As work on the Shadowman project continues, here's a character sketch I did for Robert McKee--The man that teaches a young 9 year old Nigel to read (and yes, I am thinking in D&D stats [2nd ed though]).
Robert McKee--Male, human smuggler, lvl 8. Age 37 Ht 5'7" wt 128. Greying brown hair with a very scraggly beard. Has the beginnings of a bald spot and very rotten teeth--missing half of the teeth on the upper right side of his mouth.
He carries a broadsword, but not very accomplished with it--more for intimidation factor. He also owns an El Tierran wheellock horse musket, which he uses occasionally on high profile runs. He's a native of Darkepoole. Not married but very fond of Mab-- 20something whore over at Lady A's brothel on Firth St. He often talks of buying her permanently.
McKee is an outspoken heretic of the Dirulean crown--highly critical of the Dirulean Knights and King Edward IX.
He got his start into smuggling abetting in the transport of stolen tax monies to Scrattston and Rae'lan. Since then he has moved into smuggling liquor and documents. He's always looking for documents incrementing the state, and has an impressive library.
McKee belongs to a small guild of rogues and dissidents, The Knights of Darkepoole. While not quite organized enough to qualify as a thief guild, they are a very tightly knit group that works to free wronged peopel before execution, disrupt the Dirulean state, and attempt to overthrow the government in general. To do this they employ extortion, protection rackets, banditry, theft, trespassing, and even murder.
McKee acts as a sort of captain within the guild, and is largely in charge of liquidating all stolen goods. He has close contacts with several smugglers including: Alison Wash, Brendon Stark, Finian ApMordren, Chas Black.
He takes Nigel in partially out of pity, but his primary purpose is to use Nigel as expendable bait during the Fall Harvest Festival when the group plans on assassinating the governor of Darkepoole. .
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Nigel Caedman Character Bio and Brief History
I wrote this, mmm, probably back in 2002ish and it became the impetus for a series of vignettes called the Fractured Tales. The original idea, which I'm now currently re-envisioning for the novel project, was to write stories of others' telling about Nigel's life--very much ala Chuck Palahaniuk's Rant (except I thought of it long before Rant was published or I knew who Palahaniuk was). In the interest of the current project, I've added some detail through most of Nigel's timeline to current.
Homeland: Darkepoole Dirulea
Birth Date: April 8, 1429
Appearance:
Let's Start with the history (mind you I am rewriting and expanding some, so if Nigel told you different, he was drunk at the time).
Birth and Childhood: Nigel was born in the early 1400s in a rather large fishing and trade town called Darkepoole in southern Dirulea. His father originally was of a higher ranking position, Head Guard of the North Gate, until he was removed and tried for treason, but released. His father quickly descended into the bottle, and left young Nigel, his two brothers, and their mother to fend for their own on a measly stipend earned from the rotting beet plot they owned just outside of town.
By Nigel's 9th birthday, his father had been in and out of Common Jail numerous times, and ceased visiting the family. His mother had descended into whoredom to deal with the whole situation, and passed away some few months later. His other two brothers William, and Owen, fought constantly, and Nigel had little patience for their constant insolence. He left his two brothers to fend on their own one month after the death of their mother.
Stealing to all Dirulean youths within the cities was second nature, so Nigel had little trouble keeping himself fed during the following years. He kept to the streets until the next summer, where he signed onto a transport galleon servicing Rae' Lan Island. Though he rather enjoyed the sea life, the captain had him removed from the ship after only one voyage for 'constant drunkenness.
Around this time, Nigel began to become keenly aware of the political mess that Dirulea resided within. Being smarter than your average Dirulean, Nigel never quite bought into the tales and stories told to him at a young age about the superiority of the Dirulean state. He began to look around and very soon noticed the massive depths of corruption in every entity of the city. Citizens were practically banned from all manners of intellectualism, and private ownership. The government ensured that any upstarts, free thinkers, or entrepreneurs were quickly put down. He taught himself the written Terrak language, as well as various methods of entering buildings without using doors. Soon, after poring through various judicial log books, he began to understand the massive scope of Dirulean abuse.
By the age of 15 his contempt for the government had grown to great proportions, great enough to have guards called to his attention. He spent three months in jail the summer of 1444 for "plotting against the Government." He escaped shortly before his would be execution.
Around this time, he decided it imperative to teach himself some manner of protection, since he was quickly becoming a wanted criminal. He stowed away on a ship to Rae' Lan island, where Dirulean officials were not as observant, and began to travel about with the Na' Claad gypsies. The gypsies were a well known for their political assassinations, and ability to avoid arrest.
He spent about two years with the gypsies, during which he entertained a short blissful time with a girl by the name of Faye. The girl was a servant to a Dirulean Governor's wife, and was tortured and scarred by the governor, after her tryst was discovered (servants were not allowed to mingle with outsiders). Enraged, Nigel exacted the same scarring to the governor's wife, and torched his estate. Plagued by Dirulean Knights, Nigel boarded a ship for Darkepoole, on Spring Equinox 1447.
Back in Darkepoole, Nigel came across a document stating that his father had been removed from his position due to the mere whim of a higher ranking knight. Around this time Nigel began to organize an underground movement to eliminate the corruption within Darkepoole as well as it's sister town, Carraughton in Rae' lan. He along with five others, Mary "Black Ivory" Duckett, Jonas Harrold, Timothy "the blade" MacDerny, Joshua "The Mark", and Marlowe Ambrose began a faction known as the South Dirulean Trade Agency (yes a fictional company), and began querying local nobles and other members of power for various backing possibilities. They embezzled some estimated 200,000 gold before they were shut down in 1449. Nigel and Marlowe were the only two members who survived the raid on their south shore complex. During its period of running, Nigel had developed close, lasting relationships with both Mary and Jonas, and furthermore, their deaths drove Nigel to the brink of insanity, which would eventually lead to his well known nervous tick whenever talks of killing come up.
Marlowe parted from Nigel after the dissolution of the company, under terms of mutual agreement, and died in 1480, a very rich man.
Nigel, plotted for vengeance. He began to case each mansion, each estate, each townhouse, of every noble involved with any manner of lawmaking in the city. In August of 1449, he began his Murdering spree, known as the Blood Rains of Darkepoole. Through the summer of 1450, he killed over 45 government officials, some 30 Dirulean Knights, and nearly 20 supporters of the Dirulean Government. He was eventually arrested in July of 1450, and sent to the lowest levels of Cadamire Dungeon, the country's most nefarious prison. He was deemed too horrible to be given the honor of a quick death, and therefore allowed to rot with the rats for the rest of eternity.
However, fortunately (depending on how you look at it), the Solostarathan had caught wind of Nigel's feats, and sent in a squad of elves to break Nigel out of the clink. They escorted him to Gwendollewen where he was received as a national hero. Mind you that Nigel, being much more liberated than your average Dirulean, was still no giant fan of the elves, but mainly because they had "piss poor alcohol, and their women were a bit waifish." so anyway, Nigel was inducted as one of the first non-elven members of the Solostarathon in over 50 years.
Of course, there were many within the society that thought ill of this induction, and one in particular, Anton Silvestri, was particularly against the idea of non-elves participating in the society, and had Nigel shipped off on a mission to Avernuss. Nigel would spend two years there before he was rescued by Nek and Meythallis of Darkskye.
After Nek took care of the Silvestri element, Nigel was inseparable from Nek. The two of them spent the next few years traveling together, in the legendary "Wolf Pack" party, with other big names as Cain Braellic, Gwenith Oemorium, Mar' ii Nitram, Steele Firehammer, and Straker Decorum. Nigel participated in the coming of the gods prophesy in 1454, and subsequently disappeared from Ae'rinus until 1590.
In 1590, Nigel appeared, disoriented and worse for the wear on the south eastern coast of Ikathia. Shortly after his reappearance, Layil claimed Nigel as her chosen one, and over the next couple years he was seen wandering all over the continent, ending up in Resbon in 1592.
In 1592, Nigel surfaced in Malise as the patron of Layil and compatriot of Tokogau Ito. He aided Tokogau in removing the Falcon Knights thief guild from the city, asserting Sharde's control of Malise. Nigel hung around for a bit and then traveled onward, partly in search of Nek, and partly to find his life again.
After the events that had separated him from Nek and the others, Nigel found himself greatly alone, and without a true ideology. The first year or so was ok, since he was under the direction of Layil, but once Tokogau ceded the position, he found himself in a large world, massively changed from its former days. He still harbored distaste for the Dirulean empire, but he had no drive to return to that wretched country to do anything about it. He had little care for Maxwell's often obscured motives, and therefore no reason to return to Gwendollewen. He made a couple trips to Riversedge, and talked to Cain, who had settled and opened an adventuring guild. He also did some traveling through Drachmaar, Liel, Maridia, and finally back to Resbon, a country, that he had taken quite a liking to. During these years of travel, he found himself in contact with many adventuring parties. He often tagged along with them, whether they liked it or not, for something to do, another voice to talk to.
In 1598, Nigel found himself in Malise yet again, where he met off-worlders: Cersee Nailo, Talon, Illiania, and their wolf Okami. Nigel took a liking to the stubborn half-celestial Cersee, and began following them. Shortly after, they fought a pack of demons in Reshe and decided that the demons under Drevissh needed to be stopped. At that point, everyone broke up and Nigel headed to Riversedge to investigate rumors of expanding Tuergeon influence.
In Riversedge, Nigel, Nek and their Adventurer's guild (founded by former Wolf Pack member, Cain Braellic), helped organize the merchants guilds to stand up against invasion when the Brendian government collapsed.
Shortly before the summer solstice of 1600 (the day that Magic fell and the sky burned), Nigel regained his favored status by Layil when he defeated Averon's attempts of possessing another of his travelling companions, Stormchaser. During this confrontation, Nigel's left arm was charred to the bone nearly to his elbow. He would wear this scar for several years before Layil tired of his disfigurement and healed it.
Around the time of the 1600 solstice, the first of two successive Gods' wars began. And, as a chosen one of Layil, Nigel was subjected to many waves of assassins from Terrasond.
By 1601 Nigel and Nek help Riversedge achieve independence, founding itself as a free city-state.
In 1602 Nigel, Nek, and Cersee defeat Tokogau Ito in Malise, Resbon. Afterwards, Nigel and Cersee marry and establish a residence in Rae'lan.
After Cersee and Nigel Married, the two became involved with a number of things from the 2nd Gods' War, to raising children, to establishing a guild, The Phoenix Moon, to protecting Dirulea's stability under King Philip, to finally ascending to the ranks of the gods themselves.
This man has little societal loyalties, can kill in an instant, but is greatly devoted to anyone who will spend a dime, buy a drink and hear his story. He's a traveler, assassin, thief, rogue straight through. Prior to Cersee, he has had every love of his life systematically and irrevocably ripped from him, yet he continually searches for another person, another brother, sister, wife, lover, to be a good ole chum and buy 'im a drink.
For fun, here are Nigel's Character stats circa 1598
Character Stats
Level 17, HP: 68 AC 2 (Mithral chain hauberk, dex)
Str 18/50
Dex 17
Con 14
Int 17
Wis 10
Cha 10
Nigel is considered a Grand Master at Daggers
Languages: Terrak (read/write as well), Calic, Nieven, Dräk, Braek, Roslic (read only)
Nigel is the current "Chosen One" of Layil. He is bestowed the following abilities based on that status:
full night vision (off-color eye glows)
Line of Sight Teleportation 2x/day
Invisibility in shadow at will
Unlock any door 1/day
Items of Interest:
Teeth of Drammarr (function as daggers +2 impaling)
Sword of Souls (destroys regenitive abilities, charged by Layil, can smite (slay) 1x/month)
Mithral Chain Hauberk (AC 5)
Straker's Belt of Everfull Daggers (stolen from Straker) Daggers cause little initial damage, but do cumulative damage until removed, when they actually do real damage (i.e. dagger left in for 3 rnds will do 3 dmg on pullout)
Homeland: Darkepoole Dirulea
Birth Date: April 8, 1429
Appearance:
- Eyes: Brown, discolored, blue left eye, with large scar running from about center of forehead through eye and then down to about even with bottom of his nose.
- Hair: His hair ranges in length, but is usually short or close shaved. Often peppered with silver nowadays.
- Apparel: He usually dresses in black, but has been known to wear red or white tunics from time to time.
- Other Identifying marks: He walks with a swagger. He usually wears a black bandanna. Black goatee, and usually a few days' stubble. He has a slightly twisted nose. In 1594 or 1595 his left hand was reduced to blackened charred bone, almost to the elbow--from then on he wore a glove to cover the wound. Sometime in the early 1600s, Layil healed his arm back to its original state.
- Accent: One of his key gameplay features is his accent, which originally was modeled on a sort of Americanized Hollywood cockney (I was about 15 when I first created Nigel, and modeled his accent off [I can't belive I'm going to publish this] Kano from the freaking Mortal Kombat movie), but then through lots of practice and endless watching of Snatch modulated into more of a Alan Ford, Bricktop style cockney, where I've tried to start incorporating actual rhyming slang as well. On Ae'rinus, Nigel's accent is a sort of mash between standard Dirulean and the Na'Claad dialect (a gypsy clan hailing from Rae'lan).
Let's Start with the history (mind you I am rewriting and expanding some, so if Nigel told you different, he was drunk at the time).
Birth and Childhood: Nigel was born in the early 1400s in a rather large fishing and trade town called Darkepoole in southern Dirulea. His father originally was of a higher ranking position, Head Guard of the North Gate, until he was removed and tried for treason, but released. His father quickly descended into the bottle, and left young Nigel, his two brothers, and their mother to fend for their own on a measly stipend earned from the rotting beet plot they owned just outside of town.
By Nigel's 9th birthday, his father had been in and out of Common Jail numerous times, and ceased visiting the family. His mother had descended into whoredom to deal with the whole situation, and passed away some few months later. His other two brothers William, and Owen, fought constantly, and Nigel had little patience for their constant insolence. He left his two brothers to fend on their own one month after the death of their mother.
Stealing to all Dirulean youths within the cities was second nature, so Nigel had little trouble keeping himself fed during the following years. He kept to the streets until the next summer, where he signed onto a transport galleon servicing Rae' Lan Island. Though he rather enjoyed the sea life, the captain had him removed from the ship after only one voyage for 'constant drunkenness.
Around this time, Nigel began to become keenly aware of the political mess that Dirulea resided within. Being smarter than your average Dirulean, Nigel never quite bought into the tales and stories told to him at a young age about the superiority of the Dirulean state. He began to look around and very soon noticed the massive depths of corruption in every entity of the city. Citizens were practically banned from all manners of intellectualism, and private ownership. The government ensured that any upstarts, free thinkers, or entrepreneurs were quickly put down. He taught himself the written Terrak language, as well as various methods of entering buildings without using doors. Soon, after poring through various judicial log books, he began to understand the massive scope of Dirulean abuse.
By the age of 15 his contempt for the government had grown to great proportions, great enough to have guards called to his attention. He spent three months in jail the summer of 1444 for "plotting against the Government." He escaped shortly before his would be execution.
Around this time, he decided it imperative to teach himself some manner of protection, since he was quickly becoming a wanted criminal. He stowed away on a ship to Rae' Lan island, where Dirulean officials were not as observant, and began to travel about with the Na' Claad gypsies. The gypsies were a well known for their political assassinations, and ability to avoid arrest.
He spent about two years with the gypsies, during which he entertained a short blissful time with a girl by the name of Faye. The girl was a servant to a Dirulean Governor's wife, and was tortured and scarred by the governor, after her tryst was discovered (servants were not allowed to mingle with outsiders). Enraged, Nigel exacted the same scarring to the governor's wife, and torched his estate. Plagued by Dirulean Knights, Nigel boarded a ship for Darkepoole, on Spring Equinox 1447.
Back in Darkepoole, Nigel came across a document stating that his father had been removed from his position due to the mere whim of a higher ranking knight. Around this time Nigel began to organize an underground movement to eliminate the corruption within Darkepoole as well as it's sister town, Carraughton in Rae' lan. He along with five others, Mary "Black Ivory" Duckett, Jonas Harrold, Timothy "the blade" MacDerny, Joshua "The Mark", and Marlowe Ambrose began a faction known as the South Dirulean Trade Agency (yes a fictional company), and began querying local nobles and other members of power for various backing possibilities. They embezzled some estimated 200,000 gold before they were shut down in 1449. Nigel and Marlowe were the only two members who survived the raid on their south shore complex. During its period of running, Nigel had developed close, lasting relationships with both Mary and Jonas, and furthermore, their deaths drove Nigel to the brink of insanity, which would eventually lead to his well known nervous tick whenever talks of killing come up.
Marlowe parted from Nigel after the dissolution of the company, under terms of mutual agreement, and died in 1480, a very rich man.
Nigel, plotted for vengeance. He began to case each mansion, each estate, each townhouse, of every noble involved with any manner of lawmaking in the city. In August of 1449, he began his Murdering spree, known as the Blood Rains of Darkepoole. Through the summer of 1450, he killed over 45 government officials, some 30 Dirulean Knights, and nearly 20 supporters of the Dirulean Government. He was eventually arrested in July of 1450, and sent to the lowest levels of Cadamire Dungeon, the country's most nefarious prison. He was deemed too horrible to be given the honor of a quick death, and therefore allowed to rot with the rats for the rest of eternity.
However, fortunately (depending on how you look at it), the Solostarathan had caught wind of Nigel's feats, and sent in a squad of elves to break Nigel out of the clink. They escorted him to Gwendollewen where he was received as a national hero. Mind you that Nigel, being much more liberated than your average Dirulean, was still no giant fan of the elves, but mainly because they had "piss poor alcohol, and their women were a bit waifish." so anyway, Nigel was inducted as one of the first non-elven members of the Solostarathon in over 50 years.
Of course, there were many within the society that thought ill of this induction, and one in particular, Anton Silvestri, was particularly against the idea of non-elves participating in the society, and had Nigel shipped off on a mission to Avernuss. Nigel would spend two years there before he was rescued by Nek and Meythallis of Darkskye.
After Nek took care of the Silvestri element, Nigel was inseparable from Nek. The two of them spent the next few years traveling together, in the legendary "Wolf Pack" party, with other big names as Cain Braellic, Gwenith Oemorium, Mar' ii Nitram, Steele Firehammer, and Straker Decorum. Nigel participated in the coming of the gods prophesy in 1454, and subsequently disappeared from Ae'rinus until 1590.
In 1590, Nigel appeared, disoriented and worse for the wear on the south eastern coast of Ikathia. Shortly after his reappearance, Layil claimed Nigel as her chosen one, and over the next couple years he was seen wandering all over the continent, ending up in Resbon in 1592.
In 1592, Nigel surfaced in Malise as the patron of Layil and compatriot of Tokogau Ito. He aided Tokogau in removing the Falcon Knights thief guild from the city, asserting Sharde's control of Malise. Nigel hung around for a bit and then traveled onward, partly in search of Nek, and partly to find his life again.
After the events that had separated him from Nek and the others, Nigel found himself greatly alone, and without a true ideology. The first year or so was ok, since he was under the direction of Layil, but once Tokogau ceded the position, he found himself in a large world, massively changed from its former days. He still harbored distaste for the Dirulean empire, but he had no drive to return to that wretched country to do anything about it. He had little care for Maxwell's often obscured motives, and therefore no reason to return to Gwendollewen. He made a couple trips to Riversedge, and talked to Cain, who had settled and opened an adventuring guild. He also did some traveling through Drachmaar, Liel, Maridia, and finally back to Resbon, a country, that he had taken quite a liking to. During these years of travel, he found himself in contact with many adventuring parties. He often tagged along with them, whether they liked it or not, for something to do, another voice to talk to.
In 1598, Nigel found himself in Malise yet again, where he met off-worlders: Cersee Nailo, Talon, Illiania, and their wolf Okami. Nigel took a liking to the stubborn half-celestial Cersee, and began following them. Shortly after, they fought a pack of demons in Reshe and decided that the demons under Drevissh needed to be stopped. At that point, everyone broke up and Nigel headed to Riversedge to investigate rumors of expanding Tuergeon influence.
In Riversedge, Nigel, Nek and their Adventurer's guild (founded by former Wolf Pack member, Cain Braellic), helped organize the merchants guilds to stand up against invasion when the Brendian government collapsed.
Shortly before the summer solstice of 1600 (the day that Magic fell and the sky burned), Nigel regained his favored status by Layil when he defeated Averon's attempts of possessing another of his travelling companions, Stormchaser. During this confrontation, Nigel's left arm was charred to the bone nearly to his elbow. He would wear this scar for several years before Layil tired of his disfigurement and healed it.
Around the time of the 1600 solstice, the first of two successive Gods' wars began. And, as a chosen one of Layil, Nigel was subjected to many waves of assassins from Terrasond.
By 1601 Nigel and Nek help Riversedge achieve independence, founding itself as a free city-state.
In 1602 Nigel, Nek, and Cersee defeat Tokogau Ito in Malise, Resbon. Afterwards, Nigel and Cersee marry and establish a residence in Rae'lan.
After Cersee and Nigel Married, the two became involved with a number of things from the 2nd Gods' War, to raising children, to establishing a guild, The Phoenix Moon, to protecting Dirulea's stability under King Philip, to finally ascending to the ranks of the gods themselves.
This man has little societal loyalties, can kill in an instant, but is greatly devoted to anyone who will spend a dime, buy a drink and hear his story. He's a traveler, assassin, thief, rogue straight through. Prior to Cersee, he has had every love of his life systematically and irrevocably ripped from him, yet he continually searches for another person, another brother, sister, wife, lover, to be a good ole chum and buy 'im a drink.
For fun, here are Nigel's Character stats circa 1598
Character Stats
Level 17, HP: 68 AC 2 (Mithral chain hauberk, dex)
Str 18/50
Dex 17
Con 14
Int 17
Wis 10
Cha 10
Nigel is considered a Grand Master at Daggers
Languages: Terrak (read/write as well), Calic, Nieven, Dräk, Braek, Roslic (read only)
Nigel is the current "Chosen One" of Layil. He is bestowed the following abilities based on that status:
full night vision (off-color eye glows)
Line of Sight Teleportation 2x/day
Invisibility in shadow at will
Unlock any door 1/day
Items of Interest:
Teeth of Drammarr (function as daggers +2 impaling)
Sword of Souls (destroys regenitive abilities, charged by Layil, can smite (slay) 1x/month)
Mithral Chain Hauberk (AC 5)
Straker's Belt of Everfull Daggers (stolen from Straker) Daggers cause little initial damage, but do cumulative damage until removed, when they actually do real damage (i.e. dagger left in for 3 rnds will do 3 dmg on pullout)
Sunday, October 11, 2009
Oh Hai! Sorry for the delay
It's been quite a while since I've posted here, but as mentioned on my primary blog, I'm in the process of building up the state of the Ae'rinus estate in preparation for the novel about Nigel.
Speaking of,
Here's an old story written about Nigel shortly after his Bloody attack on Darkepoole.
Speaking of,
Here's an old story written about Nigel shortly after his Bloody attack on Darkepoole.
- Quiet was that morn, three buildings still ablaze.
- Those roads, stood thick, silent, half-drowned in mid-summer’s mud,
- while slate cloth whipped at the mailed guards of th’ gate.
- Six they stood, yet five more laid to rest,
- giving their lives over to that greedy mud.
- Only their families will notice an absence at the dinner table, but to what end?
- Their palates certainly harden; mold becomes a viable necessity,
- while father sleeps on duty.
- O Darkened morn, the type not even the most blottered ‘d venture.
- A morn so dry of life, th’ fires on Bilk St., Amber St., Arc St. seem all the less cold.
- So soddin’ dry that th’ clink clink an’ th’ rough calls fro’ that dread party
- did split the smoggy skies, split as if ‘twere th’ sun (not that it is oft seen),
- split us all with that blasted, fearful axe of oppression.
- Six knights about one white pawn dress’d black
- and bearing th’ wooden pile ‘cross ‘is back.
- No deft hands shall loose th’ bonds ‘round his bony wrists.
- No brave sod’ll free that barrow man; those briny bloods,
- deftest at th’ draw, bars of “justice,” said haughtily, him surround.
- Birds of a feather, birds of a feather, why not flock together?
- Where for art that bloody boxman?
- Boxman, boxman, break that lock.
- Slide swift forward, sharpen sweet spines,
- still their thirst in that bloody brine.
- But yet no bird did squawk, not finch, not swallow, not wren,
- but to their nests didst they fly.
- Go Hide! Go Hide! Was their cry.
- Go hide, go hide, oh, ye knaves of little faith.
- Ye knights of the post, gallows birds, sops, nappers, ark ruffians, and filchers.
- You cracksmen, foists, made men, moon cursers, and anglers.
- Do ye not see what ‘e did for thee?
- Why then do you fly, go hide, while e’ll be thrown in the wooden ruff,
- dragged of to th’ queer ken, tort’red and beat?
- What will you say when ‘e catches hempen fever?
- Will ye understand then, what this white pawn done?
- None but silent eyes heard that mud-sotted pawn
- led by the slate clothed myrmidons,
- the rusted bars of “Justice,” a hollow triumph for this oak stripp’d hamlet.
- Methinks ye blottered birds, soon realize the shiny trappings
- that lie unguarded under these smoke ridden docks.
- And who doth ye attribute for this extra clink?
- Yea none but that barrow pawn, that noble blood,
- for whom ye owe newfound wealth,
- for whom ye owe this shaved hierarchy,
- shaved by that verray pawn,
- barrow man,
- blood,
- to whom ye didst not help.
- How dare ye sit to gain fro’ ‘is loss?
- ‘Tis life, ‘tis said. ‘tis as crying beef to your brother,
- your flock; would ye dare that misfortune?
- What repugnance faces yon wretches?
- Wretched birds. A pox upon your flock!
- May yon upright man find his wine too sweet this night!
- For I find no ken in this wretch no more!
- Yon place in the deadbook is reserved, may’t be a pleasant entry.
- -Marlowe-
- -Posted upon the door of Arcan Mather’s Thief Guild, Mid-summer 15, year 1440.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Moving Onward -- with Timelines
Recently, I've been doing a lot of work over on the Ae'rinus Wiki. And in doing so, I found myself updating the Running Timeline for Ae'rinus from about 1609 into the 1660s. Granted, adventures have pretty much littered bits of that timeline up into the early 1650s, but adding additional years, for me, felt pretty liberating. I guess this needs a little more backstory to make sense.
When I first Built Ae'rinus, it was under a different name, Nedidith (we're skipping the Meredridith part, since that map was about as horrible as my DMing at the time). I started adventures on Nedidith in the 1450s I think. Back then, adventures really didn't follow the timeline, and we didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the months, but we gamed on that version of the world for about 4 game years, while I worked on the revision of the map. Originally, I had wanted to hold off on releasing the new map until it was finished, but that was a silly idea from the get go, so once Ae'rinus got released, it came with a new timeline, which jumped into the late 1580s. The time jump here was mainly inserted to give the continent a sufficient amount of time to recover from its crash landing onto a new prime.
With the new world and the new timeline, I began working far mor dilligently in fleshing out the countries and lands of Ae'rinus. Histories were fleshed out, and I began looking at the polotics of everything in addition to just adventuring. Everything began to fit into a global perspective, so I began taking more careful note of the progression of time.
We probably ran seven or eight campaigns that started in 1593 and advanced onward. The two most successful of them eventually dovetailed together to form the world changing events of 1600, as they documented the Rise and fall of two great villains: Drevissh and Tokogau Ito.
Once 1600 hit and had passed, campaign start times became more erratic. I took the characters' backgrounds into account and tried to decide whether having them live through the fall of magic would be more impacting to the world than living through its aftermath.
When I began playing with starting timelines in this manner, I started to realise that knowing what's going to happen on a global scale ahead of things is a pretty nice thing. Granted, your players will also know what will happen, but all my players are vetran role players, and none of them use metagaming tactics to benefit their characters.
So when I was updating the timeline yesterday, I put in a few extra years worth of world activities, and I'm sure in the upcoming campaigns, this extra bit of history will prove to develop quite a nice world story.
When I first Built Ae'rinus, it was under a different name, Nedidith (we're skipping the Meredridith part, since that map was about as horrible as my DMing at the time). I started adventures on Nedidith in the 1450s I think. Back then, adventures really didn't follow the timeline, and we didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the months, but we gamed on that version of the world for about 4 game years, while I worked on the revision of the map. Originally, I had wanted to hold off on releasing the new map until it was finished, but that was a silly idea from the get go, so once Ae'rinus got released, it came with a new timeline, which jumped into the late 1580s. The time jump here was mainly inserted to give the continent a sufficient amount of time to recover from its crash landing onto a new prime.
With the new world and the new timeline, I began working far mor dilligently in fleshing out the countries and lands of Ae'rinus. Histories were fleshed out, and I began looking at the polotics of everything in addition to just adventuring. Everything began to fit into a global perspective, so I began taking more careful note of the progression of time.
We probably ran seven or eight campaigns that started in 1593 and advanced onward. The two most successful of them eventually dovetailed together to form the world changing events of 1600, as they documented the Rise and fall of two great villains: Drevissh and Tokogau Ito.
Once 1600 hit and had passed, campaign start times became more erratic. I took the characters' backgrounds into account and tried to decide whether having them live through the fall of magic would be more impacting to the world than living through its aftermath.
When I began playing with starting timelines in this manner, I started to realise that knowing what's going to happen on a global scale ahead of things is a pretty nice thing. Granted, your players will also know what will happen, but all my players are vetran role players, and none of them use metagaming tactics to benefit their characters.
So when I was updating the timeline yesterday, I put in a few extra years worth of world activities, and I'm sure in the upcoming campaigns, this extra bit of history will prove to develop quite a nice world story.
Friday, January 20, 2006
Ae'rinus Wiki Created
Today marks the launch of the new Ae'rinus Wiki . It will be the source of all new Ae'rinus Material and hopefully promote more updates from my end. Check it out.
Thursday, January 19, 2006
Ecological Development
The last few issues of Johnn Four's Roleplaying Tips have run a little piece on building histories for various critters that you don't normally think about building histories for when you're worldbuilding. The example they gave was for orkish history, which got me thinking a lot about the ecology of the less civilized critters on Ae'rinus.
Ae'rinus, being the turbid world that it is, has seen massive changes in location and magic over the last two millenia. Therefore, the world is still largely in a state of flux in regards to its ecological stability. Humans and elves have prospered and covered much of the surface land, and intelligent humanoid monsters are comparatively rare. The goblinoid races, though still plentiful enough to worry about are largely in decline due to their inability to adapt to the harsh environmental changes that have occurred upon Ae'rinus (Prime Material Plane -> Ethereal Plane -> New Prime Material Plane. Also the Age of Terror, destruction of Que'Taan and Arconia, and the recent fall of magic in 1600 all are key factors). Most Goblinoid races have pulled as far from civilized society as possible; they live in the deep dark forests, hills, wastelands and mountain passes that fill the space between countries. Goblinoids do have potential to rise up to a more powerful position if they were to unify. Unity nearly happened in the Balok mountains near Drachmaar during the late 1590s; however, the demonic insurgance brought on by Drevissh sundered most of the tribes, killing many to near extinction.
Since the fall of magic, there have been an increased occurance of magically altered beings, especially hybrid creatures. Many wizards were physically transformed by the fall of magic, and those that survived the transformations have begun to reproduce, creating new races and "monster" types throughout the land. The wild lands west of Ikathia, particularly, are full of such abominations. About 35% of the new "monsters" retained their intelligence (with others becoming animalistic in their behavior), and may or may not be reasoned with.
The abomination process seems to have been somewhat dependant upon the local terrain and the wizard's previous spell knowledge. One such area that has been the focus of particular study is the River region heading westward into Ikathia from Mercacci. Many took on the appearance of Naga, lizardmen, goblins, cockatrice, or living plant matter. Other variations have been noted. These races are new introductions to the river ecosystem, and, strangely, they seem to be living in perfect concert without destroying the surrounding nature. Sages believe that since magic was elven in creation, and thus tied closely to nature, when it fell out of the sky, it forced certain "nature friendly" modifications upon the landscape.
Ae'rinus, being the turbid world that it is, has seen massive changes in location and magic over the last two millenia. Therefore, the world is still largely in a state of flux in regards to its ecological stability. Humans and elves have prospered and covered much of the surface land, and intelligent humanoid monsters are comparatively rare. The goblinoid races, though still plentiful enough to worry about are largely in decline due to their inability to adapt to the harsh environmental changes that have occurred upon Ae'rinus (Prime Material Plane -> Ethereal Plane -> New Prime Material Plane. Also the Age of Terror, destruction of Que'Taan and Arconia, and the recent fall of magic in 1600 all are key factors). Most Goblinoid races have pulled as far from civilized society as possible; they live in the deep dark forests, hills, wastelands and mountain passes that fill the space between countries. Goblinoids do have potential to rise up to a more powerful position if they were to unify. Unity nearly happened in the Balok mountains near Drachmaar during the late 1590s; however, the demonic insurgance brought on by Drevissh sundered most of the tribes, killing many to near extinction.
Since the fall of magic, there have been an increased occurance of magically altered beings, especially hybrid creatures. Many wizards were physically transformed by the fall of magic, and those that survived the transformations have begun to reproduce, creating new races and "monster" types throughout the land. The wild lands west of Ikathia, particularly, are full of such abominations. About 35% of the new "monsters" retained their intelligence (with others becoming animalistic in their behavior), and may or may not be reasoned with.
The abomination process seems to have been somewhat dependant upon the local terrain and the wizard's previous spell knowledge. One such area that has been the focus of particular study is the River region heading westward into Ikathia from Mercacci. Many took on the appearance of Naga, lizardmen, goblins, cockatrice, or living plant matter. Other variations have been noted. These races are new introductions to the river ecosystem, and, strangely, they seem to be living in perfect concert without destroying the surrounding nature. Sages believe that since magic was elven in creation, and thus tied closely to nature, when it fell out of the sky, it forced certain "nature friendly" modifications upon the landscape.
Thursday, January 05, 2006
On Reviving Magic
First a little history:
In the year 1600, the mainstay form of magic on Ae'rinus, Elven based magic, ceased to exist. Its delicate matrix of stability and support was quickly and permanently dismantled by a lich greatly wronged by elven magic. In the last forty years of Ae'rinus' history, thaumatergic magic has been virtually eradicated. Only a few small sects remain, and those remain only because they held on to the ancient arts of the Arconian Wizards, who were summarily destroyed in the late 1100s. In the meantime, divine magic, and faith in the gods on a whole has increased dramatically. Partially from the influx of now ex-mages in search of ansers that turned to Kaeleb, god of magic (among other things), and partially from a series of Gods Wars waging between the two dominating Pantheons of Ae'rinus and Terrasond respectively.
Although apparently gone, many sages and former wizards knew that the magic, though now stripped from the air, still remained somewhere in another form. Research on discerning the new form of magic went essentially nowhere until 1641, when a pair of researchers found that the so called "wizard rocks," as named by Helena, chosen servant of Halisos, could be used to create a particularly volitile reaction. This reaction, however, killed the researchers, and it would be another year before it was repeated with similar disasterous results. Once this reaction was verified, various sources around Riversedge began scrambling to be the first to create stable magic. In 1643, the Brotherhood of the Raven successfully mimicked a Light spell. In the process, the group learned much about how the fallout of magic affected the current generation of humans upon Ae'rinus. Many were bore with innate magic coursing through their veins; magic that they could bend and use to their advantage. By the end of the year, The BloodRaven school of Magic appeared in Mercacci, Ikathia.
Mechanics
I wanted to make the rediscovery of magic to be a very exciting thing, so I put a fair amount of thought into how it would get pulled off in gameplay. I started with the decision that I wanted my player to be very specific in all her statements regarding magical research. I came across some stuff on using task resolution instead of conflict resolution as seen in D&D on Treasure Tables (article here). The whole "What is your intent?" idea really helped both myself and my player figure out how to go about making magic work out of seemingly nothing. The key to the wizard rocks is that they have to be absorbed to be activated; essentially, they are solidified magic. So once you absorb said rock, you can theoretically push out any result as long as the rock had enough magic in it to accomodate.
To absorb a rock, the caster must know rudimentary channelling. Then until the caster got used to channelling the stone into her body, I gave a success percentage (starting at 1%, and increasing at a rate calculated by the player's wisdom score 1% + 1%/2points of wisdom above 11). Eventually, after a lot of practice, the caster could successfully absorb a rock after 10 minutes of meditation. Not useful for combat applications, but still, something from nothing.
After the channelling part was conquered, the caster could then go forward to creating a reliable spell. If the caster only knows how to channel, the result of the desired spell will be erratic at best. Creating stable spells requires a series of mental checks and balances to manipulate the spell's energy in a constant, even, and predictable manner so that the result of the spell will be as expected. This is where the primary usage of "What is your Intent?" came into effect. I payed very close to the player's intent, and we walked through a dozen or so half-working attempts, before the character started to learn how to put the pieces together and form a coherent spell.
By this time, the character had spent a couple hundred hours of study to get a functioning light spell with adjustable intensity, color, shape, and location after 10 minutes of uninterrupted meditation. The character then began researching a method to decrease the casting time for the spell. After another couple of weeks of work, she could cast the spell within 5 minutes of meditation. At this point she had reached her physical limit of channelling. Without proper channelling training, she is unable to break the five minute barrier. This is because, for a spell to be cast faster, it must consume some of the caster's own energy to help form the magic into a stable form. Without greater knowledge of channeling, this is impossible.
Moving towards actual application
In order to cast spells at speed, the character must learn how to channel her own energy into the spell. This will likely require a channelling expert to assist her with learning the flow. Either that, or moments of extreme stress, where the character doesn't really have any other option. Considering the currently light usage of spells (ie light spells and small cantrip-like spells), I doubt the latter will be much of a case.
To begin facilitating the revival of magic, I will move to the GURPS 4th ed rules governing magic. After reading them, I became immediately aware of how clunky, antiquated, and plain boring D&D style magic rules were--especially for use in the given situation. D&D makes the assumption that magic is an established subject, wrought with research and plenty of surrounding knowledge. This is made apparent by the necessity of tomes, named spells (ie Tenser, Melf, Nystal, etc), established schools, and the whole "must be memorized" bit. Granted 3ed sorcerers can get around a lot of that carved in stone mentality, but the idea here is that no one on Ae'rinus is an inherent mage, and while many folks may have inborn magical traits or abilities, those traits are no easier to use than the wizard rocks, and their overuse could lead to a quick death.
GURPS uses a skill based system, where the caster has skill in an individual spell, just like a proficiency. This works well for pioneering, because it doesn't assume spell levels, memorization, or other structure evident of an established system. In addition, spells are cast by expending Energy (Fatigue/constitution) or Health (HP). Again, in a pioneering field, it should be hard on the caster to create an effect. Thirdly, GURPS offers the concept of Mana levels, which determine the relative amount of magic in the area. Since all the magic on Ae'rinus is pretty much trapped in wizard rocks, or in a format that is undetectable by most, Ae'rinus qualifies for Low to No Mana across the board. Therefore, the only source of mana for spells comes from Wizard Rocks, which by default, are weak (functioning as low mana, and able to support 1 Cost spells). However, as Magic begins to rise, people will learn how to shape Wizard Rocks into more efficient creations, thus increasing their relative Mana rating and Cost storage. In addition, wizards will be able to craft manastones, powerstones, or even learn to draw granules of magic from the very ground they are standing on.
Granted, magic on Ae'rinus is a long day off from returning to its heyday, but in a few years, a lone wizard weilding the equivelant of Magic Missle will be a terror on the battlefield. And this is what I've been waiting to see for some time; magic that is mystical, powerful, and frightening all at once. A truly exciting time indeed.
In the year 1600, the mainstay form of magic on Ae'rinus, Elven based magic, ceased to exist. Its delicate matrix of stability and support was quickly and permanently dismantled by a lich greatly wronged by elven magic. In the last forty years of Ae'rinus' history, thaumatergic magic has been virtually eradicated. Only a few small sects remain, and those remain only because they held on to the ancient arts of the Arconian Wizards, who were summarily destroyed in the late 1100s. In the meantime, divine magic, and faith in the gods on a whole has increased dramatically. Partially from the influx of now ex-mages in search of ansers that turned to Kaeleb, god of magic (among other things), and partially from a series of Gods Wars waging between the two dominating Pantheons of Ae'rinus and Terrasond respectively.
Although apparently gone, many sages and former wizards knew that the magic, though now stripped from the air, still remained somewhere in another form. Research on discerning the new form of magic went essentially nowhere until 1641, when a pair of researchers found that the so called "wizard rocks," as named by Helena, chosen servant of Halisos, could be used to create a particularly volitile reaction. This reaction, however, killed the researchers, and it would be another year before it was repeated with similar disasterous results. Once this reaction was verified, various sources around Riversedge began scrambling to be the first to create stable magic. In 1643, the Brotherhood of the Raven successfully mimicked a Light spell. In the process, the group learned much about how the fallout of magic affected the current generation of humans upon Ae'rinus. Many were bore with innate magic coursing through their veins; magic that they could bend and use to their advantage. By the end of the year, The BloodRaven school of Magic appeared in Mercacci, Ikathia.
Mechanics
I wanted to make the rediscovery of magic to be a very exciting thing, so I put a fair amount of thought into how it would get pulled off in gameplay. I started with the decision that I wanted my player to be very specific in all her statements regarding magical research. I came across some stuff on using task resolution instead of conflict resolution as seen in D&D on Treasure Tables (article here). The whole "What is your intent?" idea really helped both myself and my player figure out how to go about making magic work out of seemingly nothing. The key to the wizard rocks is that they have to be absorbed to be activated; essentially, they are solidified magic. So once you absorb said rock, you can theoretically push out any result as long as the rock had enough magic in it to accomodate.
To absorb a rock, the caster must know rudimentary channelling. Then until the caster got used to channelling the stone into her body, I gave a success percentage (starting at 1%, and increasing at a rate calculated by the player's wisdom score 1% + 1%/2points of wisdom above 11). Eventually, after a lot of practice, the caster could successfully absorb a rock after 10 minutes of meditation. Not useful for combat applications, but still, something from nothing.
After the channelling part was conquered, the caster could then go forward to creating a reliable spell. If the caster only knows how to channel, the result of the desired spell will be erratic at best. Creating stable spells requires a series of mental checks and balances to manipulate the spell's energy in a constant, even, and predictable manner so that the result of the spell will be as expected. This is where the primary usage of "What is your Intent?" came into effect. I payed very close to the player's intent, and we walked through a dozen or so half-working attempts, before the character started to learn how to put the pieces together and form a coherent spell.
By this time, the character had spent a couple hundred hours of study to get a functioning light spell with adjustable intensity, color, shape, and location after 10 minutes of uninterrupted meditation. The character then began researching a method to decrease the casting time for the spell. After another couple of weeks of work, she could cast the spell within 5 minutes of meditation. At this point she had reached her physical limit of channelling. Without proper channelling training, she is unable to break the five minute barrier. This is because, for a spell to be cast faster, it must consume some of the caster's own energy to help form the magic into a stable form. Without greater knowledge of channeling, this is impossible.
Moving towards actual application
In order to cast spells at speed, the character must learn how to channel her own energy into the spell. This will likely require a channelling expert to assist her with learning the flow. Either that, or moments of extreme stress, where the character doesn't really have any other option. Considering the currently light usage of spells (ie light spells and small cantrip-like spells), I doubt the latter will be much of a case.
To begin facilitating the revival of magic, I will move to the GURPS 4th ed rules governing magic. After reading them, I became immediately aware of how clunky, antiquated, and plain boring D&D style magic rules were--especially for use in the given situation. D&D makes the assumption that magic is an established subject, wrought with research and plenty of surrounding knowledge. This is made apparent by the necessity of tomes, named spells (ie Tenser, Melf, Nystal, etc), established schools, and the whole "must be memorized" bit. Granted 3ed sorcerers can get around a lot of that carved in stone mentality, but the idea here is that no one on Ae'rinus is an inherent mage, and while many folks may have inborn magical traits or abilities, those traits are no easier to use than the wizard rocks, and their overuse could lead to a quick death.
GURPS uses a skill based system, where the caster has skill in an individual spell, just like a proficiency. This works well for pioneering, because it doesn't assume spell levels, memorization, or other structure evident of an established system. In addition, spells are cast by expending Energy (Fatigue/constitution) or Health (HP). Again, in a pioneering field, it should be hard on the caster to create an effect. Thirdly, GURPS offers the concept of Mana levels, which determine the relative amount of magic in the area. Since all the magic on Ae'rinus is pretty much trapped in wizard rocks, or in a format that is undetectable by most, Ae'rinus qualifies for Low to No Mana across the board. Therefore, the only source of mana for spells comes from Wizard Rocks, which by default, are weak (functioning as low mana, and able to support 1 Cost spells). However, as Magic begins to rise, people will learn how to shape Wizard Rocks into more efficient creations, thus increasing their relative Mana rating and Cost storage. In addition, wizards will be able to craft manastones, powerstones, or even learn to draw granules of magic from the very ground they are standing on.
Granted, magic on Ae'rinus is a long day off from returning to its heyday, but in a few years, a lone wizard weilding the equivelant of Magic Missle will be a terror on the battlefield. And this is what I've been waiting to see for some time; magic that is mystical, powerful, and frightening all at once. A truly exciting time indeed.
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