But I wanted to be a fighter....IC

[jakarta]

This isn't your usual meeting. You are on your way to a new, albeit temporary, job.

This city is on the way, and you have heard that there is no group where you are heading, so this may be your last session in a while.

Some places set the chairs in a semi-circle facing a lectern. This place puts the chairs in a circle.

You knew there was a meeting here because the sign of the chrysalis was above the door, indicating a meeting place, and a paper butterfly was wired to the door handle, meaning today. Otherwise you would have had to discreetly ask the priest...

The cellar is cool, but comfortable. Not really damp. A bit of a smell... The walls decorated with the usual Butterfly motif.

There is coffee and cake and the usual flyers.

Some of the others are hooded, hiding snake eyes, horns, or worse. You are relatively lucky.

The priest starts by leading you with the usual prayers... "Grant me....." Perhaps you silently add "And a good place to hide the bodies..." to the end.

The priest looks your direction.

"Perhaps the newcomers would like to share first?"

[Lord Foul]

The man in heavy armor, a holy symbol around his neck and a green crystal in his left hand raised that hand "ah. Hello, I guess it's only right I go first I guess. My name is Thomas Roland. I am a Paladin of Desna... I'm here because I touched a strange rock and then it ended up in my hand and started talking to me. It was insistent on teaching me things... strange magic I am unfamiliar with."

[jakarta]

"Hello Thomas". The chorus reply is a bit disorganized, with a hint of sarcasm in a couple voices. (Traditionally, full names are not given. Considered something of a newbe mistake.)

[Ancient]

Shaela shifts awkwardly in her seat and rises. The tall dark haired woman has curious orange and blue eyes. She makes pains to hide her hands, and ends up putting them behind her back.

Ummm...Hi, hello, I'm Shaela, I am...WAS a Hexenhammer Ranger, just like my father, Karst. He raised me, for as long as I can remember, never knew my...mother...any thought of her just made me cry. ANYWAYS, life was good. We made a life, not the best, but happy, out in the Borderlands, trapping and hunting, until eventually I was initiated into the Hexenhammers, an order of rangers that hunt Hags and Witches, well witches that hurt folks anyways. But it...it was a lie, a joke really. I am a Changeling you see. A changeling is the result of hag and human relations. My "mother" is a hag. Apparently my father was hunting her, and she decided to make a plaything out of him. And I was a result. He hid my appearance from the others, something...about the witchery made him think I was a normal human girl, and that my differences were something that needed to be hidden. Eventually, I received I received what is known as The Call. The Call is when Hags magically claim their children, mostly to eat or sacrifice. I resisted it, but the effort...it cost me. I began to exhibit "powers" and "abilities" and was, according to my Brother Hexxenhammers, "Tainted by Dark Forces." They locked me up, and and VOTED, VOTED FOR MY DEATH. My father, he pulled some planks off the back of the shack they had me tied up in and cut me loose. He told me to run, that he would be me some time. So, I ran, ran all the way here. I don't know if my father is alive or dead. I hope they didn't kill him, I mean, he's normal, they wouldn't, would they? But, he was weak, the Hag tricked him, made a fool of him. I don't know."

She holds her hands up to her face to cry, and you see her dark nails are sharp, claw like, like an animals. She notices your stares and quickly sits down.

[jakarta]

Shaela shifts awkwardly in her seat and rises. The tall dark haired woman has curious orange and blue eyes. She makes pains to hide her hands, and ends up putting them behind her back.

Ummm...Hi, hello, I'm Shaela, I am...WAS a Hexenhammer Ranger, just like my father, Karst. He raised me, for as long as I can remember, never knew my...mother...any thought of her just made me cry. ANYWAYS, life was good. We made a life, not the best, but happy, out in the Borderlands, trapping and hunting, until eventually I was initiated into the Hexenhammers, an order of rangers that hunt Hags and Witches, well witches that hurt folks anyways. But it...it was a lie, a joke really. I am a Changeling you see. A changeling is the result of hag and human relations. My "mother" is a hag. Apparently my father was hunting her, and she decided to make a plaything out of him. And I was a result. He hid my appearance from the others, something...about the witchery made him think I was a normal human girl, and that my differences were something that needed to be hidden. Eventually, I received I received what is known as The Call. The Call is when Hags magically claim their children, mostly to eat or sacrifice. I resisted it, but the effort...it cost me. I began to exhibit "powers" and "abilities" and was, according to my Brother Hexxenhammers, "Tainted by Dark Forces." They locked me up, and and VOTED, VOTED FOR MY DEATH. My father, he pulled some planks off the back of the shack they had me tied up in and cut me loose. He told me to run, that he would be me some time. So, I ran, ran all the way here. I don't know if my father is alive or dead. I hope they didn't kill him, I mean, he's normal, they wouldn't, would they? But, he was weak, the Hag tricked him, made a fool of him. I don't know."

She holds her hands up to her face to cry, and you see her dark nails are sharp, claw like, like an animals. She notices your stares and quickly sits down.

The "Hello Shaela" is mixed with the scraping of chairs on floors.... A few have moved further from the newly minted hag, but no one is running or drawing weapons. She seems safe, if not completely accepted.

The priest offers a box of tissue.

[Lord Foul]

Thomas looks slightly shocked. It's clear this is his first meeting here given that reaction. He does do the standard greeting of "hello Shaela" with everyone else though. When she starts crying he tries to give her a consoling pat on the back.

[Paralynx]

A young man in fashionable but disheveled clothing waits several more seconds before standing to tell his tale, to give Shaela and her grief what privacy he can by distraction. He runs a hand through dirty blond hair before beginning, "Hello everyone. My name is Dimitrio. Until a few weeks ago, I was a student at the academy in Restov. During a particularly spirited bout with a friend and fellow student, I," the young man pauses to take a steadying breath, "I lashed out with some ... magical force. The medics were barely able to save him, but I was immediately expelled. I almost killed my friend because I don't understand this power, and now I am obligated to pay back the cost of my previous years' attendance without the prospects that finishing my training would have allowed. So, I ran, and I kept running. Maybe this is far enough?" As he sits back down, the shield canted against the side of the chair starts to fall, but a quick hand flashes to the side and replaces it.

[Benoojian]

Scars cover the man's face and as he takes his turn the gruff voice echoes through the church, "Hello, my name is Vernon and I used to be a pit fighter. I used to be a famous gladiator until it was discovered that my amazing luck was due to a psionic talent. The final stroke was when I discovered the ability to put my enemies to sleep. I was devastated and then I was kicked out. I struck out and got in bar fights, just to feel something. Now I'm here trying to make something of my new life."

[jakarta]

Scars cover the man's face and as he takes his turn the gruff voice echoes through the church, "Hello, my name is Vernon and I used to be a pit fighter. I used to be a famous gladiator until it was discovered that my amazing luck was due to a psionic talent. The final stroke was when I discovered the ability to put my enemies to sleep. I was devastated and then I was kicked out. I struck out and got in bar fights, just to feel something. Now I'm here trying to make something of my new life."

"Hello Dimitrio"


"Hello Vernon"

OCC: Let's see who else picks up after Monday. Enjoy what's left of the 4th Weekend. If you are home and bored, you can have In-character side conversations at the cake and coffee table.

[Alhallor]

Greknor shifted nervously around his seat while hearing the tales of the other newcomers. Shaela's tale hit him especially hard, but kinda also gave him enough courage to also tell his tale. He hopped from his chair that was a little bit too high for the small dwarf and raises a blackscaled hand. The dwarf is a bit smaller than most of his folk, and instead of the usual chainmail he wears fitting leather armor and a broad hat made out of black leather. His black eyes nervously dart around the room.

Umm, hello. I'm Greknor, ummÂ… I have brought some cake. It's not about the cake! I was in these kinda famous dragon-slaying School. You know how most dwarves don't like dragons? Because they steal our gold? Well, we really, really didn't like dragons, at all. That's why we opened that Dragon-Slaying School. To teach us that we should try to avoid the tail. Chip they're wings first, pump them full of heavy crossbow bolts to get them down. Getting told about the scale colors and what they usually do, you know? Greknor gathers his courage for a moment then continues. Well, exactly at the graduation ceremony, where we should get out to kill our first dragon I looked at myself at the Mirror and... Well you can see for yourself.

He lifts his hat and reveals his face and lifts both of his hands that are full of patches of black scales.

I couldn't get back, I have no idea where this have come from, well they told me that my grandfather from my fathers side got away for days but... Well I really don't know what I should do now. It's been really weird. I like valuable things even more than usual and can't really sleep if I'm not on a pile of valuables, I can't get back to my familiy and just feelÂ… Lost, you know?

Greknor looks down, ashamed but also a bit reliefed.

Spoiler: OOC, Cake

Show

Baking check: (1d20+6)[12]

[jakarta]

Greknor shifted nervously around his seat while hearing the tales of the other newcomers. Shaela's tale hit him especially hard, but kinda also gave him enough courage to also tell his tale. He hopped from his chair that was a little bit too high for the small dwarf and raises a blackscaled hand. The dwarf is a bit smaller than most of his folk, and instead of the usual chainmail he wears fitting leather armor and a bright hat made out of black leather. His black eyes nervously dart around the room.

Umm, hello. I'm Greknor, ummÂ… I have brought some cake. It's not about the cake! I was in these kinda famous dragon-slaying School. You know how most dwarves don't like dragons? Because they steal our gold? Well, we really, really didn't like dragons, at all. That's why we opened that Dragon-Slaying School. To teach us that we should try to avoid the tail. Chip they're wings first, pump them full of heavy crossbow bolts to get them down. Getting told about the scale colors and what they usually do, you know? Greknor gathers his courage for a moment then continues. Well, exactly at the graduation ceremony, where we should get out to kill our first dragon I looked at myself at the Mirror and... Well you can see for yourself.

He lifts his hat and reveals his face and lifts both of his hands that are full of patches of black scales.

I couldn't get back, I have no idea where this have come from, well they told me that my grandfather from my fathers side got away for days but... Well I really don't know what I should do now. It's been really weird. I like valuable things even more than usual and can't really sleep if I'm not on a pile of valuables, I can't get back to my familiy and just feelÂ… Lost, you know?

Greknor looks down, ashamed but also a bit reliefed.

Spoiler: OOC, Cake

Show

Baking check: [roll0]

Check result: What ever kind of cake it is supposed to be, it is.

"Hello Greknor."

(Playing with an English as a Second Launguage teacher feedback:

This is singular. The s is voiced as an s. The i is like in fish, is, icky, itchy, inch....
This fish is icky.

These is plural. The s is voiced as a z. The E is like in bee, flea, sea, see.....
These bees are mean (hostile, not average). (thEEZ bEEZ)

Black items are not bright. Maybe you meant broad? (wide)


The verb form of relief is relieve. The past tense is relieved. )

[Prime32]

After Greknor is finished speaking, the next in line is a girl who looks somewhere in her teens – her face and robelike clothing mark her as Tian, but seem mismatched against her golden blonde hair.

"Eh?" she looks around with a confused expression as she realises that people are expecting her to speak. She begins slowly rising to her feet, until the girl next to her gives a faint smile and waves her down, rising to stand in her place.

"My... cousin is here with me." the older girl explains. She too is a blonde Tian, though dressed in local fashions. If she hadn’t said anything then the pair probably could have passed as sisters.

"My name is Tomoe. And, like some of the others joining us tonight, I am not entirely human." She pauses to smooth out her clothing, then continues.

---

"My father was a... baron? Count? A land-holder of moderate rank, and my mother a concubine. I am told that they met during one of father’s expeditions to a neighboring province, and that the two fell so fast in love that they returned home together the following night."

"Mother was ever the ‘mysterious foreign beauty’; she never spoke at much length of her family." Tomoe says, her voice becoming more quiet. "She would disappear at times, though, travelling with neither companion nor guard, her destination shared with no one. When she did, to me and me alone she would explain that she was visiting her relatives. I remember well how flustered she was on that day one of her relatives decided to visit her back." At those words she glances at the girl in Tian robes sitting next to her, who shrinks into her chair a little.

"For... various reasons, mother would come to share more about her circumstances over time, including the name of her home village. Father wanted to visit, but she cautioned him against it, for it was far. Years passed, and mother’s travels would become more rare. Eventually one of father’s retainers would report that he had travelled to the location of mother’s home village, but found nothing but ashes – the remains of a forest that had just been razed by a great fire. Strangely, when he went to neighboring settlements to ask about survivors, they would report that they had no knowledge of mother’s family dwelling in the area, nor had the valley ever been inhabited save by birds and beasts."

"Mother was distraught by this news. She would again disappear, and return with Misaki here," Tomoe gestures at the fidgeting younger girl, "telling us that she was the last survivor of her household and begging father to take her in. He agreed, and allowed her to employ Misaki as a servant. She and I became close, and would often play together. And perhaps that was fortunate, for it meant that I was the first to learn of Misaki’s exact background." She hesitates for a moment. "For you see, Misaki is... Yes, Misaki?" She turns to her cousin, who had begun tugging on her sleeve.

"Wouldn’t it be easier just to show them?"

"Well, if we may make a display of ourselves..." She glances at the priest, who gives a small nod. "Alright."

Misaki hops to her feet and gives a twirl. As she does, her body abruptly fades away like vapour, revealing a much different, much smaller form – the only constant being the golden tint of her hair. "My dear cousin Misaki is, as you can see... a fox."

---

As Misaki nestles into a fuzzy ball atop the chair, Tomoe pats her head and continues. "She and mother belonged to one of the old, waning clans – the wisefoxes with the power to deceive the senses. And perhaps that contact was the spark, for not long after that my own fox blood began to reveal itself. There were all sorts of ‘magic tricks’ I could perform – more than even Misaki – though mother bade me never to show them to others. I confess that, as shocking as it was," she says, tapping a button absently, "it all seemed terribly exciting at the time."

"In any case, while mother had been able to live as a human for many years now, the strangeness of her recent actions meant that rumours had begun to flare. A turn of poor weather battered our lands: harvests failed, and father’s health took a turn for the worse. Father’s first wife, I think, begrudged mother for all the concessions she received, and implied that she had something to do with it."

"Eventually father resorted to seeking aid from a neighboring province. The physicians insisted that he was in no condition to travel, but he insisted on making a grand, formal visit of it – going in person with a full entourage, my mother among them." Tomoe’s fists clench at her sides. "Bandits struck, or so I am told. Mother was killed, and father passed away a few days later."

"Naturally, there was chaos. I had scarcely time to grieve, for mother’s true form had been revealed in death. Mother, Misaki and I were foxes who had bewitched father, or so the story went, using our powers to bring the land to ruin. I was no longer considered a daughter of the house, not even a bastard, and it was all that we could do to flee. But rumours of the fox’s curse seemed to follow us, and it became ever harder to set down without being recognised. Misaki might have had an easier time if she simply abandoned the human world and returned to living among beasts, but she refused to leave me by myself."

---

She lets out a long sigh, and then the edges of her lips curl upward. "In the end, I turned to the sea, hoping for a new life in a distant land. Something about the port that day reminded me of a series of plays that I would attend with mother – a truly riveting story about the perils and intrigues of..." She hesitates for a moment, realising that Misaki is staring at her. "Well, to spare you the details, it is a story in which a young swordsman sets sail across the ocean, to become the hero of a kingdom of moths and beetles. Seeing the mark of the butterfly, you might call it a sign, or perhaps simply a flight of fancy, but I decided to follow it here."

"And that," she finishes quietly, "is my story."

Spoiler: OOC

Show

I make a character with Versatile Performance (oratory), and next thing I know my post is turning into a novel. What.

Perform check: [roll0]

[Ancient]

Shaela

Shaela seems to relax a bit, she felt so alone, but she can plainly see her circumstance is not so extraordinary a tale. She smiles a little, it feels good to be among like company again.

[Lord Foul]

Thomas is taken aback by the stories told to some extent "thank you for sharing. You are all quite strong to have come through these ordeals intact. If you'd have me, I'd be proud to have people of such determination and character at my side. And as it just so happens, the church of Desna has a job available, to be filled soon that could use upstanding warriors like yourselves"

[Paralynx]

Dimitrio is visibly relieved at the mention of work, having spent everything he had just to get this far. "Sounds lovely! My horse and I were about 2 days away from foraging for food and, if I'm being honest, I think she might be better at it than me."

[Alhallor]

After hearing the last newcomer story Greknor wanted to go and get some cake but he heard the most magical words. A job. He didn't wanted to appear to eager but something was driving him to it and towards Thomas. Hi, you said something about a job? From the church of Desna? What is it about? Protecting a caravan? Escorting some wandering priests?

[Ancient]

Shaela

Shaela perks up at the job opportunity. It would be good to stop brooding and start DOING something.

"I would be glad to help, if they would have me."

[Lord Foul]

"It's a small, simple job. Nothing too flashy or dangerous. The church of Desna wishes that the swallowtail festival have guards to make sure that the drunken revelry doesn't go too far. Breaking up fights if someone pulls a weapon, preventing vandalism, that sort of thing." He realizes it's not probably much those who were hoping to slay hags and dragons, but it's a start. Maybe someone would hear about how this job went and consider hiring them on for other jobs.

[Prime32]

Tomoe gives it some thought. It's not a bad offer - after all, she'd been interested in seeing this festival anyway. Nodding to herself, she turns to give Thomas her response. "I w-"

"Wh-what kind of festival is that? You swallow tails?"
Misaki has returned to human form, and is covering her rear with a nervous expression.

[jakarta]

Tomoe gives it some thought. It's not a bad offer - after all, she'd been interested in seeing this festival anyway. Nodding to herself, she turns to give Thomas her response. "I w-"

"Wh-what kind of festival is that? You swallow tails?"
Misaki has returned to human form, and is covering her rear with a nervous expression.

Swallowtails are a type of butterfly that have long tails like those of swallows...birds...
corrects the priest of Desna who was officiating the group. He then goes into a well memorized sermon of the Transfiguration of Desna's first helper into an immortal butterfly as a reward for for selfless service to Desna...

[Prime32]

Tomoe clears her throat in embarassment. "In any case, I would be happy to take you up on that offer, Thomas."

[jakarta]

Tomoe clears her throat in embarassment. "In any case, I would be happy to take you up on that offer, Thomas."

Spoiler: swallowtails

Show

[Lord Foul]

Thomas smiles widely, "that's grand. Well then in that case, tonight we celebrate, for tomorrow we must work"

[Alhallor]

Oh and they're I though it was about a sausage eating contest. Greknor listens intently on the priests story and then nods. It's about transformation? Huh... Greknor looks at one of his hands, a bit unsettled but snaps out of it. Well, you have my axe… Though I don't think we'll gonna need it, Thomas.