Realms Personalities : Diedora Shadow's Child
By Robert Wiese (Web)
Born in Impiltur, Diedora was the child of parents who were part of a group of evil spellcasters loosely associated with the People of the Black Blood. Her parents, along with others, raided primitive and peaceful settlements for victims and slaves. Diedora grew up in this atmosphere of death and evil, but she always thought it wrong. Something inside her rejected the way her parents lived, and she refused to follow the path that her parents followed. To her parents, this was devastating. They had failed, and they somehow had to restore their daughter to the right path. Thinking that a stronger indoctrination would help, they decided to contact some people who knew some people, and after some favors were exchanged, they arranged for Diedora to be apprenticed to a Red Wizard of Thay.
A thorough steeping in Red Wizard dogma and way of life did not change her outlook. Though she would never characterize herself as good, she nonetheless felt horrified at the wanton killing that her parents, and her masters in Thay, engaged in. Before her apprenticeship ended, her parents died while dealing death to others. This tragic event would have reinforced Diedora's desire to refrain from any unnecessary killing, except that at about the same time she felt the call of Shar.
In dreams the young Diedora spoke with a woman of complete darkness and knew that she must follow the path of Shar's teachings. She entered the clergy and learned much about the world. Yet through even that something within her resisted the lures of evil, and she remained neutral. Diedora had, and still has, some inner reserve of strength that sustains her against doing heinous wrongs.
Diedora was introduced to the shadow weave and to increased magical powers. Eventually she focused again on wizardry rather than divine power, but still in the service of her dark goddess. When she was 27 she embarked on the path of a shadow adept, and she has never looked back. Though she is repelled by horrific evil, she nonetheless yearns for power just as her parents did. Through the shadow weave, and the shadow adept's abilities, she has that power.
Diedora matured greatly during her years serving Shar's church, and later while acting as a mystic theurge. By the time she had become a shadow adept, she was committed to the dark teachings of her goddess but not to the great evils that her fellow followers committed. "The night is the time to act," say the teachings of Shar, but what one does with one's actions is still one's own choice. Not everything done in the darkness need be evil. On the other hand, the thought of helping others rarely enters her head. Others wanted her to become steeped in evil, so she doesn't feel the need to help others. She thus devotes herself to her goddess as much as possible and knows that Shar has a purpose for calling her that has yet to be worked out.
Today Diedora is a woman constantly at the crossroads. Secure and happy in her power with Shar, she nonetheless could be tempted toward good if she fell into the right company. This would mean turning her back on everything she knows, and all her power, because the dark goddess does not forgive betrayal. But, it is not impossible for her to be redeemed.
As a result of Diedora's attitudes and associations, she likes to philosophize on the nature of good and evil, what is good and what is evil, and how humans (and elves and whatnot) make choices about life. She is especially interested in how much of one's choice for good or evil is ingrained, and how much depends on the circumstances of one's life and upbringing. She can talk for hours on these topics, quickly boring most people (who really don't care about such meta-issues of life).
Diedora Shadow's Child: Female human Wiz3/Clr3 of Shar/Mystic Theurge 2/Shadow Adept 5; CR 13; Medium humanoid; HD 3d4+3 plus 3d8+3 plus 2d4+2 plus 5d4+5; hp 51; Init +1; Spd 30 ft.; AC 17, touch 13, flat-footed 16; Base Attack +6; Grp +6; Atk +7 melee (1d6, masterwork light mace) or +8 ranged (1d4/x3, masterwork chakram); Full Atk +7/+2 melee (1d6, masterwork light mace) or +8 ranged (1d4/x3, masterwork chakram); SA rebuke undead (4/day, +3 damage); SQ low-light vision, shadow defense +2, shield of shadows, spell power +1; AL N; SV Fort +7, Ref +5, Will +16; Str 10, Dex 12, Con 12, Int 17, Wis 15, Cha 12. Height 5 ft. 7 in, weight 149 lb, age 36.
Skills and Feats: Bluff +6, Concentration +16, Decipher Script +6, Diplomacy +7, Disguise +3, Hide +6, Intimidate +3, Knowledge (arcana) +14, Knowledge (local -- the North) +14, Knowledge (religion) +14, Knowledge (the planes) +15, Sense Motive +5, Spellcraft +19, Blind-Fight, Eschew Materials, Exotic Weapon Proficiency (none), Insidious Magic, Pernicious Magic, Scribe Scroll, Shadow Weave Magic, Signature Spell (dimension door), Spell Mastery (blacklight, dimension door, suggestion), Spellcasting Prodigy (wizard), Still Spell, Tenacious Magic.
Shadow Defense: Diedora gains a +2 bonus on saving throws against spells from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy, and against any spell with the darkness descriptor.
Shield of Shadows: Diedora can create a mobile disk of purple-black force as a standard action. This duplicates the effect of a shield spell and provides three-quarters concealment (30% miss chance). It lasts 5 rounds per day, and the rounds need not be used consecutively.
Spell Power: Diedora adds +1 to DCs for saving throws and to caster level checks to overcome spell resistance for spells she casts from the schools of Enchantment, Illusion, and Necromancy, and spells with the darkness descriptor. This stacks with her bonuses from the Shadow Weave Magic feat.
Languages: Common, Damaran, Draconic, Mulhorandi.
Cleric Spells Prepared (5/5/4/2; save DC 12 + spell level): 0 -- cure minor wounds (2), detect magic, detect poison, guidance; 1st -- command, cure light wounds, detect secret doors*, doom, shield of faith; 2nd -- bear's endurance***, cure moderate wounds, detect thoughts*, hold person**; 3rd -- blacklight (FRCS)*, summon monster III.
*Domain spell. Deity: None. Domains: Darkness (Blind-Fight as a bonus feat), Knowledge (cast divinations at +1 caster level; all Knowledge skills are class skills for cleric levels).
Wizard Spells Prepared (4/5/5/4/4/2; save DC 14 + spell level): 0 -- acid splash, daze**, ray of frost***, touch of fatigue**; 1st -- charm person**, magic missile***, ray of enfeeblement**, shield, unseen servant**; 2nd -- command undead**, mirror image**, shadow spray (FRCS)**, spectral hand**, touch of idiocy**; 3rd -- blacklight (FRCS), displacement**, hold person**, suggestion**; 4th -- confusion**, greater invisibility**, stilled fireball, stilled vampiric touch; 5th -- dominate person**, shadow evocation**.
Spellbook: 0 -- acid splash, arcane mark, dancing lights, daze**, detect magic, detect poison, disrupt undead**, flare, ghost sound**, light, mage hand, mending, open/close, prestidigitation, ray of frost***, read magic, resistance, touch of fatigue**; 1st -- cause fear**, charm person**, color spray**, comprehend languages****, disguise self**, magic missile***, ray of enfeeblement**, shield, silent image**, unseen servant**; 2nd -- command undead**, ghoul touch**, invisibility**, Melf's acid arrow, mirror image**, protection from arrows, shadow spray (FRCS)**, spectral hand**, Tasha's hideous laughter**, touch of idiocy**; 3rd -- blacklight (FRCS), deep slumber**, dispel magic, displacement**, fireball***, hold person**, major image**, suggestion**, tongues****, vampiric touch**; 4th -- animate dead**, charm monster**, confusion**, dimension door, enervation**, greater invisibility**, lesser geas**, phantasmal killer**; 5th -- dominate person**, feeblemind**, magic jar**, shadow evocation**, summon monster V, teleport.
*Domain Spell. Domains -- Darkness (gain free Blind-Fight feat), Knowledge (all Knowledge skills are class skills, cast divination spells at +1 caster level).
** +2 to DCs and caster level checks to overcome spell resistance.
*** Cast as 9th-level wizard or 4th-level cleric.
**** Divination spell cast as 11th-level wizard or 6th-level cleric.
Possessions: 2 masterwork chakrams, masterwork light mace, ring of protection +2, bracers of armor +4, cloak of resistance +1, pearl of power (3rd-level spell), 380 gp.