Alright! Here we go. Sorry this isn't prettier, but in the interest of making info available and getting things rolling, I'm just not worrying myself about all the glitz and glam. Maybe later, but not tonight.
Character sheets, questions, and discussion can be posted here. A rough character template could be as follows, but you're welcome to change, add, or just do your own thing:
Specialization: (What they are good at in their profession, such as: Fighter, Scout, Medic, Magician, etc...)
Languages Known: (Limit of 3 unless otherwise approved)
Short Background: Misc Details: (Anything you would like to clarify to the players that their characters may not know.)
If you write up your own character template, I would still like you to include a section for languages. There is no common tongue in this world, so linguistic knowledge is important. As mercenaries, it can be assumed that your characters likely have a passing proficiency with more than one language. I'm limiting it to three to keep things realistic, but I understand that some gifted and well traveled people can easily learn more than that. If you want your character to know more than three languages, just give me a believable reason as to why that would be.
World Info and Race options have been posted in a separate thread HERE.
Just trying to keep things organized. Again, sorry that it's pretty bare bones as far as formatting. I'll see about sprucing things up as time allows. Some of the nations and races are more developed in my notes than others. In the interest of trying to keep things simple and concise, I eliminated a lot of fluff, but if there are any specific details you need that you think I have left out, feel free to ask me here, or DM me directly.
And lastly, thank you all for your interest. Let's get this party started.
[attr="class","smallinfoboxyakidark"] [Acrobatics] Risur has little in ways of defensive skills, rather utilizing her background talent in her previous life for parkour evasion tactics--staying out of reach or out of sight
[Assassin] Typically armed with daggers and a mini crossbow. In addition, she's prone to using potions coating her blades for various effects. She’s also partial to using a rapier for more elegant fights and show duels where her acrobatics is typically more for show than tactic.
[Shadow Breath] her arcane magic allows her to manipulate the shadows and spatial particles around her to temporarily disappear and reappear elsewhere. Combined with her natural physical ability her training has focused on using it in battle as her defensive strategy as well as Carnival-jester antics. Further potential;unknown
[Tracking] Allows Risur to track targets as well as erase her presence or move in the dark with silence and ease (when combined with her arcane magic. See; Shadow Breath). Typically used for surveillance and recon, however can be used for hunting purposes and general survival.
╳ History
[attr="class","smallinfoboxyakidark"]Native to Karak, Risur’s family were nomads. She cultivated her skills with the arcane from a young age to entertain. And then one night, everything changed.
A raiding party of slavers came and attacked a village her family had been staying in when she was just ten years old. She’s unsure if anyone else in her family survived, so adept were the Slavers at causing confusion and scattering both the entertainers and the patrons of the arts. Whatever the fates and the Faceless had planned for the rest of her family, they did not want the same for her.
Risur found herself the personal pet and Assassin to a Samarian of distant relation to the royal family. It was a long road to wind up in hell;she was picked up after a four year stent trapped in a Goshen University honing her arcane and assassin skills to be sold off to the highest bidder--The Samarian Baron Zarrius. Her only way out was to feed herself deeper into the warped system; turning her gift that once brought joy, into a gift that brought death to whomever her Lord saw fit to smite. And, oh, was her Lord one capricious God.
Fifteen years is a long time to wait for revenge, but Risur had always been too patient of a child. The man had come from nowhere and dispatched the Samarian with a quickness. He had saved her from a cruel and disgusting fate six months ago and she would be in his debt. He would become her new “Lord” until her debt is paid.
╳ Misc. Deets
[attr="class","smallinfoboxyakidark"]anything you would like to clarify to the players that their characters may not know. 1. ----
Weapons: Fencing Steels ("Fangs") Light Masterwork Crossbow, w/ Black Foxtail
Profession: Scout Mercenary Professional Pickpocket Burglar
Quotes:
"Luck be a fickle thing. Sometimes, you pay in bad luck to earn the good."
Background:
Quintis was born into the mercer class, into a family which made most of its wealth on the dealing of furs in Northern Goshen. When war ravaged the trade, and the nation imposed high taxes on the selling of furs, his family was forced out of the trade. Under the harsh conditions Quintis left the family and joined the militia as a wilderness scout.
Through the long stretch, he served in many campaigns for countless petty kingdoms, many of which collapsed or disappeared. In that time, he experienced the death of colleagues, was imprisoned by enemy kingdoms, and learned the finer points of roguery from fellow soldiers. He learned the value of surviving for the self, rather than the futile path of seeking honor, and became a mercenary.
In time, he would establish himself as part of the “Named Few”, the status of mercenary worth knowing and speaking about around campfires.
They tell of a man with footsteps so quiet, not even the god could hear them until they felt his breath at their back. A man whose first strike was never anticipated until it was too late. One with a penchant with leaving a small, simple origami foldings in the shape of a “fox ear” in the homes of his burglar victims, and the bodies of combatants.
One who mastered the fencing steels. Who owns a masterful crossbow, with a black foxtail hanging from the shaft. A wicked thing that takes large bolts and small, ones that breathe fire, and ones that pierce with ice.
One who bears caldrons of black fur, and black warpaint, and a look that pierces into the souls of his victims.
One with a peculiar interest in occult symbology, to navigate around wards and dangerous areas. With ears so keen, he can hear the words of all speak about him, wherever he is, no matter how far away.
… Frankly, he never boasted such things himself. But if they made a good story around the campfire,… why correct them?
...
The fox crept out a chilly night, and silent low the pale Moon light he'd many a mile to go that night ‘fore he reached the town-o, town-o.
The silent fox came to the bin where ducks and geese were put therein. "A couple of you will grease my chin ‘fore I leave this town-o, town-o.
The sly one snatched the goose’s neck, and cracked the goose a broken wreck; and muffled all its quack, quack, quack, their legs all dangling down-o
The farmer came to top the hill, and blew his horn both loud and shrill, “The fox is out with fresh a kill! Beware, oh town-o town-o!”
- “The Silent Fox”, adapted from a common nursery rhyme
Still working on world info, mainly concerning magic. I'm managing a pretty steady flow, but I'm getting slowed down a bit by general day to day IRL distractions. I'll have that posted and get my own character up as soon as I can, hopefully in the next day or so.
Admin Omega, bleu, Endgame take your time. I'm terribly excited to see what you all create.
Weapons: Longsword and Heavy Shield. Proficient in using lances and spears.
Languages Known: Premi, Goshe, Samarian
Background: Born into a devout clan, Isolda parted from her family in her infancy to join the church as a gift to the gods. The girl’s arrival was heralded by a harvest of good fortune, and the priests of the Church of Light took it as a holy sign to accept the girl and raise her as their own. The young templar was taught from a young age to distrust magic, as its easily-corruptible nature posed a very real threat to the wellbeing of Lacorum, and the God of Light by extension.
When she began to show signs of being affluent in the arcane, the Church deemed this magic to be divine—an exception to the rule of magic—and declared its purpose to smite and vanquish the evil of wicked magic.
A Knight Templar of the Church and a Warrior of the Lacorum Militia, Isolda has devoted her entire life to learning the ways of the sword and shield in order to serve as an enforcer of the church for the God of Light. When that devotion meant joining the militia, as the Church didn’t presently have their own military forces, she took it in stride. Isolda’s true purpose remained the same, it would just come to fruition by different means. She promised herself that she would rise up the ranks of the militia, and earn the recognition of being the blade behind the God of Light.
A no-nonsense attitude and a reputation of intolerance follows Isolda wherever she goes, and it is not uncommon for other mercenaries and soldiers to refer to her demeanor as prickly and unforgiving. Despite what issues others may have with her rigid beliefs, those who have worked with her vouch for her unmatched talent to hold the line of battle and shield her allies from harm.
This message is a couple of days overdue, but info for magic can now be found in the codex HERE. Hopefully that helps those of you who are mixing a bit of wizardy stuff in with your characters. If what you were thinking does not seem to fit with what I have, just DM me here or on Discord, and we'll work it in somehow. Working on my own character now, and once that's posted, I'll start on the IC opening. I think we have a couple more writers still working on characters as well, and that's ok. There's no rush, just get them up when you can.
Something that has been talked about off site is the idea of hybrids. To that subject, the Umano can have with children with Caernings and Tuyul, but the other two races cannot interbreed with one another. Whether the Jesthai can have hybrid children is a moot point because they simply wouldn't, and the Omothi only birth clones of themselves. Again, if anyone has any further questions about this, let me know.
Short Background: Rio grew up travelling across the coastal cities of Karak with the mercenary company that bought him off his grandparents after his parents had died. The boy was abused, enslaved, and handed off to one of the crueler captains of the Pit Snakes. After a year of suffering under the mercenary company that was really no more than a raiding party, Rio snapped after a friendly slave boy he got along with was beaten to death for not cooking his master’s food properly. None of the Pit Snakes really understood what they saw that day as the biggest, meanest, and ugliest of the captains was blasted by a wave of unseen energy and left stupefied. Rio swelled with rage, lunged at the captain, and used a pick to stab his eyes out.
One of the smarter captains noticed Rio’s untamed arcane ability and decided to take him under his wing. Rio was freed, taught in the ways of battle and leadership, and would participate in the great hunt. The great hunt was a hunting competition held in the unforgiving wastelands of Karak, seven hunting parties were sent out to capture and kill one of the infamous sand drakes. Rio, instead, hunted down the rest of the hunting parties before finding and killing the sand drake. Rio returned to the Pit Snakes a legend, quickly taking over the company, killing its captains, and renaming the company the Golden Serpents.
Reputation: Master of the Forge, Stoic Dealer of Death
Specialization: Tradesman (Blacksmith), Fighter, Heavy Infantry
Languages Known: Premi, Domih, Goshe, Jijjig
Short Background: Like all Jesthyri found wandering the world, Rin has spent many years on the open road. He began his career in Samaria, offering his services to warlords and wealthy raiders. When sword work alone did not satisfy him, he endeavored to pick up a trade. A chance encounter with a small group of fellow Jesthyr provided him with the opportunity of an apprenticeship. He spent thirty years as the understudy to a masterful Jesthyri blacksmith before once again setting out on his own. Having some skill at the forge greatly increased his worth, and his personal hoard has swelled to prove it.
He made his way towards the East roughly ten years ago, and has found steady work up and down the coast. He was already commissioned by Lacorum’s military to fashion high quality weapons for several ranking officers when the order to march a force south to Chalcis came down from the King. Rin's presence was specially requested, and his offer of payment doubled in exchange for traveling with the expeditionary force. His duty is the maintenance and repair of the expedition's arms and armor, but should battle await them in the South, Rin will find his place in the shield wall.
Misc. Details: All Jesthyri have a unique ability to compartmentalize and block sections of their memory, essentially afflicting themselves with a sort of self imposed selective amnesia. This ability allows them to “forget” most of the details concerning their civilization so that they cannot accidentally betray the secrecy of their people. Meanwhile the Jesthyri can still maintain their identity, relationships, experience, and the knowledge of how to reverse the process.
Following a severe head injury, however, something has happened to Rin’s ability. He remembers everything, despite trying numerous times to repeat the process and make himself forget. Ultimately, this is the real reason he left his apprenticeship and eventually traveled East. Rin distances himself from other Jesthyri, fearing that they will discover something is wrong with him and either kill him, or banish him back to his home. In either case, his hoard will be confiscated, and Rin will lose any chance of ascending to full dragon-hood.
Someone who is familiar with Jesthyri forged weapons and armor would note that Rin, while still exceptional, is not quite on the same level as a fully trained Jesthyri forgemaster. It is a minor detail, however, that he keeps to himself.
********
Here's my dude. IC thread very soon to follow. Thank you all for awesome creations, and for your patience.
Name: (Given Name) Dayir - ‘Day’ - Sihwih'li Alias(s): (If Any) Nightshade, Jadebird, Age: 4 Race: Hybrid - Umano/Caerna Appearance: A mixture of the two races, Day is neither Umano or Caerna. He is thinner and more nimble than a Umano, but more robust than a Caerning. His features are sharper than a Umano, but his ears, unlike his counterparts, tend to protrude out of his skull more than his half Caerning kin. Like the Caernings, he doesn't possess true hair, rather the coarse quills, however thinner in texture and darker in colour as opposed to the characteristic white they are known for. His skin is the colour of polished jade.
Reputation: (If Any) None.
Specialization: Healer - medicine and treatments of wounds, sickness, and disease Mage - one awoken sphere. Katom. Possesses an advanced understanding of arcane principles, but he has a very limited capacity for practical use. Crossbow - while predominantly trained in the art of healing, Day has shed some of his Caerning roots and learned to wield a crossbow.
Languages Known: Goshe, Khoi, Samarian
Short Background:
Day has lived much of his short life bridged between two worlds but belonging to neither. To his Umano maternal side he is more like a Caerning – foreign, alien remnant of a dying race that still clings to the fraying ends of its survival. To his paternal side, he is the equivalent of a genetic experiment that hasn't yielded any promising results apart from his weak magical ability. Viable hybrid offsprings with other species are rare, and even more rare is one that inherits the ability to utilize magic. This gift, however, has felt more like a curse for Day. The Caerning regarded him like a case study for his first three years, which led him to leave Magog as soon as he was old enough.
Unlike his Caerning relatives, Day has no interest in spending his short life looking for a cure that will never come. He desires only to see what he can, learn what he is able, and experience all that the world has to offer before the Sun Sickness claims him as he expects it to, even as a hybrid. It was this drive that caught the attention of Goshen mage travelling with a band of mercenaries, and this same drive which led to Day travelling with the band for a year before King of Lacorum's recruitment post for an exploratory mission beyond the Kingdom's borders.
Please continue to bear with me, everyone. I'm still working on getting the IC ready, but due to a busy weekend, and an early morning staring me in the face, I'm going to have to call it in and finish everything up tomorrow.
For the opening, I decided to place the setting a night before the expeditionary force leaves for the city of Chalcis. I feel like it would be a good opportunity for everyone to get a feel for their characters, and maybe make connections. Feel free to create or elaborate on the details of the city. If you have any specific questions, you are more than welcome to ask.
If anyone has an idea for something they would like their character to accomplish at this time, DM me and we can work on setting up a scenario for you. Or, if you would rather move things forward quickly, a small intro and synopsis of what you're character is doing the night before the expedition sets out will be fine.
"Don't you think everyday life's just a little too....dull?"
P O
Z U
// NAME //
// AGE //
// GENDER //
// Pozu //
// 22 //
// Female //
// SPECIES //
// STATUS //
// PREFERS //
// Umano //
// Single //
// Men //
// CLASS //
// CAREER //
// SKILL //
// Rogue //
// For Hire //
// Charisma //
Growing up in seclusion had it pros and cons. Some of the pros, as Pozu would list them, were that no one bothered her. She liked that. Her time spent in the boastful greenery of the volcanic forests were better to be done in silence rather than the prattling of someone else. Often times when she wasn't granted that silence it was due to the company of her dear friend, La'lo. He was considerably younger than her, with Pozu being 19 at the time and La'lo being a mere 14. He'd taken to her upon first sight after being newly orphaned by a tragic accident that took a few lives of those in their village. With his boyish curls of dark hair and glittering green eyes, people often mistook them for siblings - though they weren't far off. She treated him as such and looked after him despite her mother's dismay, and made sure he was taken care of. Life wasn't so hard, back then.
She'd learn that she took those moments for granted. A con of living in Midea was also that it was secluded - which meant that people looked upon her land in fear. In awe. In selfishness. Some thought the lands were cursed, some of them thought the Umano living there hoarded a great treasure, like the Jesthyri, and refused to share it with anyone else. One such small clan like that existed in Samaria. The warriors there had been lackluster in food and in hunt and felt that their bordering lands of Midea were to blame. It took one unprovoked, unsuspected attack to change the course of her fate along with many others.
They rampaged in with weapons she'd never seen before slick with blood. The blood of her people. Of her family. Ransacking through her village and her town the Samarians would find no treasure beyond that what was natural and gained fairly. There was no coveted gold or gems holding the eyes of the gods as they'd heard and fabricated amongst themselves. The prices of her family's life, La'lo's in particular, had been paid for a piggish fantasy. Her position on the ground as she understood this drew her into a frenzy, launching herself up from the blood soaked grass and onto the nearest abuser. He screamed as he fell and it echoed in her ears, but the streams of lava curling its way through the middle of her town - they made for perfect burials, Pozu discovered. It relented to no one and to nothing, consuming every bit of flesh, bone, and teeth she rolled into it family or enemy.
By the time it was all said and done she'd emerged a changed woman. No longer the carefree big sister to a giddy young boy with the world as his opportunity. No longer the promising young daughter to a mother who chastised, but supported her regardless. Pozu was one of the few survivors that day and her soul was not among them, or at least so she thought. Following this incident she became well versed in a number of things. Taking the volcanic rock and learning how to shape and sharpen it into every weapon she could think of and then some, Pozu was feared even among her own people. They saw the darkness that had blossomed inside her reflected in the black rock she crafted with and cast her out, verbally marking her with one who was corrupt.
Taking the opportunity, Pozu packed her weapons, belongings, and extra volcanic rock before setting out upon the rest of the world. She found a posting stating a need for mercenaries for an investigative force. With little else to do and much to see, she signed her name and joined with the rest of them....
BACKGROUND
CONNECTIONS
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Languages known are Harib, Goshe, and broken Copti - Abrasive in nature - Enjoys getting under people's skin - Selfish / Impulsive / Violent / Chaotic - Recklessly fearless - Fiercely loyal when earned - Skewed moral code - Deeply unaccustomed to the rest of the world and its people - Has never seen a Tuyul - Does not worship any gods; has forsaken them in anger
