In Character ThreadOut of Character Thread
It hasn't been thirty years since General Gaius Talonius, your father, had finished the campaign that drove the demonic hordes back through the Great Rift and back into the Abyssal plane before sealing the gate behind them. By doing so, he ended a war that went on for well over a century that pressed every living creature on Viemera to the brink of annihilation. The whole of the material realm rejoiced once General Gaius Talonius and the United Viemeran Legion returned victorious. They had become the symbol of hope and the unified strength of whole nations who banded together to end the blight that threatened their very existence. For the first time in history, peoples of all lifestyles and heritage were banded together under a single banner. The ruling class honored Gaius’ successful campaign by elevating him among them, entitling him as a noble along with all the benefits that came with it. Thus, the House of Talonius was born.
It wasn’t long after the dust settled and society begun to get back on its feet before the other noble houses returned to their ways of political backstabbing as all the resources and territory that had been lost over the course of the war became up for grabs. What took decades to bring to reality crumbled in only a few short years after the war and the realm was once again divided. Gaius himself became nothing more than a symbol of status for the nobles who associated with him, a mere trophy to be displayed. As a career soldier, Gaius quickly grew wary of the political lifestyle as his attempts to reunify Viemera failed as horribly as his attempt to get the noble houses to put aside their petty quarrels to help the people within their borders who were undergoing immense hardships to resettle the war torn lands.
Though the demons were cast back to their realm their taint yet stains the land, corrupting the various creatures who are especially attuned to nature magic. The Fey and Magical Beasts of the land were hit the hardest, their very behavior twisted by Abyssal's lingering influence. Most were corrupted by demons of wrath, filling them with the insatiable desire for bloodshed. Others became influenced by the demonesses of lust, turning them into sex crazed creatures who feed off their victim's soul through the most intimate of acts. Many still were corrupted by demons representing the other five vices; envy, gluttony, pride, greed, and sloth who pose a threat to the vulnerable societies in their own way.
Eventually, Gaius set it upon himself to use his title to help the commoners. His house may have been elevated to that of noble status, but much of that was in title alone. It did come with a generous purse from the collective nobility, but he later found that was as a means for him to provide himself the luxuries necessary to fill the appearance of the upper class. Since he didn’t have the wealth or influence to help the people politically, he set out to do so with his bare hands along with a few dozen individuals who had served with him in the war and had earned their undying loyalty. The next several years, your father and his followers lived the life of an adventurer, traveling from location to location providing help to the locals however possible.
Gaius never took a wife, which was a concern to his loyal companions once he was in his late forties. They were well aware of the fact that Gaius was the last of his bloodline and, unless something was done, his legacy would fade away with him. In light of all the good he had done, they could not let this be. Even when his friends pressing the issue hard upon him, Gaius was set upon his decision not to wed claiming that there was still too much work to be done to allow himself to be tied down by a family. Eventually, they managed to reason with him and work out a compromise. Gaius still refused to marry and make a legitimate line of succession, but he agreed to take on concubines to allow his bloodline to flourish. A side effect of a portion of his attention going towards building a family, he had developed a soft spot for children who had been orphaned through rough times in the unsettled lands or because of the war. Every one of his children was given a unique signet ring of his house that could only be worn by the recipient, regardless if they were his through blood or adoption.
It became more difficult for the aging man to move to the next hamlet knowing that he’d be forced to leave his offspring who were much too young to join him in his travels. Knowing that the adopted orphans would have nobody once he left, he saw to it that a local whom he had grown to trust in his short time there took them into their homes until the time came where he would be able to provide a home for them. Ultimately, Gaius knew that the villagers would be much better at raising his young in a way where they will be able to find their own place in life rather than feel pressured to follow in the footsteps of their father. As time progressed, he would find himself yearning to see the type of people they become once they come to age.
As he had expected, the accumulating heartache that came with leaving his young behind in order to help another community in need became too great to continue his mission. By that time he was well in his sixties and Gaius knew that the oldest of his children born from his own seed would be coming to age in only a few short years, to say nothing of those whom were already a few years old when he adopted them. The burden of his lament finally became too great for his shoulders to bear, so he set about finding a place to set his roots with his comrades at his side. Once word of his intentions spread to the noble houses, they set about doing everything they could to indoctrinate him into their social circles to reclaim their long lost trophy and hero of the people. That environment would have been entirely unappealing in of itself, but Gaius couldn’t imagine the hardships his ‘illegitimate’ children would suffer should they become immersed in that world of treachery and deceit.
Gaius already had a place in mind and much to his delight it still remained in the unsettled portions of the frontier. Unclaimed and forgotten by all but a small number, most of who were had been traveling with him since the war. After a few days travelling through thick brush and wilderness from the upstart port town of Doroga, they finally reached their destination. A large clearing in the tree line where plant life had finally begun to sprout in the land that had seen a lot of heavy traffic sometime in its history. Though the thing that made the location so precious was the broad path that led from the clearing into the side of a large, steep earth formation that was too small to be considered a mountain, but to call it a hill would be greatly underrating its scale. And its precious contents. Halfway up the side of the earthworks was a yawning opening framed by massive timbers that could only have been made of whole tree bases. The tunnel of the Dwarven mine had apparently collapsed sometime during the war, but as far as his years of research had suggested, it was still very rich with mithral. That was where Gaius decided to carve out a territory under his own name, as is his right as a noble, and named his new home Garados to match that of the mine.
Over the next few years, the clearing had grown into a village of a little over a hundred people that only continued to expand. Thanks to Gaius' leadership, the community flourished and managed to make it through those first critical months without the life threatening hardships that were common among new frontier settlements. Many of the villagers who had relocated to Garados were from the very villages Gaius had helped. He had seen to it that one of the first things accomplished was to make a rudimentary roadway connecting Garados to Doroga to help encourage the arrival of new settlers as well as making travel time between them significantly quicker and easier. At present, the roadway is just barely wide enough for two wagons to pass one another as long as one of them pulled to the side. The town doesn't have much in the way of wealth yet, but they have all the necessary artisans to provide the basics for the village. Carpenters and stonecutters are highly valued at present in order to keep up with the constant demand of new homes; fortunately they have most of the materials they need for the job readily available. For the sake of productivity and accomplishing two purposes at once, Gaius saw to it that the demand for stone was obtained from the collapsed mine. Even if the amount used was hardly a drop in the bucket needed to get the mine functioning again.
Mere months before Gaius intended to send word to his scattered family as a means of inviting them to what he had hoped they would accept as their new home and legacy, Gaius Nero Talonius, hero of The Great War, passed away when his heart gave out. His only regret upon going was that he never got the opportunity to see what sort of people his children had become. What remained of Gaius' purse upon receiving his status all those years ago was placed into the village's treasury and in the care of his second and long time friend, Crassus Antillus. Crassus didn't hesitate to follow the wishes of his late companion and immediately sent missives to the towns where his heirs resided, inviting them to accept the inheritance their father had left them. As he had promised Gaius when he had first convinced him to establish heirs to his house, Crassus would serve as advisor to the heirs of House Talonius.
First off, I want to thank you for taking the time to read all of that and I hope this story piqued your interest.
As far as how I see this RP playing out, there will be an abundance of quests and side-quests waiting to be taken up. I plan on making this game lean more towards character/NPC interactions with still plenty of combat and dungeoneering to keep things interesting. While still plot driven, I think it would be fun incorporating a nice amount of naughtiness along the way (especially once I start introducing the lust influenced creatures). There is no need to feel squeamish if you are turned away at the idea of incest since most of you are "related" in the very broadest sense and being adopted by him has more to do with allegiance/affiliation than anything in this worldspace. And I will of course be supplying an abundance of NPCs should that still deter you.
As a sort of mini-game, the village of Garados is self-sustaining but is not yet making much in the way of income. I'm leaving it up to you as players to find ways in helping the village grow through trade and immigration. Doing so will not only provide your characters with a regular allowance/income as the village profits and grows, but it could also lead to more unique rewards down the road. However, the opposite can also occur should you make powerful enemies along your journeys or if your decisions bring about detrimental effects for the citizens of Garados. For all intents and purposes, it's your town to run as the group sees fit. Furthermore, the mine is still blocked off and it will be a good while until it is up and running again; this process could be expedited or hindered based upon your actions.
More often than not, fellow nobles will view your characters with the same contempt they would with any bastard child of nobility. That is not to say they cannot be swayed into friendly terms, but don't be surprised when they address you with the mightier than thou attitude they reserve for all commoners. Meanwhile, your reputation among common people can ranges widely. Some instinctively view all nobles as being born with the physical disability of having their heads stuck up their own asses, and for the most part their instincts haven't let them down. Others, especially certain frontier towns, hold you in a higher regard than most. Though people in general will see you as somebody who has potential to live up to your father's legacy, but have yet to do so.
Character creation information:-Overall party size of 4-5 proactive players.
-Anything in the Pathfinder SRD is fair game, except for 3rd party stuff and psionics.
-Feel free to choose any race you want, and if you have something more exotic in mind feel free to send me a PM and see if we can work something out.
-Your characters will all be heirs to Gaius Talonius, though they need not be born of his seed. Thus, any petition for a non-human race
must be orphaned and adopted.
-Age for bloodline heirs range from 16-21, age for adopted children range from 16-30. (Or race equivalent)
-Level 6 starting.
-4d6 standard, pick six of seven rolls, reroll 1s and 2s.
-Max HP at first level, then half +2 for the other 5 levels.
-16k starting gold.
-Up to 2 traits, as long as they are incorporated into your character's bio.
-One item that every character needs, and comes free with the character, is a Talonius signet ring. This item is magically linked to you and cannot be worn by any other. Starting out this ring has no enchantments upon it, but that will change as we progress through the game.
Topic: The Legacy of House Talonius [Pathfinder, Plot, NC] (Closed) (Read 8440 times)