MacThorstenson

Macks eyes opened briefly, his chapped lips opening to emit a small groan for help as a man passed by his crumpled form in a misty alleyway. The man turned, his eyes widening. He walked over and picked Mack up, his brown curly hair and mustachioed face seeming oddly familiar. Mack drifted again into unconsciousness. After what felt like a couple of seconds he opened his eyes again. This time in a brightly lit hospital. His head swimming, he looked around noticing a nurse call button on a controller lying in his bed. Mac pressed the button as he looked around some more. He was wired to an IV, and there was a TV on the far wall, playing the news. Suddenly the door to his room opened, revealing a nurse hurrying toward him. But as the nurse walked into the room, his mind jumped into overdrive, overpowered by centuries of memories that weren’t created by him. In his mind's eye he saw a spiritweb overlaying her; his eyes conditioned by the eons of unwanted memories trapped in his skull to find the points where a well placed spike would heal his current ailments. His hands immediately started drifting to the nearest metal object he could find, trained by a lifetime of murder and stabbing, he was stuck with despite it not being his life. But before he could stop moving and start to push the memories away, as he usually did when they overpowered him, he felt something else come into his mind. This uninvited companion however wasn’t a person however, instead it was something more primal, a force, it seemed. Mmmmmmmm it hummed. Without warning dozens or hundreds of vignettes rushed through his head. Images of well dressed men standing in alleys, silhouetted by the light of a fire that Mack could tell wasn’t quite an accident. Images of piles of corpses, constantly growing in the name of science. An image of a large spike, covered in carvings dedicated to a new world. These weren’t his memories, or the other man’s memories, but they weren’t just pictures either. Mack could understand things about them that weren’t obvious from a single glance. Mmmmmmmm the force hummed again. Welcome back. It communicated. Not through telepathy or sound, but through meaning? He could tell that this thing, whatever it was, was pleased that he was here. We have won. Again without language, Mack felt unadulterated elation both from the thing and from himself. Yet there was no reason he should feel this happy right now, almost as if the force was commanding him to feel that, and so his did. Again vignettes flashed through his mind, of two worlds. One torn apart by hate and danger and conflict, and another perfect. Free from those things that distracted and annoyed the forces ... creator? Mack saw images of this world, and the people inside that were happy, and peaceful. Without a history that was meaningful. Yet the thing didn’t care about the history. In fact it didn’t care about much of anything, except for accomplishing its purpose. It didn’t need context or meaning, all it cared about was doing what it was made too. At this revelation however, Mack furrowed his brow, wondering what its purpose was. Immediately the force changed, first with confusion, as it thought that he should clearly understand what was happening, then immediately switching to more vignettes to try to explain the situation. These new vignettes showed a tall imposing blonde man enjoyed a long earned break, relaxing with his daughter. They showed a man, or demon, who was finally able to escape the legends and myth, and enjoy the freedom of anonymity. And they showed a hemalurgy dressed as a gentleman lying in a hospital bed? Mack’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized what was happening. He had recognized Voidus, the Stranger, and the Gentleman Hemalurgist himself, who the force thought Mack was. NO. He mentally exclaimed. Fury rising inside him as his, Mack’s, memories of the so called Gentleman of Hemalurgy bubbled to the surface. I am NOT him. The things recoiled. Oh, it seemed to say, thats od… Mack looked up at the nurse as she approached his bed, she was saying something he realized. “I’m sorry,” He interrupted, trying to smile, “Can you say that again? I zoned out for a sec,” The nurse looked at him apologetically, “Sorry! I was asking if you were ok?” Mack glanced down, noticing that he was gripping the metal rim of his bed and that for some reason his heart was pumping, as if he were angry. He tried to relax himself. Why was he angry? He tried to think, yet couldn’t remember anything. “Yeah, I think I’m fine,” He mumbled, “Err do you know how I got here? All I remember is a well dressed man carrying me in an alley.” How did he get into the alley? His mind started running, trying to remember something with the urgency of a gazelle fleeing a hunting tiger. He quickly glimpsed a memory of him stumbling away from a ruined hellscape after freeing... a god? Voidus! Thats right he had been trapp... No, that didn’t happen. Weird destroyed cities, gods, wars, that would be crazy. Who was Voidus? Probably a character in a story. Must have been a story or a film. Immediately Mack felt a sense of satisfaction. Yes, a story, or a film, or something else. The thought came to his head suddenly, and yet he knew it was true, to some degree or another. The alternative was crazy and weird. Mack thought back to the last thing he could remember, he had been running his shop, the craftsmen. In the nalthis location, when he had been pushed into an alley? That must have been it. And then the oddly familiar man must have carried him to a surprisingly modern hospital for nalthis. The nurse checked a clipboard, “it says here that you were picked up outside an alley by the ambulance, and have been unresponsive for a couple days.” That’s odd, the well dressed man must have just dropped him at the end of the alley for some reason, not taking him to the hospital. Why would he do… ehh it probably wasn’t important. The man might have been in a hurry. Mack’s nagging suspicion was squashed. No need to question it. That’s what happened. He remembered it after all, his memory wouldn’t lie. Mack smiled at the nurse, “Thank you, could you uh bring me a glass of water? I’m parched,” As the nurse left the room, he closed his eyes again. Everything was fine, he was being taken care of and nothing was out of the ordinary, and yet for some reason his mind was still turning. He couldn’t quite recall what it was thinking about, but his unconscious mind seemed to be running at 100 mph. Oh well he thought. It’s probably not that important.

Hello! Ik I'm not Voidus, but I'm also a mod for the AV. This is an awesome start for the character, but I do have a few reservations before I can approve it. I think it would really benefit from having the weaknesses fleshed out a little bit with maybe an example or two. Like is he physically incapable of talking to someone, or is he always nervous, but still able to hold a conversation. How bad is the myopia? Can he still function in normal society or is he blind as a bad if somethings more then a foot away? What does he do when he sees a TUBA member? How blindly loyal, and under what conditions does he get blindly loyal? Obviously the weaknesses don't need to be at either extreme, but with a bit more definition, the character would be more fleshed out and you might not need as many weaknesses to make the character within the point limit. If some of them are worse then others, then you might not need as many. Also a quick note: Its fine if for the public sheet if he has a memory gap in his backstory, but please PM me with what happened during that to make sure its all fleshed out.

Hey @Gneorndin This is looking good. It's approved, I'll add it to the list. Welcome to the AV! Below I've put the breakdown of the weaknesses along with my reasoning for reference if you want to make additional characters.

She was created spring 2019 I think, she and Cam are by far the newest OP department heads. Though I was referring primarily to the people behind the characters, 18th shard was one of the very first DA members.

I think except for Voidus, you are the oldest Alleyverse member still here right? Fate is off and on, and you are several years before I showed up.

It’s gonna be really fun. Hopefully. There’s possibly going to be lions and tigers and bears. Maybe. There might even be a call to HR, if we don’t get left on voice mail. These things are all in flux. DA Disclaimer applies as always. y’all should participate. It’s a lotta fun. we can always use more planners.

Pretty nice I’d say, how are things going with you? Fantastic, so I’ll assume some basic skills of like embroidery/engraving just to be able to put Aons on things like cloaks or wands/staffs etc. Fantastic as well, and I can help you take a look at re-evaluating that if needed.

So uh, my fellow mods, how's it going? Just have a couple of character questions if y'all got the time. 1. For the Elantrian part of the index, if someone is a level 10 Elantrian what would that constitute do y'all think? I'm planning on reviving an old character, Mack, and he's an elantrian. Would a level 10 be an example of someone who knows perfectly how to use and combine all the Aon's in programs? Would it also include a little bit of Aon combat and basic magitech/handicraft skills (like engraving aons on plates or building machines that use aons to work)? Or would I need to put extra points into combat/inteligence/handiwork etc? 2. I think this is the third time I've asked the question over the years, but how many points would you take off for an elantrian who is unable to draw Aons underpressure, ie combat and other situations with an imminent threat? They could use premade devices but wouldn't be able to creatively come up with new equations to suit their needs? @Voidus @AonEne

@Gneorndin

Of course! Take a whole bag! Give them to your friends! Everyone deserves a cookie!

With all due respect, I think that this is a serious misrepresentation of Dalinar's entire arc. There was an entire scene in Oathbringer involved with Dalinar saying that "You cannot have my pain." I don't have the entire quote with me. But iirc Dalinar says quite clearly that even though he had Odium's and the unmade's influence, it was still him making those decisions. It was still him who made those terrible choices. He was able to be redeemed because he took responsibility for his actions. It's not a redemption arc if the character was never bad in the first place. By placing the blame on others, either by magical or non-magical reasons, the character was never evil. If, for example, Gavilar was found to being influenced by odium to such a degree that he had no choice in his abuse towards Navani then he wouldn't cease to be making bad choices, he would be incapable of making them. Intent matters a lot with regards to guilt, punishment, and justice. That's why there is a difference between murder and manslaughter, and one is noticeably worse then the other. But the only way for Gavilar to be redeemed is if he is responsible for his decisions. Saying otherwise removes his potential for growth, and invalidates experiences of people who have grown and redeemed themselves for anything in their life. I think that you can compare Dalinar and Gavilar, but not in the sense that one can be redeemed and another cannot. They both could be redeemed, but one is significantly less likely to be redeemed then the other. In fact, at this point in the timeline, it is interesting to note that dalinar and gavilar are probably about equal in the Evil-o-meter. Where their redemption arcs diverge is that G is killed tonight, and Dalinar starts trying to atone. I will say here that while the answers to the "why" and "hows" don't change what he did they are extremely important to understanding his character and thus the story, his relationship with the larger events of the world, and its ramifications and impacts on the story. Furthermore, the why's and hows do change how responsible he is for his actions. They don't redeem him, because justification isn't redemption, but if he is being 100% mind controlled by Odium, then it wouldn't make sense to place blame on Gavilar for these actions. On the other hand, the why's and how's can lend support to him being 100% in control and being an abuser. Brandon has a knack for giving us compelling and layered villains, and refusing to ask questions of the villains does Brandon a disservice. To quote Hoid "The purpose of a storyteller is not to tell you how to think, but to give you questions to think upon." Brandon's forced us to ask these questions of people who are far far worse then Gavilar, but while a lot of those characters may have a higher body count, or longer lives with more atrocities, they've also been farther removed from home. I would wager that none of us have had to deal with being abandoned by our friends and tortured in Hell for 4500 years, and we probably haven't had to deal with warlords burning down our cities and everyone in side. But many of us have had to deal with abuse, so Gavilar's comments and behavior hit far closer to home. I think that asking the why's and how's are just as important for everyone, regardless of what impact the answer may have.

Mac solemnly stared at the statue, then started softly intoning a poem. "Strength does not follow the murd'rers Nor does rightness those who rule And Age gives not people more power Nor anymore right to be cruel Of late, these things I've forgotten A loss caused by Power and Time A snare I hope none else are caught in A path that is nobody's but mine" He turned quietly and reached into his pocket, pulling out his gold coin, with a bowler hat on one side and spikes criss-crossed on the back. "I've realized now, that I need to leave." He said to Temira, "I'm sorry that I couldn't stay long enough to help you. But I'm a relic, of an age long gone." He glanced at the statue sadly. "I've been wondering recently, why the world seems determined to destroy itself, and I've realized that maybe it's our fault. When you create something to be a final destination, a home at the end of a journey, there comes a time when you must step back, and let those who now live there, live their lives. When painting a picture an artist will sometimes step back and say 'that's enough, anything else that I add will make it worse' and now it is time for me to do that, to move onto a new phase of my life." Mac stopped and raised a fist to his mouth as if he were going to cough, but if you saw his eyes there would be drops of water forming in the corners. "Go to the scholars guild, there you will be able to learn enough to survive in the alleyverse, you can ask anyone for directions. Here, is the address to the boarding house. You can stay there indefinitely." Pausing, he lifted his other hand, revealing the golden coin he was holding. "Finally, Take this coin," he said, "It doesn't do anything save allow you to store health in it, but I want it to be a reminder for you. A reminder of an insane god, filled to the brim with regret." He reached out, grabbed her hand, and pressing the coin into it. "I won't ask you to live up to my legacy, but I want you to try and be the best you can, try to do what is right, and while hardship may follow, know that you are fixing a small part of this world." Mac let go of her hand and straightened. Turning toward the statue, he formally strode toward it, pulling out a small book, his monocle, his cane and his ever present bowler hat. The book would contain a story, an abridged version of his life, the other items contained a legacy. Hopefully those who found them would do better than he did. He laid them softly on top of the stone with the inscription at the base of his statue. Then with tears in his eyes, he whispered a final goodbye to the alleyverse. Silently and purposefully he straightened then walked out the door, into the bright noonday sun. Turning sharply to the right, he approached a shadowed alley with mist flowing out of it. Then, without looking back, The Gentleman Hemalurgist was enveloped by the mist, never to be seen again in the Alleyverse. @Sorana

Hey guys, I'm going to get straight to the point: I've come to realize that it's time for me to leave the shard. I can't really balance the shard and real life things, especially with how university stuff is picking up for me now as I start the application process. Too many of my responsibilities off the shard are getting neglected, and after this weekend when a few things came crashing down around me I realized that my priorities are too focused on the shard and that I need to get my life in order and make that more of a priority. I've been with this community since the beginning and I'm going to miss it a lot, but unfortunately I need to focus on other things. I will still be present on discord, if anyone wishes to contact me, but I won't be on the shard anymore. While eventually, i.e. several years from now, there is a small chance that I could come back, I wouldn't plan on it. I will stay until wednesday to wrap up a few things, but come wednesday morning I won't respond to anything else. I love you guys, and I love this community, but sadly it's time for me to go. I wish you all success in your lives, and please, have a cookie on me! -Mac

Huh, that’s cool! You learn a new thing every day.

That’s beautiful! I will note that the quote did originally come from the wheel of time though, not voidus.

The skeleton tried to slide out of the way, but couldn't move fast enough, its leg practically falling off as soon as it was hit by the sword. As it fell down it gave one last wild swing at Temira, hoping to hit something. If it couldn't protect the artifact, then hopefully no one would be able to grab it. Temira swiftly dodged the falling skeletons swing, countering with a downward strike at its arm, severing its third limb. The skeleton collapsed, defeated. Slowly it began to decay, the magic that kept it together no longer serving a purpose. The Dagger and armor that cloaked it disappeared leaving a broken skeleton behind with a Nicrosil ring. Mac smiled. "Thank you." Picking his way over to the bones he bent over and picked up the Ring, taking it off of the bone. He focused in on it, reading the Aons and tapping a little bit of the nicrosil on it. He grinned, Devaan didn't disappoint. "This is quite the ring! If im not mistaken it turns you into an elantrian temporarily, allowing you to touch these symbols and gain power." His skin turned a silvery sheen as he tapped the ring, then thumbed one of the Aons, edo, summoning a bright shield in front of him. This was a relic, a thing from ages long gone. Like him. Suddenly something changed, like a lightswitch had been flipped, Mac saw things through a new light. He wasn't a part of this world. He had helped make it, and was proud of what it had become, but like every good artist knew, there was a time when a piece must be left alone. When you had to move on. His skin returning to normal he walked over to Temira. "Take this." He said simply, "You can use it more than I can." With that he moved toward the ladder and climbed up to the Hall of Legends. @Sorana

Mac turned as Temira asked him what he was doing, probably referring to the spikes. "I'm using som-" He cut off as he noticed an orange glow from behind him, spinning around, he gripped his cane awkwardly, knowing that it could be used as a weapon, but quite sure how. Who needed to know how to fight if they could bend reality? He tossed up a coin, then expertly shot it toward the skeleton, pushing to try and test the durability of the armor. As he watched, the orange glow of its eyes was blocked by Temira asking if she could fight it. He paused, weighing the unexpected choice in his head. Then he replied "If I get the ring on its finger, then be my guest." he stepped back, getting ready to watch her fight, the shadows of the corner banishing the uncertainty of having to fight, while the embarrassment of needing to step aside for this youth grew ever larger. @Sorana @Nohadon

Mac sat on the edge of a cliff, thinking. When it came down to it, what was he? Why did he regret what he did? The nightmares had continued. Not nightly, but enough to be bothersome. Why he had them wasn't as big of an issue. He accepted that as a part of life. Most any denizen got nightmares. Once you became a full member you either broke your soul enough with spikes, or killed enough people that the cracks began to show though. No he wasn't concerned with why they were there. He was concerned with why he didn't stop them. Or even try to. The thought of spiking someone else's sanity over his wasn't appealing. Neither did he want to add more stability spikes. There was a disconnect in his mind. His subconscious instincts knew something that his brain didn't. Something made the usual methods of repair for a broken soul unappetizing. So what was it? When he started on his path, it was to protect his mother. Then when he came back and it was too late, he started pursuing vengeance. But what pushed him beyond simple vengeance? What pushed him to pursue a path for over 1000 years, with ruthless efficiency, caring only for himself. He tried to dig back in his memories. Blocking out the images and instead focusing on his feelings When he killed his father, he hadn't been happy or fulfilled. His mother was still gone, and at that point nothing could bring her back. If he was being honest with himself, he stayed because he couldn't bear the thought of leaving this new world behind. The opportunities were endless, and so he left, Joining the Alleys. But what had sparked this change in him? When he died, he realized he needed to be in control. At the time it was just for his image. The lethal hemalurgy who was in control was often more terrifying than the insane one with blood running down his lab coat. But he realized as he lived these last 20 years that being in control gave him more power. Builders could always do more than destroyers. But what changed these last 6 months? Why, for the first time in milenia did he concern himself with those who he killed? They were gone. No matter what he did he couldn't bring them back. Mac shook his head and got up. Walking to the buildings nearby then disappearing into the alley between them.

I would mostly agree with furret, with a few changes to the skills. His armor and such come out to 70 points but for a weakened but skilled soldier I would give him about 80 points split up between melee, hand to hand, and long range combat. They would all be slightly below average due to his age. He also needs a backstory, and preferably more weaknesses then 'he is getting older' This weakness wouldn't be for points, but more for character development. @Grey Knight

Gosh dang it @AonEne now I have ill make a man out of you stuck in my head.

I edited out the word direct because it could be constituted that it direct response was an overstatement, despite the fact that your post was the only post asking about delay since his previous post on this thread. That said my point still stands, he’s spending several hours making these. Give him a break.

Did you not read his previous post, Even when it was in response you yours? Hes spending his Friday evening making these, chill.

40 for being an occulator, plus 85 for all of his lenses brings the magic out to 125. I would give it about 35 for the skills. I would put about 5 for the weaknesses. The lack of skill around different methods of combat isn't exactly a weakness, as it would usually add points to his score. In addition I have yet to see a bird appear in the alleyverse besides the phoenix. I think that you will either need to remove a pair of lenses, or add on more weaknesses. @Clyde Meepins

Mac climbed down the old ladder, nodded to the man on a stool down there, and walked purposefully down the hall, cane in hand. Stopping in front of Rhazien's tomb, he paused. Downing a vial of steel and pewter, then inserted two spikes. One for both of their allomatic powers. Devaan was a fighter, Mac was not. Hopefully his voidmaking and allomancy would be able to help him. He burnt pewter, and pushed the lid of the coffin off. Looking at what was inside. @Nohadon

"I did find something. It appears to be the clue to start a treasure hunt for magical artefacts that ol' devaan made, If I had to hazard a guess." He grinned, it had been a while since he had a fun puzzle to work on. "The spren, you know what, if this guy continues following us I'm giving it a name. Bill. Spren, you are now named Bill. Anyway, of course Bill would be attracted to my hat, it's simple, elegant, and just an all around amazing hat! And Bill obviously has good taste. Even if it almost burnt it," He continued thinking over the one line. 2 rings, lying on 2 lovers, forever separated. Assuming Devaan wrote this, which two lovers could he be referring to? Assuming that the items were hidden on the alley verse, and that he would expect anyone reading this to know about who the objects could belong too, there were only a few possible candidates. The most famous of which was Rhazien and Yzabet Montague. One of which was buried in this very building. "HA!" Mac let out a short chuckle, "Yes, I might have found the first item on the hunt." Mac quickly launched into the story of the legendary wedding between Rhazien and Yzabet. About 20 years ago there was a pair of people, one of which my former boss when I temporarily joined the assassins guild, the other a member of a bakers guild directly opposed to my own. Now they had a little thing going in the woods, and they were unfortunately planning to wage war on the city. So, in typical fashion, I called in the Dark Alleys wedding department and we married them on the spot. Hopping that it would delay the war. This was quite possible the most high profile wedding ever. We even pulled out a kidnapped Dalinar Kholin to marry them, and tons of people were there. We pulled out all the stops, unfortunately it didn't stop the war, and the husband died during the war and was buried in the very tomb that we are above right now. Now, if I'm not mistaken. This riddle seems to imply that his ring is magical. And because its so close, it would be interesting to see if this riddle is legit." Mac turned and started walking toward the trapdoor leading below. It also may be just the thing I need. He thought, A ring symbolizing the union of two guilds? That would inspire unity. Though it couldn't come from me. I would need help. "You can follow if you want, though I have no idea what is down there. It's unlikely to be a simple hide and seek game. There are most likely defenses and the such." Mac walked down the trap door, and into the tomb. @Sorana @Voidus