Just getting started but here at least is her name. She’ll be from Zhayalahmar, middle to upper class so she’s been sheltered but not spoiled. The language tree suggested Arabic so I’m not sure if the last name is appropriate or not.
Meet Cairee!
@Dounia I really like your character's back story!
@Corey - can you deactivate Tivli from this game? The internet makes it sound like there's a way to do so on the "edit campaign" tab?
Love Cairee's family story!
That pic of Zahra was my other choice for Dounia, it was a real hard choice, but she seemed just a bit older than I had planned for Dounia.
Looking forward to this!
Now, just gotta build my rogue...
Do we have the regular starting wealth considering we've been captured by slavers? Just starting to look at equipment...
Also, I cut and pasted the crunch format from another character so please let me know if I missed changing something. I think I got most things (gear aside) but I may have missed something.
I'm working on my skills and have a question...we normally get two points to put into background skills. If I want 3-4 background skills, may I put some of my regular skill points into them?
I'm working on my skills and have a question...we normally get two points to put into background skills. If I want 3-4 background skills, may I put some of my regular skill points into them?
You may put your regular skill points where ever you like, even skills labeled as background skills. You may put background skill points only in skills labeled background skills.
@everyone - Please put no more than 1 skill rank in each skill as you increase in level - even if it doesn't total your current level.
Do we have the regular starting wealth considering we've been captured by slavers? Just starting to look at equipment...
Also, I cut and pasted the crunch format from another character so please let me know if I missed changing something. I think I got most things (gear aside) but I may have missed something.
You will be striped of everything but may have a chance to recover any equipment you've purchased, left over money is another matter. I would err on spending as much of your starting wealth as possible.
A Note on Humans and Magic
I've always been drawn to the idea that magic is rare to humans. That the major cities have made the areas around them settled, civilized, and mundane. In the cities, and more so in smaller settlements, arcane magic is viewed with a great deal of suspicion. One must beware getting too far from a 'civilized' centre where all bets are off, with its' hedge wizards, strange monsters, and ancient sites of great power. Finding magical items and effects in a city is done with care and clandestine meet-ups, store fronts with secret back rooms.
Nobles usually know something of the magical world but having/using it would be a great scandal. Teachers who teach practical arcane skills (spell casting, item creation, etc.) usually teach something else (history, ancient languages, alchemy). They are very proprietary about their skill, much like a closed martial arts schools is about its' fighting style. They watch their students for those who have talent and then slowly start to offer them "extended studies".
This is very different than the workings of the gods through mortals or divine magic. Divine magic is very controlled by the various churches - and therefore has much better press.
Zhayalahmar is different though. This city is built on the bones of the first great human civilization - the Valitudh People, who learned their magic directly from the Uyar (High-elves). Magic can be found here, though much of it is fake. There isn't the prejudice towards 'the secret science' that you find in other cities. It is however very guild controlled. There are magic schools that vie for control and power. When a new 'talent' or child with magical power is discovered they sometimes are recruited, purchased, or stolen, never to see their families again. Very few practitioners function outside of a guild - for long.
To the world magic can seem strange, and the City of Zhayalahmar seems strange in it. 'Wonders' happen here and wonders are always dangerous.
You may want to consider starting the game without me and writing my character in at a later date - I fear it'll take me a while yet to get back to proper character building mood and I'd hate to keep you waiting if you are getting close to ready to begin.
You may want to consider starting the game without me and writing my character in at a later date - I fear it'll take me a while yet to get back to proper character building mood and I'd hate to keep you waiting if you are getting close to ready to begin.
We'll play it by ear. I'm not going to be ready for a while. Regardless, there's a spot waiting for you when you're ready.
Great info for Cairee! Who's next?!?!
Great info for Cairee! Who's next?!?!
You. I'm nearly finished.
I have posted the 'forced meeting' preludes as spoilers. If you like, please go ahead and read each other's preludes. I like to give people the option to learn about the others through in-game character interaction so please reply to your own spoiler as a spoiler.
If I post something 'for your eyes only' I will write a spoiler ending in 'only'. Please do not read those if you are not indicated.
I really love this way of opening a game. Everybody wrote amazing intros, and I read everything. I'll try not to cheat on the "only" spoilers coming up, but it'll be hard! Really looking forward to the game starting. And I promise Dounia won't be unaware of anybody else but herself forever .:)
I’ve really enjoyed it as well! But for some reason, the gameplay didn’t register initially the there were new posts for me to read. So I was really confused by your earlier post that said “Great info for Cairee”...I thought I’d missed something - and I had. Good thing I figured that out :)
Which was also a typo, I meant great intro...
It's not just you Shari, I've been getting delayed notifications. Sometimes it takes a day or two for them to show up.
Also, love everyone's intro!
Dounia, please add Sahradhurone to you list of known languages. Zhara, please add Limaninite. Sorry Cairee, Aerthane is your native language already.
Thank you all for committing to the intros and for writing so well. A forced opening like this does take some of the freedom away but you ran with it - thank you! Next post coming soon. If you want to add anything to old posts, please use the headings (i.e. The Long Trip, They Don't Haggle, A Ruined Scheme, or First Impressions).
What does the mark look like? What part of the face?
I'm assuming the mark doesn't mean anything to me, and that's why the spoiler is for Zahra only?
Rats, falling behind as I feared. I will try to get my character sorted by the end of the week, promise. In the meanwhile, have fun without me.
I'm assuming the mark doesn't mean anything to me, and that's why the spoiler is for Zahra only?
Yes
Rats, falling behind as I feared. I will try to get my character sorted by the end of the week, promise. In the meanwhile, have fun without me.
I have been thinking about your introduction and have, I think, an interesting back door in so that you can join at any point. Please take your time but know I'm looking forward to you joining!
Thank you. Mechanics should be about in order now if you want to take a look, and I have plenty of ideas for the fluff - just need to put the pieces that fit together, discard the rest and write it all down.
So, starting to me my supertitious Hlewmylani warrior's fluff... decided to put together what background information I had from you, so you can point out if I made some mistakes - easier to do that now than after I have spent several hours writing ;^) I'm more than willing to invent things on my own, but if you already have a definite idea about how a thing should be, I'd rather use that to my advantage.
- Matriarchial society, councils of elder women... Does that also extend to women owning all land and property in the tribes? And are women traditionally part of the military forces as well? The human primer did mention that some warLORDS haven been subjugated, so does that mean war is a man's sport in the clans, or should I take the title as gender-neutral?
- Clans have different customs... but do the Hlewmylani people have some sense common of nationalism? Or is the clan the largest unit a Hlewmylani will care about? I expect the clans are at odds at times, with alliances shifting like sand in the wind, but how bloody do feuds and wars between the clans get? Are there external threats (or opportunities) that bring all the clans together (like the Aerthane)?
- Arcane magic is distrusted, unless wielded by a clan shaman (appointed and anointed by the ruling women, I assume). So a Hlewmylani would respect a wielder of such powers... assuming he thought they had been vetted to do so by the wise folks, but a rogue mage who took the power by his own initiative would be a thing to be feared and loathed?
- Hate the elves and the Fae in general, worship the celestial bodies and animal spirits. Could extent to other natural spirits, real or imagined, I suppose (supersitious, after all)?
Thank you. Great questions/lines of thinking!
Tymythy-son-of-Stywyrt, I will chalk out an outline for the Hlewmylani. I want you to be free to create a clan that is either typical or atypical. What I ask is that you don't define the entire Hlewmylani people - give room for the next player to define their own tribe ... or choose to be from the tribe you created. I hope to give you a great deal of latitude to write. Please, make my world bigger but try not to limit it for others.
Warlords here can and usually refer to women. Women are a big part of the fighting class and war parties are made up of both sexes. There are some specialized fighting groups that are made entirely of women - like the Maeven's Guard. Men do not see women as above them and visa versa. Anyone can own land or property. Men see an aspect in women that gives women particular wisdom and Men proudly protect that wisdom.
Much of the idea is drawn from historical figures like the Irish Maeve (or Queen Mab), Viking Shield Maidens, or the Celtic Queen Boudica. The relationship between Eusabiona(the Aerthanians) and Divolgatia(the Hlewmylani) is very similar to the relationship between conquering Rome and early english/french/german tribes. Some tribes welcome the benefits of the relationship - some ignore/war against the invaders.
Clan structure:
Leader or Maeven (a reference to Queen Mab)
A male consort who is also a general or senechal (if you are son-of-STYWYRT then your father-line may have come from a senechal)
the Maeven's coucil (an oracle or trio of oracles, a cleric/druid, a witch or coven)
Respected members of the clan who's voices have a little more weight at clan meetings (a blacksmith, animal trainer, the best hunters, etc.)
The rest of the clan.
Again please feel free to make your clan atypical if you feel it appropriate. It would be extremely odd to have a male leader for example - if you can answer the question 'Why' then go ahead.
Clans aren't expansionist but they are very proud. They protect their own and may have strong feelings about other clans (respect their animal training skills or be disgusted at how they have bowed to the invaders ... "the Bearclaw Clan? Yes, they are great orc fighters but they don't know how to craft shields. Never trade for a Bearclaw shield! ... "). Wars between clans can decimate tribal groups. There is a lot of fighting with orcs and hobgoblins from the great forest. This can bring clans together. Every four years, clans send out emissaries to other tribes bringing gifts - friendly tribes get good gifts, unfriendly tribes get standard gifts and opportunities for intrigue.
Yes, arcane magicians would be appointed and anointed. Some tribes have Maeven approved witches covens. There are also hedge witches, not related to covens (very Hamlet-esque or 'Hansel and Gretel'). Someone in a clan who took up arcane magic without the approval of the Maeven would be seen as a violation of clan structure, as an out of line power grab. They must have a dark purpose. They would be punished or might be beaten then exiled.
At territorial conflict with the woodelves and suspicious of elves in general.
Fae are mischievous and often malevolent - the cankerous/rotten part of the natural world.
Yes, worship could extend as far as you like. Some of this wisdom could be quite arbitrary depending on the clan (i.e. likes dryads but hates gremlins).
Also note, Tymythy, you will start with two beginning languages: Aerthane and Hlewmylani.
Thank ye, that's a lot of information to digest. Queen Mab/Maeve/Medb and the Irish legends are somewhat known to me - I quite enjoy the Ulster Cycle, though I got into it from a funny direction... still, should be help to center myself mentally. Scáthach and Cú Chulainn are two of the reasons I got the spear-wielding warrior image into my head ;^)
Right, first bit of background information is up... will continue tomorrow, but feel free to comment if you happen to have the time.
Hmm... a bit at a loss defining an enemy to Tymythy. It wouldn't make much sense to name an enemy back in the clan lands, since I don't have a reason to believe we'll be heading in that direction any time soon and a NPC far. far away isn't really worth much. I do foresee a lot of opportunities for Tymythy's sense of honor and foreign customs to insult or be insulted by what some barbaric westerner says or does, but since I imagine Tymythy's going to run into trouble like the others, it would be convenient to know how far he does manage to travel before circumstances take the control off his hands ;^)
Tymythy, I forgot to comment - don't change a thing. This is great. A very full rounding of a background. I will have some questions that should help me with future sub-plots soon. Nice work.
Thank ye. Added a few lines of description, still need to pick one bonus language from intelligence... Noroan, perhaps, as it is a homan root language and you mentioned it having Estonian roots... which is much like Finnish, except some of the words have wildly different meanings in the two languages ;^)
It's more likely you would have come in contact with Latronic (the language of the wandering peoples with possible uses in the far west), Urneggi (the language of the pirates in the south-west), Mattiyilor (Grey Elven), Marameen (Woodelven), or one of the hoard races (orcish, goblin, gnoll, lizardfolk). Noroan is the language of the Northern continent, quite distant from Divolgatia. Not a lot of contact there.
Thank you for the clarification. Think I will go with orcish in that case. Also, got a couple pages into my post before getting distracted. Will finish it tomorrow morning.
I am putting together a few documents. One is the narrative as we go with chapters that match the titles you are posting under. Please, as you respond to each other continue to use the titles (ie. A Trip To Auction). It will help me to place your posts in the narrative.
New post coming today as we push into the city.
I woke up like thith
And now I have the Beyonce song in my head.
I woke up like thith,
I woke up like thith,
Flawlith.
Gothdaw, Gothdaw.
Zahra, suddenly growing claws is a big moment and I don't want to trample over it. Too much has happened since the moment you want to back-post this moment to. Every one of the other captives would have noticed. I will place this moment just after we find out what the result of Dounia's Bluff roll is.
Hello everyone, I've been putting all of the posts in what I felt was the most logical order. Please check it for continuity.
Ah, misread that. Can she pull the nail without a roll?
Ah, misread that. Can she pull the nail without a roll?
You used your manacles so only your stealth roll was needed. If you were trying to pull it out with your fingers I would have asked for a str check. ;)
Round 1 con't
Sorry, you've used your action in round 1 to pull the nail out as quietly as you could. You will have to wait for round 2 to pick any manacles. I'm waiting for all to post before going on to round 2.
As for the DC, basic manacles are DC20. Picking them with an insufficient tool is DC30. I will be explaining the manacles in my next post (at the end of the round, and adding a map of the cart which will answer some questions) but you will find out the DC will be averaged to DC25. You will not get the bonus of using thieves tools so you have a +8 to your disable device not +10. You can retry ... !spoiler! You have 15mins before getting to the auction DHUM! dhum! dhum!
This is going to take a ton of time. Is each try a 6 second round? Would it make more sense for me to post a bunch of rolls, to see if she can even do it in the 15 minutes? Then you can determine how often we need to make stealth rolls? If we do it round by round, and it takes many rounds for each person, it could really slow things down.
Let's work our way through the first round. After that if people want to sit back and try to be quiet (adding +10 their stealth rolls) then we could do ten disable device rolls and everyone do ten stealth checks. We could go minute by minute and add a little player commentary. If things start to get close and you don't think you'll finish then you can rethink your actions as a group.
I have sent out Roll20 invitations. Please join in so you cvan see the most ridiculous map I've ever posted.
Corey - Guidance lasts up to a minute, until it is dispelled. So if Dounia does a check and uses it, Cairee would need to recast if Dounia tries again - no?
Corey - Guidance lasts up to a minute, until it is dispelled. So if Dounia does a check and uses it, Cairee would need to recast if Dounia tries again - no?
@Dounia - good luck! Though if you don't do well with the lock picking, I wonder if we should encourage you to sneak out and find Zahra's parents or something? Just a thought.
There is now a direct Roll20 invite link in the header.