Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Ashianyl 04-12-05, 09:37 PM	I have an idea for a psicrystal born character and I would like to get some feedback on her before submitting her to the DM. :) The crystal will have stats based on the warforged (minus the armor bits), but the form looks entirely human (like the creator), and here's why. From what I can gather, the psicrystal, while a splintered personality of the psion, isn't directly tied to the creator's life force like a familiar and may still exist even after the creator died (couldn't find any references anywhere in XPH about the fate of psicrystals after the creator's death). The psicrystal is also a relic with chaotic good alignment (thanks to the Ancestral Relic feat from the creator), the psicrystal may have more of a conscience than your regular construct and is certainly not just a magical item that can be dispelled and shut down... she is a force of good! :D Throughout her career as a psicrystal, she has been made into many forms by her creator. As a useful tool, the psicrystal has changed forms into weapons, later becoming the various golems as her master became more powerful. - note: Metamorphosis allows morphing into objects with the appropriate craft skills and changing into creatures with the same base type. Now, how the crystal evolved into a humanoid shape that looks like its creator is through the use of the Epic Psicrystal Power feat that imbued the psicrystal with the Metamorphosis power. However, because of her creator's death, she only had enough power points to manifest the power one last time as she could no longer replenish her power point reserves. Believing it to be her final act of remembering her creator, the psicrystal took the form of her master and waited for the power to run its course before she became a psicrystal again and perhaps slowly fade into oblivion when the master died. But it didn't happen that way. The power did not fade, and in fact somehow became permanent. As for roleplaying the character, I imagine her to be something like Data from Star Trek. While she has had plenty of experiences traversing the planes with her now deceased master, there are certain concepts that she cannot grasp since she only posesses a single aspect of her creator's personality (the nimble aspect). So... she's starting off as a Level 6 character, a residue of power from her once powerful master, but is somewhat a child in other aspects. I am thinking of making her a Fighter 2, Psion 4 and going into Illithid Slayer 10 (her creator wasn't particularly fond of illithids, and neither is she). Comments? :)
Arkonth 04-12-05, 10:52 PM	:clap: This is an awesome idea. A grand continuation of a decesaed character and a logical backstory. :clap:
Morka 04-13-05, 09:56 AM	I'm not sure about the relic part. Does a relic have to be created by a god? If yes, which god should have created you? It could also be a good reason why you survived your master.
Ashianyl 04-13-05, 11:38 AM	Thanks for the kind words, Arkoth. :D I'm not sure about the relic part. Does a relic have to be created by a god? If yes, which god should have created you? It could also be a good reason why you survived your master. As for the Relic bit, no, it is a general feat, not an exalted feat, so no gods are involved. The feat involves a ritual to awaken the spirits of an item that you inherited from a relative or a close friend/teacher with supposedly lots of history of goodness to it. It simulates magical powers and effects, but it isn't magic and doesn't radiate magic and it is not subject to dispel magic or antimagic field. Secondly, it is noted that relics are like artefacts, and they cannot be manufactured, bought or sold (as stated under the description of a relic). So, essentially, my character is both a construct and an artefact type item that is immune to dispels and antimagic... which is important because I don't want to walk into an Antimagic Field and pop back into the miniscule form of a psicrystal. ;) My character would be an embodiment of all that is good inherited from my ancestors with a strong dominant trait inherited from my master as a result of having been a psicrystal. I'm currently contemplating making the character's obsession of obtaining a psicrystal with lots of ancestral goodness within to ensure that she is able to duplicate the process her master did and would therefore be survived by another should she ever die. Yes, I think I'm beginning to like this character more and more. :D
Jelstan 04-13-05, 12:13 PM	What an amazing character idea.. I love it. You could even start a new race or something. I wish you were in my group ;)
Ashianyl 04-14-05, 11:03 AM	Thanks for the kind words, Jelstan... I try to enrich the games I play in and giving a good background (using the rules) to my DM has always yielded excellent surprises and roleplaying opportunities (our DM takes the pains to design adventures based on our backgrounds and motivations). Anyway, here's the expanded character background for the board's scrutiny. Comments welcome and appreciated. :D Background: Psicrystals normally don’t survive their masters, but Milei Ashinari was no ordinary psicrystal. Once a simple Deep Crystal (material, see pg 182 XPH) used as a spear head, Milei was imbued with the power of goodness through the years (Ancestral Relic feat, see pg 36 & 39 BoED). It wasn’t until her previous master however, that Milei gained consciousness as her master used the crystal not as a weapon, but as a psicrystal. Milei always remembered bits and pieces of her adventuring days with her master, but not enough to piece it all together. She knows she always seemed paranoid of danger most of the time, especially when her master was asleep. There were many grand adventures, and while Milei’s master didn’t always heed her warnings of danger, they were a good pair together. Their battles and teamwork have always been good. The pair led a long, fruitful life battling demons and devils and other evils that needed to be thwarted and saving the world countless times. But as they years went by, the master took more of a backseat in grand adventures, despite her awesome powers. The master was content, and so was Milei, being a simple psicrystal herself. The last few years went by relatively peaceful, with her master retreating to the life of a hermit and researching for ways to extend her own life while Milei continued being the dutiful companion and helped with the household chores (having been given the power to metamorphosis herself, Milei did not find the job too difficult). As age crept up on her master, and despite her master’s failing health, the experiments became more hurried, frantic even. On the last day of her master’s life however, Milei suddenly felt her master overcome with joy. “Soon I will be gone from this world, my child. And when I have finally gone, take my appearance and remember me one last time,” said her master, a smile forming on her lips as she cradled her beloved psicrystal one last time. Milei watched as her master slowly passes on to the next world. As her master’s body fell lifeless, Milei dutifully did as she was told and use the last of her psi powers to take the form of her master. Although this was not the first time Milei took the form (her master was notoriously known for having been seen at three different places at any one time – the first being the psicrystal, other being the Fission clone), Milei felt different this time. All of a sudden, Milei’s consciousness expanded and she became more than just aware, she could feel sadness. It was a great sense of loss, an indescribable void that Milei could never fathom as a psicrystal. At first, the feelings were for her deceased master, one who had always been there with her. Then, the realization struck that she too would soon fade away as there was now no one to renew her psychic energies, and she felt fear. Afraid of what was to happen, the unknown. But the power did not fade. Milei, who had been reflecting for the past few minutes on her fate suddenly sensed hope. After building a pyre for her master (it seemed fitting somehow as her master had often times returned from near death via Fiery Discorporation), Milei began sifting through the many notes her master left behind. The research was about artificial life. In between the facts and theories, Milei found scribbling of her master’s desire for children and that Milei would be the first. Realizing that she was her master’s legacy, Milei soon began reading and exploring the rest of her master’s abode, absorbing the many tomes of knowledge to prepare herself for her journeys ahead. Game stats: Female Elan Ranger 2, Psion (egoist) 4 STR 10, DEX 14, CON 14, INT 16, WIS 14, CHA 6 Alignment: Neutral Good 01 Ranger1 - Track, Earth Heritage (Planar Handbook pg 38) 02 Psion1 - Extend Power 03 Psion2 - Practiced Spellcaster - Psion (Complete Arcane) *allowed by DM 04 Psion3 - Int+1 05 Psion4 06 Ranger2 - Ex. Knowledge – Metaphysical Weapon, Two Weapon Fighting Roleplaying notes: Milei is like a prodigious child, knowledgeable in many things (Int 16) yet lacking the emotional maturity and understanding to be able to interact with others properly (Cha 6). She has an inquisitive mind, but is also cautious about risks, considering she is the only one of her kind that she knows of (Wis 14). Born from the earth, Milei feels a close connection to the earth (Earth Heritage). She has a strong sense of justice (for being an Ancestral Relic) and seeks to duplicate the process so there would be another of her kind. :)
Faramir154 04-14-05, 08:57 PM	That's a fantastic story! So, how old is she and how long does she live for? How would you go about making more of her new race? Taking the Psicrystals of dead Psions? How will she continue living? Will she take the idenaty of her dead master and further her reputation or will she announce herself as her new race and make her own reputation? Though her master is dead, it seems like this is just a beginning to her adventures. Again, props for the exellent role playing you've done on your characters.
Ashianyl 04-14-05, 10:31 PM	That's a fantastic story! So, how old is she and how long does she live for? How would you go about making more of her new race? Taking the Psicrystals of dead Psions? How will she continue living? Will she take the idenaty of her dead master and further her reputation or will she announce herself as her new race and make her own reputation? Though her master is dead, it seems like this is just a beginning to her adventures. Again, props for the exellent role playing you've done on your characters. Thanks for the questions! They will really help me flesh out my character more. :) She's about six months old (but a lot older as a Psicrystal), having spent that time pouring through some of the tomes in her master's abode. I don't think I want to have her read everything there. I have read about the Planar Touchstone feat (Planar Handbook) and was thinking of combining that property with the Genesis power that the master manifested. I imagine it would be cool to have her own plane to return to once she has enough power to do so on her own. As for how long she will live, well, forever if she isn't killed. My DM and I agreed that it would be too much trouble to make a new race, so we both came to a consensus that the Elan race suited the story best, and since Elans haven't been introduced to the campaign yet, my character may very well be the first. :) She won't go around harassing other psions for their psicrystals... she believes them to be the children of other psions and would treat them with the same respect. And no, she isn't quite the same like her master, who was headstrong, stubborn and at times reckless, but all in the name of good. Milei is only a portion of her master's personality (nimble psicrystal aspect), which makes her paranoid at times. She is looking to understand herself, the world around her and well, to do good as best as she can (like her master once did). In her adventures, she hopes to find a psicrystal that would prove worthy of being made into an Ancestral Relic (anytime before she hits levels 9, 12, 15 or 18 so I can take the feat).
Faramir154 04-14-05, 10:46 PM	Thx for answering my questions so quickly. I wasn't really saying that you should go around pestering Psions for their Psicystals, I was asking what were to happen if you found a dead Psion with their cystal still intact, would Milei convert the Psicrystal into one of her own?
Ashianyl 04-14-05, 11:19 PM	I don't know... It really depends on how my DM would interpret how psicrystals are without their creators. Besides, the source of the psi powers would very much be from the creator, and without the creator to act as a battery for the crystal, I'm not too sure how long it would survive. You know, for all I know, my DM could prove to be nasty and later in the campaign, tell me I'm really an alternative lich that my master was trying to make (haha) with the experiments gone wrong or something. That's the beauty about leaving certain questions unanswered... it allows a creative DM to throw fun stuff at you that you aren't quite expecting (although having been with the DM a long time, I am expecting lots). :)
Faramir154 04-14-05, 11:32 PM	Haha.... That would be very unfortunate for all the work you've done on this forum. Maybe you should find out if your master was close to prolonging her life.
Harrow Blade 04-15-05, 12:57 AM	what a fantastic novel idea. I love it! I do however preferred the idea of the psicrystal taking on the form of her master as a tribute rather than a request from her master. It just felt better that it is offered up rather than requested as a final vanity. (But that is just me) An idea I had was that as a final act your former master invested her spirit within you as her and is the reason that you did not fade after her passing. She resisdes within you possibly watching but not acting or able to act or perhaps not aware but just existing. That in mind it could be possible should you choose that option) that you become aware of your masters spirit within and discover that she may be able to return should you be able to find/create a body suitable or choose to give up your own. this posses all sorts of dilemas. But it is only an idea, triggered by the lich comment.
Ashianyl 04-15-05, 02:05 AM	I do however preferred the idea of the psicrystal taking on the form of her master as a tribute rather than a request from her master. It just felt better that it is offered up rather than requested as a final vanity. (But that is just me) I am deliberately leaving things vague for that part and submitting both the theory and the story as Milei remembers it to the DM, though her memory of things that really did happen are kind of fuzzy. It could turn out the way you described it... there are so many possibilities: * Milei could be an experiment in new life with false memories planted (idea from Curse of the Azure Bonds). * Milei could have been a soul powered item (read: evil artefact) that her master sought to subdue by infusing both the goodness of her ownself and her psicrystal to prevent that power from ever being used by the forces of evil (read BoVD for more insight on cursed evil items powered by souls). This idea could make Milei a sought after individual though... :D * Milei could be an evil psion who purposely gave herself false memories and a false life to hide her intentions of slaying a god (and thus ascend to godhood). Certain specific behaviour and parameters would have been built in for the character to subconsciously take certain actions towards achieving this goal before a final contingency reactivated the psion's evil consciousness. This convoluted process would have been necessary because gods have irritating abilities that would allow them to know any intentions to kill them something like six months before, so a long term plan is needed. As you can see, the alternative lich thingy isn't really all that bad a fate, all things considered. Anyway, I just love controversy involving my characters, makes the game so much more interesting. :D
Harrow Blade 04-15-05, 09:27 PM	Bring on the contraversy! Spice up your character I say. I would like to see the Final version of this character when it is finished and possibly some progress reports. I want to see where this unique individual ends up. Good gaming to you.
Aurotuli 04-15-05, 10:25 PM	Shortly after PsHB 3e came out I toyed with the idea of a more familiar-like psicrystal based on the following: Crysmals transform mundane minerals into juvenile crysmals. Gems are the perfect substance for this reproductive cycle: To make a single juvenile, a crysmal generally needs eight to ten gems, each of 25 gp value or more. The idea was that the psion had died, their psicrystal had been taken by Crysmals and changed into one of their own - retaining in some measure some of its psicrystal properties / abilities, and then the psion was raised and managed to find his psicrystal. I never went anywhere with this, unfortunately, but your character recalls this to mind. Could a psicrystal of a recently slain psion be made into a construct of similar material and size? If the psion returned to life, could the psicrystal once again assume its place by the psion's side? Just some thoughts running through my head. :)
jukar 04-17-05, 06:16 PM	*applause* That's a great character idea!
Ashianyl 04-18-05, 02:21 AM	Aaaahhhhhh... my hard disk died on me... :weep: lost all me documentations and research notes... :mad: Lucky I had a backup on the forums here... hehe. Having gone through the character optimization board, I'm happy to announce that I will be using the King of Smack... with minor alterations. :P And we are going to start the campaign in a month's time, as my DM wraps up our present campaign (he has already prepared our next five adventures for the new campaign already (with a mind flayer encounter just before we hit level 8 so I can legally become an Illithid Slayer) :love: Aurotoli, I read up on the Crysmals... and while I won't mess around with it for my character's background, I have shown the entry to my DM... I hope he gets creative. ;)
Lostboy1701 04-23-05, 08:06 AM	so what did yer DM think of your creation? Hope he enjoyed it as much as we did. Great work by the way.
Ashianyl 04-23-05, 09:18 AM	He loved it. And I think he has some nasty surprises in store for me as well. :D What we normally do for our campaigns is that our characters are required to list out triggers for the following: Hero - What brings out the best in you. Hatred - What makes you angry. Obsession - What is your drive. He does this to plan out our adventures and to give us difficult choices to make that we may define our characters more. He loves giving us choices that pit us against our selfish nature (increasing our own power and goals) with a price (the price of the power you seek may be more than what you are willing to pay - especially if it means sacrificing friends or loved ones). Sometimes he does this subtly, by giving us choices that simply means hiding the truth from others... which we sometimes do because the returns was just too darn good (well, we learn along the way that there's no such thing as a free meal). Anyway, my obsession is to look for a psicrystal that I can become a mother to. :) I have yet to define what brings out the best in me - considering that the character is still a child. I basically said that I would let the party dictate what heroic is during the course of adventure, where their decisions and choices would make me ponder about my own beliefs and adapt them to suit my need for self preservation as well. But for hatred, I listed it as "Does not like seeing psicrystals abused/mistreated by their psionic masters". One of the other players pointed out that this could translate to my character empathising for children who are mistreated by their parents or the weak being bullied by the strong. I can't wait to play out this part as I know my DM is already planning an encounter along these lines. :D
Faramir154 04-24-05, 02:25 PM	Your character's obsession with finding another psicrystal so that it may become a mother, do you mean finding one or creating one herself?
Ashianyl 04-24-05, 04:31 PM	Finding one - since the process that created her ownself involved getting a psicrystal that's worthy of having an Ancestral Relic feat applied to it. and um, Elans don't reproduce normally... so no R rated scenes here. :P :)
Aerandir 04-24-05, 05:47 PM	Wow....:clap: Jeeze, and I thought my character's background story was good. I feel like I've just been offically blow out of the water! The way you've fleshed out your character, not only from a background standpoint, but also an emotional/role-playing standpoint is truly impressive. This is a shining example of how creative you can be within not only the requirements of a DM, but the gameplay rules of D&D as well. I kind of bent the rules myself for my character, but then again there really aren't any rules (that I know of) that could exactly relate to the situation. Lets just say that I made liberal use of the unknown effects that magic can have on the body. It's on this board if you're interested in checking it out. I'd be honored to get some feedback from one as creative as you.:bow: Good luck with your character!
Ashianyl 04-24-05, 10:28 PM	:blush: Thanks for the kind words, Aerandir... I will check out your post soon. :)
Sir Ringe 04-25-05, 03:02 AM	Heh, a lot of people have already congratulated you on your character concept, but let me be another one: WOW! Awesome Idea. :D I was just reading about psicrystals after going through your post, and there's a section in the Expanded Psionics Handbook (P 23) that details the personality quirks that each psicrystal has. From what I've been reading of Milei, she sounds like she has a Resovled personality? Or maybe a little bit of Hero? Just a suggestion, but maybe you can work in some of the quirks described in each description? It would be a personality tick that the character has, and you would also have the same personality bonuses that are associated with it? Just a thought :)
Ashianyl 04-25-05, 04:01 AM	Thanks, Sir Ringe. :D My master took the nimble aspect which is prudent from an optimizer's point of view and a good roleplaying aspect that suits character's need to preserve herself. It is a conflict that I hope to invoke when the time comes to do good at the risk of my character's own life. Will she do it? All the goodness that is in her tells her to... but at the same time, if she dies, that's it. Me thinks Milei will answer that question in her own fashion in due time. :)
cloud__1 04-29-05, 02:59 AM	:OMG! : This idea for a charater is fantasic!!!
Ashianyl 05-05-05, 08:18 AM	Thanks, cloud__1 :) And here's an update on our first adventure... we finally started our campaign (and everyone had a blast making their characters too). Our party consists of two Wizards (Zor and Amber), a Priest of Corellon (Galathea) and a Psion (that's Milei!!!) We met at a temple of Deneir in Battledale. Milei had read about the temple and sought to learn what she could at the temple before taking up adventuring. Milei was also getting quite good at her studies too (Knowledge Nature, Geography and Dungeoneering at 9 ranks each). Amber has a haunted past involving demons that she doesn't like talking about and Galathea has a strong bond with her god, often receiving dreams and sometimes nightmares that portents the future. Seeing as the whole cloister was manned by mostly male priests, it wasn't difficult for the three girls to befriend each other. Zor was a friend at the temple too... although he had more wanderlust in him than the other three. He was learning up as much about trade routes before he took off and it was a wonder for Milei to listen to his tales of travel. When it was time for Zor to leave, Milei asked to accompany the wizard. She saw the travelling entrepreneur as a means of finding a suitable psicrystal and off the pair went. The other two, having little better to do for the time being, decided to tag along and see the countryside. Our first adventure together had us travelling to Scardale where Zor had set up his first shop manned by his faithful friend and cohort (note: the DM and the player actually sat down to plan out how the economics of buying and selling would work on a local scale and a regional scale). It was pretty uneventful save a short skirmish with some thugs who thought they could ambush us. :)
Faramir154 05-17-05, 12:27 AM	So, has there been any progression?
Ashianyl 05-17-05, 01:50 AM	Update. :) Zor brought us to his shop in Mistledale (not Scardale as originally mentioned) and we were given an introduction to his Adventurer's Stockade. We met the shopkeeper, Torin (Zor's cohort), who is a decent looking male human who walks with a limp (an injury suffered while protecting Zor, it would seem). It was here that a wizard suddenly burst in demanding for material components of Unicorn Horn and Dust made from an Angel's Wing, all the while screaming "There isn't much time left!". Amber, being the learned one, whispered to Milei that those components were often associated with demon warding or curse removing magic. Zor decided to follow the wizard and Milei followed Zor. They ended up at the Temple of Tyr, where Zor and Milei discovered that the wizard had been scouring the town since morning for the ingredients. It seemed that some of his companions have died horrible deaths. Milei was approached by a rather fanatical follower of Tyr here who demanded that she repent and serve the one true god. Confused, Milei asked why that was so? No reasons were given save convictions that justice will be served. Religion have strange effects on some humans, it seems. It was also here that Milei observed how Zor, despite having Waukeen as his patron, could just as easily talk to the fanatic and win him over simply by agreeing to everything that was said. It would seem that some gods do not mind their followers acknowledging other gods at their own expense... In any event, the wizard did die a horrible death that night. It was shortly after dinner, near the inn where we were staying in that we heard a woman scream (she found the corpse). Milei walked to the corpse even as everyone stood away, curious but also deathly afraid that foul magics was at work. Deep gashes and scorch marks decorated the wizard's body. Amber had ordered two roasted deer portions and wolfed it down without problems, so she was rather reluctant to approach a dead corpse. Galathea, being a little slow, had to sweet talk the guards (who arrived to keep order)so that she could join Milei. Later attempts at speaking with the dead proved futile as there was no soul to contact. - Galathea was rather uncomfortable at having to contact a dead soul, something to do with Elvish belief that souls should not be disturbed. It was then that one of the Tyr clerics informed the party that the wizard was with a party who slaughtered an elf village and that there was still one other surviving member, a warrior who had earlier praised Amber for being able to eat like a true warrior. Was this the reason why the Tyr clerics did not help the wizard? * to be continued... :)
Faramir154 05-17-05, 06:55 PM	Ohhhhh! Ominous!
Ashianyl 05-20-05, 02:13 AM	Update! :) Gruff (the last member of a group that slaughtered an elf village) had hooked up with a new adventuring band and left for a ruin three days travel from the town. Gruff had apparently found some unexplored passages and used that story to get a new group to follow him. The heroes thought it would be prudent to track down Gruff so that more light could be shed on the mystery. It just wouldn't do to have a demonic kind of monster running around (bad for business, Zor said). Zor also said that he was tracking down a stolen amulet, which he suspected was taken by an elf that was hunting Gruff. Backtracking a bit to when the screaming mage first barged into the shop, Zor noticed that there was an elf that paid a little too much interest to the whole event. (Milei did not know this part, it was observed by Zor through his keen senses). Torin, who was examining the amulet at the time, said the elf insisted on buying the item, which Torin wanted to study first. Torin decided to tag along with the group since the stock was taken and the staff could take care of the rest (and also because he did not like the fact that someone stole from him). Just before the party left town, an ancient looking elf (yes, ancient... elves who are more than 1,000 years old do look old) bearing the symbol of Labalas Enoreth on his robes beckoned to Galathea from the distance. The elf had words that were meant for Galathea alone. When Galathea returned, a new resolve was seen in her eyes. "We must track down the warrior and find the elf that stole your amulet." No reason was given beyond that... and the others did not ask. Milei was curious, but did not question because she did not know how to. It wasn't long into the journey that a couple of orcs and goblins decided to pounce on the party. Milei charged into combat with psionic claws extended. Amber's first instict was to go invisible, then blast randomly at the direction where arrows were coming from with a fireball while Zor stood his ground to protect Torin with sword and buckler in hand. Apparently, Zor was not the full fledged wizard he claimed to be (game mechanics wise, he is a Chameleon, but we don't know that). Galathea showed exactly what it meant to charge her even if she was wielding a bow (and in full plate too). Using her bow which could act as a staff (new item from RotW) and enchanted with Brambles, she made short work of the orcs. The goblins, finding that their meat shields no longer stood, made off for the hills. * to be continued... :)
cloud__1 05-20-05, 07:25 AM	Interesting, by the way, I don't think elves can life past 750, and they start looking ancient at 350 (venerable age).
Ashianyl 05-21-05, 02:57 PM	You would be correct, Cloud_1. :) My DM clarified that the elf I was referring to was a Gold Elf. Their venerable age starts at 420 and they can live up to a thousand plus years. That, and I took for granted that all elves age as such. This happens lots when you take for granted the information from 2nd Ed made it intact to 3rd Ed. :P
Faramir154 06-05-05, 02:16 PM	So, how is the story progressing?
Ashianyl 06-06-05, 04:16 AM	Thanks for the interest, Faramir154. :) I have been busy in Sarawak running a journalist workshop for teens, so I've been kind of inactive in the forums. Anyway, onto the story. The party managed to track down the murderous fighter Gruff shortly after entering the abandoned keep. And we stumbled on something else too. The amulet thieving elf was there hacking away at the door where Gruff and his party had barracaded themselves in. Zor tried to calm the elf down, who was shouting about vengeance for the murdered village. Instead of helping with the parlay (Zor rolled high on the diplomacy check), Galathea demanded that the elf return the artefact. Before we could even ask what was going on, Galathea continued insisting that the elf return the artefact and that provoked the elf into action. He turned around to attack Galathea. The party could not allow this and retaliated. The elf fell, but with his dying breath he cursed us and laughed, "You fools! It's too late! The demon is unleashed!" A spirit burst forth from the elf's dying body and flew into the room where Gruff's party had baracaded themselves in. Screams followed. It was a girl's. Then another scream. Milei did not hesitate and broke through the remnants of the barricade. Gruff lay dying. A decapitated elf lass lay near him. A rogue male lay unconscious at the base of another door, thieves tools scattered all over. Milei quickly gave first aid but Galathea ignored the injured. Instead, she ran back out the room and down another corridor to chase the fleeing spirit. Zor, Torin and Amber gave chase to keep Galathea out of trouble. Milei stayed with the fallen, feeling compelled to stay and save the fallen Gruff. Something just didn't seem right... and the party would soon find out why. * to be continued. :)
cloud__1 06-07-05, 04:36 AM	At least Milei isn't evil (to leave people dieing i think is evil).
Faramir154 06-08-05, 06:10 PM	Wow! That's some progression! Galathea seems a little hot headed and cocky, doesn't she? I'm surprised no one else wanted to stay. That reminds me when a cocky member of our party went alone to attack a camp of enemies and got captured. Bad news was we had to pay his randsom, good news is we used his money to pay it! Hehe...
Faramir154 06-27-05, 02:05 AM	It's been a while, has the story progressed?
Ashianyl 06-28-05, 11:52 PM	Sumimasen, shigoto wa takusan desu - (my apologies, lots of work.) And that is the extent of what remains of my Japanese after five years of non-usage. :) Anyway, I believe an update is in order... and yes, much has happened since I last posted. The party decided that it was too dangerous to remain in the ruins, so a trip back to Mistledale was in order. After reviving Gruff and his rogue companion (whom we never got to know very well as he was a shifty quiet sort), Zor negotiated to relieve Gruff and the rogue of some magical loot he found in return for being able to travel with our party. And sure enough, halfway back to town, we were waylaid once again by the elf. His mottled skin, broken and cracking at all manner of places, hid a truly hideous being within. Zor took the initiative to negotiate a truce, to find out what could be done instead of resorting to violence. We did discover the reason, as the elf told us how Gruff meticulously ransacked and butchered an elven village and that all there was remaining was vengeance. Alas, Galathea would not have it. It was "Return the artefact and repent!" Sigh. Battle ensued and it was only after much effort did we overcome the demon, as the creature was resistant to our mundane weapons (DR 10/silver). Galathea, while being the only one armed with the silver weapon, was occupied with a shambling mound in a most uncomfortable position throughout the battle. As the battle concluded, Milei turned to confront Gruff. "Leave," she said. Despite whatever agreement Zor had with Gruff, Milei would have none of it now, not after hearing the horrors that had been committed. Gruff scowled and told the party they were a bunch of losers and started leaving. The rogue was prepared to accompany Gruff too, as part of the loot promised to him was with Gruff. But before they could part ways, Milei told them to be careful of Dark Elves that roamed the forest, prompting the rogue to reconsider following Gruff (which the DM later rewarded her with XP cos Milei saved the rogue from being murdered by Gruff - yay! :D ) We returned to Mistledale with Galathea happily handing back the artefact to the elderly elf. The party was a little upset over the non-disclosure of such a danger, but decided not to pursue the matter. Milei took the opportunity to find out more about religion from the local Tyr clergy while Amber hit the books. Zor meanwhile, received a big order for goods from the nearby fortress manned by disciples of Tempus. It seems that war is brewing somewhere. :)
Faramir154 06-30-05, 07:31 PM	Interesting. You could write a book about this, haha!
Ashianyl 07-02-05, 12:00 AM	Thanks Faramir :) I actually left out a lot of nitty gritty details in my story telling here, so I'm not too sure how about I would write a book based on the adventure. For example: Milei went over to the temple of Tyr because she found the concept of good vs justice hard to grasp. Was it justice to allow the elf to ressurect an ancient evil for revenge? Was it good to kill the elf? Such questions remain unanswered... especially more so when a Red Wizard caravan passed town and while arrogant and smug did not do anything evil, yet the townsfolk whisper that they are a vile lot. Things are getting pretty confusing for Milei who is trying to grasp such concepts of evil and good that seems to be different from person to person. :D
Faramir154 07-21-05, 07:54 AM	So, has anything new happened?
Ashianyl 07-25-05, 01:05 AM	I am actually off today so I will do my best to update everything. :D The goods that were being ordered from the Tempus conclave was huge and Zor had to call up his contacts from Sembia to complete the shipment. As preparations were underway, Milei took the opportunity to reflect upon life in her surroundings, but sadly, could not make much sense of it as she saw herself being more different than similar to the humans around her. She does not eat, sleep (although meditation is still a must for power point recovery) or understand the concepts of good and evil (this last part being due to her logical nature - she instinctively knows that forcing someone against their will is bad, but at the same time, has a hard time understanding the difference between law and how they are suppose to be for the good of people). And she could not understand the simple joys of companionship that male and female humans share. The only joy she found was in battle, as it was there that her purpose could be defined. Simple survival instincts coupled with the need to protect her companions ensured that she was a lethal killing machine. But enough of self contemplation. The expedition was about to set off and again, like an aimless soul, she heads off with her companions once more. :)
Ashianyl 07-25-05, 01:22 AM	:D The journey to the conclave was a constant state of vigilence for the adventurers, with three ambushes led by dark elves (boosted by potions - some of the players thought it was cheap way for the DM to boost the encounter's toughness while denying the players their rightful treasure :shifty: Alas, we arrived and delivered our goods, much to the joy of the clergy there. It had been some time since any caravan had made it through with all the dark elves roaming about. The head cleric (whom I forgot his name since this adventure took place a month ago) requested for our aid to find a missing adventuring party (we were good enough to survive the dark elves on our way here). The other party had gone off to investigate the dark elves that were harrassing everyone throughout the forest and we were asked to look into that as well if the original party did not survive. Zor, sensing some profit and believing that it would be prudent to help out a potentially big client, volunteered our services. And off we went looking for a missing band of adventurers with a device that was keyed to the other party's leader equipment. After a two half dozen dark elves encounter later, we found several of the bodies of the adventurers (some of them only) at a big clearing with a giant fallen tree in the center. It was here that we were once again ambushed by dark elves and while we were trying to fend them off, a group of werewolves descended upon us and the dark elves as well. Oh boy. The fight was savage, with the werewolves tearing the dark elves to shreds (one escaped though). The werewolves then turned on us with their full fury and it was a tough fight. Milei did her best to show off her own claws, but alas, they had superior strength and toughness (DR10/silver). It was going to be a losing battle when suddenly the wolfies stopped, sniffed the air and growled. They ran as the escaped dark elf returned with a larger force of other elves. Not knowing the forest well enough ourselves, the party decided to run with the wolves. ;)
Faramir154 07-25-05, 04:42 PM	Hahaha, sounds exciting!!! How large was the second Dark Elf force?
Ashianyl 07-26-05, 06:42 AM	hrrmmmm... lets see... the wolfies ran... we were losing to the wolfies... and um, well, we didn't see the elfies coming, but we sure weren't going to wait around to see what scared off the wolfies either. :) Anyway, we kept up with the wolfies and after running for what seemed like forever, we finally got a chance to catch our breath... right smack in the middle of the werewolves' forest clearing/patch/watchamacallit. We were surrounded but not mauled, which was a good sign. And sure enough, a large matronly silver werewolf stepped out to parlay with us. She was all that kept the younger, hungry looking nasty wolfies at bay, and for that we were thankful (and rather meek too). After sniffing us out and checking us, the matron werewolf proposed a temporary alliance of sorts... one that they are all too willing to have us help them with cos it involves dealing with a mind flayer. Yay! At last, a monster that Milei is familiar with and one that her previous master hates a lot (hurray for hardworking DM who plots our adventures based on our character progression). Well, the problem with the dark elves was that they were always kept in check by the werewolves (they have this thing for exotic foods) but of late, they have been prevented from snacking by this rather obnoxious mind flayer. The Illithid was working with the drow and was planning to take hold of the Tempus stronghold by cutting off supplies, which incidently also interfered with the wolfies' fair share of snacking on trade caravans. As the wolves were not resistant to the flayer's powers, they would help us in attacking the drow camp while we took out the mind flayer. After much reconnaisance and planning, we finally attacked and killed the mind flayer while the drow was distracted by the wolves. All in all, a good day's work as we manage to find one surviving member from the previous group and scattered the remaining dark elves back into the underdark. We parted ways with the furry wolves and returned to the keep for our reward (a monthly contract with Zor's adventurer mart for supplies) and returned home after that, where Zor promised that he would craft magical goodies for all of us (funds permitting, of course). :D
Harrow Blade 07-26-05, 09:02 PM	Sounds like there is an opening for an alliance of a more permanent sort with the werewolves. Being a fan of anything of a werewolfie variety I think it would be great to forge a link with them leaving it open later for werewolf cohorts and npc's. Also the crafting of magical goodies is always great.
Therius_Drake 07-26-05, 10:48 PM	I think it sounds like a really really fun character to play. Reminds me of a character I once played in a supers RPG where my character came from a planet made of all stone, rocks, and gems where immortal rock golems fought in endless wars. When his planet exploded, being immortal, the rock golem drifted in space for 300,000 years landing him on Earth. My character had never seen anything mechanical in nature, or even flesh as far as that goes. So when he landed in the middle of L.A I had a lot of fun role playing him! Hope I didn't go too far off on your topic! LOL
Faramir154 08-23-05, 08:34 PM	Anything new?
Ashianyl 08-31-05, 06:53 AM	Been busy, sorry for not responding sooner. :) Anyway, nice to know that I have some followers for my adventures. Hi Harrow. ;) No, Therius, it's ok for hijacking since all you are doing is sharing stories. :) And thanks for the continued interest Faramir. :D After the party obtained the contract for Zor, we returned to Mistledale for a little R&R. Zor took the time to purchase a competitor's shop (a gnome proprietor who also became an employee who is responsible for coming up with innovative products that the Adventurer's Mart will be the sole distributor for). While the rest of us were attending to our own stuff on the third day of R&R, we were suddenly summoned by Amber. Amber yelled something about our caravan being ambushed (turns out that Zor's latest shipment was being ambushed) and flies off, leaving the rest of us chasing after her. It was a bunch of human and orc bandits, and it was only through our intervention that the caravan supplies were saved. But Amber was apparently not too happy, as a member of the Church of Azuth who had been travelling with the caravan had been slained (and with his face smashed just as we arrived in the battlefield too). Brother Andrew had been hitching a ride with Zor's supply caravan in secret and was transporting an ancient text that details dark secrets (Amber would not reveal more information). Although most of the bandits were defeated and fled, we managed to capture one of them (a human). After some interrogation (with some mind reading spells), we discover that bandit was with the Zhentarim, an evil organisation with lots of nefarious schemes. Zor and Amber quickly came up with a strategy to charm / disguise / mind read / telepathic combo between themselves and used it on the poor fella to convince him that Zor was really a secret Zhentarim agent and that he would be released. The trick worked and we trailed him back to his master. ... to be continued. :D
Faramir154 09-02-05, 01:37 AM	*Taking a bow* I am but a loyal reader of your characters tale, hehe. Sounds fun, glad you've been able to respond.
Harrow Blade 09-02-05, 05:37 AM	Ahh the good old charm/disguise/mindread/telepathy combo how i love thee. Actually the best I came up with was beat him senseless and ask questions when he wakes up (the finess of barbarians with a short fuse)
Ashianyl 09-04-05, 10:43 PM	Faramir, thanks for your interest, I shall try to update more often (time permitting, of course). Harrow, finesse is not as messy and everyone goes home happy. ;) Trailing the bandit was easy and we were rewarded by discovering the identity of the Zhent agent that was based in Mistledale. Milei, who could manifest a power to keep herself hidden from an individual's mind, was up for the task. The arrival of the bandit shocked the agent, who quickly took out a crystal ball and contacted a Lady Cassandra. Listening in on the conversation, Milei discovered that the attack on the caravan was both unsanctioned and the purpose unknown. It was time to bring in the rest of the party and well, once again we stormed the agent's home. The escaped bandit was accidently killed (he charged at us but ran into a trap instead). We managed to capture the Zhent agent and the interrogation started all over again. We learned that there was a power struggle between Lady Cassandra and a Lord Gorion (both high ranking Zhents) and that Cassandra held the favor of the lords. We also learned of a possible location of Lord Gorion's base, seeing how that Zhent attacks around the area were increasing lately and that there were some abandoned ruins nearby that could serve as temporary shelter. Amber was all too eager to get us going, as the name of the Azuthian church was at stake here... well, that, and it doesn't hurt to have a look at a nice powerful artefact. Zor was more than happy to pack up once again and leave the running of his shop to his capable assistant (he smelled profit). Galathea thought that bad guys should not mess with powerful artefacts and went along. Milei... Milei just didn't know what else to do and decided to tag along. Thus far, her motivations for travelling is to see the world (and hopefully stumble into a worthy psicrystal that she would be mother to). :D
Faramir154 09-06-05, 02:09 AM	Everyone's got incentive. My characters would probably go for a mere good fight :evillaugh, hehe!
Ashianyl 09-14-05, 12:46 PM	And off we went to investigate the Zhentarim activity. Along the way, Zor dug up information on both Cassandra and Gorion... to better prepare for whatever it was we would encounter. Aside from them being rivals, we discovered that the attack on the caravan was unauthorised (as far as Cassandra's side of the agents knew) and that the crystal ball we got was an item reserved only for top agents within the organization. We set off on the trail soon afterwards towards the abandoned keep, we chanced upon another group of adventurers (barbarian, wizard, rogue, ranger, cleric and fighter) who demanded to know where we were headed. From their greedy little eyes, we figured this bunch was up to no good, but we tried to talk our way out of a fight. Zor said we had a treasure map and we were off to find the treasure but could give them the map in exchange for a little compensation... and well, lets just say the conversation didn't go well when Amber decided to butt in by saying that we were really looking for an artefact and that the compensation would be beyond their means... Swords were drawn and we clashed... the four of us against the six of them... and we still made short work of them. :D But two of the group escaped, and while we tried giving chase, it was not too prudent since we did not know the forest. The rest of the journey was pretty much uneventful and we arrived at the edge of the keep. We had a choice of fighting our way in... but Milei suggested that Zor use the information we got about the Zhentarim and use it to con our way in, that we were actually a bunch of Zhentarim agents working for Cassandra and we were here to investigate the undocumented attack on the caravan. After going through some of the finer details (and disguising Galathea to look a little less elvish), we walked straight in the front door... to be continued... ;)
Faramir154 09-15-05, 01:24 AM	Sounds like everything is progressing nicely.
Typhir 09-17-05, 04:09 AM	What a wonderful and unique character idea. I'm impressed with the depth of thought that you've put into it. I really enjoyed reading your character background. Hope it works out for the best, it certainly sounds like it. :)
Ashianyl 09-17-05, 02:33 PM	things are working out for the best, Typhir. our adventures have been getting really really cool thanks to our DM's hard work in preparing them. :D Anyway, onwards with the chronicles! :) In the front door we went... with Milei and Galathea disguised as bodyguards, Amber as a snobbish high ranking mage (didn't need much acting there) and Zor as the supposedly high ranking official from Cassandra's forces. We were stopped by the guards and immediately saw that our plan might not work... for the ranger and rogue that escaped us earlier were right there with the guards! Luckily, Zor reacted quickly and immediately raised a haughty tone and told the guards that they should really buck up instead of being sloppy. Zor then proceeded to demand an audience with Gorion... the guards, unsure of who we were, quickly summoned their sergeant. The ranking officer returned, summed us up and seemed ready to pick a fight... he was not entirely convinced by our act, which prompted Zor to pull out the crystal ball to ascertain his high ranking status. Upon seeing the crystal ball, the officer quickly exscused himself and said a meeting would be arranged with Gorion shortly. We were left alone with the guards and Amber suddenly decided that she needed to go to the ladies... Milei, playing her part as the bodyguard, left to accompany Amber. Amber intended to cast some mind reading spells out of sight... but the plan didn't exactly happen as two of the guards decided to go with us to ensure that we were 'safe'. Amber and Milei walked a little distance and once out of sight of the everyone else but the two guards... Amber suddenly stopped and answered to no one in particular. "Yes... Yes Milady." She then turns around and looks at the guards... "Well, you want to listen in on Lady Cassandra's message to me as well?" The guards quickly shook their heads and stayed a respectable distance from Amber... just out of earshot. Amber took the opportunity to cast her mind reading spell, all the while pretending to be talking to someone... :D We returned to the waiting room shortly after and Amber shook her head after reading all the minds of the guards there. It seemed that they were all loyal to the Zhentarim cause and they respected Gorion... so it would be difficult to get them to betray Gorion. The sergeant came back just in time to usher us towards a stairwell leading down into the dungeons for our audience with Gorion... :)
Faramir154 09-19-05, 09:29 PM	Sneaky little devils, arn't you? :devil:
Ashianyl 11-07-05, 04:51 AM	As we descended, Zor's keen senses picked up that we were being followed (sneakily) from behind by several unseen people, and promptly pointed it out to the sergeant. "Thank you for the additional security," said Zor. It unnerved the sergeant quite a bit. In we went, past a chamber that screamed of magical traps all over under the scrutiny of Amber's magic sensitive sight. And we entered to face Lord Gorion himself in his study. It was a middle aged man bearing powerful magic on his body (off game comments included - I want his rings / spellbook etc). We confronted Lord Gorion about the book and he seemed most harrassed at how we could have discovered about something so few people knew about. As Zor tried to negotiate with Gorion into seeing the book (so we could report back to Lady Cassandra), Amber got a little impatient and stepped forward to up the ante of the negotiations. Suddenly, there was a hint of recognition from Gorion upon seeing Amber more carefully. "You are not from Cassandra!" Gorion screamed as he unleashed a spell in our direction. The party quickly reacted with a few disabling spells but the crafty man had a hidden passage right underneath his seat and escaped, triggering an alarm along the way. The passageway closed after him and we decided it was not the most prudent to follow him down that narrow tunnel. Instead we left the study and followed a pathway leading down. We were forced to go through a large chamber with several automatons already moving towards us... and the guards from upstairs were behind us. Rather than fight two fronts, Amber threw up an Evard's Black Tentacles to prevent the guards from entering the chamber we were in. We proceeded to dispatch the automatons quickly (six rounds) and found a room with a stairway leading down and a door. Milei went ahead to open the door while the others headed downstairs. Much to her surprise, a Cloaker jumped Milei and engulfed her. It was to be the last thing the poor cloaker did as Milei, who has very very sharp claws, poked at the beast. Meanwhile, the rest of the party stumbled on some really weird experiments downstairs. A portion of the room, sealed off with spells and glyphs, contained a creature that our senses could only make out as colorful lights. Within the barrier, everything was distorted and warped. A quick search also revealed a skin and a face mask that had the features of Gorion... to be continued... :)