Fantasy ┌ spellsword ┘Characters

Sir Les Paul · Jul 10, 2024

Spellsword Sheets

Rules & Guidelines

Hard Rules
1. Please note when something is a work in progress or otherwise under active revision in a clearly visible way.
2. Final sheets may be submit in any coding format you prefer as long as they possess the necessary information.
3. Do not write your sheet in the form of an interview or from the first person perspective.
4. There are no secrets kept from the GM. (Some people like this vibe; I have never found it worth the effort of allowing.)

General Guidelines

1. The preferred art styles range from anime-esque to general animated fantasy. Hyperrealistic or celebrity face claims are not ideal, nor is chibi or the overly rounded animation style of some young adult cartoons.

2. There is no preference or standard for highly-coded sheets or posts. While I do like the appeal of pretty, standardized coding, I do not believe it should be a barrier for entry or a factor any one player weighs as a consideration before joining. With that said, I will convert your basic information to my provided sheet or a similar one at request.

3. The ability to compromise is highly valued here. I am all for players taking an active role in world-building, but any and all additions or edits to the setting will require GM approval. This includes retroactive changes to added content, i.e., no sneaking things in. I am more than happy and in fact elated to work with you to build something mutually agreeable, but it needs to make sense and be reasonable.

4. Just ask the question when you have it. If questions are asked often enough, I'll create a FAQ's, so what you may think is a stupid question may end up helping someone else in your shoes later.

Character Skeleton

Code:

[b]Name[/b]
[b]Age[/b]
[b]Gender[/b]
[b]Level[/b]
[b]Race[/b]
[b]Job/Role/Class[/b]
[b]Faction[/b]
[b]Weight[/b]

[b]Appearance[/b]
[img][/img]

[b]Personality[/b]

[b]Skills & Proficiencies[/b]

[u]Skill 〡 Rating ★[/u]
Description

[b]TAME STATS[/b]
Toughness | 
Agility |
Might |
Endurance |

[b]WILD STATS[/b]
Willpower | 
Intuition |
Lability |
Dominion |

[b]Abilities[/b]

[u]Spell Slots[/u]

[b]Equipment[/b]

[b]Background & History[/b]

[b]Theme & Notes[/b]

[b]Miscellaneous[/b]

Note: This code will break if used in the default code editor. Please use the BB code editor.

Code:

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[IMG]reference picture[/IMG]
[b]Weight[/b][/CENTER]
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[size=3]XX[/size][/font][/color][/center][/bg][/border]

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[u][b]Skill[/b] 〡 Rating ★[/u]
Description 

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[/div][/div][/bg][/border][/column][column=span1][border=double 4px #262626][bg=#262626][center][color=#fdf9f3][font=Bodoni Moda SC][size=3][b][u]WILD STATS[/u][/b][/size][/font][/color][/center]

[border=double 4px #fdf9f3][bg=#fdf9f3][center][color=black][font=Bodoni Moda SC][size=2][b]Willpower[/b][/size]
[size=3]XX[/size][/font][/color][/center][/bg][/border]

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[u]Spell Slots[/u]

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Character Name

Gender

Age

Level

Race

Job/Role/Class

Faction

APPEARANCE

Weight

‎

Personality

TAME STATS

Toughness
XX

Agility
XX

Might
XX

Endurance
XX

Skills & Proficiencies

Skill 〡 Rating ★
Description

WILD STATS

Willpower
XX

Intuition
XX

Lability
XX

Dominion
XX

Abilities

Spell Slots

Equipment

Background & History

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

Character Creation

Step #0 More of a reminder, but it may be a good idea to at least skim these steps once through before you begin.

Step #1 Select your name, gender, and age. These are willingly provided to the Dungeon Guild upon registry and they will blindly accept what is provided. Assume aging works as it does on Earth.

Step #2 List your level, race, class, and faction. All characters (for now) will start at level one. You may lie about your name, but you're probably not going to be able to lie about your race. There are half-elves (mostly half-human, half-elf) and various mixes of Demi-Humans, Dwarves, and so on. If your appearance leans heavily towards human or another race, you may be able to slide by the discerning eye of the Guild when registering. The Job/Role/Class selection is more aimed at explaining your role in a group, not necessarily your preferred title. For example, a Priest of Espel may select Healer as their role instead of Priest. Most magic-users, Wizards, Sorcerers, and even Bards or Warlocks, are likely just going to list "Mage" in the field. However, it is common to list a more detailed version of your role after it, thus it may be Healer-Priest or Mage-Warlock. Everyone is going to start in the Dungeon Guild faction unless their background dictates some weird exception.

Step #3 Use an image for your appearance, preferably, though you may also write it. List your personality and potentially even some traits. These are malleable options. The game will not require 3 strengths and 3 weaknesses as some do. It will require, however, you actively avoid a blank slate Gary/Mary Sue or the edgelord that refuses to talk to anyone. I'm not for those.

Note: Stats are covered in step 10.

Step #4 For game purposes, we will be listing all skills here, even if they're less than ethical. Skills may include but are not limited to: Sleight of Hand, Stealth, Horsemanship, First Aid, Cooking, any talent with a musical instrument, Dance, Cartography, Lock-picking, and Pickpocketing. Some skills will be broken down into sub-types; for example, Survival, will be broken down into terrains, such as desert, subterranean, Dungeon, or arctic. Similarly, Nature would be broken down into what specific 'aspect' of nature, such as fungi, fish, insects, etc. Animal Handling will similarly be broken into less-specific subsets: handling a horse well does not mean you can calm a bear or massive spider. Skills with a specific arm (like a sword) and fighting styles may be listed, but they will not be so broad as to bleed over into other weapons or skills - especially at higher skill levels. That is not to say warrior-archetype characters may not be decent with most weapons, just that their specialty will be noted and important.

In comparison to Dungeons and Dragons, there will be two major changes to skills. Those are how we deal with Intelligence-based and Wisdom-based skills. Intelligence skills generally revolved around "recalling lore" about certain topics. In short, just "should my character know this?" These types of checks will not be used or represented as skills. As there is no roll for a skill-check, whether or not a character knows something will come down to a GM judgement call or perhaps even be provided ahead of time. Similarly, skills such as Perception and Insight will be GM judgement calls and characters may attempt to investigate something in which another judgement call will be made if they find out anything more.

Skills in general are graded on a star system with one being novice proficiency (so better than nothing) and five being absolute mastery. Most Twice-Blessed are gifted with a three-star Skill, of which is completely random. It may be borderline useless, it may be character-defining. It is also not "stuck" at three-star, only that it reaches that skill level quickly, generally in adolescence. A three-star ranking is intended to reflect the skill of someone with either decade of skill-intensive practice at something or a skill level so high they could effectively make it a life-long career. For example, a three-star in First Aid and/or Medicine could easily work as a town physician. Twice-Blessed may lack experience with these skills, they are often naturally good at them, especially those involving dexterity. They may also possess two-star rankings in adjacent skills.

When writing these on a sheet, understand that a one-star rating is a respectable skill level capable of getting a task done. It is common to accumulate these over time simply by surviving. The two-star rating is what I consider someone who is well-trained or practiced in a skill, falling somewhere between using it regularly and being a hobbyist. With cooking, for example, a one-star would be an individual that could create a soup or stew without overcooking it, burning it, or killing anyone. A two-star would have a general idea of what vegetables would go with what meats, how to cook those meats to be soft and delicate, and what herbs to use so that it is more palatable. Three-star and above could easily be cooking a stew worth selling in a tavern. Precisely how a character uses their skill should follow under the star rating.

Note: This is the longest step entry because people default to listing skills as they would in DnD. DnD skills cannot just be listed 1:1 in Spellsword.

Step #5 List your Abilities. Physical and/or Martial Abilities are often called Techniques. A monk, Samurai, or really a warrior of any kind will likely have physical techniques that help differentiate their fighting style. Essentially, if you intend on playing a more hybrid class, you will likely have techniques in addition to the Unleash Spell to make it unique and more physically focused. Spells will also count as Abilities. Essentially, if it is not a passive and/or needs to be "toggled on", it is probably worth making into into an Ability or at least asking about. At level one, the rough power level I want to give players roughly equates to two first level spell slots and two Cantrips for martial characters and three first level Spell Slots, three Cantrips, and the choice of either a Favored Spell being a Cantrip or a second-level Spell Slot. These are soft limits entirely dependent on character design and class choice, but that is the rough idea of what I want to provide this early.

Step #6 The Equipment tab doesn't necessarily require you list every single piece of gear you have in excruciating detail. Heirlooms, items of high value, or magical items are mostly what I am aiming for. You may also use reference pictures for the "style" of your armor or weapons, but they likely won't immediately be named equipment. You may also list miscellaneous gear kept on your person as most do on a character sheet, but if it's within reason, I probably won't harp on you for having something in your backpack not listed. What I will harp on, though, is if you've thrown your tenth knife without recovering one. Where tf do they come from?

Step #7 Create your Background and History. These are somewhat synonymous, sure, so you don't necessarily need to create both. In my eyes, a Background is the condensed version of a history meant to give the important bits without the specifics. A background is to set atmosphere and do so quickly. The full history is required, though. These characters are intended to be around eighteen years of age or older which is when one may apply to become a Dungeoneer, and should be level one. Ardynport bounced back from the War of Warm Waters and saw the emergence of a Dungeon, so depending on your angle, there is plenty to draw from locally. The characters are all intended to be Twice-Blessed (and thus Spellswords as well) and it is highly suggested that you don't deviate from this, as doing so would be a large nerf to any character with virtually no upside.

Step #8 Themes (including music), Notes, and Miscellaneous is the catch-all for anything not listed on the sheet. Do with them as you will.

Step #9 It is suggested that you go into character creation with a general idea of what class archetype you want and what mechanics you are after, if any. The magic system(s) are designed to accommodate a large variety of themes, class fantasies, and game mechanics, though they may require a little GM spice to work smoothly. The system is designed so that a user of it can go in with a rough idea and polish it with world-building and systems to make most typical fantasy things work, and be balanced with each other. One might think this should be listed as the first step, but it has been saved until the second-to-last to reward those that followed the unofficial step zero. The final step, however, almost requires a clear idea of your class fantasy to make work.

Step #10 List your stats. What are stats? How do they work? How are they measured? All good questions that I'll answer here because there is just no other good place to do so. There are types of stats in the game: TAME stats and WILD stats. TAME stats are your core physical traits, WILD stats are the core magical traits. TAME stats are measured in the Dungeon Guild via a device that sends a magical current through your body to assess it and assign it a standardized value. These can be quite exhausting and even dangerous for those of frail composition. The device itself appears much like a large cargo scale and has two brass spheres an individual must hold. The process is often called "riding the bull" and is unironically much more intense than the one for WILD Stats. A Dungeon Guild or Magical Emporium may measure these stats and it is mostly a lengthy, boring task of sitting still after consuming a mild-altering drug and remain in contact with a crystal ball. Charts for the stats will be listed below:

{T}oughness The measure of how much physical force a body can endure before it begins to receive major wounds. A value of ten represents being able to remain conscious after receiving a direct strike from an individual of approximately the same weight and a Might Value of twelve. Every point in toughness afterwards represents being able to withstand a strike from a similar individual with one greater Might. This stat more broadly represents the overall ability of the body to endure damage and it may vary depending on the type and location.

{A}gility The measure of how quickly the body can move and react. A value of ten represents running an eight minute mile and average human reaction times. Every point afterward represents shaving off twenty seconds from that run-time and a cumulative increase in reaction times of roughly fifteen percent.

{M}ight The measure of how much physical force a body can exert. A value of ten would represent an individual capable of lifting their body weight. Each point afterward increases this value by roughly fifteen percent. This measure is always taken without enhancement by Magical, Mystical, or Spiritual means.

{E}ndurance The measure of how much effort an individual can continuously exert before requiring rest. A value of ten represents the effort an individual would require to run a marathon (26.3 miles) at their average run speed as dictated by their Agility. A value any higher than ten represents effort equating to roughly an additional thirty minutes of running at that speed (note the average healthy adult male can run a marathon in 4.5 hours). Similar to toughness, the type of effort expended may vary based on activity, training, and expertise. Endurance is meant to represent the general ability, not a specific niche.

In general with TAME stats, a value of ten represents a fit, but average human adult. Values go up by either general percent ranges or a flat amount depending on the means of measuring. However, whether it is the strength of a person through Might or their running speed, there is generally an easy way to come up with a comparable value for both. And, in this world, it is still possible to vary greatly between those numbers via training and effort without the use of magic or any other enhancement. Additionally, some races may naturally have a higher stat. For example, the Might of a Dwarf will by far exceed a Human as they can often lift twice their body weight, thus giving them an average Might of 16. The idea is that we keep the feeling of a condensed stat system that DnD has. An ASI in DnD can open the game wide open in some instances. Similarly, if something abruptly (or even permanently) increased the stats of a character here, I would want it to feel impactful. This is doubly so because martial classes have access to Unleash which become a multiplicative bonus to stats(s) and suddenly the base level of a stat will matter even more.

{W}illpower The measure of the mental fortitude of an individual. Willpower arguably plays one of the most important roles in all of Magic. It can affect Spell Slot recovery, assist in Contests, account for how often an individual can exert their control over Magic. The average human has a base level of two Willpower, but a Blessed human has a base level of three, and the Twice-Blessed four. Willpower is measured in various ways, but it is most often equated to how long one could keep their hand held to a burning hot pipe. Willpower is not solely applicable to magic as many Monks and Martial Artists spend ample time tempering their will doing the exact type of activity that requires intense focus. At a level of four, an individual can hold their hand to a hot surface of 140°F for eight seconds. Irreversible burn damage begins at five. This is not a perfect analogy of willpower as there are many facets to it, but it is the best often articulated to Dungeoneers in words. For every point in willpower beyond four, an individual would maintain an additional two seconds. Similarly, all Willpower-related feats would gain roughly twenty percent increased capability.

{I}ntuition The measure of inherent or instinctual understanding an individual has of magic. Unlike other stats, Intuition is more of a scale from one-to-ten. One would represent someone with no inherent ability to see, sense, or understand magic or mana. At level three, an individual can generally see traces of magic ambiently or when cast. At level five, they can differentiate the different types of mana and magic, following it closely. At level seven, they begin to see the personal signatures every person around them and their magic, no matter how small their spark is. At level ten, they would have an innate understanding of magic almost as soon as it is cast and recreate it themselves. Intuition to some degree can be trained, but rarely more than a point or two in one's lifetime. Often, Spells are used to augment Intuition briefly. Most Twice-Blessed have at least a starting Intuition of three. A nine or ten is generally considered a once-in-a-generation gift with ten sometimes not being seen for several.

{L}ability The measure of the physical connection an individual has with mana or magic. Similar to Intuition, this stat is a scale from one-to-ten. At one, there is simply no physical connection to magic. Because of this, all Twice-Blessed start with at least two Lability because they possess a seal. At level three, an individual would be nearly twice as effective at enhancing their body with Magic or even drawing on the mana inherent to their body. At level five, an individual begins taking on traits of magical beings, like a Fea or Fiend Patron. In rare cases would one of draconic lineage ever achieve a lability as intense as five. Levels six and seven increase these physical traits shifting to magical ones to such a degree a regular human may appear as some type of magical Demi-Human. This transition continues to a theoretical ten wherein an individual would have a body comprised of magic. In the annals of history, only a handful of beings might have achieved a ten and Spells that recreate it are of an incredibly high tier. Most Twice-Blessed, especially those of Martial talent, will reach a three of four due to the use of the Unleash Spell slowly changing their body. As their body does reach a higher magical lability, spells like Unleash or physical augmentation (including spiritual augmentation) are more effective.

{D}ominion The measure of raw control an individual has over magic. Dominion is often correlated with the intensity of a Spell, but that is only half of an accurate understanding. It also affects the finesse, potential for Favored Spells, and capability in adding additional features being Components. Dominion also uniquely may have a secondary version of the stat reflecting a specialty type of magic or element a mage is especially gifted with. Dominion is a unique stat in that the most effective way found to measure it has been in increments created that compare other Mage users. The stat is designed so that level level one represents the amount of control a novice Wizard would have over a basic Firebolt cantrip. Level two would represent the control of a Blessed Wizard, though still novice, with that same Cantrip. If the Level two and one were to have a contest, the level two would win over the level one before the contest reached catastrophic failure. Every point in Dominion above another represents this type of victory in a contest. The average trained Mage by the time they are recognized as a Wizard instead of a Pupil has a Dominion of six. Because not all Twice-Blessed train in the field of Magic, they may not exceed that Dominion immediately. Dominion becomes very dependent on the magic used, for example, Patron Magic rarely requires Dominion as they generally do not need to control the gifts of their Patron. Planar Magic is much the same way in that Shamans use totems or items to control their energies. Spiritual Energy, on the other hand, may require a large amount of control and even have a Dominion value higher than a Wizard, but exclusively for spiritual energy, thus requiring two stats. There is no theoretical cap for Dominion, however, the highest recorded Dominion Stat is that of twelve for a mage that never lost a contest.

These stats are why it is important to pick your character class/theme, then to choose the stats to fit them. In theory, I could create a dice system to allow you guys to roll up some random numbers for each stat and you could try to create a class out of it, but that would require some really creative fitting to the system. It is an option and if any single person understands the system demonstrably well enough to do it, I would allow them. However, it is a burden I intend to shoulder myself. The system is really designed for me to try and make classes work for you guys. The stats are really reflective of how the very open-ended system can be applied in multiple ways. The game could exist without these stats, especially the WILD stats, I believe there is a certain feel and atmosphere created by having stats, even if they are more a secondary byproduct of the character you create. In my testing, the stats worked really well in simulations without overly limiting or otherwise harshly impacting playstyle in a way that didn't make it feel like a fantasy tabletop.

Merciless Medic · Jul 22, 2024

Cole Forrest

Male

19

Lv. 1

Wolf Demi-Human

Mage - Warlock

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

Along with having grey hair and orange eyes with wolf ears and a tail and canines, he's six feet tall (183 cm) with lean muscle. He has a purple dot on his left cheekbone right under his eye, looking like face paint or a mole.
170lbs (77.1 kg)

‎

Personality

A petty, stubborn asshole would be accurate words to describe him. While he may help others in need, he doesn't seem too fussed about their plights and doesn't prioritize others over himself unless they seem useful to him. He was born with a lack of empathy, forced to see the world in logic-tinted goggles. He can feel emotions himself, but applying them to others was always difficult for him. He can fake empathy by seeing the logic in a person's situation and understanding how they would feel, if it made sense, which made understanding animals easier as they were easier to predict and easier to understand. But he cares for himself, as that was the very thing his parents taught him by their own actions. If he feels wronged, he's always done a petty clapback, feeling like he needed to take revenge in the smallest of ways to get back some power or control over another person or the situation. While he doesn't outright seek power or control, it is a budding desire that fuels these reactions. He also has trust issues, especially concerning anything with the Church of Espel and other Demi-humans.

TAME STATS

Toughness
8

Agility
11

Might
10

Endurance
11

Skills & Proficiencies

Leatherworking 〡 Rating ★★★
Strangely, this skill was one of those Twice-Blessed gifted skill, where he just knows how to leatherwork. It might not be perfect, but he found it a useful skill when it came to creating or repairing leather-based farm tools like harnesses, leads, and saddles.

Sewing 〡 Rating ★★
Due to creating and religiously using his Leatherworking skill, he had to learn how to sew pieces of leather together and sewing leather into cloth. He knows basic and advanced sewing techniques, with those advanced techniques not being as sturdy as the basic ones.

Animal Handling 〡 Rating ★★
While he doesn't understand emotions of other people because how they behaviorally function is complex, instinct isn't ruled by emotion but logical survival and is thus easier to understand within animals. He was taught the general bits about many common wild animals and farm/burden animals from his parents, namely his father. This allows him to handle an animal he knows with ease.

Horsemanship 〡 Rating ★
Horses are a little harder to understand, but they are still ruled by instincts. Their added intelligence just makes it a hurdle to understand them, but being on the farm for so long and having to care for horses, he understands them more than he would normally. This allows him to generally handle a horse, but with some minor difficulty.

Survival: Woodlands 〡 Rating ★★
Due to his training in the common animal in the woodlands near Ardynport, he was taught survival from his father as a secondary skill, just in case Cole needed to go out into the woodlands to hunt or go through a journey. As such, he generally knows survival tactics within woodlands, what lives there, and what things to harvest or to avoid.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★
Being taught by both his parents and his guardian, Cole learned basic first aid. He can use his sewing skill to stitch wounds together, but aside from knowing how to splint/stabilize a broken limb and wrapping wounds, that is the extent of his knowledge.

Stealth 〡 Rating ★
Through his training in surviving out in the wild and the city, and his specific subrace of Demi-human, Cole is generally good at being sneaky. However, he definitely isn't perfect.

Cooking 〡 Rating ★
Through his training in surviving out in the wild and everyday life - especially when he was younger, he had to learn how to cook. It's not perfect, but it's something.

Tracking 〡 Rating ★
Due to his Demi-human subrace, he can track people via scent - and to a lesser degree, tracks - but he hasn't really delved into it. It's better than nothing, but he has an easier time tracking tracks within woodlands.

Knife Fighting 〡 Rating ★
While he uses his special knife as a focus for his power, he does know how to fight with a knife, but it's only enough to subdue aggressive medium-sized animals and untrained thugs.

WILD STATS

Willpower
6

Intuition
5

Lability
3

Dominion
4

Abilities

N/A

Spell Slots
3 Cantrips
2 1st-level spell slots
1 Pact Slot

Note: Pact Slot can be used for any spell in a pinch, and can be regained after a short rest, along with one 1st-level spell slot.

Eldritch Blast - Pact Evocation Cantrip
A beam of dark crackling forceful energy streaks towards a creature within 120 feet, requiring verbal and somatic components. Opponents with an Agility of 13 or higher may dodge if noticed in time.

Ray of Frost - Scholastic Evocation Cantrip
A frigid beam of blue-white ice streaks towards a creature within 60 feet, requiring verbal and somatic components. It can slow down the target. Opponents with an Agility of 13 or higher may dodge if noticed in time.

Dark Grasp - Pact Evocation Cantrip
After utilizing verbal and somatic components to work the spell, a dark mist radiates from your hand as you either touch or make a melee attack against a target. The darkness surrounding your hands and/or weapon make it difficult to read this attack. Upon contact, the target and organic material are damaged as if subjected to acid. This does not affect inorganic materials. If a sentient creature's eyesight is affected for more than 1 second and has a Willpower of below 4, they are Blinded for up to 60 seconds.

Blackfire Rebuke - 1st-Level Pact Evocation
After utilizing somatic and verbal components to work the spell, he points his finger, and the creature that damaged him is momentarily surrounded by hellish black flames. Opponents with an Agility of 13 or higher may dodge if noticed in time.

Fog of Darkness - 1st-Level Pact Conjuration
After utilizing somatic and verbal components to work the spell, creates a 20-foot-radius sphere of black fog centered on a point within a 120 foot range. The sphere spreads around corners, and its area is heavily obscured. It lasts for the duration of one hour in concentration, or until a wind of moderate or greater speed disperses it (about 10 miles per hour). Due to his pact, Cole can see through it (giving him Darkvision).

Shadow Infestation - 1st-Level Pact Conjuration
After utilizing somatic and verbal components to work the spell, both caster and target must have their shadows within the same field of vision unless within total darkness. Within a range of 30 feet, the shadow of the caster and the target connect. The shadow then manifests as a black tendril to attack the target as if it were a melee spear attack. For the next 60 seconds, the caster may maintain concentration on this Spell to continue a spear attack roughly every 5 seconds. If they perform another spell or otherwise would lose concentration, the spell ends.

Mark of Darkness - 2nd-Level Pact Conjuration/Divination
After utilizing somatic and verbal components to work the spell, create a sphere of ink-like blackness around a target in line of sight within 45 feet. Three shadow tendrils attempt to impale the target as if they were melee ranged spear attacks. Dodging one attack requires 12 Agility, dodging two requires 14 Agility, dodging all three requires 17 Agility. If a target is hit with even one spike, they will be marked with the ink created by the Spell. Unless removed via magical means, their location will be known to the caster for 30 minutes. The target cannot become hidden or invisible to the caster.

Equipment

He has a bedroll, mess kit with extra cooking utensils, extra rations, wraps, random bits of leather, and a sewing kit in a satchel that is slung over his shoulder. On his belt, he has his sheathed dagger that acts as a wand due to its longer, magic-imbued hilt. This dagger was gifted to him by his guardian, who handmade it for him. He also has a greyish-brown cloak. He wears mostly leather armor that covers the most important places but still are open for him to dodge if needed to.

As for trinkets, he has a necklace: a tooth from a beast he and his guardian killed north of Ardynport. Well, he didn't do anything like getting the last hit in, but he used some magic he had been gifted from his patron, allowing his guardian to defeat it. The tooth is a trophy.

Background & History

Twenty-six years ago, the War of Warm Waters had started. Cole's parents, were enslaved eight years into the war, having to sell themselves as enslaved farmhands so that Cole - who was only a year old - could live freely still with his new guardian, Elric - who was a human and a steward from the Ballard Trading Company. Due to Elric's work in aiding demi-humans as well as he could despite them being slaves, Cole was brought up around this work. While Cole didn't fully understand what it was like to be enslaved, he did believe that the Ballard Trading Company - or at least some sectors of it - were good and not inherently evil. Cole's parents had the worst of their enslavement, working overtime to keep people fed. It was only after the War of Warm Waters and during the time the Church of Espel started saving them from their slavery, ironically giving them an out through the very work they have been enslaved to do for about twelve years.

When Cole, thirteen, finally managed to see his parents, they felt alien. They didn't feel like parents to him like how his guardian was his father. They consistently preached about the teachings of Espel, yet the things they preached weren't always followed through or fundamentally changed how they acted towards others. They would preach about how there is love in all the light touches, but Cole had seen Dwarves who came from mountains love others and care for others, and yet his parents denounced them because they were born away from the light. Elves - who were also targets for slavery and who lived in dark parts of the forest - were given the same disdain because the light barely filtered through the canopies, but they were at least a bit more tolerant of them. On the other hand, they believed that places of darkness should stay despite the Holy Order's insistence of how they desecrate the light (this teaching was even more apparent when the Dungeon appeared). They had used fearmongering to make one of their friends become diurnal and become sickly from the change, even if they were of a demi-human race who were nocturnal. But due to working at nights as slaves, Cole's parents would become restless late at night and work anyway, creating a double standard. The experiences he's had watching Elric work in helping other Demi-humans and caring for their children within the Ballard Trading Company had Cole believe it wasn't that bad. Now this utter confusion about his parents and how they acted confused him. They felt like puppets, not parents. Espel had changed them in trying to save them. Even Elric was concerned, as they felt like different people than how they were before they were helped them.

For a while, immaturely, Cole wished they would go back to being slaves.

They were too complex for him to understand. He couldn't understand why they had ideals they taught, but never fully followed through or became zealots for ideals or tenants they cherry-picked. He couldn't understand the connection children had to their parents because his had been so absent from his life. And yet, he tried very hard to understand his parents. Elric even pushed for it, even if he agreed that they weren't normally this preach-y before Espel got a hold of them.

Cole was taught how to handle wild animals, taught how to handle horses and farm animals, taught how to survive. Those teachings he would gladly take, and yet his parents felt like teachers. Not parents. Sure, parents should teach, but that's all he felt like they were doing.

When Cole, eighteen, was talking to some Demi-humans he had been friends with - and no longer after this incident - he had said that slavery was a necessary evil, but he didn't feel disdain or contempt for it. And he also spoke of the church possibly turning his parents into puppets in a joking manner. However, his words sparked concern from his friends and while they didn't tell anyone else about what he said, they told his parents.

He never saw such disappointment, but oddly he couldn't feel it within himself to care. His parents berated him for saying those hurtful words, that slavery - while it was important in the past - wasn't needed any longer, and that Espel helped them out of an otherwise painful existence. While Cole could agree that it was indeed a painful existence, he couldn't care any less about how badly they felt from it. They saw his expressionless face, his apathy, and it scared them. They tried to plead to his inner humanity, trying to strum at the familial chords within him, but there was none. He had nothing for them.

Elric was the only parent he truly had, and this was even more apparent now.

He left, in a fit of frustration, walking somewhere and nowhere. Aimlessly, he wandered the streets, until he stumbled into the western district. There, he came across the Ballard Trading Company. His parents always said how evil they were, how depraved they were, but honestly? He saw the logic in that they were making lots of businesses booming and Elric even worked for t hem. He couldn't understand how they were hated so much, especially when they've seemingly changed now after the war. But then he reeled away from this thought process...

He wondered that maybe his parents were just the weird ones, zealots who had taken things too far and bent the rules and tenants of Espel to make their life easier to live.

He came back home, his parents welcoming him with open arms, and then a year passed in relative tranquility, but that resentment still brewed, and he hung out more with Elric than he did his actual parents, despite their attempts at trying to keep him away, which only magnified this resentment.

Then, the Dungeon appeared. It was a sensational boom to the businesses, everyone was wanting in. His parents saw it as a great opportunity to go into the Dungeon, help some people out, grow as a person, and help to keep out the creatures of the dark and eradicate them. It led to him asking about what they thought of Dwarves, since they lived in subterranean places. They had a hard time answering, saying that the light doesn't touch them as they weren't usually born above land, but also believed their homes shouldn't be destroyed, but they believed the temple should be destroyed. It didn't make sense. Why condemn the race of one but not their home, and then wish the genocide of the races and species of many within a place they don't feel bad in thinking about its destruction? Did they wish for the Dwarves' home to be destroyed too, they just didn't want to say it?

He was disgusted.

When Elric came to see Cole from handling some kids with enslaved parents, he fell gravely ill one winter. He wanted to give the church a chance like he had been trying to give his parents chances. Maybe they weren't all bad, they just had some strange people with them. Cole took Elric to the church, but was informed that illness caused by natural circumstances like this - especially in one so old - is against the tenants of the church to mend. Though they could cure him, they did not. This tenant is not solely the tenant of Espel, but exists to avoid slowing down the cycle of reincarnation that feeds the planet. This is one of many reasons Espel is tolerated when many gods are not. To not be a tenant they followed under Espel, but as a "condition" that this world must make them abide by? It sickened him. One life could never upset the balance, he thought.

In his grief and anger, Cole cursed Espel and wallowed in despair, realizing with a heavy weight in his heart that Elric was the only real parent he ever knew. He pleaded and pleaded, crying out for anyone that could help him. These were just the type of cries that attracted those that lurk in the shadows: Devils. Abarex, a Devil of the Abyss (the darkest part of the Hells), heard these pleas and offered his assistance.

Cole merely had to make a Pact with him. Abarex would do what the Priests of Espel would not and cure his guardian, but in return, Cole would need to traverse into the Amaric Temple where, in its lower depths, to find an ore known as "trueblack iron" which could be processed into Stygian Steel - terms and metals Cole knew nothing of at the time. With little time left for Elric and Abarex explaining he could only exist for so long in the world before it would react violently to his presence, Cole took the deal.

His guardian survived, and in fact, was now healthier than he had been in the last decade, but wasn't aware as to what Cole had to do in order for his health to improve. What he worried was how his guardian would take it, so he swore himself to secrecy.

Cole, however, now had to survive the Dungeon.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

Faceclaim is Bete Loga from Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?

Haze- · Jul 22, 2024

⚜ Leonel 'Leo' Blackmane ⚜

Male

26

Lv. 2

Human

Guardian - Paladin

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

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Personality

A closed casket wrapped in bramble, bristle and hurt. The thorns only start to untangle when drizzled with the right booze and the right amount of menial small talk.

Leonel speaks short and snappy, his expression forever twisted into an angry scowl, a dour look that betrays the cordial disinterest he shows in many conversations. Most one-sided. With lots of nods and grunts, yes's and no's.

As if he weren't truly there, among the living, only in passing. A ghost of what used to be a man of faith.

Years long past, he still feels the cold grasp of the hands of the dead on his shoulders, the pressure of fingers coiled tight around his neck. Their pleading, mute voices breathing at his ear. The weight of the holy blades he carries, the blades of his men. The black roses he's taken to their resting places. Drink's he's poured on their gravestones. Not even in prayer would the light of Espel take the mantle of guilt off of him, not even the assurance that He yet guides him down the path of vengeance. No, only the foul, biting heat of the drink gushing down his gullet is ever enough to quell the screams of his knights, the fools who followed him to their deaths. Enough to dull the nightmares to a grayscale, numb, passing dream he can allow himself to bear for the night.

And so, he drinks.

He drinks until he can’t think straight no more, until the memory blurs out, and the black roses spiral into nothingness. In a happier, peaceful dream— along with his guiding light, Espel. Until the poison wears on him, and he has to drink yet again.

And again.

He's grown a bitter, sullen, self-absorbed shell of a man since he's been haunted by the memory of his failure. But deep behind the daze on his eyes, whenever he is there, alive, present in the same room, one can tell that he's at least...trying.

The only thing that keeps such a man going is a promise slid under clenched teeth, a tongue dripping with poison. A vow, an oath. To be Espel's vengeful blade against those who've slighted the church, for as long as He sheds his light upon him. No matter the consequence he must face.

TAME STATS

Toughness
16

Agility
10

Might
12

Endurance
13

Skills & Proficiencies

Swordsmanship 〡 Rating ★★★
Seeing as his Twice-Blessed seal just so happened to be fashioned in the likeness of a blade, it wasn't much of a surprise when Leonel turned out to be naturally gifted with the sword. By coincidence, or by choice of fate itself, Leonel's mastery of the blade had always come as natural as breathing came to us all. Years of militant life and crusading, battle against beasts and heathen alike had only strengthened that natural bond he's had with steel. At one time, when he was still in service of the church a sword would've only been an extension of himself, but now the muscle memory has dulled on him. He's gotten mediocre.

Astrology 〡 Rating ★★★
A personal fancy, born out of the need of seeking connection with Espel in whatever ways he could. Leonel knows the movements of the celestial bodies up above; the stars, the sun, the moon and the planets; as if the lines they traced and what they meant were scribbled in the back of his hand at all times.

Martial Arts 〡 Rating ★★
'Tempered like finest steel' since his youth as a Lion Knight, his mind and body are conditioned to bare claws on instinct, with the finesse of a devoted monk. Used to be conditioned, at least. Now, ever since the debilitating injuries, those skills he's learned are only relegated to twisting a drunkards shoulder out of place in a tavern brawl.

Blacksmithing 〡 Rating ★★
The one and only interest he's shared with his biological mother, the one thing he remembers from her. Leonel's not a master metalworker by any stretch of the imagination, but he knows the innerworks of the forge by heart. How a blade is made, with what amount of pressure, at what heat, how it's molded and given shape, what metal's the sturdiest and which is easier to work with. Given enough time, a hammer and a heated forge, he could craft a serviceable dagger.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★★
Spending majority of his life surrounded by wounded men, and being wounded himself, he's grown used to setting bones back in place, suturing wounds, and stopping fresh nubs from leaking.

Carpentry 〡 Rating ★
Amateurish at best, to his biological father's disdain. His hands simply lack the couth for timberwork. Unlike his father's, they were always callous, harsh-- a warrior's, not a carpenter's.

Cooking 〡 Rating ★
It's edible.

WILD STATS

Willpower
7

Intuition
3

Lability
3

Dominion
2

Abilities

Spell Slots
3 level one spell slots

Fighting Style: Lionsclaw -
An unorthodox swordfighting stance involving palm-strikes, used with longswords and spears, only seen by full-fledged Lion Knights of house Blackmane. In stance, their swordhand limps idly at their side, dangling loosely as though every muscle in the arm had been snapped on command, shoulder angled at the enemy, their free hand crossing over with all fingers tensing up into an arc, forming their signature 'Lion Hook' claw. Meant to strike and sink into the opponent's blindspots in a flash after each sword clash, turning the trained left hand of a Lion Knight into a weapon deadlier than the swords they carried. Most spellsword Lion Knights integrated their magic into their swordplay, shooting quick bursts of magic out of their Lion Claw as they struck in a rhythmic fashion, following up after every sword slash.

The hand of a Lionsclaw user was normally tempered like a literal sword, most practitioners being inducted to strike burning hot coals over and over again for years on end, until their hands gave out or primed, hardened like finest steel-- lost all sense of touch.

Upon completing their training, Lion Knights were granted their official 'Claws'. Regal, armored gauntlets with steel blades driven to a hook on the tips of each finger, the symbol of the 'Blackmane Lion' branded on the palm of the gauntlet.

Unleash: Mounting Frenzy -
At base, Leonel can use Unleash as a level one spell. Twisted by the harsh conditions of he was raised in, along with the built-up rage from his years as a crusader, Leonel's Unleash has changed to greatly enhance one stat over the others when faced with death. On activation, Leonel's Agility, Might, and Endurance will be raised by a flat +2, his Toughness on the other hand will begin at increments of +1 and ramp up for each hit taken during Unleash, stopping once it reaches a value equal to his current Willpower stat.

Cantrips

Burden Bearer -
Setting a hand on an ally's shoulder, Leonel is capable of taking away any of the pain and mental anguish they may be feeling at the moment, relieving them, and taking it upon himself to endure it in their stead.

Watchful Eyes -
A paladin's disposition to discern all surrounding good an evil in the immediate area, spurn by the light of the stars. Leonel can either heighten his awareness to detect forces of evil and good in a 60ft area or look upon the stars to ask for guidance, each constellation blinking intermittently for him, vaguely leading him down the path of that which he is oathsworn to seek.

Light's Arbiter -
Uttering the words — 'Cower in the light of my Lord.' —, Espel's light can envelop Leonel's right hand in its radiance. Any being held restrained by Leonel's hand, with a Willpower below 4, will submit under Espel's light and become frightened for as long as they are subdued, making them more likely to comply to Leonel's demands, answer his questions.

Gift of Espel -
Leonel can conjure up to three glowing orbs of light that he may control within a 30 foot area he can see for as long as he maintains concentration. Breaking his concentration or concentrating on another Spell will cause these orbs to remain stationary for five minutes until they fade.

Firebolt -
Leonel flings a base-ball size projectile of fire at an area that bursts into burning cinders upon impact. This spell can be guided with hand gestures or cast to light fires within close range.

First level spells

Bulwark Stars -
The lion general calls upon Espel's light to protect those faithful who rally behind him. Leo's party is enveloped in twinkling light, starry wisps falling around them for as long as his concentration can withstand, diverting any damage they may take away from them an unto Leo himself, weakened by roughly half of what would have been its actual damage.

Lionsclaw: Götterdämmerung -
A paladin's gift granted by Espel to smite all evil, modified by the Lion's brand. Following a sword strike, Leonel can imbue his Lion Claw in Espel's divine light, allowing it to strike with a magic burst of light and fire damage. If upcast, Leonel's claw will instead be cowled in stellar light for 3 minutes, being able to burst into a short, blinding flare upon impact with every strike.

Lionsclaw: Crimson Fang -
Leonel can momentarily raise his Might by a flat +2 increase for the duration of this technique, if he manages to react in time and deflect an attack with his Lion Claw, he may hold on to the opponent's arm and pull to throw them off their feet, allowing for a stun or a counter attack with his sword hand. If upcast, doubles might and allows him to destabilize opponents larger than him.

Lionsclaw: Lion's Finesse -
Leonel can momentarily raise his Agility by a flat +2 increase for the duration of this technique, using the momentum of a downward slash, Leonel can lunge forward and pin the opponent down by the neck with his Lion Claw. If upcast, Leonel can release a burst of light and fire magic out of his Lion Claw once the opponent is pinned down.

Equipment

- Unimpressive spear
- Unimpressive longsword
- 'Lion Claw'
- Standard dungeoneering gear

Background & History

Background – Black Dagger.

Unsaid fears, unspoken futures— winds of change converted Ardynport to a restless cesspool of opportunity, haunted by chains. Not that it wasn’t before. Maybe what came after the War of Warm Waters had only cleared up the picture, accentuated things.

Leonel got to know of his city, its filth and how much coin it coughed out, knew it dearly.

But before Leonel— before being branded by the Black Lion— there was Arthur. Arthur Hyndell.

A plebian child, with royal blonde, noble hair, birthed with a diminutive mark below his right eye, in the shape of a crooked black dagger. A Twice-Blessed child, kin of a blacksmith and a carpenter. Only child of a failed blacksmith turned farmhand and a likewise carpenter turned lumberjack, in a household steeped in disappointment. His parents, once hopeful for their futures, sold their firstborn son into a fate more palatable than their own failures.

Consigned to become a tool, less than human.

The first thing they did was put a patch over his eye, to hide that accursed seal fate had branded him with, snipped it a couple notches looser as the years went on and the child grew. Not to protect him, but to keep him hid to themselves up until the very day he came of age and was fit to be sold.

The drudgery of tending fields and milking cows, this was all he remembered before he was inevitably taken.

History I – Black Lions

Blackmane Manor, a house of lions.

Mercenaries that thrived on the bloody trails of war. Trained, legal swords for employ that got the wet work’s done as clean as possible for the right amount of coin. Hired steel sold well in times of demand, and at the cusp of the War of Warm Waters did their fief thrive, growing their under the table mercenary business to one of the most successful soldiers of fortune companies at the time, all in the span of half-a-decade.

A legacy built in blood and dirty coin. A byproduct of war, reaping the benefits much like the ravens did on the still remains of a battlefield. All brought from the ground up by one man, the Black Lion. Some six years into the conflict, there he was, Lord Leofwyn Blackmane, in one of his noble fancies to personally claim himself a Twice-Blessed scion. His insistency being met with a blade drawn by the same child he was to abduct.

It was amusing, to say the least. The rarity of finding raw talent with such a nerve attached to it, Twice-Blessed too, wasn’t something Lord Blackmane would just pass up. For their son’s insolence, Lord Blackmane offered to adopt the Hyndell’s child as a ward instead of making him a mere slave, providing him an education and structure but binding him with the name. ‘Leonel Blackmane.’

This is when he was given another brand, another curse to bear on his own.

In a span of five long years, he was honed. Honed to a razor’s edge. Arthur Hyndell was met with a spartan affair, days and nights of drilling and practice. Instructors pushing that black dagger of his to its very limits, demanding perfection in every strike, every shuffle of his feet.

Again. Again. And again.

Harsh tones that brooked no argument, barked orders. Simple truths, simple cautions — “Father’s word is law. The highest bidder’s is close second.” — A thousand unvoiced protests, sleepless nights — “You are a blade; you exist to strike without question.” — Trembling hands, downcast gazes — “You will be worthy of earning the name, Leonel Blackmane.”

“Do you understand, boy?” — Sharp commands, demanding response.

“Yes, father,” — And stammered words that tasted like wyvern shit in his mouth.

Ruthless. Efficient. Detached. Until the alienated boy, unknowing of the Blackmane’s customs and expectations, became a full-fledged lion.

Until Arthur Hyndell was no more, and only Leonel Blackmane remained.

A Twice-Blessed machine forged in the crucible of battle— a product of Lord Blackmane’s obsession to create the better heir. A lion to surpass his own kin in all but blood— and one he could proudly call son, to boot.

In stark contrast to Leonel's achievements stood Leowulf Blackmane, Lord Blackmane’s firstborn son, a complete an utter failure without the Twice-Blessed seal. Rather than training Leowulf, Lord Blackmane chose Leonel as his new experiment, emptying Arthur’s identity and crafting his own version of a ‘perfect’ child.

Leofwyn’s little pet project, however, would never get to see war.

As the war drew to a close, the landscape shifted, and the mercenaries' business struggled. Most noblemen fell in ruin whence the church and the new order of trade came— but the Lions would not let their empire slip out of their hands so easily. It was just a matter of expanding their horizons.

It was a bid to remain a relevant commodity; the Blackmane’s redirected their resources to enlist as Swiss guards for the emerging companies.

A majority of Lion Knights were sent to serve as kind ‘diplomatic gifts’ to the new government that rose from the ashes of war. Guardsmen that accompanied traders down the troubled roads where bandits were rumored to roam, kept watchful eyes on the tree lines. Sentries that’d dot castle walls for rich families willing to put in the coin demanded. Noble, yet fearless crusaders to bolster the Holy Order’s power.

Eventually, the thought of their business ever nearing its end seemed like a distant memory. With the emerging of the Amaric Temple, things looked even better on the nearing horizon.

Eighteen years of age, Lord Blackmane’s prodigal son, Leonel Blackmane, along with his younger brother, was appointed to enroll as a Crusader for the Holy Order of Espel, under his father’s command. This is when he came to be known as the Lion General, a reticent, one-eyed warrior that quickly rose through the ranks of the church in a mere span of two short years.

The weight of his adoptive name was a chain he could not break, even in the new life he’d been ‘given’.

Months turned into years. He was doing something good for once in years of bloodying his steel for coin, something righteous. But with everything he did in the name of Espel, there was always this nagging feeling, a tear between loyalty and the longing for freedom— a freedom that always felt just out of reach. He felt more like a pawn than a liberated soldier, fighting the good cause.

Leonel was no less free than all the thousands of Twice-Blessed children who had been bought and sold like cattle, and the men who held their fates in filthy hands, shackled by greed in their own right. Months, winters passed, and he felt ensnared in the web of fate, folding upon itself like a lusterless tapestry. Each thread woven tighter, an inevitable shadow of doubt stretching over his head—

For what reason did he live? What the hell had he been doing all those years?

A slave through and through since the very moment of his birth. Passed around from master to master.

An epiphany, laughably, came to him one day as he wandered aimlessly through the backyard of one of the many orphanages of Espel. Stumbling upon one of the children in prayer, kneeled in front of a statue of the God Leonel had supposedly vowed zealous servitude. Soliloquizing something about freedom, confiding in Espel with all of their heart.

For the first time since he’d joined the church, the Black Lion sat still and paid attention to what he’d dismissed as just some preachy bullshit.

Shutting his eyes in prayer, with all of his being, Leonel was granted his very first blessing from Espel. Long denied warmth, reassurance, and a guiding sliver of light. Leonel decided that, if he truly would be a slave for the rest of his life, he could at the very least choose to pledge his heart and soul to Espel, willingly— on his own terms.

The years that followed were filled with more blessings, the satisfaction of doing good labor. He started to grow more placid, nurturing bonds with the fellow warriors that rallied behind him on their crusaders, content of what he was doing. The very act of servitude, for once, twisted into his own freedom.

Leonel’s first, and last, real trial as a crusader came seven years into his service to the church. Twenty-five years old, in the dead of night, at the eaves of Summer, his crew was tasked with tracking down and killing a heathen Witch rumored to be hidden in the marshes of an abandoned villa, just north of Ardynport. And they left just as the task was given. A decision they made hastily to arrive at the celebrations on the first hint of light, unburdened by duty.

It was this one mistake that broke them all.

That night, the rain poured as if Espel himself were weeping, thundering loud as though to drown out the cries of his men. They arrived to the mire, but it wasn’t just the witch. They doubled them in numbers, and they’d been prepared for their arrival.

That night, the only thing left to cling to the calmed remains of that battlefield was the sole survivor of the attack, the Lion General of house Blackmane. Strewn up with cuts like a pig in a slaughterhouse, grasping for breath— somehow still dragging himself aimlessly amidst the muddy, ashy remains of the battle.

Through clenched teeth, and sheer rage. Alive, barely. A revenant spirit yet clinging to haunt the living.

It had been a massacre. They knew they were coming from the start.

History II – Revenant.

The axe of blame fell on the living, and Leonel burdened the guilt.

In the Day of Espel, ironically, Leonel Blackmane awoke to a game of pointing fingers the moment he came to his senses. The only real winning move being not to play it at all. His decisions were deemed ‘rushed’ and ‘inadequate’ by the church, his orders leading to the death of his crew. All of the liability of that night came down on him, his hasty decision prompted accusations of negligence, and he didn’t have the spirit to speak a word in his defense.

He was excommunicated from the Holy Order mere days after.

Stripped of his rank and identity, Leonel fell into a cycle of drunkenness and despair, wandering aimlessly from inn to inn, drowning in regret and guilt for two long years. It wasn’t until one night, nursing his drink as if it were his only lover, that Leonel awoke from his drunken stupor for the first time in days.

It was the same witch that had caused the slaughter of his men. Alone this time. Unexpectant.

As crusaders, they had been taught that the heathens who marred the light with the blight of darkness always dwelled in blackest depths, places where light could only shine dim. In that case in particular, that dark, gods-forsaken place was nothing but a common alehouse blending in amongst the many alike, south of Ardynport.

Even a vile witch had to work her wiles in the murk of the city to earn some weight in her coin purse. Get some mud in her boots, charm a poor bastard blind drunk out of his wits, slide a quick hand through his belongings while the drink helped ease his awareness. Lucky him, the poor, drunk bastard soon-to-be the witch’s next victim just so happened to be himself.

It was a gift from the light itself, another blessing.

He could only lay his head down in his stupor and cackle like a child as the witch approached his seat. The next thing he knew, after an inebriated blur, he had his hand around her throat in the back of a dark, filthy alley. Promising her one thing she and her gang hadn’t the decency to give his men back then— a quick death if she answered one question.

“Who fed you the information?” — His hands clammed tighter, watching the tears well up like they’d been squeezed into her eyes. In a way, he didn’t want her to answer at all.

But the witch managed to choke out a name from her tangled vocal cords,

“Leowulf Blackmane.”

And he was a man of his word.

Whatever semblance of truth he could’ve gotten from the encounter slipped in-between his fingers, just as her life did. He lay there, knees buckled amidst the muck and grime, completely and utterly lost. But there it was, shining in the dark, that same sliver of light that’d blessed him once, gracing him again with its presence.

Espel showed himself unto him in that dark alleyway, and he vowed an Oath only the dead and the light would hear.

Days after that, Leonel found himself weaving through a throng of giddy adventurers, sliding half-written details at the registration table in the Dungeon Guild. He’d found out many things since that night at the alehouse. One, for example, that his dearest adoptive brother had forged himself quite the reputation as a dungeoneer.

The path slowly began to unfold— and Leonel would find the truth, no matter if he had to redden his hands in the blood of a thousand monsters to reach the bastard and pry it out of him.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

- FC: Dimitri Blaiddyd from Fire Emblem Three Houses
- H: 6'3'' (190cm)
- W: 220lbs (99kg)

- Leowulf Blackmane:

Leonel Blackmane's step-sibling and former brother in arms, kin to one of Lord Blackmane's many affairs. Once a crusader that walked in the shadow of his adoptive brother's accomplishments, now an acclaimed dungeoneer of high renown among the ranks of the Dungeon Guild. Blessed by magic once, unlike his brother. This, in his father's eyes, made him a complete failure.

FC - Saber (Gawain) from Fate

Sir Les Paul · Jul 23, 2024

Markus Stonehart

Male

33

5

Human

Supporter - Paladin

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

‎

Personality

I'll get to this. Need to eat.

TAME STATS

Toughness
16

Agility
12

Might
14

Endurance
14

Skills & Proficiencies

Alchemy 〡 Rating ★★
Through experience and observation, Markus has learned to create several potions and salves using local ingredients often found in either simple forests, river lands, or the Amaric Temple. His knowledge is fairly specific regarding the ingredients, their effects, and their locations. His knowledge does not extend to the science behind his potions or to areas outside of his general knowledge.

Animal Handling: Subterranean 〡 Rating ★★
After nearly a decade in the Amaric Temple, Markus has proven knowledgeable with many of the creatures present. While he is not capable of taming these creatures, he may be able to de-escalate a more peaceful creature from conflict.

Cartography 〡 Rating ★★
Markus is capable of both creating and reading basic maps.

Cooking 〡 Rating ★★
While not a great cook, Markus has learned what basic wilderness and Dungeon ingredients taste decent and how to cook them for good consistency and flavor. His skill with spices and creating dishes is lacking, but he is capable of balancing salt from various sources.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★★
Experience has demanded Markus become good with tending to wounds of various kinds, ranging from broken bones to cuts and lacerations.

Leatherworking 〡 Rating ★
In a pinch, Markus can very roughly prepare leather for us in repairs. His work is sufficient mostly for structural repairs, but is not pretty nor will it last long-term.

Maintenance 〡 Rating ★★★
While the wilderness is unforgiving to gear, it is far easier to find a town or materials for repair. Within the Dungeons, it is more necessary to make sure iron and steel are oiled, leather is conditioned, and equipment is taken care of. These lessons have been deeply ingrained into Markus.

Sewing 〡 Rating ★★
Markus is capable of basic fabric and leather stitching for the sake of repair.

Survival: Dungeon 〡 Rating ★★★
Markus has a strong understanding of every Dungeon floor down to floor 42. His knowledge of the terrain, gimmicks, and creatures is extensive and he has only commit them further to memory since becoming a Supporter.

Survival: Riverlands 〡 Rating ★★
Markus not only grew up in the Northern Riverlands, but spent his time as a squire in them guarding the Ardynport border. His knowledge of the area, both the forests and riverbanks, comes natural, though none more than other natives of the area.

Swordsmanship 〡 Rating ★★★
Though his skills have dulled from his time away from direct combat, Markus spent the majority of his life honing his skills with a blade. He has naturally always possessed a type of finesse with blades due to his woodworking and this laid the foundation for his fighting style. Markus was once closer to a four-star rating and had a reputation as a twin sword duelist within the Dungeon Guild, but he has allowed his skills with a blade to rust in favor of picking up various other skills for the sake of supporting.

Woodworking 〡 Rating ★★★
As a Twice-Blessed, Markus was gifted with a particular skill that shone even from a young age. In his case, this was woodworking. Markus can whittle impressive figurines or carve joints for wooden constructs on the fly. Given sufficient time and some hand tools, he can construct next to anything of wood. He uses this skill often more practically than artistically and has transitioned this mindset into learning various other practical skills.

WILD STATS

Willpower
8

Intuition
2

Lability
4

Dominion
4

Abilities

Spell Slots
6 Level One Spell Slots
3 Level Two Spell Slots
2 Level Three Spell Slots

Curse of the Leviathan
Markus has been marked with foul Fae Magic that even the Holy Order of Espel cannot dispel. Should he attempt to willfully cause harm to a sentient living creature, his body will forcibly seize. This will interrupt even the most basic of Cantrip use and even Unleash cannot allow him to power through it. It is possible for Markus to indirectly harm others, but intent is the key factor. This curse is said to remain until the Abyssal Whale that caused it is slain. This curse will prevent Markus from even harming plant- or fungi- based creatures if they are sentient. However, Markus is capable of defending himself and even partaking in a duel if need be, so long as his intent is never to harm.

Fighting Style: Dual-Wielding
Markus focused primarily on dual-wielding short swords in his martial training, though his fighting style always favored a primary blade. He did not use his swords equally, instead, he used his secondary blade both defensively and for various combat techniques requiring the use of two weapons. He was known more as a finesse-oriented duelist, making him unique amongst the Paladins with their general focused on two-handed weapons.

Unleash At base, Markus can use Unleash as a level one Spell and it will provide a plus two bonus to his toughness and might with a plus three to agility and endurance. If upcast to level two, it will instead double his base agility and endurance and provide a plus four to his might and toughness. When cast at level three, it will instead quadruple his agility and endurance and double his might and toughness, but also inflict damage on his body if used for more than twenty-seconds.

Cantrips
Dreadful Glare Upon making eye contact with a target, Markus can force any creature or being with a Willpower below four to be overcome with fear, effectively forcing them into an anxiety attack.

Gift of Espel Markus can conjure up to three glowing orbs of light that he may control within a 30 foot area he can see for as long as he maintains concentration. Breaking his concentration or concentrating on another Spell will cause these orbs to remain stationary for five minutes until they fade.

Firebolt Markus flings a base-ball size projectile of fire at an area that bursts into burning cinders upon impact. This spell can be guided with hand gestures or cast to light fires within close range.

Radiant Hand Markus raises his hand, releasing an intense burst of blinding light to any and all targets immediately in front of him in line of sight.

Mending Hand Markus touches an object, covering it with his hand, and performing small feats of repair on said object.

Sacred Flame Markus utters the phrase "Burn in the light of Espel!" causing a target to be struck by flames of intense light briefly.

Sword Art: Twin Slash Technique Markus is capable of performing two slashes in rapid succession while dual-wielding swords. These slashes are performed at an agility score of an additional two to his base, but are also empowered by doubling any affects placed on one blade onto the other. This technique is the Favored Spell of Markus. Previously, Markus could upcast this ability to apply a Smite to both blades (at the expenditure of only one Spell slot). Now, if upcast, Markus will increase his base agility by another 2 per spell level.

First Level Spells
Sanctuary of Light Markus conjures a wall of comprised of crystalline light that can block most physical attacks and Spells up to level 2 for sixty seconds.

Trick of the Light Markus can conjure a minor illusion in a set location roughly the size of a small creature for up to ten minutes. This spell can be up cast to increase size.

Prayer of Healing By uttering a prayer to Espel, Markus can heal perform minor healing to a target in his immediate vicinity. Upcasting this spell will increase the number of individuals healed by 2 and increase healing done.

Purification Markus can purify food, water, or desecrated land, cleansing them of minor poisons or blights. This spell can be upcast to increase its intensity against some magical sources of impurity.

Sword Art: Severing Swallow Markus can briefly increase his Might and Agility by a value of two and during this time, perform a horizontal slash from two swords capable of cutting through even hardened steel at the convergence of the blades.

Sword Art: Defiant Brother Blade Markus can briefly increase his Might and Toughness by a value of two and during this time, if he is to block a physical attack with either of his swords may maintain a block of a much larger weapon held by a larger and/or stronger opponent. This ability may be used as a reaction and a follow-up attack with his alternate sword will count as an attack in the same motion. This ability can be used with only one sword, but will not allow for the counter-attack.

Smite Markus channels the divine power bestowed upon him through Espel to strike an enemy with greater force, imparting them with a magical impact of light and fire. If upcast, this spell will cause his weapon to erupt into fire, dealing even more damage.

Second Level Spells
Light of Truth Markus can conjure an orb of light that begins as a warm yellow, but will shift to either blue or red if the target he is speaking to tells the truth (blue) or lies (red). Requires concentration on target, can only be used on a single individual at a time.

Rebuke the Damned By offering a prayer to Espel, Markus can cloak himself in divine light. This light will then fire rays out at any nearby undead or monstrous creatures of shadowy composition. This ability does not trigger his Curse and is allowed by Espel.

Sword Art: Shadow of the Martyr Markus can briefly double his agility and in doing so throw the smaller of his two swords. This sword will be thrown at roughly the speed of an arrow. Markus can then dash up to 60 feet following the sword, swinging his own sword in the shadow of the first (if possible) to prevent the slash from easily being seen. The result will be Markus arriving nearly immediately after his thrown blade with a difficult-to-see slash timed in tandem, giving a disadvantage to most enemies trying to block, parry, or deflect. Markus can prepare for this ability by using his Gift of Espel Cantrip within the same turn, if need be.

Lightbrand Markus will mark the next target he hits with a branding of burning light. For the next sixty seconds, any additional strike he lands on this target will increase in damage and cause the light to both burn brighter and more intensely. Each strike causes the sixty-second timer to reset. If struck with a Smite from any source, the Lightbrand will erupt into a powerful explosion of light depending on how many strikes Markus landed.

Lance of Espel Markus can create a construct of solid light in the shape of a lance. This lance is then fired at a target with blinding speed, specializing in penetration, breaking through most barriers at or below the third level of spellcasting. The impact, however, is only that of a metallic lance.

Third Level Spells
Chorus of Espel Markus begins to recite one of the holy hymns of Espel. While doing this, he may begin to heal any individual within his field of vision. This is considered a channeled Spell. Others that know the hymn, even if non-believers, may also recite the hymn to increase its healing and decrease the duration between heals. Most hymns of Espel are approximately three minutes. However, if even one word is misspoken of the hymn, the spell comes to an immediate halt. The person receiving the healing must be able to hear the Hymn.

Starlight Enchantment Markus may enhance any one source of light to provide roughly the output of regular daylight for up to 8 hours. This does not require concentration.

Seven Swords of Espel Markus recites a prayer to Espel. After completing this prayer, he conjures seven swords of holy light around him. With concentration, he can have these swords target an individual within line of sight. If his concentration is broken, these swords will remain for one minute before fading. He may resume concentration on them to return to their use. This spell has a total duration of three minutes if not interrupted.

*Spells that are struck out cannot be used at present.

Equipment

Standard supporter gear. Will get to this.

Background & History

[Redacted: NPC information to be uncovered IC.]

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

- Markus is actually notably weak for a level five character. His pivot to becoming a supporter also shifted his training and skill progression. His TAME stats have notably depreciated to such a degree he cannot use some of his former Sword Arts.

ERode · Jul 23, 2024

Ayn

Female

18

Level 1

Human

Warrior

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

It's rare for bandages not to be wrapped somewhere around Ayn's body, about as rare for her eyes not to be puffy from crying. Perhaps it would be a heartbreaking thing to see a petite girl marching off into the depths of the dungeon every day, without even the light of naivety or optimism in her gaze, but even if she does not look forward to pain, her grip on her weapons are still solid, her posture still unbent, her legs still sending her to the front of every fight.

Ayn is diminutive, a girl barely 5'4 and 108 lbs.

Ayn is a Twice-Blessed still, sent to the depths to thrive

‎

Personality

She's just a kid.

Her emotions run hot, and she's still not experienced enough to really understand the evils of the world, the schemes of adults. Paradoxically, she hasn't truly developed a sense of self yet, her understanding of mortalkind built upon stories and lessons taught to her by others. A dozen different prejudices and an equal number of taboos keep her movements and actions in check. Ayn has not yet fully grasped that she's on her own, too caught up in herself and her 'clearest' identity to strategize and rationalize. She is the heiress of a martial lineage, and must constantly prove herself. She is a Twice-Blessed, and must not stray from descending into the depths. She is the shadow of her father's lost son. She is the younger sister of the proper inheritor. Labels cling to her like glue, and Ayn dares not to shed them. Her family name will not be given to others, but that does not mean she's free from what it entails.

So what recourse is there for her, really? Her emotions run hot, her past binds her more tightly than the chains of the enslaved, and in pursuit of everything that she ought to be, she doesn't know what she should be. Frustration and passion builds, the vertigo of freedom contrasting with the weight of filial piety, while the true face of the world confounds in its complexities. A sword can't solve a situation where there is no enemy to cut down, and a child possesses neither wisdom nor charisma enough to handle anything else. She can only turn back to old memories, to a suggestion from the departed.

When she can't even articulate what it is that constricts her chest and weighs her mind, Ayn sings.

TAME STATS

Toughness
13

Agility
13

Might
9

Endurance
12

Skills & Proficiencies

Acrobatics 〡 Rating ★★★
A sense of balance and the ability to generate explosive strength. Ayn is a Twice-Blessed acrobat, flexible and light on her feet. She can balance on thin ropes, perform all manner of somersaults and backflips, and possesses the sort of flexibility that would make those older than her wince. With some thought and maybe some practice, there is no building that she can't finagle her way on top of...so long as magic isn't involved.

Swordsmanship: Dual Straight Swords 〡 Rating ★★★
Though some deride it as impractical, it's nevertheless the fighting style that Ayn herself was trained in. Twice the number of swords should mean twice the number of strikes and parries, no?

First Aid 〡 Rating ★★
A necessary skill to develop when one's skills are naturally designed to damage one's own body. Ayn's relatively handy when it comes to taking care of bruises, broken bones, cuts, and the like. Just don't expect her to really know what she's doing if someone's sick.

Meditation 〡 Rating ★★
Clearing out the mind and centering your focus. In battle, Ayn can keep surprisingly level-headed for a girl her age. Out of battle, she can 'clear' her mind so quickly that she'd fall asleep within five seconds. Rest, after all, is another form of work.

Running 〡 Rating ★★
Considering the emphasis on footwork in the Surpassing Strike School and the sheer health benefits that it entails, Ayn's pretty good at running. She knows proper form, manages her pace well, and can push past the pain in her lungs and legs for a sprint. And, of course, how would she charge into the fray if she wasn't good at running?

Sewing 〡 Rating ★
If Ayn didn't know how to patch up and sew her clothes, she would quite literally be wearing rags at this point.

Singing 〡 Rating ★
Ayn isn't amazing by any means, but she's certainly emotional. She tosses it all in: her anger, joy, sadness.

Cooking 〡 Rating ★
She's a girl, after all. Even Twice-Blessed, it's an expected skill to possess and develop.

WILD STATS

Willpower
7

Intuition
4

Liability
3

Dominion
2 (5)

Abilities

Spell Slots
2 Level One Spell Slots
3 Ki Points
2 Ki Points/Short Rest
8 Recoverable Ki Points/Long Rest

Fighting Style: The Surpassing Strike School, ■■■■■■■ Lineage
Ayn dual wields straight swords, leveraging agility and footwork to slice through her foes with shallow swings. One does not need to cut deep in order to inflict a severe wound, after all. The depth of an inch is enough to cripple a foe, depending on the placement of the blow.

That, at least, was the originating intent behind the martial school she partook in.

With the invention and proliferation of armor, however, came the necessity for strength enough to surpass such passive defenses. The War Monks spoke of the cultivation of Ki, but those of the Surpassing Strike School delved deeper still, seeing their precious meridian points, the pseudo-spiritual origin and arteries of their life force, as just another muscle. If one's arms grew stronger by incurring damage over repetitive training, then was it not the case that the amount of Ki one could release could also be increased by continually taxing one's meridian points? Thus, the school turned to excess and maximalism. It was not a blow that would end a fight. It was the blow, yielding the warrior's flesh in order to bisect their foes from crown to groin.

Twice-Blessed as she is, Ayn benefits ever more and suffers in proportion to such benefit.

Unleash: Calamity Burnout
At base, Ayn can use Unleash as a level one Spell. Unlike other Twice-Blessed, her specialized training and mindset has altered her Unleash to give her the ability to release it as an instantaneous surge of power at the cost of her health. Once activated, all of Ayn's TAME stats increase by 2, and additionally, she can cause cause her Agility and Might to briefly double for a span of a single major action, in exchange for suffering internal bleeding and microfractures in her bones for drawing forth such strength from an imperfect vessel.

Cantrips
Sword Art: Skim the Surface
A simple stroke of the blade, where one slices into the incoming limb while slipping away from the extended weapon. When combined with a quick step, it becomes the foundation for the traditional origins of the Surpassing Strike School. This Cantrip increases her Agility by 2.

Sword Art: Shifting Crescent
Performed in mid-air, allowing one to change the orientation of their body and deliver either a slice at an unexpected angle or dodge a blow that would otherwise be impossible to evade. This Cantrip allows her to shift the trajectory and direction of her mid-air movement by an amount of distance equal to her regular jump.

Sword Art: Evening Haze
Esoteric footwork that throws off the opponent's expectations either through sudden acceleration, deceleration, or direction change. Generally works better versus intelligent opponents who try to predict movements rather than rely only on their reaction speed. Masters of this particular Sword Art can leave afterimages of themselves while in movement. This Sword Art cannot be used without Ki.

Ki Usage: Ayn generates a single afterimage, fundamentally enabling her to avoid a single attack that would otherwise have hit.

Level One Spells
Sword Art: Guide the Flow
A parry and counter performed with the tip of one's swords. By intercepting an attack at a specific point, one can transform the flow of force, redirecting it back into the attacker. This is most often used to disarm a melee fighter, utilizing the redirected force to send their weapon flying out of their grip, but can also be used to reflect or deflect magical attacks. For the purpose of this disarm effect, Ayn's weight class is treated as equal to her opponent's, and her Might is increased by 3.

Ki Usage: Magical projectiles at this Sword Art's Spell Level can be deflected. Magical projectiles below this Sword Art's Spell Level can be reflected back at the caster.

Sword Art: Quarreling Sisters
A flurry of blows that seek to overwhelm and confuse, where the twinned weapons used strike in different angles, directions, and manners, constantly forcing the opponent to respond correctly, lest one mistake causes the next mistake and the onslaught overwhelms them entirely. In the duration of this Sword Art, Cantrip-level Sword Arts can still be used. This is a Concentration ability, which increases her Agility by 1 for every attack she makes, up to a maximum bonus of 6.

Ki Usage: Agility is increased by 2 for every attack she makes instead. Once Ayn reaches the maximum bonus of 6, her Might increases by 2.

Sword Art: Possessing Spirit
The signature sword technique of the Surpassing Strike School. Simple at core, yet an effective foundation for the fighting style: Ki is channeled throughout the body and ultimately into a single sword. During this time, Might and Agility are enhanced. Just prior to the attack, the blood in one's veins and the Ki in one's meridian points rush outwards like a tempest to slice through all in the path of one's sword. Upon impact, ki erupts from the sword, doubling the raw force of the impact, enhancing the cutting ability of the blade, and creating a blustering wind to follow the user. After impact of the sword, stats return to normal and the user feels fatigue in their arms and legs. This Sword Art cannot be used without Ki.

Ki Usage: At Spell Level 1, Might and Agility are increased by 4.

Equipment

A pair of double-edged straight swords. Durable but worn.

A small satchel containing some just-as-small items for maintaining her hygiene while in the dungeon.

A first aid kit that is often replenished. The bag has been patched over many times.

A pillow. She sleeps better with it, and it can be used to muffle her voice as well when she really needs to scream.

A beaten up lantern. Can be hung from her belt. A bit small now, but she used to think it was a clunky, oversized thing. A memento that she ought to keep in her room, yet can't help but bring with her into the Dungeon.

Background & History

There had always been a need for more blades.

Whether combat slaves or devout zealots, the Surpassing Strike School welcomed and profited from teaching both the art of exceeding one’s natural limits. The War of Warm Waters placed that martial art upon the tip of one’s tongue. Not all combat slaves were to be considered for longevity during those bloodied years, after all. More common were those who were simply fit enough to develop the baseline capability of bursting their meridian points, sacrificing their flesh for surges of hysteric strength. Wars were defined by battles of attrition, but heroes were defined by singular acts of valor. Within the crucible of violence, lineages and masters were born, tested as they were in the cycle of torment and recovery.

The one who shattered the hull of a ship with a single throw of an axe.

The one who singlehandedly slaughtered their way through the crew of a galleon.

The one who sprinted across the waves to claim a captain’s head.

And when the war ended, when the dungeon emerged, the Surpassing Strike School only became more well-known as a premium style of martial arts. A surge of power to match the Unleash of the Twice-Blessed. The promise of overwhelming destructive force, unnecessary for slaying your fellow man but entirely necessary for cleaving through the monsters that dwelled beneath the Amaric Temple. Slavers from Ballard Trading Company brought in less-promising combat slaves, seeking to create a stock of fighters with outsized damage potential. Crusaders from the Holy Order attended seminars, seeking to obtain a method that would ever-heighten the brilliance of their holy Smites. Even fledgling adventurers sought to learn the techniques of the school, for what fresh-faced neophyte did not dream of a heroic strike, one to cleave the tides and slay the dragon?

...

Ayn was born into such a school.

She was the second child, a daughter in a family that prized sons. One could not deny the advantages of a larger frame and physical strength, after all, nor the ability to gain muscle more quickly for the same level of training. If she had been normal, she'd have been given the opportunity to live a normal enough life. There was no expectation for her to become the next master of the family lineage, to be responsible for the growth and expansion of the dojo, for raising disciples that would perform deeds of martial valor that would ever-heighten the art of the Surpassing Strike. She would have had many options, many choices, many things that she could have done and become.

Ayn was born Twice-Blessed. Could there be a greater curse than this?

To her father, of course, it was a blessing. Sure, she was a girl, but she was still his blood, his flesh to mold. Ayn was trained as soon as she could walk, while expected still to attend to all that was expected of a woman of the household. Days turned to months turned to years as she bore all the burden and expectations of an heir of the Surpassing Strike School, without any of the responsibility or influence that such a thing entailed. Twice-Blessed as she was, the girl occupied a strange space where she could neither train with those her age nor train with those her level, kept only to private halls, early mornings, and late evenings. How could she hate it though? She knew nothing else beyond the walls of her family’s grounds, knew nothing except that she was born to train and fight and obtain glory so that the family’s lineage grew ever more magnificent. She was Twice-Blessed and must pay for such a wondrous blessing.

Her brother, Zeal, thought that it was a shame, that his younger sister, whom his mother had instructed him to care for and protect when she was still in her womb, was being led down a path heavier than his own. He tried, of course, to broaden her world a bit. Taught her what reading and writing he could, spent his short breaks during the afternoon helping her with her injuries. Spoke of the stories his classmates or students talked about. It was from him that Ayn began to sing; he wanted her to pick up something separate from the duo duties of martial arts and housekeeping, something that was hers to claim, and she had chosen song at a whim. But what could he do, really? He was his father's son. There were limits to which children could disobey their parents, limits to which an inheritor could act freely.

He had to make a name for himself. Become a Master, establish his own school, and with the excuse of needing another hand, drag his little sister out from beneath his parents' influence.

It was only natural that he would seek Ardynport and the Amaric Temple, and for a while, it went well.

His letters, read aloud by a proud father, detailed his adventures. The gifts he sent back by courier were curious trinkets at best, but nevertheless spoke of a place unimaginable to Ayn. The stories of the depths, the stories of the adventurers, the stories of Ardynport; she had seen those who came from that wondrous city before, but she only recognized it as 'real' after someone she knew wrote about it. Ayn was happiest back then, listening to her brother's stories, narrated by her father, while her mother prepared dinner in the background and the cold water that Ayn used to wash the vegetables soothed the blisters and cuts on her hands and arms.

Time passed on.

The letters stopped arriving.

A ragged man appeared at the doorstep of the dojo one day, speaking quietly with her father.

She didn't see him for three days, after that encounter.

...

Zeal was lost to the Dungeon.

What was Ayn to think?

What was Ayn to do?

The Surpassing Strike School was no meritocracy; a Twice-Blessed, with all the advantages that they possessed, certainly couldn't be expected to actually teach the techniques of the school in a way that would be understandable to those without such blessing. She would make a poor heiress, a poor Master. Her father was old too now, the star in his life stolen away in a land far from home. None of them recognized the folly of teaching their children and loved ones such a self-destructive art. They could only stew in quiet sorrow and resentment at the fact that they let Zeal leave to begin with.

She didn't know what to do. She didn't know what to believe either. So long as there was no body, there was hope. But monsters ate bodies, so it wasn't reasonable to expect hope. But what if he was lost, literally, waiting for someone to find him? The Dungeon wasn't fully explored; what if he had slipped and fallen to an even deeper floor? But that meant the monsters were even more ferocious, the hazards even more deadly. He would have died from that, if the fall didn't claim him. Did that mean she should accept it though? What was the point of training if she couldn't use it? Yet she was now the heiress, all the same. She had to marry someone who'd be able to take the mantle from her, someone whom her father could find a surrogate son in. Had to give birth, raise children, manage finances, cook and clean every day, all while becoming indomitable, the paragon of the Surpassing Strike, Twice-Blessed and mocked by fate. Her whole life was before her. Her whole life was charted.

Ayn couldn't say for certain, whether her brother's disappearance was a reason or an excuse.

But the winds of adolescent rebellion had finally caught her sails and propelled her to Ardynport in search for closure, for the wider world as told in those creased letters.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

Ayn's education is spotty and fragmented, but she's literate, at the very least.

Due to how she fights, common weapons don't last long...but common weapons are all that she can afford, so the girl has become a regular customer at a particular smithy within Ardynport.

While she doesn't spend too much coin at the taverns, Ayn has gotten into the habit of tracking which minstrel or bard is performing at which tavern, often sneaking in to give a listen...at least until the waiter or bartender chases her out for being a piss-poor patron.

Sir Les Paul · Jul 27, 2024

Leander Cromwell

Male

19

1

Human

Mage - Storm Sorcerer

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

Lancer.(Fate.stay.night).600.3404037.jpg

‎

Personality

Cocky, spirited, and rambunctious, Leander is precisely what one might expect from a slightly-sheltered noble in his first year experiencing the world outside of the well-manicured estate he had in Siviloa. His year of sailing and seeing the Borosi Empire did help ground him, but only slightly. He still yearns for adventure and seeks the thrill of pushing his magic. One might consider him a man with a one-track mind in that most of his goals centered around pushing his lightning to its fullest, loving the feeling and sensation that electricity causes as it courses through him. A type of elation he has yet to experience from a friend or lover in this world.

He is intelligent and can learn various spells via more Scholastic means, but his real magic comes from where his heart is: the coursing winds and thunderous bolts of lighting found in storms. When necessary, he can buckle down and learn new skills. He isn't adverse to this either, though his concentration is at times somewhat lacking. For something he may be passionate about, like the fleeting drive to finish a wonderous sketch, he may be able to sit and focus for hours. However, make him wait on a teammate doing as mundane chore and he might just complain for every minute of the wait.

In truth, Leander is excited. He feared for years he would be locked into a life of marriage with some woman he barely knew for the sake of gifting his family name and the trade it brought. Never in his entire youth did he think he would have the opportunity to adventure. As a child, he yearned for the chance to develop his magics; as a teen, he yearned for the freedom to sail and make his own mistakes. As a young adult, he now has those choices and is absolutely willing to throw all caution to the wind to make them.

TAME STATS

Toughness
11

Agility
12

Might
11

Endurance
12

Skills & Proficiencies

Archery 〡 Rating ★
Leander was formally taught to use a bow, but primarily only did so with smaller hunting bows or target practice. While he can hit a stationary target with decent accuracy, hitting moving targets or firing arrows in combat is entirely left to luck.

Calligraphy 〡 Rating ★★★
A skill purely adjacent to sketching, Leander can write with impressively crisp lines and legible text. His ability to swap between different types of cursive writing and even create embellished lettering is one developed from his tutoring and memory. Most notably, he is fairly talented at recreating handwriting, so much so that an untrained eye could not spot his forgery.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★
Leander can at least clean a wound and apply bandages with pressure, but his skill lacks everywhere else. His knowledge of medicines is limited without instruction and his decision making regarding how to treat wounds or stabilize more complex damage is limited.

Maintenance 〡 Rating ★
Leander was taught to maintain all of his equipment, though his skill at such is limited as he never truly had to develop it. Sharpening blades will often result in an uneven edge, but it is at least better than a blunt instrument. He can pick out a proper stone for sharpening, but cannot improve it. He does possess knowledge of polishing armor and applying oil to prevent rusting, but his knowledge of how to treat more organic materials such as leather is limited.

Painting 〡 Rating ★★
Leander is capable of creating recognizable paintings, but his skill with blending paints and shading is limited. With sufficient practice using a paint medium, his skill could increase greatly, but his experience is not that he knows the difference between various mediums. His skill shines best when either applying basic layers of paint or adding small paintings as embellishments to a piece.

Polearms 〡 Rating ★★
Leander trained with various weapons in this youth and ultimately landed on a spear as his preferred weapon. His skill with a spear is at least sufficiently trained to use it in combat without being a danger to himself or others, but his focus on Magic prevented him from ever pursuing the Spear enough to develop any Spear Arts.

Sketching 〡 Rating ★★★★
Leander is Twice-Blessed with sketching and can use various mediums to accurately recreate images from both his memory and in action. He can create incredibly accurate portraits and detail out scenes with both accuracy and ease. His creative side even extends to embellishing pictures or otherwise creating impressive works of art. This skill was encouraged by his family and even tutored, expanding his natural talent. While he is not as skilled at painting or the introduction of colors, some of his skills do translate over. His talent with the pen and writing instruments is even what inspired his preference of a spear.

Swordsmanship 〡 Rating ★
Leander was formally taught to wield a sword and the basic strokes and slashes, but pursued the spear instead. His skill is sufficient to know how to safely wield the weapon, but could be easily overcome by a well-trained knight.

WILD STATS

Willpower
5

Intuition
5

Lability
4

Dominion
3 (8)

Abilities

Spell Slots
3 Level One Spell Slots

Unleash Leander can cast a basic Unleash spell which provides him a plus two in all TAME stats for roughly three minutes.

Metamagic The trademark of Sorcery over other forms of spellcasting, Leander is capable of powerful feats of mastery specifically over spells of the Lightning affinity. This excludes his Favored Spell, Lightning Bolt, unless it is cast at its natural Spell Level of 3 or higher. At his current skill level, Leander can alter a spell once per short rest to either become Twinned or Empowered. A Twinned Spell will effectively act as if cast twice with two separate targets. An Empowered Spell is one that remains stable after pouring more mana into it, thus dealing more damage while at the same Spell Level. Metamagic differs from component control in that the feats Metamagic are capable of cannot be replicated via additional components.

Favored Spell: Lightning Bolt When used as a Cantrip, Leander can launch a bolt of lightning (up to 20 feet) from his hand to a single target that provides a stunning, painful jolt to them. When upcast to Level One, the bolt becomes wider and can hit up to three conductive targets on its path to the target destination and its range is doubled. At level one, if it only hits one enemy, it can provide a lethal shock to most smaller enemies, but if split, will only perform as much damage as it would in its Cantrip form. Leander can cast this spell at its proper Level 3 version with the reagent of Lightning in a Bottle or a similar lightning-magic oriented item, but doing so causes significant backlash to his body and the expenditure of all of his remaining Spell Slots. This method of training is how he ultimately "tamed the lightning" to use as a weaker variant and subsequently become a Favored Spell.

Cantrips
Shocking Grasp Electricity crackles through the fingertips of Leander. Upon touch or close physical contact (roughly 1inch), Leander will release a jolt of stunning electricity into a target. This can be painful and cause muscle spasms, resulting in briefly impaired mobility. Additionally, if the target is wearing metal armor or is otherwise sufficiently conductive, this affect will be spread amongst their body for a more profound affect.

Charged Strike Leander charges a metallic weapon with Lightning for up to one minute. Upon striking a target, they will receive a jolt of stunning electricity with the same relative effect as Shocking Grasp. This effect can only occur once. Leander must be in range to touch the weapon (or individual holding the weapon), but has no limit on how many simultaneous weapons he can charge. Charge Strike can be upcast to increase the damage it deals upon shock and gain three charges per level, up to level 3.

Firebolt Leander flings (up to 30 feet) a base-ball size projectile of fire at an area that bursts into burning cinders upon impact. This spell can be used to spark fires at close range.

First Level Spells

Lightning Lure Leander creates a leash of lightning that jumps out at a target in eyesight within 15 feet. The target will receive a nasty shock upon contact and the lightning moves at an Agility of approximately 22, making the initial strike difficult to dodge. Small targets may be briefly paralyzed and pulled toward Leander. Medium targets (humanoid) may resist the paralysis and pull if they possess a relative Toughness of 12 (calculated at 150lb).

Witch Bolt Leander fires an arc of blue, crackling energy at a target within 30 feet. Upon impact, the creature receives a shock as if it were touched by Shocking Grasp. Roughly every five seconds after, Leander can push through another shock equal in strength. This arc may be maintained for up to one minute. If the creature goes out of range or is obstructed during this time, the spell ends. Leander must maintain concentration on this spell and may not cast another, otherwise the spell will end.

Equipment

- Refined Steel Lance
- Steel Daggers
- Blue magegarb with steel spaulders
- Backpack with bedroll including standard dungeoneering gear such as rope, rations, a climber's kit, tackle and line, etc.
- Various more personal choice items such as ink, sketchbooks, chalk, charcoal, pens of various kinds

Background & History

Background: Noble of the Borosi Empire

Leander was born Lothar Elric Galwynd of House Galwynd, a long-standing Noble family of the Borosi Empire. For centuries, House Galwynd has overseen the island of Seviloa, with its head acting as the Marquess of the entire land stretching from the shores of Seviloa to the Wetlands south of it and the plains that stretch between the two. Seviloa is one of the Southermost regions of the Borosi Empire and famously produces large quantities of grain that it ships out through the empire. While not as large or influential as Ardynport, the granaries of Seviloa and its ports are an important part of the Infrastructure of the Borosi Empire.

Lothar was the third brother and fifth child of the current Marquess. With all his brothers alive and well, he wasn't necessarily in line for the throne, but his station as a noble was one of high value within the Empire. In fact, his station was one sought after as it would secure grain trade for at least another generation. No Galwynd ever went hungry. It meant his father, Leoric, could treat him and his siblings like political pawns to trade for goods and resources, knowing he had more grain than he could even ship to trade with other regions of the empire. Barring some extreme tragedy, Lothar was fated to be a pawn married off to the highest bidder.

His status as a Twice-Blessed didn't save him from that; it only raised his price.

He went through all of the traditional rounds of Galwynd training. From a young age, they tried to sculpt him into the perfect little representative of the House. Well-educated in the basics of language, trade, arithmetic, history, as well as etiquette and the social hierarchy of the Borosi Empire. This all worked, for the most part. His skill in sketching and later calligraphy were considered great blessings for a Noble house as they were skills that could be shown off in polite company. Despite the structure and relative positivity of his lifestyle, there was an allure to magic and even to learning martial combat, though he never excelled in the later.

Lothar knew what his role in society was, but as with most youths, he rejected it. Quietly, at least. In no small part because his older brother, Leoric IV or just Leo, was constantly burned out and drained from the grooming he withstood to become the next heir. Their middle brother, Logan, was much like himself, but seconds held a unique place in that they were forever the back-up. Second in line. Groomed to lead, but not to rebel. Lothar and his other siblings, which numbers at eight, were the ones fated to be married out. Yet, still, he wished for more. He excelled with Lightning Magic and could feel the ferocity of storms as if they sang a siren song only he could hear.

Old stories told that the Galwynd line rose to power originally as sailors that had taken Djinn as lovers. Beings forsaken by their natural plane for one reason or another whose genetics were woven into the generations of the Galwynd. Some truth to this existed and the family did have a famous line of Sorcerers with a specific knack for storm-based Magic. As a Twice-Blessed, Lothar felt the pull of his bloodline even more. Djinn may have originated from another plane, but the magic they passed down harnessed storms all the same. It is believed these traits were what once made the Galwynd such excellent sailors. A natural tie to the skies that helped them sail and a forewarning of the storms and harsh tides to pass.

His father passed and strife arose within the succession for Marquess. While the King of the Borosi Empire recognized the eldest brother Leo, the locals favored Logan considerably. Logan had actually served in the War of Warm Waters and was a natural-born sailor, likely having more of the same blood in him that Lothar had. The following conflict was not bloody, but it was nasty and involved plenty of backstabbing. Ultimately, Lothar supported Leo over Logan, resulting in his middle brother being sent to join the Borosi Navy while Leo assumed control. In return, Leo released Lothar from his noble duties and demands to be married. Had Logan thought to do the same, the succession wars might have turned out different.

Nonetheless, Lothar turned eighteen and left with a royal escort as dictated by Leo. Despite how cut-throat the succession was, Leo had a genuine admiration for the middle brother and furthermore knew Lothar had no desire for rank. The two spent some time at sea and traversing the Borosi Empire, getting Lothar much-needed experience in the real world, but ultimately, Lothar wanted to do more: he wanted to explore a Dungeon. It was no secret that Twice-Blessed grew exponentially there and he wanted to test the limits of his magic. The open sea would never make his magic grow the same way the caverns of a Dungeon would.

Despite the objections of his steward, Nathaniel, a Dungeoneer Lothar would soon become. He cut his long hair, changed his bright red armor, and lied about his name and heritage in the Dungeon of Ardynport, which had one of the safer early Dungeon experiences within the Dungeons of the Borosi Kingdom. There, Lothar Galwynd became Leander Cromwell.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

- Facelaim: Lancer (Cú Chulainn) from Fate stay/night
- Height 5'10"
- Weight 153lb

November Witch · Jul 27, 2024

Name: Symphony
Age: Unknown - Tens of thousands of years
Gender: Female
Level: 1
Race: Construct
Job/Role/Class: Mage - Battlemage
Faction: Dungeon Guild
Height: 5'0 (152cm)
Weight: 367lbs (166kg)

--

Appearance

--

Personality
Symphony's personality is currently fragmented and not all there. There are glimpses of the person she could be here and there. As of current, however, she is robotic and oblivious. She isn't the greatest at expressing emotions, or even recognizing them. This applies to social situations, body language and physical cues from people. Socially oblivious is the most apt term. Though this is due to her memory loss. As her body deteriorates, so does her soul, and her memories along with it. There isn't much there right now, but maybe if she can repair her body, her soul will mend as well...

--

Skills & Proficiencies

Sewing 〡 ★★★★
Symphony has had to keep her clothing looking good over her tens of thousands of years she's existed. Being able to sew, fix, and make her own clothing is one of the first skills she learned. Not to mention, making thread for much of her life means she is incredibly good at it.

Painting 〡 ★★★
Symphony has had to keep herself looking good over her tens of thousands of years she's existed. She'd adept at using makeup, paint, and more to decorate her body and appear more lifelike.

Singing 〡 ★★
Due to the origin of her creation, her creator wanted entertainment every now and then. Some of the many dolls were made to learn and become proficient in acts like dancing, singing or playing instruments. Symphony was one of three main singers the god used for entertainment.

Stealth〡 ★★
Being alone for such a long time and having a body with hard to source materials means Symphony would often sneak around or past threats rather than fighting them and risking damage to herself.

Cooking 〡 ★
Symphony traveled with others in the past for quite a long time. However, when tired or in seasons of drought, they were often too weak to cook for themselves. So, after memorizing recipes and through trial and error, she has become a decent cook.

--

TAME STATS
Toughness | 17
Agility | 10
Might | 18
Endurance | ∞

WILD STATS
Willpower | 2
Intuition | 4
Lability | 5
Dominion | 2

--

Abilities

World Mana Weaver | Cantrip
Symphony is capable of absorbing ambient mana to wind into solid, condensed thread. In its base form, it is similar to silk and has a similar strength, but is resistant to burning, acid, and corrosion. Doll can generate thread from a large spool found in her, any of her ten fingertips, her mouth, or a medium-sized compartment in her chest. The spool in her back can generate large sums of thread en-masse to later use so long as she has an appropriate dowel to insert. Inside of a Dungeon, thread generation is nearly infinite.

Thread Magic: Steelsilk Enchantment | Cantrip
Symphony can either create new thread or enchant previously made thread to be tougher than steel wire yet as flexible as silk. This condition will remain for 1h.

Thread Magic: The Ties that Bind | Cantrip
After touching a target with either or both hands, Symphony can wrap the immediate limb or area in their Magical thread (if they are able to create it). Symphony can optionally choose to apply any Enchantment she knows on her thread when the thread is generated. If the target is wearing cloth of any kind, these threads may “fuse” into it and further bind the target.

Thread Magic: Thread Lure | Level 1 Spell
Symphony can create a series of prehensile threads (up to ten) that may extend up to twenty feet. These threads move at a speed of roughly 16 AGI. If these threads touch a target, they may wrap them as if they were affected by The Ties That Bind. In the same action, Symphony can use her immense strength to hurl the wrapped target into any direction within her range (approx. 20 feet from her location).

Thread Magic: Razor Whip | Level 1 Spell
Symphony can twist her threads together into a whip-like weapon extending from one of her hands. She can then use this whip to strike enemies, cutting anything it touches as if it were a razor. The tip of the whip strikes as a normal whip would with the added damage of being sharp. While her movements are telegraphed at her normal AGI of ten, the whip itself moves at an AGI of 16.

--

Spell Slots:
1st: Two

--

Equipment:
A small bag with cloth, to repair her clothing. It also contains makeup and paint so she can keep herself looking fine.

--

Background & History
The world was robbed of a soul, and this soul was robbed of its rest. The god needed souls to live out its selfish fantasies. To rob the world of its mana and keep it for itself. Thousands of souls were robbed and given a new, mundane purpose. Their new bodies hard and made from the materials of the earth. Flesh was their previous life. Now it was hard metals, woods, stone and a combination of other earthly materials. Their sole purpose was to weave magic thread for this god from the wordly mana. For hundreds of years, these puppets wove mana into magical thread, entertained this god, and were at its beck and call. Until a great war happened, and the god fled, leaving the dolls purposeless and abandoned. With so many years to drill her job into her, Symphony continued to produce magical string for years until something inside her broke. She couldn't produce the magical thread anymore. So, with her only purpose unable to be fulfilled, she became inert, and inactive for tens of thousands of years.

A few thousand years ago, she came to, only to find herself surrounded by other dolls like herself in various stages of deconstruction. Like certain parts had been scavenged and the rest left over. From most of them, she couldn't sense anything. They were likely all dead, their souls moved on finally. Symphony would also take from them, fixing herself so she could create thread once more, before moving on and exploring the world. The thousands of years between then and now are all hazy and foggy. Is it because of the time between them? Or perhaps it's because she's broken again? Symphony doesn't know and doesn't remember much besides the heartache of losing people close to her, and the passage of time. What was it that even broke her again? She can't quite recall. Every time she needed repairs, she would visit that place she woke up. But there's nothing left anymore. All that Symphony can do now is chase the materials she's made from and hope to find someone that can turn these materials into the parts she needs to fix herself.

Her soul is fading. As her body deteriorates and breaks down, so does her soul. She needs to start to fix herself, or her soul will break down too far, and she'll collapse, finally a lifeless puppet like all the others...

Theme & Notes
Theme: Dissonant Whispers - Isaak Wolf
Symphony is Ambidextrous

Miscellaneous:
Automaton Body: Living Doll
Symphony is a soul bound to a body made of Orichalcum. Her body is heavy, durable, and one of the best non-organic conductors of World Mana known to man. Because she is an automaton, she does not eat, sleep, nor get tired. She cannot be poisoned or made ill by conventional means. She is susceptible to advanced forms of corrosion and acid and due to her weight, cannot swim. Her body naturally absorbs the ambient mana around her to fuel her. Even without an active mana source, she could remain active for approximately three days depending on activity level. Her body is primarily built to spin a special thread made of mana and her mastery over this thread and its creation is par none, save perhaps any sisters that may still remain. Her control over this thread is that she can effectively will it to move and weave as if it were her own limb(s) within roughly a three foot area around her, so long as it is physically touching her. At present, her body is in disarray. Orichalcum is both a rare and expensive material, found normally only near well-guarded ley lines. It is both difficult to acquire and difficult to smith, requiring a great artisan to do so. Because of the state of her body, her bodily functions and mind have depreciated greatly, lowering her TAME and WILD stats while also repressing her memories, skills, and abilities.

Prizzy Kriyze · Jul 28, 2024

Cassius "Cas" Vanne

Male

24

Level 1

Human

Monk

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

6' 170lbs

‎

Personality

Happy-go-lucky, dauntless, ambitious - especially where there's promise of gold - Cassius has an attitude that's hard to subdue. He's bubbly to a fault, loves to speak his mind on anything that comes up, and seems to carry his heart on his sleeve. It has come to dawn on some of the few that have had the pleasure of knowing him long, however, that he would just as well sell you for profit as he would confess his happiness to have made you a friend.

Though exploring the dungeon, experiencing it's exciting depths, and forging new bonds in the heat of battle are their own reward, nothing could ever beat the thrill of monetary compensation for a job well done. Money, after all, rules the world - and freeing oneself from the shackles of society via overwhelming purchasing power should be the ultimate goal of any individual of sound mind, as far as Cassius is concerned. There is no such thing as double-crossing, you simply lost to the demands of the free market! And that most certainly is your own fault for not keeping up with current trends.

Having said all the above, one might expect Cassius to be scrupulous about his spending and bound to penny-pinch at any opportunity, but that would be missing the mark. Cassius values the ability to generate wealth, not necessarily the retention thereof. A healthy economy needs currency to rotate, after all.

Cassius wishes to release himself from the social standing he was born into, and will happily partner up with anyone who shares that same ambition.

TAME STATS

Toughness
16

Agility
14

Might
13

Endurance
10

Skills & Proficiencies

Bartering 〡 Rating ★★★
If you want to make a profit, you need to know how to make a good deal. Standard market values are often very one-sided, especially for a young naïve dungeon delver.

Athletics 〡 Rating ★★★
Cassius can run, climb, swim, and jump with the best of them. Being twice-blessed only made it that much easier.

Martial Arts 〡 Rating ★★★
The time he's been allowed to train his martial skills has been relatively constricted, but he's still managed to master the basics of a number of techniques and weapon forms.

Persuasion 〡 Rating ★★
Compliments will get you everywhere, and if they don't, usually a good head on your shoulders and quick thinking on your feet will.

Evaluation 〡 Rating ★★
Do you know how many rusted pieces of crap most people will carry along just because they think they'll make an extra copper?

Insight 〡 Rating ★★
People are such poor liars, most of the time.

Deception 〡 Rating ★
Most of the time.

Labour 〡 Rating ★
It may have been some time, but Cassius is no stranger to hard work.

Logic 〡 Rating ★
Administration, maths, etc. You're not going to get ahead in life if you can't read a book or two from time to time.

WILD STATS

Willpower
5

Intuition
3

Lability
3

Dominion
2(6)

Abilities

Spell Slots
2 Level One Spell Slots
1 Pact Slot (exclusive to Fiend spells)
3 Ki Points max
2 Ki Points/Short Rest
8 Recoverable Ki Points/Long Rest

Unleash - A well-utilized ability in Cassius' arsenal. He can increase his TAME stats by 2 for up to 3 minutes by casting it as a first level spell.

Martial Discipline: Way of the Crucible - At the very heart of his training was the core tenant of tempering the body through not only brutal means of training, but sharpening the mind and honing the spirit. Above all, this holds true for the Way of the Crucible. Cassius has followed these tenants and subsequently trained his fists beyond the limits of most mortal men. Regardless of what martial form he is in, his unarmed strikes with his fists gain a +1 Might on impact and his fists specifically are treated with +2 Toughness.

Martial Form: Feathered - A martial form focused primarily on agility and reaction times, modeling itself after the swift motions of a hawk. With deft movements, this martial form excels in both evasion and covering distance quickly. While fighting in this form, Cassius gains a physical +1 AGI and he gains greater perception and reaction times as if his AGI was raised by +3.

Martial Form: Barbed - A martial form focused primarily on the raw impact of strikes, both dealing them and withstanding them. This form decreases AGI by 1, but increases his Might and Toughness by 1 each. If Cassius is struck by a melee attack that is in range of his fists while in this form, he may react with a counter-attack at +3 AGI.

Cantrips
Exorbitant Exchange - Cassius offers item(s) (organic or inorganic, but may not be alive or undead) of no greater than 25lb and no larger than a 1m x 1m cube to his Patron. His Patron will exchange these items, if possible, for the lowest market rate possible for them within a 100 mile radius in the form of gold coins.

Way of the Crucible Technique: Ironfist - This ability requires a Ki Point. Upon use, Cassius gains a +2 to Might and his fists turn hard as iron for up to one minute.

Martial Art: Mastery of Form - Cassius enhances whichever Martial Form he is presently in with Ki. This will cost a ki point and result in one of the following affects:

> Feathered - Cassius gains 2 AGI instead of 1 AGI with the same increase to reaction times. Furthermore, Cassius is treated as if under the effects of Feather Fall for the duration. This effect will remain for up to five minutes or until concentration is broken.

> Barbed - Cassius now loses two total AGI in return for two Might and two Toughness. If Cassius is struck by a melee attack that is in range of his fists while in this form, he may react with a counter-attack that is +3 AGI and +2 Might. He may only react once per ki point expended. Otherwise, these enhancements will last for 1 minute.

Level One Spells
Way of the Crucible Technique: Ironskin - Can be used as a near-instant reaction. Cassius can reinforce any location on his body below his head with +3 Toughness using his sheer force of will. This reinforced area grants him minor magical, piercing, and slashing resistance in this location. The area Cassius reinforces turns his skin black and may only cover an area of approximately 10 x 10 inches. Cassius can further enhance this with Ki, doubling the area he can use this ability and turning his skin into iron similar to his True Ironfist ability.

Way of the Crucible Technique: Iron Render - Requires a Ki Point to use. A strike of the open palm or kick that results in a shockwave being released upon impact. This ability will cause knockback depending on the weight of the target, up to 20 feet for small targets. If a target is armored, plated, or otherwise defended by a material on their body, the shockwave from this attack may penetrate through the armor to inflict internal damage, often dealing greater damage than it would directly.

Way of the Crucible Mixed Technique: Nerveshatter - Requires a Ki Point to use. Cassius channels his ki into two fingertips and converts it into raw electricity in the process. He then aims for a pressure point or weak spot on the target. His attack is treated as +2 AGI. If this strike lands, the target takes damage as if from a blow from his fist in addition to electrical damage. The strike injects the target with a temporary magnetic current allowing Cassius to follow up with two lightning-fast strikes. These two secondary attacks would require 18 AGI to dodge.

Pact Slot
Fiendish Conjuration: Manifest Destiny - At the cost of 25gp and some of his dignity, Cassius can conjure a terrifying weapon known only as Final Destiny. This weapon takes the shape of a large halberd that is constantly wrought with a dark red flame constantly spewing black smoke, known as Balefire. Despite its size and odd adornments such as spikes and serrations, this weapon is surprisingly light and easy to handle. Balefire is a magical type of flame from the plane this weapon is conjured from. It will corrode even most metals it comes into contact with for a time and burns made by it will continue burning their target in agonizing fashion for even days without some type of Dispel. Worse, if the Halberd is thrown or strikes a target with sufficient force, it will cause an explosion of Balefire in the area. This requires even Cassius to be weary of his attacks and more so the position of his allies.

Equipment

Flowing Robes
A few pieces of cheap jewelry
Sling bag

Background & History

Frail and crying, Cassius was born into slavery like a cheap metaphor mirroring those around him. His parents were like him, slaves from birth with sardonic faces and bleak expectations of the future. They believed that only the rich and powerful had any say in their own destinies, and to that point they'd been right. They often told him of the lucky few who were born into wealth or exceptional talents, seldom without cursing their own fates. That's what little he remembers of them, anyway, before a winter's passing flu claimed them both one year. They'd both been blissfully unaware of the obsession with material gains they'd then hammered into their only child, and equally unaware that the odd birthmark on the back of his neck was a little more than just a birthmark.

That little detail similarly passed the slavers whenever Cassius was sold back and forth, and examined for signs of magical aptitude. And sold back and forth he was; Cassius was an impossibly cheerful young boy, prone to fits of misbehavior and reluctance to carry out whatever orders he was given. Nothing managed to beat down his rebellious nature, it seemed, and so he was subject to more than a few floggings. Around his tenth summer, a particularly nasty whipping caught him the attention of a bitter old elf, who even he cringed at the bloody lashes across the young boys back. After the disciplining, the elf came to Cassius' side and offered him comfort in one of the few moments he'd broken down and cried - and offered him an alternative out of this life.

The elf was old, even by elven standards, and the guards often betted amongst themselves how long it'd take before he keeled over and died from exhaustion, but he was known to have beaten all of their estimates so far. In whispered words in the late evening, when the guards were busy drinking themselves into a daze, he told Cassius of ways in which one could hone ones body to barely even feel the fell swipes of a whip. He taught him how to lash out quickly and catch wild birds for food. How a young, ambitious and bright boy like himself shouldn't waste away under a slave-master's cruel hand. He told him of the secret place, far in the north, where the elf himself had once come from. Where they would open their gates to him, and teach him further, if only he could find an opportunity to escape.

The opportunity would arise three years later, when Cassius had just become a teenager and his guardian deemed him mature enough to have a chance. Cassius, once again, for his misbehavior, and the elf, for his age and slowly withering physique, were to be transported to yet another auction along with a few other low-value slaves. In a dark alley in the outskirts of Ardynport the elf struck out with sudden youthful vigor against one of the guards, laying him out momentarily. With strength unprecedented, he turned and ripped Cassius' rope binds, before ordering him to flee. Flee north, to the place he'd spoken of many times. Cas, albeit sad to know the coming fate of his only friend, needed not be reminded twice. He turned on his heels and dodged narrowly under another guard's arm before slipping away. The guards put up a chase, he'll admit, but after recalling some of the old Elf's teachings, Cas found that they could not seem to keep up.

The wilderness was hardly a safe place for such a young boy, but compared to his prior life Cas found that running, hiding, and fighting for survival was a preferable alternative. Besides, he'd had the mental map of directions hammered into him for three years straight. It was as if every tree and fork on the path he followed was familiar to him. Every creek that was safe to drink from, every berry bush that was safe to eat from. What caves to steer clear of, and which ones you could find sanctuary in. After more days than he could keep track of had passed, he finally found himself in front of an isolated and overgrown monastery far from any civilization. It seemed abandoned at first, but as he crawled his way into its innards he soon found himself surrounded by territorial wood elves.

The elves had half a mind to throw the slave back into the wilderness before he let slip the name of the older elf he'd been tutored by for the past years. Some of the older ones' faces were filled with a momentary reverence, and reluctantly the leadership allowed him the grace of staying and learning their ways. Still, he did not receive any special treatment; he was and always remained an outsider. His younger contemporaries often mocked him for the scars and branding on his back, and it was only after a good few year of living with the elves that the magical seal on the back of his neck developed ever so slightly and caught the attention of the elders. At that point, named a twice-blessed and suddenly of potential benefit to the future of the monastery, he was set into even more rigorous studies. Studies, that he at this point was no longer interested in.

The rebellious flames never died inside him. The elves were hardly on his good side in the first place, and he had a certain disregard for the rules they imposed on him. Forbidden tomes and such never seemed to make a whole lot of sense to him. Such it came that Cassius, after dark one fateful spring night, found himself engrossed in the study of a particular demon. Ish'Grathel, a sort of incarnation of greed the book made him out to be. The book had been wrapped in chain, but Cassius knew where all the keys were by now. He read the right (or perhaps, wrong?) passage and drew the right sigil on his bedroom floor, and suddenly he found himself in an endless darkness on all sides. A grim, guttural voice asked him what he wished for, and his childish mannerisms lead him to exclaim "Power and riches!" before he'd properly processed the predicament he found himself in. The voice laughed in return, and told him it'd grant him all his wishes - for the right price.

So it was that Cassius was dishonorably discharged from his studies at the Temple of the Crucible, thrown in the wilderness to find his own way back to civilization - if he'd even make it that far. But Cassius, as always, did not despair. He'd stolen a few scrolls on the Way of the Crucible before he left, a good few of the Elder's hidden treasures, and bottle of aged wine to tide himself over. Besides, he'd just made a new friend, as the nigh-forgotten Ish'Grathel was happy to leave his pupil lessons in the fine art of gaining wealth.

Cassius arrived back in Ardynport, older and more motivated than ever. Finally, he could begin his life - and hopefully grow that seal on his neck so it'd cover up the brand and scars of his past.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

hey kids wanna buy some bitcoin

Carolyn · Jul 28, 2024

Name: Heleni.
Age: 18.
Gender: Female.
Level: 1.
Race: Human.
Job/Role/Class: Crusader-Fighter.
Faction: Dungeon Guild (Holy Order of Espel).
Height: 4'11" (149.86 cm).
Weight: 110 lbs (49.89 kg).

Appearance:

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Personality: Heleni has a jolly attitude about life despite her blood-stained occupation. She’s a lover of japes. Her repertoire of whoopee cushions, balloons, and other innocuous items never seem to end. Less puerile are the ballads she is prone to croon, especially those from Ardynport. Her faith in Espel too is brandished about lovingly. None of this can fully disguise her dangerous air. Keen eyes reveal a hunter in constant search for those considered anathema to her order. Such villains can expect a swift retribution.

Skills & Proficiencies:

Pranks 〡 Rating ★ ★ ★
Heleni will land with one of her practical jokes with enough time. It doesn’t matter how prepared you are. It's just cosmic law.

Swordsmanship: Sword and Buckler 〡 Rating ★ ★
A small sword and shield are a deadly combination in Heleni’s hands. The twice-blessed crusader is a nimble fencer, prioritizing parries and swift counters to cut apart her foes. The style accordingly excels with slower opponents and duels. It is less a battle of strength than position for her. There is a trade-off in reach that has to be accounted for.

Grappling 〡 Rating ★ ★
With Heleni already fighting so close to her foes, she is determined to use her body to gain any advantage possible. Throws, joint locks, dislocations, and more are her forte. This is especially prevalent when she faces armored enemies.

Survival: Urban 〡 Rating ★ ★
Heleni lived in Ardynport—the best and worst of cities—as an orphan. It took a decent understanding of terrain and social structures to make do. The knowledge could come in handy when back in that place.

Maintenance 〡 Rating ★
A crusader must be self-sufficient to some extent. Heleni’s no blacksmith, but she can sharpen blades, hammer dents, and keep her equipment barely functional. Time will require her to visit more skilled artisans of course.

Singing 〡 ★
Heleni can sing ditties and hymns. No one is going to stop in a busy street to admire her for it though.

TAME STATS
Toughness | 10
Agility | 13
Might | 13
Endurance | 10

WILD STATS
Willpower | 4
Intuition | 4
Lability | 3
Dominion | 2

Abilities

Centrips:

True Strike: Heleni offers a prayer to Espel, asking for his guiding light in combat. She is then granted an innervating energy from Espel, granting her +1 AGI for the next minute. If she points a target in line of sight within 30 feet, the Light of Espel will glow from any immediate weak points either in armor or their form for all to see. If Heleni attempts to attack one of these glowing spots, she is granted a further +1 AGI. This glowing effect will last for approximately one minute.
Sacred Word: Heleni utters a holy word to briefly enhance Espel’s influence over the world. Any source of light around her may be brightened intensely, briefly blinding any susceptible creatures near it. For creatures composed of shadows, unnatural aberations, and the Undead, this light will also burn them with its sheer radiance.

Techniques (First-Level Spells):

White-Flame Blade: A simple spell to spread white flame over the blade of Heleni’s choice. Not only does it provide illumination, any target hit by the blade has the chance of the flame jumping over to burn them (minor damage).
Light Trap: Heleni can place up to three runes onto the ground or a surface for up to eight hours. These runes are difficult to see without an Intuition of 5 or higher. When any target (aside from herself) nears the rune, it will conjure a trap of appropriate size (up to the size of a large bear trap) made of solid light that will bite into and pin the target to position of the rune. This light construct will remain for up to thirty minutes, until magically dispelled, or if broken with sufficient force (comparable to breaking free of a steel bear trap). These traps will count as a source of light and can be brightened or dimmed at the convenience of Heleni. Additionally, she can remotely detonate a trap so long as she remembers its placement and it is within 30 feet of her current location.
Unleash Spell: Heleni’s bread and butter. +2 to all TAME stats for 3 minutes.

Spell Slots

2 Cantrips.
2 First-Level Spells.

Equipment: Steel cap, short sword, brigandine, belt, pouch (flint and steel; whetstone), dagger, waterskin, leather satchel (standard dungeoneering gear), and necklace of Espel.

Background & History: Heleni was among the many orphans caused by the War of Warm Waters. Her parents were mercenaries killed in a disastrous campaign to the Bay of Green. Without calm waters for trade, Ardynport suffocated under an unrelenting regime of austerity. The resulting destitution feasted upon all inhabitants regardless of them being either freeborn or slave. Only an orphanage aligned to Espel saved Heleni from an uglier life on the streets.

However, it was not a charmed childhood. The leathery custodians watching over her were stern folk: spartan in their luxuries, liberal in their admonishments, and prodigal in their prayers. The orphanage’s devotion to the Sun God grew with Ardynport groaning under the weight of a losing war. Despite the circumstances, it was surprising how jovial Heleni ended up being. She was up for a quick laugh and benign pranks. Less surprising were the violent tendencies she exhibited at times. Some days would push her to see red. She reserved those outbursts for villains. A self-declared hero of justice and never meek in a fight, she administered beatings as often as she received them.

One day, a priest of the Holy Order had witnessed Heleni’s skill with a makeshift plank of wood on a supposed bully. She had batted aside his henchmen and pinned him down for one blow after the next. A guardsman stopped her before she caused more damage. Her victim was able to prosecute Heleni for assault next. The priest met her in a dark cell of the Courthouse. His words were simple: “Your fate is not to rot here. There is enough tenacity in you to spare for the Church. Will you join me?” She accepted the offer with alacrity. The priest would start her training as a crusader afterward.

The Holy Order had a shield and a sword like any good knight. Paladins were the shield and tasked with upholding the common law. The crusaders were the sword. No wicked soul that earned Espel’s ire would escape them. In this regard, they had to be tough physically and mentally. Heleni was broken apart to be rebuilt. Aspects of her congeniality remained. But the same smile and humor were interposed on a darker imagination. Her anger was honed into a sharp weapon to be deployed tactically. The fact that she was twice-blessed came about at this time. An order was then sent for her to join with the Dungeon Guild to hone her skills further.

Theme & Notes

The Nightingale.

Miscellaneous

You've been tricked!

EmperorsChosen · Jul 30, 2024

Cecelia Blake

Female

18

Level 1

Human

Rogue | Arcane Assassin

The Stonemasons

APPEARANCE

black-knife-tiche-elden-ring-drawn-by-ragecndy-5e7b97583a421b464372590ab90767ae.jpg

Weight - 125 lbs

‎

Personality

A bright and bubbly girl who’s smile and laugh seem to light up the room. At least, this was a fair descriptor of Cecelia when she was younger. Given the subject of what she is often tasked to do, the woman has overtime grown more stoic and distanced from others. Cecelia is mostly inexpressive with dry, terse remarks. At times, she almost seems to carry some wit, a leftover bit of personality from her younger years. Yet, it is carried with a dull tone that makes it questionable whether the remark was meant to be humorous.

While cordial, as ever, with her family, she has learned to cope with any guilt by looking at outsiders as lessers. It is perhaps fairer to state that in some ways ignores them. Cecelia is not a haughty woman. She does not carry an air of arrogance or ego, and she doesn’t inherently think of those outside of The Stonemasons as beneath her. However, it is easier to justify killing an animal or insect than a person. Cecelia at first attempted to rationalize her actions, and still does, but found it much easier to train herself not to see outsiders as those with humanity.

That is not to say she is completely heartless or lost, however. It is a coping mechanism—something she developed within her own psyche so that, should said outsider become an enemy or casualty of the Stonemasons, she would not be dulled with guilt. She still renders aid to those around her if it’s possible without compromising any jobs given to her. She has been known to help carry goods an elder struggles with and distribute food to the local urchins. As a child, she was very empathic, and while that has persisted somewhat now, she more of seems to look for opportunities to perform unequivocal good that doesn’t require a knife.

This, in short, is what she hopes to encounter dungeoneering. While for the most part driven by a sense of purpose to further the family, Cecelia also yearns for a more pleasant, and less grimy, path. That, or she at the very least can enjoy somewhat of a break.

TAME STATS

Toughness
10

Agility
14

Might
08

Endurance
12

Skills & Proficiencies

Stealth 〡 Rating ★★★★
Even without magics, Cecelia is highly capable of concealing herself and remaining so. While her spells provide boons to her in this aspect, she still must know how to proceed quietly, yet quickly, and without drawing an eye. The Stonemasons have plenty who can steal, kill, or sabotage. However, the benefit that Cecelia provides is that she does the same discreetly.

Knifework 〡 Rating ★★
Cecelia opted for daggers and knives as weapons, given their concealability and low weight compared to other weapons. Optimally, Cecelia would rather either eliminate a target before they know of her presence and avoid others, she was still trained to utilize the weapon and can hold her own.

Throwing Weapons 〡 Rating ★★
Cecelia carries with her throwing knives as a backup. Ideally, she has her spells, however she would rather be over prepared than under. She isn’t the greatest in the world, but she can still sling her knives at a target with reliable accuracy.

Acrobatics 〡 Rating ★★★
Cecelia is flexible and quick on her feet, aiding in her ability to dodge and balance. Oftentimes this skill was more so used in the latter circumstance as she found herself having to remain in precarious situations for extended periods of time during her work.

Trap Detection 〡 Rating ★
A skill scarcely used or developed by Cecelia, having learned it only as a result of a handful of aberrant jobs. Given her work is mostly in the city and she has never entered the dungeon, she rarely encounters situations where a target, regardless of what the job is for, has set traps or very intricate ones at that.

Masonry 〡 Rating ★
As a child, Cecelia would watch her father work at times, taking great interest in his dedication and craft. However, fate would push her in a different direction. Still, she retains some knowledge of what her father passed down to her and likely knows more than the common person.

Deception 〡 Rating ★
Another skill underdeveloped by Cecelia. Oftentimes, Cecelia has her spells and poker face to coast on. As such, while her expression can remain unchanging and confident, she isn’t entirely what one may call persuasive. Still, her work does require it, however Cecelia has often made up for any insufficiency with her other skills or spells.

Lockpicking 〡 Rating ★★
Cecelia’s work often involves trespassing, which individuals commonly employ locks to prevent. As such, it was necessary that Cecelia learn to deal with such hurdles. So did study and practice picking locks and can now do so with relative reliability.

Sleight of Hand 〡 Rating ★★★
When Cecelia began to work, most of her jobs involved infiltration, planting, eavesdropping, or thievery. As such, Cecelia’s sleight of hand had to advance far and quickly. As it stands now, she is quite adept, capable of concealing items on her person even when inspected, pickpocketing others without their notice, and even planting items on their person. This also makes her quite good at tricks with cards or her knives if you can get her to loosen up.

WILD STATS

Willpower
06

Intuition
05

Lability
03

Dominion
04

Abilities

Spell Slots
Disguise Self - Cecelia is capable of altering her appearance, including clothing, armor, weapons, and other belongings. She can alter herself either 1 foot shorter or taller and make herself appear thinner or fatter, however she cannot alter herself to appear non-humanoid. The spell also does not hold up to physical inspection, meaning if anyone touches her, they will feel her or her items, not the illusion.

Sleep - Cecelia is capable of sending her target within 20 feet into a magic-induced slumber. If successful, the sleeping target remains asleep for one minute. Requires a component in the form of sand, rose petals, or a cricket.

Invisibility - Cecelia is capable of turning herself invisible for up to an hour. Anything Cecelia is carrying at the time is also turned invisible. However she cannot cast the spell on anyone else and the spell automatically ends upon casting another spell or attacking. Requires a component in the form of eyelashes encased in gum arabic.

Cantrips
Third Hand of the Thief - Cecelia is capable of conjuring a spectral, floating hand within 30 feet for 1 minute. This hand is capable of manipulating objects, opening doors or containers, grabbing or retrieving items into or from containers, however it cannot attack, activate magic items, or carry more than 10 pounds.

Minor Illusion - Cecelia can create a sound or image of an object within 30 feet for 1 minute. If creating a sound, it can be any sound or sounds which she knows and the volume of it can range from a whisper to a scream. If she creates an object, it must be no larger than a 5-foot cube and cannot produce sound, light, smell, or another sensory effect. It also cannot be physically touched. Requires component in the form of bits of fleece.

Poison Spray - Cecelia can conjure a puff of noxious gas from her palm at a target within 10 feet, inflicting poison damage.

Equipment

Steel dagger
Throwing knives x6 (Stocked on holsters, 2 on each thigh, 2 stacked on her low back)
Standard dungeoneering kit
Small purse containing sand, eyelashes encased in gum arabic, and bits of fleece.

Background & History

Cecelia Blake was born in the years following the War of Warm Waters. In the wake of the war’s conclusion, the tradesmen Aldynport saw the winds of change and took steps to secure their hold on the city despite its change in hands. Cecelia’s father, Ruppert Blake, was one of the many craftsmen and masons that reinforced the city during wartime in case the destruction ever encroached upon it.

Cecelia experienced a life of moderate comfort. There was always work for a mason, and with her family having generational ties to the Stonemasons, there was never a concern for a roof or food. Her parents never left her wanting, either. They were kind, yet firm. They nurtured and taught her. She also interacted with many who may not have been related by blood, but were no less akin to cousins, aunts, or uncles.

However, she still knew that her family was different, not that they particularly tried to hide it. The Stonemason’s didn’t retain the influence they did by simply being benefactors and a collaboration of skilled tradesmen. They had an underbelly, one which was not particularly hidden from Cecelia. However, given the fact she was a Twice-Blessed, she was especially herded in the direction of aiding the family’s interests. Additionally, she had a particular affinity for spells and cantrips that involved trickery or subterfuge, even managing a lesser form of invisibility despite her inexperience. As such, she was practically groomed to perform the more grimy tasks The Stonemasons required.

Her assignments ranged depending on what was needed. Sabotage, theft, and intelligence gathering were common. However, her skills also rendered themselves useful for elimination, making her hands not only dirty, but bloody as well. Cecelia dedicated herself to the cause that was set before her, focusing on nothing but the family’s advancement, partly as a coping mechanism to avoid guilt over some of her actions. It was also for this reason that, when she came of age for dungeoneering, she was all too eager to volunteer. The family was content as she could grow her abilities as a Twice-Blessed and would certainly increase their standing. However, Cecelia secretly saw it as an opportunity to break from the grimier of her work. She would have the opportunity to explore and any killing or sabotage would be against monsters, not people—At least, she hopes.

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

Faceclaim is fanart of Black Knife Tiche from Elden Ring
Height is 5'6"

The Regal Rper · Aug 2, 2024

Shelf

Aquintus Dejnnti

M

76

Level: 1

Sea Elf

Mageblade

Free Company

APPEARANCE

‎

Personality

Since stepping in Ardynport, he's gone by Aquintus. Some folks go by Quintus, if their tongues find it tough to wrestle with the enunciate, others that are playful go by Quntie. As he is now, you'd be hard pressed to find the total resemblance between Avarice Jengu and the guy known as Aquintus.

It helps coming in, he lost the long hair, the moustache-beard combo, the seaweed, and the peculiar decoration of jewelry in bones and fine gems. One might say he's a lot better looking and looks less gruff too.

The inarguable fact is time on the streets has played its influence on Arvantis. While he presents as carefree and somewhat boisterous, he also has a keen alertness that hasn't dulled thanks to all the time he's spent dodging people that would want to see him locked away. There are elements of his old self that linger in the mannerisms, when he's being proper or his sensibilities to dress appropriately, there's the consideration you’d not expect of a pirate or criminal that he has which goes back to his roots-- but there's also the willingness to embrace spite and anger when he's been done wrong, and a sense of patience that accompanies it to where he has no problem playing the long game.

Though at the end of the day, what else is expected of a pirate, but greed and rage?

TAME STATS

Toughness
11

Agility
12 (14)

Might
12

Endurance
13 (15)

Skills & Proficiencies

Navigation: Land/Sea | ★★★
Decades of experience on the waters and plenty of experience navigating various towns and locations whether as a formal officer, hired hand or escaping the law, has made Aquintus skilled in quickly picking up a sense of direction through the use of maps, landmarks, or when over waters using the necessary navigation tools of the seamen.

Vocalist: Twice Blessed | ★★★★
Aquintus is Twice Blessed in vocal coverage. He is capable of reaching a different number of ranges and pitches, and while he is a good singer, he is a better voice actor. HisKnowing when to shift his tone or raise the pitch thanks to his time in the military assisted in some of the improvised skills he would develop later and expand on in his pirate life.

Performance:★★
Presenting an image is a crucial skill that Aquintus has further developed from his time on the streets. Entertaining ain't the only thing he's developed. His intimidation skills have seen a polish since turning to crime.

Persuasion & Bartering: ★★

Swimming | ★★★
An incredibly fast swimmer, was one of the fastest of his forces, can remain underwater for exceptional periods of time and has incredible sight while submerged.

Survival: Woodlands | ★
Is capable of foraging for food and hunting, using the environment to make shelter and is capable of starting a fire without any necessary tools. Aside from this he can also make traps.

Swordsmanship: ★★★
Duelist experience makes one hand combat his strongest form of martial prowess in either hand. Followed by two hand, with dual swordsmanship being his lowest.

Instrument Play: ★★
Skilled in the violin and harmonica.

First Aid: ★
Knows to clean slashes and less severe wounds but major injuries like deep slashes or stabbing are beyond his ability to manage outside of understanding the ways of applying pressure to more serious injuries.

History | ★

Maintenance: ★
Weapon maintenance in specific is a feat he has learned to adhere to. The blades you own are your lifeline. When it comes to damaged armor however, Aquintus prefers to rely on a more experienced individual, if he cannot merely get new pieces like he uses.

Stealth: ★
Aquintus has spent years dodging the law and evading his pursuers. Blending into a crowd and slipping away is easy feat.

WILD STATS

Willpower
6

Intuition
4

Lability
4

Dominion
6

Abilities

Spell Slots
2 level 1 Spell Slots

Unleash: Cast at level 1, he can increase his Might, Toughness, and Endurance by +1 with a +3 to his AGI for up to three minutes.

Cantrips

Handcannon - a variant of Firebolt that is smaller in size can create a loud boom when fired, but can be cast mid-attack with a one-handed weapon. The projectile of flame from this spell is approximately the size of a grape and has an initial impact as if made of stone, but still explodes into cinders upon impact. This Spell can be upcast to level 1 and in doing so will release a blast of 12 smaller projectiles that cause knockback at a close range and deal significantly more damage.

Sword Art: Flow of the Sea - After having observed an opponent for at least one minute and having witnessed any ability that may be used by a target, he is capable of one of the following effects as long as his AGI is within 3 of the target:
Make an attack with +1 AGI to the target while predicting their likely dodge pattern, increasing chance to hit.
Predict a counter-attack (if he has witnessed it before), allowing a one-time dodge of said attack if possible.
Make an attack with +1 AGI to the target while preemptively laying caltrops or any other type of item with lesser chance of being noticed

Booming Voice - Enhance his voice to a booming roar, making it audible to everything within a 100 foot radius. This can be used for short-form communicating or for a close-range, deafening roar. Any target within 5 feet without some form of hearing protection will be dazed if they possess a Willpower less than 3 and any target with a Toughness less than 14 will receive temporary loss of hearing. Targets of up to Toughness 20 will still hear an ear-ringing sense of pain.

Level One Spells
Song of Soothing - After a sing-song chant is uttered in a rhythmic pattern, up to six targets (with the exception of Constructs; this will will work on Undead) within 30ft are healed for minor damage, including closing open wounds, entirely healing scrapes, and lessening bleeding depending on severity. If this song is played with an instrument, the amount of healing is increased dramatically, number of targets is increased to eight, and range is increased to 45 feet.

Thunderblade - After reciting an enchantment, the user runs their hand down the length of a weapon, imbuing it with sonic energy. If the weapon is bladed or pointed, the cutting or piercing edge now vibrates rapidly, increasing cutting or piercing power. Attacks with this weapon move faster for any individual sufficiently skilled with this type of weapon, increasing the attacks as if they were swung with +2 AGI. The first target hit by this attack has the sonic energy transferred to them. If they move within 10 seconds of being struck, that energy detonates, causing force damage onto the area they were struck. This effect fades if no target is struck within 1m.

Seastrider - The user begins singing a low, humming tone they have committed to memory. For the duration of this song, the user gains +2 AGI, enhanced leaps to double their distance, and may run on water. This song has a maximum use time of 5m. This song will end if they use another audible ability during it, however, they can cast Spells without verbal components and still attack.

Equipment

-Throwing Knives x2

-Serrated Shark: is a well kept combat knife designed for uses in close quarters combat. This specific knife is a hierarchal blade awarded to young adults in his culture among Sea Elves, particularly those who have sacrificed blood for a purpose or cause. The blade has a symbol of a unique species of shark depicted in black and red on the handle, but to hide this Aquintus has kept the handle wrapped tightly in leather. He keeps it well kept, and always has it with him.

- Waxing Tides Amulet: Is a magical necklace and gift that was given to him by his elder sister. The chain itself is expensive but the magic really comes from the jewel. The amulet itself has the appearance of the shifting tides of the ocean. It is linked to another piece of jewelry owned by his sister.

-Double Edge: A straight edge sword with a hilt designed for either one or two handed use. It possesses a cross guard of the side ring type that is designed to also be capable of disarming.

-Side Weapon: A lightweight sword with a slightly curved sharp cutting edge akin to a sabre. The hilt is designed for single hand use and it possess a standard cross guard. Designed for slashes and chopping but can also be used for thrusting..

-Medium Armor: Metallic vambraces, gauntlets, shin guards and chest plate to protect against attacks. Heavy leather for legs and torso with internal padding.

-Telescope

-Compass

-Canteen x2

-Emergency Rations: Biscuits, nuts, and berries are better than nothing, especially when on the run.

Background & History

Cutting deals and capitalizing on situations seemed to run in the family. His father did exactly this by bringing gifts that not only won the interest of the wealthy in negotiations, but also earned yet another location for the seafolk of far off lands to trade their goods in yet another part of Sharst.

Saquatta, the coastal town where trade among many races was prevalent in this part of the region would be not only the best location for the seafolk to flourish their businesses but it also held a close location to the sea as they preferred.

‘Sea Elves’, weren't entirely new to the regions around Saquatta but they weren't that common either when he was a kid. Their kind preferred areas where the rain was heavy, and the sea was near, so in a coastal place like this, it would become a perfect area for more of their kind to trickle in overtime.

While his father would do his part creating more bridges as one politician of many sent to do work in the region they had journeyed with him too, Arvantis would assist his mother in aiding the rest of the seafolk community that would settle with them in Saquatta as she used her knowledge in business to funnel the goods their ships brought from afar to supply it to various stores and sellers.

Time saw the unspoken social gap between foreigners and locals close as the seafolk numbers also rose in the area, but a few short years wasn’t much for change. The benefits of his parent’s work and that of his fellow elves had brought some improvement that couldn’t be ignored. Not everyone was as welcoming but Arvantis hardly let that bother him. While it was something to keep in mind, he didn’t allow it to affect him. Not when he was focusing in his own studies, and certainly not when he attended a magic college for Scholastic study with some investment in the Artisinal.

If being in Saquatta did anything, it merely made Arvantis more invested in understanding the lands they occupied even more.

Perhaps the greatest lesson he came to learn was how war could bring such great change so rapidly.

Conflicts were not unknown to assault coastal settlements given the economic value they historically drew. Raids were common, if not conflict for a town itself. And when such happened, sometimes people died. Sometimes businesses were destroyed. War and political strife was a natural part of the world, it made things change.

At the time it happened he was now a teenager. The siege on Saquatta or the raid or attack, whatever it had been, happened sudden and quickly.

Had it not been for the town hosting some skilled magical individuals perhaps things would have been far worse. When wizards, sorcerers, and the most deeply connected of druids were among the many people being attacked by a swarm of raiders, well the end result differed when you had a larger sum of those Blessed with Magic assisting in the protection of your town. Witnessing the aftermath first hand is probably what played a part in his decision to be an officer.

The fight itself on Saquatta is what led to his people gaining something of a reputation after. For their bloodshed and the manner in which many of them reached out to assist the locals, even those that had treated his people with less respect, they gained good favor. That favor expanded as Sea Elves started entering into service.

Arvantis found his future career in the next battle that crossed their home, this time fighting as part of it. Not only did he find a career in this field of work, but so too did the sea elves that joined the naval defense for protecting the borders. Through these moments of occasional strife, the Unjerria and the Meruels, his family and their fellow seafolk people, gained fame. Especially as Sea Elves played important roles in conflicts over water in the defense of settled locations or the mitigation of destruction.

Time however always slips in an obstacle, and everyone eventually has to face one.

For Arvantis that obstacle came decades later. Family drama can be such a mess, and there was no bigger mess than the one that followed the love interest of his older brother, Atticus, or to be specific, Atticus’ twin sisters and their band of merry friends that followed the Half-Elf siblings into the now bustling city of Saquatta thanks to their shared wealth.

Maybe it was through osmosis of listening to his father complain about some of his travels or the indirect knowledge he had from assisting his mother or others in the gymnastics of trade relationships, maybe it was because he had seen some shady stuff as an officer- whatever it was he saw in Helena and Tatika Olwind and their friends, he didn’t quite like it. It was instinct, and at first he tried brushing it off. As he had gotten older, he had also gotten more critical- he didn’t want to be a cause in any strain in the relationship his brother found. At least until he started seeing signs that the twins and their friends were trying to sway some of the political power his family had, into actions that benefited them.

Arvantis decided to cut that route off quickly in a conversation with the twins.

At first he believed the message he gave Helena and Tatika had been well taken. Given the relationship between their older siblings he had tried to be nice about it. He thought they would talk to their friends, rein them in.

They didn’t. They wanted leverage over him instead. What they did instead was come up with a plan for an upcoming party that they knew the officer would be attending.

Helena found the alchemist from some personal links that would provide the materials and Tatika and her friends orchestrated the situation. At this event, Arvantis, only just back from one of his missions, joined the party at the whims of family and friends, he had received a promotion that was doing him quite good so some time out was nice. The twins congratulated him, their friends on better behavior than usual. He had allowed himself to be content with the idea that they perhaps weren't as bad as he initially thought.

Drinks and food had all been served, his brother had retired early with Atticus, his other siblings hadn't shown or had left too. There was fraternizing, talking, dancing, drinking, he even did a bit of singing- which led to him being introduced to several people the twins had thought he might click with well- unaware that these people were also in on it too but under the belief that they might get something out of it.

Some alchemist concoctions were slipped into his drinks and at one point the little he ate; one that made him thirstier than normal; another that made him loosen up more than he normally allowed himself at these kinds of gatherings; a third that would get things rolling.

Hedonism took over that day as the event faded into broken memories.

It was a mystery how he ended up in bed with so many different people the next morning.

What was worse was what came after.

Prestige had a way of being double edged. Anything you say or do, just like in law, can be used against you. Even more so when there are those up in the bourgeois that feel there's something to get out of a scandal like this.

Things started with tension at first when nothing really came of the dalliance, there was no dating or anything deep that went beyond his somewhat embarrassing escapade much to the chagrin of those involved who thought they might get something out of this. Where it took a nose dive is when Helena and Tatika saw that his reputation wasn't about to be shaken by something silly like this.

They and their little friends went further to try and cow Arvantis into submission- even if his reputation also proved to hold stubbornly- the tension they created would lead to more and more situations where he would find himself piecing together those responsible. Until eventually, out of a desperation to throw him off their scent, they unintentionally created a situation where he would have a falling out with someone that the twins had foolishly led to believe could bribe the officer into performing some favors due to his position. The resulting fallout led to anonymous threats about ruining his reputation, and one altercation by hired goons he and his fellow off duty officer buddies chased away.

By this point the concern with these repeated random situations popping up started to do a number, and the attempt on his life was what broke things entirely. The chaos of it all proved too much, and in a family discussion, the plan would be for him to disappear for a bit.

Things didn't go exactly as planned however. The meddling of Helena, Tatika and their band of misfit socialites had caused Arvantis to gain some rather spiteful enemies. While not foolish to target his family given their public status and ties within the Sea Elf community, with his present reputation on gossip, targeting him wouldn't be difficult if in a social gathering someone idiotically let it slip that he would be leaving the area for a bit. That very week when he was on route to meet with some family friends out of the country, mercenaries would go after him-- he never made it to the intended location, never got a message to them either.

No word ever made it to them or to his family or any of his friends. He vanished, and by the second day, there was a growing panic.

An investigation went into his disappearance and found the transportation he had been using ransacked, the driver and security escorting him either missing or dead.

Only a few people that had been with him in route, that had been tracked down were alive to say he vanished with heat on his tail after getting his pursuers attention

In reality the disappearing act he pulled was quite literally due to the ambush he had faced. After dispatching his pursuers and deeming his situation too dangerous to allow his misfortune dragging anyone else in, Arvantis took the selfless route in a foolish way and chose to lay low at the next town over.

Staying low didn't do much though when you kept getting jumped at random by hired thugs because of your striking description. In order to shake the goons and start finding those individuals that were targeting him and deal with his growing loss of finances, Arvantis turned to crime and took on a new identity.

It started with swindling and bootlegging alchemical products hard to obtain if you didn't know the right people. Through his mother's line of work, there were those he could reach out to that wouldn't immediately make it back to his family if at all. From there it developed to working in a gang of individuals he became chums with over repeated interaction and his method of fair share and even kind bonus. Soon, they became good enough to get work as mercenaries through his military knowledge and his ever growing associates various skills. Through doing jobs and doing favors for the occasional business owner that needed a dirty job done, within five years of his criminal life he had acquired a lead through one of the business associates he had once worked for. In a casual meeting, he finally discovered the name of one of several individuals that had held a grudge towards Lead Officer Arvantis Unjerria, and were responsible for hiring mercenaries that his friend knew had been offered jobs in capturing the lost Sea Elf years prior to his decision to go underground. The Reeds had a large business in alcohol distribution, big time dealers that saw most of their wealth through various partners.

With some help from his associate, Arvantis was able to make contact with a rather influential bandit with a ship. Her name was Darcy Eclair, but her crew stuck to Captain Daring given her ship.

With the meeting being set up for him to make his proposition, Daring met with Arvantis in a tavern where the two talked about his business proposal. For her ship and the means to get to Reed, any profit he made she would get a cut along with her crew. As interesting as it was though, Daring declined, and instead offered Arvantis a job as a part of her crew, agreeing to a new deal where if managed to prove he could get her and her crew cash they would work with him and his gang.

At the time this deal was formed it had already been a decade since War of Warm Waters, began. Arvantis now Avarice, had to prove his worth if he was going to get anything out of turning to piracy, in order to do that he made sure he fulfilled his part of the bargain. As a Boatswain on the Sly Siren, he and his gang proved their capability as members of the Captain's ship. Not only did their first job stealing goods and reselling it to other businesses score them plenty of cash it earned Capt Daring’s respect for how cleanly they did it without drawing sufficient attention.

Aboard the Sly Siren, Avarice would become a crucial part of the crew as Darcy brought more members in on the job to assault the Reeds family business. Not only would this relationship extend and solidify between Arvantis gang and Darcy’s crewmates, but the money he pulled in for all involved would make him a beloved pirate of the group that would also earn him the ability to extort Reeds for information on those that had collaborated with him to sabotage the former officer's old life.

What drew everything to a halt was the rise of bounties on their heads and the growing name of the Sly Siren crew.

In an effort to escape their troubles, it was decided to crew would be disbanding, splitting off and scattering with their dough and making a run for it as more and more trouble kept coming their way. While not entirely pleased with the fact his mission to find his hecklers had been cut short, Arvantis conceded, and using connections through a young sailor that had joined the crew due to dark times by the name of Bishop, through blood ties to the Stonemasons, Arvantis and Bishop along with members of his gang would hop towns after parting ways with Darcy and the Sly Siren.

In Ardynport he would spend a year adjusting. Tying up loose ends, meeting members that Bishop would introduce him to, and creating a new identity that would ultimately be used through the Free Company to get entrance later into the Dungeon

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

- FC: Arakawa from Onmyoji

- 6ft 172lbs

- Sea Elves are a branch of Wood Elves, but possess a deeper connection to the sea, ocean, and some say even storms. They have great eyesight like all elves, with perfect vision in the dark whether in or out of the murky depths.

- Like a shark, can regrow lost teeth.

- Birth name is Arvantis Unjerria, a high ranking officer from a prestigious Sea Elf Family in a coastal city who vanished over a decade ago due to foul play activity and unknown involved parties. In the present, he is considered to be missing, with investigations still being pushed by friends and family in the upper class of society with a desire to find out where exactly he is. Rumor has it, some of his siblings don't believe he's dead cause of an item he has that tells them he's possibly still alive.

- Was formerly known as Avarice Jengu, WANTED pirate on the run. Former Captain of Serpents Scourge, a diverse crew of bandits that held a few Sea Elves, and a large mixture of Demihumans, and other races. A gang and pirate group of a diverse mix.

- Used his connections to get the Stonemasons to smuggle him and some friends into Ardynport through the Free Company.

- Spent almost a year readjusting and tying up loose ends before entering the Dungeon Guild.

Meredith · Aug 4, 2024

Neha Djabani

Female

22

Lv. 3

Bat Demihuman

Shaman Supporter

The Dungeoneer's Guild

APPEARANCE

4'11", 104lbs

‎

Personality

There’s a sort of oddness that comes from being treated with reverence at a young age. Often, this manifests in an exaggerated ego, and in an inability to be challenged. That wasn’t Neha’s experience. Though she was treated with an air of religiosity–as a living connection to the other planes–she was regularly challenged. Excellence was the standard to which she performed. There was little allowed to her in the way of personal expression or nonconformity. From the very beginning, it was clear that above all else, she was born a servant to her people.

The isolation of such a position was enforced by its high demands. Artistry, medical knowledge, literacy, ritual– the duties of a shaman are manifold. Neha was competent at all of them. There is a coolness that comes with always doing what has to be done. It is a frigid sense of capability, inhuman in its certainty.

Most people would describe Neha as unsettling, but kind. While she is naturally somber, she has adopted many of the speech patterns common among Ardynport locals, and has put a lot of effort into projecting a more upbeat persona among her fellow dungeoneers (though some might find her jagged teeth more threatening when pulled into a grin). Neha may have coasted on her sense of capability upon her arrival to Ardynport, but she has found that she’s quite fond of the common people. Now, some might even call her excitable. Although she rarely finds the opportunity, she has a penchant for minor mischief. She is calm in the face of anger, but stubbornly steadfast in her opinions, and often needs time to adopt new ideas (even when she sees their merit). She becomes rather flustered when flattered or put into other unfamiliar social situations, much to her chagrin.

TAME STATS

Toughness
9

Agility
13 (15)

Might
9

Endurance
14 (12)

Skills & Proficiencies

Acrobatics 〡 Rating ★
Neha is used to moving quickly and dodging attacks when necessary in combat, but she prefers to stay behind a barrier when possible. She is able to perform simple feats of acrobatics (such as balancing on a beam the width of her foot, doing a backflip, and jumping across a gap) while grounded. In the air her movement is much freer, increasing her capacity to flip, roll, and dodge.

Bartering 〡 Rating ★
Between working at the Guild, the sale of her own goods, and a healthy amount of time in the city, Neha has learned to reason (and argue) with both prospective buyers and sellers of goods. She has a reputation as a reasonable patron, and has a few reliable buyers for her wares and dungeon loot.

Bookkeeping 〡 Rating ★★
When Neha first came to Ardynport, she took up a job with the Dungeoneer's Guild as a clerk, helping dungeoneers (and dungeoneers-to-be) fill out required paperwork and taking inventory of the supplies in the office (among a handful of other tasks). Highly literate in the common language (although her own lacks a true written form) due to her exceptional education, she took quickly to the role. Today, these skills serve her well in planning for expeditions, as well as aiding prospective dungeoneers with the navigation of Guild beurocracy.

Cartography 〡 Rating ★
Neha is competent at reading basic maps. She is capable of creating crude maps containing basic spatial information and notes about rooms and spaces. Neha is hoping to pay for a tutor (or find some sort of mentour otherwise) to teach her to create more detailed maps in a style that is easier to read.

Carving 〡 Rating ★★★
As a Shaman, Neha spends a good portion of her time carving Totems, Talismans, and other channeling paraphernalia. She knows how to work with a wide variety of wood, and at almost any scale, preferring to work with bought lumber or scavenged beams instead of preparing lumber herself (which takes a substantial amount of time). Her designs are often intricate and magical-- juxtaposed curves and straights that act as veins to the blood of the planes-- but she is also capable of crafting statuettes, children's toys, and simple shelf objects like small wooden animals. Although Neha sometimes sells carved sculptures and objects (and did so as a source of income before her time in the dungeon), the sale of a conduit is anathema.

Cooking 〡 Rating ★
If you ask Neha to cook something, you're going to get a decent meal. Most of her experience with cooking is fairly rudimentary -- a stick, a stone, or a pot being more than enough in the way of tools -- but this is only typical of a dungeoneer. She has a particular love for black pepper on charred fish or meat.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★★
As an experienced dungeoneer, Neha is capable of tending to cuts, bruises, lacerations, and broken bones, and is comfortable directing the recovery and movement of injured party members. She is able to recognize the effects of poisons from experience (though she is not capable of dealing with these by medical means, relying on shamanistic magic if possible), and has a keen eye for medical distress.

Folk Medicine 〡 Rating ★
Traditionally, the role of the shaman is that of a healer. Neha's early life included an apprenticeship to one such healer. While Neha was taught to treat minor wounds (a skill she later honed in the dungeon), most of her education focused on the long-term health of her community members, providing herbal remedies and rituals to respond to a variety of health conditions. Although Neha can easily list off a laundry list of aids for common ailments, many of the cultural aspects of this kind of healing have been lost to her.

Stealth 〡 Rating ★(★ in flight)
Neha's far from a master of stealth, but she is small, dark, and fairly quiet. Her frame is light, and when unburdened she isn't hard to lose in the dark. Stealth is not one of her highly practiced skills: she has little experience, for example, with tailing a target, and might give herself away with her footsteps. Gliding under the cover of darkness, however, she is extremely difficult to see or hear-- and she's not unfamiliar with finding a spot to hide out if need be.

Survival: Dungeon 〡 Rating ★★
Neha has a strong understanding of the first thirty floors of the dungeon, including their typical terrain, likely creature encounters, and floor gimmicks. While her knowledge is hardly encyclopedic, she is a reliable resource insofar as remembering exceptional floors. Otherwise, her general knowledge of dungeon patterns at different levels typically allows her to draw reasonable conclusions about their nature.

WILD STATS

Willpower
4

Intuition
3

Lability
3

Dominion
3/6

Abilities

Innate Abilities
Echolocation: As a bat demihuman, Neha is capable of echolocation, pinging the room with piercing clicks and listening to their echoes to determine the locations of people and objects. This ability is naturally limited to a radius of 20m (~65ft).

Flight: Using the webbed wings stretched from her hands to the sides of her body, Neha is capable of sustained flight, using her wings as a frequent means of travel when unburdened. While it is easier for her to glide from elevation, she may take off from the ground provided there is enough space to do so. Gliding is no more strenuous than a brisk walk or light jog, but gaining height is more difficult, as is hovering (which requires the continual beating of her wings). The concentration required for flying makes it difficult to cast spells in the air, regardless of somatic or material components; spells may, however, be maintained during flight. In the air, Neha's agility is treated as if it were 15 instead of 13, but her endurance is reduced to 12.

Shamanistic Magic: When using Shaman spells, Neha's dominion is treated as if it were 6, instead of 3.

Spell Slots
Four Level 1 Spell Slots
Three Level 2 Spell Slots
One Level 3 Spell Slot

Cantrips
Enhanced Echolocation: Neha is capable of extending her natural echolocation using wind magic to a distance of 100m (~330ft), hearing pings more clearly within the full radius of the spell, though her pings (and other audial inputs) interact with her as sound normally would.

Firebolt: A standard magical feat. Neha conjures a bolt of flame suitable for basic combat use. This spell may also be used for more generally practical purposes, such as starting fires.

Imbue Talisman: Neha channels planar energy into a Talisman, imbuing it with a single-use effect, which it retains for up to 24 hours. Most often, this spell is performed with Wind Magic to create an emergency barrier around party members. There is no limit to the amount of Talismans Neha can potentially produce, but Talisman effects will overlap, and Talismans of two elements will negate each other--only one might be worn per person.

Shriek: Neha releases a powerful wail affecting creatures in front of her and knocking them back. This can cause pain, vertigo, and potentially even permanent deafness depending on its target (and her volume).

Level One Spells:
Elemental Bolt: By channeling elemental energy into a wooden bolt, Neha can achieve one of three effects:

a small, fiery implosion upon impact (dealing more damage than a firebolt, but less than a fireball)
increased velocity and cutting power due to a sphere of wind surrounding the bolt
making the target wet upon impact

Upcasting increases both damage and the number of bolts fired. Additional components and concentration allow Neha to control the trajectory of bolts once launched.

Unleash: Neha can increase her AGI stat by +3 and her other TAME stats by +1 for 3 minutes as a first-level spell. Upcast to level two, she can increase her Might and Toughness by +2, her Agility by 2x, and her Endurance by 4. Cast at third level, she can increase her Might and Toughness by +5, her Agility by 3x, and her Endurance by 2x.

Waterbreathing: Channeling wind-aligned World magic, Meha creates a repository of air around a creature's nose and mouth, allowing them to breathe underwater. This effect lasts for about an hour, and requires no further maintenance once cast. Upcasting can increase the number of creatures affected, the duration of the spell, or both to a lesser degree.

Level Two Spells:
Cleansing Totem: Requires a Small Totem as a reagent. Neha channels energy from the plane of water into a totem that cleanses the area of impurities. This spell does not inherently heal, but cures most minor to moderate poisons and/or venoms, cleans gear, and acts as a brief round of anti-bacterial treatment that may help to prevent infection. This spell feels generally pleasant--not unlike a warm bath. It lasts for up to five minutes unless intentionally deactivated.

Elemental Fury (Tempest): Neha unleashes raw energy from the plane of wind, creating a nearly-uncontrollable tempest in front of her--just outside of arm's reach. The Tempest is not truly magical: planar magic converts directly into a storm, which does not in any way mimic World Magic. The raw intensity of this storm is comparable to a hurricane and can easily hurl grown men. Neha cannot innately control this storm, but upcasting could act as a means of allowing the channeling of the Tempest. Otherwise, the Tempest lasts for about fifteen seconds.

Enhanced Flight: In an area with sufficient room for flight, Neha can triple her flying speed using standard wind magic.

Windwall Totem: Requires a Small Totem as a reagent. By channeling energy from the wind plane into a totem, Neha can create a wind wall approximately 3m (~10ft) wide and up to 2.5m (~8ft) tall in an area. This spell does not require further channeling or concentration, and will block most standard projectiles, including some spells. This spell lasts for up to five minutes unless intentionally deactivated.

Level Three Spells:
Stormsurge Totem: Requires a Large Totem as a reagent. Neha can channel energy from the planes of wind and water into a Large Totem, imbuing it with protective properties. Upon activation, her decided allies--up to six creatures in total--are coated with wind and water, acting as a protective barrier, while also enhancing their speed. Upon physical impact, Stormsurge deals additional damage to enemies, its whipping winds slashing at hostile creatures. If allies touch while under the influence of this spell, their coatings will merge. This effect requires concentration and has a maximum duration of about two minutes.

Equipment

Reagents/Spellcasting Components
- Wooden Bolts (approximately the size of crossbow bolts)
- Wooden Talismans (a necklace, charm, brooch, etc)
- Small Totems (about a foot tall and a few inches wide)
- Large Totems (about four feet tall by ten inches wide)

Neha typically keeps these reagents inside of capacity-increasing bags like those used for carting the party's goods, with the exception of her wooden bolts, some of which are carried on her general person because of their small size.

Personal Effects
TBD, will be expanded upon.

Supporter Gear
Neha carries typical supporter gear (such as first aid materials, extra rations, and other items TBD) in the commonplace supporter packs referred to colloquially as 'bags of holding', which negate much of the weight of the objects within. These packs also serve as a place to stow her Totems, woodworking gear, and other heavy equipment.

Background & History

[Redacted: NPC information to be uncovered IC and expanded upon as it comes to light.]

Themes & Notes

Miscellaneous

Faceclaim is Nyvee the bat/rat.

Daddy Dream · Aug 13, 2024

Rioka Yorel

“
”
Living people eat dead mushrooms, living mushrooms eat dead people
Nickname
Kimioka, Kimi, Kim, Rika
Age
23 years old
Gender
Female
Race
Wood Elf
Level
1
Class
Mage - Spore Druid
Pronouns
She/Her
Sexuality
Polysexual
Appearance
HEIGHT: 5'2"
BUILD: Curvy but nimble
HAIR: Black, butt length, straight
EYES: Red
IDENTIFYING MARKS: None
Personality
GENERAL PERSONALITY TRAITS
Silent, but more so just observant. Rioka doesn't like standing out despite the fact that she wears clothes that doesn't fit with most of society' When she does talk, she tries to keep her voice low and relaxed, causing some people to really underestimate her, believing that she won't speak up. Many times, however, Rioka has lost her temper and put people in the hospital with debilitating sicknesses. Because of her past, she also finds it difficult to create close relationships and even more difficult to trust peoples words and actions.

CHARACTER LIKES/STRENGTHS
Singing while she is busy doing something is a great past time for Rioka, and she has done it so often that her voice has become somewhat melonic and eerie while she works. Some have said that sirens would be jealous of even her haphazard melodies. Along with singing, Rioka enjoys the quietness of being deep in nature, surrounded by decaying trees and living mushrooms. She always stops and observes the organisms with eyes filled with curiosity.

CHARACTER DISLIKES/WEAKNESSES
Rioka really doesn't like the thought of being attached to just one person like her life depends on it. She would rather be able to freely move around and explore the world than have someone fuss and cling to her constantly. However, when it comes to people other than her family being affectionate to her, she is unsure how to accept that. Believing nothing comes without a price when it comes to relationships, she would rather avoid the unnecessary drama than go through the heartbreak.

CHARACTER FEARS
Rioka has a fear of being forced into massive crowds of people by herself and the unknowns of the deep darkness. She finds both of them unnerving and will often be seen hyperventilating until she is removed from the situation. If left in the situation, she will either pass out from lack of proper breathing or break down crying and curl into a ball where she stands.
Backstory
BACKSTORY
Roika was raised in the farmlands north of Ardynport, along the very outskirts away from the river. Her first parental figures being an old duo of demi-humans - local otterfolk - impossible to be of any real relation given her elven heritage. This impossibility was explained away with the convenient lie that her parents had fled into the Green Sea with the intention to return when they had found their people. They never did, and for the first half of her life, Roika was none the wiser of her truth. As a mere babe, she was whisked away from a business in the Ballard Trading Company that utilized poaching as a means to acquire new slaves. A couple of operators (those that helped free slaves) and brought her to the elder demi-humans, former operators themselves, explaining that they had few connections to elves and fewer means to keep one safe. They renamed her Kimioka and hid her elven traits the best they could, electing to raise her as their own after failed attempts to reach to wood elf communes.

The elderly duo took on the roles of grandparents, though truly they were parents in all actuality. The grandmother, who Rioka knew as Elma, would begin teaching her how to take care of both herself and a home, in the event she might some day marry out of her dangerous upbringing. Elma tenderly showed the young elf how to cook her own meals and to make the best of even the most meager situation. She learned various skills from the importance of spices to kneading dough, through she struggled with tending a flame for baking or boiling. It had turned out her twice-blessed skill was related that of Cooking, she just struggled with controlling the heat. Mending clothes was also a small lesson, so that Rioka could make her clothing last as long as possible and even had the option to sew pretty designs in the fabric. This became as much fun as it was function. The time came, however, when her twice-blessed nature should shrine through. Roika had an interest in magic, but Elma could only do so much given her own limited skillset. Roika was taught perhaps the most simplistic of spells: Firebolt. And, with it, she would learn to apply it in various ways from starting fires to warming water. Still, even with magical help, Roika burned more bread than she would ever care to admit. With age and patience, however, her scorched soups would become delightful, albeit simple, dishes.

The grandfather, a retired hunter who went by Freed, had a different mentality for what she should learn. He believed she need to be prepared for the worst. His motto was 'It never too early to learn to feed yourself' and Rioka took those words to heart. The darker truth was that he feared there would be a day she, even as a child, would in fact need to provide for herself. He would take her on his hunting trips or out foraging, explaining how even if she could not capture game, the wilds often provided for those that knew what to look for. As she grew, he would teach her how to make a shelter from the wood and foliage around them. She proved capable, even if she tended to worry more about the appearance and design of her simple lean-to huts than their structure. Even with shelter and foraging, she needed to learn to hunt. He taught her how to make a simple snare trap so she could catch small animals for food for herself. She was taught the snare could only hold small animals and even then only for so long, but most importantly, she was taught to kill. To clean and butcher her prey. A harder lesson than anticipated, at least at first.

Time and time again, Freed attempted to teach her various other skills, such as archery, but these were beyond her. She had hardly the strength to use even the smallest of bows. At best, she could fish, but the water and patience of the activity were rarely to her liking. She preferred most often the act of foraging, if only because it could masquerade as a hike through the woods to see all that nature had to offer. She at least taught and understood the basics of gardening, how to keep and plant herbs, and the value of composting for fertilizer. All things one might learn on a small farm.

That was her life for the better part of sixteen years. There came to be a problem that Roika was still maturing slowly, but Elma and Freed were bound by the mortal coils of their shorter lifespans. With the failing health of Freed, the decision was made to tell Roika about her actual parents. If they could have waited longer, they would have, but such was the ill-fate of the shorter-lived Demi-Humans. Roika was told in full of her circumstance. Her parents were poached some two decades ago and kept in secret. Illegal though they may be, they could still bare children that could be snuck onto the market. Roika was conceived and kept hidden during the downtime between her other siblings; elves normally needed a long refractory period for healthy births. Her parents risked it, and here she was. The only saving grace being that operators could easily smuggle her out as their captors didn't know of her existence.

That is where Elma and Freed came into the picture. Long before Roika was even born, a whole chain of operators was put into place to drop her off with them. In their prime, Elma and Freed had helped dozens of unbranded slaves escape. In their retirement, they would be called upon to raise one.

Roika knew the names of her parents and was given connections to a network of operators. She slid off into Ardynport after some training to remain covert in search of her parents. It didn't take long to find them. Not because they were still being held, but because operators had attempted to break them free nearly a decade prior. A dozen or more poached slaves made a break through passages along the West half of Ardynport to sneak around the trails used by Dungeoneers to get to the Amaric Temple. Some survived, some didn't, and it was confirmed that her parents were amongst those that at least made it out of Ardynport. Their goal was to loop back around the Amaric Temple and head North to the Green Sea. That was the last anyone knew of them.

Roika returned with this knowledge to Elma and Freed. She had an answer. A half-answer, at least. She wanted more. It irked her that she still did not know whether or not her parents were even alive. It would have been a mercy to been told they had died, even if a lie. This ambition did not go unseen by Freed. Against the suggestion of Elma, Freed conditioned Roika to make it in the Green Sea. If she was going to eventually explore it, the least he could do was prepare her. Another two years went on like this before she embarked North. What followed changed the course of her life forever.

To those alone and unprepared, the Green Sea can be an unforgiving place. Even to an elf. Despite his best efforts, Roika was not ready to make the trek North to her kin. Along the riverlands that were once the battlegrounds for the war between Ardynport and the northern races, Roika saw the remnants of wars she had only heard about in passing. Her grandparents were not so educated that they knew the extent of the war, only the tragedy that it was. What she saw was death, life, and rebirth. Wherever that was once a corpse had brought forth new life, even if it had to feed the animals as carrion. This area had never been cleansed or purged, a type of deadlands between the farmlands and the Green Sea. A strong and perhaps intentional boundary between the two.

It was also where her knowledge and skills came up short. The water here was not fit to drink, the river became a ferocious beast that could have provided if she could have taken from it. But, she could not fish. The flora was different and in most cases, not fit to eat. Small game was rare or wise, even the squirrels not falling for her snares. What little she could sustain her on also had the strong chance of making her ill, and on some days, did. This was the difference between the more tame riverlands to the South and what it became in the Green Sea. Nature was a harsh mistress.

Starving, sickly, and barely hydrated, Roika crawled to the shadowed edges of the dense forest and tried to rest. There, she leaned against the cool, humid sensation of a fallen oak.

There, she met Atrataria.

At first believing herself to be hallucinating, she paid little heed to the situation. It wasn't until the raven-haired Fae elected to purge Roika of the toxins she had ingested with but a touch of her delicate finger did the elf begin to take the exchange seriously.

Roika told Atrataria of her life. Of her desire to learn the fate of her parents. Atrataria found this humorous, this value Roika had on life or death, and asked what the elf had in mind for her life if she succeeded?

Roika had no answer.

Atrataria asked if Roika had no value to her life, would she accept death if the Fae could answer her question?

Roika again had no answer.

The exchange of values went back and forth. Roika did want to live, but slowly the Fae taught her a valuable lesson. If she valued her life so highly, she made a mistake putting it on the line for the sake of a death.

Atrataria told Roika she would die there on that log.

Roika finally asked if there was anything the Fae could do.

There was.

A deal was struck. Atrataria would save the young elf and even guide her to an Elven village where she would learn their language and be taught to survive in the Green Sea. She would also tell Roika of the fate of her parents. In exchange, Roika would act as her emissary to the elves and later go into the Amaric Temple to evaluate what had caused it to disrupt nature so.

It was accepted. Roika learned that, much like herself, her parents did not fair well in the Green Sea. Her father died and her mother was saved, just barely, by Wood Elf scouts. That was the last Atrataria had seen of them. And, keeping with her promise, Roika found herself in a Wood Elf village that recognized the presence of Atrataria as her patron. She was a well-respected Fae in the area. Roika was taught the Wood Elf language as promised, but she also had to act an intermediate with the village elders for a few issues Atrataria wanted dealt with. This process went on for nearly 10 years before Atrataria was satisfied with the changes the village had made. Roika the whole time learned how to use her new Druidic powers and the ways of her people. She was no longer so ignorant as to the war crimes commit during the last time Ardynport attempted to expand. She also knew of the poaching that went on in the lands.

The time had came, though, for Roika to uphold the other end of her deal. She had to return to Ardynport, even knowing what the humans had done, register with the Dungeon Guild, and look into the the mystery of why the Dungeon had appeared in the first place. Apparently, the violent emergence of the Dungeon was believed to be nature itself crying out for help. The question was why?

Patron
Fae Patron: Atrataria, the Black Cap of the Forest: A Fae Spirit most commonly associated with the figure of a beautiful woman with long, flowing black hair sitting atop a fallen log, Atrataria is much more than what she seems. She represents the aspect of nature that is recycled and given birth from that which has since passed. Her symbol is that of the fallen log that even in death remains a source of life for so many creatures. Her domain is specifically over that of fungi, extending somewhat to all forms of decay so long as the decomposition is organic and provides new life. Some say she is cruel and her methods are sometimes unnatural, but her prerogatives are to ensure that all life remains in constant cycle. Even the tallest tree and most beautiful flower in the forest must die. She simply wishes to assure that their deaths feed nature to its fullest.

Atrataria as a Patron has a dislike for anything that is wasteful of organic material. Burning bodies, sending them to sea, deforesting land, preventing rot and decay - they all court her rage. She has no love for arts that are meant to be permanent, such as statues or monuments, but can value the luxuries of life if they are short-term, such as nice clothing or lavish meals. She is not against healing or extending life, either, but all life must in fact end. If it is saved, it must be for good reason. In a similar vein, she dislikes that which kills for no reason. Both life and death are sacred to her and she has no love for waste.

She is more neutral on concepts such as metallurgy or fine jewelry. Unlike some Fae, she has no disdain of these things as unnatural as they may be as they do not inherently affect the cycle of life, death, and decomposition.
Skills and Stats
Cooking -
Taught to her by Elma, cooking has become a staple for Rioka, especially when she was out traveling. She can make super simple, one person meals with the provided plants and small animals around her area. Rioka found that cooking came naturally to her, even when making more difficult recipes, and learned that cooking was her twice blessed skill.

Nature: Fungi -
Rioka is able identify and recognize different fungi and tell whether they are poisonous or not, but the knowledge is limited as it is only focused on fungi and nothing more. She can tell someone whether or not a mushroom can give someone a stomach ache or get them high or even kill them as long as she sees their features.

Survival: Riverlands -
Rioka was taught about the riverlands from Freed, and though the knowledge was extremely helpful, it was not all that useful when she traveled more northward into the Green Sea. Her simple snare traps and weakly woven fish traps were nothing but useless the further north she went.

Nature: Forest Flora -
Her knowledge of forest flora was advantageous when she was living with her adoptive grandparents, but when she ventured out she found that everything she knew about flora was just a small bit of what was actually out in the world. She did, however, know enough not to make fatal decisions when it came to flora.

Gardening -
Elma taught Rioka everything she knew about growing your own plants, feeding them, making rich compost, and how to take care of the soil for a rich harvest. Rioka can easily grow plants from seed and properly prune and tend for them while also doing a bit of trial and error with what plants grow in what soil and sunlight.

Survival: Green Sea-

Toughness
9
Willpower
6

Agility
10

Intuition
4

Might
8

Lability
3

Endurance
12

Dominion
3
Abilities
Spell Slots
3 Level 1 spells, 1 Pact Slot (Pact Slots are regained every short rest)

Unleash
If cast as a level 1 spell, gain +2 to Might and Agility and +3 to Toughness and Endurance

Pact of the Spores
As a result of her Pact with Atrataria, Rioka has undergone several permanent, physiological changes. Her body consistently releases spores that create the Halo of Spores effect around her. Additionally, she is immune to almost any toxin, illness, or condition caused by fungi. At the cost of concentration, she may also heal herself by causing the rapid decomposition of any corpse or sufficiently large dead plant around her, though this will cause black-capped mushrooms to grow from it.

Halo of Spores
Rioka has a field of invisible spores around her immediate vicinity (roughly three feet), imperceptible to the naked eye and requiring an Intuition of six or higher to perceive magically. These spores naturally do little and are relatively innate, only ever rooting themselves in dead or decaying material. Even then, they must compete with other bacteria and fungi to survive. In their natural state, these spores are harmless and do not cause lung or eye irritation.

Cantrips

Fungal Infection
Rioka imbues the spores around her with her mana, then blasts them at a target with a burst of air. The maximum range she can send these spores is twenty feet, though she can just as easily apply them within melee range. These spores will adapt to any organic surface they hit and attempt to consume the material they are on or in. If outside the body, they create a hard shell around themselves to prevent being easily removed. This effect can be dispelled at will by Rioka and will fade if more than 50 feet away from Rioka for at least one minute. Rioka can sense where any of her spores are within 15 feet of her current location.

Spore Growth: Paralysis]
Rioka can activate any spore within her line of site up to 30 feet or that she can sense. When doing so, they release a toxin in an attempt to paralyze the organism they are in. This effect expends the spores and will last for up to a minute. Creatures must possess a combined Might and Toughness of 25 or greater to resist. Only one target can be chosen per use.

Spore Hardening
Rioka can call the spores in her immediate vicinity to attach to herself or another solid object around her. These spores can cover approximately two square feet in surface area. Once covered, these spores will become hard as stone and water resistant. Any organic substance that touches this hardened area will have spores transferred to the area that was touched, acting as if were under the effects of Fungal Infection.

Firebolt
Rioka summons a small bolt of fire to which she can use for day to day life or for attacks. If used for attacks, she can hurl it up to 15 feet away at any target she can see in sight in a straight line and explodes in a 10 foot circle upon contact, to which any flammable objects and targets are set ablaze for 5 minutes or until extinguished.

Level 1 Spells

Spore Cloud
Rioka concentrates new spores into a glob of black mass in her hand. She may then throw that black mass at any target location. Upon contact with a surface, the black mass erupts into a 10 foot sphere of spores that heavily obscures the area. Targets affected are treated as if under the effects of Fungal Infection.

Spore Growth: Regeneration
Rioka can activate any spore within her line of site (including those within herself) up to thirty feet or that she can sense. When doing so, the spores begin radiating a subtle healing energy throughout any organic target. They will then begin to heal minor wounds over that time, including new wounds. This healing is generally considered lesser than a one-time heal, but can be greater over the duration. This effect expends the spores and will last for up to one minute. Only one target can be chosen per use.

Gift of Atrataria
Rioka can create a single, black-capped mushroom infused with abundant mana and the ability to mentally soothe an individual. Consumption of this mushroom will restore one spell slot equal to the slot used to create it. May be upcast indefinitely.

Pact Slot

Spore Animation
If Rioka has infected a deceased target, be them animal or plant, with her spores, she may request the help of Atrataria and in turn reanimate the target. At her current capabilities, she may only maintain a single reanimated corpse for up to ten minutes. Upon reanimation, the spores will heal the target as if it were alive and without major wounds, if possible. (Lost limbs or other severe damage may not be possible to heal). This corpse is only a facsimile of life at the complete control of Rioka. It does not feel pain nor can resist her control. After ten minutes have passed, the creature will lose its animated status. If the creature is greater than 50 feet away from Rioka, it either only defend itself or enact her last order indiscriminately.

Megilagor · Aug 29, 2024

wip

Ake Sigurd

Male

27

LVL. 1

Giant/Jotun/Goliath?

Totemic Warrior

Dungeon Guild

APPEARANCE

Height: 6'7'' / 200cm ; Weight: 198 lbs / 90 kg

‎

Personality

Ake is a hardworking, mean-faced, gentle giant, which is how he and those from his small village would describe him. If that was not enough he had to mature fast, so he tends to be overly serious and obtuse to social cues and jokes. After all, how could one develop as a normal kid if he was the only youngling in the village with everyone else being an adult or an elderly?
Though he rarely speaks to strangers as he would find it rude to initiate the conversation with them thinking that no one would like him to start one.

Yet in battle, Ake behaves in a peculiar way often attributed by his fellow village folk as a mama bear protecting its cubs. Doing whatever it takes to take down the enemy as fast as possible while reducing the damage to his allies and those he is protecting with his own safety is often not being taken into account as long as he will survive and be able to fight another fight.

TAME STATS

Toughness
XX

Agility
XX

Might
XX

Endurance
XX

Skills & Proficiencies

Lumberwork 〡 Rating ★★★
As Ake is a Twice-Blessed he was gifted with a certain skill that shone from his youngest years. Ake instinctively knew how to hold an axe properly and how to use one to fell a tree, debark it cut it to pieces, all with a good form and nothing more than an axe. Because of this gift, and the years he spent honing it all forms of axes feel like an extension of his body to a certain degree.

Axe manship 〡 Rating ★★
Since Ake was chosen to be the next pact bearer he began to train with his axe in a different manner, though his skill in Lumberwork helped him somewhat it also hindered his progress, after all, to learn how to use an axe as a weapon when you got used to using it as a tool for years felt weird. But he isn't a stranger to its use in combat anymore.

Survival:Arctic 〡 Rating ★ ★
Ake grew up within the harsh Arctic area north of the Green Sea. One didn't need to venture far to be in this climate, as his village was in the middle of the only Arctic area in this part of the hemisphere. Through years of living, training, and teachings of the village elders in such a climate it made him be able to recognize what is most needed in such a climate and where to find necessary stuff for survival in it most of the time.

Tattooing 〡 Rating ★★
Something Ake learned as a pastime from one of the elders at his village, as tattoos are a big part of his village's culture, with each tattoo serving as a mark and proof of what the person achieved, or what challenges they undertook. Although the village's ways of tattooing are on the more primitive side, they are the ones one could use in the field. Although Ake's art skills leave his artistic ability in the air, though he can follow most of the basic tattoos of his culture.

First Aid 〡 Rating ★
Between not knowing and knowing first aid even if at the most basic level of it, a great difference resides as it can lead to one's life being prolonged till proper care arrives. So the basics of basics for the most common injuries were hammered into Ake's head, sometimes literally.

Maintenance 〡 Rating ★
Proper care for one's tools out in the field is important as your greatest partner is not the comrade who stands beside you but the one you hold in your hands. For if they break or other accident happens because of their poor maintenance or lack there of, a tragedy could easily strike.

Axe Throwing 〡 Rating ★
Ake was never a man to use a bow and arrow or javelins as they felt foreign to him, but an axe was just right. So learning how to throw them properly was only natural course of action.

WILD STATS

Willpower
XX

Intuition
XX

Lability
XX

Dominion
XX

Abilities

Perserverance
Through Ake's stubborn nature, he refuses to succumb to exhaustion and injuries allowing him to carry on with his work albeit with reduced physical attributes, as the energy that would be used to maintain such a high state of physicality is reduced to keep him awake. However, because of how it happens it often leaves Ake more tired and fatigued than normally, which requires him to take a good long rest before he can refuse to meet with the gods of sleep and death again.

Spell Slots

Equipment

Heavy Steel Bardiche
Rucksack:
- Bedroll
- Mess kit
- Waterskin
- 50 feet hempen rope
- 2 weeks of dry rations
- 10 pieces of chalk
- Flint and steel
- Whetstone
- Rag
Simple Hand-Poking Tattooing Kit {Includes Ivory needle, bowl, bottle of ink}
Medium Armor {Hide Armor with Chain Skirt covering abdomen down to hips}
Bearskin Cloak

Background & History

A small village in the midst of the Arctic region on this hemisphere, a village that bears no name, never had, and never will as it is hidden within the snowy landscape. And yet people live, die, and are born there, Ake was one of the very few younger folk born there. His parents being in the Northern Free Company often had to leave the village for long periods of time, always going to some dungeon to gain money for their little village, during such times it was the elders of the village that took the younger folk of the village under their wings to raise.

Ake, in particular, was taken care of by a peculiar pair of elderly folk, granny was this village tattooist, as tattooed etched one tale of valor as well as mistakes onto one's own skin, making them unforgettable lessons for them. Gramps on the other hand was a more mysterious sort of person, using an axe as a walking cane, always smoking some herbs from his pipe, and sometimes leaving the village to a nearby sacred forest only to return the next day exhausted dragging some gain meat behind him. It was in the care of those two elders that Ake spent most of his childhood when his parents were gone somewhere, especially as they ventured to a new dungeon in Ardenport and never returned, though news of them entering the dungeon reached the villages ears thanks to one of the few traveling merchants who would sometimes come by the village.

He was 9 when this happened and it took him a whole year to get over the immediate grief that struck his heart, full of anger, despair, sadness, and a multitude of other similar emotions Ake decided to drown them in work. Albeit Ake was still a kid, being of his race did mean he was stronger than a usual kid, so he picked up an axe and followed the village’s lumberjack to the woods they usually gathered lumber from, and mimicked the lumberjack from afar. At first, the movement was awkward and hard, even after hours Ake made little to no progress on the tree but he did not give up. So each day Ake would sneak out of the village with an axe and chop at the trees, over time the axe became familiar to him, his form became better, and finally, he felled his first tree, though his axe was dull and the handle was splitting itself from overuse. It took him half a year to go from a kid who barely held an axe to chopping down his first tree. Only after doing so, his emotions grew a tad colder, his anger was now nothing more than a memory, and despair ceased to exist in his heart, though sadness and nostalgia for his parents still remained.

The next day Ake talked with Gramps, Granny, and the lumberjack. He talked to them for what seemed like hours upon hours, he wished to learn under them, to better himself. To be someone his parents would be proud of. But first, a period of recovery was to come, as Ake’s body felt the result of half a year of constant work upon himself. So during that period, Granny was the one who taught him, she taught him her profession, some elderly wisdom from years living in this climate to ease his survival in similar climates, along with the most needed first aid, shortly followed by some common sense and etiquette as Ake struggled with that. Albeit the most important things were taught to him for half a year he learned them well, though he still lacked in the etiquette department, but he was let go so he could study under Gramps and the lumberjack.

First to teach him was the lumberjack, under his tutelage he learned how to take proper care of his axe as well as furthered his lumber work skill, from the simplest to most complex tasks of a lumberjack, all of that was impaired onto him, but that was the easy part of his training, for he had Gramps training ahead of him. Saying that Gramps was a slave driver, would be an understatement, while the training under the lumberjack prepared him somewhat for it, Gramp’s training was icy hell incarnate, starting from working out shirtless when it's snowing, through swimming through frozen creeks under its ice sheets, down to fighting him in both fisticuffs and axe combat. But even that wasn’t as hard as the last thing he taught him. As Ake was 18 he was taken one night by Gramps into the sacred forest where he met Nanuk, the fae of those woods and surrounding areas.

The grand stature of a bear as tall as the trees made from snow and ice walking to them froze Ake in place, if not for Gramp’s words he might as well have been frozen there in fear for hours. That day Ake learned that Gramps was a pact bearer of Nanuk, and through his blessing, their village was allowed to live in this area, with no bigger issues. And yet most of what Nanuk wanted in exchange was an offering during the solstice time, as well as someone to talk to once in a while. Of course, Nanuk wanted something more as well, IT needed someone strong to be his next pact bearer, as they needed to redo a ritual that was cast several times before, a couple of years apart from each other.

The goal of the ritual was simple, seal something that was a danger to Nanuk’s claim of territory as well as local nature itself, though sealing it is only a temporary measure as it would need to be repeated once more in a couple of years, so Nanuk hoped that at some point someone strong enough to do something more than just seal the danger away would come and become his pact bearer, to slay or banish this threat. Nanuk felt the potential in young Ake, and he thought that maybe he would be the one to achieve that. But he felt that Ake was still too weak to do so, and with such a heavy grudge and regret in his heart even if he was strong enough he felt the ritual would fail, so he gave him a request.

“Come when you get stronger child. When your heart, mind, and soul, are clear of grudges and regrets, come to me then and we will do what we must. But for now, I will make you my pact bearer as I have done to this old fool before.”

And with those words and new power imparted onto him, Ake returned to the village with Gramps.
Gramps taught him how to handle his new power somewhat loosely as how it manifested varied from pact bearer to pact bearer. Some time passed since then, his training with Gramps concluded, and he managed to gather some decent equipment and some cash to make the journey to Aidenport easier. So with a bearskin cloak covering his rear, and his weapon on his back secured by a few straps, he ventured forth to Aidenport, to grow stronger, and erase his grudge.

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