Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast.

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The Gravelstokes are a new threat with very specific ties to the Nentir Vale setting. They also serve as a reminder that Nerath wasn’t all sunshine and roses.

The Lore

The Gravelstokes used to be one of the most prominent noble families in old Nerath. They frequented the highest courts, had the ear of the royal family, and had holdings spread through all corners of the empire. The time of strife and backstabbing that followed the fall of Nerath’s government saw their fortunes and household greatly diminished. Despite paying such a heavy cost to end the family’s old rivalries, it managed to keep its deepest and darkest secret: all of that prestige and money they had during Nerath’s heyday came from their service to the Crown as assassins. One of the reasons they fell was because they no longer had a benefactor to support their work.

Their patriarch at the time, Lord Andrew Gravelstoke, retired to his last holdings in the remote Nentir Vale and took most of his surviving relatives with him. There he eventually passed and left his children to squander the last of the family fortune. All that remains is their bleak stone mansion in the Barony of Harkenwold, and a modest summer retreat just outside of Fallcrest.

The current patriarch is Andrew’s grandson Xander. After decades of bickering has managed to unite most of the family behind the singular purpose of recovering their old prestige and fortune. And they intend to do that by taking up the old family trade: murdering people.

Xander has been making contact with the family’s old business partners, former rivals, and anyone who is in need of a spot of murder to let them know the Gravelstokes are once again for hire. They’ve kept the old family techniques alive and even improved on them, so the quality of their service is assured.

The family’s main field operatives are Xander himself, his three younger siblings, and his son. Xander also takes counsel from his uncle Barin and his widowed sister-in-law Lenore. His young wife Regan is attractive, demure, and knows how to keep a secret, but doesn’t have any direct involvement in the “business”. She’s Xander’s third wife: the first two failed to meet his approval and suffered convenient accidents.

The siblings are named Mikus, Tovin, and Alesia. Mikus and Tovin are twins, and the trio is inseparable. They go everywhere together, whether on a job or just traveling for fun. There are dark rumors floating around about the carnality of their relationship and its “debased offspring”, but in a surprising twist for such a heavily Gothic Horror family, these rumors are all false. They are however competent and ruthless assassins.

Xander’s son Vincent is more of a serial killer than an assassin, an anti-social recluse who is very particular about whom he chooses to kill. Xander is at a bit of a loss about what to do with him, since this behavior is bad for business.

The Numbers

We get stats for all combatant Gravelstokes here. They’re all early to mid-Paragon threats, which likely means their customers are the kind of people who have designs on the whole of the Vale.

The Gravelstokes’ special training gives them several advantages over typical humans. They all have Darkvision, and they all know their signature technique named Stone Cold Killer.

Any creature killed by a Gravelstoke-trained assassin is petrified and cannot be raised from the dead while they remain that way. The killer can end this petrification by touching the victim and willing them restored, or someone else can do it by sprinkling a few drops of the killer’s blood on the statue. A restored victim is still dead, of course, but now they can be returned to life with a Raise Dead ritual.

Vincent Gravelstoke

Vincent’s tactics in a fight mirror his social behavior: he lurks at the edges and only steps in when a good opportunity for murder presents itself. He’s a Level 12 Lurker with 90 HP. His Poisoned Rapier does necrotic and poison damage, and if the attack is made with combat advantage it also inflicts 10 ongoing damage (save ends).

He can also perform a Shadow Strike, a standard action which removes him from play until the start of his next turn. At that time, he reappears within 10 squares of his previous position and can perform a rapier attack that deals heavy physical damage and prevents the target from spending healing surges (save ends). It does half damage on a miss.

If pressed, Vincent can Fade Into the Shadows as a minor action. This encounter power makes him insubstantial and grants partial concealment until the start of his next turn. The effect ends early if he attacks, or if he suffers radiant damage.

Finally, Vincent’s fencing skill lets him Parry melee attacks as an at-will interrupt that grants him +4 to all defenses against the attack.

Tovin Gravelstoke

One of the twins, Tovin is a deadly sniper. He’s Level 13 Artillery with 96 HP. He wields a Crossbow of Dread whose basic attacks grant him a +4 damage bonus against the target until the end of his next turn. Some of his bolts are Poisoned Shot (recharge 5+), doing the same damage as the basic attack and inflicting 10 ongoing necrotic and poison damage (save ends). The target also becomes immobilized after the first failed save, and after the second both effects are replaced with unconsciousness (save ends).

If hit in melee, Tovin can use Shadow Escape (encounter) as a reaction to deal 5 necrotic damage to the attacker and teleport 5 squares. If he can’t escape, he’ll fight with his Dagger of Death, whose attacks deal necrotic damage.

Mikus Gravelstoke

The other twin is much more fond of melee combat. He’s a Level 13 Soldier with 128 HP. His greatsword deals physical damage and marks for a turn. If a marked enemy within 5 squares of Mikus makes an attack that doesn’t include him as a target, he can use Shadow’s Curse to deal an automatic 10 necrotic damage to them, ignoring all resistances and immunities.

He can also use a spell named Incite The Blood, a selective Close Burst 3 that pulls targets 2 squares towards him and lets him make a strong melee attack against each one. In other words, it’s a goth version of Come and Get It.

Alesia Gravelstoke

Alesia is a bit older than the twins, but is still their steadfast sister and friend. She’s a Level 14 Controller with 140 HP. Her weapon of choice is a Bewildering Chakram that can be used for both melee and ranged attacks. An enemy hit by either takes 5 extra psychic damage for each square they move during their next turn. When used as a thrown weapon, the chakram returns to Alesia’s hand after the attack.

She can also perform a Reeling Chakram attack (recharges when first bloodied). This does about double damage, half on a miss, and also pushes the target 2 squares and knocks them prone as an effect. Plus she knows enough magic to cast a Toxic Tendrils spell (Area 2 within 10, recharge 5+), which deals necrotic and poison damage and slows (save ends).

Xander Gravelstoke

The patriarch of the family, and its most deadly combatant. Xander is a Level 16 Elite Skirmisher with the Leader tag and 304 HP. He wields paired short swords in a fight. The basic sword attack deals physical damage and slides the target 1 square. Xander can also Lunge (recharge 5+) which lets him shift up to half his speed before the attack and deals increased damage. Both attacks ignore 10 points of resistance, which is only likely to come up against targets that have Resist All since what I call “physical” damage is actually untyped.

Once per encounter Xander can use a Shadow Step to teleport 5 squares and gain partial concealment for a turn.

Xander’s minor actions are where his Leaderly and Elite-y maneuvers are. Off-Hand Swipe lets him shift 2 squares and then make a sword attack that deals slightly less damage than a basic one. Combining this with the basic attack lets Xander efficiently herd PCs. Once per encounter he can use Quick Rally to affect all allies within 3 squares. Affected allies can shift 2 squares and make a melee basic attack, though each of them must attack a different creature.

Final Impressions

Like the Barrowhaunts, the Gravelstokes are a party of Evil NPCs that pair very well with each other. Having one of the PCs’ enemies hire them to kill the PCs is the most obvious way to include them in the adventure, though there are other ways that can be as or more fun.

You might, for example, add them to your campaign much earlier, still in the early Heroic Tier, as a source of ominous foreshadowing. They do have a summer estate in Fallcrest where they can go to pose as slightly eccentric nobles while Xander and Uncle Barin negotiate new contracts. It’s also possible to have a Heroic Tier murder mystery where the victim turned to stone after death. The PCs might not be able to determine the identity of the actual killer beyond “a mysterious hired assassin”, and then the goal becomes finding the mastermind.

The family is not really interested in Nerath as an ideal - they care only about regaining their own prestige and wealth. That could happen in a reborn Nerath, or it could happen in an empire by any other name. So they might consider any of the “revivalist” factions as prospective clients or as deluded upstarts depending on how deep their purses are.