Oh, I'd be glad to have such a problem, since it would mean that both have made it!
Well, my submission, and I will make an alias if selected.
Julian Sullistan
LN Human Warpriest
Senses: Low Light Vision
STR 15 DEX 10 CON 12 INT 14 WIS 14 CHA 10
BAB 0 CMB 2 CMD 12
Speed 20 ft
Space 5 Reach 5
2 Handed Melee
Longsword +2 (1d8+3/19-20/x2)
Morning Star +2 (1d8+3/x2)
1 Handed Melee
Longsword +2 (1d8+2/19-20/x2)
Morning Star +2 (1d8+2/x2)
Dagger +2 (1d4+2/19-20/x2)
Shield Bash +2 (1d3+2/x2)
Ranged
Longbow +1 (1d8/x3)
AC 16, touch 10, flat-footed 16
Fort 3 Reflex 0 Will 4
hp 12
Acrobatics -5, Appraise 2, Bluff 0, Climb -3, Diplomacy 0, Disguise 5, Escape Artist -5, Fly -5, Handle Animal , Heal 2, Intimidate 0, Knowledge (engineering) , Knowledge (religion) 6, Perception 3, Ride -5, Sense Motive 2, Spellcraft 6, Stealth -5, Survival 2, Swim -3, Use Magic Device 1
Toughness
Point-Blank Shot
Common
Draconic
Celestial
Armour:
Scale Mail, Small Wooden Shield
Weapons:
Longsword, Longbow, Dagger, Arrows (30), Morning Star
Adventuring Gear
Warpriest Kit (Medium Creature)
None
PP
GP 4
SP 5
CP
Gems/Jewels
Blood of Dragons (low-light vision) (UCa 62): You gain low-light vision*.
Fed-Up Citizen (APHR 10): You gain a +1 bonus on Disguise checks* and Disguise is a class skill for you.*
When someone uses Detect Good or Detect Law on you, your effective HD is four lower than their actual total. Divine casters treat themselves as standard aligned creature for these purposes.
You gain +1 trait bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting effects.
Armor and Shield Proficiency: You are proficient in Light, Medium and Heavy Armor. You are proficient with shields (excluding tower shields.)
Weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with all Simple and Martial Weapons.
Aura (Ex) (ACG 60): You have a particularly powerful aura corresponding to your deity's alignment.
Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)
Focus Weapon (Ex) (ACG 60): You gain Weapon Focus as a bonus feat.
Sacred Weapon (Su) (ACG 60): Weapons you wield are charged with the power of your faith. When you wield a Medium version of a Sacred Weapon - your deity's favored weapon or one in which you have Weapon Focus - you may deal 1d6 damage instead of the weapon's normal amount.
Spontaneous Casting (ACG 61): You may convert the stored energy of a prepared spell into a cure spell of the same level or lower.
Blessings (Su) (ACG 60): 3 times per day, you can call upon one of the following blessings to aid yourself or your allies. (DC: 12)
Holy Strike (ACG 66): You can touch one weapon and grant it a good blessing for one minute. It deals an additional 1d6 damage against evil creatures and is treated as good for overcoming damage reduction. This does not stack with the holy weapon special ability.
Blinding Strike (ACG 68): You can create a flash of sunlight in one of your opponent's eyes, blinding them for one round. A Reflex save reduces this to dazzled for one round. Sightless creatures are unaffected; creatures with light blindness or sensitivity take a -4 penalty on the saving throw.
Level 0
Detect Magic
Read Magic
Light
Level 1
Divine Favour
Divine Favour
Julian was born in Old Kintargo of a merchant shipping family.
While he was growing up, he went with his parents on a couple of cruises where he learned the use of the bow.
Soon after he reached the age of 14, his parents ship went down with all hands leaving him an orphan.
With nothing else to really live for, he turned to the one thing that seemed to keep his parents spirits up, religion.
For the next 4 years, he followed the church of Iomadae, which was practiced under restrictions, whom taught him the use of the blade.
Soon after the crusade became active, he stopped openly practicing the churches doctrine, and soon after the proclomations, he started getting fed up with the current leadership of the city, and ended up in the square in protest.
You won't be getting far without covering your tracks with traps, which is what I specialize in!
...track traps.
Trapacks, if you will.
Here is Voreni the Orphan. If selected I will create an alias (and need a cool superhero name!).
What this character is - Voreni is a skill-monkey, focusing on alchemical crafting, stealth, and some roguish abilities. He's a decent fighter, but not a tank at all.
What he isn't - The face. I know this AP demands some ability with charisma related skills, but I'm running a bard in a different game so wanted to avoid overlap.
NG Medium Humanoid (Outsider (Native))
Init +3; Senses Perception +4, Darkvision
------------------------------
DEFENSE
------------------------------
AC 15, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 armor, +3 dex)
hp 9/9
Fort +1, Ref +5, Will +2
------------------------------
OFFENSE
------------------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee
Rapier +3 melee 1d6+2
Dagger +3 melee 1d4+2
Ranged
Dagger +3 ranged 1d4+2
------------------------------
STATISTICS
------------------------------
Str 14, Dex 16, Con 12, Int 16, Wis 10, Cha 6
Base Atk +0; CMB +2; CMD 15
Traits
Reason for Protest - Tagging Along
Fed-Up Citizen (Campaign)
Secret Keeper (Social)
Feats
Weapon finese
Skills (6 points; 1 class, 3 INT)
Acrobatics +7*, Climb +6, Craft (alchemy) +7, Disable Device +7, Disguise +5, Linguistics +7, Perception +4, Sense Motive +4, Stealth +9*, Use Magic Device +2.
ACP 0
*ACP applies to these skills
Non-Standard Skill Bonuses
Languages Common, Abyssal, Draconic, Halfling, Infernal.
------------------------------
SPECIAL ABILITIES
------------------------------
Alchemy, inspiration, trapfinding, Fiendish Resistance, Skilled, Spell-like ability (darkness 1/day), Darkvision, Prehensile Tail.
------------------------------
Extracts
------------------------------
1st (X)
Bomber’s Eye, Disguise Self, Long Arm, Shock Shield, Vocal Alteration
------------------------------
GEAR/POSSESSIONS
------------------------------
Carrying Capacity
Light 0-58 lb. Medium 59-116 lb. Heavy 117-175 lb.
Current Load Carried 57 lb.
Black explorer’s outfit, Investigator’s kit (alchemy crafting kit, a backpack, a bedroll, a belt pouch, a flint and steel, ink, an inkpen, an iron pot, a mess kit, soap, torches (10), trail rations (5 days), and a waterskin), Thieves’ Tools, leather armor, rapier, dagger (x2).
Money 1 GP 0 SP 0 CP
Voreni was born in the great city of Westcrown to two loving, lower-class parents. His earliest memories of his parents were filled with joy and sun. All of that changed shortly before his eighth birthday, when Order of the Rack Hellknights arrested his father for treason against the House of Thrune. His mother, a skilled fencer, attempted to put up a fight, but was slain in front of him. His father surendered rather than see Voreni slain by the cruel Signifier who threatened the boy and murdered his wife, and was executed by the Hellknights a short time later.
Voreni was sent to an orphanage run by a cruel woman who took her failures and frustrations out on the children. He was often bullied by the other children, and ran away several times, only to be quickly returned by the dottari. He finally escaped as a young teenager and ran as fast as possible from Westcrown to settle in Kintargo.
Voreni was taken in by an old man who officially hired the boy to run his errands. The man was seeking to discover the truth about his wife’s murder, and identified with Voreni’s tale of his parent’s death. Together the boy and his new mentor, Vincente Fiore, discovered that the child’s parents were setup by a jealous man who coveted his mother. Her death was never intended by this rival, who escaped justice at Voreni’s hands by killing himself after losing her. Voreni returned the favor by helping to hunt down an assassin who had killed Vincente’s wife at the order of his sister-in-law, who had decided she was unwilling to share her sister’s inheritance. The pair conned the woman out of the pittance that she had left and planned to kill the woman. Voreni balked at cold-blooded murder, and tried to convince Vincente not to slay her. He was unsuccessful.
Vincente’s revenge scheme had been completed. The old man had nothing left to live for and tried for a time to find a way to occupy himself, but the past decade of pursuing justice for his wife had hollowed the man out. He left the home he shared with Voreni, along with a sizable bag of gold, and disappeared a half a year ago.
Since that time, Voreni has begun putting his investigative skills to use making small change following unfaithful spouses and rescuing citizens in trouble. He finds himself spending more and more time wearing a dark hood and mask over his mouth while acting as a vigilante in Kintargo’s Jarvis End district. While rescuing citizens, he met a beautiful half-elf woman named Lily, who was attacked by muggers after she left the Kintargo Opera House one night following a performance. He has been infatuated with the young woman ever since and has a tendency to stalk her. He justifies this as protecting a talented singer and actor.
”Do you think we could kill him at the opera? You’re supposed to be sneaky, that’s why they referred you, could you get in?”
”Could I, a tiefling orphan, sneak into an upper-class Chelish opera, slip past a hundred nobles and their courtier’s, plus the Lord-Mayor’s bodyguards, and dispatch him in cold blood? Is that what you’re asking?”
”Yeah, can you pull that off?”
I never was good at sarcasm… He took a deep breath before continuing. ”Think that through. Not only would it be a suicide mission, the chances for success are negligible at best.”
”Then what would you suggest?”
”We need to play the long-game. See the whole board. Plan our moves. Execute them with precision. We need to discover as much as we can about Thrune and his lieutenants. Use that knowledge to convince the people to rise up and demand justice.”
”The long game? We don’t have time for that!”
The table erupts into argument once again. These fools have no patience. I need to get out of this meeting. Find a low-life to beat up…
Pair of questions, that might affect my choice:
* How do you plan to handle Leadership-like abilities?
* What do you think about crafting feats and their application to this campaign?
The leadership feat actually behaves a little differently in this campaign, and provides some cool benefits with regards to building/running the rebellion. The Player's Guide describes it in detail.
The campaign is pretty focused on the city, so presumably you'd be able to set up a workshop for crafting magic items. I don't have much of an opinion on the subject; in my experience nearly every party I've played with/run has at least one person who takes some crafting feats to build magic weapons/armor.
It's probably less of a requirement in an urban campaign due to the availability of shops, but I'm sure the other PCs would still appreciate it.
I was considering Leadership for this guy too. May not happen, who knows? But it is nice to know it is on the table.
If you're into building an organization, this is your dream AP. They adapted the org rules from Ultimate Campaign and integrated them with each adventure. It's like Kingmaker in reverse (in that you're destroying an authority figure, establishing one).
I'm kind of excited to see what Hell's Vengeance will be like.
It is indeed. Leadership (and all that neat ultimate campaign stuff, too) is one of the reasons why I was thinking that a Battle Herald would fit better into Hell's Rebels than most others. (I'm rather surprised it's not one of the suggested PrC's in the player's guide.) I've been seeing a lot of bard/investigatory types, so while my initial presumption was to go cavalier 1/bard 4 to enter, I can focus on the reverse so as to step on fewer toes. (I'd just want to change the favored class from bard to cavalier).
If you're into building an organization, this is your dream AP. They adapted the org rules from Ultimate Campaign and integrated them with each adventure. It's like Kingmaker in reverse (in that you're destroying an authority figure, establishing one).
I'm kind of excited to see what Hell's Vengeance will be like.
I noticed that with the teams and such. Some irregular vigilante force is something he'd do eventually.
I'm kind of hoping if this character is selected to use some of the downtime rules to help me build a bat cave/lair sort of thing...I'm not sure this character will have the available feats for magic item crafting, but I'd like to keep buys during downtime creating alchemical items for my utility belt :)
It sounds kinda like Council of Thieves... at least from the beginning. Not sure how the rest of CoT plays out since I haven't played through the first book, but they sounds similar. Just... this one is more... I dunno. Political.
If you're into building an organization, this is your dream AP. They adapted the org rules from Ultimate Campaign and integrated them with each adventure. It's like Kingmaker in reverse (in that you're destroying an authority figure, establishing one).
I'm kind of excited to see what Hell's Vengeance will be like.
That's precisely why I want to play in Hell's Rebels. I was in a Kingmaker game for about 18 months, and I'm excited to try the mechanics for this AP too.
CoT is less about full-on revolution and more about protecting the city from the corrupt and criminals both. I think Cheliax and the Thrice-Damned House of Thrune happen to be great villains for APs, so Paizo uses them as often as possible (Cheliax also plays a major role in Skulls & Shackles).
Its making me drool thinking of setting up my own spy network.
"Spy network? Agitation! That's where the real power is. Move the people, and you'll gain power. With people-power you can know anything you want!"
...so says Femi. :)
"Ah, yes, but knowing where and when to move them packs a so much more satisfying punch, my friend."
"Ah, yes, but knowing where and when to move them packs a so much more satisfying punch, my friend."
Euphemia hesitates, but then a big grin crosses his face and he laughs, "Well met sir and you are absolutely right! You going to the demonstration today? It's a trip worth taking I'll tell you that for sure."
He sticks out his hand, "Name's Euphemia... but everyone just calls me Femi."
"With a little political savvy our enemies can incite the people for us. Let our Thrune Overlord agitate Kintargo while we gather strength, then we'll have 'people-power', as you call it, for the final push."
"Where, when, and how. Knowing Thrune and his closest allies' weaknesses and past crimes will tell us that last one," the hooded Voreni chimes in. "The people cry for true justice, but that requires an accounting of the crimes."
Femi listens to all the new ideas being brought to the table and he is overjoyed. ”Barkeep - a round for all my new found friends!” he sits down at the table and settles in. ”Friends, we have much to discuss if such an endeavour is to succeed. As you say, there are many facets to this sort of undertaking. It takes a team - a strong team. Let us see what can be done.” he hands a fresh round of drinks, well, around.
"If you don't mind, Fermi, was it, I'll pass on the drink. I'd like to be clear headed for this protest, but if Barzillai doesn't stomp us into the pavement I'll buy you one after it all."
He smiles and raises his tea cup in a show of solidarity.
"I'm Ignati, and by my estimation the hardest part of pushing our oppressors from our Silver City will be surviving long enough to establish a voice. An angry mob of people is one thing, organizing said angry mob and doing so discreetly, well, that's another thing entirely."
|
"Where, when, and how. Knowing Thrune and his closest allies' weaknesses and past crimes will tell us that last one," the hooded Voreni chimes in. "The people cry for true justice, but that requires an accounting of the crimes."
"I agree, and the how depends on the weaknesses of the enemy. If he is strong with man power but has little coin to pay for food and upkeep, then killing the man power might be a favour, but destroying a supply shipment might cripple him. Which come backs to our learned friend's spies." Says the previously silent veiled woman.
"However before that we have to survive, there will be trouble this afternoon. You all better have plans for when it happens."
"I'm Ignati, and by my estimation the hardest part of pushing our oppressors from our Silver City will be surviving long enough to establish a voice. An angry mob of people is one thing, organizing said angry mob and doing so discreetly, well, that's another thing entirely."
"You can call me Xeno, its not my real name, but if don't mind its good enough for you. In fact even if you do mind. I don't want your real names either, the more I know the more they can get out of me with truth magics, if they ever manage to pin me down."
"You can call me Xeno, its not my real name, but if don't mind its good enough for you. In fact even if you do mind. I don't want your real names either, the more I know the more they can get out of me with truth magics, if they ever manage to pin me down."
From the corner, the kobold reading his little book picks up a claw and points it at the female. "Listen to her. She's the smartest one in the room... after me, obviously." Alzhar flicked his tongue over one of his talons before turning a page. "That's how we handled our tribe's eggs: only our chief and a few special kobolds knew the location. That way, even under magical interrogation, some dippy 'bold can't reveal their location. If you actually plan to go to this... thing, stay close to her. I would."
"Then again, if I were organizing some resistance, I wouldn't make a public protest to let my foes know I'm not happy with them. You smile, shut up, and go back to making the perfect trap to catch them in when they walk by. If you had someone like me, you'd have no worries about... but I wouldn't jump feet first into trouble like you sound intent on."
******************************
Also, I realize I forgot to pick a protest reason. I think I'll go with Tagging Along because I'm more interested in seeing how this goes south than actually protesting.
"However before that we have to survive, there will be trouble this afternoon. You all better have plans for when it happens."
"There will be trouble indeed and you can also expect the presence of the city watch. And, in this case, is not a bad thing."
Ignoring the usual stares at her ruined face, Valleria continues.
"I am Valleria Albus, member of the city watch and just for you know, not all of us are under the Thrune payroll."
"I don't want your real names either, the more I know the more they can get out of me with truth magics, if they ever manage to pin me down."
"Oh they'll figure out who I am without any interrogation techniques. The benefit of being born into status is that they don't forget little things like identity you see."
He greets the kobold and Valleria as they enter their voices into the conversation.
"Well aren't we a colorful group? I daresay we seem to be a fearsome organization already, though we've yet to actually organize anything but a protest. Which, our scaly genius friend, goes back to the 'people-power' Fermi mentioned earlier. Individuals will be hard to notice in a large group, but, should we ever decide to formalize a little rebellion, today will certainly give us an opportunity to gauge public support."
"If you don't mind, Fermi, was it, I'll pass on the drink. I'd like to be clear headed for this protest, but if Barzillai doesn't stomp us into the pavement I'll buy you one after it all."
He smiles and raises his tea cup in a show of solidarity.
"I'm Ignati, and by my estimation the hardest part of pushing our oppressors from our Silver City will be surviving long enough to establish a voice. An angry mob of people is one thing, organizing said angry mob and doing so discreetly, well, that's another thing entirely."
Femi smiles back, more confident than his friend. "Ahh but today is only the beginning. Someone organized this protest today. We merely need to make contact and swell their numbers!"
"However before that we have to survive, there will be trouble this afternoon. You all better have plans for when it happens."
"You can call me Xeno, its not my real name, but if don't mind its good enough for you. In fact even if you do mind. I don't want your real names either, the more I know the more they can get out of me with truth magics, if they ever manage to pin me down."
”My friend, you are too concerned. Sure the powers that be don’t want today to happen, but they cannot stop the will of the people, properly aroused. They cannot stop from happening!”
He shakes his head, ”I know, I know, do not underestimate your enemy, but do not underestimate the people either!”
From the corner, the kobold reading his little book picks up a claw and points it at the female. "Listen to her. She's the smartest one in the room... after me, obviously." Alzhar flicked his tongue over one of his talons before turning a page. "That's how we handled our tribe's eggs: only our chief and a few special kobolds knew the location. That way, even under magical interrogation, some dippy 'bold can't reveal their location. If you actually plan to go to this... thing, stay close to her. I would."
"Then again, if I were organizing some resistance, I wouldn't make a public protest to let my foes know I'm not happy with them. You smile, shut up, and go back to making the perfect trap to catch them in when they walk by. If you had someone like me, you'd have no worries about... but I wouldn't jump feet first into trouble like you sound intent on."
A KOBOLD, wow!
”Sure there is some truth in what you say. Caution may be warranted. But much caution and no one comes to the rally. No one voices their opposition. No one stand up to tyranny. You sir, you stay in the shadows, and keep your eyes open. We will need a third party view of the proceedings - an unbiased view. I thank you for your service!”
"There will be trouble indeed and you can also expect the presence of the city watch. And, in this case, is not a bad thing."
Ignoring the usual stares at her ruined face, Valleria continues.
"I am Valleria Albus, member of the city watch and just for you know, not all of us are under the Thrune payroll."
Femi climbs to his feet, walks over, and shakes Valleria’s hand. ”So do you think the watch is firmly in the Thrune camp, or can they be swayed? Your job is not an easy one, not by a long shot. I know there may be violence today, even among those who agree with our stand. Loyalty too is important.”
"Well aren't we a colorful group? I daresay we seem to be a fearsome organization already, though we've yet to actually organize anything but a protest. Which, our scaly genius friend, goes back to the 'people-power' Fermi mentioned earlier. Individuals will be hard to notice in a large group, but, should we ever decide to formalize a little rebellion, today will certainly give us an opportunity to gauge public support."
Femi laughs. ”I feel as though we’ve won already, but of course we have not. This is merely the first step, and as other, wiser, heads have said before me, possibly a dangerous one. But we shall do this deed - and many more. And, eventually, the will of the people will, well, will out!”
- - -
Femi, caught up in the excitement of the day, talks overmuch. As he sits back down and sips his drink a little, he says a silent prayer to Cayden, and tries to relax a little in his chair. He looks at the others, intent on listening a while...
Ok, so I would like to put up Azalee Nightshade, an urban ranger and faithful adherent of Milani, for consideration. If successful, I'll create an alias for the character
Half-elf ranger (urban ranger) 1
CG Medium humanoid (elf, human)
Init +1; Senses low-light vision; Perception +7
--------------------
Defense
--------------------
AC 15, touch 11, flat-footed 14 (+3 armor, +1 Dex, +1 shield)
hp 11 (1d10+1)
Fort +3, Ref +3, Will +1; +1 trait bonus vs. mind-affecting effects, +2 vs. enchantments
Immune sleep
--------------------
Offense
--------------------
Speed 30 ft.
Melee morningstar +4 (1d8+3)
Ranged longbow +2 (1d8/×3)
Special Attacks favored enemy (humans +2)
--------------------
Statistics
--------------------
Str 16, Dex 13, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 13, Cha 12
Base Atk +1; CMB +4; CMD 15
Feats Power Attack, Skill Focus (Disable Device)
Traits armor expert, fed-up citizen
Skills Diplomacy +2, Disable Device +7, Disguise +2, Intimidate +5, Knowledge (local) +4, Perception +7, Stealth +4, Survival +5; Racial Modifiers +2 Perception
Languages Common, Elven
SQ elf blood, track +1, wild empathy +2
Other Gear studded leather, buckler, arrows (20), arrows (20), longbow, morningstar, backpack, bedroll, belt pouch, flint and steel, silk rope (50 ft.), thieves' tools, torch (10), trail rations (5), waterskin, 13 gp
--------------------
Special Abilities
--------------------
Armor Expert -1 Armor check penalty.
Elf Blood Half-elves count as both elves and humans for any effect related to race.
Elven Immunities - Sleep You are immune to magic sleep effects.
Favored Enemy (Humans +2) (Ex) +2 to rolls vs. Favored Enemy (Humans) foes.
Fed-Up Citizen You’re good at hiding your true colors and faith to avoid attracting the wrong kind of attention. Aura is treated as 4 HD lower for purposes of detect good/law.
Low-Light Vision See twice as far as a human in low light, distinguishing color and detail.
Power Attack -1/+2 You can subtract from your attack roll to add to your damage.
Track +1 Add the listed bonus to survival checks made to track.
Wild Empathy +2 (Ex) Improve the attitude of an animal, as if using Diplomacy.
"So, what do you think Azalee?"
Lowering the stein from her lips, Azalee looks at her compatriot with her large green eyes. "About what? That Thrune bastard's latest edict? It's insane!" she exclaims, her eyes hardening as she leans forward. " First embroidery, then tea, and now mint. Seriously, between these edicts, shutting down the opera house, and putting us all under martial law, what does he think he's playing at?"
Clenching her fist around the handle of her stein, the ranger clenches her teeth. "I've seen at least three good merchants arrested and sent to the watch-houses for not putting a portrait of our great queen up on their stalls in the markets, and just the other day the dottari fined someone over a gold for refusing to clean up the grain that they spilled in the first place!"
She lifts the stein to her lips again, hastily drinking another gulp of ale before setting it down on the table with a loud thump, the amber liquid sloshing up the edges of the stein and over her hand. "I've heard that there's a protest that will be taking place in front of the opera house in the next couple of days - I'm going to go. The people of this city need to rise up and fight, and with the Everbloom's guidance, I mean to see it done."
She looks each of her compatriots, her face hard and her gaze determined. Are you with me?" She smiles as the others nod in agreement, and the four lift their steins in a toast to camaraderie and the dangerous task that they will soon undertake in the name of Milani.
The fellow watches the various people gathered in the tavern. He'd gotten his seat early and had been able to pick a spot near a corner of the room with his back to one of the walls. Of casual, working man's dress his frame shows good tone. A small round shield is propped along one side of his chair while an empty sword scabbard hangs from his belt.
Ah, brothers, I see some glances at my hands. The man before you stretches his arms out, hands parallel to the floor, revealing words tattooed on his hands and then running down his arms. "FREEDOM" reads the right hand. "TYRANNY" reads the left. Would you like me to tell you the little story of right-hand and left-hand? The story of freedom and tyranny? TYRANNY! It was with this left hand that old brother Asmodeus struck the blow that laid his brother Ihys low. FREEDOM! You see these fingers, dear hearts? These fingers has veins that run straight to the soul of man. The right hand, friends, the hand of freedom. Now watch, and I'll show you the story of life. The odd man brings his hands together, interlocking his fingers as he plays out the imaginary struggle. Those fingers, dear hearts, is always a-warring and a-tugging, one against other. Now watch 'em! Old brother left hand, left hand he's a fighting, and it looks like freedom's a goner. But wait a minute! Hot dog, freedom's a winning! Yessirree! It's freedom that's won, and old left hand tyrrany is down for the count!
His voice rings with an odd cadence. Like he's practiced this speech a hundred times but he's only just remembering it.
But what's an Asmodean like me doin' all this "freedom" talk for? Well I'll tell you, you see it's plain knowledge that Ihys and Asmodeus were brothers, and that Ihys brought freedom to all of creation, and that Asmodeus done killed him for it. But what all of you forget is that brother Tyranny fully well could've taken back the gift of freedom from mankind - but he didn't. Why? I'm not sure.
He's a strange one indeed - his dress is patchwork and at the same time overly theatrical - like a gaudy beggar. In his hand he clutches a makeshift holy symbol of Asmodeus forged from bits of wire that didn't know what they were getting themselves into.
But I'll tell you a thing or two 'bout what this all means. See, all of history runs in patterns. Men born and men live and men die. Same as it was, same as it always will be. An' the way I see it now, good brother Thrune is makin' his move to lay blows to old Freedom. That's right we've heard this before, he strikes at the very same freedom that the the Prince of Hell himself allowed to thrive. And while I see the forces of Tyranny assemblin' each and every day, I say it's about time we give Freedom a bit of an edge. In the name of Asmodeus, of course.
A murmur from someone behind you - who in the nine hells is he?
My name? Reverend... Clench... Jaw. Yes. Reverend Clenchjaw. Oh? That the name of a tavern? Hadn't realized, pure coincidence. Or not. No such thing as pure coincidence.
The Reverend grins. He grins the grin of man who knows he isn't fooling anybody but himself.
|
A young gnome joins the conversation
"Hi I'm Poshmen...errr.... All this talk of knowing how and when and where to strike is good and all, but we also need to know how and when and where to move the people. We need secure channels of communication, means of moving resources, safe places, agents. We need to know how to keep them safe, how to get them to where they will do the most good, when and where to strike, when to withdraw. We need to organise. Rhetoric may move the people, but even the best tricks need a lot of ground work. I'm writing this all up for my thesis, but it'll be more fun to part of history rather than just studying it."
"Gnomes..." Voreni mutters under his breath. "The...uh, Black Claw, is correct. We need a solid combination of intelligence gathering, logistical analysis, and individuals able to work networks of contacts."
"One can never be too cautious. Especially here. Especially for my kind." The kobold takes a sip of his drink before returning to his reading.
"...oh Nethys curse it all... %$&#ing gnomes..." Alzhar curses under his breath, before turning another page in his book... and occasionally eyeing the fork on his table, before glancing at the gnome, and finally back to his book.
"I didn't realize the anti-gnome sentiment was so strong in Kintargo, or is that just present company? I for one am happy to see one of the First World among our council, they often provide insight on things overlooked, invaluable for gathering information, in fact my family employs more then one Gnomish informant."
Ignati sits up from his chair, and pushing it in to the table raises his cup one more time to his fellow discontent citizens.
"I believe the protest is soon to begin, and I'd surely hate to be late, lest our dear Mayor not see my grinning face among the crowd, good luck to you all, may fate see you well in the trying days to come!"
Wow. Great character submissions, great roleplay here...honestly, you guys have really made this a tough decision for me. Tough enough, in fact, that I'm actually going to be accepting six characters, instead of the originally planned five:
Wilhelm Alcontara
Ignati Vashnarstill
Valleria Albus
Corian Vinithus
Morrigan Winters
Voreni the Orphan
Everyone had great characters, and if I had more faith in my ability to effectively run for a larger group, I would have accepted more. As it is, I tried to make my decisions based on a combination of great backstory hooks, a balance of party roles, and a good balance of campaign traits. If you weren't chosen, it's certainly not a knock on the quality of your submission - this has all been really great. The discussion thread is now open, and I'll set up a gameplay thread as well, though I do not plan to post there until Monday.
Damn it all! You haven't seen the last of me!
But really if you have any dropouts let me know!
Wow, it's the second time GMs prefer to not recruit a divine character at all instead of choosing Varian. I'm starting to think there's something wrong with him or me. Whatever, congrats to all who did it and have fun!
Congrats to the accepted! Have a great time in Kintargo!
Congratulations to the winners. I shall look out for this AP again - I enjoyed making Poshment so much and this AP looks awesome. Have fun guys!
Aw nuts... ah well, there shall be more!
You'll be wishing you had me along!!!
Femi smiles, but it is a bitter sweet smile at loosing his new found friends.
"Good luck all, may Cayden bless your drink and make it sweet!"
Enjoy everyone!
Watching the small group leave the warmth and relative safety of the tavern's crowd 'Cap', to his friends, gives them a nod in passing and goes back to whatever business has brought him to Kintargo.