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| Sphinx |
| Details | |||
| Class: | Race: | Alignment: | Deity: |
| Psion | Human | True Neutral | Great Unknown |
| Level: | Size: | Age: | Gender: |
| 6 | Medium | 28 | Male |
| Height: | Weight: | Eyes: | Hair: |
| 6'0 | 173 lbs | Brown | Brown |
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| Weapons | ||||||||
| Weapon | Bonus | Damage | Critical | Range | Weight | Size | Type | Special |
| This weathered dagger has seen much use. | ||||||||
| Armor | ||||||||
| Armor | Type | Bonus | Penalty | Max Dex | % Failure | Speed | Weight | Special |
| Sphinx's Traveling Vest | Cloth | 0 | 3lbs | This is Sphinx's unremarkable traveling vest. It has numerous pockets hidden and apparent. | ||||
| Feats & Special Abilities | |
| Feat / Ability | Description/Notes |
| Psionic Endowment | You can endow your manifestations with more concentrated focus. Benefit To use this feat, you must expend your psionic focus. You add 1 to the save DC of a power you manifest. |
| Extend Power | You can manifest an extended power. An extended power lasts twice as long as normal. A power with a duration of concentration, instantaneous, or permanent is not affected by this feat. Using this feat increases the power point cost of the power by 2. The power’s total cost cannot exceed your manifester level. |
| Persistent Power | A persistent power has a duration of 24 hours. The persistent power must have a personal range or a fixed range; you can't use this feat on a power with a variable range, or on a power with an instantaneous duration. Note that you must concentrate on some powers to use their effects (for example, detect psionics and detect thoughts); concentration on such a power is a standard action that does not provoke an attack of opportunity. A persistent power costs a number of power points equal to its standard cost + 8. |
| Skills | ||||||||
| Skill Name | Ability | Skill Mod | = | Ability Mod | + | Ranks | + | Other |
| Concentration | Con | 2 | 9 | |||||
| Gather Information | Cha | 1 | 9 | |||||
| Psicraft | Int | 4 | 9 | 2 | ||||
| Knowledge (Psionics) | Int | 4 | 9 | |||||
| Sense Motive | Wis | 2 | 9 | |||||
| Bluff | Cha | 1 | 9 | |||||
| Language (Celestial) | ||||||||
| Language (Abyssal) | ||||||||
| Language (Infernal) | ||||||||
| Language (Githyanki) | ||||||||
| Spell List | |||||||
| Name | Level | Ready? | Count | Cast Time | Range | Save | Description/Effect |
| Body Adjustment | no | ||||||
| Charm, Psionic | no | ||||||
| Cloud Mind | no | ||||||
| Crisis of Breath | no | ||||||
| False Sensory Input | no | ||||||
| Levitate, Psionic | no | ||||||
| Mindlink | no | ||||||
| Read Thoughts | no | ||||||
| Suggestion, Psionic | no | ||||||
| Sustenance | no | ||||||
| Telekinetic Maneuver | no | ||||||
| Time Hop | no | ||||||
| Tongues, Psionic | no | ||||||
| Gear | |||
| No Gear Assigned. | |||
| Treasure/Money | |||
| No Treasure Assigned. |
| Experience | |||
| No Experience Assigned. | |||
| Description |
| Total Power Points = 47 |
| Personality |
| No Personality Assigned. |
| Background |
| Nearly three decades ago, an indigent couple in the Hive birthed a child whose cervical vertebrae segmentation was somewhat abnormal, protruding through the thin skin on the back of his neck in a strangely macabre fashion. The child was named Sphinx. Like many children, Sphinx had a predilection for the unknown – his curiosity propelling him into various modes of childish trouble. Unlike many children, he seemed to escape trouble via supernatural means. The first signs were noticed when the child was young. One day as a toddler, Sphinx began to crawl down the edge of the kitchen table. His careless father noticed the bare-chested, skeletally segmented toddler far too late, and he was certain that Sphinx would fall four feet to the ground and crack his skull. ..but the child kept crawling, seemingly on thin air, much to his father’s astonishment and relief. This was but the beginning. Throughout his childhood, Sphinx appeared to be “haunted. “ Odd sounds of people laughing, speaking, sometimes even screaming would emerge from his bedroom. When his worried parents entered with improvised chivs drawn, fully expecting an intruder -they would find only the child sleeping soundly. Beginning early adolescence, increasingly disturbing phenomena would manifest around the child. When Sphinx was scared or angry, he would throw small objects in his room, without touching them. He would scream and shout at his parents, without opening his mouth. The parents’ theories about the boy were varied and speculative. They ran the gamut from a poltergeist haunting his room, to demonic possession, to the child being a budding sorcerer with latent, unfocused energy. They were wrong. Eventually, the boy’s father caught wind of a woman who operated out of the Lady’s Ward – one who took troubled children with strange… talents under her probverbial wing: Esther Exnidem. Esther was known to work with children in the Orphanage, and had even adopted a few of her own. During mid-adolescence, Sphinx’s father took him to see Esther at her villa in the Graytowers District of the Lady’s Ward. The thin, raven-haired, soft spoken woman was flanked by two bodyguards, one of them being a half-orc with a broken tusk. She believed the father’s account of the disturbances, and was so taken by Sphinx that she offered to adopt him for a large sum of jink on the spot. Though the father was oddly receptive to the abrupt proposal, something about the situation did not appeal to the boy, who vehemently refused. The enigmatic Esther told the father to return home and think over the proposal. On the way home, during a heated conversation, it became clear to Sphinx that his father was influenced by greed, and perhaps something else. Sphinx was scared, angry, and uncertain. At home, his father resolved to return to Esther the very next day, and give up his child for adoption, much to the shock and chagrin of Sphinx’s mother. After hours of arguing and shouting, the family of three retired to their respective rooms. That night, his mother was awakened by a wetness creeping over one side of her body. When she turned to gaze upon the other side of the bed, she found her husband lying quite supine, a kitchen knife impaling his torso. The wetness she felt was from the blood that had began to seep through the sheets. Perhaps the oddest part about the episode was that the death appeared to be a suicide – the father’s hands were clutched tightly around the sharp object. Fearful, and suspecting her son, the blood-soaked woman snuck into Sphinx’s room, only to find him sleeping soundly. She never questioned him about the death. About a month later, when his father’s death was a rapidly fading memory, Sphinx was awoken from his slumber by a scream- his mother’s scream. An intruder had burglarized the small home in the Hive. As the young man ran out of his bedroom to his mother’s aid, he found that he was too late. There were two massive, armored humanoids who had cut the aging woman down in the common room. They turned upon the newest arrival to the room: Sphinx. Frantic thoughts filled Sphinx’s mind. Another, powerful feeling pervaded as well: rage. Before Sphinx could even react, one of the masked figures turned the blade upon his companion before taking his own life. Not questioning his luck, the boy rapidly attempted to revive his mother to no avail. His attention then moved to the dead intruders: Something seemed odd about them – their armor was new and unworn – Sphinx suspected that these were not common Hive thugs. His suspicion was confirmed as he unmasked the two: one of them was a half-orc with a broken tusk. Realizing that he was no longer safe at home, the boy gathered as much as he could, then dragged his mother’s corpse out into the Night, burying it along with some of her valuables a few secluded blocks in a defunct park away from his home. He also decided to burn his home down with a torch, immolating the two bodies inside. For the next decade, Sphinx spent his life as a vagrant on the streets, doing odd jobs mostly involving delivery, fetching, and chant-seeking for various merchants. He found supernatural ease in winning people over. Those who he spoke to would listen to him, do as he asked, and divulge far more information than he expected them to. Eventually after proving himself, he almost exclusively took jobs from a single employer: a water-genasi information broker named Ratecha. She saw promise in his information-gathering, and allowed him successively greater responsibilities. He has now spent nearly five years with Ratecha, and is an adept dark-monger in the Hive. His information gathering abilities have also made him cognizant of the fact that Esther Exnidem did indeed send the men to find Sphinx and kill his mother. She is indeed still searching for the ‘boy who defied her.’ So far, he has managed to evade Esther’s wrath. In addition to his wit and awareness, his location in the Hive and frequent traveling has been advantageous in keeping her away from him. Sphinx’s latest escapade involved gathering the dark on an influential blood in Curst named Cerrar–a crime kingpin and one of the leaders of a well-known drug cartel. Not being careful enough, Sphinx found himself imprisoned after a local guard (likely a corrupt one who is on Cerrar’s payroll) overheard him asking rather penetrating questions with regards to Cerrar's whereabouts. Allies/Enemies: Ratecha, his employer as described above is also his close friend. Esther Exnidem is a woman he hopes to one day find and kill in order to avenge his mother’s murder. Unfortunately for Sphinx, she shares the same murderous sentiment for him. Beliefs/Morals: Trust no one, not even your family, unless they are willing to die for you. Belief can influence others, as well as the Planes themselves, so gather information, learn as much as you can, then disseminate whatever version of reality is most auspicious for you. If enough people believe what you tell them, it will eventually become true. The multiverse is not a fair place - you must kill or be killed. Character Concept: Human Psion Strengths: Information gathering, affability. Faction: Indep Character Flaws: at times, overconfident in his ability to influence others; wastes time compulsively checking to see if those he doesn't trust have betrayed him, is insecure when not 'in the know,' physically puny, though of average health; is prone to vivid nightmares which may incapacitate him from time to time. Sphinx's recurring nightmare: The dream was always the same. Nighttime. The sky was gray, the buildings dark, everything was in grayscale. Sphinx briskly walked down empty streets – the pattering of rain in a thunderless storm, along with the gentle howl of the wind were the backdrop to the centerpiece – namely the high-pitched echo of his footsteps reverberating with each step like an tribal drum . The houses and manors were empty – no lights or telltale signs of life inside. He walked faster, turning into a street corner – still searching for signs of life, to no avail. Only after a few moments of walking did he come to a horrifying realization: the sounds he thought were produced from his stride were actually a low-pitched cawing. His head snapped up briefly to shift his attention from the road ahead to the sky above. It took him a moment to wipe off the now heavy precipitation from his eyes. He nearly fainted. Black birds littered the sky, circling above him. Crows. The ones close to him were quite large, further away, they speckled the gray sky in what resembled a dark, swirling cloud. There was something…hungry about their motion. He loosed a cry which, too, echoed throughout the empty streets, then broke into a run. This time, his motions were desperate, as he searched for some reprieve. His footsteps splattered water onto his pants, the murky fluid soon covering the whole of his lower body. “N-No!” He shouted as the caws became louder, and he began to sprint. The crows were descending. The street splashed violently under his heavy footsteps, and he made his way towards a nearby manor, breathing a short-lived sigh of relief as the gate gave way, swinging open with an obscenely loud creak. He rushed past the cobbled pathway to the front door, somehow knowing it was open. Without bothering to knock, Sphinx frantically twisted the knob and barged inside. The foyer was dark and musty, and the furniture in the expansive parlor draped in white sheets, indicating that no one had lived here for a long time. There seemed to be a light source coming from upstairs. Sphinx didn’t have time to take in the scene much longer, as the rapid fluttering and vicious cawing to his immediate behind told him that the dark birds had come in through the door behind him. Without thinking, he dashed up the grand staircase, his breaths coming in ragged gasps – drowned out by the ever-louder cawing of crows fluttering in. Upon reaching the second floor, he was a bit surprised to find that the light was coming from a room in the corner with very tall windows. One of the windows was wide open. The gentle lights from the city filtered inside. Surely this wasn’t the same dusky city he had just ran through? With the horde of crows giving chase, he made a final push for the lighted room, not bothering to close the door behind him as his pursuers would not afford him the opportunity. Sphinx lunged out of the window onto the pleated roof. The elevation was steep, and his leather shoes did not offer him a firm grip on the steep surface. Looking down, he was shocked to see that he was indeed in a different town, at a much higher elevation than he had previously imagined. He teethered precariously, attempting to keep his balance. But it was too late. The dark swarm behind him flooded out the window, surrounding him, pecking ravenously at his exposed flesh. As chunks began to be taken out, Sphinx yelped. The yelp quickly developed into a scream of pure agony as his eyes were pecked out of their bony sockets. He felt the leather of his shoes lose contact with the shingles. The last thing he remembered before waking up was plummeting into oblivion. It was always the same. |