Fantasy NPC: Honorable Balzaine, The Pale Squire

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Honorable Balzaine, The Pale Squire

A handsome man, with finely chiseled face, excellent teeth, perfectly smooth and almost shiny skin. He is wearing an elegant overcoat, waistcoat, breeches, and stockings, all in black and red.

CR 5; 1,600 XP

N Medium Construct

Init +8; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision; Perception +2

Defense
AC 18, touch 14, flat-footed 14 (+2 armor, +4 Dex, +2 natural)

hp 53 (6d10+20)
Fort +5, Ref +7, Will +5

Defensive Abilities discretion; Immune construct traits

Offense
Speed 30 ft.

Melee 2 slams +11 (1d4+5) or mwk rapier +11/+6 (1d6+4, 18–20/×2) and slam +6 (1d4+3)

Spell-Like Abilities (CL 6th, concentration +8)

Constant—magic fang

At Will—make whole (repairs Honorable Balzaine's whole attire at the same time it repairs him), open/close, prestidigitation (used to clean his attire daily)

Statistics
Str 18, Dex 18, Con —, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 15

Base Atk +6; CMB +10; CMD 24
Feats Combat Reflexes, Improved Initiative, Power Attack

Skills Diplomacy +11, Knowledge (local) +11, Knowledge (nobility) +11, Knowledge (religion +2 (+12 regarding vampires), Perception +2, Perform (dance) +11, Sense Motive +2; Racial Modifiers +10 to Knowledge (religion) checks pertaining to vampires and their kin

Language Common, Duc, two other fashionable languages

SQ gentleman

Discretion (Su) Attempt to detect Honorable Balzaine's alignment, type, or aura with an effect weaker than 6th or higher spell level (or equivalent) merely registers a concealing magical aura.

Gentleman (Ex) Following his original purpose, Honorable Balzaine treats Diplomacy, Knowledge (local), Knowledge (nobility), and Perform (dance) as class skills.

Notable Gear cloak of resistance +1, +2 waistcoat of feather falling (+2 enhancement bonus to base +0 armor, feather fall triggers whenever falling 5 or more feet, occupies chest slot, worth 7,300 gp)

When Honorable Balzaine arrived to his newly acquired manor, the local villages thought little of it at first—petty gentry comes and goes, after all. As the time passed, though, his peculiarities led to certain questions being whispered behind his back. Why no one sees him during the daytime? Why he doesn't drink wine? Actually, why no one saw him eat, or even order foodstuff from the locals? Why does he brings young women to his manor on the night of full moon—for dances as they all allege, exhausted but seemingly unharmed afterwards, but seems to show little interest in them otherwise?

The truth is, that Honorable Balzaine was wrought as a decoy, serving an aristocratic vampire as a bait to lure away hunters that never came. Later, he passed into the hands of another vampiress, who kept him as a dance partner until she got bored and arranged to make him into a minor landlord, just to have a possible safe haven to visit on her travels.

Was Honorable Belzaine an unique creation, or did the cunning vampire order a whole batch of decoys, now spread across the neighboring realms, misdirecting his enemies?