Hekazu

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

Edge is a delicate art. Go too far and you'll end up having none of it due to it getting to comical levels.

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

Here's hoping my attempt was good enough. Too bad I wasn't as fast as those who already made it... Eh, we'll see after 4 more days.

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

While everyone's here pondering about races, I'm here thinking if Lord Vensor is going to be the only guy in the crew who thought the Stormcloaks were the "correct" side to choose in the war. Oh well, IC drama!

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

@Stormflyx
You may want to reconsider calling dual wielding Two-handed. Someone is going to glance at your sheet and think she's swinging a warmaul around :P

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

Lord Vensor IV

Name: Lord Cyrus Vensor IV, but god forbid anyone uses his first name.
Age: 46
Gender: Male
Race: Nibenese Imperial, born and raised in the Jerall Mountains
Appearance: In most groups of adventurers, the most obvious thing people note when they see Lord Vensor is that he is old. His stereotypically short hair has slowly began to turn grey from the black it has been for his entire life. He sports a boxed beard with a careful clean cut if he can maintain it, but he doesn't really grow much more beard than that anyhow so all that happens with extended breaks in shaving is the appearance of unkemptness and the longer length of it. He has a tall head, though no single part shines out as unusually big. It's just the way his head is. His nose shows signs of having been broken once in the past, and a scar has formed between it and the eye socket on the left. Both from the same incident actually.

As for his general build, the man has seen days when his muscles were more defined and he had more mass to himself, but as he has aged both his muscle and fat reserves have began shrivelling away. The situation is still quite manageable, with him being well more toned than the usual specimen of his age, he isn't quite in his prime any longer. Of specific interest are his arms, the bones of which have strengthened from using a heavy draw longbow on his journey. As for scars, he has very few, but bruises and such are not uncommon sights.

Personality: At his core, Lord Vensor is a stubborn man whose opinions are correct. While those who have earned his ire will find that the veteran of many battles is not an easy man to sway back to liking you, he does remarkably well in not succumbing to believing in stereotypes. Even if most of the Altmer have something to do with the Thalmor, they are not sympathisers of said cause until proven to be so. He gives everyone a chance, but unfortunately it is quite easy to ruin your first impression with him. After all, he does not enjoy people talking back to him.

Having buried two of his bodyguards already has also had an impact on him, so he will do his best to stop anyone he has allied himself with from dying in combat, whether he personally likes them or not. Digging graves for someone whose death you could have prevented and who did not actively try to murder you... it is heavy work. All lives have value to them and anyone but the undead, blatant unrepentant daedra worshippers and Thalmor he has been involved in slaying or just found dead in the wild usually receive a single blue mountain flower from him as a sign of respect.

History: Cyrus was born to the noble house Vensor in Cyrodiil back in the Frostfall of 4E156 as the first child who would inherit the family business. However, fate had other plans. While he technically did inherit the mining business of his family, he had only been in charge of the operation for half a year before the Great War broke out. Mining absolutely boomed for the duration of the war, but he was still relieved to hear of the end of it all... until he heard at which price.

There were some things he could not accept and the resignation of Tiber Septim's status as a god went too far. The first emperor had been more than legendary enough to earn said status and now they were just saying "No, we do not want them to be a god because he was a human." Beyond absurd. Had not all the elven gods also been elves back in the day? And unlike many other nobles who decided the peace was worth the sacrifice, he decided to begin the fight anew.

Naturally, the empire did not really appreciate him openly inciting riot against the Thalmor and, by extension, them. With all his siblings having perished one way or the other, some in the war, some at birth and parents of old age and the stress of war, the last remaining Vensor was quietly hauled over the Northern border for execution. He lost his title, wealth and the adoration of the public he had once carried, but he did not lose his life. Other more silent revolutionaries broke him out of the transport and he vanished to Skyrim, to join forces with Ulfric Stormcloak for quite the while.

In the ranks of the Stromcloaks, the imperial didn't really win the trust of the other warriors due to originating from the very empire whose legion was now enforcing the ban on Talos worship. However, once word of the Lord that had escaped reached their ears, they could believe that he was just as bent on the cause as them. The empire needed to fall. And when they could not even provide assistance to the capital of the Reach when it was needed, Stromcloaks marched. Vensor was present in the ranks around Ulfric themselves from the Markarth Incident onwards, but was eventually transferred to less important duty due to his age starting to show. He was stationed at their Riften outpost, but that deployment was cut short by a third party intervening with their business: Vampires.

It was still in the early days of the vampire menace and none was really taking the threat seriously, or in the case of these Stromcloaks, had heard of it in the first place. The attack took place at a night much like any other, and the whole camp would have been slaughtered had a group of Vigilants of Stendarr with more experience in combating these creatures not come by. With the orders of the leader of the group of the vigil and the ferocious might of the Stromcloak warriors, the vampires were driven back, few of them even slain. The living could not avoid all casualties though, and with as many of his former allies driven to the ground, Lord Vensor swore to avenge them. And soon he would meet up with a Dawnguard recruiter and leave the civil war behind for the time being. He did tell them to contact him if his bow was needed, but what he could not have known was that message would arrive all too late.

Nonetheless, he spent the next year or so aiding the Dawnguard in their battle, both by patrolling the countryside and occasionally meeting with his old friends as well as standing guard at Fort Dawnguard, to make sure the one place the hunters could call their safe haven would remain so. On one of these patrols he was out with some old Vigilants now recruited to vampire hunting and they requested to check up on the Hall of the Vigilant, something he found no reason to disagree to.

He should have.

By the time they arrived, the hall was up in flames and final few blows were being exchanged in the yard. The vampires had attacked the hall and were just wrapping things up when the Dawnguard arrived. His allies ran into the fight to help their old friends, but Vensor? A shameful thing to admit, but he ducked to cover and only returned after no sounds but the crackling of fire had made itself apparent for a good while. The vampires had had the numbers at least five times over... yet when he found his former allies among the slaughtered, he couldn't help feeling a pang of guilt. The choice had been hard, but he lived. Was that not the most important thing? He wanted to agree with himself. But something kept saying no.

After that, he became more and more reluctant to ever leave the Fort guard duty, only leaving once the task came to an end. The Dragonborn had defeated the leader of the vampires, another Lord something-or-other. Durkon? Harkon? Something like that. The news of their death sent Dawnguard on a slow path of dissolving and Lord Vensor was one of the first to go. If the vampires were dealt with, it was time to return serving the true High King of Skyrim. A war had been won, now it was time to march to the next victory. But as we all know, fate had other plans for the disgraced Imperial.

The day the Legion marched to Windhelm, Lord Vensor had been aiding the captain of the Winterhold Stormcloak camp in their plan to establish a forward camp in the Pale in an effort to liberate the Old Hold from the Empire's grasp. Said plan would never come to fruition as the message of the Legion's sudden arrival to the capital reached the soldiers and nearly all of them, including Lord Vensor rushed to Ulfric's defence. Needless to say, they were all much too late. All they saw was the vague silhouette of a dragon flying away from the city and the soldiers of the empire marching away.

The year that followed was difficult time for Lord Vensor. He dug out his old Dawnguard gear to avoid being found and executed by the Legion for his participation in the war against them, though Dawnguard held no real significance any longer. With fellow Stromcloaks scattering across the province just as well in an attempt to hide, the fallen lord no longer had anything they could call home or an ally. But a man had to make a living somehow. And since there was nowhere to put up a mining business, Lord Vensor chose to grasp his war bow firmly and head out there. There were always people who needed a capable mercenary out there.

Skills:
Major:

• Archery - Longbow is Lord Vensor's weapon of choice when he can spare the time to draw and fire said weapon. Which is to say, not very often. While he has been training in the art for as long as he can remember (and it shows), it does not make drawing the bow a fast task. After all, his bows of choice are those whose draw weight far exceeds the usual hunting bow. His weapons are for shooting at people and monsters, not game.
• Block - When not in organised battle and army formations, he has learnt that after a strong opener with his bow, he usually needs to get to preserving his own life. And what better way to do that than hide oneself behind a shield and turn potentially lethal blows aside? His considerable arm strength lends itself well for holding against assault, but does not really have the explosive strength to bash people about. His common strategy is to let his opponent tire striking at an immovable obstacle before striking back out.

Minor:

• Restoration - While he can heal wounds with his magic, he much prefers utilising this school for harming. It has never been his main tool of fighting the undead he despises so, leaving his skills wanting, but his knowledge in Sun magic has saved his behind when vampires have got just a bit too close and personal in the past.
• Axe - Vensor trained with swords in his youth, but those skills died away as he moved more and more into archery. But when he joined the Dawnguard in the fight against the vampire menace, he received the standard dawnguard axe to protect himself with and decided to go through a quick training with a few other soldiers. He didn't ever really grasp just how the weapon was supposed to be used against shields differently from swords, so he isn't really getting everything out of it. But wounds that follow a successful hit still bleed, and that's good enough for him.
• Heavy Armour - As funny as it would sound like, with how much focus Lord Vensor has placed on his shield he has been ignoring learning to get the best out of his next line of defence. He has no trouble wearing it or moving around in it out of combat, but when it comes to close quarters he does not quite take advantage of everything he could. Most of it is plain ignorance too. Having spent so long believing that he could not do something in his armour, he has built mental barriers against doing everything he could.

Equipment: Lord Vensor's equipment is more or less standard Dawnguard equipment of the heavy side. This suit of armour has yet to see much action and witness stories of legend unfold, but Vensor did deem a change in attire necessary post civil war. The most glaring difference has to be the absence of the crossbow, being replaced by the war bow he was more familiar with. As time went on and encounters with vampires became less and less frequent, he has replaced the dawnguard axe with a dwarven one to preserve the undead slaying tool.

And since it has now been a good while since the war came to an end, he has added a personal touch to his armour. He has dyed some parts blue and while that didn't exactly last long, traces of it are still visible. He has also begun wearing a bear pelt cloak he procured from some bandit who had obtained it one way or the other. But the cloak was the mark of a stormcloak commander and the veteran would not allow it to be worn by some brigand.

In addition to his armaments, he carries a quiver of arrows for his bow, a whetstone for emergencies with his axes, rations, a one person leather tent, some firewood, a cooking pot and rations. Or, well, those camping supplies are mostly carried by his horse, but he is able to lug them around just as well if need be. IT will just slow him down. Oh, and he carries a bunch of blue mountain flowers around on the side of his backpack, just in case he needs to distribute them.

Birthsign: The Tower

Miscellaneous: Lord Vensor refuses to drop the title, even though it no longer technically holds any ground. He blames a Thalmor conspiracy for losing it, and since they are not authorities in the empire their will should hold no sway. But in truth, it was the very empire that took his noble title away. You will be very unlikely to convince him of that though, not in the name of Marne.
He also looked up to Ulfric Stormcloak's ability to shout and would love to learn the art himself. No success so far, though he is sure he will get the hang of the word "Fo" soon enough.

D&D 5e - The Lost Lands

At first look, his exceptional shot did not seem to have any effect. It was always like that with the shadows, but Theodore still felt his heart sink. This feeling was soon replaced by a feeling of triumph as the shadow began evaporating. The process was slower than that of the other shadows, but it evaporated to nothing all the same. He grinned from ear to ear. Such feats did not happen every day, not even every month. Maybe that was about to change now that they were the chosen champions to Light, but that would be seen.

He operated the loading mechanism almost absent mindedly after his great success, but that was not punished as all of the remaining shadows were cut, pummeled and cast out of existence around him. The threat was gone for now. First thing Theodore did was check up with Thea. "That looked like another bad hit... and you weren't too pleased about it either if I heard you right", he commented while eyeing her up and down. How this world still refused to show any signs of wear and tear worried him, but he'd have to learn to live with it. "You are good now, right?" he asked for a clarification. Once he could be sure she was well enough, he would head on to look for his bolts.

While others were doing their own thing, he tossed the killing bolt that had clattered to the ground at the last location of the axe-wielder into his case and sealed it by snapping the lid shut and taking his mask to his hand. Everyone was more or less ready to get back on the move, so after giving Thea one more passing glance he donned his mask again and turned his eyes forward. He kept the loaded crossbow at the ready and waited for the frontline of their formation to get before him. This time he stayed rather close to the lot though, for a reason he would divulge soon.

Once they had cautiously advanced for fifteen minutes or so, that being about halfway to their destination, assuming they would not be encountering any resistance prior to that, Theodore would reveal his card and requested the heaven's above to warn him of impeding danger, an ability he had not had access to before. However, it had occurred to him after the fight that he was feeling stronger, as if the divine hand of heavens themselves had sprinkled their magnificent might on him to bring even more power to the last champions standing. His martial prowess had not changed, but he did feel a closer connection to the divine. Hopefully they could protect him and his companions from another assaulting wave of shadows, if one was to come.

The local believed there would though. As did the Templar's combat sense.

Mechanics&Rolls

Theodore has levelled up, taking a level in War Domain cleric for himself!

After the fight, Theodore picks up one of his bolts, the other remaining lost. Probably sticking out of some further away wall. Once the party gets on the move, he will follow the front rank closely, casting Detect Good and Evil after 15 minutes if a group of enemies has not lashed out at them prior to this. The statistics block assumes this cast has gone through.

The initiative rolled earlier remains at 16

HP: 35/35 AC: 16 Concentrating: Detect Good and Evil
Radiant Consumption: Available
Slayer's Eye: Inactive
War Priest: 0/2 uses expended

Spells expended:
2/3 1st

@The Harbinger of Ferocity

The Elder Scrolls: Swords & Septims

@Hank
Seems like this place could fit my (slightly altered) character from my currently ongoing Skyrim Let's Play. Say, what do we think of Dawnguard? How did that whole ordeal end? Lord Harkon is gone, but how is the general situation looking? The most amusing thing would be if the vampires had won there, since then he would've been on the losing side in both the Civil War and the Vampire menace :P But since Harkon and the Dragonborn are gone, it wouldn't make too much sense for the vampires to continue being the greater force, no?

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

The group did not need many of themselves to voice on opinion to come to the conclusion that they would need to investigate the source of the smoke they were seeing. They slowed down their pace to keep an edge against potential enemies that might be at the stopping point, needing around one and a half hour to reach a position from which they could accurately tell what was going on over there. At this point, they had been on the road for approximately three hours, and the sun had began to move down from it's high perch in the early hours of the afternoon. To the luck of them, they could find themselves a vantage point where their shadows would not reveal their positions.

The smoke was coming from a low spot between a few hills. Tall boulders had rolled themselves into a loose jumble around the area, serving as ample vantage points for the adventurers. They wouldn't even need to risk sending everyone close, since Torus' magical bird could simply fly above the spot and see what there was to be seen. Four humans dressed in leather armour had gathered near a fire with a few prairie hen cooking over it. A group of eight kobolds there too, taking some of the food for themselves at the very moment. The humans were talking amongst themselves, but from the position the adventurers were now, it was hard to tell what was being said.

Mechanics&Rolls

The party dropped to slow pace and stealthed themselves for the three miles. They have arrived at the described scene, with none of the folk around the cooking fire showing any signs of noticing them. What do you do?

@The Harbinger of Ferocity@Norschtalen@Gordian Nought@Ryonara@Lucius Cypher

The Ragnarov Fleet - Explore, Expand, Exploit, Exterminate

@Kalleth
I am afraid your character is not exactly what we are looking for. We are keeping the homicidal Zelthis alive due to his value as a research subject and even he treads the thin line of being too violent. As things are, Risk is, well, a risk the Fleet would be more likely to put down than use for anything.

D&D 5e - Hoard of the Dragon Queen

If nobody has anything more to say, it looks like you are going to be, by popular vote, approaching the trail of smoke.

DM post coming tomorrow.