Tales of Evanhearth {OOC}

[Disciple Cain]

This is the OOC thread for Tales of Evanhearth, of course, and here you will post your characters, comments, gripes, grievances, praise, and whatever of whatever. I bet you're all probably still wondering a few things. About the world you're going to be roleplaying in. Don't worry, I can clear up some of the details right here.

What is Evanhearth?

Evanhearth is actually the capital city of the western province in this world, the world which unfortunately has not been given a name yet. Evanhearth is a major port town with a diverse integrated populace of all sorts. The walled city is home to many fine markets, several interesting annual events, and being a major port means that it's ships go nearly everywhere in the world. We're not just talking about ships that go on the water, of course, but those ships are far more expensive. Magically floating boats are not an easy thing to manufacture, of course.

What is the world like?

This question touches on things like 'How much fantasy is there?' and 'How common are *insert fanciful creature's name here*?'. The world is still vast and full of unknowns. Hell, everything past the mountains north of Evanhearth is unknown and hostile territory, owned by the tribal Orcs that live there. Of course, not many know about that since... that being common knowledge would cause much unneeded chaos and unrest. This world is full of magic, although unless if you travel to one of the major cities in the world you may never see a spark of magic in your whole life unless you actively go searching for it. Of course there's much to be said about the world but assuming that none of your characters have traveled the world it isn't something you all need to know.

How will I choose where my character comes from?

Best answer for that? Make up a place. The world is big and I haven't thought up every last detail on the planet so feel free to make up your own details, but within reason of course. You don't always have to ask the DM's permission unless if you think it's way out there. I trust all of you to have good judgement.

Important Guidelines

Post Requirements: - Post requirements? I simply suggest that you post enough for everyone to know what your character is doing and be able to see how. We don't need every detail and every thought written down for us (unless you believe you absolutely must).
Combat Handling: - Combat between NPC's is not handled as if they are all yard trash. Goblins, despite their small stature, are still a threat. Know that if your characters decide to just rail three goblins in one post, I will probably ask you to revise it simply because I had no chance to really... have the goblins do anything. Think of it like this. While your characters are controlled by you, a grand majority of the environment and NPC's are controlled by me, so instantly killing them is considered going god mode on them and very much looked down upon. If combat happens between players? Have at it. I'll try to moderate if I can.
Dealing With Encounters or Using Skills/Magic: - Note that not everything will be done right. Recognize that occasionally fudging up a maneuver, technique, or spell does not mean you're throwing a wrench in the gears. These are things that are actually... kind of expected to happen. They will happen within your own posts (most of the time), but do know that continually having a character mess up encounters will get them killed. Most definitely. Let your character's skill in whatever they are doing reflect how this works out for them in roleplaying.
Spellcheck: - Spellcheck, spellcheck, spellcheck. It's important.

Character Sheets

Name: (Including Nicknames and titles, if any)

Age: (If they're a teenager they will be rejected)

Gender:

Race: (Fantasy races are fine, but if it's something other than the typical fantasy races you'll have to talk to me about it first)

Class/Job/Profession: (What did/does this character do for a living? By their skillset and how they use their skills, what would you call them?)

Appearance: (What do they look like? Height, build, eye color, hair color, those sort of things? Pictures are fine but please try to refrain from photos of real people. Be sure to include normal clothing as well!)

Personality: (What does this character act like? What is their typical disposition? How do their experiences affect their outlook on the world, other people, themselves, or perhaps even certain races or genders?)

Background: (Where did they come from? Who were they? How did they grow up? Don't feel like posting this? That's fine, just be sure that you know it at least, or otherwise you may have a very boring character on your hands.)

Equipment/Possessions: (This includes items and gear that came from their life time of doing whatever they've been doing in their life. If it's noteworthy, jot it down here.)

Abilities/Talents: (Even mundane things can be put here if you like, such as cooking. Doesn't have to be things like acrobatics or swordsmanship or skill in the magic school of Evocation. Perhaps they're particularly good at savoire faire, or perhaps they have an eidetic memory. These skills come from whatever your character has been doing for his life. If it's noteworthy, put it here.)

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Once characters are posted and approved, I'll begin writing up the first post in IC.

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The Cast
Grandeur as Erskine Graeme, the Unemployed Diplomat
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Rawkhawk64 as Garet Jaxom, the Mercenary
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Barsavis as Kyr, the Scout
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Lydyn as Rehora Elden, the Rune Magus
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Eleda as Leah Comestion, the Treasure Hunter

[skeletalremnant]

Name: Elro V. Polver, Usually just called elro.
Age: 29 almost 30

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Class/Job/Profession: Arbalist

Appearance:

Background: Born in the sinful imperial city of Kanis-Karmic, conscripted at age 20 , obtained a decent rank but nothing incredible, left after 4 years to get married. After 5 years of working on local farm, it paid the bills, having 2 beautiful little girls and a small boy Elro came home to find his wife and children missing, the only clues were a small puddle of blood and a bolt stuck within the door. Not a man to give up he took to traveling about the evanhearth taking small jobs as he searched. It has been 6 months now and soon he will be 30.
Equipment/Possessions:
Repeater Crossbow: Fires 1 bolt at a time and can fire up to 5 shots before needing to reload.
42 bolts

Hatchet
Simple Metal Breastplate
a plain blanket he wears over his shoulders when its cold or damp
Basic Adventurer pack

Abilities/Talents:
Marksmenship - his main weapon is a crossbow and though hes not an expert, years of experience have honed is ablilites.
Cooking - His recent adventures have forced him to learn about survival and through this, the ability to cook a decent meal with whats at hand. don't expect him to bake you a pie.

[Grandeur]

How's this?

Name: Erskine Graeme
Age: 26
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Class/Job/Profession: Unemployed Diplomat
Appearance: 5’ 10”. Thinner than average. He has short brown hair and green eyes. He always dresses smartly, usually in a white shirt, brown trousers and black boots. He always wears a red overcoat.
Personality: Erskine is usually quite serious, although not interested solely in his studies to the extent of everything else, as some others (*cough*wizards*cough*) occasionally become. He is interested in all other races and cultures of the world, which is part of his reasoning for wanting to become a diplomat; the opportunity to travel. One thing he does hate though, is wasted potential. In the case of unfortunates with limited choices, such as goblins and orcs, he can understand them doing pretty much anything to get by, but if he meets members of the more organised races (elves, dwarfs, humans, etc), who have chosen a life of menial labour without education and barren of purpose, he will automatically look down on those people, since they remind him so much of the fate he narrowly escaped.
Background: Erskine grew up in a small fishing village named Iasgach to the north of Evanhearth. His parents wanted him to follow in their footsteps and become just another poor fisherman, doing nothing of great importance, living a short, hard life to put food on the table with no thought of bettering himself (they were never particularly ambitious people). He despised this idea. So Erskine eventually worked up the courage to travel south, into the capital. He wasn’t sure what he was looking for at first, so found himself a simple, low-paid job for while he searched. After seeing a college which, among other subjects, taught diplomacy, he knew where he was headed. Being nothing more than an uneducated fisherman, and not a particularly good one at that, his application was denied. But Erskine did not give up. He bought study books and educated himself whenever he wasn’t working, eating or sleeping. Eventually he was able to re-apply and actually get into the course. After passing it though, he still had no experience in the field, so was unable to get employed. When he heard that goblins had begun attacking a small town for no apparent reason Erskine saw this as his chance to prove himself. If he could persuade the creatures to leave the people be without having to wipe them out to the last man (a typical strategy of mercenaries in such situations) then surely saving the town would be enough to get him an actual job doing what he’d trained for.
Before leaving he made sure to pick up several books on goblin language and history, to look over on the journey. He's been studying as much as he can already, and although far from fluent, it's possible that even if none of them speak the language of Evanhearth, he may still be able to converse with them a little, hopefully not seeming too ignorant.
Equipment/Possessions:
Old Iron Knife (he can’t use it very well, but it’s better than nothing in these dangerous times)
Luggage Bag (filled with changes of clothes)
Goblin Language/History Books
10 Gold
Abilities/Talents:
Diplomacy
Fishing
Reading
Writing
Basic knowledge of the goblin language

[rawkhawk64]

Name: Garet Jaxom, the Swords Master

Age: 32

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Class/Job/Profession: Mercenary

Appearance: Garet stands at six feet high, dead even. He has raven-black hair that is kept neat and well-cut, falling at shoulder length. He also sports a small, neatly-trimmed goatee that is the same color as his hair. His slate-gray eyes are the eyes of someone who has seen a lot for his years, and indeed he has. He is covered in scars, small cuts, and the occasional bruise from the fights and battles he has gotten into. He wears a long, black cloak that covers all of his body, with a cowl on it to cover his facial features, casting them in shadow. Beneath the cloak, he wears a black long-sleeved shirt, long black pants, and black combat boots. Over his normal clothing, one will usually find him wearing black leather body armor. It doesn't offer much protection, but it is lightweight and flexible, which supports his fighting style.

Personality: Garet is a kind-enough person. That is, he may not be your friend right away, but he doesn't just give you the cold shoulder either. When he is after a target as a mercenary, he can be cold and calculating. He has a moderate fuse, so it takes a bit to get him angry. Due to what happened in the past, however, just the mere mention of the Goblin species is enough to flare up his hatred, and he does not have the tact to disguise it either, as his face has been seen with varying degrees of hatred and rage reflected on it. Needless to say, Garet would not shed a tear if all the Goblins were wiped out, and he would gladly participate in the carnage. When angry, Garet has also shown a belligerence that has gotten him into trouble more than once during his travels.

Background: Garet grew up in a small town long since destroyed by the Goblins. In fact, he was one of the few to survive, as he happened to be visiting relatives at the time of the attack, else he would have been killed as well. When he got home from celebrating his uncle's birthday, he was devastated by the carnage he had come "home" to. He left his ruined hometown, wandering around for a while, and eventually wound up in the city of Galgrendan, where he quickly earned a reputation as being a fighter after getting into scuffles over how he was homeless. Garet would regularly get into fights for food, water, and shelter; these were often one-sided, as his opponents were larger and more experienced than himself. After a particularly rough scuffle with another of the homeless population over a piece of stale cheese (one that he lost), he was picked up by a complete stranger and brought into his home. The stranger turned out to be a teacher in the ways of the sword. At first, it was going to be temporary. Later, though, Garet told him of the attack in his home and that he did not know who or what had attack it. The man told him that it was a Goblin attack. Garet then did something that surprised the man, asking the man to teach him swordsmanship, so that he could seek revenge. He then adopted Garet as his son and taught him the way of the blade, hoping to rid the young man of his want for revenge. After being shown many different sword styles, Garet found he was most fluent in the Dual-Wield Style, which his weapons of choice were a short sword and a long knife. After becoming 26, his adoptive father decided that he could teach Garet no more, and Garet left to find ways to improve himself. He eventually gained a reputation as a mercenary, which was an excellent source of income. To this day, Garet is now traveling as a merc-for-hire, but is also seeking revenge against the Goblins, that hated race that attacked his hometown and made his life a living hell.

Equipment/Possessions:
Short Sword (made of iron)
Long Knife (made of iron)
Leather Armor
Travel Clothing
Travel Cloak
Small Traveling Pack, filled with minor healing herbs, a small tent, and a water-proofed blanket for the rainy nights.

Abilities/Talents:
Combat:
Swordsmanship: Dual-Wield Style (short sword + long knife; expert level, working to master) [Garet's preferred combat style, he used the short sword and long knife in tandem, using them more like extensions of himself rather than the mere tools many others see them to be.]
Swordsmanship: Short Sword (highly skilled level, but no expert) [When he finds it disadvantageous to his foe to use two weapons, he will fall back on the short sword as a primary means of offense and defense. He also uses just the sword when he wants to surprise his foe with the knife.]
Swordsmanship: Long Knife (highly skilled level, but no expert) [Garet generally prefers to use this weapons as a stealth weapon, or when he has an opponent's weapon locked up with his short sword. He will whip it out and try to stab the foe, to varying degrees of success]
Agility (Above average) [Garet is quite adept at twisting, and winding his way past attacks and obstacles alike. He still has some issues with some of the more extreme actions (like flipping over an opponent), but is skilled enough to dodge obvious attacks and getting into position to land his own]
Endurance (Above average) [Garet can keep going.. and going... it takes a while for him to tire (barring any injuries, of course), and this helps him keep up with whatever he's doing, whether it be fighting, running, or just training)
Magic(s) (Unschooled) [Garet has no magical ability whatsoever, and not even the smallest iota of the ability many have to sense magic. However, he can recognize it when he sees it.]
Archery (below Novice) [Garet hates projectiles, and has yet to even come up with a suitable counter for when he encounters them. If facing off against a single archer, he's fine with his dodging. More than three opposing archers, however, and he knows the battle is lost.]
Non-combat:
Survival (Well above average) [Garet has the uncanny sense of knowing just what wild plants are edible, and those that aren't. He doesn't know the venomous or healing plants, just that they aren't good for eating.
Tracking (Average) [Garet knows how to track animals/people through most terrain, and knows how to do it silently and without making much noise. However, Trackers more skilled than he have gotten away since he is not anywhere near good enough to be considered a professional Tracker.]
Stealth (Above average) [Garet can get into many places undetected, provided that he doesn't make much noise and that he also watches where he's going. The only thing that prevents him from getting better is the bad habit of not watching all of his surroundings.]

[Disciple Cain]

@Everyone: Don't forget that it's good to write down what your equipment is made out of. Leather is leather, but what about your weapons? Iron? Bronze? Steel? Is there anything personal about these possessions that they carry, perhaps someone that made them, any fancy details about the items, or other details like that?

@Grandeur: It is not assumed that everyone can read and write, but it is assumed that the majority of the main characters are capable of such things. However, what may not be true among them all is what languages they all speak. If you would like to add a couple details given the previous suggestions, feel free.

@Sven: We're not in Tamriel, unfortunately, so neither Summerset Isles nor Altmer exist in this world. Besides, my One on One specifically states that I'm not looking for any fandoms whatsoever... and this includes any game references. There are a couple other issues with the character sheet but I'll discuss them in notes with you.

@Rawkhawk: I have a couple gripes about the character's background. There is no description at all as to how the character ends up being one of the few to miraculously survive a goblin attack. There is no explanation as to how the character ended up being seen as a 'fighter' among the people of the town he comes to. He was brought into the home of a complete stranger? No motive given of the character that takes him in and no reason, just decides to adopt him and train him in the ways of the sword? It's not so much I have a problem with these events rather than the execution and explanation of how they all came to pass. So many details are left out that it leaves too much room for disbelief of it ever really having a possibility of happening. That, and the likelihood of surviving a goblin siege is next to zero if the siege successfully destroyed the whole town. There are other issues but I'll discuss them in notes.

- - - Updated - - -

Anyone think that I should add in a 'Personality' section?

[rawkhawk64]

Edited it, so I hope it looks better.

[Grandeur]

I've edited mine as well. He now has basic goblin language skills. I'd actually completely forgotten about characters having different languages. Thanks for pointing that out or I might have hit a pretty early roadblock when dealing with them.
Also, would you mind giving a brief description of your goblins (most tend to be small and green, but there are still quite a few differences in each book/movie/game, so if you have any it'd be good to know)? And if you feel like volunteering any additional information (their customs, history, etc) then I for one wouldn't complain.

I like the idea of adding a "Personality" bit to the CS.

[Disciple Cain]

@Rawkhawk: One more detail. It takes longer to train with the sword than you think, so if your character learned to use a shortsword and dirk then that is probably all he is really competent with. Anything else may feel unwieldy to him. Other than that, looks a lot better. Really it's just the whole 'After being taught several sword styles'. It may be better written as 'After being shown/demonstrated several sword styles...' though it really depends on who taught him. It's just that the man teaching him would normally only teach Garet what he himself has already mastered.

- - - Updated - - -

The personality field is now added so please edit that section into your character sheets

- - - Updated - - -

@Grandeur: If your character has studied the goblin language then he'd probably know their customs as well. Important details I will explain to you in PM's, since displaying it here would give everyone player knowledge that their characters may not actually have.

[Grandeur]

Alright, thanks.
Also, I've added in personality now.

[rawkhawk64]

I'll edit it to shown, and add personality.

EDIT: Made necessary changes, and added a small detail to the history.