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Aerianna nods agreement, helping the others perform a more thorough search of the temple to Torag, hoping to find ... well, whatever other help there may be for the six who survived. Snooping!!: I'm presuming this would be a search / perception check ...
Aerianna's eyebrows go up as the holy water scalds Regnis. "Well, that's ... unsettling, I admit," she confesses, "but that seems more a matter of heritage than personhood. And your actions in the future ... remain your own."
"Four!! Well, you are a wealth of riches in a time of drought. By all means, let us empty one -- but by passing it around, to keep back all of our thirsts." Hopefully, Anevia, Aravashnial, and Horgus have already taken some of Aerianna's skinful to keep their mouths moist and bodies steady, but Cran's offer is a good one.
"Does it matter, Master Horgus?" Aerianna asks, turning as Anevia stumbles, to help her and the sightless Aravishnial to the bench. "Rest, for a time," she murmurs to Anevia, then stands and stretches herself a little bit, eyeing the basin before retrieving her waterskin and handing it to Anevia. "Each of you, half a mouthful, no more." She moves towards the basin of water, to bend over and smell it -- she knows little about nature and its possibilities, but a certain amount of healing is knowing what makes you healthy, and what makes you sick. If it smells all right, she'll murmur a prayer to Torag, asking His forgiveness in this time of difficulty, then dip a finger into the water to taste whether it's brackish, bad, or -- hopefully -- good to drink. "But to answer your question, Master Horgus, of course you are better than her -- in some things. As she is no doubt better than you in others. More valued to the gods? Once again, of course some are more valued by one god or another, sacred or profane; the priests and clerics are undoubtedly cherished more, and also have more demanded of them, by the gods whose power they channel." She sounds philosophical about the idea. "I think that perhaps only Pharasma values all souls exactly the same, even those who act as her hands in the living world. The rest of the gods certainly play favorites, neh?" A moment of humor in her theology. "But thief or merchant, worshipper of demon or empyreal or shying away from public admittance to what is in your heart, we are all judged by Pharasma on the intentions and deeds of our lives, and sent to where those deeds and the intentions that drove them will, in their fullest flower, form the outer expression of our inner selves -- we may conceal it from those with whom we live, but in the Beyond, it will be there for all to see and know." Aeri returns to check on Anevia's leg and the splinting. "Mistress Anevia, the most holy man I've ever known was a farmer's hand, simple in mind, who sang hymns nearly every moment he was awake. Not the best voice, but -- being around his obvious and, at times, oblivious joy made nearly everyone else feel a touch or two better, even if nobody could figure out which god he followed, for he happily caroled any hymn he'd ever heard. Could not lace his boots on his own, but a song to a god? Oh, he was a master at that. And Master Horgus," she adds, retying a binding that had worked a little too loose, "being a thief does not make you evil -- or even bad -- if your actions ease the suffering of others, or are otherwise in the furtherance of some good, would you not say? Are there not those who would call you, successful deal-maker that you are, a cutthroat pirate and ruthless thief, only because they were on the less-wise end of a trade you made? Were you penniless and starving, would you not steal an apple, a loaf of bread, to nourish yourself for the night? Or do so for your wife or child, your sibling or parent, were they in that situation?" She finishes the fixing, then stands once more. "We are crusaders; we stay together, and only death will keep me from seeing each of you," and here she fixes her gaze first on Anevia, then on Horgus, "back to the surface. My death or your own. You are crusaders, and whatever your issues before Terendelev's death, by Iomedae you will keep a civil tongue in your head and support your fellow crusaders as you have heretofore done -- even, no especially, if you feel you have been done ill by them in the past. If you wish, you may speak to me in private of what issues you have with the others, and though I am not a confessor, I will try to advise you as best I can. But stop trying to plant verbal daggers in each other's spines; would that I could clear the air between you now, but until we have Gozreh's sky above us and not while we are all but entombed, let us be courteous to those by whom you feel injured, and lend your support -- like the crusaders you are." Speech! Speech!!: Whew!! Imma gettin' wordy again, darn it!!
Not sure if I can use Healing to check to see if the water is potable, but in case I can:
And for getting some rough diplomacy (not /quite/ intimidation ...) between the two (and not sure if Cran's roll gives me a bonus ...)
Aerianna chews on her lower lip for a moment, thinking. "Oh. Torag, head of the Dwarven gods. Duh." She looks around, then gives her sword another couple of cleaning wipes with a cloth she wears looped through her belt behind her scabbard for just this sort of thing -- a piece of advice given to her some time ago, because otherwise it's 'you have scrub out your scabbard with dried grass and a stick if you're lucky, unpeg it and do it by hand if you're not'. Otherwise your sword gets rusty, and that is an unpleasantry you just do not want. Sheathing the blade, she re-settles her shield, then steps forward to pull the door open.
Aerianna cleans her blade on the non-gooey parts of the too-large fly's corpse, eyeing the building which, on closer examination, doesn't appear to have fallen from above. She eyes the hammer symbol upon it and guesses, "A smithy? Some god of the forge?" Da Hammah!!:
See? Shields really do have a good use. She keeps hers between herself and the dog-sized fly, stabbing at it with an overhand thrust over the top of the shield. It's a maneuver better done with a spear, but if your opponent is in close contact, the sword will do quite well. Stabby!:
Errr ... Sneak?:
... well, it isn't a natural 1. :P Aerianna gives Cran a grimace, but tightens the mental muscle that douses her flaming aura, and moves as quietly as she can while keeping an eye on the gigantic fly -- which, unfortunately, is not quiet at all, as she runs across a gravel patch that makes her scramble for balance as pebbles and stones shift underfoot.
"I suggest not," Aerianna counsels. "Firing means making a target aware of them. Should we fall, stealth is their only recourse." She hefts her shield, then pulls back from her watch to take the lead into the new cavern towards the strange building, her halo coruscating about her head.
Aerianna shakes her head. "Southgate's weapons-makers weren't usually among my clientele," she admits, before nodding agreement with Regnis. "We can pray that she is not, but check on her and prepare for her to have been slain." She exhales hard, then adds, "As no doubt many have been. Well." She has Regnis add the extra longsword to her pack's strapped-on items, settles the change in weight distribution, then soldiers on. At Anevia's cry, Aerianna looks swiftly back for a threat, then forward again; spotting none, she looks back somewhat more lingeringly, grimacing at the pain the woman is going through, but -- the faster through, the sooner done. She gives a short, sharp laugh at Cran's cancelled appointment; black humor it may be, but humor nonetheless. Once the end of the long passage is reached, she glances out the north, then peers southwards; her aura may not give much light (and, to be fair, probably marks her as a beacon for trouble), but while the leshy and the dhampir examine the great cave and the building within, she keeps a wary watch on the other gap. "Possible, I suppose, that an entire building came down, but ... I can't imagine it would be too intact."
*mutters* Stupid network. Posting now.
KS:
Alas, I don't have KS: Local either.
Oh, ow. Well, she's a relatively new paladin. ;) Picking up the shield, and frowning at Regnis's statement, she opens her lips to suggest that such actions haven't been needed in the Crusades so far ... but pauses, as she's not absolutely certain that's true. Eyeing the blazon upon it, she realizes with dismay that her education has been sadly focused. "I cannot either, Regnis; do as seems needful. Does anyone recognize this? And Master Horgus, are you willing to carry shield and sword, to use them in defense of yourself, Anevia, and Aravashnial, should foes get past the rest of us?" She offers the weapon and shield to him. The shield might be of better make than her own ... but she would rather keep her goddess's symbol to her fore.
Aerianna grimaces at the sight, as well as the indications of those having been tormented, but spends a few moments at each pile to murmur a short prayer for the souls of the fallen -- and, after equally-quiet apologies to the same, a scan to see if there's anything that might be useful to them in their attempt to get out of the caverns. The living, as my father said, she thinks to herself, have priority.
Aerianna shudders one last time, then grins at Tart's words. "Point taken. And thank you, Regnis. Centipedes are just ... ew. Tart, left sounds good." She comes over to where Regnis and Tart have sorted through the detritus while she was working out her 'ewww'. "It may not be much, but it'll be useful come time to rest," Aerianna judges. She tucks the bent fishhook into her belt pouch, careful to get the point out of the way by threading it through the leather stitching, then puts the candle stubs and brooch in after it. She uses the rope to wrap the bedroll up -- it may be torn, but that won't matter later -- and eyes the ruins of the tent, trying to decide whether or not it'll be useable for anything besides fuel for a fire. Then again, useful as fuel for a fire is useful, so she gets it gathered up as tidy as she can and combines it with the bedroll wrap, which she ties onto her pack next to her own bedroll. Hefting it, well -- she can carry a bit more before she's made even slower than her armor already does.
Aerianna just ... apparently happened to be in the way of the collapsing centipede, and whacks at it for several more seconds, chipping off chitin and gashing it now and then before she finally manages to get out from under it. "Ick!! Ugh!! Iomedae, I hate centipedes!!" She gives the deceased thing a few more kicks and a stab before backing away and shuddering. "Ewww. Everyone else good??" She doesn't take her eyes away from the massive monster while she's cleaning her blade.
Thank the Gods for shields; Aerianna catches the centipede’s mandibles on hers with a shriek, and lashes back at the too-many-legged thing with her sword. Dice: Fortunately, an AC 15 hit will not get my AC 18 self! Yay for Tankiness!! ;) Standard cut!
+2 if we still have that active +2 if we still have that active
Aerianna nods in agreement with Tart as well. "No way down here is liable to be safe, Master Horgus," she says to the stocky merchant. "Then again, if you wanted 'safe', you would not have been in Kenabres -- though I understand that war, no matter its source, is rife with opportunity for money-making. But with war comes danger, and this war in particular ..." She trails off as she uses a scrap of cloth from the detritus to wipe her shield clean of the nastiness vomited onto it by the carrion worm. Cleaning her sword and then discarding the cloth, she hefts the shield again even as she sheathes the weapon, going back to arrange the three. "But we are crusaders!! We work together towards our aim, you three supporting each other perhaps more literally than normal, we three up front to handle the dangers, and in the end, all together we will win out." She makes sure that Anevia is supported -- by Aravashnial, at the least, so that Horgus Gwerm might be able to be a roaming troubleshooter as it were -- then double-checks her splinted leg before nodding and heading towards the opening Tart's indicated. "So forward we go."
Apologies, RL has been a bear. Will post in tonight.
Once strikes from the other two, even sickened as they are, finish off the one she’d cut, Aerianna strikes at the last. Combat:
Aerianna winces slightly at the maggots’ vomiting, but closes with the closest to cut at it with her blade. Combat: Roll20 doesn’t like mobile, so manipulating the map is a no-go for me. Close and cut.
"Everyone makes errors, Master Horgus," Aerianna says mildly. "A noble soul accepts this, forgives the transgressor if they make amends, and moves forward. I fully intend to help out of here as many as I can -- but I cannot do that if you refuse to assist each other." She pauses as an oddity in regards to the spider's corpse catches her eye, and rises, her hand going to her sword and drawing it. "Well, that's not right ... anyone not ready for combat, get back against the wall. Horgus, Anevia, work around to Aravashnial, but stay out of the way." Her eyes remain upon the shifting carapice. What in the world, she thinks, -- devouring it from the inside?? Diplomacy: What, by the way, would one use for 'combat command', e.g. command voice? Diplomacy or Intimidate? However, for the Diplomacy roll ...
Ariana gives a low whistle of wonder at the recovered scales. “Terendelev was mighty indeed, for her spirit to empower these even at her death. Tart, why don’t you take the one for levitation, to help you get into positions that any opponents we run into down here may not anticipate. Regnis, would you prefer the defensive scale, or that of concealment? Outside of a fight, I think we are likely to swap around at need.” After the search, as she is finishing up the splint for the leg of the woman, Ariana looks up at the merchant’s question. “No plan, Master Horgus; plans require information, and we have none of that. Therefore, we must do what Crusaders have always done: work together to handle what lies before us, be open to new and honorable allies, and remain mindful of the future.” She studies the merchant for a moment, then says, ”I think we will have to lean heavily upon your broad shoulders once again, sir. As the only entirely able of the three of you, it will be to you to assist and manage as you have always done for the Crusaders. You and Mistress Anevia must be eyes for Master Aravashnial; you and Aravashnial must be legs for Anevia. This, so that the rest of us may remain ready for whatever dangers await us down here.” If he indicates his willingness, Aerianna will beckon him over to help leverage Anevia to her feet, perhaps as Regnis guides Aravashnial over to take Aeri’s place. Aravashnial will support Anevia’s good side; Horgus will manage her bad, while both will caution Aravashnial against dangers to his footing. About food, Aerianna says, ”I have only a few days worth, three or four; I was just returning from a journey to Vala’s Gift. I do have a full canteen of water, though.” Peacemaker: My normal Diplomacy (Take 10) is a 16.
Up Late: Going to give this now before I doze off.
Aerianna yelps at the display, shying away from the steady barrage of rocks. "Carefully!!" she exclaims. "Move one the wrong way, it'll settle!" She is also, in her way, concerned with respect for the dead, but it's a tough slog, considering how she has to move rocks which have the deceased beneath them.
Aerianna approaches the spider warily, then (unless the cause of death is self-evident, like a caved-in skull with the rock still in the wound) sinks her blade through its head; in matters of the safety of others, she would rather make personally certain of such a dangerous creature before letting her guardianship down. "I will do so, Master Elf, and I have no doubt that my new leshy friend Tart Cranberry, as well as our equally new Ustalavic friend Regnis, will be entirely willing to assist in our seeking to return to the surface." Carefully cleaning her blade of whatever is upon it after she's made certain of the giant spider, she sheathes the weapon and steps over to kneel down next to the woman with the broken leg. "My own name is Aerianna. I mostly practice," she admits to the woman, "as a midwife and healer of womens' problems, but women suffer broken bones as well, so I'll at least be able to set and splint this properly." She examines the angle, palpitating the leg with fingers that are gentle but firm -- pain is a consequence, but she does her best to minimize it. "Yes, I think a clean break; this would be best to straighten and splint as one process, but we need to find something to use."[/b] She casts her gaze about, and her eyes must settle upon the unfortunates who were not so lucky as to have caught the great silver dragon's gaze. She gives a deep sigh, then stands and steps over to the rubble, detritus, and graveyard. Bending her head, she makes Iomedae's sign of the sword (touching her forehead for the hilt, down to her belly to describe the blade, then left and right shoulders to indicate the sword's quillions) to ask for her goddess's blessing, and murmurs a prayer for the deceased. "Lady of Valor, I pray you guard these souls on their journey to the Judge of the Dead, thence to their destinations beyond Her Halls; whatever their lives, they were mortal and need guardianship still. This I ask in Thy name." Short as a crusader's prayer must typically be; grave, for the situation before her. "Tart, Regnis, help would be appreciated, if only to pull out what useful things we might be able to recover while I do the heavy lifting. Now that we have introduced ourselves," the flame-haired and -aura'd woman says, "may we be graced with the names of you three?" She has not forgotten the clothes-patting man. Healy Stuff!!:
Aerianna, giving the spider a wary once-over, glances over at the woman with the clearly-broken leg. "We will test it," she suggests, "see if we can't scare it away first, before doing what we can for you. Afterwards, I will set your leg, ma'am, then take a look at your eyes, sir elf, if that is all right with you." She gives a quick glance over to Regnis, then crouches down, still battle-ready and facing the spider, and says, "Tart, I think it best you be on your own feet for this." A momentary flicker goes through her mind -- would leshy consider what they have to be legs, to be feet? -- as she waits for TC to climb off, but then she rises again and takes a few steps towards the spider, shield set and sword in hand, gauging its reaction. A quick couple of bangs of her crossguard against her shield makes a pair of metallic clanks; perhaps that'll be enough to scare the thing away? Der Aktion: After letting TC down, take a 5' step towards the spider and bang on the shield, see if we can't frighten it off -- Intimidate, perhaps? I'll roll, just in case.
Shocked by the sight, a sharp inhalation her only exclamation as the rift opens under her, Aerianna's hand tightens its grip on her sword as she falls. The magic slows her, her passenger, the bannerman beside her -- she cannot see -- and so she relaxes the mental muscle keeping her radiance in check. About her head, golden fire with tips of copper and red licking outwards brighten up the area immediately around her; occasional thin ripples of green thread through her aura given visibility. It isn't much, but at least they can see where they're going. "I had ... no idea," she confesses to the leshy. "Did you see all that, though?!? This was planned." In Play: Using Aeri's 'halo' spell-like ability (effectively light at will). Normal light to 20', dim light to 40'.
Aerianna gives a golden laugh. "Well, yes," she agrees. "It's one of the few holidays that really gets celebrated around here." A brief sigh comes from her, then she adds, "People are ... very acutely aware of the danger they live in, with the demons right next door, as it were."
The red-haired woman's eyebrows lift at the flurry of the response, as well as the erratic choppiness of the reply, but -- she's never met a vine leshy before, nor (to be entirely honest) has ever heard of them, so perhaps this is normal for how they interact ... ? Maybe? "Pleased to make your acquaintance, Crusader Cranberry," Aerianna replies gravely. "I would counter the opinion of your friend Mordithas with my own, which is to say that I do not believe we know, any of us, how to close the Worldwound, and until we do, striving to stop the expansion of the demons within, then driving them back as best we can and holding the line when we must pause to rest is what has happened since it opened. Honor ..." She pauses to muse on this for a moment, then digresses. "If we are to wander, would you care to scale me and sit or stand upon my shoulder? Perhaps, with your height bettered by the addition of much of my own, you might spot your friend all the sooner." Once again she offers her hand, this time to help the vine leshy up onto her shoulder (preferably the left). "In regards to honor," Aerianna continues, "I believe that it is important to do something as important as this without compromising the principles that make us who we are. Not doing so -- if we violate our principles in the name of expediency to achieve a short-term goal -- will not only remove from our grasp many of the best tools with which to fight such terrible ugliness, but may also lead us down the path in the other direction. We would rather destroy evil and chaos by persuading it to Rise, wielding the blade only as we must, than slay it with subterfuge and vile arts and in so doing Fall ourselves into the Pit from whence these troubles came. And unlike the demons, one of this world who has chosen evil and selfishness cannot be purged with a word." Granted, that would be a very strong Word indeed, but the point is there.
Said red-haired citizen looks, well, a little tired, as though she's just gotten off a horse from a day-long trip. She's been looking around as though she'd forgotten that Armasse was approaching and wasn't ready for the crowd; she does finally remember that she'd been given the option of being confirmed and accepted as a holy warrior of the Inheritor on this day, but had declined -- too many things that needed to be done. She looks down at the shorter creature -- she herself is a the less-than-towering sort, but not quite as small as the vegetative sophont -- and replies, "I'm sorry, no, I just got here myself. I ... can't confess that I know of whom you speak, nor am I in a good position to see tall people," and here she smiles and adds, "due to most people being taller than me, but I'm not adverse to doing a bit more wandering to try to help you find your friend before heading back home. Might I ask your name -- and, forgive me, but I've never seen your sort before; what are those of your species called? I'm Aerianna." She offers her open hand to the strange being, though whether that's a manner of greeting or a 'here, climb on up' is open to interpretation.
I need more sleep. ;) Glad to be here. Melee: "You guys stay back there, Imma pound on 'em for a bit."
To be honest, I took Rogue almost completely for its 8 skill points / level. I am one of those players (and GMs who believes strongly that skills can be the most useful and critical element of a character, so I kick that up as high as I can whenever I can. Phantom Thief replaces sneak attack (and its debilitating attacks) and trapfinding, while social sense at L3 replaces trap sense, so I can't autospot all the traps we might run into, or disarm magical ones. On the flip side, I understand that later on there are some significant social situations that social sense will help with. As well, I get to add 1/2 my rogue level (round down) to all skill checks using selected skills (1 at 1st, +1 skill/2 levels) and to determine whether or not I get the rogue's skill unlock -- which means L14, I'll have 7 skills with the L20 skill unlocks to them. Some of which are practically godly on their own. I admit I am tempted to dip for three levels into Investigator (Conspirator), if only to get the +1d6 of Inspiration on a whole bunch of useful skills ... and a few additional first-level alchemical spells per day. (Being alchemical, the GM might allow that they don't actually channel positive energy, and let them heal any living ... but that's for much, much later.) Also -- Discord!!
Just a question or two about Ambassador_Annara_Utoxier-Lee ... Are the underscores really part of her name like you said in the Background Questions? Is her first name really Ambassador? If not, where is her embassy from, and to whom -- or is she taking on airs that would get her in serious (read: execution-level) trouble if she were caught? Where is Tentatha? I've never heard of it, or the River Utoxier; where is that in Golarion? Did you mean for her to be Ustalavic, since 'Lesser Noble' is actually a reskinning of 'Ustalavic Noble'? Just ... wondering, since nothing seems to actually fit into Golarion.
Well, it's not like we start out with mythic abilities.
Well, that would be the case if she was helpless, but she will be anything but. Aasimar are tough, add investigators targeted strike and skills + some nice Gestalt magic. And she can stand her own, I have no worries about that. In fact, I am counting on enemies underestimating her. Having played both an Investigator and an Arcanist (albeit not together) I can agree that they can be very dangerous opponents.
I'm wondering why you're worried about what the other players -- and/or their characters -- think, when it comes to your character application. No, I don't happen to be saying 'only tanks may apply', and yes, having a broad skill base and access to multiple different wells of talent are certainly going to be important; this AP can't be done with an all-Paladin party, yoou know? I am looking askance at ... actually, that's what's bothering me. It's the fact that you're putting up your idea of how /we/ would view her. Don't tell me how my character plays; play your own, let me play mine, and let the GM determine how the rest of the world reacts to us. I've tried to get my head around the scaled fist/sorcerer idea and I just don't have a story that I like. I think I'm going pull out of the running. Good luck folks! But ... the definitive 'who's the best' contest!! ;)
Considering the game will have only three PCs, pretty much all of them are going to have to be able to kick some serious ass. Having to be on a constant escort mission with her as the protectee would probably severely cripple the group.
The Silver Maiden:
The story of the Silver Maiden begins not in 4679 when she was born, nor even in 4710 when much of her family was slain during the upsurge in demonic activity when Yath rose from the Abyss. Strangely, it truly begins in far away Korvosa, during the rise and fall of Queen Ileosa; it begins not with Aerianna, but with the fallen paladin and swordmistress Tala Mateev. Tala Mateev had been a devotee of the archon Falayna (known as Warrior's Ring) and trained as a paladin in the Tempering Hall of Absalom to master the longsword, favored weapon of the empyreal lady of femininity, rings, and martial training. When the end of a quest left her in Korvosa just after Queen Ileosa Arbasti began establishing the Gray Maidens, Tala was enticed into the group by way of the temptation of being able to improve her skill with the longsword. Pushed mercilessly by Kordaitra Destaid, the group's second-in-command and de facto commander, magically manipulated by the group's wizard Vavana Dhatri, Tala's pride, ego, and eagerness to learn at any cost eventually led to her fall as a paladin -- which in turn was a crack that would later widen into a major psychological disorder bordering on a split personality. With the fall of Queen Ileosa and the disbanding of the Gray Maidens in 4707, the thoroughly-dishonored Tala Mateev left Varisia with a half-dozen others of the squad she'd led; aimless, they travelled east with no purpose other than to stay together and get as far away as they could from the life they were leaving behind. The long journey took them through Lastwall, threaded between Ustalav and Razmiran and, reaching the River Kingdoms, led them to inadvertently hiring on as caravan guards heading north on the West Sellen river, up the Crusader Road. Reaching Nerosyan in 4708 with only two of the squad remaining, their path as sell-swords was not to last, with the final two of Tala's companions dying in skirmishes with Worldwound demons soon thereafter. But Tala herself survived and, after drifting for a short time, found a retreat only a mile or so away from the town of Vala's Gift, and retired -- or tried to. Her psyche was in strong conflict with itself, aspects of her 'paladin self' clashing with the 'maiden self', her loyalty to her cruel 'sisters' in a strange conflicted lock-step with her once-paladin's ideals of honor and loyalty. Her skill with a longsword and her intimidating visage (or lack thereof, behind her maiden's helm) was undeniable and uncompromising, and thus grew for a time rumors of a swordmistress living in seclusion near the town. ---------------- Let us return, however, to the crusader city of Kenabres, wherein was born, was raised, trained, and lived the young maiden Aerianna. Taking after her father as a healer, admiring her mother, two uncles, and multiple siblings and cousins as soldiers, and with hundreds of other family supporting the defense of the town and the people against the abyssal invaders, she watched from afar as Khorramzadeh the Storm King attacked Kenabres and cracked the wardstone, only to be nearly brought down by the silver dragon Terendelev. What is rarely mentioned in those tales is the cost to the soldiery and town folk, and Aerianna lost multiple family members that day. Still, for the next fifteen years Kenabres was active, first fiercely, then less so as the energy devoted to the Fourth Crusade wore away. To say that Aerianna was a bright, inquisitive young woman is to be honest; to say that she was less beautiful than she was charismatic, just as honest. She could still find cousins in all areas of the city, in all trades and levels of the government; to call her extended family one of the backbones of the city would not be too far off the mark. Aerianna managed to learn a little bit about almost everything, occasionally getting into trouble due to her curiousity (and, very occasionally, finding herself in places she really ought not to have gone, for the exact same reason). It was the inquisitiveness of an innocent, however, which her parents turned to good use, and Aerianna followed her father into the healer's trade, and the plain-faced seven-year-old aasimar girl who watched from shelter as the vast balor smashed through stone walls learned her trade as a woman's healer and midwife. By the time the Fourth Crusade petered to a halt, the sturdy young woman had reached her twenty-second year. That was the same year that Queen Ileosa was dethroned, and Tala Mateev began the long, strange path that would lead her to Vala's Gift. Less than a handful of years later, however, in 4710 Aerianna was with her father on one of their typical circuits about Kenabres, visiting the villages and hamlets behind the city which still provided it with some food; guarding the pair was a troop in which several of her family, siblings and cousins, were enlisted. For them, it was less a military escort than a family road-trip. It turned into a family disaster, as several score demons descended on the hamlet of Partoch while they were there, bloodily slaughtering the troop, the inhabitants, the livestock -- everyone but Aerianna herself. The commander of the demons, having pointed her out at the very beginning of the slaughter as someone not to be harmed, watched her agony as she failed in every attempt to defend her patients, to strike back at the abyssals, to do anything that would make a difference. As the demons left her as the sole surviving witness, the leader laughed cruelly in her face, kicked her weeping form over, and left her behind him, broken in spirit. Not broken; furious at her own impotentcy. With the defenders already stretched to their breaking point, Aerianna's report of the massacre at the Partoch hamlet was received with glum acknowledgement, but no action. Still furious, now at the crusader forces in Kenabres crippled with an impotency equal to her own, she left the city to find someone, anyone who could teach her to defend herself, to strike back at the demons. And when she came across the rumor of a battle-maiden whose zeal and skill kept the town of Vala's Gift clear of the foul things, she headed north -- well, north-east, anyhow. A decade older than Aerianna, Tala Mateev had seen far more of the world -- and at first she refused to have anything to do with the midwife. Several weeks' persistence exposed the fact that Aerianna was going nowhere until she learned something, however, and so giving the woman burdensome scutwork, Tala expected to run her off and that right quick. But Aerianna was used to hard work, and grimly carried or dragged every load Tala gave her, ran every road and hill and ravine over and through which Tala sent her, did every filthy tedious chore with diligence and detail. Impressed despite herself, the ex-Gray Maiden started to see in Aerianna the potential for the perfection of her own ideal -- and, possibly, the renewal of her sisterhood. And so she took Aerianna as a student, teaching her everything she could of the basics of her skills: the art of the sword, the reliance on her shield-sister, dedication and zeal and above all others, loyalty. Her instruction swung wildly from cruel to compassionate, her personality imperatives whipsawing Aerianna back and forth and inadvertently ensuring that loyalty would become an intense part of Aerianna's being. The scars she laid on the younger woman were those of hard work and combat training, however; Tala was a firm believer in 'spare the rod, spoil the child', as well as 'the more I Learning everything Tala cared to teach her, doing absolutely everything the swordmistress demanded of her no matter how degrading or grimly cruel, Aerianna was -- compared to many others -- a fast and focused study, in part because she knew that she had a lot to catch up on, and not much time in which to do it if she were to begin taking the fight to the demons that had taken her family. After most of a year of this training, including several desperate fights against lesser demons which came through, Tala decided that Aerianna was ready to be given the honor of the facial scars of the Gray Maidens and be fully inducted into her order. Iomedae had other plans. A paladin of the goddess crashed the very start of the mid-morning two-woman ceremony; her sword surrounded with a glow that kept its edge from damaging either student or master, the woman faced Tala blade-to-blade. As the two clashed, the paladin pleaded with the cavalier to turn away from the darkness within her, that redemption was possible, that the people around her, both Aerianna and those in Vala's Gift would better served -- far better served -- if she would only return to the Light that still struggled to shine inside her. Tala was slow to enrage, but as the paladin fell to one knee, then spoke a few words and rose again healed of the worst of her wounds to continue to seek Tala's redemption, her fury broke free of her self-restraint. Using the paladin as, essentially, a practice dummy, the ex-Gray Maiden gave her student a display of weapon expertise, pointing out every error she saw in the paladin's defense and morality, until finally the Iomedaean lay out on the ground, half-senseless and helpless. "Here," spoke Tala, snatching the paladin's quenched longsword from the ground and thrusting the grip into Aerianna's hand, which now-instinctively closed about it. "Finish her." Aerianna stared down at the holy warrior who, after all, had done neither her nor her instructor any lasting harm. "What??" The flat of Tala's blade smacked against the flat of the paladin's, fine steel ringing against fine steel; Aerianna's grip tightened against the vibrations raised. "Did I stutter? Did you somehow misunderstand what I ordered you to do, initiate?? Finish her." Slowly, as if under a compulsion, Aerianna moved to the fallen woman's side, lowering the tip of the paladin's own blade to press against her throat. There she froze, staring down at the woman who had regained senses, though not her vigor; she was exhausted from channelling the goddess's blessings, and could do it no more. There she stood, the paladin meeting her gaze without fear, with a hope deep inside her eyes that strove to communicate itself to Aerianna ... ... and which finally did. "No." Tala's head rocked back in shock. "What do you mean, no??" Aerianna's gaze lifted, but quailed at what she saw in her teacher's visage; the flicker of compassion was not enough to stand against the bonfire of Tala's anger. "I ... I can't." Furious and impatient, Tala's blade struck aside the paladin's blade which Aerianna held, lifted, fell. "Little worm, you are giving me serious reason to reconsider!!" She gestured at the paladin's headless corpse. "Get rid of that. I don't want to see you until tomorrow; I have a lot of thinking to do, to decide whether or not you were just a waste of my fvcking time." She stalked off into the overgrowth behind the small cabin the two of them shared, lashing out at branches and vines as she went. Slowly, Aerianna did as her swordmistress had ordered her; it was not the first time she'd been told to stay out of sight, and the penalty for being seen had always been painful. It was the first time she'd ever had to dig a grave, however, and she did so with care, whispering a tearful apology to the paladin for her death, for the ill way in which she was being buried. Not knowing many of the specifics of the Iomedean faith, she nonetheless stripped the woman of her armor and items, placed eleven stones as a small cairn at her head to mark the grave, then pulled on the armor (which, though chain mail, still fit her ill), took up the sword and, keeping out of Tala's sight and hearing, crept off before dinner-time to begin the thirty-mile trek back to Kenabres. Luck was with her; the paladin's horse (entirely mundane, fortunately) was tied up a half-mile away in the direction she was headed; having some instruction in handling such a beast, she mounted up and turned for her long-abandoned home. The horse let her get to Kenabres before Tala even knew her to be gone, and that night she was turning the paladin's sword, armor, holy symbol, and gear in to the church of Iomedae, where it was recognized. So, too, was Aerianna, and early on in her interrogation as to where she'd been for the last year and the circumstances of the paladin's death, she broke down entirely. Despite her weeping, she was able to hiccup her way through a reasonably coherent explanation of her last months, and told the woman who had waved the others out of the room everything she could remember of the unnamed paladin's battle to redeem herself and Tala Mateev. After listening gravely, the other woman -- herself a paladin of Iomedae -- told her that not all is lost, for the other paladin (whose name she revealed as Herris Terrin) had the victory, for had not Aerianna returned to the church? Aerianna's weeping only increased, and she begged the woman for forgiveness, for mercy, if only she herself might be allowed to be the least servant in the church, were it only to be scrubbing floors for the rest of her life as her penance for her life being traded for that of a paladin's. "Oh," said the woman softly, steel in her quiet voice, "I think you're going to have to do a bit more than that." The weeks following were a scourging and scouring of her spirit, as a white-hot forge-fire to a misshapen blade of finest steel, correcting and reshaping the twists placed in her by her previous instruction. Much of Tala's work was sound, including -- especially -- her passion for the art of the blade, but the reasons behind each action, the morals and ethics which grounded her, had to be set once again in Iomedean ideals. But Aerianna's spirit was finally pliable, given up in service to the Inheritor, and eleven weeks after her return, she was consecrated as paladin by Herris Terrin's +1 cold iron longsword 'Gloomcutter', then was sent forth to go as the goddess willed her. Tala, being paranoid, had left by nightfall the day after Aerianna's own flight, but the cabin was Aerianna's first stop, to review the lessons she'd learned there, both good and bad. There she swore an oath to herself and upon the grave of the paladin who had saved her, that she would finish Herris Terrin's work and redeem the spirit of Tala Mateev. She also hopes to perhaps redeem the Gray Maidens, or at least the idea of them, and create what they might have been had they a good, honorable leader: Silver Maidens.
Gray Maiden Archer
Characterization, Notes, and Description:
Aerianna typically works as a woman's healer and midwife, for only the pittances necessary for her to restock her kit or for free if they can't afford that; she believes that bringing life and hope into the world is as important, if not moreso, than taking demons out of it, and would far prefer to put her talents to use that way. Even so, she knows that her skill with a sword is better than others at this point in her career, and so she pursues the crusade with determined zeal. Though she has lost family to the Worldwound, including both parents, at least one sibling, and several cousins, she still has more that serve in Mendev's armies and who work behind the scenes in support roles. Her nickname 'Flametongue' is likely from the discovery of her continual flame ability (wherein she kisses the place or item to which she is granting the eternal flame), but has also earned with her ability to inspire allies and persuade neutral parties (Diplomacy +6/+7), as well as her ability to intimidate opponents (Intimidate +8). The continual flame ability is one she always, always, always uses before resting for the night; this often results in her creating a stockpile, but since she gives away for free the stones upon which she normally uses the gift, she rarely has many. She does prefer to place the enchantment on portable objects, such as stones or on the nubs inside lanterns. She will, when asked by her nominal superiors, place a continual flame on a stable physical location such as a castle wall, but she does prefer to be able to give the light to people to carry with them 'in all the dark places they must go.' Physically, Aerianna is a close-coupled short woman, 5'2" and 115 lbs, with a body trained to exert accurate power instead of agility. About 28 years old with a plain face, she has copper red hair with flame-red highlights, brilliant emerald green eyes, and warm golden skin. Her halo, when manifested, reflects this physicality, and is primarily a warm gold, with copper, flame-red, and occasionally emerald filaments radiating out from her like holy fire. Her voice is an upper alto/low soprano (a mezzo-soprano), and she is well-trained in projecting her voice through the din of battle or against the rising passion of a mob; if she was trained, she would make an excellent singer or orator. Tenets of the Paladins of Iomedae and Oath of the Mendevian Crusade:
The paladins of Iomedae are just and strong, crusaders who live for the joy of righteous battle. Their mission is to right wrongs and eliminate evil at its root. They serve as examples to others, and their code demands they protect the weak and innocent by eliminating sources of oppression, rather than merely the symptoms. They may back down or withdraw from a fight if they are over-matched, but if their lives will buy time for others to escape, they must give them. Their tenets include the following affirmations. -- I will learn the weight of my sword. Without my heart to guide it, it is worthless -- my strength is not in my sword, but in my heart. If I lose my sword, I have lost a tool. If I betray my heart, I have died.
Never suffer an evil outsider to live if it is in your power to destroy it. Banish fiends you cannot kill. Purge the evil from those possessed by fiends. Oppose demonic influence in all its forms and seek a way to close the Worldwound. Technicals: Aerianna Flametongue G1
Child of the Crusades 1/day, may reroll failed save vs. demon influence/possession.
Probably going to tweak Aerianna's background so that the 'Phantom Thief' archetype of Rogue is applicable (and I have some skill points to actually buy skills with). My current task is to strip out her gear; the link above is the original version of the character.
And I had just been putting together a RP post in Three Limbs Gone ... ;)
LOL. That's a great way of looking at it. Even greater if the kid knows that terminology, and chants 'Free Andoran!' on the way down to snooze. ;) Me, I'm still about. I'm one of those 'critical job' people, doing my part to bring sanity to people (i.e. delivering pizza so they don't go bugfvck crazy). :D
Still here!! Clearly the demons don’t want us to clear the place out!!
"Tough to declare the Inheritor's words while hiding," replies Aerianna, who steps up to Iona's right. It isn't quite a shield wall formation, but with Radiance drawn and glowing bright in her own right hand, she is ready to plug the narrow steps with her fellows, shields taking the brunt of the assault of the golem (?) while Alikia and Aladir ruin the thing. If, of course, it is a golem ...
I believe the GM liberally applied handwavium. "A fellow happens to have just the sort of thing you want, and is willing to trade your lesser plus X gold for the one he has." ;)
I always advise improving what you have, if you can. While the greater bracers of archery would definitely improve your ability (+2 competence on attack, +1 on damage), it seems to be a very small advance -- although I'll concede that they are a good general-usage item. Thing is, we're fighting a lot of evil-outsider-types; you could gain +2 to attack and +2d6 damage if you improved your +4 bow to +4 evil-outsider-bane, going from 32k to 50k, or 18k. Likewise, instead of buying a new, different weapon (the +1 holy rapier) for 18k, improving your current +1 frost rapier (8k) to a +1 holy frost rapier would bring the cost to 32k -- 34k if combined with the masterwork cold iron rapier you also have -- 24k or 26k. Presuming you have just the 42,000, adding the bane to the bow and the holy to the frost rapier would clock you out straight at 42k. If you do have the extra 2k, get all the benefits of the blade onto the cold iron rapier at a total of 44k - which, considering you're looking at 18k + 25k = 43k anyhow, with 1k left over ... you do have. ;) And don't forget to apply the +2 CON to yourself, from the Manual of Bodily Health!!
Need access!!
I'm still waiting on answers to a few questions. First, can I upgrade the defensive value of the knight-inheritor's ring from its current +1 to +3? Can we turn the black robe of the archmagi into a white one for Alikia? And can we merge Iona's +1 demon-bane cold iron longsword with the +2 unholy longsword converted to +2 holy longsword, using the 6000gp worth of magical reagents and crafting materials and another 4000gp of goods into a +2 holy demon-bane cold iron longsword? (And is everyone else willing/wanting to do that?) Regarding the 'convert' note under Yaniel's armor, I meant the transfer of the +3 bonus over to the armor Aerianna's currently wearing, which would leave Yaniel's armor as +1 mithral full plate armor, valued at 11,500gp, which we can then sell / donate (which I've been pegging at 1/3 gp value returned). It doesn't look like anyone is going to want/need the +3 greataxe, so I suggest we sell that. The sword of the planes is essentially likewise, though I'm recommending a sell/donate (for 1/3 gp) with it. The blessed book is an item which only Alikia has a use for, and since she already has one, I doubt she needs another; we can sell that as well. For the other significant items, I suggest this distribution: Manual of Bodily Health +2 (+2 Con): Aladir
Alikia could give her ring of protection +2 to Hyram, who (from what I can see) doesn't seem to have one. I suggest also that either Hyram or Iona carry the instant fortress, as being the most likely to be ready or able to establish such a stronghold while the rest of us are getting ready to back into it. It would be good for Alikia, Hyram, and Iona discuss how to use the word bottle -- it stores one language-dependent spell of up to 3rd level, turning it into basically a splash weapon, which could be useful particularly for a single-target spell. We also have another bag of holding, type IV this time (1500 lbs / 250 cu ft), which Aerianna can carry if need be. I'm sure we'll find use for it in this next adventure. Speaking of which, since we're on our way into the Abyss, we might want to all pitch in on some sort of food-producing magic; while Aerianna does wear a ring of sustenance, there's the rest of you too. ;) A sustaining spoon would keep you all in gruel for 5400gp; a cornucopia of plenty for 35,000gp would not only keep us all in good stead, a use of mythic power would give us the equivalent of heroes' feast and restore all our non-mythic abilities to full as per the recuperation ability. Or everyone else could acquire a ring of sustenance for 2500gp. ;) Otherwise, lots of food can go into that bag of holding!! Given all that, and with a 5-way split understood, everyone but Iona has 42,230gp division coming from loot sale. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Other than that ... Level Up / Retraining:
Mythic Path:
Mythic Feat:
Feat Retraining:
HP: +17 (10 Paladin + 3 Con + 4 Mythic) Ability Point: +1 Str (now 20, +5) Skills: 2 (Paladin) + 2 (Int) + 1 (FCB)
And presuming we can otherwise pay to upgrade our gear, Aerianna will be much improved. +1 mithral Gray Maiden plate armor of the pious >>> +3 mithral Gray Maiden plate armor of the pious (via the transfer of virtue from Yaniel's armor)
Spent: 40,600gp. Will raise her AC to 32 base, with circumstantials up to 38.
Here is the complete treasure list from the Sanctum, including my general suggestions on what to do with them. Who, specifically, items should go to is something that needs to be decided; of particular interest to us are a Manual of Bodily Health (+2 Con), a sword of the planes (which will act as a +4 longsword in most circumstances going forward), a headband of mental prowess +4 (Int, Wis), a ring of major fire resistance (20 points), and a ring of protection +5. GM GrumpleStiltzkin, consider the armor bonus / conversion tracked. The +2 unholy longsword conversion (to holy) or upgrade (to redeemd) is, in part, a question for the group -- if we want to invest in that, or if it can be converted and 'transferred' (and thus still needing the upgrade cost) to Iona's weapon (which would give her a +2 holy demonbane cold iron longsword, and 'leave behind' a +1 longsword -- or just consume it in the upgrade, reducing the conversion cost). Which, again, is something for the group to decide. Me, I'm in favor of at least a combination into the holy bane weapon -- it'd definitely enhance Iona's smacking things around. Just for tracking ...:
Starting: +2 unholy longsword: 32,315gp +1 bane cold iron longsword: 10,330gp Total: 42,330 gp (ignoring the 315gp for the other masterwork sword) Options:
(All damage is using Iona's stats.) Any of the cost increases can be whittled down by use of the 6000gp worth of magical reagents and crafting materials. So especially workable would be the third version, resulting in only 4,000gp expenses. Regarding the Black Robe of the Archmage, it's kind of both. They're robes, sure, but they're magical robes, and the conversion forge (purity forge?) might, philosophically, be able to do it. IMO it's definitely a GM call on whether or not it can be done that way. Aerianna certainly doesn't know enough to even guess, though Aravashnial or, especially, Alikia herself are likely to know whether it's possible. If it is, it's a major boon; if it isn't ... well, on the moral side Aerianna would want to see it destroyed, as a powerful tool of evil; on the gamer side, that's 75,000gp we'd be destroying. Aiiiee!! ;) To be honest, I'm not totally sure what else everyone needs -- the sheet is able to be edited, so by all means everyone chime in with suggestions on where stuff should go. I know that Aerianna needs to get her defenses up ... GM Grump, is it okay to improve the ring of protection +1 aspect of the knight-inheritor's ring? Right now it'd only increase to +2, but I'm focusing on the entire 'Aeri need better defenses' thing. :P :)
I'm still waiting on answers to my questions. And Iona is 4th Tier, not 5th -- should she go up a tier as well? (And wow -- +39 hp; !!) |
