The conclave of the kings meets in Delphi but its too late. THe oracle lies dead, head split asunder from the shock at seeing the horror that is to come. A war has started. A war between the Gods and the Mortals. One that mortals cannot hope to win.
Across the known world great heroes have set to battling the Gods or their creatures of legend but many have fallen such as brave Perseus and the semi-divine Hercules. Now Odessysus has called for the braves and mightiest of all the Grecian heroes to come forth and fight against the Gods they have revered for their lives...
So the premise is a game set in a fantastical Ancient Greece. The gods and mortals have had a split now and the Gods have unleashed their fury upon the world. This has manisfested as both weather and the release of huge monsters of legends, if not the Gods themselves.
Now the last of the Grecian heroes are needed to assualt the Gods and if need be Olympus itself....
So the basic premise is that As the Kingdoms of Greece grew and propspered the faith waned. The monsters that existed in the world began to be dealt with by the mortal heroes as the Gods were too busy to intervene. This resulted in various hero worship cults that began to rival the worship of the Gods themselves. Infuriated by the veneration of mortals the Gods began to strike back withdrawing their power, sending portents of doom and destruction to oracles and sooth saysers.
The kings gathered and offered sacrifice but it was not enough. THe gods demanded more infuriated the heroes struck back.... the War had begun!
The Game begins as the Kings and Queens of Greece assemble in the idyllic port of Delphi to find the Oracle dead, her skull broken asunder by the horrifying portents of doom she has received. Something must be done and the ruling families have all arrived with tales of woe as monsters, godspawn and the gods themselves plauge the lands...
Berenike ("Bringing Victory") was born to King Iason of Naxos and a Bactrian princess, Roshanak ("Bright" or "Dawn"). Berenike is the youngest of three, but perhaps showed the most promise. She was born an albino; she has fair skin, platinum hair, and azure blue eyes. Born without color, this is an auspicious sign in the faith of Athena. It is thought that an albino has no 'true' color (of any kind, dark or light) and in that they are born without prejudice, a visible sign of wisdom bestowed by the goddess Athena. Her brother Leon ("Lion") was the oldest, and Agatha ("Good") was the second oldest. Leon was a holy warrior consecrated to Athena, whereas Agatha was a powerful healer.
Berenike, as the youngest, sought to get by on her charm and beauty. She was gifted with a stunning intellect and an unshakeable stubborness that got her into trouble more than it helped her out of it. An attempt to induct her into the faith as a priestess of Athena didn't work out so well once she reached eight. She had the intellect, but not the insight. She didn't have the discipline for wizardly magic. She didn't have the strength for arms, and her penchant for manipulating others with the 'innocent girl' look disqualified her (in her father's eyes) from ambassadorial work.
Things turned around when she was ten. She had run away after getting in trouble. She travelled to a nearby town, but she saw an older woman being mugged by three men. Despite having nothing more than pluck to aid her, Berenike ordered the three men to stop. Seems she thought she was recognizable to all and that the folks in this town would listen to her as the people in her home city did. Not so, and they left the old woman to advance lecherously upon the beautiful but pre-pubescent girl. She picked up a rock and hit one man in the head with it, but she didn't really have the strength to hurt him badly. Another man thought to tame her as he picked up a stick and swung at her. To everyone's surprise (Berenike included), the stick was stopped 4" away from her body - stopped cold.
She screamed at the man with all of her fury, and the men laughed, except curiously, the target of her anger. Blood trickled out of his nose and ears, and his eyes clouded with blood as his face ticked strangely. He jerked oddly a few times before falling down stone dead. The other two fled. Berenike was overcome with guilt and turned herself over to the soldiers there, but the little girl was exonerated (albeit quarantined until Naxan soldiers could come to collect her).
Upon hearing of the two strange powers she manifested and the unflinching bravery she showed to protect an old woman from three men when she was barely half their height, King Iason sent her to Athens to learn the secrets of war magics from an Athenian war college there. There she found her calling and she excelled. Having finally found something that was her own, that she was suited for intellectually and passionately, as the years passed she was no longer a troublemaker but an extremely mature and dedicated student of evocations with unflappable focus.
She commissioned into the Athenian army when a combined force of Pelopennesians attacked the North. Despite an attempt to hold her back because of her status (and worries that so beautiful a young woman would be too great a tragedy), she always found trouble. Not that she necessarily looked for it, and yet it found her nonetheless. At the time, she thought herself unlucky as she and her men, those that survived, barely made it out of this scrape or that. She wasn't good at soft motivation, but was a real firebrand. Later, Berenike would come to believe that Athena herself sent trouble her way - not to kill her, but to challenge her and help make her into the woman she ended up becoming.
After the war, which lasted some three years or so, she returned home to Naxos to find that an idyllic peace - almost a slumber - had fallen on the small kingdom. Her brother had become a legendary war hero himself, fighting besides generals, but was happy to return to a much slower pace at home. (Berenike herself had been decorated many times, but these were very limited engagements and much more humble commendations.) Agatha's spiritual gifts blossomed even further as she studied the secrets of life and death, and the power of the former over the latter. Berenike found that she was sick for excitement. She had spent the last many years preparing for and living in warfare. She become despondent, and finally her mother approached her and told her stories of her grandfather - Roshanak's father - who was a great adventurer that travelled about Asia Minor to right wrongs. It seems there was never any end to those monsters and villains (and even gods and their minions) who would visit evil on the world. If good people did not rise to stop them, they just might succeed.
And so, Berenike left home to strike out at the evil in the hinterlands that sought to encroach on civilized Man. Too vulnerable to do so alone, she would tag along with other veterans, mercenaries, and adventurers to strike out at bandits, gorgons, medusae and the like. She made her way to the far northwest of Illyria to encounter creatures fantastical - good and bad - especially the many types of fey there. It seems as Man grew, many Illyria became a bastion of beauty and wildness for the elusive fey. Unfortunately, this distance from the power of Man meant that greater and more powerful evils flourished.
The company Berenike had attached herself to was attacked by a powerful hydra that had preyed on the 'larger' (such as that is in fey terms) settlement of faerie-folk. Its rapacious hunger searched through the forests rapaciously to kill, whether or not it needed to feed. The company fought bravely, and were finally helped by other denizens of the forest. In the end, all of her band were killed, as were many satyrs, dryads, naiads of a nearby stream, some elves and pixies, and several centaur. Only two combatants remained: Berenike, and a centaur unlike any other that had wings and horns. Though not a peerless warrior, the centaur's tricky combat style took advantage of the sacrifice of those who had fallen in wounding the hydra. Head after head finally begain to fall, and Berenike was there to burn the stumps with fire magic before it would regenerate.
And that is how Berenike met her lifelong friend, Alcaeus, son of Hermes.
They learned that a band of giants contracted with dark powers (Ares? Hades?) to gain the services of powerful creatures to subjugate lower Illyria. Berenike knew that simple battle magic alone could not overcome the forces arrayed against them. She prayed long and hard and held a vigil and fast as Alcaeus slept farther off. At dawn, she was visited by a woman of unearthly beauty and awe dressed as a hoplite, but arrayed such that there was no doubt that she was no simple female. She learned then that Rokshana, though loving, was not her true mother. This woman - no woman, but a goddess, the goddess Athena - was her real mother.
Berenike vowed to her Mother that she would dedicate her life to destroying evil if only there were some way to get an edge. Athena accepted that vow and gifted Berenike with all the powers of a holy scourge after a few minor quests to test her resolve. (Because, having occurred off camera like that, we don't have to have the story follow the rules of standard level-by-level character creation.) Athena also taught her daughter that defeating evil couldn't be done by oneself. She exhorted Berenike to use that influence she had on others to gather together like-minded warriors and heroes. She then gave her daughter a Circlet of Council that would help give Berenike the insight she needed - especially in understanding enemy magics - to outwit what she otherwise could not outfight. For protection, she was given what has recently begun to be known as the Cloak of the Queen, so named because on it were placed powerful enchantments to protect Berenike from a variety of magics, poisons, and other dangers, but mainy because it helped to focus the woman's will and magnetism to aid her in both her magic and in leading others. Finally she was given an adamantine khopesh that was enspelled to handily smite all evil creatures.
Berenike did just that, and the cloud giant's plot failed. She and Alcaeus likely would've failed if they attacked like a normal adventuring party, but Berenike was able to marshal together all the races of Good (and those others whose livelihood was threatened) by herself and through many of their own leaders, and Gorakes was slain by Dilas, chief of the satyrs.
After going through many clues left behind by Gorakes, it was discovered that he was actually given pay and promises in a share of a kingdom by Caraxes, the King of Corcyra, an island west of Threspotia (itself south of Epirus) in the Ionian Sea. It seems that the King Caraxes was a tyrant and devotee of Ares with aspirations of building an army of inhuman creatures to carve out more real estate on the mainland of western Epirus, by way of Illyria. A group of powerful shades sent to assassinate the two heroes was narrowly thwarted by the companions' teamwork, but in a famous act of bravery Berenike saved Alcaeus' life even as she lay mortally wounded by the dark energies of the shades, and the centaur slew the remaining enemies.
For her sacrifice, and at Athena's prodding, Hermes himself appeared. He touched Berenike's lifeless and shriveled form, and she was fully revived with no loss of vigor. To her he gave a fabulous pair of boots and a Ring of Royal Safety. Together these items gave her great speed to avoid trouble, but once in trouble, the ring would help her escape. To his own son, Hermes bequeathed the legendary sword Hermedoron, as well as a set of horseshoes that would help make Alcaeus become one of the fastest creatures alive.
Discovering what forces were arrayed against them now, Berenike new that her hit-em-hard-and-fast methods weren't going to work. She also recognized that the Illyrians were content to stay in their homeland, not caring to help the race of Men that drove them from their original lands in the first place. Though distraught, Berenike again prayed to Athena for guidance. Athena sent the woman deep into the central mountains of northern Greece. There she became apprenticed to a cabal of sphinxes - androsphinxes who had forgone their wild nature, and gynosphinxes who threw off their neutrality - that dedicated to Athena's more peaceful precepts. "Live in peace, but prepare for war," was their motto.
This cabal was called Wisdom's Light. In a rainbow was seen the ultimate expression of nature's own wisdom: after storm there is light, after darkness there is hope, and the earth weighs us against soaring aloft literally and metaphorically to each of our own elusive ends of a rainbow. Here the woman who knew nothing but one type of warfare after another was given a taste of why war was important: to preserve the peace of community and civilization. With some of her new teachings in mind, she and Alcaeus headed straight for Corcyra.
The fight against King Caraxes was protracted as again and again Berenike worked to subvert the martinet's demoralized troops. It took several years, but finally the king was defeated. Disturbingly, it was discovered that Ares was either being manipulated by, or in league with, Hades; and it was actually the latter that sent the shade assassins. More reports started flowing in, disaparate at first, but disturbing nonetheless. The gods of evil were running machinations throughout the known world, though the most famous Heroes of legend were able to beat them or at least partially thwart their plans for now.
Athena appeared to her daughter once again with a pair of books of ancient lore. The first was filled with some of the world's oldest and most precious secrets, and the second was a compilation of the strategies of the world's most successful rulers, generals, and diplomats ... the Worlds' is a more proper way to put it. Both items were penned by peoples in far, far flung lands, both of this world and of the places beyond the World's End. Berenike continued her studies with the Order of Wisdom's Light while studying the contents of the book and growing ever greater in power.
The now very spiritual Berenike had learned some of the greatest secrets of the Order: calling upon divine energies to advance the cause of justice and righteousness, some of the secrets of air magic, and even the ability to grow wings and fly for a few minutes day. Try as she might, though, Berenike just felt there was a wall she could not pass through to reach the enlightenment promised by the deepest secrets of the Order in her role as a Rainbow Servant.
Word reached Berenike that there was trouble in her home of Naxos, so she welcomed the chance to take a break from her studies to investigate. She re-united with Alcaeus and they flew south, and she hoped to impress her friend with the sights and accomplishments of central Greece. What waited them was less than good, but not lacking in impressing both with a nefarious plot.
It seems that Hecate corrupted the once holy healer Agatha. Originally, Hecate posed as a foreign 'white necromancer' that promised to teach Agatha the secrets to thwarting the most powerful spells of death, but to do so required Agatha to actually learn these spells. Poor Agatha didn't stand a chance against the enticements of dark magics, and Hecate allowed her to trade all her knowledge of healing and magic of light for that of knowledge of darkness, death, entropy, decay, fear, and evil. In a corruption that lasted no more than a month, and with a covenant that was made in the span of five minutes, Agatha went from being arguably the most powerful healer in all of Athens, to being the most dangerous dread necromancer that area has ever known. Such magics were not meant to be used at such a level in mortal form, and the foolish Agatha was overcome and died that very night.
Her family was totally unaware of her daughter's corruption, and it appeared that she had been killed by one of the dark creature's of the night that steal life energy and souls. Since Agatha was the primary healer in the region, no one was there to revive her. The evening of the next day, Agatha rose again, but this time she embraced her apotheosis into a horrible mockery of life called 'lich' and secretly escaped her sarcophagus. She stealthily afflicted her parents with a contagion that could not be cured. The beloved and kindly rulers King Iason and Queen Roshanak tragically died within a fortnight, on the same evening at midnight, in each others arms but with all manner of horrible diseases having ravaged them. They had to be burned, a practice employed in other parts of Greece, but not here.
Leon took the throne, but he suffered recurring dreams and nightmares and phantasms that constantly shook him and slowly made him insane. Things looked dire for the ailing realm, when Agatha miraculously appeared 'alive', claiming that her purity brought her back, but her touch with death marred her skin and so she wore full-bodied robes and veil. She 'healed' her brother (by removing the curses she laid on him in the first place), but trust in his rulership was shaken and he abdicated to Agatha. Over the course of the next two years, through pressure, extortion, and duress, he was little more than a military puppet. The holy powers of righteous war granted him by Athena had long left him, and he was but a shell of a man. Agatha grew more and more and more demanding, and kicked out all of the ambassadors so that she could rule Naxos without interference until she was ready to strike out. She doled out dire punishments far outweighing the severity of various crimes, infractions really. Whim was the whip by which she ruled, and those that truly displeased her either became shambling, mindless thugs, or were flayed until nothing but bone was left and still they moved in her service; still others - and its worse to realize some were volunteers - gained even more power, drinking the blood or sucking the lifeforce of their prey.
Alcaeus and Berenike fought with Leon and his men on several occasions, and after several battles his men were killed or routed and he fled into caves in the mountains with some few powerful and loyal men. Berenike was able to convince a detachment of Athenian soldiers to aid them in getting to the difficult area. Alcaeus was able to bring out a fabulous item that made a bridge of force, and the soldiers were able to cross en masse to defeat Leon's final holdout. Only Leon and Alcaeus and Berenike still stood, all the lesser mortals having been slain. Though stripped of holy powers, he was far more experienced in battle than the physically superior centaur. Alcaeus suffered greatly for he could not bring his speed and agility to bear in the cramped cave and was killed.
Berenike flew into a rage and popped one powerful spell after the next on her brother until he fell. But he was not dead yet, for he was tough ... too tough for his own liking. He cursed his sister for not being there when the family needed her, and he begged for a quick death, cursing his sister to spur her into deliving the killing spell. Berenike, who was prepared to kill her fallen paladin brother for his disgrace and affront to their deity, came to a realization. As a holy scourge, she was committed to 'destroying' evil wherever it may be. But all of her hard battle taught her that violence only begets more violence. War was necessary, but it need not be constant. If she cast another spell, a powerful warrior that once served Good would be irrevocably erased from the world. Finally, somewhere within herself, she realized that the most powerful weapon against evil wasn't the flame or the sword. To really affect the world against evil, she realized that a more powerful weapon would be needed.
Instead of one weapon against Evil, she discovered three: Mercy, Compassion, and Love. She showed her brother the wickedness he had displayed, the fall he had, and the promise he yet had in him if only he had the strength to try. Her words and actions touched him deeply. He was too ashamed to live after defeat, but now he saw that there could be redemption. He wept bitterly, deeply, and truthfully. Berenike was suddenly flooded with internal power and sensation far beyond anything she ever experienced - it having come from the same source as her awakened understanding just a moment ago. She prayed, and with a power far uncharacteristic to that of a warmage, she was able to see his earnest desire to be forgiven, not just to survive. She prayed to Athena, and her prayers were answered as power flowed through her to heal her brother's soul.
But that was not enough, for Leon had to prove himself worthy of being accepted fully back into Athena's graces. He vowed that to his dying breath, he would not long live this new life for he was ready to sacrifice it to destroy the abomination that Agatha had become and to heal the land as best as possible. Berenike turned to Alcaeus, knowing what minutes ago was not knowable: that she had the power to revive him. She prayed over her friend, glittering his body with diamond dust. After several minutes, life flowed back into the valiant son of Hermes, and all was explained. This new experience was the enlightenment that had eluded Berenike. It wasn't until she could accept the precepts of Mercy, Compassion, and Love as viable tools in the fight against darkness and in the restlessness of one's own soul that she could finally reach the highest pinnacle of her devotion, surpassing even the wisest and most powerful sphinx sorcerers and wizards of the Order of Wisdom's Light.
The three of them set out against Agatha. Leon was true to his word. Alcaeus and Berenike lay badly wounded, out of spells, and nearly dying in the final battle and only Leon yet strived. Agatha's unholy resistance to magic and uncanny ability to be only mildly affected even by holy weapons could not break Leon's newfound spirit. Still, she likewise had trouble penetrating his armor. To taunt him, she ordered all of her undead minions to go into Naxos to whomever they find, and out of spite kill every man, woman, and child. Agatha hoped to cow Leon into relenting. In a final plea, Leon looked north in the direction of Mt. Olympus and called out to Athena. He begged to have his life stripped and his spirit to suffer all that Hades could diabolically deliver in afterlife punishment and torment, if only he could be given the power to keep Agatha's minions from killing his countrymen.
Olympus' Smite. That's what the troubadors call it: Olympus' Smite. With one stroke of anguish and the hidden goodness finally brought out at last, Leon put everything he had, channeling all that Athena could give him, and calling on all the noble paladin ancestors of his past. Maybe it's embellishment, but the light was said to be seen as far away as Rhodes. The blinding light is said to have reached up into the sky itself. Indeed, it is as if the heavens themselves had changed form.
With that smite, Agatha's form and essence was obliterated, as were all of her undead minions throughout Naxos that had enjoyed their wickedness in life and in undeath. Meanwhile, all those who suffered in their undeath were either revived if their corpse was fresh enough, or died in peace with no afterlife tortures.
But Leon was likewise nowhere to be found. All that was him: body, armor, sword, and shield ... gone. Not even dust.
Berenike and Alcaeus healed. Corcyra will not stand for another king to tyrannize his people, and have chosen a more primitive democracy. Alcaeus spends most of his non-adventuring time there now as Protector of the Western Isle.
Berenike has since worked hard to rebuild what was left of her Naxos. Her impassioned speeches for a stronger confederacy among the balkanized city-states of Greece are well-known. Scoffed by some, loved by many, she is one of the most notable 'celebrity' politicians and whether it be her legend, her beauty, or the quick rebirth (and productivity) of Naxos varies. She is 36 years old now, but she is constantly distracted by her duties by having to cordially receive every would-be suitor that wishes her as a prize. She fears that she will grow too old for children, but she cannot marry but for True Love, else she fears she will betray her powers to the same complacency she fights against in trying to stir men's (and women's) hearts to battle even in these troubled times of the Godswar.
But she is not alone, at least not in Naxos itself. Astronomers and astrologers and stargazers all - whether or not they realized what happened on that tiny island - have unanimously registered that the form of the heavens did change. Whenever a soldier or guard or even a citizen of Naxos feels the fears and pressures of these dark times gnawing at him, they have only to look up at a new constellation in the sky, one that gives the impression of a brave and powerful lion that has since been unanimously called Leonis. One from Naxos can look up at any time and feel great strength, and more and more others in Greece sense a faint bit of it (usually only in late summer when Olympus' Smite occurred), and the Naxan will feel the fearlessness and strength of resolve in his heart and bones that has been forged through generations of paladin kings and princes, and culminating in the the Last Scion of Naxos. (Unless Berenike can get to making a decision on a man and making babies for the future.)
Woe be to the enemy, however large, that attacks Naxos in late July or August. Best they wait for autumn when the stars of Leonis are no longer in ascension. Else, they just might feel that even a tiny kingdom may offer naught but death in a lion's maw.
PLAYing
"A Boot to the Head" (inexorable): Coanacoch
"Chasing What Matters" (ProudTortoise): Khurshid Stormhallowed
"The Jackal" (Sliver): Opee the Original
"Zodiac" (MikelaC1), playing Eleth'Sarat
Alcaeus, Protector of Corcyra .... he'll be DeepSkyBlue, a good color for one who plies the skies.
Spoiler
Alcaeus ('Strength'), Son of Hermes
Quick-skinny ... he is a son of Hermes whose greatest assets are tracking, stealth ... and speed, speed, speed. He was dispatched to aid Athena's daughter Berenike to aid her in her early quests. They became fast friends, and now that man wars against god, they need each other even more.
He is one of the fastest creatures on land and in the air, and brutally hard to see (not so for his rider). He looks like an exceptionally tall and powerful centaur (8' tall, 2500 lbs). At his level, he is - as can be expected - draped with various magical items (rings, amulet, gloves, belt) that are hard to pin down just what each do, but most can be expected to be force multipliers.
Physically, the two most noticeable differences (other than stunning physique well beyond a normal centaur) are his wings. He once raced Hshoolh, an elder air elemental itself known for being faster in the air than any of his own kind.
On land, he is just as fast as in the air, making him one of the fastest landrunners ever. The only known creatures that can outrace him in varying terrain (a flat-out run might be harder) are legendary fey known as atomies. Atalanta heard of Alaeus' swiftness only after Hippomenes beat her and they married. She was heard to remark a gratitude that she specified she would marry the first man (in whole, not in part) that beat her in a race; of course, Hippomenes' name includes 'horse' in it.
The second physical difference is that he appears with great stag horns; that said, his horns aren't always there, leading some to believe that a magical item - and not some bizarre heritage - gives him these antlers which he uses to great effect in battle. Lastly, as he desires, his form shimmers and shakes as if a mirage, making him hard to target - as if he were made of shadow.
All heroes are known for items that are as legendary as themselves. When Alcaeus proved himself against an elder chimera and saved one of his father's favored villages from decimation and ruin, he was gifted with Hermedoron (which, fittingly, means "Gift of Hermes"). It is a weapon of magically hardened adamantine that flows like quicksilver between two forms: that of a large greatsword or an immense longbow.
Both weapons are known to bite heavily into creatures of the Outworlds, especially the titans of chaos and evil that even now the Gods may be considering on loosing into the world to help them tame man ... though that may be ruinous to all if they do. The blade of the sword and the arrows fired from the bow are of incomparable sharpness. Given the sense that Hermes himself is thought to move at the speed of light, many of Alcaeus' strikes (sword or imparted to arrows) burst into blinding and devasting colors. Since Alcaeus is a consummate traveler and tracker, Hermes surmised that covering more area meant encountering a wider variety of unusual creatures. To that end, he enchanted his son's weapon to be able to adapt to the various weapon immunities of all but the most legendary monsters.
Singly, the sword is famous for shattering lesser weapons as if they were made of glass. Even other adamantine weapons of name and fame have been parted while Hermedoron has only the slightest nick for its trouble. Hades once sent shades - creatures more spirit than outworlder - to punish him for Alcaeus' defeat of a plan the God of the Underworld intended for the subversion of the residents of Corcya. The Lord of Death learned that unlike most warriors, Alcaeus would strike unerringly against his minions.
As a bow, it is strung with a long golden hair given as a gift to Hermes by Titania. The tension is so powerful that not even the giants of the mountains cannot pull it taut enough to fire. While in the desert, he is credited with having shot a sparrow from nearly a half mile away. A would-be warlord in Thrace used magics to hide himself, but Alcaeus' arrows would veer from a straight path to hit his target, so sure is the bow's balance and accuracy. The bone that covers the admantine core of the bow in that form is the same bone (but stretched) that serves as the grip of the sword, and is taken from that of a treacherous storm giant Hermes defeated years prior. In a pinch, if he needed to, Alcaeus could forgo using the sword and simply use the bow as a large staff.
The last known item in his possession is a curious scrollcase or stiff hide object that is approximately 2' long, and is apparently made from the scales and hide of a hydra. Sometimes, he unrolls it, and a map of the area he is in shows up; other times, he keeps it rolled and looks through it - as a man looking through a pipe - when he needs to track quarry that manages to elude him otherwise. He used this scrolltube to help Berenike track her treacherous brother and his cohorts that had holed up in a difficult-to-reach mountain pass. The cramped rocks kept Alcaeus from being able to use his speed, and also provided ample cover against Berenike's long-range spells. In the end, the centaur led the Naxans up to a nearby just of rock, spat through the hydra-tube, and the men crossed the narrow chasm as easily as they would walk on stone, much to the chagrin of the doomed Naxan traitors.
If he has to defend on overwhelming assault and rapid attacks to take down an enemy, he is truly wild - attacking with blurring sword, hooves, antler, and even a combat trick where after his final pass with the sword he follows through with a solid elbow. That is not his element, however. He much prefers to wear down his enemy by flying in and impossible speed, striking with a single devastating blow, and then flying back out again before his opponent has had a chance to mount an effective defense, or is even able to reach him effectively with a bow. Alcaeus has no problem fighting a prolonged battle like a wolf against larger numbers, nipping at the heels of the enemy and slowly wearing them down while Berenike uses long range fire support.
__________________
"I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
(Duh!)
LGBTitp
Love my avvy. Thanks, Telasi!
Current Games A Boot to the Head - Necahual Chasing What Matters - The Shehzahdeh Khanoum Shereen, Prophetess of Marduk, Wife of Ramanan The Jackal - Kalti The Savage Tide - Captain Darrius Wavebreaker
Mopsus was a soothsayer of some minor renown before he became a hermit so some of the other players may have heard of or met him(possibly when hey consulted him on their future), their choice really. He has come out of seclusion due to the portents of doom he has been receiving, and boy is he annoyed by them, they regularly interrupted the little sleep time that he still requires.
Backstory! (Basically copied from previous thread though I fixed some typos, I'm no good at specific locations or names though but I'll gladly add them if someone can suggest something.)
Spoiler
Mopsus is a old Soothsayer who has learned how to bend fragments of the old gods, the Titans, the spirits of dead heroes and other minor spirits(like the nymphs, Alseids, Auloniads, Crinaeae, Dryads, Eleionomae, Hamadryads, Hesperides, Limnades, Meliae, Naiads, Napaeae, Nereids, Oceanids, Oreads, Pegaeae, Pegasides, Pleiades, Potamides etc.) to serve his will, thanks to his powers of divination. Recently Mopsus has even learned how to make Gaia herself serve him, if but in a limited fashion. How Mopsus came to reach this pinnacle of achievement is a tale that could take days to tell, but he has gained many valuable treasures in his travels, including a cloak of stars, and a robe of armour, not to mention a magical arm to replace one that he had lost to a encounter with a hydra.
Mopsus became a soothsayer in his youth, when he heard the world whispering its secrets in his ears. At first people thought him mad, until his ramblings started becoming true. Thereafter they thought him soothsayer, if still a little mad. Driven to travel by the voices plaguing him he saw much of Greece and some of the rest of the world, slaying monsters and finding villains where the voices told him that they hid. He even travelled at sea for a time, trying to escape the voices but to no avail. There were many who tried to take advantage of him, thinking those who hear what is not there to be easy prey, but the voices always saw through their lies, Mopsus was not one to be fooled.
Mopsus reputation grew as time went on, and on his sea voyage one admiral finally pressed Mopsus too hard to predict the weather for him, poor Mopsus who never had rest between people bickering him to tell their fortunes, and the voices always whispering to him, even at night when he tried to sleep. Driven beyond control, he slew the admiral, and took his hat as some sort of sick trophy. Mopsus did not return to the sea again.
It was after this episode, that Mopsus was travelling among some hills, where he met a sorceress. He and the sorceress struck up a friendship, and she gifted him a ring which would lessen the amount of sleep he needed.
Thus after his first few nights of enough sleep in his lifetime, Mopsus awoke one morning much more clearheaded than he had ever been before, and knew what he had to do if he were to preserve his last few shreds of sanity. He had to control and in doing so silence the voices, the damnable voices that never left him in peace. And in this he used to voices against themselves. He listened well, and used all the other methods of scrying he had learnt over the years, until finally he had his first success and one of the voices stopped. Not only did the voice stop but Mopsus discovered that he had gained strange powers, as if the spirit was thanking him. Only then did he realize that he had silenced the voice by bringing it into himself.
It did not take long for Mopsus to learn the intricacies of the binding, and the strange compulsions that could overtake him if he did it poorly, but his will was strong, stronger than that of the voices, and slowly he exerted his control over them. Then did Mopsus become famous once more, not for his soothsaying this time, but for the strange and wondrous powers at his command and he became a hero in his own right, slaying mighty beasts, riding manticores, healing wounds, breathing water, jumping 30ft straight up and such impossibilities.
But Mopsus had not been a young man when he discovered the secret of binding, and time took its toll, his new fame was shortlived as he retreated into solitude to conquer the strongest of the voices. It was during this quest of self-improvement, while he was scrying on the most powerful spirits, and even some of the titans, that Mopsus discovered of the war that had broken out between the mortals and the divine, and knew that he had to use his mastery of the minor divine to help his fellow mortals to survive what appeared to be the end times.
Also I realized that Dyrr’s Impervious Vestment is horribly overpriced and I could get some sweet items instead of it, but I decided to ignore my inner minmaxer this once and stick with it. And while I do still really want a bowl of contemplation to go with the whole soothsayer thing(and I hope I may be able to acquire on ingame), I suppose divinations not being 100% accurate is part of the package in the fortune telling business.
Also, I'd like to request a epic binding feat that I could possibly pick up later, something like "Fantastical Binding"(Name change pending) or whatever that allows me to attempt to bind non vestige spirits, or in other words actuals gods and other etherealish entities, but with a DC modifier of +HD^2 or something like that, and I'm not sure how it would function mechanics wise in any case. Possibly gain one of their supernatural/spell-like abilities? I dunno, just thought it'd be cool.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahenobarbi
I figure that's why d&d gods do so little - they're busy taking psychotherapy sessions to get rid of all the voices they hear.
May have a optimization addiction.
Last edited by Demonic_Spoon : 03-25-2012 at 04:54 PM.
... many rulers of countries worship gods or deities not commonly worshipped by the common throng of the same place. In this case, the Lawful worshippers of Athena have long been the arbiters and rulers of Naxos, as the rulers of Naxos are descended from Theseus (an Athenian).
The general populace worship Dionysius, Ariadne, and Demeter. Those who hunt - mainly in the upper hills - worship Artemis. Poseidon is less worshipped so much as propitiated by the fishermen; a chief export in addition to foodstuffs, livestock, and wine is seafood of all sorts, especially the tuna that are so abundant, especially off the western coast (where lie most of the cities of Naxos). The sailors of Naxos are prized members of any crew which they serve.
Naxo, the largest island in the Delian Leauge, has has incredibly fertile land, is the 'bread basket' of the Delian League, and possesses the best vineyards in the known world (of course, given that Dionysius has his strongest following here). Some of the highest quality marble in all of Greece - the brilliant white marble that often is used for temples and structures - is found here, as well as emery. The marble is also used in the making of Naxos' distinctive kouroi (statues of young males), as well as various other figures. As the largest island in the Cyclades, and a natural bridging point for ships between Greece and Asia Minor, Naxos is also a major point of commerce.
All of this means that Naxos is very, very wealthy ... very strategic ... and quite cosmopolitan among the elite. As lovers of life, the people are passionate, artistic, and open-hearted. A playful people, a higher concentration of bards (mainly musicans and dancers) can be found here (per capita) than most places in the known world, especially as a confluence to and from many different cultures.
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"I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
(Duh!)
LGBTitp
Love my avvy. Thanks, Telasi!
Current Games A Boot to the Head - Necahual Chasing What Matters - The Shehzahdeh Khanoum Shereen, Prophetess of Marduk, Wife of Ramanan The Jackal - Kalti The Savage Tide - Captain Darrius Wavebreaker
Angela the Winged Huntress's, Background (as it were, as I need to make edits)
Spoiler
Angela ("Heavenly/Angelic") was born not of royalty, clergy, heroes, or even villains. Rather, she was born to (insert name of mother) an amazoness of the Amazon tribe and practitioner of Artemis's teachings. Being of the Amazon tribe her mother didn't have a husband, but rather several Gargarean tribesmen as past annual partners as is custom to keep their all-female and all-male tribes respectively from going extinct. Angela is the third of four, but in her eyes the oldest of two as two of her siblings are male and live with their Gargarean tribe. Unlike any of her siblings she was born with small growths on her back that vaguely resembled wings; has a slightly tanned but relatively fair skin, with black hair and slate grey eyes. It was unknown at the time of her birth how or why she was born with wing-like growths, but it was thought of as a sign from the gods, so they weren't cut off once they started moving on the baby’s accord. She doesn't know anything about her brothers as once they were born they were taken to their fathers to be raised. Her younger sister (insert name) took up her mother's art as a healer with herbs and magic.
Angela, as the oldest (in her opinion) sought to best life through the power of her skills with weapons and minor magic’s. Gifted with extraordinary flexibility and wisdom in the ways of the natural world. Unlike her mother and younger sister she wasn't exceptionally beautiful this is okay with her as looks can be just as much a hinderance as a benefit when in battle. It is a tradition in the amazoness tribe to try finding one's skills in life almost as soon as they can walk. For Angela she was inducted into several rites and trials of various natures. Through those trials it grew apparent that she shared some of the same magical talent her mother and later her sister have. But it was the warrior trials where she excelled, especially with the. Taking up a bow, almost as easily as taking a breath she shot an arrow and showed immense promise as a markswoman.
Truly starting her training at the tender age of 8 or so it didn't take long to go from stationary targets to moving ones. All the while during her training, her wings grew along with the rest of her body to the point that there was no hiding them under cloth anymore and have to stretch them on occasion. Her wings grew magnificently if she says so herself, as they grew feathers that largely remind her of hawks various browns and blacks. Despite the fact she had the wings; Angela didn't quite dare try using them largely due to tales spreading across the land of a young boy named Icarius that fell to his death when the sun melted his wax and feather wings. Instead she continued to train in the use of her bow along with daggers and simple melee weapons.
During her training she was taught that there are many if not thousands of creatures on this world. Many of which come to be naturally in this world, and many that are introduced due to the works of casters not of the divine nature. It was these and evil divine casters that seemed to cause the most damage during battles her tribe got into, which is why she was trained in targeting casters like wizards and warmages. Learning not only how to spot them easier out of a group, but how to deal more damage to them by aiming for weak points such as their hands gave not just Angela but several other amazoness warriors a minor advantage despite the power those mages wield. Along with this training she started to learn that just because your targets are stationary or moving doesn’t mean that you need to stand still to aim at them. Taking time, it became a preferred combat style of hers to always be moving not only to make it harder for her enemies to catch her but so that she can always be getting to a new position to deal more damage from another angle. One day during her training, she accidentally missed her intended target and hit a wandering boar in a herd which immediately became enraged. Ask anyone that has enraged a boar, let alone a herd of boars before and lived to tell the tale, its not a smart thing to do, and as she was taught she fled for her life. While running she came upon a cliff that she didn’t realize she was heading towards. Cornered with bloodthirsty boars behind her and the cliff before her, she decided on facing the lesser evil and took the jump. Almost instinctively her wings spread out, and feeling the wind get caught in the feathers like the wind in a sail, she flew but a moment. That moment of a combination of flight and gliding was enough to get her to safety, and hooked on the feeling of flight. From then on, Angela not only trained in the use of archery but learning how to use her flight ability no one else could teach her.
Years passed, and eventually she went out to the world for a trial of 'coming to age' by traveling abroad and hunting for some of the most dangerous prey. It was often said that an amazoness isn't allowed to wed till she has killed a man in battle, but that wasn't Angela's goal. She was still young at 18 years and wished to test her skills against all manner of enemies. Angela wasn't foolish enough to think she could take on everyone and everything all by herself, but teamed up with several other amazons going out on the same trial. Only when encountering an enemy an individual can't take on would they intervene, as to steal another's kill wasn't smiled on during this trial. Together her sisters and Angela stumbled upon several evil arcane casters who relied on creatures of death yet lived a vile twisted version of living or artificial creatures of metal and other substances. Through extensive combat against these enemies Angela started to see a pattern of weakness they all shared, but despite this her arrows will always start running out near the end of a days worth of battle. Determined, Angela set out to find ways to not only help herself but her sister’s in never running out of arrows. A chance meeting with a friendly mage that was more then happy to make quivers of never ending supplies of arrows, Angela and her comrades took back a few to the tribe were they learned how to replicate them and supplied the best archers with such quivers.
During her travels her group journeyed to several cities such as Athens and fought many creatures. It was one such trip that coming upon a Artemis shrine a force of evil could be sensed as the creatures that normally resided nearby were killed and brought back and unliving abominations thirsting for the life force of those that still live. Together with the aide of creatures like nymphs, satyrs, treants, and other fey they took on the enemy in while searching for their creator. Many lives were lost, including some of Angela’s sisters and Angela herself grievously injured. Pursued and cornered into the shrine it was there that Angela’s bow was sundered and her life was sure to come to an end. Not backing down she gave one last prayer to Artemis not for mercy but to allow her and her comrades to hunt in the next life. With a flash of light, bolts of radiant light shafts seemed to pierce through the toughened flesh or bones as a bow of such extravagant design and beauty came into existence. Hesitantly taking the bow in hand, it helped her in saving the last of her comrades as the arrows sliced through the undead’s defenses like a hot knife through butter. After the end of the battle, Angela took the bow back to the shrine and started putting it back on the alter when a female voice echoed through the tiny building. Revealing itself as Artemis, the goddess of the moon and the hunt, she told Angela that the bow was bequothed to her till such a time that Artemis deems her not worthy. Along with the bow Artemis told Angela several locations of quests she could go to for more items, as Artemis has chosen her to be her champion.
Returning back to her tribe to the best of her abilities with her companions and fallen comrades to lay them to rest. Upon returning Hippolyta, the queen of the Amazons, demanding for a report of their travels. This of course lead to the topic of Angela obtaining the godblessed weapon. Impressed, Hippolyta decided that it was time for Angela to further her training with the bow through a rigerous process to become a Peerless Archer with the best archer in the tribe named (insert name). Going to a sacred training area Angela learned how to make bows, magical arrows, to shoot arrows and hit targets without having to worry about anything less then total cover, how to hit harder with a arrow using her strength, and to shoot her bow in almost melee range combat without enemies threatening attacks. During this training Angela and (name of trainer) occasionally left for missions and tests of strength, mostly to hunt for some of the items Artemis mentioned.
First came a sword made of what seemed to be glass the size of a large sword, but light enough to be used one handed. Angela had to battle past a tribe of cannibals that worshipped it for its sun details. Then came a pair of boots that all but gave flight to the wearer as it makes the wearer more nimble and faster. A Hermes worshipper custom made a pair for Angela. Traveling to a weaponsmith for a additional weapon like a dagger she was told of a mechanized monster that spontaneously materialized its weapons in its hands. Doing combat against that monster was long and hard, but after defeating it she found its remaining hand after shooting the other was a gauntlet that could shape special daggers. Flying high at night, Angela conversed with Orion the constillation and was gifted a cloak of stars that nullifies nonmagical attacks and reduces magical attacks, along with several lesser powers such as keeping her comfortable during travels and even turning into a tent. While traveling to another site she encountered a hunter of immense skill not only with the bow but with his swords as well that nearly clipped her wings as he attempted to ground her to make her his own. Luckily she was able to beat him down enough that they decided upon a draw and he left her a crystal that can help weapons hurt undead and constructs more then usual. A shapeshifting humanoid spider came at Angela while exploring a cave which more then hampered her combat skills with her lack of flight, but was able to get a lucky shot through the head and was able to find a vest that makes her slightly more resistant against certain effects along with a few rings among its treasures from past victims. During flight over the ocean some Nereid pleaded with Angela to rid them of a sea monster. Answering their call they gifted her a necklace that allowed her to breath underwater which later she had further enchanted to share half damage with an attacker upon getting hit. The final item was given to her by Hippolyta and (insert mother name) when she became a personal guard for the queen. The mask presented to her was designed to look like a hawk's face which protects her mind as only the queen should be able to command her, and allows her to see past illusions as to see through lies that assassins could use to get to the queen.
Finally after years of traveling and gathering up multiple items she was comfortable to settle down as a guard for her queen and possibly even bear a child or two before she can't perform that final duty to her tribe. Some time went by with little to no excitment which greatly bored Angela until a necromancer priest of Hades came in hopes of turning the amazons into undead warrior's along with the Gargareans. Teaming up with their brothers at arms it was then that Angela met her older brothers, one of which was the same hunter she encountered earlier that went by the name of (insert name). Fighting nearly back to back the tribes took down many undead ranging from lowly human skeletons to even hydra zombies. Unfotunately (insert name) her second oldest brother was slain by being ran through with dozens of spears, while (insert brother name) lost an arm to a hydra head. Despite their best efforts neither (mother+sister) could save the limb and many lives. Angela herself nearly lost a wing when a barely magical sword almost cleaver a wing all the way off and thanks to her sister it was saved. Near the climax of the final battle Angela spotted Hippolyta battling the necromancer with her spear and shield combo. Rushing to the queen's aide together they ended his magic casting with arrows through his hands and a spear through his skull. Upon his death he disappeared in a pile of ash leaving his robes behind to be blown away by the wind.
Scant months after the war, the two tribes started getting ready for their annual mating ritual when the oracle of the amazons predicted that a war was about to begin. This war between the mortals and gods. Sure enough Artemis appeared days later to challenge Angela at a specific day and location. Giving her some hints to where to go Angela made her way to Mt Olympus to make her way up the summit.
Going DarkGreen mostly because I can't stand using sky colors
Still need to add names for my mother, my sister, my two brothers, and at least my Peerless Archer trainer as I haven't had internet to search for names for them most of this week. Willing to take suggestions for locations as well, as I personally think I could of written this a heck of a lot better. If Demonic_Spoon is willing, I would be interesting in incorporating him into my background. Maybe even as a past travel companion as Angela has had multiple travelling companions through her years of travel.
Compiling items and other info for ease of reading as I would really like to get some critiquing on my sheet for anything I might of got wrong. Currently betting it being that I spent too much/little on certain items.
My biggest fear is my weapon right now. I don't know why but I almost always fail in pricing for upgraded existing weapons.
Spoiler
Energy Bow costs 22,600 gp a bargain for a +2 'Force' composite longbow.
Splitting is +3
Serrenwood is a special material that costs +4,000 gp for weapons.
Elvencraft is a 'crafting style' for +300 gp.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magic Item Compendium, pg 233
You can add new magical abilities to a magic item with virtually no restrictions. The cost and prerequisites to do this are the same as if the item was not magical. Thus, a +1 longsword can be made into a +2 vorpal longsword, with the cost to create it being equal to that of a +2 vorpal longsword minus the cost of a +1 longsword (98,315 - 2,315 = 96,000 gp). The character improving the magic item must meet the same prerequisites as if he were creating the item from scratch.
So would this mean that to get a +3 Splitting Energy bow I would have to take the Energy Bow price (22,600) minus +3 Splitting? But if I have to buy the bow as well, wouldn't I just be buying a ~+8 weapon?
+3 (2+1 upgrade) Enhancement bonus + Force (+2), + Splitting (+3)= +8
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Avvie by the awesome Ceika
"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
[size="3"]If Demonic_Spoon is willing, I would be interesting in incorporating him into my background. Maybe even as a past travel companion as Angela has had multiple travelling companions through her years of travel.
Sure, sounds good, Mopsus is a bit of loner though so he wouldn't have stayed with you long(the current situation being extraordinary of course, forcing him to put aside his usual desire for solitude). Maybe you encountered a hydra together or something? I mentioned his losing his arm to one.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahenobarbi
I figure that's why d&d gods do so little - they're busy taking psychotherapy sessions to get rid of all the voices they hear.
Sure, sounds good, Mopsus is a bit of loner though so he wouldn't have stayed with you long(the current situation being extraordinary of course, forcing him to put aside his usual desire for solitude). Maybe you encountered a hydra together or something? I mentioned his losing his arm to one.
I'm sure there is room somewhere in my background to fit that in. Maybe earlier in my adventuring career before I started training for Peerless Archer. Maybe ~10 years before this war? We wouldn't of stayed together for long, more then likely long enough to see the conclusion of a battle as Angela doesn't trust many males unless they can prove a reason to be trusted or respected which I'm sure would be more the later then the prior.
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Avvie by the awesome Ceika
"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
Hi all. I'm looking forward to this, and to playing with all of you. Cheiros will go with red for his speech.
I know that the hordes of undead minions are occasionally an issue for some good-aligned characters, and would like to try to mitigate this, especially with shared backstories (ideally ones in which the hordes of undead minions had some positive influence. Igneel, this might especially be useful for us. But I'm open to all sorts of links.
In the port city of Actium, Cheiros was once a promising priest of Hades, delighting in providing what comfort he could to families and overseeing the rituals of passage. He made a decent living at this for a decade. He married a young aristocratic woman, Hestia, and within five years they had three daughters. Cheiros was raising a family and swelling with love, and growing in the approbation of Actium. He grew in personal power as he prayed and studied, and soon understood many of the mysteries of death as well.
As the warehouses and merchant guilds of Actium grew and prospered, their port was beset time and again by raiders from the sea. Eventually, Cheiros called for volunteers from the city's militia for a grisly task. He embarked with two triremes to exact what vengeance he could against the pirates. Eventually, they managed to engage a Carthaginian ship. While the Actian warriors were no match for the Carthaginian marines, Cheiros was able to bring into being a few terrifying, feral creatures of death among the enemy ship. Within minutes, the wights had eaten the crew and turned them into more creatures like themselves. Calling on the great and terrible power of Hades, Cheiros marshalled these not-dead to his service, and sailed the Carthaginian vessel back to Actium. The trireme was set to work patrolling the sea outside the harbour. Twice in one year, the terrible not-dead intercepted invaders, at the end of that year, Cheiros controlled three ships full of the not-dead, and pirates did not bother Actium again.
Similarly, over that decade, Cheiros helped the spearmen of Actium fight off a dozen great creatures - the hungry Wolf-Lizards of Acatar, the terrifying Hydra. Each was killed and returned to a not-life to guard the city.
In his thirty-ninth year, Cheiros reached a plateau of his studies, and spent a year learning the secrets of becoming a deathless servant of Hades - a lich. He lay plans for a grand new temple to death in Actium, a place where all in the city would contemplate mortality and be reminded of the preciousness of life. To complete his transformation, Cheiros walled himself off in the cellars of the temple for a full year - much to the unhappiness of his family - but he promised that his new power and understanding would make every sacrifice worthwhile.
The trials in this self-made tomb were terrible, agonizing, fascinating. Cheiros' spirit wandered the underworld, while power grew in his phylactery, an unmarked silver cube that was the new and extraordinary repository of his power. In the underworld, Cheiros first met and befriended Cychreides, the great beast of the underworld who devoured the shapings and crafts of men as easily as the river Styx devoured their memories.
A month into his studies, unbeknownst to Cheiros, a plague swept through Actium. The priest of death, toiling away below, was forgotten as thousands struggled to cling to life. Hestia tried to signal him, but his walls were thick and his rituals long. As spring came, four months later, the plague lifted, but it had swept away fully a quarter of the population..including two of Cheiros' daughters. Hestia buried her daughters, mourned the loss of her family, and sailed off to Minos with her surviving daughter.
When Cheiros finally emerged from his self-imposed exile, he was appalled to find his city scarred and wracked, his family disappeared. There was no appetite for a temple dedicated to death in Thebes - there were piles of burned corpses enough to remind everyone of what they needed. Cheiros journeyed to the underworld to plead with Hades for the return of his family. He was relieved to discover that Hestia and his youngest, Ballaria, were not present. However, the sight of his two daughters wandering the limbo-realm of those neither pure nor evil was heart-breaking to him. Hades was unmoved by the pleas of his mortal servant - as he was wont to be, after hundreds of years of such entreaties - and the girls stayed where they were.
Enraged, Cheiros fled to his new friend Cychreides, the great serpent of the underworld, to seek his help against Hades. The serpent refused to help. Their quarrel turned to battle, and before he fully understood what was happening, Cheiros had killed the great serpent. Using a great burst of his new power, Cheiros brought Cychreides back to an not-death, and brazenly rode him out of the underworld.
With his blood cold in his veins, his heart stilled, Cheiros could find no comfort in company when he returned to Thebes. Although his power was revered, the citizens were afraid to approach the death-priest too closely - especially since auguries revealed that Hades was now immensely displeased with Cheiros. Cheiros systematically destroyed two of the three ships of the not-dead, loaded his menagerie of beasts onto the third, and sailed off in search of new meaning.
In desperation, he travelled far to the east, and learned of many other ways of seeing the cycle of life and death. Seeking enlightenment in such matters, the greek sought out audiences with greater and greater holy men, then used his ability to move through the astral plane to visit the spirits in their own realm.
For a year, he served as supplicant and servant in the home of Parvati and Shiva, until finally the great Parvati granted him an audience. He spoke with her at length of his fruitless search for his wife, and his growing despair and frustration with the rigid nature of life, death and the afterlife. Parvati listened carefully, and spoke of her own philosophy of life and enlightenment. The conversation continued for two days straight, with goddess and undead growing neither tired nor distracted. At the end of that time, Cheiros rose and nodded. He extended to Parvati his greatest treasure, the silver cube that contained the secret to his power. Parvati nodded her understanding and took the cube. Holding it to her sternum, Parvati gave the cold cube the first blush of warmth it had felt in its existence. Deeply wishing that he had retained the power to weep - whether for joy or sadness, Cheiros could not have said - he departed their realm and wandered the astral planes for a time alone.
He visited several of the outer planes, witnessing many other ways in which other gods and other peoples chose to celebrate or punish a life. After another year of wanderings, he returned to the holy river in the east from which he had begun his journey.
While in the far east, Cheiros spoke to holy men who described life not as a linear progression towards an eternal afterlife, but as a constant cycle of life, death and rebirth, spiraling up and up to an even greater destiny. Having spent an uncomfortable amount of time in the land of Hades, he was concerned - both for logistic and ethical reasons - about the thousands upon thousands of souls who would begin stacking up like cordwood in Elysium, and resolved to propose major revisions to the afterlife, ones that would return souls to the world in order to complete their learning and growth.
Sadly, even when approached through intermediaries, Hades seemed closed to such innovations, and relations between the God and his former priest hardened into a kind of distant antipathy.
[SEVERAL DECADES GO BY, IN WHICH CHEIROS CAN INTERACT WITH OTHER CHARACTERS.]
Last year, Cheiros managed to track down Hestia and Ballaria on the island of Sicily, decades after setting out - only to find that Hestia had died of old age, and Ballaria was now a grandmother who had only horror in her eyes for what her own father had become. Wracked with grief, Cheiros had Hestia dug up, and brought her back to a semblance of her former self. Both Hestia and Cheiros were appalled at the state of her body, and while there was still great love and affection between them, the decades brought a kind of distance and tension as well. Hoping that a living form would help stir both passion and compassion in his wife, Cheiros used the greatest of his magics to plant her spirit into a minor fiend. It has taken some adjustments, but the two have made a kind of peace, and on good days have even found a quiet contentment.
Now, the call has gone out across the cities for heroes to stand up to the gods. Cheiros has had no luck in reaching a peace with Hades. Perhaps with a show of strength, with the support of other heroes, a detente can be brokered.
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Sorry for all of the games on which I'm behind. Health plus work nastiness. I'm now working to catch up.
Peridot avatar (complete with demon consorts) courtesy of the very talented Telasi.
Despair favours the status quo. It is a luxury we cannot afford. ~ Andrew Nikiforuk
... many rulers of countries worship gods or deities not commonly worshipped by the common throng of the same place. In this case, the Lawful worshippers of Athena have long been the arbiters and rulers of Naxos, as the rulers of Naxos are descended from Theseus (an Athenian).
The general populace worship Dionysius, Ariadne, and Demeter. Those who hunt - mainly in the upper hills - worship Artemis. Poseidon is less worshipped so much as propitiated by the fishermen; a chief export in addition to foodstuffs, livestock, and wine is seafood of all sorts, especially the tuna that are so abundant, especially off the western coast (where lie most of the cities of Naxos). The sailors of Naxos are prized members of any crew which they serve.
Naxo, the largest island in the Delian Leauge, has has incredibly fertile land, is the 'bread basket' of the Delian League, and possesses the best vineyards in the known world (of course, given that Dionysius has his strongest following here). Some of the highest quality marble in all of Greece - the brilliant white marble that often is used for temples and structures - is found here, as well as emery. The marble is also used in the making of Naxos' distinctive kouroi (statues of young males), as well as various other figures. As the largest island in the Cyclades, and a natural bridging point for ships between Greece and Asia Minor, Naxos is also a major point of commerce.
All of this means that Naxos is very, very wealthy ... very strategic ... and quite cosmopolitan among the elite. As lovers of life, the people are passionate, artistic, and open-hearted. A playful people, a higher concentration of bards (mainly musicans and dancers) can be found here (per capita) than most places in the known world, especially as a confluence to and from many different cultures.
Good stuff. I get to thank him in person (roomie), but it's important to show gratitude publicly as I would for anyone else. Thanks, PSinger.
Excited! Btw, this is NOT a request or requirement for anyone else to learn your names. I understand the sketchiness of the Internet. That said, feel free to call me Rusty if you are comfortable doing so.
DrK, hmmm ... concerning Ariadne. How does this sound? Ariadne was abandoned by Theseus long, long ago (generations). Dionysius fell in love with her and married her, but there was a condition ... Ariadne realized that the just rulers of Naxos were a necessary component of keeping order in a kingdom with so many inroads to other places. On the other hand, the average Naxian citizen - much more driven by a sometimes dangerous temperament - felt abandoned by the ruling class in favor of the more affluent merchants and nobles at home and abroad.
When Ariadne realized this connection, this theme of abandonment with her people - but realized that demanding the people or the ruling class adopt one or the other's principles would be detrimental to the balance that made Naxos a capable kingdom - asked Dionysius that instead of retreating entirely into his bower for eternity that she instead be allowed to be an advocate for the people at the Naxian court in Hora (the capital, sometimes called Naxos City by foreigners).
Dionysius agreed, but to give her power to exist eternally outside of his own court, he raised her to the status of a demigod. To be a demigod, however, required her to have responsibility as well. The many ships that travel to and from Naxos have brought rats aplenty which raid agriculture and spread disease. There are snakes on Naxos to contend with them, but people have a natural repulsion to the very creatures that help protect their livelihood, so Ariadne is now the Goddess of the Snakes (specifically on Naxos) to maintain the balance between man and nature against the vermin (rats and other pests, not D&D "vermin") that would otherwise ruin the island.
Ariadne travels about the island constantly, making sure that people only kill or relocate snakes if they get out of control (and they must be eaten instead of killed for sport - there is quite an inventive cuisine around snake meat and skin), but also keeping abreast of the hearts of the people. She usually does not do so 'in the open' so people do not follow her around, but if she stays too long in an area people would figure it out. She often appears as an old woman, so it is bad luck to refuse hospitality for less than three days and nights to any old woman in need of rest or food. Those families that can't afford to help often find that things work out in their favor if they are willing to sacrifice.
Ariadne is a distant relative of Berenike's of course, and Theseus' child later became king even when Ariadne abdicated any rule she might have had to be Dionysius' wife and the people's protector. Her primary function at court now is to act as a counselor for the current ruling monarch that they may know the moods of the people and how best to serve them instead of the sometimes too-civilized interests of the ruling class, nobles, and foreigners. She (so far) has never taken direct action, but a monarch that does not listen to Ariadne's advice might be fine for a little while, but attempting to marginalize her for one's own ego usually portends a dark time for all citizens of Naxos. She goes by many names at court, and is seemingly 'handpicked' as a middle-aged woman for her wisdom that eventually grows old and 'dies' in due term. As such, the identity she maintains at court each time is often beloved by the people (sometimes as the only person at court beloved by the people) and there is much to-do and an impressive state and popular funeral each time.
Myth surrounds her as the Goddess of Snakes and the wandering crone that helps others, but only the royal family is aware of her various incarnations and current position as counselor. Her several graves are populated by old women who were her votaress' that earned their final peace and honor by being buried in lieu of their patron.
Ariadne is Athena's much humbler counterpart on the island. Athena is LG and is worshipped (and possibly yet protects) by the ruling class, the soldiers, and those rangers that take on a more protective role ... but otherwise is not held in wide regard. Dionysius (CN) is the most widely worshipped god, Naxos practically being his favored land (much as Athens is for Athena), but among the populace. Ariadne (NG) after him, being a very local but very powerful deity (possibly more loved, but not as powerful, as Dionysius). A land of farming, Demeter is often worshipped alongside others, but worship waxes and wanes not only with the seasons but with times of famine and abundance. Finally, Artemis is worshipped by the majority of those in the highlands that mainly hunt for their food. Poseidon is less worshipped so much as venerated for safe travel on the seas.
How does this sound?
EDIT: Tolly, though Cheiros (for whatever reason) could not personally assist, the then-princess Berenike heard of your skill and knowledge of the undead (though she may not yet know of your actual nature) and sent Alcaeus to seek you out to get information on killing a creature called a "lich" (irony, huh?) that Berenike may save her island and her people. You gave crucial information which helped her stay alive and protect her and Alcaeus and her brother (which means that instead of dying outright, she and Alcaeus merely fell after protracted battle), and the information was of greatest use to Leon when he smote the phylactery around Agatha's neck.
To this end, Berenike sent message that you be commended and thanked, but you disappeared ... possibly your trip to Hades ... so she's never had a chance to show her gratitude.
It's not a strongly linked "we adventured together" backstory, but how does that sound?
PLAYing
"A Boot to the Head" (inexorable): Coanacoch
"Chasing What Matters" (ProudTortoise): Khurshid Stormhallowed
"The Jackal" (Sliver): Opee the Original
"Zodiac" (MikelaC1), playing Eleth'Sarat
Last edited by lostsole31 : 03-24-2012 at 02:12 PM.
I'm sure there is room somewhere in my background to fit that in. Maybe earlier in my adventuring career before I started training for Peerless Archer. Maybe ~10 years before this war? We wouldn't of stayed together for long, more then likely long enough to see the conclusion of a battle as Angela doesn't trust many males unless they can prove a reason to be trusted or respected which I'm sure would be more the later then the prior.
Sounds good, did she initially consult me to scry her future though?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahenobarbi
I figure that's why d&d gods do so little - they're busy taking psychotherapy sessions to get rid of all the voices they hear.
EDIT: Tolly, though Cheiros (for whatever reason) could not personally assist, the then-princess Berenike heard of your skill and knowledge of the undead (though she may not yet know of your actual nature) and sent Alcaeus to seek you out to get information on killing a creature called a "lich" (irony, huh?) that Berenike may save her island and her people. You gave crucial information which helped her stay alive and protect her and Alcaeus and her brother (which means that instead of dying outright, she and Alcaeus merely fell after protracted battle), and the information was of greatest use to Leon when he smote the phylactery around Agatha's neck.
To this end, Berenike sent message that you be commended and thanked, but you disappeared ... possibly your trip to Hades ... so she's never had a chance to show her gratitude.
It's not a strongly linked "we adventured together" backstory, but how does that sound?
Sounds good. Because Berenike's conflict probably happened during Cheiros' decades of wandering in search of his wife, it's just as possible that he was in Naxos when Agatha was active as a lich. Certainly, he would have been eager to help against Agatha, and might conceivably have spent several months working alongside you in the cause. However you'd like him to have helped, that would be great.
__________________
Sorry for all of the games on which I'm behind. Health plus work nastiness. I'm now working to catch up.
Peridot avatar (complete with demon consorts) courtesy of the very talented Telasi.
Despair favours the status quo. It is a luxury we cannot afford. ~ Andrew Nikiforuk
But liking the weaving of back stories together. Also liking Ariadne shaping the land of Naxos. Good land to be a crazy old witch.
I'll get the IC up tomorrow, then you can start arguing with the Grecian Kings as then they start begging as various beasts beset their land. Clearly NAxos has so far been spared since the desolation of Agatha.
(Of course now feeling the pressure for a certain level of prose in my posts )
Sounds good. Because Berenike's conflict probably happened during Cheiros' decades of wandering in search of his wife, it's just as possible that he was in Naxos when Agatha was active as a lich. Certainly, he would have been eager to help against Agatha, and might conceivably have spent several months working alongside you in the cause. However you'd like him to have helped, that would be great.
Hmmm, here's a plot hook that could be a flip side to things. You have no 'adventuring background' with Berenike .... in fact, she was off adventuring in Illyria the whole time you were in the Cyklades (if you like the below story), so you've never actually met her in person. But you did meet King Iason, Queen Roshanak, Prince Leon, and Princess Agatha .... and were very, very highly regarded. As for them, one in particular was very highly regarded by you.
Let me pass this by you, Tolly ... what do you think of this linkage?
Spoiler
Agatha didn't necessarily learn from "on high" before the better part of her transformation. See, when she was still one of the most powerful healers in Greece (21st ECL), Hecate whispered to her that she should better understand the nature of death to better understand life. So, as Iason was eager to help his older daughter continue to bring honor and glory (albeit not "battle" glory) to the family and the country, the coffers funneled a little more than usual to trying to find a rare mix of tutor: one who had incredible, even uncanny, knowledge of death; and, one who seemed - if not out-and-out good - honorable and with good "references" (a la Thebes).
The fame of Cheiros the Unrepentant whose powers over death was turned away from darker purposes (though still utilizing dark means), was considered by many to be the expert in the subject without being a murdering, power-grabbing psychopath. Cheiros was invited by King Iason to come for a mini-sabbatical and to tutor Agatha in what he could, and the reasoning was sound .... at the time Agatha was still pure, incredibly wise, and very powerful in positive energy magics (moreso in hers than you were in yours). Though she cast no dark magics, from a strictly theoretical standpoint, your months with her were such that she could be regarded as one of the best pupils you ever had.
It was time to move on afte a few months, however, and you ached to look for your wife. You took time looking around the rest of the islands of the Cyklades, using Hora as a base (and considered an honored guest at the palace's visitor's quarters), and eventually moved back to the mainland to continue your search.
It was only a few months later that you heard that the King and Queen fell due to an unknown disease (or even a curse that seemed the same) that was beyond even the powers of Agatha - likely punishment by a deity for some unknown transgression. But at that time, Leon - whom you met and was considered by most to be a paladin beyond reproach - took the throne, and such a fine young man would make a great king.
You would not be contacted until several years later. Not much news had gotten out of Naxos, other than sailors now refused to sail there (but were forbidden to port anyway). Alcaeus found you while you were following up what might have been your most promising lead yet in finding your wife Hestia. It turns out that Leon had become corrupted (fallen paladin, 28th ECL) and was a bitter man that was Agatha's lackey. Agatha, it seems, used the knowledge you taughter her - in concert with a dark god (maybe Hecate, maybe Hades, possibly both considering current events) - to trade in all of her power over positive energy to now master negative energy. (Similar to a paladin being able to trade in her levels to be an evil paladin-blackguard. She was 25th ECL at her death.)
Without even need for a sabbatical or a ceremony, she came back from the dead (lich) and used veils and other magics to keep from being detected as such. Obviously some powerful entity was behind this, as her feats of power were well above your own at the time. Her rule over the island was absolute with a large cadre of undead minions, enforcers, spies, and soldiers. The Delian League was little more than a confederacy of tribute states.
When Alcaeus found you, your own focus (obsession?) and perhaps other local problems requiring your (near-)epic attention kept you from being able to attend personally. (So, still, no side-by-side adventuring.) But the guilt of your former pupil being able to trade in all she knew for power like - and yet suddenly greater - than your own could not be ignored. Even though everything pointed to her being a lich, the only way you could give them information good enough to defeat Agatha was by giving away what secrets were needed to slay such a creature. Of course, by that time, that creature happened to be similar to .... you.
A sticky situation, and only your guilt (a rare quality for one called "the Unrepentant") - even though it was not your fault - put you in the position to describe the concept of phylacteries other secrets for hunters of such creatures to use in a sealed letter that was for Berenike's eyes only, with the strictly expressed condition that immediately upon reading the letter it must be destroyed, and the only one's who could benefit from this knowledge were Berenike, Alcaeus, and her brother Leon (who had been partially redeemed at that point: LG again, but still not a paladin). None of the three were permitted to ever pen, lecture, speak, or in any way transcribe or describe any of that information to anyone else; if ever there is a lich, they may take direct action, but they still must abide by this condition such that they may not pass on information to others which might be crucial. Only you can release them from this vow.
Of course, Man is fickle, so there is always the fear that politicians -being what they are - will not hold up a bargain or an alliance when it no longer suits them.
You were known (and respected) enough at court in Hora to end up being blamed directly for corrupting Agatha, but as a condition of your letter, you were never (to your knowledge) publicly absolved of the same. Will they blame you and your letter was "the least you could do", or will you be given what gratitude may be due you ... and since she is reputed to be an incredibly cunning politician, will you be able to tell the difference?
Berenike's body barely contains the incredible positive, holy, good, and various other energies, while your body is suffused through and through as a walking bastion of negative energy. It will be like matter and anti-matter. When you and Berenike finally meet, it will be a strange thing indeed.
How do you like it? Obviously, there's nothing specific in D&D terms about yourself beyond general knowledge of liches and dread necromancers (the assumption you were 20th ECL by then ... it only makes the irony sweeter), not some in-game oolie that is an Achilles foot for you, unless for some whacked out reason you wanted it. If you like the story, then you are partially responsible for a country's almost absolute demise, as well as its recovery ... and all without the single use of a spell or ever having met the agents responsible for its recovery (sans Alcaeus, messenger par excellence).
Quote:
Originally Posted by DrK
But liking the weaving of back stories together. Also liking Ariadne shaping the land of Naxos. Good land to be a crazy old witch.
I'll get the IC up tomorrow, then you can start arguing with the Grecian Kings as then they start begging as various beasts beset their land. Clearly Naxos has so far been spared since the desolation of Agatha.
(Of course now feeling the pressure for a certain level of prose in my posts )
LOL! Glad you liked it, it was fun to write.
Good stuff with Naxos being spared ....
... is it because the Cyklades are no hit as hard since they are not on the mainland?
... is it because the reputation of its ruler and her oft-appearing friend enough to help (which is really embellishing what they can do)?
... is it because its queen is so capable a negotiator as to actually have brokered peace there?
.....
....
... or, is it because, at least in the minds of the more paranoid, that Queen Berenike only adopts one of the three options above, but actually follows in the wicked footsteps of her dead sister and now rules as a traitor to Man, but more subtly than did the heavy-handed Agatha?
PLAYing
"A Boot to the Head" (inexorable): Coanacoch
"Chasing What Matters" (ProudTortoise): Khurshid Stormhallowed
"The Jackal" (Sliver): Opee the Original
"Zodiac" (MikelaC1), playing Eleth'Sarat
Last edited by lostsole31 : 03-24-2012 at 07:27 PM.
...Angela doesn't trust many males unless they can prove a reason to be trusted or respected which I'm sure would be more the later then the prior.
Hey, Igneel, Rus got me thinking.
The Grecian Mile-High Club (jk, ), the ones that are sentient and can fly and get out more and in places other than north-western Illyria and the mountains of the far north (like sphinxes and flying fey and stuff), is probably an extremely limited number. I'm just shooting from the hip here, but ya, I think our incredible similarities alone means we likely would have crossed paths before and probably struck up a friendship.
You are way more of an agile flier and a far better archer. Alcaeus isn't clumsy, but he is pure speed (on air and land), and an all-around warrior that doesn't specialize in a weapon so much as a tactic - peppering from a distance and then swooping in and past a crowd of opponents on a very high-speed melee strafing run. Your more human form means you probably interact better with most others, where Alcaeus' form might mean he's even more at home in the wilderness than yourself.
Spoiler
Note sure, exactly. Survival +28, +30 tracking most places, +62 tracking most places with special item. Hide/ Move Silently +54 (including penalties for size). Spot/ Listen +30.
If you ever made it over to the west coast, you might have done a little bit of adventuring with me and Berenike. Maybe even helped to bring down the cloud giant schemer Goraxes before going separate ways. Then, you and I can catch up from time-to-time. I'm probably one of the few males that "get you" so that companionship is good between us? No long-term adventuring, just a couple one shots every now and then when Alcaeus is on independent ops, and we meet up and drink beer (or what-have-you) and discuss some of the best skyscapes we've seen in past months.
__________________
"I think that gay marriage should be between a man and a woman." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
(Duh!)
LGBTitp
Love my avvy. Thanks, Telasi!
Current Games A Boot to the Head - Necahual Chasing What Matters - The Shehzahdeh Khanoum Shereen, Prophetess of Marduk, Wife of Ramanan The Jackal - Kalti The Savage Tide - Captain Darrius Wavebreaker
Hmmm, here's a plot hook that could be a flip side to things. You have no 'adventuring background' with Berenike .... in fact, she was off adventuring in Illyria the whole time you were in the Cyklades (if you like the below story), so you've never actually met her in person. But you did meet King Iason, Queen Roshanak, Prince Leon, and Princess Agatha .... and were very, very highly regarded. As for them, one in particular was very highly regarded by you.
Let me pass this by you, Tolly ... what do you think of this linkage?
I like the connection, but would prefer to have dealt with the situation with Agatha, and confronted his accusers, at the time, rather than simply writing a letter. I'm glad to have connected with Alcaeus in the past, if PSinger is okay with it. But Cheiros is in no way secretive about his state, so the vow of secrecy about lich-dom doesn't click for me. How about something like this:
Spoiler
Once there was an understanding of a similarity between Agatha and Cheiros, letters were sent. But instead of sending a letter back, he accompanied Alcaeus back to Naxos. There, there were several days of tense questioning, as there was considerable and understandable concern that Cheiros was in fact in league with Agatha. It was only through some of the new divinations that Berenike's newfound powers of divination that his honesty was declared, and to this day there may be many in Naxos who don't believe him.
Cheiros did provide advice on the destruction of phylacteries, but also worked with Berenike and the others to battle back against the witch. While he was on another part of the island, wresting away control of some of her undead minions, Berenike Leon and Alcaeus were on the way to the final confrontation with Agatha, as described in your backstory.
Work okay for you?
__________________
Sorry for all of the games on which I'm behind. Health plus work nastiness. I'm now working to catch up.
Peridot avatar (complete with demon consorts) courtesy of the very talented Telasi.
Despair favours the status quo. It is a luxury we cannot afford. ~ Andrew Nikiforuk
Hey everyone! I'm really happy to have been selected, and I look forward to this being an awesome game. Sorry about the delay there; I was gone last night and was working most of today. Damien will speak in Navy.
Male Lawful Good Human Swordsage10/Warblade9/MasterofNine5, Level 24, Init +21, HP 323/323, Speed 50ft. AC 46, Touch 30, Flat-footed 39, Fort +26, Ref +33, Will +28, Base Attack Bonus +18/+13/+8/+3 +5 Iron Heart Diamond Mind Tiger Claw Adamantine Greatsword +38/+33/+28/+23 (3d6+21, 19-20/x2) Unarmed Strike +30/+25/+20/+15 (1d10+11, x2) +1 Warning Armor Spikes +30/+25/+20/+15 (1d6+12, x2) +5 Soulfire Light Fortification Mithral Chain Shirt, Ring of Force Shield (+9 Armor, +2 Shield, +7 Dex, +5 Natural, +5 Deflect, +8 Misc) Abilities Str 32, Dex 24, Con 26, Int 24, Wis 24, Cha 19 Condition Mind Blank, Freedom of Movement, Nondetection, Various. Stance: Hearing the Air Readied Swordsage Maneuvers: Readied Warblade Maneuvers:
Physical Description:
Spoiler
Damien Swiftarm has clear, deep blue eyes and short-cut dark hair, and they seem both bright and alert. He is tall and strong, with quick, lean muscles, and he carries an assortment of weapons and gear, all of it clean and carefully maintained. Damien carries a massive blade across his back, and he walks with a solid, nonmagical oak staff in hand. He gives off an air of steady confidence, and in combat his movements are fluid and sure. He seems to be forever shrouded in shadow, and in combat he is little more than a flickering shadow with a lethal edge, brimming with fire and power.
Personality:
Spoiler
Damien's mind is alert and able, and he has a much greater awareness of his surroundings than the average warrior. Damien spends at least an hour in rigorous training every day, and he has found a steady middle ground in his training as both a swordsage and a warblade. Walking the Sublime Way has tested his mettle and his perseverance more than once, and Damien faces each challenge before him as a test of his personal skill and ability. He is a paragon of humankind, and through the trials and tribulations of his life he has gained both great perseverance and great will. Damien cannot be turned from his path, not by raw force or insidious magic.
In combat Damien takes quick stock of his environment and of his allies, seeking to not just win his personal confrontations but to direct the battle as a whole. He is a mobile and fluid fighter, and he uses his speed and skill to give him both tactical advantage and greater information. Despite his physical training Damien knows that minds win battles, not blades, and he constantly looks for openings and weaknesses. He has the raw strength to battle titans, but he tries his best to defeat his foes with as little might as possible.
Backstory (sorry about this coming in a bit late, but it is one hell of a backstory):
Spoiler
Heroism is not an act of violence. Heroism is not clashing steel and the shouts of war, not is it the flames and blood and visceral whirlwind of battle. A hero is one who places others before himself, and who is willing to go beyond death to give others life. A hero is a champion of those who do not have the strength to champion themselves.
When Damien was born there were no signs from the gods that he was special; no thunder marked his arrival, and the earth did not shake in exultation. It was the birth of a farmer’s son, a man so unknown and poor that he had no family name to give his child. He raised his son in a good and loving household, but Damien had a sharp mind and a powerful heart, and when he began to grow into a young adult his father could tell that he was chafing under the boredom and lack of prospects his life offered. Damien left his home to seek his fortune, and he never could have guessed the trials and tribulations of his life to come.
Damien’s father had spent his early days in the military, he had told his son stories of heroic skill and legendary might. So Damien sought out a master, a man who could teach him to wield a blade in such a way that even the gods would take note of him. He walked across fields and forests, across rivers, and through the sun and rain and snow. He walked, until he found an old path, leading up a mountain to an old, weathered cave. Damien entered, and he was not so young that he did not fear what could lie in wait in ancient crevices. Instead of some foul beast, however, he found a man, an old and wizened sage.
The man was doddering but polite, and he gave Damien some rabbit stew and fresh rainwater. Damien thanked the man, and the man asked in return that Damien give him the gift of conversation. Damien was happy to humor the man, who spent hours telling fantastic stories of strange creatures and odd quests. The stories were very different than the tales of heroism that Damien had grown up with, but they were fascinating all the same.
Eventually Damien drifted off, and when dawn broke the man was nowhere to be seen. He left only a note scratched in the sand on the floor of the cave, which explained that he had gone off over the mountain pass for more herbs for his stew. Damien had been wandering aimlessly until then, so he set out to find the man and see if he could help. It wasn’t a long ways up the rock pass before he found the man, his leg pinned under a boulder. Damien almost panicked; the boulder was huge, and there was no way either of them could lift or move it. The man seemed calm, however, and he told Damien to push the boulder away. Damien saw little use, but he moved to the far side of the stone and heaved with all his might.
The young man was, of course, unable to move the stone an inch. He strained and struggled against the rock, but it was to no avail. Frustrated and worried, he asked the old sage what he should do. The wizened man looked at him intently, his eyes deep and clear. After a moment he shook his head, grinning. He told Damien that fighting against the stone was a loser’s battle, and then he fell silent, watching the young man before him.
Damien was disturbed by the man’s ability to be so cryptic in a time of crisis, but few men as old as the sage were fools, and those that were had too much luck to be pinned by a boulder. Damien returned to the far side of the rock, placing his hands on it gently. He did not strain against the rock as he did before; instead he felt the earth beneath his feet, the endless quiet might of the mountains. Against them, the boulder was a speck of dust, an ephemeral thing. Damien moved, unbidden by his mind, and the weight of the mountains reached through his arms into the stone. It fell away easily, leaving the old man unharmed in the path as it tumbled to a gully below.
Damien had many questions for the man, but he knew enough to save them for later. They walked for several hours, the air cold but clean, until they reached a small and hidden place on the side of the mountain, a flat opening with tough grasses and a scattering of wild herbs. The old man went to work collecting them, and though Damien offered to help the man just laughed, saying the boy was likely to pick nothing but poisons. Most of the day was spent in the clearing, and Damien did little but watch the birds above and think about the stone.
When the sun had made its way across the sky the old man straightened up and turned back to the path. Damien rose to follow him, but his long day of silence had made his hearing sharp; he heard the rustle of the long grass at the edge of the clearing. He turned towards the source of the noise with a whirl, and he was horrified to see a mountain lion, crouching amid the brush. The winds played over the grasses, and he and the cat were as statues. Finally, Damien managed to speak, quietly and calmly asking the old man what should be done.
The sage made no sound for a minute or so. When he replied, he told Damien to do as he had with the stone. Silence reigned once more, and the cat began to creep closer, becoming more confident. Damien’s mind raced; he was unarmed but for a small dagger, which he had apparently drawn, though he did not recall doing it. He watched the cougar move closer, and he remembered the stone, and the strength of the earth. He had moved the boulder, not with his own strength, but with the might of the land. Was he supposed to use the earth to defeat the mountain lion?
It was then that his one-day famous wisdom began to form. The stone was not the answer, he realized with a flash of clarity. He could not defeat the lion with strength. He would have to do it with ferocity. He lunged at the cat moments before it began to coil itself for a pounce, his speed rivaling its own. His blade never drew blood, and he never touched the cat, but it sprang away from him, fleeing to find more gentle prey. Damien felt fatigue begin to set in, and the old man was suddenly at his side, helping him away from the clearing. He did not remember much more of that night, but when he awoke there was more food and water waiting for him.
After sating his thirst and hunger he found another note scratched in the sand. It told him that the old sage had set out along another path, across a river, to pick wild grapes. Damien set out after the man, suspecting he would find him under another stone or surrounded by vicious animals of some variety. He walked for an hour along the path, until he came to the river. It was massive, a stone’s throw across, but he was pleased to see that the old man was on the close side of the river, unharmed. The man was unhappy, however, and he pointed downstream some fifty feet or so. There, pressed up against a stone by the rapid current, was a basket filled to the brim with wild grapes. Damien began to protest, because he knew what the man wanted, but he was silenced with a stern look. The old man told him to go retrieve the basket, and that he should not fight the water.
Damien began to make his way down the river, leaping from stone to stone with the agility of youth. He made it halfway to the basket before his foot hit a slick patch of moss, and he fell into the river with a violent splash. The current was wickedly fast and the water was almost as deep as Damien was tall, but he was able to fight and struggle his way to the basket. He held it tightly to his chest, but he could not imagine how he was going to make his way back upstream. He now trusted the old man, however, and he focused on his words. He felt the water, not as a destructive force, but as a different kind of strength. It was implacable, unchangeable, but Damien did not have to placate it or change it. He moved with the water, flowing as it did, using its strength as his own. He shifting from rock to rock, back and forth, and he slowly but surely made his way up the stream with nothing but his legs and his shoulders. When he reached the old man he leapt from the river, soaking wet and bruised, but happy.
The two of them returned to the cave in silence once more, but that night the old man told stories once again, and Damien listened intently. The stories were still strange, but they made more sense to him now. They were not stories of heroism, but stories of victory through more than strength. They were challenges of skill, and wit, and bravery that had little to do with swords and shields, but everything to do with the strength of one’s heart and mind. After the old sage was finished, Damien told the man why he was traveling; that he was seeking a teacher to make him strong, to help him become a great hero. The old man laughed, and he told Damien to go home. He told him that only a fool sought trouble, and that war was not an act of man; it was an act of the gods, an act that men tried to imitate with brutish displays of violence. The gods brought war on the titans, he said, and since then there had been no true warriors. Damien remained adamant, however, and he asked the man once more if he could teach him, or if he knew how he could find a teacher.
The man looked at Damien for a long time, contemplative. Then he sighed, his voice heavy. He looked to the flames of the fire between them, the small blaze crackling merrily in the chill cave. He asked Damien if he was sure that a teacher was what he wanted. Damien looked the man in the eye, his own eyes bright and fierce. He said that he would do anything to become a hero, a champion of those who could not champion themselves.
The old sage nodded, and then he stood, still looking at the flame. He told Damien to learn, and with his words the flames rose and twisted, raging higher and higher until they had surrounded Damien. The heat was intense, and the fire was still growing. Damien moved at once, without fear or hesitation. He knew that the old sage had not been leading him astray. He did not fight the flames, but instead he accepted their heat, turning the fire’s might into his own. He burst through the curtain of flames, and they twisted and spun around him like a cloak of many colors.
The old man smiled fiercely, and then he lashed out at Damien with his fist, all signs of frailty or weakness gone. Damien’s conscious mind had receded, and he never stopped moving for a second, unconsciously avoiding the man’s blows with the grace of the river, watching the old sage’s body for signs of his next strike. After a moment he lunged forward, the ferocity of the mountain lion tearing through him, the power of the flames still tingling in his skin. He struck the man in the chest, and with a great shout Damien threw him back, the force of his blow might enough to move boulders and shudder mountains.
The old man took a bare moment to recover, and he spoke a soft word. All the light in the cave vanished, and the sudden change rendered Damien completely blind. He felt a fast, tearing blow across his arm and he stumbled back, unable to use his newfound strength; the shadow held a new power that he could not fight directly. Damien shut his eyes, and he embraced the darkness. He shut his eyes, and he reached out with his ears, with his mind, remembering the cave and the man. He felt something, a tickle in the air, and he threw himself to one side, avoiding a heavy strike. The shadows still surrounded him, but in them he felt a cold strength that balanced the strength of the flames in his heart. He called forth that icy chill, and he lashed out into the darkness, his blow guided by his heart, not his eyes. He struck true, and the old man fell back, the shadows receding.
The two men stood there, breathing heavily, the cave dim and the fire dying. After a long, heavy moment the old sage told Damien to look at him. Damien was confused; he had been looking at the man all night, and he expressed his confusion. The old sage smiled wryly, and he told Damien again to look at him, not with his eyes, but with his mind.
Damien closed his eyes, and he made his mind clear, and calm, and still. He opened his eyes, and when he did he opened them not on an old man, but on a god. Ares looked back to him, tall and proud and mighty, and he smiled at the young man. He told Damien that the world needed more champions who could be mighty without a blade, more champions with a mind to go along with their strength. He asked Damien for his dagger, and Damien gave it to him, awed. The god of war took his little knife in hand, and when he gave it back it was a greatsword, long and sharp and perfectly balanced for Damien’s hand. Ares told Damien to go, and to learn the ways of the blade. Damien blinked, and Ares was gone, and naught but the dying fire and his sword remained.
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I like the connection, but would prefer to have dealt with the situation with Agatha, and confronted his accusers, at the time, rather than simply writing a letter. I'm glad to have connected with Alcaeus in the past, if PSinger is okay with it. But Cheiros is in no way secretive about his state, so the vow of secrecy about lich-dom doesn't click for me. How about something like this:
Spoiler
Once there was an understanding of a similarity between Agatha and Cheiros, letters were sent. But instead of sending a letter back, he accompanied Alcaeus back to Naxos. There, there were several days of tense questioning, as there was considerable and understandable concern that Cheiros was in fact in league with Agatha. It was only through some of the new divinations that Berenike's newfound powers of divination that his honesty was declared, and to this day there may be many in Naxos who don't believe him.
Cheiros did provide advice on the destruction of phylacteries, but also worked with Berenike and the others to battle back against the witch. While he was on another part of the island, wresting away control of some of her undead minions, Berenike Leon and Alcaeus were on the way to the final confrontation with Agatha, as described in your backstory.
Work okay for you?
Actually, I have (in mulling over interesting options) a way that could also bring in Demonic_Spoon's character as well ... let me know what you both think.
Demonic_Spoon/ Tolly (and DrK):
Spoiler
Mopsus is a fantastically rare type of 'soothsayer' that is able to take powerful spirits of those who were more than mortal, less than god, and lost to common knowledge. Just like in comic books, one's talents often defines one's battlegrounds. There are certain creatures too bizarre and dealing with forces too little known that those of such rare insights as Mopsus are called on for help to investigate.
Enter a giantess named Xeno, an ogre barbarian from Crete. She was stronger and tougher than an average member of her kin, but in no way was anything special in the long run. A little over 200 years ago, she raided the northwest coast and she just happened to be luckier in living longer than she should've. But her last victim was worse than she was. An unknown man with bizarre powers that bound spirits sent to aid him by Hades easily killed the giantess when she attacked. It could've ended there, and it simply would've been self-defense. But the evil nature of that man was such that he cut off her head yet used magics to keep her head somehow animated with unholy energies, and entrapped her spirit there.
But not alone, for in her mind was a doorway to Hades itself, filling her undead skull with all manner of knowledge far beyond the realm of normal man. The binder cursed her that she should have all this knowledge, but now be dead and unable to use it. He had a summoned roc drop her head in the harbor at Phalasarna. Stories came around that a head in the harbor there, if you had the right magics, could answer questions on nearly any subject knowable. It is this legend that (if you accept this backstory, Demon_Spoon) drew Mopsus to Crete on his solitary travels. But something had happened, and even hiring (if necessary) those with proper divinatory and water magics, Mopsus was unable to find Xeno's head despite it practically being a marker on 'specialized' charts.
In time, there were reports that this head appeared astride various bodies heading north into the Cyklades islands.
Hecate prepared for Berenike's rise, as Hades told her that Agatha would soon be fully in her embrace if the younger sister and her companions were not stopped. And so, they pooled their resources. From the far south, far south of Egypt there are deserts hotter than even that Mediterranean empire knows. From such a place came a witch named Dumisani. Her unholy drive to give herself a heart of stone after her husband died drove her to range far north over many years and trials. In time, she settled in a small hot plain in the center of Crete, and found favor with Hecate, who in turn twisted events that Dumisani should quickly reach the pinnacle of her sorceress meditations as a bonded summoner, her body becoming all but impervious to pain and being able to turn into living rock herself while still casting he magic and being protected by lesser earth servitors.
Dumisani was a perfect candidate, as her apparent immunity to pain meant that her mind might endure Hades' part of the bargain. He gifted the woman with undeath like that of the shambling walkers, but she kept her mind - giving her great strength, resilience, and absolute mental immunity. A charismatic speaker, she became what made her most dangerous: a leader whose capacity might reach legendary proportions if she could not be cut short. She found and took Xeno's head with her to Naxos with a score of Cretin ships full of mercenaries and established a beachhead on the southeast of the island.
In some of the upper hills are bats of immense size, capable of bearing a man aloft. One of these dire bats were caught and subjected to magic from a powerful scroll that turned this particular bat into a titanic creature. Before the fantastically strong bat could break free, Xeno's head attached to it as a rider. With her incredible knowledge and the bat's flight, strength, and senses, the titanic Xeno-bat was a flying dreadnought that went in advance of the Cretin mercenaries and members of Agatha's forces that rendezvoused there. If Agatha were to be challenged, this force would march on Hora, destroying everything in its path.
Mopsus, with his incredible insight, had already arrived on Naxos to warn its people ahead of time. He stayed behind to try to protect and mobilize those that were there while sending word to Berenike by way of an underground group that tried to fight against the horror that had taken their island.
Once the four heroes (A-B-C-L, Alcaeus-Berenike-Cheiros-Leon) got word of this, Berenike sent word through that same underground that now was the time to strike. She committed her best to this as much as she may dare, forcing Agatha's gaze and military efforts to the south. With word of so many undead horrors in one place, it was decided that Cheiros would assist whoever led the field in the southeast while the other three flew in under darkness to oppose Agatha directly.
In the southeast, Cheiros was introduced to Mopsus. The Naxians were willing to take any help they could, however terrifying the source of their power. The two heroes met up with the man most responsible for keeping the Naxians alive in these years: Origenes, a humble calligrapher who found his calling on the battlefield. (Paladin (Hunter, FE: Arcanists) 5/ Occult Slayer 5/ Divine Crusader of Athena 5; Leadership) Despite his leadership, the Naxians still couldn't mount a full-scale assault by the time battle was joined. Nonetheless, the smaller force - aided by the two incredibly powerful foreigners (Cheiros and Mopsus) - were valiant.
The most devastating opening was by the Xeno-bat, with several hill giant mercenaries on its back tossing rocks down into the fray. In the end, as with in Hora miles away, the heroes-to-be (Mopsus and Cheiros, as Berenike and Alcaeus) did not end the fight, but were most instrumental in doing so. Origenes led a bard-worthy charge against Dumisani's bodyguards to give her a telling blow on Dumisani, weakening her, before she tore him apart with her magic. Agatha's undead forces began to corner Mopsus and Cheiros (who until then held the upper hand on their part of the battlefield), coming from all over the island. A flash of light to the northeast erupted high, high into the sky and the ground shuttered. All of the skeletons exploded, some of the zombies simply fell down as if to sleep, while other zombies and the various forms of undead - including the Xeno-head on the titanic bat - had been destroyed.
Dumisani, owing to strange scripts written onto her skin, somehow managed to avoid the fantastic burst of positive energy welling throughout the island. What she couldn't avoid, however, was the falling body of a several-ton bat dropping out of the sky and landing on her, crushing her instantly and snuffing out all remant of her unlife force.
Cheiros wasn't killed, but he did suffer horrible wounds and felt ... nauseated, something he hadn't felt in a long time. No matter, his part in the battle - though done - was impressive. It was now up to Mopsus, who whipped the remaining Naxians into a fervor and drove the Cretins into their ships and back out to sea.
But Dumisani's body and the remains of the Xeno-head were looked at. (Cheiros having been able to recover and use his many neg-energy spells to heal himself back in no time after the battle and his nausea subsided). Mopsus positively identified Xeno (she was called that simply because it means "stranger") as a deathshead, a type of undead that may have its origin with binders.
Dumisani's body, however, contained correspondence from many cells of Hecate-Hades confederates that actually had helped to fund this operation out of Crete. One of the signed names, it so happens (and this copy of his handwriting) was exactly the same as a lead to Hestia Cheiros had found prior. Only this time, he now had a point of origin to begin his search anew: Nineveh, well to the east.
Origenes' son, Nikanor, also was one of the most heroic non-epics in the show after his father, but survived. He started out a humble diviner, but is now Berenike's major domo, having come into his own ever more in the past years since the battle. (LG human male Sorcerer 6/ Paladin (Arcanist-Hunter)of Athena 1/ Spellsword 10; Leadership)
DrK, the last is as much for you as anyone, just to give a "face" and "name" to whom Berenike leaves Naxos while she is gone.
Tolly, let me know of you like the changes you requested, and if this works for you. If so, did you leave right away or stick around for short-term/ long-term denouement?
Demon_Spoon, this may be entirely out of the box since I only know what I know about your character from your background writeup. If you don't like it, we can excise the name of Mopsus from this entire episode. If you do like it, what did you do then? Did you play the loner, the reticent hero and leave the island? retreat inwards to some of its more peaceful places? seek out the halls of power to determine what happened?
Anyway, that's at least a good A-B-C link ... and something for M as well if he'd like .... a bit more on the battle across the island, not just at Hora ... a possible impetus that actually drove C east beyond meditation ... and foreshadowing of mortal-immortal troubles with the continuous Hecate-Hades confederacies (which, of course, the DM can dissolve at any time). Heck, even the random to-the-east of Nineveh might be fun to pick apart or ignore.
PLAYing
"A Boot to the Head" (inexorable): Coanacoch
"Chasing What Matters" (ProudTortoise): Khurshid Stormhallowed
"The Jackal" (Sliver): Opee the Original
"Zodiac" (MikelaC1), playing Eleth'Sarat
Last edited by lostsole31 : 03-25-2012 at 01:56 AM.
Wow. I think among everyone's backstories and the slowly growing chain-linkage you guys have written a novel before the game even began. Of course, this is EPIC D&D, and most epics do start in media res.
I feel like the little girl who got dropped off for softball, only to find out she took a wrong turn and got stuck with the writer-nerds somehow.
Enough talk. I want to swing at something. RRAAWWRRR!!
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Sounds good, did she initially consult me to scry her future though?
Possibly more for someone else then herself. I can see her going as a service for the queen, as the Hippolyta (or the Amazons in general as she dies in some variations) in Greek Mythology eventually went to war against Athens because of Theseus kidnapping her sister after Hercales was able to retrieve her girdle. In some versions one or both (Hippolyta or Antiope) died before/during/after the war.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Toliudar
I know that the hordes of undead minions are occasionally an issue for some good-aligned characters, and would like to try to mitigate this, especially with shared backstories (ideally ones in which the hordes of undead minions had some positive influence. Igneel, this might especially be useful for us. But I'm open to all sorts of links.
Largely from bad experiences (as most necromancers aren't good) she has grown even more distrustful towards users of undead then men in general. It is because of this amount of experience that she has taken training to hunting arcane casters and their undead ilk.
It would have to take some considerable amount of needed assistance against undead users for her to even consider teaming up with one. She might think of it as 'sometimes you need to fight fire with fire' kind of thing were she realizes the best authority against undead enemies would be one that creates them. So maybe because of the mounting amount of undead they sought advice from anyone with any reputation and willing to give advice. Given that she has flight, she was probably sent as an messenger and had to get past her distrust long enough to accomplish orders from her queen.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PSinger
Hey, Igneel, Rus got me thinking.
The Grecian Mile-High Club (jk, ), the ones that are sentient and can fly and get out more and in places other than north-western Illyria and the mountains of the far north (like sphinxes and flying fey and stuff), is probably an extremely limited number. I'm just shooting from the hip here, but ya, I think our incredible similarities alone means we likely would have crossed paths before and probably struck up a friendship.
You are way more of an agile flier and a far better archer. Alcaeus isn't clumsy, but he is pure speed (on air and land), and an all-around warrior that doesn't specialize in a weapon so much as a tactic - peppering from a distance and then swooping in and past a crowd of opponents on a very high-speed melee strafing run. Your more human form means you probably interact better with most others, where Alcaeus' form might mean he's even more at home in the wilderness than yourself.
Spoiler
Note sure, exactly. Survival +28, +30 tracking most places, +62 tracking most places with special item. Hide/ Move Silently +54 (including penalties for size). Spot/ Listen +30.
If you ever made it over to the west coast, you might have done a little bit of adventuring with me and Berenike. Maybe even helped to bring down the cloud giant schemer Goraxes before going separate ways. Then, you and I can catch up from time-to-time. I'm probably one of the few males that "get you" so that companionship is good between us? No long-term adventuring, just a couple one shots every now and then when Alcaeus is on independent ops, and we meet up and drink beer (or what-have-you) and discuss some of the best skyscapes we've seen in past months.
Pfft... Mile High Club Just as long as there is no Golden Rain.
In all seriousness now, ya with you being a hunter as well, let alone a flying one I think it should be guaranteed that we met at one point or another.
Your right on many accounts, not as fast as you (I'm guessing) but probably more agile, I'm more specialized which also means I'm not as rounded out, Human form is probably more welcoming in civilized areas, definitely not as skillful as I would like since I have less skillpoints/modifications.
I can see us working together on occasion, and despite you being male I'm sure your different enough from the general male population that we can strike up a companionship. The occasional meet-up for discussion or combating unnatural forces such as undead would be nice, especially to talk about things that only winged or flight capable creatures could understand.
@Everyone: Anyone else willing, send a shout out for more background co-op. Will work on some rough drafts on ideas later. Lack of internet access drove to stay up till 2am just to check the thread
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"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
LostSole: Sounds good. Cheiros is not by nature a loner, so would have stuck around post-Agatha for a few months to help put things right. It's amazing how much reconstruction you can accomplish when your work force doesn't eat or sleep...
Igneel: That makes perfect sense. I'll try to work up a scenario that doesn't start with "Angela spots an undead and fillls him full of arrows." Although, actually, that might make for an amusing way to have met, if there's a way for Cheiros to have survived the first few seconds of her attack.
RaggedAngel: Fantastic storytelling as always!
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Lostsole: Sounds good, the reason I call my binder a soothsayer is because he can cast divination at will, so calling in other scryers probably wouldn't be neccessary. Also, I might be able to rebuke undead if that's relevant, I think there's a vestige that allows me to do that but I forget.
Well I would think the reason that I would look for the head was for its knowledge, so if it was destroyed I wouldn't really have a reason to hang around, as I'm not too big into politics, and as such I would have left like the loner I am.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igneel
Possibly more for someone else then herself. I can see her going as a service for the queen, as the Hippolyta (or the Amazons in general as she dies in some variations) in Greek Mythology eventually went to war against Athens because of Theseus kidnapping her sister after Hercales was able to retrieve her girdle. In some versions one or both (Hippolyta or Antiope) died before/during/after the war.
Sounds good. So she came to consult me on behalf of her queen, and then we fought a hydra together? Something like that.
EDIT: Considering trading in the abberation feats for rapid pact making and skilled binding if that would be allowed. And replacing Dyrr's impervious vestment with a robe of blending with the +8 ac enchantment from the MIC and using the leftover cash to buy a bowl of contemplation, once again if you'll allow it, since the game has already started and everything.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahenobarbi
I figure that's why d&d gods do so little - they're busy taking psychotherapy sessions to get rid of all the voices they hear.
May have a optimization addiction.
Last edited by Demonic_Spoon : 03-25-2012 at 02:14 PM.
Ack, so many good posts while I was sleeping! I gotta step up my game
@Toliudar
Well if its before my training in Peerless Archer I shouldn't have my signature bow, and maybe put you as the one that occasionally came to the Amazon tribe as a recommendation of the Gargarean tribe as an tutor in that field.
@Demonic_Spoon
Maybe not one right after the other, but yeah something like that should be simple enough right?
@Lost
I just realized that even without Alcaeus's connection with you, in a indirect manner I am connected to you as my Queen Hippolyta is the daughter of Ares which makes you her cousin in some respects. So not only are you a female tactician of great renown, your related to my queen and gain my respect through both means.
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"Words ought to be chosen with greater care then either clothing or weaponry. For they can last much longer than the former, and cut deeper than the latter." -Doomraga's Revenge by T.A. Barron
LostSole: Sounds good. Cheiros is not by nature a loner, so would have stuck around post-Agatha for a few months to help put things right. It's amazing how much reconstruction you can accomplish when your work force doesn't eat or sleep...
Good on the first. Your knowledge and counsel would be much appreciated in hunting down those which, for some reason, escaped or were protected in the caves in the mountains.
Your "work force" on the other hand, would be unacceptable across the board. Berenike would be able to tell you diplomatically enough, but the entire island has enough of undead ... in and of themselves the normal repulsion cannot be overcome, and now that they spent years under the thumb of one (Agatha being a lich, or even what that would mean, is not well known) who used such minions has left a scar on the Naxian pscyhe. Berenike accepts you for your willingness to set things aright, though you are something of a conundrum to her.
The fact that you openly are undead means that - even though your help in the final battle was known - you were tolerated, not accepted. That tolerance from all classes of society quickly precipitates the farther from that final battle time goes.
What's more, the more permanent undead that you would have available come from somewhere, and they would be people's relatives and loved ones. Nikanor would have had most of the enemy Cretin's (and other mercenaries from parts unknown) burned in a large pile and victory ceremony for the men, so unless you actively started to raid the halls of the dead for a "work force" to offer up as help, you really wouldn't have a useful labor force (at least on a mass scale) anyway.
Glad you liked the story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Demonic_Spoon
Lostsole: Sounds good, the reason I call my binder a soothsayer is because he can cast divination at will, so calling in other scryers probably wouldn't be neccessary. Also, I might be able to rebuke undead if that's relevant, I think there's a vestige that allows me to do that but I forget.
Well I would think the reason that I would look for the head was for its knowledge, so if it was destroyed I wouldn't really have a reason to hang around, as I'm not too big into politics, and as such I would have left like the loner I am.
As I figured, and that's cool. Varying degrees of contact (or none in the case of Damien, which I'd actually like to maintain) for each of us. Berenike never met you, but heard about you ... but you were gone before she could request your presence in Hora, making you even more engimatic.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Igneel
@Lost
I just realized that even without Alcaeus's connection with you, in a indirect manner I am connected to you as my Queen Hippolyta is the daughter of Ares which makes you her cousin in some respects. So not only are you a female tactician of great renown, you're related to my queen and gain my respect through both means.
Fair enough, but that's merely a known familial connection of which you are aware. You'd have to check with PSinger, but I'm sure Alcaeus doesn't know or care. Berenike would know about the connection to Queen Hippolyta, but she probably wouldn't know about any connection to you (though she might with a K: Local or K: Nobility check ... DrK's call), and for now that's fine. No need for us all to start off the game with arms linked together. Cheiros is (outside of Alcaeus) the closest one of my fellow PCs that is known, and considering their background, it is one of gratitude but also with a strange under-tension.
PLAYing
"A Boot to the Head" (inexorable): Coanacoch
"Chasing What Matters" (ProudTortoise): Khurshid Stormhallowed
"The Jackal" (Sliver): Opee the Original
"Zodiac" (MikelaC1), playing Eleth'Sarat
@Toliudar
Well if its before my training in Peerless Archer I shouldn't have my signature bow, and maybe put you as the one that occasionally came to the Amazon tribe as a recommendation of the Gargarean tribe as an tutor in that field.
Lovely. Another possibility is that Cheiros came to your tribe asking after his wife, and stayed to spend some time crafting magic items in exchange for their hospitality for a few weeks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LostSole
Your "work force" on the other hand, would be unacceptable across the board. Berenike would be able to tell you diplomatically enough, but the entire island has enough of undead ... in and of themselves the normal repulsion cannot be overcome, and now that they spent years under the thumb of one (Agatha being a lich, or even what that would mean, is not well known) who used such minions has left a scar on the Naxian pscyhe. Berenike accepts you for your willingness to set things aright, though you are something of a conundrum to her.
The fact that you openly are undead means that - even though your help in the final battle was known - you were tolerated, not accepted. That tolerance from all classes of society quickly precipitates the farther from that final battle time goes.
What's more, the more permanent undead that you would have available come from somewhere, and they would be people's relatives and loved ones. Nikanor would have had most of the enemy Cretin's (and other mercenaries from parts unknown) burned in a large pile and victory ceremony for the men, so unless you actively started to raid the halls of the dead for a "work force" to offer up as help, you really wouldn't have a useful labor force (at least on a mass scale) anyway.
That works great for me. Tolerated but not welcome is pretty much what I'm expecting from this situation. And I wasn't picturing a locally sourced army, so much as the use of his own ship's crew. Don't underestimate the value and subtlety of a workforce that can excavate a port from underwater. But I think that the image of a lich who is occasionally permitted in polite company, but whose presence tends to be a buzzkill on a societal level, is a useful one here.
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Despair favours the status quo. It is a luxury we cannot afford. ~ Andrew Nikiforuk
A swathe of "My thoughts are private soothsayer/ Queen. Get away from my thoughts" also echo in the hall as Berenike or Mopsus interrogate their fellow King's thoughts. Some of which are clear, some of which are blocked from and shielded from sense.
How exactly did he detect my attempt to read his thoughts? Just curiosity as I am not aware of any method of detecting it, blocking it yes but not detecting.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ahenobarbi
I figure that's why d&d gods do so little - they're busy taking psychotherapy sessions to get rid of all the voices they hear.
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Climbing Mt. Olympus (OOC)
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), the ones that are sentient and can fly and get out more and in places other than north-western Illyria and the mountains of the far north (like sphinxes and flying fey and stuff), is probably an extremely limited number. I'm just shooting from the hip here, but ya, I think our incredible similarities alone means we likely would have crossed paths before and probably struck up a friendship.
