Okay so I forgot I was getting an IUD today and have been on pain killers all day but please let me know if this works. Wasn’t sure she would have very many assets belonging to her.

Including the new sheets, we so far have 3 PCs whose Seed revolves around protecting the bearer against mind-affecting effects.

Safina must be in shambles. 😩

They read Rhinecliff's Frenzy spell and were like "naw brah, ain't no way I'm letting my pure warrior character go unga bunga".

Well I wasn’t sure if Nyx should have a seed or not tbh 😂 but changelings normally have resistance to sleep and charm magic so I was like “oh okay, let me just incorporate that into her seed” 😅

It would be interesting to see more variety in cool seeds over buffing effects for sure.

Says the person who just has their Seed do what others already do with regular magic. ;3

Says the person who just has their Seed do what others already do with regular magic. ;3

Because that's what they should be ;3

Alright, better get this outta the way now, considering how I've been meaning to do so for a good while. Gonna be going through the cast and yapping.

So, first off...

@Estylwen In consideration to Evelyn's relatively unstable rule at the moment, as well as the presence of @Theyra's character, who is basically a former royal guard that now took power over his family's duchy, I think it'd make sense from the start for the Wizard Queen to be more focused on Duke Corrin rather than Duke Rhinecliff, especially because that'd straight up be what Laurent himself would have guided her towards considering. Seeing that rebellion itself hadn't yet broken out, Rhinecliff would likely only have made small, surreptitious movements thus far, while there's so many signs that Duke Corrin will fucking behead the Wizard Queen if given a chance that it'd be hilarious to ignore the elephant in the room.

He would, however, perhaps already be in touch with Eirwen (@LunarParadox), due to that relatively prosperous and scholarly nature of Odonfield and the court mage's own ambitions. That would probably be the main cause for concern that Safina (@Psyker Landshark) could hold towards Laurent. As well, however, we could have a whole ass concern with regards to the very existence of Ironhand (@twannyman). I'd imagine that there'd be a whole ass story behind why an artifact capable of no-selling all forms of magic ended being straight up lost, when magic and offensive Seeds are what separate nobility and their personal retainers from being just flesh-and-blood normies. I'd imagine that early on at least, Roderic would be in a situation where he hopefully understands that he oughta keep real fucking quiet about his Seed, or bro's gonna be jumped by all the Dukes + the Wizard Queen + the Coven + the College of Hathforth + whatever else exists.

Either that, or he immediately aligns himself with a faction that's unlikely to be so unethical as to just slice off his arm in order to remove the Ironhand from him.

For the remaining nobles in the roster thus far...

In regards to what Duchess Bastille (@Irradiant) would have seen of Duke Rhinecliff thus far...she'd have been too young to have seen his work on the battlefield, but honestly, she'd not have seen him on the battlefield even if she had been old enough. Bastille marches on the frontlines, but Rhinecliff remains warm and cozy in his castle, probably smoking a cigar and sipping on wine while his men fight kilometers away. Honestly, at least this early on, I'd imagine she'd have sent that letter to him more as a formality, trusting that House Rhinecliff would generally be as passive as they were during Ludwig's ascension and Evelyn's coup. More of a 'stay out of this, boomer' kinda vibe.

I'd imagine that Duchess Agustria (@Click This) would understand Duke Rhinecliff as more of a kindred spirit, despite their clear differences in regards to the place of religion in society. This would be mostly due to position reasons. The Fey River, which splits Arrowfell cleanly in half, can only really be safely crossed through the territory that Odonfield possesses. Otherwise, you're crossing through mountains for no reason, or you're going through some of the last remnants of proper fey bullshit within the Tearmoon Glade and the surrounding forests. As such, I'd imagine it'd be a situation where Caelin receives exports by sea, Odonfield receives exports by land, and it all funnels into Hathforth afterwards. They probably wouldn't do more except exchange letters though. Maybe even collaborate on occasion, with regards to the flow of goods from East to West.

Now, as for the fey-type fellows...

Chances are Duke Rhinecliff wouldn't even know who Melisande (@Izurich) is, unless Eirwen would have talked about a promising youngster in the Society of Young Magic who was excelling in chronomancy of all subjects. Due to the proximity of the Tearmoon Glade and Odonfield, however, I think it'd make sense that the two territories would have built up an understanding over the course of centuries. There's probably more than a handful of ancient geasa and vows that keep either territory from encroaching too heavily upon the other, and I'd imagine that there'd also be exchanges of ideas and arcane knowledge too. Something along the lines of...Odonfield becomes a premier 'starting city' for travellers from the Tearmoon Glade, where they can gradually pick up an understanding of broader human society after living in a sheltered coven for so long, before they head off to the rest of the province and beyond. If you want it to be the case, it could even be that Jezebel called up a favor from Duke Rhinecliff to act as a backer for Melisande if a societal problem props up, but eh, that would mean that he knows the beloved daughter of the Matriarch is so far from home.

I don't have as much to work with in regards to Olivia (@Donut Look Now), but I'd imagine that she'd have disclosed her Changeling status to the Duke, either willingly or under duress. In exchange, he'd probably have been the one to see to her education in the two years since the Wizard Queen's rise, and would have given her preferential treatment specifically because she knew who Evelyn was before the Wizard Queen came out of nowhere and murdered her way to the top. That preferential treatment didn't come with a free Seed though; in that particular case, it would've been a final test of her usefulness as a spy where she'd be sent to slip into the Royal Gardeners, follow their process, and steal the reaped seeds.

Heck, maybe something goes hilariously wrong in the process, and that's why the Ironhand was just found out there in the middle of the wilderness for no particular reason!

---

Anyways, that's my yapping done. Lemme know if there's anything y'all would like to add on or change. Mostly did this because almost every character should at least have encountered or have passing knowledge of other characters.

@ERode Yeah, I figured the duke would know one way or another what she is - I like the idea of maybe she joined his duchy because of the access to the academia and tried her best to only seem like a human with Olivia Rhys before her ulterior motives are found out by Rhinecliff. She could have agreed to becoming the spy the rebellion needed to save her own neck and that could be where her education comes from, to help her become a master of espionage. And definitely her seed would have been the final test of that.

Otherwise I’m open to any suggestions, kind of letting Nyx be a moldable character so that she can kind of fit in for what’s needed still.

@ERodeI do agree and think Eirwen would have gone out of his way to befriend Rhinecliff if at all possible. The nature of Odonfield seems to align with his interests quite well and Eirwen would be appreciative of someone with such a generous reputation.

-Stuff-

Yeah, Laurent likely wouldn't know Melisande purely by her merits alone, but most likely through Jezebel (and potentially, Eirwen) instead, being basically the village elder's first child.

Regarding the Court Mage mentioning Melisande's talents to the Duke, I'll let @LunarParadox decide, as I'd imagine the Society of Young Magic has many other talented proteges as well for obvious reasons. Whether Mel counts as noteworthy even amongst the exceptional is up for Lunar to decide as the author of both Eirwen and the Society.

As for Jezebel pulling favors from Laurent, I like that idea, perhaps you can even assume that the Duke is aware that the Matriarch is pretty miffed by the Wizard Queen giving exclusive privileges to the Royal Gardeners to manage the Glasic Fields even though the coven exists. Perhaps he also knows that the Tearmoon matriarch ultimately answers to no one but herself, but if they can come to a mutual cooperation, having good rapport with an enclave full of naturally talented mages would do well for his master plan. And supporting who's basically their 'princess' seems like the obvious way to start.

The politics stuff all sounds good to me, yeah, it'd make sense for them to have various deals and agreements over the centuries of being neighbors.

If there's anything I'd like to add, the not-so-pleasant side of the coin is that amongst their detractors, the coven is known as a bunch of husband (and sometimes, wife) snatchers who willingly shelter adulterers in their enclave. Due to this, the race has a controversial reputation as beautiful, eternally youthful nymphettes who're naturally talented with all things magical, but on the other, they're decried as depraved temptresses who corrupt honest men and women with their “wicked charms”.

Additionally, since the glade was indirectly mentioned in @Click This' part, it's a good opportunity to mention that other feys (nymphs, pixies, dryads, sylphs, etc.) generally respect the lilim, and vice versa, due to their shared ancestry. So if someone wants to deal with anything fey-related, you really can't go wrong with a lilim guide / companion. Much less likely to be pranked and all.

Related, changelings are fey too, but I'll let @Donut Look Now decide how they stand with their sibling races since her PC is one and I think it'll be prudent to refer to her opinion for this.

@Izurich I figured the changelings, much like shapeshifters in other lore, are probably regarded as untrustworthy, so probably a little shunned by other fey that would recognize/or learn what they are. So, typically they act as a lone wolf variety, doing whatever they want to avoid detection maybe?

@Donut Look Now I love the name of your character Nyx Hier(for those who don't know it means there is nothing here in Dutch just Nyx is written as Niks)

Roderic would be in a situation where he hopefully understands that he oughta keep real fucking quiet about his Seed, or bro's

He knows, just shut up and act as if its a hand that's in a glove anti-magic is defo a last resort

@Donut Look Now I love the name of your character Nyx Hier(for those who don't know it means there is nothing here in Dutch just Nyx is written as Niks)

Yup! I go through about 10-15 names when creating a character (one time had like 50 - that character was hard to pin down a name for LOL). As soon as I saw the meaning for Nyx, I knew it had to be her name ^-^

Okay so I forgot I was getting an IUD today and have been on pain killers all day but please let me know if this works. Wasn’t sure she would have very many assets belonging to her.

Nyx [+]

image of Nyx and Olivia pending

Spy Nyx Hier AKA Olivia Rhys

108 | Changeling/Fey | | Female | 5’8” (152cm) | 115lbs (52 kg)

Goal: Wants to see the Witch Queen fall to avenge her love

History: Nyx grew up in a land where Fey were very prevalent but left when she was old enough to travel the world. She wanted to see all that life had to offer. For 30 years, Nyx visited many places and experienced the different cultures the world had to offer. The changeling had a worldly view and an appreciation for life.

At the age of 53, she found a human boy who she fell deeply in love with. Bertram Rhys was as ‘boyish charm’ as they come and brilliantly minded. His magic wasn’t very powerful, but his kindness and compassion were. As Bertram got older, it became more clear to Nyx that she didn’t want her love to live such a short life. The two were trying to find ways for a human to live longer when Nyx sought out the academia for knowledge.

Finding discrimination at its doors, the human Bertram Rhys volunteered to get more information on behalf of both. On the first day of their new journey, Bertram went to the academy and died alongside every magical human in the vicinity. Since that fateful day, Nyx has followed the Wizard Queen, waiting for a weak moment to strike.

That opportunity came to her on the heels of Duke Laurent Rhinecliff. Nyx has disguised herself as the sister of her beloved human, a human girl by the name of Olivia Rhys, that serves in Duke Laurent’s retinue as a ditzy musician who loves to flirt and pretends not to know of the salacious rumors as to why she’s in the duke’s chambers at night. Underneath the guise, Nyx helps the rebellion by spying and retrieving any information that might bring down the Wizard Queen.

Seed: Nyx wears a long white gold chain around her neck that’s easily tucked into her shirt. At the end lies a single blue-green variant of the feldspar crystal.

The Amazonite Dawnbringer allows Nyx to have resistance to Sleep and Charm magic, giving her clarity to withstand spells designed to trick her.

Magic:
Shift - ability to change their appearance not through illusion but through small physical transformations of the body. Clothing and possessions are unaffected. Limited to humanoid forms and can only impersonate those she’s actually laid eyes on. Able to alter facial features, skin coloration & texture, hair length & color, race, sex, size, height, and weight (these last three are within the limits of human scales). Takes anywhere from several seconds to a solid minute to transform, based on how much their form was changing, and new appearances last until they change again. Someone with a gifted sight would be also able to expose them.

• Small Shift (Think of just the eyes or just the hair.)
• Moderate Shift (This could be something like the entire face or the color of their skin.)
• Large Shift (This would be changing every single little detail, such as shifting into an entirely new appearance.)

Skills:

• Language (able to learn new ones easily)
• Penmanship (Forgery)
• Impersonation
• Disguise
• Sabotage
  {*]Espionage

Faction: Serves the Rhinecliff Duchy

City: Odonfield, two days travel east from Hathforth

Assets: (Tell me about what assets your city has, a silver mine, or lots of farmland?)

She looks great, feel free to add her to the Character Tab when you have a moment!

Roland Corrin [+]

Duke, Roland Corrin

30 | Human but with Elven Ancestry | | Male | 6'2 | 190

Goal: To avenge the late king who he failed to protect and his sister and save the kingdom from the Wizard Queen's rule.

History: Roland was born the third child of the Corrin family and was not expected to rule or gain anything of note. He was directionless, and while he did well in his studies and marital training. Nothing grabbed him, and as he reached adulthood. Roland was unsure of his future and would busy himself by dealing with bandits.

That was when his older sister recommended the idea of becoming a member of the King's royal guard. As it would be a great honor to become one, and it would suit him, given his nature and the family's ties to the king. Roland after thinking about it would agree and would train himself and join tournaments to show off his courage and martial skills. Which would grab the attention of the king and after being knighted by the king himself, he was allowed to join the king's royal guard.

For years, Roland sent in the royal guard and grew to like his position and made friends with the other royal guards and some of the court. His older sister, despite her duties as heir and later becoming duchess, would visit him when she could. Life was good for him, and the kingdom at peace. It seemed like he made the right choice in life. That was until everything changed that day when Evelyn launched her attack on Hathforth.

That day, Roland did his duty and protected the king the best he could. Only it was not enough, and he would barely survive and fell unconscious during the battle due to his wounds. When he woke up, he learned that the king was dead and a usurper, the Wizard Queen, had taken his place as ruler of the kingdom. To make matters worse, his sister was at Hathforth when the attack began, she also perished during the battle. Now sick with grief and pain over the death of the king and his sister. Roland would think about things as he recovered and when he did. Rather than accept an offer to be a member of the new royal guard, he chose to return home.

Roland was dismayed to learn that his older brother was not as skilled with ruling as his older sister and had difficulties with his new role as duke. After some talking with Roland, his older brother abdicated in favor of Roland, and Roland now rules his family's duchy. Though he would not be idling by and plans on avenging the king and his sister and free the kingdom from the Wizard Queen's rule.

Seed: A blue signet ring that is worn on the left hand of his ring finder. His seed allows him to empower himself physically and mentally. Becoming a bastion of both physical and mental strength while passively protecting the wearer's mind and body from foreign control and manipulation.

Magic:

Fortify - Roland can make an object that he is holding more durable as long as he is holding it.

Magic bolt - Roland is able to fire a bolt of pure magic from his hands or from a weapon he is holding

Shield Wall - Roland summons a wall of shields directly in front of him that are 6'5 feet tall, and the longer he sustains it, the more life force it consumes.

Spear Rush - Roland summons a magical spear that he throws, and wherever it lands, he can teleport to it.

Pull - Roland is able to pull a target towards him within a certain range. The heavier the target, the more life force is needed to pull the target towards him.

Push - Roland is able to push a target away from him from within a certain range, and the heavier the target, the more life force is needed to push the target away from him.

Backup weapon - If disarmed, Roland is able to create a melee weapon made out of magic.

Mental Link - Roland is able to establish a mental link between himself and one other person, allowing the two to communicate mentally with each other within a certain range.

Healing Hands - Roland is able to heal wounds with a physical touch of his hands and are able to heal most wounds but, not fatal ones nor sickness.

Guardmen - Roland is able to summon two shades that resemble armed guards and can command them for any task. By default, they last for about five minutes unless dispelled by magic or have taken enough hits to cause them to disappear. There is a cooldown between summoning, the longer they are active, the longer the cooldown.

Skills: Swordsmanship, martial arts, horseback riding, weapons expert, military strategy, and history.

Faction: While Roland is the Duke of Vaili, he has in preparation for his goals. He has secretly created a faction called The Sparrows, a small but growing spy network that Roland runs with help from a loyal former royal spy. The Sparrows consist of former royal spies, lowborns, merchants, and those orphaned by the Wizard Queen. While small in comparison to the other spy networks in the kingdom, they are the most motivated as they all lost something or someone to the Wizard Queen and are growing in size.

City: Tarin sits on the northern, eastern part of the Shimmering Lake, just at the end of the Torna Mountains and the river that feeds into the lake. Thanks to its location, the city enjoys the benefits of iron and copper from the Torna Mountains and freshwater fisheries. They are known for their crayfish and freshwater crabs. However, agriculture is limited, and half of the food comes from either the fisheries or trade. Though the city acts as a trade stop for caravans coming in from the east and those traveling along the river into or out of the Shimmering Lake.

Assets: Tarin assets are mainly iron, copper, freshwater fish, crayfish, freshwater crabs, trade, and controlling one of the entrances to the Shimmering Lake.

Amazing. So I imagine he's in a similar position to the Duke of Rhinecliff and not paying his fealty or taxes? He wouldn't be attending any balls or galas that the Queen sets up?

He's good to go, feel free to send him over to the Character Tab.

@Estylwen In consideration to Evelyn's relatively unstable rule at the moment, as well as the presence of @Theyra's character, who is basically a former royal guard that now took power over his family's duchy, I think it'd make sense from the start for the Wizard Queen to be more focused on Duke Corrin rather than Duke Rhinecliff, especially because that'd straight up be what Laurent himself would have guided her towards considering. Seeing that rebellion itself hadn't yet broken out, Rhinecliff would likely only have made small, surreptitious movements thus far, while there's so many signs that Duke Corrin will fucking behead the Wizard Queen if given a chance that it'd be hilarious to ignore the elephant in the room.

You have a point there. In her books, though, both dukes would have a target painted on their back. The Duke of Rhinecliff mainly for failing to pay fealty and taxes. I imagine @Theyra's character would also be in the same boat of refusing to pay fealty and taxes. And because both dukes are completely different, the Wizard Queen will be handling both entirely differently. :>

Props for starting the relationships talk, though. Right on the money with that one.

---

On the topic of relationships, I would highly suggest making some relations with your fellow people. Here's a sheet for it:

[hider=Character Name's Relationships]
[table][row][/row][row][cell][b][h3]Character Name[/h3][/b]
(Description of relationship, how your character feels towards the other, if they are friends or not.)
[/cell]
[cell][color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[i]"In-character quote of relationship."[/i]
[/cell][/row]
[row][cell][b][h3]Character Name[/h3][/b]
(Description of relationship, how your character feels towards the other, if they are friends or not.)
[/cell]
[cell][color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[color=2e2c2c]________________________[/color]
[i]"In-character quote of relationship."[/i]
[/cell]
[/row][/table]
[/hider]

I'll add the sheet to the first post. :> I'll probably have relationships up for the Wizard Queen tomorrow.

So after a little discussion with Psykers, I've decided to adjust the seeds just little bit. For seeds that clash with one another, for example, Duchess Bastille and Lady Haliel, instead of the duchess' seed completely canceling out Lady Haliel's, what's going to happen is there will be a battle of wills over which effect gets played. This battle of wills can be played out like a fight, but if I need to toss a coin to ensure one prevails, I can do that.

This makes interactions way more interesting, I think. ;) Of course, this is only in regards to seeds, not to magic.

So after a little discussion with Psykers, I've decided to adjust the seeds just little bit. For seeds that clash with one another, for example, Duchess Bastille and Lady Haliel, instead of the duchess' seed completely canceling out Lady Haliel's, what's going to happen is there will be a battle of wills over which effect gets played. This battle of wills can be played out like a fight, but if I need to toss a coin to ensure one prevails, I can do that.

This makes interactions way more interesting, I think. ;) Of course, this is only in regards to seeds, not to magic.

Oh yeah, I rolled a d20 for Nyx’s resistance to sleep/charm magic before I made it her seed. I got a 5, so I was going to have her resistance work 20% of the time or if people want to roll, anything higher than a 5 would be effective

I’m not one for OP stats anyway :P

I'd imagine that Duchess Agustria (@Click This) would understand Duke Rhinecliff as more of a kindred spirit, despite their clear differences in regards to the place of religion in society. This would be mostly due to position reasons. The Fey River, which splits Arrowfell cleanly in half, can only really be safely crossed through the territory that Odonfield possesses. Otherwise, you're crossing through mountains for no reason, or you're going through some of the last remnants of proper fey bullshit within the Tearmoon Glade and the surrounding forests. As such, I'd imagine it'd be a situation where Caelin receives exports by sea, Odonfield receives exports by land, and it all funnels into Hathforth afterwards. They probably wouldn't do more except exchange letters though. Maybe even collaborate on occasion, with regards to the flow of goods from East to West.

I think this sounds about right. Of course, that collaboration could change as developments occur. As for Duchess Agustria's relationship with the queen, I think that would depend greatly on whether or not the agreements she had with Ludwig II remain in place...

Either way, I'll try to have a relationships tab up either tonight or tomorrow.

IC post is up! If you have any questions, or if anything needs to be changed (@Theyra), please let me know.

@Donut Look Now I haven't mentioned you in the IC because I think you have two options. You can either be spying it up at the gala, or you can be at the duke's estate with the visitor. It's up to you. :)

Also, we use the Skyrim calendar. ;)