Realms Personalities : Riggilla the Dark
By Robert Wiese (Web)
Half-drow are common in drow society. Many drow take human slaves, and children are born. Most of the time these half-drow become slaves in the various households, but sometimes they are left to die in the Underdark because of drow pride or due to some secret. Riggilla was born to a human slave in a prominent drow household that prided itself on the purity of its blood. Servants of Lolth for thousands of years, the family bred to keep its bloodline pure and connected to only the best "stock" in other families. When slaves became pregnant, as often happened, the children were either killed in the womb (often with the mother) or left in the Underdark to die. Monsters usually took care of these little messes for the drow. Rarely, such a child would be born and then handed over to a mind flayer ally as a gift.
Riggilla was left to die, but before any hungry monsters found her, she was taken by a raiding party of duergar that had been spying on a nearby drow fortification. The gray dwarves thought that she might make a reasonable slave, or that perhaps her loyalty could be turned against her own kind and she could be used as a spy or assassin. The dwarves informed her that they had purchased her from her family and raised her as a slave. As she grew older, they trained her in the quiet arts of thievery and killing, and they gave her more comforts. Though hating her own kind for selling her, she never stopped hating the duergar either. Eventually the dwarves saw that she was hopeless, from their point of view, and killed her. Or so they thought.
Riggilla's body was left in the Underdark for dead, but she somehow survived. She never talks about this period in her life - if she talks about her life at all. She made her way to the surface and found that it was not as bad as the duergar had said it would be. After she was healthy again, she made her way to Telflamm in Thesk. There, she assumed the guise of a man (her build and facial features make this disguise easy for her) and got work with a mercantile company as a security consultant using the name Cosim. Her job was to make sure that no one could steal the wares of the company, and to find and silence any who did so before they could tell anyone. The work was easy, and she found she had time for some thievery on the side. Her employers doubtlessly knew that she victimized their competitors, but they never said a word. They even arranged for tidbits of information to fall into her hands that would help her and arranged for her to be off work at just the right times.
Her thievery eventually brought her into contact with the Shadowmasters of Telflamm, and "Cosim" became a member. She rose quickly and showed a great affinity for the shadows that caught the attention of the priests of Mask with the guild. She was persuaded to undergo the shadow-walker ritual, and then she was granted a higher place in the organization.
Now deep in the inner ring of the Shadowmasters, Riggila travels from Telflamm to other shadowmaster enclaves around the Realms to give orders, check on the members, and provide inspiration as needed. She may be sent to a city to establish a new guild presence or to eliminate a branch of the guild that is deviating from what the Shadowmasters in Telflamm have decreed. She wields her authority as a shadowlord with a ruthless hand since she really does not care about the members of the guild as individuals. She was never shown any kind of pity, so she never learned to show any. She maintains her position with the merchant as well, who enjoys a more lucrative trade thanks to his new connection with the Shadowmasters (and his compliance with their will).
Riggilla stands 5 feet 2 inches tall and weighs a scant 120 lbs. Her dusky skin she attributes to her meld with the shadows, though her slightly pointed ears give away her elven heritage. She has silvery hair that she keeps cut short and dyed black. She is lithe and athletic -- a product of her strenuous upbringing. She wears a suit of mithral armor that is blackened. It was a "present" from a former associate in the Shadowmasters who met his fate at her hands. Her facial features are harsh and somewhat masculine, and she easily passes for a male most of the time.
Because of her past, Riggilla hates dwarves with a passion and elves almost as much. With humans she feels most comfortable, though she does not mind gnomes and halflings. With her shadow-born powers, she likes to inspire fear in others and will use her hat of disguise and shadow abilities to seem to appear from the darkness like a wraith or a vampire. She usually gets the jump on her opponent, and she prefers a strike-and-retreat method of combat that maximizes her abilities and minimizes her vulnerabilities. Riggilla frequently takes advantage of the fact that she can see in magical darkness and most of her victims cannot. She is now a master thief because of her shadow-born abilities and lives in a wealthy but subdued lifestyle that suits her very well. She feels some sense of security with her position in the Shadowmasters and can afford whatever she wishes (with a little effort). She keeps her childhood as far in her past as possible.
Riggilla: Female half-drow shadow walker Rog6/Ftr1/Telflammar shadowlord 5; CR 13; Medium humanoid (half-elf); HD 6d6 plus 1d10 plus 5d6; hp 43; Init +5; Spd 30 ft.; AC 21, touch 15, flat-footed 21; Base Atk +8; Grp +8; Atk +14 melee (1d6+1/18-20, +1 frost rapier); Full Atk +14/+9 melee (1d6+1/18-20, +1 frost rapier); SA sneak attack +3d6, spell-like abilities; SQ darkvision 60 ft., evasion, half-drow traits, light blindness, shadow blur, shadow discorporation, shadow jump, shadow pounce, shadowsight, trap sense +2, trapfinding, uncanny dodge; AL NE; SV Fort +5, Ref +14, Will +3; Str 10, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 12. Height 5 ft. 2 in.
Skills and Feats: Balance +7, Bluff +10, Climb +7, Decipher Script +7, Diplomacy +3, Disable Device +7, Forgery +6, Hide +24, Intimidate +3, Jump +9, Knowledge (local) +4, Listen +10, Move Silently +23, Open Lock +14, Search +11, Speak Language (Damaran) +1, Spot +9, Tumble +16, Use Magic Device +10; Blind-Fight, Daylight Adaptation, Dodge, Mobility, Scribe Scroll, Spring Attack, Weapon Finesse.
Spell-Like Abilities: 3/day -- darkness, shadow mask, shadow spray (FRCS; DC 13); 2/day -- dimension door (DC 15), shadow walk (DC 17). Caster level 12th. Riggilla cannot use any of these in an area of bright light (sunlight or area of a daylight spell).
Evasion (Ex): Against an attack that allows a Reflex save for half damage, Riggilla takes no damage on a successful save and full damage on a failed save.
Half-Drow Traits: Riggilla is immune to magic sleep spells and effects, and she has elven blood (for all effects related to race, she is considered an elf). Riggilla also has a +2 racial bonus on saves against enchantment spells or effects, a +2 racial bonus on Diplomacy and Gather Information checks, and a +1 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, and Search checks (already figured into the statistics given above).
Light Blindness (Ex): Abrupt exposure to bright light (such as sunlight or a daylight spell) blinds Riggilla for 1 round. In addition, she takes a -1 penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks when operating in bright light.
Shadow Blur (Su): When not in daylight or the illuminated area of a light spell, Riggilla has a blur effect active on herself. This can be activated or ended at will as a free action.
Shadow Discorporation (Su): If Riggilla is in shadows or darkness, any damage that would reduce Riggilla to 0 hit points instead has a chance to discorporate her. On a successful Reflex save DC (5 + damage dealt), she breaks apart into dozens of flitting shadows and vanishes, along with anything carried or held. She reforms at the next sundown at a place of her choosing within one mile of the place where she discorporated. While discorporated, nothing can attack her and she cannot take any actions; she does not exist when discorporated.
Shadow Jump (Su): Riggilla can jump from shadowy area to shadowy area as if by dimension door. She can cover 100 feet per day, and that amount can be split among multiple jumps. Jumps shorter than 10 feet count as 10 feet.
Shadow Pounce (Ex): When Riggilla uses a spell or a spell-like ability with the teleport descriptor, she can execute a full attack action after the teleportation. She must have line of sight on the target from the original location, and the destination must be a place from which she can launch a melee attack with the weapon in her hand at the beginning of her action.
Shadowsight (Ex): Riggilla can use darkvision to see through any normal or magical darkness to a range of 60 feet.
Trap Sense (Ex): Riggilla has a +2 bonus on Reflex saves to avoid traps and a +2 dodge bonus to AC against attacks by traps.
Trapfinding: Riggilla can use the Search skill to find traps with Search DCs higher than 20.
Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Riggilla retains her Dexterity bonus to AC even when flat-footed and when attacked by an invisible attacker.
Telflammar Shadowlord Spells Prepared (3/2; save DC 12 + spell level; 10% chance of spell failure): 1st -- invisibility, knock, levitate; 2nd -- blacklight (FRCS), displacement.
Spellbook: 1st -- invisibility, knock, levitate; 2nd -- blacklight (FRCS), displacement, nondetection.
Languages: Common, Damaran, Dwarven, Undercommon.
Possessions: +2 shadow silent moves mithral chain shirt, +1 frost rapier, gloves of dexterity +2*, hat of disguise.
*Already figured into stats above.