Caira Xasten

Illus. by Izzy

“I hate the gods. They took my love, my life, everything I am. I will punish them by taking from them what they most love: life. All your little lives that are so precious to them.” —Caira Xasten, ur-priest

Caira Xasten is a cruel ur-priest, a foul thief of divine energy who bends it to her will. Driven by an insane desire for revenge and emptied of compassion and mercy by the tragedies of her life, she seeks to lift the burden of her grief.

GOALS

Caira Xasten wants to destroy the world. She doesn’t want power—she wants revenge. Years ago, her lover and colleague was struck down by a falling meteorite. The chances of such an accident were so slim that she blamed the gods. Robbed of a life with the one person she loved more than anything, she went insane and bent all her considerable resources to visiting ruin on those entities she despised. She cares nothing for her own life or for the deaths of those who stand in her way.

USING CAIRA XASTEN

Caira Xasten is a powerful adversary and one with unreasonable goals. For much of the campaign, she can be a faceless villain, a distant threat protected by layers of minions. The encounters the PCs have with her as the campaign unfolds should be through minions, such as when the minions steal the forbidden tome beneath the cathedral, attempt to harvest angel tears, or scour the land for the book of vile darkness. When she begins to cast apocalypse of the sky (see sidebar, page 21), the PCs should fi nally uncover her identity and confront her in the depths of her hidden lair.

Caira Xasten

DESCRIPTION

Time has not been kind to Caira. Whip-thin, tall, and fi erce, she has a face that reveals the madness and corruption that has haunted her since she vowed service to Atropus. Her once-lustrous long, black hair now hangs loose and wild where it’s not caught in tangles. Deep crow’s feet stretch out from the sides of her red-rimmed eyes, and her mouth is frozen in a grimace. Caira wears tight-fi tting gray breeches and a pale yellow shirt, both of which are pierced with small holes and covered with old stains from her experiments.

Caira Xasten CR 20

hp 142 (20 HD) Female human bard 5/rogue 5/ur-priestCD 10 NE Medium humanoid Init +9; Senses Listen +12, Spot +12 Languages Celestial, Common, Infernal AC 27, touch 20, fl at-footed 27; uncanny dodge Resist Insane Defi ance, evasion; SR 20 (divine only) Fort +13 (+14 against poison), Ref +20, Will +25; +10 against divine spells, +1 against disease, mind-affecting spells and abilities, paralysis, poison, sleep, and stunning Speed 30 ft. (6 squares) Melee +2 frost rapier +20/+15/+10 (1d6+4/18–20 plus 1d6 cold) Base Atk +13; Grp +15 Atk Options Chosen of Evil (+6 bonus), sneak attack +3d6 Special Actions Evil’s Blessing, bardic music 5/day (inspire competence, inspire courage +1, fascinate 2 targets, counter song), rebuke undead 7/day (+14, 2d6+14, 10th), steal spell-like ability Combat Gear potion of cure moderate wounds, wand of stoneskin (8 charges) Bard Spells Known (CL 5th): 2nd (2/day)—blur, daze monster (DC 16), wave of griefSC (DC 16) 1st (4/day)—cure light wounds, silent image (DC 15), swift invisibilitySC , undetectable alignment 0 (3/day)—daze (DC 14), detect magic, ghost sound (DC 14), mage hand, prestidigitation, read magic Ur-Priest Spells Prepared (CL 16th): 9th—apocalypse from the skyBoVD, quickened mass inflict light wounds (DC 22) 8th—corrupt destruction (DC 25), quickened restoration 7th—blasphemy (DC 25), greater bestow curseSC (+18 melee touch, DC 24), corrupt cometfallSC (DC 24), corrupt ice flowersSC (DC 24) 6th—cometfallSC (DC 23), quickened divine interdictionSC (DC 19), greater dispel magic, heal, word of recall 5th—corrupt castigateSC (DC 22), crawling darknessSC , doomtideSC (DC 22), morality undoneBoVD (DC 23), summon undead VSC 4th—death ward, freedom of movement, poison (+18 melee touch, DC 21), restoration, wrackSC (DC 22) 3rd—bestow curse (DC 21), cure serious wounds (3), invisibility purge 2nd—align weapon, death knell (DC 20), desecrate, hold person (DC 19), inflict moderate wounds (+18 melee touch, DC 19) 1st—entropic shield, signSC 0—detect magic, guidance, light, read magic, slash tongueBoVD (2) (DC 18) Abilities Str 15, Dex 20, Con 16, Int 15, Wis 24, Cha 18