Sebastien Janvier, Cruel Stitcher
Past. Sebastien's siblings were always slightly scared of him: his tantrums, his rages, and the way he broke their toys and parents' belongings. When Sebastien's mother found him torturing a squirrel in the garden, however, she wasn't scared, but incandescent—not out of love for the animal, but for disgust at Sebastien emulating the "uncivilized" behavior that farmhands and stableboys would practice in the town outskirts. When Sebastien's father, a successful textiles merchant, returned home that night, he beat Sebastien bloody—a lesson in power and pain that Sebastien never forgot.
While Sebastien, a relatively small boy, could never quite threaten the bigger and older youths of his generation, a necromancy scroll he found in his father's library taught him to animate small piles of animal bones. When, at fifteen years old, he resurrected his childhood hound from a hole in the garden and commanded her to savage the other teens who had bullied him, however, his father killed the dog a second time, broke Sebastien's leg in the subsequent beating, and disowned him entirely for practicing the taboo of necromancy.
Determined to find success his own way, and to reclaim the wealth and comfort he had lost, Sebastien departed his hometown of Brives-le-Creuillon and sought to become an archmage of necromancy. When Sebastien tracked down Cyril and demanded to become his apprentice, Cyril—though reluctant to teach such a brute—found Sebastien's potential undeniable, and decided to channel the young man's skill to his cause.
Present. Sebastien is a stocky man of short-to-middling height with brown, bowl-cut hair and intense, flashing eyes. When he succumbs to one of his rages—which are frequent—he's prone to growling or snarling like a beast, flaring his eyes, and slamming his fists into walls or other objects while shouting or bellowing at anyone unlucky to be caught in his path.
At the time the players arrive in the Tomb of Divine Rays, Sebastien is (ostensibly) monitoring the seal in the Vault of Dusk, accompanied by several of Eveline's undead reserve, while repeatedly assembling, animating, deanimating, and disassembling a skeleton cat inside.
Future. As one of Cyril's inner circle, Sebastien is one of Cyril's few followers who knows that Cyril intends to abdicate his power once the ritual ends. While Cyril has repeatedly refused to promised it to him, Sebastien knows that Dumont's book will be unclaimed once Cyril departs this world—allowing Sebastien to take its power and carve a legacy all his own. Nonetheless, Sebastien is loyal to only one man—himself—and has no intention of dying for Cyril's cause.
Sebastien, Cruel Stitcher
HP 49 (9d8+9) AC 13 (mage armor), Speed 30 ft.
STR 11 (+0), DEX 10 (+0), CON 12 (+1), INT 15 (+2), WIS 11 (+0), CHA 12 (+1)
Gear: bone wand, 3 poisoned daggers
Actions
Poisoned Dagger. +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., range 20/60 ft. if thrown, one target. Hit: 1d4 piercing damage plus 3d6 poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be Poisoned for 1 minute. The target must repeat this save at the end of each of its turns.
Toll the Dead. Cantrip, WIS DC 13, range 30 feet, one creature. Failure: 9 (2d8) necrotic damage, or 13 (2d12) necrotic damage if the target is missing any of its Hit Points.
Ray of Sickness (3/day). 2nd-level spell, +5 to hit, range 60 feet, one creature. Hit: 13 (3d8) Poison damage and the target is Poisoned until the end of Sebastien's next turn.
Necroball (2/day). 3rd-level spell, DEX DC 13, range 150 feet, radius 20 feet. Effect: (28) 8d6 fire damage on a failed save, or half on a success.
Reactions
Shield (1st-level spell, 4/day). In response to being hit by an attack or failing a Dexterity saving throw against a harmful effect, Sebastien's AC or result increases by 5 against the triggering attack or effect.