as well, either by marring her otherwise beautiful appearance(something she seems proud of, and she seduces almost every one of her pawns) or casually breaking everything she touches like a perverted Midas touch(physical manifestion of how she destroys everything she loves by her actions?). These feel like they'd be Curses to Nyrissa, so much so that she'd try to pass them off to some poor sap at the first opportunity.
Actually, re-reading the spell text reveals that she'd still suffer from the curse's drawbacks, so instead of inflicting it on someone else, she's just spreading her misery. So, if you'd prefer less drastic curses, just give her Lame or Blackened Arms and blame the Jabberwock attack on them. She'll probably be flying most of the time, so her speed won't ever be truly hampered, and I doubt this Nyrissa will use weapons much, if at all.
I'd still recommend Wrecker, though, since the 15th-level power(which you should be able to get, even if you're shooting for the CR the book gives you) seems well-suited to Nyrissa and her personality: so untouchable and unattainable that even weapons dissolve after meeting her once.
It would, and yes that was one of the ones I was very strongly considering, with Blackened being the other.
Now that I think about it, I'm kinda leaning against Blackened.
Part of the big draw of Blackened is the free arcane spells that Oracles can't otherwise get. The Theurgy Mystery(great find there, Orthos!) pretty much negates that, and the drawback will rarely get used depending on how you run Nyrissa.
If you don't have her use melee attack much(and with that BAB, why would you?) the curse would be almost completely useless, because you're not really suffering from the penalties at all, and you're not really feeling the benefits either.
EDIT: I stand corrected, the Oracle's BAB is fine. The weapon proficiencies are not. Since the Oracle's true strengths lie in casting anyway, I feel the point about Nyrissa never using melee weapons enough to feel the detriment of Blackened still stands.
Wrecker it is, with the caveat that the curse's origin is her schism with Briar, and that managing to reunite herself with the weapon will rid her of the curse. (Normally takes deific intervention to do, but hey, we're talking Major Artifact here. These things kick the rules in the shins as a matter of course.)
Thanks much TS =)
Also an update on my dramatis personae, between some levels gained and a series of reincarnate shenanigans (the entire party is no longer the species they began the game as, heh):
Duchess Elegy Medvyed: LN Aranea* Oracle [Spellscar mystery, Legalistic curse] 9
General Jaekah: TN modified Juvenile Magma Dragon Barbarian [True Primitive] 5/Cavalier [Honor Guard, Order of the Lion] 4
Magister Errol Genio: CE Glaistig** Magus [Bladebound] 9
Spymistress Lilith Adhmad Dubh: CN Leanbh-Dubh** Rogue [Sniper] 8/Psion [Telepath] 1 (aiming for a modified Arcane Archer)
Marshall Takeshi: TN Naga* Samurai [Nitojutsu Sensei, Ronin] 9
*: Modified version of the standard race for my homebrew setting.
**: Newly created race for my setting. Leanbh-Dubh (plural Leanai-Dubh) is a gender-neutral term for the Celtic folklore creature Ghillie-Dubh.