[Rivalry] Love-Hate Relationship

[Mike_Lemmer]

Two arrogant, despicable seducers were made for each other. Too bad they can't stand each other.

Warning for the Faint-Hearted: Massive amounts of innuendo ahead.

[Mike_Lemmer]

She woke up as the sunlight crept onto her face through the inn window. She grinned at her lover for the previous night, who was still sleeping in their bed, as she began to dress herself. Her grin grew as she opened the dresser, pulled out a blood-red dagger, and thrust it deep into her lover's heart.

"What in the Abyss are you doing?!?"

She was expecting a scream from him, but not one so coherent. Or angry. Her lover bolted upright in the bed, looking at her with wide eyes as the dagger wobbled in his chest. She felt around for her other weapon. He looked down and pulled out the dagger; the wound quickly sealed itself up.

He turned into a she. "YOU!"

The other she turned into an it. "YOU?!"

Lemeia and Norax weren't supposed to be surprised by anything, but they could be excused occasionally for it. They gave each other a few seconds of silence while they quickly armed themselves with anything sharp at hand.

Lemeia spoke first, grinning like a feral wolf. "Norax, my despicable darling, I didn't know you were into experimentation."

Norax silently cursed his delay; he was expecting a quick retreat this morning, not biting repartee. Luckily, he had done this so often with her it had become instinctive. "I wasn't; I was seeing if I could do it better than you."

Lemeia's grin disappeared, and her devil wings twitched. Norax had struck a nerve; time to twist it.

Norax: "Our last meeting left me a little wanting; certainly not the quality I expect from a trained seducer. You should go back to hell and get some advice from your sisters, although I don't think they can help you with the other side of the bed."

Lemeia: "Oh, that was just a temporary disguise. I wanted to make sure I didn't have to suffer through another night with you, period. And since you can look like any man..." She shrugged. "It was an oversight on my part to underestimate your depravity, Miss Norax."

Norax took the form he had the last time he met Lemeia, that of a handsome bard who spent too many brain cells on how he looked and too few on checking whether the young "maiden" he was taking had any weapons concealed.

Norax: "Suffer?! You put up with miserable, lovesick cretins with no more sense or energy than a sack of potatoes, and you critique me? I'm the only one who gives you any challenge, and you know it! It is you who are lacking!"

Lemeia: "Oh, really? I think it is the exact opposite, and I will prove it to you, here and now. So challenge me, unless you are afraid of revealing your inadequacy."

Norax wasn't, of course. And they challenged each other for quite a while, stopping only to silence a snooping boy and stuff his body in the closet. And when they were done with the challenge, they both admitted that the other wasn't quite as bad as they had remembered. And then they both put on new forms and tersely bid each other adieu before the urge to tear out each other's throats overwhelmed them.

Norax was the last to leave, gathering his things from the room. He picked up the blood-red dagger and turned it over, examining it.

"...that strike should've caused some damage, even to a hellspawn like her... unless..."

He brought the dagger's handle close to his eye and peered at it. On the left side, almost imperceptible, was a small nick he had put on the fake one himself.

"Dammit, that she-devil switched them again!"

[Mike_Lemmer]

Norax

6th-Level Doppleganger Rogue
Medium Monstrous Humanoid (Shapechanger)
Hit Dice: 4d8 + 6d6 + 10 (58 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 20 (+3 Dex, +4 natural, +3 studded leather +1), touch 13, flat-footed 17
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/8
Attack: +1 rapier +10 melee (1d6/18-20) or +1 hand crossbow +12 ranged (1d4/19-20) or slam +9 melee (1d6+1)
Full Attack: +1 rapier +10/5 melee (1d6/18-20) or +1 hand crossbow +12 ranged (1d4/19-20) or slam +9/4 melee (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Detect thoughts, sneak attack +3d6
Special Qualities: Change shape, immunity to sleep and charm effects, evasion, uncanny dodge, trap sense +2
Saves: Fort +6, Ref +12, Will +10
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 16, Wis 19, Cha 16
Skills: Bluff +21*, Diplomacy +14, Disguise +20* (+22 acting), Gather Info +12, Perform (sing) +12, Intimidate +13, Listen +14, Sleight of Hand +11, Sense Motive +14, Spot +14, Tumble +4
Feats: Dodge, Great Fortitude, Blind Fight, Quick Draw

Challenge Rating: 9
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: As rogue
Level Adjustment: +4

Equipment: Rapier +1, hand crossbow +1, 30 bolts, studded leather +1, buckler +1, circlet of persuasion, Heartbreaker +1 (real or fake; see entry), 500 gp of other supplies

Norax has eschewed the usual doppleganger hobbies of subterfuge and spying to focus on betrayal, affairs, and scorned lovers. There's nothing he likes more than seducing someone's lover, revealing their treachery, and disappearing once the fireworks begin. He makes a living investigating affairs (most of which he's involved in), taking over his lovers' identities to spend their wealth, and sabotaging nobles' reputations.

He has no sympathy for anyone stupid enough to let love blind them from others' motives and doesn't believe in pity or mercy. He's sick of how easy it is to deceive his victims and longs for a mate just as cunning, underhanded, and observant as he is.

[Mike_Lemmer]

Lemeia

2nd-Level Succubus Swashbuckler
Medium Outsider (Chaotic, Extraplanar, Evil, Tanar'ri)
Hit Dice: 6d8 + 2d10 + 32 (65 hp)
Initiative: +4
Speed: 35 ft. (7 squares)
Armor Class: 29 (+4 Dex, +9 natural, +5 chain shirt +1, +1 magic), touch 15, flat-footed 25
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/11
Attack: +1 Rapier +13 melee (1d6+4/18-20) or composite shortbow +13 (1d6+3/x3) or claw +12 melee (1d6+3)
Full Attack: +1 Rapier +13/8 (1d6+4/18-20) or composite shortbow +13/8 (1d6+3/x3) or 2 claws +12 melee (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.

Special Attacks: Energy drain, spell-like abilities, summon tanar'ri
Special Qualities: Damage reduction 10/cold iron or good, darkvision 60 ft., immunity to electricity and poison, resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10, spell resistance 18, telepathy 100 ft., tongues, grace +1 (swashbuckler)
Saves: Fort +12, Ref +10, Will +8
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 18, Con 16 (18), Int 19, Wis 16, Cha 30
Skills: Bluff +23, Concentration +13, Diplomacy +16, Disguise +21* (+23 acting), Escape Artist +14, Hide +12, Intimidate +23, Knowledge (Local) +15, Listen +20, Move Silently +12, Search +13, Spot +20, Survival +3 (+5 following tracks), Tumble +9, Use Rope +7 (+9 with bindings)
Feats: Dodge, Mobility, Persuasive, Weapon Finesse, Dash

Challenge Rating: 9
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Advancement: As swashbuckler
Level Adjustment: +6

Equipment: Rapier +1, mwk composite shortbow [+3 Str bonus], 30 arrows, chain shirt +1, ring of protection +1, amulet of health +2, cloak of false protection*, Heartbreaker +1 (real or fake; see entry), 400gp of other supplies
*A masterwork cloak enchanted with a permanent Nystul's Magic Aura; shows a moderate abjuration aura, but if Identified, the caster can tell it's a fake if he makes a DC 15 Will save. Lemeia attributes her damage reduction to this cape to hide her demonic nature.

(Note: Dash feat and swashbuckler class are from Complete Warrior. To keep it Core, replace the swashbuckler levels with fighter levels and replace the Dash feat with three fighter feats.)

Lemeia has attributed her long stay in the Material plane to her cunning in subverting stereotypes to seduce mortals. She presents herself to her victims as a mercenary, not a mistress. She offers her services defending her chosen victim, building a relationship with him as she guards him. She even holds off her energy drain, building up his trust while waiting for the moment of ideal betrayal. Once he trusts her with his life, she betrays him, sucking the life from him or stabbing him in the heart. A few weeks later, she reappears as a different mercenary and begins the cycle anew.

She scoffs at the straightforward methods most of her brethren use to seduce mortals, seeing herself as above using cheap magic and promising services to bag her quarry. Disgusted by the depths to which other succubi will demean themselves, she's looked elsewhere for kindred souls that twist love to their own perverted purposes.

[Mike_Lemmer]

Heartbreaker +1

This serrated, red-tinged dagger was the secret heirloom of the Redbeards, a line of nobles who amassed a fortune by killing their spouses and inheriting their land. The line came to an end when a victim's vengeful cousin married the last Redbeard and killed him while he slept with his own dagger. She got rid of the dagger soon afterwards, and it floated around the black markets until Norax or Lemeia retrieved it. (Both insist they personally found the dagger; their rival just stole it afterwards.)

Heartbreaker is a medium-sized +1 dagger that causes extra damage if it's used to attack someone who loves its wielder. This extra damage is only added to the first successful hit; the dagger's bite shatters any feelings of love the victim had for their attacker. The amount of extra damage ranges from 2d6 to 4d6, depending on how much the victim loves the attacker. If the victim takes this extra damage, he feels like his heart ruptured; if he dies from the attack, it actually does.

Moderate enchantment; CL 9th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, magic weapon, crushing despair; Price 8,000 gp; Cost 4,000 gp + 320 XP.

Fake Heartbreaker

This serrated, red-tinged dagger looks just like Heartbreaker, but it isn't. When Norax planned to steal Heartbreaker back from Lemeia, he had an exact copy of it made. It was so effective in tricking Lemeia, she used it herself when she stole Heartbreaker back. The real & fake Heartbreakers have exchanged hands between them ever since.

Treat the fake Heartbreaker as a masterwork dagger.

Faint illusion (fake read as moderate enchantment); CL 5th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Nystul's magic aura; Price 1,000 gp; Cost 500 gp + 40 XP.

[Mike_Lemmer]

Plot Hooks:


Norax and Lemeia have made a bet with each other to see who can shatter the most couples in two months, to settle once and for all who keeps Heartbreaker. A greater fehyr (MM3) is taking advantage of the chaos sown in their wake, gathering the broken-hearted lovers and their despair and hatred into a potent emotional bomb. If it reaches critical, most of the city will be overwhelmed by their emotions and destroy itself in a frenzy of anger and despair. The PCs get involved when a scorned lover hires them to kill her boyfriend's seducer.

Norax and Lemeia have called a temporary truce to hit a juicy mark: a group of nobles meeting for an annual council. When the PCs uncover the plot, the two have already seduced two important nobles, who are eager to protect their "lovers". However, their truce is already showing signs of strain; if the PCs can egg them on, Norax and Lemeia will destroy their own plan as their rivalry comes to the fore.

A crazed priest of the goddess of love has investigated Norax & Lemeia for years. He believes the love-hate relationship between them is due to the corruption of the Heartbreaker. If the Heartbreaker was removed from their possession, perhaps they could finally realize their feelings for each other; surely that would please his goddess! He hires the PCs to steal the dangerous weapon from the two. How will the PCs figure out which one has the real Heartbreaker and which has the false one? And what will happen if it's removed from their possession? Will anything good come from their joining?

[Mike_Lemmer]

Done and ready for some quick critiquing.