[PF-1e] The Forsaken Plane: The Plane of The Elder Evils

[GeoAvanti]

I fixed up a couple things and added an RP sample. I, uh, need to double-check when I actually got that edit in... >.>

[Xian]

Originally Posted by GeoAvanti

I fixed up a couple things and added an RP sample. I, uh, need to double-check when I actually got that edit in... >.>

Geo,

Go with what you think works the best for Alexis... if you think PsyWar is the way to go, then do it. Just remember with great power is an equally huge price tag!

Team,

First, I was not able to type up all of the reviews like I wanted to with all of my other responsibilities. But I will post those that I have and finished throughout the week. Based on this, currently, Phase 2 PMs will not go out until probably Friday. Apologize for the delay.

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[AlwaysCivilMike]

Name: Dresmorlin
Race: Drow (Don’t really care if I just use elf template)
Class: Wizard
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Place of Origin: The Underdark in the Forgotten Realms
Appearance/Personality: Dresmorlin is your typical blue eyed, white haired Drow though his eyes have a hallow sunken look to them. Given what he went through going to the Forsaken plane it’s understandable. He normally wears an expression that something bad is about to happen and is not happy about it. That can range from looking grim to being very calculating. He used to be a bit more positive about life but now, in this place, not so much.

What aspect of your character attracted the attention of the Dark Powers? Well, he is under the assumption it is his knowledge of the planes, the Forsaken Plane specifically. He believes he was brought here to be used in some fashion for what he knows. The question is, what does he know that’s worth the price it cost to bring him here?

 

“….pat pat…..pat pat….pat pat….”

The room was cold, silent...save for the soft patter of blood hitting the stone floor.

A lone figure stood in the center of the large room, his blue eyes sweeping from left to right taking in every detail, wanting to remember everything. He was suffering agony beyond comprehension for what his eyes showed him. He stood within his own study, a place he had used for years to research the great mysteries of this world….and others. Bookshelves could be seen throughout the room holding manuscripts, tomes and maps in more languages than he could care to count. Located near the top of his noble house it had been a place of peace where he could study, consult the house patriarch and raise his family. Yes his noble house was one of the more violent in the Underdark, but that was the way of his people. However, as he gazed upon the body of his wife…..his children, he could not fathom what could have done such evil.

Dresmorlin moved forward and knelt down next to the body of his beloved wife. As if holding a new born child he raised her two his chest and began to weep. She was dead, a spear jutting from her chest that practically pinned her body to the ground. Around him he saw his four children, each had their throats cut and their entrails hanging out. His mind could not grasp how something like this could have happened. He had only been gone for a few hours. When he had returned he had found his entire noble house….dead. Using magic he had moved through the hallways like a wraith. With every step he took and with every new body he encountered, he knew what he would find.

His quiet weeping did not end when he heard the footsteps behind him. He did not have to look to know who it would be. He only wanted to hold his wife and to mourn the loss of his family. Footsteps filled the room and several people moved around the room but he did not care. Inside his soul he was dead already. Finally he heard a voice say “Oh my Dres….did I catch you at a bad time? Do you want me to come back later then?” There were a handful of chuckles in the room. The one who spoke moved until he was positioned in front of Dresmorlin. The Drow wizard, unfathomable pain in his soul, looked up into the eyes of Gare’ios, the mage of House iLiad. Dresmorlin, with a voice that seemed like it came from a mile away said “But….why….how..”. Gare’ios’s smile widened as he said “Because there is always a payment….always. I was given the power to destroy your house and steal your knowledge, but that kind of power demands an equally high cost. You my friend are the cost. Someone wants you very VERY badly.”
The iLiad mage stood up and moved to position himself next to what Dresmorlin saw as a dozen Drow priestesses. As thet raised their arms Gare’ios said “You see, the sacrifice of your family was necessary, sorry about that. Innocence had to be spilled to create the power needed to breach the veil. Come now, you must know what I am talking about. It’s what you spent half of your life studying after all. *Dres's eyes opened wide in realization* “Ah….the light in that brilliant mind finally goes on. If ALL of this *waves a hand in the room* was to be mine I take care of you. Only way to breach the security of your House was to use *slight shiver* them. It was actually a pretty fair trade if you ask me given how much they long for you. I am not quite sure why that is but truly it does not matter to me. The way was the way. What is….is. I mean you no ill-will.”

Suddenly the room was filled with a chanting as the twelve priestesses and the wizard began to chant. Dres felt the pull of magic in the room and could almost see the power in the very air. However, it was the pull of magic from another place that made the hairs on his back stand up. Turning his head he saw what could only describe as a void in reality itself. It started out as a small black spot in the air that no light seemed to penetrate. The void grew and grew as the chanting continued. Bolts of black lightning began shooting out of it and it grew to a roughly shaped circle standing from floor to ceiling. A howling wind began to blow and hundreds of voices seemed to cry out in agony. A black, shapeless form made from strands of darkness moved from the void and wrapped itself around Dresmorlin. The wizard could feel the menace and evil in the entity. Even the priestesses performing the chant took a step back from the entity. With its prize in tow the entity started to float back to the void all the while Dres struggled to free himself. It was then that he saw the smile on Gare’ios’s face.

His family was dead. His house was dead and soon he would be too. However, he reached inside of himself and drew resolve. His options were limited but there was one spell he could cast with only a thought. He poured his emotions, his rage at what happened to his family and his friends, into the spell and released it. Even as the entity passed into the void bring Dresmorlin with him….the books in his study, the years of research into the other planes of existence, began flying off the bookshelves. Gare’ios's eyes went wide and he SCREAMED as all that he had worked to obtain, vanished into the void. The mage ran to the void even as it was shrinking fast crying “NO! NOOOO!” In the darkness that was the portal to another world…..Gare’ios heard Dresmorlin…laughing.

 

5 steps Step 1 – Concept Elements Dresmorlin WAS an honorable wizard for his noble house in the Underdark. If he is ever to have a chance to leave this plane he must find his books or the knowledge in them. His best guess is that he was brought to the Forsaken Plane because of something he knows. He will use that knowledge or power, whatever it is, against those who trapped him. In the Forsaken Plane he has been captured sold more times than he can count. Each ‘master’ wanted to use him for what he knew about magic, item creation, potions and his knowledge of the planes. He has killed many of his slave masters, most by anything but noble means. To him there is no noble way to kill evil. Dead is dead. If you can kill your enemy while they take a crap or are asleep, all the better. In his mind, he is already dead and there is nothing else anyone can do to him. His only motivation for not killing himself is revenge on the evil that brought him here and will try to use him. Step 2 – Goals His goal is knowledge about this plane of existence. He had studied the planes and had been finding more information about the Forsaken Plane though in his mind it was scattered at best. This information is in the form of some fof the books that he drew through the void with him (see background story). He will always look and always ask about the books wherever he journeys. I would like to see Dresmorlin become an important part of the storyline based on what knowledge he gathers, the deductions about the world around him, how he treats/stands by his friends and the moral choices he makes. I want him to be known as intelligent and wise, not for being able to shoot fireballs out of his arse at a whim. Step 3 – Secrets: (Known) He knows there are books of magic and knowledge of the planes that came through the void portal with him. Could they hold the key to how he can leave this plane? (Unknown) Why he was ‘picked’ to be brought here? Was he to be a weapon? Was he just a knowledge bank of information? Is there some greater scheme that nobody knows about? (Unknown) Not all of his ex-masters…..are dead. (Unknown) Gare’ios, the mage of House iLiad, has crossed over to the Forsaken Plane. He too seeks the knowledge in the books. Step 4 – People: Gare’ios, the mage of House iLiad: He is in the Forsaken Plane because he lost all that he had sought from Dresmorlin. The Entity: He was brought here by a being. Whether it was just a ‘delivery boy’ or the actual ‘evil’ that wanted him is anyone’s guess. Someone or something went to great lengths to bring him here. There certainly is a plan in place to use him but what could it be? Former Masters: Not all of his former masters died hence they do not have very fond memories of what he tried to do to them and how. XXXXX XXXXX (One of the other players): A person of honor and integrity that freed him from his last slave master. He owns this person a debt. Step 5 – Mannerisms and quirk: Dresmorlin used to be quite gentle, for a Drow that is. Now he has a rather hard, stern expression which only sets off his blue eyes and white hair all the more. He believes that everyone, save for his friends and maybe even them sometimes, are scheming in some way and he is on guard against it. He will argue with logic or knowledge. He has very little tolerance for games hence he was never allowed to speak to dignitaries to his House. He tended to insult them with how upfront he was. He is just bad at veiling insults.  He always wears black as it suits how he feels in his heart. He cannot stand to see children abused in any fashion.

[Xian]

Team,

Here is the latest table with what I believe are the updates. If I missed you, just post a note and I will get on it... as previously mentioned, I found myself unable to write all of them so I posted those I got done and will finish the remainder over the week as work (home and office) both ramped up exponentially.

Player	Character Name	Race	Class	Land of Origin	Complete?
pianoman90	Dennis Crispin	Human	Alchemist 2/Barbarian 1	Daggermark - Off Plane	Phase I Complete
Digorig	Valtyra (Val) Shunso	Aasimar	Cleric	Golarian, City of Absalom	Phase I Complete
PopCultureBard	Ephram Du'chaine	Half-Elf	Cavalier / Rogue	Golarian - Galt	Phase I Complete
Sassafrass	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending	Posted Interest
Cedric	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending	Posted Interest
Ratpigeon	Akadis Stormhal	Human	Sorcerer (Sage Bloodline with Tattooed Sorcerer Archetype)	Forsaken Plane - Ustalav	Phase I Complete
GeoAvanti	Alexis Lightbringer	Shifter	TBD	Eberron - Znir	Work in Progress - Concept
Jarl11	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending	Interest
MalchiorTheForgotten	Brooklyn "Rook" Requiem	Human	Investigator (Steel Hound)	Off World - Lake Aries	Phase I Complete
suburbanplankton	Marcius Laparix	Dhampir	Magus	Golarian, Taldor	Phase I Complete
OneDarkness	Raven	Human	Inquisitor - Zon-Kuthon	Golarian, Absalom	Phase I Complete
Narsis	John	Dhampir	Oracle - Hunger - Wasting	Golarian, Andoran	Work in Progress
Cristal08Darkmoon	Kilara Night	Tiefling	Ranger (Demonslayer)	Golarian, Absalom	Phase I Complete
kaylara	Kallev Littleton	Aasimar	Sorcerer (Bloodline?)	Forsaken Plane - Luminous	Phase I Complete
PassionFruit	Pending	Pending	Pending	Pending	Posted Interest

Here is snippet from the Campaign Information for the Game Folders that I wanted to share especially for those that comments and those still waiting alike.

The Forsaken Planes is a low magic setting, not unlike those found on the material plane. Spellcasters are rare, and common folk seldom witness the supernatural, understanding it only through folklore, though that folklore is very prevalent. Subtle and unknown to all but the select and rare few, the natural laws of the Forsaken Plane have been insidiously re-written.

Good and Evil - Villainous and Virtuous. Evil is the seed at the heart of the Forsaken Plane. This evil though and those that would become its inmates are not mindless or slavering beasts. The heart of evil is choice and through those choices the denizens of the Forsaken Plane are damned to torment or redeemed. Mere evil is not enough to attract the Dark Powers on the Forsaken Plane. Despite the corruption of evil and the damned, they share the same motivations as countless other folks; they hope for love, crave respect or even yearn for acceptance. Yet those who turn to evil on the Forsaken Plane are not poor, misunderstood souls damned through no fault of their own. Their selfish natures perverts simple wants and needs into obsessive lusts and they earn their damnation through the commission of horrid crimes. Those damned are all the more monstrous for the empathy one might feel for them, not in spite of it. Even when forced to face their transgressions, most damned remain or choose to remain obstinately blind to their own failings and faults, instead lashing out for perceived wrongs and persecution. Those damned to the Forsaken Planes bound not unlike Tantalus in the underworld, tormented by their greatest desires. This is the point where the characters come in, as stated there is no such a thing as true neutral. Every sentient being has a tendency one way or the other on the ethical and moral axes.

The Powers have drawn the characters for a purpose. For the villainous, The Powers will seek to test how far they will go to fulfill their greatest of desires... to see whether they will choose salvation over damnation by denying their greatest desire. In character, this means that the character must find thing to things that would cause them to reconsider... realistically... fulfilling their greatest desire.

For the virtuous, The Powers have chosen them not because that they are immaculate or incorruptible. The Powers bring the virtuous to the Forsaken Planes because they possess moral flaws or fault lines that are strong enough to cause a true dilemma when the virtuous battle corruption so that they must choose between maintaining that virtue and something the value or care for very much. The fear of loss because the shadows of greed and lust that easily can turn down a dark path, that once it has a hold will not easily let go.

Spells and abilities that detect ethical alignment (law-chaos) functions normally, but no magic can directly and accurately detect the moral alignment (good-evil axis). By shielding evil, mortals/characters must now rely solely on their judgment, to make choices on those judgments, and ultimately live with those consequences. Good and evil are locked in an eternal struggle. Those who preserve their innocence are subtly protected from the forces of darkness, while those who commit evil acts risk falling to these ethereal powers, their minds and bodies slowly warping to reflect their new inner corruption. Those who wholly embrace the lures of The Powers and the evil can and will find themselves bound to the Plane in prisons of their making. (and become NPCs)

This is the essence of the Forsaken Plane, where innocence and virtue battle corruption and evil. Where love can destroy or redeem. Where magic cannot overcome morality and divine justice or whatever The Powers may be comes to all.

Reviews below for those that are complete. Rest pending! Thanks!

Cheers, Xian

[GeoAvanti]

I'm going with Feral Hunter.

I could give some lame excuses on why I chose, but I definitely won't say that it was the result of a coin flip.

I totally rolled a d2 instead

[Digorig]

[suburbanplankton]

OK...after reading Xian's last post...I'm just a little bit frightened. I mean, all I did was eat all the leftover Chinese food - that's not such a bad thing, is it? But now...I'm scared.

[AlwaysCivilMike]

Originally Posted by suburbanplankton

OK...after reading Xian's last post...I'm just a little bit frightened. I mean, all I did was eat all the leftover Chinese food - that's not such a bad thing, is it? But now...I'm scared.

Eating all the leftover Chinese will take you straight to hell....sorry. LOL. I would take that over a draft application that I knew I should sit on for a night because...well it's a draft for a reason. I spotted a few "what the hell did I write" sentences and someone was polite enough to point out some third grade grammar errors. I guess the saying is true: "You never get a second chance to make a horrible first impression." Luckily I nailed it on the first try *rolls eyes*

[Xian]

Originally Posted by suburbanplankton

OK...after reading Xian's last post...I'm just a little bit frightened. I mean, all I did was eat all the leftover Chinese food - that's not such a bad thing, is it? But now...I'm scared.

See you're already getting in the spirit of the game! Don't worry... unless there is mist outside of your door. In which case, you have your answer!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

[kaylara]

oops forgot to mention her bloodline. Given her background, lets go with Celestial bloodline.

[suburbanplankton]

Originally Posted by Xian

See you're already getting in the spirit of the game! Don't worry... unless there is mist outside of your door. In which case, you have your answer!

Onward!

Cheers, Xian

Crap...and I'm fresh out of lamb's blood!

I do have a couple sheep's heads in the freezer though...maybe one of them on a spike on the front porch would do the trick?

[GeoAvanti]

I don't know about mist, but I definitely have snow here.

Which is awesome. Snow is awesome. And Cool.

It gives me a boost to my Saves v Fear.

So I might have to work a little harder to get into the proper spirit of the game...

[kaylara]

Question: with the note : "no magic can directly and accurately detect the moral alignment (good-evil axis)" does that affect abilities too? Example a sword that is good aligned, usually bestows a neg level if used by evil... or how about a holy weapon? Normally damages evil.. do they just not work anymore or dont exist? How about damage reduction or spells like protection, do they all lose the bonus vs good or evil?

[Xian]

Originally Posted by kaylara

Question: with the note : "no magic can directly and accurately detect the moral alignment (good-evil axis)" does that affect abilities too? Example a sword that is good aligned, usually bestows a neg level if used by evil... or how about a holy weapon? Normally damages evil.. do they just not work anymore or dont exist? How about damage reduction or spells like protection, do they all lose the bonus vs good or evil?

All those things you mentioned still work the same... it is for the select few by the Powers that are shielded and the other times your character will not know or cannot tell if it is anymore effective or not.

Most of the protect items would be an indirect means of discerning alignment... but the Mists and The Powers are not talking...

Cheers, Xian

[pianoman90]

Originally Posted by GeoAvanti

I don't know about mist, but I definitely have snow here.

Which is awesome. Snow is awesome. And Cool.

It gives me a boost to my Saves v Fear.

So I might have to work a little harder to get into the proper spirit of the game...

Snow, eh? Well I did have the fiery inferno from hell here yesterday (think 44+ Celsius/110+ Fahrenheit), and then the plummeting depths of miserable rain the next day.

I don't exactly know what that gives me except pressure headaches and confused wardrobe choices. Spirit of the game or not, I feel as though snow will be next on the cards, just to toss me about a little more