She will ready a force bolt if one of the Bastards finds her.
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Talia raises her hood and crouches down. Waiting until they glance away she slips into the main room to hide behind one of the booths.
I'm somewhat here. I'm going into the office most days, so I can't access during the day. And being a caregiver for my mother takes up a lot of time. So on many days, my posts will be more following along.
I'm ready
"I expect that at this point, I'd be the first person she expects. I'm perfectly okay to plan and bide some time in order to let her make new enemies," she says, keeping herself calm. "Perhaps we work on the sewer situation as we gather resources."
"A clean escape and a final result are more important than making it painful." She clarifies, "I'm not against suffering, so long as it doesn't expose us."
Talia will begin filling in some the details of Lady Felina's life. Her home, places she visits commonly, people she knows, enemies, and so forth.
Talia will head into the room.
At his tongue, she simply says, "Try harder next time.". But it's said with a smile. It's obviously an old routine with the two trying to challenge each other. She pauses, mulling over the problem of the sewers. "If the Xvarts are taken out, then that opens up a space for the ysoki to move in. If they assisted in the operation and presented themselves as a group willing to defend the sewers and keep everything moving smoothly, then Lodros might see that as a win. I doubt he wants to take care of it himself. I think it would be a more stable situation than trying to ally with the xvarts." She then turns to Renzio, her eyes drilling into him, "However, if you intend to drag me down there, then you are buying me appropriate boots and a scarf thick enough to filter out the smell."
Talia will take notes of the room. Perhaps a little divination later to clarify some of the things. Amaya and Tarvi are interesting, perhaps they might be becoming a couple. But while she is here, she will sit near the table of Lodros and Vitallain. While personal gossip may be fun, this might be something more useful.
She doesn't react, as she expected some sort of stunt from Renzio. He's gotten better, but letting him see her as being impressed would let him sit on his laurels. "Oh, he's tolerable. I suspect he'll want to move on in a couple of months so I'll have to play at being inconsolable for a while." She looks around, "But we're not here to talk about my arrangements."
She gives an amused smile. "We're moving. Rank hath its privileges." But she'll take the glass of wine as they move out to the common room.
I'm always impressed by how much work it takes to be involved in internet media.
"I guess it'll do." She says and follows down to the corner.
"No, no Donatello, I must be leaving. It's a family obligation. I won't bore you with the details." It felt strange to have the nightlife take place in the middle of the afternoon, but these days were definitely odd. It took a few more minutes of convincing to make her leave. Her latest toy was a bit stubborn, but generous of purse. Nothing worthy of a long-term commitment, but useful for the moment.
She had turned her cloak inside out and pulled up the hood along the way. Into a switchback alley and to a wall panel. Checking for followers, she knocked three times, then once, then twice. The wall swung open to reveal a broad-shouldered man. "The sixth sent me." and he stepped back so that she could ascent the narrow staircase. Being first, she poured herself wine from the sideboard nd waited to see who would show up next.
howdy everybody
I'm sure that the church of Asmodeus will be perfectly willing to sell devil's blood. And teach people the spell. No cost, you just need to sign this document. It's some silly thing the higher ups insist on. No need to read it, it's just the standard legal mumbo-jumbo. In some games, a couple drops of tiefling blood is enough to trigger it, which is easy to do in this group.
Personally, I could almost take vigilante/warlock. It just gives me mystic bolts which are so much worse than dread bolts. If I could take warlock getting the vigilante specialization instead of mystic bolts, I'd do it in a heartbeat.
How about tristalt at 1st level, with one being vigilante? After this we would go back to normal gestalt.
And this is why you have a bastard who is not officially acknowledged as part of the house. Though I admit I might get penalties if somebody knows I'm affiliated with you.
I'm all ready to go.
Honestly, I'm okay with the -1 to Will Saves for every combat from Attached. It's a really flavorful drawback that fits Renzio perfectly. Unless of course Talia disagrees for some reason. I'm okay with it if you are
Looking at Talia's backstory, it could be that your aunts, Onyx and Opal, married into Houses Phandros and Oberigo. Unless you had a completely different view. .... It would give me the flexibility to have an aunt pop up with Phandros of Oberigo for a little Flavor. Without really getting in the way. Importantly, Onyx and Opal still have family loyalty which extends to their niece -- You. (So at the end of the campaign, you can resolve whatever with whomever in head-canon. And so can I.) I specifically left them as open plot hooks. Use them how you wish!
I choose Lady Felina. Sounds like a good cat-fight in the works.
The quest for vengeance could be before the game to get everybody together.
At the moment, I'm thinking he'll be between 14-17, age wise. Should he be older? How about 17? Close enough to being of age. Perhaps Renzio is baby-faced and looks younger. Talia will have enough curves to turn heads. (she took charming as one of her feats and gets a bonus to people attracted to her)
okay draft backstory tl;dr - Raised as a courtesan, half brother to Renzio, Tik's familiar connected to my pact blade. backstory: Talia is a third generation of courtesan, and a fourth generation tiefling. Great Granmere Appollito was fiendborn and showed it. She was comely, but to be hidden in the shadows and never acknowledged. Her child, Granmere Itarra, had the power of being fiendblooded, but had no outward sign, save being slightly warm to the touch. Appolito gave up Itarra so that she could be raised for finer things. Itarra eventually became known at court, with several up and coming suitors vying for her affections. She rose, managing to stay ahead of the politics of the court and gather a few secrets here and there. When she retired, she was well-cared for. She taught her daughters what she knew and they also prospered. Onyx, Opal, and Ruby. They inherited fiendish blood in human form. Itarra was prepared for the civil war, as if she knew it was coming. The three sisters each found lovers with different factions. The trading of secrets was risky, but oh, so sweet. Of course this meant that Some would end up in better situations. Ruby saw Arvanxi fall from the inside. Her sisters urged Ruby to abandon it, and yet she could not. She had fallen victim to a deeper attachment. But Ruby could not marry into the family and Talia could not be acknowledged. Still, they lived nearby and Talia soon found the tunnels leading to the main house. Before long, she and Reznio were inseparable and incorrigible. Renzio with his words, Talia with magic and lockpicks. Ruby learned of this, but figured that all of the sneaking would hone Talia's skills. But after many years of good fun, children must grow up. The two stayed close, though they found less time to stay in touch as they took on more responsibility and learned new skills. Talia was the first person Renzio told about his new patron Graz'zt. She had known that he was upset with the family's choices, but didn't expect something on the other side. But Renzio explained that since Graz'zt didn't have many resources in the area, he would be sure to have an invested interest. While they would still be pawns, Graz'zt couldn't afford to sacrifice pieces at this point. By the time he could, we'd have proved ourselves and made ourselves more useful. Talia didn't feel a strong connection to any of the powers. She felt it was better to control her own destiny. But she would always be there for Renzio. By this time, she was beginning to join into the interplay of court. Meeting young nobles and beginning to set up contacts. One of these young nobles decided that sacrifice was his way to power. He had some friends and a ritual to gain power from a fiend. She was tied up and bleeding, but she had heard of this ritual. She bided her time and conserved her strength. When the time came to call the power, she spoke first and called the power to her. The young ritualist tried to intercede, but Talia already had magical power, and it was her blood on the ritual knife. She burst her bonds and used this new power to deal with these weak pretenders. She returned home a changed woman. Not just having power, but thinking about her choices. She wasn't sure if she wanted to merely follow the path of the courtesan, using power behind the scenes. While she wasn't opposed to this, it now seemed to be more of a step than a destination. The next day she told Renzio of her experience. On the way out there was a ratfolk there. She had seen him at various Arvanxi estates, apparently doing business over alchemical wares. An (animal) slipped away from the alchemist and came over to Talia, indicating the hidden blade she was carrying. Soon the alchemist came over to retrieve his pet, but they figured that they should talk later.
I haven't nailed down my warlock parton either. Going demonic would be an interesting twist on this. I could fit wither Grazzy or Abracasaxas into by backstory. Instant connections.
XP: .... I've been going through the AP and, unless y'all veto me, I feel I should keep track of when you Level-Up. This is preferred. We have only done milestone XP for years.
I'm going to have trouble not picturing Porky Pig every time I see this. :)
Since we have lots of concepts changing, can we get a list of what everybody is doing or thinking of doing? That would help us look for holes and get some party cohesion. Everybody can just copy it and add their own. Talia Fireskin | Philo Pharynx | F Tiefling Warlock/Trickster
Lots of responses: How about telling us rough wound levels for ordinary foes, but make us roll on BBEG's? That lets normal combats speed up while ratcheting up the tension on the climax. ----- Since I will mostly use my warlockery for fighting, I'm okay whichever way we go on weapons. I just normally look for some of the consequences of houserules. ----- I'm picturing a world where adamantine is jealous of how shiny gold, platinum and gems are. If you try and sell it, the adamantine turns to lead. I'm okay with the rule, but this is now my headcanon for it. ----- A lot of the AP's I've played in with my TT group start at level 2 and we just stay there until we go up to level 3. It helps ease some of the lethality of 1st level. ----- I've never heard of using dual fcb's on gestalt, but I like the idea. -----
I have some comments about a couple of the rules: G) You can use the Heal Skill to identify how injured or near-death an ally or enemy is. Use either a Move or Swift Action (does not provoke) to determine Health; more accurate health information is revealed with higher DC achievement. Do we get no information without a roll? When I run I let them know which quarter they are in without a roll, and they can roll for more information. O) No weapon has an intrinsic Threat Range. No weapon. The Feat Improved Critical can give you a Threat Range (19-20) as can the Enchantment, Keen (19-20). Improved Crit and Keen STACK, so with both one can have an 18-19 Threat (and always Crit on a 20). Do you affect any other weapon traits like crit multiplier or keyword traits? Only changing one aspect unbalances weapons that have other things instead of this. You'll end up with a lot of people using picks and scythes. I'd either not do this or change weapons to something generic. Light weapons do 1d6, One hand do 1d8, 2 hand does 2d6. Polearms do 1d10 with reach. You use these and define the weapon how you want.
It shows your commitment and marks you as one of the chosen. Without this mark, who knows what might happen on the Night of of Darkest Blessings.
"One of us. One of us. One of us,"
He does seem to have posted to other games after going dark on us. I understand a game dying. I've done it myself. But you should say something about this rather than letting people just guess. I've had a gamemaster have a serious accident that left her with brain damage and no memory of our game. I found out about this later from another person.
I can understand if you are burned out on a game. But not saying anything is rude.
There is a legend that if a PBP game of Way of the Wicked is ever completed, then Asmodeus will be summoned into the real world.
Is everybody still here? Roll call?
Hey, how is it going?
I am one with Asmodeus and Asmodeus is with me.
I'm sorry to hear that.
Kelvar gets to be the one to tell Lady Rose that she needs to roll around in the outhouse and then spend "quality time" with a bunch of common soldiers.
Talia nods and listens.
If everything is silent, she'll slip the door open.
She'll head up, nodding to Rose to follow. They need to find out where they are. She'll point Rose to the door, while she creeps up the stairs.
She mimes taking the bottle and putting a new one back to Rose. She'll then quietly open the trapdoor and take a peek.
She turns her perceptions to the wine.
She will observe the supplies and note them for later discussion. She'll go up the ladder (checking it first to see if it will hold her weight without noise), and listen at the door.
Talia will move up and put her ear to the trapdoor. She'll let it have a few minutes to hear the movement beyond.
Talia will use her own power. It's not quite invisibility, but she takes on the colors of everything behind her.
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