[Hourglass of Zihaja] Chapter 10: Adventuring

[Zeta Kai]

Aziz Mamud al-Haddad

Quotes

• “It’s been a long march to get to this place. But I’d say that it was worth the walk.”
• “You must be mistaking me for someone else. Allow me to correct you, for you cannot know to whom you speak.”
• “A fine place it is, for a fine people. You will never see a better land under the sun.”
• “That may have been true, under a long-past moon. But I’ve grown gray, & the strings are out of tune.”

Background
Aziz Mamud al-Haddad was once a cheerful mercenary operating around the city-state of Raqam. He & his company fought in many battles & did many great deeds over the years. They were well-liked & respected in the area, but one day, while exploring an unearthed ruin in the Desert of Lost Souls, he & his men were beset by a horde of ghuls. They tried to flee, but he was the only survivor of that ambush, an event that has haunted him ever since.

After that incident, Aziz could find no joy in his lifestyle as an adventurer. He decided to make a new life for himself elsewhere, & traveled westward. Years later, he ended up on the island of Jal Ziffa, where he settled in the city-state of Luardo. He decided to stay, & has been there for the past 25 years. He passed himself off as an eccentric nobleman, & quickly became a local celebrity, eventually sitting on the ruling council. His most notable accomplishment was the commissioning of Luardo’s great lighthouse, a monument that dwarfs the city’s other buildings & dominates its landscape.

Personality
Aziz is a genial man, one who always has an amusing anecdote to share. While usually quite jovial, his eyes betray a bit of sadness on occasion. He still likes to travel, so every few years he will leave for a sabbatical, which typically last for about two months. He doesn’t talk about his trips with others, & no one seems to know where he goes. He is quite generous with his wealth, & he has donated large sums of coin to the city of Luardo more than once. Politically, he is cool-headed & populist, usually unwilling to argue with his peers on the council.

Appearance
Aziz has a soft, grandfatherly look, with a large belly & a wide round face. His beard is braided in the Iludai style, in contrast to the untamed beards of Luardo’s native men. He is nearly bald with age, although he usually covers this with a wide-brimmed hat. Despite his advanced years, he still wears his old armor beneath his councilor’s robes.

Goals
Aziz tries to deny it, but he is an adventurer, through & through. He has tried to retire & leave the wandering life behind, but he’s at his happiest when he’s roaming the wilderness with a company of fellow mercenaries. He hasn’t been on a sabbatical in over four years, & despite his age, he feels the arrows in his quiver, longing to be shot. The quiet life in Luardo is pleasant, but uneventful, & the challenges of the ruling council don’t fulfill his missing sense of purpose. In his mind, he still hasn’t avenged the friends that he lost to the ghuls nearly 30 years ago, & he believes that the only way to put their souls to rest is by picking up his bow & his oud once more to slay ghuls in glorious battle.

Combat Tactics
Aziz may be an old man, grown soft by years of relative ease, but he is still a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. He is a deadly shot with his bow, & is able to perform several tricks with it. He is fond of animating a carpet & using it to fly upon, firing on enemies from relative safely. He can stop many encounters before they begin, through the use of hypnotism or suggestion, but he is sometimes compelled to eschew those routes in favor of an honest fight. When he’s in a dire situation, he will use invisibility &/or expeditious retreat to escape.

3E Stats

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RACE: Human male
CLASS: Bard 9
ALIGNMENT: True Neutral
DEITY: Daq (The Gray Order, non-practicing)
SIZE: Medium
AGE: 59 (born 296 AF)
HEIGHT: 5’7”
WEIGHT: 183 lbs.
EYES: Brown
HAIR: Gray
LANGUAGES: Aquan, Common, & Pahrai
HIT DICE: 6+8d6 (34HP)
INITIATIVE: +4
SPEED: 30’
ARMOR CLASS: 20 (+1 Dex, +7 armor, +2 dodge); touch 13; flat-footed 17
BASE ATTACK BONUS: +6
GRAPPLE BONUS: +5
ATTACK: +7 Thundering Longbow (1d8+2, ×3, 100’ range increment, piercing)
FULL ATTACK: +7/+2 Thundering Longbow (1d8+1, ×3, 100’ range increment, piercing)
SPACE/REACH: 5’/5’
SAVING THROWS: Fortitude +3, Reflex +7, Will +6
ABILITIES:

• Strength 8 (-1)
• Dexterity 13 (+1)
• Constitution 10 (+0)
• Intelligence 14 (+2)
• Wisdom 11 (+0)
• Charisma 19 (+4)

SKILLS: 108 points

• Bluff +16
• Diplomacy +16
• Forgery +14
• Gather Information +16
• Knowledge (History) +14
• Knowledge (Nobility) +14
• Perform (String Instruments) +16
• Search +14
• Sense Motive +12

FEATS: Avoidance**, Hawk’s Talons (3 techniques)**, Improved Initiative, Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot
WEAPON: +1 Thundering Longbow (8,375gp, 1d8+2, ×3, 100’ range increment, 3 lbs., piercing)
ARMOR: +1 Escaping** Chain Shirt (15,750, +5, maximum dexterity bonus +4, check penalty -1, 0% AFC, speed 30’, 25lbs.)
EQUIPMENT:

• 3,025gp
• Bracers of Armor +2 (4,000gp)
• Cloak of Charisma +2 (4,000gp)
• MW Oud (100gp, 3lbs.)
• Oil of keen edge (750gp)

SPELLS: 3/4/4/2 (Caster Level 9th, save DC14 + spell level)

• 0th Level: bend fate**, daze, detect magic, mending, summon instrument, tally**
• 1st Level: charm person, expeditious retreat, hypnotism, sleep
• 2nd Level: detect thoughts, glitterdust, invisibility, suggestion
• 3rd Level: animate carpet**, glibness, uncertainty**

CLASS FEATURES:

• Bardic Music.
• Bardic Knowledge.
• Countersong.
• Fascinate.
• Inspire Courage +2.
• Inspire Competence.
• Suggestion.
• Inspire Greatness.