Fantasy Ust Natha: City of Curtains [OOC]

[Bone2pick]

This is a thread to ask questions, share changes to your character, plot with other players, scheme against the GM's unbearable NPCs, and be silly. But, you know, not too silly...

 

[Bone2pick]

I listed the eight ruling Houses and included a short writeup of House Llolfaere. You can find it under the Additional Lore section of the lore page. I'll continue to add faction, location, and NPC details as we flesh out Ust Natha over the course of the roleplay.

 

[Bone2pick]

Magnar As I said in our PM, I love your character. Though considering her background, I feel you should probably add a few more skills. Being that Scheyana likely graduated from Scarscore, the city's college of warriors, armed and unarmed combat are a given. And being that she's a former drow noble, I would suggest Ust Nathan history and possibly House politics.

That said, your character is approved, and I'm excited to see how you'll play her!

 

[Magnar]

No worries at all, I shall add them in . I’m absolutely stoked and looking forward to this, I very much fell in love with the character when I was creating her and I’m intrigued about where her arc and the story will lead her.

 

[Bone2pick]

Posted writeups on the Web Watch and the Weldaer Clock Tower at the bottom of the lore page.

 

[Orikanyo]

God damn it theres spiders in here to.

Yo, I'm here and ready to dance the dance of not dieing immediately.

 

[Magnar]

That’s a very complicated dance to learn

 

[Orikanyo]

It's all about being a key but not to often noticed piece of the puzzle, be quick with your feet as well as your fingers, do your work and be gone from sight.

Especially with the women, use as much rope as you need to, never forget rope, keep your head low and your eyes sharp.

Light can be your friend as well as your enemy, use it with purpose.

Treat strangers as you would family, but family that you don't care for and suddenly showed up as a "surprise visit."

I'll save the rest of my wise words for the character, a survivalist, paranoid, but with good reason.

 

[Bone2pick]

I'll save the rest of my wise words for the character, a survivalist, paranoid, but with good reason.

Paranoia is baked into Lolth culture. If I remember correctly, the drow compare their perpetual state of paranoia to living on the blade's edge.

 

[Orikanyo]

Paranoia is baked into Lolth culture. If I remember correctly, the drow compare their perpetual state of paranoia to living on the blade's edge.

true enough, the underdark is a dangerous place as is, if something is not out to kill you, then it wants something from you.

 

[Magnar]

Wise words indeed.

 

[Noam]

\o/ Just posted my character sheet.

 

[Bone2pick]

\o/ Just posted my character sheet.

Excellent! I don't remember you mentioning Malli being an albino in our PM. That's an interesting character trait... Most drow Houses would likely sacrifice their albinos shortly after their birth, as their flawed existence could earn Lolth's disfavor, but very rare exceptions could be made—though the albino's status ceiling would forever be very low.

But with Malli being Houseless it works just fine. In fact, it opens some interesting doors for the group. Being pale, she could likely pass for a surface elf, especially at a distance. That might come in handy in the future. That said, it's more likely to prove problematic, which makes for great stories.

Character approved! Welcome to the Underdark!

 

[Noam]

I saw on the Forgotten Realms wiki that there were albino drow, thought they were super weird looking, figured she wasn't exactly traveling in classy social circles anyway, and ran with it.

Thanks! I'm...uh...happy? To be here?

 

[Bone2pick]

While working on the first story arc I felt a need to expand the writeup on the Outward. So I updated it this morning with more details and included a demographic breakdown.

Later I plan to post a few racial writeups.

 

[Dalamus Ulom]

Excellent! I don't remember you mentioning Malli being an albino in our PM. That's an interesting character trait... Most drow Houses would likely sacrifice their albinos shortly after their birth, as their flawed existence could earn Lolth's disfavor, but very rare exceptions could be made—though the albino's status ceiling would forever be very low.

But with Malli being Houseless it works just fine. In fact, it opens some interesting doors for the group. Being pale, she could likely pass for a surface elf, especially at a distance. That might come in handy in the future. That said, it's more likely to prove problematic, which makes for great stories.

Character approved! Welcome to the Underdark!

Wiat, I thought the Albinos were considered super holy and used as spies on the surface world?

 

[Bone2pick]

Wiat, I thought the Albinos were considered super holy and used as spies on the surface world?

I have no idea what's official lore for drow albinos, but in my world they'll be regarded as birth defects—which Lolth rarely tolerates. And they won't be able to pass as surface elves up close, as there are subtle differences between drow and their surface cousins besides skin color.

 

[Bone2pick]

That brings up another important point: while at first glance my world appears to be Faerûn from Forgotten Realms, and much of it is (3rd edition Faerûn specifically), my own lore needs & preferences will trump any D&D sources.

For instance, I'm considering putting Ust Natha below the Dragon Cloast and The Western Heartlands, but don't count on the layout of our Underdark to map on to what's been officially written.

 

[Bone2pick]

Dalamus Ulom As I said in our PM: Vrinn is approved. Great job detailing his flaws; I appreciate that. I'm excited for his identity and goals to slowly reveal themselves during the roleplay.

For those who might be interested, I have Vrinn's "actual" character sheet in my inbox, which I approved before he posted his public version. I hope everyone understands. After all, it's fitting for drow to keep secrets.

 

[Noam]

Secret man, secret man, does whatever a secret man can...

 

[Bone2pick]

Secret man, secret man, does whatever a secret man can...

 

[Noam]

I have no idea what's official lore for drow albinos, but in my world they'll be regarded as birth defects—which Lolth rarely tolerates. And they won't be able to pass as surface elves up close, as there are subtle differences between drow and their surface cousins besides skin color.

I totally went on the official lore for albinos, which says that other drow consider them weird-looking but that they’re generally valued as sneaky spies. Tho I also thought they were more common than they are based on a previous campaign. Ah, well. If it’s considered a birth defect, I might make that part of the reason that she ends up in the Outward, despite being a reasonably talented young woman.

 

[Bone2pick]

I totally went on the official lore for albinos, which says that other drow consider them weird-looking but that they’re generally valued as sneaky spies.

I don't remember any of the official lore material I'm using for reference (The Dark Elf Trilogy, War of the Spider Queen series, and the Menzoberranzzan 1992 sourcebook) ever mentioning albinos. Though I might of overlooked it.

Regardless, I always change or ignore some lore bits in popular settings for my roleplays. I've done that for Warhammer 40k, the DC Comics Universe, and the Star Trek verse. Sorta like how movie adaptations of canon properties have to filter out or alter some official lore.

 

[Bone2pick]

I posted three writeups for Underdark races over in the lore page. Most of the D&D races you'll encounter in this roleplay will be close to identical to what you're likely familiar with, but I do occasionally make some minor adjustments to some of them.

I'm hoping to have a fourth player-character ready before we begin. I suspect that'll be the perfect group size, though I could scale things back to make three work. Hopefully Orikanyo is making steady progress on their character.

 

[Orikanyo]

Ah sorry there my man, i'll have somethhing done later(as in today or tomorrow)

Got a suprise... drama, meeting with a friend.