Aspexia Rasdovian

Small and pale would be the two words that would perfectly describe this short, young light-skinned human female. Her large, deep blue eyes sparkle with poise echoed by an educated or worldly past revealed behind her thick lashes. Her hair hangs down to just below her shoulders and is a rich, golden blonde, rare for a Chelaxian. She has a slim, but fit build and is appropriately (but not overly) gifted in all the right areas of her body.

Her voice always carries a seductive tone and her body language is always positive as she often touches people and makes one feel as they are the only one being spoken too. It is possible that she doesn't mean to sound that way or mean to present herself in such an alluring manner, but with a woman of her presence, it is more likely that she well aware of her tone and body language at all times.

While in a town or city, she is well dressed in a tailored courtier's outfit most likely from a top Chelish designer and accessorized with expensive jewelry to match. The outfit consists of a finely crafted, sleeveless silk shirt underneath of a short leather overcoat. The shirt is tucked into a belt that holds up a free flowing black, cotton skirt, cut to just above her knees. Finally, she wears a stylish black leather boot, cut to mid-calf. Her styled hair, pleasant perfume and expensive jewelry all suggest that she may belong to one of the city's noble houses.

When out in the wild, Aspexia wears a very well kept set of leather armour. The armour is light in colour, and held tightly to her body with various straps and belts. She trades in her skirt for a rather durable pair of dark brown pants and wears a similar style black boot. Across her back, she has a quiver of arrows and a short bow. Attached at her hip, is a rather violent looking whip with numerous barbs and razor blades worked into the tip. Even when in some of the most trying times, she is often seen in near pristine condition with an almost obsessive casting of prestidigitation and mending to maintain her appearance.

Archetypes: Noble Born; Daredevil
Traits: Charming; Energetic; Bold; Driven

Aspexia was brought up knowing how to act as a proper lady at the request of her mother. She is a minor noble of the Rasdovain family who lives in a Westcrown.

She very much sees people as their social standing first, and although she doesn’t mind associating with commoners, she can be rather rude and inconsiderate toward them. This means she can often come off as rather snobby towards others. Her intent is not to offend, however it is merely tool she has found to aid in her association with other members of the Chelish nobility and dealing with those outside of Chelish boarders is still relativity new.

Although she tries to be patient, she is rather willful, devising ways to appease others by letting them see or hear what she thinks they want to see or hear, then finding a more pleasing workaround for herself. She knows the proper things to say or do, but unfortunately, her mind and lips sometimes react faster than her sense of tact. Her emotions are strong, almost impossible to change and she tends to listen to her heart more than her head.

Despite being a member of a rather immoral House, Aspexia has a strong sense of morality. She does have tendency to falter, but her halfling slip, Alton, is usually around to give her a rather judging glare. Since she has been in the Pathfinder Society training for the past three years, Alton has been away, but various other Pathfinders have seem to have taken up this role.

A number of years ago, the Rasdovian family was part of the old nobility of Cheliax in Westcrown. A young member of the family, Alexite, was rather unhappy with the house’s social standing and decided that he would have a child, which he could use to be sold for favours from Hell. The house had long been involved in the rum producing industry but there was nothing that set their spirit ahead of the others. The fiendish creatures from Hell posed an idea to him; they would provide a supply of a highly addictive drug that could be added to the alcohol. It would provide an extra bite and the addictive nature of the product would slowly increase sales.

As luck would have it, Aspexia was not one the 'lucky' few who had that privilege of being selected; something her mother would never let her live down. Aspexia's mother, Boudra, was something of a powerful personality. She forced Aspexia into all degrees of schooling including etiquette, language, oratory and vocal training. If there was one thing that Aspexia can say she developed through her rigorous schooling, it was her love of Chelish opera.

Aspexia begin performing in various operas at the tender age of eleven. Over the next six years, she performed numerous small operas which were always well attended; although, Boudra usually made it sure that all the seats were filled. When she turned seventeen, she applied and was accepted into the Kintargo Opera House guild.

The Kintargo Opera House has been getting a bad reputation in Cheliax for being full of free thinkers. Aspexia was a proud supporter of her family (although, wouldn't exactly do everything they do) and of Cheliax but she was a teenager and was not going to let her dreams slip through her fingers because of some politics. After understanding how determined she was, the Rasdovian's (and their superiors, House Aranxi) let her attend under the agreement that she would provide information of any anti-government acts she saw while in there.

Over the next year, Aspexia did as she had agreed. Every month, she sent a letter with her slip, Alton, back to the House to detail the activities of the guild she was privy to. Mostly this just involved minor civil disobedience and secret gathering of a number of noble families.

Aspexia stayed uninvolved in the acts themselves until the end of her first year. She was performing her final exam of the year and received a failing grade from the vocalist. He called her performance, 'borderline dull' and if she wanted him to change the grade to a pass, he would need a favour. She would be required to find some secret of note from a local member of House Thrane. Out of desperation, Aspexia agreed but was caught before finding anything of note.

The noble, who knew of House Rasdovian, returned with Aspexia to Westcrown to negotiate a deal. When she was finally told the terms of her release, Aspexia was not pleased. House Thrane, eager to increase their influence in the Pathfinder Society, would have Aspexia move to Absalom to be handed over to the Chelish faction, become a full fledged member of the Society and work towards the Chelish goals. Failure this time, would mean certain death.

House Rasdovian is a consortium of merchants and nobles interested in manipulating political and mercantile activity for their own economic gain, but, in truth, their influence stems from their ability to acquire, manipulate, and wield information. They live in Westcrown and have only minor influence outside of the city.

Aside from information dealer, the House’s other major source of income is from their production of a spirit known as Morsus. Morsus is similar to rum produced from sugar cane but has an added ingredient (drug) known as Agony (or by the slang term, Liquid Pain). The house puts a small amount of this drug into each bottle (enough to turn the liquid red) which makes the spirit extremely addictive. The process of infusing the drug into the spirit and the effect that it has is kept as a secret to only those within the House.

The only way the house could keep a constant supply of Agony in the spirits was with support from Hell. In exchange for a supply of the drug, the House would provide the a grand gift, offering or sacrifice every ten years. This gift tends to be the soul of a pure, newborn child from the family.

House Rasdovain (Minor Noble): AL LE, NE; 10,000 gp resource limit; Membership 36; Isolated (30 human, 3 halfling, 2 half-elf, 1 other); Salary 15 gp/month for house agents or stipend of 75 gp/month for family members (no cost to join).
Authority Figure: Alexite Rasdovain, House Patriarch
Important Characters: Boudra Rasdovian, Gellius Rasdovian
Superior: House Aranxi

Associated Classes: Alchemist, rogue, bard, assassin
Associated Skills: Apprise, Bluff, Diplomacy, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility and royalty), Profession (Distiller)
Requirements: If you are an agent of the House, you must serve an average of 10 hours per tenday attending Rasdovian business. If you are a member of House Rasdovian, you must devote an average of 20 hours per tenday to dealing with House business.
Favored Benefit: Due to connections with alcohol sales in Cheliax, once per level (or month) the character can petition an owner of a drinking establishment that sells Morsus to act as a safe house. This is limited to one day/night and for groups of six or less.
Secondly, for a discounted (or no) fee, one per level (or month), the character can use House contacts to obtain a potentially blackmailing piece of information about a member of Chelish nobility.

Alexite Rasdovian: (NE male Aristocrat/Expert) The aging patriarch of House Rasdovian, is a fat, wispy-bearded, sinister little man who favors fine robes, silken sashes and waistcoats and bejeweled daggers. He enjoys only two things in life: inflicting pain and staying filthy rich.

Alexite has taken the family from relative obscurity into a position under one of the top noble families in Cheliax. Alexite is currently the chairman of the Vintners’, Distillers’ & Brewers Guild and has been for the past 8 years. He has a sister, Boudra and a brother Gellius who are the second and third in line for the leadership.

Alexite’s sole focus for the house is the production and promotion of Morsus.

Boudra Rasdovia: (LE female Aristocrat) Boudra has a sharp-angled face—made possible by vigorous self-starvation and delineated by too much cosmetics—and a pale, perfect complexion, enhanced with judicious doses of belladonna. She favors elaborate, revealing gowns accented with gems and complicated, upswept hairstyles that dramatically show off her henna-colored hair. She has considerable personal wealth, including a small mansion, vast wardrobe, a stable with riding and carriage horses, several hawks, and a considerable personal library with books detailing the heraldry, history, and scandals of generations of influential Chelish.

Boudra showed an aptitude for gossip at an early age, falling naturally into the family business of information gathering and rumormongering. One of the best sources of information in upper class Cheliax, Boudra prides herself on her accuracy—except when she is paid to spread lies, of course. She is careful to only engage in character assassination when it cannot be traced back to her and damage her reputation.

Boudra is the mother of Aspexia Rasdovian.

Gellius Rasdovian: (LE male Rogue) This arrogant, cold man with thick black hair is a patient, cunning schemer who avoids personal danger whenever he can, preferring to work at a distance through hired knives and behind-the scenes manipulation. He makes a patient, careful foe for those who injure or thwart him, tirelessly arranging opponent after opponent to bedevil his enemies.

Gellius is Alexite’s third in line for leadership of the house and is in charge of all matters related to political endeavors. Alexite sees Gellius as rather weak and blames him for the inability of the house to progress further up the nobility ladder of Cheliax.

Alton is a middle aged male halfling slip given to Aspexia Rasdovian to serve her needs. He has been in her service since she was seven years old. He is a rather cheery man, always looking on the positive side of things, even when Aspexia is abusive to him as she 'usually, always' will heal him afterwards. Besides, he believes that it's not actually her fault, she was just raised that way.


Currently, Alton is at the Rasdovian home in Westcrown where he is waiting to join her after she finishes her Pathfinder training.