RE: Black Zenith [Adventure RPG / Chapter Three: Forgotten Whispers]
12-10-2013, 03:25 AM
(This post was last modified: 12-10-2013, 03:46 AM by MasterBlade.)
Character Motivation:
(May contain backstory details only discussed with GM IC'ly)
TL/DR Version
(May contain backstory details only discussed with GM IC'ly)
SpoilerShow
Here is Thunderpaw, a mercenary with a troubled past. Raised by literal guardians of his village, he was trained to be a heroic protector of his people who would otherwise run from danger due to instinct. With his upbringing came an ideology to become something greater; the local Humans spoke of knights and heroes and he wanted to become one. So he leaves, eager to find a lord to squire under and prove his mettle to the world.
This fails, because flighty rabbits are known to make shitty heroes.
Cue the present day. Thunderpaw's will has been broken over the years, with the closest ideal line of work being a mercenary guarding caravans from thieves. It is at this time that he takes a job from a shady man, work is work after all. He beats down an old stranger under suspect circumstances, takes a parcel he tried desperately to secure, and took journey to a back-alley shop without any thought of the consequences.
He is stopped by a party of two, survivors of those who tried to stop the shady man. They sucessfully manage to respark a long-dead conscience, and the three form a plan to scour the place Thunderpaw had been hired to deliver his parcel to. They thwart the plans of a local cult, find evidence of their evil intent, and mange to save the local lands because of it. For the first time in a long time, the mercenary feels what its like to be a hero.
At the cost of one of his new allies. Who only died because he wanted so much to be the "hero" of the county, to find the proof he needed. There was little joy, and the quest to stop an evil became a journey of vengeance instead. He joins another group making plans to strike at the cult's supposed base of operations, and plays his part jumping into battle with all the fury he could muster.
And then, in the center of the vile keep, while the others are distracted with their various plans, Thunderpaw finds a lone spirit. Through discussion, it claims him to be some sort of destined hero, gives him a quest to take it to find and destroy some unspoken terror. The mercenary agrees, and with the help of the entire party makes it out of the ruins.
But only barely. In the fight to escape, and in his careless fighting, Thunderpaw becomes gravely wounded. Mistaking drugged wine for a source of healing, he sends himself into a coma. And in his dreams, he sees a prophecy. He feels the world's creation, he sees the world's undoing, and he fights a hopeless battle against an unspeakable horror. And when all looked lost, a foreboding figure gave him a single command. Find his brethren, and stop the calamity from repeating itself.
The mercenary awakes, and with technique learned from his visions manages to pierce the dark thoughts flowing through his companion. They then regroup, and make plans to lunge into the cult's works once more. Another ruin, another siege. But Thunderpaw no longer sees himself as a hireling sticking around for a fight, nor a man seeking vengeance for a fallen brother. He sees himself as the hero he had wanted to be all along, on a quest from fate he must wither. He takes things more seriously; instead of blowing gold on alcohol, he uses his boon to get equipment. He finds and apologizes to the beaten old man for his actions days before. He prepares to lunge headfirst into the heart of evil once more to stop their ploys with new power in hand.
And then, his path goes downhill. The party fights a traitor threatening their quest, but he is unable to beat her(it?) down. He lunges headfirst into a tribe of dungeon dwellers as he did, which only results in him falling to the mercy of a vicious spell that wrecked havoc on his mind. Further still, he finds another spirit much like the one that had labeled him "destined hero", and his careless charge to save both was met by a near-brush with death. The life he had so often put into the line of danger thoughtlessly was a breath from being lost.
Though the wounds had been closed after the fight, and cheers were had by the others who came with him, Thunderpaw was left to contemplate with the scars the battle had left. He realized the costs of his careless fighting, otherwise lost in vengeance and remorse. His closest ally drove these thoughts further, remarking how big a target he was to the forces of evil. He realized how selfish his motivations to be a hero truly were. Fighting for glory nearly cost the world it's only chance of salvation, and the weight of his task finally caught up to him.
And so the hero became cautious. Too much so. Rather than strike from the front with his allies, he wormed his way to the rear where he would be in the least danger. Rather than charge headfirst into battle, he waited to make sure there would be no swift curse waiting to take him out in a single moment like it had before. Yet even then he could not bring himself to strike in vengeance against the witch that had troubled the party so; not because he wanted the party to fail, but because he didn't want the world to lose.
Crushed under the true burden of his "destined" role, the instinct of his people reemerged. He fled to make sure the spirits that had led him here would not fall into dark hands, breaking his vow of guardianship for what he believed to be the greater good. Not because it was heroic, but because he could not afford to die and leave the world without a savior.
He did not consider the plurality; that there could be others with similar thinking, that fate had meant for heroes rather than the one. For whenever fate guided its hand to lead its warrior along, he was the only one to perceive its call. He went alone into the shrine of the light spirit, and alone was declared its destined hero. He stood alone in the vision against the unimaginable darkness that threatened existence. The party might have found the sage that gave him calling, but Thunderpaw was the only one to hear the summons. So alone he holds the weight of the world, the only one that truly mattered in the grand scheme of destiny. Even if it wasn't true.
This fails, because flighty rabbits are known to make shitty heroes.
Cue the present day. Thunderpaw's will has been broken over the years, with the closest ideal line of work being a mercenary guarding caravans from thieves. It is at this time that he takes a job from a shady man, work is work after all. He beats down an old stranger under suspect circumstances, takes a parcel he tried desperately to secure, and took journey to a back-alley shop without any thought of the consequences.
He is stopped by a party of two, survivors of those who tried to stop the shady man. They sucessfully manage to respark a long-dead conscience, and the three form a plan to scour the place Thunderpaw had been hired to deliver his parcel to. They thwart the plans of a local cult, find evidence of their evil intent, and mange to save the local lands because of it. For the first time in a long time, the mercenary feels what its like to be a hero.
At the cost of one of his new allies. Who only died because he wanted so much to be the "hero" of the county, to find the proof he needed. There was little joy, and the quest to stop an evil became a journey of vengeance instead. He joins another group making plans to strike at the cult's supposed base of operations, and plays his part jumping into battle with all the fury he could muster.
And then, in the center of the vile keep, while the others are distracted with their various plans, Thunderpaw finds a lone spirit. Through discussion, it claims him to be some sort of destined hero, gives him a quest to take it to find and destroy some unspoken terror. The mercenary agrees, and with the help of the entire party makes it out of the ruins.
But only barely. In the fight to escape, and in his careless fighting, Thunderpaw becomes gravely wounded. Mistaking drugged wine for a source of healing, he sends himself into a coma. And in his dreams, he sees a prophecy. He feels the world's creation, he sees the world's undoing, and he fights a hopeless battle against an unspeakable horror. And when all looked lost, a foreboding figure gave him a single command. Find his brethren, and stop the calamity from repeating itself.
The mercenary awakes, and with technique learned from his visions manages to pierce the dark thoughts flowing through his companion. They then regroup, and make plans to lunge into the cult's works once more. Another ruin, another siege. But Thunderpaw no longer sees himself as a hireling sticking around for a fight, nor a man seeking vengeance for a fallen brother. He sees himself as the hero he had wanted to be all along, on a quest from fate he must wither. He takes things more seriously; instead of blowing gold on alcohol, he uses his boon to get equipment. He finds and apologizes to the beaten old man for his actions days before. He prepares to lunge headfirst into the heart of evil once more to stop their ploys with new power in hand.
And then, his path goes downhill. The party fights a traitor threatening their quest, but he is unable to beat her(it?) down. He lunges headfirst into a tribe of dungeon dwellers as he did, which only results in him falling to the mercy of a vicious spell that wrecked havoc on his mind. Further still, he finds another spirit much like the one that had labeled him "destined hero", and his careless charge to save both was met by a near-brush with death. The life he had so often put into the line of danger thoughtlessly was a breath from being lost.
Though the wounds had been closed after the fight, and cheers were had by the others who came with him, Thunderpaw was left to contemplate with the scars the battle had left. He realized the costs of his careless fighting, otherwise lost in vengeance and remorse. His closest ally drove these thoughts further, remarking how big a target he was to the forces of evil. He realized how selfish his motivations to be a hero truly were. Fighting for glory nearly cost the world it's only chance of salvation, and the weight of his task finally caught up to him.
And so the hero became cautious. Too much so. Rather than strike from the front with his allies, he wormed his way to the rear where he would be in the least danger. Rather than charge headfirst into battle, he waited to make sure there would be no swift curse waiting to take him out in a single moment like it had before. Yet even then he could not bring himself to strike in vengeance against the witch that had troubled the party so; not because he wanted the party to fail, but because he didn't want the world to lose.
Crushed under the true burden of his "destined" role, the instinct of his people reemerged. He fled to make sure the spirits that had led him here would not fall into dark hands, breaking his vow of guardianship for what he believed to be the greater good. Not because it was heroic, but because he could not afford to die and leave the world without a savior.
He did not consider the plurality; that there could be others with similar thinking, that fate had meant for heroes rather than the one. For whenever fate guided its hand to lead its warrior along, he was the only one to perceive its call. He went alone into the shrine of the light spirit, and alone was declared its destined hero. He stood alone in the vision against the unimaginable darkness that threatened existence. The party might have found the sage that gave him calling, but Thunderpaw was the only one to hear the summons. So alone he holds the weight of the world, the only one that truly mattered in the grand scheme of destiny. Even if it wasn't true.
TL/DR Version
SpoilerShow
The spirits in the crystals and sage man caused Bunny Knight's mind to break. Also being smacked around a lot probably didn't help.