An adventurer in a shattered land (Adventuring/Dungeon Crawling/Original World - single character)
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An adventurer in a land overrun by monsters. What will our path be?
As society breaks down, the only thing left is to pay desperate people to try and put it right. Do we become part of the cycle, or do we try to fix things?
Follow the adventures of Lydia von Alteisen, a young elementalist, on her path of adventure!
Introduction (story) At the rate King Liam the third's first three days of rule had been going, he was fairly confident the revolution would kill him before he got another three. Currently he was flipping through pages of figures and reports at the council chamber, half reading, half wondering what his fate would be. He was sure Baron Olstein knew of all the secret passages out, but if he could convince the Baron that he as likely to die as Liam, then maybe they could escape together. But to where? His father had started wars with both neighboring countries, and neither held him in high regard. They'd be happy to parade him around of course, and make him sign lots of declarations, try to take over Lothringan, but in truth he'd be a very comfortable prisoner until he died. A fate slightly better than being stoned to death he supposed, but hardly something he could aspire to.
With a sigh, Liam dropped the papers and stood. Better to go out a manticore than a mouse, he thought. It had been one of his father's favorite sayings. Of course his father died in the privy of an enchanted spike, and Liam wasn't aware of any manticores that had gone out like that, but he figured he could give his father's advice one last shot. He took a long, deep breath, standing in front of the council doors. He tugged the bottom of his doublet, straightening it, and reached up to straighten the circlet on his brow. He resisted the impulse to run his fingers through his hair. "Here goes nothing" he whispered, looking at the doors.
With a bang, the doors flew open, and King Liam strode through. HIs council of advisors raised their heads collectively at the King's entrance. "Sire," Baron Olstrem began, pointing to something on the table, but the new King just shook his head and raised his hand.
"Subjects," Liam barked, addressing them as if they were lesser nobles, "I have heard your council, and seen your figures, and have some observations." He raised his hand, and lifted a finger. "First, Lothringan's taxes have been at 60% for ten years, and it's breaking the peasantry. Most of the food they produce goes to our stores, most of an artisan's coin goes to our coffers, and most of a merchant's wealth goes to paying for our military. That's the primary reason for the revolt. Which," he glared around the room gesturing, "you assure me is funded by none of you, but has the backing of wealthy and powerful merchants and lords."
"Second," Liam continued, raising another finger "despite all of these funds and efforts the royal knights corp has been largely unsuccessful. Monsters continue to roam our lands, driven by the formation of these dungeons," Liam paused, nearly choking as he spit out the hateful word. He took a breath and composed himself. "These dungeons, which have through their presence and their spawn, claimed the lives of over two thousand loyal and capable followers of this kingdom including my half-brother. Indeed, in the past five years you tell me the kingdom has gotten less safe, that merchants and peasants and even nobles have been killed by these foul spawn, and that our only option is to send more knights, an option which we can't possibly afford!" His voice raised again at the last bit, and he slammed his hand into the table. The nobles started at the loud bang.
Keeping control was harder than father made it look, Liam reflected, feeling almost distant from the man making the speech. He was sure some of the nobles here were in on the revolt, and if he was saying the wrong things he might leave this chamber as a corpse, the victim of another 'servant' ambush the nobility had nothing to do with and knew nothing about.
"Third," Liam continued after he calmed, "half of you are advising I ride forth at the head of a column of soldiers, made up - I remind you - of the knights whose lives we have been throwing away and militia who are made up the same peasants we'll be killing, and then brutally put down this revolt. In other words kill the peasants who are making us the food and money we desperately need, at the time we need it most!" He looked around, meeting each of their gazes until they lowered their eyes. All except for Olstrem. Was he that loyal that he felt no shame, or was it Olstrem who masterminded his father's death? A problem for another time, Liam supposed. For now, this was his only course of action.
"I have poured over the facts, the figures, and the numbers. And I, your Liege Lord, have figured out what we will do." Silently Liam cast a quick prayer to any gods listening that the nobles here didn't have time to read reports of what a small kingdom a few hundred miles away had done, for his idea wasn't completely new. But with luck, it'd cover things over until a proper solution could be found, and they'd refine it as they went.
"I, King Liam, proclaim three things. First, the food tithe is lowered to 10%, which is all that is needed to sustain the local guard, and the tax rate on coin and merchant fees is lowered to 15%. Farmers may again sell all types of food on the open market, instead of merely remnants and herbals, and border tarriffs are set at 20%. These rates may be negotiated, but for now, this is our proclaimation."
"Second, all auxilary knights are disbanded. All core knights, and knights remaining with our kingdom for three or more years remain employed, or receive a stipend. I have created a scale of stipend based on time of service, with bonuses for loyalty, and payments to the families of deceased knights. And third," Liam paused before the bombshell, "I announce the formation of an adventurer's guild. This new guild shall handle all incursions and threats to local villages, towns, and cities. The crown shall suppliment any local bounty relevant to the safety of our lands and our peoples, according to a schedule I've prepared. Other locals may post bounties for tasks not relating to cities, as they please, but the crown shall not offer subsidies for any private matters such as these. All auxilary and main knights are granted the title of adventurer and automatic membership to the guild without probationary period, all others..." he smiled, and dropped the sheaf of paper on to the table. "Well, ladies and gentlemen, take a look for yourself."
Liam sat down in his father's chair, and watched as the nobles began to pass around the papers, leafing through them. As their eyes widened, and they started conversing, he felt himself grinning slightly. Maybe I'll make it to a second week. [/SPOILER] Premise
Welcome everyone! This is the first time I've tried running a quest on this site, although I've read quite a bit. For my 2021 resolution, I'm going to start giving back to internet communities where others share writing, and share with them.
One thing I've noted reading this forum is that while it's very standard in RPGs, the dungeon crawler actually isn't very popular around here. And I understand why - it's often not that interesting of a setting. But what I believe is it allows for interesting characters and personal relations, and so I've decided to see what happens when running one. I intend to stick with this long-term (I know you have no way of verifying this, but my longest running tabletop game went four years, from Pathfinder, to 13th Age, to Dungeon World, and only stopped because I moved away from the other players). So welcome, and hope this gets some views!
We are ten years into the reign of King Liam, and twenty years past the time when our country started to get invaded by Dungeons - mystical places that force their way into your reality, bringing strange magics and monsters with them. We are playing as a young adventurer in Lothringan. We will be forming a party, taking tasks, and trying to find other party members. This will be traditional RPG-style, so everyone (including us) will have levels, classes, abilities, etc. While not every class is going to be combat related - there are crafting, trading, farming, etc. - us and our party members will be starting out with combat oriented classes. Classes are gained through will (basically what you want to do), and are improved by doing tasks related to your class. In our case, that's going to be completing quests and killing things mostly, although depending on what class we have that will change a bit.
There will be a combat system, but it'll focus more on flavor of actions than round-to-round combat. There will probably be 1-3 votes per action sequence, depending on the complexity. I'll dive more into that later.
Voting style will be Anarchy for now - a variation on Riot. All votes will be tabulated, and then one choice will be selected at random. Selecting the same thing as another person will raise the odds it gets picked, but no vote will be wasted - no matter how unpopular your choice is, you'll have a chance to be selected. The goal is that hopefully people pick something they'd like to read, rather than voting based on a block. I might revise this as we go on, but it feels like a fun choice.
We encounter a hostile noble, who accuses us of having destroyed some of his land. We did do that, but it was while fighting a barghest. The noble declares we're incompetent warriors, and that was the only reason his lands and honor are so damaged. To deal with this, the votes are [Bargain with to the Noble][Bargain with the Noble][Agree to duel the Noble][Run away]. I'd roll 1d4, and pick whichever one came up.
For write in votes, I'll sometimes assign weightings to options, based on our personality, which will in turn be based on our background and previous choices. For instance if we started as a shy street rat, then an option [Cut his throat in broad daylight] would receive a negative weighting from me. I also reserve the right to ignore write-in suggestions that don't fit the story's logic, or are nonsensical - e.g. [Declare ourself to be the Noble's Father]. The results of the actions will be resolved based on our stats, with dice rolls.
If I list choices you can assume that each vote is going to be counted as 1:1, while less likely votes might receive 0.5x, 0.3x, or 0.1x rating. If an option is unlikely, I'll note it in the vote.
I'm interested to see where we take this. Do we do traditional question for traditional reasons? Try to get rich? Become nobles? Solve the mystery? Or just enjoy the world we're in?
Character Creation Votes
[] - Name and gender: Write-in, suitable to the background selected. The country is vaguely Germanic, but if we pick a traveler or outsider background, it should match the flavor of culture we come from. [] - Age: 18-24. 18 is the youngest we're going to be allowed into the guild, while older would be implied with background. [] Background
As below. If options have selections, don't select at this stage. We will do that after an introduction post.
All backgrounds start with five skills related to the background, one at rank 3, one at rank 2, and three at rank 1.
Noble's youngest child You are the son or daughter of nobility. But not the firstborne, no. You're enough children down the line that we're unlikely to inherit anything. You were pushed towards crown military service, service of a deity, or adventuring, and you picked adventuring. Advantages: Inheritance (begin with high starting wealth), Entitled (have a noble title), Trained (Begin with training in our class, granting us two extra skills. Rank up one extra skill/level, usable only on skills below rank 5), Endowment (Start with a major magic item), Literate Disadvantages: Family History (Other nobles have history with your family), Obligations (will be pressured into acting in the family's interests), A Name to Noted (Start at bronze rank, taking quests below your rank generates negative reputation for you and your family)
Commoner The child of a farmer, blacksmith, or other simple profession. Your family is well off enough, and you could have gone into the family business, but we chose not to. Instead you chose the life of adventure. You are the most basic option, representing endless possibilities! Write-in what our parents do. Advantages: Background bonus (One bonus skill, based on our parent's profession - may be 'literate'), Open-minded (May learn one skill or ability outside your class every even level) Disadvantages: None! Besides our lack of advantages.
Street Urchin Many people died in the coming of the monsters, and the subsequent battles. Were your parents one of them? Who knows. You grew up in a major town, on the streets, begging and stealing what you could where you could. Now you're going to leave all that behind before you find your hand chopped off or worse. Advantages:Street knowhow (Start with ranks in pickpocketing, thieving, lockpicking, and stealth), Instinctual (Start with Awareness Rank 2, +1 bonus in cities), The Streets could not break me (Gain +2 Will) Disadvantages:Stuff? (start with inferior goods and no tools for our chosen class), Sickly (Start with -1 in all physical attributes), Illiterate
Foreign Traveler You've left the land of your birth to seek your fortune elsewhere. Now you've come to Lothringan. You've heard of the danger, but you've also heard of the magic, the powers, and the experience. It might be one of the least safe countries, but it's also the one you have the most opportunities in. Additional: Foreigner. You have a non-native background, and it shows through your appearance and accent. Briefly select the character's background. You understand the language in Lothringan, but are not fully fluent. This might result in opportunities or perils. Advantages:Unusual Toys (You have one exotic item no one in Lothringan has commonly seen. This isn't an ancient artifact, but it'll be decently powerful) Disadvantages: Prepared Foreigner (You did as much research as you could, but there's still things you can only know if you're a local)
Arcanist Runaway You have stolen some of the secrets of an arcane school or master, years ahead of what you might earn. You were discovered, and forced to flee. We settled in Lothringan, where people ask few questions of adventurers. Additional: Foreigner. You have a non-native background, and it shows through your appearance and accent. Briefly select the character's background. You understand the language in Lothringan, but are not fully fluent. Advantages: A school of magic (start with one school of magic and two spells) Disadvantages: Foreigner (You lack knowledge all locals have, such as locations, noble families, etc.), Hunted (You don't think you got away with it completely, did you?) Power source will always be Runic
Child Veteran You've been fighting since you reached puberty. Why? Monsters. Your village was close to them, and Lothringan could not protect you. It was assumed everyone there died, but instead you've held out for ten years. Everyone there has learned to fight. Recently adventurers managed to drive back the monsters near your village, and you were rediscovered. Advantages: Martial Prowess (You start with +1 rank in your starting weapon, or two ranks if your class doesn't have martial proficiency), Powerful body (+1 strength, +1 hardiness), I've seen this before (At the start of any encounter with a monster, you may randomly receive information about it based on past experience. This is based on the rarity of the monster) Disadvantages: All I've Known is war (You receive only two skills, both at rank 1), War's Toll (Start with -1 will), Scars of Battle (Start with one physical or mental affliction, from combat)
Monstrous Origin You're not actually human at all. Depending on what you choose, it may be more or less obvious, but you came through one of the dungeons. Instead of going on a rampage though, you developed intelligence and compassion. You saved a family from a different rampaging monster, and they took you in. That was several years ago, and although you love your adopted family, your presence creates as many problems as it solves. This year the crown granted status to sentient monsters who wanted to become adventurers - it appears you're not alone! Additional: Select a race with this. Extraordinarily powerful or exotic races (demons, angels, dragons, etc.) may receive a penalty or be disallowed entirely. The monster also has to be intelligent. Advantages: Innate powers! (You have innate powers and stats based on your race) Disadvantages: Collared (You must wear a collar with the crown's symbol at all times, or be mistaken for a normal monster), Distrusted (You're a monster. Decree or not, it's a tossup if people run screaming)
Write-In
You don't have to generate the advantages and disadvantages, but a few lines on what this is and why we pick it would be nice.
[] - Combat Type
[] - Power Source
I'm going to do something unusual. Your starting class will be determined by me, based on your background, type, and power source. This is loosely taken from D&D 4E - a system which had some good ideas it implemented in a way I found distasteful. Since I'm running things, I can do away with the meh parts and keep the good!
Classes will evolve at level 5, and then again at level 10, 20, and so on. You'll have more choices in your evolution then.
Defender
You are the rock on which enemies break. You control the flow of battle around you, forcing enemies to engage you, and punishing them if they ignore you. Alone, you are a monolith that is hard to take down, but in a party is where you shine. You might be a deadly fighter, but to those who turn away, you are even deadlier.
Striker
Where a Defender fights to control others, you do not worry about that. You fight for one reason - to kill. You are frighteningly deadly in single combat. Some might say that's selfish, but the piles of dead enemies say that you pull your weight. You fight in close and personal, and you make the enemy dead.
Leader/Buffer
You grant the team strength and support. The least useful fighter on your own, you shine in parties. Anything from buffing, to inspiring, to determining tactics and mobility. You are a valuable asset to any team.
Debuffer/Controller
The mirror to the leader, you focus on debuffing enemies and controlling the battlefield. Of course you inflict damage, but that's incidental to reducing enemy's footing to mud, blocking them with walls of ice, or summoning lesser demons to block their way.
Runic - (requires literacy) You have learned the basics of rune magic. You have started down the path of magic. Runes can be inscribed on an object, and spells cast by allowing your mana to flow through that object. Runes may even be tattooed on your body. Although runes give you great power, they come at the cost of flexibility - Runes can only cast what was inscribed, and inscribing a rune is no easy task. Furthermore using the runes of others is virtually impossible - a runic worker's power is fixed to them alone.
Elemental (select) - You have ties to one of the elements. This can be fire, water, earth, air, or it can be vaguer - darkness, light, spirit, etc. You have an innate tie to it, and your growing connection lets you channel it. Very fluid, an elementalist can do many creative things related to their element - but can never step outside it.
Pious - You gain power from a god (give a name and brief description). The god empowers you and your allies, answering to your call, but in turn you will need to embody the spirit of your deity.
Pacted (select) - You swear a pack with something. A demon? A spirit of nature? An eldritch power? You grant them service, you receive power.
Nature - You draw power from the natural world. A druid, a ranger, a keeper of the wild. You help nature, and fight against invaders that despoil it. May bring you into conflict with others.
Cultivation - You draw on your inner strength to fight. You cultivate power within you, and grow it. You've started on a path that might one day become the pre-eminant power source within the realm, but for now you have but the first foot on it.
Nothing but us - You fight with the strength of body and our mind! It might limit you in some ways, but you're clever
[] Personality - Cheerful, gruff, friendly, curious, calculated, outgoing, etc. This won't be set in stone, it represents how we present ourselves to the world right now.
Name and gender: Lydia von Alteisen, Female Age: 18 Background: Noble's youngest child Combat Type: Striker Power Source: Elemental (wind)
Lydia tipped a tankard up, grimacing at the foul tasting ale. In some ways it was the little things that were the hardest to get used to outside her family's home. Ale - thin, sour, often watered. Beds made of itchy, pokey straw. Lice. Lydia really hated lice. The itching, the red sores, the pyromancer's magic smoking them out of her hair... insects in her hair. She shuddered.
"So my family", she began, slowly lowering the tankard, as she addressed her small audience. "Well, where to begin. Perhaps it's easiest to begin with being a young child. That's what where we all start out, after all. A young, child. But being a noble's child? Being a noble's child isn't anything like being a farmer's child. Does that sound obvious? You are thinking fine clothes, servants to wait on you, any toy or game you wish. And perhaps so. But I'd say the defining thing of being a noble's child, a younger child, is loneliness." She paused, rubbing at a tear that was leaking out of her eye.
"I've seen a peasant family, and everyone helps out. Older kids help raise younger ones, show them where to go, what to do. Eventually some of them move out, move to other guilds, marry out of the family, but everyone stays in contact. Everyone knows each other. Everyone lives together." She rubbed her eyes again, feeling them leaking. "Nobles? I was weaned by a wetnurse, raised by tutors, and could go a week without seeing my siblings or family. Because ultimately? I didn't matter. The oldest to inherit, the second for the military, the third for the patron goddess. But the fourth? The fifth? We're accessories. Maybe we get married off to some noble family, maybe we take up some lesser position, but mostly we just float." Lydia spat the last word out towards the table, specks of the sour ale joining others there.
"Oh, I had freedom. All the freedom I could want, as long as I didn't become too big of an embarassment. Want to learn swordplay? Go ahead Lydia, we'll hire a tutor. Want to learn history? Very good Lydia, tutor. Want to learn more about the god whose shrine you visited? Oh Lydia, too many of our children joining the holy orders would give them more weight than they're due. Why don't you learn something nice like dance or music? Other families have a child performing in the capitol, we should have one too."
Lydia felt the weight leaving coming on as the story poured out of her, lubricated by loneliness and perhaps a few too many mugs of awful ale. "So me? I told the stupid tutors to go rutt with each other! I would hide from them, run around the castle, get lost. It was a game. One of my favorite places was the roofs of the villa. No one ever went up there except the birdmaster, and you could run around them for hours. It sounds dangerous, but in truth the roofs were almost as flat as this inn floor." She laughed, gesturing to the warped wood, "or perhaps even flatter! So around and around I ran, hiding and playing. And there, one day," she let the smile spread across her face, basking in the attention, even from such a small audience. "There, one day when I was eight I spoke to the wind, and the wind spoke back."
Lydia gestured with her hand, and a miniature tornado formed on the table, churning away at the layer of sticky grime. Chunks of brown, unidentifiable grit that coated the layer of wood began to lift under the scouring tornado. She watched, her enjoyment turning to horrified fascination. Just how deep was it on the table? Was that wood? Certainly the grime couldn't go that... She arrested the train of thought with a cough, and let the tornado die, trying to unobtrusively send the table's coatings to a corner while waving her hand. "Anyway, wind became my thing. I managed to hide it from my family - for almost a month or so, before father told me I wasn't important enough to attend a meeting, and I puffed at him." She grinned. "And there he was, fourth most powerful noble in the kingdom, belly bare, shirt over his head, laying in the corner while all the servants watched."
Lydia laughed at the memory of her eight year old self puncturing Count von Altestein's prodigious ego. "Of course then it was tutors for magic. Didn't take them long to realize they had no idea what I was doing. I wasn't gifted of a god. I hadn't discovered and eaten a runestone. No spirit or demon had offered me a pact. Instead, wind just liked me. I guess I was naturally likeable even as a lonely child." She grinned at her audience, and with a puff, blew their hair out of place.
"So, after a year of fruitless trying, they had to let me develop my own path. And that, with a few twists and turns that barely bear mentioning, has lead me to you. Of course," Lydia paused, and leaned back in her chair, milking the moment for all it was worth, letting that clause hang there, pregnant in the silence. "Of course," she murmered, lowering her voice. "That's hardly all I can do."
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Part 2 - The city of Lindorf, the Gods of Lothringan
Since we're in the town most important of the gods, we have a writeup!
Edit: Moved it to theinformation post. The intention is that background should be fun, and incorporated into the world, but you shouldn't need to specifically read it in order to enjoy the story.
For those who enjoy it, I'm going to keep doing it, but I don't want to start posts off with a wall of semi-relevant text
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Dear Sister,
As you expected, I was surprised to receive your missive. Few in our family have responded to my correspondence, and indeed you have not written since the last spring solstice festival. Although this may seem judgmental, I wish to assure you it is not. I too was once young and carefree, and I understand that for you the idea of a distant brother raising a family is hard to grasp. I remember my days at the keep, and sometimes I would wonder if there truly was a world outside it.
Your decision to become an adventurer fills me with trepidation. The path of the adventurer is the path of death, and even if it doesn't find you it changes you. The many young lads and lasses sent to slay the wolves of the world become twisted and hardened with that experience. They slay this year's wolves only to become next year's pack. Although father may approve of your choice, I offer you the chance to reconsider. The Shepherd's flock would welcome you into the fold, and although the reach of father - or "Count Jonas" as he prefers we address him - is long, it is not long enough to reach inside our scheune. I have told him as much many times in response to unreasonable demands.
I am glad you have the good sense to come to Lindorf. Please, stay with us as long as you like. You are welcome here.
Your family, now and forever, Severin
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Lydia stared at the map of Lindorf as she waited outside the city's gates for the guards to finish inspecting a peddler's wares. The four temples were arranged in a ring just inside the city walls, as if each was trying to get as far from the other as possible. They aligning approximately with the four directions, and the Shepherd was in the north. Instead of a central keep, there was apparently a large 'market square' in the center of town. Keeps for military forces were in each of the temples.
The guards finished inspecting the peddler's wagon, waving him through, and approached her. The pair were clearly older men, with scarred, weathered faces. The one on her left was missing the top two fingers on his left hand, something her eyes jumped to. The wound looked ragged, the edges of the fingers irregular, with a pattern of scarring on his hand around them, like something had grabbed and started chewing.
The guard cleared his throat, and Lydia loooked up, her face flushing. "O-oh! I'm sorry..."
"Anything to declare ma'am?" he asked, his eyes flat and disinterested.
"No" Lydia let the end of that word trail off. He nodded, looking at the family crest on her bags, and her traveling clothing - dirty, after four days on the road, but clearly new and well-made, clearly coming to a decision."
"Right. Five copper. Head on through. Inns are in the center near the market."
Lydia pulled out the copper, passing it over, then paused before she passed by. "Which inn is the safest? And where's the adventuring guild?"
The guard's eyes flickered over her, as his face shifted, finally taking on emotion. "Looking for people?" He smiled. "Well then, I have a few pieces of advice. For a nice inn, you can't go wrong with the Gentle Road. It's in the south, near the Traveler's temple, and it's frequented by merchants. They charge a fair price for room and board, and a safer place to leave your goods you'll never find. But..." he trailed off meaningfully, fingering his coin pouch.
Lydia sighed, and took out another handful of copper. "Buy something nice for your kids with this" she snapped, trying hard not to sound frustrated. Holiest city in the country, and the guards were little better than street urchins looking for coin.
The guard nodded, and tipped his helm. "Much obliged, the little ones do love sweets." He smiled. "If you stay in anything near one of the temples, you're declaring you allegiance. It's safe, enough, but by saying that you trust one god to keep you safe, you're saying you don't trust the others as much, if you get my meaning. It's not the sort of thing that will go unnoted. Make you friends and enemies. Stay in the center of the market and you'll need to watch your purse, but you're telling everyone that you're not aligned. Might get more friends that way, if you see what I mean."
The guard tucked the coins into his purse with a practiced gesture, nodding to her. Lydia sighed. It was good advice. "Many thanks," she said, keeping it short to avoid saying something she'd regret.
With that, she grabbed the rope on her mule's harness, and gave a light tug, feeling Spot fall in line behind her. As soon as she was through the gate, she glared over at Spot resentfully. "Kor's hairy nutsack, the nerve on that man. He'd have been stuck in the stocks in Walberg for a week. The laughingstock of the fort. Asking travelers for bribes so blatantly." She tugged the mule's lead again, heading towards the adventuring guild. "Jonas would have personally hired a crier to announce his crimes while he was there." She shook her head resentfully. "City of the gods? Which one I wonder?" She glanced south in the direction of the Traveler's temple. Spot snorted, and Lydia patted her nose. "Yeah, that's what I think of them too."
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The Adventurer's guild turned out to be easy to find. All she had to do was follow the cheering.
As she watched the two fools in the circle tossing punches at each other, she sighed. "They have a fighting ring. Of course." As she watched, the woman in the ring took a blow. Her arms were crossed, but the force of the hit sent her back into the pit wall, and blood spurted from her busted nose. Across the ring, a group dressed in scalemail vests adorned with a large, stylized shield let out a loud cheer. The man lifted his arms, clearly basking in it.
Lydia was about to turn away, when she saw the woman in the ring shake her head to clear it. She mouthed something Lydia couldn't make out, and a glowing bar of light formed around her left arm. The crowd quieted as the woman charged forward and hammered a series of blows into the man. Lydia's ears rang with the concussive force as her arm turned into a blur of radiance, hammering into the armored man in a blur of speed Lydia was sure few in the crowd could follow. "Kor's teats she's fast," Lydia murmered, stunned by the speed. No matter how the man blocked or lept, the fist kept hammering against him, moving around his guard with a liquid ease that looked effortless. A group dressed in white roared, heartened, while the armored group fell silent.
Lydia narrowed her eyes as the woman continued to land strike after strike. She'd gotten fast since she'd developed air magic, fast enough that when she wanted even a blademaster would have to work to hit her. And dodging and striking had a distinct cadence. This woman's strikes were too accurate. The way her opponent's arm swept, she should have missed, but her arm just barely skimmed by. And again! That one should have fell short, but instead it was like her reach lengthened slightly, just enough to land a solid blow. And right before she did...
Lydia grinned as she figured out the trick. The light wasn't around the fighter's fists, it was in front of her fists! It was guiding her strikes. That's why it seemed like she couldn't miss.
Unfortunately for the woman - a Lightbringer, Lydia figured - her opponent seemed to come to much the same conclusion. He rushed forward as she struck, and her fists literally bounced off him. His meaty arms reached out, and he grabbed her light-enhanced limbs. Had it been an actual Light-powered martial enhancement his hands would blister and burn from the proximity, but instead he seemed unharmed. The woman's face fell, but before she could react, he pulled her forward with his enormous strength, and slammed his forehead into the bridge of her broken nose.
Lydia winced as blood spurted, and the woman staggered. The man didn't release her arms though. Instead he tugged her forward twice, in sharp succession, hammering his head into her nose twice more, making wet squelching noises.
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Lydia pushed her way into the adventurer's guild, her stomach still churning. A bored man sat at a table, counting coppers and making notes in a ledger. He looked up as she pushed her way in.
"Enjoy the entertainment outside?" He asked, taking in her expression. At her firm head shake he laughed, pushing the ledger aside, and turning to face her. "Well, no helping it. We didn't used to have it, and the idiots would fight all over the streets. Proving their prowess, or that they were worthy of being an adventurer, or some fool thing. You tell people something is going to stop them before someone dies, they take that as a challenge."
"Anyway, what can..." the receptionist looked down at Lydia's hand where she held out her badge. A worked circle of bronze the size of her palm, it had a symbol in the center that she was assured was unique. Indeed, the receptionist's eyes flickered back up, and his spine straightened. "Lydia von Alteisen. How may I assist, my lady?"
"Seriously? You know my name just from this?" She asked, annoyed. How could anyone manage that? It looked like... she squinted at the intersecting curved lines. It looked like two birds doing something dirty, if she had to describe it. "Is there some trick to reading these? Do I have to get high enough level and they suddenly become a language?"
The receptionist shook his head, smiling faintly. "Not at all, my Lady. Your brother informed me you'd probably be stopping by." Reaching under his desk, he pulled out three boxes. He took one - labeled 'wood' you saw - down, pushing it aside, and then added the smallest box to that stack. He opened the third box, flipping through. "He said you're solo, right? And I should find something nice for you?" The receptionist hummed as he flipped through the box, past paper after paper, pulling out one and another to skim before shoving them back. "Lets see, new adventurer, bronze tier, solo, skilled noble..." He rejected entry after entry until he he reached what looked like the final pile - three lone stacks of paper.
"Yup, you can accept any of these. None of them are priority, so take the day to think it over. These are just copies, the original is still here, so please take them. And if it wouldn't be too much of a bother, tell your brother that Thomas at the guildhall is always happy to assist." The man gave a half bow while still seated, and started putting the boxes away. Lydia looked at the mostly full quest box. "Really? Only three?"
The receptionist nodded. "It's not that unusual. Lindorf is a very safe town. In truth, most of those requests have been there so long it's unlikely the original issuer remembers they're still in circulation. If they don't come back in, they don't get cleared. In a more active guild it'd be a priority to make sure it's clear, but here we prefer to keep all requests until the issuer withdraws them, to avoid offending any of the temples."
"You sure none of those would be worth my time?"
The receptionist nodded emphatically. "Most of those quests are inactive. The rest are all earmarked for the temples. The Lightsworn demand any bounties on criminals and evildoers, the Protectorate have agreements with half the towns in the area, and the Travelers take merchant guard positions. Really, we don't want to ignite some sort of fight in the streets because some young devotee decided I was mistreating their sect. I'm under strict orders not to risk something like that, I could be imprisoned if I was the cause of another holy dispute."
The receptionist did sound desperate, so all Lydia could do was take the three papers and make her goodbyes. As she left Lydia thumbed through them, noting the details. One of them described bells heard in the Eastern Grove at midnight. The bells apparently chimed at a certain time in the evening, and had beeen annoying various monks. The report said 'to promote peace and tranquility between the sects, find the bell carrier." The reward was 20 silver.
A second described an herb gathering mission, but for herbs in 'especially dangerous locations with high risk of monster involvement." It described a broad area the herbs might appear in, and how to identify them. Despite most herb gathering missions being classified wood, this one bore a bronze mark, and the crook of the Shepherd indicating the allegiance of who would pay. A few characters were near the seal, marking it authentic. It offered 30 silver for these herbs.
The third and final one passed to her was a bounty mission. It was in a small town far enough from Lindorf to almost fall under the domain of Breg, and it told of a pack of quill beasts that was threatening the village. Lydia paused. Quill beasts were large, porcupine-like animals the size of a small dog. Lydia remembered they could throw their quills hard enough they'd stick in skin, and could kill livestock, small children, and the unwary. The reward offered was covered by a large ink blot, and below it was written "1 silver per" and it's marked as being paid by the village.
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Vote the third!
V3C1: Questing
These quests. Do we:
[] Tell the receptionist we'll take the silver bells. The grove is the safest place here.
[] Take the herb gathering mission that's bronze, and watch out for that strange threat.
[] Take the quillbeast mission. That could sting, but unless we take an unlucky quill to the throat we'll make it out alive.
[] None of the above! These are all low paying and awful! Find someone with another opportunity.
[] I'd prefer to [Write-in]
And do we want to
[] Do these alone, we can manage
[] Find a partner, it's dangerous to go alone
[] A partner? We need more than that. write in how many you want to try and recruit for the third option.
V3C2: Location
For our lodging, do we: []Stay at our brother's house (free)
[]Stay at the inn near the traveler's temple (1 silver/night)
[]Take a room at the Rowdy Stallion, an inn near the center of town (15 copper/night)
As always interesting ideas are appreciated, every vote has a write-in.
Voting will close 24 hours after this is posted, update on friday.
Other Tasks:
If you have something in particular you want to do in the city, information you want to investigate, or someone you want to try to meet, make a suggestion. I'll try to incorporate the suggestions into the write-up, as Lydia has some time to wander. Not a vote, because I intend to incorporate all the ones that Lydia would reasonably have time and be able to do. So suggest away!
There's quite a few more writeups I'd like to do - other noble families, things of interest in the city, but they're gonna have to wait. If I try to write those all before I post then this would have gone up around Saturday. For now, I'll try to be on tomorrow midafternoon at some point to answer questions before the vote closes. If you have something you really need to know to make an informed vote, ask away. But it's probably not going to be a super long answer. Like "does the city have a horse breeder" not "please tell me the full description of the Shepherd's priesthood and Severin's role in the priesthood" (A: Lydia doesn't really know either)
Party mechanics
Party members will not be under our direct control. Instead we will learn some of their abilities on joining. This will be determined by secret information and stats, namely: Trust: How much the party member trusts Lydia Allegiance: Who the party member is aligned with Goal: What they ultimately want out of adventuring Volatility: How likely they are to act rashly and without forethought
They will share information about these with Lydia, but the amount and accuracy of the information will be governed by Trust. Similarly, we can command them to use certain abilities or behave a certain way, but they may or may not listen. The higher the trust, the higher the likelihood is they'll take our suggestion.
This is meant to simulate them being real people, with their own motivations. It doesn't mean every adventurer will have some tragic secret or dark story - they might trust you completely, be aligned with their immediate family, and want to make enough money to start purchase a good sized home and a pastry shop to run with their sister. It simply means that unlike Lydia, they may act in unpredictable ways that's out of line with how the vote went, based on their internal struggles. The difficulty of making them agree will be based on what you're asking them to do, and how much that aligns with their beliefs and goals.
Whew. This is a long one. 4400 words all told. I had loosely sketched out the gods and was planning to give brief descriptions, but given where we ended up going I felt it was important to write a little more. Which turned into a lot more. They're still summaries, but they have most of the important information Lydia knows. Not all the information she might need to know, potentially, bit we aren't a religious scholar (not a single skill related to it!)
Lydia von Alteisen
Class: Zephyrblade
Combining the speed of the wind with sharp steel, the zephyrblade is a phantom on the battlefield. One moment she leaps across the combatants to assassinate an enemy mage. The next, she weaves between dozens of arrows, all swerving to miss. The next, she dodges a warhammer laughing, slipping aside moments before the each heavy swing can land. She dances across the battlefield, leaving behind bodies sliced apart by knives of steel and air. Even at rest her hair moves in a constant breeze, and her clothes rustle as tiny breaths of air tug at them - proof the wind is ever close to her.
Wind Control - Grants mastery over wind. Provides skill abilities, and will be used when dueling other elementalists Dodge - Our ability not to be hit! Acrobatics - Our ability to perform fast and graceful movements, such as walking a thin rope, leaping from rooftop to rooftop, and perform other graceful feats Dance - Our ability to perform dances, from courtroom waltzes to a village square dance XP Share: Dance-Acrobatics. Half of the XP earned towards one will go to the other. One-handed Swords - Our ability wielding swords single-handed. A style of fighting that leads to less power than two-handed swords like the claymore or zweihander but more finesse. And a free hand, of course. Subterfuge - Our ability to conceal our intentions. This is the ability to convincingly lie, conceal emotion, and present a convincing facade when the occasion demands. A common trait of the nobility. Archery - Our ability to draw, aim, and fire arrows using a longbow and shortbow.
Abilities:
Flight of the Zephyr [Gale]: You leap to the skies, propelling yourself across the battlefield. You may move up to five times your normal move distance, airborne, and make a single strike with the force of a gale behind it. You gain a bonus to damage equal to your Charisma
Wind's agility [Gust]: As a response to being hit you may add your charisma to your dodge. This can cause the attack to miss. To an opponent, it will be as if the wind pushed you out of the way. This may only happen a number of times equal to your number of basic actions (1 base). As a basic action, you may also deflect all arrows and small projectiles aimed at you for a round
Slicing razors [Storm]: A thousand tiny cuts open on enemies who get draw close. Any creature adjacent to you at the end of the round suffers damage equal to your charisma on any exposed skin or sensitive parts. These razorwinds pass right through armor, slicing flesh beneath. Only entirely solid entities like golems or immaterial enemies like wraiths may ignore this effect. Any creature that becomes adjacent to you also suffers this effect. This is a passive. Swarms (such as swarms of rats, bats, or insects) instead suffer damage proportionate to the size of the swarm.
Skill abilities:
That was close! (Dodge 3): Once per chapter, you may fully negate a hit, assuming there's any logical way that hit could be dodged. Lightfooted (Acrobatics 3, Elemental): You may traverse impossible pathways. You may walk across a thin branch, letting it bear your entire weight, or climb a single strand of ivy, as if you were no more heavy than a mouse. Wind manipulation (Wind Control 2): You may cause localized meteorological phenomena, such as small tornadoes, tiny stormclouds, and a gale on your tabletop. These cannot lift or damage anything close to humanoid size, nor inflict even a single level of damage on them, but for everything from entertainment to proving your identity they can find a use. Flight of objects (Wind control 3): Now small objects, less than 5 lbs, can be lifted by the wind, and carefully moved to you. Paper, small pieces of jewelry, knives, anything under that weight limit can move to you. This does not make the moving object invisible - a lady who witnesses her braclets flying out of her jewelry box will probably take note.
Inventory:
Shortsword - [4+Strength] Damage, Stamina costs of abilities is reduced by 1, +2 to attack vs. dodging enemies Marked with the sigil of the von Alteisen on the pommel, this sword is unornamented - made not a status symbol, but a weapon of war Longbow - 5 damage Hardened Leather Armor - This armor is constructed of multiple pieces of scaled leather. Boiled, layered, and lacquered, each rigid piece is riveted together in a form that provides both flexibility and a modicum of protection. This is dyed in house colors Traveling clothes (2 sets)
Traveling dress - This would be suitable for meeting nobility, as a noble. Called "travelling" because it can be put on and removed without help of a maidservant, the dress is nevertheless multilayered and fancy. Could even be worn to a smaller dance or negotiation without much comment.
Adventuring gear Lydia has a selection of adventuring gear, including bedroll, tinderbox, rope, etc. As a noble, she consulted with silver-ranked adventurers, and obtained a list, which she purchased from merchants - merchants happy to pay a visit to her family personally, and obtain this shopping list. All of the gear is high quality - immediately so on viewing. Materials used are durable, resilient, and well-suited for the job, and none of it is used or scuffed.
Mechanically, as long as Lydia has her gear, she has access to everything a Bronze level adventurer would reasonably need. Specialized gear for specific jobs will need to be obtained, of course, but she can reasonably be expected to have access to anything a bronze level adventurer uses during a job (so rope, knives, cooking tools, etc.).
Another piece of advice from experienced adventurers, Spot would have set Lydia back at least a gold piece had she been a normal adventurer. Where horses are tempermental, stupid, and easily spooked, Spot is smart, judgmental, and stubborn. She can navigate cliffs without falling, ignore signals that would put her in danger, avoids eating poisonous plants, and won't stick her hoof down next to a snake. She can also carry many times what a human can. She holds the majority of the gear that Lydia doesn't want immediate access to, such as waterskins, travel rations, bedroll, etc.
Currently she is Lightly Loaded. She has no injuries.
