old 2014 - PC Backgrounds: pre-game origin stories

Sanvar’s Story The Leaving The splash of murky water. Clods of dank earth flying through the air. The stench of meat breath heavily panted. A pity I cannot smell the sweat of fear, but that is reserved for warmbloods who push water from their skin. For a Lizard Man, for one of Semuanya’s chosen people, this one I fight is a pitiful creature. How could he think to take Desara for a mate? From me? His scales are disgusting grey like a sky that is soon to fall. Mine are regal green like the waters of the swamp. He is short too, almost human sized. Not like Sanvar, largest of my tribe. His tail, skinny and flat while mine is full and strong, great for swimming. He has jumped onto the shore like a hrrsssklll . He knows he cannot beat me in the water. “Warmblood! You challenge Sanvar to Honor Duel, yet you do not fight like Scasss ! You fight like hrrsssklll .” My insult stings his flimsy pride. The fool bares his neckflesh at me. At Sanvar! How dare he? I shoot from the water. Land feels wrong. Always does. Feet are for swimming, not walking. He strikes at me with his club. I let it hit. He is weak. I see it in his eyes. He knows he has lost, yet he does not grovel before me. He refuses to beg. I will teach him. One swing and his arm has broken. Still he stands. Foolish Long Spear. His tribe was always too arrogant for their own good. Not like Greenbacks, not like Sanvar. I’ll beat humility into his head. I bring my club down upon his skull. Finally, he kneels. I bare my neck at him. My victory is won. No more need for insults or duels. I reach to bring him up. He refuses to grab my arm. I grab him under his shoulder and heave, but he is limp. Those who watched are now swimming and walking closer. I let him fall on his back. He was weaker than I thought. “Take him to his tribe. They will need the meat.” Hisses come from the crowd that has heard. Death is not the way of the Honor Duel. This will not go well. I must see the Elder. I push my way through the gathering. A cry erupts behind me, calling to Semuanya. Foolish Long Spear. He should not have challenged Sanvar. I see the Elder’s home; he stands in the doorway, hunched and mottled from age, leaning on his staff. I call to him. “Elder. The Honor Duel went poorly. Sanvar has killed the Long Spear.” His eyes darken, and he begins walking towards the Duel Pit. I turn to follow him. Many eyes are upon me as we walk. It is not pride as usual, it is fear. Fear that their greatest warrior may be called to answer Semuanya. The Long Spear Elder is at the Pit when we arrive. He is sprinkling salt upon his fallen warrior. The Last Feast will take place later tonight. They will take in his flesh and his strength and he will live on within the tribe. The only end worthy of a warrior. The Elder turns to me and speaks. “Sanvar, stay here. I will speak with the Long Spears.” “Yes, Elder. Sanvar will wait here.” The Elder nods and moves to the body of my former rival. The two Elders whisper. I see hate in the Long Spears, and some have brought weapons. They expect a fight. One bares his neck at me. I refuse to move. It is a long time before my Elder returns. I see sorrow. The Long Spears are picking up their slain tribesman and returning to their part of the swamp. “Sanvar, we must converse. You cannot stay in the Cold Marshes.” He has started moving toward his hut. I follow. “The Long Spears want war. A death in an Honor Duel is not our way. I reminded them that our deaths come as Semuanya wills it, but they did not wish to listen. They believe you wanted to kill him, and they refuse to see reason. I managed to convince them not to go to war, yet at a great cost: you must leave us.” We have arrived at my hut. “They did not seek Sanvar’s death instead?” “Of course, they did, but a life for a life is not the way of Semuanya. Go, get your armor and weapons. Meet me at my home when you are ready.” “Yes, Elder.” Inside, I think of what I will need. To leave the tribe… it is a fate worse than death, but honor has been broken. I cannot resist. My armor is what the warmbloods call splintmail, sewn together from two humans to fit my torso. I clap leather and steel around my forearms and shins. The shield I wield was large on the human who bore it before me, yet it fits me well. I place my traveling sack on my back, and a large pouch on my belt. My sack already carries some rope, net, and four javelins which stick out high over my right shoulder, making them easy to grab. Into my pouch, I place two glass bottles I took from some elves after I poured out the foul smelling liquid that was in them. I look now for my spear, but my eye catches the hatchet that was presented to me after bringing two sharks to my tribe. I slide it through my belt, no doubt that it will be useful. I find my spear near the door. It is a sturdy thing, though now mostly used for fishing. The walk to the Elder is a slow one, heads held low and eye contact shirked. The Elder stands outside. He holds the great Three Spear in his hand. It was once used by our chief who led us to the Cold Marshes. “This, Sanvar, is called a trident. It is a great weapon for a great warrior. Give me your spear and take this in hand. With it, you will make the warmbloods respect the Scasss .” The weight of the thing feels natural, like I was born to wield it. Maybe leaving my home will not be so bad. “Sanvar will uphold the Honor of the Scasss . This, Sanvar swears.” “Very well. Then, I renounce you as one of the Greenbacks. You are a Scasss of the world.”

Cool. The reading (out loud in the game) was a very enjoyable segment. Other PC's can post a summary of your origin story here too. You don't need to compare with Ryan's story for Sanvar, if you just want to post a few notes it's fine. Also PC's can use the Journals, Bio and Character Sheet, in-game for these kind of notes. Either way I just like to keep track of your text writings somewhere in the Roll20 campaign. Thanks very much for these contributions to the game story.

Django's family was the victim of a Bandit raid on there families caravan. Left to die Django was found among the rubble of the destroyed wagon by atravelling clan of gypsies. Django's family had been left to rot in the sun by the bandits and a roaming pack of dire wolves had been feasting on the remains, Django was mysteriously left untouched and the wolves. Coincidentally the Gypsies that found him were of the Clan of the Howling wolf, the Clan elders saw this as a omen and took Django as one of there own and raised him to manhood. When Django was in his early teens a dwarven Charlatan calling himself Dragost endeared himself to the clan and earned the trust of the elders posing as a bard from a Northern Gypsy clan in the lands of the soft rain. He eventually made off with a clan heirloom, a Mandolin inlaid with platinum and gold with rubies and emeralds laid into the neck. It was said to have the power to bring clashing cities to peace and turn dragons from fierce to friendly, those secrets were closely guarded by the elders and its loss was a monstrous blow to the clan. Django made it his life's goal to recover this instrument and vowed not to return without it. Alignment: Chaotic good ( or close to it) Rules and Law: Has no understanding for the restrictive rules an laws of the societies outside of his Gypsy Culture.This is not to say he does not try to respect them, he just finds it very hard to understand them and often times might cross the line without realizing it, some habits are hard to break. Good and Evil: Perceives good as the more appropriate action of the two ( especially when it serves his needs) but recognizes the need for some balance and the concept of " by any means necessary" within his personal code of honor.. Django has a good heart but the issue is with what others consider normal society, and the culture he was raised in does not usually agree with the norm. Pesonality: With a smirk and a scintillating look of mischief in his eyes Django is always looking for the next risk to take. Django is by nature a lighthearted but dangerous young man. He grew up learning the ways of the gypsy and has taken there teaching to heart, a little too well some would say. He is a gambler, both in a fight and at the tables. He is known to lose as much as he wins and is happily poor most times for as he says .. :” It's a hard thing to perform the Water Dance with a pocket full of gold, better to pierce a foe's heart and to see the wonders of another day than to die young and wealthy”. He follows the following code as closely as a young man can : 1: Be loyal to and protect your friends, but friendship must be earned, and it is not gained easily. 2: All people lie for the truth is strange to a stranger. Trust is earned with friendship. 3: Money is useless unless it brings you pleasure; trade is a better form of commerce 4: Travel upon the good earth, laugh, sing, and live the ways of life. 5: Nature is my god, I pray to those that honor nature. Why worship one when you can earn the respect of many? 6: A gypsy never runs, once the water dance begins it does not finish until the fight is finished. Django is an honorable man but to dishonor his heritage is not a jest taken lightly, the Gypsy way is often mocked.

Excellent material, for your PC's stories and outlooks so far. Good job, players.

A new PC in development is by the player Fishy, PC is a Mage Diplomat. @ Fishy you can please post your background here. (Just a short version of it is fine with a very general backstory for now & you can edit it later if something needs greater detail after you learn more about the world). For example perhaps we don't know the name of the City-State / Kingdom area where you came from the South, and we don't know yet where you are landing on these shores of the Northern wild lands. But you know in general your circumstances of birth & training & your reasons for leaving the origin city, so just write a short post about that to get us started here.

Backstory: Morcaine was trained to be a diplomat for his nation until he lost his left arm in an unfortunate wild magic accident. It is assumed that Morcaine's family has some amount of elf blood in it, but how much is uncertain. Morcaine is definetly too tall and slender for a gnome, so it is assumed that the elven progenitor is two or three generations removed. Morcaine was something of a prodigy, but after his accidents, his friends and peers started changing their attitude towards him, and their affection shifted towards pity. Morcaine does not feel like the cripple they treat him as, though. Eventually he felt like he could no longer connect to anyone who knew him prior to his accident, got really tired of everyone calling him „the cripple“ behind his back and whispering what a shame it was and what a waste and boohoohoo, almost as if he had died. Thus he started roaming the world, settling disputes and generally trying to make a name for himself wherever he goes, proving to the world and himself that losing one arm is not such a big deal after all. Morcaine is much more willing to give help than to accept help, and will definetly bristle at help offer with a remark along the lines of „Let me do that for you, you cannot do it“. If people don't make a big deal out of things, he will let them do stuff for him and might even ask for some assistance, as long as it does not go beyond what people would normally do for each other. Due to his training, Morcaine is well versed in matters of etiquette , speaks many languages fluently and can, of course, read and write quite well, as treaties are often put down in writing and need to look fancy. On top of that, he did not completely neglect his education as a wizard and picked up spellcraft . In more recent times, he's found that being able to cook is quite the handy skill, as many disputes can be discussed and settled over a good meal. Empty stomachs make people grumpy. Morcaine is proficient with the Rapier , but not very much so. He prefers not to engage in physical conflict and the weapon he carries is more for show than for use. Animal Companion / Mount I was not sure if this only applies to rangers, but if Morcaine could acquire an animal ally, he would probably look for something like a dire badger, or a bear or maybe a dire wolf. Something like this could potentially mitigate his wimpiness in combat and provide him with quite the entrance when he rides into town. Alternatively he'd not say no to an oversized animal that he could build a small house on so he could travel in style. Something like a giant snail or a tortoise would work. Something huge and lumbering and peaceful.

Background Anariel is the only child of the Grey Elf house Henia. She was its sole benefactory of wealth and estate after their execution. The elves of Henia were tried for treason, practising dark magic and consorting with demons. During the trial the corrupting influence was never discovered which has stirred the grey elves from their homes to once again look at the world. Anariel was pardoned due to her age however due to her involvement with the rituals she was to become a ward of the state and must be observed at all times. Despite never being alone Anariel was alone, shunned by virtually everyone due to her past and name Anariel spent her time studying the arcane much to the disapproval of the others and mastering the ways of the sword. Anariel is a genius and learnt the ways of a spellsword without a master to teach her before becoming a full adult. She has grown up to be self reliant and confident in her capabilities however has a deep seated anger and self loathing because of her upbringing. Anariel seeks to balance the scales and become accepted by her people. Upon reaching her coming of age Anariel must begin her Pilgrimage a quest to experience the world, interact with other cultures, and learn to appreciate life among their own people. A young elf does not return until they have gained knowledge, supplies or skills which can be used by their people alternatively they can strive to make a name for themselves or become skilled in something which they can display when they return. The first step is to seek out the morning sage, the sage shows her five mirrors each of which reflects back at her a different future all but one seemed vivid and dark. The darkness of her future shown to her was a wake up and should she continue down her current path of hatred and self loathing it would surely twist her further than her past actions and upbringing already had. Anariel departs with the hope that she can reach that blurred future, the one not so dark. When Anariel leaves only a small gathering is held in place of the usual festivities and a few gifts are bestowed upon her from those who turned up. Character Ostracised by both her peers and her betters Anariel kept herself busy. Learning the arcane and martial weapons successfully without a teacher she is considered a genius. She feels conflicted emotionally about the outcome of her families execution, having grown up within their cult she knew nothing else but after living as a state ward she has learnt just how wrong the things her and her family had been doing. Disgusted and filled with self hatred believing herself tainted she wishes to do everything in her power to make amends and if possible be accepted among her people. Animal Companion / Mount If possible Anariel would seek out a nest of griffins and gain the companionship of one few people drew Anariel's attention but the warriors who rode griffins always held her attention. If she is unable to do so then a snow white owl would suit as her families symbol is an owl.

Jack is working on a new PC, probably an Elf Fighter/Mage of some sort. Intriguing paragraphs of background for Anariel's character concept, there, above. I've had a couple passes reading through it, to parse it out, and I think I understand your starting points and see some areas we could develop in the game. Here's to finding a lighter albeit blurry future for her. We'll continue dialog about the character creation in all the places we've been talking, Skype and game chat and char sheet and what-not.

I'm not sure that its set in stone yet however at the moment I feel her storey just need fleshing out and tweaking :) If you want to know more about anything specific let me know when we discuss her and we can flesh it out. I kinda see her story as one of finding her way out of the darkness and striving towards the light so to speak however never truly reaching it whether thats because of self doubt or just never making it due to the events that transpire we shall have to see. I look forward to building her up when we next dialog Gold!