Shawnsee
Female Human Rogue 11, AL CN
Stats: Str 12, Dex 19 (23), Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 14*, Armor Class 22/25** (+6 armor, +6 Dex), 70 Hit
Points.
Saves: Fort +5, Ref +13, Will +3.
Attacks: Ganther's Dagger +17/+12 (1d4+4 damage, crit 19/x2) or Composite Shortbow +18/+13 (+16/+16/+11
with Rapid Shot, 1d6+3 damage, crit 20/x3)
Skills (ranks/bonus): Appraise 3/+7, Balance 7/+15, Bluff 5/+7, Climb 4/+5, Decipher Script 3/+7, Diplomacy
1/+7, Disable Device 14/+18 (+20 with tools), Disguise 3/+15, Escape Artist 5/+17, Gather Information 6/+8, Hide
10/+26, Intimidate 1/+5, Jump 5/+8, Listen 8/+10, Move Silently 10/+21, Open Lock 10/+16 (+20 with tools), Profession
(Apothecary) 2/+4, Search 11/+15, Sense Motive 5/+7, Sleight of Hand 6/+14, Spot 8/+10, Swim 1/+2, Tumble 10/+18,
Use Magic Device 8/+10, Use Rope 5/+11.
Languages: Common, Giant, Undercommon.
Feats: Point-Blank Shot, Precise Shot, Quick Draw, Rapid Shot, Weapon Finesse.
Move: 30".
Space/Reach: 5 feet/5 feet
Class Abilities: Sneak attack (+6d6), trapfinding, evasion, trap sense +3, improved uncanny dodge, skill
mastery (balance, disable device, hide, move silently, tumble).
Equipment: Ganther's dagger (see below), 4 masterwork daggers, +2 composite shortbow (+1 Str
bonus),+2 nimble*** mithral chain shirt of silent moves, bracers of archery (greater), cape of
the mountebank, gloves of dexterity (+4), portable hole, ring of chameleon power, vest of
escape, quiver with 20 arrows, masterwork thieves' tools, plus a variety of tools and supplies (in the portable
hole).
* includes +1 inherent bonus from a wish spell
** when Ganther's dagger is wielded, Shawnsee gains a +3 deflection bonus to AC
*** from Magic of Faerun
Unique Magic Item: Ganther's Dagger (counts as the character's level-based magic item)
This dagger was created by Cormyr's greatest mage, Vandergast, using research notes he acquired from the archmage
Castanamir. It was designed to draw the soul of a willing subject into the dagger, and tie that soul to a wielder
for life. The dagger then grants abilities based upon the soul of the one bound into the dagger.
The rogue Ganther managed to get his best pupil to steal the dagger from Vandergast (along with some notes regarding
its use). Near death himself, he convinced his daughter Shawnsee to kill him with the dagger, thus binding their
souls together.
Ganther's Dagger is a level-based item. As the wielder gains in experience and lifeforce, the dagger also
gains in power. For game purposes, it should be considered a minor artifact.
| Level (Ego) | Powers |
| Default (7) | +1 enhancement bonus, intelligence (Int 12, Wis 16, Cha 14), semiempathy, read languages |
| 1st (9) | Gives +2 to all Int/Wis based skills, telepathy with wielder |
| 2nd (10) | Dagger can move itself as if affected by mage hand, speech |
| 3rd (10) | +1 deflection bonus to AC (when wielded), possesses wielder for 1 round if Ego roll failed |
| 4th (12) | Gains dancing ability (1 round only) and returning ability |
| 5th (13) | +2 enhancement bonus |
| 6th (14) | Wielder heals 1 hit point on a successful critical hit in melee with the dagger |
| 7th (14) | Grants +2 deflection bonus to AC (when wielded), possesses wielder for 1 minute if Ego roll failed |
| 8th (15) | Gains dancing ability (2 rounds) |
| 9th (16) | +3 enhancement bonus |
| 10th (17) | Wielder heals 1 hit point on any successful melee attack with dagger (replaces the level 6 ability) |
| 11th (17) | +3 deflection bonus to AC (when wielded), possesses wielder for 1 hour if Ego roll failed |
| 12th (18) | Gains dancing ability (3 rounds), dagger can move up to 5' from wielder while dancing |
| 13th (19) | +4 enhancement bonus |
| 14th (23) | Gains life stealing ability (as per sword of life stealing), can remove negative levels in place of gaining hit points if the wielder wishes |
| 15th (23) | +4 deflecting bonus to AC (when wielded), possesses wielder for 6 hours if Ego roll failed |
| 16th (24) | Gains dancing ability (4 rounds) |
| 17th (25) | +5 enhancement bonus |
| 18th (26) | Spell resistance equal to character level +5 |
| 19th (27) | +5 deflection bonus to AC (when wielded), possesses wielder for 1 day if Ego roll failed |
| 20th (28) | Dancing ability is now unlimited, dagger can move up to 10' from wielder while dancing |
Character Background:
Your early days were spent in the grand city of Waterdeep. The city was so large that you found it hard to believe that there was anything beyond its walls. Your father tried to raise you well, and doted on you whenever he could. You dimly remember some good times with your mother, baking and playing with dolls. These times began to fade as you noticed a rift develop between mother and father, until they hardly spoke to one another.
Your grandfather Ganther visited once or twice in these early years, and always seemed to delight you with sleight of hand tricks, and planning small thefts such as stealing a pie away from a nearby windowsill. He would then sit with you and tell you stories...until the pie was eaten. Your father suspected what your grandfather was doing, and argued with him one night for hours, while you pretended to sleep. Ganther left the next morning, and you didn't see him again while your father was alive.
When you were six, armed guards came and took your father away. You visited him once more, as he was in jail and awaiting sentence for murder. While you were too young to understand much of what he spoke of in the few minutes he had with you, you distinctly remember that he would always consider you a good girl, and that what was about to happen wasn't your fault. Then your mother took you away, and you saw the saddened look on your father's eyes as you walked off.
The next day, your mother took you to see him hanged. She said that he died because he was unfaithful, and interfered where he shouldn't have. Over the next few months, as her money supply dwindled and she took up drinking, your mother began to sell things. Your father's jewel-encrusted chess set was the first to go, but more things quickly followed. When there was nothing left of your father's possessions in the house, she searched the seamier side of Waterdeep till she found a slaver willing to buy children. One by one, your siblings were sold off. Eventually, only you and her were left, probably because you were too young to sell. Only the most depraved buyer would purchase a seven-year old girl through the black market, and your mother hadn't found that buyer...yet.
That was when your grandfather arrived. He was enraged when he found out what happened to your siblings, and you could tell he was barely keeping his temper in check. He named a price for you that made your mother's eyes widen, and set down a large pouch of gold and gems that spilled onto the table. Your mother eagerly accepted, and Ganther immediately had you pack your things and go with him.
Ganther left you alone that night in a private inn near the house, and returned the next morning...the pouch of gems and gold attached to his belt. When you asked, he explained that anyone who would sell their own child deserved to be taught a lesson. Besides...he never liked her anyway. He was a lot calmer that morning, and you only waited for him to bathe before the two of you left the city.
You travelled in a caravan for hundreds of miles, amazed that the world was so much bigger than you originally thought. Eventually, you arrived at the city of Scornubel. Ganther had left the oldest youth in charge during his absence, and the child had done a decent job of keeping his operations going in his absence.
As grateful as you were for what Ganther had done, he started to get on your nerves after your training began. He was a harsh teacher, slapping your hands with a stick when you made a mistake pickpocketing the practice dummy. He had you associate with the soldiers, and make thefts in the outer markets before you were ready. Ganther managed to bribe your way out of jail before you were sentenced to lose a hand or something equally harsh, but you always feared that Ganther wouldn't come in time.
During your early teens, you began to make serious thefts, such as burglarizing households and stealing from merchant caravans. Your best friend during this time was Tobin, who Ganther bought shortly after you arrived in town. Tobin was an optomist, and had a real flair for rope work on the rooftops. He could run across a rope without even slowing down. You became interested in each other, but that was tragically cut short when Tobin forgot to check his equipment before a job. The rope broke on him as he was running across, and he was hanging on the side of a building when the guards caught up to him. The last thing you remember was the haunted look in his eyes as the guards closed in, and you had to flee or be caught.
You spent what spare time you had with an senile old apothecary, after convincing him you were his apprentice. Though he rambled a lot, he was a walking library when it came to his craft, and you managed to pick up a good bit before he accidentally put one of his poisons on his dinner salad instead of the pepper next to it.
Ganther was already an old man when he took you to Scornubel, and he seemed positively ancient as you hit your late teens. Though he was not a religious man, he paid clerics to visit him every so often to cast various cure spells upon him. Despite this, you knew he had perhaps a decade of life left...and he seemed to know this, too.
Finally, he came to you with plans for your greatest job, yet. "Finish this one, and we'll both be able to retire." Your mark was an advisor of Lady Ambermantle, ruler of Scornubel. The original plan was to steal a collection of rare manuscripts after seducing the advisor. It was a tricky job, as the advisor already had a fiancee, Lady Valeria. However, you were confident you could handle the job.
Tymora's luck was not anywhere near you, that fateful day. The advisor lured you upstairs during a grand ball at Valeria's residence, where he had a romantic dinner set up in, of all places, her bedroom. You played along, but drugged his wine so you could later make up a story about the passionate lovemaking you had shared. He drank a little too much...and you belatedly recalled that the particular conconction you had chosen interacted badly with alcohol. He stumbled about with his pants around his ankles, then fell through the doors, down one of the three flights of stairs, over the railing, and onto the table with the cake for the engagement party. While it could be argued whether he died from the fall or the wine...you had little doubt that such a discussion would occur during your hanging.
You quickly grabbed Valeria's jewelbox and raced for the window at the end of the hall, where you had left a rope tied to a nearby rooftop. That's when you stumbled into a chambermaid and valet engaging in a certain recreational activity. The chambermaid screamed her head off (once her mouth was clear), and you weren't able to silence her before the entire group of guests were looking up towards the third-floor balcony. Only the chambermaid and valet saw your face...but it wouldn't take much effort to find out who killed the advisor. Without even stopping to collect your things from Ganther's warehouse, you hid yourself in a basket of silks in a merchant's wagon, and rode out of town.
You managed to make your way into the town of Soubar, where you fenced the jewelry you had stolen. However, you discovered that Valeria's jewelry was mostly colored glass...cunning fakes, but fakes nevertheless. Apparently you weren't the only one trying to pull a con, that day. Still, good fakes still have value, and there were a few real gems among the set. You didn't have enough to retire, but it was still more money than you've ever made on a job.
Two weeks later, as you were enjoying your newfound wealth, the bounty hunter came into town. His name was Tarek McGristle, and you were fortunate to see him before he saw you. He started asking around town about you, saying you were a murderer. Though he appealed to people by day in the name of justice for your crimes, you quickly saw that he was just as willing to kill in order to find you, as he tortured the innkeeper into revealing where you were staying. You left town just as he was heading over to the loft you had rented the night earlier.
The next several days were agony, as you did anything you could to escape the bounty hunter. Tarek was relentless, and he had two dogs (which you overheard were a gift from his uncle) which had your scent from the loft. Finally, in desperation, you dismounted from your stolen horse and sent it up the road (your legs ached from riding it, anyway). Then, you snuck into the deeps of the Misty Forest, hoping that you could throw him off your trail...
Recent History:
Shawnsee's life changed after a visit from her grandfather. He told her he was dying, and asked for her to kill him as a final request. She did so with the enchanted dagger he provided...and ever since has been stuck with his voice in her head, offering unwanted advice and generally making a nuisance of himself. She has discovered that there is only two ways for her to be rid of Ganther - to die (and thus be imprisoned in the dagger herself), or to have Ganther's spirit placed in a new body. She now wanders Faerun trying to acquire enough cash to bring her grandfather back to life.
The group encountered Shawnsee recently in Waterdeep, and eventually discovered that she was possessed by Ganther (whether it was a voluntary possession is unknown) in order to avenge the death of Shawnsee's father. Although Vladien was originally framed for the murder, she made a written confession before leaving Waterdeep one step ahead of the authorities.
© 2003 Casey McGirt
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