Request from Arch's fans

Several of Arch's fans not a part of our campaign have a request of us. They would like to know what we feel is the most traumatic event our characters have experienced so far. Now I believe we will all agree that anything Fier has experienced with us would pale in comparison to what she had happen to her, so I'm going to limit this to just us solely online people. Now goo vote. I will give this one week (till next Sunday the 12th) for you to vote. Then I'll discuss with brother how to give this to the people.

Are we voting somewhere or just posting it freeform here?

Wait, traumatic event? Is it required for this event to have happened during the campaign?

I'd say just post here untill we get some options going, Snarg.

Zeiss the question was "what's the worst thing that you've done to your online D and D group arch. THE absolute worst thing." soo take that how you will...

Sending me to prison and leaving me unable to play for two weeks?

As for Zeiss, he thought his life was to an end. And he escaped from it because some people wanted to help him. I am not sure we should tell that to the people since it would be a spoiler for the D&D blog.

Bump.

@zeiss hmmm true why don't we give a funniest or most hoorible or whatever thing that has happened OOC in chat?

I have nothing to contribute. I can't say that anything bad has happened to my character.

It's up to Archengeia if he wants to reveal what happened, since this was done in PMs, but I'd say the most traumatic moment for Snarg was the temple trial.

Oh yeah, that too.

That was traumatic for Zeiss.

Always strange as a GM when an event turns traumatic when it wasn't intended to be. Dynamic story and all that.

@snarg yeah I know what you mean the mock trial I did for Kez was awful (good but awful). Kez would have been traumatized brother even said that he would have had someone in game wipe her memory...

becoming a ghost for 7 odd days (game time) while i wait for my net to get put back on

but really the Letter that Tab got from his Lord back just before joining the order has put a really strain on Tabran.

Bump come on people answer!!!!

I have recorded a video answering this. I'm going to give you guys a private link to it before it is uploaded on YouTube. It would make me happy if you guys would watch it and give your approval of my answer before I send it to Arch to be posted.

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B6qtVWQuR_PtS3FjM0p3NnZEUkE/edit?usp=sharing

GOoo!!!! View and Report!

I liked it. The total awfulness of it created a powerful dramatic experience. I mean, you both got upset about it. How often does that happen?

To be honest, I kinda wish you guys had kept it in the game, just with Kez's memory wiped and replaced with her tour of the Spacial Temple.

For Rory, it's debatable if the Spacial temple trial was the most traumatic for him in this campaign. He did something he didn't agree with, but he had a choice, and he chose it, believing the end result had to be achieved. So far, he hasn't been affected by it, but he has yet to reach hindsight.

It'd have to be that time we laid hands on the kid in the catacombs or the time I tried to absorb the materia that was too altered to effectively be materia. Otherwise, it's kind of difficult considering his perspective, the difficulty he has in becoming genuinely concerned, and for the most part just not having a lot to care about. It's relatively more difficult to traumatize someone who likes killing, won't get close enough to someone to care about them, doesn't pledge loyalty to factions and armies, and forces anger in a stressful or scary situation.

And threatens a receptionist every other day of the week.

The video looks good to me, it gives a very accurate representation of the trauma that the temple brought all up ons. I kind of gave a summary of mine in the campfire thread, although if you'd really like, I can write out the whole story to you - up to you.

I do not mind telling Zeiss's trial either. It was pretty traumatic for him.

So Xan, you wanted a traumatic experience to tell the people on the Internet. Here is Zeiss's Spacial Trial.

Keep in mind that he was forced into the Bloodied Flock to pay a debt of 3000gp (he stole from them when he was a young teenager). At this point in time, the debt has been paid. Now, on with the story!

_____________________________________________________________________

Zeiss was in Glenden Wood, in West Aluvia. As a member of the Bloodied Flock, he had been hired to kill a thief. Following his target through the empty streets, and hiding himself by using the shadows that the night provided him. He finally found an opportunity to attack the gnome. He approached him from behind and knocked him down. His target fell with a yelp and gems spilled on the ground.

Zeiss announced himself as an assassin from the Flock, to which the gnome admitted that he stole the gems from the PTC. Before he died, the victim-to-be asked for a last favor : that the gems be given to the people of the subclass district. To this request, Zeiss frowned. He did not like being asked to follow the will of another person. Then he realized he did not want to obey to the Bloodied Flock's orders anymore. He had already paid the debt he owed to the Flock some time ago, and found no good reason to stay with them. If he was to leave the organization, nobody would be looking for him.

He sheathed his rapier and told the gnome that if he really wanted to help people, he would have to do it himself. Zeiss then took one of the diamonds that fell on the ground and left, indifferent to the fate of the man he spared.

It was at this moment, at the end of the street, that he met another assassin, a Sclavi. One look was enough : this person was much more experimented than he was. Amused by what happened, the other assassin asked him why he left the thief alive. Knowing that he probably had no chance in combat, Zeiss decided that it would be best to answer his questions without attempting to flee or confront him. He explained that he realized that he didn't have any good reasons to follow the orders he had been given. Nothing compelled him to. Thus came his decision to leave the Flock and start a new life somewhere else, leaving the gnome to make his own choices.

The Sclavi, incapable of understanding the reasoning before Zeiss's actions, simply told him that he was going to kill the thief and the people that would have profited from his theft. Zeiss had no problem with the gnome dying. Having been himself a thief almost ten years ago, he knew that this kind of "profession" required to be prepared to die. When you steal from someone important, you never know what they could do to take revenge.

But he did not want innocents to be caught in all of that. They weren't part of the problem and their deaths were unnecessary.

Calmly, he approached the Sclavi and took out of his pocket the diamond he took from the gnome. He handed it to the other assassin, saying that he didn't want to be followed by hired killers. Being distracted by the sight of this gem, the Sclavi was surprised by Zeiss who threw the diamond to his face and tried to attack him with his rapier. In response to that, the assassin broke the rapier and cut Zeiss's neck with one of his poisoned dagger.

He fell to the ground, coughing in his own blood. His killer leaned towards him and asked him one last question : why did he do that if all he cared about was free will? He responded, with difficulty, because he wanted to. Unsatisfied, the assassin left to kill the gnome and all the people who would receive gems from him. As for Zeiss, he slowly died, alone in the streets of Glenden Wood, blood coming out of the new hole in his neck.

The trial ended after he died.

Jeeze, that's quite a trial. What did Zeiss the character learn from it?

Z wrote:I have recorded a video answering this. I'm going to give you guys a private link to it before it is uploaded on YouTube. It would make me happy if you guys would watch it and give your approval of my answer before I send it to Arch to be posted.

Holy crap that sounds traumatic. For both the character AND you.
Insightful and enlightening, for the Olthoi race, the temple trial itself and the experience itself. Well done.

I have to say, reading through the responses so far, it makes me curious as to what my character would have experienced. I still stand by my decision as to abstain from the Spacial trial (being diametrically opposed to my element of Life), but damn.... Interesting people! Thanks for sharing, Xahn (and everyone else)!

Snarg of Wildpaw wrote:The video looks good to me, it gives a very accurate representation of the trauma that the temple brought all up ons. I kind of gave a summary of mine in the campfire thread, although if you'd really like, I can write out the whole story to you - up to you.

sooo all you said in the campfire thread was that your trial wern't pretty. you never actually said anything about it...

that being said I will happily share your story, but to do so you have to tell me

Zeiss I shall wait to tell your story until I can tell them all.

Can an Olthoi actually pass the space trial?

I wrote up a summary on page 2 about it in the campfire thread. Regardless, here's a more in-depth look in to it. Some of the details may not be 100% accurate since I unfortunately do not have the archives of this any longer.

It began at the Crater. Snarg had finally finished his scouting mission and had found the perfect settlement for his Wildpaw tribe. There was only one problem: a Centaur tribe had also settled in to that area. There was room enough for both of them, however, so there was still hope that they would be willing to accommodate another people there.

Snarg snuck up and observed the Centaurs and quickly found out that they belong to a clan well-known for being very warlike. After some consideration, he intercepted one of the outer patrols, although his intention was not to hurt him. Instead, he told the Centaur that they were looking in to this land and that they were not wanting a fight. He was sure that they could co-exist without any trouble and they would be arriving soon. After emphasizing that, he let the Centaur go and then returned to his boss, Gnawbone, who was bringing up the rear with the rest of the tribe.

Although he informed Gnawbone that he thought they could settle there together, Gnawbone thought it prudent to prepare for war, and Snarg didn't argue with him. Donning armor and weapons, they advanced forward and went out to meet the Centaurs, who had prepared in a similar fashion. Snarg saw the Centaur he had spoken with earlier and waved him over. He acknowledged him and was sent to meet with Gnawbone in the center. After a few talks, an agreement was worked out and Wildpaw was invited to stay with them.

Everything went well for a bit, but one night, the Centaur who Snarg had initially talked to (they considered themselves friends now), woke him up in the middle of the night. He informed Snarg that the council was meeting that night to turn over Wildpaw to one of their enemies. They had not in fact been welcome, but were being betrayed.

Snarg wasn't sure how exactly to proceed. He had finally settled his tribe in a good place after a long while of searching and did not want to give it up so easily; especially to those that would betray them. On the other hand, Gnawbone would likely take preemptive action against the Centaurs and a bloodbath would ensue. A bit conflicted, he decided to go with what Gnawbone decided. He was, after all, the leader of the tribe and had the final say. Snarg told his Centaur friend to warn others since he was going to Gnawbone with this information, and he would likely decide to fight.

That night was a bloody one. The Gnolls took the Centaurs by surprise and completely annihilated them. Although there was much loss, Wildpaw was still very much intact, they had their land, those that would betray them were gone, and not all of the Centaurs had been killed. Snarg's friend and some others he had warned survived. Although it was unfortunate, things were still intact.

Then, a terrible thing happened. As they were cleaning up the battlefield, a mask appeared and somehow grabbed hold of Gnawbone and the Centaur. They were suspended, obviously in a tortured state. Snarg thought a powerful mage had come by to mess with them and immediately demanded the release of his friend and leader. When it did not comply, he charged it, intent on breaking it. However, it was no good.

A loud voice chastised him for his decisions the previous night. It asked him if the ends really had justified the means, why he had not considered another alternative, and other questions of the sort. Snarg refused to answer many of his questions. He challenged it back, asking why it had any reason to be involved in this, what authority he had to make any judgment like that, and to determine whether he had made the "right" or "wrong" decision. After some back-and-forth shouting, apparently the voice had had enough. Gnawbone and the Centaur screamed out in extreme pain as they were crushed alive where they were held. Going in to a maddened rage, Snarg attempted to attack the mask again, which disappeared as he reached it. He ran around the battlefield, calling out again and again to the mage that had killed his companions.

As he ran around, the rest of the Wildpaw tribe approached Snarg, asking what to do next. Many were disgusted at the previous night's bloodshed and disheartened at seeing their boss dead. Snarg tried to calm them down and convince them that, although unfortunate that it had turned out the way it did, they should move on and honor the sacrifice of Gnawbone. After all, he had finally led them to a new home all to themselves. His words did not sway them and the entire tribe made up their mind to leave. They headed for another city to join with them instead of continuing the tribe here. Snarg again shouted out in anger at the mage, convinced that he was playing with their minds.

Severely despaired, Snarg refused to join them and stayed behind. He took to the task of laying the rest of his companions to rest. As he finished Gnawbone's grave, he swore to continue the Wildpaw tribe himself. He cursed the mage, swearing revenge on him. Setting out alone to Al-Jezima to begin his hunt, his trial finally ended as he looked up one night at the stars. There he decided that, although things had turned out for the worst, that he considered himself the only remaining member of Wildpaw, he had made the right decision in the end. The ends sometimes did justify the means.

The trial ended as he stumbled out of the portal and he remembered that he was in fact in a trial; that it wasn't real. He felt severely betrayed by the elements themselves, like he had been purposely tortured for the amusement of some higher power. From that day forward, he hasn't been quite the same. His personal beliefs were fractured to some extent and he's gradually rebuilding them with a new look on the world. Indecisiveness and mood swings are also a result of his struggle to construct his new beliefs. This has led to several unfortunate encounters.

However, although the experience was traumatic as a whole, his new willingness to consider new ideas, try new things, and accept people he otherwise wouldn't have, has resulted in many positive experiences.