A work in progress
ARCADIO POISONTONGUE, THE ICONOCLAST
Neutral Evil Half-Elf Bard 4/Marshal 1/Ur-Priest 10
STR: 8
DEX: 10
CON: 12
INT: 14
WIS: 30 (+3 level, +5 inherent, +6 item)
CHA: 27 (+5 inherent, +6 item)
BAB: +10/+5
FORT: +6
REF: +7
WILL: +13
SKILLS: Perform 8 (+24,) Bluff 18 (+34,) Diplomacy 18 (+43,) Sense Motive 10 (+20,) Gather Information 18 (+40,) Hide 10 (+10,) Move Silently 10 (+10,) Use Magic Device 10 (+26)
1. Half-Elf Bard 1: Bardic Music, Bardic Knowledge, Countersong, Soothing Voice, Inspire Courage +1, Able Learner
2. Bard 2
3. Bard 3: Inspire Competence, Extend Spell
4. Marshal 1: Skill Focus (Diplomacy,) Motivate Charisma
5. Bard 4
6. Ur-Priest 1: Persistent Spell
7. Ur-Priest 2: Rebuke Undead
8. Ur-Priest 3:
9. Ur-Priest 4: Divine Metamagic (Persistent Spell)
10. Ur-Priest 5:
11. Ur-Priest 6: Siphon Spell Power
12. Ur-Priest 7: Darkstalker
13. Ur-Priest 8: Divine Spell Resistance 20
14. Ur-Priest 9:
15. Ur-Priest 10: Steal spell-like ability
BACKGROUND: Arcadio is not your run-of-the-mill assassin. He can't be, given his rather specialized area of expertise: Arcadio hunts and kills clerics. The god matters not; the faith matters not. All that matters to him is whittling away at the power of the gods, one worshipper at a time...until such time as he can hunt the gods themselves.
To hunt the gods--a mad goal, by most reckonings. Indeed, some call him mad, but only in whispers, and never in his presence. Rumor has it that as a young man, Arcadio loved a woman, and beseeched the priests of his faith to heal her when she fell ill. Since her family had offended their god, they refused; Arcadio turned to other gods instead, but the fact that the family had been declared anathema by the most powerful church in the city was commonly known. For fear of angering such a powerful temple, the other priests from whom he sought aid made excuses, and the woman died. With her died a part of Arcadio; what was left in its place was the belief that the gods were cruel and capricious, and undeserving of man's worship.
The first priest to die at Arcadio's hand...so the story goes...was the high priest of his own temple. Since then, there have been more...many, many more.
From time to time, Arcadio takes on a contract that doesn't directly relate to his quest. Why he accepts certain contracts and not others is a mystery; there seems to be no obvious pattern, and those who pry too deeply into his affairs have a way of vanishing for good.
TACTICS: Arcadio normally operates Shapeshifted into the form of an Ethereal Doppelganger, using the creature's abilities of Assume Identity and Mind Wipe to get close to the victim. Coupled with his ability to steal spell-like abilities, this tactic lends him phenomenal versatility. If a task requires skills he lacks, or arcane spells, he can assume an identity that has those abilities. (He keeps several prisoners in Temporal Stasis for precisely this reason.) His own phenomenal powers of persuasion allow him to ferret out most secrets, talk his way out of most fights, and convince even the most suspicious opponent of his obvious sincerity...right up until the moment when it's too late.