The Golden Gear (OOC Thread)

[relekorlagunis]

It's unfortunate I wasn't able to finish in time, but I wish those of you who make the cut all the best. I'll be keeping an eye on this game in the event a re-recruitment is inevitably required.

[BBK]

17 hours ago, relekorlagunis said:

It's unfortunate I wasn't able to finish in time...

No one can blame you, for real. I think this is the longest I've ever spent on a 'low-level' app. Between the Origins & Oaths systems that I hadn't ever even seen beforehand, my inability to not go into the fine details of how everything connects to everything else to work as intended, my inability to keep short stories and the like actually short, and being only passingly familiar with Spheres to begin with (This is like the 3rd character I've ever built using any Spheres content), I spent dozens of hours on the app itself and dozens more just reading, making notes, and researching the unfamiliar systems. Then nearly a dozen hours of formatting because I may have a smidge OCD.

I think that spent nearly 90% or more of the deadline thinking "There is no way I'll be done in time".

[Arklytte]

On 10/15/2023 at 6:56 AM, BBK said:

I spent dozens of hours on the app itself and dozens more just reading, making notes, and researching the unfamiliar systems. Then nearly a dozen hours of formatting because I may have a smidge OCD.

I feel this feel SO HARD, BBK. This is literally me any time I apply for pretty much any game. And, no matter how hard I try, I can't seem to break myself of the habit.

[Arklytte]

I need to line up a few echoless, aquatic waterfowl, but after that, expect my announcement of the team shortly.

[Arklytte]

@BBK@Boogie Woogie Wookiee@Keante@Llyarden@Starhawk

I've posted a new thread in the Clockworkers section, titled Balance Thread. When you have a moment, please check it out, and make a single post, copypasting the form from the first page into a new post. Please only post once, until everyone else has posted as well. I use that thread as, among other things, a reference for your character's numbers, and it's easier to find things if I dont have to scroll through the whole thread. Been there, done that, got the mental scars AND the t-shirt. 😝

[Boogie Woogie Wookiee]

Since it's getting a bit lost in the Discord conversation, I thought I'd start a chain here on the topic of how our characters know each other.

Killian—my half-orc paladin of the elven goddess of art; that's right, he's a half-orc—is a very amiable and approachable fellow despite his intimidating physique. Friendly and accepting of just about anyone (except those dastardly vandals <shakes his fist at the heavens>), he'd be an excellent candidate to build a pre-game relationship off of if any of you have any ideas. He's currently on a quest to recover lost works of art, so he's done quite a bit of traveling and can easily be inserted into literally anyone's backstory as a result.

If you have any ideas relating to that, feel free to hit me up. If I spot any as this conversation matures, I'll pipe up as well. 😊

Edited October 17, 2023 by Boogie Woogie Wookiee (see edit history)

[Starhawk]

Lucrezia, a dhampir incanter, is something of an investigator, being an extremely well read diviner, diviners being something of a rarity. A devotee of Magdh, the Seer Goddess with the three incarnations, maiden, mother and crone, the skin above both her ears are adorned with three red dots which signifying both her devotion and the desire to look in three directions at the same time. Mostly devoid of a moral compass of her own, she has a habit of latching on to those she feels are acting in the common good and assisting them, something she considers to be 'taking on projects'.. again, not an infrequent characteristic of 'seerish' Magdh devotees.

Those who don't know her see a bookworm, a librarian. Those who do know her are very much aware that she's not in the least reluctant to 'mix it up' and has the skills and abilities to support her in such endeavors. She can be relied upon to defend knowledge assets, guides, teachers and advisors.

Contrary to what her appearance might suggest, she seems to consider males to be disposable pleasures in the love 'em and leave 'em sense, with ex-beaus sometimes using her name and the word 'heartless' in the same sentence. This could be a trait passed down from her vampiric sire.

Edited October 17, 2023 by Starhawk (see edit history)

[Boogie Woogie Wookiee]

Ooh, Lucrezia and Killian would get along spectacularly as their interests clearly align (his for art, hers for knowledge), as does their preference for people interested in protecting the common good. He also has a penchant for both women and children, though (in the former case, well, both cases really) not so much romantically as a chivalric way. Given her delicate appearance and thirst for wisdom, he'd naturally feel compelled to protect her if they met.

Given her penchant for seeing men as "disposable pleasures," that could fuel the pyres of her interest in him as well, as he'd like spur any advances she made in his direction. Not in the "no, begone thot!" sort of way (and no, I didn't just make myself laugh typing that, honest, no really, I'm totally mature), but in the "I'm flattered, but you don't need to do that in order to win my friendship" way, if that makes sense. More of a big brother than anything, which is especially true because he has a little sister back home with similar interests as her that may make Lucrezia remind him of her.

Do you have any particular part of your background where you think them meeting might have come up?

"Human sacrifices? [Paladins] and [half-vampires] working together? Mass hysteria!" —Dr. Peter Venkman

Edited October 17, 2023 by Boogie Woogie Wookiee (see edit history)

[Starhawk]

A tapestry is both knowledge and art, illustrated manuscripts likewise. :)

[Boogie Woogie Wookiee]

He gets to keep the elven ones, she can have the others? We should establish boundaries in that regard, else we could end up in fisticuffs. 🤣

[Starhawk]

Lucrezia wouldn't be interested in ownership just transcription. Oh and there'd be more than a hint of Indie's.. it belongs in a museum.

 

 

Edited October 17, 2023 by Starhawk (see edit history)

[Arklytte]

@Boogie Woogie Wookiee So, easy tie in for Killian. The reason he's come to Canismini is that he's been told there's a famous Sorceress named Kasin who's known to collect art from various races...and not always in the most ethical of manners. She's also highly reclusive, and difficult to find. She tends to send people who bother her to the outer planes, or into handy volcanoes. However, she's good friends (or maybe frenimies...the stories differ) with an Artificer/Wizard named Humbert who lives near Canismini. He's well known throughout the kingdom (and surrounding lands) as a kind hearted, if somewhat absent-minded, recluse who makes the most fantastic clockwork creations known all throughout the world. Killian was able to secure a letter of introduction to Humbert from (INSERT RANDOM HIGH RANKED NOBLE HERE), and he's come to present himself to the wizard in hopes of getting an introduction/safe passage to Kasin.

What do you think? Would something like that work for Killian?

 

@Starhawk I can easily see Lucrezia seeking some lost/esoteric bit of knowledge and being told that Humbert might either have access to said info (he's well known as a collector of rare lore, even though his focus for the last century or so has been on his clockworks...over the course of his rather long life, he's sought many different kinds of knowledge), or that he might be able to point her in the right direction. She could also have a letter of introduction, or could simply have met Killian at some point, and they two decided to travel together for mutual protection, however y'all want to play it.

Would that work for Lucrezia?

 

*************

 

I'll post some info on Humbert and Kasin when I have a spare moment. The two of them are both quite famous, being the two most powerful people in the region, and certain facts, as well as various rumours, are going to be known about both. I'll also get up some lore about the area you'll all be in (the forest, Canismini, etc). It might take a day or two, depending on how crazy things are, but I'll get it done. 😀

Edited October 17, 2023 by Arklytte (see edit history)

[Boogie Woogie Wookiee]

11 minutes ago, Starhawk said:

Lucrezia wouldn't be interested in ownership just transcription. Oh and there'd be more than a hint of Indie's.. it belongs in a museum.

Yes, an elven museum. Preferably the one at his temple in his homeland of Emhain Albach. <he tosses his hair>

9 minutes ago, Arklytte said:

@Boogie Woogie Wookiee [...] Killian was able to secure a letter of introduction to Humbert [...], and he's come to present himself to the wizard in hopes of getting an introduction/safe passage to Kasin.

@Starhawk [...] She could also have a letter of introduction, or could simply have met Killian at some point, and they two decided to travel together for mutual protection, however y'all want to play it.

That totally works for me, though I wouldn't mind an even longer relationship between the two. Up to you how you want to do it, Starhawk, I'm good with that or just being relatively new acquaintances.

Also, aren't you supposed to be sleeping or something, Arklytte? 🤔

Edited October 17, 2023 by Boogie Woogie Wookiee (see edit history)

[Arklytte]

8 minutes ago, Boogie Woogie Wookiee said:

Also, aren't you supposed to be sleeping or something, Arklytte? 🤔

Yeah. Insomnia and an internet connection is a shitty combination. 🥴

 

Anyway, y'all can work more on the details of how long you've been together, your partnership, etc. Use the general framework I put in, if you like, then feel free to modify it/fill in whatever details you feel are relevant.

 

You dont all have to be in one group, btw, if you dont want two. Even just getting two PC's together, with a specific reason to meet Humbert, is an easy way to draw everyone into the adventure. That said, I'm pretty much ultimately going to leave that aspect up to y'all. I'm happy to facilitate (as above), as needed. 😁

Edited October 17, 2023 by Arklytte (see edit history)

[Boogie Woogie Wookiee]

Some other gut instinct-level ideas that's come to me as I've browsed everyone's sheet (aside from Valros' of course). Let me know if anything jumps out at either of you.

Trellis: Having been raised by elves, albeit ones closer to high elves/eladrin than wood elves, I imagine Killian's initial response to Trellis would have been equal measures of wonder and reverence. Like his fondness for Lucrezia, Trellis' thirst for knowledge would appeal to him as well. We'd definitely be quite the trio of nerds. 🤓 Though I don't know exactly how all three of us would have met off the top of my head. I mean, encountering a mobile tree while on the road, alone, would be more than enough of a reason for Killian to stop and talk with him. Maybe it could just be that simple?

Lance: With a similar gift for the telekinetic arts, and a knack for "acquiring" things (though his is obviously aimed more at reacquiring stolen objects d'art than otherwise just robbing folks), there's definitely some easy openings for us to have met on a mutually exclusive heist. You know, the traditional archetype of two unrelated thieves bumping into each other while hitting the same location, even if their objectives were different, only to wind up having to work together as everything goes pear-shaped. And, despite being a paladin, he also has little problem with theft, though he might try to steer Lance (and Bolt) towards a more enlightened use of their gods-given talents, albeit in a totally nonconfrontational "lead by example" sort of way. Or encourage them to pause and think a bit more before they act at the very least! 🤣

If I totally got the wrong vibe from both of you after having only skimmed your applications, I apologize. Feel free to correct me!

Edited October 17, 2023 by Boogie Woogie Wookiee (see edit history)