Deserted

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

@solidsneek Post for you, dude. Hope you like obnoxious co-workers.

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

Do I know you? I am pretty sure I don't but anyway good luck got a feeling we will need it!

When Orac blew off Amalay’s attempt at camaraderie, she was not to be daunted. Either that or was completely oblivious to the fact that he had attempted to be as dull and uninteresting as possible. This wasn't the first, nor the last of his sort she would encounter. Someone not full of laughs, not full of conversation, not full of opinion. Orac probably was just looking for some action and spare glory, and would worry about friends and retirement and other things that made life life once all of his affairs were in order. In other words, a philosophy completely diametric to Amalay's perspective.

“Primal and simple creatures Elvin Archer’s are, completely focused on task.This one has matured into its killing season,” she spoke to Grol... well not really, more than anything she began yammering in order to annoy Orac. “At this stage in their lives, they are solely driven off of slaughter, and shed their vestigial personalities and sex drives in order to meet their simple instinct for bloodshed. See how he doesn’t get mad or worked up about anything? His entire existence from this point on, is violence. See how the drive is deafening him to my words? Why, in normal society, before the bloodening, he might blow off my narration as some sort of joke. He might even quip about something he finds deficit in me, or could even turn around and smile. Who knows, he might even introduce himself. But no, the creature is entirely consumed and blinded by this urge.”

She began smiling broadly and stifling laughter at her own humor.

Group Fantasy RP

Yes, you answered my question for the most part. However, just to clarify because I find a serious lack of descriptors on how roleplaying games go about this. Which one are you going for?

Option1) Is there going to be a Great Task that the players will be working on like "destroy the big-badguy" or "save the world" or even something non-epic like "become rich and famous", "be successful in love" or "become close friends." And this pulls this characters along, and they are trying to balance their personal goals with this Great Task finding it more stressful to succeed and sometime diametric that force them to choose between what they want and what needs them.

Option 2) Is it going to be more like "I will find my father's killer" jumbled with "is this stranger really my brother?" and "I think I'll join the rebellion." So they have their characters pursue their own goals without any interference.

Option 3) Is it going to be like "We need heroes like you to save the world, eventually. In the mean time..." and then have that put on a back-burner while everybody is doing their own thing? So this is filler between what characters are thinking up and going "Hmm, not sure where to go from here" oh, GM plot can buy me some time to think up what happens next.

Option 4) The plot takes up a big amount of their time and effort, pulling the characters along. However, it does not encompass all of their time and effort (for instance they won't be "we have to get to the cracks of doom before it's too late!") There is still considerable open time and energy that they can work on their own tasks but sometimes those will be put to an abrupt halt by the Great Task that requires their focus.

Group Fantasy RP

So... who is going to be responsible for initiating plot? Is there going to be a GM story that you need a cast to play in, or is the GM simply going to function as a moderator and jump in here and there when they want?

Carvings of the Galaxy

I think those footsteps should be nobody. *evil grin*

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

@solidsneekIC post sent your way, dude.

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

It was always like trying to shake the flank of a horse when greeting Grol. The span of time she spent in Human lands had made her forget just how massive the Etlock actually was. On long journeys, he seemed just about her size, sure a little taller and way WAY heavier, but for the most part just a person. Now he felt like a great pine was lowering a branch from its lofty height to welcome her.

"So, have you started your panic session yet? You're wondering if you don't make it then your entire life will be ruined. Where will you get money for food? You're going to have to go back to cleaning dishes. I mean, look at these people, sure they might not be as strong as you, but they could be fast or skilled or both, and it could make you look like an archery target on an Elvin marksmanship range. Maybe everybody here has magic, except for you Grol. I'm pretty sure that's it." Each phrase added to the intensity and doubts and amplified and amplified and amplified. Abruptly she sputtered out a massive raspberry at the concept of terrifying her counterpart, and burst out with a few laughs.

She was cut off by noticing Orac who stood nearby. "Oh my gosh, you are the last person I expected to see here! How have you been? Just look at how much you've grown." Amalay clapped a hand on Orac's shoulder "It's been forever! Literally, I have never seen you before, how have you been?"

Grol had witnessed this before. It was Amalay's way of getting to know other recruits. Usually people were so weirded out by her being... well... her, that they made sure to avoid the crazy lady the rest of the job. She never seemed to notice. However, to Grol there was a big pending, "hey why don't you crawl out of your shell" request waiting to be nagged into his ear.

To say that there was method to her madness was true... sort of... if you took out the whole "method" part. Perhaps she was blundering into it, or perhaps she was just a refreshing spirit. One way or another, she diffused the performance nerves of those dreading the pending judgement. It freed up brain power and allowed them to focus or be distracted. To Amalay, she did not fear testing at all, because she was raised without them... or I should say without the human approach to testing. Elves thought of testing as refining precious metals (which holds the same name), melting out all of the impurities. It was ALWAYS followed by revelation and tons of studies and practice as well as new material regardless of the outcome. Human testing came with a pass or fail, those who passed were glorified with greater knowledge while those who failed received scrutiny and almost as a punishment had to mill over their failures to get their affairs in order before they could be judged yet again. Though she had swirled around in different cultures for longer than most recruits had been alive, this preconception had never quite been bludgeoned out of her.

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

The physical test, this was where people were quick to jump to conclusions. Amalay may have been unsure about the mental test until the questions were asked, but this was the challenge she had been through and failed before. Some would test on physical ability, thinking that strength, speed, and agility were the only factors to create a skilled warrior. These often came in an obstacle course, and she scored very well on. Others would target sheer lethal accuracy and the number of killing blows. They would grade on a curve usually in a series of sparring duels. These she almost always failed. Not that she was so easily defeated, but rarely did these tests accept climbing into the rafters and waiting for the opponent to got so bored that they quit to count as a victory. Most duel tests were timed and had imaginary boundaries that made it almost impossible for Amalay to shine.

One thing was for sure, this test was not about to be the classic guessing game of most recruiters. For one thing very few recruiters included a life lesson with much of anything. They were silent as to the success, failure, or true intent of the testing that they applied. The other reason was the fact that there were no arch mages screening applicants to protect merchant caravans (for some strange reason.) While a nervous knot began to well up, these unknowns were strangely comforting to Amalay, and the churning bowels settled down into peace. They did things differently here, and she was most certainly different.

Glancing around she sized up the opponents. A number of those who signed up the previous day were nowhere to be seen. Either they chickened out, were horridly late (by like half of a day) or were only doing it for some other reason than to join the Hunters. She really didn't understand the sort. Nevertheless, it was a rather large number of faces that could likely all be opponents. The memories of a fox-hunt ran through her mind... or at least that is what she called it when 200 raiders were frantically chasing only her through the forest. The memory brought a smile to her lips as she recalled the frustrated growls of anger as they boiled over in a foolhardy murderous rage. Good times.

Then a face stood out, well not exactly. It was a face connected to a head to a body with arms and legs and such, and it didn't really stand out, it blended in behind the others. However, it was familiar as the ground. Grol. Though muscular and tall, he could go unnoticed in a tavern full of children. He had a way of using chaos, architecture, and shadow to make your eye pass right past him. He had been doing so for so long that it was habit. Amalay had apparently had a habit too to search those places for the Etlock's familiar face, usually to make small talk with him. She raced over, her garments (normally earth tones) flipped and fluttered turning brilliant violets and purple that drew attention as they billowed in the wind and her movement. It captured the attention of all but the most introspective or least observant. No, it wasn't magic, simply the underside of the many layers that had been stitched together. As soon as she stopped, they flopped back to sedate.

"Grol, you old rug, looks like I've tripped over you again," she smiled, "I thought we agreed to go our separate ways?"

She scratched her wrist without a thought, but it was visible the shackle scars on her wrists were still healing.

Good, I can help him out.

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

Amalay glanced around the room after the questions were asked. Every question was common knowledge. Of course, as he spoke she wrote his questions down verbatim. She glanced at them again trying to see if held a double meaning or were deceptive, but no, every question was pretty straightforward. She glanced around to make sure that this wasn't some sort of social experiment or hazing, but everybody seemed diligently writing down the answers or trying to wrack their brains in order to find out.

They aren't too picky about filtering out the dummies in this place are they? This is all common knowledge. I thought they were supposed to be the best of the best, the most cunning. This seems more like formality for the city guard or militia, just making sure people listen to their commander.

She shrugged and wrote down the answers in as few words as possible. Then things began clicking in her brain and wouldn't stop.

Why are the King's men unavailable?
Why are the Hunters openly recruiting again?
Why are they not being more picky in their testing?
They did mention that people are probably going to drop like flies around here.
Is this war?

It had been some time since she had relied on the words of bards, she was kind of busy. However, the Burg was always a real threat. When she tried to venture there when she was younger; it earned 5 days in Elvin confinement, and then release when they had an appropriate chaperone. Stories were pretty common about the constant threat of the border villages being attacked or abandoned because of the forces of the Burg.

"Excuse me," she asked, and promptly stood up, "You aren't really going to find the pieces of this Illikorav to start assassinating notable forces from the Burg are you?"

Terecoth: The Hunters Guild (Always open)

@Polaris NorthYou could have him helping with the logistics. Making sure that there is ink, blotting paper to prevent smudging, properly storing the documents, or just being present to put out any fires caused by bad-blood between recruits.