Fell (Fell's Tattoo Parlour, The Market Ward)

There are a few things about the Cage that everyone takes for granted. There’s probably always going to be razorvine choking the street, for instance, and probably the air will never be free of smog. Course everyone thought the factions would always have a place in Sigil until the Lady’s Edict was announced, so maybe things aren’t so permanent as we’d like to believe.            People should have gotten their wake-up call, of course, with Fell. No one can figure this basher out, partially because no one wants to look into it, but Fell seems to be a rogue dabus. That’s right, everyone sees those sods rebuilding walls and trimming back weeds and never gives ‘em more than a second thought if they know what’s good for them. But Fell... a cutter can’t help but look at him! He looks like a dabus right enough, with that grey skin, those big curly horns, and those sodding bathrobes they wear, but he’s just not normal. First off he walks on the ground, just like a regular berk. I got a friend who even saw him trip! Honest, he was strolling through the Hive and stumbles over this loose cobble stone and falls bam onto the street. What’s he do? He picks himself up, dusts off his robe, and gives my friend a sheepish grin. You can guess how quickly that tiefer left the scene. That’s the other thing, he smiles and waves at people all the time, like he’s their next-door neighbor.            To be fair, Fell does have neighbors since he’s got a house, or shop to be exact. On Redwind Road in the Market Ward, he lives in and operates this tattoo parlor, selling magical inkings for a living. Do you suppose he needs to eat? Normal dabus don’t, but of course the point is he’s not normal. Anyways, he gets a fair amount of business at this tattoo parlor and is pretty infamous around the Cage. Don’t worry if you don’t speak dabus, either, he’s got these little guidebooks to help ya out, written by that lillend Milori (the one who translates dabus for berks with better things to do than figure out sodding riddles). See, he talks in rebus like other dabus and uses those images as tattoos, pasting ‘em right on a body’s arm, or leg, or shield or what-have-you. I’ve never seen it myself, but apparently he just says the tattoo image (you know what I mean, berk) and then plucks the thing out of the air and presses it into the berk or thing being tattooed. Quick as a Cipher, it’s done and there’s no messy needles or anything. He doesn’t advertise, far as I can tell, cutters just wander the Market Ward for his tell-tale sign: a black lightning bolt through a white oval. Chant is, that’s what Fell calls himself, don’t ask me why.            So, as if all this isn’t weird enough, Fell’s rebus puzzles hold some special power too. Most dabus you talk to make their little images which fade like smoke, but every once in a while Fell’s turn real enough to pick up and use... or to fight. I heard this one berk who went to get a tattoo from Fell, but wants to ask the dabus some questions first to make sure he’s not getting into something fishy. So the dabus assures him the tattoos are not illegal in pretty little pictures, when the “eagle” in illegal swells into this giant bird that grabs this berk by the leg! Carried the poor berk as nearly to the Clerk’s ward ‘fore it let him go!            Why does he keep getting customers? I tell ya berk I don’t know, I wouldn’t go within a titan’s reach of that place. I mean, not all his rebuses turn into bad things: a berk’s just as likely to get a sack of stingers as he is a giant eagle. But if I’m gonna play the odds, I’ll go down to the Lower Ward casinos where I don’t face a slaad when I lose.            Or the Lady, come to that... Well sure She’s involved: he’s a dabus, berk! Well, I guess She’s not involved directly. I’ve actually never heard of Her or the other dabus so much as looking at Fell, but I’m sure she’s piked as the Hells over him. Well, back before the War he hung around with a group of Signers, though I suspect that dissolved after the Edict. Still, I’ve heard that a number of that new faction, the Mind’s Eye, have been stopping in to see him, and the Athar have always been favorite customers. Apparently ol’ Fell styles himself as a proxy of Aoskar... yeah, the one with the hounds, are you telling this or me? So this barmy dabus says that his tattooing powers and his renegade rebuses come from the dead God of Portals, and Fell spends a bunch of his time down in the Hive bricking up portals to unsavory places. Makes sense, I guess, he’s a dabus and all. But that’s not the half of it... we gotta talk closer ‘cause just thinking this makes me worried about mazing or worse.            The Lady, see, She and Aoskar got into a tiff a long time ago (of course before he was dead, Hells!) since they both claimed to control the portals in the Cage. At first it’s just a quiet little argument, each side just plotting but not making any big moves. Then one day it erupts into this huge event (don’t that sound familiar?) and Aoskar gets penned in the dead book. If you don’t believe me, go stroll by the Shattered Temple, the old Temple of Aoskar! Seems the dabus can take apart buildings as well as they can fix them up. Here’s the thing: chant has it that the thing that tipped the scales was a certain dabus pledging himself to the service of Aoskar. That’s right: old Fell himself turned to worshipping the God of Portals, and then has his patron cut down like a mephit with bad news. That’s the real reason I wouldn’t go over to Fell’s, he still calls himself a proxy of Aoskar and is more than willing to get up on a soapbox and tell a body all about the glory of the dead power. I hear there’s a whole chapter in the rebus guidebooks about it. You might say that there’s no way to be a proxy of a dead god, and I for one would agree with you, but he’s getting those tattoos from someone. The chant I’ve heard says he’s got spells too, and who else would dare to give that cutter spells ‘cept Aoskar? Now the Lady may have stood for this stuff for centuries, but who’s to say how much longer She’ll hold back. Without the factions around She might feel the need to stretch Her muscles, so to speak.            I can’t figure Fell out, myself. With all the other dabus working the city offices folks say he’s out more and more closing up portals to the Plane of Ooze or Stygia. His first job is the Tattoo Parlor, but I guess he wants to get out and chip in with the rest of the Cage to patch things up after the Faction War. Probably thinks it’ll help promote Aoskar as a friendly sort of dead power, or else wants to drum up more tattoo business. Course he’s also lost a lot of his contacts when the Signers left the Cage, if I’ve heard the darks right, so he’s probably looking for solid cutters to get him more bricks to fix portals or run other missions. I may not be too particular about jobs at times, but I’d sooner work for Shemeshka than Fell. What happens when you show up for your jink the same time the Lady shows up to get her music paid? Naw, best to keep your distance’s my advice.

Fell(Pl / dabus/ cleric of Aoskar 3/ N)

Dabus: CR 8; Medium Outsider; HD 4d8+3d8+7; hp 40; Init +0; Spd 30 ft.; AC 14 (+4 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 14; Base Atk +6/+1; Grp +8/+3; Atk +8/+3 melee (punch 1d3+2) or simple weapon; SA None; SQ Comprehend languages, dabus skill switching, dark vision 60’, immunity to sigil hazards, spells, rebus language, rebus tattoo, tangible rebus; AL N; SV Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +11; Str 14, Dex 11, Con 13, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10.       Skills and Feats: Craft (any) +25, Diplomacy +4, Disable Device +9, Gather Information +8, Heal +10, Knowledge (any) +25, Listen +11, Open Locks +7, Search +10, Sense Motive +6, Spellcraft +10, Spot +12; Alertness, Negotiator, Simple Weapons Proficiency.       Cleric Abilities: Presumably Fell has the same abilities of any other cleric, but he has never been known to wear any armor and his spells seem to be entirely composed of the proxy powers descibed below. Likewise, no one has ever seen Fell either turn or command undead.       Comprehend Languages (Su): Fell can use comprehend languages as the spell at will.       Dabus Skill Switching (Su): Once each day, Fell can select one Craft and one Knowledge skill, and gain +25 ranks in that craft or knowledge. During his rest cycle, Fell loses these ranks, but can reassign them after the rest cycle is complete.       Immunity to Sigil Hazards (Su): As a dabus Fell is still immune to all forms of Sigil related hazards, though it is unknown whether he is now vulnerable to the Lady’s mazes or Her flaying shadow. However, hazards that are brought into or are not considered native of Sigil have full effect on Fell.       Proxy Powers: Fell seems to only know, or perhaps only cast, spells having to do with travel. Despite this, he seems to have access to any His spellcasting abilities, like most things about him, are unusual and many of his spells seem to far outstrip his clerical abilities. He can cast the following spells as a 10th level cleric each once per day. Spells available, 0 – ; 1 – detect secret doors, hold portal, portal beacon; 2 – portal alarm1; 3 – analyze portal1, 2; 4 – dimensional door, dimensional anchor, dismissal, improved portal alarm, scramble portal1; 5 – passwall, plane shift, teleport; 6 – banishment, forbiddance, seal portal1 ; 7 – greater plane shift2; phase door; 8 – dimensional lock; 9 – astral projection, gate, teleportation circle.       Rebus Language (Su): Dabus ‘speak’ using a rebus language of images that appear over their heads. The rebus will appear in whichever style is appropriate to the viewer. For example, an elf would see elfin rebus characters, while a dwarf would see dwarven ones.       Rebus Tattoo: Fell is able to turn his rebus pictures into magical tattoos at will. The process of “speaking” the tattoo and attaching it to the bearer takes a minute, and the tattoo bestows a magical bonus. Common tattoos will give a +2 or +4 bonus to a single skill, costing usually 200 and 400 gold respectively, or else a spell-like effect, costing twice as much as a wand of the same spell.       Tangible Rebus: Every so often, Fell’s rebus images turn into tangible objects, whether a creature, an object, a cloud, etc. For every minute of conversation there’s a 10% chance that one of his images will become tangible, and most of the time they are unremarkable. When Fell’s tattoos turn into actual objects, they are treated as summoned objects for the purpose of spell targeting, but they can’t be unsummoned. Creatures so created are not under Fell’s control, although they never attack him and seem to ignore him completely for the most part. Once per day, Fell can make one of his rebuses become a real object for his protection, usually a creature although he can also make simple weapons to use. Rebuses that become tangible will dissolve into air after 1d4 hours. ______________________1. Manual of the Planes2. Planar Handbook

Credits:Author: Colin WilsonEditor: Rob Moore