FrankenDaughter

The Technology Planet - Frixion Prime - Open

@SIGINT It'll be a relief to cut down on my post frequency now that I've stretched my legs (Not to imply it hasn't been quite enjoyable @Zarkun). I've got a couple of ARPs lined up that will divide my attention, and this brief lul where I can just post and write all day is rapidly coming to a close. Pace wise it'd work out nicely for me.

@Antarctic Termite@Patches With all of that in mind it's just a matter of when. Rave and Kagal are just about to be on the move looking for a local space port and our plot threads started in the same area, so we could literally stumble into ya'll's group in my next post. Or we could stow away on the same ship at the same time and find ourselves in a "I won't tell if you don't," situation.

Allaria - Classical Fantasy Ch. 5 - Recruit the Shadowwald!

Phinuphus Tahnqin

Name: Phinuphus Tahnqin (Fee-nuh-fuss Tan-keen)
Age: 41
Race: Capybkin (Beastkin with Capybara features)

Capybkin are some of the largest beastkin on Allaria, standing between 9-12 feet tall with thick hides and broad shoulders--their body-type not unlike a small adult bear save for their unique forelimbs/paws and tranquil face. They often assume a hunched position when dealing with non-Capybkin, and are as likely to be found traveling comfortably on all-fours as on their hind legs. Much like their Capybara ancestors, Capybkin's queer paws are quite dexterous in spite of their size. They are excellent swimmers and quite fast on open land. They handle inclines and rocky terrain very deliberately--that is to say much more slowly than most humanoids and with constant fear of losing their footing.

Classes:
Major - Merchant/Apothecary

Phinuphus has made his living traveling between his monastery and local villages trading spices, tinctures and fine spirits, for food, firewood, tools and other necessities. He has gained a fine understanding of medicinal plants and how to refine them thanks to his olfactory senses. He also has a shrewd business sense and a head for logistics.

Minor - Monk

Phinuphus came to his monastery as a devout of Anomandaris after his parents were lost to plague, serving the monks and nuns as a go-between so that they were well-stocked for provisions and heat during the cold months. He began training with them in earnest to find inner peace, and while his practice has been recreational for over fifteen years, he has begun to take it more seriously and has caught the first glimpses of his spirit animal.

God: Anomandaris - Lion Aspect

Capybkin take a view of Anomandaris informed heavily by their ancestry. He is a lion above things Capybkin hold dear such as family and travel, but he is a patron of harmony and defense of home, both things Capybkin have instinctive cravings to preserve. Capybkin devotees of Anomandaris are community supporters for the regions in which they survive, providing refined goods to any who might need them, and luxurious crafts to outsiders. They also revere Anomandaris' apparent love of battle and are expected to come forth in times of trouble to defend the weak.

Appearance:

Profile

Phinuphus, sitting in meditation.

Phinuphus is somewhat small for a Capybkin, standing from paw to pate at just above nine feet tall. For all his relative shortness, he is still every much as broad shouldered and thick of hide as his more properly proportioned peers. His fur has an unusually bright sheen for Capybkin, appearing when wet as if polished bronze. He most often wears simple robes of brown wool and roughspun, the better to conceal the many bulky sacks and packs usually lashed to his body with cordage and netting he made for himself. His movements come with the practice of a man who has lived his whole life on the road, with a touch of the serenity one would expect from a Monk of Anomandaris.

Personality: Phinuphus is a shrewd and practical man with a biting sense of humor and a careful suspicion of most newcomers. Once warmed to an individual, he makes a fast friend and is almost unnervingly considerate and fatherly. His best friends often wind up having a little nip of grain alcohol passed to them once or twice a day. "The Grace and gaze of our lion," to hear him tell it. He is also, for good or for ill, certainly a man of his faith; slow to truly notice the gravity of a conflict, but unwavering in his will to end one when his temper has been lost.

defining traits

>list>
Attentive - "The grumble of any stomach is cause for a small morsel. Take these nuts and say nothing of it. We must eat well and keep up our strength."
Harmonious - "You don't like the man, do you? Were we not in the position we are in I would be as impatient as you with his snapping. But he is useful, watch. He's the only reason half of these men and women are working together at all. It takes many teeth to chew a meal."
Pious - "The Lion expects a lion from each of us, to mirror his gaze and grace."
Ponderous - "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... you look like a pheasant."
Tippler - "I am not drunk. Capybkin are never drunk. Capybkin are often painfully sober, some of us worse off than others. We achieve normality. We *hic* drink the blood of Anomandaris." -said while swaying gently in the breeze, and smelling faintly of spirits.

Spirit Animal: A large rabbit.
Equipment:

Phinuphus doesn't exactly carry his shop around with him since leaving the monastery, but old habits die hard. He is positively awash with provisions, small and useful tools (usually bronze, sometimes iron), and an at times comical supply of fine spirits that he guards jealously. He also carries a particular sack that he keeps well insulated and bundled against sudden falls full of his healing tinctures, powders, and herbs, the majority o which he has harvested and refined himself. He keeps his liquor there too, and as likely to supplement someone coming to him complaining of headache with a sip of spirits as a bite of firemint.

Skills:
Major - Healer

At a glance, Phinuphus can often diagnose illnesses by smell and taste before their worst symptoms manifest, and if he doesn't have a preventative or proven cure-all in his pack, he can probably tell you whether they can forage locally for the means to make one. His skills as an apothecary are exclusively curative--he would never think of dabbling in less honest applications of his art.

Minor - Pugilism

Phinuphus' body lent itself well to learning the fundamentals of martial arts, but gave him such a clear advantage over many of his teachers that he has struggled to ever learn more than the very basics, and is terrified of harming friends while sparring. His only practice is in earnest combat, meaning he has little to show for it thusfar.

Magic: True to monks devoted to Anomandaris, there is likely some magic that has been honed within Phinuphus' soul. His fur can become extraordinarily dense and sharp, proving a good defense against bludgeoning and slashing weapons. Wrestling him when his fur is hardened is not advised.

Strength - Big
Endurance and heaviness, like any mountain, defines most Capybkin, as it does here. He so often carries so much about him because he is so often unencumbered, and he throws punches that can kill a common man that doesn't react quickly enough. He can take the nineteenth punch just as well as the first, though if each are well placed the twentieth will drop him as readily as any other humanoid.

Weakness - Rough Terrain

While Capybkin are often uncomfortable navigating crevasses, mountainous terrain, shale, and other such features, Phinuphus' troubles with such movements have fostered a perception of himself that feels much less than the serine Lion he aspires to emulate. More than merely clumsy, he is driven to sullenness and is much shorter of temper and patience when hard travel is the order of the day.

Weakness - The Lion

Less well understood by his companions is the degree to which Phinuphus truly seeks to emulate his god. His patience is tested daily by the graceless and those who do not demonstrate conscientiousness and will to strengthen the group. Combined with enough stress from other sources (for instance by his pathological irritation for rough terrain), he can lose his temper to a degree that seems perfectly in line with the emulation of Anomandaris. In truth, it is an irrational and malicious tantrum--a dangerous thing to see, and quite rare.

History

Phinuphus was born into an isolated river village, living a tranquil life until plague struck the local region. Several villages were wiped out completely, and Phinuphus was one of only a handful to survive from his own, all of whom fled to the local Yard of Anomandaris. It served as sanctuary until the troubles passed, but unlike the rest of his village, Phinuphus stayed with the monastery and lived most of his adult life there until a couple of years ago. Troubles in Allaria have turned the world, and most of the Capybkin of Phinuphus' homeland have migrated farther into isolation, abandoning their homes and leaving the land fallow. Some few like Phinuphus have turned in the opposite direction, moving against the Apotheoses, guided by Anomandaris' rage.

Phinuphus is one such man.

Samples:

What I consider a highlight from my current freework in Expanding Horizons.
First post in Insurrection.
Expected CS quality.

Men vs. Women Race to 1000

606

Allaria - Classical Fantasy Ch. 5 - Recruit the Shadowwald!

Phinuphus is finalized and awaiting approval.

Sticks Discussion Thread

I assume there's a commands-per-turn limit. Is it a given number, or "keep it reasonable"?

The 1st Magic Insurrection [NEW/ACCEPTING]

@ihinka

I took O'Shae's background as a cue for what kind of novels she might write. Seems like I guessed well, but the nom de plume makes perfect sense. Neither Paulie nor her friend circles would be superfans--rather, they wouldn't be invasive enough to try and find out who O'Shae might actually be behind the author persona.

Also I mistakenly thought O'Shae was already in NYC for the first time and wanted to account for how long she might've been there. Seems super unlikely O'Shae would know of Poet at the start of the story, or anything else, barring super cool things @codex is planning that I don't know about.

Sticks

:::enable autoharvest - {seed} = automatically harvest seeds from consumed vegetable matter.
:::Offer Alphakoka a fruit!
:::speak : "Hope you don't die Alphie."
:::pass Rilla while ascending hill. Offer Rilla a fruit!
:::Objective : It is time to investigate the forest for low-hanging sticks.

Music Appreciation Thread

@Kassarock Well, uh... I certainly appreciated it? The level of delightful mania is such that I can't be genuinely sure whether the guy is just working an act or truly present in the story he tells. But I can't deny this is the most entertaining performance/interpretation of Teddybear Picnic I have ever listened to. This is a guy I am going to look up later also; the manner in which he affects losses of self-control on his acordian is too deliberate for him to not at least be an excellent player.

--

For my inaugural presentation in this thread I'd like to share a piece that is very near and dear to my heart. I've had several moments in my life where someone shared a piece of music with me and it completely opened up my way of thinking about music. In almost every situation it also fortified my belief that people who think there is no good music have just stopped trying to find it. The person who shared this piece with me has had a lasting impact on my life such that even though we haven't talked in years when his birthday shows up on facebook I am transported back to the fourteen months that this song was my wake-up alarm.

Allaria - Classical Fantasy Ch. 5 - Recruit the Shadowwald!

Phinuphus Tahnqlin

Name: Phinuphus Tahnqin (Fee-nuh-fuss Tan-keen)
Age: 41
Race: Capybkin (Beastkin with Capybara features)

Capybkin are some of the largest beastkin on Allaria, standing between 9-12 feet tall with thick hides and broad shoulders--their body-type not unlike a small adult bear save for their unique forelimbs/paws and tranquil face. They often assume a hunched position when dealing with non-Capybkin, and are as likely to be found traveling comfortably on all-fours as on their hind legs. Much like their Capybara ancestors, Capybkin's queer paws are quite dexterous in spite of their size. They are excellent swimmers and quite fast on open land. They handle inclines and rocky terrain very deliberately--that is to say much more slowly than most humanoids and with constant fear of losing their footing.

Classes:
Major - Merchant/Apothecary

Phinuphus has made his living traveling between his monastery and local villages trading spices, tinctures and fine spirits, for food, firewood, tools and other necessities. He has gained a fine understanding of medicinal plants and how to refine them thanks to his olfactory senses. He also has a shrewd business sense and a head for logistics.

Minor - Monk

Phinuphus came to his monastery as a devout of Anomandaris after his parents were lost to plague, serving the monks and nuns as a go-between so that they were well-stocked for provisions and heat during the cold months. He began training with them in earnest to find inner peace, and while his practice has been recreational for over fifteen years, he has begun to take it more seriously and has caught the first glimpses of his spirit animal.

God: Anomandaris - Lion Aspect

Capybkin take a view of Anomandaris informed heavily by their ancestry. He is a lion above things Capybkin hold dear such as family and travel, but he is a patron of harmony and defense of home, both things Capybkin have instinctive cravings to preserve. Capybkin devotees of Anomandaris are community supporters for the regions in which they survive, providing refined goods to any who might need them, and luxurious crafts to outsiders. They also revere Anomandaris' apparent love of battle and are expected to come forth in times of trouble to defend the weak.

Appearance:

Profile

Phinuphus, sitting in meditation.

Phinuphus is somewhat small for a Capybkin, standing from paw to pate at just above nine feet tall. For all his relative shortness, he is still every much as broad shouldered and thick of hide as his more properly proportioned peers. His fur has an unusually bright sheen for Capybkin, appearing when wet as if polished bronze. He most often wears simple robes of brown wool and roughspun, the better to conceal the many bulky sacks and packs usually lashed to his body with cordage and netting he made for himself. His movements come with the practice of a man who has lived his whole life on the road, with a touch of the serenity one would expect from a Monk of Anomandaris.

Personality: Phinuphus is a shrewd and practical man with a biting sense of humor and a careful suspicion of most newcomers. Once warmed to an individual, he makes a fast friend and is almost unnervingly considerate and fatherly. His best friends often wind up having a little nip of grain alcohol passed to them once or twice a day. "The Grace and gaze of our lion," to hear him tell it. He is also, for good or for ill, certainly a man of his faith; slow to truly notice the gravity of a conflict, but unwavering in his will to end one when his temper has been lost.

defining traits

>list>
Attentive - "The grumble of any stomach is cause for a small morsel. Take these nuts and say nothing of it. We must eat well and keep up our strength."
Harmonious - "You don't like the man, do you? Were we not in the position we are in I would be as impatient as you with his snapping. But he is useful, watch. He's the only reason half of these men and women are working together at all. It takes many teeth to chew a meal."
Pious - "The Lion expects a lion from each of us, to mirror his gaze and grace."
Ponderous - "... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... you look like a pheasant."
Tippler - "I am not drunk. Capybkin are never drunk. Capybkin are often painfully sober, some of us worse off than others. We achieve normality. We *hic* drink the blood of Anomandaris." -said while swaying gently in the breeze, and smelling faintly of spirits.

Spirit Animal: A large rabbit.
Equipment:

Phinuphus doesn't exactly carry his shop around with him since leaving the monastery, but old habits die hard. He is positively awash with provisions, small and useful tools (usually bronze, sometimes iron), and an at times comical supply of fine spirits that he guards jealously. He also carries a particular sack that he keeps well insulated and bundled against sudden falls full of his healing tinctures, powders, and herbs, the majority o which he has harvested and refined himself. He keeps his liquor there too, and as likely to supplement someone coming to him complaining of headache with a sip of spirits as a bite of firemint.

Skills:
Major - Healer

At a glance, Phinuphus can often diagnose illnesses by smell and taste before their worst symptoms manifest, and if he doesn't have a preventative or proven cure-all in his pack, he can probably tell you whether they can forage locally for the means to make one. His skills as an apothecary are exclusively curative--he would never think of dabbling in less honest applications of his art.

Minor - Pugilism

Phinuphus' body lent itself well to learning the fundamentals of martial arts, but gave him such a clear advantage over many of his teachers that he has struggled to ever learn more than the very basics, and is terrified of harming friends while sparring. His only practice is in earnest combat, meaning he has little to show for it thusfar.

Magic: True to monks devoted to Anomandaris, there is likely some magic that has been honed within Phinuphus' soul. His fur can become extraordinarily dense and sharp, proving a good defense against bludgeoning and slashing weapons. Wrestling him when his fur is hardened is not advised.

Strength - Big
Endurance and heaviness, like any mountain, defines most Capybkin, as it does here. He so often carries so much about him because he is so often unencumbered, and he throws punches that can kill a common man that doesn't react quickly enough. He can take the nineteenth punch just as well as the first, though if each are well placed the twentieth will drop him as readily as any other humanoid.

Weakness - Rough Terrain

While Capybkin are often uncomfortable navigating crevasses, mountainous terrain, shale, and other such features, Phinuphus' troubles with such movements have fostered a perception of himself that feels much less than the serine Lion he aspires to emulate. More than merely clumsy, he is driven to sullenness and is much shorter of temper and patience when hard travel is the order of the day.

Weakness - The Lion

Less well understood by his companions is the degree to which Phinuphus truly seeks to emulate his god. His patience is tested daily by the graceless and those who do not demonstrate conscientiousness and will to strengthen the group. Combined with enough stress from other sources (for instance by his pathological irritation for rough terrain), he can lose his temper to a degree that seems perfectly in line with the emulation of Anomandaris. In truth, it is an irrational and malicious tantrum--a dangerous thing to see, and quite rare.

History

Phinuphus was born into an isolated river village, living a trqnauil life until plague struck the local region. Several villages were wiped out completely, and Phinuphus was one of only a handful to survive from his own, all of whom fled to the local Yard of Anomandaris. It served as sanctuary until the troubles passed, but unlike the rest of his village, Phinuphus stayed with the monastery and lived most of his adult life there until a couple of years ago. Troubles in Allaria have turned the world, and most of the Capybkin of Phinuphus' homeland have migrated farther into isolation, abandoning their homes and leaving the land fallow. Some few like Phinuphus have turned in the opposite direction, moving against the Apotheoses, guided by Anomandaris' rage.

Phinuphus is one such man.

Samples:

What I consider a highlight from my current freework in Expanding Horizons.
First post in Insurrection.
Expected CS quality.

The 1st Magic Insurrection [NEW/ACCEPTING]

@ihinka

Paulie's Knowledge of O'Shae

Name: Róisín Mihaela O'Shea
Relationship - Warm - Unaquainted
Character's opinion of them: While Paulie wouldn't recognize Róisín O'Shae by seeing her (although she has seen pictures, dustjacket photos from her author biohraphies), she actually has read one of her books, recommended to her by a friend. The novel made a lasting impression and was ultimately the inspiration for her deciding to work with Dark Shadow in the first place. It would delight Paulie to meet Miss O'Shae. Poet, though... would be deeply affected to find O'Shae is not only a magic-user, but a Guilder.

Paulie is a member of an eclectic community of creatives. It seems reasonable she'd have read at least one of O'Shae's books as an up'n comer in the writing world. Do you approve?

--

As for O'Shae's knowledge of Paulie: if any, I'd say it's a little better than a coin toss that O'Shae has at least heard of Poet because of her rank as Captain. The implication is that most Guild members living in the Eastern U.S. or visiting for at least a few weeks have heard of Poet as a lost soul that needs to be found. In some circles, Alexandra Cooper is a menace whose activities have been just visible enough since she escaped their care that she could expose the magical community at any time. These people know exactly who she is and what she looks like.