okay, so questions.
Everyone
Name and detail at least two survivors who are important or relevant to you.
Tell me one way this world is different from a standard tolkien/greyhawk setting?
I will add individual questions soon.
Name and detail at least two survivors who are important or relevant to you. Zadrian is my elven cousin, and he has survived thanks in part to his horrific burns received when he joined a military draft 30-odd years ago. He was ambushed by a beast stitched together from several others with fire breath, and since he's a bit of an a#%+@#~ his companions left him asleep when it ambushed them in the night. They didn't use him as bait per se and he adventured with them for years following it placing the blame on the creator of the creature and his family for pressuring him into the military. While time has healed his wounds a bit with his father, his injuries have only gotten worse with time making him appear as a crippled and old man despite being middle aged. As such, it was easy to fake the people attacking the village into believing he was an abused servant instead of a capable mage. He's also an extremely arrogant man who is out for number 1, and believes in the manifest of his powerful noble lineage. He is surprisingly talented at swordsmanship, and can converse with spirits even commanding them with his magic.
Grelick is a half-elf bastard child living in town who comes from a line of barbarous mercenaries, soldiers, and just general warriors and brutes. They claim to be directly descended from the hero Valdine (val-deen) who once was an unstoppable demigod in the country directly north of this one known for never leaving the country but fighting in every single battle in the country (along with hundreds of duels & various skirmishes) while he was live before dying of old age having never been injured. That pride in their bloodline means a bastard child with improper pedigree is considered below them, but he is not separated from his family because he carries their blood. He basically only cares about exercising, training, fighting for profit, and became unlikely friends with Varis when he was hired to be a guard at the estate. Grelick saved Varis during the attack and Varis has a bit of a man-crush on him now. Grelick is covered in tattoos telling the story of Valdine that inspire him, can't read (his family keeps an extensive oral history and tapestries to guide the stories they tell), and he is basically either in full armor or next to naked to show his tattoos.
Tell me one way this world is different from a standard tolkien/greyhawk setting?
Dense vegetation is common and grows extremely quickly and incredibly densely, and when left unattended the veil between the world and other places becomes thin resulting in alien, magical, fey, undead, etc. creatures and plants growing in deep forests. Civilized areas have to spend time, effort, and money to burn back and clear away forests and have trouble penetrating deep into continents without considerable investment in making sure areas are not overtaken on any side. There are also walls and magical devices designed to keep the plants away, and farmland is dangerous if left unattended for too long.
But not too fast, but trees that normally would take the better part of a century to grow grow to that height in a decade or less while weeds or bamboo can be a significant threat. Rarely the world that bleeds in can also be a good thing.
Alternatively
When people die, they choose when they formally pass on to the other side. They live on as undead slowly rotting and eventually becoming ghosts without any body and then eventually becoming invisible haunts stuck in one place until they choose to move on. It makes necromancy a popular business, but necromancy is also more like enchantment forcing people to act how the necromancer wants either through coercion or enslavement.
Gotta say, loving the first differentiating feature, gives me a lot of fun toys.
Tallen is Vanadin's unfortunate patsy. Vanadin knows Tallen's dirty secrets, and Tallen knows it. Vanadin doesn't use this often, but he's redirected blame to Tallen a few times over the years.
Kaylia... Vanadin had a huge crush on Kaylia. The kind of crush to make young men do incredibly foolish things. He tried to slip in and steal something from the Cataviir estate to impress her. He got away unscathed, but Kaylia's brother hasn't ever been the same since. She's still in the village, and Vanadin still carries a torch for her, even though she's happily with someone else now. (Another PC?)
(From Varis' options, I'd definitely vote for the Jungles of Doom - option 1. Still contemplating my own answer to that question.)
Vanadin
Are you a dwarf, I can't tell
also, Sola is just the weird sun god thing in Inverse world, feel free to reflavour it as any light-god or entity you see fit.
The characters and forests are directly inspired from my home setting that I need to spend more time in for how fleshed out it has become.
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Survivors:
Katia and Relin are two twin human sisters about 16 years old. They always showed Tera more kindness than the other villagers ever did, and always claimed he was "cute" rather than "terrifying." They were good kids, and when Relin showed interest in hunting, Tera began bringing her on foraging trips.
Kalia, on the other hand, apprenticed from a young age with the local healer. She has a natural talent, which is fortunate, because the healer died in the calamity.
One Unique Thing:
There are no good or evil races, only good and evil people trying to survive in the devouring forests.
Tera
besides hunting, what did you do to entertain yourself?
Once, A hunter from the Lodge of Aylard came looking you put you one his mantle. When he asked the villagers about you, what did they say?
Gorn
Tell me about your signature weapon, what is it, did you forge it yourself?
What are ogres like in this world?
Vanadin
The Paladins of the Cleansing Church (The group that torched the manor and village wield the light as well, how do you feel about that?
tell me about this little light of yours? what's his name, demeanor?
Varis
Why won't your family help the village?
HOw much of the Cleansing Church's attack was justified (i.e. they were actually using dark magic) and how much of it was racially motivated (The church aren't big fans of nonhumans)?
Silvia
As a changling, you can see into the outskirts of the feywild. tell me one thing you see that normal people don't?
Why do you care about these people? You could walk away, say a few words, and hve a relatively normal life. why don't you?
Why won't your family help the village?
The village was the opening salvo, against the branch of the family with the least political and financial power. Their ancestral land holds significance to the cult, but it serves as a backdrop for training and teaching the historical significance as well as isolating new members to train them.
Now the family has circled the wagons and cutting their losses versus exposing themselves to additional military and inquisition from the church. They are very risk-driven above all else, humans are capable of replenishing a line from the brink of death quickly (unlike elves who live longer and low birth rates) and Varis has several siblings.
How much of the Cleansing Church's attack was justified (i.e. they were actually using dark magic) and how much of it was racially motivated (The church aren't big fans of nonhumans)?
The cult is demonic, but not mustache twirling evil folk. They wield dark and forbidden magic and hold beliefs considered entirely heretical to the church. They are no different from any other dark fantasy institutions with power, but they lost the propaganda campaign against the church long. long ago. I want to create a picture like the witches in Maria the Virgin Witch if you are at all familiar with that anime, the witches are directly pulling power from traditional enemies of the church - but the people are people.
So the attack is part purging heretics, part racial cleansing of the elves who hold the popular heretical beliefs (ancient cults, the godhood of Valdine) and whose long lives mean their traditions are difficult to destroy, and part politics because this particular cult enjoyed infernal contracts and mortal politics equally gaining not-insignificant power that undermine's the church.
I also feel like the miracles of the church should be self evident, they are a powerful force of good with people running it - and it's the people that drive the behavior good or bad.
Vanadin's race
He's one of the few true humans in the area.
One Unique Thing
The true diety/dieties of this world all have the same, limited, sets of manifestations. In particular, it/they never appear as a unique individual, only a vaguely humanoid glowing figure, and they never communicate intelligibly (no writing on tablets, clear voices from above, etc.) The actual number of dieties is, therefore, hard to determine - but it's probably more than one, given the religious wars over the years.
The Paladins of the Cleansing Church (The group that torched the manor and village wield the light as well, how do you feel about that?
Vanadin is pretty shocked, but then, he's the only person he knows with a little light.
tell me about this little light of yours? what's his name, demeanor?
Flicker is stubborn as a mule, but also easily bored. Most of the time, it's fairly laid back, but certain things will cause it to hound Vanadin incessantly until they're dealt with, or it at least looks like Vanadin's dealing with it. Per the Origin move, "easily bored" frequently manifests as "starts moving random objects around", and the collection of Flicker toys Vanadin had amassed probably didn't make it out of the village with us.
Party healing
I can take an out of combat heal ("stitch sunlight into a wound" doesn't sound heat-of-battle to me), but that's it.
Tera
besides hunting, what did you do to entertain yourself?
Once, a hunter from the Lodge of Aylard came looking you put you one his mantle. When he asked the villagers about you, what did they say?
Mostly I explore the tree tops of the forest to avoid the fey and undead beasts below. I seek out avians migrating from far away and ask of my people. To date, none have ever seen my kind before.
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Kalia tended to the man's hand where a zombie had scratched him along the path to the village. She listened patiently to his inane boasts until the moment he made his intentions clear.
I've heard tale of a monster in these parts. Half man, half owl or some such nonsense. It will be a fine trophy.
Kalia stopped cleaning the wound and spoke in a stern time. You'd best head home. You speak of Tera. I know him. He is death given wing and he's done naught to you. The day you find him will be your last.
The hunter looked taken aback, and left the village that evening. He never made it back to the Lodge, no doubt falling prey to the beasts of the devouring forests.
Party Healing
On a re-read I can't take full cleric spell casting (no multiclassing). I was thinking at Level 3 I could take the Duid's Balance move which allows me to heal someone for 1d4 everytime I inflict damage. I think that is the best I can do.
Not so much a survivor, but Evening-Light-Glade (the nymph) is still hanging around somewhere. Depending on her mood, she's a mentor/mother/sister/irritation to Silvia, always asking for tiny, insignficant favours that always have hilariously destructive consequences.
Ulysses is a "fallen" paladin that was infected by some strange eldritch virus, the scars of which still mar the old mans face. He was rescued and cleansed, but not before losing most of his fighting capability and all of his faith. The raw strength of may be spent, but his eyes hold the secrets of a hundred campaigns.
Sometimes, Silvia sees reflections of how people see themselves. Kings, queens, warlords and tyrants appear as angelic, avenging creatures, sent from on high with a halo of fire and a burning golden gaze, while the broken and dispirited grub about in the earth for sustenance. Very few men or women truely see themselves as demonic or unnatural. Those that do are worth watching.
Silvia wants revenge, and to indulge in power. She wants to break things, people and societies, to take what she can get and run, screaming with laughter. For now, she needs allies, contacts, resources and protection. She will have her vengeance for how she was treated, how she was abandoned. Also, she's a massive hedonist. So there's that.
Wait a minute ... This game is (from prior games I've played in):
Belym
Iron Tom
Emma/2BR
Retzack
...
DM'd by Elsine/Volsung/Dexter
...
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Why find new friends when you can just recycle old ones?
<3
***
Yes, if anyone can get any kind of healing, try to do that. My biggest hang up with DW is that healing seems so rare.
@ Tera: Is your "Kalia" the same person as Vanadin's "Kaylia" and you just did a typo? I was planning on using her, but if you've already taken up that banner, that's fine.
*****
This world is different because magic resides in every living thing, and can be imbued, or "Threaded" into any object, if the crafter -cares- enough about it. An old, skilled crafter not only makes a better item simply because they know how to carve wood/forge steel/bake clay better, but they can, if they really really care, "Weave" a "Thread" of magic into the item, making it better than other items in WIDELY varied, and not always immediately noticeable, ways.
The skill of "Thread Weaving" is only now beginning to be understood as a craft itself, and part of its study is finding out how old or ancient items are magical, and this can only be learned by knowing stories about the item itself.
**
Will hold off on the other questions until I get Tera's answer.
Sorry it was a typo. The apprentice healer is named Katia.
So, notes about this world thus far
- Vegetation grows extremely fast, and monsters & fey live in the growth.
- Races as a whole tend toward neutrality.
- Gods are ambiguous, a gods church reflects its followers more than itself (as we have established that demonic religions exist, I think I will extend this to demons as well. maybe even make the difference more a matter of title than nature)
- magic pervades living things, and can be imbued by sentiment or passion.
- Humans are the dominant species, and several sects in human culture would see intelligent nonhumans subjugated or destroyed.
Dark, High magic setting, I like it.
Tera, tell me about some of the things that live deep in the forest?
Varis, how dangerous is magic in this setting?
Silvia, How do they ward off the fey magic that grows the wilds? Why are you resistant to it?
Vanadin, What Race is Kaylia? You saved her fiance, Kenan, from the inferno, was it by your choice, or Flicker's?
Gorn, I haven't forgotten you, I'm just trying not to overwhelm you with questions.
Kenan! Why must you taunt me so?
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I don't what this "Kenan" storyline is, but apparently it has momentum behind it, so I'm not going to get in the way of that force of nature. =)
*****
The death of his father, Roland, still weighs heavily upon him, but with her impressive size and strength, his ogre mother Alanna survived. Cunning and crafty beyond her race's ken, Alanna walks a fine line of trying to keep Gorn safe, while also knowing that she has to let go to let him make his way in the world.
Gorn would have probably left the village in another year or so to find his fortune and walk other lands, so he is caught between the strange fulfillment that the destruction of the village has caused in helping him fill his wanderlust...and having his mom along for the ride.
The child Jimmy accumulated the moniker "The Survivor" long before the current troubles. His family had lived in an out-lying farmstead for a number of years when they were attacked by a band of SteelHand orcs, lead by the terrible Lord Borak the Despoiler. Though driven off by village militia, they were not in time to save the family, though the child Jimmy remained alive and unnoticed, asleep under a pile of furs.
The orphin was a familiar site at both the Steelbreaker table and forge, apprenticing himself at a young age, and was all but another son of the family.
Now a precocious 16 years old, it was no surprise that he also made it out of the village, and continues to hound Gorn and Alanna's heels, eager to forage or scavenge, whatever is needed to survive.
******
The Sword of the Aquilonian Kings is a blade of blued STEEL that Gorn's father, Roland, found in the ogre chieftain's horde on his first and only adventure when he "liberated" Alanna. The blade is ever sharp, forged with such craft and passion that it surpasses even Roland's greatest creations, and Roland, through constant use, was able to discover a few of the Thread of magic that are weaved to it.
Alas, with his passing, Gorn is wholly ignorant of the secrets the blade possesses, save that it is preternaturally sharp, and sometimes it whistles when swung, the sound -almost- sounding like songs of glory and combat.
Kenan is a traitorous demon worshipper who works with the lady of lies and has married my battlemaster's one true love.
EDIT: I may be an unreliable narrator.
Two ways to prevent unwanted interaction with fey and faerie creatures: appeasement, or repulsion. Saucers of milk, fresh eggs and sometimes more... potent sacrifice can encourage minor fey to leave a household alone, or even earn a little favour with local spirits. Others, especially the more pious, prefer salt, cold iron, rowan wood and othrt such charms to keep away goblins and ghouls. This sometimes work. Some sects of the church despise any dealings with the fey in any manner, encouraging prayer and abstinence in place of tried and true methods. The fey find this hilarious.
Silvia herself? Why would she ward off fey influences? She's one of the family. Maybe a minor adopted cousin, but still. She belongs to them. Doesn't mean that Verdant-Maple-Boughs won't turn into a swan and try sire a few children with her, but that's no different for everyone else. Men included.
I had meant how resistant are you to warding (Cold Iron, Salt, Rowan boughs, and other such charms)
The deities being vague forces suits my idea of how magic works. Essentially, those forests connect the world to other realities, and those realities always bubbling under the surface is what creates the great and powerful effects that can be used in religious miracles or brought forth as great arcane feats. So a "demonic" cult would be negotiating trade deals over entropy between the world's and using that power to secure a steady and reliable source for their rituals and abilities, while the church might need as many like-minded individuals in a single place to direct prayers and generate that solid block of emotion for the church to reliably pull for their power.
So basically, magic is relatively safe and (theoretically) limitless, but unreliable/fickle as well as requiring an external source of power. The best mages not only are concerned with what they can do, but how efficiently they can do it - everything is a delicate balance between knowing what you must do, whether the not-well-understood esoteric portions line up, and also being extremely aware of the consumption of power.
EDIT
Let me expand the external power source: using your own body as a source of power is absolutely possible, but it is extremely dangerous. It would be like self-surgery, even minor spells can have terrible blowback. Instead you guide power from the world, from other people, stored in magical charms, etc. with your power to mitigate those risks. It also means if you draw too deep you can damage the source, whether that is people or a volcano.
Some ramifications - an expression of extreme emotion can cause a wild magical effect, and sometimes it creates amazing stories of lovers bringing their killed loved one from the brink of death and sometimes it means a knight literally giving their body in sacrifice to seal a passage. Other times it can cause curses or bad luck, or even cause the vegetation itself to use use that magical power to suddenly burst forth in wild growth.
It also means a church could have praying members collapse in seizures and speak nonsensical tongues due to accidentally using their body as power, and maybe they claim those to prove that person's faith and to be a good thing.
Oh! Well there's a 50/50 chance between Silvia being a changeling and just thinking she's one. I'd imagine if its the former, then Defying Danger when exposed to a concerted anti-fey array of charms, and if it's the latter... Well, the psychosomatic reaction would probably be much the same! Does this sound fair to you?
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Kaylia? She's half elven. So is Kenan. Flicker's the one who made me check the back room of the tavern. Not sure why he was there, but really, I'm glad I was able to get him out - the look on her face when I carried him into camp that first day was...worth it.
Okay.
Gorn, What threat worries you the most, traveling out in the open as you are?
and, one more everyone question. Where are you planning to resettle? What 3 great challenges lie in your path there? (Pot luck style, everyone bring some elements)
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Gorn constantly worries that Lord Borak the Despoiler, leader of the warband the town drove off to rescue Jimmy the Survivor, will some day return, seeking to finish what he started. Some few legends remain that this is not the first time civilization has been scourged by his terrible genius, and may not be the last.
Gorn wants to settle somewhere that has a good chance of being close to a source of iron. Though not the most skilled smith by any means, he knows that good land and fertile soil will mean little if they can not get the metal tools to till and farm it well.
Also, weapons of stone and wood will availe them little, but if everyone has a good supply of STEEL in hand, then there chance of flourishing can only increase.
I like this being a very non-human friendly village, it ties it into the setting really well.
I would say the goal now would be to find a non-human friendly settlement (I would likely vote to go to a larger city if possible), and I would say the challenge is that now that humans attacked the village we are in a ring of human settlements - we didn't realize how isolated the village was until after we are forced to think along those lines.
So the neighboring settlements, where the vegetation is cut back and the roads are maintained, are primarily human and very friendly with the church. So it's not even that they are a threat or even unwelcoming, it's that we have zero information on what's going on and don't know how to get somewhere stable. And blazing a trail means risking horrific monsters and death. Makes every path a gamble.
yes, I've done so
Tera, tell me about some of the things that live deep in the forest?
The veil between the real world and the fey wilds is at its weakest in the depths of the forest where no light penetrates to the forest floor. In this midnight zone, fey magic warps creatures that stray too far from the civilized edges, creating innumerable strange combinations: spiderbirds, owlbears, jaguarsnakes, etc. This mutation drives the poor creatures to madness.
In certain areas the realm of the death king reaches out to the real world, and all manner of undead roam the forest depths.
Secretly, Tera doesn't wish to resettle. As long as the ex-villagers roam the world, Tera sees a chance to find the truth of his people while remaining in the safety of numbers.
also, Bonds... we should do bonds!
Bonds, indeed!
Side note: I think I'm going to switch my Drive move to Revealing Truth ("Uncover a hidden truth or reveal corruption.") That's mostly Flicker's influence.
Here's my stock bonds. Some of them seem a little lacking to me, but hopefully we can clean that up.
______ was with me when I met Sola for the first time.
Pretty sure Vanadin was up to something when he found Sola in the woods. Tera, how about you? Either as an accomplice (poaching on the Cataviir grounds?), or a witness (you spotted me while I was out, and saw the whole thing)?
I don’t think ______ is as fond of the light as I am.
Silvia seems like a natural fit here.
I must show the truths of the world to ______ .
______ knows the secret I’ve been hiding.
______ shines so bright that they hardly need me to light the path for them.
Anyone want to jump on one of the others?
Let's see what's in the playbook...
_____ will play an important role in the events to come, I have foreseen it!
Vanadin? You carry a chunk of a God, did it happen close to the village's destruction maybe?
I think I'll change it to "Zadrian has foreseen it!"
_____ is keeping an important secret from me.
Silvia maybe? Some secret to the fey and how magic works? Maybe instead of "important secret" it can be "secret knowledge"
_____ is woefully misinformed about the world, I will teach them all that I can.
Tera? It can be a "poor simpleton from the woods, this is what civilised folk think" and we can teach each other a valuable lesson.
Those bonds sound good to me. My stock bonds are pretty terrible. I think I need to rewrite all of them.
[Vanadin?] knows more about me than they realise.
I trust [Nobody, ha! Unless someone wants it], they have seen the real me.
[Tera?] frustrates me with their lack of social grace.
I find that it makes life easier when I don't tell [Gorn] the whole plan.
[Varis?] and I have a special secret, just between us two.
yeah, anyone can rewrite as many bonds as they damn well please, so long as you end up with the same number your character sheet has. (Seriously, consider it, some of the stock bonds are pretty awful... and inverse world didn't cultivate a dark fantasy feel, so some of it's bonds are not so great for the setting)
I like the special secret one, it makes it seem like I'm being a little manipulative to try and find something you know after gaining your trust.
But what would the secret be? Maybe something about your origin as a changeling?
I actually have no idea. Not so sure about the origin thing, considering "Oh, I'm actually not a human" isn't as big a deal considering one of us is an owlbear. So...
Owlman, thank ye kindly.
I don't understand the world and I don't have any social graces, so those fit perfectly.
Proposed Bonds:
Varis: Varis is not a part of the village. I must uncover why he travels with us.
Silvia: There is something wrong with Silvia. I must press her for answers.
Vanadin: I believe that Vanadin has befriended a will-o-the-wisp. I must make him understand the danger he puts us all in.
Gorn: Gorn seems to be an outsider, like me. I will help him prove his place.
Will these work?
I actually have no idea. Not so sure about the origin thing, considering "Oh, I'm actually not a human" isn't as big a deal considering one of us is an owlbear. So...
I was thinking more the relationship to the fey than just not being human, like people are aware you are not human but I can't see a lot of people in casual conversation being like "So I know you're not human, but what race are you exactly?"
I mean, your background is the classic fokelore of being stolen from the crib and raised by humans, so while it is probably whispered about do you think your parents deny it vehemently even when you know it's probably true?
Varis: Varis is not a part of the village. I must uncover why he travels with us.
I like this, I'm an outsider who came to the village even though I did have family there - and there is an extra layer of the family being nobility of a sort so I am two steps removed from the typical villager and there is reason to be suspicious.
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Vanadin (and every bard) is a good drinking companion but useless in combat. I'll try to keep him alive.
(Every time Vanadin tries to convince Gorn that he's not a bard, Gorn chuckles and tells him what a good bard he is, and that the tricks with light are especially entertaining.)
I worry about Varis' ability to be accepted in the world.
Tera is in the wrong line of work, and should go back to being a baker, or whatever it is that his people do. Maybe cheese-making?
Silvia is...I have no clue what the hell Silvia is doing.
*****
@Vanadin, I think I like Gorn for "I must show the truths of the world to ______ ." Vanadin continues to speak seriously to Gorn, who constantly thinks that he's just telling Epic Stories. Wacky hijinks ensue.
@Varis, whenever I can't come up with a bond, I always like the RP pure gold that is "I'm secretly attracted to _____." I'm not saying you need to go with this, but think of some common tropes and try it out.
(I'd link here to Tvtropes, but people have lives to lead and I'd be a complete bastard to hand out that kind of brain-heroin.
okay, to clarify, is Gorn more of a Cloudcuckoolander or a Large Ham?
and I'm liking the bonds thus far, we have a cute little group thus far.