Zaraleth

Campaign: Age of Wonders
Status: Deceased
Source Base: Age of Wonders character material; final-battle skeleton sheet labeled “Evil Zut”

Character Snapshot

Zaraleth was the sister of Correries and initially one of the Heroes of Aegea's enemies. Working for Correries, she sought the Five Gifts and repeatedly interfered with the Heroes' efforts to stop him. Her eventual decision to betray Correries and join the Heroes was genuine, driven both by her love for Tarn and by what she came to understand through him about the wrongness of her brother's ambitions.

1. Early Allegiance to Correries

Zaraleth initially served her brother Correries during the struggle over the Five Gifts. She acted as an antagonist to the Heroes of Aegea, working to further Correries' plans and thwarting the Heroes' attempts to stop him.

She was capable of operating openly against the Heroes, but when doing so she concealed her identity behind a black disguise that covered her entire body except for her eyes. Her appearance was essentially that of a ninja.

One of the important incidents involving this disguised identity was the theft of the Red Gift from Alantarin's temple. Zaraleth carried out the theft while disguised, preventing the Heroes from identifying the thief as someone they already knew.

The Heroes encountered the mysterious masked adversary several times, but she repeatedly escaped. They eventually began to suspect that their enemy was Correries' sister, Zaraleth, without realizing that she and their apparent ally named Zut were the same person.

2. Zut

Zut was Zaraleth's childhood nickname.

When she went undercover among the Heroes, she gave them only the name Zut. This allowed her to conceal her connection to Correries: anyone who recognized the name Zaraleth would immediately understand that she was Correries' sister, while “Zut” did not reveal that connection.

Thus, for a period of the campaign, Zaraleth was simultaneously:

• secretly working for Correries;
• spying on the Heroes;
• presenting herself to them as an ally named Zut; and
• secretly opposing them when necessary while disguised as a masked warrior.

The Heroes did not initially realize that these identities belonged to the same person.

3. Tarn and Zaraleth

While undercover as Zut, Zaraleth and Tarn Tanglefoot fell in love.

Her original intentions had been to spy on the Heroes and advance Correries' goals, but her relationship with Tarn gradually changed her understanding of the conflict.

Eventually Zaraleth confessed the truth to Tarn. She revealed that:

• Zut was actually Zaraleth;
• she was Correries' sister;
• she had originally been working for Correries; and
• she was abandoning that allegiance because she loved Tarn.

Through Tarn's perspective, Zaraleth came to recognize how far Correries had gone and how wrong his ambitions had become. Her change of allegiance was therefore a genuine act of repentance rather than another deception.

The Heroes were understandably upset that Zaraleth had originally deceived and betrayed them. Over time, however, they came to accept that her repentance was sincere.

Zaraleth and Tarn were romantically involved at the time of her death.

4. Break with Correries

The exact details of Zaraleth's final confrontation with Correries are not preserved.

The established sequence is that, after Correries had absorbed a Gift, Zaraleth confronted him and told him that he had gone too far. During the resulting argument, she made clear that she had rejected Correries' cause and was now on Tarn's side.

Correries reacted in rage and killed his own sister.

The exact circumstances, dialogue, and mechanics of her death remain uncertain.

5. Evil Zut

During the final battle of the Age of Wonders campaign, Correries created an evil version of Zut/Zaraleth to fight the Heroes.

This duplicate is the reason the surviving final-battle character sheet is titled “Evil Zut.” It should not be interpreted as Zaraleth having returned from the dead or having adopted another identity. It represents Correries' evil duplicate of the woman he had previously killed.

The existence of Evil Zut was particularly devastating for Tarn because Correries had already killed the real Zaraleth, the woman Tarn loved.

The skeleton sheet for Evil Zut was a combat-reference document created for the final battle rather than a complete character sheet. Its omissions therefore do not establish that Zaraleth lacked abilities, feats, skills, or equipment.

6. Final-Battle Statistics

The surviving skeleton sheet records the following combat statistics for Evil Zut. For campaign documentation, the statistics are retained as the final combat representation of Zaraleth's character, while the “Evil Zut” label is understood to refer to Correries' duplicate.

Ability Scores

The sheet's base ability scores, combined with her Headband of Perfect Excellence, give the following effective scores:

7. Monk Abilities

Zaraleth was a 20th-level Monk under the D&D 3.0 rules. The final-battle sheet was not intended to reproduce her complete class progression; it recorded only abilities that were particularly relevant to the encounter.

She should therefore be treated as possessing the full set of applicable abilities of a 20th-level 3.0 Monk.

The abilities specifically recorded on the combat sheet were:

• Stunning Attack: DC 32; 20 uses recorded.
• Quivering Palm: DC 32; 1 use recorded for the combat.
• Wholeness of Body: 40 hit points of healing.
• Ki Strike +3: attacks capable of overcoming applicable damage reduction up to +3.
• Diamond Soul: Magic Resistance 34.

The Magic Resistance 34 is explained by Zaraleth's Monk's Tattoo +4. Her normal 20th-level 3.0 Monk Diamond Soul value was increased by the tattoo.

The absence of other Monk abilities from the skeleton sheet does not indicate that she lacked them.

8. Attacks

Unarmed Strike

+19 / +16 / +13 / +10 / +7

Flurry of Blows

+17 / +17 / +14 / +11 / +8 / +5

With Combat Gloves

The sheet records a separate attack progression using her enchanted combat gloves: +24 / +24 / +21 / +18 / +15 / +12

Flurry with Combat Gloves

+22 / +22 / +20 / +19 / +16 / +13 / +10

Her recorded unarmed damage was: 1d20 + 11

The gloves added:

• +1d6 cold from Frost
• +1d6 electricity from Electricity
• +1d6 fire from Flame

The gloves' Wounding property caused 1 point of bleeding damage per round per successful hit.

9. Magic Items

For the character record, the crossed-out items on the final-battle sheet are retained as equipment. During the final battle, Zaraleth was hit by a Mordenkainen's Disjunction spell, destroying many of her magic items. So the ones noted as crossed out are the ones destroyed in that fight.

Bracers of Armor +10

Additional properties: Heavy Fortification, Escape

Combat Gloves +5

Properties: Speed, Wounding, Frost, Electricity, Flame, Spellblade — Force Missiles These are the gloves reflected in her enhanced attack routines.

Ring of Nine Lives

Possessed by Zaraleth; crossed out on the combat sheet.

Ring of Telekinesis

DC 35

Rod of Negation

Possessed by Zaraleth; crossed out on the combat sheet.

Monk's Belt

Possessed by Zaraleth; crossed out on the combat sheet.

Steadfast Boots of Striding and Springing

These boots doubled her movement speed under the 3.0 rules. Her 20th-level Monk movement of 90 feet therefore became the recorded 180 feet.

Brooch of Shielding

The sheet records:

• 101 — total magic-missile damage the brooch could absorb.
• 84 — amount remaining at the time represented by the sheet.

Headband of Perfect Excellence

A 3.0 magic item designed for monks, providing:

• +6 Strength
• +6 Dexterity
• +6 Wisdom

Monk's Tattoo +4

Provides the additional +4 responsible for Zaraleth's recorded Diamond Soul Magic Resistance 34.

10. Skills and Feats

The skeleton sheet contains no skill list and no feat list.

This should not be interpreted as evidence that Zaraleth had no skills or feats. The document was specifically constructed as a combat-reference skeleton for the final battle.

One possible explanation for her recorded Magic Resistance 34 was previously considered to be a 3.0 Spell Resistance feat, but this is unnecessary: the Monk's Tattoo +4 accounts for the recorded value. The feat should therefore not be added to her character record unless another source establishes that she possessed it.

11. Physical Description

Zaraleth was apparently in her early twenties during the Age of Wonders campaign, although her exact age is not established.

She was:

• Human
• Slim but athletic
• Short-haired and blonde
• Blue-eyed
• Attractive
• Capable of adopting a deliberately intimidating or “mean” stare

When operating openly as an enemy, she concealed her face and wore black clothing, giving her a distinctive ninja-like appearance.

12. Relationships

Correries

Zaraleth was Correries' sister and initially his loyal agent. She worked directly toward his objectives before ultimately rejecting his ambitions.

Her decision to abandon Correries was one of the most significant betrayals of his cause. Correries ultimately killed her after she openly declared that she had chosen Tarn and rejected him.

Tarn Tanglefoot

Zaraleth and Tarn fell in love while she was undercover as Zut.

Their relationship was the central personal factor in her redemption. Tarn's perspective helped her recognize that Correries' goals had become fundamentally wrong.

They were romantically involved before Correries killed her.

Heroes of Aegea

Zaraleth initially deceived the Heroes while acting as their apparent ally, then openly betrayed Correries and joined their side.

The Heroes were understandably distrustful after learning that Zut had actually been Correries' sister and spy. They eventually accepted that her repentance was genuine.

13. Canon and Uncertainty Notes

Established:

• Zaraleth was Correries' sister.
• Zut was her childhood nickname.
• She worked for Correries against the Heroes.
• She operated undercover as Zut.
• She sometimes fought the Heroes while disguised in black.
• The Heroes eventually suspected their masked enemy was Zaraleth without realizing that Zut and Zaraleth were the same person.
• She stole the Red Gift from Alantarin's temple while disguised.
• She fell in love with Tarn.
• She revealed her identity and allegiance to Tarn.
• She rejected Correries' cause and genuinely joined the Heroes.
• Correries killed her.
• Correries later created Evil Zut for the final battle.
• The surviving “Evil Zut” sheet is a combat-reference skeleton rather than a complete character sheet.

Uncertain:

• Exact age.
• Exact alignment before and after her redemption.
• Exact circumstances and dialogue of her death.
• Complete feat list.
• Complete skill list.
• Other details of her life before and during her service to Correries.

The character sheet's title “Evil Zut” should not be used as evidence that Zaraleth herself was evil at the end of her life. It identifies Correries' evil duplicate created for the final battle.