How to Write Rowan
1. Rowan is not good with people. This is mostly due to lack of experience; growing up druid doesn’t provide many opportunities for learning the niceties of social interaction. There’s also the half-elf thing—she is wary of people because she doesn’t trust them not to harass her or worse as soon as they realize what she is (until they prove otherwise). The upshot is that she is blunt-spoken, often grumpy, and fiercely treasures those few she calls friends. Away from towns, however, she softens.
2. Rowan has a savage streak. It mostly comes out in combat. All the frustration she accumulates from having to restrain herself around people is released like the energy in a coiled spring.
3. Rowan is more concerned with her future than her past. Your run-of-the-mill fantasy foundling is obsessed with finding their real parents, but as far as Rowan is concerned, the druid who raised and trained her is her father, and the people who spawned her are largely inconsequential—after all, they abandoned her. If given a clear opportunity to find them, she would probably indulge her curiosity, but it’s not something she thinks about often. She is more interested in where she’s going than where she’s been. In particular, she’s looking for a place in the world where she fits, and leans strongly toward the assumption that she’ll have to carve out a niche of her own.
4. Odds and ends. Rowan loves birds of prey, and needlessly harming them or their eggs is her Berserk Button. Her favorite drink is dark bitter ale. She tends to take charge because she's afraid if she doesn't, someone else will and will start ordering her around, which she hates. Adellion is the first full-blooded elf, other than another druid, she has spent any length of time around (which explains a lot).
edited 5th Oct '10 9:30:36 PM by Karalora
The Ultimate Bifauxnen
Okies let's see. A guide for Trenton Phillips
- Trent is sarcastic Well duh, but really its how he gets through his day and life. (Comes with being a middle child) It's also a great way to irritate his enemies while fighting!
- Trent has chivalrous tendencies He is instinctively protective of women he considered friends/family. Even if they are fully capable of ripping his arm off. (Or summon bears to do so)
- Trent. Hates. Caves. He's not afraid of them. He hates them. They remind him of a traumatic and embarrassing childhood event. His mantra is this: "Nothing good comes from caves."
- Loveable Rogue Seriously, he'll rob someone blind then spend the money on giving his friends a good time. He's kinda generous when it comes to funds because he can always "acquire" some later. He will feel guilty keeping money from his fellow adventurers and thus buy them things to assuage his guilty conscious. (I personally think along the lines of Balthier from FFXII when it comes to playing him)
- Trent Interactions Okay interactions with the various members of the party:
- Meredith: She's a cross between a dimwitted but enthusiastic Labrador and a competent fighting companion. Also, she's his minion so he'll order her to stop to prevent mayhem.
- Rowan: Trent's almost gentlemanly around her occasionally encountering a bumbling moment of idiocy. (Like when he blurted out that she's pretty or that one "prancy elf" comment) Trent will get annoyed with anyone who he thinks is eying her.
- Constantine: Be friendly but not too close. Constantine is often up to some kind of spookery that really shouldn't be messed with as evidenced by his scars.
- Trixie: Cute bard but she isn't particularly fascinating. Trent will like to snark her inability to climb up walls though. And he will defend her "honor" thanks to those nasty chivalry instincts he can't suppress.
- Adellion: Hate at first sight. The asshole elf who almost got them killed and hates Rowan (biiig no no). Can and has decked or kicked Adellion for insulting Rowan. After the guard event Trent will be more friendly but kind of unsure of Adellions 180 attitude adjustment.
Overall, I'd say Trent is (obviously) closest to Meredith and Rowan with Adellion in last place.
Uh that's it and here's my attempt at writing. I'm not proud of it but Kara kept scolding me for fussing with it.
“Boot off the elf if you please good sir.” A voice interrupted. Adellion shifted his head against the pressure of the boot heel grinding into his cheek spotting his savoir. It was Trent with a concerned Rowan in tow...
“And who’re you ta tell me what t’ do in my city?” grunted the Warden. He ground his heel into Adellion’s face a little for good measure.
“I’m Trent Phillips, this is Rowan. And that” Trent replied gesturing towards Adellion “Is our companion. We were comin’ to fetch him.”
“Oh? And just how long you been in town for?”
“Just this morning actually,” Rowan gave Trent an annoyed glance as he talked over her again.
This caused the guards to grunt looking at each other in silent conversation before the Warden turned back to Rowan and Trent. “An’ how long has he been away from your party?” he sneered.
“Not quite three hours, sir.” Rowan quietly answered. Her soft tone somewhat jarring compared to the angry tension between Trent and the guards.
edited 7th Oct '10 7:30:33 PM by JinxedBlackcat
Real Life rwby rose
Cutmaster-san
How to write Adellion:
- Adellion is very speciesist. Humanity in general has treated him like crap, so he dislikes humans. Half-elves are an abomination as a result, and are, if anything, worse than humans because their very existence implies that an elf stooped to sleeping with a human (or was raped, which makes it wrong for entirely different reasons). He has no particularly strong feelings about other species, and he'll specifically give dwarves a chance to make a good impression, due to growing up around many dwarves who didn't care about his heritage and treated him with common courtesy, if not actual respect. This is why he hated Rowan, and also affects his feelings for the rest of the party.
- Adellion hates the Arcane Dominion. He risked quite a bit in an attempt to get admitted, only to get turned down because he was an elf. This has only gotten worse after having met dominion wizards who are no more powerful than he is. This is why Adellion has a special loathing for Constantine.
- Adellion has no respect for people who come off as dumb, especially those who seem brutish to him. He values knowledge and finesse, which shows up quite a bit in his magic. Hi there, Meredith.
- As a sneaky bastard, Adellion doesn't trust other sneaky bastards and will try to out-sneakify them. This is why, until recently, Adellion didn't like Trent.
- Adellion isn't afraid to mouth off to people if he has no respect for them and doesn't expect to gain anything from a conversation with them. This one should be pretty obvious.
- Adellion categorizes people based on the judgments above, and can't handle it when they don't act in the way he expected. This is why he was "broken" after Trent saved him—he's not entirely coping with Trent, a human thief, risking his life to save an elf.
- Adellion is amoral. He does whatever he needs to do to advance his goals: protecting his own skin, saving elves who are being oppressed, overthrowing any human authority that does the oppressing, and gaining enough power to go Edmund Dantes on the Arcane Dominion.
How to write Trixie:
- Trixie is manipulative. It's second-nature to her. She uses her charm and wits to get her way, though she does understand that sometimes what people need is a sword to the face - that's what the rest of the party is for. Even better is the threat of such. Even with her friends, she's willing to tug on the strings a little. In fact she does so every time she uses her bardsong or spells to inspire the others. A little benevolent manipulation never hurt anyone. Well, those being manipulated, anyways.
- Trixie has a thing for being in control. This comes part and parcel with the above. She likes being in control, on top, the dominant party involved.
- Trixie is selfish. She likes to have her way, and she typically gets it with the above, although she understands that she can't always have it - doing something for short-term personal gain that would piss off the party is not good for the long-term.
- Trixie is secretive. She doesn't often give out information about herself. Such things could be used against her.
So wait, why do the rest of us hang out with Trixie, again?
Cutmaster-san
Because she's a player character. Adellion may be at odds with much of the team, but his goals overlap with theirs. Or, rather, they did until the party ended up on the far side of the continent.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.
The Ultimate Bifauxnen
Obviously we hang out with her so we can have that +2 bonus to our rolls when she sings her courage songs.
Real Life rwby rose
Because she knows she can't get much of consequence done alone. Anyways, it's not like she lets the party know that she's manipulating them, in subtle and (mostly) seemingly benevolent ways. She does have to wear that mask of friendship so that manipulation is possible.
Of course, sometimes when people wear masks, they become them.
How To Write Constantine:
1. Constantine will Never talk about his past. EVER. if it comes up be as vague as possible.
2. He has no special hatreds. He found Meredith Tiresome, and Adellion annoying, but that was an individual assessment.
3. Constantine is not a people person He can be caring, and even kind on occasion, but he prefers to keep people at arms length and maintain an air of stoicism. He's not especially skilled at interpersonal interactions either.
4. Use Exospeak. Whenever talking about something he's knowledgeable about, Break out the Techno Babble.
5. He strictly follows the Guidelines in his life, as much as he might not want to. This goes for tenants of his faith, as well as Dominion policy. He may bend the rules with an inventive interpretation or overly literal reading, but he won't break them in any but the direst circumstances.
6. He Does Not Care about Power Anymore Not beyond a certain extent, he learns more, and gains in power, but unlike a normal wizard he seems to be readying for... something... rather than accruing power for power's sake.
Also, Ironeye, that bit about hating Constantine for not being more powerful than you may be... intriguing, later.
edited 6th Oct '10 11:31:13 PM by Lanceleoghauni
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Cutmaster-san
I actually had quite a bit planned for the future of Adellion and Constantine. While Adellion had the most vitriol for Rowan, that was more a matter of principle; when it comes to his beef with the Dominion, well, It's Personal.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.You'll have to wait for arim then
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Cutmaster-san
No, arim has Adellion's backstory already (the expanded one you guys didn't see) along with some ideas I had for bringing that stuff back in. Adellion's inevitable confrontation with Constantine was only implicit, though, if I remember correctly.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.
No point in spoiling stuff, guys. We're all going to need to know it in order to write it anyway.
EDITED TO BE WRITING INSTEAD OF WHINING ABOUT NOT KNOWING WHAT TO WRITE:
In retrospect, it was one of those split-second survivals that makes adventuring worthwhile even between treasure troves—an escape from death so narrow that it makes one feel ten times as alive afterward, by the sheer contrast.
In the present, it was horrifying. The poor acoustics of the clock tower meant that the party didn't realize the meeting was going south until it was almost too late. It was only due to Constantine's chance recognition that the explosive devices had been activated that they managed to retreat before the detonations began in earnest. Then there was nothing but smoke and noise and multi-ton chunks of rusted machinery plummeting down the shaft of the tower, demolishing the spiral staircase as they went and caroming off the walls with bursts of stone shrapnel.
As they scrambled back down, dodging the hail of massive cogwheels, they discovered that they had company: a cloaked figure running ahead of them in similar headlong flight from the destruction. "A Kalar! Stop him!" cried Trent...but it was unnecessary, for no sooner had he spoken than the stranger lost his footing and went tumbling. The party soon caught up with him—crashed into him in fact—and carried him along with them. He was whip-thin, so light that he barely made a dent in their momentum, and a handful of instants later, the whole group reached the bottom of the tower and flung themselves out onto the street, just as the main mass of the clock's workings crashed to the ground.
They kept a firm hold on the stranger. In the daylight, they could see that his cloak was gray rather than red, but that didn't mean a thing—anyone could put on a gray cloak, and a Kalar trying to hide his identity certainly wouldn't parade around in their signature color. A long moment passed, long enough for the dust to just begin to settle, and for Trixie to complete her own ring-assisted descent and rejoin them.
"All right, then. Who are you and why were you following us?" Rowan demanded.
"I saw an old acquaintance enter the tower," was the reply from within the stranger's hood. "I thought I ought to say hello. Hello, Trixie."
The bard’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice. "Adellion?"
The stranger pushed back his hood, revealing a mane of silver hair, shocking violet eyes, and the angular features of a pure-blooded elf. "Indeed," he said. "Do you always get up to this sort of trouble away from your shop, or did I catch you on a bad day?"
edited 10th Oct '10 10:26:07 PM by Karalora
[To Be Filled Later]
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Cutmaster-san
Damn, you, arim! I find myself drawn into an e-peen measuring contest against you and I won't be able to find out the results for several months at the earliest.
It's comparing the complexity of our two epic plots. Since we obviously can't share at the moment . . . yeah. Part of me thinks that mine's too complicated for yours to beat it (vague spoilers), but part of me thinks that you'll win because despite the many interweaving storylines in mine, it ends up being fairly straightforward after the climactic reveal.
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.
Falls Up
Yours is probably more complicated, if only by virtue of the fact that there are more distinct "sides" to the conflict in your campaign (or maybe that's just what you want us to think!)
On a related note...
Full Story Disclosure, Part I
First of all, a link to the backstory I posted way back when
. Refreshing your memory would be advised, as it's highly relevant to the Myth Arc that we were gradually working towards.
The two most important individuals in shaping the course of events, both in the centuries prior to the campaign and during the campaign itself, are the champions of the two empires: Jonas Asrigard, the legendary human mage, and Maglor Mithedhel, high prince of the Gray Kingdom. For better or for worse, the history of the world was shaped by the conflict between these two men. So first, it's necessary to understand the nature of each and the events surrounding the war.
As the backstory indicated, Asrigard is generally viewed as history's greatest hero, and Mithedhel as its greatest villain. Asrigard and Mithedhel are viewed by humans approximately the way modern Americans view Abraham Lincoln and Adolf Hitler, respectively. The elves consider Asrigard to have been a Worthy Opponent and view Mithedhel... well, probably the way most modern Germans view Adolf Hitler. As is often the case when history is written, the truth is more complex.
To say that Asrigard had a prodigious talent for wizardry undersells him by a great deal - consider that there was no mage considered more talented born for a near millenium after Asrigard's time. In spite of this, he was very much a humble man. He stood in stark constrast to the many powerful mages, then and since, who consider themselves above the common man and enjoy flaunting their power and authority. He strongly believed in the fundamental goodness of people and that any enemy was worth reaching out to. Above all else, he detested conflict, especially conflict that was needless or born of petty reasons. At one point, he intervened in an escalating feud between a number of rival mage guilds, convincing them to unite in recognition of a common purpose to advance knowledge, though whether they genuinely came to see things his way or were simply afraid of defying him, the world will never know. (The guilds later formally unified under the title of the Arcane Dominion.) Asrigard's greatest flaw was that he had a tendency to view the world through rose-colored glasses and overlook the genuinely nasty parts - a naivete that was rarely dangerous to him because of his immense power, but often made him slow to aid others because he didn't appreciate the seriousness of the problems and dangers facing them. In short, while he was a good person, and one in a position to do a lot of good, he wasn't much of a hero by nature.
Prince Mithedhel, for his part, was nearly Asrigard's equal in terms of arcane magical ability, as well as a powerful cleric of the elven deity, Corellon Larethian. In almost every other respect, though, the two men were sheer opposites. Where Asrigard was carefree, Mithedhel felt an overwhelming, almost crushing sense of responsibility for the wellbeing of his people as their crown prince and future sovereign. Where Asrigard was a sublime idealist, Mithedhel was a dyed-in-the-wool cynic about the nature of people in general, and especially about humans. For humans, Mithedhel felt little more than contempt, and yet he couldn't help but be slightly awed at the way they had unified into a prosperous and commanding empire in a mere century. The fact that he was slightly awed only served to deepen his dislike - after all, the humans were neophytes who shouldn't and couldn't possibly surpass the elves. He would not allow it. His personal distaste for them aside, Mithedhel was certain that the humans would not remain peaceful towards the Gray Kingdom forever - their years of endlessly warring with one another were evidence enough of that. And so, for the protection of both his people and his pride, he began to make plans for a war he saw as inevitable...
edited 13th Oct '10 6:17:17 PM by arimnaes
YAY! Backstory!
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Cutmaster-san
Yay, backstory! (You certainly have me beat here. My backstory has intentionally been left very vague so that when the current main plot is concluded, all but 3 of the organizations will be fair game for anyone to use as they please.)
edited 13th Oct '10 5:14:51 PM by Ironeye
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.
Falls Up
Full Story Disclosure, Part II
(As a note: the version of the backstory I posted before the campaign is subject to some Literary Agent Hypothesis, since it summarizes the events of the war as they're remembered in-universe. The version you're reading now is the objective truth of what happened.)
Sure enough, as Myamador expanded over the years, tensions began to rise between the two major powers. Before long, virtually all of the world's habitable regions were controlled by one or the other. On both sides, there were voices calling for more aggressive dealings and those who pleaded for restraint. Despite his informal friendship with the current emperor, Strendin of Justice, Asrigard was largely oblivious to the world of politics and wasn't particularly concerned about the possibility of war. After all, both sides had plenty of territory already - who would possibly be callous enough to risk horrific and senseless violence just to get more?
Mithedhel, meanwhile, was not at all pleased by the prospect of war, but was determined to see that the elves were well-prepared for one nevertheless. He planned several hypothetical scenarios for surprise invasions of Myamador and surprise invasions of the Gray Kingdom by human armies. Further, he began furiously researching and conducting divinations to try to find any possible magical advantages his people could utilize. Eventually, he discovered a number of intriguing records from a long-abandoned elven holding on an island to the west known as Kelgaras. A sort of elven Roanoke Colony, the settlement had seemingly vanished centuries prior. The records, though spotty, were consistent in their description of bizarre phenomena in their last days: there were accounts of people going missing, the sudden appearance of demons, an ethereal green fire that stretched all the way to the sky, and finally a darkness that blotted out the sun and consumed all. Expeditions by the elves had since uncovered these records, but no evidence of any of the strange occurrences they described. Mithedhel beseeched Corellon Larethian for his counsel, and received only this vague guidance: "At Kelgaras you will find calamity. One who wields it shall destroy. Two who wield it shall destroy themselves."
Mithedhel was thrown by this response. He was wise enough to understand the horrific repercussions that could result from attempting to harness a power one didn't comprehend - especially a power grim enough to be called calamity itself. At the same time, such a power could be fearsome enough to cow the Gray Kingdom's enemies with its mere existence, without them ever even having to use it. And what if the humans somehow tapped this power first? They certainly could not be trusted to refrain from abusing it. Mithedhel was soon forced from his indecision by the news that the humans were expanding their settlements onto Kelgaras. Was it a coincidence? Or did they have the same information as Mithedhel? Or, even worse, did they know more? Regardless, this could not stand without a response.
Immediately, Maglor went to his father, Elgaland Mithedhel, and requested that he be allowed to lead a diplomatic envoy to parley with the humans at Kelgaras. Nominally, the envoy would be sent to settle the dispute of which empire had the right to the island - already a matter of great diplomatic significance. Mithedhel, however, had an ulterior motive in mind: he hand-picked his finest retainers and court mages to join the delegation with the intent of investigating whatever mysterious power might lie dormant on Kelgaras... and finding a way to exploit it, if necessary.
In reality, the humans knew little of the elven settlements that once existed on Kelgaras - the settlements were merely a political calculation designed to test the Gray Kingdom's response. When the Emperor and his advisers learned that the Prince himself wanted to parley, they were more than satisfied with the results. The Emperor agreed to send his own delegation to meet the Prince at Kelgaras, and prepared to dispatch his top political advisers. Being well aware of the Prince's considerable personal power, however, the Emperor decided that one more addition to the delegation was in order. He authored a letter to an old friend of his: Jonas Asrigard.
As the party entered the remains of the Kalar's Grand Chamber, the stark differences between planes became obvious. The formerly grand room was beaten and chipped, the white walls were now a sooty, worn black stone with cracks running from floor to ceiling. Rubble from the shattered roof peppered the floor in small craters left by their impacts.
In the center of the room stood the portal device, the rooms only light source, and basking in it's silver-blue glow was the remnants of Girault. He stood, dusting himself off as the party approached.
"There you are! I was worried you'd died in the explosion, or not even gotten this far." he sighed deeply, "I'm Sorry about this friends, but the spell used to bind me here will force me to fight you, should you come any closer. It is good to see you again though, I was afraid I'd be alone here forever."
"You won't have that long, I assure you." Constantine grumbled, pulling out an old looking book and opening it, "This is just a dimensional overlay, it's actively crumbling into the void all around us."
"I see." the unfortunate spirit breathed.
"Let's get this over with shall we?"
"That sounds ideal, yes."
Without a word Constantine's eyes lit up into blue fire, and from his outstretched hand luminescent spears of light flew towards Girault, exploding on impact. The specter reeled from the assault.
"Nice opening barrage," he coughed, phantasmal blood leaking from it's mouth.
"Thanks."
Following Constantine's attack the other's fell into routine. Adellion and Constantine took cover behind some of the larger roof pieces, While Meredith Charged, the strange lighting from the portal causing her armor to seem to shift and morph. Trent followed behind Meredith, his deft feet making easy work of the rough terrain as well as the inky black pools of empty abyss that were starting to well up in the cracks of the floor.
"I'm sorry about this Girault" Meredith said before embedding one blade into his side, the catching nothing but robe.
"It Can't be helped I'm afraid." and with that he spat out the words for his spell. from the broken ground a field of tentacles so darkly purple that they appeared black erupted into being, quickly ensnaring the two unsuspecting spellcasters, Whom they began to crush. The cloying shadows gave way a moment as Rowan's Scimitar burst into flame, only for Girault to wave at it and put it out. Plunging the group back into twilight. His chuckle was cut short as Trent buried a dagger in between Girault's Shoulder blades.
As his spell ended, adellion collapsed on the floor unconscious. Constantine dragged himself up onto his staff, and with a word sent a ray of sickly green light through Girault. a hiss of wind flushed through the room as he collapsed to his knees and dispersed completely,
" Good luck, thank you... "
edited 10th Nov '10 1:09:10 AM by Lanceleoghauni
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"As Constantine Dragged the Dimensional lantern towards the portal the mechanisms of the machinery began to spin up and overload, for the second time, the world surrounding the portal began to rip itself apart until with a boneshaking explosion the world ceased to exist.
A moment later, reality rexisted itself a few thousand miles off center, and the party fell downward into the depths of the world before landing hard into a deep pool of water. Meredith was dragged under by the weight of her armor, Adellion, still unconscious, plummeted to the depths, and Constantine got tripped up in his robes. Trent and Rowan Manage to drag the others to shore, where they lay panting for a moment, before Constantine magic'd them all dry.
"Now What?"
edited 9th Nov '10 10:06:58 PM by Lanceleoghauni
"Coffee! Coffeecoffeecoffee! Coffee! Not as strong as Meth-amphetamine, but it lets you keep your teeth!"
Cutmaster-san
I realized after I posted that I need to add two more scenes for this to make sense. I'll post the finished sequence when I'm done.
edited 9th Nov '10 11:59:13 PM by Ironeye
I'm bad, and that's good. I will never be good, and that's not bad. There's no one I'd rather be than me.
This is gonna be a wall of text. Ye Hath Been Warnede.
the story so far:
I've taken it upon myself to keep a working record of events, though so far there is little to tell. we arrived at the town and I was immediately disappointed, where I had been told we were storming a castle sealed for hundreds of years, with unknown treasures and dangers within, instead I find a town slowly suffocating to death. but all is not lost I suppose. it just means It'll take more effort to wring the rewards from such a parched and paltry place. we got to the bar where Trent, our resident rogue was going to meet his friend to deal with the blueprints of the castle. He wasn't there. after ordering a brief round of drinks we were rudely interrupted by a water elemental. I made my displeasure known quite clearly I think, blasting it with a few magic missiles and a hail of stone. it sure was awfully nice of the muggles to finally get around to stabbing it, rather then have me use more of my precious combat spells. Rowan tried, and her blow-the-water-away train of thought held merit, but was ultimately futile. Trixie managed to confuse it, which allowed Meredith to heal the commoner. a waste if you ask me, an item like that is a far greater boon to we then to him. a simple bandage or two would have sufficed. The Fountain was approximately 500 years old I believe, possibly having some connection to the castle, though that's merely conjecture.
so afterward we go to the wizard, Trent determined to be the next Shirwood Housing or some such fool thing, interrogated the wizard, who rightfully snarked him. He made clear he had nothing to do with it, though the device Stolen from him might be. I stepped out for the haggling of our price, I was too busy writing curses into the street in Draconic using my pet whirlwind. in then end we get 500 Gold for a retrieval of the item, 250 for it's destruction.
Thusly we set off to Find the criminal. after arriving at the Jail we went to see the prisoner, and lo and behold it's the missing friend. Color me unsurprised. he cryptically tells us to go south of town, through the palisade, and "you should be able to find the trail" by you he appeared to mean me, after guessing my profession. uninterested in negotiations liable to lighten my purse I did what I always do, apply gratuitous magic. we circled around town to an out of the way area and scaled the stone outer wall, then climbed down a rope to the other side. I thought the main area was bad, this is even worse for wear. but that's actually a good sign, it means someone's likely taking efforts to remain hidden, we know there are all sorts over here, but the fact you can't tell easily is a promising sign for gain.
AHEM... *adjusts hat* It's been awhile and I've been a bit tardy in the record keeping, Fighting off an Anthropomorphic Personification of Fire Does that too you. Anyways, after scaling the wall our, how shall we say intrepid band of Loot Crazed mani- I mean adventurers rifled through a big pile of disturbed earth, stealthily tailed a shady figure, and then! we fell blindly into his trap. wonderful, just great thankfully Rowan was there to keep me from being KILLED by the hulking brute with the greataxe. and his little dog too. Filthy beasts.Our Monk appears to be some sort of godling, she was LIT ON FIRE, and still managed to push a guy OFF THE ROOF, and then LAND ON HIS FACE. WHILE ON FIRE. we killed them, and took a bit of time to interrogate sir Face-Full-Of-Monk-Foot where I flexed a few magic muscles to ease things along We Found out where the item may have gone, and who took it there, so we began to wait for the guys return after we realized the ceiling was smoking, we assumed from Flaming-Fist Warrior Lady. As I was attempting rather feebly to drag the corpses inside and rifle through their pockets (For a bunch of Adventurers my compatriots seem to be a bit lax in the searching-for-loot department.) I managed to clean up the blood at any rate, before we ran into a small issue, yeah, that Anthropomorphic personification of fiery rage I was talking about? Yes, that was when he decided to show up. he's dead now, rather, banished back to the elemental plane of fire. I'm still going to loot their bodies. in the end everyone fought valiantly, except for Trent, who seemed allergic to actually hitting anything. some rogue indeed. Rowan is currently unconscious due to poison.
After subduing all parties involved in the previous altercation, we moved into the building across the street. It wasn't long before I spotted guards walking down the street. in an effort to avoid having to either explain what we were doing or get into a fight we were ill prepared for we did a bit of adventurer style improvisation. mainly we climbed upstairs and punched a hole into the wooden wall, then jumped out while passing the ring of slowfall around. we then slinked off, our escape covered by the raging inferno behind us. unfortunately most of our rope was also behind us. Meredith made sure to remedy that, IN SPADES, but I'm getting ahead of myself.
we continued tracking the aura of the magic item. I, being considerably swifter on my feet then any but Eliza, led the pack by a fair margin, running in order to follow the trail as far as I could before my spell gave out. We got stopped at the gate, where I Pulled off a miraculous intimidation, scared the guard nearly defecate free I believe, and paid the 30 gold I promised and got through. we got to the market district when my spell died, cursing my luck I paced in anger a few moments damning my own oversight at not starting at the gate with a Detect Magic, rather then wasting time traipsing around in the boonies.
we rested, having no recourse but to wait for me to get my spells back, and set off again later in the evening. we tracked it to an alleyway, where we heard conversation, suspicious, traitory conversation. My Favorite. I invisible'd Trent-on-a-leash and remote controlled him forward to look around the corner and see who was there. he alerted us not only to the person selling the items, but also the number of buyers and their basic descriptions, as well as showing us a Fat Guy in Armor. All while invisible. as negotiations between parties deteriorated he cried out "Stop Right There Criminal Scum!" Fat Guy lumbered past him, and we came in from behind and started wiping the floor. After most of the enemies were down Orr took it upon himself to take the beaten and unconscious Jessen as a hostage. I, being the jerk I am, made use of my vantage point, where he'd not be able to see me casting my spells, and promptly attempted to snap his neck with his own helmet. It worked wonderfully, he didn't die, unfortunately, but it threw him back a moment, just in time for him to be flattened by an erupting earth elemental. as We fought the Rock, Trixie tried to use the magic device to send it back from whence it came, unfortunately, all it did was bring from whence it came HERE. It felt Creepy as hell, and I'm TRAINED for this sort of stuff. I ordered her to put it away and not touch it again until we got to Galvast's. We Split up with the party after looting the corpses, Trixie, Trent-On-A-Leash and I went to Galvast, receiving 1500 gold, while the others went to deal with the Constabulary. Rowan later informed us that she had lied like a log (How fitting, for a druid) and glazed over any sort of involvement on our part. we were merely adventurers hunting magic shinies and happened upon a bloody battle scene. Another rest, and we headed to the Market, where I managed to suck up to everyone, I felt strangely upbeat after all the mass destruction. Unfortunately no one in the ton had enough wealth to grant the Ruby Sorceress proper respect in this town, at least not in a public manner. This is about the time Meredith decided to Grossly overpay for her Rope Fixation, which she kindly was sure to take out of her own money, the rest of us might have harangued her if she had tried to use party funds.
I return again, belated. Anyways, we returned to meet Jessen, who had the map stolen from him. we then hoofed it to the library, where I gathered information on the castle so as to better bluff my way into (Hopefully) getting to see the blueprints. I failed, miserably, we DID get into the room where it was stored, but it was severely dangerous, Sepia snake sigils everywhere. we heard someone behind us, scrambled into a rope trick, and then watched some other adventurers steal everything. I felt like such a moron. anyways, we went to see if we were no longer being held as witnesses to a crime, and got invited to some posh ringamaroll. I hate parties.
hello dear journal, Once more we managed to fumble things while doing it brilliantly. We're now working for the Governor, after having dinner and showcasing our abilities, (I swear he was sizing us up to take us out if he needs to, he knows his position too well) dinner was livened by Trixie's performance.
Afterwards we were hired to wipe out the Kalars or however it's spelled, or at least end their predations upon the townsfolk. at any rate, we went and used Trixie's breastomancy on the Captured sorcerer, and have a possible chance to nab him, or allow Trixie to play it out and get accepted as a kalar, then lead us to their base. Trixie told us the guy we got captured had some pretty serious bling, including a com ring, handy things those.
we had The Hawk Track the guy, but he vanished at the edge of town. We checked out the clocktower beforehand, in case of traps. the tower was old and dilapidated, and full of fucking spiders. Dartanian got stuck in one of their webs, and for the first time since I saw the orc towering over me, licking my flesh and blood from under it's nails, I was terrified, absolutely and completely out of my mind with terror. I barely got to even FIGHT the spiders, but I managed to save Dartanian from any harm, though we were both very shaken by the entire encounter. we scaled the rest of the clocktower, broken as it was, slowly and carefully, I was sure it'd hold us, but it was still uneven. we managed to find some explosives, but I don't know how to activate them, nor does anyone else. then we decided not to mess with it. the clock components are rusted together and broken off in a few places, far beyond my present capabilities to repair quickly.
we went to check out the out the mines. The foreman thought the miners were just smuggling the ore out. shortly after our arrival Shaft one collapsed, inexplicably. Trixie thought it was a magic-user, while Meredith thought it was a monster, perhaps a talking mole. Why do we even allow her to speak? anyways, we moved down shaft 3 after giving up on trying to examine mine shaft 1. My dagger, emitting the sound of light, illuminated the cavern, which smelled rather cave like, with a hint of lamp oil. Trent apparently hates caves, while I specialize in them. Fighting of monsters, then Eliza got her Face Tentacled right off. After finishing off the monsters with a hail of stone, we quickly divvied up Eliza's belongings and lit her corpse of fire. we left, most everyone battered, and went to sleep. went to the tower, Trixie leading, us following behind. we heard a sound behind us, but pressed on anyways. we stopped below the top floor. Trixie did her thing on the rooftop, we were only barely able to hear them. and then we saw the bright red activation lights on the explosives from earlier. We hauled ass downstairs. barreling into the figure following us, he tripped, and we dragged him out. much to my later chagrin. huffing and puffing, with Trixie gently floating down from the top of the clocktower, I basked in the glow of the explosion, smiling faintly at the destruction behind me, gets me every time.
My Joy was to be short lived. the Governor was as pleased with our report as I had anticipated, we even made him lose his cool, which I thought was impressive, but uncomfortable nonetheless. to compound this not only was the person we rescued NOT a kaelar, but it wasn't even a random stranger. Just some Jerk Ass of an Elf Trixie seemed to know. Fuck. we are not seeing eye to eye. back at the mine we found out that the stones store a lot of magic, and the gems themselves are hard to find. the Governor failed to mention that. the Jerk Ass and rowan seem to get along like a house on fire, Screams, flames, people running for safety... I broke up an argument, at least temporarily. Then Had Meredith do something useful and bash the hell out of a suggestion sigil.
Not much to report. we pushed onward into the Mineshaft, taking the other branch this time, it appears that the Kaelars, should they truly be behind all this, have an inordinate fondness for tentacles. it wouldn't surprise me at this point to find they had blackjack and hookers, but the hookers might be illithid. yuck. in any case, we pushed on, the Elf being less then useful, to no ones big surprise. We Have decided that we do not like Narrow Confines, none of us are ogre type fighters. we're all nimble, we need to be able to move around and outflank an enemy. Even Captain Clanky, Meredith, is trained to use speed, not thick armor, to deal with things. Using my vast wisdom I called an area as a Grick tunnel, then we promptly got jumped by about 5 of them. managed to kill almost all of them, I think one got away, not quite sure through all the bodies. now we just need to shove Trent down the staircase and into the dark abyss. seriously, what kind of adventurer is claustrophobic? seems like a terrible handicap in this profession.
SO I leave for 5 minutes and everything goes to hell. Go Figure. seems after I went to my room for a little light reading Quillan all but exploded. we seem to have that effect on places, first a clocktower, then damn near the entire city. at least we're getting paid. I hope we're getting paid. Galvest is now so much broken marble, so we liberated his pimp cane, as he won't be needing it any longer. no one in the party can cast the requisite spells to heal and revive him, so it's a moot point. he's not technically dead, but he is for all intents and purposes inanimate. It appeared that the governor subscribes the the Vetinarian train of thought, as he the original plans themself, in a case, which he bequeathed to us after the Kalars used the castle as a staging ground. we also had a message from yet ANOTHER hooded and caped figure. Hoods and capes, tentacles, sneering contemptuously as a free action, what will they think of next? we met the hooded figure, as requested, in the ruins of the clocktower at 6 PM. he introduced himself as a regent of the Kalars. The Blackjack And Hookers Kalars, not the The World Is Mine Kalars. or so he said at any rate. from there we rested and recuperated, then charged towards the tower. no one messed with us, which was good, I'd hate to waste precious spells dealing with them. the plans made it easy enough for us to navigate, we'd grabbed Jessen, but he decided the level of death surrounding the adventurers life just wasn't for him. we still have his grapnel, we'll bring it back, honest. we roped across the acid pit to the other side, then managed to kill the Kalar who came down without him getting an alarm off. Rich is his name apparently. after we'd disabled the traps and looted his body we tossed him into the acid pit. We found a ledger in the front office, nothing noteworthy aside from a pithy joke. also had a key and some ancient coins. the storeroom was completely devoid of valuables. the next floor had a sleeper, we left him alone and moved upstairs slowly, scouting with Dartanian. there were 2 Kalars there, and we sent Adellion up disguised as Rich, the now rapidly dissolving Kalar. The other Kalars where only moderately suspicious, and when Meredith charged up one of them managed to get the alert out. I blame Adellion for trying to sleep him instead of merely dazing him. Meredith literally rent his friend limb from limb with her swords, and once adellion sleeped the remaining Kalar we drugged him and fed him the story if it being a drunken hallucination brought on partially by the concussion from his fall.
moving cautiously upstairs we grabbed a bunch of stuff from the armory. Meredith got a magic sword, and Rowan got a magic scimitar. There were some magic baubles, not sure what they do yet, a ring and an orb. I also managed to uncover a few platinum peices, and a workable buckler that I strapped to my arm.the rest of us hid in the armory as adellion posed again as rich and led himself and the drunk guy to the portcullis. the kalar behind the wall let them in grudgingly. after passing through he got to the trapped hallway and with the drunk kalar got through the first set of traps. the spinning fire poles were too much though, and drunk guy took a nap. Adellion went back downstairs and hypnotized the second Kalar guard to let us in, he got wounded pretty badly, which is perhaps justified given his penchant for treachery. after dispatching thpse kalars and leading us through the trapped hallway we held back, and he went up and got drunk guy to try and stumble onwards through the fire poles. He burnt to a crisp black exterior. I attempted, after we got there, to extinguish the far pole, as it was in the middle and the hardest to avoid, to no avail. Meredith touched the glowing red rune on the far side, after she and Trent the Ninja made it through. the poles ceased to be Incendiary how handy, AFTER I risk life and limb to get through it and nearly die. wonderful. we Grabbed the Charred Kalar, he's so handy, and tested the spike traps for modifications, no lightening, notjets of flame, just a sinking floor and sharp spikes. wonderful. running across it meredith tested the other set with the body and had the same effect. we then all ran to the next set of traps, a pitfall that led all the way to the first level. we put a sword in the slit and tossed Drunk Kalar onto it. he fell through, falling a long time before hitting something sharp. we tested the trap, then removed the sword and retested. putting the sword in is a BAD idea this time. we looted more, read the diary of an old governor, apparently he was a half elf, whoopie, hooray for Fantastic Racism *rolls eyes*. Entered the more nicely carpeted area of the fortress, then got the doors blown in on us as we sat looking around the room for junk. Cue battlesinging. we were doing fairly well, Jerik Skeln, the mysterious Black Jack And Hookers kalar pulled a massive sword from Hammerspace after smiting Bradley with a shadow unicorn of doom. Bradley also pulled a sword, and after awhile blasted Jerik against a wall and smote US. ow, that nearly killed me on the spot. it Put Trent down for the count, although Rowan later healed him. after a myriad of sleep spells were exchanged we killed off the kalars defending Bradley. Meredith again literally causing one of them to explode via application of More Sword. Bradly however managed to escape, despite our best efforts, after tossing off a Bond One Liner of course. he is SUCH a drama queen. in any case, we've sent a message on Rowans Bird to the Governor requesting a carriage asap, as we now have the location of the fortress the Kalars reside in. I still have no idea what my gloves do, But I think I have a communicator ring. no way to be certain, And I'd have no idea how to test the theory.
We Stormed the Gates of the Bastille Kalar Doom Fortress. after ambushing The Guards we noticed one was jaireven, Stabbed his buddy until he stopped moving, knocked the other guy out cold, then told him to surrender, this is a sneaking mission and we're not here for mass Carnage. (in all Liklihood we've killed a ton of Kalars already, There's no way sorcerers are common enough in this area to support a large army.) Sneak in, Have the elf Imitate the Voice of one of the Kalars we killed, to sneak past his buddies, ambush a guy in the hallway, steal his red gem and wallet, then attempt to open the Generators. we fail. it flashes a nice purple at me, but that's about it. Pocketing the Gem again we move on, Where we hear Bradley Accosting another of the Regents, It seems his scheming extends to taking out everyone who could stand in his way. Girault, the Other Regent, Left, and after we snuck out of the corridor we saw the Oscillating wall beams of Doom. went back to disable the generators after a brief Hiding from a passerby. After Searching the Rooms previously we'd managed to find a purple stone in Skeln's office, I used that to open the Auxiliary generator door and attempted to disable/overload it by means of a dagger. instead it turned into so much molten metal. About this time the Party got spotted, adellion dazed him as he Ran away and we tied him up, bringing him to the generator.
After Searching his possessions for a larger weapon I decided to merely have everyone take cover and instruct meredith to acid her way through one of the power conduits. Very rapidly this led the generator to start overloading and the two of us all but dived into the training room. the doors to the generator Hissed shut, clanking a few times before a heavy shockwave Surged through the buidling. we did the same to the primary generator, then regrouped in the training room, The shock-training-fence thing having ceased to function. after informing the Kalar we'd captured that we were, in fact, heroes we left him there tied up and told him we'd save him on the way out. Meredith got a hail on her communicator ring from Skeln, He seems to have survived and escaped. though we don't know where he is, he kept having static interference (Meredith kindly made the sound effects for us) and all we know is that we need to stop the chief sorcerer. Perhaps the Leaks from the generators are interfering, perhaps there was something more dire. All we can do know is move foreward. after ransacking Girault's room we came away with a biometrically locked Invisible Cube, as well as the blueprints and a near-complete replica of Galvest's Machine. I couldn't find the missing Piece, and while our Zephite power cell would fit, I've not charged it, so it's worthless to us. For now anyways, the part could be in the safe, or something else entirely could, until we find Girault's body who knows.we toppled Bradley's Highback leather chair into his fireplace, and his matress down his pit. It smelled Horrible.
The Final Door blocking our entry is in draconic, I know draconic, but not the password. hmmm. we headed back to the Chief Sorcerer's Office, with the Boccobitic Bling from Bradley's Room, opened the door, and then Something Dramatic Happened!
We got back to the Chief Sorcerers office and found Bradley with two of his summoned creatures there, a massive Crocodile, and a hell hound. we fought against them, killing them somewhat quickly, and charged Bradley as he pulled forth a magic box of glowing ( +1) His face promptly got et by a giant snake of doom. calling it a win we looted him and the desk, grabbing the goodies. and the password I ran down to the doorway, party barely in tow, and keyed in the password and placed to boccob bling into the slot, opening the door. we had a brief exchange with the Chief sorcerer, commenting on the necessity of this project, the evils of the monopolist Arcane Dominion. SO we sat back and let him work. then things started to go wrong. Skeln Hailed us on the communicator ring, and urged us to stop the portal, so we sprang into action, I ran along and proved an able combatant, despite my weakness, and difficult to hit. though i did eventually get a slash to the chest. the portal was protected by a forcefield, and two Golems, one of whom hurt me. we eventually managed to destroy both golems, and both generators powering the shield. charging on the sorcerer. as we charged him and I stood at the top of the stairs to the portal, he seemed panicked, the portal had gone out of control.
Then Girault (who we thougth was dead) appeared. bit of an edgey fellow. He tossed off a oneliner, approaching behind the Chief sorcerer. The chief Sorcerer commonted on the odds, and suddenly he was impaled by a weapon neither seen before or afterwards.He Monologues a bit. Then Trixie Shot him. he seemed only mildly perturbed about the state of his clothing, then pulled the arrow out, seemingly without harm. he then walked over and grabbed me by the throat. that's when I realized what he was. [heavily inked out and all but ripped out section of the page] Then the portal overloaded. Everyone else got sucked in fairly quickly, I however, had been clawing my way back to the door, before the winds simply became too much. After a minor breakdown we moved on. Fighting off some shadows near giraults room. we moved on and ran Into Dog, twisted and corrupted by the plane we were in. The Book previously discovered in Giraults office appears to be sentient now. I've been keeping it appraised of the situation and so forth, and it's been helping us along. we've had to move through the Training room, as massive sections of the Doom fortress appear to have collapsed. there we found the ghost of the man we'd left behind. we laid his ghost to rest (Trent, adellion, and I AFTER we'd gotten back into the room, we jumped out as teh doors began to close.) and after vanquishing him the lightening poles ceased operation. we moved on to alchemical storage, having no other path through the rubble, and found the two missing lantern components. (The Zephite core we allowed to absorb ambient radiation from the zephite generators meltdown, allowing it to reach full capacity. the lantern appears to function automatically. we'll need to figure out how to modify and/or negate it's functionality. it may prove more a hassle then a help in some cases. Moving back as book suggested towards to portal we ran into Bradley, who seemed compelled to kill us. Surprise. He Speared Trixie, but the rest of the battle went very poorly for him. Though Meredith suddenly became much sicklier.
- breathes Life into thread again*
Ahem, *dusts off journal pages* I seem to be responsible, once again, for tearing the fabric of reality asunder and getting dragged into it. well, we held the lantern up towards the portal. after a short while the magical feedback loop and interference caused both power cores to overload, exploding. another huge rumble in reality and we got sucked into the portal. again. I'm getting ahead of myself, however, as cool as that was, We had to fight Skeln. I was expecting as much, but it was still unfortunate. I opened with a salvo of Force missiles from book. he seems to be nonfunctioning now, but the missiles did a good solid hit on skeln. he then tentacled the area I was in, nearly killing the pointy eared bastard, and myself as well, though I'm much sturdier than he. the others had been fighting for some time, and as I escaped the tentacles I fired a rainbow beam, the sickly green ray of poison finishing him off. he thanked us and wished us good luck as he faded away. I expect he's sipping pina coladas on some far off afterlife.Well, the portal exploded all right, sucking us back through and into the depths of a cave. Luckily we managed to mostly hold onto trixie and slow fall. but those that didn't at least had deep enough water to not die. though the residual magic from the portal seemed to have distorted physics enough that we didn't get hurt for slamming into the surface of the water.
Adellion nearly drowned, we all nearly drowned, then we nearly got eaten by Larry, The Unquenchable. Sputtering on the shore we revived the Elf, and I dried everyone off. Emerging from the silent cave tunnels we here a person presumably fall through the air we had passed through not too long ago. splashing below, he became very well acquainted with Larry. we rested in an Idyllic glade, met some lumberjacks who seemed quite fine, and ended up in Celestus. (probably spelled wrong) Shopping, healing of party members, New Dog. beholden to some priests at the moment. Adellion Nearly Got Curbstomped by this burly imperial Legionnaire with an elf problem it seems. Now he's traumatized and being nice-er. hmmm.
Our Items were Identified. some of them, Bradley's sword is probably the reason we were able to defeat him so easily, it hurts him as well as whoever it hits. I have a pair of magic Gloves which fire an ice ray, weak, but very useful nonetheless. I also have a ring that creates a weak but tangible field of force around myself. Meredith's cloak is a Weak Cloak of resistance, Identical in all but coloration to mine. Meredith sold the bastard sword and her otehr shortsword to help pay for the Frost one. in the middle of the night some shops lit on fire. there was much commotion and hubub we helped put it out. We went to the mayor the next day and got an official sanction to investigate.
the first two sites could be natural, could be, though the more recent ones are all apparently Magmin related. we killed one, reporting back to the dominion. I am on my way to the mayors, the others are helping Guilder. aside from Adellion and Trixie who are off identifying.
we returned to the Arcane Dominion to gather more information about the artifact, as none of the others have clearance to deal with the artifact (technically I don't either) but when the woman led me to where it should be it was gone, in the other room of the vault there was the missing wizard's body. Trent went to get a Guard, then ran back to grab the others to deal with another fire. I stayed behind to hold down the fort, as the woman had fainted after seeing her friend's burnt corpse.
They returned a bit later, and as we left they informed me they had reason to believe it was Mortimer Shale's doing. it would make sense, but leaves too many possible holes.we confronted him, With the City and Imperial Guard arriving not far behind us. they informed us that his business associate was in their custody. His business associate was the splash we heard on our way up from the cave, somehow surviving Larry The Unquenchable and crawling back to town. He said Shale almost killed him.
so either shale is lying, or has a doppelganger of some kind. or both, He's a bit of an asshole.
THERE. DONE.
edited 5th Oct '10 5:29:57 PM by Lanceleoghauni
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