A Thorn In The Hand OOC

[Machuchang]

Well, it was bound to happen eventually.

[Simba]

Hi all! It looks like we will be playing together, I'm glad I got in.

Until (much) later :)

/me goes off to read the IC.....

[Wordplay]

@Malak'ai: Quick lore questions. I was about to have Raif rebut Verossa a little more specifically, but I realised that I would be relying several assumptions.

Checking back I find the cult has been a problem for 15 years, so I'm right in thinking that Raif's childhood happened long before the cult, since Raif is 42.

The first assumption that I'd made was that Raif had only left the lands of the cult in the last two to four years, and that therefore he had some experience of living under the cult. (Raif's home town is quite deep in Covenant territory, according to the map, and it's established in Raif's back story that he lived there until adulthood at least).

The second being that there were plenty of human towns in the cult lands - places with more brutal laws than the Free lands, but not so different.

So I was wondering if it would be possible to clarify this a little. If the lands are as Verossa describes, then Raif has probably been gone longer, and either doesn't know what life under the cult is like, or does, and escaped it.

If, on the other hand, the lands of the cult are anything like my assumption, then Raif probably left more recently.

So I guess my questions boil down to:
1) How long ago did Raif leave the lands now held by the Covenant?
2) Does Raif have experience living under the Covenant?
3) If the answer to 2) is yes, what is life under the cult like?

Sorry for the length of the post - just want to make sure I avoid causing any continuity snarl.

[Wordplay]

@Simba: Oh, and hi Simba! You ninja'ed me there. Welcome aboard, nice to have you with us.

[Malak'ai]

Wordplay:

Spoiler

Show

Okay, I was kinda dreading a question like this because, even though I know what the answer is, if I gave it, it'll take many paragraphs and give away a lot of information that could influence decisions that you make before actually making it into a largely populated area. So I'll only give a very vague overview if that is alright .

The conditions under The Covenant is, in a nutshell, like an extreme version of a very corrupt dictatorship.
Those in power use and abuse it in anyway they want.
There are internal power struggles in the lower and middle levels of control. Powerful/rich/ambitious families plot, backstab and straight out murder each other to try and gain favor with the higher ups.
The common people are treated worse than the dirt under the feet in most places. Random beatings, killings and torture are all everyday occurrences. This is made worse by army 'recruiters' wandering from town to town/city to city, scooping up anyone they choose and forcing them to the front lines.
Monster races, although still considered 'lesser beings' by The Covenant and The Hand are given more freedom than the humans as they have come to join The Covenant of their own free will.

As to how long Raif has been out of the controlled territory, that's up to you.
Seeing as adulthood for Human's starts at 18, Raif would have been 27 when The Covenant first came to power. They didn't automatically control all that territory, it was fought for or conquered via treachery.
Seeing as Raif's home town is in one of the areas that would have been taken over quiet early (say within the first 3, maybe 4 years), he could well have been in a town under their sway for many years.

And yes, welcome to Simba (sorry I didn't say it before, kinda been back and forth from the computer for the last couple of hours).
Please don't take too much of what is said here in the OOC thread seriously, we use it to joke around a lot .

[Arranis Thelmos]

Hello Simba, a pleasure. :)

Be warned, here thar be Dire Hummingbirds.

[Malak'ai]

And Top Hat wearing Gnomes who think they are gigantic Willow trees capible of swallowing Halflings whole .

[Machuchang]

@Simba: It's a pleasure to have you! I'm quite looking forward to seeing what Maiali has to offer! I loved your backstory by the way, and I can't wait to see how you play him.

[Malak'ai]

D_Man, could I get you to do an edit to the table of characters please?
If you could add in Simba, put a strike through Daranand and also a "Status" column on the end with "Active" for you guys, "TBI" for Simba and "Retired" for Daranand.

[Malak'ai]

Don't worry Machuchang and D_Man, it's not a Dire Hummingbird, though it could still be a hat eating menace .

[Machuchang]

Thank you, Malak'ai. For this lack of a Dire Hummingbird, I am eternally grateful.

[D_Man_7733]

Finished the table addition/edit.

[Malak'ai]

Thank you very much Oh Master of Tables.

Drayner seems to be quite paranoid about that bird thing doesn't he?

[D_Man_7733]

"NOT MY HATS!"

Yes, I feel like you are doing it on purpose/will be doing it on purpose from now on, if it wasn't important before, it either will be know, or you will torture me with it by making it a Spellwarped Dire Hummingbird...

I actually feel like adding something to do with hummingbirds to my character background now... just something simple like, the sound of a hummingbird giving him a headache up close.

I still think that bird-thing just destroyed the entire pavilion we came from and everyone but Tahlrumy is dead.

[Malak'ai]

Do you think that I would be so evil as to taunt you constantly with some sort of giant, possibly demonic or angelic, bird?

[D_Man_7733]

Angelic didn't even cross my mind... so it probably won't cross Drayner's... ever. I just realised I haven't even looked at my Knowledge rolls, so for all I know, I critical failed, and your just feeding me misinformation... grrr, it is extraplanar, it destroyed the Pavilion, so it needs to be killed, it is evil.

Don't torture me like this Malak'ai! Being a DM doesn't mean you can commit psychological warefare agains the players... oh wait, yes it does... carry on then.

[Arranis Thelmos]

Don't worry Machuchang and D_Man, it's not a Dire Hummingbird, though it could still be a hat eating menace .

No! It's going to go for my magnificent top hat! It's tall, black, silky, and has a pair of angry eyes stitched into it with the phrase "eyes up here" sewn in beneath it. Nooooooo!

[Machuchang]

@Arranis: At least you don't have any flowers on it. I hear Dire Hummingbirds are crazy for flora.

[Malak'ai]

Don't torture me like this Malak'ai! Being a DM doesn't mean you can commit psychological warefare agains the players... oh wait, yes it does... carry on then.

Drayner's next dream sequence: Drayner running through the grass naked, constantly looking over his shoulder at the slowly approaching shadow of a gigantic flapping....

[Machuchang]

@Malak'ai: Not gonna lie, but that sounds super-dirty.

[D_Man_7733]

Drayner's next dream sequence: Drayner running through the grass naked, constantly looking over his shoulder at the slowly approaching shadow of a gigantic flapping....

NO, NO, PLEASE NOOOOOOO!
I already had a dream sequence thought out, but that makes it extremely scary if combined...

[Malak'ai]

@Malak'ai: Not gonna lie, but that sounds super-dirty.

My mind is nowhere near the gutter... I'd need to climb K2 to even get anywhere near the gutter

NO, NO, PLEASE NOOOOOOO!
I already had a dream sequence thought out, but that makes it extremely scary if combined...

Muahahaha

[D_Man_7733]

Wait... is there a bush in the gutter? I BETTER NOT BE ON A GRASSY GNOLL!

The gutter is relative, I believe my mind is somewhere in the plane of sewage.

[Machuchang]

Wait... is there a bush in the gutter? I BETTER NOT BE ON A GRASSY GNOLL!

You guys are making this so easy.

[Malak'ai]

D_Man: I do not want to know about your "Grassy Gnoll"

Machuchang: Take your best shot

[D_Man_7733]

@ Malak'ai, I'll spare you the minor details, but let me just say there was a sword that had the ability to detect "good" (if you know what I mean)

I was referencing the hilarious story of Ed and the Gazebo, I am ashamed that you saw some sexual innuendo in that statement.

[Marlowe]

Hello again, Simba!

Bear in mind that Verossa's only been on the front lines (or occasionally, owing to the chances of war, slightly in front of them) against the Covenant. Her experiences fighting them have been pretty nasty, and her mental picture of what's in their homefront is worse. She's definitely a little shell-shocked, and is using her basic optimism and affability as a crutch to keep herself together. She has no illusions as to how bad it could be where we're going.

Incidentally, what ARE the Covenanter armies like? Verossa would know. I've been working on a mix of terrorised conscripts and barbaric human and humanoid mercs supported by undead and summoned creatures, probably led by a few extremely powerful and selfish individuals. It's the standard "Evil" army setup.

I used to make jokes make in my HOTT days that "Good will always triumph over Evil, because Evil never bothers to train its infantry".

[Malak'ai]

@ Malak'ai, I'll spare you the minor details, but let me just say there was a sword that had the ability to detect "good" (if you know what I mean)

I was referencing the hilarious story of Ed and the Gazebo, I am ashamed that you saw some sexual innuendo in that statement.

I know what you were referencing, I just choose to ignore it .

Hello again, Simba!

Bear in mind that Verossa's only been on the front lines (or occasionally, owing to the chances of war, slightly in front of them) against the Covenant. Her experiences fighting them have been pretty nasty, and her mental picture of what's in their homefront is worse. She's definitely a little shell-shocked, and is using her basic optimism and affability as a crutch to keep herself together. She has no illusions as to how bad it could be where we're going.

Incidentally, what ARE the Covenanter armies like? Verossa would know. I've been working on a mix of terrorised conscripts and barbaric human and humanoid mercs supported by undead and summoned creatures, probably led by a few extremely powerful and selfish individuals. It's the standard "Evil" army setup.

I used to make jokes make in my HOTT days that "Good will always triumph over Evil, because Evil never bothers to train its infantry".

Pretty much this though maybe not so much of the undead (doesn't mean they aren't there though), except the core of the army is trained.

[Wordplay]

@Malak'ai: Thanks for the back ground; that's all I needed. The impression I had was that it was pretty much like that. It's good to know, and I won't .push for any more info. (Just use Knowledge: Local checks in future)

As to how long Raif has been out of the controlled territory, that's up to you.
Seeing as adulthood for Human's starts at 18, Raif would have been 27 when The Covenant first came to power. They didn't automatically control all that territory, it was fought for or conquered via treachery.
Seeing as Raif's home town is in one of the areas that would have been taken over quiet early (say within the first 3, maybe 4 years), he could well have been in a town under their sway for many years.

It seems like the Covenant came to power roughly around the time Raif managed to buy himself from slavery and seize his former owners assets. (As a trusted slave, Raif would have been allowed to keep a little money. I imagined he invested it wisely (and crookedly) and saved up for himself, then bought up his owners debts through a series of fronts).

The confusion from the Covenant probably helped Raif more than anything, and he'd likely remember the years immediately after their takeover as the best time in his life! I guess he lived as a respected landowner under the Covenant for about 5 years, at which point he manumitted his slaves. (As one of the richest men in a small town, so basically allowed to do what he wanted, as long as he could keep playing the game well enough to stay on top). So Raif probably left home aged 32, wondered Covenant lands until 35, and has been outside their controlled territories for 7 years (although some of the former alliance held lands he travelled through will now be Covenant held). I think that clears it up, and reconciles everything nicely.

Hmm...I hope all that extra detail is all OK. It's going to make it fun playing Raif, because, apart from his crazy theological beliefs, he really is from a different culture to the others.

[Malak'ai]

Absolutely fine as long as you remember it, because I can't give garantees that I will .