First place winner in the Unique 3e NPC Contest!
Salor the Half-Elf Level 8 (5th level rogue, 3rd level illusionist)
Height: 5'6" Weight: 128 lbs Age: 39
Hair: light brown Eyes: green
Alignment: CE Religion: none
Languages: common, elven, dwarven, gnomish
Ability Modifier Bonus Spells
Str 10 0
Dex 15 +2
Con 8 -1
Int 14 +2 -/1/1/-
Wis 11 0
Cha 16 +3
HP: 18 AC: 12 (10 basic +2 Dex modifier) Base Att Bonus: +4
Total Base Str Modifier
Melee Attack Bonus +4 +4 0
Total Base Dex Modifier
Ranged Attack Bonus +6 +4 +2
Saves: Fortitude +1 Reflex +7 Will +4
Racial Traits: speed 30, immune to sleep spells, +2 save bonus vs. enchantment, low-light vision, +1 bonus on Listen, Search and Spot, elven blood, favoured class: any
Special: sneak attack +3d6, evasion (saves for 1/2 damage are made for no damage, even if save failed only 1/2 damage suffered), uncanny dodge (always gets Dex bonus to AC unless immobile), scribe scroll feat, can summon familiar
Prohibited School: Conjuration
Spellbook: 0-level: resistance, detect poison, daze, dancing lights, flare, light, ghost sound, disrupt undead, mage hand, mending, open/close, arcane mark, detect magic, prestidigitation, read magic; 1st-level: true strike, charm person, change self, silent image, ventriloquism; 2nd-level: detect thoughts, darkness, invisibility, minor image, alter self
Spells per day: 0-level: 5; 1st-level: 4; 2nd-level: 3
Weapons: Masterwork Dagger: damage: 1d4; critical: 19-20/X2; range increment: 10'; weight: 1 lb; type: P; melee attack bonus: +7; ranged attack bonus: +7 Heavy Crossbow: damage: 1d10; critical: 19-20/X2; range increment: 120'; weight: 9 lbs; type: P; ranged attack bonus: +6
Skills Ability Ab Mod Ranks Other Mod X-class? Total Appraise Int +2 0 0 N +2 Balance Dex +2 0 0 N +2 Bluff Cha +3 +11 0 N +14 Climb Str 0 0 0 N +0 Concentration Con -1 0 0 N -1 Craft Int +2 0 0 N +2 Diplomacy Cha +3 +11 +4 N +18 Disguise Cha +3 +4 +2 N +9 Escape Artist Dex +2 0 0 N +2 Forgery Int +2 0 0 N +2 Gather Info. Cha +3 +6 0 N +9 Heal Wis 0 0 0 Y +0 Hide Dex +2 +11 0 N +13 Intimidate Cha +3 +8 +2 N +13 Jump Str 0 0 0 N +0 Listen Wis 0 +6 +1 N +7 Move Silently Dex +2 +11 0 N +13 Open Lock Dex +2 +4 0 N +6 Perform Cha +3 0 0 N +3 Ride Dex +2 0 0 Y +2 Scry Int +2 0 0 N +2 Search Int +2 +4 +1 N +7 Sense Motive Wis 0 +6 0 N +6 Spellcraft Int +2 +2 0 N +4 Spot Wis 0 +8 +1 N +9 Swim Str 0 0 0 N +0 Use Rope Dex +2 0 0 N +2 Wild. Lore Wis 0 0 0 Y +0
Feats: quick draw, weapon finesse (dagger), weapon focus (dagger)
Equipment: masterwork dagger, heavy crossbow, 20 crossbow bolts, Mosquito ship, minor helm
Background: Salor is a half-elf who was born of misery. His mother was an elven maiden named Sarrin, who acted as an independent courier and scout. She was frequently employed by the Imperial Elven Navy for low priority missions, but more often worked for individuals, or lesser organizations. On one mission, Sarrin's Mosquito ship was attacked by pirates. Typically, Sarrin would use her ship's maneuverability to flee any aggressors, but in this case she was surprised in an asteroid field, and a lucky catapult stone hit her ship, sending her into spelljammer shock. The human pirates boarded the ship, to find that it carried very little in the way of valuables (the ship itself was too badly damaged for them to consider taking it as a prize). The angry pirates took out their frustrations on the helpless Sarrin, beating her, raping her, and leaving her for dead on her drifting ship. Sarrin spent the next few days in an agony-filled daze. Luckily, a dracon-run Tradesman stumbled across her crippled ship. The dracons brought Sarrin back from the brink of death, and brought her and her vessel to the nearest port, even going so far as to give her enough gold to support her for a few weeks.
Sarrin, with the help of her brother, whom she was able to send word to, quickly recovered, and was soon working again as a courier. Much to her surprise, Sarrin soon discovered that she was pregnant. Sarrin was unsure of how to feel. On the one hand, she had always wanted a child, and so was full of joy. On the other hand, the thought of this child reminded her of her horrific ordeal, and so she was filled with revulsion. Sarrin eventually came to the conclusion that she must love her child regardless of his unfortunate conception. Despite this, she was never quite able to completely overcome the emotional pain which her child brought her.
Sarrin named her son Salor, and always tried to bring him up well, and with love. Sarrin did not put her career on hold, however, and frequently left Salor in the care of her brother while she worked. Her brother, Noldwin, was a wizard of middling power, who lived in a port city on an asteroid. Noldwin made a decent living training young men and elves who wished to become spelljamming helmsmen. Noldwin was never particularly comfortable with Salor, both because of his heritage, and because Noldwin simply wasn't good with young children. Due to his discomfort, Noldwin decided to teach Salor to become a wizard, finding comfort in being able to treat the boy just like any other student. Salor was never a particularly good student, however. While he learned the basics of magic from his uncle, he was always able to perceive his uncle's displeasure with him. At first this made him strive to do better, but he soon found that this underlying displeasure persisted no matter how well Salor did. Salor lost his motivation quickly.
Salor began to feel more and more rejected. He rarely saw his mother because she was always working, and when he did see her he always felt that she was very distant with him. In his early teens, Salor began spending a great deal of his time away from his uncle's house, on the streets of the port's slums with the other outcasts. The street urchins and thieves immediately took a liking to the charming Salor, and welcomed him as one of their own. Despite this, Salor's feelings of isolation and rejection only grew. He saw how easily complete strangers could be made to accept him, and this only made him further wonder why he couldn't find such acceptance from his own mother and uncle.
One day, Salor overheard a local gossipmonger talking about him and his mother. In this way did Salor discover the truth about his birth, and the reason behind the emotions he saw in his mother's eyes. Salor became angry, and confronted Noldwin (Sarrin not being in port at the time). Noldwin confirmed what Salor had heard, but protested that he and his sister loved Salor nonetheless. Salor saw it as a lie, and was unable to acknowledge that there was a kernel of truth in Noldwin's assurances. Salor stormed out, and began living amongst the street urchins.
When Sarrin returned to port, and learned what had transpired, she sought Salor out. Sarrin pleaded with her son to return to Noldwin's house, but Salor believed her to be insincere, and would have none of it. Sarrin, genuinely grieved, left reluctantly to throw herself back into her work. Perhaps she was distracted by thoughts of her son, or perhaps her luck simply ran out. Regardless, she found herself ambushed by pirates again. This time Sarrin was slain. A passing merchant found her drifting ship, and towed it back to port, where Noldwin claimed it.
This eerie echo of the past changed Salor. To all outward appearances, Salor was filled with grief and remorse, and decided to return to the course set by his uncle. In fact, Salor, who had previously been wallowing in self-pity, came to a strange conclusion. Not only did Salor come to accept that his heritage was not his fault, but he decided that it was his mother's fault. After all, did she not allow the same thing to happen again? Salor decided that she must have somehow provoked the pirates, and because of her provocation Salor was forced to live a loveless life of misery. Sadly, Salor did not share his conclusions with anybody, and so he never saw the glaring flaws in his theory.
Salor claimed his mother's ship from his uncle, who was happy to give it to him. Noldwin hoped that Salor had realized that he was loved despite his heritage, and that he was following in Sarrin's footsteps. Unbeknownst to Noldwin, Salor also claimed the dagger with which his mother had twice failed to defend herself against pirates. Salor departed, never to return. Salor 'jammed through space for months, alone with his increasingly disturbed thoughts, and with no destination in mind. When he began to run out of supplies, Salor put in at a bustling spelljamming port.
Having little money, Salor took on a job, transporting a small cargo to a nearby port. Before he left, however, Salor saw an elven woman who reminded him greatly of his mother. At first Salor desired to talk with her, and gain the acceptance from her which he never felt from Sarrin. The woman liked him almost immediately. Perversely, her rapid acceptance of him enraged Salor. To him it symbolized how cruel and unfair his mother had been. In a sudden fit of anger, Salor slew the elven woman with his mother's dagger. Salor left port almost immediately thereafter, and was never connected with the savage murder. This clumsy attack whetted Salor's appetite, and before long he began actively seeking out elven women in the ports he visited, and murdering them. The thieving skills he had picked up as an urchin served him in good stead here, as did the illusions which his uncle had taught him.
Typically, Salor seeks out elven women who seem capable, and who seem like loners. He is very surreptitious in his seeking, using all of his skills to watch a potential victim for quite some time before he makes contact. Once he is satisfied that a woman will be a fitting victim, Salor finds a way to introduce himself, and engage his victim in conversation. He will frequently spend hours talking with these women, getting them to quickly like and trust him, before eventually surprising them with his viscious attacks. To date Salor has stalked and murdered dozens of innocent women, and none have survived his sudden attack (which is always performed with his mother's dagger; his crossbow is strictly for personal defense if his ship is ever boarded). Thus far, none have connected these murders to a single criminal, because they have occurred over great distances, since Salor's work as a courier takes him through many spheres. Recently, however, a member of the Pragmatic Order of Thought has begun to suspect that certain murders he has heard of may be connected. All that he needs to confirm his suspicions is to hire some capable individuals to begin investigating for him.
