Hiro Dark
Necromancer
- Location
- US
No trouble, is that better? Used to just doing single-line breaks and saving double-line breaks for new sections of templates and always forget that makes other people's eyes bleed.
Prophecy's Pawns OOC and Sign-ups.
- Thread starter Terrabrand
- Start date
- OOC Original Fantasy
Terran Imperium
[French]
- Location
- Southern France
Definitely better. I can read it now.
Thank you.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
So I'm not just leaving people hanging, while I'm continuing to read character sheets as life allows, meatspace has blindsided me pretty badly the past few days and I may be delayed in properly having time to really respond to anything.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Right, meatspace issues resolved, let's get back to this;
Obviously I can't accept an incomplete sheet. You of course don't have to complete it if you don't want, participation is not mandatory, but if you are still interested you'll need to flesh it out (or make a new character if you prefer, of course).
Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Ooh, very interesting. Threadmarked as a candidate character, will probably put her in.
As with the other sheet, I obviously can't threadmark it in such an incomplete form. Looks interesting if you do want to flesh it out.
Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Intriguing. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Ehhh. This is the one complete sheet I'm not really comfortable enough with to threadmark. It reads to me like it's sorta meant to be a comedy character, but I'm not really comfortable with the whole 'letter mixup that leads to a mute child joining the adventure' thing, in part because it requires the letter reaches the wrong person but more than that because it requires Garius go 'hey I don't recall you from my visions but I guess I'll take a mute child to her potential death because she thought I sent her a letter.' which is severely negligent if not actively evil.
Which is just sorta uncomfortable to me. And then there's nothing about the character that actually grabs me. Which in conjunction has me not wanting the character involved.
Fascinating. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
As with the other two, I can't threadmark an incomplete sheet. Your choice whether you still want in, of course.
Hmm. Neat idea. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Okay, I like this one quite a bit. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Not gonna commit to who will be in just yet, in part because if we get a couple of highly similar characters before I set out to make the OP I'll probably shy away from the redundancy, and who knows who will sign up with what.
Regardless, planning to put together a sheet for Lord Melgarius himself, in part to give people more of a benchmark for what can be done and yadda. After that's up I'll probably pick an initial batch, and put forth the OP of the in character, though you don'd have to get in initially to be involved, that's half the point of the throng of characters put forth in the opening.
Obviously I can't accept an incomplete sheet. You of course don't have to complete it if you don't want, participation is not mandatory, but if you are still interested you'll need to flesh it out (or make a new character if you prefer, of course).
Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Ooh, very interesting. Threadmarked as a candidate character, will probably put her in.
As with the other sheet, I obviously can't threadmark it in such an incomplete form. Looks interesting if you do want to flesh it out.
Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Intriguing. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Ehhh. This is the one complete sheet I'm not really comfortable enough with to threadmark. It reads to me like it's sorta meant to be a comedy character, but I'm not really comfortable with the whole 'letter mixup that leads to a mute child joining the adventure' thing, in part because it requires the letter reaches the wrong person but more than that because it requires Garius go 'hey I don't recall you from my visions but I guess I'll take a mute child to her potential death because she thought I sent her a letter.' which is severely negligent if not actively evil.
Which is just sorta uncomfortable to me. And then there's nothing about the character that actually grabs me. Which in conjunction has me not wanting the character involved.
Fascinating. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
As with the other two, I can't threadmark an incomplete sheet. Your choice whether you still want in, of course.
Hmm. Neat idea. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Okay, I like this one quite a bit. Threadmarked as a candidate character.
Not gonna commit to who will be in just yet, in part because if we get a couple of highly similar characters before I set out to make the OP I'll probably shy away from the redundancy, and who knows who will sign up with what.
Regardless, planning to put together a sheet for Lord Melgarius himself, in part to give people more of a benchmark for what can be done and yadda. After that's up I'll probably pick an initial batch, and put forth the OP of the in character, though you don'd have to get in initially to be involved, that's half the point of the throng of characters put forth in the opening.
Mechanical
Initiate Action: Buzz
- Location
- Somewhere Strange
Yeah, I've just been destroyed with work over the last week. I'll try to get it out tomorrow, or the weekend at latest, if that's not too late.
Garius Character Sheet
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
So, the Garius sheet I promised. The history section is sorta not great, but this hopefully helps give some kinda benchmark for 'about how mighty' one can be- consider it a soft cap, in the sense that if you sound significantly more all around capable than Garius that'll be a hard sell, but don't worry too much about trying to match his strength and ability exactly. Compelling characters matter more to me than a precise level of power. It also is meant to give players a better idea of who he is than my initial post, though I've maybe not accomplished that as well as I intended.
Name: Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew XIII. Commonly called Garius. Some call him Oracle, or Dragonfriend.
Species: Human.
Physical Description: Lord Melgarius is typically seen in a suit of full plate armor, carrying a simple wooden quarterstaff. The armor is green, and rather typically 'knightly', but the quarterstaff is little more than a stick, more suited to a monk than a knight. If one sees him out of his armor, one might note his status as brown haired, green eyed, and fairly handsome. On closer inspection, one might realize he's starting to grey, and not as young as he used to be. Still, he's lithe, strong, and still pretty spry, and while he's not young any more, he's in his early forties, not exactly old age either. He has a few scars and old wounds, but they're not anything one is likely to see so long as he remains clothed.
Mental Description: Garius is a man driven by a drive for adventure and a deep sense of duty. Between his birth to a noble family, and his prophetic abilities, he feels a perhaps disproportionate responsibility to tend to the world's ills. Whether it is ending famine, fighting dragons, breaking warmongering armies, or preparing the world to fight great Evils, Garius has never handled sitting idle well. Indeed, it is for this very reason that his own lands are largely managed by his brother, and not himself, as while in the abstract he sees managing his lands as his duty, he struggles to perceive abstract, bureaucratic tasks as work. Garius is not one to stand on his own station, though he is generally meticulous about respecting any protocols or the like of lands he visits, and generally invites any allies to be casual and friendly to him, though he handles more formal environments well enough himself.
History: Garius was born the grandson of Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew the XII. While the second of two sons, he quickly found himself thrust into the position of heir to the Bartholomew Barony, as his elder brother set off to make his own name, disinterested in the fates of the citizens of the barony and with his own ambitions. And so Garius's early days were shaped by grueling training, and the gradual revelation of his prophetic abilities.
It was after his twentieth birthday that his father died, and as a result his brother returned, and took up the position of vizier to the Bartholomew Barony. This resulted in Garius embarking on one adventure after another, or sometimes two or three simultaneously. Whether it was sailing between the Southern Isles, questing in the Blackened North, searching for legends throughout the Heartlands, or a surprisingly large number of adventures in service to one Dragon and another in the Dragonrealms far west of the Iron Kingdoms, Garius has been on too many adventures to readily recount. And yet while his adventures have often benefitted far distant others at cost to himself, those same adventures have forged friendships and garnered aid that helped his people in times of need, a fact that prevented his brother, Eve, from ever complaining too loudly about his frequent absences. The rumors that his brother enjoys the greater control over the country that his absence causes are of no interest to Garius himself, as he trusts him like... well, a brother.
Still, the greatest of his adventures was certainly the one where he earned the friendship of the First Prince of the Dragonrealms, a might black dragon known for his pride and temper alike. Rumor holds that it was his prophetic abilities that guided him to be present for the attempted assassination of First Prince Adraxis Nightfall, but regardless of whether that is true, Garius found himself in a web of intrigue that spanned far past the Dragonrealms and ate a full four years to resolve, involving some thirty independent nations, twenty three dragons, two demon gods, and a particularly ornery treant. This is the quest that led to many calling him Dragonfriend, and it is often said that the greatest of his assets in recent years is the occasional favors from the Dragonrealms he receives. In the decade since it was resolved, Garius has even on occasion ridden Dragons from one land to another.
Of course, Dragons are no more monolithic than any other people, and not all approve or even care about his friendship with Adraxis Nightfall.
Garius has never stopped adventuring as such, but in the years since that great adventure none have been of comparable scope or import, until a few months ago he received the Prophecy that set the present adventure into motion...
TheLetter Prophecy: Lord Melgarius has received many visions and learned of many Prophecies in his life. These have shaped his story so far, so to speak. But it was a few months ago that he received the Prophecy of the Rise of the Evil of the South By Southwest. While he has not spoken a word of the precise contents of the Prophecy, he immediately set about to prepare for a mission, commissioning weapons and armors, bending himself to countless visions, and contacting various organizations he knew would actually care. Ceaseless preparation for a dire threat. Lastly, it was not so long ago he sent letters to many appropriate adventurers, mercenaries, warriors and heroes, champions and wanderers. Any his Visions told would have a place in the coming quest.
Abilities and Powers: Lord Melgarius possesses several skills and abilities. Aside his more mundane skills, from a respectable competence riding horses, maintaining his equipment, a talent for court intrigue, and his ability to more or less singlehandedly run his airship, or at least the ability to cover any one job, he possesses, broadly, three major classes of ability. A selection of spells, his Oracle powers, and mundane martial skills.
Martial Skills: Garius specializes in a single weapon, his quarterstaff. While he's a fairly competent fist fighter as well, he lacks personal familiarity with swords, lances, bows, and so on. He cannot on pure skill face an experienced Elven soldier, nor match an Orc warrior for raw strength, and he's not as nimble as a Goblin, but these are all relative terms. He is strong, skilled, and lithe and agile in his own right, and can be expected to outmuscle even most exceptional humans, outfight in skill even most trained and experienced warriors, and outpace even most athletes and sprinters. Nevertheless, those both devoted and exceptional will beat him in at least their realm of specialty, even without any natural biological advantage or similar. He's also a fair hand at strategy and tactics. All this is a misleading picture, because like many adventurers, he doesn't fight 'fair'.
Library of Spells: As a rule, Garius possesses no game changing magics, nor grand rituals or epic spells. He cannot blow away a building with a wave of his hands, he cannot prepare a ritual to change a weather system, and he cannot teleport, shapeshift, summon, create, or destroy with a spell. What he does possess are a multitude of minor, single word and simple gesture based effects, and a suite of enchantments. These aid him in adventuring, spells to provide warmth for the tundra, or cooling for the desert, spells to provide him air in collapsed caverns, or when submerged underwater, and spells to mend or restore, applicable to equipment or structure alike. It is through this means he keeps his airship afloat, often as not, in extreme conditions. More than that, though, these spells are at the heart of his fighting style. He possesses a special technique to accumulate mana in his quarterstaff, limited to wood alone (hence his choice of arm), which while active will cause the quarterstaff to first begin glowing colorfully, and then seemingly swell with energy, becoming less wood at the ends and more massive spheres of light and power. A hard blow will release the energy violently, setting back such gathering but causing vastly disproportionate harm, allowing him to defeat foes his own strength and mundane arms would not suffice for.
Moreover, he knows a number of more minor spells- brief enhancers of sight, hearing, and sense of smell, invocations to multiply one's strength for a minute or two at a time, to strike hard, or prevail in a grapple, spells that grant momentary bursts of speed, allowing one to... not teleport, but perhaps be mistaken for such if one blinked, across a few feet, with a delay of some minutes between use. These facilitate holding his own against foes with otherwise insurmountable advantages in strength or speed, or deadly ranged attacks, that his mere mundane abilities would not hold against.
Oracle Gifts: Garius possesses the gift of being an Oracle. While not all share this perspective, Garius believe he receives these powers from a deific being, what most call Fate or Destiny. If this is true, they are not much one for direct, personal contact, but Garius offers prayers and offerings under the assumption nevertheless. Whether he is right about the source, that he has such powers is more clear cut. These powers include the gift of Prophecy, which is a sort of knowledge of various foreordained events. Prophecies are not events that will happen, rather they exist as sort of cosmic if>then statements- a Prophecy might dictate that if The Warrior Johnathan duels King Melagius, the latter will die, but a Prophecy cannot dictate in turn that the duel will occur. He also receives many more minor Visions, experiences of possible future events, glimpses of things that could come to pass, with which to make judgements. Unlike Prophecy, the only thing definite about a Vision is that at the time it is seen it can come to pass. The last major category of Oracle gift he possesses is that of Premonitions, moments of 'intuition' that allow him to respond to events mere seconds into the future, allowing him to step out of the path of an unseen attack, or evade an ambush by taking another road. These are a sense not of what is to come, but rather what one ought to do to avoid harm or achieve their goals, and only acting an events in motion, usually imminent to a few seconds out. Larger scale Premonitions can occur, warning of events months or even years out, but only when truly massive, nigh-inevitable powers are in motion.
Equipment: Garius's equipment could be said to be blessed and enchanted. This is true, but invokes perhaps more fantastical ideas than the truth. His armor- well, his latest set- was forged by a human smith and blessed and enchanted by a dwarven priest of a forge god, and his staff was a gift from a community of elves and fairies, woven with many minor enchantments, making it tougher and longer lasting than it should be and little else. They're good quality, but most serious adventurers have gear by serious craftsmen, and it's uncommon to find a smith or carver who wouldn't invoke a god, or apply some minor enchantment for that extra bit of quality. He also carries a number of potions, almost exclusively a mix of healing potions and magical energy elixirs, the latter to refresh his spirit and enable him to cast longer, if he has exhausted his natural reservoir in that regard.
By far the most noteworthy peace of 'equipment' he brings on this adventure, then, is his airship, a magnificent gift from First Prince Adraxis Nightfall of the Dragonrealms. Commissioned from Gnomish Engineers, enchanted by Elven Archmages, blessed by many high priests of myriad faiths in exchange for generous donations from the First Prince, or as gratitude for some heroic deed that Garius engaged in for that temple or god, the Skycutter is far from the only airship, but it would not be surprising if it is the greatest presently in existent. It sails swiftly through the sky in any direction its captain wishes, it weathers nigh any storm one can name, and it can take terrible punishment from magic, or cannons, or other assaults with barely a scratch, shielding its crew and passengers alike. Through it all, those aboard will find the ride surprisingly gentle, and it carries a remarkable amount of cargo as well, in terms of both weight and space. It is upon this airship that Garius seeks to reach the Chaos Lands to bring the fight against the evil, and it will perhaps see use in more direct ways. It is, after all, hardly unarmed, either.
Homeland: The Bartholomew Barony, a prosperous human ruled nation in the Heartlands. Best known for its eccentric and adventurous ruler, Lord Melgarius himself, it is a land filled with a wide variety of peoples, dominated by rolling hills and a few large forests. A peaceful, civilized land, neighboring no aggressive nations, lacking in most deadly flora and fauna, and without persistent problems. It is, however, a small land, and one mainly known due to the many adventures of Garius himself, as far as the wider world is concerned.
Name: Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew XIII. Commonly called Garius. Some call him Oracle, or Dragonfriend.
Species: Human.
Physical Description: Lord Melgarius is typically seen in a suit of full plate armor, carrying a simple wooden quarterstaff. The armor is green, and rather typically 'knightly', but the quarterstaff is little more than a stick, more suited to a monk than a knight. If one sees him out of his armor, one might note his status as brown haired, green eyed, and fairly handsome. On closer inspection, one might realize he's starting to grey, and not as young as he used to be. Still, he's lithe, strong, and still pretty spry, and while he's not young any more, he's in his early forties, not exactly old age either. He has a few scars and old wounds, but they're not anything one is likely to see so long as he remains clothed.
Mental Description: Garius is a man driven by a drive for adventure and a deep sense of duty. Between his birth to a noble family, and his prophetic abilities, he feels a perhaps disproportionate responsibility to tend to the world's ills. Whether it is ending famine, fighting dragons, breaking warmongering armies, or preparing the world to fight great Evils, Garius has never handled sitting idle well. Indeed, it is for this very reason that his own lands are largely managed by his brother, and not himself, as while in the abstract he sees managing his lands as his duty, he struggles to perceive abstract, bureaucratic tasks as work. Garius is not one to stand on his own station, though he is generally meticulous about respecting any protocols or the like of lands he visits, and generally invites any allies to be casual and friendly to him, though he handles more formal environments well enough himself.
History: Garius was born the grandson of Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew the XII. While the second of two sons, he quickly found himself thrust into the position of heir to the Bartholomew Barony, as his elder brother set off to make his own name, disinterested in the fates of the citizens of the barony and with his own ambitions. And so Garius's early days were shaped by grueling training, and the gradual revelation of his prophetic abilities.
It was after his twentieth birthday that his father died, and as a result his brother returned, and took up the position of vizier to the Bartholomew Barony. This resulted in Garius embarking on one adventure after another, or sometimes two or three simultaneously. Whether it was sailing between the Southern Isles, questing in the Blackened North, searching for legends throughout the Heartlands, or a surprisingly large number of adventures in service to one Dragon and another in the Dragonrealms far west of the Iron Kingdoms, Garius has been on too many adventures to readily recount. And yet while his adventures have often benefitted far distant others at cost to himself, those same adventures have forged friendships and garnered aid that helped his people in times of need, a fact that prevented his brother, Eve, from ever complaining too loudly about his frequent absences. The rumors that his brother enjoys the greater control over the country that his absence causes are of no interest to Garius himself, as he trusts him like... well, a brother.
Still, the greatest of his adventures was certainly the one where he earned the friendship of the First Prince of the Dragonrealms, a might black dragon known for his pride and temper alike. Rumor holds that it was his prophetic abilities that guided him to be present for the attempted assassination of First Prince Adraxis Nightfall, but regardless of whether that is true, Garius found himself in a web of intrigue that spanned far past the Dragonrealms and ate a full four years to resolve, involving some thirty independent nations, twenty three dragons, two demon gods, and a particularly ornery treant. This is the quest that led to many calling him Dragonfriend, and it is often said that the greatest of his assets in recent years is the occasional favors from the Dragonrealms he receives. In the decade since it was resolved, Garius has even on occasion ridden Dragons from one land to another.
Of course, Dragons are no more monolithic than any other people, and not all approve or even care about his friendship with Adraxis Nightfall.
Garius has never stopped adventuring as such, but in the years since that great adventure none have been of comparable scope or import, until a few months ago he received the Prophecy that set the present adventure into motion...
The
Abilities and Powers: Lord Melgarius possesses several skills and abilities. Aside his more mundane skills, from a respectable competence riding horses, maintaining his equipment, a talent for court intrigue, and his ability to more or less singlehandedly run his airship, or at least the ability to cover any one job, he possesses, broadly, three major classes of ability. A selection of spells, his Oracle powers, and mundane martial skills.
Martial Skills: Garius specializes in a single weapon, his quarterstaff. While he's a fairly competent fist fighter as well, he lacks personal familiarity with swords, lances, bows, and so on. He cannot on pure skill face an experienced Elven soldier, nor match an Orc warrior for raw strength, and he's not as nimble as a Goblin, but these are all relative terms. He is strong, skilled, and lithe and agile in his own right, and can be expected to outmuscle even most exceptional humans, outfight in skill even most trained and experienced warriors, and outpace even most athletes and sprinters. Nevertheless, those both devoted and exceptional will beat him in at least their realm of specialty, even without any natural biological advantage or similar. He's also a fair hand at strategy and tactics. All this is a misleading picture, because like many adventurers, he doesn't fight 'fair'.
Library of Spells: As a rule, Garius possesses no game changing magics, nor grand rituals or epic spells. He cannot blow away a building with a wave of his hands, he cannot prepare a ritual to change a weather system, and he cannot teleport, shapeshift, summon, create, or destroy with a spell. What he does possess are a multitude of minor, single word and simple gesture based effects, and a suite of enchantments. These aid him in adventuring, spells to provide warmth for the tundra, or cooling for the desert, spells to provide him air in collapsed caverns, or when submerged underwater, and spells to mend or restore, applicable to equipment or structure alike. It is through this means he keeps his airship afloat, often as not, in extreme conditions. More than that, though, these spells are at the heart of his fighting style. He possesses a special technique to accumulate mana in his quarterstaff, limited to wood alone (hence his choice of arm), which while active will cause the quarterstaff to first begin glowing colorfully, and then seemingly swell with energy, becoming less wood at the ends and more massive spheres of light and power. A hard blow will release the energy violently, setting back such gathering but causing vastly disproportionate harm, allowing him to defeat foes his own strength and mundane arms would not suffice for.
Moreover, he knows a number of more minor spells- brief enhancers of sight, hearing, and sense of smell, invocations to multiply one's strength for a minute or two at a time, to strike hard, or prevail in a grapple, spells that grant momentary bursts of speed, allowing one to... not teleport, but perhaps be mistaken for such if one blinked, across a few feet, with a delay of some minutes between use. These facilitate holding his own against foes with otherwise insurmountable advantages in strength or speed, or deadly ranged attacks, that his mere mundane abilities would not hold against.
Oracle Gifts: Garius possesses the gift of being an Oracle. While not all share this perspective, Garius believe he receives these powers from a deific being, what most call Fate or Destiny. If this is true, they are not much one for direct, personal contact, but Garius offers prayers and offerings under the assumption nevertheless. Whether he is right about the source, that he has such powers is more clear cut. These powers include the gift of Prophecy, which is a sort of knowledge of various foreordained events. Prophecies are not events that will happen, rather they exist as sort of cosmic if>then statements- a Prophecy might dictate that if The Warrior Johnathan duels King Melagius, the latter will die, but a Prophecy cannot dictate in turn that the duel will occur. He also receives many more minor Visions, experiences of possible future events, glimpses of things that could come to pass, with which to make judgements. Unlike Prophecy, the only thing definite about a Vision is that at the time it is seen it can come to pass. The last major category of Oracle gift he possesses is that of Premonitions, moments of 'intuition' that allow him to respond to events mere seconds into the future, allowing him to step out of the path of an unseen attack, or evade an ambush by taking another road. These are a sense not of what is to come, but rather what one ought to do to avoid harm or achieve their goals, and only acting an events in motion, usually imminent to a few seconds out. Larger scale Premonitions can occur, warning of events months or even years out, but only when truly massive, nigh-inevitable powers are in motion.
Equipment: Garius's equipment could be said to be blessed and enchanted. This is true, but invokes perhaps more fantastical ideas than the truth. His armor- well, his latest set- was forged by a human smith and blessed and enchanted by a dwarven priest of a forge god, and his staff was a gift from a community of elves and fairies, woven with many minor enchantments, making it tougher and longer lasting than it should be and little else. They're good quality, but most serious adventurers have gear by serious craftsmen, and it's uncommon to find a smith or carver who wouldn't invoke a god, or apply some minor enchantment for that extra bit of quality. He also carries a number of potions, almost exclusively a mix of healing potions and magical energy elixirs, the latter to refresh his spirit and enable him to cast longer, if he has exhausted his natural reservoir in that regard.
By far the most noteworthy peace of 'equipment' he brings on this adventure, then, is his airship, a magnificent gift from First Prince Adraxis Nightfall of the Dragonrealms. Commissioned from Gnomish Engineers, enchanted by Elven Archmages, blessed by many high priests of myriad faiths in exchange for generous donations from the First Prince, or as gratitude for some heroic deed that Garius engaged in for that temple or god, the Skycutter is far from the only airship, but it would not be surprising if it is the greatest presently in existent. It sails swiftly through the sky in any direction its captain wishes, it weathers nigh any storm one can name, and it can take terrible punishment from magic, or cannons, or other assaults with barely a scratch, shielding its crew and passengers alike. Through it all, those aboard will find the ride surprisingly gentle, and it carries a remarkable amount of cargo as well, in terms of both weight and space. It is upon this airship that Garius seeks to reach the Chaos Lands to bring the fight against the evil, and it will perhaps see use in more direct ways. It is, after all, hardly unarmed, either.
Homeland: The Bartholomew Barony, a prosperous human ruled nation in the Heartlands. Best known for its eccentric and adventurous ruler, Lord Melgarius himself, it is a land filled with a wide variety of peoples, dominated by rolling hills and a few large forests. A peaceful, civilized land, neighboring no aggressive nations, lacking in most deadly flora and fauna, and without persistent problems. It is, however, a small land, and one mainly known due to the many adventures of Garius himself, as far as the wider world is concerned.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Threadmarked as a candidate, though it'd probably be good to clean up some of the typos and stuff. There were bits I had trouble following from odd errors, stuff like 'horde' where I believe you meant 'horror', enough things like that and it really added up to make some sections unclear.
I like the basic concept, but the sheet could use some polish.
In any event, with the Garius sheet up, I'll look into picking out what I think'll be an interesting team tomorrow, and then see about starting up the In Character thread. Not committing to a set player count or including any specific character yet, and even if one doesn't get in immediately that isn't the same as me closing the door on the possibility forever, I'm gonna try to not commit to running too many characters at once but we'll see.
Atma
Be Attitude For Gains: Fight For Truth
- Location
- Somewhere: It'd be Specified, but....
I fixed up the language to make everything flow better. Hope its good.
Candidate Character: Celistina Grigio
Fellgrave
Let the Stars Throw Down their Spears
- Location
- Dancing on the Horizon
Hmm. You know what this party needs? A wizard.
Name: Celestina Grigio. Celest the Scarlet. The Witch Captain of the Thousand Swords. Walker of the 13 Paths. Bringer of the Dawn.
Species: Half-demon(?) human. From a distance, one might think that her name came from her hair, a shade and vibrancy certainly no human could posses. But up close, you can feel it. A dry heat, like breathing near a desert, and you can sometimes see a heat-shimmer in the air around her. Her endurance surpasses that of a human, though not near that of an orc, and her physical strength she is merely human. It is in her magical aptitude that her blood shines most strongly, as not only is she capable of gathering and controlling far more magic than the average cyclops, but hostile magic directs her way often seems to slip off her, like oil across water.
Physical Description:
Mental Description:
Celestina is, at her core, an often conflicted mix of cynicism and idealism. Her determination to make the best of her life and lead the men and women under her service has made her loved by the Thousand Swords. Her pragmatic, and often sarcastic approach to diplomacy and conflict has also earned a reputation as a ruthless, but fair, mercenary. Despite the respect she has been given as a tactician, she rarely plans too far ahead in a battle, knowing that it's unlikely to last once the fighting starts, and preferring to make it up as she goes along.
History:
Her father often described how he met her mother as a lightning strike to his heart, both in how fast he fell for her, and in how she appeared out of the edge of the Chaos Lands during one of his trade journeys.
The seven years and seventy-seven days that he spent with her he recalled as they were a living dream.
Her mother's disappearance hit her hard, and Celestina never gave up her desire to know where she went or what happened to her. Staying still, staying in one place wasn't easy. A song of wandering hummed in her blood, even before her magic began to blossom.
It set her apart from her siblings, even more than her parentage already had. The life of a merchant wasn't for her, from the days she would spend avoiding her tutors in favour of getting her lessons from the guards her father hired for his caravans, to the times when she would vanish into the city or the mountains around their home for days on end before returning, none the worse for the wear. The older she grew, the more her magic allowed her to do, and the more adventurous she became.
When she came of age, she exchanged tear filled goodbyes with her family, promises to write, and she left, in search of her past, and future.
Her travels did not have the most auspicious start, as she stumbled from one town to another chasing even the faintest rumour of magic, and often ending leaving in a hurry under a cloud of trouble caused by her actions. More than one fake prophet or counterfeit alchemist had their truth revealed by her, and more often than not those they had suckered proved less than happy that the illusion was broken.
It was in one such town that she ran into the way out of that rut, though she didn't quite know where her choice would take her.
A troupe of Condottiere, the mercenaries that served as the closest thing to professional armies for the city-states of L'Aquila, had taken up at the local inn for the night. The perfect way out of the rather fine mess she had found herself in. Celestina had, inadvertently, earlier uncovered the local Magistrate's rather cunning plan to drive out some families down by the river with a fake haunting in order to buy the land for the gold one of the less savvy children had found a piece and brought into the local store. While he had been removed from his office, his last act had been to put a warrant out for her head, with a bounty to boot.
So, feeling rather pressured, she sought out some protection, at least, as she initially planned it, until she made it to the next town. A bit of a fumbled display of her magic later, she was welcomed in as a provisional member.
The Thousand Swords they called themselves, though in those days, they were closer to a couple dozen at most.
They took her in, and she learned all that she could from the old hedge mage that was traveling with them before he died to a wound gone bad. With his death, she took up his position in the troupe.
For the next twenty years, she fought, bled, and killed for the men and women who became a second family to her. Their contracts took them to many far and exotic places, and others much more mundane. She worked her way up, her drive and natural talent, until she eventually assumed the title of Commander, although she was more often than not referred to her by her previous title of Witch Captain instead.
Throughout all those years, her drive to learn more about herself, her magic, and her mother, never diminished. She was always searching, sometimes taking up jobs that would lead the company into strange locales, such as the Battle of the Sky Gates near the Spur of Orian. Other times, bargaining for tomes and scrolls, or even just information and rumours of ruins and ancient secrets, in addition to the money for her soldiers. Always searching.
The Letter:
Abilities and Powers:
* Walker of the Thirteen Paths: The spark for magic was her mother's gift to Celestina, but it was her drive that turned that spark into a roaring inferno.
She has spent years, and walked down paths long thought lost or hidden from the world. Often, her presence alone is enough to turn opposing mages from the battle at hand.
Celestina is different from most other mages though. Her magic is strong, certainly, but her ability to gather magic and her reserves are about equal with the average cyclops. Her travels have also lead her to many forbidden or lost magics, but she rarely, if ever, uses them.
In part, she restrains herself due to not needing these bigger spells, but it is also largely due to the fact that they would leave her severely drained after, and an easy target on the battlefield.
No, what has made her reputation is her versatility and control. She prides herself on her precision, and her ability pull back on spells that would otherwise be too indiscreet.
One of the secrets she is most interested in acquiring is how to improve her reserves of magic.
* Combat Caster: Unlike many spellcasters, Celestina is more than capable of comporting herself in combat. While she is middling with a blade on its, and most skilled in fighting with a spear, she is best when she weaves together her spells alongside her more physical attacks.
* Student of the Arts of War: As Commander of the Thousand Blades, Celestina has developed a fair head for tactics. She still much prefers commanding smaller squads over grand strategy though.
Equipment:
Celestina carries little in the way of particularly powerful equipment, despite, or perhaps because of her own magic. She prefers to rely on her own talents and abilities. Her armour is simple leathers and chain, light and flexible for easy mobility. Her sword too, is simple, plain steel and without adornment.
There are two items of power that she bears, though only one is widely known.
*Her banner, the standard of the Thousand Swords. Made with her own magic and the tattered standard that had been passed down since the founding of the company. A scarlet orb set on black, pierced by a ring of silver blades. So long as it flies, the Thousand Swords will never falter, their morale never fail, their bodies continue to fight past the point of exhaustion, as they are sustained and reinforced by the banner's magic.
In the fury of battle, some say that they are certain the blades begin to move, spinning until they seem to be without counting. The faster they spin, they greater heights to which Celestina can inspire her men to reach.
With the focus on the banner, the spear to which it is affixed is often ignored. Which is exactly as Celestina likes it.
* Sndrang. The Spear of the South. The Lance of Eskhatos. The Morning Star.
The spear, it is rumoured, was found after a skirmish near the border of the Chaos Lands. They say that Celestina walked out into the night, headed south, and upon returning in the morning bore the spear in her hand.
Once lost in a forgotten tomb hidden the desert of a dead god's dreams. It is an ancient weapon, and looks it, the entire spear metal pitted with rust and covered in the dust of ages. The head is a five-pointed star, the inner sections empty spaces that seem only to weaken the integrity of the weapon. In the hands of anyone other than Celestina, it is as special and useful as it looks.
In her hands, the weapon reveals itself, the rust nothing more than an outer shell. The spear is born of a light so pure that it was as solid as metal. A star cast into the form of a weapon in a distant age. No spear is as fast or as sharp as Sndrang. It sings the songs of the spheres when it moves through the air, and tenebrous tendrils of the starry night sky trail after it.
Its greatest asset is its interactions with Celestina's magic. Not only can she continue to cast her magic while wielding it, she can channel her spells through it, often to devastating effect against opponents otherwise shielded from magical attacks.
Homeland:
Though she was born in the city-state of Miana, it has been many years since Celestina last lived there. She still calls the states of L'Aquila in the eastern Hearlands her home, traveling from the mountain fortress of Venucci in the north to the port of Feligno in the south. She has served as a mercenary guarding caravans belonging to the trade magnates of Tarona, and gone to war for multiple sides in the conflicts between the Pirata clans in the forests of Etrea in the west, and seen the City of the Djinn, bled across the sands of Mezekesh, and fought side by side with the warriors of Azar Harif in the shadows of the Valley of Black Glass in the east.
There we go, that should do, if there's still room.
Name: Celestina Grigio. Celest the Scarlet. The Witch Captain of the Thousand Swords. Walker of the 13 Paths. Bringer of the Dawn.
Species: Half-demon(?) human. From a distance, one might think that her name came from her hair, a shade and vibrancy certainly no human could posses. But up close, you can feel it. A dry heat, like breathing near a desert, and you can sometimes see a heat-shimmer in the air around her. Her endurance surpasses that of a human, though not near that of an orc, and her physical strength she is merely human. It is in her magical aptitude that her blood shines most strongly, as not only is she capable of gathering and controlling far more magic than the average cyclops, but hostile magic directs her way often seems to slip off her, like oil across water.
Physical Description:
Mental Description:
Celestina is, at her core, an often conflicted mix of cynicism and idealism. Her determination to make the best of her life and lead the men and women under her service has made her loved by the Thousand Swords. Her pragmatic, and often sarcastic approach to diplomacy and conflict has also earned a reputation as a ruthless, but fair, mercenary. Despite the respect she has been given as a tactician, she rarely plans too far ahead in a battle, knowing that it's unlikely to last once the fighting starts, and preferring to make it up as she goes along.
History:
Her father often described how he met her mother as a lightning strike to his heart, both in how fast he fell for her, and in how she appeared out of the edge of the Chaos Lands during one of his trade journeys.
The seven years and seventy-seven days that he spent with her he recalled as they were a living dream.
Her mother's disappearance hit her hard, and Celestina never gave up her desire to know where she went or what happened to her. Staying still, staying in one place wasn't easy. A song of wandering hummed in her blood, even before her magic began to blossom.
It set her apart from her siblings, even more than her parentage already had. The life of a merchant wasn't for her, from the days she would spend avoiding her tutors in favour of getting her lessons from the guards her father hired for his caravans, to the times when she would vanish into the city or the mountains around their home for days on end before returning, none the worse for the wear. The older she grew, the more her magic allowed her to do, and the more adventurous she became.
When she came of age, she exchanged tear filled goodbyes with her family, promises to write, and she left, in search of her past, and future.
Her travels did not have the most auspicious start, as she stumbled from one town to another chasing even the faintest rumour of magic, and often ending leaving in a hurry under a cloud of trouble caused by her actions. More than one fake prophet or counterfeit alchemist had their truth revealed by her, and more often than not those they had suckered proved less than happy that the illusion was broken.
It was in one such town that she ran into the way out of that rut, though she didn't quite know where her choice would take her.
A troupe of Condottiere, the mercenaries that served as the closest thing to professional armies for the city-states of L'Aquila, had taken up at the local inn for the night. The perfect way out of the rather fine mess she had found herself in. Celestina had, inadvertently, earlier uncovered the local Magistrate's rather cunning plan to drive out some families down by the river with a fake haunting in order to buy the land for the gold one of the less savvy children had found a piece and brought into the local store. While he had been removed from his office, his last act had been to put a warrant out for her head, with a bounty to boot.
So, feeling rather pressured, she sought out some protection, at least, as she initially planned it, until she made it to the next town. A bit of a fumbled display of her magic later, she was welcomed in as a provisional member.
The Thousand Swords they called themselves, though in those days, they were closer to a couple dozen at most.
They took her in, and she learned all that she could from the old hedge mage that was traveling with them before he died to a wound gone bad. With his death, she took up his position in the troupe.
For the next twenty years, she fought, bled, and killed for the men and women who became a second family to her. Their contracts took them to many far and exotic places, and others much more mundane. She worked her way up, her drive and natural talent, until she eventually assumed the title of Commander, although she was more often than not referred to her by her previous title of Witch Captain instead.
Throughout all those years, her drive to learn more about herself, her magic, and her mother, never diminished. She was always searching, sometimes taking up jobs that would lead the company into strange locales, such as the Battle of the Sky Gates near the Spur of Orian. Other times, bargaining for tomes and scrolls, or even just information and rumours of ruins and ancient secrets, in addition to the money for her soldiers. Always searching.
The Letter:
To the Commander of the Thousand Blades,
I hope this missive reaches you in good health and better humour.
Your skills as a warrior, a sorcerer, and a leader are well known to us. It is these skills that have made you perhaps invaluable to our cause.
We would like to offer you a personal contract, on a matter of the utmost importance. An oracle, one who's reliability has been proven repeatedly, has seen a threat rising in the Chaos Lands. For the term of your contract, you would be required to provide what aid you can in defeating this threat.
Payment is negotiable, of course. I am prepared to extend the offer of asking the oracle for personal questions, within limits, should you accept the contract.
Yours truly,
Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew XIII
I hope this missive reaches you in good health and better humour.
Your skills as a warrior, a sorcerer, and a leader are well known to us. It is these skills that have made you perhaps invaluable to our cause.
We would like to offer you a personal contract, on a matter of the utmost importance. An oracle, one who's reliability has been proven repeatedly, has seen a threat rising in the Chaos Lands. For the term of your contract, you would be required to provide what aid you can in defeating this threat.
Payment is negotiable, of course. I am prepared to extend the offer of asking the oracle for personal questions, within limits, should you accept the contract.
Yours truly,
Lord Melgarius Belgarius Bartholomew XIII
Abilities and Powers:
* Walker of the Thirteen Paths: The spark for magic was her mother's gift to Celestina, but it was her drive that turned that spark into a roaring inferno.
She has spent years, and walked down paths long thought lost or hidden from the world. Often, her presence alone is enough to turn opposing mages from the battle at hand.
Celestina is different from most other mages though. Her magic is strong, certainly, but her ability to gather magic and her reserves are about equal with the average cyclops. Her travels have also lead her to many forbidden or lost magics, but she rarely, if ever, uses them.
In part, she restrains herself due to not needing these bigger spells, but it is also largely due to the fact that they would leave her severely drained after, and an easy target on the battlefield.
No, what has made her reputation is her versatility and control. She prides herself on her precision, and her ability pull back on spells that would otherwise be too indiscreet.
One of the secrets she is most interested in acquiring is how to improve her reserves of magic.
* Combat Caster: Unlike many spellcasters, Celestina is more than capable of comporting herself in combat. While she is middling with a blade on its, and most skilled in fighting with a spear, she is best when she weaves together her spells alongside her more physical attacks.
* Student of the Arts of War: As Commander of the Thousand Blades, Celestina has developed a fair head for tactics. She still much prefers commanding smaller squads over grand strategy though.
Equipment:
Celestina carries little in the way of particularly powerful equipment, despite, or perhaps because of her own magic. She prefers to rely on her own talents and abilities. Her armour is simple leathers and chain, light and flexible for easy mobility. Her sword too, is simple, plain steel and without adornment.
There are two items of power that she bears, though only one is widely known.
*Her banner, the standard of the Thousand Swords. Made with her own magic and the tattered standard that had been passed down since the founding of the company. A scarlet orb set on black, pierced by a ring of silver blades. So long as it flies, the Thousand Swords will never falter, their morale never fail, their bodies continue to fight past the point of exhaustion, as they are sustained and reinforced by the banner's magic.
In the fury of battle, some say that they are certain the blades begin to move, spinning until they seem to be without counting. The faster they spin, they greater heights to which Celestina can inspire her men to reach.
With the focus on the banner, the spear to which it is affixed is often ignored. Which is exactly as Celestina likes it.
* Sndrang. The Spear of the South. The Lance of Eskhatos. The Morning Star.
The spear, it is rumoured, was found after a skirmish near the border of the Chaos Lands. They say that Celestina walked out into the night, headed south, and upon returning in the morning bore the spear in her hand.
Once lost in a forgotten tomb hidden the desert of a dead god's dreams. It is an ancient weapon, and looks it, the entire spear metal pitted with rust and covered in the dust of ages. The head is a five-pointed star, the inner sections empty spaces that seem only to weaken the integrity of the weapon. In the hands of anyone other than Celestina, it is as special and useful as it looks.
In her hands, the weapon reveals itself, the rust nothing more than an outer shell. The spear is born of a light so pure that it was as solid as metal. A star cast into the form of a weapon in a distant age. No spear is as fast or as sharp as Sndrang. It sings the songs of the spheres when it moves through the air, and tenebrous tendrils of the starry night sky trail after it.
Its greatest asset is its interactions with Celestina's magic. Not only can she continue to cast her magic while wielding it, she can channel her spells through it, often to devastating effect against opponents otherwise shielded from magical attacks.
Homeland:
Though she was born in the city-state of Miana, it has been many years since Celestina last lived there. She still calls the states of L'Aquila in the eastern Hearlands her home, traveling from the mountain fortress of Venucci in the north to the port of Feligno in the south. She has served as a mercenary guarding caravans belonging to the trade magnates of Tarona, and gone to war for multiple sides in the conflicts between the Pirata clans in the forests of Etrea in the west, and seen the City of the Djinn, bled across the sands of Mezekesh, and fought side by side with the warriors of Azar Harif in the shadows of the Valley of Black Glass in the east.
There we go, that should do, if there's still room.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Threadmarked as a candidate.
Gonna see about starting up the IC. I'll be building the first post and making my final selection of characters to get in kinda mixed together.
IC Thread Up
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Right then you know what I'm accepting everyone because thus far threadmarked. More than I intended but there's nothing I specifically want to turn away.
I'm sorta going with throwing things into the action, don't hesitate to ask questions here if you're confused. I want to get things moving, and a drawn out peaceful introduction sequence seems a misstep for that. I'll be putting the thread up momentarily, and editing in a link in this post.
Thread up. I've divided everyone into smaller groups to be able to respond to each group once its respective members have responded, for hopefully somewhat faster play and also to give each player less chance of being shoved to the side by other character's actions.
I'm sorta going with throwing things into the action, don't hesitate to ask questions here if you're confused. I want to get things moving, and a drawn out peaceful introduction sequence seems a misstep for that. I'll be putting the thread up momentarily, and editing in a link in this post.
Thread up. I've divided everyone into smaller groups to be able to respond to each group once its respective members have responded, for hopefully somewhat faster play and also to give each player less chance of being shoved to the side by other character's actions.
Last edited:
always_confused
Perpetually unwanted
- Location
- SEA
@Terrabrand I have to ask, what's your policy on learning new skills and improving the ones we already have? How is that being handled? If we can improve or learn new ones at all, that is.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
You can do both. My rough draft plans, taking into account I'm making this up as I go to a fairly large degree, is that there will be downtime periods for training per se to occur in. Obviously there's gonna be some degree of room to pick up equipment or recieve blessings from gods or whatever all else that isn't strictly training time based, as well.
Fellgrave
Let the Stars Throw Down their Spears
- Location
- Dancing on the Horizon
Sweeto.
Also, my post may be delayed until tomorrow. I've got it started, but I'm working and today is being more than usually busy for me.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Oh whoops.
I reversed the labelling of the Starboard Side section and Stern of the Skycutter section. There's nothing wrong with the descriptions, I just gave them the wrong labels. This has now been corrected.
I reversed the labelling of the Starboard Side section and Stern of the Skycutter section. There's nothing wrong with the descriptions, I just gave them the wrong labels. This has now been corrected.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
So for clarity there's a bit of time desynching here. If you aren't in one of the sections I responded to, for your character's personal frame of reference the ship has not yet abruptly stopped. If I have, it has.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
To be clear;
Doesn't have eyes, weird gem in it's head with nothing where the eye sockets should be.
Terran Imperium
[French]
- Location
- Southern France
Thanks for clarifying, I misread that part.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
*trying to write update bits*
to clarify because I'm not entirely sure I got this across, the Skycutter is actually quite large, to the point that the center where the captain (Which is Garius) goes is barely within shouting distance of the outer areas, before the fog, and you're basically all out of reasonable sight/hearing ranges even before the fog.
There's nothing specifically a problem, but just trying to be clear going forward.
to clarify because I'm not entirely sure I got this across, the Skycutter is actually quite large, to the point that the center where the captain (Which is Garius) goes is barely within shouting distance of the outer areas, before the fog, and you're basically all out of reasonable sight/hearing ranges even before the fog.
There's nothing specifically a problem, but just trying to be clear going forward.
Fellgrave
Let the Stars Throw Down their Spears
- Location
- Dancing on the Horizon
I figured it was pretty big, but that's a bit more than I expected. Hopefully the flare works to get everyone's (the squishy NPC crew) attention and gathers them together.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
Meatspace has been eating time, I'll see about actually moving things forward again sometime after I've slept.
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
always_confused
Perpetually unwanted
- Location
- SEA
@Terrabrand
Does the beak look just as rubbery as the rest of the monster or is it more 'solid'? (or can I not see that)
Does the beak look just as rubbery as the rest of the monster or is it more 'solid'? (or can I not see that)
- Location
- The Great Beyond
- Pronouns
- He/She/They
It's a beak, it looks pretty bone-like in quality.