It is often said that mortals are but the playthings of the fey, toyed with and discarded on a whim.
But in the north-eastern corner of the River Kingdoms that basic truth was turned on its head.
In a shattered and ruined corner of the First World it was revealed as the lie it always was.
The same castle stood on both worlds, the centre of two kingdoms stolen from the Eldest.
Two kingdoms made from the ruins of those that came before, all 999 of them.
One kingdom founded from hope and courage, the other from guilt and love.
And so, in the waning days of Kuthona, as snow dusted both kingdoms and the Spirit Moon shone down on those celebrating the Solstice, the Queens of the Stolen Kingdoms called on their closest friends and advisors.
The plan was simple - to steal riches from those that didn't deserve them, to bring hope and light and joy to those that had none.
It was an ancient tradition, utterly unknown to Golarion.
It has been twisted and warped by the passing of years and the destruction of the kingdom that celebrated it.
But it was still Christmas.
----------------------------------
"This is ridiculous." Kanerah the tiefling said, looking down at the outfit she'd been bundled into. "Elves don't dress like this."
"You got off easy." Regongar said, the half-orc grimacing at the curled horns atop his head. "Am I really meant to beat the children.
"Only if they're naughty and won't say sorry. But I know that won't be necessary." Tristian says. The blind human is dressed in a similar suit to Kanerah and looks rather more at ease in the striped stockings, curled shoes and bell-festooned hat. "Who has the list?"
"I got it here." Regongar says, struggling to open up the scroll with his enormous claws.
Kanerah takes it off of him and peers uncertainly at the writing.
"It says we're here for Kitha Saltspray, a member of the Okeno Slavers." She says, looking down from their sleigh at the yellow sailed ship below.
"The Okeno Slavers? She has to be naughty." Regongar says with a vicious grin.
"We'd better check the list again. I wouldn't want to be wrong about any slaves they might have on board." Tristan says as Kanerah and Regongar jump. "Or I'll just do it myself." He says mournfully.
----------------------------------
"Torash Troubadorn and guests Warble Brumlebasher and Renali." Jubilost Narthropple reads, raising an eyebrow at Isgeri town he's found himself in. "Not exactly where I'd expect a goblin to live. Or an anadi."
"Oh they're definitely nice." Linzi says next to him, floating an inch above her book as it hops along the ground. "Warble is an ambassador for the Brumblebasher goblins and the town historian, Renali has been helping to track down and map the aiudara and Torash was one of the first of the townsfolk to give the Brumblebashers a chance!"
"A historian and an explorer? Maybe I'll leave them a signed copy of my latest work along with whatever you've got in that sack. Surely they'll appreciate it." Jubilost says, intrigued by the the thought.
"And I've got a signed copy of your cookbook. That always goes over well." Linzi says cheekily, giggling when her companions sighs.
"Lets just get this over with."
----------------------------------
The city of Absalom never sleeps, situated as it is atop the legendary Starstone that has granted godhood to Aroden and Iomedae and at the centre of all trade on Golarion.
Even as the Clockwork Cathedral tolled for midnight the streets were bustling and the Grand Bazaar hosted a crowd.
But this year the crowd wasn't bidding on the last few drops of potion of the old year, but watching in awe.
A dwarven woman in crimson furs was sitting in the centre of the bazaar, her long white hair allowed to hang free in the wind. She was sitting on a great sleigh that seemed to have been carved form a still living tree, with leaves and vines visible growing across the wood. Curled up at her feet was a mighty smilodon, the cat happily showing its teeth to any that caught its eye.
One by one the woman's companions led children out of the crowd. Each would be pulled up onto the womans lap and would have a quiet conversation with her, before she pulled a present from her sack and gave it to the child.
And what wondrous presents they were. Jewelled butterflies that really could fly, little burning goblin figurines that never quite turned to ash, books that read themselves aloud...
It should have caused a riot. But no one was willing to anger the dwarven woman's companions.
A Kellid barbarian with a blade longer than she was tall. A dark skinned worshipper of Erastil accompanied by a giant friendly wolf. A beautiful yet tern looking knight. And most threatening of all, a giant, burn scarred troll.
----------------------------------
"Fool! I the great Tartuk will deliver more presents than you and prove once and for all that kobolds are better! than! goblins!" Yells a purple blur as it races through the halls of Magaambya, throwing presents at any student or teacher unfortunate enough to cross his path.
"Lies! Nok-Nok is the fastest and goblins are better!" Comes the furious retort as a catapult flings ornaments and sweets into the air, along with a rather surprised goblin. "And I'm smarter too!"
----------------------------------
"And that's how it works. I give you a present and you have to be good. That way I can give you another present next year." Octavia the half-elf explains to the rather confused hobgoblins assembled before her.
"Oh what's the use?" Her companions asks once the hobgoblins swear to be good and leave to enjoy their gifts. "They'll forget all about being nice in a few days and still demand gifts next year." Harrim says, looking rather like his gift had been a single pitiful piece of coal.
"Oh come on, they won't be that bad. The General herself told them to listen to us, which I thought was nice of her." Octavia says optimistically.
"The General just wants the Queen to put in a good word for her with the other River Kingdoms." Kalikke points out. "I'm not sure why though. Oprak is pretty far away from the Stolen Kigndoms."
"I don't think they can afford to turn away any allies right now." Octavia says, glancing towards the shrouded shores of Lake Encarthen. "No one here can afford to face Tar Baphon alone. Which is why we're heading to Belkzen next."
"I suppose they'll want a sword too." Harrim says gloomily.
"Come on you old grump. Once we're done with Belkzen we can go and drink our presents." Kalikke says with a grin. "I know Kanerah has some moonshine she's been saving that would be perfect for tonight."
----------------------------------
Alone a nymph flies through the skies, having returned to a world she'd visited but once before.
The ruins of a once great kingdom had been consumed by a thriving forest and it's legacy claimed by a kingdom built nearby.
"I can't fix what I did to you, my sweet nightingale. I can't bring back you or your home. But I will make up for it." She says once she finds the unmarked grave.
"And I will never forget you, or let anyone else suffer like you did." She promises, dropping a glowing grain of sand onto the ground.
The youngest of the Eldest wiped a tear from her eye, overwhelmed once more by her own sins.
But even her sorrow could not last forever. And she had a task to fulfill, even if she was late.
"Lets see here. Lie Ren, Nice. Nora Valkyrie, Nice. And... oh, Xanthe Scythia of the Watching Wolf. You are far from home child." The nymph says, having found the secluded campsite.
"Eldest." The other god greeted her with a snort. "Whatever game you play, do so elsewhere."
"This isn't a game fierce one. I come with gifts for your charges." The nymph says, placing the packages on the ground.
"Then begone." He says, blinking in shock when the nymph obliges. Oh, maybe she could've been helpful. No matter. The Eldest weren't trustworthy.
----------------------------------
The morning you reached Sumire Drakōn presented the three of you with gifts. He'd refused to say where he'd found them or even what they were, but they were too good to be ignored.
Nora received a jar of "Zap Apple Candy", rainbow coloured sweets with an electrical kick, and two stuffed bears dressed like her and Ren.
Ren received an old cookbook wrapped in a pink sash that left him weeping as he read it.
You received a horn carved from mammoth tusk. It's a mirror to the horn carried by Eltek the Moonseeker, one of the Mammoth Lords of your people. Enchanted to be loud yes, but more importantly it can mimic the howling of a wolf or the trumpet of a mammoth.
This is a list of Spells you know or believe you can learn.
Masteries mean you've figured out a modification or customisation to the spell.
Spells can require Verbal, Somatic, Material and Focus components.
Verbal components are a chant or incantation that invoke magic. They must be spoken in a strong voice, making them hard to disguise or conceal. You cannot cast Verbal components if you can't speak.
Somatic components are specific hand movements or gestures that generate a magical nexus. You can make these gestures while holding something in your hand but not while your hands are bound or otherwise unable to gesture freely.
Material components are a bit of physical matter consumed in the casting of the spell. You must have a free hand to retrieve and consume a Material component. As a summoner you can generally substitute feathers, teeth or blood from Drakōn for most Material components.
A Focus is an object that channels the magical energy of the spell. You must hold the Focus in your hand when using it. Focuses tend to be difficult to craft and expensive to purchase, if they can be found at all.
All spells generate light and/or sound in the form of your Spell Signature. Your spell signature takes the form of two concentric circles with a diamond within the smaller circle. At the centre of the diamond is your red fang sigil.
Between the two circles a diverse array of Druidic, Hallit and Jotun can be seen. These runes change each time you cast a spell, a reflection of your inexperience and small spell repertoire. The runes tend to spin or invert as you cast, unable to contain your magic.
Your spell signature is bright red and sounds like a growling dinosaur or arrows in flight.
A ritual is an esoteric and complex spell that anyone can cast. It takes much longer to cast a ritual than a normal spell, but rituals can have more powerful effects. Some rituals require multiple casters and all require material, somatic, and verbal components throughout their casting time.
Cantrips:
The simplest known spells, you can cast cantrips endlessly without running out of magical energy. The grow in power with you, but will never be as potent as your other spells.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
You send out a pulse that registers the presence of magic. You receive no information beyond the presence or absence of magic. You can choose to ignore magic you're fully aware of, such as the magic items and ongoing spells of you and your allies.
Components: Verbal
You grant the target divine guidance on their next action, increasing their odds of success. This spell is unreliable.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
You harmlessly place your unique magical sigil, which is about 1 square inch in size, on the targeted creature or object. The mark can be visible or invisible, and you can change it from one state to another by using an Interact action to touch the target. The mark can be scrubbed or scraped off with 5 minutes of work. If it's on a creature, it fades naturally over the course of a week.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
A flickering flame appears in your hand. The flame harms neither you nor your equipment. The spell ends if you dismiss it as an action or if you attack with the flame, either hurling it at a foe or burning them with a touch.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Cast Time: 1 minute
You focus on the target object, opening your mind to perceive magical auras. When the casting is complete, you know whether that item is magical, and if it is, you learn the school of magic, along with other salient details.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
As you make comforting sounds and gestures, you approach the target in a friendly manner combining caution and confidence, magically convincing an animal that you are friendly.
Primal Spells:
Primal magic excels at manipulating the essences of Life and Matter by drawing on the world around you. Your primal spells have levels, from 1 - 10, indicating their power and difficulty to learn.
You are currently capable of learning and casting 2nd level spells.
1st Level Spells:
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
The target takes on an aspect of a falcon. Their eyes become wide and bird-like, and they grow feathers on the sides of their head. They gain a bonus to sight based and ranged attack checks.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
The target takes on an aspect of a raptor. Their legs become lean and muscular, and they grow feathers their legs. They gain a bonus to speed and running based checks.
Gouts of flame rush from your hands in the shape of a cone.
Components: Somatic, Verbal, Material (if affecting multiple creatures)
You channel positive energy to heal the living or damage the undead. focus the energy on one creature with a touch or divide among all creatures within 30 feet.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 8 hours
You obscure the tracks you leave behind and make it harder for others to find you.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
You use magical chains, vines, or other tethers to bind your target to you. You must stay within 30 feet of the target while it is tethered; moving more than 30 feet away from your target ends the spell.
2nd Level Spells:
Components: Somatic, Verbal
You conjure an arrow of acid that continues corroding the target after it hits.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Magic causes the target's muscles to swell, enhancing their strength.
2nd Level Spell
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Bolstered by magic power the creature doubles in size and becomes stronger but less graceful.
Link Spells:
These spells draw directly on and influence your bond with Drakōn.
Somatic, Verbal
Your eidolon appears adjacent to you. The conduit that allows your eidolon to manifest is also a tether between you. Your eidolon must remain within roughly 100 feet of you at all times and can't willingly go beyond that limit. If forced beyond this distance, or if you are knocked unconscious, your eidolon's physical form dissolves: your eidolon unmanifests, and you need to use Manifest Eidolon to manifest it again.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Instead of manifesting your eidolon you draw on your conduit to conjure an animal to fight for you. The animals vanishes if you lose concentration.
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
You flood your eidolon with power, creating a temporary evolution in your eidolon's capabilities. Choose one of the following effects:
Your eidolon doubles in size, becoming stronger and more clumsy
Your eidolon halves in size, becoming more graceful and weaker
Your eidolon's speed doubles
Your eidolon sprouts spiked quills on its tail that it can fling at enemies
You shroud your eidolon in a freezing aura, hamrrng anyone that comes into contact with it
You shroud your eidolon in a predatory aura, allowing it to terrify foes with a roar
Components: Somatic
You project your senses into your eidolon, allowing you to perceive through it. When you do, you lose all sensory information from your own body, but can sense through your eidolon's body
Rituals:
Cast Time: 3 days
Cost: rare incense and valuable offerings
Requires 2 Secondary Casters that must be followers of your religion
Area: 40-foot-radius burst around an immobile altar, shrine, or fixture of your faith;
Duration: 1 year
You consecrate a site to your deity, chanting praises and creating a sacred space. While within the area, worshippers of your deity are blessed and gain a bonus to any rolls made while creatures anathema to your faith take a penalty.
Cast Time: 1 hour
Cost: fine alcohol and a set of matching rings or other valuable tokens
Requires 2 Secondary Casters
In a marriage or naming ceremony you create a magical bond between two willing creatures, who are secondary casters of the ritual and must share genuine affection for one another. Once a day this bond allows the two creatures to learn the present state of the other bonded creature. The creature knows the other creature's direction and distance and any conditions affecting them.
As part of the ritual, both members of the bond receive a ring, amulet, or similar token to symbolize their shared connection. They lose the effects of the ritual when not wearing the token, and the bond is broken if either token is destroyed.
Cast Time: 1 hour
Cost: a needle carved from the heartwood of a tree, pure water and a vessel made from bone or horn or similar material
Requires 1 Secondary Casters
You call on the spirits of the world to guide you to the secondary caster's other half. As part of this ritual you create a magical compass that points unerringly to the person the Secondary Caster loves the most.
Cast Time: 8 hours
Cost: precious metals, rare incense, and herbs
Target: 1 object
You place a tiny wolf spirit within a single object, usually a mirror, statue, or other mundane-looking item, to serve as an alarm. Shattering or otherwise destroying the object frees the wisp and ends the ritual's effect even if the object is magically restored.
The wolf spirit inhabits the object and is aware of its surroundings. It is capable of raising the alarm if it detects intruders or other changes to its surroundings with a loud howl. You must tell the spirit what the criteria for the reports will be—for instance, when anyone not openly wearing a certain symbol enters the room or when an item is removed.
Learnable Spells: (Work in Process)
Progress: 0/2
1st Level Spell
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
You transform your eidolon into their juvenile form, such as a cub, foal, kitten, puppy, or piglet, making them appear harmless. If your companion uses a hostile action, juvenile eidolon ends.
Progress: 0/3
2nd Level Spell
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Magic causes the target's body to streamline, enhancing their grace and agility.
Progress: 0/3
2nd Level Spell
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Plants in a 20 foot area entangle creatures.
2nd Level Spell
Progress: 0/3
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
You transform into the form of a tiny animal, such as a cat, bat or rat.
2nd Level Spell
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
You warp space to make a creature smaller. The target shrinks to become half its size, becoming more agile but weaker.
Link Spell
Progress: 1/?
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Instead of manifesting your eidolon you draw on your conduit to conjure an elemental to fight for you. The elemental vanishes if you lose concentration.
Link Spell
Progress: 0/?
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Instead of manifesting your eidolon you draw on your conduit to conjure a fey to fight for you. The fey vanishes if you lose concentration.
Link Spell
Progress: 0/?
Components: Somatic, Verbal
Duration: 4 minutes
Instead of manifesting your eidolon you draw on your conduit to conjure a plant or fungi to fight for you. The plant vanishes if you lose concentration.
Okay, now we're tied and I'm looking for a tiebreaker. I'll start working on the cover story stuff now and if it stays the same I'll flip a coin or something.
Adhoc vote count started by shepsquared on Dec 26, 2022 at 9:07 PM, finished with 15 posts and 10 votes.
[X] Talk to Maria, Ren & Nora
-[X] About your cover story
- Talk to Maria, Ren & Nora
-- About your cover story
-Restock your lost supplies
-Experience the town with the others
-- Go to the 'movies'
You're not entirely sure why Shion has such a large park next to the airship dock when actual idyllic wilderness is just outside the town walls but you can't bring yourself to complain when the alternative is said cramped airship dock.
At Maria's urging you get some food and something called coffee while you wait. You should have taken Ren's insistence on tea for him and Nora as a warning, but couldn't resist the tempting smell of the drink.
It was hot and overwhelmingly bitter but once you add sugar and milk it almost tastes good.
You can't help but want another cup.
"If you're going to Beacon we'd better figure out what you'll be telling people for the next four years. A kid that's good with a bow and has an unusual Semblance is barely worth noticing, but when you don't know what the Great War was and haven't heard of coffee people are going to ask questions." Maria says eventually.
You shift when the three of them turn to you and silently wonder what make a war 'great' as the silence stretches, before deciding to ask the obvious question.
"How much do I need to hide? I was born to a nomadic following, we kept away from people and fought a lot of monsters because of it and now I can't go back. Is that so impossible?" You say.
"There are a few wandering tribes in Anima. We'd have to lie about which one you're from or have a damn good excuse for why no one knows the name though - unless we it was pretty small." Maria admits with a nod.
"Why would it matter if people know the tribe? It can't be that easy to find them and start asking questions when you have to a search a continent." You ask.
"That would've worked forty years ago but these days everyone has a Scroll. The only way for that to work is your folks are a new batch of Luddites, and someone would've noticed that." Maria responds, rejecting the idea.
"Lots of people don't have explanations for their past or proof of what they're saying. Are they really going to look that hard at our backgrounds just to get into Beacon?" Ren asks.
"Beacon won't at first, but I'm betting you won't be able to sell the lie for very long." Maria says.
"And if people want to know why I'm lying about my past we make sure they find something shameful." You add, unhappy at the idea.
"So what'll it be kid? We saying your folks are bandits? Legbreakers for the Spider? Technophobes trying to avoid the control of the kingdom?" Maria probes.
"I'm not saying my people were bandits or fools or...." You say, clenching your fist at the idea. "We fought for over a century to keep our land safe when everyone else ran away or marched to their deaths. I don't care if the Red Mantis or the Amethyst Eagles or whatever secret group of assassins you think is out there come after me, I won't say that about my family."
'There's no shame in lying to survive.' Drakōn reminds you, speaking solely to you. 'You know the stories. Those who survived the fires and the sickness had to do many distasteful things to escape with their lives. Your being foe unknown doesn't change that.'
You nod as you consider his words. The idea is galling, but your mother and the rest of your kin would want you back alive.
"We could see if any tribes got wiped out." Ren suggests. "We've seen the ruins of enough towns, it has to happen to travelers. And most people would avoid talking about that." Ren suggests.
"If I can't honour my people, I can bring honour to the fallen." You say contemplatively.
"People don't pay us much attention." Nora says nervously. "If we just say there's been two ginger girls running around with Ren for the last decade who's going to notice?"
"We'd have to say why there's record of me and not the two of you." Ren points out.
"We're already telling them that my mom ditched me. We can just say she ditched both of us." Nora responds quickly.
Ren gives her a look you can't identify but Nora just looks at you hopefully.
"You two will have to be real careful not to screw up your stories. Bandits or a dead tribe are easier to sell." Maria says.
"I have to lie no matter what. I just have to decide if I'm choosing the best lie or the easiest to tell." You say, glancing away from Nora.
You'd always been surrounded by others, happy to call the following your kin. But you didn't have much family. Your father died young, your mother was alone and your grandparents came to the following.
The idea is oddly tempting.
"I'll need to think about this." You decide.
"Think fast. We'll be in Vale tomorrow and you'll need to get your application sorted out fast." Maria says.
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Needing space to think you split off from the others to restock your supplies. Normally you'd be doing the hard work yourself when there wasn't anyone else aorund you can trust, but you don't have the time. Nor do you know the local herbs.
Your initial attempt to stock up on archery supplies founders immediately when the shopkeep refuses to accept your money.
The idea of a merchant refusing gold briefly confounds you and the paper money they use instead is bewildering, but with some quick thinking and direct questions you find an old man willing to buy your 'ancient coins', especially when he decides some of them match 'pre-unification bridge' money.
You only part with half your coins but find you have enough to buy what you need with what seems to be plenty left over.
The old man points you to his brother's store, where you buy a large pack, dried food and the minor luxuries that originally took you years to accumulate.
Next you return to the bowyer's store and secure everything you need to care for your bow and make more arrows, along with eight oddly expensive arrows. Their heads were painted green and the haft had an odd crystalline dust within while the bowyer complained about 'dodgy suppliers', but since he was willing to swear that they arrows were 'deadly anywhere outside of the desert' you decided to take the chance.
Your final stop was with the village herbalist, an older woman who apparently doesn't get many customers. She mumbles something about an alchemist as you look through her wares, but you don't care about local rivalries and focus on what you need.
You're still undecided when you return to the others and seize on Nora's suggestion of 'catching a movie', an activity that proves to be rather more sedentary than you'd assumed.
Apparently they have some way of capturing a play in a device that lets anyone watch it later, without needing the stage or for the actors to put on another show.
You've only seen the one play and from what you heard afterwards, Grandma Gretlen's Acting Troupe would be chased out of any theatre with standards.
But you'd loved the show. The cyclops that played the Knight-Commander, the nonsensical resolution of a temporal paradox, the flight of angels catapulted over the stage... It was a glorious disaster. Even if it had nothing in common with what the crusade veterans told you had happened.
Hopefully a movie can match it.
----------------------------------
The movie is called Earth Defense Force: Zero Hour and features a world almost identical to Remnant, but without any Grimm. The cast features an array of uninteresting civilians, self-righteous officials and gruff soldiers that are quickly cut down when the aliens invade.
The invasion force is a horde of colossal insects that make you think of Festering Ulunat, Xotani the Firebleeder or the Tarrasque. The thought is as chilling as it is impossible - a horde of Rovagug's Spawn falling from the skies as if they were demons emerging from the Worldwound.
It's a familiar tale, one you could recite by heart - the first wave of invaders is easily contained and destroyed. The military builds walls and fortified bunkers and congratulates themselves on a job well done.
Until the invaders reveal themselves to be smarter than expected, unleashing a new horde with the guidance of brilliant generals and striking at every weakness they'd uncovered all at once. Humanity collapses in a matter of days, withdrawing to the place they'd thought safe and drawing up new battle lines.
But now the invaders reveal that they have shapeshifting infiltrators and the humans turn on each other. Soldiers posture at politicians as they gun down civilians and the aliens continually expand.
Another desperate attempt is made to contain the aliens and instead makes the weakness of the human's position clear - they can only hold for so long, there's no help coming and they can't stop accusing each other of being invaders and shooting each other.
Enter Maneki Snow, a man with a cat tail that had continually appeared in the background until now and managed to survive as every other civilian died.
He takes up the gun of a fallen soldier when the last sanctuary is invaded and rallies several other soldiers as Team STRM - Ted Striker, the haunted pilot of a dozen armed contraptions that fly, swim or roll across the ground, Elaine Maia, a gorgeous woman with a lightning gun and a jetpack that lets her fly and the eternally serious Amaranth Rumack, a doctor in construct-armour.
The four swiftly turn the tide, outwitting and outgunning the aliens at every turn as they spread hope and amass allies. The last half of the movie is an extended battle scene as civilian support constantly tells STRM where to go and what to kill, until they force the alien leader into the open - a colossal silver titan called the Nameless that had repeatedly taunted the soldiers through smaller copies of itself.
Despite quickly recognising the plot you're enthralled the whole way through, though you never figure out why everyone is constantly laughing. You can't imagine how they managed to create what you saw without magic but you can imagine how they came up with it - demons, aliens and the Grimm are all fairly similar and who wouldn't an identifiable smug face to punch at the end?
Nora seems to be the only one who understands your excited attempts at explaining the movie's themes and why they resonate and as you board the airship to Vale the two of you are singing the movie's song.
----------------------------------
What false history will you claim to be your past?
[ ] You come from a tribe of bandits that weren't happy to see you go
[ ] Your tribe was wiped out by Grimm
[ ] Your family were dogmatically against technology and constantly on the move to avoid the government
[ ] You're Nora's sister
Restocking on Supplies
Raw DCs: 10/30/50/70 Bonuses: + 15 (Charisma) + 5 (Simple Needs) - 25 (Wrong money) - 10 (No Time) - 5 (No Experience) = -20 (+4 to DCs, -16 to Roll) True DCs: 14/34/54/74 Roll: 1d100 - 12 = 93 - 16 = 77. Brilliant Success
Dust Arrows:
1-2 - Fire
3-4 - Ice
5-6 - Electric
7-8 - Plant
9-10 - Wind
11 - Gravity
12 - Hard Light
Result: 8, 8. +8 Plant Arrows
A/N: had a few ideas for the first part as I wrote. I figured doing both of tied options was a good idea because of the extra penalties to shopping but then you roll well enough to get everything plus a bonus.
[X] Your family were dogmatically against technology and constantly on the move to avoid the government
[X] You're Nora's sister
A combination of both? Let's say we're Nora's sister but only recently found her again after being left behind by their family who were basically like the amish
....Maybe don't try to alter another person's backstory, since if they have any records or non-Ren contacts who care about her history they'll be a problem.
To step outside Xanthe's awkward status of not knowing how plausible anything is, Maria's mild paranoia and being a bit left behind by technology and Ren and Nora's ignorance of what normal people have, it should be fairly solid.
I mean, there's no way Nora has her birth certificate. She might have some form of id because of Magnhild, but I could easily believe you don't need id to buy explosives in the vague network of towns and villages that are affiliated with Mistral's actual government (and shady criminal networks) to wildly varying degrees.
Heck, Ren and Nora might not have birth certificates issues by Mistral. Kuroyuri was built by people who wanted to get away from the government's influence and I doubt they were getting any support or sending back census paperwork. And Nora's situaiton is very vague, but I'm betting she wasn't given any more documentation than Ren when she was born.
So the main way to catch out this lie would be to trace Ren & Nora's movements to someone who remembers them (ie: whoever helped them build their weapons) and knows Xanthe wasn't there, find Nora's mother (if she's alive) or the most likely method - catch Xanthe in a lie. Which is the most likely flaw with the whole cover identity anyway, unless you decided to say you were from the Branwen tribe without any prompting from me.
Just realised that between Ren's weapons and watching a mash up of Airplane and Mars Attacks Xanthe is thoroughly under the impression that guns are noisy, flashy and just plain bad unless they're Gatling guns or something.
Adhoc vote count started by shepsquared on Dec 28, 2022 at 5:09 AM, finished with 14 posts and 12 votes.
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