CircleRelay/ForestPriests
== The first theme is forest priests. ==
Contents
Raven of the Sky Pillar
Wood-aspected Outcaste who was driven off the day of his exaltation. He alternately considers the powers of the Dragons a curse and a gift as they forced him to leave his family home even as they opened his eyes to the power of the woods and the spirits of nature. He lives deep in the forest, among the Spirit Courts and ventures out to visit others who venerate the spirits of nature or to destroy those who wish to bring harm to the only beings that love him for what he truly is.
Long dark green hair twined with moss frames a green tinted, open and honest face. His thoughts are writ large in his eyes and mouth, whether good or bad. Loose squares of leather and pelts hang tied together from his shoulders down a skinny frame, allowing him freedom of movement. Anyone who angers him will find that he is an excellent shot with the high-quality mortal Yew longbow he carries at all times. Anything else he needs, he scavenges from the forest.
-- Somori
Bracken Deadwood
She was born on a moonless night, her mother feverish and sweating, terrified of the babe that was emerging with the blood of its ghostly father pumping coldly through its veins. Abandoned in the forest, she was adopted by a pair of woodsmen who shared a tiny cabin at the border where the trees met the grassland. She grew older, wan and pale, until, on a moonless night like that of her birth, she slaughtered her foster parents in a fit of madness. Stumbling out into the cold, surrounded by a nimbus of black power and hounded by hungry ghosts, she ran to the center of the wood. It was there that she met Ribbon-my-Petal, the god of death and darkness in the hidden places beneath the trees. He took pity on the poor half-ghost and raised her up, making her his chosen herald. In the years to come, Bracken has carefully monitored the health of the forest, letting parts of it sicken and wither to increase the power of her master and patron. She has grown powerful, her hands steeped in disease and murder, and she soon hopes to usurp Ribbon-my-Petal and become the god she knows, in her heart, she is destined to be.
Bracken Deadwood is tall and impossibly thin, with eyes as black as the pitch in the rapidly ailing trees. Her teeth are sharp and she smiles only to intimidate. An aura of cold radiates from her, withering flowers and seedlings that she passes. Her right arm bears the twisting, black tattoo that is the mark of Ribbon-my-Petal's favor. Her hair is dyed a brutal shade of red, cut haphazardly so that one eye is frequently covered by the shockingly crimson strands. She is beautiful, in her predatory way, and takes mortal lovers voraciously, only to discard them soon after. She has no time for love. There's so much killing to do.
-- OhJames
Most Faithful Inquisitor
His form is black soulsteel, forged to the end of making him a ruthlessly efficient device of horrific, violent murder. Flowers adorn his body, and small vines grow within his cold, uncaring mask.
When Most Faithful Inquisitor came to Creation, he was smitten with its strange, alien beauty. He wanted nothing more than to breathe in the scent of every flower on the surface of the world. However, such was not his designated function. Nevertheless, he made excuses and arranged for himself to be assigned to missions that would take him far and wide through the forests and fields of Creation.
When he heard rumors that he was to be fully recalled to Autochthon, and that he would be able to see the flowers for one last time, he fabricated some excuse to send out a search party, ensuring that he would lead them.
Inquisitor slaughtered them all, and fled into the forest.
Now, he spends his days traveling through the East, seeking out new species of flora to enjoy. He will take precautions to defend his adopted family - the flowers and their tiny spirits - but beyond this he has no allegiances, caring only that he is not discovered, generally taking a passive, avoidant route. If, however, he meets another Alchemical - especially a Soulsteel caste - he will ensure that no witness returns to report him.
~ WillCoon
Seeping Willow Crying
Born in the Wyld from a small drop of sap from a Whipping Willow, SWC was under the control of the Countess Drying Barking Fang for the first 200 odd years of her life and was guided in the draining and torturing of mortals to be retured to the Guild as slaves. This process left her in very bleak and booring areas with little to spark her creativity and passions outside of torture. One day, she slipped out of the compound and had a chance to see the rest of the world around her and all of its preverted innocence and she told herself she would one day help that beauty to flourish, even in desolate areas, such as her chambers. When she returned to her torturous work, she began to cry. Of course this affected her ability to properly torture the victoms given to her charge. She continued to cry for years on end until the Countess gave up on her, once she found the garden in her chambers and released her from her charge. SWC now skirts the edges of creation taking in its magnificnece and helping to care for and spawn unusual plant and animal life in the forests. If found she will usually be tending to or speaking to some sort of unusual plant or small animal. On occasion when another plant invades on one she is caring for she will stick needles into the offending plant or whip it with vines she carries on herself at all times.
-Miles
Sheltered Blossom
"Creation can be a boring place. Especially when viewed through the eyes of one that is immortal. With the Northern Tundra it seems so unwelcoming and cold... always white and ever windy. The Southern Wastes, too hot to enhabit, so blinding one cannot endure the heat and fire to enjoy such a thing. In the Western Seas as one stares out into the endless blue you would be driven mad and have to trun back. And the Center, earth, that monsterous mountain is the pillar of unchange, one would get bored within the day. But the Eastern Forests. That's the place to be. Everything is growing, everything is changing, everything is alive." - Sheltered Blossom
Sheltered Blossom was concieved one night when her Wood Aspected monk mother walked in the forests deep in the east. That was where her mother was smitten by the God of The Evergreen, Solyvan. They had one night of forbidden love, atleast forbidden for her, and when she returned to her home in her Immaculate Order she was horrified and secretly delighted to realize she was with child. The Order was enraged at the monk's slight, but harbored the mother and unborn child. The night the babe was born all the child would hear of her mother's voice was the name given to her. The mother was rushed away so she wouldn't see the child, and the babe was given to monks who would take her. Sheltered Blossom knew she was different from a young age. She surpassed her peers in her monk training and graduated very early for one of her non-exaltation. But she knew she didn't need an exaltation to celebrate what she was. She felt she was better than that. She was certain she was a goddess. After graduation she took a leave from the monks to travel creation and meditate on her orgins. She was told she was the spawn of a immacualte monk, but nothing beyond that, who was her father? So she traveled. She went from the harsh north down to the harsh south. She went to the ever-blue West, and to the ever-green East. It was many years before she found 'herself'. While walking the Eastern Forests she felt a feeling of familiarity of being at home. So she walked and walked and eventually came across a man who was tall, handsom and quite obviously a spirit. She greeted him and asked him one question. "Can you tell me where I belong." The spirit looked her up and down, smirked and scoffed. "You are an unworthy spawn of the Evergreen God. Go home little god-blood, go home" She nodded and smiled and pondered the meaning of this. Then I am home, she thought. And upon that spot she sat and watched the ever changing forests grow around her.
- StarHawk
Comments
I've archived the preliminary nonsense under CharacterRelay/SexNinja. I'm deliberately not counting it as an actual round. If no one posts to the relay soon, no worries, I'll add a character myself. - Quendalon
I know this was my idea, but there are a few problems with it.
- The theme must be such that five characters and their relationships can fit in it. Just making five random characters isn't very interesting. They must be linked together somehow IMO, like the Charms in the CharmRelay are linked together in the same tree. Forest priests shouldn't list five different priests, but a few in the same area, their followers, enemies, spirit allies, etc, etc.
- Ready-made characters are perhaps too specific and detailed. I propose just writing a concept in a few sentences that is more general and adaptable to different games.
- Sex Ninjas are cool.
So, too much info in the original then? That I can agree with, but the other one, that people should link the characters together doesn't quite work, each character can only have relationships to previous characters because we can't see what people are thinking about writing about. So, in the spirit of generalisation, I've modified the character with all the extras that were asked for. -- Somori
That does seem a lot easier to adapt to different games, doesn't it? I would perhaps flesh it out with something defining him visually and equipment-wise too, if appropriate. As for managing relationships, I guess the best way is to have each contributor decide all new relationships that the new character introduces, even those of other characters. Other authors can protest, collaborate, etc. If this relay ever gets to work as thought, the obvious five-character group is a circle, and then you really need relationships between them so they're not just a bunch of cool characters. No man is an island and all that. Resplendence
I don't see the poing of forcing people to relate their characters if they don't want to. For related characters, there always is the Circle Relay, which is an entirely different Relay already. - Tiffa
I agree with Tiffa, CircleRelay is for groups, CharacterRelay is for individuals within a theme. It is true that no man is an island, but why would he only have relationships with other characters in his theme. Better to have references to any other character already written about.
I will modify my original with your suggestions when I get a chance though, it is better for what people want out of this node. -- Somori
Yeah, I'd have to say that what I would be looking for in a character relay is a bunch of cool characters along a theme. For a group of five that work together, you've got CircleRelay over the page. - Falcon
- Oh right, I forgot about CircleRelay. You're correct, of course, although CircleRelay sounds a bit specific. Can you fit a demon cult, it's followers, enemies and demons into that? That would be a fun, connected and free character relay IMO. Resplendence
- Circle means group with direction as far as I understand it. So Terrestrial Sworn Brotherhoods, Demon Cults, Solar Circles, etc. all fit. So it still fits. Somori
I suppose. Maybe the theme should be phrased differently, then. Something like "an order of forest priests" rather than just "forest priests". You know, to give it a little more direction. - Falcon
Now that it seems the Cirlce theme is focused and on a roll, how about we work on getting this one started. I think it is limiting to put a bunch of charcters of the same thought idea into one group. Why not break it up and see what we can do if we put our heads together to see how many different ideas we can get on one topic? You might have a Night, a Twilight, and a Lunar with the same basis. Call it the characters Concept and see what we can do. Two people might do a Wood aspect with a slightly different or more evil twist. Who knows. How about a tree hugging Fair Folk? Five characters and the fifth post comes up with the new topic. Please feel free to post on a completed idea too in order to add more to the fun. Heck this might even become a basis for character concepts for new players. My first Fair Folk character concept, hope everyone likes. -Miles
