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heretic
2005-12-02, 07:54 PM
A small man clad in grey-white leather with a rapier at his hip sits on a chair, his feet upon the table ahead of him. He ignores the Devils about him in the amphitheater with indiference tinged with faint discomfort. The minor Devils steer clear of him, as though he has a mean reputation. Even as a one on one fight erupts in the center of the crowded assembly hall, he just watches with dispassionately, half-lidded eyes. The battle ranges all across the large room as the Barbazus hack at each other, scattering Lemures and Imps as they go. Yet, the always stay clear of the small man with the glowing red eyes. Finally one of the combatants yields and all eyes turn to the balcony where their master, the Pit Fiend Aerasmius has emerged. After the short address to the inhabitants of the city is over, the Tiefling picks up his near-empty pack from the chair next to him and strides out the door into the perpetual pseudoblizzard outdoors.

Ashadur the Red (CR10)

Tiefling Rogue 7/Tiefling Paragon 1/Streetfighter 2
CE Medium Outsider (Native)
Initiative:+10
Senses:Darkvision 60 ft, Listen +12, Spot +12
Aura:Faint Evil
Languages:Common, Infernal, Elven, Halfling, Undercommon
[hr]
AC:21, Touch 16, Flat-footed 16
HP:40 (7d6 plus 1d8 plus 2d8 )
Resistances:10 cold, 5 fire, 5 electricity
DR:5/Piercing or Bludgeoning
Fort:+7 Ref:+13 Will:+4
[hr]
Speed:30 ft
Melee:+1 Keen Sure Striking Rapier +13/+8 (1d6+2/15-20x2) or
Melee:Masterwork Silvered Dagger +13/+8 (1d4/19-20x2)
Ranged:Masterwork Silvered Dagger +13/+8 (1d4/19-20x2)
Base Attack:+8/+3; Grapple:+9
Attack Options:Combat Expertise, Sneak Attack+4d6
Special Actions:(Improved) Feint
Spell-Like Abilities:Darkness 1/day
[hr]
Abilities:Str 13, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 17, Wis 8, Cha 10
Special Qualities:Trap Sense +2, Uncanny Dodge, Evasion, Trapfinding, Stand Tough 1/day
Feats:Improved Initiative, Improved Feint, Combat Expertise, Weapon Finesse
Skills:Balance +11, Bluff +15, Climb +12, Diplomacy +2, Escape Artist +10, Gather Information +4, Hide +20, Intimidate +12, Jump +12, Knowledge (Local) +10, Knowledge (The Planes) +4, Move Silently +18, Sleight of Hand +18, Tumble +17
Possessions:Gloves of Dexterity +2, +1 Keen Sure Striking Rapier, 5 Masterwork Alchemical Silvered Daggers, +2 Axeblock Studded Leather, Amulet of Natural Armor +1, Backpack, 2 Belt Pouches, Potions (10 Pass Without a Trace, 3 Cure Moderate Wounds, 2 Fly, 2 Neutralize Poison, Bull’s Strength, Cat’s Grace, Bear’s Endurance, 3 Invisibility), 91 Sembian Gold Fivestars, 16 Souls credit.
[hr]

Combat: Ashadur fights a defensive battle, preferably with the help of Devil allies. He will size up the opposition, and if he deems them dangerous enough, he will consume some potions before engaging them. He usually will use Combat Expertise to some extent and feint often, dropping the Combat Expertise the round after the feint to improve his chances of landing a Sneak Attack. Against Devils, Ashadur has a large advantage because of the Sure Striking feature of his rapier, which allows him to overcome any sort of alignment type damage reduction.

Stand Tough (Ex): Once per day after being struck, Ashadur may make a Fortitude saving throw DC equal to the damage dealt. If he succeeds, he takes only half damage and the damage is nonlethal. If he fails, the attack deals damage normally.
[hr]


Biography:


Part I
Ashadur was left as an orphan in the Sembian Ccapital, Selgaunt and taken in by a beggar who harbored such children and cruelly exploited them for money the earned from altruistic travelers on the streets. Eventually the old beggar died, although not after teaching the young boy to fight with a knife and cut a purse, things he was too old to do himself. After the beggar died, Ashadur quickly affiliated himself with a local thieve's guild and rose fairly quickly through the ranks, although he did not like interacting with others and had few friends. Eventually a rival thieve's guild offered him a good amount of money as well as a position in their guild for a few simple betreyals and a few doors left unlocked. Ashadur saw no reason not to, and gladly accepted, joining in as the rival guild ransacked the safehouses of his old outfit. He even managed to get the former guild leader's wondrous rapier from the carnage by quietly slaying the thief who had stripped it from the leader's corpse.


Part II
Years passed and one day the Zhents arrived in force. Seemingly overnight, they infiltrated all the illegal enterprises of the city undetected. Immediately all shady dealings either ground to a halt or had new masters. Among the movements, the Zhents tipped off guards to the now dominant thieve's guild's secrets. The law enforcement happily and obliviously decimated the guild. The members left uncaptured were taken in by the Zhents, unknowingly joining their destroyers. Ashadur found himself in that position as well. He decided to hire himself out a a mercenary to the Zhents, and was accepted at once. He engaged in a few jobs, mostly just as a strong sword arm to back up agents demanding protection money from various store owners.


Part III
As a good fighter, equipped well, Ashadur was reassigned to a group of skilled warriors and mages to deal with powerful threats around the realms. Their first assignment was against a Pit Fiend, who had gathered a small cult together as well as having brought with him several lesser Devils. The Fiend was causing trouble and would not parly with Zhent negotiators. The team moved in on the Baatezu's lair and after some scouting and planning, attacked. The Devils were tougher than expected and took a toll of one-third the thirty man attack force. The Pit Fiend himself was last to go and just before he did, he ripped a portal open to Cania, the eighth hell. The portal sucked the remaining Zhents in and closed behind them.


Part IV
After finding themselves suddenly in an icy windswept wasteland, the spellcasters did some hasty divinations to figure out where the group was. Meanwhile a large party of assorted Devils attacked and killed another five soldiers before being killed themselves. Unfortunately, the only spellcaster capable of plane shifting was one of the five. The band made their way toward a Baatezu city, losing another warrior to the cold. After arriving, the Zhents managed to talk the Devils into letting them stay alive and live in the magically heated city. Over the last year, five more Zhents met their end at the hands of various Devils or on the battlefiends of the Blood War against the Demons. Ashadur went into the employ of a Cornugon as a sellsword yet again. There is not much action in the city, so most of his pay comes on retainer. The only real action he has seen was when another charge of the Horned Devil's, a Gelugon got into a fight with the Tiefling. The fight was witnessed by many and seemed close to ending when the Gelugon conjured a wall of ice around both combatants, closing Ashadur in. He surprised them all by leaping in a flip to the top of the wall and hurling a bead of force at the irate Ice Devil. The Fiend was trapped, albeit temporarily and Ashadur mockingly strode out across the top of the wall of force imprisoning the Devil. The Gelugon angrily conjured another wall designed to trap Ashadur's feet, but the nimble fighter hopped free. Instead, when the wall of force ended, the ice collapsed atop the Ice Devil, killing him. The Devils who witnessed it awarded Ashadur the title of "the Red". (Canian slang for tough, because in the biting frost, most are blue with cold)


Current
Ashadur has 16 souls, the currency used in the hells, held by mighty fiends and can be transferred to another simply by speaking. (ex: I, Bob Smith, pay four souls to Asmodeus) The souls are only really useful to spellcasters, who can withdraw them and practice strange magicks with them. Another of the Zhents lives in seclusion with Ashadur, her mind addled by the hells. She simply occupies herself with brewing potions with engredients brought to her by Ashadur. Ashadur wants to leave the hells and return home, but will work for Devils until that is achievable.
[hr]

Appearence: Ashadur stands about 5'6" and 155 lbs. His black hair is pulled back in a pony tail. Ashadur's eyes have changed from his customary grey to a glowing red, the affect of the hells on his Tiefling blood. In addition, his Tiefling resistance to cold has increased as his Fiendish blood flows stronger. He wears white-grey studded leather armor and a rapier at his hip. Ashadur's backpack is almost perpetually empty but his belt pouches are bursting with potions. His five beautiful silver daggers are concealed about his person.

Psychology: Although evil, Ashadur doesn't actively seek to harm others just for the hell of it. He has no thought for those he hurts, thinking only for himself. Most of his life, he is just trying to get by with whatever means neccessary. He doesn't really plan ahead at all, but is smart enough to make the "right" decision when it arises. Ashadur develops no friendships with anybody. He is somewhat closer to his Zhent collegues than to the Devils, though the Zhents are becoming spread out and out of touch with each other. He follows orders unquestioningly and if he is ordered on a suicide mission, he will either flee his superiors, kill his superiors, or defect to the other side. He doesn't like the hells at all compared to Toril, not because everybody is inherently evil and plotting constantly, but because of the amount of powerful opponents, especially the ones with many spell-like abilities. He simply wants his mortal opposition back, with their mortal flaws.

Plot Hooks
The PCs are banished to Cania, much in the same way Ashadur was and must ally with him to escape.
Ashadur escapes back to the Material plane, to find his old haunts controlled by the PCs.
Some cultists open a few portals to the hells and several attack forces emerge. The PCs must help fight of the Baatezu as well as their guides, the Zhents that survived the hells.
The PCs begin the game as the some of the more inexperienced Zhents in the hells, mentored by that distant Tiefling who killed the Gelugon

heretic
2005-12-02, 07:56 PM
http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c269/ubermonkey_/Ashadur.jpg

Lo and behold, the clumsy MS paint fumblings of heretic! Uh, anybody know how to do a transparent background? Lucky me! It's white anyway!

Comments encouraged

The Vorpal Tribble
2005-12-08, 08:05 PM
I mock tieflings often, but this guy is alright ;)

Pretty good background and definetely a way to get off the home plane.

However, don't see much in the wintery theme. I gather the part of the hells he disapeared to is a chill one, but that seems a bit lacking.

heretic
2005-12-09, 10:48 AM
Well, if you have played NWN Hordes of the Underdark, you get a full blast of Cania and it isn't fun. Every round you take 3d10 cold damage, the reason the cities have the magical heating. I think the wintery theme is mostly Ashadur's environment, but he has adapted to it with his Tiefling Paragon level.