Sikhandin

Silk Trader from Sind

Spy from Herath

The Web Master Meshiyahu

Appearance

For all outward appearances, the man known as Sikhandin is everything he professes to be: an aged himaya (warrior) from the Kingdom Sind, turned merchant of fine silks and exotic goods. He is tall and slim, with taut muscles and tight face of a veteran. His hair is thinning and graying at the roots, and his nut-brown complexion has been tanned by his many travels between Glantri, Sind, and the lands farther west.

Sikhandin wears light, rugged leathers when he comes from his travels, but dons his fineries (exotic Sindhi robes or tailor-made Glantrian suits) when he consorts with Glantrian high society.

Background

Sikhandin claims to be from the trading city of Karakandar in the mumlyket of Peshmir, and likes to travel to the Principalities of Glantri, spending the most time in Glantri City and Lizzieni in Caurenze. His claim to Glantrian fame is as an importer of delicate Sindhi silk, soft Peshmir wool, and other rare fabrics. Sikhandin is also the commercial mind behind the success of il Taglia, the celebrated Glantrian tailor Argene de la Majalonga Nivea, who employs Sikhandin's exotic materials for his fabulous sartorial creations.

Sikhandin makes no secret of his great knowledge of the western markets and foreign products, nor of his strong network of contacts in Sind, Hule, Yavdlom, and the Savage Baronies. However, very few Glantrian have enough knowledge of those regions (The cleric-ridden countries of Sind and Hule are not friendly to Glantri.) to unmask the impostor and his lies.

The fact is Sikhandin is actually a spy from the magiocracy of Herath. He is not even human, but an arenea named Meshiyahu. Even the finest and most prized material he imports—allegedly a special Sindhi silk, which rivals Krondaharan silk and Alphatian spider-silk in popularity and demand!—is actually arenea silk, which Meshiyahu uses for his magical espionage.

Meshiyahu is a Web Master, a specialist Herathian spellcaster that employs a network of magic for intrigue, deception, and spying. For a long time now, Meshiyahu has been busy establishing his web of secret contacts, informants, and unwitting spies. Meshiyahu's primary agenda is to acquire information on the Glantrian wizards, their society and the nature of their magic. Meshiyahu has discovered that there are many secret and rival sects among the Glantrian wizards, some more secretive than others, some more subversive and destructive.

Unfortunately, the Week With No Magic in AC 1009, and the consequent Day of Dread every year, has disruptive effects on his magical web, so recently, Meshiyahu has supplemented his network with a special kind of magical item: the enchanted silk robes of protection. These robes are manufactured only by powerful Herathian spellcasters, using rare aranea silk, and allows for a long-lasting focus for web-casting.

Personality

To many Glantrians, Sikhandin is formal, impersonal, detached, impersonal, extremely dull, and quite forgettable. The few weird mannerisms he has that give his personality some flavor are simply dismissed as some quirk or idiosyncrasy of Sindhi culture. Little do the Glantrians realize that all the social manners of Sikhandin are nothing more than the well practiced maneuvers of a scheming aranea mastermind!

Like many aranea, Meshiyahu is a cold, ruthless, and calculating. He is meticulous and patient in his plotting, and has a keen interest in magic and arcana knowledge. Unlike other aranea of Herath, Meshiyahu harbors a deep engrossment over these intriguing humans, their behavior and society, especially such complicated humans as those in multicultural Glantri. Meshiyahu has carefully studied such behaviors to the extent that he has succeeded in passing himself off as one of them. The Web Master sees such actions not as fraternization or signs of sociability, but rather ultimate application of all the knowledge and research he has gathered through the years.

Web of Intrigue

Professionally, Sikhandin has many contacts with the Merchant's Consortium. He deals with them fairly, if not favorably, and as a result, he remains abreast with the mercantile activities of the Principalities.

Socially, among the pretentious, the fashionable, and the powerful of Glantri City, the foreign silk trader Sikhandin is at best, a curiosity. He is, after all, "a mere mundaner" in the fastidious eyes of the Glantrian magocracy and his friend Signor Argene is by far the more popular one, celebrated as Il Taglia and a true artiste! Of course, this low profile best serves his true purposes…

Secretly, the Web Master Meshiyahu has in his magical network a modest number of well-to-do merchants, highly placed politicians, and even a few nobles. Most of them are Caurenzan or Belcadizan and all are wearers of the silks of the abjurer. Before the Great Meteor crashed in AC 1006, the most powerful noble he had entangled in his mystical web is Sire Ezechiel Naramis, the late Viscount of Nathrat. Upon the nobleman's sudden death, Meshiyahu was one of the few wizards in Glantri with the knowledge of the Viscount's discoveries: a strange anti-magic ore in the Silver Sierras on the Glantri-Darokin border. Meshiyahu has acted on this information, starting a small mining operation to collect the ore and send samples back to Herath.

Meshiyahu has also infiltrated the People's Spellcasters Company, but has kept his involvement to a minimum, in order to avoid detection. From the Company, he has learned of the Secret Crafts of Glantri, and had decided to pursue his inquiries by sending his spies into the Great School of Magic.

Style of Magic & Combat

Statistics: 11th-level aranea (with human appearance) spy wizard (Web Master); Str 10, Int 16, Wis 12, Dex 15, Con 8, Cha 14; AL LE.

Weapon Proficiencies: dagger, stiletto.

Languages: Thyatian (Common and Savage Coast "Slag" dialect), Herathi, Sindhi, and Espa (often mistaken with the Belcadizan dialect of Elvish).

Skills: disguise, information gathering, observation, riding (land-based/horse), reading/writing (Thyatian, Sindhi and Herathi), etiquette, spellcraft, sage knowledge (art), somatic concealment.

Meshiyahu is a specialist Herathian wizard, heavily relying on Web Mastery, and avoiding open displays of magic. Of the more common spells, he prefers illusions, alterations and divinations, while he mostly avoids invocations (barred to Web Masters) and conjurations, as the physical exertion required by those disciplines would heavily tax his frail body. He also dislikes necromancy, as he deems its use too difficult to keep hidden. Despite this personal bias, whenever he sees a possible application of a spell through his web, he will try to master it.

References: "Herathian Specialty Magic: The Web of Intrigue" (http://dnd.starflung.com/webointr.html) by Bruce Heard

Author: Giampaolo Agosta