Midnight: A Lost Faith's Shadow [Recruiting Alternates]

That is awesome! I do like his artwork! I've compiled descriptions of everyone below - much of the PC descriptions are right from the Rogues Gallery written by the players. Bobitron, since you made the request, could you provide the artist the info? Thanks for suggesting this - I hope everyone is enjoying this PBP like I am!

Starhl: Starhl is a hulking man, with blond hair and blue eyes. He has a beard and moustache, and dresses plainly. He wields Bjorn's Faith, an ancient greatsword of the Northlands only now rediscovering its power. His companion is a large female Wolf.

Kaela: A small, youthful teen with a soft smile and gentle voice. She has brown hair and eyes, and normally wears a blue dress torn and stained from years of use. She has a leather apron that covers the front, but only wears it when in the woods or working. Kaela has become an accomplished spellcaster based on her own strong personality and wields the green Runestone of the North, its powers revealing themselves slowly.

Valurel: Valurel is a snow elf, a rare creature outside of his home forest. Valurel is a wild looking creature. His normally snow-white hair and skin are covered with a layer of dirt which gives him a grayish tinge. His hair is long and unkempt, hanging wildly around his face. His claw-tipped fingers complete his feral appearance. His armor and clothes are heavily worn and dirty.

Herger: Another Northman, Herger's heart beats the blood of giants. Standing over seven feet tall, Herger's immense size borders on the unnatural. Herger dresses plainly in tattered, patchwork clothing. His shear size is what most people recognize first. After that his bright red hair, accompanied by his red moustache which grows past his chin, are the next most noticable features. Topping off this giant Dorn is his large great axe that is strapped across his back when not carried at the ready.

Lodric: Lodric skill with his fists is as deadly as a swordsman with his blade. Lodric stands a little over 5 1/2 feet tall with a lean build. His closely shorn, dark brown hair has a smattering of red if you look closely. He tries to keep his face shaven since a beard makes his face itch. His well-worn clothing is of a slightly better quality than most of the peasants living in the area, although he has learned to keep it spattered with dirt so as to not attract too much attention to this fact.

Aislinn: A Dorn girl of early teenage years. Waif-like compared to her more militant companions, she is pretty in her own way, although her body does show the trials of a hard farm life. Long dark brown hair cascades down her back and dirt-smudged face. Her eyes are white, dead, blind orbs that viewers notice first. Scared, yet defiant, the danger her companions face at protecting her ways heavily on her and her concerns are shown in her face.

Fallax: A former scholar of Highwall, the old man has now fallen far. Scraggly white hair hangs over his face and dirt encrusted beard. His former scholar robes are now torn and covered in dirt. He is often scornful of his companions, yet is willing to use them as shields against attacking orcs. His acidic nature grates on his companions and it could very well bring Herger's axe down on his neck.

Looks like a good start! I'll wait for clarification from the others before passing it along.

I'm fine with Herger's description. Just think, BIG viking type guy w/o armor (Hrothgar has yet to see anything oversized come his way. Not that I'm complaining. He's just a big target and I've been trying to be very careful with him in his delicate state. LOL)

Also, if I'm not mistaken on the terminology, I would like his moustache to be more of a long fu-manchu style. Think the dorn in the book. The ends could be braided if he sees fit. If you guys have seen the 13th warrior, I envision his hair to be about as long as Buliwyf. (The 1st warrior. Here's a link to his pic on imdb: Buliwyf ) Herger is 8'9" and 305#. He has an 18 strength which doesn't really (in my eye) fit his frame yet. He's still growing though and by level 5 he'll have a 20 Strength. (should we all live that long) Sometimes I think that the heroic path paints a pretty good mental image of the character, so I'll drop a bit in here.

Size Features: The giantblooded is a massive member of his own species, but his heritage does not unlock immediately. His body must be tempered and his blood tested before it begins to express the raw power within.

At 1st level, the giantblooded is considered Large for the purpose of the size categories of the weapons he may use. However, this benefit comes with a trade-off; the gaintblooded's bulk makes it harder for him to go unnoticed and more expensive to remain protected; he suffers a -4 penalty to Hide checks and his armor and shields cost and weigh twice the normal amounts. When determining the giantblooded's height and weight, multiply his height and weight by 1.5 to determine final numbers.

Rock Throwing: Part of the giantblooded's heritage is his capability to become a living siege engine, throwing rocks that lesser men would be hard put to even lift. So long as the giantblooded has loose boulders, broken masonry, or even the bodies of his foes about him, he will never lack for ammunition. The giantblooded's thrown rocks have the listed range increment and damage.

As for the world info...... I'm sure we all have played this game even before this pbp. The easiest way that I would explain it is to think LOTR and Sauron won.

Valurel's description is completely accurate. He also carries a bow and arrows slung across his back that sees action occassionally. Not sure I can really add anything else.

Urk!

I'm pretty busy, but I'll get a post up either tonight or tomorrow. Sorry very much.

Here are a few posts that I think refer to what Hrothgar was referring to.

Jon Rane

The stones had called him. How? Jon did not know or really care in these dreary Northlands. The stones spoke and Jon heeded their call. He had already spent two days at this stone ring, a Dornish ancestor ring from the looks of it, with its scorched stones and ash center. He had seen no living being, although a Dorn town must be nearby; the ancestor ring had seen use within the past few months.

Since arriving, Jon had heard the voices. Voices from the past. Voices of the Lost. Speaking to him of the strife and pain in the north. Against the Shadow. The Lost seemed to know him, to call him by a name he could almost recognize, but not truly grasp. The whispers came and went over the past two days, tormenting Jon with their import. She has returned. She has heard our tales. She knows of your sacrifice at the Fortress Wall those many years ago. Protect Her Chosen, for she is means to your end.

Night had finally fallen on the second day, cooling the land from the abnormal heat of the summer day. Overhead, dark clouds massed and lightning flashed, painting the grasslands and the forest to the west in streaks of white and black. On this night, unlike the others, a faint green halo had appeared over the stone ring. Would the riddles of the voices be revealed?

Jon's reverie was broken by the blat of an black orc horn, its low rumble carried to Jon on a strong wind. Orcs! And they were near! Peering out from behind a stone, Jon could make out a rag-tag group scrabbling up the slow rise into the stone ring and turning to defend themselves. Behind them, pouring out of the forest, dozens of orcs snarled and roared, brandishing their cruel vardatches, eager to claim their prey.

The Heroes of Caft

Reznik peers into the tunnel, its entrance clogged with stone and ash. A bolt of lightning reveals it drops straight down six feet before widening and gaining height as it travels east, its further reaches lost in darkness. Nothing moves within the tunnel, although Reznik's senses reel at the smell that emanates from the opening. Descending into the hole, Reznik waits to assist any others who would follow.

Aislinn clings to Kaela as they approach the cave mouth, her fingers biting deeply into Kaela's arm. She's...here. Aislinn says in awe, her shaking and sobbing stopping abruptly. Kaela wastes little time, lithely descending into the hole with Reznik's assistance before turning to help Aislinn down. Starhl quickly follows, angered at fleeing the orcs like a rabbit run to ground. Brian stands outside the tunnel waiting for Aislinn to be lowered, but prepared to fight. On the edge of the depression, Valurel scouts the grasslands, his keen eyes piercing the darkness. The massive orcs charge up the low rise to the stone ring, their metal armor creaking and ringing in the darkness. Howls of bloodlust go up. Their prey is near. In a few seconds, the orcs will be here.

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Valurel snarls as he takes a step back, crouching to a lay a hand on Brian. However, Brian's body is already moving back into the cave, pulled by the massive Starhl, the barbarian careening off of the rough cave walls as he madly tries to flee into the depths of the cave, his only light the occassional lightning flash from outside.

The Shadow-warrior engaged with Jon swings its cruel vardatch, narrowly missing Jon's head. Jon's retaliatory strike with his cudgel only skitters across the orc's black scale mail. The Shadow-warrior who was previously engaged with Brian tries to cleave Valurel in two with its vardatch. Twisting to avoid the blow, Valurel rips the throat from the wounded warrior, blood spurting in a crimson arc. Falling to its knees, the orc stares dumbly at its ghost-like slayer before crashing to the cave floor.

The three Shadow warriors at the cave mouth advance toward Valurel and Jon, the smell of blood driving their rage and fury. Before the three Shadow-warriors can engage the two remaining Heroes, the earth above cracks and splinters. Tons of stone, earth, and mud crash into the cave. Both Jon and Valurel are caught in the onslaught, driving them into the back of the cave. Pummeled by stone and suffocated by dirt, their vision grows black and they know no more...

Further in the cave, the blast from the cave-in slams into the fleeing Starhl and Kaela, a mud-slick taking their feet from them and throwing them onto the rough, sandstone floor. Dust and mud grits in the mouth and stings the eyes. A deathly quiet descends in the cave, the blackness absolute. Ahead, Aislinn calls out. Kaela! Kaela, where are you? The goddess must protect you!

As Kaela rises, her hands grasping the sides of the cave for support, her hand grasps a small, irregular shaped stone. A stone that is warm to the touch. Instantly, a ten-foot area is suffused in a gentle, green light, light that emanates from Kaela's hand.

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Aislinn's head raises slowly from her chest, vaguely comprehending that her name was called. She moves her head, left to right, her ears gauging the environment around her.

I am Aislinn, daughter of Uriel, spokesman of Caft. Her voice quavers at the mention of her dead father. My village...my family protected me out of hope for a better future. A hope that I was chosen for some greater purpose. By the goddess who lives in the ancestor ring. Her last statement comes with pride.

In the spring, I was searching for a lost calf for my father. I was on the eastern edge of the forest outside of Caft at dusk when I saw the green glow over the ancestor ring. In the darkening evening I was afraid, my father's words of warning about the fell things that lurk amongst the stones at night. But, the green light drew me. I could not resist. I can't explain it. Her voice fades slightly, her mind's eye remembering the spring night. It was cold, but I didn't seem to notice. I climbed amongst the stones searching for the source of green light. I found it. Awe begins to fill her voice. She came to me, cloaked in the green light. A woman. Maybe an elf. I did not see her long. I went blind. Her hands hover in front of her eyes, before brushing back her hair. What do you expect when you gaze upon a goddess? She spoke to me, telling me that she had awaken from her deep slumber. She was angry. Very angry at how the Shadow had ravaged the land. She said she would be the light that would drive back the Shadow. Aislinn stops, her face expressionless, her mind reliving that cold spring night.

Anyway, the villagers found me the next day, sick and cold. Kaela nursed me back to health. Aislinn smiles. No one believed me of course. Until I started to remove hurts and heal scars. I could also talk to the land, sense its anger and pain. And I could bring the blessing of the goddess, because, like she told me, I am one of her Chosen.

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Thanks, Thornir. I was just going to post if anyone had any questions, but Thornir's post pretty much puts everything forth. Maybe because it is a PbP, so things get forgotten, but Kaela's stone and Starhl's sword are also both linked to Aislinn and her history. Strange that Kaela has not used the stone more.

Once I get some posts detailing some history (I'm looking for some role-playing ), I'll post the reply from Elaural.

Hmmm. I'll get something up tonight.

I have to admit, I'm really not clear on the type of items we were given, so I peeked a bit at the Midnight book and now I have a better understanding. I'll make a point to use the stone more often. It's hard to get excited about a 10' radius of light unless you need light, but I am excited to see what might develop.

I've been waiting for Kaela to use that stone!

BTW, for everyone's notice and I have said this before, it is my policy that every member of a party receive a covenant item (unless they die or are dead!). It is too bad PbP's don't progress as fast as table top games. Valurel has been here from the beginning and is still waiting! Rest assured, I have not forgotten any of you. I guess patience is key in PbP!