Haneth Tsalaxa

The Lore

If you’re following the RPG.net thread with the Campaign Guide reading, you will already have seen a description of House Tsalaxa on this post. They’re one of the dodgier merchant houses with a presence in Tyr.

House Tsalaxa: Based in Draj and known for blackmail and spycraft, trades in
rope, grain, and previously owned cargo. Emblem: two glaring, bestial eyes.

Haneth Tsalaxa is the head of their Tyr branch, and he has a very unpleasant reputation amongst his neighbors. He apparently has tons of dirt on everyone in the city. Most of his fortune comes from blackmail and information brokering. If you see him darkening your doorstep, prepare for an unpleasant conversation.

The secret of his success, which no one but him knows, is that he has a natural ability to change his shape. He has no idea why: changelings are apparently unheard-of in Athas, making him possibly the only one. He does exploit this power as much as he can, disguising himself to better infiltrate private places and overhear all sorts of interesting gossip. In addition to blackmail, he’s also willing to do espionage and assassination for hire, though his prices are ridiculously high.

The Numbers

Haneth is either a 4e changeling or mechanically indistinguishable from one: he’s a Medium Natural Humanoid with the Shapechanger and Changeling tags, and a Level 9 Elite Lurker with 154 HP.

He fights with a Short Sword that deals standard physical damage and inflicts ongoing 5 poison damage (save ends) if he has combat advantage, and can also throw Daggers that target Reflex and deal decent damage. His Slick Swordplay lets him make 2 sword attacks and shift 3 squares before, between, or after them.

He’s improved upon the classic “pocket sand” technique and can throw a Handful of Poison (recharge 5+) in a close blast 3, dealing poison damage and blinding on a hit (save ends).

He also has a couple of classic changeling minor actions: Changeling Disguise lets him change chape to appear like any Medium humanoid. His clothing and equipment remain the same, so it might be a bit hard to use in combat, but it does help a lot when assembling a disguise. He can copy specific individuals, but only if he’s seen them before. Haneth’s Trick (recharge 6+) can make one enemy automatically grant combat advantage to him for a turn.

There is no DC to pierce the Changeling Disguise. Presumably you can use the default rules and roll a contest of his Bluff of +12 against the Insight of any investigators.

Encounters and Final Impressions

Haneth’s ability spread makes him more of a skirmisher with reduced AC and HP than a proper lurker. The ongoing poison damage from combat advantage is better than nothing, but be lacks something like a Sneak Attack or a really strong ambush power.

Good thing he always has plenty of bodyguards around whenever he’s not in disguise. He’s a major employer of unscrupulous Mixed Groups of People. Gotta spend money to make money.