Paisodos

Paisodos is an archmage and member of the Circle of Eight.

Appearance
Paisodos is a medium-sized man of unknown origin whose face is shrouded by an illusory blue haze at all times. This illusion cannot be dispelled unless he retires from his position in the Circle of Eight.

Personality
Paisodos seems to be a secretive man, and the Champions Valoris truly know little of his personality. He believes that some knowledge is too dangerous to be freely shared, unlike many of his colleagues. Paisodos has also expressed confidence in his abilities to keep his dealings with Ashara secret from the rest of the Circle, despite her extremely reasonable reservations. He considers himself less interested in abiding by rules and bureaucracy than his colleagues as well.

Background
Paisodos is a powerful mage who rose through the ranks of Atemcester's wizards to become a member of the Circle of Eight. Upon ascending to the Circle, Paisodos consented to remain anonymous and have his face hidden with illusion magic as long as he served as an archmage. His true name is unknown. Initially, he was known by his title and favored school of magic. However, this was deemed cumbersome by many and, upon the discovery of a tablet in ruins from the late Vrinian Empire, the archmagi decided to adopt the names of ancient wizards for their seats. Paisodos selected his pseudonym without knowing that his namesake was a deeply unpleasant person who bragged about his vast number of warforged slaves. Before the Champions Valoris arrived in Atemcester, the Circle held a vote on whether or not to entrust the Bands of the Archmagi to them, pending the results of a test of ability administered by the Crest's current guardian, Esbat. The vote was marginally in favor of allowing the adventurers to take the Abyssal Crest. Judging by his later reaction to a fellow archmage extolling the decision, Paisodos seems to have voted against the proposal.

Atemcester Arc
Paisodos was present for the party's initial meeting with the Circle of Eight. After other archmagi laid out the details of the trial, Paisodos transported the party into the realm where Esbat's temple was. Upon their return, he expressed some annoyance with Heifitos's pleasure at the party's success, accusing him of self-gratification. He advised the party and his fellow archmagi to keep the passing of the Crest secret, and was reassured by Thenoda that Rendor, the receptionist who received the party, had agreed to a mind wipe. Upon learning that Ashara is originally from the Vrinian Empire, Paisodos expressed some interest in learning from the past so mistakes are not repeated. However, at the end of her first discussion of Vrinian history and technology with the Circle, Paisodos lingered to warn Ashara to be careful who she shared knowledge with, claiming that it would be better if the world never remembered the Vrinian Empire. This spooked Ashara and reminded her of the original Paisodos, whom she knew as the man who stole her Emergency Displacer designs and forced her to work on the warforged project after she spoke out against it. At her second meeting with the Circle, Ashara accused Paisodos of being the original ancient archmage, feigning ignorance of the contents of the tablet the Circle had recovered. Paisodos denied these claims and expressed openness to changing his pseudonym, given the original Paisodos's involvement in slaving. Ashara suggested Charius, her father's name, as a subtle dig, which Paisodos said he would consider. Paisodos received an invitation to meet Ashara at the Fish and Spell later that night so they could speak more openly, as she was not yet convinced that he was genuine. That night, Paisodos visited the Fish and Spell, his face still shrouded by illusory blue fog. He telepathically asked Ashara to meet him alone in one of the booths. During their private meeting, Paisodos explained that the Circle's strict anonymity allows its members the possibility of successful retirement and that his interest in the Vrinian Empire was purely academic. He also explained that he suspects that there are more dangerous Vrinian secrets than what she showed to the Circle and is wary of what some of his colleagues could do with that information. Paisodos shared his theory that the original Paisodos's villa may have escaped the destruction wrought upon the empire and that the bodies of his reserve warforged may still lie within. He asked Ashara for help in destroying the warforged and preventing a possible future warforged uprising. In a show of good faith, he gifted Ashara the teleportation sigil for Malino're that she had requested, free of charge. He also promised to keep her involvement hidden from the rest of the Circle and offered to convert the destroyed warforged into usable mithril and adamantine. Ashara agreed that dismantling the warforged and any other devices with unethical uses at the villa was necessary. Before taking his leave, Paisodos told Ashara to call him the Blue Mage and said they'd keep in touch.

The Desperado Arc
After the party was attacked by mercenaries, hired by someone in Atemcester, they were unsure whether the attack was commissioned by Tyrian Vordt or someone from the Circle of Eight. Ashara attempted to contact Paisodos via Sending to learn more about abjuration wizards in Atemcester, as one accompanied the mercenaries, but discovered that she was not sufficiently familiar with him to contact him using the spell.

Goals
Paisodos has expressed concerns about the recovery of dangerous knowledge and inventions from the Vrinian Empire. He is particularly interested in the destruction of the warforged possibly stored at the site of his namesake's former villa.

Abilities
Paisodos is an extremely powerful wizard, considered a master of his craft. However, the Champions Valoris currently do not know his favored school of magic. His spells include Sending (or a similar spell) and an unknown teleportation spell.

Paisodos and Ashara
Paisodos's choice of pseudonym and warning about being too open about the Vrinian Empire initially raised Ashara's hackles, to the extent that she accused him of being the original Paisodos, with whom she had a contentious relationship. As a result, Paisodos initially seemed nonplussed by Ashara. However, after their private meeting, the two have formed an uneasy alliance in the name of preventing the return of the warforged.

Quotes

 * Name: "Quote."

Trivia

 * Since Paisodos teleported the party to Esbat's realm and most teleportation spells belong to the School of Conjuration, Paisodos may be the Archmage of Conjuration. However, this has not been confirmed within the campaign.