And yet she still evidently got fucked over in the politics of Silvermoon, so some shit had to have hit the fan otherwise it doesn't make sense for the genius intriguer and diplomat to have lost a political power play so badly self-enforced exile is the best move she can make.
The past happened, we have to give a reasonable explanation as to why it happened.
And yet she still evidently got fucked over in the politics of Silvermoon, so some shit had to have hit the fan otherwise it doesn't make sense for the genius intriguer and diplomat to have lost a political power play so badly self-enforced exile is the best move she can make.
The past happened, we have to give a reasonable explanation as to why it happened.
Maybe the realization that building up a large enough cult in Silvermoon would be too slow/hard and that it'd be easier to topple a human kingdom(or two) first to gain momentum?
Diplo fits out character. Learning... eh. Her arrogance means most of her talent in that field is wasted...
Maybe the realization that building up a large enough cult in Silvermoon would be too slow/hard and that it'd be easier to topple a human kingdom(or two) first to gain momentum?
That relies on the fact that she was a member of the Cult before her exile. Wouldn't it make more sense for her to have joined the death cult after she was exiled, when she was angry at the world?
Maybe the realization that building up a large enough cult in Silvermoon would be too slow/hard and that it'd be easier to topple a human kingdom(or two) first to gain momentum?
The Intrigue 29 webweaver thought building an underground cult in a major population center known for magical study and a certain degree of amorality was too difficult? That totally works even if we ignore the fact it doesn't explain how she got compromised and joined the Cult of the Damned before leaving Silvermoon, unless she's ex-Kirin Tor, which would be perfectly cool imo.
That relies on the fact that she was a member of the Cult before her exile. Wouldn't it make more sense for her to have joined the death cult after she was exiled, when she was angry at the world?
18 Years After the Opening of the Dark Portal and the Start of the First War
You thought you had gone mad the first time you heard His voice in your head. It started as nothing more than a whisper so soft you could not even discern His words. Like any sane person, you ignored the inaudible whispers and simply chalked them up to stress and exhaustion.
After all, to say that your life before you met Him was going downhill would be a colossal understatement.
Oh, you might have had wealth and power and authority, but your life was hollow and nothing more than a still warm corpse going through the motions of life. Gold coins did not bring you joy what matter what you bought. The comfort of a companion brought only temporary pleasure and left an even wider yearning in your heart. You even tried to throw yourself deeper into your duty and religion but all that did was make the problem worse.
That was when His voice began to become clearer and clearer as the days of misery and self-loathing continued.
He whispered dark and blasphemous things into your mind but rather than be repulsed by His words, you soon found yourself listening more and more closely. He spoke of the vilest of sorcery and the most depraved of acts, but also of power beyond imaging and freedom from all mortal coils. You are not sure how long you resisted the temptation to follow through with His guidance, but, eventually, your curiosity took take no more.
That was when you murdered your first innocent in cold blood and raised the corpse as your undying slave.
At that instant, you finally realized you had found your true calling and what your life was missing all this time. Wealth, pleasure and authority are things that mortals desire in order entertain them through their dull and ultimately insignificant lives.
What He promised and offered was the gift of immortality and power over death itself.
You abandoned your old life and followed His directions all the way from the ports of Lordaeron to the shores of the icy land of Northrend. As you walked across the tundra, you bore witness to true power. Power that was destined to be yours. You saw dark and terrible things march, shamble and soar across the glacier. Sights that would freeze the blood in a person's veins as surely as the biting cold of the land.
On the verge of death, you pushed yourself onward up the towering spire of ice with nothing more than sheer willpower. Fueled by the promises He now screamed into your mind like living thunder and driven by your refusal to let your journey end before its intended destination, you finally hauled your exhausted body onto the frozen dais and caught your first sight of Him.
You had made the pilgrimage to the Frozen Throne and shown Him that you were welling to die in His name in exchange for true power. You had shown dedication and willpower beyond what all but mere mortals should be capable of. You had shown faith strong enough to be placed above your family, friends, possessions and very life itself.
You had passed the Lich King's test and became one of his chosen heralds. The person you used to be died on that glacier and by your master's power was reborn. Your old name was discarded like everything else and when you returned to Lordaeron to spread the teachings of the Lich King, you did so proudly under the new name He gave you.
She heeded the Lich King before her exile in her old backstory.
But if you want another explanation? I'm planning to make Martial a dumpstat. Embracing the -4 strength and finding a beatstick to do it for us. If the position was something like Ranger General it could just be incompetence at the job.
Learning and Stewardship are also good candidates for such a background.
If the position was prestigious enough? The "Not good enough" excuse can be used for anything we have <20 in our stat for.
The Intrigue 29 webweaver thought building an underground cult in a major population center known for magical study and a certain degree of amorality was too difficult? That totally works even if we ignore the fact it doesn't explain how she got compromised and joined the Cult of the Damned before leaving Silvermoon, unless she's ex-Kirin Tor, which would be perfectly cool imo.
Archmage is explicitly from Dalaran/the Kirin Tor.
Also, Silvermoon built those giant wardstones around their kingdom to hide their magic use from the Burning Legion. A Kingdom founded on being able to continue dicking around with the arcane without demons finding out would probably be fairly watchful about fel-practitioners(at least before the loss of the Sunwell drove them to desperation).
More Mages means more people sensitive to, and curious about, other applications of magic after all...
It has been eighteen years since the Orcish Hordes of Draenor opened the Dark Portal with the aid of the traitor Magus Medivh and sparked the wars that ultimately claimed almost a million lives. The survivors of the Horde expedition who did not manage to flee back through the Dark Portal have been rounded up and placed in a network of internment camps across Alliance territory. Quel'Thalas abandoned its allies when its demands for the execution of every Orc was denied. The newly founded order of holy warriors known as the Knights of the Silver Hand mourn the loss of their brother Turalyon and the other heroes who sacrificed their lives to venture beyond the Dark Portal and destroy the Orc homeworld to ensure that the Horde will never again threaten Azeroth. Despite reports of scattered Horde holdouts hiding away in various isolated places around the world and the escape of the Horde Warchief Orgrim Doomhammer, the Horde's ability to directly challenge the might of the Alliance has been shattered and the nations of the Eastern Kingdoms now look toward rebuilding their war-torn lands.
You were once called Lady Ariseth Dawnspring and you were groomed from childhood to eventually become one of the eight members of the Convocation of Silvermoon. You worked tirelessly for over a century as a diplomat and spy for your family to create political alliances and undermine rivals, but, despite your loyalty, you were cast aside in favor of another.
You left Quel'Thalas after that betrayal and wandered the world aimlessly from the Isle of Quel'Danas all the way down to Goblin city of Booty Bay, but you never stayed in one place for too long before that empty hole in your soul pushed you to try and find a new way to fill it. Nothing you bought with the gold you earned brought any real satisfaction, while any attempt to find a companion to share your burden with only brought temporary pleasure and left an even bigger hole in your heart when you moved on. You even tried to replicate your old life by working as an adviser to various minor noble houses or the Alliance itself, but you never felt any joy or passion from your work and simply performed the tasks as though you were nothing more than an observer watching someone else pulling the strings of your cadaver in order to create some mimicry of life.
The one constant in your life was the voice in the back of your mind, which you initially dismissed as nothing more than the first sign of insanity and, like any reasonable person, did your best to ignore. Not too surprisingly, the voice always told you to vent your frustrations on either the latest target of your ire or even any random passerby on the streets who unfortunate enough to draw your attention. Over time, however, you sunk deeper and deeper into your spiral of misery and self-loathing, the voice become louder and louder.
The first time you actually listened to it occurred in a moment of weakness, when you had nothing else to entertain yourself with while aboard a ship traveling around the Cape of Stranglethorn. At first all it did was whisper at you to perform various unholy acts of cruelty and violence that only succeeded in making you worry more about your already laughable mental health, but, interestingly enough, the voice also whispered of strange rituals and arcane theorems you do not recognize. Curiosity eventually overcome you and you decide to test one of the spells on a disgustingly large rodent scampering about your cabin.
You could only watch in stunned amazement as the corpse of the rat slowly climbed back to its feet with its broken neck still angled at the unnatural angle you left it. Completing that spell was like opening a floodgate in your mind, as the voice surged to forefront of your thoughts and its words hammered into your brain. You conduct several more experiments on various rodents and livestock aboard the ship, but the voice refused to relent until you finally gave in to its most insistent demand.
As soon as the ship docked, you waited in the shadow of the harbor until deep into night, when you found your next test subject. It was a simple matter to murder your first innocent victim, a young female Human deckhand who sunken of alcohol, and toss some of her possessions in the sea to create the illusion that she had fallen into the ocean in her drunken stupor, before teleporting the body to one of your safe-houses. For the first time since you first left Quel'Thalas, the voice was calm and soothing as it slowly directed you through the ritual that brought the woman back to life.
You will never forget the intoxicating sense of triumph and wonder you felt race through your heart as you watched her transformation, starting with subtle twitches of her fingers all the way to the moment when her dead eyes began to glow with the arcane energy and she slowly pushed herself to her feet as your first Undead minion. After that, you delved headlong into your lessons with a passion and thirst that you have never once felt while slaving away under the shackles of your treacherous family and weak kingdom. You quickly realized that you had only been going through the motions of living when you served your family in exchange for empty promises of power and prestige that were actually nothing more than illusions.
Soon, however, the voice announced that it had taught you everything it could and that, if you desire to learn more, you must travel to the desolate frozen wasteland that is the continent of Northrend.
You did not hesitate for an instant as you destroyed your pathetic experiments to hide their existence from small-minded fools who would not understand their magnificence and sold the last of your once prized possessions in order to secure passage aboard a small merchant ship traveling to their fishing outpost in the Howling Fjord. The journey was uncomfortable, to say the least, and you had to resist the growing urge to practice your new skills on the irritating crew, but the voice soothed your thoughts and allowed you to focus by reminding you that all you desired could be yours if you simply travel deep into the continent, further than nay explorer has ever traveled, to the fabled Icecrown Glacier.
Over a month after you departed from the Eastern Kingdoms, you finally caught your first look at the mist-surrounded land of Northrend. As soon as the ship docked, you stocked up on supplies if your last coins, saving nothing for a potential voyage back to civilization, before setting out for your destiny without a single look back at the ugly and concerned faces behind you.
The journey was harrowing experience and slowly washed away all traces of the weak and pathetic creature you had been when you first arrived on this forsaken wasteland. Your supplies run out after the first month of slowly tracking through snow-covered mountains and ice-lakes, which forced you to raid the primitive villages of the local savages that dot the interior of the land. You face distant ruins unlike anything you have ever seen back in the Eastern Kingdoms and caught glimpses of shadowy creatures straight out of ancient legends. By the time you finally beheld the awe-inspiring monument to the power that was Icecrown, the only thing that drove you forward was pride and sheer stubbornness born from the refusal to death after accomplishing so much and coming so close to your goal. You crawled up the icy steps while paying no mind to the hideous abominations of rotting flesh and chitin observing your progress impassively. You were on the verge of death when you finally pulled your broken body over the final step and onto the icy summit, where you were finally able to learn the identity of your master.
From atop the Frozen Throne, you watched in wonder as the Lich King's presence threatened to freeze the very blood in your veins and the sheer power radiating from the enchanted ice of his glacial prison set your numb nerves ablaze with pain. You thought he would rise you back from death as you have done to so many before, but, instead, in his infinite mercy, the Lich King used a portion of his great power and breathed new life into your frozen limbs. When he finally spoke to you, it was not through the soft whispers that are indistinguishable from your own thoughts you have become so accustomed to, but a thundering rumble that echoed all around you as though the very icy were nothing more than extensions of himself with an intense pressure of oppressive magical energy that threatened to crush your head and caused blood to flow from your ears.
The last thing you remembered before you lost consciousness was the Lich King granting you the name you would now bear in service to him. Ariseth Dawnspring died on that frozen glacier and Ariseth Wintersoul had been born from her remains.
Ariseth Wintersoul
High Overseer of the Cult of the Damned
Traits
Arrogant
Your talents have left you proud of what you accomplished already and you like to let everyone around know it. (-5 Learning, -5 Diplomacy)
Nobility
You were born into great power and raised to be a ruler of your land. (+5 to Stewardship, +5 to Diplomacy, +5 to Intrigue, -3 to Piety)
Genius
You are one of the brightest souls in the entire kingdom. (+2 to All Stats)
Pick positive Traits. (Start with 3 free points)
(NOTE: All plans should be headed with [ ] Plan X, so they can be voted on as a block. Individual votes will not be counted.)
Cunning
You are skilled in anticipating your enemies and reacting accordingly. (+2 to Martial, +1 to Intrigue)(Cost: 1)
Charismatic
You have an aura of calmness and charm that inspires people. (+2 to Diplomacy, +1 to Martial)(Cost: 1)
Diligent
You are a hard worker who does not falter in the face of hardship. (+2 to Stewardship, +1 to Learning)(Cost: 1)
Knowledgeable
You are well-versed on many subjects and project an aura of wisdom. (+2 to Learning, +1 to Piety)(Cost: 1)
Shrewd
You are skilled in convincing people to act how you want them to. (+2 to Intrigue, +1 to Diplomacy)(Cost: 1)
Pious
You are a devout individual and treat everything you do with proper care. (+2 to Piety, +1 to Stewardship)(Cost: 1)
Magistrix
You were one of the lords of Quel'Thalas and was responsible for ruling your people. (+3 to Diplomacy, +3 to Stewardship)(Cost: 2)(Only one profession trait can be picked.)
Blood Mage
You are a fearsome battle-mage who employs the forbidden arts to destroy enemies on the battlefield. (+3 to Martial, +3 to Learning)(Cost: 2)(Only one profession trait can be picked.)
Archmage
You were once a member of the Kirin Tor and served as a Mage-Lord of the city of Dalaran. (+3 to Diplomacy, +3 to Learning)(Cost: 2)(Only one profession trait can be picked.)
Astromancer
You are skilled in manipulating the fundamental forces of the Light and the Void that form reality. (+3 to Learning, +3 to Piety)(Cost: 2)(Only one profession trait can be picked.)
Nethermancer
You secretly studied the forbidden secrets of the Twisting Nether and the creatures who lurk within. (+3 to Learning, +3 to Intrigue)(Cost: 2)(Only one profession trait can be picked.)
Gifted Tactician
You have a talent for directing battles that few opponents can match. (+3 to Martial, Re-Roll Failed Martial Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Natural Diplomat
You have a certain charm that make people find you trustworthy and agreeable. (+3 to Diplomacy, Re-Roll Failed Diplomacy Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Skilled Administrator
You have an affinity for organizing complex organizations and maximizing efficiency. (+3 to Stewardship, Re-Roll Failed Stewardship Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Academic Prodigy
You have a thirst to seek out knowledge and a gift for imparting this knowledge to others. (+3 to Learning, Re-Roll Failed Learning Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Master Manipulator
You have a mind for manipulating others and making them act in a way that benefits you. (+3 to Intrigue, Re-Roll Failed Intrigue Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Devout Apostle
Your faith is utterly unshakable and serves as a source of inspiration to your followers. (+3 to Piety, Re-Roll Failed Piety Rolls)(Cost: 3)
Pick negative Traits.
Cruel
You found great joy in inflicting suffering upon your foes and minions alike, but your behavior has alienated potential allies and your own followers fear you. (+3 to Martial, -3 to Diplomacy, -6 to Stewardship)(Gain 2 points)
Vain
You are exceptionally beautiful and charming in public, but this is because there is little you care more about than your appearance and preserving it as long as possible. (+3 to Diplomacy, -3 to Piety, -6 to Martial)(Gain 2 points)
Overbearing
You are extremely organized and personally direct many aspects of your organization, but do not suffer deviations from your vision and punish them severely. (+3 to Stewardship, -3 to Learning, -6 to Diplomacy)(Gain 2 points)
Eccentric
You are so engrossed with your research and special projects that you rarely bother with trivial issues maintaining secrecy or distractions such as fighting battles. (+3 to Learning, -3 to Martial, -6 to Intrigue)(Gain 2 points)
Paranoid
You are a true believer in the need for secrecy and espionage, but only because you suspect that everyone around you is somehow deceiving you for their own benefit. (+3 to Intrigue, -3 to Stewardship, -6 to Piety)(Gain 2 points)
Fanatical
You are of exceptional faith and would not hesitate to offer your life in service to your masters, but you have a habit of placing blind faith in both people and traditional teachings. (+3 to Piety, -3 to Intrigue, -6 to Learning)(Gain 2 points)
Mana Addict
You require a constant source of magic in order and begin to suffer from mana withdraw without it. (-1 to All Skills, ???)(Gain 3 points)
Splintered Mind
Your mind has been shattered by your experiences and you are now a shell of your former self. (-3 to All Skills)(Gain 3 points)
Sins of the Mother
All power comes at a cost and the greatest power comes at the greatest cost. (???)(Gain 3 points)
By the time you awake, several days later, you found yourself resting upon a simple bed within unfamiliar ruins. The injuries you sustained on your voyage were gone and your body had never felt better. You watched curiously as reanimated skeletons brought you fresh fruits and water for you to consume in silence while the same monstrous creatures that monitored you on your climb up Icecrown stood vigil over the entrance to what you realized where your new personal quarters.
After you were sufficiently recovered, you were greeted by an elderly male Human who called himself Grand Master Kel'Thuzad. You told you of the Undead Scourge the Lich King was preparing for a glorious cleansing of the world and that you were one of the few chosen to bring about the new world order. You felt pride you never felt before blossom within your heart and you pledged your soul without hesitation to the Lich King.
Trained under the master necromancers of the so-called Cult of the Damned and quickly exceeded all expectations. By the end of your first year of training, you had surpassed all every other student, even those who had been studying under the Grand Master's tutelage far longer than you. In recognition of your accomplishments and position as his greatest pupil, Kel'Thuzad named you as the new High Overseer of the Cult of the Damned and his right hand in bringing the nation of Lordaeron to its knees.
The Grand Master brought you back before the Lich King's throne, but, this time, you felt nothing except a minor chill as your master gave you his dark blessing and commanded you to bring ruin to the mortal world in his name. To help you accomplish your mission, the master commanded that two of his most skilled servants travel back with you to the Eastern Kingdoms to assist you in establishing your operations.
These two minions are:
[ ] Scourge-Commander Razuvious
A once-respected veteran of the Second War, Sergeant Razuvious returned home to discover his village in ruins and his family murdered by brigands. Recognizing his potential, the Lich King whispered into the broken man's thoughts and drove his to butcher his way through the bandit camp. With his vengeance achieved and nothing left to live for, Razuvious journeyed to Northrend and offered his soul to the Lich King in gratitude and now trains the Scourge's growing number of living followers in the art of warfare. (Can assist with Martial or Stewardship)
[ ] Yana Bloodspear
One of the few citizens of the city-state of Dalaran who incapable of wielding magic, Yana Bloodspear shunned by her family and spent most of her life in the Underbelly of City of Magi, where she found acceptance among thieves, gladiators and mercenaries. Over time, as she witnessed more and more of the city's ruling elites' hypocrisy, the Lich King was able to easily sway her to his side with promises of tearing down the corrupt institutions she so despised and turned her into one of his deadliest assassins. (Can assist with Martial or Intrigue)
[ ] Baron Isiden Perenholde
The nephew of Aiden Perenholde, the former King of Alterac, Baron Isiden Perenholde has lost his kingdom and his honor. After the Alliance invaded his homeland and imprisoned his uncle for treason against the Alliance, the young Isiden attempt to convince the Alliance to support his bid as the new king of Alterac instead of his treacherous cousin, but, as time passed and his throne moved further out of reach, the young noble was easily swayed by the whispers of the Lich King and has pledged his soul in exchange for vengeance against the Alliance. (Can assist with Diplomacy or Stewardship)
[ ] Magistrix Malicia
The scion of a minor noble house in Silvermoon, Magistrix Malicia is a diligent scholar of the Arcane sciences who had little interest in the political maneuverings of Silvermoon. As such, it came as little surprise and caught little attention when she left Quel'Thalas and journeyed to Dalaran in order to continue her studies away from what she considered distractions. That is where she met the Grand Master and caught the Lich King's attention, who was able to gain her loyalty by sharing the secrets of Necromancy and other forbidden fields of study. (Can assist with Diplomacy or Learning)
[ ] Sister Demetria
One of the many orphans left behind after the Second War, Sister Demetria was raised by the Church of the Holy Light and groomed to become a priestess of the Light. For a time, gratitude and naivety allowed the young initiate to ignore the systemic corruption within the Church, but, over time, her faith became more and more uncertain, which made it easy for the whispers of the Lich King to embed themselves into her heart and turn the once faithful priestess away from the Light to the service of the Scourge. (Can assist with Intrigue or Piety)
[ ] Arcanist Chillheart
Whereas many of the early members of the Cult of the Damned were summoned to Northrend by the Lich King himself, the mage who would later be known as Chillheart was actually one of the Grand Master's personal students and learned everything she could from her teacher before her unquenchable thirst for knowledge drove her to seek further teachings from the Lich King himself. Already an expert in the study of Arcane Magic, Chillheart was able to quickly achieve mastery of Necromancy and now teaches its secrets to lesser students. (Can assist with Learning or Piety)
With your lessons complete and mission clear, you departed Northrend with renewed purpose and set sail back to Lordaeron aboard one of the cult's own ships. As the vessel crossed the coast of the Howling Fjord, you barely pay any attention to the snow-covered ruins and shattered hulls that were all that remained of the small fishing outpost and the merchant ship that brought you to your destiny.
You spent the long voyage going over maps and the latest reports compiled by agents of the cult already embedded across Lordaeron. After much planning and discussion with your new advisers, you eventually began to form a concrete plan to accomplish your mission. Success would be rewarded with eternal life and power unmatched by mortals since your ancestors drank from the fabled Well of Eternity, while failure would result in eteneral damnation as a rotting corpse slaved to the will of the Lich King.
You chose to establish your operation in:
[ ] Brill
A small isolated community situated off of the King's Road between the Capital City and lush boroughs of Eastweald, Brill is little more than a loose collection of farms and lumberyards whose meager economy is reliant on supplying timber, grain and livestock to the overcrowded capital city.
[ ] Strahnbrad
A once prosperous town situated in the lush foothills of the Alterac Mountains, the destruction of the Kingdom of Alterac has flooded the town with desperate refugees, destroyed its economy and made it a frequent target of raids by bands of brigands as well as remnants of the Horde hiding from Alliance patrols.
[ ] Southshore
A booming port town situated at the mouth of the mighty Thondroril River on the coast of Baradin Bay that was annexed from the Kingdom of Alterac, Southshore is home to a major Alliance naval station and is a center of trade between Lordaeron and the rest of the Eastern Kingdoms.
[ ] Stratholme
The second largest city in Lordaeron and the heart of the kingdom's economy, Stratholme serves as the headquarters of the Order of the Silver Hand and and final destination on the King's Road, but greed and pride have tainted the minds of its rich leaders, leading to rumors of secession and rebellion.
The character I'm trying to go for here, is someone who was a polititian, and whose life was rather wrapped up inside the spider's web she's spun around herself. The alliances, the grudges remembered, rumors, important officials, and more. And she truly poured her heart and soul into this project; truly thought she was making a difference for her people. She's the sort that maintained some degree of idealism despite the realities of politics she faced, and truly wanted to make things better, even if she had to "ocassionally" use unsavory means. But then it all fell apart, and she watched her life's work be given to another. Her idealism dies with her political career, and thus came her crippling depression, her hatred of what she used to love, and susceptibility to the Lich King's words.
Magistrix is the obvious choice for a polititian character. Master manipulator because it fits the idea - though natural diplomat would work too - of a politician pulling strings. And vain, because in politics you always have to care about image, so it makes sense that it's the sort of vice a polititian would have.
Companions
[X] Scourge-Commander Razuvious
Given that I'm taking Vain, our martial is going to suck. Best to bring someone along who can help with that.
[X] Magistrix Malicia
While having a learning advisor sounds good, as that's not quite as god-like as the rest of our stats, I mostly picked this one, because as much as our PC hates her family, I think it would be nice to have someone from her old home standing by her side.
Location
[X] Southshore
We're an intrigue and diplomacy character. Those are skills that would be best leveraged within a large city, where we can use out skills to corrupt members of importance, which has the potential to give us a lot of influence. Plus, it's a trading port, so we'll get reasonably influential people from all over the continent arriving here. If we get even a few on our side, we can spread splinter cells of the cult throughout the entirety of the land with relative ease.
I stole @Qeqre's plans and replaced Sins of the Mother with Mana Addict. With Intrigue and Diplomacy that high, and Brill being a small, isolated town, I wouldn't be surprised if we're able to grab leadership of the entire town. It's also the perfect place for the creation of the plague due to its isolation.
Our Martial sucks, and our Stewardship is meh, but our companions should make up for those weak points very well.
EDIT: For those voting for my plan, I intend to release a new vote for this build after I get some more feedback. I will not edit this one because people may still like it.
Could you reformat your trait plan by taking out the [X] for the individual traits and just putting them all under one [X] with a name, so the vote counting program has an easier time sorting through them.
I made another plan for fun. This is how I imagine a character who leads using their charisma would have their stats allocated; they would be a truly devout follower of the Lich King.
I stole @Qeqre's plans and replaced Sins of the Mother with Mana Addict. With Intrigue and Diplomacy that high, and Brill being a small, isolated town, I wouldn't be surprised if we're able to grab leadership of the entire town. It's also the perfect place for the creation of the plague due to its isolation.
Our Martial sucks, and our Stewardship is meh, but our companions should make up for those weak points very well.
Brill might be a bit of a waste with a politics build.
Intrigue and Diplomacy could make it big time in Stratholme. Especially if you take a double stewardship adviser.
Then again. Razuvious(Martial+Stewardship) and Perenholde(Diplomacy + Stewardship) together might be a bit superfluous.
If you want to usurp control? Maybe take Yana(Martial + Intrigue) and Perenolde(Diplomacy + Stewardship). Keeps the Stewardship adviser but trades the veteran who sold his soul to the Lich King to kill some bandits in favour of the assassin with a grudge against Dalaran.
It would cover four areas. Double stacking the strong points(diplo, intrigue) and covering the areas we're less strong in(martial, stewardship).
Rationale:
-Stats:
35 intrigue(+reroll) is the sort of mythic-tier bullshit that would plausibly allow us to work under the nose of Paladins. And 15 learning is decent enough.
Martial 7 and Stewardship 9 are bad but that's what we have an adviser and training for.
-Advisers:
With my build, we'll want advisers that cover Martial, Stewardship and Piety. This batch of advisers covers all of these while further boosting our 35(+reroll) intrigue.
Razyvious is a veteran and Demetria is a former priestess. In the city known to house the Order of the Silver Hand? This gives us a lot of respect/leeway/trust.
Meaning people(especially priests and paladins) will be less liable to pry into our affairs or connect us to the scourge. To this end, I switched Nethermancer for Astromancer, as having knowledge of the Light/the Void would strengthen our cover.
-Location:
Stratholme offers high rewards via diplomacy and intrigue(secession, rebellion). On the other hand, it'll require high diplomacy and intrigue to survive. With some piety to appease the church and stewardship to properly take advantage of the massive influence we could exert from such a position.
Brill? Small and Isolated means Intrigue is less important to ward off the bigger threats, likewise, its rewards are lower than a larger city.
Strahnbrad? A ruined economy(stewardship) filled with refugees(manpower->stewardship) to induct into our cult(intrigue/diplomacy?). And at the mercy of raiders(martial).
Southshore? Trade(Diplomacy/Stewardship), Alliance presence(Intrigue). While we probably could get foreign contacts, I doubt we'd be able to induct them into the cult on account of us only having sporadic contact with them. In all likelihood? It's going to be a way of getting black market goods/shinies.
--------------------------
Remember: Last time around we were able to train our stats. While it probably got nerfed, being in a rich city(or at least not a poor village) would probably provide the best learning opportunities.
Biggest difference between this plan and Plan Politician are a lower Stewardship and Piety in exchange a higher Martial, Diplomacy and Intrigue(plus an Intrigue reroll).
Though I'm having advisers to deal with the weak spot of Stewardship(alongside Martial and Piety).
Admittedly, this build takes a risk with Sins of the Mother but at least we wouldn't be a Mana Addict.
So this is the build I've been clamoring for all the time in case there's a silent majority waiting to vote for it. The final statchanges are -3 to Learning and +6 to Stewardship.
I am willing to swap out Magistrix with Archmage if people would prefer to move 3 points from Stewardship to Learning.
[X] Yana Bloodspear
[X] Magistrix Malicia
This build's weakspots are Martial and Learning, so of course I picked advisors in those categories.
