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Irrisen
Capital: Whitethrone
Ruler: Queen Anastasia
Once part of the Land of the Linnorm Kings, this region was conquered 1400 years ago by Baba Yaga, who placed the country in an eternal Winter and installed one of her daughters on the throne.- Cool Crown: The Icecrown of Irrisen, a crown of never-melting ice worn by the Queens of Irrisen that bonds directly with the wearer's head and can only be placed or removed by Baba Yaga herself.
- Endless Winter: It's been locked in an unending winter for the last 1400 years. No one's entirely sure why Baba Yaga made it this way, but the witches ruling it are determined to keep it the way it is. It's also noted to have had devastating effects on Irrisen's society and environments — since there is no growing season anymore, most plants have been forcefully dormant since Irrisen's founding and no large-scale cultivation is possible, making Irrisen extremely dependent on food and lumber imports and on the winteryew tree, a magical plant introduced by Baba Yaga during the conquest which is capable of growing edible seeds and bark year-round. It's openly stated that the winteryews are the only Irrisen wildlife didn't die out en masse.
- The Exile: In the aftermath of the Reign of Winter Adventure Path, a few White Russian émigrés have settled in Irrisen after losing the Civil War and being driven from their home country.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Fantasy Russia.
Baba Yaga
Neutral Evil female human witch 20/archmage 10
Yes, the Baba Yaga. Born centuries ago on "our" Earth in the depths of Russia, she accidentally stumbled across one of the fae, which whimsically decided to tutor her in witchcraft and set her down the path to becoming a demigod-like witch. Travelling between worlds in her Dancing Hut, she came to Golarion centuries ago on a whim, establishing the kingdom of Irrisen, "the Land of Eternal Winter", on a whim. To rule it, she set up a matriarchal magocratic dynasty comprised of female descendants of hers — this time for a more practical reason. Baba Yaga sustains her youth by being a Life Drinker of her many female descendants, and returns to Golarion every century to take the current Queen of Irrisen as her latest meal. When the adventure begins, the current Queen, Elvana, has conspired with her kinsman Rasputin to overthrow Baba Yaga and take her place, forcing the party to be responsible for saving Baba Yaga.
- Absurdly Elderly Mother: Despite being physically over 100 years old and chronologically about twenty times that, she has numerous children across the multiverse, including some born relatively recently.
- Age Without Youth: Deliberately invoked. Baba Yaga knowingly waited until she was a withered old crone before she became immortal, because she didn't want to be distracted by pleasures of the flesh or other youthful foolishness. This hasn't prevented her from having many children since.
- Arch-Enemy: She's managed to make herself a very dangerous enemy in Kostchtchie, demon lord of cold, giants, and revenge. He was mortal when she first met him.
- The Archmage: Baba Yaga has 20 levels of witch and 10 archmage tiers, and is likely the mightiest known mortal spellcaster in the entire setting.
- Enemy Mine: She's actually one of your allies in Reign of Winter, as well as the key to stopping the Endless Winter caused by her daughter. One of the AP's goals is to free Baba Yaga so she can set up her next heiress.
- Even Evil Has Standards: As evil as Baba Yaga is, her actions are almost completely contained to just Irrisen, leaving the rest of the world alone. When one of her daughters tried to extend the Endless Winter to the rest of the world, she flat out tried to stop her and during the "Region of Winter" AP will work alongside the heroes to do so, even if done more for pragmatic reasons than moral objections.
- Evil Is Petty: In Baba Yaga's Hut, the players will find the doll that helped Vasilissa the Beautiful, that Baba Yaga captured and has tortured since her passing.
- Evil Old Folks: She's well over a millennium in chronological age and, by deliberate choice, a withered, haggard old crone. She's also far and away one of the most villainous, wicked and cruel beings in the adventure path she appears in.
- Evil Virtues: She returns respect given to her freely, admires those capable of self-reliance, and keeps to the letter and spirit of a bargain.
- Eye Scream: Only Baba Yaga knows the recipe for destroying her Dancing Hut. One of the ingredients? Her left eye.
- Faux Affably Evil: She's a dangerous, powerful old crone who nonetheless treats her lessers (translation: everybody) like a kindly granny addressing misbehaving children.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: She started out as just a young girl who was lost in the Russian wilderness while gathering firewood, who was taken in by a norn who taught her witchcraft. Centuries later, she's a spellcaster with the power to rival demigods.
- A God I Am Not: The whole reason she left Earth was because she was sick of people begging for her aid; she feels like having to deal with prayers day in and day out would drive her mad. Despite her power in Golarion, she pretty much only appears to replace her daughter with the next one, and leaves right after, leaving most of the world to be unaware she exists. That said, in terms of actual power she's on about the level of minor gods or Demon Lords and Archdevils.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: She and all of her daughters.
- Gonk: Her design is deliberately grotesque. Her backstory claims that she made herself this way on purpose to discourage those asking for help.
- Greater-Scope Villain: All of the evils of Irrisen can be tracked to Baba Yaga, an insanely powerful 20th-level mythic spellcaster.
- Healing Factor: Her bond with her Dancing Hut gives her one. This can only be circumvented by destroying the Hut, itself an extremely difficult task.
- Immortality Immorality: When she became immortal, the last tiny shreds of her morality left her.
- King Incognito: The most powerful woman in the universe is... a batty crone with peasant garb and a broom.
- Life Drinker: She maintains her immortality from draining the life from her daughters.
- Never Mess with Granny: Never, ever, EVER. At CR 30 (the same CR as Cthulhu), Baba Yaga is the most powerful humanoid in the Pathfinder universe.
- Noble Demon: The prices she asks for help are set as high as possible, and she makes no bones about the fact that it will cause more problems than it solves, but if paid, she (grumpily, but honestly) holds up her end without question. In addition, for all her undeniable evil, she only really cares to mess with Irrisen, leaving the rest of the world more or less untouched.
- The Omnipotent: Baba Yaga is the "virtually omnipotent" type. There's an ability on her statblock (Queen of Witches) that can be summarized with the words "Grandmother can do anything she wants". She knows every spell on the witch and sorcerer/wizard spell list and many that are not. She also has the ability to create artifacts, which can do nearly anything the plot requires them to.
- Outside-Context Problem: Baba Yaga was born on Earth and travels across countless worlds. She has nothing at all to do with the affairs of Golarion, and her conquest of Irrisen was totally unexpected.
- Pragmatic Villainy: While wholly evil, she is deeply indebted to the PCs at the end of Reign of Winter. Just about the only request she won't grant is ending Irrisen's eternal winter; she'll even leave Golarion forever if they ask.
- Public Domain Character: One of the Big Bads of Russian folklore.
- Really 700 Years Old: Baba Yaga was born in 75 BCE to Sarmatian nomads on the Eurasian steppe, making her around two thousand years old.
- Shout-Out: To Greyhawk, where she also had a daughter (Iggwilv) who became a witch-queen. She's explicitly noted in Pathfinder to travel to many different worlds, and The Witchwar Legacy mentions a daughter of hers with a name (Tashanna) similar to Iggwilv's alias (Tasha). Artifacts & Legends also mentions a female wizard named Louhi who claims to be Baba Yaga's daughter; in Greyhawk, Louhi was another one of Iggwilv's aliases.
- Sorcerous Overlord: Of Irrisen, though she rarely visits.
- Start of Darkness: According to a folktale, Grandma used to be a helpful adventurer on Earth, but as her fame grew, more and more people came to her to solve their problems as a first solution, no matter how large and harmful the price was. She grew disgusted with how lazy and indolent sentient life was, and grew misanthropic and selfish, vowing to herself to help nothing and no one unless they were fine with destroying themselves, and to find the flaws with everything.
- The Ugly Guy's Hot Daughter: When you look at Baba Yaga, and then at any of her daughters, you really have to wonder how they're related. Even their taste in clothing is radically different — Grandma preferring slightly ratty Russian peasant garb while her daughters make the most of their royal post in Irrisen with elegant, tailored gowns. It's said she was a lot more comely in her youth but spite ruined her body.
- Wicked Witch: She's the archetypal ancient, hunchbacked evil old crone scheming and working wicked magic over a cauldron. She's also a 20th level witch in-game, and easily the most powerful and successful witch in the Pathfinder universe.
- World's Strongest Man: Going by her game stats, Baba Yaga is the single most powerful human in the setting, and quite possibly the mightiest creature of the Material Plane—her only rivals are the very strongest extraplanar lords such as the demon lord Pazuzu and the Oliphaunt of Jandelay.
Queen Elvanna
Neutral Evil female human witch 10/winter witch 10
The fourteenth queen of Irrisen, and the main antagonist of the Reign of Winter adventure path, Elvanna is a cruel and callous ruler.
- Abusive Parents: Elvanna is a monstrously cruel mother fond of horrific punishments and willing to kill disloyal children without hesitation.
- Antagonistic Offspring: The events of Reign of Winter are kicked off when Elvanna begins to suspect that Baba Yaga has less than pleasant plans in store for her and thus decides to unseat her mother as Queen of Witches and take her power for herself.
- Big Bad: Elvanna's plans set the Reign of Winter Adventure Path in motion, threatening all of Golarion and even causing some problems on Earth.
- Evil Mentor: She was this to her younger brother Gregori Rasputin, introducing him to the family business and setting him down a dark path.
- Familiar: A raven named Svoboda.
- God Save Us from the Queen!: Like all of her predecessors, Elvanna is a cruel, capricious and harsh ruler, mercilessly enforcing the crushing oppression that Irrisen's people have toiled under for a millennium and half.
- Older Than They Look: Despite her relatively youthful looks, Elvanna is actually well over a century old. The Icecrown of Irrisen stopped her aging when Baba Yaga crowned her.
- Sorcerous Overlord: The ruler of Irrisen and the mightiest of its winter witches.
- Winter Royal Lady: Elvanna is a beautiful, deathly pale woman clad in blue fur-lined robes and equipped with a scepter and crown of ice.
Anastasia Nikolaevna Romanova
Lawful Neutral female human aristocrat 4
The fifteenth queen of Irrisen, and the only one to be a granddaughter of Baba Yaga rather than an immediate daughter and not to be a winter witch, Anastasia was born on a faraway world known as Earth to a liaison between Baba Yaga's estranged son Rasputin and the queen of the Russian Empire. She was the only member of her family to survive the Bolshevik Revolution and was eventually picked up by a band of adventurers, who later convinced Baba Yaga to crown her Queen of Irrisen after Elvanna had been dealt with.
- Back from the Dead: She was executed alongside her family, but Rasputin resurrected her from a lock of her hair.
- Did Anastasia Survive?: In Pathfinder she very much did, although strictly speaking she died with the rest of her family and then got brought back to life. Either way, the fact that she became queen of another kingdom on another planet in another galaxy entirely kinda voids any effect this may have had on Earth's politics.
- The High Queen: Downplayed. While Anastasia is not good per se, the fact that she isn't a power-tripping tyrant or a rampant sadist puts her head and shoulders over every other queen of Irrisen there ever was. Irrisen's peasants are themselves reserving judgment on the matter, as dangling the promise of just rule only in front of them only to snatch away once they start believing in it is exactly the kind of thing previous queens would have done.
- Historical Domain Character: She's Grand Duchess Anastasia
, the daughter of the last Russian Tzar, whose purported survival was the focus of conspiracy theories into the modern day.
Lands of the Linnorm Kings
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Legally enshrined, in fact! The only way to legally declare yourself a king of one of the many city states (or found your own, or be a legal heir), is to kill a linnorm. Anyone who does so, even the poorest cripple, who does so, has the legal right (and they're likely to respect the cripple more, because they had to try harder).
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Of Medieval Scandinavia.
- Horny Vikings: They're a Proud Warrior Race cultures that respects strength, cunning, and freedom, though unlike many fictional depictions they have no problem with magic, especially enchanting (though don't expect to be a king any time soon-only the direct slayer of a linnorm gets credit).
White Estrid
- Dragon Tamer: While Linnorm Kings are usually crowned by killing a linnorm, White Estrid instead earned her title by defeating the linnorm Boiltongue in combat, then agreeing to spare it in return for its service. Some of her fellow kings consider this cheating, but having such a formidable ally on her side means such grumblings usually occur well out of White Estrid's earshot.
Realm of the Mammoth Lords
A savage land full of megafauna.
- Barbarian Hero: The home of the most iconic barbarian cultures in all of Golarion.
- Horse of a Different Color: They don't call this place the Realm of the Mammoth Lords for nothing.
Jarl Gnargorak
Chaotic Evil male frost giant ranger 12/marshal 8
The self-proclaimed ruler of all frost giants, and a living legend among the giants of northern Avistan.
- Braids of Barbarism: How he wears his hair.
- The Conqueror: Gnargorak is doing his best to conquer as much land as he can. The problem is, he really just likes the conquering part, not so much the ruling of what he has.
- Harem Seeker: He keeps a harem of cloud giants.
- Horns of Villainy: His armor has several.
Winter's Heart
Chaotic Neutral +5 icy burst quenching bastard sword
A sentient sword hewn from the heart of a glacier, its ingrained purpose is to unite the lands of the north under one rule. It is currently wielded by Jarl Gnargorak.
- Dragon with an Agenda: It tires of Gnargorak's lack of interest in actually ruling what he conquers, so it's plotting to find a new wielder that will fulfil its goals.
- An Ice Person: Winter's Heart deals extra cold damage, creates a blast of ice on critical hits, and extinguishes non-magical fires it touches.
- Living Weapon: It's a sentient sword with its own plans.
- Sizeshifter: Winter's Heart is always the perfect size for its wielder.
Karthugra
Chaotic Evil male frost giant cavalier 10
- Dragon Rider: He rides a white dragon into battle.
Thimroth
Neutral Evil male frost giant ranger 8
- The Beastmaster: He leads a pack of polar bears.
Lenas
Lawful Neutral male pod-spawned human druid 10/hierophant 5
The leader of the town of Haven and first victim of the body snatcher that truly rules it.
- The Dragon: To the cold-tolerant body snatcher that rules Haven.
- Kill and Replace: This Lenas is a copy of the original, who fed himself to the body snatcher.
- The Quisling: He found the body snatcher nearly dead and chose to nurse it back to health and sacrifice himself to it.
Mammoth Graveyard
Once a resting place for mammoths, the Worldwound corrupted the collective spirits from a guardian into a predator.- Genius Loci: The graveyard has a collective spirit. Originally it guarded itself from outsiders to ensure the peaceful rest of the mammoths who died in it, it now prefers to lure in outsiders to kill.
Varisia
This frontier region was once the great Thassilonian Empire, an offshoot of the Azlanti. Full of ancient ruins, barbarian tribes, Chelaxian colonies, and of course Monsters.
- No Communities Were Harmed: The town of Sandpoint, where the very first Pathfinder Adventure Path begins, is essentially Point Arena, California (the hometown of creative director James Jacobs) transplanted into a fantasy setting. Mike McArtor, author of Guide to Korvosa, based some parts of Korvosa on his own hometown (Vancouver, Washington).
Thassilon
- The Archmage: All of Thassilon's rulers, from Xin to the last runelords, were all extremely powerful wizards.
- Evil Sorcerer: Without exception, the runelords were all evil wizards.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: In order to avoid Earthfall, the runelords sealed themselves within demiplane sanctums (except Zutha, who divided his soul cage into three), and don't awake until around 10000 years later.
- The Starscream: The first runelords were initially appointed by Xin to rule the Thassilonian realms in his stead, only to betray him and seize control of the empire.
First King Xin
Lawful Neutral male human wizard
- Ax-Crazy: Xin's long gone, and is left with only a violent need to rebuild his empire.
- Everyone Has Standards: Although Xin created some undead in life, this is considered an inherently evil act and he didn't have the stomach to make it a habit, only ever creating 3 or 4 undead in his life.
- Final Boss: Xin's clockwork reliquary is the final foe in The Dead Heart of Xin and the Shattered Star Adventure Path as a whole—though both Ogonthunn and Shasthaak can take on this role from him and Cadrilkasta might if the players opt not to reassemble the Sihedron.
- Genius Loci: While Xin is technically undead, he's not a creature but instead a spirit suffusing the whole city of Xin, giving him control over all the traps and constructs within, as well as allowing him to turn the walls into nearly indestructible walls of force that also block teleportation. He only has a finite amount of energy points to spend on such things, if he runs out the traps become inactive and the walls become normal stone until he regains some points the next day. The PCs eventually do get to fight him in creature form at the end when he possesses the clockwork reliquary, whose destruction allows his spirit to move on and turns the city into mundane ruins.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Xin couldn't have chosen worse candidates to rule the seven realms of Thassilon than the first runelords.
- The Mentally Disturbed: Xin has lost his mind after years of imprisonment. He has no concept of how much time has gone by, believes the Runelords are still out there, and hungers for a revenge he can never have.
- Mercy Kill: The game presents destroying the clockwork reliquary and putting Xin's insane ghost to rest as a mercy.
- Mutual Kill: When the runelords sent Shasthaak to assassinate him, Xin annihilated both himself and his assailant with his magic.
- Sanity Slippage: He's a long way gone from the brilliant ruler and wizard he used to be.
- Soul Jar: As his body grew frail with age, Xin devised a clockwork reliquary to house his soul, but he was never able to do this before the runelords assassinated him.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Xin believed the world would be better off under his rule and still thinks this way.
Alderpash
Chaotic Evil male human lich wizard 19
- Evil Old Folks: He was the oldest of the original runelords, and looks the part.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: He was trapped within Baphomet's Ineluctable Prison in the Abyss millennia ago after his alliance with the demon lord went awry, and he's been stuck there ever since.
Thybidos
Race: Human (Azlanti)
Class: Wizard (evoker)
Alignment: Chaotic Evil
- And I Must Scream: After she overthrew him, Alaznist devised a special torture for Thybidos: he was turned into an undead creature that heals all wounds but can still feel pain, then chained to a wall to be tortured forever by two ivory sentinels, which have constantly stabbed him with their ranseurs for some 10,000 years.
- Asshole Victim: Subverted. Though Thybidos was far from a good person, what Alaznist did to him (namely, forcing him to watch as she slaughtered his family, and then damning him to a Fate Worse than Death in the pits of Hollow Mountain) is played for horror and symapthy rather than karma for his actions.
- Klingon Promotion: Thybidos became runelord of wrath by killing his predecessor Xiren, and was in turn subject to this by Alaznist.
- Outliving One's Offspring: Thybidos had to watch Alaznist kill his seven children just before she killed him as well.
Alaznist
Chaotic Evil female human wizard 20/archmage 4
The last Runelord of Wrath, Alaznist was a devout worshipper of demons and qlippoth and a maker of fearsome monsters. She features as the primary villain of Return of the Runelords, where she manipulates time in order to create a present where Varisia lies in ruins and firmly in her grasp.
- Arch-Enemy: With Karzoug, the runelord of greed. Alaznist was on the verge of defeating Karzoug, and looked forward to imposing a particularly humiliating peace treaty on him, had her entire realm not fallen into the sea during Earthfall.
- Ax-Crazy: Among all the Runelords, Alaznist is perhaps the most gratuitously violent and cruel.
- Brought Down to Badass: After waking up, she obtains the massively powerful Scepter of Ages and uses its Time Travel powers to absorb mythic power from old Thassilon, drastically increasing her already immense magical and mythic powers. As the players undo the damage she has done to the time stream, she loses the Scepter and the extra power she used it to gain, going from a demigod-level threat to “merely” a CR 24 mythic wizard.
- Elemental Motifs: Fire. Alaznist's evocation magic makes heavy (though by no means exclusive) use of fire, her personal demiplane is a volcanic hellscape, and her hair and clothes are bright red. As a person, Alaznist has an explosive, fiery temper and an appetite for rampant destruction.
- Evil Redhead: Alaznist was a redhead and the most evil of the seven final runelords.
- Fate Worse than Death: If she's slain at the end of Return of the Runelords, her demon-worship comes to bite her hard. She instantly rises as a ghost, but every demon and qlippoth lord she ever bargained with — and she bargained with many — reaches into the Eye of Fury, seizes her spirit and tears it apart, retracing back into the Abyss with a piece of her still-shrieking soul.Alaznist's numerous dark bargains and pacts with demonic and qlippoth lords has damned her soul to the depths of the Outer Rifts — there is no afterlife but torment for the most wrathful of runelords, and she will not return.
- Final Boss: Of Return of the Runelords, and by extension the entire Runelords trilogy.
- Klingon Promotion: How she became the Runelord of Wrath in the first place, having challenged the previous Runelord, Thybidos, and slain him.
- Magic Knight: Alaznist is described as an arcane knight.
- Maker of Monsters: She learned the art of fleshwarping from Yamasoth himself and used it to great effect to create monsters with which to bolster her armies. She was the creator of the sinspawn, humanoid monsters that would go on to become the runelords' favored shock troops, and of other terrors such as the swarming, spider-like shriezyx. Many of these creations lingered long after Thassilon's fall, haunting the ruins of her empire into the present day. She additionally created many other beasts as experiments, and players come across a fair few of these warped creatures in the closing acts of the Return of the Runelords adventure path.
- Psycho Lesbian: Presumably. There is no mention of any lover of Alaznist's besides Sorshen.
- Sadist: She favors inflicting eternal punishments on her foes to such an extent that she can only be described as this.
- Self-Made Orphan: In order to increase her power, Alaznist sought otherworldly mentors. When her father warned her of such dealings, she sacrificed him and the rest of her entire family to a Qlippoth Lord in exchange for even greater arcane knowledge.
- The Sociopath: Even compared to her Evil Overlord peers, Alaznist is a violent sadist with minimal impulse control and absolutely none of Sorshen’s capacity for self-reflection and remorse.
- Unstoppable Rage: The impatient, impulsive last Runelord of Wrath.
Xanderghul
Lawful Evil male human wizard 20/archmage 10
The first and only Runelord of Pride, Xanderghul was as arrogant and conceited as few others ever were and saw himself as the pinnacle of humanity. Unfortunately for him, this often blinded him to the potential of others and led him to assume that his foes couldn't possibly match his own lofty achievements.
- Beard of Evil: He has a classic villainous goatee, befitting his smug and conniving personality.
- Defector from Decadence: Xanderghul, already a high-ranking aristocrat before Thassilon was founded, saw the ancient empire of Azlant as weak, so he joined First King Xin to found a new kingdom in Thassilon.
- Deity of Human Origin: Early in Thassilon's history, when Xin was still alive, Xanderghul discovered a divine source and became a demigod known as the Peacock Spirit.
- The Emperor: He sees himself as Emperor of Thassilon, anyway. To say that his fellow runelords disagree with him would be an understatement.
- Everything's Better with Rainbows: Inverted, as he's evil but rather likes the prismatic-type spells, and his whole temple has a rainbow motif.
- Pride: He's the runelord of this very sin, and he's himself an incredibly vain, self-centered and arrogant man.
- Proud Peacock: He's usually shown wearing peacock-patterned robes, and during his reign was a significant patron of the cult of the Peacock Spirit, a deity associated with personal excellence and pursuing one's personal success. Unknown to the cultists, Xanderghul was himself the Peacock Spirit and established the cult mostly as a way to play on people's bruised feelings of pride in order to siphon power from them. The cult is also allied with peacock phoenixes from the Plane of Fire.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Xanderghul's official titles include: Runelord of Pride, Satrap of Cyrusian, Holder of the Peacock Throne, Heir of First King Xin and Rightful Emperor of Thassilon.
- The Unfought: Downplayed. While the real Xanderghul was already killed by Alaznist before the Return of the Runelords AP began, the PCs still invade his sanctum to fight and kill his simulacrum (who's only a CR 17 foe, compared to the real Xanderghul's 28) to prevent his resurrection.
- Vain Sorceress: Gender inverted, he's male but extremely vain and self centered.
Belimarius
Lawful Evil female human wizard 18
The last Runelord of Envy, Belimarius led a life defined by resentment of others' achievements. Born as a commoner and accepted into Thassilonian government as a lowly tax collector, she clawed her way into the halls of power before murdering her Runelord mentor and taking his throne for herself.
- Butch Lesbian: Possibly. She had been seduced by Sorshen at one point.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Employed blackmail, slander and assassination during her rise. She also poisoned her predecessor's other apprentices in order to be the only one remaining before she overthrew Phirandi and claimed the title of Runelord. During her rule over Edasseril, assassins' and poisoners' guilds flourished. One barely needs to wonder why.
- Cruel Mercy: Instead of slaying Runelord Phirandi, her predecessor, Belimarius instead stripped him of his power and imprisoned him in a transparent coffin of force, alive and powerless.
- Driven by Envy: Everything she ever did was motivated by a bitter envy for others' gains, and a belief that she deserved what they had for herself.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: She began her life as a no-name tax clerk, but made herself into one of the most evil and powerful wizards alive.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Oh, so much — she was the Runelord of Envy, and always coveted the successes and glories of others. In Curse of the Lady's Light, there is a chamber of statues depicting the seven Runelords, and Belimarius' statue is arranged as though she is staring enviously at Sorshen's half-naked body.
- Karma Houdini: While the players can try to kill her, she and her guards are a borderline Hopeless Boss Fight. Canonically, she continues to rule Xin-Edasseril as a new threat as the city is freed from Crystilan.
- Obstructive Bureaucrat: Before she became her predecessor's apprentice.
- Ungrateful Bastard: Had Phirandi not noticed her and raised her up as one of his apprentices, Belimarius probably would have died a nobody. She still betrayed him and subjected him to a fate worse than death, of course.
Sorshen
Chaotic Neutral (formerly Chaotic Evil) female human wizard 20/trickster 10
The first and only Runelord of Lust, Sorshen was one of the most powerful of Thassilon's rulers and one of the only two to reign uncontested from the fall of Xin to the time of Earthfall. After rising from millennia of slumber, she watched as the other Runelords rose, tried to conquer the world and were laid low, and came to believe that Thassilon's ways were outdated and no longer viable. She ultimately leaves her cruel past behind her, and becomes the ruler of the nation of New Thassilon.
- Body Backup Drive: It is revealed in Curse of the Lady's Light that Sorshen has kept a clone body of herself, presumably as some kind of means to extend her life. Additionally, if one of the PCs fell victim to the Sorshen's Fury trap in Curse of the Lady's Light, they may reawaken in Sorshen's clone body! This also comes complete with dreams and visions of her life which urge the PC to reconnect with the things associated with the original Sorshen.
- Depraved Bisexual: Sorshen is said to have seduced and betrayed all of her fellow Runelords (including Alaznist and Belimarius), and is said to have also seduced First King Xin as well.
- Double Weapon: Her symbol of office is a double-bladed guisarme.
- Heel–Face Turn: Sorshen undergoes a change of heart after awakening from her slumber, deciding that tyranny was no longer a viable method of ruling and actively aiding the PCs of Return of the Runelords against Alaznist.
- Karma Houdini: Downplayed, but, despite not being evil anymore she doesn't really do anything to make up for having been a terrible tyrant for most of her life (including sacrificing thousands of people to make the Everdawn Pool.) Furthermore, if she survives to the end, she starts ruling a new country called New Thassilon, and, while she's obviously a much nicer ruler than before, it's still kind of unsatisfying considering her life was about 95 percent evil and 5 percent good.
- Lovable Alpha Bitch: She's more or less like this post Heel–Face Turn, as despite being basically the Big Good, she is still pretty vain and self centered (admittedly, she has a lot to be vain about.)
- Lust: She was the most powerful practitioner of lust magic — enchantment, in modern terms — and was herself obsessed with indulging in every physical pleasure imaginable. As per the usual interpretations of this trope, this is generally depicted as her having a lot of sex.
- Older Than They Look: She and Xanderghul are both the first and only runelords of their respective sin - both were over a thousand years old by the time of Earthfall.
- Really Gets Around: Her entire hat is the sin of Lust. She has bedded every other Runelord and (possibly) the First King himself, and she kept slaves solely for the purpose of having sex with them.
- Sensible Heroes, Skimpy Villains: Compare her above outfit post-Heel–Face Turn to her original one when she was still evil.
- Stripperiffic: With a title like runelord of lust, this should surprise no-one. She is often depicted in artwork as wearing revealing robes, and even her monuments depict her in various states of undress.
Zutha
Chaotic Evil male human lich wizard
The last Runelord of Gluttony, Zutha was a necromancer of terrifying power and deep knowledge. In the ages after Earthfall, his secrets served as the foundation for a long list of necromantic terrors — including the most feared Lich Avistan ever knew, the Whispering Tyrant Tar-Baphon.
- Crafted from Animals: He made his scythe from the magically strengthened bones and sinews of various creatures.
- Deathless and Debauched: He was so enamored with material pleasures that he devoted himself to enjoying them even after he died and became a lich, using powerful magic to maintain his ability to experience sensations like he could in life... although this process required large quantities of stolen life force to work.
- Fat Bastard: Zutha was an obese man, as befitting the runelord of gluttony.
- Gonk: He's portrayed as a hideous, morbidly obese man with what looks like a bad case of jaundice.
- Necromancer: He was one of the greatest necromancers to ever live, and his knowledge of this field of magic served to fuel the rise of some of Golarion's greatest necromantic threats. The dreaded lich lord Tar-Baphon, who terrorized half of Avistan in a war that lasted decades, got his start from plundering Zutha's secrets.
- Our Liches Are Different: He turned himself into a lich early on, although a unique one that can still taste and feel as though he were still alive.
- The Starscream: Zutha got his position by betraying his predecessor and mentor, Runelord Goparlis.
- Time-Limit Boss: An incomplete fragment of Zutha serves as the final boss of the third volume of Return of the Runelords. The PCs have ten rounds in total to defeat him before he's drawn back into the Bone Grimoire.
- Villainous Glutton: As the Runelord of Gluttony, Zutha was neither a good man nor a moderate one. His love for food and drink prompted him to ensure he would retain his sense of taste in undeath, and every day he dined on new exotic foods and dishes — it is said that he never ate the same meal twice.
- Villainous Legacy: While inactive for a long period of time due to Earthfall, many of his notes and artifacts were left and fell into the hands of many aspiring necromancers. In particular, the kellid who would become the Whispering Tyrant, Tar-Baphon, rose to power because of Zutha's research and artifacts.
- Worf Had the Flu: A variant: the players find the Bone Grimoire (one third of a multi-volume Tome of Eldritch Lore known as the Gluttonous Tome) and can use a ritual to force him to manifest at a third of his power, as the book is also his Soul Jar. This fragment is only CR 14 (weak enough for the PCs to defeat), and if they do, all three parts of the Gluttonous Tome are destroyed. It's implied if all the parts could be combined he could come back at full power.
Krune
Lawful Evil male human wizard 17
The last Runelord of Sloth, Krune was the least actively oppressive of his peers — chiefly because he was too lazy to bother himself to actively manage his realm.
- Ambitious, but Lazy: When he learned that Earthfall would destroy his kingdom, his solution was to seal himself away and task his minions with freeing him once they had conquered a kingdom for him to rule.
- The Archmage: Krune was a true master of rune magic, and because of this his enemies did not want to risk his ire. Nor did they know the true limit to Krune's power.
- Bald of Evil: He doesn't have any hair on his head.
- Breaking Out the Boss: A major metaplot of Pathfinder Society's 4th season is that Lissala's cultists are trying to release Krune, their boss.
- Crafted from Animals: His spear is crafted from a dragon's fang.
- The Dragon: If the PCs of Return of the Runelords fail to prevent Leptonia from resurrecting Krune, he'll later offer to serve under Alaznist in New Thassilon. Canonically, this does not happen.
- Final Boss: Of The Waking Rune and by extension, Pathfinder Society's 4th season.
- The Hedonist: Krune is remembered chiefly for his apathy and the inactivity of his reign. He relied on a contingent of clerics, summoned beings and wizards of various schools to govern for him while he concerned himself more with shiftless pleasures and the scholarly study of runes and magic.
- Power Tattoo: His face, head, chest (and presumably the rest of his body) are tattooed with the runes of "a hundred secret spells," reportedly taught to him by the goddess Lissala himself.
- Religion of Evil: In addition to being the runelord of sloth, Krune was also the High Priest of Lissala, goddess of runes, fate and the reward of service.
- Resurrect the Villain: While he was already dead when Return of the Runelords begins, the half-drow cleric of Yamasoth Leptonia seeks to resurrect him in order to use his talents as a conjurer; one of the objectives of the PCs in the 3rd volume is to prevent her from getting her hands on a scroll of true resurrection so Krune remains dead.
- Shirtless Scene: Is depicted without a shirt in The Waking Rune, giving a clear view of the runes tattooed on his chest.
Karzoug
Neutral Evil male human wizard 20
The last Runelord of Greed, Karzoug was the first Runelord to awake, the first to menace Varisia and the first to be laid low. After his death, his souls was seized by daemons as a prize and later became instrumental in helping a new crop of heroes learn how to activate the Cyphergate and travel into time.
- Arch-Enemy: Alaznist, Runelord of Wrath was this to him before the fall of Thassilion.
- Big Bad: Of the Rise of the Runelords Adventure Path, where he and his plans for rulership over Avistan are the main drivers of the story.
- Born into Slavery: Spent the first 27 years of his life as a slave. It is heavily implied that he endured horrific abuse and did awful things to survive, shaping him into the monstrous tyrant he became.
- Deal with the Devil: He bargained with the powers of Leng before and during his reign.
- Enemy Mine: In the non-canon Bad Ending of Rise of the Runelords, where the PCs fail to prevent his return into the world or to sabotage the Leng Device, Karzoug's return completes a ritual that allows the Great Old One Mhar to be born from beneath Xin-Shalast, annihilating the city and Karzoug's forces. Although Karzoug survives, the narration notes that Mhar would pose such a cataclysmic threat to... everything, essentially, that the PCs might be forced to ally with Karzoug to face it down.
- Evil Overlord: As one of the seven Runelords of Thassilon.
- Forehead of Doom: Has a very prominent forehead, emphasized by his hairstyle and embedded gems.
- From Nobody to Nightmare: He was born a slave and became one of the seven strongest wizards in the world during his era.
- Greed: And the runelord thereof. Karzoug hoarded material wealth, goods and splendor like nothing else.
- Power Crystal: He has several red and green Aeon Stones imbedded in his hands and forehead.
- Slouch of Villainy: On the cover of GameMastery Guide.
Garvok
Lawful Evil sword, CL 16
A Shoanti warrior, Garvok wielded the sinsword of wrath for only a short time before he was slain and his mind bound into the blade.
- Blood Knight: Very much so. He was considered a brutal combatant even among the ranks of the soldiers of wrath.
- Duel to the Death: He was given the sinsword and put in an arena where he faced foe after foe until he was eventually brought down.
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Garvok wasn't actually killed by any of his opponents but by the explosions created by the sinsword.
- Kill It with Fire: It does extra fire damage if those hit by it fail a Reflex save.
- Stuff Blowing Up: On a critical hit the sword explodes as per the spell fireball, reforming again the next round.
- Talking Weapon: It's a broadsword with the name and mind of its first wielder.
- Throwing Your Sword Always Works: It has both the returning and the throwing properties, so it really does.
- Wrecked Weapon: The sword is cracked and shattered, but still incredibly dangerous.
Baraket
Lawful Evil sword, CL 16
Baraket was a ghaele azata who was ensnared by Runelord Xanderghul, serving as his consort and champion for years. Even when she was slain by empyreal agents attempting to free her, he consciousness lingered on in the weapon she once wielded.
- Face–Heel Turn: She went from
Chaotic Good to Lawful Evil, a four-step alignment shift. - Invisibility: The blade of the sword is invisible.
- More than Mind Control: Xanderghul used illusions, deceptions, and good old fashioned manipulation to warp her perceptions over the course of years until she loyally served him.
- Talking Weapon: It's a rapier with the name and mind of its first wielder.
- Undying Loyalty: Even massive spans of time aren't enough to undo the conditioning Xanderghul put Baraket through.
Tannaris
Lawful Evil sword, CL 16
Runelord Tannaris gave the sinsword of envy to his son, also named Tannaris, to serve as his bodyguard. Eventually the Runelord grew tired of his son being the better warrior and attempted to slay him, resulting in one of their minds being bound to the blade.
- Always Someone Better: Tannaris the son outstripped his father in martial prowess. Given that the father was the runelord of envy, he didn't take this well.
- Ambiguous Situation: It's unknown both in and out of universe whether the mind in the sword is that of the father or the son.
- Anti-Magic: Every time it hits a target it makes a check to dispel the highest level of spell affecting them. On a critical hit, it gets to try to dispel all magical effects.
- Mutual Kill: Tannaris the son was prepared for his father to turn on him and managed to kill the Runelord even as he was slain.
- Talking Weapon: It's a bastard sword with bearing the name of both its first wielder and its creator, as well as one of their minds.
Asheia
Chaotic Evil sword, CL 16
When Sorshen was given the sinsword of lust, she had her harem fight to see which among them would wield it. Asheia was not the sole survivor, but she remained the only one still capable of pleasing their mistress and so the weapon was given to her. When she eventually died her mind lived on in the sword and continued to serve her mistress.
- Ambiguously Bi: Given that she served Sorshen as a consort she was into women at the very least. Given that the Runelord's trysts had a tendency to include multiple partners of varying genders, it's also possible that she had equal experience with men.
- Charm Person: Everyone it hits must make a save to avoid being charmed, though it can only keep one subject enthralled at a time. A critical hit ups the difficulty of the save and allows it to affect non-humanoids as well.
- No-Sell: Any wielder is immune to charm effects, with the added bonus that anyone attempting to cast such a spell on them will believe it succeeded.
- Talking Weapon: It's a longsword with the name and mind of its first wielder.
- Undying Loyalty: Even after dying and finding her mind bound to a sword, Asheia remains loyal to Sorshen.
Ungarato
Chaotic Evil sword, CL 16
Ungarato was never the sinsword's intended wielder, but rather its thief. A barbarian warlord, he stole the blade as it travelled to Runelord Goparlis and fought off all attempts to reclaim it. When Zutha overthrew Goparlis, he became a loyal servant of the new Runelord in exchange for the body of the old one as a trophy.
- Dead All Along: When Zutha took power Ungarato came to bargain with him, revealing that he'd died years before and become a graveknight.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: He used these against Goparlis to incredible effect, avoiding capture or defeat for years.
- Necromancer: Those slain by the sword rise again as juju zombies.
- One-Hit Kill: On a critical hit, targets must make a save or die outright.
- Sickly Green Glow: The sword glows pale green when undead are within fifty feet.
- Talking Weapon: It's a falchion with the name and mind of its first wielder.
- Undying Loyalty: He was extremely loyal to Zutha, enough that his mind survived his destruction and bound itself to the blade that now bears his name. He also invoked this in his tribe, who willingly slew themselves to rise as undead in his service.
Shin-Tari
Lawful Evil sword, CL 16
When Runelord Ilthyrius was given the sinsword of sloth he was enraged at the seemingly pathetic blade, giving it to a xill raider and ordering them to take their warriors and slay the creators with it. When the xill returned they reported the true capabilities of the weapon and the weapon was engraved with the images of the errantly slain wizards.
- Boring, but Practical: It gains a bonus to attack and damage rolls against any creature of the same type as the last creature it hit. Not as flashy as most sinswords, but a good way to carve through any enemy as long as you hit them at least once.
- Meaningful Name: It's Infernal for "The Quicksilver Talon."
- Mind Hive: Unlike the other sinswords, Shin-Tari contains multiple minds rather than just one.
- Talking Weapon: It's a short sword containing the minds of the wizards who created it.
- Undying Loyalty: The minds within it are surprisingly forgiving of their murderer and remain loyal to the Runelord of Sloth.
- Weaponized Teleportation: On a hit, targets must make a save or allow the wielder of Shin-Tari to teleport them as per dimension door. There's restrictions against just teleporting them into a solid object, but nothing about sending them up a ways and letting fall damage do the rest.
Chellan
Neutral Evil sword, CL 16
Along with the sword, the arcanists created a golden woman to wield it.
- The Ace: Chellan excelled at everything. Art, magic, combat, you name it, she was amazing at it.
- BFS: Technically it's a normal sized sword, but its density makes it count as a sword made for a size Large creature.
- Chrome Champion: Made of gold instead of chrome.
- Golem: Of some unique kind.
- Taken for Granite: On a critical hit, targets must pass a save or be transformed into crystal.
- Talking Weapon: It's a scimitar with the name and mind of its first wielder.
- Your Days Are Numbered: Chellan was imperfect and the animating forces bound into her body dissipated after five years.
