OOC - Character Workshop

[koshkoo]

Works fine for me...
I'll get on to it.

[Drusia]

Name: Drusia Valis
Age: 1841
Race: Elf (Rinkai Erufu)
Gender: Female
Job: Ranger / Peregin

Personality: Drusia, like many of the rangers, was on the wrong side of the Erant war. Although too young to fight until the very end of it, she remembers it clearly enough to be disgusted with her own people and prefer the company of others. As a Rinkai, what she does with other races tends towards things that other elves would likely disapprove of. She is also rather lacking in confidence about her combat abilities, and far prefers stealth to direct confrontations. Against a powerful, pissed off, magically inclined foe, Drusia is more likely to sneak off and hide than attempt a kill (better to come back when he/she/it is asleep). Aside from that, Drusia generally treats her duties as a Ranger as an extended vacation. She kills enough Errants to keep in good with her superiors, but just barely. Like Sarine, she tends to ignore half-elves who don't fit her definition of Errants, and (in a particularly magicaly-disinclined area) might even disguise herself as a half-elf or human.

Abilities: Drusia has never been good at combat magic. Or sword fighting, for that matter. Where she excells is stealth; invisbility, sound dampening, a little time magic to allow her to seemlingly 'vanish' and reappear nearby, and some illusions to disguise herself with. She's also a competent knife fighter, although she'd rather stab someone in the back than try to fight them head on. Of course, she has all standard ranger equipment, and is known for calling in backup more often than other rangers.

History/Backstory: About 300 years ago, there was a brief period of time when all of Drusia's reports came from the same general area, as though she wasn't traveling around much. Fortunately, none of her superiors seemed to notice. The break in her usual patern was caused by Drusia becoming pregnant and having a half-elven child, a fact that she has kept a close secret. While her child (and the father) have long since died of old age, Drusia keeps a protective eye on her descendants, particularly to make sure no other rangers find them. Also, with the rediscovery of Tsuiraku, Drusia has put some effort into learning the contraception spell to prevent future "accidents" from occuring.

OOC stuff: So, not sure which RP section would be best for my character. She can pretty much show up anywhere, since, being a ranger, she's likely to lurk about being quiet and mysterious for a while before really showing her face. Thoughs?

[Graybeard]

Oh, my. VERY interesting character.

OOC stuff: So, not sure which RP section would be best for my character. She can pretty much show up anywhere, since, being a ranger, she's likely to lurk about being quiet and mysterious for a while before really showing her face. Thoughs?

How much of a hurry are you in to get this character introduced? She fits incredibly well with some stuff that's going to be happening in the Ramanzel/Lorenzel mystery, but the best opportunity to connect her to the main party won't happen for several days yet. If that interests you, drop me a PM and I'll fill you in (but not completely...) on the connection. If you'd rather she got going immediately, some more generic encounter in the Rinkaiel thread should be easy to arrange. Either way, I'm very much looking forward to interacting with this one...

[Drusia]

Okay, some mild revisions...

Name: Drusia (or Drusia Valis while among humans/half-elves)
Age: 2241
the rest pretty much the same

Also, I forgot physical description.
Drusia has long hair which is a light bluish green color (sort of a pale aqua). She also has green eyes. She is 6'2", so a little short for an elf (shorter than Misa, but taller than Sarine). Being a Rinkai, Drusia is very beautiful, even for an elf. And she knows it. She likes to play that up, charming her way past difficult situations with a smile and some flirting. When she's working, Drusia wears human-made padded leather as armour (with a couple of minor modifications to make it more "attractive") beneath her elven Ranger cloak.

I think that's just about it. Looking forward to my introduction here in a few days. ^^

-- Drusia

[Xzen]

Long-story-short, I've been curious about Errant Road, I've recently read through the comic start-to-current to refresh myself on things, with occasional forays into the Heretic Knowledge Vault, and I've read the Air-Pirates storyline... only to find that the madcap energy has wound to a halt!

I want to jump-start that story line again, if for no other reason than to give myself something entertaining to read. Marvelous stuff there.

This is going to be VERY rough, probably need some revision, but here we go...

--==--

Name: Xzen Dvorak
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Nationality: Veracian
Occupation: former priest

History/Backstory:
Young Xzen Dvorak grew up in a fervently religious household in Emerylon. Having demonstrated a mild proficiency in the use of magic, particularly healing, a career in the priesthood seemed an obvious choice for Xzen. Upon completing his time as a novitiate, Xzen's faith in Luminosita seemed unwavering, so his first assignment from the Veracian Church was to replace an elderly, ailing priest at a small chapel on the outskirts of Saus.

What the church wasn't counting on was that Xzen Dvorak was capable of thinking for himself. Quite capable, in fact. He had just never needed to, because everyone around him had always seemed to do his thinking for him, usually to his satisfaction, so he left well enough alone. However, being in a rowdier city such as Saus and not having any convenient church elders around to do his thinking for him, Xzen was forced to think for himself. His efforts at religious outreach brought him into contact with many... colorful... characters, and Xzen quickly learned that if he was willing to listen to them, they would be more willing to listen to him. And so over a period of several months, Xzen came into contact with more and more foreign travelers and non-believers who stated with certainty that Luminosita, while certainly real enough to smite people now and then, was nothing more than an artifical god-construct. At first, Xzen merely humored these heretical arguments, but over time, certain elements began to ring true.

As Xzen approached the one-year anniversary of his ordination, he asked for and was granted a five-day sabbatical from his post. With assistance from one of the aforementioned colorful characters, he put together a set of fake research orders, traveled back to Emerylon, and bluffed his way into the Heretic Knowledge Vault. After several days of reading and prayer that left his faith in Luminosita in serious jeopardy, he walked out of the Vault and into the main temple and immediately resigned his position, declaring himself unfit for the Veracian priesthood. He also stated his belief in the existence and inherent goodness of one true God, but that Luminosita himself was not that God. The church elders he spoke with were not amused, and Xzen was gently encouraged to leave Veracia entirely, which he did, ending up in the Farrelite city of Isabel.

With little money, few provisions, and a spiritual outlook that still put him at odds with most of the local citizenry, Xzen felt the most isolated and rudderless he'd ever felt in his life. So when he walked into a shady looking bar named The Happy Hookah and saw a flyer entitled "ADVENTURERS WANTED," he decided this was as good a way as any to restart his life, even if he was a former (and still in some ways current) "Veracian religious whacko." The hard physical labor involved could serve to focus his mind, and in the meantime even pirates still deserved to be healed of their injuries. And maybe, just maybe he'd be able to give this crew of rogues a subtle nudge on those occasions when they strayed a little TOO far from the path of righteousness...

(Needless to say, when he introduced himself to Shorty, he conveniently omitted his priestly history.)

Appearance/Personality:
Light-skinned, average height, slightly-but-not-spectacularly muscular build. Short dark hair, brown eyes, and clean-shaven. The Veracian Church was kind enough to provide Xzen with a single set of plain-looking civilian clothing to replace his priestly vestments before sending him on his way, and he used some of his meager funds to buy a second similar set so he could wear one set while laundering the other. Xzen tries not to stand out in a room or a crowd, but making that effort usually just seems to make him stand out as someone trying not to stand out.

Abilities:
Moderately skilled in a variety of spells with peaceful applications, though no more so than any average priest, or many average Farrellians for that matter. No formal combat training whatsoever, though he did pick up a few informal hand-to-hand combat moves as a result of several particularly heated theological debates in Saus. You might be surprised if you pick a fight with Xzen. Or not. Also, currently utterly useless with a firearm, though he may wish to change that in the near future given his current career tack.

--==--

The way I'm thinking, Xzen's initial appearance could take the form of being on deck assisting with repairs and engrossed in his tasks. The sound of Rip disposing of the airship bomb gets his attention, and Xzen observes both the threat to the small town below and Rip's nonchalant dismissal of that threat... which leaves it to Xzen to do something about it. This would be the first time he does anything truly of note on the voyage, explaining why nobody's really noticed him until now.

Thoughts?

[Graybeard]

Xzen looks like a very well developed, well-thought-out character; welcome! And feel free to do something manic in the Airship Pirates thread at your earliest opportunity.

One minor thing to be aware of is that in the world of Errant Road (but not Errant Story itself), there are several minor sects/denominations/branches off the mainstream of the Veracian Church. If one takes the Catholic church as the model for the Veracian one, these groups correspond to anything from Jesuits (still "within" the mainstream, if considered a bit odd by some of the other mainstream people) to the Reformation (well outside that mainstream, definitely worship the same god but considered heterodox by some mainstream practitioners, formerly held as bitter enemies by the mainstream, but some rapprochement has occurred over the years) and even Mormons (details still developing). All are very small compared to the "Orthodox" Veracian Church, but a couple of them play significant roles in the other game venues. Xzen need not be a member of any of these, and might or might not even be aware they exist. None have yet shown up in Airship Pirates, anyway.

[Xzen]

Xzen looks like a very well developed, well-thought-out character; welcome! And feel free to do something manic in the Airship Pirates thread at your earliest opportunity.

One minor thing to be aware of is that in the world of Errant Road (but not Errant Story itself), there are several minor sects/denominations/branches off the mainstream of the Veracian Church. If one takes the Catholic church as the model for the Veracian one, these groups correspond to anything from Jesuits (still "within" the mainstream, if considered a bit odd by some of the other mainstream people) to the Reformation (well outside that mainstream, definitely worship the same god but considered heterodox by some mainstream practitioners, formerly held as bitter enemies by the mainstream, but some rapprochement has occurred over the years) and even Mormons (details still developing). All are very small compared to the "Orthodox" Veracian Church, but a couple of them play significant roles in the other game venues. Xzen need not be a member of any of these, and might or might not even be aware they exist. None have yet shown up in Airship Pirates, anyway.

Thank you! The last time I did anything like this was YEARS ago. Hope I didn't go overboard on fleshing him out, but I wanted to make sure I didn't miss anything stupid.

I meant to address the different branches, actually... Xzen was a priest in the main, central Veracian Church. During his time in Saus, he became aware of the other off-shoots, and during his crisis in faith even considered joining one. But he decided to stick with being a spiritual "free agent" for now, as it were.

Also, it occurred to me later that your line "Well, not our problem, Rip thought incorrectly, as he went back to bed" implies that you have something in mind for the future. I don't want to step on those plans, and while Xzen's introduction to the story will be to TRY to prevent that disaster, by no means does he have to SUCCEED. Actually, that's probably more realistic anyway. Xzen could certainly cast "slow fall" on the whole mess to buy time for himself and the town below, but lacking much skill in combat spells, there's not a whole lot else he could try anyway. Maybe a lackluster attempt at a basic "force bolt" or something to alter its fall. To even get on the ship at all, he had to play up his healing/repair spells, his youthful energy, and his willingness to work hard without whining when he introduced himself to Shorty.

I'll wait 'til later tonight, and then I guess I'll go make my grand introduction on the Bonny Read.

[Graybeard]

Also, it occurred to me later that your line "Well, not our problem, Rip thought incorrectly, as he went back to bed" implies that you have something in mind for the future. I don't want to step on those plans, and while Xzen's introduction to the story will be to TRY to prevent that disaster, by no means does he have to SUCCEED. Actually, that's probably more realistic anyway. Xzen could certainly cast "slow fall" on the whole mess to buy time for himself and the town below, but lacking much skill in combat spells, there's not a whole lot else he could try anyway. Maybe a lackluster attempt at a basic "force bolt" or something to alter its fall. To even get on the ship at all, he had to play up his healing/repair spells, his youthful energy, and his willingness to work hard without whining when he introduced himself to Shorty.

I'll wait 'til later tonight, and then I guess I'll go make my grand introduction on the Bonny Read.

Not to worry. In the other two, long-running threads (there have been at least five other Forum topics on the way to Rinkaiel and more than that en route to Lorenzel, which has a tremendously developed history), there is a very general set of plot themes/threads, and the specter of a BBEG in the background (development of which is split between yours truly and Viking-Sensei) who might appear any year now. In Airship Pirates, there really isn't such a thing; it is completely free-form, with participants free to help devise quests, challenges, bad guys, NPCs, you name it. The only "requirement" is that it be done in a way that's broadly compatible with the Poe-verse, i.e., a fairly normal-looking world enhanced but not dominated by magic, no "superpowers," and so on, with a secondary requirement not to abuse participants -- see the "Unified Theory" thing that Impy wrote. You want to save that little town below from the grossness that Rip unthinkingly dumped on them? Feel free. Or don't, but rather, have fun cleaning up the mess it makes when it makes landfall. Or mutate it into a whole load of bunnies. Or just blow stuff up. Or decide that it isn't really a town at all, but a collection of semi-sentient giant slugs preparing to march on Isabel. Your call...

[Itterind]

So how about a mist adept? A mage specializing in illusions with moderate healing and ice/water magic on the side?

I was thinking... from the Confederacy or Tsuiraku?

[Graybeard]

So how about a mist adept? A mage specializing in illusions with moderate healing and ice/water magic on the side?

I was thinking... from the Confederacy or Tsuiraku?

Sounds feasible, and you might also consider the possibility that he/she is more of a shamanistic type from the Southern Continent.

Any idea which of the three venues this character might fit into? Airship Pirates would likely be the easiest, followed by Rinkaiel. It might be difficult to work him/her into Lorenzel.