A Teacher for Laynie: Mystery at the Academy (Part 2)

[Rystil Arden]

*In the end, Vanitri doesn't get any extra financial aid or a scholarship for orphans, but he also is barely punished for his infractions--no action is taken beyond demerits for Daryne.*

*Vanitri covers classes in 'Secrets of the Ancient Past', 'Mystic Runes', 'Illusion and Misdirection', and 'Charms and Potions', followed by 'Transmutation Arrays', 'Innovative Evocations' (this with Rayne), 'Arcane Nexuses', and 'The Magequeen's Legacy', and finally to get his Journeyman's degree 'Ley Lines and Power Vortexes', 'Enchantment and the Human Mind', 'Divination and Discovery', and 'The Four Founders: Sice'.*

*No matter how long Vanitri talks about the 'folk, Laynie still doesn't like them because they follow Mongrel. Also, he can't really find anyone even close to Laynie's age there.*

*And so, the time comes for Vanitri to make his decision as to whether he was willing to leave with just his Journeyman's Degree. After two years, it's amazing to see Laynie growing bigger and getting even smarter and sweeter, if possible. It is still too early yet, however, for her to sign up for school. There are many who don't want Vanitri to leave, Lex and Laynie chief among them.*

"Vanitri, please don't go!" Laynie begs, "I love you, and you're the only family I have, with my mommy gone and even my doggy killed by that evil orc. I'll be so lonely without you! Can I come with you too? Please? I promise I'll be good! And then when I get old enough to be in school, I can come back--we can both come back and you can be with Elektra!"

(OOC: I'll note that level 6 is the requirement for Leadership )

 

[Bront]

OOC: He was looking for people in general, not people Laynie's age.

"Laynie, you know I love you and Lex," Vanitri says. "But this isn't the life for me. I'm a wanderer, an adventurer. I've given a lot to give you a good life, and you will have one here, where you belong. It wouldn't be right of me to keep you from that. Besides, if I end up back with the 'folk again, you aren't going to be happy unless you let go of your hate for Mongrel. You can't judge a god by one priest."

OOC: Yeah, I thought about that.. Layne or Lex though? And they're more fun when someone else plays them too . And I never though Vanitri would have people following him. We'll see, I need to poke around some builds, and you may need to see what you can get approved for options as rewards.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Well, the advantage of Lex is that I already built her at exactly level 4, which is the correct level to be your cohort, and her abilities, unlike Laynie's can be easily described using core rules only + maybe that new Daryne feat I made up (I didn't give her feats just in case because the Daryne feat hadn't been accepted yet). The disadvantage is that you'd need to help me think of a story reason why she would go on a sabbatical. Laynie, on the other hand, has a good story reason to come. She isn't really level 4, she just has random abilities sometimes (hasn't really happened much yet). She might be a good Follower, though.

Anyway, on leaving, you get a Spellbook with all the cantrips. If you do the Wizard's Degree, you wind up with a normal Wizard's spellbook. You also get a normal book to use as a journal as a journeyman. You're expected to present findings from your journal when you return to complete your studies (though some never return).

I'm going to give you XP for defeating Elayna Valsice--no reason to skimp on you just because you used RP to win because RP is cool too, though I'm dividing it between you, Lex, and Rayne. That's 3200 XP. Then I'm handing out 1000 XP in RP and Quest XP for completing the quest and RPing well, and that's it!

Because you spent your level pretty much solely in Arcane environments and I know you're doing Horizon Walker, I'm giving you the following special Arcane Terrain Mastery:

Arcane: Knowledge (Arcana) and Spellcraft are Horizonwalker class skills for you, and you can use Prestidigitation, Detect Magic, and Read Magic each once per day as a spell-like ability with caster level equal to your character level. You gain a +1 insight bonus to attacks and damage against arcane creatures.)

 

[Rystil Arden]

"Oh, I love this place too, and I know I'll be back here, but I don't belong here yet, Vanitri, and I'd love to go with you on your adventures! I want to see the world again, and even though I don't like the Freefolk, I want to see them--I need to meet them for real and true so I can be sure I didn't misjudge them, or our world, when I was blinded by grief back when I was just a little girl (EDITOR'S NOTE: She is still just a little girl, but you know how kids are ). Besides, someone needs to make sure you come back to see Lex, and eventually you'll have to return to bring me back when I'm old enough, right?"

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Wow, I'm an idiot for not thinking of this sooner! Obviously, Elektra couldn't keep her crazy magic items, and she wouldn't just leave, right? So if you want her as a cohort, she leaves her Ring of Sustenance on Lex #1 and has Lex #2 go with Vanitri! That has the added benefit of explaining why she has such low stats (I seem to recall the cohort rules for point buy here were pretty terribly low), since the clone has lower stats. Yay!)

 

[Bront]

OOC: The little one is going to make this hard, isn't it. She has what, a year left before she's old enough? 2 maybe? And Yes, Cohorts are 25 point buys, not not always allowed to come with (which could explain why she's there sometimes and back at school other times). My big problem is I'm not sure what feat to take next. 2 Weapon Defense helps the AC, so that's a thought. Combat Reflexes allows for the Shadow Dancer, but not sure that's quite the direction I'm going yet (I may just stay rogue as an alternate to Horizon Walker for the expanded skill selection, or take a 1 level dip for Hide in Plain sight) and the use of that feat, while cool, is limited to particular situations. LAO could be a no brainer unless they fix it . Leadership is nice if I end up having a companion, but again, I'd need you to play Lex. (Shame you couldn't actualy create Lex and play her, well, you could, but not at the right level)

Spring Attack is an option, but not great for this build. Combat Expertise isn't as usefull with the tumble ranks I have, though it adds flexibility, not sure what I'd get after that. though. Eventualy, Improved Crit: Rapier is fun, so maybe Weapon Focus, but that seems rather blazie. Blindfighting maybe, but if he gets underground teraign mastery, it's kinda mute.

So, this leaves me kinda stuck... And besides, I thought Lex was going for a universal degree.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: No, she's not

Improved Crit doesn't require Weapon Focus, actually. As for creating Lex, yeah, level 1 isn't right. As to the universal degree, she did sa yshe wasn't sure about that--I had her say that in case the double-degree wasn't accepted. I'm still not sure about it, but since she hasn't graduated yet, she doesn't need to commit to specialising, per se)

 

[Bront]

OOC: Well, she won't be Level 1 for long if she tags along with Vanitri I'd not be adverse to allow you to use my GM credits to try to get her up in level. That is IF you wanted to actualy play her.

You never answered the question about Laynie. And how long does Lex have till she graduates?

And yes, I know Crit doesn't need Focus, but they lend to each other.

 

[Rystil Arden]

(OOC: Well, I admit I wanted to make a cleric for my last character, actually, but not until some outstanding proposals are resolved. Besides, if you join the level-appropriate adventure, then Manzanita doesn't want any characters below 5, let alone level 1 That said, I do admit that I had kicked around playing Lex or one of my other NPCs from the Academy a few times. However, I don't know where she'd start if she was a PC with those GM Credits--certainly not high enough to group in a 5+ adventure I assume, unfortunately.

I wouldn't be opposed to popping into another thread to help with your cohort if you go that route.

Laynie probably needs to wait at least 2 years to get in, and even then she would be the youngest applicant in the history of the Academy. Lex has two years before she gets her Master's degree and starts work on her major graduate study to get the High Arcanist's degree)

 

[Bront]

OOC: Yeah, 2 years is too long. How are Lex and Laynie getting along?