AH right. 5 silver.
You go collect your starting 40, plus 55 more. Apparently he wasn't a shoe in like you expected. Nice enough.
You trade mana with a rather overly long, shivery handshake that while it looks...a bit odd to a passer by wouldn't be a direct indication of wizardry. You then convert the rest of your platinum to 20 more mana and head off. You need to see a man about a thing.
50 gold on Ecalir winning his next bout.
You walk to the local bounty board and are in the midst of scanning through the jobs when an old man in a sealer suit taps you on the shoulder.
"Excuse me, are you looking for work? I have some errands that need running."
"Are you interested?"
Name: Darwin Zeppeli
Appearance: An old medicine man.
Magic path: alchemist gut-reader
Strength: d4
Speed: d6
Endurance: d6
Knowledge: d10
Will: d8
Senses: d10
Mana: 27
Ongoing effects: None
Magical materialsVacuum!
Reanimate
Sharpen
Viscera
Diamond
Inventorydissection knife: d4
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
Springy metal halberd: d8
gun: d8
9 smokebombs
Medium armor: d6
Ecalir's old armor: d8
Sealer Suit: d4 (vs magic)
shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Alchemist’s Gear
250 gold worth of precious gems
Sack of jewels worth 269 gold
BETS:
-40 on Ecalir winning his second match
-25 on Ecalir winning the tournament
A glass slab with a topographical map of the kingdom carved into it
a bottle of glowing blue sea water, inside protective box with lock
a glass orb with barely visible lotus inside of it, inside staff assembly.
magic coin
Small book
magic compass
Doctor's bag
High quality backpack
donkey named Yvonne for carrying
Zomboraptor head
Lantern
several hundred feet of rope
climbing crampons
a grappling hook
iron stakes
net made of rope
several vials with imp fat
20 vials
good quality book&pen
Bet placed.
As per the university you can start there if you want but the place has seen better days. Its largely abandoned due to the loss of magic, with a lot of empty wings and just a cadre of hard core scholars and students hanging on.
Fine by me. Introduce myself to the scholars and request the honour of joining this esteemed organisation.
((Sorry if this has been addressed before, but as an invoker, what level is my starting material at? The maximum/ (d12)?))
Name: Frick Varmer
Appearance: An enthusiastic, young-middle-aged man. Between his ridiculous magnificent hat, the strange bird always perched on his shoulder, and his unbridled curiosity for arcana in all its forms, he is clearly either a wizard or an eccentric fool. Or, more than likely, both.
Magic Path: Alchemist Invoker
Mana: 0
Stats:
Strength: d4
Speed: d6
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d12
Will: d8
Senses: d6
Ongoing Effects: None
Materials: Alcohol
Inventory: pointy hat (worn), box of thaumic junk, empty book and ink pen, alchemist's gear, 100 coins. (Carrying: alchemist's gear, book and pen)
Familiar: A small crow, which shares its master's inquisitiveness.
Strength: d4
Speed: d8
Endurance: d4
Knowledge: d6
Will: d6
Senses: d8
(yeah, d12)
You wander around. The university is an extravagant place, all high halls of marble and ancient wood, filigree and engravings, framed paintings and marble statues. A place that has had a lot of money for a very long time and wasn't afraid to spend it. It must have been busy once, but now all that splendor just serves to make it feel more empty and abandoned. You hear noises from down a long, column lined hall and poke your head into an office. Or rather, its a lab of sorts. Unlike the clean if cavernously empty rooms outside, this one is positively overgrown with intellectual detritus: papers, books, writing utensils, beakers, schematics, lab equipment, and so forth.
There's an older man in the room, his graying hair the kind of messy that indicates he attempted to brush it and failed, with his back to you. You knock on the door frame and ask the man if you can join the university. He doesn't look back at you for more than a moment, a halfhearted glance, and then waves one hand at you.
"The Admissions department is closed. If you want to learn, find someone who needs an apprentice."
Wiggle my Ghost Charm around a bit. See if there are any Ghosts about. Meanwhile inquire of my spirit what she would like to do.
What is the black flux? standard tar? magic tar? magic eating tar? apparently boats float on it. Does it react to metal or other common materials?
What is the fulminating Sands? Normal sand? Magic sand? Magic eating sand?
Are there creatures that dwell in either the sand or the tar? I am assuming the standard desert dwellers might live in parts of the sands that are capable of supporting life. Or are the fulminating sands incapable of supporting life at all?
The Ascetic Ghost Shepherd
A thin, wiry guy. Hazel eyes. Black hair. Long fingers.
Stats
6 str
6 spd
10 End
8 Know
10 Will
4 sense
Materials: Porcelain (yes, PW rolled this one up for me)
Inventory:
Inhabited by a Spirit - a little shepherdess girl. Likes dolls. Adventurous.
Ghost Charm
Doctor's Kit
Lantern, Rope, Backpack
You get a faint signal from the ghost charm, to the west. Your spirit asks you to find her a cute animal.
The Black flux is something like tar, but thinner, more fluid, and less sticky. Think something like storebrand fakey maple syrup, but black and somewhat flammable. It can ground magic but generally there's little use for it in that capacity these days. Mostly its used as a fuel, which is similar to gasoline once refined. It is flammable but in this form burns slowly and tends to go out because the inert products of the combustion form a layer that blocks it from reaching more. It isn't dangerous to metals, at least none that you know, though it can stain things.
The fulminating Sands is the name of the desert. It continues to expand a bit more every year and is known for powerful sandstorms and huge lightning storms. The sand is also eternally warm and prickly.
The sands and Flux contain life. The sands have normal desert animals plus some abnormal ones. The flux contains a strange deep sea like biome that occasionally includes fishermen and flux harvesters in its food chain.
Look for a bounty board or for someone who's offering a job. Also check what I'd need to create a sculpture.
Name: Robert Grant
Appearance: A stocky, tall man with black hair.
Magic path: Hunter Sculptor
Strength: d10
Speed: d6
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d8
Will: d8
Senses: d4
Ongoing effects: None
Mana: 0
Materials:
Shrink
Inventory:
War axe D8
Doctor's Bag
Leather armor D6
Bandages
Backpack
Lantern
The local bounty board has several options for an aspiring hunter. The most nearby one is to hunt a giant boar that has been damaging local properties and attacking citizens.
Your sculpture needs the skeleton of something much larger than you, several lead weights, iron thread, and Wyrm Scales.
Time the world was properly introduced the musical wonder; Velis the Varan!
Introduce myself to the Musician guild. My sporty outfit, musical instrument, and can-do attitude. Will surely net me a membership!
Name: Velis Yeslerp
Appearance: A man on the cusp of adulthood. His hair is slicken back, his lizard scale jacket, unbuttoned. He walks with an air of confidence.
Magic path: Servant Sculptor
Mana: 0
Strength: D6
Speed: D6
Endurance: D6
Knowledge: D8
Will: D10
Senses: D8
Ongoing effects:
Inventory:
Guitar
Rusty Dagger-d4 attack
Lateran
Lizard Scale Jacket-d6 protection
Ghost Charm
Inhabited by a spirit which he calls Priscilla. It manifests not as a tangible form, but as a presence around Velis. Background noise gains a musical rhythm, people close to Velis may feels a tingling sensation in their extremities, and other spirit related happenings.
Spirit Quest: Find a nice instrument for Priscilla
Sculptor Quest: Wood from a tree that grew in a battlefield, The Achilles tendons from 6 different men, six human teeth, a fragment of sword blade, and a lacquer made from the sap of a Wormwood.
Materials: Lightning
You enter the lobby of the musician guild and announce your name to everyone in earshot, backed up by a furious strumming of your guitar. Most people give you a rather subdued look and continue their business. One man, more official looking in a dark purple suit with a frilly collar and back slicked hair, approaches you and informs you that if you would like to join, you need a list of your references, who you have played for.
Buy the surgical tools. I'll need them eventually if not now. Greet the parent and say how nice it is that her child is recovering well. Exchange a little small talk. Thank the priest for the use of the room, but do test something.. prick my finger and see if there's any reaction to blood landing on the slab. I don't want to be suckered into performing some kind of odd sacrificial ritual. If there's no reaction, that's good, if there is a reaction, I'd better find somewhere else.
After that, time to see a patient today. I think I haven't seen the person with the entire missing leg yet, so I'd like to see that person.
Japanese girl with a long black braid and a white and red dress with long gloves and stockings.
Invoking Empath
Str d4 -> d6
Speed d8
Endurance d10+1
Knowledge d4+1
Will d10+1
Senses d8
Items:
8 mana
32 coins (gold) {paid 10 gold deposit on a cougar/red-tailed hawk griffon familiar and 35 gold for bounties.}
d6 armour: The outfit, naturally. Weighs as if it were d4
Backpack
100ft Rope
Waterskin
Compass
Hat
Sun Goggles
Surgical Tools
Materials: d12 Ape, d12 Grow, d12 Strengthen, d12 Expand.
Location: Lunare
Status: Fine. Burn scars on arms.
Notes: Improving physical stats with strengthen, d4->d6 is d6, d6->d8 is d12, d8->d10 is d20 or more.
Mental stats are possible, but harder or more complicated.
You buy the tools and make sure they're nicely put away.
You talk to the parent who seems relieved but also not terribly...well she's not angry with you or anything but she knows full well you didn't do anything other than observe and to her, that seems like doing very little indeed.
You leave and thank the priest for the use of the slab, but do surreptitiously check to make sure you're not getting suckered into blood sacrifice. Your blood reacts with the stone exactly as you'd expect blood to react with mundane stone, so you consider it is probably safe.
You then head out to see the patient with the missing leg. Its another older man, probably injured while working. His leg was apparently mangled and then amputated. The amputation is clean at least; a simple severing at the knee. The remaining leg is in fine condition and the scar from the procedure is a long, but relatively thin, arc across the stump.
"Eh, until morning anyway."
Go with Randolf and also experiment with Aqua Vitae, see if we can figure out how to use it properly and what it does.
Name: Nina Morellis
Appearance: A young, red-haired woman, green eyes, somewhat unkempt. She's had Adam for as long as she could remember, and has a bit of a reputation as a harmless nut. The town guard are okay with Nina though, occasionally getting her help keeping a mage secured by having her drain their mana so they can't cast. Since they don't have a proper magehunter available, having a local civilian channeler they can bring in as needed is a big help. And Nina tries to be on her best behavior with them to keep their relations good. Nina herself works as a healer, living out in the poor part of town, and has an erratic schedule based on the needs of those who want her help. so she has a lot of free time, but also gets woken up in the middle of the night a lot. add in Adam's occasional antics and she doesn't get to have a stable sleep schedule.
Magic Path: Channeler, Invoker.
Materials: Sound
Mana: 5
Strength: D4
Speed: D6
Endurance: D10
Knowledge: D8
Will: D10
Senses: D6
Inventory: Backpack, padded cloak (D4 protection, Light armor), Lantern, doctor's bag, waterskin (air), hammer, 2 silver, air bladder, white robes.
Inhabited by a spirit which takes the form of a floating disembodied limb that constantly melts and reforms into other body parts. She calls it "Adam."
Location: Petunise
Cabal: None at this time.
"I guess we're going to have to stay here for a while, at least until the ferry is ready to continue."
Now, it would be a good time to try the sword out. Follow the river until I can't see anything or anyone nearby and try to swing the sword around. Try stabbing the water and swinging it underwater, too. What are it's powers? Can I control them? If I can't figure it out, try "reaching" into the power like I accidentaly did when I tried to drain it's strenght.
Name: Randolf Osborn
Appearance: Ugly as hell. Smells like rotten fish. Very brutish.
Magic path: Channeler Ascetic
Mana: 2!
Strength: D6
Speed: D6
Endurance: D12
Knowledge: D4
Will: D12
Senses: D4
Ongoing effects:
Inventory:
Sealer Suit D4
White Robes
Shield
Wooden Club D6
Backpack
Lantern
100 feet of rope
29 gold coins
4 silver coins
Air bladder
Aqua Vitae
Ferry ticket
(just to clarify, the guy asked you to check all the towns up the river till the capital for the exorcists. Thats why I had you get off the boat)
The pair of you walk down the shore far enough that you're not near any thing and then wait for the river to be clear of boats. Randolf swings the sword above the water and the water flows away from the sword in a wave, rolling out in the same direction he had swung the blade. Hm. He stabs it into the water and the water flows up onto the blade, defying gravity, before instantly freezing around the blade, forming an icy spiked club. When he thinks that he doesn't want the club anymore, the water melts off in a few seconds.
Nina tries similar aggressive things but its not really for her and she can't manage to make the sword do anything. However, as she's holding the blade with its tip in the water, she notices some brown, dried out plants further up the hill. The blade vibrates and water flows from the river, up the hill, and to the plants. They are restored to a light green within a few moments.
No real preparation needed, just run in place a bit so I work up a sweat, get a nice sheen on those muscles. Then walk into the arena.
Going into my next bout, do 3 things:
-Keep an eye open for old man/mob shenanigans at all times.
-Once the crowd can clearly see me, dramatically rip off the loincloth and give my best JoJo pose.
-Size up my opponent. Check out how skilled he looks and what equipment he has.
Name: Écalir Speedwagon
Appearance: barbarian, think Arnie from Conan the Barbarian
Magic path: Hunting flesh-scroll
Strength: d10+2
Speed: d10
Endurance: d8
Knowledge: d4
Will: d6+1
Senses: d6
Mana: 20
Ongoing effects:None
Magical materialsleft Arm: wood
Right arm: Insect
Stomach: Strong acid
Chest: White Phosphorous
Left buttcheek: Electricity
Right buttcheek: Lightning
left leg: multiply
InventoryQuality weapon (Spear): d8
Longsword with glowing runes
Springy metal warpick: d8
Springy metal knive: d6
Springy metal sword: d6
9 smokebombs
Thaumic flamethrower (50 thaum tank, d10 str requirement, armored fuel tank) + extra canisters with compressed gas
Fitted armor: d8
Shield (+1 to protective rolls from armor)
Backpack
100 feet of rope
Bandages
Tattoo Kit
250g worth of gems
doctor's bag
As you're getting changed in a back room, stripping out of the armor and setting your sword on a rack before picking up the spear, something happens. You hear quiet voices and then everything becomes too quiet, too still. You're in the guts of a busy arena, there should always be people around making noise. But now there seems to be no one around. Your room is just two wooden walls sticking out of the main wall of the arena, with a length of fabric for a door. You think you can hear people moving very quietly towards your room.