Category: Non-Player Characters

This NPC was useful just once. He provided the party with important information and set the stage for a follow-on adventure. That “prophesy” thing was FAR too much fun! I may revive this NPC for the current campaign.

Yes, I borrowed the idea from one of the Shannara books.

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Shade of Trelhaem

Frequency:	unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	n/a
Move:	n/a
Hit Dice:	n/a
% in Lair:	100%
Treasure Type:	nil
No. of Attacks:	0
Damage/Attack:	nil
Special Attacks:	nil
Special Defenses:	nil
Magic Resistance:	nil
Intelligence:	genius
Alignment:	Neutral
Size:	M (6′)

The last Grand Druid alive when the Wars of Rendelshod came to a close Trelhaem and his followers waged war to prevent the forest known as the Druid’s Keep from being ravished. In the twenty years that the wars lasted he led his people in the wood’s defense, surviving all his peers.

As the Wars came to an end a great mass of White Elves and other foul creatures marched toward the Druid’s Keep intending to destroy it and the many creatures who found refuge there. This terrible army included many creatures of the Lower Planes that none had ever seen, before or since. Leading this foul army was the White Elf Witch Queen Oclavwa, who was legendary for both her powers of magic and the depth of her depravity.

A ragtag army marched north from the Druid’s Keep to do battle, willing to give their lives to protect the great wood and it’s defenseless inhabitants. The two forces met 10 miles north of the wood; the savage battle raged for 5 days.

Badly stricken, the druid led army fell back in a fighting retreat, making their final stand at the City of Marquelom, where the unequal battle raged again.

At the height of the battle Trelhaem met Oclavwa in personal combat. Trelhaem was as outmatched in this fight as his army was in the overall battle, so defeat appeared certain. Moments from defeat Trelhaem called upon a dark and arcane magic to turn the tide.

Oclavwa was consumed in a pillar to brilliant white light, and all of her followers were blinded by the light and stricken to the ground. What remained was a slaughter, not a fight, but the small fraction that remained of the defending force used the opportunity to ensure their complete victory. Not one member of that foul army escaped from the Druid’s Keep.

In the aftermath no trace of Trelhaem was found. He was assumed destroyed by the magic he used to defeat Oclavwa. Five days later, next to the fountain at which he defeated the black witch a shadowy form came to be. The magic Trelhaem used was indeed a very dark one, and it consumed his material body and cursed his spirit to remain at the site for eternity.

What remained of the city was abandoned, and few visit it to this day. The Shade of Trelhaem converses with visitors and offers much information, but the price of such information is high, and never in terms of worldly goods.

Anyone who comes before Trelhaem with a question will have a prophesy made. These prophesies always come true, tend to be rather cryptic, and rarely bode good.

Kersichay appeared in two of my campaigns, initially in the original Rendelshod campaign as a sage the party consulted a few times. In a later campaign I taught my players how much a mistake it is treat a current character as having the knowledge of other characters from a previous campaign. In this case a 5th level Paladin tried to treat Kersichay in the same fashion the player’s 12th level magic user did — the paladin was FAR too familiar with a very dangerous and unpredictable NPC.

Kersichay drove a glass dagger into the paladin’s heart and vanished it. The paladin was told that if he further irritated Kersichay the dagger would reappear with quite fatal results. To get the dagger removed the party was required to go on a somewhat strenuous quest.

Expensive visits to other wizards, clerics, and sages not only determined that they couldn’t remove the dagger, none could even be sure it was there!

If anyone has read the story “What Good Is A Glass Dagger”, they know the situation. The entire thing was an illusion — there was no glass dagger. ROFL!

This went on for years of game time, and months of real time. Finally the quest was completed and Kersichay “removed” the dagger and sent the paladin on his way. I later told the party what I did — the jaw dropping action dented the table in several spots. The guy who ran the paladin was *quite* vexed with me and everyone else LOVED the joke!

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Kersichay, The Black Wizard

Frequency:	Unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	-6
Move:	120′
Hit Dice:	25th level magic user
% in Lair:	95%
Treasure Type:	varies
No. of Attacks:	1
Damage/Attack:	1d6+4
Special Attacks:	spells
Special Defenses:	spell resistance
Magic Resistance:	standard
Intelligence:	Very High
Alignment:	Lawful Evil
Size:	M (5′)

Strength: 12; intelligence; 19; wisdom: 14; Constitution: 16; Dexterity: 16; Charisma: 14; Comeliness 8.

Kersichay is a human archmage who serves, and has served the demi-god Abuna for over 1,000 year. Because of his faithfulness Kersichay has been granted unusual longevity and special spell abilities. Although less active in recent centuries, he is found most often in his tower in the Mithril Mountains.

Although not especially skilled in personal combat, Kersichay carries Staff of Lightning +4 and a Dagger +4 with unknown other abilities. He will avoid personal combat, preferring to use spells at a distance, but will not sacrifice his servants just to save his own life.

Kersichay saves vs. fire, cold, and lightning at +4, taking half damage from all effects. Magic Missiles fail 20% of the time against him, and a successful save vs. Magic indicates that he takes half damage. The side effect of this ability is that he, himself, cannot use the Magic Missile spell.

In addition to his normal spell complement, Abuna grants Kersichay certain spell abilities usable one per round: Light or Darkness (a), Continual Light or Darkness (4), Tongues (3), True Seeing (1), Insect Plague (1), Heal (3), Control Weather (1), Earthquake (1), and Creeping Doom (1).

He typically wears Bracers of Defense AC2, a Ring of Protection +4, a Cloak of Protection +4, a Ring of Feather Fall, and 3 Ioun Stones that each store 7 spell levels each.

Although his servants turn away most visitors, Kersichay is a sage with a major field of Supernatural & Unusual, with minor fields of Flora & Fauna. Because of the length of time spent researching all categories are treated as “special”.

Kersichay’s prices for information are stiff, and may not always be in the form of goods. He may demand a quest in payment for services. His extensive knowledge and even more extensive library made his services worth the price for unusual or important information.

Unfortunately Kersichay is known to be moody and sometimes very touchy. Depending on how greatly he is upset or insulted he may simply send the offender away, or may plane shift them into Hell.

Kersichay has developed special spells for summoning Devils to aid him. Each spell requires 1 segment per spell level to complete. The chance that the summoned devils will be well disposed towards him is equal to 90% minus the hit dice of the creatures.

Level 6 Spell: summon 3d4 devils of 1 to 4+3 HD

Level 7 Spell: summon 2d4 devils of 4+4 to 8+3 HD

Level 8 Spell: summon 1d3 devils of 8+4 to 12+3 HD

Level 9 Spell: summon 1 devil of 12+4 to 16+3 HD.

I invented this one with a need in mind … but he got put on a back burner. I think I was planning a story line involving competing demon lords but can’t remember where I planned to go with it. In any case, it went nowhere.

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Ryflorin

Demon Prince

Frequency:	unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	-7
Move:	120′
Hit Dice:	127 hp (attacks as 20 HD)
% in Lair:	25%
Treasure Type:	AU
No. of Attacks:	3
Damage/Attack:	1d4+1d6 + 3 (x3)
Special Attacks:	+2 on initiative
Special Defenses:	musk, +2 weapon to hit
Magic Resistance:	65%
Intelligence:	supra-genius
Alignment:	Chaotic Evil
Size:	L (11′ tall)
Psionic Ability:	207
Attack/Defense:	all/all

Ryflorin appears as a humanoid of hill giant size. He has the strength of a hill giant, using this to great effect in combat. He fights with a Two Handed Sword +3, although the sword has no additional special abilities. Ryflorin, for all his size and bulk, is very quick, giving him +2 on initiative, which is rolled separately from his retinue.

When aroused in combat he gives off a very strong musk from his green, scaly skin, which has the effect of a Stinking Cloud in a 25′ radius. Creatures in the area of effect must save each round, and if the save is successful, they fight at -2 to hit.

He has the following powers usable at will, one per round: Darkness 15′ Radius, Infravision, Dancing Lights, Command, Pyrotechnics, Detect Magic, Detect Illusion, Hold Person, and Fear.

In addition, Ryflorin has other powers that can be used once per day each, one per round: Power Word Stun, Meteor Swarm, Emotion, Gate 1d2 Type VI demons or1d4+1 Type 2 demons with equal chance for either.

As is common with Demon Princes, Ryflorin is never encountered alone. There will always be 1d4+2 Type I demons and 1d4+1 Type II demons with him.

Even among demons Ryflorin is considered a coward. With a great number of servitors against lesser odds he shows great bravery, but against equal odds he quickly runs away leaving his servitors to die in his place rather than risk himself in any way.

Should he be cornered with no escape possible he will go berserk, blindly attacking any creature in range, friend and foe alike. In this berserk state he acts as if Hasted and his strength increases to that of a fire giant, giving him and additional +3 damage and +4 to hit. For this reason, his servitors fear him, for he is the embodiment of Chaotic Evil.

Ruling an entire plane of the Abyss, Ryflorin has no allies. He has earned the contempt and distrust of all other Demon Princes and Lords, especially Jxtl and Is’Sel.

I invented the Reaper after reading the Elfstones of Shannara. It’s an interesting idea but I’ve never had a group get strong enough to go up against it. Eventually …

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Reaper

Singular Demon

Frequency:	unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	-10
Move:	90′
Hit Dice:	35 (221 hp)
% in Lair:	nil
Treasure Type:	nil
No. of Attacks:	2
Damage/Attack:	4d6, 4d6
Special Attacks:	rending, silent movement/surprise, fear
Special Defenses:	partial spell immunity, +4 weapon to hit, regeneration
Magic Resistance:	90%
Intelligence:	high
Alignment:	Chaotic Evil
Size:	L (8′)

The Reaper is the single most dangerous creature known. It surpasses the most powerful demon lords, though it rules no plane. Instead, it wanders. It has only one purpose — to kill any living creature it meets.

In appearance the Reaper is humanoid, standing 8′ tall. It wears a black robe with a cowl and the only visible parts are the heavily clawed, reptilian feet and large human-like hands, also heavily clawed. The visible skin is scaly and black. The face is unknown as only its victims ever see it, and dead men tell no tales.

It travels the planes at will, slaying every living creature it meets. Although more than capable of mass combat, it typically meets its victims alone. It has been known to do favors for some demon lords, but its reasons for doing so are as mysterious as itself.

In combat the Reaper attacks a single character, attacking as a 35 HD monster. If both claws hit and both “to hit” rolls are at least 5 over the minimum necessary to hit the Reapers draws its victim to itself and has the chance of a 15th level assassin’s assassination of shredding and killing its opponent. In this process the Reaper absorbs the life energy from its hapless victim and destruction is permanent.

One half of the victim’s total hit points will be added to the Reaper’s, healing its damage and possibly temporarily increasing its hit points above its normal maximum. There is no limit to the additional hit points, but the points start fading at a rate of 1 hp per round starting 1 turn after receiving them. In combat against 0 level characters or creatures of less than 1 HD the reaper can destroy 20 per round.

Once a victim is destroyed the Reaper selects another opponent. If reduced to less than 100 hit points, it will flee through the planes, although once healed it will specially seek those who harmed it.

The Reaper continually radiates Fear in a 25′ Radius, automatically paralyzing all creatures of 7 HD/levels or less for 2d4+2 rounds. Creatures of higher level get the benefit of a saving throw vs. Fear, failing indicating paralyzation for 1d4+1 rounds. The Reaper’s other powers are Darkness 25′ Radius at will and, Teleport and Plane Shift once each per day.

Weapons of +4 enchantment are required to harm the reaper. Weapons of +5 or greater enchantment cause full damage, while +4 weapons cause half damage. The Reaper moves in total silence, surprising 1 in 20, and regenerates 1 hp per round.

Because it is a wanderer with no home, the Reaper may be slain on any plane, although this is not an easy task. But even in death the Reaper gains revenge, for upon death the body begins smoldering. Three rounds after death the body explodes as a 30 die Delayed Blast Fireball. Creatures immune to fire will still take 10d4 points of damage from the blast.

Is’Sel has appeared in name in my campaigns — she’s cropped up as Jxtl’s sometimes consort, and dangerous in her own right. I’ve never come up with a good story line that involves her but may do something with demon worshippers that follow her. This, of course, means I’ll need to make up a more detailed mythology for her …

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Is’Sel

Demon Princess

Frequency:	unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	-6
Move:	18o’/24o’ (MC:C)
Hit Dice:	172 hp (attacks as 25 HD)
% in Lair:	25%
Treasure Type:	STWX
No. of Attacks:	4
Damage/Attack:	1d8 + 11 (x4)
Special Attacks:	disarm opponent on natural 20
Special Defenses:	+2 weapon to hit
Magic Resistance:	70%
Intelligence:	supra-genius
Alignment:	Chaotic Evil
Size:	M (6′)
Psionic Ability:	210
Attack/Defense:	all/all

Is’Sel, at first glance, appears to be a 6′ tall human woman, but only at first glance. Upon closer inspection the differences are clear: her skin is pure white as is her hair, and in contrast her eyes are flat, lusterless, black orbs. She rules an entire plane of the Abyss.

Is’Sel has the strength of a Stone Giant, making 4 attacks her round with the two long swords she carries. On a natural 20 any opponent must save vs. Wands or be disarmed. This is a natural skill, not a magical ability. She typically carries a Long Sword +3 and a Long Sword +3 of Stunning.

Is’Sel can use the following -powers at will, one per round: Infravision, Darkness 25′ Radius, Detect Good, Hold Person, Silence 15′ Radius, Comprehend Languages, Sleep, Detect Invisible, Detect Illusion, Fear, Spectral Forces, and Confusion.

The following powers can be each used, one per round, a limited number of times each day: Prismatic Wall (1), Projected Image (1), Maze (1), Phantasmal Killer (1), Improved Invisibility (3), Wall of Force (1), Transmute Rock to Mud (2), Magic Missile (5 die) (1), Symbol of Stunning (1), Symbol of Insanity (1), Command (1), Gate (100% chance of success) 1d6 Chasme (6).

She is never encountered alone. Accompanying her will be 1d3 Type IV Demons or 3d4 Rutterkins, with equal chance for either. Occasionally (10%) she may be encountered with Jxtl, her only ally, and his retinue.

She has little fear of mortals, but usually chooses to use servitors to do her fighting. She prefers to stand in the background and use her powers to tip the odds.

 Jxtl was the chief demon in charge — while he didn’t rule the entire Abyss, he was strong enough to control some of the most powerful planes. His allies were among the most powerful demon lords, although alliances among demons are not exactly long lasting!

I killed him off once, but decided he was only slightly dead and brought him back for a new campaign. Not for them to fight — just a manipulator in the background to make life interesting.

In my campaign world demon lords are basically demi-gods, possibly verging on lesser gods, so PCs fighting them doesn’t normally happen. But they’re fun to have in background as an enemy the party can’t kill. Gives the party a MUCH needed sense of mortality!

Before starting a new campaign in 2005, I killed Jxtl off again, this time permanently.

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Jxtl

Demon Prince

Frequency:	unique
No. App.:	1
AC:	-3
Move:	90′ (+60′ hop)
Hit Dice:	141 hp (attacks as 20 HD)
% in Lair:	25%
Treasure Type:	RST
No. of Attacks:	5
Damage/Attack:	1d4 + acid (x2), 2d4, 3d4 (x2) or by weapon
Special Attacks:	hop for triple damage with claws, surprise on 1-5, acid
Special Defenses:	+2 weapon to hit
Magic Resistance:	60%
Intelligence:	supra-genius
Alignment:	Chaotic Evil
Size:	L (9′ long as toad or 7′ tall as black elf)
Psionic Ability:	191
Attack/Defense:	all/all

Jxtl normally appears as a large toad with two 5′ tails. His skin is red mottled with black and is dry like a lizard’s. Sometimes he appears as a Black Elf of great stature, standing 7′ tall.

In his normal form he attacks with his twin tails for 1d4 points of damage each, and for each hit the creature struck must save vs. Poison or be injected with acid for an additional 1d4+4 points of damage. He also bites for 2d4 points of damage and can claw with his front claws for 3d4 points each.

In addition to his normal move, he can hop for up to an additional 60′. Unless seen before he hops Jxtl surprised on 1-5 and causes triple damage with his claws, which are his only attack that round.

In his Black Elf form he fights with a long sword in one hand and a short sword in the other. His great strength gives him +4 to hit and +8 damage. Jxtl always carries a matched pair of swords, each of which causes and additional 3d4 points of damage from acid on all hits that are 5 over his required hit value, and always on a natural 20.

Jxtl has the following powers available at will and can use one per round: Detect Magic, Know Alignment, Silence 15′ Radius, Charm Person or Monster, Blur, Spectral Forces, and Fear.

The following powers can be used one each per day, one per round: True Seeing, Symbol of Sleep or Stunning, Radiate Hopelessness 25′ Radius, Magic Missile (9 die missile), Improved Invisibility, Chaos, and Gate 1d6 Chasme or Babau demons.

Jxtl is never found alone. There will always be 4d6 killer frogs in attendance, and a 50% chance of 1d3 Type III demons. Occasionally (10%) he will be found in the company of Is’Sel, his mistress and only ally, and her retinue.

Ruling an entire plane in the Abyss, Jxtl is known as the Toad Prince and as the Price of Deception. His word is never to be trusted, and he is an expert in pain and terror, reveling in the torture of innocents. He enjoys magical and biological experimentation, and is responsible for creating some of the most horrific types of demons.

Gill was just plain fun! She bailed the original campaign party out of a tough situation, in the process she slaughtered a pair of seladaemon, creatures tough enough to give a 10th level party a sense of mortality. THAT convinced the party that they didn’t want to mess with her. It took a fair amount to convince them that she was friendly.

I revived her for the current campaign (summer 2006). The party doesn’t really understand what she is, only that she’s a daemon and that she bailed them out of a tough spot. They don’t know why she helped them and I’m not filling them in any time soon. Makes for fun when the party is wondering, “Whut thu hell?”.

Note that Gill was originally statted as a nycadaemon, but I altered her to be a shaxadaemon. It seemed more fitting for her to be one of the Shedim, the five ancient daemon races of my campaign world.

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Gilmedya

Singular Daemon

Frequency	unique
No. App.	1
AC	-4
Move	180′ / 240′ (MC:C)
Hit Dice	12 (132 hp)
% in Lair	0%
Treasure Type	Q x10, X
No. of Attacks	2
Damage/Attack	2d8, 2d8, or 2x by weapon +8
Special Attacks	as per shaxadaemon
Special Defenses	as per shaxadaemon
Magic Resistance	as per shaxadaemon
Intelligence	genius
Alignment	Neutral (LE tendencies)
Size	L (9′ tall)

Gilmedya is one of the two most powerful shaxadaemon in existence. She and Ben (real name unknown) are the only two shaxadaemon whose mortal forms have never been slain, so their individual power has never been diminished.

Note that her use name is “Gill”, and her real name has been known only to a very few wizards whom she had the utmost trust.

She is a singular daemon in every aspect. Her most significant divergence from her race’s norm is that instead of being Neutral Evil, she is Neutral with Lawful Evil leanings. If she had not hidden her odd tendencies during her formative centuries, she would have been slain out of hand. The Shedim are not known for tolerating divergences from their norm.

Gill is a mercenary, and while she has unsavory habits (to daemon-kind), her personal prowess with weapons and magic are highly valued, as are her abilities to plan battle campaigns and command mixed troops. While in the pay of various personages of the Lower Planes she has commanded entire armies, and no army she commanded has lost. Gill has no fixed home and is often not welcome on her home plane, due to her personal proclivities, and the fact that most of the remaining powerful shaxadaemon have lost wars to her.

From a daemon point of view, her most unsavory habit is that she forms friendships with mortals, especially Human and Elven wizards. While in her fifteen eons of existence she has been friendly with many wizards, her closest friends were the Lord-Archmage Kold-Robi and the Lord-Archmage Susafras.

In addition to her normal shaxadaemon magical abilities, Gill has magic-user abilities at 12th level. She typically carries a set of traveling books with her and is reputed to have hidden books containing all known (and many unknown) magic spells.

Gill always carries a large Sword +5, with which she deals out 2d6+8 or 3d6+8 points of damage to small-medium and large creatures, respectively. She usually carries a Large Shield +5 which lowers her armor class to -10. In addition, she may carry other magical weapons (including various bows) and 1d4+1 other miscellaneous magic items.

Bravery and integrity are two things that most impress Gill. She may offer friendship to fighter/magic-users who display both, although for obvious reasons Good characters, especially Chaotic Good ones, may find her friendship too startling to accept.

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Note: Most remaining shaxadaemon are female, with only a handful of males remaining. Sages use the terms “male” and “female” for two of the three daemon sexes, as that is the closest explanation they can make. The third sex, xtzhrlwnvz (ext-zurl-wun-viz) were all killed before the first Wars of Rendelshod, so the Shedim races are slowly dying off as their members die.

June 2013

I originally named this wonderfully useful NPC “Panamon Creel”, after the character from Terry Brook’s novel The Sword of Shannara. For publication in & Magazine, Issue 4 in February 2013, I changed the name to avoid copyright infringement. This article is published here in its published format.

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Paquin Crii

History

Paquin Crii was born in the year 7866 ASNK in the city/state of Refuge, into a family of great prestige and honor, but little wealth remaining. Being of high nobility he spent much of his youth in the Grand Palace of Refuge. He grew up close friends with Deley Porsupah, nephew of the king Keken Miltoat.

Training together in the arts of combat, they went to war against Refuge’s rival trading port Nequat. In vicious fighting both young men showed great skill and courage, and each received battle field honors for their many victories.

Upon completion of the war Crii returned home to find his father dead and the little that remained of the estate gone to pay creditors. With no family or support he left Refuge for a life of adventure at the tender age of 22. His life away from Refuge is almost entirely unknown.

Miltoat employed strict measures during the four years that the war with Nequat lasted. Becoming paranoid with age, Miltoat chose not to repeal the measures imposed by war. In the following years further measures were added to the already strict ones. Taxes crushed the already weakened economy.

A number of important and influential people spoke to the king, and when no results were gained, spoke openly against the measures. The most outspoken were imprisoned on trumped up charges, and later on no charges at all. When that did not quiet the noisy voices more arrests were made and the most vocal were executed regardless of station.

Among the arrested were the King’s nephew Deley. The young man had been imprisoned for several years imprisoned when Crii returned to Refuge.

This was not the Paquin Crii of old. He looked more worn than typically does a man of thirty, and his left hand was replaced by a poniard. Hearing of his friend’s plight he staged a lone assault on the castle and succeeded in releasing and escaping with Deley and other important prisoners.

Miltoat believed the Assassins Guild was responsible and began a vicious war upon that organization. Three months later the war ended abruptly with the death of the King and his immediate family. Gone also were the entire hierarchy of the Guild, a blow it never recovered from.

His uncle dead, Deley assumed the throne. He released all surviving political prisoners and established a fair law system, repealing the harsh measures implemented by his unlamented uncle. He has ruled since that time with Crii at his right hand.

Paquin Crii

Human Fighter 7 / Assassin 15

Align Lawful Evil

hp 127

Str 18/41, Int 14, Wis 12, Dex 18, Con 16, Cha 14

Thief Abilities:

Pick Pockets:	105%
Open Locks:	82%
Find/Remove Traps:	80%
Move Silently:	99%
Hide in Shadows:	85%
Hear Noise:	40%
Climb Walls:	99.3%
Read Languages:	65%
Backstab:	5x damage
Read Scrolls:	75%

Originally trained as a soldier, Crii is is reputed to be a deadly swordsman, although he has not had to publicly demonstrate his skill in years. He regularly practices at the Royal School for Guardsmen, so none doubt his ability is as deadly now as it ever was. It is rumored that his poniard is enchanted stronger than his sword, but that rumor has never been verified. In fact, he is double-specialized in short sword, attacking twice per round at +3 to-hit and damage. His lost left hand was replaced by a short poniard many years ago, and by the time he returned to Refuge he was accomplished in two weapon fighting, striking a third time each round with the poniard (treat it as a dagger).

Crii’s training as an assassin has given him exceptional ability with thrown daggers. All his daggers, including the magical ones, are specially weighted so he gets his full strength bonus to-hit and damage, in addition to +3 to-hit for dexterity. His range with these daggers is twice normal range and he can assassinate with thrown daggers at medium range.

His items include: Short Sword +4, Dagger +3, Dagger +1, 4x non-magical daggers, Bracers of Defense AC2, Ring of Protection +3, Cloak of Protection +3, Banded Mail +3, 100′ Rope of Climbing, Ring of Shadows. He normally wears his Bracers, Ring of Protection, and Cloak of Protection, giving him AC -8. In field situations he wears his magic banded bail with an effective AC of -3.

Crii is currently in his mid-50’s. His beard is solid grey although his hair remains dark excepting grey in the temples. His public persona is “playboy”, he always has a woman on his arm during public events although rarely the same one twice. He never married and apparently has produced no bastards. His private life is just that – private. Even Deley knows little of Crii’s personal affairs.

Behind the Scenes

During the civil war Crii negotiated with the Assassins Guild to gain its cooperation in the fight, utilizing them to remove Miltoat’s supporters. At the conclusion of the final battle Crii orchestrated the total destruction of the Guild leadership and quietly assumed control during rebuilding.

His control over the Guild is absolute. Only the top three leaders in the guild know who the Guildmaster is, and they received a Geas to never indicate his identity to anyone. They control an organization that is far stronger that it had been under the previous leadership.

Crii’s friendship and devotion to the king are not feigned. There is literally nothing he will not do to protect his childhood friend. Under his tenure the direction of the Guild changed so that it is more aptly termed the secret police of the kingdom than a criminal organization. However, even the top leaders don’t fully realize the guild’s position as protector of the kingdom.

Assassination in the kingdom is kept low key. Paid jobs always look like accidents or the work of foreign thieves or brigands. No evidence that there is an Assassins Guild in Refuge ever surfaces – everyone knows it was aligned with Miltoat and all members killed or fled at the end of the civil war.

Traitors to the throne are publicly exposed or framed, and then publicly executed. Guild members are expected to learn the soft arts of assassination as well as the more direct means. The Guild pulls the strings in several nearby kingdoms where the local Guild Master, a servant of the Refuge guild, does not put the same pretty face on the guild.

Non-member assassins are required to join the Guild (if they prove acceptable) and abide by its rules, to find alternate means of employment, or to leave the kingdoms. The Guild typically places blame on non-members when the assassination of person of high station occurs, so a few are “allowed” to operate independently until needed as the patsy.

The guild leadership is required to carefully consider what jobs they accept, and to consider who customer and the victim are. Crii is known to override decisions and occasionally customers will die at the hands of foreign thieves during a home invasion, or similar unsuspicious circumstances. Crii’s deciding factor is the long term good of Deley and the kingdom.

Crii’s friends are wide ranging, including many notables in the kingdom. His most noted friend is the paladin Avatar, who is known widely for his many exploits in the destruction of evil. Regardless of what happened to Crii during his “lost years”, he is a member of the high nobility, the product of many generations of breeding. The only thing he places above his own honor is the safety of his closest friends.

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This page last updated: 04 June 2013

Copyright 2013 Bryan Fazekas

I was looking for a new type of friend and/or enemy for a new campaign, and the Circle of Jocelyne developed over the course of a few weeks.

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Circle of Jocelyne

The Circle of Jocelyne formed two thousand years before the first War of Rendelshod, the creation of a group of secular savants who eschewed the gods in pursuit of knowledge. The Circle secretly invited the most prominent intellectuals to join their group, which focused on amassing knowledge for the sake of knowledge.

Decade after decade, century after century, the Circle continued its mission of accumulating knowledge. Its libraries grew, expanded, and expanded again. Mindful of the losses that wars and turmoil produce, they built multiple fortified libraries and duplicated information against unexpected catastrophes, both natural and inflicted by sentient beings.

During the early centuries, the Circle made numerous attempts to shape governments by sharing knowledge with carefully selected leaders. Although the effort was somewhat successful, all too often a formerly well-grounded leader was seduced by power or a need to impose their will on others for the others’ own good. After a number of spectacularly ugly failures, one which resulted in the destruction of a Circle library, the Circle withdrew from politics and focused on its core mission.

Remaining hidden, the Circle was very rarely known by anyone outside of its membership, and was considered a legend more than anything real. They avoided politics and focused on expanding knowledge, including mundane and magical research.

However, time proved to be the one enemy they could not avoid or defeat. As each member aged and died, their accumulated individual knowledge and experience was lost. While information was saved and protected, the experience in research and using that knowledge was lost. Some magics could extend life a few score of years, but that merely delayed the inevitable.

The Circle expended tremendous effort to investigate many avenues for  extending life. Experiment after experiment failed, some tragically.

Among the worst of the failures, the Circle is  believed to have produced the first lichs. This effort proved to be simultaneously a great success and their most dismal disaster. The success was that it worked — those who survived the transition experienced an existence centuries longer than mortal life. However, the selfishness required to make the transition to undeath meant the survivors lost their belief in the in the Circle, and some actively opposed their former brethren. This resulted in hidden wars that lasted centuries.

Nearly twenty centuries of effort finally produced a suitable result — the fah’amiga.

Normal mortals would never accept the solution, but the mystics of the Circle found the result satisfactory.

Accepting that modifying their mortal bodies would not work, the Circle produced new bodies, a sphere about two feet in diameter with six many-jointed legs for movement. The body has a single eye, a small mouth, and four slender tentacles, each three feet in length and tipped with six slim “fingers”, tentacles a few inches long that allow delicate manipulation of objects.

At a point where a mystic’s natural body was failing, a fah’amiga would be created and the consciousness transferred to the new receptacle.

One caveat is that the recipient of the transfer must be a fairly powerful spell caster, as non-spell casters and those with insufficient power would either fail to transfer or the new body would die within hours.

Since the creation of the first fah’amiga, all members of the Circle focus part of their effort on developing enough magical power to enable them to survive the transfer.

Fah’Amiga

Frequency	very rare
No. Appearing	1d12
Armor Class	0
Move	240′
Hit Dice	9 to 16
% in Lair	25%
No. of Attacks	2
Damage/Attack	1d4, 1d4
Special Attacks	spells, charm, chameleon-like
Special Defenses	spells, regeneration, immune to poison
Magic Resistance	Standard (see below)
Intelligence	High to Supra-Genius
Alignment	Neutral (Lawful)
Size	M (5′ Tall)
Treasure	varies

A fah’amiga has a spherical body roughly 2 feet in diameter. Six legs sprout from the top of the body, so that the body is suspended beneath them. The legs each have 7 omni-directional joints which are tipped in claws. They can move rapidly in even rough terrain, including half speed up near vertical surfaces. If a ceiling is sufficiently rough, they can move at quarter speed across the surface.

The body has a single eye about 3 inches in diameter, with infravision and ultravision to a range of 120 feet. A small mouth beneath the eye has teeth that resemble a human’s – they are omnivores, capable of digesting most plant and animal matter, and are immune to normal poisons and diseases.

The mouth is capable of forming sounds within and beyond the range of human vocal cords. However, they typically use a limited telepathy that allows them to communicate with creatures of Animal intelligence or greater to a range of 60 feet. If there is no common language between the fah’amiga and another creature, general feelings and emotions can be exchanged. A given fah’amiga may know 4d4 languages.

Fah’amiga are resistant to mind-affecting magics. With respect to such magics, treat them as having 25% magic resistance. If the resistance fails, they gain a saving throw against magics that normally allow none, and gain +4 on saves versus spells that do allow saves.

The body and legs are covered with an armor-like chitin that provides a very good defence against most weapons. If their eye is threatened, they will close the eyelid and use their telepathy on creatures in range to “see” around them, using the creatures’ eyes.

Their bodies regenerate, although they will be extremely hungry when recovering from damage. The rate of regeneration is 1 hp/turn and they will regrow lost body parts. Legs will regrow in 3d6 days as will the eye. The tentacles regrow in 1d4 days. Note that the loss of 2 legs will not appreciably slow movement, but the loss of a third leg will reduce movement to 50%.

Fah’Amiga avoid physical confrontations and prefer to avoid any type of fight. They will use their speed to disengage when possible, then spells, and finally using their claws as a last resort – in any round they may attack with two of their claws.

They have a chameleon-like ability to change color in 1 round so that most creatures will have a 1 in 12 chance of spotting an unmoving fah’amiga. Please note this depends on their surroundings and the light levels. In 2 rounds they can adjust their apparent body temperature to match their surroundings, effectively hiding them from infravision.

Each can cast Charm Person or Animal 3 times per day. This spell resembles the 2nd level druid spell Charm Person or Mammal, although it works on most creatures. Note: Creatures with a magic resistance of 5% or greater are immune. Affected creatures will treat the fah’amiga as a trusted friend or ally and will accede to most reasonable requests.

All fah’amiga are spell casters, using versions of common spells that require only verbal components. The most common type of ability is magic-user, and the least common is cleric or druid. It is believed that one or two gods whose sphere of influence is knowledge may support the Circle. Their clerics and/ or druids may be members but do not promote worship of their god within the membership.

The minimum level of spell casting ability is 9th level, and there is no known maximum. Given that the bodies are immortal unless killed by damage, many older members of the Circle are arch-mages and the like.

Libraries

The Circle has many strongholds which they call “libraries”. Each Library resembles a mixture of fortress and mundane library. Built in remote places, Libraries are difficult to approach, a large part of their defense.

The center of each location is a collection of materials including samples of items (this part resembles a museum), scrolls, books, and Storage Crystals. Surrounding the collection are laboratories and research stations, and the remainder of the fortification is a small city.

The staff in a Library typically includes at least half-dozen fah’amiga and many dozen researchers and archivists. At least half of the researchers and archivists have some spell casting ability in all known areas, e.g., magic-users, illusionists, clerics, and the like.

The city part of a Library has everything a typical small city might have, with the exception of inns. Visitors are typically members of a different Library and either stay with friends or relatives, or use a dormitory maintained for visitors. All types of trades and skills are present, as are entertainment such as musicians and actors.

The Libraries stay in constant contact with each other, using magical means. It is common for the residents to visit other Libraries, also using magical means. This establishes a wider community and avoids inbreeding, both physically and mentally. In many cases, the residents of a Library have lived there for generations.

Note: Each Library has been imbued with magical protections. With the exception of a few carefully selected rooms, any type of translocation (Teleport, Dimension Door, etc.) fails to function, although the caster expends the spell. Tunneling spells such as Passwall also fail, and the entire library is cut off from the Ethereal Plane. Preparing a new Library can take a decade of magical preparation to establish the protections.

The Circle employs agents and scribes in many cities and larger towns. Their job is to acquire information and to copy it to scrolls, and many do not know they work for the Circle. The scrolls are taken to the Libraries, assembled into books (where appropriate) and most of it is transferred to Storage Crystals.

Storage Crystals

One goal of the Circle is that each Library contains copies of the materials in all other Libraries. In addition to books and scrolls, the the favored medium is Storage Crystals, small pieces of corundum about 1 inch long and 1/2 inch in diameter. Depending on the quality of the stone, one may store the equivalent of 1,000 to 10,000 pages of information.

A Storage Writer and the spell Storage Crystal Writer are used to embed information within a crystal. This device is a book-shaped translucent mineral about 24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 2″ thick.

A Storage Reader is used to view the information on Storage Crystals. Each reader is a cube-shaped white mineral about 6 inches square with an indentation on the top. When a Storage Crystal is placed in the indentation, am image of the information in the crystal appears in the air above it and hand movements are used to page through books and roll/unroll scrolls. No magical ability is required to use a reader.

Enemies

Over the eons, the Circle of Jocelyne has developed numerous enemies.

Gods

Most gods ignore the Circle, as the Circle does not interfere with how the gods’ devotees worship. The Circle never speaks against reverence of the gods; they simply ignore the gods and continue with their mission.

The exceptions to this are gods that abhor learning and knowledge – they may have a special hatred toward the Circle. These gods rarely have large groups of believers, but those small clusters often track down and destroy fah’amiga where possible.

Lichs

The first lichs were created by the Circle, and as previously noted, rebelled against or actively opposed the Circle. While they caused significant short-term damage, the lichs are individuals with no organization, so as each lich was destroyed or lost its eventual battle with time, their fight died with them.

However, the writings of these early lichs survived and surface periodically. Some individual lichs and groups of undeath worshipers oppose the Circle, although their exact reasons for doing so are lost to the sands of time, e.g., they may not have a real understanding of why they oppose the Circle.

It should be noted that a tiny number of exceptional lichs are members of the Circle, although in all cases they passed into undeath before joining the Circle.

Splinter Groups

During the near 9,500 years since the end of the original Wars of Rendelshod, countless individuals and groups have left the Circle. The reasons for leaving are legion, although typically involve losing dedication to the mission, or they develop a desire to go in a direction different from the Circle.

The Circle may attempt to talk members into remaining, but once the decision is made, the former members are allowed to leave in peace. The one condition is that those leaving must not opposed the Circle in any way.

Some leaving the Circle form their own groups. In general, the Circle leaves splinter groups alone as they fail in time, with only a handful lasting more than a century as the originators die off and their successors lose the flame of desire.

The secret of creating the fah’amiga is known by only a few and is carefully guarded; none with that knowledge are allowed to leave the Circle. Early failures in the search for extending life and dabbling in politics taught the Circle to protect certain secrets. Even the most dangerous groups will die off in the long term as the members die.

In general, the Circle ignores such groups as much as possible, since few pose a real danger, as judged by the Circle. However, some groups prove highly dangerous through arrogance, malevolence, or a thirst for power. These groups are destroyed without mercy.

The Tagata’Fili

The Tagata’Fili are leaders in the arenas of arrogance, malevolence, and a thirst for power.

This group firmly believes that they should not stand on the sidelines – they should lead civilization. Knowledge should be used to provide strong leadership for the weak, whose place is to support the strong.

They have worked for centuries to overthrow governments and place their puppets in leadership. They have been successful in some cases, and learn from their failures.

The one reason the Circle considers them a danger is that they have mastered the power of extending life. While they failed to acquire the secret of the fah’amiga, the founders had enough background knowledge to produce their own replacement bodies. The name of the group and the name for their replacement bodies are the same: Tagata’Fili.

Compared to the Circle, the Tagata’Fili is tiny, having at most a dozen full members at any time. Power struggles are relatively common and they prove to be their own worst enemy.

They typically have a single fortress, which is ruled with an iron fist by the strongest. Their arrangement resembles the Fah’Amiga, although it is a mockery. The researchers are not allowed to leave while alive, the guard complement is often charmed, and the support personnel are slaves.

Over the centuries the Circle has defeated and destroyed the Tagata’Fili numerous times, but like cockroaches, the group reappears eventually. Their writing are scattered and even when an instance of the Tagata’Fili is wiped out to the last man, a century or two later an overly ambitious person finds the writings and begins the cycle again.

The founders are long dead, but each new leadership proves deadly. The current leader is named Taita’ileaga, and she leads a group of about a dozen lieutenants.

Tagata’Fili

Frequency	very rare
No. Appearing	3d4
Armor Class	4
Move	150′
Hit Dice	5 to 14
% in Lair	25%
No. of Attacks	3 to 8
Damage/Attack	1d3 each
Special Attacks	spells, charm
Special Defenses	spells, regeneration, difficult to surprise
Magic Resistance	Standard (see below)
Intelligence	High to Supra-Genius
Alignment	Neutral Evil
Size	M (5′ Tall)
Treasure	varies

The tagata’fili have a globular body something like that of the fah’amiga. However, all similarities end there. Three eyes are spaced around the center section of the globular body, allowing it to see in all directions. A human-sized mouth is below one of the eyes, and defines which direction is “front”. Like the fah’amiga they can digest most materials, although they do not have a resistance to poison.

Three thick walking tentacles, each about 3 feet long, support the body. An additional three to eight thinner tentacles are spaced around the top section of the body. Each sprouts from a large lump on the body and is 2 to 3 feet long, ending in a mouth full of sharp teeth. The lump contains a brain. These mouths can bite and speak, but are not for eating as they do not connect to the stomach.

The body and tentacles have a thick, rubbery skin that provides a good level of protection to the flesh beneath. They regenerate at a rate of 1 hp/turn and they will regrow lost body parts. Leg tentacles regrow in 3d6 days as will the eyes. The mouth tentacles do not regrow.

Like the fah’amiga, only a spell caster of at least 9th level can have their mind transferred into a tagata’fili. Lesser spell casters do not survive the transference and the body dies.

When a tagata’fili is created, it has 1 mouth tentacle. The mind of the recipient is transferred from their old body into the new one, entering the brain under that tentacle.

Within the next week the minds of up to two additional spell casters can be transferred to the body. Each addition adds another mouth tentacle, and the brain at the base contains the transferred mind. Each year another mind can be added, up to a maximum of eight.

While the first mind transferred must be a powerful spell caster, all subsequent additions will be a lesser spell caster, ranging from 3rd to 8th level.

The most powerful spell caster in the tagata’fili will be the dominant mind. It controls all others and will not permit a more powerful caster to be added to the gestalt.

The eyes spaced around the body make it difficult to surprise a tagata’fili, which is normally 1 in 12. Each tentacle mouth can bite, although only 3 mouths can attack a single opponent.

However, the true danger of a tagata’fili is its spell ability. Each mouth can cast 1 spell each round. Each mouth has its own spell list as it is the mind of a spell caster, so a given creature can cast numerous types of spells each round, including magic-user, illusionist, and cleric. Individually they are among the most dangerous of creatures.

Note that the destruction of a mouth tentacle kills the brain associated with it. If the master brain is killed, the next most powerful spell caster assumes control, although a span of 1d3 rounds is required for it to impose its dominance on the others.

New Spells

Storage Crystal Writer

Type	Alteration
Level	1
Type	Magic-User, Illusionist, Cleric, Druid
Casting Time	1 segment
Range	Touch
Duration	10 rounds + 1 round/level
Area of Effect	special
Components	V, M
Saving Throw	N/A

This spell copies information from a sheet, scroll, or book into a Storage Crystal, using a Storage Crystal Writer. The material components are the material(s) to be copied, a Storage Crystal, and a Storage Crystal Writer. None of the components are consumed in the casting.

The caster places the material to be copied on top of the Writer, inserts a Crystal in the slot on the side of the Writer, and casts the spell. It takes 10 seconds to copy the equivalent of a page into the Crystal, and as each page completes a faint chime is heard. The spell copies 6 pages per round up to the duration of the spell.

When the last page is copied the chime takes on a different, deeper tone. If the spell has duration remaining, a new item may be placed on top within 1 round. Note that the time used to place a new item on the Writer is part of the overall duration. If new materials are ready, this change takes only 10 seconds.

If the duration runs out before copying completes, the spell can be recast within 1 day and the copy will begin where it left off.

The caster must remain within 10 feet of the Writer, and is aware of how much of the item has been copied, how much space remains on the Crystal, and how much of the spell duration is left.

At any point the caster can stop copying and mentally command the Writer to remove any duplicates in the Crystal, and sort the contents, and produce a table of contents. This process requires 1 round for every 1,000 pages in the Crystal.

New Magic Items

Storage Crystals

Storage Crystals are small pieces of corundum that are enchanted to store written materials. Each crystal is formed into a rod about 1 inch long and 1/2 inch in diameter. One end is flat while the other is gently pointed. Depending on the quality of the stone, one may store the equivalent of 1,000 to 10,000 pages.

The construction and enchanting of these crystals is known only by the Circle of Jocelyne.

A Storage Writer and the spell Storage Crystal Writer are required to add information to a crystal.

Storage Writer

This item is used to embed information within a Storage Crystal. This device is a book-shaped translucent mineral about 24 inches long, 18 inches wide, and 2″ thick. One side has a hole about 3/4 inch deep in which the pointed end of a Storage Crystal may be placed. Materials to be copied are placed on top of the Writer and the spell Storage Crystal Writer copies 1 page or similarly sized section of scroll every 10 seconds until all material is entered.

Storage Reader

This item displays the information on Storage Crystals. A reader is a cube-shaped white mineral about 6 inches square with an indentation on the top. When a Storage Crystal is placed in the indentation, am image of the information in the crystal appears in the air above it. While the images cannot be touched, hand movements can be used to page through books and roll/unroll scrolls. No magical ability is required to use a reader.