[5E] [OOC] JM's A Bit of Trouble (Closed)

[doghead]

Personality role-playing is (one of?) my weaknesses as a player (and, in other contexts as a DM), and I’m trying to work on that with Surina. Truth be told some days I don’t have the energy to do so and just focus on the mechanics, but it is my intent to strive in that direction.

A bit of character conflict can be good fun, so long as it s good fun for everyone.

I tend the other end of the spectrum, I don't care to much about the mechanics (so long as the character is reasonably effective). I play for the interactions - between characters, between the character and the world. Some of my most memorable games are ones in which there is a degree of character conflict. Sometimes it has resolved itself with hard won friendship (or at least grudging respect), and once with the death of one of the two involved,which was epic (even though it was my character who was killed).

Which is a long winded way of saying, feel free to write in ties with Sariel. Just be conscious that "Quick to Judge" can be shorthand for "judgmental", and an elf with 8 CHA probably has personal interaction issues.

I have just noticed that Sariel is quite similar to Sarina. To avoid confusion (and potentially irritating ArwensDaughter), I am going to change the characters name to "morning frost and the smell of cold after a clear autumn night before for the first fall of winter snow". A translation into common, obviously. For the sake of others, and herself, she abbreviates her name generally. Currently she goes by the name Frost, or Autumn Frost for more formal occasions.

thotd

 

[jmucchiello]

Just posting to say I'm still here and enjoying the chargen interactions going on. Still working on what will happen next so I can introduce it properly. Don't remember being so busy IRL.

 

[CharlotteOz]

I posted my wizard in the rogue's gallery. Let me know what if anything needs tweaking; I assumed she had 400 gp to her name so I spent 20 of that on her familiar.

 

[jmucchiello]

I should point out, PCs will need to find themselves back in Bit for Book 2 of the campaign. (Yes, I've gotten all hoity-toity about the game being told in books, not mere chapters.) I'm "this close" to putting up the final update. I will also be creating a new IC thread for book 2. This way what happened in book 1 can be incorporated into the background info found in the first few posts of the IC.

 

[ArwensDaughter]

@doghead: I’m not worried about name similarities. If you’d rather name her Sariel, I’m fine with that.

 

[doghead]

@doghead: I’m not worried about name similarities. If you’d rather name her Sariel, I’m fine with that.

Thanks.

I was reading a SH and kept getting two characters with similar names confused. I think that is what triggered the question.

"Morning frost and the smell of cold after a clear autumn night before for the first fall of winter snow" written on a whim, but has kind of grown on me. I might keep Sariel as her (abbreviated) name in Elvish. A "my friends call me Sariel" sort of thing. Or maybe its more like "my mother calls me Sariel".

thotd

 

[doghead]

The months after the retaking of Leeds Crossing and East End were hard. Long range patrols into the wilds fruitlessly chasing rumours of Lord Ariamhodary. Long nights sentry duty watching the darkness as the army protecting the masses huddled in Bit slept. Long days on foot, scouting ahead as the units marched from here to there.

Winter crept closer, stealing away the heat of summer. Bringing with it the Autumn frosts and the smell of cold.

Bit was swollen to capacity; full of refugees from Leeds Crossing and East End, soldiers, camp followers, merchants, thieves, noise, movement, chaos. And almost devoid of silence. In what little free time Frost had, she would take herself out into the hills and woods to camp, to hide, to gather her somewhat frayed nerves before returning to the maelstrom. Humans never seemed to stop moving, even when sleeping. There was a terrible restless energy that left her exhausted, even more than scouting. Their children were even worse.

I wrote the following while working through the character sheets looking for possible bonds/connections/threads. It is the world through Autumn's eyes; some of it is a little ... judgmental. I didn't intend to share it initially, but ...

I have sblocked it to give you the choice as to whether read it or not. I'm pretty sure that you will (I know that I would, in a heartbeat). I am also pretty sure that you will understand it for what it is. It is not a position. It is just a idea, a possible starting point.

Spoiler: Spoiler

ArwensDaughter - playing Delmirev Sarina, a dragonborn devotion paladin.
* First Impression: "Mother Oak give me strength, another pretty paladin."

JustinCase - playing Brother Pelegon, a aasimar hermit monk (drunken master)
* First Impression: "The bottom of a bottle is one place to look for courage."

FitzTheRuke - playing Swithun Baymire, a centaur samurai fighter
* First Impression: "..."

TallIan - playing Perin Wolfrider, a stout halfling beastmaster ranger
* First Impression: "A fellow ranger, a sound companion, and finally someone not offended by silence."

Steve Gorak - playing a fey tome warlock
* "She smells like a warlock. And juniper? Warlocks don't smell like juniper ... What was I doing again"

Mark Chance - playing Klebba Martindale a stout halfling war cleric
* First Impression: "With a stare that fierce, no wonder the god of war was only one brave enough to take him. Pity his misguided notions of what makes might."

Charlotte of Oz - playing Anna Arcana a human sage wizard
* First Impression: "Never trust a ... well, I mean, she is a wizard, but ... I suppose they can't all be insufferable. Although, she is a bit insufferable ..."

The great characters, I believe, are the ones that that insist on imposing their own logic upon you as the writer. A paladin of freedom who refuses to withdraw from a confrontation (despite gentle hints from the DM that it is un-winable, and increasingly urgent pleas from the players, and their characters, to live and to fight another day). Because to do so is not in his nature.

I thought I was creating a wild, fearless, immortal guardian of the forest-wilds. I found myself confronting a traumatised young elf, suffering culture shock, and lashing out. And perhaps, deeply in need of a friend. But Gran'father Willow help you if you should suggest that ...

tl:dr?

If your character spent time over the last 3 months with the army, they have likely crossed paths with Morning.

thotd

 

[jmucchiello]

The months after the retaking of Leeds Crossing and East End were hard.

Those towns were not occupied. They were abandoned. The humans living there were captured and taken into the swamp.

Bit is not swollen to capacity at all. Bit is normally 8,000 people. The first day of the campaign I described it as having 20,000 people there for a festival. So several hundred refugees is nothing for Bit.

Also, I'm going to post a summary of what happened in those months.

Finally, where is your character? I don't see it in the RG thread.

 

[jmucchiello]

Okay, I've got another minor emergency so I won't be starting until Sunday or Monday. Below is the background for the past three or so months. I'll put it in the IC eventually but I'm previewing it here so you can make any adjustments to your back stories or downtime that you would like.

---

You lead the villagers out of the swamp and into the bustling army base that Leed's Crossing has become. A few of you recognize innkeeper Kendrel and mayor Jurad from the last time you were here. Everett's father is leading the army and your reconnaissance leads him to believe his force is insufficient. He must return to Bit and muster a larger force. Some of the rescued villagers sign up for army duty and revenge immediately. Others are taken to Bit which can handle the influx of refugees better than the outlying villages.

Accompanied by Everett's father, you trek back to Bit with a group of 200+ displaced persons.

Though the high summer festival was over by a couple weeks, the town of Bit still celebrated the heroes of the swamp's return. Everett, Perin, Swithun, Surina, Brother P, Drake, and Fitz all were given a heroes welcome. Several bard's already had songs about the liberators of Leed's Crossing. At the Tillerson estate, some of the group are reunited with Zadolix, Keth, and Valdral.

Over the course of a few weeks, the Tillersons and Greygours conscript a larger force and head off into the swamp. Everett accompanies them (perhaps some of you did too). When they get to Ss'slass, the village of friendly Lizardfolk, they are greated with friendship and are told Ariamhodary's forces have retreated deeper into the swamp. The army reaches the abandoned mining camp a day later. At Everett's suggestion, a trench is dug from the pit to the water's edge so the water's of the swamp can fill the mine, rendering it more difficult to make use of.

The army returned to Leed's Crossing by mid-Adan, dispersing temporarily for the autumn harvest. By mid-Palient, the army in Leed's Crossing remained ready for any incursions, though, at this point it is assumed nothing will happen as winter approaches.

East End is a ghost town. And Leed's Crossing is nothing but an army outpost. The farms around these towns are mostly barren. Bareback has taken in dozens of family from East End, but their new farms won't be productive this season. Food prices are rising in Bit and food trade on Empire Bay has increased as word of crop shortage in Bit gets around. Elves of the Groaning Forest and even some Centaur traders from the plains have been trading food to the northern and western villages.

Bit is quiet once again. It is the seventh day of Toraya and plans for the upcoming Winter Festival are subdued this year. Some of your old friends have drifted away again. And during the interim, new friends have been made. (New PCs can explain how they made themselves useful.) The Tillersons have set any of you who want it with small residences in the Market Downs district. Two room flats above shops or separate three room houses whichever you prefer. Everett use to visit often but he finds he does not have the time as much any more. (His father discovered he wasn't just a drunk carouser and has put him to work.)

Rumors (DC 5 type stuff)

Increased encounters with elves of the Groaning Forest have made people say various things:

• They being too generous. They need something.
• They ask funny questions about farming, why are they suddenly interested in farming?
• Heard a few of them were down by the docks watching what goes on there.

Ariamhodary's fate is the source of many a rumor:

• His people turned on him and he's dead somewhere in the swamp.
• He was an avatar of Serter, The Star Walker, looking for a fallen star deep in the swamp.

Raina Rillstone, granddaughter of the old man, was found dead a few days ago. No can confirm this.

Eliana Puth'Sayol has disappeared. Rumor is she ran away rather than marry a nobleman in Cade-Crable.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

If it's close enough to do it, I'd like to say that Swithun returned to his centaur tribe to ask his chief/king/leader to form an alliance with the humans while they recover and to be ready in case another lizardfolk attack comes. Perhaps it was part of these talks that caused the centaurs to trade food.