Murdervish

You're all just jealous of the glory of Illuminated stew.

Sahar squints in the snow-reflected sunlight as she come up the stairs, to the "new top level" of the Crimson Edict's grand hall. For a moment, she looks over the years of work she'd done with her own hands, now exposed to the frigid air and white sky, now blackened and strangely still with the slow fall of snow upon the war-torn stacks, before returning back to the lower levels and lighting the fires in the great heart again. She looks to her brothers and sisters, an uncommon grin pulling her face as she pulls a Orennian corpse towards the fire. "They thought they could hide in our home as our arrows volleyed; they merely made it easier for us to attend to their bodies after we ran in to finish the job."

"The chance of travel--and thus study--and thus progress--is too good for a mali of my field of study to pass up if I were to say that maehr'sae hiylun'ehya was important to me. I just hope no one notices my absence at their Vallah churches."

Name you wish to go by in the video (irl name, mcname, ect): Murdervish or Sahar is fine. Artwork/link to art profile: http://murdervish.tumblr.com/ Do you give LoTC permission to use your work? (Yes/No): Yes, but if it's specific characters other than my own, please ask the players if/when possible. Is the work above completely your own? (Yes/No): Yuppers, though some of the characters belong to other players. Is there anything you’d like us to know about your work? (Name of person, location, ect.): Most of the art I do is for the Crimson Edict and associates and is listed on the site. A lot of them are speed draws. I also intend to get a group picture done for the Crimson Edict later, but dunno if that'll be before the showcase.

I simply just don't understand the point. If the idea behind Slic3's logic is... Limit magic teaching > Make more ancillary magics decrease in activity > Remove the ancillary magics with activity decrease as an excuse > Reduce collectivism since there are fewer collectables ...then staff should just wipe out the magics they don't like immediately, rather than put the players and the teachers through this stress of trying to preserve the magic just to have it taken away despite their best efforts. Speaking of stress, did it ever occur to him that one of the problems teachers have is people randomly coming up to them, ICly with little RP or OOCly, begging for magic lessons? With the numbers of teachers on certain magics reduced, do you think this sort of activity decreases?

LoTC In General: Events and Interaction: Plugins and Development:

I actually was one of the "can't complain 'cause I'm in the player group that gets all the events" side, so I wasn't going to input anything, but this is honestly a very cool idea. A riff on that perhaps: having an ET replace the FT on a cart/boat to a place mid-journey to the destination, where the cart/boat had to stop because of a sea creature, monster, animal, weather, whathaveyou. Stick in some RP when people least expect it in general. Might be a lot of work for only a few (potentially angry) players is a problem, but man would that be a quality touch!

"I always thought there was something strange about chickens that seemed to spawn out of darkness the same way the undead do..."

Sahar futilely attempts to at least cook some damn soup for the fifth time before she finally gives up and trudges up into the keep's towers to collapse in bed next to her sick husband.

I get the hunting, but it honestly seems very strange to me that the kha appear so much more interested in a constant witch hunt than doing much anything else to further their actual society. The main community from the outside seems to be a weird, tribal inquisition. At least the high elves drink tea when they aren't subjugating impures. I wouldn't say completely remove the hunting. Honestly, nearly everyone hunts traitors on this server, and it makes for good RP. But do it in big sweeps perhaps and back off to focus more on community building, rather than going up to the place every day and demanding the ape'kha be handed over. There was a point when they were coming to Eastwatch twice a day demanding Jotosava. Jotosava has since been PKed, because his player is sick of it.

No. And quite frankly I'm sad that this is what you took from my post, since that means any honest criticism I had is going to be ignored as me being a hater. I said I enjoyed RP with some kha, mostly ape'kha. I didn't go into it, but I even enjoyed RP with some kha that still follow Metzli and stayed in the community. I have nothing against the race itself, just with how the race's society attempts to work and how they're presented as a whole. The RP with them does not seem particularly fun or unique, even though the race has so much potential with some very interesting lore. This problem really stems from how the community is run by a small amount of players, not even the players as a whole. I had mentioned I'd want them wiped out not because I hate the race, but because there are problems with their community RP that don't seem to be getting fixed any time soon.

Most of the kha I've enjoyed my interactions with have been ape'kha, and though I can definitely see a potentially interesting RP in having the main society of the kha looking down on them and even, to an extent, hunting them if they commit very dire infractions... a few kha keep going out of their way to kidnap or demand ape'kha too frequently for no reason other than they being ape'kha. And by "too frequently" I mean "at least once a day, easy". It's the same RP over and over again, and it's making a lot of people antipathetic to the whole kha community OOCly as well as ICly. It's simply poor villain RP. This isn't helped by the fact that, even though the lore behind the kha can be interesting, the kha in practice seems to simply be a combination of Orcish RP (replace "KRUG KRUG KRUG" with "fawr Metzli") and High Elf RP, except... far lesser than the sum of its parts. You should be creating your own community, not pretending your priests are wargoths and treating ape'kha as impures/whitewashes. At this point, I'm honestly hoping the kha ICly piss off one too many people and get what little they have for a nation wiped out, allowing the remaining kha to either scatter and provide more interesting refugee RP that may evolve into something good, or just getting genocided once and for all so that the players can finally move on (since so many players are PKing their kha characters, anyway).

I acknowledge that's what's going on without a doubt. A creature with dead/no nerve endings shouldn't experience the same sort of knock-back or shock as a creature with very-much living ones, without a doubt. But that's another tip to consider.

Even with the guy with the shiny gold lights, then?

I've actually been either present or fighting at some of the recent events you had done in Laureh'lin, and it felt like every non-aurum weapon did this... [!] The ferrum sword had no effect. [!] The blow from the weapon does nothing. [!] The zombie/wraith/whathaveyou ignores the strike. This would be a fair conversation to have if you actually were treating conventional weapons normally. However, it seems you've already decided lore-wise that normal weapons mean nothing and gold weapons are where it's at. Now gold weapons are to not work? I'm not saying these events weren't fun; they were and I enjoyed them very much, and if you had another one set up for the Grove today, I'm sorry server troubles made us miss it. But it seems to me we've already assumed conventional weapons aren't worth a damn in the undead fight. Also, in the last fight at the Grove, with your two wraiths and one zombie, we had 3 fatalities and multiple casualties otherwise. Any druid present was too drained to even open the roots for us non-druids, our olog died from his wounds, and many of us were rendered unable to fight for several (non-elven) days. I don't think any of us really came out of it unscathed. We had a lovely, brutal funeral afterwards, along with some medical roleplay. It was overall a pretty fun event and you promoted a lot of good RP with it. But if we couldn't use aurum blades, even with the cleric that was at our aid, we would have been massacred, and we even heavily outnumbered you.

Name: Sethperith Lucital ((MCName)): Murdervish Origin: Born and raised in the capitals, has recently been travelling to gather data for his anthropology studies. How can you declare you are Mali'thill: I am the lucky son of two blessed Mali'thilln. Why do you wish to become a citizen of Haelun'or: I wish to gain citizenship status to help my kin and family, as well to help settle my deceased brother's pending duties. What is your personal vision for our blessed race: We must pull ourselves above the scrambling power-games of the other races and focus primarily on the continuation of learning and promotion of thought. Our purity should be an invaluable tool towards achieving and excelling there. What does maehr'sae hiylun'ehya mean to you: Progress and health. The core truth of us as we are and us as we strive to be. What Elven phrase do you particularly take to heart? Please explain why: Karin'ayla. A strange choice you may think, but the conversations opened by such a simple salutation is how ideas are formed and thought thrives. What is the subject of the first book you will submit to the college (If you have already submitted a book, please inform the council and provide us with its name): It is an anthropological essay on the development of isolated townships. What would be your reaction if you ever saw a human, orc and unknown Mali'aheral travel the roads from The Cloud Temple together: During my travels, I have come to understand that unknown Mali'aheral, especially ones in such an obviously suspicious position, to be approached with caution, if at all. However, I also understand that when among lesser races, there may be compromises made to preserve the life of the Mali'aheral. As such, I would then not seek to confront them directly, but if I were to see them within Haelun'or, I would indicate this information to the proper authorities, for they may require cleansing. Are there any other details about yourself you wish to relay to the council: No, but I am always open to questioning if needed.

I'm honestly excited, but, then again, I play a human chef who always makes stacks upon stacks of food for her mates. So far, the ones eating most of it out of necessity have been the uruk and the olog, and they can eat anything, so she'll be happy to know her main profession is actually useful to all of her friends outside of pure RP. And even when I RP it, half the time the player I give the food to gives it back since they're already full of /bread. Didn't stop me from getting to Masterful, but still; I hardly touched /bread already because of it.

Updates: Age: 26 Status: Alive, still affiliated with the Crimson Edict Sahar had joined the Crimson Edict upon the recommendation of Deinalt, believing that the increased protection and resources the guild could give outweighed any inevitable betrayal (and subsequent execution) the girl may need to enact and suffer. She was immediately joined in the rogues quarter beneath Jotosava. However, in ways not entirely expected, Sahar has grown as a person, but not without much difficulty. The recent events in the Void, though disconnected from Sahar due to her lack of magical ability, still put her on edge as it still affected, she perceived, the spirit of Deinalt Mephistaurus. Whether it affected such a spirit or not, she was in this state when one of her sisters in the Edict, Alstasia (bid by the parasitic imp on her person), had cornered her in the storage room of Eastwatch and taken Sahar's blood. Such a death triggered something in Sahar, though she could not remember it, she felt that Deinalt could remember the absolute corruption of her blood (though he would not speak it) and she could feel the anger and injury to his pride wafting off him in waves. So, she took upon the costume again, as being his "tool" was where she felt the most stability in her life: In this state, she ran through the Princedom of the Fenn, as it felt like the closest thing to home that she may have ever really felt. In this trance, she wandered along the mountains and the trees of the Fenn, mostly eschewing the structures of Man and Elf as she felt threatened in this state by the whims of society. It was in this state that Edict Master Naffog found her. Not knowing what she was at first, he attacked and apprehended her, intending to determine what this thing stalking his lands was. It was a bit of a shock to find one of his Edict sisters beneath the *****, pale mask, nearly catatonic and only responding in a raspy, strange voice. He brought her back to the halls of Eastwatch, but her knowledge of the sewer system there allowed her escape. Following her escape, the tales of the weird thing haunting the lands reached the Marked Men, and where the Fenn and the Edict were hesitant to press force on the creature, these mercenaries were not so kind. They tracked down Sahar and, without de-masking her, decapitated her, intending on bringing the head to the Fenn to rub in the Snow Elves faces how they cannot finish a job. As of yet, this "gift" has not been bestowed on any of the citizens or vassals of the Fenn. However, though Sahar did not find her outfit upon her as she awoke in the Cloud Temple, she was none the better for the death. Stripped of her tabard, cloak, and mask, she ran back to the Fenn, wearing nothing that would fit the bitter cold of the lands, and took refuge in what was likely an old Ice Witch cave. Alstasia, the one who had in her way set off the episode, found Sahar in this state, and though Sahar could not remember her death, her disjointed attitude and obvious hostility to her (or anything that entered the cave), seemed to tear at Alstasia and crush the girl with guilt. She left, but Sahar was not alone long: Naffog had just killed some large game, and had decided to drag his prize into this very cave to skin and prepare it. The near-nude Sahar worried him greatly, and though she managed to escape him again, here, it was not for very long; she'd been found shortly after by the walls of the Snow Elf capital, still in an unsuitable state of dress, and was finally cornered with the help of a sentinal of the Grand Prince. The sentinel had sufficient clerical powers that Sahar appeared to be purged of the old wizard's influence. Sahar, upon awaking to this, did not take the emptiness and lack of direction well, but she calmed down relatively quickly with the help of Naffog and his lifemate, Crystal Bel'anoche. They had gotten sister back from Deinalt's clutches, though Deinalt did appear to give Naffog something of a warning, written in Sahar's blood. It was clear that his influence was not going to be gotten rid of so easily. However, it looked like he would be gone for a time, and Naffog, so relieved to have his sister back, easily forgave any transgressions she may have done as she wore the mask. Since then, Sahar has become more and more attached to the Edict. It has now become her family, and as Naffog has become a father to her, she has become his daughter (though they still call each other as siblings, per the custom of the Edict). She has fought along side them, fed her brothers and sisters with her own hands, and had even been present in the birth of Naffog and Crystal's child, Vulthur. And as she has changed, she has been able to cope better with her own inborn troubles, seeming more... human than she'd ever been before. She has become stronger for her time, here. However, anyone who knows and may be paying attention to Sahar may see that things aren't quite done. At the 40th anniversary of Deinalt's death, she disappeared for a month, having prepared much food for her brothers and sisters beforehand to make up for the absence. Alstasia had seen her during this time, and though she later reported the trouble to Naffog, it was not without trouble; Sahar was strange, even somewhat malicious, and though she did not attack Alstasia outright, Sahar's words struck hard, aiming at the elf's obvious guilt until she stood down. Upon returning to the Edict, Sahar did not mention that anything bad had happened during the brief "sabbatical", only that "a deal has been struck" between her and Deinalt, and she seems hesitant to speak any further on the issue.

Sahar is not yet a magic user, but... "Something's wrong something's wrong something's wrong..." She scratches at her arm, rolling her eyes a little as if trying to look inside her own head. "Deinalt? Please tell me what's going on..."

Accidentally double-posted when posting update.

Thank you very much. Edit: I updated the main post to give hints on the sorcerer's magic, and made a timeline.

In Athera, on the outskirts of The Reformed Kingdom of Oren, a settlement was formed, mostly human, on a fishing wharf. It was out of the way from major roads, and it's population wasn't high, so it's not hard to believe that the economy was so stagnant that the majority of the population lived in little more than mud huts along the small fisheries and make-shift dock. There was one exception: a powerful wizard, likely of dark magic, held a tower that loomed over the little village. His name was Deinalt Mephistaurus, and he enjoyed the power he held over the peasants and fish-mongers. He relished in it and exercised it as a tyrant. The villagers had little choice but to comply with his demands. The years drew, however, and they saw no way out, his demands becoming harsher and harsher as he pushed their limits. Sometimes, they were even summoned into the tower itself, either to never be seen again, or as a dry, pale corpse. Secretly, they sent messages out, begging for help from Oren, but Oren had been caught up with politics and, most importantly, wars, and their resources were stretched thin. The request went unheeded. When war erupted in 1483, the villagers knew they would not receive help soon, if at all, and sought instead to hire mercenaries who would take the job for the meagre coin they could scrounge up. They eventually found some who agreed, and the group stole in at the dead of night to ambush the wizard as he rested, for they knew frontal attack upon his tower would avail little except their own deaths. They did not kill him as he slept, as the wizard did wake, but he was still caught flat-footed and with his magical components outside of his reach. He cast what he could, but blind-sided as he was, the fight was intense but short. Deinalt Mephistaurus fell backwards upon the bed he had woken from, but not before cursing the traitorous villagers with his dying breath, promising pain and destruction to them as long as they lived. In the end, the village rejoiced in the victory of their saviours. After much celebration, the heroes parted and Rahult enjoyed their new freedom. They found some measure of prosperity now that they were no longer bogged down with the unrelenting and unfair demands of the wizard. Ten years later, on the anniversary of the wizard's murder, the Plague hit the town, and much of the population died over night. It was no coincidence, the villagers moaned as they mourned. Deinalt's grip still strangles them today. His curse continues! Some of the villagers suggested seeking clerical help, but this idea was shot down for its massive cost. Besides, the Plague hit them hard; if this were truly the will of the mage, would it not be satiated? Another ten years passed, and upon the anniversary, the village was torn with a localized earthquake. Many died in the fallen rubble. Many more lost their homes. Calls for holy intervention increased, but so did the flight from the village. Nothing could be done to circumvent the next tragedy but to wait. When the 30th anniversary came, the villagers waited with baited breath, waiting for a swoop that would likely kill them off for good this time. But the night passed with no unholy intervention, and they all breathed a collective sigh... until the next morning. Several people (men, women, children) were found dead in their beds, throats slit. A couple people were confirmed missing shortly after, but it was unknown if they were still alive, or if they were, whether they were fleeing justice for the acts or fleeing the curse before it could hit them. The villagers would have loved to follow up these events with a witch hunt, but their seeking was cut short; the Flood had overtaken Athera and their wharf was one of the first to drown below the constant rains. Those who were left had no choice but to leave their homes to be swallowed by the waters and go to Vailor. Some of those villagers may still yet live, as could the Heroes of Rahult... as could the unknown murderer. And though the village is gone, no one knows for sure if the wizard's curse is done. Known Former Villagers: Sahar Tha'un Known Heroes of Rahult: Timeline: 1468 - Athera was settled 1469 - Rahult was successfully settled, building watched over by Deinalt Mephistaurus 1475 - Mephistaurus's demands become strange. Citizens begin to disappear 1483 - The Kingdom of Oren becomes Galahar. Rahult citizens look elsewhere for aid. 1483, Sun's Smile - Mercenaries are hired to kill Deinalt Mephistaurus, a contract is drawn 1483, The Amber Cold - Deinalt Mephistaurus is killed in his tower. 1493, The Amber Cold - Plague hits the town overnight. Many citizens die. 1503, The Amber Cold - A localized Earthquake hits the village 1513, The Amber Cold - Many citizens are found murdered in their beds End of 1513 - Rahult is abandoned to the Flood