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Name: Tamara Shahin (most commonly used name)
Name: Kiara Bel'phora (actual name)
Race: Succubus
Type: Outsider [Chaotic, Evil, Tanar'ri]

Class: Zhentarim Spy 3
Alignment: Lawful Good
Deity: Tyr
Size: Medium
Gender: Female

Level: 15 (6 Racial HD + 3 Zhentarim Spy + 6 Level Adjustment)
Experience: 112,500/120,000

Strength: 13 (Base 9 + 2 Racial + 2 Enhancement)
Dexterity: 12 (Base 10 + 2 Racial)
Constitution: 18 (Base 12 + 2 Racial + 4 Enhancement)
Intelligence: 26 (Base 16 + 6 Racial + 4 Enhancement)
Wisdom: 14 (Base 10 + 4 Racial)
Charisma: 46 (Base 18 + 1 Level + 16 Racial + 5 Inherent + 6 Enhancement)

Hitpoints: 9d8+3d6+36 (90.5, rounded up to 91)
Armor Class: 28 Normal / 11 Touch / 27 Flat-footed
(Base 10 + 1 Dex + 9 Natural + 8 Armor)
Initiative: +2 (+1 Dex, +1 Luck)

Attacks:
Base attack bonus: +8
Grapple modifier: +9
Melee: Dagger of Defiance +8/+3 (1d4+2, 19-20/x2)
Melee: 2 Claws +7 (1d6+1)
Ranged: No ranged weapons worth mentioning currently owned. Base modifiers for ranged attacks are +7/+2

Saves
Fortitude +16 (Racial Base +5, Zhent Spy Base +1, Ability +4, Resistance +5, Luck +1)
Reflex +15 (Racial Base +5, Zhent Spy Base +3, Ability +1, Resistance +5, Luck +1)
Will +16 (Racial Base +5, Zhent Spy Base +3, Ability +2, Resistance +5, Luck +1)

Skills (Skill points to spend: 162, Armor Check Penalty -2)
Bluff +37 (12 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence + 3 Skill Focus)
Conditional modifiers: +4 while operating under an unlikely cover
Concentration +14 (9 ranks + 4 Constitution + 1 Luck)
Diplomacy +40 (12 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence +2 Synergy/Bluff +2 Synergy/Knowledge Nobility and Royalty +2 Synergy/Sense Motive)
Disguise +36 (12 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence +2 Deceitful)
Conditional modifiers: +2 circumstance bonus when using Disguise Kit (which is usually the case), +2 synergy bonus to act in character, +8 bonus while operating under an unlikely cover, +4 to the DC of spot checks to penetrate an unlikely cover, also see specific modifiers for each unlikely cover
Escape Artist +10 (8 ranks + 1 Dexterity + 1 Luck)
Forgery +20 (9 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck + 2 Deceitful)
Gather Information +27 (5 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence)
Conditional modifiers: +4 bonus while operating under an unlikely cover
Hide +3 (1 rank + 1 Dexterity + 1 Luck)
Intimidate +29 (5 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence + 2 Synergy/Bluff)
Knowledge Arcana* + 14 (5 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Knowledge Geography* +18 (9 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Knowledge History* +10 (1 rank + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Knowledge Nobility and Royalty* +14 (5 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Knowledge Religion* +14 (5 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Knowledge The Planes* +15 (6 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck)
Listen +11 (0 ranks + 8 racial + 2 Wisdom + 1 Luck)
Move Silently +3 (1 rank + 1 Dexterity + 1 Luck)
Perform (any) +22 (0 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence)
Profession* Accountant +5 (2 ranks + 2 Wisdom + 1 Luck)
Profession* Cook +5 (2 ranks + 2 Wisdom + 1 Luck)
Sense Motive +11 (8 ranks + 2 Wisdom + 1 Luck)
Sleight of Hand* +3 (0 ranks + 1 Luck + 2 Synergy/Bluff) can't be used
Spellcraft* +16 (5 ranks + 8 Intelligence + 1 Luck +2 Synergy/Knowledge Arcana)
Conditional modifiers: +2 Synergy/Use Magic Device to decipher spells on scrolls
Spot +23 (12 ranks + 8 racial + 2 Wisdom + 1 Luck)
Use Magic Device* +34 (12 ranks + 18 Charisma + 1 Luck + 3 Competence)
Conditional modifiers: +2 Synergy/Spellcraft when using scrolls

* - can't be used untrained

Special and Nonspecial Qualities
Live My Nightmare (Anyone who successfully targets Kiara with a divination experiences the effects of a Phantasmal Killer, save DC 32)
Damage Reduction 10/Cold Iron or Good
Darkvision 60 ft.
Immunity to electricity and poison
Resistance to acid 10, cold 10, and fire 10
Spell Resistance 18
Telepathy 100 ft.
Tongues (Su, always active)
Cover Identity (Ex)
Undetectable Alignment (Ex)
Immune to death and negative energy effects (Soulfire armor enchantment)
Fly (Sp, once per day, from Celestial Armor)
Immune to fear and compulsion effects (Dagger of Defiance)
Mind shielding (from Ring of Mind Shielding)
Nystul's Magic Aura (Sp)
Unlikely Cover (Ex, 15 total)
Simple Weapon Proficiency (All)
Martial Weapon Proficiency (All)
Armor Proficiency (Light)
Armor Proficiency (Medium)
Shield Proficiency

Flaws
Level/HD 1: Noncombatant (-2 penalty to all melee attack rolls)
Level/HD 1: Shaky (-2 penalty to all ranged attack rolls)

Feats
Level/HD 1 Bonus: Boost Spell-like Ability (BoVD)
Level/HD 1 Bonus: Deceitful
Level/HD 1: Supernatural Transformation (Greater Teleport)
Level/HD 3: Naturalized Denizen
Level/HD 6: Live my Nightmare
Level/HD 9: Skill Focus (Bluff)

Languages
Abyssal
Common
Elven
Draconic
Infernal
Celestial
Dwarven
(In addition, Kiara has Tongues as a constantly active Supernatural ability.)

Spell-like Abilities
Charm Monster (DC 32) - At will
Detect Good - At will
Detect Thoughts (DC 30) - At will
Ethereal Jaunt (Self + 50 pounds of objects only) - At will
Polymorph (Humanoid form only, no limit on duration) - At will
Suggestion (DC 31) - At will
Greater Teleport (Self + 50 pounds of objects only) - At will
The caster level for all of the above is 12.
Greater Teleport is actually a Supernatural ability for Kiara, which means she can use it without provoking attacks of opportunity and it ignores Spell Resistance.

Summon Tanar'ri - Once per day, Kiara can attempt to summon 1 vrock with a 30% chance of success. This ability is the equivalent of a 3rd-level spell.

Nystul's Magic Aura (DC 19) - At will
Caster level 3

Special Attack
Energy Drain (Su): Kiara drains energy from a mortal she lures into some act of passion, or by simply planting a kiss on the victim. If the target is not willing to be kissed, Kiara must start a grapple, which provokes an attack of opportunity. Kiara's kiss or embrace bestows one negative level. The kiss also has the effect of a suggestion spell, asking the victim to accept another kiss from Kiara. The victim must succeed on a DC 31 Will save to negate the effect of the suggestion. The DC is 31 for the Fortitude save to remove a negative level.

Magic Items
Tome of Leadership and Influence +5 (Read) - 137,500 gp
Mark of Persuasion (On shoulder, as Circlet) - 9,000 gp

Cloak of Charisma +6 (Worn) - 36,000 gp
Bracers of Exit (Worn) - 10,080 gp
Celestial Soulfire Armor (Worn) - 62,550 gp
Belt of Hidden Pouches (Worn) - 5,000 gp
Vest of Resistance +5 (Worn) - 25,000 gp
Heward's Handy Haversack (Worn) - 2,000 gp
Ring of Luck (Worn, as Stone of Good Luck) - 10,000 gp
Ring of Mind Shielding (Worn) - 8,000 gp
Amulet of Health +4 (Worn) - 16,000 gp
Headband of Intellect +4 (Worn) - 16,000 gp
Gauntlets of Ogre Power (Worn) - 4,000 gp

Dagger of Defiance (Carried on belt) - 12,302 gp
Cube of Force (Hidden Pouch) - 62,000 gp
Planar Deck of Illusions (Hidden Pouch) - 8,100 gp
Various items used for the unlikely covers (clothing, minor jewelry, etc - kept in Haversack) - 450 gp

Haversack Wands:
Detect Magic (10) - 75 gp
Detect Secret Doors (10) - 150 gp
Comprehend Languages (10) - 150 gp
Shield (10) - 150 gp
Know Direction (10) - 75 gp
Hide from Undead (10) - 150 gp
Knock (5) - 450 gp

Scrolls in Hidden Belt Pouches:
Plane Shift (Divine) - 1125 gp
Restoration (Divine) - 800 gp
Antimagic Field (Arcane) - 1650 gp
Teleport (Arcane) - 1125 gp
Cloudkill (Arcane) - 1125 gp
Remove Curse (Divine) - 375 gp
Shrink Item (Arcane) x 2 - 750

Helmet of Opposite Alignment (Used, kept in HHH as memento) - 4,000 gp

Mundane items:
Misc gear for various disguises, MW Longsword, Bedroll, Bell, Glass Wine Bottle, 10 x Chalk, Empty Flask, Flint and stell, Hammer, 2 vials of Ink, Inkpen, Small steel mirror, 10 sheets of paper, 10 sheets of parchment, 50 ft. silk rope, Empty sack, Signal whistle, 1 lb. soap, Whetstone, Empty ink or potion vial, 5 x Tindertwig, 3 x Disguise Kit (23 uses left), Masterwork flute, Blank Spellbook (Total cost 1134.25 gp, including the disguise kit kept in the Stash, see below)
All of these things are kept in various pouches of the belt, mostly in regular ones. The MW Longsword stays in the Haversack, as does the blank spellbook. The disguise kits, along with all writing materials, are in hidden pouches.

Money: 80 pp, 8 gp, 7 sp, 5 cp

Stash: Kiara hid a disguise kit along with 100 pp at a location within the High Forest that she chose at random and memorized at length. If she's ever in serious trouble, she can teleport herself there and pick up her basic equipment.

Description of Non-standard items
Bracers of Exit: Once per day, the wearer can ignore any dimensional anchor effects that are active on her.


Actual Identity, Cover Identities, and Descriptions

Kiara Bel'phora: In her true form, Kiara is beyond flawless. She is an image of otherworldly beauty and temptation. Her skin is pale, contrasting teasingly with her glowing red eyes and her long, red-brown hair. Large, batlike wings unfurl from her back.

Tamara Shahin: Tamara is an Avariel, a winged Elf. She's a wandering trickster and enchantress, with a bit of minstrel strewn in for good measure. She is an explorer sent out from the Avariels' home in order to learn more about the state of Faerun. Tamara looks slight, but she has an attractive face with a few freckles that make her look even younger than her 59 years. Tamara has long, black hair and likes to laugh frequently. Her eyes are sparkling blue. Her skin also sports a hint of blue. One of her favourite pastimes is grooming her gray wings.
Disguise Modifier: -2 (Different race)

Jael Garland: Jael is a human. He's a bookish accountant who has worked for organizations as diverse as the Zhentarim and the church of Lathandar in the past. Jael has medium-length blond hair that he usually keeps in a ponytail. He appears to be about 40 years old and is somewhat overweight. He likes to travel and experience new cities, along with new accounting rules.
Disguise Modifier: -8 (No wings, different race, gender, and age)

Dwana Malreen: Dwana is a very uncommon creature on Toril. She is an Erinyes, a devil. She looks very similar to Kiara, especially to mortals unfamiliar with fiends. The only difference to Kiara is that Dwana's wings are feathery. Dwana's presence is rather unsettling. She lives to draw mortals into her net and make deals with them that always end badly for one side, which incidentally is never her side.
Disguise Modifier: +5 (Minor details only)

Hacathra Eveningfall: Hacathra is a charming but quiet half-sun elven sorceress who hails from Silverymoon. Her bronze skin and blonde hair give her a somewhat exotic look, supplemented by her violet eyes. She has travelled with a few adventuring parties and gained quite a bit of power over the years.
Disguise Modifier: -4 (No wings, different race)

Nym Kelvarn: Nym comes from the High Forest, where he learned the ways of the Bladesinger from his fellow Moon Elves. He now travels the lands, seeking to right wrongs and help people. His blue hair makes him a bit of an oddity, but it matches his blue-tinged skin.
Disguise Modifier: -6 (No wings, different race and gender)

Eliane Darkwood: Eliane joined the Shadow Thieves in Athkatla little over a year ago. She quickly made a name for herself as a supreme con-artist. The human then pronounced herself bored with city life and wandered off to seek her fortune in other lands. Eliane is extremely talented for her 20 years. She rarely wears armor (openly), so as to make her marks feel more at ease. She has a moon-shaped birthmark on her neck, which she likes to cover up with either a choker or her red hair. Eliane has an impeccable reputation for somehow always being able to stay at least a half dozen steps ahead of the guards.
Disguise Modifier: -4 (No wings, different race)

Arya Sunstar: A shy, young, and inexperienced wizard, Arya is forever seeking her (fictional) master, the mage Garath Uthos. Both Arya and her master are sun elves. Arya is a very pure variety of that elven subrace, with golden skin, hair, and eyes. She is quite proud of her heritage and tends to view others, even other elves, with disdain. She left her home of Everaska to study with Garath and prove her superiority.
Disguise Modifiers: -4 (No wings, different race)

Tyrelle Dlefuen: Tyrelle is currently umemployed. She used to work as a cook for various organizations in the city of Waterdeep, such as the churches of Helm and Sune. After her father fell ill in Daggerdale, she moved back home. She is human, very plain, and has a good sense of humour. Tyrelle typically forces her long, dark hair into a somewhat disorganized ponytail.
Disguise Modifiers: -4 (No wings, different race)

Sylia Seray: Possibly Kiara's most daring cover, Sylia is an Angel. To be more precise, Sylia is an Astral Deva. She seeks out good people and helps them on their journeys. In the past, her advice has been surprisingly bad, but no survivors live to tell those tales. Sylia's wings are feathery. Her skin is brighter than Kiara's, while her eyes and hair are a distinctly celestial silver.
Disguise Modifiers: -2 (Different race)

Jovan Terruk: Jovan is a heroic human paladin who hails from Cormyr. He isn't the brightest candle, but is devoted to fighting evil. His hair is short and darkbrown. Sometimes, he wears fullplate armor. Often, however, he forgets to put on armor and faces evil in his regular clothes.
Disguise Modifiers: -6 (No wings, different race and gender)

Aerie Deyra: Aerie is another winged elf. She claims to be a master of the arcane and divine arts, but has yet to really prove those claims. Furthermore, she is incredibly irritating and whiny.
Disguise Modifiers: -2 (Different race)

Alia Fry'an: Alia is a half-elven mercenary who is loyal to her employers as long as they pay here. She originally comes from the Dalelands, but is willing to work for anyone who will pay her. She has an old scar across her face.
Disguise Modifiers: -4 (No wings, different race)

Thora Windsong: Thora is a human with a good reputation for being an excellent graverobber. She was trained by the Zhentarim but has been freelancing recently.
Disguise Modifiers: -4 (No wings, different race)

Karin Thornhill: Karin is a roving agent in the employ of the Harpers. She grew up in Waterdeep, but left her home at a young age to find her own path in life.
Disguise Modifiers: -4 (No wings, different race)

Zun Fu: Zun Fu is a wandering elderly monk who passes on his wisdom to those who would hear it.
Disguise Modifiers: -8 (No wings, different race, gender, and age)


Notes:
The following customizations were done with DM approval:
Kiara's Zhentarim Spy training was adjusted for more deception and slightly less combat. She was not instructed in sneak attack or poison use. Instead, she gained the ability to cast Nystul's Magic Aura at will as a spell-like ability with a caster level equal to her Zhentarim Spy level.

Kiara does not have Use Rope and Survival as class skills for her racial HD. Instead, she learned Gather Information and Forgery in order to trick mortals better and learn their secrets more easily.


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Background:
"You want to know who I am? My name is Tamara Shahin. Well, that’s not my real name. I never tell people my true name. That name is far too dangerous and powerful. Even in the past, I didn’t trust anyone with that. In the past, my life used to be easy. I didn’t care about hurting people. In fact, I enjoyed it. I did whatever I wanted. Most of the time, I wanted to ruin lives. I used to think I never had more freedom than back in those days. The truth is that I never was more of a slave to my desires. It all changed when I met him. When I met Kyran Heartstar. Since then, nothing has been the same. But I should start at the beginning.

"I came into existence some 30 years ago, even though I always tell people that I’m 19. It’s not like I look any different now than I looked 30 years ago. Well, in my natural form, I don’t look any older. Most of the time, I look as old as I want to look. Anyway, there I was, 30 years ago. I didn’t have any memory of my previous existence. Honestly, I didn’t care. It must have been some pathetic and wretched mortal life. No matter how wicked I was in the life before, it couldn’t possibly have stood comparison to my new standards, so it didn’t matter. Young, eager, and ready to please my superiors, looking to get ahead of the others. I realized early on that my hands weren’t made for fighting. The others were weak in fights; I was hopeless. However, I had other qualities. I could always make others do things for me. I was also smart, so I studied and read a lot about the mortals. Most of the others mocked me for wasting time by reading books, but I wanted to make the most of my abilities. Besides, the mortals intrigued me. I thought that they couldn’t possibly be as pathetic and weak as we were told. I needed to make sure, so I snuck out far earlier than I was supposed to. I never did care much for rules. Neither did my superiors, actually. Lady Lynkhab was quite pleased with my efforts. Back to my story.

"That day marked my first visit to Toril. I’ll never forget it. It was so unlike my home. All that disgusting green. And the people. I hated the people. There were so many of them. Not only that, they were halflings. I had ended up in Luiren, of all places. I turned into a halfling to blend in and checked out the opportunities offered by the city I had stumbled onto, not quite willing yet to transport myself elsewhere. I conversed easily with the halflings, even though I had never spoken their language before. It was rather amusing to watch them stumble through their pathetic and meaningless lives. After learning that the city was in fact Beluir, the capital of Luiren, I decided to spend some time there. I sat down and started listening in on the thoughts of the halflings. For starters, I didn’t want to over-extend myself and tried to find someone smart who would be easy to corrupt. However, their simple minds depressed me to no end. Simple people didn't provide any sport. They’re easily swayed and even more easily broken. Only a few of the halflings seemed to be bright enough to merit my attention. When I heard a male thinking about murdering his wife for cheating on him, I was relieved. Finally, this depressingly upbeat race had given me a weakness to exploit. Just as I was about to accidentally bump into the creature and start talking to him, another male stepped in front of me and yelled “Halt, creature of evil!”

"The halfling was dressed in fullplate, carried a holy symbol of some stupid halfling god, and pointed the most adoringly tiny longsword I had ever seen at me. I barely managed to keep myself from bursting out with laughter and seized him up. He seemed quite young, so I didn’t believe him to be a real threat to me. Still, a paladin was a far bigger challenge than some person who wanted to kill his cheating wife. I wasn’t about to back down from that challenge. I knew for certain that the paladin was no match for me. Clinging to his miserable ideals of law and order, this creature could have never hoped to understand or defeat someone like me. Outwardly, my only reaction to him was some confusion as I looked around with a fearful face, seemingly trying to find the creature of evil he was talking about. Seeing nothing, I returned my gaze to him and engaged him in some depressingly predictable conversation while trying to read his thoughts. He was obviously an idiot, but I wanted to know what he was thinking.
“You scared me. You shouldn’t walk up to people and say things like that. It’s not nice. Especially if there’s no evil creatures around.” I smiled innocently. The smile was genuine, actually. I was pleased that I managed not to giggle.
The halfling wasn’t going to back down that easily, though. He waved his silly sword around and said, “You! You are the creature of evil! I can feel it!”
I began to penetrate the thickness of his skull at this point. My guess had been correct – he was an idiot. I looked down at the body I had given myself. The body of a teenage halfling girl, fairly attractive, wearing only simple clothes. My eyes opened wide as I stared at him in disbelief. “Me? A creature of evil? You can’t be serious! Is this some sort of joke? If so, it’s not a very good one!”
His outward conviction began to waver just as I started listening in on his thoughts. He said, “My powers clearly show that you are evil!” However, his thoughts revealed his doubts. He began to consider that maybe his powers didn’t work right. That somehow, he hadn’t mastered them properly yet.
I grinned, inwardly and outwardly. Our exchange had drawn a crowd by that time. “Listen, I’m sure your powers are neat and all, but they’re obviously not working right. I’m just a girl looking to buy some food on the market. You should trust your eyes and ears, not some fancy mystical powers or whatever.”
He hesitated, but then sheathed his sword. “I’m sorry about this. You’re right, it’s obviously a mistake. I’ll go talk to my teacher again. You’re free to go, miss.”
Unfortunately for him, I didn’t feel like leaving yet. I jumped up and down like an excited mortal girl would. “Oh, thank you! I was ever so worried! Here, let me give you something to make up for all the trouble.” Suddenly, I was directly in front of him and kissed him on the lips. He was a bad kisser. In fact, I have since found most paladins to be incredibly poor kissers. Anyway, the kiss caused the crowd to relax and I heard more than a few giggles and snickers. I ignored them and looked into his eyes. I saw that he was mine.
He leaned in for another kiss, which I gladly provided. Sadly, he already collapsed after that second kiss. He looked very pleased when he died. The crowd was stunned. I had never felt so alive. I was reading his thoughts as he died. That turned out to be a rather exhilarating experience. I had fooled and killed a paladin on my first day out. Not a bad start by anyone’s standards. I laughed out loudly and disappeared in front of their eyes, sending myself to an area that felt more like home. At least it was warm there and they didn’t have so much green. The city was much larger than the halfling town. I changed into a human female and entered Calimport.

"You’d have to use magic to be more invisible in Calimport than a female. Actually, considering the number of wizards and sorcerers in that area, being female probably is in fact the best way to go unnoticed. Anyway, there was a lot of activity. Petty mortals going about their insignificant activities. Calimport never was the sort of area where you would be likely to run into paladins. Part of me regretted that, because the halfling was so amusingly righteous. Another part of me, a more rational part, cautioned me that maybe broadcasting my evilness everywhere wasn’t the way to go. I always hated that rational part of me. But it was right. So I went to a magic shoppe, turned the shopkeep into my friend, and got a very nice deal for a ring to protect me from intrusive paladin scans. The deal was so good that I got the ring for free. I suggested to the fool that giving out wares for free would be a great advertising strategy and he actually believed me. Mortals were indeed weak. Armed with my new ring, I set out again. This time, I wanted a different project. I wanted to find someone pure and get them to kill a loved one. In order to do that, I walked through the streets, scanning the people. As I found out quickly, trying to find good people in Calimport was almost as pointless as trying to find meaning in a mortal’s life. Almost. I did finally find a man who registered within my senses. He was feeble, but he was good. Well, before I got my claws on him, anyway. Work always was so much more satisfying if the mark wasn’t already corrupted when I encountered him.

"That one took me a bit of time. The man was an idealistic merchant with a hopelessly dumb wife and a delicious-looking son. I pretended to be a potentially important customer and befriended them. I had a brilliant time with that family. With a bit of encouragement, I managed to get the wife to start an affair with their son. After watching that for a few days, I made sure the merchant would walk in on them, seemingly by accident. Just to clarify, nothing that ever happened around me was truly an accident. That includes those things that actually were accidents. Either way, I stirred his anger up enough so that he would kill his own son. His wife was so distraught by the murder that she thought it was a good idea to follow my suggestion to go take a long, relaxing swim in the port, despite not actually being able to swim all that well. When I left him, the merchant’s thoughts were filled with delightful hatred and terror.

"I spent the following years honing my powers. I learned that my ability to assume humanoid forms was invaluable but not foolproof. Consequently, I took some time to develop mundane disguises, which are far harder to penetrate. You need to have a good disguise to properly wreak terror in the hearts of the people of Toril. I soon began to love paladins. More precisely, I loved seducing them. Not that they were any good in bed. Most paladins seemed even worse than your average mortal in that regard. No, the part I loved was breaking their mind and faith. I sought out paladins with siblings, assumed the shape of their sisters, and began to beguile them. Some of them were very resistant, but I have always had quite a few tricks in my arsenal to negotiate some minor unwillingness on the part of my marks. Getting paladins to start romantic relationships with their sisters was an incredible rush. Reading their thoughts while doing it was even better. I never felt more alive than in those days. I didn’t have a conscience back then.

"Eventually, I had to admit that mortals had the best knowledge and tricks for disguising myself as a mortal. The organization called the Zhentarim seemed to be the most promising start, so I ripped some useful information from the mind of an unwilling informant who worked with them. The Zhentarim were a disappointingly structured group, trying to hide their foolishness under a guise of order and their eternal insignificance under goals that were not their own. Still, they had knowledge that was useful to me, so I offered my services to them in exchange for their training. Convincing them that I was serious about working for them took some doing, but eventually they saw that everyone would stand to gain something. Of course, I would have betrayed them in an instant, but I had no real reason to, due to a complete absence of gainful opportunities for betrayal. They kept up their end of the bargain and taught me. Some increased martial training was part of my regimen. I hated having to learn to use weapons better, but they insisted it was necessary in order to keep up convincing covers. In return for those favours, I negotiated for the Zhentarim. I found them and their partners to be mind-numbingly inept. Even their best diplomats and most skilled leaders couldn’t even come close to my mastery of words and persuasion. Naturally, they chose me to represent them in their most important negotiations. It would have been enjoyable to cause a war or two on those occasions, but that was early in my training and I still needed more of the Zhentarim’s specialized knowledge.

"With their teachings, I established cover identities all across Toril. For all intents and purposes, I ceased to exist and instead became a multitude of innocent people. I wreaked havoc like never before. I seduced, fooled, and doomed mortals. I crushed their hopes and dreams. Then I met an attractive paladin in Waterdeep who seemed like yet another easy mark. His name was Kyran Heartstar. The sister I impersonated was a bard. I proceeded as always. I remember being slightly concerned that I couldn’t read his mind, but not giving that fact too much thought. On the first evening, I followed him to his bedroom and undressed. As I learned later, that was when he noticed that I wasn’t his sister. She has a scar on her left thigh, a leftover from a childhood accident. Most people wouldn’t have noticed that missing feature so quickly, but Kyran did. What’s more, he noticed it without me realizing. I went through a routine of flirting and teasing. He played along. He seemed calm, but I now know that he was terrified for his own and his sister’s life at the time. He used the one weapon he had available to him. Just when I tried to kiss him on the cheek, he suddenly slammed a helmet on my head. I didn’t understand at first. Then, everything changed.

"I started to feel different. I gained a strange appreciation for order. The thing that had the biggest impact on me was the fact that I no longer had the desire to make sport of mortals. In fact, the very thought of hurting innocents became revolting to me. All the pain I had caused over the years suddenly came back to haunt me. All the things I had ever done seemed to assemble and pierce my heart with tiny arrows. Added together, that pain was unbearably overwhelming. I cried. I reverted to my true form. I begged him to kill me. He refused. I tried to use my powers on him, to force him to take my life, but I was too distraught to focus on my abilities. For the next few days, I did nothing but stare at the floor. He brought in other paladins and some clerics to take a look at me. I didn’t even acknowledge their presence. A few of them wanted to kill me, but he stopped them. Eventually, I felt able to stand again. Then we talked. For hours. He wanted to know about me. I wanted to know why he didn’t just kill me for all the things I did. He told me about his ideals. He was incredibly naïve, but I found it endearing. Kyran actually apologized for forcing such a change on me. A paladin, apologizing to me! He said that he had given me a chance to make up for my past. I thought about his words, but I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything to help people. So I changed into a human form and went for a walk with Kyran.

"I saw the city and the life contained within in it in a completely different light. Seeing people laugh actually gave me a warm feeling. We walked for hours, barely saying a word. When I saw a young girl getting bothered by a drunk, I just reflexively intervened and suggested to him that maybe he should get his life in order. As he wandered off to contemplate the advice from his new friend, the girl thanked me with a wide smile. The feeling I got them made me realize what I wanted. I didn’t want my life to end. I wanted to help others. Kyran took me to the temple of Tyr and a high priest there reluctantly confirmed the changes I had gone through and accepted my service, but told me that I still needed to prove myself. Kyran accompanied me on the quest the priest had picked for me, dealing with bandits and protecting some farmers. The new me gladly accepted and completed the task. And I did it well. As a result, the distrust of the church was somewhat lessened. Tyr accepted me, giving his priests little choice but to do the same. Kyran left on some important mission shortly thereafter and hasn’t returned since. I’m somewhat worried for his safety. That was a few weeks ago.

"So here I am now. Serving the church of Tyr in Waterdeep. Trying to spread justice, while proving to my new superiors that I am not a creature of evil anymore and truly have changed. Employing the powers I acquired while I was a creature of darkness to help others. Using names and bodies that are not my own. Traitor to my race. Fortunately, they don’t give a damn about betrayal, as long as it’s not to the Baatezu. My turn away from chaos and evil was caused by magic, but I have accepted it. I want to help people. I need to help others if I am ever to forgive myself. However, I can still feel chaos and evil boiling within me. I can only hope that I can keep those forces at bay. Given time, they should subside…given a lot of time, that is. Until then, I will keep struggling. I will keep trying to survive and make amends for the terror I wrought on Toril. For now, I am Tamara Shahin, intrepid Avariel explorer, minstrel, and enchantress. I am a demon no longer."