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Hey guys! I'm sorry to say but I'll have to leave you... my workload has dramatically changed and in result I'm not being able to properly play this game as I whished so I'll have to bow out. I've already talked to the GM so this message is just to let you know. It was a pleasure to play with all of you and I hope we'll be able to play again in the future. GM, could you remove me from the current players?
Elannaris easily recognizes the alchemical substance but pays little attention to it, focusing in the dwarf questioning about them. "Hi! I'm Elannaris Darantholar and Malthazir speaks the truth, we are indeed under a mission for the First Hazard. We come in peace and we wish you no harm." She puts her hand on her waist smiles. "We have not seen a single breathing soul to this moment and we are really glad that you were also spared from this catastrophe... we had the luck to catch the Hazard's attention but you all must be quite tough to have achieved the same thing on your own!"
As she talks, Elannaris tries to remember anything from Eastgate and its inhabitants.
Hum... just to clarify, Elannaris 'wand' will work as a normal wand (50 charges) until it is depleted and then she'll be able to imbue essences to it so it can turn into a 10 clw/day, right? If we are taking a full day of rest, there will be no need for her to spend any more charges besides that spent on Truk, since with a long-term care she can heal 8hp to everyone and 4 ability score...
After the decision to rest for a full day, Elannaris makes sure to take a look at everyone with any sort of bruising or cut, cleaning their wounds thoroughly with a piece of cloth... and to her surprise, it was really easy to clean. After taking care of Garidan, Grus and Truk, she finally let herself to rest a bit, absorbed in her own thoughts. This is really new... before today I never really liked to come even close to a half-orc or a bugbear... I fear that I'll not be able to recognize myself in a couple more weeks... if I survive this much. These guys are resistant... if I was the target of those rats I'm sure I'd be already dead by now...
It takes a little time for Elannaris to recover from the shock and horror of the creatures and soon after Nyiut discovered the strange essence. Somehow she knew about it, even if she never read or seen anything like this before... or did she? At the ask for help, Elannaris approached Gruskorb and Truk'tosh to look at their wounds and trying to identify what sort of malady could be affecting them.
"Hum... my experience with medicine is more restricted to bruises and cuts, not really diseases but let me see what can I do..." Seeing Truk'tosh's injuries, she sighs. "... yeah... this is what I was talking about... I think I can help you more..." She then look for the strange stone that she was able to 'recover' from the old gnome's house and brought it in front of the half-orc... it was warm to her touch and pulsed slightly. After a few seconds yellowish strands of light left the stone, when it acquitted a topaz appearance, and healed her companion. After that, she almost dropped it. "...What? Why did I got this stone? I had no idea that it could do this so why? It is like something is guiding me..."
The small stone quickly catches Elannaris' attention and she studies it while addressing Truk'tosh, making sure she wasn't about to press it and trigger a trap. Strange... I'm normally curious in would probably have already pressed it but why am I being so careful... it is almost as if I had already had bad experiences about randomly pressing stones...
"Hey, Truk, I found a weird stone here... I bet it is a trigger to a secret door of some sort... I'm thinking abo..." Elannaris presses it.
Elannaris spent the last couple hours thinking with herself. All of them are talking about 'spirits in their head'... am I also suffering from the same fate? I don't hear a voice in my head as they are but I can't deny that I'm feeling smarter and more worried about everyone... this is not a good thing in the current situation... She escapes her thoughts to give her opinion about the undead. "I agree with Niyut that the head has almost nothing to do with the magic... well, there are some lore that suggests that a couple necromantic spells requires for the caster to put black gems in their eyes... but even so, there are other means to do it, or at least it was what I heard off." She shrugs before continuing. "Nevertheless, I think the that there is indeed some advantage in separating the bodies from their heads or members for even if this act does not prevent the corpse from rising, it prevents it from biting, hearing, sniffing and spotting us... without feet it is also considerably more difficult for them to chase us..."
Following the others in their introductions, Elannaris also gives her name. "I'm Elannaris Darantholar, at your service. Not sure how my abilities will be useful along the road but I'll offer them freely and in good will." I'll definitely not touch those things... Elannaris thinks as she sees the others grabbing the undead. She breathes with relief when the half-orc grabs the last one. Once they arrive at the stores, Elannaris joins Niyut in taking a look over the provisions. The beautiful spyglass catches her attention. "Hum... I could make a good use of it... there are also many alchemical items, many useful in a combat situation... I must confess I'm not a combatant for I was a former aristocrat but I imagine I could be of some help by supporting you."
Elannaris nodded in agreement with Truk'tosh's words but rolls her eyes at Malthazir. Noble elves... always thinking only about themselves. "This is no game! I just wanted to know who and why was responsible for this and I AM using self-preservation logic by not trust blindingly at everything and everyone. If I'm going to die in some errand, for sure I wish to know who I could trust." At Alaquendai's outburst, Elannaris wanted to run and hide but something inside her resisted the urge. "I really hope you are right and this was 'just' a sacrifice to the greater good and not a palliative. If there is indeed still hope for this world to flourish once more, I'll lend whatever help I can but if we are doomed to not live, just survive as animals, I think I'd have preferred to be among them..." She points to the rift. "So, we have two things to worry: find the other Hazards and protect the portal to Midian. I suggest we focus on the first problem since we are terribly ill equipped for the second one." She looks around the room. "I'm not judging any of you but I doubt any of us would be able to be of any help against a horde of undead or the Brotherhood. Our best hope is to find the other Hazards..." To herself she added. And pray that they do not destroy what remained...
"So, to make things very clear: an insurmountable number of creatures died because the 1st Hazard, the one who should be responsible for our protection, decided to go somewhere he should not... the blind search for knowledge, where the ends justify the means... I only ask you one thing, Alaquentai... was it worth? All the lives lost for the knowledge you acquired was a fair cost to pay?" Elannaris, in truth, had not truly lost anyone. She had no family alive and even among her friends, she doubt she could really trust a parcel of them. She never really cared for the poor, for the children or for the sick and never thought twice before stealing a thing or two from her aristocratic targets but, somehow, now she was feeling sorry for not only those she knew, but also for many others that she never had the opportunity to meet... something was different inside her but she was not aware of it. "You keep telling us about how important is your role in keeping this shamble of life that was left but in truth, you are not the hero here... I can barely distinguish your role from Archeabus'." She looks around the room, looking for anyone that would agree with her.
As the wizard disappears, Elannaris thinks about what he said. Archeabus? So this one is part of the Dran Brotherhood? Wait... I do not remember about reading or hearing anything about it... or have I? Elannaris hears the vague words the Hazard spoke but none of them answered the question she had in mind. "I'm sorry to interrupt your fury with this bloody gnome of yours but I think more explanation about what happened should be given... I honest care not for what you have seen in your dreams! I just want to know what happened, where I... we are, and how you are going to fix it?" Even if more used to how the world really is, a faint note of the once spoiled girl is visible through her demands.
With her dagger in her hands, the elven woman moves nimbly around the enemy wizard, trying to calculate where his defenses would be more vulnerable. That creature, the hobgoblin, is constantly threatening him with his whip... She know her combat prowess was useless but the enemy did not. Perhaps I can distract him...
From behind the fount, Elannaris watched the combat. It seems many of them are trying to protect the hazard... it seems the right to do but I'm still not sure how to help... She looked to the dagger in her hands and sighed. I should have paid more attention to my martial training when I was a young girl... this will have to be enough! Elannaris abandoned her hiding spot, jumped over the baluster and moved towards the enemy mage.
Seeing all the 'enemies' were busy with each other, Elannaris moved towards the baluster wall and, with grace, jumped over it with ease. Soon after she moved behind the fount. Crouched, she reached for her hidden dagger from boot and once she has retrieved it, she pressured its handle against her forehead. What am I going to do? How will I be able to get away from this mess?
Oh, Alaquendai is trying to contain the whirlwind... but is it a good thing or bad? She then notices the faces shrieking in silence inside the storm. It is for sure a good thing... but that requires concentration and that bugbear is not helping! Perhaps I should... no... what will I be able to do against that monster?
Hum... since all of us have another soul inside of us and internal dialogues will be common, I think we need to determine a standard for how to post internal dialogues to avoid confusion... I suggest this: "Normal talk" Thoughts "The spirit talks" I think there is no need for another format for when the spirit 'thinks' about something, since he is in our head, I do not think he would be allowed to 'think' without us knowing, thus it would be the same as he talking... As another matter, Elannaris is completely oblivious that there is someone inside her and even if Adornis Bolvingard, the gnome archaeologist, is aware of his condition, he is quiet at the moment, making sure that his knowledge and thoughts are perceived as hers for now... So for all that matters, Elannaris will only think that she just became 'smarter'.
Elannaris opened her eyes and the bright light almost blinded her. Her head was in massive pain, like if she had spent the last couple hours in constant calculations. When her vision adjusted to the light level, the first thing she noticed was the man in the center and the whirlwind in the center.
Then she noticed the was not the only one 'lost' in the situation and also the something was wrong... it was then that she saw the dead attacking. What happened to me? Am I dead? She touched her body, looking for any open wound and found none. With the exception of her headache, she was, apparently, just fine. Unsure of what danger she might be facing, Elannaris stood up. In the process the put her hand next to her boot, intending to grab her dagger, but then she changed her mind. This isn't the fight for me... everyone could be an enemy... The elf looked around, trying to figure out where is the best place to run and hide... she noticed the fountain behind the small baluster wall but was unsure if she would get there before anyone noticed or moved to attack her. She noticed she was still holding the strange crystal sphere in her hand. Is this thing the reason I'm here?
I also vote for option 2. Another possibility to balance the wand is a charge system similar to a staff... instead of x charges of a spell, you give us 10 levels of spell (or any other number), so we'd be able to cast 10 1st-level spells or 5 2nd-level and so on... Perhaps it could also be a good option if we tied this number to our level and an ability score... like half level + INT or level + INT (5 charges or 6 charges) in Elannaris case.
OK, guys, not sure if you noticed but Elannaris is purely a skill monkey and as she progresses she will get get even better in them as she gets 16 skill points/level, has many skill unlocks and gets half-level bonus in many of them... So, since this game will be pretty rough in resource and we'll need to make many things by ourselves, I took a look at our skills and I found many overlapping... feel free to check! Group Skills:
Acrobatics: Elannaris +6, Garidan +5, Gruskorb +9 Appraise: Elannaris +8, Gruskorb +6 Bluff: Elannaris +6, Garidan +7, Gruskorb +6, Malthazir +8, Niyut +8 Climb: Elannaris +4, Garidan +3, Truk'tosh +9 Craft (alchemy): Elannaris +8 Craft (traps): Gruskorb +6 Diplomacy: Elannaris +10, Garidan +7, Gruskorb +5, Malthazir +8, Niyut +8 Disable Device: Elannaris +8, Gruskorb +9 Disguise: Elannaris +6 Escape Artist: Elannaris +6, Gruskorb +8 Fly: Handle Animal: Heal: Elannaris +5 Intimidate: Garidan +7, Gruskorb +8, Malthazir +16, Truk'tosh +1 K. Arcana: Elannaris +11, Garidan +6, Malthazir +12, Niyut +7 K. Dungeoneering: Elannaris +11, Garidan +6, Malthazir +12 K. Engineering: Elannaris +11 K. Geography: Elannaris +11 K. History: Elannaris +11, Garidan +7, Niyut +7 K. Local: Elannaris +11, Gruskorb +6, Niyut +7 K. Nature: Elannaris +11, Garidan +6, Gruskorb +6, Malthazir +12, Niyut +7, Truk'tosh +3 K. Nobility: Elannaris +11, Malthazir +12 K. Planes: Elannaris +11, Malthazir +16, Niyut +7 K. Religion: Elannaris +11, Garidan +6, Malthazir +12, Niyut +7, Truk'tosh +3 Linguistics: Elannaris +8 Perception: Elannaris +8, Gruskorb +6, Malthazir +7, Niyut +5, Truk'tosh +7 Perform (sing): Malthazir +8 Profession (all): Elannaris +3 Ride: Sense Motive: Elannaris +5, Garidan +5, Gruskorb +5, Malthazir +5, Niyut +5, Truk'tosh +7 Sleight of Hand: Elannaris +6, Garidan +6, Gruskorb +12 Spellcraft: Elannaris +8, Malthazir +11, Niyut +8, Truk'tosh +3 Stealth: Elannaris +6, Garidan +6, Gruskorb +9, Niyut +11 Survival: Elannaris +5, Garidan +5, Gruskorb +5, Niyut +5, Truk'tosh +7 Swim: Gruskorb +5, Truk'tosh +6 Use Magic Device: Elannaris +9, Garidan +9 The GM mentioned that we'll need to make our items and since this is also a surviving game, we'll need many craft and profession skills... That being said, allow me a few observations: -> 5 out of 6 of us have high Bluff: I'm sure this is a major overlap!
With this in mind, I'll propose a could changes in your skills... I'm not really trying to game this, just making sure that everyone will be able to 'shine' and avoid some situations like "Man, I put a couple ranks in knowledge and those damned elves always know everything..." Garidan:
Swap K. Arcana for Craft (armors) Swap K. Dungeoneering for Craft (weapons) Swap K. Nature for K. Geography Swap K. Religion for K. Local/K. Nobility I think you choose your knowledge skills thinking more about identifying monsters than in your fluff/background... With my proposed choices, the two craft skills (besides being pretty useful) fit quite well with Goruza's training as a Lore Warden, since the art of crafting is a type of 'lore' and quite fitting for a fighter. The K. Geography and K. Local/Nobility are also quite fitting as something Garidan learnt from his father, the traveling bard.
Gruskorb:
Swap K. Nature for K. Engineering Swap Bluff and/or Diplomacy for 1 or 2 Professions that fits your background prior to the enslavement. K. Engineering fits well with the craft (traps) you already have and since we already have plenty of social skills, your bluff/diplomatic prowess is not actually needed... the same could not be said of other professions like engineer, brewer, gambler (fits your personality), merchant, miner (fits your time as a slave), sailor...
Niyut:
Like your twin, I think you forgot about the background skills... so you'll have another 4 points to spend. A couple profession are fitting for Niyut, like cook, herbalist, scribe, shepperd. A perform, like singing or dance could also be nice, as well as K. Geography.
Truk'tosh: Not sure but I think you are lacking 2 skill points... your total should be 10 (2 Cleric, +4 Druid, -2 INT, +4 Background, +2 Knowledge), right? In any case, you need to spend your background skills in... background skills and I see none of them in your sheet... Since you are a druid, Profession (herbalist) is quite fitting, as well as Handle Animal, K. Geography, and Profession (trapper).
Thanks for the selection, DM! I think most of your requirements are already met. My special item is a wand of cure light wounds... since it is a special item, could I re-flavor it so it is a 'stone of cure light wounds'? This could be the single item that Elannaris was able to steal from the professor. I'm curious about how Elannaris will be able to 'enhance' her 'wand' once the charges are gone...
Sir Longears here! Right, I think I'm mostly done. As I said before, Elannaris is a skill monkey with little combat utility. Take a look at her and if you see any red flags or advice, please let me know!
Elannaris sits down and massages her neck. What has happened to me? I never felt anything like this before... I must have been drugged, since no spell wound affect me. Hearing the man’s words, Elannaris discreetly looks around, trying to capture everything around her.
Auch, my head hurts... can't focus in anything! Looking towards the man, Elannaris swiftly moves her holy symbol, that is on her necklace, making it fall between her breasts. "Mr...? Can you help me to get up? All this motion is making me dizzy..."
Here is Elannaris background. What you guys think of it? Background: Elannaris does not remember much of her former land, since most of her childhood was spent aboard a ship. Her parents where merchants of fine goods, sailing from Magnimar to Absalon several times each year. In one of these travels her father’s ship was attacked by pirates. In the bloody fight that followed, Elannaris saw her father being killed, as well as much of his crew, and she, her mother, sister and brother twins were captured.
The pirates took her family to Ilizmagorti, at the Mediogalti Island and sold them as slaves at the Fleshmarket Close to Ruthilda Goldshackle. After a couple of days under Ruthilda’s wrath, Elannaris, her mother and sister were sold to the Crimson Citadel as prostitutes. She never saw her brother again. Elannaris spent the her next hundred years as at the Honeyed Gardens of the Citadel, serving the cult’s assassins with pleasures of the flesh to refresh their bodies and spirits after successful assignments. During her time as a prostitute, her mother introduced her to the cult of Calistria and it was only her belief in the Savored Sting that kept her from losing her mind. Her mother died when she was sixty and her elder sister became insane after eighty years as a prostitute, after which she disappeared. Over the years, Elannaris learned how to use her body and charm to discover secrets from her lovers, secrets that would be used to gain power within the Citadel. She was not surprised when a couple of her lovers decided to kill her. She is only alive thanks to an older red mantis assassin, Gelt, who really loved her and helped her to flee, faking her death. Once out of the Citadel, Gelt arranged her a place at a pirate ship that would take her to Port Peril, where she would be able to take another ship and finally be free. Elannaris decided to celebrate her safe arrival in Port Peril with a few drinks at a tavern called the Formidably Maid. There were some suspicious-looking characters there, to be sure, and she decided to give them a wide berth, but as she left, feeling a bit woozy from drink, she was set upon by thugs in a dark alley and knocked unconscious.
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