Nalla Kond Vellus

Nalla Kond Vellus is a stern woman of few words. She always seems to be watching with her piercing, gray eyes. When engaged in conversation, she speaks clearly with a quiet yet brassy voice. She speaks with a slight accent that is difficult to place. Those that converse with her quickly realize that her normal muteness is not for any lack of intelligence. She does not engage in normal pleasantries or idle conversation, but she is polite when making a request or asking another for aid. Few people have gotten past Nalla's cold exterior, and even then she is not exactly a "warm soul." She seems to care about her traveling companions and often shares her worldly experiences with her close associates. Whenever questions about her more distant past or her family are raised, she deftly maneuvers the conversation elsewhere. Some people take this to be rude, while those that know Nalla simply accept that she does not wish to talk about such subjects. The truth of the matter is that she knows very little of her own past. She's not entirely sure her real name is even “Nalla”.      Nalla appears to be about 25 years old. She has determined that she has some githzerai heritage, but not exactly how much. Some speculate her to have a small amount of elven blood in her veins as well, but there is no basis for it. She stands just over six feet, two inches in height. She has a slender build, but is obviously in prime physical condition. Her skin is pale yellow with an odd gray pattern on her back and shoulders from a birthmark. Her eyes are deep, steel gray. Her hair is dark red, kept at shoulder length and pulled back into an intricate weave. She typically wears lose, light gray clothing that is pulled tight at her waist, ankles, and wrists. She wears firm-soled shoes made of bleached hide. Around her wrists are wraps of white cloth bearing ornate symbols stitched in silver and maroon. On the back of each hand is a jet black metallic triangle attached by several think black cords. She often wears a dark gray, hooded cloak with the cowl pulled forward. Nalla never appears to be armed, but she exudes an aura of strength and competence.

To the amazement of all in attendance, including herself, she manifested sharp bestial claws and severely injured the student.

The githzerai seen today, self-named Nalla, was found near the city of Silverymoon, in the northwest part of Faerun on the Prime Material world of Toril. A group of elven rangers from the city came upon her in a carefully made encampment. She was lying on the ground near a campfire. Several sacks full of supplies were neatly stacked nearby. The elves tried to wake her without success. They took her and her belongings back to the city. There, an elven woman by the name of Fahsra tended to her. She was a cleric of Angharradh, the Triune Goddess. Through her prayers and tending she brought Nalla out of her slumber.      When she awoke, Nalla could not remember anything. She could not even remember her name. She did not know how she came to the campsite in the forest. She felt very weak, although her body was still in very good physical condition. Fahsra nursed Nalla back to peak physical health. She kept up her prayers to Angharradh and enlisted the aid of a prominent human wizard named Endrosh to try to help Nalla regain her memory. After weeks of work, the three people gave up their efforts. All they gained were faint glimmers of memories that seemed to indicate that Nalla was trained as a monk by an unknown order. They also uncovered the name "Nalla," which to their best guess, belonged to the young githzerai.      With the support of Fahsra, Nalla took up residence in Silverymoon. Given the diverse background of Silverymoon's inhabitants, the githzerai did not attract too much negative attention. She found no other githzerai in the city, but that did not seem to matter much in the Gem of the North. She continued her training as a monk in a ward dedicated to the god Helm. She trained very hard and quickly became one of the more prominent students. She seemed to possess unusual physical abilities that she nor any other could explain. Through long hours of meditation, she unlocked pieces of these strange abilities. She mostly kept them to herself, entrusting her secrets to only a few elders within the order.      Nalla’s stay within Silverymoon lasted less than three years. She left of her own cognizance when she nearly killed a fellow student during a sparring match. During the match Nalla temporarily lost control of her emotions. To the amazement of all in attendance, including herself, she manifested sharp bestial claws and severely injured the student. Although the student made a full recovery, Nalla could not forgive herself and soon left the monastery and the city. Beyond the city limits awaited countless other adventures to be told another time.      Nalla’s true githzerai name is Nath'la Kor-Heild Vell’s. She was born and raised in Sigil 91 years ago. She is the daughter of Wilann Kor Potha, a female githzerai and renowned illithid hunter. Her father is Vell’s For'ma, a half-elven warrior who joined with Wilann’s hunting troupe. They raised Nath’la within the City of Doors until she reached maturity. She trained in a variety of martial arts and even began cultivating her psionic abilities. When she was of age, the young githzerai left her family to return to her ancestral plane of Limbo. Both her mother and father tried to dissuade her from going, but she did not listen.      Nath’la trained and studied for many years at Zerth'Ad'Lun, the same monastery her mother trained at in her youth. She quickly excelled at the physical and mental tasks laid before her. She easily combined her psionic gifts with martial arts. In her fourth decade at the monastery, she was approached to become an instructor, teaching others as she had been taught. Literally days before she took up the mantel of master, her life was quickly and irrevocably changed.      During her morning exercises she was stealthily approached by eight masters at the monastery. Without a word of warning she was psionically subdued. They bound her limbs and placed a powerful device around her neck that negated all her psionic abilities. Later they explained it was to protect everyone involved, including Nath’la. To her amazement, the masters claimed that she was considered an dangerous threat. Apparently her mother and father were responsible for a massacre of over a thousand innocent people. Not only were they to blame, but their crimes were committed with open contempt and even joy at suffering of others. Knowing her parents well enough, Nath’la knew that something was not right. Unfortunately she was never given the chance to look any further.      The masters of the monastery were left with a difficult situation. Nath’la had done nothing wrong and showed no signs of malice. However, the same could be said of her parents until the massacre. Rather than execute the innocent githzerai, they decided it best to “dispose” of her in a different way. Using powerful magic and psionic powers, they veritably stripped away Nath’la’s mind. They believed that whatever potential bit of “evil” or corruption could be wiped away. They gathered adequate supplies to sustain the young githzerai and transported to the Prime world of Toril. There she would begin her life anew, away from her past.

Psionic Powers: (PP 16; base 12; bonus 4; powers known 4, max level 2) 0th – Far Punch; 1st – Body Adjustment, Inertial Armor, Synesthete, Mind Link (3/day as spell-like ability).Flurry of Blows: Current attack adjustment is -1.Ki Strike (Su): Unarmed attacks treated as magic for purposes of determining damage reduction.Gith-Blooded (Sp): Nalla has one power (mindlink) that is from her racial heritage.  The Githzerai blood normally grants more powers and abilities.  Hers were psionically “locked”/repressed by her monastery. Mindlink cannot be started remotely, she must touch her target(s).  She can use the ability 3 times per day. It manifests as if she were a 10th level Psion.Speed of Thought: As normal psionic feat. Ability listed under Speed for convenience.Stunning Fist (Ex): 7/day, DC 17.Unarmed Strike (Ex): 1d8 Unarmed Damage.

Karach gloves* (special), bracers of agility** (+1 dodge AC; +5 Jump, +5 Tumble), ring of protection (+1), belt of strength (+2), masterwork kama, cloak of resistance (+1), Heward’s Handy Haversack, potion of cure light wounds (x5; caster level 5), potion of cure moderate wounds (x2; caster level 10), potion of cure serious wounds (x1; caster level 15), potion of levitate (caster level 5), potion of blur (caster level 5), potion of neutralize poison, potion of spider climb (caster level 5), potion of haste (caster level 7), potion of bear’s endurance (caster level 5).  15 gp and 5sp.

Karach Gloves: These “gloves” appear as black, metallic triangles attached to the back of Nalla’s hands by thin, black cords.  Upon mental command, the triangles lose all definition and appear to spread over her hands forming wicked claws.  In this expanded state, her hands are jet black, reflecting almost no light, each finger ending in a sharp point.  The karach triangles power a thin field of pure chaos, granting unusual abilities to the wielder.  The field can only cover a medium creature’s hands, including natural weapons.  The gloves have a +1 enhancement bonus.  They also do 1d6 points of acid damage similar to the corrosive ability.  They also have the cripple weapon ability (see below).

Cripple (Su): Upon command, a crippling weapon is sheathed in a dark purple and black electricity.  The effect does not harm the wielder.  The effect remains until another command is given.  A crippling weapon does 1d4 points of temporary ability damage on a successful hit.  The user chooses which ability (Strength, Dexterity, or Constitution) at the time the effect is created.  If the target succeeds on a Fortitude save (DC 12 + damage dealt), no ability damage occurs.  The amount of damage is unaltered on a critical hit.

Moderate necromancy; CL 10th; Craft Magic Arms and Armor, ray of enfeeblement; Price +2 bonus.

Bracers of Agility: These special bracers grant a +1 dodge bonus to AC.  They also grant +5 competence bonus to both Jump and Tumble.