Path of the Philosopher

The Path of Corruption followed by the Red Widow Richelle de Mauvais. It is named for the concept of natural philosophy, the precursor to modern science.

• 1. Student of nature: Twice a day, by touching a living creature's, Richelle can automatically tell whether that creature is currently afflicted with either disease or poison. A successful Knowledge (nature) check can identify the disease; a successful Craft (alchemy) check can identify the poison.
  • Richelle's appearance, both in spider and human form becomes subtly frail. She displays signs of premature aging, such as crow's feet wrinkles and threads of silver hair among the red. While this is all appearance, it causes her undue distress whenever she sees herself in the mirror, and she takes pains to apply cosmetics and hair dye to cover these signs up.

• 2. Student of quantities and qualities: Richelle gains a +4 bonus to all Craft (alchemy) checks.
  • Richelle suffers a -2 penalty to her Dexterity score. She has become overly precise and careful in her movements when not making an effort to move naturally. Her movements have reminded more than one person who has caught her in a private moment of a spider's graceful, but nigh-mechanical movements. If observed behaving this way, Richelle suffers OR +1 in confrontations with the one(s) who saw her.

• 3. Student of the elements: (current stage) Twice a day, Richelle can use Elemental dart as a spell-like ability. Her caster level for this ability equals her Effective Character Level. The save DC is determined by her Charisma score.
  • Although Richelle is as beautiful as a woman half her actual age, she feels old and tired on the inside, and increasingly afraid of death. Her Dexterity penalty increases to -4, and she suffers a -2 penalty to her Strength score.

• 4. Student of matter: Four times a day, Richelle can identify the material composition and structure of any inanimate object she touches, including constructs, allowing her to read both strengths and flaws; this ability can not be blocked by spells or powers of Illusion. Once a day, Richelle can use this knowledge if she wants to destroy an inanimate object, gaining a bonus to Sunder the object equal to her Intelligence score.
  • Richelle's body has now noticeably started to age, in a way unnatural for a Red Widow. Although humanoids would simply see Richelle as a middle-aged woman - and quite a handsome one at that - seeing her own appearance sends her into a terrified frenzy; Richelle can be turned as a vampire if exposed to her own reflection, and she requires servants to dress and groom her.

• 5. Student of motion and change: Three times a day, Richelle can use either Haste or Slow as spell-like abilities in any combination she chooses. Her caster level for this ability equals her Effective Character Level, and the save DC is determined by her Charisma score.
  • Richelle has started losing control of her shape-shifting abilities. She can still transform from giant spider to humanoid form and back without trouble, but anytime she goes from giant spider to humanoid she runs a 10% chance of randomly assuming the form of an individual from her past. These are always people she either hates - such as Albert de Mauvais - or towards whom she feels lasting regret, such as the Red Widows she vivisected while at the University of Dementlieu. The only way she can be guaranteed to assume the correct shape is to pass a Concentration check, DC 25, when shape-shifting.

• 6. Student of the infinite cosmos: Richelle has gained the ability to produce, fertilize and implant eggs. If these eggs hatch, Richelle can subject the hatchlings to a torturous process and extract an essence she uses as the basis for an elixir that allows her to extend her lifespan by another year and rejuvenate her body to its prime.
  • Richelle is repulsed by all the activities required to produce hatchlings, needing to roll Fortitude saves and Will saves to force herself to go through with the whole process. Moreover, she finds the notion of cannibalizing her own offspring repugnant, and suffers extremes of self-loathing whenever she cannot occupy her mind. She is regularly haunted by the powerless and chittering geists of her murdered children.