* Talant'edhel (Fallen Elf in Elven)
* Female
* Dark Elf
* Fighter
* Appearance/Personality:
Talant'edhel could be described as night given Elven form. Her hair and eyes are the color of midnight while her skin is a hue much like onyx stone. She's a little shy of five-and-a-half feet and built like a dancer, lean, well toned muscle hinting that any who are taken in by the slight curves are in for a rude surprise. She wears dark blues and blacks in simple, elegant cuts that allow for plenty of movement.
She is easy going and possesses a good sense of humor. She is cold to elves, but she gets along splendidly with gnomes, halflings, and humans. She doesn't appreciate being called a drow, nor does she like hearing drow called dark elves.
* Backstory: Talant'edhel was left in an elven village as an orphan. The only reason she wasn't brained as an infant was the kind priestess of Desna who raised her, who had enough sense and knowledge to know that drow don't have hair and eyes the color of midnight. That didn't stop her child hood from being unpleasant. She grew up quickly, almost as quickly as a half-elf. She had hoped to prove herself fighting the drow that threatened the surface, but the elders in the village would have none of it. After some colorful curses and a rude gesture taught to her by passing soldier, she left the village to find her path in life elsewhere.
Elsewhere turned out to be Mendev and the mysterious dungeon that spawned more rumors than a spider's web of lovers cheating on each other. Perfect place for an outcast who could see better than a dwarf in the pitch black of a cave.
* Crunch: In the Profile. Doing a dex-based fighter with an elven curve blade as her weapon.
* How often you can post: Every day, at least once.
* Anything else. Bribery? A back-up character for when your first gets killed? I'll just say that my back up is dwarven fire-brand that has a fondness for women, ale, and killin' goblins in that order, the reverse order, and sometimes at the same time.
Ah well. Maybe next time.
Tali starts a raunchy drinking song and by the end of the night has become quite drunk. When she wakes up the next morning, she can only wonder how Logen managed to fit into her pants and why she's wearing Oscar's clothes.
Okay, it looks like Tali is first in initiative. Her surprise round is to punch Logen in the jaw, so that leaves her first to act. Since she doesn't know that Logen isn't going to kill Archie...
Tali looks a little surprised to see the half-orc going fo the other elf with the falchion instead of her, but not so surprised she could act.
"Oh no you don't!"
She rushes teh apparently murderous half-orc and starts to put him in a hold.
"You wanna fight? Fine, but I ain't havin' ya kill someone in an alehouse!"
CMB (Grapple): 1d20 + 3 ⇒ (15) + 3 = 18 Woo, go little elf girl go!
Okay Logen is now grappled. and I just threw a monkey wrench into your plans. :D
Edit:
@ Galacia: Violent? She's trying to keep people from killing each other! ;)
A motherly touch in this case being a swift sucker-punch to the jaw. The crack of fist on chin is followed by an elf going "owowowowowow!" while shaking her hand to try and stop the pain. Then a short, not-so-sweet curse upon realizing that the blow didn't even come close to dropping him.
"يا القرف!"
Elven:
"Oh shit!"
Okay, we now have a barfight! :D Oh and Tali isn't facing the right direction.
Seeing the half-elf that calmed Logen gone, she quickly steps up to intervene.
"Okay, okay. We're all a little tired and arrows have been loosed by all sides, myself included. Lets just calm down and enjoy the rest of the evening, hmm?"
Well, one considers her a drunk and the other considers her a vulgar drunk, so yeah going from bad to worse I guess, but it's okay. Tali's a tough cookie and it takes a lot to get her down for more than a few minutes nowadays.
When asked if she's sure that she's an elf, Tali looks thoughtful for a moment before looking at her hands and torso and feeling the tips of her ears.
"Pretty sure." she says with a grin.
Her voice drops and the smile disappears as she begins to speak again, this time quite serious. I'm just guessing that Tali is perceptive enough to tell that Galacia is a little upset with her.
"People have a misconception about elves. That they're supposed to be graceful, stoic, and all of this other crap. Until you get them alone or past their shells and then they're full of passion and life and ready to jump yer bones. Lemme tell ya that that's as far from the truth as you can get. I've lived with humans for most of my life, but I've met a few elves. The one that taught me ho to use that," she points to the curve blade still leaning against the table, "was coarse as tree bark, and had a vocabulary of curses that'd put most sailors to shame. He didn't hesitate to tell ya that ya looked like shit doin' a routine, but when ya got a compliment from him, ya know ya earned it. Another was a sorceress that loved life and lived it to the full. She was clumsy as hell, but she never let that stop her from dancing to a tune or two. Then there's the one who was on the village council that threw me out."
She goes silent for a moment. Her jaw clenches in an effort to choke back the tears welling in her eyes.
"F@#*in' b&+$~ that one. She cast the vote that got me kicked out as a 'threat' to the well-being of the village. I was about what a five-year-old human would be then that happened. All because I was the daughter of a madman."
She reaches for her tankard, but puts it back and grabs the one the barkeep put on the table after finding it empty. She takes a long pull from it and seems to shrink in her seat as she lets out a sigh.
"Sorry, you probably don't wanna hear my sob story. Heh, figured I'd be over it after thirty years."
Tali gives Galacia an apologetic half-smile before turning to Archaouss with the tankard.
"Thanks, and sorry about earlier. My temper has a way of getting the better of me."
When Oscar comes back to the land of the living, she chuckles some at his self-depricating comment.
"Hello, no need to apologize. We all tend to get carried away at times."
"Alright smart-ass, no need to embarrass yourself."
The smiles still there, but the edge creeping into her voice is a not so subtle clue that the rogue is starting to grate on her nerves with the petty insults.
Tali moves back to the table with the half-elf and the half-orc. She takes the tankard that the half-elf had left untouched and puts a gold crown next to her hand.
"Well, I hope I don't offend, but thank you for the drink. I just hope I tip better than your father did."
She gives the other a grin that's quickly hidden by the tankard as she takes a swig of the ale.
"Anyway, I don't know" *Brap* "why you father wanted to keep his tastes in women a secret. We elven women are the epitome of poise, grace, and charm. We are unmatched when it comes to followign the rules of protocol and etiquette. Any man would count himself lucky to be looked at by one of us, much less be a lover."
The way she has to struggle to keep from bursting out into laughter is a big clue that she is being very tongue-in-cheek right now.
"Anyway, I've had the pleasure of meeting the Good Cap'n here. My name is Talant'edhel. What may I call you?"
Elven:
Her name is literally "Fallen Elf." The title given to those who've betrayed elven society. Okay I made the last bit up, but I liked the idea when I originally came up with this character for a Second Darkness campaign. From her attitude and bearing, you get the feeling she took it up out of spite to those who stripped her name away originally.
Archaouss raises an eyebrow and bows his head slightly. "Im impressed. If I hadnt dared you to wear the armor you might've beaten me. Maybe you arn't such a drunkard after all. Maybe"
The smile becomes much more sly as she slides up next to the other elf.
"Impressed that I'm not a drunkard, or impressed at my athletic grace." She leans in closer and her voice drops to almost a whisper and bats her eyelashes in the same manner that many a barmaid have used to woo the hero. "Play your cards right and you may get to find out some of- some of my-- Bwahahahahahaha! Sorry I-hehe-I couldn't keep a straight face! Hahahahaha!" Seemingly obilivious to the concept of personal space, Tali leans against Archaouss for support as what was obviously a tease falls apart into a gale of laughter.
Oscar Aramil wrote:
Oscar threw the door of the inn wide open and took in the scene at a glance. With a grin that could mean nothing but trouble for the ladies he headed over to the bar and ordered a shot of the hard stuff which he downed in one gulp.
At this point most of the patrons had completely forgotten his existence, save a few here or there whose gazes lingered on the handsome stranger.
With a theatrical gesture he slams some gold coins onto the counter top and exclaims over the general din of the common room "Drinks are on me until this runs out!"
"HEAR! HEAR!"
Oscar Aramil wrote:
with that he grabs a few drinks of his own and heads over to a table where two comely young ladies happen to be sitting.
Tali smiles as the half-elf wearing the holy symbol of her god walks over to where she and now another, I need to get her name, seems a little too timid though. I'll need to fix that. were sitting. She stands to greet the holy man with a firm hand clasp and a hearty "Hail and well met!"
As she sits back down she quickly glances over to the other elf and gives a reassuring grin to her before turning back to the newcomer.
"So, what brings a man of Cayden Cailean out here? Lookin' for some new recipes? I may have heard something about a brewer around here that has some of the best for miles and miles around, or that may have been a dream."
She shrugs as if to say, "Well you know how that goes."
Tali chuckled as she leaned her sword against the table and moved to a clearing in the room, while finishing off the tankard of ale.
Acrobatics: 1d20 + 2 ⇒ (18) + 2 = 20 durn, one point shy, still, not bad, I thought I was going to do worse.
The elf then does the improbable, she crouches low and launches herself into a backflip, and sticks the landing, but not quite as well as her opponent.
Archaouss raises an eyebrow at the elven woman and lets her stand there for a moment as he looks down the edge of the blade at her before sheathing it opposite of it's brother at his waist.
"Funny how long it took you, I have been insulting you." He laughs then and points a finger back at her.
"Id like to hear this challenge of yours."
If Tali's phased by being told she was being insulted the entire time, it certainly doesn't show. A grin full of bravado and cheer spreads across her face as she begins to state the rules.
"We each take turns givin' the other a dare. If one of us refuses or suggests an impossible dare, the duel ends. The other being the victor. You, my friend will get to go first."
Oh I dont mind rouges have a way of getting under fighters skins and mages, and any class i get....or maybe its just people
I just don't drink. Its easy to see why you lived so long probably passed out in the gutter so much no one bothers you. He grins again and goes back to sharpening the other knife.
Naw, it's just a class feature. I'm pretty sure my timid little thief in a Way of the Wicked game gets under the Necromancer's and Ranger's skins sometimes.
"Ah, so now I'm a drunkard because I enjoy a little drink ev'ry now an' then. You insult me sirrah! Honor must be satisfied! I challenge you to a Duel o' Dares!"
Tali stands in a huff, but the twinkle in her eye shows that this is all in good fun, for her anyway. Her motions are exaggerated more by theatrics than drink, and her challenge is accompanied by a dramatic twirl of a finger that leaves little doubt to who she was challenging.
So, Archaouss, do you accept?
@ Krallek: That is the best surname I have seen yet. Mind if I steal it?
Archaouess shrugs studying the blade in his hand before sliding it into a sheath at his belt before pulling out another to start the process over again.
"I don't like pushy half orcs either." He grins. "Plus the ale here tastes like rat piss."
Apologies if I start a bar-fight in the recruitment thread, although in all honesty, I can see Tali doing that. Lemme know if I go too far.
The elven fighter, turns out to be just as quick with her tongue as she likely is with her blade. Without missing a beat and without hesitation, the feisty little (for an elf) woman shoots off one across the bow.
"Must like ogres 'n' trolls, 'cause that must be where ya get yer taste in booze from. I can probably scrounge up enough fer a bottle of Rotgut if ya really wanna taste rat-piss."
She looks that the other elf with a grin and continues, "Hells, ye'll get ogre, goblin, and troll piss in there too. Helluva bang fer yer coin."
"Whoa, hold on there bud, I still need to order the drinks."
Tali gets the attention of the barmaid, or the barkeep, and asks for two tankards of the best ale in the house. She pays for it and gives them a crown as a tip once they bring the drinks.
"Thank you, you've helped avoid a major breach of storytellin' etiquette. Now, I believe that you were about to tell me how you got your ship?"
"The elders in my village thought the same thing. So much for the famed elven intellect."
Tali gives Archaouss a look that pretty much says "Got a problem bub?" It's pretty obvious that there's some bitterness caused in the past as she continues.
"Guess they figured I'd die in a week, two at most. Been a hundred years, guess they're still expectin' me to keel over any minute now."
She turns back to the burly half-orc captain and asks in a much more chipper tone,
"So Cap'n, I bet you've got some interestin' tales from the high seas. Whaddaya say we swap stories. I'll even buy the ale."
There's an eager grin plastered on her face, she looks more like a child expecting some grand tale before bedtime than a fighter in a tavern.
Talant'edhel, or Tali for short, doesn't remember what her name was. That was stripped from her like everything else on that night. Her father was an elf gone mad, a necromancer of some power, but little in the way of cunning or sense. He murdered his lover to harvest her body, and would have done the same to his young daughter. Before that could happen, a mob raided his home and killed him. They spared the daughter, if only because she had not done anything they could prove. For the next week she was cared for by the others in the small nameless village, but they feared her. By noon the eighth day, they had turned her out, and branded her one of the fallen. The next few weeks were a blur for the young elf, hiding from wild animals, running from goblins, trying everything to survive. She finally came upon a human town, but her luck was no better here. A gang of urchins found her, beat her, and took what little she had left save the tattered clothes on her back.
A priest of Cayden Caileanhappened by not too long after the incident. He found the little elf hanging on to life with tenacity and strength he'd rarely seen in someone so young as she appeared. He took her back to the inn and tavern he ran and nursed her back to health. Over the next few months she went from the broken, fearful girl that the priest had found in a back alley, to a free-spirited, young girl that helped around the inn and picked up a love of stories and a knack for getting even the gruffest of folks to open up with tales of adventure and derring-do. She became a worshiper of Cayden Cailean herself, but didn't feel drawn to the clergy, she instead took up learning to protect herself and those around her. She dealt with death, many more times than she wished, as first her caretaker, then others passed away with age. She never cried, though. She would always say, "I can laugh about it, or cry about it. I'd much rather be laughing." when asked about why.
As she neared adulthood, she learned to use all manner of weapons, but when a battered elven fighter showed her how to wield the curved blades of her people, she instantly took to it. The fighter taught her everything he know before leaving on some adventure to never return, but the young elf never stopped practicing with any sword she could get her hands on, and some of the younger patrons of the inn took to sparring with her whenever they got past the initial shock that the pretty barmaid was fairly skilled at arms.
She left not too many years after that. To where, she didn't know, but she felt a call to go adventuring, to make some tales of her own. So she left to turn the name given to her in disgust into a name said when talking of great heroes.
Personality:
While her values may align with many elves, she is far from a typical elf. She makes friends easily with a down to earth personality and a fondness of drink that makes people wonder if there's some dwarf in there somewhere. She'd rather spend an evening drinking, spinning yarns, carousing, and even having the occasional brawl than she would sipping wine and reading a book. While she's friendly to most, slavers and slave owners earn a special place of enmity in her heart. IF she can't get away with punching their lights out, she treats them coldly and refuses doing anything with them unless there's a way she can free those under their "care" and still make them pay.
Appearance:
Tali is a bit short for an elf, topping out at five feet 4 inches. She has hair the color of copper and steely-blue eyes that always have a bit of mirth sparkling in their depths. She's fairly tough and strong, but still agile. She wears a chain shirt over well-used, but still good adventure's clothing. a quiver that holds her bow and a sheath that holds her curve blade crosses her back and a longsword and dagger hang at her hip, attached to a board leather belt about her middle.
Working on the background. Will have it done tomorrow.
I have something I'd like to try, but I'm too tired to try to explain it right now. Just know that it involves multi-classing and I still need to tie in her other trait.
HP: 10/10 AC 18/14/14: F +2, R +4, W+0, Per:+2, Init: +4, Arrows: 20/20, B.Arrows: 20/20
There is a belief that elves are always graceful, balanced, and elegant.
This is not true.
There are many times when elves can be just as clumsy as humans, dwarves, and even ogres trying to perform a ballet. They can be tripped. They can fall flat on their face. They can take on the attributes of a klutz.
For example, if an elf happens to be paying attention to where she's going more than, say, the rather dashing young man that was briskly coming in from the side, then they can be made to look just as foolish as any of the other races.
Or more so as poor Talant'edhel finds out. She tries, futilely, to keep her feet under her, but the force of the collision pushes her body ahead of her feet.
"WAH!"
She sees that her mandolin is in danger of being crushed in the fall, so she twists, awkwardly, to get her arm under her and break her fall. She manages, just barely, to land on her front instead of her side.
"Ow."
She quickly stands and pulls the instrument around to make sure the instrument was okay, then brushes herself off after putting it back. The curse in infernal grabs her attention. The curious look on her face makes it clear she doesn't understand the language.
"Well, you didn't put a knife in my back, so that earns you some trust," she says as she reaches down and helps the man up.
HP: 10/10 AC 18/14/14: F +2, R +4, W+0, Per:+2, Init: +4, Arrows: 20/20, B.Arrows: 20/20
Talant'edhel hadn't been in the city long, just a half hour since walking through the gate. The morning was still fresh, if one dared use that word to describe a morning in Riddleport, and the elf was already wondering if she was a bit touched in the head for coming here. She kept her wits about her and her eyes peeled. Unfortunately for her peace of mind, she had seen more eyes, many of them full of lust, following her than she cared to count, but it was the eyes that were taking in her worth as a fighter that had her nervous. The elf half-expected to have a knife in her back before too long.
Despite her wariness, Talant'edhel saw something that caught her eye on the ground. A flyer telling her to "Cheat the Devil and Take his Gold."
Hmm, I think I heard some people talk about this tournament. Perhaps I can find work there.
Her stomach growled and her hand reached down to try and quiet it.
"I hope so anyway. I have a feeling that playing on the streets for coin might get me a few daggers in my back."
With that, she hurried along her way to the Golden Goblin (What a horrid name!), trying not to think about knives in her back, or the blot in the sky.
Sorry, Tally's between jobs, so there's not much interesting about her day. :|
HP: 10/10 AC 18/14/14: F +2, R +4, W+0, Per:+2, Init: +4, Arrows: 20/20, B.Arrows: 20/20
Kresham Gull wrote:
For Tally I wanted to say that I did not mean to force a friendly attitude on her. Kresham stuck with her for reasons of his own, not necessarily by her invitation, and it is likely they didn't talk much during their journey.
Sorry for taking so long to reply. I'm willing to work that out. Like I said she'd be ambivalent at first, but she'd probably start being more friendly as she got to know him. Just depends on how long they were together.
HP: 10/10 AC 18/14/14: F +2, R +4, W+0, Per:+2, Init: +4, Arrows: 20/20, B.Arrows: 20/20
Hello glad you made it.
On lunch so will have to be brief. Tally is going to be taking feats that help her toughen up and deal out the pain. She can also help with Diplomacy with aid another.
I think a thing that a lot of people forget is that there's room for a lot of variance within the classes even before you factor in the archetypes. It's just a case of are you willing to go with something that goes against what is typical. I tend to build high DEX fighters with mediocre STR and CON scores. Heck, even my only barbarian character has physical scores of 14, 16, 14 (STR, DEX, CON). I'm in a game where there two groups running the same module, both have Clerics with the Mecriful Healer archetype. Both are very different in play style. TL;DR I see no problem with having a bunch of fighters sign up. Just as long as they all aren't 16 15 14 8 12 8 builds.
That's not a problem. It'd probably make for some interesting roleplay. Besides that being cold towards elves is different from outright antagonizing them, so there shouldn't be too much problem with them working together even initially.
Okay, I think this is pretty much close to final. There may be a minor tweak or two to the mechanics, but this is it for the most part.
@ flykiller: I don't mind linking Tally's background. The only problem is she doesn't exactly like elves because of the way she was treated when younger, but I think once they got over that, they'd be pretty good friends. The other thing is Talant'edhel is what she goes by, kinda like a "screw you" to the elves that kicked her out. Tally would be her nickname to her friends.
