[OOC] Blades of Iron Roses: A fantasy Knight RP

[pugbutter]

I'm with @Zebanamana when he says, "It [being too OP] is another reason why a lot of my characters recently have trended toward being old or fat or crippled or ugly in some form or another, I am worried about making characters who might be too pretty" [sic]. I feel more invested emotionally in characters who more gracefully resemble flesh-and-blood humanity with all its blemishes and scars, both of body and of spirit. Perfection is boring!

[chukklehed]

something tells me you're either an English major or a reporter.

[pugbutter]

an English major

@chukklehed

ouch

you got me fam

[VitaVitaAR]

I'll only look things over once the other bio is posted, as if they're meant to be together I feel it's the best way to do it.

[VitaVitaAR]

@PaulHaynek: Nem have red eyes or yellow eyes. Definitely not black. ^^;

[PaulHaynek]

@VitaVitaAR
Oh. I was using chukklehed's picture as reference.

[VitaVitaAR]

I think that's only like that because it's hard to find a picture that completely fits the bill. ^^;

Also of note is that she is under four feet in height.

[pugbutter]

• Name: Rhydsar di Lothe

  
• Age: 17
• Gender: Male
• Race: Human
• Appearance: Rhydsar has an athletic build, but the lanky build of a swimmer or runner, as opposed to the bulky build common to warriors. When it comes to weight or stature ergo, he has nothing on other soldiers. Rhydsar's features could be called boyish or feminine still, too. He hasn't grown a beard; nor has the softness in his face yet faded. He has a sharp pointed jaw and, cascading down his back, long white hair. In a word he is handsome, although this is only because his face has been spared the horrors of scars and his body not been forced to adapt to wrestling orcs. Perhaps soon this youthful innocence will fall by the wayside.
• Personality: Rhydsar in his natural state is quiet and reserved, more prone to curl up inside his quarters and read a book than to lead a party in a toast. However he also goes to great pains to make sure that people do not see him in this state. He tries to be polite when it comes to letting his elders speak, but when his turn arrives to speak he steals the crowd and has no purpose other than to steal away with their attention; and perhaps, their admiration.
• Brief Backstory: As the third son of a Marquis the boy would want for nothing and have few arduous responsibilities. If ever someone was privileged, it was this boy.
  
  In his tutelage he easily overtook his brothers. His spare time was spent adventuring around the demesne and reading heroic sagas. In adolescence boredom gave way to troublemaking. After being caught committing a petty crime, the Marquis, Rhydsar's father, decided the boy's punishment would be to tour with him on the coming campaign. Always eager for battle, and extraordinarily proficient at it, the boy soon found that the men took a liking to him. The Marquis, not only seeing his sons potential, but also wanting to keep him safe, decided to bribe Rhydsar's way through a squireship and into knighthood, before sending the boy to the Order of the Iron Rose. The declining Order, the nobleman thought, clearly wouldn't put him in danger. Meanwhile Rhydsar can continue to kill goblins and fight his little bandit wars without risking the health of the March in the process; for he had taken a great liking to leadership and to the chessboards of the battlefield, and the lord would not see this bloodthirst strip the land of its peaceful prosperity.
  Skills: Strategical and Tactical Foresight, Horse Riding, Swordsmanship, Etiquette.
• Equipment

  Armour

  

  
  

  Weapons

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  
  

  

[Mercenary5]

Thanks Pugbutter!

The above gentleman did indeed post the app on my behalf.

[pugbutter]

no problem fam

[VitaVitaAR]

Okay right off that bat um...

The Iron Roses are not in decline and I have to question sending someone to an order that just lost its previous captain in battle a few years ago.

I also can't help but notice he has no skills section, and while I'm familiar with some medieval weaponry I can't name anything or understand its traits off the top of my head, so a bunch of pictures doesn't help so much.

[pugbutter]

"The declining Order, the nobleman thought,..." Is a character allowed to believe the Order is declining even if it isn't?

Both apps have skill sets. I quote:

• Skills: Combat (mêlée; armed battle, dueling, and pugilism), drinking, gambling (cards and dice), riding, falconry. He throws knives and practices archery, but only for fun, carrying neither into war. He has a sharp eye for counterfeit coins versus genuine mints. Although he only barely knows how to read, his handwriting is exquisite and he has taken to calligraphy as a hobby. He possesses the skills and tools of a barber, cutting his own hair, shaving his own face, and even performing minor surgeries like lancing boils and excavating shrapnel wounds.
  
  He wants to learn magic, even if only minor spells of convenience (e.g. starting fires more easily) are within his grasp; nevertheless the Arcane eludes him.

@pugbutter

• Skills: Strategical and Tactical Foresight, Horse Riding, Swordsmanship, Etiquette.

@pugbutter

Weapons Roster
Gütta: poleaxe, katzbalger, and misericorde.

Rhydsar: longsword, dagger, horseman's pick, and kite shield.

[Raineh Daze]

"The declining Order, the nobleman thought,..." Is a character allowed to believe the Order is declining even if it isn't?

@pugbutter

"clearly wouldn't put him in danger."

Short of arguing for the exact positioning of subordinate clauses in every sentence to be exactingly weighed up, it's still easily read as "the nobleman thought that a declining order is a safe place to put someone". In total contrast to reality. The alternative, that the noble is actually delusional enough to believe that the knightly order that lost their captain fighting a rebellion and replenished itself in short order is safe and in decline would be putting words in someone else's mouth.

I missed the skills section too. One line improperly formatted was easy to miss... <_<

[pugbutter]

delusional

@Raineh Daze

This is acknowledged earlier in Mercenary5's app: "Perhaps soon this youthful innocence [a body spared of scars and ugliness due to a soft and easy lifestyle] will fall by the wayside."

The word "perhaps" is used because this clause is contingent on situations the GM throws at him. He himself will not decide who attacks him when, neither as an OOC player nor an IC character.

[Raineh Daze]

<Snipped quote by Raineh Daze>
This is acknowledged earlier in Mercenary5's app: "Perhaps soon this youthful innocence [a body spared of scars and ugliness due to a soft and easy lifestyle] will fall by the wayside."

The word "perhaps" is used because this clause is contingent on situations the GM throws at him. He himself will not decide who attacks him when, neither as an OOC player nor an IC character.

@pugbutter

Now you're talking about a completely separate person to the one that things this is a perfectly safe place.

[pugbutter]

Now you're talking about a completely separate person to the one that things this is a perfectly safe place.

@Raineh Daze

Obviously the person who lives in the Order and fights its battles would have a more accurate image of it than a person living in a comfy manor hundreds of miles away, left to speculate on its welfare and whereabouts based on gossip and hearsay. The "completely separate person" POV is totally appropriate to this situation, as there is no contradiction of interests or opinions. Rhydsar may or may not learn in turn that Father was wrong.

[VitaVitaAR]

@pugbutter: Okay, I missed the skills section.

The Iron Roses are the most famous order in the country, however, and have repeatedly been sent out to deal with dangerous threats.

However, aside from that he looks pretty much fine honestly?

Though... I have to say, the other character tied to him... this is not the place to make money or anything like that. And sociopathy won't endear him to the rest of the order at all. ^^;

[pugbutter]

@pugbutter: Okay, I missed the skills section.

The Iron Roses are the most famous order in the country, however, and have repeatedly been sent out to deal with dangerous threats.

However, aside from that he looks pretty much fine honestly?

Though... I have to say, the other character tied to him... this is not the place to make money or anything like that. And sociopathy won't endear him to the rest of the order at all. ^^;

@VitaVitaAR

"Sociopath" seems a bit much IMO. Selfish, greedy asshole? You bet!

I was going to ask once (if) I'm accepted as to whether I have the option of following Rhydsar around as a non-knighted, non-peerage bodyguard, probably rather like a Norse húskarl. He would call himself the boy's "squire" as a loophole exploitation, if anyone felt suspicious about that. Though money's not an issue to him right now so don't worry about that; for lack of better phrases, you can say he's "indentured" to Rhydsar and therefore supplied sufficiently with food and munitions, unless fealty to the Order strips him of previous oaths. Until they became secularized I imagine the Order demanded that noblemen waive their holdings and titles et cetera, as proof of their devotion to the clergy and the Gods? Asceticism and modesty tend to be consistent trends with churches.

(If we're indeed accepted BTW then your changes will be implemented when the biographies are posted into the Characters tab. I haven't edited them yet just in case someone would think I stealth-edited the Skills lists in there, or something like that.)

Regarding the Order's reputation, though, Merc also said something in his original draft about it being the oldest order, in addition to one of the more popular, which by the very nature of our knowledge of your world is either incorrect or a lucky guess. While I suspect we'd get the hang of the tone of the group dynamic while incorporating ourselves into it, further explanation and exposition are always appreciated when it comes to worldbuilding! We will read anything you post. :)

[VitaVitaAR]

At the least, currently the order is much more secular now. More associated with the Crown then the Church, dedicated to defending the land and the innocent. Not to say it wasn't like that before, but the religious bent is unofficial now.

The Iron Rose Knights are 200 years old and very popular publicly, though some nobles don't like them. The Crown is a pretty big fan, especially the Princess, and they're frequently used to defend citizens of the Kingdom and destroy criminals and raiders, and dangerous monsters such as dragons. If a dragon shows up and Thaln, you can bet the Iron Roses will be the ones sent to deal with it.

[pugbutter]

Is 200 years older or younger on average than other orders?