[D&D-5e] The City at the Heart of Yesterday

[Flying Fox]

Originally Posted by Demandredd

Hey all, new applications seem to be slowing down now to a trickle so at the moment I'm considering bringing the closing date forward to 10th February. If that's not going to leave you with enough time to apply or complete your in-flight application then let me know now before I commit to the change.

This is fine by me! I kept getting stuck writing up Ren's backstory but it's mostly sorted now - the rest Famous last words...should be comfortably finished by the 10th

[Stormhammer]

Name: Llondresa Anoriel'ryn
Race: Wood Elf
Class: Bard

Appearance: Llondresa is short and lithe. Her hair is long and saffron in color. She dresses in earth tones and wears a black cloak to keep warm. Her flute is affectionately nicknamed Gwalýg (wind dragon).

Background: When her parents ran afoul of frost giants, Llondresa was orphaned in the frontier villages of Icewind Dale. Her uncle, a who lived in the Neverwinter Wood, refused to take her in. One night, seeking shelter from the cold, she snuck into an abandoned house on the outskirts of town that had once belonged to a bard. The spirit of the troubadour, who had died of a broken heart when an unrequited love had married another man, was rumored to haunt the old manse. In the dilapidated remnants of the house, she found a flute that was in immaculate condition. As she picked up the flute, she heard a voice shout at her from the darkness. It was the voice of the dead bard. As the ghost of the bard emerged from the shadows, she was frozen with fear. Rather than frighten the child, the lonely ghost welcomed her into his home.

Llondresa began to visit the ruined mansion on a daily basis, taking music lessons from the spirit. Eventually, the ghost passed his flute onto the girl, instructing her to start performing music in the local taverns. The girl was reluctant at first. But the ghost prodded her forward. One day, she discovered that he was gone as he had managed to pass into the next world. She felt abandoned but did her best to move forward.

WIP…

[Dukklord]

Updated my application with an RP Sample and fixed a typo in his description.

[Maya Conti]

My character's name in the table is wrong. It's Dorann Stoutstone, and all his details are finished now.

[Demandredd]

One week to go for anyone who still wants to apply.

[Flying Fox]

My application is (I'm fairly sure) complete! Someone please let me know if I've missed anything

[Apocrypha]

This looks like a great game, and I'd love to play, but it's already wall-to-wall with excellent applications in here, more than enough for a four-person game. Good luck to everyone!

[Snicker]

I plan to apply, but I'm grappling with what kind of character I want to submit. I read that the game will be an intimate one about roleplaying with other PCs and colourful NPCs, but the setup involves a mythical city that appears once every thousand years and from which no one has ever returned. Would it be best I submit a homey, humble little townsperson, or a larger-than-life hero? And while I don't want spoilers, should my character be the sort of adventurer-type person willing to leave their friends, family, and profession behind to march off to very likely death?

[Demandredd]

Some very good questions there. I shall answer them as best I can without giving away spoilers.

1) Should I go for homey or humble versus larger-than-life hero?

I think given the setup and the premise, which is a smaller more intimate style adventure between four characters I would say the former.

2) Should my character be an adventurer-type who doesn't care about leaving everyone behind for the sake of adventure?

Hard to say as that is up to the applicant in question, on the whole though, I'd say they probably are not looking for adventure to be thrust upon them in the situation they find themselves in through the darkness and the Everlasting Rime.

[Dukklord]

Hey, unless I'm just totally missing something I'm pretty sure my application for Herkimer is complete, but you still have him as "In Progress"

[Maya Conti]

Dorann is also complete now, no longer in-progress. Unless if there is something that I need to add.

[Demandredd]

Originally Posted by Maya Conti

Dorann is also complete now, no longer in-progress. Unless if there is something that I need to add.

Just missing an RP sample, then we're good. Table is now updated.

[Demandredd]

Last call everyone, I'm closing this on Friday.

[Maya Conti]

I'll be finishing my RP sample soon.

[Snicker]

Character submission Source: https://twitter.com/ArtStationHQ/status/1356619780514586624 Name: Nikol Fairfield Race: Human (Variant) Class: Barbarian Description: Nikol is a large man of Illuskan descent in his mid-twenties. You can tell how much money he has coming in by the condition of his hair and clothes; he only gets unskilled, physical, dirty jobs, so if he looks decent, he's probably not working. He's usually friendly with others, but he's violent and aggressive when he's angry, and he gets angry more easily than he should. When he's alone, he broods, lost in black thoughts. Overview: Nikol's developed a reputation in Bryn Shander as a man who will never amount to anything, and that's probably true. He's had a hard life and is trying to rise above it, but so far, all he can do is struggle to keep his head above water. He's not a bad man, but a troubled one with a talent for self-sabotage, and his anger gets him in trouble. With no real professional skills, the only work he can get is temporary or unreliable unskilled labour that rely on his great size and strength, like fishing, woodcutting, harvesting, or - most recently - shoveling snow. Background: Nikol's father was a mean, good-for-nothing son of a bitch who drank all the family's money and, when the money was gone, satisfied himself smacking his kid around instead. Nikol's mother died giving to birth to him. One could believe that's why Nikol's father was such a bastard, but that's not the case. Nikol had two older siblings, a brother and sister, and his father was just as bad to them. At some point, Nikol swore he'd a better man than his father. It was a pretty low bar, but to his credit, he's cleared it so far. It's about all he has going for him; Nikol's father had few skills and no interest in teaching them to his children. As an adult, Nikol has only three life skills: how to survive on almost nothing, how to fight in a blind rage, and how to screw up every opportunity given to him. Occasionally, someone has tried to give him an apprenticeship or other break, but this only lasts until his anger, poor judgment, or inability to think in the long term ruins it for him. If Nikol had a hero growing up, it was his older brother. He looked out for Nikol and his sister in a way his father never did, and protected them from him when he could. He fought back whenever he was able, and eventually got big enough that his father thought twice about attacking him - something almost messianic to Nikol, who had seen his father as an invincible force until then. Nikol's brother got angry, too, but seemingly always for the right reasons, striking out in righteous outrage. He was the oldest and left the home first, banding together with a bunch of other young men to make something of their lives. Nikol's sister, when abused, shut down and endured through it. It was less impressive than his brother, but Nikol still envied that. He couldn't ignore the pain or the provocation the way that she could. She left shortly after his brother when she found a boy willing to run away with her with little more than the clothes on their backs. It was years later when Nikol and his father finally split for good, after one particularly loud and violent blow-up, with Nikol homeless, jobless, and with nothing in his pockets. Nikol's brother found a job, a home, and a girl. The latter, he got pregnant, and they got to saving up for a marriage. That ended abruptly five months later, when he strangled her and hanged himself. Whatever led to that, they took to their graves. Nikol's sister is working in a dingy brothel that caters to travelers with low standards. Nikol's father is still alive, though probably not for long, as a steady diet of booze, rage, and self-destruction has taken their toll on his health. Nikol himself is surviving, and that's about it. He turned twenty-five this year; the last of his youth is slipping through his fingers and he has nothing to show for it but painful memories and a bad reputation. The Frostmaiden has many in the Ten Towns questioning their future, but not Nikol. He always knew he had nothing but darkness ahead of him. Roleplaying sample: Working in Good Mead "Nikol, help him tie the barrel to the dogsled, would you?" "Right away, boss," Nikol responded automatically. One of the brewmasters at Good Mead had taken him on as an apprentice, and while he'd only just started helping out with the brewing, it looked like he had potential. For the time being, though, most of his job was hauling around the barrels of mead or equipment. Some well-off fellow from another town had purchased an entire barrel of mead for a wedding. Nikol couldn't imagine having the money for that, but the brewmaster liked him, and he thought he had a knack with the tools. Who knew? Maybe if he played his cards right, someday he'd be able to treat his friends and family that well, too. Throwing his weight into it, Nikol shouldered the barrel onto the customer's dogsled, tying it down with ropes. "Will there be anything else, sir?" Nikol asked the customer, straightening up. From the corner of his eye, he saw the brewmaster smile and give him a slight nod. Nikol was getting the hang of this polite talk. The man gave Nikol an appraising look for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, you look like you could tell me. Where can a guy find a warm bed and someone to share it with for the night? Hells - not even the night. Just an hour'd be fine." "Uh..." Nikol paused. Good Mead wasn't the smallest of the Ten Towns, but it was close. There were still people involved in that kind of business - there always are - but not full time, and not with just anybody. "I don't know about that here, sir. But if you're heading through one of the larger towns - " "Forget it," the man scoffed with a wave of his hand. "Even Bryn Shander ain't good for it. I was there just yesterday, hired this blonde girl at the Fill in with a name of your choice.XXXXXXXXX Inn. Just laid there the whole time, might as well have slept through it. Useless slag pretty much stole my money." Nikol stiffened. "That's my sister you're talking about," he said quietly. "Yeah?" The man bristled, apparently not liking Nikol's tone. "You got any others? Maybe one that's not in a coma?" "Alright, that's enough, sir," the brewmaster said. "Our business is done, here. You go on your - " Nikol's hand snapped out and grabbed the collar of the man's coat. Yanking him towards him, Nikol slammed his forehead into the man's nose, feeling it give under the impact. The man threw a fist into Nikol's side, but he barely felt it. Nikol then took them both to the ground, or meant to; instead, they fell on the dog sled, slamming into the barrel. If it was loose, maybe it just would have rolled in the snow, but it was tied so securely that the impact jarred it open instead, spilling expensive mead out onto the sled and ground. Nikol was barely aware of all this, as he was too busy driving his fist into the man's face again and again. The man's attempts to fight him off had little effect, and soon he was just holding his arms in front of his face, defending himself as best he could. Nikol didn't know how long it was before he dimly heard the brewmaster's voice cutting through his rage: "Nikol, stop! Stop! By the gods, you'll kill him!" Nikol was suddenly aware the brewmaster was trying to pull him off of the man. His vision clearing, he looked around. The man was unconscious, the mead wasted, the town's shocked people looking on in horror. With a sudden rush of panic, Nikol looked up at the brewmaster, then felt the strength drain out of him. He sagged, his arms going limp and his head bowed. He didn't even need to hear the brewmaster to know what would come next.