Best of luck, from this Benalish Hero
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I've seen all the traffic Mythic has been making on the forums, but I hadn't felt the time to dig into it. You've put a +1 in that column. If you're inactivating this, would you flag it such? So that it takes one line instead of 12 on my campaigns list? I'll watch for the PM (well, actually, it's a red thing I sometimes see, sometimes don't, but will soon enough after.) :)
After learning what the alumnae would share, Asa also made her way to the 'dummy area'. She was not yet ready to embrace the title, though she did acknowledge to herself it might be deserved. This brought a faint smile to her face, that some took for confidence, others, for foolishness. She made her way to those most known to her. "Ata. Basha.", she said brightly, "So, soon, we hit things. And, I suppose, they will hit us?"
I was guessing the holiday.
That's a diplomacy check, yes? diplo+5(?), taking 10 for 15 to adjust attitude, and taking 10 again for 'gather information'?
"Excuse me, sirs?", Asa said to two of those clearing from the field for the recruits. "I am to learn what is what. ... what is that? I am to go to the dummy area, but I do not wish to be one. You clearly are more informed. May I request your information, your advice?"
Asa had watched the... sparring? Testing? Certainly not 'fighting', with an intelligent interest. Ata's big friend was clever in a fight! But Gohren had seen this, too, before, and had the great club in hand almost at once. Which was enough for Basher. So yes, clever. Others weren't so clever, or thought they were, but Gohren had seen all that before, too. Soon the group of trainees was headed down the hill. She was some steps too far to rush to help Ata when he stumbled, and his machine clattered on the ground, inside its shroud. She met Gohren's eye just after, and mouthed silently, "He's very clever. Very clever.". Ata was clever, and he'd put a lot of art and time and burns into that... shroud. She guessed Gohren had never seen that before. Whatever 'that' was. After the episode with the missing pants, she wasn't even sure Ata had seen it, yet.
I hope that's suitable. If not, I'll strike it.
Asa bint Aangul was among that fifty, but not among the beary-eyed. When many stepped back, she stepped forward. "What is the word, we are to make you say?", she asked. "Uncle.", came the reply. "May I be excused?", she asked, smiling. "No.", came the answer. She was not sure if she imagined a smile on Gohren's face. But she wore one. And stepped back.
OK, sorry about the delay, I think she's legit now.
Sorry, I must have missed an 'x'. I will layer Flowing Monk on one level of Magus. Probably have all that in place after lunch (it's 9:30 here).
Please look at Flowing Monk, as a single Archetype. If not, please look at Sensei with MoMS(Crane mostly). These would be 1- or 2-level dips, returning to Magus later when magic is more topical.
With the clarification of the HP rules, Asa has 8+1+6+1 HP. I'll update the profile and statline. With the 2nd level being Monk, some more skill points, too. When the statline has changed, she'll be ready.
Sorry for slow responses, busy weekend this time. HP rolls: d8, d8: MoMS will probably be Crane, eventually Crane Wing, since I feel her being anvil to Basher's hammer is her best contribution, and I'm really missing the armor and that 4 pts AC. Will also put some skill into Heal, as we are (rightly for the setting) missing a 'healer'.
VK: Yes, it was more of a show. No, it was not more than show. I'm getting the read that if they lie to Asa, they lie to each other more, about who they lie with. And that got back to Mahmed. It is all false, and Asa will lament to her father, and show her temper when she says that she did not forget she was his daughter, so she's surprised that he did. I'll write that at some point, I think. Seeing other dances will have informed her art, and caused her to remember bits of her mother's dances that she hadn't been practicing. If you decide to go with a rank of Monk(Sohei/MoMS) as the 2nd level, one of the extra skill points will go into Perform:Percussion, because then she can stack Mwk Musical Instrument (finger-cymbals) for +2 on her other bonuses. You know, after she gets some.
"No, really. I can't take him to the Taverna and make him tea without he has his pants. Already, my father is thinking much worse. So pants, then tea."
"Basher... can you please find him some pants?"
"Come on, I will make you some tea..."
"Arthur? Simple. Where are his toys? His powders for making thunder? Find them, and you find him." <Ka-Boom!> :)
...I expect you might feel the fool when you get where you're going, and Asa's dancing in rather less than usual for the Taverna. And some server says, "Her? She's great, huh? She's been here all month. Gonna miss her." :)
Asa will definitely dance. I suspect it's not just the three of us coming of age, and entering the 'Wild Moon' before militia training. Could be, but I don't expect it. And if I read the boys' adult figures correctly, they'll both shoo you away from your solitudinous distractions from the wisely-provided weeks to meet the people you'll be training with. It really is a sort of genius. Would YOU want hormones on your training-field? Not I. Give the youth of the community a month to wear each other out or piss each other off, and get sane again. THEN you can train them. So yeah, it's a month to do what you want. But not what you've BEEN doing! Get out! Get out and mingle! Or, you know, not. That's just my take on it.
Found a way to get the armor back. If she takes her 2nd level (probably militia training, since family wouldn't have armor) as Monk(Sohei/MoMS), it all seems to leverage well. She's behind in BAB, but she's the anvil, not the hammer, right? Basher's the hammer, as I see it. Have not got inspired to write 'Asa gone wild' on that 'spring break', yet. Can't party all night when you have dawn prayers with Dad. (See! It's a conspiracy!) :) edit: just edited skills to Basher-style
Tagging in, will see how Basher does it. I know the formatting gets lost when it's displayed. I write in a Notepad, so I get neat columns, sorry. I think Asa, forbidden from her usual duties, might spend a week or so just dancing. :) But I'll think about that, and get back. Languages: Asa will also have some Caravaris, though not practiced. (That side was what they were trying to hide...)
@Basher (well, Arthur, too) It's not a 'free' meal, it's a tavern, they make a living at it. I suppose if Arthur's paying, it's free for Basher. :) And yeah, fumbling teen speechlessness is good comedy. I see the scene as Basher sitting with Arthur, not being able to talk to Asa, because "those eyes..." (maybe he says to Arthur after she leaves). Then I see him standing up later, and Asa's right there, so the height thing is so apparent, and she is speechless. And an oblivious Arthur is comedy gold, and the father's voice from off camera, "ASA!", possibly as her scarf falls back because she's looking practically straight up... I think that's good stuff.
So Basher is hanging with Arthur for the pyrotechnics? If you needed another or earlier incentive for Basher, 'Ata' is in good with a local innkeep and his daughter. :) It's too presumptuous to guess at that exact three making the cut, so here's license to run with it if Asa doesn't make it.
Varisian Bladed Scarf/Kapenia Dancer/Skirnir/Oops: I know VBS is a 2-handed weapon. But Kapenia Dancer says: Weapon and Armor Proficiency A kapenia dancer is proficient in simple weapons and bladed scarves. Additionally, a kapenia dancer can wield a bladed scarf as a one-handed melee weapon. A kapenia dancer is not proficient with armor or shields and suffers the normal arcane spell failure chance when casting magus spells while armored
I know, no shields, no armor. I had missed the no armor bit, that's a mess, but the shield part is covered by Skirnir: Sorcerous Shield (Ex) At 1st level, skirnirs are proficient with all types of shields, including tower shields, and do not suffer an arcane spell failure chance when casting magus spells while using a shield. They treat their magus levels as their fighter levels for the purpose of qualifying for shield-related feats.
Regarding the loss of armor, I guess I'll roll with it, and see what happens, unless you're otherwise inspired. If she's underpowered without the armor, I will understand if you cut her. Gonna have to think about what to do about AC.
Wall of text, for GM, but any welcome:
The fighting style is a combination of "Beloved Mercenary Arab Husband" and "Grandmother Sacred Shield" with "Caravan Serpent Hidden Fang" and "Dancing Unseen Grasp". It's no style at all, in anyone's usual sense of the word. The shield is just a round shield style, Asa's training has been with wickerwork shields, very light and mostly useless, until filled with Intent. They are in fact used as a sort of basket/tray while serving in the Taverna. The style was developed by her mother, after her grandmother made The Shield, in anticipation of using the shield in battle. Mahmed taught Aangul the shield proficiency, and she worked it into something danceable, to better use it with magicks, when the magicks returned. So the 'Dancing Shield' style might well be unique to the family, unless it was also developed elsewhere, certainly possible. The kapenia is a a classic garment of the arab-like Alii and other cultures as well. The degree and manner of decoration of course varies, perhaps reaching its zenith for gaudiness, if not for art, among the Caravan Folk, who I'm using to stand in for the Varisian Gypsies, as a source for the 'Varisian Bladed Scarf' and other similar types. Asa wears simple scarves, decorated very subtly if at all, with the exception of those intended for dancing, which are obviously at least inspired by the Caravan styles. Some of these are 'Bladed Scarf' weapons, some of these (and one or two of the plainer ones) are 'pocketed scarf' types, which might be loaded with weight to serve as makeshift weapons. None of that should surprise any Caravan Folk, except possibly that an Aliin girl is using such. And of course, with Intent, the manner of the weapon changes dramatically. What they are cautious about revealing is that Gran and Mom were Gypsy, witches if perhaps not 'Witch'-class, and that they carefully stealthed their magics and lore. Part of hiding that was hiding the scarf-fighting, and that's what Asa and Mahmed were discussing. Neither Asa nor Mahmed knows how common it might be, among the Caravans, and will be cautious, then relieved, when it's shown to be a sort of open secret and not a "HEY LICH! LOOK HERE!", kind of thing. Which brings me to the game stats of the thing. I find stats that say it has reach, I find stats that don't. I see trip, disarm, or not. What's legit for your world? Does it have reach? Does it trip? Disarm? It's exotic, but is it 'racial', and not exotic for Caravarisians? (Asa gets it from Kapenia Dancer, either way) And what of other scarves? Pocketed ones, with a stone in? All the same questions, again, please. And as for languages, how about Asa speaks Common, Aliin ('Arab'), Caravaris, and maybe others suitable for your world? I'd expect Aliin is rarer than Caravaris.
She'll need Linguistics anyway, she's got to use it to get deep enough into her legacy to learn Read Magic, whenever that plotline is opened. Oh, another bit about the Taverna Wassis, or I suppose about Asa, really. The girl can dance. It's got to be a regular night for it, or arranged beforehand with her father, or very rarely will just happen, when all the guests are served, and she can stop waiting tables and working the kitchen, and he can stop tending bar and get out his drums. The dances are not common to the local area. They are also not unique to Asa's family, although of course some details are. A knowledgeable scholar of dances could point out how the head and body scarves, and much of the step, are more an Aliish style, while the motion in the arms and hips and torso, and the progressive unfolding of the scarves as streamers, and the loosing of the hair to similar effect, is more of a Caravan-folk style. Some might recognise a Dervish-like ecstatic intensity at times, a degree of abandon not otherwise a part of Asa's reserved and proper public persona. Mechanically, Asa can take 10 for 17, which is 'enjoyable'. On days when she has not done otherwise, she can use her Inner Beauty Trait and take 10 for 21, which is a 'great performance'. If she takes time to prepare and use her Masterwork tools for Perform:Dance, and if Mahmed succeeds at Aid Another, she can take 10 for 25, a 'memorable' performance. On such nights, one or both of them might be seen with a tear in their eye. Any long-term patron might be heard to comment on how like her mother she dances. On a rare and inspired night, Mahmed will fail at his drumming, and denied the safely 'memorable' performance, Asa will roll for it. This could be a 14(on a 1), or a 33, which is as high as the chart in the rules goes. Oh yeah, the girl can dance.
I'm sure you're clever enough and have enough library to know it if you want to. I thought you'd be nose-in-the-book, though. If not (or if eventually less so), they could work at languages together. But let's suppose at first he's getting what they're saying '13th Warrior' style... "Asa, warm towels! It is Ata, and two books, today..." "Asa, send Ata with fruit." "I have the fruit, when he goes." "Asa, towels! And Ata is small cut face, bandages!" :) I'm guessing we'll work languages, I've put a point of her 2nd-level skills into Linguistics, therefore. (And Climb, Swim, and Ride, which seemed militia-y.) If there's something she can explain your character learning, feel free. For instance, Arthur might be Asa's entree' into a rank of Disable Device, eventually. I guess we should name the language... 'Aliin'?
If you come to the Taverna Wahsis in a soiled state, you will be greeted, seated, and left with a tray of steamed lemoned towels, a bowl of hot water, a tankard of cold water, and time. When the tankard is empty, or the towels have been unrolled, you will be approached and food discussed. After a second or third 'singlemeal' event, fruit is given to you as you leave. You're a clever person, you're sure they are speaking of you, Asa and Mahmed; the say your name 'Atha', Mahmed says it more 'Ata', but you've heard Asa correct him, saying careully, 'Arr Thorr', which is how Mahmed says your name, when speaking it to you. Between them, in their rapid alien speech, though, you're 'Atha'.
Arthur might not have time to prep meals bettween botches, might he be a regular at Bin Ali's Taverna Wahsis, scribbling in his journal about what had just gone wrong?
Very glad to have made a first call-back. Is there any specific blank I can fill in? Should I work on mechanical polish and equipment list? Work with other applicants to build threads between us? (Kind of miss the ninja Miss Bay, had hoped to be making her a black scarf. :) )
big text, not IC knowledge: Ben Ali (Son of Ali), not Benalia. Yes, the MTG Benalish Hero IS an inspiration. But I don't intend the MTG Benalia. I am, however, very much enjoying my private joke of 'Benalish Waitress'. You see, when inflation hit MTG powers, I used to complain about it by saying my Benalish Hero can only get a job, now, as a waitress. "It's not a shield... it's a tray!" That Asa is a waitress, and the daughter of a Son of Ali, and a Skirnir... makes me smile. I'll scrub the bio of copywrong. Asa's maternal line, I intend to have hidden some seeds or clues or such for the working of magic, in the 'crying bowl' ("I remember Gran crying over it, saying she'd lost something. Many times. I asked what, one time. She said she could no longer remember. But that I would. She... was very old.") So the bowl will be discovered as a shield and crypto key, and the kapenias will be discovered as a sort of spellbooks, and as a journal of the fading and forgetting of magic. Eventually. When it fits your plot. I expect Asa bint Aangul and her father Mahmed bin Ali (and her mother Aangul, and her grandmother, who Asa only ever called grandmother, though I expect she knows her actual name...) came to Danel when Asa was a child. They have kept largely apart from local culture, though they are a part of it. That needs explaining. They run a tavern, perhaps a small inn, if there is any traffic to support such. This of course puts them into contact with people. But in their own time, they are largely private. They explain this time with the beautiful decorated weavings Asa produces (taking 10 for 21), but much of the time is actually fitness and combat training. Mahmed is her coach, and no slouch himself, though he does seem so, when calling for Asa from behind the tavern's bar. Asa seems to do all the mobile work of the place. Aangul passed some years ago, during a time when Asa was curiously encouraged to 'see if you can hide under Gram's bowl...'. She could! But when she came out, her mother had died, fallen from a horse while riding. Asa has not yet learned to ride, perhaps as a result. She has also not touched the bowl, though it is prominent in their home.
Running a bit this morning. Sorry if this is short. More later. I don't feel a need to hide anything from the other players/readers. At a character level, I don't expect all is known, but I trust we're all able to RP that 'not knowing'. Average stats? Well, she's supposed to 'blend'... :) Anyway, average is the new min/max. :)
The Kapenia Shieldmaid: "So, this Gohren. He is a strong man." "Yes, I had heard that.", Asa said, folding a simple kapenia scarf, and putting it into her bag. "He is a man of authority. And you will be his student." "Yes, Father. But I was your student, first, and Mother's. And I have questions, there. But what were you hinting at?" "Hrmf. You are not a child... Such a situation, might turn a girl's head..." Asa smiled. "Father. My head has been turned, before." Her father's shock made it clear, he'd misheard her. "No. Do not go there, Father. I only mean, I am not a silly moth, to burn in the arms of this week's brightest flame. I am your daughter, and Mother's daughter, and Grandmother's... daughter. I take myself seriously. Do you doubt it?" "No. No, Asa. You are as always, dutiful. Our Shieldmaid." Notes of sincere pride and playful mockery rang in her Father's voice, as only in a father's voice they might. "Ah, that is the thing, that I would discuss. With this Gohren, am I to be a Shieldmaid? Is he to know, of the Kapenia styles? Of the shielded strike? Or am I to be, with him, just the tavern maid, who might throw a tray?" She smiled, teasingly, at first, but guiltily when her father scowled. "You should not have done that. We are to be hidden. Until." "Until. Until when? Until what?", she asked, the echoes of earlier askings making her single voice a chorus to them both. "Your mother knew. Your grandmother, knew. And they told you, although you may not know it, yet..." "No, I do not know it. I know the kapenia, the art to dress it, to wear it, to weild it like a sword, like a claw, like a spear. I know the shield, to cover, and strike, and tumble, and throw. And to combine them in the dance, so a turn is a strike, and a strike is a turning, and I am not where I was, but where I need to be next... I can dance, it was my first memory, the Dance. The shields you have made me, or made myself, are stacked like the wicker baskets they are. The kapenia, we must have a hundred of them, mine, and Mother's and Gran's, but I do not know why." "You know. You do not yet understand." He had always said that. "And you won't explain.", she pouted resignedly. "I do not even know, let alone understand." Asa sighed. This conversation always ended the same way, in unanswered question. She remembered the other question. "What of this Gohren, then?" "What of him?" "What can he know? What can he be shown that I know? What, of what I know, can I let him learn that I know? And how, am I supposed to keep such a secret from such a man, when he is teaching such things?" Her father blinked at her. "I have no idea." |