Fetzen

The North Road

Talic would have been much of a fool not to anticipate the event of everyone having to introduce himself. He would have been even more of a fool not to think of a cover story for himself -- just in case any of his listeners would get second thoughts upon hearing the truth and come to the conclusion that trying to denounce him might bring more coin for less risk than trying to slay the beast. He still would have revealed his true name and origin since it was quite probable that someone recognized him anyway, but the explanation of his presence here would have been a well-prepared lie. For many more ordinary people the noble families of the Citadel were a society whose members were eager to prove themselves towards each other even if it was potentially life-threatening, so claiming that he had been given the task to slay the beast for the sake of Rastoch glory would have been plausible. He had already proven to the public that he wasn't good at jousting, so why not try to restore his family's honor by proving that he was a good hunter ?

All irrelevant now, at least for the moment. Talic's plan was on the verge of derailing silently already.

It had been a fluctuation in the corner of his eyes at first, something easily to discard. Then however the other people around him started to turn heads and even called out for someone. Then he saw her, too: A young woman, almost looking like a girl... and she had a bow. A rapier had been plugged into Talic's own hands when they had been a fraction of their current size already, so an armed youth could not be a big surprise to him normally. The circumstances weren't normal in any way though as he had serious concerns about his parent's actions back home. Was she a one-woman killing squad on a manhunt for him who simply had failed to avoid discovery more thoroughly ? It would have explained her diving into the dangerous forests without insinuating her being crazy...

Talic went on red alert. He tried to duck and cover behind the stone cairn that happened to be adjacent to the small gathering, however his ludicrous size was anything but helping with that. His hand reached for one of his spears and formed a tight grip around it. These things were not only good for stabbing, they could also be thrown. A not so conventional weapon like a bow with much less range, much more limited ammunition and lower speed, but with an impact that was very significant even if not conducted by someone of his stature. He'd not allow himself to be killed that easily even if that meant behaving much less relaxed than anyone else!

Even he could see that his first thought had been erroneous soon though. An assassin would not reply to any kind of conversational attempt, but instead either try to get the job done or abort. That didn't mean that he would not have to watch her more closely though, if not for the sake of his own safety then for the sake of preventing her obvious hot-headedness cutting her life very short. Believe it or not but at least some nobles even had compassion for other people and Talic's stomach cringed upon seeing just how carelessly she kept shouting at the party. Was it really that difficult to understand that making loud noises on purpose had great potential to either attract or shy away whatever entity had just roared in the depths of the forest ?

The attractive potential appeared even more critical to Talic as he agreed with Heddwyn. As much as he would have liked to get out of damn Fero as quickly as possible as much did he have to admit that even his resources were limited.

"I think he's right. I at least could use a bit of sleep and I doubt that tired eyes will improve anyone's aim with a bow either. So why not stop holloring, calm down and arrange for a camp while we still can ? Preferably not right at the rim of the forest maybe..." There was no real intention of Talic to make himself sound demanding or even just 'significant' in any way, but he also could not avoid that his voice was very dark and no less chesty.

The North Road

@Stitches

How did you get this top-secret photograph of my brain's inner workings ?

The North Road

I've got a suspicion!

The beast doesn't actually exist as a biological, magical or any other physical entity. It is there mere fact that all believe there is a beast that drives people crazy enough to behave in quite unusual ways, causing other people to think 'there's something really wrong here! Maybe he or she is posessed ?' and explaining it with your typical default approach: 'There must be some kind of evil in these woods!'. This in turn leads back to square one.

Proof ? None. Slight indications that would be in accordance with said theory ? Hell yes!

_{Please don't take it seriously!}

The North Road

Given that a lot of character interaction probably will take place and as an information to our GM (thanks for the awesome RP!) in general I'd like to provide a little info about my activity profile.

I have a full time job (still, quite a privilege to be honest!) and therefore am active writing primarily on the weekends. I usually do reading within the week as well, but not much writing due to lack of time and mental capacity. Things will probably clear up once I'm on vacation again or can compensate for some leftover overtime. My time zone is GMT+1.

Please do not hesitate to post whenever you want! This is just meant as an info in case you'd like to pick up more intensive interaction with Talic :)

@goodmode Did you read my PM ? :)

The North Road

Talic basically just wants to get out of Fero Province and he has reason not to waste time, so I think it would be appropriate for him to just stick with any leader that will emerge from the party :)

The North Road

The further away Talic had gotten away from the Citadel, the more surprised the ex-noble had become. He had expected his humongously large feet to take a bath in mud mixed with remainders of grass right now, but instead they were treading on a neatly arranged section of pavement still. Slowly it dawned upon him that the average capital citizen's opinion about the remote north regions might not exactly be up-to-date if one wanted to wrap it in nice words, or rather shamelessly ignorant if one insisted on being blunt. It was a nice surprise: Maybe this would be over quicker and easier than he had anticipated ?

Or probably not... He had seen one of those stone cairns before, but the fact that the neatly paved road seemed to end just behind this one was a clear sign that he had indeed reach the very northern border of the province. So yes, this still had its full potential to become a long, dirty and no less dangerous crawl. Talic twisted his head, checking his rear before checking who was already waiting in front of him and noticing with pleasure that noone was to be seen behind him anywhere. Had they already found out ? Had they already organized a manhunt and had it already gotten on his tracks ? Those kind of questions had been roaming in Talic's head for days by now and, while he wasn't pissed off by them, he'd be glad for some fresh thoughts for sure.

Talic's problem was that he was easily recognizable even in the middle of a crowded marketplace. Any spy hired to hunt him down probably would have an easy game jumping from place to place and just asking the same set of questions: 'Did you happen to see a walking tower ? Like this big, maybe ? Yes ? Where did he go ?'. For this reason he had went cross-country for the major part of his journey so far and it even seemed to have worked: Nobody in front of him looked like a hired killer as well. Well... at least not a killer hired against humans anyway.

His eyes jumped from face to face, briefly inspecting everyone waiting. A woman with hair even longer than his and a set of improvised looking armor... a lucky one, given that almost everybody else didn't seem to have even that. A burly man with a bow... Why did he use it as a walking stick ? Hopefully he knew what he was doing. Last but not least another male, a swordsman it seemed. One brief glance at his face already told a story about having been lucky at least once in his life. So these would be his companions either until the other side or until death. A slight shiver ran down Talic's spine at the thought of the latter possibility.

"Greetings!" he stated, trying to avoid anything that could hint at his noble origin. There was no point in making a point out of it. Talic then positioned himself at the wayside next to the others, wondering if they were waiting for anybody else to come.

Wanna be a site mod? Look here.

Being a programmer I'd not attack it directly in the first place but stab it in the back using some sinister algorithms. Like... A status post cooldown for example? I mean... It's not like anybody's status would change entirely within a few minutes or even a small bunch of hours unless maybe you are encountering an event so acute and severe that posting in the status bar might not be your most immediate priority anyway.

A non-chat, non-karaoke status bar would both be easier to moderate and more friendly towards those who actually have a meaningful status or opinion they'd like to transmit to their fellow roleplayers.

Tl;dr

I'd really like to help, but those who know me more closely probably also know that I'm already busied enough by my humble life so I'd not be a good Moderator :)

The North Road

Talic Rastoch

NAME: Talic Rastoch

GENDER: Male

AGE: 32

APPEARANCE:

Hider

Talic has blonde hair, a dark beard and gray eyes. Never having had to worry about food other environmental circumstances and suffering from mild giantism in childhood he has grown to a rather hulking behemoth standing taller than seven feet and wrapped in quite thick muscle. He has not taken much of an armor with him, but dresses primarily in light leather or just simple cloth.


BACKGROUND: The Rastoch were and still are an influential noble family living in the Pigeon Citadel itself. Unlike many other so called 'nobles' they actually have a significant amount of coin to their avail, so from a materialistic point of view it is safe to say that Talic's childhood has been a pretty pampered one. The same doesn't hold true though for other aspects since the Rastoch family is also known for their pride. Talic primarily had to function, to make his parents fond of him and to live in accordance to their rather strict rules. Dealing with lower class people ? Yes, but only if it yields some usefulness and not just because Talic would really have liked to make some more friends. Just enjoying life, going out casually at all times ? No!

For years things worked out nicely, at least for the outside observer and by Rastoch standards: Talic grew up to a healthy young boy with a level of education well above average who knew how to 'behave' himself. He also became an adept fencer and even took part in a few jousting games, or rather he had to take part. Internally resistance was growing, but he failed to release it in a meaningful way that would actually bring some real change with it. It was a slowly growing disaster waiting to happen and meltdown occurred only recently.

One day Talic was finally able to connect the final dot and to confirm a suspicion that had been growing for many months by then. He had always known that politics was a harsh business full of intrigues and action behind the scenes, but never would he have dared to accuse his own family of fighting using these methods: hitmen. His parent's previous favorite had decided to retire, so they had hired a successor in order to continue operations. Unfortunately for them the new man was a rookie and they didn't realize it until he decided that it couldn't hurt to show up at his employer's very residence under the screen of night. Not having seen Talic taking a stroll the assassin believed that the vast gardens around the house were devoid of any listeners and brought up the topic of an additional charge for the current contract openly. Believing the same thing, Talic's parents joined the debate with an equally loud voice.

Talic had enough. At which point in time would they have decided to introduce him to this particularly difficult aspect of family affairs now that he was 'grown up' ? He was clever enough not to confront them openly, but instead just eavesdropped until the metting was over. Documents had been exchanged and, knowing how much everyone in politics loved documentation, he decided to get this particular one in order to have proof. He intercepted the rookie assassin on his way back and grabbed both them and any additional payment the man had received. It would be the start-up capital for a new life that would begin that night.

Talic packed as many items as he deemed necessary and could carry with him, then left the resisdence. Hopefully forever.


MOTIVATION: Talic knows that it won't take an infinite amount of time for his family to notice what most likely has happened and that he, given the parchments he is carrying with him, has become a very high priority target himself. He also knows that his family's connections in Fero Province are far too good so he can't rely on local authorities to act properly when surrendering the documents to them. However those beyond the North Road could overrule those in the south if necessary. All he has to do is to make it there, preferably in one piece.


GEAR:

• Long spear (can also be thrown)
• A few pieces of cloth and a bit of alcohol intended for use as bandages
• A coil of climbing rope
• Bedroll and mess kit
• Water, breat and salt meat for half a week

The North Road

Here's my application. Sorry it took me so long.

---

NAME: Talic Rastoch

GENDER: Male

AGE: 32

APPEARANCE:

Hider

Talic has blonde hair, a dark beard and gray eyes. Never having had to worry about food other environmental circumstances and suffering from mild giantism in childhood he has grown to a rather hulking behemoth standing taller than seven feet and wrapped in quite thick muscle. He has not taken much of an armor with him, but dresses primarily in light leather or just simple cloth.


BACKGROUND: The Rastoch were and still are an influential noble family living in the Pigeon Citadel itself. Unlike many other so called 'nobles' they actually have a significant amount of coin to their avail, so from a materialistic point of view it is safe to say that Talic's childhood has been a pretty pampered one. The same doesn't hold true though for other aspects since the Rastoch family is also known for their pride. Talic primarily had to function, to make his parents fond of him and to live in accordance to their rather strict rules. Dealing with lower class people ? Yes, but only if it yields some usefulness and not just because Talic would really have liked to make some more friends. Just enjoying life, going out casually at all times ? No!

For years things worked out nicely, at least for the outside observer and by Rastoch standards: Talic grew up to a healthy young boy with a level of education well above average who knew how to 'behave' himself. He also became an adept fencer and even took part in a few jousting games, or rather he had to take part. Internally resistance was growing, but he failed to release it in a meaningful way that would actually bring some real change with it. It was a slowly growing disaster waiting to happen and meltdown occurred only recently.

One day Talic was finally able to connect the final dot and to confirm a suspicion that had been growing for many months by then. He had always known that politics was a harsh business full of intrigues and action behind the scenes, but never would he have dared to accuse his own family of fighting using these methods: hitmen. His parent's previous favorite had decided to retire, so they had hired a successor in order to continue operations. Unfortunately for them the new man was a rookie and they didn't realize it until he decided that it couldn't hurt to show up at his employer's very residence under the screen of night. Not having seen Talic taking a stroll the assassin believed that the vast gardens around the house were devoid of any listeners and brought up the topic of an additional charge for the current contract openly. Believing the same thing, Talic's parents joined the debate with an equally loud voice.

Talic had enough. At which point in time would they have decided to introduce him to this particularly difficult aspect of family affairs now that he was 'grown up' ? He was clever enough not to confront them openly, but instead just eavesdropped until the metting was over. Documents had been exchanged and, knowing how much everyone in politics loved documentation, he decided to get this particular one in order to have proof. He intercepted the rookie assassin on his way back and grabbed both them and any additional payment the man had received. It would be the start-up capital for a new life that would begin that night.

Talic packed as many items as he deemed necessary and could carry with him, then left the resisdence. Hopefully forever.


MOTIVATION: Talic knows that it won't take an infinite amount of time for his family to notice what most likely has happened and that he, given the parchments he is carrying with him, has become a very high priority target himself. He also knows that his family's connections in Fero Province are far too good so he can't rely on local authorities to act properly when surrendering the documents to them. However those beyond the North Road could overrule those in the south if necessary. All he has to do is to make it there, preferably in one piece.


GEAR:

• Long spear (can also be thrown)
• A few pieces of cloth and a bit of alcohol intended for use as bandages
• A coil of climbing rope
• Bedroll and mess kit
• Water, breat and salt meat for half a week

King's Pass Mountains

Vadymc

Vadymc

Member name: Fetzen
Character name: Vadymc
Race: Tiefling
Class: Rogue
Gender: Male
Age: 29

Appearance:
As typical for the tiefling race, Vadymc's body features a prominent set of horns, a long and muscular tail and red, rather leathery skin. In stark contrast to the latter his hair is nearly pitch black and reaches well past his shoulders. Vadymc's eyes are equipped with an inconspicuous, brown iris and separated by a much more striking -- because long and pointy -- nose. Not only by a rogue's and even by tiefling standards he is extremely tall, standing at no less than about seven and nine inches from the soles of his feet to the top of his forehead. He's more sinew and burly, but muscle mass is quite visible still.

Strengths/Weaknesses:
Vadymc's repertoire roughly matches that of your average thief and silent killer, but there are notable differences: Due to his sheer size and no less crushing weight it can come as no surprise that his stealth abilities are sub-par to those of many of his 'colleagues' and that he also lacks their agility in many cases, but on the other hand he also is much more sturdy and capable of taking a brunt if anything should go wrong and can achieve higher speeds in terms of running and even climbing. He can choke somebody to the point of unconsciousness or even death with bare hands and carry the individual away subsequently, but has difficulties with pickpocketing and tight spaces. He's not much into throwing daggers, but as a fan of mechanical artwork he knows how to lay down traps that can put people in a desperate situation on a moment's notice.

Equipment:

• A pair of stilettos
• A set of lockpicks
• Leather armor, boots and gloves covering most of his body and with many small satchels attached to it
• Rope with a grappler on one end that can be thrown
• Two shrunk and highly modified 'bear'-traps intended for use against humanoids
• Coin, food and water for a small number of days
• A backpack to store whatever can't be worn directly on his body/armor