The Savage Tide is rising soon, and heroes are beginning to emerge from the streets of Sasserine to attempt to stem its terrible onslaught.
Currently, three PCs are in the works for the run of this campaign, with a fourth to be run by the DM to fill in whatever gap is left in the party's composition. Thus far, two characters have begun to form more clearly, with a third only hinted at:
Female Halfling Druid
Female Human Rogue/Swashbuckler
*Female Human Sorcerer
For those who will be reading this, it will progress slowly, as it will be a side campaign with sessions taking place only once every month. For my players, you can expect to be able to come here for a recap of the story to date, and possibly to find fun extras about the background goings-on of the story. If any of you want to make login names for these boards and post on this journal, feel free to do so. Any in-character journal posting you do here will earn you bonus experience points (maximum of 1 award per play session).
WOOT!! Extra XP points!! Rockin'.
Hey all, I'm Oshun Bleu. I'll be playing the Rogue/Swashbuckler.
However, I need to decide which will start first...the Rogue or the Swashbuckler? Hmmm..decisions decisions.
I also need to figure out how to keep her skin stained blue. Tattoos are easy, as is dying the hair, but how to keep the all over stain. Any advice would be WONderful!
Introducing Oshun Bleu
At the end of the world there lies a sprawling city whose shores and inner reaches are bathed by the waves of Jeklea Bay. That city is called Sasserine. Thousands of people live here divided among seven districts. Some never leave the Districts they call home. Some don’t care to know their neighbors, either because they view them as lessers or as rivals. Others see Sasserine as a whole and know that each part needs the other to thrive. In the Azure District lives one that dreams of the day that all of Sasserine and perhaps even distant parts of the world know her name. She is Oshun Bleu.
Oshun’s father, Darmeth Mariner, belonged to Finback Whaling, leaving the city for long periods on the Wave Dancer, a ship and crew known for its success in bringing home holds full of bounty. One stormy season Darmeth courted a young woman by the name of Sermione. She said yes when he asked her to marry him, for he was young and strong with the smell of the sea in his hair and eyes the color of the clear sky, who told tales of his battles when the Sea Princes were overthrown. Within the year she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and Darmeth named her Oshun Bleu, for he loved the waters that he made his living from.
However, Sermione grew jealous of the sea for it took Darmeth away from her arms for days on end, leaving her alone to tend their energetic child. As time flowed by, Oshun’s mother let her heart wander and when Darmeth returned from another voyage he found that Sermione had left. He came home to find his old friend Maklash Gristwhistle, leader of the Dredgers Guild, tending the toddling Oshun with his unending mirth and watchful eyes. Darmeth’s heart did not hurt for long, for he had his little girl and within her eyes he always saw the ocean.
Years marched on and Oshun grew tall and lean. She spent as much time on the ships with her father as she did running the streets of Sasserine. She climbed the nets and masts as if born to it and swam the waters as gracefully as any mermaid. While on land, she visited Maklash to share her stories and the new bawdy songs she had learned from the other sailors. Oshun learned the skills of acquiring things without being caught, sneaking into private places to watch how other folks lived and relished life. Above all else, though, she loved her Father.
She took up the practice of staining her skin blue and had darker tattoos applied to her face, arms, hands and legs, taking great pride in the slowly expanding art upon her skin. Her dark hair also showed the sheen of blue and was often braided in intricate styles and beaded with shaped glass from the sea. Darmeth smiled with pride on his daughter and her shoulders always squared as she stood taller by his side.
Then, hard times fell upon them. Not more than three months prior to this very date, her Father met with an accident while whaling, losing the lower half of his right leg. She nursed him back to health and Maklash visited often to bolster Darmeth’s spirits. Now he works with the office of the Whaling company, waiting and watching out the window for his daughter to visit and tell him her tales.
Oshun’s heart is heavy for her Father, knowing that he would rather be on a ship, plying the water with the sea breeze in his face, battling the elements. She has vowed to him more than once that one day she will find fortune and she will have a ship of her own. Then she and her Father can leave Sasserine, sail over the world and see places that they’ve only ever dreamed of. She knows that her day will come and her name will be sung in new tales of seafaring adventure.
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Nicely written background Oshun.
I don't know much about dying skin, but I imagine there are dyes that can do it easily enough, probably need to be re-applied quite often. Maybe something made up of crushed berry juice or something?
As for swashbuckler or rogue ... well, if you wanted to min/max it might make sense to take rogue first for the extra skill points. Otherwise, up to you, whatever makes most sense to your character's background, I noticed a few references to "sneaking" in there, so maybe rogue does make sense, on the otherhand the dying and tattoos might be more the flamboyant actions of a swashbuckler.
Thank you very much Mothman, any input is valuable. I was thinking that she would probably have to do the berry staining thing.
As for the classes, our DM Vedic has graciously decided to let us make Gestalt (Unearthed Arcana) characters since there will only be the three of us playing. He decided it would be easier that way instead of him also playing an NPC to balance us out. I and one of the other players frequently play Gestalt within Vedic's games and it works out nicely. They aren't overly powerful and there are many times when being Gestalt has no advantage whatsoever.
He ran us through the "Red Hand of Doom" adventure and it ROCKED!! I played a Spellscale Gestalt of Freedom Paladin/War Mage and my friend played a Spellscale Gestalt of Sorceror/Rogue. They were brother and sister. It worked out beautifully. Then we moved to the Maure Castle and got our rumps handed to us. Very humiliating.
Okay, I'm rambling. Thanks again Mothman!!
((Oshun and her friend Sunny (Freedom Paladin/Favored Soul)are now in the employ of Lavinia Vanderboren. Their task is to track down Lavinia's brother, Vanthis...this is what happened when they finally encountered him. I've been encouraged to write more and not leave this as a cliff hanger, but we'll see. Mwahahahahaaa!!))
“This is what you deserve for messing with my sister, you THUGS! Oh and say hello to Penkus’ ghost for me”
Oshun peered up at the shadowy figure of Vanthis Vanderboren where he stood looking over the rim of the hatch and tunnel that led down to where she stood, mouth agape. Her mouth remained that way as he slammed the hatch shut and the sound of heavy rocks being slid over it echoed down to them. After a moment she turned to Sunny, her companion and blinked.
“He’s kidding right? Thugs? Us?” She looked back up into the darkness. “Of all the nerve!”
Sunny stared at her, blinking, incredulous. Of all the things to complain about, the blue swashbuckler could only focus on the name calling.
With a deep breath and sigh, Oshun began swinging the sunrod this way and that, illuminating the small ten by ten room they were in and the only exit that led into a dark hallway. “Well then, let’s find our way out of here. Surely, if this is an abandoned smugglers hideout, they’d have had other ways in and out then this.” Her hand gestured angrily to the five by five tunnel that led upward and the pile of rope on the floor that used to be how one would climb up.
She began moving down the narrow hallway, sunrod held aloft, Sunny following behind, muttering quietly, “Presumably.”
Oshun only responded by heatedly whispering, “Thugs!”
They turned to the right and emerged into a larger room, but before Sunny could get a good look into it, Oshun rounded on her, “And I liked that fellow Shefton, even though he tricked us. Give him a bath and that half-elf wouldn’ta been half bad lookin’ He said I looked like a Sea-Elf.”
“Tricked or not, Shefton now lies dead above, backstabbed by Vanthis and is no good to anyone anymore.” Sunny pointed past Oshun into the darkness of the room.
Oshun turned slowly and muttered, “F$*!,” and quickly pulled the two kukri from their scabbards.
Shambling toward them were three figures. Judging by their rotting clothes and adornments they could only be the remains of the smugglers that used the tunnels so long ago. Their mouths opened slowly and then kept opening, much wider then any normal human jaw would be capable. One whispered hoarsely with what was left of it’s throat. “Huuungrrry….”
From behind Oshun, Sunny whispered, “Ravenous Zombies…..they’re disease ridden, don’t let them bite you.”
“You can count on that.” Then Oshun leapt to meet the first one, Devious and Vicious flashing in the light of the sunrod that now lay on the floor. Sunny quickly followed, her hammer arcing out and down at the first zombie head to come close to her.
The sounds of battle echoed through the moisture rotted tunnels of the smugglers den of Parrot Island, falling on more ears of the hungry dead.