Quests

[Phi Chisym]

((This is a rushed edit of a charrie I've had for a while. I believe she will be a nice addition to this fine group of questors.
I will be editing and adding more to this later. But for now, I'm getting her up for approval.

And an idea for entering into the RP. She will be in a small caravan heading out of town after dropping off a few people. So, two horse and carts, two drivers - with only two passengers now... She will have room for a few more - and an honorable ticket for winning the group's pass out of town.

Just a thought...))



Name: Shai'ahn Dysrae'il
View attachment 13681View attachment 13682

Race: Taav'ri - a birace of Avian and Aaijes [high elf]

- Her people are Noblefowls (War Eagle/Pheonix), a proud heritage given to her by her father's blood. She also possesses the mystical, exotic traits of the Ciboney, a magical Avian race that is considered only a myth. Her father claims that her mother's blood blessed her with this wonder. Shai'ahn is capable of using fire and wind like other Noblefowls, but those are Warfowl skills and she's just not that good at them. She's learning to handle wind just find on her own with her twin fighting fans, but fire...well, that's a bit of an issue. She becomes very accident prone when dealing with fire - and villages get torched.

- Ciboney are Spiritfowls, the Mages of the Taav'ri. Their skill is in light, and so being the reason why most people cannot see them - unless they want to be seen. Shai'ahn can naturally bend light, which she uses in her illusions and for attacks against the senses (eyesight).

Gender: Female

Age: She looks 22 in Human form - (Taav'ri - 122)

Class: Cleric/Magic User - Muse and Channeling

She is a Quessian Priestess of Santa Kivis. She is only a Quessia in training, but she has the skills of a Quessia Regent - a title that carries a strong responsibility for the people - a leadership role she's just not made for. (She's sort of being forced into this thing because her instructor (who is Quessian) wants to keep a close eye on her.)

Strong Points:

She is very much a protector, to herself and others. Even though she had the tendency to hurt feelings or cause pain (unintentionally), her heart is still good and she emphasizes with all. Her skills are also very good - and growing stronger and stronger due to the pure Mark she carries of the Quessian Ciosa - Mother of Names.
(Being connected to an angel is a big plus for all of her abilities, but her talent with each is what's being weighed.)

Weak Points:

Sharp eyes, sharp ears, sharp tongue. Shai' is one of the sweetest little birds in the flock, but she has a very difficult time controlling her emotions and temper. As hot as the fire of her hair, her handicap tends to cause her to fly off at anything if she's not careful of herself. She is suppose to be the picture of perfection, of discipline and peace. But...the conflicting marks upon her soul weakens everything about her - from her abilities in magic, to her social graces. All she can do is constantly ask for forgiveness - and hope people close to her understand.

Her conflict - One mark upon her soul belongs to Ciosa (considered one of the many angels of the times) .The other mark upon her soul, was placed by an unknown vampire, one with a strong vendetta against Ciosa.

He knows Shai'ahn carries Ciosa's Verve... He knows Ciosa is asleep. If he can end Ciosa now and steal her Verve for himself, he will hold the power of The Namer and will be capable of reincarnating an army of the dead.

Abilities/Traits:

Her natural talents is in Musing . As a Muse, a songbird, she's capable of luring others, spellbinding them with her voice alone (even though some would say she holds the same power with her eyes and the sway of her hips as well, but she is a Priestess after all.) She's capable of conducting illusions and soothsaying through her song and voice. This is a Ciboney trait, one that the Quessian Mother Regent hopes to teach out of her.

...it's not proper for a Priestess to work such forms of magic...

Every time the Mother Regent speak those words, all Shai' can wonder is why the woman allows her to stay at the coven, if she's not a proper Priestess...

With Ciosa's Mark upon her (a crescent shape stain on the small of her back) she is blessed with the abilities of the Mother Namer - the ability to rename nature. Renaming, or speaking the true name of a natural object or person, reveals truth, alters their actions for the moment, reincarnates death.

This ability lies asleep within the Verve (spirit star) of Ciosa herself, which lies deep underneath the Mark she placed upon her. Shai'ahn cannot use this skill. It will only come when Ciosa awakens. Ciosa returns when she is called...

DND Style Alignment: Lawfully Good, but others would say otherwise.

Your Quest: She's unaware of what her quest is right now. She was told by her Mother Regent to travel to Sedi'lar, to visit the High Mother Regent of the district for evaluation and further training. But her instructor, Regent Lyth'bel, had changed those plans.

She doesn't want the High Regents to know of Shai'ahn's handicap (The Conflicting Mark). So, she's taking her to find a man who has either the knowledge or capabilities to exorcise the evil within her. If this is possible, Shai'ahn will be cleansed of any evil spirits, and the High Regents will never know what use to reside in her. If they find out - Shai'ahn is as good as dead.

But, then again, the longer she holds The Conflicting Mark, the easier it will be for the vampire to find her - and finish her off himself - or complete her transformation. No matter how you look at it, Shai'ahn is as good as dead.

Appearance:View attachment 13675 Shai'ahn stands about 5'5", and is rather light for her size due to her hallow bone structure. Red hair, bright green eyes; there's a very beautiful young lady underneath that hood, but rarely does anyone get to see - not when she's in the public eye. She does carry the typical Elven sharp ears - one of the many traits given to the Avians by the mixing of high Elven blood. She's not too fond of them for they cause her ears to whistle when she flies. She mostly likes to cover them up with two thick braids of hair - mainly when she flies.

When dealing with the public or traveling, she is subjected to wear a traditional Quessian robe. She is not fond of wearing such heavy materials, which does not allow her skin to breath or for her wings to stretch. But, when on duty, it is forbidden for a Quessia to expose herself to the elements. She is to remain pure and untouched by the harsh elements the world now brings forth. Whenever she can, she would shed her exterior to dawn lighter, more colorful fabrics - less than she should wear, but what feels comfortable for an Taav'ri.

Again, she was never meant to be a Quessian, she cares not for this role of a subservient to the masses - but, then again...is this her true feelings, or the feelings of another? She's not quite sure herself what mind she speaks anymore; her own, or that of The Conflicting Mark upon her flesh. She is beginning to lose herself, which makes her quest far more important than the title she bares.

Taav'ri Form: View attachment 13683 She is capable of shifting into two forms: One is a half-form - Human with feathers and wings. The second is a full Taav'ri form - all bird, which looks like a mix of phoenix and bird of paradise. The eagle trait shows by her size and her wing-span. These shifts do not require magic. This is just a natural thing for Taav'ri to do.

 

[Xindaris]

Hm. The character sheet style is about half or two-thirds narrative, almost, and that's..I guess it's not exactly a bad thing, but it makes it much harder for me to garner relevant information into a straight list of the things I need to know to decide whether a character's approvable or not. So I'm going to try and lay out what I gleaned from that and comment on it as I can.

Okay. So first of all, the race. Taav'ri is in fact a half-breed race, similar to half-elves, but rather than being half-elf and half-human, she is half-elf and half-Avian. But her Avian side isn't just of a single race either, it's part Noblefowl and part Ciboney? But after you mention that she's half elfin you don't seem to mention what abilities come with being part elf, only the abilities that come from being part fowl.

I'm guessing that you're saying she looks 22 but has been around for 122 years? Or is it that 22 years is 122 Taav'ri years?

So the full list of her abilities goes:
-Fire and Wind elemental magics (capable of using them but low on control?) [Noblefowl]
-"Spirit" magic (I don't know what this is supposed to do, but she's apparently no good at it anyway?) and Light elemental magic (lending itself to illusions) [Ciboney]
-"good/getting better skills" according to the strong points section, but I'm not sure exactly which skills you mean. The above magics? The below muse powers? Archery?
-"Musing", which is basically charm magic. I'd like this to be a little better defined on its limits--how long it can work, how limited it is by whether and how much the victim already likes her, how magic resistance or knowledge of her powers come into play...and I'm particularly confused that this is supposedly a Taav'ri trait, but Taav'ri is a hybrid race and you've already mentioned all the powers that come from being part Avian. Is this from being part elf? Or does being of this specific mix of blood grant the power of musing? Because that would be kind of strange.
-The power of naming, which appears to operate on the idea of name=identity=power over the object or creature in question. But the nature of the power isn't very well-defined here: It can bring back the dead? Is it a healing power or a transformative one, or a persuasive one? I understand that it's sealed right now but if by some chain of events it gets unsealed I'd like to know what it's supposed to do. It might help if you make a separate lore post detailing what Ciosa's deal is, whether she's a goddess or a servant of some higher god (you said something about her being an angel?), or some kind of other ascended being, and particularly how her worshipers and devotees tend to behave/be viewed. [Mark of Ciosa]
...It sounds pretty balanced when I lay it all out like that, but I really need to know more about how most of that stuff works.

Now, the quest. As far as I can tell, her quest is or should be to get rid of the vampire's curse mark. I'm not sure what you mean by shade magic, but it's clearly curse-related, right? Anyway, I should probably mention (in case you haven't read it already) that TNT has pretty much established some pre-existing lore on vampires for this world. Namely, there aren't very many of them left, and a majority of what ignorant common people might be tempted to call a "vampire" are in fact bloodlings, former servants of vampires who have two hearts and whatnot.

Now, I'm gonna be honest, the easiest way for a sheltered priestess to find her way into our group is for whoever's guarding her to get attacked and killed or separated, possibly with our group saving her inadvertently.

 

[Phi Chisym]

Sorry that this is very confusing. I was rushing to get my temp set up. A lot of this was thrown in from my original charrie layout, which was for another RP back in the day. I really didn't have a chance to edit her for this story, and knowing this I'd figured she would need a lot of tweaking to get her set just right.

Okay. So first of all, the race. Taav'ri is in fact a half-breed race, similar to half-elves, but rather than being half-elf and half-human, she is half-elf and half-Avian. But her Avian side isn't just of a single race either, it's part Noblefowl and part Ciboney? But after you mention that she's half elfin you don't seem to mention what abilities come with being part elf, only the abilities that come from being part fowl.

Yes, she is a Hinez 57 combination, you can say. Her father is a Taav'ri Noblefowl - reason is because his Avian bloodlines are of the Noblefowls, but he gains his Elven side from his father, making him a Taav'ri. (Eagle - Mother and Phoenix/Elven - Father). His grandfather on his father's side is the pure Elf in his lineage.

Shai'ahn's father had a magical fling with a Ciboney, which is an Avian, not a Taav'ri. They are also considered a myth, but he's proven that they exist because a child was conceived that carry Ciboney traits. Her mother is not a part of her life because Ciboneys do not reside with other Avians.

They are a rather interesting tropical creature that live on a particular island. They are a rare and dying race, but they refuse to return to civilization. In order to maintain some part of their race, they tend to venture out of their hideaway, mainly to procreate. But, they do not allow the child to enter their sanctuary, for a few reasons. This is why Shai'ahn's father is her only parent. She knows who her mother is and has seen her a few times, but only on the island and never within the populations. So, that's a bit about that...


I really never stretched Shai'ahn's design to separate the abilities that are Elf made. Mostly because, it would require a bit more history than I cared to layout for her at this time. Mainly, the reason the Elves of her land don't have a problem with the Avians is because they pretty much favor the same traits and philosophies. To consort with them personally is a bit scandalous to the Elves, but has been done; thus, creating a new race - Taav'ris.

Even though there are similar traits shared between the Elves and the Avians, mainly in their connection with nature, keen senses, light-footedness, and a connection to magic, Avians are a very proud race. Taav'ri do no live among the Elvens. Instead, they reside with their Avian cousins, which is acceptable under one condition...

It's one thing to be a Taav'ri - Avians respect their kind because they are a birdkin, but in order to be accepted by them a Taav'ri must maintain their Avian arts, their Avian traditions, and denounce the Elven blood they hold. Avians do not need another races magic or anything else. They are Avians and that's perfect enough to them. They believe that Elven blood taints their bloodlines, but for those who strive to maintain their traditions rather than yield to the Elven half of their blood, then they are considered one of them - just weaker.

So, no Shai'ahn's Elven traits and abilities are not mentioned because she does not acknowledge them herself.

I'm guessing that you're saying she looks 22 but has been around for 122 years? Or is it that 22 years is 122 Taav'ri years?

She looks 22, but in Taav'ri she's 122 years old.

-Fire and Wind elemental magics (capable of using them but low on control?) [Noblefowl]

This is a yes, but I might just D6 the entire Phoenix line, for simplicity sake. The reason why she's not very good at these two skills is because she avoided training under them. She would have had to be trained under the Warfowls, which meant work. She's not a fighter, and refused to go through the rigorous training required to home in the skills.

-"Spirit" magic (I don't know what this is supposed to do, but she's apparently no good at it anyway?) and Light elemental magic (lending itself to illusions) [Ciboney]

These are her Ciboney traits. Spirit magic is mainly contorting the spirit of living things, natural beings. A Ciboney shares their spirit with nature; and thus, borrows its energy for various tasks. That's all it is mainly, but some spirits - from people or dead spirits - are difficult to deal with. When you share spirit energy from a person, you end up taking more than you've bargain for.

Sha'ahn use to extract energies from others in order to gain enough of who they really were to create very personal illusions. Her instructor has told her to refrain from using it recently...because of the mark, of course. But - and here's the complicated part - the contradicting mark does not take instruction well.

Shai'ahn believes she's not capable of dealing this particular magic because she lacks control - pulling energies from anywhere and everyone - sometime with horrible results and painful consequences. But, she isn't in control of this. That contradicting mark is using it for its own survival.

She is capable of using the spirit magic with light magic to help enhance illusions.

I might just take out the whole spirit magic and keep the light magic anyways... for simplicity sake again.

-"good/getting better skills" according to the strong points section, but I'm not sure exactly which skills you mean. The above magics? The below muse powers? Archery?

Oh, sorry about that. Her natural abilities - Musing, Light/Spirit Magic (if I keep it), Wind/Fire (if I keep it)

-"Musing", which is basically charm magic. I'd like this to be a little better defined on its limits--how long it can work, how limited it is by whether and how much the victim already likes her, how magic resistance or knowledge of her powers come into play...and I'm particularly confused that this is supposedly a Taav'ri trait, but Taav'ri is a hybrid race and you've already mentioned all the powers that come from being part Avian. Is this from being part elf? Or does being of this specific mix of blood grant the power of musing? Because that would be kind of strange.

Musing is mainly an Avian skill, mainly magic of the song birds. Ciboney are considered a type of song bird, if they are considered at all.

I will send you the information about Musing soon. I have to find my notes on it. But, basically it is a temporary skill and yes, it does lean on the emotional state of the person being charmed. Certain Avians, like Elves, have very high charisma, which makes it easy for them to hold a person's attention. Ciboneys are almost off the charts, being one of the exotic Avian types. But, for the hard-hearts, the weathered, the cold-blooded - if she needs a little more persuasion to get out of a sticky situation, then she'll just sing a song...

There are times when a charm can last a few days, but for this to happen Shai'ahn has to enhance the charm with either a supplement within a beverage or a dart that can enter the person's bloodstream, or use a personal illusion to tease the person's emotions with their fantasies in order to sway their interest in her.

For larger groups of people, which is a chore, illusions of glamour or grandeur that plays with the emotions of the masses usually helps her charms. But it's easy for her to miss a few in doing so and she has to make extra efforts to catch.

-The power of naming, which appears to operate on the idea of name=identity=power over the object or creature in question. But the nature of the power isn't very well-defined here: It can bring back the dead? Is it a healing power or a transformative one, or a persuasive one? I understand that it's sealed right now but if by some chain of events it gets unsealed I'd like to know what it's supposed to do. It might help if you make a separate lore post detailing what Ciosa's deal is, whether she's a goddess or a servant of some higher god (you said something about her being an angel?), or some kind of other ascended being, and particularly how her worshipers and devotees tend to behave/be viewed. [Mark of Ciosa]

Again, another set of notes I'm looking for.

Basically, calling out the true name, the name given to the person or object by the gods, can alter their path, sort of speaking. It is not a healing of the physical, but of a spiritual stand point, in a sense. For the living, it opens the mind to a new perspective on their purpose - like a renewal or an awakening. For the dead, it works as a reincarnation - renewing their soul into a new creation.

For an angel, Ciosa used this blessing for good, according to what her gods ordered. The dead returns to the heavens, and Ciosa is the one who renames them and sends them back into other forms. For the living soul, she is worshiped as the angel who hears the name the gods have granted a person. When she whispered it, your life will be cleaned of the old things, the evils in your heart run away at the holy sound, and a new focus will energize your mind into striving for good.

For this ability to fall into the wrong hands, the names will be used for the wrong purpose. The living and the dead will be subjected to the whelms of a demon and become slaves to his purpose.

I will send you what I can on this, but I am really big on creating something new with this entity. If you have suggestions, I'm happy to accept them.

Now, the quest. As far as I can tell, her quest is or should be to get rid of the vampire's curse mark. I'm not sure what you mean by shade magic, but it's clearly curse-related, right? Anyway, I should probably mention (in case you haven't read it already) that TNT has pretty much established some pre-existing lore on vampires for this world. Namely, there aren't very many of them left, and a majority of what ignorant common people might be tempted to call a "vampire" are in fact bloodlings, former servants of vampires who have two hearts and whatnot.

Yes, she will be searching for someone to help her remove the cursed mark.

A shade...mainly a type of demon, a person who has sold his sold to dark magics. From other RPs, GMs had created Shades to be either dark elves, or darker elves, or demons that are worse than the worst. I'm not too keen on using the shade side of things in this RP, mainly because you already have vampires.

Now, the vampire thing was rather cool here, cause I didn't realize there would be any in the story here. After I read up on the Bloodlings, I decided to keep the vampire issue Shai'ahn already had. But, for simplicity sake (love that word), I'll remove the shade thingy.

Now, I'm gonna be honest, the easiest way for a sheltered priestess to find her way into our group is for whoever's guarding her to get attacked and killed or separated, possibly with our group saving her inadvertently.

Oh no, that's what I was planning. I don't want to run Shai's instructor through this RP. She's a rather old, senile woman who rarely makes any sense to Shai', unless she's half drunk on ale. Her final act for Shai' protection before she dies will be to tell her she's holds the Verve, that she's in danger, and she needs to find whoever.

I figured that her entrance into the whole RP could be to possibly help them out of the city. This can allow for a bit of down time for charrie interaction. But, she's being followed by vampires right now ...or someone else is, or they're just ambushed on the road. Whatever you decide, but let's kill the old hag and get the ball rolling!!

I'll get that info to you as soon as I can for your approval. It won't be much, but it'll be enough. I can really blow your mind by offering you the full chronicle of Ciosa's birth and how she became an angel. But it's a lot of heavy, poetic reading and a lot of dates...

K, I'm done!

 

[Xindaris]

So she's actually 1/8 elf, 3/8 Noblefowl, 1/2 Ciboney? Okay.

In the case of the charm ability, I just don't want it to fall overboard into godmodding territory. I suppose it would be best if, anytime she tries to charm another character, you make sure to bring the other player in on deciding just how well the charm works. For the sake of fairness it would make sense for it to not always completely fail, but also to not typically have a total takeover effect. Of course, if charm is enhanced by attraction, I suppose a giant metal centipede and a lizard man with a pet spider will probably be least effected by it.

And that's really probably where I'd want to be cautious about spirit magic as you've described it as well. I think it might be best for avoiding godmodness if the spirit magic can get an impression of what a person emotionally feels in some sense rather than finding the thing they are mentally thinking about looking for. So for instance, if a guy was out questing, looking for his missing wife, she wouldn't be able to use spirit magic to figure out that he was looking for his wife; but if the same guy were presently weary from his travels and needed a place to stay, the spirit magic might reveal (to a greater extent than his body language and tone of voice would) a sense of loneliness, loss, and weariness that could be exploited.

Oh, and I misread a certain phrase in there due to likely inevitable syntactic ambiguity:

Certain Avians, like Elves,

My brain went:

So yeah.

 

[Phi Chisym]

LOL!

Oh yea, the Spirit and Charm magics have always been a concern. I'm very big on working with others in a story.

I will be PMing people in advance to play ideas before allowing her to used her skills on the other questors, or other people's extra charries.
You will also be informed in advance as well.

But, my main policy with these "boarder line skills" is to use them on extra charries and not the main party, unless decided upon otherwise. They are mainly for investigation or defense, so if any questors decide to attack her, they should expect her to defend herself however she sees fit.

(Oh, that's reminds me! I forgot to post her weapon... They're a set of large fighting fans - that's where the wind techniques come in handy.)

I do understand your concern about how much information she should be able to gain through her spirit magic. She's no expert and there are limitations...which will be explained soon (hopefully). Clues...hints...possible concepts of a person's emotions examined through her pure skill will require more effort. But, gaining more information through various senses - as you say, reading body language, the scent of a person's fears, the color of their eyes and skin, will also aid in her understanding. And even then, regardless how she acquires this, she still might misread the person entirely.

It's like she's a psychiatric... They can only interpret your deeper psyche by observation and understanding, and sometimes a bit of experimentation. But regardless of the research, they can still read you wrong.

 

[Villamvihar]

I will be without internet access starting tomorrow, so I will not be able to reply. I will be back on August 10th.

 

[roboblu]

Suddenly my character sheet is inadequate. :{

I think I might have an idea as to how Shai'ahn and the rest of the group could meet. In my last post, Harriet mentioned an alternate way out; I was thinking of a huge passageway leading to the outside world, kind of like Moria from LOTR (except on a much smaller scale). The vampires would've used it as a back door- and, after the Great Awakening mentioned by TheNeverThere, as a hideaway for survivors. After the vampires started dwindling, bandits and smugglers started using it to sneak in and out of the city.

Anyways, I was thinking that Shai'ahn's guide would accidentally bring her and her caravan through it, thinking it a public entrance, only to be attacked by a group of vampires still living in it... And the group could stumble upon them and come to her rescue.

I should have spoken up right after my last post, sorry. It was just a silly idea I had. :}

 

[Phi Chisym]

Not quite sure if my charrie is approved or not, but I will be editing her template and working on my OP this week.

@roboblu

​

: I like that idea. It works with the OP I've already worked up. So, I'm going to send you a bit for a brainstorming session before I actually post it.

@Xindaris: Once I get my OP ready, I can send you a summary of it to see if my charrie's actions will fit to your outline... But, mainly I just need to see if you've approved her or not.

It'll take a while, but hopefully she'll spark up this group with a bit of action.

 

[Villamvihar]

I am okay with that idea, roboblu. I guess that doorway would be able to accomodate Talrev as well.

 

[Phi Chisym]

Okay, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to be in this RP right now.

The other RPs that I'm in / GMing, are moving rather fast, and school's about to start for my kids, and my classes are turning into nightmares, and I just found out that I'm going to be substituting for my martial arts instructor this semester, and I'm still catching up with several design orders for the month.... AAHHHHHAAAHHHAAHAHAHAH!!!!

Um... (calms wild arm flair) I'm okay now.

Yea, I'm overwhelmed and would hate to carry this RP down with me as I drown. If things cool off for me later on, then I'll try to get Shai'ahn entered in at another spot in the story. But, for now, go on a head... (That is, if you guys are actually waiting on my post.)

If not, then... (looks around) I'm talking to myself them...

K, later

 

[Villamvihar]

So does anybody intend to post or move the plot along? It seems like we have been standing still for a long time again.

 

[Z'Greel]

I was going to, but I figured I'd let someone else post before me. Then, as nobody did, I kinda forgot about it >_>

 

[roboblu]

I would be happy to if everyone agrees with the underground passage idea.

 

[Z'Greel]

I've got nothing against any idea. I just wanna move the plot along and get some sun on my scales :P

 

[roboblu]

Just read Mexma's last post ... Can't believe I didn't see it until now. I'll nix my idea, but post just the same :}