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Archives of Nethys
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Ezio Gaeta

Ezio Gaeta is, was, and always has been an Isgeri patriot. And like many such loyalists born in the country, he came to rue his poor nation's role as Cheliax's vassal state. Unfortunately for Isger, Ezio found his solution in Urgathoa's teachings. Suffering from the deprivations common to many under the stewards' governorship, he latched onto his Kellid ancestors' view of the Pallid Princess as a harvest goddess, one who provides unlimited bounty for her people. Her calls for gluttony and excess were just what a people long forced into the barest subsistence deserved.

When he reached his 50th birthday in 4675 ar, Ezio decided he needed more time, more power, more control. Knowing of Illcayna Alonnor's story and her devotion to their shared goddess, he journeyed to Finder's Gulch and sought her help. Illcayna saw something in him, a slyness and devotion to Urgathoa that set Ezio apart from those unworthy of becoming more than senseless zombies or her servile wights. At his pleading, she ritually transformed him into a unique vampire in return for his loyalty, which he gave gladly.

For several decades, Ezio moved as Illcayna's agent in the world, quietly spreading Urgathoa's faith and sabotaging Chelaxian efforts to take the final dregs of Isger's resources. In the 4680s, he led occasional brutal raids against goblin villages in the Chitterwood, making already bad conditions even less tolerable, and arranged for explosive confrontations between the Chitterwood residents, nearby villages, and passing bands of adventurers and mercenaries. His machinations contributed to the festering anger of the region that eventually exploded in the Goblinblood Wars. While Illcayna collected corpses for her undead army, Ezio traveled to Elidir, where he began amassing influence.

In the decades after the war, he has only increased his manipulations of Isger's leadership, using his position to feed Illcayna information on the political climate and quietly eliminate threats to her plans. In response to reports of heroes clearing Citadel Altaerein, Ezio choreographed the arrival of Taotake traders with a shipload of Mwangi onyx, flooding the market and lowering prices for the key ingredient in the ritual to create undead. Similarly, he has spent 30 years pulling strings to keep powerful clerics out of Elidir in preparation for the day Illcayna conquers the nation. His subtle methods include creating crises that lure the best clerics out of the country and fostering conditions that make the city conducive to those who, even if devout in faith, are less likely or able to take the field against the countryside's growing undead threat.

In following Illcayna's orders, Ezio believes he's clearing the way for her plans to transform the country into a tribute state for Urgathoa. He sees this gruesome future not as an end, but a renewal of Isger where the people will finally have the power and resources to take what they're due.

Campaign Role

Ezio serves as a critical catalyst for the second half of the campaign when he murders Steward Hedvend VI, throwing the nation into turmoil at the loss of its leader and ushering Illcayna in as a major threat. Prior to the murder, the PCs can encounter him at the gala, where he comes across as an enigma. He's clearly one of the elites of Elidir and contributes to Isger's problems, but he also seems to have little loyalty to the regime and might even be seen as a potential ally and target for recruitment by the PCs. Once the murder is discovered, he plays a cat- and-mouse game with the PCs, attempting to distract them with red herrings and false evidence as they seek the identity of Hedvend's killer and to solve the mystery of the ongoing deaths in Reevesrest.

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Print Stat Block

Ezio GaetaCreature 7

Unique Medium Undead Unholy Vampire 
Source Pathfinder #222: Hellbreakers pg. 241
Recall Knowledge DC 23 (33 if Unique applies) • Undead (Religion)
Male vampire count
Perception +16; darkvision
Languages Common, Diabolic, Hallit, Necril
Skills Athletics +15, Deception +17, Diplomacy +17, Religion +15, Society +15, Stealth +13, Thievery +13
Str +2, Dex +2, Con +4, Int +1, Wis +6, Cha +3
Children of the Night (divine, mental) Ezio's presence brings forth creatures of the night to do his bidding. Ezio can give telepathic orders to these creatures as long as they're within 100 feet, but they can't communicate back. Ezio prefers to keep the company of rat swarms.
Items devil costume, encryption ring
AC 25; Fort +14, Ref +13, Will +18
HP 90 (coffin restoration, fast healing 7, void healing); Immunities death effects, disease, paralyzed, poison, sleep; Resistances physical 7 (except magical silver)
Hypnotic Gaze (aura, divine, mental, visual) 30 feet. Even when he's not attempting to Dominate a creature, Ezio uses his power over others' minds to subtly befuddle them, helping enable his plots. Creatures in the aura take a –1 status penalty to Perception checks to Sense Motive and Perception DCs against Ezio. When a creature ends its turn in Ezio's aura, it must attempt a DC 22 Will save. On a failure, it becomes stupefied 1 for 1 round (stupefied 2 for 1 round on a critical failure).Vampire Vulnerabilities
  • Compulsions Vampires are creatures with strange and unknowable compulsions. A typical vampire can't voluntarily cross running water unless they're transported while they hide within their coffin, nor can they enter a private dwelling unless invited in by someone with the authority to do so. At your discretion, vampires might have different compulsions—a pirate vampire might not be able to set foot on solid ground without being invited, for example. The vampire can still be forced to do these things and might be able to overcome their compulsion just as they do their revulsion (see below).
  • Revulsion A vampire can't voluntarily come within 10 feet of brandished garlic or a brandished religious symbol of a deity with a holy sanctification option. To brandish garlic or a religious symbol, a creature must Interact to do so, and it remains brandished for 1 round (similar to Raising a Shield). If the vampire involuntarily comes within 10 feet of an object of their revulsion, they gain the fleeing condition, running from the object of their revulsion until they end an action beyond 10 feet. After 1 round of being exposed to the subject of their revulsion, a vampire can attempt a DC 25 Will save as a single action, which has the concentrate trait. On a success, they overcome their revulsions for 1d6 rounds (or 1 hour on a critical success).
  • Stake A wooden stake driven through a vampire's heart drops the vampire to 0 HP and prevents them from healing above 0 HP, even in their coffin. Staking a vampire requires 3 actions and works only if the vampire is unconscious. If the stake is removed, the vampire can heal above 0 HP again, and if they're in their coffin, the 1-hour rest period begins once the stake is removed. If the vampire's head is severed and anointed with holy water while the stake is in place, the vampire is destroyed.
  • Sunlight If exposed to direct sunlight, a vampire immediately becomes slowed 1. The slowed value increases by 1 each time the vampire ends their turn in sunlight, and the condition ends when they're no longer in sunlight. If the vampire loses all their actions in this way, they're destroyed. Due to their supernatural aversion to light, vampires don't cast shadows or show a reflection in mirrors.
Cloud of Plague [free-action] (disease) Trigger Ezio is reduced to 0 HP; Effect Ezio's body explodes in a bloody mist that carries a deadly plague. Each living creature in a 15-foot emanation must succeed at a DC 22 Fortitude save or contract choking death at stage 1 (stage 2 on a critical failure). Ezio bursts forth from the corpse of the first creature to die of this affliction, fully healed, but if all affected creatures are cured of the disease, Ezio is permanently destroyed.
Speed 25 feet, climb 25 feet
Melee [one-action] claw +18 [+14/+10] (agile), Damage 2d8+5 slashing plus GrabBiting Flies [one-action] Each creature that shares a space with Ezio takes 3d8 piercing damage with a DC 25 basic Reflex save. On a critical failure, Ezio also gains the benefits of Drinking that creature's Blood.Change Shape [one-action] (concentrate, divine, polymorph) Ezio transforms into a swarm of Tiny flies. While in this form, he has the swarm trait and gains weakness 7 to area and splash damage. He has a land Speed of 20 feet and a fly Speed of 30 feet, and can fit into spaces only a few inches wide, moving his constituent creatures through the gap. He can't make any of his normal Strikes but gains the Biting Flies action.Create Servitor (divine, downtime) If a creature dies after being reduced to 0 HP by Drink Blood, Ezio can turn this victim into a vampire servitor by donating some of his own blood to the victim and burying the victim in earth for 3 nights. A vampiric servitor is compelled to obey its creator, but if Ezio controls too many vampiric servitors at once (as determined by the GM), or if the servitor is a higher level than Ezio, strong-willed servitors can free themselves by succeeding at a DC 25 Will saving throw.Coffin Restoration (divine, void) Unlike other undead, a vampire isn't destroyed at 0 HP. Instead, they fall unconscious. If their body rests in their coffin for 1 hour, the vampire gains 1 HP, after which their fast healing begins to function normally.Dominate [two-actions] (divine, incapacitation, mental, visual) Ezio can cast dominate at will as a divine innate spell. Casting it requires staring into the target's eyes, giving the spell the visual trait. The DC is 23, and a creature that succeeds is temporarily immune to Ezio's Dominate for 24 hours. Fully destroying Ezio ends the domination, but merely reducing Ezio to 0 HP is insufficient to break the spell.Drink Blood [one-action] (divine) Requirements A grabbed, paralyzed, restrained, unconscious, or willing creature is within Ezio's reach; Effect Ezio sinks his fangs into that creature to drink their blood. This requires a successful Athletics check against the victim's Fortitude DC if the victim is grabbed and is automatic for any of the other conditions. The victim is drained 1, and Ezio regains 10 HP. Drinking Blood from a creature that's already drained doesn't restore any HP to Ezio but increases the victim's drained value by 1, killing the victim when it reaches drained 5. A victim's drained condition decreases by 1 per week. A blood transfusion, which requires a successful DC 20 Medicine check and sufficient blood or a blood donor, reduces this drained value by 1 after 10 minutes.Turn to Mist [one-action] (air, concentrate, divine, polymorph) Ezio turns into a cloud of vapor, as the vapor form spell, or back to his normal form. Ezio loses fast healing while turned to mist. Ezio can remain in this form indefinitely.
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