Turin Deathstalker Master, Guild of Assassins

Turin is a Shield Lander, 6'1" tall, age 37, 194 lbs.: with olive skin, gray eyes, and auburn hair. It could be said that, in more ways than one, orcs made Turin what he is today. He had a grim upbringing after his family was slain and he was enslaved by orcs, and he grew up the slave of a half-orc fighter who taught him the rudiments of assassination. From there, he progressed to serve the Horned Society, even entering desolate Molag, biding his time until he could escape.

These desperate experiences have instilled in him a hatred of orcs, half-orcs, and hobgoblins-and indeed all their kin and he regularly goes out on solo killing sprees against them, to the Wild Coast over the Nyr Dyv to the conquered Shield Lands, or even as far as the Pomarj. He owns three businesses in Greyhawk-the locksmith's shop (loca tion S6). Vesper's pawn shop (location T27)-in partnership-and Turin's Servant Agency (location T1). Turin may reside in any locations-above of a number of the locksmith's or pawnbroker's shop, or with any of the three mistresses he has about town. In public, he may be found at the Golden Phoenix (location G 11), the Black Dragon Inn (location C4), or the Hanged Man (location T25). If at the Golden Phoenix he may be in the company of Nerof Gasgal and/or Org Nenshen, or Vesper (see below). If in one of the downtown taverns, he will be with 1-4 lesser ranking assassins.

At present, Turin is consumed with the invasion of his homeland (the Shield Lands) by the forces of the Bandit Kingdoms and the Horned Society. While he knows and strongly approves of the money being supplied to Furyondy to support that nation's fleet, he yearns to do something more direct, and solitary exterminations of hobgoblins are hardly the answer. It may not be long before Turin ignores the calming influence of Nerof and Org and begins to organize a mercenary force to retake the Shield Lands. (For further detail of Turin, see page 39 of the GREYHAWK ® Adventures book. - now included)

Turin Deathstalker, Master of the Guild of Assassins, is a man feared and respected far beyond the the city of Greyhawk. He is possibly the highest-ranking assassin in all Oerth, and exercises informal control over assassins nearly everywhere. Due to other political influences, this control is nominal at best, but no assassin willingly defies Turin Deathstalker’s known wishes.

Turin was born in the Shield Lands, on the border of the Horned Society lands. His father, a low-ranking soldier in the armies of the local ruler, hoped that his son would get an education, but fate intervened. When Turin Birdstalker (his given name) was ten years old, a great force from the Horned Society struck the Shield Lands. Turin was but one of many prisoners who were marched into the lands of the Horned Society. To his knowledge, the rest of his family was killed.

When the prisoners were divided, Turin found himself the slave of a half-orcish fighter, the chief of an important orc tribe. For the next several years, he was forced to do all manner of foul tasks for the tribe, until his master decided that the youth showed promise, and began tutoring him in the arts of assassination.

Turin was very bright, and learned quickly. His mentor was pleased and amazed that the young human bore him no grudge for his years of servitude, and he passed along every bit of knowledge he possessed. Turin’s first assignment as a full-fledged assassin was the elimination of a hobgoblin, the chief of a rival tribe. He performed the job with relish, since he had heard that hobgoblin soldiers of the Horned Society were responsible for the death of his family.

Turin seemed to have adapted well to life among the orcs, but he never let his true feelings show-in fact, he hated the orcs. They came to take him for granted, however, and he spent several years with his mentor, absorbing every- thing the scarred old half-orc could teach him. When he reached the orcish rank of Waghalter, he decided that the time was ripe for his revenge. One fine, sunny day, he systematically assassinated every orc in the tribe, saving his mentor for last. With this pleasant task completed, Turin Deathstalker (as his mentor had renamed him) walked off, with the tribe’s wealth over his shoulder, to accept an offer he had received from a high-ranking member of the Horned Society at Molag. Turin Deathstalker never for- gets a grudge.

At Molag, Turin Deathstalker proved to be an excellent weapon for his new patron. He soon learned of intrigue among the leaders of the Horned Society, a society of incredible complexity, laced with betrayal and doublecross. Young Turin gained greatly in skill, eliminating anyone his patron saw as an enemy. He learned the finer points of disguise, poison, and espionage, and when his patron was assassinated, young Turin had already reached the status of Senior Assassin, known to many Guilds as a worthy recruit. Of the Guilds that bid for his service, Turin chose Greyhawk‘s, and he has resided in the city ever since.

Turin Deathstalker was a valuable recruit to Greyhawk’s Assassins Guild, and he rose swiftly within the Guild. As all members are required, he submitted to an oath against killing another Assassins Guild Member or any person under Guild protection.

He was soon commissioned by the Directing Oligarchy to undertake several extremely dangerous and delicate mis- sions. When the upper ranks of the Guild were decimated by a mezzodaemon conjured by a mad mage, Turin Death- stalker became Guildmaster.

As Guildmaster, his goals are to keep the Guild active, attract promising young recruits, provide the best training possible, and to distance the Guild from quarrels with other guilds or powerful groups in Greyhawk. As a member of the Directing Oligarchy, he is the head of Greyhawk’s intelligence network, and his knowledge of events in plac- es such as Iuz, the Great Kingdom, and even the Scarlet Brotherhood is unequaled.

Turin Deathstalker has the appearance of a typical Shield Lander, with olive skin, red-brown hair, and pale grey eyes. He practices his skills regularly. He can disguise himself in a hundred ways, from an orcish soldier to a wise old sage. He has been known to collect magical items to sustain these deceptions. He commonly uses three disguises in Greyhawk, and using them, keeps up three businesses: a locksmith shop, a servant agency, and a pawnshop. These fronts provide numerous services to his Guildsmen, and also provide him with income. He has three mistresses, one for each of his disguises, and none of them suspect his true identity.

Turin owns a cloak of invisibility, a dagger of venom, a short sword +2 (+5 against humanoids), boots of striding and springing, a ring of regeneration, and a quiver of arrows of humanoid slaying that he ommissioned from a mage.

If Turin Deathstalker has a fault, it is his bitterness. He did not choose to become an assassin, and although assassination has brought him wealth and power, he often wishes that the hobgoblins had killed him with the rest of his family. He sometimes disappears from Greyhawk for days at a time, and returns tired and filthy, but undeniably satisfied. On these expeditions, he takes a one-man carpet offlying to the Pomarj or other humanoid-infested area, and goes on a killing spree. He has slaughtered whole tribes of hobgoblins, goblins, and orcs, and he intends to continue. His guild is unique in Greyhawk, in that half-orcs are excluded from membership.

Except for his obsession with killing humanoids (a special form of homicidal mania), Turin Deathstalker is not a bad man. He is fond of relaxing with the higher level assassins and talking shop over a mug of mead until the wee hours, or attending to city business with the rest of the Directing Oligarchy. Despite his alignment (which is leaning toward lawful neutral), and his profession, Turin Deathstalker is quite fond of children, and remembers his own days as a helpless slave of the orcs vividly. When cruel treatment of children comes to his attention, he has been known to unleash the Assassins Guild against those responsible. At first, these persons will be warned, but if they do not change their behavior, the assassins will put an end to their cruelty permanently.

AC 4 (elfin chain mail, boots of striding and springing MV 12; F15; hp 79; THAC0 6; #AT2; Dmg ld6 +2 (short sword +2, +5 vs. humanoids) or 1d4 + 1 and special (dagger of venom Str 15, Dex 13, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 10, Cha 16; AL LE (LN).

Magical items: boots of striding and springing; short sword + 2, + 5 vs. hu manoids; dagger of venom, cloak of invisibility. ring of regeneration, carpet of flying (one-person size). and various ar rows of humanoid slaying (ores, goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears in particular).