[X] Khsar, Faceless God of the Desert Winds
[X] Wandering Soul. The desert is not kind to those who linger, and so your people are nomads, wandering between trade hubs and isolated oases. The elders say you are descended from the people who once lived in a now-dead land, but you don't much care. The tribe is your family, and that is enough.
[X] Servant of the Dead. The dead rule Nehekhara, but that does not mean they are all that resides there. Whether servant, slave or trophy, you were born to living parents in a land where nothing living should ever grow, and you grew to maturity under the cruel gaze of tyrants who rule from beyond the grave.
[X] Wandering Soul. The desert is not kind to those who linger, and so your people are nomads, wandering between trade hubs and isolated oases. The elders say you are descended from the people who once lived in a now-dead land, but you don't much care. The tribe is your family, and that is enough.
[X] Sunset Orphan. The kingdoms of Araby count themselves places of prosperity and learning, but without clear parentage you had little enough of either. You survived by being useful, by honing your skills and changing your demeanour to suit the needs and preferences of others, and by destroying those who might think to lay claim to what is yours.
Behold, Lybaras! A beautiful jewel in the crown of Nehekhara, a glittering paradise of art and learning on the shores of the Shining Sea! See it's many pyramids clad in gold, it's rank of statues wrought with inhuman artifice in honour of the gods, it's beautiful palaces filled with luxuries from the far corners of the world!
See, now, how it has been ruined. Feel the bitter wind against your skin, taste the stench of death upon the air. The walls have cracked, the temples have been plundered, the far flung outposts have been buried by the sands or beneath the choking grasp of the southern jungles. Though Nagash never managed to claim Lybaras in his twisted crusade, the city played a key part in his defeat, and so his vengeance scoured it to the bone. Plague claimed the population and sorcerous onslaught its walls, and what little remained died of starvation or fled across the seas and never looked back.
When the dead rose, they claimed Lybaras for their own as they did all other cities in the Once-Blessed Land, dead kings and rotten princes warring with one another for supremacy over a land that each had owned in life. In Lybaras the victor was High Queen Khalida, a contemporary of Nefereta slain for the threat she posed to the dark lady's plans, a fierce and honourable warrior beloved of the Asp Goddess. With sharp blades and silken words she bound her fractured people into something approximating a unified whole, and with the mark of Asaph's favour so clearly evident upon her marble-hard flesh she found few willing to stand in her way for long.
The Restoration of Lybaras has been a work of centuries, a labour that only the tireless determination of the undead renders possible in any meaningful timeframe. Buildings have been repaired, the jungle pushed back, the myriad threats afflicting the land hunted down and slain by legions of animate dead. And, most critical of all, a population has been reestablished. Founded by captured slaves and honoured foes, fed and watered by provisions wrenched from sea and jungle by unliving hands, the people of Lybaras have been schooled and trained and sculpted over the course of generations until they resemble at last the people that once sheltered within these towering walls.
You are one of them; not quite a slave, not quite free, you were born to parents you no longer remember and taken by the dead at a young age to be trained in one of the many arts that their ancient sensibilities suggested was necessary for a functioning civilisation to truly flourish. Mentored and commanded by the dead, regarded with respect and fear by the living, you lived a life of strange privilege quite unique in all the world.
You were trained as a…
[ ] Champion
The dead monarchs of Lybaras are as prone to rivalry and vendetta as any living creature, but by decree of the High Queen are forbidden from marching against each other in open war. Living champions were chosen as an appropriate compromise; kept in luxurious apartments and trained in all the traditional forms of Nehekharan weapons, retainers such as you duel one another for the pleasure of your unliving masters. You have drawn blood in the name of law, tradition, personal honour and simple entertainment, and are as much a status symbol as a personal combatant. (Hunter calling)
[ ] Envoy
Afflicted by the Curse of Nagash, Lybaras cannot sustain itself or its people alone, and even if it could there are matters of empire to consider. The presence of a living human is taken as a comfort by those mortal traders who dare do business with the dead, and as a sign of wealth by other princes of Nehekhara. You have brokered deals and hosted meetings for dignitaries and potentiates from a hundred different nations, some of them far afield from Lybaras itself. You know a dozen languages and have a passing mastery of as many trades and schools of thought, the better to represent your patron's cause. (Lover calling)
[ ] Priestess
The High Queen is a pious woman, even millennia in the grave, and it pleases her to see the temples of Asaph flourishing in the shadows of her immortal reign. Chosen for your beauty as much as your artistic skill, you conduct the rituals of a goddess whose faith has remained largely unchanged for millennia, and the demands of your training have made you an artisan, assassin and courtesan by turns, each trade honed and polished to mastery. Asaph will not tolerate the ugliness of the merely average, after all. (Creator calling)
Though ignorant of your true heritage, you've never been able to really blend in with the common masses of humanity. Something about you has always stood out, some mark of quality or good breeding that sets you apart from the common man. This is perhaps something of a mixed blessing, since it was your unique potential that saw the dead take you from what family you might have otherwise held and elevate you into service, but you know better than to shun it entirely. The dead rule with absolute dominion, and it is only such factors that let you exert even a modicum of control over your own fate.
What is it that makes you particularly noteworthy, in the eyes of others and yourself?
[ ] Might. You have always been strong of limb, possessed of a powerful charisma and blessed with unmatched genius, all qualities that make you best suited to resolving your problems with direct action and unwavering personal quality. You are not a subtle person, but neither have you ever met a challenge beyond your ability to overcome.
[ ] Finesse. You are fast and graceful in body, possessed of an appreciation for the subtle arts of social manipulation and quick-thinking adaptation. You prefer to go around obstacles when they appear, and rely on your ability to improvise on the fly when confronted with unexpected challenges.
[ ] Resilience. Your health and stamina are beyond reproach, enough to keep you going when other weaker souls would have failed, and your commitment to your ideals is infamously unshakable. You might not be prone to flashes of genius, but you have found that methodical care and persistence will wear down everything in your way all the same.
Article:
This is the last of the CharGen votes; the next update will begin the story that brings you to the attention of your divine mother, Asaph, and makes you aware of your heritage. I will not be putting names or appearances up to a vote, but if anyone has any particularly interesting ideas I would love to hear them.
To clarify; Might is "overwhelming applications of power, presence, and inspiration". Finesse is "deft applications of skill, perception, and cunning". Resilience is "unyielding applications of endurance, discipline, and willpower". They're not "physical, social, mental", but are a question of how we approach problems. In a fight, Might lays out the enemy with a powerful punch, Finesse aims for a tricky counter-strike, and Resilience rope-a-dopes until a vulnerability presents itself. Faced with a puzzle, Might solves it with a perfect burst of inspiration, Finesse looks for a clever shortcut or clue, and Resilience eliminates false possibilities and red herrings. They're all applicable in all arenas.
[X] Might. You have always been strong of limb, possessed of a powerful charisma and blessed with unmatched genius, all qualities that make you best suited to resolving your problems with direct action and unwavering personal quality. You are not a subtle person, but neither have you ever met a challenge beyond your ability to overcome.
[X] Might. You have always been strong of limb, possessed of a powerful charisma and blessed with unmatched genius, all qualities that make you best suited to resolving your problems with direct action and unwavering personal quality. You are not a subtle person, but neither have you ever met a challenge beyond your ability to overcome.
[X] Resilience. Your health and stamina are beyond reproach, enough to keep you going when other weaker souls would have failed, and your commitment to your ideals is infamously unshakable. You might not be prone to flashes of genius, but you have found that methodical care and persistence will wear down everything in your way all the same.
The one thing no one has ever had a lack of in the Old World is skilled fighters. Let's see what creation has to offer.
[X] Resilience. Your health and stamina are beyond reproach, enough to keep you going when other weaker souls would have failed, and your commitment to your ideals is infamously unshakable. You might not be prone to flashes of genius, but you have found that methodical care and persistence will wear down everything in your way all the same.
[X] Resilience. Your health and stamina are beyond reproach, enough to keep you going when other weaker souls would have failed, and your commitment to your ideals is infamously unshakable. You might not be prone to flashes of genius, but you have found that methodical care and persistence will wear down everything in your way all the same.
I should clarify that Might also improves your social skills - it just means you're very good at being highly personable and charismatic, taking the initiative in social scenes and such.
To clarify; Might is "overwhelming applications of power, presence, and inspiration". Finesse is "deft applications of skill, perception, and cunning". Resilience is "unyielding applications of endurance, discipline, and willpower". They're not "physical, social, mental", but are a question of how we approach problems. In a fight, Might lays out the enemy with a powerful punch, Finesse aims for a tricky counter-strike, and Resilience rope-a-dopes until a vulnerability presents itself. Faced with a puzzle, Might solves it with a perfect burst of inspiration, Finesse looks for a clever shortcut or clue, and Resilience eliminates false possibilities and red herrings. They're all applicable in all arenas.
Anyway, Champion, Might, and Resilience all interest me less because I feel we're basically already getting someone like that in a Maugan Warhammer quest with Erica in Of Wolves and Witches.
