[Play-By-Post] What Lurks Beneath The Waves OOC Thread

[NickLance]

This would be a short-medium length campaign focusing on 1 major villain and the characters would have a climatic showdown in order to focus this campaign. Otherwise the direction is pretty free-form.

Setting - Creation (lol)
Location - Dreaming Sea region
Type of Game - Action Adventure, Exploration, World-Building
Starting Location - Non-canon town along the southern cliff coast of the Dreaming Sea called Haven.

The Town of Haven (Population 4,000. Roughly 5 Dragon-Blooded)

Haven is the closest major population settlement to the Bordermarches by a month's journey, sitting on the cliff facing the Dreaming Sea. The most interesting landmark this town can boast is that it sits at the foot of a crystalline spire about a mile wide in diameter and raises about 6 miles high before ending in jagged edges, as if the spire could have gone up higher had it not been snapped off somehow.

Because of its proximity to the Wyld, the townspeople had to rely on still-working crane mechanisms lining along the cliff's edge to move people and goods down to the beach where a harbor is built for fishery. Agriculture is not successful enough around the lands as such the town is highly dependent on naval trade. This town specializes in a variety of very tasty seafood, and the harvesting of muscles, pearls and processing mother-of-pearl products that allows this town to thrive comfortably.

This town faces harassment from Fair Folk raiders who would attack the harbor but oddly never attempted to use the crane mechanisms to go up the cliff and attack the main settlement, nor has the town faced Fair Folk presence within a mile boundary from the spire. To minimize the threat of Fair Folk pirates, Haven has used much of its wealth to maintain a powerful local militia with contracted security companies to regularly patrol the waters around the harbor and fight off any mortal or fae pirates.

Haven is governed by a three individuals of roughly equal influence and political power, a local voted into office as the Mayor, the Commander of the militia and a representative of the Merchant's Guild. This town has seen semi-regular visits by the Realm's travelling Dragon-Blooded, particularly those of more scholastic bent interested in the spire, as well as Immaculate monks who drop by once a year to see to the "spiritual well-being of this remote settlement." as well as convince the local Dragon-Blooded to move to the Realm.

Players:
Silent Witness (Paxrae the Storm Crow), CapitanTypo (Mirrin, the Voice of Dust and Shadows), Aranfan (Hope's Last Gasp)

Extra Rules:
Character creation - as per EX3 rules, you guys are fresh exalts, no more than 6 months to a year after Exalting.
2 extra free charms
1 extra free Specialty
2 extra bonus points

You can have starting artifacts from the EX3 core book, if you are taking anything custom clear with me via PM first, Silent Witness your artifact ship will be a plot device instead, that should free you up some points, but if you have any stats or something regarding the ship PM me please.

Special Stunt Rules:
Because it does not make sense to wait for me to post the stunt bonus before the players make the rolls, I will roll the stunt bonus myself at my discretion and then reflect the results in totality. If the stunt is 2 or 3, I will also mention the recovery of temporary willpower points at my response posts.

[Aranfan]

In the Far East, in the territory near the shadowland known as the Noss Fens, there are a number of villages where the native tongue is not Forest-Tounge but rather Old Realm. This is not because they have somehow kept that ancient tongue intact, rather it is because the Dowager of the Irreverent Vulgate in Unrent Veils teaches Old Realm to them every generation and harshly punishes any deviation from what she deems correct. Hope's Last Gasp is from one of those villages, and she is thusly one of the Dowager's “children”.

Her early life was pleasant enough, she had both parents as well as an older brother and an identical twin sister. She learned her chores and enjoyed herself as most children do.

Then the Dowager came. The entire village was captured, and the Dowager made the children watch as their parents and older loved ones were turned into soulsteel trinkets. Then they were forced to give up their names to the neverborn. Thus did Rose become Hope's Last Gasp.

Yet where there is life, there is hope, and Hope's Last Gasp can last for a very long time indeed. She learned and refined the art of not being heard, and not being seen. She memorized the location of her family's souls and the patrol routes of the guards. And then finally, she felt herself ready, and she snuck herself, her sister, and the cutlery that was her family's remains out of the Dowager's citadel.

She would have gotten away cleanly too, if she hadn't exalted at the tail end of her escape. In the ensuing chaos, she got away, but her sister died to the arrows of the guards. She found herself guided by past life memories and intuition to a safe house, and cried herself to sleep.
In the morning she saw a number of artifacts within the safehouse. Armor that could easily be concealed beneath clothing. A hearthstone to go with the natural demense that was the safehouse. Rations for a month and a set of exceptionally crafted lockpicks. So equiped, she resolved to find her sister's remains and give them a proper burial.

Instead found her sister had become the Shoat of the Mire. Anguished, she ran away, first just to get away, but eventually she changed her purpose to finding someone who could help her get her sister away from the Dowager. Her first companion was a cat that basically adopted her.

The next year was spent wandering in search of someone who could aid her against the Dowager. Now, she has emerged from the forest of the far east to civilization. Thus does Hope's Last Gasp's adventure begin in earnest.


Link to character sheet: Here

Mote and willpower pools:

WP: 5/6
Personal Motes: 3/13
Peripheral Motes: ???-3/???

Initiative: 3i

[Silent Witness]

Paxrae, the Storm Crow

Physical Description: Just under six feet tall and lean-muscled, Paxrae's roguish good looks are only faintly weathered by his life at sea. He has shrewd green eyes and keeps his long brown hair tied back. Paxrae carries himself with a casual nobility that belies his common birth, yet lacks any air of superiority.

He dresses in dark silks (more elaborate when on land) and a wide-brimmed black leather hat. His orichalcum and black jade daiklave, Tsunami's Apex is typically worn at his hip, ready to draw should the need arise.



Operating under the aegis of Haven’s militia, Paxrae the Storm Crow is the most successful privateer in the region. Paxrae fled the slums of Palanquin at an early age and rose to prominence among a pirate gang in his youth through a combination of loyalty to his friends, fairness to his foes, and ruthlessness in his pursuit of adventure. Paxrae is both a competent duelist and a shrewd helmsman, earning him a healthy combination of fear and respect on the Dreaming Sea.



It has long been Paxrae‘s hope to curb some of the more despicable behavior common among his fellow pirates and perhaps bend their desires to more fruitful endeavors like exploring the furthest reaches of the Dreaming Sea. One day, Paxrae wishes to return to Palanquin and bring hope and opportunity the disenfranchised masses- whether there or in new lands.


Paxrae earned his Exaltation into the Eclipse Caste during a running sea battle against the Fair Folk swashbuckler Alluring Undertow, who he maneuvered into running aground and then both dueling and bargaining her ship The Spry Mollusk away from her. Paxrae has taken his Choosing to mean that the Dreaming Sea is his unofficial domain and the well-being of all that earn their living upon it is his to protect.

[CapitanTypo]

This is a repost of my char background and sheet. Haven't yet modified it yet, though I'm thinking of using extra charms for sorcery and a summoning spell.

Background

In the heart of Nexus there are Wyld pockets that leech into creation. Only the poorest of the poor live near them and then through desperation rather than choice. Mirrin's mother was one of those desperate few who managed to survive there without falling prey to mutations or getting caught by a frenzied mob. Mirrin, her only child, wasn't so lucky. Whether Mirrin's father was wyld touched or Mirrin's mother just spent too much of her pregnancy in those depths, the child was born with strange barbed fingers and toes, and a strange arrangement of features that was unnerving to look at too long.

Mirrin's mother kept the mutations a secret for as long as she could, an incredible feat given that her toddler started crawling up walls as easily as standing. When the child was 5 years old, a drunkard saw the scurrying figure scale a building into an abandoned warehouse whether Mirrin's mother had found them a place to rest. The mob that followed was furious, and while Mirrin escaped, the mob took their anger out on the poor woman who had dared to love a mutant.

The child Mirrin wandered the gutters of Nexus for nearly a year, surviving thanks to an unnaturally strong constitution and ability to survive of street scum and putrid water. The mutations proved helpful in snaring the odd meal or coin from local drunks and merchants, but Mirrin learned quickly the hatred the people of Nexus felt towards those with oddities and kept them well hidden.

The, at the age of 6, Mirrin came to the attention of a local god of the city, Faige, the god of dust and shadows, whose domain included the secrets of things lost to the streets of the city. Faige had long since abandoned his assigned duties and now made a fortune through blackmail and extortion. Faige saw promise in the small mutant form the streets, and enlisted him as one of the many 'little spiders' that formed the spirits network of informants and spies.

For many years Mirrin served as a messenger for Faige. The mutations allowing him to move far more freely through the city. Mirrin took pleasure in the freedom of running over rooftops and occupying spaces that were invisible to even the longest residents of the city.

As an adolescent, Mirrin demonstrated an intuitive understanding of spirits and their world. Without formal instruction Mirrin managed to pick up enough Old Realm to converse freely with the old gods of the city - a novelty to many of them. The gods knew that no one would ever expect them to trust their secret business to a mortal, and so Mirrin quickly became the favoured emissary between spiritual entities in Nexus.

It was one of those entities who, as a gift in exchange for service, bestowed upon Mirrin a gift that hid his clawed fingers from sight, and gave him the pleasant countenance of youthful health. Suddenly Mirrin's realm of operation expanded and was nearly limitless. The child moved between the mortal and the spirit realm freely, and was known widely among the Nexus underworld as the emissary between humans and gods.

Exaltation came with a blinding realisation and sense of betrayal. Carrying a message that was encrypted in an odd dialect that Mirrin did not know, the recipient turned out to be the priest of a demon cult who was arranging the purchase of lost street children to be used in summoning rituals and as playthings for demons. Mirrin stalked in the rafters of a riverside store and witnessed the summoning ritual, but the sight of blood spilled was so unnerving that Mirrin let out a gasp and was pursued by the blood soaked demon. In a subtle corona of light, Mirrins feet flew faster and landed surer than ever before, and when the demon drew close, Mirrin felt essence guiding every move to dove, weave, leap and flee.

Upon returning to Faige's hideout, Mirrin realised the spirits role in the traffic of children and was struck by the reality of a fate narrowly avoided for the young mutant form the gutters.

With essence coursing through every part of Mirrins body and soul, Mirrin called out Faige and demanded an explanation. The spirit, sly as ever, tried to cajole and soothe, and in an effort to regain Mirrin's confidence, promised that such business would forever be in the past. Mirrin called on the truth of creation and bound Faige to its word. The spirit, enraged at what had happened, lashed out in fury but Mirrin's essence-fuelled blows soon rendered the spirit weak, and allowed Mirrin to flee into the night.

Leaving Nexus behind, Mirrin fled out into the Scavenger lands to seek out greater truth and understanding of this power that filled every limb.

Portrait

Character Sheet

Name: Mirrin, the Voice of Dust and Shadows
Caste: Eclipse
Concept: Emmissary between spirits and mortals
Supernal Ability: Occult

Join Battle:7
Evasion/Parry:4
Soak/Hardness:3/0

=============ATTRIBUTES=============
Physical:
Strength 3
Dexterity 5
Stamina 3

Social:
Charisma 4
Manipulation 3
Appearance 2

Mental:
Perception 3
Intelligence 2
Wits 3


=============ABILITIES=============
Dawn: Archery 0,Brawl 3,Melee 0,Thrown 0,War 0
Zenith: Integrity 0,Performance 0,*Presence 3,Resistance 0,*Survival 3
Twilight: Craft 0,Investigation 0,Lore 0,Medicine 0,*Occult 4
Night: *Athletics 5,*Awareness 4,*Dodge 4,*Larceny 3,*Stealth 3
Eclipse: Bureaucracy 0,*Linguistics 1,Ride 0,Sail 0,*Socialize 2
Specializations:
Athletics - elevated terrain (e.g. Climbing walls, on rooftops/treetops)
Presence - dealing with spirits
Socialise - Dealing with Spirits
Dodge - Acrobatics
Occult - The Spirit World

Willpower: 5
Essence: 1

Charms:
Athletics:
Graceful Crane Stance
Lightning Speed
Monkey-Leap Technique
Foe-Vaulting Method

Brawl
Fists of Iron Technique

Dodge
Reed in the Wind
Reflex Sidestep Technique
Leaping Dodge Method

Occult
Spirit Detecting Glance
Uncanny Perception Technique
Keen Unnatural Eye
Spirit Cutting Attack
Ghost Eating Technique
Terrestrial Circle Sorcery - shaping ritual, scarred by dreams

Spells:
Summon Elemental
Cirrus Skiff
Infallible Messenger (control spell)

Merits:
Danger Sense - 3
Direction Sense - 1
Subtlety (wall walking) - 2
Iron Stomach - 1
Wall Walking - 4
Language (Old Realm) - 1
Child of Madness - 4

Intimacies:
Defining Principle - Hatred of Spirits abusing mortals
Major Tie - A love of running free and exploring new places
Minor Principle - A belief in the power of diplomacy

Possessions: Very little, at 0 resources Mirrin owns little more than a simple knife, a couple of changes of drab clothes, and rarely has more than a few bits of tin to spend.

Join Battle: 7
Guile: 3 (4 against spirits)
Resolve: 2
Evasion: 4
Soak: 3
Hardness: 0

[NickLance]

Hey Typo, you gotta pick 5 Caste Abilities, 5 Favored Abilities. Your Supernal should be from one of your 5 Caste Abilities.

It seems that your abilities were spread as a Night caste instead of Eclipse. Did you make an error?

[CapitanTypo]

Hey Typo, you gotta pick 5 Caste Abilities, 5 Favored Abilities. Your Supernal should be from one of your 5 Caste Abilities.

It seems that your abilities were spread as a Night caste instead of Eclipse. Did you make an error?

From page 147:

Caste Abilities: An Eclipse is as at home in the court as he is in the wilds, prepared to speak with men and spirits alike as he blazes new trails. Members of this Caste show talent for Bureaucracy, Larceny, Linguistics, Occult, Pres- ence, Ride, Sail, and Socialize.

The character concept is very much a blend of night and eclipse, but ultimately favouring eclipse. The night caste abilities and charms represent the character's background and areas of familiarity, the eclipse abilities represent a new phase of life and area of greatest potential.

[NickLance]

No worries Capitan, I made an error reading your sheet, my bad.
Witness, just a suggestion to grab Backing 2 if you want to be attached to Haven's navy force, or you can go merc and not take Backing at all and get paid as and when you take assignments from Haven.

Overall everything looks fine. IC thread will be up in a couple of hours.

[CapitanTypo]

Great. Thanks.

[Silent Witness]

I'm going to take Backing, I'll update my sheet accordingly by this evening.

[NickLance]

Aranfan and Silent Witness, do help me out and paste your character history/background onto your character sheet post too.

[Aranfan]

I have edited the background into the post. I'll need to tweek it a bit, that the various artifacts she has were in the safe house she was guided too. Maybe clarify that Hope is the Shoat of the Mire's identical twin, but that can wait until I have time. This will be an adequate stopgap.

[Silent Witness]

Character sheet updated to reflect Backing (I knew I'd miss something, thanks for the catch) and Background added to post.

[CapitanTypo]

I've amended my char sheet above, I've opted to just go for the 'scarred by nightmares' shaping ritual that provides sorcerous motes in place of willpower, and given Mirrins background, I felt the 'child of madness' merit was appropriate.

[NickLance]

I'm going to start the IC thread very soon. I will put Mirrin and Hope on the same ship towards Haven (since nothing in the background story suggests having ever stayed in Haven yet) and arrange for Paxrae to meet you guys.

[Aranfan]

NickLance

Hope's Last Gasp doesn't have a sifu. Note the lack of mentor rating. Apologies for the confusion, I still need to edit the backstory.

Edit: I'm also going to sleep soon.