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Message: <blockquote data-quote="der_kluge" data-source="post: 1210008" data-attributes="member: 945">PC Fluff (from the players, minus the player of Nytor's character - this was not required, just everyone did it, except for one).In these write-ups, the players reference a boat ride.  I'll post more info on that when I write up the synopsis from game 1.  Essentially, the PCs took a 4-month sea voyage to end up where they are.DzintraDzintra is short (5'3" or so) and lithe, rather than muscular, with brown eyes and tawny blonde hair that has dark streaks through it, which she keeps pulled back into a shoulder-blade length braid most of the time. Her ears are pierced multiple times and she wears several gold hoops in each ear. There's nothing particularly notable about the way she dresses; the casual clothes she wears are fashionable but not terribly expensive and tend toward the utilitarian (no fringes or ruffles anywhere) - pants and tunics, definitely not dresses or robes.  She doesn't appear to be terribly strong, but she's very agile and graceful.  She spent quite a bit of time on the voyage climbing around with the crew in the rigging and in the crow's nest.  She carried a short sword and crossbow in her gear when she came on board, but the only weapon she keeps at hand during the trip is a dagger.  She would spar with other people if the opportunity arose, just to keep in practice, but she wouldn't spend hours training. When she practices with her dagger she is more likely to throw it at a target than to engage in hand-to-hand; the dagger returns to her hand after it has been thrown.  She is educated, bright, and relatively well-read in certain areas - history and geography, not so much politics or religion, and enjoys a good story.  She's not really reserved, but she may come across as a bit aloof and moody at times.  She is fairly curious and likes to talk to people about the different places they have been, pulling out maps from her pack when she has one that matches and making notes or adding illustrations to them. She's definitely not noble or anywhere close to, but she's not "common" either - pretty solidly middle-class.  If asked, she would tell you that many of her family are explorers and merchants.  Her parents live in the Bastion and she is the fourth of seven children that survived childhood.  She grew up in the city, although she has travelled quite a bit in the last few years on other expeditions and has some good stories about weird or funny things that have happened on those trips.  She holds her liquor better than you might expect for someone her size.She's fascinated by the water and spent hours watching the various sea creatures that we came across (dolphins and flying fish would especially delight her), although she'd tell everyone that she can't swim very well.  She tended to stay upwind of Ivo's pipesmoke, but seemed to enjoy his company, as well as that of Mournaxe.  She is cordial to Rath, Bax and Nytor.The only odd thing that you might notice is that at night her eyes reflect torchlight strangely, with a green/gold cast.  If you ask her about it, she would shrug and say it's just something peculiar to her family.BaxBax seems to be a bit distant.  He tends to keep to himself, and anytime someone talks to him he seems guarded, like the guy who got picked on too much at school and now assumes that anyone who talks to him is setting him up.  He spends a lot of time doing maintenance on his bow and his armor, even though he doesn't have much use for them on ship.  He holds each with some amount of reverence, the way a person would care for a family heirloom.  If asked about them, all he'll say is that he was left them by someone important to him.  He doesn't anger quickly, but neither does he warm up.  He's willing to help out the sailors, to keep active more than anything.  He's also very willing to listen to discussions, but offers little unless it's something he feels important. The bow Bax carries is extremely ornate.  It's made of what appears to be bleached wood or bone.  Arcane symbols cover it.  His armor is similar.  It's silver white, fine chain, and extremely ornate.  It almost seems too fine to be of any use.  He never gets either out of storage on the ship unless it's to care for them.  He's also very protective of both.IvoIvo Dragonbeard, Shieldbearer, Son of Gloibur of the Clan Dragonbeard, is a short, stocky, muscular, dwarf, standing at what you would guess to be around four foot and a half. And he is half that in width.  The  very top of his head is bald with long, blonde streaked, fiery red hair growing down from the sides. Ivo keeps that hair pulled back and neatly placed in a ponytail tied with straps of rawhide. His long beard, of the same color, is neatly trimmed and starting at his chest becomes a small braid ending at his abdomen. At the base of the braid is a silver ring, depicting a reptile  of some sort holding a small emerald. His facial features are that of a middle-aged man, well weathered, with a big nose. When he smiles, it plays up into his eyes and reminds you, perhaps, of a long lost uncle. On the other hand, the  most discerning feature about him is his eyes. They are a fiery red color, and you get the feeling that if  they were ever to glare at you in anger, it might be very uncomfortable indeed.   Ivo wears simple, though well made, traveling clothes of earth tones. His boots are sturdy and practical, and he wears a woolen cloak on deck during the winter months. He wears a black opal ear ring in his right ear and a brass ring engraved with hammers laid end to end on his left hand.During the voyage, Ivo could be seen many times sitting on or close to the stern puffing on a long well-crafted pipe. If asked, he will reply that it is one of life's guilty pleasures and he finds it very relaxing. Well, next to drinking ale of course.        Ivo is pretty jovial as dwarves go, but during the voyage, there was a time or two when Ivo probably showed he had a fiery temper as well. But he quieted down pretty quickly without resorting to any violence. Anybody on the other side of his glare, however, tended to back down pretty swiftly.       Ivo claims to come from a long line of dwarven heroes going as far back as before the Great Cataclysm. There was many a time, when Ivo was found drinking with the off duty crew, and telling of the exploits of some ancestor, who was always doing impossible things. If pressed, he would always laugh and say "legends are supposed ta be exaggerated, laddie. That's why they be legends."       During the course of the voyage, Ivo would help the crew and it became obvious that he was very strong. Maybe as strong as Mournax, some of the crew would speculate out loud. Ivo would just shrug and say: "I'm as strong as I need ta be. That's all."       Ivo seems to have hit it off with Rath, the two could be seen talking together quite a bit during the voyage. Ivo likes Dzintra, especially after they went drinking the night before the voyage started. He seems to have developed an affection for her as he would a niece. During the voyage he would always give her the time to answer any questions she would have had of him. Ivo was very friendly both to Bax and Nytor.  If at anytime Nytor needed his help during services or religious ceremonies, Ivo was happy to oblige. Ivo would have on more than one occasion offered to have a drink with Bax and Mournax. Ivo has no problem with Mournax and seems to have ignored the crews attempt to bait him into arm-wrestling Mournax, just so they could wager on who is stronger.       As far as weapons go, Ivo caries a well crafted dwarven waraxe, that he calls Ice Foe.  The handle comes up to form a dragons head with the axe blade appearing to protrude from the dragon's open maw. During the short fight with the plant creature (ed: more on that later), everybody witnessed the axe blade burst into flames. He also carries a small throwng axe, and a heavy crossbow.       He wears an adamantine suit of plate mail when expecting combat, and carries an interesting  large round shield. The shield is red (further inspection would reveal that the red seems to be a reptilian hide of some sort) with a decorative mithril ring around the outside edge, and a mithril caricature of a flying dragon placed in the center. Ivo claims that this is the Shield of Kilvor, a dwarven king, and ancestor, who led his people to the Bastion during the time of the Great Cataclysm.RathRath is tall and slender.  He is human, but his appearance is not common by any stretch of the imagination.  His hair is white, his skin pale (though he does tan during the voyage), and his eyes are very light in color, ranging from steel gray to icy blue.  He is tall and thin and has pronounced facial structure.  He looks as if he has some elvish heritage and will proudly claim as much to any who ask him about it.  He is not athletic, but he is very perceptive and on occasion shows himself to be much tougher than he looks.  He wears fine clothing, including a striking cloak that seems to draw the eye and accentuate his features.  He has a noble bearing and his speech is impeccable.  He carries a sturdy, well-crafted walking staff.  It has a number of gemstones along it's upper quarter.  It looks highly unlikely that Rath has ever used the staff as a weapon, but it looks sturdy enough to serve if called upon in that capacity.  Other equipment includes a light-weight chain shirt which shines with an almost celestial brilliance.  The armor is clearly marked with the holy designs of Onnasos (ed: The Purifier), but the armor is rarely visible as it is worn under his clothes.  In addition he always bears a holy symbol of Onnasos and he always wears a pair of bracers - which are probably magical due to the unusual and decorative metalwork.  He always keeps a pair of soft, light-weight leather gloves close at hand, even though such a thing seems strange.  Upon close observation, the gloves are covered with stitching that trace arcane symbols through the leather.   Rath is not a chatty type of person, but he is very well spoken and diplomatic.  He does not work hard to make friends among the crew, but seems to get along with anyone who cares to initiate a conversation with him.  The exception is the Cleric Nytor and Valgo.  If Rath seeks a conversation with anyone it would usually be with one of those two.  But he does not shy away from conversation.  It would be obvious that Rath is very educated and from a noble family.  He does not do anything to make anyone feel less important - in fact he seems to have an unusual amount of concern for the people on the ship.  But as I said before, he does not walk around initiating casual conversation.  You might get the impression that he knows that he has an unusual effect on people and he does not force himself on anyone or try to dissuade them of any initial impression they might have.  If anyone avoids him, he will avoid them in turn.  Perhaps more out of a sense of mutual respect than due to snobbery or disdain.  For some reason Rath seems most at east and comfortable around Ivo the dwarf.  It is common to see Rath smile and even laugh in Ivo's presence.  Rath regards Bax somewhat cooly and professionally, but without malice.  The conversation about the riddle (ed: more on that later)was the first time you saw Bax and Rath seem to have anything in common.  Rath does not avoid Mournax, but he does treat the minotaur in a formal way.  Rath seems to choose his words carefully when speaking to Mournax.  Rath has held a number of one-on-one conversations with Dzintra.  These conversations have always been polite and friendly, but Rath is careful to avoid any appearance of indiscretion.  This attention to propriety extends to all the women on the ship. Rath is clearly a Sorcerer.  Rath would say that he specializes in Force Invocation, Dimensional Magic (both Porte and Transcendental arts), and Abjuration.  He politely denies any suggestion that he practices any powers of Enchantment or Illusion.  "I am not a charlatan.  My magic is not designed for compulsion, trickery, or misdirection."  He strongly denounces the practice of Necromancy.  "Necromancy is a dangerous art.  Only a fool believes they can touch that darkness without harm." (ed note: Bax is a Necromancer)Until the dragon attack (ed: more on that later) there were few opportunities to observe Rath casting or using spells.  He clearly has reserved the use of his power to times when he feels it is appropriate.  That said, there were times when he used his power onboard ship.  One time a coil of rope dropped from the upper reaches and fell heavily to the deck near Rath.  No one was hurt, but the midshipman began cursing at the sailor for his carelessness.  Without saying a word, Rath reached out his hand and the coil of rope lifted itself off the deck and sailed through the air directly up to the sailor.  After the rope was secure, Rath excused himself and went below deck for several hours.MournaxMournax is an enormous figure compared to any of the crew.  He stands 7 feet at the tips of his upcurved horns and is exceptionally broad.  He is covered in thick reddish-brown fur and has very dark eyes.  His head is generally bovine in appearance, but the eyes are more forward facing and he has the jaws and teeth of a predator.  He wears extremely rough clothing that is extremely sturdy.  Rather like burlap sewn together with thick leather strips.  This appears serviceable and also seems to serve as his underpadding for his breastplate, which seems to have a bluish tinge to it.  He wears little jewelry or ornamentation on his body or armor.  He does wear heavy leather vambraces that have a large crescent worked into the right vambrace and a circle with a crescent on the left.  He wears a strip of leather strung with small rocks above his left bicep.  He wears a strip of leather strung with large teeth above his right bicep.  Around his neck hewears what appears to be a large bloodstone on a leather loop.  He bears a well made great axe with a haft reinforced and capped with metal.  It is plain, but clearly a very serviceable weapon.  This would be stowed much of the voyage, but he would pretty much always have a pair of throwing axes and a short sword with him.    Mournax would clearly enjoy using his considerable strength in dramatic ways.  He appears willing to accept pretty much any challenge in this regard and seems to enjoy the amazement of the crew at these feats.  Mournax would laugh loudly at the suggestion that he should arm wrestle Ivo and would state "What would be the point of that?".  Mournax would certainlyaccept any challenge, but would also point out that Ivo's arms are only as long as a 10 year old child's while his... at which point he would extend his arms to each side to show his huge reach.    Mournax would pretty much accept any challenge and would periodically encourage crew members to slug him in the stomach, chest, arm, etc.  He would seem to be fine with the crew in general and would love to carouse, joke, and sing loudly and badly with them.  He would also seek out the company of the accommodating women on the ship, so clearly is physically attracted to human women.  It is not really clear how quick Mournax's temper is as no one seems inclined to test this.  He would also go for long periods exposed to the elements without protection.  Only when clearly suffering ill effects would he take shelter and warm back up.  He would essentially never go below deck, citing the smell.  He would seem to do some of these things out of boredom and would periodically lament loudly that you can't keep your skills sharp with just sparring.    With regard to the party he would have no problem with Ivo or Dzintra, though he would clearly prefer to be upwind of Ivo when he has his pipe.  He would show clear respect for Nytor, whom he would also call "the healer".  He would be somewhat more cautious around Bax and Rath and would frequently rub the stone around his neck when they are around.(ed note: a brief description of Nytor)Nytor  Nytor is a physically impressive man, for a human.  He is clearly not a pencil-pusher.  He wears highly-polished full plate armor, and has a shield which has an orange-ish tinge to it.  An orange disc of shimmering radiance hangs around his neck.  "It represents the sun, and the Provider - the bringer of life", he would say.    Nytor is very vocal about his beliefs, and is quick to point out his position on any topic.  He's direct about his relationship with his god, and is more than willing to use his powers to help the party in any way he can.</blockquote>

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