Leraje, The Green Herald
Once a favored servant of the primary deity of the elves, Leraje allowed her pride to become her downfall. Leraje gives her summoners the ability to bring a bow to hand at will, to fire it with accuracy, and to damage a foe’s sense of self with it. In addition, she gives her hosts keen vision in darkness and skill at hiding.
Legend: Tales of Leraje’s prowess with a bow exist to this day, although her feats are now ascribed to deities and other great heroes, and most elves think her legend is heresy. Pact magic treatises maintain that Corellon Larethian called upon Leraje to be his first herald among mortals. She taught the elves how to make and use bows, though none could ever come close to matching her prowess. Legend holds that she killed Thessala, goddess of hydras, by shooting a single arrow through all one thousand of her heads, thereby causing her children, the hydras, to be dull and crude throughout eternity. One day, Leraje helped Corellon save Lolth, who had not yet fallen from grace, from an ambush set by Gruumsh.
Lolth praised Leraje for her skills, claiming that not even Corellon could fire an arrow as fast or as accurately as his herald. Leraje beamed under the compliment, and a bemused Corellon challenged her to an archery duel to settle the matter. When Leraje agreed, Corellon declared their target: her heart. Corellon expected his servant to realize the error of her pride and yield the contest, but Leraje instead brought up her bow, aimed an arrow at Corellon, and pulled back the string. Surprised, he raised his own bow and fired at her. Leraje released her bowstring at that same moment, aiming not at the god but at the arrow that sped toward her heart. Leraje’s arrow met that of her deity in midair and ricocheted back, piercing her heart before Corellon’s arrowhead even touched her chest. As punishment for wasting her life for the sake of her stubborn pride, Corellon Larethian cast Leraje’s soul from heaven and earth.
Special Requirement: To summon Leraje, you must break an arrow crafted by an elf while calling out Leraje’s name and title. In addition, Leraje hates Amon for some unknown reason and will not answer your call if you are already bound to him.
Manifestation: Leraje appears before her summoner as though she had always been there, but camoufl aged so well that she could not be seen. First her dull eyes open, then her yellowed teeth come into view out of seeming nothingness, revealed in a sly smile. As Leraje moves, her body takes shape against the background, and her clothes and skin change color to reveal her as an elf archer dressed in beautifully decorated green leather armor. Although she was clearly beautiful at some point, the ravages of some toxin or disease have made her hair limp, yellowed her eyes and teeth, and made her skin pockmarked and
sallow.
Sign: You look sickly and diseased, and your skin becomes sallow and pockmarked.
Influence: While influenced by Leraje, you become quiet and unassuming. Leraje still feels considerable guilt about the actions that led her to become a vestige, so she requires that you not attack any elf or creature of elven blood, including half-elves and members of the various elf subraces, such as drow.
Granted Abilities: You gain supernatural powers related to Leraje’s skills in life, as well as the ability to fire arrows that literally wound your target’s pride.
Hide Bonus: You gain a +4 competence bonus on Hide checks.
Low-Light Vision: You gain low-light vision. If you already have it naturally, you gain superior low-light vision and can see three times as far as your light source would normally illuminate. Thus, a torch that illuminates a 20-foot radius would allow you to see clearly up to 60 feet and provide you with shadowy illumination to a distance of 120 feet.
Precise Shot: You gain the benefit of the Precise Shot feat.
Ricochet: As a standard action, you can make a single ranged attack against two adjacent targets. Make a single attack roll and apply that result to the Armor Class of both targets. Any hit you score deals damage to the target normally. Extra damage from abilities such as sneak attack or sudden strike apply to only one target, which you must designate prior to making the attack roll.
Weapon Proficiency: While bound to Leraje, you are proficient with the composite longbow, composite shortbow, longbow, and shortbow. If you were already proficient with any of these weapons, you instead gain a +1 competence bonus on attack rolls with them.
