Radok the Toad.pdf  

SERVANTS OF CHAOS

The City by the Spire stands besieged on all sides by ancient and dire evil, from the Lords of Chaos hidden deep underfoot to the towers of Jabel Shammar looming high overhead to the denizens of the lower planes that lurk within its very walls. Is it any wonder, then, that so many of the servants of Chaos call Ptolus home?

Radok the Toad

Toad. Leech. Imp. Scum. A worthless hanger-on as welcome as dog waste on a boot's sole. Bat-shit insane. The cultists refer to Radok by all these epithets and more, when they bother to acknowledge him at all. Radok, however, prefers to be called Garrett's Sheathe.

...

Radok was unusually violent and antisocial even for a goblin. His warren was invaded and slaughtered by a group of delvers exploring the area. Radok was isolated from the rest of the warren and was thus spared from the initial slaughter. One of the delvers, a cruel and disfigured human named Garrett, managed to capture him as a prize. For several weeks, Garrett kept Radok and several of his warren mates on a leash, using them for practice on slow nights. During that time, Radok grew to idolize Garrett's skill and cruelty. That he was tortured and demeaned on a regular basis did nothing to deter his hero worship. Garrett eventually let him off his leash, hoping to be rid of him (what fun is a broken, sloven will?). Unfortunately, the vile little imp followed Garrett at a distance, growing closer and bolder as each day passed. One night, in a drunken fit, Garrett shooed Radok from his hiding place and, as the goblin groveled at his feet, thrust his sword through its chest.

Rather than quietly curl up and die, Radok boiled and shook with rage. All the pent up anger and frustration at being ignored and rejected bubbled to the surface and possessed him with a spirit of blind fury. He knocked Garrett to the ground as he raced through the camp, tearing the delving party to pieces with bare hands and teeth. He finally collapsed as he lurched back to Garrett, pulling the blade from the wound. Garrett, impressed by the toad's aggression, bandaged his wounds and took him topside in the city. He sought out the Surgeon in the Shadows and paid him to turn the goblin Radok into a living sheathe for his sword. Using a special alchemical mixture, the Surgeon toughened the flesh exposed to the sword's blade to resist all manner of cutting. Radok awoke to find a hole through his chest, from sternum to coccyx, filled with Garrett's sword. He was ecstatic.

Radok followed Garrett on his delves for several years. He learned to fight by watching his master and by practical experience upon finding that his master cared not to fend for him. Far outclassed by the challenges his master faced on a daily basis, Radok quickly learned to hide from danger and attack at range while his master engaged their foes face to face. These were the golden years for Radok, the closest he ever came to finding acceptance with Garrett, for his master soon fell in with a chaos cult. The leader of this cult, a woman Garrett referred to affectionately and piously as The Mistress, did not take well to “Garrett's pet.” She bored of his simple mind and inability to grasp her cult's purpose. He was a “dumb beast” best bled to death and forgotten. Garrett literally threw him out of their hideout without a second thought or a parting word. The Mistress had spoken.

Radok, left to fend for himself, took to the streets as a thief and sell sword. In a sad attempt to reclaim his master, he tracked down the Surgeon in the Shadows when he had saved up the money and added another sheathe to his body. It was a welcome but short-lived balm. Radok began to crave the surgery and body modifications like a shivvel-addict his drug. Every copper flowed from his hands into the coffers of the Surgeon until Radok became a walking mockery of a warrior, blades and points and hilts studding his entire being. Somewhere along the way, he also gained the confidence to confront The Mistress. He sneaked into the cult's hideout every night to sleep, avoiding their attention for a few days until they caught him curled up in the corner of Garrett's room. The Mistress seemed rather impressed with his new appearance but acted as though he were invisible. The others followed suit. Radok was not sure whether he was happy to be with Garrett or unhappy because no one paid him any mind.

This is the situation as it stands. Radok is free to come and go as he pleases amongst the cult but he is utterly ignored by them. He hates The Mistress for turning Garrett against him but he is wont to eliminate her for Garrett's sake. The rest of the cult is as invisible to Radok as he is to them, until and unless they obstruct him.

Radok is the hardiest and most stealthy “member” of the cult. Like a rat, he knows how to slink through the shadows, how to sneak up unawares, how to clamber up sheer walls to remain out of sight. He loves ambushes. He loves the mixed look of surprise and agony on his victims' faces when he pelts them from the rooftops of an alley. He loves to give chase, coming in and out of sight to build up fear before seemingly fading into the distance to give the illusion of escape. And he loves to dispel that illusion with a subtle blade between the ribs or a completely forthright axe to the face.

Until he is dead, Radok will never stop fighting. His eviscerated, one-armed torso will claw its way across the floor just to bite you on the ankle and punch you in the shin.

Appearance: If not for Radok's self-imposed features, he would be an unremarkable specimen of the goblin species. What little skin remains unmarred by scars and burns and modifications is green like a sour apple. His eyes are yellow like the full moon and, unlike his fellows, they shine instead of moldering beneath a dull glaze.

Radok's most striking feature, taken singularly, is the hole through his chest. A vertical slit of alchemically toughened flesh, the hole extends from the center of his chest down through his body and exits from his lower back. When Garrett favored Radok as his personal slave, this was the sheathe he used for his sword. Since falling out of Garrett's service, Radok has added dozens of similar but smaller sheathes across his body: up each arm, down each leg, across his stomach and shoulders, and even a few on and in his face. None of them are empty. His entire body bristles with sharp points, sharp blades, and hilts that are no doubt attached to sharp points and sharp blades.

Finally, a series of wide, double scars surround many of Radok's joints. His fingers, wrists, elbows, ankles, and knees all feature these scars, as does the top of his head (though these are obscured by the top-knot of hair that grows around them). These scars are the result of special surgery by the Surgeon in the Shadows to further augment Radok's armament. With a twist, Radok's joints come apart. His fingers twist off to become darts; his left arm detaches at the elbow to reveal a flail; his top-knot swivels open to produce a thin spiked chain coiled in a hollow in his skull. Radok does not shy away from using these weapons when necessary but even he realizes it is best to fight tooth and nail when one's teeth and nails are still attached to one's body.

Secret: Beneath his skin, Radok harbors a pair of chaositech devices he affectionately calls his “kill-suit.” The first of the devices is a total body graft that lies beneath the skin and integrated with his musculature. In the bizarre and unlikely event that he has exhausted the dozens of weapons sequestered in his body sheathes, Radok can activate this graft to literally cover his body in hundreds of metal spines and razor blades. They erupt from beneath his skin in a cloud of blood and pain and turn him into a living weapon. Radok imagines using his kill-suit to latch onto an opponent in a mocking hug and bleeding him to death as his laughs and his victim's struggles shred the razors ever deeper into their flesh.

The second chaositech device is a chaos bomb implanted in Radok's midsection. This bomb is his true weapon of last resort and it is triggered by a purely mental action, as Radok never knows which, if any, of his limbs will still be attached to his body should a fight ever reach this point. The bomb explodes in a brilliant ball of fire and shiny metal shrapnel, engulfing and hopefully destroying whomever Radok blesses with his life's last kill-suit embrace.

Personality: Radok may be the most immediately dangerous member of the cult. While the others are easily more powerful, Radok lacks their sense of self-preservation and does not distinguish between the battle and the war. Without another cultist to temper his aggression, Radok is sadistically violent and unwilling, or perhaps even unable, to stop fighting until his foes have fallen.

Quote: “Hee hee. I'm going to cut you into a million pieces. With this knife ... and this one ... and this one ... and THIS ONE ...”

DM Notes: Radok is never unarmed. He is proficient with every weapon and any object he can lift he can wield in a deadly manner (makes for interesting bar fights). He has a rogue's sneak attack, a barbarian's rage, several fighter bonus feats (most especially Quick Draw and the ranged combat feats), a decent attack bonus (between rogue and fighter) and similar hit points. His skills center on stealth, athletics, and combat. He will continuously spring ambushes, attacking at range from hiding and running away before anyone can close to melee.

Art copyright Alex Horley and/or Wizards of the Coast.