Zora the Waif

Zora doesn't remember yesterday, never mind their youth. They came to Fellport at some point, tricking the wealthy to part with some of their riches, and they had such wonderful dreams of a sunny seaside community where they had a place and a purpose. They fell for the dream and gave themselves completely to Makara, voluntarily choosing to lose their sense of self and become a tool subservient to the will of the Master. Once the pact was sealed in dreams, Zora awoke clutching a beast claw that manipulated probability in their favor, a gift from Makara to symbolize their bond.

Makara granted Zora several more gifts over the years. They can see in darkness, and all words instantly reveal their meanings. They can change their appearance and form at will, preferring to become the most unassuming innocent bystander to evade detection, and they recently learned how to turn invisible at will. Their talisman can rebuke attackers and improve saving throws, and they escape bonds and grapples with uncanny ease. They create thralls to do Makara's bidding, mostly by sneaking into bedrooms and telepathically whispering eldritch secrets into the sleeper's dreams. Most thralls break the charm fairly quickly, so Zora carefully keeps their true identity hidden when doing Makara's work to avoid any blame.

Zora doesn't use combat spells, favoring more subtle mental effects and movement spells. They have access to the higher-level spells eyebite, etherealness, and power word stun, which incapacitates a target and allows Zora to quickly enthrall them to serve Makara. Zora's greatest trick involves looking into people's minds with detect thoughts, then mimicking the voice of a loved one, preferably dead, to torment their target with telepathy. The target thinks they're haunted by the ghost of someone they thought they knew. But the voice in their head pushes them to do things, or simply drives them mad. Some flee. Some succumb to madness. Others get angry. And sometimes anger and the destruction it brings serves Makara the best of all.

Zora appears as a short, thin teen in their natural form, even though they're well over 30 years old. Their white hair frizzes out in a chaotic nimbus around a childish dark-skinned face with pale, vacant eyes. They seem skittish, quiet, shy, and afraid of shadows, which evokes an instinctive protective response from well-meaning strangers. They dress in rags and continually fidget with their beast claw talisman. Zora rarely wears their normal form, nor gives their name, except when spending the night at Highwater House, an eternally homeless waif with no means to support themselves and dependent on the charity of others to survive.

Zora the Waif
Human (Okulari) Great Old One Warlock (Level 15) (They/Them)
(Charlatan Background; Actor, Skill Expert, Telepathic Feats)
Str 6  Dex 14  Con 12  Int 14  Wis 12  Cha 20
Deception* +15, History +7, Investigation +7, Performance +10, Sleight of Hand +7, Stealth +7

Designer's Note: I need a potent tool for the Deepspeakers, and the Actor/Telepath feat combo totally fits the bill for doing Makara's will. Randomly making thralls across the city while remaining hidden in plain sight works well to cause terror while learning about the prison and recovering artifacts that might help the Protector-In-Exile escape.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.