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Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Gray Company
Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
The Gray Company are a new, setting-specific faction.
The Lore
As far as history goes, the fall of Nerath is still a relatively recent event. Many humans alive today likely have a great-grandparent who was alive during the final days of that empire. Members of longer-lived species like elves, dwarves and eladrin might even have witnessed those days themselves.
So it’s no wonder that Nerath has it own share of revivalists who want to rebuild it to fit the glorious image in their head. In the Nentir Vale, the most prominent of those groups is known as the Gray Company. Many people in the Vale consider them nothing more than a well-equipped gang of bandits, but its members believe themselves to be working towards the rebirth of their glorious empire. Their singular focus on this goal makes them a dour and humorless bunch, seemingly always covered with the dust of ages even when their equipment is new.
The Company is made up primarily of humans, who were the dominant people of Nerath. It is led by one Halvath Cormarrin, a man who claims to be a scion of Nerath’s royal line. It recruits people from across the Nentir Vale, spreading stories of the glories of the old empire and inviting those most fascinated by them to join up. Once a recruit joins up, they’re in for life. Deserters are hunted down, executed by hanging, and left on display on crossroads, as the old law dictates.
The Company’s HQ is located in the Gray Downs, a region thick with Nerathi ruins and artifacts. Much of their time and effort is spent exploring these ruins and recovering these artifacts which they consider theirs by right. Cormarrin is particularly interested in finding old pieces of regalia like the Sword of Nerath and the Threefold Crown, since possessing them would increase the legitimacy of his claim.
Anyone who steals these objects (whether from Company itself or from the ruins they consider their territory) is ruthlessly pursued. Particularly resourceful thieves are invited to join up and lend their skills to the Company’s cause. Others, including those who refuse the invitation, are executed in manners prescribed by old Nerathi law.
Company members are trained, equipped and organized to the standards of the Nerathi military, or as close as Cormarrin can manage those. This means they also count plenty of battle mages among their number. Their magic specializes in controlling the pervasive mist of the Gray Downs, with a large side order of artifice (to get those recovered magic items working again) and necromancy (to get those old fallen heroes of Nerath working again).
Other chapters of the Gray Company have begun appearing in other regions of the Vale, each of them led by a self-proclaimed prince of old Nerath. If these groups all got together under one banner, they could become a formidable army with a real chance of achieving their goal… but they feud with each other as much or more as they fight their actual enemies, so their overall progress remains minimal. As some jokers say, this too is a grand Nerathi tradition.
The Numbers
Gray Company members are all in the late Heroic Tier, meaning they haven’t quite broken through to “regional power” status. All of the stat blocks here represent humans, which make up the majority of their soldiers.
Their signature trait is Grim Solidarity. If someone with this trait starts their turn adjacent to another creature with this trait, they can make a saving throw against one effect that a save can end. All Company members have this, which means they’re difficult to debuff when in formation.
Gray Company Recruit
Recruits joined relatively recent, so their training and gear is not yet up to the standards of the Company. They already have Grim Solidarity, though. They’re Level 7 Minion Artillery armed with short swords and short bows. If they score a critical hit, Inspired Fervor lets them make a free basic attack against the same enemy with a +2 bonus to hit.
Gray Company Soldier
A veteran who earned the right to carry a sword of genuine Nerathi make. Armored in plate, he’s a Level 7 Soldier with 80 HP. His basic attack with that Ancient Longsword has no riders, but whenever an adjacent enemy makes an attack that doesn’t include the veteran as a target, he can use Strike of the Ancient Blade to make a free sword attack against them that also pushes the enemy and knocks it prone.
If an ally of the soldier drops to 0 HP within 5 squares of him, he can react For the Glory of Old Nerath (encounter) and make an attack in a Close Burst 1 that deals more damage than a basic strike and inflicts 5 ongoing damage (save ends).
Gray Company Fallen Hero
Either an actual Nerathi soldier whose body was exhumed and reanimated, or a modern day Gray Company veteran who died in combat and was “re-upped” for a second term of service. In either case, this results in a sapient undead revenant who likely has no memory of its previous self. It’s a Level 6 Brute with 89 HP. It has Grim Solidarity, Darkvision and the standard undead traits (immune to poison and disease, resistant to necrotic, vulnerable to radiant).
The fallen hero’s Longsword deals necrotic damage and inflicts Vulnerable 5 Necrotic for a turn. It can invoke Nerath’s Vengeance to make a sword attack against every adjacent enemy, and this recharges once it’s bloodied.
Gray Company Mist Mage
Mist mages are responsible for getting those old magical items (and Fallen Heroes) back into working order. In combat, they use spells with a cold and mist theme, which goes well with the environment of the Gray Downs.
Mist mages are Level 9 Controllers with 95 HP. They have Resist Cold 5. They use Ice Daggers in melee, which deal cold damage and slow for a turn on a hit. They can also summon Misty Tendrils to attack enemies in a Close Blast 3 that deals cold damage on a hit and slides 1 square as an effect.
Once per encounter they can create a zone of Gray Mist (area 2 within 10 squares). Any creature that ends its turn in the mist takes a -2 penalty to attacks and is slowed for a turn.
They can also use a Freeze Mist spell as a minor action, which targets a slowed creature and immobilizes them for a turn on a hit.
Mist mages will likely start the fight by laying down Gray Mist, and then use Misty Tendrils to herd the PCs into the zone. They will then use Freeze Mist to keep these PCs immobilized as their buddies move in for the kill. Note that, as controller monsters, they’re quite capable of bringing the damage themselves.
Halvath Cormarrin
The leader of the Gray Company is a Level 8 Elite Brute with the Leader tag and 214 HP. In addition to having Grim Solidarity, he can exhort his underlings to fight Until the Last Breath, which acts as an Aura 5 that allows allies inside to make one last free attack when they drop to 0 HP.
Cormarrin wields an Ancient Rune Flail and can make Double Attacks with it. He can also use swing it around and have the Rune Flail’s Arc attack everyone in a Close Burst 1. A hit deals the same damage as a basic attack, pushes the target 1 square, and knocks it prone. A miss deals half damage and pushes 1 square. Good move to escape being surrounded.
Once per encounter, Cormarrin can use Cry of Glory to turn a normal hit by an ally within 10 squares into a critical.
Final Impressions
Like Dythan’s Legion, the Gray Company is a faction modeled after the army of a fallen empire whose main goal lies in the restoration of that empire. The Legion can more than match them man-for-man, but the Company probably has more soldiers, particularly if you tally all the different chapters together. They might skirmish near the shores of Lake Nen.
Other possible sources of conflict for the Company include the Barrowhaunts, who probably were Nerathi when alive, and also claim the Gray Downs as their territory. Other interesting monsters also make their home there, as we’ll soon see.
Ironically, if Dythan’s Legion ever decides the Gray Company is a threat that must be eliminated, the resulting large-scale confrontation is probably going to unite the Company’s disparate chapters around a common enemy and make that assessment into a self-fulfilling prophecy. As it is, I’m sure many of the Company’s “princes”, Cormarrin chief among them, would just love to hire the Gravelstoke family to help secure their claim as the true heir to Nerath. Whether the Family ever takes one of them up on the offer will depend on what you want for your campaign.
A truly unified Gray Company would finally become the regional power they want to be, and this might merit bumping their levels up to the Paragon tier. Do the PCs accept this new order, or to they fight it?
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Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Gravelstoke Family
Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
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.
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Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Frost Witches
Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
This is another Vale-specific faction, and a cool one.
The Lore
The Winterbole forest takes up nearly the entire northern edge of the Vale. This snowy conifer forest is home to several different factions that exist in uneasy equilibrium, and the Frost Witches are one of the most powerful.
The Witches worship the primordial Cryonax, one of the Evil Elemental Princes, but no one outside their group knows about this. To most other inhabitants of the Vale they’re “merely” scary forest witches who manipulate and terrify others for their own benefit.
The Frost Witches count elves, humans, harpies and gnomes among their number. Every one of them knows how to use magic, and the vast majority are female. They increase their numbers mostly through active recruiting, which might mean kidnapping children from communities bordering the woods as often as it means inducting consenting adults into the coven. Their leader is the elf witch Clenderi, which rules the group with absolute authority second only to Cryonax himself.
The Witches are spread out through the whole Winterbole forest, in scattered huts housing either lone individuals or small groups of less than half a dozen. Their central headquarters is known simply as “Cold Camp”, and it’s important not only because it’s Clenderi’s home but also because it houses the source of their power, an artifact known as the Cold Cauldron.
The Cauldron is entirely made of ice, and a frozen flame burns eternally underneath it. Standing too close to it is hazardous to anyone who’s not a Witch, and it causes a wide area around itself to be covered in frost.
The Witches have no true friends outside their own group. Any alliances they make with others are opportunistic and likely to be temporary. They are absolutely willing to turn on these allies if circumstances change.
The Tigerclaw barbarians who also live in the Winterbole forest have been burned by this enough times that they now attempt to kill any Frost Witches they meet on sight. The Witches are wary around their territory but don’t consider them a serious threat. They maintain much better relations with the Winterbole treants, and are engaging on a subtle campaign of manipulation against the dragon Bitterstrike, intending to eventually convert her to the worship of Cryonax.
The Numbers
We start off with stats for the Cauldron, which will be relevant to any battle that happens inside Cold Camp. It’s 6 feet in diameter, so you could say it’s Large. Rules-wise it counts as an indestructible terrain feature, emitting an aura of Icy Flames (2) that deals cold damage to any enemy of the Witches who ends their turn inside. It also turns the terrain inside the whole of Cold Camp into Frozen Ground, which is difficult terrain for anyone without Ice Walk.
As you might expect, all stat blocks in this entry have Ice Walk and a lot of cold magic powers, along with resistance to cold and a vulnerability to fire. They also retain their racial traits, if any.
Icicle Swarm
This is a Medium swarm of Tiny, sharp ice elementals that the Witches known how to summon and control. It’s a Level 6 Skirmisher with 68 HP and all the standard swarm traits. Their Swarm Attack aura deals 5 cold damage to enemies inside, and their basic attack is an Icicle Stab that deals cold damage, allows them to shift 2 squares before or after the attack, and immobilizes on a critical hit (save ends).
Frost Witch
A typical member of the group. This one is human, but you can make her an elf or gnome by adding the proper traits. She’s a Level 8 Controller with 87 HP. She projects a Frost Aura (1) that makes enemies inside vulnerable 5 to cold. If the enemy was resistant to cold, this reduces their resistance, otherwise it increases any cold damage they suffer as normal.
The witch fights in melee with a Frost Staff that deals cold damage and slides 2 squares on a hit. At range she uses a Snow Blindness spell that deals cold and radiant damage. Cold resistance alone won’t protect you from it! Targets hit by the spell can’t see anything further than 3 squares away (save ends).
Once per encounter she can cast an Icy Blast (close blast 5) which deals cold damage, half on a miss, and turns the affected area into a zone of difficult terrain. This lasts a turn but can be sustained with minor actions.
Frost Witch Harpy
Harpy members tend to be a little stronger than the others, and their cold magic is geared towards enhancing their natural powers. They’re Level 12 Controllers with 123 HP. They add thunder resistance to the standard Frost Witch traits, and can fly with a speed of 8 (clumsy). Their Frost Aura has a radius of 2. They fight with Frost Claws that do cold damage, ranged Icy Stares that do cold damage and slow, and a Chilling Screech encounter power that hits a Close Burst 2, does cold and thunder damage, and if the target was slowed or immobilized also inflicts ongoing 10 cold damage (save ends).
They’re going to wait to use the screech once multiple players are slowed by their stare, or by their allies’ powers.
Frozen Cauldron Guardian
These elementals are made of frozen mist, and as their name implies they hang around the Cauldron to protect it from thieves and intruders. They’re Level 15 Brutes with 179 HP. Despite its misty look. Its diffuse nature makes it hard to hurt but that is represented by its high level and HP total - the creature is not insubstantial.
The guardian’s basic attack is called Cold Snap. It deals cold damage and causes the target to fall prone. It can also expand itself temporarily for a Enveloping Chill attack (recharge 4+), a Close Burst 1 that deals a bit less cold damage and knocks prone. It also has an extra rider: targets hit by the attack take ongoing 10 cold damage and are unable to stand up (save ends both).
Anyone fighting these things will stay prone for most of the fight, which makes every PC’s job more difficult. They pair really well with melee monsters that can exploit combat advantage.
Clenderi
The leader of the Frost Witches is probably one of the most powerful individuals in the Vale. Any fight against her will likely take place near the Frozen Cauldron, so she can expect help from a bunch of Guardians and any other high-ranking witches the GM cares to stat up.
Clenderi is an elf, and a Level 18 Elite Controller with the Leader tag and 344 HP. She projects a Frost Aura that inflicts Vulnerable 5 Cold on any enemies while they’re inside. She also has the usual elven Wild Step that lets her ignore difficult terrain when she shifts. She already ignores ice-based terrain anyway due to Ice Walk, but it’s also hard to restrict her movement in other ways. She can also benefit from Elven Accuracy once per encounter, which lets her reroll an attack roll that she dislikes and take the second result. In practical terms, she can reroll an attack she missed.
Clenderi’s Frost Staff basic attack works like that of the typical frost witch, dealing cold damage and sliding 2 squares. Her Icy Glare is an at-will ranged attack that deals cold damage and immobilizes. She can cast a Wind of Winter spell (recharge 5+) that deals cold damage in a selectice Area Burst 2 and creates a zone of icy wind that lasts for a turn. This is difficult terrain to creatures without ice walk, and allows Clenderi’s allies who are inside to spend a move action to teleport 10 squares to a space outside the zone.
Her ultimate technique is the Frostfall encounter power, a Close Blast 3 that deals cold damage and turns victims to ice! This is equivalent to being petrified, and is a (save ends) condition. On a miss, the target takes half damage and is restrained for a turn.
All of her spells target Fortitude, so most of the party’s squishies are going to be especially vulnerable to them.
Final Impressions
The greatest thing about the Frost Witches are their interactions with the other factions in the Winterbole Forest. The basic idea of an ice cult conspiring to take over the world really comes alive when you factor in those interactions and can see how they actually interact with the world around them.
If you need more Frost Witch stat blocks, there’s one back in the Bitterstrike entry for a Level 12 witch.
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Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Felldrake
Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
Felldrakes are a Vale-specific new addition to the game.
The Lore
Shortly after signing the pact that transformed them, the ruling nobility of Bael Turath set about applying their newfound infernal power in several ways they felt would benefit the empire. One of the things they did was magically alter the many breeds of drake the Turathi already employed to make them stronger and more vicious. These magically altered breeds became known as felldrakes.
Though felldrakes are considered natural animals, they’re much more aggressive and territorial than other species and are susceptible to control via old Turathi techniques and infernal magic. The Fell Court from our previous entry was taught the secret of controlling these creatures by their diabolical patrons. It’s possible other groups have learned it as well.
The Numbers
Like other drakes, these are Natural Beasts. They’re a varied lot, though, and their abilities are specific to each stat block.
Leaping Felldrake
This Small drake looks like a green-scaled lizard. As the name implies they’re capable of long flying leaps, but they’re also pretty good at lying in ambush. Their jaws are very efficient at biting the necks of their victims, and their saliva contains a weak venom that turns the flesh around the bite mark blue. They were used to protect homes and vaults from burglars, and those blue marks aided in tracking any culprits that escaped.
Leaping Felldrakes are Level 1 Lurkers with 26 HP. They have ground and climb speeds of 6. Their basic bites are a little weak, but they can use Neck Bites against targets granting them combat advantage. This deals about double the damage of a basic bite and allow the drake to grab the target (escape DC 12), dealing them ongoing 5 damage while the grab lasts.
The drake’s Flying Leaps allow them to fly 3 squares without provoking opportunity attacks. If they have cover, concealment, or no enemies within 5 squares, they can use Instant Camouflage to become effectively invisible until they attack or cancel the effect. That’s how it gains combat advantage in most situations, though flanking also works fine in a fight against multiple monsters.
Crested Felldrakes
These Small drakes are kinda like a cross between a standard guard drake and a Jurassic Park raptor. They’re pack hunters like unmodified guard drakes, but they’re stronger and smarter than then. Crested felldrakes have been known to climb on top of one another to reach high places, or to open doors with their claws to get at victims on the other side.
Crested Felldrakes are Level 2 Skirmishers with 39 HP. They have a ground speed of 8 and their Pack Frenzy trait gives them +1 to hit and +2 to damage when adjacent to a felldrake ally. Their bites damage and allow a felldrake ally within 2 squares of the attacker to shift up to 2 squares as a reaction. When hit by an opportunity attack, they can automatically shift 2 squares. This doesn’t negate the damage from the attack, but it also doesn’t use up an action, so it can be done as often as you like. The more you hit them, the more mobile they are.
Hissing Felldrake
Another Jurassic Park-inspired monstrosity, this is a Medium drake with a large folding frill around its neck and the ability to spit a corrosive venom laced with soporific chemicals. It’s Level 3 Artillery with 38 HP.
They can bite but the star of the show is clearly their Fell Spit, a ranged attack that targets Reflex and deals acid damage. If the target is bloodied, they become slowed for a turn. If they’re already slowed, they instead become dazed (save ends).
Tri-Horned Felldrake
The larger and most aggressive of the felldrake subspecies, but also oddly enough the easiest to domesticate. The Turathi enforced an instinctive pecking order with tri-horns at the top, so they have some ability to control other felldrake species.
Tri-horns are Medium Level 4 Soldiers with 58 HP. They have a speed of 5, are immmune to fear, and gain a +3 to damage when charging. They can bite and also perform challenging gores that deal about the same damage and mark for a turn. If a marked target makes an attack that doesn’t target the drake, it can use a melee reaction to automatically deal light damage and knock them prone.
Final Impressions
The origin of the felldrakes gives you ample excuse to have a wild pack of them that attacks on sight and fights to the death, unlike most natural beasts. However they really come into their own as pets to the Fell Court or to other similar groups that know how to control and boost them in the same way.
They could also be used as additional Dark Drake species to go with the Dark Drake of the Moon Hills. Maybe the Dark Drake is a supernaturally powerful felldrake who survives since the days of Bael Turath?
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Let's Read Threats to the Nentir Vale: Fell Court
Copyright 2011 Wizards of the Coast. This post is part of a series! Click here to see the others.
We just looked at a faction of Arkhosian revivalists, and now we’re looking at an example of their Turathi counterparts.
The Lore
Even long after the fall of Bael Turath, tieflings still have to contend with the suspicions and prejudice of others. You could argue such suspicion was warranted right after that fall, since the people who became the first tieflings had all been members of the Turathi elite, and therefore quite nasty slave-holding diabolists. Their descendants however were just born that way and are as varied in their moral outlook as any other sapient people. It is wrong to expect them to be scheming diabolists just because of their looks.
And then you have people like the Fell Court, who keep the stereotype alive by living up to it. They’re a group of tieflings based on Fallcrest who want to Make Bael Turath Great Again. Their leader is one Melech Ambrose, a self-proclaimed general and visionary who can trace his ancestry very precisely to a specific noble lineage.
Despite all his claims, Ambrose acts more like a petty crime lord than as a would-be ruler. His group’s current activities are all aimed at filling their “war chest” so the “real” takeover can begin. They have only recently stepped up their operations, and though the Lord Warden of Fallcrest has heard rumors, his men have so far failed to turn up any concrete information about the Court.
Ambrose himself has a public life as a successful trader and contacts among several members of Fallcrest’s high society. He uses this as cover to run a modest black market operation that enjoys the favor of many of the city’s poorest residents, since they operate in the slums and provide some of the support and security the city’s government can’t or won’t get them.
Most of the Court’s operating budget comes from Melech Ambrose’s criminal enterprise. They’ve stepped up their recruitment efforts, and are setting up caches of weapons and supplies for a future takeover of Fallcrest. The money also sees good use gathering information about the city’s defenses and blackmail material for use against its officials.
As you would expect from such a fan of old Bael Turath, Melech is a diabolist, and his dealings have got him a measure of supernatural support from infernal patrons. This include control over a large pack of Felldrakes, a species of vicious drakes that used to be bred in Bael Turath.
Recruitment happens through a couple of layers of deception. The Court stages a “false flag” attack on a potential candidate, and then swoops in for the rescue. A member of the “rescue team” befriends the target and then the Court slowly brings them into the group while probing their potential and loyalty to the Turathi cause. A member who looks like a good fit gets contacted by an underboss, who gives them a “trial by fire” mission that consists of committing a crime suited to their abilities that also advances the interests of the Court. Those who prove the extent of their skill and loyalty by successfully performing this mission are made full members of the Court. Those who reveal themselves incompatible end up murdered in a way that points to one of the Court’s rivals.
All of that is for tieflings. Non-tieflings never really progress beyond the stage of “disposable tool”.
Melech has also heard of the Iron Circle, an Asmodeus-worshiping mercenary company from the south who is entering the Vale through the Harkenwold region. He believes he can enter an alliance with them, offering his Fell Court’s services as spies and saboteurs and using the Circle’s military might to conquer the Vale so they can rule together. Though he has yet to hear back from them after making his initial diplomatic overtures, he’s absolutely sure they will be successful. This belief may lead him to act rashly.
The Numbers
All of our stat blocks here are for tiefling members of the Fell Court. As such they all have Low-Light Vision and Resist Fire 5. They tend to me at low-to-mid Heroic levels, making them appropriate as your group’s first “urban intrigue” antagonists in Fallcrest.
Let’s look at them in order of level.
Fell Court Ruffian
Ruffians are the some of the lowest-ranking members of the Court, individuals who probably have not undergone their trial by fire yet. They’re Level 2 Minion Brutes. They fight with clubs that deal half damage on a miss, and have a Dances with Drakes ability that allows them to make a free attack against an enemy that has just been hit by a drake ally.
Fell Court Creep
The same ranking as a Ruffian, but sneakier. Creeps are Level 3 Minion Skirmishers. Their basic attack is a Dazing Dagger that damages and dazes for a turn, and when they’re missed by an attack Fiendish Shift allows them to shift 1 square and deal 3 fire damage to the target.
Fell Court Blackheart
A seasoned Court operative, combining mundane stealth training with a side of infernal magic. They’re Level 2 Lurkers with 37 HP.
Blackhearts fight with Deadly Sickles that deal necrotic damage, and can spend their action to assume a Smoke Form instead of attacking. While in smoke form, they can’t attack or be attacked, and can pass through and occupy other creatures’ spaces. It can revert as a free action, or when it drops to 0 HP (from ongoing damage or something).
If the blackheart starts its turn in smoke form, it can use a Sly Attack to target Reflex and deal about double the damage of a basic attack, half on a miss. It can also use this power without turning to smoke, but it doesn’t do double damage then.
They can use the tiefling’s standard Infernal Wrath power to inflict a bit of fire damage on someone who just hit them, and when they’re reduced to 0 HP they can delete a healing surge from an enemy they can see before dropping.
If the blackheart damages an enemy that was granting combat advantage to it, they stop that enemy from spending healing surges (save ends).
Fell Court Underboss
This veteran Court member has proven to be loyal enough to be promoted, and is now in charge of recruiting new members and sending them on jobs. It’s a Level 3 Soldier with 47 HP and the Leader keyword.
The underboss is a Drake Wrangler, and gives Resist Fire 5 and a +2 bonus to the AC of any drakes adjacent to it. It also projects a Hellbound aura (1) that deals 5 fire damage to any creature that leaves it. Its bastard sword strikes kind of skip the whole marking business. A target hit by the sword suffers 5 fire damage if it doesn’t target the underboss with an attack during their next turn.
They can also use the sword in a Diabolical Strike that deals fire damage and, if the attack was made with combat advantage, prevents the target from shifting for a turn. Infernal Wrath rounds out the tiefling’s arsenal.
Underbosses will always be in a tight formation with a pack of drakes, and will seek to stay adjacent to a PC. Scattering those drakes might be a useful tactic, since they’d take damage from Hellbound.
Fell Court Hellmage
An underboss-rank Court member who prefers to rely more on magic than on swords. It’s Level 4 Artillery with 42 HP and the Leader keyword. Its aura of Drake Regeneration (3) causes any bloodied drake ally inside to recover 5 HP at the start of their turns if they have at least one HP left.
Hellmages fight with daggers in melee and shoot Infernal Bolts at range. These deal both immediate and ongoing fire and radiant damage. Infernal Wrath works as standard for them, and when they drop to 0 HP they use See you In Hell to fire off one last infernal bolt without provoking opportunity attacks.
Melech Ambrose
The big boss is a unique Level 5 Skirmisher with 68 HP and the Leader keyword. As a regular, Melech will always have plenty of bodyguards and felldrakes with him. He projects two auras: Bloodthirsty (radius 1) makes all enemies inside grant combat advantage; and Drake Fervor (radius 3) gives drake allies inside a +2 bonus to damage and to saves.
Melech himself fights with a scimitar, which can be used for basic attacks or Fiendish Strikes that allow him to shift 2 squares before or after the attack, and, if made with combat advantage, daze for a turn. He can also hurl flame to strike at range, dealing fire damage. Infernal Wrath works as normal for him.
Final Impressions
I think it’s a bit unfortunate that the Fell Court lives up to the bad reputation tieflings have, but it does give heroic PC tieflings an extra reason to fight them. The first time I read this entry, I thought it was odd that they went into that much detail about their recruitment process, but it’s a perfect ready-made story hook to get one of those heroic PC tieflings involved with them.
Any fight against Fell Court members should absolutely include a couple of fell drakes at least. Another thing I hadn’t noticed until now is how central drakes are to their whole flavor - every stat block here has some interaction with drake allies. A “final battle” encounter against Melech, an Underboss, a Hellmage and a troop of drakes will have the latter punch above their weight class with bonuses to AC, damage, saves, and regeneration.
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