Reason for Arrival:Explorer - You hail from a distant land. You have been travelling the world for an incredibly long time, earning what you can with odd jobs and weird work. It has made you physically hardy and you have garnered an incredibly eclectic wealth of knowledge and experience... except Languages. You always struggled with those. You financed yourself with odd jobs, so what's one more? Benefit: Choose any class skill. You can replace this with any other two class skills of your choice and gain +1 to each of those skills. +2 to Survival. You only know one language at the beginning of the game and it CANNOT be Common (you can learn new languages by putting points into Linguistics or if your Intelligence modifier rises through level-up, as per the usual methods)
Personality: Arni is a stern looking woman. She does not express her emotions often, keeping them to herself. She is defensive of herself too, ready to point her weapon at anyone she deems a threat. Being in a city she's never seen before, she is constantly on alert, watching her back to make sure no one dares put her in danger. If anyone were to get close enough to her, she may become protective of them and, with even more time, may open up a bit, but she would need to know they are safe to her.
History:
Arni found herself in Julianople, after days of running. When she arrived, she noticed how everyone looked, so she rubbed sand onto her face to try to hide her skin. Communication was quite difficult, no one knowing her language, but she listened around to common conversation. After trying to connect words together, she made her way to a place called the Dead Mermaid Casino. With some difficult discussion, she somehow ended up with a job, moving things around the place. She was given clothes... weird ones... but she kept her old ones, as when she needed to, she would flee...
Three Trivia Tidbits
Arni's skin is the same texture as that of a seal or an orca - very rubbery and leathery to the touch.
Arni can somehow hide her gun very easily in her cleavage. How? I don't know, no one has journeyed down there and lived.
Arni is scared of lightning. She has been ever since she was a child, and lightning causes her to freak out.
Made with assistance and permission from GM.
Accete - A Homebrew Race of 10 Racial Points
While most humanoid creatures stayed away from arctic climates, some chose to settle there. Most died. The ones that survived, however, were more suited to the climate. Over the course of thousands of years, the ones who survived were suited for swimming in the frozen seas hunting for fish. Their skin became blubbery, they could endure the long dark winters, and they became attuned to the sea. Eventually, they were not Humans at all - they were Accete.
Another millennia or two passed, and evolution struck again. Accete discovered magic and sulpher, and used both to create technical and magical marvels in their snowy home. Huge buildings with rooms that could move on their own. Unusual clothes to keep them warm in the winter and cool in the summer. A powder that, if concentrated and then lit, could destroy stone. But then, very suddenly, they all vanished. All but one, who was trapped in the ice for over 100,000 years...
Type - Accete are Humanoid creatures. Size - Accete are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size. Base Speed - Accete have a base speed of 30 feet. Languages - Accete begin the game knowing Primordial, the long lost predecessor to Common. Ability Score Modifiers - Accete gain a +2 racial bonus to one ability score of their choice at creation to represent their varied nature.
Racial Traits
Darkvision (2 RP): Accete are used to long winter nights and hunting in the cold. They can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Blubbery Skin (2 RP): The pale skin of an Accete is actually a thin fatty blubber, which has allowed them to survive in the extreme cold. It also allowed them to tamper with lightning with little adverse affects, which helped them greatly in their scientific and alchemical tinkerings. Accete gain Cold Resistance 5 & Electricity Resistance 5
Hold Breath (1 RP): Accete live in a cold, watery home, and while they are still mammals who need air, they are used to going without for extended periods. They can hold their breath for a number of rounds equal to four times their Constitution score before risking drowning or suffocating.
Weather Savvy (1 RP): many a cold winter has increased a Seal person's familiarity with the weather. They are are so in tune with the air and sky they can sense the slightest change in atmospheric conditions. They can spend a full-round action to predict the weather in an area for the next 24 hours. This prediction is always accurate, but cannot account for spells or supernatural effects that might alter the forecast.
Water Child (4 RP): while Accete have long evolved hunting for fish as they once did, they still retain their ancestor's comfort in the icy waters and their affinity to merfolk and other aquatic creatures. Accete gain a +4 racial bonus on Swim checks, can always take 10 while swimming, and may choose Aquan as a bonus language.
__________________ I get lost in large posts easily, please be patient with me!
Description:Asking someone to pick Garridan out of the crowd would be a challenge to most people, and frankly, that is exactly how he prefers it. Standing at just a little under five-seven, neither terribly tall nor hilariously-short enough to stand out. The private investigator’s nondescript brown hair, neatly-parted down the middle, covers his ears and almost touches the rim of a pair of round-rimmed glasses, tinted just enough to hide both who or what he may be looking at exactly, and the piercing emerald-green gaze hidden beneath him. While most people would consider the human rather handsome, with a strong jawline, high cheekbones and a rather wide mouth that looked quite pleasant the few times he smiled, the collar of his coat was often pulled up against his cheek, keeping most of his features out of view unless one was up-close. The coat is the one constant of the former intelligence officer’s wardrobe, dark brown and quite battered, resembling a military greatcoat but with any identifying insignia removed. Garridan doesn’t carry any overt weaponry on him, usually only accompanied by an umbrella.
Recruiter: Alright, son, your name’s…Garridan, is that correct?
Garridan Arlowe: Yes, sir.
R: Now tell me, Garridan, what has a young lad like you wanting to sign up with the Breenland military.
GA: Well, sir, I suppose I could say that I wish to do my patriotic duty and lay down my life for king and country, but…
R: …But we both know that’s a great big lie, at least so far as you being patriotic. That accent of yours, Julianople?
GA: Yes, sir.
R: Far away from home, aren’t you? Just how did you end up here.
GA: Stowed away on a ship.
R: Alright, perhaps I should ask…Why did you end up here? Don’t you have family back home?
GA: Tch…The only family I have back home, I want no part of sir.
R: Well, I won’t pry, son, but are you sure the army is what you want to get into?
GA: Sir, if you don’t want to sign me up-
R: That’s not it. Military life isn’t easy, especially since every person believes there’s a war coming, soon. I just want you to be sure.
GA: I’m sure. There’s nothing left for me in Julianople, nothing I would ever want to go back for. I want a clean start, a start only for myself, and if this is the best way to do it, then I will.
R: Heh, who am I to argue with determination like that. Welcome to the Breenland army, son.
Herewith my report on Intelligence Officer Garridan Arlowe, who requested his discharge due to a change in his personal life.
Officer Arlowe has served in the Breenland Military joining at age 17. On joining, he served adequately enough as a frontline soldier, even if his physical combat ability to was found to be slightly behind the other recruits. His superior officer noted however that officer Arlowe seemed to have a knack for tactical planning, and recommended he be moved to the unit’s intelligence-gathering operation, which was in its infant stages at that point.
It was here that officer Arlowe displayed his talents most clearly, and several of the unit’s military successes against the enemy were credited to the intelligence gathered by officer Arlowe. In addition, officer Arlowe was credited with the discovery of a double agent, who had been operating in a neighbouring unit for several months and was found to have been feeding border patrol information to the enemy. Instead of immediately blowing the whistle, officer Arlowe set about feeding false information to the agent, which resulted in both the agent and his handler being captured as he was due to hand over supposed troop movements along the border.
It should be noted that technically this was against protocol – all agents are meant to report such suspicions to their immediate superior – however the results were fruitful enough that no charges were considered against officer Arlowe.
With that first success, officer Arlowe swiftly advanced through the ranks of military intelligence to the rank he occupies today of Staff Sergeant. Those who have worked with officer Arlowe note that he is a fiercely intense individual, and his determination occasionally borders on the obsessive but that he cares greatly for those under him and constantly drilled into his subordinates that the intelligence they gathered were as important to the ground troops as their equipment – bad intelligence would get a unit killed just as surely as poorly-made armour and weapons – and that the right knowledge in the right hands could do as much damage as a siege engine.
On compiling this report, I find that officer Arlowe has exceeded in all his duties for the last 12 years and I recommend he be honourably discharged from service to pursue his family life and any new challenges he might wish to take on.
Lieutenant-Colonel Gordon Hannever
My dearest Crooky
I can’t believe that it’s finally happened, that you’re coming home for good. I guess a part of me should feel selfish for wanting you all to myself when you’re doing good for Breeland, but I’m sure as your wife, I’m allowed to be just a little entitled to that particular selfishness. The doctor said that I’m probably going to be due in the next month or so, and my biggest fear was that I would have to welcome our child into the world on my own. She might even be born on our anniversary! Although as poetic as that might be, I suppose spending our 5th wedding anniversary with me screaming and telling you how much I hate you would perhaps put a bit of a damper on things, heh.
I know you were a bit worried about what you’ll do once you leave the military, but we’ll be okay, I promise. What we talked about the last time you were here, it’s going to work, I know it – it’s perfect for your talents. And frankly, I would rather worry about the bills with you here beside me, than not have a care in the world and spend half my marriage without my husband.
We’re both here waiting for you, Crooky, and can’t wait to see you again.
Yours always
Eleara
PS: The lumber yard came by yesterday to drop off your sign – it looks very well-made! I’m glad you went with my idea for a slogan, even if you thought it was silly.
Arlowe Investigations – Eye Will See You To The End.
19/02: Being a father is a lot harder than I thought it would be – Alexis has been waking up earlier every morning, so to give Eleara a chance to recover from the day, I’ve decided to start my workday at 3 AM and work on my case notes from a desk I moved into her room. As I write this, I’m presently rocking her crib with one foot, so if nothing else, it has improved my multitasking skills. I have two cases on my plate at the moment, one unfaithful spouse and a family that suspects their father’s will was forged by his business partner before his death. The second case is a priority at present as the partner has been running the business into the ground from what I’ve been able to tell, and I will not let the family be left destitute. My informers are hesitant to talk about him, as it seems he has some contacts in the underworld, but that simply means I’ll have to deal with him directly. At least I will as soon as I’ve changed this diaper.
Greetings, Sarge!
I hope life’s been treating you well. Gods, what’s it been, five years since we had that going-away party? Heh, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you like that, Sarge – bet your wife wasn’t too pleased with us when we sent her husband home with the mother of all hangovers, but then you always were a lightweight, Sarge.
Heard you’ve been making a success of yourself at least, Eliman mentioned that you helped his wife track down that merchant that tried to up and run with their money without delivering the goods she’d paid him for. Even heard a rumour or two that you’ve been helping the Royal Militia clear up some cases in the capital. Heh, don’t look so surprised – you may have been the chief snooper, but I still have my contacts here and there.
The boys wanted me to let you know that you’re being missed – the new boss isn’t too bad, but he doesn’t exactly seethe with passion for intelligence-gathering like you did. Sometimes we feel more like paper-pushers than intelligence officers, but that’ll hopefully change soon. Our advance scouts reported a large group of enemy troops have been sighted and our unit’s actually being deployed to the field again to provide support. We’ll be leaving in (redacted) weeks, so wish us luck – I hope I haven’t gotten too rusty sitting this far from the front.
Lets have a drink the next time I’m on leave!
Lieutenant Karas Ohdren
Breenland Military Intelligence
07/07: Closed the Genneon case. Located stolen weapons in a warehouse in the lower docks after obtaining entry disguised as a dock worker. Warehouse is registered in the name of suspect’s mother-in-law. On being confronted with this information, suspect immediately gave up the unit commander who had been assisting him in stealing the weaponry and the two town guards who arranged their patrols to ensure the merchandise could be freely moved from the training camp to the warehouse. Received payment and thanks from Major Tibbault. He mentioned that my old unit would be going into action, confirming Karas’ letter. I need to make plans to see them again, even if it is to just reminisce and see what I’ve missed out on chasing philandering husbands and stock thieves. The Genneon case was much more interesting, but jobs like that are few and far between. I suppose I should be thankful – the work pays well and leaves me enough time to spend with my family.
15/07: The three of us went to the yearly Liberation Festival today in Goldenrise, and Alexis had the time of her life. She seems to have inherited her mother’s skill for dance and spent a good half an hour just cavorting up and down to the band’s music. Eleara herself joined in and of course, she managed to get me up there against my will despite the fact that I cannot dance and she herself has said it looks like someone had nailed my feet to the floor. But I’ve never been able to say no to her, so suffice it to say, I humiliated myself but I admit it was worth it to see that smile of hers. In a small way, I suppose I should be thankful to our unit’s cook who sent me to the hospital that night with his Chef’s Special, even if I’m sure she would have preferred her heroic soldier to be wounded and fighting for his life, rather than needing to be supported over a sick bucket, but I suppose she’s seen enough of the former in her life.
I confess, that even as I sit here now, eating the remnants of the toffee apple Alexis had bought me with her allowance, my mind is on other things. Major Tibbault informed me today that there’s been a development in the Genneon case I assisted them with – the two guards have turned up dead in their cells, apparently having hung themselves. The suspect merchant who had rented the warehouse the goods had apparently tried to flee via a ship, which was caught in the squall two nights ago and his body washed ashore following this. As for the unit commander, he has apparently just vanished. No trace of him was found after he was consigned to the brig awaiting trial by a military tribunal. They’re considering the case closed now, since at least the stolen items were found, but I despise loose ends. I have no pressing cases presently, so I suppose I can do some investigation for myself tomorrow.
20/07: Today…Today was a difficult day. Eleara and I have just returned from Karas’ funeral, and she’s busy tending to Alexis who we left with her mother – I have no desire to expose my girl to the spectre of death before she is ready, and if I have my way, that will not be for a long time. From what I’ve been able to learn, my old unit stumbled into the middle of the enemy formation they were sent to support against. The official word is that the scouts’ reports were incomplete, but I refuse to believe it. Even if the new commander was utterly incompetent, Karas and the rest would not have gone solely on the scouts’ reports, they would have done their own research and the odds of them being simply incorrect are astronomical. Dealing with the death of Karas and the rest has thrown me off the trail I had been following of the dead or missing from the Genneon case, one that makes me believe that this was not a scam hatched between four people for some quick gold – there was a larger guiding hand behind it, a guiding hand I believe is trying to wash itself clean now. But I can’t think of that now. Right now, I need to raise a glass for Karas and the others…A glass I could not raise with them.
22/07: My suspicions about the Genneon case are growing stronger. Three of the four suspects were found to have recently obtained funds from a particular lending house, confirmed by the marked bags found in their possessions, and more peculiarly, from the exact same employee. Subtle enquiries made found that none of the three actually had an account or lending agreement with the institution. A bit of gold paid my sources way and I discovered the man was conducting an affair with a young madam down in the lower city, and I confronted him when he left one evening, politely asking him what his involvement was. The minute I brought up the four conspirators, the man blanched and only said one thing: ”If you’ve found me, he’ll know…” and before I could stop him, he ran down the road and threw himself in front of a passing carriage. Suffice it to say, I made sure I was gone before the first horrified scream finished. Now I know that there was someone greater behind this…Someone who could kill and make vanish people from custody, someone who inspired sufficient fear in their manipulations that one would rather throw kill themselves on their own terms than allow them to learn of their failure. It’s with no small amount of shame that I’ll admit admiring some part of this – in my military days, I inspired a small amount of dread in the enemies of Breenland and even now, I get quite a bit of work done on reputation alone, but nowhere is it as fearsome as this man’s. Tomorrow I’m going to sneak into the banker’s home, and see if there is perhaps not a bit of a trail still left there.
The rest? Is for DM’s eyes only ^^
Secret Goal:
__________________ "How selfish soever man may be supposed, there are evidently some higher principles in his nature, which interests him in the fortune of others, and render their happiness necessary to him, though he derives nothing from it, except the pleasure of seeing it." - Adam Smith
Last edited by DoubleL1987; Jun 15th, 2022 at 10:44 AM.
Description: Ribi appears much as the linked image though generally wears more clothing in a style that is at first glance somewhat tattered, much closer inspection would reveal deliberate cuts and restitching to allot for myriad makeshift pouches. What would be an otherwise aesthetic frame is deeply disrupted by her oft disheveled appearance. She is diminutive in stature and build with nary a muscle to be seen.
Her fur is a slightly off-white with a full head of white-gray hair that appears to be quite well groomed, diminished by the wafting scent of some kind of chemical agent she is awash in.
Personality: Ribi is not an easy woman to get along with, she is incredibly blunt in her interactions with others and does not hold other's feelings to be of great import over the truth of matters. While she can certainly understand how others around her feel to some degree her concern is far more focused on being honest in every dealing she can do so without immanent danger.
She will also readily make her feelings known if it seems relevant to the situation where generally decorum and holding feelings at bay or playing them close to the chest is the winning move. It is not that she holds no awareness that these actions may not be the best, rather that she simply values that honest expression and perpetuation of the self significantly over niceties and the general falseness of pleasing those around you to further your ends.
Somewhat paradoxically, as open as she is comfortable being she is also mistrustful at best of most individuals motives around her. She is very slow to form lasting connections and even seems to steer away from them where possible but once those barriers are surpassed by an individual it would be noted she can hold to a very high degree of loyalty.
History: Ribi grew up in a Ratfolk warren in the city, raised like many Ratfolk are by the whole of their community more so than just simply their mother and father. Her father was present through her life working as an academic at the university and her mother was present as a caravan member selling wares and acquiring interesting goods until shortly before Ribi reached the age of adulthood when she was tragically lost to a monster devouring her on one of the many caravan trips she set out on. Ribi was seen as odd from a young age by many in the warren, frequently trying to wriggle her way out of the myriad boisterous social events and rather interconnected social reality of the Ratfolk given the extremely dense population of the warren.
She held some acquaintances and partook as was expected of her in Ratfolk society until around when her mother died when she was 10, this is when Ribi started to become far more insistent in her desire to find solitude and focus on her individual desires as well as growing more distant from even those she may have called companions before her mother's death. In their consolations she felt ever more confined and began to develop a paranoia in relation to closeness and aid offered by others. By the time she reached adulthood she had become known through the warren as someone with a very blunt and driven personality, surly enough to try to leave to her own devices, even with this fraction of breathing room granted by her curmudgeonly disposition the reality of the densely packed warren meant there was still very little in the way for moments of solitude.
As soon as she was old enough she began apprenticing under an alchemist in the city and spent a great deal of her free time pouring over what information she could salvage in the public libraries of the city and the very limited access she could scrounge in the University library on account of her Father's position as a historian. As her apprenticeship concluded and she could claim herself as a full alchemist in her own right she sought opportunities for escape from the confines of the warren and furthering her education in Alchemy. With her training she was still several years off from the funds necessary to apply to the university nor was she far enough into meaningful breakthroughs in her own research. She could only get so much with the limited access she had to the University libraries so she began concocting a scheme to help accelerate matters, during one of her visits to the university library she came upon information regarding some of the research of a great Alchemist from The Lawless City. Scraping together what funds she had built up doing odd work here and there as an alchemist she managed one last visit to the university before absconding with key pages from that journal of research and throwing every bit of wealth she had acquired into making her way to The Lawless City.
Unique Goal:
Three Trivia Tidbits (optional):
Despises most large gatherings and will drink to at least a buzz commonly to get through them when required
Deeply prefers colder climes
Has a bit of a romantic streak, though like most interpersonal interactions she downplays this out of a desire for her individual expression and an excess in paranoia.
Last edited by Mollyscoid; Jun 17th, 2022 at 09:48 AM.
Reason: adding a touch more to the end portion of her history
Ok, so, you guys all made it very difficult, thanks to a lot of huge improvements and last minute amazing apps but I have managed to choose the second party.
Player
Character
Alignment
Race
Class
Reason for Hire
Optional Reality
Signe Fairhair
Chaotic Good
Human
Skald (Totemic & Urban)
Gladiator
Exhibit A
Kotram Deepiron
True Neutral
Dwarf
Bard (Dwarven Scholar)
Reformed Mercenary
Fyre2387
Rashirr
Chaotic Neutral
Catfolk
Brawler (Snakebite Striker)
Gladiator
Krow Nest
Arni Koftero
True Neutral
Accete
Gunslinger
Explorer
DoubleL1987
Garridan Arlowe
Lawful Good
Human
Investigator
Local
Mollyscoid
Ribi
True Neutral
Ratfolk
Alchemist
Scholar
Honestly, this was a nightmare to decide. There are at least three players who I was rolling dice for to decide if they were in or not, and if one of the players from Group A or Group B drops out, they will certainly be getting a private message.
But as for everyone else, I will send you a link to the game shortly.
Last edited by Lentil Sponge; Jun 18th, 2022 at 11:56 AM.