Remove ads

Live in Infamy

Reader mode
[X] Reading The library comes stocked with a variety of fictional works of various genres, and the armchair by the fireplace is very comfortable.

Seems to be the MC's kind of thing.

[X] Dorgo, the orc druid
Talking to a Druid could be interesting.
 
[X] Reading The library comes stocked with a variety of fictional works of various genres, and the armchair by the fireplace is very comfortable.

[X] Lisara, the elvish swashbuckler The charismatic noblewoman appears to be celebrating her freedom in excessive and perhaps slightly desperate fashion, which is to say by getting drunk, high, and laid.
 
[X] Sketching
[X] Dorgo, the orc druid
I'd rather have the ogre, but there'll be time enough for that once we get our devilry underway. In the meantime, looks like we've an explanation for why Branderscar's resident wizard did not stir for the prison break. A shame we'll likely have to stove his head in at some point.
 
[X] Sketching
[X] Dorgo, the orc druid
 
[X] Reading The library comes stocked with a variety of fictional works of various genres, and the armchair by the fireplace is very comfortable.

[X] Lisara, the elvish swashbuckler
 
[X] Sketching
[X] Dorgo, the orc druid
The northerner paces the halls of the manor like a caged lion, clearly uncomfortable and itching for an outlet, all too eager for conversation as an outlet.
 
Just to check, what happens if later on we break the contract? Does he just go to kill us with all his stuff or do we just die or something
 
[X] Reading The library comes stocked with a variety of fictional works of various genres, and the armchair by the fireplace is very comfortable.

[X] Lisara, the elvish swashbuckler

If we don't get an Inspector Javert dance number out of the paladin I riot
 
[X] Sketching

Mmmm, I like the idea of having interests more mildly separated from the "dark magic" and "sinister ambition" biz than reading has been for Valka, historically. It could be a nice humanizing (heh) factor our nemesis discovers that makes us more compelling as antagonists! Imagine rooting around the evil wizard's twisted study and discovering…! Cozy sketches of said wizard's companions and cute nearby wildlife?


[X] Lisara, the elvish swashbuckler

I know we should be getting to know Drogo and Mikael more, and I'm honestly really curious about them! Oh but dashing, rakish and disgraced nobility with a front so cracked you can feel the desperation seeping out from the cracks is just SO my type! But for real, it's one of my favorite character archetypes and I can't resist all the plot beats that comes with it.

To make a real argument for Lisara, I think it's rather important to get in on the ground floor with her. She was someone with an entire socio-economic and cultural system backing her up all her life, until all of a sudden she didn't. Then she was facing the certainty of death, and now she isn't. Now all she has is a benefactor that offers the near opposite of security and an entire world ahead of her completely absent of any trace of the role or positions that she had previously structured her life by. She could likely be in serious need of someone or something to help provide stability and structure. Valka's diplomatic skill means she can present herself as an option Lisara is willing to lean on. Valka is sure footed in her convictions, has clearly demonstrated many times her ready willingness to care for those around her at her own risk and has successfully broken Lisara out of prison and saved her from certain death. All these things can give Lisara a very needed sense of security, and Valka's passion and ironclad drive to the future she dreams of can help give Lisara her own sense of the future and how to build a new structure around it. Not to say that Lisara is going to be a zealous convert to the cause of dwarf liberation, but it's always more encouraging to be following someone seems to be fighting for an envisioned future so long as that future includes you. Finally, Valka's expert knowledge could also be pretty encouraging for someone in a very uncertain situation in a context she has likely never begun to approach.

Or all this could be completely wrong for a load of backstory reasons that we don't know yet since we've only had like one scene with her. By contrast, Drogo seems pretty used to working outside the law and systems of the land and so we get no real advantage from approaching him at this time. I assume we'll have more of a coworker relationship that builds into real trust over time, should all go well. There's a decent case for Mikael given his obviously strange incongruence with his faith, but since he was sent to Branderscar in the first place, we can assume handling that kind of thorny topic is more of a long term project. While getting to know him better to see how Valka and he gels is a priority, I would label that as getting nothing special from being done immediately. Meanwhile, giving Lisara that base to build that trust based relationship as soon as possible before she can really draw her emotional walls and social front back into proper working order could be a really big advantage. And probably pretty important for her since I assume that once we get to a real threatening status, she'll be sneakily offered her noble status and position, likely upgraded, back in return for betraying us. So freeing her of the need for those things could help shut that down. And I know Thorn almost definitely had her sign a contract too, but I have a rule to never take inviolability as a given. Enough people get out of evil magical deals through sheer concentrated fuckery that you shouldn't risk it.

Anyway, literally all of this could be wrong and I'd be totally unsurprised, I just started thinking about why Lisara beyond my appreciation for the archetype and then oops! All of a sudden I couldn't stop writing! Ah well, so it goes, I hope it makes sense at least.
 
Alright, I'm going to call the vote here, next update is in progress, should be finished within the hour.

Sketching is Valka's past time of choice, and she is going to get to know Dorgo better.
Scheduled vote count started by Maugan Ra on Mar 15, 2024 at 5:03 PM, finished with 38 posts and 37 votes.
Click to expand...
 
Remove ads
X - The Cruel Tutelage of Adrastus Thorn
  • Threadmarks
    • Three days of complete leisure is something nearly unprecedented for you. Your family was reasonably secure, but even as a child you were encouraged to help out with a variety of minor tasks and responsibilities to gain the necessary experience and maturity, and of course an independent woman has no end of chores to attend to alongside her trade. Here the servants take care of all of that, leaving you initially at something of a loss for how to occupy yourself.

    Eventually, you resort to asking one of the staff for paper and charcoal, and with those tools in hand you give yourself over to one of your oldest hobbies - sketching. Safely ensconced in comfortable armchairs around the manor you take to drawing what you see, from portraits of servants to copies of the art on the wall, and when that well of inspiration runs dry you turn to your memories. The sketch of Branderscar as seen from the beach is, you think, one of the best you have ever done, and some mischievous part of you is already thinking of finding a way to auction it off as a quiet boast.

    Your fellow escapees exchange a few stray words now and then, but for the most part each of you occupy yourselves in your own ways. Mikael wanders the halls for the first day before ultimately striking up a training routine with the lumbering ogre Grumblejack, while the few times you see Lisara she's either deep in her cups, surrounded by a faint cloud or narcotic smoke, or dragging one of the servants off to her bedroom. You can't tell if she's unaware of the enchantments they're under or simply uncaring, and frankly the idea of bringing it up in conversation is so viscerally uncomfortable you choose not to think about it.

    The only one who doesn't seem capable of settling into a comfortable routine is Dorgo, the orc shaman, who prowls the halls of the manor like a caged beast and snarls at anyone who gets too close. After the third time he distracts you from your sketching, you set the pad down with a thump.

    "Will you stop that?" You say, glaring at the orc even as he rounds on you, "You're ruining my concentration."

    "I can't stand it," Dorgo growls, pacing back and forth along the corridor in front of you now, "We have traded one prison for another."

    "You signed the contract, did you not?" you ask a tad waspishly, "Live with it."

    "Hah! I'd be dead if I did not," the orc snorts, looking over at you as if half-expecting you to disagree, but you just frown. Yes, obviously the ruthless devil-cultist would have you killed rather than extend the hand of trust. "Mm. Not blind, then. Good. The slaves all seem to think they are free. I do not want that."

    "Of course they do, they've been enchanted," you sigh, shaking your head, "But yes. Right now, we are prisoners. Even if our new master was inclined to let us wander freely, we cannot risk the outside world, not while the Talireans hunt us."

    Dorgo pauses at that, then stalks over to take a seat in the chair opposite you, warming his hands by the fireplace. You watch him curiously, noting the scars that seem to cover every part of his leathery green hide. Far too many to have been all sustained in battle, certainly. Ritual purposes, perhaps?

    "You say 'Talireans'," he offers after a moment, "As if they are not your people."

    "Their people conquered mine long ago," you grumble, shaking your head, trying not to think how few differences there truly are between the men of Talingarde and the Dwarves these days. "We had our kingdoms, once, our mighty halls of stone, our deep shrines where the ancestors watched. No more. I've never even seen them myself, but that doesn't make Talingarde my home."

    (And if it ever did, well, the brand on your arm has put paid to that.)

    "I see," Dorgo says quietly, his red eyes studying you thoughtfully. He does not offer sympathies, and you find that you appreciate that. "Tell me of them? Your mountains."

    "Why?" You scowl, "Why would you care?"

    "It is my duty. I am a shaman, a priest of the wilds. We remember, so that the tribes who lose their sons do not lose their ancestors," Dorgo says seriously, before offering you a toothy grin, "If it helps, we can trade. Story for story, your mountains and my forests."

    You hesitate for a moment, then nod. "Very well."

    And so you sit by the fire and speak. You speak of the Ansgarian mountains, of the snow-capped peaks and fertile valleys, of watch-fires burning and herds moving across the scree. You speak of kings with crowns of gold, of silver doors and water pure as diamond. You speak of the depths, of the great chasms that echoed with the voice of the ancestors, of the ancient vaults where the most valued of treasures were kept. You speak of every story you know, every legend you can recall, every ragged scrap of your people's history that you have ever managed to claim.

    Dorgo repays you in kind, speaking in low and rolling tones of the people he has left behind. He tells you of the wolves that hunt beneath forests of darkest pine, of eagles that soar through azure skies, of fish that leap up crashing waterfalls. He tells you of the orcs, roaming nomadic across the plains, of the naatunak who work great wonders with their ursine claws, of ice elves in their halls of light. He tells you of the great trading camps, where the men of the Yutak sell their wares to any who care to buy, and of the blessed fields where warriors clash in feats of skill and valour. Of legends handed down by word of mouth for a hundred generations or more, that the heroes of old may never be forgotten.

    You take to sketching as he talks, seeking to capture the vistas you have never seen in lines of black and white. It's a surprisingly pleasant way to spend the time.

    -/-

    Article:
    Adrastus Thorn has provided your party with the following items:

    • Four Iron Circlets, which allow you to cast Illusionary Disguise on yourself.
    • Valka is given a Staff of Elemental Power and a Crafter's Eyepiece. She is also provided with a spellbook (spells listed under her character sheet on the front page) and a portable alchemist's lab.
    • Lisara is given a +1 Striking Rapier and Boots of Free Running (Lesser)
    • Mikael is given a set of +1 Striking Handwraps of Mighty Blows
    • Dorgo is given an Animal Staff and a Wand of Heal (2nd level)
    • Every party member is given a Lesser Healing Potion


    Three days after you signed your life away, Adrastus Thorn returns to the manor. The servant who tells you this brings with them a small hoard of magical equipment, ranging from a full set of robes designed for all weathers to an enchanted staff that thrums with elemental power. You take the time to grow properly acquainted with each, in between filling out the blank pages of your new spellbook with those incantations and rituals that you recall, and when the Cardinal summons you all later that day you are ready to begin your training.

    "In every plan, there comes a point at which one must set aside guile, move beyond cunning," the Cardinal says sternly, his voice echoing from the stone walls of the cave, "Where one must trust in the oldest and surest of virtues - that of pure and simple might."

    He has brought you below for this lecture, leading you down a hidden staircase at the back of the manor to a hidden cave half a mile distant. Here the waters of a nearby river have eroded the rock of the hill to form a natural cave, which directed labour has expanded into a private harbour. Your team clusters along the small strip of dry land at the back of the cavern, while Thorn stands on the surface of the dark water a dozen paces distant, as if gravity is too afraid to drag him down beneath the waves.

    "In the coming months I will test you, individually and as a team," the Cardinal continues, fixing you all with a dark and judgemental gaze, "You will learn to fight together against a myriad of foes, until you know the skills and capabilities of your teammates so well you will not even need to think about coordination. Only with such strength, such unity of thought and deed, will you be able to prevail against an entire nation."

    You work your jaw, glancing around the cavern at your comrades. Mikael and Dorgo are both nodding, seemingly confident in their chances and understanding what is being asked of them, but Lisara seems nervous. You suppose the path of the duelist is not one that lends itself well to teamwork and coordination. Of course, neither is that of a bookkeeper turned arcanist.

    "Understand this - while I will not let you die, that is where my mercy ends," Thorn says darkly, regarding you as he might meat on the butcher's counter, "If I must regenerate your sundered flesh and breathe life back into flayed and ruined bodies then that is what I will do, and in your torment you may learn another lesson. Now. Let us begin."

    There is a pulse of magic, more felt than seen, and from beneath the dark waters of the bay emaciated figures begin to rise. Men and women in the uniform of Talirean sailors lurch slowly upright, their pale flesh bloated with decay, their rotting hands clutching barnacle-encrusted blades. There is hate in their eyes, or in the gaping wounds where such delicate organs once rested, and with burbling moans they advance.

    Article:
    Adrastus Thorn is a cruel and ruthless man, but he knows his trade well. Under his tutelage, the ragged band of escapees is transformed into a team of deadly operatives. In addition, Thorn identifies your strengths and imparts an additional lesson to you.

    Choose One:

    [ ] Reveal No Weakness
    You gain +1 Strength and proficiency in light and medium armour.

    [ ] Strike First, Strike Without Mercy
    You gain +1 Dexterity and the Incredible Initiative feat (+2 on initiative rolls)

    [ ] You Die When I Say
    You gain +1 Constitution and the Diehard feat.

    [ ] Fear Nothing save our Dread Lord
    You gain +1 Wisdom, and whenever you would gain the Frightened condition, reduce its value by one.

    [ ] Deception is a Tool. Master it.
    You gain +1 charisma and expert proficiency in the deception skill.

    -/-

    As the Cardinal promised, the training he puts you through is brutal and merciless. You know pain, deprivation, terror and the cold certainty of death. How do you cope with this?

    [ ] Work Hard, Play Hard
    You cling to life in defiance of death, blowing off steam however you can. Bright twice as bright, and you'll live twice as long.

    [ ] Look To Tomorrow
    You cling to your dream of a better world, to the rewards that await you for your suffering. It will all be worth it one day.

    [ ] In Fire Forged
    You cling to your comrades, taking comfort in the company of those scant few who truly understand what you all went through.
     
    Last edited:
  • Threadmarks
    • [ ] Fear Nothing save our Dread Lord
    You gain +1 Wisdom, and whenever you would gain the Frightened condition, reduce its value by one.
    [X] In Fire Forged
    You cling to your comrades, taking comfort in the company of those scant few who truly understand what you all went through.
     
    Reader mode
    You must login or register to reply here.
    Remove ads
    Back
    Top