Name: Blugh (pronounced like the color "Blue"), nicknamed "Spike"
Race: Dwarf
Class: Fighter (Dungeon Crusher variant ruleset)
Played By: Galen
Blugh's backstory is rather sparse, so I'll try to piece it together into a more coherent entry. More is being written about him at every session. Meaning, really, that we're all coming up with various entries into Blugh's life, and we like them so much that they become canon. Anyway, here's his backstory.
The fact: Blugh was found under a large boulder by a group of people during a normal day on Nawir Island. They heard something yelling, and moved the boulder to find a short, stout man filling the air with curses and foul language. The rumor: Blugh was born of the earth. At least, that's what the residents of Timsul believed. Despite his surly demeanor, they welcomed him into their community with open arms. What the rest of the town doesn't know is that Blugh had a life before his rather unusual entry into the outside world.
Blugh (full name Blughophski) was one of seven children, and the only male. His childhood is mostly shrouded in mystery, as his first real memories are of his father murdering his mother and his sisters taking him far away. He became a champion rugby player during his teenage years, but was forced to retire because of an excessive amount of unnecessary roughness charges. With his true passion taken away from him, he devoted the next few decades of his life to learning the way of the warrior. He trained for many years, utilizing his rugby skills to his advantage. Instead of waiting for his enemies to attack him, he would rush headfirst into battle and attempt to crush them into walls. While this was not looked upon as a sound strategy, his instructors could not help but be impressed by the effectiveness of Blugh's unorthodox methods of attack.
The rest of his life is a mystery. No one knows how, when, or why he was placed under that boulder. But one thing is for sure: Blugh is here to crush shit and enjoy it.
If more of his life is revealed during the course of this campaign, I will update this page accordingly.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Meet the Characters: Garthok
For my own easement, I'm going to use the backstories that were provided to me by the players. I think it's better to hear how their character came into being by their own word rather than me trying to consolidate it down into a short paragraph. Here's our first party member.
Name: Garthok
Race: Neanderthal, from a tribe living on Frostshard Mountain
Class: Barbarian
Played By: Grant
Backstory:
When Garthok was born, it was prophesied that he would be a great warrior, and from a very young age he was already making it quite apparent that he would fulfill his destiny. The clan elders took note and made sure he was trained by the best, training him to use brute strength to crush his opponents. He was taken into the wild to hunt and train in survival against cold, heat, and most importantly hunger. For his final test, he was taken to the plains to hunt a terrible beast down, and bring it back, whole. Killing one took three weeks, dragging it back, three months. When he finally managed to drag it to the edge of the camp, he went to speak to the elders, after a few moments of heated argument, he was told to bring the beast to the witch's cave, where he could claim his prize. She told him she could make him magnificent armor out of the beast, but in order for it to work properly, he could not leave the cave. Two days it took her to make the armor, she needed the horn for it's powers, so she traded it for a club made from the skull of a fang beast. When he donned his new armor, he felt it, it was rough, hard sturdy, and light, he could see why it took so long for him to kill the magnificent animal. The meat was to be served at the banquet honoring his rite of passage into manhood.
During the ceremony, his tribe was ambushed, many of the warriors taken down by assassin's arrows at the outset, including Garthok's master. He picked up his mentor's club and took out as many as possible, protecting as many of the women and children they could, while the elders retreated into their fortified cave. The remaining warriors did was they could, and killed many of the invading horde, and successfully drove them back. When they took a final tally of the damage done, most of the huts were burned or burning, few women had survived, and only a handful of the children. The elders, in their shame, felt their confidence in young Garthok was misplaced, and so he was cast out, told to leave only with what he could carry, so he put on his armor, gathered a few supplies and enough meat to sustain him for three days, and set out down the mountain.
his food was dwindling when he came to a clearing. A firepit smoldering in the center, a hut on stilts made from trees that had once stood there at the edge, a ladder ascending to the door. A strange man stood in the doorway of the hut.
"I am Horeak the Sorcerer. Come, I've been expecting you."
"You have?"
"Of course, if not, you'd have never made it this far, come in, sit, you have much to hear."
He climbed the ladder into the modest hut. He told him of the city of Timsul, of the once peaceful town town turned into a huge sprawling metropolis. He told of magic that not even he could explain, carts without horses that have no aura, buildings stretching as high as the sky. He told of the religion he chose to flee from rather than convert to, the strange idols. And the strange and terrible changes he'd seen amongst the animals, the metal limbs, the extra toes, told him they were not fit for consumption, especially not the metal beasts, they have a strange black poison running through their veins.
That night, he had unsettling dreams, a man riding to a castle, he wasn't sure why he was so bothered by this dream, something about the man, all he could feel was evil.
In the middle of the night he could hear the sorcerer tell him he was leaving, and was sorry he couldn't take Garthok with him, but that he has set him back on the path to his destiny. Garthok fell back asleep. In the morning he awoke to find himself in the clearing, the firepit was filled in, and looked as if it had never been there, he turned and saw that the hut was no longer there either, four trees where it once stood, no longer supporting a hut, instead, just supporting the tops of the trees.
He wondered for a moment if he had imagined it all, but he found his flint and steel next to where the firepit had been. So, with his head firmly back in reality, he thought of the city below, and the dream he'd had the night before, and if they had anything to do with one another. He had a general feeling of dread as he set forth to the great metropolis below.
Name: Garthok
Race: Neanderthal, from a tribe living on Frostshard Mountain
Class: Barbarian
Played By: Grant
Backstory:
When Garthok was born, it was prophesied that he would be a great warrior, and from a very young age he was already making it quite apparent that he would fulfill his destiny. The clan elders took note and made sure he was trained by the best, training him to use brute strength to crush his opponents. He was taken into the wild to hunt and train in survival against cold, heat, and most importantly hunger. For his final test, he was taken to the plains to hunt a terrible beast down, and bring it back, whole. Killing one took three weeks, dragging it back, three months. When he finally managed to drag it to the edge of the camp, he went to speak to the elders, after a few moments of heated argument, he was told to bring the beast to the witch's cave, where he could claim his prize. She told him she could make him magnificent armor out of the beast, but in order for it to work properly, he could not leave the cave. Two days it took her to make the armor, she needed the horn for it's powers, so she traded it for a club made from the skull of a fang beast. When he donned his new armor, he felt it, it was rough, hard sturdy, and light, he could see why it took so long for him to kill the magnificent animal. The meat was to be served at the banquet honoring his rite of passage into manhood.
During the ceremony, his tribe was ambushed, many of the warriors taken down by assassin's arrows at the outset, including Garthok's master. He picked up his mentor's club and took out as many as possible, protecting as many of the women and children they could, while the elders retreated into their fortified cave. The remaining warriors did was they could, and killed many of the invading horde, and successfully drove them back. When they took a final tally of the damage done, most of the huts were burned or burning, few women had survived, and only a handful of the children. The elders, in their shame, felt their confidence in young Garthok was misplaced, and so he was cast out, told to leave only with what he could carry, so he put on his armor, gathered a few supplies and enough meat to sustain him for three days, and set out down the mountain.
his food was dwindling when he came to a clearing. A firepit smoldering in the center, a hut on stilts made from trees that had once stood there at the edge, a ladder ascending to the door. A strange man stood in the doorway of the hut.
"I am Horeak the Sorcerer. Come, I've been expecting you."
"You have?"
"Of course, if not, you'd have never made it this far, come in, sit, you have much to hear."
He climbed the ladder into the modest hut. He told him of the city of Timsul, of the once peaceful town town turned into a huge sprawling metropolis. He told of magic that not even he could explain, carts without horses that have no aura, buildings stretching as high as the sky. He told of the religion he chose to flee from rather than convert to, the strange idols. And the strange and terrible changes he'd seen amongst the animals, the metal limbs, the extra toes, told him they were not fit for consumption, especially not the metal beasts, they have a strange black poison running through their veins.
That night, he had unsettling dreams, a man riding to a castle, he wasn't sure why he was so bothered by this dream, something about the man, all he could feel was evil.
In the middle of the night he could hear the sorcerer tell him he was leaving, and was sorry he couldn't take Garthok with him, but that he has set him back on the path to his destiny. Garthok fell back asleep. In the morning he awoke to find himself in the clearing, the firepit was filled in, and looked as if it had never been there, he turned and saw that the hut was no longer there either, four trees where it once stood, no longer supporting a hut, instead, just supporting the tops of the trees.
He wondered for a moment if he had imagined it all, but he found his flint and steel next to where the firepit had been. So, with his head firmly back in reality, he thought of the city below, and the dream he'd had the night before, and if they had anything to do with one another. He had a general feeling of dread as he set forth to the great metropolis below.
Friday, December 18, 2009
The Island of Nawir
This is the central location of the campaign, the island of Nawir. Note the excruciating detail I put into it whilst drawing it in MS Paint.
The question marks indicate areas that are evolving as the campaign progresses. At least, that's the hope.
The setting of The Four and Seven
For any of you who followed my short-lived Star Wars campaign, I ended that after just seven sessions due to general disinterest and my own dislike of the system. I decided not to post the remainder of the sessions, as I felt them uninspired and dull, and I'm sure the players felt the same. So I decided to start up a more traditional D&D 3.5 campaign. I know the system better, and I like swords and sorcery a lot more than spaceships and blasters. So, without further ado, here is the backstory and setting of the campaign, which has completed two sessions so far. I will try to get character backstories up soon, and then start writing about each session.
Five years ago, the city of Timsul on the island of Nawir was a happy, peaceful community. Friends were easy to come by, and nobody worried about posessions. But one day, a fire broke out in the forest north of town, and several people spotted men in strange armor. At least, they believed those figures to be men, as large, metal masks covered their entire heads. Villagers believed that these two events were not wholly independent of each other, but once the fire was put out by an unexpected rainfall, they soon forgot about it and went about their daily lives. Nothing eventful happened for four years.
A year ago ago, a man named Fadas entered the town square. He proclaimed that the people of Timsul could be so much happier if they took just a few minutes to listen to him. He spoke of a being, a deity, of supreme power, who was unknown to the people of Timsul. This deity was all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. The deity, referred to as Gihin, wanted to spread his message of pleace, love, and understanding to all walks of life. All he asked, said Fadas, was to take a simple idol of Gihin and place it in your home, and you would be protected forever from evil. Fadas had a trained monkey perform tricks and deliver idols of Gihin to anyone who wanted one. Those who received an idol seemed to become happier almost immediately. Those who did not fell ill. They would continue to be sick until they accepted Gihin and took an idol into their homes.
Fadas also introduced the concept of money to the people of Timsul. He explained that gold, silver, and copper were "precious" metals, and were supposed to be used to trade for goods and services. The days of bartering had passed, and "money" was the new way to show how much you had. The people of Timsul were initially reluctant to this concept, but eventually they accepted change and began to use gold, silver, and copper pieces as the main form of trade within the village and to other villages nearby.
Over the next year, the village became a town, and then a city. Buildings grew from simple one-story houses made of wood and clay to large stone structures. With the aid of the masked men, who began to enter the town more and more, these buildings were constructed at a rapid pace. The masked men traveled in large, strange, mechanical vehicles that ran without horses. Several of these vehicles carried townspeople between other towns for a small fee, in order to avoid the days of travel it used to take to take to get from one town to another.
It was also during this time that several strange things began to occur. For one, the local wildlife either disappeared or became very violent and feral, attacking any person on sight. This forced the city of Timsul to create a large fence around the city, to protect everyone from these wild animals. Also, those creatures that disappeared, returned after several months, only they had been altered. Some changes were subtle, like an extra toe on a foot or a different color of fur, while others were more dramatic, such as parts of an animal having been replaced with that of another animal, or even with a mechanical part. The people of Timsul did not understand how or why these changes were taking place, but they had a fence protecting the city and their idols protected them from harm, so they did not worry. Besides, they had the mechanical vehicles to transport them from one town to another.
Also, people who spoke negatively about anything became sick shortly thereafter. The sickness was debilitating, and forced people to stay indoors for days at a time. Then, they would suddenly be fine and go about their daily lives. But the amount of negativity in the city diminished dramatically for fear of becoming sick and being rendered unable to work to earn their daily bread.
Then, about a week ago, several very large vehicles came from the east and headed towards Echizen Castle to the northeast. The cityfolk were curious as to what anyone might want to visit an old, abandoned castle. It hadn't been used in decades. But when anyone asked a masked soldier, they gave no response. Several people saw Fadas heading to the castle, looking very angry and nervous. They think he might be looking for something of value, even though the castle has been deserted for over 25 years. No one else in the town thinks that the last residents of Echizen Castle would leave anything of value behind. Are the players curious enough to see if there's something there?
Five years ago, the city of Timsul on the island of Nawir was a happy, peaceful community. Friends were easy to come by, and nobody worried about posessions. But one day, a fire broke out in the forest north of town, and several people spotted men in strange armor. At least, they believed those figures to be men, as large, metal masks covered their entire heads. Villagers believed that these two events were not wholly independent of each other, but once the fire was put out by an unexpected rainfall, they soon forgot about it and went about their daily lives. Nothing eventful happened for four years.
A year ago ago, a man named Fadas entered the town square. He proclaimed that the people of Timsul could be so much happier if they took just a few minutes to listen to him. He spoke of a being, a deity, of supreme power, who was unknown to the people of Timsul. This deity was all-powerful, all-knowing, and all-loving. The deity, referred to as Gihin, wanted to spread his message of pleace, love, and understanding to all walks of life. All he asked, said Fadas, was to take a simple idol of Gihin and place it in your home, and you would be protected forever from evil. Fadas had a trained monkey perform tricks and deliver idols of Gihin to anyone who wanted one. Those who received an idol seemed to become happier almost immediately. Those who did not fell ill. They would continue to be sick until they accepted Gihin and took an idol into their homes.
Fadas also introduced the concept of money to the people of Timsul. He explained that gold, silver, and copper were "precious" metals, and were supposed to be used to trade for goods and services. The days of bartering had passed, and "money" was the new way to show how much you had. The people of Timsul were initially reluctant to this concept, but eventually they accepted change and began to use gold, silver, and copper pieces as the main form of trade within the village and to other villages nearby.
Over the next year, the village became a town, and then a city. Buildings grew from simple one-story houses made of wood and clay to large stone structures. With the aid of the masked men, who began to enter the town more and more, these buildings were constructed at a rapid pace. The masked men traveled in large, strange, mechanical vehicles that ran without horses. Several of these vehicles carried townspeople between other towns for a small fee, in order to avoid the days of travel it used to take to take to get from one town to another.
It was also during this time that several strange things began to occur. For one, the local wildlife either disappeared or became very violent and feral, attacking any person on sight. This forced the city of Timsul to create a large fence around the city, to protect everyone from these wild animals. Also, those creatures that disappeared, returned after several months, only they had been altered. Some changes were subtle, like an extra toe on a foot or a different color of fur, while others were more dramatic, such as parts of an animal having been replaced with that of another animal, or even with a mechanical part. The people of Timsul did not understand how or why these changes were taking place, but they had a fence protecting the city and their idols protected them from harm, so they did not worry. Besides, they had the mechanical vehicles to transport them from one town to another.
Also, people who spoke negatively about anything became sick shortly thereafter. The sickness was debilitating, and forced people to stay indoors for days at a time. Then, they would suddenly be fine and go about their daily lives. But the amount of negativity in the city diminished dramatically for fear of becoming sick and being rendered unable to work to earn their daily bread.
Then, about a week ago, several very large vehicles came from the east and headed towards Echizen Castle to the northeast. The cityfolk were curious as to what anyone might want to visit an old, abandoned castle. It hadn't been used in decades. But when anyone asked a masked soldier, they gave no response. Several people saw Fadas heading to the castle, looking very angry and nervous. They think he might be looking for something of value, even though the castle has been deserted for over 25 years. No one else in the town thinks that the last residents of Echizen Castle would leave anything of value behind. Are the players curious enough to see if there's something there?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)