[SU/Discussion/Brainstorming] - Have Party, Will Travel

An RP for those who want something different out of their epic adventure quest. Something involving less grinding and more fun, less stuffiness and more insanity. Be warned, this RP is rife with references.


Tired of tedious fetch quests? This RP will satisfy your frustrations at conventional fantasy quest tropes by allowing you to take a potshot at them.

In this tale of epic fantasy, travel, companionship (and all it's problems) and relentless assault of snark and tongue-in-cheek, you will never have to worry about very long-term goals, running out of things to do or being forced to level-grind...or perform fetch quests.

You and your party will be graced with all the joys of questing in a party, including random encounters, fierce ambushes, deadly deathtraps and diplomatic disasters, all performed in good fun and cheer. Towns and settlements will embellish you with provisions and equipment, as well book you dungeon runs and tower-raids or arrange for you to stumble onto a political conspiracy! And should you wish, even a light-hearted town lynching can be arranged for you to escape!

Your party shall never be in want for fun as you begin your travels from the n00b island kingdom of Boletaria and journey throughout the vast land of Angria and explore its far-flung regions.

See wonders such as the harrowing Cliffs of Vertigo, the mystical Tunnel of a Thousand Roads, the magnificent and deadly Labyrinth of the Goblins. Visit hospitable locales such as the territory of the Hot Amazons, the cosmopolitan city of Valentia, the Floating City of Kublah-Ur and the frozen prairies of Sveda. Meet fascinating peoples like drunken elves, rhyming demons, power-hungry viziers and sexual-sadist princes vying for the throne, luscious enchantresses and transsexual bar wenches. Handle precious artifacts like the Hat of Ideas, the Ale of Power, the Tights of Speed and the mysterious Othello's Hankerchief!

All this and much, much more awaits you in the fantastical world of Have Party, Will Travel, the quest RP that takes you places that regular fantasy didn't even think about!

Noteworthy Locations:

Kingdom of Boletaria
Valentia: The capital of the kingdom of Boletaria and the largest inhabited settlement on Boletaria's main island is built on the shores of Lake Tia. It is the residence of the Von Hoffen royal house, one of the longest, unbroken and most stable royal lines in Angria. It is a cosmopolitan city, where the high and low mix in a melting pot of different races, views, and cultures. An important travel and trade hub for the entirety of Angia, Valentia sees the passage of thousands of people and hundreds of different products in very little time. It's a perfect place for adventurers to start a journey. The base of young King Hamlet II Von Hoffen.

Wispton: A well-to-do, prosperous town of merchants and land-owners, Wispton has been the birthplace of many of Angria's famous heroes and legendary travelers. It also features one of the most respected blacksmith guilds in Boletaria, the White Hammer Guild, where high quality weapons and armor are produced, which are widely sought after by adventurers.

Threepwood: Once a shunned place due to its popularity with wizards, witches and warlocks, it's now a boom-town flourishing on magical trade. The town features branches of three different, worldwide mage guilds (the Stormchasers Guild, the Guild of Veiled Mirages and the Guild of Amber Smoke), as well as a host of smaller guilds with activities in Boletaria.

Flushlocke: Reigning in the middle of the Flushlocke Bog lands, and flanked by the Duchy of Morris, Flushlocke is a small, quiet town known for its long culinary traditions and spas of mineral baths and therapeutic muds. Legend has it that the highly secretive Guild of Jade Assassins has a base here.

Navigator's Reach: A hamlet built around an ancient cartographer guild, the Royal Azure Navigators, founded by King Reuben IV Van Hoffen, over 400 years ago. Nowadays Navigator's Reach is a national treasure of learning and navigation, with the biggest observatory in Boletaria. The town now functions as a hub for sea-faring travels with it's sister-city and naval dock, Redwater.

Redwater: Redwater is the biggest port town of Boletaria, a common stop for both trade and traveler vessels, carrying goods and passengers to and from around Angria. It's a bustling cosmopolitan town and an important trade port.

Tumbleweed: A small rural hamlet on the very edges of Boletaria's north island, this little settlement is inhabited by a lot of elves who like its quiet remoteness and peacefulness of character. It doesn't see a lot of visitors and it's inhabitants spend most of their time tending to their large herds of cattle and other livestock grazing in the pasture-lands surrounding it.

Hag's Point: A point of interest, Hag's Point is a steep cliff where the rivers Gaugamila and Dnei meet. The site of a great battle many centuries ago, the location is now an attraction to travelers due to it's proximity to the river roads and plenty of dungeons and areas of interest. Also popular with suicides...

Cayman Islands: A grouplet of little islands off the coast of Valentia, this semi-independent small state pays tribute to Valentia and houses the most secure banks in all of Angria with branches all over the world. Their world wide services of money lending, exchange, depositing and item storage are popular with travelers and they have representatives almost all over Angria.

Duchy of Morris
Morris Keep: An ancient fiefdom of the Boletaria kingdom, ruled by the Dukes and Duchesses of Morris, an old and esteemed house of knights that served Boletaria for centuries. The fortified citadel, surrounded by a walled city, sprawls around the castle of the duke and is an important trade and industrial center. Currently it is home to the Duke Morris Mariner, a politically active nobleman who often combats the modestly progressive policies of young King Hamlet II, claiming breaches with the traditional protocols of Boletaria.

Fiefdom of Ostralot
Ostralot: It is the capital of the Fiefdom of Ostralot, a tribune to the Kingdom of Boltaria. Ostralot is an old chivalric base, once sole home to the Order of the Two Crowns, an elite order of knights who serve the royal house of Boletaria. With the order having expanded its operations all over the Boletarian islands, the Grand Hall in Ostralot is now reserved for the induction ceremonies and councils of the top officers and magistrates of the order.

Boxhoff: A provincial fishing town overlooking the Byron Bay, it's a life line to the islands off the coast of Boletaria. Famed for its cuisine and rumored to overlook a veritable goldmine of sunken treasure boats, it's frequented by a lot of treasure hunters.

Duchy of Esk
Esk: The Dukes of Esk reside here, in the quiet fortress of Esk, nestled on the top of a vast granite plateau that rises up from the prairies and bush lands of the southern Boletarian island. Famed for it's near-impregnable defenses, this keep has withstood many raids and attacks from the sea and land. The Duchess of Esk can boast close family relations to many of Angria's greatest royal houses. The city is also residence of Duchess Flavia of Esk, the first female head of house Esk in 300 years.

Burbton: A quiet and unassuming coastal fishing town, Burbton is situated over a vast network of limestone sea-caves that have been the hideouts of pirates and smugglers alike for centuries. These salty dogs have forged an uneasy alliance with the people of Burbton and the Duchy of Esk, allowed to operate mostly freely in their lands as long as they leave Esk vessels and targets alone.

Cruftburg: The boom town of the southern Duchy, Crufton is an industrial wonder where alchemists, inventors and scientists flock to take advantage of the universities and libraries that flourish within and the open invitation of the Duchess for scholars of all kinds. Cruftburg is the biggest producer of gunpowder in Boletaria and in the forefront of constructing ballistic weapons.

• God-Modding is severely discouraged. Take care to make characters that avoid this sin diligently. We'll help you as much we can!
• A varied party of many races and many occupations/classes is encouraged. It's okay if you want to bring in a second person of a class like fighter type, ranger type or mage type, but if there's already one or two people of a certain support or non-front-lines class, please don't bring a third of the same. We probably won't need 3 healer mages or 4 assassins.
• This RP is meant to be comedic and include some screwball moments. Though it is set in a high-fantasy medieval/renaissance world, you can still include modern little details like a character wearing a pair of shoes suspiciously like All-Stars, sporting jeans or carrying a modern-looking umbrella. You are encouraged to not specifically mention these items with modern brand names, and if they are powered by anything come up with different ways that they work--i.e an iPod is not an electronic device but rather a stone that contains music that you listen to whenever you want and must power it with magic. GMs have the right to politely tell you when you're taking this too far.
• Your bios will be closely scrutinized and have to be approved by at least one GM (namely me or Jon). We'll be sure to help you improve your characters so that they are perfect for our RP and ensure that you are kept entertained by all this mess.
• Please feel free to think up random places that your character may hail from or has been to in their travels. PM me with some details about these locales and what they're like, and I'll be more than happy to weave them into Angria's other territories.
• I also welcome contributions for beasts, perils, locations, npcs, services and other details for Angria.
  

The principal races found in Angria are Humans, Elves, Dwarves, Half-Elf, Half-Orc, Part-Fiend and Halfling. Each have their own advantages and disadvantages that you must take into consideration when creating a character, as seen below:

• Humans are a general, all rounder race. They're capable of everything but masters of next to nothing, having no special strength, magical powers or other abilities surpassing those of other races. They live the shortest lives but are the most populous race and can follow nearly any conceivable class. They also have the most settlements, meaning a human can find shelter and provisions darn nearly anywhere. Human lifespans reach at rare cases up to 100 years.
  
• Elves are a very tall, graceful race blessed with exceptional magic gifts. Even meelee-based class elves use heavy amounts of magic, making them very fierce fighters even as solo travelers. However, their light builds deprive them of much strength and they can easily be overwhelmed by stronger creatures or carefully placed physical blows. Their settlements are few and far between and few elves live in human settlements, meaning elves can often be rather cut off from their own people. Elves can live up to 800 years.
  
• Dwarves are short, stout and very strong. They may lack in swiftness and agility, but they are stubborn and hardy, able to shake off much damage and go for the kill in a very direct, brutal fashion. They're also very talented craftsmen and natural artisans. Dwarves don't much like travel and are not frequently seen in the company of other races. However because their trade is widely sought after, Dwarves can be found living in many settlements. Dwarves can live up to 400 years.
  
• Half-Elves (or as Elves call them, Half-Human) are the offpsring of a union between a Human and an Elf. A rare incident by the standards of both races, these people are forever divided between their two identities, never quite fitting in either society, which may view them with suspicion. Half-Elves have less prominent elven characteristics (like shorter ears and less elegant build) and appear 'different' to humans as well (too lithe and pretty). They have neither the high amounts of elven magic, nor the universal potentiality of humans but they can still function in most possible classes, with a slight inclination towards magic, long-range or stealth classes. Half-Elves usually live up till their 300s.
  
• Half-Orcs are the result of the mating (intentional or not) of humans and orcs, large, brute beings that populate Angria's harsher lands. Half-Orcs lives are defined by social stigma due to their appearance (less brutish than orcs but they are still bigger than any human, with grayish skin and distinct faces with prominent jaws featuring short tusks and shabbier hair) and temperament. Even the calmest and most self-disciplined half-orc can fly into fits of violent rage over small stuff. They have exceptional strength and stamina, but little skill in magic. Half-Orcs never live older than their 80s. They have a distinct language and alphabet:
  

o0PinkSquid0o said:

'Orcish' Aphabet:
I created an Orc Alphabet for when Charles speaks in his own language.
Pink letters are the English Alphabet and the green is The 'Orcish' Alphabet.

A(I), B(P), C(S), D(M), E(A), F(Y), G(Q), H(B), I(U), J(D), K(V), L(F), M(R), N(W), O(E), P(X), Q(C), R(T), S(G), T(Z), U(O), V(N), W(K), X(L), Y(H), Z(J)

When writing in Orcish I will type like this:

"Bakke, rh wira ug Charles. Qek me heo me? (Hello, my name is Charles. How do you do?)" The Orc said with a smile.

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• Part-Fiends, or part-demons, are a rare occurrence in Angria and viewed with very much mistrust and reluctance, to the point of fear. Part-Fiends may be half-fiend or second or even third generation, yet still bear marks of infernal heritage, like oddly-colored eyes, unusually-colored skin and hair, traces of horns or tails, pointy ears (different look from elven) and fangs or claws. They sometimes possess exceptional powers, either beyond the scope of magic or manifesting as physical abilities. They are rarely met well wherever they go and tend to live in the fringes of society, shunned and feared by all. Most have severe psychological problems and a majority tends to be criminally inclined or psychotic. Part-fiends have lifespans similar to human ones, give or take a decade.
• Halflings are the short and nimble subterranean, technological masters of Angria. They are roughly 3 feet tall, lean and with pointed ears. From their underground cities, these small, thin and large-eyed people create magnificent automatons and discover new elements and technologies using alchemy and science as well as magic. Halflings are small and thin, lacking in strength but boasting superior intellect and reasoning abilities and are very gifted in magic--traits they use to supplement their weaker physical attributes. Their intelligence and skills however makes most Halflings insufferably arrogant and snobbish.Halflings can live up to 500 years.
  

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Mounts are plentiful and easily available for all but most have certain requirements.

• Horses are common, they are the easiest kind of mount to acquire, train with and manage, but they are also spooked very easily and not very enduring, especially in the harsh wild territories of Angria.
• Unicorn-blooded horses are a specialty of the elves; these highly sensitive and highly strung equines, bred by elves over many centuries, will usually only tolerate elven or at most, half-elven riders. They are smarter and faster than regular horses and have a very short horn, but they are also a little less hardy and have no magical powers.
• Dire Wolves are a favorite mount type for Dwarves and Halflings thanks to their smaller scale (they're the size of an average pony), agility and the fact that they can double as fierce guard beasts. Dire Wolves are high maintenance as they require a lot of meat daily and riders must be thoroughly trained and able to get the beast to understand who is boss.
• Dragons large enough to carry people are extremely hard to tame and even harder to get under saddle; their size and great demands also makes them unsuited for long quests as even the smallest breeds become a drain in a party's resources in the long run rather than an asset, despite them being handy in combat. As a result, dragons are more frequently used by travel agencies to transport people between locations quickly, efficiently and with safety.

Other types of mounts are known to be used, but are less common. [You are free to come up with a random kind of mount, as long as it's within reason and not God-Moddish--but it can be a little weird and unconventional. Your mount MUST have some kind of drawback, whether it's high maintenance, low intelligence or stamina or aggression or need of training. Keep in mind you will be required to RP the mount as well!]

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Character Bio Template
All sections are required unless specified otherwise.
Based on Jon's character template.

Name: [Your character's name, including middle names if applicable]

Alias: [Any nicknames, titles or aliases your character uses. Remove if non-applicable]

Alignment: [The character's moral alignment in terms of Good or Evil. This does not solidify you as a villain or hero!!]

Class: [What sort of class/profession is your character? You can put almost anything here, just remember we're a high fantasy setting. I don't wanna see anyone say space pirate.]
Race: [Your characters race, picked from the selection mentioned above. If choosing a mixed race mention the percentage of each.]

Gender: [Male, Female, Trans or Ambigious; if the latter, please include how the character prefers to be viewed and addressed as.]

Age: [Determined by the guidelines for each race as stated previously.]

Appearance: [Describe the character's appearance, including physique type, skin complexion, hair and eye shape, defining characteristics, flaws and imperfections. Remember to adhere to the rough guidelines of each race as mentioned earlier. I don't wanna see any 'handsome' half-orcs! This is where images will also be placed. This should also include sub-sections for Attire and Armor, if the latter is applicable.]

Personality: [Tell us who your character is, how they behave and how they react to circumstance and people. Tell us how they talk, what their quirks and pet peeves are. Tell us about their flaws as a person. Be imaginative and creative--go crazy. You can even tell us how they like to starch their socks for all it's worth.]

First Impression: [A short description of how other people react to meeting your character and their mannerisms before they get to know them better. Remember that appearance makes a strong mental impact and others may perceived your character based on their looks.]

Statistics: [This important section will be broken down into segments as follows. Please note that there is one rule for this entire section: Remember logical limits as to avoid God-modding and mention any augmentations if applicable. This goes for every part of the stats section.]
Strength: [A description of the character's raw strength, such as how much they can press or lift in comparison to their body mass, what kind of damage they'd do to an average wall, or what kind of weaponry it allows them to wield and use very comfortably.]
Vitality: [Describe the character's physical and magical defense properties, and whether they are more susceptible to one or the other. Mention whether these defenses are natural or somehow augmented.]
Speed: [Describe the character's speed, mentioning how quickly they can run at their top speed after a build-up, how quickly they can sidestep and how fast their attacks can be.]
Stamina: [Describe the characters stamina, how long they can fight for, run, swim hard etc before they have to stop for a breath and rest. You can also mention their tolerance to hard work or physical pain here.]
Reflexes: [Describe the character's reflexes in terms of reaction speed, hand-eye coordination and self-awareness.]

Fighting Style: [Describe how your character fights (if they do). Give details about their methods, such as if they fight dirty or with honor, whether they are cautious, cowards or crazy daredevils. State their style, such as specific marial arts system or training and describe their essential tactics. This must be in accordance to their chosen profession.)

Weapons: [Tell us what the character carries and fights with. Describe their history, if they have any, and state any effects these weapons have on their magic or abilities, as well as inherent properties of the weapon, if any of the above apply. Make sure to give as detailed descriptions as you can. Images are allowed to help. Try not to make these weapons indestructible, since that makes them less important to the character. Describe each weapon separately.]

Mount: [If any. Describe it, both in terms of appearance, behavior and capabilities. Also state mount type preference.]

Abilities: [These abilities must be separate from magic! State any specific physical abilities the character has, whether inherent or learned, that have nothing to do with magic. Describe them separately, including the appearance, theoretical effects and duration. These abilities range from use of artifacts, to power-up chants or battle cries. If the character uses any form of energy for these, like Ki, The Force or the power of cotton candy, mention it here. Make sure to state how much each ability will cost in terms of such energy and what reprecussions their use have on the character. Be reasonable.]

Magic: [This is magic's very own section. If your character uses magic, state the type or element, (like fire, aether, chaos, light, necromantic, animantic etc...) of the magic and for each type describe the appearance and theoretical effects of each skill available to you. Be as detailed as you can manage and try to think outside the box. If your magic creates minions (undead, golems, constructs) or summons creatures (spirits, animals, fey) be sure to describe them and their functions.]

Other Skills: [This section is for skills that don't fit elsewhere, usually cognitive and learned abilities that have more to do with long-term training and brain-power than magical or genetic gifts. Transformations like lycanthropy may apply as well. Skills like cooking or painting go here. Describe the skills separately in terms of appearance and effects and if applicable, cost.]

History: [Ideally the biggest part of the bio, this is where you will describe your character's history up till they join the story. Summarize where they're from, who their family was, their life so far, highlighting important events that your character has been through or witnessed, major events they encountered in their travels, how they acquired their weapons and skills, why they have their title/nickname/alias if applicable, etc.

Starting Location: [Where in Boletaria is your character when the story begins?]
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Lol, Threepwood, I've got to give you props on that one.

I'll try to have a character up in the next couple of days. It'll more than likely be a Mage type.

This sounds interesting and quirky, I think I'll give it a go


Character Bio Template - FINISHED

Excellent, I shall reserve my character bio right here as well. I'll be making a battle bard XD. I look forward to RPing with you guys.

=D Chell, I'm glad my references amuse you. More shall come along >D

Ok Bio is done, please review and let me know if you need me to change anything <3

Also is does this RP follow a story or is it like a free for all, sandbox kind of thing?

Your bio is being reviewed now, and I like how it looks so far.

This RP will follow a very loose story, basically a series of loosely connected arcs that will take the party around the world and into some pretty weird situations. :3 There will be a good deal of freedom though, and if someone accidentally takes the story somewhere different, we'll make damn sure it develops into it's own fun arc.

As you know I'll be joining this with Ty. Phoebs and I have already discussed this and while I will be posting Ty's bio, the fact that I am not in any way a talented artist means that there will be no picture in my appearance section. Until the bio itself is posted, please accept the following brief snippit of info for Tysorai:


Name: Tysorai
Aliases: The Black Wolf (professionally); Fluffy, Fuzzy (by Ryan)
Class: Assassin (Shapeshifter)
Race: Half-Elf (if only because I hate elves; has the ability to change to werewolf form at will)

This is NOT the final bio; if it were I'd shoot myself for idiocy. This is just a brief intro to the basics of the character until I get the full bio fixed/transferred.

Put me down with this character: http://www.finalfantasyforums.net/showpost.php?p=780948&postcount=60

Sign me up, too. Gimme a day or 2, to think of of a good bio. I'll probably be a Mage or Hunter.

@ Jon: Hon, you clearly underestimate my character's and mine capacity for infuriating nicknames. Ty will be called things far worse than Fluffy. In fact everyone will. =D I may try to draw Ty later for you.

@ Maestro: It's a great character, but I'm afraid he's still gotta get 'translated' into the setting of this RP, which means he needs certain changes. First off, Race; he has to fit within one of the races specified in the info section at the first post. Looking at him and what he does I'd say he's either a 50-50 Part-Fiend or a dragon-blessed Elf. It's your decision, in the end. You also need to determine his profession and where in Boletaria he is when the RP begins. Other than those three minor things, he's a pretty good character and I like that he's vague about good or evil.

@ Shinya: No time for you!! D:< ...I kid, take your time, this is about having fun and making a fun char is part of it.

Is my character accepted? :3

Im in too. Typing this on my phone now. Inconvenient. Will get something up later.

@ o0PinkSquid0o: Yes it is! I think she's adorable. *gets punched* Seeing her interact with the rest of the cast should be fun. My character's going to have fun poking her and getting punched.

I must say, this is quite a turn out and I am very happy to have you all! This is gonna be great!

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In fact, here's mine as well. It's already been viewed and reviewed by Jon, at my anal retentive insistence ^-^

Name: Ryan Gaven.

Alias: Charismatic Bastard: Because of his obnoxious yet oddly appealing behavior. Some people like his quirkiness, others can’t stand him.

The Devil’s Bard : So called in tall tales concerning him. It’s very melodramatic and Ryan thinks it’s hilarious.

Alignment: Chaotic Good.

Class: Battle Bard/Tentacle Monster

Race: Part-Fiend [25% demon, 75% human].

Gender: Male

Age: 22

Appearance:

A general look of his physique and the look of his power. Disregard the rape-face, he's just trying to creep you out.

Ryan stands about 6' 2" and weighs around 210 pounds, with a light tanned complexion. He is fairly toned in an average way, as someone who travels a lot. He has black hair in a short, untended cut, often at the mercy of the weather. His eyes are red, even the whites, which are darker than the bright red iris. His other infernal features are pointed ears (but not long, like elves’) and sharp canines. He hides his eyes with a blindfold (though he can still see through it) and his ears with his hair and hood while feigning blindness when he wants to go incognito.
Attire: He wears trousers of tough, blue denim, an off-white shirt with a dark vest, a deep red scarf and sturdy yet sleek, dark leather boots; a heavy, brown belt with a leather satchel on the back, for carrying essentials. He has one long, dark overcoat that he saves for bad weather and a short, dark tan cloak with a hood that he wears to cover his head when in a town. He has a lip piercing on the left side of his mouth and a small ring on his left earlobe, both made of steel. He wears a steel cross necklace with a black jet stone embedded in the middle. He carries his guitar on his back and his sword on his belt. Though his attire is plain, Ryan takes care to keep it clean and neat; he likes to look good, but will rarely go out of his way for it.

Personality:Ryan’s turbulent life has left him a troubled man, and you can’t always tell by looking at him. Most of those who know him consider him witty and a bit of an oddball, appreciated for his sense of humor, cool head and relaxed kind of personality that some people have trouble understanding. Either that or they just can’t stand him. He may have trust issues but he appreciates friends even if he won’t show it. He’s capable of arguing with everyone and even coming to blows, but Ryan never takes things too far. If he’s with allies, he is fiercely protective and one does not mess with Ryan's party and escape his wrath.

People get the impression that like other part-fiends, Ryan hates humans but his brother thinks otherwise, suggesting that Ryan is just reacting to the popular attitude towards part-fiends and is jaded of persecution. Ryan is well aware of the possibility that he may be a little insane, but isn’t sure how deep that runs and whether it’s just his infernal nature or not. As a child he was almost shy, but his subsequent life turned him into a jerk and prone to sarcasm, traits that overshadow his better qualities. The few friends he’s made in his travels feel that once you get to know him, he’s a little easier to understand.

Interestingly, Ryan tries a bit too hard to hide the fact that he's smart, kind and somewhat noble. He’s reserved and absurd in his displays of kindness. He never expects to be thanked and isn't very fond of recognition—but he will manipulate people he’s helped by reminding them that they owe him. It would seem that his rough life has left him with a habit of concealing his real self with a facade. For example, though he is a surprisingly skilled combatant, he will usually under-perform in sparring or even less-than-grave conditions, partly because he can't be bothered to try.

Ryan is fascinated by challenges--physical and mental--to the point where he can get inconsistent and annoying. His largely theatrical arrogance and audacity are key to his victories: They put him at ease and keep him from realizing the risks he takes; he also tends to annoy opponents to the point where they make stupid mistakes that he exploits to win. However, one should note that the more serious and angry he gets, the quieter he becomes. He's notoriously foul-mouthed, even at inappropriate times. Usually he doesn't mean half of what he says and it's easy to brush him off because he holds back.

He deals with his weak heart rather well, even joking about it. He admits that he's come to terms with it and the fact he could be dead before he even turns thirty so he’s determined to make the most of his life. In some sense, Ryan considers his heart a boon rather than a curse: He claims it keeps him grounded and always aware of his mortality, making it easier for him to accept that death’s just a fact of life. He credits his ability to fight while disregarding his own well-being to this acceptance—and he takes it to the extreme.

As a fighter, hecan be pretty brutal (if he can be bothered), using his powers and skills to terrorize opponents and fight them on their own terms. He is fast and agile, resourceful and completely out of his mind. His short temper and sense of justice can make him pretty vicious, when motivated. He leaves many serious opponents badly broken, crippled or maimed. If they aren’t a big threat, he’s happy to just terrorize them.

His wit, sharp tongue and penchant for caustic sarcasm, dirty jokes and scathing remarks are his trademark and he displays very little respect towards figures of authority, even those he admires. While he is capable of showing sincere respect, it doesn’t come easily, nor does it stop him from telling them exactly what he thinks. His attitude sometimes makes it difficult to work within a party that he doesn't trust and he rarely obeys others, usually responding with something akin to "bite me" or a more blatant "fuck off" if they push him around.

Ryan has problems forming bonds and his interaction with other people can be awkward. He is closest to his brother, Gabriel. The two siblings don't seem to mind the fact they're only half-brothers and polar opposites—Gabriel is a Holy Paladin of the Order of St. Iocus, sworn enemies of demons. They meet only rarely, when Ryan’s travels bring him by the lands protected by Gabriel’s order, but they’re always happy to see each other. They argue a lot but never escalate to serious fights.

His closest friend is Ty. For whatever reason, Ryan's extremely fond of this germophobe werewolf and although their personalities couldn't be more different, Ryan calls Ty either his 'other brother' or his 'wife'. He either takes a sick delight in annoying the living daylights out of Ty, or that's just his unorthodox way of bonding with him. However, usually it's one word from Ty that gets Ryan into the fray of a battle or to temper his usual energetic craziness into some order and logic. Interestingly, Ty's usually the person to bail Ryan out when he gets caught or imprisoned due to his laziness and unwillingness to fight full force when he doesn't have to.

He does not meet eye to eye with his father, Sir Michael de Rivven, and they avoid each other. One might say that Ryan's attitude towards his father is based on bitterness and longing for acceptance rather than anger, since he still evidently admires him as a brave hero and just man. However, his feelings are so strong that he talks of him coldly. Ryan has been aware of his infernal heritage and ties to Russellas since childhood and has lived in near-constant fear of the bound demon’s hordes and zealous demon hunters alike. Russellas and his acolytes are some of the few beings who can actually scare him.

Where his past is involved, Ryan’s attitude ranges from indifferent to deeply sarcastic. He claims to have no really pleasant memory from his youth and alludes to abuse, but mostly refuses to go into details.

His most complex relationships regard lovers and love interests. Ryan is very hard to win over and although sexually promiscuous (he’s bisexual) and something of a shameless flirt, his heart remains a closed book. It’s not beyond him to use seduction to get what he wants, even if it means trampling on someone's feelings. He freely admits he has manipulated the affections of people in the past, but he finds it difficult to get attached. Though he's been called handsome and desirable by potential love interests, a lot of them also recall the fact that he can be a cold, devilish kind of partner in a relationship. He usually greets advances with patience and a degree of amusement.

Interestingly, older, sexually aggressive women (known as cougars) make him uneasy and put him off, the result of being sexually assaulted while a teenager. It comes to the point where certain women who pursue him scare the crap out of him and he prefers to run than deal with them.

There's a possibility that Ryan's feelings, though buried deep in his troubled psyche, are in fact still locked onto a certain person from the past.

First Impression:Based on appearances, most people assume he’s just a blind, quirky bard who lives up to his nickname: a charismatic bastard. He's an annoying jerk and most people assume he's just a lazy and arrogant little prick who's too smart and mouthy for his own good, until they're faced with his energetic nature and absurdity. If one has the misfortune of meeting him in combat after doing something that ticks Ryan off, they usually think that they're facing a devil.

Statistics:Ryan’s in a good shape given his lifestyle and profession. Being a part-fiend, he has certain physical quirks, but he was still born with a weak heart and had to adapt to a dangerous life. Besides trying to evade paladins and demons, he also had to deal with abuse, forcing him to adapt to a life of constant struggle for survival.

He’s overcome many of the difficulties that his heart caused him, like pains and frequent fatigue. Still true to his infernal nature, Ryan does indulge, though not as badly as he allows others to think. His only real vice is smoking and he drinks prudently and has never touched recreational drugs. His powers and infernal nature demand a large intake of food to ensure fast blood regeneration. He’s particularly fond of spicy pork sandwiches and red meat.

Strength:Ryan's bare physical strength is considerate and more importantly, he knows how to apply it, since he can carry and move easily with his armor. He can press and lift twice his own weight with some effort. He has wrestled even barbarians down, broken light chains, snapped bones and knocked a half-orc out cold with a single uppercut. His blood armor enhances his strength (by means of crude hydraulics and pseudo-muscles applied inside the armor), allowing him feats such as stopping a charging, fully-armored paladin in an up-and-over throw or returning the boulder a troll threw at him in one fluid move.

Vitality:Ryan is a very tough young man. He has endured a wide variety of injuries, torture and overwhelming battles and emerged from trauma that should’ve killed him. Both allies and rivals acknowledge the fact that it takes truly a lot of punishment to put him out of action for long. Whether this is a sign of strength or just stubbornness is open to interpretation. It's been theorized that Ryan has an abnormally strong survival instinct rather than a superhuman ability to survive. Though rather vulnerable to magic attacks, Ryan has an absurd amount of fortitude--one might even say he's a glutton for punishment. Being part-fiend, he has a crippled sensation of pain and habitually ignores it. He is able to shrug off most wounds as well as much of the pain from broken bones. This ‘disability’ both makes him harder to take down and makes him overestimate himself.

Speed: Ryan is average in terms of running speed, running no faster than any healthy man can, even at top speed. But his agility gives him fairly high hand and leg speed and he is able to launch attacks that accelerate from 0 to 21 mph in under a second.

Stamina: Though a part-fiend, Ryan was born with a weak human heart and sometimes suffers from strong chest pains and heart arrhythmia. His heart condition limits his stamina to unpredictable levels, overcome only by his sheer will. On that account, he can fight at full force for almost an hour. However, if he over-exerts himself, his heart might falter and give him a heart-attack at even a fraction of that time. He can run for about a kilometer at an average speed. An avid swimmer, he has good lung capacity, allowing him to hold his breath underwater for approximately three minutes and thirty seconds.

Reflexes:Ryan's reflexes are honed from personal training and his very tough life, largely spent evading demons and zealots. He can dodge projectiles fired at medium range and he can anticipate most incoming blows he can see.

Fighting Style: Ryan is fairly skilled in combat, though his knowledge of formal fighting styles is limited. Most of what he does is intuitive, reacting rather than thinking about what he does and what he learned by being on the receiving end. His cleverness and observing nature allow him to grasp tidbits of various arts, but he has yet to fully master any single one. His style is a paradoxical mix of what little he knows of the arts of Boxing, Savate and Pankration with his own personal touches, while he bases his combat on observation, noting even subtle weaknesses and a lot of improvisation. Ryan fights head-on, rarely resorting to sneak tactics but he most certainly fights dirty. Very dirty. He also doesn't care very much about his well-being and often allows himself to be injured in order to get past an opponent’s defense and nail them. Although in his method of fighting, a great pain threshold can be an advantage, his failure to comprehend exactly how hurt he is has backfired on him many times. He isn’t always able to feel an oncoming heart-attack or realize when he’s hurt himself too badly to move.

Weapons Proficiency: His ability to manifest any melee weapon he can think of and his knack for improvisation makes him rather deadly, by knowledge of anatomy and practical pathology. He can even use everyday items in unconventional ways to do damage or stun his opponents (think of a cross between Jackie Chan and the Mythbusters). He compensates for his lack of training with power, speed and the sheer number of weapons he can create at any given time. Generally, getting near him in a close-quarters fight could mean losing a limb. He is especially inventive with blunt weapons and has a unique way of combining chains, barbed wires and 'tentacles' in his combat style, making it rather disturbing and unsettling. When he can’t afford to use his power, he can manage fairly well with a longsword.

Marksman Skill: Even though he prefers close combat and has no ranged weapons, he has a decent aim. His knowledge of anatomy allows him to deliver accurate strikes with throwing weapons (knives, axes, hammers, spears) wires or chains. He is successful 8/10 times and able to hurl projectiles with great force, but has a fairly limited range of up to 10 feet.

Weapons:Ryan manifests weapons out of his blood armor. He can create almost anything he thinks about that isn't powered by energy or gunpowder.

Longsword: A run-of-the-mill, nondescript longsword made of steel with a plain leather hilt in a leather scabbard. This is something Ryan turns to when he can’t afford to expose himself as a half-fiend.

The Stratocaster: Not really a weapon, Ryan carries one of the few existing Stratocaster guitars, forged by the great music-smith Orpheus Dellatone. The guitar is magically powered and capable of producing an interesting variety of sound that can be either pleasing or infernal-sounding depending on your taste. The music can bolster morale, soothe nerves or induce a bout of frustrated discord. And if played correctly, it’s able to belt out chords of deafening volume that can stun and terrorize unwitting audiences and break glass or sensitive crystal. The guitar is fairly common-looking, black with red and white designs, but experts can see the signature of Dellatone, a golden trim barely perceptible, that reputedly gives the guitar its intriguing sound. Legend has it that only truly gifted bards can tap into a Stratocaster’s real potential. Stratocasters are powered by the sun and unless abused, a full magical charge can last for two to three days if played prudently and cared for.

The Cross of St. Claudine: Ryan received this talisman from his brother, Gabriel, to protect him from holy powers while they are together. Normally holy talismans hurt part-fiends, but St. Claudine’s artifacts have the unique property of protecting the bearer no matter what they are, if they are given by a blood relative and the wearer bears it in good will. It is a steel cross with pointed edges and a jet stone set in the middle, hanging by a chain of blessed steel. It doesn’t protect Ryan completely, so a banishing chant directed right at him will still burn him, but the cross mitigates the effects of holy power just enough to allow Ryan to enter holy ground without being overwhelmed or having his skin burn off.

Mount: Ryan will hitch a ride on anything he can find but his personal mount is one of the bear-sized ferrets of the Northern Drakebelch Mountains. These ferrets are descendants of creations of Friar Franciscus Bombastus, a notorious alchemist who, 2 centuries ago, performed bizarre experiments and produced many creatures that ran wild after his castle’s destruction. Ryan’s ferret is a male sable that he calls Plato. He’s cream with dark brown patches in a ‘siamese’ type and a typical ferret ‘mask’ and dark eyes.

Although these giant ferrets make for awkward mounts due to their hyperactive, curious natures and voracious appetites, they are also very brave and cunning, able to climb, burrow and swim fairly easily, making them very mobile. However they are obstinate and often spend too much time goofing around and performing weasel war dances. Plato is a typical ferret, but quite friendly and playful towards strangers if Ryan is around. He’s very inquisitive and sometimes he can get annoying. He seems to like Ty a lot and likes messing with him, even though Ty doesn't share the sentiment.

Abilities:
Blood Manipulation
Ryan can control his blood by power of will. The degree of control is seemingly limited only by his imagination and willpower—and his desire for fun and challenges. When unconscious, his subconscious still controls it, but to varying degrees of unpredictability. When his infernal powers peak, he can control the blood of others completely at will, stealing it to add to his own blood supply.

Blood Armor
Once in contact with air, Ryan’s blood can harden into a metal with similar properties to high performance steel, though it is lighter and dark colored. It can endure a lot of damage without denting or breaking easily, comparable to enchanted paladin steel. On the other hand, his armor makes him attractive to lightning. Ryan can liquefy and re-harden the armor at will, changing it in any way he likes, its appearance usually reflecting his mood. He can create virtually anything he thinks of out of his armor, limited only by the amount necessary, or he'll bleed himself to death. As any human being, Ryan only has about 5 liters of blood in his system and he loses more than he regenerates every time that dead blood is shed. He can only use up to 3 liters of blood at a time in constructs and armor. Unless he is powered enough to steal other blood, he is limited in the size and thickness of his constructs to the 3 liters of blood he can afford. Overstepping his bounds (something he ironically does often) could cause him symptoms of acute blood loss. If totally immersed in water, Ryan cannot liquefy his armor, because it would simply dissolve and he'd be unable to re-harden it, bleeding to death. Besides essentially becoming a 'hammer', salt-water in particular will cause pain to the cuts he needs for his power to work.

Unique Blood
Ryan's blood has several unique properties. Although technically his blood type is O-, his blood does not actually fall under any specific blood type. Ryan can receive transfusions from and donate to any blood-type without any side-effects. His blood does not carry any of the infernal contaminants that demon blood carries and is thus safe for humans, but is still rather repulsive to vampires though not lethal. Additionally, every time he liquefies and re-hardens his armor, the topmost layer of blood is discarded as flaky, dead blood. This blood is useless in rituals but Ryan often underestimates just how much he loses at a time. Ryan's blood needs to be free from anything that could influence blood clotting in order for his power to work properly. Drugs and toxins that affect clotting can cause incessant bleeding and a massive loss of control over his powers, putting him in danger.

Accelerated Blood Regeneration
His infernal ties mean his body has adapted to the amounts of blood that he loses through his power and regenerates blood about three times as fast as normal. This hectic metabolism explains his voracious appetite and his penchant for sleeping a lot.

Accelerated Healing Factor
As a part-fiend, Ryan’s infernal nature allows him to heal faster than regular mortals, though not by much. Barring aggravated wounds, broken bones, damaged vital organs or wounds inflicted by holy powers, Ryan can usually adequately heal most of his injuries within a day, at least enough to be able to travel comfortably—though still sore. ‘Overloading’ on infernal powers sometimes boosts these powers.

Affinity for Infernal Powers
Like regular demons, part-fiends have infernal energy and can absorb any loose infernal energy they find. Adrenaline surges reportedly also boost these innate powers. Ryan has a limited capacity for this and is extremely wary of it. Allowing his infernal power to peak lets him to tap into greater levels of his existing powers but it’s doubtful whether he can access a demonic form of some kind. Too much infernal power might make him go somewhat berserk. When that happens, Ryan slips into violent reaction rather than rational thought. These situations generally mean he will likely be much more brutal, cruel and apathetic than he normally is. He considers it his weakest flank as Russellas derives a disturbing delight in provoking these bouts of rage in him. Interestingly, these brief moments of ‘meltdown’ seem to have an effect on mind-readers as most find it painful to attempt to enter his head. Since he is part-fiend, holy powers such as those of paladins or holy grounds can hurt him, though significantly less than hull demons or half-fiends; his cross further mitigates the effect allowing him to bear them without his skin burning off.

Magic: None.

Other Skills:
Indomitable Will
Ryan possesses significant willpower, dampened only by his short temper, making him a formidable opponent. It kept him alive through his harsh childhood, controls his power and makes up for most of his physical shortcomings. It helps him fight against commonplace forms of mind control and suggestion, aided by his infernal nature.

Intimidation
His ability to instill fear in others is as much about his cunning and reading of people as it is about his appearance. He can adapt his manner to what he understands will have the most impact and his lack of mercy can scare even non-humans into compliance.

Information Extraction
As a bard, Ryan is well versed in social graces and the art of idle conversation. He’s a very understanding listener for anyone with a story to sob out. He is a charming flirt and witty drinking partner. In other words, he is an almost perfect information-fisher. His relaxed and laid back attitude and seemingly harmless appearance as a blind bard means people are less on guard around him and tend to talk more freely. On his part, Ryan is an expert at asking just the right questions in the right way to get answers most of the time. When dealing with captives for information, his methods are unorthodox and sometimes even bizarre but have an uncanny effectiveness in getting to the truth. When he resorts to torture, he’s decidedly disturbing enough to affect even hardened and mentally unstable individuals and beings.

Skilled Acrobat
Though he has received little formal training in this discipline other than free-running and Parkour, his skills are intuitive. He’s still no match to professional acrobats, but his power allows him to perform superhuman feats of motion and he can navigate most environments with fluid ease, using wires and tentacles of his armor to jump, swing, dive and dodge, overcoming almost any obstacle, performing gravity-defying antics and hang from anywhere, often hiding in unexpected places. Joining his powers and agility enable him to easily scale most vertical surfaces, reach virtually anywhere thanks to his extremely mobile tentacles and wires and perform super-human jumps up to 10 meters in length and 5 in height by forming fake hydraulic muscles over his legs like springs. As he says, "Gravity is what you make of it".

Diverse Learner
Ryan is surprisingly well-read and educated for a bard. Though not a scholar, he can comfortably talk about topics in History, Philosophy, Astronomy, Alchemy, Arcane Sciences, Medicine, Mythology and Fine Arts. He’s read much of the great classical writers of Angria and since he has worked a whole host of different jobs over the years, has good knowledge of a lot of seemingly unconnected trivial skills such as lock-picking and culinary knife-skills.

Tri-lingual
Besides Common Angrian, Ryan speaks and reads relatively fluent Old Angrian that he uses to memorize old sagas and works, and enough Elven to have a basic conversation.

Bard Skills
Ryan is an interesting and quirky conversationalist and a fascinating storyteller, who knows a lot of Angrian mythologies, fairy tales, parables and moral stories. He is very good at reciting long epic poems and sagas and can compose impromptu works. His skill as a bard is equivalent to the most highly-paid personal bards of nobility. As part of his bard work, Ryan is something of an amateur psychologist who has learned to catch people’s behavior. He can perform simple tricks of stage magic. As part of bard lore, he also is good at getting under the skin of others and well-versed in insult-fights.

Skilled Actor and Disguise Artist
As a bard, Ryan’s acting skills could very well have landed him a career in theater. Since he understands human behavior well, he’s able to fake it, acting in disguise. Ryan is good at disguising himself and altering his features for infiltration or hiding in the crowd.

Professional Musician
Ryan is a highly-skilled musician and a talented composer and singer. He knows a lot of popular songs and memorizes new things easily by ear. He has a very charismatic singing voice in the tenor range. Like many bards, Ryan knows quite a few songs and tunes with properties that can affect people (provided they aren't tone deaf deaf), endowing them with little boosts, relaxing them to the point of sleep or starting up a bar fight. Since these songs are just based on the bard's skill at executing them, they cost Ryan nothing and are of short duration.

Cooking
Having to take care of his particular dietary needs and living on his own for a while has made Ryan a surprisingly competent cook. He’s particularly good with meat.

History:Ryan is the illegitimate son of Sir Michael De Rivven, one of the three High Magistrates of the Holy Paladin Order of St. Iocus, and Alesia, the fabled Crone of Duannan. Alesia was the half-fiend daughter of Russellas, a powerful demon wreaking havoc in northern Angria and the order’s sworn enemy. Michael tracked down the elusive Crone to force the secrets of the great demon from her, just to find the benign, if a bit cold, half-fiend woman willing to extinguish her demon father from Angria. This odd alliance succeeded in smiting Russellas back into his binds in the Underworld, in a culmination of battles between the paladins and the legions of Russellas and his warlocks, an event that became known as the Sealing of Russellas.

Apparently during that time something happened between the paladin and the half-fiend. Shortly after the Sealing, Alesia went into hiding and gave birth to a son, concealing his existence from the father and others who might pose a threat to her child. She named him Ryan and raised him alone in her reclusive mountain home, where only peasants from nearby hamlets rarely sought her help as a wise woman with knowledge of herbs and arcane medicines.

A skilled healer despite her infernal nature, Alesia was quickly aware that her son was born with a weak heart. She raised him with love all the same. Even though her infernal powers were never impressive compared to her demonic father’s, her son’s were close to scary: the child could manipulate its own blood and create metal. Alesia was unsettled; this development would potentially put her child in more danger as warlocks and demon lords would seek to use him as a pawn. Even as she began to arrange ways to protect her son, Alesia was killed in a freak rockslide while helping the residents of the nearby village to tend to their wounded after an earthquake when Ryan was only 10.

The villagers, left with a part-fiend child, requested the advice of the Paladins of St. Iocus. Sensing the involvement of Alesia somehow, Sir Michael arrived promptly, just to find he had a son—a part-fiend no less. Stuck in a situation that could compromise both him and Ryan, and angered at the secrecy and circumstances he could not control, Michael vehemently rejected any connection with or responsibility over the child. Ryan, who had grown up with stories of his father’s bravery and heroism, and met his hero with awe and innocent devotion, was crushed. Those few who knew of this assumed it was out of Michael’s horror when he realized this child was a living remnant of Russellas in Angria and proof of his own failing convictions and morals as his marriage to Lady Jessica was under strain and his family’s fortune and honor were being drained away by the excessive demands of his King, Wulfric de Rhodesia-Solarea.

Lady Jessica however, a respected scholar and matron in her own right, secretly defends her husband’s choice as a misguided effort to keep the boy away from a world still rife with Russellas’ disciples and zealous-frenzy paladins. She also quietly suspects that Sir Michael’s despotic and conservative mother, the elderly Countess Mathilda de Rivven, with great wealth and power of her own, was really behind this decision. Holding most of the de Rivven land and with extensive influences in court, she threatened her own son with exposure and defamation before his order that would mean even death to his family, unless he removed this infernal bastard from the picture.

Away from this court horror story of hypocrisy and dishonesty, Ryan was sent supposedly to the care of a monastic order who might be able to help the young boy tame his infernal nature, but along the way something went wrong. The men that were supposed to ferry the boy to safety discovered his nature and seeking to profit rather than fulfill an oath, sold him to slavery.

Ryan’s traces from this point on are lost to history and nobody can say with certainty what happened to him for the next decade. There are some unconfirmed reports of a travelling performer who staged underground fights for the entertainment of the rich around Angria and had possession of a part-fiend that never seemed to submit to any form of punishment. Other rumors mention an incident in a village in the sub-desert Zanzimeda of southern Angria, where a party held by lower aristocracy turned from drunken debauchery into a bloodbath due to an exotic drug that induced violent delusions. There were few survivors who still retained their sanity and even their accounts are sketchy, but most agree that one of the young men brought for the entertainment of the nobles fled despite lethal injuries. Few other things can be pieced together but Ryan most likely traveled around quite a bit, surviving as best he could and trying to stay under the radar of paladins and warlocks.

When he emerged again, as part of a circulating story of a ‘devil bard’, Ryan was at least 19 and already a deeply changed man. He was withdrawn and silent, needing to protect his secrets; he was frequently persecuted, even ostracized due to his quirks and his attitude. Sometimes his secret would be blown and he had to flee into the night for safety.

Ironically one of those attempts would find him caught in a three ways battle between a horde of demons, paladins protecting a supply cargo of medicine to the very village he’d just fled and bandits after the precious cargo for profit. Though for Ryan it would be an ideal opportunity to escape, he turned back and jumped into the fray to help the small paladin unit, who were being overwhelmed and helped them beat back the bandits and then send the demons back to their brimstone home.

Though Ryan expected the exhausted but diligent paladins to turn on him, the surviving officer approached him cordially and addressed him by name, asking him if he was one Ryan Gaven (his mother’s maiden name). Reluctantly Ryan tried to worm out of the question but the young paladin removed his helmet and introduced himself as Gabriel de Rivven, the son of Sir Michael—and Ryan’s younger half-brother. It turned out that Gabriel, aware of Ryan’s existence through his mother, had been searching for his sibling after it became obvious that he never reached the monastic order he was meant to be part of. Gabriel’s intention was to locate him and see if there was a fraternal relationship to be salvaged. Driven by increasing pressure from his family, his duty to the paladins and the new King of Rhodesia-Solarea, Siegfried II, Gabriel wanted some honesty in his life. As an only son (and child) Gabriel felt stifled from his life and the rumors of a ‘devil bard’ that he suspected could be his half-brother piqued his interest to find Ryan.

After that unusual start, the two of them got along well enough to travel together for a while, Ryan hiding under the disguise of a paladin squire and unit bard. He was protected from the holy powers around him by means of a talisman Gabriel gave him, the steel cross Ryan would go on to rarely take off. The men of Gabriel’s unit, loyal to their lieutenant and grateful for Ryan’s gallant help in the battle that almost cost them their lives, were sworn to secrecy. After a year, Gabriel’s superiors singled him out for promotion to captain and Ryan deemed it wiser to get out of his younger brother’s hair. They parted ways cordially and Ryan resumed his vagrant ways, contacting Gabriel however he could and sometimes they ran into each other in their respective travels.

Shortly after that, Ryan got himself imprisoned in the dungeons of the Marquis de Balzac for out-performing both the Marquis' bard in music and his jester in an insult-fight. Ryan was offered the position of both but when he politely declined it (he was honestly very curt about it since he actually admired the other bard) the Marquis took it as a slight and tossed him in the dungeon. Ryan 'chillaxed' there for a few weeks, enjoying the free food and the cool dungeon that protected him against the sweltering heat, until an assassin by the name of Tysorai, sent to assassinate a guest of the Marquis, freed him. Not one to pass such an opportunity, Ryan took it and skipped town on the first notice.

Over six months ago, Ryan’s travels brought him to the island kingdom of Boletaria. He was last seen performing at a fair in the Duchy of Morris.

Starting Location: Castle Morris, in the Duchy of Morris.

Don't worry, I haven't given up joining the RP, I've just got a really long bio. I should have it up sometime today.

I love long bios, they mean lots of detail and stuff. =D

Well, I'm a tad bit worried that her magic section won't be detailed enough. So when I post it, just be sure to tell me if I need to go into a bit more detail. Hopefully, it's all good. However, that's the only section I'm worried about.

Name: Tali Elendril

Alias: Elemental Witch – Dubbed this due to her nature of manipulating and controlling elements.
Lying Cheat – Dubbed this by many people due to her nature of almost never telling the truth simply because she finds it “more fun” to lie. She also likes cheating people out of their cash when they’re stupid enough to let her do it.
Girl of Many Faces – No one can ever tell whose side she is really on. She may save your life, might steal your horse.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral

Class: High Mage of Sorcery (or as some like to say “Wizzard”)

Race: Elf

Gender: Female

Age: 96 (still somewhat young for an Elf, but old enough to be a Human’s grandmother… twice.)

Appearance:
Tali is tiny… very tiny. If one were to say you could “trust her as far as you could throw her” they would be in for a rude awakening… as she can probably be thrown quite far. Standing straight up, she stands in about 5,3 and weighs 96 pounds. Like a lot of other elves, she is pale to the point where she looks sickly. Her eyes are a bright piercing green color. Her ears are perhaps just a little too long. In fact, she finds that she has longer ears than most Elves she sees around. However, this doesn’t bother her, she likes her ears. Her hair is actually a light shade of brown.

Attire: As you can tell, Tali dresses in dark colors to symbolize her status as a Mage that deals with elements and dark magic. She has a history of having a left shoulder that gets dislocated rather easily, so she wears a somewhat decorative shoulder guard to protect it in case it is, for some reason, ever hit. Almost every part of her body is covered (save for her neck and face). Even though her long robe doesn’t have sleeves going way past her wrists, she covers her arms with long black gloves that go just past her elbow.

Personality: Tali’s upbringing typically brings out the worst in people. However, she seemed to want to break free of that. While the rest of her kind can be prudes and snobs, Tali is actually quite down to earth. She enjoys really bad puns and joking around. At times, she can be quite cynical and sardonic to a fault. People will often get the impression that she doesn’t really enjoy having fun, and that she’s super serious. Quite the contrary, actually, as she is almost always never serious. Being somewhat paranoid, Tali is very slow to trust, quick to judge, and treats what few friend she has with slightly more respect than strangers. She finds that others can be a liability, and will put anyone and everyone through a test to earn her trust.

As stated before, she is quite the liar. From an early age she found that telling the truth was never as fun as telling a lie. Sure, telling the truth meant you didn’t get in trouble. Telling a lie could lead to a lot of fun. The thrill of the chase, the thrill of the hunt, and the cunning to hide when they caught you was all the excitement she needed to have her sold on this simple concept; the truth sucks.

Bluntness and crassness are Tali’s crafting tools. If she’s got something to say, she’s going to damned well say it, and if it comes out rude, she doesn’t care. While Tali doesn’t curse much (for Human standards), she does occasionally burst out with Elfish vulgarities such as “by a Dwarf’s socks” or, “Llie n'vanima ar' lle atara lanneina”, which roughly translates to “You are ugly and your mother dresses you funny.”

Although Tali has access to a plethora of spells, she doesn’t fight much. In fact, if she’s ever forced to fight and become surrounded by a group of enemies in the middle of a party, she’ll be the first to take off running. However, if she’s even in the situation where she has to fight, she will. However, she’ll unleash everything she has right away in hopes that combat will end quickly. She doesn't get scared much, but if she is about to be captured or taken against her will, she will lock up and not say anything, all the while plotting an escape. For she can be a hardcore plotter.

She speaks with a slight high class accent that makes one believe she’s speaking down on them… and more often than not, she is. She also doesn’t use shortened words, such as “can’t” or “couldn’t”, for she prefers to say the whole thing.

She also enjoys learning new things, and experimenting… on anyone or anything. She can also be somewhat childish at times when she doesn’t get her way, or if she’s having a particularly bad day. But, then again… most people view her as childish anyway. One of her pet peeves is that she hates being touched. She’s not scared of it, but she hates it, which is why most of her body is covered. If someone touches her face, she’s prone to an outburst.


First Impression: Due to her stature and what she looks like, people will more than likely view her as a snobbish, yet innocent Elf. Little do they know, they’re wrong on both accounts.

Statistics: Being so small, Tali can’t exactly take a punch. However, for what she lacks (severely lacks) in the physical attributes, she makes up in her magical attributes. While her magical prowess was challenged and trained, her physical attributes never were. The only thing she has going for her physically speaking is her speed. But that’s only because she’s small.

Being as small as she is, she could eat a grape and be done if she wanted. Yet, she’s greedy, so that’ll probably never happen. Her favorite food is steak, it must be rare, and heavens help the chef’s ear if he gets it wrong.

Strength: What strength? When she first started putting that shoulder piece in her attire, there would be times where it would actually throw her off balance. When traveling her pack is kept light, simply because she can’t carry more than 30 pounds.

Vitality: Pretty low, actually. She can’t take a punch to save her life, and she has a very low tolerance for pain. All one would have to do to interrogate her is threaten her with any amount of pain and she’ll spill all her secrets.

Speed: Despite being a movie with Tom Cruise, Tali boasts absolute stunning speed. However, this is due not to having leg strength; this is due to her being so tiny. She can run faster than most Humans and Elves she meets. Her max running speed is 27mph and she can move that fast for about 5 minutes before having to slow down to a normal speed.

Stamina: Tali has her Ph.D in spellchunkery. When in combat, she can cast spells for seemingly endless amounts of time. In all reality, in battle, she can cast normal sized spells for a solid 30 minutes straight. However, the bigger the spell, the more it takes out of her. So, fighting a battle launching everything she has would drain her quickly in about 5-10 minutes. She can only hold her breath for about a minute.

Reflexes: With her speed coupled on to her training as a Mage, Tali can dodge some things at short range, most things at mid range, and almost all things from long range. (Depending on the speed of the projectile.) However, if someone gets in close with a melee weapon, she isn’t dodging anything to save her life.

Fighting Style: Tali is a support class, and as such, she is not a front lines fighter. She’s in the back, hiding and casting spells safe from a distance. Do bear in mind that if she feels that herself, or the party is getting overwhelmed, she will take off running in a heartbeat. She fights pretty dirty, meaning she will cast a large spell that slows or stuns others just to hit them again with a large fireball. After all, you can either be a dead hero, or a live coward.

Weapons Proficiency: Using a staff isn’t difficult at all for her. She uses the staff to help channel her energy, and fires spells from her free hand, or the staff itself. If necessary, she can hit someone over the head with it.

Weapons: The only weapon that Tali uses is her staff which is named Spellweaver. She has had it since the day she entered the Stormchasers Guild and trained there. She’s held it very dear, and she wouldn’t take it well if she ever lost it or it got broken. She takes very good care of it, as it is her only staff, and it is the only staff that she cares to ever own.

Mount: Tari will ride just about anything, but her favorite mount in the world is an albino grizzly bear that she calls Berhu. It is strong and dependable, but not as fast as most other mounts, because of this, parties often find themselves having to slow down for her. However, if they’re ever in battle, they find that Berhu is great to have around, as not only is he strong and dependable, but kills in the battle double as his meal. Berhu is also one of the only things in the world that she loves, other than her staff, but the staff is an inanimate object, so it doesn’t really count.

Abilities: Being as small as weak as she is, and the fact that she is a Mage, she has no physical abilities to mention.

Magic:

Control and manipulation over lightning: Tied with fire for just how deadly it can be, Tali can use her abilities over this element for quite a few things. She can shoot lightning from her fingertips, or cause lightning to strike from the sky, and create electrical swarms near the ground, stunning her enemies. At its very worst, it can kill a man. However, she mostly uses it to stun, incapacitate, and shock people. Other uses include conducting lightning from her fingertips to a metal.

Control and manipulation over fire: Very deadly and not an ability to be trifled with, fire is a favorite among all Mages. Using fire, Tali can create streams of fire from her hands or staff, fire small to large exploding fireballs, and control existing fire and use it as a deadly weapon. Like lightning, it can kill. It can also burn villages and homes, so it is not to be trifled with… even by the user.

Control and manipulation over earth: Somewhat different to use, one can find Earth to be a fickle element to pick up and use. Using earth, one can lift the ground under their feet and throw it, cause vines from trees to attack or tie an enemy down (a feat that Tali has trouble with), and chunk rocks both big and small (but not too big, of course).

Control and manipulation over water: Using this, Tali can create water out of the moisture in the air and drink it. If next to a river or a large body of water, she can use water to attack enemies. However, as a weapon, it isn’t that useful unless one could create a tsunami. However, that takes time and a lot of effort, and creating a tsunami would leave Tali drained for quite some time.

Control and manipulation over wind: This is a more… fun element. In theory, it could allow one to fly, or run faster, or even sail boats faster. As a weapon, one can use it to push enemies back, create tornados or hurricanes. However, that, like creating a tsunami, would leave Tali drained for quite some time… even if she manages to pull it off.

Other Skills:

Cooking: Tali loves to cook, and has been doing so since she was a child. In fact, she’s quite good at it.

Expert Liar: Tali has been lying for years, and in her 96 year lifespan, she’s gotten very skilled at it. She can lie with a straight face, and get away with it with no problems.

Quick learner: Being one of great intelligence, Tali can learn most things rather quickly, and doesn’t have problems understanding things when explained to her.

Bi-lingual: Tali speaks both Angrian and Elven fluently.

History: In West Threepwood, born and raised, in the Mages guild is where she spent most of her days. Chillin’ out maxin’ relaxin’ all cool and shoot some fireballs outside of the schoo- Ahem.

Tali comes from a rather small family. It consisted of her Father; Raistlin Elendril, her Mother; Tari Elendril, and herself as an only child. Both of her parents were well respected Mages, so it was her only option to do the same. However, considering just how small she was, it didn’t really bother her much. While her family was hellbent on traditions, Tali didn’t care much for them. While she did want to learn magic, she didn’t want to go through the large amounts of Elven traditions that came with it.

So instead of being home trained or trained in an academy for children, she joined the Stormchasers Guild to “skip all the crap and get to the good stuff” and they were more than happy to welcome her with open arms. It was there she learned many things. She learned how to cast spells, but she also learned that lying was fun. She got in trouble often, and when she did, she was very quick to lie and pin in on others.

Of course, it got her in trouble with said others, but she always managed to one up her enemies. For years she trained, and she was rather good at it. She learned many advanced elemental spells, because that’s all she really wanted to know. For she wanted to be an adventurer and make a living adventuring and having fun, as opposed to joining an army, or working like a normal person.

No one could quite figure out why Tali wasn’t like other Elves. They held themselves to higher standards, and were quite snobbish. While Tali did hold herself to a higher standard, it was a rather different higher standard. She could mingle with the lower class, she could have fun and do things that Elves “weren’t supposed to do”, and she never felt down on herself.

Eventually, she would go out on her own to learn about new things and do other stuff. It was then she learned that she could never find a man as physically attractive as a woman, and it was then that she knew she wanted to know everything she could about the world. She traveled from city to city, from coast to coast, and started earning reputations left and right.

Eventually, she met a gang of adventurers that she joined up with for a month. In that month she experienced a tale of triple crossing and quadruple revenge. A heart wrenching tale involving disease infected cats, hyperactive lap chimps, and a brief capture at a rhino rodeo. It appeared that the adventuring troupe was out to get each other for more profit, and they each tried to use Tali to their own devices.

However, she played them all. Turning them against each other, themselves, and eventually the city guard of Threepwood which got them all captured, and filled Tali’s pockets with coin. She now rests at Threepwood, getting ready to travel to Castle Morris, and then from then on, find a party willing to suit her needs.

Starting location: Threepwood – at Threepwood Inn

XD Holy shoot Chell, that's an awesome character. I think you and I are gonna have us some massive fun. Between Tali and Ryan, lies and nonsense shall rule the day. <3

APPROVED XD

Thank you.

I look forward to when we can start.