Personalities of Rauxes

Darlack Ruhick, Commander of the Companion Guard: 16th-level fighter (Str 18/81, Dex 17, Con 17, Wis 17). AC -3 (fiend armor +3, plate version, shield not used), hp 112, AL LE. Ruhick employs a two-handed sword +4 which does double damage (2d10+8/6d6+8) against creatures of good alignment, and owns a composite longbow +2 together with a quiver of sheaf arrows +2 and arrows of slaying (one each for good-aligned priests, mages, and warriors, and one for any good-aligned "faerie" being). He rides a huge heavy roan warhorse with horseshoes of a zephyr. Ruhick is 32, a Princeling of Naelax, commander of the guard since the Pact of Greyhawk was signed. Tall at 6' 4", the black-haired man has a perma nently jaundiced complexion and suffers periodic outbreaks of sores over his back and shoulders, which are horribly painful. The similarity to Ivid's skin lesions does not go unnoticed.

Ruhick oversees security at the palace together with Karoolck. Ruhick is greatly feared on account of his cold, controlled sadism; he has thrown in his lot with Ivid because he reasons (correctly) that if Ivid falls, his life won't be worth a copper common. However, if he could be assured safe haven outside Rauxes, it is not impossible that he might become a turncoat. He is a clever, though not creative, military commander, leading an elite pursuit squad of a dozen cavalry all of whose stallions have the same magical horseshoes as his own mount. Dispatched rarely, this squad has a superb record for bringing back those who have managed to flee Rauxes for suitable punishment.

Elliast Moroneth: 6th-level priest of Pholtus (Wis 17, Cha 15). AC 3 (chain mail +1), hp 30, AL LG. Elliast is a mere 22 years old, 5' 9", with sandy-blond hair and light hazel eyes. Elliast cares for the wretches of the Viper Tenements, curing disease both by spell and by virtue of an otherwise humble mace +1 which has this power once a week. He has no illusions about his sermons; he knows few will convert. Still, he is moved by a sense of pity for those he sees around him.

Elliast is quite a simple soul, one of the few of the Pholtus priests to escape their doom here. But he isn't easily deceived. He is wary of any who offer him help, fearing imperial spies. Elliast has extensive maps of the Undercity, and he knows a handful of other good-aligned refugees who manage to hide out in abandoned houses, disguise themselves in the slums, or in the Undercity. The DM should consider what he wants these contacts to be—perhaps a sage or two, a low-level priest of another good-aligned power, or a mid-level mage and his appren tice hiding from Karoolck. A mage would need an amulet of proof against detection and location to stay hidden from the archmage.

Rauxes is unlikely to have any active resistance network, but a token network could make for interesting adventuring. Elliast would love to escape and head for the Theocracy, but he would want to do what he could for the wretches of the Viper Tenements first.

Erthara (Kallarn): 9th-level thief (Con 16, Dex 17, Int 16). AC 1 (bracers of defense AC 3), hp 48, AL CN. Small at 5' 1" and slender of build, Erthara (almost always known by her first name alone) is 37 years old, with long wavy auburn hair and hazel eyes. She owns a short sword +3, a blowgun +2 with abundant venom of various types, and a ring of free action and a ring of invisibility. Erthara's father is a captain among the Sea Barons, and she still manages to get some goods smuggled into Rauxes through that route and via Roland. She has to pay the Town Guard, but she can afford that from her looting of many nobles' houses in the past.

Erthara is an important council member of the Thieves' Guild (long driven underground by Ivid). The other council members are Inkeren Kalarn (a distant cousin; 12th-level thief), Flandar Llanderen (11th level), and Pitchain Delarenden (8th-level they are of evil alignments.

Erthara is a good "street level" contact within Rauxes. She has maps of Undercity areas and knows the patrol times of the Town Guard in various sections of Rauxes. However, she is thoroughly unprincipled, and she is not above informing the Town Guard of one or two subver sives from time to time. Dealing with her is safest if one can offer some magical aid to disguise her (especially a permanent magical item). Such an item would be useful for her forays into the city.

Ishainken, Prince of the House of Naelax: 6th-level thief (Dex 17, Int 15). AC -1 (leather armor +3, ring of protection +3), hp 28, AL CE. Ishainken is 29, 5' 9", with light brown hair and brown eyes; his skin is pitted and his lank hair is greasy. Ishainken is utterly nihilistic, hateful and spiteful, and wholly unprincipled. Only the promise of some more extreme stimulus to jolt his jaded system into arousal interests him now. Ishainken's entou rage at Zelizar's house includes half a dozen fighters (levels 3-8) and a pair of thieves (levels 5, 8), all of CE alignment. The 8th-level thief, Retchen Sobibel, knows that Ishainken has documentary evidence which shows that Ivid's claim to the malachite throne is in some way compromised, and might—if drunk enough—give something away on this score. Sobibel doesn't know exactly what this is, but he knows Ishainken keeps it somewhere in Castle Redegian.

Ivid V, Overking of Aerdy: Animus with the abilities of 7th-level priest/14th-level mage (note: Con 4). AC -4 (bracers of defense AC 3, ring of protection +5, cloak of displacement), hp 33, AL NE. Ivid is biologically 52 years of age, although he looks terribly aged now. He has long abandoned his service as a priest of Hextor—a profession that had been forced on him by his father as a form of disciplining. He can no longer use priest spells. His insan ity makes it 25% likely (+1% per level of spell) that his wizardly spellcasting attempts will simply fail. Ivid can call upon almost any magical items he wishes from the imperial treasuries, in addition to his ritual magical items and the ring of spell turning he always wears. Ivid's insane personality is fully documented above.

Jipzinker: 12th-level priest of Nerull (Str 15, Wis 16). AC 3 (chain mail +2, ring of protection +1), hp 66, AL NE. Jipzinker is 33 years old, 6' exactly, with thinning dark brown hair and slightly protuberant green eyes. He has a slight tremor in his hands and speaks with the hint of a stammer. He poses as a one-time dealer in art curios and Suloise relics, with sage proficiency in old Suloise legend, and he is deliberately inconspicuous in dress and behavior.

Jipzinker has access to many poisons and venoms and owns a dagger of venom in addition to boots of striding and springing, which are of old Suloise crafting. The boots can also cast a fly spell once a day for a one-hour duration. Add these to his ring of invisibility, and the man is a potent stealthy killer.

Jipzinker's dilemma is that he has had no orders for some time, and his acolyte-assassins are becoming diffi cult to keep in check. Jipzinker may soon start actively searching for the identity of other preceptors of Midnight Darkness—in addition to Marshevel of Rel Astra, whom he strongly dislikes and distrusts. He does not deal with Marshevel except when the Hidden Sickle orders him to do so. As the DM determines, Jipzinker might have some scraps of information that would interest player characters.

A campaign against Midnight Darkness can begin with the PCs attempting to locate and rout this dangerous priest, and it could end with the PCs either slaying Jipzinker and his acolytes, or by following them as they travel to locate other cells. The experience levels of Jipzinker's acolytes should be tailored to suit such a campaign.

Karoolck, Imperial Court Mage: 19th-level mage (Dex 16, Con 15, Int 18). AC -9 (bracers of defense AC 2, ring of protection +4, cloak of protection +3, fiend circlet), hp 76, AL LE. Karoolck is 51 years old, 6' 2", very thin, with black hair, brown eyes, and an obvious lack of body hair. His limbs are extraordinarily thin, with his forearms no wider than his wrists. His hands are long-fingered, and his iron hard nails are an inch in length.

Karoolck has many magical items within his tower, but he always carries a ring of spell turning, a candle of invoca tion (attuned to Baalzephon), a staff of the magi crafted from black wood in the form of a skeletal snake, and wands of frost and polymorphing.

Karoolck first contacted a representative of Baalzephon when working in the Cauldron of Night. Baalzephon saw the mage as a perfect pawn/intermediary for his dealings with Ivid, and a pact was sealed. Karoolck will live, not aging, for up to 333 years, and he has "nine lives." Should he be slain, Baalzephon will despatch a pit fiend to wish Karoolck back to life, up to nine times within the 333-year span. In return, the mage's soul belongs to Baalzephon, and the wizard must carry out his master's will when so instructed in affairs of state. Karoolck is vengeful and hateful, and does not forget enemies. With eight lives left, he is an enemy PCs will likely try to avoid.

Karoolck is currently researching Ivid's disease, trying frantically to find a cure. If he is successful, of course, this will radically alter the future of the Great Kingdom, and an adventure suitable for high-level PCs would involve thwarting Karoolck in this matter. The PCs would have to take steps to avoid the archmage learning who they are—else his attempt at revenge will be murderously powerful.

Patriarch-General Pyrannden: 17th-level priest (Str 18, Con 16, Wis 17). AC 1 (chain mail +4 of fire resistance, ring of protection +3, shield not used), hp 77, AL LE. Pyrannden is a brute of a man, 6' 2" tall, powerfully built, with dark brown hair cropped short and very dark brown eyes. Inevitably dressed in his black robes with white skull motifs, Pyrannden maintains favor with Ivid because of his work in creating animuses and because he knows exactly how to tell Ivid what he wants to hear. Pyrann den's political intriguing with Karoolck and the fiend envoys of Baalzephon are wearing him out, as is the Iron Schism within his own church. He is 36 years old, but looks a good 15 years older.

At present, Pyrannden supports Ivid for fear of what another ruler might do. His orders to his underlings within Rauxes are to obey Ivid's decrees absolutely. Patri archs outside Rauxes are expected to obey the local ruler of the area they are in, but to avoid any actions directly against the overking. Thus, Hextor's priests are told not to lead or command armies which plan to strike against the imperial forces. Pyrannden is inclined, currently, to believe that only the Herzog of North Province can unify Aerdy. But there is a complication here. Herzog Grenell has a wholly independent church hierarchy in his province and has made it plain that he offers, and seeks, no alliance with Pyrannden until the Aerdy lands regain some kind of order.

Pyrannden also considers an alliance with Baalzephon possible, but he hates and distrusts Karoolck and has not dared risk any direct contact with Baalzephon. Karoolck has the great advantage that he can gate, but Hextor's priests cannot.

As a reaction to this uncertainty, which makes Pyrann den uncomfortable, he has ordered the priesthood to scour the land for whatever magical items they can come up with; through looting, exploration, even purchase. By hoarding magical relics and items, he hopes to strengthen the bargaining position of the church of Hextor with whoever becomes the major power-players in the lands.

Player characters might even find themselves well-paid for recovery of some such items, through an intermediary. They would not know—until it is too late—that they have been working in the service of Hextor!

Rillikandren: 9th-level mage/16th-level High Priest of Boccob (Int 18, Wis 18). AC 6 (ring of protection +4), hp 50, AL N. Rillikandren is 52, 6', slender of build, with black hair turned to white at the temples, a widow's peak, and gray eyes. He has an antique Bakluni ring of true seeing, a staff of power, and a number of crystal balls of diverse kind (with clairaudience, clairvoyance, X-ray vision, etc.). His acolytes include an 8th-level mage, a 6th-level priest, and a dual-classed 7th-level mage/7th-level priest.

Rillikandren is a scholar pure and simple, with a particular interest in unique magical relics (including those owned by the House of Naelax). He is probably the foremost authority in the eastern Flanaess on such items. However, just about the only way to get him to reveal information about the objects is to offer the possibility of bringing another one to him (or actually doing so)—even if it is only for inspection and study.

Rillikandren possesses the Book of Hours. This work is said to have been traded to a peerless high priest of Boccob, Jarnzaydin of Jalpa, by an Avatar of Istus herself. It only reveals its contents to a priest of Boccob or Istus of 16th or higher level. Its pages are said to list the rulers and momentous events of Aerdy for many decades into the future.

Stealing it is pointless, since all truly high-level priests of Istus and Boccob (the only ones who can read it) would know from whom it had been taken. It is a certainty they would take steps to return it to its owner. However, there are no few mighty men who would seek to destroy the book if they knew its contents. From time to time, some conjured and commanded fiend, aerial servant, or such tries to enter Rillikandren's tower to do exactly this, and Karoolck is believed to both hate and fear Rillikandren greatly. Yet, the magical protection of the tower easily repel such intruders.

Robann Peniaden: Normal Man (Int 16, Wis 16, Cha 17), AC 10, hp 4, AL LN. Robann is 40 years old, 5' 6", brown-haired, brown-eyed, and pudgy. Robann does his best to represent merchants' interests to the Chancellery, the Town Guard, and others, and his charisma helps him get by. He's a decent, kindly man, genuinely concerned for the suffering of the starved and poor in Rauxes, which is why he stays, to help supplies of food and clothing get into the city. He has maps from old contacts among the offices of city planners and architects, and while he won't want to know about any plans for subversion, he's prepared to help anyone who he believes can help the ordinary people of the city.