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Please create intriguing backstories for your characters.
Sekteth was born in a farming village south of Xavel, on the foothills of the southern Elder Mountains. The village of Kaisheq was an austere place of stone and adobe, built into rugged terrain, and the original human residents were a mixture of nomadic plainsmen and goatherders, who used the sheltered cliff-dwellings as shelter from seasonal weather or hostile neighbors. Centuries later, a group of Verrik philosophers and ascetics founded a monastery atop a high plateau, and a small permanent village formed at the base of the plateau, to service the few needs of the monastery (mostly settled by the humans who had helped build the monastery). Over the course of many generations, a growing Verrik population accrued within the village as well, and the locals became renowned for the fine wines and mead they produced from the vineyards that soon swept over the surrounding hills, being one of the few crops that thrived in the locale climate (along with figs, dates, etc.). The residents of the scholarly retreat alternately shut themselves away from the more worldly concerns of those below, or openly embraced their fellows, depending on the moods of the times (and the whims of the prelates and scholars within), but the governance of Kaisheq never had any real connection to the leaders of the scholars in the mountain retreat, until a generation before Sekteth’s birth.
Mallar Sek, a magister of uncommon insight, and dubious ethical standing, developed a technique unique to himself that allowed him to maintain a low-level form of psychic contact with a person for days, instead of just moments, and proceeded to use this new technique to stifle any qualms about the risks of such a connection. Using uncanny insights into the moods and psyches of those around him, as well as the ability to subtly influence the feelings of others through this connection, he grew to a position of authority within the community atop the retreat, and those who dissented found themselves not merely shouted down, but forced into quiescence, their own doubts quashed by the will of their peers, with the original researcher, Mallar Sek, the master of them all.
Not content to be the dominant personality in this group-mind, he began to spread his influence into the village below, and the human population, who had spent generations working alongside their Verrik neighbors, found themselves treated as second-class citizens, as Verrik they had known all their lives became strange and distant, speaking and acting as one, subsumed into a singular malignant personality that existed within a hundred bodies, and hungered for more...
While humans could have been as easily incorporated into the effects of the spells, Mallar Sek considered them unworthy to bring into the glorious being he was becoming, and instead focused on advancing the successes of the Verrik populace over their neighbors. Mallar Sek, convinced now that he was on his way to becoming a god-emperor of sorts, took many ‘wives’ from the local Verrik populace, with no regard whatsoever for whether or not they were already married or had previously been in love with others, suborning their will to his own, and siring a fairly impressive amount of children by these emotionally enthralled ‘wives.’ In later years, he would discover that his children were even *more* susceptible to his manipulations, and that by influencing them even as children, he would not merely be steering their personalities in directions of his choice, but preventing them from ever truly forming in any natural or healthy manner. His children would grow up with no lives or feelings that he had not grown within them, unable to break free of his control. As his favored vessels, these children could quickly be seen to take control, and serve as his lieutenants, conveying the instructions of Mallar Sek in monotonous tones, appearing more like puppets than children, and sitting around like discarded dolls when their father’s attention was elsewhere, in some extreme cases all-but unable to act of their own volition.
Sekteth was born to a mother whose name he does not know, as the wives of Mallar Sek were given no names of their own, but recognized by a joint title. He was only eight years old when Mallar Sek died, presumably of natural causes, as none who could actively plot against him ever came within a mile of his physical body, and an entire generation who had no awareness that they even *could* plot against him surrounded him at all times. The community fell apart, with many Verrik having grown unable to act of their own volition (and some never having developed the talent, having been manipulated since birth), and others becoming dangerously independent and contrary, over-sensitive to any perception that another’s words or actions could be influencing them or manipulating them in some way. Fields lay untended, and goats wandered the vineyards, eating as they wished, while blood-relatives rediscovered each other, and others hid in caves, and still others simply lay down and died of neglect, either unable or unwilling to perform such simple acts as eating and drinking.
In the worst instances, the children of Mallar Sek were remembered as vessels of his cruelty, and were persecuted or even found slain. Others fled, to avoid such a fate, as even in the best cases, the children, naturally sensitive to the feelings and moods of others, like all Verrik, felt the distrust and hostility of their fellows. Sekteth himself was gripped by contrary moods, driven by a need to prove his independence from the control of others, or the legacy of his tyrant-father, but upon attempting to reconcile with his mother, herself recovering from decades of psychological and emotional manipulation, and unable to force herself to consider this child that was forced upon her as ‘family,’ he turned instead and left Kaisheq forever, along with a half-dozen other surviving half-brothers and half-sisters. Most chose names far from their fathers, wishing to escape his legacy, but Sekteth choose to retain a fragment of that, unwilling to feel shame for crimes that were not his own. No matter what a monster his father had become, the man was a brilliant scholar of magic, far advanced in the matters of the mind, and while Sekteth has chosen to not engage in the training of the Mind Witches, he refuses to lie about his parentage or deny where he comes from, as he feels that it would be more dangerous to bury and forget the misdeeds of his father than to accept and understand them.
We'll be starting play on Monday. The other player may join us later in the campaign.
Nope, but I see Ran-Hajad as very much a 'follower' rather than a 'leader' (unlike some of my other pbp PCs) so I'm in reactive mode at the moment til I get a better idea of what's going on.
Also, even though I have posted in the game thread, I'm not seeing that little black dot beside it in the forum for some reason so when I looked quickly this morning I assumed no posts. Any ideas why?
I've noticed you can only see the black dot, and new posts added when you're signed in. :( Black dot indicates its a forum you've posted in. New posts (in parenthesis) are usually listed to the right of the forum.
Reptilian, if you're still lurking. I'll be glad to let you in if I haven't got a response from the Hawk Totem by the end of tomorrow.
Also, even though I have posted in the game thread, I'm not seeing that little black dot beside it in the forum for some reason so when I looked quickly this morning I assumed no posts. Any ideas why?
I like to 'force' a dot in PBP threads by posting as my normal username (Set) and then deleting the post immediately. New Alt IDs don't always seem to get a dot right off, but my regular Username always does, and the dot remains even after I delete the post under that Username.
I could just wait for it, but I have the patience of a tsetse fly.
Dracha is fine for me, they are new to the scene though. So the character will be treated like an outsider for the most part by NPCs.
If you're willing to accept that challenge, though, it will definitely be an interesting game.
(There aren't any other dracha in Lothis, though. The closest one is in Gahanis. The Dragons have representatives wherever the giants do.)
Sorry about the delay, everyone. I know that generally speaking people can't post on the weekends, and that sometimes that's the only time I can post. Emotional difficulties have prevented me from being involved in this game as much as I otherwise would have been. The other game I'm DMing is a little bit more active right now, and the only game I'm playing in is also heating up a bit. I'll try to get back into things after work over the next few days.
No worries. Hope you're doing OK, but if you need some time then your health and wellbeing are first, always.
I'm really enjoying the game so far. I'd make more effort to drive the story on but Ran-Hajad is definitely a follower rather than leader so I don't think it's appropriate to be doing that so much.
Rules change.... I don't think it affects anyone, but I thought I would give a heads up.
Innuendo is being kept as a skill, and any other skills that are Arcana Evolved specific that have not been replaced by equivalent Pathfinder skills.
Combat: Two weapon fighting is changed to the Pathfinder rules for the most part, with the following modifications:
Normal Penalties: -6/-10
Normal with Ambidexterity talent: -4/-8
Off Hand Weapon is Light: -4/-8
Off Hand Weapon is Light with Ambidexterity talent: -2/-6
Two Weapon Fighting Feat: -4/-4
Two Weapon Fighting Feat with Ambidexterity talent: -2/-2
Two Weapon Fighting Feat and off hand weapon is light: -2/-2
Two Weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity, and off hand weapon is light: -0/-0
Two Weapon Fighting, revised (again)
Normal -6/-10
Off Hand Weapon is Light -4/-8
Two Weapon Fighting Feat -4/-4
Off Hand Weapon is Light and Two Weapon Fighting Feat -2/-2
Massive Two Weapon Fighting Feat +0/-4
Ambidexterity Talent decreases the penalty of the highest penalized attack by 4. If the penalties of both attacks are equal, it decreases the penalty to each by 2.
For example: Normal with Ambidexterity: -6/-6
Two Weapon Fighting with Ambidexterity: -2/-2
Off Hand Weapon is Light, Two Weapon Fighting, Ambidexterity: +0/+0
Massive Two Weapon Fighting with Ambidexterity: +0/+0