Sardeez

Imperial Smuggler

Sardeez, rastipede male F4/T5 (uses smuggler kit from PO:S&P):  AC -1;
MV 15"; hp 13; #AT 1 or 2; Dmg 1-4/1-4 or by weapon; SD cannot be
surprised from behind; AL NE; THAC0 17; S 17; D 17; Cn 17; I 11; W 11;
Ch 10 (18 from ring); Cm 10 to rastipedes; modern languages common,
modern languages rastipede, appraising (+2 for kit), information
gathering, disguise, alertness, ettiquette, forgery, trailing,
read/write common, read/write rastipede, read/write elvish, voice
mimicry, dagger, shortsword, club, sap, sling, light crossbow; ring of
human influence, dagger, shortsword, sap, sling, 20 sling bullets, ring
of protection+1, light crossbow, case of 20 light crossbow bolts

Sardeez is one of the most accomplished smugglers in the Empire.  He
has a legitimate pawn shop on the edge of one of the busiest trade
ports in the empire from which he bases his less legitimate trade.
Sardeez delas in anything, from reselling "lost" items to masterminding
slave shipments he has no scruples and is only out to increase his
personal wealth.

Sardeez is a master smuggler in addition to a legitimate trader.  His
legitimate trade not only consists of his pawn shop but he also
sponsors shipments of goods and will sell (and arrange for delivery) of
items to individuals as far away as other spheres (all payment up
front, of course--and no refunds).  As a master smuggler he actually
does no smuggling himself, instead he arranges to have items (and
people) smuggled onto and off of the asteroid city where he lives.  He
deals with most of those he does business with through intermediaries
though he's not too fearful of getting his hands dirty (he just wants
to make sure he doesn't have to lay out extra bribes to cover his
identity or even have soemone killed--and he certainly doesn't want to
be directly a part of an open battle with authorities).  Like most
rastipedes he generally tells the truth about what he's selling and
will often do even more, he'll tell the consumer enough so they can
make the purchase they want rather than trying to trick them by merely
being "technically" truthful.  He's perfectly willing to mislead and
even openly lie, however, if it suits his needs.  He prefers to seem
especially honest so as to avoid suspicion.

Sardeez's shop is located on the edge of the asteroid for a very good
reason: so he can allow ships to secretly dock and load and unload
cargo through a secret entrance into a subterranean area of the
asteroid located on the asteroid's edge.

Sardeez's tries to ingratiate himself with everyone without seeming to
work at it (never seems obsequious).  Instead he'd rather be seen as a
likable, trustworthy person, as he knows this is the best way to lower
people's guards (so they'll leak information) and to avoid suspicion.
He runs a vast information net through the empire and beyond, though
only a few members of it ever deal with him in person and even fewer
know his true identity.  This information network is key to his success
as a smuggler and merchant.

Sardeez is opposed to strong authority but does not want to tear down
the Empire either.  He realizes that no government or control means
anarchy and anarchy is just as bad for business of all types as an
overly powerful government is for criminals.  As such he sponsors
groups opposed to the government and groups opposed to the criminal and
revolutionary elements (it's also convenient that these others are also
competitiors of his).  In particular he oppose the Company of the
Chalice and the PoTs but he supports the efforts of the IEN (the IEN
doesn't generally engage in searching vessels, instead leavign that up
to the local authorities but they do help keep the space lanes open for
shipping and free of monsters, neogi, and pirates).  He knows that
sponsoring and aiding groups can be as simple as passing along
information or driving business their way and that spreading false
information (or true information about illegal groups) is an easy,
effective, and cheap way to oppose them.

DM Uses:  Sardeez can be either used as an unseen adversary of the PCs
(and possibly one that manages to win their confidence as a friend) or
even as an open sponsor of them.  Of course all the "crime" they fight
will be competitors of Sardeez's--and maybe even a few of his
ex-partners.  As much as he likes to spy on enemies directly and
sponsor groups openly (at least to the group) he will most likely uses
his other sources to accomplish these tasks.  He might hinder a group
from an entirely different city in space and they would never realize
that their true foe lay somewhere else entirely.  Likewise the scraps
of paper left under their inn room doors whenever they're in port might
seem to come from one of the chambermaids working for a local  but in
reality their benefactor is unobserved and in an entirely different
section of the empire.  A group of some of his most unusual
associatesis detailed below.

The Waifs

The waifs are a group of young children growing up on the street that
Sardeez has recruited to serve him.  He has been raising them so they
will be loyal to him and serve his needs unerringly.  The waifs consist
of a large number of races, including two rastipedes but also humans,
halflings, a gnome (not a tinker), and a surprising number of
half-elves, among others.  All are relatively loyal to him (and some
are even fanatical about it) and to each other.  Sardeez uses them much
as Sherlock Holmes used homeless boys to collect information and run
messages and packages (Sardeez's ability to read and write in several
languages and his skill as a forger have proven very useful in the
past) but he also uses them for darker purposes.  Despite their name
the Waifs are hardened criminals already and have been used more than
once to commit sabotage, random acts of violence, and vandalism (in
actuality carefully planned damage/destruction).  Through Sardeez's
efforts and with the help of the Waifs the local thieves' guilds are
all weak and those slavers in the city that don't deal with Sardeez
have all been discovered by the authorities.  The waifs are trained in
voice mimicry, begging, information gathering, disguise, trailing, and
the use of the sling, dagger, and club to various levels of skill (a
few are even learning to read and write--though it's a slow process).
Some of the members even count as 1st level thieves (though those that
haven't reached maturity suffer additional penalties to their thieving
skills because of it).