Aavarius

Xanah I have many, many questions, Miss Ainsworth, Xanah didn't say aloud. She tried not to stare when Felicia did her return transformation. In the haste of their previous conflict Xanah had not had much time to think about what she had seen her neighbor transform into. Xanah wasn't a stranger to transformation magic. When she was a journeyman, she had leaned a great deal about things like that, and she knew a lot of other things about magic, knowledge that made her question the nature of this particular transformation. The Ainsworth reputation certainly didn't help. She had quite a few other questions for those neighbors gathered together in this little investigation of theirs. Amongst them were enough oddities and peculiarities and questions of motivation that Xanah knew demanded deeper inquiry. Would that they had the time right now... Which meant that the obvious solution was to take them all out drinking the first available opportunity. There was just this nasty bit of name-thievery business to take care of first. Yes, that would do. Buying them a few rounds of social lubricant was exactly what was called for after a job well done. Xanah wondered if the See-Food Bar would be the proper venue. First things first, however. There were too many leads for them to chase down. Xanah was sorely tempted to suggest that they split up to tackle multiple things simultaneously, but she thought better of it. With their thief hidden from them somewhere out there, catching up to him alone was taking a risk. None of them wanted to become the victim number four if he got the better of one of them. Xanah knew most of the others lacked her loyalty to the Order of the Vance, Shuistliel being the sole exception. Perhaps she had a bias? Regardless, she thought the Order was the best and most immediate source of aid to their investigation at the moment. The others would have to just accept that, she figured. Still, she tried to be tactful when she made her next suggestion. She took a long breath through her cigar and exhaled the spiced smoke before broaching things. "I pray some of you will hear me out on this. With the Campus just below us, we should take advantage of its proximity while we are near. We need information and, if possible, allies. We should talk to Konstantin, his witness, perhaps also the Vance victim. We can also consult with Magister Lui with all the new name-theft peculiarities. While there I will see about contacting my zilat associate to come meet us for Miss Ainsworth's work." After saying all this, Xanah sounded a lot less certain in giving her opinion about how they should proceed. "After that... after that I am torn between the dual need to track our thief and to speak with the spiders. On top of that--if possible--I need about an hour to prepare more spells for our investigation. I expended most of them just trying to convince that, ah--" she cleared her throat lightly "--bloody conceited arse wipe we were here to make friends." Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join Cost - Decision to Join: For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Answering the Call Cost - Agreeing to Help: I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Opening - Answering the Call: It's time I made good on my word. I'll be pursuing this with Aldrion soon as this name thief business is over. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 7/7 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah Xanah, it turned out, had stepped a short distance away, just a bit of polite room between herself and the others. From her back trouser pocket she produced a metal case from which she retrieved a thin cigar. The case was worn and well used, the Invisible symbol of the Testament of Suns embossed on it. Something about the case's lid must have had a sharp edge on it, because she was able to trim off the end of her cigar by shutting the tip in the case. It made a metallic, clipping sound, the discarded tip trapped inside the case with the rest of the untrimmed cigars. With practiced ease she handled the cigar and the case, returning one to her back pocket and securing the other between her lips. She snapped her fingers a few times, apparently dissatisfied with the pitch of sound they made. On the fifth try she must have gotten it right, for her thumb lit up like a little blow torch. Xanah had been working on this cantrip for some time now and hadn't quite mastered the knack for doing it consistently. Still, she had produced a flame, and that would be enough for the job. It took her only a few seconds before she got the cigar end smoldering and smoking. She took a long draw off of it, exhaled, and shook out her flaming thumb, extinguishing it. Sensation washed over her like a warm hug, enveloping her from her head to her toes. It was obvious the ritual was a stress release mechanism for Xanah. The bleed of it escaping was all but visible to anyone who was watching. Whatever sinuous white cigar smoke she exhaled had a tendency to squiggle and bend into vaguely runic shapes before dissipating. Some of it was legible and recognizable as vislae script or some sort of magical symbology, but none of it seemed to be anything more than a string of random characters. "There are few other things to consider," Xanah finally said, cigar clutched lightly between her fingers. "When last I left Konstantin he was departing to interview another witness. At least one senior Vance has become a victim. The old man may have a suspect or other information we could use in our search. It's pure speculation on my part, but my gut tells me he's not told me everything he knows. I'm not sure if he would be willing to cooperate with us, but we could benefit from having such a capable ally. His witness might also be an additional source of information for us. Xanah took a long draw from her cigar. The air around her smelled faintly of cinnamon and spice, nothing at all like the sweet odor of a proper cigar. "The other is what Magister Lui said, namely that stealing someone's truename meant revealing your own to whomever you stole from." She regarded their hostess and asked gently, "Your Magnificence, do you have any insight into the name of your attacker? Anything about his identity could help us locate him." Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join Cost - Decision to Join: For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Answering the Call Cost - Agreeing to Help: I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Opening - Answering the Call: It's time I made good on my word. I'll be pursuing this with Aldrion soon as this name thief business is over. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 7/7 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah With her fingers neatly steepled, Xanah rested them lightly on top of her chin, eyes cast down towards the ground as she listened to the rest of them discuss. It was a contemplative-looking posture she didn't even realize she was doing. When she had finally gathered here thoughts together, she unconsciously dropped her hands, folded them together, and looked back up to eye level with the others. "We should pursue these hasty ideas," she said to the creature that was Felicia, "as quick as they come to you, before our metaphorical trail goes cold. I know a zilat who has a particular talent for finding things that may be able to advise you on how such magic might work best." She gave a small, but knowing smile. "He owes me a favor." She turned to the ravenesse, bowed her head respectfully and said, "In the meantime... should Your Magnificence deign to aid us, would you be willing to recall your Unkindness from war with the Brood? The people of the Cascades are suffering in the crossfire. The spiders may also wish to know your respective peoples have been disrespected by a mutual enemy. Your word of such news assuredly carries more weight than ours." Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join Cost - Decision to Join: For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Answering the Call Cost - Agreeing to Help: I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Opening - Answering the Call: It's time I made good on my word. I'll be pursuing this with Aldrion soon as this name thief business is over. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 7/7 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah "Bollocks," Xanah muttered irritably under her breath. Her quarry was long gone, it seemed. She was frustrated and annoyed, heaved a sigh as she packed her weapon away back into the holster under her jacket. They weren't any closer to coming to the end of this little investigation of theirs than when they had arrived. She had hoped they would find answers sufficient to identify the thief quickly and then be able to turn in his identity to the victims and the relevant authorities. A quick trip to the raven roost, perhaps a conversation with the spiders, then they would wrap it all up neatly. Naivety, thy name is Xanah, she chided herself. She heard the others approaching with the ravenesse. Xanah made her way back to them to report her lack of findings. Being that they were in the demesne of this magnificent creature, she thought it prudent to be polite and patient, so when it seemed like the ravenesse would be ready for her she spoke. "The interloper is gone--teleported or invisible I suppose. He did leave us one clue to his identity: that miasma of corruption I think we're all feeling. That was our thief, I'm sure of it." She described what she had seen of the man. She had previously explained all the details of her conversation with Magister Lui the Vance to her companions, but their hostess needed to know about it. "A Magister of my order told us that such a thief would have an unmistakable aura of soul-deep foulness about him. I wonder if it's possible to track his smell, figuratively speaking." Refreshing my Sorcery pool (10-min). Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join Cost - Decision to Join: For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Answering the Call Cost - Agreeing to Help: I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Opening - Answering the Call: It's time I made good on my word. I'll be pursuing this with Aldrion soon as this name thief business is over. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 7/7 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah Much as she wanted to converse with such a darkly magnificent being, Xanah had one terribly more important matter to attend to first: the interloper. She didn't know who it was, but she got a good enough look at him to be suspicious of what he was doing here. It didn't make a lot of sense for anyone else human to be up here besides themselves, which made her wonder if he was involved in any of this name theft business. With iron in hand she said, "Someone followed us up here, another vislae," and rushed out of the room. She took a wide path around the ravenesse, respectful of the creature's personal space as much as was possible for somebody trying to get through the doorway in a hurry. When she emerged from the chamber into the foyer she paused to look around. If she found nothing with a quick look around, she moved back out into the exterior courtyard to try and get a glimpse of the departing (or perhaps hiding) man she had seen earlier through the raven swarm. Whatever she might have found (or not found, as the case may be) she returned to inspect the place on the floor their interloper had appeared to be inspecting. This she did with much less haste, taking the time to be thorough once she had confirmed if they were still alone or not. Character Arcs Updated 5/1 Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join Cost - Decision to Join: For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Answering the Call Cost - Agreeing to Help: I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Opening - Answering the Call: It's time I made good on my word. I'll be pursuing this with Aldrion soon as this name thief business is over. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Updated 5/1 Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 1/7 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah "Thank God!" Xanah declared when she saw Aldrion coming to. Immediately she dropped his legs so the man could get them under himself again. She started to move to help him up when something far away, beyond the swarm of ravens caught her attention. She was still a moment, paused in mid stoop, copper-colored eyes locked into the distance. "...We've and interloper, darling," she said to Aldrion as she took his hand and helped pull him to his feet. "But one thing at a time." Xanah wasn't one to engage in violence first thing. She simply didn't have the killer instinct. Smooth-talking her way into and out of trouble was more her preferred method of operation. This situation, however, had escalated well beyond her control. Maybe if she had a little more time, a different spell, something else--maybe then this might have gone differently. With practiced motion, she pulled her thirty-two from the shoulder carry rig concealed beneath her leather jacket. It was a blowback-style pistol with a polished, silvery finish and the phrase Better Demons engraved on the side. So much for diplomacy, she mused before squeezing off a short burst into the Aspirant. Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 2/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 1/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Xanah Not wanting to waste the opportunity that had presented itself, Xanah decided to take advantage of their opponent's inability to go where it wanted to be and put some more distance between it and Aldrion. The poor bloke was so insensate and out of sorts he was vulnerable. Xanah wasn't exactly a hulking specimen of strength, but neither was she wasn't hopelessly frail. She scooped up his legs, tucked them under each of her arms, and clasped tight enough she could drag him away by them. It was all terribly ungainly and awkward. She trudged away from the Aspirant much, much slower than she would have liked. The whole way she muttered apologies to him for dragging his head and torso along behind her. Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 1/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 3/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

I dunno what Billy has planned, but I say we skip directly to the CK and handle the supply run out of character--unless that black marketeer is an encounter we really ought to roleplay, in which case skip to him. (Hope that makes sense)

I'm ready to do all that.

Thirded. (That's a word, right?)

Andraste (Half-Elf Sorcerer) AC: 15 | HP: 21/23 | HD: 3d6 | Passive Perception: 9 | Inspiration: No | Conditions: None Spells: 1st: ▣▣▣▣, 2nd: ☐☐ | Sorcery: ▣▣▣ | Concentration: No "Ohh...kay," Andraste muttered aloud. It was just a reflex, shock at the sheer magnitude of the search area described to her. She looked every bit as intimidated by that number as she felt. "So..." She stopped and then tried again, this time remembering not to talk out loud. "Tymora preserve us. So, um, if we're lucky we find him nearby." She tried to do the math of survival in her head and didn't like the results she got. "Maybe we talk to this Zain fellow and see if he can supply us for cave trekking for, what, a week? Two? Hopefully that crazy dwarf has the key." Nothin' to see here, chief Main Hand: - Off Hand: - Action: - Bonus Action: - Move: - Manipulate: - ▣☐

Xanah Xanah flinched back as the onrush of ravens swooped into the room. The sheer volume of moving air blew through her like a storm front. Reflexively, she ducked her head and brought her arms up to cover it. It was a brief defensive movement that was already done before she had even realized it happened. Her previous aggressive posture with the fire poker in hand was lost, but it hardly mattered now. The creature previously suspended before her was lost in a swirling mass of black feathers, scratching nails, and piercing beaks. She lowered her arms, and slowly recovered herself, mesmerized by the sheer magnitude of it all just feet away from her. "Mother of magic..," she swore in quiet awe. With prudence in mind, she started to back away but nearly tripped over something. She tore her eyes away from the enrapturing chaos before her just a moment to glance downward and saw what had happened to Aldrion. He laid there insensate. She knelt down and put a hand on his chest to feel for breathing. As she did, an unexpected movement caught her attention, drawing her back to the writhing swarm. The entity enveloped by the birds began to shudder and rise. Xanah didn't understand how that could be, but she didn't have time to question it. A spell came to mind, not that she thought of it, but that the spell itself rose to her consciousness out of the place within her that it presently resided. It wanted to be used, knew that it could be useful. It hadn't worked before on the creature, but that hadn't been its fault. Now it wanted to make up for that. Xanah was inclined to let it. Her hair, already windblown by the movement of the birds, caught fire. Blood red flames poured out from her tear ducts and over her head, the only significant color on her mostly grayscale visage. A palpable aura of fear radiated from her in that fiery red light. Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 1/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 4/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

We should at least take a potion each

I think the final list is: 3 viscous potions distributed among everyone and Cassie gets the armor.

Andraste (Half-Elf Sorcerer) AC: 15 | HP: 21/23 | HD: 3d6 | Passive Perception: 9 | Inspiration: No | Conditions: None Spells: 1st: ▣▣▣▣, 2nd: ☐☐ | Sorcery: ▣▣▣ | Concentration: No All this sounded highly dangerous. The Underdark wasn't a place Andraste had ever been, but she had heard stories. Drow and beholders and bugbears. Oh my! Fear wasn't a normal motivating emotion for her, so it wasn't so much that Andraste was afraid to go into a dangerous situation as it was that she didn't yet trust their benefactor. Other than those companions here at the table, she hardly trusted anyone in this frozen hole. And that's precisely how Vecna wants it, she reminded herself. All this skulking around was frustrating to her. "We'd need a lot of detail on what this gemstone is," she mentally telegraphed to Racine, "as well as details about how this envoy was supposed to make contact and navigate the Underdark. If we're to retrace his steps, we need to understand the steps." If, if, if. So much non-committal language. It wasn't like Andraste had anything better to do. Sitting around in desperation awaiting the world's inevitable doom wasn't something she was prepared to do. Still, she didn't want to commit anyone to anything without first getting more information. She was certainly impulsive enough to leap without looking at times, but very occasionally she did the opposite. Nothin' to see here, chief Main Hand: - Off Hand: - Action: - Bonus Action: - Move: - Manipulate: - ▣☐

No complaints from me--I was just making sure I hadn't ham-fistedly bungled the subtext of the conversation. Regardless of the timing, I'm OK with the full spending plan (potions and armor) assuming the money checks out. Do we need to play out the back-and-forth to make it work? I figure for the sake of expediency we could fast forward past all the shopping.

Xanah Was it wrong to kill this creature? Xanah didn't really know. It didn't take a corvidophile to recognize that the ravens were baying for blood. The tension in the air was palpable. The hatred from this creature was tangible. Something unpleasant was about to happen from one party or the other, possibly from both. Xanah wasn't very certain she could do anything about it either way. "What do you make of it, darling?" she asked of Aldrion. She readied the fire poker she'd been carrying around since visiting the Tin Man. She didn't know what Aldrion had noticed about it, but she could guess he knew more about it than she. She would have said more, but was interrupted by Felicia (or whatever monstrosity Felicia had become) croaking out its piano-wire-on-sheet-metal voice. Evidently...Liel was all right. That was certainly a relief. "I don't see him anymore," she shouted back up at the nest, never taking her eyes off the Blue creature before her. "Perhaps our siren caller here loses them when they wake up." The next part she said with quiet coldness. "I wonder if they all wake up once we kill it?" She watched to see how the creature reacted. Justice demanded something be done about this thing. Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 2/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 4/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Just for the record, Andraste isn't actually talking about economics. I mean there's certainly an economy around secrets in Mirabar, but that's secondary. Mara's internal monologue before she spoke is more in line with what Andi is taking about. It's about Vecna's undermining people's ability to trust each other, that she wants to disrupt. Having a market impact is just a means to an end. Obviously you guys are free to have your characters interpret that however you like. I just the players to know where I was trying to go with that.

Xanah This was becoming a real nuisance, the coughing. For the third time today Xanah choked on her own words, the thin wisps of white smoke curling out from her lips and between her covering fingers ephemerally coalescing into recognizable letters and sigils before they dissolved into the air. She waved them away to clear the air and said aside to Aldrion, "This isn't our thief--I know that much for certain. What it is, I'm...less certain of." Aldrion wasn't the only one that needed to confirm the legitimacy of this creature's threats. If she could figure out any way of helping figure that out she was sure to voice it. Action: Using my action to help, so Aldrion's total roll is increased by at least +1 (or +2 if my Deception skill is useful in identifying deception in others. You can't bullshit a bullshitter.). Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 2/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 4/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Andraste (Half-Elf Sorcerer) AC: 15 | HP: 21/23 | HD: 3d6 | Passive Perception: 9 | Inspiration: No | Conditions: None Spells: 1st: ▣▣▣▣, 2nd: ☐☐ | Sorcery: ▣▣▣ | Concentration: No "I don't know," Andraste replied to Copper. "I'm of two minds about how the...well, the economy works around here. Secrets seems to be the most valuable thing, so having some of our own seems prudent. Then again, I'm in a mood to flip a few tables and spill all the secrets into the open, just to spite the bastards." She put her hand on the jambiya dagger's hilt tied into the sash around her waist. Her symbol of Oghma usually hung there out in the open. Recent events had made her pack it away out of sight to protect it from prying eyes, but now she wondered if that had been the wrong decision. Knowledge was meant to be shared--secured, certainly--but shared all the same. Secrets were not the Binder's way. Maybe she had been acting out of fear when she should have been acting out of faith? After this moment of introspection, she finally blurted out, "You know what? Let's spill it all. Secrets are how Vecna stays in power, so if we make people comfortable with openness again then we'll limit his ability to control everything." Nothin' to see here, chief Main Hand: - Off Hand: - Action: - Bonus Action: - Move: - Manipulate: - ▣☐

Xanah Xanah walked over to Aldrion's suspended captive. For the now it wasn't in the imperious position it once held, which made it momentarily susceptible. At a little out of its arm's length she stood, hands neatly clasped behind her back. Her eyes ignited with bright red flames, turning her face into a baleful, hellish visage "Tell me," she said with a voice pitched lower than her natural register could accomplish, "is it possible to return the names you claimed to their original owners?" Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 2/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 4/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour

Andraste (Half-Elf Sorcerer) AC: 15 | HP: 21/23 | HD: 3d6 | Passive Perception: 9 | Inspiration: No | Conditions: None Spells: 1st: ▣▣▣▣, 2nd: ☐☐ | Sorcery: ▣▣▣ | Concentration: Dragon's Breath2nd Leve l Transmutation Casting Time: 1 bonus action Range/Area: Touch/15ft. Components: V, S, M (a hot pepper) Duration: Concentration, up to 1 minute You touch one willing creature and imbue it with the power to spew magical energy from its mouth, provided it has one. Choose acid, cold, fire, lightning, or poison. Until the spell ends, the creature can use an action to exhale energy of the chosen type in a 15-foot cone. Each creature in that area must make a Dexterity saving throw, taking 3d6 damage of the chosen type on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 3rd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 2nd. (Acid) up to 1 minute It's not that Andraste was ungrateful to the Clockwork King for his fair dealing with them. Indeed, he had been the most refreshing thing she had seen since awaking. Despite his many, many quirks and oddities, the man was straightforward and plain about his intentions. All the double-speak and secrecy required with everyone else was getting tiring. The problem was that in her mind this little venture was a favor for a favor: an undesirable duty that she had to get done to get to the--in her mind--more important tasks. At a time and place nearby when she thought the Clockwork King couldn't overhear Andraste said quietly, "I'm eager to get back to Racine, to see what this Silent Axes organization she's part of is all about. I think they owe us some more answers after what we've accomplished today. " She looked around a moment, then added, "At the very least she owes us that gemstone and access to an outfitter." Still, it was good they had ended up with a favorable outcome with this self-styled king. They probably needed all the allies they could get, even the quirky ones. Nothin' to see here, chief Main Hand: - Off Hand: - Action: - Bonus Action: - Move: - Manipulate: - ▣☐

Those potions of healing sound great, but I don't have anything I'm willing to part with for them at this time.

Xanah When the spell left her, Xanah felt hollow inside, like a piece of her soul had just vacated her body. Fortunately, the feeling was fleeting, but it was always an unusual sensation letting free a Vance's spell. The things wanted to be cast, alive in most senses of the word. She could have kept it in, held it safely inside with her own power, but she was worried she might need every bit of supernatural strength for the violence this situation could devolve into if she handled this the wrong way. The spell had left her with a fluidity of double-speak that she hoped would be sufficient for the task. She had been a politician in another life--anyone in that business worth their salt had to be adept at that. She gestured up at Shuistliel, "My colleague here is eager to receive your confession, name thief." With theatrical flourish she cast her hands around to indicate the rest of the vislae standing here on the ground. "And you've an audience here to bear witness. What you did--the pain and corruption you must feel--you should be begging us for the sweet release of death, so you'll get a slow and humiliating execution instead." That was it, of course, the secret knowledge to finding the culprit Magister Lui had given her. Corruption. Soul-deep corruption. He had been quite explicit about that. If this creature was the thief, then it should be suffering mightily for the damage it had done to itself ripping away those truenames. Action: Using the Deception skill (+2), an Interaction bene (+1), a Hidden Knowledge (+1), and an Interaction enhancement (+1 die). Is that the right skill for this? I've got Persuasion +1 if it's not. Character Arcs Join an Organization As an arachnophile, I'm being groomed to join the Cacophony, an association of spiders whose name only really makes sense to spiders. They seek to establish diplomatic ties with the Angular Serpentine. Current StepYou want to join an organization. This likely is not an order, since vislae start the game already belonging to an order if they wish it. Vislae often join other organizations as well, however, and this arc is a great way to portray that. Cost: The Decision to Join. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Getting the Details. 1 Acumen reward. You learn all you can about the organization and how one becomes a member. Step(s): Making a Contact. 1 Acumen reward. Friends on the inside are always important. Step(s): Performing a Deed. 2 Acumen reward. The organization might want to test your worth, or this might be a ceremony you must take part in. It might include paying some sort of dues or fee. Or all of these things. Climax: Proving Your Worth. 2 Acumen reward. This is the point at which you attempt to show the organization that they would be better off with you as a member. A successful resolution results in 1 Joy. Failure results in 1 Despair. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You consider your efforts and assess what your membership gets you. : The decision to join For now, I remain ignorant that I'm being considered for invitation. Aid a Friend Aldrion Phect wishes to rescue his spouse from Shadow, but first he must Uncover the Secret of how such a task might even be possible. I'm too closeted a romantic to tell him I can't resist helping somebody reunite with their loved one. Current StepSomeone needs your help. When a PC friend takes a character arc, you can select this arc to help them with whatever their arc is (if appropriate). The steps and climax depend entirely on their chosen arc. If the friend is an NPC, the steps and climax are lifted from another arc appropriate to whatever they seek to do. If you have a bond with the friend you are helping, this may increase the Acumen earned with each story point by 1. It’s difficult, but possible, to aid a friend with an arc even if that friend is unwilling to accept (or is ignorant of ) your help. The majority of the cost, story points, and rewards for a character with this arc are the same as those described in the original character arc. Cost: Agreeing to Help. You pay a cost of 2 Acumen. Opening: Answering the Call. 1 Acumen reward. Offering to help (or responding to a request for help). Step(s) and Climax: Depends on the friend’s arc. Acumen, Joy, and Despair rewards are the same for you as for the friend. Resolution: 1 Acumen reward. You speak with your friend and learn if they are satisfied. Together, you share what you’ve learned (if anything) and where you will go from here.: Agreeing to help I've agreed to help, but Aldrion and I haven't discussed it further. Description Appearance Xanah and the possessions on her person lose color saturation in proportion to her amount of sunlight exposure. She's completely grayscale in broad daylight. She otherwise sports a head of medium-length red-brown hair, copper colored eyes, and a fair complexion. Xanah is of unremarkable height and build, a slim physique that belies a lifetime of overindulging. It's only her constantly moving workaholic ethic that keeps her in shape. Her clothing usually favors practicality and comfort, never one to indulge in fashionable fads. Ever conscientious of her habits, Xanah always smells faintly of cinnamon and spice. Personality Lives on coffee, cigars, and favors. Fiercely individualist to a fault. A tarnished heart of gold. Tendency to overindulge. A patron of lost causes, shooter of troubles, slayer of dragons, walker of tightropes, and runner with scissors. Banned from kitchens across the Actuality for abject culinary incompetence. Never met a stranger before but carefully chooses close friendships A closeted romantic, almost disgustingly so. Her sharp tongue and compulsion to kick hornets' nests and turn over rocks makes many enemies. In her Order she's been demoted twice for it. Occupation Xanah describes herself as "creatively entrepreneurial," which is to say she doesn't actually have a traditional occupation. As previously mentioned, she lives off favors. These keep her constantly busy juggling a tangled web of commitments, investments, activism, and odd-jobs that she's perfectly satisfied living in the middle of. Income can be wildly inconsistent, but she's never been one to require much in the way of creature comforts. She's just as likely to blow a windfall on a hopeless cause as she is to devote it to a strategic endeavor. "Money," she says, "is just a means to an end, grease for the skids." She toys with the idea of running for office but talks herself out of it, saying that nobody would vote for her anyway. Despite her modest self-assessment, the growing network of contacts she's been developing suggests she might get more support than she realizes. Dichotomies Wealth or Fame - "It's all in who you know." Friends or Family - "I don't make close friends easy, but the few I have are basically family." Power or Control - "I'm the spider dead center in the web." Introvert or Extrovert - "There's nothing I love more than good company." Order or Chaos - "A little strategic chaos keeps the omnipotent busybodies from getting too comfortable." Freedom or Safety - "'Live free or die trying', I say." Society or the Individual - "Society is people. Make a difference for one and you make a different society." Generosity or Greed - "You give a little to get a little. Sometimes, well...sometimes people need me to give a little more." Moral code or Instinct - "Scruples are what separates man from the animals." Ego or Id - "Can't honestly say I've ever been accused of temperance or self control." Nature or Nurture - "Pro tip: Yes, it's your fault and you can do better." Thought or Action - "I'm a make-it-up-as-you-go kind of gal." Instinct or Knowledge - "My gut has never let me down about what the right thing to do is." Charity or Self-sufficiency - "Everybody needs somebody sometime." Home or the Road - "Give me a warm house and somebody to share it with on all the days that end in 'Y'." Contentment or Challenge - "Look, I don't go crusading for lost causes. They seek me out. They know I"m easy." Pools Injuries: [ ] [ ] [ ] Wounds: [ ] [ ] [ ] Anguish: [ ] [ ] [ ] CERTES QUALIA Accuracy: 3/3 Movement: 1/1 Sorcery: 5/5 Interaction: 3/4 (1 die) Physicality: 3/3 Perception: 4/4 Intelligence: 1/1 Sortilege: 3/3 Hidden Knowledge: 12-1=11 Rests: 1 round, 1 round, 10 minutes, 1 hour