Character Sheet
The Mysterious Orphan

Name: Lotte, daughter of Henrik and Anelie
Sexuality: Pansexual
Age: 18
Species: Lamia, Central Lands Human Culture
Level: 3
Class: Hunter
Weapons: Bow, Knife

XP: 2/18

Description: A tall lamia, with short blond hair, and blue eyes, dressed in a protective vest and a noble's hunting shirt. They are muscular, well-formed and handsome, and have slightly yellowish eyes and a forked tongue. Their snake-half is in a forest pattern that helps for blending in, except for the occasional splash of Tyrian purple.

Traits:

Just Devotions (Racial--Human, Central, Cultural)(Level 0): Humans in some parts of the world worship the Gods, vast and sometimes unknowable beings that do grant blessings to those that believe in them, magical blessings. But even the lowliest of the pious knows how to pray to them, how to do the right supplications, how to act in the proper ways. This knowledge can sometimes be put to good use, though the Gods rarely turn their eyes to every little prayer.

Wholesome Farm Looks (Human, Central, Physical, Level 1): Though most of the people of the Central lands, that mass of Kingdoms, Princedoms, Dukedoms, Duchess States, and more, are of course quite poor, they are a hardy, hard-working people, and sometimes this life less beats a person down and more hones them. They have reasonably good looks, and even more importantly, look trustworthy, clean-cut, and otherwise like the kind of person who'd never lied a day in their life or slacked off a single hour, either. This remains even after becoming a lamia, though it is... tempered, obviously.

Snake Eyes (Level 1, Physical, Lamia): You can see in the dark pretty well. It isn't perfect, but the night is not nearly so dark and full of dangers as you expected it would be, for whatever reason.


Forest Wanderer (0, Pre-Class): The forest is a fascinating place for a child, as long as they don't go too far. As one gets used to it, one learns more about its ins and outs, and while some of it only applies to the forest that such a child lived in at first, much of it is quite helpful later.

Forest Eyes (Level 1. Class): As one could have eyes that pick out every tiny detail of the tundra, so can one be used to seeing in the dark forest tracks, possibilities, old growth, traps, and anything else, especially when one knows how to use your ears and nose to aid it. It is remarkable how much you can see, when you see what is actually there.

Hunter's Mettle (Level 1, Class): To hunt, one needs a bow, an arrow, and perhaps a knife for self-defense. Having some skill at them is inevitable, having solid skill at them is admirable, and quite useful.

Steady Arm (Level 2, Class): You have a strong, consistent aim. You're not a superlative archer, at least by the standards of adventurers, but you don't have off moments, and you don't waver from being able to hit your target, even if you're not doing the fancier tricks.

Leave Few Traces (Level 2, Class): The experience of being on one side of the hunt makes you wonder how you'd hide your tracks if you were being hunted, or tracked by hostile enemies, as sometimes does happen in adventures. You've begun to practice how not to be followed in the woods, and perhaps elsewhere.


Mending Knowledge, Basic (Level 0, Pre-Class, Healing Priest): You know how to apply poultrices, and you know the basic ingredients of a number of potions that cure headaches, deal with common pains, put someone into a gentle sleep, and other minor things. You can also bandage someone properly. You are not very good at this, merely adequate... but that's more than what most people are.


Whitlin' Ways (Level 1, Common): A man or woman who knows how to whittle will never want for whistles, or spoons, or any number of goods. It's a useful, solid sort of skill, and one that could be made into a trade. It also makes a pretty decent way to pass the time, and the person who whittles never lacks for a knife in sticky situations.

Penny Pincher (Level 1, General): You know the value of a Pfin, and how to keep from wasting all of your money, even if you're far from a merchant. Money is something you're familiar with.

Steel Nerves (General, Level 3): You've seen enough strange places and done enough fantastic things that you are less likely to panic in terrible situations, and more likely to think things through, however difficult. This doesn't mean you can't panic at all, but you have a grip on those nerves. In battle and danger only, this unfortunately doesn't help at all with social anxiety.


Divine Sense (Level 0, Divine): You can sense when someone is a Demigod, and there's at least the potential ability--though you have not figured it out yet--to try to track people through their divine 'scent.' A person's 'scent' gets stronger as they get more magically and divinely powerful... but on the other hand, you now have a 'scent' of your own, that will allow other demigods to know you for what you are, increasingly as you grow more powerful yourself.

Captivating Eyes (Level 2, Divine): You can sometimes 'catch' people with your eyes. If you're concentrating, they'll find it slightly more difficult to look away, though any sense of threat or danger breaks it immediately, and they'll hear your words clearly, actually listening… or at least hearing them. There's no requirement to listen to them, nor does it seem as if anyone's mind is being altered in any way, but it's an interesting, if bizarre, power, and certainly is a new take on 'lost in their eyes.'

Slithering Shadows (Level 3, Divine): You can blend into the shadows better than you should be able to. At night, and in darker areas, you can seem to shift away from sight. It doesn't work well in a wide-open space, but that little bit of extra secrecy can be very useful as a hunter, and as someone who might need to sneak through various areas.
 
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Vote closed, we'll see if I can update on Saturday. I'm doing this thing where I have to print 300 pages of content, one page at a time, and then appropriately label it, for my Master's Thesis.

So, uh, I won't have that much time to work on it tomorrow, as far as writing goes, so we'll see how things go/where I am.

If you're curious, it's bits and pieces of 1920s newspapers.
 
2:7
2:7

"We should parley," Lotte said, in a whisper.

"Oscar, don't be a daft fool," Guilliam said, clearly having either not heard or ignored Lotte. He was bristling, tension in the air, looking like some animal trying to puff itself up bigger to scare a predator. Oscar could no doubt crush him where he stood, if it came to a physical confrontation.

Guilliam didn't have enough time to sing up a defense, as close as they were. Magic took time, usually, or at least concentration. If it didn't, it wouldn't be quite so possible to fight it.

"Quiet, manlings! Lotte had a suggestion. I do not know if I like it," Clemencia said, in a harsh whisper. "But it is her idea."

"Parley," Lotte said, a little louder.

"Parley? Why? How?" Oscar demanded.

"Why? We do not know what is happening. This makes no sense," Lotte said. "By the Gods, we know this is odd. Yes, we all want to earn our pay, but I know there are pious men and women among us. I… try, and I know you care, Oscar. So, what if there's something we don't know? Or, for that matter, what if their plans are so heinous that we have to fight here," she said, turning to Guilliam. "Fight here, or fight later against something worse. We don't know, we can't know."

"And when they notice there's only four of us and kill us?" Guilliam asked.

"We meet them somewhere nearby, and we hint at greater numbers. We can run if we need to," Lotte insisted. "I won't even contact them unless they're staying somewhere they can't just leave."

"Even so, if they are planning something terrible, we should leave and come back with an army," Guilliam said. "Before revealing that we're after them."

"They have to know they're being tracked," Lotte argued. "And Oscar has refused to turn back and run, now."

"Yes. But this is foolish," Oscar said.

"If it fails, we'll be fighting anyways," Lotte pointed out, though she shrank back a little from Oscar's hard glare. "Just like you wanted."

"So, what, you go forward, and we hope this works?" Clemencia asked.

"I… they took only Ingeld's artifacts for a reason," Lotte said, looking at Clemencia, thinking about what she knew about the Sepult's religion. "They're trying to do something with, or something to, the martyr. Why else would they need so many artifacts related to him? If they were selling it, why not steal more? If they merely wanted mystical artifacts for a ceremony of any type, then why wouldn't his blessed companions be enough?"

Lotte felt the scar on her hand burn with a sudden sharp pain. Her heart raced like a rabbit, but her body was still, a rabbit before the snake of their attention. "I think this is what we need to do."

"If it fails, we can always fight," Oscar said. "If you know where we're meeting them?"

"I do," Lotte said, quietly. "There's a grove not far from here. We could… also ask the Witches to come with us, if we wanted to. If we wanted to turn around."

Lotte didn't know if they'd agree, but surely they'd know how to talk to them?

"It might be wise…" Guilliam said. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you have an idea. I can tell. Cleverer than I expected, honestly."

Lotte granted that as fair, since she was not exactly all that smart. "I… I'm not sure, but it's worth trying. And if they kill me, do as you will."

"We will do it," Clemencia said, and then stepped forward. "If you do die, may you join your ancestors, in a great chain stretching back to the world's dawning, and may you help tether down the sky to the earth."

The… what? Lotte knew that that wasn't so, that instead the stars were shining tears, and the sky glass stretched over them to keep them from drowning the world. She'd been told it once, by her father, and if he wasn't a reliable source than who was?

"You can't just answer for us," Guilliam began.

"That's where you're wrong," Clemencia said. "Now, are we going to try our best, or not?"

*******

Lotte stalked forward, carefully and slowly, keeping low so that she was harder to see. She didn't need to hide the signs of her passing in one way, since a footprint coming in wouldn't matter. They'd know she was here soon enough. Finally, she saw it.

It was a shrine.

Yes, it was made of wood, of logs at its base, and straw at its top, but it had the shape and look of a shrine, complete with a wide front door and a path set in stone, headed towards a main path.

A shrine.

They...

They stole the contents of a shrine, and took them to another shrine.

A smaller, humbler shrine, but a shrine.

The logs were carefully cut, and they were faintly smooth, as if someone had worked their best on what they had. Lotte remembered splitting firewood, and knew that from the way it all fit together it would have taken more skill than that. A person didn't build something like this alone, and they didn't do it for no reason.

Lotte carefully stepped towards one of the people keeping watch, around the trees. There were only two that Lotte could see, and so she crept up closer to him. The man watching didn't look like a dirty bandit. He was a tired man, somewhere in his thirties, dressed in leathers and with a knife at his belt being his only weapon. Of course, he also had a horn, and he'd no doubt blow it in the right circumstances.

She darted forward, no weapon drawn, and grabbed him. He startled. "What, wait, att--"

Lotte wrapped her hand over his mouth, and didn't even wince when he bit it. "Parley," Lotte said. "I have a message for your… head priest." It was a guess, but from the way the man stiffened, she'd gotten closer than she should. "We've tracked them, we know where they are, and were hired by the shrine to retrieve the artifacts."

The man kicked and struggled, and given a few more moments, she'd run out of time and it'd be a fight.

Lotte felt as if she was about to fall over the edge of a cliff.

(She remembered one time, when she'd hung at the end of a long, long tree branch, back when she climbed trees like a squirrel, for the sheer joy of climbing. There was another branch, perhaps at the very edge of as far as she could leap, a little girl who didn't like chores. She'd leapt anyways, and just barely grabbed at the edge of the other branch.

That's how she felt now.)

"But something doesn't fit," Lotte said. "There is something we don't know about this theft, or whatever it truly was. We have the numbers to attack, if you refuse to parley. But if you come to the witches' grove, where the Nachtmater ceremonies are--you know where that is?"

The man nodded, watching her quite intently now.

"Tell them. I'll be leaving, and I'll see you there, halfway between noon and sunset." That'd give them plenty of time.

These 'bandits' weren't going anywhere.

The man nodded. Lotte let him go, leaping back as he reached out for his horn and put it to his lips.

Lotte turned and fled, as she heard it blow behind her. Now, all that was left was to see what happened. She didn't bother hiding her tracks, since she was going to somewhere she knew well. Now, she had forgotten some of the steps to reach the grove, but that wasn't that much of a problem. Anyone chasing her would find that they had been baited, since she could probably fight off one or two individuals going after her.

It'd take time for them to get together, to track her down, to do anything.

She'd either made a massive mistake, or the best possible choice. It was hard to see how the truth could be anywhere between the two. She hurried through the forest. It seemed to flow beneath her feet, almost familiar to her. It was a trick, of course. You couldn't truly get to know a forest by walking it once, and when you thought you did, that's when something went wrong.

Still, she clung to this feeling, as dangerous as it was.

There was beauty in any forest, once you accepted the dangers. Even her home forest had outlaws at times, though less the bandits in infamous stories, and more lonely, desperate men and women who cared far more about hiding than plunder.

So she enjoyed how the red contrasted against the feathers of some of the birds, and she smiled faintly when she saw several broad, lovely trees that might have made good shade to sit under, one day.

The deer were no different than anywhere else, other than that their coat was a little more reddish than she expected. They bolted when they saw her, and she smiled and shook her head. She had her bow close at hand, strung in anticipation of a fight, but she wouldn't stop, not anytime soon.

Finally, she began to recognize the surrounding area. The signs in the woods were subtle ones, mostly, but she did recognize a fallen tree that they'd walked around, during that uncertain time after she'd been bitten.

They'd all been quiet, and afraid. Lotte still was afraid, but for different reasons.

The fear itself felt oddly distant, the slight pain in her hand seeming to drive away so many things. It was as if she didn't quite feel her own body, as if the sweat beading was on someone else. She was slightly disconnected, or, no, that wasn't it. She felt as if her own body was simply a… thing. It was a strange feeling, and the more she tried to understand it, the less it made sense.

But it was almost familiar. It was those moments when she was exhausted and pushing herself that she felt most comfortable. Those moments when all the details of her body were reduced to a struggling mass of effort. It was why she'd liked chopping wood, or dragging back deer. There was a point where a lot of things stopped mattering.

She liked it this way.

She noticed the witch with enough time to spare that, had she been an enemy, Lotte could have drawn her bow and been ready. The woman didn't look all that familiar. Lotte only recognized her as the woman who'd been in charge of the ritual. Or at least, had done some of the talking.

"Brave adventurer, there you are. Your allies in heroism are waiting for you."

When it wasn't late at night, she didn't look quite as impressive. She was shorter than expected, and without a hood on, Lotte could see that her hair was brittle, as if she'd washed it with too much soap, and her face was marked with pocks. But her eyes were strong, and her voice clear.

"They made it?"

"They did."

"All of you are going to help bear witness?"

"Those who are here. It is a large forest, and only so many can be gathered." The woman shook her head, running fingers through her hair as if she felt some sort of tangle. "Eight in all, but that should be enough. If they try to kill you, we will have to act."

Lotte nodded. "I shall follow you."

As they walked, the woman spoke. "That's the first time I've ever seen the Nachtmater outside of dreams. What did she say?"

"Little I could understand," Lotte admitted. "You know, I don't know your name."

"Adal. I look at you, and I wonder what I do not see," she mused. "You seem a strong, strapping sort of woman, you stink faintly of sweat and sunshine, you look like you can walk through a forest untouched, and you clearly know your way around a bow. Impressive for a new adventurer, if you are new."

"Thank you, ma'am. Are you a priest?"

"Officially? Yes, though the cults of the Nachtmater care very little about the niceties of churches and benefices."

Lotte decided to double the amount of respect she showed, since Alda was clearly a far more important person than she was. The Nachtmater was no small god, to be idly thought of or idly worshipped. In Lotte's view, none of them were, but some were spoken of more often, named in, or so she'd been told, more texts outside of the core ones for their particular worship. The God that was mentioned in the stories and rituals of other Gods was powerful indeed.

"I do not know all that I witnessed," Lotte admitted.

"What surprised you most?"

"The Nachtmater apologized, or said she might in the future," Lotte admitted, quietly. "I didn't think Gods apologized. What they do is not ours to question."

"Of course it is!" Alda insisted. "Gods are imperfect, as even they acknowledge, in the abstract, like the man who can admit that perhaps husbands can be cruel. But a God is like a King, they have cause to fear apology. And yet, she did? This is interesting."

"I suppose," Lotte said, though she knew too little of theology. It seemed bizarre, that a priestess would acknowledge the imperfection of the Gods.

"A cat can look at a King, though, so mayhaps it is nothing more than that."

Lotte nodded. It made as much sense as anything, and she also didn't want to admit that she barely understood that saying. Best not to speak if you didn't have anything intelligent to say.

******

Oscar wasn't talking to her, and Guilliam seemed suspicious, but Clemencia patted Lotte's arm when she moved to stand near her.

"We shall see," Clemencia said. "I have a feeling about this."

"A good feeling?" Guilliam asked, with a single raised brow.

"Just a feeling."

The people around them, eight in total, looked remarkably normal now that the ritual was done. Some were in hunting clothing, others in robes, but none of them seemed all that remarkable. Yet Lotte knew that at least three of them were Witches, which no doubt would come in handy.

Finally, after interminable waiting, people began to come through the trees. They were well-armed and weary, men and women in leathers, in hunting gear… and in robes. Priests? Some of them must have been priests. In all there were a dozen of them, led by a dark-eyed, dark-bearded man who glared around at them. "There aren't many of you. Were we lied to?"

"No, just deceived," Guilliam said. "But now you're here."

"Not all of us, yet."

Behind them were the creaking Lotte associated with a cart, and then a donkey braying as it dragged a wooden cart with another two men in it. Both of them were holding on tight to what looked like chests.

"The artifacts," Clemencia whispered to Lotte.

"So, we came here to parley. So tell me, tell us, why exactly you stole a bunch of priceless artifacts?"

"Priceless! This is true. It has no price, and never should."

"Yet you stole it all the same."

"Stole? Not I."

Guilliam snorted. "So, what, you liberated them? Borrowed them?"

"Them, no. The artifacts, do you truly not understand? Did even they miss it?" the man asked, looking around. "All that work to obscure our purpose, and they do not even know what they were doing, and what they were missing?"

Several of the men and women laugh, though Lotte's eyes were focused on all the weapons they had. If this turned out to be a trap, it'd end very badly.

"What were they missing?" Oscar demanded of them. "Tell us!"

"Wait. You're a priest, aren't you," Lotte said, breathless. If that was true, then, it fit with the shrine, but then that meant that the reason they'd taken the artifacts was--!

"We didn't steal the artifacts, we rescued Ingeld, at his request," the man declared.

And that, of course, was when everyone started raising their voices.

Angry arguments ensue, who does Lotte back up?

[] Oscar starts loudly demanding proof while waving his sword around. How dare they lie about something so important! Provide proof or it shall be a fight!
[] Guilliam is berating them, arguing that even if it was so, what did they think would happen? That they'd be able to hide in some shrine in the forest forever?
[] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
[] Write-in.

*******

A/N: So, there we go.
 
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[X] Guilliam is berating them, arguing that even if it was so, what did they think would happen? That they'd be able to hide in some shrine in the forest forever?
 
[x] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
 
[X] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
 
[X] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
 
[X] Oscar starts loudly demanding proof while waving his sword around. How dare they lie about something so important! Provide proof or it shall be a fight!
 
[X] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
 
[X] Clemencia tries to question, via shouting, them about how they did it, what role the artifacts had, and other such honestly rather interesting, if peripheral, details.
 
[X] Guilliam is berating them, arguing that even if it was so, what did they think would happen? That they'd be able to hide in some shrine in the forest forever?
 
[X] Oscar starts loudly demanding proof while waving his sword around. How dare they lie about something so important! Provide proof or it shall be a fight!

I'm not sure a fight is in our best interests, but getting this claim proven is the best way to get Oscar on the side of de-escalation. I have faith in the priest to be able to back up that statement, and the Bard's question is really not useful: dealing with optimal strategy can come after we've settled differences.
 
Lotte knew that that wasn't so, that instead the stars were shining tears, and the sky glass stretched over them to keep them from drowning the world. She'd been told it once, by her father, and if he wasn't a reliable source than who was?

That's surprisingly similar to our perception of the world
Aside from that whole stars are other suns thingy

[X] You do not understand why Ingeld would ask this of his followers. Were the priests somehow dishonoring him? Did they somehow use his artifacts to earn more money than necessary to maintain the shrine? Why murder those people then, instead of raising a complaint against their behavior?
 
[X] Oscar starts loudly demanding proof while waving his sword around. How dare they lie about something so important! Provide proof or it shall be a fight!
 
That's surprisingly similar to our perception of the world
Aside from that whole stars are other suns thingy

[X] You do not understand why Ingeld would ask this of his followers. Were the priests somehow dishonoring him? Did they somehow use his artifacts to earn more money than necessary to maintain the shrine? Why murder those people then, instead of raising a complaint against their behavior?

Lotte is a graduate of the School of "My Dad Always Said" and is no doubt going to soon get a degree in "It Stands To Reason."
 
[X] You do not understand why Ingeld would ask this of his followers. Were the priests somehow dishonoring him? Did they somehow use his artifacts to earn more money than necessary to maintain the shrine? Why murder those people then, instead of raising a complaint against their behavior?
 
[X] You do not understand why Ingeld would ask this of his followers. Were the priests somehow dishonoring him? Did they somehow use his artifacts to earn more money than necessary to maintain the shrine? Why murder those people then, instead of raising a complaint against their behavior?
 
While I do like the idea that we should be asking 'why' ingveld is asking this of his priests, I think we need to settle that there is/was actually contact with ingveld before bloodshed happens. Everyone is confused and angry, let's deal with settling things and establishing bona fides before we dive too deep into uncovering the larger schemes.
 
While I do like the idea that we should be asking 'why' ingveld is asking this of his priests, I think we need to settle that there is/was actually contact with ingveld before bloodshed happens. Everyone is confused and angry, let's deal with settling things and establishing bona fides before we dive too deep into uncovering the larger schemes.

I just really don't know whether they can prove it to Oscar's satisfaction and asking about their grievances might help with venting them and deescalating
Like, showing that we would listen to their side of the story
 
I just really don't know whether they can prove it to Oscar's satisfaction and asking about their grievances might help with venting them and deescalating
Like, showing that we would listen to their side of the story


That's fair, but I'm worried that we don't have enough credibility with our party to reach out to the opposition without looking like we are siding against the group. We are on thin ice already pushing everyone into a risky parley against superior numbers- we need buy-in from the wobbliest party members before we can offer concessions... Unless we are willing to cut Oscar lose and potentially watch him die to remove a blocker to agreement?
 
That's fair, but I'm worried that we don't have enough credibility with our party to reach out to the opposition without looking like we are siding against the group. We are on thin ice already pushing everyone into a risky parley against superior numbers- we need buy-in from the wobbliest party members before we can offer concessions... Unless we are willing to cut Oscar lose and potentially watch him die to remove a blocker to agreement?

I kinda hope that the priests who tended to the shrine with Ingeld's artifacts committed a sacrilege
A weird thing to hope for, but it does explain some things

After they explain that, Oscar would be... not more reasonable, no, more like murderous in a different direction
I want to sideline the discussion from theft and murder into a theological dispute
They are also quite volatile, but then, silly as it sounds, the thieves might have more of a chance to explain themselves
Can't quite articulate why I think so, tho
 
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