BreathOfTheWoof

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

Xara watches from the edge of the group, he doesn't like being so close to others, physically contact was also out of the question. He wasn't a germaphobe by any means, but growing up in way that never normalized contact with others has left him feeling uncomfortable about to this day.
He strategically decided to introduce later, and he's happy he did so. With his father a disgraced General, he often just sees it as easier to lie about his heritage to strangers, rather than deal with the ramifications. Not here though, Ashley herself will point out that his family name isn't real.

Speaking of her, her introduction was the only one he didn't mentally shut out. {She reverses curses? Maybe I could learn a thing or too from her during our trip...}
After some awkward silence, he decides to break it hismelf.
"Hello everyone, I'm glad you all got my message. You may know me as Table Hopper, but my real name is Xara Travendour. Yes, that Travendour. Anyway, let's all pray we don't drown on our way there, ok?"
Xara says that last sentence with a gleeful irony. He even winks and raises 2 fingers in a V shape. In all honestly he couldn't really care what backgrounds everyone has as long as it sparked his curiosity, but he feels the need to front his fun casual attitude anyway.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

As the following passes by the remaining crew, some of them pass with large crates of fish. for the group it becomes apparent what the nasty smell was coming from. Xara and Tedreus are both visibly confused as everyone, including Ashley and Mikhail, were boarding. While it helps alleviate most of the stench, the ship still has a residual odor of fish and grunge.
Tedreus interjects, "Thought you said just that one guy. Not that I mind, more hands on deck."
Xara just shrugs and accepts the serendipity, apparently his offer did work after all...?
Ted spots Aleria and eyes go wide. "Woah, it's as if an angel fell from earth." He'd make an advance if he weren't a married man.
Xara inquisitively asks Troe, the only familiar face in the group. "So like, are they all with you? Cause holy crap, you must be a popular guy!"
He then turns to Margot, not really waiting for the wind mage to even respond.
"By the way, there's so such illness, hormones have nothing to do with casting." He says this straight faced, not aware that calling someone out like that in front of others can be seen as antagonistic.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

Xara finally reaches the docks, just now noticing Kav isn't following him anymore. And as he does so, he can see and hear another group debating between each other. He can Troe with the group, who is not really doing talking from what Xara can see. He whistle to the captain barking orders, who looks up, and gives a surprising smile
"Xara! Hey, how's the book collectin'? Got anything to sell by chance?"
"Hey Tedreus! Not today, unfortunately. I'm actually here for a favor. You remember the sea monster... Thing??"
Unable to take that last sentence seriously, Xara smiles back.
"Of course, you cut off its limbs with your magic, it was truly a sight to behold. You saved my crew that day."
"Well, I'm actually ready for the returned favor, you see, that guy over there-" Xara points at the fellow blonde mage. "- And I are trying to reach Solvnir and Rjaskav, and you're the only one I can think of who can take us, unfortunately."
"Ahahahaha. Are you mad? Anyone with ears knows the rumors of that place. You drive a hard bargain, savin' my life just to risk it again. But I'm a man of my word, I'll let my crew know our change of plans, some may want to stay ashore, they have families too y'know"

The group can see the rouged man go back to his ship, ready to give them the news, and soon after a few of them do decide to walk away, but a few becomes more than that, it's uncertain if there's gonna be anyone left...

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

Xara fortunately landed on a pile of horse hey, the horses nearby stressing out to his sudden appearance. He spits a piece of hay out, annoyed that it left his gums bleeding a bit. He gets up, dusting himself off. The only person who he sees nearby is Kavius, who Xara thinks is pretty sketchy on site, but not sure if it's a combination of his clothes, body language, looks, or all 3, however, he's handle much worse and he assumes they're here to get a ride with him.

"Oh, hey. I assume you followed me to get to Rjaskav. Before we go, I would like to know what you're capable of, you know? So we can have a battle strategy ready."

As he says this, he continues to walk away, expecting the other to follow him. He also checks his pockets and belt, making sure he's not missing anything.

Inventory

Elfire Tome
Fimbulvetr Tome
Excalibur Tome
Seraphim Tome
Mend Staff
Barrier Staff
Mace
Hidden holster of gold

Near the docks, Ashley and friends see another boat pull in. This boat smells legendarily bad, and looks to be full of fish, crab, and other various delicacies. The people, however, look less than stellar. Crewman with missing fingers, battle scars, eyepatches and even brandings run it. You'd think it was a pirate ship if it weren't for the obvious legal goods. They seem to be taking orders from a man in various hides, sounding much like an army vet than a merchant.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

Xara can only watch confusion and wander as the bar breaks out in a full on brawl, having not noticed the fight on the other side, he assumed they're all fighting over him. "Wow, I didn't think people would want a ride that badly..." As he says this, a mug goes flying and he side steps out of the way, lucky that the table gave enough stepping room, causing the mug to shatter and soak the back wall. "Hey, you're definitely not going! Well, when you're all done fighting, come and talk to me, ok?"

It dawns on Xara that he's got no way to leave normally with all this chaos, so he opts to find a means over it. He casts a heating spell onto a nearby window, and then immediately after a chill spell, the properties of the glass fall apart and it shatters, he then uses air magic to launch himself out the window and onto the grass, slicing the table Troe was sitting next to in half and landing solemnly onto him and the floor.

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara Travendour

Xara followed Troe, genuinely interested into what he has to say. "Actually I personally know a sailor with a crew in this city, he owes me a favor after I saved his ship from capsizing one day. We could talk to him, of course, we're gonna need allies, but I've got that covered."

Xara also decides to respond to the other comment Troe made, seeing it as it's related to his reason of going. "That's actually a reason I'm going, if the country is ruined than there's going to be old books and tomes that nobody wants anymore that've survived the assault, it's my personal duty to recover them, as a runesmith myself."

Yah, that's right. Despite being so young, Xara is actually a very exceptional runemaster, after all, spending all your time indoors gives you plenty of time to sink into your hobbies, and for him, it was practically an obsession. Anyone who would give a good glance at him though could guess, he's got a custom utility belt that holds various engraved stones, as well as slots for 4 different types of tomes, all of which are filled with books of different languages.
It's also unique of him that he's wearing a purple tunic, a teal cape going to the back of his knees, and solid black pants, he dresses like an extravagant noble despite very few ever truely knowing him.

Xara, after making his comment to Troe, has an idea. He stands up on the table, trusting his weight will never be enough to break the furniture. "Hey, I've got a means to get to Rjaskav, all I need is companions!" Everyone stares at Xara, who doesn't seem bothered by it, strangely.

What character archetypes/characteristics do you gravitate towards?

I generally make characters that are magical or magical in origin, (Mages, magical creatures, etc) that have a certain skill or proficiency (Making runes, hunting) that bleeds into their regular life. They're also usually very independent, but have very few freindships due to their perosnalities or life situation.

Advice for an up and coming GM?

Ok, so expect a bit of a read.

Back in when I was 13, (so about 9 years ago or 2011-12) I was part of a fun little rp group called S.c.o.u.r.g.e, short for Secret Committee Of Unlawfully Revengeful Global Extortion. It was at first just a bunch of random teens rping essentially as gods. But it quickly became one of the most popular threads in the forum. (note this was a forum for essentially a tween demographic website, I don't want to share it's name due to some recent bad history.) Cue years later after a long awaited reunion, my best friend and owner of the group decided to reignite it. So with a group of 4, we attempted to recapture the past. It didn't end well, to say the least, our dm was never around and with all having our own arcs, resentment and attention envy quickly festered, and us being in our late teens, hormone induced drama insued. Cue about 2 years later, we all sort of just gave up trying to make Scourge work, and feeling like his idea was the only thing holding us together, our GM disppeared. Years ago, we agreed if he ever couldn't run it, I'd be the new owner, I intend to keep that promise. That's my situation. I've got about 5 years of invested rp history, now with a full worldbuild, including a full map of the planet, 2 alternate universes, and about 63+ named characters.

Scourge itself is much like Myriad Reality, where the there's no limit to the kind of character you could make (sfw of course) and adapting the lore to it.
Because of this, there are so many unexplained powers and character origins that it's baffling it doesn't come up to bite you back in-universe.

To my point, what do I do with all of it? I've tried so many mediums to keep it alive, like a sloppy webcomic, a never finished novel, and other projects where I always fail to come up with a good plot and get doubts about doing the series justice. My current hope is learning code and attempting to make a full indie game.

I don't really expect answers to this problem, but just more of venting that this situation has left me feeling really lost.

The Redeemer Corps (Villains to Heroes) (Multiverse) (Mirror Matches)

Super tempted to join, villain to hero rps give me so much nostalgia. Will have to rewrite some backstory for sure though

Fire Emblem: Sunken Flames

Xara has been thinking about the last few years, so much has change, it's strange considering most of his childhood was spent cooped up at home, having this kind of freedom is still a foreign concept to him. He walks around a bit, occasionally smiling at the sullen crowd, honestly not really processing the reality of the news being shared. He sees someone similar of his age, looking depressed and holding a signet ring, who then pockets it.

Xara approaches the boy, having no mind that he's a stranger. "Hey, where is that symbol on your ring from? I swear I recognize it but I'm not sure"
Xara points to his pocket and has a solid smile to him, violet eyes unmissable.