This is DarkNetwerk's submission so far (still a work in progress as I need to finalize which Thassilonian sin I want the rune focus to be associated with; two more spells known; one more feat; and equipment - personality, appearance & background are blank for now but will come from the 20 questions).
20 Questions draft responses:
1. What is your character’s name?
Ellismus Rayne
2. How old is your character?
27
3. What would somebody see at first glance (i.e. height, weight, skin color, eye color, hair color, physique, race, and visible equipment)?
Tall slim human with lightly bronzed skin, dark eyes above some reading spectacles, and close-cropped brown hair, including a pair of mutton chops. At a glance, he appears to dress relatively well, except for his old footwear which could be considered... comfortable... for lack of a better word.
4. What additional attributes would be noticed upon meeting the character (i.e. Speech, mannerisms)?
Ellismus is often paging through a book when not otherwise engaged. He seems personable enough, if generally quiet, but is less engaged and easily distracted when not discussing subjects in his domain of interest. Should the discussion turn to those however, he may wax into one of his treatises on the topic.
5. Where was your character born? Where were you raised? By who?
Ellismus never knew his biological parents who had either died or abandoned him. He was discovered by a family of halflings travelling across Varisia. These kind folk took the infant in to raise among their own.
6. Who are your parents? Are they alive? What do they do for a living?
His adoptive father was a collector of historical texts, and decided to give the child an Azlanti-sounding first name. Ellismus revelled in his father's books and the family's travel, as he grew up, learning new languages and wonderful new information from them, including inklings of some magical ability. When he came of age, his family sent him to the human colleges to continue to sate his love of learning.
7. Do you have any other family or friends?
In his halfling family, he has 2 sisters, 1 brother, and 15 cousins (some once or twice removed).
8. What is your character’s marital status? Kids?
Unmarried. No kids.
9. What is your character’s alignment?
Neutral. He is focused on information and magic.
10. What is your character’s moral code?
He tends to hold the discovery and preservation of knowledge and magic above all else, although he's never had to make a choice between that and the life of family or friends.
11. Does your character have goals?
Learn as much about the Azlanti and Thassilonian empires, particularly their magic.
12. Is your character religious?
Elissmus follows Nethys as a good with a similar outlook, rather than as a devotee of the god.
13. What are your character’s personal beliefs?
Lost information must be discovered and shared.
14. Does your character have any personality quirks (i.e. anti-social, arrogant, optimistic, paranoid)?
Somewhat anti-social in that he's easily distracted or focusing on his own thoughts or reading but is optimistic about the potential for new discoveries
15. Why does your character adventure? Why did your character accept the job?
To learn more about Thassilon and Azlant, improve his grasp of magic.
16. How does your character view his/her role as an adventurer?
Historian first, wizard second
17. Does your character have any distinguishing marks (birth-marks, scars, deformities)?
No
18. How does your character get along with others?
Well enough. Doesn't tend to argue unless someone is clearly in error about a subject in his domain of knowledge.
19. Is there anything that your character hates?
The destruction (or purchase for private purposes) of ancient artefacts. They belong in a museum.
20. Is there anything that your character fears?
Forgetting important information about Azlant or Thassilon. This is why he is always reviewing his notes.
It should get you a sense on where I'm going with this.
Two-weapon fighting, Sword & Pistol feats. Strap the chainsaw on the severed stump of your right hand and hold the shotgun in the other. "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun."
I'm still around. Just haven't posted since my character never really met the others and it seemed a little contrived to force the issue (until the contrived point in the module that actually forces the issue). Mostly lurking to see whether the game would begin or not.
That being said, since the others have already gotten to know themselves and have been dilligently posting and chatting to each other (and I haven't really gotten involved at all), it might be best if I just drop out and let the group continue as is rather than have a 'new' person (my character) join in.
Ellismus, having already been moving towards the Plaza where the throngs of people were to listen to Lord Hulrun's words, got to the area early enough to find a suitable location off to the side, away from press of people, and in the shadow of the cathedral.
It seems I still had(have?) some work to do on my character. Looks like I focused my crunch completion efforts on my other application instead of finishing up this one, lol.
Added a second trait (Abyssal Eavesdropper) and the Inquisitor spells. I'll keep looking to see what else I may have missed.
Ellismus leaned up against the wall, taking comfort in the shadows of the alley, as he watched the revellers pass by on the streets. He shrugged his pack to shift it on his back to a more comfortable spot. It contained everything he owned, having just been ejected from his home by his mentor, and effectively ejected from the small church of Kelinahat. Cast out on the day of Armasse... How fortuitous... Perhaps I should hop the wall and head into the Wound... The thought of entering the Worldwound gave him pause, the memory of the beautiful woman who had saved him those years ago flashing across his mind. Why am I thinking of her after all this time... He sighed. Looks like I'll not get an opportunity to brood and sulk today.
The fetchling slipped out from the alley and wove his way silently through the crowd, making his way towards Clydwell Plaza where most of the party-goers were headed. He shook his head to himself at their giddiness and blissful ignorance. Even if an event such as this can be helpful towards maintaining morale, there should be some limitations. We need to be ever vigilant with the tainted so near.
Not usually online weekends. Just need the Story feat. Was thinking Vengeance, but it requires knowing the name of a challenging foe with minions (and it's limited in that once the foe and their minions are defeated, there are no further bonuses). It also would occur after the first scene (which I've played through a few times, but nothing beyond the first area, since each time the game died), and I'm not sure we'd know who to blame at that point, unless it changes to something else each time you discover there was someone else behind that BBEG.
None of the other feats really speak to me very much. Maybe I'll just go with that extra favored class bonus into later feat thing instead.
Just realized I hadn't selected a Story Feat (nor my favored class bonus for that matter). I suppose Vengeance might work after the first scene (if we know who the main bad guy of the AP is). I'll think a bit.
Ellismus, although not born in Kenabres, was raised there.
I, probably like Khayalani, dotted the gameplay thread and then deleted the post (reduces clutter but still marks it as part of our campaigns).
Ellismus pauses his missile assault to see how the conversation pans out. Seeing the lone reefclaw wandering towards the captured halfling, he launches the magic at it instead.
That's not very sporting... Pfft... What am I thinking? What are we doing here, fighting seasoned guards where we're barely out of diapers, so to speak? Ellismus sighs, points the wand and fires off a volley at the guard that Cedric had already 'seasoned'.
@Akrem: Out of curiosity, what was the AoO for? According to the map you were by the unconscious fella.
Ellismus moves along the back of the room to end where he can see through the open doors before pointing the wand and letting the missiles fly.
Move to R8. Magic missile against any non-reefer enemy adjacent to Cedric (I can't tell who is who since the coordinates in the text don't match the map)
I don't have line of sight to Maldur and since it seemed to be something like a free action to open the door, rather than a move, I'm thinking the doors are the swinging type where one just pushes them to open and they fall closed behind, so there is likely total cover too.
Ellismus fires off a volley of magic missiles at the nearby reefclaw once his allies have stepped away from it.
Would Akrem'Dar's move not have been a 5' step from N9 to M9 before his attack (and thus no AoO)?
Ellismus pulls out one of his wands and points it at Baldrago as he steps into the room. "We're not quite sure what you think you're doing," he says to Maldur, "but if this is Guardsmen's work, then we're in the right place."
Three globes of energy fly from the wand to slam into Baldrago.
Magic Missile:3d4 + 3 ⇒ (4, 1, 3) + 3 = 11 Now down to 25 charges
"If you wish to stop and chat about jurisdiction, we can do so. Just stand down."
"Does Vancaskerkin have any prior association with any of the families?" Ellismus asks. "The simplest reason for his selling meat, that no one else can offer, at low prices... is to undermine the queen and show that prosperity can occur thanks to certain others. Considering his views, it could be a platform to turn the people against her."
He pauses in thought before continuing, "This could be a very delicate situation. Any direct attempt to stop him could could cause us to face an army of the people, trying to protect the man, which could also undermine the queen's authority, much like, as you mentioned, martyring him. We need to undermine this new connection, so that when he is apprehended, the people will not care, or will rejoice. Perhaps, if we can find his source, we can spoil the meat. Selling bad meat should piss off enough people that an arrest would be welcome. Or play him at his own game. Take the meat from his source and give it away to the poor 'in the name of the Queen'."
Alive if possible, dead if necessary. What are you getting yourself into Eli? At least this is for the greater good... Was I thinking that this would be a cushy desk job? Ellismus quietly listens to the conversation. "Wait... selling meat to the poor? At decent prices, or is he gouging them?"Are we going up against a 'peoples hero'?
Ellismus nods to the Field Marshal, "The guards were just doing their job. The frame-up was quite well put together. I harbor no ill feelings towards them. But thank you for your words and your welcome."
Hero and Special Agent of the Crown? That would go a long way towards removing the remaining stigma from Lamm's deeds against me, since the crown wouldn't name a 'known murderer' a hero, nor have them on the payroll. Ellismus nods excitedly, "Yes, this is a great honor. I would certainly accept this title and priveledge."And it means I won't have to be so nervous when we're out at night investigating whatever the others have gotten into.
Ellismus remembered Lord Valdur from his youth, when he was still accepted within his own family and they would visit the other families. A powerful, imposing man, but a good one."Most definitely an honor my lord. Racial differences are only skin deep. We are all human and, beneath the skin, we are all the same."
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"Quite clear, Sergeant. Thank you for the information and your diligence," Ellismus says as he hands over his weaponry and wands.
Ellismus looks at Tolenn, "The symbol is not one for necromancers, per se. It is a symbol of the Sin Magic of Thassilon. One of those Sins, Gluttony, if I'm recalling my course work correctly," he says pointing at one of the symbols, "would involve a form of necromancy, but other Sins are related to other schools of magic." He blinks for a moment, "But I take your meaning as that common thugs wouldn't have such arcane knowledge. You are likely correct."
Ellismus nods at the talk of returning the brooch, Finally!"I concur. Let's get that thing back to its rightful owner."
"Hmmm...," Ellismus mutters, "It seems the mark is accurate, and also quite well made. Someone with both the skill and the knowledge made this."
Looking at Ashimar, "I'm not sure a 'thug' would have the carpentry ability or the understanding of the Sihedron to do this...."Then again, here I am hanging out with what could be thought of by others as thugs..."Well... I guess it depends on the thug."
Ellismus examines the carved rune to see if there are any aspects that may differ from what it should in a deliberate fashion (e.g. one sin having more or less prominence than the others) or differ due to poor lines or quality (e.g. how precise / well made).
"I'm not sure why we bothered even going there. You expected him to tell you the unvarnished truth? He thinks a certain brooch was his but was stolen from him by Lamm. It's likely he stole it from the original owner, not that he really fessed up to that, and the only reason he was interested in the thing was because it was 'his', and likely a part of his collection... That's pretty much what we came in with. And now we're much further in his and other undesirables' sights. Wonderful," Ellismus sighs, rubbing his temple before turning to Ashimar.
"The rune is on the outside of the door of the man's rental unit. The reason she found the thing in the first place was that she was having the place cleaned to prepare for a new tenant. I can either sketch one for you by hand, or show you one of the texts it can be found in, it was pretty clear what it was. I suppose it's possible that seeing the original might get us more information that wasn't present on the copy I viewed. Is that what you are proposing?"
Ellismus remains where he is slowly looking around, and tries to keep the confusion off of his face. I thought the King of Spiders was behind the attempted theft at our 'base'. Or was he and this Menach fellow one and the same? This underworld is convoluted. I should write a research paper on it some time.
He perks up, however, at the mention of the Queen, but then takes the first opportunity to follow Ashimar out.
Ellismus rubs his temples with one hand. Friends in low places... har har... idiot. And now we're here shopping for a lamp? I suppose this is 'negotiation' of some sort. I should have stayed home. Dealing with the criminal underbelly of society... I never thought I'd be looking forward to going to work on a regular basis. Rebinding and copying old books sounds like a great idea right now. He then lets his hand drop to his side and listens to the ongoing conversation.
"Are you saying that, in a probability, this man wants the damned thing for his collection? So we're doing all this on the off chance that isn't why he wants it and he has a currently unknown, and presumably out of character, reason for it?" Ellismus asks with a sigh.
Ellismus rubs the bridge of his nose. "So... we actually are still sitting on the damned brooch?" he asks. "What does meeting with more criminal elements have to do with getting it back to it's proper owner? We know who's it is. Why can't we just return it instead of risking, I don't know, just our lives and our freedom, getting involved in such things? If you really want to follow these threads of information, let's return the brooch and ask to be given leave to investigate further, or to be less specific at our interests, at least become an 'agent of the crown' for whatever strange work we want to do, so we wouldn't have to worry about curfew and other such things. The longer we have it, the longer some of the powers that be may begin wondering why we've been sitting on it."
He then sighs and throws up his hands. "But whatever. I don't care. Finding Lamm didn't change the fact people still think I'm some criminal. Might as well become what people think, right?"
I am going to be away for a week starting tomorrow (back on the 9th). I might be near some wifi at times, but I can't guarantee I'll be able to post. Bot me as appropriate.
Ellismus does what he can to keep his face schooled and calm. "Oh...," he says, his voice nearly breaking. "Poor man, but I guess these days, being a guard can be dangerous. In any case," he continued. "That's pretty much the gist of it. A Sihedron. A symbol of the seven schools of ancient Thassilonian Sin Magic. I can't, for the life of me, figure out why someone would have carved it into the door. Maybe someone found it and thought it looked cool. I don't know, but there you go."
Ellismus snaps his fingers as it comes to him. "I remember now! It was back when I was reading up on the Thassilonian Empire for finals a few years back. Now that was a hard exam, let me tell you. We had six, count them, six essay qu..." he pauses when he sees Aula raise her eyebrow. "Er... right... the symbol. I can't say as to why such a thing would be carved on someone's door. It's an ancient symbol called the Sihedron and references the seven schools of Sin Magic, being a corruption of Emperor Xin's, the founder of Thassilon, Virtue Magic. See here," he says, pointing at one of the symbols at the tips of the star, "this one is Gluttony, this one is Pride, this one is Lust, er..." Ellismus blushes and looks away. "Well anyhow, you can see what I'm getting at."
Looking back at Aula, Ellismus asks: "Is there something strange about Marina's tenant? It's kind of an unusual thing for a prank, so maybe it was a sign or signal for something. Perhaps the tenant is involved, or he, or the apartment, is of interest to whoever did this."
"I guess she might not have mentioned any of that," he says sheepishly. "Maybe these are questions for Marina, herself."
Ellismus spent the entire morning translating an old book. Normally the tedium would wear on him, but this time, after the chaos of Lamm's 'justice', the strange night assault on a guard, and the ridiculous arguments on what to do with someone else's, someone important's, property... this was blissful.
He didn't even notice Aula come into the room at first, even when she spoke, he was so deep into the work. It wasn't until she thrust the paper under his nose that he became aware.
"What? Oh! Aula, I didn't see you there. My apologies," he says as he looks over the scrap of paper. "Quite interesting... You say, Marina saw it carved into a doorway? Fascinating... Hmmm... Something about it seems familiar... just give me a moment."
I'd probably include Ashimar in the "healing prevention" angle, what with being a cleric an' all, you might have personal experience of how magical healing works.
Ell might be able to offer some help regarding "nobility", as he used to be a noble and was just drummed out of the family (although he doesn't have the requisite knowledge, I'd lump it along the experience angle "Oh yeah, the Crispins. Jerks all around".)
Ashimar might want to help with the skullcracker thing too, since her father has direct knowledge (and participation?) with them. Obviously she couldn't be direct, but you can search the family home and whatnot while he's at work.
"No need to be a brute Cedric. We're all in this together. And we don't know who was 'made' and followed. As far as I'm concerned, we're all at risk. And as they say, if you also have an avenue to the crown, it might be good to know it, so that we have more than one option as required."
He sighs, "I'll just be happy to get this thing off of our backs. Save us more trouble down the road, as Akrem'dar mentioned. As I said before, if there is nothing specific to do with the brooch itself, we can always look into things afterwards. We've stared at the thing long enough, I doubt we'll forget it."
Ellismus curses, "Visit the jeweler all you like. We don't need the damn jewel to continue looking into things. We know what it looks like and how much it's worth. And who knows if the jeweler was the one who passed along the information? People talk about the queen's regalia all the time. I'd bet the underworld knew that Lamm had the bloody thing, and it's not hard to figure out who brought him to 'justice'. A quick sweep of his hideout would tell them the thing wasn't there... Makes sense to look for us. Presumably they found one of us and trailed us back here."
He takes a breath. "All we need to do, for now, is figure out how we can get to the right people to return it. Then we can focus on other things than trying to protect it from thieves. You know, like the Skullcracker fellow who was murdered after asking Tolenn for help. Forget about the Spider King. I'm not about to try to bring down the entire criminal underground in this city."
Looking at Cedric, "Sure they're in the business of revenge, but Lamm was on the outs. So our taking him down wouldn't warrant such a move. Removing the brooch from play, also removes much of his interest in us. Now don't get me wrong, he'll probably be a little annoyed at not getting his hands on the thing right away, and maybe he'll keep an eye on us for a bit, just in case, but we won't have to worry about future unwanted ingress related to this."
"Let's just get that damned brooch back to it's owner," Ellismus says joining the two upstairs. "If we're lucky, the Queen'll be happy, we'll get a reward, and that other fellow can try to steal it back from her again. At least he might get off of our backs. How did he even hear about it, anyhow? What sort of inquiries did we make about it?"
Hate to spoil the moment, but you can't two-hand a light weapon and get any advantage out of it. Means the feller is staggered at 0. Still pretty awesome.
"I'm afraid I don't recognize it, maybe we just need to analyse it a bit more. But perhaps back at the house than out here," Ellismus says. I should have stayed home. There has been so much risk of jail on this trip. Maybe we should have just brought the jewel to the Queen and got some nice cushy royal commission.
