Thar Shaddin

So, I should apologize (again) for my absence. Going to stick around this time for sure. Stuff's been going this way and that for quite a few months now. Should be able to get back into the swing of things again if I'm still welcome.

Yes, you are still welcome, although I am not sure how to fit you into the current thread.

Currently I am intimidating a priest for having been mean to my pet werewolf, and the werewolf is really impressed.

Basic plan: Make an altar to the blood goddess so she doesn't fade, and then begin feeding her sacrifices so she (and us) grow in power. Then we can share some missions, Krev will have unholy quests to become Demonsworn (acquiring an unholy steed, a poisoning, meeting a demonic sponsor).

We can talk about any personal missions Mors, Gia or Phaloth may have themselves.

Hm. There's blood, isn't there, from a sacrifice? I read through the thread, albeit briefly. Morsereg could have been out with the night and followed the scent of the blood, much like Gia did (Exact details as to why he feels the need to see what's bleeding instead of picking off his much-preferred fresh meals will be chosen in the post). Or he could have purposely been looking for Krevster.

Just tossing ideas out there.

And, the thing with Morse, though, is I'm deciding where he's been in my absence. It's quite likely that he either has holed himself up in his home and done what he could to learn about the "gift" he received in the tomb, or he went away to separate himself from the hustle and bustle of city life to study his new-found gift. Any suggestions are definitely welcome.

I can't believe I forgot to link the Hideout thread in the summary. You know, the one where MAVARION ACTUALLY SUMMONS ANGA.

*slaps own wrist* Fixed now.

Railtus Anstrun wrote: Currently I am intimidating a priest for having been mean to my pet werewolf, and the werewolf is really impressed.

Because the werewolf has no self-esteem.

And as far as personal missions, Rail had an idea in chat that I thought might be something for gia to shoot for. She really wants a pack of her own, and the idea was that her bite would both infect the victim and bind them to her. They would obey her, and while that may take a bit of coming-to-terms on Gia's part, she would enjoy that. Plus, she'd still obey Krevster, so it would be like a pack of werewolves at his bidding.

I have no idea how she would get that power, but I did like the idea.

Before I post a reply, I need to know something...

What did Phaloth just do?

I need to know what the spell is before I can post how Krevster reacts to it.

How about Anga decide what it does? Since he is calling on his (weakened) Goddess rather than his own power.

I wanted to think about this before responding, to make sure my concerns were reasonable.

Phaloth has just initiated combat with PCs, and begins the fight using a Deus Ex Machina before anything else. To me, this sets a bad precedent of starting fights and making up new powers on the spot for victory.

Please discuss with the rest of us before gaining new combat powers during a fight.

Speaking for myself, I need a very good reason to agree to allow a ritualist to conveniently gain extra powers for fighting a huge armoured warrior and a werewolf at once.

If you feel a need to avoid establishing Krev as 'Boss' that is no problem - We can just have Krev gain respect for Phaloth when the altar is made. Krevster is simply taking advantage of a perceived weakness, I have no intention of putting him in charge.

Whoops. Post deleted. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I'll think of something else.

Oh, and Rail? He was fondling molecules. Not about to make heads go "blortsch!"

Big difference. But I'll change it around.

Phaloth Arnitel wrote:Oh, and Rail? He was fondling molecules. Not about to make heads go "blortsch!"

In which case I don't mind so much - from gaining the new power I read that you were expecting to gain an advantage with it. Perhaps I am a little overanalytical.

The goddess grows impatient for a post made in her honour. What shall we do?

Do we need to skip?

What shall we decide about what happens next?

I don't know what to do, Rail. Honestly.

I just feel like Phaloth is an underdeveloped character and I just have no idea what is I need to do with him. Like many people have pointed out, there's an underpinning sort of ambivalence to my writing and it is quite extant in my posts with Phaloth. Ambivalence IN character is all well and fine, of course, but ambivalence in writing and in the character's role in the scheme of things is not.

I need your help, Rail. Jen has mentioned that you had this problem (or a similar one) with Krevster. What did you do to get him to start jabbering in your head? How did you find his place in the scheme of things? What sort of mindset did you need? I've played numerous evil characters in the past, but they were highly self-motivated; Phaloth simply isn't the self-motivated sort.

If things do not pan out after you've given me your share of advice, I am more than willing to throw Phaloth away as a sacrifice needed for the altar.

Sorry about all of this and thanks for your patience in advance.

I... read Zebren Avern.

"My name is Zebren Avern. I do not deal in fair."

Two tricks I do is Reverse Engineering and Concept Embodiment.

Reverse Engineering is to begin with a scene in my head.

"My name is Krevster and I am a torturer. Please place your hands down on the table."

From there, I work on the personality behind the scene. Picture Phaloth doing something specific, and how he accomplished it.

Concept Embodiment is that I come up with a principle idea behind the character. What they are meant to represent. Aorle is the perfect knight, what a paladin is supposed to be like - hence why he is so pleasant and gentle. Krevster is an apprentice Demonsworn Champion of Destruction, the blackguard or anti-paladin, essentially the unholy warrior who makes evil an ideal - so he should be fairly menacing and frightening, add lies and deception partly because a serious villain should have no problem lying to people and because deception is the one thing you cannot prepare against.

Bad Method is one of the greatest aspects of a villain. Rather than just killing people, sign your name in their entrails by coming up with something character-specific to the killings. EG: A vampire does more than just kill people, it drinks their blood. Medusa does more than just kill people, she turns them to stone. Krevster does more than just kill people, he hacks off their heads and throws them into fires as tributes to the hells. Even my good-guy, Aorle, kills people with a distinctive brutal technique and complete lack of fuss.

I think of writing as "what kind of reaction do I want the reader to have?" How do you want them to feel about Phaloth?

If you find yourself not liking Phaloth, I could also offer alternative forms of dark priest. Or we could even have the ceremony with Anga alter Phaloth in some significant (and convenient for you to write) way.

Phaloth... you missed out Gia. I'm not fussy about the posting order but I do want to make sure she feels included in what's going on.

It was fine that you skipped me. I was gone for about 6 days anyway, so I was actually meaning to tell you to skip me until I returned, because Gia's basically standing there snarling and agreeing with everything Krev says and looking pretty, so she isn't contributing to the action very much.

Sorry I was gone. I'll go ahead and post now, so... yeah.

I am so sorry about that, Gia.

I should've waited on you.