Rochelle woke up in a dingy room with all the pillows, blankets, and even the bed tossed about. She was half-naked and the first thing she checked on was her gun, which was laying underneath a pillow with no ammo. Seemed like she shot something last night, but she could hardly remember. Her head was sore so she knew she had been drinking. "Ugh. Got to get ready..." Gathering up her clothes Rochelle dressed herself again, loaded more bullets into her revolver, and headed down stairs. Seemed like most everyone had already gone. She headed over to the innkeeper to pay her rent as well as pick up a meal to go. Who knows how long it'd be before they'd reach civilization again so it'd pay to be prepared.
Though still irritable and suffering from a mild hangover Rochelle met with the other destined warriors of this vaguely described mission from god. At this point she didn't really know or care about what the quest was, she just wanted to get on with it. "I'm here, I'm here. What's with the portal?" Rochelle waved her hand in the general direction of the gate. The lands beyond seemed familiar, but she wasn't in the right state of mind to start remembering things.
It's been a long and tiring journey, but Kessel, Gear, and Shayle finally managed to make it! They've spent the past month searching for clues about this ruined temple and it wasn't until they reached Sapphire that they finally managed to catch a solid lead. Normally Kessel would refuse to work with the mage guild because of her past experiences, but she wasn't going to waste resources. If what they said is true and that the desert storms have unearthed this ancient unholy temple, then Kessel wanted to make sure she could get to it ASAP. While most would think temples are more important for their holy artifacts or their importance to their deities, Kessel was more interested in their architecture and design. What many people overlook is that these temples aren't just altars to their gods, but complicated structures made with the combined efforts of magic and engineering. Kessel wanted to study and learn these things in order to better design and upgrade Gear so that one day he may be a powerful golem.
She had Gear stay outside since he was too big to fit through the doors, leaving him in the stables. Since he wasn't a horse Kessel didn't need to pay for anyone to take care of him, and if anyone wanted to steal him they'd have to try to move a 700 pound metal construct. When she reached to the main lobby it looked like there was already a group here. If she had to guess, these were the people that the mage guild said they sent to investigate these ruins. They certainly didn't look like locals. "Hey Shayle, go talk to those guys while I get us a room." Fortunately they only needed to pay for one room, since Shayle liked sleeping on her bedroll. That left the bed for Kessel.
Shayle
At least Shayle's journey hasn't been too boring. When she initially met Kessel and her golem the dwarvish berserker wanted to fight it, but seeing that it wasn't combat ready Shayle was very disappointed. Fortunately it seemed like just having a golem made Kessel a prime target for robbers and thieves, so Shayle found entertainment protecting the gnome from threats. That's how she got her job as Kessel's bodyguard. There wasn't really a contract or any pay involved: As long as Kessel didn't just settle down and kept looking for adventure, and Shayle gets to keep whatever loot she kills, they had a deal. it was a simple arrangement. For the past month she and Kessel had been looking for ways to upgrade her golem. Despite her knowledge with smithing Golem crafting was a different beast that Shayle had no interest in learning. If Kessel needed metal than Shayle could help, maybe hammer a few plates, but beyond that it was Kessel's own business. At least the gnome made sure to dive into every ruin and raid every wizard tower between here and West Harbor, otherwise Shayle would have been very bored.
Once they got to the inn Shayle wasted no time getting familiar with some of the other patrons. The first thing that hit her was the smell of pipeweed and cherries. Shayle wasn't a fan of tobacco but she wasn't going to raise a fuss about it. Reaching to bartender Shayle put down a ten gold pieces. "An ale fer each of us!" Shayle exclaimed loudly. As the barkeep went to fill up the mugs Shayle approached Alexander, as he was the only male here (She noticed Veridis but thought he was a woman). "Heh, is that mead I smell? With a hint of cinnamon too. Surely yer not just gonna have one, are ye?" From the smell alone Shayle thinks she could handle ten of them before she'd even feel tingly. If there was one thing about this country she was disappointed in, it's that the alcohol was weak. Tasty, but weak.
Standing at exactly three feet tall Kessel is a gnome through-and-through. From her natural-but-odd colored hair, her strange looking eyes, and her knack for crazy inventions. Have grown up in the tough streets of Luskan, Kessel prefers to dress both sensible and “tough”. She hates dresses and fancy shoes, but she also believes that wearing armor and protection will convey an image of weakness, as if she’s trying to hide something. So instead she wears a fashionable, sturdy, but otherwise simple leather jacket, pants, and boots. They keep her warm, protect her from the elements, and offer her some dignity.
Kessel carries her tools in a large backpack that looks way too big for her. However thanks to a series of straps and harnesses that only she has the know-how to make sense of, she can easily wear the backpack for long walks. She carries various tools on her person such as alchemy kits and a few wands, but her signature item is her Rune Wrench, which she’s named after. This masterwork tool allows her to fix up various types of ancient machinery and if need be, give someone a solid thwack.
Name: Kessel Rune-Wrench
Age: 56
Race: Gnome
Class: Artificer Lv 3
Biography: Kessel was an orphan in the wretched hive known as Luskan. Luskan was rampant with all sorts of thieves, thugs, assassins, and lowlives, and they were ruled by corrupt wizards lords. Kessel was “adopted” and raised to be a test subject, but after an accident when she was 12 years old she was able to escape the wizard experimenting on her. She was forced to join the various local gangs and learned how to fight and steal from them, but one day she came across a wizard’s journal. Inside the journal was all sorts of spells and schematics about magical crafts, which Kessel was somehow able to understand. It was kind of like a puzzle: the individual pieces didn’t make sense, but once she got the bigger picture she was able to put everything together and make it work.
Inspired by what she could learn from the book Kessel tried to be a wizard’s apprentice, learning how to use magic to craft spells and objects, with lots of mad experiments that tends to be dangerous to everyone involved. She grew fascinated with golems and technology, believing it to be a logical progression of magical craft, but neither her teacher or her fellow students shared her interest. They were all more concerned about gaining more power and alliances to rule Luskan, something that never really interest Kessel. So she spent most of her time trying to make a golem, and one she did she left Luskan to look for more knowledge and lore to improve her golem as well as discover what other potential she has.
Other: Kessel has an iron golem named “Rusty”. It’s stronger than ten horses and very durable to boot, however Kessel hasn’t quite worked out how to make it more combat able, and thus all it can do for now is take hits and move around. It has one monowheel and two arms, but it needs those arms to move forward. It can stand still on it’s wheel if it needs to use both hands but it will have a hard time moving and balancing itself.
Kessel’s true talent lies in magical crafts. She can brew potions easily, but her best ability is her Infusions. They allow her to give temporary magical enchantments to objects or constructs. While the enchantments are not permanent, she can apply them to just about anything in a pinch. Kessel can also make magical equipment and weapons if she has the time and money, with the latter that’s hard for her to get. Kessel is a big spendthrift.
In combat Kessel relies a lot on her rune wrench, infusions, and scrolls for combat. Whenever she has some downtime she takes the time to scribes scrolls in case she needs them for a fight or a tough puzzle, and often stockpiles them for later, or sell them if she can get a good deal out of a sucker. These are the usual scrolls she prepares for battle:
Level 1: Color Spray True Strike Shield
Level 2: Glitterdust Locate Object Invisibility
Given time she cal also craft other scrolls of other spells if she knows what spell is needed. It would take her at a minimum of one hour to scribe a level 1 scroll, but it gets much longer at higher levels.
Appearance:
Shayle is practically a living legend: She’s a female dwarf! Born deep in the Ironfist Clanhold, she has light skin and almost pinkish hair. However the pink tint only came after she started living on the surface: before it used to be white. She has a stocky and strong build, but with child-like facial features that make her oddly cute. She has dull yellow-green eyes like topazs and two streaks of warpaint going down from her eyes, which she applies daily.
Shayle likes wearing armor and finds it more comfortable than your usual dress or clothes. She wears a breastplate with pauldrons, gauntlets, and even chainmail underneath. She often has her helmet on her head at all times, even while asleep, though she does take it off when she wants to bath. She has a small backpack to carry essentials like food and drink, but her most important possession is her greataxe. It was her great-great-grandfather’s greataxe, and he gave it to her so she could make her own future. The axe has no notable magical enchantment, however it is made out of Adamantium, allowing it to sunder through stone and steel better than any pickaxe.
Name: Shayle
Age: 60
Race: Mountain Dwarf
Class: Barbarian Lv 3
Biography: Shayle is a simple woman, and her past isn’t much different. She was raised in the Ironfist Clanhold and like many woman she was taught some basic things: how to smith, how to fight, and how to raise a family. And for the most part she did all three of those things rather well. It wasn’t until she was still a young lass that her father wanted to marry her off to the son of one of his friends because he thought they’d like each other. Only that Shayle had no idea who that person was, and she had no interest for traditional married life. She always looked up to her great-great-grandfather’s tales of adventure with his wife, and she wanted to meet the man of her dreams the same way. Not through some arranged marriage, but through adventure and danger.
So before Shayle could get married off, she packed up her things, donned her armor, and found her great-great-grandfather’s greataxe. She confronted her father and the rest of the clanhold and told them she was leaving: she thanked them for raising her but she was going to make a future for herself with her own hands. And her axe, of course.
Other: Shayle is a skilled warrior and a decent smith, but to the surprise of some she is also an excellent chef. She likes to cook monsters and other dungeon creatures for cheap and delicious meals. There's nothing that Shayle wouldn't eat as long as she gets to cook it. Shayle is also very comfortable in her armor to the point that she often sleeps in it, and only gets out of her armor when she needs to clean herself off. Aside from food essentials, the only other thing in Shayle backpack is money and tools to maintain her equipment. Unlike some barbarians Shayle is literate, and can read and write both common and dwarf very well.
Thanks, I promise not to disappoint you! BTW I don't know if you noticed @EWillden, but the link to your first picture may be broken. It shows an advertisement instead of whatever was there before.
It would seem that Sweet Devil's disguise was seen through by one of Dreadlock's guests. If she had to guess, this person must be some sort of holy person. It was the only way Sweet Devil could think for how she saw through her disguise. For Angel, Sweet Devil dropped her illusion to reveal her true form. "I'm helping. The sedatives may have stopped her rampage, but it can do nothing for the damage done to her mind. Don't be mistaken, I'm not here to hurt her. Simply help her the only way I can. With sweet dreams and encouragement~" While genuine, the way Sweet Devil worded it made it sound like she was playing a trick. True she is mostly doing this to gain Dreadlock's friendship, but is to so bad that Sweet Devil wants that and for Dreadlock to be okay too?
Meanwhile in the dream Sweet Devil walked in front of Dreadlock. She had no scythe and her wings were pulled back behind her. Dreadlock came off with a strong question that Sweet Devil didn't have an answer to, so she just looked sad and averted her eyes. "I... I don't know. I heard you fought a powerful villain and then... They found you like this. The Hero Association is giving you time off to recover." Seeing Dreadlock beginning to tear up Sweet Devil took out a handkerchief and wiped the tears away. The handkerchief had a faint apple smell. "As you can see you lost your arms and legs. Your friends are trying to find ways to help you, to heal you or replace what you lost. I wish I could do something like that, but all I can do is make sure you're not alone."
Soon after a nurse managed to sedate Dreadlock, Sweet Devil needed to act quickly. Given that she wasn't a professional she didn't want to get caught if they asked her to do anything, but she also rightfully needed to make sure she didn't get caught on Dreadlock's temper tantrum. So as the rest of the nurses were leaving Sweet Devil activated the illusion she placed on Dreadlock, mingling with the delirium and drowsiness brought about from the sedative. Only Dreadlock and Sweet Devil would be aware of the illusion, allowing a sort of two-way communication between them even after Sweet Demon left the room. However she didn't stray too far and as soon as no one was looking, she changed her disguise to that of an elderly man waiting outside an operation room, pretending to look concern about the elderly woman inside (Sweet Devil doesn't know who the woman is, she's just pretending to be the husband).
In Dreadlock's illusion her vision would grow blurry as if she's about to fall asleep, and the scene would change. Dreadlock was no longer in the hospital bed, but she was at home. Home being wherever Dreadlock thought home was: Sweet Devil has never been there, but as long as Dreadlock had a home her mind would fill in the details that Sweet Devil didn't know. Dreadlock was being moved around on a wheelchair, and walking from behind was Sweet Devil herself. Her wings were pulled in and she didn't have her scythe. She even looked friendly, concerned. She was here to "help" Dreadlock.
"I know it's not been easy to adapt, but I'm here for you. Just ask me what you want and I'll help you however I can."
Sweet Demon's voice was friendly and laced with compassion, which was easy to do when it was all just an hallucination brought by an illusion. Dreadlock would have a hard time seeing through it if she didn't know this was specifically an illusion; even if she thought this was a dream it wouldn't change anything. Indeed the only way Dreadlock could break the illusion is by ignoring it and trying to focus on something outside of the illusion itself. But as the sedative got to work on Dreadlock's system this may be harder for her. All the while, nothing physical was happening to her on the outside. It'd just look like she was slowly drifting to sleep.
"Is there anything you'd like to talk about? I haven't been a hero for nearly as long as you have, and I'd love to hear more about you."
