Kesara Galano, Delusional Shadow Elf

   At the borders of two magical realms, the surging elemental energies of crystal and illusion had, coincidentally, struck a near-perfect balance once again – the chaotic energies briefly fused into a single entity.

   That was rare.

   This time the pattern was stable enough amidst the chaos of clashing power to hold for a few hours.

   That was far rarer.

   During that time, a young life came into being within the narrow borders of that zone of balance, and so took on the powers of both realms – and was strong enough to survive the surging and conflicting powers that now burned within it. Rather than dying in agony, the body changed to accommodate and channel battling energies that normal mortal flesh could never bear.

   That was a thing that happened once a century at most.

   Birthed in pain and chaos, ripping free of the remnants of her mortal shell, Matshibile-Gwachmas – a newborn dragonness – rose, a storm upon the land.

   For a time all went well. She rode the winds, took what she willed, and unleashed the energies of her double heritage upon those who opposed her. She found a lair, and grew in skill, subtlety, and lore. She collected powerful relics to focus and amplify her power – including a circlet, meant as a headband for a human, but suitable as a ring for her. It amplified her life force, raising her strength even further.

   Eventually, of course, a powerful group of adventurers rose up against her. That too was nothing new – adventurers always rose to oppose a dragon – but this group actually brought her down, releasing the accumulated mystical energies of several centuries. In the unstable realms of the mountains of chaos where she had laired, that created a number of temporary rifts.

   The circlet – designed to bond with and amplify the user’s life force – was also blasted free across the dimensions, carrying a fragment of her essence with it across time and space. Eventually, of course, it fell to earth – and, as is the way of items of power, it was found. It was worn, and used – and the fragmentary essence of Matshibile-Gwachmas merged with the child of another world.

   Eclipse – Level Three Twilight Isles Character: Kesara Galano, Delusional Shadow Elf

• +0 ECL Shadow Elves Summary (The full writeup is available over HERE).
• +2 Int, +2 Dex, +2 to Str, Con, Wis, or Chr (as per house), and +2 to any attribute.
• Low-Light Vision.
• May use Charms, Talismans, and four CP worth of Relics.
• +2d6 Hit Dice (treated as two rolls of “6”).
• +1 bonus on Saves. Additional +2 to Saves versus Spells.
• Skill Bonuses: +2 Search, +3 to all skills in a chosen group (as per house), may add their Int Mod to their scores in wisdom-based skills (Heal, Listen, Profession, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival).
• Use-Activated Abilities at Caster Level One: Dancing Lights 1/Day, Detect Magic 1/Day, Faerie Fire 1/Day, Fast Healing 1 (for up to 16 points per day), and Magic Weapon 1/Day.
• They also gain unlimited use-activated caster level one use of any one first-level spell permitted by the game master (as per house). Spells such as “Cure Light Wounds” are available once per day per level instead of being truly unlimited-use.
• Shadow Elves are inherently enchanted, and can be readily spotted – and their houses identified – by a simple Detect Magic spell.
• Shadow Elves can only tolerate (Con) “points” worth of regular magic items – and the “point” cost of any given item is up to the game master (as a rule, low-level single-charge items are little trouble, spell storing items are only moderately troublesome, and permanently-active personal enhancement items are very troublesome). Annoyingly enough, this limit also affects temporary external spells – although their short-term nature means that the limit is increased by the user’s (Con Mod).
• The Shadow Elves are really quite formidable – but those magic item restrictions will pinch later on. Without those limitations they’d be a +1 ECL race.

   Kesara Galano (House Talents: +2 Con, +3 bonus on dexterity-based skills, and unlimited use of Weapon Master/Sabre, providing a +4 BAB with Sabres) was – like many Shadow Elves – more than a bit ambitious and ruthless even before she inherited fragments of a draconic personality. With her newly-enhanced talents she swiftly seized control of the household – and relocated it to an isolated spot on one of the most distant isles of the realm near one of the more active volcanoes. There she could have her slaves seek out the mystical ores and gems that such volcanoes occasionally threw up to build up her hoard while she focused on developing her own talents.

   Unfortunately for such long-term plans, the increasing activity of the volcano – along with the attacks on the realm – forced her out of her fastness a mere decade or so later on.

   Total available character points: 96 (Level Three Base) + 10 (Disadvantages) + 12 (Level One and Level Three Bonus Feats) +2 (Experience) = 120. 120 spent.

   Disadvantages: Insane (impossibly arrogant and competitive), Irreverent (considers “deities” more or less irrelevant), and Compulsive (incredibly greedy) (+10 CP).

   Basic Attributes: Str 12 (16)/+3, Dex 14 (22)/+6, Con 18 (26)/+8, Int 13 (21)/+5, Wis 14 (18)/+4, Cha 20 (24)/+7.

Base Power 12, Base Spell Points 9, Personal Mana 5.

   Basic Purchases (60 CP):

• Proficient with All Simple Weapons and Swords (6 CP).
• +12 Skill Points (12 CP).
• +2 on Reflex, Fortitude, and Will Saves (18 CP).
  • Reflex +10 (+6 Dex +2 Race +2 Purchased)
  • Fortitude +12 (+8 Con +2 Race +2 Purchased)
  • Will +8 (+4 Wis +2 Race +2 Purchased).
    • Additional +2 racial bonus versus Spells.
• 3d6 Hit Dice (6 CP).
• Hit Points 14 (Hit Dice; 6, 3,5) +48 (Magic) + 165 (11 x [Con Mod + Cha Mod]) = 227
• BAB +3 (18 CP). (+11 with Sabres – a type of Scimitar).

   Combat Notes:

• Initiative: +6 (Dex)
• Armor Class: 10 (Base) +6 (Dex) +8 (Armor) +8 (Shield) = 32
• Favored Weapon:
  • Energy Sabre: +21/16/11 (+11 BAB +2 Martial Art +6 Dex +2 Enhancement), 2d10+28 (1d8+10 base [doubled by Metamagic, raised to d10’s by martial art] +6 Dex +2 Enhancement), Melee Touch Attack, Seven Attacks of Opportunity, and Whirlwind Attack.
    • Energy Sabre is the arcane version of Flame Blade. As an arcane spell it only lasts three rounds per level, but it adds the user’s Dex bonus to hit and damage.

   Special Abilities (60 CP).

• Affluent (6 CP): 5 Charms, 3 Talismans, +2 Diplomacy, +2 Speak Language, +1 Skill Point per Level.
• Metamagic Theorem/Amplify, Specialized and Corrupted/only to apply Double Effect, only works on personal enhancements and magic related to the Jav-Sabok (healing, light, and life-enhancement effects), only for first and second level spells (2 CP).
• Streamline x4, Specialized and Corrupted/only for “Amplify”, only to apply Double Effect, only works on personal enhancements and magic related to the Jav-Sabok (healing, light, and life-enhancement effects), only for first and second level spells (8 CP).
  • Note that these two abilities effectively double the effects of her innate enchantments: This is a questionable tactic – they weren’t part of the original “enchantments”, and thus adding them later on is a bit iffy – but the player in this case is looking for a tank (because his characters tend to die a lot). Ergo, I’ll let it go this time around.
• Upgrade the innate immunity on the XP cost of innate enchantments to allow it to pay for first level non-racial enhancements. (1 CP).
• Added first-level Innate Enchantment spells, each at Spell Level One, Caster Level One, Unlimited Use-Activated, and Personal-Only where applicable: +2 to each Attribute, Mage Armor, Shield, and Immortal Vigor I (13,200 GP / +13 CP).
• Amplified, these will also provide some notable bonuses – but they’ll also put the character at a serious risk of magical overload she is not EXTREMELY careful about adding any additional spells to the mix. Shadow Elves are kind of vulnerable that way, even if this one happens to think she’s a dragon.
• Path of the Dragon, Specialized and Corrupted/only to generate effects related to the Jav-Sabok (light and positive energy effects), Shaping (2 CP), Dragonfire (Shields only, 2 CP), Eye of the Dragon (Triple Effect, may absorb 3x Int Score spell levels per day and store 6x Con spell levels, 6 CP), Pulse of the Dragon (2 CP), Heart of the Dragon II (double effect for L2 spell effects, two-thirds cost, 12 CP), Blood of the Dragon (2 CP), and The Dragon’s Bones (2 CP) (28 CP in total).
  • This allows her to cast tremendous numbers of first and second level spells, albeit within a rather narrow set of fields. She can absorb positive or negative energy spells as well and block large amounts of damage – albeit not very often.
• Create Relic, Specialized and Corrupted/only to (re-)create a specific set of relics (the ones noted below) if they are somehow lost or destroyed (2 CP).

   Personal Relics:

• The Tiara of Karwin is a band of milky crystal, carved – perhaps ironically – in the shape of a slender, stylized, dragon. Improved Advanced Augmented Bonus: The user may add his or her (Cha Mod) to his or her (Con Mod) when calculating hit points. Corrupted: The Tiara carries with it a scattering of the memories, attitudes, and old emotions of the previous owner, which may lead to odd compulsions, irrational responses, and minor insanity – requiring occasional DC 18 will checks to avoid acting oddly. 12 CP, or a 2 CP Relic.
• Ring of Winds: This simple one-point relic provides Reflex Training/the three actions per day variant – with +4 Bonus Uses, Specialized in Defensive Actions Only (6 CP, making it a 1 CP Relic).

   Skill Points: 22 (Int) + 12 (CP Spent) +2 (Wealth) = 36

Skills:	Total	Basis
Appraise	+11	6 SP +5 Int
Balance	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Climb	+4	1 SP +3 Str
Concentration	+10	2 SP +8 Con
Diplomacy	+15	6 SP +7 Cha +2 Wealth
Craft/Blacksmith	+7	2 SP +5 Int
Craft/Alchemy	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Knowledge/Arcana	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Listen	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Martial Art/	+19	6 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Move Silently	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race
Search	+8	1 SP +2 Race +5 Int
Sense Motive	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Spot	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Speak Language	+10	1 SP +2 Race +2 Wealth +5 Int
Spellcraft	+6	1 SP +5 Int
Survival	+10	1 SP +4 Wis +5 Int
Swim	+4	1 SP +3 Str
Tumble	+13	1 SP +6 Dex +6 Race

　

   Sabre Master Martial Art (Dex)

   The formal style of House Galano, this art focuses on swift mobility, striking unpredictably from every angle, aiming for any vital point which presents itself rather than attempting to power through defenses. Blows should be struck swiftly – but they should never be targeted against an armored or otherwise resistant spot. He who strikes home first is by far the most likely to live.

• Requires: At least +1 BAB Specialized in Swords.
• Basic Techniques: Attack 2, Defenses 2, Power 2, Strike, Toughness 1.
• Advanced and Master Techniques: Combat Reflexes, Sneak Attack II, and Whirlwind Attack.
• Occult Techniques: Inner Strength, Ki Block, Light Foot, and Resist Pain
• Known Techniques (10): Attack II, Power II, Strike, Sneak Attack I, Combat Reflexes, Whirlwind Attack, Inner Strength, and Light Foot.

   Charms (5):

• Wraith Guantlets (turn the user’s hands briefly intangible, at a cost of 1d4 damage)
• Lore Scroll (provides Knowledge/Local +9).
• Peacock Fan (provides cooling breezes and drives off offensive odors).
• Sands of Time (allows the user to take time out to converse)
• Tinkerstone (casts mending cantrips)

   Talismans (2)

• Martyrs Blade (becomes +1 Ghost Touch for ten minutes when activated with 2d4 hit points up to 3/day).
• Wardstone (Negative Energy) Provides an extra save six times per week.

   Kesara – especially when she throws in a Haste effect and a Flesh Ward or Protection From Negative Energy – is absurdly and incredibly durable and dangerous in melee. This is quite intentional. In fact, I’ve stretched the rules in several places to allow it. The player’s characters have been making excessive demands on the parties supply of curative – and resurrection – magic. Ergo, one grossly overpowered build.

   On the other hand, she’s one of the few characters in the game who can be thrown into overload-poisoning with a simple curse or other relatively minor spell. Everything has it’s downside.