Li'an waves at Anevia as they reach the manor again. She gestures at Anevia, linking her with message and explains the situation. "We found both of them at Topaz Solutions. Unfortuntely things got messy and they're both dead now. Thankfully it didn't seem they had a chance to meet up with any other cultists. We can explain the rest when we get inside."
Exhausted from the ordeal they'd been through--Li'an certainly hadn't expected to be fighting demonic plants or trying to survive poisonous fumes--the sight she walked into was more than she could process. She burst out laughing at the sight of the fuscia warrior and all the kids clambering over him and Markus. "I guess we know who'll be staying behind to take care kids in the future," she said to Val, Ehren and Ary, snickering as she did.
"We're back, by the way. Hosilla and Uziel are..." she stopped herself and changed mid-sentence. "They won't be causing us any further trouble." Though the children might be aware, she felt better not openly troubling them with such details. "We also brought back a few things from Topaz Solutions, including a nice little music box that seems to help with the howler's curse. If anyone is still feeling the effects, you should talk to Ary."
"Found them both... but their Stargoat killed them." Ary shakes her head, sighing, to fill in just Anevia. "Met up with Ash Ravens and sent them north."
Once inside, and reunited with Anevia, she motions to the ladies, "They're both much better storytellers, so I think I'll leave it to them to explain. We did find quite a few neat baubles. I honestly think we might even get a smile out of Avi with them. How are you doing?" she asks as she enters and stops to watch the kids. "I leave you alone for a couple of hours and the kids take over completely." Ary fake-sighs... though she is quite near to exhaustion. "I wanted to talk to a lot of people. It can wait a bit, though."
Val can't help breaking out in a fit of giggles at Hrut's appearance. "I'm surprised. Gloomy's actually pretty great with kids. Who would have thought?" She smiles and waves at the children hard at work on their spell casting, but can't keep her composure and keeps chuckling to herself. "I guess we missed some fun here."
"Topaz Solutions was a little bit of a mess, but at least we don't have to worry about those two hurting people anymore and we cleared one of the safehouses so we know the cultists aren't getting any more use out of it."
Male Oread (Kellid) Legendary Druid 12/Hierophant 4 | HP 148/148 | AC 26, T 25, FF 20 | Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +19 | CMD 27, freedom of movement | Immune to disease & poison | Resist Acid 10 | SR 13 (evil outsiders), 17 (demons) | Init +2 | Perception +19 (missing eye), Darkvision 60 ft., Murksight, Tremorsense 60 ft. | MP 4/11 | LP 2/2 | PM 10/11
Even Ehren cracks a smile upon seeing Hrut. A strange sound starts to escape him, but he quickly claps a hand over his mouth, as though to prevent something terrible from crawling out. Only when he manages to catch his breath does he lower his hand, shaking his head in disbelief.
"I take it that everything went well here," he says to change the subject, still unhappy with how things went. Hosilla and Uziel deserved their fates, but their deaths were still a waste. He glances at Hrut and Markus. "How did it go with the rats?"
"Well yeah I figured now that I am back in the city I would start trying to be fashionable again!" Hrut says as he spins one time looking at himself doing it.
"Yeah, the rats are dead, it was messy, that is all." Hrut is clearly uncomfortable with the topic and places his new hotness helm back on his head to hide.
Val opens her mouth, and is immediately interrupted by her stomach growling loud enough for the entire room to hear her. She breaks out laughing again, the exhaustion of the day sapping her already poor self-control. "Well, since you cleared the pantry out, let's raid it and find some food. I want to eat something that we didn't have to kill ourselves before bed."
Fenna yawns, stretching out - watching as the rest of the children (except for poor Chiles - who is turning beet red with frustration) slowly manage to mend various pieces of torn clothing, paper, and other small baubles.
She grins at Valaria. "Waaaaaaaay ahead of you." At that moment the sweet smell of a freshly baked pie starts to waft through the halls. Belthis emerges from the eastern wing. "Dinner's ready!" he announces.
"Oh man! Food!" Ealden cheers.
"Is that pie?" Chiles' eyes light up - all the frustration from the repeated failed attempts at mending forgotten.
The group moves into Horgus' grand banquet hall, where Lord Gwerm himself is already seated at the head of the table, changed into a nice looking dinner jacket. He frowns at the heroes. "None of you are dressed appropriately for dinner! Shoo! This is a dining hall, not a warzone!"
The table itself is laid out with a number of dishes - from coriander and millet biscuits, to several platters of hard and soft cheeses, to a number of pies, pastries, and a heaping plate of stewed sausage. There is brandy and fine mead to drink, as well. And for dessert - three blueberry pies.
Val sniffs the air and a smile splits her face. "Mmmm. Well, let's not stand around them."
Her mouth almost waters at the spread and her stomach growls again, a little more restrained. "Where exactly are we supposed to get more clothes? Unless you're offering to let us raid your closets too. Not that I'd mind I suppose."
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
"I haven't had time to fix my clothing yet," says Markus, who still wears his blood-spattered overshirt and carries his torn jacked and vest. "I could take this off and show off my wounds, I suppose, but I think I need food and then rest as fast as I can get it."
"This *is* a warzone," Li'an says in response. "We just got back from hunting down those cultists so this house would remain safe Horgus. The food on the table is the result of Markus and Hrut clearing the pantry of those rats as well. We're exhausted and starving, just let us eat, please."
Horgus grumbles. "At least clean yourselves! Comb your hair! Take off that ridiculous pink armor! Ary, why are you wandering around with six different swords?! You are all going to ruin my upholstery!"
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
Markus wordlessly approaches the table and sits down, reaching for a place, silverware, and finally the food. He puts food on plates and hands a plate to each of the children before plating some food for himself, sitting down, and eating.
Male Oread (Kellid) Legendary Druid 12/Hierophant 4 | HP 148/148 | AC 26, T 25, FF 20 | Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +19 | CMD 27, freedom of movement | Immune to disease & poison | Resist Acid 10 | SR 13 (evil outsiders), 17 (demons) | Init +2 | Perception +19 (missing eye), Darkvision 60 ft., Murksight, Tremorsense 60 ft. | MP 4/11 | LP 2/2 | PM 10/11
At Horgus' remark, Ehren looks down at his new clothes with a frown. It had taken all of one day for it to be torn and splattered with blood. Ironically, his old outfit had fared far better. He regards the small feast hungrily, his curiosity piqued by dishes he had never even heard of before. However, he quickly exercises restraint and coughs into his hand slightly.
"Um. Actually, if none of you mind, I would like to bathe," he says, turning his eyes away from the food.
Val just sighs. "Just try and save some for us. I'll make things quick. I don't suppose you have somewhere where you might keep outfits appropriate for dinner? And which way to the baths? I'll at least wash of the outer layer of grime."
Horgus sniffs at Li'an's remark. "Indeed- and need I remind you that this is my food and my home and my beds- if you cannot behave as a guest, then you can sleep on the street. Or are you here to rob me like that horrible tiefling you brought into my manor?"
He gestures upstairs. "Ary drew baths a while ago. She is a model bodyguard, always anticipating my needs before I even realize them, and you could all do well to take a leaf out of her book. I do not own women's clothing. The clothing you got from these fine tailors here is sufficient. It is rude to come armed to dinner in someone's private residence."
"Sure." Val mutters, the only thing keeping her from snapping at the pompous jack*ss being her own exhaustion. "I'll be back shortly."
She wanders off, muttering under her breath slightly and makes her way to the baths. She doesn't bother to even get undressed, simply washing her face and getting her hair untangled. She does do her best to get and stains or marks off her clothing and leaves most of her gear, including her kinives, and her pack in the main hall near the stairs before returning to the table and beginning to pick out food without another word.
"Two hours of trekking across the ruins of Kenabres and we come back to this Lleuad," Li'an thought with a frown. Without another word, she spun around on her heel and left the room, heading out to grab her pack and find a place to rest for the night. She'd worry about bathing and updating her journal in the morning, but for now she wanted to sleep.
Instead of heading up to the bedrooms, she instead goes to the base of one of the watch towers. There she tosses her bag on the ground and strips out of her armor, setting it aside. Using her bedroll as a mat, she sits down, placing Lleuad close beside her. Her stomach rumbling, she thinks "I should at least eat something before I try to sleep" Opening her pack, she digs out one of her rations and scarfs it down quickly before leaning back against the wall and closing her eyes.
Male Oread (Kellid) Legendary Druid 12/Hierophant 4 | HP 148/148 | AC 26, T 25, FF 20 | Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +19 | CMD 27, freedom of movement | Immune to disease & poison | Resist Acid 10 | SR 13 (evil outsiders), 17 (demons) | Init +2 | Perception +19 (missing eye), Darkvision 60 ft., Murksight, Tremorsense 60 ft. | MP 4/11 | LP 2/2 | PM 10/11
Ehren seems content to acquiesce to Horgus' demands, but for his own reasons. In a way, it was fortunate that the others were so reluctant. He had grown to greatly appreciate their companionship, but he also appreciated occasional solitude. While he was not particularly shy about his own body, the act of scrubbing away at least a week's worth of dirt, dust, and dead skin did call for a bit of privacy. It was not something he'd have done at Neattholm's hot springs, at any rate. He cleans himself methodically, paying special attention to his feet, the parts of his body most exposed to the elements.
Nearly an hour passes before he rejoins the others in the banquet hall, having cleaned off his clothing as much as he could. He sits down and eats quietly, feeling refreshed.
Horgus seems appeased at the heroes' small measures - having regained a small semblance of normalcy in his life at last. "Belthis tells me my pantry is well-stocked! I intend to weather out this storm in my home. I'd like to thank you for finally escorting me here. I could have done with a few less road stops, but no use complaining about the past."
Aravashnial stiffens, as if he would like to argue, but knows better at this point. He decides to focus on his food.
I’m less certain of the date now than I was before. It seems like a lifetime since we left Neathholm for Kenabres.
We came up to the surface in the middle of the night, welcomed by Desna’s stars. It was a relief to see the sky again, they were as beautiful as always and seemed completely unaware of what had transpired beneath them. I wish I could say the same for Kenabres. Though most of yesterday is a blur, between trekking to Blackwing, to Horgus’s place, and then to Topaz Solutions and back I’ve seen enough of the city to know it will bear these scars for a long time.
Despite the shock of seeing the city brought low, we were able to press onwards. Aravashnial was interested in checking the status of Blackwing Library, so we decided to head there first. We managed to save the Loumises from a pair of wrecker demons as we passed their shop. It was a rough fight, but thankfully with Ary baiting one of the demons out using Radiance, we were able to bring them down. Grateful for their rescue, Nira (and her husband to a lesser extent) offered to let us pick up anything we wanted from their store.
The clothes I got are already tattered and pierced, which is a shame. I should see if I can get Markus to mend them. The real find there, however, was the green dress. I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen something that struck me so. If we find someplace safe that we can rest a few nights in, I might try it on. In the margin: Won’t she be surprised? I wonder if she’ll like it? Not here though, I refuse to take any more of this man’s “hospitality”. My conception of the nobles in this city was right to begin with, the world has ended and he’s fretting about getting holes in the upholstery.
My opinion of Horgus had improved significantly in our travels. He was willing to stand guard over the cultists we were taking with us, and even leapt into battle when Ary was wounded by the Howler. Yet somehow we get to his manor and everything we’ve been through vanishes. It’s like he’s completely forgotten what the world is like outside his front door. I digress…
We travelled to Blackwing from the Loumises’ shop. The library was mostly ruined, but somehow the main entrance of the building had survived. Inside were four tieflings and an ex-crusader, Chaleb along with the children who were being trained in the building. I remember Ary telling me what an ass he was, and now he was apparently intent on setting the children on fire to impress Baphomet. Looking back, what Val and I did was insane. The two of us strode in there with no backup--the rest of the group being better than a hundred feet away from the entrance--and somehow convinced them that we were cultists. I’m sure their libidos being aflame from seeing Val helped us immensely.
In order to seal the deal I had to come on to that man... I was detached somehow like that time long ago, like it wasn’t me in control again; I was trapped in the back of my mind, helpless. It worked exceedingly well, but the thought of it even now makes me feel physically ill. In the end we were able to separate them from the children, convincing the tieflings and Chaleb to fight the rest of the group while getting the kids to stay safe in the Library. In the end Chaleb fled, and all but one of the tieflings were slain. The remaining one surrendered, and after a heart-to-heart with Ary we decided to give him a chance to redeem himself. He’s--his name is Garil--a crude boor, but he also stood by Ary and fought when the time came, so I’m grateful for that.
In the margin: She was talking about some elf she’d “known” in Kyonin. I… got so angry! So unlike me. I’m not sure if she realizes...
The trip from there to Horgus’s led us by the park, and there we found the druid Crocris fighting a Howler demon. Those things are terrible, their howling cuts through your mind and slowly wears away at your sanity. Ary was still feeling the effects hours afterwards in fact. We had a close fight against the Howler, and in the meantime another of them attacked Ary, who had stayed with the rearguard. She wouldn’t admit it, but I think she came fairly close to dying in that fight. Somehow we managed to pull through without losing anyone though. After convincing Crocris to join us, we made it to Horgus’s place and set up camp here. In the confusion after our arrival, however, Hosilla and her tiefling accomplice managed to escape. Unwilling to risk them warning the other cultists, four of us headed out to track them down.
Between Terendelev’s scale and Ehren’s skill in tracking we managed to find them in Topaz Solutions, one of the cultist hideouts mentioned in the note. They hadn’t managed to find gear beyond a pair of longswords, and I was able to sneak up and eliminate Uziel right off bat, and knock out Hosilla as well before she could respond. Unfortunately it seems the altar down there was a trap of some sort. A voice… called out to us, and the room was plunged into darkness. In the darkness we fought a Mandragora, a terrible little plant creature. The room also apparently filled with some sort of noxious vapors, although I was able to fight off their effects for most of the fight. We won, somehow, though it was close. Val almost succumbed to the poison at the end, but I was able to revive her with one of her potions. In the margin: Note: She blushes too!
We made it back with a few things we took from the cultist’s hideout. Horgus demanded we clean up and dress appropriately to eat. I tried to reason with him, but when he argued I decided it wasn’t worth it. I’ll eat my rations and treat this as any other place we’ve had to stop on our journey. I refuse to be indebted in the slightest to that man.
Ary looks confused at Horgus at first, then remembers that she's carrying -all of those things-. She doesn't even stay to hear that Garil has made a fool of himself.
She excuses herself upstairs immediately to put the swords away, get undressed, and get clean, in one quick sweep. She spends a bit too much time in the bath, getting clean, and changing into the new unmentionables while washing the old. She lays those out to dry
She gets as cleaned up as best she can before heading back down to round everyone up that wasn't already at the table... but finds everyone but Crocris already there; she'd see him after, perhaps.
"Thank you for feeding everyone tonight, Horgus." she says as she tucks herself in; she's not the picture of etiquette, but she's at least respectful of where she is. Even if she is falling asleep.
"We found a few things you might find neat while we were out, Avi. The others might think so as well." she excuses herself from the table after drinking and eating a bit, and brings the Marilith toy back from the main room, placing it in front of Aravashnial. "Be careful, parts of it may be sharp. I thought you might be able to use it in your lessons or something. Also, it's kind of pretty, and seems exceedingly well made." she says as she guides his hands (if he'll let her) up to the toy.
She then places the music box on the table. "We also found this." she say as she opens it up and allows the music to fill the room once more: Kids and Civilians all get a round of the pretty angel box.
She then returns to her food, before realizing she's missed someone. Her brow furrows in concern as she asks: "Where's Garil?"
Just adding: If someone wants to hunt down Li'an for RP feel free to interrupt her sleep, she just didn't react well to the absurdity of Horgus's demands. :p
Aema's eyes light up at the marilith toy. "Oh wow! That's so pretty! A marilith, right, Master Aravashnial?"
Aravashnial allows Ary to guide his hands across it. He nods and smiles. "Children. What do you remember about Mariliths?"
"Serpent demons!" Chiles says, immediately.
"Made from arrogance and pride?" Fenna adds.
"No duh," Aema rolls her eyes. "And they're not made from arrogance and pride. Mariliths are made from evil rulers and sadistic warlords! They are among the oldest demons - Master Quednys said that the first mariliths were made from the souls of serpentfolk, hence their appearance."
"Very good, Aema." Aravashnial beams. "What can they do?"
"Make walls of whirling blades!" crows Thomas.
"Stab you with their six arms!" adds Ealden.
"They have telekinesis. And they are skilled at illusion magic," Aema sniffs.
"Correct! Mariliths. The proudest children of the Abyss are her mariliths, serpentine demons who rise from the corrupt souls of despotic kings, sadistic queens, and the most violent of the world's warlords. They take delight in the tactics of the battlefield, in their own prowess of weapon play, and in their accumulations of power. Yet despite their stature and position among the ranks of the demonic hordes as one of the deadliest of their kind, no marilith ever forgets that she is, in fact, not the greatest demon of all. As arrogant as they are, mariliths are forever consigned to serve those who wield greater power- their eternal punishment of servitude," Aravashnial lectures. "Who is the most famous marilith of the Worldwound?"
"Aponavicius," whispers Gail.
"Aponavicius!" says Aema, eyes sparkling. "Second only to the Storm King himself in power within the Worldwound! She holds the lost crusader city of Drezen, built in the First Mendevian Crusade, and lost in the Second."
"Very good. What does she wield?"
"She's a master swordswoman," says Thomas. "She can wield anything."
"She wields a katana, a falcata, a khopesh, a shotel, and a kusarigama," says Aema, again.
"That's only five weapons, smarty-pants," Thomas bristles.
"She keeps the last hand free to cast spells, duh," Aema sticks her tongue out at Thomas.
Ary smiles and watches as everyone speaks and explains what they knew. Aravashnial was doing good work with the kids... even if it wasn't all his doing. Getting them excited about learning was important. If they cared about what they were learning, they'd retain it as she had.
As things continue, she smiles... then a chill runs down her spine. Six arms. Five weapons... and magic for the sixth arm.
"Umm... Avi. Would it mean something in particular that the cultists left us five longswords, five holy symbols, and the music box, in a chest that the Marilith was sitting on? Or am I just... imagining things here? Well, two longswords were in the hands of Hosilla and Uziel, but I assume the two came from the chest. I'm sensing some intended symbolism that I missed."
Then it dawns on her. "Five hands of Aponavicius in Kenabres, with one mage." she swats her forehead. Or maybe she was reaching. "There was also a note saying that they didn't need them anymore... and the holy symbols were poisoned... yeah." she sighs quietly.
Val finishes her meal, finally satisfied. "I'm going to get a bath and get some rest. Good night everyone." She heads upstairs, retrieving her gear on the way, and gets a quick bath, more interested in getting clean than trying to enjoy herself, then heading straight to bed in one of the rooms.
"I'd think the alarm would wake us if anything were to be going on." Ary nods as everyone decides to disappear just as she's tucking in. Oh well... maybe talk tomorrow.
Male Oread (Kellid) Legendary Druid 12/Hierophant 4 | HP 148/148 | AC 26, T 25, FF 20 | Fort +9, Ref +7, Will +19 | CMD 27, freedom of movement | Immune to disease & poison | Resist Acid 10 | SR 13 (evil outsiders), 17 (demons) | Init +2 | Perception +19 (missing eye), Darkvision 60 ft., Murksight, Tremorsense 60 ft. | MP 4/11 | LP 2/2 | PM 10/11
At Hrut's mention of Garil, several alarms go off in Ehren's head. He looks to Horgus, wondering if perhaps there was a connection to his current behavior. The way he was acting hardly seemed uncharacteristic, and yet, it rather wildly conflicted with what he had seen of the man. If he were better with words he might try to console him, but alas.
After eating a moderate portion of food, Ehren quietly thanks Horgus and excuses himself from the table. With food in his belly, fatigue was finally starting to get the better of him. Nonetheless, when he collects his belongings and retreats to his room, he promptly disrobes again, intent on treating the wound Garil had inflicted on him earlier.
An hour goes wasted as unfortunately, treating his own wounds unaided proves more difficult than he had anticipated. After nearly reopening a closed wound, he curses under his breath and discards the wasted bandages. Ignoring the rather comfortable-looking bed in the room, he redresses and lies flat on the ground, staring at the ceiling until sleep takes him.
Before bed, Ary would seek to speak with both Horgus and Anevia. The former in relation to her inviting Garil into his home... and the man pillaging it and leaving. The latter to apologize for not making it out to her house that day, given all of the things that had occurred.
Preferably without a crowd, and we can do these while we push on just 'other timeline' it, maybe?
"Horgus... I'm sorry about Garil. What did he take, and how valuable was it to you?" Ary asked, chewing her lip. "And is it even remotely possible that I could replace it?"
To Anevia, "Hey... how are you holding up after all of this? I wish we hadn't had so many screwups today. Maybe if I'd paid more attention, we'd have already gotten where we needed to go."
Li'an eventually wakes up, unsure of what time it is. Though still somewhat groggy, she gathers her things and wanders upstairs to find where the baths are. Once there she throws her things to the side and grabs a bucket to go draw fresh water for it.
A few trips later she's prepared a bath. "Water's cold, but it's better than nothing," she thinks as she closes the door for privacy and strips down. Sinking down into the water, she tenses up at first, her body recoiling from the chilly water. After a few moments however the sensation fades and she's able to relax. "Thank Desna, Horgus isn't here to tell me that I need to bathe before my bath," she says quietly to herself, sighing at last night's demands at dinner.
She spends sometime thinking about the previous day's events, getting them in order so she'll be able to write them down once she's done bathing. With that sorted out, she grabs a brush and some soap and proceeds to scrub herself clean of the previous day-and-a-half's worth of grime and grunge. "Ooh, so much better" she thinks as she finishes cleaning up. One quick rinse later, she was stepping out and drying herself off. Li'an finishes up, putting on her old clothes for now, hoping to get Markus (or perhaps the kids) to mend and clean the new ones later.
Heading down, she seats herself at the dining room table, pulling out her quill and inkwell along with her journal to begin writing.
Horgus fumes. "Exactly 1,083 platinum pieces. I counted and recounted several times while you were gone." He sighs, his expression softening as he looks at Ary. "You don't owe me a copper piece, dear girl. Believe me, if you did, you'd know."
He glances at his bed and sighs. "All the sheets are pilfered except for these crude linens I salvaged from the servant's quarters. It will be difficult to fall asleep on such coarse fabric."
----------
Anevia wakes up with a start - she had been nodding off at her post at the top of the watchtower. A bare plate sits next to her - Nira was thoughtful enough to bring her a plate of food while she kept watch.
"I'm doing fine! Tomorrow we'll head to my house, eh? I don't really expect Irabeth to be there though. No way she'd hunker down in a house when there's people to be saved. I bet she left me a note, though. I feel it in me bones!"
She glances at Ary, suddenly serious - which is uncharacteristic of her. "And you? Are you holding up alright?" She looks out at the ruined city. "I really didn't expect anything like this."
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
Markus quietly finishes dinner with everyone else. He was proud that he was able to help the kids with magic, but he's also afraid that he, not exactly a learned man, wouldn't be able to continue doing it - Markus is glad Aravashnial is around.
When dinner is done, he takes his plates back to the kitchen and washes them. He heads upstairs to where the baths are drawn and waits until one is available for him, and he just sits in it. He tries to scrub his skin, but it's too tender...so he just sits in it.
He falls asleep in that bath, but luckily he's tall enough such that he doesn't slip down and drown to death, and he wakes up wrinkled and cold halfway through the night. He crawls out of the tub, dries himself quickly and falls asleep in a heap on the ground, on top of as many soft things as he can find.
When Markus awakes, he scours the house for several minutes in his underwear, looking for soft cloth. When he finds any, he binds what wounds he still has (and he still has many) and he spends an hour mending his clothes while the others do their own preparations.
Then he heals himself with a spell. The negative energy is relieving after the day of spending positive energy to heal others all day the previous day.
Inflict Healing:1d8 + 3 ⇒ (3) + 3 = 6Leaves me at 13/21, which is just wounded. 5/6 spells for the day left.
Preferably without a crowd, and we can do these while we push on just 'other timeline' it, maybe?
Okie dokie artichokey
22 Arodus 4713
No watch order was set, the group choosing to instead crutch on Horgus' formidable defenses. Whether they held true or if the mansion was just deemed uninteresting by passing by demons or cultists, they'll never know. Outside, the sun is shining. It is relatively cloudless, but still unnaturally cold, and the wind does not help matters.
Belthis prepares a rich meal of biscuits and sausage gravy for breakfast.
Val wakes up a little late, feeling much better now that she's not exhausted and the soreness from her wounds feel a bit dulled with some rest. She smells breakfast cooking and smiles, quickly filling in another journal entry to record her thoughts before getting dressed and heading down to eat.
21 Arodus 2713:
We made our way up to the surface this morning, well evening. I almost wish we hadn’t. The city… ruined. Every building shattered, smoke and fire everywhere. Seeing the stars again was small comfort after seeing that. I suppose I should have expected it after the attack, but still… seeing it in person puts a different perspective on everything we’ve been through. This is why I hate demons. Everything destroyed for no reason other than they felt like it. At least we had a goal to focus on to put it at the back of our minds for a bit. Avi wanted to go to some library, Blackwing, Horgus wanted to get back to his mansion Margin: Of course he did. Rich twit., and Anevia wanted to get back to her house to look for her wife.
Of course, we barely made it halfway to Blackwing before something happened. We seem to be magnets for the worst kind of trouble. This time we found ourselves facing some Ara-things. Avi called them Wrecker Demons, so let’s go with the version I can spell. They apparently hate beautiful things and were tearing up a clothing shop, with the shopkeepers still inside. I’m not sure if I should be worried or happy that they decided to make it their life’s mission to tear me limb from limb. Probably worried. At least we managed to rescue the shopkeepers and we even got some new outfits out of it. Margin: Li’an’s face when she saw my choice. Priceless. We ended up bringing the Loumises with us, but it’s certainly better than leaving them in the middle of this mess alone.
And then Blackwing. Argh. One day, we’re going to try this cultist act and it’s going to go horribly wrong. Not today though. Today we found a rather stupid ex-crusader named Chaleb in the process of gathering the library books to burn the lot of them while threatening a group of children that survived the attack on the library. Needless to say, we put a stop to that. Li’an and me somehow managed to convince them that we were Baphomet cultists and that he’d earned our patron’s attention by being awful. He and his tiefling followers apparently decided to think with their little heads rather than their big ones and fell for it hook, line, and sinker. We took them down pretty handily, but Chaleb made a break for it. I ran after the guy, but he was either way luckier than he had any right to be, or the universe really wanted him to get away, because he slipped through my fingers. Margin: Not going to happen twice.
So it turns out Aravashnial’s a member of some secret society of mage types called Riftwardens that are supposed to protect the Material Plane from stuff like the Worldwound and other threats to the stability of the planes. You’d think they’re the good guys, but their idea of ‘protecting’ ignores the actually people living in the planes they’re trying to protect. Sure, blowing up half of Avistan is totally an acceptable cost for closing the Worldwound. Assh*le. I knew he was kind of stuck-up, but I didn’t know he was crazy on top of everything else. Whatever. At least the kids they took in were safe. And maybe they’re not too indoctrinated to see that this plan of the Wardens is insane. Either way, they’re adorable and good natured, so that’s a plus.
So with our new munchkins in tow, we headed off to Horgus’s place. We rescued a druid in charge of one of the local parks on the way through and he seems like a pretty good guy. Lost some animal friends fighting off these Abyssal dog things called Howlers. Nasty, but not too horrible. Apparently they do this weird curse thingy, but my blood protects me. Lucky I guess. We made it to Horgus’s place without too much trouble after that point at least. Everyone was a little tired and ready to get turned in, and we even got paid for getting Horgus home alive. A pouch of platinum always brightens my day. Pity Horgus is still a twit.
So while scrounging up dinner from Horgus’s pantry, we found a swarm of rats infesting the place. Lovely. Of course, before we had a chance to clear them out, the other rats escaped. Hosilla and her tiefling got away while we were distracted. Oops. Li’an, Ary, Ehren, and me went after them while Markus and Hrut cleared the pantry and kept an eye on everyone. We hunted them down to one of the cultists’ safe houses, Topaz Solutions apothecary. And low and behold, some crusaders had beaten us to it. Some guys Ary called Ash Ravens. I’d bet my coin purse that the stuff they had ‘salvaged’ was stolen Margin: Not Horgus’s platinum though. I have plans for that. but they seemed alright, just desperate. We sent them to find the rest of the crusaders and searched the place. We found the two escapees in the basement and killed them off easy enough, but then set off some kind of trap. Fighting some plant monster thing while dealing with a room full of poison gas is a pain. We lived through it though, so I think it worked out. I did pass out from my injuries at one point. Margin: Waking up in Li’an’s arms makes my heart race.
So we make it back to Horgus’s place in… well not in one piece, but still alive. And the tiefling we spared while dealing with Chaleb had run off with a bunch of Horgus’s money. That’s gratitude for you I suppose. We didn’t have to leave him alive. We didn’t even treat him like a prisoner for gods’ sake. And just to really cap off the day, Horgus had to be pompous on top of being a twit and refuse to shut up about us sitting at his table and eating dinner until we cleaned up. I can understand not wanting guests to be rude, but we’re in a war zone and just came back from a combat mission. There’s a time and a place for propriety and this isn’t it. I was just too tired to argue. I think I’m actually glad to leave the guy behind here, even if he’s at risk. I’m getting sick of dealing with him. He's the entirely wrong kind of noble.
'Ten... thousand..?' Ary's eyes steadily widened until Horgus relented... and a lot of stress that had built over just those few moments dissapated.
"Well, the Loumises gave me that cape. Feels like silk, I think? I can't really tell. I haven't ever really done much with silk. You wouldn't be able to move much, but it's probably a bit better." she shrugs. Horgus had a very different way of life and a different set of expectations. That ten thousand gold could have likely paid for a new library... sans the books. That was vaguely terrifying. Somewhere in the city was a Tiefling, probably eaten by howlers, with ten thousand gold.
"If it's any consolation, we might be able to find some somewhere. I'm not sure you'd want to just take from anywhere, though." she shrugs.
"Is there anything else you need before bed?"
To Anevia
"'M fine. But just between you and me... no, no I'm not okay. At all. It's what I signed on for, for sure. But it's not what everyone else signed on for." she motions around. "A lot of people lived here because there was no where else; no one else would trust them. Half-orcs especially. This place brought a whole lot of people together for a tragically beautiful reason. War is hell... and it's even more true here. But until a week ago, I thought that Kenabres was one of the most beautiful things I'd ever see."
She motions off in the distance. "I was going to go camping on the evening of Armasse. Up there. I'd have had an absolutely beautiful view. If... they'd attacked five hours later, I'd have had to watch as everything got ripped to shreds. Thank Iomedae for small favors." she sighs, shaking her head. "No, I'm not okay. I think if not for the kids, and the civilians, and all the other people giving me reason to be strong, I'd have already fallen apart. I'm scared, and I'm cold, and I still have a vague ringing in my ears from all the things that have screamed at me today. We saved a half dozen people today, maybe more. And that's good. It's a small victory, but one we can hold on to."
"There are more large victories, too. Radiance showing up when she was needed. Reigniting a forge of Torag. Bringing a disparate people back together. Finding all those children alive and well in the library. Aravashnial smiling. Each one is its own precious miracle." Ary smiled. "Then there are smaller victories, too. Saving Crocris, finding out there are more crusaders to the north. Running into Ash Ravens. Running my sword through a symbol of Baphomet. Tiny music boxes that make nightmares go away.."
"And most of all... having a safe place to sleep when everything's going to hell. Garil might have traded all the money in the world for that, but..." she shook her head, eyes distant. "Nothing better than a safe place."
Ary will be fashionably late for breakfast, as she still had to wash her clothes, hang them, finish conversations, then head to bed. :p
After breakfast, Aravashnial sits in the foyer, lecturing his wards on the planes.
"Planar theory separates the multiverse into two distinct regions: the inner and outer spheres. The planes of the outer sphere rest upon the inner surface of a great, hollow sphere, with the planes of the Inner Sphere nestled at the sphere's core, separated by the great Astral void. So where is Golarion in all of this?"
"Golarion rests in the Material Plane, which is in the Inner Sphere - opposite its sister, the Shadow Plane." chirps Aema, obviously.
"Very good, Aema. The Inner Sphere is comprised of the elemental planes, which surround the Material Plane like a series of immense shells - like layers on an onion. And what lay at the cores of the Material and Shadow Planes?"
"The Positive and Negative Energy planes - from which all positive and negative energy flows," says Gail, softly.
"Precisely. So while the Inner Sphere is highly structured - the Outer Sphere is amorphous. The Outer Planes drift through the Outer Sphere - like stable islands in the chaos of the Maelstrom. The Maelstrom surrounds the Inner plane like a sheath, and between the two lays the astral plane - sometimes known as the River of Souls."
I need the following decisions to be made:
Where are you going next?
Are you taking any NPCs with you? Anevia is going to accompany you unless explicitly asked not to (she wants to visit her home, after all.) Horgus intends to stay in his mansion indefinitely. The rest will follow your lead.
Once these decisions have been made, once two are ready to go, we will.
I had limited time in the AM to post, so I settled for only dropping some knowledge bombs about someone you may or may not slay someday :p - I didn't address a lot of things, sorry!
Male Dhampir (Moroi-Born) White Necromancer 7/Archmage 2 | hp 51/51 (healthy), AC 12, touch 10, ff 12, CMD 15 | Fort +3, Ref +2, Will +7, various bonuses | Init -1, Perception +2, low-light, darkvision (mythic power 7/7)
I think we should bring Anevia and Crocris with us for now, and leave everyone else behind, if we plan to return once we find someplace safer. If we don't want to make return treks, I think we ought to bring everybody except Horgus with us.
Markus heads out into the courtyard to stretch and to catch a bit of the sun, and he finds it unusually cold. Fortunately, his skin isn't particularly sensitive, so he isn't as bothered by it as one could be...but it's not the most pleasant feeling.
He goes to find Aravashnial, approaching quietly and sitting down. "Aravashnial? I wanted to talk to you for a moment while we had some quiet time. Remember the psionic techniques I mentioned earlier? Would you ever be interested in learning them? One of the professors, back in Caliphas - she would know them. And even if she's left...they'd know how to contact somebody that did know how to utilize it. We could ask someone to come here."
I think leaving everyone but Anevia makes sense. Crocris can decide if he'd like to come or stay. Until we've found some other safe place we should continue operating out of here though.
Li'an steals some of the biscuits and gravy and sits down to listen to Aravashnial lecturing the children. "You know he used to tell me all these things ages ago, when I was just a child," she tells the children with a laugh as she sits down. "That was, when he wasn't yelling at me to pay attention or stop sleeping." It was good to see him relaxed with the children.
When there was a break in his lecture again, she interjected, asking "Do you mind staying here in the Manor today Master Aravashnial? I think we're going to make an effort to visit Anevia's house to see if we can find a note or something indicating where Irabeth might be. I'm also going to see if I can talk the others into visiting my home, even if it's the wrong way."
I think that Ary's goal is probably 'Anevia's place, North side of town if Anevia's place knows where we're going. Then to either Kite or Estrod. If Kite, take Crocris, if Estrod, let Crocris decide.
Ary slips groggily past the conversations that are taking place, towards the kitchen. She listens for a moment about the planes; she wasn't as good at remembering the planar stuff as she was remembering the monsters. It was a lot easier to remember the stuff she cared about. Like how the things were going to bite her. Or if their mouths were even for biting. They're always for biting...
Her clothes were clean, if slightly damp; the night had gone by far too quickly. But she'd slept. And she'd slept safely. In a bed of all things.
I agree with Markus and Li'an. This place is secure enough to keep them safe. If worse comes to worse, they can hide until we make it back. As for destination, Anevia's place first. After that, we'll see what happens.
Val comes into the dining room looking significantly happier and takes a seat, digging into the meal with gusto while Aravashnial lectures the children. "I learned a little about the Outer Planes when I was younger, but not much. Just enough to get the whole demons and devils thing and that whole mess."
"Is that anything like the Birds and the Bees... cept everything has stingers?" Ary grins at Valaria, groggily from her bowl of shredded biscuits and gravy. She'd mixed it all together into a thick paste-bread mixture that was glorious to taste... if not to behold.
Horgus gives a small, thin-lipped smile. "A pity you went and swore the oath and joined the Crusades, Ary, or I'd hire you as the captain of my personal guards. Oaths are important, though. I wouldn't respect you if you would turn back on a promise for money alone."
He accepts her cape, and prepares to go to bed. "I don't need anything further, Ary. Sleep well."
----------
Anevia lets Ary vent, and smiles when she manages to find the bright side of things despite all the sorrow and hardship they've gone through these past days. "It's been a crazy trip, these past few days, huh?" She stares northward. "Bet Irabeth is with those crusaders. I don't know where they'd be holed up, though. Most of the big barracks are closer to Old Kenabres..."
She goes silent for a moment, then adds, thoughtfully, "I don't know if I'd count saving all these people as just a small victory though. I think every life is a victory, in a way."
She glances at Ary and grins. "Bet when we find the crusaders you'll be promoted a rank or two. How's Lance Corporal Ary Bishop sound, huh? You ready for more responsibility?"
--------
Now..
Aravashnial pauses in his lecture when Markus address him. "Children, that's all I have for you today. Next time we'll discuss the ethereal and astral demiplanes."
The children disperse, and he turns towards the dhampir's voice. "That sounds wonderful - I'm intrigued. I had no idea they had such progressive research being conducted in Caliphas. At least - outside of necromancy. The problem is, I have no plans to abandon Kenabres or the Worldwound border now. I bear the weight of the accumulated research and knowledge of the Riftwardens stationed here now that Blackwing has been destroyed. And there is also the matter of Xanthir Vang emerging in the region. I am skeptical a scholar that wasn't explicitly interested in planar research would be willing to travel to such a dangerous region as here, and I am not wealthy enough to bribe such a thing, or even to pay for transportation."
To Li'an, Aravashnial nods. "I would prefer to stay with my students, actually. I am glad to be useful to them - I only have a few spells left, so I am not of much use to you."
Crocris' cheeks turn red when the heroes ask if he would like to accompany them on their excursion into the city. "Ah! I am flattered you think so highly of me. But I really am just a simple gardener - I'm not a warrior by any means. It was only by virtue of my deceased companion, Khudu, that I survived so long in Truestone Park to begin with. I think I would prefer to see if I can breathe some life back into Lord Gwerm's vegetable garden. It is probably too late, but if this home is to be made into a longterm base, finding sustainable sources of food should be a top priority. In particular, if I could get a berry bush growing, I could sustain almost half of us for as long as the bush bears fruit."
So, we're taking Anevia and we're going to her house, it seems. When two are ready to leave, we will.
"Goodnight, Horgus. I'll make it up to you somehow, either way." she says as she slips out to go find Anevia.
---------------------
To Anevia
"Well... sort of." Ary says, looking away. "I'm sort of a softy when it comes to people and their pasts. So... it's easy for me to overlook things, but it just makes it hurt so much more when I trust someone and they betray that. Like with Garil; And Chaleb. What the Hell." Ary says, shaking her head. "Doesn't matter. No use dwelling. Are there any old churches on the northside? Any eagle scout safehouses, or just... I don't know, homes?" she asks, trying to switch back to the proper topic. "And please no. Paperwork terrifies me more than demons. Almost as much as Howlers. How's this. You use your thievy powers on all my paperwork, and I'll consider it." she smiles to Anevia.
The Worldwound tore reality apart at the dawn of the Age of Lost Omens, murdering the nation of Sarkoris and unleashing a ravenous demonic horde upon the world. Only the quick action of several other nations of knights, barbarians, and heroes stemmed the demon army and contained it within lost Sarkoris, and for the next century, crusade after crusade tried to defeat the demons only to fail time and time again. Their greatest success, the line of magical artifacts known as wardstones that stand sentinel along the Worldwound’s border, barely manages to contain the demons. The demons are relentless, and the waves of the demonic host that pour out of the Worldwound and at the wardstones seem as endless as the seas. Four Crusades have failed, each one chipping away at more morale than the last. Will brave heroes finally rise up against the demon host to prevent them from swallowing the world and end a century long war?
Concept
Hello! One of my favorite APs that I have read from Paizo is none other than Wrath of the Righteous. Forgive the phrasing, but its truly mythic in scope. You rub shoulders with gods, challenge demonic lords, and venture forth into the Abyss itself on an epic quest to save the world.
Unfortunately, the adventure was tarnished with the under-playtested mythic rule set. I mean, yeah, you can run the AP without the mythic rules using a big point buy and hero points...but isn't getting mythic tiers part of the appeal? Part of the story itself? Thankfully, the 3pp company Legendary Games has taken it upon themselves fill the void with excellent work in their Mythic Plug-In line. And it is with their recommendations that I plan to give mythic a second shot.
No, you are not going to be running the AP as written. I am still going to tweak the encounters upwards, making them more difficult. Right from the start all encounters are being tweaked to max HP and +50% more mooks. There will be more mythic enemies sprinkled about for you to deal with. CRs will be scaled up.
I also plan to be using PFS scenarios, the modules The Demon Within and The Moonscar, as well as a heavy dose of homebrew stuff using material from the Campaign Setting book about the Worldwound (and 3pp stuff for good measure).
There are prominent gay and transgender NPCs in this adventure path. If you are going to be uncomfortable about that, don’t apply.
What are you looking for?
I am going to be recruiting 6 players. Recruitment will be open until May 12th, though may be open longer if we don’t get anyone wanting to fill one of the Mythic Path roles in the first week of recruitment. Play will begin May 14th, to give me a chance to review all your character sheets and make last-minute clarifications.
I’m a role-playing focused kind of GM. There will be plenty of combat. But I do expect you to have a well-rounded character with goals beyond killing and looting.
There are six seats at this virtual table, one for each Mythic Path. The first sentence of your application should clearly state which mythic path you are choosing. Even if you pick a 3pp mythic path, you must pick the closest corresponding Paizo mythic path that matches the “party role” your character is going to occupy.
You are allowed to use the dual mythic path ability to splash extra mythic paths together into some crazy conglomeration. However, your first mythic tier must be of the mythic path you declare during recruitment.
These roles are:
Archmage: Arcane spellcaster
Champion: Martial characters, combat maneuver based characters.
Guardian: Defensive tank.
Hierophant: Divine spellcaster.
Marshal: The support class.
Trickster: The roguelike class that focuses on subterfuge and cunning.
Posting Requirements
I will post 1/day. I expect you to post 1/day. In combat, when it is your turn in initiative order, you have 24 hours to post something. If you do not, I will post for you. If you hold up combat more than 3 times by forcing me to post for you, you will be kicked and replaced.
If you vanish for a week with and go out of contact, you will be kicked and replaced.
If you cannot post for some reason, you will be expected to post to the discussion board, or PM me. The game will not wait for you, you will be botted for the time you are gone. I will do you the same courtesy if something happens to myself. I am realistic.
Mythic? Isn’t that broken?
Out of the box, yes. So I intend to use a large array of house-rules to try and bring the power level of mythic down, while still retaining the “epic” feel of the play-style.
Here are the house-rules that we will be using. They are spoilered out because, while making a level 1 character, you probably don’t care. But if you have a lot of familiarity with the mythic rule set, this may satisfy your curiosity:
Mythic Nerfs:
Rule 0: The GM reserves the right to add to these nerfs as necessary if a mythic ability grows out of hand.
We will be using critical/fumble tables to determine the effects of confirmed crits and fumbles. This means that what you think is your weapon crit modifier is irrelevant. This has the net effect of reducing the average damage output of a crit (many times you will simply deal normal damage), but making crits more cinematic and interesting.
You only get +1 to stat bonuses as part of advancing in mythic tiers, not +2.
You cannot get permanent bonuses to your stats through wishes in this campaign.
The amazing initiative basic mythic ability is replaced with a bonus to initiative checks equal to one-half of your mythic tier. In addition, as a free action when rolling initiative you may expend one use of mythic power to add your surge die to your initiative roll.
The agile monster template, when applied to PC companions and summons, no longer gives the dual initiative ability. Instead, it gives haste.
The following abilities: archmage arcana, champion’s strike, guardian’s call, divine surge, marshal’s order, and trickster attack abilities are no longer usable as swift actions. Instead, they are standard actions when sued at the cost of 1 mythic power, move actions at the cost of 2 mythic power, and swift actions at the cost of 3 mythic power.
You cannot, for any reason, gain more than one additional attack at their highest attack bonus no matter how many such abilities are in effect. (Example: haste, champion’s strike abilities, etc.)
If you enter the space of a mythic creature with the Titan’s Bane ability, it is considered flat-footed only against the first attack you make against it.
Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. This may be a mythic feat, mythic spell, mythic path ability, a power used by a legendary item, or anything else; if it involves expending mythic power, a character can use only one per round. Characters can use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power is considered separate from mythic power.
You are likewise limited to the use of only one ability that requires the expenditure of legendary power per round.
Mythic surges may be spent after a d20 has been rolled, but not after the result of the roll has been revealed.
Mythic power is regained at a rate of 1 use per day. It is refilled to full after completing a mythic trial. This rate of mythic power regeneration cannot be changed in any way through abilities or spells. The GM may allow the heroes to regenerate additional uses of mythic power as a reward for epic feats or good roleplay.
The foe-biting legendary item ability has been banned. It is replaced with the ability to expend one use of the item’s legendary power after striking an opponent with the weapon to add the bane property against that specific creature (regardless of its type and subtype) for 1 minute. If the item is already a bane weapon against that creature’s type (and subtype, if applicable), using the foe-biting property increases the effect of bane to a +3 enhancement bonus and +3d6 damage, or to +4 and +4d6 if the wielder is a mythic character and expends one use of mythic power as a swift action when expending the item’s legendary power to increase its bane effect.
The Mythic Power Attack feat is now identical to the Mythic Deadly Aim feat, except it applies to melee damage rolls, not ranged.
Mythic Vital Strike is banned.
Instead of granting a flat +20 bonus on the relevant ability check or related skill check, the universal path abilities Display of Strength/Dexterity/Constitution/Intelligence/Wisdom/Charisma grant a bonus equal to three times your mythic tier.
Using the Recuperation mythic ability costs one-half of each character’s remaining daily uses of mythic power (minimum 1).
You need to spend 2 uses of mythic power to use the unstoppable mythic ability to remove a debuff caused by a mythic effect, not 1.
Any ability that allows you to ignore immunity or resistance allows you to ignore up to 5 points of resistance or immunity, plus 5 points per 2 mythic ranks or tiers you possess.
Any ability that allows you to ignore or bypass damage reduction instead allows you to ignore 5 points of damage reduction, plus 1 point of damage reduction per mythic rank or tier you possess. This applies to mythic abilities like the fleet charge champion path feature as well as non-mythic effects like a paladin’s smite evil.
When a critical hit is confirmed against a mythic creature with damage reduction and the attack does not ignore damage reduction, the creature has a percentage chance equal to twice its damage reduction to negate the critical hit and treat the hit as a normal hit. If the creature also has the fortification universal monster ability or a similar ability to negate critical hits, add these two percentage chances together and make a single roll.
An effect that allows you to ignore spell resistance (when it would normally apply) allows you add your mythic tier on caster level checks to ignore spell resistance. You apply an additional +2 circumstance bonus if the target is a non-mythic creature or if you are casting a mythic spell; these circumstance bonuses stack.
Harmful conditions that occur even on a successful save are halved in duration (minimum 0 rounds) if the mythic rank or tier of an affected creature equals or exceeds that of the creature that created the effect. They are also halved (minimum 0 rounds) for a non-mythic creature whose CR equals or exceeds the caster level (or Hit Dice, for supernatural effects) of the creature that created the effect. This does not apply to effects with an instantaneous or permanent duration.
Wild Arcana, Inspired Spell, Arcane Surge, and Recalled Blessing can only be used on spells with a casting time of 1 standard action or less. Using these abilities requires expending one use of mythic power, plus one additional use for every 2 levels of the spell.
For Arcane Surge and Recalled Blessing, you may expend an additional 2 uses of mythic power to cast a spell as a swift action.
Mythic enemies may expend mythic surges as a swift action to add a bonus to its AC equal to the result of its surge die. If the enemy has DR or hardness, the surge die is also added to DR or hardness. If the enemy has energy resistance, it adds twice the result of its surge die to each type of energy resistance it possesses. This bonus lasts until the beginning of the enemy’s next turn; if it expends two uses of mythic power, it lasts for a number of rounds equal to one- half its mythic rank or tier (minimum 1 round).
When the actions taken by an enemy during its turn would reduce it below 0 hit points, it can expend one or more uses of mythic power to survive with 10% of its current hit points (before that enemy began its turn) for each use of mythic power you spend. All damage dealt as part of a full attack action is considered a single effect for this purpose.
How to get chosen
Alright, first thing you should do is go download the Wrath of the Righteous Player’s Guide here on Paizo.com. It is free, and gives you all the setting information you need to know. If I cannot tell that you read the Player’s Guide when reading your submission, I will not pick you. Seriously. I expect you to come in already knowing the basics of the setting.
You will be chosen based on how well your character fits the setting.
You will be chosen on how well you weave your “crunch” choices into your “fluffy” character concept. Every inch of the stuff on your character sheet needs to be integrated into your background. Use the Paizo fluff for traits. If you grab the “rich parents” trait, and you don’t mention how in the Abyss they got rich, and where they live in your fluff, you are doing it wrong. That being said, I am more likely to pick a player who picks cool traits that match their character’s backstory over the guy who went straight for the “+ initiative”, “+ starting wealth” or “get 1/day free reroll” traits.
If you pick the “gladiator” archetype and say something like “oh I wanted to refluff him as a generic mercenary” you’re doing it wrong. If you’re a gladiator then embrace the fact that your guy fought in an arena at some point. If you grab something from the “Akashic Mysteries” classes and your character is utterly devoid of Hindi or Arabic-inspired flavor, you’re doing it wrong.
Hope I got my point across.
Alright. Now that that stuff is out of the way…
Character Creation Rules
House Rules
(Note: Mythic house rules were covered above.)
1. I track encumbrance, rations, water. I revel in the book-keeping and will do this for you, however you will need to keep this in mind when making your character.
2. I use confirmed crit and fumble tables. (You confirm a fumble by rolling another attack, if you miss again, you fumble.) This overrides whatever critical modifier you think you get. NPCs do not roll on these tables (otherwise you’d be at horrible risk of being randomly beheaded by a dretch and that’d be unfun)
3. Fractional advancement is used for multi-classing.
4. Unchained crafting rules will be used.
5. Unchained Automatic Bonus Progression: I will be using this subsystem. There will be no +1/+2/+3 modifiers to weapons, or armor. There will be no bracers of armor, headbands/belts of stats, amulets of natural armor, cloaks of resistance, or rings of protection in this game.
6. We will be using the wound threshold subsystem from Pathfinder Unchained, for both PCs and NPCs.
Crunchy Stuff
1. You are free to use anything from any paizo book.
2. Unchained Summoner, Barbarian, and Rogue are mandatory.
3. Unchained Monk is optional.
4. Occult playtest stuff is welcome.
5. If you’re gonna be a necromancer, use the White Necromancer.
6. Stats: Roll 4d6, drop the lowest, 6 times. If your resultant stat array is less than a 15 point buy, you can try again, scrapping the whole first attempt and rolling another 6 4d6. And again. And again. Until you get at least 15 point buy.
7. 3pp: You may use any 3pp stuff you want from the following publishers: Legendary Games, Kobold Press, Dreamscarred Press, Green Ronin Publishing, and Rogue Genius Games…. except for races. You MUST use Paizo races. If you use 3pp stuff you need to either link your content to d20pfsrd, or share the pdf with me.
8. Average starting wealth for your class.
9. All Paizo races allowed. The weirder your race, the more convincing your background is going to need to be.
10. No evil. I might be persuaded to allow a Lawful Evil character that focuses on devils vs demons style conflict. You’ll need a great submission to pull that off.
11. 2 traits. You can take a drawback to get a third one. No campaign traits. You may use the Player’s Guide traits if you desire, but keep in mind you have to work in the fluff from those traits into your backstory if you do that.
12. Max HP.
13. In addition to your skills, you may choose 2 background skills. These need to be relevant to your backstory. The background skills are: Appraise, Artistry, Craft, Handle Animal, Knowledge (Engineering/Geography/History/Nobility), Linguistics, Lore, Perform, Profession, Sleight of Hand.
14. The Unchained stamina system is free for fighters, usable with a feat for others.
15. You may use Unchained variant multiclassing if you so desire.
Fluffy Stuff
1. You can choose your age, height, and weight.
Your character concept is more important than your crunch. I don’t care much how verbose you are here. However, you MUST answer the following questions in your background.
As a reminder, if I cannot tell whether you read the Player’s Guide, I will not pick you. The person who submits stuff that references Ancient Sarkoris or the events of the Third Crusade is gonna get picked over “Crog the generic setting-neutral Barbarian”.
1. What does your character look like? Describe what their clothes and armor look like. How do they carry themselves when they don’t think anyone is looking?
2. Why is your character at the Worldwound? Why do they want to fight demons?
3. Why is your character mythic? What exactly is the source of their mythic powers? This is your chance to go hog-wild. Want to be a child of a god? Go for it. Secret nobility? Rock it out. Chosen by the gods? Heck yeah. Dream big. This is mythic. Think more Hercules, Ali Baba, Conan the Barbarian, and Gandalf. If you don’t feel comfortable revealing that here, PM me. Look to the bottom for some inspiration.
4. Alternatively, if you want to leave the source of their mythic powers up to me, I’m fine with that too.
5. Where is your character from? Be specific. We’re on Golarion. Don’t just say “somewhere else”.
6. What is their personality like?
7. How did they become [insert class here]? Why do they wield [insert weapon here]? Were they trained? Self-taught?
8. If your character is religious, explain what lead them to worshipping that deity.
9. Explain what your character’s alignment means to them. Something like “Jessica is lawful good because she wants to stamp out evil and eradicate it. She would sacrifice herself to attain her goals.” Or “Jessica is chaotic good because she is a vigilante. She thinks she needs to deliver justice personally, and feels that the laws of the land are not sufficient to effectively deal with evil on the scale of the Worldwound” or whatever.
10. If you have a character who has sworn a code (such as a Paladin or Cavalier, for example) be explicit in what that code entails.
The campaign as written already has a couple of ideas explaining why your PC is mythic. Feel free to use these as is, or just use them as inspiration for your own:
The PC is the literal son or daughter of the deity they worship. They have had dreams from that deity their entire life.
The PC is abnormally lucky. To the point it is uncanny. The fact that they gain mythic power is more so because they were just in the right place at the right time… or is it destiny?
The PC is descended from a proud line of crusaders who have all fought in the Worldwound. Their spirits live on in the PC and spur them to succeed where they died trying.
The PC was kidnapped by demonic cultists who conspired to sacrifice them to a foul ritual… but instead of dying the ritual only made them stronger.
The PC is the child of immensely powerful mages who patrol the multiverse as protectors of the planes themselves.
The PC was kidnapped by demonic cultists and tortured. They survived…and what didn’t kill them only made them stronger.
Feel free to PM me details about your character if you wish to keep some stuff secret from the other players. I love conspiring with players.
That’s all I have for you. I look forward to your submissions!
That's a 16 point buy, which makes me real unlucky... so this should be fun. Thinking either a Lore Warden Fighter or Bloodrager of some sort, because they're the only guardian options I can think of that aren't more MAD.
I would be interested to give it a go with an unchained rogue with the trickster path. I've already played in one PbP that went through the first 5 to 6 encounters, I think and stopped due to GM real life constraints. So I'll be tempted to try again.
I've got a question about the background questions. In fluff 3, you ask why the character is mythic. In the player's guide, it's indicated that the PC aren't mythic at the start of the campaign (as a rule point of view).
So am I correct to say that I should explain the reason why the PC will become mythic at some point and that they should have a background reason that will explain this awakening?
Hmm. The Unchained Stamina system looks interesting, but I'm not sure if I'll have time to get/read the book in the next week. Would you okay with a fighter character who potentially starts using stamina as he learns about them? This could make playing a fighter really interesting.
@Llaelian: Yes, you become mythic at the end of book 1 (at level 4). You will experience a sort of awakening of mythic power, jumpstarted by a catalyst. Your radioactive spider/gamma radiation/super serum if you will. However the AP (as written) intends to work with the assumption that the PCs were born from the start to achieve something more, even before you have literal mythic ability. After all, many people are exposed to the catalyst, but only the heroes (and any back-up heroes that get rolled to replace a dead PC) gain mythic ability...why?
Remember that while your PCs are indeed "chosen ones" they are not "THE chosen one". Think the X-Men. They all have some pretty intense mythical stories. Cyclops is the son of a space pirate, with a whole family of superheroes, some good, some evil. Jean Grey is the chosen vessel for phoenix. Storm was worshipped as a literal goddess at one point. But they still need each other to attain their goals.
@Thunderbeard: You don't have to use the unchained stamina system, I just wanted to iterate its only free for fighters. (and enemies with fighter class levels will have access to it also) However, the idea of a fighter gradually learning his stamina abilities sounds great.
@Sobel: From my understanding (which may be flawed), players are simply given the big 6 as part of their character. You know... if it's required for success, shouldn't everyone just get it for free? :P
Am Going for a Dwarven Stonelord/Fighter/Tank then, not too bright just generally steadfast. Will be reusing this Char and Respecing.
Mythic Guardian
Goron Boulderstep
I dont know about the Unchained Automatic Bonus Progression thing is there a brief summary about that?
Basically with Unchained Bonus Progression, the mandatory "big 6" magic items are removed from the game. These are +1/+2/+3/etc weapons/armor, headbands and belts of stats, amulets of natural armor, rings of protection, and cloaks of resistance. The game is balanced around the assumption that PCs will use these items. These are replaced with innate bonuses that you receive as you level up. Your first bonus comes at level 3 with a +1 resistance bonus to your saves.
The reason I like this is because big 6 magic items are boring and result in all PCs having pretty much the same magic items as each other. Big 6 items lead to PCs turning down cool items with significant lore value in favor of big 6 items. This means that, unless a magic item is really, really powerful, they end up being viewed as means to gain gp to gain more big 6 items rather than as valuable treasure in of themselves.
Your WBL will probably feel kind of low as a result since all the generic cloaks of resistance and rings of protection you find all over the place in APs will be gone. ....it won't feel that low though since this AP hands out wondrous items like candy.
mm, seems really good so far. Considering an Orc Oracle(War), offspring of Gorum. Could be that nearby orc settlement was destroyed by demons resulting only in a few surviving. Gorum getting angry-> a young girl from the village, who survived "giving" herself for Gorum-> born a vessel to excel his retribution and declare war on the wretched harbringer
Ogrin the Harbringer will be crunching stuff up later
The enhancement bonus gained from having a masterwork weapon or armor does not stack with the automatic enhancement bonus given by Unchained Bonus Progression. The automatic enhancement bonus would override the masterwork quality because it is better.
This is basically the same as how you can't have a +1 masterwork longsword.
mm, seems really good so far. Considering an Orc Oracle(War), offspring of Gorum. Could be that nearby orc settlement was destroyed by demons resulting only in a few surviving. Gorum getting angry-> a young girl from the village, who survived "giving" herself for Gorum-> born a vessel to excel his retribution and declare war on the wretched harbringer
Ogrin the Harbringer will be crunching stuff up later
That works well, because the Worldwound is adjacent to the Hold of Belkzen.
Oh hey everybody, with your ridiculously amazing rolls. Seriously curious now if I'll be able to survive on my terrible stats, but it could be a rather fun challenge (max HD might be a huge help here, and it lets me feel less guilty about combining multiple powerful archetypes).
@Zoe: Brawlers are a class that are really easy to min-max for optimum fun.
Meanwhile, hmm. This may be my best chance to play a Lore Warden from level 1, so so far I've got:
-Elf Fighter (Lore Warden, Martial Master), Guardian Path
(Possible later dip into Brightness Seeker or Monk, depending on what flavor I go with)
-Str 10, Dex 18, Con 11, Int 13, Wis 12, Cha 10
-Combat Reflexes, Weapon Finesse
-Light armor, Elven Branched Spear
@Llaelian: Yes, you become mythic at the end of book 1 (at level 4). You will experience a sort of awakening of mythic power, jumpstarted by a catalyst. Your radioactive spider/gamma radiation/super serum if you will. However the AP (as written) intends to work with the assumption that the PCs were born from the start to achieve something more, even before you have literal mythic ability. After all, many people are exposed to the catalyst, but only the heroes (and any back-up heroes that get rolled to replace a dead PC) gain mythic ability...why?
Remember that while your PCs are indeed "chosen ones" they are not "THE chosen one". Think the X-Men. They all have some pretty intense mythical stories. Cyclops is the son of a space pirate, with a whole family of superheroes, some good, some evil. Jean Grey is the chosen vessel for phoenix. Storm was worshipped as a literal goddess at one point. But they still need each other to attain their goals.
Thanks for the clarification. That's what I expected but I wanted to be sure we were on the same page.
Player characters (and their allies) can use only one ability that requires the expenditure of mythic power per round. This may be a mythic feat, mythic spell, mythic path ability, a power used by a legendary item, or anything else; if it involves expending mythic power, a character can use only one per round. Characters can use abilities that require spending more than one use of mythic power. Legendary power is considered separate from mythic power.
I'm looking at Marshal Path and -may- take an ability that allows me to hand someone a surge, using my mythic power (or confidence), would this make it so that one or both of us cannot use mythic power? Is Confidence considered the same as Mythic Power in all ways?
What are your feelings on the Signature Moves trait? I can pass it up, but I really like the idea of a living steel shield being passed down her family line. :)
Probably more later.
Edit: What are your thoughts on Faithful Ranger Combat Styles?
Signature moves is great, as long as its something significant to your backstory. I will be grumpy if you sell your family heirloom at the first opportunity of some other upgrade. It's the kind of thing that you might want to drive down the legendary item path. (Not going to force you to, just saying it should carry that kind of significance.)
Faithful Ranger is great. Religious characters will fit right into this campaign for...obvious reasons. You need that extra oomph to your motivation to show why you're basically willing to go to the Worldwound to certain death. I expect a religious player to take the time to learn the ins and outs of their deity, though. Gotta convince me you're actually faithful! ;)
Using confidence is considered the same as using mythic power. It is still powerful with the nerf, because it gives you a lot of extra uses of mythic power per day, especially with Flexible confidence. Nerfing down mythic power regeneration to 1/day is one of the biggest houserule changes. (This is partially offset by the fact you regenerate mythic power after a mythic trial...but of course you will likely use a lot of mythic power to achieve a mythic trial to begin with!)
I'm guessing you're looking at Surge of Inspiration? Giving someone your surge ability would be considered a use of your own mythic power for that round. It would not spend your ally's ability to use their mythic power for that round.
I actually fully plan to have her follow the Iomedae Code of Conduct for Paladins... despite not being one. It's part of the character. :)
Are you also going to reduce Confidence regeneration in the same way you intend to reduce regeneration of Mythic Power? It wasn't really my intent to subvert that in the first place. :)
I'm gonna play it by ear and let it go at 3/day for now. I think considering that you're restricted to 1 use of mythic power/confidence per round will help keep it under control. If it shows to be too much of a problem, I will nerf it.
Really when people talk about how broken Mythic is they aren't talking about Marshals. :P Its Archmage/Champion/Trickster/Hierophant that are the problem children....with the former two being bigger issues than the latter.
To be clear, if anyone here is going to get really pouty and sad if they get nerfed further down the line, you shouldn't apply. I'll give free retrains if I do so, so no one will get 'stuck' with something they didn't want. I'll try to scale monsters up/increase encounters per day before I nerf you....but at some point something's gotta give. (Scaling monsters up tends to result in folks getting one-shot and that's no good, its generally easier to target the players)
As someone who played a lot of MMOs and deals with patch cycles for games, I realize that patching the singular problem is often significantly better than patching everything else.
As a DM who has regularly had players go for gimmicks over real characters in my home games, I also fully support the word 'no'. Giving retraining is more than reasonable in exchange. And Confidence being -just- one extra use per day is still really solid.
Derp. I respectfully withdraw my application. I just realised I don't have Pathfinder Unchained. Can't do up a barbarian.
Was thinking along the lines of.....
They took everything he loved from him.......................
They burned him, whipped him, broke almost every bone in his body and his pride. They didn't take away his rage.
No It grew. It festered...... It became everything for him. His family.....His spouse...broken.....children.....lifeless eyes pleading for him to save ......no....not......save....but End their pain..
He couldn't.....Not even that.....A failure....
They broke him, Rage gave him strength to go on. They called him overly Violent.
He wasn't.
Just like Bards sing out their heart, he was venting his.\
Only his rage
Then I scrolled up and saw Unchained Barbarian mandatory. lol
Bubble popped.
Dotting and rolling. I have a Paladin of Iomedae to apply with, and I'll retool her for the new rolls once I'm done with my school day. But as someone who often writes weird crunch detail justifications into backstories, I like the cut of your jib.
I would like to submit Xantrius Kaleson, Tiefling Paladin, Marshal Path for consideration. I have played him before in a previous WotR campaign, but it ended very early so I have not seen much of the story.
Here is the fluff, I will have to re-work the crunch to fit the new stats.
Description:
A huge, imposing figure covered in armor from head to foot, he carries a polished shield bearing a black rose. He speaks in a deep, chilling voice that sends shivers up the spine of even the boldest knights, yet when he sings his voice smooths out into a surprisingly deep, rich baritone.
Beneath the armor:
Height: 6'7"
Weight: 245#
Eyes: Red
Skin: Black
Hair: None
Once he takes off the helmet, you see a horrific black-scaled monster. Gleaming white fangs, small horns, glowing red eyes and pointed, serrated ears make him seem almost a full demon.
History:
His mother Kale caused the cracking of the Kenabres Wardstone.
At least, that is the way she tells it. Before the first attacks, she was merely one of a squad of soldiers assigned to routine duty in the city. With nothing much to do most of them spent a lot of time in the local tavern, which is where she met Arvoris. A fairly good-looking young blacksmith come to trade from a neighboring village, she started spending a lot of time with him. He asked her endless questions about her and the exciting life of a soldier, and she enjoyed the attention.
Until the attack began.
With the cracking of the Wardstone, Demons began the assault , a screaming horde ready to claim all Golarian as their own. The crusaders fought bravely but were barely holding the line. After a disastrous battle on the front where she had seen almost her whole squad killed, she and a ragged group retreated back through the city. She rushed to find her lover. When she told him he had to flee, he laughed.
And then he changed.
He was not a simple craftsman but an advance scout for the Demonic Horde. And she had provided so much valuable information! Tears in her eyes, she could not believe it. She had used her Sight on him, seen no sign of evil! He grinned and raised an amulet with strange markings on it, taunting her. She rushed him with sword raised, but he teleported away, his laughter still ringing in her ears. She changed after that. Before, she had been a devotee of Shelyn, finding beauty in everything and a firm believer that anyone could find redemption. Now, she rushed into battle and fiercely attacked the enemy with no regard for her own life. Slowly, they managed to turn the tide and reclaim the city. The Wardstone held and she joined the new crusade to push the demons further back.
Until she discovered she was pregnant.
She knew once the child was born everyone would know of her shame and betrayal, so she fled. She settled in Ustalav, kept to herself and raised the demon-child for the rest of her life. She poured all her bitterness, rage, and hate for all demons into her son and trained him to kill as soon as he could hold a sword. But she also had the wisdom to try to make him understand that he was not to blame for what he was. Through his actions, he could overcome the stain of sin left on him by both his father and herself. He took to wearing full armor as often as he could, so as to hide his horrific visage. He still rarely removes it except when alone.
But it was not all lessons about demons and training. His fondest memories are of the times when, after a long day his mother would sing to him. She had a voice that would make the goddess Shelyn herself stop and listen! She would also sometimes talk about the family she left behind, her brother Kal who as far as she knew was still fighting in Kenabres.
Last year, he returned from a trip to pick up the weapon he would need in his fight to find her dead, with a skeletal grey-skinned demon standing over her. The fiend dropped something on her body and vanished before he was able to reach them. He vowed then to destroy all demons, and to find out why she had been singled out for such misery. He still holds the strange amulet dropped by the demon, but he has not yet found someone who can tell him the meaning of the runes carved into it.
Now he has arrived in Kenabres, biding his time training in a crusader camp outside the city, ready to kill his Father and any other demon that gets in his way...
The day before...:
Awakening with the dawn, Xantrius sits up in his small tent on the outskirts of the city and starts polishing his armor. After awkwardly donning it in the small confines he exits and stirs up the embers of yesterday’s fire to cook his breakfast. He returns to his tent to eat and then puts his helm back on and checks his weapons before strapping them on. Taking one last look at the strange symbols on the amulet around his neck, he starts for the city. Nodding to the other recruits he recognizes as he leaves the large field camp stationed on the northern edge of Kenabres, he strides with purpose towards the library.
After waiting patiently for close to an hour while the guards at the gate check everyone entering the city, he recognizes the guard on duty and hails him. ”Good Morn, Roderick.” he calls out, his harsh, grating voice unnerving several others waiting to enter.
”Good Morn, Xantrius! Are you planning on joining in the festivities for Armasse tomorrow?”
”I shall be here, but I shall not have any duties. There is not much call for those who follow the Lady of Graves on this day.” he states, tapping his shield with its prominent depiction of Pharasma’s black rose.
The guard looks at him oddly. ”I still find that strange. I didn’t think there were any paladins who followed her?”
”There are a few who see their duty to escort those deserving into her embrace. But I will not keep these good folks waiting any longer. Good Day.” With a final salute he enters and heads towards the Old City. His long stride quickly takes him along the twisting roads to his destination, the same place he has come almost every day for the past couple of weeks.
As he stoops to enter the entrance to the Library, the clerk at the desk sighs. ”He’s still not in.”
Xantrius is silent for a moment. ”And I doubt you have any idea when he will be available. May I view the volumes of Maxtarus’ Demonic Lore?”
”If you must. Be careful!” As the huge knight strides away the clerk mutters ”I don’t know why they even let brutes like him in…”
Make sure you go through the character creation rules and make sure all my questions are answered in your fluff. Just go through 'em one by one if it makes it easier on you.
Not that it isn't good. Your fluff is great. Just make sure it gets all the points I need :)
2) Would an alchemist be allowed to take the Archmage Mythic Path?
1) Simulacrums are fine. I would house rule that the mythic tier is halved as well, though. Or maybe require you to use a mythic version of the spell to make a mythic simulacrum. I'll have to check my Legendary Games book and see what they did with it.
2) Archmage for alchemist is fine. They have options under Trickster as well, though, make sure you check them out. :)
Hmm, I have really wanted to try this one out. The mythic system seems interesting and the nerfs look reasonable to make it more fun. Here's hoping I get something playable ^^
Grand Finale, a 25 point build. I think I can manage something with that. Off I go into coming up with something. I think I've got an idea of a nagaji brawler (Wild Child), taken by slavers at an early age for gladiatorial combat. He would be in the long run going up the champion aspect. I shall do my best to make something worthy of choosing.
GM as far as the wild child aspect goes, would you prefer I start without an animal companion or with. Background wise, I'm thinking they had to take down the animal to take the boy and planned to use them both in the arenas idea but if you prefer I start without then I can work with it.
Ah! Kiora! This sounds great. I have to take a shot at this. If me being in your Andoran game lowers my odds of being selected, I don't mind. But I've been itching to work out a Chosen One Paladin for ages because I just cant resist that Jeanne d'Arc angle. She'd be following the Marshal Path for sure.
Yikes, there's already a few Paladins in the mix. Welp, competition breeds innovation. (I could also submit a second character, if that's fine, or a different character. To break up the homogeneity.)
Ah! Kiora! This sounds great. I have to take a shot at this. If me being in your Andoran game lowers my odds of being selected, I don't mind. But I've been itching to work out a Chosen One Paladin for ages because I just cant resist that Jeanne d'Arc angle. She'd be following the Marshal Path for sure.
Yikes, there's already a few Paladins in the mix. Welp, competition breeds innovation. (I could also submit a second character, if that's fine, or a different character. To break up the homogeneity.)
Hey there friend!
As long as you can keep up with posting ;) Otherwise I'd have to boot you from both games and that'd be a sad day. :(
Sounds great! There are a bunch of paladin Marshals up in here though, this is true. Something about WotR inspires the paladins to come out of the woodworks I guess ;)
Second characters are fine. You have to use the same stat array though.
As long as you can keep up with posting ;) Otherwise I'd have to boot you from both games and that'd be a sad day. :(
Sounds great! There are a bunch of paladin Marshals up in here though, this is true. Something about WotR inspires the paladins to come out of the woodworks I guess ;)
Second characters are fine. You have to use the same stat array though.
Dotting for interest. I've been looking to get into a WotR game for a while.
Before I roll, I do have a couple questions. I haven't been able to look at Unchained yet, so am unfamiliar with the Unchained crafting and wound threshold system. That won't be an issue, will it?
The second is do you want submissions in a full profile, or can we save that for if we get selected?
Dotting for interest. I've been looking to get into a WotR game for a while.
Before I roll, I do have a couple questions. I haven't been able to look at Unchained yet, so am unfamiliar with the Unchained crafting and wound threshold system. That won't be an issue, will it?
The second is do you want submissions in a full profile, or can we save that for if we get selected?
Unfamiliarity with unchained is not an issue unless you intend to be a summoner, barbarian, or rogue. Then you must use the Unchained rules. We can tackle crafting rules if/when we get there. (Basically unchained makes crafting into a team affair, making the whole process more cinematic.)
Wound thresholds make it so you get a negative penalty to d20 rolls and AC as you incur HP damage. This applies to both enemies and PCs. I expect to be the one reminding people of this as it happens. HeroLab basically automates this process for me. (I also like wound thresholds because it lets me alert players to roughly what % HP the enemy has left without being all meta-gamey about it.)
You don't have to make an alias just for the submission, if that's what you're asking.
GM as far as the wild child aspect goes, would you prefer I start without an animal companion or with. Background wise, I'm thinking they had to take down the animal to take the boy and planned to use them both in the arenas idea but if you prefer I start without then I can work with it.
Starting with your companion is fine. Make sure the companion makes sense (geographically) depending on where you met it.
Basically don't tell me you're from Tian Xia and you got a rhinocerous.
