Saint Lila Bauer

Patron Saint of Manipulators and Spies (a.k.a. The Desert Mask)

Saint's Story

Little physical evidence is left of the Age of Man. Few memories remain, even those who lived through that time struggle to remember much, as powerful divine magic prevents such recollections. One tale that survived The Scouring, however, is of Lila Bauer, master manipulator, infiltrator, and spy, toppler of governments, and the most powerful political influencer the world has ever known.
Ada Heman was an unremarkable, albeit beautiful half-elven woman from an unremarkable town looking for work as a secretary and maid in the office of a low ranking government official in Erodrift, capital city of Alderlock, a civilization from the early period in The Age of Man. At least, this is what everyone thought they knew about Ada, when they thought about her at all that is. In truth, the seemingly unimpressive secretary and maid was always the smartest person in the room.
Ada saw the government in Erodrift as archaic and exploitable. We know Ada today as Lila Bauer, the greatest spy and manipulator to ever to walk Jeharr. Her true name remains unknown to this very day, Lila Bauer is simply the name she most often used throughout her known history. Lila received her education in espionage from a man named Imran, the exiled Spymaster of Pioras, a small nearby human Kingdom.
Lila’s achievements were many. Early in her career, Lila found herself a spy in the employ of Pioras, the very same kingdom that had exiled her master a decade earlier. She was tasked with destabilizing two of Pioras’ rivals, another nearby human Kingdom called Bahamo, and a Hobgoblin tribe called the Ahn Undaro. Within six months, Lila had assassinated and began impersonating the Matriarch of Bahamo and (under a different Alias) she seduced and made a puppet the feared war chief of the Ahn Undaro.
The King of Pioras was delighted with the success of his agent, up until the moment when the armies of his rivals marched toward his unprepared Kingdom in the Kasu River Valley. Lila deposed the King of Pioras and replaced the entire conglomerate of desert civilizations with a puppet leader, whose strings she handed over to Imran, in thanks for his teachings. Lila wished her old master a happy retirement and from there, she only set her sights higher.
The peace talks that took place between the Hobgoblin Warlord Sima and Lila Bauer (impersonating Queen Nadine of Bahamo) are often recreated in play form, in the comedy, “Two Faces and a Half-Elf.” The play famously depicts Lila deftly and comically switching back and forth between Sima’s lover, influencing him, and Queen Nadine, negotiating on Bahamo’s behalf.
Many years, and many more aliases later, Lila had developed a reputation in the espionage community the world over, though they knew her only as "The Desert Mask". Lila typically didn’t stay in one place for very long, while this lifestyle offered a spy of her caliber many more opportunities to practice her craft and extend her influence, it also meant that she didn’t possess many of the protections afforded to spies in the employ of sovereigns. Many of the spies and leaders that new her viewed Lila as a threat given her track record as a freelance dismantler of governments. Many a spymaster had already found themselves blackmailed, seduced, or otherwise under the influence of Lila, and those were the lucky ones.
Whenever Lila found herself work in a new political climate, the same order of events usually transpired. She would be hired on to puppet a political figure, or disrupt a government, occasionally even to perform an assassination, although Lila tended to find much more enjoyment and profit in manipulating the living. Next would begin the bidding, as any and all political figures and entities who knew of her arrival would try to find a way to contact Lila and buy her loyalty, fearing she might be there for them. The Pioras takeover was personal matter however, and she knew better than to make a habit and reputation of burning employers. These fears were always unnecessary however, as Lila’s actual targets would never know of her presence until it was already too late.
Lila is a well known spy today, but at the time, spymasters and anyone attempting to keep track of The Desert Mask would often be nearly a decade behind in keeping up with her movements and actions. Occasionally, one organization or spymaster would have a lucky breakthrough, at which point, one of two things would happen. They would attempt to hire Lila on for some otherwise impossible task or, foolishly, the individual or organization would attempt to have The Desert Mask killed. As time went on, fewer and fewer organizations would attempt such a fool's errand, as every assassin ever sent to kill The Desert Mask would be turned or killed by her instead. As time went on, and Lila’s already steep prices rose, more and more would choose a third option instead, to simply walk away and pretend as though they had never learned of anything related to The Desert Mask. Non-clients that knew too much of Lila tended to become targets.
Lila was always an ambitious woman, constantly looking for her next opportunity to expand her influence and add to her personal treasure hoard. Her opportunity for her grandest venture, and the very operation that would propel her into legend, revealed itself to her at the age of 67, in a sealed letter, allegedly addressed to her true name. It was from Imran, the man who first taught her the art of espionage.
Imran, now an old man, had written the letter from his deathbed. In it, he detailed a vision that he had received of Duplis and Haatiles , the Gods of Deceit and Ambition. In that vision he saw Haatiles betray and absorb the God of Deceit as well as his followers. One of said followers bore an uncanny resemblance to Lila. Imran said that he watched her, and her God die, absorbed by the God of Ambition and his followers.
Naturally, this news troubled Lila, she was excited to see what she would find in the afterlife, but less so to then be destroyed and absorbed by The God of Ambition. So she began to plot.
Lila felt no attachment to Duplis, the God of Deceit, nor did she feel that she could change the fate of a God by herself. In fact, Lila felt as strong an attachment to Haatiles as she did to Duplis, given his opportunistic nature and history as an underdog. She thought that she might use this to her advantage, Lila researched the Gods, their ways, and their worship. Lila developed a ploy to manipulate Gods. Ada Heman remained unremarkable, for her entire existence, right up until her usefulness had run out, and Lila forever retired the identity. She had what she needed to begin the work that would attract the attention of Duplis.
Erodrift, capital city of Alderlock, was a utopia, a government that was incorruptible, a populace of happy paragons, and an unblemished king. Ordinary propaganda, if a little on the extreme side, Lila thought. The thing Lila found strange, was that, no matter how closely she looked, it all seemed to be true… The entire populace wasn’t perfect, but Lila couldn’t find so much as a corrupt guard captain for the life of her, no material for blackmail whatsoever. An interesting challenge to be certain, but this was supposed to be her Magnum Opus after all. Ada wasn’t in that office to learn anything, instead, she was there to impart knowledge upon others.
Slowly, she did it. She corrupted the incorruptible. Over the course of years the Desert Mask faded away, while Ada made disloyal men and women of government officials. Where once she exploited the cracks in societies, in Erodrift, the pious capital, she worked to create them in the first place. Slowly, Lila brought about the collapse of the most holy place on Jeharr. Rein's city, a monument to the God of Integrity on Jeharr, she had done the impossible. Rein's worship was besmirched, tainted for hundreds of years, the God of Integrity was enraged, but in doing so Lila learned things that allegedly made her dangerous to even the Gods. Lila climbed the ladder to the afterlife, to sainthood, and even to outlive her own God and enter into the service of another.
Many, particularly worshippers of Rein, claim much of Lila's story to be false, even stating that she was destroyed along with her God when Haatiles consumed Duplis. Nearly all of what is known of Lila’s story is derived from her own autobiography which includes a master list of hundreds of alias’ and her work beneath them. This master list is consistent with records from the time period, in which many of said alias’ appear. There is much that remains unknown, her own account of events even concludes with the concession that not all that she wrote was the truth. 
No matter the hearsay or claims of others, spy masters and those who turn to Haatiles wear her symbol to this very day.

Additional Aliases

The Desert Mask 
Queen Nadine
Ada Heman