Malsasa Swiftpaw

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Malsasa Swiftclaw

Malsasa Swiftclaw is a curious, adventuresome kettek. He has long fur, mostly gray with a few stripes of black and white. He always appears in public wearing bright, ornate outfits woven from fine fabrics like silk or gossamer. Spun gold or silver thread is not uncommon in such outfits, and brightly-colored felt hats with feathers are also commonly seen on Malsasa.

Malsasa is not just a flamboyant merchant, however. He is cursed with some kind of dark magic beyond his comprehension.

Malsasa is chatty and memorable, as any traveling merchant benefits from such qualities, and he has at least a couple connections in most major cities in Gathandia.

Jack

In one of his acquisitions, Malsasa neglected to take enough precautions in the handling of his new magic items. While taking inventory, he became exposed to the influence of a powerful eldritch force. Ever since, this entity has been siphoning Malsasa’s Essence.

Malsasa has not been able to determine anything of this entity’s true nature, but it takes the form of a black cat that he has named Jack. Malsasa and Jack can speak telepathically, and although Malsasa lives in peace with Jack, he is always on the lookout for some method of unbinding himself from the entity.

Backstory

As a kitten, Malsasa lived with his parents and a small group of other kettek within a larger, multilineage nomadic tribe known as the Drifting Merchants Caravan.

The Drifting Merchants pride themselves on their skill as crafters and traders. They travel all across the continent of Gathandia to sell their wares and see wondrous sights. While they are never unfriendly to strangers, they focus on supporting and protecting their own above anything else.

Malsasa quickly made a name for himself as a skilled merchant. Filled with wanderlust and a desire to trade exotic magic items, Malsasa took his leave of the Drifting Merchants to explore the world on his own, intending one day to return to his family.

To detail all of Malsasa’s accomplishments over the years past this point would be difficult, in part because they are plentiful and wondrous, but also because he has embellished, overstated, and downright fabricated so many of them that the line between what is real and what is not has become incredibly blurry.

Malsasa’s Alchemy Egg

They might also convince him to sell it to them eventually, but Malsasa will only consider this if the hero requesting to purchase the egg has at least 15 Goodwill in the mercantile occupation.

Stats for Malsasa’s Alchemy Egg are in Appendix B.

Malsasa in Combat

Malsasa tries to avoid combat, preferring to strike bargains or to retreat when things get too hairy. When Malsasa does have to fight, however, he usually has at least 45 Essence Points’ worth of miscellaneous magic items on him that might help him in combat. Any single item that he has should not have more than 25 Essence Points.

His stats below include Essence 15 mage robes that offer an additional +1 to each of his defenses; Essence 10 +1 rapier; and an Essence 20 Bow of Storms. Feel free to redistribute his items as you see fit.

Malsasa Swiftclaw
Monster Level: 6
Medium. Humanoid (Kettek)
STR	DEX	END	AWR	INT	CHA
-1	3	0	1	2	4
	Ref: 13	Fort: 12	Ant: 13	Log: 14	Will: 16
Armor Rating 11 (+1 mage robes)			Resist Energy 2, Elemental 2
Hit Points 40
Speed 30 ft
Senses Darkvision 30 ft
Skills (DEX) Balancing +4, Sneaking +6; (AWR) Intuiting +4; (INT) Appraising +20, Economics +4, Painting +4, Pottery +4, Sleight of Hand +6; (CHA) Gossiping +4, Savoir Faire +8
Features
Soul Scar. Malsasa can never be resurrected. Occult Boon. Using CHA, Malsasa can innately cast the following occult chants and spells. At Will: Blind, Forked Tongue, Warp Step 3/Rest: Darkness, Grasp of Bones 1/Rest: Babble, Fracture, Shadow Travel
Actions
Malsasa can take TWO of the following actions, or take the same action twice.
Move. Malsasa can move up to his speed. Claw. Reach 5 ft Natural Weapon. +3 vs AR. Hit: 5 (1d4 + 3) sharp. +1 Rapier. Reach 5 ft One-Handed Weapon. +4 vs AR. Hit: 8 (1d8 + 4) sharp. Minor Occultism. Malsasa can cast one of his at-will occult abilities.
OR Malsasa can MOVE and take ONE of the following actions.
Bow of Storms. Ranged (600 ft) Two-Handed Weapon. +3 vs AR. Hit: 10 (1d10 + 5) sharp. Lightning Strike (3/Rest). 100 ft Line Two-Handed Weapon. +3 vs REF of each creature in the line. Hit: 16 (3d10) lightning. Miss: ½ damage. Major Occultism. Malsasa can cast one of his expendable occult spells.
Reactions
Blind Luck (1/Round). When a creature moves within 5 ft of Malsasa, Malsasa can reactively target them with the Blind chant.