Damién Harman's page

Hey guys,

Sorry to do this, but I think I'll have to retire this game... being this is my third time through Brandescar, I'm just not into it as much as I'd like to be.

Much as I'd like to continue, I just not invested in it like I should be. Luckily, you've got a multitude of characters here.

Best of luck!

Damien

Sorry I've been under radio silence this past week; been busy with mid-term grades, but it's done now so I'll post this evening.

Glancing across the bridge to the prison, Damien smirks "I have a feeling we're on deck; gather round all, time for a quick prayer for success."

Making a quick sign and offering to Asmodeus, the members of the ninth feel a surge of energy.

Casting bless.

We're at a "now what" kinda spot aren't we? My first thought is the old Trojan Horse maneuver; you're inside now. If you can keep up the ruse overnight, we can dismiss the Bone Devils and try to give the guards a false sense of security... once they agree to go look for your mother, boom, we fall on them.

Just one thought.

Nodding and clapping with quiet appreciation at the performance, Damién snickered "Hah! Bugger me, but our little firebug sure can act!"

Nice roll Annabelle!

Crossing his arms, Damien falls in beside Johann to see how the little firebugs plan would play out. "Got to hand it to her, she's brave... foolish maybe, but brave." With a quick shrug, Damien grins before adding "Hell, it could work though knowing these bleeding heart Mitrans."

Grinning broadly, Damien responds "It has a nice ring to it Cardinal, you do us a great honor."

Rubbing his hands together, Damien nods concurrently with Angelica "Now, too easy you say Angelica? Perhaps, but when the task seems lackluster, you can always make it more exciting by creating a game of it." Winking, Damien adds "We could even make another wager to spice things up a little..."

Grinning lightly, the Cardinal's words appear to have found a sympathetic audience in Damien. As the Cardinal pontificates at the ails of modern day Talingarde society, Damien seems to nod in agreement at most, if not everything the Cardinal says.

Noting his robes, Damien realizes that he and Thorn have an affinity in their worship of Asmodeus. Sparing not a moment, Damien defers to his superior in the hierarchy of their infernal church and immediately replies "Of course Cardinal, you have my loyalty and my skills at your disposal; I was endeavoring to do the very things you speak of before my capture, and I am eager to resume my work." Standing to his feet with a devilish smile, Damien's eyes seem to burn with the same purpose as the Cardinal's. Bowing from the waist respectfully, Damien adds "What would you have of me Cardinal?"

As cocky and smart as Damien is, he is still a Priest of Asmodeus, a church that is rigidly hierarchical in nature, and as such he would defer to the Cardinal in this instance.

I'll jump in again this week as well, been a crazy week actually.

By the way, if you're trying to imagine what Damien looks like... here is a pretty accurate reference if you just swap the spider pendant for an Asmodean one.

Damien reference image.

Heading to the bar, Damién inspects a few of the vintage wines before settling on particularly esteemed bottle of Pinot Noir. Removing the cork, Damién grabs three wine glasses in one hand and heads back towards the chess board. From behind her, Damién expertly pours Angelica a glass of the red before pouring himself a glass and sitting back down. Holding out the empty glass towards Annabelle with a wink, Damién adds "Care to join us firebug?"

Turning his attention back towards his chess opponent with a knowing smile, Damién examined her quietly for a short moment. Comely for certain, albeit in a dark and sullen manner... physically stronger than she appears, possessing a high degree of confidence and a magnetic personality; a worthy ally for certain.

Queue the Sherlock Holmes perceptive inner monologue.

Taking a sip of the wine, Damién ponders the question a moment before responding rhetorically "What are my talents? Well, before my stay at Brandescar, I was a rather talented barrister and diplomat, though my clients tended to be those the Markadian's deemed, oh, let's just say undesirable." Swirling the wine in his glass a little, Damién examined the legs of the liquid, indicating it's sugar level before continuing "I'm also a gifted healer if you can imagine; unlike many Priests of our Dark Prince, he has seen fit to allow me the gift of healing, a most useful skill in a pinch." Growing more serious, Damién reminisces "Of course, my real talent was organizing seditious plots against the Markadian zealots; my family was allied with the Barca, and we have longed for a return to a more civilized form of rule. Sadly, one too many plots landed me in some hot water with the authorities." Glancing back at Angelica with his characteristic grin, Damién finally adds "I'd be remiss though if I didn't mention talents of another certain nature, though I think for sake of modesty, I shall not utter those talents here."

Oh you're right; sorry I was comparing the wrong skills with one another.

Making no attempt to hide looking towards her chest for a lingering moment, Damien grins slowly as he lifts his eyes north while adding "I think I'll have to pass Angelica; once burned, twice shy." Glancing over at Annabelle with a knowing shrug, Damien couldn't help but think the little firebug might appreciate an idiom involving fire.

"Good game; in any event, I hope whatever you have me do in the future, it's something that makes use of my considerable... talents." Leaving it up to her imagination to what those talents might be, Damien gets up and inquires with a genuine smile "Care for another drink?

I figure someone with 18 Wisdom would be a good sport about it all, and know when to cut their losses.

It appears that while Angelica out-bluffed Damién, he correctly sensed what she was doing... effectively we both gain a +2 bonus. Going down to modified intelligence check, Damién narrowly wins by a margin of 19 to 18. Close game!

The game goes on for quite some time, Damién realizing somewhat later in the game that his opponent his both more wily and intelligent than he had originally guessed. At a particularly critical moment in the game, Damién finds Angelica removing one of his knights; as she removes the piece from the board, Damién grins and looks up "Hmmm, well met Angelica... you had me thinking you were something of an amateur, but I can see you've played more than a few times." Taking a sip of his wine, Damién grins and leans back to survey the board before winking at his opponent "Alright now, with such a high stakes on the line, it's time to take the kid gloves off."

Raising an eyebrow with a playful grin, Damién nods at the Angelica's suggestion "Ooo, I like they way you think m'lady; a friendly wager it is then." Taking a sip from his port, Damién grabs one of the pawns beautifully sculpted to look like an imp and makes his first move.

Unmodified Intelligence: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (15) + 2 = 17
Bluff: 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (1) + 10 = 11
Sense Motive: 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (7) + 8 = 15

Sounds good, I'll make my rolls and response.

How do we play it? Bluff / Sense motive / Intelligence checks?

Good question. Maybe opposed checks for Bluff and Sense Motive, the winner gaining a +2 competence bonus to the final opposed intelligence check?

Inspecting the liquor, Damién finally decides upon a bottle of port by pointing towards the bottle "The port will do nicely." Seeing little point in tipping a slave, Damién instead gives the servant a dark blessing in the Infernal tongue for his trouble "Kler taekt sie nomen rah."

Glass in hand, Damién strolls casually down the hall, leaving his servant to tend to his room during his absence. Entering the hall, Damién draws back his hood, and gives a single nod to those gathered in the game room. With a sly grin, Damién adds "My, but if we don't all clean up nicely."

Heading into the room, Damién inspects the books and then moves onto the games. Finding himself at a nearby table, the dark priest finds himself admiring a beautifully crafted set of chess pieces. Unlike what one might expect, the theme of the pieces appeared not to be of good and evil, but rather of the ancient blood war of the lower planes. The red pieces appeared to represent the devil legions of the Dark Prince in the Nine Hells with a Pit Fiend for their king, while the black pieces appeared to be Demons of the Abyss. Grabbing the one of the pieces, Damién peers at it closely and murmurs "Baatezu and Ta'nari, how marvelous." Sitting down behind the devil legions, Damién leans back and makes a general inquiry to those present while sipping his port "Anyone care for a game of chess?

Probably not a bad idea, there hasn't been a great deal of character interaction at this point... that said, maybe set a deadline Yuugasa to move on with the plot?

Alright, finished up the servant. For the sake of character design, I have assumed Yuugasa that they get one trait like our players did, though I also selected additional traits for her feat.

Anyway, you can find the crunch here. Basically, I had her go with a variety of complimentary skills, as well as some contract and legal background since she would be considered bright among the servants here, and this is Asmodeus after all.

Going to make a slight change... rather than purchase a MW Shield and Noble Clothes, I'll just get a regular shield 200g towards Sleeves of Many Garments, and pocket the rest; Johann found that little gem, I think would be quite helpful in the future.

Nice work Annabelle... say Yuugasa, I started working on Damien's NPC, but just to be clear - these NPC's are going to stick with us for the near future, and not just at the manor?

Approaching the group of slaves, Damién casually walks in and amongst them in a very non-threatening and cordial manner. He appears rueful as he greets each one, smiling affably and making small talk with them. Finally, he stops at a lovely young woman, tall, lean and athletic like himself. While appearing mostly human, a few of her features indicate a celestial lineage, silver colored eyes and long blond hair that shimmers with silver in the light. Turning around, he smiles at Tiadora with a pleasantly surprised look "You managed to turn an aasimar; how delightfully splendid Tiadora, my word." Turning back towards the girl, Damién smiles a little more devilishly than before, and murmurs "Yes, this one will do nicely indeed. Let's go then." Holding out his arm, he awaits for his servant to lead him to his quarters.

After a long bath and massage, Damién decides to lounge about and enjoying some wine and fruits with his new celestial servant. After a day of mostly relaxation and recuperation, Damién finally strolls into his room to inspects the refinements and equipment left for him appreciatively "Hmm, these robes are of the utmost quality, Asmodeus be praised." Glancing back at his servant, he adds "Elisandra*, help me get dressed here... I need to look my sharpest for this evening, for I'm meeting with our benefactor this evening."

* I've decided to give the servant a name, just for ease of reference in the future.

Sure, go ahead.

Great, will post shortly. In addition, I've made the following purchases:

All told, leaves Damien with about 7.5g left over.

What about an Aasimar for a servant Yuugasa? Damien would relish the irony of having a someone of angelic persuasion serving his will... otherwise just an attractive human will work fine for him.

Walking up to the front door, Damien shrugs and retorts bemusedly "Why bother? Whoever is behind our escape knows where we've been, and will understand why we look like hell." Looking himself over, he adds with a laugh "Besides, I think it might take a lot more than a cantrip to clean this crap off."

Not waiting a moment longer, Damien shrugs and knocks on the door "Let's just get on with this then."

Glancing over at Johann with a grin and a sympathetic roll of his eyes, Damién sarcastically retorts "Sure Varmint, yeah, I can see the resemblance." Taking a few steps forward, Damién squints as he tries to see better in the darkness of the swamp.

Perception: 1d20 + 6 ⇒ (7) + 6 = 13

"Anyway, we should probably get moving; who knows what else lurks out here, and this place isn't exactly the nicest place to spend the night... hell, it makes even Brandescar look pretty posh and comfortable."

Quickly tracking down the toad that Johann alerted everyone too, Damién scowls and calmly mutters "Well, we were bound to attract some negative attention of a different kind in this miserable place." Pulling his hands from the muck and into the air, Damién starts chanting in the infernal tongue "Baer lacyer nomen kas." Quickly, the dark priests hands begin to glow with dark energy, which seem to suck the life from the vegetation around them, only to refocus on the toad.

Selective Channel Energy on Toad: 2d6 ⇒ (1, 1) = 2

A lot of description for absolute crap damage, but then again... Damién has like nine of these per day, so meh.

Raising one brow with a slight grin, Damién observes the Ogre passively. Impressive command of the language for one of his race; must have a good head on his shoulders.

Passing by the remains of the guards, Damién shrugs and muses "I have a feeling we're going to be leaving a lot of widows in our wake this evening."

Ditto; voting for subterfuge... keep the guards in the dark as long as possible.

Rolling his eyes, Damién shakes his head and mutters in the infernal tongue "If you're done with him, then put him out of his misery... quickly. I think some of you relish unnecessary violence a little too much, which might explain your presence here."

Scratching his chin, Damien glances over at Johann and Angelika "Fifty guards, that could be a problem. We should see if we can't get to the armory, in the event we need to fight our way out."

Rubbing his wrists as the shackles are removed, Damien glances over at Angelica and states in neutral tone "There is only one way in and out of this facility, unless you're a great swimmer... so I think the front gate maybe a necessity."

Popping his head outside the cell with a glance upward, Damien adds "Having said that, we might find something useful up there."

Glancing up at Angelica while yawning, Damién neutrally observes her for a moment. Finally shrugging, Damién sighs and dispassionately inquires "You look like the cat that ate the canary, so out with it already dear girl."

No worries, tis the season.

Somewhat bemusedly, Damién listens as Angelica attempted to weave a tale of deceit. Glancing over at Annabelle, he wondered if she would play along with the yarn Angelica was weaving. Taking one last sip of the wine, Damién leaned back against the wall and sighed.

"Or perhaps they're true Mitran believers who legitimately think they can change this place," with a nonchalant shrug and rolling of his eyes, Damién adds "regardless of their motives, their efforts come to late for our sake."

With a shrug, Damién accepts the cake and wine and nods with a gracious grin "Normally I'd be suspicious of poison in these circumstances... but I am due to hang or burn or something or another, so why not throw caution to the wind, right?" Taking a sip of the wine, Damién savors the first luxury he has experience in weeks.

Leaning against the wall, Damién addresses Rothschild somewhat whimsically "Humanoid rights? What a novel concept... of course, no such things exist here at Brandescar." Taking another sip of wine, Damién's tone turns more acerbic as he continues "Don't believe what the Warden here tells you Sir Rothschild; whatever story they weave for you, know that this place is hell on earth devoid of anything so civil as humanoid rights."

Ready!

Observing the larger orcish man's response to his overture, Damién shrugs and plainly and adds "Fair enough, not your thing I suppose." Leaving it at that, Damién chose not to antagonize the large half-breed any further; it was plainly evident that the women in the cell had done just that, and he saw no reason to add insult to injury.

Listening to the conversation outside, Damién rolls his eyes and sighs sardonically, and then muses "Sadly, such reforms will come to late for us here I suspect."

Leaning against the cell wall was a man who appeared bored; not anxious, nervous or angry as one might expect given the predicament... just really bored. He was a handsome man though, tall, lean and athletic, but not bulky. He had short dark hair, icy blue eyes, and though he hadn't shaved for days, he appeared only to have a slight shadow of stubble growing on his face.

While he appeared bored, the reality was he was really just lost in thought Well Damién, you always knew this could happen... the price of sedition. Did we make a difference I wonder? Was it worth it?

As the discussion turns more provocative among some of the women Damién was locked up with, his blasé facade finally broke. Listening quietly, a slight grin slowly evolved on the young man's face. Glancing over towards half-breed bruiser situated near him, Damién laughs lightly and adds "Must admit, I like where this is going all of the sudden."

In the process of updating this character, but here are the basic changes are on the tab; nothing too dramatic.

Congratulations to the those that made the cut! This is a big group, I'll be interested to see how this plays out.

Now for a little bit of wickedness!

Good a time as any to update the list.

Sorry, must have copied from my original document which was missing your data; it's correct now.

Oh yeah, and here is an updated list:

Applicant List

Martial
Grip Riddleshot NE Goblin Male Ranger (Urban Ranger)
Eisela LE Female Tiefling Monk (Hamatulatsu Master)
Angelic Isley NE Dhampir Female Anti-Paladin (Lord of Darkness)

Divine
Cole LE Human Male Warpriest of Asmodeus
Valignatir LE Gnome Male Cleric of Asmodeus (Theologian)
Zoé Harman LE Human Female Cleric of Asmodeus (Unholy Barrister)

Arcane
Caprin Seylin NE Human Male Sorcerer (Arcane Sage)
Annabelle Emberspark NE Gnome Female Summoner/Sorcerer
Tsadok the Cursed LE Half-Orc Male Fighter (Unbreakable) 1 / Magus (Hexcrafter) 2
Imogene Bainesworth LE Changeling Female Witch
Johann Gray NE Human Male Wizard (Infernal Binder)

Skill
Doctor Yanev LE Human Male Alchemist (Vivisectionist)
Yuki Tsune NE Kitsune Female Rogue (Kitsune Trickster)
Victor White Lilly NE Human Male Ninja

Miscellaneous of Unknown
David Trufant III ?? Human? Male ??
Unknown Name ?E Elven Male Ranger

Alright, got my application finished; the background is here, and all other character details can be found on this tab.

Zoé Harman

Thought I might put a list together since the applicant pool is now spread over three pages, and is still open for another week. If I missed anyone or you feel I categorized you incorrectly, please feel free to copy and paste and change it. There are a few characters that were missing details, so I included them in the miscellaneous section.

Applicant List

Martial
Grip Riddleshot NE Goblin Male Ranger (Urban Ranger)
Eisela LE Female Tiefling Monk (Hamatulatsu Master)
Angelic Isley NE Dhampir Female Anti-Paladin (Lord of Darkness)

Divine
Cole LE Human Male Warpriest of Asmodeus
Valignatir LE Gnome Male Cleric of Asmodeus (Theologian)
Zoé Harman LE Human Female Cleric of Asmodeus (Unholy Barrister)

Arcane
Caprin Seylin NE Human Male Sorcerer (Arcane Sage)
Annabelle Emberspark NE Gnome Female Summoner/Sorcerer
Ostarian Thrune NE Dhampir Male Wizard (Thassilonian gluttony specialist/Cruoromancer)
Imogene Bainesworth LE Changeling Female Witch

Skill
Doctor Yanev LE Human Male Alchemist (Vivisectionist)
Yuki Tsune NE Kitsune Female Rogue (Kitsune Trickster)
Theodric Redner LE Human Male Inquisitor of Asmodeus (Infiltrator)

Miscellaneous or Unknown
David Trufant III ?? Human? Male ??
Unknown Name ?? Elven Male Ranger

I myself still need to finish my background story, which I always seem to drag my heels on! Looks pretty balanced so far, though one thing that surprised me was to see so many non-core races when Yuugasa stated a preference for core.

P.S. - Rashly5, great to see you here! Maybe we can put the band back together lol

So, I think rather than submit an old character, I'd design a new one for this game. This character uses the Unholy Barrister archetype from the Way of the Wicked Campaign, which allows for great support and some actual healing from your party Cleric as an option.

I'm going to fill out the background story tomorrow, but the crunch is done and can be on this alias. As an aside, not having nothing makes the gear selection portion of character generation quite easy I must say!