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Perhaps it wasn't clear in the viking rush from the WoD thread, but I am so loving in it hurts. Haven't nailed down a character concept quite yet, but it may involve hanging out in the crow's nest all night with Auspex 5. Chances of being a Caribbean native are high.
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Sep 25, 2014 20:20
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 19:18 |
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Super brief teaser paragraph, that should get across the basics of my concept:quote:I was born a slave. I died a slave. For a brief moment, I thought I had won my freedom soaked in blood. But I had only traded one set of chains for another. And then I met Captain Shark. Now I am more free than I have ever been before, though the chains of blood still bind me as they do all of the damned. But with enough study, I can break even those. The name of the game is Coil of the Wyrm. Jump on ship and super-frenzy until every hostile combatant is dead.
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Sep 27, 2014 16:39
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You have an interesting definition of the word "brief."
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Oct 2, 2014 19:47
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Soonmot posted:Also: I haven't offically begun recruitment, but unless you can out vampire Loomer, Glaucus and Bloodnose, I only have 1 spot left. I was going to ask if writing a novella would be a requirement for recruitment, but this makes it sound like the answer is yes.
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Oct 3, 2014 15:54
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Well, turns out I had a novella in me after all. So here's part one, the story of an embrace. Renee Francoise I was born into chains, on the island called Hispaniola. I will spare you the details of plantation life. Ten years later, my mother bore another daughter, who she called Marguerite. Shortly after that she died from a combination of exhaustion and an infection she caught during childbirth, so I had to care for my sister myself. When she was ten Master sold her to make up for a poor cane harvest. 15 months later I was given death. He was a handsome man with a charming smile and a dark suit; far too nice a suit for someone breaking into a slave cabin in the middle of the night. His skin was pale, but it had color to it that suggested he was mixed race, possibly native. He said he was Phoenician, but I didn't know what that meant at the time. He said he was here to set us free, but only if we weren't afraid to die. I was the only one who stepped forward. When I followed him outside there was another man who seemed to appear out of thin air. He was nearly seven feet tall, and his skin looked like dried meat. “Is this the only one?” he asked the Phoenician. “It's enough, isn't it?” “I suppose, but it will be messier this way.” “It's supposed to be messy. Besides, I like the fire in this one's eyes. I think I'll keep her.” The tall one sighed. “Very well. Shall I prepare her then?” “Well I wouldn't want to hog all the fun for myself.” The tall one grumbled and stepped towards me, a large knife suddenly appearing in his hand. (Or had it always been there?) Before I had a chance to protest he had slit my neck wide open. I remember feeling relief in those last moments before everything went dark; better a quick death than a slow one from fever and the overseer's whip. When I opened my eyes again the shock of waking was overshadowed by a burning, aching hunger, a thirst like I'd just spent a week in the smokehouse. I recognized that I was inside the house, though I'd never been in this room before. There was a large bed, and Master was asleep on it. The two men were there as well, standing over me. The Phoenician motioned to the bed. “Go on, drink up.” Somehow I knew exactly what he meant. When I was finished, with the last of my former owner's blood running down my chin, the Phoenician handed me a knife and told me I had a lot of work to do before I could be free. I didn't hesitate. Master's wife, his children, the overseer, after I satiated myself on their blood I let it drain onto the floor. Nobody could hear me coming, nobody saw me until I tore their throat open. It felt good, like something inside me was cheering me on. When there was nobody left to kill I found the two men in Master's study. The tall one was placing a large stack of papers into a satchel; the Phoenician was standing near the fireplace with a keg of lantern oil. As we left he set the whole house aflame. I don't know what happened to the others back in the cabin; those who had the sense to run probably survived for a few days longer than those who stayed.
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Oct 3, 2014 20:51
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Wait, so does this mean we have to take an unusual discipline that requires conversion from a previous system?
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Oct 6, 2014 16:50
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Part 2, and probably the last of my long-form backstory. Will have answers for the rest of the backstory questions with my sheet. Interested in feedback. Over the next several weeks I learned a great many things. I learned that I was no longer human, but I had never been human; I had been livestock. Batnoam, my sire, said they were the same thing. It took me a while to realize just how right he was. I learned about clans, covenants, the masquerade, and all the petty intrigues that would define my new life for the next year and a half. Even the night of my embrace was just a ploy to spite one of Batnoam's rivals who happened to own a majority share of that plantation. I still couldn't walk the streets without being accosted and asked who my master was, and even though I was capable of tearing out the eyes of anyone who dared look down on my before they could blink, the masquerade said I could not, and I had to begrudgingly say my sire was my master. He certainly worked me like he was, sending me this way or that in all his little schemes in exchange for a cellar to shelter me from the sun and enough blood to maintain my wretched existence. I had crossed through death itself, and all I got was a promotion to house slave. It wasn't all bad. It turned out the tall nosferatu, Yorick Segher, hated the Phoenician as much as I came to, but the complex web of politics necessitated him to provide certain favors from time to time in order to continue his research undisturbed. I'm not sure why he took an interest in my to begin with; probably it was to jab at my sire. Whatever his reasons, he taught me to read, taught me to walk among mortals without being noticed, and most of all how to train the beast inside to answer to my commands; the first step to being free, he said, was to master yourself. He also said I absorbed everything he taught me remarkably quickly, especially considering my upbringing. “What a shame to see such talent wasted on Batnoam's scheming.” I could not agree with him more. One evening I was at Segher's workshop to continue my studies, having left my haven just as the sun crept below the horizon, before my sire could rise. That was the evening when I met the Captain. His visage was truly monstrous, more hideous than any nosferatu I'd seen before or since. But for all his monstrosity, he had a certain honesty about him. In all the time I'd walked the earth I was surrounded by monstrous men who wore a charming smile, but the Captain put it all out there; you knew exactly what you were getting when you dealt with him. He seemed to be a friend of Segher's, or perhaps friend is not the right word, but they spent the evening with an amicable exchange of information. I spent the time practicing my letter by pouring over some old business documents that had been laying around, trying to puzzle out the legalistic language. One of the papers caught my eye; it had the name Marguerite, and the name of my former master. I poured over every word carefully, and all the details matched up. This was the bill of sale for my sister. I might have cried, were I still capable of it. She was the one bit of goodness that ever touched my wretched life, and I had given up all hope of ever seeing her again, but here it was: the name and location of the man who purchased her. I had no idea how I would get there, but the details could come later. I finally had a goal beyond simple existence. It was two hours before dawn when I returned home, still clutching that all-important document. My sire was livid. “Where the hell have you been? I have a vitally important work for you.” I said nothing. “And what have you got there?” he demanded, snatching the paper from my hands. “Old leatherface, huh? I told him to burn this junk when he's done with it. Now listen,” he started stocking some coals in the fireplace, his back to me as he spoke, “there is a very dangerous man in port tonight. He's been interfering with my shipping interests for months now, and I need you scuttle his ship before he can leave.” I wasn't listening. All I could see was that paper and the fire. I could feel the anger welling up inside me, I could feel the beast, and I knew how to ride it. I remembered the first command that scheming bastard ever gave me, and I followed it. What followed was a euphoric blur as I sunk my fangs into his neck and didn't stop drinking until there was nothing left of him but dust. As the frenzy subsided I felt ecstatic and triumphant, but I also knew the consequences of what I'd just done. I could only think of one way out of it. I found the Captain less than an hour before dawn, just as his ship was about to cast off. He recognized me and asked if Yorick had forgotten something. I explained that if I did not leave this island tonight, I would be ash be the next dawn. He gave a massive, toothy grin. “Well we can't have that.”
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Oct 7, 2014 00:21
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What exactly is involved in joining the Brotherhood beyond being a vampire in Captain Shark's crew? It would be easy enough for me to justify membership in the Ordo Dracul, but how can I pass up free XP?
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Oct 8, 2014 16:56
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Soonmot posted:Except there is no ordo in this time peroid, I thought? Brotherhood is basically being a pirate and pursuing strange and unusual knowledge. I've not really developed it really, so if you wamt to add some depth to it beyond that, go for it! Pursuing strange and unusual knowledge is 100% the MO of the Ordo Dracul. From the core book, Vlad Tepes became a vampire in 1476, and the Ordo Dracul formed around his writings. So depending on the precise time this campaign is set, it should have been around for somewhere between 100 to 200 years which is fairly young by vampire standards. And it was always the smallest of the five base covenants anyway, so it would be totally legit for whatever presence it has in the Caribbean to be subsumed by the Brotherhood.
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Oct 8, 2014 20:36
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Finishing touches. Renee Francoise http://sheetgen.dalines.net/sheet/37044 Soonmot posted:Where did you pick up your "weird" discipline and how did you come to be a member of the Brotherhood? quote:What's your opinions of the pirates? Of unlife on the seas? (Un)life on the sea is refreshingly honest. No polite fictions that we are a morally upstanding people, no cow-towing to weaklings because someone stronger is watching. There's a sense of camaraderie on the ship, knowing that we're all in this for the same thing, that we all suffer or prosper together, and that nobody gets any profit if they don't do any work. It is a great irony, that I am more human now, on the open sea, than I ever was when I was alive. quote:Every pirate has heard of a treasure or a lost isle of wonders, what's your seaman's tale? Where is the X on your treasure map and how serious are you about pursuing it? quote:Who's your worst enemy? quote:Who is your closest ally? I think that should cover everything.
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Oct 12, 2014 18:40
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Soonmot posted:Fehed's: The gangrel ghoul is an experiment in intelligence and ferocity that unnerves even the bravest of foes. I love this guy already.
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Oct 19, 2014 19:01
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So was it ever stated just how long the Red Tide has been in service?
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Oct 21, 2014 15:54
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Alright, got some impressions of the PCs. NPCs later. It's been a year now since I cast my lot in with the Captain. I was among the first to set foot upon the Red Tide, after Betty of course. Though she is captain aboard the Red Tide, and I have as much respect and loyalty to her as people such as us are able, Captain Shark will always be Captain to me. Maganda Maganda fights with a respectable ferocity; she know better than to fear the beast, but revels in it's ferocity. Yet for all her skill at steering it she knows nothing of how to leash it. I have offered to teach her, if only she would allow me to study that servant of hers for a time, but it seems that's too great a favor for her to grant. And for all she embraces our monstrosity, I cannot understand why she averts her eyes from the Captain's feasts; a contradiction, that. Pietro A skilled navigator is always good to have. A shame he left his sire without finishing the job, but at least he has the proper goal. I think I'd like to be there to see him deliver the finishing blow. Kveldulf His preoccupation with law and order is a foolish fantasy. Law is just a lie the strong tell to justify their heinous actions and deny their monstrosity. On second thought, maybe that's a perfect fit for Kindred society.
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Oct 21, 2014 21:28
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NPC impressions, complete with bonus anachronism: Captain Shark – O Captain! My Captain! Black Betty – There are few people I'd rather have my back aboard a hostile ship. Lonesome Jim – I have seen many horrendous people dutifully attend church every Sunday. Jim has the right idea about that lot. Fehed – Though our skin is the same, our lives could not have been more different. But in death, we have a great deal in common, and our studies often overlap. Jean Mansean – I sometimes wonder if he is a fish that Fehed embraced and twisted into the guise of a man. Old Cully – You can go bugger yourself as well, you old bilge rat. Vincenzo Luzzato – Keep up your false charms, they'll get you nothing from me that isn't equally hollow. Sabine Detraque – I prefer not to watch her work. Bad memories. Lord Arthur Bollard – Well at least he gets off his rear end when it counts, which is more than you can say for most lords. Lady Tabitha Bollard – I agree, tearing out entrails is hilarious. The Black Priest – His talents are useful, but I wonder what dark master he truly serves. The Spider – His stealth would be more impressive if I didn't already know the trick behind it. Dagger Sally – So often people do not suspect the barbs of the elderly. What sheltered lives they must have lived. The Smiler – None other has so perfectly embodied the term two-faced. Could make for an interesting companion for a night, if I had any interest in that sort of carnal pleasures. Bobo – A better conversationalist than many humans I've met. Arturo Hernandez – He has seen me safely through many days. I suppose that means I trust him with my life.
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Oct 23, 2014 18:59
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My only experience with changeling is a Hunter game where I shot some giant rats with a Mac-10. Regardless, the offer stands ooc: if you wanna learn Coil of the Wyrm gimme some freaky Arcadia blood so I can invent Coil of the Ascendant.
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Oct 27, 2014 17:06
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Well as the two longest-running vampire crew, they've certainly had plenty of time to bond, and Renee was there the night she met Arjuna, so at the very least she knows him as an Indonesian man found on an island in the Caribbean looking terrified. Not hard to conclude there's something not normal about him. Does frenzying together count as a bonding experience? I mean, it takes trust to fight back-to-back, probably takes even more to do it when you're both riding a berserker rage. And if Maganda knows about Renee's sister, it means they're fairly close. Maybe not sisterly, but something more like war buddies. Maganda seems like she'd be drawn to Renee because they're both women, even though Renee is distinctly non-feminine.
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Oct 27, 2014 23:50
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If we're talking last-minute changes, I think I should clarify that it isn't that Renee doesn't like Kveldulf, she just has no respect for the concept of law. It's law that says she's someone else's property, after all. She'd at least appreciate the tacit acknowledgment in Icelandic law that there is no punishment that can be levied against you if you are too strong for anyone to kill.
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Oct 28, 2014 17:40
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I don't know if any 2nd Edition books have been released yet besides the core, and it definitely doesn't contain Sunnikuse, no.
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Oct 31, 2014 07:58
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Bloodnose posted:Anybody seen that show Black Sails on Starz? I was thinking of watching it for some pirate-themed entertainment after replaying all the Monkey Islands and some Sid Meier's Pirates, but I haven't heard anyone talking about it or saying it was good. I stole my character portrait from that show. That is all I can say on the matter.
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Nov 7, 2014 20:20
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I'm slowly working something up, it just requires some thought since we're explicitly not supposed to slaughter everyone on deck.
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Nov 9, 2014 17:45
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| # ¿ Apr 27, 2024 19:18 |
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Hey, it's not a waste if I drink it.  I've got something though, don't worry. Please excuse my terrible Spanish.
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Nov 9, 2014 18:15
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