I'm not going to finish today, so disregard my application, please. Have fun!
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This is a character I made for a Runelords game that never got off the ground. The backstory is a little sparse and I'm in the middle of converting him back to level one, but the basics are still the same.
I'll jump in. This was a character for a Runelords game that never took off. I can level him back down to 4 and change from Warpriest to Fighter/Paladin.
If it's worth doing, it won't be easy. He clasps his hands together. I pray for your health and prosperity as ever, Miss Ameiko. If you could, please try to visit Shayless or have someone else do it. She could use the companionship as long as she must remain at home. I don't feel I have been in this town long enough to know if the two of you are friends, but I don't know who else to ask.
So, like, is everybody gone now?
Zaphkiel, having gotten up earlier than everyone else, begins helping the people at the Dragon clean and repair things in the inn.
Zaphkiel heads to his room within the cathedral, meditates for an hour as he always does and heads to bed.
We Now Return You to Your Regularly Scheduled Programming: I'm sorry to say that the morning sickness may come and go throughout the pregnancy, or even be a constant thing.
At her question he shakes his head. That's something I think you can do yourself. Be sure to get up and walk about the room at least once a day, but other than that stay in bed. Don't start a fight with your father over this. Please?
I just realized I have 0 ranks in heal: Zaphkiel double takes slightly.
In her state? Did she just..? She must be joking. Zaphkiel unties her and sits down. That's not necessary, Miss Shayless. Your wrist, please. He feels for a pulse, comparing it to his own on his neck, then checks her breathing by ear. Are you feeling lightheaded, or sick? Anything else unusual? He puts a hand to her belly. Has the little one been kicking or more active than normal?
FANTASY HIPAA: Zaphkiel is not buying it. And should she need to use the privy? Or becomes nauseous? Or there's a fire in the house, heavens forbid? To say nothing of the sores that could develop... he trails off slightly If I use every means at my disposal to make sure they are both all right, and she promises to stay in bed unless it's absolutely necessary, will you please agree to undo these straps? Ragathiel's sword, this is absurd.
Medical Confidential: Zaphkiel immediately turns to face his host.
What is the meaning of this?
There are some things I must do before we depart in any event. If there's any teleportation to be had here, I'll be quite surprised. Zaphkiel goes to check on Shayless.
We just were on the road. It's possible we may lose more by sacrificing that one night of real rest.
Very well. Let's set off at dawn. We will need to sleep at least a little before we leave.
You've done well, Shalelu. Go ahead and return to the fort. He turns to face the others. If it comes to be that the consensus is to warn them without intervening in the conflict ourselves, perhaps someone who is not themselves a portent of death he gives a meaningful glance at Lamb and Wolf Ought to be doing the warning. A warning is meaningless when it comes from someone the warned will not listen to. He stretches. I still believe we ought to at least try to do something to actually help them. Galduria has an academy of wizardry, does it not? Perhaps we will be better supported attacking them there than here in Sandpoint.
We were just discussing how to respond. Zaphkiel sighs. Whether we ought to intervene to save or assist those towns between here and them.
Zaphkiel smiles slightly. If they're coming here, we won't be any safer just by not trying to fight them. Besides, we have an opportunity to help the people of Galduria. We can't just leave them alone if we have the opportunity.
Zaphkiel waves off the offer of alcohol, as he usually does. "My only exception is sacred liquors," he said that first night in the swamp when it was offered. "I'll drink on First Brewing and harvest days, but not for no reason." We only found out about the attack ourselves after we arrived. It seemed prudent to tell you as soon as we figured out our plan to gather intelligence and Shalelu left. He pauses while Baldric finishes his thoughts. Well I doubt a 15-foot dragon could carry a giant that's big and nasty enough to command other giants, but it's certainly capable of reducing the town to little more than a corpse of itself.
As the man says Zaphkiel interjects Obviously we need to prioritize the people, but we unfortunately don't know what they're coming for so it would seem that the fight will inevitably happen here at the town.
Zaphkiel touches Shayless on the shoulder. I will be by later, Shayliss, to make sure you're all right. Baldric, we'll meet you at the garrison. As soon as Iozif and Shayliss leave, Zaphkiel turns to Baldric and Lamb and Wolf. We ought to check with Hemlock, yes?
Zaphkiel squats down in front of her and puts a hand on her shoulder. I know, I miss him too. I... he looks over at Lamb and Wolf, I miss him too. You aren't going to be left on your own to face this, I promise.
Zaphkiel starts to react to the wolf's approach, but when Lamb called him off he relaxed slightly and continued his conversation with Shayless.
Despite himself, Zaphkiel cringes slightly as Shayless ambles over. Oh blast it all. This is exactly what we needed. Please, Shayless, dear, have a care for your state. He immediately removes his traveling cloak and folds it up, placing it on the base of the newly-made statues. "That there is yet wickedness in the world is not cause for defeatism, but a requirement that those who seek to do good seek evil to remove it." Iomedae said that before her Seventh Act, and we must follow her example. The world is still a dangerous place, and our work to make sure the area is safe requires constant attention, so it may not slip back to the way it was.
That's the real issue isn't it? There is little we can do until we know where they are coming from and how many they are. North and East are little to go on in terms of finding them, but let's see if you he points to Shalelu can find them and bring us useful information. Don't take more than a day or two, we might need you here. We'll prepare the defenses here in case they arrive before you do or in case you can't find them.
Zaphkiel shakes his head. Surely any such support we bring with us would only be rendered a target for the dragon. Remember when we nearly got blasted off the tower in Magnimar when we were all coming up the stairs and Xanesha launched a fireball at us? Surely the same thing would happen with any archers or if Ameiko came with us? Trees don't make for an impressive defense from flame breath.
If we prove ourselves to be a sufficient threat to Teraktinus he may keep it around for protection. That'd keep the townsfolk out of the fire, so to speak.
Whoever they are, they signed it with an initial. It seems like they would be at Jorgenfist, but beyond that I don't think we have much to go on. Zaphkiel rubs his temples with his hands. Giants are too strong and destructive for it to be safe for anyone if they enter the town itself, what if we met them outside the town? I suppose it would depend on the numbers, but... He trails off.
Zaphkiel is a large and imposing man with wide shoulders and arms. He has violet eyes and silver birthmarks running down his cheeks under his eyes. His hair is dark, the only bit that clearly shows that he is in fact as varisian as he is angelic, that seems to be going grey, but instead of a dull grey like most humans the grey portions of his hair are bright and shiny like polished silver.
Zaphkiel puts a hand on Shalelu's shoulder and smiles reassuringly. You've done well. Be safe. He looks at Baldric. There seem to be three potential pieces of critical intel. Who is Teraktinus, where is Jorgenfist, and what is he looking for. Where he is retreating to could predict where he is coming from.
Man, how much of a terror does the little guy have to be for the lab to not gel with him? My lab from when I was a little kid was the chillest thing ever. On a game note, do L+W feel compelled to, I don't know, 'reap' people around them who are dying from non-combat things? Like if we run into a 98-year-old human are they going to be all like HER TIME APPROACHES, LITTLE LAMB! yes, my dear wolf?
Zaphkiel looks back at Lamb and Wolf, seeing how they interact with the crowd. I do hope nobody in this crowd is too old or ill. Does that trigger the bloodlust in these creatures the same way wounded enemies do? He shakes his head quickly, refocusing on the situation at hand. Stay close you two, and let me know before you decide someone needs your, eh, services.
Makes me miss my dog.
Same here. I don't plan to PRC, so there's no loss there.
Unless Zaph is buffed and on his horse I think the thing we're missing the most is intense damage.
Zaphkiel hops off his horse and walks forward through the crowd, touching hands and leading his horse. Upon seeing the statue, he sighs. Hardly worth a large casting of bronze, but the gesture is appreciated. He greets Ameiko and Shalelu without observable distress, instead asking about Ameiko's brother.
Everybody still here?
Sounds like they're all dead. Ironbriar may have surrendered and been executed, but nobody who gathers souls for their dark master is interested in surrendering, especially not lamia.
So how does Baldric feel about his parent's plans for him? Was he just skipping town to go to the festival in Sandpoint as a "gap year" so to speak, or is he more seriously rebellious?
I see no reason we wouldn't do that. None of us are super ambitious types.
Ok, assuming that's settled or at least put aside for now, what other big questions are there?
I agree with the idea of her going somewhere for "evil rehab" or something. It's not like she was a kid spray-painting pentagrams on a church wall or something. What else do you think is missing in terms of the whys and hows?
So after poking around online, I've found three main villains that seem hypothetically redeemable. There's Barl Breakbones, a giant who leads the ogres that are fought in book three, and ultimately worked for our main antagonist in book 4. There's Nualia, an absolute woobie and aasimar who was the daughter of the priest and was abused by high expectations on account of being an aasimar. Something that I think Zaphkiel can definitely relate to, so I vote Nualia was saved on account of finally meeting someone who gets it. The next one I found was Tsuto, Ameiko Kaijutsu's brother. He's kind of crazy, but if Nualia is redeemable, I think Tsuto could be as well. As far as redeeming in principle, Zaphkiel wouldn't shy away from issuing field justice if he's in a position where he has the authority to or absolutely has to. War comes before priest after all. If they surrender or he thinks they're just lashing out, he might try to talk to them, but he's Zaphkiel the Strong, not Zaphkiel the Charming.
Yeah, and some details about who they are and stuff.
They probably would have brought the body back to bury him, it's only like 15 miles back to Sandpoint. Ok, I think Zaphkiel thinks of them as incomplete people, and isn't too concerned with their identities, thinking of them as objects that need to be put back into place so his friend's soul can be repaired. Let's expand that to say that Zaphkiel and Luthian were close, which is part of the reason he tried too hard.
Aw, shucks.
I was thinking it would have happened just before the end of the second book, if we're going with Foxglove killing Luthian. That does put us in the position of having at least gone to all the places in book 3 with L+W, which means some of us have probably gotten over the initial shock of "oh gods, Luthian is dead" and the rush that undoubtedly comes from finding yourself in the middle of Deliverance with ogres meaning we suddenly find ourselves with some downtime, at least until war shows up on our doorstep and the Runelords Rise. This seems like an appropriate time for us all to suddenly have it "hit" us that we're traveling with what may be a creature that's utterly unique in the entire multiverse, constructed from the dead soul of a companion and a friend. Reactions to the moral, religious, and personal implications of that abound. I think it would help if we had more details about the personalities of L+W. Is Wolf like an actual animal or does he speak? Is Lamb soft and meek like the name implies? How do they feel about Luthian? Do they have his memories? How do they feel about Shayliss?
How would Zaphkiel have reacted to L+W's death... Obviously he tried to rez him, making him the being he is today. Having done that, I think Zaph would have doubled down, trying his damndest to find a way to "fix" his mistake, as well as getting extremely "penance-y". Not self-mutilation or anything gross, but even compared to his previously pious self he has become seriously obsessed with redemptive qualities of faith and self-purification. Given a library or archives he'll probably try to research a way to fuse the two back together or something but Zaphkiel is no wizard, so it's probably not gonna work. Given that, he probably is working to gather enough favor to get the gods to do it for him. In the meantime, he's moody and extremely reckless with himself, thinking whatever pain or injury he suffers are penance for his foolhardiness in trying to use magic he shouldn't have.
Sounds like congratulations are in order.
Wow. Ok. How did I miss that even baseline TWF has a dex requirement. Total brain fart on my part. So now that I just rewrote my character's combat style entirely because I wasn't thinking clearly before, Zaphkiel is now a mounted menace. "The Strong" is an epithet that he got stuck with by the Mystery Cult community that raised him (they're big on ceremony and epithet naming and stuff, and a big muscleman isn't really the stereotype) rather than something he goes by and insists everyone call him. And wow, I only added +2 instead of 4. I need to stop doing this as I'm on my way out the door to go to work.
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