Catherine

[*Miraie]

Basic Information
Name: Catherine
Aliases: Doctor Catherine (formerly: Doctor Farrowbard). Additionally, her Erinyes companion has taken to calling herself Farrowbard - a name Catherine cannot claim anymore.
Gender: Female
Race: Strongheart Halfling
Age: 42
Profession: Medical doctor, specialized in the anatomy of planar entities. Also, wizard.
Languages: Fluent: Auran, Common, Draconic, Elven, Halfling and Infernal. Working on: Aquan.
Accent: She articulates clearly - a practiced spellcaster.

Physical Information
Height: Above average, slightly.
Weight: A bit above average.
Body build: Sturdy, but not overly muscular.
Skin type: Graced with a healthy tan.
Hair style: Medium-short, usually tidy.
Scars: Catherine's aura is marred by a diabolic taint. Moreover, the halfling's soles are hardened by decades of walking barefooted.
Tattoos: Like her usual outfit, Catherine's body is marked with symbols of insight and healing.
Colouring:

[b]Hair:[/b] Ginger [b]Eyes:[/b] Aqua [b]Skin:[/b] Light, tanned [/li]

Mental Information
Alignment: Lawful Evil, with a strong leaning towards True Neutral.
Philosophy: "It does not matter in the end. Might as well make the most of it, yeah?"
Deity/Beliefs: Her beliefs are strongly influenced by the Bleak Cabal.
Personality:

• Contrarian: eager to show her independence from conventional wisdom.
• Efficient: wants to cut to the heart of the matter, resolving it as quickly as possible.
• Fatalistic: willing to help you because nothing really matters, anyway.
• Loyal: will not betray your trust easily - appreciates dedication and commitment to a task.
• Open: ready to discuss personal matters - within reason.

Additional Information
Gear: A number of small trinkets related to healing. They seem to come from several planar and prime cultures. In addition, Catherine seems to own a reasonable amount of healing supplies, which necessitates more than a few pouches.
Jewelry: The hin has a light silver headband which has been adorned with an aquamarine - a symbol for courage and calm. She also carries magical trinkets and a scroll case.
Habbits/hobbies: <smoking, drinking, fishing...>
General Health: Slightly overweight, but otherwise exceptionally good.
Favorite Drink: Rice wine, mijiu.
Weaknesses: Catherine has promised her soul in exchange for a lifetime of servitude. While she was shrewd enough to include a bit against devil-assisted assassination, her afterlife looks rather bleak. Her impending fate makes the woman a little fatalistic - but what does it matter, anyway? She tries to maintain a reasonably cheerful outlook regardless. There is a clause for resurrection, of course.

• Reaction Penalty: You rub people the wrong way the first time you meet them. People naturally distrust and/or dislike you, often without obvious reason. After they get to know you, sometimes things get better. Even non-mages can sometimes sense the diabolic shadow over Catherine's aura.
• Merciful: For a villain, you have a terrible weakness -- you don't like to hurt people.
• Star-crossed: You keep falling in love with the wrong people.

[*Miraie]

What follows is a record of my attempts to level a Lawful Evil strongheart halfling. Wizard/Demonologist/Pale Master. Focus on healing with healing kits and using wands as a DPS supplement. 100% Gatecrasher.

Alt number 30. *shudder*

Level 1: Bought portal keys, completed a quest for Khazeet, Muriel, the Gnoll, Unlucky.
Level 2: Mage Armor, Color Spray. Am able to kill Gatecrasher goblins in Under Sigil. Have to rest often. Also die often. Easier difficulty might be preferable. Can't see worth a damn. Get a torch, potentially.
Level 3: 2nd circle spells! I picked Mirror Image and Summon II for convenience. Still killing goblins on GC. Fiendish worg is a real asset. Moved a level down. Color spray blinds. Worg is resistant (14SR). Some.. some of the time. Oops.

• Worg is a Very Good Boy, has sneak attack.

Level 4: Bull's Strength and Invisibility. Shifting focus on buffing augmented summons. Bad choice. Hass bull's strength already. Doesn't stack.

• Bought Shapechange and 2x IV summons
• IV Kyton murders in Brux. Which is great, because my best offensive spell deals 2d6 fire dmg. And I can afford to cast it 2x.

Level 5: Reached in GC brux, thanks to Kyton. Took IMA and Spiderskin to buff subsequent summons.

• Scroll of Shapechange being a real lifesaver. Horned devil regen is tasty.
• Took craft wand. Going to try interesting things with it if resources permit. RN money goals are: healing kits for GC Gith, +5 wisdom tattoo.
  Gold Balance: 351
• Should have prepared more invis.

Level 6: Still in GC Brux. Can do a IMA+Spiderskin warded III now.

• Buffed III is okay in Brux. Probably no match for treants. Confirmed. Boar slain.
• This is where fights seem to take longer and I would already like some healing to keep my summons going.

Level 7: Still GC Brux. IV Kyton, woho! Stoneskin. It is invincible. Level 8 and Erin seems inevitable.

• Crashed! Erin still reasonably inevitable.

Level 8: Erin, woho! Back to GC Brux. But first..

• Sold junk
• Gold Balance: 3351
• Bought utility, a Wand of Cure Critical Wounds: -2190 jink + 220 tip. Thank you, Ms. Aleis.
• Too soon. Can't UMD it yet.
• 931 gp left. 306 gp per 10 kits. Bought 30. Encumbered. Whoops. Bull's strength (useless earlier) is suddenly a friend.
• Gold Balance: 13
• Also found a party friend. Excellent.

Level 9: Brux exp not worth it anymore. Trying my luck in Elemental Earth. Need t2 Erin for the Gith.

• Went after Umber Hulks in the Elemental Earth. Going smoothly. Hate the scorpions.

Level 10: Elemental Earth seems to be working. Made a wand of Negative Energy Ray (-570 gp) for convenience against the ridiculous scorpions.

• Replenished healing supplies, -212 gp.
• Gold Balance: 687 after the purchases.
• Wand of Negative Energy Ray worked as advertised. Solid damage at this level. Take that, scorpions!

Level 11: Time to go to the Astral Plane. Gith!

• Traveling Costs: -100g
• Gold Balance: 1121 - technically enough for another wand. No applicable spells in the book yet.
• Healing Kits (+1): 30
• GC Gith at level 11 is nice, but costs many charges. Wands are not looking cost-efficient. Also SR.
• On the other hand, party balancing the need to deal damage.
• Those Gith are way good at targeting invisible targets with fireballs. Lucky I brought healing supplies.

Level 12: Greater Spell Penetration!

• Charges Left: 25
• Even with Greater Spell Penetration, Gith are resisting my wanding. CL 10+4+4 = 18 vs SR (assuming the practiced spellcaster bug). Otherwise 12+4 = 16. Initial assessment: wands not that good for leveling, esp. if you have +ECL adjustment.
• Failed at new party member bell optimization. -100g.

Level 13: Still going strong-ish!

• Safety of invisibility more attractive than expensive wand DPS. There is no need to do a lot of damage either. Some would help, but no real incentive to spend jink here.
• Stoneskin is basically barrier-based healing. Very effective here. A form of sustain I had not considered previously. Helps the Erinyes.

Level 14: Invisibility wore out

• Prepared spares. A-ha!
• Wand DPS still being resisted. Didn't get to snipe the Illusionist like I had hoped to.
• T3 Erin! Woho. Looks like Limbo soon. Also sleep. Sleep soon.
• Invisibility wore off again. But I had one more spare. Phew.
• Crashed again. Woe. Losing a buffed Erin here hurts. Might be wise to have buff wands for these occasions. No jink for that yet.
• Got outside. Farrowbard the Ascended T3 Erinyes used Displacement on an ally because I had displaced her already. This feels good. I am happy with this.
• Farrowbard the Ascended T3 Erinyes is telling me exactly when she switches weapons. She is informative like that. The long name makes the message even more ridiculous. I am easily amused.

Level 15: Leveled up on my way out. GC Gith exp is ridiculous. The Erin is ridiculous. Parties help.

• Erinyes perished on the way out, alas. Buffs!
• Charges left: 21
• Healing Kits left: 16/30. Surprisingly tolerable.
• -100g return fee.
• Sold junk. Gold Balance: 3246 - a bit more than 50% of my first spending goal. But..
• Replenished healing supplies (-425 gp).
• Final Gold Balance: 2821
• Notable loot: Robe of Energy, Headband of Intellect +2, an amulet with Extra Turning.

Leveling day 1 finished

[*Miraie]

Day 2, fight!

• Found a party of 20's. Headed to the Abyss.
• Foiled again! A crash.
• Bought Orb of Sound (-304 gp) and a bone wand, which became a wand of Orb of Sound (-1486 jink). The wand is missing an icon.
• Gold Balance: 1031
• Need wands of Death Ward. Can't afford yet.

Level 16:

• Don't have the spells to support the Erin properly.
• Old wand is good for healing the undead buddy.
• Orb prone to missing. Damage in 15-20 range. Not a Maurezhi killer.

Level 17:

• Leveling is fast, at least! T3 Erin not ideal for the Abyss. Poor target management. Orb of Sound wand not reliable for sniping Maurezhi.
• Summon VII is as reliable as always. This is good.
• Wizard brings the party. Well. Stoneskins, PfE and IMA to the party! Fortunately I need to have only one of each prepared.
• Using Stoneskin, Displacement and Greater Invisibility to manage incoming damage.
• More situations where I could deal damage (nothing else to do), but using a wand of Orb of Sound is too expensive (no imminent need to deal damage).
• Can use VII to grapple Maurezhi, move Erin away. Slay from distance. Works sometimes.
• Orb of Sound still dealing damage in the 10-20 range. Not reliable for taking out Cambion Spotters either. Takes a lot of time and charges.

Level 18: Down to unbuffed reserve Erin. Still good vs. Cambions. Loving the archery option.

• Maurezhi has nothing on unbuffed reserve Erin as long as she gets to target it first. Also PfE. That counts.
• GC spawns are easily over 3x better exp than cutter spawns (about 30ish to 100). Found some, not entirely sure why. Potentially because a player passed through.
• Can't afford to buy coins for dead party members. Not enough jink for more than one. Spending goal still not met.
• Gold Balance: 1270
• Actually had to use the wand against a Horned Devil. 20 or less damage/hit still very expensive, but this time it was necessary and functional. Rolling 1 and missing hurts.

Level 19: Still relying on VIII spells. But next level.. yes.. yeees.

• 22 Heal, finally! Caught up with my other skills. Thank you, PM 1!
• Used Robe of Energy Magic Missle to hurt an Erinyes General on my way out. Waste not, want not.
• VII Summon is suboptimal, but okay when backed up by a party and Erinyes.
• Vestments of the Empty Mind. Deflect Arrows or +7 concentration? Decisions!

Level 20: IX spells! Persistent haste ahoy.

• Forgot to pick haste while leveling and/or buy a scroll. Durr. Persistent haste will have to wait.
• Summon IX Hellknight dominates in the Abyss. As expected. Still, woho!
• Ran out of healing supplies. 30 +1 Healer's Kits lasted 5 levels in the Abyss (with a party).
• Killed the Hellfire Erinyes with a party of 3.
• Again in a situation where I have the opportunity to DPS but it is not really necessary. No point wasting jink here. Invisible, safe. Letting summons and the party to handle stragglers.
• Consider a wand of Stoneskin. Good healing.
• Erinyes wasting time on summons. Target management.
• Note to self: need a Bag of Holding to collect More Loot.
• Hulking Hezrou down. Party of 3 still.
• Sweet! I can finally UMD the Cure Critical Wounds wand. Helps me save Healer's Kits for out of combat healing (meaning up to +19 more healing/kit!)
• Babau Elites can turn the T3 Erin. Inconvenient! Aheh.

Level 21: Haste, finally! Also Vampiric Feast. You never know. Epic Spell Penetration.

• Cure Critical Wounds wand seems to heal in the 20-30 range.
• Mechanus Gears. First purple drop. Also heavy! Sold for 5k in order to reduce equipment load while leveling. Hope to afford a Bag of Holding soon. Takes priority over the tattoo (although the tattoo would reduce healing costs).
• VII with Stoneskin is pretty beefy.
• Wish I had better tools for monitoring active buffs. #supportlife
• Manipulating the Erinyes + Summons is fairly smooth with voice commands. Alas, spam.
• Finally testing solo potential in the Abyss. VII seems to be doing most of the damage. Erinyes tanks. An opportunity to deal DPS, but there's no need to waste charges.
• Orb of Sound wand also suffers from concealment. No point getting Blind-Fight as a mage.
• A ring of Greater Electrical Resistance. Pretty good in the Abyss, actually. Hellknight dominates solo, as expected.
• Gold Balance: 9662
• Wands: 1 Negative Energy Ray charge, 27 Orb of Sound charges, 24 Cure Critical Wounds Charges. Will not need more of any yet. A wand of Invisibility could be nifty. Also Death Ward.
• Bought a Bag of Holding from Rhistel. Thank you, Mr. Rhistel. -22 gp (bag). Gave five vials of devil blood to cover some of the cost. -6000 gp for the process.
• Bought 30 +1 Healer's Kits. (-906 gp - thanks int+appraise!)
• Gold Balance: 2734 (Still no tattoo! But at least I've got a Bag of Holding for loot now. V. Good.)
• This level took fairly long. But I also ate and did useful DM things. Woho. Soloing not as fast as party play, understandably.
• Timeout! Woe. But I have a party again!
• The enemy of my enemy is not always my friend, Erin! She buffed a Hezrou.
• Mobs aren't spawning. More woe!

Level 22: Finally!

• A Scarab of Protection +4. Can't say no to +4 saves!
• Taking Pale Master levels, apparently. Wild!

Level 23: The party grows! 3 people again, 21-23!

• Great Intelligence. More spell slots, whoo.
• Kelvezu summons seem to have true seeing or blindsight. Wizard problems! Still alive.
• A Dragon Staff! But I am a hin. Curses.

Level 24: So close now.

• Pale Master: Summon Undead is level 11 and has 18 ac. I suspect I will not use it.
• Alone again. Let's see how this goes! Exp seems notably worse.
• A Mantle of the Succubus. Should be funny. Also +5 Cha to help with UMD.
• Love finding new scrolls. Interposing! Utility.
• Getting cutter spawns again. Curses. Could the henchman be triggering some? Is that a thing? Still on GC.
• An Equalizer. Not sure if useful. Potentially, because DR. Nope. She can't use it. Woe!
• Erin got level drained. Death Ward: not a joke. Get a wand.
• A magic electrifier! Just the thing I needed.
• A Greater Belt of Guiding Light? Don't mind if I do!
• Pit stop! Opportunities. And a little bored.
• Upgraded headband to +5 int, +5 concentration +4 will. Also +5 healing gloves. Thank you, Ms. Chassiel. (+71 gp, sold Devil Blood and some Other Things, such as the Dragon Staff.) Another Bag of Holding, also (-4022 gp with a Jacinth).
• Finally got the Greater Insight tattoo (-6000 gp, at level 24!). Heal is now at: 39 (or 43 with Greater Heroism). Will heal for 90-130 hp in a turn. 65 hp/kit out of combat. If every Cure Critical Wounds charge healed for 30 (which it does not), I'd heal for 1,500 hp. 30 +1 Healer's Kits will allow me to heal for 1,950 hp. Also they are cheaper. There's no reason to continue using a cure wand.
• Replenished Healer's Kits (-592 gp, thanks appraise+int!): 26 kits now.
• Sold junk. Gold Balance: 93 (could not afford to get full 30 Healer's Kits or replenishing my Negative Energy Ray wand - which is sort of good at healing undead).
• Back to the Abyss. Solo adventuring intensifies. Oh. Nope! A party! Yay.
• EXP is slightly better.
• Greater Heroism, Extended Greater Invisibility and maybe Protection from Evil and the IX Hellknight is good to go. Really enjoying that automatic +4 str from Augmented Summoning.
• A Shaper's Alembic! A nifty find. Also, a second Magic Electrifier. RNG!
• Still need a wand of Death Ward. And Restoration. And Negative Energy Ray. Invisibility? Stoneskin, probably.
• A bigger party! More exp. Woho. 3 seems to be a good number for the Abyss.
• IX lasts longer than an extended Greater Invisibility now. Nice.

Level 25: T4 Erinyes! This was my leveling target for today. Took about 12 hours.

• We're looking at 43 AC and 38 AB with the present buffs. Not horrible in the Abyss. Uncertain about Niflheim.
• Sold junk. Replenished healing supplies (-235 gp). Gold Balance: 719

Leveling day 2 finished. With time for RP to boot!

[*Miraie]

Leveling day 3 is not a leveling day, potentially. It is a shopping day.

• Sold the Equalizer and one Magic Electrifier: +15,000 gp
• Bought a White Fang for the Erin (-10,000 gp). Also a +5 cloak of protection (-5,000 gp).
• Gold Balance: 719 gp (again!)
• As ready for Niflheim as I will ever be. Probably.

Leveling day 4. Going to Niflheim, for reals.

• Par-tay!
• Two players, earning decent exp. About 80-286 per kill. A notable upgrade from 8-20ish in the Abyss.
• Clicky plates in Niflheim dispel invisibility. They are Seriously Annoying. And I have to use them because Summons.
• Really, really, really need to get that wand of Death Ward. Having to take the damage route is not fun as a wizard (100 dmg is about 66% of my total health!). Especially if you took damage from the ghosts when your invisibility broke due to the *click*.
• *click* *click* *click*
• On the other hand, an Erinyes with a White Fang and +5 Deflection cloak seems to be doing okay in Niflheim. Need a wand of Living Undeath, probably. Or a Cleric friend.
• Summons cannot pass through the interior transitions in the castle. For example, the areas leading to the levers. And the lever that takes you to the beginning of the castle (not a major problem since you'd usually want to head out regardless).
• Moved to the Maze after one round of Niflheim. Getting about 19-86 exp/kill. Still in a party of two.
• Can't take the summon through the portals in the Maze. A Cloak of the Fallen Shadow, though. A reasonable find!
• Bought Healer's Kits (-235 gp) and some Coins of Life (-3,715 gp).
• Gold Balance: 1920
• Ended up participating in the Four Pillars event. Level 26 will have to wait.
• Gold Balance after the event: 5,210

Leveling day 5 - a quick jaunt to the Abyss

• A party of two, several summons!

Level 26: Leveled up, though! So that's nice.

• White Fang and +5 Def Cloak = a slight increase in damage and survivability. Increased comfort and convenience. Yis.
• Getting up to 70 exp/kill too, nifty! Must have some talky talky exp. Closer to 7-12 xp/kill, though.
• Gold Balance: 8,641