Okay, this is potentially the rest of my backstory, and a redo of the last sentence of my old one because I reread it and realized how silly it was despite being technically grammatically correct.
Makes some assumptions about Gem Magic, oreads being able to be Gemsoul oreads, and how the Court of Lies work, so if I've made any errors let me know.
Those who need brought to justice, and for whom the noble leaders of the city will pay great sums of money for.
--
Once Chezarina had made the beginnings of a name for herself in Light, she crossed paths with Kiyiyah, the wailing wolf. An Oread born with gems in his body, a soul of music and tales, and a disrespect for his Elder's authority. Kiyayah preferred to learn his tales straight from the Court of Lies rather than his elders, and also by swearing allegiance to them, safeguard himself from the Court of Gems.
Kiyayah's lack of regard for authority followed him as he made his way across Light to spread and learn new tales, and before long he found himself branded a minor criminal. Yet, with his fae magic he eluded capture time and time again in more extravagant escapes, soon he had a bounty placed on him, and Chezarina attempted to take it.
Yet, she did not have luck in such regards either, no matter how many times she chased him, she could never capture him, and oft their encounters were more a dance than chase. Still, eventually, the wanderer Kiyayah felt the need to move on from Light, and when he did, Chezarina followed. On the roads and in the wilderness, she encountered a sinister plot of an unscrupulous sorcerer to harvest the gems in Kiyayah's body for some mystical end, and Chezarina decided to temporarily join forces with Kiyayah to put a stop to the sorcerer. As part of this venture, she made a bargain of her own with the Court of Lies, and received the power to call upon the strength of animals.
Parting ways with Kiyayah on positive terms after the unknown sorcerer's plot was foiled at least for the time, Chezarina was conflicted as she made her way back to Light, but found a nightmare when she returned. There she met Thuàng Nê Luu Sânh and was forced to work together merely to survive.
Chezarina, I like it a lot! The way you are describing gemsouls, and Kiyayah's attempts to get away from the Court of Gems, all works very nicely with the vision I have of the world.
1) In terms of languages, it says the 'outsider' languages are not available to starting characters. I assume it's fine to acquire these via the linguistics skill? With a university background I think she would have worked to acquire the tongues of the four races and with a particular interest in the planes, would have learned the outsider tongues.
2) How easy is it to learn new spells to populate a spellbook? I'm conscious of the restrictions on magic in the setting but I would like to add some additional spells beyond those gained each level (maybe a handful for each level?). I have an idea for a spellbook that is a 'holy text' of River populated with various thematic (water and cold) spells.
3) Following on from that, what rules are you using in terms of cost for scribing new spells?
4) Are there any restrictions on wands or difficulty in acquiring them? I've chosen the wand wielder magus arcana but this does mean I'd like to have wands to use! I'll make sure items are worked into the background so having them makes sense.
5) Similarly, I'll make sure this is addressed but my magic items so far are +1 scimitar, +1 mithral chain shirt, cloak of resistance +1, pearl of power 1, belt of incredible dexterity, handy haversack, alabaster trapping (which is probably the least common of the above items). Any issues with anything here?
Still writing up background and personality but the main story beats mentioned previously still stand.
1) Yep, no problem with you learning those with the appropriate background, and points into linguistics.
2) I am pretty flexible on this, as long as it stays thematic with cold, water, etc, as a holy text of River. Let me know details as we go, but leaning heavily toward yes.
3) If I'm reading it correctly, there are 2 costs - the cost for the 'privilege' on being allowed to copy it, and the Standard costs for doing any kind of ink work.
I'd rather keep the "Standard" costs
LINK!
Which looks to be cost = (spell level squared) * 10
And then I'd like to waive the "privilege" cost altogether, since the flavor is you are slowly revealing parts of a holy book. So the Standard costs could be for the appropriate incense to burn, or inks/etc to restore the pages with, but you won't need to pay anyone the 'privilege' fee. Let me know if that makes sense.
4 and 5) You should have access to any wand you can afford, and make sure it fits in your backstory. Same with the magic items - everything looks fine and reasonable.
**
It looks like we are ready or close to ready for posting! (I know there will be a few more edits here and there as you finalize, no big deal)
I have a good spot to introduce you narratively, so let me know if you are both ok with starting to post later this week.
The general idea, as you are capping off your more recent history together, is that you have been taking a roundabout trail away from Light, and you are now in the same situation as the PCs - fleeing from Moon's stronghold, but trapped by the barrier they are currently discussing.
Excellent, thanks for all of that.
Should be fine to start posting this week. To let you know, I'm away on holiday for a few days from Saturday but should hopefully still be able to post.
Thuàng Nê Luu Sânh, would you like for us to be set up like, a small camp on the edge of the barrier that the party can then stumble across?
That sounds like it would work. How long do you think we’ve been together? Somewhere between a few days to a month?
Appearance and personality sorted (barring tinkering), posted here for ease. Also a change in portrait to better reflect this.
She dresses in a form fitting robe of pure white that has been streamlined for swimming and does not hinder the movement of her limbs. Wave pattern detail along the hems are the only embellishment and a belt of navy silk encircles Luu Sânh’s slim waist. Closer inspection reveals this to be exquisitely made and far stronger than it appears. An enchanted scimitar, Wavedance nestles against one hip, a pouch of woven kelp containing her magical reagents on the other.
Luu Sânh has a keen sense of right and wrong and at heart is driven by a desire to protect and improve the lives of her community and people. While she isn’t normally backwards in coming forwards with her opinions, she is at least aware that her struggle to see shades of grey means that she isn’t the most diplomatic person. As such, she prefers to leave honeyed words and politicking to others, letting her actions speak for her.
Indeed, her actions have granted her renown and heroic status among her people and she embodies many of the best qualities of the undine. Ironically - and one which is not lost on her - at least part of the reason for her high regard is that she is considerably bolder than most of her cautious kin. While some conservative elders would condemn such behaviour as reckless, such accusations are not really fair. Luu Sânh does give due consideration to her actions and abides by the motto of ‘Don’t go in unless you can get out’. As such, she wouldn’t describe herself as brave; to her mind, making the best use of her abilities for the good of her people is simply the right thing to do. As a powerful warrior skilled with blade and spell, that often means putting herself in dangerous situations in order to remove threats or otherwise further the cause of the undine.
I'd say a few days. I haven't written enough backstory to fill a month's time worth of storytelling around the fire. :P
So, would now be a decent time to say, describe a smoke trail that the current players can see as they examine the barrier, leading to our camp?
I'd say a few days. I haven't written enough backstory to fill a month's time worth of storytelling around the fire. :P
Luu Sânh’s not the chattiest anyway so you’re probably fine! But yeah let’s keep it on the short end.
So, would now be a decent time to say, describe a smoke trail that the current players can see as they examine the barrier, leading to our camp?
Yes, please do so! :) And you can chat with each other first (I don't mind two scenes going on at once)
I've made it on holiday, the wifi seems solid, so have got a post up to get things moving in character. Will aim to get more stuff up as I can. Thanks for your patience.
So, would now be a decent time to say, describe a smoke trail that the current players can see as they examine the barrier, leading to our camp?Yes, please do so! :) And you can chat with each other first (I don't mind two scenes going on at once)
Dec, will you let me know if you want Zeph to "discover" the new comers from the air, and maybe announce it to Edmund & Albert?
Fair game for whoever posts next :) Zeph, if you want to make the announcement, go for it, or Albert, a quick (slightly staticky) blip over your message as you approach the camp is fine too!
I've made it on holiday, the wifi seems solid, so have got a post up to get things moving in character. Will aim to get more stuff up as I can. Thanks for your patience.
No worries, I'm just happy to see more PCs!
And one request - now that everyone is meeting for the first time, could you all post (in Gameplay) a description of your character as part of your next post? I find it helps everyone to visualize the party as a whole.
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Oh, and Zeph, sorry I didn't respond to your religion roll of 20 earlier, -
Your result: anything or anyone that is sucked into this Breathless Valley will be completely cut off from the Father and the Mother. This abomination is viciously unsafe for a sylph.
On it! Welcome, y'all.
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Loving the RP - welcome again to our 2 new players!
I'll plan on updating tomorrow (Monday), but feel free to continue RP in the meantime.
ALL - while I knew I would be a little slower because it was my birthday, the next 2 days of bomb threats on my work place took a little more out of me than I had planned. Please bot me as needed, I will be able to attend to my games on Sunday :)
Wow - thanks for the updates, and stay safe! I will do a small bot in the meantime, and please rest/relax as needed.
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That sounds like a lot, hope you're doing ok. And happy birthday!
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I normally don't push a scene so hard with no time for PC reactions, but Edmund is feeling a sudden urgency that means he is basically ignoring any questions / reactions at this point.
I will update on Monday evening (and roll init for anyone that hasn't had a chance to do so), and we shall go from there! :)
It was back in August that I made this ruling on Favored Enemies and the two MODES/FORMS that elementals typically fall under. Just wanted to give everyone context/reminder.
--- I like the idea of elementals for sure. I've never formally sat down and done Favored Enemies for this setting, but
a) All elementals I think is a bit too powerful
b) something like 'fire elementals' is too specific
c) so I propose a happy medium -- there are 2 "MODES" or FORMS of elements lets say, kind of a Platonic forms kind of thingDENSE vs POROUS
HOT vs COLD
DRY vs WET
heavy vs floating, flowing
I think roughly this could be seen as
Group 1 (Elements of Deposition, to use an old chemistry term)
Earth, Fire, Lava, Root, Forest, Rock, etcGroup 2 (Elements of Sublimation)
Air, Lightning, Wind, Water, Rain, Fog, Cloud, etc----I think having favored enemies: Elementals (Sublimation) would be a good fit, as an archer would naturally be good at shooting down pesky flying enemies. I would also put Moon creatures in this category, so this will be useful in the present as Moon's leering presence warps the very land that surrounds you.
--And finally, a caveat that there are many non-elementals you would not gain bonuses against (Efreeti are fiery creatures of Volcano, but they are NOT elementals) . Fey is another example of non-elementals.
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I know I've been slow this week --- tough week at work. I'll update tonight or over the weekend. Thanks for all the posts :)
I know I've been slow this week --- tough week at work. I'll update tonight or over the weekend. Thanks for all the posts :)
I will also
Thanks for the patience all - upcoming week should be marginally more sane, so back to our regular programming!
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I love Luu Sânh's inner thoughts -lends a lot of richness to a character who is still cautious around the others.
I am at a loss what the Vultures mean ...
Always happy to provide context:
So the weird crow-things in the tree are lamenting the Vultures that you met earlier. They are in trouble, somewhere ahead in the direction you were going. Thye are 'frozen' or 'windless' in some way.
Always happy to provide context:
** spoiler omitted **
oh god(s) ... is there another pocket of non-Sky ahed of us?
:) In some ways it might be worse.
Busy week? I don't think I can update until I get posts.
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The good news - I had time to update the campaign diary (in the Info Tab). It's far from perfect, but it gives an overview of the big ideas I saw while re-reading this weekend.
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Busy week? I don't think I can update until I get posts.
That pretty much covers it, yes! Thanks for your patience.
WOW i am cranky - an entire post where Zeph tells Byron that he is in a unique position to put the past behind himself is gone. Zeph suggests that he pick a new name and that the group will respect his choice.
:(
Sorry everyone
That sucks - I have felt the pain of eaten posts before myself.
I vacillate between whether I compose in the browser or in a word-processing program, knowing that I would prefer to not go back and forth when I'm rolling dice to tease out the effects. But then when I lose a post, I grumble terrifically. I feel for you as well.
---
Regarding current story beats, I'm going to hold off on responding to the terrifying news that Albert just got until we resolve the current scene.
I vacillate between whether I compose in the browser or in a word-processing program, knowing that I would prefer to not go back and forth when I'm rolling dice to tease out the effects. But then when I lose a post, I grumble terrifically. I feel for you as well.
---
Regarding current story beats, I'm going to hold off on responding to the terrifying news that Albert just got until we resolve the current scene.
I have a whole process of CTRL-A, CTRL-X, CTRL-V which generally preserves content even if I am typing in the browser; so I am trying to guess if there was something else, like I walked away and it never really finished posting :(
After the current scene resolves, you'll need to find shelter for the night (though it won't have to be Moonproof, so could be worse)
Could everyone roll 1 check to help with finding and / or setting up camp for the evening scene?
(no rush on anything - looking forward to the posts as they come)
Most of my buffs would have only lasted 80 minutes, so I assume that I would roll without those buffs in place for the evening.
I imagine my Knowledge (nature) would be best, but Perception is also reasonable for him.
Zeph, I'm imagining that lost post, and I'm sure Bye was talked down for now. He's not willing to talk about anything else until tomorrow (same with Gull, he is being led around by Fredrik right now)
I know re-typing a good post that was lost can feel discouraging and pointless, so I wanted to let you know - no pressure.
Zeph, I'm imagining that lost post, and I'm sure Bye was talked down for now. He's not willing to talk about anything else until tomorrow (same with Gull, he is being led around by Fredrik right now)
I know re-typing a good post that was lost can feel discouraging and pointless, so I wanted to let you know - no pressure.
Thank you, I appreciate that a lot, let me think about it in like an epilogue/postlogue format.
The post was meant to be exactly as you said, a strong reassurance, which would hopefully lead to something like a naming ceremony. And while all of them would have had a coming of age rite already, the affirmation Zeph wants to create for them is that they are empowered: if an older elen needs a name, then their chosen family should help them choose one and uphold their new identity once they choose it.
wow ... and do we draw straws for who gets to tell the already scared boy that we will be putting him in a cage to "fix" him!?
don't worry, you'll all be in the cage together! :)
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I'm going to let the scene sit for now - I'd like to give ALbert time to post and roll the heal check.
In the meantime, we can all think about
--any RP interactions before sleep
--taking watches, now that the worst has passed
I'll plan on updating on Monday.
Can I get a uick update on availability through the holidays next week? It makes a big difference in pacing if everyone can commit to a post a day (or at least every other day).
If we have a few players that won't be available next week, we can call a brief hiatus until after the next week.
Let me know!
Every other day is a better estimate for me.