Arturo Denada
Character
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| fgcolor | #fff |
| bgcolor | #000 |
| image |  {width=250px} |
| name | Arturo DeNada |
| aliases | Manuel (of the Planes) |
| gender | Male |
| race | Rashemi Human |
| dob | Unknown |
| pob | Thay |
| occupation | Adventurer, treasure hunter |
| affiliations | Unknown |
| spouse | Unknown |
| children | Unknown |
| class | {{class table|?|0|?|0}} |
| alignment | Chaotic Neutral |
Early Life
Arturo was born to his single mother in the more run-down sections of Thay. Being rather small and weak, Arturo developed his intellect and speed to survive in the slums. He constantly dreamed about striking it rich, so he and his mother could finally move out of the slums to a better life. Following his Mother's philosophy that hard work is the only way to get anywhere in the world, Arturo tried to find work at a variety of jobs, but was frequently disappointed when the jobs would pay a pittance, or he was turned away because of his heritage, even after demonstrating his skills.
The Toymaker's Apprentice
Finally, Arturo was able to find a job helping out around the store of a gnomish toymaker, Heinrich Cogwrench Dusseldorf III. While the job itself consisted of minding the store, and running occaisonal errands, Heinrich noticed that Arturo had a knack for minor repairs on some of the mechanical toys in the store. Heinrich took the boy under his wing, and asked him if he might want to help him with a side job he had lined up. The job in question was to help Heinrich open a small strongbox. The box was covered in an intricate mosaic of some unknown stone, sealed with a complicated-locking mechanism. The latch itself showed several small scuffs and burns, as though someone had unsuccessfully tried to open the box through force. Arturo was fascinated by the box. It seemed like a simple latch, but looking in the keyhole revealed a multitude of various gears and levers.
Arturo set to work, but was confounded by the box. Late one night, after Arturo and Heinrich had exhausted all ideas, Arturo was sitting at the workbench, tired and dejected. He was disappointed for failing Heinrich, but he was more angry at himself. Arturo was stubborn, and hated to leave a challenge unsolved. In frustration, he picked up the strongbox, and slammed it against the workbench. To his surprise, one of the mosaic tiles slid to the side, revealing that the other tiles could be slid around. Energized by his discovery,Arturo worked feverishly into the night and the next day on this new puzzle. Although he had solved sliding puzzles before, this one seemed to use geometry that did not exist in the standard 3 dimensions. Despite this, Arturo refused to give up, and after working at it for almost 3 solid days, he finally moved the tiles away from a small latch near the edge. Upon pushing the latch, the box sprung open, revealing 4 large black pearls, each the size of an apple. Arturo quickly ran to Heinrich, showing him the results of his hard work. Heinrich looked at the gems greedily, and said he was extremely impressed with Arturo's skill. So much so, that he had some friends who also might have some side jobs available
Arturo did not know this at the time, but Heinrich's shop was actually a front for the local thieves' guild. Henrich himself was a fairly high-ranking member, and saw great potential in Arturo. After some more focused training, Arturo was brought before the guild's leader, an old man from the far east, who always seemed to be shrouded in shadows.
At first, Arturo was hesitant to work on the other jobs. He wasn't stupid, and it was obvious that they were asking him about how to circumvent various traps and locks. Still, the extra money helped with his dream of buying his way out of the slums, and he loved the challenge of a new puzzle to unlock. The guild's leader also took an interest in Arturo, even instructing him in some of the hidden techniques that touched on the plane of shadow , or Shadow Techniques, to perform amazing feats.
While Arturo was not skilled enough to learn some of the more advanced techniques (like summoning copies of himself made of shadowstuff) he was able to master several techniques:
Shadow Jaunt- Allows instant non-dimensional travel over a range of 50 feet. There must be line of effect between the start and the endpoint. This manuever takes a standard action to perform.
Hex Portal- This creates 2 free-standing portals that are put in positions that the caster can see at the time of casting. Anyone and anything can freely pass through the portals, so it is possible to attack and cast spells through them. It is also possible to use the portals to redirect a projectile attack, provided the caster readies an action for such an occasion. The portals are subject to some restrictions:
-There can only be one "in" portal and one "out" portal in existance at any given time.
-It is possible to keep an original "in" or out" portal from a previous casting of hex portal, but creating a new portal counts as an additional use of the ability.
-The portals have a radius of 1 foot per bonus point of intellect, and remain for 1 minute per level, unless dismissed.
-The portals have a maximum range between each other. They must be within 10ft + 10ft/bonus point of intellect. If the caster attempts to place a portal somewhere beyond this range, it will manifest at the extent of range.
-The portals can still exist within a dimensionally locked area, but nothing can pass through either end as long as the dimensional lock is in place.
-Casting the portals is a standard action, and dismissing is a swift action. If something is partially through the portals when they are dismissed, it is ejected to the closest side.
Dimensional Hack- Dimensional hack allows the caster to project an emanation that affects dimensional travel. In this case, it allows the caster to either turn on a dimensional lock-like effect, or to turn off currently existing dimensional lock effects. In order to turn off currently existing effects, the caster makes an open lock check against the source of the dimensional lock, similar to if he was trying to dispel it. If the check is successful, effects that hamper dimensional travel are suppressed in an emanation around the caster. The range for this is 10ft + 10ft/bonus point of intellect. A similar mechanic is used if someone else tried to dispel the dimensional lock effect coming from the caster. In this case, use the caster's open lock check as an opposed roll. If the caster loses, the effect is lost, and another use of the ability much be used to recreate the field.