Expendable

Pilgrim's Caravan: An Open-Ended Fantasy (with Worldbuilding!)

25 days since he's been seen. hope they're okay?

The Frontier ( An anthro space western roleplay)

@BigPapaBelial @EmiliaBaiYue

I hope to get a few more people interested in the comming days, after that start the ooc. If no additional interest shows up, we can always start with a few people and see if others join along the way.

@ExpendableYou have posted a few weeks ago in this topic. Considering the time passed, is it safe to assume you're no lonver interested?

@Milkman

Still interested, have no fear. Just working out what sort of character I would play in this.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

---

"Thank you," J'eon pants as he is help up. Shirik was burning, yet was acting as though nothing unusual was happening. What was he? "I.. have a cart... back there... Chest, two blankets."

He paused, looking at the creature Shirik has slain. "We... should go... swiftly. Where... there is one... there will... be others."

It was more than pain that made him pant.

---

Jack Mallory, X.O.

---

"Aye aye, captain!" Jack nodded, turning towards the bridge.

After getting through the airlock, he cycled the bridge hatch and stepped inside, eyes turning towards the pilot at his console, then to the navigator's station on the left, ignoring the yammering of port controller over the radio.

Stepping over to it, he began keying in for all the local 'ports capable of handling the Jo, then forwarded the primary and alternate
flight plans to both the pilot and the captain's station.

"Pilot Janković," Jack sang out. "Two flight plans sent to you, confirm?"

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Jester assassins could work, if done right. Jesters have access to the royal court, after all. Typically the role requires them to be both the wit and the punching bag of the court. But the only way it works is if there's just one or two killer jesters. Once it comes out that a jester, Giacomo, has openly assassinated someone of rank, all of the jesters become immediate suspect.

I'm sure a few kings would kill theirs on the spot, just to be safe (and they would be the lucky ones, as they wouldn't face the torturers). Should the jester Giacomo ever dare to show his face again, he's sure to be cut down.

Really, the issue with assassins is they have to hide, because there's no way they can face an army on equal terms. They're like the passive-aggressive of fighters, striking from the shadows, using poison, seeding bad intelligence, setting traps. Since they won't openly face a warrior, they're generally despised.

A race of assassins can't hide.

A race of warriors, on the other hand, doesn't need to. Because they fight openly, they can be respected - even by their enemies.

To be a lone assassin or even a clan of assassins, it's possible to hide among the others - as long as they don't do anything to expose themselves. Generally, it means working through intermediaries, poisons, disguises (not just for themselves, but for their weapons and the tools of their trade as well). So if someone drops off a letter for the unexposed Giacomo with a certain tavern owner, it's expected to reach the hand of the assassin within a day, if not the hour. A couple of meetings later, terms are discussed, partial payment made, and Giacomo is on the road with no one the wiser as to what he's about to do.

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

@EliteCommander

A fair point, to save both of us any grief. I was thinking of going with my original idea. And go with a faction/race that are mostly assassins or are skilled in covert ops. I was thinking their whole culture would be based around jesters and or clowns. I'm unsure If they should be knowledgeable in magic, or are more tech focused. But they could be other professions to try and fit into being part of the crew. So my character specifically could be the bartender or maybe part of security.

@Eviledd1984

So basically ninjas. Why are they ninjas? Why aren't they soldiers? Why did they become ninjas? If the entire race is notorious for being assassins, wouldn't that put a target on any of them? Someone could decide simply to wipe out all members of that race.

A clan of jesters who are secretly assassins? Bad luck if some king turned against the jesters, wouldn't it?

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon the Blacksmith

---

Pressing a hand to their torso, The Glen known as J'eon, gasps and turns his head to face Kareet.

"I... live," he managed, haltingly, bowing his head. "I am... indebted... to you... and your... friend, for coming... to my... rescue."

"I am... J'eon... of Mythadia," J'eon swallowed, tasting the blood. "May... I ask... your names?"

From the pain radiating from its upper and lower torsos, he must have broken some bones there. Nor did he feel ready to stand just yet.

Pariah

The back room had shelves full of boxes, bags and cans, but tucked down the far end was a small kitchenette with security monitors, and an exit door. One of the camera images showed an ally, while the rest was different views in the store.

"Saul likes to keep an eye on things when he's back here," Jimmy shrugged. "You want some more milk?"
"Pl..please," Remy said, watching as the clerk opens a refrigerator door and emerge with a carton, handing it over.

"Thank you."
"So kid," Jimmy said as he watched Remy eating. "How long you've been on the streets?"
"I dunno, couple of years I guess," the boy managed between mouthfuls.
"Was it your parents?"
"Huh?"
"You know...?"
"I don't remember them," Remy admitted. "I woke up in bandages, I think a hospital just kicked me out or something."
"Jeez, that's rough, kid. You got someplace safe?"

Remy paused, staring back at Jimmy.
"Yeah...." he said slowly.
"Just askin'," Jimmy replied, holding up his hands. "Ran away for a couple of months with this girl, thought we'd join a circus. Instead, we got suckered into a carnival and they bled us dry while running us ragged. Talk about embarrasin'."
"So you're a carny?"
"Naw, carny just wasn't for me."

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

Jack Mallory, X.O.

---

The universe must have been trying to tell him something.

"No," the guard said. "Crew only!"

"I am crew!" Jack scowled, presenting his identcard and waving the shopping bags of the various gift shops at the space port. "I'm the executive officer of the Jotunheim, and I had the captain's permission to do some last minute shopping because I'd lost my luggage! Now let me pass!"

The hell he lost his luggage. On the Pournelle, the king of the practical jokers had been Lt. Danny Bryce, his junior. Danny had never messed with him while they'd been aboard. Maybe it was because he was Danny's senior. Or possibly because he'd still been reeling from his divorce from Jackie and wanted to cheer him up? More likely was it the subpoenas his wife's attorney had slapped on him that revealed that he was a walking, talking camera.

Danny must have thought it was his last chance to play a prank on him, now he was a civilian and departing for a mission that would mean years outsystem. After all, he'd been the man who offered to 'help' him with his luggage for the flight to Norway. Not even his own garment bag had been safe, and he'd brought that on the plane with him! Or so he thought.

"You're crew?" the guard demanded, incredulously taking him in with the flight suit and the old leather "snoopy" flght cap.
"It's what I had that was warm!" Jack snapped.

The guard scowls, raising his walky-talky to his mouth when gunshots erupted on the far side of the hanger. The others around them panics, bowling the guard over.

"The hell with this," he scowls, then takes off running towards the ship. Only when he was at the airlock did he realize that others were there with him.

"Go back!" he yells. "Our next stop is years away! Get off the ship!"

The engines began to rumble. Swearing under his breath, Jack jammed his things into a locker, securing it with his finger print, then ran for the bridge.

---

"Captain," Jack called out as he saw her, then nodded at the man standing beside her. "Doctor."

"I was.. held up at the checkpoint," he sighed. "I'm sorry, if I'd been here, we wouldn't be stuck with a bunch of civilians on board. We can try for a patrol boat once we reach orbit to get them off...."

Assuming whoever was trying to get at the Jotunheim hadn't already planned for that.

"Your orders?" Jack Mallory asks, standing at attention with all the dignity he could muster.

Thieves World

Thieves World is a shared world edited by Robert Asprin, started in 1978, there's twelve anthologies. Centers around a port city that's fallen on hard times when after the empire captures a much closer port city on the other side of the range, and now all trade runs through them. It proves, however, a very convenient location to stash the younger brother of the emperor, well away from the bulk of the court intrigue.

There's a tavern, the Vulgar Unicorn. Bartender is an assassin. Best be nice to him.

Ex - Wanted: Dead or Alive

The Eye of the Needle (where Fantasy and Sci-fi collide)

J'eon of Mythadia

Name: J'eon of Mythadia

Species: The Glen

Appearance: This male Glen puts you in mind of an unstoppable machine. He has narrow olive-green eyes. He has a muscular wide-chested build, and a network of old, dark flogging scars on his upper and middle back. His hide appears creamy yellow or gold, depending on the light. He has hollow cheeks and wide feet, with a long dark scar crossing his cheek below his right eye.

His wardrobe is practical, a dark brown leather cuirass peppered with small burns over his upper torso and bronze pips along the shoulders. A medallion of the Mythadia Blacksmith Guild is over his first stomach - an anvil with a six pointed star of a master craftsman over it, flanked by a hammer on the right and a sword on the left. His upper arms bear a studded leather rerebrace, while his lower arms wear a darkened leather vambrace peppered with small burns. Each leg wears leather greaves, with the front pair peppered once again with small burns. A wide leather belt bears two leather pouches in front, with leather gloves tucked behind them, his favorite hammer on his right, while on his left he carries a long kukri blade, with two smaller blades and a small iron hook for cleaning his hooves. Each hoof has an iron shoe on it.

While traveling, he wears a leather chamfron with small iron plates & bronze pips over his face, leather paulroons, and has a cart with harness that he can strap himself into.

Leaves on the left, right, and back sides of the cart can be pulled up and slot into ironwork straps underneath. It carries under canvas a traveling forge (in the back), an anvil, a box with his tools and a leather apron, a locked iron-bound chest (key is on a cord hanging on his neck), a box holding two blankets (one quilted with straps) wrapped in oilcloth and ropes, a tripod with a small cooking pot, barrels holding charcoal, iron blanks, water, and grain. Oarlocks on the right arm of the cart hold a long spear.

Augmentations: N/A

Magical affiliation: Heat domain - able to manipulate thermal energy.

Occupation: Blacksmith

Key skills: Blacksmith, Engineering, Wilderness survival.

Backstory: J'eon was born into the Dark Ash clan, a nomadic group that assisted settlements with planting, harvesting, and various services they lacked before heading back to Dark Ash Vale, their wintering grounds. F'eon, J'eon's father, was the backsmith for the clan and its unofficial leader. He spent much of the winter months mining for ores that he would then smelt into the old forge into the refined metal blanks he needed, or into various impliments he could sell. J'eon watched and learned beside his father, marveling at how he called up the flame.

They were raided by bandits, his father ran through by one of his own swords. What happened to J'avra, his mother, he didn't see. He was chained up with the other survivors and eventually sold to a miller in the west, who chained him to one of the poles to turn the millwheel along with the other slaves - simple brute labor. One can still see the shackle gauls on his wrists when he takes his vambraces off. When he got out of line, they'd flog him. In his sixteen summer, the miller's daughters began to pay him close attention with strangely hungry eyes and giggles. When the overseer reported their attentions to the miller, he had the young muscular buck unchained and hauled to the flogging post. It was during that flogging that the Fire came to him.

With the burning of the miller's place, J'eon along with the other Glen made their way back east, eventually finding themselves in Mythadia once more. It wasn't long after that he found himself the oldest apprentice in the blacksmith guild, but he was quickly initiated into the innermost secrets once they realized he could call forth the flame. It was here he learned the riddle of iron and steel.

Once he became a master, he took to the road in a cart he build to hold his traveling forge and his tools. Word of his craft spread beyond the borders of Mythadia, and he found himself traveling out of the kingdom, called forth to build weapons, craft armor and chains, even called to repair waterwheels and windmills. Slave mills, however, tended to go up in flames. Nor was he particularly soft on bandits or slavers.

Jack Ryan Mallory

Name: Jack Ryan Mallory, Commander (Ret) USSF
Species: Human (Age: 42)
Appearance:
This man makes you think of an inhuman statue. He has deep-set gray eyes. His fine, straight, midnight black hair is worn in the military Ivy League style (longer than a crew cut, hair in front can be swept to the side, with a tapered block in back. He is tall and has a masculine build. His skin is deeply-tanned. He has a large mouth. His wardrobe is a bit odd.

Wardrobe

His garment bag came on the plane with him, and held a nice tailored black suit (two pants), a dress shirt, three silk ties, a khaki safari jacket with cargo pants, two leather belts, and a nice pair of black dress shoes in their own protective shoe bags.

However, his checked-in bag did not come on the flight, so he had to scavenge from the local stores for toiletries and other clothing. He's got some novelty underwear, a lot of black socks, handkerchiefs, a couple of plain white t-shirts (which are easy to pick out from the colorful ones), three plain coveralls, a pair of jeans, navy jogging suit with two reflective stripes down the sides, workout shorts, sneakers, and a very garish Norwegian Hawaiian shirt.

His ceremonial sword and gun were shipped to the embassy in a diplomatic pouch, the company made arrangements for him to bring them aboard.

Currently wearing a navy blue BioPlas bodysuit under his olive drab flight suit, polished black boots, and a utility belt with a holstered 9mm pistol & magazine pouch holding two magazines on the right, while the left holds an insulated multi-tool in a sheath. His left breast pocket contains his personal comm, with two slots on the left sleeve for a multi-surface pen and a black penlight.

His right breast pocket contains a challenge coin from the Secretary of the Space Force, a comb and two PlastiPatches.

His front right pocket holds an electric Ziplo lighter, while his left has fingernail clippers with file.

gear

BioPlas Body Suit

In the event of pressure loss, the suit will deploy self-sealing hood and gloves to turn it into a light vacuum suit. Internal oxygen supply suitable for four hour operation, can be extended with external connection to oxygen canisters or hose. Interface allows it to be programmed with artwork or to merge with another BioPlas suit. Lives off of body heat / sweat of wearer, requires a battery for storage, usually build into the storage egg container.

IdentCard

Jack Ryan Mallory, USSF (Retired)

Comm

Ruggedized short-range personal communications device / pocket computer. Can act as a remote interface for some equipment.

Penlight

Small pen-size device that acts as a flashlight.

Multi-surface Pen

Pen that writes on wood, glass, metal from -150° to 400°, works in Zero G and vaccum. Blue felt tip.

Multi-tool

Standard commercial multi-tool with Jack Mallory engraved on the insulated handles.

PlastiPatches

6x6 inch bandage, good for sealing moderate wounds or patching punchures in the hull or spacesuit.

Augmentations:

Health Monitor

This implant monitors the subject's vital signs - temperature, pulse, blood pressure, blood sugar, alcohol level, oxygen saturation, respiration, basic statistics, etc. Pressing on the left inner wrist brings up the eSkin display tattooed there. This is programmed to send wireless reports to a monitoring computer.

Recorder Implant

This implant hooks into the optic and auditory nerves, broadcasting a short range transmission to a monitoring computer of everything they see and hear. All recordings have to be accessed via the computer.

Magical affiliation: None

Occupation: Executive Officer

Key skills: Pilot, Navigator, Engineer.

Personality: Crisp and professional, he has a notorious poker face. He is very tidy, never a hair or a thread out of place. While he vapes, he prefers smoking a pipe, with either a whiskey or cherry tobacco. One would never suspect he had two bottles of 12-year-old single malt whiskey in his locker.

Backstory:
Attended the Space Academy in Colorado, in the top quarter of his class. Volunteered for the recoding implant.
First tour was aboard the USS Comet, a salvage ship that collected old satellites and lost items from low Earth orbit for orbital processing.

Briefly returned to the Academy as a guest lecturer to talk about his experences in orbital salvage operations, and he got married in a whirlwind romance to Jackie.

Second tour was aboard the USS Fox, supply runs to Mars and the Belt. Commendation for the Ceres Rescue operation. While serving out his rotation as the junior engineer, discovered a few of the recycling gang had put together a still for brewing moonshine. He kicked it apart, tore into them as being some of the few people on board who knew how to distill and yet managed to build their homemade rig wrong.

During his Earth tour, incident with the Flat Earth Church, but his recording of the encountered showed he had restrained himself and it was the Flat Earthers who had struck the first blow. Turned out one of them was a former boyfriend of his wife.

Shipped to the Aries Lunar Base for his lunar tour. Received commendations for his work, but there was another incident where a video surfaced of him escorting a wealthy and flirty female tourist. His wife, sick of the long separations already, filed for divorce.

Heartbreak tour with the Pournelle on a solar patrol of the system. Was not directly involved with the Jupiter mission, worked in an advisory capacity. Left the service after that, only to get hired by the company as X.O. for the Jotunheim.