Earthdawn: Down the River

[frigidmagi]

Good news, y'all got very very lucky. Most of what you wanted was in town (I added in a modifier for the town being on a trade route. That actually got you over the top on something like 60% of the rolls.). However... There is bad news.

Not available:

Crystal Bucklers
Cloaksense Broaches
Shaped Bone charms
Disturbing Appearence charms
Wings of Fire Charms
Divining Rods

Also: No Tigers for sale. Sorry.

In what was utterly shocking to me, they had enough potions for everyone (I rolled to see how many of each potion was available with modifiers for the Magician Guild and the trade route, turns out there are an obscene amount of brews lying around... I guess I know how the Spirit Rock affords all those nice houses and such now...). I did roll individually for each Last Chance Salve on account of them being Very Rare. All told, I needed to roll above a 6 on 2d6 (modifiers for rarity, magician guild, trade route, without the last two I would have to roll above a 9).

The rolls were:

11
7
10
7
8
7

I guess the dice liked you today. Expect individual messages tomorrow.

Oh 1 last thing...

There were only 5 sets of Huntsmen boots in town. 6 of you asked for Huntsmen boots. :D

[Lys]

Yaaay for luck! ^_^

I guess this answers my question, being charming was irrelevant because it has zero effect on the immediate availability of things in the city. Pity about the bone charm, they're neat thematically. No matter though, it's a tribal ork thing and we're heading into the rain forests of Cara Fahd. We will no doubt run into someone willing and able to fashion one out of Storm's keepsake wolf bone.

[Hotfoot]

The people we're likely to run into are probably not going to be willing to make blood charms for us. They might be willing to make blood charms from us, however.

Also, I am now quite happy with the level of spiff I've finagled out of textile for Nethan's character sheet and I invite you all to take a look.

I will provide textile examples on request for anyone that wants them.

[Lys]

The people we're likely to run into are probably not going to be willing to make blood charms for us. They might be willing to make blood charms from us, however.

Have you no faith in Stormbreaker's ability to make friends and influence people?

[Hotfoot]

Have you no faith in Stormbreaker's ability to make friends and influence people?

Stormbreaker has influenced me greatly. When I made Nethan, I had issues with the Thief's Mantra and aligning that with my personal outlook on life. Since travelling with Stormbreaker, I can now fully understand and embrace that concept.

[Lys]

Normally I'd be glad to be having a positive effect on the party, but you've never shown anything with the vaguest of resemblances to hesitation about Nethan's nature as a Thief and a Spy. Both you and him have been as enthusiastic about it as me and Stormbreaker are about sword fighting. In other words, your story doesn't check out.

[Cynical Cat]

If only there was a Nethermancer in the group with the half magic ability to make blood charms. Wait . . . . .

[Hotfoot]

Not my fault you weren't involved in the long conversations I've had with Frigid about this, much less the fact that, like Nethan, I am a brilliant actor (even if the Orks just can't seem to appreciate fine Dwarven plays and acting methods).

[Lys]

If only there was a Nethermancer in the group with the half magic ability to make blood charms. Wait . . .

Sure, and said Nethermancer also has the alchemy skill, which is can too be used for making blood charms. In fact, his step number for making blood charms through either method is 9. The enchanting difficulty of the charm in question 11, a 30% chance of succeeding per week of effort. Come Circle 3 the base chance of success will be 39% per week of effort. This seems dreadfully low, which is why I didn't ask. Granted I forgot you can always karma with half-magic, which increases the chances to 63% and 69%, respectively. That's much better. Given I figure it takes about a week to outfit the expedition, and that almost all of the week's time in making a blood charm is just soaking it in an alchemical solution...

*makes innocent puppy eyes* Pretty please?

Not my fault you weren't involved in the long conversations I've had with Frigid about this.

It's totally your fault, and it will be continue being your fault until you share.

[Cynical Cat]

Yes, karma does change the math. And yes, I would be quite willing to help a figure as dashing and romantic as an exotic Swordmaster from distant lands.

[Hotfoot]

It's totally your fault, and it will be continue being your fault until you share.

Very well, then I will. When I first started talking to Frigid about it, I felt
[REDACTED]

[General Havoc]

I'm still required up here with my parents, who are still recovering from Airplane Flu. I am therefore likely to be late tonight I'm afraid.

[frigidmagi]

I can understand that, but is there anyone you would be willing to let run your character as you're the only one with an action right now?

[frigidmagi]

Quick Check, is there anyone besides Julian who can't make it Monday?

[rhoenix]

I might be a few minutes late due to errands, but I'll be there.

EDIT: I might be up to an hour late, though I can't project for sure. I'll wrap things up as quickly as I can.

[rhoenix]

I might be a few minutes late due to errands, but I'll be there.

EDIT: I might be up to an hour late, though I can't project for sure. I'll wrap things up as quickly as I can.

Cancel that - errands worked out for today, and not tomorrow. I'll be there on time on Monday.

[Karrick]

I hate to do this last minute, but I'm feeling pretty shit tonight and going to crash early.

This seems to be something of a running theme for me on Monday nights these days. It might be best if I pulled out of the Monday games until I can sort out both my sleep schedule and thesis. Blehhh. Sorry folks.

[Hotfoot]

It's okay dude, do what's best for you.

[Lys]

Here I rant about things of no great importance, but nevertheless related to the game:

Two of Stormbreaker's character traits are that she a show-off and somewhat unreasonably attached to her swords, which were specially made for her. That's why said swords are more parade swords than something that's meant to be taken out on the field, as anyone who looked at the pictures in her profile would know. What you might be surprised to find is that I was never satisfied with the picture of Might, her yataghan, because it's too fancy.

Wrath, her kilij, is pretty much perfect. It has a sturdy construction with the hilt and the scabbard's terminal and upper all made of blackened iron. The ostentatiousness comes from inlaid silver and turquoises on the iron, as well as some inlaid brass cartouches on the blade. It's the sort of decoration most people wouldn't put on an adventuring sword, but they do not interfere with the weapon's function. Worst thing that happens is it's more expensive to maintain because you have to touch up the inlaid silver and brass every so often.

In the case of the yataghan I kept finding pictures that were either too plain, too ostentatious, or else had a sword that I liked but no scabbard (like this gorgeous yataghan with an gold-inlaid tulwar hilt). There just wasn't a picture of sword and scabbard occupying that nice middle ground of solid, functional construction with fancy bling on top. In the end I wound up erring on the side of too much shiny rather than too little. Thus the picture I chose features a yataghan with an electrum hilt, inlaid gold script on the blade, and electrum terminal and upper on a repoussé silver scabbard. Electrum is a silver-gold alloy, and while the addition of silver makes it sturdier than gold, it's still a poor material for making stuff that's going to get banged up. I actually very nearly used this one instead, but the blade and scabbard are scuffed and the grip looks uncomfortable.

That was the state of things until recently, when I discovered the Shashka. On seeing a picture of the sword over at /tg/ and not knowing what it was I supposed it was from the Balkans or Caucasus, were it was influenced by both the Turko-Mongol sabre and European swords. After doing some research it turns out I was right, it's a Circassian blade that the Russians loved the hell out of, and it became their standard cavalry sword in the 19th century. It is in particular heavily associated with the Cossacks, who adopted before the Russians did. So looking up pictures of shashkas, because I like to look at pictures of swords in my spare time, the idea of using one of them instead of a yataghan kind of grew on me.

As it happens Storm's secondary weapon hasn't shown up in-character yet, mostly because at present she fights using a sword and buckler style similar to Razmafzar. Until a such time as she actually draws or talks about the thing, I feel free to to change the fluff so long as the crunch remains the same. Eventually I did find a shashka that I really liked and I provisionally changed Might to be it. It has a niello hilt and scabbard fittings, plus an inlaid gold cartouche on the blade's ricasso. Niello is a mix of silver, copper, and lead, with the exact proportions depending on its intended use. It's generally about as tough or tougher than sterling silver, which makes it good enough for something meant to see regular usage. (Almost used this beauty instead, the hilt and fittings are brass.)

I wasn't ready to give up on the yataghan yet, though, so I decided to give it another whirl. Like I said, I like looking at pictures of swords in my spare time. Eventually I found one that fit my requirements in the most unexpected place: Assassin's Creed Revelations. Apparently, the game takes place primarily in Constantinople about 60 years after the Turkish conquest, and the main character, a Firenzian assassin named Enzio, starts out with a black yataghan. It features what looks like an ivory hilt with silver fittings, as well as silver decorations on the sword's ricasso and the scabbard. It's pretty much perfect in how it is elaborate but functional, which leaves me at an impasse of two swords I like but only space for one.

Normally I wouldn't worry too much about reference pictures. However, Strombreaker is a Swordmistress who is attached to her particular weapons, and I want her to able to geek out at length about them should the occasion to do so come up. This means that I need to have a clear idea in my head of what exactly said weapons are, what they look like, and even their in universe histories. I have that rather well developed for her primary sword, but not so for her secondary one. I've been leaning toward the yataghan, since Storm's use of a kilij instead of a shamshir indicates a preference for weapons with their balance more toward the front, and the yataghan handles a lot like a hatchet while retaining the cutting and stabbing power of a sword. On the other hand, when using a two weapon style, having a differently balanced weapon on the offhand is useful for keeping the enemy off balance, and the shashaka is very nice in how light and manoeuvrable it is. It is fortunately unlikely to require resolving before next session, but I would still like to have that settled soon.

[Cynical Cat]

Wait, a fantasy gaming semi-Russophile like you has only now heard of the shashka?


Can you prove you're the real Lys?

[Lys]

I have an eclectic and extremely varied set of interests as well as a tendency to become obsessed with particular things for short periods then lose interest and move on to other things. This makes me conversant in a wide variety of subjects, including ones that I arguably know little to nothing about, but on the flip side it leaves me with a fair number of curious gaps in my knowledge. The shashka was one of said gaps, but my knowledge on related subjects lead me to make correct conclusions about it and its area of origin just from looking at this picture. Conclusions that I later confirmed by reverse image searching it.

As for proving I'm the real Lys... I just went on and on at length about a minor detail of a character Lys is roleplaying. Nobody but Lys herself gets that obsessive about her characters. ^_^;

[Cynical Cat]

As for proving I'm the real Lys... I just went on and on at length about a minor detail of a character Lys is roleplaying. Nobody but Lys herself gets that obsessive about her characters. ^_^;

*cough cough*

No.

Marcao stated out his character's parents for Hotfoot's Heavy Gear game. As part of character creation.

Then there's Havoc who obsesses over which type of gladius his character should have, based on his background and what extinct regional languages he should be fluent in.

Cameron lifts character names from fragments of Viking Sagas and describes his character using the Norse Poetic Style as part of character creation. You have scroll down past the poetry to see the actual numbers for his stats.

And then there's me, but you don't see as much as you do with everyone else because I'm a secretive motherfucker.

[Lys]

Yes and that level of obsession is evidence that they're the ones who wrote the characters in question. I wasn't saying that the intensity of my obsessiveness is unique to me, but rather that it's target is.

[Cynical Cat]

Yes and that level of obsession is evidence that they're the ones who wrote the characters in question. I wasn't saying that the intensity of my obsessiveness is unique to me, but rather that it's target is.

I've asked Ben to reconsider minor details involving his character's disfunctional relationship with his parents because the ones he posted didn't feel right.

[Lys]

Also I hear you about being a secretive motherfucker. Do you remember Blastcap, my Cybertronian mercenary combat engineer? Here's a number of things I didn't mention: She once tried to attain immortality via back-up creation, but was stymied by her inability to find anyone capable of recreating a Cybertronian spark. She has a daughter named Grey, but their relationship is strained. She's wanted by a particular polity as a war criminal for the use of stone burners, a charge that she holds to be bullshit because they were only illegal after she used them. She hates working for religious fundamentalists because it's never turned out well: either they breach her contract, or else get so annoying she wants to breach it herself. She has a twin brother named Detcord who is the only person she will acknowledge, grudgingly, as better at demolitions than herself, but the bastard is unstable and they don't get along (Blastcap thinks he should have been named Nitro). She legitimately doesn't know whether she was originally a Decepticon or not because she locked part of her memories of the war away and threw away the key; Detcord knows but Detcord is insane.

I've asked Ben to reconsider minor details involving his character's disfunctional relationship with his parents because the ones he posted didn't feel right.

Did you write a 1000 word essay about it after spending days agonizing over the subject?