[OOC] Castle Grimm [A Fantasy Drama]

[Aces Away]

@IceHeart*cries* now?

[IceHeart]

@AnaSilan Sunja Finally there.

[AtomicNut]

Maximus

Name: Maximus (no family name), The Revenant.
Age: 78
Gender: Male
White Rock/Onyx: Onyx.
Appearance: Maximus is a diminute, unimposing man, standing tall only to 5'4". He's thin and wiry, but his otherwise lightweight appearance does not do justice to the compact and sinewy nature of his physical shape and condition. Beneath the wrinkled skin, strong, dense muscles are woven to his bones like the pieces of a bow, and it is only upon closer inspection that despite his frail-looking appearance, he won't break easily. His hair, while not receeding is now completely white, a far shoot of the brown he used to have, and he has a vivid amber-colored eye, which can give a certain piercing gaze. His body is actually covered in dozens of scars, and his left side of the face has been burnt and scarred, resulting in the loss of said eye. He usually wears a black obsidian mask to conceal his deformity, and well-worn but rather comfortable full body clothes of a dark green, along a breastplate nicked with several chips.
Personality: Quiet and somewhat polite, it is difficult to see Maximus as other thing than an old man tired of living. He carries himself with an air of somberness, and always thinks for a long time before replying. Almost impossible to disturb or make angry, he's akin to a soft wind or a rock in a mountain. He's here, but he isn't always felt nor heard, and usually keeps to his own business. The games of politics and socializing, while he tries his best to perform in them, clearly are something he's far comfortable with. He is also very conscious about his scars and disfigurement, trying to conceal his face as frequently as possibly, and rarely being seen in public baths. Beneath all of this, however, Maximus is a hardcore survivor. Years of experience and the sheer numbers of times he's had a brush with death have given a keen insight and an insane willpower. His favority strategy is to play in the long run, making his moves carefully in order to outlast his opponents. He's oddly fond of his Revenant moniker, which denotes how many times he has been declared dead only to resurface later.

History: Maximus was born as the unrecognized son of a imperial noble and a concubine. While said noble welcomed him at first into his fold, and gave him education and training, he soon was the target of vindictive intentions by the rest of the family. Her mother died when he was 7 due to poisoning, after drinking a cup that was destined to him. An arrow nicked his neck in a training accident at age 13, when they decided to start shaping up the kid to serve in the military as a trade-off for not being officially recognized. While he appreciated the old man's efforts, Maximus never felt protected nor loved by that person, and his half-siblings and adoptive mother certainly hated his guts. But what could a bastard kid do to take revenge against such opponents? It was when he decided. He would endure, endure and outlast every single one of them. Dodge death everytime. Survive. Endure and grow strong and disciplined as a result.

His first test would come as age 17, in the Dragon Fang mountains. After a rather difficult expedition in order to try and assess the feasibility of a new mine, Maximus and his colleagues were assaulted by a fire-spitting beast, which killed the rest of the team and gravely wounded Maximus, sending him tumbling down a ravine towards his sure death. But it didn't come. Maximus' bones were broken, his face was burnt, but he still crawled himself out of the ravine, heaving with each breath. Wolves sought to eat the spoils of the broken mind, but the pack was driven after he managed to kill a couple of them.

Which then became his nourishment and garments. Slowly but steady, he began to wander, each day regaining more and more strength even while at the verge of perishing. It was then when he found the beast's sleeping nest. However, not everything was hopeless, as he also spotted a patch of unstable ice and rocks above the creature's heads. Cursing the gods, and bracing himself for his grim retaliation, Maximus poured his everything in triggering an avalanche who then trapped the beast. Unable to move, and wounded, the creature proved to be felled easily. Why did he stopped by to do such a deed, Maximus never knew. Maybe it was because his teammates were among the few people who had shown genuine concern for him.

Meanwhile, at the capital, his fellow survivor brother in arms held a symbolic funeral for him, and while his family was present, they were more or less trying to corroborate Maximus was dead. The look on everyone's faces was ghastly when Maximus crashed his own funeral, with the dissecated monster's head in tow. He had become someone who had returned from death, a Revenant. It was then when his family stopped trying to conspire against him, out of fear rather than respect, and Maximus career, boosted by his ordeal, was fruitful.

However, Maximus' reputation worked against him. No matter how good his service was performed, his dreadful moniker still stood. Enemies sought to test the apparent immortality of the Revenant, only to be rebuked in turn by Maximus, and thus perpetuating his circle. At the same time, the amount of disfigurement and scars he kept accumulating over the years made all but possible to settle down and form a family. And after decades of struggle and service to the empire, he began to notice something he never thought he would ever reach to witness.

Old age. His strenght was beginning to wane. It was time to close the curtain in the final act in his life. Hopefully Castle Grimm would be an end befitting his life.

Why I Fight: It is the last opportunity I will have to earn a peaceful retirement. Hopefully, I could get a spouse (noble preferrably) and peaceful last years trying to raise a son and overseeing my hard-earned possessions. However, should that be denied, I will dance madly one last time, no matter if i have to tear the castle apart. The Revenant does not die easily.
Skills:Having a long career in the military, Maximus is no slouch when it comes to the art of warfare and using weapons and he can competently use a vast array of weapons of all shapes and sizes. He however, has never taken the path of mastery of said weapons, and his movements are a bit unpolished. Maximus is a cultured man, and he knows the importance of the more subtle aspects of warfare, such as tactics and patience. He's somewhat rusty with diplomacy, though. He however, is very perceptive, as years of narrowly dodging death have made him, and his lifeforce is second to none. He's got an unshakeable poise and will, able to keep getting up after taking staggering amounts of physical or psychological punishment. Last but not least he's accumulated a decent experience in survival tactics, creating improvised weapons, foraging and first aid as a result of his many brushes with death. He's also good at sewing.

Today, I entered Castle Grimm!

[IceHeart]

@AtomicNut@Vashonn@Blight Bug@MonkeyBusiness@AnaSilan Sunja

Well I'm not too picky when it comes to character sheets and everyone has done an adequate job so ya all are hired! Put those characters into the character tab. Now I'm hoping we can get one more from Onxy empire but we'll see.

Well obviously more than just your characters will be entering the Castle so there will be White Rock and Onyx NPCs to fill in the ranks. I'll let you guys have some leeway with your side's NPCs to use during the roleplay so you don't have to just rely on other players for interactions. For each side, maybe about 40 at the start and while the role play progresses their numbers will get fewer and fewer, and I'll be keeping a tally to show how each side is faring.

One of the most important elements in this role play will be your interactions with Castle Grimm inhabitants, who may either help or hinder you depending on your choices. You could bribe a maid to act as a spy, hire a mercenary, piss off the cook who will then get his revenge through his cooking. Also castle residents often have insider knowledge such as secret passages, hidden traps, and the like.

Another feature I was thinking about was having a money system for bribery use and the like. Each side would start off with say 1000 gold or something and at certain points can try to use that money to gain advantages from the residents. You would PM me the amount used and then at the end of that day's events how much is left over would be posted. I thought such a system could add an interesting element to the role play.

[Aces Away]

That would be a really cool hing to have. I'm down for a currency system!

[Emu]

Hey, I'm interested in joining if you need one more! It might take some time, but I can definitely find the time to get started a cs tonight.

[AtomicNut]

Uh, Imma outa here, on second though. This looks more PVP than I imagined.

[Emu]

I know the history portion is rather bare-bones, so if you need it longer, I can fix that. Here goes!

Craggard

Name: Craggard (No Surname)

Age: 34

Gender: Male

White Rock/Onyx: Onyx

Appearance: Short and heavy, Craggard could command an audience on his outlandish appearance alone. Craggard is filthy, filthy rich, and he loves nothing more than putting his wealth on full display. He often dresses in extravagant furs and long, billowing coats with a worrying amount of chains and necklaces weighing him down so he constantly slouches. His skin is quite pale, almost ivory colored and his eyes are half-lidded and gleaming with mischief. His snow white hair extends halfway down his neck and is slicked back with unidentified animal fat. The smell is absolutely wretched.

Personality: Despite his apparent social status, Craggard’s brash and obnoxious nature exposes his humble origins. He tends to be incredibly greedy and snatches up anything valuable he can get his hands on. He’s also quite persuasive. If he can’t convince you to do something, he can certainly pressure you into it. He’s a gifted and charismatic haggler as well, and will always prefer to talk his way out of something rather than use combat.He is generally well-liked by his workers, mainly because he’s generous to his workers and is remarkably lenient- perhaps a little too lenient, especially when it comes to their safety. He tends to come off as callous and merciless towards his workers in dangerous situations. A hypocritical attitude to have for sure, since he’s a big coward himself.

History: Craggard seems to be quite defensive, almost ashamed, about his past before his job at the mines. What is evident is that he was raised in the slums. He learned to hate the way he lived, and his desire for money and power only grew. As soon as he was old enough, he hightailed it out of his home and made a name for himself- first as a buffoonish nobody, then as a kiss-ass assistant to the foreman, until he found himself head of one of Onyx’s finest mines- Echo Quarry Mineshafts.

Why I Fight: Money, Power, and unlimited access to the Grimm bathhouse!

Skills: Craggard has never been a warrior- most of his strengths lie in his ability to negotiate and befriend people he may find useful. While loud-mouthed and crude, he’s also very friendly and social, and more likely to dominate a conversation. His physical advantages are few, but his reflexes are quick. Craggard picks up quickly on small details and will react quickly when he thinks he’s in danger. In a pinch, he might be able to throw a solid punch, mostly due to the rings on his fingers.

[IceHeart]

@Emu

It's fine. I don't care too much about character history unless people plan to really use it in their character. For me its more about the in character interactions. Character accepted.

Well with the loss of Atomic that puts use back to uneven territory. I find it amusing that most of the White Rock people have all these battle talents while those on the Onxy side less so. In any event I never really intended this role play to be focused on PvP, even if players are on opposite sides. PvP can happen of course but the environment is overall more deadly as things go on.

Few things going on at the moment, but this role play will probably be starting up fairly soon.

[IceHeart]

Maybe after Christmas, wanna keep Christmas open so until then.

[IceHeart]

First bit here is just an opening post pretty much, character thoughts and introductory posts before they get let into the Valley, and then a mini time-bump to the actual castle.

[Aces Away]

*cracks fingers* Alright let's do this!

[Aces Away]

Sorry the post is small but I'm a little tipsy and didn't want to risk spelling errors...

[Aces Away]

I have a 7am-3pm shift tomorrow, then a new yer party at 8pm. I'll try and post between 3:30 and 7:30 but I might take a nap instead tbh; my work schedule is horrible so I haven't gotten much sleep.

[IceHeart]

Guys you don't seem to understand the geography I've noticed...There are two gates: One on the East side and one on the West. The two different parties are nowhere near each other and cannot see each other. In order to pass through the Mountains you have to get in the gate and go across Grimm Valley to get to the other gate. Don't worry though, the mini jump is soon so everyone can interact with each other.

So Green Knight is with the White Rock group and Red Knight with the Onyx group. I'm just making them say almost the same things at the moment so I didn't have to make two different scenes.
@Emu@AnaSilan Sunja@Vashonn@Blight Bug

[Vashonn]

@IceHeart I got that part, and I wasn't sure when the two parties were going to meet up with each other. I'll leave Geoffrey's reaction for when he sees the Onyx Empire in the next post!

[Aces Away]

Just got off work, I'll be posting within the next hour or so

[Aces Away]

The last sentence of my post is just a stab at the fact that Kehah is only 20 and just barely 5 foot 2.

[Emu]

@Iceheart

My mistake. It looks like I wasn't paying much attention, I'll try to be better about it in the future. Also, it only just occurred to me that I created more work for you to do in my last post, I apologize about that.

[Aces Away]

Despite just setting my character up behind Vashonn's, I'm going probably wait to post after them.