House Cheliax (Country: Eledar)

“The Dark One himself smiles upon our endeavor,
and we shall not rest until the entire world
trembles before Him.”
—Paracountess Zarta Dralneen




House Cheliax
In the beginning of the Third Age (present time), some say the soul of the High Elven Kingdom perished When the elves of Eledar where defeated. The once mighty empire was torn apart by the darkness of Morgoroth and powerhungry humans. Chaos reigned for half a decade. Only through the power of three noble Houses, each steeped in deviltry, was order restored. Much of the shady areas of the Eledarian empire runs on the backs of demonologists and fiends now. A perfect machine of hellfire and blood, where morality surrenders to the needs of law and order. It’s not easy to curse House Cheliax as a faction of devillovers, as their deeds are mainly hidden. Thus few can argue with the effective results of their fiendbinding craft. The Duchy of Thrune, the greatest of its diabolic noble families, brought the empire under control after the war with the High Elves. Cheliax arose like a dark star, as strong as ever, despite the loss of Oriania and Eldorin to the native rebellious forces. House Cheliax now functions more like a covert operation that feeds on Qadira like a parasite. They walk amongts the Qadarian people and bleed the people by exploiting their own greed and sins.

Morgoroths taint proves as powerful a divine patron as he himself represented in the First Age. He fuels his taint on Middle-earth from The Void,  and shepherds his people toward glory and dominance of the Outer Sea in the Eastern Kingdoms. His plans reach eons into the future, and the minor setbacks of yesterday are all factored into the cost of doing a devil’s business. Chelaxians always plan for a long campaign, and never trifle over today’s skirmishes. In the end all will burn in hellfire. It is only a matter of time.

The pale-skinned Chelaxians believe themelves superior to all other peoples. Their compact (as in political pacts or treaties) with great devils from the void, gives them power beyond measure. No other nation of the Outer Sea can compete with their summoners when it comes to trafficking with dark forces. These devils require payment for their service, often offered up in the form of tender flesh and fresh blood. Slaves are an important resource of the Chelaxians, as are artifacts of ancient power whose secrets are revealed to them by their timeless patrons. Even as Eldorin revels in its long period of freedom, the tendrils of House Cheliax’s empire continue to expand. Arcadia lays open before them and Sargava is ready to fall under their hellish sway. The Outer Sea will fall with the rest as soon as Siria rests firmly in the bloodied hands of the Duchy of Thrune.


Goals: Hell on Middle-earth
Chelaxians plan to spread the dark influence of Morgoroth across the face of Middle-earth. They bring order to chaos, quell the troublesome concepts of freedom and selfdetermination, and leave broken souls eager to accept the bondage of slavery in their wake. The world must come to terms with the order of things. Mortals serve at the knee of greater powers. The devils of the Deep Voids are Middle-earths’s natural overlords. And if the rabble gathered along the coast of the Outer Sea can’t be made to understand this simple fact, then they will be purged in a torrent of fire.


Methodology: The Kiss and the Lash

“A true corrupter can convince a man to hand
over his soul, a blissful smile on his face.”
—Paracountess Zarta Dralneen

Chelaxians are masters of seduction as well as pain. They bring their enemies to heel with promises of aid, riches, and glory, but keep them in line with cruel lashes and hellfire. The Cheliax faction wins others to its dark cause with temptation. Lust, power, riches, vanity, the Chelaxians offer all, and cater to the sinful nature in every man to bring him low. If a foe cannot be seduced, he must instead be scourged. Many missions of the Cheliax faction involve tempting upright people into darkness and vice, and then threatening to expose their sins unless they aid the empire as dutiful agents. The tricks of devils have claimed men’s souls since time immemorial and they serve the Chelaxians well in their quest for control of Siria.

Faction Leader: Paracountess Zarta Dralneen
Most people thought Zarta was nothing more than the spoiled daughter of a wealthy paracount. Then her father collapsed, his face purpled by poison, and she smoothly assumed control of House Dralneen with her elder brother’s consent. Contant rumors abound that her elder brother has long been deceased, and the “thing” that wears his skin now is just one of Zarta’s many diabolic servants. Zarta relishes her role in Absalom. She’s always found the city rife with sins-in-the-making, and takes pleasure in Middle-earth`s largest cesspool of corruption. She uses her beauty and her diabolic power in equal measures to corrupt the souls of her enemies. Its been said Zarta is an erinyes in human form, but one victim of her corrupting influence who lost his entire family in a quest to please the coy woman’s evil whims claims: “She could set the most salacious succubi to school.” Zarta paints the veneer of a cultured aristocratic lady on her outside, especially when appearing on official Chelish business (her cover role in Siria is that of a diplomatic envoy), but the promise of soul-blasting sin is an ever present dance her sultry eyes, and the orgies of excess she holds at her private villa are legendary affairs that most scorn with curses, even as they secretly yearn for an invitation.


Chelaxian Pathfinders
Since House Thrune rose to prominence, their primary goal has been reclaiming the past glories of Cheliax and re-establishing their footholds across the world. Chelish armies amass in the ruthless homeland Monazdria, and their agents push far and wide seeking to expand the diabolic empire’s influence. Chelish culture is widely popular, and their fashions show up in most nations across Avistan, Garund and Monazdria. The Duchy of Thrune places a high priority on discovering the relics of the past, and controlling the revelation and interpretation of historical finds. The noble Duchys of House Cheliax encourage the populace and even their own scions to join the Pathfinder Society and seek treasures of ancient power to bolster the empire. Pathfinders not raised in House Cheliax yet still loyal to the Cheliax faction in Eledar typically seek some form of personal power that they feel their loyalty to Cheliax will provide them. They see the advantages in bending fiends to the will of men (despite the incredible risks) and are generally more obsessed with ancient artifacts of power than their fellow Pathfinders.




DEVIL’S MARK

You bear the blasphemous stain of a higher fiend upon
you and any evil creature who sees it may think twice
before crossing you.

Benefit: You get a +4 bonus on all Bluff, Diplomacy, Gather
Information, Handle Animal, and Intimidate skill checks
when dealing with outsiders of the evil subtype.


DRINKER OF SOULS
You have in you a fell hunger that can only be satisfied by
the souls of dying foes. You gain obscene power when you
satisfy this hellish craving.

Benefit: Once per day, whenever you use a coup de
grace action to kill a living creature you gain a number
of temporary hit points equal to its Hit Dice. This is
a supernatural ability that does not stack with other
temporary hit points or effects that trigger on a foe’s
death. These temporary hit points last for 1 hour.


MASTER OF PENTACLES
The subtle and complicated arts of summoning are as
simple as numerals and the alphabet to you.

Benefit: Whenever you cast a spell of the conjuration
(calling) or conjuration (summoning) school, you are at +2
caster level when determining the duration of the spell.


PRESENCE OF THE PIT FIEND
Your people hold court with pit fiends and erinyes on a
regular basis and, as a result, mere mortals are often like
putty in your hands.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Intimidate and Diplomacy
skill checks. Whenever you use Intimidate to demoralize
a foe, that foe is shaken for a number of rounds equal 1
plus your Charisma modifier (if positive).


SCION OF THE DEEP VOIDS
Your bloodline is mingled with powerful fiends and you
rarely fear their fire.

Benefit: You gain fire resistance 2. This resistance
increases by +1 for every six levels you possess, to a
maximum of 5 at 18th level.


WRATH OF HELL
You have within you a furious storm of hellfire that can
lash out at foes.

Benefit: You can, as a swift action, summon the hellfire
that lurks inside you. This fire surrounds your weapons,
adding 1 point of fire damage to all of your melee attacks
for one round. In addition, for one round, anyone who
strikes you with a melee attack takes 1 point of fire
damage. You can use this ability a number of times per
day equal to 3 plus your Charisma modifier. This is a
supernatural ability.