Okay, i'm feeling a little overwhelmed, and a little like I'm going to be holding things up. I want to continue in the game, but life just continues to ramp up. Work and home life are conspiring to keep me out of this game, and I don't want to punish you guys with my unavailability.
I think it's in everyone's best interest if Jak takes a leave of absence or drops altogether as I don't know when I'll have the time to really dedicate to this game in the manner that it deserves.
jonasty, if you don't mind have a player who just fades into the background - with the intention of jumping back in when he can, I'd love to do that. If you'd rather just drop Jak for the sake of the continuity of the story and other players, I understand that.
So sorry everyone for jumping in and then dropping like this. I realize it's flaky, and I hope you won't hold it against me, but especially you, Jonasty. Please know that it's not anything about your game... it's a fun game.
Life is just happening in a big way to me right now.
Let me know what you're comfortable with, Jonasty.
So sorry. work went and blew up on me. I'm not going to be able to get a decent post in this afternoon and possibly through the evening. Maybe Jak was disabled by the blast? Someone conked him on the head in their panic?
So sorry, all. I know it was just getting interesting. Don't feel like you have to wait on me.
Jak pitches his voice low so only Jasper and Alathea can hear, using the disturbance across the room to get a closer look at a few of the nearer objects, "This might be the right time for your particular talents, there Jasper. Please be circumspect." His dark eyes scan the room, looking for a group of items or maybe a room that might carry what they seek. Perception 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28.
His eyes come back to his niece and the andoran Asha'man, "If you don't feel anything in here, lets go find another room. This could take forever..." It's at this point that a thought occurs to him, and he finds the youngest-looking guard he can see and walks over to him, telling Alathea to stay with Jasper.
When he gets near the guard, he puts on an apologetic smile (Diplomacy 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (7) + 10 = 17), "Sorry to bother you while you're on duty, but could you help me out? I told my little sister," he waves an annoyed hand back at Alathea, "that this palace has some of the most beautiful jewelry around. Bracelets, necklaces, that kind of thing. She thinks I just brought her here to see the crazy animal bones and weapons. Could you tell me if there is some jewelry more along the lines of…" He briefly describes a few styles of jewelry, the middle one being a somewhat accurate description of the piece they're trying to find.
Well, Jak is supposed to rely on luck, so I guess I"ll do the same…
Sleight of Hand to hide his thieves tools and three daggers 1d20 + 8 + 2 ⇒ (20) + 8 + 2 = 30.
Nearing the front of the line, Jak subconsciously re-checks his hidden blades one more time. Winning any game of chance had to do with being able to change the odds. When the moment came, if you could guarantee a number of small things would fall your way, you stood a far better chance of winning the pot. In this case, that meant making sure he could be equipped with his tools and a few blades even in places where they weren't expected.
He was dressed in some of his finer clothes, a light wool but well-cut black jacket with matching pants and a soft white shirt. They were - as always - slightly rumpled, though Jak didn't seem aware of the fact.
He thinks back on the conversation he'd had with Lath and Jasper on the way over, "The easiest lie to get away with are ones that are simple and straightforward. Alathea and I are brother and sister, and you're our young friend. We're in town on business. Traders. We'd heard the Seanchan meant good trade, so we came to check it out. None of us have ever seen the Palace, so we thought we'd take a few hours to do so. But if it comes to it, let me do the talking. Jasper, you lie worse than an Aiel swims."
He snaps out of his reverie as he steps up to the guards, a smile coming to his lips. Well… time to toss the dice, he thinks as he surrenders the beautiful short sword he usually wears on one hip and the dagger that balances it on his other.
I cna't find anywhere in the rules that say you can't do this, so I'll ask you, Jonasty. Would you be fine if I had Jak Take 20 to hide three daggers on his person? He'd pretty much do this every day, but this is the first time it would actually be important to him. If he can do this, he'd be able to try to sneak them in with an opposed perception check DC 30 (20 + 8 Skill Mod + 2 Light weapon bonus).
Let me know, as it informs his behavior and actions. :)
Well, i don't want to be left out…. so, at the clearing:
Jak hadn't been sure what to expect at the clearing, but even had he not been dead-on-his-feet tired, he probably wouldn't have gotten much more out of it. As it stands, the best that could be said was that he got a bucket-load of frustration.
As he sits down heavily beneath a small, withering tree, he mutters to no one in particular. "These horses' ass idiots are slowly rotting from the inside out, and they don't have the decency to keep the foulness to themselves. You don't have to tell me twice, man." However much he grumbles and complains, he can't help but keep from curiously watching what they do with the women.
After a while he finds himself pushing towards the veiled source of power and life in the back of his mind. When he'd been wandering alone, he'd usually been able to control this persistent, itch-like need to figure out how to touch the source at will. In the proximity of so many people who can do it so easily, it was like having a sore in his mouth that he just couldn't keep from tonguing.
So his frustration slowly built, an annoying mirror of the slow heat that weighed everything down of late.
Back at the Inn
Jak wanders in through the door. The lack of sleep is getting heavier and heavier. The quick rush of a second wind he'd gotten on their ride to and from the clearing has been replaced with the dull blanket of fatigue once more. He nods to Ryland and Fiallain on his way by and catches a snatch of the hushed conversation by the bar. Without stopping, he claps Pace on the back with a tired smile, "Here, here!" he says as he drops a couple of marks down on the counter, "You all raise a drink for me in the name of cowards, fools, and the few of us who are actually great, no? We're all crazy on some level… some of us are just aware enough to realize it."
This is not the first time the darker side of Jak's particular brand of humor has risen to the surface, but before you can comment on it, he's continued up the stairs to go crash loudly on his bed. Something you're fairly certain you can hear from where you sit.
Not only is Jak not a strategist... he's not even gonna be that much of a contributor in combat at this point. Getting access to some levels of sneak attack will work wonders for him.
That said, at this point, he's probably best used in the middle of the pack unless we're sneaking in somewhere.
Jak can't help but laugh at the kid's jab, "That a fact? Well, i never claimed to be house broken, anyway." The laughter is still in his eyes when he looks over at Alathea and Fiallain, and he cups his hand around his mouth and whispers over-emphatically, "It's just water…" Even as he finishes, he slings his hair over towards the aiel woman, sending a spray of now-warm water across her. Before she can respond, he dodges back, settling in a comical bare-handed fighting stance, "We ready to go or what? This foolish linking won't learn itself."
Here, how about I just make sure it isn't an issue. :)
In his room Jak rolled over on his bed for the seventh or eighth time. He'd plopped down without even kicking off his boots, but he couldn't seem to shut off his mind, which kept coming back to his worry for Alathea during this "training".
He responds irritably to the no one in his room, "No, I know he's trouble. Yes, I know it's dangerous for her to be practicing any channeling anywhere near this city. I just... Right, but I just think that... Fine! Fine! Light, I'll go keep an eye on her." He rolls back off the bed, heading over to the big mirror in the corner. Luckily, the innkeeper had someone put a pitcher of water out for him. He splashes some of it on his face to wake a bit. He does it again... no luck.
Finally, he just dumps the whole thing over his head, and his senses come alive a bit. "That's better."
It hadn't been five minutes since Jak left that he knocks on Alathea's door. When it's opened he stands there, head and shoulders soaked with water, with a water trail leading back down the hall to his room.
He shrugs, "I couldn't sleep. I guess I'll come with you all, then. Maybe I can help Fiallain keep you all out of trouble."
Once again Jak refuses to rise to the bait, getting up and heading for the door. "So the plan is for you all to practice... whatever it is you're practicing, and then tomorrow we'll all head over to the Palace to look for the necklace thing?"
"Not exactly something I would keep from you, now is it, Lath? This kid seems to be willing to say anything to get attention."Bluff 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (18) + 10 = 28
"Now if we could get back to planning. The sooner we've finished, the sooner I can catch some sleep."
With a warning glance to Pace, he sits back down, letting go of Saidin.
Also, Jonasty, did you see my spoilered stuff to you earlier? If you don't want to deal with that, that's fine. Just let me know. mostly I'm talking about the item he's carrying.
Jak doesn't rise to the accusation, "If that's the level of self-control you've got, Kid, then maybe you should sit this one out. Everyone's in danger if you're gonna fly off the handle every time someone questions something you say."
"You don't believe so…" Jak's grimace says it all, "No offense, there Darlin', but that's not a wager I'm comfortable with. Alatheas' sanity on your best guess. No way. There's gotta be a better way of beating one of these leashed Aes Sedai if it comes to it."
His fatigue-filled eyes haven't strayed far from Jasper the whole time, "The kid can come with us, but no way he... links... with her."
Jak doesn't remember jumping up when Jasper embraced Saidin, and he doesn't remember that all-too-familiar veil over his connection to Saidin being ripped away by the sudden surge of adrenaline, but the honey-sweet burn of the Power is unforgettable as he stands ready to defend Alathea. It takes him nearly a minute to realize the kid doesn't actually mean to use it, and Jak hesitantly holds onto the source, still unsure what will happen here.
His words come out uncharacteristically quiet, "About the only thing I think the kid was right about was that we should all go in different teams. The primary focus, however, should be on finding the item in question. Since the few people i talked to seemed to think it was more likely in the warehouse, this trip is purely scouting for the item… that's why every team we form should be looking for it. IF it's found there, we can meet back up and begin planning everything else. It'd be a huge waste of our time and danger to everyone to spend time scouting the defenses of a place that holds nothing of value to us. Wouldn't everyone agree?"
While speaking, his hand has made its way toward one of his hidden blades, I'll be a light-blinded fool before I let this madman go crazy in this room.
He eyes Jasmine sideways, "And what is this about Alathea linking with Jasper. Won't that do to her what it's clearly done to him?"
Jak looks like he didn't sleep a wink since he left, Alathea can hear him yawn as she hugs him. As he steps away, his eyes twinkle through the fatigue, "Now what kind of trouble could I have gotten into?" Without letting her answer, he steps into her room, leaning against the northern wall while he waits for the group to assemble.
"I don't know if it's good news, but I did find some things out. And yes, we had fun… well… I had fun. I can't speak for Rylan." Jak walks everyone through his night and all that he found out (just read the above, i guess), and when he's done, he gives what he thinks is the best plan for getting what they came for and getting out of town… which he seems to think is the most important thing. "So it's probably a good idea to have someone go check out the Palace, but my money's going to be on the item being at the warehouse. We should start there."
Wow. So let me make sure I'm seeing this correctly. Jasper has a charisma of 6, no ranks in anything that could possibly help him make a good impression with someone of the opposite sex, and he just bagged one of the local girls?
That looks good. Here are the things Jak would be looking to find out.
1) Are there any people who would be sympathetic to Aes Sedai or people who aren't completely happy with the Seanchan rulers?
2) Locate either the piece of "jewelry" itself or find someone in the city who can help Jak locate it.
3) Seanchan patrols, stronpoints, and - most importantly - fi there's a specific thing they do with items of power like the Ter'Angreal we're after. Sounds like the Panarch's Palace is a good starting place, but any additional info would be awesome.
4) Any information on the damane that sounds useful, from deployments to habits to housing.
5) What kind of response time the Seanchan have when local disturbances occur? How quickly are things locked down?
This much information will take time, and Jak will probably not come back to the inn to touch base much. He'll take all his changes of clothes so he can be different people in different locations while he's ferreting out information.
Jonasty:
Additionally, Jak will be looking for a fence for a piece of stolen goods. The rest of his money I'm converting over to being a necklace he grifted a Tairen noble out of. he wants to off-load it and convert it to crowns if possible. I'm converting 150g worth of his starting gold into this piece of jewelry, hoping to turn it into more cash. This is mostly for fun.
Secondly, one of Jak's tricks he's going to use here is to use his Disguise weave if necessary to present himself as the right person for any given information-gathering situation. Thats why he wants Pace along. If he can teach the weave to Pace, Pace can put it on him… Jak still asn't overcome his block, so getting the Disguise in place may be difficult. :)
Once they find themselves to a private room to talk, Jak opens the conversation, "Okay, so I'm going to take whatever time is necessary to find the information we've talked about. But it will take time… and gold. I'd like to take Pace and one other with me. Pace will remain with me, the other person will be a second pair of eyes and ears as well as someone to run information back and forth between my group and the rest of you. I'd prefer that to be Rylan, but I'm open to other suggestions. No offense, Fiallain, but you do tend to stick out. I think it's your eyes." His smile is more playful and disarming than flirty before he continues. "I don't intend to stay in one place for two nights running, and that's why I need the information runner. I'll make this information gathering as quick as possible, but if I get careless, the wrong ears could hear our questions, and that could get uncomfortable quick. Also, like i said before, this will take some coin. Information is never free, even for one as charming as myself. If everyone could throw in what they have, that'd be very helpful."
Let me know when you want rolls, and how many. Also, at every info-gathering opportunity, I'd like Jak to also roll a Bluff to disguise the source of all these questions... hopefully misdirecting any heat the asker may receive. :)
Jak gives Jed a thankful look, "Good point. Alathea, it looks like you'll be staying here. It'd be a boring trip, anyway." Jak double-checks his pockets and his blades, then nods with a smile, "I'm actually ready to head out whenever. Wanna grab a room and chat a bit to make sure we're all on the same page before i head out?"
Alathea rolls her eyes and makes it obvious so that Jak is sure to notice. "How fortunate that you have the opportunity to cause trouble, Jak! I suppose that your 'seeing who knows what' might lead you seek the advice of comely young women, yes? Or to join a game of cards?" She laughs, mostly to make sure that the others know that she is teasing Jak, because she knows that Jak understands. "Perhaps I should come along to keep you out of the most trouble, yes? And perhaps to share in some of it?"
Jak shrugs, "Hey, you want fish, you go to a fishing hole. I'll go where the information is... it's not my fault that so often information can be found in the lips of beautiful women or at a gaming table. And of course you're welcome to come with me.. only way I can keep you out of trouble."
Not to mention saving you from some of our boy-lover here's not-so-subtle come-ons.
After his talk with the innkeep Pace approaches Jak in a place where no one outside of the group could hear, "We're going to need to know if the Seanchan have a particular interest in Power wrought objects, and what they would do with them. You seem to have a way of finding things out. Would you be interested in asking around?"
Jak nods, "Sure would. In fact, I was thinking the same thing." He follows Pace back to the group, turning a chair backwards and straddling it, his chin resting on his arms which are folded across the now-reversed back of the seat. He waits for a lull in the conversation before speaking up, "Pace here had a wonderful idea. He thinks I should go check into what this town's new rulers do with... lost items of high value. If they'd gotten their hands on what we're looking for, then we'd need to know where to begin asking for it. First thing I plan on doing is seeing who knows what in this town. Well, actually, the first thing I'll do is find a drink and change of clothes. But right after that I'll see who knows what around here. Then I'll begin asking around about the jewelry we were hired to find. Anyone have any other questions they'd like me to look into when i'm out?"
Sorry all for being absent.. again.. my 16mo. old boy woke up sick today. It's not been fun. 'll try to catch up. In the mean-time, assume Jak has been unusually withdrawn or some such.
Jak gives a disbelieving shake of his head at Pace's comment about his black-coated brethren, "I honestly have no idea. I have more than one scar for saying far less than he has today to an Ebou Dari girl."
Jak's subdued manner seems to lighten when the hole in the air disappears, and his usually quick smile returns as he waits for the group to set off. As he waits for Alathea, he slips back into old habits, muttering to himself as he looks towards Tanchico.
"Nope. Never been to Tanchico. Never met one of these Sanchean, either. Yep. I heard that. Heard they were from across the ocean... no, that's just stupid. If they had flying monsters, why would theys top at Tanchico? Next you'll be telling me there are trollocs waiting for us..."
Alathea's interruption brings him oiut of his muttering, and he smiles, apparently not even realizing he was muttering. "Not a clue, Lath. I blame you." His smile tells her he's not serious, "We've gotten out of worse scrapes than this before. You remember that time we stole half the cows out of that old codger's pens that summer? This can't be half as bad as that." His tone turns serious in a heartbeat, true to his mercurial nature, "Either way, we do need to stick together. This group has been helpful so far, but I can't shake my unease wiht these black-coated fellas. Pace seems nice enough, but we don't know what they're capable of. Let's just stay on our toes while in Tanchico... should be fun if nothing else."
Rock, meet hard place, Jak thinks as he wipes fake sleep from his eyes, keeping up the charade for Alathea's sake.
He gives a pointed look at the man's coat, "Until we know more about those guys, we should be careful of them." He looks Alathea over protectively, "He didn't hurt you, did he?"
The ruse wasted, he stands up, ineffectually dusting off his rumpled but expensive clothes while keeping the blade in-hand.
At hearing that the man had been aggressive towards Alathea, Jak rolls slowly in his 'sleep', using the motion to hide drawing one of his blades... positioning himself so he can make a throw if necessary.
Sleight of Hand 1d20 + 8 ⇒ (12) + 8 = 20.
Let's be honest... mostly i'm looking for ways to seem a part of the scene. :)
Jak struggles to maintain his sleeping facade. Part of him wants nothing more than to jump up and step between Alathea and the black-coated man who is absolutely exuding power.
Don't be a Light-blinded fool, Jak. Keep your cool and keep your head down. You're not scared enough to channel a lick as it is.
Yah, i agree with your general read that there are some serious shortcomings (though in general I think the rpg did a fairly decent job).
As to the sword thing. There are numerous references to a warder's blade being a bit longer than a traditional longsword and being a slightly-curved, single-edged blade. That sounds a lot like a katana. Especially given that the thematic of the fighting style is far more developed and eastern-feeling.
Where-as (in my opinion), I always thought the heavy-horse and heavily armored approach of the Shienarans felt more like a much longer, straight, double-edged blade that would normally be wielded in two hands, but could potentially be wielded in one given proper training.
I guess I just wanted to bounce that idea off a group of people who've also read the books to see what they thought.
Sidenote: when i asked my wife about this (she's also read and loves the books), she said, "I don't know.. I don't really pay attention to stuff like that." So you're not alone in completely not caring about stuff like that. Alathea. :)
So I'm doing an ongoing conversion of the WoT game to Pathfinder and I've run into an interesting question. I'd love to hear your input.
The Warder's blade and the long blade that the Shienarans wear strapped across their backs. Are they the same or are they different?
Personally I always thought the warders blade was more like a katana while the Shienaran blade was more like a traditional hand-and-a-half blade (or what I've always understood to be called a bastard sword).
Also, I can't think of a single reference to a rapier in the books, but they're in the WoT rpg book. I guess I can see them being placed in Ebou Dari (with all the armor-less dueling), but it kind of feels like squeezing in a story that doesn't really fit the over-all sword thematic of the series.
Caught unaware, Jak decides to fake sleep, hoping he can avoid yet another entanglement with someone from this Black Tower. For good measure he makes sure his face is away from the newcomer.
Dang.. missed the DC to determine power level by 1! Oh well... at least Jak recognizes the guy as a channeler, though context clues could have given him that much.
Bluff - to fake sleep 1d20 + 10 ⇒ (17) + 10 = 27.
Jak instinctively rubs his head as he smiles his charmingest, knowing full-well his smiles only sometimes work on Alathea, "Come on, Lath... I'm just joking. You know I love your cooking."
I always miss out! :) I'm gonna do a little catch-up here, so Jak can be set in the scene… bear with me.
The sudden blast of hot, near-putrid air knocks a pair of dark riding gloves from the saddle and onto the parched ground. Jak looks north once again with a shake of his head, his nearly-black eyes flashing accusingly towards whatever foulness brought the Light-forsaken wind. "I don't have a flaming clue," he mutters as he bends to pick up the gloves, giving them a casual slap against his thigh to clear the dust. His eyes go back to his saddlebags as he finishes his work, "Haven't slept in a bed in forever. Same old food to eat. You'd think at least we could get a break in this back-alley, midden-heap-smellin' wind." Jak was either talking to himself or his horse, Chance… a black, fast but moody warhorse of Tairen stock. Chance looked up and snorted testily at Jak as he finished pulling the saddlebags from the horse's kit, and Jak simply smirked and tested his tether one last time before turning to head towards the cook-fire. "Our luck'll turn around soon, though… it's gotta, right?."
Catching the end of the exchange between Alathea and the two Ashaman, Jak just catches the way the Saldaen's eyes linger for a second. He can't help but smirk at little Lath's (one of his nicknames for Aathea) response to the cocky Andoran's remark, and he casually drops his saddlebags next to his niece, "I'm actually amazed you survived Ebou Dar, Jasper. Remarks like that tend to get the men who said them filled with knives. Well… unless by 'swooning' you meant 'stabbing'. You'll have to introduce me to these Andoran women who enjoy that type of banter, though." Jak watches the young man as he turns around and does his particular brand of camp security… still obviously uncomfortable with him.
He sits down, rubbing his hands together emphatically as he looks at the food, "Ooooh, what are we having tonight? Please tell me it's stew. I love stew. I could never have enough stew. Stew's like.. my favorite. Drowning in stew would be my perfect death… good thing I decided to come on this trip, huh?" His words, while annoying, are accompanied with his always-disarming smile. "Oh, meat. Our boy Ryland's definitely carrying his weight."
Jak finishes with a cordial nod that encompasses Pace, Jed, and Jasmine. Light, Jak, you're getting stupid. Sitting in camp with a Aes Sedai and two of these Black Tower boys...
Just a heads up, Rylan, Jak wouldn't have ever channeled in front of you.
I'm still here and wanting to be involved. Work has turned into a monster, and I don't anticipate being able to post much today, tomorrow, or through the weekend.
If you want/need to get the game up and running despite this, please do. If that requires Jak being a late entry, a temporary NPC, or being dropped, I"ll understand.
Would the job we've pulled together have happened in Illian? Or is it an on-going job we're currently on?
My suggestion is that Jak caught up to Alathea in Illian and basically crashed her party. Seeing as how the Tower is getting more and more competent at being incompetent, Jak will take it upon himself to get all up in her bidness and hang out with her for a while… which will inevitably bring him into the group and on the side of the road to Caemlyn.
Pace & Jasper:
Jak's a surprisingly old dog when it comes to Saidin. While he's not all that powerful, he's stayed alive, healthy, and - from what you can tell - surprisingly sane. Jak definitely wouldn't' have approached you about the whole issue, so if the subject's been broached, it's been broached by one of you.
As to the meeting of Jed and Jak, I'm guessing it will depend on how Jonasty puts the group together... so I'm happy to wait for that. The risk/reward ratio is way too skewed for Jak to ever go into the Tower, so they probably didn't meet up there. If I had to guess, they would have been brought together by Jasmine and Alathea meeting.
As for us being Channeler heavy, Jak will play more the roll of a Wanderer and Thief-catcher unless he becomes convinced that the Black Tower is something worth-while. Even then, I may just role-play the Black Tower involvement and keep with Wanderer levels. I intend him to be more of a skill character than a channeling character. I'll be surprised if I take more than a level two more of Wilder/Initiate for the rest of the game.
I haven't had the time over the weekend to get a legitimate background in place for you, but I was able to think up a couple of events that have really helped to shape him.
First Contact and leaving home: While Jak had dreamed of having his own world-roaming adventures his whole life, there was more to his finally deciding to leave than simple wander-lust. It was him realizing he was a channeler. He was up to his usual trouble in Ebou Dar nine years ago (when he was 18). He'd spent a week wasting some recently 'earned' money around some of the gambling houses and had butted heads with a local minor noble more than a few times. He'd been winning more and more money off the boy, and a duel was on the horizon. When Jak began hitting on the boy's girl… well, it was all but a sure thing. Jak, being the cocky prat that he is, decided to really stick it to the snotty rich kid and sought him out. finding him at one of their local haunts, he immediately began flirting with the girl again. (You see where this is going.) A duel nearly happened, but one of the noble's friends talked him down, 'this merchant trash isn't worth it' might have been said. The short version is that the noble decided not to let it go, and they jumped Jak and his friends later. What should have been a simple duel became a midnight alley fight. All Jak remembers was that his adrenaline was SERIOUSLY pumping during the fight, and he felt all but invincible. Jak got too caught up fighting his rival to notice that one of the noble's friends had stuck his own friend pretty good, and it became a 3 on one fight. Adrenaline and fear roared and mixed into a strange giddy exhilaration. Realizing he was seriously out-numbered, he dove to take down his rival, grabbing him even as he took a blade across the ribs. Jak would take this kid out. Where Jak touched the noble, bones popped and muscles and tendons tore. The next few minutes are lost in a haze, but he remembers becoming aware of himself carrying his friend back towards their house. He felt weak, sick, and a bit drunk. His friend didn't have the cuts he knew he'd taken, but Jak looked like he would die.
After sleeping off the sickness for a day at a random dockside tavern, he soon realized he'd gotten in way too deep. He left a note for his parents and left, taking only what he had on him… his blades, his cards, his dice, and the clothes on his back.
He's lived the last 9 years or so with this life. Seeing the world, constantly moving, living off what he could win, beg, or steal. His horse, Chance, his clothes, his weapons, and whatever merchandise he thinks will find a buyer in another town (usually small, portable, but high-priced items). He avoids going home in general, and when he does he keeps his head down and rarely visits his parents. It tends to be tense. The law's not really after him, but there are people who remember who he is who haven't necessarily forgotten that fight.
Double-dealing: Jak has found himself in a very strange place in life in one aspect. During one stint in Tear, he gambled with a slumming noble who got drunk, showed off his money, and basically started being an ass to everyone in the place. Light-blinded Tairen nobles thinking they own everything and everyone! So Jak got to know him, acted like he was his friend in order to get close to him, lost enough gold to the guy to make the man think him honest, then got himself asked back to the guy's place for some drinks and smokes. Long story short, he ended up relieving the guy of some of his family's jewels. He returned to the tavern where the guy had been such an ass that evening thinking he'd pass on some of his own money to make the people feel better after such a rotten evening, and ended up getting drunk and staying at the place. The noble, realizing he'd been robbed knew he needed help, but the city watch had no clue how to help him. The noble vouched for Jak, so he was off the hook, which meat the watch had no leads to get the money back. Remembering that Jak had bragged about all his connections and skillz, he came to find Jak to hire him to get his jewels back. Jak agreed and - after an appropriate amount of 'hard work' - completed the job for an amount of money that he convinced the noble was worth it (over the price of the jewelry - 'they are, in fact, family heirlooms… they're worth more than just their weight in crowns, my friend').
If that were the end of the story, that would be one thing. But the noble just couldn't' help but brag on his friend, and Jak found that he ended up having to take on another job to track down another guy's stolen stuff. In total, he's had to do a similar job three or four times, hunting down stolen merchandise or the people who stole them. From con man to thief-taker in one stupid decision.
Madness: I'd love for Jak to be one of those incredibly lucky guys who seems to have staved off the Madness somehow. I don't know how you want to handle it, but if Jak madness score is really high, and Jak is somehow aware of it, I wold be more than happy to swap out Dodge for Mental Stability. Let me know what you think of this.
