The Harbinger of Ferocity

Post a random fact about yourself.

Whenever it is I read over my own works, I find that they are never to the standards I would hope they live up to. I place these unreasonable expectations upon myself and others but such is the nature of pursuing an ideal.

Marvels of Mountain City

Does one have a rough timeline for when reviews of other character sheets will be done? It is clear that you are busy, but I ask out of the sake of curiosity for myself and how to schedule the next coming week for myself, @Omega Man.

D&D 3.5e - The Marches of the Savage Realm

The Savage Realm

Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e

Setting

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It has been thirteen years since the southern kingdoms went to war, dragging the second largest power in all the land into conflict and all but sealing the fate of over three quarters of the continent. What was already a dark age in the decline of the arcane arts and each sovereign holding the world over has now reached breaking point, that which has made possible the terrible things of a dangerous realm to return and no more are there heroic champions of many banners or many guilds to stop them. Instead, there is only one forsaken hold on the land that is the border between the outer turmoil that has crept in over this period and that of the inner turmoil between kings and their kingdoms, the Marches. It is a mountainous, woodland buffer between Dorrathar, the last great crown and the sole one not embroiled in warfare across its rolling countryside, and the untamed Hinterlands which are plagued by all manner of things from the Great Wilds further east.

The Marches is a land blasted by events long since forgotten, where crumbling stonework defenses dot various peaks and hills among the thickets of trees or plentiful chill grassland, and only dared into by the desperate - of which now there are many. It is now a frontier land, backed only by the remains of the continent spanning Western Wall, and increasingly filled with those fleeing the worst conflict seen in a millennia or more since the gods and their influence were cast out of the Material Plane, or the famine and illnesses that came with these refugees in their exodus. These people, ill prepared and ill equipped to face those things of the east, are now trapped. This land, that of the Marches, is the place where one bars their home not only to ward off thieves, but the wolves outside their door; a place where even the roaring flame of a torch is not enough to scare off anything that dares lurk the night. They face their deaths either at the hands of the hostile environment or the world they fled from. Many scrounge for what they can and so what farming communities do exist, they cling tooth and nail on all that they have, one poor harvest from disappearing into the merciless winter or the hungering jaws of those beasts which stalk it.

There is no further travel to the east at that, for as the wilderness grows thicker the closer one comes to the Great Wilds, so too does the likelihood of encountering elves. Unlike their now distant cousins who held out in the west long after the fall of the Lost King and the crusade which broke the grasp of the divines, these elves have turned to ways far older. They are deadly killers, stalkers among the trees, and have only searing, vengeful hatred for any and all interlopers. There is no refuge to the north either, for even if one pressed through the mountains of the roaring wilds and every manner of monster that calls them and their sporadic ruins home, the dwarves in their mountain citadel have not been seen for ages, and the towering stone doors remain sealed. So it cannot be said if they live any longer or at all, rather that there is no escape. Either one must fight for every little scrap they may or that too disappear into the Marches' unspoken history for good.

However, in this dire twilight hour, some hope still exists. Even as the nobility of the land hides away in their timeworn keeps and feuds amongst themselves and one another, and even as the peasantry scrounges by to keep the wheels of their mills and little villages turning, opportunity has arisen. Those with novel or unusual skills, even those who have but arm to swing the sword, can find work in a land of dangerous opportunity. Yet that is not the case, at least not yet for you.

Story

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The adventure begins with one of the harsher realities of life in the Savage Realm, that the world is not good, and the world is not fair. Your character, right or wrong, has been arrested by the militia of one of the Marches' villages. Punishment is often brutal and humiliating and while trial by jury in this land is the law, there is no one that your character knows or who knows your character, thus there are no willing jurors to side on their behalf. This, by default, has made the defendant guilty and while the worst of punishments in death has been avoided, it is clear that whatever the peasantry and their few officials intend, it will not be pleasant or in the favor of the character. Fortunately, as fate would have it, a few other poor, miserable souls have been brought in from the surrounding countryside and other villages to stand justice - these individuals just so happen to be the other members of the party in some cases. Regardless of their guilt, or your own character's guilt, they are found guilty in public demonstration but are instead wrangled together to serve the interests of the community until their "debt" to justice is paid.

The militia is not as well armed, equipped, prepared, or even trained as your party, and it becomes quickly evident the best use of them in their "service" to have their names and their marks cleared is to perform those tasks too dangerous for the rest of the communities in the area. Congratulations, the party are now "adventurers" in name, even if not in actuality. What is done from there, if anything, depends upon your actions for your characters and that of others. The overarching narrative, with or without the party, will continue, and consequences from whatever deeds done or not done will continue to accumulate and play out.

Overview

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This is a Dungeons and Dragons 3e, Dungeons and Dragons 3.5e, and Pathfinder hybrid campaign, where all first and second party material is legal with approval, starting with characters at 1st level. It will be largely geared toward inexperienced players as several of the participants have never played a tabletop of this variety and or on a forum topic. The majority of the setting will orient itself toward a "sword and sorcery", "low fantasy", adventure through a dense, diverse wilderness environment alongside sporadic traditional "dungeon crawls" with a large amount of exploration and combat. Likewise, despite the game orienting toward a fair amount of combat, combat is not always the only solution, and moreover not everything should be fought - sometimes withdrawing might be the safest plan of action. Players are expected to be active and utilize the plethora of resources provided to them via an off-site service, while the game itself will be entirely play-by-post on the forum. Character submissions are expected to be grounded, more serious submissions, and focus on a narrative of trying to build character by overcoming adversity and trial, as well as forming a party dynamic by bonding with one another. The Dungeon Master, in all circumstances, retains ultimate executive authority but the game will be played verbatim by its rules unless exceptions need be made to account for events or decisions that the rules do not cover.

Players

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The individuals listed below are the following persons who have been permitted access to this game. At this time of writing, at most two applications will be accepted, for a total party of five characters. Interested persons may voice their interest in this topic but may not post character sheets in that section until first approved by the Dungeon Master. Applicants must be active members with reliable posting.

The Dungeon Master
@The Harbinger of Ferocity

The Party
@BangoSkank
@Hellion
@TyrannosaursRex
@Lauder
@Lord Wyron

Post a random fact about yourself.

Almost daily people in some way reveal to me they should not be trusted and do not actually deserve respect. Unfortunate for myself that my code of conduct demands that I do these things, regardless of any wiser alternative. Such is the nature of living by example, I suppose.

Post a random fact about yourself.

There is something irksome to me about the nature of food intended for companion animals, in that all too often I note it is increasingly marketed toward the needs of the people, not so much the animals themselves. While I can appreciate the move away from the processing of old, cramming into these things which these animals have no need in their diet just to sell more product - effectively filler - is tiresome. There is a reason these additions and supplements are not seen in ex situ conservation or even zoo dietary plans for related organisms.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I knew a man who was the closest thing to a professional treasure hunter in the modern age I can come to think of. He collected fossils, gemstones, meteorites, and relics for private sale, many of which made him quite wealthy. He was also an eccentric in the highest regard and a touch paranoid, overall a novel character.

Marvels of Mountain City

I am pleased that for once I am not the only one who dabbles in astral forces or that a cosmic demi-god might run into my character and that not be an annoyance, rather a place to interact. That is, I confess, a true rarity, so I do hope that pans out. I see we have almost a dynamic there too born of that, man and science compared to animal and nature, a nice paradigm. More entertaining is that I did not read fully the similar character even and that instead this concept was sitting in my conceptual pieces for some time, a nice dovetail all the same. Musings aside from reading back post completion here is what I have, @Omega Man.

The Aspect

Archetype:
Feral, Mystical
Name:
Timothy Moreland, listed as initially missing and presumed deceased as of February 23rd, 2013. The astral entity colloquially referred to as "The Aspect" operates under any number of names, appearing to have no real concept to any of them or any loyalty to the ideal. Known functional aliases include but are presumed not limited to "Scott Penn", "Christopher Snow", and "Mark Theron" but other informal titles directly related to its being exist as well, some of which it has addressed itself by as "The Wilder" or "The Red".
Alias:
"The Aspect", or simply "Aspect", is the functional designation used for the sake of convenience.
Age:
Moreland portrays an apparent physical age of twenty-six years while generous estimates place the the Aspect as young as 41,290 BCE. As with its name, little is known or understood about the "Aspect" due to its non-living nature.
Powers:
Mysticism or "pure magic" of and relating to the soul or spirits as well as interaction with the astral plane, see index references to Astral Manipulation with special emphasis on subsets of Astral Attacks, Astral Fortitude, Astral Projection, Astral Trapping, and Astral Vision. The most notable and overt of which is the manipulation of the body and soul, the method in which the "Aspect" manages to control the deceased, formerly Moreland. Because the "Aspect" is a spiritual entity, it can assume a variety of forms by manipulating itself, although it only takes a select set of them and will not vary. These are presumed to be in conjunction with its "feral" identity, that its make-up is biased in a certain direction and will not, even if reasonably capable of it, deviate from that.

Because the "Aspect" is a non-physical entity regularly, it is not regularly meaningfully harmed by material, physical interaction with the universe. While it can be disabled in the bodily world or even "killed" in that sense, such as by outright destruction of its possessed, manipulated form, the "Aspect" itself is only readily discorporated and pushed back into the astral plane, where it may manifest again in spirit form or simply remain there. Regularly, it will choose to to fight from either or both perspectives, tearing at soul and flesh alike with claw and fang.
Weaknesses:
Magic, note that spiritual entities are only readily physically and supernaturally vulnerable to forces of magic. While all forms of magic still impact them, some forms of magic are highly ineffective, such as those that manipulate the living or cause harm based on physical approximation. As consequence, psychic powers are much more effective as they directly confront and attack astral beings on a level that regularly only other astral beings can, another subset of its weakness to magic. Likewise, their physical manifestations into the world are not immortal even if unnaturally resilient and capable of functioning up to outright destruction.
Alignment:
Neutral, Walking the Line
Personality:
Aloof, Cunning, Mystical, Predatory, Prideful
Appearance:
Average in both weight and height for age, Moreland is a non-distinct adult white male with brown hair and brown eyes. Despite his status as an actually dead person, operant in body and name only, Moreland bears no evidence of his animation by the "Aspect" outwardly. Guided to appear like most his peers and draw as little attention to himself as possible, he frequently dresses appropriate for the occasion but never anything particularly well off; always subdued and likely to be ignored, fade into the background. Moreland is the type of regular person, presumably on purpose, who one would forget upon meeting them unless something unusual happened during that instance. As result, Moreland often at most wears a sweatshirt, jeans, and trail shoes, but will feign being affected by weather such as through appropriate dress.

The "Aspect", however, when manifest through Moreland or whatever it is in possession of, often takes its chosen form of an enormous cat. For obvious reason as it it is the "Aspect of the Ferine" or some spirit of old still left lingering that has coalesced to embody a number of ideals of its archetype. While it can change shape and size appropriately, as well as make itself "invisible" by entering the astral plane, while in possession of Moreland it cannot perform these more exotic changes such as its innate quality of being unseen by mundane methods. Regardless, it manifests physically and in astral forms as the aforementioned animal to do the majority of its work when it needs act directly.
Biography:
On Friday, February 22nd, 2013, at approximately 0952 hours, Timothy Moreland, a twenty-six year old college history student, departed on a solo hike in the Appalachian Mountains from Mountain City at the trail head of Ace of Clubs Trail, Warpath State Park. By 2300 hours, Saturday, Februrary 23rd, while it was determined he was missing, law enforcement were not notified by his roommates until that following Monday, more than forty-eight hours later. After several days of searching Warpath State Park and reasonable avenues of approach or departure, neither Moreland or his vehicle could be found, leading police to broaden their search. Moreland was never found and was never heard from again.

Unfortunately, Moreland had at some point during one of his nights lost in the forest encountered extraordinary phenomena and while it is unclear if he willingly addressed it or had attempted to flee from it, he did not see the sunrise of Monday. Moreland suffered a fatal fall from a mountainside scree field on Ace of Clubs Trail and was revived, physically, by the same thing he had encountered during his time in the forest. For all intents and purposes, this is where the story of Timothy Moreland ends. It is unclear why there was astral phenomena along this section of Warpath State Park, however, speculation by those informed on the incident itself suggest that he was targeted, likely because he was alone, lost, and vulnerable, and would serve as an excellent means to complete the objectives held by the "Aspect". After assuming the identity of the victim, the "Aspect" had an entry and a way into the world, further leading some to suggest it had been banished for an extended period, as its effective death is implausible.

In turn, the "Aspect of the Ferine" disappeared for a time and so did Moreland as consequence. Only relatively recently of the past year has there been growing evidence to suggest that the "Aspect" is overtly active again and acting on its agenda. What that agenda is, is unclear, but appears to orient around a pursuit of some kind that is relentless and singularly focused.
Potential Storylines:
There is no reason the "Aspect" posing as Moreland cannot be convinced to and from either side of Mountain City's forces. Its agenda is its own and it has no through and through loyalties, making it a readily available ally if the interests align. While this design makes it untrustworthy to the ends of others and difficult to manipulate long term, it is a force with as of yet shaped direction.
Notes:
No additional comment provided by reviewer.

Marvels of Mountain City

Seeing that this still appears to be open and is oriented around a large group with a large cast of characters, I am hopeful there still exists room for added interested parties. With that hope in mind, would it be possible to cast another character into the collection, @Omega Man? Something along the lines of a more neutral path and dipping into hose things feral and mystical at the same time such as an incarnate spirit which uses powers of that variety? Do let me know, I did read over the thread so far once but given the raw amount of material, for the better of course, it is possible I may have missed something.

Post a random fact about yourself.

I have little patience for the antics of people and I speak to them directly, honestly, and with what it is I have to say. I have no time for their games or this whole social song and dance; the entirety of that is meaningless to me. And as while I am patient, perhaps far, far too patient, I will not be tread upon and have my time wasted. Apparently these facets of personality are disagreeable to people.

What Are You Listening To?

Forty Six & 2

Having forgotten this piece for some time it only returned to me after a theory about it relating to the integration of the Shadow surfaced and how that relates to the greater narrative told in the song as some sort of overarching element. Having read into its elements, I myself do agree there is an undertone of it.