Fantasy NPC: The Lingering Secretary

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The Lingering Secretary

A tall and gaunt figure of pale man of indeterminate age, wearing an ancient vest with faded aristocratic livery. He has a single foggy monocle concealing his left eye, an eternally sour frown, a balding spot on the top of his head, and fingers stained with ink.

CR 9; 6,400 XP

LN Medium Undead (incorporeal)

Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +21

Aura eternal paperwork (60 ft.)

Defense
AC 19, touch 19, flat-footed 19 (+3 deflection, +2 Dex, +4 insight)

hp 102 (12d8+48)
Fort +9, Ref +8, Will +13

Defensive Abilities channel resistance +4, incorporeal, rejuvenation, unfazed; Immune undead traits

Offense
Speed fly 30 ft. (perfect)

Melee corrupting touch +11 (9d6, Fort. DC 21 half)

Statistics
Str —, Dex 14, Con —, Int 19, Wis 15, Cha 17

Base Atk +9; CMB +11; CMD 26
Feats Ability Focus (corrupting touch), Alertness, Hover, Skill Focus (Profession [secretary]), Toughness, Weapon Focus (touch)

Skills Diplomacy +18, Fly +10, Knowledge (local) +19, Knowledge (nobility) +19, Linguistic +19, Perception +21, Profession (bureaucracy) +17, Profession (secretary) +23, Sense Motive +21

Language Common plus 16 other suitable languages

Corrupting Touch (Su) The Lingering Secretary's can choose to destroy a page of paper, parchment, papyrus, or similar material with his touch, though magical materials and those held or carried by other creatures can resist destruction with a Fortitude saving throw (DC 21). Alternatively, he can use his touch to erase a word or a sentence, as if using erase spell. The saving throw DC is Charisma-based.

Eternal Paperwork (Su) The Lingering Secretary is always aware of nearby texts, books, scrolls, letters, and notes rendered on paper, parchment, papyrus, and similar materials, and has a general idea of their content, except for writings pertaining to his person, identity, and family, or those that were magically concealed by spells of 6th or higher level or their equivalents. Any of the written materials exposed to the eternal paperwork aura remains immune to incidental damage from time, decay, rot, moisture, heat, and vermin for the next 24 hours (though not to massive damage caused by catastrophic events or deliberate harm). The Lingering Secretary can telekinetically manipulate written records to a limited degree, pulling them into his grasp from afar, holding them, passing them into hands of another person and sending them back to where they were taken from. He can drop them where he is standing, though he hates to do that (aside of dropping them on the desk for future reading by his patron). When he holds a written text he can read it with supernatural speed, understanding content of a page in a single round and he can cast any spell from a scroll he previously read.

Rejuvenation (Su) The Lingering Secretary returns from destruction swiftly, reappearing within 2d4 hours and quickly apologizing for the unauthorized leave.

Unfazed (Su) The Lingering Secretary gains +4 insight bonus to AC and his saving throws. He is never surprised, nor can he be flanked. He treats all his skills as class skills. He also seems to be aware whenever the lord or lady of the manor is in the office.

The Lingering Secretary was the best secretary anyone could dream of—competent, obedient, dutiful, and loyal—which led to his untimely death. He served a might aristocrat who, after a snub from the royal court engaged in an intrigue that would turn the tables. Instead, the intrigue backfired and the conspirators were accused of secretly preparing for a rebellion and executed for alleged treason, together with some of their aides and a few unconnected scapegoats.

The Lingering Secretary could hardly deny knowledge of the intrigue, being the one who handled correspondence of his employer. His skepticism of the shape of the intrigue (which was not nearly as treasonous was it was presented at the court), which he noted multiple times was irrelevant—he died trying to stop the henchmen of the royal chancellor from taking the possession of his employer's seal which could be used to forge the materials damning the conspirators enough for execution, rejecting the offer exchange a suitable testimony for clemency. What hurt him the most, though, was the fact that conspiracy was betrayed by a secretary of another magnate, bribed into passing the letters to the chancellor agents, and the poor management of the correspondence in general.

Now he lingers behind, haunting the manor of the dead magnate, bound (or maybe simply choosing) to serve whoever is its the current master, regardless of the latter's actual opinion or consent. If he isn't particularly fond of the lord or lady of the manor, the Lingering Secretary can be a real pain in the ass, being quite skilled by now in malicious compliance, and passive-aggressive servile wit.