dndragons

[D&D 5e] Shadow World ~ A West Marches Campaign

Saya Rosewell

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Saya struggled on her path through the city. The hustle and bustle was far and away the greatest magnitude she had experienced as stalls were being set up, lights being added, shipments moving and much more. Despite having been given directions, just seeing past the crowd at some points while avoiding being run over by carts carrying their respective packages and materials was difficult. At multiple points, she had to get out of the crowd making her uncomfortable to take a break and recognize her surroundings. Sweat dripped from her brow before she wiped it away and she felt her heart pulse a bit before she took a few dep breaths. It was clear she was lost again though when she noticed a statue she had seen a while earlier, and when she gained this knowledge she tried to recount the instructions she was given. “Oh no…” she groaned as she looked to her feet. She already was on a time limit, and she was already feeling in over her head just making sense of Haven. Staying in one place though wouldn’t help, and quickly she moved to attempt and make it somewhere, anywhere of use. Lifting her hood up she moved back into the crowd.

She was only spat out from the rest of the people busy preparing for festivities when she was back next to the main gate once again. And as she dealt with the fact this had occurred she heard the cry of horses and tripped over herself getting out of the way of a carriage whose rider quickly cursed her. Dirt covered her cloak before she got up to shake it off and rub the side she had fallen on. The way people moved and avoided each other’s paths in such a populated place was certainly something she needed to get used to after being dragged around unable to choose where she went before. I’ve wasted nearly half a day! Saya thought to herself with disappointment. Rats didn’t seem to be the answer she needed and while the temple was an option she figured it would be a long shot anyway.

Glancing back at the job board itself across the way and noted the man not wearing the standard guardsman armor reading the posted tasks and notices. While she hadn’t planned on it, she got the initial idea that perhaps at the least he might know where other work is if he was some kind of mercenary. Brushing her cloak off another time and getting her hood rearranged, she made her way over to the board where the man muttering of missing woman reached her keen ear. While she too had taken interest in it, she was a little surprised that the man sounded as if he was going to try and attempt it alone. “Excuse me-“ Saya began to speak as she gingerly tapped the shoulder of the scale armor clad knight. Once notice of her hooded form was taken, she took a ginger step back and commented. “I heard you talking about looking for the missing women, and I was hoping I could offer aid.” After which she swallowed to herself, hoping that offering aid rather than asking him to help her would be the better approach. “With the festival coming, I don’t like the sound of having more women disappearing from the crowds.”

[D&D 5e] Shadow World ~ A West Marches Campaign

Saya Rosewell

Saya moved her way back into the alley once she came and held a hand up to cover her face as the smell hit her now that she had actually stepped into it. Unfortunately, with more people tossing trash around, it seems whoever was in charge of cleaning such areas up was behind schedule and hadn’t gotten to this location yet. While the dogs were no longer there, it at least seemed to be a good place to start in her mind as she walked through the corridor. The buildings around her made her wonder what they may have inside, the quality and size of the structures certainly impressed her, but as she trailed her finger along the stone walls of the buildings she noticed she had become distracted and turned around once again to see if she had missed anything. Yet, she was not successful in spotting any rodents. With a sigh she continued forth, but she was getting the idea that the rats were good enough at avoiding her due to the sound she made and may have gotten used to people trying to catch them for some silver. “I wonder if the perpetual night made them more active?” she asked herself. A not too unlikely reason as to why the infestation occurred now, but it’s been ten years and she had no idea if any of this built up gradually since then.

Slightly annoyed, and hungrier than earlier she resisted the urge to curse under her breath when she found herself back in the mains square, having been turned around in the maze of alleys. She had wasted a fair amount of time, and the rat problem seemed to not be giving her a real solution to gaining money. However, she didn’t exactly have a job waiting for her still. She had heard news that the temple within Haven had a revival and surge of good will not too long ago, but she never did confirm it. Holding her necklace gently she gazed around and determined perhaps she could help there with any small job for a little while. It was better than nothing, but she didn’t expect her to be able to stay there more than a day or two and be left alone. As her legs moved her forward, and another guard gave her directions, she began her movement towards the holy site.

[D&D 5e] Shadow World ~ A West Marches Campaign

Saya Rosewell

Saya noticed the sounds of growling vibrate in her inner ear just over the noise of the people she had been walking past. Slipping through the congested space, she saw down the dim lit alley the pair of dogs fighting what seemed to be a small scrap of meat, definitely too small for it to qualify as shareable. Their postures were fierce, but one definitely seemed like the harder fighter as it drove off the other dog soon afterwards. Saya noted the stick of meat she still had in her hand, and despite it tasting far better than the dried and barely edible rations she had taken she knew that she could hardly let a dog live off dried crusted bread from that instead. Hell, if it wasn’t careful it would likely choke on the stuff. So, she tossed the stick she had forward and down to the mastiff that had lost and hastily made her way gone, doing her best to ignore the sight of the wounds it had as healing such minor injuries wouldn’t benefit her in staying safe. The job board thankfully was nearby, and her thoughts moved to the papers posted there instead of the small moment of guilt.

As her eyes scrolled through the notifications, she instantly was curious about the missing women. Her eyes shifted around herself on instinct, wondering if it was a case of slaver scum or something even more heinous. A bit of hope sank within her now that she felt like she may need to worry about more news of that coming in rather than just her own problem. If thirteen women had been taken though, could she actually get that done herself? Finding the rat posted noted above it she found solace in a task she didn’t think would be too hard even for her. “Just any old rat?” she said to herself. When they had a rat problem where she came from, they just brought in a cat to deal with it. Though, perhaps they don’t want stray cats to then become an issue in the crowded city and higher mice population- Gah, she thought to herself. Rats still were annoying even if it seemed to pose less danger than the women. Taking off from the sign she was at least determined to see if she could make enough silver to pay the inn tonight. The alleyway the dogs had started in seemed like a good start though, people had been throwing food in it already.

[D&D 5e] Shadow World ~ A West Marches Campaign

Saya Rosewell

Saya crested over the hill almost two miles out from haven to catch glimpse of the City for the first time since her travel began. Hand resting against one of the sparse trees by the road, something about its sight gave her a sigh of relief as well as a rising anxiety. The fact she had made it was good, but she knew behind her some distance away was why she needed to make it in the first place. As she glanced back, she noticed a cart slowly having caught up on her in the distance carrying what seemed to be bushels of various crops from a village. The man wore garb that seemed to indicate him as a merchant by the quality, and as she peered in the distance at him she quickly adjusted the odd fitting armor and clothes she had been able to scrounge up on her way there. While it looked alright on her, the form fit was cut to that of a man as the seller at the time didn’t have anything available her and it made her wish she had enough gold to get it refitted left. “It’ll have to do-“ she muttered to herself as she waited for the cart to roll up and gave a wave towards the man. “Sorry, but I’ve been traveling through the night. I was hoping you could give me a lift on in towards the gate.” She asked with a calm smile, and fortunately for her she man seemed to notice the necklace she had hanging above her collar and called out to her that he too followed the way of Issaries. Climbing aboard with help from the generous merchant the main gate into Haven was eventually upon her.

Gazing up the wall in strange awe, Saya didn’t think the city would look so grand when a few days before she thought she may end up here still in bindings. She had heard she was going to be presented to a possible buyer, but clearly she hadn’t stuck around long enough to find out who it was. Haven was the closest place of refuge at the time, and thankfully the festival gave her a good crowd to hide in as the city became more and more packed with travelers, merchants, artisans and more. The gate guard easily let her pass with an inspection that her only weapon for self defense was a dagger, and after saying goodbye to the merchant she hopped off the cart and moved between the people littering the streets to find a place of rest on a bench with a small meat-stick in hand from a vendor who gave her a sample, despite stating she wasn’t looking to buy. Munching on what she could, Saya continued to look around the preparation for the festivities as she tried to discern which way to go. “It’s so much bigger than home" she spoke softly to herself as she was lost simply by not having a current target. As a city watchman moved by, she took action by standing up and getting his attention with a tap on the shoulder form behind. Once he turned she gingerly asked. “Excuse me, but could you possibly point me in the direction where one could find work? An odd job or two?” After a moment of him asking to repeat what she had said as her hushed voice didn’t break past the noise of the guard, she soon had directions to find what she had missed closer to the gate behind her.

[D&D 5e] Shadow World ~ A West Marches Campaign

Saya Rosewell

Appearance

D&D (5E) Shadow World ~ A West March Campaign

Also, is there a discord already to go to for the start of character creation / party? That, as well as PMs or discord to discuss world / character ideas during creation in case we don't want it all for other PCs to know.

D&D (5E) Shadow World ~ A West March Campaign

I was thinking of making a half-elven Bard myself, that or fill in what people don't seem to make since I generally fill gaps IRL since I enjoy pretty much every class, though lean CHA classes.

D&D (5E) Shadow World ~ A West March Campaign

I am interested if the username didnt give away that I play D&D in real life.

Dragon's Ascent - An Eastern Fantasy RP

Ah, right, my apologies for fooling around then.

The amount of metal in-setting is sizeable enough to equip armies if we're talking iron, but that's to be expected. Precious metals also exist (though obviously in smaller quantities) and are much more permeable to qi. Things like lead and mercury are also refined, but the quantity of those in comparison to precious metals is even smaller because of a lack of uses for them. Of course, the tech isn't there for those metals that are even less common, so... Yeah. Also no means of mass production for alloys.

What exists, though, is qi-infused metal from the bodies of metal-affinity creatures. Some beasts eat metal in their diet, which is processed and stored in their bodies. People hunt these beasts for the metal, which usually has some intrinsically good properties. It's also really hard to forge without the right types of qi and the know-how on how to process it, but the end result far outshines regular metals because of it. The older the beast is, the more metal and the higher quality it is. Their strength scales likewise, though.

tl:dr: It's plentiful enough that you can use it efficiently, but good luck replenishing mercury stores if you go that route.

@PKMNB0Y

Thanks for the information. I need to head to sleep before I have time to make a list of some abilities though.

Dragon's Ascent - An Eastern Fantasy RP

I know the blade isn't the only thing, I just don't know how much metal IS in your setting, at least that which is refined or collected enough to use.