STATUS:
I think I'm Advanced+ level and could do that. But under Adv, I feel compelled to write a certain way and it makes writing feel more like a chore even if it's just in my head. Thus, I prefer Casual
1 mo ago
Current
I think I'm Advanced+ level and could do that. But under Adv, I feel compelled to write a certain way and it makes writing feel more like a chore even if it's just in my head. Thus, I prefer Casual
1 mo ago
Many people equate "Advanced" to "Big, high effort posts with lots of flowery language." It's a habitual thought I struggle to shake as an RPer with 20+ years of writing experience. It's very draining
Shieldwing simply nodded back to Stargaze and moved to follow Rudrick through the halls. He couldn't help but peer into the various rooms himself out of curiosity. Though nothing of particular interest caught his attention in these other rooms. Weirdly enough, nobody even seemed to have any kind of training equipment in their room. Weird. Or at least, it seemed that way to him. Whenever he got his own space, he wanted to make sure he could improve himself at every opportunity. The fact that other drakes didn't seem as eager as him to do that puzzled him....
Finally, they seemed to arrive at the small den that Coryn stayed in. He peeked his head into the room and watched the newer, bluer drake working at pulling a creeping vine...wait, a what now?
Shieldwing blinked, rubbing his claws against his eyes for a moment. No, yeah, that vine was definitely moving of its own accord. The crimson dragon followed the vine back to its source...and finally realized what he could only presume was Coryn's side of the den. It almost looked like a miniature jungle was beginning to form. What in the world was all that about? Comparing the two sides of the room was like comparing himself and Skobeloff. One side trying to do everything in its power to keep everything in order and fulfill a proper purpose...and the other complete chaos with no idea what could be hiding behind that greenery.
Just as his thoughts had turned to his blue-green clutchmate, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him, having never even noticed the sand rematerializing.
"I have returned!"
"WAGH!" he exclaimed, jumping from the unexpected third drake that had just joined them seemingly out of thin air! He half-stumbled into the den, back arched and wings frilled slightly on instinct. When he realized it was just Skobeloff again, his racing heartbeat began its attempt to slow itself down. "S-Skobeloff!?" he gasped. "Wh-where did you-how did-why-ugh, at least clear your throat or something when you use that stupid sand of yours!"
He took a deep breath to steady himself and straighten himself out. As he recovered from the greenish jumpscare, he frowned and shook his head. "Wh-what are you even doing back here, you've barely been gone a couple minutes?" Luckily, he got his answer quickly enough. He tilted his head as he watched Skobeloff examining the vines with Stargaze.
"...Wait, you did what now?" Shieldwing muttered. "You...really are something else, Skobe." Shieldwing finally let out a small, exasperated sigh.
He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. He shook himself a bit in another attempt to quickly recollect himself. During that process, he turned to look back at Lazward, head tilted slightly as he watched the other drake beating away at the vine now. "Hey, so, uh...you need some help over there or...?" He looked down at the vine again. Despite Lazward's struggles, the vine seemed to be unending in its endeavors. Strange, it didn't look thatstrong....
Though out of the corner of his eye, Shieldwing wanted to keep his gaze on Rudrick. If the older dragon decided to slip out and go after Garrock...he wanted to be ready to excuse himself from the scene. Skobeloff was here now, so he didn't have to worry about leaving Stargaze alone.
Not that he liked the thought of her being alone with him whenever Skobe felt like doing one of his devious little tricks, but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to talk to Rudrick alone should it crop up.
Haha, and now that Skobe has done his teleportation trick so soon after splitting up with them, I'll wait on Haruki to make a post with Stargaze's response before I get into Shieldwing's flabbergasted response. xP
Shieldwing was quiet as he listened to the brief exchange between Rudrick and Skobeloff. He maintained a straight-faced, stoic expression as he listened to the short explanation about Sunglow. It was something he was used to thinking about by now. Though he expected tht slight slump of the wings he noticed from Stargaze at the mention of ascension. But what caught his attention was more Skobeloff's own shift in tone as he spoke of it himself. He hadn't known his verdant clutchmate to be so uneasy about any topic; if anything, he felt that he was more often bringing something up that didn't need to be. Information to think about later, he supposed.
The crimson drake watched as Skobeloff elected to return to Garrock and start talking again. He circled his neck around to follow Skobeloff as he began to walk past him, listening to Stargaze as he did. "...Nah, let's let him do his thing," Shieldwing said, turning back to Stargaze again. "Fellwing is in there too, so he'll have help if he needs it." He paused for a moment as something crossed his mind. He had wanted to try to get Rudrick alone. If he convinced Stargaze to go with him....
But then he shook his head. Nah, she was probably just as worried about Coryn as he was, knowing her. Perhaps his chance could come with they actually found them.
"I meant it when I said I wanted to check up on Coryn, and I'm sure Skobeloff did too," he said with a nod. "So let's trust in our clutchmate's silver tongue and go see Coryn first. Besides..." He then added lowly, half to himself, unable to stop himself from glancing to the side. "...I think I might understand how he might be feeling right now...."
Surprise, it’s me, ya boi, Fading Memory. Back at it again with the wordy backstories and the weird characters.
Heyyyyy, you and I can be "backstory book" buddies~ xD
Also I'm looking forward to the opposing views that seems to be cropping up in the party here and there. This promises to be very interesting. I'm always down for a bit (or a lot) of party drama and butting heads~
Awesome~ I'll see about getting a post up soon. Sorry, I've been busy for the last week and haven't really had a good time to check in on things. Hopefully once the Mother's Day weekend is over I'll have a little bit more time. xD
Personality Traits: • I am a very "go with the flow" type of Kobold, I do whatever I want, provided I'm not hurting anyone. • I love the open sea; it is always a soothing sight and I will often seek it out if I'm troubled. Though here in the Outlands, I long to see it again at all. • I am an amateur artist; I love to draw the sights I see, and want to get better at it. Bond: • I will forever be a Stormclaw, and that is where my true loyalties lie. • No ship can sail without a crew; the success of my mates is critical to my own successes Ideal: • You know the sun is always on the other end of the horizon, even if you can't see it in the dark. • Freedom is a gift, and one that nobody should go without. Flaw: • I anger easily when somebody tries to boss me around or tell me what to do. • I sometimes get so caught up in my work that I forget to eat or sleep.
Personality: Tanrith, sometimes known by his epithet of "Lightning Fang", is a fun-loving, adventure-seeking kobold who seeks to make the most of his life. He is typically friendly unless he considers you his enemy--in which case, he will probably not stop until somebody goes down or his enemy surrenders. He is a competitive individual, wanting to be the best at all of his endeavors. He is also generally optimistic about anything, but when something does earn his ire, he will show how relentless and fierce a Stormclaw can be!
Tanrith is a very simple Kobold; he is a drifter, simply following the flow where his desires and whims take him. He is rather outgoing and friendly to strangers for the most part, and enjoys meeting new people. He is hardy, cheerful and tries to look on the bright side of things as much as he can. Ever the optimist, Tanrith is a firm believer in looking to the future and simply finding happiness or joy wherever you can. After all, you never know when your life could be completely upended.
Despite taking advantage of all of the adventures and sights that the Outlands has to offer, Tanrith does not originate in the outer planes, and in fact was born and grew up on the Material. Born into a clan of seaside, blue kobolds who were referred to as the "Seascales," he naturally grew to adopt their fondness for tinkering and creation. However, as he grew older, he began to rub elbows with the clan more and more often, coming to dislike their very rigid rules and traditions, or having to follow their schedule and produce creations at their pace rather than his own. Luckily, he found an opportunity to leave one day when a pirate ship docked at their town for trading. Pirate ships tended to not be as formal as normal merchant or trade ships that would occasionally stop by and didn't have nearly as many regulations and didn't keep such close tabs on everything that came aboard their ship. As such, he was able to sneak himself inside a crate on the ship and stowed away. It wasn't long before the ship left the dock with him in tow.
Unfortunately for Tanrith, he couldn't stay hidden forever. The pirates were at sea for longer than he'd expected, and he eventually needed to feed himself and acquire some water. This immediately led to him getting caught as he tried to secretly raid their kitchen and he found himself getting thrown right into their brig! Luckily for him, though, he knew his way around metal, and was very easily able to find a weak point in the door and dismantled it in an effort to make his escape.
Tanrith's escape lasted a few minutes before he got caught again. This time, however, he caught the captain's attention, and he was asked how he escaped. He began to explain his history with metalworking and tinkering, and was even able to produce many small devices that could record voices or produce strange odors, and these little devices seemed to be quite a hit with the crew. Thus, with his little amusing tricks as well as his adventurous spirit, he was able to win them over, and before long, he was calling himself Tanrith Stormclaw, the newest member of the Stormclaw Pirates! At first, they simply had him working in the kitchen with their chef as an assistant until they could find a real use for him, but before long, he was working alongside everyone else. He even gained his own epithet among the crewdue to his ability to run lightning through his maw to slow enemies for safe escapes. Tanrith grew fond of his days as a Stormclaw, loving every day at sea and going on adventures with his crewmates!
However, it wasn't to last, as one day, the ship seemed to come under attack in the dead of night. And just as he was rushing to the captain's quarters to find his captain, everything suddenly went dark, and his memory stops. The next thing he can remember is being in a cage. Unlike the old-fashioned one he'd dismantled on the Stormclaw's ship, this one was beyond modern and there was no escaping it. From his happiest days to his lowest days almost overnight, Tanrith lived out much of his life here in this place, with strange, mysterious figures he didn't recognize that would occasionally make strange demands of him and his affinity for lightning.
Finally, though, one day, something happened. Tanrith woke up one morning like any other, but this time, something new had appeared in his cage: a small pair of dice. Curious, he picked them up and concealed them on his person before going about his day's tasks like usual. However, as he opened his usual cupboard to get his usual supplies, he would find himself not with the small pocket of storage he usually saw, but instead...light? When he opened it up, he realized...something about this had changed, and it was now a doorway? Well, he wasn't about to look this gift horse in the mouth, and immediately took his chance to climb through and shut the door behind him.
Tanrith soon found himself in Sigil, the City of Doors, wandering the streets on his own, completely lost and confused. It didn't matter how hard he looked, he couldn't figure out what was going on or how to get back. One day, when he was hiding out from pursuers who seemed to recognize him, he was found by a certain man, and soon found himself being introduced to a group known as the Sensates. They talked for some time, where he explained his story to the man, who seemed to sympathize with him. He extended an invitation, and offering to show him everything that life truly has to offer. The Kobold fell in with the Sensates, finding that their view on life was quite similar to his own. Plus, this gave him a reason to not only wander the outlands and truly explore this whole new world, but also search the vast multiverse until he could find a way back to where he had originally come from.
Friendly Factions Stormclaw Pirates A fun-loving, adventurous group of pirates on the Material Plane who promoted the true freedom of living outside of the laws of society. Despite being labeled as pirates by those in power, and were accused of many, they committed no actual crimes at sea aside from defending themselves when others would attack them or try to "bring them to justice." He still fondly remembers his days as a Stormclaw and vows to one day find his way back to his captain.
Society of Sensation While he's not entirely sure that he completely agrees on their overall goal and philosophy, his time as a captive has truly opened his eyes to the value of simply...enjoying what life has to offer. That experience is the most vital thing any living creature can aspire to acquire. He has his connections in the Society and enjoys the many like-minded people in the Society to the point where he does work for them and do jobs for them of his own free will--though admittedly, it's partially as a means to an end. And of course, the fact that it was the Society that pulled him off of the streets and helped hide him away from whoever was looking for him leaves him wanting to pay them back as well.
The Crusaders of Nature While he is not a member of the Verdant Guild sect in any way--and is far too interested in the modern, technological world, to ever actually consider joining them officially, he does respect what they stand for and has elected to avoid harming the wilderness whenever possible ever since they helped him escape from the Vile Hunt. As a potential target of the Vile Hunt himself, he agrees with the Crusaders' outlook rather than the Defenders and tends to be on friendly terms with their members.
Factions of Foes ??? The strange group that held him captive for years of his life. They were always disguised when interacting with him, so he has no idea who they are, what their actual identities are, of if they are even affiliated with a faction or sect at all. They are the reason he wants to avoid loitering in Sigil as much as possible, afraid of what will happen if they find him again.
Vile Hunt He has been actually attacked by the Vile Hunt on his adventures in the Outlands before, and he's now concerned anytime he sees them, and wants to avoid them as much as he possibly can.
Honestly, that's one of the main issues I saw with this system right out the gate: Rolls seems to be a very black and white decision. Either you succeed or you fail and then the results listed are carried out without question. It's like when people say a nat20 in D&D gives you an auto-success in whatever you're doing; sometimes, it just doesn't seem like it should work that way.
It's kinda like if I had a character that tried to convince a good and kind character similar to Stargaze to turn against their friends who've done nothing to wrong them and rolled a 12. Sometimes, it just doesn't make sense to let that work, no matter what is offered.
Plus, the way the system is structured, failing only gives you experience, so is there a reason to not just try again and again? It feels like the incentive is to just spam rolls left and right whenever possible, and feels kind of abusable to me...?
However, in this specific instance, I do think you might already have your answer to the questions.
Perhaps Skobeloff gleams exactly that: There is absolutely nothing Garrock wants to do less than talk with his family. And that there's probably nothing he can do to convince him right now. And that would probably prompt us to find a way to try a roleplay angle to help this problem later, rather than figuring out how to resolve it right this second.
So "How could I get you to talk to Rudrick (and hopefully by extension to Sunglow)?" - He would come to understand that nothing they say or do in this instance will successfully get him to do anything with his family.
@Digizel I tend to use Myth-Weavers Sheets for Characters.
Omg Myth-Weavers, of course. I used that site AGES ago for a Neopets TTRPG game that got started ages ago but ultimately ended up falling through. But I'd long-since forgotten it existed. Yeah, that's a good source, thank~ =3 I'll probably get started on that soon then. xD
Also yes indeed, joining the chorus here of being available for assistance or input~
"Oh yeah...." Shieldwing murmured as he thought back to the very beginning of that mission. He considered how the Garrock had originally claimed not to care too much, but at the first opportunity of potential injury, he had come to him and started giving him a quick examination. Even though he had been fine, and the response afterward was rough, he had gotten the distinct impression that there was some amount of care put into that. "I guess he's not all that bad, now that I think about it. I've seen dragons and drakes that are way worse, at least. He's just...grumpy."
He couldn't outright dismiss the idea that Garrock may have just been concerned about his charges getting injured so soon during their mission for the sake of his own image, but he dismissed the thought outright. No need to take out his bitterness on him.
However, as Skobeloff continued, he had to stop himself from continuing on his own mental tangent and focus back on the conversation at hand. His verdant clutchmate was hard to read, but he could tell by now when Skobeloff was beginning to use his little word tricks to get something out of someone. He was bizarrely good at knowing how to say just the right thing; it was almost a little creepy, actually. Not that he'd ever say that aloud.
"Yeah...I don't remember that...or do I?" Shieldwing murmured, tilting his head upward and looking toward the ceiling in thought. Then again, he had been very passive for much of that mission, and a lot of it had gone over his head. And the more he thought about it, he realized the fewer details he was actually remembering. However, after a moment, his head snapped back down and he was looking back over at Skobeloff again. That last part seemed to particularly catch his attention. "Their...mother?"
Member
wanderingwolf
ctrlsaltdel
Guardian Angel Haruki
wintersoldier
Tally Dor
Half Pint
Noctis
Snowdrops
BlazingBark