Ashbringer

Gotcha. He might show up in one of the taverns, but I'm mainly waiting for some form of conflict to arise. I might have Tyrian just attack a random NPC Skybreaker, but any major interaction at this point will likely end in him randomly attacking a character and then getting ganged up on by the entire list of partygoers.

Byron kept moving, only stopping once he was close to the white-haired lady and the man with glasses. He wasn't in the mood for another conversation, especially with his cadmium nearly out of control. He sat down on the cobblestones of the sidewalk, watching the people walk past on the other side. They all seemed to be heading for something. Maybe a bigger celebration. He didn't really care. He took another swig from his cadmium-laced canteen, trying to keep the bubble at a steady speed and trying to watch the couple looking at the van. He reached into one of his cloak's pockets, examining his haul of stolen trinkets. Some coins and crysts - he ignored those for now. A little dagger. Three bits of metal that looked like they came from a broken zipper. A fountain pen. Wait - a spanreed? Byron threw it away; that was something its owner would miss. A tin of toffee, a metal vial, an embossed card -. A card? Byron didn't remember stealing a card. He took it out, reading it. Cassandra Adama, Alchemical Metallurgist and Soulcaster. He started. Cassie! She IS here!

Thank you so much! I'll bring him in soon, but probably not in the middle of the masquerade. As for his changes, my guess is I'll just make another character sheet for him, as the two other "changes" I'm imagining are drastic, and depend greatly on whether Tyrian finds the DA or not.

Cassandra handed out her last business card to a gleefully grinning Thug, and watched as the little stream of metalborn went back to their parties from her vendor's booth. A young candy salesman had been glad to share, once he saw the crowd that her little magic tricks and metals had caused. Add that to a discount for all who bought both a vial and a lollipop, and Cassie and her young partner Poller were quite well off by the time business wore down. She scratched her still-covered left arm. She couldn't tell how much the metal had spread through the muscle, but it ached all the same. That was enough Soulcasting for one night. Although... this party was nowhere near over. Perhaps she could enjoy herself for a while. She turned to Poller and handed him 50 crysts. "For helping me tonight," she said as the boy's eyes widened. She smiled: this was probably a night that the boy would never forget. "I've made enough cash tonight; I'm going for a walk around. You'll always be welcome at my shop downtown. It's been a pleasure." She paused, thinking. "By the way, would you know where I could rent a wagon?" Three minutes later, Cassie was off to see the rest of the party, dragging along a small cart filled with a generous selection of sweets and four of Kingston's swords. Poller had taken a fancy to one of them, and the other had been nicked while she wasn't looking. Cassie had a strange relationship with thieves: she had grown up around one almost all the time back on Roshar, where she would try to bring a steady, legal income while her friend and his "associates" went through thick and thin on... less legal methods. So while she didn't like that the little pickpockets were running around so much here, she didn't bother to look behind her as the smallest sword and several pieces of candy vanished from her cart. This was the best time for their business, too. - - - Byron was beginning to shake. He had never been a social person. Everyone he knew, everyone in his old life, they were long dead from old age thanks to him. He began flaring his cadmium, letting almost 20 seconds slip by before realizing there were still other people in his bubble. Relax. You're fine. Aln was trying to be helpful, after all. A story sounded nice. He wouldn't have to talk, just listen. Byron looked at Aln and calmly replied, "Thank you so-" And then everything happened at once. A woman, Vorin by the look of her dress, came into his time bubble and announced her name was Crow, like her mask. No, she wore a dove mask. But her name was Crow Johnson. And she wanted his name. And the companion of Aln said something, and he felt his eyes on him seemingly for the first time. Folorian, Byron thought he heard. Something about a brother - Aln's brother. No, that he was not Aln's brother. Because Aln's brother had - had what? Done something to her. He didn't know what. And then, as if the cosmere was done with emotional trauma and wanted to add physical trauma for good measure, somebody threw a storming CLAYMORE into the mess. It was headed right for Aln, but thanks to the cadmium bubble the steel blade was deflected enough for her to dodge. The force of the shift slammed into Byron like a tempest, not doing any harm but still forcing him backward as if shoved by the bubble into place. It was too much. Byron turned and ran, leaving Aln and the others to stand and settle their society on their own. He ran, ever-active eyes seeing a couple approaching a slow-moving van in his trajectory. He slowed to a brisk walk, trying to match the pace of the people outside his bubble of cadmium. It wasn't easy when his instinct, sensing a danger or shock, tried to flare the metal to defend itself. This always happens, Byron thought. Every time. You meet someone, you think maybe they could be a friend. And then you can't handle it, and you run, and by the time you come back it's too late. They're gone. Byron kept walking toward the van, wondering why he thought, maybe, that this time would be different.

I think the Sleepless can just have a Hordeling act as a flying eye, as opposed to an Invested method. Plus you can have multiple and cover a much larger distance. Just make a bunch that look like flies or ants, and they can scout ahead of Dot/the main group largely ignored.

^ I second this question. I don't want Byron just stumbling past a van uselessly, but I also don't want him exploding from Silas vaporising the city block as soon as he gets free. As for Steelrunning, if it's intended for a getaway function a Sleepless can manage on its own. In combat, if you want Dot to "stick together" while fighting, Steelrunning would be better for moving about quickly. Even a burst of tapped steel can get you past an enemy's defenses. But don't forget, Sleepless are pretty hard to kill on their own; Arclo the Sleepless killed two Skybreakers on his own, although we have no idea how.

@bees?

Alright, here's Tyrian v3. Removed crossbow, flushed out his personality a bit more, and added a few things to make him clearer. Tyrian: As an additional question, how are major changes to a character approved? Tyrian may end up using his spikes, "exchanging" his spren bond for a stronger Division power, perhaps with help from the DA. He may also swear his 3rd oath and gain more stability, but lose a lot of his will to fight again. Would I just re-submit his character sheet? @Sorana Thanks for sticking through three iterations of a character... I just want to do this right.

I'm leaning towards taking the crossbow out entirely: it's a cool weapon, but now that Tyrian's a bit more fleshed out I agree it doesn't fit his style of either staying out of conflict or hyperaggression. He might get it if he undergoes major changes (swearing an oath making him more stable but less aggressive), but I doubt he'll actually last that long. Maybe Byron will find it somewhere. As for the oath and the spike, that's more of what I was thinking of. I might revert the wording of the oath, but either way he does bend it a lot more than most Radiants. The spike IS mainly there as a cosmetic thing, to enact the changes on his skin and personality, but it still gives that strength effect. 10 points seems good. I'll type up a new sheet for him, minus the assassination things. It makes a bit more sense.

"Certainly," Cassie replied, getting more vials to fill - convieniently, she didn't even need to Soulcast the copper she held. "Give me a moment... there!" She pocketed the remaining dust, accepted the ten of the clips, and handed the Smoker two copper-filled vials. And a business card, of course. Byron didn't exactly know why he walked up to these people. He didn't need anything they seemed to be carrying, but he didn't have time to survey the pair properly. All he really needed was a direction, something to do that would pass the time. Something that didn't involve cadmium for a week or two. He kept walking, letting his bubble grow to encoumpass the three of them, although it was currently only moving at 9/10ths what most people considered normal. "... Hi. My name's... I'm Ben. I was wondering if there's a more central party of the part-" Blast. "Part of the party." He steeled his nerves and kept talking. "I don't really have much to do. Or anywhere to go. And everyone's just... talking. Is there somewhere people are doing something? Shops? Sports?"

If you want to "centralize" his powers so to speak, making Dot an artifabrian (a fabrial maker) could work well. The Alerter fabrial can act as a detector for people and (i think) different types of Investiture or other traits, and many fabrials allow for tricks that can emulate different skills: manipulating gravity, attracting certain substances, and probably* any power that's realistic for an ability with no real fuel source. And I already got the concept (if not execution) of a fabrial crossbow approved. Soother or Rioter also seems to fit with his personality, although that can be hard to RP. * I have no idea what the limits are for fabrials. But it seems capable of doing most of the skills you want, and fits the mad scientist archetype.

Cassie seems popular today. Apologies if I crash the market, but since a sword is going for 10 crysts I'll say a vial goes for 5. Cassie watched this Kingston with some interest. She had to admit, he was effective at drawing in a customer, even if his methods were... shady. Did he hypnotize the man? No matter. He was in need of metals, and she was in need of a client, and one this well off could attract attention. Which kind of attention depended on how well she played Kingston's game. "I apologize for my enthusiastic friend," she said, nodding to the man. "He has a tendency to not watch his own feet. But he means well. May I ask your name?" "Hmph. Neil," he replied. His attitude may take a more... direct approach. "Neil? A pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Cassandra Adama, metallurgic saleswoman and general Soulcaster," she said, letting her Soulcaster slide a bit down her sleeve. "You say you're a Coinshot? I can reimberse you for the three broken steel vials," she estimated She reached into her pocket, pulling out a few vials. Right now, they only held a solution of her own design, one that would keep metal pure and also had a semi-sweet aftertaste. "I am correct that you would like steel, yes?" Neil nodded. Gruffly. "Then I shall begin." Cassie took out a small pinch of dust. Copper dust, to be precise. Neil's eyes widened. "You imbecile! That's -" "Patience," Cassie said, lifting the copper a few inches over the vials, stopping her hand moments before it would begin to fall in. Her gloved hand tightened around the vials - she hoped the metal in her fingers wouldn't crack them. "The Metallic Arts are impressive, but they require the metals to function. And I've found metallurgy to be just as impressive." She let the dust trickle into the vials, turning on her Soulcaster as the metal fell. Before Neil's bewildered eyes, copper flakes turned to the purest gray steel. Cassie smiled. "Impressive indeed. Go ahead, try it," she said, handing the man her two vials, fishing out another and filling it. Neil took a reluctant sip, then his eyes widened, as he surely felt the steel reserves within him grow strong. Cassie handed him the remaining two vials - one more than she stated were free, but as she had always said, the first step to prosperity was generosity. Perhaps not as metaphysical as karma, but a favor this man would remember the next time he needed metal. "Here you are, as promised. If you require more vials, they're 5 crysts apiece," she said, filling another quartet of vials. Neil slowly pulled out the money, which Cassie gladly exchanged for the four. "If you ever need me again, you can find me at this address." She handed him a trio of business cards - one for him, two for whatever acquaintances he may have. Cassie grinned. "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." This was easier than she thought, once she got the hang of it. She turned around, hearing someone ask about the copper in her free hand. "Yes, I can sell copper. Cassandra Adama, at your metalurgic service!" @The_Archivist ---- Neil Patrick Charris thanked the businesswoman for her time, then continued walking. He was, as shown by his noble name, quite busy today. He certainly thought his usual metal salesman could use a personality like - Neil stopped. Something was... strange. As if a ripple in the alleys closed over him, as if he suddenly felt the world rushing past him. The feeling soon left. He turned around, watching the small crowd growing around Cassandra, a group of partygoers laughing at some joke only they knew, a young boy wearing a cloak and parshman mask walking toward the center of the street, that foolish peddler man handing out swords for any who asked and many who didn't. He instinctively checked his pockets, and pulled out his metal vials and cards. Everything was in order. He examined the pair more closely. Cassandra Adama, Alchemical Metallurgist and Soulcaster, with an address and business hours. His friend Simon may be interested in this. And Barant, he would- Neil looked at the cards again. The pair shimmered in the streetlights. Pair. Hmph. Neil could have sworn there were three.

If anyone had been paying attention to a specific wall, they would have noticed a slight... ripple, as if an Alley was suddenly manifesting. But Byron doubted anyone was paying attention. And he was sick of the alleys. Byron fell out of the wall, stumbling for a moment before he stabilized his bubble. He immediately clapped a hand to his cheek, feeling for stubble. How long was I in there for? Months? Years? How far did I go this time? He started as he began to feel the hairs that had accumulated on his throat and face. Years, then. He turned his cadmium down a notch and looked around. So this was the Alleyverse. There were... less alleys than he had expected. Less violence. Less gigantic feats of Investiture powered by this world. Just what appeared to be some kind of block party, full of civilians standing around with masks and ornate clothing, with no organization or logic or arguments in sight. A few did seem to be carrying weapons, but half of those seemed to be quite suprised to see the broadsword in their hands, trailing in the stone behind them. They just seemed... no, not happy. Some were, but the rest were merely relieved. Yes, there is tension in this city, Byron thought. And at some point it will break. For now, he needed to blend in, which would be difficult in his halfsized cloak and maskless face. He stoked his cadmium a bit, and started a brisk pace toward a group of merrymakers. He barely remembered what it was like to not be burning cadmium, to not move slower than everyone else. To anyone watching, he would appear to be walking at a leisurely pace, glancing back and forth to look at the sights. But to Byron, he was moving quickly, looking for opportunity. He took a swig from his canteen, replenishing his cadmium reserves. His burn should be low tonight, but if he got noticed he may need to skip a few days and let everyone's guard fall again. He approached the group. One was a boisterous man, who appeared to have had a little too much violet in his wine. He was half leaning, half sitting on a bench, talking with a group of companions, his mottled red mask laying on the ground beside him. Byron let himself smile. This would be too easy. Slowing his own time may not be seen as much of a power, but underestimating any Investiture that can influence time was a grave mistake. He casually approached, keeping his pace, getting that bittersweet feeling of adrenaline. He flared cadmium, then burst into motion as the figures around him accelerated their movements. Those around would notice nothing unusual, but Byron knew there was one chance. He ran behind the group, letting the outer edge of his bubble catch the squatting drunk. The man sat bolt upright, searching for the source of that jarring feeling Byron's bubble caused. Byron felt it too, felt it pushing on him from everything around him, but he was used to it. He let his bubble disConnect and lock in place, sprinted behind the confused man without looking at him, and kicked up the mask with his foot. He grabbed it, reConnected his bubble, and strode away. The man would be confused, but everyone around him would think his sluggish startlement nothing but a drunken fantasy. By the time they noticed the theft, Byron would have disappeared. He affixed the mask, which appeared to be some kind of parshman. Parshendi, he thought they were called. He didn't really care too much, but now that he looked the part of a partygoer, he could get closer to more worthwhile targets. As he came to the end his path across the road, Byron looked at his treasures: some Rosharian spheres, a good amount of crysts, a small pocket knife, and a strange wooden ring. He'd almost got a new ring, but quickly realized it was ripping a hole in one of his pockets. He threw it away, watching it zip much faster than it should have in his time bubble. Darn aluminum. No matter. Byron approached another group, hopefully done thieving for the day but curious to find out where the real treasures could be found. @mathiau @Rushu42

Cool! I still may tweak a few things, but I agree that's more what I was looking for. Per the crossbow, I was imagining arrows flying as if Lashed, in a straight line and accelerating, giving it a larger reach. As for the Division effect, I don't know how powerful 1 sphere's worth of Stormlight really is. And it would probably be an over-time sort of thing, so if the arrow goes right through or is pulled out quickly it wouldn't have a chance to do much. How about this: the effect of Gravitation is reverse-proportional to the Division: the longer it flies, the more Stormlight it spends on staying straight and the less it can actually use on Division. A short-range shot from a building away or so may be enough to make any torso hit a kill without healing, but a long range shot may just make the wound bigger. And it wouldn't be instantaneous either way - Tyrian built it himself using a trapped highspren, so I doubt it works at maximum efficiency. It's more an assassination tool than a combat weapon. I could also just scrap it entirely, as now that I think about it assassination doesn't really fit with Tyrian's hyperaggressive style, and I agree dodging the death arrows isn't much of a fun RP . Plus it frees up his skills a bit more. Two other notes: Tyrian's koloss spike does give him some amount of power, but not very much. Naturally being koloss-blooded he's slightly stronger (and stupider) than most, and his spike enhances that effect. So he'd win an arm wrestling contest against a non-enhanced foe, but he's not going to be throwing cars or any other feats of heroism. And on the oath note, I added the bit about Tyrian stretching the oath because I see him doing it more often than than most. He and his spren don't agree on what "evil" is for the most part. (I also may want to take out that "only" in the oath, as it's following more what his potential 3rd oath would be.) Idk if that changes any points, but just giving my reasoning a bit more clarity. Now that Byron's in Tyrian isn't that big of a priority, so I may tweak him a few times. A lumbering koloss Dustbringer beserker isn't exactly the character to introduce in a masquerade ball .

“I’m Cassandra,” Cassie replied, letting herself smile slightly as she put down his “sample” of blades. This street merchant certainly worked fast, but he seemed friendly enough. She kept her iron burning just in case - his jacket did say LIAR, after all. She rubbed her arm. The metal slowly growing over the skin made for a strange texture, even under a dress sleeve. I wonder if he noticed. She didn’t see how he couldn’t have. No matter. Selling during this party was more for publicity than money. The real revenue would come from after, with drained Mistings visiting her shop down the block aways. And this man... well, he would certainly help with publicity. “My friends call me Cassie,” she continued, continuing to grin slightly wincing at the cliché. “And I’d be glad to have a business deal. What’s you’re name?” she asked, accepting the handshake, but keeping the corner of her eye on her exposed Soulcaster. @Archer

"Thank you," Cassie replied, nodding slightly to the man. He seemed to be mostly caught in his own conversation, so Cassie excused herself and turned around to find this sword vendor. He, of course, was not there by the time she knew where to look. Rusts. Cassie burned a smidge of iron, searching through the crowd for large enough pieces of metal. The man had evidently been busy - there were many different sword-like pieces of metal. Cassie picked the one that seemed largest, and headed towards it. Hopefully this "vendor" would know more about the organization of this party. No directed festivities. Cassie sighed. She may have to start her own party. She walked up to the man carrying several blades. "Excuse me? Sir? Do you know where I can set up a stall to sell metals? Or where the most people will be?" @Archer

Here's my edited Tyrian @Sorana. He's still probably OP, but I'd like to see how much I can weaken him without changing his innate Investiture and I think I made his personality/modus operandi a little clearer. Changes are in orange (except in backstory, I think). Tyrian: Let me know what you think!

Cassie was lost. Large crowds had never been her strong suit, much less a citywide party. It had been all her customers talked about for weeks, and one particularly feisty Rioter had reminded her of the date on every visit for months on end. She did have to admit, it made good business. People came here to show off, flaring their metals like there was no tomorrow. But there was a tomorrow, where they would need to stock up the metals they had burned or lost. Cassie shuddered slightly, reaching for her sleeved arm. Good business meant a lot of money, but it also meant a lot of Soulcasting. Too much to be healthy. Cassie looked around again, perking up from her spot leaning on a building. People just seemed to be walking around chatting, while one individual appeared to be bouncing around handing people swords. They all wore extravagant dresses, suits, and masks, contrasting Cassie's worn lavender dress and small metal half-mask. No one had mentioned this was a masquerade, so she didn't look like anyone in particular, besides herself. She checked her pockets - it was good to be prepared, if the swordsman wanted to start a fight, and who knows how many pickpockets were around. Iron flakes, her trusty dagger, and her amethysts were all where they were supposed to be. Well, she couldn't just sit here and do nothing. She walked over to the crowded street, keeping a firm grip on her Soulcaster, and joined a group in conversation. "Excuse me, but I'm Cassandra, and I appear to be lost. Is there a place for vendors to set up shop? Or an area with more directed festivities?"

Gotcha. Yeah, I probably should have seen Tyrian coming. I'll work on a solution for making him somewhat less OP. (I guess to answer your backstory questions, Tyrian's a lot like Nightblood in regards to his oath. He's bound to work against evil, but doesn't really know what evil is, and generally associates it with Skybreakers, to which his spren somewhat agrees. He's also not entirely there, so to speak.) In the meantime, I edited out Cassie's statues (although she still might make them Medusa-style, just not Awaken them) and I'll use her. Also, here's my third character, Byron!

About 15 biologically, a few hundred years realtime. He tends to go around at 3/4 to 9/10 real time, and sometimes hyper flares to skip by years of war or to throw off his trail. All 3 of my current characters are from Catacendre Scadrial; Cassie and Tyrian used time-warp alleys/handwavium to get to here over the time gap, Byron (the savant) mainly just skipped over it.

Thank you! Unfortunately, Tyrian got a little sidetracked in the alleys due to being trapped in the OP Character Filter. Cassie's on her way though. Thanks! I was actually considering making this guy a Durralumin Ferring at one point, but decided to just stick with savantism. I think he'll be a little disjointed from everyone just from his personality, but I like that as a side affect. *Googles Cadmium poisoning* *gags* I think he'll also have to burn it constantly to avoid his liver falling out. Which has its own downsides. I'll put a post for him out now. Now he needs a name...

I have two characters I'd like to add to this Era (as my first time on the Shard!!). One's a little more powerful than normal, but he's got a lot of weaknesses. The other is more of a side character I may bring in. I also have one more character, but I'd like advice from the discussion thread before I bring it here. Tyrian: Cassie: Sorry if Tyrian's too OP, but I feel like he could be a good gray antagonist. He could progress as a Radiant and heal his brokenness... or he could go on a Hemalurgic rampage. Who knows? Not him. Or me. On to the Alleys!

Hey everyone! I finally decided to start my Alleyverse journey and create some characters. I have 2 locked down on where I want them, but I have one I want to ask about power level feasibility before I post it to the character thread. I'm thinking of making a Cadmium Savant - one who can make time bubbles with much greater control than normal, ie slowing time to a greater degree, or having the bubble active with only a miniscule change in the speed of time. Also, carrying the bubble with him (which I think a WoB says is feasible for a savant) as opposed to locked in space. Does this sound balanced? This seems to be something not on the character guidelines page, since savants are so... wacky. I also can't really think of a good savant-induced weakness besides suffering from not burning cadmium.