Markan Almavai

Markan Almavai

Half-elf Mage 1

Noble of the House of Almavai, Barony of Celene.

Black hair, green eyes, 38 years old

Str 11, Dex 14 (+2), Con 12 (+1), Int 18 (+4), Wis 15 (+2), Cha 13 (+1)

HP (1d6+1) 7

AC 12

Proficiencies +1              

• Arcana, history, insight, persuasion
• Gaming sets, land mounts
• Daggers, darts, slings, quarterstaff, light crossbow
• Saving throws: intelligence and wisdom

Half-elf

• Fey Ancestry: advantage on saving throws vs charm and immune to sleep
• Low-light vision
• Keen senses: advantage on wisdom (perception) check

Languages: common, elvish, goblin, draconic, giant, orc, dwarvish, undercommon

Noble Retainers

• Mirala: female human maid, keeps bed real warm.  Is a bit cheeky but loves Markan like a little brother (even though he is older than her!)
• Nikal Tuathel: male elf, a noted tracker and hunter.  Is young but not a fighter, but more like a woodsman.  Is teaching Markan the bow
• Veyli: female half-elf.  Young girl, wants to be a mage and in a couple of years just maybe.  Acts as Markan's gofer and messenger

Wizardry: spellbook, ritual casting, arcane recovery.  DC 8 + int modifier + proficiency bonus. 

Spells per day: 2

Spellbook (* evocation spells)

Cantrips

• Prestidigitation
• Read magic
• Shocking grasp* [dexterity save, 1d8 damage and no reactions until its next turn, disadvantage if wearing heavy armor]

First level

• Alarm [ritual; twenty foot cube]
• Detect magic [ritual; concentration, up to ten minutes]
• Protection from evil [one action; touch; ten minutes; evil elementals, fey, fiends and undead, evil creatures get a disadvantage to strike, cannot be charmed, frightened or possessed and if already affected gets a new saving through with advantage]
• Thunderwave* [range fifteen feet in a fifteen foot cone; constitution save, 2d8 thunder damage and pushed ten feet away, on a successful save half damage and not pushed; unsecured items pushed ten feet way; additional 1d8 for every level beyond first]

Gear: 3 daggers, rod, spellbook, nice clothing, signet ring, scroll tube, scroll of pedigree, adventurer's kit, riding horse, long bow, 20 arrows, money (90gp)

Story

Many years ago, the human warrior known as the Wyrmslayer.  He was a young man at the time and he caught the eye of an elf of the noble house of Almavai.  It turned out to be a one night stand and he was gone the next day with the jewelry she wore that night.  Later that year Markan was borne.

His mother was livid.  The Baroness Maharie was not an elf to trifled with, but she could not abandon the child, so she shuffled off the child.  He was in the hands of many nannies who took care of him.  He really shown to be smart and clever and he was given to an elf called Chelai Erinlo.  Chelai is a mage of considerable power and she was the one who taught Markan magic.  Chelai is more of a mother that Maharie.

He got word that Wyrmslayer was dead and  he went to where he died near Emridy Fields, where the famous battle of the Temple of Elemental Evil was fought.  He saw a five other people there, all the bastard children of Wyrmslayer...

Notes

• A character for my friend +Will Glenn game that he is starting.  Yay!  I finally get to play!!
• He basically was cast out by his mother, though he still carries the noble heritage.  He doesnt want to cause his mother any more grief so he is striking out on his own to make his mark on the world.  He still loves his mother and especially his sister.
• Maharie did not like Wyrmslayer, was she part of of the plot to kill him?
• Baroness Maharie did remarry to a true elf named Boryss.
• He is the oldest and technically the Baron of Almavai should his mother be killed, but being a bastard and half-elf to boot, it will go to his younger sister, Elavah, though she is only 16 and in elven years still a baby.  They do get along, despite his mother.
• It will all go for the 7th son.  Since the rest of the characters are human, Marken would be the oldest and the second brother is lost to the Temple.
• 2nd level: mage 2; [3] school of evocation, sculpt spell
• 3rd level: mage 3 [4/2]
• 4th level: cleric 1/mage 3; [4/3] light, medium and heavy armor; shields; all simple and military weapons; healers kit; charisma saves; medicine; divine casting; war domain (war priest).  Worships Vandria Gilmadrith.  I chose Vandria because she stands against individualism and promotes unity and group tactics.  Something that is good for a party of adventures and brothers (and one sister) to boot.
• 5th level: cleric 1/mage 4; [4/3/2] arcane archer feat
• 6th level: cleric 2/mage 4; [4/3/2] channel divinity (guided strike)
• 7th level: cleric 2/mage 5; [4/3/3/1] 
• 8th level: cleric 2/mage 6 [4/3/3/2] potent cantrip
• 9th level: cleric 2/mage 7 [4/3/3/3/1]
• 10th level: cleric 2/mage 8; [4/3/3/3/2] [feat or stat]

by RuaCharl/deviantART

Dersden Files, Charles Mercer

Charles Mercer 

• Focused Practitioner, Alchemist
• Wears glasses, has a trimmed beard and mustache, salt and pepper hair. Five-nine and one hundred seventy pounds.  Looks to be in his forties.  
• Charles is a man who has been alive since the early 1900’s because he has drank an elixir he got which acts like Wizard’s Constitution.  He has taken part in the Great War and World War II.
• Channeling -2 (water), Rituals -2, Wizard’s Constitution, Refinement -1, Refinement -1, Conviction (reliant self image).  1 refresh left
• Has a familiar, a large toad named Augustus that lays about in an extra-large terrarium above the bar.
• It is Charles, not Chuck.  He is proper when it comes to names, because names are powerful and constitute proper binding in contracts.
• Dual citizenship with England and the US.
• Keeps an ear out for the Elixir for it is dangerous if it fell into general use.
• He has made many allies and enemies over the years.
• Colonel in the British Army.  Very few people know about it.

+4 Discipline, Lore, Contacts

+3 Resources, Deceit, Rapport

+2 Conviction, Presence, Empathy

+1 Alertness, Scholarship, Investigation

Concept: Bartending Alchemist

Trouble: The Man Who Knew Too Much

Aspect 1: [who] From Humble Beginnings. Charles was born sometime before the turn of the twentieth century.  An English orphan who ended up working for anyone who would hire him.  He was lucky for a man named Bartholomew Critchett, a simple alchemist who took the boy in.  Critchett saw in the boy a quick wit and a desire to learm.

Aspect 2: [what] The First Secret of Many More to Come. Charles came into prominence during the Great War.  He was part of a special unit that was made up of alchemists, making and distributing the gasses and cures from them.  While in the trenches on day, he found out that his superior had uncovered a secret elixir that granted immortality.  Major Adam Carter however was working for the Prussians as they have offered him an insane amount of money and titles if they got it.  In the ensuing fight, he got Major Carter but had to imbibe the liquor.  [That is how he gained Wizard’s Constitution].  The Immortality elixir worked he spent years working with The Section of the British Government to try to uncover its secrets.  In actuality, he knows the secret, but has been sabotaging the experiments.  He deemed it was too much to allow the populace (the rich and powerful) access to such a power.  That is his first and greatest secret.

Aspect 3: [first story] Still in the Service to Queen and Country.  He took part in what was known as World War II and worked with The Section, MI-5 and MI-6 with the rank of Colonel.  He worked with them until the 60’s. After spending some fifty years in the British intelligence community, he decided to retire.  At first, the JIC did not want him to go, but when you know where the bodies are buried and who put them there, he got to travel.  He moved to Los Angeles in 1962.  He set up a large British bar and opened it to all, supernatural or not.  A mere three years later, he was approached by a man named Hugh.  He was a member of MI-6 and wanted Charles' help and invoked Charles' reservist clause in his contract.  Charles relented.  He was still in the service and was called up due to the contract he had signed.  Every once in a while, MI-5 or 6 will come to him for help.  As of late, the FBI has come to him as well as Agents of the White Council all in accordance to helping the Services.  He has in turn, as per his contract contacted people for help and has received it in kind.  He knows a lot that some people are very wary of him.

Aspect 4: [who crossed; another player]

Aspect 5: [who crossed; another player]

The Lewd Toad Pub and Brewery

Welcome to the Lewd Toad Pub and Brewery.  Mind your manners!

• Small microbrewery, bar and café
• Pasadena where the 210 and the 134 meet
• The mascot is a toad kissing a princess bent over like that Life picture of the sailor and the girl.
• The Lewd Toad is a neutral ground.  It is a magnet for supernatural creatures because of this and the good beer.
• It has a large alchemical lab.
• At any time there are 6 barmaid, 3 bartenders, 3 cooks, 2 busboys, a dishwasher and 3 apprentice brewers on staff.  It is a fair mix of the supernatural and mortal.

Potions that he carries.

• Coming Soon!

Notes

• Seeing as how I haven't read any of the novels, I hope that I have captured it well.  Odds are I haven't!  hehe
• I never said that Major Carter was killed or if he himself took the elixir. 

FAE stats for Rin danTaven

Rin danTaven

Concept: Hidden Order of the Thorn Agent

Trouble: Speaks Her Mind

Aspects: A Blade for Every Occasion; Love the Princess Like a Little Sister; Smarter Than She Looks

Careful +1

Clever +2

Flashy +1

Forceful +0

Quick +2

Sneaky +3

• Because no one expects my to do it, I gain a +2 when I sneakily attack with a knife in combat where my opponent is unaware.
• Because I am quick and clever, I gain a +2 when I cleverly overcome tricks and traps.
• Because my left prosthetic hand can detach, I gain a +2 to sneakily create an advantage when it is off and moves on it own.

This is Rin for now.  If you have an idea for a stunt give it too me!  I am interested in seeing what you have based on what I have written.  I wish I could find some artwork for Rin, her prosthetic hand and such, but alas, not was found.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 7

Itami diid not look at all pleased.  “I did not need you coming to the rescue like that!” she said angrily.  She was busy collecting her books, stowing them in her leather knapsack.  “We go through and have heated discussions about it all the time, something that I could have deflected away with some words that I would have spoken if I were given the chance too!”

Rin knew that Itami was right, but at the same time she was wrong.  “I am sorry Your Highness,” she said with a bow as the young girl stormed off.  Rin looked up and saw Sir Hanar mouth the words “I thought you were right,” as he left to follow the girl out.  “I will talk to her.”  So much for the nice homecoming.

*

Rin sighed as she walked along the path away from the Colleges.  Itami was still not having any of her that evening, so she decided to go to a local bathhouse that lay off campus.  The White Willow was one such onsen.  It has the painting of an Earth willow tree on the front and was one of the first that was built here as was incredibly old.  The painting has been redone many times in the centuries that it has been in place.  The stones were old and worn to a smooth sheen that she walked along.  There were many other onsens that catered to partying students, but not this one.  It was quiet and that is what Rin craved.

The smiling proprietor was Master Wan and if you believe the stories his family has run The Willow ever since the laid the first paving stone.  “Hello Lady Rin.  It is so nice to see you again.”

“Hello Master Wan.  Sorry I came late and I am sure you want to close, but can I convince you to stay open for an hour or so?”

“Of course my lady,” he said with a bow.  “For you, anything.”  The tensions seemed to melt away off of Rin as she sighed contently.  “Stay as long as you desire.  I will see if Mistress Wan can get you a little something to eat as well.”

After bathing, Rin stepped into the murky hot springs.  The water was a pale white due to a higher concentration of calcium and occasionally bubbled from beneath the water’s surface.  It was an outdoor hot springs, one that had the cover of its black, stoned walls.  She sighed as she leaned back and laid there with the towel folded over her eyes.  She did not know how long she was laying there and she did not care.  The hot waters where warming and comfortable.

“Ahh, Mistress Wan,” Rin said when heard the door open.  “You can put the food here,” she mentions blindly as she motioned to a flat rock beside her.

“I am not Mistress Wan,” she heard an even voice say to her.  Rin lifted off her towel and she saw a well-muscled form that still had all the curves of a beautiful woman.  She had to swallow hard as the wavy blonde hair of Sofia began to slowly edge her way into the pool.  There wasn’t a scar or blemish on her and that was something that Rin felt an instant disliking for.  Even the Princess has her fair share of scars from her years of fosterage.  “Fancy meeting you here, Lady Rin,” she said.  Rin cleared her throat, keeping all but her head underwater.  Sofia still sat straight up, carefully bundling up her long blonde hair into a bun at the top of her hair.  Her breasts slowly submerging under the hot, white water when she was done. 

Rin had to swallow hard.

“Yes it is,” Rin said as Sofia leaned back and spread her arms out wide to rest them long beside her.  “I would almost say you following me.”

Sofia smiled.  “Please.  This is just the quietest one off the campus that is within walking distance.  Just like you I assume.  Having to get away from the hustle and bustle of having to watch over the princess.  One could not blame you for taking a relaxing bath.”

Rin took off the towel at the top of her head and raised an eyebrow.  “Yes,” she simply said, “the other bathhouses are filled with students who do not know how to relax properly.”  Sofia just nodded staring intently at Rin.  Rin was seriously thinking about getting up and leaving when the sliding door opened again.  Rin jumped.  It was slight but she did and was sure that Sofia picked up on it.  She didn’t say anything but turned to Mistress Wan entering the small bath.

“Saved by the Mistress of the House,” Rin muttered under her breath.  She smiled up at the plump woman who brought her a tray filled with small dishes and a small hand blown bottle filled with a blue liquid is a bowl of ice.

“Something cold for the hot bath,” Mistress Wan smiled.  She has brought a bottle of winter wine.  A drink that was alcoholic as long as it was served ice cold.  It was an eladrin drink and was a most welcome surprise.  She poured two glasses as Rin noticed that Sofia has moved over to sit next to her.  Mistress Wan smiled and excused herself from the bath.  Sofia took her glass and marveled at the blue liquor.

“So is it true that if it warms up, the taste is spoiled?” she asked.

Rin cleared her throat.  “Yes.”

“How so?” Sofia asked as she sniffed her cup.

Rin lifted her right hand up and out of the pool and took the second small cup.  “Magic.”  She said the word as it were normal.  It was to her, but Sofia for a moment did not look convinced.  The moment passed but still nagged at Rin.

“To your health,” Sofia said.

“For now and forever,” Rin countered with the traditional Baronial toast.  The women both drank down there cups and it burned with a cold sensation all the way down to their cores. 

Sofia raised an eyebrow.  “My.  That is good,” she said as her breath came out in a chill fog that dissipated over the simmering waters. 

“Help yourself,” Rin said as she waved a hand over the tray of food.  Sofia stretched out of the water.  She wasn’t musclebound but very well put together.  “You are Spartan related aren’t you?” Rin asked.  Sofia looked over her right arm at Rin as she was getting a steamed bun.

“That is what my mother told me,” Sofia said as she sat down and ate the bite sized bun.

“Of what family?  Hess’s aren’t one of the Spartan Blooded families.”

“No they aren’t.  My mother was a whore,” she said angrily.  “Literally.  She was a prostitute who lived in Undershadow, south of The Wall.  So I do not know who my father is, or really who my mother was.  She would always berate me for being Spartan Related, not fully Spartan Blooded.  She felt that if she had a child who was Spartan Blooded that she would rise in position.  I was ten years old, already a couple of centimeters taller than she was when she tried to whore me out,” she said as she looked in the water.  “She said I looked of age thanks to my Spartan father.  That I should earn my keep.  I left that night and never looked back.”  She sighed and looked up at Rin.  “So that is my sad story,” she said as she turned to the winter wine and poured herself another glass.

Rin sat there and quietly stored her story in her mind.  “I am sorry,” she spoke.  “I did not mean to bring up unfond memories.”

Sofia looked up after she drank her second cup of wine.  She sighed again and let out her breath.  She calmed herself down and slowly her previous demeanor came back.  That sly and slinky vamp that made Rin uncomfortable.  But she wasn’t that uncomfortable now that she knew Sofia.  She would still need to watch her step however as Rin suspected that there was a lot more to Sophia than meets the eye.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 6

[Please keep in mind this is a rough draft.  Any questions?  Happy to answer.]

Rin walked down to the Colleges of Danaan, quite possibly the largest institute of higher learning on the face of Eave.  Some twenty thousand odd students come here to learn everything from agriculture to zoology and everything in between.  The Colleges cover most of the upper levels of the cinder cone and up and over the edges as they drop into the sea.  Rin remembered her year here in fosterage and it was a good experience.  She almost wish she could have spent more time here.  She could have spent more time here, but Aylen had recruited her to the Order.

Children as young as twelve could come to the Colleges if they were truly gifted.  In North Realm, children are taught much faster than children normally were taught.  By the time they were around fourteen to fifteen, they had the equivalent of a high school education because they did not coddle their children and teach them the useless information that only gets retaught later.  The children are taught to their strengths, so no student ever got bored with the curriculum.  If a student was physically gifted, then the teachers would guide the student to be the very best they could be.  If they wanted a higher education, there were many ways a student could learn.  The legal age for children in North Realm was sixteen where they would be treated as adults.

Overhead the tarn drill team flew among the many airships that advertised beers, foodstuffs and onsens, dragging streamers behind them if they didn’t have a dedicated airship.  Most of the lava rocks have been moved and much dirt has been moved here from the surrounding lowlands has been transported up here to allow for a pleasant environment to work and study.  The political science building is a large building, built into the side of the mountain.  As with many of the first buildings built here, it was one that was built upon a hot spring to keep it warm when the cold air from the sea would come in.

“Rin.  It is good to see you back,” an old man greeted her and came up to give her a hug.  Kemmon was a spry old man in his sixties.  He wore a robe to keep the chill and bay and had long hair and beard and was gray streaked with black.

“It is good to see you Uncle Kem,” Rin said as she hugged him back.  That got a big smile out of him.  Kemmon’s one true love died years ago giving birth almost forty years ago.  He never remarried and the Barony would be passed to his sister Crema when he dies.  So he through everything to teaching and loved it when his students would call him uncle.

“I take it you are here to see Itami.  She is still inside talking to Rikkard and Sofia.  Do not worry, Hanar Chan is with her.”

“I do not worry about her,” she smiled and lied.  Rin always worried about her charge.  She hugged her uncle again and went to the end of the hall.  Several students were still leaving and you can see Sir Hanar Chan standing there about five meters away from Itami.

“Greetings,” the tall man said.  Well, taller than her at her hundred and sixty four centimeters anyway.  He stood at least twenty centimeters taller than her.  He was part of the Order of the Rose, an order of knighthood that protected the royal family of North Realm.  He was armed with a sword and pistol and wore his chainmail underneath his clothing.  His shield with the Royal Seal emblazoned up it, was strapped to his back.  His armor and shield were enchanted much like her own armor was and provided him with movement and protection.  Hanar was a master swordsman and a fair shot with his pistol but he was really a master when he used both at once with his shield.  Sword in one hand and pistol and shield on the other, made him a lethal combination.

Rin smiled up at him, watching the young Princess.  “They are speaking of different forms of governments,” the knight said with a scowl and narrow eyes.  “What the Baron said that back in the Age of Stars, there was a form of democracy that guided the people Earth Directorate.  I do not know if I like it or not.  They are arguing with Her Highness about how she should institute it when she takes over the Realm.”

“She is a smart girl, not easily swayed,” Rin said of Itami.  Hanar just looked over at her, not convinced and cleared his throat.  The conversation stopped and Itami turned around to hush Sir Hanar.  Her eyes widened when she saw Rin and she leapt out of her seat and rushed over to Rin.  “Rin!  I have counted the days.  How is your brother, the Baron?” she asked of Aylen.  The wedding was all anyone could talk about these days.

“He is well and sends his regards.  He awaits his turn in taking you on in fosterage,” she said.  “You will learn of the eladrin and walk in the woods to view its beauty.”

“I cannot wait!” she said as she wiped a smaller braid that hung on her left side back from her face.  She was a beautiful girl, pale of complexion and hair.  Her hair was snow white and long, having to keep it in long waterfall braid that hung down over her right shoulder.  Rin’s eyes flicked to Itami’s two companions.  She has seen them before.  Rikkard always having heated debates with the political law professors.  Some thought it a challenge and the teachers liked the discourse.  Others hated the opinionated young man.  Sofia however she did not know.  The blonde haired girl was a little too quiet to be hanging around the opinionated young man.

“Oh.  Rin, may I introduce my two classmates.  Rikkard Davic and Sofia Hess.  Rikkard, Sofia, this is the Lady Rin danTaven.”  Rikkard almost sneered but Sofia curtsied just a little bit.  Rin just plastered on her smile that she usually saved for the boring people she usually had to deal with.

“It is a pleasure to meet you both,” Rin said pleasantly.  “I know you Mr. Davic.  Your discourses in the political arena are well known.  I often hear Her Highness talk about them when we are at home.”

“Someone has to speak the truth,” he said puffing himself up. 

“Truth?” Rin asked.  “What truths would those be?”

“The truth that all people, all humans should be equal.  Have a voice in how we are to be ruled and if needs be, we have the right to enact change and throw down the corrupt old guard!”  Hanar started to move.  What Rikkard said was dangerously close to treason, but Rin stopped him by stepping forward to place herself before him and Itami.  Rikkard knew he had spoken too much but his pride was too great to cower before the tall knight.

“All people are not created equal,” Rin started.  “The Spartan Blooded people are stronger, faster in both body as well as mind.  His Excellency Kemmon danTaere is not noted for his soldiering skills, but his mind is ever sharp.  There is not a person alive I suspect, who knows more than he about governance.  You are in his class, so I suspect you know already.  People will rise to the top of their field, be it in the military, the sciences, magic or governance, especially governance.  We, the nobles, do you know why we do our fosterage?  So we do not lose touch with the people.  So we do remember the hardships as well as the good times.  Her Highness mucked the kaddam stables in the Barony of Leavestonne.  She worked in the stores of the Barony of Holdingford.  Stood watch on Harro’s Wall in the Barony of Crosstaal.  I know this because I did the same thing when I was her age.  She knows more about the common people than you… ever… will.”  Rin said as she took a step toward Rikkard and he fell back.  She wanted to shame him and Rin thought she did.  “So instead of complaining for change, you should get to know the people you think wants such change and see if they want to change.”

Rikkard was used to shouting down his opponents but Rin never gave him the chance.  He stood there quietly and turned all matter of shades of red.  He started to push his way past Rin but was stopped by Sir Hanar who stepped in front of him.  “You owe Her Highness an apology,” he said low and threateningly.

“You have my apologies, Your Highness.  I was out of line,” he practically whispered.  It was quiet, except for the hissing of the radiator.  Hanar did not move and Rikkard had to edge his way around him and left for the door.

Sofia just stood there staring at Rin with a quiet, unknowing grin on her face.  “That was quite a show Lady Rin,” she finally said.  “You’re dangerous,” she smiled.

“I have only spent a year here, so I am sure he knew much more than I,” Rin said sarcastically.  “I take it you do not need a lesson, do you Lady Hess?”

“It all depends,” Sofia continued to smile.  “Do you give private lessons?”  It took a second for Rin to figure out what she meant while she could hear Itami stifle a little giggle.  Before she could answer, Sofia continued.  “Please, do not think that Rikkard speaks for everyone.  Like all men, he is passionate, but like all men, he is passionate about one thing and does not see the larger picture.”

“And you do?” Rin asked of her as she was picking up her books.  Sofia just smiled as she was left.  Sir Hanar giving her a wide berth.  “I think you are the one who is dangerous,” Rin said softly at the door.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 5

The tarn dived straight for the jagged rocks below and Rin screamed with pure delight.  This was not flying aboard an airship.  She could not feel the air upon her face or the powerful wings of a beating tarn between her legs.  Smoke opened her wings and caught a wind that lifted them upwards to the sky.  Higher and higher they went, until they were soaring higher than the vast aerodrome’s control tower.

“So, are you done showing off?” Joshan asked and Rin heard in the small radio in her hat.  He was not angry at her to say the very least.  She lifted off her saddle and looked for him.  “I am underneath you, twelve mark six,” he said and then glided his way until he was on his port side.  Their position was all based on the old Earth clocks.  It went from one to twelve staring straight ahead and one to twelve starting straight overhead.  Twelve mark six was straight ahead and below.

It was getting to be a clear day, the morning fog was already burning off the crisp autumn sun that hung heavy on the horizon above the Morning Sea.  They could see the Maarke to their starboard side.  Maarke was centered on three volcanos, but over the years the sea had striped the cones and left the throats of the volcanic magma.  The ocean has left many spires great and small, solid, igneous rocks.  It was a bustle of activity.  They could see the small ships in the protected harbor.  They could see buildings built vertically along the cliff face.  The Colleges of Danaan are located off the largest extinct volcano in the center, surrounding the great observatory and Baronial home.  The aerodrome was atop the northern peak.  They could see the road that snaked down through the mountains between the aerodrome and the main city.  The Maarke is not known for its fertile land and over ninety-percent of the food has to be shipped in from the outside. 

Besides the Colleges, the other thing that the Maarke was known for is its hot springs.  Called onsens, after the Japanese word for the hot spring.  The geothermal activity for the Barony was quite impressive and these resorts were known far and wide.  Stormtonne had only a handful compared to The Maarke.

They flew toward the Baronial home atop the center peak.  The third peak was a large military base that was built when the Empire of Tulath nearly took all of North Realm nearly two hundred years ago.  They could see tarns flying all over the city amid the small airships used for advertising as well as those used for police work.  The students of the Colleges are known for their prankish behavior.  Rin wished she could spend more time atop smoke but Joshan had pointed down to the rookery here.

“That was fantastic!” she said when they were on the ground.  She was unbuckling herself from the saddle and got down from the saddle.  Rin was still shaking with delight and a bit from the cold as Joshan smiled.

“I thought you would like it.  You have left before you could get certified last time.  I would have you join the Maarke guardsmen any time you wish,” he said.  “M’lady,” he quickly added with a grin.

He accompanied Rin though the small Baronial rookery to the observatory and to the other side of the extinct volcanic peak where the Baronial home was.  She looked up at the observatory and it was quite small.  The dish was only some fifty centimeters in diameter but was made with care in the years after they had crash landed on this planet.  Paul Taere, the predecessor of the danTaere family, never did find out where they were.  Neither has his descendants.  The old computer had stopped working centuries ago and the whole observatory was designated a historic monument.

They entered the Baronial home that lie above the main campus of the Colleges of Danaan.  It was a small, ramshackle affair that housed the Baron of Maarke and family.  The strength of the Barony came from its people and Kemmon danTaere left the day to day ruling to a Senate composed of all factions of The Maarke.  It was not that the Baron left them, as his word carried considerable weight and he reserved the right to veto any new law.  He always proposed caution and the police and the military still answered to him in any emergency.  Baron Kemmon’s first love was teaching and that is what he did.

They were met by Oswal Langenfel, the seneschal of House danTaere.  An older man who should be retired, he was accompanied by a younger man.  They were both dressed in gray, the color of the ocean as it beats upon the rocks.  “Well, I will have to get back to my guardsman.  I will leave Smoke at the rookery for you to use while you are here,” Joshan said.  Rin thanked him as he bowed and left.

“Hello Oswal,” she said as both of them bowed to her.  Oswal’s beard was kept short and trim, but was as gray as his tunic.  He didn’t have hair and kept his bald pate underneath a twill hat.

“Good morning to you as well, Lady danTaven,” he said dryly even though the humidity was quite high.  “May I introduce Amer Tran.  He is studying to take over for me when I retire.”  Oswal has been threatening to retire for many a years.  Rin curtsied slightly to the new seneschal in training.  He was in his late twenties and his eyes peered at her not miss anything.  Rin could tell he was trained by the way he stood and the way he carried himself.  He was ex-military, that much she could tell.  However he was a new, having just got the job in the two weeks she was gone.

“Good morning m’lady,” Amer said in a crisp baritone as he took her bag, unconcerned with the weight.  “Did you have a pleasant flight?”

“It was calm and uneventful,” she replied to Mr. Tran.  “Will I be staying in the same room as before?”

“Yes, the connecting room next to Her Highness.  I bet you did not have breakfast yet.  Shall I send it up to for you?”

She shook her head.  “No, I am going to the Colleges to meet the Princess.  She has political theory right now, right?”  Langenfel just nodded his head as Rin turned and went.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 4

Maarke was built on the Morning Sea.  Once, a long time ago, great volcanos grew up on these shores for hundreds of miles in either direction, spewing forth lava that created much of the Barony.  It is a rocky Barony, interspersed with green that the forests and the humans have tried to reclaim.  Rin stepped onto the outer deck that ringed the great aerodrome and could see the sea in all of its rage and beauty.  It was breathtaking.  Even though she was several hundred feet below them, Rin could feel the spray of the sea’s mighty waves. 

She shivered in delight and looked up after she heard a shriek.  She looked up and could see a great, gray tarn being ridden by a Maarke guardsman.  Tarns, or dows as the eladrin called them, are named after a species of bird so great that they could be ridden, so written by an ancient Earth writer.  She looked down and could see the great rookery and headed to the elevator down.

She stepped off the elevator to two guardsman snapping to attention.  Rin wished that they wouldn’t do that, but had stopped a long time ago and just smiled at them.  The rookery was a great cave carved into the side of the mountain.  Nests where built on the outside, facing the sea, as the tarns were great sea birds that survived as they dived for the fishes that were quite abundant and quite large.  Everything on Eave was quite large.  Even the insects were at least twice as large as or larger than what was commonly on Earth.  All of that was ancient history.  Every human was an intruder here and even though Earth was taught in school, it was all history about where they came from, not where they were going.

“Rin!” she heard a familiar voice cry out.  She looked over and saw Joshan in his full riding harness.  It looked like a full-body climbing harness that a rider could wear on the four-winged tarns.  Joshan was in his uniform, a simple sea-gray jumpsuit that had the four wings, two great and two lesser, emblazoned on the back.  He bowed slightly, a hand over his heart, then straightened up to hug the young woman. 

“Do not tell me it is a fortnight already?” he said as he led her down the passageway.  “How goes the plans for the wedding?”  Joshan was talking about her brother’s wedding.  Aylen danTaven, the Baron Elham’s only child.  He was some fourteen years older and he seemed to be too busy for her.  He was eighteen after all and was busy learning the ways of an eladrin ranger.  When he came home however, he always spent time with Rin, but his time was not his own and he was soon off again, training or fighting or learning.  She always had a crush on Aylen, for he was tall, smart and brave.  It must have paid off however, for he was engaged to an eladrin, much to Rin’s dismay.  Beyissa Faleath, also known as Skysilver to the humans.  It was the first time in the nine-hundred years since humans have crash landed on Eave that such a union was recognized and blessed.  The Faleath family were cousins to the royal family of Hanali, an old and powerful family.  Infact it was a Sorica Faleath who taught the second human magic.  The danTaven family was the first in magic and was strong.  Even though Rin was adopted to the family, she proved to have the magical talent and had knowledge of how to cast.

Rin smiled.  “It goes well.  My brother Aylen is trying to be calm, but I can tell he is nervous about it all.  He is over thirty and is acting like it is his first date,” she laughed as Joshan opened a door that lead to the outside.  The chill morning air was bracing and she felt the spray once more.  “Do you mean yes?” she asked excitedly. 

He smiled.  “I think you are ready for your first solo flight.  We will just have to fit you with a harness.  I just thought you wanted to meet your tarn.”  For the year that she was fostered here to learn at The Colleges of Danaan, she rode the great tarns in tandem with an experience rider like Joshan.  He took Rin to the far nest where she was greeted by a dirty-white tarn that regarded her with a turn of its head.  Tarns have a straight beak like an Earth kingfisher and a small gular, the throat sack common to Earth birds such as the pelican.  Their feet had a unique adaptation.  They had five talons, four that face forward with one pointed backwards.  The four that pointed forward had the middle two open wide and was webbed for excellent maneuverability when swimming, as tarns were known to dive in the water for a dozen or more meters to go after the great fish that live off the coast.  Closed it acted as the power claws for perching on the great spires and rocky crags that were common along the coast of Maarke. 

Rin smiled.  It was Smoke, the tarn on which she learned how to fly.  “Hello, old bird,” she said as she nuzzled the neck.

“I will get her ready to fly.  You go into the barracks and get into your harness.”

Rin eagerly did just that.  She went into the barracks and took off her skirts and attached the harness around her body and legs.  She then took a fleece lined aviator hat and goggles and tied a scarf around her neck.  It got rather cold up to where the tarns flew.  When she got out, Joshan was tightening the last of the buckles and straps.  Rin gathered around the great tarn, checking the buckles and straps with great care.  It is not that she did not trust Joshan, she was doing what he had taught her.  She then went over to a large basket outside Smoke’s reach and heaved out a large fish that weighed some fifteen kilograms.  It was common practice to feed your tarn before flying to keep them from diving in the water in search of food.  Smoke gobbled the fish eagerly and Rin patted her hand along the sides of her neck.

“Ready?” Joshan asked as he went to the next cage over where his tarn was saddled.  Rin said yes as she jumped into the saddle and buckled the two straps in.  Smoke stretched her wings, two greater and two lesser and fell of the side of the cliff.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 3

Rin quickly did her hair in a simple braid, her magic prosthetic did not lose any of the dexterity that it took to do the braid in its elaborate pattern.  She mainly did this this so her long hair did not get in the way of the rest of her dressing.  She dressed in simple clothes of black, white and green, the colors of House danTaven.  She wore tight leather pants under her skirts that could be shed really easily if she had to move more freely.  Besides the leather bodice, she wore a leather jerkin that hung to her hips.  All of her leather clothing seemed to be stiff and cumbersome, but was highly enchanted to be soft and supple.  It was also enchanted to turn an assassin’s blade or bullet, though she had not been unlucky enough to test that out.  The same mage who made her prosthetic hand made her clothing.  “Aunt” Ladeline made them for her and for the longest time that is how she knew the woman and her wife “aunt” Tava would do little sleight of hand tricks that would amuse the girl to no end.  It was later that she found out that they were people much greater than she thought.

Her clothing looked simple of the outside but was far from the unassuming garments that they appeared to be.  Rin had hidden on her body some forty daggers and knives of various shapes and functions.  All could be thrown however and to deadly accuracy.  Her aunt Tava noted she was a quick girl in both mind and body.  After a few times of observing her sleight of hand tricks, she could easily figure out how the trick was done.  So Tava did something else.  She taught the girl how to throw knives.  Her mother Emma only tsked this but did not stop it as long as she did not hurt herself or others.  Emma would rather have Rin study hard, but she became more and more active.  Emma just sighed and smiled.  Except for a few arguments that they had, Rin tried to do everything to make her adopted parents happy.  She buckled on her belt that had one her cherished possessions, a dagger that Elham gave her before he passed quite suddenly from a brain aneurism.  It was given to her on her sixteenth birthday and from that day it has never left her side.  She loved the old man, for he was like the father she which she had no memory.  The dagger was old and well serviced and while she had it, a piece of Elham would always remain alive to watch over her.  It was silly, Rin knew, but it kept most of her fears at bay.

Rin picked up her bag that contained many other throwing knives as well as her Armored Reactive Camouflage suit.  Her ARC suit was a piece of ancient tech that she had in her possession, one of only seven that remained in service to this days according to the Order of the Thorn.  The Order of the Thorn was North Realm’s spy organization of which she was a member.  Elham had just died when her bother Aylen had recruited her.  She was quick and smart but most importantly, she was a danTaven.  It was the purview of House danTaven, the steward of The Thorn to watch over the kingdom.  To be its eyes and ears and if needs be, the blade to slay the enemies of the kingdom.  Aylen became the new head of The Thorns after their father had died.  It was something that Elham was going to do, but never had the chance.  For the next two years, she had learned much in the performance of her duty.  Her aunt Tava was a teacher in the class and was one of the greatest agents they ever had.  Only two, people new she was in The Order of the Thorn, Aylen and Tava.  They have told her that The Order had been infiltrated, but by who and what they did not know.  In addition to her main duty as Princess Itami’s handmaiden (and secretly bodyguard) she was to be on the lookout for those suspicious enough to be a possible subversive [change]. 

She stepped out onto the main deck of the airship.  The Forest Mist was a small and fast courier ship that mainly carried correspondence from one city to another.  Captain Watson was a member of The Order of the Thorn and from time to time he was ordered to smuggle some cargo.  He was very good at what he did but not today.  Rin knew what he was, but he had no idea that they belonged to the same Order.  She smiled at him as she entered the command deck.  “Good morning,” she said bright and chipperly.

“Good morning to you too, m’lady,” he returned to her.  He may not have known she was part of the same Order, but she was the Baron’s sister and deserved such repect.  “We are coming in to the aerodrome now.”  The command deck was crewed by three people, in addition to the captain.  The pilot who stood at a great wheel, the navigator who sat at his charts and the communications officer who manned the radio.  “Did you sleep well?”

Rin smiled.  She did not sleep well aboard any airship as his question brought forward the redcap goblin.  “It was pleasant, Captain Watson,” she lied convincingly.  “I must thank you for the use of your cabin again.”  He bowed his head slightly.  He must know, she thought.  He was a member of the Order.  None the less, they exchanged pleasantries. 

The Forest Mist moored at Bay Three of the Maarke Aerodrome.  The Aerodromes made by North Realm are a marvel of construction.  They are usual vast, circular affairs that the airships landed in like they were wedges of a pie.  The center was a huge tower that was home to Maarke Air Traffic Control.  Overall, it was a huge building that could hold twenty-four ships on two levels.  She stepped off onto the gangway where she could smell the oil, and steam and ocean.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale 2

Rin stood naked in front of a tall, thin mirror, her green eyes not missing a thing as she gazed over her form.  The scars on the remains of her left hand where the magical prosthesis was attached.  The prosthesis looked beautiful and despite of its moving parts what smooth and flush with the skin of her arm as the prosthesis claimed half her forearm.  She covered the prosthetic with a glove.  It conjured dreams of the redcap who took the arm when she was a child and for the life of her she could not banish the vile creature from her thoughts and her dreams.  Her hand went to her forehead where a two inch scar lay above her right eyebrow.  It was another scar she got from the night of the crash.

But it wasn’t all bad.  When Rin awoke form the horror filled dreams, she found herself in a large comfortable bed, in the middle of large room.  She did not say anything, in fact she did not even move for hours.  Two hours later when the nurse came wearing a pin denoting she was a follower of the Eladrin goddess Ellathe, the nurse smiled.  She told Rin that she was alright.  It was then that Rin cried and she cried out loud, as much as her battered and bruised body could handle under the circumstances while the nurse just gently held her.

She later learned that Elham danTaven, the Baron of Stormtonne had come to her rescue.  The Barony’s Control Tower heard the airships radio message and Elham himself lead a rescue party to save the doomed flight.  In the weeks after she awoke in the hospital, it became evident that no one would claim the child.  There was no evidence of her existence that they could find.  So the Baron did the only thing if which he could think.  He adopted her.  Emma, his wife had always wanted a girl and she took Rin to heart and with open arms.

Stories from Eave: Rin's Tale

This is a series of short stories all based on my Eave world.  Mind you I am far from a professional but I try none the less.

Fire was everywhere as people screamed in pain.  The airship crashed in a woody thicket of the great forest that was still made up of the great trees.  Rin stumbled, bleeding from a cut on her forehead.  She would have cried but her mother told her to keep quiet.  “There are dangerous things in the forest,” she had told the four year old girl. 

Her mother had just finished strapping Rin into the crash seat of the cabin that they were in and had got up to run across the room that they were in when everything went a dark purple.  She saw a beam of violet energy slice up through the floor and catch her mother.  She didn’t even cry out as Rin looked on with horror and shock as her mother was there and then she wasn’t.  She would have cried out, but her mother told her to be quiet.

She has lost her left shoe in the wreckage as she climbed out, alone and afraid.   As she picked along her the trial of burning and charred debris, the weirdly colored fire casting deep purple shadows, giving the remains and otherworldly glow.  She could hear the screams turn to silence and she was afraid.  She could see a figure in the distance, standing before a purple flame.  “Mother?” she wordlessly said as it looked like her mother bathed in the purple light.  Rin tried not to cough as a breeze blew smoke in her direction.  When the smoke cleared she was surprised to see it.  A large goblin wearing a cap of blood red.  She did not cry out as it raised a bloody, jagged blade.  Rin fell back, stifling a small cry from escaping her lips as it brought down the blade where it severed her left hand and much of her forearm.

Rin awoke with a start, her hands flying up to guard her face.  She sat up in the bunk she was in and breathed hard.  She slowly brought up her left hand and closed her fist.  It was a magical prosthesis made up of a silver and copper cage closed up around a hand, made of darkwood.  It was beautiful as it seamlessly melded with her flesh.  The fist unclenched and she rest it in her lap and sighed.  She got up from her bunk and went to a small window on the opposite wall.  She opened the curtain and could see the sun rising against the horizon made up of a great forest, the ring around Eave slowly fading in the glowing light of the sun.

The intercom rang and Rin went to answer it.  “This is the call you wanted to wake you m’lady.  We are an hour from Maarke,” the captain of the airship told her.  She thanked the captain and returned to the window, the view slowly changing.  She sighed.  It was the same dream every time she flew…

Barony of Maarke

Ruler: Baron Kemmon danTaere

The Maarke is a large and sprawling barony of the shores of great Morning Sea.  No defensive walls or barriers but it does have its fair share of hidden batteries that protect the city.  A hard and cold city during the winter to a mild and less hard during the summer months.  It is built somewhat upon a semi-active volcanic region that provides the city, nay the entire barony with geothermal power and warmth that make it somewhat hospitable.

One of the things that make The Maarke a great city was Paul Taere.  Paul Taere was the ships navigator aboard the Danaan.  He did not see a volcanic wasteland but a place of pristine beauty where is could be afforded a prime abode to mark the stars and try to figure out where they were.  He took the highest spire, the cindercone of an extinct volcano along the Morning Sea and there built a great observatory that is still used to this day.  Soon a thriving town and then a city and eventually a college was built around the spire.

The Maarke has growing and thriving community of scholars, fisherman and those that cater to them and the many travelers that stop at The Maarke.  Many hot springs hotels are located here.  Over the centuries, much of the lava fields have been cleared to allow the forest to reclaim the land.

There are many spires which goes up and many above the water.  The great tarns (dow) make their nests in the spires.  These great marine birds are a boon not only to ride but because they can spot the great fish that swim along the coast.

The biggest college in North Realm is here.  The Colleges of Danaan are located here, a sprawling campus that teaches both magic and science.

Besides the Maarke, this Barony has the towns of Harvard, Oxford and Yale.

Eave Design Bible, Part I

This list is mainly from a human point of view.

• Eave is a world were magic and science come together and try to make sense of one another.  It is advanced technology but one that is old and fading.  Besides a few of the technologies that are really over the top, such as some of the weapons and armor, the tech level is about equal to twentieth century earth.  Much of the technology is cumbersome and unwieldy, this is due to the humans not having much of the high tech and resources available to them.  Combine that with the fact that magic does not work at a certain level above the surface that means all of the magic that they do have is worthless in the humans bid for outer space.  
• Magic and science are blended to a point that most of what they have is made of blending of the two disciplines.
• Power Armor and Energy Weapons are very, very rare.  The slugthrower weapons are uncommon and the higher end ones (automatic weapons and such) are usually restricted to the military.  Swords, bows and the such, are the common weapons
• Vehicles such at jets, tanks and mechs are very, very rare and are limited to the military.  Other vehicles such as cars and trucks are uncommon.  The people of Danaan usually use draft animals and air ships; while the Tulathians have an excellent mass transit system of trains.
• Airships, because I wanted them!  Mainly because of swashbuckling fun high above the world. 
• Medical science is quite good.  Danaan has been experimenting with magical prosthetics to great effect.  Tulath has some of the best prenatal care in the world.
• Eladrin (or elves as they are commonly known) are a tall and tough race.  They are a beautiful people and much talk has went into talking about their involvement on ancient Earth.  With the existence of the portals and such, it is a very likely possibility.  
• There are very few actual computers remaining and are usually common in government and military facilities.  Danaan has the Oracle System, the remnants of the original computer system aboard the Battlecrusier Danaan.  Tulath has SAGE, found aboard the UTN Fleet Carrier Tulath.  They are the only AI remains.  Computers arent made to play games.
• Communications, like computers are bulky affairs.  Radio is very common and TV has just caught on.  They are usually bulky affairs.  The military has smaller ones, backpack sized ones.  The range is only line of sight due to the fact that they cannot put any satellites into orbit.  It is very rare that even the mechs have their original radios and have to make due with the primitive radios makeshifted to the vehicles.
• Modern power generation was something that died out in the first century.  For many centuries afterwards the humans dealt with the dirty forms of generation by burning wood and coal.  This made for some very dangerous living conditions for Tulath.  Eventually the Tulathians discovered how to work the dwarven forges and create an enchanted metal that was always heated.  They used that to construct a clean burning generator that used steam.  North Realm took a bit of time for their magic took many years of one-to-one training.

Eave and beyond...

Oof.  I am mostly back, but bare with me as it will take me a little while to regain my feet.  I have been thinking about what I have done with Eave and taking a really hard look at it, there is some stuff that I want to change.  Don't know what that will be however.  The problem with doing Eave for Fate is that I do not have written down a definite bible for world creation to it.  I need to set up a design bible for Eave, stat!

There has been another blogger that has been hacking Castle Falkenstein to Fate, and it is really good.  I wonder how fast I can put together something together for Orccon this year.  Something Falkensteinish I think since that has been the most popular think that I have done at the con.  I am still not that familiar with the Fate system to run, but I will try it regardless.  More on that to come.

Well, the new year brings new challenges and new opportunities.  Here is to 2014, lets make it a good one!