Day 1 - Afternoon
Seawall
Approaching the medical building, Meyath whispered defiantly under her breath
“I am not too weak to help here.” Striding into the hospital with her fists clenched at her hips, she was greeted by a shriek from down one of the short corridors. Her nerves shaken, she momentarily felt the urge to leave, to hide from the pain here. But steeling her nerves, she walked straight towards the source of the sound. She came upon a small room with plain stone walls, and the source of the shriek became clear.
A young man, certainly no older than 17, was flailing about under a saw, having part of his leg amputated. His thigh must have been torn into by some form of explosion, because sections of bone were peeking through out of irregular cuts in his skin and muscle. A frail looking man was doing the sawing. Just as she processed the scene in front of her, the man saw her and said,
“Don’t simply stand there! He’ll hurt himself if he’s allowed to move like this. Restrain him!” Not having time to think about what she was doing, she stepped up to the crude operating table and held the young man in place. Soon the saw was back, biting into his leg. He screamed further into the rag in his mouth, but before long there was a clean cut through his lower leg.
Meyath briefly relaxed, thinking it was over, when suddenly the man poured a clear liquid onto his patient’s leg. The screaming and struggling was briefly renewed, and Meyath caught a kick to the chest in her unprepared state. The look she gave the doctor must have been one of pure horror, because he explained quickly
“The liquid isn’t meant to hurt him, it’s a brew from a local alchemist. It heals a clean cut quickly, but the pain is unbearable.”Feeling the adrenaline fade from her body, Meyath slumped against the floor in front of the old man.
Aetharbor
TsuJochi approached the captain asking,
" Are you going up the river? I'm returning to my clan and would like to buy passage. "The captain huffed gruffly and gave TsuJochi a scowl before answering,
"I don't see the need to help your kind get together. Downright frightening, that's what you all are. But if the money is right I can make it happen. Give me 60 copper coins and tonight we'll be on our merry way. I only ever make this trip at night. Don't like no Aethen bothering me."Finding these terms to be mostly agreeable, he promised the captain he would return that night to set off up the river. All while this was happening he was desperately probing into himself to try to ancestor Cadus. This time he found that connection, and as he walked away from the ship he latched on to this connection in case he wanted to make use of it.
Farther north of this conversation, Kassen contemplated the image on the door. The parallel to desert imagery used in his own religion was unmistakable, but the foreignness of these trees was just as apparent, leaving him uncertain of his footing when it came to predicting this religions actions. Hoping for the best, he pushed open the adorned entrance and strode in, only to find himself in the middle of what must have been a prayer session. A dozen men in light blue robes with teal trim were kneeling in front of various different shrines, most with sea imagery, one with that particular kind of tree again, another of a man seemingly reading from a new decree. Oddly, none of them seemed interacting with each other, yet there was still a sense in which this was all performed in unison.
His suspicions that this must be a group practice despite the individual activities were only confirmed when they all looked simultaneously towards a wavy teal crystal in the center of the room and said
“You are the God of the Sea and of the Light. You are He Who Decrees. Blessed be the World-Father.”With that most of them set off on their individual ways. Lost in watching this worship, Kassen forgot what he was going to say when a man with an especially long beard approached him and asked,
“What has brought you to the home of the Lord of the Brine?”Kassen stumbled horribly over his words, replying,
“Want to meet God-men. Please… Brine home open?”The robed man gave a slight chuckle and replied,
“Kindness to others is held as a high-virtue by the Blinding One. We are happy to open our home to you, and we can sort out what it is that you need from us in time.” With this he led Kassen into the main hall of their building.
Iseaya
It took an unusually long time for Sofia to come to her senses before she could really contemplate the possibilities of this small shop, but when she recovered some of her faculties of reason her first thought was that a bow would be by far best suited to her purposes. There were six bows laid across the table. Lifting each of them, she instantly decided that one which appeared to be made out of rock would simply be too heavy. Another metallic appearing one she simply could not draw back. It seemed designed for some incredibly strong individual, or perhaps she was using it wrong? Either way, it didn’t seem like a good choice for her.
There was a bow made from a living branch. It seemed to bend with her, and at first she felt it was impossible that there would be enough power in it for it to serve any practical purpose. However, as she released the string she felt the bow string snap hard against the limb. She felt certain that this bow was not acting like a normal one, and it felt quite light in her hands.
There was a bow made from a wood with a light reddish color to it, with steel caps. It also felt light, but seemed to return the force put into it. It seemed strong and balanced in her hands, and a few practice draws assured her that she could get it back far enough for use in combat.
The next bow had a very dark wood, with simple copper caps. It felt quite springy, but it did not feel quite as well balanced as the other bow. After a couple draws with this bow she was left with the feeling that it could work fairly well, and would perform well for a while, but she had a sneaking suspicion that it would simply not do as a long term weapon.
The final bow was made from a light yellowish wood. It had signs of wear on it, but the wood was still as springy as some of the better ones from the selection, but there was no obvious reason why the bow would need to retire. It seemed suspicious that such a bow would have found its way into a shop, instead of staying in someone else’s hands.
Quickly asking the owner of the store for price estimates, he said the living wood bow would be about 3 gold pieces, the reddish one he could part with for 2 silver, while he would give her either of the remaining 2 for 80 copper pieces. With any of these bows he would also be willing to give 10 arrows.
Spirarbor
Leaving the site of the great intellectual gathering, and his subsequent embarrassment, behind, Nico walked in towards the small town. He walked into the visible center of it, a fountain on a grassy intersection between several worn down streets. Looking in front of him, he saw what must be an inn. All around him were several stalls which were busy selling various foods and small items. Next to the inn was a smith’s forge, and people would occasionally walk up to interrupt the burly smith’s work. On the other side of the inn was a stretch of housing which appeared to have a number of conversations taking place around them. Instinctively Nico knew this must be where most of the intellectuals lived, but he thought better of pursuing any further interaction with them today. All in all he could tell this was a very minor port, whose identifying features consisted of a strange lighthouse and a community that grew up around it.
Character Sheets
Gender: Female
Race: Swamp Serpen
Stats:
Strength – 8
Agility – 12
Dexterity – 9
Intelligence – 10
Intuition – 10
Willpower – 10
Charisma – 10
Resilience – 12
Abilities:
Reptilian Regeneration - wounds heal quickly
Unbridled passion – will have an effect as soon as I think of one
Magic:
Will of the Heart - Practitioners of this craft are intensely passionate. It uses meditation as a focus. Shapeshifting and air are what it is known for. It can best be learned through observation and experience.
Equipment: Cloth Pants, Cloth Shirt, Sandals
Inventory: Money pouch with 100 copper coins
Description: Meyath is approximately two meters tall, but has never actually gotten herself measured with a relatively modest bosom, her scales are a mottled black and blue colour, somewhat of a mutation in her family, who normally have black and dark green scales. Her tail is somewhat short for her size, but her lithe (even for serpens) makes up for the difference in agility. Her hands and feet are webbed, a normal trait for her family, who make a habit of hunting in the deeper parts of the swamp they hail from.
Starting Port: Seawall
Background: Meyath grew up in a tight-knit extended family in the heart of the great swamp (or other appropriate name), they lived mostly on hunted animals, occasionally leaving the swamp to trade flora and fauna found in the swamp for more exotic goods. Meyath enjoyed these trips thoroughly, and hoped to become the family's main liaison to the world outside the swamp. Not that she did not love her native habitat, always happy to get home after a trip she just enjoyed seeing new faces. Unfortunately however, on one such trading journey a group of bandits (race unknown, she was not there) had fled into the swamp to evade pursuit. They had, by random happenstance found the Deepfen dwellings, and proceeded to slaughter them after being offered hospitality by the friendly serpens. Meyath could not bear to stay after that, her brother, with whom she had a strong bond had been among the family staying at home. So she said her farewells to her family, and left the swamp, taking her wherever her feet took her, they eventually ended up with her on a ship bound for seawall; perhaps there she will be able to start again.
Trinket: Small piece of petrified wood, a gift from her brother
Gender : Male
Race : Wolfkin
Stats:
Strength – 6
Agility – 12
Dexterity – 13
Intelligence – 10
Intuition – 10
Willpower – 10
Charisma – 10
Resilience – 10
Abilities:
Clan Member - Interaction modifiers with other Wolfkin
Insomniac Mage – If magic is used after noon, 33% chance to fail to be rested after sleep
Magic:
Cadus’ Blessings - Enhancement spells, empathy and life are this system of magic's main uses. Practitioners suffer from insomnia. It uses ancestors to channel power.
Equipment: Cloth Pants
Inventory: Money pouch with 100 copper coins
Description : TsuJochi is relatively small even for his own kind and has pale blue fur that looks almost black in moonlight and pale yellow eyes. He's very well muscled for his kind and has a large collections of scars covering his body several of which are in positions that should have been mortal wounds such as a sword wound to his heart and several slashes across his throat. Mentally TsuJochi is extremely resilient surviving these wounds largely through a stubborn refusal to admit defeat, a trait shared by his entire clan. Harvey also has a unique symbol carved into his chest depicting his clan. Uniquely amongst his clan he also has a birth mark on his head in the shape of crossed claws.
The Symbol shows a fleet of ships burning at anchor with wolves tearing into the pirate crews with nothing but tooth and claw.
Clan : The Bloody Forsaken are a clan of somewhat unique Wolfkin, the clans founders were captured by pirates along with those of other clans to be taken as slaves. The founding father of the clan was a man named TsuJochi and while in his cage he prayed for salvation to any god who would listen for himself and his people. After praying while he slept he had a vision and when he woke up his own and the fur of the other wolves on board the ship had all turned the same pale blue and they all shared the same pale yellow eyes, Tsujochi also had a scar on his head in the shape of crossed claws that had not been there before.
Without understanding how it had happened he forced his cage open before freeing his kin and then with a ferocity never seen before or since they fell on the massed pirates on board the ships and shore with nothing but tooth and claw butchering them to the last man in honor of the god Cadus who had freed them and changed them.
Since that day and the founding of the clan in blood every member of it has been a devout believer in Cadus and at the age of 18 every member of the clan has the symbol of a fleet of burning ships and a pirate force being slaughtered by wolf kin carved into his or her chest in his honor.
Members of this clan have a fanatical loyalty to Cadus and believe that to accept death is the ultimate sin and so will fight beyond the limits of insanity in his name earning a reputation over the generations as an almost unwolven clan for there sheer ferocity and the rumors of members of the clan regularly surviving mortal wounds through the blessings of there god. In the clan a prophecy persists that one day Tsujochi will be reborn when the time for his clan to rise up and annihilate the pirates comes though outside of the clan it is treated as nothing more then an idiotic fantasy as is the religion and existence of Cadus himself.
Starting port : Aetharbor
Background : Tsujochi lived a difficult life from birth because of the mark on his head and the clans belief that he had been born to lead his people, because of this he was pushed hard to develop by his people and at the age of 13, far younger then is natural in his clan he had the symbol of his clan carved into his chest and was then thrown out and told not to return until he was ready to lead.
Upon his return to his clan he would have to prove to them that he was capable of leading them into war.
Because of this he set out for the Seawall island and spent the next 7 years of his life moving from camp to camp learning and aiding them in battle against the pirates, in this time he developed a reputation as a warrior to be feared killing more pirates at 13 then many men had at 20 and surviving many wounds in the process that should have left him dead. Because of this TsuJochi came to believe that he was indeed the founder reborn and that Cadus had given his blessing.
Tried and tested Tsujochi is now heading back to his clan to take leadership and begin the holy cleansing to remove all pirates from existence.
Trinket : -
Gender: Female
Race: Aethen
Stats:
Strength – 7
Agility – 13
Dexterity – 10
Intelligence – 10
Intuition – 13
Willpower – 12
Charisma – 10
Resilience – 6
Abilities:
Bond with the Wild - +1 to animal interactions
Magic:
Magic of the Farsoul - This approach to magic is learned by studying tomes and scrolls. Necromancy, farseeing and compulsion are considered its central attributes. It uses movement.
Equipment: Cloth Shirt, Cloth Pants, Sandals
Inventory: Money pouch with 100 copper coins
Description: A buxom and (relatively!) tall Aethen, Sofia has hazel colored hair, which tends not to fly about wildly, yet isn't well groomed either, and goes down to just under her shoulderblades. Her somewhat narrow eyes are brown colored, and her skin is a tan color. Sofia's rather calm, not letting all but the worst of things deter her from taking her time and thinking things through. However, this is partially a matter of not letting others get to her- Sofia possesses no small amount of pride, is aware of it, and merely does not care. She has a taste for bitter leaves.
Starting Port: Iseaya
Background: Sofia had rather not wanted to live in ignominy- the Aethen, living out an annoyingly secluded life in the forest on the island Iseaya's on, wanted to make a name, a reputation for herself, to stand out, after finding a small relic of a hero famous among the Aethen. She wanted to be like that hero, to be celebrated for doing good. But she thought she really couldn't do so in this forest. So clutching that small relic (a burnt and wrecked small piece of an Aethen shield), she made her way to the only real major port on that island slowly but surely She had places to go, and things to do. A life to live.
Trinket: Aethen Shield-Piece: A piece of a shield of a famous (within her population group) Aethen warrior, this small, pocket-fitting piece of metal is highly burnt and highly twisted- a pattern of bronze and bright red being unrecognizable but for the color.
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Stats:
Strength – 9
Agility – 9
Dexterity –9
Intelligence – 12
Intuition – 13
Willpower – 10
Charisma – 13
Resilience – 7
Abilities:
Social Climber - Interaction Modifiers from social status and groups
Magic:
The Natural Academy - Practitioners of this approach to magic strive towards a kind of enlightenment. Animals and growth are its main uses. It uses chants as a focus.
Equipment: Cloth Shirt, Cloth Pants, Sandals
Inventory: Money pouch with 100 copper coins
Description: A young man with a subtle tan to his skin, which highlights the occasional scars strewn across his arms. His hair is a shade of dark brown, cascading down to his shoulders, on the off chance that he doesn't have it tied back in a short ponytail. Along his sharp, angular jawline is a thin goatee. His eyes are a faded shade of green which show a slight feeling of weariness.
Evidence of the physically demanding nature of his past is the lightly muscled, but sleek build of his body.
Starting Port: Spirarbor
Background: From the earliest moments Nico can recall of his life, he'd always been near to the sea. Whether it be the chance he'd gotten as a child to go out with his father on sightseeing trips on his vessel - a simple fishing boat, barely large enough for a single man, but kept in stately condition - or moving cargo for the merchants at the docks, something that seemed to take up much more of his life than he was truly comfortable with. At any rate, he'd grown up with an appreciation of the sea seemingly forced upon him by circumstance.
His family was relatively small, made up of his parents and sister, but it seemed as though there was rarely enough money, even at the best of times. Left with little else to do once he'd gone through his rudimentary education, he worked where he was able once he came of working age, in an attempt to earn his keep. He gained few friends, focusing on work and, eventually, his studies. For the majority of his life, he lived a simple existence, one revolving mainly around working, sleeping & eating. This was satisfying for a while, but of course, even the most hard-working person can hardly call that an existence - or, at least, not one worth living, some might say - and as such, he soon made his way to other, more interesting pursuits.
Soon after sneaking a few assorted texts from a cargo shipment, he worked at learning of the world beyond the coasts he knew like the back of his hand. And, well, his curiosity grew, leading him to steal more books from ships that'd come by the area. Which got him into quite a bit of trouble with the local law-enforcement before long. Most accusations, he managed to deflect away with a bit of quick talking, but soon the evidence piled up. As one might imagine, he decided to get right out of there before he found himself in prison, so he gathered up what money he'd saved, said his goodbyes to his family and set out on a ship headed for the Aethellian Coast, unfortunately forced to leave his variety of texts behind. Had to travel light, after all. But he didn't find himself particularly down about this, since he was free to go on to make his own way in the world.
Trinket: A small wooden albatross, finely carved from a chunk of driftwood by his father long ago.
Gender: Male
Race: Desert Serpen
Stats:
Strength – 8
Agility – 12
Dexterity – 9
Intelligence – 10
Intuition – 10
Willpower – 10
Charisma – 10
Resilience – 12
Abilities:
Reptilian Regeneration - wounds heal quickly
Magic:
-None-
Equipment: Cloth Pants, Cloth Shirt, Sandals
Inventory: Money pouch with 100 copper coins
Description: Short for a Serpen, but especially sneaky, Kassen has dark brown and green scales with small, sharp horns poking out form his brow. His claws are finely manicured, and the quills sticking out of his tail are always sharpened. His brown eyes betray his awkwardness around others (especially foreigners), while his rigid posture is telling of a tumultuous past. His smiles are slow to come and quick to fade, but are always genuine. His thick accent reveals him for what he is: a stranger in a foreign land.
Starting Port: Aetharbor
Background: Kassen always assumed that he'd live his whole life in the deserts, fighting other Serpens and scratching by. It is a life he grew accustomed to, and accepted. He never asked for any more than that, never wanted more. But his clan shaman saw something else in the entrails of slain vermin. She told him that he was meant to live 'Where kinds and kinds meet, and speak one tongue. To do what they do, and say what they say.' Kassen was only as religious as he needed to be, and was skeptical of these portents. So, he went on a pilgrimage to discover what he should do. Many of his kin lauded him for his spirituality, but Kassen simply responded, 'It is what is expected.' So, with little enthusiasm, and less direction, Kassen set off for his clan's holy place.
After many days of travelling alone in the desert, Kassen arrived at the Marker that Sets Us Apart, a large stone jutting from the sands. Without a clue of what to do, Kassen used his claws to scratch upon its surface, then he sat upon it, waited in its shadow, attempted to speak with it, and every manner of activity one can have with a boulder. He had always led a simple life, with simple desires, and given simple rewards. The concept of spirituality was elusive and arcane to him. So, instead of trying to force an insight, he sat down and waited for one, and waited some more.
Eventually night was upon him, and he was no closer to a vision. Or so he thought. Instead of seeking shelter, he took a risk and slept out in the open. Soon, though, he was awaken by a great sound. He stood up, dagger drawn, and looked around to find a great cataclysm. The stars were dying. Stars streaked across the sky in great number. Kassen dropped his dagger and fled, fearing the worst. Eventually he came upon a burrow of some predator. Under the circumstances, Kassen thought it best to risk encountering a sandlion rather than risk being crushed by the sky.
He crawled into the burrow and waited out the storm. That night, he dreamed about foreign creatures, large oases, great wooden structures upon the water, and a tree that spoke. When he awoke, he left the burrow to find the world had not ended. But now he had his answer. Or rather, he had many questions that needed answers. And the only place he would get them is in the land beyond the mountains.
Trinket: A dried head of a desert rat. A totem of protection, given to him by his clan's shaman.
Maps
Meyath will go and see if she can help with the injured, determined to find some way to be useful
(6)
While he talks TsuJochi tries to commune with Cadus again purely mentally.
(5)
Accept the offer.
Head inland, towards the city.
So she went back to the display of bows, examining them more carefully and asking their price.
Kassen brushes off his clothes and enters the temple, preparing a greeting in his head that would honour such esteemed citizens.
(3)
Author
Topic: [IC Thread] Kurchil's Children - Day 2: A Rose-Gold Sky (Read 18860 times)