"Locke saw the elf with the huge fat-sacks approach. Locke wasn't interested in the elf with the giant watermelons strapped to her chest at all. He was much more interested in the summon of the elf with the inflated balloons. He didn't care about the over-developed papaya-sporting elf at all."
I think we all know what Locke's really paying attention to... :3
On a different note, I'm surprised nobody outside the tower noticed the birhgt light that burst from the cavity... or, y'know, the whole sound-eliminating blast that stretched for 500 ft in every direction... xD
But hey! Maybe ya'll were too distracted by high elf bazongas to notice all that. ^^;
Ok, so in lieu of forgetting to react to those things that we should have notice...I tried to compensate and catch Yinha up with events. Hope this works as a quick fix. Just got back from work and am feeling so dead in the water atm. (TwT)
Albeit, it's not that her summon enjoyed having to do the heavy lifting. Kaze had it easy. XD
Although amusing to read, there's a slight error in your post, @Crusader Lord.
The fallen star, along with Cecilia, Ciel and Annabelle, aren't at the top of the tower. Rather, they're in a cavity/crevace roughly four storeys above ground - about half-way or so - up the tower.
If you want a visual representation:
Think of the tower like a large, cylindric roll-cake, standing on one end. About half-way up the length, somebody's taken a bite out of it. It's in this bite that the group of four (plus sneaky lizard) are now standing - not at the top.
I hope that helps clear up any misconceptiosn or misunderstandings that may have occurred due to me not explaining things well, or not describing them properly. There's no need to edit your post either, since I found the whole thing amusing, I just wanted to inform you about this for future posts.
Also, this week's update will be rather small, as there's likely going to be a lot of character-interactions/reactions. Please feel free to use the Collab Document on the first page of the OOC if you feel you need or want to. And let me know if you want a collab specifically with Serafaye as well.
There's roughly 9.5 hours left until the update deadline.
There we go. The update is small, in that it mostly focuses on our dear Serafaye, and not so much on the surrounding world, or you guys' characters. Sadly, this kind of update was needed in order to get the little dracokin involved. Hopefully, future updates will be more all-encompassing and offer you all more to respond and act on.
For now, it might be a good idea to ask the girl who just flashed her panties for all and everyone, questions of your own - or answer her questions. :)
@PigeonOfAstora You alright there buddy? You've been awfully quite for a while. 'Cuz your last IC post was 9 days ago, which means you missed this week's deadline.
EDIT:
Two days behind deadline, with no contact, explantion or excuse via PM or in the OOC. Sad to say, but as of today, PigeonOfAstora and Ciel are henceforth no longer part of the active cast. Ciel will be turned into a minor NPC until such a time that he can be written out of the story.
Just dipping in quickly to say I am still very much interested. I'll have my character posted at the earliest opportunity. As for now I'm simply confirming my interest before I'm whisked off to other pressing matters at this immediate juncture in time.
Edit: Just to clarify I already have the character made. He'll be posted roughly a few hours later, likely near midnight EST.
Personality:He's a wanderer, a gambler and a merchant, yes. At heart however he is a scholar and the whims of the universe are his chosen vocation. From ancient texts and old legends of fellow nomads he has begun down the path of mastering the invisible pendulum that swings for all.
He is eccentric to say the least. After all, few who are sane would willingly give up their good fortunes, even in exchange for the power to manipulate an untamed field of magic. He would not let himself be daunted by the same forces that would give seasoned magicians pause. He is unfettered by the shackles of security or shelter and has cast himself bare before the whims of the universe.
In conversation he is no less strange. He often talks and laughs to himself, even when nobody is around sometimes. He enjoys good company now and then since his road is often a lonely one, only occasionally crossing paths with fellow travelers and wanderers alike. If there's one thing he likes more than the constantly shifting ebb and flow of chaos magic it's seeing something new. If he were forced to stay anywhere he would swear his blood would turn to rust within his very veins.
Of course being free from the confines of civilization more often than not means that he's more than familiar with the rough side of the road. Between the many hardships he's fell upon he's no stranger to a fight. Of course it wouldn't be like him to simply want for victory. Any battle won aught to be won with as much chaos as possible in his mind and he'll shake up the odds whenever possible, even when they're in his favor.
History: Your character's background. Where they from, what their childhood was like, what they did growing up and how they ended up where they are now. Write a little something to let us know these things.
When he was just a child he was raised by his family, a pack of roaming nomads that traveled the northern woodlands of his homeland following after the migrating elk herds. He was raised to take over his father's role as the tribe's sage, his mind filled with tales and legends of old passed down from generation to generation. He took very well to his teachings, eager to someday perhaps visit these sites of legend and discover for himself what secrets remained from the days of old.
His days of carefree learning and youthful innocence were cut short however as brutal slavers attacked, cutting down their guardians and capturing all who survived. They were rounded up and taken to their caravan where they were forced to travel the harsh cold lands in little more than rags. The infirm succumbed to the callous treatment from their harsh captors while the others were worn down both in body and spirit. As the caravan passed many a rival nomad pack or group of travelers one by one his family were sold off until only he remained. A skinny, crazy looking young thing like him attracted very little attention, less attention than even the older and more decrepit of his tribe.
He grew more and more nervous as the remaining stock were whittled down to just him. With very slim promise of his purchase there was talk from the slavers of simply offing him to cut their losses in food. His last hope lied in the hands of a noble who had shown up along with his retinue in search of more servants to purchase. While Mercurio tried his hardest to impress the visiting lord he was none too interested in what he had to offer. At least, in a bout of improvisation Mercurio attempted to strike up some conversation regarding a book he noticed in one of the accompanying servant's satchel.
The lord became interested as the ability to read was not commonly found amongst the lower class who could not afford such education. Mercurio regaled the older man with what he had learned from his father's teachings, impressing the man with the breadth of knowledge at his disposal. With that the lord purchased Mercurio and returned with him in tow to their castle.
_ Mercurio was made a tutor for the lord's third daughter. As was tradition any child of theirs who wasn't the direct male heir to their lands would be sent to study magic should any one of them demonstrate a capacity for magic as their family line had a strong reputation of turning out noteworthy magi. He wanted her to be well read and knowledgeable before sending her off so she would outperform the others in her grade in order to establish their family as better than the rest in that field.
Stats: Strength (STR): E. Vitality (VIT): D. Dexterity (DEX): D. Intellect (iNT): S. Wisdom (WIS): D. Charisma (CHA): C.
Equipment: Outside of his well worn garb & thoroughly built upon wandering kit he carries all sorts of bad luck charms upon him. Broken mirror pieces, tails of black cats and unbalanced salt shakers adorn him all over. They don't strictly improve his magic but they are a standard of the Fortunomancer's kit. He carries an old rusty sword on him for self defense.
There are only two real noteworthy items of his. A lucky pair of dice which act as foci for his magic and a set of old tarot cards. They might not do anything but they are fairly old.
Resistances: Chaos Damage.
Skills & Spells:
Spells
[Chaos Magic] Chaos Surge (Passive): The defining feature of all chaos magic lies in it's inherent randomness. When this effect comes into play his magic is influenced by one of a variety of unique effects. An effect is chosen by a roll of a d100 from the Chaos Surge Table. There is a chance for a Chaos Surge to happen whenever he uses any variety of magic since his essence has been warped by chaos but it can also be triggered by specific spells or effects as well.
01: Wall of Force appears in front of caster (Duration: 30 minutes or dispelled with Dispel Magic). 02: Caster smells like a skunk for three turns. 03: Caster shoots forth eight non-poisonous snakes from fingertips. Snakes do not attack. 04: Caster's clothes itch badly. 05: Caster glows as per a Light spell. 06: Spell effect has a 60 ft. radius centered on caster. 07: Next phrase spoken by caster is believed to be true by all who hear it (Duration: 1 minute). 08: Caster's hair grows one foot in length. 09: Caster suddenly turns 180 degrees. 10: Caster's face is blackened by a small explosion. 11: Caster develops allergy to his magical items. Character cannot control sneezing until all magical items are removed. Allergy lasts 1d6 turns. 12: Caster enlarges for 1d3 turns. 13: Caster shrinks for 1d3 turns. 14: Caster falls madly in love with target until dispelled with Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 15: Spell cannot be cancelled and must run through it's full duration. 16: Caster polymorphs randomly (Duration: 10 minutes). 17: Colorful bubbles come out of caster's mouth instead of words. Words are released when bubbles pop. Spells with verbal components cannot be cast for 1 turn. 18: Babble affects all within 60 ft. of caster rendering verbal communication impossible (Duration: 1d10 turns). 19: Wall of Fire encircles caster. 20: Caster's feet enlarge, reducing movement to half it's normal rate. 21: Caster suffers same spell effect as target. 22: Caster levitates 20 ft. for 1d4 turns. 23: Cause fear with 60 ft. radius centered on caster. All within the radius except the caster must make a saving throw against it or be frightened of the caster for 1d4 turns. 24: Caster speaks in a sqeaky voice for 1d6 days. 25: Caster can see through solid objects for 1d6 turns. 26: Roll a d10. Caster's age changes by that many years. If the roll is odd they grow older by that amount and if it is even they grow younger by that amount. 27: Silence in a 15 ft. radius centered on the caster. 28: 10 ft. by 10 ft. pit appears immediately in front of the caster. It is 2 ft. deep per level of the caster. 29: Reverse gravity beneath caster's feet for 1d3 turns. 30: Colored streamers pour from the caster's fingertips 31: Spell rebounds on the caster. 32: Caster becomes invisible (Duration: 1 minute.) 33: Color Spray from caster's fingertips. 34: A stream of butterflies pours from the caster's mouth. 35: Caster leaves monster-shaped footprints instead of his own until dispelled with Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 36: Between 2 to 20 gems shoot from caster's fingertips. Each gem is 1d6 x 10 gold in value. 37: Music fills the air. 38: Creates food and water. 39: All normal fires within 60 ft. of the caster are extinguished. 40: Fires a bolt of energy at one magical item within 30 ft. of caster (randomly chosen) which, if it hits, breaks the magical item rendering it nonfunctional until repaired. 41: One normal item within 30 ft. of caster (randomly chosen) becomes permanently magical. 42: All magical weapons within 30 ft. of caster are increased by +2 for 1d3 turns. 43: Smoke trickles from the ears of all creatures within 60 ft. of caster for 1 turn. 44: Dancing lights appear. 45: All creatures within 30 ft. of caster begin to hiccup. 46: All normal doors, secret doors, portcullises, etc. (including those locked or barred) within 60 ft. of caster swing open. 47: Caster and target exchange places. 48: Spell affects random target within 60 ft. of the caster. 49: Spell fails but the mana and karma cost is refunded. 50: Summons a random monster under the caster's control for 1d10 rounds. 51: There is a sudden change in weather (temperature rise, snow, rain, etc). 52: A deafening bang affects everyone within 60 ft. of the target. All those who hear must make a saving throw or be stunned for 1d3 turns. 53: Caster and target exchange voices until dispelled with a Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 54: Gate opens to a randomly chosen outer plane; 50% chance for an extra-planar creature to appear. 55: Spell creates an irritating shriek for 1d4 turns. 56: Spell effectiveness (range, duration, area of effect, damage, etc.) decreases by 50%. 57: Spell is inverted, if inverse is possible. 58: Spell takes physical form of free-willed elemental and cannot be controlled by caster. Elemental remains for duration of spell. Touch of the elemental causes spell effect. 59: All weapons within 60 ft of the caster glow for 1d8 turns. 60: Spell bypasses any resulting saving through and/or resistance. 61: Spell appears to fail when cast, but occurs 1-4 turns later. 62: All magical items within 60 ft. of caster glow for 2d8 days. 63: Caster and target switch personalities for 2d10 turns. 64: Casts a Slow spell centered on target, reducing the speed of all enemies within 60 ft. of target by 50%. 65: Target and Caster's total remaining health percentage is swapped. 66: Lightning bolt shoots toward target. 67: Target is enlarged for 1d3 turns. 68: Casts a Darkness spell centered on target, shrouding the area within 60 ft. of target in magical darkness. 69: Plants around target grow rapidly. 70: Up to 1,000 lbs. of non-living matter within 10 ft. of target vanishes. 71: Casts a Fireball centered on the target. 72: Target turns to stone for 2d6 turns. 73: Spell is cast; All mana/karma used in spell is refunded. 74: Everyone within 10 ft. of the caster are healed for a portion of their health. 75: Target becomes dizzy for 2d4 turns. 76: Wall of Fire encircles target. 77: Target levitates 20 ft. for 1d3 turns. 78: Target suffers from blindness for 2d6 turns. 79: Target is charmed as per the Charm Monster spell. 80: Target forgets the last ten minutes. 81: Target's feet enlarge, reducing movement to half it's normal rate. 82: A rust monster appears in front of the target. 83: Target polymorphs randomly (Duration: 10 minutes). 84: Target falls madly in love with caster until dispelled with Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 85: Target changes gender until dispelled with Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 86: Small, black rain cloud forms over target. 87: Creates a stinking cloud centered on target. 88: Heavy object (boulder, anvil, safe, etc.) appears a few feet over target and falls. 89: Target begins sneezing. No spells can be cast until fit passes (Duration: 1d6 turns). 90: Spell effect has 60 ft. radius centered on target. All within radius suffer the effect. 91: Target's clothes itch badly. 92: Target's race randomly changes (Duration: 6 days). 93: Target turns ethereal for 2d4 turns. 94: Target moves at double their normal speed for 1d6 minutes. 95: All cloth on the target crumbles to dust. Magical items of cloth get a save based on their enchanter's level. Non-magical cloth get none. 96: Target sprouts leaves. No damage is caused by this and it can be pruned without harm. 97: Target sprouts a new useless appendage (wings, arm, ear, etc.) which remains until dispelled with Dispel Magic/Remove Curse. 98: Target changes color. Can be removed with Dispel Magic. 99: Spell has a minimum duration of 1 turn (i.e., a fireball creates a ball of flame that remains for 1 turn, a lighting bolt bounces and continues, possibly rebounding for 1 turn, etc). 100: Spell effectiveness (range, duration, area of effect, damage, etc.) increases by 200%.
[Chaos Magic] Chaos Bolt (Active): Fires a light bolt of chaos energy at the target, flying forth in a straight line at the speed of an arrow. Costs nearly no mana but triggers a Chaos Surge automatically upon casting.
[Chaos Magic] Chaos Bomb (Active): Creates a magical sphere of swirling chaos energy roughly the size of a melon in his palm. Has to be thrown manually so it's range isn't too great in his hands but it deals a decent amount of damage in a ten foot radius, exploding upon impact with the first solid surface it hits. It's mana cost is quite low for a spell of it's power but it automatically triggers a Chaos Surge when it explodes. For purposes of the Chaos Surge each living creature hit by the explosion counts as the designated target. Should the spell hit no living beings the target then becomes any inanimate objects hit by the explosion. Should nothing be hit by the explosion the target becomes the caster himself.
[Chaos Magic] Chaos Mend (Active): A decent healing spell that can patch up cuts and mend broken bones. Very cheap on mana but automatically triggers a Chaos Surge upon casting.
[Fortunomancy] Karma (Passive): The true essence of luck, concentrated and quantified by those who walk the path of the Fortunomancer. While Karma is no exact science the basic principle is that every action weighs upon one's karmic balance, skewing it towards either fortune or misfortune. As the universe craves balance and symmetry in all things fortune will act upon each person, giving or taking luck and restoring the balance. Fortunomancers are those who have discovered practices which allow them to essentially jump up and down on the scales of fortune, affording them a limited degree of control over the more random facets of life.
Mercurio's brand of Fortunomancy is predicated on suffering misfortunes in order to generate positive karma. He then takes the karma and magically stores it away, preventing it from granting him whatever boon it had in store so that he might use it to influence his luck at a time of his choosing. While lesser uses of karma involve influencing the outcome in a game of dice, altering the weather patterns or guessing the correct route in a maze the most powerful uses of karma are in spells. Most Fortunomancy spells require a certain amount of karma to cast and it can be used to change the outcome of a Chaos Surge by either +1 or -1 per point of karma spent. Karma has to be spent immediately prior to the outcome of a Chaos Surge however since once the die is cast his fate is no longer in fortune's hands.
[Fortunomancy] Chaotic Contamination (Active): By pointing at a magic user and casting this spell he can cause the next spell the target casts to trigger a Chaos Surge for the caster. Costs some mana but only a few karma points since the results could go any which way.
[Fortunomancy] Fortune's Transit (Active): This spell teleports the caster to a random unoccupied location within sixty feet of said caster. This spell will not teleport the caster inside solid matter or more than ten feet above a solid surface but outside of that the location the caster appears is completely random unless the caster spends a few extra karma points to help affirm a more definite destination. This spell costs less mana than a normal teleport spell but also costs some karma points as well. The extra karma cost for a more certain teleport must be spent before the caster is finished casting the spell.
[Fortunomancy] Karmic Retribution (Active): Upon casting this spell provides it's caster an invisible protection. Should an attacker harm the caster there is a fifty percent chance that the harm that was done to the caster will happen to the attacker instead. This spell has six charges, a single instance of damage consumes one charge. A charge is not consumed if the fifty percent chance errs in favor of the attacker and lets the attack harm the caster. Damage over time effects only incur a fifty percent chance roll upon application, each instance of damage after the initial application going through regularly after that unless the damage over time effect was turned against the attacker. Spells that target the caster with damage or negative effects trigger Karmic Retribution and may redirect the spell effects onto the mage attacking the caster. The exception to this is if the spell's damage source is a summon or any other sort of magical servant in which case the attack is redirected at said summon. Traps only incur the effect of Karmic Retribution if said trap was set for twenty four hours or longer, the damage done by said trap occurring to the one who set the trap. If the trap was set for longer than twenty four hours then the damage simply goes through as normal.
This spell costs some mana and several karma points.
[Arcane Magic] Dispel Magic (Active): This spell ends active magical effects on a single target or cancels an ongoing spell directly. All spells active on a target get a save based on the level of the one who cast them. Spells that make their save remain while those that fail are cancelled. Magical items that fail their save are suppressed for two minutes, rendered functionally mundane until the suppression timer on their magic reaches it's end. Costs a modest sum of mana.
[Skill] Skulduggery (Passive): Being a slave has taught him many lessons. One of those lessons was that playing fair didn't get you far in life, especially when everyone around him held more power over him than he did. He's done more than his fair share of lying, cheating, sneaking and lock-picking along his many travels giving him some decent knowledge in those fields.
[Skill] Dancer's Deftness (Passive): His tribe incorporated a lot of dancing into their rituals making it a common aspect of their lives. Having done a great amount of it himself he has developed a dancer's sense of balance and poise. He is both nimble and dextrous despite his often haggard appearance.
[Skill] Wayward Fiddler (Passive): An interesting detail that often goes unseen is that he is fairly skilled with the fiddle. Admittedly he hasn't gotten the chance to pick one up ever since the day he was captured by slavers so he might be a bit rusty to start but he's had a fair amount of practice before all that.
Custom Class Overview: The Fortunomancer is similar to a Chaos/Wild Sorcerer however they manage a secondary resource pool known as "Karma". By manipulating luck itself they can harness the positive karma that is born within them anytime they encounter misfortune. With karma they are able to seize control of fate and manipulate the outcomes of purely random forces such as luck or the ever shifting nature of chaos magic.
It would appear when I stated that the character was already made I neglected to check to see if that was wholly true. While most of him is finished I still need to finish his history. I should have that done by tomorrow or so, not much later I can assure.
As for the whole random rolling mechanic I can swear on my honor that I will definitely be legitimately rolling each outcome, only swaying the results by the number of karma spent to move the value of the outcome. After all, why introduce a character with a fun random dice element only to cheat myself of the mystery and surprise of letting the dice take the wheel?
@A Lowly Wretch I've read through Mercurio's character sheet, as it is currently.
As it is, even if the history-section was complete, I'm afraid I couldn't accept the character. While I have no doubts you would roll fairly in the department of dice rolls, the main issue is that many of his effects are forced onto other characters, or appear to be auto-hits or otherwise unavoidable. This is always a big no-no for me when I do roleplays, as I'm a firm believer that (unless the GM tells you otherwise) you should always have the ability or option to determine the outcome of another player's inter/action towards your own character. Having effects and spells that force themselves onto others, without them having a say, isn't going to fly with me.
In addition, while he seems amusing on paper, I question the viability and likelihood of the other characters in the group picking up someone who seems so clearly deranged or mentally unstable. While I'm sure you could score sympathy-points for him with Serafaye and Yinha, pragmatists like Aretemisia, Locke and Kaze seem very unlikely to want to travel along someone who teeters to himself and talks to invisible friends or hallucinations. He also comes across as flippant and unreliable, which makes me wonder why he'd bother to stick around with a group of random people when he has no apparent goals or ideals that align with the rest of the group.
Finally, his ability to manipulate and store 'karma'' is sadly just way too overpowered. Being able to essentially stockpile "luck" or "good fortune" in exchange for misfortune, which could be basically anything 'bad', is a rather absurd power to have. Say he stubs his toe while walking. +1 Karma Point. Say he gets a bucket of water thrown at him. +1 Karma Point. Say a fly lands on his pie. +1 Karma Point. Say an enemy insults him before a battle, charges him even though there are other targets available, and delivers a blow that causes a shallow cut. +3 Karma Points. Essentially, it would be incredibly easy to break and abuse the system, and many of his spells and abilities that are linked to this power are also just as guilty of forcing their effectrs on others if they activate.
These are of course only my thoughts from reading your sheet as it is. If you feel I've made an unfair judgement, or misunderstood or otherwise failed to properly grasp your concept, please feel free to counter my concerns. I'm never going to just flatly forbid a character - unless they're broken as duck - and will always allow their creator to try and alleviate any issues I may have. :)
But, as for right this moment, Mercurio is not accepted.
