Characters

[thormagni]

At the moment in Inzeladun, humanity is being brushed aside and crushed. Everything is fire and blood. Likely, the religious school you attended was destroyed in the recent past. You are its only survivor. The "nobles" are those who betrayed humanity and now serve the inhuman masters in exchange for more privileges than most. It is a time ripe for the rise of heroes and powers.

OK. I wrote an earlier version of this that showed a certain frustration that I am having a hard time articulating. It came across worse than I meant it to and if anyone saw it in the 30 seconds or so that it was up, please pretend I never said anything.

I am getting the distinct impression that I am coming across as a dumbass for even suggesting playing a monk-like character. "Your order is destroyed... you are the only survivor... blood, war, chaos, misery... stupid idea for a religious order..."

I have never played in Inzeladun, except for a couple of Thursday morning sessions. So, I'm not up to speed on the world and the setting. But in history, martial arts have flourished when people are oppressed because it allows the little man to defend himself against the soldier. Seems like it could easily find a niche in a world overrun by monsters. But if that isn't the case in Inzeladun, maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree.

So, I'm asking... Is there any way that I am going to have an enjoyable game experience with this kind of character and the personality I have described? Or should I just default to bloodthirsty and violent? As built, the character has a quarter staff and light to no armor. Should I just default to a big, f-ng ax and the heaviest armor I can afford because I will have some chance for survival that way?

 

[InzeladunMaster]

Of course you can have fun with that sort of character. Monks have a long history of existing in Inzeladun.

The destruction of the temple was an idea put forth purely for motivational reasons - a reason to want to adventure, fight, etc. It is a common theme among hero stories that the hero is deprived of his support in order to push him to heroics - Superman loses his world and his dad, Luke Skywalker loses his aunt & uncle, Batman loses his family, Spider-man loses his uncle, Paul Muadib loses his family, Frankenstein's Monster loses his creator, Tarzan loses his parents, etc.

If you really want to retain the temple, that is okay too. I kind of like the Last of the Breed type characters - last of the Jedi, sort of thing, but it is your character. That paragraph I wrote was just what came to mind when I envisioned what you wrote - my interpretation, if you will. You inspired that vision, actually. It isn't set in stone. Anyway, you shouldn't feel like a dumbass for suggesting it, since it inspired a vision - and so far is the only character suggestion that has done so thus far.

In Conan, wanderlust is as good as an excuse as any to adventure. In Inzeladun, it is about the hero-cycle. It is about the rise and fall of things. It is about epics, not adventures.

I have no problem with monks and have played several in Inzeladun myself.

 

[thormagni]

I have no problem with monks and have played several in Inzeladun myself.

OK Cool. I was having a moment of thinking "well, of COURSE there aren't monks in Inzeladun." And that I had stepped over some setting/genre rule that I knew nothing about.

I'm not sure I like the idea of being the only survivor. But having the monastery/temple be destroyed and then the monks spread out across the world to keep their knowledge of traditions, religion and martial arts alive and such would be pretty cool. Maybe forming a core part of a resistance movement.

 

[InzeladunMaster]

I'm not sure I like the idea of being the only survivor. But having the monastery/temple be destroyed and then the monks spread out across the world to keep their knowledge of traditions, religion and martial arts alive and such would be pretty cool. Maybe forming a core part of a resistance movement.

I like that.

 

[Grimhelm]

Okay, I think I have come up with a better idea based on what has been suggested here. I am going to play a man who has travelled abroad, perhaps to the desert lands to the far south. I left to find spiritual understanding but found nothing but mystics full of hot air. I return to my homelands only to find everything I have ever known destroyed. I carry a staff and a cheap bow and quiver of arrows. The bow was part of my spiritual training, but I gained little in skill or enlightenment. The only good use I have put it to is killing rabbits along my journey homeward. I am a lean man, ascetic in appearance and demeanor. A fresh stubble of hair has formed on my head as I have abandoned the act of shaving my head.

 

[chachi]

It is a time ripe for the rise of heroes and powers.

Heroes and powers? That’s a little much for my character. She’s a small, silver-tongued, impish sort of woman. With her dark hair tied back out of her bright eyes, she hardly seems the type to wallow in the seedy underbelly that exists in any city. Nevertheless, by trade she is a fence, a buyer of goods of questionable provenance and a seller of legitimate wares. If you have ever had dealings with her, you may simply know her as The Owl, though she does have a name that she uses in other dealings. She is the owner of a dank, backalley shop known in certain parts of town as the Owl’s Nest. Or was, until it was ransacked and burned. She escaped by her wits; that’s always the best avenue for escape. With nothing to hold her, she has decided to take up the sword again in hopes of finding some enlightenment as well. For her, enlightenment will come through the glint of gold and the blood of revenge. Heroes and powers? Those are fools’ errands and the stories of children.

 

[Fyrestryke]

Hope this isn't too far off base and hope it's inspiring... =) Wish it was better, but I'm short on time and a bit distracted. (Maybe I'm too tired for this tonite. More later maybe. )

From the journal of Thuma Madlawa:

"I am not that far from home...or what is left of it. I have travelled to the south hoping to find those I can band with to right the injustices of this cruel world. Onami is no more and I am not entirely sure how I managed to escape the destruction alive. I have encountered few people in my travels...at least any that are alive. I try and help those I encounter who are in dire need of help and food. If nothing else, I am more skilled at hunting and guiding those who are lost to shelter and safety...such as it is. Quarry is scarce at best. If I do not kill the few animals I encounter, I go hungry."

-----

"I was leading a group through the wilderness today and we encountered a lone man. He was wrought with madness. I tried as best I could to calm him. When he demanded I give him my meager belongings, I refused and he became extremely violent...I had no choice. May the Gods have mercy on his soul."

-----

"I encountered a group of refugees from a realm they called Lammapokar. They were fleeing from the devastation to the south. It seems as if there is destruction everywhere. I know not where the fates will take me. It gives me hope when I encounter the small towns that seem to be functioning as well as they can. Everyone I meet is certain that the Gods have left us to die, but I feel the call of Olanigan and the Supreme Entities...they will guide me on the right path and hopefully I can be a light to those left in this dark, dark world."

 

[Grimhelm]

So, Chris, are you playing a woman too?

 

[thormagni]

From the journal of Thuma Madlawa:

Nice color there Chris. You may have missed your calling...

 

[Fyrestryke]

So, Chris, are you playing a woman too?

Can't buck tradition.