Chenirion Paurgiliath

Natural son of Thalion Paurgiliath Arch Duke of Eltán.

Member and nominal leader of Gatekeepers of the Benevolent Grotto.

Resident of Waterdeep in Faerun, on Toril, third planet of Realmspace.

Detached Initiate(7°) of the Order Magika

Respected scholar of Divination.

Publications:

Specialist Priest Spells

Sibylite/Diviner(Scholar Priest) L7/7 NG Harnic High Elf - Church of Savras

Character Sheet for Chenirion Paurgiliath

Character History

Born to a Harnic seer attached to Thalion's first voyage through Realmspace a few centuries ago, he was raised around divination.

His mother returned with him to Waterdeep when he was about 30, to study with the diviners of Savras. He felt at home in the quiet meditation rooms and garden shrine at the chapter house of Savras behind the much busier House of Wonder dedicated to Mystra and Azuth, and grew a boundless curiousity.

Learning to satisfy his curiosity, he grew into a respected scholar of the divining arts, studying academic principles from a theological and arcane perspective. Chen enjoyed his time in Waterdeep, surrounded by great libraries. He is a member of every library in Waterdeep where memebership is possible, and permitted into others by virtue of his scholarly credentials and academic network or peers. For yet others, he has done divinations for and found rare texts.

There were a number of Paurgiliaths sprinkled in the trades and churches of the Sword Coast. Mostly they and the other Harnic expats got along well; the more distant family continued to take an interest in their lives as well. Often older relatives would go through town to update the genealogy of local births, help with opportunities and assess wellness, take home those who weren't thriving, and bring gifts to those who were. Occasionally the older relative would be Thalion himself. One year Thalion gave him a Pearl of Wisdom.

Harn fell.

The Free Imperia was born.

The Free Imperia put an Embassy in Waterdeep, and he saw his Father more often, regularly visiting Arda through the gate.

He was allowed to study at the Order Magika college for a few months, and returned with a first rate set of personal spellbooks on the condition that he not share the rare spells or make trades for spells without benefiting the Order Magika.

As a member or guest in nearly every important library in Waterdeep with a good local reputation, he is singularly well placed to barter for new spells for the Order Magika if they desire.

His mother visited often as well, participating with the Duchy Eltan Mother's Council. She moved to the embassy. She gave him his rod of splendor as a belated graduation gift; a minor family heirloom.

Then the Free Imperia's embassy was destroyed, burnt by Master Vampires. His mother and several of his friends died. He likely only survived because he was away, in the gardens at the shrine of Savras. He has a grudge.

Most Free Imperia Personnel moved to Arda, but a few, primarily followers of Faerunic deities, stayed behind. He has been serving as the unofficial leader of this group, serving Free Imperial interests in Waterdeep.

Concerned for his safety, he spent part of his inheritance, and purchased a Scarab of Protection for it's drain resistance. He badly wanted a ring of teleport, but couldn't find one anywhere that week. His auguries kept suggesting that something more appropriate would appear in due time. Finally, increasingly desperate divination led him to an unsavory hobbit tailor-mage, who sold him the breeches of teleportation, apparently the result of a polymorphed ring. He cast the clean cantrip on them several times, and laundered them in strong lye soap, till they were practically good as new, but despite the initial distaste, he has never been happier with a purchase. He casts clean on them morning and night.

He, a few of his siblings who are also worshipers of Faerunic deities, and a few other folk of the Free Imperia have carried on keeping safe houses for FI personnel, and arranged agents for purchasing or sales. They are not a formal embassy, but they are capable of diplomatic functions as well as hosting diplomatic personnel. They maintain a surprising intelligence library from scrying, and use it to keep contacts in many Waterdeep organizations. When one of them meets with such contacts, he will often loan them the rod of splendor so that they make the best possible impression.

The Waterdeep crew are primarily a now extremely paranoid group of diviners, and other clerics, and engaged in some unusual safety procedures.

Through a course of group meta divination and research, he and his siblings founded the Benevolent Grotto Society, and contracted with the various churches invloved to serve as its Gatekeepers. This is both a duty and a tremendous resource, which they are beginning to use to try to pay off some grudges.

Magic Items

Scarab of Protection

This device appears to be any one of the various magical amulets, stones, etc. It gives off a faint magical aura, however, and if it is held for one round, an inscription will appear on its surface letting the holder know it is a protective device.

The possessor gains a +1 bonus to all saving throws vs. spell. If no save is normally possible, he gets a one in 20 chance of saving, adjusted by any other magical protections that normally give bonuses to saving throws. Thus, this device allows a saving throw vs. spell at base 20 against magic missile attacks, for example. If the target also has a +4 bonus for magical armor and a +1 bonus for a ring of protection, any roll of 15 or better would indicate that the missiles did no damage.

The scarab can also absorb up to 12 level-draining attacks (two level drains count as two absorbings), death touches, death rays, or fingers of death. However, upon absorbing 12 such attacks the scarab turns to powder—totally destroyed.

One in 20 of these scarabs will be a cursed item, giving the possessor a -2 penalty to his saving throws. However, one in five of these cursed items will become a +2 scarab if the curse is removed by a cleric of 16th-level or higher. In this case, the scarab will have absorption capability of 24 rather than 12.

Copyright 1999 TSR, Inc.

Mirror of Mental Prowess

This magical mirror resembles an ordinary one 5 feet by 2 feet. The possessor who knows the proper commands can cause it to perform as follows:

1. Read the thoughts of any creature reflected therein, even though these thoughts are in an unknown language.

2. Scry with it as if it were a crystal ball with clairaudience, even being able to view into other planes if the viewer is sufficiently familiar with them.

3. Use it as a portal to visit other places (possibly other planes, as well, at the DM's option) by first scrying them and then stepping through to the place pictured—an invisible area remains on the “other side,” and those using the portal can return if the correct spot can be found. (Note that creatures being scried can step through if the place is found by them!)

4. Once per week it will answer one short question regarding a creature whose image is shown upon its surface. Copyright 1999 TSR, Inc.

Crystal Ball

This is the most common form of scrying device: a crystal sphere about 6 inches in diameter. A wizard can use the device to see over virtually any distance or into other planes of existence. The user of a crystal ball must know the subject to be viewed.

Knowledge can be from personal acquaintance, possession of personal belongings, a likeness of the object, or accumulated information. Knowledge, rather than distance, is the key to how successful location will be:

Subject is - Chance of Locating¹

¹ Unless masked by magic.

The chance of locating also dictates how long and how frequently a wizard will be able to view the subject.

Chances of Viewing

Locating¹ Period Frequency

¹ Unless masked by magic.

Viewing beyond the periods or frequencies noted will force the wizard to roll a saving throw vs. spell each round. A failed saving throw permanently lowers the character's Intelligence by one point and drives him insane until healed. Certain spells cast upon the user of the crystal ball can improve his chances of using the device successfully. These are comprehend languages, read magic, infravision, and tongues. Two spells—detect magic and detect evil/good—can be cast through a crystal ball. The chance of success is 5% per level of experience of the wizard.

Certain crystal balls have additional powers. These spell functions operate at 10th level. To determine whether a crystal ball has extra powers, roll percentile dice and consult the table below:

D100

Roll Additional Power

Only creatures with Intelligence of 12 or better have a chance of noticing that they are the subjects of scrying. The base chance is determined by class.

For each point of Intelligence above 12, the creature has an additional arithmetically ascending cumulative chance beginning at 1% (i.e., 1% at Intelligence 13, 3% at 14, 6% at 15, 10% at 16, 15% at 17, 21% at 18 Intelligence, and so on). These creatures also have a cumulative chance of 1% per level of experience or Hit Dice of detecting scrying. Treat monsters as the group as which they make saving throws. Check each round of scrying, and if the percentage or less is rolled, the subject becomes aware of being watched.

A dispel magic will cause a crystal ball to cease functioning for one day. The various protections against crystal ball viewing will simply leave the device hazy and nonfunctioning.

You may allow other scrying devices for clerics and druids—water basins and mirrors are suggested. Have them function as normal crystal balls.

Copyright 1999 TSR, Inc.

Pearl of Wisdom

Although it appears to be a normal pearl, a pearl of wisdom causes a priest to increase one point in Wisdom if he retains the pearl for one month. The increase happens at the end of 30 days, but thereafter the priest must keep the pearl with him or the one point gain will be lost.

Note that one in 20 of these magical pearls is cursed to work in reverse, but once the point of Wisdom is lost, the pearl turns to powder; the loss is permanent barring some magical restoration means such as a wish or tome of understanding.

Copyright 1999 TSR, Inc.

Rod of Splendor

The possessor of this rod is automatically and continually bestowed with a Charisma of 18 for as long as the item is held or carried. Whatever garments the possessor wears (including armor) appear to be of the finest quality and condition, although no special magical benefit (such as a change in Armor Class) is enjoyed.

If the possessor already has a Charisma score of 18 or greater, the rod does not further enhance this attribute. When the possessor expends one charge, the rod actually creates and garbs him in clothing of the finest fabrics, plus adornments of furs and jewels.

Apparel created by the magic of the rod remains in existence unless the possessor attempts to sell any part of it, or if any of the garb is forcibly taken from. In either of these cases, all of the apparel immediately disappears. The garments may be freely given to other characters or creatures, however, and will remain whole and sound afterward. Characters bedecked in a magically created outfit can't replace or add garments by expending another charge—if the possessor tries this, the charge is simply wasted.

The value of any noble garb created by the wand will be from 7,000 to 10,000 gp (1d4+6). The fabric will be worth 1,000 gp, furs 5,000 gp, and jewel trim from 1,000 to 4,000 gp (i.e., 10 gems of 100 gp value each, 10 gems of 200 gp value each or 20 gems of 100 gp value, and so forth).

The second special power of the rod, also requiring one charge to bring about, is the creation of a palatial tent—a huge pavilion of silk encompassing between 1,500 and 3,000 square feet. Inside the tent are temporary furnishings and food suitable to the splendor of the pavilion and in sufficient supply to entertain as many as 100 persons.

The tent and its trappings will last for one day. At the end of that time, the pavilion may be maintained by expending another charge. If the extra charge isn't spent, the tent and all objects associated with it (including any items that were taken out of the tent) disappear.

This rod cannot be recharged. Copyright 1999 TSR Inc.