[OOC] The Fog

[Light]

Sorry for the delay, working 2 jobs is tough. Anyway I'll get a post in later today.

[TheUnknowable]

ok.

[SimplyJohn]

I tried doing a little recruitment advertising but no fish nibbling yet.

[TheUnknowable]

Yeah, I saw. This will work with four people, but five or six would work better.

[SimplyJohn]

Yeah, I saw. This will work with four people, but five or six would work better.

@TheUnknowable

If anyone does want to jump in later on I'm sure we can work a heroic rescue into the plot for them. :)

[em]

This is my first post here, so let me know if I'm following etiquette correctly. Every RP forum does things differently, and I want to make sure I don't step on any toes. Is this proper world building?

Name:
Arya
Appearance:
5 ft 2 inches. Young - perhaps 14/16. Blue hair and bright eyes.
Species:
Perhaps elfin, perhaps not. People often refer to her as “the elf girl,” but her actual race is uncertain, since she never traveled before being brought to Mym.
Gender:
Female
Skills and standard abilities:
A voracious reader, Arya has become well-studied in the years she’s been stranded here, but her true talent is with languages. The tongue spoken on her world was very different from those on Mym, relying heavily on complex inflection and precise sentence structure to convey meaning quickly. Since her arrival, she has absorbed three more languages, and still hasn't forgotten the language of her homeland.
She can also be quick with a knife when necessary.
Supernatural/ magical abilities:
Empathy, to the point of light psychic power. A keen sense of danger.
Job:
Trained as a scribe and an interpreter. Works mostly for traders and ship's captains, earning just enough to eat. Currently, she rents a small room in the back of a bakery, barely large enough for formal clothes, a few books, and a bed. Since a young woman is traditionally unable to work for herself, she lies, pretending to send money to a wealthy father back home. Only the baker's wife knows the true story of her orphan upbringing.
Personality:
Reserved, but quick. Her more-than-natural empathy makes those around her feel uncomfortably exposed, and she often finds herself embroiled in other people's personal dilemmas.
Biography/ history:
At the age of 9, in the middle of the night, Arya fell into Mym. A band of traveling merchants found her fast asleep in the middle of a seaside road. At first, they thought she was dead from the fog, but on seeing her chest rise and fall, they woke her. Needless to say, her life changed drastically after that. When they found it impossible to communicate with the girl, she was abandoned in Marrintown, and became another hungry street urchin, begging in a language she barely knew, without family ties or any special knowledge to help her.
Desperate to return home, she hid in a supply wagon heading out of the city, in the hopes that she could eventually find her way back to where she first arrived in Mym. While the wagon didn't lead her any closer to her family, it did lead her to a monastery of the Order of Rin, high in the mountains, where the fog had never come, and where there were no monsters or rat-infested sewers. The monks took her in, refined her crude knowledge of Erimish, the most common language of the region. She proved to be a good student, and their teachings gave her a stable grasp on the world she now lived in. This continued until she turned 13, and divine law required that she be ejected from the monastery, as a woman can never be a Monk of the Order. This rejection, although tempered by kind words, burned her deeply, and she was again alone in the world.
Fortunately, a reference from the Order can go a long way, and she was promptly taken under the wing of Quar, also known as the Red Robin. Once a diplomat from a far-off desert planet, Quar now works as a trader, buying and selling a variety of goods in a variety of ways: some legal, most not. Under his tutelage, she learned to use her empathy as a tool, converting acquaintances into friends and friends into customers. Eventually, though, she saved enough money to run away, and begin her search for home anew.
Even after six years in Mym, she still longs for home.
Equipment:
A small dagger strapped to the back of her leg, and an enchanted bracer with several functions, given to her by her mother. Arya never speaks about what it's for.

[SimplyJohn]

@em My only concern would be that my own character already has an empathic ability so the two would be crossing skills some of the time. Having said that though, Kismet is more the 'honest' trader kind of character while Arya sounds like a scholar, so although their abilities are similar they'd still most likely use them in slightly different ways.

A suggestion I'd make would be instead to give Arya a psychometric ability, one which would allow her to learn and understand the use of an item simply by holding it and concentrating. This would be most useful when used on books and scrolls, since it would allow her to very quickly learn whatever language it is the text was written in.

[em]

@SimplyJohn

That's a really neat idea, actually, but I think I'd like her to be a scholar by virtue of a scholarly mind, and absorbing a book simply by touching it isn't exactly the same thing. Since Kismet is Fae-touched and Arya is actually Fae, their powers might simply operate at different levels. Kismet senses intentions, whereas Arya can feel a complex picture of the person's mental state, revealing all sorts of things. Arya is more likely to use it to safely get away from a lecherous trader than to anticipate an attacker. What do you think about using the same power source for both characters?

Also, reading what you've written, I can imagine Kismet and Arya hitting it off badly, but growing close. What do you think about guiding the story in that direction, should they meet?

Edit: grammar.

[SimplyJohn]

What do you think about using the same power source for both characters?

@em

Kismet's ability is more training, observation and psychology than anything magical, so there's not really a power source behind it, but feel free to play up the mystical side to Arya's powers as much as you'd like. :)

Also, reading what you've written, I can imagine Kismet and Arya hitting it off badly, but growing close. What do you think about guiding the story in that direction, should they meet?

@em

I never really plan ahead for what my characters will be doing later on, I just let them react to circumstances as they arise and let them grow from there. Having said that, Kismet's quite a friendly character so it's likely the girls will become closer as the story progresses anyway.

[TheUnknowable]

@em
Approved. Feel free to post.

I know you said she doesn't tell what her bracer does, but I need to know just to make sure it isn't OP.

[SimplyJohn]

I know you said she doesn't tell what her bracer does, but I need to know just to make sure it isn't OP.

@TheUnknowable

Like Kismet's cloak?

[TheUnknowable]

<Snipped quote by TheUnknowable>
Like Kismet's cloak?

@SimplyJohn

I thought you told me in a PM what it did.

[SimplyJohn]

I thought you told me in a PM what it did.

@TheUnknowable

Exactly. If it's not meant to be general knowledge, do it on the QT. That way if you choose to use it as a plot device later on it's ready for you.

[em]

@TheUnknowable

PM sent.

[em]

Also, it appears I've posted the character sheet in the OOC instead of the Characers section. Is there a way to move it? Or do I just repost it there?

[TheUnknowable]

Also, it appears I've posted the character sheet in the OOC instead of the Characers section. Is there a way to move it? Or do I just repost it there?

@em

You just have to repost it.

[em]

You just have to repost it.

@TheUnknowable

Done.

[Jester Acharis]

Looks interesting. Gotta think of a character, but will likely get back to you with a CS later today!

[Light]

Posted. Sorry for the delay.

[SimplyJohn]

No problem, still waiting on new recruits. :)