Character Intros

So I totally spaced that I hadn't posted this yet, just talked about it on the stream to Zeiss and maybe Javan. So lemme lay this out.

For the video going live in 2 weeks I need an intro to ... introduce the player characters of the Forum Group. Naturally I'm giving you guys the option to write that yourself, like Zeiss already has. If you decline, that's fine I'll do it myself, it's more an option than anything. But I do have a deadline to meet since I have to get most of August's videos done in the next two weeks so... you guys have until Friday evening to respond one way or another. Thanks.

Arch linked me this to have an example of what type of intro he had in mind. There's also a "Secrets" section you can add if you want to.

I'll attempt to write something up by tonight or tomorrow, but I'm under influence of allergy meds, so feel free to make as many modifications as needed.

Edit: Mess sent to Arch.

Here's my colored avatar link.

https://i.imgur.com/v3e7o4h.jpg

I guess they're not secrets anymore by now.


Higaide's secret is that his real name is really pathetic. I mean no really, it's "what the f**ck, K!" levels of retarded. It's what you'd call a dog; and not like a rottweiler or anything, more like one of those little german dachshund twerps that never stop barking.

Another one, and you've heard it here first, he most likely suffers from Depersonalization Disorder since childhood.


So now the problem is, how to flesh out a character created by a guy who as a kid had trouble identifying with his own reflection in the mirror, because of how it would shock him that he was actually flesh and blood and not some kind of vague scattered phantom.

Higaide is a human orphan raised by a caretaker (Logan) in Hlaalu. He was apathetic to most things, but liked the kindly old man, and would help out at his workshop like he was practically an employee. The old man retired, and his son (Petrus) took over, revealing himself to be a foolish incompetent scumbag who would grind down his workers and cheat his customers, until one day, after a faulty product left a customer injured, and Petrus was in the process of throwing an overworked coworker under the bus, a switch in Higaide's head flipped, causing him to casually get up from his chair and smash his boss's nose with a paperweight, then just stand there for a few seconds, with a really dumb and bored look on his face, staring down at the squirming fraction of a man grovelling in shock and pain on the floor.

After that, he and five of his friends decided to move to Ridoran and make a new life for themselves. Along the way, one of them went mad and killed other two, leaving Higaide nearly dead himself. After recovering, he became an adventurer, partly to scour the island for revenge, to no success. During a manhunt one day, he met a monk (Anji) who sent his party packing, but offered to teach him his skills. With nothing better to do, Higaide accepted, trained with him for some years, until Anji kicked him back out into the world, where he kept adventuring until Vasseyan Lassel was raised. Through a series of fortuitous incidents, he managed to stow away on the first ship bound for the mainland, and met the party.



Higaide's abnormal personality means he has a lot room in that void he calls a brain for the things he actually cares about, and those two are pretty much adventuring and people. The two often conflict with one another, leaving him torn between freedom and responsibility, since you can pretty much tell him about some random dude that he's never met before, suffering halfway across the globe, and he will care. He'll probably cross the globe to help the guy too, if he has nothing more pressing to do, because hey, adventure. You pretty much put those two together and he's happy. Unless people die, then he's very unhappy.

You take those two away from him, and it's a coin toss whether or not he'll just starve out of sheer apathy.


Goals: Stop the war. Find some way to keep his mind from ever being Scion-jacked, and share it with the rest of humanity, and whoever else takes exception to brainwashing.



His favorite food is this, and his favorite snack is roasted peanuts (walnuts will do as well). He doesn't drink alcohol (tastes horrible to him).

PM sent.

I'm noticing a trend here. Should i have PMed instead?

Naaaaaah. I only sent a PM because there are some secrets Zeiss has been keeping from the rest of the party.

Also, here's the link for the Exchange's emblem: https://i.imgur.com/3F3WdXp.png

And Zeiss' favorite food: https://silk.com/sites/default/files/recipes/medium/FruitSalad_DT.jpg

I sent mine as a PM for the same reason. I'll let Arch figure out what to share but otherwise there are a few details that are secret.

Here K, now you're not alone. I don't have any secrets in my character's history or wants or goals, but I keep some stuff from the trials a secret. I've been waiting for a good time to let slip one detail in particular.

I tried to make this wiki-friendly as well, so use what you need for the introduction and everything else for the wiki. Feel free to proofread it for anything else you'd like to add, or if you see something that wasn't worded good and could be written more eloquently, change things around, new section titles etc. I've added a couple titles for the 'notable humans' section of the humans page you have yet to write, but if the one about humanity seems too long or unreal, make a title that the refugees I shipped off to Osteth would know me by, something more personal to them and the people in Holtburg. Actually, please do that.
________
Rory Ølsund ("eyl-sund", maybe go with Aylsund? agh, phonetic...linguistic...something-something!)
24, Human

Barbarian, reformed tribal, Exchange Master-at-Arms, self-appointed guardian of humanity.

Pre-Campaign
During the panic inherent in the impending doom Vesayen Lassel(later resolved), a group of bandits seized a ship and blundered into a coastal village by mistake. In the resulting scuffle, a tribal known by the others as Rory went mad with rage, but was subdued and taken captive. The ship was caught in a storm on the way to Dereth, and Rory washed up on the Hebian-To peninsula, believing himself to be the only survivor. In the port town of Hebian-To, he took a job at the docks to earn a living, and joined an underground fighting ring as a way to train and earn money, with aspirations of joining the then-floundering Adventurer's Guild. After joining, he was a few grunt jobs away from the big one that brought the party together.

Personality
For most of his life, Rory lived peacefully in Rellemath, a coastal village home to an isolationist tribe native to Vesayen Lassel. He would sometimes make trips to the city to trade or otherwise obtain things the village relied upon to thrive. Although such visits were short, he often had a little time to experience the culture. He was the third oldest in a large family of warriors. His mother showed him how to hunt, which he took to as a pastime in the right conditions. Among his siblings, he was the most reluctant to being taught how to fight, to the point of being belligerent. At the time of his arrival on the mainland, Rory became very disgruntled and embittered by his lot in life. He has always appreciated the acquired taste of beer, and ever since, he has appreciated the taste of other various alcoholic beverages, in addition to - albeit less frequently - wanton drunkenness.

Starting class
Since before anyone can remember, the people of the village worked in tandem to keep its location secret; in addition, a nearby city helped ensure that they never had trouble with bandits*, and when they did, it was often a manageable group they were able to suppress without much difficulty. The event of the bandits blundering by and discovering their home by happenstance caused a surge of panic and uncertainty over how to deal with the invaders in the long term. In the heat of the moment, fighting and capturing them was all they had for a short term solution. Rory's bout of rage in the middle of the chaos was a moment of realization and self-discovery, and was the cause for him later being much more adaptive to the hardships people on the lassels were shielded from.

*Or I dunno, maybe bandits were never a problem, but they must have been when the protective bubble was burst, right? Use your best judgement.

favorite food: red meat
favorite drink: beer

Goals
Freedom and survival of humanity
Utterly destroy the Vyeotians
Foil the Pinnacle's plans

wait, what happened to Vallon?

Who's Vallon

Rory's last name, initially.

*shrugs* Last names were optional amongst the Vesayens to begin with.

So that's why i got away with one name.

Alright, I'm going to be recording this video tonight. If anyone does NOT want their secrets shared in the video they have basically an hour or so to say so on here.

Sure, you can share my secrets with the audience.

If the "secrets" i said are of any interest whatsoever, have at it.

Though i don't think there's any need to tell your audience that i had trouble with my own reflection, that'd just be weird.

You're such a thoughtful writer Rory. I never would have expected anyone to format their intro for Wiki inclusion.

I thought "Vallon" as a last name sucked. So there. I'll change it again if I want, what are you gonna do?

I'm gonna do this ಠ_ಠ face and wave my finger at you in disappointment. Let's see, you live in the US, right? So taking the curvature of the Earth into account... there! I'm pointing in your general direction right now!

At least i think it was you, it'd be really embarrassing if i'd just pointed to Third or Arch or Kolson instead.

Lol.

I figure this would be the best thread to post this question related to Vesayen Lassel and its population. Would it be fair to say that the aggressive population wasn't so aggressive due to ley line interference? You say the only instances in which someone was killed was when it was murder or psychosis-related, or insanity. I'm trying to figure out where Rory stands in all this. In the middle of that storm, the invasion of his home, and the slow disappearance of the island, could a person reasonably 'lose their mind' temporarily? He was admittedly not very happy with his situation. Cuz if not, I'm wondering if Rory has always been what he is, and if he's only morally able to conduct himself violently as he does because the connection to the ley line was lost.

In addition, where was Rory's tribe in all this talk of 'warfare' and boundaries? I remember putting Rory's village on the west or east coast, which could decide which House they were nearest and had the most relations with. I remember you saying the bandits had stolen a Hlaalu ship? If that places them nearest to or within Hlaalu territory, that would explain their bare minimum relation kept no further than trade with the "outside".

Somehow I feel like you could see how this would all come together from miles away when we were creating my character...not the questing and plots, I mean how he as an element of lore fits in with the rest of it.

I always pictured Rory's little tribe as being one of those quiet villages that, on the larger scheme of things, produced nothing of importance so was ignored by the greater bulk of politics; having only a threadbare connection to the other, larger town nearby. Both I always pictured as deep into Hlaalu territory, thus rarely seeing the ever-changing border situation, and since the town themselves had no interest in the outside world they basically never roamed outwards.

This helped explain half of why Rory is... well, far more violent than the vast majority of Humans; because part of that peaceful nature is due to cultural bias and upbringing. Rory (and, honestly, all others from his village) didn't really have much of that constant exposure to the ideals that killing is wrong... not making them all sociopaths or anything (since after all they don't have much reason to kill either, being isolated and tightly knit society-wise) but nevertheless not having it as reinforced. The second half of the reason, I've always assumed, is that Rory wasn't right in the head for a Human(this admittedly has been an assumption on my part), someone who is far more likely to be, for lack of a better term, unbothered by killing and unburdened by the idea of 'sanctity of life' malarky.

...as for the Ley Line situation, Humans do directly draw energy from the Ley Lines (all Humans, even Aphus ones) and that does have an impact on how they are and act, as well as a few other consequences not yet unveiled.