[D&D-5e] Chronicles of Jôrd: Troubled Lands

[Thorsten]

Originally Posted by Onward

Well, I'm done as I can be with my app. I didn't add a writing sample if that's okay with you,

You're good. I did list that as optional.

[Thorsten]

A bit of feedback for the first couple of people on the list.

 

To anyone else, application is still two weeks away. Plenty of time to get something in. And feel free to DM or ask questions here if you have any.

[cappucina]

I'm going to think of a character!

[MercurialJack]

Thanks for the feedback!

[DiceGoblin]

[Begon Ugo]

Nothing to see here.

[tomplum]

[Effete]

@Thorsten
Thanks for the feedback!

[Onward]

[JohnStone]

Valeera is finally done. its a rough sketch but workable.

[cappucina]

Radeljost Name: Radeljost: Just Enough Light in Order to See Your Way Home (pronounced rad del yost) Gender Identity: Female Race: Watcher Age: 88 Dice Roll: 1d500 88 Class: Druid Description: Radeljost the Watcher stands at 6 feet. She is the shape of a humanoid, but has tree bark textured skin the color of a hazelnut and bright green leaves for hair. She has long humanoid arms, legs, a torso, a neck, a face.... and a skirt of vines that trail to the ground. She may move the vines only in very simple ways, for example she can use the vines to better steady herself on a steep slope or slippery frozen terrain. She is slender and if she holds still and just so, she looks quite like a young tree. She is slightly more dense and so slightly heavier than a human of the same size. Radeljost uses Disguise Self and with it the ability to reduce by 3 feet in height to look like a nondescript human in travel clothes with large hood, brown from head to toe when she needs to blend in with other humanoids around Eastmark. (see my avatar top left, like that) Personality: Warm hearted, responsible, reserved. Keen observer, good at remembering details, avoids burdening others with her own worries, practical, creature of habit. Creates structure and highly consistent routines, this does not mean that she is not adaptable, but she is a Watcher and forever on a mission and very dedicated. The routine is all preparation for a big change, this is part of the mission. She often negates her own needs. She is the ultimate protector. Background: It is the Raven's nature to roost in a tree, perhaps that is why many Watchers have the aspect of the Oak or the Birch or the Fir....even though a Watcher might take the aspect of a granite or of water or of moss. We are ever watchful for the Raven. There are those who endlessly hunt for the Raven, always moving and always seeking. And, there are some of us that linger as long as one hundred years in certain place - far away from other Watchers - and attract the Raven to us. I have not felt the Raven's presence in some time, but still I linger here circling in and out of Eastmark. I know it will come back once again and I will be waiting to intercept. I travel in and out of Eastmark, over and over again on a particular route that takes me to the villages, the meadows, the forest and the town in a figure 8. I travel this infinity sign.....not quite infinitely but certainly for a time. Something like a human generation now. In Eastmark, I can disguise myself to be a small human nobody who has truffles, mushrooms, and other forest edibles to trade and I go from public square to public hall listening and learning from the humans about what they have seen or heard or noticed. I hear quite a lot of news about the births, sicknesses, weddings, and deaths. I do what I can to help Eastmark stay strong and healthy. I plant helpful medicinal herbs close to the town, where people will find them. I trim back a dying tree branch before it weakens the whole fruit tree in an orchard. I chase the pests away. I cajole mice out of the grain storage. I purify the well water of stagnancy. I bless the expectant mothers, slipping a woven symbol of health into their thatched or shingled eaves. I pray over the newly planted crops to help them on their start. Sometimes I am at the edge of town where the wilderness begins again. I watch the sky, I watch the stars, I smell the air, I taste the water and I learn from this when I have the luxury of time to assist or if I must protect. I adore the spiders, the hummingbirds, the bats, the badgers, the deer. I speak with them daily. They help me take notice of the signs as well as charm me endlessly. When I return to town, I whisper news of coming storms or cold snaps or strange sightings to the town crier in his sleep and even to the dogs, cats, and caged birds and ask them to let the townsfolk know in their own way to be a little more on guard. In the overgrown wilderness, in the dark and dank forest after a long rainstorm with the stagnant waters - that is when I have found Raven's forces. They must come up out of the mud from way down, down, down deep. They reek of sulphur and ash. It is with them I have fought with my metal dagger and my claws and my spear. Terrible fights where I have needed to crawl away and sit against a stone and heal and recover. But, lately, I have been sensing that the Raven's kind are getting closer to Eastmark. There's a taste in the air of them. A whiff of sulphur I cannot trace to source. But they are well hidden. Each time it rains, I worry and am cautious even far from the dark of the forest - even near civilization. What is soon coming up out of the mud? What will it be? I am one of those with the aspect of a tree. The Daegwood - a deep forest tree is that is a thing of delicate beauty that grows well and always beneath taller and sturdier trees like the Fir or the Pine. Each spring the Daegwood blossoms and is covered with thousands of small white flowers the exact white of the moon above - with a small yellow center like a star - and the flowers last all Spring and all Summer. Longer than it seems possible for a plant to flower. That is who I am - I have reserves and endurance. There are others who are stronger or more passionate, but I never tire while they exhaust. What I have is a lingering strength. Background Archetype: City Guard Archetype, but tweaked with wording for Watchers https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/City_Guard_(5e_Background) Skill Proficiencies: Athletics or Acrobatics and Insight or Investigation Tool Proficiencies: Musical Instrument - Flute Languages: Choose one Standard Language Equipment: Instrument - Flute, a set of common clothes Personality Trait Ideals I am always on the watch and never let my guard down. I can stare down a hell hound without flinching. I like the night patrols best, very peaceful or very not. Bonds A Watchers lot is to lay down our lives for others. (Good) I love my duty, and I will do anything to protect my chosen territory. (Any) My fellow Watchers are my brothers/sisters in arms. It is my duty to protect the city and its citizens, as well as the countryside and the plants and animals of wilderness that surrounds it. Flaws I will never let the agents of the Raven pass me by. Contacts: Bartlebois: Another Watcher, one who was designated to receive her and was there upon her arrival. He introduced her to the world around her, provided some guidance, and was at her naming ceremony. Radeljost would like to see Bartlebois again and share stories. Morvanna and Jerr Oldman: Tavern owners in Eastmark who regularly buy/request return with fresh mushrooms for their house specialty (meat with mushroom sauce). They are kind enough, they offer Radeljost a corner table and serve her broth and let her warm herself inside on cold days. Or on hot days they offer her water. She learned to be comfortable inside the human structures from them. PC or a PC's trusted connection: This has to wait until you have made your selection and if Radeljost is in it too I will work on it, getting permission from the other player. This is to give Radeljost some connection to the forming party. Hertung Nogler This is a minor nobleman and he and his men watch out for Radeljost. He's learned her pace in and out of the village and has tried in the past to "catch" her. That is, they stop her and search through all her belongings and ask many questions. They try to find evidence that she is a threat somehow. He and his men have recently spoken thinly veiled threats to her the last time she encountered them. They tell her she is highly suspicious and this is why keep close tabs on her coming and going - but on the contrary, she is thinking that they are the ones highly suspicious and has started "counter-observing" them. She believes that he has started spreading rumors that she is not to be trusted. She feels altogether less welcome in Eastmark as of late. Woodsman/Ranger Hans Porter and his son Miche Porter Radeljost met Hans Porter when he was only a young boy. He had gone out to make his father proud, to hunt a deer and bring it home as a suprise. His father had been saying that he was just about ready. He has tracked out rather farther away than he meant and encountered a beast of the Raven's instead. It was a large centipede, as big as his own arm and very hostile. Radeljost was tracking the centipede, not the deer, and joined in the fight and protected the boy from a poisoned bite. She walked him almost all the way home. She stops to talk to him now and then. She's seen him grow, get married, become a father, and now his son Miche is about the same age as Hans was when Radeljost first met him. Hans has introduced Miche to Radlejost, though she does not think he has told others. Writing Sample: https://www.rpgcrossing.com/showthre...29#post9439929

[Alemar]

[Thorsten]

Feedback for the young scion of the Sterling family.

 

[Silent Rain]

Rathe Collin Name: Rathe Collin Gender Identity: Male Race: Human Age: 23 Class: Bard Description: Having spent his younger years living on the streets of Caerdon, with each day a struggle just to survive, Rathe understands the privilege of no longer living hand to mouth. As such, he enjoys wearing the current fashions of the city, though he never forgets where he came from. A rapier sits at his left hip and a cape hangs down from his left shoulder, called a paludamentum, bearing the bardic sigil. A mess of short curly brown hair sits atop a plain, but handsome face, usually adorned with a wide smile. Personality: Rathe is proud of what he has and achieved, but is aware that none of that would have been possible if not for the generosity of others and for the gift of second chances. His studies at the University of Caerdon have awakened in him a deep curiosity to unravel the various mysteries of the world, both arcane and mundane. Despite his arcane and martial training at the hands of his mentor, he still relies primarily on his words to resolve issues, a skill he learned as an urchin, and one perfected as a bard's apprentice.   Background: About twenty years ago, fires swept through large swathes of poor housing in Caerdon. It was suspected that the fires had been started intentionally, though this was never proven. Rathe managed to escape the flames with only a few burns on his back, but his parents were not so lucky, and they both succumbed to the fire. Although his physical wounds have long since healed, he still carries with him the mental scars of that day, manifesting as an intense aversion to flames. There were several children orphaned after the fires, and Rathe knew where they would be headed: the Caerdon State Orphanage. Every child had heard the horrible stories of that place, with some parents even threatening to send their children there if they did not behave. Rathe had no intentions of being sent there. Instead, he became one of the many street urchins living in the grimy and dangerous shadows of Caerdon. Years passed and Rathe had somehow managed to survive. He had become comfortable with taking things that were not his, even beyond the random loaf of bread or piece of fruit. He might spend a week or two planning a heist that would secure him a pair of shoes or a simple knife. It was during one such 'heist', that Rathe found himself in the home of a man he had seen walking through the city streets. Something about him drew his curiosity, and he followed him on more than one occasion. The man was want to frequent a particular stone bench in the gardens toward the center of the city, where he would play a hauntingly beautiful song on a small set of pipes. Rathe was not sure what fascinated him so much about the man, perhaps the music he made, but the boy had decided to sneak into his house and see what he could find. He entered while the man was away and found himself surrounded by strange and exciting things everywhere he looked. His eyes lit up when he spied the pan pipes sitting on a small round table. He brought them to his mouth as he had seen the man do, and began to replicate the song he had heard. Unsurprisingly, it was not good, but Rathe had managed to capture a rough essence of the song. "I am not sure what to do with you, boy," came a deep smooth voice from somewhere behind Rathe. He dropped the pipes and spun, prepared to run, but found that he was unable. "Don't bother", the man said with a brief smile. "You are quite immobile for the moment, which will give us time to talk without incident." The man walked over to the pipes and picked them, returning them to the table. "I have seen you following me a few times, watching while I played in the gardens. I had assumed you were merely going to try a rob me, but now I see something else had drawn your attention." The man waved his hand and whatever had restricted Rathe's movement was gone. "You may go if you wish, though I am well within my rights to strike you down where you stand. However, I would ask that you remain for a moment and hear me out." Rathe hesitated, unsure what to do. Ultimately, his curiosity won out over his own safety. The man nodded. "My name is Sander Valent," he introduced himself with an elaborate bow, after which he stared at the boy expectantly. "Oh, I'm, uh, Rathe," the boy responded, still unsure what exactly was happening. "Well met, Rathe. You have a keen ear, and your current situation likely providing a certain perspective that is lacking among most of my compatriots. " The boy only became more confused as the man went on, which was clearly etched on his face. Sander smiled. "I would like to help you, Rathe, and hope that someday you will be in a position to help others as well. I am a Bard, a student and purveyor of life's mysteries. We record and recount histories with our tales and songs, ensuring the deeds of those that came before us are not forgotten, along with going on more than a few adventures ourselves, he added with a mischievous smile." "I offer you this," Sander continued, "admittance into the University of Caerdon, I have quite a bit of pull there," he added in an aside, "along with your housing and tuition, of course." Rathe looked at Sander now with suspicion. Sander once more smiled (it seemed this man was always smiling). "I know you are reluctant to trust others, a side effect of your upbringing no doubt, though I'm sure it has served you on more than once occasion. Allow a humble bard some philanthropic pursuits," he bowed slightly. "In truth, you will work hard, and receive no special consideration. If you do not meet the requirements of the University once you are there, I will not intervene on your behalf if it is decided you should be expelled. I am giving you an opportunity, nothing more. If you succeed however, I might have the odd task for you in the future. What say you?" Rathe accepted Sander's offer, and spent the next year learning to read, write, do math, and of various sciences and history. It was after this first year however, that his true instruction began. From that point onward, Rathe attended University during the day and was taught by Sander in the evenings. His patron's teaching included everything from swordplay, music theory and instruments, the arts of poetry and prose, and eventually...magic. In time, Sander began to show Rathe how music could not only alter hearts and minds, but the very fabric of reality as well. His instruction, both day and night, continued on in this way for several years. It was an exciting and trying time of his life. While his time with Sander was always something he looked forward to, and came to cherish, his time at the University was a different story. There were many that looked down upon Rathe for his clear lack of a proper upbringing, but he tried his best to not let this bring him down. In fact, he eventually began to relish watching his own achievements anger those of privilege who also studied there, though he made more than a few enemies along the way. The day he graduated, he returned to Sander's house and found the man standing there, holding a long object wrapped in a dark red fabric. ""I cannot express, which as you know is not something that happens often," he added, and they both smiled, "how proud I am of you. From the first moment I saw you standing in my parlor, and heard you playing my pipes, I knew our meeting was no chance. Every bard is beholden to pass what they know onto one who will carry on their work, and I am so happy that is you, Rathe." Sander wiped a tear from his eyes. Now, it's time you looked the part, he said, and raised the bundle in his hand. From its side, he pulled forth a rapier, much nicer than the ones he had been instructed on, with a delicate basket and etchings down the blade. This, he buckled onto Rathe's waist with its accompanying belt. Next, he draped open the red fabric he had been holding. It was a paludamentum, a cloak worn over one shoulder, and on its side was embroidered a golden symbol of a harp, lute and sword, overlaying one another, wreathed by small musical notes that slowly transitioned into arcane symbols. "Wear this with pride," Sander said as he fastened the cloak around Rathe's neck and draped it over his left shoulder, "bard". "Every journeyman bard is required to spend time out in the world, doing good deeds, and learning new tales. You will be heading to Eastmark. How you leave your mark there is up to you, but know that you will not be able to continue your studies with me until you do..." Background Archetype: Urchin Personality Traits x2: My eloquent flattery makes everyone I talk to feel like the most wonderful and important person in the world. I'll settle for nothing less than perfection. Ideal: People. I help the people who help me - that's what keeps us alive. Bond: I owe a debt I can never repay to a person I intended to rob. Flaw: I'm a sucker for a pretty face. Contacts: Sander Valent: The man responsible for providing Rathe with the chance to prove himself at the University in Caerdon, and of receiving the training of a bard. In many ways Sander has become a father figure to Rathe. Dustin Kort: The Korts are a wealthy family in Caerdon and want for little. Dustin Kort attended University with Rathe and was repeatedly shown up by the boy that had once lived as a street urchin, a fact that Dustin never missed the opportunity to reminded Rathe of. Dustin looks for any opportunity to undermine Rathe's progress at school. Later, Rathe learned this animosity stemmed from the fact that the Korts had petitioned Sander to take Dustin as his apprentice, something the bard outright refused. Rathe had become something that Dustin wanted and could not have. Rathe's upbringing only made this worse. Although he has not seen Dustin since their days at University, the boy swore that he would get back at Rathe for 'stealing' what he believed was his. Given his family's wealth and power, it was hardly and idle threat. Faith Kinder: Faith became fast friends with Rathe, and the two of them spent most of their free time together, getting into all sorts of trouble at the University and in the city. Although there was chemistry between the two, neither wanted to do anything that might jeopardize their friendship. Frowley: A fellow orphan of about the same age as Rathe. One of the few people that Rathe considered a friend from his time living on the streets of Caerdon. He still kept in touch after he joined the University, and tried as best he could to offer Frowley assistance, though he knew his friend was loathe to accept charity. Writing Sample

[DiceGoblin]

Alrighty, made some small adjustments to my app based on feedback.