It looks like I've gotten myself into something I'm not up for. There's been just shy of 48 posts in the last 2 days and the night is young. I don't have time for all that reading just to stay current, much less compose the kind of posts that would actually respond to all the things being said and done.
I thought I was joining a regular old Kingmaker campaign with maybe a few extra trappings, but I have no idea what's going on and again, I just don't have the spare time to read through all the stuff scattered around to try to figure it out.
This might be a super cool version of the game, but I can't invest in it. I hope you all have a great time.
Oh, sorry! I shouldn't have implied Eris has a low Charisma, since I just assumed it. I figured you were doing the same thing I do when I have a character with Charisma 7 or whatever, making her watch and have lots of thoughts but not speak much.
No worries, I'm not insulted or anything. It'll be true that Eris thinks more than she talks, is brutally direct, and is something of a misanthrope (in her head at least).
But! She is prepared to be victorious if any verbal duels happen her way.
Eris tries to listen to the various conversations for a while, but it's just so predictable and dreary. New people together so they immediately begin to preen and jockey for position, forming their little social hierarchies by out-impressing each other through relating in quips or stories what they perceive to be their own finest bits and bobs of social or cultural capital.
It doesn't seem to her she is free to leave, so Eris settles in to other ways to occupy herself. She studies the woodgrain of the table to identify the type of tree used to make it. She orders a second drink and sips it slowly, trying to pull apart the flavors of each ingredient. She thinks back to the closest location to Greenwatch she has visited, and speculates on how representative it might be to her new destination based in direction, distance, and terrain.
At two points Eris does raise her hand to ask a question. When the contents of the letter from Mayor Loy Rezbin are disclosed she asks "the mayor seems to harbor some doubt about the woman's claims. Has the presence of this army been verified independently, by direct sightings of it by reliable sources, or perhaps through scrying?"
"If so, is anything known about its disposition? Is it massed together in one place like a grand army? Dispersed over the area in smaller groupings? Is it stationary or in camp, or on the move?"
When uniforms are mentioned she asks "Can we just wear our own clothes instead?"
Oh, and Eris doesn't actually have a low charisma. It's the standard issue 10. Maybe that's low for this group? In any case, she uses INT for Bluff and Diplomacy so she gets by alright.
Eris looks in the direction of the cluster of talkers when she's called to. It's easy to figure who addressed her since there's only one woman in the group.
She smiles back, because that is what is done in such cases, and replies "My name is Eris. Hello, nice to meet you."
Eris stands and starts walking toward the group, leaving her now empty plate behind.
"I suppose I am part of the same group as you? I was just hired."
She pulls out a chair at the edge of the group and sits. Up close she looks younger and shabbier than before. She has hazel eyes, and a few scattered freckles that haven't quite yet disappeared with maturity. It would be hard to imagine her to be out of her teens, or much beyond about twenty. Eris is no great beauty in the standard sense, but few would argue that she isn't cute in her own way.
The dark earth tones and black of her clothing do a good job of hiding the several places where they have been mended or patched. The repairs are well executed.
Other than what she's already said, Eris doesn't speak, she just listens in.
A young woman of with long chestnut hair enters the room, circling around the knot of eating, drinking, and chatting people so not to disturb them and moving on up the length of the table to find an unoccupied place.
Her clothing is the practical and basic stuff of travelers, tough and durable fabrics with worn boots. A fur-trimmed cloak covers her, but a bandolier holding a number of vials is visible. From her belt hangs a couple of pouches, along with a small, one-handed axe and a couple of knives or daggers.
She sits down and waits to order. As she rests her elbows on the table, her rolled up sleeves reveal numerous tattoos crowding her forearms. She orders fish when asked. When it's delivered she begins to quietly eat.
"If you need a medic, that works fine for me. Look, I haven't been a mercenary before so I'm not familiar if the options. Something else is okay too. Surely you need reconnaissance? I can do that. So, 70 gold per what period of time?"
Things have gotten a little too hot in Galt for Eris to continue with her current line of work at present. She's out of the area on hiatus until things cool down and she's been forgotten. While she's waiting, she's looking for work.
Her portfolio is in woodcraft, scouting, and skirmishing. Mostly she's worked as a guide. She's also an accomplished 'doctor' with her knowledge of alchemy and non-magical healing. She's also highly intelligent and well educated in the old Galtan classical tradition.
Eris isn't going to be too picky about employment as long as it's not something that requires her to act in unethical ways. She's a Caydenite, and views her campaign to smuggle endangered people out of Galt as practically the same thing as a war on slavery.
Here's Eris Northanger, a well educated, wilderness Scarlet Pimpernel type who's taking a break from smuggling refugees wanted by Galt to the River Kingdoms.
I'll probably work on the background a little more, but I believe she's more or less ready to go.
Veda's Background/Appearance/Personality sections are in the profile now.
I believe she's finished except for a last run through for editing and anything I might have missed. I might fiddle around some with her gear and extracts list yet.
Here's my submission. Veda is a Changeling Vivisectionist / Chirurgeon Alchemist.
The build information is in the profile. I'm still working on background, personality and so forth. Hopefully I'll have it all finished tonight. I'll add an avatar when it's possible.
Here's the elevator speech version:
Veda Background:
Veda grew up in Longacre, adopted by the town's bachelor undertaker. As a younger child she showed intelligence and curiosity, first as a reader, and later under the undertaker's tutelage in the business. Mostly it was the bodies, their anatomy, and how they worked that was the draw for Veda. As she reached her teens boredom led her to dabble in some bad behavior and she became acquainted with Cimri. Veda was odd enough in the small town that she had never really formed any close connections. But when her mother's call came, Veda began to seek them out. She did not believe she could resist the call without binding herself tightly to some group of people. Cimri and her friends were those most accessible to her. She became more deeply involved with their sketchy dealings. First she was a doctor to those who couldn't risk seeing a doctor. The money she received was nice, and led to to deeper involvements.
Veda isn't particularly religious, and doesn't much care about politics. She's a loyal Chelaxian like most Chelaxians are. She has discovered a taste for money though. Even more than the money she's looking for thrills and a tight pack to run with while finding them. Her need for people to insulate her from the her mother's call, even if it's weaker now than in the past, makes her loyal. But her relative lack of empathy means she isn't the best shoulder to cry on.
