Before The Dawn [OOC]

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I'm actually surprised with the level of writing in this RP so far no one has heard of Nanowrimo! If more people are interested I'll keep people in the loop on my progress. It'll be the largest single piece of writing I'd attempt so wish me luck!
 
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Intriguing. Right, let's see what's been born out of Marmite's original idea whilst I was away.
(Mar the Mighty, get it?)​
She'll need a guardian/parole officer to hold her back, mind you. So far I've finished up to the Attributes tab, going to take a break and return later for belongings and backstory. Take a read of what's going down so far with our fiery little ball of stubborn, Scottish grit.



  • BIRTHNAME:
    Marian Steelgut

    OTHER NAMES:
    Mar the Mighty, Steelheart, Mary-lou (Family nickname)

    AGE:
    39

    GENDER:
    Female?

    RACE:
    Dwarf

    BIRTHPLACE:
    Vastoria - New Kelda

    RELIGION:
    Fusian - follower of Fusius, God of Strength and Power


  • HEIGHT:
    4'9"

    WEIGHT:
    120lbs


    APPEARANCE:
    paizo___battling_giants_by_fdasuarez-d8cyewx.jpg


  • PERSONALITY:
    COARSE || BLUNT || AGGRESSIVE || STUBBORN || WARY || LOYAL || MOTHERLY
    Immediately upon commencing conversation with Marian, one would realise that her vocabulary is more colourful than the finest of elven tapestries and one could even get the feeling she's rather proud of this attribute. You're lucky if she manages more than five sentences without an expletive hidden within. It seems to be such an integral part of her character that her personality warps around it as a whole; being comfortable with so many swear-words tends to express an assured self-confidence, a strong backbone to the dwarf as well as an unspoken challenge to social norm.

    This is coupled rather nicely with her brutal honesty, sharper than any blade. Marian refuses to sugar-coat the situation, flat-out expressing her opinion on the matter if she's pressed for it. It is a double-edged sword; she doesn't dish out heaps of false hope for the party, but can also demoralise or offend the members in doing so. As an addition to this, she does not seem to enjoy lying, considering it a cowardly practice.


    Under the thread of a coward's practice, Marian can tend to be physically aggressive - less so when intoxicated, but still a severe hindrance. When she is offended, she resorts to her fists due to the lack of intelligence to form a proper response. The drawbacks of this are plentiful, but it has caused her to build up an impressive physical prowess for the use of intimidation and, of course, beating the face of the poor sap who insulted her into a bloodied pulp in the fewest amount of hits.

    In correlation with her aggression is her stubborn will; once she is settled on a concept, an idea or a purpose, she will not stop until she has achieved it - sometimes hurting herself or others in the process. Persuasion means nothing to this dwarf, the best option is to physically restrain her from completing her task if one deems it too stupid to continue.


    Since she has a habit of being unable to play nicely with others, she doesn't expect others to play nicely with her. Her immediate setting is distrust; when meeting new people, she assumes the worst and keeps it that way until they 'prove themselves' through their actions. Emotional attachments to people, as a result, are quite rare for Marian. It takes a special kind of person to be able to like her in the first place.

    If one does manage to dig past the roughened outer layers of Marian's personality, they'd find something rather surprising. To those who she deems worthy, they will have found a steadfast and loyal ally - a rude, grumpy ally, but still incredibly loyal to those she loves. This is a delicate balance, as if they fall out of her favour, she won't hesitate to leave them in the dust as she goes off on her own to find someone better.


    One odd, intriguing trait about this grizzled veteran is her maternal instinct. Anyone else is fair game for the world but it's the children and the youths who seem to gain her favour rather quickly; in her mind, they are not yet fully grown, and therefore physically unable to prove themselves and to survive in the harsher conditions. She usually lends a helping hand to these younglings despite the situation.
    Gods help you if you raise a hand against a child, though. You'd be lucky to still have that limb left once Marian's through with her 'vengeance'.


    SKILLS, STRENGTHS & TALENTS:
    STRENGTH AND STAMINA|| PRACTICALITY || COMMON SENSE
    Unsurprisingly, Marian's main trait is her brute strength and seemingly endless stores of stamina. She's not the fastest, most agile person to walk the earth but she can keep going for an unbelievably long time. She is usually the last one standing, due to the fact she simply pushes herself to her physical limits in almost every fight. This has a negative effect on her health - wounds are usually poorly treated in the heat of battle, and she strains herself into unconsciousness unless physically restrained from continuing. It is not surprising, therefore, that she can usually fall ill in poor conditions.


    Marian is a jack-of-all-trades. Be it repairs, coking, first aid or craftsmanship, the likelihood is that Marian knows how to do at least the basics of the chore that needs to be done. Of course, any specialist would be able to do the job faster and more efficiently - but in the lack of a specialist, all eyes usually turn to Marian, who would be grumbling to herself whilst fishing out a hammer from her rucksack.

    Finally, though it seems stupid to note, Marian has a great deal of common sense and logic. One should not confuse this with intelligence; more that she's able to read a situation and give some worthwhile advice, such as "Don't go into the swamp wearing full armour", or "Maybe the creepy abandoned cottage is a worse place to stay in than camping in the sunny woodland grove". Whether or not this is useful depends on her company, as she is - like everyone else - obliged to follow the majority's vote.


    WEAKNESSES & DRAWBACKS:
    Ironically, Marian is not a good diplomat. In the slightest. She offends first and then when she is in turn offended, attacks the other party. Because of this troublesome nature, she usually has to be put in her place, restrained or removed from the company of other people - like an ill-tempered child - in order to avoid a conflict.


    Whilst Marian's no fool and would ask for help with her wounds, she usually pushes herself too far in physical situations, re-opening wounds, getting them infected, or simply exhausting herself to the point where her immune system is compromised. Through sheer stubborn grit, Marian will continue to the last breath - again, one would have to force her to stop working or fighting in order to counteract her own recklessness.

 
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Intriguing. Right, let's see what's been born out of Marmite's original idea whilst I was away.
(Mar the Mighty, get it?)​
She'll need a guardian/parole officer to hold her back, mind you. So far I've finished up to the Attributes tab, going to take a break and return later for belongings and backstory. Take a read of what's going down so far with our fiery little ball of stubborn, Scottish grit.



  • BIRTHNAME:
    Marian Steelgut

    OTHER NAMES:
    Mar the Mighty, Steelheart, Mary-lou (Family nickname)

    AGE:
    39

    GENDER:
    Female?

    RACE:
    Dwarf

    BIRTHPLACE:
    Vastoria - New Kelda

    RELIGION:
    Fusian - follower of Fusius, God of Strength and Power


  • HEIGHT:
    4'9"

    WEIGHT:
    120lbs


    APPEARANCE:
    paizo___battling_giants_by_fdasuarez-d8cyewx.jpg


  • PERSONALITY:
    COARSE || BLUNT || AGGRESSIVE || STUBBORN || WARY || LOYAL || MOTHERLY
    Immediately upon commencing conversation with Marian, one would realise that her vocabulary is more colourful than the finest of elven tapestries and one could even get the feeling she's rather proud of this attribute. You're lucky if she manages more than five sentences without an expletive hidden within. It seems to be such an integral part of her character that her personality warps around it as a whole; being comfortable with so many swear-words tends to express an assured self-confidence, a strong backbone to the dwarf as well as an unspoken challenge to social norm.

    This is coupled rather nicely with her brutal honesty, sharper than any blade. Marian refuses to sugar-coat the situation, flat-out expressing her opinion on the matter if she's pressed for it. It is a double-edged sword; she doesn't dish out heaps of false hope for the party, but can also demoralise or offend the members in doing so. As an addition to this, she does not seem to enjoy lying, considering it a cowardly practice.


    Under the thread of a coward's practice, Marian can tend to be physically aggressive - less so when intoxicated, but still a severe hindrance. When she is offended, she resorts to her fists due to the lack of intelligence to form a proper response. The drawbacks of this are plentiful, but it has caused her to build up an impressive physical prowess for the use of intimidation and, of course, beating the face of the poor sap who insulted her into a bloodied pulp in the fewest amount of hits.

    In correlation with her aggression is her stubborn will; once she is settled on a concept, an idea or a purpose, she will not stop until she has achieved it - sometimes hurting herself or others in the process. Persuasion means nothing to this dwarf, the best option is to physically restrain her from completing her task if one deems it too stupid to continue.


    Since she has a habit of being unable to play nicely with others, she doesn't expect others to play nicely with her. Her immediate setting is distrust; when meeting new people, she assumes the worst and keeps it that way until they 'prove themselves' through their actions. Emotional attachments to people, as a result, are quite rare for Marian. It takes a special kind of person to be able to like her in the first place.

    If one does manage to dig past the roughened outer layers of Marian's personality, they'd find something rather surprising. To those who she deems worthy, they will have found a steadfast and loyal ally - a rude, grumpy ally, but still incredibly loyal to those she loves. This is a delicate balance, as if they fall out of her favour, she won't hesitate to leave them in the dust as she goes off on her own to find someone better.


    One odd, intriguing trait about this grizzled veteran is her maternal instinct. Anyone else is fair game for the world but it's the children and the youths who seem to gain her favour rather quickly; in her mind, they are not yet fully grown, and therefore physically unable to prove themselves and to survive in the harsher conditions. She usually lends a helping hand to these younglings despite the situation.
    Gods help you if you raise a hand against a child, though. You'd be lucky to still have that limb left once Marian's through with her 'vengeance'.


    SKILLS, STRENGTHS & TALENTS:
    STRENGTH AND STAMINA|| PRACTICALITY || COMMON SENSE
    Unsurprisingly, Marian's main trait is her brute strength and seemingly endless stores of stamina. She's not the fastest, most agile person to walk the earth but she can keep going for an unbelievably long time. She is usually the last one standing, due to the fact she simply pushes herself to her physical limits in almost every fight. This has a negative effect on her health - wounds are usually poorly treated in the heat of battle, and she strains herself into unconsciousness unless physically restrained from continuing. It is not surprising, therefore, that she can usually fall ill in poor conditions.


    Marian is a jack-of-all-trades. Be it repairs, coking, first aid or craftsmanship, the likelihood is that Marian knows how to do at least the basics of the chore that needs to be done. Of course, any specialist would be able to do the job faster and more efficiently - but in the lack of a specialist, all eyes usually turn to Marian, who would be grumbling to herself whilst fishing out a hammer from her rucksack.

    Finally, though it seems stupid to note, Marian has a great deal of common sense and logic. One should not confuse this with intelligence; more that she's able to read a situation and give some worthwhile advice, such as "Don't go into the swamp wearing full armour", or "Maybe the creepy abandoned cottage is a worse place to stay in than camping in the sunny woodland grove". Whether or not this is useful depends on her company, as she is - like everyone else - obliged to follow the majority's vote.


    WEAKNESSES & DRAWBACKS:
    Ironically, Marian is not a good diplomat. In the slightest. She offends first and then when she is in turn offended, attacks the other party. Because of this troublesome nature, she usually has to be put in her place, restrained or removed from the company of other people - like an ill-tempered child - in order to avoid a conflict.


    Whilst Marian's no fool and would ask for help with her wounds, she usually pushes herself too far in physical situations, re-opening wounds, getting them infected, or simply exhausting herself to the point where her immune system is compromised. Through sheer stubborn grit, Marian will continue to the last breath - again, one would have to force her to stop working or fighting in order to counteract her own recklessness.

This is looking Mar-Mighty fine thus far! I simply can't wait to see the rest of it: write, monkey, write!

I have a feeling that Avarielle will be among the first to find an ally in Marian; she's suffered at the hands of enough deception to find comfort in someone who is so bluntly honest, for better or worse. I imagine any characters that value 'knowing where they stand' with someone will find at least some endearing quality in Marian.

Also, inspired by your attributes tab... All in favour of staying in a creepy abandoned cottage, make yourselves known! Haha.
 
@Raja
I thought you said that you weren't accepting anymore applications..?
Just read the updates tab. Now I get what you meant by that -w-
 
This is looking Mar-Mighty fine thus far! I simply can't wait to see the rest of it: write, monkey, write!

I have a feeling that Avarielle will be among the first to find an ally in Marian; she's suffered at the hands of enough deception to find comfort in someone who is so bluntly honest, for better or worse. I imagine any characters that value 'knowing where they stand' with someone will find at least some endearing quality in Marian.

Also, inspired by your attributes tab... All in favour of staying in a creepy abandoned cottage, make yourselves known! Haha.
I'll be honest with you; Marian's going to cause trouble. This group is already quite dysfunctional as it is, but Marmite is certainly going to push the boundaries a little. She's going to be the one talking about touchy subjects, irritating the team members, all that...and just as equally, the team will need to work together to keep her from running her mouth off or kicking someone in the balls. Because of this, she needs a bloody good reason to be essential for the group, to stop the rest of the team from just chucking her into the swamp and saying she died heroically in battle.

I'm hoping, however, that as the group begins to bond they either make friends with Mar or group up to sit her bottom down again since she's a very angry troublemaker who needs to be told when to stop.

@Raja
I thought you said that you weren't accepting anymore applications..?
Just read the updates tab. Now I get what you meant by that -w-
Well, actually, I expressed interest around a week prior to this but physically couldn't write a CS. So I was given a time extension to write it in. Even now, I'm working my bottom off to finish the CS before tomorrow!
 
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O_O so since most people had already described plenty of things in this Tavern and the group atmosphere i thought i would spare you guys the joy of rereading a bunch of already said things and get straight to the point. That also fitting with my character and my own habit of keeping things short but rich and sweet.
 
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Aaaand finished. Yes, I kept the backstory vague. I'd like people to learn the intricacies of Marian's backstory through roleplay, and I really hope that my current CS and writing style has been more than enough to suggest that I am proficient enough in writing in order to meet the standards of the RP.

@Raja if you'd like a more detailed version, I can certainly send you a bullet pointed list of achievements through PM.
 
Aaaand finished. Yes, I kept the backstory vague. I'd like people to learn the intricacies of Marian's backstory through roleplay, and I really hope that my current CS and writing style has been more than enough to suggest that I am proficient enough in writing in order to meet the standards of the RP.

@Raja if you'd like a more detailed version, I can certainly send you a bullet pointed list of achievements through PM.
That... That backstory is simply genius. You're free to send me a list of achievements, but that won't delay my judgement. Marian, Mary-Lou and Susan are all very welcome in the roleplay. May they pave the way so that someday-- You get the picture...

Welcome aboard! I'm excited to see where you take this character.


O_O so since most people had already described plenty of things in this Tavern and the group atmosphere i thought i would spare you guys the joy of rereading a bunch of already said things and get straight to the point. That also fitting with my character and my own habit of keeping things short but rich and sweet.
I think there are other things you could have written about whilst still avoiding covering the same ground. A lot of the 'bulk' that makes up the posts we've seen so far has actually been the result of writers exploring their character's own perspective of the situation: what they feel about the mission ahead, their first impressions of their allies, the journey they took to Woodsend. These things may perhaps seem small but this is what makes up a character and within that first post Adrianna felt a little two-dimensional to me.

Ordinarily I would not have brought this up, as I appreciate that everyone has different preferences regarding ideal post length and content. However, since you mentioned it I thought I would warn you that perhaps in aiming for a concise post, you missed out on the opportunity to really introduce us to Adrianna. This isn't a criticism as much as a word of advice; you can post how you please! It's just something you might consider for future posts. :-) Of course others may disagree!
 
@RainyDays

60 Hues of Red! That's brilliant! Please let Damian read this!

Damian is too young and precious to read about Nosferytes and their interesting choices of...toys. Besides, Marian will have a sweet spot for little Damian, since he's the youngest. Probably will want to protect him and the likes.

That... That backstory is simply genius. You're free to send me a list of achievements, but that won't delay my judgement. Marian, Mary-Lou and Susan are all very welcome in the roleplay. May they pave the way so that someday-- You get the picture...

Welcome aboard! I'm excited to see where you take this character.

I'll keep the mystery intact, then. And where am I taking this character? Straight down to Hell itself. And I'm taking the rest of your characters with me.

Also, Raja, you know you want to put me down as "The Mighty Marian Steelgut" in the Cast List. We both know that you want to. Do it.
 
Damian is too young and precious to read about Nosferytes and their interesting choices of...toys. Besides, Marian will have a sweet spot for little Damian, since he's the youngest. Probably will want to protect him and the likes.



I'll keep the mystery intact, then. And where am I taking this character? Straight down to Hell itself. And I'm taking the rest of your characters with me.

Also, Raja, you know you want to put me down as "The Mighty Marian Steelgut" in the Cast List. We both know that you want to. Do it.
There were any options to choose from; Ruffler of Feathers, Stirrer of Pots and the like... Ultimately, I listed her as the abrasive Dwarf. If you have a description that fits the 'adjective noun' format used in the cast, let me know and I'll gladly update it! :-)
 
Damian is too young and precious to read about Nosferytes and their interesting choices of...toys. Besides, Marian will have a sweet spot for little Damian, since he's the youngest. Probably will want to protect him and the likes.

He's 22! Far from a child. He's also tied for the youngest with Ava. Maybe a little more innocent that the other members yes, but is certainly not a child!
 
I'm continuously being surprised at the majority of the types of characters that people here built. There are more dwarven females in here than in Lord of the rings and the World of Warcraft lore combined....
 
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What has Faen done to make him a brat?
Chosen target for venting frustration. Should make for some interesting conversations in the future. :3
 
Chosen target for venting frustration. Should make for some interesting conversations in the future. :3
Fair enough.

Moving on, am I the only one feeling that we should dispense with the introductions for now, and have the group discuss their plans, maybe try and push the plot forward a tad. I know we're still waiting on two of our group, but they can show up late to the party IC. I'd have Faen take the initiative myself, but that's really not in-character behaviour for him.
 
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I just posted my introduction but I believe that it would be up to Raja?
 
Agreed with @Blacksam that we should move forward; and @RainyDays has helpfully put those wheels in motion in Marmite's first post. I must also commend her for suggesting the route she did, as I had a terrible feeling I was going to have to convince you all OOC that "Maybe scaling the Amorytes is not the best idea..."

I will post as Avarielle shortly. @Telfair There is still ample time for you to get involved, as we won't be leaving the inn til a plan is formed and agreed upon.

@Stuffies12
Navi's character wasn't on the roster as I had not yet had time to review her updated sheet, so technically she hadn't been accepted and wasn't supposed to post IC. But my next point makes that information irrelevant:

@Navi Jay
Great amendments to the sheet; and I appreciate that even though today is Monday, you did make these before the deadline and I was just unable to review them immediately. Though you shouldn't have posted IC until you were officially accepted, I'm assuming you were taking the initiative and getting a post in so as not to hold us up moving forward and for that I can only commend you. The post was also great, so well done to that.

Feyre is accepted! Welcome aboard.
 
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