LFG 1x1 Brought together by fate

[Leah Kadashal]

I was wondering if anyone would be interested in a thread like this, so, I'm taking a shot in the dark.

I have a place I'm working on, Gild, which you can find in the link. But, in short, it's a religious Kingdom that doesn't like magic-users. However, they have a practice called Clemency, in which a magic-user is allowed authorized access in Gild for various reasons such as diplomatic purposes, safe passage, mercenary work, and more. A person granted Clemency also has assigned to them a Regulator from the Church of Jura (inquisitor/witch hunter types) to be their handler for the duration of the Clemency.

So! What if my character here, Leah Kadashal, an inexperienced but devoted Regulator-in-training, is assigned to be the handler for your magic-using character? Your character might be in Gild because they have specialized knowledge about some kind of problem plaguing the city or the countryside, maybe something or someone they're looking for can be found or is hiding in the Kingdom or somewhere nearby, or maybe they need help, anti-magic help, and knew that Clemency would get them a Regulator and now have to convince Leah to help them. These are just some ideas.

The thread can be a grand adventure, but it could also just be short and sweet too—I do enjoy a good dialogue thread. I just like the idea of a meeting of two people from essentially two different worlds with two different viewpoints, and they through their circumstances have to work together.

If something like this is at all interesting to you, let me know here or on the Discord.

 

[Serryn]

this sounds interesting, would like to drop serryn in here

 

[Leah Kadashal]

Thanks for the interest, Siren!

Let's see:

With Serryn being Fae, this is a particularly hard sell. Gildans don't like magic-users of the normal variety, but they especially don't like beings/creatures that are inherently magical: elementals, demons, and—complicating our prospects here—Fae. To stay congruent with the lore, Serryn would not be granted Clemency under any circumstances.

That said, there are options, ideas we can bat back and forth and see if we come up with something.

- Leah and Serryn could have some kind of chance encounter of some sort outside the city of Gild, in the countryside of Campania (where Gild is located) or in the Spine, which is right next door to Gild.

- I haven't yet written anything about it, but I have it in my mind that Summer Court Fae are a constant menace to Gild and the region of Campania. In Serryn's bio it's listed that she's Spring Court (or, at least, was born there), so perhaps there's some Summer Court folk causing trouble that both Leah and Serryn wouldn't mind seeing dead. So far as I understand, most if not all other Fae detest the Summer Court, lol.

- If you had another character you'd like to use to do the Clemency plot, we can brainstorm on that.

- Wild card option, something I haven't thought of yet; or an idea or bolt of inspiration that you've thought of perhaps and would like to share.

And, of course, if you were set on having Serryn in a Clemency plot and this all comes as something of a let down, it's totally cool if you'd rather back out. Definitely no pressure to commit to anything.

 

[LovesickSiren]

So to be perfectly honest it does not have to be Serryn that I use- this idea sounds super interesting and I could use any of my other characters or even create a new character. I'm totally good for whatever.

My other magic users are Byanka Valkas, Margot, Vazia, and Xia. Though Xia doesn't have much room to do a clemency since she's at elbion right now. If any of those characters look interesting to you id be glad to work something out, or if none of them appeal to you that's totally ok tell me and ill create a new character

 

[Leah Kadashal]

You have both Vazia and Byanka, huh?

Interesting .

I typed up a proposal in the KoA chat in Discord which could be of keen interest to our potential RP here. There's good potential for both a Leah/Vazia and Leah/Byanka thread, if you've seen that proposal.

LovesickSiren

 

[LovesickSiren]

i can look, but this weekend i'll rarely be on discord. i'll be back monday tho

 

[Leah Kadashal]

I made a pitch for an antagonistic faction, a group of ready-made villains, for use not just by me but by all of Chronicles collaboratively. It went like this:

What started out as me coming up with another antagonistic force for my project of Gild to fight branched out as I considered its potential. I had envisioned a nihilistic cult devoted to the Dark One Abbon (I just called them "Monolith" in my head), seeking to bring about Annihilation to serve their Void master, who wants to destroy the Flame of Jura in Gild; but then, I thought to myself: what if they want to destroy or subvert other "world relics" too? Things like...

...the Eldyr-Tree? The Stone of Void, possessed by the Guardians of the Rune? And other iconic things?

So I saw strong potential for the creation of a kind of collaboratively-written group of antagonists, not "owned" by any one writer in particular and used as a menace by all; ready-made villains to provide not only adversity for threads within groups, but also to promote interactions between characters from many of Chronicles's separate groups that may not have met otherwise. Imagine joint threads featuring Guardians of the Rune and Knights of Anathaeum, or Nordenfiir and the Dragon Riders of Thanasis. A common enemy provides much opportunity for uncommon cooperation.

Now, the KoA aren't particularly interested, so the Eldyr Tree is off the table for being menaced by "Monolith", so that effectively cuts out a Leah/Byanka involving this idea. Some other idea could make a Leah/Byanka thread work, but not this one.

However, a Leah/Vazia thread could very easily work with this pitch, if this Monolith idea appeals to you. A Leah/Vazia thread doesn't necessarily have to be this, but I think it would be pretty cool having cross-faction cooperation between the Guardians of the Rune and the Praetors of Gild.

LovesickSiren TapathyWR

 

[LovesickSiren]

I think a Leah/Vazia thread would be very interesting and I would totally be open to doing one as long as we aren't stepping on any toes

 

[Leah Kadashal]

Shouldn't be doing any inadvertent toe-stepping! The whole of the Guardians group doesn't necessarily have to be brought in, nor does Monolith have to supplant any ongoing stories or villains for the Guardians. This could be a very personal thing for Vazia (since the Monolith warriors would want to yoink her Stone specifically), it could be larger. Could Vazia call in back-up or something? Oh absolutely, if other Guardian writers were interested and the story went beyond this potential Leah/Vazia thread.

So, for the thread itself.

I read on the Guardians wiki page that Valenntenia is (somewhere) in the Taagi Baara Steppe, a place that, coincidentally, would have some significance for Leah. We could set the thread there, either in or around the Steppe, Leah and Vazia perhaps chancing into one another as they're investigating some strange happenings or whatnot. Alternatively, maybe Vazia has already had a run-in with Monolith, follows some clues that lead her to Gildan territory, and seeks Clemency to continue her investigation.

Or, if you had something else in mind, I'd be keen to hear it .

LovesickSiren

 

[Aero]

Not sure where dragons fall on Gild's hate list since they run the gamut from tiny lizard-like creatures to dracoliches, but I have Valkanthrandilax, my mage. The caveat is that shapeshifting for him is a continuous effect. In other words, anti-magic will revert him to dragon form, so he wouldn't be able to hide that he is one for the purposes of gaining Clemency. He still has many uses in this form even if deprived of magic, though I understand Clemency may not be on the table. In this case, they may be able to come to some mutual agreement to tackle some other problem outside of that, such as some of the scenarios you've already listed. He could have beef with some Summer Court fae, or the Monolith could've stolen or destroyed some of his treasure.

Alternatively, he could be an antagonistic force himself. I haven't written it in Valk's bio, but I consider the Spine to be something like a vacation home, or at least a frequent stop for him as he travels across Arethil. He could've flown close to or over Campania before, so it could be reasonable that he's been sighted by locals.

I have other magic users, but they do pose their problems, such as one being a fae who's more on the pacifistic side, an assassin of the Caliginous Church, and two KOA. They can be used, but magic isn't so much an integral part of their identities (save my fae) as it is with Valk, and it would be harder to work them into something.

 

[LovesickSiren]

Shouldn't be doing any inadvertent toe-stepping! The whole of the Guardians group doesn't necessarily have to be brought in, nor does Monolith have to supplant any ongoing stories or villains for the Guardians. This could be a very personal thing for Vazia (since the Monolith warriors would want to yoink her Stone specifically), it could be larger. Could Vazia call in back-up or something? Oh absolutely, if other Guardian writers were interested and the story went beyond this potential Leah/Vazia thread.

So, for the thread itself.

I read on the Guardians wiki page that Valenntenia is (somewhere) in the Taagi Baara Steppe, a place that, coincidentally, would have some significance for Leah. We could set the thread there, either in or around the Steppe, Leah and Vazia perhaps chancing into one another as they're investigating some strange happenings or whatnot. Alternatively, maybe Vazia has already had a run-in with Monolith, follows some clues that lead her to Gildan territory, and seeks Clemency to continue her investigation.

Or, if you had something else in mind, I'd be keen to hear it .

LovesickSiren

That all sounds very interesting! Vazia is most likely to run into Leah around Valentennia so we could do that

Leah Kadashal

 

[Leah Kadashal]

That all sounds very interesting! Vazia is most likely to run into Leah around Valentennia so we could do that

Excellent! I'll get to brainstorming up an opener. Likely it'll be that Leah is tracking down some Monolith warriors, unaware of the true scale of their threat, and that's why she's in the area. Vazia as well may have already had a low-level run-in with them, or not (and she's in for a bit of a surprise), all depends on how you want to play it.

LovesickSiren

Not sure where dragons fall on Gild's hate list since they run the gamut from tiny lizard-like creatures to dracoliches, but I have Valkanthrandilax, my mage. The caveat is that shapeshifting for him is a continuous effect. In other words, anti-magic will revert him to dragon form, so he wouldn't be able to hide that he is one for the purposes of gaining Clemency. He still has many uses in this form even if deprived of magic, though I understand Clemency may not be on the table. In this case, they may be able to come to some mutual agreement to tackle some other problem outside of that, such as some of the scenarios you've already listed. He could have beef with some Summer Court fae, or the Monolith could've stolen or destroyed some of his treasure.

Alternatively, he could be an antagonistic force himself. I haven't written it in Valk's bio, but I consider the Spine to be something like a vacation home, or at least a frequent stop for him as he travels across Arethil. He could've flown close to or over Campania before, so it could be reasonable that he's been sighted by locals.

I have other magic users, but they do pose their problems, such as one being a fae who's more on the pacifistic side, an assassin of the Caliginous Church, and two KOA. They can be used, but magic isn't so much an integral part of their identities (save my fae) as it is with Valk, and it would be harder to work them into something.

Hey Aero!

You're right, dragons do run the gamut, lol. I'd say that sapient Dragons, in and of themselves, would be regarded neutrally (since, I thiiiink, you could have a non-magical dragon whose fire-breath was biological).

In Valkanthrandilax's case specifically, funnily enough the aversion he'd face would be less so that he's a dragon and more so that he's a shapeshifter. In Gild, shapeshifters are regarded in the same way as vampires and werewolves are throughout the vast majority of Arethil—though I myself have a notable exception in my character Marta Maisal, because nuance is fun .

And speaking of nuance, all of the above would be the "official" or "general" stance of Gild as a whole, but of course, individuals can and will vary. And do I ever love notable exceptions, unofficial deals between strange bedfellows, or, as you put it, two disparate parties coming to a mutual agreement to tackle a problem. So while official Clemency would be a really hard sell, an unofficial agreement is certainly and more easily doable.

Summer Court Fae would make for excellent villains, as would the Monolith. Valk being an antagonistic force himself isn't out of the question, but might need some set-up/build-up to make it good, to avoid the feeling of "when suddenly, a dragon!"

Also, Leah is just one of my Gildans, I have nine other Gildan characters at my disposal if one of them presents a unique opportunity.

Aero

 

[Aero]

Without Clemency, Valkan is more likely to interact with your characters

Also, Leah is just one of my Gildans, I have nine other Gildan characters at my disposal if one of them presents a unique opportunity.

Took a look at their profiles! Here are some thoughts:

• Marta's particular hatred of shapeshifters could be an interesting dynamic, especially considering Valk isn't a natural one. He learned it after killing others.
• Grigori and Valk's shared enjoyment of painting could be a fun little thing to touch on. Though Valkan will often use magic to assist, he can do it without as well.
• Could easily see Irene or Boesarius having a working relationship fraught with conflict.
• If Ruslan is curious about magic, Valkan is something of a show-off and would be quite happy to talk about magic. He uses it for all manner of things in everyday life. Might fit in well with Gezi.

 

[Leah Kadashal]

Nice!

Both Marta and Ruslan have good potential with Valk owing to the points you've mentioned. In Marta's case specifically, she doubles down on scorning the lot of vampires/werewolves/shapeshifters because, deep and unspoken, she feels that it is necessary for her to do so in order to be accepted amongst her fellow Gildans; that's some rich territory to explore there. And Ruslan would be astounded to meet an actual dragon, and would be all the more willing to entertain Valk's showing off .

Leah, of course, is still an option. I can work all kinds of fun justifications and explanations with her intense belief in fate.

And, man, are you right about Irene and Boe. They aren't nice, lol. Both of them would be very likely to simply dismiss Valk as a "jin" and want nothing to do with him (circumstances would have to be very dire or very specific to effect a change on that).

Let's keep up this brainstorming!

Aero

---

I've come up with a premise I'm going to use for Leah and Vazia. A reverse "Seven Samurai" scenario, where seven formidable Monolith warriors show up to menace a town that's in the shadow of Valenntenia. Who knows, maybe the town holds some kind of significance for Vazia? Any ideas that pop up for you, feel free to incorporate them!

I'll get that thread up soon. Got some days off this coming week.

LovesickSiren

 

[GerblinHandModel]

Heya, Vig!

Good Mornin.

So, I have this character named Nacht who quite literally needs magic to operate like a normal person unless he wants to walk around like a person in a full body cast (When he couldn't use magic, he had to wear: A hood, a scarf, gloves, a heavy tunic, long pants, knee socks and shoes at all times.) This is because his body burns in the sunlight thanks not only to his drawback, but also to an event very very early in his life where he became a sentient and human looking undead.

Deep down, though, he's pretty childlike and friendly and really not scary at all, but most people don't even talk to him to see that, which he hates. I don't really have much of a plot idea besides maybe one of his more human relatives living in Gildan, and that might take the form of a slow walk to his grandmother's house while enjoying the city and constantly pestering Leah about stuff relating to regulating and really anything else.

I get it if this doesn't sound interesting. Slow rp isn't for everyone!

- Gerblin

 

[Aero]

I'm cool if either Irene or Boe keeps hating his guts no matter what he does. Friction between PCs can be a lot of fun! If we're going with just one thread, though, I think Marta might offer the most potential for some fun character interactions. I saw she tends to function more as a support in combat than a direct fighter. To clarify, would her Mark also negate any magic that could be cast by the recipient? I assumed yes due to Gild being anti-magic. Could still put him at an advantage against a magical foe despite losing his ability to use magic, but it makes for some interesting tradeoffs and would force him to make a gamble trusting something like that to work. Summer fae seem like the most logical choice to hire him for such a job given how heavily fae rely on magic, but having a mutual alliance to track down some cultists who stole something from him and are being a nuisance to Gild works just as well on a storyline basis. So whatever you feel up for doing!

Regardless, I think a thread between any of these characters could work, so I'm up for threading with whoever you most feel like writing at the moment.

VigiloConfido​

 

[Leah Kadashal]

I am super late on a response to this, sorry for that Aero, but I did have a good amount of time to think it all over.

And I definitely agree with you that Marta/Valk has the most potential for a rich thread. Other threads with other characters (including Leah here, of course ) could always happen later on down the line, but this Marta/Valk thread has gotten my attention.

As for Marta's mark, yeah, it would, magic (even from the Marked person) would activate the shield, and negate outgoing/incoming magic for a time.

I do like your idea of something having been stolen from Valk. Whether it's cultists or Summer Fae, I think we should run with that. Ties Valk in well, and I can easily tie in Marta from there.