[OOC] The Blighted Kingdom

[Liseran Thistle]

@Roman

Okay thanks, good to know!

[GreivousKhan]

Barbed Church feels like it has flagellation given its choice of name. I wonder if it has similar miracles like in the R'hllor believers do in ASOIAF.

Though it kind of sounds more like Buddhism where it's more like a way of life sort of thing.

@Roman On another note, you mentioned we can make our own town/cities from the blank ones on the map. I'm thinking of having a character come from one of those cities. One geared toward advancements, philosophy, and learning- perhaps has ancient ruins in it. If that's ok I can PM you the idea in summary or post it here.

[Searat]

@Roman
GM, do you think a character like this can appear in this world?
If so, which kingdom you think the character most fits in?

[+]

[Liseran Thistle]

I also have another question, though not pertaining to the world. So I've never actually played dnd before, but I do understand the basics. When we put down the skills and weaknesses and shit do we have to put numbers? Like, is it on a scale of numbers? (Ex: This character has 40 strength, agility, etc.) Or can I spell it out in words like "so and so is THIS strong."

[Roman]

@Roman
GM, do you think a character like this can appear in this world?
If so, which kingdom you think the character most fits in?

[+]

@Searat

It feels slightly too much AU-Modern Fantasy for the overall tone of the world; remember an image reference isn't mandatory, and you can always find a separate face claim and then describe his equipment as part of the sheet.

I also have another question, though not pertaining to the world. So I've never actually played dnd before, but I do understand the basics. When we put down the skills and weaknesses and shit do we have to put numbers? Like, is it on a scale of numbers? (Ex: This character has 40 strength, agility, etc.) Or can I spell it out in words like "so and so is THIS strong."

@Liseran Thistle

Generally in play-by-post games like these there are no formal sheets, no combat rolls, no hard and empiric way to measure the world and your interactions with it; it's all a lot more free-form and prose-based with the focus being on storytelling through written roleplay. Some games do have elements of more traditional table-top games and their rules implemented - but not this one. Your sheets should describe your character, their tics and manners, what they're good at, what they're bad at, the sort of things they carry, what's important to them and what isn't - it's a lot more personal and insightful than a list of numbers, spells and miscellaneous equipment.

[CollectorOfMyst]

It's my day off, tomorrow, so I should be able to get a sheet up by then.

[Searat]

Got it GM.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Question: Would a noblewoman with a sword be:
1. Business as usual.
2. Unusual, may raise a few eyebrows.
or
3. Dress as a man, heretic!

If I can't do the monk thing I will go another route entirely.

[GreivousKhan]

Question: Would a noblewoman with a sword be:
1. Business as usual.
2. Unusual, may raise a few eyebrows.
or
3. Dress as a man, heretic!

If I can't do the monk thing I will go another route entirely.

@Mistress Dizzy

Something mentioned in the int check that might be helpful.

Depends on where you come from, really. There are soldiers, farmers, barons, traders, scouts, explorers, couriers, caravaneers...occupations vary. Classism is definitely an issue, though there are no mainstream prejudices around sexuality, race etc. Some city natives are a little less tolerant than others by nature of their hometowns (for example, Mornfell-natives are notably more distrustful and xenophobic that nearly any other city due to their almost self-imposed isolation) and all cities teach their citizens different values (all Kafaara natives will be versed in the ways of the Barbed Church, believer or not; those from Marisma will be more reverent of nature than any other cityfolk).

[Liseran Thistle]

cool, good to know all this stuff.

[Liseran Thistle]

Welp, I think I'm just about done with my CS! I just gotta figure out how i'm going to post it, lol. Google docs was never kind to me when it came to these types of things.

[Snowballe]

W R I S T O N E T A K E N

^{"If you cannot hold it, it's not yours."}

^{W R I ♦ 1 6 ♦ F E M A L E ♦ N E U T R A L}

Ω O R I G I N S:

Eerum is not friendly. He's jealous, and he'll snatch anything you think to hold dear just to watch you cry. Then he'll steal the water of your tears and laugh at your thirst. That's just the way he is. Once you understand that, though, you can get far in life. Just don't hold anything dear. The Travelers don't get it. They pass through on their fat wagons pulled by waterlogged beasts and somehow expect that Eerum will just see them on. They hold their lives dear, their oxen dear, their cargo dear... And I've watched one after another be shattered when the city reminds them of their place.
I'm not a Traveler, not in any sense of the word. I can't remember a time before I came to Eerum, and I've always assumed that meant I was born here. I don't have a foreign family; my only relative is my twin brother, Liem. If I had parents, I don't want to know them. I blame them for my life here, and even if I grew to forgive them, they would only be one more thing for Eerum to take. As it is, I try not to love Liem, but there is only so much that a blood sister can do.
Even now, the city tries his best to pry my brother from my hands. While the plague leaves cursed riches in the streets, a more insidious poison creeps through the Dens: talk of rebellion. Garrow, a hot-blooded boy, just young enough not to have left the Dens to join the church or the army, tells us each night to come with him, that he knows people with power who want things to change. A few have left, out of hope, hunger, or just desperation, to follow his lead. He tells us that they feast every night and drink their fill of clear water, but none have ever come back to tell the tale. I've seen the glow in Liem's eyes when Garrow tells his tales of raids on noble caravans and flight from capture in the nick of time. I know it's only a matter of time until my pleas to Liem that he stay another night will be drowned out by Garrow's golden words, and when the time comes, I will let him go. And I will not miss him, because if I miss him, Eerum will laugh.
In a way, of course, Eerum is a part of me, as I am a part of Eerum. I know the streets and markets better than most mothers know their children, and it is sometimes my hand that strikes with Eerum's bane on unwary Travelers. I have never taken a life, but I have done my part in taking a livelihood more than once in my years. I grew up in the Dens, a dusty web of caves just south of the city itself. I am one of the oldest still here; most everyone who is abandoned at the mouths of these caves either leaves or dies before they have a chance to become a man or woman. For the men, there is always the church or the army. For the women, there is always the church or the street. For me, though, there is only Eerum. He is spiteful and cruel, but he is my home.

Ω A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

//ABILITIES:

◼ A SCRAWNY STREET RAT | Wri is thin, wiry, and surprisingly strong when need calls, at least for a girl her size. She can subsist without complaint on the bare minimum required to sustain her physically.

◼ BORN TO THE SANDS | While the nights can be cold in Eerum, the days and their heat are far more deadly. Wri grew up in the heat of Eerum's streets, and while she would likely be uncomfortably cold in any temperate location, she handles heat better than any who do not share her heritage.

//SKILLS:

◼ QUICK FINGERS, QUICK FEET | Just as important for survival in Eerum as the ability to deftly slit a Traveler's purse is the ability to navigate the crowded streets and markets quickly enough to avoid retribution when the former goes wrong. Wri is possessed of both of these, as well as a knack for moving by rooftop when the moment requires.

◼ CANNY | Wri has heard and fallen victim to enough gilded words in her short life to know the cadence of a liar's song. She is often quick to pick out a false word or a carefully turned phrase.

//LIMITATIONS:

◼ ALL THE WEALTH OF AN EMPTY BAG | It is hard enough for someone like Wri to find the coin or water to buy another day's survival in Eerum, much less to begin to save anything. The entirety of Wri's estate, such as it were, consists of the canvas clothes on her back, an old sack which doubles as a pillow or blanket in need, and a wood-corked water horn.

◼ NEVER A FRIEND IN NEED | Wri knows that anyone could work Eerum's will at any moment, and so has pushed herself away from reliance on (or friendship with) anyone besides Liem.

//WEAKNESSES:

◼ IF YOU CAN'T HOLD IT | Wri has never been taught by any other than Eerum's cruel hand. She struggles to muster care for the grandiose abstractions of the wise, and her knowledge on the details of anything remotely arcane is nonexistent.

◼ STILL JUST A GIRL | When it comes to contests of pure physicality, Wri will never match up to a smith or a soldier or even any healthy adult. Maybe with years of training, or a diet that consisted of more than inn scraps and the occasional feast of a swiped pastry, or a larger natural physique, she would stand a chance, but as it is, she will never be remembered for her strength.

Ω N O T E S:

◼ Wri's clothing is ragged, but shows signs of relatively recent patch work. She traded half a week's carefully stockpiled coin for the fabric, thread, and skill of a girl in the Dens, a girl whose name Wri has already forgotten. Perhaps this girl would be a friend if such a thing were possible. Perhaps this girl isn't even alive anymore. Wri would have no way of knowing.

[Snowballe]

Hello, GM! I'm new to the play-by-post scene, but a fairly old hand at freeform RP in general. Campaign looks really interesting, so I thought I'd write up an audition CS. Is my take on Skills/Abilities/Limitations/Weaknesses what you were looking for? I wasn't sure exactly what needed to go in there, so just did my best.

[GentleYandere]

@Roman

Hey GM, I have a certain love for playing the more monsterous races, be they half ' human ' or not. Would a character race such as goblin, nymph, lamia, or even those suffering from lycanthropy ( not the cutsie kind where you can control it ) be allowed? If not, are there specific races playable? Or did I miss something in the intch? I might have missed something anyways due to my lack of sleep but this seems interesting nevertheless.

[Liseran Thistle]

Lowe

”

A map maker is not measured by the number of maps he makes, but the miles he treads to draw them.

Lowe

"



B I R T H N A M E: Lowe Harmond ♦ A G E: 10 ♦ S E X: Male ♦ A L I G N M E N T: Chaotic Good

Ω O R I G I N S:
Lowe was a boy whose entire family line has been sustained in the walls of the Barbed Church. His parents, though they cared for him, died pretty early in his life from a deadly disease that seems to be plaguing the whole country as of late. He was taken in at the age of 4 by Minister Florentus, a man who is as cruel as the Church he serves. He was taken in as Minister Florentus’ ward, and Florentus taught him how to be a scribe and proper librarian. Lowe was not very good in his studies though, and this conflicted with him becoming a good scribe. Minister Florentus believed it was because of his incompetence that he could not work in a classroom environment, but it had more to do with the beatings he received than his comprehension. Or rather, the two were clearly linked.

Due to the severe trauma from the beatings, he went deaf in his right ear at the age 6, and has not been able to hear out that ear ever since. Lowe is prone to sickness, and has a very weak immune system for a child his age. He had been told his parents died of the very plague striking fear into the citizens of Vassidia, but he’d like to think he will not fall pray to the same fate. He dreamed often of escaping the church walls, and exploring the world on his own, and made plans with a beggar man with a horse and a wagon to take him away from there one day. The man told him it would be extremely difficult trying to leave with just himself alone, but they agreed upon a disguise. They left in the dark of night, Lowe disguised as an old sack of fruit, and the beggar man and his wagon covered with an oil tarp.

The journey through the woods past the Church was very bumpy, and Lowe didn’t get to see most of it because he was tucked in the wagon. When he poked his head out finally, he found that the old man had left him near a shack in the woods. “This is as far as I go.” He said. Lowe was left stranded by the shack, which held useful things for him such as food, an oil lamp with a flask of oil, and a cartographers map making set. Lowe was never really good at studies, but he was very well acquainted with maps. Minister Florentus thought reading maps was useless, but Lowe took a liking to them because they were somewhat easier for him to understand. He decided that his first course of action would be find a town or two to settle in. He found himself in a town, unknown to him but apparently a river ride away from Vassilius itself, and settled there.

A nice inn keeper by the name of Maruna picked him up off the streets, and told him he could live with her if he put his map making abilities to the test. “I can’t get anyone to come to the shop, and there ain’t no knights coming down the road or the river. So what yer’ gonna do is make it so they get here.” She had said. “I’m not sure if its the plague that’s keepin’ em’ away, but I know fer’ certain that there is something blocking the roadway to the city. Find a different way into this town: you got yer’ self a new home. Fail, and it’s back on the streets with ya’.” Lowe solved his dilemna that day by showing Maruna the way he came into the city with the old man. Maruna had patted him on the head, and gave him a closet of a room to sleep in.

As soon as news of this new road was heard around town though, it spelled bad news for Maruna. The road that Lowe used was a secret he was not aware of, and it got Maruna killed for it. There were would be assassins in the Inn that day, and they had already found their first target. Lowe barely escaped, stole the only mount that Maruna had on hand, and ran away far down the river. His attackers would not leave though, and one loose arrow to the mounts legs later, he found himself falling in the river gasping for breath. His attackers, because of his small size, assumed that he would die from the river’s current. He didn’t though and was washed up on the shores of Ferros, the Iron City.

It is here that he has nothing but an apple core, a vial of oil he managed to pilfer from Maruna when she wasn’t looking, and the last few pens and bottles of ink from his Cartographers set.

Ω A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

//ABILITIES:
◼ Silver Tongue | He is not very strong, but he has been told to kick a mean can in a game of Kick the Can by the other boys in the Church. He is not able to hold himself in a fight, but God has gifted him with a silver tongue thankfully.

◼ Crawl Space | He is surprisingly agile when he wants to be, as climbing atop dusty bookshelves has added to his abilities. When he wants to hide, he’s also able to fit into small places due to his small stature.

◼ Hearth Heart| He cannot last long in any environment that is not warm, cozy, and filled with lots of people. He is 10 after all.

◼ Alter Boy | Book smarts are not Lowe’s forte, but the other boys in the church have taught him well in the ways of protecting what’s his. He’s very street smart, and knows when he’s being tricked out of something, but books were never something he was good at. Lowe just learned to read a couple months ago in fact, so he hasn’t read a whole lot either. He is very good with maps, though, and remembering things for the future.

◼ The Cartographers Secrets| Is it wise if he knows not to cross Minister Florentus on a bad day? Jokes aside, he isn’t what one would call wise, as he is a small child of 10 who hasn’t actually experienced a whole lot, but he is wise enough to know when to keep certain things secret from now on. His time with Maruna taught him that.

◼ Church Organ| Despite not being the brightest or the strongest, he certainly has a sassy personality. He absolutely won’t let the other’s quiet him, or even speak over him. He’s thankful he was born with such a loud voice, otherwise everyone would probably look him over and ignore him. He’s very opinionated for a 10yr old. He will say what he thinks, as long as he thinks he can run fast enough to escape punishment. (And he usually is.) He can be helpful, and very dependable but only if you give him something in return. Maruna used to bribe him with sweets, and extra night hours to clean her kitchen and rooms, and even that was a hard nut to crack sometimes.

//SKILLS:
◼ Pigeon Soup | Minister Florentus thought it was useless for a boy to learn how to cook, but his mother knew better and taught him to make the basics of food when he was 3. Things like porridge, and pigeon soup (A simple dish made from bird bones, and mushrooms).

◼ Map Reading: He is very good with reading maps, and thanks to finding the cartographers set, has slowly started to pick up a few of the map making tricks. He is no professional, but he does know enough about making maps to chart things, like the rivers he comes across, or the many towns he enters. He has steadily learned about pathfinding, and different things to mark down for later.

//LIMITATIONS:
◼ Non-Magick user| He is unable to do Magick, and can’t learn any spells because he, well- can’t read that well yet.

◼ House Cleaning| He isn’t very organized with his things, so they often get lost.

◼Collection Tithe| He is not a fighter, nor a lover, so running into sellswords or beggars would usually spell trouble for him.

◼Church Mouse| Because of his sheltered life inside of the Church he does not know how to read people, which makes him a little gullible sometimes. He won’t fall for everything, but he is prone to being tricked by promises of sweets or a nice bed.

//WEAKNESSES:
◼ Sick Bay| Sickness: He is very weak, and may or may not be coming down with some kind of flu or worse. The Ministers were sure that if anything drastic were to happen, they would be able to help him with their Magick. But with Lowe so for away from home, he has a very high chance of getting sicker than usual. Most of the symptoms include dizziness, vomiting, and sometimes the occasional rash. Though it doesn’t happen often, he does get sickly sometimes,and when he does it could be days before he recovers fully.

◼ Hearing: Lowe is deaf in his right ear, and is not able to hear out of it at all. This never caused a lot of problems in the Church, but now it serves as a very difficult hurtle. He lost the right ear after getting multiple severe beatings from Minister Florentus, and any other ornery adults who needed a punching bag.

Ω N O T E S:

◼ Lowe’s only interaction with Pontiff Silvene was when he was a small baby in his mother’s arm. The Pontiff came to give blessings to the new parents, and then moved on. Lowe, of course, does not remember this. Whether or not the First Thorn remembers is not something I know. Lowe also has a deep seated bitterness towards knights. He once met a knight who came to the Church, and saw him bullying some of the other servants. This was enough to make him think that all knights must be pompous asses who bully people. He didn’t talk to this particular knight though, so he doesn’t really have a say in what knights are really like as he has never even spoken to one.

◼ The Cartography Set he has with him does have books, and a few even mention useful spells for travelers, but Lowe cannot really decipher the words. He asked Maruna to read it to him one day, but she coudn't make heads or tails of it either. Who ever owned the set before him must have been some kind of mage or wizard, but they both agreed they must have been one strange character. I mean, who's ever heard of a Map Making Mage?

◼ He has a pack with him, but it does not hold a lot of stuff. Most of the space is being taken up by the Cartography set, and some food. He has no means of healing himself, or vials of spells to help him heal faster. He has a few stones, and a long stick he found along the way to defend himself with. If need arises though, he will most likely try to talk his way out of a situation, or just go along with whatever comes his way.

[Liseran Thistle]

@Roman

Welp, I finally got it all down! Hope it gets put in.

[GreivousKhan]

@Roman

Hey GM, I have a certain love for playing the more monsterous races, be they half ' human ' or not. Would a character race such as goblin, nymph, lamia, or even those suffering from lycanthropy ( not the cutsie kind where you can control it ) be allowed? If not, are there specific races playable? Or did I miss something in the intch? I might have missed something anyways due to my lack of sleep but this seems interesting nevertheless.

@GentleYandere

About that...


Dark Low-fantasy. The only playable race is Human, and Humans are by-and-large the only sentient race in Vassidia, though players will encounter decidedly non-human entities throughout the game; Magic is intrinsic to the kingdom, though only a practiced few are able to actively manipulate it. Every Human has magic within them, and even your most basic peasant is hardier, longer-living, a little more intuitive than your average real-life person; many people can learn routine tricks of magic, but it takes a true scholar to be a 'wizard', and even most of that learning is that it's safer to find alternatives to magic.

[Mistress Dizzy]

Hah. I am stuck as far as ideas go. Very stuck.

[Liseran Thistle]

@Mistress Dizzy

I was stuck for a little while but I think you'll think of something cool!

[Searat]

Have faith in your skill.