Hell's Rebels

Game Master bigrig107

So it begins!

Feel free to make a small ooc introduction here, there will be a few minutes ahead of the protest for your characters to get to know each other there.

I also didn't notice this as I was making my selection, but it seems as if three of you (Tessa, Maccha, and Llewela) are directly related to Milani and the fourth (Tessa) is 'just tagging along' for the protest. There's a chance the four of you at least knew of each other before the start of things, and could be friends or the like if you so choose.

Oops I meant Believer is a Milanite, not Tessa.

Hey everyone!
I'm Wyshart, Maccha's player, and I will make her alias right now, just copy paste, since the work is done. It's a pleasure to 'meet' you.

Regarding the characters being connected, I'm all for it. Maccha's backstory will be on her alias but the very brief summary is that she was raised, after losing her parents, by the Rose of Kintargo, so I'm 100% willing to know any or all of your characters.

Believer is likely to know anyone associated with Milani, or who spent time on the streets, or who might have come by the clinic for healing or medicine. So, pretty much anybody and everybody! XD

Alias is done! Also, never really explicitly said it, but Maccha's reason for the protest is "To Protest the Government". I can change it to better suit the party, no problem.

Speaking of changing, I can also move around some skill points or focus on different ones to not step on the toes of anyone.

Believer is likely to know anyone associated with Milani, or who spent time on the streets, or who might have come by the clinic for healing or medicine. So, pretty much anybody and everybody! XD

Sure! Could Maccha and Believer be acquaintances? Maccha could have gone to the clinic to be treated after some misadventures or scuffles in the city and a place to heal belonging to a Milanite would be the preferred way to go about it.

Thanks for picking me. I'll work on getting an alias up for Tessa. I'll try to have her completed this weekend.

As for why Tessa is at the protest, originally it was going to be keeping an eye on Bendoc, but I'm okay with swapping that for someone else. Maybe one of y'all helped Tessa and her eidolon after the rather traumatic awakening of her power and her escape from the Serini estate. She'd never been out before that.

Hi! Just made the alias, still have to copy over the details.

I'm cool with knowing each other a bit before we start. I originally wrote my background so that my mentor got vanished and I didn't know anyone else so that it wouldn't matter on who else was in the party, but if we all are Milanites then it's reasonable that we'd at least know of each other. Maybe the only the big players got removed and we got overlooked.

I have "Meeting a Contact" as my reason to protest, that could go with tagging along.

So Believer connects directly to Maccha, they both have histories of living on the streets. The clinic her father ran out of their home was free or "accepted donations" which could have come in the form of information. B would automatically look out for people she had healed in the past and they are close enough in age to have sought one another out over the years.

Llewela and Believer have a background connection through herbalism and each have a missing Milanite mentor. Believer is going to the protest to look for information about her absent adoptive father. If we suppose that both clerics were members of the Rose of Kintargo, we might conclude they both went missing at the same time for the same reason. So B could be the contact Llewela is going to meet to collaborate on our search.

Beyond that, maybe Tessa and Llewela can pair up somehow so we start out operating on a buddy-system? Tessa is a performer, maybe that's an angle to explore?

Welcome all, glad to have you! I’ll get the first post up this afternoon, after work. And we’ll get this whole affair started!

Yeah, we can say that Tessa escaped about two years ago. I was planning on having her be a Shelynite, but she could have been slowly coming around to Milani instead.

It's possible that someone brought Tessa to the clinic Believer's father was running. She would have been badly rattled by her experience and maybe Llewela was asked to keep an eye on her and help sedate her when she'd fall into hysterics or tend to her injuries.

Yeah, we can say that Tessa escaped about two years ago. I was planning on having her be a Shelynite, but she could have been slowly coming around to Milani instead.

It's possible that someone brought Tessa to the clinic Believer's father was running. She would have been badly rattled by her experience and maybe Llewela was asked to keep an eye on her and help sedate her when she'd fall into hysterics or tend to her injuries.

That all sounds good, but I don't think Tessa needs to convert. The wiki says that Milani and Shelyn have a warm relationship. Their followers would have no conflict of interest in working together. ^_^

Shelyn

Associated with Milani's portfolio interest in devotion, Shelyn is seen as the inspiration for perfect devotion.

Getting the first post up now!

How do we feel about starting a discord for quicker communication among the group? I've found it helps both sides stay up to date.

Getting the first post up now!

How do we feel about starting a discord for quicker communication among the group? I've found it helps both sides stay up to date.

I do not mind either way, but understand if someone does not want to. My Discord account is my name on this forum, #Wyshart.

I believe I just sent you a friend request.

And yeah, it’s 100% optional, I never expect it. Especially if I don’t mention it in the recruitment thread. But I have always found it easier to send a quick message on discord if I’m gonna be late posting, or to keep notes there, etc.

First post is up! Added links to the Roll20, a copy of the 7 proclamations, as well as a map of Kintargo with an attached map key.

So I had a thought while reading the proclamations and did a little search and discovered I'm not the first person to have this thought.

James Jacobs says it's a coincidence, and while that makes sense, given the rebellious themes tied up with tea in general... it makes me ponder. Given we are an all female party, and with ties to herbalism, is this an angle we want to pursue?

My guess is that I might be the only one who actually identifies as female behind the screen, as this has happened to me before. XD

I do recognize that this might draw too many real world parallels and end up being too politically/religiously charged for comfort, but I thought I would put it out there and see what my fellow rebels and the GM thinks... No worries if you think it's a bad idea! ^_~

I think it is a cool idea and it does not feel as charged. I don't know, seems to fit right in the theme of tyranny. With that said, it's fine if anyone is unconfortable and I must say I am a man, so I don't think my opinion is that important and might get perilously close to "man playing a woman talking about birth control".

Just my two cents.

Right, I wouldn't want to pursue it if anyone wasn't interested in the angle. And just to be clear, I wasn't calling out my gender to perform a poll, though I am generally curious. It was more just a recognition that it might be a topic that I find more compelling because I'm female. I'm also not a "no uterus, no opinion" sort of person. Contraception and access to it is a subject that concerns everyone.

Well, I hope it goes without saying that I'm a man on the other side of the computer screen with a name like Adam. ;)

I'm working on getting Tessa buttoned up and a post up, but this made me realize that I do have a redline that I never in a million years would have thought would come up that I need to mention to the players in the two games I run.

So I had a thought while reading the proclamations and did a little search and discovered I'm not the first person to have this thought.

James Jacobs says it's a coincidence, and while that makes sense, given the rebellious themes tied up with tea in general... it makes me ponder. Given we are an all female party, and with ties to herbalism, is this an angle we want to pursue?

My guess is that I might be the only one who actually identifies as female behind the screen, as this has happened to me before. XD

I do recognize that this might draw too many real world parallels and end up being too politically/religiously charged for comfort, but I thought I would put it out there and see what my fellow rebels and the GM thinks... No worries if you think it's a bad idea! ^_~

I can certainly appreciate the message that interpretation would add to the game, but I think I'll stick with the 'intended' interpretation.

It's one of those things that's just too close to real life issues that people face today (from either side), and I don't see it significantly adding to the game compared to Thrune just banning having tea at night. I am not one to say that politics cannot have a place in my games, but I will be avoiding this specific topic.

Thank you for your understanding!

Already mentioned in the Discord, but figured I'd add it here in case someone misses that post. I'm not going to get a post up tonight. Just don't have the energy to plow through everything that I need to finish up tonight. I should have it up tomorrow, though.

While I'm thinking about it, Llewla, do you have any ideas about how you and Tessa would get along? I'm thinking that she'd be extremely naive and sheltered, at least at first, and might not have much in the way of common sense. (Considering my mom and sister are always quick to point out my lack of common sense, that shouldn't be too hard to play. :P)

Yeah, I think Llewela would be the sensible one, so that could be part of how their relationship works. Llewela would have told you about the note she received certainly.
I'm not sure if you decided who looked after you after you escaped your family, but if you want it could be my mentor (I think he was a secretive guy), which would give us another reason for us knowing each and hanging around together recently.

Did we decide how much the two pairs know each other? I'm happy with it being anything really -

If we don't know each other, then we can maybe recognise that we both worship Milani somehow. Code words or something like that.
Or we only know each other by sight because Garren and Rozenfrid had a meeting once and dragged us along.
Or we know each other quite well, but we've been kind of busy what with martial law and all that so we won't catch up until the protest.

I think the herbalism connection would probably be our easiest way to touch base. Llewela's mother would almost certainly know Rozenfrid and of course her mentor would too. So we should likely know each other on sight, but not be very close ourselves. Reasonable for us to approach each other looking for news of our mutually acquainted missing persons. Believer is technically "in disguise" but her piercings likely mark her in a distinctive way anyhow.

Beyond that, how much we know about the activities of the Rose of Kintargo group is probably something for the GM to decide.

Aaaaand done! Tessa's stats are finished. I wound up changing a couple of things. She has the Scion of Humanity trait now and I had to swap out the feat I had picked for Aoede since she can't actually wear armor even if she has the proficiency to do so.

Tessa turned out to be more of a blank canvas than I expected, but I think that'll be good as it'll give her plenty of opportunities to grow into her own over the course of the campaign. For now, she's just following Llewela around like a puppy.

Hey, I'm going to be on holiday this week. Have phone/laptop so should still be able to post, but please bot me if I'm taking too long.

Update about what's going on with my grandfather, the funeral will be this Thursday, so there's a good chance I might not be on that day. I'm alright. This isn't the first time I've had to deal with this sort of thing.

Okay, I got Tessa leveled. Sorry for the delay!

My apologies if I seem like I haven't been all there over the past few weeks. Both of my grandmothers have wound up in the hospital, one for falling and hitting her head, the other for RSV and pneumonia. On top of this I also found out that my remote work agreement would not be renewed by my employer, meaning I either have to move, make a 180 mile (190 km) three hour commute to work and back each day, or find a new job. For a variety of reasons, I've elected to go job hunting. Yesterday and today, I've received some news that is likely to make things more erratic in the near term.

While visiting with my mom and sister yesterday I learned that my nana, my mom's mom and the one that's in the hospital with RSV and pneumomia, is ready to die. The doctors say she's doing well and is recovering, but some of the things she's said, like waiting on Papa James to come get her though he's been gone since 2006, are just... I dunno if I can describe it. She'll be 96 this coming Saturday.

Just now, I got a text message from my uncle, my dad's brother. Grammy, the one that fell and hit her head, has been getting worse since Friday. She can't move much on her own anymore and is only mumbling when she tries to talk. She's 81.

Please, just keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

You have my sympathies. We have a matriarch in decline here too. It's a difficult time.
Good luck with the job transition, that's a serious issue on top of everything else. Remember to try and not make major life decisions in a state of grief if you can help it.

Thank you. I do have some good news. My nana should be out of the hospital and going to the rehab center this afternoon.

Hey Adam, I'm so sorry, I just saw your post. I hope it all goes well for your family and, as someone who has dealt with a similar situation, I wish you all the best. Just a reminder to also take care of yourself, friend.

Thank you, I'm doing better today. Just having to take it one day at a time.

I got some good news about my grandmothers.

My maternal grandmother is out of the hospital and undergoing rehabilitation. Unless something drastic happens, she'll be 96 tomorrow.

My paternal grandmother is more lucid and able to speak clearly again. She's still got some short-term memory problems and is bed-bound, but this is still an improvement from the last time I saw her, even if she's not likely to get any better.

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers. I appreciate every single one of them.

Hey, I wanted to give y'all a heads up. My maternal grandmother is not doing well. She's hardly eating or drinking. I don't know how long she may have left. I just wanted to let y'all know what was going on.

Also, Tuesday is when I start having to go up to Tuscaloosa, AL twice a week. If I don't have a new job by February, I'll need to do that commute daily, and that will mean I likely won't have time to post much.

I'll keep y'all up to date on what's going on. Looks like 2025 is going to be a rough start for me.

Hey all, an update on the situation with my nana.

They've stopped giving her medical care. At this point, all they can do is try their best to make her comfortable. I also found out that a great-uncle on my dad's side of the family passed away. If y'all could, please keep them in your thoughts and prayers.

Sorry for your loss and suffering. Take care of yourself during this difficult time. <3

Thanks, and I will. I just got the news a few minutes ago that she passed away. It hurts, but it's a bittersweet pain. We miss her, but she no longer suffers.

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers.

I am very sorry for your loss, Adam.

Sorry to report but my laptop has crashed. Trying to troubleshoot but my coverage has expired so if I can't fix the problem, it may take some time before I'm up and running again. I will keep you posted.

Ugh, computer problems are the worst, wish you the best luck!

Yup. Wish you all the luck with getting that resolved.