[D&D-5e] War of the Spider Queen

[Clawsome]

Loric Darkbane Name: Loric Darkbane Race: Half Elf-Drow Gender: Male Class: Bard-Swords/Warlock-Hexblade Alignment: Chaotic Good Family Rank: Saved by the Matron Mother of House Platin. Adopted by Ruby Platin. He works with Corubun. He is extremely loyal to the Matron, Ruby and House Platin. Appearance: He is strikingly beautiful. He tends to turn the head of women and men. He stands 6’ tall with a stockier toned build which were the gifts of his human heritage, but his should length white hair, burning red eyes and dark blackish-blue skin portrays his drow heritage. He prefers purples and blacks in what he wears include armors if possible. Personality: He was and still is to a point motivated by power like most drow. Although, past events has tempered his need for power. What good is it if you’re dead? He is quite the charmer with the ladies. It comes naturally. He is at home dealing cards in a tavern as much as dealing with drow subterfuge. He seems easy going, but at the same time it is like some dark cloud hangs over him. He is very loyal to house Platin and hates several of the other houses. Background: Loric’s childhood was horrible like most half breeds, let alone males growing up in Menzoberranzan. He was treated as less than Rothe dung for most of his life. He was a bastard son of the Vuzirahc Mizzrym, the weapons master of the 5th house of Menzoberranzan. He never knew his human mother as she was killed after his birth. In the beginning he was kept alive to be servant and slave in the house. Then as he grew older he began to show signs of having some innate magical and melee capabilities. At which time Vuzirahc had some of his guards train with Loric. After many grueling years of training and beatings, Loric began to come out on top of the sparring. He eventually bested them all. The house sent him to Melee Magthere. He did well, too well as it turned out and that the powers to be were not happy. That day was destined to come. It was when Loric sparred with Vuzirach himself in front of his peers. He had sparred many times and taken quite the beating from his father, but that particular day Loric drew blood from Vuzirac. One that would leave a nasty scare across his face. Vuzirach flew into a rage ignoring school rules and it ended with him cutting off Loric's hand. That wasn’t even the worst of it. The matron mother, Miz'ri Mizzrym was so angry and embarrassed of the incident she banished Loric from the house. He spent a a very dangerous and deadly week on the streets. Be houseless in Menzoberranzan is almost a certain death sentence. He managed to survive with some help. It was Matron Mother Platin who is always looking out for allies that took hi. She put him under her protection. He has been a loyal servant to her and the house ever since. Learning of Eilistraee and converting only strengthened his bond. The Player: Have you played with me before? Yes, both as player and DM. In one game you had halfling paladin I had Half Orc Druid. I also think we were in one with drow but it died soon after starting. What makes you want to play this game? I have tried to play Drow games twice before and they die soon after starting. Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5? I have never quit on a game in RPG. I have had many quit on me lol.

[Ysolde]

Originally Posted by Loun

Cool!

Does this mean I should definitely go through character creation? Been holding off since it's a level 9 start and wanted to make sure the character will be played

Just added them to the list of applications. I haven't made final choices for the last group yet.

[gwythion]

Can't believe I didn't notice this ad sooner. Glad I'm not too late? I hope?

Character Write-up Name: Gloaming Race: Changeling (Appears as a Drow outside of the house, unless there's a good reason not to.) Alignment: Neutral (but with good tendencies. They like to be good, it feels right. But their hands are already bloody beyond belief, and they're a fey - so they'll never reap the rewards of going to be in Eilistraee's realm. So they sometimes do the dark deeds that need to be done for the good of the House, so that nobody else's soul will be tainted the way theirs already is.) Class: Bard (College of Eloquence)/Warlock (Genie) Family Rank: They are not related to anyone in the house, but they execute covert missions and usually answer directly to the Matron regarding such tasks. Appearance: A waifish figure, the height of a child, ageless and androgynous. Their skin is the color of a pale grey dawn, large eyes the deep red of the last rays of the setting sun, and hair iridescent with the golds and oranges of autumn leaves. Their features are beautiful, but indistinct, changing in subtle ways whenever one looks away, and appearing a little bit different to each observer. They wear a robe of featureless black silk, voluminous and baggy, sleeves and skirts too long for their height, like a child wearing a grown-up's clothing. They sport a large black hat of peculiar shape, with simple flat slippers made of straw. Usually when they are around people, and always when around outsiders, they take the appearance of a comely drow, of either gender, dressed in the finest of clothes in the colors of the house. Whatever their guise, they are rarely found without an exquisitely crafted and decorated Vazhan-Do, slung over their shoulder by a tooled leather strap. Background: Decades ago, Jerlys H'Kar, the Matron of House H'Kar, found herself in need of the perfect spy. She was paranoid, beyond the normal, justified paranoia of any drow involved in politics, and didn't trust any of her house to be loyal only to her. So she studied Rituals of Calling, and worked out a spell to summon forth the perfect spy from the Feywild, a creature that would be loyal to her and her alone. Dahlia Blooms in the Gloaming was a courtier of the Queen of Midnight, in the Autumn kingdom of the Feywild, happily engaged in the eternal social and musical dances of the faerie realm, when a sudden claw of hostile magic seized upon their soul, pulling them to the material plane, and binding them there. The H'Kar Matron took great pleasure in their suffering, she destroyed their bond with their court and their queen, removing their ability to return to the Feywild easily, causing them to lose many of their memories, and making them an outcast in their own home, if they ever did manage to return there. They were magically christened Darkeyes, bound to obey any who knew that distasteful name, and conditioned through suffering to be an effective and loyal spy. They were magically bound to a genie, a loyal servitor of H'Kar who replaced the Queen of Midnight as the magical sovereign of Dahlia in the Gloaming, forever severing them from the Feywild. They were a very effective spy and assassin, able to penetrate the defenses of most houses easily, and for many years they were Matron H'Kar's ace in the hole when it came to intrigue and information gathering. Few among her house, and none among her enemies, even knew of their existence. Then came the clash of Baenre and Oblodra, and H'Kar's ally, that protected the house from her enemies, were suddenly occupied in a fight for survival against the strongest house. So H'Kar's enemies attacked. Chief among these was the House of Platin, and the Matron's wives led a crippling assault on House H'Kar, laying waste and seizing everything of value, but doing so subtly so that from the outside things appeared undisturbed. The house was gutted of anything of value or strength, but left nominally intact. Matron H'Kar perished, but her daughter inherited the rulership, her memory of that night a fog, and the assailants unknown. Among the spoils of the raid was a dahlia made of diamond, which when studied by the Platin arcanists in the safety of their own house, revealed itself to be the embodiment of a bond, enforcing the servitude of a creature of the Feywild. They called upon the name within, and the being called Darkeyes arrived not long after, having been called from across the city where they had been embedded in a great house on a mission. They were surprised to be called to House Platin, unaware of the attack which had been executed so swiftly and quietly. Darkeyes answered a great many questions, not only the expected ones about their espionage activities, but also about their origins and history, which they expected no drow to care about. They were shocked when the Matron dispelled their binding, telling them they were free to return home to the feywild, and with sparkling tears of joy, Dahlia Blooms in the Gloaming tried to do so. Tears of joy turned to sorrow when they found the path was closed to them. The Matron offered more powerful magics to take them home, but Gloaming shook their head. To return to the feywild as an outcast was to be hunted; and they could feel how much their long servitude had changed them, so they could never be as they once were. But they felt a an overwhelming love for these people - the first they had met, on this plane, that wanted to treat them as a person, who had good hearts, and didn't spread suffering and servitude. Gloaming dropped to their knees before the matron of Platin, and swore fealty then and there. Gloaming never regrets their decision to serve the house of Platin, though they do live with the melancholy of missing the feywild, the guilt of the dark deeds they carried out for decades, and the painful memories of suffering and servitude. They find the dark city to be oppressive and unpleasant, without the wonder and beauty of the midnight court's darkness. But they are helping to preserve an enclave of goodness, to be a loyal friend to those who freed them without any reason other than mercy, and that feels more meaningful than the dances of the Autumn court ever did. The Player: I'm in a game with you now (WotR: Paths of Ascent), I don't think I have been previously. I want to play because this idea came to me, and I think it will be a lot of fun. Also, I want to get thoroughly stuck in to the drow intrigue. I'll be with the game until it dies, or reaches completion.

Character Creation It seems like people aren't doing character sheets yet? If I should, I will. Planning on DMG + PHB + Tasha's (for College of Eloquence & Genie Warlock). Changeling race from MPMM 10 as I understand that doesn't take up my book selection? (If it does, will switch to PHB options for class). Not planning on doing school training.

[Mindsiege]

Application - Iymtana Name: Iymtana Platin (formerly Faen Tlabbar) Race: Drow (Szarkai) Alignment: Lawful Neutral Class: College of Swords Bard Family Rank: Adopted into House Platin about a century ago Appearance:   Iymtana has been born as one of the rare szarkai drow, one of Lolth's "ghost spiders", an albino drow. With her skin the color of alabaster, her long hair white strands of silvery snow, and her eyes an eerie red, Iymtana is a peculiar sight to behold in any realm, making her difficult to recognize as a drow compared to just any other albino elf that would be sensitive to the sunlight as well. These are the traits that make the szarkai such a valuable resource for the drow as spies on the surface, and Iymtana in particular makes a good case for not sticking out among the surface elves as she is surprisingly tall for a drow at about a six-foot height. As is common for an elf, albeit being tall her physique is more on the lean side, built with a graceful frailty, and Iymtana in particular is quite remarkable due to the supreme poise and litheness of a dancer that she possesses. The female drow is commonly surrounded by a distant air of coolness that belies her faithful ability to care, and although part of her countenance is due to her upbringing which came with an emphasis on cruelty and patience, Iymtana's natural beauty also comes with an ever-present shadow of sadness. Otherwise she carries herself with the natural elegance of drow nobility, and only away from Lolthite society does she paint her face in an almost ritualistic manner. For those who know, they are a mark of her ever-lasting sorrow. Background:   Iymtana was born as nobility into House Faen Tlabbar, birthed as the pride of her cold-hearted mother Xalia Faen Tlabbar who is a cunning priestess of the house known to be one of the most fanatical within Menzoberanzan, their altars to Lolth warm with the blood of their enemies and slaves alike. Xalia counted herself exceptionally blessed by the mad goddess to conceive a szarkai female, and while it didn't earn Iymtana her mother's love, so was she at least coveted for the prestige and the future opportunities within the deadly politics of Menzoberanzan that a szarkai could bring Xalia, earning Iymtana more attention from her mother than most other noble-born girls received. Iymtana never learned to lament such a cut-throat relationship. She was raised as drow nobility in the image of Lolth through and through. Just as was appropriate for her station, Iymtana was naturally enrolled within Arach-Tinilith on her slow ascent as an asset to the Faen Tlabbars and her mother. Iymtana had always shown herself promising in all the bad ways that were of value in the Lolthite society. From her youth she grew to be a natural liar and schemer, with exceptional skill with a blade, deadly and remorseless, a sense for art as much as torture and the creativity to enjoy them in parallel. Xalia showed enough of a presence and oversight of her daughter's education to ensure that Iymtana developed a splendid cruelty, finding further strength in subtlety and betrayal. Despite her hobby of swordplay, Iymtana grew keen to stay removed from the boorishness of direct confrontation, rather lying in wait as schemes came to fruition and the lives of any enemies were lost to other hands. In all of this, Iymtana strived. She thought her life blessed by Lolth, just as the rest of her jealous house did. Until Arach-Tinilith taught her that she wasn't all that. The teachings of Lolth in the sadistic way in which she was subjected to them broke her mind, yet such was a secret she did well to keep. The priestess who had gone too far in teaching the rising szarkai was never punished for ruining Iymtana in far too imaginative ways to explain, but from that time the young noble could not withstand any amount of stress without fainting. It was a weakness spelling almost certain death. In the beginning Iymtana managed to keep her insufficiency a secret, yet she knew that she was living on borrowed time. Lolth had no use for broken tools. And her mother or House Faen Tlabbar didn't either. But for Iymtana, it was just as well. It needn't be her in the fray. She hoped she would survive as long as subtlety could keep her safe. Or at least this was her desperate hope at the time. Life at the top of Menzoberanzan was not nearly that merciful. Though she didn't accept it at the time, the frailty that her teacher had created within her mind had marked her for death. Iymtana was not the sole schemer capable to bring her enemies to an untimely death by far. Such was the art of those favored by Lolth. Even within her own house, those seeking the szarkai's death would find a way. And on one fateful day, they would have succeeded if not for Kyorlin, no further name. Kyorlin at the time had been known to Iymtana as quite the exceptional drow male. Handsome, quite a bit more intelligent than was tasteful, but to that point reliable in various deadly ways that her own mother had put her under advisement to make use of at times. On that day, if not for Kyorlin's coincidental proximity, the exotic snake which had been imported from the surface by one of Iymtana's younger sisters and smuggled into her room would have spelled her end. But due to the male drow's presence, when Iymtana regained consciousness she was still alive. And thus the turning point for the szarkai began. While Iymtana didn't know all of it in the beginning, when she chose to allow Kyorlin to live despite him knowing about the weakness in her mind in exchange for making continued use of his protection, the male drow had a lot more to him than even the Matron Mother of the Faen Tlabbars could tell. Almost zealous in his worship of Vhaeraun, the male was even more cunning than he had ever let shine through to any of the noblewomen who dictated his fate. There was great talent in him, and a far-reaching understanding of how despite being worthless in the eyes of Lolth he could still make his way. Kyorlin saving Iymtana's life had also been far less coincidental than he had told her at first. And yet, far from what even he could foresee, this was how it all began. When Iymtana took Kyorlin as a consort, it was cold, calculated rationality that had her opt out of the alternative of conspiring for his life. More than just his blade behind her back, their abilities and weaknesses truly complemented each other well. As well, as a szarkai for her mother's sake she had been long surface-bound, and Kyorlin had done many missions for House Faen Tlabbar there. It was practical. It was smart. Iymtana had never thought to find more than a pet in a male. In this, the broken szarkai's imagination failed her as fate took her by the hand. The thick of their tale is best to be summarized for now. They grew ever closer as they kept profiting from each other. Many drow who weren't them died while they lived. They went and stayed at the surface together, achieving gains for House Faen Tlabbar. Schemes against others were hatched, and schemes against them were successfully quelled. Albeit being marked for death by the lack within herself, Iymtana lived with Kyorlin keeping her well. He truly was an impressive male. When she learned of his closeness to Vhaeraun, what had she been supposed to say? That it was funny? Pitiable ambitions? A source of his strength? All worship not directed at Lolth was worth a trip to the altar, yet which church was the one that had broken her mind and crippled the ambitions of her youth? Had Kyorlin shared his heresy with her because he believe she wouldn't sacrifice him for self-gain? Again Iymtana chose to keep him instead. It was all a chain of many, many events through which they grew and stayed. Neither of them remained the same as they had been. Neither of them intended what most other drows never had. Yet this was how their unlikely love began. Ignorant of what they were becoming to each other at first, both Iymtana and Kyorlin slowly learned. The cold szarkai soon knew of the Masked God of Night, a god to the drow who cared. The oppressed genius born with the wrong gender to achieve political relevance soon knew a mistress who neither exploited nor mistreated him. Although ugly and twisted by an outside perspective, the pair of drows twisted into each other in a unique and mysterious way. When the rest of her house looked at Iymtana's seeming infatuation with a male, they frowned but let her have her way. To them, Kyorlin was another possible weakness to exploit. Most who acted on that notion learned of their mistake too late. Their love wasn't beautiful in either their or our ways. But to them, it eventually came to mean their life's worth. And through this Iymtana was doomed for despair. Xalia, Iymtana's mother, had long seen no reason to complain about her daughter's contributions to her own political success. The szarkai seemed to have gained a bit of a disturbing reliance on Kyorlin during their surface work, but at least he was capable in a way that wouldn't cost Xalia or bring the house shame. And yet, when Xalia's sister began to take an interest in the handsome genius as well, Iymtana's mother saw no self-gain in moving to interfere. If she had, maybe things would have come differently for their house and the two drows in love. But one connection would soon fatefully end. There was no practical way for Iymtana to oppose her aunt, and Kyorlin had no rights. He was just as likely to be tortured and killed as he was to be stolen from her. Yet even with a broken mind, the szarkai wouldn't sit helplessly on her hands. With each further day of her aunt doing as she pleased and neither Iymtana nor Kyorlin rebelling, the nearly obsessed albino drow sought a way out, for herself and her man. Neither of them was frail enough that they couldn't endure their current state, but why should it be what Iymtana would accept if it wasn't what she wanted? She had been raised to have her way when she could. She just had to make the right preparations first. Moving carefully for months without her aunt growing bored and Iymtana growing in fear for what it could mean, she fortuitously managed to find those who would help. Curiously they were of a lower noble house, a secretive bunch under their shrewd matron Lady Platin. They didn't seem to trust her, but somehow they had caught on to her plight and they offered what she had sought. Protection. Relative safety from revenge or persecution. Ironically, they offered to return Iymtana her one true love. All Kyorlin had to do was to agree and abscond with her. It did not take more than making the request for the follower of Vhaeraun to agree. Not but a week later, the wrath of House Faen Tlabbar had been wreaked, and Iymtana Platin was adopted into her new home. Was a bunch of Eilistraee worshippers what the szarkai had wished to turn to compared to her previously privileged life? Of course not. But Kyorlin said all would be well. His word seemed to hold more worth to Iymtana than her mother's or that of Lolth. And so they stayed at House Platin. It was about a few decades since Iymtana had been adopted in the strangeness that was House Platin, a loving family where members of all races, male or female were equal. Iymtana had been raised under Lolth's jealous gaze, but even she could change. And while House Platin was a mere necessity at first, it become even more so a few decades in. It had taken years for Iymtana to adapt to the truth that the members of House Platin didn't scheme for her death. Eilistraee sounded even more frivolous than Vhaeraun, but eventually Iymtana admitted to herself that it was an improvement to Lolth. When she and Kyorlin performed the Love-Binding ritual together, it meant a lot to her. Maybe it was frivolous and it invited weakness, but Iymtana had been broken before. Here the pressure of having to endure and scheme for the mere purpose of survival had been taken off. The expectations that an unloving drow like her mother could place on her wouldn't reach the szarkai here. Even the idea of aiding other drow and returning them to the surface didn't sound so bad. The Dark Maiden was a goddess of melody, dance, and the sword, all disciplines which Iymtana genuinely enjoyed. What did she have to trade in for this life? Torture and political success had grown stale long ago when being with Kyorlin was just that much of a better bargain. Maybe not hurting others suited Iymtana more. Maybe Eilistraee wasn't such a foolish goddess after all. Her husband had shown her Vhaeraun merits before, but the Dark Maiden seemed to be acceptable as well. Kyorlin and Iymtana stayed and both came around. Iymtana grew glad. It was as if the szarkai had always been doomed to suffer in return for this opportunity at redemption. As fate would have it, years after Iymtana had accepted Lady Platin's helping hand, her life was overturned again. In House Platin, Iymtana didn't need a shadow to survive. Her husband could be his own man and shine, and he was encouraged to do so. He really was an excellent male, showing Iymtana with each day, even on bad ones, that this had been the right choice. Of course he would use his talent to now aid their great benefactors in their cause, it wasn't anything outside of his means. Iymtana would stay behind, honing her arts as she patiently waited for Kyorlin to return. Until one day he didn't. The broken szarkai fainted when she got the news of his death. If not for the presence and care of House Platin, this loss would have surely killed Iymtana as well. It was irrecoverable for her. At least one half of what she had shaped herself into across many decades of her life was simply ripped out and shattered on the floor. If Iymtana thought she had known despair before, she learned that there could always be more. It was only due to Eilistraee in her life that the heartbroken widow came out alive on the other end. And yet again, she was not the same. House Platin had no fault in the death of Iymtana's husband. Not truly. In the end, it was all Lolth. For long years, the szarkai was a mere shadow of her former self, the name ghost spider earning a tragic new interpretation as she was a mere ghost now as well. The grieving widow lost herself in her sorrow, and then in what few of the things that still kept her alive. Kyorlin had been her one true love, a thing that she hadn't been supposed to have. She wasn't sure that she wanted to be a new self without him. So for a long time, she just held on. Holding on to the memory, to what her husband had left her. Ideas. Vhaeraun wasn't for Iymtana, but maybe his sister was. House Platin. Both Kyorlin and Iymtana had been happy to have arrived there. Her own mother had always seen the szarkai's purpose on the surface, but only for the drows' scrupulous self-gain. For the sake of Menzoberanzan. For the amusement and profit of a mad goddess. Iymtana would spit on Lolth. And she would spit on what she herself had been raised to become before making her choice, her evil progenitors condemning her to an early death, only instead she now had to live a life of irrevocable loss. But a life on the surface for drow didn't sound so bad. When Lady Platin called upon her family and decreed that a colony would be found, Iymtana was one of those who volunteered without hesitation. Kyorlin had been gone for a good few years, but in his absence she had earned House Platin's trust. And in return, Iymtana had found the last ambition that her husband had left to her, finding it in House Platin's cause as well as those sentiments of the Dark Maiden that were now echoing in her heart and overwriting the venom that Lolth had bred. Silversheen was so nice of a dream. And that's how Iymtana spent the last few years before the Underdark would call upon her again. The widowed szarkai's sorrow had yet not left her soul, and maybe it never would. But House Platin deserved her aid. If not them and the Dark Maiden's cause, what else? And so Iymtana went. Back where those who would aim for her life awaited her once again. Was her own existence the heresy or was it theirs? The Player: We've played together very briefly during Outplay. I recall that I liked your character concept of a troll shaman a lot. Besides that, I would really like to participate in this game because it looks like it will shape to become a very involved story, and both the setting and premise hold such promise. I have yet to drop from a game prematurely since I joined RPGX. So for now I don't see what would make me quit once I've joined this game. Oh, and now that she exists, I really want to learn how Iymtana's story continues. I really hope that she'll make it into the game.

[ArcZero]

Coming back around to put in this application after the holidays. Sorry for being a bit last second.

Do not be alarmed by references to queen and princess. In other cultures, her mother would be considered a mayor or countess and herself simply a mayor's daughter. Here is a bit of info on Deep Gnomes, as Ophelia would aspire to be "elected" a Queen of her city after her mother. Assuming she survives her time in Menzoberranzan and what lasting bonds are formed.

 

"Deep gnomes considered male and female gender roles equally important. Males were masters outside of the home and females were masters within. This concept of equal labor for either sex carried all the way to the top of Svirfneblin society, with each city governed by a king and queen who ruled as equals. The king was often the head of the community's mining operations and defenses, while the queen was tasked with ensuring that the community had enough food and water to survive, while also handling the day in and day out bureaucracy. Significantly, the king and queen were rarely married to each another, but instead came into their positions independently, elected for life upon the death of their predecessor. Regardless of gender, there was no true conception of retirement among deep gnomes, who worked until they could physically work no more."

*Source

Character Application Name: Ophelia Marbleheart Race: Deep Gnome Class: Wizard, or Witch if you please (Necromancer) with a dip into Cleric. Alternatively since my character is a priestess, I'd be happy to be entirely a Grave Domain Cleric of Eilistraee+Myrkul. If you're okay homebrewing the Necromancer Wizard Undead Thralls ability into the Grave Domain instead of their 6th level ability perhaps? Extra Book: Xanathar's Guide to Everything Alignment: Lawful Evil to some, Neutral Good to others depending on your opinion of Necromancy. As bold as her necrotic arts may be, she does try to honor the rites of life, death and art. In the years leading up to the Time of Troubles as a ward of House Platin, she'd insisted on worshipping Myrkul over Eilistraee no matter how awkward it was. But now that he's died in such a fitting testament to the inevitability of death, Ophelia has started to see the beauty of it all. This has put the tender part of her heart more front and center. Family Rank: As a ward of Amethyst Platin, Ophelia has no ranking within the family. Over her 15-year stay during her adolescence, she'd proven herself pious, disciplined and just a little eccentric. Now that she is returning after her pilgrimage and a stay with her birth family, she's determined to marry into the house and make her connection permanent. The patron house generally chooses the marriage prospects for a ward, often including its own members. So it's sure to be an interesting journey. Background: Noble (with some Acolyte traits) Personality Traits: 1) I take great pains to always look my best and follow the latest fashions. 2) I quote sacred texts and proverbs in almost every situation. Ideal: Independence. I must prove that I can handle myself without the coddling of my [birth] family. (Chaotic) Bond: The common folk must see me as a hero of the people. Flaw: My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god. Appearance: Standing at an imposing 3'2", Ophelia has haunting slate gray eyes that are retroreflective to light sources like a cat's eye when photographed. On account of her enhanced darkvision. She has smooth rhinoceros gray skin. It is embossed with a floral pattern across her jaw and neck, that outsiders have trouble understanding: is it a magical birthmark or some beautiful ritual scarring or tattoo? In addition to her eyes, her alabaster hair is the distinguishing mark of her family: silky and lengthy in females and the beards of male members alike. It is tradition to rarely cut it. Only when substantial promises are made, a sign of their linkage to their people and obligations. Thus a Marbleheart who can keep their hair long is a sign of shrewdness, but in excess indicates selfishness. And Ophelia's is quite long, reaching all the way down her short back. Nothing like her queen mother's hair, whose razor-blunt jaw-length bob is the embodiment of dedication and austerity. Now that Ophelia's faith is more committed to Eilistraee, she does adore Lady Silverhair's grace and elegance. So she aspires to grow her hair to the ground as the Dancing Goddess is often depicted. She is not opposed to the cordial strictures of House Platin as she's sworn sufficent oaths to the House, High Priestess and Magister. Ophelia mostly enjoyed spending her adolescence in Menzoberranzan as a ward of House Platin. She picked up a sense of Drow fashion completely unlike her Deep GnomeSvirfneblin kin. Adorned in more opulent gossamer filigree and fine surface silks than someone from a city as secluded as hers has any right to be. Personality: While Ophelia respects decorum and icy civility, she has struggled with coloring within the lines. Her tutelage under Amethyst Platin and High Priestess Silveria (or the appropriate tutors if ahe would have been taught by more junior individuals) were highly fruitful but not without perturbances. She excelled in the clerical rites of Eilistraee that were assigned to her and picked up Necromancy from Magister Vern far faster than she'd learned anything back in her city of Skullbarrow. In fact, she was so excited to not be restricted to droll illusion magic that she found growing pains with the occasional angered undead spirit or a practice curse gone wrong. Skullbarrow is home to a few thousand of her kind but would barely deserve the city label that other cultures would presume it indicates. Her aptitude made her think she was more in control than she actually was. Whenever she voiced her approval of Myrkul, the other members of the house would react to her macabre nature. So she has dark thoughts but tries to keep them to herself to keep from frightening overmuch. She has a cruel and morbid streak that can smack people in the face, but when you get to know her, she can be tender-hearted, compassionate, clever and even playful. An academician, she prefers to research and learn about others before making an introduction. Then she plots her masterful plan for hexing and seances. Ophelia is an odd one: at once a tender, gentle soul who delights at novelties and idle pleasure, as well as a vengeful sourpuss with a fascination for death. She often struggles to remember even the names of those close to her. She insists that her mind is not inclined towards such things, but she can recite long passages of Svirfneblin and Drow history as well as magical theorems and rituals in exacting detail with little issue. The Princess and Queen-aspirant is a lover of beauty and hard work. She respects those who contribute to the arts and sciences equally with those who Give their all and dissolve their ego into the rolesublimate themselves to their duties. Doubly so since her switch to a joint worship of Eilistraee and silent Myrkul. The Princess and House Platin ward has nothing but love for the people of her city and Menzoberranzan alike. The cruel are to seek death. The powerless and the hungry are to be fed, clothed and nurtured. In this, she is completely in accord with Eilistraee and her kind patron house. She respects tradition immensely, just so long as it is effectual. When courtly foolishness presents itself, she struggles to not expose its contradictions. There were many great kings and queens throughout Svirfneblin history, Ophelia just so happens to find her mother the Queen, and the King (no relation to her father, as kings and queens follow separate bloodlines and selection processes in Svirfneblin culture), less helpful than a drowning aboleth. Luckily being in another culture leaves her less likely to voice her disdain with courtly preceedings, but it is a fading habit that still rears its head on occasion. Her iconoclastic nature was likely cultivated by her Oration tutelage under Duvain Rootshadow. He had been the Drow ambassador to their small city for ten years prior to her wardship and she found him quite charming with several crushes throughout her adolescence. When she traveled to Menzoberranzan, Duvain and two other retainers went with her, serving unflinchingly. Some in Skullbarrow speculate on the ambassador's close supervision of the Deep Gnome princess. Clearly he is hatching some scheme to steal her loyalties and make her betray her own kind. Her gift for necromancy may seem to run counter to a priestess who honors Eilistraee and the arts, but if you take the time to [colorRoyalBlue]Speak With the Dead[/color] you will find many more than eager to take part in the dance of life again. Background: Once she'd escaped the withering and endless instruction on illusion magic that her people seemed convinced was the only school of magic, her learning blossomed in many directions. Tutoring and apprenticeship in oration, mortician's tools, vivisection, Myrkul and Eilistraee's priestly rites, communing with the dead, compulsion magic and summoning rituals. Among her few drow friends, she discussed the cynicism of recently-dead Myrkul and they were tittilated. Initially during her wardship she definitely felt more at home with the vengeful and cruel nature of those outside House Platin. But over time, she was almost totally won over to their kind and appreciative ways. Quite the foreign interaction for her coming from a strict home where Svirfneblin history was all that mattered. Once she was considered an adult by Deep Gnome standards, she was released from her wardship to travel for a bit. She saw her birth family and her ever genteel mother. She left them swiftly with a renewed resolve that being a sort of diplomat priestess for One quite lively and the other... not so much.two gods and between Deep Gnomes and Drowtwo people was her calling. Over the next two years she made a lengthy pilgrimage to The Mere of Dead Men in the Northern Sword Coast. It was said that part of Myrkul's ashes had drifted there after being disintegrated in Waterdeep by Midnight, the incarnation of Mystra. Ophelia dragged her ardent retainers and a respectful retinue of 30 undead to commemorate The Lord of Bones. By the end of it, Alabastra her Master-at-Arms and Duvain Rootshadow, now her diplomat and confidant, were quite fed up with the trip. They chafed from each other's company. Duvain was haughty and not given to cooperating with Alabastra's requests. Some might call him a dandy and above such petty things as sullying his linens and trudging through a swamp for weeks. On the other hand, the bold female Master-at-Arms had a hard time with many drow, but especially this infuriating one. Truth be told, she had the most allegiance to Skullbarrow and Ophelia's queen mother which made her distrusting in general, even of the princess's non-illusion magic. Swarfnvulvinter, her Head servant of the householdmajordomo was ever faithful to her though, using the fewest words to elucidate his thoughts. He generally only spoke when decorum and manners dictated it. He stuck by Ophelia, preparing meals with what they had on hand no matter how many times she forgets the rest of his name and calls him Swarf. Princess Ophelia Moonshadow has now returned to House Platin, hungry to study under Silveria and pick Magister Vern's brain for the secrets to necromantic magic he said he would teach once she was strong enough. Perhaps tutelage under Lady Amethyst herself. But most of all she wanted to do whatever Amethyst Platin desired. It would strengthen her value to the house and the connection to her home city of Skullbarrow. The Player: Have you played with me before? What makes you want to play this game? Do you really think you'll stick with this for at least a year? How about 5? I have not played with you before as I'm rather new to the site. I'd love to play since stories that straddle the line between good and evil are some of my favorites. Like a fallen paladin whose scars or betrayal make them struggle to keep it together, from wantung vengeance, or a warlock cursed to suffer in hell who tries to do good despite the origin of their power. Like DC's Constantine perhaps or the Dresden Files. Stories of falling and redemption are so compelling with lots of moral room to play. The drow in particular are a ripe area for this and Eilistraee is duch an enigma to me. I am no expert on The Forgotten Realms but playing within and alongside an existing storyline that has so much detail while allowing us to explore is fascinating. I also like the idea that there are two groups doing things, really brings out all the relationship management and politicking. Since they sound like a relatively friendly house, it will be interesting to see what friction there is with the rest of the society. I appreciate longform storytelling, so two years or so is a certainty. I'd love to commit to five years, but who knows what the future holds? If the story is still going well, I'd love to be there!

[Ysolde]

Deadline is tomorrow night!

Updated the table and removed everyone who is in early access. If you want to be considered and I have you as WIP you might want to work on it.

Note: I'm only picking 5-6 this time and there are a lot of Bards, Warlocks, or Bard/Warlocks up there.

[Gaijin]

If anyone is feeling ambitious while the sands run out, there seems to be a vacancy in the Druid department. Diamond Platin might appreciate having a spore to nurture.

[Mindsiege]

Originally Posted by Gaijin

If anyone is feeling ambitious while the sands run out, there seems to be a vacancy in the Druid department.

Incidentally I had noticed this and came up with two druid concepts in parallel with Iymtana. In hindsight it might have given me better odds to go with either of those two rather than adding another bard application, but I had already gotten to fleshing out Iymtana when the last two bards just applied before me. I couldn't give her up by then.

[Gaijin]

Having a character that you connect with, and through which you can connect to the world, always takes precedence for me, so I totally understand.

Good luck!

[Ysolde]

PM's sent out. Thanks everyone.

If I have room sometime in the future I'll open this up again.

[ArcZero]

Congrats to everyone who made it in and I hope to see yall around.

[Clawsome]

Congrats to those that made it. Keep applying for those who didn't

[MoonZar]

Happy whipping Ysolde

[Xian]

Originally Posted by MoonZar

Happy whipping Ysolde

That is high praise! I heard this MoonZar guy is kind of a big deal around here!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian