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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Ren Mei Li

A patient and cunning schemer, Ren Mei Li is determined to increase her sphere of influence in Shenmen. She cultivates unorthodox agents and approaches with an eye, ultimately, toward claiming the throne of Yin-Sichasi.

Born in the palace-city of Yin-Sichasi, Ren Mei Li was immersed in the whispering intrigues of the jorogumo from the time she opened her eyes. Soon after reaching her majority, however, she became disillusioned with her sisters' ways, chiefly because it impeded her ability to indulge her preferred tastes. When the jorogumo court seized control of Shenmen at the onset of the Age of Lost Omens, Ren Mei Li was as cruel and manipulative as her sisters, but time would see these traits change.

While securing obeisance from terrified subjects and building her courtly influence did have a certain appeal, Ren Mei Li's true love was performances. Be they Hei Fengan fireworks, shadow puppet plays, sword-and-silk dance operas, or any of the theatrical arts displayed across Tian Xia, they all delighted her. Disguised as a human woman, she traveled beyond Shenmen and across the continent to attend the finest shows, but more often than not, when she tried to coax her favorite performers to visit Shenmen and perform for her sisters, they refused. No price in silver was worth risking their lives in that haunted land, they told her, and they couldn't trust the country's jorogumo rulers to keep them safe, never realizing the woman who they spoke to was a jorogumo herself.

Rather than respond defensively, Ren Mei Li considered the problem from their point of view and soon concluded that the performers' qualms were justified. Shenmen was dangerous, and so many jorogumo were unreliable. In her willingness to understand this perspective, she realized there was a great opportunity to strengthen her base of power. Ren Mei Li's new philosophy was simple: if she honored all her promises, then people would learn that she could be relied on. If she refrained from promising anything on behalf of other jorogumo, and indeed made it clear that she didn't speak for the rest of her kind, then the trust she would earn would be limited to Ren Mei Li personally. This arrangement would both bolster her loyalists' allegiances and ensure they distrusted her rivals.

If she governed prudently, invested in basic improvements, and refrained from excessive cruelty to her subjects, then her fiefdom would become more productive and profitable, enabling her to spend even more lavishly on the luxuries she loved. Gratitude would strengthen her people's loyalty, making it more difficult for her rivals to undermine her and reducing problems, such as banditry, that stemmed from hunger and disorder. And in time, perhaps performers wouldn't be so hesitant toward invitations to share their art in Shenmen.

After decades of intensive work, Ren Mei Li has developed a trusted network of agents and delegates. Her representatives are chosen for ability above all, a rarity in Shenmen, and for the most part, they serve faithfully. This loyalty runs both ways: Ren Mei Li is quick to protect her assets, knowing that the strength of her entire network depends on her agents believing she'll exert similar efforts on their behalf. While some of her servants are idealists, Ren Mei Li herself isn't. The jorogumo is a self-interested pragmatist who pursues good governance because it benefits her, not because she particularly cares about her people. She has no interest in improving the lot of any subject outside her own domain since she considers the contrast between her seeming benevolence and the capricious cruelty of the other jorogumo elsewhere in Shenmen to be one of her key advantages.

However, she has found it useful to pretend otherwise. Ren Mei Li's ultimate, deeply hidden goal is to seize the silken throne of Yin-Sichasi from Lady Lang Loi. Publicly, she denies any such ambition, but it has secretly been her endgame for years. To achieve this end, she has laid groundwork among local peasants, ambitious traders, and foreign envoys to view the prospect of her ascension as likely to usher in a golden age of enlightened rule in Shenmen. Should her faction rise to ascendance, it's possible that these starry dreams might even come true, at least to the extent that Ren Mei Li finds them useful.

Recall Knowledge - Humanoid (Society): DC 45
Unspecific Lore: DC 43
Specific Lore: DC 40

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Ren Mei LiCreature 16

Legacy Content

Unique CN Medium Humanoid 
Source Pathfinder #199: To Bloom Below the Web pg. 90
Perception +29; darkvision
Languages Aklo, Common, Sylvan; tongues
Skills Acrobatics +29, Athletics +28, Crafting +28, Deception +33, Diplomacy +31, Intimidation +31, Performance +31, Society +30, Stealth +29, Survival +27
Str +8, Dex +7, Con +6, Int +6, Wis +5, Cha +9
AC 39; Fort +28, Ref +31, Will +25
HP 295; Resistances poison 20; Weaknesses cold iron 15
Darting Legs [reaction] Requirements The jorogumo has their spider legs extended or has Changed Shape Trigger The jorogumo is targeted with an attack; Effect The jorogumo raises a leg, gaining a +2 circumstance bonus to AC against the triggering attack.
Speed 30 feet, swim 30 feet
Melee [one-action] jaws +27 [+22/+17], Damage 3d12+14 piercing plus jorogumo venomMelee [one-action] claw +27 [+23/+19] (agile), Damage 3d8+14 slashingRanged [one-action] web +23 [+18/+13] (range increment 60 feet), Effect Web TrapOccult Innate Spells DC 37, attack +29; 8th charm, suggestion, summon animal (spiders only); 7th outcast's curse (×3), suggestion (×3); 6th dimension door, mind probe, mind reading (at will); Constant (8th) speak with animals (spiders only), tongues
Change Shape [one-action] (concentrate, occult, polymorph, transmutation) The jorogumo takes on the appearance of any Small or Medium spider. This doesn't change their Speed or Strikes.Jorogumo Venom (incapacitation, poison) Saving Throw DC 37 Fortitude; Maximum Duration 4 hours; Stage 1 3d6 poison damage and stupefied 1 (1 round); Stage 2 3d6 poison damage and stupefied 2 (1 round); Stage 3 4d6 poison damage and stupefied 2 (1 round); Stage 4 paralyzed for 2d4 hoursSilver Mistwalk [three-actions] (concentrate, conjuration, occult, teleportation) Requirements Ren Mei Li is currently located within the boundaries of her domain in Shenmen; Frequency once per hour; Effect A swirling vortex of silver mist rises up from Ren Mei Li's feet to wrap around her body like a slowly-rotating tornado, then instantly transports her and any items she's wearing and holding from her current space to a clear space anywhere within her domain in Shenmen that she has visited before, provided she knows its relative location and distance from her. Since Ren Mei Li has visited Willowshore's ruins in the past, she can appear anywhere in the town using this ability, but she generally avoids directly appearing inside a structure if she isn't expected.Spider Legs [one-action] (concentrate, occult, polymorph, transmutation) Requirement The jorogumo is in humanoid form; Effect Eight large spider legs sprout from the jorogumo's back, granting them a 40-foot climb Speed and allowing them to use the Darting Legs reaction.Web Trap A creature hit by the jorogumo's web attack is immobilized and stuck to the nearest surface, preventing the creature from moving. The DC to Escape or Force Open the web trap is 37.