SepticGentleman

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

I do love your bits of work for your characters, Septic.

@ShyDot

Thsnkd. I've never really liked using just any random image I could find through searches for anything I put to play on this forum, so the characters I like I do a number in PhotoShop for.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

Once again, another WIP. This one's for Isabella.

Who fucked up my coffee

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

@dragonmancer She's not the hero Yigzavath wanted, but she's the one he got.

Isabella Loyce

Name: Isabella Loyce

Age: 27

Race: Human

Gender: Female

Description: Isabella is a somewhat sickly looking woman, standing at a below average height and weighing slightly less than normal for women her age, with a very slim physique. She isn't the absolute picture of perfect health, with pale skin, sullen amber eyes, and unkempt black hair that may or may not have been washed in the recent years. She is always seen wearing the Acolyte robes that have been passed down to her from her forebears, as well as the iconic white mask that she wears out in the field.

Personality: Isabella is an odd sort indeed. She firmly believes that people must be put through the worst before they can achieve their best. To that end, she is very calm and analytical, and does her best to remain both polite and reserved, though she has been known to casually dole out criticism, even when it’s not exactly desired.

Backstory: During the twilight years of the Silence, when things began to settle some and people became accustomed to the concept of a godless world, the last remaining Acolytes of Yigzavath became the targets of mass hunts by several parties, primarily the Healers Guild and several sects of preservation groups. The majority went into hiding, and what little faith they still had began to fade in most of their numbers. The very last two Acolytes, coincidentally a married and pregnant couple, took refuge in the only place their pursuers wouldn’t dare step foot in - Pecher’s Valley, otherwise known as the World’s Gutter. The only true refuge for lepers, rejects, and sick folk the world over. Drowned in refuse, held up by wooden shanties and piles of trash for miles.

The couple made the best of their situation, and ended up having their only daughter in the rancid dark of Pecher’s Valley, and they named her Isabella. They clung to their faith in Yigzavath, hoping their loyalty to the Filthmonger would keep them safe. They sanitized their locale to the best of their abilities - though they had inherited the natural immunities of Acolytes of yore, they wished to take no chances with Isabella. They cared for her, tutored her, and instilled their doctrine within her. She grew up well, and fortunately, never became severely sick in all her life. In fact, her parents believed she’d developed the best immune system in the history of the Acolytes, and they were thankful for that.

But, it had to come to an end eventually. Isabella, twenty-three at the time, was witness to the fiery cleansing of Pecher’s Valley at the hands of several parties - the Healers Guild among them, convinced that there was no hope for the inhabitants of the World’s Gutter, and that they should be eliminated before the risk of them spreading their filth ever became a problem. Isabella’s father died in the event, and her mother succumbed to injuries she’d sustained not too long after they escaped from the valley’s end. Isabella was left on her lonesome, and in the wake of the complete destruction of her home, she opted to find a new one. One where she was certain she would never be disturbed. One that was catered specifically for Acolytes.

The Infested Workshop.

Isabella searched, and managed to find Yigzavath’s worldly hovel after years traveling, following old maps and faded instructions. The cave was stocked with the Crawler’s old works, left untouched since the dawn of the Silence. Much of it was withered out of any usability, though some of the stronger projects happened to live on to that day. She took it upon herself to pick up where her God left off, clearing the dust, taking stock, reorganizing and whatnot. She claimed the Infested Workshop as her home, silently hoping that Yigzavath would simply turn up one day. To revitalize the Acolytes perhaps, or even adopt her as his apprentice, all to the end of bringing back the myriad creatures and plagues that the world had grown dismissive of, and so rightly deserved to face again, in her opinion.

And after months of taking care of the place, the Silence’s end will finally grant Isabella’s wish.

Motivation: Isabella wants several things. To live up to her parents’ wishes, fulfil their dreams of seeing the Acolytes returned to their former glory. To take her revenge against the Healers Guild and all else who razed her home. To serve Yigzavath and prove to him that she is a worthy apprentice. And she intends to work for her satisfaction.

Why have they been chosen as a hero?: Isabella probably wouldn’t be her God’s first choice as a hero. In fact, calling her a hero isn’t right at all. But, she’s all that’s left of the Acolytes, and all that Yigzavath has to work with at the moment, so go figure.

Equipment: Isabella carries a thin, pointed dagger with a compartment in the hilt, meant to fill the blade with any sort of poison or other harmful fluids. It’s a relic passed down to her from bygone Acolytes, and one of the very few that hasn’t been destroyed by the Healers Guild, or taken as a collector’s item.

Magic: The Acolytes of old were gifted with immunities to all the horrible diseases they spread, and the elite even served as walking hives full of ravenous insects, which they could command on their own. Isabella currently lacks the latter, but she has certainly inherited the natural resistances of her forebears.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

@SepticGentleman I saw your post and immediately thought of one of Kalla's sylvan. Kirin the Healer. Maybe she could be keeping an eye on the acolytes, ensuring they don't unleash any plagues that might destroy Gaea during this period of recuperation?

@Lexicon

Perfect. We'll have them fightin' by Thursday.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

I kinda want there to be enemies for the future Acolytes. A Healers Guild, or a Ministry of Modern Medicine, something along those lines. Doctors without borders, keen on hunting down any trace of the Acolytes and their work.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

Please don't let there be airships because then Nahargu'ul will get to have even less fun.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

Added an updated picture for Yig. Still a work in pr- you know what, everything's a work in progress. That's easier to admit.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

Regarding names, random trivia time:
Nahash comes from the Hebrew Bible's Nachash, which is used for the serpent that tempts Eve into eating, and gaining knowledge of good and evil, to become 'as God'.

@ShyDot

I just bullshat Nahargu'ul's and Yigzavath's names so I can't say they have fun facts like that.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

@dragonmancer Here's Nar's hero. Yig's will come later.

Mariner Vorris

Name: Mariner Vorris

Age: 357

Race: Human (for the most part)

Gender: Male

Description: Vorris is a tall, gaunt figure dressed in sullen rags and ropes, face concealed by a bundled cloth. His skin is a pale blue, covered in things like grooves and barnacles as a result of Nagargu’ul’s influence, and spending so much time underwater. He wears a very large, tough straw hat, normally meant to keep the sun out of his eyes when he’s on the surface, now covered in a tattered net and rough white coral.

Personality: Vorris is a silent, stalwart force. He possesses little in the way of hobbies, interests, or anything of the sort. He is simply an agent of Nahargu’ul’s will, and he considers himself nothing more than that. The man he once was, he has done his best to forget.

Backstory: Long ago, back before the Cataclysm and the Silence, Vorris was a pirate and a slaver. He was second in command to one of the most ruthless captains of that time, a man known only as Argyle. He was as he is today - quiet, steadfast, and not easily overpowered. By many, he was seen as nothing short of a heartless criminal, but something changed his thoughts as time went on. He began to regret the atrocities he’d committed, the riches he’d helped pilfer, and the people he’d helped oppressed. All the while, he clung to his faith in Nahargu’ul, which he believed was what kept him safe for so long. He wanted for little, always throwing his share of any haul overboard to appease the sea God, much to Argyle’s displeasure.

Eventually, tension between the captain and his first mate reached a boiling point. Vorris didn’t just want out, he wanted the rest of the crew to give up their criminal lives as well, before they met their deaths out in the waters. No one sides with him, rather supporting Argyle on the basis that they’d yet to fail thus far. But in truth, Nahargu’ul was testing them, and at that precise moment, poised and ready to strike. With Vorris tied to an anchor and positioned to be thrown off the ship, Nahargu’ul himself reached from the depths and grabbed the vessel with on hand, crushing it.

Vorris, Argyle, and the rest of the crew drifted down to the bottom of the ocean. But Nahargu’ul appeared before Vorris and offered him an ultimatum - “Become my champion, and live to serve me. Refuse, and die with your kin, and your regrets.”

It’s fairly clear what choice Vorris made. All his loyalty to Argyle vanished in that moment, and he was given breath. He was reborn in a watery trench, and molded into a weapon against his former fellows. He became the torrent which brought pirate vessels down into the depths. He claimed dominance over the leviathans of the worldly waters, as well as the waters themselves. Merfolk praised him as a hero to their kind, quashing any trace of pollution that would violate their livelihood. And after not too long a time, he became content with it all.

When the Cataclysm struck, Vorris was set to protect his and his God’s realm. He clashed against the corrupted creatures, and fended off the unrelenting waves to the best of his given abilities. When the conflict ended and the Silence was put in place, he settled to wait for the day Nahargu’ul would beckon him once more. Eventually, years passed, and he went into a deep slumber far below the surface of the ocean, encrusted in preservative coral, never disturbed until two-hundred long, quiet years later.

Motivation: Vorris has no definitive goal. He is simply fitted to do what his God commands, and if no command is given, then he will either rest on the rocks, or go about patrolling the ocean for ne’er-do-wells.

Equipment: Vorris wields a catch pole, now a relic from his criminal days. It has been warped into a shell-encrusted icon of a weapon, sturdy and jagged enough to go up against even the mightiest renegade krakens, and even a fair few of the creatures found on the mainland.

Magic: Vorris, through the myriad gifts granted to him by Nahargu’ul, is capable of the following - breathing underwater, fast and agile swimming, sensing vibrations, seeing in the dark of the depths, commanding the creatures of the sea to do his bidding, and controlling water in great volumes to his every whim.

Age of Rebuilding: Return of the Gods

@dragonmancer Teresa's actually a character of my own creation. Her backstory's come to change from time to time.

Last I recall, I put her clan's name as Bol'hjar.