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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

Pathfinder RPG (1st Edition) Pathfinder RPG (2nd Edition) Starfinder RPG

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Abilities | Monsters | NPCs

Ghiasi The Unraveler, Smuggler Turned Diva

Ghiasi loves secrets. She loves gathering them like treasures, even if she doesn't plan to use them. She enjoys plots within plots and stories of master manipulators overcoming dangerous odds with words and influence instead of muscle. She sees herself as central to social life in Yled and loves the way undead defer to her within the world she has built in her Twined Stories playhouse. She has gathered a small army of informants, spies, rumormongers, and worshippers who serve as her eyes and ears in the city, although she mostly uses these individuals to sow rumors and mysteries around her own identity and motives—not because she has something to hide, but because she wants to be perceived as having something worth hiding. Even her sobriquet, “the Unraveler,” is a title she gave herself. It has no actual meaning to her, but she likes the mystery it evokes.

In a city preoccupied with war and the inevitable danger it poses, Ghiasi treats the fear and worry as an amusing backdrop for the stories she wants to tell. If she can enrich herself in this fertile storytelling ground, so much the better, for she knows even the undead need to escape the thoughts of war once in a while. She doesn't truly care about the war effort against Nex; she only cares that it seems to make the residents more desperate for distraction. Expensive distraction is something she is happy to provide.

Ghiasi doesn't have particularly close ties with other shae, with one exception: her younger brother, Ghiono. Together, they spent the early parts of their lives exploring the region of the Shadow Plane that's a dark mirror of Geb, finding spots where the boundaries between planes were thin and could easily be pierced. She was always a bit quicker, smarter, and more charming than Ghiono, and her younger sibling looked up to her. With his help, the two shae built a trade network that moved products across Golarion via the Shadow Plane. She not only learned how to fight off threats but also how to build alliances, collect favors, and forge relationships that made the siblings incredibly wealthy. Even then, Ghiasi was never truly happy. The feeling she had of being needed by those who used their services was pleasant and carried a bit of the social influence she craved, but it wasn't quite enough.

In boredom, Ghiasi began to attend performances at Twined Stories in Yled and immediately fell in love with the place. She saw the potential the building had. Its long history was impressive, but its performances had become insipid and uninspired. She was certain she could do a better job. Within a few months, she had sold her share of the trading business to her brother and used a piece of that wealth to purchase and refurbish the playhouse.

Owning Twined Stories has proved to be all Ghiasi hoped for and more. She's able to tell the nuanced stories she wants to tell, weaving ethereal and material actors together on stage. She can take whatever role she wants and feels magnanimous when she isn't the lead. She even attached a shadowy realm of her own creation, the House of Inspiring Shadows, to the backstage area so she can come and go with the mystique she believes her new role requires. Ghiasi's efforts have been a resounding success, and she's almost singlehandedly revitalized Yled's social scene. Performances at Twined Stories are now important social events where the city's aristocracy— and particularly those dignitaries who aren't closely connected with the military—go to be seen.

Campaign Role

Ghiasi's relationship with the characters can be quite complex. At first, she views the new Blood Lords' meddling as a serious problem and danger to her affairs and her brother's safety. However, she knows how much havoc a group of adventurers can cause, so she decides they might be able to accomplish what she can't: her brother's rescue and Kemnebi's destruction. After she first meets the characters, her actions are designed to test them. Once she sees how dogged the characters are in their mission, she turns toward manipulating them in a way that minimizes the danger to her and sets them on a course to aid her. What better way to get what she wants, she figures, than to help these new Blood Lords accomplish goals that line up so perfectly with her own?

Ghiasi has a flair for the dramatic. As someone who has spent the last few years crafting stories and using those stories to build her reputation and influence others, she treats many of her interactions as if they were scenes in a play where she is the star. Yled is the stage she has chosen, and the characters' entrance marks what she sees as a new act in the story of her life.

While Ghiasi doesn't usually take physical threats seriously, she is wise enough to know that a quick escape is often the best course of action. In combat, she tries to keep her distance while casting spells to subdue enemies. Barring that, she prefers to hit and run in battle.

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Changes from being Weak are marked in red below.
NOTE: The -2 damage penalty to non-strike offensive abilities (-4 if the ability is limited, such as spells) is NOT factored in.

Weak Ghiasi The UnravelerCreature 16

Legacy Content

Unique N Medium Shadow 
Source Pathfinder #185: A Taste of Ashes pg. 91
Female shae spy
Perception +34; darkvision
Languages Aklo, Common, Necril, Shae, Undercommon
Skills Acrobatics +28, Deception +32, Diplomacy +30, Occultism +28, Performance +30, Shadow Plane Lore +28, Society +30, Stealth +28
Str +5, Dex +9, Con +2, Int +7, Wis +6, Cha +9
Shadow Shift Being made partially of shadow, shae are concealed in dim light or darkness even to creatures that can see clearly in those light levels.
Items shadow's heart, dagger (5)
AC 38; Fort +23, Ref +32, Will +27; +1 status to all saves vs. divination
HP 265; Immunities precision; Resistances cold 15, negative 15
Multiple Reactions Ghiasi gains an additional reaction each turn that she can only use to Slip.Counterattack [reaction] Trigger Ghiasi is targeted by an attack from an adjacent creature that misses due to her being concealed; Requirements Ghiasi is aware of the attack; Effect Ghiasi makes a Strike against the attacker.Slip [reaction] Trigger A creature moves adjacent to Ghiasi; Effect Ghiasi teleports to a clear space adjacent to another creature she can see within 30 feet.
Speed 25 feet, fly 35 feet; swift steps, tenebral form
Melee [one-action] shadow's heart +31 [+27/+23] (agile, finesse, magical, trip), Damage 3d6-2+15 slashing and 2d6 coldRanged [one-action] dagger +28 [+24/+20] (agile, thrown 10 feet, versatile S), Damage 1d4-2+15 piercing and 2d6 coldOccult Innate Spells DC 36, attack +28 (-4 dmg); 9th overwhelming presence, weird; 8th uncontrollable dance, unrelenting observation; 7th plane shift (self only; to Shadow Plane or Material Plane only), shadow blast (×3); 5th prying eye; 4th gaseous form (at will), glibness; Cantrips (9th) chill touch, daze, detect magic
Rituals DC 36 (-4 dmg); 8th split shadow; 6th planar binding
Shadow Gate [one-action] (conjuration, occult, shadow) Ghiasi opens or closes a gate between Twined Stories and the House of Inspiring Shadows, although the gate must be opened in the same place each time. It remains open until she uses this ability again, but she can't close the gate until at least 10 minutes after she opens it.Swift Steps Ghiasi's movement doesn't trigger reactions.Tenebral Form Ghiasi can Fly at full Speed in gaseous form.