Wrath

Personality Warforged Warlock* 9, AL CG
Stats: Str 14, Dex 14, Con 16, Int 14, Wis 6, Cha 14, Armor Class 18 (+6 armor, +2 Dex), 69 Hit Points, 4 AP.
Saves: Fort +8, Ref +7, Will +6 (+10 versus mind-affecting spells and abilities).
Attacks: Eldritch Blast +9 (5d6, ranged touch attack) or Battlefist +9/+4 (1d8+3, +5d6 additional with hideous blow)
Skills (ranks/bonus): Bluff 9/+11, Concentration 12/+15 (+20 for using eldritch blast), Craft: Blacksmith 7/+9 (+11 with repair), Intimidate 5/+9, Knowledge: Arcana 1/+3, Spellcraft 1/+3, Use Magic Device 12/+14.
Languages: Common, 2 bonus languages.
Feats: Force of Personality**, Greater Resiliency***, Mithral Body (+5 armor bonus, -2 armor check penalty), Improved Fortification (immune to critical hits and sneak attacks, unaffected by healing spells)
Move: 30'.
Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet
Class Abilities: Eldritch blast (5d6), invocations, detect magic at will, DR 3/cold iron, fiendish resilience (fast healing 1, 20 rounds, 1/day).
Invocations: Eldritch spear, entropic warding, frightful blast (Will DC 14), fell flight, charm (Will DC 16).
Warforged Characteristics: Immune to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, nausea, fatigue, exhaustion, being sickened, and energy drain. Cannot heal lethal damage naturally. Supernatural abilities that cure hit point or ability damage provide only half their normal effect. Vulnerable to heat metal, chill metal, repel metal or stone, repel wood, and rusting grasp. Does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe, but can still benefit from consumable items. Cannot wear armor or robes, but can be enspelled as armor. Light fortification (25% chance to negate critical hit or sneak attack).
Warforged Components and Enchantments: Wrath's battlefist, +1 armor enchantment.
Equipment: Warforged repair kit, +2 cloak of resistance, eternal wand of repair light damage, eternal wand of shield, oil of repair moderate damage, sack, 18098 gp.
* From Complete Arcane
** From Complete Adventurer
*** From Complete Warrior

Character Background:
"We only have two. Are you sure you want to send one to the front lines?"

"Are you kidding? The down payment alone will pay will pay for everything we spent. These warforged are the answer to our client's prayers. One of them, properly utilized, can cause havok on the front lines. And once we can configure the creation forge here in Cyre to mass-produce them, the House will have no choice but to make me Patriarch."

"I'm not convinced. The one we awoke is definately unstable. And there's no guarantee that the forge will be able to duplicate the design. Are you really willing to sell something we cannot recreate? We need it for the House, not as a quick way to acquire gold."

"Enough. I am confident that the forge can handle it, and this is not a debate. Have the remaining warforged sent out to our client, along with a representative that can see to its awakening and orientation."

"I'll go myself, then. I want to study it on the battlefield, and we need someone we can trust in case it awakens with memories. Warn the client that it may be unstable - and include a clause that allows the client to return it..."

"What? I won't..."

"After paying a minimum ten percent fee, or more depending on how long it is in service. They'll still take it. Even if they return the warforged you can turn around and sell it to another buyer, making an even greater profit in the process."

"Very well. In return, I expect your support when it comes time for my ascension to Patriarch. Go, and try not to get yourself killed on the battlefield."

* * *

The warforged awoke to the feeling of rain on its face. As it looked around, it saw several men in uniform setting up tents, and a lone human in a hooded robe standing over him. His face was untouched by signs of aging, and he wore a carefully-maintained black beard shaped to a point under his chin. His robe was completely dry, the water sliding off it without effect upon the fabric. The man leaned over, and inspected the warforged carefully before addressing it.

"Good, you are awake. Do you remember anything?"

The warforged shook its head, and spoke in a voice that was both emotionless and oddly sinister. "Nothing...wait. A few whispers, in a dream. 'Wrath and Ruin'..."

A look of shock crossed the man's face, but he recovered quickly. "We shall call you Wrath. These men here call me Cannith. That is my family, and the House their leaders have contracted with for your services. For the time being, you can call me that as well. Now...do you know what you were created for?"

Wrath's eyes glinted red, and it stood up. The warforged stood over six feet tall, and the silvery glint of mithral was mixed in with its metallic components. Its left arm was normal, but the oversized right arm supported a massive forearm and hand, easily capable of enveloping a human skull. The right shoulder and leg were larger than their counterparts on the left side, in order to support the warforged's massive arm. Its face had more articulation than most warforged, showing an expression oddly like a feral grin as Wrath replied, "To destroy from afar."

Cannith nodded, not particularly surprised by the answer. Pointing towards a nearby rock, Cannith said, "Show me."

Wrath turned in one fluid motion, raising its oversized hand and pointing towards the rock. With a flash of red light, a bolt of eldritch energy impacted on the rock, chipping a piece off the surface. Soldiers dived for cover, and the commander looked up in surprise. Wrath gave a disconcerting smile and said, "Is this satisfactory?" In the aftermath of the blast, the surface of the rock sizzled in the rain.

* * *

Several long weeks had passed since Wrath's awakening. Many enemy warforged had fallen to its eldritch blasts - some without even knowing what had felled them. Despite its success on the battlefield, Wrath was unhappy. It had become clear that Cannith did not like being witness to the war effort, and was only there out of an obligation made by his House. Or was there something more? Cannith could have returned to his family's compound in Cyre, but he chose to remain...possibly out of an obligation to Wrath.

Was Wrath doing the wrong thing? When it was on the battlefield, there was the undeniable thrill of battle, the closest thing a warforged could get to an intoxicating drug. And yet, that joy was marred by the knowledge that Cannith was disappointed with the war effort. Cannith had patched up Wrath's damaged body several times, using powers of artifice to reshape dents and seal gashes. But Cannith never helped any of the other warforged in the unit, telling the commander that it wasn't part of his contract.

Wrath walked up to Cannith, and asked, "What do you think of the war? You act as if you do not care who wins."

Cannith thought long and hard, and finally replied. "It has gone on for decades...generations have died because of it. We have become so good at killing each other that we had to create a race of beings to fight and die on our behalf. Some of my house believe our greatest inventions are due to the war effort. I say that if sanity prevails, and the war ends, we will finally realize how far we have fallen."

"Then, why do you help me? Leave the battlefield, go back to your House, and enjoy what measure of peace you can find there."

"No. I tell the others of my House that you are a unique commodity that must be preserved, but the truth is that I have an obligation to you. Had I shown more courage, you would never have been sent to the front lines."

"I enjoy battle - but I sense that you feel this to be an unfortunate flaw in my character."

"You were created for battle. I cannot fault you for something that is in every fiber of your being. None of us have known a time when we were at peace. But I worry that even if peace comes, you will not be able to adapt. When swords are discarded in favor of plowshares, what will you do?"

"I will...survive. Adapt. Do what is necessary. I will not disappoint you."

"Don't make promises you cannot keep. I believe you will try...and I hope you find the strength to follow the path of peace when the time comes."

* * *

Years later, after the war, Wrath would often reflect on those words. They were a prophecy come true, and Cannith was right. The warforged was created for battle. Wrath was the sword discarded in peacetime, a weapon without a purpose. Its mentor was gone, most likely dead. And for all the time they had spent together, Wrath had never even learned Cannith's real name. The artificer's last words to Wrath haunted the warforged. "Don't trust my House. Many of my family will look upon you not as a person, but as a tool to be used without mercy."

Wrath gazed sorrowfully at the sky, as the rain came down once more. At least when it was a tool used by others, it had a purpose. Killing was easy. Peace, it thought, is a much harder way of life.

Character Creation Notes:
The origin of Wrath is deliberately shrouded in mystery. Is it a prototype created by House Cannith? Was it designed from a schema found in Xen'drik? Or, could it be one of the first two intact warforged recovered from Xen'drik by House Cannith?

Regardless of its origins, it is obvious that House Cannith lacked either skill, resources, or time to produce any more like Wrath. Had they been able to produce warforged warlocks in any quantity, they would have quickly rendered warforged sorcerers and wizards obsolute, due to the lack of spell failure and much greater staying power. Other than its unstable 'brother' (Ruin?), whose whereabouts are unknown, Wrath is a unique design.

It is possible that Wrath wasn't originally designed as a Warlock, but instead as a fighting model that somehow got infused with arcane power. The high Strength and oversized fist both indicate it was designed for melee, but its Warlock abilities are much more suited for staying at range.

Wrath's enlarged fist is a variant of the battlefist, built as an inherent part of Wrath's body. It increases Wrath's slam attack to 1d8 like a normal battlefist, but is bludgeoning only. It has recently been enchanted as a dual weapon - suitable both for melee and enhancing his eldritch blasts.

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