[Pirate] Darkfate, One of Many

[Dareon]

There are strange tales told over ales, and none can say which are true and which are fancy. One of the ones told when men lie deepest in their cups is of a pirate who cannot be killed. Obviously this is exaggeration, and is usually met with much derision, only to be silenced by a man who claims to have seen the man with his own two- in some cases- eyes.

"Aye, a giant of a man he was, this Darkfate! 8 feet tall if he was an inch, the man would have had to duck to clear the rafters in here!"

Argument comes from another quarter, and the seeds of a brawl begin to be sown.

"Ah, get on with ye, I've seen Darkfate meself. One of the little nut-brown folk, not hardly above my knee, but with a bloodthirsty fire in his eyes and as fearsome an axe as any orc ever held! Any man stepped square to him'd be cut down eye to eye, I say!"

With luck, a third will speak up.

"Nay, nay, 'tis one of the elves, Darkfate is. With a shining bow of silver wood as long as I am tall, arrows of black fletching, and calm, dead eyes. I saw him fire one o' a pair of ships and invite the captain o' t'other across fer tea! As soon gut you as bow to ye a'greetin', and as likely to do either!"

If weapons and tankards are not brandished along with calls of falsehood, a story soon comes out that Darkfate was all these men, but killed eventually. Like clockwork, a day or so after the ship or ships that reported slaying the man are back in port, another captain takes the name Darkfate and turns to a particularly efficient means of piracy. Some claim Darkfate is a ghost, that possesses men and makes them his slaves. Others say he is a horror from the depths of the earth, feeding upon men's minds and taking them for his own devices. Still others dub him as an ogre mage, taking the forms of these men and allowing "himself" -claimed to be others duped into taking the appearance of his current form- to be killed in order to start afresh.

But the truth? The truth can be both far more... and far less.

[Dareon]

Bilge
Male Awakened Rat Enchanter 9
Size/Type: Tiny Magical Beast (Augmented Animal)
Hit Dice: 2¼d8+9d4 (32 HP) (I hope I've got that right, and the 2 HD from Awaken stacks with both the base ¼ and the class HD)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 15 ft, climb 15 ft, swim 15 ft
Armor Class: 17 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +2 deflection), touch 17, flatfooted 14
Base Attack/Grapple: +4/-8
Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d3-4)
Full Attack: Bite +9 melee (1d3-4)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./ 0 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent
Saves: Fort +3, Ref +6, Will +7
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 16 (8), Con 10, Int 18 (4), Wis 12, Cha 4
Skills: Balance +11, Climb +13, Hide +15, Move Silently +11, Swim +11, Spellcraft +18, +20 vs. Ench, Concentration +12, Knowledge (Arcana) +16, Craft (Woodcarving) +16, Knowledge (Geography) +10, Knowledge (Nature) +10, Knowledge (Local) +10
Feats: Weapon Finesse, Scribe Scroll, Silent Spell, Spell Focus (Enchantment), Spell Mastery (Magic Missile, Charm Person, Protection from Arrows, Touch of Idiocy), Eschew Materials, Spell Mastery (Dominate Person, Greater Invisibility, Hold Person, Shrink Item)
Challenge Rating: 11
Possessions: Ring of Protection +2 (8000 gp), wizard's spellbook, glove of storing (10,000 gp)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Spells per Day: 4+1/5+1/5+1/4+1/3+1/1+1, save DC 14+spell level, Enchantment 15+spell level
Spells Prepared/Known: (Combat/pursuit encounter, if his spellbook has been taken, replace with Spell Masteried spells or even ones taken from PC's spellbook)
0: Ray of Frost x2, Read Magic, Mage Hand, Daze
1: Magic Missile x3, Expeditious Retreat x2, Charm Person
2: Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Mirror Image, Protection From Arrows, Silent Magic Missile x2, Touch of Idiocy
3: Fly, Shrink Item, Haste, Hold Person, Silent Tasha's Hideous Laughter
4: Greater Invisibility, Stoneskin, Charm Monster, Silent Hold Person
5: Telekinesis, Dominate Person
Spellbook:
0: All
1: Magic Missile, Charm Person, Sleep, Expeditious Retreat, Mousehole
2: Protection From Arrows, Touch of Idiocy, Tasha's Hideous Laughter, Mirror Image
3: Hold Person, Shrink Item, Deep Slumber, Fly, Haste
4: Greater Invisibility, Charm Monster, Stoneskin
5: Dominate Person, Telekinesis
Barred Schools: Bilge has chosen Necromancy and Conjuration as his barred schools.
Familiar: Bilge has chosen not to summon a familiar. If a DM using Darkfate and Bilge wishes to add one, Bilge would see an amusing irony in having a cat familiar, but would be just as likely to choose a rat to have someone to talk to.
Bilge can speak Common and Elven, but rarely does.

Mousehole
Transmutation
Level: Sor/Wiz 1
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 round
Range: Touch
Area: 6-inch-long tube, 6 inches in diameter
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates (object)
Spell Resistance: Yes (object)

Essentially a localized, very specific disintegrate, mousehole creates a six-inch-long tunnel, six inches wide, oriented as the caster desires, creating a space large enough for a Tiny creature to squeeze through. This spell will only work on nonmagical wood and/or plaster. Attended or held objects receive a saving throw.
Material Component: A few shavings of wood.
(Bilge will use this spell to create handy boltholes or passages from deck to deck on ships he boards. Its usage as a way to scuttle a ship, however, is limited, since you would need to be right in front of the hole you make, and you'd need several castings.)

---

"Squeak, I say."

A rat looks up at you, startled, before darting under the furniture, a flash of silver on its tail perhaps marking it as a valued pet.

Awakened by a druid aboard a pirate ship, Bilge never displayed much of an inclination to do anything until the pirates captured a wizard. Bilge, intrigued by the unreadable writings in the wizard's spellbook, eventually badgered the wizard into teaching him the rudimentaries of wizardry. The fact that Bilge was a talking rat might have had something to do with either the mage's reluctance or eventual acceptance. The rat found enchantments fascinating, spending hours practicing his spells to win friends and influence people. These were especially useful on ship raids, as some of the most valiant defenders fell quite easily to a hastily-squeaked spell. Bilge eventually made it up through the ranks of the pirates to trusted advisor to the captain, something which irritated the druid that created him no end, as it had made said druid lose his own "trusted advisor" spot.

The pirates were eventually captured and/or killed (It depends on which pirate you're referring to) by the navy, and it was obvious enough to Bilge that he could slip aboard the navy ship as another dumb animal fleeing the sinking pirate vessel. Charming the captain and whispering ideas into his ear as he slept, Bilge soon became the favorite pet of the ship's captain, even gaining access to his spellbook once more. With more powerful spells in, er, paw, he was able to twist the captain, creating a pirate of terrible efficiency due to the captain's experience with the tactics of pirates. Thus was born the first Darkfate. Others followed as heroes and navies took down each in turn, Bilge himself accumulating a small fortune in land-bound banks and hidden caves.

It is only recently that Bilge has learned Dominate Person, and the amount of personal freedom it affords him is proving quite refreshing. During his charming days, he had to stay on his Darkfate's shoulder, whispering suggestions into their ear, but now he can stay in the captain's cabin or even in the decks below with the other rats, safely out of harm's way. In fact, it's now possible for his Darkfate to have no idea of his controller's identity.

Physically, Bilge appears like every other rat, perhaps a little less scarred, but otherwise typical. Visible at the base of his tail is an engraved silver band, and his right front paw is encased in a tight-fitting leather glove, which may mark him as unusual, but the glove does a good job of blending into his fur.

Bilge's personality is chauvinistic and superior. All his Darkfates have been men because he simply doesn't believe women have any place on a ship, besides maybe cook and, er, recreation. He enjoys the finer things in life, and usually eats first from his Darkfate's meals, which are always delivered to the captain's cabin alone. He spends his idle days practicing magic and gnawing pieces of wood into various shapes, occasionally creating interesting things that fetch good prices at market. (Bilge normally takes a -2 penalty to Craft (Woodworking) checks because it's very hard to find artisan's tools made for rats.)

Bilge's ships almost never bear ship's cats or other methods of rodent control, and as such are usually heavily populated with other rats, giving Bilge many opportunities to hide in case of attack. In the event there is a cat on board, it's Bilge's familiar, and has been ordered not to hunt rats.

This is the main pirate of my entry.

[Dareon]

Haeabard Mataivan "Darkfate"
Male Human Fighter 8
Size/Type: Medium Humanoid (Human)
Hit Dice: 8d10+16 (60 HP)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class: 19 (+4 armor, +3 Dex, +1 natural, +1 deflection), touch 14, flatfooted 16
Base Attack/Grapple: +8/+10
Attack: +11 melee (1d4+2/x4, mwk light pick) or +12 ranged (1d4+1d8+3/19-20, Storm) or +12 ranged (1d4+1d6+3/19-20, Sea)
Full Attack: +11/+6 melee (1d4+2/x4, mwk light pick) or +12/+7 ranged (1d4+1d8+3/19-20, Storm) or +12/+7 ranged (1d4+1d6+3/19-20, Sea) or +9/+4 melee (1d4+2/x4, mwk light pick) and +9 melee (1d4+1/x4, mwk light pick) or +10/+5 ranged (1d4+1d8+3/19-20, Storm) and +10 ranged (1d4+1d6+3/19-20, Sea) (These modifiers do not take into account Point Blank Shot)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: -
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +1
Abilities: Str 14 (8), Dex 16 (4), Con 14, Int 12, Wis 8, Cha 10
Skills: Tumble +8, Climb +13, Swim +13
Feats: Exotic Weapon Proficiency (Hand Crossbow), Weapon Focus (Hand Crossbow), Rapid Reload (Hand Crossbow), Point Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Specialization (Hand Crossbow), Crossbow Juggler
Challenge Rating: 8
Possessions: +1 thundering medium hand crossbow Storm (8400 gp, 1d4+1d8+3), +1 frost medium hand crossbow Sea (8400 gp, 1d4+1d6+3), 2 masterwork medium light picks Wrack and Ruin (304 gp each, 1d4+2), mithral scale mail (4050 gp), 50 hand crossbow bolts (5 gp), 2 potions of cure light wounds (50 gp each), 2 potions of cure moderate wounds (300 gp each), ring of protection +1 (2000 gp), amulet of natural armor +1 (2000 gp)
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Darkfate can speak Common and Orc, but only ever uses Orc to swear.

Crossbow Juggler [General]
Your usage of crossbows is as entertaining as it is deadly.
Prerequisite: Tumble 5 ranks, Rapid Reload, Two-Weapon Fighting, Weapon Focus in a crossbow that can be reloaded as a free action when taking Rapid Reload into account.
Benefit: When wielding a pair of crossbows appropriate for your size that you are capable of reloading singly as a free action, you can reload both of them as a free action without having to holster or drop one. Reloading your crossbows still provokes attacks of opportunity, and all penalties applying to firing two crossbows and firing crossbows one-handed apply. This feat essentially allows you to fight with two crossbows at your full number of attacks granted by BAB and two-weapon fighting feats.
Normal: You can shoot, but not load, a crossbow with one hand. Depending on the type of crossbow, you may take penalties to your attack roll for firing one-handed in addition to normal two-weapon fighting penalties.
Special: A fighter can select Crossbow Juggler as one of his bonus feats.

---

"Paint the decks with their blood! A double ration of grog to the man who strikes off a head in one blow!"

Confidently striding about the deck, his black cloak rippling in the wind, this man bears a regal demeanour among the rabble he commands. With a grin, he flips a pair of crossbows into his hands and steps back to get a good field of fire.

Haeabard Mataivan was a simple enough captain. He ran goods of the mostly-legal variety, dealt fairly with his crew, and was successful without being inordinately wealthy. All that changed one night when a heavily-damaged navy ship came limping back into port with the news that the dread pirate Darkfate and his ship, the Dawn's Return, had been sunk with all hands. The next day, Haeabard's own ship sailed, and he commanded a new flag be raised, one of a field of black with a blood-red skull. His crew shivered and the wiser ones knew: Darkfate had returned.

These days, Darkfate is a regular scourge of the seas. Operating by a combined principle of fear and reward, Darkfate's crew, almost none of them original members of Haeabard's old crew, are nearly fanatical in their enthusiasm to plunder and slaughter. Darkfate himself has been under Bilge's control for just over a year now, and Bilge is, quite frankly, getting a little bored with him. Eventually Bilge will tire of him altogether and urge the poor man into a final confrontation with the navy.

Clad in his brilliant silver suit of mithral mail under a black cloak, Darkfate cuts an imposing figure, and occasionally a comical one, in battle, as his main combat style lies in juggling a pair of crossbows in order to fire rapidly. If pressed into melee, he quickly draws his picks and swings away with abandon.

In personality, the current Darkfate is eager to see blood spilled, exhorting his crew on with the promises of gold, women, and booze. This is not technically something new that Bilge pressed upon him, but rather, it had lain simmering beneath the surface for years. In times of peace, Haeabard occasionally gives thanks to the mysterious voice in his head whose owner he has never seen. Although he wishes it would stop ordering him to leave his food out for the rats.

This Darkfate is fairly typical of the types of men Bilge looks for. Weak-willed and easy to manipulate.

(I do hope I got his combat modifiers right, two-weapon fighting breaks my brain on occasion.)

[Dareon]

Booty tae plunder, arr!

Bilge's Spellbook
This unassuming, standard-issue wizard's spellbook not only contains all of Bilge's spells, including his personally-created mousehole spell (How useful! ::)), but also contains several treasure maps to hidden coastal caves or burial spots where Bilge has hidden his treasure over the years. These are never simple, well-detailed, "X-marks-the-spot" affairs, but rather provide vague geographical location ("halfway between Port Hunter and Safewater"), rhymes or ciphers of hints to the location, and tide or time-based clues of where the treasure actually is ("When the harvest moon shines through the lion's teeth, dig where the maiden's blood falls"). Finding each treasure should be as much of an adventure as getting hold of the spellbook.
Value: Uncertain, valued at several hundred gp for spells alone, many thousands if all listed treasure hoards can be found and are intact.

Bilge's Bed
This well-crafted tiny mahogany four-poster bed was gnawed carefully over several weeks by Bilge, tailored specifically to his body shape, and fitted with a tiny down mattress and silk sheets with an accompanying satin pillow and curtains. Although it would make the rat familiar of a wizard very happy, it's more of curiosity value than any concrete use.
Market Price: 500 gp; Weight: 2 lbs.

Hot Brass Monkey
This large brass plate with indentations is designed to hold 11 shots for a light bombard (Stormwrack, page 103. If unavailable, use light catapult, DMG pg. 100.) in a pyramid shape. The monkey itself is ensorcelled to remain hot at all times, preventing it from contracting in cold weather and sending the ammunition rolling about the deck. (Side note, this is the origin of the phrase "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey.") In addition, each shot from a light bombard (or catapult) supplied by a hot brass monkey deals an additional 2d4 points of fire damage and has a 50% chance of catching the target on fire (DC 10 Reflex save if character, DC 10 fire check if ship and using Stormwrack's fire rules, percentile roll if not). Ammunition must be on the monkey for at least one hour before the fire effect activates. An unsought side effect of the monkey's enchantment makes it handy to keep drinks and food warm on.
Faint evocation; CL 2nd; Craft Wondrous Item, Burning Hands; Price 4,500 gp; Weight 10 lbs.
(I honestly had no good idea of how to cost this, I basically took the fact that it does 2d4 as Burning Hands and priced it as "Spell effect, use-activated", plus a little for the flavor bonus of not freezing its balls off. *snicker* It essentially has 11 charges an hour, but I don't know how to price that.)

Idol of Urdlen
This white marble statue, roughly five feet square and two feet high, depicts a large sinister mole. Being unfamiliar with the gnomish pantheon or most landlubber animals, Bilge thought it was a depiction of a rat and kept it. The idol contains a hidden compartment, Search DC 20 to find, capable of storing an object or collection of objects the size and shape of a large book.
Market Price: 750 gp; Weight: 50 lbs.

This item currently sits in the captain's cabin, where it occasionally creeps Haeabard and his crew out.
(The gnomish pantheon is multiversal, right?)

Bard-in-a-Box
This item appears in Fantasy Flight Games' Sorcery & Steam (Copyright 2003, Fantasy Flight Publishing, Inc.), and is labelled as Open Game Content. The item description has been slightly modified to remove the more obvious steamcraft elements from it, specifically the availability of a steam engine for it, and the price has been doubled to represent a rare marvel.
This device is a box about a foot square and six inches deep, engraved with musical symbols and the sigils of various bardic orders, and often the rune or marking of a god or goddess of music. It is designed so that a specially prepared piece of vellum (parchment is too weak) can be fed into it. A hand crank then powers the wheels that propels the vellum through the gears. The song encoded on the vellum is played by the machine, producing a remarkable facsimile of the tune. The machine cannot emulate a voice (unless it has been enchanted, see below), but it does a good job of replicating most percussion, brass, or stringed instruments, thanks to exotic engineering and strange alloys.

If a bardic scroll is prepared appropriately, this box can cast the spell; the scroll is, of course, consumed in the casting.

The box requires someone to continually turn the crank. Out of combat this is trivial, but if the device is used to cast bardic spells, doing so is a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity. Loading is also a full-round action that provokes attacks of opportunity, though a scroll can be pre-loaded. Two hands are required to hold the device for Medium-size or smaller creatures; larger creatures may use it one-handed.

A rare few of these devices are enchanted with the magic mouth spell; this requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat, and costs 1,000 gp and 40 XP, in addition to the cost of the box. Such devices can replicate voices and can cast normal non-bardic arcane scrolls. This particular device is not enchanted.
Market Price 900 gp; Weight 2 lb.

Haeabard's crew has someone capable of scribing the appropriate scrolls for normal music, and they occasionally raid opera houses or other locales for sheet music to transcribe.
(They're music pirates! :D)

Monastery Library
Darkfate and his crew have recently raided a monastery, making off with a large number of tomes and scrolls. At least one divine scroll (randomly determined) is among this lot, and the tomes are sufficient to provide a +2 bonus to one of the following skills per person per day:
Craft (Alchemy)
Knowledge (Nature)
Knowledge (The Planes)
Knowledge (Religion) (There are enough books available to provide bonuses to two different people)
Knowledge (Arcana)
Survival
Using the library in this way requires uninterrupted access to the books for the duration of the skill checks, and extends the time required for the check by one-half, or to a full-round action if the check takes less than one full round.
Market Price: At the very least, 1,000 gp.

[Dareon]

Barring the sudden random desire to build a boat, all elements are in place.

My first entry, and I have to go for three character types I've never built before. I've never done an awakened animal, prefer Sorcs and Bards to Wizards, and have actually never built a dual-wielder.