Crimson Paladin

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

I'll try to get a reply tomorrow for Fleuri.

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

Your immortal soul vacates your body on death! surely you must understand the sweperation of body and soul. I merely require the discarded husk you leave behind. RECYCLE ok!

@1Charak2

Technically that's reusing. Recycling would be letting the body be consumed by scavengers or decomposers.

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

Mayonite Cleric

Name: Léon Reverdin

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Rank: 4 of Cups

Appearance: His normal appearance standing at 5'9", is more akin to that of a young Mayonite seminarian or scholar, rather than a hammer-toting cleric. When fully garbed in the attire of a shrine keeper, he seems like a different person.

Personality:
Having spent much of his life studying with the Mayonite church, Léon is personally familiar with hardship but not tragedy. He comes off as trusting and idealistic, but is not oblivious to the evils of the world, especially those that it is the duty of the Twin Churches to oppose. He isn't particularly adventurous or bold and perhaps is even a little apprehensive about stepping into caverns and dungeons, but it is Mayon's will, thus it is Léon's duty to carry it out even if it's not what he signed up for.

Brief Backstory:

Keepers of the Shrine of the Pierced Skull

The keepers of the Shrine of the Pierced Skull are a small group of of Mayonite clerics in Estival who maintain and guard a remote reliquary honoring Saint Elionne, a saint renowned for her deeds of heroism. When the shrine was first built, acquiring a relic to inspire pilgrims proved difficult because all of Elionne's possessions were in the hands of the Iron Roses, the knightly order that she had founded and led. The clerics were unable to convince the Iron Roses to hand anything over, but they managed to obtain what they felt to be a passable substitute- the skull of Volkstraad, the dragon that Saint Elionne had slain, still bearing the piercing from the fatal blow struck by the Starlight Sword. The skull was taken to Estival and placed in the shrine so that pilgrims could look upon the saint's handiwork.

While initially viewed as little more than a consolation prize, the skull became a revered symbol for the shrine and its clerics, and in time they took on a dragon motif in honor of it. Due to the shrine's remote location and the ever-present threat of thieves, bandits, or anyone with a grudge against Elionne, Mayon, or the Iron Roses, the keepers of the shrine adopted a martial tradition, training rigorously with maces and hammers to ensure the safety of pilgrims, the sanctity of the reliquary, and the security of its relic.

Léon was born to a poor but devout family in Estival. When he was a child, his parents took him on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Pierced Skull. He was awed not only by the relic itself, but also by the helmeted, hammer-wielding warrior-clerics who stood vigil over the shrine and its contents, and the image stuck in his head for years. His parents were quite pleased with the though of their son joining the clergy, and worked hard to give him the opportunity to do so. Many of his younger years were spent serving as an acolyte for the church, and when he was old enough, he formally became a cleric novice. During his studies, he specifically requested to be assigned to the shrine that had left such an impression on him, despite it being effectively a backwater assignment with little opportunity for upward mobility in the church. After several more years of scrubbing the shrine floors, rigorous martial training, and theological and magical study, he was ordained and granted the arms and vestments of a shrine keeper.

After a brief period of service, Léon was called to perform an unusual duty- the local Mayonite clergy had asked the shrine to spare someone to assist the Estival Adventurer's Guild and as the most junior keeper, he was picked. His duties were to spread the light of Mayon, lend his skills as a cleric to the adventurers, and in the process search the dark corners of the world for evidence of Elionne or any relics connected to her. It sounded like a bit more excitement than he had expected for his station, but he couldn't let Mayon down, so he set out to join the guild.

Equipment:
When adventuring or on duty, Léon wears the protective vestments and helmet of the shrine keepers, and wields a war hammer, their iconic weapon. He also carries a scepter topped with a perched dragon, serving as his spell catalyst, and can double as a light mace in a pinch.

Skills:
As a cleric of Mayon, Léon is trained in the use of magic to aid others. He can close wounds, ward allies from various forms of harm, and strengthen them spiritually, mentally, or physically. His skill in this is only enough, however, to be ranked a 4 of Cups. A better fighter than a healer, Léon's forte is his martial skill as a shrine keeper. He is a capable fighter with his warhammer, able to swing the heavy weapon far more adeptly and deftly than his appearance outside of his keeper attire would suggest. He also has a formal education in history and theology pertaining to the Church of Mayon.

Dungeon Clearer! The Wonderful World of an Adventurer

Here's my CS. Because some of the backstory involves existing lore for the setting, I've already discussed some of it with the GM.

Mayonite Cleric

Name: Léon Reverdin

Age: 20

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Rank: 4 of Cups

Appearance: His normal appearance standing at 5'9", is more akin to that of a young Mayonite seminarian or scholar, rather than a hammer-toting cleric. When fully garbed in the attire of a shrine keeper, he seems like a different person.

Personality:
Having spent much of his life studying with the Mayonite church, Léon is personally familiar with hardship but not tragedy. He comes off as trusting and idealistic, but is not oblivious to the evils of the world, especially those that it is the duty of the Twin Churches to oppose. He isn't particularly adventurous or bold and perhaps is even a little apprehensive about stepping into caverns and dungeons, but it is Mayon's will, thus it is Léon's duty to carry it out even if it's not what he signed up for.

Brief Backstory:

Keepers of the Shrine of the Pierced Skull

The keepers of the Shrine of the Pierced Skull are a small group of of Mayonite clerics in Estival who maintain and guard a remote reliquary honoring Saint Elionne, a saint renowned for her deeds of heroism. When the shrine was first built, acquiring a relic to inspire pilgrims proved difficult because all of Elionne's possessions were in the hands of the Iron Roses, the knightly order that she had founded and led. The clerics were unable to convince the Iron Roses to hand anything over, but they managed to obtain what they felt to be a passable substitute- the skull of Volkstraad, the dragon that Saint Elionne had slain, still bearing the piercing from the fatal blow struck by the Starlight Sword. The skull was taken to Estival and placed in the shrine so that pilgrims could look upon the saint's handiwork.

While initially viewed as little more than a consolation prize, the skull became a revered symbol for the shrine and its clerics, and in time they took on a dragon motif in honor of it. Due to the shrine's remote location and the ever-present threat of thieves, bandits, or anyone with a grudge against Elionne, Mayon, or the Iron Roses, the keepers of the shrine adopted a martial tradition, training rigorously with maces and hammers to ensure the safety of pilgrims, the sanctity of the reliquary, and the security of its relic.

Léon was born to a poor but devout family in Estival. When he was a child, his parents took him on a pilgrimage to the Shrine of the Pierced Skull. He was awed not only by the relic itself, but also by the helmeted, hammer-wielding warrior-clerics who stood vigil over the shrine and its contents, and the image stuck in his head for years. His parents were quite pleased with the though of their son joining the clergy, and worked hard to give him the opportunity to do so. Many of his younger years were spent serving as an acolyte for the church, and when he was old enough, he formally became a cleric novice. During his studies, he specifically requested to be assigned to the shrine that had left such an impression on him, despite it being effectively a backwater assignment with little opportunity for upward mobility in the church. After several more years of scrubbing the shrine floors, rigorous martial training, and theological and magical study, he was ordained and granted the arms and vestments of a shrine keeper.

After a brief period of service, Léon was called to perform an unusual duty- the local Mayonite clergy had asked the shrine to spare someone to assist the Estival Adventurer's Guild and as the most junior keeper, he was picked. His duties were to spread the light of Mayon, lend his skills as a cleric to the adventurers, and in the process search the dark corners of the world for evidence of Elionne or any relics connected to her. It sounded like a bit more excitement than he had expected for his station, but he couldn't let Mayon down, so he set out to join the guild.

Equipment:
When adventuring or on duty, Léon wears the protective vestments and helmet of the shrine keepers, and wields a war hammer, their iconic weapon. He also carries a scepter topped with a perched dragon, serving as his spell catalyst, and can double as a light mace in a pinch.

Skills:
As a cleric of Mayon, Léon is trained in the use of magic to aid others. He can close wounds, ward allies from various forms of harm, and strengthen them spiritually, mentally, or physically. His skill in this is only enough, however, to be ranked a 4 of Cups. A better fighter than a healer, Léon's forte is his martial skill as a shrine keeper. He is a capable fighter with his warhammer, able to swing the heavy weapon far more adeptly and deftly than his appearance outside of his keeper attire would suggest. He also has a formal education in history and theology pertaining to the Church of Mayon.

A tribute to the former fans of Star Wars

While there are lot of reasons to dislike TLJ, its handling of Rey was not one of them.

@Fabricant451

That's fair. TLJ, for its many, many flaws, was willing to put Rey in danger that she couldn't Deus ex Machina her way out of.

The movie itself, the script of the movie, and the novelization of the sequel movie have all given legitimate reasons as to why Rey was able to use one single Force ability after being told how she's Force sensitive and how to let it flow through and guide her by two different people but it's rejected because in the first movie she didn't have Luke or Leia step in and go "Let me train you on our trip to Starkiller Base". Why would that have been more agreeable instead of having the villains (and a hero) remark how strong she is and her realizing that, like the great hero Luke Skywalker that even she has heard of in her backwater nowhere planet, maybe she can do something too?

Because it feels like it's being handed to her early on. Luke couldn't successfully use Telekinesis until his second movie and even then it was established to be pretty weak at the time, he and didn't pull off a mind trick until the third.

Why does Rey need training to justify a mind trick because she's a human but Baby Yoda doesn't need anything to justify more impressive feats just because he's of the same unknown race as a centuries old Jedi Master.

Because aside from what I've said, Rey is the hero of the Sequel Trilogy. It's about her journey, whereas Baby Yoda is but a supporting character in his series, of a species we know nothing about other than every previously seen member has been immensely strong in the Force, and fifty years of background we know nothing about, which means I'm willing to give it a benefit of a doubt, at least for the time being.

Yes, we saw Disney take an idea George Lucas had and run with it to give Luke Skywalker a more human characterization because the Jedi constantly deal with the dark side. Their 'superior chosen hero' literally left because she thought Kylo was the one that was going to save the day, she was wrong, messed up, and then Luke Skywalker had to be the biggest and best Jedi ever to save the day but yes let's act like Luke's development doesn't make sense or is a slap in the face instead of a natural progression of a character who for three movies was an impatient kid who only believed Vader could be redeemed in the last twenty minutes of the last movie.

That wasn't simply human characterization or natural progression. This was turning the hero of the original trilogy, the one who was to bring about the return of the Jedi Order, and one of the science fiction and space opera genres' most iconic heroes, and turned him into a failure who gave up when he hit a setback and ran from his responsibilities and went into hiding. It's not that he made mistakes, it's that he ran and hid from them and because of it, the fallout of his mistakes worsened until the galaxy went to hell. At least Yoda and Obi-Wan kept on fighting the Sith right up until things got bad enough that they couldn't continue, and even then never lost hope that they could set things right. Sure he eventually got over himself and sacrificed himself to save the day- years later, after the galaxy had gone to hell due to his irresponsible inaction. And if anything, his willingness to try and redeem his father stands in stark, insulting contrast to the foolish action that led to the destruction of his would-be Jedi Order.

Making Luke flawed and human is one thing. But turning him into the mockery of everything the character once stood for is another.

A tribute to the former fans of Star Wars

Yes, this is how The Force will seek to balance itself by having the equal to the Dark/Light rise/awaken/whatever.

@Fabricant451

Yes, but before the Sequel Trilogy, the heroes actually had to work to be able to tap into it. You're right that the Force seeks to rebalance itself and that force bonds can make it easier for someone to learn to use the Force even in the EU, a good example being KOTOR II (which was also a far better subversion and deconstruction of the setting than TLJ was). Narratively, however, it feels unsound because they basically give Rey the power on a silver platter by giving her the force bond shortcut instead of having to spend a few films working hard and having to constantly be rescued until she can stand on her own two feet so to speak, and again I reiterate that I believe that it's because the execs didn't think that Rey would be as initially marketable if they made her take as much time as Luke did in the OT to get to around his level, because they believed "morally conflicted but already capable fighter" would sell more toys than "idealistic aspiring hero who starts out with no skills other than barnstorming and creativity with a grappling line, and as a result has to be rescued constantly until the third film".

I'd argue that Rey was plenty developed in two of the three movies. Her development was just the antithesis to Luke's heroic journey archetype because for the first two movies she's refusing to accept her role in the events. There's a reason we're introduced to Rey in TFA by going through a day in her life. Rey's struggles are less physical and more internal but that doesn't mean she doesn't struggle or develop over the course of 7 and 8. It's only when 9 came around to ruin its own characterization that, well, ruined it.

The hard truth of the Star Wars movies is that apart from the two minutes in A New Hope and the, like, six minutes of Empire Strikes Back, across the prequels and the original trilogy we never actually see the protagonists train much at all because movies aren't serials and dedicating precious runtime to lengthy training arcs is meaningless. All of Anakin's training happens off screen to the point where the Anakin in TPM and the Anakin in AOTC might as well be different characters. Yes, we can infer that Luke went to Yoda for a bit in the brief time between ESB and ROTJ but Luke at the start of Jedi is announcing himself as a Jedi Knight to Jabba as if he took the community college jedi course. It only became an issue that the protagonist didn't train in the first movie because suddenly it was unacceptable that the main character, mentioned by the antagonist to be, quote "[she's] strong with the Force, untrained, but stronger than she knows.

At least we actually saw Luke training. We see Luke struggle to learn to block blaster bolts, and we see him struggle, and fail, to use telekinesis. We see him decisively defeated by Darth Vader even after this incomplete training, and it's why it's so great to see him in action for the first time in Episode 6, because of how far our farmboy has come after two movies of struggling, stumbling, brushes with death, failure, and dismemberment that he's suffered through to get there. And it took two and a half films (three if for some deranged reason we opt to include the Holiday Special) to get that far. And then Disney has the audacity to turn him into a jaded failure who sits in hiding drinking sloth milk while the mess he created continues to snowball into a bigger and bigger disaster, so they can plug their new, superior chosen hero to save the day.

A tribute to the former fans of Star Wars

As I said, we know nothing about Yoda's species, except as I've mentioned, every single one seen previously both in the old EU and the new Disney canon is that every single one was a Jedi master. They may have had centuries to train, but they were all force-sensitive, something that can't be gained by training. It makes sense for a species that is universally force-sensitive to have some sort of instinctual ability to use the Force, and is a lot more plausible than a human, a species which is not only only rarely force-sensitive, but even those that are typically require extensive training to learn to use. Maybe I'm wrong, but I still find Baby Yoda more tolerable because for all of his powers, it doesn't make him unstoppable- most of the struggles in the series are solved by the Mandalorian and his allies.

Compare Rey to Luke, or Anakin for that matter. They were also chosen ones, but they required actual training to use the Force. Prior to being taught by Obi-Wan, the only abilities they could tap into by themselves were supernaturally good reflexes and perhaps a bit of a sixth sense. True, Luke could pull his lightsaber to him on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back, but that's partially explained by a midquel novel Heir to the Jedi (in a bit of trivia, it was originally intended for the previous EU, but was folded into Disney canon, so its intentions apply to both canons) which details Luke's attempt to learn to harness the Force without Obi-Wan, and also has him try and fail to use a mind trick. By contrast, Rey is able to figure out a mind trick in about a minute without presumably having ever seen one in action, and is able to use telekinesis with enough strength to overpower Kylo's own telekinesis. And then she does herself one better by figuring out how to force heal by herself...somehow.

Rey basically gains her powers on her own with minimal lead up and no training, just because The Force wills it for some reason. The real reason is that Disney wanted a strong poster girl but didn't want to have to take the time developing her into it like was the case with Luke, who spent most of the OT being little more than a farmboy who could barely use his powers, struggling constantly and having to be rescued repeatedly. The more cynical explanation is that they simply wanted someone who was straight up superior to the Jedi hero of the OT.

I don't disparage Rey's ability to fight any more than I disparage Luke's ability to pilot. They're skills that are established early on (or at least seemingly intended to be), and they're pivotal to the respective character's success in the first movie of each trilogy. That's not what this is about. I'll admit that Anakin blowing up the Trade Federation command ship was silly and unnecessary, but it was a good example of the old EU idea of the Force having a sense of humor when it comes to chosen ones, that sometimes destiny gets silly, kind of like that anecdote in KOTOR about that guy with a great destiny...who got thrown into a reactor shaft by a warlord, which caused the ship to be destroyed and the political course of the sector to be changed for centuries to come.

While Luke's piloting ability is highly suspect, I never stopped to consider he is the kind of asshole that shoots at animals from the back of a pickup.

@Penny

To be fair, Womp Rats are disease-carrying pests that also happen to be aggressive pack hunters. Imagine the Pandyssian Bull Rats from Dishonored, except they can grow to be over 2 meters each.

A tribute to the former fans of Star Wars

Because Baby Yoda is a member of a mysterious species whom we know very little about, except every example previously seen was a Jedi Master, meaning that it's seems more plausible to believe that manipulating the Force is instinctual to them. Additionally, he's fifty years old and we know nothing of his past. Rey is a human, and the previous human force sensitive protagonists we've seen actually needed to be guided and trained in the Force to be able to use most of their powers.

It's one thing to be disappointed. The franchise has been producing turds since the Holiday Special came out. But the Sequels weren't merely disappointing, they were insulting.

And to give credit where credit is due, I'm not criticizing Rey's ability to beat Kylo. She was already established as a skilled melee fighter, and you don't necessarily need the Force to beat someone in a swordfight.

A tribute to the former fans of Star Wars

I was a huge fan of Star Wars, and Disney killed my interest in it, aside from The Mandalorian. The old EU was a disjointed mess filled with retcons and bad ideas, but it was respectful to the OT characters- Luke started a Jedi Academy (in a Sith temple, no less) and founded a new Jedi Order, Han and Leia married and stayed together despite the tragedy of their son turning to the Dark Side, and the Imperial Remnant mellowed out and eventually even formed its own corps of light-sided force users.

In the Disney sequel trilogy, all of our original heroes are jaded failures who exist to make way for the new heroes. I understand the concept of passing the torch, but it was done in a way that was hugely disrespectful to the spirit and characters of the Original Trilogy. I think both Finn and Rey had a lot of potential, but they blew it by giving Rey the ability to harness the Force in multiple ways without any training, and making Finn into a comic relief ex-janitor despite his interesting background as an ex-Stormtrooper who grew up in the First Order. I suppose they succeeded at their attempt to make Captain Phasma into the new Boba Fett, but unfortunately it was in the "caped, armored character who mostly stands around and goes out like a punk" way.

And for some reason, Disney took the dumbest aspects of the old EU, like Palpatine coming back (Dark Empire), a seemingly dead Sith Lord returning and pulling an army of Sith Troopers and ships out from nowhere (Star Wars: Legacy), Han and Leia's son turning to the Dark Side and becoming a fascist enforcer (Legacy of the Force), and an Imperial Remnant possessing a superweapon that can destroy multiple planets on the other side of the galaxy (Dark Empire II), and made them even dumber and nonsensical.

[/Vent Heat]

Blades of Iron Roses: An Anime-Inspired Fantasy Knight RP

Fleuri Jodeau

It was during the conversation with Martiza that the hostess of the ball, Princess Eliabelle, made her appearance. Maritza proceeded to slither off to retrieve Jarde, who seemed to have made an attempt to slip away, leaving Fleuri to turn his attention to the princess. It was, to his knowledge, the first time he had seen her in person. He was unsure if she had been present at any of the tournaments he had fought at, and he secretly hoped she wouldn't remember him from them, because he'd rather not be reminded of the chapter of his life where he was a materialistic glory hound.

From what Fleuri knew of the princess, she was approximately the same age as Fanilly, and had a reputation as an affable, well-liked figure. She clearly had an interest in the Iron Roses, as evidenced by both her act of inviting them to her ball at the last minute, and by her present request for them to meet her. Sir Rowan Balthier was the first Iron Rose to respond to Eliabelle, during which Fleuri samppled the food on his plate and silently contemplated whether he should approach in kind or stay put unless singled out. He didn't want to cast the impression of refusing her, but to deal with royalty was to walk on eggshells, and he feared that any misstep on his part could bring shame to House Jodeau.

Fleuri's silent deliberations were interrupted when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Fleuri looked down to see a young girl, dressed quite oddly for the occasion.

"I can't find the sweets... there's so many people here, I keep getting turned around! Can you help me?" she asked the knight.

"Certainly," Fleuri replied, somewhat relieved at the distraction. He glanced at the nearby tables where Martiza had been filling her plate, looking over the contents of each table, until his gaze was upon the impressive cake at the table at the far end. "Looks like the sweets are over there, at the far table. Come on, I'll lead you to it," he said, as he begun to make his way to the sweets table, moving with utmost care as to not spill his plate or glass.

Strange outfit she's wearing for a ball. Probably some noble's child going through a dress-up phase.