Adventures in Edassa Information Thread (RP Ongoing!)

[Unodus]

I'm assuming I'm a mercenary working for Avar, then? 

Edited December 17, 2014 by Unodus

[Seonid]

You can be a mercenary working for whoever you want. But, since you've already posted as Avar's mercenary, then I'll go with that one.

[the winter system]

Can I be one too? Actually, who IS Avar?

Edit: saw the RP thread

Edited December 17, 2014 by Winter Cloud

[Seonid]

Feel free. Avar is king of Menkor.

 

Right now, the two big factions are going to be the Inquisition and Avar's faction. Later, we may see some more (if I recall right, we have at least one Paladin PC - which is not aligned with the Court of the Gods anymore, since the Empire dissolved the Order; In addition, the Court itself may very well try to interfere, Imperial agents might show up, and there's always the possibility of a popular rebellion - - - none of these are planned, just throwing out potential factions. If none of these appeal to you, make your own!)

[Voidus]

Should we keep all OOC text in this thread rather than the RP? I just feel like it breaks the flow a little bit.

[Seonid]

Should we keep all OOC text in this thread rather than the RP? I just feel like it breaks the flow a little bit.

 

Definitely. I would like this thread to become the equivalent of the Question threads, just for Edassa.

 

Unodus, was that last reply in the RP thread meant to be in-character? If so, I can reply.

 

If not, I'll answer here. Father Julian Mathienne was, before the Inquisition came, the ranking High Prelate of the Church of the Martyr in Menkor. The people loved him, not least because he was rather soft on their heterodoxy/heretical syncretism. Not, it should be understood, because he didn't care about pure doctrine, but rather because he was willing to show mercy and give leeway to people who, 10 years ago, were worshipping the Tribunal like their great-great-great-great-grandparents had always done.

 

Avar's plan is not to turn away from the Church of the Martyr. The Empire still controls the Court of the Gods, and that's bad. What he wants is to get the existing Church authority to denounce the Inquisition, with Father Julian leading. He'd been sending secret messages to Julian in prison, but that stopped six months ago when the Inquisition increased security. He sees that as the only way to get the Inquisition out without turning the full wrath of the Church on him. He doesn't yet realize how much the Church is controlled by the Inquisition, though.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Seonid

[Unodus]

Definitely. I would like this thread to become the equivalent of the Question threads, just for Edassa.

 

Unodus, was that last reply in the RP thread meant to be in-character? If so, I can reply.

 

If not, I'll answer here. Father Julian Mathienne was, before the Inquisition came, the ranking High Prelate of the Church of the Martyr in Menkor. The people loved him, not least because he was rather soft on their heterodoxy/heretical syncretism. Not, it should be understood, because he didn't care about pure doctrine, but rather because he was willing to show mercy and give leeway to people who, 10 years ago, were worshipping the Tribunal like their great-great-great-great-grandparents had always done.

 

Avar's plan is not to turn away from the Church of the Martyr. The Empire still controls the Court of the Gods, and that's bad. What he wants is to get the existing Church authority to denounce the Inquisition, with Father Julian leading. He'd been sending secret messages to Julian in prison, but that stopped six months ago when the Inquisition increased security. He sees that as the only way to get the Inquisition out without turning the full wrath of the Church on him. He doesn't yet realize how much the Church is controlled by the Inquisition, though.

Sorry, I was trying to ask it in character, but this works too .x.;

I'll change my most recent post, if that's convenient 

Edited December 18, 2014 by Unodus

[Seonid]

I was going to say that you don't have to edit your post, but I saw you already did. That works too. I'll post a reply in the morning.

[Unodus]

I was going to say that you don't have to edit your post, but I saw you already did. That works too. I'll post a reply in the morning.

Ok, sorry about the confusion... XD

Cya in the morning, then .3.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Unodus

[BreathTaker]

Name: Bran Mariksen 

 

Age: 38

 

Height/Weight: 6'5"/ 250lbs

 

Occupation: Banner General of the Legion of the Gods/ Paladin

 

Distinguishing Features: Long, braided and graying beard, close cut black hair with silver wings at the temples and a scar running over his left eye. Extremely muscled and capable in a fight but also calm and calculating as a general should be. 

 

Equipment: Bran wears the traditional plate armor of his calling but instead of burnished steel he paid for it to be lacquered in a deep crimson with black trim. He wears a well woven, crimson wool cloak with a spread winged raven resting between his massive shoulder blades. His armor also bears a raven on the left side of his chest. Very rarely does Bran wear the Tabbard of his order but when he does, that too has been altered to bear his family colors or Red and Black.

     As for weaponry, he wears the traditional long sword at his left hip but that is a secondary weapon. His primary weapon is a long bladed spear that he wields with deadly efficiency. Bran also carries a long curved dagger on his right hip for emergencies. 

 

Bio: Bran Mariksen has been a Banner General for the Legion for going on five years, he has led his forces to many victories against all kinds of enemies and is considered among the greater generals in the legion. Before obtaining an officer's rank he was a spear-man in the front lines and worked his way up to where he was now by sheer force of will and ability to lead and fight. 

      Among Bran's closest friends there is Fenrison, his familiar who Bran frequently refers to as Fen, and his two "squires" (eyes-and-ears) Hugi and Muni. Hugi and Muni are twins as well as Bran's nephews, sons of his sister. 

       Bran is a Northlander who traveled south because he grew tired of his peoples tribal bickering and searched for something more organized. The Court of Gods granted him that unity he looked for and he gave them his spear in return. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

Remind me again, what magic do paladins use and how frequently do they use it? 

 

Joe, welcome to my pack.  If there is anything I need to change, let me know. 

 

Edit: I accidentally put sons of his daughter which would make them his grandchildren. It's fixed.

Edited January 10, 2015 by BreathTaker

[A Joe in the Bush]

How to speak Wolf: Use Hyphens.

 

Tall-Walkers: Humans.

 

Bad-Water: Alcohol

 

Metal-Men: Men in Armor

 

Tingle-No-See: Invisibility.

[Kobold King]

How to speak Wolf: Use Hyphens.

 

Tall-Walkers: Humans.

 

Bad-Water: Alcohol

 

Metal-Men: Men in Armor

 

Tingle-No-See: Invisibility.

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

[Voidus]

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

But with more crunching.

[BreathTaker]

Well Joe, Fen should be Tingle-no-see right now haha.

 

Also, I just read the post and I loved it. 

Edited December 18, 2014 by BreathTaker

[A Joe in the Bush]

I'm thinking of playing a crocodilian familiar. Should crocodiles use Hyphen-Speak as well?

 

Having never transformed into a Crocodile, I don't know how they Speak.

 

And thanks Breath.

[BreathTaker]

As a side note I just read the "Has loaded dice" in your title... and upon further review of your picture you have loaded devil dice...

[Seonid]

Excellent posts, all y'all.

 

BreathTaker, Bran sounds excellent. A Northlander (it sounds like you're a Svalding particularly) would be a rare sight in the Paladin Orders. He'd have faced quite a bit of prejudice while in training. But being able to use magic "covers a multitude of sins," as they say, and martial prowess and leadership ability would have silenced critics.

 

As to the magic Paladins use, that would be Type IIa magic. Sorcery, in other words. Basically, every morning you perform a set of sacred rituals that prepares all of the spells you plan on using that day. As part of that set of rituals, you etch into your memory the phrases and motions that will complete the spell and cast it. If the spell isn't prepared, you can't use it. You possess a holy book that contains teachings about divine power (at least partly correct) and how to access it. Specifically, it lists the standard list of Paladin spells and the proper memorization phrases for them.

 

I'll get you a list of the standard Paladin spells (probably tomorrow). If you want different spells than the ones on the list, PM me and we'll work them out. Mostly it's a matter of figuring out where you would have come across the instructions for the spell.

 

And Voidus, this is the same process for Inquisitors. They just have a different holy book and some different spells (some the same, too). Which means that if one of you manages to get your hands on a book of spells for the other order, you have an expanded list to choose from in the morning. (If your character can deal with the fact that the rituals to prepare them are from another religion.)

[Mailliw73]

Sorry for the delay in my character profile. I've been working with Seonid to get it as accurate as possible. I should have it done today or tomorrow.

 

Also, Unodus, can you please not quote posts when you reply in the other thread? It disrupts the flow and makes it harder to read.

Edited December 18, 2014 by Mailliw73

[Unodus]

Sorry, I'm not very experienced with RP etiquette... .3.;

If there's anything else I should know, please say 

[Voidus]

In terms of Familiars for Inquisitors/Paladins how are they usually found? By the individual or does the order find them and present them to likely candidates?

[BreathTaker]

I don't plan on describing Hugi and Muni directly. I might describe a person noticing something but I won't be very specific, after all I did say they were utterly forgettable. 

[Mailliw73]

Name: Khuvlai Vagadh(Vagadh means Bold) 

Physical Description: He is 32, of darker skin(Nessei are similar to Mongols, so think of that) and has dark brown eyes with only the slightest variation between pupil and iris. He has dark black hair and is short(~5'7") and slim (~150 lbs.)

History/Bio: Aguch was born into the Altauurid tribe years ago. He grew up as a normal infant of the tribe, with one exception: he was always trying to explore where he shouldn't. That trait stayed with him his entire life. As a child, he was always wandering away from his tribe, heedless of danger. When he turned twelve, he went through the coming of age ritual. He was given his adult name of Khuvlai and the identifier Vagadh, meaning bold. His secret name was also given to him: Ghalytai, meaning fire-smoke. The shaman who gave him the name realized that something was wrong with this. Typically, secret names have only one meaning.  

 

He was also bonded to his first horse, Khap, in that ritual. The stocky horse typical to Nessei tribes was a dark tan color with lighter, mottled patches at the feet. The shaman had decided to take Khuvlai as a protege after giving him his unusual spirit name. During his years of youth, Khuvlai studied under the shaman. He learned how to focus his mind, but never found a familiar. He learned however, that he could use the spirits of objects to fuel his magic. The shaman, Ethuki, became nervous after that. Magi are not common in Nessei culture and are regarded with fear and respect. 

 

Ethuki felt threatened by this new, powerful Mage. He distanced himself from Khuvlai and taught him only mundane things pertaining to the world. This is where Khuvlai learned to speak Imperial Kaloneri. He isn't fluent by any means, but can make himself understood in most cases. 

 

At fifteen, Khuvlai went through the ritual of becoming a man. He was given the finger bone of a great warrior of his tribe. His had belonged to his mother's father. Khuvlai continued to explore the land around his tribe, riding Khap around to go even more places. 

 

He went through all the ritual war trainings with the rest of his tribe, learning how to shoot a bow with extreme accuracy and how to duel with long knives. He fought in occasional battles when peoples attempted to drive them away from their land. 

 

Khuvlai obtained another horse when he was sixteen. He was making his way into Nessei society and had promise of becoming a leader of the tribe. He was also practicing his magic, but to avoid Ethuki's distrust, he did so mainly while out of the camp. He practiced with different techniques and learned that he couldn't create anything or destroy anything. He also had a harder time making anything happen at a distance. He discovered that small fires and smoke were the easiest for him. Smoke could be manipulated easily and used to hide something or distract. Fire burned and consumed. He began to learn how fire worked and how to create fuel for it and use air to propel that fuel. After practicing for a time, Khuvlai would tire easily. Sometimes, he kept pushing himself and he would get sick. One time, he even passed out for a short period of time. He noticed that the more he practiced, the more he could do. 

 

[Marriage stuff] Will be filled in when I get details on it. 

 

Alaqa and Khuvlai had a son two years after their marriage. Suvothi was born right before the Bolthayyid tribe declared a blood feud on the Altauurids. Khuvlai had to leave his infant child and recovering wife to fight for the tribe. He fought valiantly, but it made no difference. The Bolthayyids had managed to sneak into the Altauurid camp and slaughter some of the women and children before any of the men discovered it. The Bolthayyids were defeated soon after, but it was too late. Both Alaqa and Suvothi were found bleeding in the tent, dead from fatal wounds. Khuvlai was the only member of the tribe to have his entire family killed. 

 

Ethuki managed to use this situation to his advantage. He declared that Khuvlai had been consorting with evil spirits who had granted him evil powers. Khuvlai had brought the blood feud to the tribe because the ancestors of the Bolthayyids had come to cleanse the Nessei people of such uncleanliness. Ethuki proclaimed that that was the reason Khuvlai's son and wife had both been killed in the feud. The shaman declared exile for Khuvlai. Exile from the Nessei tribes was always permanent. Khuvlai was angry at Ethuki, but he left anyways. He took Khap and left the tribe, never to return. 

 

He spent the next years traveling and meeting new peoples. Most had inferior cultures, but Khuvlai found them interesting. His abilities as a mage were revered in some places and condemned in others. Khuvlai became a nomad, traveling around wherever and whenever he desired. He carried only his bow and quiver, his two long knives at his waist, and a pack with a sleeping roll and another set of clothes. He had one set of leather clothes and one of flax. He had learned as a youth how to mend his own clothes and did so as they wore out. 

Religion/Belief System (if any): Nessei don't have an organized religion, but they revere their ancestors. Khuvlai has this same belief. He prays to his ancestors for help on occasion.

 

Magic User (Y): Mage-Type IIb Magic. 

[Seonid]

Warning! Walls of text incoming!

 

This is my massive compilation post intended to answer all of the backlogged questions. When I finish this post, I think that I will be caught up with answering all of the questions folks have asked. Except for spell lists for BreathTaker, Voidus, and anybody else who's playing a character with Type IIa magic. (Sorcery)

 

First, we have my response to Mailliw with regard to the limitations of magic. I've reproduced it here from our PM for everyone else's benefit.

 

Magical Limitations

 

And here's the treatise on magic limitations.

 

Starting with the general limitations on the use of power, and moving to the more specific limitations on different systems:

 

Power in general follows a few basic rules.

 

1 - Energy/matter can be neither created nor destroyed.

 

2 - Power must be voluntarily transferred from one being to another. (I.E. Stealing magic is impossible.)

 

 

All exercises of power, including by gods, follow these rules. (Gods draw power from their connection to the Void, so the regeneration of their power does not violate the first law)

 

In the Material Realm, the other laws of Thermodynamics also apply. (See 2nd and 3rd laws of Thermodynamics on Wikipedia).

 

These are essentially the only limitations on godly power. However, when that power is delegated to mortals (see Type I magic), it may be additionally limited in whatever way the god pleases. Many tie the availability of the power into a certain code of ethics, as well as limiting the potential uses. 

 

Type II magic has two broad limitations; it is limited by first, the mental capacity of the practitioner, and second, the knowledge of the practitioner.

 

In other words, the power itself is only subject to the limitations above, but the use to which the magic-user can put it is limited by his own capacity and knowledge.

 

Type IIa magic requires that the practitioner have the mental capacity to hold the spell in his mind while he waits to cast it. The more energy the spell requires, the more capacity needed to hold it. In addition, the practitioner must know the set of instructions to give the spirits who will provide the power for the spell itself. These are very specific, and require at least a general knowledge of how the power will be physically interacting with the world to cause the desired effect.

 

For Type IIb magic, the limitations are even more directly tied into the user. The user is acting as a bridge to connect energy taken from one place to another, but is only capable of handling a certain amount without harmful, even fatal side effects. This limit increases with practice, but there are fundamental limitations of the mortal form. In addition, the mage must know how to use the power in order to get the desired effect.

 

It's not just enough to will a fireball into existence, the mage has to know how to channel the energy into a fireball.

 

Another limitation on both forms of magic is that things far away are harder to effect than closer things. This follows an inverse square relationship - if you double the distance you are acting over, you quadruple the energy required.

 

Here's the piece on Spirit Interactions with the Material Realm for Kobold. Anybody playing a character with a familiar might want to check it out, though. It also contains my slight modifications to Type IIa magic.

 

Spiritual/Material Interactions:

Spirits perceive the Material Realm as constantly shifting fields and forces and concentrations of energy. Mortals could do this as well, as they are just class I spirits bound up in Material bodies, but most of their power is sunk into the bonds that tie them to their physical forms. Because awareness is (perhaps exponentially) dependent on available power, this means that a mortal's spiritual perception is very low. In addition, the physical senses (the messages interpreted by the brain) are distracting to that means of perception. Since, for most mortals, the physical senses are significantly superior to their spiritual ones, they most often live and die completely unaware of this alternate means of sensing the world around them.

 

For individuals who are born with what I'll call the magic gene (for now), this mode of perception is much easier to access. With a little effort and practice, they can sense and interact with intelligent entities (who are by far the largest sinks of energy around). They are familiar with the myriad spirits who flit about the Material Realm (and are especially drawn to inhabited worlds), and can invite them to perform tasks for them.

 

Spirit communication (including spirit-to-mortal and the reverse) is mind to mind. As spirits don't have physical senses of their own, the way they see is foreign to the sorcerer. This is especially true of the class of spirits who respond to a sorcerer's command, which have never been embodied (at least in a form with physical senses), and so have no frame of reference, even. This is why sorcerer's spells are memorized recitations. Creating a new spell is a trial and error process of finding new commands that produce the desired effect (without killing oneself in the process). When one works, it is recorded and passed down among the group that found it, because it cannot easily be reconstructed.

 

With a lot more effort and practice, a mortal can begin to perceive the world in terms of its fundamental forces and interactions. With this perception comes a partially intuitive knowledge of how to tinker with those forces. This is magery.

 

With regard to interacting with the Material Realm, the class of spirits that power a sorcerer's spells is completely unable to affect it until they are invited to do so by a sorcerer. They hunger to interact, and so power the spells eagerly for the mere chance of working in the Material Realm.

 

Other spirits can affect the Material Realm, but rarely linger there, moving back and forth among the Outer Realms where they make their homes. Some of these, however, can be convinced (or coerced) to become familiars.

 

Here is the definitive (for now) work on how familiars work, what they can do, and what benefits they grant their partner.

 

Familiars:

Familiars are always drawn from spirits who have been embodied before (almost always as an animal of some sorts, and often as many different animals in the past). These are able to communicate much more clearly with mortals. They are almost always class I beings (rarely class II, and only with a mortal of the same power level).

 

They manifest in a quasi-physical form. Because they can interact with the Material Realm, their form can do the normal things an animal might do. However, the more strongly they manifest, the more able the Material Realm is to interact back with them. Hence, a strongly manifesting familiar can be hit with a sword and hurt (but not killed). To seriously damage a familiar requires a magical weapon, but hurting the form can cause them to un-manifest and re-manifest later (about 5 to 15 minutes) with an undamaged from. This, also, puts them unable to assist their bonded partner.

 

A familiar can use some of its energy to power the spells of a mortal sorcerer. Once used, its power slowly regenerates to become available to it again. Depending on the strength of the familiar, it can power 1-5 spells per day while completely regaining its powers in the interim. If it exceeds those limits, it must rest to be back up to full power. As a general rule, the 1-5 spell limit represents a 10% drain on its power. If it uses a lot of its energy, it can't manifest as strongly, either, so most sorcerers don't draw on their familiar's power too often.

 

Because the familiar was embodied, it can interpret the forces/fields it sees into physical senses. Communication is much easier this way, and so spells powered by a familiar don't have to be memorized by the sorcerer. He can just give the brief instructions to the familiar and have it done. So, in a sense, the sorcerer isn't casting spells at all when he uses a familiar's power.

 

I'm sure that this will spawn a thousand more questions, so, fire away.

 

Oh, and about familiars. Everything I've seen in the RP so far has been completely consistent with how familiars operate.

[Mailliw73]

Anyone have any specific ideas for things for Khuvlai to do in Menkor? Or does anyone want to meet him?

[BreathTaker]

We can bump into each other while I'm running through the alleys. We don't have to fight but we can definitely interact. I'm trying to go for a mix between Gareth Bryne, Mat and Perrin with my character, not usually eager to fight but an excellent fighter and leader none the less.