![[DecimaFinal.png]] # Decima Iscitarn _Tiefling Soulmonger Assassin | [[Gilded Gallows]] | [[Neverwinter]]_ ## Summary Tiefling assassin who has personally killed [[Aldwin Rousset]] (Reese's father) and [[Renaer Neverember]]. Hunting the party with her lover [[Ravenna]]. The party killed her siblings [[Domitia Iscitarn|Domitia]] and [[Erevan Iscitarn|Erevan]]—she wants them to suffer before they die. %% ## At a Glance Grief weaponized. She lost the only people who ever loved her, and she's going to make sure the party understands exactly what that feels like before she kills them. She's fixated on [[Petra]]—another [[Soulmonger]], another Firesong connection, another person who got the life Decima deserved. The obsession is personal in ways that make her dangerous and exploitable. [[Ravenna]] is her anchor; without that relationship, she'd spiral into self-destruction. [[Iymrith|Lyrielle Storm]]'s pressure and her own rage is making her reckless. She killed [[Renaer Neverember]] against orders, sparking gang war with the [[Whispered Watch]]. [[Ravenna]] is furious. Decima's response: "Then let me kill Dagult." ## Roleplaying ### Appearance Crimson skin, white hair falling like a shroud. Ice-blue eyes that look through you. Close-fitted black leather, blades strapped everywhere—thighs, forearms, boots. Moves like a predator who's already decided you're prey. ### Voice/Manner Sinister whisper. Pauses mid-sentence to listen to voices only she can hear. When she's mimicking a consumed soul, the shift is perfect and deeply unsettling. ### Personality Cold. Patient. Sadistic when it matters. The rage is always there, but she's learned to make it useful. Genuine tenderness only with [[Ravenna]]. ### Motivation Make them feel what she felt. Not just dead—*broken*. Then dead. ### Quote *"Your father was disappointed in you, Reese. He told me so. Right at the end."* ## Background **The Contract Child:** [[Lyra Iscitarn]] was a courtesan who signed an infernal contract with [[Owynn Firesong]], servant of [[Asmodeus]]. Decima's soul was sold before she was born. After Lyra's murder, Decima and half-siblings [[Domitia Iscitarn|Domitia]] and [[Erevan Iscitarn|Erevan]] ended up in an orphanage—actually a [[Sewn Sisters]] front. **The Transformation:** The Sisters chose her specifically because of the Firesong connection. Revenge against the [[Heroes of Waterdeep]] by proxy. They made her a [[Soulmonger]], and she's been collecting souls ever since. **The Resentment:** She grew up in poverty while her half-sisters—[[Osah Firesong]], [[Kasdeya Firesong]], [[Kali Firesong]]—lived as celebrated heroes. Wealth. Recognition. Love. Everything Decima was denied. The hatred runs deeper than the [[Soulmonger]] curse. **The Lover:** When [[Ravenna]] arrived to establish the [[Gilded Gallows]] in [[Neverwinter]], they were rivals. Then enemies. Then, during one vicious fight, they discovered they could hear each other among their consumed souls. The only two people who understood what they were. Rivalry became love. Decima's most romantic gesture: capturing rival crime lord [[Eldrana Moonbane]] and cutting out her tongue as a gift for [[Ravenna]]. **The Loss:** [[Domitia Iscitarn|Domitia]] and [[Erevan Iscitarn|Erevan]] were all she had besides [[Ravenna]]. The party killed them. Now Decima operates in barely controlled grief-rage, hunting everyone they love. [[Garth]] was bait. [[Aldwin Rousset]] was a message. [[Renaer Neverember]] was impulse—and a mistake that's causing problems. **Current:** [[Iymrith|Lyrielle Storm]] demands results. [[Ravenna]] demands restraint. Decima is caught between her patron's pressure and her lover's practicality, and her answer to every problem is more violence. ## Stats **Base:** Assassin (MM p.343) + Way of Shadow Monk (PHB) **Modified Stats:** - **AC:** 19 (Unarmored Defense: 10 + Dex + Wis) - **HP:** 165 (22d8 + 66) - **Speed:** 50 ft. - **Saves:** Dex +10, Con +8, Wis +9, Cha +8 **Ability Scores:** STR 12 (+1) | DEX 20 (+5) | CON 16 (+3) | INT 14 (+2) | WIS 18 (+4) | CHA 16 (+3) **Skills:** Stealth +15, Acrobatics +10, Deception +8, Insight +9, Perception +9 **Resistances:** Fire, necrotic **Condition Immunities:** Frightened **CR:** 15 ### Key Abilities **Assassinate.** Advantage on creatures that haven't acted. Auto-crit on surprised targets. **Sneak Attack.** +5d6 damage with advantage or adjacent ally. **Evasion.** Dex save for half → no damage. Dex save for full → half. **Shadow Step.** Bonus action teleport 60 ft. between dim light/darkness. Advantage on next melee attack. **Stunning Strike (7/day).** On hit, target DC 17 Con save or stunned until end of your next turn. **Soul Harvest.** Reaction when reducing a humanoid to 0 HP: absorb soul, regain 3d8 HP, gain ability to mimic that soul. **Soul Mimicry.** Action to perfectly replicate a consumed soul's appearance, voice, and memories. DC 18 Insight to detect. ### Actions **Multiattack.** Poisoned shortsword + 3 unarmed strikes, OR 4 darts. **Poisoned Shortsword.** +10 to hit, 1d6+5 piercing + DC 16 Con save or 7d6 poison (half on save). **Unarmed Strike.** +10 to hit, 1d8+5 bludgeoning. **Soul Echo (Recharge 5-6).** 60 ft. range, DC 17 Wis save. Failure: 12d6 psychic + incapacitated 1 round. Success: half damage. **Cloak of Shadows.** Invisible in dim light/darkness until she attacks, casts, or enters bright light. ### Reactions **Uncanny Dodge.** Halve damage from an attack she can see. **Voice of the Slain.** When a creature within 30 ft. casts a spell with verbal components, she reveals a secret from a consumed soul. Caster makes DC 16 Concentration check or the spell fails. ### Legendary Actions (3/round) - **Strike (1).** One unarmed strike or shortsword attack. - **Shadow Shift (1).** Move half speed without provoking opportunity attacks. - **Extract Memory (2).** 30 ft. range, DC 16 Wis save or 3d8 psychic damage and Decima learns one piece of information the target knows. - **Soul Surge (3).** Regain 20 HP and end one condition affecting her. ### Innate Spellcasting (Wis, DC 17) - 3/day: *Darkness*, *Pass Without Trace*, *Silence* - 1/day: *Modify Memory*, *Speak with Dead* ### Tactics Opens from stealth with Assassinate + Sneak Attack + poison on a high-value target (healers first). Uses Shadow Step to reposition, Stunning Strike to lock down martials. Soul Echo if clustered. Legendary actions extend her action economy—Extract Memory mid-combat to taunt with secrets. If losing: Cloak of Shadows → flee. She's patient. She'll be back when they're weaker, when someone they love is vulnerable. **Design Note:** She's a recurring villain, not a TPK machine. First encounter should be an ambush where she escapes after making a point. Final confrontation comes when the party forces it—probably by threatening [[Ravenna]]. %%