Izra Kayal |
Izra (18 Cha and +8 Diplomacy) has the party face role covered for now. That, some CLW spells, and a couple of Know skills are about all she's bringing to the table until level 2.
That, and griping that she's broke because the Great Djinn Adventure was a bust. :-)
wicked_raygun |
Hey, guys, I know I promised to make the first post today. But today was the most Monday of Mondays for me. And I'm a bit brain-fried. I will be prepping the first post a bit so I won't be doing all the work tomorrow alone.
Man, I'm flashing back to elementary school hard right now. "No, I swear, Mrs. Magorka, I just left my report on the Civil War at home!"
Izra Kayal |
Not a huge fan of the word "Club," necessarily. The implication is that of a loose affiliation of amateurs.
If you're looking for single-syllable alternatives, I would suggest the following:
Band
Guild
Gang
Crew
Corps
Troop
If syllables aren't a concern:
Company
Legion
Order
Outfit
Union
Party
Federation
Alliance
I'll live with "Club" if everyone else likes it.
The Shadowfire Band or The Shadowfire Corps both seem decent to me.
karlprosek |
Club seems weird to me, like the PCs are all gentlemen adventurers loosely affiliated with the Esoteric Order of the Palatine Eye. Corps, too; seems weird to call 7 people a corps.
I'd go with Band if we were a little more alliterative- Blackfire Band sounds better than Shadowfire Band. Unless we'd be the Band of the Shadow's Fire (or Shadow Fire, without the possessive), which I quite like.
Of the popular choices I'd vote Guild, though I'm not a huge fan.
Ahmed Kharim |
[EDIT] Ninja'd. I definitely like Blackfire Band or Band of the Shadow's Fire, though that's a bit longer. Corps and Guild definitely feel more like organisations than we are.[/EDIT]
I really wanted to expand on this a lot but I ran out of time. Still, it should give an idea of Ahmed and Suri and their interactions, at least.
He opened his eyes slowly, taking in the darkened tomb that he lay crumpled in. A torch burned a few feet away, and gave him some comfort. Instead he looked down at himself, finding the form of a human where he didn’t expect one. Concentrating, he tried to change it, but gave up after a few seconds, thinking that he must be too tired.
Looking back to the torch he saw now that it was being held by a kitsune, with a catfolk standing some feet away. And between them was something else. A humanoid shaped creature, made of a smokeless fire. whose lower torso trailed off into wisps of flame. “You.” he said quietly, not sure that he believed what he was seeing.
Suri’s voice was like the howl of wind through the desert, and the high sound of air through a flute. “Hello, old friend,” she replied with a smile. Ahmed remembered her, the decades they’d spent growing and learning and exploring together. As he searched his mind for an explanation of when he had last seen her, how they had ended things, a barrage of memories came flooding back at once. Suddenly he remembered the warlock Inaya, and the iron cuffs on his wrists, and he squeezed his eyes shut at the thought of the terrible, horrible things she had forced him to do. The images played behind his eyelids, so he snapped them open, his burning gaze searching for her, terrified of her presence. He saw only the felines and the d’jinn, but it gave him little comfort. “Who are they?” he demanded.
The d’jinn noticed with sadness the way he was rubbing the cuffs on his wrists. “They helped me to find you,” Suri replied. “You were not easy to track down.”
“You told them?” He said with a fury, looking between the creatures. “They know what you are, what I am? Why would you do that?” He stood up, wavering slightly. “Don’t you know what they can do?”
“It was the only way,” she said softly. “Ahmed, believe me, they are good people.” Her eyes were again drawn to the cuffs around his wrists.
He noticed her gaze and followed it, swallowing his anger. “How long?” he asked, afraid of the answer.
“It wasn’t easy to find you, combing the desert alone too-” She trailed off as he walked closer, stumbling slightly on his legs.
“Suri.” He asked, insistent.
“Two thousand, four hundred, and fifty-one years. Give or take.” She looked ready to cry, and Ahmed couldn’t help but avert his gaze. He turned from her and saw the spot where he had lay, and the iron vase that he had been trapped within. A human skeleton lay next to it, and Ahmed shuddered. Suri put a hand on his shoulder. “Did it hurt?” she asked softly.
Knowing that she couldn’t see his eyes and wouldn’t be able to tell, he did them both a favour and lied. “No.” Turning back to her, he forced a weak smile. "I am glad that it was you who found me.”
She wrapped him in an embrace that threatened to envelop him completely, and her warmth began to revitalise him. He struggled against his bonds, trying to become flame again as she was, but he could only manage to ignite his arms, and not for more than a few seconds. He wept openly, his tears drying as they left his eyes.
When she released him, his skin seemed darker, though not burned as one would have expected, and he looked stronger and healthier than he had been. The fire in his eyes burned brighter, as well, and it was with a renewed vigour that he looked to the kitsune and catfolk. “Hello.” he said simply.
Izra Kayal |
I like Band of the Shadow Fire, but that might be longer than our DM was hoping. WAIT!
PERFECT!
The group is "The Band of the Shadow Fire," but EVERYONE keeps shortening it to "Shadowfire Band," much to some of the group's chagrin.
I can totally see Izra rolling her eyes, and Kwin going "No! Our name is so much cooler than that! Come on guys!" Or something similar. :-)
As for Ahmed's scene, I like it. I don't even mind that he didn't see Izra, because if the room is in shadows, she's hard to see. :-)
Not sure where the elf and dwarf were, though.
But a good scene, nonetheless. :-)
Ahmed Kharim |
As for Ahmed's scene, I like it. I don't even mind that he didn't see Izra, because if the room is in shadows, she's hard to see. :-)
Not sure where the elf and dwarf were, though.
In my defense I'd written 95% of it before we decided that everyone went on the last expedition. :P
wicked_raygun |
Band 5
Company 2
Corps 2
Guild 3
Club 1
Okay, so the winner by a wide margin is Band. Guild pulled ahead early, but it just goes to show you the danger of being the frontrunner. Democracy in action, folks. Alright, so let's see if we can settle on a single permutation here.
A. Blackfire Band
B. Shadowfire Band
C. Band of the Blackfire
D. Band of the Shadowfire
...on the rainslick precipice of darkness. ;-)
Sorry, I like to tease.
Izra Kayal |
I'm personally fine with either of Band of the Black Fire or Band of the Shadow Fire, and would find it amusing if all of the NPCs shortened them to Blackfire Band or Shadowfire Band, respectively.
I'd also live if no one else finds that aspect as amusing as I do, and the group prefers to just go with the shorter name.
So I guess you'd count that as a half-vote for each of the longer versions.
Kwin Longclaw |
Corps, too; seems weird to call 7 people a corps.
Well, we're the core of the corps. :oD
Too much of a modern-day vibe, but if this was a present-day scenario I'd suggest "Team Shadowfire." :o)
As far as the bands, to me "Shadowfire" has a better ring to it than "Blackfire." And the "of" versions have an odd/awkward rhythm to my ear (eye?)
But years of playing in bars and VFW halls makes just "_______ Band" sound like a rock group to me. How about prefixing it with the definitive article, thusly: "The Shadowfire Band."
I like to tease.
Yes, we know. It's one of the reasons we love you.
Edit: Exquisite writing, Ahmed (as always).
Kwin Longclaw |
Oh, a brief comment on the vignette, Ahmed. I can easily imagine D'jinn being able to see a creature's true nature. But as a point of clarification, excepting special circumstances Kwin tends to stay in his human alterform. Just FYI.
Izra Kayal |
I like the alliteration of Blackfire Band, but I think Shadowfire Band is more accurate.
I'd say go with The Black Fire Band (or drop "band" and just be the Black Fire). Black Fire works better for me as two words. If we go that route, I'll be happy enough.
karlprosek |
I like the Black Fire or the Shadow Fire without 'band', but I think we started with Shadow Fire and it was suggested we append a group descriptor to the end.
So if we're keeping 'band' I'd vote Blackfire/Black Fire Band. Djehuti will reverse the syntax and make it Band of the Black Fire, anyway, because that's just the way he talks.
Kwin Longclaw |
Have a great time, Kosh!
Also a heads-up from me: For about six weeks starting Monday, I won't be able to post during work hours (though I should be able to read and keep up). I'll still be here and active; it's just that my updates will mostly be limited to mornings, evenings, and weekends.
Djehuti |
I'll go ahead and roll Knowledge checks for anything Djehuti might know about the Tomb of Akhentepi for when Izra gets back to the party.
Knowledge: Arcana: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (19) + 8 = 27
Knowledge: Dungeoneering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (11) + 8 = 19
Knowledge: Engineering: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (14) + 8 = 22
Knowledge: History: 1d20 + 9 ⇒ (1) + 9 = 10
...Figures he'd botch the one where he has the highest mod.
Djehuti |
I'll go ahead and roll Knowledge checks for anything Djehuti might know about the Tomb of Akhentepi for when Izra gets back to the party.
[dice=Knowledge: Arcana]1d20 + 8
[dice=Knowledge: Dungeoneering]1d20 + 8
[dice=Knowledge: Engineering]1d20 + 8
[dice=Knowledge: History]1d20 + 9...Figures he'd botch the one where he has the highest mod.
Any hits on the Tomb of Akhentepi for Arcana, Dungeoneering, or Engineering, DM?
Another question- are there libraries or places Djehuti could go to research the tomb during this downtime? For free (or assuming some sort of friendly scholar to scholar relationship), since he's got no money to pay a sage.
wicked_raygun |
Sorry, guys. We're a bit short-staffed at work right now due to a confluence of people training and going on vacation. Yay, timing. So I haven't given you guys all of my attention, since I've been coming home late a lot.
As for information on Ahkentepi, there's not much you guys will be able to uncover yet because there just isn't much to go on. It's like if a thousand years from now someone wanted to know about your next door neighbor Bob. Decent guy, sure. And his grass is well-taken care of, but other than that what do you got?
You'll get more actual info when you start your exploration on site. The non-History checks just won't tell you much without physically seeing the place.
I just wanted to point out that I'm not holding out on you, there just isn't much to tell you. I'll start working on a post for you now.
wicked_raygun |
Oh, this reminds me. You guys should start to work out who will keep track of treasure. And someone should maybe get to work on a campaign log. Here's an example of one I'm doing for an ROTRL game.
karlprosek |
I made a spreadsheet to track treasure here. It's currently accessible by anyone with the link; if everybody has a Google account they're willing to use we can lock it down just to players.
Ahmed Kharim |
I would be fine with doing the Campaign Log (though I've never done one before) unless someone else wants to do it?
And I have a Google account so I'm fine with locking these things down more if that works for everyone else.
Kwin Longclaw |
Actually it wasn't entirely that (I could have responded to Izra's question, for example). Apologies for being quiet lately, I relocated my computer over the weekend and ran into some issues. Took way longer than I expected to get things connected and working again.
Kwin Longclaw |
Koshu leaned far over to whisper in the kitsune's long ear.
Just to keep the mental image on track: Kwin had some "less than pleasant" experiences early in his walkabout and, as a result, stays in human alterform most of the time. Or more accurately 99% human, as he continues to struggle with the ears (which obstinately stick around in addition to the human set). The left image is a good representation of how he typically appears -- save for a hat, cap, cowl, etc. to keep the vulpine ears hidden from view.
Koshukhep, it's perfectly fine for you to whisper into his "long ear," so long as you don't mind giving the impression of conversing with his chapeau sotto voce. :o)
Though given that you're 6'8" and Kwin's five-foot-nothing, that's probably just about right. ;o)
Koshukhep |
LOL, yeah, that's about it. I did remember about only the ears being unchanged and hidden, but could have been clearer. So long as Koshukhep doesn't translate as Speaks With Hats, I'm okay. ;P
Kwin Longclaw |
Meh, I wouldn't worry about it. Speaks with Hats, Dances with Wolves, whatever.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.