NPC Gallery: Harvest's Saga

Not every faerie lord is happy with Feyfrost and Irrisen’s situation. Even if the Eldest keep mostly to themselves, some of them had a certain number of worshipers in the region before the Eternal Winter begun, and resent the witches and their evil kin for upsetting the natural order of the seasons. One of these is the mysterious Ng the Hooded– or maybe the greater god he is the herald of. Nobody really knows what the Elder’s interests in the mortal world are, and if someone has a hint, they don’t tell.

The fact is, there’s a hidden and semi–forgotten shrine to Ng in Feyfrost’s woods, not far from Fey’s End. If it’s connected in some way with the things that happen there is another mystery. Even in the best days of Irrisen, the place (now a simple stone with engraved runes half-deleted by time and weather) saw not many worshipers. Now its existence is known only to a handful of people affiliated to the Heralds of Summer’s Return. One of these is Pharasma’s priestess in Lachka, Pekula Radnovic; then there are the two that some fringes of the Heralds call “The Springbringers”, Saga Summersnow and Harvest Briarthorn, who have become a bit of a local legend in the area. Rumors say they were chosen by Ng to restore the normal course of seasons in Irrisen. That would involve a “pact” between Pharasma and Ng of which only Pekula is informed. The cleric doesn’t tolerate such voices in her presence.

Saga Summersnow (CR 6)

XP 2,400

Female human oracle 7 (Spirit Guide)

CG Medium humanoid (human)

Init –1; Senses Perception +1

Defense

AC 18, touch 9, flat–footed 19 (+7 armor, –1 Dex, +2 shield)

hp 49 (7d8+14)

Fort +5, Ref +2, Will +7

Resist cold 10

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 sickle +3 (1d6+2)

Ranged mwk blowgun +3 (1d2+2)

Special Attacks touch of flames (4/day, 1d6+3), ward of flames (1 attack, 1d6+3), cold aura (2/day, 3d6)

Spell–Like Abilities (CL 7^th; concentration +10)

Constant– know direction

1/day– flare (DC 13)

Oracle Spells Known (CL 7^th; concentration +10)

3^rd Level (5/day)– continual flame, cure serious wounds, daybreak arrow, fireball** (DC 16), sleet storm*

2^nd Level (7/day)– cure moderate wounds, eagle’s splendor, endure elements, communal, enthrall (DC 15), flaming sphere (DC 15), frost fall* (DC 15), grace, holy ice weapon, resist energy**, scorching ray

1^st Level (7/day)– burning disarm (DC 14), burning hands** (DC 14), cause fear (DC 14), cure light wounds, divine favor, endure elements*, forbid action, moment of greatness, protection from evil, stunning barrier (DC 14)

0^th Level (at will)– bleed (DC 13), create water, detect magic, guidance, light, purify food and drink, read magic, resistance, spark, stabilize

* Mystery spell; ** Spirit spell; Mystery Winter

Statistics

Str 12, Dex 9, Con 14, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 17

Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 15

Feats Elemental Spell (cold), Elemental Spell (fire), Extra Revelation, Fey Friend, Nature Magic

Skills Bluff +10 (+12 vs. fey), Diplomacy +13 (+15 vs. fey), Knowledge (nature) +10, Perform (dance) +10, Sense Motive +11 (+13 vs. fey)

Languages Common

SQ bonded spirit (flame; touch of flames, ward of flames), oracle’s curse (blackened), revelations (cold aura, icy skin)

Gear +1 sickle, mwk blowgun with 20 darts, +1 chainmail, mwk heavy wooden shield, cloak of resistance +1, oracle’s kit, potion of cure moderate wounds, potion of eagle’s splendor, sleeves of many garments, 1 jar of blue whinnis, 5 gp.

Special Abilities

Bonded Spirit (Su): Saga can form a temporary bond with a spirit, as the shaman’s wandering spirit class feature. She makes this selection each day when she refreshes her spells. Saga gains one hex of her choice from the list of hexes available from that spirit. She uses her oracle level as her shaman level, and she switches Wisdom for Charisma and vice versa for the purpose of determining the hex’s effects. Saga adds the bonded spirit’s spirit magic spells to her oracle spells known for that day, but only of spell levels she can cast. She also gains the spirit ability of her current bonded spirit.

As a little girl, Saga was the only survivor of a great fire that destroyed her family’s house. She was brought to the church and cured from the horrible burns on most of her body. No one hoped that she could survive, and everybody was astonished when not only the child recovered, but the scars faded almost completely, except on her arms. Growing up, Saga began to wear long gloves to hide them.

Fickle and humoral, Saga went often to play alone in the snow outside the village. She seemed not to be bothered at all from the intense cold. Neither she was afraid of fire, and more than once she risked to burn her long, red curls by going too near to the fireplace. Some of the adults said that her bad experience must have left her fearless, and maybe more than a bit crazy. Only the priestess who took Saga in suspected that her prodigious healing, the scars left on her body, and her unusual behavior could be the sign of some divine intervention and protection. As Saga become an adolescent, this began to be confirmed. The village boys who enjoyed teasing her were pushed away from a strange chill just by looking in Saga’s eyes. One bold bully who dared to jerk her arm was left with a huge burn, nobody knew if from cold or fire. People secretly feared that the girl could be a winter witch, and decided to leave her alone. The priestess did her best to teach Saga control and patience, but she was puzzled by her strange, contrasting abilities too. How could one control ice and fire, winter and summer, at the same time?

These doubts found an answer when a young man, showing only a few years more than Saga, came to take her away. Trees sprang up and grew where he had passed. He called Saga “Ng’s Chosen”, and explained that the two of them had a great duty to accomplish. Nobody knows what other was said, but the priestess let the couple leave without objections the next day, and then hurried to inform Pekula.

Saga is a girl ready to smile and laugh, who lets the mood of the moment guide her actions. He rather likes Harvest, but doesn’t care very much for her “great destiny” and doesn’t obey him more than a capricious child would obey a boring older brother. If she takes a fancy for a PC, she can convince Harvest to follow and help the party, whether they like it or not.

Harvest Briarthorn (CR 6)

XP 2,400

Male human (fey–blooded) phytokineticist 7 (Elemental Purist)

N Medium humanoid (human)

Init +6; Senses low–light vision, Perception +14

Defense

AC 16, touch 12, flat–footed 14 (+4 armor, +2 Dex)

hp 56 (7d8+21)

Fort +8, Ref +9, Will +4. +2 vs. death effects (fey foundling)

Defensive Abilities +2 hp per die of magical healing (fey foundling), elemental defense (flesh of wood); Weaknesses +1 point of damage from cold iron weapons (fey foundling)

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee +1 gauntlet +8 (1d3+1), kinetic blade +7 (4d6+7), kinetic fist +8 (1d3+1+1d6)

Ranged mwk light crossbow +7 (1d8)

Special Attacks elemental overflow +2, kinetic blade, kinetic blast (wood blast, spring blast, 4d6+7), kinetic fist, metakinesis (empower)

Spell–Like Abilities (cold terrain, CL 7^th, concentration +8)

1/day– detect poison, guidance, know direction, nature’s paths

Statistics

Str 12, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 10, Wis 10, Cha 13

Base Atk +5; CMB +6; CMD 18

Feats Alertness, Fey Foundling, Kinetic Leap, Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Weapon Finesse

Skills Acrobatics +12 (+32 with kinetic leap), Knowledge (nature) +13, Perception +14, Sense Motive +14

Languages Common

SQ burn (2 pt.), elemental focus (wood), fey magic, fey thoughts, gather power, infusion specialization 1, infusions (entangling infusion, eruption, impale, kinetic blade, kinetic fist), wild talents (basic phytokinesis, elemental whispers [ermine], skilled kineticist, woodland step)

Gear +1 gauntlet, mwk light crossbow with 20 bolts, +1 studded leather armor (darkleaf cloth), armbands of the brawler, greensurge bomb, 2 potions of cure light wounds, kineticist’s kit, 86 gp.

Harvest doesn’t like to talk about his past. He is the son of a country girl deceived by an evil satyr of Feyfrost. The villagers raised him with every care out of fear of his father’s revenge, but the satyr couldn’t care less for him. Harvest’s mother herself feared her child and wouldn’t see him. The boy grew up disappointed and enraged both with the sheepish humans and oppressing fey, and fled in the forests as soon as he could. There, he became friend of the trees, that never betray anyone; there, he discovered his power, the power to fight Winter itself, and found Ng’s secret shrine. The god talked to him, ordering to cooperate with the Heralds of Summer’s Return and protect Saga at any cost.

Harvest is a grim young man who cares little for human lives and hates passionately all fey. He does what he thinks is to be done, without qualms or remorse, only dreaming of the day when green forests will at last claim the land of Irrisen again.