How Zoey feels now

There's been a lot going on with my Barbarian, Zoey, right now, so I thought it might be beneficial to examine that before tomorrow's session.

But first, some backstory. Yay! About a year ago in-game time, our party was on this entirely clerical island called Ayagod. Non-divine peoples (aka anyone who isn't a divine spellcaster) are only allowed on it at a very specific time - during this big fighting tournament they put on. Of course, our party went, partly because some of us wanted to participate but also because the plot was pushing us there. Up until this point, Zoey had been searching for her father, whom she knew nothing about. She had been getting the party cleric, Ambriel (played by my friend Mark) to help her out by casting Sendings to her mother, trying to get information about him. Somehow we also found out that the last place her father had been seen was Ayagod. This all happened before we actually arrived there, and after we did, things happened so that Zoey didn't need him to cast Sendings anymore.

Anyway, regardless of what went on with that, Zoey had been beginning to suspect that Ambriel was being less than truthful and had been so since they met, but didn't want to believe it because the Party is like her family. However, things happened that forced her to admit to herself that he had been lying, and the way it happened made her very angry at him. Apparently he had been working with one of our greatest enemies, a half-shadow dragon mage named Shade, who bid Ambriel to break into this vault of weapons on Ayagod and steal an axe named Stormbringer for him to prove his loyalty. Regardless of his motivations, Ambriel tried to get the whole party to help him do this, and kept changing his story when some of us refused. This made Zoey finally admit to herself that he may have been lying all along, and in his working with Shade she saw a betrayal, as both she and another party member had been kidnapped and tortured by Shade in the past. Somehow, I think with the help of other party members and NPCs, he got Zoey and Tharf (who is played by my lovely girlfriend and was also very angry about the situation) to go along, and let Zoey keep the axe for "safe keeping" after we got it. He said that he wanted to keep the axe away from Shade, but Zoey didn't really believe him, even though she's been "allowed" to hang on to it all this time.

For the entire year after this, both Zoey and Tharf have avoided Ambriel, wanting nothing to do with him whatsoever. Zoey even hired another cleric for the party. Now all of a sudden we are on a mission to help him rescue his siblings because Shino, our party leader (played by my friend Heather) whom both Zoey and Tharf are loyal to, thinks we can trust him and the task involved in helping him has been made a trial for her, which is the only reason that we agreed to help. However, even though we're going along with it, both Shino and her loverperson Jozan (an NPC played by the DM, Wayne) have been pushing both Zoey and Tharf to "make nice" and treating them like they've been sooooo cruel to Ambriel, even though they've just been avoiding him and not seeking him out for retribution or anything like that.

So anyway, on one of the airship journeys involved in this mission, Shino sought Zoey and Tharf out to get their advice on some relationship stuff. However, when they were done talking about that, she jumped right back on the Ambriel thing again. Only this time, it was worse. She basically claimed that she thought Zoey and Tharf would refuse to help his innocent siblings because of how they felt about him, and singled out Zoey, saying that she was being especially unfair to him because how how much he helped her out on Ayagod with the stuff with her parents, and that she wouldn't have Stormbringer if it weren't for him.

This is how Zoey responded:

Then, as soon as Shino singles out Zoey, her eyes flare deep red (though they started turning red as soon as she mentioned Ambriel). As she keeps talking, her face twists into an expression of rage and hurt. "Especially me? ESPECIALLY ME?!" she shouts, hopping quickly off of whatever she was sitting on. "This stupid axe" - she pulls Stormbringer out of its case and brandishes it before her - "is what made me realize what a lying sack of SHIT he is in the first place!!! Yeah, he's helped us, but it was always for something he wanted FROM us!!! He tried to TRICK us into going to get this because SHADE wanted it, and I only have it because he wants to keep it from him! I don't care if I got to fucking keep it! I'm sorry about his family, but I don't care what he needs from us now! He's been lying to us and using us all along, and how he treated us in regards to this axe is what made me realize it! And how DARE you try and guilt me into liking him by bringing up my parents!!! That was low. You know that was low. So fuck you!!!"

With that, she storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

Immediately after this, Zoey stomped up on deck, went over to the banister, and hurled Stormbringer off the ship. It was impulsive, and she was shocked at herself and cursed afterward, but then just stomped around for a while and eventually settled down in an area where no one else was near, sitting on the floor with her back to the banister and her head in her hands.

This is a big deal for a lot of reasons. What happened with Zoey's mother and father, specifically her search for her father, was one of the most important things she ever did. So for Shino to use that against her like that hurt her more than I think she can express. She also feels like Shino is a sister to her, so for Shino to have made these accusations hurt more than if they had come from someone else. She hasn't even really processed that Shino also accused them of neglecting the needs of innocents because of Ambriel. The claims about Ambriel's help regarding her parents came before those accusations, so she probably didn't even really hear them. The anger and pain at Shino singling her out like that had started to consume her before Shino even got to that point. Also, no one she has really cared about has ever hurt her like this before. She did like Ambriel before she admitted that he was lying, but their friendship was never as strong as the friendship between her and Shino.

She's probably going to refuse to talk to Shino for a long time, even if Shino apologizes. After this mission, it looks like we're going back to Karth (the last city we went to) for a while, which is a place Zoey isn't exactly comfortable in. She also recently found out that her mother is on Wulan (an island of Minotaurs) helping to defend it, and she knows that Tharf's mentor, Blaine, is also there. So she's going to suggest to Tharf that they go there for a while, to get away. It won't be a permanent split from the party, I don't think, but now that this has happened she doesn't want to be anywhere near Shino either if she can help it. And she doesn't want to abandon the rest of the party, especially considering what else has been going on, but if it was clear that everyone would be staying in Karth for a while she would do it. She'd also take the cleric she hired, Dahlin, with her, as she's the only one who paid for his services.

Aaaand that's what's going on. Kind of a long explanation just to discuss why Zoey's feeling the way she is, but oh well. I'm glad I sat down and worked this out, especially since I had to go over past incidents and remind myself why certain things are happening.

Ramblings about stuff

Soooo I haven't really been posting on here a lot lately, even though I've still been as obsessive about DnD as always. I dunno. I think since I got done with all the preparations for Tanisevania I haven't been posting since i don't have anything new to post.

But in the world of Zoey, there is something new. Between sessions some of us do roleplay stuff via roleplay, usually stuff that happened when we were travelling on the airship (which we usually skip over in game). So anyway, right now Shino (played by Heather) is talking to Zoey and Tharf (played by my girlfriend). Because of something that Shino said, which I won't go into here because I don't have time, Zoey is about to flip shit on her. This is also going to result in Zoey tossing one of her weapons off of the ship, as it is a symbol of why the shit-flipping is happening. Ehehehe ^^; Kinda awkward, but in character, so I'm going to try to not worry about it too much.

She also got this kickass shield to go with this Chaos Sword she has now. I still have to reread the specs from the sheet my DM gave me, but it seems really cool and when combined with the sword, may be cooler than the axe she's going to toss, and the axe she started out with. It was also an engagement gift from some of the NPC's, so awwww. I'm really excited to use it.

I think that's all that I have to say for now. I'm out of time anyway, as I have to go over to our DM's house for a movie night. Wheeee. Hopefully I'll get back into posting regularly before school starts on Monday. Ugh. To. That.

Tanisevania - expanded backstory

Backstory ~ Tanisevania, Gnomish Druid

In a small Gnomish town far away from any cities, there lived two Gnomes who loved each other very much. Their names were Uranvan and Faerlunal Fenow, and they were farmers. As soon as they were married, they decided to try to start a family out of both desire for children and need for more hands to do the farm’s labor. Their farm was small, and rival to a bigger farm in town that was owned by a bigger family. Because of all the labor involved in farm work, Uranvan and Faerlunal needed more workers in order to expand and turn a profit, and since they couldn’t afford to hire anyone, they needed to have children so they could help when they were old enough.

After some years of trying, Faerlunal finally became pregnant. Despite the fact that she was with child she still had to work hard alongside her husband to keep the farm alive. Throughout her pregnancy nothing seemed to be wrong, but when the time came for her to give birth, complications arose. A midwife was summoned to help her, and she gave birth to two healthy twin girls. The complications, however, had taken their toll, and a few hours later Faerlunal passed away. Still, she lived long enough to give her daughters their first names – Erfanebal and Kaerneba. Uranvan mourned as is proper in Gnomish society, but realized he had to stay strong as well to keep his new family alive. He gave the girls their second names, making them Erfanebal Janlena Fenow and Kaerneba Dalanna Fenow. In honor of his late wife, he chose to refer to them primarily by the names she had given them, and everyone else in the town followed suit.

As the twins grew up, the family continued to struggle, and the girls proved how different they were from each other despite their birth. Kaerneba was content to help their father with the farm work, perfectly happy with the goings on of the town and her place in them. Erfanebal, however, was not. She found the work involved with her family’s trade boring, preferring to wander in the woods and spend her time alone there. She had few friends, and though she was kind to everyone she met, she didn’t mind it. Kaerneba would often try to make her help with the work just as much as she did, though Uranvan had already failed, which often resulted in arguments that sent Erfanebal into the woods to fare for herself for a few days. One such incident resulted in the only nickname Erfanebal ever got. She was climbing trees, and Kaerneba saw fit to come find her and drag her back to her work. However, no matter how hard Kaerneba tried to pull her sister down, she hung on tight. From then on her sister called her “Clawfoot.” Despite the differences between the two of them, however, the sisters were and continue to be very close, though neither of them would ever admit it.

Life continued as it had for all of their childhood and into their adolescence. By the time Erfanebal hit puberty, she had learned to fare for herself very well. She also began to discover that she was not only attracted to boys, as expected, but girls as well. Love is very much encouraged in Gnomish society, so she tried very hard to be in relationships with several other girls and boys. Each attempt failed. Because of Gnomish views on love, this wasn’t as awkward as it might have been, and even though each attempted relationship did not end happily her promiscuous actions thereafter were generally accepted. Kaerneba was the exact opposite. As she grew older, she decided to seek a husband who would also be content to farm just as she was.

Then, shortly after they turned 30 (human age equivalent – 15), Erfanebal was wandering in the woods and went further than she had ever gone before or intended to go. She lost track of where she was, and by accident, stumbled across the grove of a local Druid. The Druid, a half-elf –half-gnome woman named Eden, was interrupted in her workings by Erfanebal’s arrival. She was shocked and actually impressed that someone had stumbled upon her by accident, so instead o f being angry at the interruption, she invited Erfanebal to stay for a while and share food with her. As they ate, Eden learned of the girl’s love of nature, and began to suspect that she might have a deeper connection to it. A few hours later, Eden helped Erfanebal find her way back home, then slipped silently back into the forest. A few days passed uneventfully. Erfanebal tried to tell her sister and father about the encounter, but they didn’t believe her, as no Druids had been known to be living in the area for hundreds of years. Then, unexpectedly, Eden showed up on their doorstep and asked to speak to Erfanebal and her father. After being invited in, she explained to them both that she thought Erfanebal had the potential to become a powerful Druid, and that she’d like to take her away to train and become part of the Druidic Order. Uranvan pressed her to be more specific, but she refused, telling him that the goings on of the Druids, especially how to become one, were guarded secrets. Frustrated, he told her he’d have to think about it, and bid her to leave. She did so, promising to return for an answer in three days.

Erfanebal desperately wanted to go with Eden and become a Druid, and pleaded with her father to let her. He had never exercised any such control over her before, but now he was worried. Despite the fact that he was closer to Kaerneba, he loved both his daughters, and did not want to send either of them into a life he knew nothing about. While he thought about it, Erfanebal left the house and hid from him in the woods. Over the next three days she would show up at home for only a few minutes, making clear to him that she was upset, then would vanish back into the forest. He knew it would be foolish to try and find her, and though he didn’t want to admit it, he also understood that to prevent her from going would be to make her miserable. So with a heavy heart, when Eden returned, he told her he would allow Erfanebal to go. Eden thanked both him and Erfanebal, who had come back home to hear Uranvan’s decision, and told them she would return in the morning to fetch her. Erfanebal spent that final evening at home with her family. Kaerneba was upset and tried to argue with her about it, but their father stopped them, and she spent the rest of the night trying to understand and accept it. In the morning, before her sister left, she gave her a new name – Pinabaera, and though Erfanebal accepted it as a gift, she has never used it. When Eden arrived, Erfanebal bid her family farewell, leaving her life there as well as all her belongings behind.

The Druidic training took several years, and was very dangerous. She learned with others, and not all survived the trials they were put through. She, however, did so bravely, proving her faith in nature itself. At the age of 40 (human equivalent 20), she was initiated into the Druidic Order. She also called an animal companion to her, choosing a Badger, whom she calls Gulnar, and chose a new name for herself – Tanisevania. Thereafter she would go by no other name; abandoning all the others she had been given. Now “graduated,” she had a choice to make. She could stay in the area of her birth, also near Eden, and await orders from her superiors. Or, she could strike out on her own, traveling the world to find a place she felt comfortable in, where she would then create her own grove to tend and protect.

Tanisevania chose the latter, and after bidding Eden farewell, she set off to travel the continent with Gulnar and find a place for herself in the world.

What I would rather be doing right now

It is absolutely D E D here at work right now. I wish I had brought the PHB and my dice so i could roll up Tanisevania's character sheet. Ugh. I checked with Heather, who's DMing the next game, about what she wants us to do for rolling up our characters, and making her character sheet is all I have left to do. So I wish I had the stuff to do it now. I brought my sketchpad and a book to work, like usual, but I don't feel like drawing yet and I think if I start reading I will pass out. Hopefully I feel like drawing later though. I think I'll start on a piece of some of the NPCs that we've picked up and are travelling with the party....originally that picture was going to include Amberwind, Dahlin, and Laezon, but we recently found out that Laezon is a bad bad man, so I'm not sure if I want to draw him after all. I should do a group piece featuring Amberwind, Dahlin, Jozan, Enta and Shileilagh, but I haven't been able to give me a description of Shileilagh at all, even though I've asked him twice. Maybe I'll start it and leave a space blank for her, and harrass him about it some more. But I should also get the pic over with soon, before we find out that someone else we're travelling with is a bad bad person. *sigh* Oh our group. I was really happy with last night's session though, even though my character managed to get herself arrested again. There was lots of drama, and information was finally shared between all, which created some more drama, but I think everybody roleplayed very well and despite a few ADD moments we were really productive. I'm a little annoyed that some of us have been left behind for a battle that's about to take place, but our characters didn't know that part of our mission would result in an immediate battle, so mleh. I just wanna get our current mission over with and go back to the Island.

Speaking of, here's what Zoey plans on doing as soon as we get done with this/back to the Island:

~ Make sure her mom is okay (for which I need our DM to answer my e-mails! ><)
~ Go shopping for furnishings, etc. for the Island
~ Start making plans for her and Tharf's wedding
~ Bury the Labrys
~ Plant Enta's gift (if Tharf is ready to do that)

I also had a great idea, well, what I hope will be a great idea, for how to handle food for the wedding. If Dahlin is still around when it happens, she would ask him to cast Hero's Feast a couple times, and that should provide plenty of high-quality food for everyone. It'd be a lot simpler than hiring a chef, especially since there is no kitchen on the Island, and she wants to have it there. Oooh, and I can't wait to see what the thing Enta gave Zoey and Tharf grows into when planted. Enta's a Druid, and created this heart-shaped form of vines and things, and said that when they plant it it will grow into something special. It would probably be in our best interest to plant it soon, so it doesn't get destroyed in all the crazy shit we get ourselves into, but if Tharf wants to wait until the wedding Zoey would be fine with that. I'll have to talk to my girlfriend about it. And I need to harass Wayne about what kinds of things Zoey would need to buy for a Gnomish wedding. I think Zoey would know generally what they'd need, since she grew up in a temple of Garl Glittergold, and even though Sheyanna Flaxenstrand presides over marriage rites I'm pretty sure they still take place in Garl's temple. Sooooo yeah.

Things I need to do:

~ Harass Wayne about Gnomish wedding stuff (what to buy, who to hire, etc.)
~ Harass Wayne about Shileilagh's description
~ Harass Wayne about the Sendings Zoey's trying to get Dahlin to cast to her mother
~ Ask Kel if Tharf would want to plant Enta's gift now or wait
~ Ask Kel if Tharf would mind getting on with the wedding as soon as possible, or if she wants to wait until after all this craziness is over
~ Create a character sheet for Tanisevania

Aaaaaand now I'm going to go try to do something else. Damn my not being obsessive enough to bring all that stuff with me. I pout.

Early DnD Thoughts

Soooo its early, and I'm at work, and I haven't slept much, and here I am blogging again. Who's surprised, really?

I was listening to the Elfquest soundtrack on the way in this morning, and I started thinking about my Druid, though I tried to prevent myself from doing so yesterday so I can play Zoey right today But my girlfriend was reading part of "Kendermore" last night to help me fall asleep, and she read a part with the character Gisella, and I realized that Gisella's confident sexuality is kinda how I want to play Tanisevania's sexuality (though she won't use sex as a payment method). She's also bisexual, so her options are completely open as to who she may be attracted to. I'm just afraid this is going to be really awkward for me to play, as my character will be hitting on other characters that my FRIENDS will be playing ^^; Eep. I think I'll be able to do it if I do a good deal of it on secret paper though. Hopefully Heather will be okay with that. I was also thinking this morning about what would happen if she got preggers, as that might easily happen. I think she'd choose to have the baby, as she sees all life as precious and Gnomes value children (since they don't pop them out so often), but she wouldn't want to keep it. I think instead she'd go back to her father's home to give birth, and leave the baby with her sister to find a family for. .....I know, its obsessive, but its good to have a plan for these things.

Okay, now back to Zoey. For realsies. I've actually thought about Zoey in relation to children, and I think she'd want to have kids, but probably hasn't really thought about it since its not biologically possible between her an Tharf. Soooo yeah. I can't wait until the campaign is over and I can assume they live happily ever after on the island. There's just so much drama. And in a way that's good, because the drama in-game is distracting me from my real-life drama and keeping me sane, but it will feel so nice to start fresh with a new character. Gah, no more of that! Anyway, I was doing a bunch of roleplay stuff via e-mail with a couple other players, because we just took this 2-3 month journey in game and didn't really roleplay out what our characters would be doing. Thankfully I got all of that done with yesterday, so I'm all set to start right from when we land at our destination. That makes me smile. And we're starting early today, and ending early, so I should get enough sleep afterward *knock on wood* One thing that bothers me though is that Zoey didn't receive a reply from her mother after having Dahlin, the new party cleric, cast a Sending to her. The only thing I intended to do on the trip was to send another one, and my DM hasn't gotten back to me about that in e-mail. So I think I'll just figure out what words she would send while I'm here at work and have them ready for when we get there tonight. I guess then that I lied, I'm not all set to start, but still.

Oh, and one plan of Zoey's I need to write down before I stunningly forget. She's really attached to the weapon she got from her mentor, called the Labrys, but recently she keeps getting weapons that are far more badass and effective. She doesn't want to stop using the Labrys in favor of any other weapon, but she wants to inflict as much damage as possible. So she's also spent time on the voyage comparing the three weapons she might use as her primary one, including the Labrys. By the end of the voyage, she doesn't appear to have made a decision, but she really has. She would never admit that the Labrys isn't the best choice, so she's basically convinced herself that she needs to stop using it "for its own safety" ^^; She recently just got it back after it was destroyed in battle, so now that its all shiny and fixed, it would make sense in her twisted mind that this would be protecting it. So assuming we survive what we're getting into now, she'd take the Labrys back to the Island afterward and bury it somewhere on the grounds. She needs to buy or borrow a shovel to do this, and will do it by herself, at night, so nobody else knows where it is. She'd probably tell Tharf, but no one else. And she'd further validate this by assuming she will pass the weapon down to someone else in time, like her mentor passed it to her.

And now I'm gonna go find something else to do, as I probably shouldn't be on the computer here.

Back to Zoey

Killing time at work doing DnD stuff again. Why is it that the only time I seem to be able to blog is while I'm at work? (answer: because at home I spend time with my lovely lady and watch lots of The L Word ^^; )

Anyway, tomorrow we're gaming again so I need to get back into Zoey's head. I've just been spending so much time on Tanisevania lately, I feel like I need to go back over what I came up with for her so I'll still play her right. Its dorky, I know, but I feel like I have to do it. After all, my current little rageful Barbarian is much different than my future, hopefully peaceful Druid. So I brought my Zoey folder with me today and hopefully I'll have time to do that.

I should probably start now, actually, while its quiet here. Sooooo yeah. Pie.

Races of Stone - Tanisevania

Here's the "Roleplaying Application" answers for my future character Tanisevania. I'll need to copy and paste this into a .doc file for my computer later, but since I have time now, I figure I might as well type them up in here. So yeah. These are from Races of Stone, in the Gnome section.

Arts & Crafts ~ Tanisevania plays the drum as a hobby, and has a cheap but decently made one that she uses when she wants to. Though she is not a bard, she does this because of her society's encouragement of the arts. She has had no formal training because of her family's economic status.

Technology & Magic ~ She sees magic as a part of illusion, like most Gnomes, but does not see that as a bad thing necessarily. She thinks that there is truth and good in divine magic (and some forms of arcane, like Bardic and sorcery) because it is given, not taken. As such, she tends to turn her nose up at any form of magic that has to be learned.

Love ~ She has little interest in relationships, at least long-term ones. She would much rather just be with whoever she wants to be with, then move on to someone new, flirting openly when she is interested in someone. In the past, she has had a few "flings" and one-night stands with both men and women, but she ended all current ones when she left for her training.

War ~ She is a pacifist but understands that violence is sometimes necessary, as it is in nature. When in battle she prefers to end it as quickly as possible and not go into melee combat personally, summoning creatures to do that for her.

Death ~ She thinks that the afterlife is probably too complicated for any mortal to understand, but that some kind of it probably exists. She does not seek to make her mark on the world so that she'll be remembered, but would rather improve the world for nature itself and not worry about her own name. She appears to be comfortable with the concept of death, but if asked about her mother's death, she becomes visibly uncomfortable and won't say much about it. This is because she feels responsible for it, though no one else blames her. She also thinks that mourning is a very personal thing, so she would not impose a Gnomish funeral on any non-Gnome. If someone near that was Gnomish died, she might consider giving them a Gnomish burial/funeral, but that would still depend on the circumstances.

Society & Culture ~ She is the daughter of a struggling, yet technically middle-class, farmer. Her father struggles because his wife is no longer there to help him, so he has only himself and his daughters for labor, and he is rival to the other farmer in town, who has a bigger family and bigger, more prosperous farm. Her sister helps their father out much more than she does, as she finds it tedious, preferring nature and wild plantlife to the controlled plantlife of farming. She is discontent with her life and place in the Gnomish class system, leaning personally towards categorization as Rebel.

Other Races ~ She is friendly to all races, including typically "evil" ones, knowing that there is both good and evil in all people, just as there is in nature. However, she is especially friendly to elves and half-breeds because of the Druid who brought her into the Druidic order.

Religion ~ She believes in the possibility of deities really existing, but doesn';t dwell on it or practice religion, preferring to revere the natural world because it is something she can see and touch. However, she does not think others gullible for believing in the Gods, as she does admit they might exist.

Mythic Origins ~ She believes that not all magic is bad or untruthful, and it can be used to good ends, though in her culture it is used mostly to conceal. She wants to show the goodness of magic, at least divine magic, through her use of it as a Druid.

Legends ~ She has no interest in the Giant Killer legends, but is amused by others that deal with explaining natural occurrences.

Names ~

Her given name: Erfanebal Janlena Pinabaera Fenow

Erfanebal = given by her mother
Janlena = given by her father
Pinabaera = given by her sister, right before she left for her Druidic training
Fenow = family name

Her "earned" name (nickname): Clawfoot ~ a derogatory nickname given to her by her sister, stemming from an incident in their childhood in which Tanisevania was climbing trees and her sister tried and failed to pull her down to make her do farmwork.

Taken name: Tanisevania (which is all she goes by now)

Her sister's name: Kaerneba Dalanna Fenow

Her father's name: Uranvan "Spade" Fenow

Her mother's name: Faerlunal Fenow

I also plan on taking lots and lots of Feats from Races of Stone. There's a lot in there that focus on the Gnomes' natural connection to earth, and since she's a Druid, I plan on playing that up. So here's what I want to take, though not necessarily in the order I'm going to take them ~

Burrow Friend
Earth Sense
Earth Adept
Earth Master
Heighten Spell (not in RoS, but needed for the next one)
Earth Spell
Stone Form

OMG yay badgers!!!!

I just read over the Druid stuff, and I can have a badger animal companion right from the start!!!! YATTA!!!! *does a little happy dance even though she's at work*

It looks like the Mentor stuff I came up with will still work too, but that's not nearly as exciting. It was pretty ambiguous as to how one gets inducted as a Druid, actually. Maybe I'll change the wording of it to make sure it works even if I'm wrong, but I think it'll be okay.

I must go back through all those potential names I listed and pick one for the badger now. Yay yay yay!!!

EDIT:: I went back to the list and picked a name - Gulnar. I liked that a lot originally for my character, but didn't think it fit her personality, but I think its perfect for her badger. Huzzah! So yay for Tanisevania and Gulnar *dances again*

Killing time with DnD

Sooooo I work a desk job at a local Inn, and its winter now, so business is relatively slow. We desk people are allowed to bring in work to do, things to read, etc. for when its not busy, and I've totally been working on my new character like crazy. Yesterday I brought Races of Stone with me and went through all the "Roleplaying Application" questions in the Gnome section, as well as looked at all the shiny new feats and set up what feats my character will be taking ^^; It pretty obsessive, I know, but I need to do something creative or else I'll go nuts and this is something that needs to get done eventually anyway. Besides, the sooner I get work done on her, the longer I'll have to think about her before the game starts, and the better I'll play her when it does.

There's a big change I had to make since going through the Roleplaying questions, though. I originally planned for Tanisevania's father to be part of the Rebel class of Gnomes, using that as the reason they were so poor. Unfortunately, I appear to have forgotten what the Rebel class means, so there was no way that was going to work. So now I've positioned her father as a farmer, technically middle-class, but still struggling because he only has himself and his two daughters to support his farm (and in their town there is another farmer with a bigger family, thus more workers, thus more success). Other than that everything's pretty much unchanged. I'll post all that I came up with here when I have time to type it up. I could do it now, but I left the paper I wrote it all down on in Races of Stone, which I left at home today.

Today I brought the PHB with me, as I need to go over the Druid stuff again. I'm not rolling her stats up yet, but I need to reread it to make sure that what I came up with for her Mentor still makes sense. One of the other players in my current campaign seems to think that potential Druids are brought into the Order by a group of people, not just one. He's thinking of old-school DnD rules, I think, but I wanna double check anyway. That and I need to think about what kind of animal companion she has starting out (I don't think she can have a badger at first level, but I want her to focus on burrowing animals from the start, so yeah).

I've been doing lots of stuff with my current character, Zoey, too. Last session, we took a 2-3 month trip to get to a specific place, and kinda skipped over what we all would have been doing in that time. So I'm taking care of that via e-mail with my DM and some of the other players. Generally, what she'd be doing is comparing the three most special weapons she has through sparring with others and just studying them. But she is also doing some other roleplay stuff regarding two other PC's and one of the NPC's. So yay for e-mail. I'm doing some art right now of her comparing the weapons, which is fun. Our DM designed two of them, and one of them is the weapon she inherited from her Mentor and holds very dear to her heart. So the idea of switching primary weapons is hard for her. But I'm excited to see how my renditions of his weapons turn out, and he designs weapons that looks much cooler than mine.

And now off I go to actually do my job *nervous laughter*

New Druid character info, more organized

I went back through my notes about my next character, who's going to be a Druid, and organized it. Go me. Anyway, all this is subject to change because a) I dunno what our DM is going to set up as our starting situation and b) I still plan on going through the Races of Stone book and answering all the roleplay development questions to make her a deeper character. I also still need to come up with some information, mostly specific stuff about her class choices and names and such (since the name she uses isn't her given one). So despite that, here's what I've got :)

~ Taken name – Tanisevania (Tah-nihss-eh-vah-nee-ah)

~ Class – Druid

~ Race – Gnome

~ Sex – female

~ Gender – female

~ Orientation – bisexual

~ Alignment – Neutral Good

~ Appearance – Thick, light brown hair (use hair color like in “The Calling”), worn long and loose with some braids in it, falling to the small of her back. Round, almost circular blue-green eyes. Really big nose. Not very pretty but kind and sweet-looking. Short and plump (yay BBW!). Has some freckles across the bridge of her nose, on her cheeks, and shoulders. Wears mostly leathers and earthy-colored cloth, but also bares a lot of skin whenever possible. Also sometimes decorates her skin with “temporary tattoos” like henna or woad. Has no piercings but likes jewelry, wearing anklets, bracelets, and necklaces when she feels like it.

~ Backstory – Raised in a large-ish Gnome town by her father, a member of the Rebel class of Gnomes who makes his living and supports his family as a sort of jack-of-all-trades. Her mother died in giving birth to her and her twin sister. Her sister is much more domestic and “settled” than she is, content to live in the town and interact with others. As a child, Tanisevania would always escape to the woods to distract herself from the struggle of her family’s life. Eventually in her wanderings there she stumbled across a Druid’s grove, interrupting the Druid’s workings. Luckily the Druid, a Half-Elf Half-Gnome woman in her middle-age, was a kind person, and instead of chastising her for the interruption she sat down and talked to her. Through this she learned that Tanisevania had a deep connection to nature, and that her life was not as she wanted it. She sent the young Gnome home, but met her again a few days later, as she came to her house to offer to teach her the Druidic ways. Tanisevania immediately wanted to, but at first her father resisted, insisting that he be given time to think about it. Even though he was closer to his other daughter, he loved them both, and wasn’t sure he wanted to let either of them leave to pursue a life he knew nothing about. After a few days of watching her, though, he decided it was for the best, and Tanisevania left to study with the Druid. She took a relatively average length of time to complete her training, surviving all the trials easily, and upon her initiation into the Druidic Order she took her new name, abandoning all others she had been given. Almost immediately, she set off to find a new place to settle and create a grove of her own. She’ll be on this search when the game starts, unless our DM has other plans.

~ Personality – She’s very kind and willing to help others, but still distant, not wanting to give out too much information about herself. She prefers to be alone but will not resist if she finds herself in a group of people. Loud noises bother her, and she greatly dislikes people with obnoxious laughs. However, she does not share this discomfort, preferring to appear completely adaptable to every situation.

Ta da! Yay for wasting time doing DnD stuff at work.

Plan to "catch" Soriah

Okay, in game right now, Zoey is looking for her friend Soriah (who is going through a very difficult time right now), but can't seem to find her anywhere - except at the fighting tournaments. However, even though she sees her fighting there, she can never seem to find her afterward. Now she's going to seek out Soriah's master/lover Stormraven, even though she doesn't want to, to see if knows how to find her or if she's at least been talking to him.

If that fails, here's what she's going to do: She is going to try entering the tournament herself, and request to fight Soriah.

Yes, I totally posted this just because I don't want to forget. Go me.

Two things/ideas and such

So, because my current character, Zoey, hates Goblins so much, I suddenly find the idea of a Gnome and Goblin in love hilarious. So in order to express that, I drew this:

http://comethime.deviantart.com/art/Oh-So-Forbidden-73526541

I was originally going to pair this random Goblin woman with a random Gnome woman, but I decided it would be more fun to pair her with my old character Nyx. Nyx, seen there on the right, is a sorceress who was on a quest to save her mother from an evil half-elf wizard who killed her father, kidnapped her mother, and thus left her parentless. What happened to her was left unresolved because that game died, so I decided to bring her into this idea. Here's what I think happened: even though Nyx fought valiantly to bring down the evil wizard and rescue her mom, she failed. Somehow she escaped with her life, and because she was so distraught over her failure, her powers as a sorceress just stopped working. In her pain, she retired to a small city comprised of many races and ended up joining a brothel there, hiding from anyone who might recognize her in her new, very-unlike-her lifestyle (she's a lesbian, so none of her former party members would likely expect to find her in a brothel that caters to men). The Goblin lady, who I imagine is a fighter, somehow caught wind of her story and went looking for her, hoping to get her to help with her own quest (dunno what that is, but hell, this is still a rough idea). After some time, she finds her, and they are attracted to one another. Awww. Still, it takes some convincing for Nyx to agree to join her. I also think Nyx may be preggers from one of her last clients, because of a picture a drew a very long time ago that seemed to come out of nowhere - http://comethime.deviantart.com/art/Motherhood-34251338

So yeah. That's a start for her story at least. Once I have it fleshed out more I think it would be fun to actually write out.

I also need to start thinking about my next character. My friend Heather, who's married to our current DM, is going to be running the next campaign. We might be getting close to the end of our current campaign, so I guess I better get cracking. Here's what I have decided for my next character so far:

~ Gnome
~ female
~ Druid
~ BBW

I'm playing a Druid this time because I'm still going along with my plan to play alphabetically through the core classes that I haven't played yet. So since I've played many clerics, after barbarian would be druid. Huzzah! The more I think about it, the more excited I realize I am to play a Druid. Anyway, here's some stream-of-consciousness now for idea for her:

I think she would have grown up in a usual Gnome community, maybe lower middle class or poor, or the daughter of a member of the Rebel class or something. Her mother might be dead, and thus she was raised by her father....who might be struggling to keep both of them fed and housed, if they're poor, that is. I figure then that she exhibits a love of nature at a very early age, it being where she goes to escape the frustrations of her life. Her talents in regard to nature begin to surface, and then maybe this catches the eye of a solitary Druid in the area, probably a woman (for fun story purposes, since she lacks a mother figure). Maybe she even stumbles across the Druid's grove by accident. Anyway, the Druid then approaches her father and offers to train her in the Druidic arts and such, and for economic reasons, her father agrees. She is given a choice though, and she chooses to go with the Druid. She spends however long it takes learning from her mentor, and then becomes part of the Druidic order. Yay for her. I think I'll have her have set up her own grove before the game starts and have lived there for a few years already, but then she would need a reason to be adventuring....maybe I'll have her start adventuring to find the perfect place for her grove. As for her appearance, she's definitely going to be plump and big because I haven't ever played a character who is BBW from the start. I think she shall have thick dark brown hair, and bright green eyes, and of course a really prominent nose. She'll dress in leathers and bare quite a bit of skin despite the fact that it might make others uncomfortable. I figure her mentor could instill that confidence in her. She'll have tattoos in shades of brown too, if that's okay with the Druid stuff in the PHB. I really need to look that up. I think she might also be bisexual, since I've been playing strict lesbians for a while now. And I dunno what to pick for alignment. Maybe Chaotic neutral or neutral good. (pause to read things) ...I'm thinking neutral good now. And after reading the beginning of the Druid section, it doesn't look like Druids are required to have sacred groves, so maybe she'll just be looking for a place to settle. I imagine that if she was poor, she'd have led a hard life and wouldn't want to be reminded of it by settling near her hometown, even if she is on good terms with her father.

Now for some possible names! I figure she has a birth name that's pretty long, since she's a Gnome, but she would pick a new name for herself upon becoming a Druid and just go by that.

Yuri - means "lily" in Japanese, and "earth worker" in Russian. Japanese meaning also refers to girl/girl love. Would be good for the dual meaning.

Adya - "the first, Mother Earth" in Sanskrit. Kinda pompous to name my Druid that though.

Horiana - "earth worker" in Greek. Nice, but could lead to "whore" jokes.

Jirina - "earth worker" in Greek. Maybe.

Urvara - "fertile earth" in Sanskrit. Very nice.

Eilona - "oak tree" in Hebrew. May be too close to "Ehlonna" though.

Kaleena - "rowan tree" in Russian. Maybe.

Nyssa - a tree type in Greek, and a town that was in Asia minor. Not sure how I feel about naming her after a place that actually existed.

Gulnar - "pomegranate flower" in Afghan. Might change it to Gulnara or Gulnari or something like that.

Rimona - "pomegranate" in Hebrew.

Acantha - "thorn" in Greek. Nice.

Admete - "untamed" in Greek. Also nice.

Dorcia - "doe/gazelle" in Greek. Would be fitting I suppose.

Evania - "serene" in Greek and "swift" in Gaelic. I like the double meaning and what languages it comes from.

Melantha - "dark flower" in Greek.

Melitta - "honey bee" in Greek.

Phillida - "foliage" in Greek.

Tanis - "serpent lady" in Greek and Phonecian. Nice because of how serpents have been equated with feminine power.

Xylia - "of the wooded land" in Greek. Very appropriate, methinks.

.....And I think that's it for now. Yay for long entries :)