Fare well, Maria's player, and I hope you find something else to enjoy! :D
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I'm torn between trying a swordsage (from the Book of Nine Swords, if Brainiac will have one) or doing a seascarred (shark skinwalker) ranger.
Thirded! And y'know, I thought there would be a lot more recruitments now that people are stuck at home all day.
So I thought I'd leave a note here about some of the things I really loved about our little ersatz family. Melodie really did a bang-up job of being a mastermind - playing the person who knows how to figure out what makes you tick, and get inside your head (literally). I feel like she always had a plan for everything, and she had a great long-term vision. She really came across as a leader and a coalition-builder. In my head I could always see a slight smirk when nobody else was looking as she deploys sugar or lashings, as appropriate, to get things to go her way. Her story with her hag mother and her occasionally-noted hemophilia made her feel like a fully-realized person with a mysteriously magical background that wasn't all good things. Zhi was our firebrand, the one going out and doing dangerous things and always pushing us forward. At the same time she was a young woman with insecurities and trauma and emotional whiplash! (Also, I never expected an arcane trickster to work as a melee build because of the terrible BAB.) I like how she had a great setup with the missing dad who might or might not have been complicit in his daughter's screwed-up childhood and her own idealization of these old memories, not knowing what to believe in but just clinging to them for comfort, even as she pulled the strings of a ninja network as the world's smallest kunoichi.
Maria really nailed the hard-bitten inspector angle. I half-expected her backstory to reveal that she was actually a replicant and have a mysterious origami unicorn appear on her bed one day. I liked her late-blooming romance with Safina. She always seemed a bit standoffish compared to the rest of the party, perhaps partly because of her analytical mind. I'm glad that she, too, got an interesting wrap-up with her estranged father in the end! Sara, our departed warrior, was a wild ride. Apparently the proletarian revolution really will be won with love instead of violence. She showed a great ability to put her own welfare on the line to protect other people and to fight what she believed in. I also liked the touch of her enjoying cigars - kind of a shout-out to Marxist philosophers, I guess. The resurrectionist story line was a cool way to have a character gain class consciousness and become aware of their own complicity in the system, literally using the bodies of the dead for her own survival. It made for a neat mid-story character arc to tie that up. Thanks everyone! See you next time!
Indeed, this is our great reward at the end!
I think I've done my bit. Maria?
Zileska says, "It's fine. Nothing terrible. I'll just have Marci bring me some tea or water or something." At that, the nurse nods and shuffles off completely silently to fetch a beverage. Zileska smiles tiredly as Zhi kisses her on the forehead. "You're welcome, Zhi. It seems you've wanted this most of your life and I'm glad that I could help make it happen." She happens to glance down at her goddess' handiwork and then says in a startled tone, "Goddess, Zhi! I'm going to nickname you 'the Juggernaut' now." Pushing herself up on her elbows, the priestess says, "I'm sure I'll be fine in a minute, I'm just a little disoriented. You two should go home - you'll need to do a lot of clothes-shopping, I think."
Once the miracle is over, Marci towels off Zileska and helps her back into her bed. "Feels like I've been worked over in the dungeon - the kind at the Calistrian temple," she mutters as she slides under the covers like an invalid, one hand pressed to her forehead. "That's a heck of a hangover. I don't really remember it. Hope it all worked out all right." She thrusts her tongue out and champs her mouth a few times, then says, "Well, it tastes like someone had a good time."
Thank you! I hope it was worth the wait! So... what's next?
Sent draft to DM, awaiting edits.
I know. I'm working on it. It's tough with the pandemic stuff going on, since I have to adjust to changing job circumstances and my wife getting laid off from all of her jobs.
It was good to have that little funny scene regardless, Maria. Thanks. :)
Melodie/Zhi:
Zileska enjoys the general chit-chat with the ladies as the afternoon wears on, playing hostess.
The next day she introduces them to her friend Marci, a wiry woman who is able to work as a wet-nurse. In addition to having her own infant and thus meeting the necessary preconditions, Marci seems to have a startling amount of skill in unarmed combat and very quick reflexes, whether intercepting a thrown toy or catching a climbing baby that's gotten somewhere she shouldn't.
Melodie/Zhi:
Zileska steps inside the cottage and returns with a chilled lemonade. How she's getting it cold is anyone's guess.
"So! Any questions?" "Congratulations to both of you," says Zileska as she wipes down her hands and starts cleaning up the aftermath of the delivery. "Especially you, Zhi. Some of the hardest work you've done but with the best payoff." The priestess takes a step back to let the happy parents enjoy their new arrival.
Melodie/Zhi: "It's no trouble at all. The hedge-maze shields us from would-be prying eyes on the academy grounds. I can bring you something cool to drink if that would be preferable," says Zileska. "The prospective ward is indeed a wet-nurse, but you needn't worry. Volume of milk production is not, strictly speaking, tied to breast size. Also, once Harmony's delivered, if I petition Calistria on your behalf and she grants this miracle, you should have allllll the size you want. This is just to have an extra pair of hands to help take care of Harmony since the two of you tend to be extra-busy with your duties both official and unofficial. That those extra hands also mean that she can save you some time with feeding are an added bonus. I expect you'll want to get as much 'bonding time' with Harmony as you can, regardless." The priestess remains standing to see if she needs to fetch a cool beverage or associate.
Melodie/Zhi: "You should take some time to fix in your mind what you really want - what shape you want you to be. You two should probably discuss it a bit. Ultimately, Zhi, this will be guided by your desire. It will... likely be an intensely personal process. I probably won't have full control over it - I will be handing control over to Calistria. She will respond to impulses, desires, and lusts," explains the priestess.
"That also means it's safer after Harmony is born. So you have a little time to think about it." She gestures for Zhi to have a seat while she stands and takes a teacup from the nearby cupboard, turns it over, and pours some tea for Zhi. "Would you like some slippers or a robe, Zhi? I can fetch something a bit warmer for you." She finishes pouring tea, puts down the pot, then snaps her fingers. "Oh! And I have a nursemaid available for when Harmony arrives, if you'd like to meet her."
I am also... a little sad that things didn't wind up going in the direction of Zileska sleeping with Maria and then revealing that she'd slept with Maria's dad. Because drama. ;)
Sure, I'd be happy to apply.
So once this is over, what's next?
That was an enjoyable ride and the first time I've been in a campaign on the boards that made it successfully to the conclusion. Zileska was a difficult character for me to play, because normally I have no interest in playing the Chaotic Neutral alignment. My experiences with other people playing that alignment have been almost universally bad. The major hurdle with Zileska was that she was whimsical and devoted to apparently random impulses, but also that as someone with a very high Wisdom she ostensibly has a strong will, good insight, and a lot of sense, which is tough to reconcile with a character whose religious principles are to do whatever makes you feel good, and take out your frustrations on anyone who crosses you. My only dissatisfaction was with my own bad luck, which made me feel useless at several points. Part of this was due to the poor design of the social system, in which if a character couldn't participate due to bad rolls, there was no alternative way to engage. Thank you for at least giving me something to do in the end! I enjoyed the other members of our team and feel a bit sad that I didn't have more interactions with Maria. Would happily play with any/all of you again. Side jaunts were amusing too. Characterization was good, although I occasionally got lost in the roster of NPCs (which is to be expected for a sprawling political drama like this). Glad to apply for whatever opportunity comes up next with DM Braniac.
Melodie/Zhi: Zileska manages to say simultaneously with Melodie, "You are beautiful," but adds on, "but you can be the person you imagine yourself to be."
"Many things about ourselves we can change. We can learn. We can practice. We can focus on being better or on discovering new facets to ourselves. But it hardly seems fair that we are, for the most part, trapped in these bodies, even if they don't match what we expect of ourselves. What we need from ourselves." "If your desire is strong enough... if you want it badly enough... it can be yours."
Melodie/Zhi: "Zhi has on occasion... expressed a desire to be other than she is," says the priestess as she stands and smoothly pours a cup of tea for Melodie. "Of course she is already wonderful and we love her without reservation. At the same time she seems to have some dysphoria about her body and difficulty reconciling her self-image with her physical appearance."
"After the child comes... we can give her what she wants," says Zileska sibilantly. "What she desires. The body that she feels she should have had, that she was denied by the circumstances of her deprivation and her abusive childhood and her misfortune." Sip.
Melodie: "Of course I would be happy to see to your daughter's needs and wants," says Zileska. "As for the Empire, do as you will. After all this time, after all we've been through, our goals are not suddenly going to change and diverge so markedly. Again, I am a patriot; and the good of the Empire is dear to my heart, and I think we are not so far off as not to see eye-to-eye about many of the improvements that the Empire can benefit from as it moves into a new age. And, especially, about who can best make those improvements happen."
"Please, have some tea, unless you are in a hurry," says the priestess. "I have a gift for you and Zhi as well, though it is a bit... complicated."
Zileska's return sees her visiting the Baron once more, then retiring to her academy in Stachys. Now well under construction, the school has a well-kept horticultural garden, a large green, and several buildings, including a tiny chapel dedicated to Calistria obscurely hidden away in the hinterlands of the estate's grounds. Zileska herself is just a contributor and sometime visitor - she has picked a headmistress for the school, one Peretta de Chambrun, a minor noblewoman with some skill in swordplay and etiquette who serves as headmistress, public face, and mentor to the youth who attend the school. Of course, behind the scenes, the academy does offer certain inducements for students to pursue unconventional academic goals, and Zileska also puts up the funds to guarantee a mentorship program so that the academy can admit some select students who show talent from among families that otherwise do not have the wealth for such a place. The academy proves to be an egalitarian place for teens to visit from across Taldor to receive a broad education with the chance of learning more than just dancing and history. The priestess herself becomes something of a reclusive figure - though she still sees petitioners and clients, she spends a great deal of her time pursuing some sort of mysterious higher calling toward communing with her deity. The granting of a miracle is, after all, a display of the highest order of trust, faith, and power, and it has had some kind of revelatory effect upon the cleric - changing the scope of her investigations, perhaps, into how she pursues the abstract concepts of desire and vengeance. Melodie: When Melodie comes calling, Zileska is reclining in a soft robe in a backyard garden outside of the cottage that she owns on the academy grounds. Trellises bear flowering plants and a small hedge-maze blocks views outside, making it a private space... unless one ascends to a small raised platform via a circling outdoor stair that opens to a sunny observation deck that oversees the whole of the academy grounds. Currently ensconced in her private area, though, the priestess is hidden from public view.
Zileska is seated at a small round tea-table on the back garden. The sound of buzzing bees is a constant background drone as the tiny creatures bumble about the flowers on the trellises.
She puts the teacup on a small table and gestures for Melodie to have a seat in one of the fine wicker chairs next to the table. "I presume I am not the only County you are collecting? Collecting enough to form a duchy? Eutropia has no heir, after all, and the country must avoid another succession war in the future. A powerful Duchess with the ear of a childless Empress could be a formidable claimant." She folds her hands in her lap to await Melodie's reply.
"Very well then." Zileska sinks to her knees and holds her hands outward along her sides in supplication. "Calistria, long have I served the creed of desire. Many times have I wrought poetic vengeance upon those who have done wrong. Great now is our bequest, that this child struck down in hatred by his own father might live beyond the short span of his appointed years and know the mortal days that would otherwise be denied to him. That he would come to see a life fulfilled by vengeance upon those who plotted against him. That he would reclaim his very soul and have the chance to make his own peace in the world, and earn his place in the afterlife." "I ask with all the strength that my heart can muster that you take this matter in hand and draw forth this young man, cut down before his time, and return him to the living world, hale and whole, ready to face the trials of life once more, his spirit restored and his future unwritten."
Oh yeah, forgot we lost someone!
Just letting everyone have a chance to speak!
"This will complicate succession a bit - even if Carrius says he wants nothing to do with the throne, the same people we've been fighting this whole way will use him as an excuse for their sedition," says Zileska. "Not that this should stop us; just remember that it's a problem we'll have to deal with." "Everyone must agree if we're going to try this. I will literally beseech Calistria to take a personal hand in events. She might just laugh and ignore it - she can be fickle in her whims. But she might, just might, touch us with her grace for this one request, shifting the very nature of reality. This kind of thing would put her into conflict with Pharasma, so it's a big request." "For starters, if we do this - I would imagine that at the very least, Calistria's religion must be recognized, not necessarily as an 'official state religion,' because screw laws and rules, but as one that is protected and a trade that is not subject to harassment and scrutiny by the authorities, nationwide."
Zileska says, "You'll have a reward fitting a prince. I'm glad you got to see your sister one last time." Turning away from the lad with some regret, she busies herself with healing up her teammates.
"There is one last possibility," says Zileska as she busies herself with healing the team. "I can... ask Calistria to intercede. I can ask her to take a personal hand in the fate of a young prince who was denied his chance at a full life."
Zileska is quite annoyed that the flying swords are chopping away at her hypobolic armor. She points and commands Gennarius to halt.
Zileska snaps out her whip in a series of spinning, cracking maneuvers, trying to yank away the various swarms of swords flying around Gennaris.
Zileska drops her whip momentarily to free up a hand so that she can cast banishment.
Zileska draws her wand with her free hand and moves to assist Safi.
Zileska sticks to flicking out her whip at the apparition of Stavian I, though he's too canny a fighter for her to land a hit.
Zileska applies her dwindling older wand to help Melodie and says, "Good thing I have communal protection from energy prepared."
"No, Carrius, we've always looked out for you - saving you from the cult, working hard to give you back your life. It was Stavian who killed you in the first place, remember," says Zileska soothingly.
Zileska aborts her other plans to deliver a heal spell to Melodie.
Zileska looks a bit annoyed at having her whip gambit fail, so she falls back on simply trying to paralyze one of the foes.
Figuring that Zhi could perhaps use a little help, Zileska unfurls her whip again and lashes out - but instead of snapping it in the face of one of the Ulfen Guard, she instead spins in a coil and loops it around the unwitting guardsman.
Zileska makes a coquettish turn and says, "If you won't kneel from awe, there are... other motivations."
Zileska adds, "Besides... this isn't exactly how to be known as an incorruptible guard force for the Emperor, standing by while one would-be Emperor murders the existing one."
Zhi, I've knocked off a heal spell for ya.
Zileska re-applies her poison and lashes out at the ape again.
Zileska unfurls her whip and cracks it at the ape.
Nope, guess I'm legitimately wrong. I've never seen them with hooves. Oh well, useless again!
Zileska scrawls numbers on pieces of parchment and puts them in front of the cup, purely for player organizational purposes. 1. A golden cup with a scallop carving, decorated with brilliant rubies
"Let's see.. The poison cup is next to either a silver cup or a platinum cup." "This clue doesn't exclude the eagle-marked cup, because it's next to the silver unicorn-marked one," notes Zil, pointing to #4 (copper eagle) and its neighbor #5 (silver unicorn). "But it does exclude the silver dragon cup, because it's between two gold cups, and it's not 'next to' itself." 1. A golden cup with a scallop carving, decorated with brilliant rubies
"If the poison cup has feathers, then it is exactly two cups to the right of a golden cup." "This helps because the two that have feathers are the golden hippogriff (#3) and the copper eagle (#4). The golden hippogriff is two cups to the right of the golden scallop (#1), so it's a possibility - but the copper eagle (#4) is two cups to the right of the silver dragon (#2), so it's out." 1. A golden cup with a scallop carving, decorated with brilliant rubies
"Hmm, let me think, let me think... If the poison cup does not have scales, then it has hooves. And I know I did not poison the naga cup. Too obvious." "So we know it's not the platinum naga. Down to three!" 1. A golden cup with a scallop carving, decorated with brilliant rubies
"And we know that if it doesn't have scales, it has hooves. Put another way, we know that it has either scales or hooves. I'm pretty sure that scallops have shells and valves, while hippogriffs and eagles have feathers and claws. That means it has to be either the silver dragon, or the silver unicorn, because those are the only ones with scales or hooves."
"But we previously eliminated the silver dragon, because it's between two gold cups, and we know that the poisoned cup is next to a silver or platinum cup." The priestess picks up the silver unicorn chalice. "Which leaves only this." She turns and holds the cup out. "Anyone want to check my work?"
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