The backstory will be revealed as the game goes on. In retrospect, it would be a good idea to mention that in the opening post, but what's done is done.
Character: Necromancer ( I saw nothing against there being more than one type of person, so why not?)
Character: (choose which character you want to play. Characters are unique and the same character can't be taken by more than one player)
But Xardalas has agreed to take the place of a Speedster instead, so you get to remain a Necromancer.
Turn 0: IntroductionAncient: You are the King Ramlan's most trusted advisor, and your day started off... rather poorly.
First, the King was in a bad mood today, and sent you, his most trusted advisor, to deal with everything in his place. That meant signing the papers, holding the court of law, having to listen to the council... in other words, today you had to make the kingdom's decisions by yourself - and would be held accountable for everything you did.
Second, you have a distinct feeling that the palace guards are conspiring against you. They kept giving you a large berth for the last few days, but this morning you overheard many of them whispering behind the corners - whispering something suspicious. It's almost as if they knew you were a vampire! But that couldn't have happened, of course - your net of spies and disinformers is far too wide to let any dangerous rumors slip past.
Third, there's a large crowd of peasants sieging the castle, demanding your head. In fact, you've just walked out on the balcony to negotiate with them. You have prepared yourself to give them a good guilt-tripping lecture on what's right and what's wrong, but before you could put in a single word, the crowd exploded in anger.
"
That's the vampire! That's him!"
"
Bring that bloodsucker down! Let him burn in the flames of the new order!"
"
The gods cursed you to suffer, fiend, not to rule over us! But you'll get what you deserve - just wait till we get to you!"
Wow. Things seem rather... heated. What shall you do with the crowd?
Spin Doctor: You are a prominent ranch-owner and the head of a trading company. It's not exactly a safe job, what with having competitors like the Umbrento Family, but at least you're well suited for it. You have just finished your daily meal in the dungeons and went upstairs to finish a letter to your most recent disciple, Assassin Faenir. The fate had other plans, however...
As you approach your study, you hear muffled breathing from inside. Servants are under orders not to enter the room without his permission, so it's probably another assassin, the third one this month. Do the Umbrentos have no respect for their money and authority, hiring cutthroats like that?
But before the assassin noticed something was off and fled, you had to choose the further course of actions. If you dealt with the assassin yourself, you could get high on his blood without attracting your hirelings' attention. Alternatively, you could call your guards and let them subdue him for proper interrogation. What will it be?
Survivalist: Your performance in the tavern tonight was spectacular, if the tips were any indication. Turns out, many people are amazed to see someone get staked through the heart, quartered, burned alive and chained down in an aquarium and still survive.
The wounds you sustained, despite not being deadly to you, still hurt quite a lot, and pain was not the most pleasant sensation in the world. Feeding on your assistant Shaila, however, was, and you proceeded to do so immediately once the show was over. After your body regenerated back to normal and your assistant recovered from the bite, you both went to your hovel in the city's poor district, ready to get a day's sleep before the next performance night.
Which you would have done if, out of the blue, some scrawny young man didn't snatch your pouch and dart into a dark alley nearby. [4] Unsuccesfully, as your quick running has showed to him, and [3] vs. [2] [Damage: 2] quite painfully, as you have tripped him and pounced, ready to beat the bastard into a pulp. The thief couldn't hold back scared whimpering as he tried to shield himself from your fists.
"
Mercy, sir! They said they'd kill me if I didn't bring your pouch to them!"
"
'They'? Who was it?"
"
I-I don't know! They wore hoods and those cloaks with suns painted on them! Please don't kill me!"
"
You have done your job luring the vampire here, thief. Your miserable life will be spared until the Twin Suns bring judgement to this world."
You turn around and see that the passage behind your back - the only way out of this alley - was blocked by three hooded figures. Behind their backs, two more were stuffing Shaila's limp body into a bag. You remember that you didn't see guards patrolling the street - these people must have bribed them beforehand.
"
As for you, vampire... Twin Suns demand we relieve the world of your twisted life. Eagle team, get the heretic to the base! Cheetah team, assume the third formation! This one's hard to kill."
The brutes holding Shaila grunt in agreement and depart, while the one who spoke to you draws a bow and the two beside him start pressing you deeper into the alley with their shields.
Necromancer: You stand at the top of your tower, watching a cloud of giant mosquitoes fly by and enjoying the dwarven wine you have traded for your old book, 'Vampires: Myth or Reality?'. The sky is nice and gloomy, like any other day. Your companion is away buying provisions for your prisoners, so today you have the entire tower to yourself. Just as you are about to sit back and decide what to do this peaceful day, four rather noisy individuals hack through the dead bushes and enter the clearing in front of your tower.
You lean forward to get a better look at them... [5] vs. [1] [Damage: 1] And notice that one of them is an archer as an arrow slams into and twangs off your shoulder, leaving a painful bruise. (-1 HP) The leader of the attackers comes forward, draws a greatsword and shouts:
"
I am Imigo Ashransom of the Twin Suns and I have come to bring the fire of new order to this place! Prepare to die, fiend!"
[Garrison: 3] Another bunch of bloodthirsty zealots was
not good news for you. Your undead horde was still recovering after the last attack. You had only two well-armed skeletons guarding the entrance, and five or six peasant zombies wandering around the tower.
You should probably lend fire support to your undead, as they stand little chance otherwise.
Assassin: After your last mission ended in a spectacular failure, you decided to retire from the assassination business and go for something less human-oriented instead... like burglary. Your first job is in the dungeons of Julius Umbrento, a merchant prince infamous for his doctrine of assassinations - the exact same person who hired you to kill Augustine Volkar, by the way. You have been tasked to steal a sacred gem of Anratha, the Mistress of Night and Shadows, from his vaults, and bring it to Anratha's high priest once you had it. If this job was done well, you would put yourself in Mistress's good graces along with getting the money, and having a deity on your side is a lot more than most vampires can say about themselves.
Your way to the vaults has passed uneventfully: guards were either sleeping or drunk, traps were obvious, and locks looked as if someone weakened them on purpose. In fact, the job seemed so easy that you started wondering if Umbrento has known of your mission and laid out a trap for you, but on your way to the vaults you saw nothing else that would support this theory.
And finally, you break into the vaults. After a bit of searching, you finally find the gem: it's locked in a reinforced glass case and surrounded by a web of tripwires your eyes can barely notice. So it
was a trap, after all.
Given the vault's layout, you would have to fight your way out if you triggered the alarms; however, you think that you have a fair chance of disabling the traps and stealing the gem. Will you escape now or attempt to finish the job?
Speedster: [6+2-1] vs. [4], [Damage: 5+2] You knock the werespider down in a flurry of strikes and pin it to the ground with your spear. It - or rather
he, Aran Ravenhair the Slick Death - squirms in pain and terror, obviously surprised by your ferocity and speed. Not that he deserves any pity: that murderer preyed on villagers for years, and had already killed twenty-eight in his crime spree.
You stand there for a moment, thinking what to do with the subdued beast: take it alive to the one who gave you the contract? Kill it? Get high on its blood here and now?
Statuses: [work in progress]
Player: Flintus
Name: Samuel Bel
Location: King's Castle, being screamed at
HP: 20/20
Status: Full
Modifiers: +1 to leadership
Abilities:Dominate Will
Inventory:Noble's Dress
Advisor's Wig
Pouch of BlingPlayer: IronyOwl
Name: Kal
HP: 20/20 HP
Status: Full
Abilities:Regenerator: restores 2 HP every turn. Restores full HP in Adrenaline Rush and when feeding.
Inventory:Performer's Suit
Heavy ShortswordPouchPlayer: Xardalas
Name: Xil Valcenti
HP: 20/20
Status: Full
Abilities:Blinding Speed: gets +2 to attack and all actions relying on speed.
Inventory:Iron SpearAdventurer's Leather ArmorPouchPlayer: empfan
Name: Antora Darklance
HP: 19/20
Status: Full
Abilities:
Necromancer: Can raise dead.
Inventory:
A Bottle of Dwarven Wine
Crossbow(+0 to hit, +0 to damage)
Secrets of Life and Death: The Book(authored by Antora Darklance)
Player: Tiruin
Name: Eldrin Faenir
HP: 20/20
Status: Full
Abilities:
Sneaky: +1 to stealth, stealing and lockpicking
Assassin: Stealth attacks always hit.
Inventory:
2 Daggers(two attacks, +0 to hit, -1 to damage)
Dwarven Crossbow(-1 to hit, +2 to damage)
15 Crossbow Bolts
2 Poison Vials(+3 to damage for one attack per vial)