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Post by Zero Prime on Jan 7, 2022 2:40:48 GMT -8
How does the Solamnic Order view love and romance? Is it like the ideal of Chivalric Love, somewhere between desire, loyalty, and spiritual enlightenment? Was it frowned upon to act on one's desires? And are there women represented in the Order?
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Post by GravityEmblem on Jan 7, 2022 12:23:48 GMT -8
Anything else I need to do for the character? A few things: 1.) His age 2.) His specialty from his background as a soldier 3.) Did you pick the dungeoneer's pack or the explorer's pack for his inventory? Age: a neat 34, presuming I haven't got Dwarf aging wrong. Specialty: Infrantry-- a foot soldier with a big polearm. Explorer's pack, please!
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Post by Kvard51 on Jan 7, 2022 14:12:39 GMT -8
How does the Solamnic Order view love and romance? Is it like the ideal of Chivalric Love, somewhere between desire, loyalty, and spiritual enlightenment? Was it frowned upon to act on one's desires? And are there women represented in the Order? I can help a bit here. At this stage in Krynn's history, women are such a rarity in the Knighthood as to be "not represented", although there had been a few here and there. Chivalric love was likely the ideal, but there sure are a lot of Solamnic bastards running around. Many even of mixed race.
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Post by Daos on Jan 7, 2022 14:50:19 GMT -8
How does the Solamnic Order view love and romance? Is it like the ideal of Chivalric Love, somewhere between desire, loyalty, and spiritual enlightenment? Was it frowned upon to act on one's desires? And are there women represented in the Order? Knights are allowed to marry and have families. There are female knights, but they tend to be rare (although later novels seem to retcon this and act like they were always around and plentiful; I prefer the latter version, myself.) Age: a neat 34, presuming I haven't got Dwarf aging wrong. Specialty: Infrantry-- a foot soldier with a big polearm. Explorer's pack, please! Dwarves tend to reach maturity at around 40-50, so assuming you're going for an adolescent, then yeah, that would work.
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Post by Kvard51 on Jan 7, 2022 14:59:09 GMT -8
I think my backstory should be complete, and vague, enough to move forward.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Jan 7, 2022 20:13:48 GMT -8
I should have everything ready by tomorrow, but I wanted to ask Daos a question about the "dead colleague's letter" I have from the Sage background. Did you have any hook in mind I could use it for, or can I came up with something on my own?
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Post by Daos on Jan 7, 2022 23:21:47 GMT -8
Okay, so Gordon Ruktrekker's stat block is now up. Just need his biography and he's good.
I'll start work on Abelard next.
Matt4, if you have something in mind, I'm all ears. Otherwise, I can come up with something instead.
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Post by Zero Prime on Jan 8, 2022 6:53:55 GMT -8
So, for personality ...
And background ...
And as far as love ...
Hopefully that gives us enough to work with! If we need to reflavor any of it, or if I got my times & dates off, let me know!
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Post by Daos on Jan 8, 2022 15:10:52 GMT -8
Yep, that looks great. I do have one little nitpick, though: At this point in time, Solamnia does not have an emperor, and never has. That won't happen until around 430 AC, a good 75 years from now. Currently, Solamnia is sort of a feudalistic confederation. Each province (Coastlund, Southlund, Palanthas, Tanith, Hinterlund, Gaardlund, Heartlund, Elkholm and Vingaard) has a governor (known as a lord) that rules that region and also sits on a council, and that council rules the nation (the Knights of Solamnia also have a seat). The Grand Master of the Knights (Sir Gunthar Uth Wistan) is basically in charge at this point (not officially, just in practice).
Prior to the war, many knights were killed in uprisings, quit the order, went into hiding or exiled themselves to Sancrist. The war really changed people's opinions on them, and the knights (now seen as heroes) are basically rebuilding the entire country. A lot of stuff will happen in the next 75 years that will lead to Solamnia becoming an empire with a single monarch, although none of it is relevant to this game.
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Post by Zero Prime on Jan 8, 2022 15:42:34 GMT -8
Fair enough, serving the Council's will works just as well.
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Matt4
Paragon
Posts: 3,540
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Post by Matt4 on Jan 8, 2022 21:22:05 GMT -8
Sorry, I got carried away. It's a bit long, but here's Torquato's backstory: {Torquatos Story so far...}Torquato is the only son of Bernarthos and Portheesia of the Clorindidis family, a clan not important enough to be of any political significance but still high enough on the social hierarchy to having to be subjected to the most pompous and formal protocols. Having to deal with the aforementioned cerimonies was one of the many things Torquato couldn't stand about Silvanesti society.
While a stimulating place for the mind, thanks to chance he had to confront his knowledge and wits with those of the many talented individuals that inhabited their land, it was also a place trapped in its contrived etiquette, with bureaucracy dominating the social aspect of their life.
Countless were the occasions where Torquato inadvertently offended someone and this, combined with his relatively physical frailty and lankiness that made him unfit to what was expected for a member of House Protector, made his parents worried about his future into the Silvanesti society.
Thankfully, during his formative years he manifested a talent for the arcane arts that rivaled those of the most brilliant pupils of House Mystic, so it was decided that he were to eventually join the ranks of the Windriders as a Grifon Wizard. Torquato didn't mind this decision, as it allowed to progress his arcane studies further than House Mystic would otherwise allow, and so his training became official.
Love life was never a priority for Torquato, although there was a time were he managed to casually find a kindred spirit in a young woman from House Cleric, Querida. Even if their area of interest were wildly different, his was the arcane arts while hers were the matter of the Gods, there were a spark and a wittiness about her that won Torquato's interest.
Sadly, their union wasn't meant to be. As members of different houses, both families agreed to avoid any further possible involment between the two. Querida was quickly married off to a priest of the same faith, while his enlisting for the war saved Torquato from suffering a similar fate with a female warrior of House Protector, whose sternness made her unfit to love even an ogre, at least in Torquato's opinion.
Still too inexperienced during the War, his duty was only that of assistant to more powerful mages that fought beside the allied forces of humans and dwarves, but it still gave him a taste of the world outside of the rigid Silvanesti borders, with a yearning to know more about it once he went back home. In fact, while others of his kind believed their superiority was a reason to remain isolated and untouched by the lesser civilizations, he thought his duty was to go back and master that type of knowledge, like a scholar that goes and does research on the field.
To help his case in convincing the Silvanesti to let him on his journey without having to risk becoming a dark elf, he appeared before the council with a letter in hand.
It was from a human man, a solamnic warrior he met during the war. When Torquato met him, Elias presented himself as a young fighter. At first the elf met the human with contempt, his scruffy appearance and unkept long beard were both traits that would have made his presence indecorous in any Silvanesti setting. After having had the chance to observe him, though, Torquato was surprised to see that the young man wasn't the uncivilized grunt he initially believed. His skill with the sword was paired up with an unexpected knowledge of the arcane arts and a fine inclination toward war strategy.
The many sleepless night they spent discussing magic and combat, lit up something in Torquato's heart very similar to the feelings he had for the priestess. And it was that fire, if he had to be honest, one of the main reasons that pushed him to appear in front of the council. After having gained the permission to go back in human land, not without receiving some weird looks from some of the council members, he packed some of his stuff and departed for Palanthas, where Elias lived.
If fire was the thing he felt inside when he left the Silvanesti nation, a deadly cold was the only thing inside him when he found himself standing in front of Elias' tombstone. "Dead for unknown reasons", at least that's what they told him. Torquato felt empty, the slight breeze in the graveyard seemed enough to send him flying. The letter in his hand was the only thing that remained of him. Something about darkness brewing once again in Solamnia, maybe a lead he could have found that Elias wanted to discuss to Torquato. Something maybe dangerous enough that he couldn't disclose it in a letter.
Torquato decided to go back home, he didn't have much reason to stay there. His appetite for knowledge subdued by his grief. But when he went back to his room at the Inn, a message was waiting for him. A small note, passed under the door.
"He may still be alive. Continue his research and you may be able to find him."
After an internal debate lasted a few days, Torquato decided to follow the note advice. After all, he had not much to lose except for a life where he rarely got to make a choice. And that was a chance to change that.
Hence, he set out on his journey to follow Elias' lead, to inquire about the rising danger that threatened the peace they fought hard to establish and maybe, just maybe, to find out the man his heart was burning for.
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Post by Daos on Jan 9, 2022 0:31:14 GMT -8
This looks great, Matt4. Although one thing I want to clarify would be that he has not returned home since the war started, as the Silvanesti land is currently cursed. For now, most of his people are refugees in Southern Ergoth.
Quick history lesson. When the war broke out, the Silvanesti made a non-aggression pact with the Dragonarmies. The Dragonarmies claimed they were only interested in human and dwarven lands, and agreed to leave the Silvanesti alone if they agreed to do the same. The Silvanesti were delighted by the prospect and readily agreed. This turned out to be a terrible mistake (and the sort of thing that would happen again in the future, sad to say; turns out the Silvanesti's worst enemy is their own pride and hubris).
The Dragonarmies, after conquering all of Silvanesti's neighbors, broke the treaty (surprise, surprise!) and invaded their forests. The Silvanesti had no allies to call upon, and were deeply outmatched. Out of desperation, the Silvanesti king, the Speaker of the Stars, Lorac, decided to use a powerful and dangerous artifact known as a Dragon Orb. Dragon Orbs allow you to mentally control dragons with your mind, but they take a powerful mind to use. The orbs attempt to dominate anyone who touches it, and if the mind is not strong enough, the orb takes control, instead of the other way around. And that is exactly what happened with Lorac. Rather than seizing control of the enemies' dragons, a green dragon named Cyan was summoned who whispered in the catatonic Lorac's ear of terrible nightmare scenarios. The power of the orb caused these nightmares to come true. All of Silvanesti was basically turned into a sort of horror realm, where all of your worst fears manifested.
On the bright side, this devastated the Red Dragonarmy, killing many of them, including their Highlord at the time. They were driven out of Silvanesti lands...but so were the Silvanesti. Those who survived were forced to flee on boats, and set sail to Southern Ergoth to meet up with their Qualinesti cousins (whose land was burned to the ground by the Red Dragonarmy previously, and were now also refugees), and their Kagonesti cousins who already lived there (and the Silvanesti quickly began to enslave, in the name of civilizing them). The Silvanesti set up a new homeland there, called Silvamori. Although the war is over, Silvanesti's Nightmare persists, and it will take years, perhaps decades, to return it to normal.
Anyway, this may have all further fueled his cynicism toward his people's isolationist tendencies, and further driven him to seek contact with the outside world, as well.
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Post by MaltholLoth on Jan 9, 2022 1:30:29 GMT -8
Daos, your knowledge is very impressive!
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Post by Daos on Jan 9, 2022 3:21:27 GMT -8
Thanks. And Abelaard's stat block is now up.
Here's what I still need from everyone so far:
Abelaard - Appearance, Personality Dietrich - Completed Gordon - Appearance, Personality, History Robin - Appearance, Personality, History Rof - Completed Torquato - Appearance, Personality
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Post by Kvard51 on Jan 9, 2022 6:39:50 GMT -8
Thanks. And Abelaard's stat block is now up. Here's what I still need from everyone so far: Abelaard - Appearance, Personality Dietrich - Completed Gordon - Appearance, Personality, History Robin - Appearance, Personality, History Rof - Completed Torquato - Appearance, Personality Mine are now on his myth-weavers sheet.
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