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Gust of wind from the south blows through the village in the far north. Faint laughter echoing from the mountains almost drowns under the sounds of people running inside away from the wind, but soon the voice of a thousand drums overwhelms the area along with the intensifying laughter deafening the lucky ones soon, but driving the rest to the brink of insanity... Raud the Lapinnoita, Witch of Lapland, the last of her kind had moved through the village leaving naught but calamity and death in her wake. What more was there now than to tend to the victims?The used to be a number of creatures known as Lapinnoita, but Raud is the last of them. Their kind were shamans and sages who lived (or still live?) in Lapland, the northernmost part of Finland. They kept contact to the spirits of the dead, traveled either as a thought, bird or gust of wind, visited the spirit plane and caused curses on anyone who came close. A short look from a Lapinnoita was often enough to make even the bravest man freeze in panic or even died of fear. Usually a Lapinnoita was a potent mage, often teaching the most promising mages of the south, but corrupting them in the process. The presence of a Lapinnoita was numbingly cold and could even freeze people to death.
Raud the LapinnoitaMiddle-aged Wereowl (Afflicted) Unseelie Fey Human Bard 2/Binder 4/Ur-Priest 2/Anima Mage 10Medium FeyHit Dice: 7d8+2d6+11d4+80 (146)Initiative: +14 (+5 dexterity, +5 insight, +2 unnamed, +2 vestigial awareness, +2 belt of battle)
Speed: 30 feet
Armor Class: 29
Touch: 26
Flat-footed: 24
Base Attack/Grapple: +10/+10
Attack: Shortbow +16 ranged (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Shortbow +16/+11 ranged (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 5ft/5ft
Special Qualities and class features: Bardic lore (1d20+8 ), Bardic music, Damage reduction 15/cold iron, Damage reduction 5/silver (in animal or hybrid form) Exploit vestige, Fascinate Pact augmentation (1 ability), Rebuke undead (9/day) Spellbreaker song, Soul binding (EBL 16) Suppress sign, Vestige metamagic (3/day), Vestigial casting, Winter's chill
Saves: FORT 11 REFL 12 WILL 30
Abilities: STR 10
DEX 20
CON 18
INT 18
WIS 32
CHA 22
Skills: Bluff 18, Concentration 15, Diplomacy 27, Intimidate 31, Knowledge (arcana) 24, Knowledge (history) 19, Knowledge (nature) 19, Knowledge (religion) 24, Knowledge (the planes) 24, Perform (drum) 13 Sense motive 23, Spellcraft 12 and Never outnumbered and Collector of stories skill tricks
Feats: Extend spell, Frozen magic, Imperious command, Improved binding, Iron will (B), Knowledge devotion, Master of poisons, Persistent spell, Piercing cold, Poison spell, Spell focus (Evil)
Flaws: Noncombatant, Vulnerable
Environment: The snowy mountains of Finland
Organization: Solitary (unique)
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Languages Spoken: Common, Saame
Possessions: +6 ability boosters to charisma, dexterity, constitution, intelligence and wisdom, +3 tome to wisdom, +1 eager warning gauntlets, +1 splitting composite shortbow (with a high, high STR bonus), dozens of +1 spell storing arrows, monk's belt, masterwork drum, +10 competence bonus item to intimidate, belt of battle. Toss in whatever normal Clerics use: prayer beads, metamagic rods and so forth. Masterwork tools for all the skills I put ranks in and a variety of poisons are great for the fluff.
Spells prepared: 6/8/8/7/6/6/6/5/3/2.
Vestiges: Dantalion, Chupoclops, Haures. The EBL of the character is 16 so 7th level vestiges are available. Astaroth is mighty handy for cheating the WBL curve.
Numbers crunching and mechanical aspects: A Lapinnoita is a horrendous creature of the northern tundras. They act as shamans and are known for their ability to invoke create pain and anguish in those who are around them. They are also associated with storms and destruction of crops. Anguish is brought in to the game with the decent intimidation abilities, the piercing cold of Winter's chill and Chupoclops' Aura of sadness. The pain aspect is achieved with Spell storing arrows packed with Contagion and, of course, Poison spell is utilised here. This strategy is also thematically appropriate seeing how the pain-causing causing curse is called
noidannuoli which translates to
witch's arrow.According to the legends a Lapinnoita travels like the wind or mere thought. It so happens that Dantalion offers an ability called Thought travel and with Haures a Lapinnoita can become essentially ethereal when moving. They also keep contacts to spirits and often join their world in meditation. How appropriate are vestiges and Astral projection here? The last method of travel commonly associated with the lapinnoita myth is becoming a bird and flying. Owl is a very Finnish bird and Druid levels were not thematically appropriate, so I used this option instead. Not the worst choice, right?
This Lapinnoita can also work as a sage without problems. Dantalion provides hefty bonuses to Knowledge checks and Lore ability can be acquired with other vestiges if the Bardic version (1d20+8 is not much) is not enough. All the divination spells from the Cleric spell list are also available and Miracle is, once again, an extremely helpful tool. The reason for the levels of Bard was not alone to get the skills and lore but to make sure that the musical aspect of Finnish shamans and sages is there. Finnish shamans usually carried a drum they played in their performances.
In short, the build has everything needed to make the Halloween of its opponents living hell. With disease, poison, demoralisation and all the other penalties make sure no-one gets away without punishment if they ever get close to the elusive witch, who can stop foes with a mere glance. A few persistent spells (six if you extend them too) can give this bad girl anything Miracle can reach and that is saying a lot. Superior resistance and Conviction keep the saves up and with full casting acquiring defenses is hardly a tough feat. Level adjustment buy off was used, hope that's alright.
A little summary of the abilities here:
-Able to cause her curses called
witch's arrow in the form of disease transmitted by Contagion spell in a spell storing arrow. If possible, use Poison spell on the arrow for extra fun.
-Thought travel and transforming into a bird are right there with Dantalion vestige and lycanthrope template.
-Numbing cold achieved with Unseelie fey's Winter's Chill. This is enhanced with Aura of Sadness from Chupoclops.
-Wind travel is somewhat emulated with Ethereal movement of Dantalion's. Stormrage is a good possibility for a persistent spell here.
-Casting achieved with Ur-Priest.
-Sage role filled with Bardic abilities, divinations and Knowledge skills.
-Freezing people with a glance comes from Awe of Dantalion.
-Drumming actually gives something useful with Bard levels.
-Intimidation is a decent option if you have to be close to someone.
