The Shattered City: Rerolls, Cast, Maps, Rules, Misc

Online roleplaying at the Café
Post Reply
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

The Shattered City: Rerolls, Cast, Maps, Rules, Misc

Post by NeoTiamat »

Levels

It is Chapter Four: Midnight and all players are level 10 right now.

Reroll Tokens

Maximum Reroll Tokens: 20
Reroll Tokens per Reroll: 5
  • Mr. Agale = 8 Reroll Tokens
    Lia Mournswaithe = 0 Reroll Tokens
    Tomas Eisenwald = 8 Reroll Tokens
    Rex Alistair Prescott = 9+5 Reroll Tokens
    Mercator Melanchthon = 6 Reroll Tokens
    Celeste Viardot = 11 Reroll Tokens
    Kerrian Mauganson = 4 Reroll Tokens
    Nerit Doherty = 7+5 Reroll Tokens
    Nicolas Etienne de Castaigne = 3 Reroll Tokens
Installment Plans: 12 RT per Book (Nicolas), 6 RT per Book (Rex)
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Mon Mar 14, 2011 9:49 pm, edited 137 times in total.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Reroll Token Log

Chapter One: The Chateau Malchance

2 RT to Everyone for Character Briefs

3 RT to Cronax for helping set up the Equipment house rules

4 RT to DocBeard for a particularly exemplary questionnaire

3 RT to Nerit for the Canticle of Doherty

2 RT to Nerit for the Character Brief for "B"

2 RT to Nerit for art (Quick-colored sketch of Nerit)

1 RT to Kage for art (Initial concept sketch)

2 RT to Kage for art (Sketch of Twins back-to-back, training)

2 RT to Kage for art (Sketch of Twins in full regalia)

1 RT to Rock for side-RP (Continuation of Opening Message with Devereux)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Cyrus and the Palace)

1 RT to Cronax for side-RP (Mr. Agale and 142 Rue Paradis)

2 RT to Kage for art (Sketch of Lia Mournswaithe)

3 RT to Kage for art (Coloring/Shading of the Twins in full regalia sketch)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Nerit and Richard, The Candle in the Garden)

1 RT to Cronax for side-RP (Mr. Agale and 142 Rue Paradis, Part 2)

-5 RT to Kage for Perception Reroll (Guignol Museum - Crime Scene)

-5 RT to Kage for History Reroll (Guignol Museum - Acid)

1 RT to YalenusVeler for side-RP (Kerrian and Cerise, First Admission)

1 RT to Cronax for quality posting (The Musings on the Theft of Mr. Agale)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Insight Reroll (Guignol Museum - Sight)

2 RT to Kage for art (Kerrian and Phineas the Ficus)

1 RT to Kage for writing (Letters to Old Friends, 1st post)

2 RT to Rock for writing (Letters to Old Friends, 2nd post)

2 RT to Kage for writing (Letters to Old Friends, 3rd post)

3 RT to Rock for writing (Letters to Old Friends, 4th post)

-5 RT to Kage for Religion Reroll (Apothecary of Sevgi Canderli - Circle Symbol)

2 RT to Kage for writing (Letters to Old Friends, 5th post)

6 RT to Kage for art (Full Color of Liability Mournswaithe)

5 RT to DocBeard for posting (Consistent, very active posting throughout the Low-Road Investigation)

6 RT to Kage for art (Full Color of Celeste Viardot)

-5 RT to Kage for Stealth Reroll (Catacombs - Beneath the Church of St. Madeleine)

2 RT to Rock for side-RP and Clever Idea (The Lord Bursar, Jacob de Casteelle)

2 RT to DocBeard for posting (The Vengeance-Song + Costuming)

6 RT to Nerit for art (Sister Nerit going to the Masque)

1 RT to Kage, Nathan for side-RP (A Costume for Cyrus)

6 RT to Kage for art (Full color + background of the Twins, Street-Fighter style, continued from training sketch.)

-5 RT to Lia for Arcana Reroll (The Death of Marie Chastel)

6 RT to Whistler for Background (3 raw, +2 for quality, +1 because I forgot to do this earlier)

-5 RT to Whistler for Diplomacy Reroll (Calming the Crowd after Chastel's Demise)

-5 RT to Kage for Stealth Reroll (On the way to the Gendarmerie Station)

First Interlude

2 RT to Nathan for side-RP (Darius looking for trouble, finding more than he wanted)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Hospice of the White Dove and meeting Margary)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Perception Reroll (Lemercier & Petrik's Entrance)

6 RT to Nathan, Cronax, Yalenus, DocBeard, Kage, Nerit and Whistler for Feedback (Book One)

-5 RT to Yalenus for Perception Reroll (Lemercier & Petrik's Entrance)

6 RT to DocBeard for super-side-RP (Expedition with Christophe and Devereux, including the Discussion, the Chained Man, the Possession, the Swarm, and the Factory).

3 RT to Nerit for Feedback Form [Max hit, not logged]

1 RT to DocBeard and Nerit for side-RP (Discussion prior to Expedition with Chris & Dev) [Nerit has hit the Max, her RT are not logged]

1 RT to Rock for side-RP (Cards with Lemercier and Petrik)

-5 RT to Nerit for Insight Reroll (Alice & Richard just returning from the Cathedral)

1 RT to Nerit, Kage, and Nathan for side-RP (The Medical Examination of Darius Isfahani) [Kage recieves nothing due to Max]

1 RT to Nathan for logging the side-RP (The Medical Examination of Darius Isfahani)

1 RT to YalenusVeler for side-RP (Trip with Katja & Cerise to Verbreker District)

1 RT to Whistler for side-RP (Celeste and Thierri's odd conversation on Dame Ettiquette)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (The Blackwoods in the Kitchen, Re: Tragedy)

Chapter Two: Stained Glass

8 RT to Nathan for the Hazlani Astrological Calendar (PCs) [Nathan recieves only 7 due to hitting Max]

12 RT to Lostboy for the Grand Map of Port-a-Lucine (First Installment)

-5 RT to Kage for Perception Reroll (The Throat-Shredding of Captain Cedolin)

-10 RT to Nerit for Arcana and Religion Rerolls (A Question of Windows)

-5 RT to Kage for Insight Reroll (The Throat-Shredding of Captain Cedolin)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Boxing with Christophe Renier)

1 RT to DocBeard and Lostboy for side-RP (Escorting Cedolin to the Palace)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Perception Reroll (The Office of Dr. Carre of Ronceray Abbey)

2 RT to DocBeard and Rock for side-RP (The First Visit of Harris at Ronceray)

1 RT to DocBeard for note-taking on the side-RP (The First Visit of Harris at Ronceray)

1 RT to DocBeard for pushing things along and organization (Triple Disappearances)

-5 RT to Cronax for Perception Reroll (What has Warden Lecanu been studying?)

-5 RT to Kage for Perception Reroll (The Chest of Warden Grenier)

6 RT to Kage for art (Cyrus Isfahani in Boudoir)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Streetwise Reroll (Finding the Yellow-Haired Man)

-5 RT to Nathan for History Reroll (On Mumtaz Aksoy and Eviction)

-5 RT to Whistler for Stealth Reroll (Sneaking aboard the Archeron)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Intelligence Reroll (The Devereux Conversation, sideRP)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Cyrus and Katja Sparring, First Occasion)

-5 RT to Yalenus for Initiative Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Initiative Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle)

12 Rt to Lostboy for Mapping (Book 2 Battles, Mid and End)

-5 RT to Whistler for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, Explosive Strike)

-5 RT to Nathan for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, AoO vs. Mage-Light)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, Eyebite vs. Mage-Light)

-5 RT to Nathan for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, AoO vs. Mage-Light)

-10 RT to Lostboy for attack rerolls (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, vs. the Mage-Lights)

-5 RT to Kage for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, Argent Mantle vs. Cedolin)

-10 RT to Kage for two Attack Rerolls (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, Bound by Fate vs. Cedolin)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Cyrus and Richard Sparring, First Occasion)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Cedolin Battle, Charging Virtous Strike)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Spirit-Sight Reroll (Book 2 - 47 Rue Foyle)

3 RT to YalenusVeler for Accounting (Book Two Posts, first 37 pages)

-5 RT to Cronax for Stealth Reroll (Stealth at Montmort)

10 RT to Cronax for Stats (Felise, Christophe, Bertram and Bertriz Renier)

-5 RT to Nerit for Attack Reroll (Book 2 - Poincare Battle)

-5 RT to Nathan for Attack ReRoll (Book 2 - Poincare Battle Frigid Blade)

5 RT to Nathan for Cutscene (Darius growing up, First Scene)

25 RT (BFP Supply) to Kage for the art (All PCs in the Chateau)

6 RT to Nerit for art (The Mirror-Lady)

3 RT to Lostboy for honesty (pointing out that he had spent several RT earlier).

2 RT to Rock for posting (Ritual for the Floating Disc)

Second Interlude

1 RT to Rock and DocBeard for side-RP (Ronceray Abbey -- Setting the Circle)

2 RT to DocBeard for side-RP (Post-B2 talks with the Blackwoods)

1 RT to Rock and Kage for side-RP (Discussion of Loyalties)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Post-B2 chat with Richard)

6 RT to DocBeard, Lostboy, Rock, and Nathan for Feedback (Book 2)

1 RT to Nathan for side-RP (Post-B2 chat with Richard)

-10 RT to Kage for Insight Rerolls (On Mumtaz Aksoy)

-5 Rt to DocBeard for Insight Reroll (Mary and Patrons at Fair-on-Red)

1 RT to YalenusVeler for side-RP (Kerrian and Lemercier, wide-ranging Conversation)

1 RT to Whistler for side-RP (Thierri Hanging Himself)

1 RT to DocBeard and Rock for side-RP (Ronceray Abbey Part 3... very short part)

1 RT to DocBeard for side-RP (Fixing Wounds with Thierri)

1 RT to Rock for side-RP (Discussions of Recent Events with Bastion Pineau)

1 RT to Cronax for side-RP (Artistic Discussions with Lemercier)

-5 RT to Cronax for Attack Reroll (Cafe Battle - Augmented Betrayal)

Chapter Three: What Lies Beneath

2 RT to Nathan and Kage for side-RP (Hunting with Christophe, Alain, and the Warden)

1 RT to Rock and DocBeard for side-RP (Ronceray Abbey Part 3.5) (Rock Maxed)

1 RT to Whistler for side-RP (Magic Lessons with Thierri, Part One)

1 RT to Whistler for side-RP (Magic Lessons with Thierri, Part Two)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Prison Confessions)

6 RT to Nerit and Yalenus Veler for Feedback (Book Two)

-5 RT to DocBeard for Reroll (Spirit Insight, Stream)

1 RT to DocBeard and Nerit for knowing the Ready Action rules.

1 RT to Cronax for mechanics help (Beginning of 2nd Round)

-5 RT to YalenusVeler for Reroll (Attack Roll vs. Grave Weird)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Reroll (Compulsion Attack Roll vs. AM)

-5 RT to Cronax for Reroll (Augmented Betrayal vs. Grave Weird)

-5 RT to Rock for Reroll (Fireball to Icy Grasp)

1 RT to Lostboy. No reason.

1 RT to DocBeard for side-RP (Richardian Revelations)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Katja at Night)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Buckets of Fun)

1 RT to Docbeard for side-RP (Apologies with Thierri)

3 RT to YalenusVeler for intellectualism (Death is Dead)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Regarding Blackwoods)

1 RT to Whistler for side-RP (Thierri and Banter)

16 RT to Lostboy for Battle-Maps (Book 3 Mid & Book 3 End) [Lostboy recieves only 13 RT due to Max]

-5 RT to Nathan for Initiative Reroll (B3 End-Battle)

10 RT to Nathan for the Hazlani Astrological Calendar (NPCs)

5 RT to Cronax for Post-Auditing (Book 3 End-Battle)

-10 RT to Nerit for Intelligence Rerolls (Dame Fortuna)

-10 RT to Rock for Attack Reroll (Shock Sphere)

-15 RT to Kage for Attack Reroll (Abjure Undead)

-15 RT to Nicolas for Attack Reroll (Guiding Light)

-5 RT to Yalenus for Attack Reroll (Minion Destruction)

-5 RT to Nathan for Attack Reroll (Unseen Fist vs. Anne-Marie)

-5 RT to Cronax for Attack Reroll (Book 3 End Battle)

-5 RT to Cronax for Arcana Reroll (Book 3 End Battle)

Chapter Four: Midnight

12 RT to Lostboy for the Grand Map of Port-a-Lucine (Third Installment)

15 RT to Kage for Chapter Summaries (1-3)

1 RT to Kage and Perry for side-RP (Rex's Introduction)

1 RT to Nerit for quick-RP (Upstairs)

1 RT to Tomas for side-RP (Visiting Reynard Boucher)

5 Rt to Nerit for IC post (In the Catacombs)

5 RT to Nerit for Post-Count-Log (Book Three)

20 RT to Nerit blogging (Book Three) [Put into a side-holder]

-10 RT to Kage for Stealth Rerolls (Danse Macabre)

-5 RT to Nerit for Diplomacy Rerolls (Danse Macabre)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Research & Governor's Hotel)

-20 RT to Nerit for Research Rerolls (Research RP)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Research)

1 RT to Nathan for side-RP (Dragonchess with Devereux)

0 RT to Yalenus for side-RP (Theater Discussions with Devereux -- Loan Payoff)

12 RT to Cronax for Stats (3 for SAndre, 6 for Revolutionaries, 3 for delays)

-5 Rt to Nerit for Bluff Reroll (The Doomed Visit to Montmort Prison)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (The Doomed Visit to Montmort Prison)

1 RT to DocBeard & Nerit for side-RP (Conversations regarding Gauvain)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Streetwise Reroll (Finding Athene)

0 RT to Yalenus for side-RP (Discussions on Shamanism with Lemercier -- Loan Payoff)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Walking and Talking with Katja)

1 RT to Kage for side-RP (Rx and the Widow Brun)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Walking with NIcolas)

1 RT to Lostboy for side-RP (Walking with Nerit_

1 RT to Cronax for side-RP (Visiting the Moncrieff Estate)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Long Conversation with Richard)

0 RT to Yalenus for side-RP (Spirit Travels in the Chateau -- Loan Payoff)

0 RT to Yalenus for side-RP (On Anton -- Loan Payoff)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Visiting Grissoie with the Blackwoods)

1 RT to Cronax for side-RP (Moncrieff Estate Part 2)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Alice at the Market)

12 RT to Whistler for Epic side-RP/Cutscene (Inkeri's Spell to Thierri)

-5 RT to Nathan for Heal Reroll (Trying to Not Kill Celeste)

6 RT to Kage for Bookmarks (First Installment)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Diplomacy Reroll (Athene)

-10 RT to Nerit for Stealth Reroll (Orphanage)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (With Rex)

1 RT to Nerit for side-RP (Inkeri)

6 RT to Nerit for art (Portrait of Nerit)

-10 RT to Lostboy for Endurance Reroll (Charming Athene)

8 RT to Lostboy for Mapping (First Battlemap, Book Four)

0 RT to Yalenus for side-RP (Marketeering -- Loan Payoff)

-5 RT to Rock for Bigby's Icy Grasp Reroll (Ghost Train Fight)

-5 RT to Lostboy for Unluck Attack Reroll (Ghost Train fight)

-5 RT to Cronax for Dishearten Reroll (Ghost Train Fight)

6 RT to Nathan for Singing (Phoenix Summoning Song)

-5 RT to Nathan for Diplomacy Reroll (Phoenix)

4 RT to Rock for chanting (Magic Circle vs. Thierri)

-5 RT to Nathan for Reroll (Diplomacy)

Chapter Five: Spiral

12 RT to Lostboy for the Grand Map of Port-a-Lucine (Third Installment)

6 RT to Kage for the Bookmarks (First Installment)

-10 RT to Kage for Rerolls (Initiative, Stealth)

-5 RT to Rock for Attack roll (Orb of Force)

1 RT to Kage for Secret RP (Snake & Rat)

-5 RT to Whistler for Reroll (Spectral Claw)

-5 RT to Cronax for Attack roll (Augmented Mind Thrust)
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Thu Jan 06, 2011 7:49 pm, edited 137 times in total.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Maps


The Chateau Malchance, First Floor
Image

The Chateau Malchance, Second Floor
Image

The Chateau Malchance, Grounds
Image


Port-a-Lucine
Image

Zoomable Image at: http://www.fraternityofshadows.com/foru ... php?t=6843
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Wed Jan 06, 2010 4:28 pm, edited 4 times in total.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Dramatis Personae - PCs

Image
  • Character Name: Liability Mourneswaithe.

    Age: 34.

    Eye Color: Light.*
    Hair Color: White.
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Pale.*

    Hair Style: White; shoulder-length; usually straight and loose, though occasionally Lia has been seen with simple braids or even curls. Regardless which of these styles she adopts, Lia keeps her hair combed back so it covers her ears.

    Figure Notes: Lia is relatively short (5 ft. 8 ). Her figure is slender enough to be supple, but rounded enough that she is clearly healthy. Think ‘catlike’. Her face is pretty in an almost savage way, and she has long, slender fingers.

    Clothing Notes: Contrary to fashion, Lia wears trousers and a shirt under a slit riding skirt and long coat. All are pitch black. *In addition, she wears riding boots and gloves of black fabric – and a mourner’s black veil, which hides the colour of her skin and eyes.

    Accessories: Lia is not accustomed to accessorizing, unless accessories have a use, such as magical items. She is known to wear a simple metal amulet around her neck, with an image of two spread wings on it. She is rarely seen these days without a stout quarterstaff with metal heels - most likely steel.

    Personality Overview: Lia can act rather standoffish at first, and can occasionally be arrogant. When angered or frustrated, she quickly becomes hostile. Nevertheless, she is capable of more affectionate behaviour towards those she likes, trusts, or feels protective towards for whatever reason. When she wants to be, she can be almost charming …

    Room: Lia has accepted bed, desk, mirror and wardrobe, but has also fitted her room with heavy curtains, to prevent people from looking in at her, and has fitted additional locks on her door. She is a haphazard housekeeper, but generally keeps her rooms neat enough. She has a penchant for collecting books. There is usually a cloth over the mirror.
Image
  • Character Name: Celeste Viardot

    Age: 19
    Eye Color: Pale blue
    Hair Color: Light brunette
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Pale, but would probably tan instead of burn if she went outside hatless more often.

    Hair notes: Wavy and rather long when unstyled, but usually done into a loose bun at the back and curled into ringlets in the front.

    Figure notes: Celeste is a willowy, delicate-featured young woman of average height. While not “fit” in the actively-working-out sense of the word, she’s in decent shape for her build and social class—lots of long walks. Quite pretty, and a hell of a winning smile to boot.

    Clothing notes: Regency well-to-do, hitting the 1795-1820 Empire-waisted sweet spot between powdered wigs and hoop skirts—I’ll be darned if I’ll have one of my protagonists immobilized by fashion. Within that context, though, Celeste has a *deep* closet, and an enthusiastically maintained one at that. Favors dresses in the pastel spectrum, occasionally trending towards creams; high collars for morning wear, lower-cut for evenings. Silk gloves are a must, as are bonnets when outdoors.

    Accessories: Don’t even get her started. While not overly ostentatious, Celeste has jewelry for every possible ensemble, usually leaning towards thin, tasteful gold necklaces and matching earrings. When outdoors, she usually carries around a small drawstring handbag for personal necessities, plus a parasol if it’s sunny out. Also owns a truly dizzying array of fans.

    General Visual Reference: http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/1335 ... erence.jpg

    Personality: Social butterfly, self-styled “Patroness of the Arts”, and beneficiary of a seemingly limitless trust fund, Celeste Viardot combines a unique brand of relentless cheerfulness with an attention span of about twelve seconds. The appropriate comparison is probably Bertie Wooster plus Marianne Dashwood. While moderately intelligent, nineteen years with no particular need to apply herself have made her a bit short on common sense; by appearances, she’s one to coast through life on good-naturedness and luck, trying everything once but never focusing too hard on *competence.* On the other hand, Celeste seems to find it difficult to dislike anybody, holds her own in social settings, and appears warm-hearted towards the universe in general, provided that you can get over the terminal flightiness. Depending on your own personality, you’d be about equally likely to find her either: A) a breath of fresh air and an instant pick-me-up, or B) EXTREMELY, UNSTINTINGLY IRRITATING. Possibly both.

    Room: Celeste’s accommodations may be charitably described as “pleasantly cluttered”. The first three weeks following her move were spent systematically replacing every piece of institutional furniture with more “suitable” items from her family’s estate, as well as paying the hired men to repaint and wallpaper the place. The furniture itself is now quite refined—the bed’s a four-poster, and there are a good deal more gilt frames. However, the overall effect is muted somewhat by Celeste’s extensive art collection, which spans from Valachani pottery to fifth century Vaasi portraiture to Rajian wall hangings without any particular regard for thematic coherence. She keeps an easel by the window, and a few of her own drawings mixed in with the other paraphernalia on the walls—she’s actually pretty good at pen-and-ink work.
Image
  • Character Name: Kerrian Mauganson

    Age: 19

    Eye Color: Green
    Hair Color: Dark brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: lightly tanned

    Hair Style: Worn to just below shoulder length, with sideburns that progress into a fairly well maintained beard.

    Figure Notes: Lean, but not at all unfit thanks to working predominantly as manual labor. His ears come to somewhat of a point, suggesting perhaps some GREATLY thinned out elven blood, and he's got a wide, flattish nose that's probably been broken at least once in a "disagreement".

    Clothing Notes: Usually Kerrian wear simple clothing that's easy to move in and durable. However, he's got a set of "good" formal clothes that he saved up enough to buy, despite the fact that Dementliuese fashion and Veberek born laborer...don't exactly go well together. When it becomes necessary to wear armor, he has a suit of leather armor crafted from bear hide, with a fairly ornate stitching pattern.

    Accessories: Very few, as he's not the jewelry sort, though he has a tendency to always be carving something or other in his off time that could be considered a brooch, though few Dementlieuese would call it such.

    Personality Overview: Kerrian can be a bit on the gruff side, but once an initial period of awkwardness is over, he becomes a good deal more friendly. When in conversation, he alternates between constant eye contact, or eyes darting everywhere, trying to take everything in.

    Other: Kerrian has a bit of a habit of talking to himself.

    Room: A bit of a cluttered mess to say the very least, with the wardrobe in his bedroom, along with the mirror, and the desk in his front room usually covered with clippings about Dementliuese high society, or what's been going on at the theater, never mind whatever carving he's been working on lately.
Image
  • Character Name: Tomas Eisenwald.

    Age: 31

    Eye Color: Stormy blue.
    Hair Color: Sandy blond.
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair; Tomas bruises easily for a man as healthy as he is, and when sleeping or caught unawares, he's been compared to a fresh corpse. Normally his sheer force of personality keeps this from occurring to anyone, however, as the man seems far too alive to look dead.

    Hair Style: Puffy, like a sheep's wool. It tends to straighten itself when soaked, but quickly re-puff in any sort of humidity. Tomas often wears a jeff cap, despite the associations with the lower class.

    Figure Notes: Tomas is shy, physically speaking, and rarely goes around in anything all that revealing. Most people write this off as Lamordian modesty, but his clothing choice really does bell the size and strength of the man; he's a little leaner than you'd think, and slightly asymmetrical, as if one shoulder grew broader than the other.

    He has a slightly hooked nose, and a calm face that only has a few laugh lines; his mouth is fairly expressive, meaning that Tomas always seems a little animated, even when not particularly excited. A glimpse at Tomas's arms while he was rebuilding a fence revealed a pair of long, winding stitches that mark the joints and connection areas of the arms in question, probably souvenirs from one of his 'adventures'.

    Clothing Notes: Tomas wears fairly normal clothes, going for a buttoned blue shirt, a brown workman's coat, baggy brown trousers, and occasionally a pair of suspenders instead of a belt, and heavy boots complete the portrait in politeriat. He sometimes wears a gleaming black breastplate that fits Tomas almost like a vest, seeming to fold in on itself for ease of storage; when going out for a while, Tomas throws an ancient looking backpack and a heavy old shield on his back.

    Occasionally, Tomas will dress in fancier clothes, though he sticks to the 'bigger than normal' rules. He owns, for example, a cutting edge plum purple suit with a cream colored interior, which he pairs with dress shoes and a straw boater hat with the University's colors on the silk band and a shorter, hooded jacket with 'Property of Schultess International' stitch-written on the back.

    Accessories: Tomas usually wears a heavy hammer on his hip, which he claims was a gift from his godfather. He wears a chain watch that's more expensive than someone with his taste should be able to afford, and a strange, cracked steel pendant that doesn't have any real symbolism to it.

    Personality Overview: Tomas is a cheerful guy who occasionally puts people off by just how nice he can be. People assume he's conning them, or being insincere; despite this, not many people have a thing to say against the guy, who always seems to have time to go out of his way and help a neighbor with the groceries, watch the kids for an afternoon, or to listen about what that utter cow Ethel did, oh couldn't you just die?! People find themselves opening up to Tomas almost subconsciously, though that doesn't mean that anyone's above gossiping about the man-he doesn't reveal many personal facts, and so in the grand tradition of neighbors everywhere theorizing on the terrible secret of Tomas Eisenwald has become sort of a neighborhood sport.

    Other: It's never really clear if Tomas just has a massive imagination, or has really deluded himself into thinking he's some kind of knight in shining armor. He's generally considered a harmless eccentric, however.

    Room: Tomas has lined his room with souvenirs from his trips around the Core, making his room look a bit like a period equivalent of a TGI Friday's.
Image
  • Character Name: Sister Nerit Doherty

    Age: 30

    Eye Color: brown
    Hair Color: light ash brown: http://www.wiggoddess.com/images/22R.jpg
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair, more yellow undertone than pink (not red-faced)

    Hair Style: Always held up in a bun under her veil. *

    Figure Notes: She is just average height, 5’5”, with a comfortable frame. Not voluptuous, not rail thin, and with modest/average cleavage. Her nose is small and straight, but not thin and she has a sharp chin. *

    Clothing Notes: Nerit can most often be seen in white monastic attire and always with her green veil. She wears plain leather sandals unless it’s snowing. This is the design I’ve made for it (based on Dominicans): http://earthsprite.deviantart.com/art/R ... -137076744

    Accessories: A necklace with a tarnished silver pendant of Ezra’s symbol. A silver ring on her left middle finger with an oval bloodstone. A belt and prayer beads at her waist.

    Personality Overview: Polite, neutral, passive. She will smile and incline her head to superiors. *

    Other: ---

    Room:
    The front room smells of ink, obvious by the inkwell and quill at the provided desk where there is a small stack of scrolls and books of Ezran persuasion. Hanging on the wall across from the desk is a small, portable diptych. On the left side is a devotional painting of Ezra, the mists roiling behind her idealized figure. On the right, her followers kneel and pray for their salvation. The mirror and wardrobe are in her bedroom. *

Image
  • Character Name: Mr. Agale

    Age: 31

    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Very Dark Brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Lightly tanned

    Hair Style: Immaculately slicked back with oil which makes it look almost black. He is clean shaven.

    Figure Notes: Rather thin, not terribly muscular, but a little on the tall side pushing six feet. His posture is perfectly straight. His face is slightly thin with a strong jaw, firm cheek bones and a straight nose.

    Clothing Notes: He is usually found wearing a closely tailored drab grey sack suit with a no nonsense black cravat. He wears black dress shoes, always polished to a shine.

    Accessories: He keeps a cheap but functional pocket watch which he rarely seems to actually use. When out and about, he is rarely without a small brown attache case filled with meticulously organized papers. His suit pocket is always sporting a sharply creased stark white handkerchief.

    Personality Overview: Somewhat stiff and formal, but polite to a tee. He is sociable when approached, but has an unfortunate tendency to veer conversation to local politics and economics (grain prices, etc).

    Other: Has a habit of keeping a hand in his suit pocket.

    Room: Both of his rooms are austere and utilitarian, with little decoration. He has converted the ante chamber into an office of sorts, positioning the desk in the center of the room facing the entrance door with two extra chairs facing the desk. Both sides of this ante chamber sport book cases filled with carefully organized books of law and economics. Most of the time during the day, his ante chamber door is open.
Image
  • Character Name: Rex Alistair Prescott

    Age: 25

    Eye Color: Green
    Hair Color: Dark brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Very olive, not like most Mordentishfolk.

    Hair Style: Kept short, naturally spikes almost straight upward when it's short. It looks like gel should be holding it up but

    Figure Notes: He's short, about 5'9", and has a sleek figure that moves with sinuous grace. Despite his low height he looks athletic and remarkably fit. The man's got an acrobatic, cut, rangy build. He's remarkably easy to overlook despite being fairly attractive. Many people just don't realize he's there until he actually makes his presence known. His facial features are sharper and more angular than most Mordentishmen. The Mordentish features are there but so is something else that's not easily defined.

    Clothing Notes: Rex owns and operates an alchemist's shop in the Merchant Quarter of Port-a-Lucine. On the job he wears job-appropriate clothing. He has an off-white shirt made of thick fabric with a few faded stains, sturdy pants, a thick leather apron and protective gloves. These clothes typically stay in the shop, though. Around the house or in the city he wears dark, earthy and green tones. The fabric quality is surprisingly good quality for a guy who's just an alchemist. When out on the town, he usually dons a slick-looking dark leather jacket.

    Accessories: He's got a lot of pockets. Sometimes he smells funny when he gets home from work. He's prone to taking long baths despite the Chateau's limited bathing space.

    Personality Overview: Rex is a handsome fellow but he's remarkably jumpy and edgy. His eyes dart all over and he seems constantly poised on the balls of his feet, ready for action. Despite this, he can be charming when he puts his mind to it and has a dry, laid back sense of humor. He talks very little about himself, other than he makes serums, potions, and alchemical substances and he's from Mordent and Darkon. He likes to deflect attention off himself, which works since he tends to fade out of sight and out of mind when nobody's actively paying attention to him.

    Room: His front room is neatly cluttered. The bookshelf has both tomes and bound leaves, mostly notes and books about alchemy, first aid, and biology. He's got another shelf and a few tables that have tanks and cages that contain different kinds of snakes and a few lizards. His desk always has different papers, books, and pens scattered across it, and he has a worktable in another corner that has some alchemical apparatuses.

    The door to his bedroom remains quite firmly closed whenever anyone else visits. If he has to go into the back room, a thick curtain hangs over the inside of the doorway. Not many people get to see what's in there.
Image
  • Character Name: Mercator Aloysius Melanchthon

    Age: 70

    Eye Color: Black
    Hair Color: Black
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Very pale and very clear—no freckles, moles, blemishes.

    Hair Style: Mercator wears his hair long and loose, combed straight back from the forehead but otherwise allowed to run wild in a way which was quite fashionable forty years ago in Darkon and, coincidentally, is rather a la mode at present as well.

    Figure Notes: Mercator is perhaps 5’7” and so thin as to be near-emaciated, although the way he dresses makes this far from obvious. He walks with a slight limp, which is only really apparent when the footing is bad, and in general moves as if he used to be quite graceful before suffering some sort of injury or prolonged period of ill health. He is unusually good-looking, with regular features, a long straight nose, and a high forehead, but overall in a way that tends to create a sense of distance rather than of physical attraction—the marble perfection of a statue rather than of flesh and blood. His hands are excellent, well proportioned and with long, elegant fingers, but they’re also slightly twisted, not lying perfectly parallel to each other when the hand is closed.

    Clothing Notes: Mercator dresses in a way characteristic of upper-middle-class Darkonians—a loose shirt, breeches, and boots, covered by a long coat with a high collar. All of his clothing is black save the shirts, which are white (and usually covered entirely by the coat). His clothes are of the highest quality but are not fashionable and are mostly not new.

    Accessories: Mercator wears three pins at his neck: a red shield on mother-of-pearl with a silver border and a scroll with the inscription VIA VIRTUTI LUX SCIENTIAE EST, representing his 2nd in Arcane Philosophy from the University of Il Aluk, a brown staff and green serpent on white representing his medical degree, and a gold twelve-pointed star on white representing his astrological degree. He never leaves the house without a rather old but obviously expensive cane, made of some dark hardwood with a silver head inscribed with a many-pointed star and letters. He wears a silver necklace with a medallion of Ezra beneath his shirt.

    Personality Overview: Mercator is quiet and serious—even severe. If he has a sense of humor he displays it only on special occasions. He is unfailingly polite, but usually also straightforward and direct. There is a distinct sense of melancholy about him; he smiles little and laughs less. Between his looks and his manner of dressing he tends to catch the eye, and people generally take him seriously and accept him as an authority figure even before they have had any personal interaction with him. He is scrupulously honest and inclined to be a bit fussy about questions of right and wrong, both for his own actions and for those of others.

    Room: Mercator’s room (when his possessions arrive, which won’t be for a couple of weeks) is furnished mostly with books, star charts, and medical diagrams, many of which will migrate to his office when he rents one. Since the rooms are largely furnished already, his major addition to the furniture will be two very good telescopes, one large (refracting) and one small (reflecting) and two chessboards, one of the ordinary sort and one for dragon chess. He keeps his room very neat.
Image
  • Character Name: Nicolas Etienne de Castaigne

    Age: 32

    Eye Color: Grey
    Hair Color: brown/black
    Skin Tone/Complexion: pale

    Hair Style: just above shoulder length dark brown, almost black , fashionably curled but deliberately unkempt, in a “just got out of bed” way circa 1800.

    Figure Notes: Tall and mostly thin with toned muscles, although with a slight paunch around the middle (read trying to be gauntly handsome but drinks too much).

    Sharp cheekbones and rather piercing eyes (although with dark circles below them from too little sleep) form the centrepiece of his face that usually sports a few days worth of stubble, and contributes to his generally slightly dishevelled look.

    Nicolas walks with a slight limp in his left leg, and is the proud owner of several “war wounds”, most notably the livid burn scar running under his chin, but also including several other old duelling wounds across his torso.

    Clothing Notes: Although he owns a rather eclectic wardrobe, when out and about Nicolas mostly dresses in typical Dementlieuese garb, dark jacket & trousers, black cravat, white high collared shirt, and a dark overcoat. In short he looks unremarkable against the majority of the population, although closer inspection reveals the cut is of the finest quality and looks like it has been deliberately rolled in the dust to get the “proper” look.

    If he’s found in his rooms there is a fair chance some of the more extravagant wardrobe items come to the for, including a brightly coloured silk dressing gown and turban ensemble, which he claims was a gift from a grateful Rajian noble.

    Accessories: There is always a dark ebony wood cane by his side, topped with a silver pommel in the shape of a skull. Other than that it depends on the situation, but if he emptied his pockets you’d usually find a cigarette case, a hipflask, a sheaf of inflammatory poetry and a snuffbox, although if what is actually in the box is snuff is debatable.

    He has taken to wearing a small silver loop earring in recent days in his left ear.

    Personality Overview: Nicolas’ personality depends vastly on what mood he’s in, and he is indeed the master of mood swings, ranging from depressed and melancholic, to extravagant, flamboyant and highly excitable. He is given to frequent bouts of temper, but remains a consummate womaniser and indulges frequently in whatever alcohol, drugs or other poison he can get his hands on.

    There are any number of ways used to describe him, to some he’s the worst kind of debauched dandy, to others he is a celebrated author and figurehead for social reform, and many from both camps wait with baited breath for the latest tales of his travels.

    Room: Nicolas’s rooms look rather like a bomb has gone off in them, the place is strewn with discarded clothes, candles burnt down to the nub, broken quills, endless pages of incomplete ravings, empty bottles of wine, and half eaten plates of food. Amongst the carnage stands a large ebony travelling trunk, carved with intricate designs and featuring a *very* sturdy lock.
Dramatis Personae – Former PCs

Image
  • Character Name: Cyrus Isfahani

    Age: 22

    Eye Color: He always wears dark glasses.
    Hair Color: As if.
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Somewhat sallow, not really pale, tends just slightly toward yellow

    Hair Style: Hair is barbaric and unclean.

    Figure Notes: Cyrus is not a large, but he is cut. The Mulan as a general rule do not develop bulky figures. However, Cyrus's body is honed into a sleek, powerful weapon. Though he'll never become the burly, broad-shouldered fighter that many other Corelanders can become, every muscle on his body is sharply sculpted.

    It's not just Cyrus's musculature that's a work of art. Like all Mulan, his very flesh is a canvas for intricate, masterful tattoo work. Geometric runes and symbols decorate his scalp in patterns identical to those on his brother's head and neck. The rest of Cyrus's tattoos have a distinctly serpentine theme. A pair of intertwined ouroborous serpents dominate the center of his back, and other vipers slither down his arms. The spear of the Lawgiver decorates his left breast.

    Clothing Notes: Cyrus has a couple outfits. In very casual situations, he tends toward the traditional Mulan zarong, a cloth wrapped around the waist, almost like a kilt. This has the double effect of being comfortable and also enabling him to show off his physique and his tattoos.

    More often, he wears his steely grey robes of office. They give him a very stark, severe look, and are always neatly pressed and well-repaired. You'll rarely find a wrinkle out of place or a stray thread hanging off his sleeve.

    Accessories: Dark glasses that he always, always wears and a holy symbol attached to a steel chain around his neck.

    Personality Overview: Cocky and brash with a side of Mulan arrogance. He's also prone to moments of boozing and wenching. He's a show-off and something of a playboy who enjoys playing up his "bad boy" Hazlani side. He also enjoys a good brawl, especially when his brother's around. And if there's nobody to brawl with, the two will often get into fights with each other.

    Other: Cyrus is rarely seen without some kind of weapon.

    Also, the guy eats enough to feed a small village, but manages to not gain any weight.

    Room: Cyrus's room is quite spartan. Few decorations beyond what's already there. Bed neatly made every morning. Desk kept very organized. Almost everything he's added to his room serves some kind of purpose.
  • Character Name: Darius Isfahani

    Age: 22

    Eye Color: Like Cyrus, Darius always wears dark glasses. His are "granny glasses", however, which is one of the easiest ways of telling them apart.
    Hair Color: None
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Somewhat sallow, not really pale, tends just slightly toward yellow.

    Hair Style: Hair is barbaric and unclean.

    Figure Notes: Like Cyrus, Darius is just a shade short of average height (for a Mulani--by Dementlieuse standards he's just a little over the average height). He, too, is slender, but cut. Like Cyrus, his scalp is covered with geometric designs indicating his lineage. (There are differences, some of which a Hazlani would consider duh-obvious, but which are pretty obscure to Western eyes.) He wears the spear-tattoo of the Lawgiver over his heart, one panther ascending his right arm and its partner descending his left, and six crosses swords on his back.


    Clothing Notes: When at home, Darius also usually wears a grey-and-red zarong; when he goes out, he wears robes similar to his brother's. The only easily visible difference in their clothing is the red paneling on Darius' clothing indicating his arcane training.

    Accessories: Dark glasses, a holy symbol attached to a steel chain around his neck, and a corncob pipe.

    Personality Overview: What comes across as "cocky and brash" in his brother manifests itself more as "massive chip on his shoulder" in Darius. He doesn't party with the same enthusiasm Cyrus does, but he's quite a bit more likely to pick a fight. He's quieter, more self-contained, and less dismissive of other points of view than his brother; he also has a pretty nasty temper, albeit with a fairly long fuse.

    Other: Darius keeps odd hours and eats enough to feed any four people of normal metabolism; he does an hour of calisthenics and weapon training every morning at the crack of dawn. Other than that, and the inherent oddity of a Hazlani swordmage in Port-a-Lucine, any unusual habits are kept under tight wraps.

    Room: Darius and Cyrus share a single suite, which nevertheless manages to look as if one very neat person who's sworn a vow of poverty lives there. Other than one well-stocked bookshelf (alphabetical by title, no exceptions), a few weapons, two devotional ikons, and a bunk bed (both levels made tightly enough to bounce a lunar on them), the room looks exactly as it did before they moved in.
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Sat Jul 10, 2010 9:24 pm, edited 10 times in total.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Dramatis Personae - NPCs

Image
  • Character Name: Charles Devereux

    Age: 41

    Eye Color: Violet
    Hair Color: Mousy Brown, with gray hairs beginning to show
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Very fair - sunburns easily

    Hair Style: Devereux wears his hair quite long, reaching to half-way down his back. He has it gathered up in a loose ponytail, tied with a cloth bow.

    Figure Notes: Devereux is of average height, but he has a strange, half-stooped posture, with very long arms, legs, and neck, that makes him look a bit like a crane. Now being a married man, Devereux is no longer quite skinny enough to cut yourself on, though he still gives the impression of having elbows and knees everywhere. His face is very fine-featured, having matured into a surprisingly respectable appearance. Despite this, he still walks in a rather silly manner, with his legs stock straight, merrily bobbing along. He has no balance or co-ordination whatsoever.

    Clothing Notes: Perhaps on his wife's insistence, Devereux's clothing is no longer capable of causing epileptic seizures. His double-breasted jackets have been regulated to reasonable shades of deep green or wine purple. His silver-embroidered vests are tailored to match, usually in neutral colors to ensure he cannot possibly mismatch it with the rest of his outfit. His shirts, however, are still beyond ridiculous; the frills and folds on his collar and shirts look more like puffy feathers than actual fripperies. He wears off-white breeches, white knee-stockings, and a pair of rather scuffed black shoes.

    Accessories: Large glasses perched on his nose with a polished brass frame, and a plain, white-gold wedding band. He keeps his engraved silver pocketwatch on a long metal chain, in the pocket of his vest.

    Personality Overview: Devereux, having a great deal of fame, is politely considered "eccentric" by his peers. Devereux has a unique way of viewing things, and is rarely fettered by public opinion or common sense. An absolutely brilliant academic and a creative writer, he nevertheless cannot be trusted to walk down the street and buy a broadsheet without tripping over himself, misplacing his billfold, or getting distracted and forgetting why he even went outside. He keeps a good sense of humor about it all these days, letting his friends and family keep him steered in the right direction. Over the years he has developed a bit more confidence, although his idea of what counts as standing up to people is more than mild.

    Other: Devereux is a rather popular author, even in these turbulent times - or perhaps especially in these turbulent times. He has a slight tic of licking his lips when he's nervous.
Image
  • Character Name: Katharina "Katja" Zweibach

    Age: Mid- to Late Twenties

    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: A dull light brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair, faintly rosy, bruises easily.

    Hair Style: Loose, wavy hair that cascades around her shoulders, with side-swept bangs in the front.

    Figure Notes: Katja is about average height, wiry and athletic. Her overall figure is very lithe and slim, though she bears wide, sturdy hips. She tends to move more like a man than a woman, standing with her feet solidly apart and walking without swinging her hips. Her hands are rough with sword callouses, and a few scars mar her skin; a jagged wound on her right shoulder, with marks that indicate it had to be stitched up, a small scar on her right wrist, curling up away from her hand, and several long, thin scars on the sides of her calves. Katja rarely smiles.

    Clothing Notes: Katja wears a faded olive-grey greatcoat, with tarnished brass buttons running down the front. Underneath, she wears long-sleeved riding shirts and form-fitting breeches, preferring darker shades of green, rose, or tan. She also has a pair of knee-high leather riding boots. Her clothing all looks slightly drab and faded from wear, but is otherwise in good condition. When she thinks she might need it, she wears a scuffed breastplate and chainmail sleeves under her coat. A dull rose cloth is tied around her head, forming a loose eyepatch over her left eye.

    Accessories: Katja possesses a shield that looks like it's been dented and repaired many times - the remnants of a coat of arms and what might have been a crowned bird are still visible on the dull metal surface, but the design has been battered beyond recognition. Her sword has not fared much better; the blade is well-maintained, but the plain hilt and guard are covered with deep chips and grooves in the metal. The sheath for her sword is simple black leather with steel reinforcement, and seems to have escaped the maiming her other equipment has endured. She wears a pewter pendant under her greatcoat, consisting of swirling knots and eagles.

    Image

    Personality Overview: A bit of a loner by nature, Katja is a perfectly polite young woman when spoken to, but always seems to be slightly withdrawn. She is not quiet or shy so much as distant, often seeming distracted or aloof. It is a fatal mistake, however, to assume she is not paying attention; Katja is very much aware of her surroundings, as those who might try to take advantage of her quickly discover. She has a masculine way of acting and referring to herself - nothing that exceptionally sticks out, but she sometimes uses phrases such as "I'm your man", possibly due to Mordentish not being her native tongue. Katja is not prone to angry outbursts, but can become very chilly if someone upsets her. She seems to be rather proud of her skills with the sword, often practicing out on the grounds to keep herself in shape.

    Other:
Image
  • Character Name: Professor Evariste Lemercier

    Age: Early Sixties

    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Formerly black, now layered strands of black, white, and grey.
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Ruddy, especially around the nose.

    Hair Style: Balding, with his hair combed over the top of his head. Has a short, trim beard and mustache.

    Figure Notes: Professor Lemercier is a bit taller than average, and definitively pear-shaped. Years of sedentary and hedonistic living have given the professor quite a gut, although he is not morbidly obese. He rarely moves, but when he does so, it speaks of younger, more active days spent running around. His complexion is rather rough from former years in the sun, and age has taken its toll on his appearance. His features could best be described as "affably ugly" - he cannot be considered attractive by anyone's standards, but his jolly demeanor and amused smiles tend to make up for it.

    Clothing Notes: Lemercier sports the Zherasian style of academic outfit that is catching on in learning institutions across the Core. He wears a three piece suit, complete with tie, with a preference for tweed. He normally wears a greyish-brown jacket with leather patches on the elbows, trousers to match, and a dull red vest, along with well polished brown dress shoes.

    Accessories: Lemercier wears a plain gold wedding band, as well as a heavy gold class ring on the middle finger of his left hand. A pair of small pierce-nez spectacles sit on the bridge of his nose. On occasion, he smokes a wooden tobacco pipe. He has a polished wooden cane which he doesn't actually need, he keeps it lying around the place for the look of the thing.

    Personality Overview: Evariste Lemercier is a man who likes to live well. He is unashamed in his pleasures, a connoisseur of gourmet food, good wine, pleasant company, and of course, fine art. He is seen at the best restaurants, attends the Theatre de la Baie religiously, and his flat is ever the site of an informal party, with people coming and going, the professor enjoying the company of all, especially the 'delightful young people' who now live in the Chateau de Malchance. Admittedly, he periodically mixes up the names of the aforementioned delightful young people, but after spending close to thirty-two years at the University of Dementlieu teaching students the artistic legacy of the Mordentish-speaking cultures, he can be forgiven a bit of absent-mindedness regarding names. Besides, Professor Lemercier usually has a bottle of good wine or some excellent espresso on hand, so he can be forgiven many things.

    Other:
Image
  • Character Name: Cerise Rondelet

    Age: Early Twenties

    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Dark Brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair, with a healthy glow.

    Hair Style: Slightly long, thick hair just past her shoulder blades, which she has done up in a loose, messy bun.

    Figure Notes: Short and slightly plump, Cerise is a good deal curvier than is fashionable for Dementlieu, though she is smooth-skinned and fair-complexioned. She is active and energetic, but is not prone to strenuous physical exertion, and thus is not muscular in the slightest. Still, her figure fits her round, apple-cheeked face, leaving her very pleasant to look at. She is open and cheerful, with large brown eyes and a friendly grin, and always seems to exude an aura of over-exuberance. Her personal habits are slightly haphazard - although she keeps clean, her morning routine seems to be done with more enthusiasm than skill, leaving her with a tendency of having incorrectly laced clothing, unevenly cut fingernails, and loose hair strands.

    Clothing Notes: Cerise's outfit varies from day to day, although she generally dresses fashionably. She tends towards the standard shoulderless Dementlieuse dresses, preferring to wear lighter colors. She will sometimes add a dark cloak, a shawl wrapped over her shoulders, or a high collared, flared, short-waisted jacket. When it's very sunny, she might wear a straw hat decorated with a sky-blue ribbon. She wears a pair of dull-red Pinet boots with gold embroidery.

    Accessories: The only constant in Cerise's wardrobe is her large, round framed glasses, which she will sometimes put on a chain. Cerise owns a frankly absurd amount of jewelry which she constantly changes, sometimes even during the same day. She is covered in rings, bracelets, armbands, necklaces, earrings, and anklets, often inscribed with designs of supposed mystic significance. Winged-Isis collars, jeweled scarabs, ankhs, Hamsa hands, Rajian religious symbols, pentagrams, crosses, animal totems, triquetras, twisting dragon bracelets, snake rings, mystic seals and amulets, dwarven runes, oil bottle pendants, skull motifs, crystal beads, and much, much more - if someone has dreamt it up, she probably has it. Her room contains much of the same, along with candles, crystals, figurines, and far too many books.

    Personality Overview: On first impression, Cerise is a cheery, exuberant, and exceptionally curious young woman. On a closer look, Cerise is a cheery, exuberant, and exceptionally curious young woman, even when she really shouldn't be. Cerise has a decided interest in the paranormal, combined with a habit of sticking her nose into everything she can get away with. This has lead her into the unfortunate hobby of supernatural investigation. A very determined young woman, she persists in whatever she puts her mind to, despite the potential danger, ridicule, or the lack of anything supernatural in the area whatsoever. It's hard not to wonder if she's pulling everyone's leg a bit - she seems almost deliberately absurd sometimes. Still, her general optimism and good-will seems genuine, even if everything else isn't.

    Other: Cerise's left lateral incisor is visibly crooked and impacted against her front teeth, giving her a snaggled grin.

    Cerise owns a shorthaired, mostly-black cat that she has gleefully named Grimmalken, which she totes around as a sinister witch's familiar. Grimmalken does not live up to his reputation. A green-eyed tuxedo cat with white paws and a white smudge on his chest, he is generally the sweetest little creature to be found on this half of the Core.
Image
  • Character Name: Thierri Boucher

    Age: Early to Mid Twenties

    Eye Color: Blue
    Hair Color: Blond
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Peach, becomes slightly greyish when he's been out of the sun, and quickly tans when he's been outside.

    Hair Style: Short, almost feathery. Longer around his ears and the top of his head. Facial hair varies between clean shaven and short stubble forming faint sideburns and mustache.

    Figure Notes: Thierri is only of average height, but is square-shouldered and strapping, looking far more solid-built then is typical of his countrymen. Hours of practice escaping from chains, straight-jackets, or other dangerous contraptions have left him both muscular and dexterous. Few would describe him as graceful, as he rarely moves with any more finesse than is required to get him where he wants to go, but there is a certain restless energy about all of his actions. Thierri often accompanies his words with expressive gestures, and he's not unknown to unconsciously perform parlor tricks if he's not doing anything else with his hands. He is more often than not decently groomed, but sometimes lets himself slide into a disheveled state - uncombed hair, half-shaven, and dark circles under his eyes. He usually has a somewhat bored, half-lidded expression on his face.

    Thierri has a host of odd scars and burn marks, though most are faint and go unnoticed to the casual observer, and Thierri sometimes hides them with stage makeup. Several long, thin scars mar the palms of his hands. A few burn marks are present on his fingers, and two of his right fingers are crooked, as if they had been previously broken.

    Clothing Notes: Thierri wears simple worker's clothing - a loose, open collared white shirt, a pair of light tan pants, a large, black, wool vest, and a pair of plain brown loafers. He rolls his shirt sleeves up to his elbows except in very cold weather, and leaves the top button of his shirt collar loose. His clothing looks a little frayed and worse for wear, sporting several neatly mended holes.

    Accessories: None visible, although he often has all kinds of odd things hidden around his person - cards, coins, rope, and other eclectic things.

    Personality Overview: Thierri is a stunning example of how anything is bad in excess. He's self-confident, to the point of arrogance, flamboyance, and being exceptionally self-centered. He's honest and refuses to censor himself, to the point of being insulting to everyone around him. He has an unfortunate dose of common sense that causes him to speak derogatorily of people, especially when they get into incidents no normal person should have been able to manage - he is certainly not afraid to just leave when the situation becomes too ridiculous. Despite this, Thierri can actually be quite a helpful person if asked, although it may just stem from his inherent need to show-off.

    Other: An unrepentant chain-smoker, Thierri is usually holding a cigarette in either his mouth or hand. He owns a pair of peaked looking white doves that he sometimes brings out for his magic tricks.
Image
  • Character Name: Professor Seiglinde Petrik
    Age: Late Fifties

    Eye Color: Hazel
    Hair Color: Silver
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Rough, slightly reminiscent of parchment.

    Hair Style: Stiff, wiry hair pulled up into a tight, severe bun. When let down, it reaches to the middle of her back.

    Figure Notes: Professor Petrik does not possess the typical Kartakan figure. In fact, it would be hard to describe anywhere that her figure could be called typical. She is of average height, looking taller due to the high-heeled shoes she wears, but is very solidly-built - powerful and muscular. Her limbs are slightly stocky, and her skin is rougher than can be explained by pure academic life; it is sometimes joked out of her earshot that she gets her figure from running down and thwacking students with her baton. Her face is long and thin, showing the signs of her age, though it might have still been handsome if not for her permanently disapproving expression. Even when not actively annoyed, Professor Petrik looks stern and unfriendly. She has an overbite that is visible whenever she sneers at anyone. As perhaps a tiny concession to fashion, she wears her nails long, filing them into rounded points that only increase her intimidating appearance.

    Clothing Notes: Professor Petrik's clothing is as severe as the rest of her. She wears a dark grey wool dress, long sleeved and high collared, that reaches to her ankles - a slight puffiness at the shoulders the only part of it that does not fit her form. A black muslin neck-cloth is tied in a bow around her neck. She also wears sharp-toed, high-heeled Paridon woman's boots that lace up in the front. All of her clothing is rather coarse and unpleasant, but virtually indestructible.

    Accessories: Professor Petrik wears a simple iron band on the third finger of her left hand, but otherwise has no jewelry. She usually carries a long, thin ebony conductor's baton that has been fitted with a silver handle - it looks far more like a switch then a baton, and she has been known to use it to rap the knuckles of misbehaving students.

    Personality Overview: Professor Petrik is a woman with absolutely no sense of levity whatsoever. Everything is serious business to her, and she does not appreciate anyone treating things otherwise. She has an exceptionally dominant personality, demanding respect from others while being exceptionally slow to give it herself. She rarely gets involved in other people's affairs, but she does not take well to being challenged. Despite her constantly sour demeanor, Professor Petrik is never sarcastic, which would require far more humor than she possesses; that is to say, none. She is instead blunt and straightforward - the niceties of society seem to only confuse or annoy her.

    Other:
Image
  • Character Name: Professor Remy Lessard

    Age: Thirty

    Eye Color: Green
    Hair Color: Platinum Blond
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair skinned in general, the indoor academic's life has turned his complexion porcelain.

    Hair Style: Medium length, neatly combed back behind his ears. Clean-shaven.

    Figure Notes: Very tall, around 6'2". Slender - not exceptionally thin, but it's obvious he is not a very physical person. His long, slender fingers boast writer's callouses, but his skin is otherwise smooth and free of blemishes. Everything about Remy is clean and well-groomed - his fingernails are neatly trimmed, his face is carefully shaved, he often smells faintly of soap, and not a single strand of his hair is out of place. He moves with a strange kind of grace that leaves him almost unnoticeable, and he walks very lightly, making him difficult to hear. His face is exceptionally sharp-featured, possibly due to elven blood in his ancestry. He seems almost ill-suited to displays of emotion: his smiles, when he gives them, are usually very thin, his frowns even more so. On occasion, he opens up and his feelings shine through - mischievous grins, hopeful smiles, or snarls of pure fury.

    Clothing Notes: Remy has abandoned his sweaters for more traditional academic fare, favoring light and pastel colors. He wears light colored, starched, high-collared shirts, complete with a pastel cravat, a sky-blue waistcoat, and pressed, light-tan worker's pants. His brown Oxford shoes are well-polished and neatly laced. When the weather is cold enough, he wears a blue single-breasted frock coat. All of Remy's clothing is well-made, but plain - generally good-looking and rather boring.

    Accessories: Remy wears a pair of large bronze-rimmed glasses to correct his atrocious vision. He's usually seen with a slim, dark brown leather notebook and a slender, black, gold-nibbed fountain pen. He wears a silver cravat pin, with a simple oval head, and matching cuff-links. A single bronze ring adorns the second finger of his right hand, with a mystic seal emblazoned on it. A plain, pale grey handkerchief is tucked into one of his waistcoat pockets. He still has his old pistol from his Expedition days.

    Image

    Personality Overview: Despite the concerns of the faculty that Remy had attached himself to the two most acerbic, arrogant men in the entire University, Remy has become a very polite, quiet, and dignified man. He is calm, composed, and always looks interested in what others have to say, but on the flip side rarely displays anything further. He is neither flashy nor outspoken, and gives his opinion as unassumingly as possible to avoid treading on any toes. To most people, Remy Lessard is a nice and completely boring Linguistics teacher, easily overlooked and easily forgotten.

    Other: Remy has kept on with his photography, and can sometimes be found around Dementlieu with his equipment.
Image
  • Character Name: Richard Blackwood

    Age: Early 20s

    Eye Color: Misty gray
    Hair Color: Black
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Rough and weathered, but still fair-skinned.

    Hair Style: Short and tousled, slightly curly. Richard has long given up on trying to be clean shaven and sports a trimmed mustache, beard, and sideburns. Slightly hairy on his upper chest, but not heavily beyond that.

    Figure Notes: Tall and sinewy, Richard is clearly no stranger to work. At six feet and four inches, he towers over most people, his height slightly tempered by a willowy frame, aristocratic cheekbones and long, elegant fingers. Richard isn't terribly muscular, but like many of his countrymen is much more powerful than looks may indicate. He seems almost painfully aware of his size and strength, moving with a distinct caution to avoid breaking or bumping into anything. Richard is fresh-faced and sometimes a bit wide-eyed, and tends to have a hint of sheepishness that colors his actions. A good country boy, he acts with the best aristocratic manners as he can manage, which sometimes makes him look a bit stiff and uncomfortable.

    Richard has a series of thin raised scars that form elegant patterns on his skin. On his right hand is the shield of Ezra, with sword emblazoned on it, surrounded by flowering belladonna that curls up his arm.

    Image

    Clothing Notes: Richard favors pragmatic Mordentish wool clothing. He wears a long-sleeved collared shirts, usually preferring white or light, neutral colors, and dark pants, usually favoring brown or grey. As a slight oddity, he wears a pair of dark brown Lamordian engineer boots, which he tucks his pants into. When dressed casually, he wears a violet-blue vest with silver embroidery and a black wool mantled overcoat. He sometimes exchanges them for a green tabard, trimmed with white, that resembles that of a Dementlieuse Musketeer.

    Accessories: A large, heavy holy symbol of Ezra - a silver longsword superimposed on an alabaster shield, adorned with a sprig of belladonna - hangs openly around Richard's neck. His simple longsword also bears a resemblance to that of Ezra's, with the hand-guard bending back towards his hand.

    Personality Overview: A country boy in the big city, Richard mostly enjoys his new surroundings, but never quite seems sure of what to do with himself - he still holds a sense of wonder at all the sights and sounds of the city. Although seeming a good deal more uptight than the native Dementlieuse, Richard is a friendly and easygoing person, happy to talk or to listen. He does, however, become slightly bashful when dealing with others. This and his youthful face tends to make him look vulnerable, which in turn tends to attract people trying to help him out. Richard does his best to be grateful, but he finds it a bit embarrassing. A very devout young man, Richard tends to mention religion or Ezra in daily conversation, although like most things in his life he doesn't emphasize it or make a big deal of it.

    Other: Richard is left-handed.
Image
  • Character Name: Alice Blackwood

    Age: Mid-twenties

    Eye Color: Slate Grey
    Hair Color: Black
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Creamy and fair.

    Hair Style: Medium length, black and curly, coiffed and drawn back.

    Figure Notes: Slender and leggy, Alice is an amply proportioned, pretty young lady. Her jaw is a bit too strong to be fashionable, and it would be exaggerating for her to be called gorgeous, but her confident air and gracious smile has turned more than its fair share of heads. She is taller than most women, though her tendency to wear short heels evens this out somewhat. Alice does not subscribe to genteel opinions on how a woman should walk and carry herself, instead preferring to be efficient and get things done. She is rather vivacious and has an air of self-assurance that tends to attract people.

    Clothing Notes: Alice prefers pragmatic clothing unfettered by the heavy bustles and corsets of Dementlieuse fashion. She wears sleek, solid black dresses with several layers of petticoats beneath them. White frills at the wrists and neck and long black gloves add a touch of elegance to her mostly mundane clothing. She wears black, low-heeled, practical walking shoes for walking around town. When sunny out, Alice will sometimes wear a grey cloth bonnet to shield her eyes; when foggy or cold, a long black cloak with a white lining.

    Accessories: An engraved silver locket hangs around Alice's neck. She sometimes dons a pair of gardening gloves and a pair of well-worn but sharp gardening shears. More often than not she has flowers pinned to her person, on her bonnet or as a corsage. She has a small black handbag to keep her money and other notable in.

    Personality Overview: A minor noble from the Mordentish countryside, Alice has grown beyond the awkwardness of youth into a self-assured, comfortable young woman. Unlike many of her countrymen, she is a friendly person, if not garrulous or outgoing by any definition. Alice is very warm and caring, although she does her best to avoid seeming matronly; she is willing to take the initiative to help anyone whom she thinks needs assistance. Despite her better intentions, she is a little overprotective of her brother, who is utterly embarrassed by this. She has a good sense of humor and is usually easygoing and pleasant, though her emotions run deep, and she can get very touchy if provoked. Unlike her brother, she is less optimistic about worldly affairs, often playing the pragmatist to her brother's idealism.

    Other: Alice has a fondness for botany. She has a large collection of plants she somehow keeps alive in her flat.
Image
  • Character Name: Professor Andre Theroux

    Age: 36

    Eye Color: Grey
    Hair Color: Very dark brown, almost black, streaked with grey
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Very Pale

    Hair Style: Worn short against his head; looks like it's slightly damp.

    Figure Notes: A not entirely attractive man, Andre has a certain likable air to him despite his normal personality. He is not a particularly attractive man - he stands around 5'10", and his features and figure are pretty average. His skin clearly demonstrates a lack of sunlight in his life, the result of being cooped up inside reading instead of getting any form of exercise. He often looks deathly pale and somewhat anemic. Despite his sickly pallor and bland appearance, there is something about Professor Theroux that seems to attract people. Somewhat oddly, Andre has a peculiar look to him that makes it seem like he's recently stepped out of a bath.

    Clothing Notes: Andre dresses conservatively. He wears the frock coat, waistcoat, and breeches that are common in Dementlieu, keeping to the classic academic's suit to avoid the insanities of seasonal fashion. His clothing tends towards dark and somber colors, sleek and colorless to match the rest of his appearance. He keeps a long and handsome cloak for colder nights and outdoor travel.

    Accessories: Andre's only real jewelry consists of three rings. One is his wedding band, one is a fairly plain heavy gold band, and the final a silver and onyx ring, the ring resembling two intertwined asps, their open mouths providing the setting for the onyx.

    Personality Overview: Andre's personality hasn't really changed that much over the years - the way people react to his personality has. His acerbic insults have progressed to "dry wit", and most people consider them amusing, provided Andre's sharp tongue isn't bearing down on them. This is generally more common among Andre's students, as his older colleagues still recall him from before the Menetnashte Expedition, and Andre has kept to his habit of tearing into anyone who he doesn't feel gives his theories the proper weight. Undoubtedly, this only serves to make him more popular among the younger staff and students. Despite his normal attitude, Andre possesses a remarkable reserve of sympathy and compassion, which he lets show with more frequency these days - often reaching out to those students in his classes that seem lost or need help.

    Other: Andre's adopted cat, Pumpkin, is still about his office. Though she is a very old cat now, she still seems healthy enough, although she is near impossible to move without either chicken or fire.


Image

  • Character Name: Gauvain

    Age: Hard to tell; Mid-Twenties to Late Thirties

    Eye Color: Extremely light blue with pin-prick pupils.
    Hair Color: Faded blond
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Ashen

    Hair Style: Medium length and moderately unkempt, falling around his eyes and ears. Slightly longer in the back.

    Figure Notes: Everything about this man screams out that something is wrong with him. M. Gauvain is very tall, pushing 6'5", and looks as though he once had the bone structure of a very powerful, muscular man to match. However, he is now gaunt and emaciated, without a single scrap of fat on his body - most of his bones are clearly visible through his skin. The solidness of his frame only adds to the grotesqueness of his form, making him look like he was stretched out like taffy.  His features are hooked, his cheeks and eyes sunken, and his milky blue eyes make him look as if he were blind. There is a great sense of sparseness about M. Gauvain, as if there was absolutely nothing more to him than there needed to be. His actions are methodical and efficient, designed to do exactly what he needs to do and nothing more. His expression is unchanging, completely unreadable and unpleasantly blank. The only sign of personality he displays is a habit of running his fingers across the surfaces of objects, which he indulges almost constantly.

    Clothing Notes: M. Gauvain dresses exclusively in plain Mordentish garb. His outfit consists of a collared white shirt, a white wool scarf, and black trousers. Over this, he wears a black double-breasted coat, buttoned up and fastened at the waist with a unornamented brown leather belt. He has a pair of black dress shoes, and finishes his dress with a black, wool Inverness cape that he wears open. No matter what the weather, his dress does not vary - he will neither remove his wool jacket when it is hot, nor put on gloves when it is cold, nor fasten up his cape when it is raining.

    Accessories: M. Gauvain wears no jewelry. Securely fastened to his belt is a strange book, with the covers made of black iron, and bound in silver. He has a rather shoddy looking black iron knife that he keeps hidden about his person, with an ivory handle bound at both ends by bands of silver and ebony. He also has a thin black umbrella, wrapped so tightly that it looks more like a walking stick, topped with a silver raven's skull.

    Personality Overview: M. Gauvain is an exceptionally unpleasant person to be around. He only speaks when he wants to, which is almost never, and says as little as possible when he does. This is not to say that he ignores people, on the contrary, he has a very uncomfortable habit of giving people his complete attention, which amounts to him staring intensely. His gaze is exceptionally piercing, and gives the impression of picking people apart, piece by piece. He remains agonizingly inscrutable under all circumstances.

    Other: Even in mildly cool weather, M. Gauvain's breath tends to fog the air.


Image

  • Character Name: Reine

    Age: ~15

    Eye Color: Brown
    Hair Color: Auburn
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Olive

    Hair Style: A tangled mess of auburn hair that looks like it's never seen a comb in its life.

    Figure Notes: Reine is tiny, a thin, waifish girl with a boyish figure. She has a lean, athletic cast to her body, like a child who spends too much of her time climbing trees and not enough time eating like she should. Although she can dart as fast as a whip and recklessly climb anything she wants to, she's good enough at it that she never has any bruises. She wears a despondent, troubled expression on her face. Her footsteps make no sound, and she has a habit of vanishing into alleyways when she doesn't want to be found. Her wispy form is hard to find in a crowd, and few pay any attention to an impoverished street urchin.

    Clothing Notes: Reine's clothing can barely be called a dress; the grubby tunic looks more like a long night shirt that happens to reach down to her knees. It is obviously too large for her, with the excess clothing hanging off of her thin frame. The cloth has been worn down to paper-thinness at the elbows, and ground in grime stains have long ago turned it grey. The sleeves have been ripped so that her hands are comfortably free of the cloth, the tattered remains easily covering her arms. Oddly enough, the garment seems otherwise clean and well mended. She has nothing else, walking barefoot around the streets of Dementlieu.

    Accessories: None.


Image

  • Character Name: Guy Benoit

    Age: Unknown, appears to be in his early forties

    Eye Color: Amber
    Hair Color: Grizzled Brown
    Skin Tone/Complexion: Tanned and weathered

    Hair Style: Ragged, unevenly cut hair just past his shoulders.

    Figure Notes: A lean, hard, and hungry looking man, not a single scrap of spare fat remains on Guy's body. Tall and imposing, his well-muscled body is always slightly on edge, like a wolf wound up to attack. His features are grizzled and his face lined, the marks of his harsh lifestyle. A pair of mismatched sword scars marr his chest, and slight burn marks are visible on his wrists. Despite his large size and heavy shoes, he moves with a soft step, often vanishing when no one is looking at him. His expression is locked into a grim, hard line, often threatening to break into a snarl when annoyed. Something about his eyes is exceptionally striking - to those who follow him, it is inspiring, to those who oppose him, it is terrifying.

    Clothing Notes: Worn, but sturdy, wool trousers and cotton shirt. His clothing is often stained and smudged, breaking up his outline and letting him vanish easier - his shirts are often covered with so many stitches and bloodstains they bear a passing resemblance to a flesh golem. Guy's outdoor apparel tends toward faded greens and greys, the better to blend into both the forest and the night. On the rare occasions he enters the city, he prefers greyish-blues. He wears exceptionally sturdy leather boots, the soles and harness straps shod with black iron.

    Accessories: Guy wears a simple brass medallion around on a leather cord around his neck, tucked under his shirt but kept polished until it nearly gleams. About an inch long and half that around, a slightly flattened oval in shape, there’s an Ezrite verse in extremely ornate style written on it: “Her Duty was her Joy; Book I, 3”. He wields a very plain, sharp looking axe in one hand, bound with dark-red leather. In his other hand he wields an elaborate Parthian Rapier, a long, keen blade with a pistol for a hilt.

    Personality Overview: Guy is a man of few words and deep emotions. He rarely uses two words if one would do, and often lapses into silence, caught in memories of the past. A loner by nature, he still carries a remarkable presence among people, leading by example rather than through speeches. The power of his determination is both inspiring and slightly frightening. Although he could easily command if he wanted to, Guy rarely chooses to. Having been hurt badly before in the past, Guy rarely reaches out to others, preferring the solitude of his forest.


Image

  • Character Name: The Woman in the Mirror
        
        Age: 20-25
        
        Eye Color: hazel
        Hair Color: dark auburn
        Skin Tone/Complexion: Fair, more yellow undertone than pink (not red-faced)
        
        Hair Style: Long, about to the breasts. Very straight and slick
        
        Figure Notes: Willowy and 5’6” with a svelte nose and soft eyes. Has a sharp chin and high cheekbones.
        
        Clothing Notes: A cheap, white linen dress.
        
        Accessories: None visible.
Last edited by NeoTiamat on Sat Jul 10, 2010 3:35 pm, edited 6 times in total.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Image

Before our Story Begins

Following the assassination of councilor Dominic D'Honaire and the Seven Mage Duel, and the Opera House Massacre on September 18th, 761, Dementlieu began its slow and inevitable slide into chaos, accelerated by the stunning escape of assassin Guy Benoit.

The nobility, terrified for its existence following these events, retreated into itself, fracturing and fragmenting into small, self-contained factions. None were willing to trust the other aristocracy beyond a small circle of friends and family, as it was simply too fantastic to believe that a lone assassin such as Benoit could’ve arranged for the subsequent arrival of the mysterious archmage, or the later massacre of the nobility at the Grand Opera House. Suspicion naturally fell upon the two other power bases of the Dementlieuse government, the University which had so recently employed Benoit, and the military with whom he had served in earlier years. Theorizing about Benoit's true masters was a popular pasttime in the parlors of the aristocracy. Nevertheless, the nobility felt that there was no one to trust, and the factionalizing was accompanied by an increase in personal security. Many of the manors on the Domaines d'Eclaire began to resemble armed fortresses, and most of the noble families recruited private armies of trained thugs and foreign mercenaries. The paranoid air of suspicion and distrust amongst the upper classes of Dementlieu was to have dreadful consequences down the line.

Meanwhile, the government's subtle control of the peasantry and urban poor was shattered by D'Honaire's death, and this combined with the particularly harsh winter of 761-762 led to bread riots the following year. Though largely non-violent, these riots were to set the government's nerves on edge, and the continued enfeeblement of Governor Guignol did nothing to grant leadership to the increasingly rudderless government. This would lead to disaster when in late August of 762, a huge crowd of the urban poor traveled to the palace of the Governor, intent upon beseeching Guignol for relief from the ever-higher food prices. Though the intent of the protest was peaceful, the soldiers guarding the Governor's Palace, largely ceremonial troopers with no combat training, panicked at the sight of the vast crowd of people, and fired into the crowd. This, in turn, caused the frightened poor to stampede, trampling many of their number in the rush to escape the square. It is estimated that twelve hundred people died on what would become known as Bloody Sunday.

In the long term, Bloody Sunday destroyed all hopes of reconciliation between the lower and the upper classes of Dementlieu, though it did also mark the end of large-scale protests. Instead, the increasingly resentful peasantry began to resort to acts of sabotage and terrorism, egged on by the actions of groups such as the increasingly radicalized L'Ordures or the Bloody Hand, a group began by survivors of Bloody Sunday. Throughout the spring and summer of 763, a campaign of urban violence steadily rocked the city of Port-a-Lucine, culminating in the bombing of Voix de l'Ame which claimed the lives of several prominent noblemen, as well as poet Maurice Sevrigold.

This was the impetus for Minister of Defense Josephine Chantreaux to institute the Sevrigold Laws, a series of decrees that would change the political landscape of Dementlieu. The Gendarmerie presence in Port-a-Lucine was trebled, with militia brought in from the surrounding countryside. Heavy recruiting was done outside the city so as to locate personnel without inherent loyalty to the rioters, and political indoctrination was emphasized. The powers and authority of the Gendarmerie was increased, with wide-ranging rights to search anywhere and arrest anyone. In effect, Port-a-Lucine was put under martial law. The Sevrigold Laws have yet to be lifted.

They also had several unintended consequences. With the military presence of the surrounding areas reduced, large portions of Dementlieu became dangerous to travel. Bandits, Falkovnian raiders, and bizarre things started to prowl the countryside, making travel at all a dicey proposition, even just to Chateaufaux. The necessity of importing food from Falkovnia, of all places, was greatly increased, leading to the bizarre necessity of fearing Falkovnian invaders while relying upon Falkovnian merchants. Without the good-faith efforts of Ambassador Markos Vedarrak, this would have been impossible.

Elsewhere, the effective martial law led to howls of protest, in particular in the University of Dementlieu. Its new president, Simon de Casteele, opted to turn down Chantreaux's soldiers and instead take security measures into the University's hands. The Arcane Sciences department created an array of summoned elementals and automata across the campus, creating an oasis of peace and calm amidst the gathering storm of Dementlieuse politics. Nevertheless, relations between the University and the Government are politely strained, the air of mistrust and dissension not aided in the least when an Elder Pyre Elemental went rogue in 767 and burned down eight city blocks before being subdued. Following this event, Councilor Claude LaGrange began to work ever more closely with the University of Dementlieu, to the general disconcertion of his colleagues.

Likewise, the Quartier Ouvrier is functionally off-limits to the agents of the Government. Any gendarme who dares enter the ramshackle tenements and winding alleyways of the Quarter is liable to be ambushed and murdered, and so the Gendarmerie enters the Quarter only in force, and for a specific cause. True rulership is instead the province of the numerous revolutionary groups and criminal gangs that dot the area.

The city of Port-a-Lucine, the greatest metropolis of the Western Core, stands on the brink of civil war.

The Shattered City Campaign

“Oh! Hello. You’re here about the Chateau... I see! Just let me find where I put my papers... You’ll have to forgive me. Where did I put them...?”

“You’re actually
quite... lucky! You have one of the last few rooms. I have to admit, I didn’t expect this much of a response... Aha! Here they are. And here you go. Do please read it all... carefully. My payments are due on the first week of every month. As you can see, they are quite reasonable. If you cannot make them, please, tell me. I am certain we can work out... an arrangement.”

“Your room will be on the second floor. They are small, but I hope you find them... comfortable. I’ve taken the liberty of placing a desk in your parlor, and a wardrobe and bed in the bedchambers. I can, of course... remove them if you have other furniture you wish to use. Hmm? What’s that? No... you can set up your room however you like. I understand that tenets can have...
peculiar habits, or... special needs. Just... don’t damage the walls, and try not to bother your neighbors.”

“If you’d like to stretch your wings a bit, I hope the downstairs commons will prove... satisfactory. I’ve made sure that the kitchen is fully stocked, and arranged for a newspaper to be delivered every morning. I’ve...
heard that the piano downstairs is rather appreciated, and the... billiards table seems to be popular. Simply... do not bother the two professors on the first floor, if you please. They own those rooms, not me... so it’s best if you remain on their good sides.”

“The name? It’s actually a... funny story. It’s... completely unwarranted, I assure you. The professors have never complained about anything...
untoward, and I should think they’d know better than anyone else. Ignorance has never stopped talk, I’m afraid. I actually find the name rather... charming, myself. Of course, there will always be rumors, but... you need pay them no mind.”

“Simply sign here on the line... oh. Wait. I have a pen here somewhere... Here you go. It is a... pleasure to have you. If you need to write me for anything, simply... ask for Charles Devereux at the local post. They’ll know where to take it.”

“Here’s your key. Welcome to the Chateau Malchance.”


It’s March in 770, and the great city of Port-a-Lucine is a place of tension and mistrust, with violence on the horizon, but it’s still one of the largest and most powerful cities in the Core. Port-a-Lucine is still a prominent trading hub, with merchants from as far away as Sri Raji and Nova Vaasa plying their wares in the Quartier Marchand. Port-a-Lucine is still a center of culture and art, the determinator of taste in the Southwestern Core. And Port-a-Lucine is still home to the most prestigious university in the Core. It’s to this city of fading but still defiant glory that the players have come.

For whatever reason, the PCs have just moved into the Chateau Malchance, a quiet house on the outskirts of the Quartier Marchand. Owned by the famous children’s author and noted eccentric, Charles Devereux, the Chateau Malchance is cheap and comfortable, provided you don’t mind the peculiar landlord and unusual housemates. The PCs have come to live, work, and study in Port-a-Lucine.

But there’s a battle brewing behind the scenes, a supernatural war in the shadows of Port-a-Lucine’s tensions. Soon, the fight for the very soul of Dementlieu will begin, and the tenants of the Chateau Malchance will find themselves thrust into its very heart.

Campaign Organization

The Shattered City has definite starting and ending points, and an overarching plot arc. It will be divided into nine ‘Chapters’, with a variable number of short interludes in between. Each chapter is a single, largely self-contained adventure, while the interludes will function as brief ‘breaks’ in the campaign.

The Shattered City is a Horror/Action campaign run in the 4th Edition. Heavy on the roleplaying, medium on combat, not too much in the way of traps/puzzles. Players can expect lots of intrigue and secrets, with a large supporting cast of NPCs who can serve as allies, resources, and the occasional enemy.

Character Creation (Story)

There are four elements of character creation from a story perspective in Shattered City, though only the first two are required. The other two are heavily recommended, but you don’t have to do them to participate.

First, you have to pitch the DMs a character concept. This is required, but it’s not very formal. Just contact the DMs somehow or other (I recommend something private, such as AIM or PMs), and let us know what kind of character you’re thinking of making. This is just to screen out any character ideas that wouldn’t quite work before you put too much work into them, and also to give the DMs a chance to suggest ideas.

Secondly, once the DMs have signed off on the idea, you need to fill out the Questionnaire. This is a slightly altered version of the one found in the Ravenloft Player’s Handbook, and the idea is to give us your character’s background but with a focus on the parts which the DMs will actually find most useful to know. The questionnaire is required, and constitutes the absolute minimum, along with a character sheet, to get into the game. It’ll be posted in a separate post below.

Thirdly, you can do a Character Brief. This is a few more quick questions that will be posted publicly, and basically says what you look like and what a very superficial personality overview. While you don’t need to do a character brief, it’s required if you want any of our artists to even think about drawing your character, and will be rewarded by 2 reroll tokens (see below for more on reroll tokens). The character brief guidelines will also be posted below. Not making any promises now, but people who fill out a character brief well might get some lovely artwork. Something to bear in mind now.

Fourthly and finally, you can write a separate background for your character, a history of the character in the traditional sense. This is your chance to frame a coherent story for the character, as well as seed any adventure hooks for the DMs to use in the future. Also, while I make no promises, your chances of seeing a hook used is greatly increased by linking the adventure hook to Port-a-Lucine somehow. Character backgrounds will earn you 3 reroll tokens for a well written background.

[NOTE! Returning characters have to fill all of this information out as well. It’s been nine years, people can change in that time. And it’s been almost two years since you first created the character, so now is a good time to review what they’re like.]

Character Creation (Mechanics)

Systems-wise, this is a 4th Edition campaign. All characters begin at level 5, and use Method 2 for stat generation, on pages 17-18 of the Players Handbook. In other words, point-buy system.

Races, I recommend humans but I will allow any race, provided they can pass unremarked in a human society. Elves, eladrin, halflings, gnomes, and dwarves get a free pass on this, but if you want to play a Goliath, a Deva or a Warforged, you’ll need to explain how this character manages to survive in human society. I’m perfectly open to repainting odd races as something else. Say, a Minotaur would be repainted as a huge, hulking human with a fondness for charging attacks. A Githyanki might be a human with latent psychic ability. And so on and so forth.

If you want to play a Half-Vistani or a Caliban, talk to me and we’ll work something out.

Equipment and money is going to be handled a little differently in the Shattered City, so look down at the Equipment section down below to figure that out.

General Character Creation Notes
  • <> Required and Allowed Books: At very minimum, I want all PCs to have access to a copy of the Ravenloft Player’s Handbook and a copy of the 4th Edition Player’s Handbook. If you are having trouble getting these, contact me and I’ll see what we can figure out.

    The allowed Books list is fairly broad, but you can only use limited aspects of some of them:
    • -Player’s Handbook = Everything
      -Player’s Handbook 2 = Everything
      -Arcane Power, Martial Power, Divine Power, any subsequent Power books = Classes, powers, paragon paths, items (in other words, everything but the rituals)
      -Eberron Player’s Guide = Races, Artificer class, and associated feats and Paragon Paths (In other words, only feats and paragon paths that list Artificer or a race as a prerequisite, nothing like Dragonmarks)
      -Forgotten Realm Player’s Guide = Races, Swordmage class, Warlock Dark Pact, and associated feats and Paragon Paths (same as above)
    If you want to use something from outside those sources (Dragon Magazine, Adventurer’s Vault, etc), then you need to get explicit permission from the DMs, and to get that you need to make a very good case for why this power/item/feat is the one you must have and no other.

    <>Character Sheets: You need to send to me some manner of character sheet that covers all of the information for your character. Myth Weavers has free character sheets for 4th Edition, you just need to register, go to sheets, and make a public 4E character for me.

    You can use other character sheets, including those built by the WotC Character Builder, just so long as I have access to them and they cover all the usual information.

    <>No Outlanders: Demiplane natives only.

    <> Alignment: I plan to ignore alignment altogether in the Shattered City campaign. People are still heroes and villains, bystanders and monsters, but I’m not going to bother sorting everyone into neat little categories of ‘Lawful Neutral’ or what-not. I also follow the Eberron standard, which is that nothing is “Always Chaotic Evil” any more. The wonders of free will.

    <> Languages: The entirety of the Shattered City campaign will take place in Port-a-Lucine and its environs, and so all PCs MUST know High Mordentish if they intend to talk to each other. As such, I am replacing the ‘Common’ that the PHB gives characters with High Mordentish. We’re using the Ultimate Ravenloft Language List, and characters have the option of swapping out their racial languages for the domain language of their homeland (an elf can take Darkonian instead of Elven, say). In general though, languages will rarely come up.

    <> Gamebreakers: We’re all new to 4th Edition. So unlike in 3rd, all the horribly unbalancing elements haven’t been firmly identified yet. If you happen to have some combination of powers or feats or what-not that ends up being too powerful (or for that matter, too weak), don’t be surprised if the DMs politely ask you to retrain them next level. Hopefully this shouldn’t happen.
Equipment

Treasure will be handled a little differently than in core 4E. Due to the nature of the game, magic items and rituals will be almost completely independent of currency.

You will begin the game with 3 items (1 level 6 or lower, 1 level 5 or lower and 1 level 4 or lower) plus 840 gold pieces to spend on other equipment. Of this 840 gp, you may begin the game with no more than 300 gp in cash, although buying ritual components with excess is fine.

Replacing of the default 4E treasure parcel system, each time a new level is achieved, each player may choose a new magic item of no higher level than their own new level +3. For example, when the characters advance from level 5 to level 6, each player may select one magic item of 9th level or lower. Instead of currency, most treasure will mechanically take the form of residuum (Thematically this may vary or not be addressed at all). For those of you unaware of 4E mechanics, residuum is a kind of swiss army magic dust which is mostly used for the creation of magic items and the casting of powerful limited spells called rituals. Even if your character is incapable of using residuum, it is certain that a fellow PC or friendly NPC will be able to make use of it on your character's behalf.

To keep the exponentially skyrocketing costs of rituals and magic items from disrupting local economies, magic items, ritual components, and residuum may never be sold for cash. Disused magic items may however be disenchanted (with a ritual spell) to create residuum.

Your character will be able to aquire actual coinage, but it will be at dramatically feasible levels (unlike the residuum you get each level which will increase exponentially to keep up with magic item and ritual costs).

[Addendum regarding money: Players start with up to 300 gp in cash, and can expect to receive a per-chapter discretionary income of 100 gp, which establishes the characters as roughly middle class. You may want to consider just how the character has this money (trust fund? Job?) There will of course be money-making opportunities in-game.]

[Second Addendum regarding equipment: In order to explain why the PCs (and some NPCs) can get away with walking around in full plate and with a greataxe in downtown Port-a-Lucine, we’re making armor much sleeker and weapons much more socially acceptable than is historically accurate. Essentially, if you’re wearing plate, you can describe it as a breastplate under your jacket, while cloth armor can just be a thick suit of clothes. Weapons, meanwhile, will be allowed in almost all situations (it may help to think of them as the equivalent of dress rapiers, only more varied… and practical). Mechanically, nothing changes.]

Combat

In the PbPs I’ve seen, one of the biggest issues is always combat. So here’s what I do with regards to keeping things moving nicely. I update combats every 24 hours, regardless of how many PCs have posted (so if you decide to disappear in the middle of a combat, you might end up with a dead PC, fair warning). At that time, I will update the movements of all non-players involved in the fight and resolve all PC attacks, ending the round. The idea here is to keep combats from slowing down the game, so that even a massive, epic battle won’t take more then a week.

Inside of that day, PCs can move whenever they want, but only once (obviously). Basically this is so that people post when they can instead of waiting for others. Initiative is handled as follows. All monsters and NPCs go at one set initiative. PCs who beat that initiative get to go once before the monsters do (regardless of when relative to each other). Then after the monsters go, all PCs can act again, then it’s time for all the monsters, then all the PCs, and so on.

PCs on hiatus will be considered to have ‘Aversion Armor’, in other words, they don’t get attacked. This only applies if you specifically told me before hand that you’re going on hiatus due to work or other real life issues. If you’re just not posting during the fight you’re fair game.

A few 4E specific caveats. First off, I urge you to avoid Interrupts, particularly those that change how a battle would evolve. So an interrupt that would damage or inflict a minor status effect on a monster (-2 to attacks), is fine, but anything that would change how a monster acts (stunning, a push, immobilization) is not. As for Fighter marks (which are interrupt attacks), the DMs will probably just roll them for you when it comes up (so if you don’t like that, don’t be a fighter). You can also have ‘readied interrupts’, where you tell the DM that if X happens, then you will use Y interrupt. In general, if you’re taking an interrupt power, talk to the DMs and we’ll see what we can do.

Secondly, all effects from a power take effect when the DM closes the PC portion a round, and are counted off from that moment. In other words, if you use a power that gives your allies +5 damage until the end of your next turn, then if another PC attacks right now, before the DM advances the combat, he does not get the damage boost. However, after the DM updates the combat, then in that round the ally gets the +5 damage bonus. This same rule applies to monsters and NPCs, and it’s to keep order within a combat day from being an important issue (“I must wait on posting until after the warlord!”).

Online Dice Rollers

I don’t really care what kind of online dice-roller you use, so long as it has an email verification element to it (my email is in my profile, though I think all of you have it in any case). Here’s a pair of dice-rollers to get you started, but if you find something you prefer, feel free to use it, just run it by me first:
House Rules

As with just about any game, the Shattered City will have some house-rules. In order of importance, they are as follows:
  • <>Guns!: Firearms will be run largely identically to crossbows. A pistol is equivalent to a hand crossbow, but also has the High Crit property. A rifle is equivalent to a crossbow, also with the High Crit property. On the downside, however, firearms cost twice as much as a crossbow (only relevant for non-magical firearms) and make much more noise. In all other cases, guns will be treated as crossbows. Any feat or power that requires you to use a crossbow will also work with a pistol or rifle, any magic items which are crossbows also have rifle and pistol versions, etc.

    <>Extended Rests: I’m taking a page from WoD and L5R and pegging the use of daily abilities to OOC time frames. You can no longer take an Extended Rest during a chapter. Instead, you automatically take them at the start of a chapter, and begin each chapter with a fresh set of healing surges, daily powers, etc. To put it in another way, all abilities which used to say ‘daily’ are now ‘per-chapter’.

    You can usually expect about 1-3 combats per chapter, usually towards the low end of that.

    <>Subdual Damage: Instead of getting a choice to kill or knock-out a foe automatically, we’ll be using the 3E system of nonlethal damage. To quickly summarize, you can take a -2 penalty to your attack roll to inflict nonlethal damage. When the amount of lethal + nonlethal damage a character takes exceeds their hitpoints, they are knocked out. If all of their damage is lethal, then they are killed instead.

    <>Rituals: Some rituals work a little differently in the Demiplane of Dread, so here’s a list of rituals from the PHB and PHBII that are different. (Note that I’m only paying attention to rituals up to level 14, since the PCs will not exceed that level over the course of the campaign). Lastly, you need DM permission to take rituals outside of the PHB and PHBII.
    • <>Commune with Nature, Call Wilderness Guide: In order to get information, this ritual summons up nature spirits who may be prickly, mischievous, or outright dangerous if angered. Use with care.

      <>Consult Mystic Sages: This ritual does not exist in Ravenloft.

      <>Control Weather: This ritual functions normally, but you need government permission before changing the weather patterns over Port-a-Lucine, and wherever you cast it you can be held liable for damages caused by the weather.

      <>Knock, Passwall, Lullaby, Tune of Merriment: This ritual works as normal, but because it’s frequently used by criminals, possession of these ritual scrolls is restricted. Penalties include a fine or jailtime, and it can be used as evidence of intent in many crimes.

      <>Raise Dead: This Ritual Does Not Exist. In Ravenloft, only divine miracles can grant a true resurrection. Immensely powerful artifacts and entities can also, sometimes, with a lot of effort and restrictions and danger, raise someone from the dead. But for mortals, resurrection is something you read about in old church documents, nothing more.

      <>Shadow Walk: While this does let you into the Shadow Realm, you’ll need to find your own way out.

      <>Speak with Dead: While this ritual usually works, there is always the (slim) chance of awakening an angry ghost or wraith, particularly when dealing with people who died in traumatic circumstances or were powerful and evil in their lives. This ritual is also considered a stepping stone on the path to true necromancy, so it’s quite illegal (jail time is guaranteed).


Reroll Tokens

In place of the bonus XP system from EoA, I plan to use a Reroll Token system. Basically, for going above and beyond the call of duty in the game, PCs can acquire one or more reroll tokens. When the PCs get five reroll tokens, they can trade them to reroll on attack roll, saving throw, skill or ability check, or damage roll. PCs cannot have more than twenty reroll tokens saved at a time. PCs can only use one reroll token for any given roll, even if they still fail the roll on the second time.
Some things you can get reroll tokens for, as well as a general idea of the going rate:
  • <>Art & Writing: If you can draw something for the Shattered City, that is always good for some reroll tokens. A full, colored work of art will usually go for about six tokens, with more and less elaborate pieces getting more or fewer tokens. Writing goes similarly at about six tokens for a solid short story, and scaling from there.

    <>Posting: Really good posts might snag the poster a reroll token, or even more than one in exceptional cases. I tend to look for posts that show a lot of character development. DMs also take recommendations from other PCs and spectators.

    <>Feedback: I’ll pretty regularly ask for feedback, and offer reroll tokens for well-thought out and constructive criticism. You can usually get four reroll tokens off a chapter’s worth of feedback.

    <>Side-RPs: Taking the time to get to know a fellow PC or NPC is always good for a reroll token. Just find one of the DMs on AIM or schedule something over email.

    <>Miscellaneous: There’s always other opportunities around. Often I’ll randomly grab a player off AIM and ask them to look up the history of the Capuchin catacombs or something like that. Or a PC can ask and get tasked to do NPC write-ups from their perspective, or bits of literary criticism. If you want reroll tokens, you only need to ask to get opportunities for them.
You can use reroll tokens after you’ve found out that you’ve failed a roll, but once I’ve processed them (I’ve advanced the combat round, say), then it’s too late to use them. If I’m on AIM, you can always drop me a line and ask me if something hit. If I’m not, then you can put an addendum onto your post that goes “IF I miss this attack, I’ll use a reroll token.” If you hit with the attack, no reroll token is deducted.

Rule Zero

Last, but not least, the DMs reserve the right to tinker with the game at our leisure, if we think it makes for a better game.
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Questionnaire

You don’t need to write in huge detail in answer to any of these questions, but giving a complete story is helpful. This is an edited version of the RLPHB questionnaire, but it’s not exactly the same, fair warning.

Also, you need to answer every question. Unless your character is a complete sociopath, then he loves something (#3), and anyone who’s grown to maturity has done something they kick themselves for (#4).

Finally, while for many questions you can give an abstract answer, “I hate injustice”, you must give at least one answer that isn’t abstract. First describe something concrete that your character loves, then you can go on and wax poetic about your love of liberty.
  • 1. What are your origins? What domain is your character from? Is he an aristocratic scion of Borca, or the son of lumberjacks in Kartakass? Did he grow up as an apprentice in his father’s shop, or is he a church orphan?

    2. Where is your family? Do you come from a vast, extended clan, or are you an orphan? Maybe your family were immigrants from some more distant domain? If you don’t have blood-relatives, who raised you? Where are these people now, and what do they think of you? There’s a tendency in D&D characters to have no one close to them that can be used against them, but a hero with no family (blood-kin or not) is a hero who’s family can’t enter the spotlight at all.

    3. What is your greatest love? For what or for whom would your character make sacrifices? For a romantic interest? For family? For himself (selfish bastard)? His god? Would he make sacrifices for power? Knowledge? Magic? Youth? Would you make a personal sacrifice or sacrifice someone else?

    4. What is your greatest shame or regret? What memories trouble you on sleepless nights? A death you didn’t prevent? A friend you betrayed in a moment of weakness? A physical or mental trait you despise? Or on a slightly different track, is there something you really should feel ashamed of, but don’t?

    5. What do you fear? What is there that the very thought of provokes a shudder? Do you hate spiders? Or snakes? Are you terrified of heights? Do you have dreams of drowning? Or is it something more specific? An old enemy who still haunts you, though that foe is dead and gone? Are you terrified of retribution for some past or present wrong?

    6. What do you hate? What is there that makes your blood boil, that has your character see red? Do you wish you could just murder every Falkovnian in the Core? Do you hold in contempt all those that don’t follow the true faith? Is there a person, place, or thing that you would love to see obliterated? Why do you hate this thing?

    7. What fascinates you? What topics draw your interest? What are your enthusiasms? Is he an opera fan or a theater buff? Is he a fan of the Dead Travel Fast novels? Can you spend hours pouring over the workings of a clock, the sigils of a spell-scroll, or the strands of a spider web? A weakness for riddles or a fondness for wrestling?

    8. What are your habits? What are the patterns in your life, the things you do regularly? Do you read the Port-a-Lucine broadsheets religiously every morning? Does a warlike character collect ‘trophies’ from fallen foes? Is the weekly night in the bar a hallowed institution of your life?

    9. What are your secrets? What do you hide from the outside world? A physical trait or deformity, or perhaps a past event you hope will never be uncovered? Do you have a hidden agenda or a secret master? What are the consequences of this secret being revealed? Persecution? Prosecution?

    10. Are you rational or emotional? Are you practical and level-headed to the point of coldness, or are you a hopeless romantic? Or on a different track, are you sophisticated or superstitious? A man of science or a man of belief?

    11. How self-confident are you? Do you constantly doubt yourself, second-guessing every action? Or are you patently sure you’re in the right, come what may? For that matter, what would other people think of your character’s self-confidence? Does he project calm assurance even while he’s filled with doubt? Or does he think that he’s reasonable all the time even while others would accuse him of being a fanatic?

    12. Why do you adventure? This is the most important question. This isn’t the Menetnashte Expedition. There’s no desert to keep the PCs in the campaign. If the character says he’s had enough and hops on a train to Lamordia, then there’s relatively little to stop him. In the Shattered City, your character will need to make a choice to adventure. Why does your character make that choice? The easiest here is for him to be a committed altruist, for him to want to help others and stop the spreading darkness. But there are other options. Does he have a mission he’ll follow through till the bitter end? Or maybe it’s just the damnable curiosity which will lead you into adventure?

    13. Why are you living in the Chateau Malchance? Are you here to work in Port-a-Lucine, or to study at the University of Dementlieu? Were you attracted by the unusually cheap rent or the convenient location (northern part of the Quartier Marchand, very close to the UoD), or is it the fact that Charles Devereux is a very understanding landlord?
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
User avatar
NeoTiamat
Evil Genius
Evil Genius
Posts: 4119
Joined: Tue Sep 12, 2006 5:00 pm
Gender: Male
Location: Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Post by NeoTiamat »

Character Briefs

With apologies to my friend Kaitou-Kage, from whom I rip this off shamelessly. Bear in mind when you write this out that the information here will be public. If you have something unusual about appearances that you want to hide, send the DMs a note so that we’re aware of it but the other PCs aren’t.
  • Character Name:

    Age:

    Eye Color:
    Hair Color:
    Skin Tone/Complexion:

    Hair Style: ( Color, length, style, etc. )

    Figure Notes: (Simply put, "What the character looks like naked" -- Figure is important when doing the sketch. Intense detail is not required, but if there are specific distinguishing scars or markings like tattoos, etc., to note on the torso that might not ordinarily be seen, feel free to note them.)

    Clothing Notes: (Describe some typical armor and clothing choices, provide references if you like. If choice of color or design in clothing is important to consider, make note of it here.)

    Accessories: (List separate from the clothing, it's easier to see. Things like earrings, rings, jewelry, trinkets, badges, blah blah blah, noticeable details that aren't readily apparent on the original sketch but are distinctive on the character.)

    Personality Overview: ( What they act like is pretty integral to drawing a character concept. This isn't anything in-depth, just what a person would think of the character upon a very brief acquaintance.)

    Other:

    Room: (The Chateau quarters consist of two small rooms, a front room and a bedroom. Devereux has also provided anyone who wants it with a bed, a desk, a mirror, and a wardrobe. What does your room look like?)
Ravenloft GM: Eye of Anubis, Shattered City, and Prof. Lupescu's Traveling Ghost Show
Lead Writer & Editor: VRS Files: Doppelgangers; Contributor: QtR #20, #21, #22, #23, #24
Freelance Writer for Paizo Publishing
Post Reply