Shemeska's Planescape Storyhour (Updated 29 Jan 2014)

[Shemeska]

Thanks.

Re. Toras' comment, what's a quasar? I presume it has a meaning in Planescape besides the astronomical sense

The Quasar are a race of celestials that are more construct than living being. They appear as vaguely humanoid beings composed of pure light, sometimes with a somewhat half-elven aspect. They are native to the swampy 3rd layer of Elysium, Belarian, but largely as a result of being created there rather than being true children of that plane.

They were created by a group of lawful Aasimon in the dim past, originally intended as servitors to the Aasimon, much as the Aasimon serve as servitors to the deities. They did their work too well and the Quasar had free will with which they decided to first question their orders and then disobey them. The Aasimon tried to force their place upon them when the true deities of Elysium stepped into the conflict and ordered a halt to it. They declared that by the nature of Elysium, such enforced lawful will had no place, and the Quasar were to be free to do as they chose in their good aligned nature. The Aasimar grudgingly allowed this.

The Quasar are few in number and largely stay in Elysium, though every so often one of them will descend into the Gray Waste or another lower plane and give their own life to obliterate as many fiends as they can. The rightious fury of a self sacrificing Quasar is one of the most terrifying sights for a fiend to ever see. Imagine a celestial glowing brighter and brighter as it fights until it erupts in an explosion of holy energy that incinerates everything around it as its last living act.

How you got a half Quasar in Toras's case, that's bit of a backstory for his character that I'll leave at his discretion.

 

[Ican'tthinkofaname]

Your writing is some of the best I have ever read, have you tried writing a book? If not you should, I would certainly buy it.

 

[Shemeska]

Your writing is some of the best I have ever read, have you tried writing a book? If not you should, I would certainly buy it.

You flatter me, and seriously, I'm not that good. My grammer is wretched, this is what happens when a molec. biologist tries to write fiction.

This here is the closest I'll likely ever get to writing a book. At the current rate I'll be writing this storyhour in its entirety well after the campaign it follows is ended. I'm a year and a half into what was originally planned to be somewhere around a 2-2.5 year metaplot.

I've also got a half dozen short stories floating around and ideas for a few more bouncing around my head. Oddly enough, around half of them serve as very loose backplot to this storyhour for some of the NPCs, fleshes out thei personalities more and gives a better insight into their motivations later on. However they're not needed to read the storyhour here since I wrote them well after the campaign was started, and it was largely just as an excercise for myself to help me get a firmer grip of their personalities.

Eventually I might try and write something with a snowball's chance in Phlegethos of being published (outside of a research journal). I'm considering submitting a few ideas to Dragon mag, dunno how that'll work out though. My first submission got lost in the editor transitions there, and the newest editor thought the idea was too DM focused and not player focused enough. *shrug*

I enjoy this, no need to rush to anything.

 

[Clueless]

I dunno - I'm thinkings Sigil's Guide at www.planewalker.com counts as a book - the entire chapter is what? 90 pages long?

 

[Shemeska]

I dunno - I'm thinkings Sigil's Guide at www.planewalker.com counts as a book - the entire chapter is what? 90 pages long?

Something like that, though it's up in a reduced font and smaller format on PW. I still like some of the shortstories more though.

 

[shilsen]

You flatter me, and seriously, I'm not that good. My grammer is wretched, this is what happens when a molec. biologist tries to write fiction.

There are grounds for improvement, but I wouldn't go as far as to say your grammar is wretched. Then again, maybe I'm biased after grading sixty undergrad literature papers

I do think, however, that you're an evocative writer and a definite pleasure to read. Admittedly part of that comes from my (and your other readers') awareness of the fact that you are writing up sessions from a game I enjoy playing and so I'm vicariously sharing in your campaign, but besides that I think you're a good writer.

So write us some more stuff, okay ?

 

[Shemeska]

There are grounds for improvement, but I wouldn't go as far as to say your grammar is wretched. Then again, maybe I'm biased after grading sixty undergrad literature papers

I do think, however, that you're an evocative writer and a definite pleasure to read. Admittedly part of that comes from my (and your other readers') awareness of the fact that you are writing up sessions from a game I enjoy playing and so I'm vicariously sharing in your campaign, but besides that I think you're a good writer.

So write us some more stuff, okay ?

*smiles* You poor thing, 60 undergrad lit papers. Youch. *looks balefully at the stack of 68 undergrad lab papers to grade*

Constructive criticism is a joy to receive usually, thank you
And there's more on the way, I'm already well into the next section for this week, and I'll be revising this last update based on suggestions from my players they were kind enough to write up and give to me. *pokes Clueless*

 

[LGodamus]

68 papers to grade? Is that all? That means you should be done with a new update in no time , right?

 

[Clueless]

And there's more on the way, I'm already well into the next section for this week, and I'll be revising this last update based on suggestions from my players they were kind enough to write up and give to me. *pokes Clueless*

Hey now! *pokes back* Get thee back in thy writing cage, Fuzzface.
Sides - I like seeing you get better and better at writing

 

[omrob]

Excellent story. I really like the evil bastard of a wizard your'e bustin out.

Early on, with all the Clueless stuff, was evocative of one of my favorite DnD PC Games - Torment.

I'll keep readin