Jorick

Magnificent Bastard
Original poster
LURKER MEMBER
FOLKLORE MEMBER
Invitation Status
Posting Speed
  1. One post per week
  2. Slow As Molasses
Writing Levels
  1. Adept
  2. Advanced
  3. Prestige
  4. Douche
  5. Adaptable
Preferred Character Gender
  1. Male
  2. Female
Genres
Fantasy is my #1; I will give almost anything a chance if it has strong fantasy elements. Post apocalyptic, superhero, alternate history, science fantasy, some supernatural, romance, and a few fandoms (especially Game of Thrones) are also likely to catch my eye.
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Table of Contents

Calling All Heroes And Adventurers
The Laws of the Land
The Character Sheet
The Modern World
History and Lore

In Character Thread

Discord Server

All are welcome in the server, even those not invited to the roleplay, so long as you don't become an annoyance to the players. In the case of players leaving the roleplay I'll most likely pull replacements first from anyone who's in the server and has been keeping up with the roleplay to some degree, which could indeed mean picking someone I did not originally invite.

Current Player Characters

Yazmina Boelner - @Pahn
Wank - @Shizuochan
Deidre Dydi - @HerziQuerzi
Jehan Harapatta - @Greenie
Sir Amel - @Holmishire
Arwen - @CrystalTears

Former Player Characters
Griselda - @Astaroth
Lienne Ky'heka - @firejay1

If you were not initially invited but are interested in joining the wait list of folks who will be eligible to take a spot should one of the above characters leave the roleplay, join the Discord server and/or message me. No guarantees you'll even get in, of course, but some chance is better than no chance.
 
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Merriweather

CALLING ALL HEROES AND ADVENTURERS!

Varden is in danger and needs your help!

Evil and deadly forces at work!

Reward: Gold and Glory!


Greetings adventurers! I am Archmage Therios of the Mage's Consortium, and my home town is in dire need of assistance. I would see to the matter myself, but alas, with power comes paperwork and I cannot afford to leave the Tower for any great length of time. Luckily for you, reader of this notice, I can instead afford to have others take care of this problem for me. Gold, enchanted items, letters of recommendation, I can provide any of these things in abundance... in return for one simple task: save Varden.

The exact threats facing the town are unknown to me. All that is certain at this moment is that there has been a momentous and catastrophic shift in some of the major leylines and that Varden has become the center of an unfortunate phenomenon. A confluence of malevolent energies passing through the town has created a negative potentiality vortex. In common terms, this means cruel and evil beings will be drawn to Varden and some may even attempt to tap into this confluence directly in order to perform profound acts of dark magic. The townspeople will also very likely be influenced by this power, though there is no telling what it may do to them. I am sure you will have heard the tale of the Fall of Mithilbras, the former elvish capitol that crumbled under the weight of its own hubris; few know that the tragedy that befell that once glorious city was the result of one of these phenomena, not their own natural arrogance.

If you wish to help avert a disaster (and become ludicrously wealthy in the process), go quickly to Varden and seek out Tanos Vir, my apprentice. He is studying the confluence and its effects on the local populace, and hopefully he will have firm information for you by the time you arrive. So far he has determined that the leylines are slowly shifting back toward their natural state and that the dark powers will build for roughly a week more after the writing of this notice, perhaps until the night of the next full moon, and after that peak is reached the bulk of it should be burned away by the light of the next sunrise. Should any be aware of this confluence and inclined to take advantage of it, that final night will be the most likely time for them to go through with their spells and rituals. Hopefully you and other adventurers will arrive in time to stop that from happening. Your reward shall be commensurate with the number of surviving persons in the town once the danger has passed.

May the gods bless and protect you who would save Varden.

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- Archmage Therios Fallenthrone, 1st​ Circle Member of the Mage's Consortium, Chair of Leyline Studies in the Ferromancer's Tower of the Consortium College in Holtania


The above notice was posted on public bulletin boards and in taverns all across the nation of Holtania and beyond, as such job offers from wealthy folk often are. Adventuring is a way of life for thousands of people, for there are always monsters to slay, people to rescue, ruins to explore, and so much more that people are willing to pay for. With such a powerful name attached to this particular job, many adventurers have been drawn to the town of Varden with the intent to save it from impending doom, and collect the uncertain but tantalizing rewards on offer. Your character will be one of them, arriving in the morning of the day of the full moon. Varden depends on you to save it from impending doom, and time is limited. Will you rise to the challenge and become a true hero, or will you die in obscurity? Time will tell.

Parchment background image created by Teeth-Man on deviantart
 
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Arima Madurai;Yantramanav;Hind Siliguri;


The Laws of the Land​
One Day In Varden

One
Shockingly enough, all Iwaku site rules apply to this roleplay. I know, what a twist, how scandalous, etc.

Two
This roleplay is invite only. If you've stumbled upon it without receiving an invite, sorry, this is sort of a GMing test run for me and I'm keeping it to only people I know to make life easier on myself.

Three
Posting expectations are once per two weeks minimum and however long you feel like making it so long as it advances the action. GM posts will ideally be placed exactly two weeks apart and won't be delayed for single stragglers. If you aren't confident that you can keep up with this posting pace, I advise you to save us both the headache and not join. I'm fine with making accomodations for people being busy and whatnot, but if you go a month without posting without good reason then I'll remove your character to free up the spot for others.

Four
I will be accepting no more than 6 characters, and only one character per person. I extended the invitation to more than 6 people, but I don't roll with the "first come, first served" mentality, so if I get more than 6 sheets I'll pick the characters that seem most interesting for this roleplay and reject the others. There are mechanisms in place to allow for new and replacement characters, so if your character dies then you can make a new one or if someone drops a replacement can be brought in with ease.

Five
Posting more than once per round is fine, but please make use of collaborative posts for anything that would require more than a couple posts from each player involved. For interactions with NPCs, if it's something that you want resolved before the next GM post or it's something that requires more than a single response/reaction from the NPC(s), then you should do a collab with me to get that done. Check out this handy guide to collaborative posting if you're not familiar with how it works. I'm very flexible when it comes to writing medium for collabs, so whatever works for you is probably fine for me as well.

Six
You are not allowed to create or control NPCs unless given explicit permission. As you'll see when the IC goes up, things are all sorts of weird in Varden and the people may not behave in expected ways.

Seven
Similarly, no auto-hitting or declaring success in actions that might fail. Combat, stealth, attempts at persuasion, and all sorts of other things need the GM's word on whether or not they succeed, because otherwise there's no challenge and that's boring. You're welcome to voluntarily fail whenever you want, though. :D

Eight
There will be dice used for this roleplay. Don't worry though, it's a simple system and you can go through the whole roleplay without ever needing to mess with attribute points or rolling dice. It's all a behind the scenes thing that I am doing to add some reasonably objective variance to success and failure. The strengths and weaknesses listed on the character sheet will affect the rolls, as will your character's special gear, so choose wisely. Doing things like cooperating to complete an action, using clever tactics, and exploiting a target's weak spots (whether it's a crack in the armor of a foe or mentioning a dirty secret you discovered about a seemingly wholesome man) will also improve your chances for success.

Nine
Each GM post will come with an update in this thread that acts as a sort of progress tracker. It'll note the time of day at the end of that GM post, how many people are still alive in town, a summary of player actions taken and their results, and a list of quests that you've found and the current known status of them. Yes, this is basically a video game style quest log and it will be very helpful, I am a kind GM, I know, you're welcome. There will be side quests and other things to discover via exploration, and there may be useful rewards to be acquired, but do keep in mind that you're working with limited time and use it wisely.




And because there's nowhere else good to put this, thanks and credit to @Pahn for the banner at the top, the image used for the signature on the job posting (because I failed at doing it myself), the pretty div box stuff aside from the job posting, and for general editing assistance. Also, thanks to @Nemopedia for making the scroll bar on the job posting thing less obtrusive.
 
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Arima Madurai;Yantramanav;Hind Siliguri;


The Character Sheet​
One Day In Varden

Preamble
Because this CS has some non-standard bits, it'll have each section explained here. A plain setup for the sheet with all the required things and a few reminder notes can be found down below the explanatory sheet, but feel free to make it fancy and rearrange it and add sections as you see fit.

First and foremost, you should probably read the next post down, The Modern World, to get an idea of what is actually going on in this setting before making a character. The descriptions of the races and nations are intentionally left broad. Feel free to take advantage of that fact and add your own flavor to things. This is not a world where every last detail is nailed down, so you can make up places and groups and whatnot and I'll approve them unless they run afoul of unrevealed world info or don't fit the tone of the setting (which could be described as high fantasy with some spicy dark fantasy thrown in for fun). Now, for the specifics about the CS.



Basics
Name: Whatever your character uses to introduce themself. Just a nickname/pseudonym is fine if that's what they go by.

Race: See race info in The Modern World post for available selections. If hybrid list both races of heritage. If Scion, talk to the GM first to hash out details of the divine heritage and what kind of physical oddity your character has because of it.

Sex/Gender: What have they got in their pants (it may actually be relevant, magic and some entities interact differently with people based on biological things) and how do they present themselves to the world?

Age: See race info for age range for your chosen race.

Appearance: Description, image, or both is fine. No anime style images please, this ain't an animu roleplay. I'm not a fan of real person images, but I'll begrudgingly allow it. For all images, don't be a jerk, credit the artist/photographer/whatever. If you're making a Scion be sure to include the appearance oddity that comes from their divine heritage.

Skills
Fighting Style: What does your character do to kill monsters in the course of their adventuring? This can be something like a class from an RPG (Archer, Fighter, Paladin, etc), or you can go into a broader description. This section is meant to allow me to tailor encounters to an appropriate degree of difficulty based on your particular combat skills, and to let other players get a quick idea of what you bring to a fight so they can make their own characters with that in mind and strategize for fights without needing to know every last detail of your character. For the dice rolling stuff, you'll be assumed to be proficient in the use of armor and weapons and such related to your fighting style and don't need to add them to your strengths.

Signature Skill: The thing your character is best at, something that would make them stand out from a crowd of dozens of adventurers.

Major Flaw: The inverse of the signature skill, the thing that your character is hopelessly bad at.

Other Strengths: 2-5 things your character is better than average at doing.

Other Weaknesses: 2-5 things your character is worse than average at doing. The number of items here must be equal to or greater than the number of Other Strengths.

Okay, to explain those four above things, a quick rule of thumb: these are supposed to all be things that should require a secret dice roll to determine success or failure, and they should be things that actually matter in an adventurer's life. Also, broad categories are fine and preferred over hyper specific things. By broad categories I mean things like 'ranged weapons' instead of listing 'bows, crossbows, slingshots, and javelins' to pad out your strengths/weaknesses. The hider below has some further explanation about what types of things I'm looking for here in case that's not enough to explain it.

Social things are mostly not going to fit in here, because they're mostly just character behavior things that you will be in full control of. Being shy or a little racist against gnomes or prone to anger isn't going to merit a dice roll. However, things like persuasion or lying could be a reasonable strength or weakness because they require engagement with another person and could be subject to a roll of the dice.

Combat skills should probably make an appearance on your lists somewhere. If it's relevant to your fighting style then I'll assume your character is proficient in it, which for combat I'm defining as having about 2 or 3 years of experience in using that skill in real combat situations. That means if you want an archer lady to be just average in her use of a bow then you don't actually need to list it in strengths or weaknesses. However, anything other than average skill should be listed. If you're making a kid fresh to the adventuring life who didn't have extensive training with a sword before picking one up to try to be a hero, sword fighting should be a weakness. If you've got a grizzled veteran who's been swinging a sword for money for two decades and lived to tell the tale, then something combat-related should probably be their signature skill.

Magic is an oddity as far as the assumed competency thing goes. While magic is abundant in the world as more or less a force of nature, the skills required to harness it to do more than party trick level feats is uncommon. The average magical ability of an adventurer is generally better than someone who lives a normal sedentary life, such that using it to light fires or fling pebbles is not unusual, but magic in the sense of casting spells like throwing fireballs or turning invisible is something that requires either immense natural talent or a lot of training. No need to list tiny casual magic abilities in strengths, but proper magic usage must be listed there. General "schools" of magic (fire, healing, shields, etc) are fine as a single item on your strengths list, no need to list 'throwing fireballs, making a big fire shell around themselves, etc' as separate things.

For everything else, stick to the rule of thumb. Ask yourself "does it make sense for a dice roll to be required to determine success or failure for this kind of action?" and "is this something that is actually relevant to an adventurer's life?" If the answer to either of those is no, don't include it here but mention it in your bio if you feel like it. Your character can be a culinary badass with a campfire and their trusty travel skillet, but you can just have that without listing it as a strength because I'm not gonna make a roll to see if you can fry an egg. Similarly, if your character is offensively bad at playing the violin you can just leave that in the bio since it won't matter for adventurer work. If you're not sure if something make sense to be a strength or weakness, feel free to ask.

Special Gear
All adventurers will be assumed to have a variety of basic gear unless they specifically don't want to have it for whatever reason. This includes things like a pack/bag of some kind, sets of clothing, a bedroll, rations, a waterskin, firestarting materials, mundane weapons/armor, and whatever trinkets and personal effects they carry. This section is for listing anything special that the average adventurer would not necessarily have, such as a horse (they're expensive) or magical items. Non-magical but expensive things can be possessed by any character given a reasonable explanation in their bio, because adventurers sometimes find cool things while on a job or get nice paydays and treat themselves.

For magical items, you've got three points to spend. A point is just a generic unit of power (related to dice rolling shenanigans), and the adventurers responding to Varden's plight have three points worth because so sayeth the GM. If you want three different magical items then they'll all be about the same strength, but you can instead put multiple points into a single item and make it stronger. For flavor purposes, a single point magical item is pretty common and could be bought at pretty much any shop that deals in relevent arcane gear, a two point item is something stronger that's harder to find but not horribly uncommon, and three points would make it either rare or a specialty item commissioned from a skilled magical artisan. Feel free to include how you acquired these items in your bio if you want. Finding them in ruins or looting them from a corpse is a legit origin choice for the item, the relative rarity from a shop is just for the sake of comparison.

Biography
One paragraph minimum, no maximum limit. Three mandatory things to include: something to explain how your character's Signature Skill was acquired (natural talent, training, whatever), an example of their Major Flaw causing them problems in normal life, and their motivation for becoming an adventurer and taking this job in specific.



Okay, that should be everything about the sheet. You can post character sheets right here in this thread for review, or if you're shy you can PM them to me first. I'll give feedback on things whenever I find the time, but final character sheets must be up in the thread by end of day (Iwaku server time) May 24. I'll do final approvals on May 25 and the IC will go up soon afterward. Sheet for easy copying and pasting is below, but like I said, feel free to jazz it up if you wanna.

Code:
[b][u][size=4]Basics[/size][/u]
Name:
Race:
Sex/Gender:
Age:
Appearance:[/b] Image, text, or both.

[b][u][size=4]Skills[/size][/u]
Fighting Style:[/b]

[b]Signature Skill:[/b]

[b]Major Flaw:[/b]

[b]Other Strengths:[/b] 2-5 things your character is better than average at doing.

[b]Other Weaknesses:[/b] 2-5 things your character is worse than average at doing. The number of items here must be equal to or greater than the number of Other Strengths.

[b][u][size=4]Special Gear[/size][/u][/b]

Anything that isn't standard adventuring gear and up to three points worth of magical items.

[b][u][size=4]Biography[/size][/u][/b]

One paragraph minimum, no maximum limit. Three mandatory things to include: something to explain how your character's Signature Skill was acquired (natural talent, training, whatever), an example of their Major Flaw causing them problems in their life, and their motivation for becoming an adventurer and taking this job in specific.
 
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Arima Madurai;Yantramanav;Hind Siliguri;


The Modern World​
One Day In Varden

About
Varden is a single town of middling size in a large world. It's located in the nation of Holtania, one of many nations in the known world. The world itself is named Ethcolan, a name of uncertain meaning and origin that comes from the gods themselves. The nations listed below are all located on the one continent known to the people who live on it; there are some large inhabited islands nearby, but little is known about them since they tend to be hostile to outsiders. Even less is known about more distant lands, places that have been mentioned infrequently by gods, but no mortal has ever successfully traveled to or from these places.

Ethcolan is a high fantasy world set in a rough equivalent to the late medieval period. It is inhabited by a variety of sapient races that have organized themselves into various nations and civiliations, but there are of course many animals and monsters that fill the untamed wilds. The gods are known to exist, and some of them choose to live among mortals and ensure that their presence is known. Magic is common enough that in many cities a wizard could walk through the place throwing fireballs into the air and few people aside from children would bat an eye at it, though reaching such a level of competence in the arcane arts usually takes many years of dedicated practice. Below you will find a potentially excessive amount of information about all of these things and more.

Races
Note that the statements made about typical personality characteristics and physical abilities are on average across large groups of that race. There will always be individuals who deviate from the norm, and player characters will likely do just that.


  • Humans are the most populous race on Ethcolan. They are known for being extremely determined in achieving goals, highly capable of solving problems on the fly, and prone to infighting and dogmatic zealotry. There are no officially recognized sub-species of Humans despite the fact that they exhibit a wide range of differences in physical features. Humans reach physical maturity in their mid to late teen years, and many societies consider 15 or 16 to be the age of adulthood. Wealthy and healthy Humans often live to be 70 or more, but commoners tend to pass away around 50 years of age.

  • Elves are the most magically inclined race on Ethcolan. As a people they are notable for their longevity (they reach physical maturity after about 20 years but their average lifespan is about 300 years), their natural skill in the shaping and use of magic, and their natural vulnerability to the effects of magic. Elves are the most diverse of the races, to the point that many regard various breeds of them as entirely separate races; the most common of these breeds are the High Elves (typically city-dwellers), Wood Elves, Dark Elves (also known as Drow, those who live in caves and underground), and Snow Elves. Tribal Hill Elves consider themselves a distinct group despite great similarities to Wood Elves, a nomadic society who call themselves Moon Elves claim to be distinct from their Drow ancestors, and there are stories that say there once existed Sea Elves who lived deep in the waters of the ocean and ruled the waves from below.

  • Dwarves are the sturdiest race on Ethcolan. They stand out from others thanks to their unparalleled mastery of metalworking of all sorts, their great skill in building large works (everything from statues to grand palaces), and their stubborn refusal to bow to the wishes of others. Dwarves are relatively similar in appearance as a race compared to the variety found among Humans and Elves, and there are no distinct subraces among them, but they insist that those who say all Dwarves look the same are simply blind idiots who couldn't find their ass with both hands and an assistant. They are not renowned for being polite people. Dwarves reach physical maturity at about the same speed as Humans, but they commonly live to be around 200 years old.

  • Orcs are the fiercest race on Ethcolan. Their physical strength is unmatched and they have a very strong connection to nature, but they are averse to any technology more complicated than a sword and tend to have trouble figuring out how to use it. They recognize three sub-groups of Orcish blood that they claim is directly related to their disposition: green-skinned Orcs are said to be more attuned to nature and smarter, red-skinned Orcs are said to be more aggressive and stronger, and brown-skinned Orcs are said to be balanced between the red and green Orcs. These claims are not supported by evidence, but Orcish societies often organize themselves along these lines nonetheless. Orcs age faster than Humans, reaching physical maturity after about 12 years and even those who live the nicest of lives rarely live to see 50 years pass.

  • Gnomes are the craftiest race on Ethcolan. They are know for being intelligent, being the best at inventing new things and scientific pursuits, and for being generally worse with magic than other races. Gnomes are also the least numerous of the races, in large part because it is highly uncommon for Gnome couples to have more than two children. Gnomes reach physical maturity at about the same pace as Humans, but among their own society they are not considered truly adults until they are 30, and on average they live to be about 150 years old. Gnomes are smaller than Dwarves, but they have a penchant for dying their hair fantastical colors and wearing a lot of jewelry so they tend to be easier for the taller races to tell apart from one another.

  • Goblins are sneakiest race on Ethcolan. Aside from their skill with stealth, they are notable for their intuitive sense of the presence and workings of magic, their ability to quickly learn new things, and their physical weakness due to being the smallest and frailest of the races. Goblins can be found in all the same range of colors as Orcs, plus further shades of dark red that can appear almost black and brighter shades of green that can become bothersome to the eye. A large portion of the Goblin race is held in near slavery by the more barbaric Orcish civilizations, and it is thought that they all have ancestors that were slaves at some point. Despite their apparent frailty, Goblins tend to live longer than their brutish masters: they reach physical maturity after about 13 years but commonly live to around 100 years if they can escape the harsh life of forced physical labor.

  • All the mortal races are capable of interbreeding, though some pairings (like a male Orc with a female Goblin) are naturally unlikely due to size differences. They are fairly uncommon since such mixed offspring are less likely to survive and often have deformities that negatively impact their health, and sterility and other problems with their reproductive organs are very common. Humans mating with other races tend to produce the most viable offspring. Those that survive tend to have dominant features of one race with the presence of the other being less obvious, though living half breeds with a clean half and half mix of the racial features of their parents do exist. Typically hybrids die faster than one would expect from an averaged life expectancy of their parent races, and this is true even of those who do not have any obvious physical deformities.

  • Though most do not consider them a distinct race, Scions are a people apart just as much as a Gnome in an Orc tribe would be. Scions are the product of a mixing of mortality and divinity, the child of a mortal mating with a god or one of their divinely empowered Servitors. Children that result from unions between mortals and gods of different racial stock appear as half breeds do, with mixed features of the races of their parents, but mixed race Scions are far less likely to have deformities of any kind. Scions of a singular race often live decades longer than mortals, and mixed race Scions tend to live to around the averaged out life expectancy between their parent races rather than dying early like purely mortal hybrids. Strangely, in cases when a Servitor has bred with a mortal and that Servitor is of a different apparent race than their god, it is the racial features of the god that mix with that of the mortal, not those of the Servitor.

    All Scions also have additional physical features related to the purview of the divine entity that is their parent, almost always purely aesthetic in nature and generally very easily spotted. A Scion of the God of Fire may give off a slight glow like dim candlelight that can only be seen in the dark whereas a Scion of the God of Wrath might have sharp tattoo-like lines etched into their skin. Different Scions of the same god will have different features marking them as such, unique to each of them. It is unclear whether or not being a Scion confers any godly powers or other benefits, but they are treated as a separate caste in most civilizations: some raise them as holy symbols, others revile them as abominations. Many Scions take up a life of travel in order to avoid being forced into these roles.


Nations
The known world of Ethcolan is comprised of one main continent with a few large islands nearby and various clusters of small islands to spread around the coast and further out to sea. The continent is home to a variety of nations, city-states, and claimed territories that have frequent interactions and trade with one another. The large islands are rather mysterious, as only trade vessels seem to ever bother going to them and their crews aren't even allowed past the docks whenever they're actually let in to trade, and as such there exist only rumors of cities and nations that exist there. The smaller islands tend to be wild and untamed, though a few have been settled on in recent decades and are now home to small fishing villages. Below is a list of some of the most prominent nations and city-states on the main continent and what they are known for.


  • The second largest Human controlled nation on the continent, second only to the Mactian Empire, though they welcome other races openly. It is a monarchy, currently headed by King Willem Farris III, and it is best known as an agrarian society that exports a lot of food and natural resources. It is also known for being the home of the Mage's Consortium, an organization that has earned enough respect to have a presence in almost every nation. Holtania is comprised of one major city of the same name, which is home to the nobility, that claims dominion over many villages and towns for many miles around it. They are currently at war with the Orcs of Tholkar.

  • An Elven society better known to others as the Elven Confederation. As the name suggest, it is a confederation of aligned Elven nations and city-states wherein each retains their sovereignty but they come together for the sake of trade and defense. The population of the confederation overall is predominantly made up of Elves, but others can be found here and there. Each of the member states have their own individual ideologies and ways of life, so there isn't much of a common thread to be found outside of their race. There are a few notable nations that are better known than their fellows in the Chain of Idris: Thal'molin, the militaristic homeland of the ancient warlord who forged the disparate nations into a group; Estalla, a magic-obsessed nation ruled by a mage who has supposedly lived for eight centuries through unknown means; The Red Forest, so named for the year-round red leaves of the trees that cover this nation of nature-preserving Wood Elves; and Naz'algaloth, a secretive mountain nation of Snow Elves renowned for brewing some of the finest alcohols in the world. Collectively they are widely considered the second most powerful nation on the continent, and they have a bitter history with the Mactian Empire.

  • A Human controlled empire, and the largest of all Human nations, that is generally acknowledged as the most economically and militarily dominant force on the continent. This domination is largely thanks to their position as the leaders in the production, sale, and use of magebranded equipment. The empire is controlled by a military dictatorship, and the average citizen is held in a state just slightly above slavery in that they are not technically owned but they are indeed forced to do hard labor just to survive. The leadership of the empire despises the Elven Confederation and their allies in Alfhem, due solely to the fact that the ostensibly weaker nations have thrice pushed back the conquering Mactian armies with tactics viewed as cowardly and evil.

  • The underground home of most of the Dark Elves; though they are Elves and the major entrances to their subterranean home are close to or within the Chain of Idris, they are not directly associated with the confederation in any known way. It is made up of a network of caves, some natural and others carved out by the Drow themselves. Little is known about their society by outsiders because they rarely welcome said outsiders past the caves nearest to the surface, but the bits that get out indicate that they are matriarchal, they rely heavily on magic, and they place less of a stigma on worshiping gods of negative aspects than most other societies. As far as any outsiders know, their caves are fully encompassed by the lands of the Elven Confederation above, but of course nobody can be sure how far they reach without going down there to find out.

  • The Underhalls is the catch all name for the vast underground complexes that most Dwarves call home. Being the grand builders that they are, these are no mere dank caves like a Drow might call home, but rather grand and wondrous halls dug into the bones of the earth. They welcome the other races (though only grudgingly when it comes to Drow, whom they tend to view as rivals and enemies) into the Underhalls and all have acknowledged the grand size and the beauty of the massive halls and rooms and shafts that burrow deep into the ground. They are ruled over by a council of elders and denizens of the Underhalls tend to place a lot of reverence in their ancestors and the wisdom that comes with age.

  • So named after the great Goshen Plain they inhabit, the tribes are made up almost exclusively of Orcs and Goblins. They are loosely associated and move around the plains frequently, sometimes allies and sometimes enemies, and the general grouping of all tribes into one entity is neither recognized nor appreciated by them. Though they tend toward the more shamanistic and druidic sides of Orcish nature, the tribes definitely have their fair share of warriors; Goblins are more likely to be free here than in other Orc civilizations, but it varies from tribe to tribe. The tribes subsist mainly on hunting and gathering, with farming set up only around a few of their sacred locations where Orcs live permanently. Each tribe has a chieftain that runs their affairs, and the only semblance of allegiance they have toward one another is that at great need they will call a meeting of the chiefs to discuss issues of grave importance to all their people.

  • Tholkar is home to what the racially insensitive might call the "bad Orcs." They are far more warlike, preferring to raid their neighbors for goodies rather than doing the hard work of producing things for themselves. There are plenty of Goblins to be found here, but they are without exception slaves or slaves in the process of trying to get out of the mountainous nation. Tholkar is made up of a handful of villages in the mountains, though they are all ruled by a single Orc. Their society values strength above all else, so the leader changes frequently as they are challenged and defeated by others.

  • There are tales handed down from generations past that speak of ferocious raiders that rose after the fall of the Sea Elves and terrorized the coasts and raided fishing villages with impunity. These were the ancestors of the residents of Alfhem, though today they are more interested in trade (which they do a lot of) and shipbuilding (which they are undoubtedly the best at) than raiding (which young men still indulge in from time to time). This city-state is roughly equally split between Elves and Humans, and rather than meshing together as other mixed societies did they came up with a novel way to remain separate but together: a dual monarchy. There is an Elven king and a Human king, and they each rule their own kind and decide on major actions together. It does not always work out well, but they've survived decently well so far. Alfhem is a strong ally of the Elven Confederation, providing them in times of war with the naval strength that they lack.

  • This city-state is named after the mountain it resides on top and inside of. The city proper sits on the peak of the mountain and is home to the Gnomes, and they make up the upper class of the city. Skypeak is ruled by a single ruler who is elected for terms of five years, with only the upper class being allowed votes, and typically they select the man or woman regarded as the most innovative among them; currently they are led by a Gnome who invented something like a kite that he rode from the top of the mountain down to the ground miles away without coming to any serious harm. Gnomes and Dwarves in roughly equal numbers make up the inhabitants of the cave system that riddles the inside of the mountain, though some of the other races can be found here and there. Skypeak is renowned as the bastion of science and technology on Ethcolan, drawing inventors and madmen from all corners. They trade in fine crafts, everything from compasses to marvelously carved furniture, but otherwise they keep themselves out of the affairs of other nations and everyone seems content to give them the same courtesy. Of course, those other nations lacking violent interest in Skypeak might be best explained by its intimidating natural defenses augmented by the finest siege weaponry available.

  • Noveus is a bit of an oddity among the major nations of the continent. Rather than being made up mainly of one or two of the races, the population is mostly Scions. They come from all over the world and bring their own cultures and beliefs with them. It was founded a mere 70 years ago and is still led by the Elf who founded it, an elderly Scion of the Goddess of Magic who is in the third century of his life, and currently this nation-state is made up of just the city and a little bit of land around it. Noveus attracts more than just Scions who want to live somewhere that they are the majority rather than a freak: outcasts of all sorts find their way to Noveus and never seem to leave, religious folks who view Scions as holy have flocked there, and religious zealots who see them as abominations have also made their presence known. It is a quickly growing city, and thanks to its position right along a major river it is becoming a trade hub of some note. The city was ignorantly founded right by one of the minor entrances to the Underhalls, and after some tense negotiations they reached an agreement: Noveus pays the rulers of the Underhalls for the use of the land via a tax placed on all their trade activity, and the Underhalls allows Noveus to remain autonomous in all other ways.

  • Though it has existed for hundreds of years and has a large population, few like to speak of the city-state of Jaka. It is primarily populated by Goblins, and as such it is the only place where they are both free and in control, but members of all other races can be found there. Word of Jaka spread through the enslaved Goblin populations soon after its founding and it has been taken up by them as a beacon of goodness, a promised land for those who can break free. Unfortunately, that promise died decades ago. A cabal of Goblins who practiced dark and cruel forms of magic took over and transformed the once thriving bastion of freedom into a cesspool of murder and mayhem. It is rumored that the city-state is ruled over by a council of the most powerful mages they have, and that acquiring a spot can only be done by killing a current member with magic. Its shops openly stock things that would only be found on black markets elsewhere, everything from bed slaves to brain rotting substances, and worship of the darker gods is done openly and with high attendance. It is a blemish on the face of Ethcolan, and the only reason it still stands is that none who have the strength to challenge their profane powers have yet decided to expend the resources to destroy it.

  • Situated at the mouth of the largest river on the continent, Kaz'Kallor is prime trade real estate. It was founded by a very prominent family of Dwarves from the Underhalls many years ago, and since then it has grown into the single richest city on the continent. The city-state is known for three things: its money, its fleet of trade ships that rival Alfhem in numbers if not in quality, and its almost constant party atmosphere. It is set up as a constitutional monarchy, with an elected council governing the workings of the city while the royal family acts as figureheads more than anything else. What is a monarch with nothing but time on his hands to do? As far as the Dwarves of Kaz'Kallor are concerned, and have been concerned for more than a century, that is a cause for celebration and festivities. The city is filled near to bursting with all races year round, and there's always some festival or party coming up in the next few days. The monarchs of Kaz'Kallor spend a fraction of their ludicrous wealth on these events, and another, larger fraction on guards and mercenaries to keep the city safe from those who would think to pluck a heavy and low-hanging fruit.


Gods
The gods of Ethcolan are not beings completely separate from mortals as they are in many worlds. Though few in the modern era are aware of how it works, they are in fact all ascended from mortality themselves, and the majority of them have the physical form of one of the sapient races of the land. The exact means of ascending to godhood have been kept largely secret from the modern age of mortals, and no ascensions have been confirmed in the living memory of even the oldest of Elves. What is known is that each god has one or more purviews that they rule with great power (but not omnipotence), each god has a realm separate from the mortal plane that they do rule over with absolute control, and each god possesses different levels of tolerance for mortal meddling in their aspects and desire for mortal worship. The purviews of the gods relate to their relative power, with broader spheres of power conferring more strength and narrower scopes of influence giving less; the God of Nature is extremely powerful, the God of Trees less so, and the God of Oak even less so. The purviews of the gods range from things viewed rather positively like Love, to neutral things like Magic, to negative things like Murder; the gods of the nicer aspects are not inherently good, and the gods of the darker aspects are not inherently evil, but most mortals perceive them as such anyway. No mortal knows for certain just how many gods there are, but some facts about the vast pantheon are common knowledge.

  • In practical terms, the godly prerogative for controlling their purviews means that some things are off limits for mortals to meddle with. Most of these are common knowledge among magic using communities (and are listed in the Magic section of this post), but there are always some ignorant or arrogant enough to try it every once in a while. It is widely believed that magic can accomplish literally anything one can imagine, if only one can gather the requisite amount of energy and cultivate the skill to shape it properly, and this tempts many people into stepping on the toes of the gods. They end up dead, without exception. However, there still remain many forms of magic that mortals themselves have deemed evil and off limits that the gods do not regulate, ranging from simple curse magic to sacrificing virgins for great power.

    Worship is an altogether more spotty affair, because each god decides for themselves what sort of worship they desire and whether or not they will favor mortals who perform it. This confusion is made worse by the fact that there are conflicting groups who claim that a certain god views worship in different ways, and the gods rarely bother to correct these errors. Despite the certain knowledge of the factual existence of the gods, the religions that worship them are built upon faith, specifically faith that they are in fact worshiping correctly and will be blessed by their chosen god for these acts.

    There are three tiers of gods. The first tier are called the Prime Gods, and they are the seven that are clearly and without doubt the most powerful. The second tier of gods do not have a special designation in common use, but in theological discussions about the tiers of godhood they are known as Middle Gods. The third tier are the Small Gods, and they are mostly gods that reign over purviews of specific things rather than wider ranges of things; they are the most numerous and least powerful of gods. Servitors, divinely empowered servants of the gods, are significantly less powerful than Small Gods. They have relative levels of power depending on the tier of god they serve, but even the Servitor of a Prime God is nowhere near as powerful as a Small God.

  • The Prime Gods are both powerful and mysterious. They are listed in order of most understood by mortals to least. While time is a clear concept that even a peasant can wrap his mind around, few have grasped the nuance of form or substance as fundamental forces of reality. It is said that these seven purviews held by the Prime Gods, time and magic and nature and fate and gods and form and substance, were essentially the ingredients that some unknown and greater entity put together to create Ethcolan, and everything that exists was created from those elements. Every other god is in some way reigning over a mere subset of the purview held by a Prime God, even those that on first glance seem not to fit, which lends some credence to that vague creation myth. Regardless of where they came from, these seven gods are undoubtedly the strongest of the lot and are respected and feared by mortals and lesser gods alike.

    God of Time: Zeinos, a god who appears as a Human male. He is the Prime God best known to mortals, because unlike the others he actually communicates with them now and then and desires worship. It is commonly known that any worship dedicated to him will suffice, as it is the time spent that matters rather than the acts, but he is not known for rewarding mortals who worship him. While he does talk to mortals, very little is known about what he does other than punishing those who meddle with time and enjoying worship, and those who inquire about whether or not he does things like ensure the sun rises each day or that time doesn't suddenly start moving backwards tend to be given little more than amused looks and non-answers.

    Goddess of Magic: Idris, an Elven goddess. Many elves view her as their race's patron goddess, and their cultural history says she once walked among them and taught them how to use magic. She has been known to bless mortals with great powers and artifacts, but her reasons for doing so are unclear. The Chain of Idris is of course named after her, though it is more an homage to a revered cultural icon than a statement of religious devotion.

    God of Nature: Gultar, an Orc god. He is beloved of both Orcs and Goblins, though little groves of unspoiled nature can be found in or near most every mortal settlement for the sake of worshipping the God of Nature. Though the exact parameters for it are unclear, he is the most prolific of the Prime Gods in number of mortals given special treatment or favors, up to and including absolute dominion over spans of land and every living thing on it. Curiously, despite his association with land and wilderness and the common view that he is an undoubtedly good god, he is in fact known to reward city dwellers and terrible people just as often as those who lead nature-loving and wholesome lifestyles. Scholars speculate that 'nature' in the context of this god means not land unspoiled by mortals, but rather something more like the basic and intrinsic characteristics of a person or thing. Attempts to get a clear answer out of the God of Nature have been unsuccessful.

    Goddess of Fate: Kiliara, a goddess who appears as a humanoid body with the fur and other features (including face and tail) of a fox. There are a handful of known gods who have such appearances, a sort of hybrid between animal and one of the sapient races, but modern societies are perplexed as to why they take such appearances. The purview of fate is misunderstood by many as supposed proof that there is no such thing as choice or free will, but the work of the Goddess of Fate is more a matter of looking at likely outcomes and guiding the world toward one of them. She has aided mortals in the past, but most scholars suspect it was simply to guide things to a particular future rather than as a reward for worship.

    God of Gods: Thanas'Atalias, a male Elf with fully silver hair, a sign of advanced age among Elves. While it is understood that he has some form of power over other gods by the nature of his purview, it is unclear just how much control that entails or how much he makes use of it. Both gods and mortals are wary of him, and he hasn't done much of anything with mortalkind as far as the general public knows.

    Goddess of Form: A nameless but supposedly female goddess who takes the form of a bear. Most mortals are uncertain what exactly "form" refers to and what her purview entails, but they do know she deals with shapeshifters.

    God of Substance: Rix, a male Goblin god. The purview of substance is even less clear to modern mortals than that of form, but remnants of old tales suggest that he was instrumental in averting some catastrophe and is closely associated with the goddesses of Form and Magic.

  • There are many Middle Gods, and some do not bother to make themselves known to mortals or only do so in certain places or to certain races. Below is a list of those Middle Gods that are well known throughout the world, though there are dozens more that are known to exist and many more than that which scholars speculate must exist.

    Goddess of Life: Granny Abigail, an old Human woman. She is an oddity among the gods for two reasons: she speaks to mortals very frequently and she spends most of her time living among mortals in a physical form rather than in her personal godly realm. In her mortal life she was the matriarch of a very large family and says that it prepared her for godhood surprisingly well, though when asked about how she became a god she demurs and refers to an old promise. She is perhaps the most beloved of the gods simply because she is easy to contact and very willing to help mortals with their troubles without demanding worship or sacrifice first.

    Goddess of Death: Sharza, a Dark Elf goddess. She is regarded as one of the most powerful Middle Gods, largely because she is also known to somehow hold multiple related purviews in her control, including Necromancy, Undeath, Reanimation, and Souls. Though many view death with fear, she is not known as a malevolent goddess. Unlike her counterpart of Life, Sharza remains in her realm (called the underworld by most) and does not consort with mortals without good reason. Many try to appeal to her to stave off their death or attain immortality, but there have been no recorded instances of success in those attempts, though the rumors of the longevity of the ruler of Estalla in the Chain of Idris has raised many questions.

    Goddess of Fire: Sana Leta, a human woman who always appears covered in horrendous, fresh burns. Of the four gods who preside over the elements, she is the most likely to be malevolent toward mortals. Like fire itself, Sana Leta is capricious and unsympathetic to those she destroys. She can be caring and nurturing one day, then the next she might incinerate any fools who do not properly worship her (a standard which changes almost as often as her moods). Most wise mortals steer very clear of her. Snow Elves are among the few who do worship her frequently, though they name her the Goddess of Warmth, which is indeed another purview she rules over despite it being something one would expect to see held by a Small God.

    God of Earth: Nazzan, a Dwarf. He bears the same name as one of the revered ancestors of the Dwarves, and the Shafts of Nazzan in the Underhalls are some of the deepest and riches mines they have; the god has neither confirmed nor denied a connection, but many dwarves proudly claim him as kin. He rules over the dirt and stone itself, in all forms including elemental earth magic.

    God of Air: Ath'dannan Shol, a massive dragon with varied grey coloration like a stormy sky. Not much is known about him other than his position and that he doesn't bother to interact with mortals... unless they violate his purview, of course. He also holds the title and powers of the God of Flight, though the distinction between Air and Flight is not particularly important to mortals.

    God of Water: The Tarnished Lord, a giant sea serpent with scales of bronze flecked with green. Like the God of Air, he pays little attention to mortals; unlike the God of Air, he doesn't care what mortals do with water. He has been known to appear in physical form and attack boats, particularly fishing boats, but this is rare and nobody is sure why some boats attract his ire while others do not.

    Goddess of Mind: Rinnith, one of the few Gnomish gods. Many of the Gnomes of Skypeak praise her above all others, but most others simply place her among the unequivocally good gods. She is also the Goddess of Free Will, and as such she does not tolerate anyone, not even other gods, enslaving the minds and will of mortals. Aside from those efforts, her main purview also encompasses all intelligent thought and she is said to favor the smartest of mortals over others.

    God of War: Thurlock, an Orc with light brown skin. His place in the minds of mortals is even more mixed than the Goddess of Death, for some praise him as a symbol of honor and glory while others see him as an evil that ought to be in cahoots with the God of Sin. He neither favors nor punishes mortals for engaging in war or their chosen methods of fighting, but he does blatantly prefer warlike people over the peaceful. He has been known to appear in the war councils of those favored people to see what they're up to and to give advice, and there have been instances of him doing so for both sides of a conflict, though of course the winner tends to say their enemy lied about it to boost the morale of their people in the face of defeat.

    God of Sin: A Human male who has never given a mortal his true name; he tells them to call him Sin. While most theologians assume the majority of the Middle Gods have existed since time began, the God of Sin and his cohorts are not considered as such: they believe that these gods came into being after mortals were made in order to rule over new concepts that did not exist before mortals thought them up. The God of Sin is commonly regarded as the most evil of the gods, often being cast as the tempter and corrupter of mortals in various religions. He is known to have some level of power over lesser gods that embody various sins like Wrath and Lust, as well as a variety of other gods who are viewed in a negative light like the God of Disease, and his personal realm is known as the Court of Damnation.

  • The purviews of the Small Gods are numerous almost beyond count. Most are lesser and related aspects of Prime or Middle Gods, such as the Goddess of Flame that is concerned purely with the aesthetic beauty of fire. Gods of specific animals are Small Gods, and most of them have little to no interaction with the sapient races. Those races also each have a Small God, said to represent the epitome of their people, but they are not universally known even among their own kind. There is a common saying among Dwarves that explains the astounding array of Small Gods (and is usually said in a dismissive tone when someone brings one of them up in conversation): if it exists, there's a god for it.

  • Servitors are the servants of the gods. They also appear as beings from mortal races, with none known that are animals or humanoids with animal features, and they are most often of the same race as the god they serve. The Servitors of a particular god are similar to Scions in that they take on physical aspects of their god's purview, but unlike Scions it is uniform across all those Servitors who work for a certain god and it is far more extreme. Almost all Servitors have wings, and that is generally the sign one uses to tell one of them from a mortal if they don't have skin of molten rock or an aura of impermeable darkness or some other such thing that gives it away before you can see the wings. For many gods, Servitors are their sole presence in the mortal world, because they choose to remain in their private realm and send the servants out to do whatever needs doing. They are not extremely commonly seen overall, but cities tend to be visited by at least a few Servitors per year.

    The known exceptions to this rule of rarity are the Servitors of the Goddess of Life and the Goddess of Death. Those of Life live with their goddess in a small village near central Holtania and are often sent around the world to accomplish seemingly mundane tasks, and they are easily recognized by their vast stature (even the females are eight feet tall at minimum) and their youthful faces. Conversely, the Servitors of Death appear as ghastly apparitions out of mortal nightmares, skeletal forms covered in black robes with wings like bats, and their appearance often precedes a body being discovered, most often that of someone who had been dabbling in forbidden areas of necromancy. Many superstitious folk believe they also come to collect the souls of every person who dies, but that has never been confirmed.


Magic
Magic permeates everything in the world of Ethcolan, and as such the ability to manipulate it is quite common. Most people learn enough magic to interact with it a little bit, but not necessarily enough to cast spells; most people can gather raw magic energy and send it elsewhere, but without the training to shape it to one's will such a blast of raw magic will simply feel like a gust of air to anyone it strikes. Some civilizations have largely shunned manual labor in favor of magical labor, and their citizens tend to be trained from a young age in using magic to perform basic tasks like lifting things and manipulating tools from afar. Other civilizations view magic as holy or only for the upper class, and in those places trained magic use is of course less common. It is somewhat rare to see someone properly trained in the use of magic for more than simple telekinesis, even in those societies where that is common practice, because developing such skills takes years of dedicated practice.

The actual mechanics of magic use differ from place to place based on how that culture decided to do magic, but in the end these differences are mainly cosmetic. A person from one place might draw in ambient magic from the world around him, whereas another might tap into an internal source of energy, and another might draw runic symbols in the dirt and imbue them with power, but they are not limited in what effects they can achieve and those achieved effects will take a toll on the mage's body regardless of how they made it happen. While magic is said to be able to accomplish literally anything one can dream up, there are many things that are considered off limits by either the gods or mortals, and the vast majority of mages can be easily categorized by the type of magic they do.


  • Certain gods have decided that they will not tolerate mortals meddling with their purview, or will not allow certain lines to be crossed. They tend to keep a watchful eye out for any who would violate their rules and punish them severely, usually fatally.

    Time Manipulation: The God of Time deals harshly with anyone who dares to play with time. He usually does so by turning them into dust, which he has told horrified onlookers is achieved by speeding the fool's personal time forward thousands of years. Just viewing a time other than the present has minor leeway: looking a few hours into the past is not punished, but pushing farther will earn a visit from the God of Time. Viewing the future may be punished by either him or the Goddess of Fate.

    Mind Control/Manipulation/Reading: The Goddess of Mind does not tolerate anyone fooling with an intelligent mind. Those who attempt to control, manipulate, or read the mind of a sapient being with magic will quickly find themselves confronted with a diminutive but wrathful goddess who has never been known to let an offender off the hook. She allows telepathic communication, but those who dabble in telepathy will usually receive a stern warning that appears in their own head via telepathy: go no further in mind magic or you will die. Controlling unintelligent creatures with magic does not seem to incur the goddess' wrath, and some mages exploit that fact and force beasts and monsters to do their bidding.

    Shapeshifting: The mysterious Goddess of Form does not take kindly to shapeshifters, but in apparently inconsistent ways. She allows those afflicted by unfortunate conditions, like werewolves and werebears, to exist unharmed despite their changes. Those who willfully change their bodies via magic may one day find themselves faced with a giant, angry bear goddess. There are some who have stuck to very limited shapeshifting, like turning their hand into a blade, and have never been bothered by her; others attempt their very first shapeshifting excursion by trying to take on the appearance of another person and end up mauled to death. Magic scholars have guessed that it has something to do with the extent of the change, but few have been brave enough to test it.

    Necromancy: The Goddess of Death does not care if a mage wants to animate the corpse of a person or creature for their use. What she does care about, however, is the attempt to return their souls to their bodies or to steal the souls of living persons to make them no more than shambling husks. The disposition of a soul is hers to control, and those fool enough to try to go against her learn firsthand just what she does with the souls of mortals. Curiously, she seems not to care about people manipulating their own soul, and as such liches remain unmolested by the Goddess of Death, and they tend to also use their skills to control legions of reanimated corpses that do not tamper with souls.

    Creating/Manipulating/Imitating Life: The Goddess of Life, as kind as she usually is, has no tolerance for those who would seek to create new forms of life without her permission. Some mages have tried and in fact succeeded in creating new animals and monsters, but they and their creations do not survive the day. She also does not allow imitations of life, such as golems made to act as if alive; mindless automatons are okay, but if they can think or speak or similar then they are imitating life and the Goddess of Life does not like it, though she is likely to give golem makers a warning and a chance to repent before being slain. There have also been attempts to combine incompatible creatures into new forms of life, and of course the Goddess of Life objects to this; the Goddess of Form is also likely to show up and kill those who attempt to create hybrids.

    Flight: The God of Air does not tolerate mortals invading what he sees as his domain. Those few lucky enough to survive his rebukes have reported that he told them that if mortals were meant to fly they would have wings, but they do not so they should remain where they belong. Recently a Gnome of Skypeak crafted a device that allowed him to "fly" from the mountaintop to the ground without any incident, and many speculate that since it was slowed falling rather than actual flight it was not viewed as a violation of the god's domain.

  • Other types of magic have been generally declared unsavory or evil enough that none should practice them. Enforcement of such rules is very difficult when you don't have the powers of a god, and some societies are completely fine with some of these forms of magic. Generally speaking, anyone found out to be using these sorts of magic are likely to be reviled and even attacked by the average person. Nations and societies that have a laxer view on what is considered evil are of course more likely to let these actions go unhindered.

    Necromancy: Unlike the Goddess of Death, most decent people dislike the idea of a mage animating corpses for their own use regardless of the involvement of souls. Even if it's only animals, folks tend to look upon corpse violators as scum. Most nations have laws against such actions with penalties ranging from imprisonment to death.

    Curses: Though they're a very wide range of magic, people don't like curse magic. Any spell that sets a persistent malevolent effect on something might be called a curse, and anyone found using them (in the places that care) will find themselves punished with varying severity based on what sort of curse they set.

    Blood Magic: Few places have actual laws against using one's own blood to fuel their magic, but many people with fervent religious beliefs see it as sinful, particularly those who worship the Goddess of Magic and the Goddess of Life, which are of course two of the most commonly worshiped gods in the world. These believers of a magical persuasion see it as a slight to the magic that is all around the place ready to be tapped, and those who worship life dislike any sort of self harm and think using the sacred energy of life for magic is sinful. While a blood mage is unlikely to be arrested for the act, it will turn many against them and perhaps even incite a bit of mob justice if done in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    Sacrificial Magic: Outside of the places that willingly kneel before gods of negative aspects, killing something to power your magic is seen as pure evil. It is especially insidious due to the common knowledge that the purity of a sacrifice is roughly equivalent to its power. Virgins and children are favorite targets of those who stoop to using sacrificial magic, though they can kill pretty much anything and get a good amount of magical energy from it as long as they know what they're doing. The lure of sacrificial magic is the easy acquisition of power: a novice with the know how and someone to gut could rival a lifelong master in terms of sheer power for a short while for the price of just a few minutes of preparation and a slit throat. A lifelong master with enough people to sacrifice could perhaps slay a god or fundamentally alter the world in some way, but it is unknown if such things have ever been attempted.
  • The common disciplines of magic, also called schools or styles of magic, are so seemingly fundamental to the ways mortals interact with magic that even naturally gifted mages tend to fit into one of these categories. There are some exceptionally skilled or wildly eccentric practitioners who manage to do things that fall completely outside of these bounds, but they are a rarity. Most mages only ever learn one discipline and focus on honing that craft throughout their life, but it is not unheard of for someone to be skilled in two or more different styles of magic.

    Elemental Magic: The most common magic by far is that which draws on the basic elements themselves. Fire, water, earth, and air mages are what come to mind for most people when they hear someone knows how to use magic, and fire is a particular favorite of those who aim to use their skills for war. Each element is a discipline unto itself, but they are often listed together under one grouping due to being the four most common types of magic mortals use.

    Healing: Using magic to cure diseases and close wounds has always been highly prized, and as such many who aim to help others rather than just benefit themselves seek to learn this discipline of magic. Healing magic can be used at a range, which is indeed handy, but the effects come quicker and with less energy expended with the mage can make physical contact with their target. Many practitioners and scholars prefer to refer to it as restoration magic, but the common term of 'healing' is stuck fast in the mind of the people at large. Despite the positive connotations, healing magic can also be twisted into doing great harm to an individual by essentially reversing the process, and most magic viewed as curses are indeed perversions of healing magic.

    Telekinesis: Technically the most common school of magic, and also the simplest to learn, but most people don't think of it as a proper discipline of its own because of those facts. Some nations, such as Noveus and many constituent nations of the Chain of Idris, push basic magical education to teach their people how to use telekinesis to lift and move objects. However, there are some who go far beyond magically sweeping with brooms and lifting boxes with their mind, and they can be extremely powerful. Telekinesis at its peak is superhuman strength exerted at a distance, and masters of the art have been known to be able to put siege weaponry to shame by slamming massive boulders into city walls with devastating accuracy.

    Shielding: Common in large part thanks to nations pushing citizens to learn it for use in war, this discipline does exactly what one might expect. The more fancy name for it is abjuration, but as with other schools the common name prevails. It is in fact very similar to telekinesis in that the mage does not transform the raw force of magic into something different, they simply pack it so densely into a particular area that they achieve the effect they want. Shield and telekinetic mages find it relatively easy to learn the other discipline after mastering one, generally taking far less time to grasp the basic and intermediate techniques than they took in learning their first discipline and also far less time than they would require to learn a wholly different style of magic.

    Summoning: Also called conjuration by many, this discipline of magic is sometimes broken into separate categories and sometimes not. There are two very different types of summoning magic that only appear to be the same to novices. One type is the sort that summons or sends objects or entities from one place to another; on the simple end a summoner might be able to pull a sword from elsewhere in the world and put it in their hand, and on the mastery end they can create portals that allow large groups of people to travel vast distances in seconds. Their limitation is that they must actually be familiar with object or destination to be able to interact with it, and even then it's a tricky business that can have unintended consequences. The other sort of conjurer actually creates objects with their magic; a sword is a fairly simple thing to make with this kind of magic, but anything living requires vast skill (and will generally cost the mage their life due to certain gods not liking that sort of thing). Those aware of the distinction often call the two kinds of summoners movers and makers, but most just use the general term for both without realizing there's a difference at all.

    Necromancy: Despite the godly and mortal prohibitions on raising the dead, many still work to do it. Corpses are fairly easy to acquire, whether by raiding a graveyard or making them fresh, and when risen with necromancy they are obedient slaves. Actually meddling with souls is forbidden by the Goddess of Death, but many still try to do it to bring back dead loved ones. Men and women who fear death will also turn to necromancy in the hopes of defying their mortal constraints, but rather than living forever the best they can manage is to plunge themselves into a state of undeath by becoming a lich.

    Enchantment: Giving mundane items magical properties is both popular and highly profitable. However, it is also a very difficult sort of magic to do because the enchanter requires a working understanding of other schools of magic in order to imbue it with such effects; one cannot make a flaming sword without knowing fire magic to begin with. As such, enchanters are often the most naturally gifted or most dedicated students of the arcane, and their thirst for broad knowledge often pushes them toward a career in making the most of all that they know. Enchanters are also the mages most frequently known to be able to perform magical feats that defy easy categorization, likely due to their broad knowledge and high skill. Despite being called something different, the magebranded items are just a more sophisticated and complicated sort of enchanted item, much the same way as a bow and arrow are just a more sophisticated version of a throwing spear.

    Illusion: Though not respected nearly as much as other schools of magic, the creation of illusory images is fairly popular. Illusion mages tend to become entertainers, and those who most often seek to learn these arts are those who want to entertain. There are, however, many who learn and use such skills for nefarious means, such as disguising their appearance in order to scam people out of their money without being caught or turning themselves invisible to sneak into places. This reputation for being the magic of fools and knaves makes many see illusion magic as just one step above necromancy.

    Transmutation: The magical art of changing one thing into another is highly dangerous, and as such it is associated with madmen and people with a death wish. Changing inanimate objects into something different is risky because it will eventually change back, and many a would-be clever transmutation mage has ended up jailed, beaten, or killed when the "gold" coins that paid for various goods reverted to copper or wood or stone. Using such changed objects for combat is also a risk because they tend to be more frail than real weapons or armor, and when they break they revert back into their original form. Changing a living creature comes with its own set of perils. First and foremost, magical changes made to living things stick until they are reversed by magic, and that is a world of trouble indeed. Second, certain gods dislike mortals meddling with the life or form of themselves or others, so would-be shapeshifters often end up dead before they even encounter the trouble of trying to change back into their original form. Despite all of those risks, there are always some men and women who can't resist the lure of transmutation, and so it remains relatively common.

    Divination: Divination is another tricky discipline, but mainly due to the anger of gods. It can be used to view other places, to communicate silently with telepathy, or to track down people or objects. These all tend not to bother the gods. However, divination magic is also the sort used to read or alter another person's thoughts, and the Goddess of Mind does not like that at all and tends to kill those who do it. It is possible to view events of the past, but the God of Time smites those who dare push further than a few hours into the past. Supposedly divination can also view the possibilities of the future, but the God of Time and Goddess of Fate both treat such violations very harshly. Even with these established boundaries, divination can be a very useful discipline indeed: many cities hire or train divination mages to work with their army or local guards, and some find freelance work from wealthy individuals who wish to track down certain persons or objects or spy on rivals.

Technology
The general technology level of Ethcolan is more or less late Medieval period. There is a rule of thumb to keep in mind though: anything mundane technology can do, magic can do it better. The main reason technology persists and advances is that most people aren't powerful mages and cannot afford their services, so the average person still has use for things like a crossbow whereas a wealthy individual would be better off hiring someone who can hurl fireballs at people who they want dead. There's room for leniency in possibly allowing post-medieval technology to exist, because the Gnomes of Skypeak can be crafty little bastards and their finer creations often spread quickly, but it'll be looked at on a case by case basis. Below are some specific explanations of a few things that will be more directly relevant to understanding the world and making a character.

  • Getting from one place to another with speed requires the use of a horse or a boat. That's pretty much the best the average person can hope for. There are wagons and carts aplenty, and the coasts and rivers of Ethcolan have many ships that may offer a ride, but it still takes long journeys to get from one city to the next. Such is life in medieval times. Horses are expensive, but adventurers often have them as something of a necessary expense to be able to get to and from jobs quickly.

    There are magical means of getting around faster, but that tends to be the domain of either the very wealthy paying a mage to do the job or the mage using such power for their own benefit. Healers can keep horses running for days without stopping, wind mages can shove boats along at frightening speeds, and powerful summoners can send people from one place to another in a heartbeat.
  • As one might expect given the rough time period, medicine is not a fine art in Ethcolan. Herbal remedies are the go-to for most people, and various elixirs of dubious efficacy can be purchased to supposedly cure anything that ails you. Leeches are also very popular.

    However, those with the means can find magical treatment that works wonders when the leeches fail. Healer mages can be found in most towns and cities, and enchanters who dabble in the healing arts often sell potions that can make wounds close in seconds.

  • They exist, but don't expect them to be all-powerful. Unless they've been worked over with magic, meaning you'll need to use one of your allotted points for magical gear, then they're just going to be fancy things that are functionally equal to steel. They are definitely much better for magic usage than steel though, so powerful magical items are usually going to be made of mithril or meteor metal or so on.

  • It has been created by the Gnomes, but it has not been weaponized. It's currently a matter of interest in Skypeak, and ideas are floating around, but they're only just starting to think about using it for excavation as a cheaper alternative to paying earth mages or manual laborers. They're still pretty far from the more sophisticated act of hurling small bits of metal out of a tube to ruin some poor bastard's day. Guns and grenades do not exist yet in Ethcolan, though luckily magic can pierce and explode things without much trouble.

  • An enchanted item is one that a mage has imbued with a continuous effect. They are potentially dangerous and inconvenient because of this continuous nature: an enchanted fiery greatsword will always be on fire while the enchantment persists. Temporary enchantment-like effects can be achieved on the battlefield by a mage basically holding a spell around an item, but true enchantments are built into the object itself and last for months at a minimum; truly great enchantments are made to take in ambient magical energy to replenish themselves and last indefinitely. Most enchanted items with deadly effects come paired with something to contain their effects, such as a magically reinforced scabbard for the flaming greatsword, because otherwise they're just as much a risk to the wielder as anyone else.

    There are some notable exceptions to the common "always on" nature of enchantments. Some are purely single use effects, such as enchanted arrows that will expend their stored spell as soon as they strike a target. Magical potions also follow this same rule. In truth they are also always active, they're just constructed so that their effects are contained until the seal is broken (and as such physical damage to magic arrows or potion containers can have disastrous effects) and all of their energy is expended immediately. This distinction is lost on most people, so they tend to categorize these sorts of enchanted items as separate things because fire arrows aren't always on fire like a fiery sword is.

  • Magebrands are seen as a direct upgrade to enchantments. Rather than being on all the time, magebranded items have rune-like inscriptions on them that can be activated with a little bit of magic to either set off an immediate spell effect or to turn on an enchantment-like effect for a short time. Magebranded equipment from most places are somewhat rudimentary and require the user to have knowledge of the type of magic the effect is supposed to achieve so that they can shape the magic they shove into the magebrand (the name of those runic marks that activate the effect) to suit the spell; these effectively act as items that make a certain spell take less effort for a mage to cast. However, magebranded equipment from the Mactian Empire is far superior: they've discovered how to make it so completely unformed masses of magic energy shoved into the magebrand will activate the spell, thus even totally untrained novices can make use of them. They are very restrictive about what they sell and what they keep to themselves for their military use though, so outsiders are only likely to be able to get their hands on items on the level of a standard flaming sword or staff that will shoot a small fireball rather than one that can send out a massive wall of flame that could obliterate a whole village.


 
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History and Lore​
One Day In Varden


  • The other tabs in this post will house information regarding the history and lore of the world of Ethcolan, as written by various scholars and historians of the world itself. This information is not vital to understanding the world and playing within it, but it might help fill in some blanks or explain some oddities. As the player characters discover various aspects of the world there will be new entries added to this post, but they will also be included in posts later on in the OOC thread so don't worry about checking this post for new items. Unless your character has good reason to be aware of the information contained in these entries (whether the actual text or by hearing about it through word of mouth), they should be considered OOC knowledge only. I'll trust you to know what your character ought to know, but if you want to be certain you can always ask me about it.

  • Transcription of a lecture by Magister Harlen Blackwell, 2nd Circle Member of the Mage's Consortium:

    The greatest mystery of our time is not what one would expect. It is not the future, which anyone with a brain can see is bleak and getting bleaker. It is not what happens to us after death, for we know that Sharza takes our soul and houses it in the underworld. No, the greatest mystery that faces us is our past.

    If you want to see a historian squirm, ask him a simple question: what was the world like two thousand years ago? Even asking about a thousand years ago will make him decidedly uncomfortable. We're fairly confident that things existed and were happening back then because gods have been heard cryptically mentioning life thousands of years in the past. We lack any real information on that for ourselves, and the gods aren't talking about it, so we're stuck.

    I call it the History Wall. It seems to be erected about ten centuries in the past, give or take a couple decades. Every once in a while we'll find something that slipped past the wall, some document or cultural memory, but it's never much to go on. Our oldest known book is just over eight hundred years old, but we've found scraps of writings we think may be twice or thrice as old. Even the Elves don't know for certain what happened beyond the History Wall, and some of them had great grandparents who lived in that time. Some suggest that the gods purposely erased evidence and memories of the past, and there is certainly compelling evidence for it.

    What we do know for sure is that about seven hundred years ago the gods, called together by Zeinos, held some sort of meeting here on the mortal plane. They agreed on something, which they've referred to as The Accord without explaining it, and somehow whatever was mangling the historical record was ended. We can form a solid outline of the history of any nation for about seven hundred years, then it starts to get muddy before being completely obscured about a thousand years ago.

    Surviving documents and pieces of oral history suggest that the time before the gods reached their Accord was chaotic. They mention great changes among the gods and fights starting for no reason. A few of them refer to something else with terms like 'the end of times' or 'the great destruction', but rather than being attempts at prophecy they seem to be speaking of something in the past. The idea is actually a frighteningly common one: it can be found among every race, in almost every religion that speaks of the past, and not only do very isolated societies speak of it but they seem to have the clearest and most consistent picture of it. All of them speak of a great conflict, a war, in which gods and mortals fought with each other and amongst themselves. I have personally attempted to find answers, I have asked the Goddess of Life and a few of the Small Gods about it, but they all refuse to speak up or claim to know nothing about it.

    And that, dear students, is why our history is our most compelling mystery. We have dire hints and scraps of information, and those who could clear everything up simply will not do so. Have any of you ever spoken to someone who survived a horrible tragedy? Many of them seem to block out their memories of it, and the rest do not speak of it in anything but vague terms. These gods strike me as such survivors. Whatever they lived through, it was terrible enough to affect the gods themselves. It smashed a hole in mortal history. It left scars that perhaps we do not even recognize for what they are. What if the God of Time's edict against manipulating time with magic was a result of actions during this great war of the past? Some theorize that excessive meddling with time could do untold damage to the world, and perhaps that is the source of the History Wall. Perhaps our own cultural bans on sacrificial and blood magic come from terrible acts performed during that war. Worst of all, what if our lost knowledge means that we cannot learn from past mistakes? What if we are already on course for another great devastation and we don't even know it?

    These are the intricacies of the greatest mystery of our time. I, for one, would love to unravel them.

  • ...but that wonder and glory was not meant to last, of course. All things great and small must crumble and fade with the passing of time, and we elves know this far better than our shorter lived brethren. Alas, this lesson was not learned with grace in magnificent Mithilbras, crown jewel of the Chain of Idris. The Council of that ill-fated city of marvels grew old, and as they approached the grave they became afraid. They began delving into the dark magics, which in those days were viewed simply as unsavory rather than evil, and sought to surpass mortality itself. Most say it was pure arrogance that lead them onto this path, but others say it was that and simple mortal terror of the unknown. Whatever the cause, once they started on their dark path there was no turning back.

    Mithilbras deteriorated quickly. Citizens started disappearing, fights broke out where there had previously been only peace and joy, old grievances were woken anew. Modern mages theorize that the Council of Mithilbras opened a connection to the underworld very early on in their research, and malevolent energies from that realm seeped into ours and poisoned it. Theological reckonings say instead that it was not a matter of incidental seepage, but rather a willful release of those powers by Sharza in order to dissuade the elves from their sinful acts. Whatever the case may be, the Council's search for immortality tainted Mithilbras with darkness. The only known survivors were those who fled the city in the first week of the abominable research, and contemporary accounts from traveling merchants say that the city was locked down, as if defending against as siege, from the end of that first week until its demise. The sole surviving reputable document from those within Mithilbras at that time sheds further light on the closure: it states that the Council ordered the city barred, with none allowed to leave, for they had need of their citizens in these trying times. Other contemporary documents claim that the Council engaged in acts of sacrifice and cannibalism, but we cannot be sure of the veracity of such statements.

    What we do know for certain is the end result of that dark time: the destruction of Mithilbras and the death of all within its walls, and the land for miles around it stricken dead, never to support life again. Furthermore, we have the account of the destroyer herself, taken from the journals and sermons of a human priest of Sharza who was born thirty years after the fall of Mithilbras. Once his direct communion with Sharza was made known, elves asked him to beseech her for answers to the greatest and saddest mystery of their time, and answers she did give. At the stroke of midnight on the night of the full moon, the Council of Mithilbras performed a summoning ritual. They did not summon any of the common familiars, nor even the greater guardians or demons that powerful mages might call upon, but rather something far more powerful: they summoned Sharza, the Goddess of Death herself, into the mortal world. It was no minor summoning either, not a projection or an avatar of the goddess, but a fully corporeal manifestation.

    Sharza, through her chosen human mouthpiece, said that the Council had summoned her into a massive binding circle of great power and complexity, far greater than she would have guessed them capable of. They demanded that she give them the secrets of immortality, or at the very least to bless them personally with freedom from the binds of death. Clearly they intended to keep Sharza trapped, perhaps even attempting something so foolish as to torture her, in order to get what they wanted. This, then, was the Arrogance of Mithilbras: mortals thought they were more powerful than one of the gods, and this was their downfall. Powerful though their binding was, no mortal construct could hold a goddess against her will. She destroyed the circle, then the Council, then their grand palace, and upon seeing the taint that had infected the rest of the city she slew its remaining residents for the greater good. To drive the lesson home, she smashed the fine buildings and sturdy walls of the city into rubble, then anchored the land itself to her realm, the underworld, so that it would remain inhospitable to life for all time. It was meant as a warning to mortals, to show them why they must never attempt to meddle with the gods, and on the whole it worked: while there have been foolish attempts by other mortal races to tamper with the purviews of the gods in the past two hundred years, no such mistakes by elves have been recorded.

    Thus did Mithilbras fall, slain by the sword of its own hubris that was wielded by the Goddess of Death. The aftermath of this tragic loss echoed throughout the other cities of the Chain of Idris, disrupting trade and leaving the Elven Confederation unbalanced and vulnerable...

    - Excerpt from A History of Elvenkind, Vol. 8 by Elgas Thalien
  • Introduction of the memoir of Godchaser Calus

    For those who know where to look, gods are damn near everywhere. Some people have this notion that gods are always off in their own realm, paying no mind to us mortals, but they're just plain wrong. I estimate that in any given major city at any given time, there's probably at least two gods there, likely more. There are thousands of gods, after all, so of course they're all over the place. The best way to find them, and the logic one must follow to earn the title of Godchaser, is to chase disaster and calamity.

    I met my first god when I was just a boy of six. My village was wiped away in a horrible flood, and a strange man showed up to survey the wreckage. He was a portly fellow who asked about how exactly the events transpired, taking notes all the while. That was Berzen, God of History. He was the one I ran into most often, in fact, and we ended up something like friends before I got too old to travel. He was alright, Berzen. Kind, liked to laugh, always told a good story, willing to give you some help in trade for a story he'd never heard.

    Don't let that fool you, though. Most gods are no better than pests. The Small Gods are the worst of the lot. They skitter around, seeking tragedies with relation to their aspect, and when they arrive they soak it in with glee. I met the Goddess of Floods once, damn near stabbed her when she recounted the destruction of my village like it was a fond memory. Hard to say if they actually cause these troubles or just get drawn to them because of their nature, but either way they're like flies flocking to fresh dung.

    I spent my whole damned life trying to understand the gods, meeting as many as I could and talking to those who'd spare me the time of day. Can't say I came out with a positive opinion of the lot. Lucky me, I was never the worshipping sort, so the realization that I felt disdain for gods as a whole never caused me any distress. I get a few folks every turn of the moon, coming to ask me for my wisdom about the gods and how best to serve them, and the damn fools seem offended by my answer. That's why I'm writing this book. When you read everything I've seen of the gods, you'll see them as I do: they're just like mortals, a pack of terrible people who sometimes manage to do a good thing, and all that makes them different is how much power they've got.

    Of course, most people are stupid and useless just like the gods, so I figure this book won't make much of a difference in the end. Can't fault an old man for trying to find meaning in his final days though, so here goes nothing.

    Editor's Note: The unfinished status of this memoir is due to the fact that Godchaser Calus was struck dead by a spear made of bone flying through the wall of his home and pinning him to the opposite wall, where he remained stuck until he bled out. No culprit was ever found, though investigators noted that it would have taken a siege ballista to launch the spear with that much force, and the small mud path showed no signs of such an implement being brought to bear upon the writer's home. The work ends on Calus writing of the time he met Sharza, Goddess of Death, and claims that he had found out some deeper truth about the Goddess that he would reveal at the end of his story. It is left to the reader to make what they will of these possibly related events.
  • A transcription of the speech given by Godchaser Calus to an audience of clergy of many faiths in the Hall of Zeinos in the city of Macti:

    Every cow within a mile of a small town in Alfhem territory gave birth to a two-headed calf on the same day. All of 'em, even the ones that hadn't seen a bull in months.

    A flight of birds over Estalla dropped dead, and their corpses landed in a perfect circle around a well. The well was fresh minutes before, turned to seawater after the birds fell.

    A man was found dead in his workshop in Skypeak, body cut into little cubes, but there wasn't even a drop of blood to be found. He'd been reparing a hammer, mundane work, nothing that could've backfired with disastrous effect.

    All of these events happened in the last five years. What do they all have in common? One or more people disappeared close by, right about the same time. Every single one of these extraordinary events I've tracked down have had disappearances close by. None of them ever get properly solved. Only clue to be had is that sometimes strange people or Servitors are seen heading into that home before it happens. Folks assume it's just the work of the gods and move on.

    That's not how I work. I did some digging, found some answers. Answers that'll shake you lot to your core. You poncy bastards in your robes, the lot of you together probably know less than half of what I knew about gods two decades past, and I've gone far beyond that now. I've got a question for you, rhetorical like. Think about your answer and what your fellow preists and clerics and so forth would say in response. You've all got the same answer, I'm sure.

    Where do Servitors come from?

    Aye, I can see it on your faces. The gods just snap their fingers and make Servitors out of nothing, right? Bullshit. Servitors are living things, not quite mortals but not quite gods either. They're a step in the middle, see? Now do you think the Goddess of Life would approve of every damned god worth remembering making living things to serve them? Prime Gods might get away with it, and some of the Middle Gods, but not the Small ones. That's just the obvious one who'd get mad, but there are plenty of gods who wouldn't take kindly to that kind of thing. Most of them have wings, but ever heard of the God of Air slapping them out of the sky? If they were just made out of nothing by the gods, why do they have free will enough to go off on their own and shack up with mortals to make little Scion babies? You'd think the gods would have better control of entities that they created with the snap of their fingers.

    Truth is, they would be in full control if they just made the things. Read up on your lore, some have tried it before in days long gone and anything made by a single god was always a mindless servant. Servitors being able to deviate from the plan and do as they please is proof that they're something different. Does that remind you of any sort of creature, eh? Defying the gods to do as they wish, never mind the consequences? Sounds a lot like us mortals, doesn't it? Some of us, at least. Every year there's another idiot who tries to reverse time or revive a dead lover or some such nonsense. We've all heard the stories, but people keep on trying. You lot have heard the stories about Servitors being slain by their god after being caught shirking their duties, particularly if it was to go lay with a mortal. And yet they keep on doing it. That's mortal behavior, no doubt about it.

    That's because they are mortals. Leastaways, they were mortals before becoming something else. I've got a pal who let slip a couple secrets in exchange for some of my wilder tales, and I think I know the truth now. See, the divine realms of the gods are chock full of that god's own power, so anything that lives there will be filled with that power. Mortals can be taken to those realms, and I've seen some ancient writing on stone walls that talks of mortals being given shelter from some great disaster by being taken into these divine planes of existence. What do you think you'd get if you threw a mortal into a great big pool of godly power and let them soak for some years? Servitors, that's what. These disappearing people, I'm certain they were taken to be made into Servitors. Every god I've asked where Servitors come from has avoided answering, in the normal way they do with empty mystical words and distractions. But when I ask if Servitors are mortals that've been brought into godly realms and changed by the power there? I've found it's a damn effective way to make 'em shut up and leave me alone, and I swear I've seen fear in a handful of divine eyes after asking. They might as well be shouting 'yes', the idiots.

    There you go, you gilded nitwits, a piece of the grand truth to chew on. Hopefully you all choke on it and stop bothering me to come tell you about my findings.
  • The full text of Summoner Evaro's Demonology Primer, a work written at the command of a general of the Mactian Empire's army for use in determining whether or not to supplement their armies with demons.

    There are common misconceptions about demons that bear correction before all else: demons are neither manifestations of evil nor tied to the less reputable gods. They may do evil things, and those gods might at times have their interests align, but their nature is quite separate. Demons are in fact not part of our world, so far as we understand it. I have summoned and interrogated many demons, and they all speak of their own home as a separate place. They must cross through a barrier, a magical equivalent to a city wall that is miles thick, and it requires a great deal of power to pull even a small demonic entity through that barrier. This is why the darker breed of summoners rely on living sacrifices: there is great power in sacrificial magic, and even a novice could pull a soldier demon through to our world for the price of a child's life. Demons themselves are creatures of base impulses, which leads them toward acts we consider evil, but it is much the same as considering wolves evil for devouring a deer.

    The second most important thing to speak of in relation to demons is this: NEVER SUMMON DEMONS! Yes, I am a hypocrite, but I have spent many years learning the follies of my own ways. Demons are far more clever than stories and biases would suggest, and the unwary summoner will become a demon's pet in no time. They are also extraordinarily powerful with magic. In the list below, be aware that everything listed below Succubi and Incubi are so dangerous that even lifelong Elvish masters of combat magic would struggle to defeat such a demon in a direct contest of power and skill. Maintaining control of a demon for a long period of time is very difficult unless you are vastly more powerful than them, thus even Succubi and Incubi are too dangerous for masters of the craft to hold for more than a few days at best. It is not just a matter of power: demons have spent countless years trying to burrow through the wall that separates them from our world, and though they have no had major success they have in general become very skilled at breaking through binding and sealing magics given enough time.

    Finally, it is vital to understand that demons, while not evil in the moral sense, are prone to the conqueror's mindset. They wish to take and control whatever they can, and there have been cases of demons ruling over small villages for long periods of time before finally being slain. However, they also possess some level of collective interest with others of their kind. Most demons left to roam free tend to seek out magic users to manipulate into summoning more demons. This is the crux of their symbiotic relationship with we mortals: while the smallest and weakest demons can pass through the barrier in either direction with great effort, their stronger compatriots seem able only to return to their world with ease. Whatever created that blockage, presumably the gods, it was apparently designed to keep the strong ones locked up, in all my research I have never found an instance of a demon being able to summon others of its kind even with all their prodigious magical abilities. Mortal mages are less constrained, and with sufficient power they can summons demons that would never be able to set foot on our world otherwise. This is the main reason why one should never summon demons: if you do not die immediately, you will likely be manipulated or enslaved to bring more into our world, thus endangering the lives of all around your.

    Proceed at your own risk, and may you die horribly if you fail to heed my warnings. The following is the list of categories of demons I have summoned or learned enough about to be confident in my description. Others certainly exist beyond this list, but I lack the information required to be sure of their natures or their role in their own world.

    Familiars - Familiars are the weakest of demons, shapeshifting creatures who seem to have little other ability with magic. They most often take the form of animals (cats are a favorite) and try to bond with mages to convince them to summon more powerful demons. Some have been found living as animals in towns and cities, playing tricks on the people who live there rather than actively seeking a summoner as most of their kind do.

    Imps - Small demons that appear much like deformed Goblins, generally much smaller than adult Goblins. Imps are weak enough to be kept as pets indefinitely by powerful mages, but they are foul little beasts good for little other than target practice. Their magic seems to be limited to throwing fire and minor acts of telekinesis.

    Bonechewers - The strongest demons capable of burrowing their way into our world, but rather weak by demon standards. There are stories of ravenous undead, the creations of necromancers, terrorizing villages and consuming many people before being put down. Those tales are mistaken: risen corpses are slow and shambling things. Such creatures are in face Bonechewers, which appear as gaunt and nearly fleshless humanoids whose sole instinct seems to be to feed on any meat available. They are the only demons I have found to be incapable of intelligent communication.

    Craft Demons - A very broad category, but they all generally are among the weakest of the class of demons that cannot break through the barrier on their own. These demons take a wide variety of appearances, many with more than a single set of arms, and their purpose in their own world is simple: create swords, armor, jewelry, and other useful or desired objects for their betters. They are all metalworkers (and from my studies it seems the world of demons lacks trees but is very abundant in metal), some focusing on processing metal and others on making it into specific implements. Craft Demons are among the most docile demons, and many have been used as slave labor to craft military armaments expediently for various rulers at different periods of history. They all turn on their masters in the end though, and like other demons they will try to convince mages to summon more.

    Satyrs - For lack of a better term, Satyrs are the ambassadors of demonkind. They appear as hairy humanoids with heads like goats, but they speak eloquently when given the chance. The Satyrs I have spoke to argue that their kind are simply misunderstood, that they are prisoners who have been turned into monsters by countless centuries of captivity, and they urged me to summon more of their brethren to see the truth for myself. While they are brilliant conversationalists, their true colors show when you deny their requests: if you are no use to their goal of bringing more demons to the mortal world, you are fit only for death. I suspect, but have not been able to confirm, that Satyr were crafted by one or more of the Archfiends specifically for the sake of seeking a way to bring them into our world. A horrifying thought, truly.

    Gorehounds - So named for their penchant of tearing their summoners limb from limb immediately, thus spending their entire existence in our world covered in gore. They come in a variety of appearances, but all are quadrupedal and bear some resemblance to wolves. Much like Bonechewers, they seem to be driven by pure hunger, but they are capable of communication if properly restrained. Of all demons, Gorehounds are the most slippery in terms of escaping magic meant to hold or command them, thus their reputation for slaughtering those who summon them. They do indeed seem to prefer to first kill whoever brought them into the mortal world, making them at once the greatest danger to their summoner and the least dangerous in terms of causing other demons to be summoned.

    Legions - More commonly called soldier demons. Legions are the demons that would form the rank and file of the armies of demons should the barrier ever come down and allow the creatures to seek to take our world as a whole, and they would likely succeed. The one Legion I was able to speak to (for most of them refused to cease trying to slaughter me) claimed that their kind were indeed the foot soldiers of the Archfiends in their world, used as pawns to settle disputes between the most powerful demons. They tend to look like overgrown Orcs, and their only interest seems to be fighting. Attempts to harness their strength as soldiers in mortal conflicts has usually turned out poorly, though there have been accounts of Legions being summoned directly into the midst of enemy forces and wreaking great havoc before they could be put down.

    Succubi/Incubi - Possibly the same creature, possibly two separate types with similar abilities. Regardless, they are seducers in all ways. They weave powerful illusions to appear as regular mortals (though their true forms can easily be mistaken for Elf Scions cursed with horns and oddly colored skin), they convince unwary mages to bed them, they use further magic to enhance the experience immensely (I have dabbled and can confirm that no mortal woman could compare), and finally they flatter and sway their mortal lovers with honeyed words to get them to summon other demons. In their own way, Succubi and Incubi post the greatest threat to our world out of all demons, for subterfuge and seduction tend to be more effective than force.

    Artisan Demons - A term of my own devising. They are technically very similar to Craft Demons, but there is a very key difference: they are capable of imbuing their creations with magic, rather than simply using magic in the process of heating and shaping metal like their lesser cousins. I have been unsuccessful in my attempts to summon one, but the Succubi I conversed with were all in agreement that such demons were more powerful than their ilk and also that they were a hotly contested resource for the Archfiends in their neverending power struggles.

    Lurchers - Perhaps the most disturbing form of demon, Lurchers are also the most powerful kind I have ever heard of being summoned into our world. Their appearance in their own world is uncertain, and none of the demons I have spoken to were willing to say anything but that they are horrifying. In our world, they do not exactly have forms of their own. Rather, they must be summoned using a mortal body as a vessel, supposedly through a specific ritual that takes many hours and a lot of power to complete. Once summoned, they take over the body of their vessel and expand greatly in size, becoming massive creatures that appear to be formed entirely of bleeding muscles and shards of bone. Both times they were summoned, so far as I could find through research, they killed hundreds (one account suggest thousands) before they could be put down by many powerful mages working in unison.

    Infernals - Though they are said to take many forms, Infernals are regarded by demons themselves as the most powerful entities in their world beside the Archfiends. Some work under the Archfiends as generals and the like, whereas others establish their own domains to rule over until an Archfiend destroys them for daring to rule over demons who rightfully belong to them (which, apparently, includes every demon incuding Infernals themselves). Some take the form of massive humanoids covered in scales with large wings spreading from their backs, others as dragons, and others still as creatures formed of stone and flame like a volcano come to life.

    Archfiends - The rulers and most powerful demons of the realm beyond the barrier. Details are sparse, for lesser demons will often kill themselves rather than speak a single word of these creatures, but I have confirmed a few facts beyond those contained above. There are 9 Archfiends, and they keep the world of demons embroiled in near constant war thanks to their frequent disagreements and the ever-shifting alliances between them. The most talkative demon I ever encountered, a Craft Demon who made rings, was confident that these Archfiends are each powerful enough to crush hundreds of Infernals on a whim.
  • A section of the personal journals of Faen Godtouched, known as the only recorded Scion of Thanas'Atalias, the God of Gods. His writings, some five centuries or more old, are considered sacred among many religions due to their contents regarding his personal and amiable conversations with many different gods.

    Today was the first time I have ever seen Idris grow angry, and I deeply hope it to be the last. After finding the silver-threaded cloak among my mother's forgotten possessions, I grew curious and researched where it might have come from. The answer was surprising and worrying, and so I asked Idris herself a question she had refused to answer for others: why do you so hate the Moon Lords? It was Idris' edict that banned them in my mother's time, long before she died, but as best I could find they were nothing but a group of scholars. Before the goddess would give me an answer, she made me swear that I would not seek to defy her will and follow in my mother's 'ill-fated footsteps', that I would leave the legacy of the Moon Lords in the grave where it belonged. A curious phrase regarding my mother joining the Moon Lords, but I accepted her terms as I sought only information to begin with.

    Idris started by explaining to me that she was not always the Goddess of the Moon. Originally she was just the Goddess of Magic, and the purview of the Moon came later. Once, many years ago, there was another Goddess of the Moon: Sirra. Idris referred to her as her sister; many gods use such terminology for gods they had close personal relationships with, rather than to denote familial kinship, but I could not tell for certain if she meant it in this way. I could find no record of a goddess called Sirra, but this was apparently hundreds of years ago, before and during the chaotic times my grandfather spoke of vaguely when he was deep in his wine. Sirra at one point encouraged the Moon Lords, guided them on their way and helped them to learn more about the world. They later turned their backs on her in favor of Idris, and they proclaimed her their chosen goddess, but they did not change their name. In the age of chaos, the Moon Lords apparently were spread far and wide, with great influence, and it was only afterward that they waned into the secretive cult of scholars my mother joined. This influence, and their many and public proclamations of Idris as their guiding goddess, was enough to change the minds of mortals far and wide. Idris became the Goddess of the Moon in truth, not just by mistaken association, and Sirra faded away. She refused to elaborate on the nature of that 'fading', but it sounded as if she was speaking of someone long dead.

    That piece of the story seemed to evoke more sadness than anything else in Idris. It was what followed that stoked her ire and made her eyes burn like icy blue forges. She glossed over the chaotic time and The Accord, as she always does when I ask about them, and explained what the Moon Lords became afterward. They sought not just knowledge in general and for its own sake, but rather they sought forbidden knowledge in order to empower themselves. She told me that it was a group of Moon Lords that performed some hideous ritual one hundred and fifty-four years ago that summoned a vile demon known as a Lurcher (I am not very learned on demon lore, but I have no reason to doubt Idris' explanation that they are the most powerful demons short of the Archfiends themselves), which killed hundreds of innocents before mortal sorcerers worked together to kill it. That was merely the greatest of their successful atrocities, she said, and the list of others she rattled off were too numerous to recount in detail. Theft and murders committed in tandem with theft seemed to be the key theme, which did not surprise me much. Their greatest crime, according to Idris, was that they very intentionally sought and uncovered forbidden knowledge regarding The Accord. My curiosity was thoroughly piqued, but it died down when she noted that she personally killed every last Moon Lord of the enclave in which the information was discovered, and afterward she destroyed every scrap of writing in that that hideout before pulling down the building as a whole.

    It was after that incident that Idris had her high priests and priestesses across the land spread her decree that the cult of the Moon Lords must be abolished and outlawed, and that any who dared claim allegiance to that group would be deemed an enemy of Idris herself. It was that transgression, the uncovering of that which the gods had hidden away, that earned them the hatred of the Goddess of Magic (and the Moon, among other aspects). Idris assured me that there was no personal vengeance in the matter, no getting back at the Moon Lords for 'getting rid of' Sirra, but I have my doubts. The gods are ever mysterious, and few moreso than Idris. I was happy to change the subject to speaking of a new use I have found for my healing magic, the process of fixing seasonal allergies that occupied my spring work and writing this year, and we spoke at length of the details. It is always pleasant to converse with the gods on their preferred subjects of expertise, and this was no exception.

    Idris of course asked me, before she left to attend to matters elsewhere, to keep her talk of the time before The Accord and the truth of the Moon Lords to myself. As much as I would love to share this information, I must keep my word. As usual with the most interesting things I learn from the gods, this shall remain our little secret, journal.

 
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Kaushan Script;Cantarell;

Yazmina Boelner


Basics

Name: Yazmina Boelner
Race: Human Scion (Divine parent: God of Sin)
Sex/Gender: Female
Age: 35


Written Appearance:
Just a regular human... Yazmina has a strong build, shaped from years of wearing heavy armor and wielding swords. Her skin is light brown, a reminder of her ferocious mountain warriors ancestors, and her hair is thick and jet black, to the point where it almost (but not quite shimmers silvery in the sunlight. It is nearly always braided in thick tresse, but during downtimes she will let her hair loose for a few hours. Much like her skin, her eyes are brown, almost amber. Under her armour, Yazmina wears vivid coloured clothes and has a penchant for embroidered silk tunics.
... But not quite. Being a Scion, Yazmina has a very particular characteristic that sets her apart from everyone. She has an aura of darkness around her at all times that affects only her skin and hair and such, not her clothing/armor/gear. Even in full sunlight she looks like she's standing under light shade. In a room lit by candles and torches it's hard to make out her features from more than arm's length away. In almost total darkness, say outside on a cloudy night, she blends in and only the whites of her eyes can really be seen.


Skills

Fighting Style:

Melee Fighter; Swinging things and bashing foes with her shield is how Yazmina fights. She likes clean fights, none of the dodgy nonsense. She is immediately proficient with heavy armor, shields, and two-handed melee weapons.


Signature Skill:

She's a Gladiator; Yazmina's greatest strength lies in her use of a one-handed weapon and her shield. Regardless of the weapon, as long as it is one-handed, she is absolutely deadly with it. Her shield can both be used as a bashing object and a defensive object (+ shielding magic on it).


Major Flaw:

Ranged disadvantage; Everything about her is close-combat. Whenever she has to deal with ranged attacks, she is not very good at dodging or even blocking them with her shield. Whether it be ranged physical attacks or magic attacks, she is vulnerable to them when they are coming from a ranged distance.


Other Strengths:

Take a second one along; Exceptionally skilled at handling two weapons at once, Yazmina will cast aside her shield and pull out a second one-handed weapon at any moment during a fight. She isn't as good at it as with one weapon + shield combo, but still much better than average.

Shielding magic; While she is far from being a mage, Yazmina has enough knowledge and practice in this particular type of magic to use it during combat. She has not really learned how to use it otherwise, but it might happen on a spur-of-the-moment situation (on herself only).


Other Weaknesses:

Magical Delicacies; Even though she can use some form of shielding magic, she is naturally weak against any other form of magic that manages to make it past her shielding.

Liar liar, shield on fire; Yazmina is hopelessly bad at deception and at any kind of lying. Even lying by omission is a feat she struggles with, and it also affects her persuasion skills against both enemies and allies.


Special Gear

Brauhm's Shield (2pts); Her current shield was gifted to her by a mage many years ago. It is a magebrand shield made of mithril and maple wood. The runes on it are activated at will, and deactivated once she whispers a second incantation. Because she still has to gather the magical energy to activate the shield's runes, knowledge and proficiency in Shielding magic is required.

Steel Ball Gown (1pt); Every single piece of her armour suit is pristine and made of the best metallurgy technologies available - or so she thinks. The armour is in fact enchanted. It has been Yazmina's armour for almost a decade now and she's never had to replace a piece, simply fix and mend a few dents here and there after particularly brutal fights.


Biography

Yazmina Boelner was born on the outskirts of the Mactian Empire. she never met her father, but it became apparent very quickly that he had been no ordinary mortal. When she was only a toddler, the signs of her being a Scion became so apparent that her mother fled the Empire for fear of being sanctioned for having laid with a Servitor of the God of Sin. Being a prostitute was no honorable way of life, but this had been the last nail on her mother's coffin for having been fooled into sleeping with the impersonation of Sin himself.

They traveled through the land together until they finally arrived in Noveus, and for the first time it felt like Yazmina wasn't quite alone in her oddities. They lived there for a few years until her mother died, and left without any money or means to support herself, Yazmina foolishly entered a fighting competition, and after winning a few matches, "sponsors" began showing up. They offered her something she had yearned for for years: a place to belong. What she did not realize was they were in fact slave traders from Jaka, and with no one to look after little Yazmina, she was quickly shipped away from the nation-state and she embarked on a long journey of pit fighting, arena gladiating, and other unsavoury activities a slave would be asked to partake in.

Years went by and despite herself, Yazmina absolutely loved fighting. It gave her meaningless life a purpose: to win the next fight, to live to the next day. This purpose became passion, and by the time she reached her early twenties, she was able to break free from her chains and ran away from Jaka. It took her months of drudging through the dirt to arrive back in Noveus, and while she first attempted to find a regular job, either shopkeeper or even assistant to a blacksmith mage, the lure of brawling was never far. She frequently got into fights that could have easily been avoided, and it was only when she reached a point of no return that her life took a turn and she was left with only one choice: becoming an adventurer. It was not easy at first, but she had made a friend in that blacksmith mage, and he was the one to gift her a shield made specifically for her: Brauhm's Shield. While she wasn't particularly proficient with any type of magic, it took her years and years of learning and practicing Shielding magic to become good enough at it to make full use of Brauhm's shield. Yazmina's limitations are due to her only learning how to activate the shield and after years of practicing on her own, she has become pretty good at it. Any further advancement in Shielding magic would require more education from a mage.

It was during a particularly draining fight against a group of magical beasts that Yazmina realized she was utterly shit in magical combat. She got her ass royally kicked and it nearly cost her her life if not for a party member lending her a hand at the last minute. Her armour was completely shattered and she fell unconscious for days. Upon waking up, her party members had abandonned her and it was with great difficulty that she staggered through ruined villages, trying to find food and something to help her heal. While looting the house of what seemed to be a gnome family, Yazmina found the suit of armour she now wears. She has no idea who crafted it or if it had been commissioned by someone else, but she didn't even have to make alterations to it for the pieces to fit her perfectly.

All of this belongs in the past now, and Yazmina has been continuing on adventuring in Holtania and avoiding large cities due to her Scion appearance. Villagers and commoners seemed less likely to ostracize her if she saved their lives, but that made it difficult to support herself. The main reason for her applying to this job in Varden. The promise of a huge pile of gold was enough to brave through larger cities as she made her way to the small town.

Art Source

Hexcode: #9A1

 
Basics
Name: Grand Justice-Dispenser, Fast-Hands (really, and more accurately, named: Wank)
Race: Goblin
Sex/Gender: Male
Age: 10

a5Iit2O.jpg

Image Credit: Taken from Paizo/Pathfinder's community blog. Credit goes to Dave Allsop

Appearance: A runty, disgusting little goblin in rags of grey. Wears a look of perpetual scheming and mischief. Doesn't have no goddamned bow.

Skills
Fighting Style: Mage - A naturally talented goblin and an aspiring mage, Wank’s modus operandi is to launch his magical assault from afar.

Signature Skill: ‘Burninate’ - Rudimentary though it is, Wank’s facility in fire magic is his greatest boon, firing hot sparks and globs of flame with reckless abandon. While a novice at best when it comes to potency, Wank is a rather quick hand when it comes to the somatic components of the craft, and can ignite things in quite a hurry.

Major Flaw: Runt - Simply put, Wank is weak, unable to perform most feats of strength or stamina related labors. This makes him a bit of a grim display when it comes to close quarters combat, especially when married with his lack of proficiency in the gamut of melee weaponry. The term ‘glass-jaw’ does not apply to Wank; glass-body is perhaps more apt.

Other Strengths:

Stealth - as is true of much of his ilk, Wank is a quick and nimble shadow, adept at slinking and slithering into blind-spots and dark patches.

Lockpicking - in order to fuel his earliest arson-endeavors, Wank picked up the art of lockpicking, and also the crude artifice of ad hoc crafting lockpicks.

Fastest Hand in All the West Land - Wank is ridiculously fast when it comes to springing into action, particularly when it comes to the motion of raising one's hand (useful for his fire magics).

Other Weaknesses:

Sickly - Adding on to his runty-strength, Wank has a particularly weak disposition when it comes to sickness, doubly so when it comes courtesy of toxin, poison, vermin or vile magics.

Bad Liar - Wank’s poker-face needs work, and for whatever reason, be it some newly manifested facial or verbal tic, the goblin simply cannot spin together or present a worthy lie. On the opposite end, he is equally hopeless at seeing through a lie.

Smelly - Wank smells like absolute olfactory catastrophe, which presents a myriad issues. One) many are perhaps naturally predisposed to disliking the goblin. Two) at a close enough distance, his stench may render his stealthy talents moot against the average set of nostrils, let alone the more nasally-gifted (guard dogs, etc).

Hard of Hearing - A beating he received at the hands of the village farmer (he set his pig on fire, long story), has rendered him a little deaf in each ear.

Special Gear

Pung’s Stick - Passed along throughout Wank’s family tree, this is a magical branch that is constantly emitting a small fire (similar to a candle) - the fire never wanes, nor does the branch ever wither or crack beneath the flames.

Biography

Born on the road to Holtania, Wank was the ‘salvation-child’ of Mox and Pung; so named because his birth came during the end of their harrowing escape from a particularly bad bit of orc-goblin servitude in the rocky expanse of Tholkar. For much of his childhood, he lived in some tucked-away crawlspace of the Honeyhome Inn, where Mox and Pung labored for coin. As Wank grew older, he perceived an awful inequity about it all; that his parents, who had made their grueling escape from servitude, would choose to toil beneath the Innkeep’s watchful eye. Most horrific, he thought, was his parent’s prodigious talents in fire magics, wasted away on expediently lighting the fireplace of the Honeyhome Inn.

Good ol’ Pung would always tell him, “Light a fire, and you can make your way in the world!”

So, he insisted that Mox and Pung teach him, for the ostensible reason of assisting in their fireplace lighting. On the contrary, Wank intended to make his way. He would rail against the oppressors who enslaved good, kind Mox and Pung for fair and equitable pay. At first capable of emitting but a tiny shower of sparks from his fingers, he contented himself with leaving barely noticable scorch marks alongside private property walls. As his talents developed, however, he progressed to more calamitous endeavors, like roasting the village farmer’s pig alive.

And while the first time, the villagers may have shrugged and decided to engage in an impromptu roast, it eventually came time that the arsonist be dealt with. The malevolent oppressors with all their vile skullduggery laid a trap - which may or may not have been a prize-pig pageant, ripe for the flaming - and awaited the goblin. When the first victimized farmer came upon him, Wank realized the singular fact that made his crusade unsustainable: he was hopelessly weak. They beat him bloody.

He was allowed to remain in the village, if only because Mox and Pung had more or less become beloved institutions of the Honeyhome Inn. Unlike Mox and Pung, however, Wank became a pariah, and not a day went by where the villagers did not lambast him for his crimes and personal failings. Wank could not accept this, nor could he accept Mox and Pung’s docility, which he perceived as cowardice and weakness. Most of all, some say, is that he could not accept being the worst of them.

And so, perhaps solely out of spite, Wank resolved himself to becoming a great and heroic adventurer - or, at the very least, to do more good than any of those obnoxious villagers. Labeling himself as the great ‘dispenser of protection’, he embarked upon his grand (and grandly petty) mission.

Having the entire town of Varden indebted to him? What a promising start.
 
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Basics
Name:
Griselda
Race: Human
Sex/Gender: Female
Age: 19
Appearance:
7833c552423c4d9a12e083aa12ec1a53.jpg

Art by GUWEIZ

Skills
Fighting Style:
Support Caster
You won't see Griselda on the front lines. She works from afar through the use of magic, and generally once the battle is done--although she's adept with a dagger for closer range in a pinch.

Signature Skill: Healer
Gifted from a young age, Griselda was apprenticed in the arts of restoration magic from the time she was 11. She is capable of healing minor wounds instantly, and serious injuries within minutes.

Major Flaw: Crippled
Grieselda's right arm and leg are significantly weaker than her left. She cannot grip a weapon or other object tightly in what was once her dominant hand, nor can she lift anything which is too heavy to heft one-handed. While she can run, she is not as fleet of foot as she used to be. Her right leg cannot support her weight alone.

Other Strengths:

-Cursed Touch
Griselda is well-versed enough in restoration magic to be able to harm as well as heal, though it requires physical contact in order for her to do any real damage. She can cause sharp pain or open small wounds where she has touched a living person.

-Raise Dead
Griselda is a dabbler in necromancy, and is proficient enough to raise and control a single human-sized corpse at a time, or several smaller ones.

-Silver Tongue
Despite her grotesque appearance, Griselda has a way with words. She can be extremely persuasive.

Other Weaknesses:

-Right-Hand Blindness
Griselda's right eye is fully blind, a milky orb set in a desiccated socket. While she can keep it hidden to put others more at ease, she cannot supplement for the significant narrowing of her field of vision.

-Disfigured
The right half of Griselda's body is hideously withered and blackened in appearance. She wears long sleeves and high collars, gloves, and a half mask as well as a hood to hide as much as possible, but she cannot fully cover the deadened skin. Her unmasked appearance is unnerving and even sickening to those around her.

-Physically Frail
In addition to the weakness in her limbs, Griselda is small and sleight of build. She cannot absorb a solid hit, nor can she deliver a particularly strong blow.

Special Gear

The Dress
A fancy ballgown suitable for Holtanian court, glittering with gilt thread and shining gems, enchanted with the power to enhance the beauty of the wearer. It has a long, heavy train and a bustle. Extremely cumbersome. On Griselda, it is enough to conceal her corpse-like appearance; the dead, blackened skin becomes pink and shiny like scar tissue.

Biography

Griselda was born with a silver spoon in her mouth. The spoiled granddaughter of a Holtanian baron, she was provided with opportunities for education as she pleased. Showing an interest in magic, she was sent to learn at the Consortium at the tender age of 11 (an apprenticeship secured by both her natural talent and, more importantly, her grandfather's coin and influence) where she quickly displayed an aptitude for restoration magic in particular.

Unfortunately, the girl also displayed a burning curiosity for things perhaps best left alone. With little heed for the instruction of her masters, she used her allowance to seek out material related to the necromantic arts. In secret, she began to practice on small animals. In her mind, it was simply an extension of her chosen field, another side to the same coin, and she was determined to have every tool available at her disposal.

When she was 18 years old, Griselda's twin brother Farran was killed in a sudden, tragic accident when he was thrown from his horse. Maddened by grief, she attempted the unthinkable: to bring him back, body and soul. Halfway through working the spell, Griselda second-guessed her choice... but too late. The Goddess of Death spared Griselda's life, but not her body. Crippled, hideous, and cast out from both her family and her peers at the Consortium, Griselda considers herself half-dead already.

Her only recourse left to make a living--and as she sees it, her only way to atone for her misdeeds--is to seek out those in need of skilled healing, and especially to track down sources of truly evil magic. When she saw the posting by the Archmage, she saw a chance for redemption, and that above all is what brings her to Varden on the full moon.
 
VardenPic3.png


Basics
Name: Deidre Dydi
Race: Human
Sex/Gender: Female/Femme
Age: 27

#D74

Skills
Fighting Style:
  • Quarterstaff Fighter - The long and short of it is she hits people with a big stick, while using her telekinesis to quickly dart around the battlefield as well as sending her enemies flying.

Signature Skill:
  • Telekinetic Adept - Deidre is well versed in telekinesis. While she can't use it on things at range, she more than makes up for it when affecting herself or things she's touching. She can use it make herself run faster, dodge an opponent's blow, send her foes flying, strengthen her body, or leap incredible distances. When using it to blast back someone she hits, the blast itself is merely energy and causes little in the way of injuries. Using it to slam people into things, however, does.

Major Flaw:
  • Fury of the Furry - Cats. Dogs. Other animal friends with fur. Deidre is allergic to them all. Severely. Being in the same room for too long leaves her sniffling and short of breath. Actual contact puts her on the ground within a minute, barely able to draw enough breath to stay conscious.

Other Strengths:

  • Sticks and More Sticks - With kicks and punches and staff, Deidre knows how to lay about her and beat people over the head.
  • Missed Me - Quick on her feet and with an excellent awareness of the space around her, Deidre is remarkably difficult to hit.
  • My Turn - A fighter's greatest moment of weakness is the instant after making their own attack. Capitalizing on this, Deidre's offense is at its greatest immediately after she dodges or deflects an opponent's blow.

Other Weaknesses:

  • Whites of Their Eyes - Deidre hits people. She doesn't have any practice with throwing things, or shooting arrows. If she can't get in close to someone, she can't do anything to them.
  • You Didn't Dodge - She's quick and evasive, not sturdy. Put her somewhere cramped like a hallway, and she'll have a hard time not being hit by that incoming fireball. And when hit, she's not great at shrugging off a beating. Not even good. Barely adequate, maybe.
  • Developed Dependency - All of Deidre's reflexes, her acrobatics and fighting and maneuverability, were practiced and trained alongside the use of her telekinesis. Take that magic away from her, somehow, and not only is she weakened, but all of her years of muscle memory are rendered worse than useless. She becomes actively clumsy and awkward in her movements.

Special Gear

  • Leaping Boots II - Deidre wears magemarked boots, into which she can channel magic to render them temporarily stationary. This can be used to keep her footing when she'd otherwise be knocked back, but more commonly she uses them to jump in mid-air. Letting her cross obscene distances, or change direction while jumping without touching ground.
  • Channeling Quarterstaff I - The quarterstaff Deidre uses is enchanted to be far more durable, so that it can withstand the forces she exerts upon it. Additionally, it allows her to use her telekinetic blasts on those she hits with it, instead of relying on only her punches and kicks.

Biography

For the weak, there is one rule in Jaka. Keep your head down, stay out of sight, and hope you aren't noticed. Deidre's parents drilled this into her day to day. Hour to hour. Be meek. Be careful. Be quiet. Deidre didn't listen. Armed with the broken handle of a broom, she roamed the streets as a child. Not a fan of hunger, she stole when she felt peckish. She sabotaged the wheels of wagons, set horses loose, and mocked people on the street, bolting when they came after her.

But a child's legs can only run so fast, and overconfidence is a slow and insidious killer.

One particularly vexed target loosed a hound after her. A hound she barely managed to escape by clambering over a fence, but not before its claws nicked her leg. A minor injury, by any means, but within moments Deidre was sprawled on her side in an alley, wheezing for air and skin inflamed. She was captured, in her helplessness, by a group interested in alternative methods to developing magic in their pupils. Methods that they were considerate enough to test on strays like Deidre before their own students. The concept was simple. Pain to crack the body and mind, then expose them to magic, in the hopes that in their rush of adrenaline something would leak through the cracks. "Make this stop," they'd say, between lashes of leather and magic. "Defend yourself," they'd demand, striking her staff from her hands before striking her for her carelessness.

And over the next ten years, she learned.

Leap by desperate leap, she learned. She learned to fight, to defend herself. Through pain and turmoil, she unlocked her potential for magic, and used it to ward off the blows of her beatings. The captors were thrilled. Success was achieved, their methods proven true. And drunk on the honey of victory, they forgot a simple fact. By their own deeds, they had turned Deidre into something competent. Someone who was no longer the weak child they have first brought in.

She escaped, using her fresh powers of telekinesis to evade those they sent after her. She was fast, acrobatic, and erratic. It was not long nor difficult for her to lose those who tried to follow. To make her way to her own home, only to find it abandoned. Her parents gone. Dead perhaps, or just as likely fled. Gone elsewhere, gone somewhere safer. An idea Deidre followed suit in, with no ties to Jaka remaining.

In the freedom of the world beyond her home, the spark of independence that she had had as a child, the spirit almost crushed by her captors, flared back to life. The need for adrenaline, and thrills, and perhaps even a small yearning for the sense of danger and pain she had become so used to. Everywhere she traveled, she took jobs both odd and dangerous, or most often both. To her, Varden is simply another thrill. Another rush for a drifting nobody that knows nothing else.
 
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  • Name: Sir Amel.
    Race: Human Scion. (God of Teacups)
    Age: Twenty-five.
    Sex/Gender: Male.
    Homeland: Holtania.

    Appearance: Inspired by this, but older. (©wildweasel339)

    Athletic and lean, with a soft face and slim nose; something of a pretty-boy. He bears wavy locks of platinum-blond hair loosely framing his face, and a matching well-trimmed moustache. His eyebrows, however, are dark and thin curves, framing piercingly bright blue eyes. His skin is both unnaturally smooth and unnaturally pale, with what appears to be a network of fine cracks beneath a glossy finish.

    Smells faintly of green tea—it becomes more noticeable when he sweats.

    The boy knew little of his father growing up, save that he was a small god of little repute. Raised amidst the nobility, however, he was not ignorant of the poor treatment bestowed upon Scions—he was frequently picked on and beaten up by the other kids, and were his mother not graced with enough wealth to afford the frequent services of a healer and tutor, he would have likely have been broken quite young.​
    Instead, he grew fierce and determined, wishing to prove himself to his peers despite their constant taunts. And so, regardless of his frail constitution, it was at the young age of seven that he was sent away from his mother's arms to serve as a page to a family friend. Where other boys leveraged their strength to rise through the ranks, he leveraged his cunning—dancing around his opponents and predicting the next move, both in scrimmage and in court. He was not liked, but he was soon respected, and was passed along from knight to knight, ever dutiful in his service.​
    His mother's smile on the day of his knighting would always be his most fond memory. At first, she had watched from the sidelines, giving him space to relish his own moment of glory. And yet, when he later approached her, it was not just a hug that she had to offer him.​
    The boy had never met his father, but by this time he had begun to guess at his nature. The package that was passed to him by his mother on his father's behalf only confirmed his beliefs—Porce et Lame, a shield and a sword, and a letter filled with pride.​
    For a few years yet, he continued to serve his lord dutifully. Quickly, it became clear that no matter how dutiful, he would not earn the respect of his brothers-in-arms as he was. He was not built for the burden of battle, brutal mêlées and fierce tournaments. He was neither a soldier, nor a cavalryman to lead the charge. If he was a knight, it was because he had forced himself into the role, not because he had been bred for it.​
    And so he said his goodbyes to his mother and his lord, and left to wander the lands as little more than a mercenary with honour, seeking glory. A new purpose, and a new name. And when he head of a town in dire need of a saviour, he relished the opportunity to prove his worth.​



    Fighting Style
    Duellist & Anti-Mage. A melee fighter relying more on dexterity than strength to defeat his opponents. Proficient with one-handed weapons, shields, and light armour.
    Strengths
    Footwork. Positioning is everything in battle, and he knows how to stay on his enemy's flank. Not only does this allow him to more easily get behind his opponent's defences, it also allows him to sidestep heavy strikes—turning a direct hit into a glancing strike across his shield.

    • Deflection. Having specialized in targeting ranged combatants—mostly mages, but occasionally archers as well—deflecting projectiles with his shield comes naturally to him.
    • Lie detection. It is not hard to tell truth from lie after spending a few years in court, but his intuition is beyond the norm. It is not enough to be aware of untruth—one must also be aware of the type, be it a bold-faced lie, a misdirection, or even an omission.
    [/hr]
    Weaknesses
    Brittle. Fragile as he is, he is not built to take a hit. Even were he to block it with his shield, a direct hit from a mace would easily break the bones of his arm—and best hope he not take a hit without the shield.

    • Impotent. Bearing only a light blade with neither the great strength nor the pinpoint accuracy needed to make up for it, his strikes lack penetrative power. He is ineffective against armoured or otherwise durable targets.
    • Oblivious. It has been said that the knight has a singular focus, and to distract him from it is a challenge in and of itself. What isn't mentioned, is that this leaves him largely unaware of his surroundings, and prone to ambush.
    [/hr]
    Special Gear
    • Porce, I. A surprisingly light, but durable, heater shield. Enchanted to resist magical attacks.
    • Lame, II. A swift side-sword, thirty-eight inches in length. Enchanted to dispel magic it cuts through.

 
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Wood Elf ~ Male ~ 62
Original art from here

Skills

Fighting Style- Dual wielding- During fights Jehan uses both his longsword as well as a wooden staff to strike as well as block with.

Signature Skill- The Anti-Healer- Jehan can reverse his healing magic to inflict damage upon his enemies with direct contact.

Major Flaw-Low Vitality- The Anti-healer is something of a double edged sword, leaving Jehan weak and low on energy whenever he uses it.

Other Strengths-
  • Healing- A skill passed through the Harapatta family, Jehan too is proficient in fixing up peoples wounds as well as curing them of sicknesses.
  • Charisma (Persuasion)- Wisdom, common sense and a dose of self confidence has Jehan dealing with both friends and strangers with relative ease.

Other Weaknesses-
  • Nearsighted- Jehan eyesight is quite weak. He is only able to see things clearly when they are two feet away or closer. After that, things start to get blurrier the further away he looks.
  • Perception (or lack of)- When Jehan becomes focused on a particular thing, he tends to ignore his surroundings as well as those around him, hence more than occasionally finding himself in dangerous situations.

Biography

Jehan was born to a rather normal and almost boring family in Estalla. His father had been born there, and his mother was from the Red Forest, though it's unclear when she had moved to Estalla. A rather wealthy family where magic was as common as grass in a field, it was no surprise that Jehan was rather adept at healing magic. His father's family was known for their prowess in restoration magic after all. Unfortunately for his mother, who came from a family of skilled ranged fighters, Jehan had little to no skill in that field, his weak eyesight making it a rather hard feat. While this displeased his mother, his father thought it was fine and instead had him instructed in swordplay.

When he was considered old enough, the then young elf decided to take a trip to the Red Forest, having heard so much of its beauty from his mother. Sure enough, it was all she had mentioned and more, though it was the interactions with her family that Jehan enjoyed more than the actual place. It was here that he was given the staff he normally carries with him, and where he learned to use it as a proper weapon.

It was a good few months before he decided it was high time to return home. The journey was uneventful for the most part, until he came across an injured man. Feeling it was only natural to help someone when he had the ability to, Jehan quickly set to healing the fellow. Alas, the man was a highway bandit and the injury was a facade in an attempt to kill the elf and scavenge his belongings. With a knife sticking out of his side and pain and anger rushing through him, Jehan felt his healing magic take a different turn, seeming to almost twist, and as he pulled away his hand from the man, he felt the man's health beginning to drain.

Leaving the man to suffer, Jehan himself was near death; he was wounded and using his healing power had sapped him of most of his energy. He was barely able to crawl away and rest in a secluded place. Thankfully he was able to bandage himself to keep from further bleeding out. At last, when his energy finally returned to him, he healed himself before setting out to return home. Even as he traveled, his thoughts returned to what he had done to the man, both traumatizing and fascinating him. It wasn't too long before he returned to Estalla. He kept the encounter with the bandit a secret, unsure how his father would feel about his using what was meant as healing to further hurt a person, even if it was unintentional.

Still, the idea of being able to harm without using weapons was too useful to actually give up. Jehan began taking more trips away from Estalla with no particular destination in mind. He had a code of his own and never hurt innocents, rather he would use this power he felt he was blessed with to take down unsavoury sorts who preyed on weaker folk. As he would be considerably weakened whenever he used what he dubbed 'the Anti Healer', he would leave it off until the end of his battles. Unfortunately for him, the news of what he could do reached his father. Enraged at the perverse way healing was being used, Jehan was disowned by his family and sent packing when he had just returned home.

Upset yet understanding why his father was disgusted by him, Jehan decided perhaps the life of an adventurer was best for the time being. At first he would keep his travelling to only the Chain of Idris, but soon enough he was stepping in and out of Holtania as well. A bit of a lone wolf, Jehan mostly kept to himself for his first years of travel. However, with his lack of focus, weak eyesight and most of all his low vitality after using the Anti Healer, he often found himself running for his life and spending days hiding in case rogues were still on the lookout for him. Clearly travelling with a group would be better off for him.

Since then, it has been a habit of his to seek out groups to travel with. When Jehan spotted the notice in a tavern he was currently resting in, he decided perhaps it was time for a new adventure. And so without delay, he headed off to Varden.​
 
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Basics

Name
Arwen

Race
Half-elf & half-human

Gender
Female

Appearance
Arwen has a tall build and lean body, though she is not overly muscular, but still well trained. Her ears are slightly pointed, but not very long, like that of an elf, and her eyes are light green, but her hair is short and black. Usually, she can be seen wearing her hood and sometimes even a mask to hide half of her face.

Age
26 years old


Skills

Fighting Style
Enchanted and normal archery, Masawa, and her spear.
Ranged combat is her forte, and with her enchantment knowledge, she can infuse her arrows with magic to make her arrows have a bigger impact. Her and Masawa also have great teamwork, helping each other out during the fights. She also has a spear for closer combat encounters.

Signature Skill
Masawa, look a snack!
Masawa, her trusty jaguar, has been her lifelong companion, family and best friend for however long she can remember. The jaguar is also stealthy and quiet as a feline should be, not ruining her stealth despite his size. He is also a great vehicle when her feet get tired.

Major Flaw
Don't get so close!
Close combat is not beneficial to her at all. While she does have her spear to fend off those who do get close, it is far better for Arwen to hang out in the back and make her opponents her pin cushion/temporary arrow holder.

Other Strengths
I am good at hide-and-seek!
Stealth has always been on her side, being able to blend in with the forestry or her surroundings, to use the shadows to her advantage, it has been a part of her and helped her hunt in the wild where stealth is her greatest friend.

Aim. Shoot. Kill!
Archery is her preferred combat style. If she can stand from a distance and shoot her arrows, then she will more than happily do so. She has great accuracy after hunting in the forest for very long.

It's some kind of magic~
Arwen learned elemental magic for the very purpose of enchanting her arrows with magic. She managed to dip into three different disciplines of elemental magic; Fire, ice, and light. Despite her ability within those three disciplines being incredibly low on their own, she is able to infuse her arrows with it, giving the enemies unpleasant surprise.

Enchantment? Enchantment!
She is a pretty good enchanter, her favorite thing to enchant is her arrows with some elemental magic to it.
- Fire-infused arrows would efficiently set her enemies on fire on contact.
- Light-infused arrows could blind her enemies, even if it didn't hit them directly.
- Ice-infused arrows could freeze her enemies on contact or freeze them to the ground, or just the ground itself.

Nothing escapes my eyes!
Fortunately, Arwen grew up in the forest, and due to that, she is very perceptive. She can use her vision, hearing, and smell to pick up clues and information about her surroundings.

Other Weaknesses
Um. . . I- really NEED it!
In any given social situation, Arwen is bound to be a bit awkward. She is unable to pick up on social cues, know when to speak and when not to speak, lying or persuading someone would be a relatively awkward situation for her to find herself in and if she succeeds then a whole planet was swallowed into a black hole for that to make sense.

Take off your armor!
Arrows are great for sniping, but those who wear thick or bulky armor makes it harder for her arrows to get through and damage them. While she may be able to find weak spots, it may be tough to hit those tiny areas of non-armored skin.

Masawa, can you lift this for me?
Relying more on her bow than close combat, she is not very physically strong. Any heavy lifting, moving something big or the like would make her much more reliable on Masawa, her Jaguar, rather than her strength, and the jaguar (while stronger than her) isn't the strongest either.

I don't need to know if I can shoot it!
Arwen's knowledge of the world is limited. History, politics, religion, etc. is beyond her understanding. She may understand magic, but everything else is too complicated for her head to follow. Thankfully, she can find posters (though her reading capabilities are limited and her writing skills non-existent) she is still able to find work.

Too many! Run Masawa!
In a situation where she is alone against many, Arwen is at a huge disadvantage, even with Masawa by her side to help her out. Her primary weapon is the bow, and her backup is her spear, with Masawa's help, even against a group of three she would be struggling by the time they got close if they weren't close already.

Special Gear

Companion Bond (one point)
Arwen is wearing a choker around her neck. It looks like a black collar; it even has a silver tag with a circle has runes engraved into the metal. Masawa is wearing something similar, only that his tag is golden. It allows the two of them to speak telepathically and understand one another.

Wyld (two points)
Arwen's bow, it is enchanted where it can steady itself, so it does not rely on her to do so, and it shoots faster/longer with a little bit help from telekinesis to give it some extra firing power. She did end up carving the word "wyld" into it (wanting it to be "wild"), but she failed to do so as her spelling is knowledge is very limited.

Biography

Arwen got abandoned as a baby in the forest, and she would have died if Masawa, then only a jaguar cub, had kept her warm using his body to curl up against her. A human hunter had ended up finding the two of them one day, Masawa had already bonded together with Arwen and ended up following the two of them all the way back to the hunter's cabin. It was here, in a forest far away from civilization, that Arwen would grow up alongside the human hunter and Masawa. Whatever happened to Masawa's original mother was unknown, but the cub had never left her side after he had rescued her. The human hunter that Arwen got to know as Torvald would be her mentor in learning how to hunt and survive. Masawa and Arwen's bond only grew closer over the years, the two of them using the forest as a playground with teamwork unlike any other, with both stealth and the jaguar's powers mixing well together. Torvald would gift Arwen and Masawa with their companion bond. A magical item that allowed the two of them to communicate for the first time, honing their hunting skills together.

It was also Torvald who gifted Arwen with her bow, an enchanted item that had steadier aim and more power, though Arwen was far from a bad shot without the added help. It is still one of her most precious gifts, and she even carved "wyld" (in the attempt of spelling "wild") into the bow with a dagger as Torvald would usually call her "wild child" in an affectionate tone.

She had relied on her bow for too long, something which came to bite her as a bandit had found her in the forest once. He had acted fast. The distance was too small between them as Arwen was unable to pull out her bow before the man had jumped her. He almost stabbed her in the chest, though thankfully the half-elf had acted quickly and blocked with her arms, forcing the dagger into her flesh, it kept her alive. Masawa had come just in time to save her, pouncing the bandit off her before Torvald had shot the bandit. Torvald began training her in using a spear, but Arwen always found herself favoring the bow and allowing Masawa to take the closer combat targets.

Torvald may have taught her how to survive, to keep all her senses open to her surroundings, but he never taught the girl how to read or write correctly. His skills were limited, and he had never imagined Arwen would come up to him one day, demanding to see the world outside the safe boundaries of their forest. The only times she had been outside had been together with Torvald, on his adventuring days. However, this time, Arwen had come back with a poster and showed it to the human that was too old to go on another wild journey. It was all the more reason why Arwen had to go. He was reluctant, but with the promise, she would be careful and that she would return, Arwen and Masawa left their safe-zone and headed towards Varden to seek out a Tanos Vir.

Art

Background art by Ellixus - "Forgotten"
Character art by JeeHyung Lee


 
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Basics
Name:
Lienne Ky'heka
Race: Elf Scion (Goddess of Retribution)
Sex/Gender: Female
Age: 34
Appearance: Lienne is naturally slight of build, with the delicate features and pale skin and eyes of any dark elf. Unlike most dark elves, however, she sports flaming red hair from her mother. Her divine markings consist of what appear to be a tribalistic design of an eye darkening her hair, which somehow stays consistent, even when she pulls her hair back from her face or otherwise moves it around. It holds no function and does not impede her regular vision (unless she physically blocks her eyes with her hair, which she occasionally does when it's too bright outside). Disregard the horn-like markings, and imagine the hair slightly less horrifically pink. Art by Zeronis.

Skills
Fighting Style:

Up Close and Underhanded - Lienne is not a ranged fighter, but she's also not the strongest cookie in the box, nor the one with the most experience with weapons. She relies heavily on her agility and speed to keep from taking blows, and takes any chances she gets to take her opponents down. Whether it be taking advantage of an injury, kicking them while they're down, hitting them where they're tender, or tripping them into each other, Lienne will use whatever dishonorable method she can imagine, and she's damn good at finding and taking the slightest opening. All that matters is winning or getting out of the situation alive. She is proficient in the use of a knife, but anything much bigger or heavier than that hinders her ability to move.

Signature Skill:
Illusions - For someone who grew up in the dark, perhaps this is an ironic skill, but Lienne is a firm believer in the power of manipulating another's sight. When she was little, she mostly worked with illusory shadows, darkening lights or causing someone's shadow to appear to move, and this is still the thing that comes easiest to her, but being exposed to different places has expanded her range somewhat. She prefers to use it to confuse, distract, and if possible frighten opponents, but it's also helpful when the surroundings are too bright.

Major Flaw:
Magical Vulnerability - Lienne pretty much sucks at dealing with or deflecting anything magical. She is susceptible to her own illusions, very vulnerable to ranged magical attacks, and still hasn't figured out a way to defend against people with magically enhanced physicalities.

Other Strengths:
Exceptional Climbing - Having grown up for years climbing up and down craggly rocks with the threat of death involved in getting to and from home, Lienne's pretty damn good at climbing anything with a foothold.
Fair Night Vision - Lienne can see better than most, and in fact fights better, when it's dark.
Speedy - Considering she's toast if she couldn't dodge in time, she needs to be quick enough to scramble out of the way as fast as possible.
Decent Dodger - Despite her poor vision in most contexts, her reflexes are good and her feet nimble, the two together helping save her from most really bad blows, though she can't dodge everything.

Other Weaknesses:
Sensitivity to Light - Lienne is not technically nearsighted, so far as she knows, but she has never fully grown accustomed to living above ground in the burning light of the sun, and actually cannot stand to open her eyes the whole way when the setting around her is much brighter than a typical lamp. She is easily blinded by bursts of light, and relies on the shadows of buildings to survive most daytime fights.
Frail - While her arms and legs are strong enough to get her by in a fight, she has no healing or shielding capacities, and does not do well taking blows. She'd actually prefer a knife fight to a fist fight. Cuts are easier to bounce back from than hard punches.
Low Offense - Since she relies so heavily on traipsing and trickery to win a fight, she is a poor match against someone with very good defenses or greater reach than hers.
Conspicuous - Stealth is not her middle name. It may also not exist in her vocabulary. While quick on her feet, Lienne's hair-color, arrogant loud mouth, and lack of dexterity when it comes to anything besides climbing makes her easily spotted and at times likely to outright antagonize other people.

Special Gear

Knife - This dagger is a short, curved blade and lacks magical powers, but its hilt is inlaid with gold and the blade is carved with intricate designs. It was a gift from her mother, who offered her a magical dagger as well, but she refused. It is something of a miracle it hasn't been lost, stolen, or mugged off of her thus far, though that may have something to do with the fact that she will do anything to get it back if someone takes it.

Mirror Necklace II - This necklace is a long simple chain she keeps tucked under her clothes at the end of which is a small mirror not much larger than a big coin lined with black metal engraved with runes. It does not look like much, but it gives her a direct line to the holder of the matching necklace, if she pushes a little magic into it. Although it is simple in aesthetic and intended function, because its design is from the Mactian Empire's style of magebrands, it is a relatively expensive item. It is another gift from her mother, who acquired it when she was pregnant with Lienne, and she holds the second mirror.

Biography

"Vengeance is Justice motivated by the anguish of an inconsolable heart that has turned to hatred instead of grief. Retribution is Justice that refuses to show mercy. The two are not the same thing, but nor are they separate."

Scion though she is, Lienne sees herself mostly as a dark elf, considering her mother manifests as one and her father supposedly is one. She spent the first 12 years of her life in Valas Vorma, in an offshoot network of natural caves that most of the other dark elves avoided because they consist of a series of sudden drop-offs and sharp inclines somewhat like little cliffs. Rather unusually, Lienne was raised by her godly parent in the mortal realm, and has never met her father. From a young age, she showed some natural aptitude for magic, and her mother, seeing this, demanded she refine her control and endurance in using it. Her mother was her whole world during this time. Despite often being sent to the more inhabited caves to get things and run errands, Lienne did not make much in the way of friends, and the Goddess of Retribution taught her everything, from cooking to the use of a knife. Then, when the little girl was 12, her mother kicked her out, telling her to explore the rest of the world and gain valuable experiences, to expand her worldview, learn to survive practically, and not damn well come back unless she found a solid reason to return after seeing all she could.

At first the outside world was utterly terrifying (and waayyyyyy too bright), and naive young Lienne struggled, but as she grew more experienced, she found a love for the wandering (and picking stupid fights) that has kept her adventuring ever since. She now mostly survives on what she can mug out of other people, and what she gets from putting on shows as an entertainer with her illusionist skills. She does, however, avoid Jaka. She first arrived there when she was 26, and was caught up in a trap by Goblin mages who ganged up to mug her for her money and dagger. Upset that they had taken her dagger, she stalked them down, but unable to figure a way around their magical abilities, she was caught and prepared to be sold. For the first and last time, she desperately used the mirror, which they had miraculously missed, and contacted her mother for help. She's not completely certain what happened after that, because a few days later, she woke up to find herself free of the Goblins in an inn outside of Jaka, with her dagger returned to her and her coin purse stuffed full, but she does know she doesn't want to face that situation ever again and has stayed away from Jaka ever since.

She has never really figured out what her mother's abilities are or why she chooses to live in the mortal world or if she has any Servitors, or how she even came to give birth to her, but these are all questions she intends to ask when she finds a good reason to go back, exactly as her mother instructed. She does know that she has no siblings (at least no living ones), and her mother doesn't care much for mortal worship, as she considers every act of grudge or corrected injustice as an act of worship to her. More importantly, she knows that her mother greatly cares for the balance of the world, and this impression that has been left on her has informed a number of her decisions, including the one drawing her Varden to help with the problem with the leylines. Particularly knowing the story of how Mithilbras fell (a tale her mother was fond of telling her as a bedtime story when she was a child), she is curious to see how this next unfortunate set of natural phenomena will play out. And it may also not hurt if they just happen to save the town and she gets to become pointlessly, fabulously wealthy.
 
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Alright folks, time for the big decision. If you weren't chosen then it probably doesn't mean I hate you or anything, I just found the others more interesting in background or skills. One of my big concerns was making sure the initial group isn't horribly lopsided for combat, with too much or too little of any aspect, so that ended up being the big thing that decided the final six. As stated in the RP info, those not selected are welcome to stick around in the Discord and follow the roleplay if desired, and those characters will remain in the pool for possible replacements for kicked or dropped players as needed. Now, on with the list of accepted characters.

Yazmina Boelner - @Pahn
Wank - @Shizuochan
Griselda - @Astaroth
Deidre Dydi - @HerziQuerzi
Jehan Harapatta - @Greenie
Lienne Ky'heka - @firejay1


Also, from this point onward, lurkers are welcome to submit character sheets to join the bloodthirsty wait list of hopeful entrants to take a dead character's spot. 8D
 
The IC thread is posted! It's a bit wordy, but come on, I'm the GM, you guys had to expect it.

The general circumstances of your arrival in Varden have been railroaded, but from here on out it's going to be up to you all to choose how to proceed. It's all on you to decide how your characters dealt with the delay on the road, including when they arrived, how they interacted with the NPCs, and whatever relationships they might have previously had or formed with other player characters. Basically what I'm saying here is now is the time to do intro post things. If you want to talk to any of the NPCs (flashbacks are acceptable here if you would have wanted to talk to them while delayed on the road), just let me know and we can do a collab to get that sorted.

Below you'll find the first Adventure Log, which is the thing I mentioned in rule #9 of the thread, the video game-like status tracker. I'll be giving you guys a new one with each GM post. Feel free to bug me if there's anything you want added to it or if you notice anything missing. The Player Actions section will list whatever actions were taken by player characters and their results, which ought to be nice for refreshing your memory on what has happened and help keep track of stuff in combat without needing to reread posts.

Adventure Log #1
Time: 5:52 AM. 18 hours and 8 minutes remaining until midnight.
Living Townspeople: 1894

Major Objectives:
Save Varden: Tanos Vir said there are troubles to the west, north, and east that seem to be the greatest threats. Perhaps dealing with these will suffice to save the town.

Minor Objectives:
An Offer of Companionship: Torgun Falsetooth has offered to work with whoever is open to some teamwork here in Varden. Accept or refuse his offer as desired.

Player Actions:
None.
 
New GM post up! As per previous recommendations, if you wanna chat with an NPC you should hit me up for a collab. I'll note that the way I do it is that it's not quite like a 1x1, you're not going to see inside their head or anything, just visible actions and speech. No need to worry about my responses being monstrously long, unless you get the NPCs babbling or ranting. :P

Oh, and you might notice that the Player Actions list also includes things that happened in GM post rather than just things your character actively did. I guess read the IC post first if you don't want spoilers?

Adventure Log #2
Time: 5:57 AM. 18 hours and 3 minutes remaining until midnight.
Living Townspeople: 1894

Major Objectives:
Save Varden: Tanos Vir said there are troubles to the west, north, and east that seem to be the greatest threats. Perhaps dealing with these will suffice to save the town.

Minor Objectives:
An Offer of Companionship: Completed. The adventurers have more or less generally agreed to work with Torgun, making themselves an ally in the quest to save Varden.

Aspiring Stableboy: A Human boy has offered to watch the horse and wagon your group has brought along, for a small fee that amounts to pocket change for an adventurer. Accept or reject his offer as you please.

A Curious Woman: An Elven woman standing in the door of a shop at the south end of town seems keenly interested in the group of adventurers entering Varden. The reason is unknown, but she does appear to be at least moderately wealthy, which is always a good sign for adventurers looking for work.

A Mysterious Human: A Human fellow in garish purple robes is standing near the entrance to town talking at a woman. He seems quite out of place in a town like Varden.

A Mysterious Elf: An Elf male in fancy gold and silver robes is also near the entrance to town and yelling at a man. He is also rather out of place in Varden.

Armored Strangers: There is a group of five people wearing matching armor further into town having a rather animated conversation. Their identity and business is unknown, but lively chats often mean something of interest is being talked about.

Player Actions:
Yazmina: Introduced herself, decided to work with Torgun, and chatted a bit with Jehan and Lienne. Spotted the Alfhem trio and Kaltassa taking off in different directions.

Wank: Responded to Yazmina and had a coughing fit. Spotted shiny and valuable rings on the pale Elf lady's fingers.

Griselda: Struggled to affix protective charm given by Tanos Vir; Torgun aided her. Noticed strange magical power coming from the robed men.

Deidre: Introduced herself and joined Torgun. Spotted oddities with the makeshift paddock that indicate that there were more horses there previously.

Jehan: Introduced himself and spoke to Wank. Saw that the robed Elf's clothing resembled supposedly very old ceremonial clothing from the Chain of Idris. Noticed some nervousness in the boy tending the makeshift paddock.

Lienne: Was horribly rude to most of the other adventurers, then joined up with Torgun and the others. Noticed strange magical power coming from the robed men.
 
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Adventure Log #3
Time: 6:01 AM, 17 hours and 59 minutes remaining until midnight.
Living Townspeople: 1892

Major Objectives:
Save Varden: Tanos Vir said there are troubles to the west, north, and east that seem to be the greatest threats. Perhaps dealing with these will suffice to save the town.

Minor Objectives:
Coren's Father: Coren, the kid working the impromptu stable in front of the city, told Jehan that his father has been acting strangely and chopped up the missing horses. He also told Jehan where he lives, which is where his father presumably is.

A Curious Woman: Wank drove the wealthy-looking woman away, and it seems she no longer wants anything to do with the adventurers.

A Mysterious Human: The Human in garish purple robes has offered to exchange knowledge for Grisela's story.

A Mysterious Elf: The Elf in gold and silver robes sharply rebuffed Torgun's attempt to interact but spoke without rancor to Jehan. He mentioned Mood Lords, some old Elven cult of knowledge that is thought to have died out long ago.

Armored Strangers: There is a group of five people wearing matching armor further into town having a rather animated conversation. Their identity and business is unknown, but lively chats often mean something of interest is being talked about. Sir Toleus is now speaking to them, and there is a woman in similar garb rushing to speak to them.

The Monastery: Coren told Jehan that the odd stone structure on the east end of Varden is in fact a monastery. Deidre saw a man and two children hurrying out of the monastery while shouting, searching for something or someone. Perhaps some helpful adventurers could lend a hand.

A Crowded Commotion: Deidre spotted a house a ways north along the main road that is surrounded by agitated people, with armored people (including a man wearing a purple coat) trying to keep order. They don't seem to be doing a great job of it.

Smoke Signal: Deidre spotted a bit of smoke rising from far to the north, somewhere in the farmland past the bulk of houses. Perhaps it's something to do with the trouble to the north that Tanos Vir predicted, or perhaps some farmers are burning things. There's one easy way to find out.

Player Actions:
Yazmina: Followed Torgun, while struggling to fight off the mental haze of the strange power influencing Varden, even with Tanos Vir's protective charm.

Wank: Lambasted the wealthy-looking Elf lady with righteous fury. She ceased staring at the adventurers and retreated into her apparent place of business. Mission accomplished?

Griselda: Spoke with Lienne, received a fancy illusion to mask her desiccated half, and joined Lienne to speak to the robed Human. He offered her an exchange of information.

Deidre: Jumped up on a roof to get the lay of the land and rolled a natural 20 on the perception check spotted a lot of interesting things: someone rushing to speak to the group of armored folk spotted earlier, a crowd around a house further north, a bit of smoke rising far north of town, and a man and two children rushing out of the monastery to the east in search of something or someone.

Jehan: Gave the horse and cart to Coren, spoke with the child to acquire some interesting information about the town and the boy's father, and then headed to speak to the finely-dressed Elf.

Lienne: Spoke with Griselda, covered up her gross side with an illusion, and went to speak to the robed Human. He somewhat dismissed her in favor of making an offer to Griselda.
 
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Alright friendos, shit's getting real. Shenanigans are in full swing, and now it's time to do a wee bit of railroading for the sake of keeping this shit cohesive. I'm going to need you guys to come together to decide which of the three presented major objectives to go after first. Having you all running around in different directions would be hell, so you're gonna have to do at least a little metagaming (or argue it out in collabs to decide) to pick a way to go.

Also, Holmishire is now an official player in the roleplay! I invited him in to fill the gap while Pahn is dying (stop tho), because seriously you squishy punks need someone who can at least sort of take a hit. However, because I'm not a complete asshole, I'm not going to be kicking him when she returns. I'll just deal with having seven player characters until one of you drops or dies. 8D

Adventure Log #4
Time: 6:06 AM, 17 hours and 54 minutes remaining until midnight.
Living Townspeople: 1891

Major Objectives:
Save Varden: Tanos Vir said there are troubles to the west, north, and east that seem to be the greatest threats. Perhaps dealing with these will suffice to save the town. The robed men seemed to agree, and they provided some very useful information about the circumstances.

Damsel in Distress: Jehan, Lienne, and Griselda all learned there was some kind of kidnapping to the west. Amel, Wank, and Deidre heard from one of Lord Bornar's guards that his daughter, Lady Anessa, had been taken away across the river with the aid of "dark magics." She also suggested that there would be rich rewards for aid from adventurers.

Farmland Invaders: Jehan was told that there are some sort of invaders to the north, while Lienne and Griselda were told the same and that it might be orcs. Tanos Vir's vision of dead farmers probably holds some truth, at least.

Missing Monk: Jehan was told there was a kidnapping to the east, and Lienne and Griselda were told it was a child who was taken. Combined with Jehan's knowledge that the structure to the east is a monastery, and Deidre's keen eye spotting a man and two children hurrying out of it in search of something, it seems a child of the monastery has been taken.

Minor Objectives:
Coren's Father: Coren, the kid working the impromptu stable in front of the city, told Jehan that his father has been acting strangely and chopped up the missing horses. He also told Jehan where he lives, which is where his father presumably is.

A Mysterious Human: He has named himself as Berzen, the God of History. Though he offered some useful information about the threats to Varden and seemed to dismiss Lienne and Griselda, he has not vanished as his compatriot did.

A Crowded Commotion: Deidre spotted a house a ways north along the main road that is surrounded by agitated people, with armored people (including a man wearing a purple coat) trying to keep order. They don't seem to be doing a great job of it.

A Mysterious Elf: After getting distracted by something, the Elf told Jehan about the three primary dangers facing Varden, then vanished. According to the robed Human, though heard only by Lienne and Griselda, he was in fact the God of Leylines.

Armored Strangers: Lord Bornar's guards provided some interesting information before hurrying off to answer his call to aid in recovering his kidnapped daughter.

The Monastery: It seems a kidnapping has occurred at the monastery, and that it is something of grave importance to the safety of Varden.

Smoke Signal: The smoke to the north is probably related to the invaders that are apparently threatening Varden.

Player Actions:
Yazmina: Still spacing out due to leyline influence, being guided along by Torgun.

Wank: Said rude things about Sir Toleus before being largely ignored. He did, however, overhear the talk between Sir Toleus, Sir Amel, and the guards. He was also included in the plea to assist in helping to rescue Lord Bornar's daughter.

Griselda: Spoke to the Human who eventually named himself as Berzen, the God of History. Received information about the primary threats facing Varden.

Deidre: Spoke to Torgun and Jehan while heading north. Overheard the guard yelling that Lord Bornar's daughter has been kidnapped, and was included in the plea to help get her back.

Jehan: Spoke to the robed Elf and received information about how the leylines are causing troubles, plus information about the three major dangers poised to harm Varden, before the Elf disappeared.

Lienne: Spoke with the Human who eventually named himself Berzen, the God of History. Received information about the primary threats facing Varden.

Amel: Spoke with Sir Toleus and some of Lord Bornar's guards. Heard about the lord's daughter being kidnapped, and was one of those asked to help rescue her.
 
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HI I'M BACK HELLO

Here's a lil tidbit of info about my post;;

The "possessed" section is all happening in Yazmina's mind, she's interpreting invading thoughts (wordless impulses if you prefer), it's not someone speaking to her or anything like that. The sensations before/after the possessed bit was approved by Jorick as well.

poor girl almost lost herself to SIN 8D
 
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