Illian Glanadrian
Defense
AC: 18, touch 13, flat-footed 15 (+5 armor, +3 Dex)
HP: 27 (8d8–8)
Fort: +2 Ref: +10 Will: +8, +1 vs. poison, +2 vs. enchantments +4 vs. bardic performance, language-dependent, and sonic
Defensive Abilities: uncanny dodge
Immune: sleep
Offense
Speed: 30 ft.
Melee: violin bow (improvised) +7 (1d3–1) or +1 dagger +8 (1d4/19–20 plus poison)
Ranged: dagger +7 (1d4–1/19–20 plus poison)
Special Attacks: bardic performance 15 rounds/day (countersong,, distraction, fascinate [DC 16], inspire competence +2, inspire courage +2), death attack (DC 15), sneak attack +2d6
Spells Known: (CL 5th; concentration +8) 2nd (3/day)—eagle’s splendor, hold person (DC 15), silence (DC 15) 1st (5/day)—disguise self, expeditious retreat, sleep (DC 15), undetectable alignment 0 (at will)—detect magic, lullaby (DC 14), mage hand, open/ close, prestidigitation, read magic
Statistics
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 8 Int: 14 Wis: 14 Cha: 16
Base Atk: +4 CMB: +3 CMD: 16
Feats: Catch Off-Guard, Quick Draw, Run, Weapon Finesse
Skills: Disguise +11, Intimidate +11, Knowledge (local) +12, Perception +15, Perform (act) +14, Perform (string instruments) +14, Sense Motive +13, Sleight of Hand +14, Stealth +14
SQ: bardic knowledge +2, elven magic, lore master 1/day, poison use, versatile performance (string instruments), weapon familiarity
Languages: Celestial, Common, Elven, Sylvan
Combat Gear: potion of cure moderate wounds, potions of invisibility (2)
Other Gear: +1 mithral chain shirt, +1 dagger, daggers (2), cloak of resistance +1, jewelry worth 300 gp, large scorpion venom (5), masterwork violin, 350 gp
Description
Female elf bard 5/assassin 3
Before Combat: Illian avoids actual combat if at all possible, fleeing confrontations that do not happen on her terms. When she is about to commit murder, she casts eagle’s splendor, poisons her daggers, uses fascinate, and finishes with a death attack.
During Combat: Illian uses hold person, sleep, or her Catch Off-Guard feat to make sneak attacks. She uses silence to prevent her foes from calling for aid, and Bluff and Diplomacy skills if guards respond to the noise.
Morale: If Illian is outnumbered or a victim does not succumb to her bardic abilities, she flees immediately.
Illian was trained to be an entertainer, playing pretty songs for pretty people, making them feel like heroes as she followed them in their travels. Of course, these “heroes” were nothing more than cold-blooded mercenaries, drowning their guilt in tavern ale and gold. But on one of these expeditions, her knife found the heart of an enemy, and his warm blood spilled over her fingers. As she watched life leave his eyes, music filled her mind, music she had never heard before.
For a short while, she tried to ignore her muse, but the siren song was too powerful and beautiful to resist. Her muse demanded sacrifice, so she gave it sacrifice—the lives of those with whom she traveled. One by one, she shed their blood for the Blood Mistress. Illian gives her mistress lives, and the Blood Mistress gives Illian the music, and a litany to accompany it.
“Listen now,” she tells them. “Listen at my feet, your blood spilling on the floor, as I play for you, my beloved one. You and I are closer now than any have ever been. In this pure moment, our lives are linked. In this moment, I play for you. Your song. A song written only for you. I play for you, and only you.”
Illian joined the Red Mantis Assassins after her bloody epiphany. The elf uses her charms (both magic and mundane) to get close to targets ordinary assassins cannot approach. And when she is done with them, when the blood pools on the floor, she grips her violin with wet fingers and plays music no man or woman has ever heard before. As her victims’ lives spill out and fade, the last sound they hear is her music.
Boon: Those who are close to Illian may call upon her for aid, whether in sound or steel. A bard who trains with her for a week may add +1 to the DC of his fascinate ability, dirge of doom, frightening tune, and deadly performance DCs (1 month training each, in that order).
Source: NPC Guide, p. 20