Fantasy NPC: Ties That Bind, The Marriage Officiant

You can now support Shaper Of Worlds on Patreon.

Ties That Bind, The Marriage Officiant

A small round-bellied person wearing fancy clothing flittering on the air with the hectic help of undersized fly's wings. His body proportions are clearly off with very thin limbs and nearly non-existent neck. The charmingly comic appearance is completed by wild hair of many colors.

CR 3; 800 XP

LN Small Fey

Init +0; Senses low-light vision; Perception +12

Defense
AC 15, touch 15, flat-footed 15 (+2 deflection, +2 insight, +1 size)
hp 27 (6d6+6)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +10

DR 5/cold iron; Immune can't be compelled to officiate marriage without the explicit consent of both participants

Offense
Speed 10 ft., fly 20 ft. (good)

Melee scepter of office +5 touch (3d6 electric and stagger)

Special Attacks rose petals (DC 14)

Statistics
Str 12, Dex 10, Con 12, Int 13, Wis 17, Cha 13
Base Atk +3; CMB +3; CMD 17
Feats Skill Focus (Diplomacy), Skill Focus (Perform [oratory]), Skill Focus (Sense Motive)

Skills Fly +15, Diplomacy +13, Knowledge (nobility) +10, Perception +12, Perform (oratory) +13, Profession (gardening) +12, Sense Motive +15
Language Common, Duc, Infernal, Sylvan

SQ bless marriage, landholding gentry

Bless Marriage (Su) Ties That Bind can bless a marriage in a ceremony taking at least an hour (though he can ramble on for hours if he gets his way), granting the newlywed +2 circumstance bonus to Charisma-based ability and skill checks on each other for the first year. He also empower rings exchanged between the bride and the groom with minor magical effects of price not exceeding 2 500 gp (potentially adding them to the other magical properties of the rings). If either of the targets is not who they claim to be (wearing a mundane or magical disguise, lying about one's identity, or even acting under false name), or tries to force the other into marriage against clearly expressed opposition, the offender is blasted with a lightning, suffering 3d6 points of electricity damage and becoming dazed for 3 rounds (he might still continue and complete ceremony if both partners are willing after their true identities are revealed, but nothing will force him to consecrate marriage against anyone's consent, not even compulsion magic). While the ring retain magic power, if the pair separates, divorces, or betrays each other, they also gain some minor curse affecting the wearer.

Landholding Gentry (Ex) Ties That Bind treats Knowledge (nobility) and Profession (gardening) as his class skills.

Rose Petals (Su) Ties That Bind can throw magical rose petals against up to three target within 30 feet range, entangling the targets on a failed Reflex saving throw (DC 14) for 1d4 rounds. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based. He may choose to create and throw those without hindering the targets, just to mark them with his roses.

Scepter Of The Office (Su) Ties That Bind carry a magical scepter that grants him +2 deflection bonus to AC, +2 insight bonus to saving throws. He can strike with the scepter to deal 3d6 electricity damage on a successful melee touch hit. Creature struck with the scepter also becomes staggered for 1 round after a failed Fortitude saving throw (DC 14). The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.

Ties That Bind is a faery magistrate, who, by a historical quirk (that involved a prince, a princess, a fey court, a dark witch, a heroic quest, and an establishment of a new dynasty), became the sole undisputable authority capable of officiating the royal marriage of the realm.

Well, at least that's what the law and the custom say—and while there were royal marriages he did not bless, they were troubled and heavily contested by kin and foes alike.

Being the one responsible for royal marriage makes Ties That Bind a ripe target for political intrigue. While he cannot be swayed from blessing the marriage, he can be tricked into arriving late or otherwise prevented from officiating the marriage in due time. He was already kidnaped a few times, when the conspirators did not approve of the monarch's choice of partner, and even nonlethally poisoned once or twice. Notably, he will never bless the marriage unless both the participants are explicitly consenting (and he will definitely take time during the ceremony to scrutinize the participants with his Sense Motive skill to check for signs of coercion, mundane or magical) and will actively oppose any attempts to force either the bride or the groom into the marriage.

When not called to serve in his legal capacity, he lives in a small manor in a middle of an enchanted grove near the capital served by rather unruly staff composed of lesser fey, enjoying his nominal status as a justice of peace and a landholding squire, overseeing growth of his beloved roses. He is exempt from most of the duties associated with his status not involving officiating royal marriages, and occasionally serving as an expert regarding royal lineage, marriages, and family law.