House Taldor

“The sun of Taldor’s empire and the silver cities has set. It is up to
us to see it rise again in our time.”
—Baron Jacquo Dalsine






Old Taldor once ruled the entire northern coast of the Outer Sea, from gold gilded Oppara to the wild frontier of Varisia. The capitol Thal`lan of Oriania is reduced to a quarter of its former glory. As Old Taldor’s gaze turned ever inward, its vassals and conquered colonies slowly slipped away without a fight. Eldorin and Cheliax broke off hundreds of years ago, and few in Taldor had either the desire or the motivation to go to war to stop it. Why bother dealing with petty trifles in the countryside when your own political destruction is taking place in the limelight of Taldan high society?

It’s easy to forget Taldor’s former glory and dismiss the entire country as a band of narcissistic fools who spend more time preening their wigs than they do defending their borders or quelling the unrest roiling within their great cities. Little do most know that while the majority of Taldor’s upper crust are more concerned with this season’s fashions than the well being of their collapsing empire, a few of the world’s most dangerous operatives are honed in the constant battleground of Oppara’s feuds. Old enmities between ancient houses have engulfed the Gilded City in shadowy violence and assassinations for hundreds of years, and more than a fair share of skilled adventurers have come up surviving the feuds, either as hired muscle or scions of noble houses mixed up in these cauldrons of bloodshed.

Taldans are decadent bon vivants, favoring rich foods, ornate attire, and jeweled accoutrements for even the most minor of casual affairs. To a Taldan, appearance is an expression of power, and a keen sense of fashion represents a keen mind. Their appreciation for the arts extends beyond fashion and painting, dabbling in sorcery, dueling, and the murky strategies of politics and war. A Taldan mind, when raised to ire, is a dangerous thing, and the rest of the Outer Sea is about to receive a painful reminder of this timeless fact.


Goals: Get Back in the Game
Petty differences and ancient feuds have slowly ground Taldor down from a great polished stone to a whittled nub. The key to restoring the empire’s sense of purpose lies in finding an enemy to galvanize Taldor’s splintered factions, an endeavor worthy of rediscovering the nation’s august past glory. Seizing the political reins of Siria is the perfect medicine for the wasting disease deep in Taldor’s bones.


Methodology: Wolf and Tiger
“Our weakness must now be our strength:
centuries of petty infighting have afforded
us one weapon—surely there is no one who
can claim as true a mastery of intrigue as we
Taldans!”
—Jacquo Dalsine


Taldor’s strategy for seizing control of Siria lies in turning its enemies upon one another. Misdirection and psychological warfare are the orders of the day. Taldan missions might involve sparking old enmities between House Qadira and House Zephyria, or driving House Cheliax and House Eldorin to rekindle their old war. “Sick the wolf on the tiger and the hunter’s work is done” is an old Taldan saying.


Faction Leader: Jacquo Dalsine
A few among Taldor’s elite realize the foolish end their empire is headed toward and plan to reverse it before the entire nation collapses. Jacquo Dalsine is the very picture of a Taldan dandy. A slender and effete gentleman, Jacquo appears the very model of a decadent Taldan fop. The truth is while Jacquo can carouse and scribe poetry with the best of them, his favorite art is performed with a blade and he is one of the better swordsman on the Outer Sea. To Jacquo, the arts of politics and intrigue are no different than a duel. There are deceptions, engagements, feints, and disengagements, not to mention lightning fast ripostes. Jacquo sees Taldor as an ailing old duelist, tottering toward death on a foe’s blade, but he knows the empire possesses great puissance if it can be reminded of its former glory. For now, it is key to turn the blades of Taldor’s enemies on one another long enough for the decaying empire to find its footing. Some day, Old Taldor may rise again and hold its sword high once again, making all of the Eastern Kingdoms tremble at its power.


Taldan Pathfinders
Joining a secret society is just another dalliance for most Taldans. The Pathfinders are all the rage and everyone loves to hear of their exploits. Many Taldans join the Society simply to keep with the fashion of the times or to ensure they have something particularly engaging to converse about at parties. Others join the Pathfinder Society in hopes of sparking a renewed golden age for their decaying empire, and bringing Taldor back to the forefront of power in Avistan. What most foreigners can’t seem to understand is that many Taldans join up for both reasons. Misdirection is a staple of every Taldan’s diet, and most rely on a foppish or flippant exterior to hide their harder machinations. Pathfinders not raised in Taldor yet still loyal to the Taldor faction in Siria often see the decadent, crumbling empire as a haven for untapped historic wealth. Taldor has plundered nearly every country on the Outer Sea and for an unscrupulous treasure hunter or collector of rare artifacts, attaching ones self to the Taldor factions means a closer proximity to millennia of significant archaeological treasures. Still others hope that by pledging loyalty to a culture based entirely on the whims of the wealthy with an incredibly complex system of honor and respect that they might learn a great deal about how to make the world move around them rather than be moved by the world.



Faction Feats


EXPERT DUELIST
You have spent countless hours perfecting the art of the
duel, focusing your feints on defeating a single foe who
has earned your ire.

Benefit: You gain a +1 dodge bonus to your Armor Class
and a +2 bonus on Bluff skill checks made to feint as long
as you are only adjacent to a single foe.


FORGOTTEN MAGIC

Taldor’s mystic arts are old and archaic. Some are lost to
most, but your family has passed a few mysteries down
for generations.

Benefit: Select one spell that you can cast. You cast this
spell at +1 caster level. In addition, any dispel check made
against this spell through dispel magic, or a similar
effect, is at a –4 penalty.
Special: You can gain this feat multiple times. Its effects
do not stack. Each time you take this feat, it applies to a
new spell.


IMPRESSIVE PRESENCE

Taldans know how to make an entrance and are skilled
beyond measure in the art of shock and awe. Your
grandiose sense of style makes it diffcult for anyone (or
anything) to ignore you.

Benefit: As a full-round action, you can attempt to draw
attention to yourself. All creatures within 30 feet must
make a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 your character level +
your Charisma modifier), or become distracted by your
display. Distracted creatures suffer a –2 penalty on Listen
and Spot skill checks as well as a –2 penalty on Initiative
checks. These penalties persist for 1 minute, as long as
you are still within line of sight. This ability cannot be
used during combat.


PERFORMANCE ARTIST

You studied in the avant garde theatre scene of Taldor.
Your performance skills have been known to bring even
the toughest crowd to their feet.

Benefit: Choose one type of Perform skill. You get a +2
bonus on such Perform skill checks. This bonus increases
to +5 when you are using Perform to earn money.


POISONER

Your family has long carried on the gloried tradition of
ending men’s lives with bitter herbs and venoms.

Benefit: You gain a +2 bonus on Fortitude saves against
poison. In addition, you do not risk accidentally poisoning
yourself when you roll a natural 1 on an attack roll with a
poisoned weapon.


VINDICTIVE

Prone to endless feuds, your people simply do not forgive
a slight easily.

Benefit: You receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls made
against creatures that damaged you in the previous round
with a ranged or melee attack.