[Characters] Character Backstory/Journals

[TheJeanyus]

Upon Eli's request, here is a thread where you can feel free to post journals/extra character background if you wish.

[AwesomeEllie]

Ilun Geriza's Travelogue - Gozran 12, 4738 AR. Entry #17,278 The whisper of my lord pushed me to travel through the previous night, and through the morning. While I have always been close to him, especially in the past few years, this direct communication continues to be alien to me. I do not know where I am anymore, although given that I seem to have made my way back into winter, I assume I have traveled north at the very least. In my morning prayers, I again asked him for my purpose, but today he actually answered. There are others, and I am to meet with them. And then, we are to walk through a door. While I realize the irony of such a desire, I really wish he would be more forthcoming. Riddles and puzzles are nice, but one typically doesn't have to go in a straight line for days for either. And this one is bored of walking, to be frank. I passed by several roads, some even with people in the distance, but following them would merely slow my progress. So I go through woods and over fields, and will continue to do so until I meet "The Others". Maybe they will know the information I need, and maybe not. Soon I shall know. Other than my thoughts and that I have walked significantly more, I have nothing more to report.

Ilun Geriza's Travelogue - Gozran 13, 4738 AR. Entry #17,279 Meeting "The Others" definitely could have gone worse than it did, which is good. After my morning prayers, I was guided to a frosted hill, and upon arriving, all whispering stopped. For the sake of experimentation, I continued walking, but about halfway down the hill, the whispers started again, tugging at my mind towards the top of the hill. The same phenomena occurred around the entire hill, and so I made my way back to the top and waited. The sun rose and burnt away the frost and before long, the whispers started again, aimless and agitated. Many hours later, a good time into the afternoon, I saw them. Approaching were two women, one with a quarterstaff, massive shield, and full-plate armor, and the other towering over the former, wearing a somewhat fancy dress with a massive thing slung over her shoulder. Upon noticing them, my lord's whispers calmed and ceased, leaving me with the knowledge that I needed these two. I relaxed, shivering slightly as I finally felt the chill in the air, but adjusting quickly. I put away my spade, trying to be as non-threatening as possible. Soon enough, they noticed me and approached, but they stopped a good hundred feet out and hailed me. The heavily armored one stopped the taller woman, and shouted at me in a deep voice, "Wayang typically don't live this far north. Anything we can do to help you?" The fact that she could tell my nature through my armor and mask was impressive, especially at such a distance. I approached as I responded, "I suspect I am here for much the same reasons you are. I am Ilun, at your service. Glad to make your acquaintance." As I got closer, the duo's appearance only got stranger. The armored one had brown hair and green eyes, but also had a certain... glow about her. Probably an aasimar of some sort, she also sported an ornate gem-studded symbol of Pharasma on her chest. However, she was tiny, standing several inches shorter than myself. Even with the copious amount of armor, she still moved at a decent clip, only a tiny bit slower than her companion, although she certainly lacked any amount of grace, obviously having traded her elegance for the dozens of ioun stones that orbited her brow. The unarmored woman looked much younger than I had initially thought, mostly due to her snow white, hip-length hair and outdated style of dress. Large and copious, the black-and-white ensemble was extremely gothic, with lots of extra frills. Large purple eyes contrasted with (relatively) small hands holding what was now obvious as one of those peculiar Andoran weapons- a long Gunne, modified to have some kind of sighting mechanism and some counterweight at the end, and personalized with intricate geometric designs along the barrel. On top of that, she carried a lot of large tomes on her back, possibly indicative of a wizard or alchemist? Slight red colorations on her skin, and almost-scales around the eyes that hinted at non-human heritage as well, possibly demonic or draconic. Maybe both? The small one narrowed her eyes, nodding after a moment, and held out a hand. "I am Unval, priestess of Pharasma." This was followed by the tall one kneeling slightly and offering her hand as well. "I am Chaik. Nice to meet!" Shaking both their hands, I smiled widely. Pharasma was a worthy goddess, and while not exactly an ally of Norgorbor, very rarely did the followers of the death goddess move against His followers. She could probably be trusted. On top of that, Chaik (pronounced with with a hard 'I') seemed somewhat simple, possibly one of Unval's congregation. We continued, with Chaik actually leading the way, making small talk as we went. Chaik continued with short, choppy sentences, while Unval was eloquent and a wee bit long-winded. After about two hours of walking, keeping pace with Unval so we did not leave her behind, the whispers began again as we approached a steep ridge. I gestured for the others to stay and be quiet as I scouted ahead. They both seemed to accept this easily enough, but Unval stumbled back as I shivered, slipping back into my more... usual state. As I pressed on, I could hear Unval ask Chaik what spell I had cast to disappear. Chaik responded with, "No spell. Incorporeal, hiding." which suggested that maybe she wasn't so simple. Cresting the ridge, I looked down below at a massive, clean skeleton, lying next to a massive sword. A colossal humanoid skeleton laid out before me, and standing atop the skull was another "Other". Moving closer, I examined the figure, only to find another person of peculiar appearance. Wearing glittery finely-linked armor in the pattern of a dress, the girl seemed vaguely human. Wearing a peculiar triangular hat, and with pale-blue hair that appeared to be braided into many lengthy strands. She did not seem to have any weapons, but neither did I, so it didn't count for much. Although she seemed to be chuckling, weirdly enough. I headed back, reappeared, and debriefed Chaik and Unval, including my 'hunch' that the newcomer could help us. So far, I had been able to skirt around what the actual mission was. The two just both nodded, and then looked at the shallowly-inclined cliff. While I had been able climb up the rock-face, it did not look like either of the others would be able to make it. However, my initial worries were unfounded. Chaik stepped back for a moment and proceeded to unfurl beautiful yellow-red wings from the ruffles of her dress. Reptilian in nature, they were massive, spanning a solid 30 feet. I glanced at Unval, who had the same shocked expression that I am sure I had. So maybe Chaik wasn't following Unval. Chaik flapped her wings, stretching them. Smiling at us, she asked, "We go now?" and she reached out, offering us seats on her forearms. Still a bit shocked, we sat, and the young woman kicked off into the air, soaring high over the ridge and directly to the skull. The blue-haired girl only saw us right before Chaik touched down, stumbling back in shock but catching herself before tumbling off the skull. Almost immediately, Chaik said, "Time for sleep now." and she then hefted her Gunne in both hands and began chanting, circular runes appearing in the air before the barrel. While I did not react well to the initial casting, snapping my Monk's Spade from my glove, I was able to identify the spell as a Mage's Magnificent Mansion a moment before I tore into the poor woman out of habit. Unval and the blue-haired girl both also looked shocked, but neither attempted to interupt Chaik's casting, just silently watching the strange casting. At the end of the incantation, she pulled the trigger, finishing the spell with a slight flash of a extra-dimensional space being made Chaik shouldered her Gunne, and turned to her shell-shocked audience. Bouncing on her toes, she smiled. "Come in! Have food and beds!" She then skipped into the doorway of her mansion, and we slowly filtered in behind her, even the blue-haired girl who had yet to say anything. We came through the door and into a large dining hall, with a massive table full of food of all sorts. Chaik was already digging in, having translucent butlers retrieve specific drinks and foods for her. Unval was the first to sit and begin eating, on Chaik's right. I sat directly across from the peculiar Gunne-woman, and nibbled at some chicken myself. The blue-haired girl sat three seats to my right and piled shrimp high onto her plate, and then began devouring the shrimp. After about 15 minutes of conversationless eating, the blue-haired girl had picked the table clean of shrimp entirely and sat back, satisfied. Raising her eyebrows suddenly, she frowned and leaned forward. "Wait a minute! Who all are you and what are you doing here??" Chaik frowned, folding and placing down her napkin. "I am Chaik. I am searching, something important. May be in cave near here." She then took her Gunne, which had been propped against the large table, and proceeded to tuck it away into the folds of her dress, in what would be utterly impossible without the use of an extra-dimensional space. Intriguing. Unval answered next, still sipping at a glass of wine. "I, Unval, am on a quest, following information delivered to me by my liege Lady Pharasma. She has sensed an imbalance in this area, both of aligned outsiders and undead. I am here to balance the scales." While the first half of her mission statement had come off as normal, even a bit whimsical, the second half had the unwavering strength of steel. It spoke of a warrior forged in determination and blood, and one determined to make more blood flow. My turn was up next, and I rocked the chair back a bit. Time to spill the beans a bit. "Ilun. I'm in the same boat as Unval. Mission from my god, Norgorbor, except he has only been giving me slight hints so far. I am still unsure on the details." At the mention of Norgorbor, Unval cocked a single eyebrow, while Chaik jumped in place, exclaiming, "Shocking truth!" While her broken sentences were a bit hard to understand at times, they were kind of endearing. Kind of. I turned to the newcomer and nodded at her. "So who are you? And why are you here?" The girl kicked her chair back and leaped onto the table, throwing her hands up in the air and smiling widely. Her braids swayed slightly, but moved a lot less then expected with that maneuver. "I am Squid Girl, Emissary of the Sea! And I'm here to find a base for my inkvasion!" Chaik, Unval, and I all choked down laughter, but Squid Girl seemed serious. An assassin, a cleric, a Gunne-woman, and a Squid Girl. What an interesting group to travel with.