Wyrmhero

Week 1, Day 5: The Builder The first part of the day is spent watching the staff install your new sculpture in your drawing room, waiting while books are gathered on Breath and the Heightenings they grant for your perusal. You sink into a soft armchair by a roaring fire, and take the time to look again at the artwork. All of them spoke you to somehow, a resonance you can’t quite describe, but this one struck the greatest chord within you. You look at it, and can’t help but imagine being in the debating hall, arguing passionately about something. What that thing is, you don’t know yet; you haven’t really been ‘alive’ again long enough to hold strong convictions. But you know you want to help people, however that manifests itself. “You realise, of course, that You can’t save the artwork every time,” Hera says, as she enters the room with two servants trailing behind her. One puts a set of books on a table, and the other places a tray of biscuits and a pot of tea beside it, and pours you a cup. “Perhaps…” You admit. “But it seems like such a shame to destroy such a beautiful piece.” “I don’t think You would care this much about it if it wasn’t to be destroyed,” Hera replies, as she nods to the servants to let them know they may leave. “Its temporary nature lends it a beauty and value beyond what it would otherwise have. Much like the Returned themselves, some might say," she adds. "But it seems to have captured Your eye, which is good. Returned have a certain capability to see beyond the physical, into the meaning of art.” “Don’t you want to know why I chose it?” you ask, after a moment to consider her comment. She shrugs a little. “It’s Your reason, no-one else’s. I cannot gainsay it, nor would I want to. You may not even know the real reason Yourself, so there’s no real need for me to know. It is for the philosophers to debate upon.” You can’t help but laugh a little. “So… so my opinion means nothing, hm?” She pauses. “I didn’t mean it like that…” “I’m joking,” you say, trying to put her back at ease. “Thank you, though, for the books.” “Of course, Your Grace,” she replies, giving a bow. “I have selected a few I know to be reputable and exhaustive on these subjects. Any aspects that You wish to test, myself and the other servants will be happy to help with. Aside from Awakening, of course,” she adds. “I’ll let you know,” you reply, reaching out to take the first of the books. “I would also like to meet some of my peers, though I must admit, I don’t know who to begin with. Or even who they are.” Hera nods. “Very well. While the Court was much larger, recent events have led to the previous Returned moving on. The Court is therefore much younger than it normally would be, and only numbers eight, including Yourself. You are the youngest.” “In order of increasing seniority, the next would be Quickfell the Diligent, then Fatespinner the Fortunate, and then Brightweave the Creative. Firesoul the Merciful and Coinspender the Generous are more-or-less equal in the time they've been Returned,” she scowls a little as she says Coinspender’s name, “and then Kindsmile the Cordial, and finally Lawmaker the Honest, who organises the debates by the Court by virtue of her relative age. Which of these would You wish to meet first?” “Well… I was hoping to meet Returned who help people,” you explain. “So it sounds like Coinspend-“ “Do not let His name fool You,” Hera interrupts, and then pauses again. “My apologies.” She says, falling silent. You wave her on, and she nods a bit. “He is… a parody of His name. He believes that if He calls Himself that, people have to believe that He is. The rumour is that He only uses His position to further the merchant business He owned when alive.” You are quite surprised by the amount of vitriol she shows for another God, and are quite glad she doesn’t seem to show this disdain for you. “So… Not him,” you say. “Who actually helps, then?” “Firesoul does the most for the people,” she says, “but this makes Her extremely busy, working at Her hospices. I would not be able to arrange a meeting this short-notice. Quickfell and Brightweave are Your best choices, I would say.” “Quickfell, then,” you decide, “as he is the next youngest. Can that be arranged?” “Indeed,” she nods, “I shall make the arrangements while you study.” You thank her and she leaves to carry out your will. In the meantime, you open up the book you took from the pile, though perhaps calling it a treatise would be better, as it goes into exacting detail not just in the mechanics of how Breath works, but the philosophy and culture behind it. Eventually, you call in a few servants to help you. While you’re already aware of this ability, it surprises you just how easily you can tell between two similar but – to your eyes – distinct hues of red, or how accurately you can tell which notes are being played at which scale. Perhaps being a musically inclined god won’t be so difficult after all, though considering your draw to the name ‘Songbearer’, perhaps you were already knowledgeable in that area. Well, a question for another day. You finish by practising with the so-called ‘perfect life sense’ that the Fourth Heightening grants, and it surprises you how accurate it is, granting you sight beyond your eyes. Returned must be difficult to assassinate, you assume. You close your eyes and request that the servants move around while you guess their location, which they agree to easily, though they become a bit nervous when you suggest turning it into a game, with you hunting them down. Eventually, Hera collects you from the drawing room, and after a light lunch (or what passes for a light lunch for a Returned), you find yourself bundled into a carriage with her. The journey is awkward, with her trying simultaneously to not look at you but also not ignore you, so you make it easier for both of you by looking out the window at your surroundings. It’s the first time you’ve left your domain, but it doesn’t seem very different outside to inside. You never leave the Court, simply travelling from one estate to another. The grass verges are finely cut, the flowerbeds abundant and bright. The road you are driven along is clean, with not a stone out-of-place, and it seems strange to you that such care should be taken for you and the other seven they’ve deemed as Lesser Gods, below only the God-King. In the distance, you see the rest of the city on the horizon, and while it still seems very colourful, you can’t help but notice that it’s darker out there, far more crowded, with vague but constant noise reaching your ear on the breeze. To your surprise, you are not let out at the front of Quickfell’s home, but taken around the side, along a slightly more beaten pathway. You carry on past the back of the mansion, and out towards a woodland. Near the treeline, the carriage stops, and Hera steps outside to talk to a man in green and brown robes. A short while later, a set of wooden steps is placed before the carriage door, and you step outside, ducking your head to avoid hitting the carriage roof. “Your Grace,” the man says with a bow, not looking up at you. “We are honoured by Your presence, and humbled to be the first to host Songbearer the Wise. I am Quickfell’s High Priest, Naran, and will serve You in any way You desire.” “…Thank you,” you reply, after a long pause, while you try to figure out how to respond. “I’m… glad he was willing to meet on such short notice. Though, I am surprised to be meeting him out here, rather than inside.” Naran grimaces a little, but quickly hides it. “My Lord prefers to be outside. He is a great proponent of an active lifestyle. Please, this way,” he says, indicating a direction with a bow, and then leading you and Hera towards the trees. As you get close, there is a thunderous noise, and the ground seems to almost jump around you. There is then another. Then, a booming voice calls out “Timber!”, with a loud laugh following it. There’s a crunch as a tree before you collapses onto the ground. “Chop it up for me,” a tall, broad, bare-chested and muscled man orders, waving a large axe at the fallen tree. He grins at you and calls you over as he heads towards a whetstone. You look at Hera, who gives you a small shrug, and starts talking to Naran about something administrative that immediately goes over your head. Finding no help there, you approach the other Returned. Even if it wasn’t for his sculpted physique and apparent ease at ordering people around, you could tell this man was another God, your Aura Recognition tells you that easily. You approach from an angle at which sparks aren’t flying as he grinds the blade against the stone. “You’re the new kid, then?” he asks, looking up at you from his seat. You realise briefly that this merely makes him the same height as a normal person. “New kid?” you scowl. “From what I’ve heard, I’m only a little ‘younger’ than you. Besides which, since we don’t know our old lives, maybe I’m actually older than you. We’d never know.” “Hah!” he barks a laugh as he examines the blade, shakes his head, and grinds it down again. “Isn’t that the truth…” he mutters. “But I was called new kid before, so now it’s your name. Best hope someone dies so you can call them it, hm?” “I’ll start praying,” you reply dryly. Quickfell chuckles and checks the blade with his fingers. Despite seeming unsafe, he doesn’t appear hurt by this, and nods to himself, standing up. He flips the axe in his hand, catching it by the blade, holding the handle out to you. You can only look at him with a combination of worry and surprise, hoping that the other Returned aren’t as uncaring as him. “You want me to have a go?” you ask. “Seems only polite,” he says. “You don’t look as weak as most of the others, so I’m curious.” You sigh and take the handle. Despite being a large axe, you have no difficulty holding it steady in one hand. “Fine… Any tree in mind? You’re aware I have no idea about technique, as well. Best clear the area.” “I’ll be fine,” Quickfell waves it away. “As for technique, Returned are strong enough that it won’t matter too much. Just need to cut around chest height at an angle, until you’re most of the way through. Then gravity takes care of the rest.” “Well… Alright,” you say, still a bit bewildered. Should you really be doing this? You look over to Hera, who looks over the situation and then cautiously nods. Wonderful. Quickfell walks over to a tree, relatively thin compared to the others in this forest, and taps along its trunk. “Here,” he instructs, and then steps back. You raise the axe and swing, feeling a little anxious. The blade bites deeper than you expect, but you keep your balance, just. “How are you finding it?” he asks, his voice quieter now, so you can’t be overheard. The bombastic motions and speaking have gone now, replaced by something that might be concern. “Being dead?” You ask, wrenching the axe out with a bit of effort. “It’s not what I expected.” “Good,” Quickfell nods. “We all cope with this different ways. Humour works. Throwing yourself at something works. Anything to distract you from the situation.” “So what do you do?” you ask, taking another swing, and another chunk out of the tree bark. “I was told you help people.” “I do, but not how most people want me to. We have these petitions,” Quickfell waves a hand, “and they’re all worthless. Can’t see myself ever granting one.” “That… is not what I expected you to say,” you admit. “Isn’t that meant to be what we’re here for?” Quickfell grunts, a surprisingly human thing for a God. But then, maybe he had as much difficulty thinking of himself as a God as you do. “I’m not in a rush to die again, Songbearer. And not for some idiot who hurt himself and wants me to fix his mistake. Actions have consequences, and it’d do the people of this city good to remember that, rather than rely on us. A bit lower down,” he adds, and you adjust your aim before taking another swing. “So how do you help people?” you ask. Quickfell holds up a hand to stop another swing, and puts his hand on the trunk. He heaves a little and pushes it, the tree toppling over. “Timber!” he yells, and a bird flies out of a nearby tree at the noise. “So…?” you continue, lowering the axe. “I cut trees and then build things,” Quickfell shrugs. “Houses, carts, boats. People always need lumber and things made of lumber, and I can collect it quickly with my apprentices,” he gestures towards some of the priests who, you realise, are wearing more rugged robes than Naran. “I might not directly save a life this way, but I improve them. A roof over a poor family's head, a boat for a new fisherman. Maybe it does save a life somewhere, who knows? I’m not the only one that thinks like this either, or Firesoul wouldn’t have her hospice. Though I guess hers is more direct.” “It’s something to think about…” you agree, considering it in your mind. Quickfell runs a hand over the cut you made as you think. “Not a bad cut, for a first time,” he says. “Well, if you need something to do, to keep the boredom at bay, you know where I’ll be. Two Returned are better at this than one, yes?” He grins and slaps you on the back with a loud thud that almost makes you stumble, the attitude matching his larger-than-life appearance again. “Y-yes,” you say, as you regain your footing. “Thank you for the offer, I’ll bear it in mind.” “…How did that go?” you ask, on the way back. Hera closes the book she was reading and sighs. “You offended his High Priest, or rather implied to him that You were offended by their choice of meeting place, which could cause problems, but impressed Quickfell Himself, thankfully. I wouldn’t worry too much about Naran, however. He finds fault with everything and is overall too soft. So, I would say that went about as well as I expected,” she says, causing you to wince a little. “As much as I regret the question,” she continues, “do You still wish to meet the others?” “Eventually,” you nod. “Why do you ask?” “If I send out requests now, it will be easier to meet them tomorrow. You have no tasks, and therefore could do so if you wish,” she says. “Perhaps even Firesoul, if I know now. Indeed, it might be best to meet the other Returned in a personal capacity before the Court convenes in two days time, though You won't be able to meet them all before then, I'm afraid. Who You choose to visit, or what You choose to do is, as ever, entirely Your choice.” Longer chapter than intended, but we've met another Returned, and you have your first look at the new Court of Gods, and the people within. The next day is a clear day with no guaranteed events, but after that there will be more things happening, such as petitions or politics. Free Time What will you do tomorrow? Select two. The top two will occur. As before, the following list is just a set of suggestions, and is not exhaustive, and you may suggest approaches to these tasks as well. [X] Visit Fatespinner the Fortunate [Charm] [X] Visit Brightweave the Creative [Charm] [X] Visit Firesoul the Merciful [Charm] [X] Visit Coinspender the Generous [Charm] [X] Visit Kindsmile the Cordial [Charm] [X] Visit Lawmaker the Honest [Charm] [X] Ride through the city [X] Develop your religion (you may suggest new tenets) [Spirit] [X] Take up a hobby (suggest which) [X] You may suggest others, not on this list Results

I will be posting the next part in about 11 hours, so vote now or forever hold your peace .

Well, more immediately relevant . Though who knows, some might have more meaning behind them than others... >>

Nice little snippets around this, though I'd like to request that the votes in the [X] 'vote description' format for clarity please. The non-capitalised nature of the rainbow robe doesn't really mean anything as such. It isn't presented as a 'named' piece, as such, like the sculpture or painting are, it's just a bright, colourful and exquisitely made cloth robe. I'm sorry if that implied anything about it, it was not my intention to do so. In general, I'll try not to hint towards any decision for Auguries being better than the others.

Week 1, Day 4: Duty A dream rises to the surface. It is dark, though there is a flickering light. You hear a rustling noise, which fades away. Ah, it’s gone. Another replaces it, also dark. The sound of grunting and movement reaches you, coupled with the smell of exertion. Then a sudden thud of something heavy and wooden being put down. That, too, disappears. Light floods the world as you open your eyes. Sunlight peeks through the thick curtains at the window. It’s a brand new day in what promises to be the rest of your life, a life that only lasts as long as your heart remains hard to the suffering of others. The duties of a Returned are, according to Hera, few. Even the religion built around them is fairly simple, you’d say. General prayer in return for a belief that something will be better eventually, or even that your God might sacrifice Themselves for your sake. A cynical thought, maybe, but if your purpose is to die for someone, you’ll allow yourself some cynicism. Maybe people just need to believe, and your purpose is to give them something to believe in, no matter how undivine you feel. There’s a knock on your door, and even before you answer Hera already enters the room. She greets you politely, professionally, and starts ordering you around. Funny, isn’t she meant to be your High Priest, and thus, your servant? You don’t think that matters, though, she has the driven force of a practiced taskmaster, cajoling and ordering you into getting up. Servants come and dress you, selecting the colours you have chosen for yourself, colours that Hera and your other servants are now dressed in too. A bright azure, contrasted with a darker maroon. You feel quite awkward, standing there as you suffer this. This is your third day suffering this, and you don't think it will get any easier over time. It's not just the embarrassment of being dressed when you are quite capable yourself, but also that you have no idea how to respond to the servants. Are you meant to look at them? To ignore them? What would they want you to do? No, you can’t look at them, can’t distract them from their work. But it would be rude to pretend they aren’t there at all. The question haunts you as they work, so instead you look around for anything else to keep your mind occupied, and settle on the silvered glass before you. Having said that you aren’t particularly godly, there is no denying you have something about you that is more than mortal, as you examine yourself in the mirror. Your frame is built tall, and while not necessarily strong, it is solid enough for some physical labour. Your skin is somewhat pale though, suggesting a life spent indoors rather than working in the sun. As much as Hera said you shouldn’t, you can’t help but speculate on your previous life. Perhaps a librarian, carting around heavy books, or a foreman at a dock, promoted from a manual position to deskwork some years ago. You wonder if you’ll ever know. You also can’t help thinking, vainly perhaps, that your form appears quite handsome even before the servants finish grooming and dressing you. Attractive, maybe, as much as that can be a statement you can make. This is something that apparently Returned share between them. You may not be the standard rugged and strong masculine ideal, but you would certainly say you are someone’s masculine ideal. Even if you believe you may have spent your life mostly in the company of books, it wouldn’t surprise you to know you were an active individual regardless. “And now, Your Grace, it would be good if we can look at some artwork,” Hera says, ushering the servants away and examining you with a critical eye. Despite your comparatively large build, you can’t help but feel self-conscious and worried, like a child being told off by their mother. Whatever she sees apparently satisfies her, as she nods briefly. "I have kept them back for You until You were feeling more settled, but I'm afraid it can't wait much longer." You dredge her explanation up from the back of your mind. “People send me art to critique, and I am meant to find some… some meaning in them, yes? And then it gets destroyed.” It seemed like such a waste. “Not quite,” Hera replies. “You are merely meant to pick whichever speaks to You most, the piece You like the most. That can be because of the colours, the technical composition or, yes, the meaning You think You see. Though I won’t deny that, even if You pick one because You think it’s pretty, there will still be endless speculation and argument about why You picked it, regardless.” Was that a small smile there? If there was, it’s gone already, her face schooled back into professionalism. “Well, I suppose I should give those speculators something to do,” you shrug. The artwork you are to examine consists of many different kinds of pieces, not just paintings but sculptures, poems, songs and cloth. Considering they are all to be destroyed, unless you like them enough to have them displayed in your mansion, you decide to put in the time to properly look at them all. To do anything less would be an insult to the artists. You are quite relieved though to be informed that in the case of songs, the sheet music or lyrics will be burned, and not the artists. Unless they're atrocious, Hera adds, with a straight enough face that you aren't sure if she's joking or not. You decide to examine the artwork instead of trying to puzzle that out. In the end, there are three pieces that speak to you. The first is an oil panting that depicts what Hera describes as ‘Kalad’s Phantoms’, an army of large stone people with stone weaponry and armour, fighting against a horde of pale corpses in conventional weaponry, Lifeless. The Phantoms seem to be winning through sheer brute force, against the Lifeless’ poor-but-serviceable skill. The second is a sculpture of the Council Room, which you have never seen, but will become familiar with soon. Again, you rely on Hera to fill in the gaps of your knowledge, though she is careful not to state anything but fact to avoid colouring your opinion. The sculpture is made of a grey stone, with streaks of colour depicting the Returned at their seats as they argue and debate. The colours, Hera informs you, deliberately avoid depicting any specific Gods. The final artwork is a robe of many colours, each fold shimmering differently in the light despite your enhanced eyesight informing you that it has clearly been dyed carefully to ensure no bleed between the sections. Hera states that the dye is made from Tears of Edgli, a plant with high value thanks to its ability to hold fast in any cloth and its suitability for Awakening. Auguries As a Returned, part of your job is to select impressive artworks, using your enhanced capability to detect colour hues, vocal tones and all the other aspects of BioChroma that your Divine Breath gives you. Regardless of how or what you pick, it will then be intensely scrutinised by philosophers (who apparently have nothing better to do than guess at why you chose something instead of just asking you for your reasoning) to determine what it means for the future. Each Augury you can choose between has a hidden stat boost associated with it, which may or may not be obvious from the description. This boost will last until the next time you need to choose an Augury. Note that the stat may not suit any roll at all for the period, depending on choices and paths taken. Auguries will be chosen every five days in-game, though if we skip an Augury choice the previous one will continue to apply. [X] Kalad’s Phantoms [X] Gods at Council [X] The rainbow robe “Your Grace, have you made a decision?” Hera asks. You nod. “This one,” you say, gesturing to it. “Good,” she replies, and she makes a note of it. “Now, we must discuss Your itinerary for the day.” “I have things that need doing beyond this?” you ask, with a little dread. You’ve only recently been resurrected, is it really already time for you to be acting Godly? “Not as such,” Hera replies. “Most of Your necessary tasks are only once a week. There will be these artworks to judge, petitioners to hear, council meetings to attend, and of course, You will need a new Breath.” This last one causes you to shudder. Hera has told you that it isn’t a soul, that you aren’t killing anyone by taking their Breath, but your Breath is your soul. If that goes, you die. It’s hard to think it’s different for other people, especially since they will become Drab, with all that entails. Is mere wealth enough to make up for that? “…But none of those are today?” you ask, “except the art, of course.” “Correct,” Hera nods. “Your day is Your own, though You understand I will accompany You unless I have other duties that need attending. If You are looking for suggestions, then I would perhaps recommend meeting the other Returned. This isn’t an urgent task, but it might make a good impression to go to meet Your peers, rather than them coming to meet You. A similar suggestion could be made for going out into the city.” “Alternatively, you could spend some time developing the teachings of ‘Songbearer the Wise’. This wouldn’t just be laws for Your followers to live by, but writing songs and music as well, as I imagine many would expect You to live up to Your name,” she says dryly. “Another might be to properly understand what Your Divine Breath gives you,” she continues. “You have the Fifth Heightening, and as much as it is instinctual, I feel it’s better to have an idea of what it means as much as how it manifests itself to You.” “And there are always hobbies,” she adds. “If You wish to take up duelling, for example, we can find a good instructor for that, or if there are any subjects You wish to educate Yourself on, books and tutors can be arranged.” “Of course, these are just suggestions,” she finishes. “The day is, as I say, ultimately your own, and we will try to accommodate Your desires as much as possible, Your Grace.” Free Time How will you pass the day? You may select two different options, and the top two will occur. You may suggest a choice not on this list, and you may also suggest a variation on a choice, or a specific way of approaching it. Choices with [Stat] beside them have their outcome influenced by a stat roll, though sometimes changing an approach to a choice may change the [Stat] for it. I will try to inform you in advance if this is the case. [X] Visit another Returned. This can be selected multiple times, and each time you will meet a different Returned. [Charm] [X] Ride through the city. [X] Develop your religion (you may suggest new tenets, if you like). [Spirit] [X] Understand your Heightening. [Wits] [X] Take up a hobby (suggest which). [X] (you may suggest others as well) Note that just because you don’t do something today doesn’t mean you can’t do it another day, and sometimes events will force themselves on you anyway. There is chapter two. A bit more setup, but now we have some choices for actions. Note that, if certain milestones are met, your stats can improve, so bear that in mind when you make your decisions. Sometimes, the best way to improve at something is to try and fail, but get experience in doing that thing. Failing is also not always bad, sometimes it just depicts how something bears out. And speaking of stats, the second post now has Songbearer's stats. Results

Yeah, sorry for the confusion. I was just pleased that we had finally gotten two votes of the same name. Don't worry, you're doing fine on voting :P. I will probably wait until Tuesday, and then we'll begin, so if anyone else wants to join in, please do so

And we have our first choice with two votes on it

The name with the highest number of votes will be your character's name, and the two colours with the highest votes will be your colour pair. If there is a tie, as there is right now, I will flip a coin or pick one or something. I reserve the right to be selfish if you guys can't decide

Yup, as think explained, you will all vote on what major actions the main character takes, or how they approach situations. You may either vote for one of the example/suggested options, or write your own and vote for that if you think there's a better option. I will be able to veto the extra votes, but I won't do that unless it's very out-there. If you want to change one of those colours to green, vote for it

Character Sheet Chapters

Week 1, Day 1: The Waking God You wake in an opulent room, the like of which is utterly unfamiliar to you. The sky outside is dark, and you feel tired despite the fact that you've been sleeping. The walls are hung with fine tapestries and paintings, and the bedsheets are soft and luxurious. It seems strange to you, but the strangest thing, in a way, is that it seems strange to you at all. That thought ties itself in a knot in your brain as you try to puzzle it out. You try to put it aside, but it returns again when you realise that, while it feels odd to be in this room, when you think about it you have no comparison as to whether or not this is normal for most people. It’s a disconcerting thought process, an endless cycle of recognising the unfamiliar for being unfamiliar. You try to clear your mind, to recall how you got here. You remember… You remember… You remember nothing. Your mind is blank. No, that isn’t true, you realise after a moment more's introspection. You know you are sleeping in a bed, you know that it is of better quality than you are used to, but you don’t remember why you know that. How strange that understanding this does not seem to require you to have any memory of similar objects. The details of your life are unknown to you, a hazy blackness just out of reach. Every time you try to grasp it, it edges ever further away. “Ah, You’re awake.” The voice distracts you as it reaches your ears, and you look up, the strange thoughts dissipating now you have something else to focus on. In a way, you're frustrated as your thoughts are halted suddenly, but a bigger part of you is grateful for having something, anything, else to think about. For one thing, while you were probably too distracted to notice before, you can feel that she almost... pulses. You know exactly where she is, even if you look away. And on the edges of your senses, you can feel other pulses, blips of something you can't see. But this is another distraction, you realise, and you resolve to give her your undivided attention. The woman in the doorway smiles at you. She wears a grey robe, though in contrast to her basic dress, she also wears a gold ring on one of her hands, and her shoes look polished and formal. On closer inspection, even the dull robe appears finely tailored, not a strand out of place, all the same exact grey shade. “I was beginning to worry that You never would.” It takes you a moment to speak, the words taking their time to form. A thousand questions present themselves, but all you can begin with is to assess your situation, even before you ask the questions you truly desire to ask. “Where am I? And who are you?” The voice is unfamiliar to you, and it takes you a moment to realise that it’s yours. You feel suspicious, not of the woman herself as such, but of your situation, and you crave information. But, the treacherous thought takes root in your mind, can you even trust anything she says? Perhaps that is an unfair thing to think, and the two of you are in fact firm friends, or family, or lovers. Or perhaps the situation is quite the opposite and you are her captive, though that seems unlikely with such a fine bedroom. In any case, all you can do right now is listen to her, and her explanation. “My name is Hera,” she says, giving a polite bow before your bed. “I have the singular honour of finding myself as Your High Priest. Your Grace, if I may be candid, You will probably feel strange at the moment. Please, do not be alarmed, that is not unusual for someone recently Returned.” “I’m… I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” Hera smiles a little, “Please, do not apologise. I am not worthy of such a thing, and the fault is mine for not being clear. Your confusion is not at all unusual. I’m sorry to have to tell You this, but You have died. Fortunately, You have also been Returned, for some great purpose that we are not aware of yet. Your past self is now immaterial, only who You are matters. Your memory is gone, because You are greater than Your previous self. Do not be concerned though. I – and Your other priests – will be here to guide You as You fulfill Your last task. I will explain everything, but first, we must decide on Your name, and colours.” “My name?” you repeat, grasping at the final words as the rest pass through you without much registering. “My name is… My name is… Oh.” You frown as the thought never completes. “No memory, yes... So I must pick a new name, then?” “Indeed,” Hera nods. “Traditionally, names chosen by Returned are two-part names, such as ‘Lightsong the Bold’, or ‘Blushweaver the Beautiful’. It will, to a certain extent, define you. You must also select a pair of colours to represent Yourself.” She smiles wryly a little as she picks at the robe she wears. “I’m afraid grey isn’t really my colour, so I must insist on something more vibrant. And, when You have chosen, we will begin Your great task.” Hi all, it’s been a while This is a ‘quest’ RP I thought up while waiting for a delayed train recently. Players will take control of a newly Returned character, just after the end of the Warbreaker novel. Players don't have to sign up, though I heavily encourage discussion within the thread on what to do, and hope people become invested in it. Through voting for decisions, you will decide what this Returned character does (or attempts to do, not all options are guaranteed successes) after waking up in the Court of Gods. I will put suggestions at the end of each write-up with actions you can take (sometimes you can only take one, sometimes more), but I’m more than happy for - and encourage - people to put their own suggestions in to be voted for by the group. I will try to convey a rough estimate of how difficult the task is, if necessary. I will close voting after a decent period of time (at least 48 hours), or when activity dies down, or when there is a clear winner or winners. This timing isn’t set in stone by any means, and is meant to be a guideline rather than a hard set of time rules. If there is a draw, I will either try to combine the options if possible, or I will choose one as GM’s prerogative. Your character’s starting stats are determined by vote, but they are not set in stone, and will increase on occasion (or may decrease!) when certain milestones are reached. You may also get bonuses to rolls from any roleplaying that the players do, though the roleplaying will not be canon unless I decide it fits perfectly in with what is happening. I highly encourage players to write their own RP snippets though, even without the benefit of maybe getting bonuses to rolls . Whenever a roll is required, I will be using a Powered by the Apocalypse-inspired system, though with stats taken from the Mistborn ARPG (as they fit quite well into this). These stats are Physique, Wits, Charm, Resources, Influence and Spirit. I will roll 2d6, and add the relevant statistic and any other bonuses or maluses to the roll. A 10+ is a success, a 7-9 is only a partial success with some drawbacks, and 6 or below is unfortunately a failure. Sometimes these will be modified for difficult tasks, which you will be informed of in advance. Now, there are some immediate decisions that must be made. Firstly, as your High Priest Hera has hinted at, you need a name and two colours. Your colours don’t really matter, but your name will determine how people view you to begin with, and may hint towards some of your character’s personality in-story. For example, let’s say you want to be called Redcross the Healer, and you want Red and White as your colours. You would type the following in your post: 1) What will be the Returned character's name? [X] Redcross the Healer 2) What colours does the Returned character bear? Pick two. [X] White [X] Red Obviously, these two are ones you have free reign on, and the above are just examples :P. Returned have a body based on their own idealised view of themselves. The actual detail of their body will be more-or-less based on your Physique, Charm and Wits, but their general appearance is still something to decide. 3) What appearance does the main character have? [X] Masculine [X] Feminine [X] Androgynous Finally, while your Returned has an unknown past, they will have some bleed in of skills and memories from their previous life. Vote for two of the below in each category; The highest-voted category will get +1, the second will get +0, and the third will get -1. Don't worry too much about your starting stats, as there will be opportunities for you to improve them within the story, and previous actions can also make rolls more (or less) likely to succeed as well. This will give you a spread of stats between +2 and -2, averaging 0. 4) What kind of person were they before? [X] Martially Inclined (Physique, Resources) [X] Socially Inclined (Charm, Influence) [X] Mentally Inclined (Wits, Spirit) 5) What kind of company did they prefer? [X] Workers and Tradesmen (Physique, Wits) [X] High Society (Resources, Influence) [X] Thieves and Rogues (Charm, Spirit) You will begin with 5th Heightening, granted by a Returned Breath. Using this Breath will kill your character – but perhaps that is how the story goes. So, that is the start, and the rules. I hope people are interested in this and where it will go. You don't need to 'register' for this or anything, but I'd be very happy to see people in the thread, discussing events or the options available to you. Don't hesitate to debate with other players, or ask any questions you might have of anything. Let me know your thoughts, hopes and dreams - I swear I'm a merciful GM, as most people from the SE section will tell you! Well, at least I'm honest about things when asked, and don't go out of my way to mess with things. So don't let that put you off! This is an experiment as much as a story. Much like the Heirs game I ran, it's a very different thing to what usually happens on the forum, and I hope it inspires others to join in, or maybe consider their own. Who knows, maybe we'll have a subforum for these too . But we're getting ahead of ourselves. For now, I hope you enjoy Chromaticity.

The character 'Ardyn' doesn't make an appearance, but it's clear that (and spoilers for Shadowbringers ahead, and I guess FFXV) It's not a transplant, just very similar character concepts.

Really enjoying the new expansion so far. It's wonderfully bleak and minimalist at times, but it's such a perfect Final Fantasy story in many ways, whereas Heavensward and Stormblood felt more like generic fantasy. Does feel a tad like they want to get their money's worth out of Ardyn's character/design though!

No, only 12 and Tactics (and another thing I can't recall) are Ivalice. 14 is set on a different universe. However, 14 takes a huge amount of inspiration from Ivalice's world: The Ascians are named after the Scions of Light from FFXII (mentioned in the Esper bios)/the summoners of the Espers in Tactics. The Ascians also seem to be heavily influenced by the Occuria of FFXII. The level 70 Raids introduced in Stormblood bring the events of Tactics to FFXIV as history you investigate, along with Tactics/FFXII characters being present (though quite different). Within the above Raid, many of the Espers are boss fights. Shadowbringers will introduce Viera as a playable character race for female characters. I'm not currently playing (will get back into it when Shadowbringers drops or when friends start playing it again), but I mostly play a Red Mage right now, though previously I was a Summoner. I like levelling up the other classes too, as it's a change of pace and it's nice to have everything available on a single character.

They quite literally caused an apocalypse in-game, written into the story, because it was so bad in its original form :P. Seriously - They wrote in a 'meteor' slamming into the planet and then a 5 year timeskip, while they brought the servers down and redesigned it entirely (amusingly, seems to be the only video not put above - Look up 'Answers' for how the original incarnation of FFXIV ended). The only real thing remaining from the original game is that there are a few 1H Thaumaturgist weapons, and that classes exist and you don't immediately begin as jobs.

I play FFXIV (on Phoenix server, if anyone's interested) now and again, and I feel it's probably the best MMO for casual, late-comer use, as it's almost grindless if you're a few months behind the current main quest. The heavy focus on story is good too, and I like the cosmological turn Shadowbringers seems to be taking

Hey, remember that he turned down their money for Children of the Nameless so it would be available for free. He's such a fanboy ...But yeah, more SA4 for now

As far as I am aware, Weisman is not an MtG fan, and hasn't immersed himself in the story or lore to the degree that the fans will have. He'll have been provided with an overview and specifics about each character, and all the information he requested, as we saw with Sanderson and his novella, but you kind of need to know the right questions to ask in the first place. This, coupled with the sheer number of characters that were required to make cameos, meant you'd never get anything more than a shallow examination of everyone. It'd be fine in a TV show or movie, because you can cram so much, much more in frames of film than in the written word. A cameo of Davriel in full costume could be a small bonus in the background of a scene, a quick bit of fanservice in a film, but needs to take up space to explain in a book. I think that's a big part of the issue, as Weisman is a screenwriter, not a book writer. so he probably approached it how he's used to writing things, when it needed a different approach. But really, the book just serves too many masters. It's the payoff for over a decade of plotting by Bolas for enfranchised players, with many call-backs to fan-favourites, but also you have Teyo and Rat giving the new person 'everyman' PoV and exposition. Rat knowing everything about everything in particular is contrived, even more than Magic's storyline usually is. The idea for her character is pretty unique, and would be very strong as a main character in a standalone story, but packaged with her role in the book it just feels 'too special'. I think that WAR as a set is a lot, lot better at telling the story than the book, because it's clear and concise and has a definite purpose. It's also not helped either that the prequel was delayed (it's mad they gave it to another author, in my opinion, and reminds me of the worst parts of Storm and Rath), essentially meaning you have part 2 of the trilogy but not the first book in the series. It's obvious to say this, but they should've treated it as a story for long-time fans, rather than treating it as marketing material for new players. But then, I've read the Ravnica series, Urza's books, and reread Time Spiral lately, and while some are good, ultimately it was never anything more than pulp fantasy/sci-fi. You were never going to get great stories, and while certain snippets of the Uncharted Realms stories were very good (Ixalan as a whole and the Yahenni stories in KLD in particular), it's never been fantastic. It's a story written by committee, which always causes problems. Ultimately, I feel that's the issue - It's not 'one person's creative vision' like Children of the Nameless, where Sanderson had almost total creative control over his story and characters and knew the world off-by-heart, but an exercise in marketing to write a book that hits specific plot points and includes specific characters and explains specific concepts to new readers, by an author who probably doesn't know enough about the game and its world to take anything more than a shallow cut. Don't get me wrong though - I certainly couldn't have done better, I'm not good at longform writing (despite the praise my Sanderson Elimination writeups have gotten :P), but one would hope that someone paid to do it would do better, at least. It's just a disappointment of a novel, more than anything, and the most damning thing I can say about it is that it's mediocre, and won't stick in peoples' minds for good or bad. It's just a very forgettable experience.

I've had some fun playing him in my oldest deck, a Rakdos discard deck - He pairs really well with Lavaborn Muse, Hellfire Mongrel, Asylum Visitor, and even potentially Hollowborn Bargest as a curve-topper. His discard effect is nice to force opponents down to the range where the above cards work, and the fact you can spread it over several turns works really nicely as a surgical strike, rather than something like Mind Rot which is a one-and-done deal. His static ability helps a lot too, as he doubles as both an enabler and a win condition. Sadly not, there's a good number of reasons that say otherwise: I can't see that they wouldn't just call her Tacenda, as there's no 'mystery' as to who Tacenda is. The Wanderer hides her identity, but Tacenda has no reason to. Brandon also only got the go-ahead to create one Planeswalker for the book, and while they might upgrade Tacenda to be a Planeswalker, as far as canon is concerned, she isn't one right now until we hear otherwise. She's 'just' got a Worldsoul inside her, which lets her move between Planes. Similar to, but not the same as, a Planeswalker. As such, she doesn't have a Spark, just an unusual ability to travel between worlds. The Wanderer is a powerful warrior, noted to be one of the best in the multiverse, but Tacenda isn't, she's a Bard-like character primarily. She's monowhite, or at least more White than any other colour, and Tacenda is mostly Red (song magic is emotion). She uses kinetic energy (requiring being hit to have power) as her magic, which Tacenda doesn't. She's apparently known to Sarkhan Vol, though we have no reason as to why. Tacenda hasn't really been around long enough to be known to him, and Sarkhan's been in his personal heaven of Dragon!Tarkir since before SoI. Finally, The Wanderer's style of dress doesn't fit Innistrad, seeming more Asian than Teutonic. Perhaps she's Tarkiri herself? Her hair is also white, while Tacenda's is brown. So, overall, the evidence is pretty conclusive that The Wanderer is a new character, and isn't Tacenda (and definitely isn't Emrakul!). I think it will be a while (if ever) before we see Tacenda again in Magic's plot, though perhaps they'll delve into Worldsouls as a concept more, as Davriel's meant to become a more important character in the future. I think Davriel and The Wanderer teaming up is mostly just because they appeared next to each other, Davriel saw she's a good fighter so doesn't have to do much himself, or perhaps they just know each other, as Davriel's been around a lot and The Wanderer has no choice but to travel as well.

For those who don't know, we've now had Davriel spoiled, Sanderson's canonical Planeswalker creation from his free novella Children of the Nameless. https://scryfall.com/card/war/83/davriel-rogue-shadowmage https://scryfall.com/card/war/84/davriels-shadowfugue Note that he's intentionally a weaker card than usual, as he's one of the Planeswalkers at uncommon in a Planeswalker-heavy set, and so should be viewed more akin to an enchantment. He's a nice discard effect, especially with proliferate, and his static effect means that he's a solid clock late in the game anyway and useful when your opponent has no cards for you to discard. Definitely a solid inclusion in any Black limited deck, and potentially in standard or budget 8-rack decks. I'm a little disappointed he wasn't a two-colour Planeswalker at rare, but that's not too surprising when he hasn't been a part of the Nicol Bolas plotline yet. I'd really like to see his full-power card, particularly since he was designed with a view to becoming more important going forwards.

We know they aren't emotionally lovers, because Highwater's contract states that she gets his soul if he ever falls in love with her. It's unlikely they are physically lovers because Davriel probably wants to keep her a little at arms length to prevent that, though it's clear they care quite deeply for one another regardless. Also, we have his first set of cards https://scryfall.com/card/war/83/davriel-rogue-shadowmage https://scryfall.com/card/war/84/davriels-shadowfugue

He's definitely an anti-hero, or at the very least a dark protagonist. I think Secret History makes him a more 'good' character, yes, but the Southern Scadrial events make him feel more like he's become a bad guy, or at least one who thinks himself greater than others. Recall, he took a group of them to the north to make his little set of tests for the Bands, which (along with pretending to be The Lord Ruler/encouraging the deification of himself and other Metalborn) seems like a less than Good idea. I'd also posit that 'Good' characters wouldn't make use of Hemalurgy to evade death for no reason (as opposed to 'for the greater good as they have a purpose'). Considering his whole religion is based on the idea of 'surviving, no matter what', I wonder if in a later era he'll become tangled up with the Shard of Survival. Also, those posts above about the combinations are interesting. Discord is a curious Shard concept, but I don't feel that's a 'unique' combination, as anything with opposing elements could really give that. I'd possibly say that 'Ruin' in and of itself is the same as 'Discord', though I suppose Ruin feels more like the force of entropy than actual chaos. But this is very much off-topic for the game, despite the fact that it's interesting .

Thank you, I'm glad you enjoyed reading it . The lack of interesting ways to write deaths is kind of true. After a while, you run out of new ways to kill people or write about it differently, and it starts to feel samey, which is why I like to experiment with how I report them. There wasn't any real RP going on during the game, which meant that it was hard to figure out what the characters were like beyond the name. This meant it was hard to write thematically appropriate deaths, so while I referenced the names in the styles of their death (Ookla of Squids dying from water poisoning, for example), I didn't go deep into the actual situation leading to their death. But, as a newspaper reporting on a death wouldn't contain many of the actual details of the event anyway, this was a problem that was already avoided before it happened . At the risk of derailing the conversation from the game to philosophy, you raise a good point with regards to D&D Alignments. They are very reductive, to be sure, and the problem is that sometimes they're based on personal beliefs and others they're based on global or spiritual beliefs (such as the gods of the setting dictating what Good and Evil are). A nice example of this is in 2nd Edition D&D, where Samurai were considered 'Lawful Evil', because their code of honour, the bushido, was so different from a Western society's view of good and evil. Samurai were respected in their society, while they would not have been thought of so kindly elsewhere. I've always considered alignments as useful shortcuts for that reason, rather than specifics. 'Good' and 'Evil' are relative, after all - The Lord Ruler considered himself 'Good', I'm sure, undertaking many necessary 'Evil' acts for the sake of preserving Scadrial and saving it from an all-destructive force. But the people who suffered under his rule certainly wouldn't agree with this. A better alignment system might be a set of scales of aggressiveness and selfishness, but that's a discussion for another day. The question of whether or not Kelsier is Chaotic Evil depends I suppose on how you judge him. I think all of us would agree that Kelsier was a tragic figure in The Final Empire, who was willing to give his life up for a greater cause. But the question is really whether it was revenge or freedom that he pursued. A lot of 'Chaotic' players in D&D think that it means 'selfish, uncaring about others', but I disagree with that. I feel that selfishness is more 'Evil' than 'Chaotic'. 'Chaotic' to me is more about personal and global freedoms, about not respecting law and tradition for their own sake, but finding a way to live regardless of outside influences. I think Kelsier's pretty obviously Chaotic, as he not only works outside the law, but fights against the 'natural' order and seeks to break down society. I feel he's a selfish character, which I would place as Evil, due to his appearance in AoL. Perhaps he became it later, but I think his background as someone who refused to become involved with the Skaa Rebellion until he was personally affected points to him more as someone who doesn't think about people outside of his immediate circle. This is why I think that he was someone warped by grief and rage, who wanted revenge, but who was able to focus that emotion to something positive, whether deliberately or not. There's a degree of martyrdom, to be sure, but I'd say it's more because he was the sort of person to go to any lengths to achieve his objective. He uses the Skaa Rebellion the same way, for example. He's ruthless, and doesn't care about the cost, even to himself. One might potentially argue that guilt makes him want to be self-sacrificing, as he feels responsible for Mare's death at points, but his ego makes him want his death to have 'meaning'. If Vin was chosen of Preservation, I believe Kelsier was of Ruin (and we still don't know why he suddenly snapped in the Pits, do we...?). But it's important to remember that Preservation and Ruin aren't good or evil in themselves, despite Ruin's appearances in TFE. In isolation, the former leads to stagnation and stasis, in many ways exactly what The Final Empire was intended to be. Ruin alone leads to unbridled chaos, destruction for its own sake, the release of energy, and ultimately the dwindling down of the universe from entropic decay. Together, though, they become 'Harmony', a force that can push and pull, but keeps itself in check. I think perhaps a different way the combination could be expressed is 'Creation', the chaos of life that sometimes works against itself, but ultimately strides forward (I wonder if the same two Shards can combine differently to give different Intents?). Preservation keeps what works as it is, while Ruin allows new things to exist, almost like a Shardic form of evolution. Preservation and Ruin can be seen as Good and Evil from an anthropological perspective, but only because humanity already exists, and thus wants to be preserved. Other species that do not exist might see Ruin as Good, and Preservation and the status quo as evil . More generally though, the concept of 'dualistic' gods or forces exists in a lot of religions, where both are necessary and above concepts such as 'Good' and 'Evil'. The most famous example of equal-but-opposite is probably the principle of Yin and Yang in Taoism, Confucianism and more general Chinese philosophy. The two are opposed and neither is dominant over the other, but to a Western point of view, one appears to be 'light' or positive, and the other 'dark' or negative. Both of them are required for balance/Harmony, however, with an imbalance with either being dominant being spiritually linked to disasters. It think it would be very interesting to see an alternative Scadrial, where Ruin put more of themselves into humanity rather than Preservation, and Preservation was the antagonistic Shard instead.

From my perspective, if I was a player, the issue is moving towards being harder to read, which never actually helps the players on either side. If you're a Village, you should be appearing Village so you can help contribute, and the best way to appear Village is to make good contributions that help the Village. There's an exception at times, of course, but this is broadly true. If you're an Eliminator, you should still be appearing as Village, and the best way to appear as Village etc etc. Being unreadable really doesn't help anyone, even yourself, and you should almost always appear as Village as possible. So it's not that change is unacceptable, but that the direction of your change was. The Village would never have sad anything bad about you changing if you'd said 'I'm going to be more transparent and helpful this game' instead, unless of course you actually weren't living up to that. Was I wrong?

Xino the Smoker, Shqueeves 'Ookla that Watches' being 'definitely a Tineye' but actually another watching Role, the Seeker, Severance Greed the coinshot... There were a few amusing ones .