As a note the crunch is not updated for this campaign yet but I can finish that quickly if selected.
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I got a bit carried away with the background but here it is. Scera is a human void school wizard tied to Koya's via the Foster Child Trait. As I mentioned before while she starts off void wizard I intend to have her eventually dual class in a lunar or heaven's oracle and then move into Mystic Theurge. She will be behind in spell levels that she can cast but she will have a lot of variety and spells per day available eventually. Background: Scera never knew her parents, a pair of Chellish aristocrats who had her out of wedlock, only that her parents didn’t want her as they abandoned her in Sandpoint in a midden that happened to be near Koya Mvashti’s home. So it was that the crying infant was found and the old woman gained a foster daughter and she raised Scera as her own.
As Scera grew up she was surrounded by the miracles her mother could perform via her connection to the divine and studied healing from a young age. Scera’s mind proved quick to learn, being able to speak early and then read, she eventually became quite the studious child and eventually finished every book she could get her hands on. Despite all her studies, or maybe because of them, she found that the path Koya followed in her life, that of a priestess, was not what she wanted for herself. She always felt guilty about this as Koya was her inspiration in life but religions was just not what she was interested in. It was during a rare trip to Magnimar, not long after the attack on Sandpoint by the goblins and the disasters that followed, that she accompanied Koya on a rare trip to Magnimar. While her mother spent some time at the local temple there Scera ended up finding a strange library tucked away nearby the temple and she was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. She perused the books until one particularly strange one fell into her hands seemingly by chance. It was an old book, one with letters in a language she did not understand, but she knew that she needed to learn what was in it. When Screa turned around to go see what the book would cost her she suddenly found herself on the street she had just been on with no sign of the strange library in sight. Although she asked around no one around knew anything about the library and eventually Scera decided that maybe this was proof that the divine had some reason for what she had found. She was hesitant to tell Koya what had really happened, how she had found the book, so she managed to pass it off as something she found on sale for a good bargain because no one could read it. Scera began to study the book but had little success at it, the tome was in such an obscure language she just could not figure it out. It wasn’t until she happened to be at the establishment run by Ameiko and was trying to decipher it that she found an unexpected aid in her efforts. Ameiko was able to identify the language as a dialect of Tien, the language of her ancestors on the other side of the world. With some help learning the language from Ameiko, Scera quickly began to translate the book and, within a year Scera had managed to understand the first page of the book and she was shocked to realize that it was a spell book, a wizards spell book! The same night that Scera understood the first spell, one to read magic, a terrible storm occurred and in the middle of the night she heard a rapping at her shudder. Everyone knows not to open a window during a storm, especially given how late it was, but she did so anyway. She was startled by the raven that flew through the open shutter and, as soon as it was in, the shutter closed itself. The bird was weak and bedraggled so she followed an impulse to nurse it back to health. The following day the Raven seemed back to normal and, while Koya was not happy having the bird inside, she allowed it for the time being. As Scera was studying later that day and had troubles with a particular word that she could swear she had correct she suddenly heard a voice correct her. Shocked Scera looked around and realized her feathered companion was the only one there. It corrected her again and Scera about jumped out of her skin until she understood that the raven was to be her familiar! From then on Scera and the raven, Kurogane, became close companions and Scera’s progress was rapid in learning the spells after that. It has been a few years now and Scera has learned all of the beginner spells in the book as well as several others that were in it as well. The book taught a different system of magical schools, rather than the school of magic being based on the standard line of abjuration, conjurations, etc. this school looked at it elementally. The spellbook she had found that day was connected to a view of aether, air, earth, fire, metal, void, water, and wood schools. The potential was impressive and she eagerly wanted to learn more. Little did she know what her fate would hold in store for her, a long journey, the chance to improve her wizardry, and perhaps most importantly, the divine was not done with her just yet.
Congrats to those who made it.
So I fixed the personality section, I have updated that. In-Character Writing Sample Scera had just arrived in Sandpoint a few days ago and was still setting up what would be the storefront of her scriptorium. OK it wasn't, strictly speaking, her scriptorium as she was actually going to run it for Herb as an extension of his own business but by the gods she would be the one running it! Finishing an entry in her financial book Scera closed it and made a gesture as she spoke a few words. The book closed and floated over to a nearby shelf behind the counter where it slid into place. The door to the shelf then closed and the lock clicked before a different book floated over to her from a nearby shelf. Had anyone else been there to see it they would have seen a floating hand of magic manipulating everything. Scera reached up and took the book from the hand which then disappeared with a wave of her hand. Opening the book Scera began to read and found herself quite engrossed. The book was one she copied before leaving Magnimar, it wasn't her usual choice of material but rather something she had been curious about of late. While she would never admit to it what she had was a book of a rather...adult...nature. She'd reached a point of being quite curious about such things but did not want to admit to it, thus why the book's binding said it was something innocuous and extremely boring for those not interested in the subject. Just as she was getting focused on what she was reading the back door to the shop opened and Scera, too engrossed in her book, was oblivious to this fact. There was one person she had given a key to the storefront to and that was her old friend Kiko, who resided here in Sandpoint. Kiko snuck in and, realizing that Scera was totally engrossed in her book, leaned over Scera's shoulder to read the book too. After a short time, and an ever broadening grin on her face, Kiko finally said, "Wow! That is an interesting read you have there Scera!" Scera, still not realizing Kiko was there, gave a scream of fright as she jumped out of her seat and nearly reached the roof. When she came down she had spun to face Kiko and stammered out, "K-k-k-kiko! How long have you been there?!" "Long enough to see what you were reading Scera," she laughed naughtily as she continued, "If you ever want to practice any of that I would be happy to help you...or introduce you to someone." This offer, of course, led to Scera's face turning bright red and no end of teasing for quite some time thereafter.
So here is Drogeney's Submission. She is mostly done but I will still be making a few revisions before the window closes.
So, other than maybe tweaking my 1st lvl feat between now and start Scera is done.
I will need to update her for the right level still but I've applied to JR games in teh past with this one. She is a void wizard and eventually is intended to go into oracle and tehn Mystic Theurge. I can de-level her after work today.
There, that should have Scera fully leveled up and tweaked. I decided to go with the "she's been there in the background helping Koya all this time" idea since it sounded like something she would do. I just need to deal with upgrading equipment...guess I am not quite finished yet after all. At least I've got the biggest part done. *EDIT*
Fortunately the leveling up should be fairly simple and I will likely just have her have been "off screen" helping Koya along in the journey. As far as leveling up I am debating whether to take 2 levels of wizard first or start to pick up the oracle levels I planned on taking. Probably wizard first because the gaining of her oracle levels should be a big transition in her story and it makes more sense to get the wizard levels done first.
I would be interested in resuscitating Scera from the original recruitment. I'm not sure how the rescued trait would work out a ways into the game though. I could probably figure something out since she is now higher level, maybe she was in an adventuring group and had her group get killed wiped out somehow "conveniently" leaving her stranded along the path the caravan would be taking. I'll work on updating the character this evening/this weekend since I just got to work.
Congrats to those who made it. Have fun.
Good luck to everyone. It's the final countdown!It's what you do.
Yeah, I agree with FangDragon, you've got some real work ahead of you. Also, I think I will leave my traits alone. I like the way I have it set up currently, screw optimizatioN! If I really wanted that i wouldn't be gunning for mystic theurge in the first place, and this makes for better story anyway.
I may actually tweak one of my traits still. I'm considering dropping hedge wizard for something that will be more useful later on with the build I am working on.
It will/would be interesting to see how both Scera herself and Bluebottle's opinion of her will change once she gets her curse and starts taking some oracle levels in prep for going into Theurge.
Lol! I love it bluebottle. I kinda hope we can both make it in as the interactions would be a blast.
Mehta, martial classes generally suck imo, just can't get into them very often. Give me finger wigglers any day.
I so rarely play a plain human. I'd thought about a psychic for a while but decided I wanted to try and actually build into a mystic theurge for once.
I swapped infernal out for Tien because it does make sense to have that given the book. I'll get the bits of crunch I still need to complete done this weekend.
Yep, I noticed, wihich works out nicely for me.
I have most of the character done, still some crunch to fill in but the fluff should be complete.
Sorry to see it go it is a great concept I think but seems to just not be working out well as a pbp concept. of course maybe it's just me that's dooming it, I was in the previous incarnation as well and it fizzled out too on you.
As teh reporters continue on with their idiocy Scera said simply to them, "Wow, you are the worst reporters I've ever seen, you can't even keep your words straight." With that she turned and walked away deciding this was not worth the effort. When the aides start suggesting that she she leaves in a separate car Scera said simply, "Just get the car, pay the fare, and give me my money then I'll happily be out of your hair."
Scera considered letting the report tear into the Senator a bit more but it was quickly obvious that the whole thing was a set up and she was trying to get into his good graces.
Senator: "No! I mean, of course not, ... where did you get those ...?" Scera finally stepped forward after that comment and said, "No, the Senator is not being investigated as a terrorist. He chose to come forward today and hold this press conference because he has truly changed his view of E4E with the knowledge he now possesses. He is attempting to make amends with the alien community for his past E4E, even going so far as to hire a refugee like me." She was warming to what she was doing now and continued, "The colony that I grew up in was attacked and most everyone was slaughtered," there was a sad note in her voice, "So far as I know I am the only survivor. I had nothing, no job, no means of supporting myself, I even have no formal identity as the colony had never managed to send it's records backup off world." Scera stepped up to stand beside Senator Bird and lay a hand on his shoulder. After a brief pause she continued, "The only reason that I survived was because I was made the concubine of the pirate's leader and managed to manipulate him to the point of making my escape possible. When I was rescued and brought to Earth I stumbled on the Senator while trying to figure out a means of survival," she looked at one of the reporters whose face she saw lighting up with salacious glee and said firmly, "and no, he isn't using me as eye candy or to provide adult favors to him though I did try to seduce him." She smiled at the gathered journalists once more, though there was a hint of viciousness to it, "Senator Bird has become my employer asking me to work as an advisor, a task he is paying well for, and he is even helping me get the formal identity I need to be recognized as a person on your world." A tear rolled down her eye and her voice choked up a bit as she said, "The Senator is the most honorable man I've ever met and I am proud to call him my friend." Scera ceased speaking then and looked over the crowd to see just how her words came across.
Nodding in understanding of the Senator's request for privacy next time when revealing the results of her probing Scera said, "Of course Senator." She cocked her head to one side slightly as she lay back on the bed, "As far as the press conference, I can appear with you if you like, it might help support your statement that you have a lashunta 'on staff'," she made quote marks in the air at the words. "When it comes to reading the minds of the press I'm afraid I can;t right now. Oh for speaking like I did to you when we first met it's not a problem but there is a big difference between a telepathic link for speaking and reading minds like I just did for you. I won't be able to pull that off again until tomorrow. I also doubt I could easily single out those in the crowd, too much mental noise from the all." She gave the Senator a direct look then, "Right now I just need to rest a bit, if you still want me at the press conference I'll come along, I did agree to spend the day with you and your staff after all."
Scera took a seat once she got back to the room and lay back on the bed while she waited for the Senator with her eyes closed. She really wanted to aids to go away so she could get some more mental quiet but at least they were few in number. When the Senator came in she sat up and looked at him as she scooted back to lean against the headboard. The Senator seemed excited and anxious as he began to speak and asked Scera what she had "heard" in Teddy's thoughts. "Well, for the first part of the conversation it was mostly how much he detests you, and I quote, 'you pompous ass. 'Oldest Man on Earth'!? B@&!&@@#. You're 49. I looked it up. Guy gets lost in a coldsleep pod for a few decades and think he's immortal. I have stains older than you' and how badly he wants to ruin you." Scera smiled slightly at the Senator's reaction and then her expression became more serious. Crossing her ankles on the bed Scera said, "Now, when you said you said you wanted him with you at your speech his thoughts shifted gears dramatically. He was quite serious and is insults cut off until after you expressed a desire to show support to each other's bills. He does fully intend to 'slit your throat' at some point but I think not until after the mutual support has been done at the least." She looked sharply at Parker and said, "I believe he intends to take your position as the head of the Technology and Ethics Committee." Finally coming near the end of the discussion Scera giggled and said, "He was hoping that the duck they used for your soup was bad at filtering the poisons and that it would kill you. Obviously that hasn't happened...yet," she said mischievously. Scera sobered a bit before she said, "Now as far as other things, first off the man who was with the Congreeman and had the strange eyes. He looked at me like he knew something, and his features shifted a little. His eyes started off as brown green and his tie blue green, his eyes changed to green and then a vivid blue and his tie became a different color as well. I don;t know what any of that meant so I tried to ignore it. Does that mean anything to you Senator?"
Scera listened carefully to the thoughts of the man and made sure to remember what he said. Truthfully it would be hard not to as he was quite memorable. A few times it was all she could do not to smirk or laugh at the line of thoughts the man was having but she somehow pulled it off. When the discussion was over Scera turned her face away from the Congressman as he rose and shut back down her mental walls. She felt a bit of a headache from the strain of keeping her barriers down and focusing so hard but she knew she needed to deliver her report before she could try to rest any. Unsure about how to proceed Scera decided that it would be best to wait until she was instructed what to do.
Scera noticed the excitement in the Senator as he took off but decided that she should go along with his plan for now. When it was time she went down with the aide and sat in the booth, one close enough for her abilities to work from, and then focused on opening her mind. As she did Scera noted the strange man looking back at her and felt more than a little trepidation as she noted how his eyes changed color. Undeterred by the strange man Scera finished the process of opening up and made sure to keep her gaze on the man she was hired to scan. As the pair's discussion commenced she "listened" as best she could to the discussion.
Scera listened intently to the Senator's rebuttal and considered what he said thoughtfully. She didn't like trusting someone who was so shady as this man however he had a point. Trust needed to be earned and someone had to take a chance first. After a few moment's thought she finally said, "You have a point Senator. I will take the job, I will go with you, I will scan the person you want, but I can't guarantee success. It's possible the target will resist and they might realize what is happening. I can't dig too deeply either, you'll have to bring up the topic you want and I can only read their surface thoughts so you will need to direct them in the right direction."
Scera listened to what the Senator said to her and watched as he opened the case with a large number of colored data chips in it. When he said what it was she nodded, dubiously, but had no clue what amounts he was talking about here. His followup explanation made more sense to her and she nodded as she said, "Yes, being comfortable is very good motivation. I can also understand why you would want someone who is unconnected with other interests." She raised one eyebrow and then asked, "But this does seem a bit good to be true. What reassurance do I have that what you use the information for will be something I am comfortable with it being used for?"
The ride was rather uneventful for Scera but she did use the chance to look out the window and see more of the city. Come to think of it she wasn't sure what the name of this world was let alone the city. It wasn't a terrible place, certainly not what she was used to of course, far too little nature compared to where she grew up and far to bright for where her last few years had been spent. When she reached the hotel Scera noted the Senator and his staff present on the balcony when the car landed and she offered the senator her hand to help her from the car. "The ride was nice enough," she said, "I got to see at least some of the city on my way here." Scera noted the staffers were staying out when the Senator escorted her to the hotel room and sat down on the bed facing the senator. She crossed her knees and watched him as he began to speak.When he finished speaking she said, "I honestly haven't had much luck. The only thing I've been truly taught to do well is be a sex slave to a vesk overlord." She shuddered slightly at the memory but said sardonically, "Fortunately that job is in short supply here." Scera's foot in the air began to bounce slightly as she thought and then said, "I had considered trying to find some wealthy man or woman and seduce them into taking me in as a wife or mistress," she sighed as she continued, "That seems unlikely to happen given the general view of sentients other than human here." Scera's gaze turned to the Senator, "It seems that you may be the answer to my dilemma with this offer of yours so I ask, [b]"What would you like me to do for you?"
Scera managed to rummage through the clothing to find something she could live with. It was rather nice getting to choose what she wore instead of being made to wear that ridiculously skimpy slave garment. When she was finished she had chosen a green blouse that hugged her curves closely and a knee length burgundy skirt. She found a pair of boots that suited her fancy, black and ending a few inches below her knees and felt pleased with the overall look. She made sure her long red hair was brushed out and when the hour was up had just reached the entrance to the church.
""We will meet face to face, but you will stay out of my head. Agreed?" he replies, no less sharply. Scera nodded slightly as she said, "I give my word I won't actively scan you but I'm not responsible for anything you broadcast," Scera's forehead wrinkled slightly and her antennae twitched at the thought.
Scera watched the monitor as the Mayor, or someone who sure resembled him, spoke. It seemed he was not so above himself as to know he made a mistake and he seemed to be trying to be tactful about her situation. The way the Senator emphasized her as having "nothing" left a bad taste in Scera's mouth, like he was almost threatening her, but she decided maybe she was reading too much into it. As the Senator continued to speak Scera thought through what he said and then watched his image for a moment. She didn't like being unable to sense the person she was having a conversation with but she knew it was something she would have to get used to and was likely why she felt put off by him. Sighing quietly to herself Scera considered what she should do. Scera didn't answer the Senator right away when he finished his spiel but after a minute or so of thought finally nodded and said, "Sure, I'll at least come and hear you out." She looked at the man in the monitor sternly, "But no more meat puppets, I expect you to meet me, face to face, personally, for this," she raised one eyebrow, "understood?" The man might not be used to being spoken to the way she just did but if it was a problem for him then he would have to deal with it. Still she wasn't going to be entirely rude so she smiled slightly and asked, "When should I expect the car?" She listened to what he told her and then nodded in response, "Alright, I'm ready when it arrives." She reached out to cut the call but right before she did she paused and said softly, "Thank you for thinking of me," and disconnected the call.
Scera watched as one of the Rons went past, was it...Bron? He had the sweater that Bron wore last time she saw him. She heard what he said about the Senator's office trying to reach her and considered whether she felt like dealing with him. While she contemplated that thought she said, "K, thanks Bron." Instead of getting up Scera continued her moping for a bit longer when the other Ron came by. Since he wasn't wearing a sweater and his mind felt different than the previous one she figured he must be Aron, at least she thought he was Aron, and she heard him say the Senator's office was blowing up the comms upstairs. "Alright, I'll go see what they want. Thanks Aron." Seemingly broken from her funk Scera got up and headed towards the lift to head up and see what the Senator's office wanted of her. When she reached the top she could hear the comm terminal still chiming for attention and Scera headed towards the nearest one. Taking a seat she smoothed her hair and made sure her clothes were presentable before pushing the button that would answer the comms. "I understand you were trying to reach me?"
Feel free to do that whenever then.
I'm just in a spot right now where Scera needs some impetus to get herself out of pouting mode and not having a lot of luck figuring out how I will go about that without anyone getting her going is beyond me just now.
So I think I've figured out where to go with this, kind of, and it's going to require that Scera find someway to be of value for something other than what she's been accustomed to for the last few years to survive. We'll see how this unfolds but for now she's moping.
Scera found herself at a bit of a loss as her research proved just how much trouble she would have here. She didn't exist anywhere in the system and so in saying couldn't do anything really. She couldn't get a job, she couldn't generate an income, and the people of this era were not very open to non-human's so her chances of seducing a sugar daddy or mama were all but non-existent. "Ugh this time period sucks," she wined in annoyance. In some ways she wished she could go home, too bad her home didn't exist anymore, hell it probably hasn't even been colonized yet. It seemed that most of her life the last few years, her very survival, had depended on seduction and manipulation of men using her...assets. Now that skill that she'd honed was effectively worthless and she had no clue what a girl from a new colony planet with no real skills could do with her life. Deciding there was nothing of use for her to do right now, and feeling rather down about it, Scera rose and took the lift back down and made her way to the nearest comfy couch so she could mope for a bit.
I can understand that and respect that. I'll work things through and see what I can come up with.
Sighing Scera said, "I suppose you're right of course Gabriel. I'll wait until he contacts me again and set something up." She rose and began to head towards the library, "I still think I may look those agencies up, it would be nice to have a job now that I'm here and it is very close to what I know how to do." Scera smiled and said, "Goodnight Gabriel, have a peaceful diagnostic." With that Scera headed to the office to begin looking up the information she was interested in.
"I wasn't thinking an escort agency per se but that could work." She thought it through a bit more and nodded, "Yes, that could certainly work, and if not in time for tomorrow maybe the next such event." She took a seat and crossed her knees as she leaned back and thought things through, "Alright Gabriel, what I am looking for is an agency that hires non-humans, keeping my appearance concealed for this would be too difficult of a problem, and has patrons in higher society, particularly political, and who the Senator, or someone allied with him, would hire an escort from." Scera's leg began to bounce slightly as she thought some more and the finally said, "They must be professional, vet their customers, and have a good record. They can't force their employees to service the patrons but those extra services can be negotiated with by the client with the escort." She thought it through a bit more while biting her lower lip, her antennae twitching, before saying, "I think that will do for now Gabriel, se what you can find, if something can be done in time for tomorrow great, if not then I'll at least have something i can do while we're here."
Considering this newest wrinkle Scera thought it through and asked, "Are there any attendees who I might be able to meet up with and convince to take me with them? It would seem less likely to draw attention if one of those already scheduled wanted an extra ticket to have a new piece of eye candy along with them." After a moments more thought she added, "Gender doesn't matter, nor does age as long as they are old enough to be an adult."
Scera listened to this new information. It seemed that she and Vonash didn't really need to disguise themselves all that much when going out. That being said it was probably still safer that way most of the time she figured. She thought through what was said about the rally and the protestors and then asked, "Does the Senator talk with the people directly during these events?"
Ah, got it.
So, just to clear up my own confusion here. I thought that aliens were effectively unknown on earth of this time. Or is it just that there are very few of them on the planet itself?
"Damn," Scera said, "That plan won't work then, at least not quite yet anyway." She sighed, "Guess i need to rethink this plan a tad." Another idea hit Scera then and she asked, "Gabriel, [b]"does the Senator have any scheduled appearances at any events coming up? If so are they something you could obtain a way for me to get into?" |