Discuss ALL the things, here.
If you have questions about the world, post them here.
Testing
Grand Priestess Kehlia, Spirit from the Second Age:
These are all racial NPC templates.
I have one for each major intelligent race.
When I post as an NPC within that race, unless the NPC is very important/extremely consistent, they will be posted under one of these racial NPC's, with a header as seen above noting who it actually is speaking. If knowledge about them is hidden and they are still important, they will have a header which is hidden, saying something like 'Hooded Golem in the back of the Room' or something similar.
I will also update each of the racial NPC's with general information about the race's appearance and abilities, for your reference.
A million faces from one.
Huzzah.
Rolfenisk, Lutist:
Sometimes, with formatting, there may be more than one person speaking within the same race. They will be broken up like this.
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Kellrin, Keeper of Speech Tomes:
They will be formatted like this.
Also, some general knowledge for those new to this forum...
"This is NPC speech"
This is TELEPATHIC SPEECH! dundundun....
"Hi. I'm Barry the Initiative Badger. I'll be posting the initiative for combat, and unless you roll it yourself, I'LL BE ROLLING YOUR INITIATIVE! HAVE IT ON YOUR HEADER SO I CAN READ IT! I'm always lurking the gameplay thread, but know this: I DON'T ACTUALLY CARE.
If you don't post on your turn after a day or so, I'll probably post the initiative for the next round, PASSING YOUR TURN BY.
Because I DON'T CARE. It'll look like this..."
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"Again... So you understand... BARRY THE INITIATIVE BADGER DON'T CARE."
"I'm not passive aggressive. I really just don't care... I only do this for the copper."
Rad. I'll read up some more on the Golems, but if you could post something like you did for the Ennim, that would be appreciated. I've already got a reason for Ertzah to get on the boat, but it would be good to better understand how the Emberwatch integrates into the setting (are they recognized? how widespread? how close to the port the Heron docks at?).
For crunch, it seems like I am the only castery type? I counted a Monk, Barbarian, and two Rogues. On that end, it sounds like we have plenty of damage potential, so while I'll take Eldritch Blast, and most likely take Agonizing Blast at some point, I'm probably going to go offense-light and try to pick up some utility. As a Tomelock, I'll probably pick up Guidance, Stabilize the Dying, and Vicious Mockery (which provides less damage, but a solid debuff).
I'd also take the Find Familiar spell/ritual, and probably cast it on the ship (just a head's up to TOHG).
Cool cool. Give me more about what you want to know so I can make it worthwhile and CONCISE, lol.
I'll post in about 8ish hours, I gotta go to bed.
Ask me all the questions, and I will provide all the answers...
Lunch break post:
Trying to decide on a background to represent Ertzah's advisor/councilor role. Possibly Sage or Noble (though I imagine they do not have nobles).
I picture the Emberwatch as a respected organization, mostly within the golem homelands (which are...), with some branch offices elsewhere. Known for caring about the means by which the end is to be accomplished, which means less brutality and property damage, but sometimes failure as well.
Proposed lore addition:
While Golems do not wear clothes, some elect to wear colored scarves which can communicate anything from organizational affiliation to accomplishments/commendations to gender identity to goals and promises made for those that can read them.
I'll come back in the evening with more, probably.
Alright, I've done some reading on Zikzar.
How does nobility work within Zikzar?
I've narrowed my background choices to Noble and Guild "Artisan" (Emberwatch being the guild).
Working on the other crunch right now, should be finished soon.
Sorry for the lateness, here is the write-up:
Scarved Golems is actually a thing, good job at reading MY MIND.
The Emberwatch Guard is a multi-faceted organization within Zikzar, comprised of conservationists, volunteers, and those who have seen the horrors of the flesh-world outside Zikzar. Its primary functions as a Guard deal with snuffing out crime and violence, but it is also very watchful as the primary defense against wildfire, especially in Zikzarran cities and settlements wrought out of mostly woodcraft.
Because crime and violence, and even wild fires are rarely found in the lush groves and megaliths of Zikzar, much of the time spent on the Watch is given over to mundane works of order-keeping, such as trade traffic, tending the semi-organic infrastructure, and guarding politicians. In some cities, the primary functions of the Emberwatch Guard is seen as strictly a formality. "Be it a myth that crime and flame exist within the lands of Heskrath."
(This is quite an ironic state, as Barzelselel is in fact a god whose servants were the first flame. In the elder ages, flame was not looked upon as a vile thing as it is now, but because of the development of the depravity of the times, even in Zikzar some things have become estranged from order.)
Seen by other orders as even lazy, the Emberwatch sometimes struggles to keep their sense of honor and duty. But at the first sight of flame, they are always there, ready to serve.
(Other orders include but are not limited to The Order of Progressive Heart, the Order of Verdant Heart, the Legion of Daimond Soul, and the newest fad being the ever-controversial Order of Indestructible Heart.)
On Nobility: The wealthy, of both capital and philosophy, are seen as those who hold most political power in Zikzar. Many will have independent organizations which are seen as political because of either the valor of their cause or because of the value they have to progressing society, or, simply the sheer force of financial power they possess. The government is democratic, republican, but very loose, as the citizens they have have within themselves an innate order. However, due to their Homunculus brethren, different orders have come about.
Most of the crime and fire incidents the Watch deals with are caused by Homunculi, and those within the watch, and even many outside hold views against the race which paint them shifty, frenetic and barbaric. However, the two races very much compliment each other within Zikzar, and their symbiotic union was ordained by their mutual God through intent and design.
Scarves scarves scarves!
Well, since the Emberwatch spends most of their time on alert but taskless, that gives Ertzah time to work with a Homunculi laboratory, helping them reduce their accident rates. The additional social good/second income is enough to achieve minor nobility status.
For backstory NPCs, I'm currently looking at Mishra the Emberwatch agent, and a yet-to-be-determined homunculus researcher Ertzah collaborates with.
Since Nobles get a proficiency with a gaming set, is there a game favored by Homunculi?
Do the other orders have their own subraces, or do Verdants/Progressives also belong to Diamond Soul/Indestructible Heart?
Subraces and orders don't officially match or anything, but you'll find more of one in the appropriate one than the other, as you would expect.
If you end up going Chain bond, we can give you a homunculus to function as a familiar.
Homunculi will play any game you put in front of them. Then change the rules. Within an hour, the game that was before will become at least 3 which are barely reminiscent of the original one.
I am posting to initialize my presence.
Cool.
Just so you know this about Rahn Behn;
He is known as the shrewd one. The malevolent trickster. He is the father of all creatures that lay in the depths of the oceans, the cruel untamed sea guardians. He is responsible for many a conflict among the realms, and while seems full of fun and energy, is a very poised deity. Those who openly follow Rahn Behn in most societies are often regarded as dishonorable, full of deceit, and ready to knife you when you're not looking.
Stuff about Barzelselel for good measure:
He is the teacher of the wise, inventor of innovation, the first forger, whose servants are the two faces of the first flame. Benevolent in all ways, kind and mild, but tolerates not any sort of folly. A sort of paradoxical yaevre. He is consumed himself with pursuits of divine invention, filling Aethom with ever-new creations.
If you have a sort of dual-worship thing going on there, that's totally cool and will be interesting. You could venerate each yaevre with differing levels of devotion as well. Whatever dynamic you choose should be great, but if you're an open practitioner of Rahn Behn's arts, you'd probably lose your job, in the world.
Also, the homunculus were made basically to be the perfect familiar/servant to the golems, so they don't really mind. However, at the same time, those with a more traditional viewpoint hold that they were created 'only' for this purpose, and has lead to some backlash/political waves throughout the last few centuries, as Zikzar has progressed even further, realizing the full potential of the little grimy buggers.
Ertzah would revere Barzelselel as most golems do, but Rahn Behn is feeding magic and visions into him.
Unable to ignore it, Ertzah is driven to find out why Rahn Behn has chosen him. Perhaps he is a piece in the trickster's game with a role to play, perhaps the lines got crossed and he is receiving the power meant for someone else, it is something for Ertzah to discover as we go. Anything related to Rahn Behn must be studied to better understand his relationship.
Cool cool. This will be good
Hey, posting in to let you know I'm here and should be more or less ready to go by tomorrow. I'm working on a decent backstory for Nikomedos (who will probably go by Niko), as well as a reason for him to be on the ship. I do have the question of whether I could use a slightly customized mechanical background--a mix of the Hermit and Outlander.
Also will be getting the info into a profile in a bit.
Actually, another question: how animalistic do ennims look? Is this a good profile picture, or would I have more distinct buffalo features?
I think that's pretty good. If you can find a more buffalo-ish art, I salute you. None of the constructs I browsed caught my eye, so I went with the prismatic-leaf/flame-d4 thing above.
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I am happy to be playing with all of you and Gutter is ready to go!
Ennim are pretty monstrous, but profile pics aren't a big deal. I believe we are waiting for Thraxil and a dwarf?
So... I live in Asia.
My timezone is +8 or something like that.
I am also, RABID about this game format.
Taking all of these factors into consideration, I think that this game's pace will be very regulated and balanced, due to my obsession and sleep schedule.
Also, we will start on Monday, instead of tomorrow, because the style of this forums is kinda to have the weekends 'off', and such.
So we have a little more time to work on backstories for those who wish to.
I will post the beginning of the adventure on your Monday morning.
I'll also be posting tidbits of info here and there for player knowledge, like details about the Defiant Heron, certain societies, and jank like that.
If you have questions about how to do that I'll be happy to help you. Keep those updated for when fights break out.
Hope you all have a good weekend!!!!!!
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Hum, I appear to have ended up notably more fragile compared to the rest, despite my best efforts. Oh well, I have no reason to stand in front of savages while they wave their kill-sticks at us anyhow.
Lol. It's alright if it starts off sluggish, I have means of enticing. The first RL day will probably get spent in RP solidifying your work together.
Info:
The Defiant Heron is a longship who has seen about 5 cycles' worth of voyages, exporting goods all across the mouth of the Sea. Its crew boasts 98 hardy folk, headed by the beautiful cannon Jez Ovgrins.
Through these past 5 cycles, she has made quite a name for herself, for during her first 3 cycles in her position as captain, she has faced 6 brutal attacks from Orcish pirates, a kraken, Ennish sea-slavers, and not only overcame them, but also managed to get each of her shipments in on time. For the first cycle and a half, she didn't even have an underscout in her crew.
Now the Defiant Heron has been given the job to scout out the lost nation Chressida, to see why the Conglomeration's biggest trade partner has seemingly gone silent from the world.
The Defiant Heron is making the last of her rounds before you all head to Chressida. Jez Ovgrins is undaunted by the job, and wants to get all the coin she can before she heads out, wasting no capital or time.
You have landed on the Karsushan Isles, renowned as the Throne of Balashor-het, and the home of the flames of disdain.
All life which is not born of the Yaevre directly came from the Avehr. When Adwar Mael Khama happened, the power of the yaevre was bound to the lands, warping it, and the Avehran kinds which dwelt there, into terrible things. Much of the first age of Czarn was spent fighting off these terrible Avehrkin, who were beyond the words mighty and terrible in strength. Throughout the next 5 ages, the Avehr of the land and air became more domesticated, with the children of the Yaevre learning how to overcome them.
However, in areas beyond the children of the Yaevre's reach, these mighty and terrible Avehr from the first age still dwell and thrive, the biggest place being the seas.
Because of the Avehrkin's territorial hostility towards each other and Yaevre-children, seafaring was at first a very dangerous trade. The orcs first invented it to gain passage to the mainland, and ages after, the most daring among man began to give it a hand.
The Conglomeration perfected the work, however. After their initial conflicts with the Hudorians settled down, they began to enlist them as precious and privileged scouts of the water, using their inherent ability to sing and calm Avehr to give their ships safe passage. These 'underscouts' were highly paid and became a dire commodity for international trade.
Conglomeration ships took other measures against these Avehr however. Many ships' hulls are lined with meshes of teeth, crafted from Aeqbane metals. Between measures like these, and the heavy presence of underscouts, most of the Mouth of the Sea has become a much safer stage for international trade.
Hey to all: Read the bold stuff at the very least. I post a lot, but you don't have to read all of it if it is daunting. It's all stuff to help immersion. The most important tidbits will all be in bold.
To Niko: I'm sorry, I didn't see your other question before. Mechanical mixes between those backgrounds are fine, just don't gestalt anything, if that makes sense.
Again:
Talk to me.
We are online!!!
Go Team!
Happy MLK Day!
Waiting for a few more people to check in.
I've sent PM's out, there's not much else to do but wait.
I can drop people though, if it prolongs towards exasperation.
Let's give it a little time.
But I won't wait forever either, don't worry.
Sorry I haven't posted yet--I came down with a bad sickness over the weekend, and I've only recently been feeling better and well enough to hash out the character and think about posting into the gameplay thread with more than a basic dot. Hopefully I'll get something up in a bit.
Let me know if you need more material to work with for him and I'm glad you're feeling better!
Do Golems lack any senses (such as taste)? Do they eat, breathe, and drink, or are they differently sustained?
They have similarly designed senses as organic beings, but are generally akin to what could be the vegetative equivalent to those abilities. So, they can see and hear, smell through their leafy bits, and can sustain nutrients through photosynthetic meditation, but require much water, and can eat some Things, but those are mostly roots and other vegetation, and minerals to uphold their stone's structural integrity. And other stuff I'll tell you later bc class
Alright, neat.
Also Loup/Niko: If you want to be the team member that tossed a barrel to Ertzah, feel free to use that as an intro.
I liked the interpretation I got, though to clarify, my Arcana check was meant for the green lights in the first gameplay post:
You see something new: faint green lights in the foreground, with familiar vermilion flames deep into the black horizon. This walled port-town is a crapshoot; buildings half-burned, roofs mangled, run down barriers, crude cobbled streets… The island was never kind to the Conglomeration, but in these last dark days, it seemed to have turned for worse.
Ahhh sorry. You know it's caused by torches made with a certain ore of metals stuck into the base of the torch head. You don't really know if it's also held in its green state by some mystic crafts, but the fact they're holding up against these rains makes you wonder.
It's not too much of an unheard of thing, or even necessarily hard to do, but it's something youhaven't seen.
We will have PirateDevon joining us, as we don't know where half of our group is, and it's been like over a week. If we get the others, then we'll assume they are among the Labor Team as it all unfolds.
There are several other NPC's that are just grunts among Labor Team 6 with you anyways, so they'll just emerge from the team as they do.
Cheers.
To all here:
We will have the weekends off, and nobody will bar you from posting in Gameplay, but that's just sanctioned for our lives. Sabbaths and all that.
What are your questions?
I pm'd you but basically i wanted to get deeper into the circumstance of homonculi creation s far as like how it occurs, who is responsible in a day to day sense. Do they have a sense of family or reverence of the progenitor, are the y Italy bound to a task then released or escape that sort of thing.
-Posted with Wayfinder
Also a question here, going back to one I asked earlier: Could I get an idea of the physical description of ennim? Just how much of the animal aspect do they show? Is my head that of a buffalo, or do I have a heavy brow and thick hair? Horns? Do ennim have fur on their bodies, are they usually quite hairy, or do they look primarily human with just suggestions of their creation?
Just wondering, because I started to describe certain things with Niko in my post and realized they might not be right.
Homunculi are a sexual race who mate as they deem fit, but their relationships concerning mating are short and sometimes violent. They much prefer the company of Golems in their day to day. Homunculi lay fertilized eggs.
They are intelligent beings who have formed many schools of thought, cultures, philosophies and opinions about deities in their own right.
The biggest factor marking them is their obsession. Their obsession is dormant from birth, and blooms the first time they hear of, or interact directly with the object of their obsession. It can be literally any specific thing; different matters of immensely acute study. It is their life's passion, their life itself, to know all there is to know about that one thing.
Do you need more? I'm happy to supply info.
The first Ennim, the patron of all others, was wrought from a stretched and filled dwarf. Many Ennim's features show this origin.
The first Ennim's four wives came from the Buffalo, the Lion, the Jackal, and the Roc. These wives mated with the first Ennim, and their children were monstrous, but had features of both parents.
There are many Ennim who resemble mostly dwarves with features of the four mothers mixed. There are some who resemble one of the four mothers more than their father, and are considered of purer blood than most.
There exist many who lie on each portion of the spectrum between stretched dwarven features, and each of the monstrous' wives features.
It's basically up to you completely. However you like it.
I'm not sure how to articulate my questions about this but is there enough flexibility of self to delay gratification to serve the obsession ? For instance adventuring in a broad sense is fraught with interruption especially for scholars but the acquisition of knowledge and resources usually makes that interruption worthwhile . I guess I am trying to imagine what kind of obsession would put a homonculi in the current circumstances of the group and would let him adventure rather than stay working on his obsession ...does that make sense?
-Posted with Wayfinder
Yes. Homunculi can control themselves as much as they desire, it's just that most often their foremost desire is their obsession.
And most often it will cause them to leave their homes and travel to eldritch places unknown to find out every minutia about their obsession. This is very common. It's easy for adventuring and the obsession to mix and weave into each other.
There are those among them who can 'master' it though. These uncommon homunculi treat it like a tick in their brain, much like tourettes syndrome.
It's alright buddy, I think it's been a busy week for most of us.