Group 1 Out of Character

[ariasderros]

I find it a bit strange that the description for umber hulk says it's beetle-like, but it also has these huge front arms like an ape.  And people didn't notice the arms, or the fact that beetles have size legs and the hulk has 2 or 4 depending on interpretation?  These people must be blind or idiots.  Or they were only able to look at a very long ways away...

I suppose the lack of description was to create tension just before we try to hit the thing?  lol

Only one person who saw it lived, and you're still talking to him.

For the record though, imagine a huge ass monster just showed up and started smashing your friends, a family member, and even the local law enforcement, to pieces. Also, you see them smashing into each other. Also, you're being attacked by a very messed-up swarm.

Now, I've taken reports from accidents as a dispatcher, and no two people describe things having happened the same way. Very rarely is anyone actually 100% correct about what they said, either.

I think he didn't do too badly, compared to some trauma witnesses I've talked to. Especially since he was confused, disoriented, and confused. 

[Jackinthegreen]

That and he doesn't seem too bright to begin with.  But yeah, I suppose he hasn't done too badly considering the reports you've taken.

[phaedrusxy]

Comments from the peanut gallery, but I absolutely love the fact that you described the subjective effects of confusion as a hallucination of a swarm. That's brilliant!

[ariasderros]

That and he doesn't seem too bright to begin with.  But yeah, I suppose he hasn't done too badly considering the reports you've taken.

Well, Int 8. But the main things that's catching you as 'not bright' is the accent of the area is like a bad parody of a georgian accent. The Consul didn't have it because his would be a bit more 'southern genteel', since he's not from here, and knows how to deliberately pronounce things without his. Mr. Arel's is a bit thicker than normal too, which doesn't help.


Anywho, I'm going to go through everyone's backstory and give back a few setting notes.
First, though, everyone would have to have one.
Second, would y'all rather I put it in a post, or in PMs?
All that this would be is notes of the setting around your character. It isn't much, and would not change anything about you or your character.


Just as a note, team 1 and team 2 are in parallel worlds. Not the same one. So if you guys blow up Pordalchoon, it's still there for them. If they kill the Elven Beast, it's still there for you. Crossover is theoretically possible, but I doubt it would happen any time soon.

[sirpercival]

The Elven Beast?  oOOOOOOoo let's go kill that first!

Anyway, I'm happy to have setting info in posts.  Gives everyone more of a sense of the world.

[ShadowViper]

I agree, second vote for posts.

[ariasderros]

Well, I already put up the post for group two, but there aren't enough backgrounds up here to bother yet.

The Elven Beast?  oOOOOOOoo let's go kill that first!

I already spilled the beans in the other groups thread. But quite frankly, I think it is a little obvious just from reading the description of it that I put up yesterday.
It's Gojira (Godzilla). With wings. And other added abilities too. But, seriously, this thing is the King of Monsters.

[ariasderros]

I put up a lot of local stuff in the Info thread. feel free to peruse and ask further questions 

[Jackinthegreen]

Which characters require a backstory?  Or a better one in case the current isn't quite juicy enough?

[ariasderros]

Which characters require a backstory?  Or a better one in case the current isn't quite juicy enough?

Weohstan (Innabinder) & Throreth (ShadowViper) have no backstory.
Dunewalker (You), has personality traits, but no backstory.

Even as minimalist as Graalmas's (Sirpercival) backstory is, it works. It's just that there are 3/5 who I know nothing about their history, thus can't really write up much.

[Jackinthegreen]

Is the backstory I've added enough to work with?

[ariasderros]

Is the backstory I've added enough to work with?

Yep.

[ShadowViper]

Thought we discussed the backstory a bit in the ooc thread?

Basically a simple one, sheltered, great interest in the arcane from an early age. Father is a professor at the Arcane University. Home tutored until old enough to attend said University. Once graduating from the University, started adventuring career.

[ariasderros]

Thought we discussed the backstory a bit in the ooc thread?

Basically a simple one, sheltered, great interest in the arcane from an early age. Father is a professor at the Arcane University. Home tutored until old enough to attend said University. Once graduating from the University, started adventuring career.

I remembered discussing it, but wasn't sure if you definitively went with all that.

[ariasderros]

Well, I'll go ahead and cover those I can now.

(click to show/hide)

The dragon didn't just burninate as much as it could, it also proceeded to eat up whatever it could. (bonus points if it ate things important to you  ). The point is, you didn't just see its breath, you saw, and are emulating, its physical might too.
Since it would have orphaned you sometime before you were 15 (Suli base age, before class training), it would have been easily 5-6 times your size, though it may seem bigger in your flame-hazed memories. Red Dragon was Red.

(click to show/hide)

Your father, Professor Natiavan, is a professor for the Grand Academy. Life there was sedentary. Once in a while, Chimest would get bored, though. When the Gnome illusionist gets bored, no one else gets to be. There are, in actuality, 7 professors at the Grand Academy. Chimest Ravenos, the head professor, a gnome illusionist. Verloux Natiavan, your dad, elven generalist. Grenillikin Theapen, S.H. halfling blaster-mage. Jasaiak Foert, human conjurer. Pinfen Rosologaer, gnome Sorcerer. Harik Beldish, human cleric of Boccob. Segjanskor Owleneaus, gnome diviner.

(click to show/hide)

The ruins beneath the sands were a mixture of stone and metal. None of its building materials were native. Normally, in the desert, once you get below the sands enough, things get cool quickly. Instead, the stone was warm, and the metal was hot. As you descended, it got hotter. It should be noted that it was very unusual how little sand there was in there, too.
The symbols and pictographs in the ruins were what the metal was, though some of the pillars had metal ornamentation. The pictures were of various races. Easily discerned were humans, giants, dwarves, elves, orcs, gnomes and halflings. Granted, most of those were instances where you understood what they were after having seen them in real life.
But there were other symbols, human-like creatures. Some had shown to have what looked to be many thin arms coming off of the face, Mind Flayers and their tentacles, you now have come to understand. Others, though, looked like they had the heads of beasts, some form of werewolves.
As you went deeper, and the pictures progressed, you saw reliefs of dragons as well.
Then there came to be reliefs of the beast-people who seemed to be in charge of another new picture. Some other form of human-like creature, with large-set bodies. Not quite like yours, from what you could tell, though. They were directing the new creatures, but not against the other races, instead it looked like they were building the ruins you were standing in.
That's as far as the 'story' got within the ruins.

{Warning: as soon as I read your add-on, with the ruins in the desert, I went 'oh, I know where he's from'.}

(click to show/hide)

You witnessed the Shadow Dragons destroying their own eggs at times. Any time they would not have produced more of their type, they crushed the offspring, to keep their group as naught but Shadow-Dragons.
The demon who had played against you had been of comely sort (Lilitu). She had been there to try her hand at manipulating a dragon or two in 'hosting' her, she said. But she instead minded you, sensing your true worth.
She was unhappy that the best she could talk you into was the arrangement you laid out. She was much more irate when you followed that with winning. But she honored the terms, and granted you your magic. She also lets you draw upon her power every so often, in order to make yourself able to manage tasks even better.
She has not appeared to you since that time, which is well and in accordance with the deal you struck.

Also, nothing has happened lately... has interest waned?

[ShadowViper]

I'm still interested 

[Jackinthegreen]

I'm glad you know where he's from, Arias, because I still don't really.  No idea where the desert or village are, though for some reason I envisioned the village as being within quick running distance of some cliffs.

As far as interest goes, it's probably because we're doing the droll investigating stuff rather than really making a plan to kill things.  Though now that we know there's an Umber Hulk we might want to check out the ants so we can have a lesser challenge to get used to our characters and their abilities and tactics.  Assuming they're typical formians of course, but we won't really know until we take a look.

[Quillwraith]

The concept with Josephs deal is that, while it did turn out to his advantage, now he will always be tempted to ask for more.
I have thought about a level of Thrall of Graz'zt if he does give in, so a lilitu makes sense.

[ariasderros]

The concept with Josephs deal is that, while it did turn out to his advantage, now he will always be tempted to ask for more.
I have thought about a level of Thrall of Graz'zt if he does give in, so a lilitu makes sense.

I chose the demon I did because I tried to think of a good deceiver, to mesh with the Beguiler thing. Glad it worked with what you're thinking.

Again, I regard what the Player writes for the Character as sacrosanct, I just wanted to build on it some, to help bring you in and flesh out the picture some. If any of you have counter-notes to make, feel free.

[Jackinthegreen]

Yup, it's starting to look like Group 1 is losing interest because stuff isn't really happening.  Perhaps we should just start going for the Umber Hulk?

I'm hoping people aren't too worried about attacking it though.