Illu s i v e F o ol

A drano Mirkent travels the

kingdoms and realms creating
whimsical illusions and performing
fantastical tricks. Everyone knows his
legerdemain and illusions aren’t real,
yet no one has caught on that his entire
persona is a falsehood. He plies his trade
in bustling cities, sleepy backwater towns,
and even faraway meadows —this trick-
ster’s reputation draws crowds to even
these remote places — but these are not
chosen at random. Each performance is one
part of a maleficent plan to open a planar
gate to a long-sealed dimension, the home
and prison of a forgotten god-like entity
consumed with a potent evil that has filled
WRITING Joseph Colman
Adrano’s mind with false promises of
COLOR ART Ellis Goodson
limitless knowledge. EDITING Mike Myler
LAYOUT Frank Michienzi

Illusive Fool  |  EN World EN5ider

History
The flax fields of the Mirkent family farm is where
Adrano spent his youth, surrounded by extended
family that had lived in the area for generations.
He was a bright child and enjoyed school, quickly
finishing his lessons and always looking for more
to learn and explore. The magician Oran visited
Adrano’s town and put on a show that was more
than the usual sleight of hand most traveling magi-
cians performed, seeming to conjure magical beasts
who danced amongst spinning lights — and the
true illusionist saw the glimmer of magical talent
in the eyes of young Adrano.
Oran returned twice a year for a month at a time
over the next eight years, performing in the area
but mostly spending time instructing Adrano in
the ways of magic (specifically the crafting of illu-
sions). The mage left texts and assignments for his
student while absent, lessons that were dutifully
studied and practiced constantly. Adrano mastered
all Oran had to teach by his sixteenth birthday
when his teacher enrolled him into an illusionist
guild with an apprenticeship to the guildmaster.
Adrano’s family were saddened to see him leave,
but had known for years that his talents would take
him out of the small farming community.
The Illusionist Guild, formally known as the
Praestiginian Academy, sits atop a hill two day’s
travel from any settlement. The appearance of the
castle seems to change the longer it is viewed, shim-
mering and shifting in daylight and moonlight.
In the copper-lined halls and classrooms Adrano
learned more than he ever dreamed possible. The
master worked his apprentices hard at lessons and
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chores, but was a fair and caring man that always
took an interest in the successes and troubles of
his pupils, certain that his thoroughness and their
repeated exercises would sometimes frustrate the
energetic young students.
Adrano swiftly learned his lessons and expe-
rienced periods of boredom, especially in the
evenings when most apprentices were occupied
with their studies —which is why he started
perusing the seemingly endless stacks of the
guild’s library. He spent many evenings and nights
alone there, ultimately drawn deeper and deeper
into the dustier backrooms. After a year Adrano
found himself in a chamber that had been long
forgotten, its shelves and books covered in inches
of dust save for an impeccably clean three volume
set that showed no signs of age. The tomes sat in the
middle of a shelf and were it not for their pristine
appearance surely he would never have noticed
them. As Adrano opened the first volume the text
glowed golden, illuminating his face, and though it
was written in a language unknown to him as he
stared at the diagrams and script, with every turn
of the page the infernal text became more legible.
These books quickly became an obsession of
Adrano’s and as he spent more and more time
with them, he neglected his studies to the point of
ignoring his mentor and assignments. The guild-
master learned of Adrano’s books and confronted
him but the impetuous student refused to listen to
reason and would not hand them over. Ultimately
the tomes were pried from his hands and Adrano
was locked in his chambers, left to ponder his fate.
That night Adrano heard whispers in his sleep,
at first thinking them a strange dream. A disem-
bodied voice told him that the books would grant
knowledge without end, and that if the diagrams in
the third volume were traced onto the land and the
rites performed at the correct locations then a lost
god of lore would be released from his intradimen-
sional prison. Adrano rose from bed and followed
the directions of the voice as it guided him along
the ledges and roofs of the guild’s castle until
finally he stood at the windows of the guildmas-
ter’s chambers.
 Entering stealthily and creeping along the
wall, Adrano unknowingly activated the wards
protecting the chambers and the guildmaster was
awoken by magical alarms. He panicked and threw
a powder from a nearby desk into his teacher’s face,
fleeing with the infernal books and an enchanted
robe that lay nearby. Now a wanted man, Adrano
adopted the disguise of a clown — concealing
his face in colorful makeup and mirth, traveling
throughout the land to complete the diagrams so
meticulously described in his accursed tomes.
Appearance
Adrano only appears in public with his clown
makeup on, concealing his face with pastel swirls and
streaks of glitter that help draw attention away from
his angular facial features, high-placed cheekbones,
sharp brow, and neatly trimmed brown hair framing
his sienna-toned face. Even so, he is considered hand-
some with or without any cosmetics applied.
He wears jester’s pants with slits of contrasting
colors and a loose fitting shirt covered by a multi-
colored patchwork robe. Adrano struts with
confidence through the streets of cities and towns
performing small bits of legerdemain, the bells
sewn into his pants and shirt cuffs twinkling as he
performs. His build is wiry and compact with the
lean, tense musculature of an acrobat— an appear-
ance that not only draws attention, but distracts
observers making it easier to perform his tricks.
Personality
Though he is quick of wit and has a sharp tongue,
Adrano’s good nature makes people feel at ease
and his joking rarely offends —yet his outwardly
shining personality is just as much of a performance
as anything else he does. In private he is quiet,
reserved, and solely focused on his stolen texts,
utterly obsessed with the idea that there are hidden
layers of knowledge in the books. He pours over
them again and again, seeking secrets he missed in
the countless times he’s read through them.
Illusive Fool  |  EN World EN5ider
PERSISTENT PIGEONS
Wondrous item, rare
This magical golden cage is 1-foot across and wide,
and 18 inches high. It acts as the home for the magical
avians summoned from it. When its command words
are spoken and a pinch of birdseed is sprinkled over
the cage, 3 pigeons appear. The pigeons appear
normal, but under observation by someone that
has cast detect magic they emit a golden glow. The
pigeons require no food, water, or rest. They cannot
be harmed by nonmagical means, although a casting
of dispel magic instantly returns them to their cage.
When the pigeons arrive at their destination, they
wait for a return message to be tied to a leg before
returning to the owner of the cage.
Adrano has become an expert at politely rebuffing
people’s attempts to socialize with him after perfor-
mances. He feels a ceaseless drive to study the tomes
and becomes irritable if he is kept from them for too
long. The only exception to this compulsive behavior
is when he interacts with farmers and their families.
He will dine with them and accept any hospitality
they show, spending considerable time entertaining
their children and teaching small tricks. This return
to the familiarity of farm life is the only thing that
eases his obsession with the diagrams.
Activities
Traveling near and far, Adrano has spent years
tracing the ancient diagram on the land itself
and is singularly driven in his quest. If he is not
performing he is on the road, traveling light with
only a pack donkey carrying his few possessions.
He always keeps the strange books on his person,
hidden in a bag of holding stored in an interior pocket
impossible to pilfer from without his knowledge.
As he walks, Adrano drops a line of ash made from
the burned pages of other tomes.
Adrano has built a reputation throughout the
realm and maintains it by advertising. He keeps a
network of advertising agents in his employ and
communicates with them via persistent pigeons kept in
a golden cage that always appears empty. The agents
distribute posters for upcoming shows, hire barkers,
and organize private shows for affluent patrons.
None of them know the true purpose of the clown’s
seemingly harmless shows and they rarely see him,
having payments delivered by courier or deposited
into banks or merchant house holding accounts.
He pays them well and his cover as a successful
performer has thus far withstood scrutiny.
Motivations
A powerful eldritch force drives Adrano to complete
the diagram, and the closer he gets to finishing his
work the more single-minded he becomes — the
trickster does not realize it but he is possessed by
the dark power that has communicated with him
through the books. The entity was released into
Adrano’s mind when the tomes were first opened,
using his thirst for knowledge as a pathway for the
WAKING NIGHTMARE
4th-level illusion (sorcerer, warlock, wizard)
Casting Time: 1 Action
Range: 60 feet
Components: V, S, M (rheum from a hound)
Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute
This spell creates an illusion of the most horrifying
nightmare of a creature within range. The nightmare
is visible to all creatures able to see, but only the
target makes a Wisdom saving throw. On a failure, it
finds itself immersed in a scene pulled from its most
sinister dreamscape. The illusion overwhelm’s the
target’s senses and it is incapacitated for the dura-
tion as it finds itself surrounded by horrors of its
own making. If the affected individual takes physical
damage the illusion will be broken, and at the end of
each of its turns it repeats the saving throw, ending
the effect on itself on a success. After the incapaci-
tated condition ends on the target, it suffers one level
of exhaustion as the terror it has experienced lingers
on in its mind.
Illusive Fool  |  EN World EN5ider
entity to slip a tiny bit of consciousness through the
prison dimension and into a mortal mind. Adra-
no’s day-to-day activities do not seem evil as his
true purposes are well concealed. If anyone tries
to impede his progress he becomes increasingly
agitated until eventually becoming enraged, doing
anything to escape from people stopping him for
more than a short amount of time.
ADRANO MIRKENT THE CLOWN
MEDIUM HUMANOID, NEUTRAL EVIL
Armor Class 17 (magic robe)
Hit Points 40 (7d6+5)
Speed 30 ft.
STR DEX CON INT WIS CHA
12 (+1) 14 (+2) 11 (+0) 16 (+3) 10 (+0) 19 (+4)
Skills Perception +6
Senses passive Perception 16
Languages Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Infernal (written)
Challenge 5 (1,800 XP)
Spellcasting. Adrano is a 7th level spellcaster that uses
Charisma as his spellcasting ability (spell save DC 15; +7
to hit with spell attacks). He knows the following spells:
Cantrips: dancing lights, mage hand, minor illusion,
prestidigitation, shocking grasp
1st-level (4 slots): color spray, disguise self,
silent image, fog cloud
2nd-level (3 slots): invisibility, mirror image, shatter
3rd-level (3 slots): fear, hypnotic pattern, major image
4th-level (1 slot): waking nightmare
ACTIONS
Quarterstaff. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5
ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d6+1) bludgeoning damage, or
5 (1d8+1) bludgeoning damage if used with two hands.
Adrano relies on spells to confuse and hinder
opponents while he attempts to flee, and as he is
continually pursued he keeps a full purse to pay for
hired help to protect him (2d4 thugs). In addition
to his persistent pigeons, Adrano has a rare magic
robe (which requires attunement but increases his
armor class to 15 + Dexterity modifier while not
wearing armor) and a bag of holding. e