Polgrath

Teacher Application:

Mc Name: Chris6672

Skype: occams_razorburn

Character: Polgrath 

Magics known: Mental magic, sensory illusion

Magics to teach: Mental magic, sensory illusion

Time Practiced:

Over three years.

 (Formattings a *****)

 King of the Hill

Debra lifted the corroded brass knocker and let it fall against the faux oaken gate. The resulting thunk faded quickly in the dead air. Few details had been left out of the imitation fortress, it’s worn crenelations and turrets framing the brown sky would have been at home in feudal Europe. The only detail that gave away the castle's true location was the shimmering domed containment field emanating from its open courtyard, keeping the toxic atmosphere at bay. The small text projected on Debra's helmet visor proclaimed the temperature, radiation levels, and that the debris speckled wasteland around the castle had been called Seattle. The name meant nothing to her. One rusting sand-blown carcass of a city was the same as any other.

She leaned against the exterior wall, turned on her hazard suit’s external speakers, listlessly recited the script virtually ingrained into her memory.

“Pursuant to Code 17, you are being humanely evacuated from illegal Earth occupation. We reserve the right to use force if you do not comply. The Corporation appreciates your cooperation. Terrax: Exploring with Care.”

The words had meant something to her, back when she was a fresh graduate with an emphasis in conflict resolution studies. All she knew then was she didn’t want to waste her life in an underground cubicle on Luna, negotiating local property disputes like her parents. A job should help others, and be a ticket off this moon. She walked into a major employment convention only hours after graduation. Recruiters from across the Inner System stood and greeted the interested or at least appeared to do so through their holographic projections. All the big names were there; Chengdu Industries, Henrikson Bioworks, several Martian government departments, and a myriad of other employers, bright and constantly shifting advertisements stretching down the domed meeting hall. She made a beeline past the local lunar companies to the booth section evocatively marked Interplanetary.

After over an hour of brief vaguely informative chats with spokespeople Debra’s small talk capabilities had eroded.  A small display booth in the left corner caught her eye, its logo a blue globe fragmented into jagged segments. A tall man with a beard leaned casually against the datascreen, gray hair gathered in a loose mullet. He caught her eye and grinned as she walked up to the table.

“Isn’t it sorta archaic to send physical employees to these?” she asked, the barest hint of a weary smirk creasing her pale face.

He chuckled briefly. “We like to pride ourselves on a personal touch- isn’t it sort of archaic to actually walk to these things?”

“Alright, you’ve got me there.”

The bearded man extended a callused hand. “Name’s Frank Wei, good to meet you.”

She shook it with a firm grip. “Thanks, Debra Marston.”

“What are you interested in?” Frank held a wrist display up and regarded the screen for a moment. “Your subject test scores are pretty impressive.

  Technically it was illegal for private companies to access an individual's academic record but she’d noticed the fact seemed to do squat to prevent the practice.

“Thanks, I’m hoping they’ll be useful to get me far away from here. I actually have a focus in conflict resolution studies...” A blaring audio ad from the next booth over drowned conversation for a moment.

Frank nodded a couple times in a row. “Have you considered terrestrial work before? Terrax is the sole proprietor of Earth property.”

Debra cocked her head slightly. “Nope, definitely not an engineer or geologist. Been looking into something like Outer System intersettlement diplomacy, help folks, experience life.”

Frank glanced down the mostly empty section of hall in both directions and leaned in across the narrow table, resting his elbows on top of it.

His voice was a loud whisper. “Listen you want to get off this Moon? Want to help people manage their problems peacefully?”

She leaned in closer to the table.

“Sure, we’re a mineral extraction firm, but that doesn’t mean we don’t need folks like you, with people skills. We have a program to help move individuals from at-risk locations, sometimes they can take a little persuading.”

He pointed at the distant tan crescent millions of miles past the clear ceiling.

“We acknowledge there will be some hazards down there, but it’s part of what makes this the last authentic adventure in the solar system. Anyone with the y-dollars to burn can get to the asteroid belt or take a guided tour on Titan and play explorer. Everything is safe and sterile and risk free. But ask yourself … who goes to Earth?”

 He handed her a card -an actual physical card- with a contact code for the Terrax Corporation. She thanked him and said she might give it some thought. When she got home she placed the code on her bedside table. The words Exploring with Care were printed in raised letters on the card’s reverse side. It took one day for her to call for an interview and three for her be on board the next shuttle to their orbital station.

Still no answer. Debra turned back to her lander to grab the thermite charges and blow the sucker’s fort open. Just as she turned to trudge back through the sand, the wood-grained gates creaked open behind her, revealing an arched stone passageway leading with. Officially policy dictated that the evacuated person had up to an hour to present themselves- **** that. It was almost five already and the ruddy glow of the sun was just starting to wane. The planet’s background radiation and magnetic instability had a penchant for screwing up a lander’s automatic navigation at all the worst possible times. Daylight provided the visibility for manual control if needed. Nobody wanted to be hit by a dust storm or land among pools of radioactive sludge with a malfunctioning nav computer and no visibility. The company didn’t have any regs about hours of operation though and several agents made regular night flights. Their quadrupled rate of mortality was enough to uphold the unwritten policy for the most part. A brief crackle of interference filled her headset as she walked over the containment field’s threshold, then there was silence.

She’d gone in with another agent her first time, William. She’d found early on that nobody used last names, guidelines said something about building feeling of familiarity with evacuees and coworkers. William was a career guy. He’d been with The Corporation for twenty years and seemed like he’d stay there for another twenty at least. The lines etched in his tanned face were almost geological in scale. He called her “kid” and didn’t talk much. They rode in near silence to the site they’d discovered, the faint vibration of the engine filling the space between their seats. The lander touched down a hundred feet from a small rectangular structure with a single opaque window. Debra haphazardly pulled on her unused white hazard suit, he slipped into a now faded grayish one and holstered a plasma pistol.

When they got to the door he flipped on his suit speakers and rattled off the Code 17 spiel in one breath, “-you are being humanely evacuated from illegal Earth occupation. We reserve the right to use force if you do not comply. The Corporation appreciates your cooperation. Terrax: Exploring with Care.”

The door didn’t budge. It continued to not budge until they melted it to a molten puddle with the thermite. Stepping over the still cooling metal they passed through the poorly maintained airlock behind it. Debra came in behind him into the unlit space. The interior was compact. One bed, a couple chairs, and a simple kitchen unit, half eaten lasagna still steaming on top. Three dark shapes stood huddled in a corner, an older woman holding a little girl and a tall boy at her side. The suit spotlights cast their faces and blonde hair in a sharp relief of shadows. William nudged Debra.

She cleared her throat and waved. “Hey there! We’re here to get you somewhere safe.You’re being exposed to real dangerous radiation levels down here.” For a long moment it was quiet.

The woman spoke up, her voice wavering slightly. “We bought this land, have the deed and all. We don’t have to go anywhere.

Debra nodded in the conciliatory manner her training had suggested. “Listen I understand how frustrated you must feel but the Terrax Corporation doesn’t authorize deeds purchased from third parties. We can partially reimburse you for your loss once we get you safe though.”

The woman cradled the girl under an arm and murmured to her.  The boy turned away and rested his head against the wall. He shook gently.

Debra walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I understand how you must be feeling.”

The teenager nodded before whipping around with an antiquated shotgun and slamming the barrel into her stomach.

“Leave. We’re-not-going.” He spoke slowly as if chewing each word thoroughly .

There was a bright flash from behind her and a large portion of what used to be the boys chest disappeared in a spray of red mist. He toppled backwards onto the cabinets. William holstered his still glowing pistol.

He manhandled the woman into one of the lander’s holding pods they’d attached to the homestead’s airlock. She cursed, clawed, tried to bite them as they locked the pod shut and reattached it to the lander. The girl was silent and walked inside without prompting. She held expressionless eye contact until Debra tore her gaze from the pod’s window. They got back in the lander and took off, the computer busily navigating them towards the orbital detention center.

William took a utility knife from his belt and scratched a line on the back of his suited arm plate’s plastiky finish. He added to a horde of the same marks grouped into fives. The ship’s thick bulkhead made it almost possible to not hear the wails and ineffective pounding.

As the flashing indicator lights showcased their ascent, William asked “Hey kid. You read much?”

He’d never been one to start conversations.

Her mouth was dry and words felt sluggish. “Not really.”

William nodded, eyes focused out the window. “I do some reading, mostly biology. I go through phases, Right now I’m stuck on cockroaches.” The lander rumbled as it passed through a patch of atmosphere.

“Thing about roaches is they’re tough sons of *******. Get them on Mars, Luna, in zero-g habitats, places with radiation close to Earth levels and they’re fine. Did you know they can survive decapitation? Cluster of nerves in their abdomen acts as a second brain, no head needed. Keeps them breathing and living for a couple weeks before they starve. They’ll crawl around, react, even breed with each other before that happens though.

William tapped his index finger on his forehead and looked back towards her.  “See I’ve been real stuck on figuring what they keep going for. Why don’t they know they’re already dead?”

She caught a foot on the uneven floor and stumbled, bracing a gloved arm against the wall.  Twenty three lines and the embedded dust of five years were scratched on its plated back. Debra fiddled with her plasma pistol’s fuel cell as she walked down the stone hall, rough embroidered tapestries flanking her on each wall. She’d already checked the battery three times in the last couple minutes. Terrax had hired her as a diplomat first, hired gun second and she didn’t necessarily expect to use it. Still, it was comforting to feel at her hip.

The cobblestone courtyard was empty save for an emitter embedded in the center of the  floor shaped like a massive red gem. The beam of the containment field shot upward before expanding outwards and down like the stem of a bell shaped mushroom. She heard a faint sound of shifting behind her and spun on her heel, sidearm drawn.

A large group of personal service androids lined a balcony and long tables beneath it. They wore a myriad of frilly dresses, robes, and full sets of plate armor. The red optical sensors  and skeletal frames of the long outdated models were all turned towards her, motionless.

At the center of a group of particularly well dressed androids a wide eyed middle aged man sat on an iron throne, beer gut peeking out from under a stained tabard and chainmail tunic like a crescent moon. His mouth hung open slightly, showcasing yellowed teeth framed by a closely trimmed goatee.

He stood from his seat and bowed slightly towards her. “Hark! An... ambassador to my kingdom!”

Debra slightly lowered her weapon, still glancing around the room. This many androids could be a problem, even if they were just glorified creaky butlers. “Get your things together, you’re leaving. Now.”

The man continued staring at her, mouth still slightly agape, without showing reaction. “Tis a new experience to me to receive a guest- spells of enchantment protect my realm from outsiders view.” he said.

Debra furrowed her brow as he spoke. She hated dealing with the weird ones.

“Drop the Lord of the Rings ****, we’re going to start a deep crust mining laser less than forty miles away from here. If your stealth equipment had been working right we would have missed you and you’d be a neat pile of ash.” A few more costumed androids walked out into the courtyard.

Now he frowned and narrowed his unfocused eyes. “Thy vocabulary is foreign m’lady but you are welcome in my court if you sheathe your sword and-”

Debra cut him off mid syllable. “I don’t know what black market contractors you paid a fortune to build this place, but you have to leave. This place and everything in a hundred mile radius is getting melted to slag in a couple days.”

“My enchantments are strong and will weather the black magics any force can muster upon me, fear not for my safety.” The man sat down and readjusted himself in his throne, mouth set in a resolute line.

Debra shifted her weight from one foot to the other and shook her head. “Stop playing make believe. We offer transport to any of the inner Solar System colonies courtesy of the Corporation. It’s a whole lot better than getting vaporized sitting here and telling yourself stories about living in a magical land.”

  She didn’t have time for any of this. Over time her sense of pity on the job had briefly turned to fear before settling into a general distaste for these evicted squatters. None of them had even been born when they could go outside without a shielded suit and an oxygen supply, yet they all still clung to that ghost of a memory of a better past, passed down to them from ancient recordings and writings of previous generations of squatters. Though there weren’t many more of these self proclaimed “homesteaders” left to inspire successors.

An android wearing a full suit of chainmail strode into the room at a jogging pace, it’s bearings screeching in protest. It paused at the foot of the throne. The man nodded as if in conversation.

A grave expression came over his face.“Lo, my man tells me that the shadow comes.” he said.

“Listen I don’t know what you’re trying to pull but-” Debra paused as she noticed the sunlight light begin to grow dimmer. She checked her visor display but the signal had been jammed since she walked into the castle. She turned and barged back through the stone passageway and took a step out on to the debris speckled earth. A wall of roiling earthy darkness was bearing down from the east.

She took another step and her suit was able to connect with the distant lander’s sensors again. A split second later a red warning light accompanying a beeping alarm delivered a small text overlay. Sandstorm approaching. Grit hurled around at two hundred miles per hour could turn a hazard suit into a screen door in a minute flat if you got caught too far from your lander. She’d heard secondhand William hadn’t even lasted that long.

The wind picked up and tiny rocks had already begun to lazily fall from the sky. Debra took a wistful glance at her lander and thought better of running for it. The storm was too close, less than twenty seconds away. She jogged back inside, cursing with each step. The gates closed behind her with an echoing thump and the chirp of a lost signal notification.

When she wandered back into the courtyard the androids had arranged themselves around a long faux oak table and were moving in facsimile of eating. Their movements and gestures crudely implied a small talk that went unheard. The king sat at the head of the table, eating what appeared to be some kind of drumstick. He gestured at her to come forward, cheeks too stuffed to talk.

She eyed the table and walked to the back of an open chair, not sitting. “We can’t fly out now, so you’ve got the time until this dies down to get your affairs in order.”

The king grinned and chuckled for an uncomfortable length of time. “You are the strangest individual to ever grace this court. Come forth and sit with me!”

“I’m not going anywhere else I suppose, just don’t think this’ll buy you any more time.”

“You seem to believe many an odd thing. My mother believed many odd things as well. She used to tell me a tale that you may enjoy.”

Debra squatted onto the small chair and shrugged.

“Alright go on”

“So as it always goes there twas once a magical realm. It’s air pure, it’s seas blue and it’s land covered in green. It held wealth beyond knowledge. But it’s peoples took no notice of the bounty they had. They kept taking and taking from this land. Eventually it’s air grew dank, it’s seas browned, and the fields of green were covered by kingdoms. But this land still held life and treasures despite the misuse.”

The armored androids had begin lining into rows across the courtyard. Debra moved her weight to the edge of the seat slightly.

“The few kingdoms that hadn’t left the world for better ones used fell sorceries and destroyed each other, leaving mile deep craters in the ground, poisoned the air itself, and shrouded the land in darkness. “

Debra caught herself leaning forward towards the man.

“Yeah what happened next?”

“Then the entire dried out husk of a world was sold to a mineral extraction firm for pennies on the yuan-dollar.“

As he spoke the volume of his voice had risen and the forced ascent faded. For a moment, his eyes met hers and held steady contact before he lowered his head to stare at the flagstones in the floor and mutter softly to himself.  

Debra rubbed the back of her neck and watched the brown sky swirling past for a long moment. “Listen man, I’m just here until you leave. I don’t care what beef you have with the Corp. I’m just doing my job and I don’t get my pay until you’re gone.”

“Ah but do you not see? It is as the prophecy foretold. The coming of a strange visitor is the herald of the end. We march now to drive The Darkness from the realm and retake my kingdom!”

Cold arms of metal grabbed her from both sides, pinning her hands with unlikely strength. As the  two androids held her the rest that had lined themselves begin marching for the door.

Debra struggled with as much force as she could, feeling her muscle fibers screaming as she pulled. “Jesus you’re insane! You can’t go out there, the exposure will fry you.”

He reached down to his scabbard and unsheathed a longsword with a gem encrusted pommel as he walked away from his throne.The androids formed into ranks behind him.

“The realm will be saved, do not fear. The time is now.” The man nodded with a smile and disappeared around the corner, his robotic band trailing immediately after.

After a couple minutes the mechanical grips relaxed and she slumped back on to her feet.

Debra bolted, legs straining towards the open gate, breathe echoing in her helmet.

The clanking horde was already three hundred feet in front of her, marching towards the horizon of the flat plain. Their ranks had a single gap in the center. Debra saw the glimmer of a sword partially covered by sand. It sat next to a humanoid mound, seven feet from the gate. She sat down on her knees next to that curled up shape until  her radiation sensor chirped a warning to her after a half hour. Finally she trudged back towards the lander.

She dropped by orbital headquarters to tell them she was cashing in on her vacation time. The woman at the desk handed her a recreation pass code and a grinned “Explore with care!”  Debra took her lander and set up a small pressurized camp overlooking a canyon that cut through the land from one horizon to the next. Her visor told her she was in Arizona but that meant nothing to her. She spent several weeks walking around the area and sitting in silence. One day she looked up some historical video recordings. She saw buildings sprawled over one rim, people wearing nothing but thin cloth leaning over cliffside railings-tempting the abyss. She saw birds soaring and small lizards perched on every other walk. They weren’t there anymore. Could never be there.

Yet the sunlight still spilled across the lip of the canyon in a spray of light that illuminated the distant floor in fiery orange. She heard the breeze moaning rhythmically as it sent more flurries of dust dancing over the edge. The sheer cliff walls remained.

A hobbled old figure walks slowly through the unfamiliar streets of a new land, long absent. A harsh series of coughs racks his ailing body. Scars crossed his visage, wrinkled beyond it's years. It seemed as if the man would collapse at any time. And yet. He walked.


Ayuh, the Mindlord had returned to the world.

(IC)

Full name, including any titles? Polgrath Klaren 

Previous experience in guilds? Ex-Founder of the Arcane Delvers, Normandor Guard

Age? 594

Experience in fighting? Worked as city guard years ago, illusionist without equal, not good with armor

Are you exiled from any nations? None

Oath;

I _Polgrath_____ swear to uphold any contract I am given in the company, no matter the cost. I will obey all company policies and follow the orders of my officers to the letter, never to release company secrets.

(OOC)

List any VAs; Political Corruption, Murder, Thievery, Deception

MCname; Chris6672

Skype name; (PM me if need be) occams_razorburn

Google doc email;I'll PM you if ya need it

I highly reccomend a PVP default. I personally won't be able to more then slap folks around with my barehands, not wearing armor until the Nexus magic plug-in is released for non-antags though :P

A short note is scrawled on the gate, letters glowing a pale blue.

I have stepped down as leader of the Delvers.

Long Live the Magestate,

Polgrath Klaren

No more is written.

A figure steps through the hefty gates of Ac'Talarah, slowly striding within. Tis the dead of night but from the flickering light of the glowstone one could make out a jagged scar crossing the  ebon visage of the. Pausing to cough violently Polgrath releases his hood. His travels to the bitter north have not been kind to him. Tales from passing adventurers and hunters had reached him of the state of the Delvers and his return had come. Looking over several postings on the wall a sly grin creeps up his face. His cracked lips slowly croak a quiet phrase.

"Long live the Magestate"

A pale crow delivers a simple letter to the orcish horde.

"We march." 
-Polgrath

I really like this idea! However it should definately not be limited to VIP's as it has in the past. I am of the strong opinion that payment should not affect RP mechanics. But, to provide for lost perks some really neat new perks should be brainstormed that don't effect important ingame mechanics. 

I also would second the idea of a riding skill along with the breeding one. 

The Goonies Halfling Edition! 

+1 
This sounds like a really exciting event!

- Allow a few pre-existing horse-breeding players a small stock of horses upon release.

 

- Make horses an otherwise rare spawn found throughout Anthos.

 

- Tweak the breeding time to fit the needs of our economy and playerbase.

 

- GMs should not be involved with breeding. If you want to breed in your spare time as a player, work your way up with the rest of the breeders. Don't just roll a breeder and spawn yourself horses on day one because you can. I'm tired of GMs always having an advantage when it comes to economic things, such as potion shops and shops that sell spawnable-only items. If you're going to take on a GM position, you forfeit certain short-cuts and you must earn these things just as the rest of us do. I know most of you mean well, but you're killing business for the average player and creating an unfair advantage when you do this.

 

- Mounts that are killed or lost by griefers, illegitimate kills, glitches or otherwise will need to be replaced in a timely manner.

 

- Saddles need to be craftable, if they aren't already.

 

- I would suggest considering an Animal Breeder profession for all breeders, to limit breeding to the professionals. If we are able to choose a couple professions, this shouldn't be a big humbug. I'm a pig-breeder and farmer and would gladly welcome this restriction. Otherwise, most people will buy two horses and begin immediately abusing the system.

 

I had a suggestion involving a deed system on another horse topic, but can't seem to find it now.

I'm not positive how I feel about his deed system idea but everything posted here is awesome ^ I really hope a breeding/ animal husbandry profession is introduced.

I'd like to suggest an Animal Breeder profession, unless this is something that would fall under Farming.

 

With the addition of horses and livestock being a useful commodity for leather, wool, eggs and meat, I think animal breeding should be restricted to a certain profession. Otherwise, we're losing a lot of business due to the fact that anyone can and will do it themselves. Horse breeders stand the most to lose, as anyone with two horses would be able to breed a full stock of horses, which isn't something the average person does as a hobby on the side.

 

Hopefully this would limit farms and ranches to players that actively farm and ranch on a daily basis.

This would be an excellent addition to the plug-in! I think going the profession route to handle horse proliferation would be beneficial to the economy and other RP involving them.

In addition, I have a question. Are you still planning on having all professions be learnable after a very long amount of time? I don't think that would be a solid idea as given enough time, even if its a bit down the road, everyone could be masters in every profession, killing specialized profession livelihoods and RP. I think a limit of one master skilled professions and maybe twoish very proficient professions that benefit from being in the same general category as the master profession. Also I think people should start by default at clumsy in most if not all profesions instead of adept.

I like some of Rhia's ideas but none the less here is my humble suggestion:

 

   Since this is LOTC and does not, in most cases, have to hold any loyalty to real medieval setting and timeline it would be wise to keep horses as a luxury and a rare resource. Mules and Donkeys can be more abundant  but clearly we dont want everyone rping on a horse 24/7. I also, like many others, recommend giving every Nation(not race) a set amount of horses proportional to their population and lore. Breeding such animals should be a difficult task and should take a large amount of time and skill (perhaps via a profession), this would force the player to take good care of the horse/donkey and of course donkeys should be easier to breed. You can make horses pretty scarce in the wild and  perhaps  make them a bit more probable to spawn in places that should have more activity (Orc Lands). Of course this is just some suggestions :).

Pretty much what I think but wasn't able to articulate as well ^ :P

+1

Horses should be player managed I think, not GM. However I struggle to come up with a system that would prevent everyone and their sister from having horses. I'd say make them rare, but perhaps also include a animal taming or riding skill in the nexus plug-in that would need to be known in order to do more then ride a donkey. However, also unsure about that idea.
As there are different types of horse breeds confirmed I can see donkeys and packmules being a bit expensive, but easily obtainable. Actual horses should cost a good deal more and better speed/jumping or interesting breeds should be crazy difficult to obtain/breed/buy (like the zebra colored one) 
Honestly this will be really difficult to work out to find the middle ground between too common and not enough. But I think nearly everyone agrees to leave out horses on a minecraft RP server would be a great loss.

Would it be possible to have custom hoe items named as staffs that couldn't farm and perhaps had different properties?

Polgrath pens a response briefly

"I have more stone then I know what to do with, I'd be happy to give ye a good deal."

Polgrath grins upon seeing the claims. "Better a Delver under Malinor than Kaedrin."

Polgrath notices the silence of the nearby keep as he passes by... for some reason the absence of distant rough curses and the screams of prisoners does not being him peace... but disquiet.

((Glad to have you guys still here :) ))

It will be really interesting to see the RP that results from this power shakeup. When one door closes, another opens!

ACCEPTED

Gallmore will be the master dungeon, maybe delvers would like to do some delving in Gallmore. 

Woo, adventure is out there! 

^ Seconded, it's been gathering dust for ages, be great for someone to get some use out of it! 

He is one creative mofo as his application has likely illustrated to you already. If I had a penny for every great idea he had for fun stuff IG... well I'd have a lot of pennies. Dizzy is not only a great RPer but gets along well OOCly with every of the many groups he interacts with. He's an all around solid guy.
+1

I don't know how I feel about people being able to master so many professions. It seems that given enough time everyone on the server would be masters of a large number of professions, cutting down greatly on the need for specialized workers or craftsmen.