Quest for the Gemgark

Throughout the world of Granbatla, there are many legends of powerful artifacts. These ancient mystical objects were hidden deep in well-guarded ruins by past civilizations, fearing the potential for disaster if even one of these items fell into the wrong hands.

For centuries, adventurers have sought these artifacts, and a few have even been recovered. Those who succeed in finding one are often immortalized as heroes in song, their names known throughout the land.

But even among these incredible artifacts, there is one that stands above them all. It has long been shrouded in mystery, with only a few stories that even hint at its description.

It is known only as the Gemgark, The Artifact With No Name. None are even sure what powers it possesses, but one thing is clear: any adventurer who were to retrieve it would be renowned beyond measure.

And that is why a few brave souls have gathered in the city of Klangsbor, following a rumor that the legendary artifact may be hidden somewhere nearby...

Hello, and welcome to Quest for the Gemgark! Those of you who were around for my late-night ramblings last night will know what this is. For those of you who weren't: basically, this is intended to be a narrative-driven roleplay. Something somewhere in between a D&D session and a Grand Battle.

To start with, some people are going to submit characters. Then, I'll mostly be hanging back and letting you guys write the story as you figure out what these characters are doing on their search for the legendary Gemgark! I may pop in with an occasional event and/or obstacle, but for the most part this is going to be a player-driven story. There's no real dice-rolling or mechanics to speak of; think of it as more along the lines of a single Grand Battle round without elimination.

The overall setting of the place is typical fantasy, but feel free to imply things about the world as a whole in your character profile. I've left this wide open because I know we've got some really creative people around here!

And with that explanation out of the way, here's the profile template!

Username: Entirely optional, seeing as I can see the name by your post. But stick it in anyhow if you want.
Name: Your character's name.
Race: Feel free to be creative here! Sure, you can be a human, elf, dwarf, vampire, or sentient fireball. But you can also be anything else you can think of! Just try to tie them into the setting somehow.
Gender: Male? Female? None? Both? Something else entirely? Note it here!
Text Color: Pick out a text color for your posts! This one's probably here for tradition more than any actual practical purposes.
Description: What does your character look and act like?
Inventory and Abilities: What does your character have on them? What can they do, either with our without their special equipment?
Biography: What was your character doing before they came to Klangsbor looking for the Gemgark? Why are they looking for it? Have they made allies who could potentially lend assistance? Or perhaps enemies who might hinder them?

I'm not putting any particular restrictions on characters; I'm counting on the potential players coming up with characters that they'll find interesting to write for. Feel free to plot amongst yourselves to come up with characters that would interact well together, too!

If there's a lot of interest in this, we can always try running another game and you can resubmit characters to that. Mostly I just want to do a "test run" of sorts with this one.

So! That's about all I have to say. Now submit your characters and let's see how this thing works out!

Players:
(Click the username for a quick link to the profile!)

MrGuy - Simple Learner Prototype BS-1 - #C73F17
Pharmacy - Festinger - #F03C02
Fabricati - Guan Yi - #FF1493
AgentBlue - Idealana - #106050
cyber95 - Sk'Karl Kss'Kr'Lin - #E6AD00
Anomaly - Aureole Elysia - #2C1C11

Expressing interest. A profile may conjure itself here at some point.

Name: Simple Learner Prototype BS-1
Race: Golem
Gender: None
Text Color: #C73F17
Description: SLPBS1 is a very vaguely humanoid creature made of ceramic. It is, in every sense of the word, crudely made-- from its misshapen, four-fingered left hand, to the rusted and battered musket replacing its right, to the uneven legs leaving it with a constant limp, to the cartoonish face imprinted in its head. This is capped off with the word "LEARN" written in a barely-legible scrawl above its eyes, a horrendously uneven and clashing paint job of red and teal, and various bits of bizarrely-shaped metal jutting out, apparently at random.

SLPBS1 understands enough of culture and language to hold a very basic conversation, perform business transactions, and not commit major crimes, but aside from that is rather unclear on most things (with the exception of a smattering of trivia acquired from the occasional book or song). It seeks primarily to learn, and is willing to do whatever it takes to reach that end; through what little experience it has, it realizes that helping others can often aid one in reaching a goal, but it hasn't yet gotten in a situation where it comprehends things such as loyalty or personal ideas. It has no name, no sense of gender, and only a small sense of relationships and obligation, the latter consisting mostly of "I will help them and they will help me back"; it does not quite understand the need for these yet. That said, it is exceptionally receptive to new ideas, and has little bias regarding them.

Inventory and Abilities: SLPBS1 carries around a large sack on its back, and not much else. In this sack, it places almost anything it comes across-- rocks and flowers picked seemingly at random, shiny objects, dead animals, books, discarded bottles. When it runs out of room in the sack, it typically discards all the contents on the ground, examines them for a few minutes, and then leaves.

In addition, an old musket is embedded in SLPBS1's right arm. It functions, albeit very poorly.

Biography: Deep within a dwarven labyrinth, in the ancient onyx halls of Burvon Steelsmash University, a student paced back and forth. He had four hours to complete a prototype for a proposed project, and he had roughly zero percent of the assignment done. Oh, concepts were rebounding in his head, certainly, but all of them half-baked, and none of them had been committed to paper yet. The constant ticking of the Deep Clock echoing through the halls only made him more and more aware of how if he didn't pull at least a Brass, he would certainly fail the course.

One idea, eventually, stuck out in his mind. He had always been interested in the concept of a Learning Machine, some sort of artificially-constructed being that could gain and apply knowledge and (in certain cases) even a personality. But he had never done much reading on the subject, preferring ale and womanizing to actually following up on things. He silently cursed himself for going into engineering at all, before being struck by a bolt of inspiration. If he were to create a brand new type of Learning Machine-- a simple one, to be sure, but one that could be used for simple tasks, or to teach children how to construct and operate their own-- then he would certainly succeed!

There was no time to acquire complex gears and sprockets and such, so instead, he made do with a supply of unused clay, an old musket, and the occasional bit of scrap thrown into the mixture to make it more rigid. Where one would normally place an elegantly-constructed magical computer, containing a core of pure diamond and with tiny runes carved into every circuit, he instead threw a clunky device together and stapled several pages from an encyclopedia into it. Finally, with only three hours left, he hastily assembled the creature, wrote the word "LEARN" in the still-wet clay, and shoved it into a forge to bake overnight. He inevitably failed the project, and disheartened, ordered his creation to leave him.

And with nothing to do but what its creator told him and what it had emblazoned on its forehead, the creature limped off into the mountains.

SLPBS1 first read of the Gemgark in the first book it found. As it learned more, the Gemgark's mysterious powers became a focus of obsession. Learning the powers and state of a completely enigmatic artifact would be the apex of learning-- and therefore, it must be pursued.

Username: Garuru
Name: Mununga
Race: Eldritch Portal Blob
Gender: None, referred to as it.
Text Color: #450086
Description: Mununga is a dark purple blob, constantly bubbling and oozing all over the place. It is surprisingly active for a blob, darting back and forth between seemingly random points. Just staring at its unstopping cacophony of fizzles, pops, and splortches is enough to drive one insane with irritation. Little is known about the material it is made of, but it has proven to be generally non-toxic and semiliquid, according to the rare few that has touched it and lived to tell the tale. Mununga is generally non-sentient, and appears to not be capable of communication.

This is because Mununga is actually more of a portal, one that allows the many Lovecraftian gods that reside in it to interact with this realm. The eldritch gods that it hosts are seemingly infinite, and every one of them can usually be seen clambering over dominance of the portal. Their personalities and appearances vary, but generally, they are horrifyingly single-minded in their quest for power. Every one of them are selfish and only wants the Gemgark for themselves, resulting in a lot of violent arguments inside Mununga. Occasionally, one will barely establish dominance for around 5 minutes, just long enough for it to partially exit the portal and explore the natural realm, before it is forcibly dragged back by the other greedy gods and destroyed. However, it cannot fully leave Mununga, or it will die. In its brief voray, it will be capable of communication and complete control over where Mununga can go.

Inventory and Abilities: Mununga has no "standard" items. However, within the depths of its body, it holds many eldritch gods. These gods are wildly varying, and they appear to hold jurisdiction over where Mununga goes and what it eats. Sometimes, you can see strange deformations appearing out of the blob, various oddities such as tentacles, mouths, and eyestalks. These are the eldritch gods, and this is the only way they can interact with the real world. Mununga is also capable of bringing objects inside of itself, but the objects usually won't last long unless the gods somehow cooperate and not destroy it accidentally.

Biography: Mununga first appeared on this planet as the result of a Satanic ritual gone horribly awry, at one of the darkest corners of Witchcraft, the Witch's College of Segusky. Witches had attempted to summon demons and have them do their bidding, and they succeeded... sort of. What resulted was a horrifying abomination that could neither be controlled nor destroyed. It proceeded to eradicate the Witch's College, aiming to devour the most powerful of magical artifacts. Once it was done with its meal, it simply swarmed the countryside, devouring anything that should happen to come across it. Last it was seen, its path appeared to head towards Klangsbor, perhaps in the pursuit of the artifact known as the Gemgark.

Expression of interest.

Username: your local Pharmacy

Name: Festinger

Race: Squishy Pathetic Human

Gender: MAN ENOUGH FOR YOU

Text Color: A shade of Flaming June (#F03C02)

Description:

A walking shell of a young man. Pallor skin. Sunken red eyes. Incredibly lanky thanks to genetics and skipped meals, but you can't tell anyway. Slouches when he walks. Speaks as though he accuses. Wears thick layered robes emblazoned with distinct symbols. All-in-all, looks like your generic cookie-cutter wizard.

Personality-wise, Festinger doesn't...seem to care. He is incredibly languid, listless, all terms of the word "apathetic" you could find in a thesaurus. It is almost as if he does not want to go on this journey - although he actively insists that he really (albeit in a "whatever" tone akin to what you might hear from a petulant teenager) wants to go on this quest. You could say he doesn't put his soul into things...

Inventory and Abilities:

...and that's because he is soulless - literally. Any emotion he feels would be considerably dulled, fear would be a small prick at his brain. If happiness was fireworks, he would feel a small burn. Anything pertaining to the soul and emotion would almost ineffective aganist him. Likewise, this often make surprise parties and dates a major frustration for him.

Festinger is an occultist, which means he is a paranormal wizard by definition. He can read incomprehensible runes, scry for secrets, summon outer-planar beings, and much more. Although he just been given the formal title of "occultist," so honestly he can't do much...yet.

Other than the robes on his back and some change in his pocket, he doesn't seem to carry anything else.

Biography:

"Once upon a time, there was this dickbag wizard who wanted everything. His life was already comfortable, but did he think it was enough, noooo. So like most typical (dickbag) wizards, he decided to jump through some ethical hoops and sell his unborn son's soul to the devil. And he didn't even got his wife's permission. God, what a douche."

At least that is what Festinger likes to say. Most of the time, he doesn't seem to be arsed about sharing his family history - although he greatly insists on the truth of the "soul to the devil" part. After all, he did decided to drop from wizard school (not that wizard school was any fun anyway) and risk his life and limb to find this mysterious Gemgark -

- to get his soul back, of course. Festinger greatly insists on this fact too.

Expression of interest maybe.

Nevermind, too busy

Name: Guan Yi
Race: Human
Gender: Female
Text Color: #FF1493
Description: To all appearances, Guan Yi is a typical cafe waitress. Uniform, loose and practical. Hair, black, and done up carefully to avoid hair getting on the food. Service, with a smile. But then there are the slight incongruities- in the kitchen, she can cut root vegetables by holding them steady in the air with one hand and chopping with the other; she balances ten plates without needing a tray and without spilling anything even if it's to multiple tables; she handles service that is still so hot as to burn with her bare hands without flinching. And God help you if you skip out on the check.

From city to city, from coffee shop to tea house to tavern, with a little backpack and a walking stick, Guan Yi delivers joy and pain in equal measure wherever she goes.
Inventory and Abilities: Guan Yi is a pain in the ass to fight in any direct fashion; that walking stick is a metal-shod quarterstaff which she gladly uses to hurt things and influence people. As the description might imply, she's no slouch with her bare hands, either, and, in fact, can hit you five times with them before you hit the ground wondering what hit you. Agility and manipulation are her main methods of combat.

As far as information gathering is concerned, eventually, everything passes the ears of the waitress. She hears rumors, and information, and gossips with other waitresses (Read: gently squeezes the information out of them in a subtle and encouraging fashion.)

She can cook, and cook decently. It was all part of the training.

She has two pieces of special equipment. One is that inside the quarterstaff is a small artifact- a self--scrolling scroll, containing motion detectors which tell her how she is progressing in the Art of Fighting. The other is her sash, which allows her to move at inhumanly fast speeds. She still hasn't gotten used to it, though, so she usually has to hesitate a little and re-orient herself after she uses it.

Biography: There exists, in many small places and towns, and slowly in the large cities, a set of small food shops marked with two signs. One openly proclaims them to be "The Tasty Scorpion", selling many sorts of food to people. The second one is more subtle.

This chain is actually an attempt by an old martial arts master to perpetuate the use of barehanded and weapon combat via the basic expedient of teaching it to those who serve there. Every head chef, a master. Every kitchen staff, great students.

And of course, everything eventually passes the ears of waitstaff...

When rumors reached the head of this particular and peculiar order- the Great Chef himself- He laughed, and cast his dice, and read the stars in a way only he knew how. He came up with a rather basic sort of rubric- The Gemgark would either come to a traveling student of their order, or not at all.

So the waitresses, and the cooks, and the chefs, all drew straws.

Guan Yi got the short one.

About how often would we be expected to update here once this starts? I've never done a grand battle type game before and probably won't have much free time for about the next month so or, but after that I should be fine.

Leeeserrrrfff!

Wow, that's quite a bit of interest! I'll probably have to turn some people away, but that's all right; it should be simple enough to start another game like this. So hang onto those character ideas if you don't get in!

About how often would we be expected to update here once this starts? I've never done a grand battle type game before and probably won't have much free time for about the next month so or, but after that I should be fine.

There's no particular time pressure; this is just for fun. It might even fizzle out after a while, but if people enjoy it before it does, I'll still count that as a success. And as I said above, it's not going to be a big deal to start another game along these lines. If your schedule is looking full in the immediate future, you might just want to wait for another one to open up.

Edited in.

Username: Who?
Name: Idealana
Race: Spitesprite
Gender: Spitesprites are secretive about their sexes, since most of them are androgynous. Idealana is female though!
Text Color: #106050
Description: The spitesprites are best described thus: if at some point liquid shadow itself was spilled into the sprite genetic pool, the result – androgynous, humanoid, flightless but lithe, with an uncanny ability to be unnoticed and unmemorable – would summarize them quite nicely. Idealana is a prime example of a spitesprite assassin, from the night-black hair cut to shoulder length down to the pale skin stained from charcoal camouflage. Because of their genetic talents, spitesprites are especially suited to being assassins and bounty hunters, and Idealana is especially so among their ranks. She is exceptionally tall for a sprite, and could almost pass for human - a fact that she both curses and relentlessly exploits. Her capacity for quick thinking and extraordinary creativity has earned her the title of “Thinker Idealana” – a name she resents for its implications of incompetency.
Then again, though, on the whole it doesn’t take a lot to make a spitesprite resentful. They are, true to their name, spiteful creatures – and host to a whole host of other negative emotions besides. They’re solitary, hard to get along with, aggressively self-sufficient and, well, resentful. But just you see, they will get the godsdamn job done.
In that regard Idealana is your standard spitesprite. Perhaps a little more open-minded and less touchy. On a good day. Maybe.
Inventory and Abilities: Part of a spitesprite’s natural ability is a kind of natural camouflage – if they so wish, it becomes difficult to focus on them or their immediate surroundings, effectively blocking themselves out in the mind’s eye. The more observers there are, the harder it is to maintain, and even without this limitation it can’t be sustained indefinitely. In addition, someone alert enough would be likely to recognize the mental effects of spitesprite invisibility, rendering the point of stealth moot. Aside from that, spitesprites themselves are light and agile, and where the assassins are concerned, strong as well.
Idealana’s weapon of choice is poison. She carries two types in several vials: one slow-acting that can incubate for up to a day before dropping the victim death, and one that stops the heart faster than a drag racer taking off. She carries two daggers and a spiked ring, with which she often enacts her poisonous deeds!
Biography: Gemgark resurfaced [][][] some parties would be quite pleased to have it found [][][]

Idealana was on vacation. A working one; taking on freelance jobs as opposed to the rigid contracts that ruled so many of her fellow assassins was a liberating course of action – and as her reputation preceded her in hurried whispers and shadowy, scuttling figures, a well-paying one. But one night, just after the mysterious poisoning of the regional incumbent Lord Waldroph, a note found itself wound around the cork of her celebratory wine.

It didn’t even have time to destroy itself before its audience was gone.

Username: omg im not giving u my personal information

Name: Sk'Karl Kss'Kr'Lin

Race: Lizardman

Gender: Male

Text Color: #E6AD00

Description:


Sk'Karl doesn't trust people. Hell, he barely trusts other lizardmen. He's a somewhat paranoid reptile, and doesn't like people to go near his stuff. He will work with others if he has to, but he'll try to keep them at a distance, and keeps a careful eye on anybody that surrounds him. He's a bit single-minded, and doesn't think about much other than the task at hand, and how others could be potentially, well, not necessarily plotting against him, but certainly how they could turn on him. Despite all this, he trusts his friends greatly. He doesn't have many acquaintances he would call a friend, but those he does he is actually willing to put his trust in.

Inventory and Abilities: He keeps his money in a pouch at his hip, and most of his other possessions in the sack on his back. Usually in his bag is a change of clothes, a number of security and defense scrolls, a flintlock pistol, a few daggers, and anything else he finds useful at the moment. The bag has a number of enchanments cast on it, including a permanent Bag of Holding enchantment so he can hold most of what he needs, and the security spells let him know if somebody other than him is touching the bag, as well as try to mentally dissuade them from continuing to touch it. The defense scrolls are mostly magical shields, and haste scrolls.

The strap attached to his tail has a clamp of sorts that a dagger can be fit into and he's pretty dextrous with it. He'd much rather opt for flight than fight, but when he does need to fight, having a third limb to hold a weapon is rather handy. He's decently skilled with the daggers, but his advantage is more in his ability to wield three at once than his ability to use them proficiently. He isn't a remarkable shot with his pistol, which is why he doesn't use it a lot, but it's rather intimidating and is a good tool for things like interrogation.

He wears a green jewel around his neck. It's a supposed magic artifact that was given to him by a friend when he was younger, but Sk'Karl doesn't know what it does, and in fact doubts it actually does anything at all. Still, it's his most valued possession.

Biography: Sk'Karl never really trusted others, even as a child. Still, when he did go to school, it was inevitable he would make some friends. Nobody he'd particularly trust, except for a human named Len Cromwell. Despite all odds, Sk'Karl and Len managed to be close friends, and the lizardman would actually share his secrets with him. Also uniquely for his friendships, it was a friendship that never ended.

Over the years, Len would often bring Sk'Karl along for treasure hunting. It never went well, and Sk'Karl was never much for adventure, but Len was so enthusiastic about it and it usually meant getting away from the people he didn't like, so he always went along with it. At least Len was smart. He either knew what he was doing, or really faked it well. Well, for a while. When they were 16, Len lost his right arm to a monster the two of them didn't quite expect in a cave. It was there that they also managed to acquire their very first treasure. A small, green jewel. Len gave it to Sk'Karl, mentioning that it contained a magic power. That was the last adventure they went on together, because missing an arm really hampered Len's abilities.

A few years later, Len decided to leave the town he and Sk'Karl grew up in to start a real career in adventuring. Sk'Karl was, well, unenthusiastic. For one thing, Len was his best (and only particularly close) friend. For another thing, Len only had one arm, albeit an arm he was rather talented in using. Sk'Karl wanted to go with, but Len knew his friend. Expeditions into local cleared out dungeons and rumored treasure locations was one thing, but there was know way the lizardman would handle a full life of adventuring. Len's father had been a talented adventurer, and it was in his blood, though. The desire to hunt for treasure and fulfill quests. Sk'Karl would probably hate adventuring just as much as Len would hate settling down for an uneventful life in one town. But hey, he'd make it back with souvenirs of sorts.

That was the last time Sk'Karl Kss'Kr'Lin saw Len Cromwell.

A year later, Sk'Karl set out for himself, also on a quest to be an adventurer of sorts. He didn't care about treasure, or helping others with their problems, but he went for it anyways, hoping that maybe he'd hear word of Len on his travels. Recently, he'd heard about the Gemgark. He didn't know what it did, but he knew it was very powerful, and very highly sought after. He also heard it was somewhere around Klangsbor.
If Len were to go after any treasure, it would be this. Surely it would be dangerous, but he'd find his best friend, or he'd die looking.

Name: Aureole Elysia

Race: Makari - a race of vaguely insectlike humanoids, bearing six limbs and the same number of eyes, but otherwise largely resembling a human. A very seldom-seen race about which little is known.

Or at least, that's what she'll say if you ask her. In truth, the "Makari" don't exist and she was, at one point, a fairly normal human.

Gender: Female

Text color: A shade of brown

Description:


Aureole's body is largely concealed other than her arms, part of her face and her feet, which somewhat look like a cross between a human's and an insect's. She wears gray-black clothing, including a very nice hat as well as a scarf covering her mouth and neck. The left half of her body is also covered in faintly-glowing purple runes, not nearly bright enough to illuminate much of anything or to shine through the fabric of her clothing.

Personality-wise Aureole is somewhat quiet, only speaking when addressed or when something is important enough to warrant it. It's not so severe that it's all that rare to hear her talk, but she's not exactly going to be spinning wild tales of adventure to pass the time during the journey. She doesn't like to talk about her past, and is never seen without the scarf covering half of her face. She's also incredibly determined to acquire whatever she has set as her goal, and will stop for very few things. She doesn't like to get in fights either - only if absolutely necessary will she engage an enemy head-on.

Additionally, she's a thief. Mostly she's interested in retrieving ancient artifacts and other magical items, and she rarely resorts to petty thievery or pickpocketing unless there's a good reason for it. She doesn't bother to bill herself as a "treasure hunter" (though this is an activity she often partakes in), but she's very good at avoiding the law and tries to stay out of trouble in general. Often spends weeks researching, searching for her next target, before leaping into action.

Inventory and Abilities: Foremost, Aureole carries four midnight-black daggers, red lines running up the middle of each, which are often sheathed on the sides of her pants. They have some limited magical properties - they never seem to dull even after long periods of use. They were also what resulted in her unnatural form in the first place - why that form was insectoid is anyone's guess. She also carries what appears to be a small bag, which, as could be expected from such a setting, is actually much larger on the inside than the ourside. Within are various gemstones, artifacts, and other things of worth, although most of these things she does not carry around with her. Plenty of gold, should the need to purchase anything arise. Also carries some basic medical supplies and a decent amount of food and water.

Though her thieving abilities arose through years of experience, Aureole also possesses a decent degree of control over air and wind - not enough to destroy a town with a tornado, but more than enough to knock someone off their feet. This power over wind is tied to the glowing runes on her body, a power absorbed from a magical item (she won't specify of what sort) she discovered on her travels. The power can be used to her advantage in slightly subtler ways, such as running faster, jumping higher, etc.

Biography: Most of the public only know of Aureole by way of a string of break-ins across numerous cities, the culprit only rarely being seen and even more rarely being caught. In most cases, nothing was taken. Sometimes, just a dusty old tome or something comparable. Only occasionally would something of actual worth be taken, and then it would usually be a peculiar item that seemingly had no purpose other than being old and rare.

Aureole was not always a thief, of course. For much of her early life, she aspired to seek out ancient treasures and attain fame and fortune, and, at the age of 19, she set out on her first expedition. The ruins were fairly well-known - sitting on top of a mountain close to her hometown, in plain sight. As far as she could tell, no one from her hometown ever ventured there - presumably it was dangerous, and those that did go probably never came back or some other cliched ghost story she couldn't have cared less ago. She was slightly afraid of what she might have found, but the torchlight revealed little but dusty stone walls and cobwebs and the like. Eventually she came to a large, intricate stone carving of a strange, insectlike being, very similar to the form she would later take herself. Above each hand was a slot for some sort of item, all four of which were vacant.

Unable to progress further, Aureole returned to town empty-handed. It was then that her habit of obsessive research began - she eventually found reference to the stone carving in an old journal, learning that the journal's author had taken the daggers for himself. Looking into the author revealed he was still alive, living in a small village hundreds of miles away from Aureole's town. Nonetheless, she packed up and left for that village, eventually meeting the now-old man and asking about the daggers. He refused to discuss it with her and sent her away.

However, she would not leave empty-handed. That night, as the old man slept, she silently picked the lock and crept inside. The daggers were, thankfully, on display, mounted on the wall. She quickly took them from their display and exiting, leaving immediately for her hometown. Almost obsessively, she wasted little time in returning to the ruins and placed the daggers in the slots. At first, nothing seemed to happen. After a short while of waiting, however, she found herself passing into unconsciousness. When she awoke, she found that she had become whatever the image was depicting, understandably freaking out at the prospect. Eventually she calmed herself, taking the daggers from the wall and fleeing town, never to return.

She at first hunted solely for a way to regain the humanity that had been forcefully stripped from her, but, eventually, broadened this search to any and all rare, powerful, magical items and ancient artifacts alike. It was in this way that she gained her powers over wind, though, as far as she's made clear, she hasn't obtained anything else on that scale. Her search for such items, and, potentially, a method of once more becoming human, led her to join an adventuring party on a search for the legendary Gemgark. After all, as far as she could tell, it would be much less risky than attempting to retrieve it on her own.

Okay, I think I'm going to kick this thing off tomorrow.

If anyone else wants to toss a profile in, today would be a good day to do it.

Okay! When I wake up in the morning, I'm going to get this started.

If you throw a profile up between now and then, I'll consider it. Otherwise, I'm kicking this thing off.

Okay!

Our players are MrGuy, Pharmacy, Fabricati, AgentBlue, cyber95, and Anomaly!

Garuru, while you have an interesting concept there, the blob lacks personality, and the way you've written it makes it sound like the elder gods would lack much consistent characterization. Essentially, I think as you have it now, it would be hard to regularly write from this character's perspective, and consequently it would be an awkward fit into the game.

I'll write up a post to kick off the game shortly.

<DragonFogel> Also, Agent, if you can make a quick post so that my intropost doesn't get merged in, that would be nice.

Klangsbor was a large city, and many adventurers passed through regularly. The merchants sold useful supplies for those venturing into ancient ruins, and there were also those who bought and sold information about artifacts and treasures.

When word first came that the legendary Gemgark might be nearby, many were skeptical. Given that the city thrived on adventurers, it was widely assumed that they were simply trying to drum up some extra business.

If that was the plan, it certainly worked. Dozens of adventurers, even some who claimed they didn't believe the rumor, made their way to Klangsbor to investigate. Just in case.

Six of those adventurers were all, for their own reasons, headed towards the Dragon's Chest, an inn and tavern renowned throughout Klangsbor for one singular quality.

It was the cheapest.

SpoilerShow

And that starts things off! Go ahead and establish anything you'd like about the Dragon's Chest, its patrons, its staff, and any area of the city your character might pass through on the way there.

If you want to start planning amongst yourselves about how your characters will react to meeting each other, go ahead and do that.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Also, some basic rules and guidelines:
-If somebody uses your character in a post and you have an issue with how they were characterized, tell them! Same goes if you spot any continuity errors, whether minor or major. Posts can be changed for the sake of a better and more consistent narrative, although obviously it's best if they're changed sooner rather than later.
-Keep in touch with your fellow players! You can pop in to #grandbattle or #eagletime to talk to them, or I can set up a channel for this game specifically if people want that. Or just send forum PMs! -Don't do things that will permanently affect another character, like chopping off a limb or breaking a piece of their equipment, unless that player's okay with it. You may want to be on the same page about whether to injure or kill significant NPCs you introduce, too. And obviously, no killing a PC.
-In the event that a dispute arises between the players, you can talk to me and I'll try to resolve the matter. I don't expect any big arguments to break out, but I just want you to be aware this is an option.

I may edit in additions to these guidelines later if something else comes to me. I'll notify you all if this happens.

That's it for now; now, onward, to adventure!

The sky was grey, like an old master's unkempt beard, which nevertheless never made its way into the soup.

It was early. A little too early for an adventurer to walk in, just the right time for a waitress, who may or may not have been out of work.

Certainly, Guan Yi had the look of a traveler- dust-covered shoes, a walking stick, her backpack behind her- but that wasn't uncommon in these times, not at all. Hard luck seemed to follow everyone, like the storm clouds and rotten weather on the horizon.

Still, bright eyes seemed to trail about the room, watching the remains of the breakfast rush; and walk up to the bar. "Pardon me, sir," she says, a faint hesitation trying to cover up a slight accent, "But do you have any work in the kitchens?"

If there was anything in particular that made Klangsbor a target for adventurers, it was the geography. Nestled in the prairie, it was a stone's throw away from the western coast of Merollan, a few day's travel from the Great Desert, and-- crucial to this tale-- only a few miles from a mountain range.

SLPBS1 had been created of mountains and in the mountains, and in the end, it was always to the mountains that he returned. True, he would make forays outside to visit a town or examine a new ecosystem; but whenever one of the bizarrely-shaped chunks of metal dislodged from his body or he required some extra spending money, the tucked-away caves and local wildlife were always a decent source of resources.

As it happened, he heard the rumor of the Gemgark's location from another group of adventurers who had traveled through a past many miles north of Klangsbor. He had overheard their discussion of it, and so followed the road they were taking; and now, traveling through the gates, he glanced around the city to decide where to go next.

It wasn't long before his gaze met the Dragon's Chest. Considerable density of people at third building on left. Probable relation to Gemgark. He proceeded to amble up to the gradually-increasing crowd gathered around the building. Not sparing time to wait, he proceeded to push through most of them, and nobody was particularly interested in arguing with the eight-foot-tall ugly fellow with a gun for an arm. Upon entering the inn proper, he immediately strode up to the counter, withdrew a handful of coins from his sack (no more than two of which were minted by the same nation) and gently placed them on the table. "I would like to room here. No meals will be required."

SpoilerShow

EXCUSES TO DRAW SK'KARL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE WHEEEEEEEEEE

"What!? When!?"
"Sometime within the next week or two. Come on, you've known it was going to happen for a while."
"S'never been concrete before now. How are you even going to go adventuring with only one arm?"
"You know exactly how much I can do with only one arm, Karl."
It was true. Len did manage to do some things while missing an arm that Sk'Karl would have needed three for. Still...
"You know I haven't had a lick of practice since our last 'great' escapade. I'll just end up slowing you down!"
Len sat silently, as if trying to work out the best possible way to say what needed to be said. His reptillian friend didn't wait.
"Well if I don't go, who the hell am I supposed to spend time with? 'Two IQ' Steelfist?"
"Ragg's smarter than you'd think, Karl. You should be happy to know that he'll be going too."
"As if that's any consolation. Why do you have to do this again?"
"It's just... in my blood. My father was an adventurer, and so was his father and so on. It would drive me as crazy to stay holed up in one town forever as it would cause you to if you went with me."
"What's that mean!?"
"There's a lot of making aquaintances, and a good party member doesn't assume his teammates are going to rob him of all possessions."
Sk'Karl grumbled. There wasn't anybody else he was really friends with, and it would be incredibly dull without Len around.
"Well then you owe me a few things in compensation!"
"What would those be?"
"First, you must bring me back lots of valuable treasure. Emotional damages."
"Right, right. Small magic jewel isn't good enough."
"Second, when your father shows up to whisk you away to a life of near death experiences, tell him that I hate him."
"I'll be sure to remind him in case he's forgotten by now."
"And most importantly, don't die. If you die, I will devote my life to a god, become a cleric, and raise you from the dead just so I can kill you again."
Len smirked a little, "I'll do my best."
"Seriously, Len. I will be incredibly pissed if you die."
Tears would have nearly entered Sk'Karl's eyes if he hadn't already taught himself not to.
Plus there was no time for that. With a mere two weeks left before his friend left, they had a lot of dumb shit to do before it would be incredibly more difficult to do so together.

----------

Sk'Karl was awoken by the chariot suddenly stopping, and immediately checked his bags. Knives, scrolls, clothes, gun, a few small treasures that could be sold or traded in a pinch, and what appeared to be all of his money. Looked like he had every- wait. He put his hand by his collar, grasping at nothing, and stared at the passenger across from him, a drow lady or maybe just a really dark skinned elf.
She was awoken by a dagger up to her throat.
"Aaah! What are you-"
"Cough it up."
"What are you talking abou-"
The lizardman responded simply by pressing the dagger harder.
"Gack- Front pocket, front pocket!"
Still holding the knife to her throat, Sk'Karl searched the drow's front pocket, and removed a necklace with a small green jewel attached to it. He put his knife back in his bag and put the necklace back on. Taking a quick look out the window, the chariot had clearly arrived in Klangsbor. Immediately he stepped out, only stopping momentarily to scoff at the would be thief. He wasn't particularly surprised.

Ideally, he would have taken a single passenger chariot here, but that really wasn't possible right now. Adventurers were just flocking to this place, and he no choice but to double up. Whatever, it got him here, and he didn't exactly travel with a master thief anyways. Still, he'd probably have to deal with whoever else decided to choose this clearly fine establishment today. Surely, the Dragon's Chest would only house adventurers with the highest morals. Probably all nuns.

Sk'Karl sighed and entered the doors.

"Ah, yes, the Gemgark! I've heard rumors that it's located in a ruin in the mountains to the east. Do you have a map? No? Just one gold piece."

Norbert Patrice, a rather chubby, short man with a large black beard, watched with masked glee as the other man, obviously an inexperienced adventurer (judging by his frail-looking leather armor and unimpressive iron sword), reached into a small pouch and removed a second gold coin. He quickly grabbed a map from the box behind him and placed it on the table, and marked a path from Klangsbor through the mountains, terminating in a large X.

"Here's the safest route to the ruins. Be careful - I hear there are trolls in those mountains, ready to spring on any unsuspecting adventurers. The ruins are likely perilous, so look out for traps! Come see me if you find the Gemgark before any of your fellow adventurers - we'll have a celebration!"

Norbert smiled to himself as the young adventurer ran off for the Dragon's Chest. Seemed everyone was going there. He'd probably look for an adventuring party to join or something, as they tended to do. After all, someone like him could barely even take on a giant rat on his own, let alone something dangerous. Norbert deposited the two gold coins into his own bag, one which was quickly filling up. Setting up outside of the cheapest tavern in Klangsbor was good for business, what with all the Gemgark business. He'd already had dozens of adventurers come his way, and he'd sent them all to the same place. And why not? They could squabble amongst themselves for the treasure and whatever glory they thought they'd be attaining.

Just a few minutes later, a wagon pulled up, drawn by a team of ordinary horses. Not the fastest way to get around, but horses were certainly cheaper than the faster alternatives. Norbert put on his biggest smile as the door swung open, and a young woman, shrouded in a large cloak, her face obscured by the combination of a scarf and a hat, jumped to the ground. She flipped a gold piece to the driver and he pulled away. The woman briefly glanced around the city, her eyes settling on Norbert's stand. She soon approached him as he attempted to look his best, though beginning to break out in a sweat.

"What do you know about the Gemgark?" she asked him.

"That depends. Do you have any gold?"

Wordlessly, the woman flipped a gold coin onto the stand. Its design was not of the nearby nations - she'd obviously come from very far away.

"Now. The Gemgark?"

"Ah, yes, the Gemgark!" Norbert recited. "I've heard rumors that it's located in a ruin in the mountains to the east. Do you have a map?"

Norbert's smile dropped slightly as she pulled out a detailed map of the area. She had obviously prepared more than most of the louts looking for easy fame. He picked up his quill and dipped it in the ink; however, before he could touch her map an arm shot out of the cloak and grabbed his wrist. Another reached into a small bag and removed a small diamond as she adjusted her hat up with a third. Three pairs of eyes glared at Norbert, who very quickly lost interest in pursuing any further conversation than necessary.

"How many adventurers have you sent to these 'ruins' of yours already?"

"I... uh... well... somewhere around fifty? I lost count." Norbert was beginning to sweat profusely.

The woman held the perfectly-cut diamond up, looking at it for a moment before placing it on the stand. "What do you really know about the Gemgark?"

Norbert swallowed hard. "Can... Can we talk about this, uh, somewhere else? Can't have everyone hear."

"Of course." The definitely-not-human woman took the diamond back up and led him around behind the Dragon's Chest, an empty, dark alleyway. "Now. Tell me what you know, and it's yours. Don't try anything this time. I know enough to know if you're lying. And I don't like liars," she intoned, briefly flashing a dimly-glowing dagger.

"Okay, okay, no tricks. The ruins I'm sending them to don't have anything more than some skeletons and dust. I payed an adventurer to plant a fake Gemgark there. No one actually knows what it looks like, so who's going to know it's not real?"

"Okay. Where's the real one?"

"Right, it's, uh... Well, I don't really know where it is."

"Really."

"Really! But, uh, well, there was this one group of adventurers that came by. Heard them talking about some mines or something and that there's something important there. Maybe it's the Gemgark?"

"Where's this mine?"

"I don't know. Look, I'm just trying to make some money here!"

"And you've made more than you ever should have, con man. Here."

Before Norbert knew it the small diamond was in his hand, and a sudden, severe gust of wind blew him to the ground. When he stood back up, the woman had disappeared. Utterly confused, he looked around for a few moments, then waddled back to his stand and sat down. An apprentice mage, not a hair on his face, soon approached, offering a gold piece.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Aureole re-adjusted her hat and drew her cloak around herself again. She hadn't learned much from the overweight con man, but she knew now that there would still be competition. She figured it couldn't hurt to join up with one of these adventuring parties, and soon found herself seated at a table in the corner of the Dragon's Chest. There already seemed to be a few interesting types gathering. A lizardman, a crudely-constructed golem, and, strangely, a traveler of some sort talking to the barkeep about acquiring a job or something. For now, though, she would wait. She had nothing to lose, after all.

Especially since the "diamond" she gave Norbert was a fake.