Wizards and wars

Wizards and Wars

Story

The people of the world of Errinoor lived in constant fear. Harrsha and Tyn, the two largest nations of the world, had been undergoing unrest for some time, and it seemed the two giants would collide on the field of combat. Smaller nations trembled in the shadows of these behemoths, fearful of being trampled underfoot.
Then it seemed a miracle happened. The two nations decided on a more peaceful course: an alliance. As a symbol of this peace, the Harrshan Prince Heidich would be wed to the Tynnian Princess Nena.

Yet on the day of the wedding, a huge black bird descended upon the ceremony and snatched the Prince from the altar. The rogue mage Hayse appeared before the guests, stopping the guards with a wave of his hand. He declared that until such time as the Council of Wizards chose to allowed him to join their ranks, the Prince would be his guest.

The Council are unwilling to do this. To allow Hayse into the Council would be to give him access to books and talismans not accessible to non-Council members. What he might want with these is unclear, but they hold that it could be more dangerous than allowing Harrsha and Tyn to go to war.

And so the King of Harrsha has little choice. With Tyn becoming hostile, he can€™t spare the troops needed to defeat Hayse and bring back the Prince. All he can do is gather a group of travellers who wish to take on the bounty. And so it begins€¦

Entering

I€™ll need the following information from you all.

1) Your characters name.
2) Your stats. More on this later.
3) Your starting skills, spells and equipment. More on these later.
4) A brief description of your character. Optional.
5) A brief history of your character. Also optional.

Stats

You have 25 points to divide between strength, stamina, agility, skill and intelligence.

Strength - Affects damage done in combat, and the type of things your character can manipulate. A character with 3 strength is not going to be lifting heavy boulders any time soon. Strength also affects how much equipment a character can carry.

Stamina - Affects the ability to take punishment, how long your character can go on for without becoming knackered, etc.

Agility - How swift your character is, and how good they are at moving through certain territories. A character with lower agility is more likely to trip over every tree root that presents itself.

Skill - How deft your character is at manipulating fiddly objects, such as lock picking. This also effects how well your character can use ranged weapons, although some might still need strength. It€™s all very well throwing a knife with perfect precision, but it won€™t help if you can€™t throw it more than three feet.

Intelligence - Determines not only how many spells your character can learn, but also how good they are at it.

You may find talismans that improve your stats when equipped.

Magic

Anyone can learn magic, but the amount of spells that can be learned is based on the intelligence rating. You can learn one spell for each point of intelligence you have.
Spells are learned by reading a spell scroll. The spell transfers from the parchment to the mind of the reader, leaving a blank spell scroll. Spells can be un-learned in a similar way, the spell transfers from the caster into the scroll. By doing this, you can chop and change magic as needed by the situation.

Intelligence also affects how diversely you can use the magic. For example, a fire spell used by someone with low intelligence isn€™t much good except for attacking with. But a higher intelligence could allow a mage to control flames. Put out a burning building, simply by taking all the fire out.

You may find some spell scrolls on your journey, so you don€™t need to fill up all your magic allotment at once.

The only limitation with magic is the more you want to do, the longer it will take you. So when a dozen monsters are rushing at you is NOT the time to lay an extremely powerful magical beatdown.

Equipment

Remember, how much you can carry depends on your strength, so don€™t go overboard. Equipment will be given a weight such as, say, 52. Your carrying capacity is your strength X 100, so someone with 7 strength has a max weight of 700.

The only limitation I€™ll put on your starting equipment is that it can€™t have any stat increasing effects. If you start with some magic, you will be carrying empty spell scrolls, depending on how many spells you know.

Fighting and taking damage

I€™m not using an HP system, damage is a more realistic system. If you get a cut on your arm, it might not affect you, or it might lower your strength, depending on how bad it is. An injured leg could affect your speed and agility, etc.

Fighting is similar. How well you€™ll be able to get through the battles depends on your skills and tactics.

Starting skills

For magic, I€™m really letting you use your imagination Choose spells as you want. If I consider a spell too cheap, I€™ll ask you to limit it somehow.

Starting skills are really little extras to let you customise your characters. You can have up to three of these. Some examples are:

Weapon expertise - Extra skill with a certain type of weapon. An expertise for several weapons can be used, but you need a different skill for each weapon.

Magic expertise - Allows you to use magic better than your intelligence stat might allow.

See in the dark - Gives you carrot eating prowess.

Pathfinding - Allows you to find easy paths through difficult terrain.

Lock picking - Allowing for a five finger discount.

Any others you can think of to suit your wants. Again, nothing cheap like immortality. I€™m looking at you, Alex.

Finally, I€™ll be keeping note of your characters status as the game goes on, but I suggest you all do the same too in case I miss something. Have fun.

Me? Why would I do something like that, you must be thinking of another Alex, lol.

Fennel Grey

Strength: 7
Stamina: 8
Agility: 4
Skill: 1
Intelligence: 5

Starting Equiptment
A suit of armour - not full plate - a tatty looking but servicable iron chest plate but otherwise made up on chainmail and lots of loose leather, plus steel gauntlets and shoulder pads.

A longsword which, although looks very worn and is filled with notches, is still very sharp and certainly dangerous.

Several concealed hunting knives for emergencies - in the left sleeve, right boot and it a hidden pouch on the inside of the back of the belt. Mainly used for survival purposes

Belt with pouches containing various herbs for easing pain, slowing poison, aiding sleep, speeding healing, easing burns and similar things.

Spells
Paladins Insight: A spell which allows the user to detect deceit and missed information from someone - doesnt actually reveal the information, but reveals any people who do mislead or not give all information by a red glow visible only to the caster appearing round their head. Certain people may be able to hide from its effects either through strength of will, or magic.

Battle-sense: Heightens senses, precision and reflexes when cast to allow for deadlier fighting skills.

Skills
Longsword expertise
Herbology (gathering and using plants for various purposes)
Combat movement (moving in a way in combat to avoid and lessen the damage of attacks)

Description
A tall, lean woman in her late forties - her hair is long and frizzy, and as much grey as the light brown it originally was. With very pale blue eyes and aquilline features and pale skin she looks quite intimidating, and her face begins to show her age. A long thin scar runs down her the right side of her face ending near her throat.

History
Little is known of her past as she choses to reveal very little, what little is known of her - she follows a God that she never names and no others seem to know, but ultimatly believes in honour and justice above any deity. She travels throughout the land, bringing these to those who would defy them, however, she does not kill unless they attempt to kill her She disappears into the far North each winter, at a time when all others go south, as if she defies nature itself, but always returns, with only a few more notches in her blade to reveal anything that happened there.

How will that do?

Dont have time to post stats so Ill reserve a space.

Ahem...

Name: Istal

Strength: 4
Stamina: 3
Agility: 5
Skill: 4
Intelligence: 9

Starting Equipment
A mail coat made out of mithril and galvorn, a sable-coloured but light metal, and as tough, if not tougher, than mithril. His feet are protected by steel foot plates and shin guards. He wields a black, oaken staff which has great magical prowess. Carries at his side Thalis, his short but deadly sword.

Spells
Wraiths Curse: Summons several undead spirits in battle array that attack the target until the castor (me) is defeated in battle, or after about half an hour. Requires a little energy.

Power Up: Heightens ability to fight in close combat with his sword and staff. Only lasts for about fifteen minutes, and then runs out. Requires some energy.

Radiance of Aman: Summons a powerful blinding flash that momentarily stuns all enemies in the vicinity. Requires a little energy.

Rain of Fire: Makes a hail of flames burn down from below. Allies are unaffected. Requires a lot of energy.

Twisting Influence: Makes an enemy soldier turn to allies side permanently. Requires a lot of energy, and cannot be used on major characters.

Skills
Is mildly proficient with his short sword.
Has good timing and accuracy when aiming a spell.
Has good knowledge of his surroundings.

Description
A tall wizard of about 75 years; has long, white hair, an almost equally-long white-grey beard, and black eyes that are rather warm than cold. He is plainly dressed in mage garb; a great silver cloak, a pointed magus hat, and a warlocks hood. On his back is scarred a symbol of two serpents intertwining, though this has nothing to do with his attitude, which is understanding and kind.

History
Has traveled the land far and wide, but the rest is unknown.

Yep, those are the osrts of things Im looking for. Although Kody, Im going to have to ask that the Radiance and Rain spells affect allies as well.

You got it, Frank. I would have made a warrior character (I have one) but I thought Id have a change and make a wizard instead. :proud:

Ehehehe...Is this okay? I can change the character and such if needed.

Name: Link [Yes, I DO hate Zelda, but I love cartoon Link XD]

Strength: 8
Stamina: 7
Agility: 8
Skill: 1
Intelligence: 1

Starting equipment: Short sword/dagger that can shoot lasers for half damage. No more 1 hit kills that happened all the time in the cartoon XD Also, a sheild and some basic clothing which doesnt do much to stop attacks.

Description: The CARTOON version of Link, not that overrated blondie wannabe of him. Brown hair all the way baby! :D

Spells: None. Hes a tanker. Tankers need no magic! :P


Skills: Very well refined swordplay and in excellent physical shape. Very strong and very fast.

Bio: After doing his usual routine of killing monsters and failing to get kissed by Zelda, Link heres theres some uncool blonde wannabe of him whos scaring all his fans away. After dealing with the imposter and getting his fans back, Link once again tries to get kissed by Zelda, and winds up getting slapped to a whole new world [wherever this is] So he decides to look for a way back and have some fun in the process.


Like I said, I can change the bio and such if needed, but the stats will stay.

May I recommend to the others intending to join - it would be beneficial if we could have at least one Rogue/ninja/assassin/ thief type person, with the lockpicking abilitiy, and at least one person who can do some healing magic or some sort, although I suppose I could add that onto my character if no one else wants them. Plus at least one other melee fighter.

No time to post, save me a spot :proud:

By the way... slight point - would a crossbow weilding character require strength other than that required to lift and winch it back? Could work very well for a rogue character if thats the case.

Cliff

Strength: 5
Stamina: 3
Agility: 6
Skill: 8
Intelligence: 3

Starting Equiptment
A sleeveless piece of chainmail, and protection around his wrists and ankles. Also, he always carries a short knive and some lockpicking tools with him. Stored in his belt.

Spells
Invisibility: Well, the name says it doesnt it? He isnt meant to fight, rather to go to place nobody else could go without being seen.

Skills
Lockpicking (yay!)
Thrown objects (capable of turning eveything remotely sharp laying around into a deadly and well-aimed projectile)
Environmental Awareness (has got a keen sense of his surroundings, very little gets past his intuition)

Description
A short and slim burglar, even a little bit nerdy here and there. He only got into this deal because it got him out of prison, but he will work along since hell be cleared of all offences when the team succeeds.

History
Cliff started his carreer as a petty burglar at the age of 8. Since then, hes grown into the best thief of the land, stealing only from the creme de la creme, and the most influencal, of his country. Its because of this influance that once he got caught, he was ensured a stay in prison for the rest of his life. Lifelong sentences arent what they used to be though, and when the country needed a team to rescue their prince, people realised they needed the best thief, the best lockpicker they had to offer to do the job. Cliff was freed, and shall be cleared of all sentences, once he does his job.

A crossbow would only need skill as its power is all mechnical.

Never answered me Frank, is me entering the cool version of Link okay or do I need to do something else?

Sorry, I didnt see. Anyway, uh... You can enter him if you really want, but Id rather you didnt to be honest. Not to say there cant be any humour, but a jokey character would stick out like a sore thumb.

Ill secretly curse your name if you keep it that way rather I didnt or Watever, I can deal rather I didnt?

Enter the Link from Nintendo, Tony. =P

Whatever, I can deal rather you didnt

You could always just make a character like Link, but not, so everyone is happy, but surely its more interesting to come up with your own character?

You could use ninja stars!

Any spots left Mr. Frank?

Therere 4 entries so far, so yeah. There isnt a strict limit, but Id like to keep to 6 or so for ease of keeping track.

Enter the Link from Nintendo, Tony. =P

Id sooner bury myself alive. :P

But fine, Ill think of something else...gimme a minute, but keep those stats.

For the record, the sword laser thing would count as a spell.

Then ignore that. I dont need it, anyway.

I can help you with that.

*buries Tony alive*

:proud:

Just a heads up, I intend to start this on Monday. Anyone who still wishes to join but hasnt got their stats up by then can still join, and Ill work their character in throughthe writing. However, there is an advantage to being in it from the off.

Reserve me a spot... Just be prepared for absences from me :P Email me if you ever need my input for something...

Ill have stats up tonight.

Noted. As I said though, I intend to start this today (with my next post in fact) so Ill be working in any extra characters.

King Ventas III of Harrsha takes a moment to survey the four before him. Each has answered the call for mercenaries, and judging from the eclectic nature of the group, each has their own reasons for doing so. But he cares little for their life stories, he only wants to know one thing.
€˜This job will be most dangerous,€™ he tells them bluntly. €˜As you are no doubt aware, my son has been taken captive by the rogue wizard Hayse. Without him, we cannot solidify a truce with Tyn, and the Council would sooner see us at war than give in to blackmail. I do not wish for war, but if we are unable to ally with Tyn I fear it will be impossible to avert. Rogue though he is, Hayse is powerful. Before I send you on this mission, I must ask. Can you best him?€™
One by one, three of the warriors nod.
€˜I don€™t like it,€™ Cliff whines. €˜Wizards can kill you before you even see them!€™
Ventas replies with a merciless smile.
€˜You€™ll go, or rot in our dungeons. Should you die, it will only be a shortening of your life sentence, and should you survive the job, you will be free to go. Pray tell me, what do you have to lose?€™
Cliff doesn€™t say anything, Adam€™s apple bobbing up and down as his eyes nervously flick from one of his erstwhile companions to the next. They all look used to violence, whereas the only major fight he had been in was with a guard dog with a magically enhanced intellect which stopped it from eating drugged meat. As a result of that conflict, he had been caught and thrown into the dungeons.
€˜Are we also to keep an eye to ensure he doesn€™t escape?€™ Fennel asks pointedly.
€˜No need. As you can see, he wears a dog collar. Though you cannot see the leash, he will not be able to stray.€™
Cliff scowls. He€™d been told in no uncertain terms what would happen should he attempt to remove the collar. Magical deaths tended to be messy.
€˜Only the elite magic users may aspire to the Council. I would assume Hayse can be classed among the elite?€™
Ventas nods to his court magician, who conjures up an illusion of Hayse. He is younger than his power would have you believe, although a streak of white interrupted his otherwise pitch black hair.
€˜Yes, don€™t be fooled by his youthful appearance. He is highly skilled in the subtlest of arts,€™ the magician tells them. €˜But no matter how powerful, wizards die like any other man.€™
€˜Bear in mind, this mission is to rescue my son. That is the highest priority€¦ The only priority. If Hayse can be defeated, so much the better, although it is not essential. I fear, however, you will not be able to rescue Heidich without a reckoning with Hayse. There is one more matter, however. I employed some mercenaries from the local guild as soon as the abduction took place, two weeks ago. I have not received word from them. Their homing pigeon may have been lost, but I fear the worst. Should you discover the fate of the team, send the pigeon back to me.€™

You are handed a birdcage and a small sack of feed. + 30 weight for whoever carries it.

€˜Also, I regret I cannot allow you to take equipment from the armoury, but I can furnish you with provisions and a purse each of 1000 coins.€™

Each member is given a sack of food. +15 weight and a heavy purse +5 weight.
You are also given a map with the believed location of Hayse€™s base +1 weight for whoever carries it. The base is on a small island, which is far to the North. The first order will be to get to the port town nearest the island, but that is several days journey away. The king has ordered some soldiers to take you part of the way by carriage, but you can opt to walk if you wish to draw less attention. You can leave now by foot or by carriage, or you can look around the town first.

If Cliff has any underworld contacts that could know anything useful, Id like him to show me to them so, through using my Paladins insight I can see if they know anything. If Cliff doesnt know anyone (and use Paladins insight on him to make sure he doesnt lie) set off on foot, going alogn small trails to avoid attracting any attention, but also increasing liklihood of encoutnering thigns we can fight to improve our skills.

I think Ill set off on foot as well. Ill take the map too, since Istal has a great knowledge of his surrondings.

pfff... if I dont know anything about Hayse base, neither do my contacts, Im the best of the best, remember?

(what, Paladins insight?)

ok, ok, there is this one guy, living close to the harbour, he always brawls about his adventures near Hayse base, even saying hes been inside at one point, stealing some kinda artefact, I dont know wether I should believe him or not, I mean, even I never attempted to come anywhere near there...

Anthony, I still need a name for your character otherwise Ill make one up. Update next post.

The four decide to forego the Kings offer of transport, instead deciding to walk. Before setting off though, Fennel gets Cliff to introduce them to an underworld contact who he says had previously stolen something from Hayse. The harbour is busy, and the fleet of warships in port shows why the King could not simply allow them to take a boat from here. There is barely any room for a small fishing boat.

However, Cliffs knowledge turns out to be out of date. The house he leads them to is no longer a house, but a pile of old rubble. A middle aged woman surveys the group as she hangs out laundry.
€˜I don€™t know what you think you€™ll find here,€™ she says. €˜It€™s been six months since this house was destroyed.€™
€˜What about the man who lived here?€™ Cliff asks nervously.
€˜The wizard who did it took him out before he collapsed the house. I couldn€™t hear much, not that I was trying mind. He said something about a theft. I haven€™t seen the man since then, I think he left town, but I have sometimes seen the wizard around. He€™s a regular customer at the blacksmith€™s.

Yeah, you can just make one up, I got nuthin XD

In that case, my uver-fertile imagination will name him... Chayne.

Fennel follow up on the lead - go talk to the blacksmiths and wait for out wizardly friend there. Try and find otu what his grievance for the man is, and if it connects in any way to the quest - of course use my insight spell to check the truth. Even if this wizard seems to be innocent, get him to take us to the man (if still alive) and see if he can offer any assistance in potentially fightign other spellcasters later in the way of training, equiptment and advice and whatnot.

If the others decide to go with Fennel, then Ill follow. If not, then Ill go have a look around and see if I can find anything.

If Anthony cant make up a name can I make up one for his character, or can I make up a character but not to get rid of Anthonys character just like a little mini thing like a shopkeeper or something.

Im going to guess his answer...

No.

I just need to reserve a space until such time as I can post a profile.... which might not be till tomorrow or later on tonight.