The following is a journal for the misadventures of two players and a GM through Serpent's Skull. The character names have not been changed because the character writing the journal doesn't believe anyone could possibly be innocent. Each player is running two characters while the GM is running a single helper GMPC/NPC.
Player 1
[u]Jazier Alhazred[/u]
Character Focus: Draconic(blue)/Orc crossblooded Sorcerer going Dragon Disciple; will discover his Kobold "Heritage" later, gaining green scales and a Noxious Bite; Switch Hitting Blaster/Melee with a focus on lightning spells; Casts via Words of Power.
Campaign Trait: Boarded in Shackles
Is on the ship following the trail of his brother.
Backstory: His father, Abdul, was a mad alchemist. His sons were infused with all kinds of monstrous concoctions when they were young, especially focusing on trying to give them the power of dragons.. Jazier took to the infusions better and became his father's favorite. His brother, Hashkaan, tried to sell Jazier's soul to a demon in exchange for power in an attempt to win his father's approval. After it failed, he ran off and Jazier took off looking for him. Only Good member in a family of Evil.
[u]Paco Bel Grande[/u]
Character Focus: Gunslinger(Pistolero); plans to use Signature Deed and choose Up Close and Deadly; Will use Eldritch Heritage to get an Ankylosaurus companion.
Campaign Trait: Boarded in Shackles
Fleeing Authorities.
Basic Backstory: This small tiefling(Halfling) spent time as a bandito. Eventually the reward on his head was too great, so he changed careers to piracy. After that didn't work out so well, got on the Jenivere to look for somewhere else to practice his craft. Is extremely lazy, often sleeping 12 hours a day. Has a pet chihuahua named Shivers that he carries in a satchel.
GM
[u]Evinye[/u]
Character Focus: Magus(Elemental Knight), plans to focus on use of racial power;
Campaign Trait: Boarded in Mediogalti
One of many stops on her adventure. The poison immunity(Giant Wasp) is being played as just a random effect of her elemental nature.
Basic Backstory: Got bored with life back home, is out for adventure. Naive to a fault and friendly with everyone.
Player 2(Me)
[u]Siegfried Reinhard Lukkan the 3rd[/u]
Character Focus: Enlightened Philosopher Oracle(Battle Mystery, Lame Curse); Fights with a sword cane when he can get up close, bow otherwise; Spells focus on buffs/healing. Inspired by Gio of Ateliers Rorona and Meruru.
Campaign Trait: Get the Cargo Through
A merchant with some valuables on the ship, although that isn't his real reason for being on board.
Basic Backstory: Years ago, this older gentleman's younger sister married a man from an esteemed noble house, not knowing of the horrors that lie within the family. The woman killed herself after her second child was murdered by other members of the family. Recently received news that the third child escaped the destruction of the house caused by family infighting and had his many contacts search for her. Once he found that she had boarded the Jenivere, he got ahead of the ship and boarded with the cargo, hoping to keep an eye on his young niece in secret.
[u]Lillian Promeio[/u]
Character Focus: Summoner w/ a "Slugger" type weapon wielding Eidolon named Belkross who disguises himself as a mercenary. She focuses on opening combat with a buff spell(or a summon if things look really grim) and then falls back to using her dead mother's bow to assist in bringing down foes.
Campaign Trait: Boarded in Cheliax
Had to leave Cheliax after being blamed for the incident that destroyed her family. Has a view that "at least in the jungles, you know that everything's trying to kill you".
Basic Backstory: In addition to her story in her own words located below, other things to note is that she is the token Neutral Evil character in the party of mostly good people(Paco is CN, rest are Good in some form). However, she does her best to hide not only the nature of her magic by disguising herself as a young noblewoman off on adventure with a humanoid guard, but also her own personality. If anyone who spends time around her is asked as to who she is, they'd likely respond that she's the nicest young Aasimar they had ever met, but her guard is a bit of a grim and pragmatic sort who revels in inflicting pain on those who dare upset his mistress.
Note: Reboot of a character I played for a single session in a campaign that fell apart under the same GM running SSk. Hoping this works out better since the AP does a fair bit of the story work for him.
It doesn’t matter who you are. We all die alone. Even when there’s someone there with us. In some cases, it’s because that very person with you as you die is the one killing you. That’s a fact of life I learned when I was six years old. That’s when my sister died alone. In the end, though it was another person who ended her life, I was the one who killed her.
It has become a relatively well known secret that in Cheliax, many employ the powers of devils. A better kept secret is that there are those few who control other beings of power from beyond the veil between the planes. My family is one such group of people.
Long have we worked for the good of our nation. House Promeio has produced some of the greatest assassins and spies that no one has ever heard of. We are staunch guardians of our people. Those few who know of us call us the Black Hounds of the Empire. If one of our number is called into service, it is because of the security of Cheliax can risk no lesser measure.
We practice a type of magic foreign to even some of the greatest wizards of the world. Through rituals arcane and terrifying, we bind a being from another realm to our service, shaping their very essence to our whim. They serve us unfailingly and unquestioningly. A guardsman may be bribed, a horse may be killed, but an eidolon is unwaveringly under our command and if slain will return the next day to serve again. Some of our strongest members can even bring back a slain eidolon immediately.
It takes strength to serve our empire, and so it is that the greatest summoner in a generation becomes head of the Promeio family when his or her predecessor dies. So it is that one who lacks the same power but instead holds enough ambition may find themselves feeling unfairly denied what they perceive as their birthright.
I don’t know the name of the first Promeio to slay one of their kin to ascend the ranks, but it started something bigger than that one act. Within a generation, it became all out warfare amongst the children of Promeio. The family was nearly wiped out that generation, as brother slew sister and cousin slew cousin.
Only one heir remained, and he had survived only perhaps by luck. As the head of the household, he was called for a mission by the nation and used the skills he had learned to great effect, proving to him that there had perhaps indeed been merit within the games. At the same time, he realized just how close our family had come to extinction, so he knew that limits had to be set. He got together with his two remaining siblings and they hammered together a set of guidelines.
The rules he set were simple. The older generation could not become directly involved. People under the age of fifteen were not to be harmed. No witnesses could be left, though members of the same generation could not act as witnesses, nor could servants, so it was fine if they saw something. And finally, while venom coated weapons were fine, ingestible and contact poisons were not allowed, due to the risk of accidentally killing the wrong target.
He and each of his siblings proved to be quite fecund, each having at least ten children. It was they who codified the final practice. His children banded together, seeking to eliminate their rivals from the other families. By doing so, they ensured that they would survive until the end. Once they stood unopposed, they worked out their pecking order using less final means than murder, until one of them was crowned the heir.
As I have mentioned, there’s some kind of inherent fertility amongst the Promeio family that means that every married member ends up with at least half a dozen children, if not more, though the ten children each of the first generation is not uncommon. So it was strange that our family only had three. This wasn’t for lack of trying, as mother and father loved each other dearly, but it was a fact nonetheless.
I suspect that it was because of mother, if I’m being honest. She wasn’t human. Not exactly, anyway. She was an Aasimar, one whose bloodline was touched by a celestial being. I still have some memories of her, though she died when I was young. Her hair looked like it was ablaze, though it was never hot to the touch. And I’m not waxing metaphorically. It wasn’t just red, it literally looked to be on fire.
She was a gentle soul, though the fire on her head burned within her heart as well. She used to take her bow and hunt down bandits and others who would prey upon the weak. It was during one such excursion that she met my father. He had been sent to deal with a nobleman across the border in Nidal who had been preying on peasants on the Chelish side of the border. Diplomatic efforts had slowed to a grinding halt, so rather than mass troops on the border and risk an incident, my father was called in to deal with the threat discreetly.
My mother, who had been traveling in the area and heard of the problem from locals, had decided to take matters into her own hands as well. When they met and realized they had the same goal, they teamed up. They were married two months later. My eldest sister, Alena, was born roughly seven months after that. Mother was never a very good fit for the family, but she stuck around for father.
Anyway, back on topic. The fact that there were only three of us meant that we were at a disadvantage. We had larger families all around us. In all, we were three of eighty-seven. Add in the fact that we were so far apart in age – when Alena turned fifteen, Alessia was eleven and I was two, and it basically meant that each member of the family was alone, surrounded by others who wanted them dead.
It’s not surprising that Alena fled on the eve of her fifteenth birthday. I was too young to remember it, but as I understand it, she simply snuck out her window, joined a group of Desnan pilgrims and was gone. I’ve heard rumors that she’s now a cleric of the Goddess of Luck and Travel, but nothing concrete. It was probably all for the best. As I understand it, she was never able to conjure an eidolon anyway. She would have been easy prey for our cousins.
When Alessia turned fifteen, she abused the rules to stay alive. She made sure never to give the others an opportunity to strike at her. There was always a witness to prevent conflict. She was smart.
If it hadn’t been for me, she’d probably still be alive today. I was six years old and fearless when I caused my sister’s death.
Alone among my sisters, I had been born with mother’s gift, the mark of the Aasimar, and I thought the heavens protected me from everything. My eyes glow blue, though it’s hard to see it in daylight, and when I’m upset, my blond hair burns like my mother’s.
So, while we were at the fifteenth birthday celebration of one of our cousins, when my seven year old cousin suggested we sneak off to play in the family cemetery, I rushed off with him, pleased with my defiance of authority.
Fifteenth birthdays are a huge celebration in our family. On dawn the following day, you’re no longer considered a child. Instead, you are now a valid target for the ambitions of your cousins. It’s then that the time to sink or swim comes. So, it’s not surprising that there’s always a big bash for fifteenth birthdays. Everyone attends. The only bigger event is the yearly birthday party for the head of the household.
That meant that there were no witnesses outside the party.
Once I was gone, my cousin’s older brother told Alessia that I had been taken to the cemetery and that if she didn’t come alone, they would kill me and have the body taken so far away that the family would never find it. I wasn’t a valid target for the family war, but if they didn’t have my body, it’s not like they could revive me to testify anyway. I’d just be the stupid girl who wandered off and got eaten by wolves or something.
Alessia, panicked with worry, summoned her eidolon and rushed to my aid. She was no match for the five cousins who waited for her.
The cousin who had lured me away held me down and forced me to watch as his five older siblings had their eidolons tear Alessia limb from limb slowly. It took her almost ten minutes to die as they inflicted agonizing wound after agonizing wound. With her dying breath, she told me to grow up strong, so I would never suffer the same fate.
With my sister dead, the others knew that killing me would invite suspicion on them for something they could actually be punished for, so they left me there. I cried on the broken and torn corpse of my sister for over an hour before someone came for me.
I felt someone picking me up. Terrified, I looked and saw the face of Walter, my grandfather’s manservant. He told me that I was safe now and shot off a flare arrow into the sky, the signal that another had fallen to the deadly game.
My mother broke down when she saw the corpse of my sister. She didn’t eat nor sleep for three days as she stood vigil over the corpse in the Shrine of Pharasma. At dusk on the third day, she drank a dose of hemlock and died beside her daughter. So much for the protection of the heavens.
The death of his wife and daughter destroyed my father. He turned to drink and never escaped it. He barely talked to me after that. If it hadn’t been for the household servants, I would have died for lack of proper care and feeding.
Meanwhile, with no one to comfort me, I was left alone with my newfound fear. I would wake up in the middle of the night, crying and shaking with terror. I even began wetting the bed again. I hadn’t done that since I was three.
After a month too afraid to leave my room, I finally had an epiphany. This wasn’t what Alessia would have wanted. She told me to be strong, too strong for them to hurt me like they had hurt her. At the age of six, my innocence gone, I made a vow. I swore that I would live, no matter the cost, and that I would find a way to make them pay for what they had done to Alessia.
The only problem was that I had no idea how to do it.
I took almost a week to consider just how I would make my first move. Right now, I was a terrified and grieving child. What first step would give me the best chance at succeeding? I decided that my best bet was to make sure that as few people wanted me dead as possible, at least at the moment. I had to appear weak, or at least non-threatening. I didn’t want them planning their moves before my fifteenth birthday. I wanted to appear like someone they could deal with another time.
So it was that, as difficult as it was, I emerged from my room acting as though nothing had happened. I acted as sweet as candy and as friendly as possible to everyone around me. I acted like a vapid twit. I was nothing more than a sweet little princess, to be ignored.
I began looking around me for every advantage I could. I spotted my first one in the family servants. To most of the family, they were beneath notice. They came and went without anyone batting an eye. People talked and plotted like they weren’t there. I began doing my best to befriend them. As used to being ignored as they were, my attention won them over fairly quickly. It took less than two years before I had servants from most of the families wrapped around my little finger.
I hit my first growth spurt at the age of ten. I was never going to be tall. Like mother, I would probably never grow much beyond five foot nine, but the height increase meant I was now large enough to begin learning how to use mother’s bow. It normally hung over the fireplace, so I took it down, erected a small firing range in our mansion’s dining hall, and began practicing.
It became quickly apparent that I had no idea what I was doing, so I sent one of our servants to the nearby town to quietly enlist the services of an instructor. He taught me much, and I quickly became fairly proficient in the weapon, though I was still too weak to draw it properly.
Once I was certain I had nothing more to learn from him, we had a “training accident” and he caught an arrow in the throat. I put on my best act and told the family servants that I was terrified that I would get in trouble for the accident, so they quietly buried him in a shallow grave in the woods behind the house and no one but me and a few select servants ever knew he had been there. Now I no longer had to worry that he would blab about my new skill to anyone.
The servants thought I was too traumatized by the incident to pick up the bow again. I started practicing at night, in secret.
Lessons in the art of summoning were held jointly, among all the cousins. I did my best while there to learn as much as possible while appearing to be learning nothing. I also did my best to be friendly and appear moronic to the others. I wanted them to think I was trying to find someone to protect me.
I actually progressed faster in knowledge than anyone else. I managed to contact a being from another world at the age of twelve, two years younger than most of the others. He agreed that he would become my eidolon. All I needed to do was give him form.
I hesitated. I needed to not only hide what I could do, but I wanted to make sure I chose the best form to match the situation I found myself in. It took me over two years to finally decide. Meanwhile, I continued learning everything I could. I had the servants teach me household chores, acrobatics, anything they knew that I did not. One servant’s elderly father had been a lieutenant in the army, so I would sit and listen for hours as he talked, learning what I could about military history and tactics. I had no idea what would be the key to my salvation, so I learned everything I could.
A month before my fifteenth birthday, I began doubting myself. Even with everything I had learned, I was still outnumbered. Even the smallest other family had five living children to stand against me. To make matters worse, I still hadn’t decided on what form to give my eidolon.
I needed to be away from home, to go somewhere where I could think clearly. I took a purse of platinum coins from my father’s vault and headed into town, taking two of our house guards with me. I decided that by the end of the month I would either figure out a form for my eidolon that would give me a chance to survive, or I would chart passage on a boat and flee like Alena had.
Alone in my room at the inn, I began to commune with my the faceless presence that had agreed to become my eidolon. We spoke at length about all the possibilities I could shape it into. Would I decide to make it a flying terror, a calamity from the sky? Perhaps a pouncing fiend, like a cat from one of the great jungles? A stealthy serpent, capable of striking from a hidden place to constrict and devour its foes? A great gorilla, capable of pummeling its targets to death with massive paws?
“No,” I told the being. “None of those can possibly overcome the strengths of the others. One on one, perhaps, but I doubt I’ll ever face better than three to one odds.”
“Then perhaps you’re looking at it all wrong,” its voice said within my mind.
“What do you mean?”
“You have looked to make a protector based on how great its strengths make it. Perhaps what you need is to use the form of something that is great because of its weaknesses.”
“What do you mean by that?” I asked, but the presence was gone.
I may never have gotten the answer had it not been for an accident. I was sitting near the docks, watching the sun set, when I witnessed a line break, sending a cage flying. A large cat, no doubt bound for some private collection, broke free and began attacking the people around it. Several people fell, hopeless in the face of the deadly predator, until a lone guardsman in chainmail brought the thing down with a spear.
I sat in awe. That was the answer I needed. Compared to the other creatures of the world, man is pathetically weak. He has no claws. His body is soft and fragile, with no scales or tough hide to protect him. His ability to swim is average at best, as is his ability to climb. He runs more slowly than many creatures and doesn’t burrow well either.
Yet, in spite of, or perhaps because of, his weaknesses, man stands dominant over this world. His lack of claws forced man to learn to forge weapons of stone and sticks and metal to be his claws. His lack of scales taught man to gird himself in scales and plates of steel. His lack of swimming ability forced him to build ships to travel the waters, while his weakness at climbing forced man to build ropes and pitons and other tools to aid him there. He had built spades to burrow and had taught horses to carry him to make up for his lack of speed.
Man was great not in spite of his weakness, but because of it. That was the answer the being had hinted at. No form would serve my purposes like the form of a man. I sent home the guards who had traveled with me, then went to a nearby tailor and purchased clothing for tall, strong man as well as a scarf, a large coat and a wide brimmed hat. I then returned to my room and called to the presence.
“Have you decided?” it asked.
“Yes,” I said. “I will give you the form of a man. We will hide what you are with these clothes and strike at our foes while they believe that many of the spells used to disrupt eidolons to be useless upon you.”
“Excellent,” it said. “Tell me, mistress, as you give me shape and I search across the ether for skills to suit your purposes, what shall I keep a look out for?”
“Seek out the skills of a soldier. Learn the skills to run and jump and climb, but also the histories of other soldiers and what skills best served them.”
“And as a soldier, what weapon shall I wield?”
“Learn to wield the blade known as the falcata. It alone is known to hack like an axe while also slashing like a sword. It may not offer the reach of other weapons, but our fighting will become up close and brutal when we don’t use other weapons to strike from afar.”
“I understand. I shall seek out what you require as you prepare a body for me.”
I drew the runes upon the ground and began the work to forge a body for my minion, pushing the energies together to make a singular form as close as possible to that which I sought. Once that was done, I pushed the swirling energies of the being into this new form I could feel the rune on my forehead appear and begin to glow as I saw the one on my eidolon’s forehead appear as well.
“Mistress,” he said, kneeling before me. “I shall be your knight. I will serve to protect you in all things until you decide you no longer need me.”
“No, not a knight,” I said. “Knights have rules and codes. You shall be a mercenary, dark, mysterious and unfettered from the rules of society.”
“I understand,” he said, his deep voice filling the room. “Tell me, mistress, what shall I be called?”
“All shall know you as Belkross,” I said, the name coming to my mind unbidden. And so it was that I was now complete.
At Belkross’ suggestion, I visited an armorer and had him make for me a shirt of chain and a special helmet to hide the rune on my forehead while offering protection as well. I opted to have the armorer work with a jeweler to make it also look fashionable, allowing my hair to come out the back and sparkling with several gems. When intensity of purpose caused my hair to begin showing the flames I inherited from my mother, the play of light on the glinting metal could be mesmerising.
I also purchased a pair of falcatas for Belkross, one in steel and another in cold iron, in case he should need it. I had an ornate quiver and a number of arrows fashioned of different materials, in case I needed them as well. Finally, I visited a dressmaker and had her make for me a beautiful dress. It was almost my fifteenth birthday. I didn’t want to show up in some dress people had seen before.
The night of the party, Belkross and I quietly returned to my father’s home. With Belkross’ help, I put on my fancy dress, did my makeup and donned my mail shirt and fancy helmet. Normally, this wouldn’t have looked very good, with the armor on top, but another gift from my mother is that any metal I wear always looks like polished silver or gold. I focused my mind, willing it to look silver, like shining mithral, contrasting my blood red dress and blond hair. A few pieces of jewelry completed the look.
While the party was in full swing, Belkross helped me up onto a second floor balcony, one with no outside stairs, so that no one would expect me to come from that direction. There, I waited, listening in on the party within. I could hear people inside laughing at me while they drank their wine. They were certain I had fled, just like Alena.
It was all I could do to bide my time. I wanted to wait for the right moment. Just before midnight, one of my cousins, the one who had held me down as Alessia was killed, began to denounce me to my grandfather. “Do you see? She has fled, like the coward she is. She dishonors the family name and should be struck from the family records.”
As he spoke, his back was to the entrance to the second floor balcony on the level above him, so he didn’t see me enter, smiling serenely. The room fell silent as he continued to make an ass of himself. Some of the things he said are certainly best not repeated, and I took them as just more that I owed him for.
Based on the pacing of his obviously rehearsed speech, he was about halfway through when he turned and spotted me. He nearly leapt from his skin. I gave him my sweetest, most winsome smile. “HHHIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!” I said in the most sincere and vapid sounding tone I could manage. “Sorry I’m late, everyone. I just couldn’t get my hair to do what I wanted. But you all forgive me, right?”
A laugh went through the crowd at the expense of my idiot cousin. He tried to save face. “So afraid that you wore armor to your own birthday party?”
“Oh, this stuff? I didn’t want to wear it, but he insisted.”
With that cue, Belkross entered the room behind me. He drew his falcata and pointed it before him, making a sweeping motion across the room. “I’m only going to say this once.” His voice boomed through the stunned silence, easily understood in spite of the scarf across his mouth. “Mistress Lillian has paid me a great deal to ensure her safety, and I will do so. Any who so much as attempt to harm her will know swift and merciless death followed by the sale of your broken corpse to ogres for stew. Do you understand me?”
No one dared speak, the look in Belkross’ eyes cowing them. I laughed sweetly. “Oh, don’t be such a grump, Belkie! This is a party. Besides, I’m sure no one wants to hurt me. Everyone here just adores me, right?” I flashed an innocent smile at the room.
After a few moments of stunned silence, my cousin once again spoke. “This is an outrage! How dare she bring an outsider into our business! Grandfather, I demand that she be cast out this instant for her treachery!”
My uncle struck his son. “You demand?! You watch your tone when speaking to your grandfather, boy. Or must I beat proper manners into you once more?” My cousin looked to be about to say something, but the look on Uncle’s face made him think better of it. My uncle turned to Grandfather. “Despite his rude manner, he does have a point, Father. What say you?”
My grandfather looked at me and Belkross for a moment. I gave him a beatific smile and Belkross nodded his head respectfully. After a moment, Grandfather began to laugh. It came from the belly and filled the room with sound. “My! What an interesting turn of events. Are you sure, my girl?” I nodded to him. “Well, then, if this is who she has chosen as her protector, then I will hear no one speak ill of her decision. Minstrels, resume playing. Let us enjoy our feast now that the guest of honor has arrived.”
As we mingled among the guests, many came to pay their respects, as is customary. I continued playing the idiot to all, smiling and appearing as though I was trying to win them over. As we left, my cousin sought me out. “I hope you enjoyed your birthday,” he said. “You won’t be getting another.”
For the first time that night, alone with only my cousin and Belkross, I dropped the act. “At the end, you will beg me for death. If I am feeling merciful, you will receive it. Come Belkross, let us leave.” I spun on my heel and left my stammering idiot of a cousin behind.
While we fight to the death, most of my cousins are cowards. They only strike when they have a decisive numerical advantage. I carefully made sure that none could catch me alone without witnesses. Meanwhile, I used the time I had spent cultivating friendships with the various household servants to my advantage. Wanting to protect me, they told me everything that was occurring, any plots they overheard. I used what I knew to engineer advantages or erase others.
I did much of this by manipulating my foolish cousins into situations they could not handle. Where two thought they would be ambushed by four, they brought six. When the ambush was six, they found themselves suddenly evenly matched and fighting desperately for their lives. A few well-placed arrows ensured that none survived to tell the tale of my involvement.
The usual cowardice meant that no more than six or eight fell a year. In my first year of involvement, nearly twenty of my cousins perished. I count about a third of those as dead by my direct hand or that of Belkross. The rest died by my words, rather than my deeds.
I didn’t always avoid attacks on me. Once, I allowed three of my cousins to ambush me. Knowing what they had planned, it was a calculated risk, but I felt that the threat was reasonably small. Belkross was ready for them and slew one, and we “just barely escaped with our lives”. I made sure that the servants spread the rumor that I was terrified by the ordeal, hoping someone would take the bait.
My idiot cousin, the one who had spoken out at my birthday, sent a messenger to me, saying that he wanted to meet with me to discuss a possible way that I could be safe. I met with him in a place with witnesses but where we could talk privately.
I could see that he was getting desperate and suspected that I had been involved in the deaths of some of the others. “I have found a loophole. There is a way you could join my family and thus be protected by us and work with us. Think of it, we could all be safe.”
I pretended to be excited by the suggestion. “What is it?”
“Marry me. That way, you’ll be a part of my household and my brothers and sisters would have to protect you too.”
“But, we’re cousins!” I said with a gasp, feigning shock.
“It’s not that unusual. After all, royal families do it all the time.
“No one would permit it. Your father would step in.”
“Then I’ll hire a cleric to wed us in secret. Once it’s done, it’ll be too late to stop it.”
I pretended to consider it. “And you’re sure it’ll keep me safe?” I asked, trying to sound as vulnerable as I could.
“I’ll protect you, and so will my family, once they have to.”
“Okay then,” I agreed.
“Alright, meet in three days at Illisar’s Meadow at midnight. You won’t regret this.”
I’m no idiot. His plan was immediately clear. It was also disgusting. He meant to have me, but not keep me. I would be ambushed, brutalized and broken if I fell for his ruse. He also intended to involve his brothers and sisters. Even if I saw it coming, the odds were against me.
That’s why it was so very important to prepare for them. They seemed to expect me to just wait around for the day to come, as if those were the rules or something. Those idiots had no idea what they had signed themselves up for.
When the night came, Belkross and I snuck out under cover of darkness. Near the meadow, Belkross split off and shadowed me from the trees, making his way quietly to the little surprise we had prepared. I stepped out onto the moonlit meadow and greeted my waiting cousin. “Where is the cleric?” I asked.
“I’m afraid he isn’t coming. But they are,” he said, indicating four figures stepping out from the shadows. I could hear their eidolons rustling the bushes behind them. “I’m going to have a lot of fun with you before I kill you. You should have brought your mercenary.”
I smiled. “Who says I didn’t?” Mentally, I commanded Belkross to attack. A sound could be heard across the meadow as Belkross fired the catapult. They never saw the barrel of alchemist’s fire sailing through the air before it slammed into the ground next to the massed quartet by the trees.
Still, one of them managed to dodge. As the others flailed about and burned to death, he rolled away. He stood and commanded his eidolon to attack. I had my bow in hand in an instant and launched an arrow into his throat. He died instantly and the eidolon vanished mid-air as it had been leaping to pounce on me. I then turned my attention to my lone remaining cousin, the fool who had tried to lure me here. “I’m afraid it’s over. I win.”
“No! I still have my eidolon. Kill her!”
The beast, like a great dog, snarled and leapt from the bushes. Belkross acted once more, letting fly with a well-aimed javelin from a hidden ballista. It pinned the beast to a tree, killing it instantly. Belkross sauntered across the meadow and I drew the curved sickle from my belt.
As I had promised, he begged for death at the end. He didn’t get it for four hours. I told him that I was tempted to leave him alive. “No, I will be merciful. I will not force you to spend your remaining nights waking up terrified as you relive the deaths of your loved ones. I will not let you suffer as your mother dies of grief and your father turns away from you. No, you’re simply going to become nothing more than a memory. An afterthought. Goodbye, cousin.” I must admit, I rather enjoyed slicing his throat.
Just before dawn, I shot five flare arrows into the air and my household servants came to wheel off the siege engines.
My efforts proved a bit destabilizing. While everyone thought they were relatively safe, no one took risks. But after rumors that Belkross and I had killed five in one night began spreading, panic ensued. One cousin stepped over the line and tried to summon a forbidden fiend to strike me down.
Normally, we of House Promeio call upon Devils to do our bidding when simple fiendish creatures will not do. Devils can be controlled by the bond that is their word if one is careful enough. Occasionally, we will also summon demons, as they can be controlled through displays of power.
Daemons, however, are another matter. It’s forbidden to call one. They can’t be controlled.
Nonetheless, he tried. He tried to conjure a Crucidaemon, embodiment of death by torture. But apparently he was too much of an idiot to even get that right. Instead, he managed to conjure an Astradaemon, fierce harvesters of souls said to be created by the Four Horsemen themselves. Naturally, this meant that the bindings he had placed to keep it in line were the wrong ones. He died quickly. And that left an Astradaemon to wreak havoc in the area.
Most of the family died not even knowing it was coming. Grandfather tried to fight it, but only held it back for a while. His servant Walter brought me word of what was going on and told me to flee. Belkross and I grabbed as much money as we could from my father’s vault and were on horseback within the hour. I’m told that my father didn’t even bother to look up when the daemon came for him.
Eventually, Hell Knights were dispatched to bring it down. Somehow, I was blamed for summoning it, so I had to leave Cheliax, a fugitive from my homeland. I moved about a bit at first, doing my best to stay ahead of the false accusations against me, but eventually I realized that I would have to flee much further to escape.
That’s why I got on that damned boat filled with fools. In hindsight, maybe I should have risked the law.
Hoping to have the first actual entry of the adventure journal ready tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest, but since I write these at work, that could be a bit variable.
Bold and italics, yet no underline. Interesting. Anyway, here's the first entry.
Shipwrecked!
First off, let’s start with the small tiefling with the pistol. He spent most of his time on the boat asleep in a barrel. Since you’ve been spending your time trying to convince everyone that you’re a nonthreatening spoiled rich kid on a journey for adventure, you’ve been fawning like an idiot over his dog. Truth is, it’s the most hideous thing you’ve ever seen. The crew agrees with you. They thought it was a rat. He had the damnedest time convincing them to let him bring it with him. At least its name, Shivers, is appropriate. It seems to be in a perpetual state of terror. Still, Paco seems amoral enough that you suspect a little coin could get him to aid you in whatever you might need help with, unlike the other goody two shoes that you seem to have saddled yourself with.
Next is the young woman, Evinye. She’s a Suli, if you’re not mistaken. Seems competent enough, but does she really have to be that friendly? Of course, you had to play along. Belkross was laughing at you as you endured the afternoon of braiding each other’s hair. As of writing this, a suitable punishment for him has not been discovered. Either way, you’ve made friends with her. You and everyone else on the ship.
Then there’s Jazier, the strange crew man. Doesn’t seem quite human, that one. He left you alone as he worked, which you appreciated, though was friendly enough when you spoke with him. You suspect that you and he can get along well enough.
The old man, Siegfried, mostly respected your desire to be left alone, but you always had the feeling that he was watching you. No sooner would you slip on a wet deck than he would catch you. No sooner would you begin to feel queasy after what the ship’s cook called a meal than he would offer you medicine. Still, it was occasionally nice to have someone civilized to converse with, not to mention all the books he let you borrow. Those weeks on a ship get boring.
Aerys Mavato is an alcoholic. She reminds you of your father. Beyond that, she seems competent enough and comfortable on a ship. Not to mention you got a good show when she boarded. The crewman who made the suggestion that she bed with him probably will never regain full use of the finger she almost snapped in half. Aside from that, she spent most of her time alone. A pity, she wasn’t unpleasant to look at.
Gelik Aberwhinge has single handedly given you a racial hatred for gnomes. If you have to put up with just one more of his stories, you might just have to have Belkross deal with him permanently. He seems to be a writer by trade, and he is obsessed with keeping his clothing clean.
Speaking of people who spend a lot of time on their clothing, Ishirou keeps his clothing and other gear in good repair, despite the meagerness of their substance. You doubt the entirety of his possessions come up to a value equal to the cost of your umbrella, though that fancy katana of his looks to be a well-made and probably quite valuable blade. He certainly spends enough time polishing it. Any attention from a beautiful woman seems to completely fluster him. You and Evinye made a game of trying to see just who could make him blush more. When she made him drop his katana, she won. You might have to punish him for suggesting that she’s prettier than you.
Jask Derindi, the middle aged Garundi prisoner, seems to be a decent enough person, despite the fact that he spent the entire voyage in manacles. You had Belkross speak with him once or twice, but he didn’t seem to want to talk much. Rumors are that he used to work with pirates. Maybe you and he can work out some kind of mutually beneficial business venture later. You wouldn’t mind owning a fleet of pirate ships, if the secrets of the jungle reward you enough to be able to afford them.
Sasha Nevah is the one with the striking red hair. She was friendly enough. You almost considered inviting her to your bed, but the way she acted when you asked about the tattoos on her back killed any interest you had. You have no idea what the significance of the red mantis claw tattoos, but you suspect that she has a violent past, considering that she’s missing the pinky on her left hand.
Captain Alizandru Kovack, in addition to having a stupid name, is also a bit of a mystery. The crew seemed to respect him, and Siegfried enjoyed chatting with him, but there were rumors on the ship that something was off about him. Several members of the crew noted that we seemed off course.
Foremost of those worried about the ship’s course was the first mate, Alton Devers. He was broad shouldered and glistened with sweat in the summer sun. Had he not been so preoccupied with his work, he might have noticed you drooling over him when he would take off his shirt to work in the mid-day sun. Evinye suggested you go talk to him, but flirting with any member of the crew might have reminded the rest of them that you were a beautiful young woman and Belkross may have had to go through with his earlier threat to remove a few peoples’ heads if they so much as tried to lay a hand on you.
Ieana was another mystery. She was definitely some kind of scholar, but beyond that you knew almost nothing. She kept to herself for the most part, but there were plenty of rumors about her. Some members of the crew, mostly the young woman who wasn’t too afraid to speak with you, suspect that she might secretly own the Jenivere, or perhaps she was Captain Stupidname’s lover.
One night, at dinner, you found yourself suddenly feeling lightheaded. You recognized the effect of the sleeping drug fairly quickly. Looking around, you could tell that the others were experiencing the same thing you were. The last thing you remember was commanding Belkross to jump off the side of the boat before you passed out and he disappeared. With any luck, whomever was perpetrating this would think Belkross had drowned and would be surprised when you summoned him from whatever cell they threw you into.
You woke up on the beach to excruciating pain. You were on a beach and some kind of sea bug was pinching and biting at you. As you jumped to your feet and backed away, you could see that others were dealing with the same thing. Without Belkross around, you quickly summoned a celestial eagle to defend you. Evinye came to your aid and the bug died quickly, thanks to the work of her and the eagle.
Jazier revealed that he had some serious talent as a spellcaster, harnessing the power of lightning to shock one of the sea bugs to death. You aren’t sure, but you suspect he might be a sorcerer, since he never pulled out a spellbook.
While the others assessed the situation, you hid behind a tree and summoned Belkross. Evinye asked you where he had been and you told her that he had been unconscious in the thick foliage. You then had him help assess the situation while you sat down and cleared your head. The poison had taken its toll and you felt quite ill. The rush of combat had suppressed it somewhat, but once you were safe with Belkross nearby, it hit you full force.
After a bit, Siegfried confirmed to everyone that, through magic, he knew now that you had all been given a mild dose of poison, though he was unable to confirm what kind of poison it was. That was great. Now if he had just used that magic before he ate, maybe you wouldn’t all have been in this mess.
The others discovered footprints in the sand that led to the wrecked form of the Jenivere. You suggested that Jazier speak with Ishirou and Evinye speak with Aerys to try to talk them into securing a safe place nearby to make camp. Jazier nodded, telling you and a few others that he believed that you were on Smuggler’s Shiv, a notorious island rumored to contain cannibals and other horrifying dangers.
Ishirou was swayed, but Aerys seemed to just want to sit and brood. Still, at least someone would be doing something while the rest of you looked into the wreckage of the ship. The way the waves were crashing on it, it wouldn’t take long for it to dislodge and be swallowed up by the ocean.
Of course, you had to wait until low tide, so you and the others who weren’t in complete shock spent time gathering food and other supplies from the nearby jungle. Most of us searched the jungle. Paco, using something he called a snorkel, went diving for shellfish. You should also note that since Belkross doesn’t need to eat, he managed to gather enough extra food for you to eat well that evening. Sure, you could have shared with everyone else and that may have been the better solution long term, but who cares about them?
Jask begged to be let free, but you all decided against it initially. Siegfried promised that once you returned from the ship, you would all hear him out, but for now you didn’t even have the key, so the manacles weren’t going anywhere unless we found the captain’s key onboard anyway.
Once the tide had gone out, you and the others investigated the ship. Inside, you found another bug. This one was larger than the ones from the beach, but this time you had Belkross. Paco injured it with his gun, but Belkross cleaved it in two.
In the larder, you found a good amount of food. At least a few days’ worth, anyway. You also found the corpse of the cook. He had been killed by what looked like snakebites. He deserved worse for his crimes against cuisine, but at least that meant he likely wasn’t the one who had poisoned you.
You had Belkross suggest that we use his corpse to bait traps for small game to further extend our food supply, but the others wouldn’t hear of it. Well, Paco didn’t mind the idea. The others were repulsed, however.
In the supply room, you found the first mate dead of a combination of rapier wounds and stings from a sea bug. So much for your hope that you would find him on the coast nearby, fall in his arms crying and beg him to protect you. Oh well. You still had Belkross to protect you, though the big man could have protected you while you were sleeping.
The supply room also contained enough tools to make a good go at putting together a decent campsite. Combined with your tent, you figured at least shelter wouldn’t be an issue.
In the captain’s chambers, you managed to find a number of keys, as well as a stockpile of potions and the captain’s log. Apparently he had become obsessed with Ieana. He feared that everyone was trying to take her away from him. He also readily agreed with her request to bring you all here to this stupid island.
That meant you knew exactly who you had to kill in a horrific manner to make yourself feel better about being stranded here. Well, her and the cannibals. Not much sense feeling better about killing the person responsible only to get eaten. Still, you hoped that you and Belkross would get some alone time with the woman before the others found her. It would be gratifying to see the look on her face when you pulled her still beating heart from her breast and fed it to your eidolon. Just because he doesn’t have to eat doesn’t mean he can’t enjoy doing so once in a while.
The captain was plotting particular vengeance on his first mate. They had been fighting a bit and it had escalated. Well, at least now you had solved that particular mystery. You still had no idea who had been smuggling a snake to kill the cook with.
In your search of the captain’s cabin, you also found a locker filled with Jask’s gear. Among the items was a holy symbol. Not having much use for religion, you didn’t recognize what god he worshipped. After all, how could any of the gods be worthy of worship when one of them was a drunk who stumbled through a maze to achieve godhood? No, you don’t need them.
Jazier, however, recognized the symbol of Nethys, having seen it before. Siegfried seemed determined to make talking with the chained man his next priority.
After returning to the others, you all sat around as Jask told you the story of how he had been framed by his superior, the man who had really been committing the crimes Jask was blamed for. After hearing him out, Siegfried seemed to believe him. You weren’t sure whether you believed him, but you believe that Siegfried is a decent judge of character, so you opted to go along with him.
Jask thanked everyone and healed your wounds to show his gratitude, then told you that someone involved with framing him had been rumored to have shipwrecked on the island. At the least, it would be a good place to look for more supplies, so you all agreed to look into it once things were settled around camp.
After setting up camp and divvying up the watch, you found yourself sitting up with Ishirou, taking the first shift of watch, when you heard something flying through the jungle canopy. It let out a horrifying screech and flew off.
All you could think about was whether it would taste any good when you caught and killed it. You were going to be damned if you let something as silly as this jungle scare you. You’d gone through too much already to be afraid.
A 1st person narrative by a NE female character on a ship in a tropical setting?
Well, Moonbeam's Savage Tide journal basically featured the same premises and soon turned out to become one of my favorite journals here on this board (to be checked out here: http://paizo.com/threads/rzs2hs2k?Belessas-Journal).
Thus, the benchmark has been set...;-)
Anyway, as you have already proven to have some great writing style in your RotR journal and the beginning of this journal is also looking very promising indeed (ever tried writing an actual novel, Poldaran?), I am expectantly looking forward to these new adventures of yours.
If you want to get technical, I'm actually trying for a 2nd person perspective on this one(she's writing to tell herself stuff, but still). And probably will end up failing on that. :P
Just to be different. Her backstory was first person, though, since I didn't make the decision on the perspective change before this.
I'll have to check out that other journal, though. Sounds interesting.
Oops, my fault. I haven't started reading the second entry yet, so I was mistaken in believing that the entire journal would be written from a 1st person perspective...Anyway, good stuff here!
Oops, my fault. I haven't started reading the second entry yet, so I was mistaken in believing that the entire journal would be written from a 1st person perspective...Anyway, good stuff here!
It's cool. It was a random idea I had last night while writing the actual journal entry that I keep finding myself accidentally switching mid sentence and having to correct. So it may end up getting dropped. But for the next couple at least, it'll be like that until I decide how I feel about it.
A fairly uneventful session, if I'm being honest.
As a group, you managed to befriend Sasha, getting her to open up and offer some survival pointers. When you asked her if she had seen anything unusual, she said that she had spotted some Dimorphodons flying around the island. Doing your best to hide your ignorance, you managed to get her to point out one. Turns out she was talking about those flying lizard things.
“It’d be awesome if I could catch a baby dimorphodon,” she told you. You let her know that you would be scouting the island, so if you found one, you’d try to catch it for her. She thanked you and asked if there was anything she could do to help out. Jazier asked her to see to catching some more food for the others.
Evinye and Jazier went to talk to Gelik, that horrid little gnome. You’re not sure what they talked about, but he seemed to be in better spirits afterward. Meanwhile, you sat down with Aerys and convinced her to tell you more about the island. She told you that the region was known for its heat and storms, so you were extra glad for bringing your umbrella.
Aerys also mentioned rumors that the island was home to a tribe of cannibals. That was just great. Still, they might have supplies you could take. Just don’t eat the meat. Unless you’re really hungry. You convinced her to work with Ishirou to find ways to secure the campsite, either traps or some other method of self-preservation. You also suggested that the two of them consider brainstorming ways to get off the island while they worked.
You woke Paco and then the six of you – Jazier, Siegfried, Paco, Evinye, you and Belkross – set out of a scouting mission. Movement was slow and the air was hot, but thanks to your umbrella, things weren’t too bad.
After a bit, you headed to high ground to get your bearings. In some rocks on the top of a hill, you spotted some kind of large and likely venomous snake. You, Siegfried and Paco shot at it, with the halfling scoring a headshot and killing it before it could react. You gathered the meat and skin for use later.
Taking your bearings, you spotted what looked to be the remains of a ship on a far-away beach and what looked like a nesting area for some of those flying lizards between you and there, so you all decided to begin making your way towards the nest first.
After what seemed like forever trudging through the jungle, you finally reached the nest. Inside, you found a single hatchling. A little work and one of your companions turned your heavy winter shirt into a makeshift pouch. Taking a piece of the snake meat, you carefully coaxed the little monster into the pouch. It was elected that you carry the pouch, since the beast seemed fond of you.
Paco suggested destroying the nest to remove any trace of your scent. Jazier zapped it with some lightning, trying to make it look natural in case the dumb beasts proved to be a little less stupid than suspected.
Upon reaching the ship, you found that it was well rotted, likely having been there for years. On the side, you could barely make out the name. It had once been called “The Tattooed Lady”. Belkross called out that he could see several skeletons inside. Taking no chances, you sent Belkross inside first, having him smash each skeleton as he went. You waited outside with Paco and Siegfried.
After a while, the others returned with small sack of gold that they had found within a chest inside. Sadly, there had been nothing else of use. So you began stripping wood from the ship for use in the campfire. Thanks to having to care for that stupid lizard, you were exempted from the hard labor stripping the boat, so it wasn’t all bad.
You spotted more flying lizards in the sky and decided to go see if they had another nest nearby. You hoped to gather some eggs, or maybe kill a few larger ones for some meat.
As you continued your trek, it began to rain. Once again, you found yourself well protected by the umbrella. Eventually, you reached your goal and found several larger, probably adolescent, dimorphodons. They attacked, but were no match for your heavily armed fighters. Evinye in particular managed to puncture one’s skull so thoroughly that the creature couldn’t even react in shock.
With plenty of meat and some leather for making water skins, you set out back for camp. It was early evening and the rain was finally letting up when you arrived. Ishirou and Aerys had made some improvements around camp and seemed to be getting along.
Sasha had just left to check her traps and didn’t return for another half hour after you did. When she returned, Paco tried to give her the corpse of one of the adolescent lizards. She seemed horrified, but Gelik seemed amused. You calmed her down and presented her with the live hatchling and she was thrilled. She immediately began treating it as one might treat a baby, complete with insipid baby talk.
After a bit, when the little beast was sleeping, she thanked all of you and opened up about her past. Turns out her fancy tattoo was because her mother had been a member of some sort of assassin’s guild, the Red Mantis or something like that. She offered to teach you all some basic techniques she had learned watching her mother, which you agreed to gladly.
That’s how you ended up spending your evening trying to kill moths by sitting perfectly still with a pointed stick, waiting for one to land and become vulnerable to your readied strike. After several attempts, you got pretty good at it. Of course, some of the others managed to pick up on it faster than you. You made a mental note to make them suffer for making you look bad once you got off the island.
After a relatively hearty dinner of coconut and lizard meat, you retired to your tent. At one point in the night, you woke up and listened in on the conversation around the fire. Paco was telling someone about a strange dream he had. He had been back on the ship and everyone was sick. All in all, it was a pretty boring thing to listen to. The last thing you recall him mentioning was something about spoons.
You had no way of knowing just what kind of trouble the island would eventually send your way. Stupid island.
Sadism, religion and plant monsters?
Late in the morning, you and your group of companions, if you can call them that, decided to set off looking for more resources or perhaps a way off of the island. It wasn’t long before you spotted yet another wrecked ship. It was smashed on a smaller island off the coast of the main island. From the distance, you could only just make out the name on the side.
“Tears of Grog,” one of the others said aloud. That’s a stupid name. Stupid broken ship. You decided it wasn’t worth your time for someone to swim across. The water looked treacherous and the ship looked old and decaying. Even if it hadn’t already been looted, what could you expect to find inside, maggoty hard-tack and a few bottles of the swill that ship hands call alcohol? Yeah, forget that.
You continued along, eventually coming to a clearing. It almost looked like someone had set up another base camp there, long ago. In the clearing lay three skeletons. Jazier checked for magic since it wasn’t unreasonable to suspect the possibility of necromancy by some of the locals. He found none, but someone spotted something strange on one of the corpses.
Upon further inspection, Paco recognized it as a kind of fungus. Now you were even more wary of approaching these things any closer than the fifteen or twenty feet away that you currently had between you and the corpses. Still, you could see the wheels turning in the heads of those with you. They wanted a closer look, for whatever reason. And as much as you hated to admit it, your chances of survival were higher if they were alive. That meant you needed to come up with a solution that didn’t get you all killed.
It didn’t take long for you to suggest sending in Belkross. After all, if he died, you could just bring him back tomorrow. It was fine. But you needed an excuse that would satisfy the others, so you said something about Belkross having encountered things like this in his younger days, so he would be the best bet to handle this without being harmed.
One of the others handed Belkross a torch and suggested he burn the corpses once he was sure that they were otherwise safe. Then, bit by bit, he inched his way forward. You wish you could say you were surprised when the skeletons got up, but you really weren’t. You’d even had your bow in hand, ready just in case.
The first foe went down rather quickly. Your first arrow hit it with a wet sound, completely unlike bone, but you didn’t have time to think about that, though you thought it looked like the skeleton was composed of numerous vines. Instead you just kept attacking. After the first fell, Belkross shouted for everyone to get distance from the corpse. Sure enough, it erupted in a cloud of spores moments later.
Evinye kept getting hit by the vine-like tendrils that made up the plant creatures. You’re not sure if it was the way she kept moaning in pain or the hard crack of the vines upon soft flesh, but you found yourself enjoying that far more than you thought you should have. You don’t think it was unique because it was her who was being hit, just the fact that someone was being hit.
After all three were down, your companions began searching the camp, careful to stay out of the spore clouds. Jazier located a captain’s logbook. Thumbing through it, he realized it belonged to the captain of the “Tears of Grog”. They had been infected with some kind of fungus which killed them, eventually turning them into those things you had fought. You had at least learned one further danger of the island.
While the others were investigating, suddenly Belkross call out a warning. He rushed forward and got between you and the jungle. Within seconds, small humanoid plant creatures rushed out. They died quickly to your combined might, though Jazier discovered that his lightning magic doesn’t work very well against them.
Paco and Jazier managed to use a jar to secure one of the spore glands from one fallen plant creature in hopes that it would prove a useful weapon if we ran across any cannibals. It seemed like a bit of a risk, but it was one you were willing to let them take. It was their hide, not yours.
You began to smell the coming of the daily afternoon rains, so you found a good place to weather the storm. Belkross held your parasol over you while the others sought their own shelter. Paco fell asleep immediately. Meanwhile, Siegfried spent a couple hours trying to convince you of the value of finding a god to worship. You figured he had a particular one in mind, though he never specified.
Nonetheless, he did make a few good points. Perhaps your safety would be augmented by finding a deity. You started considering finding one that offered a good benefits package while not requiring you to do anything that would be detrimental to your safety. You really don’t have that many things you wouldn’t do to protect yourself, so it didn’t hurt to keep an open mind.
Paco woke up from a nightmare. Some more random crap about spoons and this one included a snake. He even bit his tongue upon waking. His pain was fairly amusing, especially that accent of his combined with his tongue injury.
Once the rains let up, you set off on a return trip to camp. The first thing you planned to do when you got back was to have Belkross check your hair for parasites. You were really getting tired of this stupid jungle.