It gave me the idea that it, the campaign world I thought of, and the goblin world might be interconnected. In this the traveler guy always wore a hat- because his ears were slightly pointed. And the kid had pointed ears too. So I think they may have been half-elves, and the kid had been placed in the care of the nunnery much like the goblin had been placed with the monestary - to be 'civilized', and elves are like pagans I guess, worshiping old nature gods, and these people were worshiping a new god.
“Humans worship their human gods, and those savages, who knows what they worship but it can't be good. Probably worship trees and eat babies and such.”
And i think it's different countries, but the same world as Grigory and Anika - I think it all fits together somehow.
G-iven that Grigory and
Anika's segment has essentially been about
keeping the outsiders -out- for so long, <Aus> and all of a sudden, guess what? the
doors are wiiiiiide open… <Aus> MIGRATION TIME! <L> yes! hehe <L> I think that Talvanis was one of the
early experiments in that, taking kids out
of their 'savage' communities and raising
them in monestaries And that he either ran away from whatever they were going to apprentice him in, or from the place itself, and has been traveling ever since And the nun who stil needs a name
because the dream hasn't given her one,
hasn't traveled outside of her little town <L> but is about to hehe becuase you
know.. she doesn't want to give up te baby
and her man <L> Also i had a thought for who monty
meets at some point during his travels -
he meets up with a group of girl goblins
who are living a sort of outlaw life. <L> even though gobins in my story have a
sort of eglatarian society, the humans are
very about class structure <L> women have a lower citizenship role
and all <Aus> And considering goblins already
count as second class, <L> so the girl goblins they capture
instead of being educated by the monestary
are given to households as servants, or
apprenticed in woman trades like laundress
or seamstress <Aus> goblin women are … third class. <L> yes hee <L> so these girls ran away from that and
formed a little band <L> poaching in the forest <Aus> Because funny thing: 'civilized'
life seems an awful lot like 'slave
labor'. <L> and at first they're down on Monty for
being a Hob which they consider a dirty
word- humanized goblin, pah <Aus> A hobbled-goblin. <L> yes! hee <L> and goblins aren't cave dwellers in my
world <L> they live in forests– kind of like
pygmies hehe <L> and they hunt things with poisoned
arrows <L> which lets them take down things
bigger than they are <L> so they hunt deer and such <L> and the humans are encroching <L> becuse they're expanding their lands
and using the forrests <L> and don't really respect nomadic
goblin territory rights <L> so they come into conflict with the
'savages' <L> and they kill the adults and try to
civilize the kids so they stop living like
savages in valuable forest lands <L> that should belong to king and country <Aus> Which goes over about as well with
the 'savages' as it does throughout most
history. <L> yes hee <L> So there's like… two or three main
conflicts in the world <Aus> “I don't understand it. We've been
burning their villages, killing their
adults and enslaving their children, and
they don't seem to listen to reason.” <L> There's the russian style lands where
there's a big conflict between magic that
the leaders have, and the people wanting
to overthrow them and move away from the
age of magic/superstition as they see it <L> There the 'monsters' have been at bay
so long they've become almost mythical <L> Then there's a conflict between the
pagan gods of the 'lesser races' (aka:
anything not human) and the new god, who
believes in human supremacy, and humans
ruling as a 'benevolant dictator' over the
world <L> Which is happening in the place
Talvernis and the nun are from especially <L> And then there's the civilization of
the savages which is starting in the
country that Monty is from - they're not
having any ruling problems there, <L> because the royal family is much
loved, and their magic viewed as a
blessing <Aus> So in short, the 'balance' between
the two extreme conflicts. <L> yes hehe <L> so the question is.. how to bring all
these elements together, and in what
format <Aus> The theoretical 'see, this can work
out if we all just take a deep breath
here.' <Aus> Okay. First things first. Is this
still going to be a campaign world I'm
GMing? <L> Well i think I would like to write the
story / do the comic hehe but also yes I
would like it to be a campaign world <Aus> Alright – from the standpoint of it
being a campaign world, <Aus> are we running campaigns in all
three places at once, <Aus> just as a 'hop between', and just
keeping overall world notes in a wiki or
something for later use and 'story
editing' in a wiki or something? <L> Hm… that could work. Or we could
start them out in three separate places,
and bring all the people together at the
end? hee <L> or well not the end <L> but you know have them moving toward a
place where they will all intersect <Aus> Well, they may or may not come
together – that depends on where they're
going. Sometimes getting people to all go
in the same direction is problematic -
sometimes, it's easy. <Aus> For now, though, let's just agree
that 'they're all in different places –
at least for now – <Aus> and we're pretty certain that
someday they may be less differently
placed?' <L> right hee <Aus> Okays. Next thing: a bit of world
building. Since we've established that
they're all in the same world, <Aus> we're also establishing a few points
of note: <Aus> * Lead items can detract from a
person's magical capability. <Aus> * Lead can penetrate a magical
barrier. <Aus> * In many segments of the world,
nonhumans are ostracized, even from the
fantasy-traditional 'demihuman' races. <L> yes <Aus> * At least one major human religion
believes that all nonhumans should be
either subjugated or exterminated. <Aus> * As might be expected, any nonhuman
with reasonable intelligence knows full
well about this range of 'ostracization to
slavery to extermination' attitude, and
responds accordingly. <L> right <Aus> Campaign 1: Montague - Monty hails
from the country that has decided to not
be dicks about this. <Aus> While some humans are still assholes
about it, the majority think that maybe
they should just be trying to politely
engage the nonhumans as long as the
nonhumans aren't trying to be violent to
-them-. <L> http://hobworld.livejournal.com/ - I
made us a journal to keep things in hee <L> password is raymond1 <Aus> They may still hold a second class
role in society, but this is really more
because of a nonofficial status than
anything else. <Aus> There's no royal decree that
actually -keeps- nonhumans from doing
this, that, or another, if I understand it
right, just normal peer pressure. <L> right <L> it's just the way society is stuctured <L> there might even be some establisments
that have Humans Only signs <L> like how colored people were
segrigated with jim crow laws <L> in the us <Aus> This is what, in the comic,
eventually gives Monty room to succeed, I
believe - there's really nothing that says
he -can't- aside from personal bigotries. <L> right <L> in his country, they're actually
trying to intergrate non-humans <L> so they might be a little more
accepting <Aus> To the resistance of those humans
who think canoodling outside your species
is a crime against nature. <L> part of that is due to the influence
of the abbot - Abbot Goodkind who is
really trying to do the best for the
goblins in his charge, <L> getting them good apprenticeships and
such <Aus> Which also means that the Abbot
himself might be a target in the future. <L> yes! <L> And he's Monty's mentor <L> and you know how that trope goes <L> where your nice kind mentor dieees <L> in some horrible way <L> and then the hero is all rarrr <Aus> Unfortunately for 'the bad guys', <L> and has to avenge him <Aus> that trope usually goes 'you killed
the nice guy's mentor. then he stops
playing nice.' <L> right hehehe <Aus> We'll go into a bit more detail a
bit later, but I'm hopping over to
campaign two for a bit – <Aus> our dear friends Grigory and Anika,
fleeing from the revolution of the people. <Aus> Well, more accurately, fleeing from
the revolution of a group of merchant
bankers who want to seize power and don't
believe in all that nonsense about royal
blood. <Aus> And from the people they are bossing
around by telling them all the bad things
that are happening are the fault of the
royals and their 'dark magics'. <Aus> The bad news: They're in a Russian
pastiche, which means it's cold as balls,
snowy as fuck, and everyone's cranky and
miserable. <Aus> The worse news: Nobody in that
country's even so much as met one of the
fae folk before, with the possible
exception of the royals/nobles themselves,
who may have had peaceful dealings with
the nonviolent ones. <L> ooh i like the guys siezing power
being merchant bankers <L> that gives them a good motivation for
wanting to be in power <L> and not just 'for the good of the
poeple' like they're telling folks hehe <Aus> Gotta have money to fund a
revolution, <Aus> which means it'd have to be either
nobles themselves - unlikely, given the
campaign targeting laser, <Aus> or the upper class of the
non-nobles, wanting the pie for
themselves. <Aus> “We're the new kings! Oh fuck.” <L> right hehe <Aus> Of course they say it's for the good
of the people, but really, its' for the
good of their treasury. <L> they're like hey we're as rich, or
richer than the royal family collectively <L> they're not listening to what WE want <L> so why shouldn't we be running things? <L> …oh shit <Aus> “… Bob, do you think we may have
made a mistake?” “SHUT UP AND GET SOMEONE
TO LOAD THE CANNONS!” <L> They may even be trying to find her to
get her to come back and -fix- things at
this point haha <L> look… we'll ahhh… we'll work with
you <L> you can be part of our new government! <Aus> Which, given that last week they
were trying to find her to KILL her… no. <L> just… put these back <L> And she's like …um.. you killed my
family… uh NO <Aus> The good news: she's got an
old-fashioned Hessian ass-kicking
horseback riding bad-ass motherfucker on
-her- side. <L> yes! <L> (Anika) Grigory <3 <Aus> Their starting campaign arc is going
to be looking for her (cousin, was it?) in
a particularly inhospitable stretch of
land, <Aus> to see if she's survived thus far
and to try to etch out some help from that
front. <L> yep <Aus> Meanwhile, the -violent- nonhumans
are starting to realize that they're free
to enter. <L> woo! free for alllll <L> Yeah you got to figure in russia-like
they have the BIG baddies <Aus> And, of course, are doing so, with
the sort of vengeance that one harbors
after being told to sit in the corner for
a few hundred years. <L> trolls <L> and ogres <L> and all those huge nasty not so bright
but full of violent races <Aus> Trolls, of course, being the classic
regenerative types. <L> maybe even giants <Aus> The types that shooting does -not-
stop permanently. <L> yes hehe <Aus> Which will take a very long time to
figure out. <Aus> Say, four or five villages' worth of
time. <Aus> And that country is isolated by icy
frozen heckdom, <Aus> so news about it will take a while
to reach other portions of the campaign
world. <Aus> Speaking of which, we move on to
campaign number three: <Aus> Talvanis and the Lavender Girl. <L> She so needs a name hee <Aus> Also, Nun on the Run, or “Does This
Hat Make My Ears Too Big?” <L> lol! <Aus> Want a random one? <L> sure hee <Aus> How about this old English one? Avis
- sanctuary in battle. <L> I like that! <Aus> Avis it is, then. <L> Is it A-vis, or Ah-vis? <Aus> In my head it sounds like Ah-vis,
but use whichever you think sounds best,
I'd say. <L> Ahvis sounds good hee <Aus> So, Avis is pregnant by a
(half-elf?) named Talvanis, and wants to
follow him on his journey rather than
remain a nun and give up the child. <L> yes hee <Aus> She believes the child will carry
the reincarnated spirit of the drowned boy
as well as the spirit it's supposed to,
which sounds like one nasty case of split
personality disorder. <L> And who knows how long she'll be
pregnant because elves might take a long
time to pop one out lol <L> Like elephants live longer than
humans, and they're pregnant almost two
years <Aus> Right. Though technically he's a
half-elf, so your mileage may vary, hee. <L> right heheh <L> and I imagine she has some clerical
type powers <L> so she would be a healer <Aus> Anyhow, her god apparently isn't
nearly as down on the elvenkind as some of
her fellow parishioners, <Aus> (damn kids), <L> yes hee - her baby may be a sign that
the god everyone thinks is rahhh humans
only is actually accepting of other races <L> and the baby may be some sort of hope
for the future <Aus> and she may have taken such as a
sign, yes, if she believes the baby's
reincarnated (which is in said god's
domain.) <Aus> After all, why would the god
reincarnate something it hates? <L> right! <L> But her god feels badly for the boy
who was killed by his follwers <L> so is making him reborn <Aus> And so all of this has basically
added up to her decision that she should
accompany Talvanis on his travels –
despite that he may be a little creeped
out by her god's ceremonies. <L> right <L> he's like… I suppose a very Joseph
figure in all this <L> like … hey my woman's knocked up… <L> and it might partly be some mystical
thing… <Aus> Of course, the bemusing part would
be if said god regularly reincarnates
people by impregnating one of the
mourners, <L> and … that's a little creepy…
but… <Aus> and is usually a little quirked when
they usually just give the baby away
after. <L> yes! that's true this could have
happened before <L> and it's like… hey aren't you
reading these signs? wtf followers <Aus> After all, they know how to
recognize the 'glowing while rapturing'
thing. <Aus> “Oh hey you're pregnant!” <Aus> They just seem to assume that it's
“oh hey you got pregnant by a traveler”. <L> tsk tsk <L> which you know.. they're not celebate
per say…. <Aus> Which can get double awkward if you
never actually -did-… <L> they're just… tsk that's not really
what you _should_ be spending your time
doing <Aus> But it's much easier to give up the
kid than to ask questions. <L> and you certainly can't raise a baby
wile serving yoru god– give that up <L> yes <Aus> [God] … <facefault> <Aus> [God] I need some angels or
something. <Aus> [God] I'm the god of journeys and
rebirth. I think someone missed a memo. <L> hehee
<Aus> Hee, of course, if they're all
monotheism, then not so much in the
'domain' department, but that group seems
to cater to those groups specifically,
so… <L> yes so that may be his areas <L> also hehe maybe not all the rest of
the travelers stuck around - oh shit I
impregnated a nun, i'm outta here <L> so Tal may be unusual that way too <Aus> Though seeing as they drowned the
last kid who was different, he might be
feeling a bit wary anyhow. <L> yes <L> so it's a good idea for them to get
out of there <Aus> After all, those kids have parents
who are just as… er… friendly. <Aus> So. We have motivation for them to
be moving 'away from the starting gate'. <Aus> That brings me back to campaign 1:
What is Monty's motivation to move out
from where he's started? <L> Well here's his story as I have it
figure out overall <L> He was captured as a young gobling and
raised in Montrose Abby by Abbot Goodkind <L> he was a very good student, and took
well to civilization - so they apprentized
him to the knighthood. A knight called Sir
Alfonse was friends with Abbot Goodkind,
so he agreed to let Monty in and let him
squire etc <L> Monty at first gets all the shit jobs
that they think a hob could handle- like
driving snails out of the garden, mucking
up the stables, etc <L> but then something happens <L> Sir Alfonse is sent to slay a dragon,
who lives in the caverns on the other side
of the forest <L> and he Never Returns (dum dum dummmm) <L> so they're like oh fuck who are we
going to send? Sir A was our best knight
etc
<L> so they're like well let's send the
hob- he's expendable, and his kind come
from the forest anyhow so he may be able
to get through it if the forest is what
killed Sir A <L> so they send him out and in the forest
he meets the band of girl gobs <L> who are like no they didn't see Sir A
and no they didn't accost him <L> and they want monty to join them - but
he sticks to his mission and goes to the
cave <L> and there he finds the dragon has
choked on Sir A while eating im <L> so both dragon and knight are dead <L> and there's an egg <L> so he takes the egg and he's rolling
it back through the forest for home when
it hatches <L> and he names the dragon Parsnip and
that's his dragon <L> when he gets back home he's like –
well Sir A is dead and the dragon is dead-
he's telling this to Sir Charmingham <L> and Charmingham takes it as Monty
killed the dragon <L> so he rushes off to tell the king
without any more info <L> and everyone's all oh wow a hob killed
a dragon <L> and there's all this celebration <L> and a bit of warriness too <L> because the king had said whoever
kills the dragon gets to marry the
princess <L> and she can't possibly marry a hob <Aus> Hence why he needs to get sent on a
quest posthaste? <Aus> Something more-impossibler? <L> then Monty tells them the truth, and
tells the princess she should want more
out of life than to marry anyone just
because they killed something anyhow <Aus> Hee.
<L> and the king is very grateful <L> and Monty is made a full knight <L> for having told the truth <L> and not just marrying the princess <L> And anyhow– then Abbot Goodkind is
killed <L> and Monty wants to set off in search
of his killer <L> and Sir Reginald Charmingham goes with
him– <L> becuase they're getting be buds <L> as does parsnip the dragon. And then–
surprise– they're joined by the princess
who escaped the castle dressed like a boy <L> and she's all like I'm going with you! <L> and Charmingham is all No!! <L> And she's all I order you as knights
of my kingdom to allow me to come <L> and they're like 'crap!' <L> And then they go back through the
forest, and they meet up with the girl
gobs again <L> and the girl goblins send someone
along with the group - because they're
worried that because it looks like it was
a Goblin Attack that killed Goodkind,
there'll be war between humans and goblins <L> and they'll be caught in the middle <L> but it wasn't really a goblin attack
that got him- it was someone who didn't
agree with his policies of making goblins
part of society <L> who wants to isnight the war <Aus> Incite, hee. <L> anyhow that's how they wind up going
off on their quest <L> oh yes
<L> and there's four of them– a goblin
girl monty likes, Charmingham and the
Princess (whose name is Valoria) <L> and parsnip the dragon who is big
enough for monty to ride now <L> and Milicent, Charmingham's horse <L> hehe <Aus> Okay – so where Campaign 1 is, is
with the fearsome foursome gathered
together - Monty the Hob Knight and his
young dragon Parsnip, Princess Valoria,
Sir Charmingham and Milicent, and the
Goblin Archer. <L> right! <L> And they're trying to discover who or
what is trying to make it look like
goblins caused goodkind's death <L> and why they want to start this war <Aus> Question. <L> yes? <Aus> This is sort of rewinding the clock
here… but goblins are prone to using
poisoned arrows. So chances are, whoever
killed the abbot used a poisoned arrow to
do the work, to try to pin it on the
gobbos. <Aus> But here's the rub. What if they
actually used a crossbow to fire it - and
goblins are -not- crossbow users. <Aus> the idea being that nobody was
supposed to see the shot, and just to find
the dead body.
<Aus> but someone -did- see the shot,
hence why they have any idea. or something
to that effect, that something's rotten
with the setup. <L> ooh <L> I like that idea <Aus> The fact that someone used a
crossbow to fire an arrow would stand out
as weird on its own, and as a deliberate
attempt to mask the type of assassination; <Aus> they're not really meant to fire
'archery' arrows. <Aus> It means someone put serious effort
into trying to pin this on the goblins. <Aus> And if the witness involved is
reasonably unimpeachable, <Aus> then you have to take it at face
value that something seriously rotten is
going on. So you start trying to figure
out things, like 'well, where was the
poison made', 'are these actually goblin
arrows'. <L> Maybe the princess saw it? <Aus> Right. <Aus> Also would explain why -she- wants
in on the act. <Aus> (And why the king's gonna have a
heart attack in a bit.) <L> hee <Aus> So, short of knowing a good
alchemist, the next question would be
'well, where's the arrow come from?' <Aus> The goblin girls would be a logical
place to check for 'goblin manufacture'. <Aus> The nearby town of Rotheford may be
a next destination. And so forth. <L> woot <L> so that gets them on the quest road
Gestalt Classes:
Base Save
Column A: No armor B: light armor C: light/medium armor D: light/medium/heavy armor
Defense Bonus from Armor: Level A B C D 1st +2 +3 +4 +6 2nd +2 +3 +4 +6 3rd +3 +4 +5 +7 4th +3 +4 +5 +7 5th +3 +4 +5 +7 6th +4 +5 +6 +8 7th +4 +5 +6 +8 8th +4 +5 +6 +8 etc.
Monsters without Classes: No armor proficiency +0 Light +1 Medium +2 Heavy +4
Armor as DR:
Creature Natural Armor provides DR 1/- per
+5 AC
Armor provides DR 1/- per +2 AC
Subtract new DR from AC bonus.
Shields still work as normal.
Avis 2nd level Cleric / Wizard Gestalt
Str 13 Int 13 Wis 17 Dex 14 Con 11 Cha 12
BAB +1 Fort +3 Ref +0 Will +3
Languages Known: Elven
Cleric: 0nd x 5, 1st x 3+1 Domains: Travel, Sanctuary The Travel domain lets you act normally
for one round per cleric level you possess
as if you were under a freedom of movement
spell, regardless of magical effects that
may be fucking with your ability to move.
Its first level domain spell is
Longstrider, which increases your speed.
Survival is a class skill.
Protection domain: You can generate a
Protective Ward as a supernatural ability.
Grant someone you touch a resist bonus
equal to your cleric level on their next
saving throw. Activating this power is a
standard action. Duration 1 hour, usable
once per day. First level domain spell: Sanctuary.
Born in a warm climate aboard a ship,
travelled with her father as a child
before settling in as a nun. Her family is
wealthy (merchant sailors) and conducts
trade over a large area of the world
(which may be useful for future tie-ins.)
They are highly combat-capable as a
family; most members of the family are
familiar with at least one weapon, if not
more. The family name is beyond reproach,
even though they are ethically fairly
neutral.
Her family has no specific religious
commitment, and while the family name is
known as beyond reproach for business, but
individuals are judged on their own
merits. They are a supportive part of the
political system, but open to suggestions
for change - for example, they might be
willing to listen to the 'goblins aren't
all bad' thing.
Her family is controlled by the eldest
members (probably the oldest male members,
given the rest of society.)
Gavin Dimitrio originally discovered the
alchemical ingredients for a new type of
medicinal tea and attempted to market
them. Unfortunately for him, rivals soon
caught on and drove him out of the market
he created outright, financially ruining
him in the process. His son, Alec Dimitrio
eventually went on to found the Dimitrio
shipping line.
Less well known, but still of great
importance - one of Avis's ancestors,
Jaclyn Dimitrio, was believed to have
forged the magic item responsible for
maintaining the barriers in the Coldlands;
her descendent's power will be needed to
reawaken it now that it has fallen
dormant.
Avis picked up on the language of the
elven people during her travels as a young
child, and when she was old enough, she
was sent to finishing school to study her
manners and etiquette, so as to know how
'proper women' behave. However,
interestingly, during her time at
finishing school, she was approached by an
arcanist who informed her parents that she
had a special gift that should be
cultivated within the church - a natural
talent with magic. She trained under the
arcanist for several years before joining
the church proper.
Avis was born under a strange astronomical
sign; sailors watching the skies that
night must have wondered whether the gods
were trying to tell them something or
merely to play tricks with their
navigation.
In her teenage years, she found herself
growing interested in politics - speaking
out against what she saw as abuses of
authority. (This may not have helped her
chances of avoiding the nunnery.)
Her isolation has been broken, however, as
large groups of travelers have come to
visit her home community, bringing
friction with the residents and stirring
up her life just as it looked like it
might become one of quiet contemplation…
Avis has an identical twin brother named
Avin that she hasn't seen since finishing
school; her mother and maternal
grandparents are dead, but her father and
paternal grandparents are both still
alive, and there are nine other extended
relatives that she is aware of.
Avis has a number of companions and
associates at the nunnery, though nobody
extremely close; however, while most of the sisters are friendly and compassionate, sister Jaya is a nasty troublemaker and rival of Avis's who has never measured up to their teacher's approval and who takes every opportunity to chastise the other sisters for perceived indiscretions.
Sono Bartholomew was Avis's teacher, and has taught her well in the arts of magic and holy orders; she has a Holy Book of Orders in which to transcribe her prayers and spells, and knows how to convert the lesser magics of others into the words of her god (metamagic feat: Consecrate Spell.)
She's also not yet accessed the second level cleric spells (or wizard spells, not that she's really been trained that there's much of a difference, beyond that cleric spells are a gift based on your devotion in prayer, and wizard spells are a gift based on your devotion in study.)
HP: 12 Cleric Skill Points: 20 Wizard Skill Points: 20
0-level Cleric: Create Water, Cure Minor Wounds, Detect
Magic, Detect Poison, Guidance, Light,
Mending, Purify Food and Drink, Read
Magic.
1st Level Cleric: Bless, Comprehend Languages, Cure Light
Wounds, Deathwatch, Detect Evil, Detect
Good, Detect Undead, Divine Favor, Endure
Elements, Hide from Undead, Magic Stone,
Protection from Evil, Remove Fear,
Sanctuary, Shield of Faith.
0-level Wizard: Detect Magic, Dancing Lights, Ray of
Frost, Disrupt Undead, Mage Hand,
Open/Close, Arcane Mark, Message.
1st level Wizard: Alarm, Hold Portal, Shield, Grease,
Feather Fall, Sleep.
Quarterstaff Leather armor Hooded lantern and oil Traveler's outfits, 2 Lavender cleric's vestments Ceremonial dagger Flint and steel Tent Backpack Canteen Blanket Healing herbs Bandages Soap Signet ring with family crest Sealing wax Journal Rope Loose paper for letters Quill and ink Travel writing desk Donkey Hair combs, 2 Ribbons, 4
Talvanis
2nd Level Ranger/Thief
Immune to sleep, +2 save vs enchantment Can see twice as far in poor lighting +1 to Listen, Spot, Search +2 to Diplomacy, Gather Info
Str 12 Dex 16 Wis 15 Int 15 Con 11 Cha 16
Talvanis's elven people were always
nomadic by nature, travelling from
destination to destination with no real
destination in mind, merely living life by
experiences and learning all that they
could of the world. However, his birth
originally came about when this trip was
interrupted by an attempt to integrate
them into human society, specifically into
one of the rugged hilly villages on the
edge of the kingdom. Apparently at one
point or another, Talvanis's elven mother
grew close to a gentleman, and out of that
relationship, Talvanis was eventually
born.
The community that Talvanis's people had
attached to was a monastic community that
lived in quiet contemplation, and that
went hand in hand with the state of mind
of his nomadic forebears.
His father was one of the people in the
community whose work supported the
monastery, and made a modest living as a
vintner.
However, when it was found out that he had
fathered a child by an elf, he was
arrested, and the child was taken as well.
This… caused a slight problem. <Aus> You see, monks… are very well
trained combatants. And the elves weren't
so shabby either. (Outstanding military
readiness…) Things got ugly very
quickly.
To the monks, and to the community who
knew what had transpired, the elves, the
vintner, and the child were in the
right… and the vintner was known well as
a goodly man, and the elves had proven
themselves in helping the community.
But the king thought differently.
More to the point, he thought the elves
had corrupted the town and its people, and
that the whole mess needed to be cleaned
up, quietly and quickly, before it could
spread and get out of hand.
The monks worshipped no one true god, and
the elves? They worshipped whatever
nonsense it was they worshipped. They
needed to be removed, and the issue needed
to be settled, and anyone who was
complaining about it needed to be
silenced.
Faced with the pressure, some members of
the community turned on the poor vintner
– they felt badly for him, but they
weren't about to stand up for him against
the king, after all.
And it was his fault for dallying with
those forest creatures, anyhow…
The vintner's family had always been a
supporter of the king, and those who heard
of the matter didn't question it - if the
king said he needed to be arrested, he
needed to be arrested. Nothing to it.
The elves were forced to leave the area –
they didn't want the people they'd
befriended to come to harm because of
them, and foresaw that only bloodshed
would result of resisting. They left in
the night, leaving the community saddened
and an empty field in their wake, with
only a message to the grandmaster in their
wake.
Nobody really knows much about Talvanis's
ancestry beyond that story, especially not
Talvanis himself; his human family
certainly never sought him out, and his
elven family never knew where to look.
So it was that a young child landed in the
midst of the 'rehabilitation' program for
'nonhumans', to train them as servants for
the castle.
When Talvanis was very young, he had
shown a great interest in the outdoors;
meditation within the monastery walls
never appealed to him nearly as much as
climbing up the walls, and he learned
quickly many basics of survival in the
wild that some peasants still struggle
with.
When he was put into 'rehabilitation', he
was ordered to learn religious philosophy
and religious texts from the 'true god',
as reasons why impure things like him
should serve. He's more than a bit
resentful about that.
The walls of the castle were stifling,
confining, nearly maddening in their
isolation. He gradually managed to find
one of the few positions that would at
least let him touch nature again, and
started offering to work in the gardens to
assist the healers.
He absolutely refuses to talk about what
happened the day he was arrested, but it
still unsettles him very, very deeply.
He also refuses to talk about what he did
that allowed him to escape the castle, or
why he's been on the move ever since, just
in case anyone's looking for him;
he managed to make a sleeping poison
using his access to the castle gardens,
and put it in the guards' food to give him
an opportunity to escape. He was still
just a teenager then,
and he wasn't really certain that he used
enough to put people to sleep and not,
say, seriously hurt or kill them, and
that's been quietly bothering him for a
very long time.
He's essentially a refugee at this point,
with no family to speak of – he has no
idea how to contact his mother, his father
may be dead in jail, and either way he
hasn't seen them in over fifteen years.
As such, he's a troubled sort who's been
relying on himself and trying to find a
place to be.
He's staying clear of the town where he
was born, though he doesn't really
acknowledge it, because of the memories
and because of the man who lived there who
was responsible for destroying his life
and that of his family.
Most of what he knows now is at the hands
of none-too-gentle instructors at the
castle, or his own trial-and-error
learnings, and either way, he bears the
scars of his mistakes.
Ranger Skills: 40 Favored Enemy: Human Feats: Track, Rapid Shot [light/no armor] Combat Style: Archery Fort: +3, Ref: +3, Will: +0 Thief Skills: 50 Evasion Sneak Attack +d6 Trapfinding
Anika Str 10 Con 11 Dex 14 Cha 16 Int 16 Wis 13
We already know it's cold as balls, but
let's toss a d100 to get an idea of the
general terrain in their neigborhood. <L> !d100 <SpARCy> -=[ Name: L | Roll(1d100): 94 |
Total: 94 ]=- <Aus> The area closest to their castle is
tangled pines; the sort of things that
make a direct overland march difficult for
traditional armies, <Aus> and also make it difficult to pursue
someone who doesn't want to be found. <Aus> The castle area was a large city -
between 12,000 and 25,000 inhabitants.
What do they have to fear from the woods?
What indeed… <Aus> As the royal family, they were
obviously considered wealthy nobility. But
how well equipped were her bloodline to
handle things themselves? Gimme a d100. <L> !d100
Nope. In short, the family relied almost
exclusively on their magic, and on the
services of the military. <Aus> This may have been a bad idea. <L> oh dear <L> that explains why she's no fighter
hehe <Aus> Perhaps fortunately, Grigory is a
very loyal member of the Aegis Knights,
those who shield the royals, <Aus> and who will fight to the death to
protect her. (And is a goddamn beeftank.) <L> (Anika) Grigory <3 <Aus> hee, aww. <Aus> Anyhow, so what was the royal family
like? Let's have a couple of d100s, it's
ethics time.
hey were genuinely good people, and their
public image matched their private
outlook. <Aus> They were, after all, -keeping the
goddamn monsters out-, but also were
trying to help people in many other ways. <Aus> Goddamn merchant bankers. <Aus> Does your family have a religious
commitment? Let's see… d100 time. As it
is, at the very least, they probably
didn't deserve to get bushwhacked. <L> aw poor people <L> !d100 <SpARCy> -=[ Name: L | Roll(1d100): 43 |
Total: 43 ]=- <Aus> Your family has been worshipping a
patron deity for years but may not observe
religious commitments consistently. <L> hee <L> so they're like most people <L> they're not super religious <L> but they believed in something <Aus> Right. They're not all psycho about
it. <Aus> Well, weren't, anyhow. <Aus> Let's hear a bit more about the
family… give me three d100s.
The family is generally treated as
individuals without regard for the family
name - nobody is known as truly horrible,
and everyone's more or less known as good
people, even the ones that live way out
there. <Aus> The founder of the kingdom was one
of a band of adventurers who first drove
the great evils from the kingdom, and
banished them from the lands. <L> ooh neat <L> so that's how the monsters got kicked
out of the kingdom hee <Aus> It is said that their leader became
the first king of Ikalia, and his lady
became the first queen; <Aus> and that they were responsible for
making the devices that the nobles were
supposed to keep up every so often in
order to keep the monsters out. <Aus> (The part about keeping the magic
only within the royal line came a few
generations later.)
Anika would know that there are specific
rituals that are supposed to be performed
every year to keep things running
smoothly, and may have been taught the
ritual at some point – but her parents
were still responsible for actually
carrying it out for the time being.
Problem is, nobody believes that those
silly ceremonies the nobles perform every
year are anything but fancy parties.
Guess what they chose to use as the timing
for their hostile takeover.
And guess why things immediately went to
hell because the ceremony got screwed up
and the devices just plain got shut -off-.
You received basic book learning when you
were young, and a natural affinity for the
magical arts, to the surprise of no one. <Aus> You were interested in political
philosophy growing up, trying to
understand diplomatic relations with the
expectation that someday you might be
taking on the mantle of queen, <Aus> and continued to study the wizardly
arts to prepare for your solemn duties in
keeping monsters and evil at bay and
protecting your kingdom from threats. <Aus> When danger did come, then, and came
not from that which was evil but that
which was misguided, you were
unprepared… <L> ooh <Aus> … but perhaps fortunately, not
unguarded.
During your teenage years, your magical
capabilities flourished - you were already
wielding basic magics that others required
years of study to master. Your parents
were proud of you, and made certain to
take time to teach you what they could as
they had time to, and let you read the
books of magic they kept away from the
common folk, always under their watchful
eye, until they knew you used the power
responsibly. <Aus> Unfortunately, when the revolution
came, you were not cloistered in your
palace, safe behind stone walls and with
this magical library at your fingertips; <Aus> you were at the town square, in
public, with your parents and the rest of
your family, watching as the king and
queen performed the same ritual they had
every year for prosperity and good fortune
in the next year. <Aus> And that's when the strange noises
started. Guns. Some people had never heard
them before, and looked around, confused,
or expecting to see fireworks like they
had at earlier celebrations, but the
revolutionaries came charging, with guns
and swords and torches, and attacked the
crowd at the moment when the king and
queen were most exposed. <L> eep <Aus> And then you saw nothing else of
what was happening, not even what happened
next, because a massive wall of iron and
horseflesh blocked the way, and Grigory
was there, scooping you up before you had
time to react, and riding off into the
night.
The King and Queen have Aegis Knights too
– perhaps they fulfilled their duty, or
perhaps they died that night with those
they swore to protect. <L> and woot all done my world history
reading <Aus> But the country is going to hell,
and for now at least, you are a refugee.
As far as you know, you still have
grandparents alive on your mother's side,
and your father's mother is still alive as
well, though they are retired and live far
from the capital these days. <Aus> Your extended family was also very
large;
you can easily count off eighteen
relatives you could talk to for help, if
they aren't all dead. Some were living in
the castle with you; your mother's brother
and his wife and their two children. On
the other hand, your father's relatives
are all over the place.
Your day-to-day instructor, for the
record, was a minor nobleman - he didn't
really have much claim to territory, but
he was part of the family, and had
basically taken up teaching so as to make
himself more useful and less expendable -
by the name of Tevo;
he was honestly very nervous about the
whole thing.
I mean, she's -the princess-. And
extremely attractive. And waaaay out of
his ballpark. So he's trying to be as professional as
possible, and his student is a very
attractive, very well-behaved, very
studious girl who can have him executed.
And yes, he probably -did- have a bit of a
crush on her given her intelligence and
charm.
But he's about 58th in line for
consideration for intermarriage, or
thereabouts.
So he kept his distance and did as best
he could and managed to make it until
revolution day without panicking. Wizard: 5/3 0level wizard
Bard: 3/1
Zero-Level: Dancing Lights [bard], Detect Magic
[bard], Flare [bard], Ghost Sound [bard],
Know Direction [bard], Light [bard], Mage
Hand [bard], Mending [bard], Message
[bard], Open/Close [bard], Read Magic
[bard], Acid Splash, Ray of Frost, Touch
of Fatigue, Arcane Mark, Disrupt Undead.
1st-Level: Alarm [bard], Animate Rope [bard], Cause
Fear [bard], Charm Person [bard],
Comprehend Languages [bard], Cure Light
Wounds [bard ONLY], Detect Secret Doors
[bard], Disguise Self [bard], Expeditious
Retreat [bard], Feather Fall [bard],
Grease [bard], Hypnotism [bard], Identify
[bard], Magic Mouth [bard], Sleep [bard],
Tasha's Hideous Laughter [bard], Endure
Elements, Hold Portal, Magic Missle,
Burning Hands, Shocking Grasp.
Equipment:
Warm Furs Traveler's winter clothes Family ring Jewelry (100 gp) Canteen Backpack Blanket Pillow Tent Bedroll Mandolin