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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Well, this shook out less than close, but we have a clear consensus, now.
Adhoc vote count started by NemoMarx on Oct 21, 2019 at 8:18 PM, finished with 15 posts and 11 votes.
 
3:4
3:4

"What do those mean, on the walls?" Lotte asked, having finally worked up the courage to ask after some time of walking. They had torches, and held them out, for the hall itself was remarkably dark, and without the spots for torches or candles that she might have expected, even if all of them had long since guttered. All the stories said that the ancient dungeons were untouched. On the walls were strange symbols, carved into the black stone, visible only when the light of the torches passed over them, and even then as a hollow more than anything else. The symbols were interesting, in a way, but made no sense to her. She wasn't smart, but even the smartest person in her village might have struggled.

"I have almost entirely no clue," Naja said. "And it gives me a headache to look at them."

"Why?"

"You can't feel it? When I look at them, it's as if there was a bear right there. The only thing I can make out is a rune or two, here and there, in something like old Sepult. 'Vigilance' or perhaps 'Vigilant' or perhaps 'Hero.'"

Lotte blinked at that last one, "What do you mean, hero?"

"Well, Sepult heroes weren't exactly approved of by those in power, once upon a time," Aisling said. "Also, the runes, they… shine."

"No, they don't," Naja said.

"Please, think. It glows like the blood of the Fae," Aisling said, though her voice was different, somewhere between reverent and terrified. "It calls to me, not because it is like the Fae, but because it is unlike them. It gutters, like a candle lacking strength. It is hollow, like the elves before the Fae, it… it also disgusts me, and I fear what I would do if it didn't."

As she'd talked, they'd been walking, taking the main passages. The words, though, seemed to echo in the halls. Lotte glanced at the runes, and saw nothing odd at all. "They seem normal to me."

"Could she be less sensitive to them?" Aisling asked. "Or… if we're thinking about it, less likely to grasp how wrong it is?"

"Oh, like she's not worldly enough for that?" Naja asked.

"Well, if I knew nothing about the Fae, I'd just say it gave me the creeps," Aisling said.

Lotte thought that could be it, and it was true that the palace itself unnerved her. There was nothing, truly, to see at that point.

In fact, that was some of why she worried so much.

"Maybe you're right," Lotte began. "Do we know where we're going?"

"The keep," Naja said. "The center. It's where anything important is going to be. I will have to find a way to draw those blasted sigils at some point, if we're doing research, but the first step is to find things that aren't tied down."

Aisling nodded at that. Of course, Lotte wasn't going to get a share of any treasure she found, but she understood the fact that such dungeon expeditions were as much about getting stuff as learning stuff. Naja wouldn't be satisfied if all she found were a few old gold pieces and a mystery, but a few gold pieces probably didn't hurt even her.

Lotte stuck close to Naja, occasionally even bumping into the other girl. Naja seemed to hover closer to Aisling, then Lotte, as if she couldn't quite stand to be alone. Lotte wondered at Naja's fear, but also how she sought comfort, and tried not to imagine holding her. Certainly, it was better than telling her off, because Naja also babbled. She talked about the weather ("I wonder if it will rain tonight? Do you think? Do you think it's even tonight in here, or whether there's weather in this pocket?"), sleep ("Are there any beds in this place? We will have to stay overnight, I suppose,") and even Lotte's past ("So, tell me more about village life. How was it? Was it homey and close and as if the whole village was a family like they say in the… I don't see how it's offensive, Aisling. Are you offended, Lotte?")

Unfortunately the emptiness of the palace was broken with blood. Lotte smelled it, faintly, and then the torch picked it out. On one of the walls, there was a bloody handprint, and beyond it blood smeared all over, seemingly at random.

"Fool," Aisling said.

"W-what?" Naja asked, turning to her.

"Look at where the blood is. Someone… someone tried to activate the runes, if that's what they are, with their own blood. But I could have told them, anyone could have, that it takes Sepult blood, or Fae blood, or the blood of the divine to… to…" Aisling shook her head, and suddenly looked ill. "I'm… remembering something I shouldn't?"

"What do you mean?" Lotte asked.

"I've been having these dreams, the whole way here. It's not worth talking about, I'm not a prophet, and I'm not a whiner. It's just the Fae playing tricks, or perhaps trying to help, in their way," Aisling said.

Unsurprisingly, this didn't sooth Naja much, who looked at Aisling with concern as they continued along. What good would it do to look at the blood, or speculate on where its owner's body was? Of course these ruins were dangerous. That's why Lotte was there, and so she steeled herself, waiting for an attack that never quite came, at least by the time they reached a large main room, which had long halls to the right or left. Lotte recognized it vaguely, from outside, as the wings. Then there were doors forward that would probably lead to kitchens, or servants quarters. Then there was a set of stairwells up to a balcony, the door flung open, but heavy enough to withstand quite a bit. The stairwell itself was rather plain, but the doorway had a rather striking arch, each of the stones above it a different color.

It stood out against the darkness of the rest of the stone.

"There," Naja said, and up the stairs they went. By the end of it, Naja was looking tired. "Hey, don't look at me like that. It's been a long, long walk."

It really hadn't, but Lotte wasn't going to say anything about it. There was more to watch for, as they stepped through the door. Beyond that, at last something was different from the endless dark stone and nothing. This stone at least was closer to grey, and there were occasional scraps that might have once been rugs on the ground. They found a few spilled coins outside of a room with a large iron padlock, which seemed to not have even begun rusting. They couldn't make it through that, at least at the moment, and so Naja had them move on, circling around and around. Some of the rooms might have been barracks, and they all seemed to circle around a central area, most of which was equally cleared out. They spent almost an hour, and found nothing more than a few white pfin laying around, which brought the question of where their owners were?

Lotte didn't know if she actually wanted answers, considering what those answers would probably be. Finally, though, they found a room that was only mostly ruined. Chairs were overturned, and the wooden, four-legged table lacked one of its legs, but hadn't quite collapsed. But most notably, there was a desk in the corner, though the drawers were torn out and scattered, and there was no paper or parchment on it. But near the fireplace, there was a torn apart book.

"Huh. This feels like an office," Naja said, walking over to the book and picking it up, before opening it.

"I hate that there's no windows in a Sepult castle except on the outside," Aisling said. "What does it say?"

"Two pages. One says, check the fireplace. The other says 'To whomever may read, or to myself, there are three gems. I do not know what my next move will be, because I fear it is a ask that I, no matter how powerful, would find impossible. But perhaps you could manage it.'" Naja stopped to frown, "I… hope so. It goes on…"

"'All but these few pages will go into the fire, that and a map I made, which should be nearby. If it is not, then… I am fearful too. If I leave, I would have to try again to return. I do not wish to quit. But if I stay, I will starve." Naja read it slowly, her eyes growing wider. "I… where could he be? It's almost to the end of the note."

"'I believe that the key is balance. The East and the West are two halves of what the Sepult viewed as a single harmonious whole. I can go down neither pathway, nor can any single being go down both, at least I believe so. They were narrow-minded fools, but the Sepult believed in balance. Each half of the three (or is it four) has a parallel. Imbalance leads to ruin, ash, and fire. Imbalance will kill--No more from lack of space. If I find something else to write on, I will conclude.'"

Naja turned the paper over, to show that the paper was dense with writing, but not in any language Lotte understood. It also seemed to be repeating, like some strange mantra. "Oh, come on," Naja said, pouting. "But, we learned something, didn't we? That wasn't so bad."

Lotte stared. "That was…"

"Annoying," Aisling said. "But, there might be something in the fireplace. Lotte, you wanna take a look?"

Lotte shrugged, and got down onto her knees and peered into the fireplace. Then she blinked in surprise. Near the back, beyond the ash piles that had once been the rest of the book, were three slots. She could just about put her pinkie into them, and in the center was what looked like a keyhole. "Oh," Lotte said. "It's some sort of test."

"Test?" Aisling asked.

"Like… in the stories, where you have to prove your wisdom or bravery before getting the treasure?"

"That's just in stories. Let me look, Lotte!" She shoved past Lotte, even though that meant they were in close quarters, their bodies warm against each other. "What? These are gem sockets, I've seen those before, in other ruins. And then a key, but… it doesn't look like it's a real keyhole. So, hidden gems? Or are we supposed to have brought our own?"

"I don't know, but I do know both of you shouldn't be down in the soot like that," Aisling said. "Get up both of you, and we can start looking."

"Looking?"

"Well, it's a big castle, and maybe we can find something."

"But we don't even know what this will do," Lotte said.

"Something fascinating. Something worth the trip," Naja said, quite firmly. "We're doing this."

It seemed that they were doing this.

Where to next? (Three Gems remaining, 1(?) Key(?) remaining)

[] West wing!
[] East Wing!
[] The Tower!
[] The Dungeon?!

******

A/N: Hey, it's short, but this is going to be an arc of short-ish updates. Depending on a number of factors, though. There are choices that can speed this up or slow it down.
 
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[X] West wing!

We're probably gonna have to scour the entire place for these gems, so this is more about the order we start in
 
[X] The Tower!

Same reason as before, to take a look down from the top. Possibly patterns to detect.

Also, it's like a puzzle. Possibly, we have to try to do everything balanced - which could be bad considering there's 3 people. I could imagine, possibly, if we choose east or west we won't be able to choose the other, or possibly we'll have to split the party. Maybe, I'm not sure.

IC, it didn't occur to anyone and the options don't have any detail... does the Laurent use invisitext? On my phone.
 
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[X] The Tower!

This is a very cool set up to adventure! And cute between the three of them. I'm thinking we could look for where we got a hint that something was?
 
I'm glad we're seeing some votes for almost every direction, now!

I wonder why West over East, with the information you have. Is it just wanting to meet the ghost of Sepult President Bartlett?
 
I'm glad we're seeing some votes for almost every direction, now!

I wonder why West over East, with the information you have. Is it just wanting to meet the ghost of Sepult President Bartlett?

I will say, as a sorta-hint, that you could meet Sepult President Bartlett in the West Wing. As in, it is not logically impossible, based on the nature of the West Wing.
 
I'm glad we're seeing some votes for almost every direction, now!

I wonder why West over East, with the information you have. Is it just wanting to meet the ghost of Sepult President Bartlett?
I will say, as a sorta-hint, that you could meet Sepult President Bartlett in the West Wing. As in, it is not logically impossible, based on the nature of the West Wing.
Oh no. Not that. Anything but that. :V

[X] East Wing!
 
A/N: So ends the second adventure!

So, about the previous adventure because I missed it. Lotte was far better archer then I believed her to be. Like, she fired in a brawl at people, she hit them consistently, and she hit them where she aimed. That's... some impressive skill, nothing like I would have expected from the 1lvl archer.

Now, about this one. I don't trust them. Neither of them. Call me paranoid, but such sudden sexual attraction seems to me like a succubus' work, or something of that sort. But to be fair, so far they've done nothing I feared they would - they didn't sacrifice Lotte, they didn't leave her in front of the door. They still can fuck her over with payment, but hey, if that's all a succubus does to her I'll be glad!

The thing about her period seemed confusing; was she feeling unsexual/undesirable and not in control? I think it is so, but that childhood fever/dream thing keeps bothering me.

Character sheet lacks description of newly acquired traits; one of them is missing entirely. On that note, I'm super sad noone wanted the killer instinct one - an adventurer in medieval-ish times is bound to leave a sea of corpses; best get it dealt with early on.
 
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So, about the previous adventure because I missed it. Lotte was far better archer then I believed her to be. Like, she fired in a brawl at people, she hit them consistently, and she hit them where she aimed. That's... some impressive skill, nothing like I would have expected from the 1lvl archer.

Now, about this one. I don't trust them. Neither of them. Call me paranoid, but such sudden sexual attraction seems to me like a succubus' work, or something of that sort. But to be fair, so far they've done nothing I feared they would - they didn't sacrifice Lotte, they didn't leave her in front of the door. They still can fuck her over with payment, but hey, if that's all a succubus does to her I'll be glad!

The thing about her period seemed confusing; was she feeling unsexual/undesirable and not in control? I think it is so, but that childhood fever/dream thing keeps bothering me.

Character sheet lacks description of newly acquired traits; one of them is missing entirely. On that note, I'm super sad noone wanted the killer instinct one - an adventurer in medieval-ish times is bound to leave a sea of corpses; best get it dealt with early on.

Yes, she was, and the childhood memory was mostly-sorta separate.

Also, fixed. There were two new Traits, and now there's some short text for each.
 
I would be interested in someone analyzing the dreams! I know one friend told me it reminded her of a vision quest, or something symbolic.

Although I suppose it's a fair take that Lotte just gets sick, sometimes.
 
I would be interested in someone analyzing the dreams! I know one friend told me it reminded her of a vision quest, or something symbolic.

Although I suppose it's a fair take that Lotte just gets sick, sometimes.

I've already speculated on it as much I care to.

Gotta wait for some more information before tackling Lotte's origins/future.
 
I guarantee you'll get at least one piece of information on those before the springtime, if I have anything to say about it. :p

Only three to four months of waiting! Goody. :p

We need to meet more gods for that, basically.
Also, another note, Sepult runes don't particularly disturb Lotte, and I don't believe the explanation that Lotte is too stupid/ignorant to be disturbed by them.
 
Also, another note, Sepult runes don't particularly disturb Lotte, and I don't believe the explanation that Lotte is too stupid/ignorant to be disturbed by them.

Now now, remember the parable of the mathematician: "Some of the cows in scotland are brown on at least one side."

(But yes, you might very well doubt Lotte's explanations of it.)
 
Now now, remember the parable of the mathematician: "Some of the cows in scotland are brown on at least one side."

(But yes, you might very well doubt Lotte's explanations of it.)

On the matter of opinions and mathematicians, two people walk into the house. When three people leave it, the physicist says: "The initial observation was incorrect."
The biologist says: "They must have reproduced inside."
The mathematician says: "If one more person enters the house, it will be empty."

So, you know.
 
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