Realms Personalities : Teliene Coloara, the Illithid Slayer
By Ramon Arjona (Web)
There are creatures in the Underdark more powerful, more terrible, and more inhuman than the drow. The mind flayers, called illithids by some on the surface, came to Faerûn through means long lost in the fog of time. Spreading throughout the deepest regions of the Underdark with their slave races serving as both labor force and food supply, they seek nothing less than complete dominion over all other beings, sentient or otherwise. Standing between these squid-like horrors and their dreams of total conquest are a few brave individuals who have devoted their lives to ridding Faerûn of the illithid menace. These are the slayers: Men and women from all races and walks of life who are united in their common hatred of the mind flayers. Teliene Coloara, a drow female originally of the city of Menzoberranzan, is one of these few.
Teliene and her family were members of a minor branch of one of the many warring houses of Menzoberranzan. Perhaps it was a rival house who delivered them into the hands of the illithids -- drow are known to be consistently cruel in their pursuit of blood feud. Or, perhaps it was merely a cruel twist of fate that left the teenaged Teliene in the tentacled clutches of the illithids, along with her parents and siblings. Teliene was forced to watch while her entire family was consumed by mind flayers. If not for the emergence of her latent psionic gift, brought forth by the traumatic experience of watching her family butchered, Teliene would certainly have met the same fate.
Teliene's nascent psionic ability posed no threat to her captors. However, the mind flayers did see in her the possibility for entertainment. And, they reasoned, if they refined her powers and developed them over the course of years, her brain would be that much sweeter when they finally chose to devour it. So Teliene was kept alive among the chuul and other slave races, where she lived like a prize-winning lamb while the illithids prepared her for the eventual feast.
Then one day, salvation came in the form of an attack upon the illithid city. While her captors were preoccupied with self-defense and as their enemies swarmed over the city walls, Teliene took advantage of the chaos and made good her escape. But freedom soon proved nearly as cruel as captivity for young Teliene. She wandered for weeks through the caverns of the Underdark, hopelessly lost, living on scrapings of edible fungi and the few blind insects she could catch.
Alone, beaten, and starving, Teliene would certainly have died were it not for the ancient duergar hermit know to her only as Tyrak. A psychic warrior himself, he was drawn by the dying girl's hatred of the mind flayers. He took pity on her, gave her food and shelter, and nursed her back to health. Then he proceeded to give Teliene the tools that she would need to wreak her vengeance on the illithid race.
Her teacher has long since passed away, but Teliene perseveres. She has no desire to return to Menzoberranzan or rejoin drow society. She longs for nothing except the utter annihilation of the entire illithid race. She will move forward one mind flayer at a time, leaving a path of blood and psionic destruction in her wake, until every illithid city is in ruin and every elder-brain is destroyed.
It is the only way she can ever be certain that she has destroyed the illithids who devoured her family and held her captive so long ago.
Teliene Coloara: Female drow Psychic Warrior6/Slayer7; CR 13; Medium-size humanoid; HD hp 78; Init +2; Spd 20 ft.; AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16; Atk +7 melee (1d8+4/19-20, +1 suppression longsword); SA psionic combat modes (mind thrust, ego whip, id insinuation, mind blast, empty mind, mental barrier, intellect fortress); SQ brain nausea, cerebral blind, drow traits, favored enemy (illithids, +1), illithid sense, lucid buffer, power points 50/day, SR 24; AL N; SV Fort +3, Ref +4, Will +7; Str 13, Dex 14, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 14, Cha 16.
Skills and Feats: Autohypnosis +9, Balance +7, Bluff +9, Concentration +8, Diplomacy +7, Intimidate +5, Jump -1, Knowledge (illithid lore) +11, Listen +10, Psicraft +9, Search +5, Sense Motive +8, Spot +10, Stabilize Self +8, Tumble +4, Use Psionic Device +10, Survival +12; Cleave, Combat Manifestation, Deep Impact, Power Attack, Psionic Charge, Psionic Weapon , Psychic Inquisitor, Psychoanalyst, Speed of Thought, Track, Weapon Focus (longsword), Weapon Specialization (longsword).
Brain Nausea (Su): Any creature that attempts to eat Teliene's brain must succeed at a Will save (DC 17) or become disinclined to do so. This ability is active so long as the slayer has 1 power point remaining.
Cerebral Blind (Sp): Whenever Teliene succeeds at a saving throw against a psionic power or attack mode, the attacker must immediately make a Will save using the DC of the original attack. On a failure, the attacker stands dazed for 1 round from the psionic backlash. This ability is active as long as she has 15 power points remaining.
Drow Traits: Teliene is immune to magic sleep spells and effects, and she has a +2 racial bonus on saves against enchantment spells or effects and a +2 racial bonus on Will saves against spells or spell-like abilities. She also has a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Spot, and Search checks (already figured into the statistics given above). Teliene has darkvision to a range of 120 feet and is entitled to a Search check when within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door as though actively looking for it. Teliene also has light blindness; she is blinded for 1 round by abrupt exposure to bright light and takes a -1 circumstance penalty on all attack rolls, saves, and checks while operating in bright light.
Favored Enemy (Illithid): Due to her extensive study of her foes and training with the proper techniques for combating them, Teliene gains a +1 bonus on Bluff, Listen, Sense Motive, Spot, and Survival checks when using these skills against illithids. Likewise, she gets the same bonus on weapon damage rolls against illithids, including ranged weapons against targets within 30 feet.
Illithid Sense (Su): Teliene can sense the presence of illithids within 60 feet, even if hidden by darkness or walls, but not their exact location. This supernatural power is active as long as she has 3 power points remaining.
Lucid Buffer (Su): Teliene receives a +4 competence bonus on saving throws against all compulsions and mind-affecting effects. She also receives a +2 competence bonus on saving throws against psionic attack modes, which stack with any bonus granted by raising a psionic defense mode. This supernatural ability is active as long as she has 9 power points remaining.
Psionic Powers (5/5/2): 0 -- bolt, burst, catfall, daze, detect psionics; 1st -- call weaponry, combat precognition, feel light, hustle, vigor; 2nd -- body equilibrium, claws of the bear.
Possessions: +1 ectoplasmic chainmail, +1 suppression longsword, tattoo of displacement (x2), grappling hook, 20 ft. rope, water, trail rations, a nonmagical locket with a lock of her mother's hair in it.