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Tar’Lastel, Fiendish General Light Sensitivity (Ex): Tar’Lastel’s eyes are sensitive to bright light, and he is dazzled while in bright sunlight or within the radius of a daylight spell. Smite Good (Su): Once per day, Tar’Lastel can use make a normal melee attack to deal 12 points of extra damage against a good foe. Spell-like Abilities: 3/day—darkness, poison (DC 15); 1/day—blasphemy (DC 19), contagion (DC 14), desecrate, unholy blight (FV 15). Caster Level 12th. The Save DCs are Charisma-based. Typical Wizard Spells Prepared (4/6/6/5/4/4/3; DC 16+spell level, or 18+spell level for spells from the school of conjuration): Spellbook Contents (in addition to those spells listed above): Possessions: 50 gp, 50 pp, bracers of armor +2, headband of intellect +2, ring of protection +2, vest of resistance +3, wand of web (CL 3rd) (20 charges), wand of fireball (CL 5th) (23 charges), whip, diamond dust (250 gp)**. Note: Though the half-fiend template is supposed to add wings and a fly speed, Tar'Lastel has instead been enlarged by a size category. He has also been given the Light Sensitivity special quality. A staggeringly tall being that resembles an elf stands before you. His skin is as pale as granite and his thin, snow-white hair falls to his upper back. His eyes glow red tainted with black, and his toothy snarl displays sharp, pointed teeth. His gangly arms end in elongated hands and fingers, tipped with yellowed claws. He wears little to cover his pale, gaunt body: an ash-gray vest, leather pants held around his waist by a charcoal-black sash, and dark leather boots that only reach halfway up his emaciated shins. Two slender wands are tucked under the sash on his left hip, and a frayed whip hangs at his right. History: Born of an unholy pact between a power-hungry elf wizardess and a relatively young devil, Tar’Lastel was to be his mother’s payment to the devil in exchange for arcane secrets. While he was still in his mother’s womb, the devil and wizardess performed a ritual to taint the unborn child with fiendish blood. But the pact did not go as planned . . . or at least, not for the wizardess. The devil imparted the knowledge to her shortly before the ritual sent her prematurely into labor and she died giving birth to the monstrously large child. The devil went back to Hell with his new protégé in tow, but to his dismay he learned after only a few months raising, teaching, and protecting a child in such an unforgiving place was far too much work for far too little benefit. In a deal intended both to amuse and to benefit him, he traded the now adolescent boy back to his elven father, a wizard named Valadur, in exchange for a favor which could be called upon for payment at any time. Yet the devil decided that it would be funnier that the father should not know the monster who would serve him was actually his son, so the devil informed the wizard that his boy died in Hell. Depressed not only by his wife’s death but also by the news of his child’s demise, he embraced the hideous fiend of a boy and raised him as though he were his own child. The child, named Tar’Lastel by his diabolical caretaker, became Valadur’s apprentice. Valadur taught him the art of wizardry, as well as military tactics and strategies. When Valadur deemed him ready, Tar’Lastel was placed in control of the small army his master had amassed in an effort to gain power. Now Tar’Lastel travels with the army as it marches from battle to battle, summoning and bolstering troops with his magic. He also serves his master as a military advisor, sometimes having long discussions in a warm study over the political environment and possible methods of obtaining power. As a general Tar’Lastel is a cruel leader, often employing the use of whips to torture whoever disobeys him, fails a task, or even so much as coughs too loudly while in formation. After only a few weeks in command, he now rules unopposed. His troops, though often mistreated, respect his power and are too fearful of him to betray him willingly. Tar’Lastel’s strangely pale skin and reddish eyes are unaccustomed to the light of the sun, so he hides his weakness by attacking only during the night. He particularly enjoys accompanying the strike teams used to attack key points by stealth. His favorite tactic is to cast invisibility on himself and unleash a silent cloudkill to kill a good deal of unwary victims and throw the survivors into a state of panic. During the day, he hides from the sun in his tent while on the move or in his chambers while at home, mulling over maps and documents in preparation for the army’s next attack. |
