HeySeuss

Star Wars - Liberators

Bills Due

---

Sensor links were up and Fiver, his astromech droid, was bleeping along his messages as well -- Intruders added a comm channel for the droids and ran a linked network that the droids generally managed in network. The pilots' chatter was the despair of the communications operators on the Right -- the Intruders spoke the lingua franca of the Outer Rim, Huttese, when they fought.

They were a dangerous squadron, experienced smugglers, pirates and Outer Rim defense force types, used to clawing for every little advantage they could find, often in obsolescent junk. Commanded by a Twi'lek female, Ma'Vena, callsign "Mom," the Intruders were a fierce squadron, unified in hatred of the Empire. Willing to fight something so powerful and numerous.

The Alliance, so used to never having the best of anything, came through for once and put these beings into something that let them strive and contend on an equal level with the Empire.

The X-wing was still a new platform, and Shan had come in just as they were phasing out the Z-95's, which were alright, but at a decided disadvantage against TIE fighters. Not so the X-wing, which had the slender lethality that a starfighter should, at least in his mind. In the cockpit of one of these, he felt like he was part of a sleek and dangerous predator, gliding on the solar winds in search of prey.

Many thought of space as empty, but he always felt as if there were currents in that vastness, something that got him weird looks even from his squadron. He could wax poetic about space, the splash of colors in a nebula or the harsh light of a star. It was silence, but it was a thunderous silence.

Clang, Shan's callsign, they said, worked on a different frequency. He was their weirdo, a guy that knew tech but not from an educational standpoint; he'd get into the guts of something and figure it out on intuition and experience. Space never failed to stir him.

The sensation was shattered by the order to initiate their operation.

They used Orivod, a large asteroid on the verge of being a moon, to shadow their approach; for whatever reason, the rock interfered with sensors and communications, so the approach would be with comms from the fleet totally unable to get througth. It was a risky commitment.

He felt the thrum of the engines as the power system shifted power into those and a lighter-than-usual front shield, while they were out of range. The idea was to build up the thruster momentum while out of range in order to make the approach with the shields shifted forward during the attack approach. S-foils were locked, for the same reason. Lacking jammers, they needed every bit of thrust they could get. Max thrust, the chariot of the heavens.

Because the orders were to make an attack run on a Victory II-class star destroyer.

As they burst from the cover of the asteroid on their final approach, like a covey of mynocks, spreading out in twos and threes, the X-wing's leading the Y-wings and trying to draw the fire with their superior maneuverability. He was tuned into the comm chatter, and returned some of it, including, "Lock S-foils in attack position," but he could never quite recall what he was saying in the focus of the moment, the sharp edge of awareness that came into play when he was flying.

A Victory-II was not the largest ship in the Imperial inventory, but up close and personal, with the turbolasers thundering away and smaller defenses engaging them, it was big enough to turn Shan's piss cold. He tried to cling to his typical composure, his awareness of the minute and sense of the intangible, as he jinked to avoid the fire.

Others were not so lucky; if the Punisher was the Rebels' pound of flesh, and even despite the surprise of the Cutlass and Intruders' approach, there was still the silence of disintegrating squadron mates and the hum of the engines, the blip of the warning radars, the binary staccato of Fiver's status updates. They were paying the bill for it.

There was a instinctive flow to his motion as he banked to engage a TIE trying to find an angle on a Y-wing, as the TIE broke it's attack to evade, and the two starships danced. But it was the subtle added thrust here, or the turn there, as he took to the outside arc beyond the TIE and played the Imperial against a squadron-mate's cone of fire that allowed him the moment where he had the unshielded Imperial in his fire control reticule when the Imperial tried to evade one cone of fire only to find himself positioned briefly in the sights of another.

He took the shot with all four cannons, feeling the pulse of their firing, and watched the enemy disintegrate. He swung back into the run, further back from the others as they made their runs. The X-wings fought like brood mother Nexu, scraping for every angle and bit of purchase the rebel pilots, experienced fringe spacers, could find against TIE pilots, who were academy-trained professionals. Theirs was a pitiless ballet in the cold void, shadowed by the huge wedges of the Imperial fleet.

And while they spun to stay out of the sights of the TIEs and put the TIEs into their own sights, the Y-wings unloaded on the Punisher.

All that was in a single run, with the Cutlass commander ordering his Y-wings clear.

"Finish it and break off!" Mom growled on the comms, along with, "fierfe--" and static as her own ship disintegrated. Moments later, another Intruder finished off her killer, but the damage was already done.

Intruder squadron lost twenty-five percent of her X-wings...but they could see the Punisher bleeding air and flame from holes in the hull in the rearview mirror that the pilots all used.

It better be worth it, the thought bubbled through the concentration that typified Shan's flying, but he left the bubble there, not wanting to process the grief of his squadron leader's death while still in the fight.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

Totally understood. People can just post the sheets over in the character tab.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

Lore stub;

Name: The Webwood
Type: Magical Forest
Faction/Unit: Wildlands
Synopsis of Role: A crossroads that is home to fey spirits both benign or cruel, home of the damned and the forgotten- only the strong survive while the weak perish.

@GreivousKhan

For reference, this is best kept on the same page as the character sheets you guys post up. Stubs all in one post, and organized if possible. :)

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

Name: Dakgu Elf-Scalper
Race: Half-Orc, half something else.
Faction/Unit: Brand's Brood
Location: Nightwood, outside of Bosfyrd, an old meeting ground for rangers stretching back to the mists of time.
Synopsis of Role: A warg-handler, bounty hunter and lead scout of the Orcish mercenary unit Nar Mat Kordh-Ishi, the Elf-Scalper was orphaned with his mother's wargs during puberty and finished growing up under Brand, who taught him, but also socialized him. His mercenary company has an absolutely fearsome reputation and is currently based out of neighboring Ceril, where they managed to secure themselves a foothold and patronage in the form of their young queen, a rumored witch. His warg mount, Khashgol, is a mound of muscle and predatory instinct.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

Hello, glad to see all the interest. I am popping up the OOC now.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

_{Some badass forest battle artwork to help set the mood.}

Guidelines

---

• Discord Chat for the RP. - to plot, collaborate and otherwise make things interesting.
• "Jump In" really does mean, "Jump In." I want only a couple things over in character sheets - a name, a faction (Brand, Harold, other) a location (At the start, generally Bosfyrd, though this may change.) and maybe a one sentence summary of the character. Yeah, because we need to be writing posts, not character sheets, and this way we can quickly -add- essential characters.
• Please use one sheet for all stubs, character and lore.

Character Stubs

---

The whole point of this system is to quickly introduce a character's name, faction, species and a quick summary of who they are in order to get them into the fight quickly. We're doing away with large sheets as an experiment. You can even write this stuff -after- you make the first post.

Name:
Race:
Faction/Unit: (ex. Brand's Brood, loyal to Bloody Harold, mercenary, etc.)
Location:
Synopsis of Role: (One sentence, keep it moving. Ex. A young half-elf raised by Brand after his parents were killed in an unfortunate nighttime skiing incident that involved alcohol.)

Lore Stubs

---

The whole point of this system is to quickly introduce a location, unit or faction. This allows you to quickly create a reference item for the lore. We will work on a way to organize all this as we move along, but please add this to your character stubs.

Name:
Type: (Location, culture, military formation, type of beast etc)
Faction/Unit: (ex. Brand's Brood, loyal to Bloody Harold, mercenary, etc.)
Synopsis of Role: (One sentence, keep it moving. Ex. A large, haunted forest that is rumoured to hold the ruins of ancient civilization. From time to time, people are never seen again after entering it.)

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

_{Some badass forest battle artwork to help set the mood.}

TL;DR Summary:

---

• Medieval/Fantasy
• I am doing a homegrown setting that allows people to invent stuff so they can more easily put together their characters and design what they need.
• The characters are all adopted children of an old ranger that have returned home to pay respects and bury him, only to find that a tyrannical ruler had him, and many others, killed.
• Characters are all similar in certain respects, but differences should be highlighted.
• No anthropomorphic animal type characters -- sorry, I can't deal with furries or lizardmen and the such.
• Plot will turn into an overall guerrilla war against said ruler as the adoptive children decide to take up the path of vengeance in a very Four Brothers/Magnificent Seven sort of way. I've also based this on more recent movies featuring King John as the villain; the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood and "Ironclad." A bit of "Kingdom of Heaven" in there.
• Time is limited, so I'm not sure I want to do long posts here. Shall we try for five paragraphs or so of writing per post? Keep it moving with lots of back and forth?
• I will use a very abbreviated character sheet system -- I prefer a stub with the basics, rather than something that takes a long time to write.
• Discord Chat for brainstorming in realtime. - I honestly prefer to brainstorm in groups, so feel free to drop in. I think we can also help each other out on interaction and posting this way.

In Character Info:

---

Brand of the Nightwood was a local fixture in Bosfyrd, on the border of Vendland, though a remote one -- a woodsman known to occasionally appear with a story or an act of charity, a guide for those that were lost or otherwise in trouble in the forest and someone that kept bandits on their toes. He didn't spend much time in the towns surrounding the Nightwood itself, but he was known because of his skills and his essentially kind nature. He wasn't the most polished gem, but he was a fine person to know when there was trouble afoot. The old ranger had a reputation for his skill and an adventurous youth. He retired to the Nightwood and became a figure of remote charity -- he seemed to have a way with the stray children that seemed to show up in the area, incorrigibles and the such that he took in. He was the place's sentinel, keeping a watch for monsters and other things in the forests, keeping bandits on their toes. He stayed out of local politics, but he always lent a helping hand.

There was a revolt against King Harold, and it was a powerful one that won a couple battles, humiliating the King in the field, forcing him to make concessions to his barons and other nobles.

Harold did not take the defeat well; he spent money he didn't really have to build an army to put his kingdom firmly in his authority, ignoring all the promises he made prior. One of the leaders, William of Barkstead, was a firm friend of Brand's and the old ranger took the man's two children under his wing to protect them from the bloody chevauchee of King Harold against his own nobility. This campaign of Harold, leading an army that included monstrous troops and dark magic users, was successful but left bodies and burned towns strewn about its wake. But, in the end, Harold had what he wanted; Baron William on a cross alongside the other leaders of the Barons' Revolt. That vengeance was good, but not enough -- the children, heirs, had to die so he could provide land and titles to his cronies. He was known as Bloody Harold, his brutality and tyranny infamous. But it was what he wanted, the people cowed.

Except, not all were cowed. Brand of the Nightwood stayed out of the war, fearing the consequences that came to pass. King Harold's men came for Brand of Nightwood; they found a formidable old man, a warrior in the winter of his years. He did not mince his words when faced with the tyrant's warriors, though he did offer to have the children renounce their inheritance and raise them as his own, with no quarrel. However, there was no intention to give the children up for torture, rape or whatever else the king's depraved killers could imagine. William entrusted them to him to keep safe, and Brand was a man of his word.

The olive branch was not enough for Harold's minions. It was a fight, but Brand lost against overwhelming odds, making a stand. He was in the winter of his life, but instead of living out those days in well-earned peace, he was brutally executed, though not without taking his toll from the enemy. His final stand was the stuff of saga, except there were no bards brave enough to compose a ballad for it. If anything, Brand's death snuffed out the lingering resistance. People resigned themselves to a fate under the heel of Bloody Harold.

However, the Earl's children weren't the first orphans old Brand ever took in. They were merely the latest of a number of children that called him 'Father,' an array of siblings, each different from each other but siblings nonetheless, spread out over the world who made the journey to pay respects to their adoptive father...and to set right his murder.

Out of Character Info:

---

The characters here are family; they're all rangers that Brand of the Nightwood adopted, and they are back to bury the old man. Of course, the powers that be have already pissed them off considerably, but to add insult to injury, they will of course attempt to clarify that need for vengeance by trying to defile the body or disrupt the burial. Or perhaps, the characters need to steal the body back in the night from where it is displayed as a warning to others, thus creating a situation where they need to fight anyway. In any case, the opening scene will be a local priest risking all to give Brand a proper burial. The King's minions will come to disrupt it. Unknown to them, Brand's sons and daughters will be there, each a dangerous individual on their own, experienced rangers all.

The campaign will center around this band's involvement in the civil war, but they are also family. Adopted family of varying races (perhaps) and creeds, different from each other in many ways, but with a huge common ground -- the same man raised them, probably at the same time, though we should spread the ages out -- some of the characters are older and some are younger, over the span of perhaps twenty years or more.

While the characters are all rangers, that doesn't mean they're the same. We're tossing the D&D books here; so I am down the rangers that have a variety of different talents and abilities, though I'd like to see them develop in the course of the RP, rather than have fully grown badasses spring out of nowhere. The characters start as people coming together in grief. They are forged in the fire that comes afterward. That is to say, start them out kind of basic and narrate how they grow into the role.

For running the RP, I intend to share the GM responsibility a bit -- this is a collaborative process and while I have specific ideas on plot points, I want others to feel free to propose scenarios and quest-items and so forth, as well as to play the role of the antagonists (there will be many and varied) and to add to developing the setting our characters will be playing in. We should, above all, feel invested in this RP together and share a collective sense of ownership. On the other hand, I'll retain the ability to settle disputes as the thread owner, but I'm hoping we don't come to that.

In any case, I want to do a rockin' RP out of this.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

Due to the number of responses, I will have an OOC up in a couple hours. Mazeltov.

Blood Debt - Medieval/Fantasy

_{Some badass forest battle artwork to help set the mood.}

TL;DR Summary:

---

• Medieval/Fantasy
• I am doing a homegrown setting that allows people to invent stuff so they can more easily put together their characters and design what they need.
• The characters are all adopted children of an old ranger that have returned home to pay respects and bury him, only to find that a tyrannical ruler had him, and many others, killed.
• Characters are all similar in certain respects, but differences should be highlighted.
• No anthropomorphic animal type characters -- sorry, I can't deal with furries or lizardmen and the such.
• Plot will turn into an overall guerrilla war against said ruler as the adoptive children decide to take up the path of vengeance in a very Four Brothers/Magnificent Seven sort of way. I've also based this on more recent movies featuring King John as the villain; the Russell Crowe version of Robin Hood and "Ironclad." A bit of "Kingdom of Heaven" in there.
• To keep it moving, capping off at something like five players for this, but if someone comes in after the limit and blows me away, I'll revise that. I suck at saying no sometimes.
• Time is limited, so I'm not sure I want to do long posts here. Shall we try for five paragraphs or so of writing per post? Keep it moving with lots of back and forth?
• I will use a very abbreviated character sheet system -- I prefer a stub with the basics, rather than something that takes a long time to write.
• Discord Chat for brainstorming in realtime. - I honestly prefer to brainstorm in groups, so feel free to drop in. I think we can also help each other out on interaction and posting this way.

In Character Info:

---

Brand of the Nightwood was a local fixture in Bosfyrd, on the border of Vendland, though a remote one -- a woodsman known to occasionally appear with a story or an act of charity, a guide for those that were lost or otherwise in trouble in the forest and someone that kept bandits on their toes. He didn't spend much time in the towns surrounding the Nightwood itself, but he was known because of his skills and his essentially kind nature. He wasn't the most polished gem, but he was a fine person to know when there was trouble afoot. The old ranger had a reputation for his skill and an adventurous youth. He retired to the Nightwood and became a figure of remote charity -- he seemed to have a way with the stray children that seemed to show up in the area, incorrigibles and the such that he took in. He was the place's sentinel, keeping a watch for monsters and other things in the forests, keeping bandits on their toes. He stayed out of local politics, but he always lent a helping hand.

There was a revolt against King Harold, and it was a powerful one that won a couple battles, humiliating the King in the field, forcing him to make concessions to his barons and other nobles.

Harold did not take the defeat well; he spent money he didn't really have to build an army to put his kingdom firmly in his authority, ignoring all the promises he made prior. One of the leaders, William of Barkstead, was a firm friend of Brand's and the old ranger took the man's two children under his wing to protect them from the bloody chevauchee of King Harold against his own nobility. This campaign of Harold, leading an army that included monstrous troops and dark magic users, was successful but left bodies and burned towns strewn about its wake. But, in the end, Harold had what he wanted; Baron William on a cross alongside the other leaders of the Barons' Revolt. That vengeance was good, but not enough -- the children, heirs, had to die so he could provide land and titles to his cronies. He was known as Bloody Harold, his brutality and tyranny infamous. But it was what he wanted, the people cowed.

Except, not all were cowed. Brand of the Nightwood stayed out of the war, fearing the consequences that came to pass. King Harold's men came for Brand of Nightwood; they found a formidable old man, a warrior in the winter of his years. He did not mince his words when faced with the tyrant's warriors, though he did offer to have the children renounce their inheritance and raise them as his own, with no quarrel. However, there was no intention to give the children up for torture, rape or whatever else the king's depraved killers could imagine. William entrusted them to him to keep safe, and Brand was a man of his word.

The olive branch was not enough for Harold's minions. It was a fight, but Brand lost against overwhelming odds, making a stand. He was in the winter of his life, but instead of living out those days in well-earned peace, he was brutally executed, though not without taking his toll from the enemy. His final stand was the stuff of saga, except there were no bards brave enough to compose a ballad for it. If anything, Brand's death snuffed out the lingering resistance. People resigned themselves to a fate under the heel of Bloody Harold.

However, the Earl's children weren't the first orphans old Brand ever took in. They were merely the latest of a number of children that called him 'Father,' an array of siblings, each different from each other but siblings nonetheless, spread out over the world who made the journey to pay respects to their adoptive father...and to set right his murder.

Out of Character Info:

---

The characters here are family; they're all rangers that Brand of the Nightwood adopted, and they are back to bury the old man. Of course, the powers that be have already pissed them off considerably, but to add insult to injury, they will of course attempt to clarify that need for vengeance by trying to defile the body or disrupt the burial. Or perhaps, the characters need to steal the body back in the night from where it is displayed as a warning to others, thus creating a situation where they need to fight anyway. In any case, the opening scene will be a local priest risking all to give Brand a proper burial. The King's minions will come to disrupt it. Unknown to them, Brand's sons and daughters will be there, each a dangerous individual on their own, experienced rangers all.

The campaign will center around this band's involvement in the civil war, but they are also family. Adopted family of varying races (perhaps) and creeds, different from each other in many ways, but with a huge common ground -- the same man raised them, probably at the same time, though we should spread the ages out -- some of the characters are older and some are younger, over the span of perhaps twenty years or more.

While the characters are all rangers, that doesn't mean they're the same. We're tossing the D&D books here; so I am down the rangers that have a variety of different talents and abilities, though I'd like to see them develop in the course of the RP, rather than have fully grown badasses spring out of nowhere. The characters start as people coming together in grief. They are forged in the fire that comes afterward. That is to say, start them out kind of basic and narrate how they grow into the role.

For running the RP, I intend to share the GM responsibility a bit -- this is a collaborative process and while I have specific ideas on plot points, I want others to feel free to propose scenarios and quest-items and so forth, as well as to play the role of the antagonists (there will be many and varied) and to add to developing the setting our characters will be playing in. We should, above all, feel invested in this RP together and share a collective sense of ownership. On the other hand, I'll retain the ability to settle disputes as the thread owner, but I'm hoping we don't come to that.

In any case, I want to do a rockin' RP out of this.

Star Wars - Liberators

Cover

---

Midway through the movement to the rallypoint, they heard the scream of rocket artillery and the 'crump' sound as the warheads split up into cluster munitions and spread out in the air, fist-sized pellets of death deployed in disintegrating strings of fire and shrapnel. The explosions started somewhere ahead of their old outpost line and walked back, trying to catch Uslamers as they moved, to disrupt their orderly fallback.

These hit the tree branches, the rocks, the soil...and beings. They shattered the snowscape of the Grolsk reserve with their thunderous arrival as the place erupted. Those that found purchase on the ground, something to hide under or behind, had the best assurance, but not a perfect guarantee, against the bomblets. Of course, a direct hit, the worst of luck, negated it.

Besk served as a sapper against the Imperial garrison when Prime Minister San was executed, he planted charges that helped the Uslam Liberators blow their way into the compound, but he'd never seen explosions like this. He'd never been, even in his career as a miner and laying down demo to help blow new excavation new sites open, subjected to this sort of thing.

He was on his belly, as the world shook and geysers of earth, dirt and rock flew through the air.

Then it was over, but for the screaming in the forest and the frantic calls of 'MEDDDDDDDIC!' that echoed through the cold air.

Someone yelled for them to get moving, "Get to the rally! Move it, move it! Off your kriffing cans before they start another barrage!"

He knew that others were with them, but he wasn't sure who was down and who was up. He vaguely remembered helping a medic move someone because they yelled for it, and because adrenaline gave him the heart-pounding incentive to do what he needed. He was carrying a missile launcher and a blaster carbine, along with other equipment, but he did what he was told, because there was no time to think.

They had a stretcher case on a repulsor-sled and loped over the snow themselves, risking fire from their movement to get to the rally. They didn't think beyond the rally to Line Charlie or, after that, falling back to the vehicles, but they knew they had a better chance there in prepared positions with entrenched weaponry than they did against this barrage in the open.