Chapter One: The Summons In which our heroes learn of their shared heritage, encounter a powerful mastermind, and embark on a journey to alter the world forever.
A benevolent(?) overseer who has gathered the Touched together in order to put them on the path to glory and restoration. What role he(?) has had in Obedzai's history isn't particularly clear, but the knowledge The Shade possesses of the World Before is unparalleled. Dressed in the stereotypical, expected dark robes and speaking in a strangely layered voice that combines both elements of male and female harmonics, The Shade seems more like a guise made up of what one might expect, as opposed to what one might actually find. The nearly theatrical qualities of The Shade belie a great deal of power, as he can effortlessly control the flow of time and call upon the Touched from continents away.
Lord of the Dwarves and perhaps the most accomplished practitioner of Divination in all of Obedzai, the Diviner's name has not yet been divulged, nor his location. Information on the Diviner is intentionally restricted by the Lord himself, so that those who seek him out in order to obtain his teachings must prove themselves adroit diviners themselves beforehand. He is one of the first two targets provided by The Shade for the Touched.
Lord of Laloon and in many ways Thrix itself, the Cryptkeeper is a tyrant of the highest calibre. His men aren't rude to the cityfolk, the taxes are quite agreeable, the roads are well cobbled, there are enough schools for the children and their quality is surprisingly high. Ruling from Laloon's palatial castle, the Vampire Lord balances the various ambassadors against one another in order to provide peace. The Cryptkeeper has managed to maintain the status quo in the years since the Gods died. He is one of the first two targets provided by The Shade for the Touched.
The contact for the Omnicide Heresy. Constantly smells of smoke and has no eyebrows. A cheerful man of indeterminate age, Smarx is a pyromaniac with what appears to be dual personalities. How long he has been in the Omnicide heresy is unknown. As liaison, it is Smarx's duty to gather information about all of the cardinal heresies and reporting note-worthy information to the Touched. His favorite food is honeyed bread.
THE PATCHWORK MAN
The Patchwork Man is a boogeyman of sorts, primarily from the time prior to War of the Divines. The Patchwork Man was said to be a failed experiment of the Gods, a seven foot creature made from spare parts scavenged from living creatures and finished without skin. Constantly craving completion, the stories go, the Patchwork Man stalked through the streets of Obedzai's cities to catch prostitutes, delinquents and any child it could, killing the victim and removing a three inch by three inch patch of skin from the corpse. The stories continue on to say the Patchwork Man would use the hair of its victims to stitch the patch on, leading to a horrific abomination on an endless road to satisfaction.
UPDATE!
The Patchwork Man is real, clearly, and is ostensibly the leader of the Omnicide Heretics.
THE HERESIES
Spoiler
Heresies represent offshoots of the Cult of Mortality, each differing from the approved dogma and being opposed both ideologically and militaristically from the other heresies and the Cult proper. The following are the Cardinal Heresies -- the five largest and most well-defined of the heresies in Obedzai.
THE EIGHT LORDS HERESY
The central tenet of the Eight Lords Heresy is that there were, in fact, eight members of the adventuring party that slew the Gods, as opposed to the Cult of Mortality's Seven. It is believed by the Eight Lords heretics that the Sunsoaked Lands were once promised to the Eighth Lord. Venerating the Eighth Lord as a sort of martyr, naming him 'He-Who-Hides,' the Eight Lords heretics use a fascinating web of illogic to support their ramblings.
THE ASCENSION HERESY
The central tenet of the Ascension Heresy is that the Seven Lords are on their way to Godhood themselves, transcending mortality and uplifting the whole of the mortal races in the process. The Ascension heretics point to Stranth and the Cryptkeeper as examples of Lords who have already achieved their Ascension as well as the name of Murdock Adahorn's tower, Point Ascendance, as evidence of their delusions.
THE VINDERSHIMMERSANDERSON HERESY
The central tenet of the Vindershimmersanderson Heresy is that Khorli Vindershimmersanderson lives. The Vindershimmersanderson heretics believe that Khorli watches from the heavens and watches over all those loyal to her. Furthermore, there is a belief that the other six Lords betrayed Khorli, and the heretics ache to repay the Lords for their betrayal. There isn't much other than demagogy that instills the conviction in the Vindershimmersanderson heretics.
THE OMNICIDE HERESY
The central tenet of the Omnicide Heresy is that the Lords are out to destroy all sentient and non-sentient existence -- to commit omnicide. Looking to the death of the Gods as the first step (destabilizing nature, they claim), the Omnicide heretics perform mass murder whenever they can and further the supposed goals of the Lords: the total end of everything. The most militaristic of the heresies, the Omnicide heretics suffer from a lack of leadership (since anyone who gains 'recognition' in the heresy will probably be killed in some religious event).
THE REGENERATION HERESY
The central tenet of the Regeneration Heresy is that the Gods are slowly reforming, taking in the blood and bodies of all mortals in an attempt to regain a greater semblance of activity. The Regeneration heretics are most common in areas of healing and see their work of restitching flesh as a sort of offering to the regenerating Gods. It is believed that the Blood Comets were the first movement of the Gods' return, and that the dead divines have been working towards their regeneration since that point. All deaths, the Regeneration heretics say, feed the Gods, as do all births.
THE MYTHOLOGICAL BEINGS
Spoiler
PALLADIUM JENKS, ESQ.
The mythical creator of Valorous Stranth, the story goes that Palladium Jenks, Esq. was a living statue as well, a brilliant barrister and incredibly talented artificer. Lonely in his astronomical success and without another like him, Jenks decided to turn his mind towards replicating the process which could have been the cause of himself. The tales go that he succeeded, finally, in the form of Stranth -- and that all the constructs and golems of the world are the offspring of his attempts, the failed experiments that never quite yielded what Palladium was looking for.
PHINNEAS COGSPROGGLER
A gnome of such immense girth and weight that the world trembled at his approach, the stories tell. The mythological saint of bards, Phinneas' talents were so remarkably bad that current-day bards will sign shoddy sheet music with his name, to avoid the shame of having composed such a ballad or tune. A pastime of young halflings and gnomes is to invent the various offspring of Cogsproggler -- to this day, the 400 pound gnome has supposedly created a few hundred children and is the progenitor of a family line a dozen generations deep.
GHALLIFAX THE CONFUSED
Legend has it that Ghallifax the Confused was so confused... fill in the blank. A folk hero of indeterminate 'folk,' every species has a variation on Ghallifax the Confused. Through the ages, Ghallifax has evolved into something of a thief -- any time an individual has lost a thought, "Ghallifax must have stolen that from me!" Common things that Ghallifax the Confused was so confused about include who his wife was, who his mother was, why he was on the moon, and how he fell into this well.
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I'll update all of that as I get around to it. This is the Out-of-Character Thread for The Mortal Coil. This is the In-Character Thread for The Mortal Coil.
The pictures are more representations than legitimate points of reference. I'm just trying to get the players to see the closest I can get to what I see in my mind when they're imagining my characters. The theme music is the same -- I'll eventually compile a list of music that I've listened to in writing the plot. It just gives you something to consider when you're looking at the game.
Cinematic music for a game which will be, I hope, cinematic. That's what I'm going for -- something grand. I hope I'll achieve it, and I know y'all'll help me to that end.
This will be, I hope, a good reference point for the game as a whole, in order to keep track of which important NPCs you've encountered (as well as whichever ones I find myself laughing about and therefore wish to immortalize) and to provide ample background information.
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
Would you be ok with me changing my greatsword into a greathorn warhammer. I duno why but I feel that I like the party better with 2 blade users and 2 blunt weapon specialists.
What mechanical difference does that have? With the sheer number of books in my shelf to my immediate left, I cannot fathom which would have the hammer of which you speak.
Also, thanks CMT! I hope the teaser information makes y'all excited, at least a little bit. There will be many additional mythological figures (such as The False Fake God and the Trickster of Winterbury, P.J. Morgan the Orchestral Genius and Snarlgaggler the Foul) and a few of the Minor Heresies (such as the Pantsless Heresy and the Sickening Heresy) that'll be added as the game progresses, and naturally the Dramatis Personae will be updated as y'all actually meet people.
I really look forward to having y'all meet Floppy du Claux [pronounced claw -- it's faux-French] the private detective.
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
it is min monster manual 4 but I just remembered I would need exotic weapon proficiency for it and that would change my character to the point of no longer being close enough to the one you approved for me to logically opt for. Please disregardful my request.
Woo! This is going to be amazing. And also, the best pbp game I've ever had the privilege of playing in. I can tell already from the introduction. It's so well thought out, with so many interesting bits to the setting.
Okay, now I'm finished with getting on the DM's good side. I can't think clearly enough to post right now, so expect an IC post by tomorrow evening(unfortunately I can't make one before then). Also, should we pick colours for our characters to speak in? I'm calling Dark Slate Blue just in case.
Well-known fact, Dark Orchid is the best of the colors ever.
Thank you, Sneaky Weasel, I hope that appraisal can be maintained. On the one hand I'm worried about being called a railroader (which, I admit, will probably happen), while on the other I'm trying to provide and create a game that reflects what I've got in mind, which is vaguely similar to a video game in structure and motion.
As I had said from the beginning, this is not a sandbox game and there is an overarching goal you five will be working towards, so at the very least I can assuage myself by saying "they did know what they were getting into..." But regardless. I hope you all will have fun, and I really hope y'all'll like Chapter One enough to greenlight Chapter Two.
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
Just waiting on Sneaky and Strainseir at the moment before we can progress.
Thank you all, again. I'm enjoying the reactions y'all're giving me both IC and OOC (especially OOC, because I am vain and you feed my vanity!) so this is just superb.
Music-wise I've been using lots of the OST for Sherlock Holmes and SH: Game of Shadows, I've got Pirates of the Caribbean's soundtracks [particularly Davy Jones' theme and songs with that motif], bits from Star Wars, the Harry Potter soundtrack, tracks one and... thirteen, I think it was, from the OST of the movie Nine...
So there're a few things. Whenever we get to the meeting (which'll be my next post, once everyone's on their way there), I'll put in a spoiler the music that is appropriate to be listening to at the time. Perhaps I'll make playlists on Grooveshark and link them for those interested. This would not be, of course, anything required -- just icing, just flavor.
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
Sorry for my lateness in posting, I have a history of always being the last person to start in PbP games. But now that I'm here the story can begin! Woo!
I'm fine with railroading(or rather, having a plot), so long as I know it's there beforehand. And Vardoth is a firm believer in Destiny, so he'll have no problems with it.
As for the music, I have to say I like the idea of having a soundtrack for the game. It can really help to set the mood, which is always a good thing. Now I want to find a good Theme for Vardoth.
With your 21, I'm afraid you don't have any idea what magic was just used to alter the laws of time.
EDIT: I'd like to point out that, unlike Death from Discworld, The Shade doesn't automatically speak in little capitals. There is the line when it's coming together that it speaks in bolded little regular, and that was intentional. Think of a difference in volume -- THIS should be like Brian Blessed, whereas this should be snide Brian Blessed making a tawdry aside.
Got it?
EDIT2: Quite a pair of ears on Sythini, that she could hear something said that far above. Especially at a +1 modifier.
EDIT3: I'll wait until the group as a whole has a chance to respond before we get to the nitty-gritty. Y'all have priority over the setpieces-- I mean, the "other, very important, nonplayer characters with histories and destinies as varied and interesting as y'all's."
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The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist.
It would be a practiced sort of smile. A gnoll who keeps polite company would need a practiced smile, lest those around him thought he might be snarling at them all the time.
Edit: Also, earlier on up there, the bluff check can take the place of the diplo check if it fails. It's a skill trick - Social Recovery.
Last edited by Silver Night : 06-05-2012 at 01:40 AM.
It's great fun to play the other characters off against one another. Although with that attitude, I'm not sure how Ash is going to decide to join the quest. However it works out, it's sure to be interesting.
Sythini's Prepared Spells:
1st
0/1 - Shield
2/3 - Orb of Cold, Lesser
1/2 - Ray of Enfeeblement
2nd
0/1 - Snake's Swiftness
1/1 - Command Undead
1/2 - [Empowered] Ray of Enfeeblement (MSF)
3rd
0/1 - Arcane Sight
1/1 - Ray of Exhaustion
0/2 - [Empowered] Orb of Cold, Lesser
4th
1/1 - Animate Dead
1/2 - Enervation
MSF: Stands for Metamagic School Focus. Allows me to choose three spells that I prepare, all of which must be of my chosen school or of the school I have Spell Focus in, and reduce the Metamagic Feat Cost increase to them by one.
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Avatar drawn by LostOne, many praises and prayers be to he.
Dejas said he was going to leave. He was lying, but he is a fairly good liar.
What would the spellcraft check etc. show you?
Right off the bat, with Arcane Sight on, I know the location/power of any magical auras near me. I'm just making sweeping checks, because in order to figure out everything, I'd need... a lot more rolls, I suspect.
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Avatar drawn by LostOne, many praises and prayers be to he.
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The Mortal Coil [OOC]
But now that I'm here the story can begin! Woo!
