Brief backstory: Curiosity and wanderlust are the driving forces of Storm’s existence. Shortly after reaching adulthood he left his clan to begin his travels and see what wonders the world had to offer. Among his first stops was a small port town along Maztica’s eastern coast. While sitting in a tavern one evening and sharing stories with a group of sailors, Storm became enthralled with the thought of all the new and interesting places he could visit by traveling the sea. The next day he joined a ship’s crew and left his homeland.
The past several years of Storm’s life have been spent taking jobs on various ships that were heading to any new location he heard about that piqued his interest. Arriving at new ports, meeting new peoples, exploring, and generally bouncing from one curiosity to the next before joining up with a new crew and heading on to his next adventure. He last landed somewhere along the Sword Coast where he spent several months traveling with a merchant caravan along the coastline. After hearing stories of Chult, a jungle covered land to the west that is quite similar to his homeland, Storm once again finds himself on a ship heading across the sea.
Reason for traveling to Chult: see above
Personality: Storm is a charismatic, lighthearted, and chaotic individual with an extremely curious and adventurous spirit.
Fear: loss of freewill
Edit: I will write more of a backstory if selected, just did this quick at work today.
Why not? Been pondering adding another pbp game to the rotation, and always been curious about Tomb of Annihilation. Lessee here:
Name: Urzhol
Race/Class: Fullblooded orc, Celestial-patron warlock Backstory: Urzhol was born to the orcish raider tribes of the Northlands, and wanted nothing more than to join the tribe's warband in their raids against the soft folk of the South. Unfortunately for Urzhol, her slender, scrawny stature (for an orc) kept her out of the glory of the raids. Instead she was left home, taught to tend to the wounds of the raiders, and otherwise ignored. Determined to claim her place and her glory, Urzhol sought out the shadowy demon-gods of their superstitions, deciding that dark magics would suffice where muscle and steel had failed her. She stole one of the tribe's ceremonial skull trophies and enacted a ritual to summon such a being to it, speaking to her would-be patron through the medium of her enemies' remains and swearing to offer service in exchange for power and glory. The being accepted, and Urzhol swore her Pact.
..****y to discover, after her 'demon-god' had accepted her oath of service, that the entity she'd summoned was a Celestial, not the Infernal spirit she'd been expecting - and to this entity, 'service' meant protecting the civilized lands of the world from the many threats that assailed them. Including orcish raiders plundering their resources. 'Glory', to this creature, was earning a splendid afterlife amongst the gods of Light through a lifetime spent battling the Dark - to Urzhol's new patron, there could be no greater glory, and to be given the chance to offer such glory to a savage, godless raider like Urzhol was a magnificent twist of Fate, indeed.
Urzhol was absolutely outraged...but she had sworn an oath. Her tribe's laws were ironclad - those who swore an oath to the Spirits of the Skulls were to obey, or their soul is forever stained as an oathbreaker. The tribe's elders berated Urzhol and swore to use her tale as a warning against seeking the Skulls frivolously and ruining one of the tribe's prized totems with her piss-poor ritual casting, and then promptly banished her from the tribe's lands forevermore. She would uphold her oath as tribal law demanded, and if Warboss Gharryk or any of the warband ever met her again, they would know her as their enemy.
And so Urzhol left her ancestral lands and began her travels, protecting the thin-hided fops of the South wherever she could as her patron demanded. Complaining about it the whole time.
Reason for Traveling to Chult: Urzhul's patron caught wind of the death curse and commanded their servant to seek its source and crush it. Left with little choice, Uzrhol follows the rumors towards the continent of Chult. Edit: Expanded as requested Urzhol's immediate personal reasons for traveling to Chult are as much to escape as they are anything else. Putting an ocean between herself and painful memories, and between herself and any potential conflict with her warband. Beyond escape and satisfying the demands of her obnoxious patron, Urzhol hopes the dense, unexplored jungles of Chult holds secrets that may allow her to undo her mistake. Failing that, she hopes to find a way to turn her situation back to her advantage, or to seek a legendary trophy of the Kingfolk she can try to bring back to her clan as tribute for conciliation. Personality: Urzhol is alarmingly brash, aggressive, and abrasive. Despite the Sword Coast's dismal opinion of orcs, she is not stupid or ignorant, but she is savage. Urzhol prefers to settle trouble with her fists, the blades of her axes, or the searing fire of her patron's gifts and has little patience for diplomacy. Or in general, really. "Patience" is not a word much of anybody would use to describe Urzhol from day to day. Fear: Uzrhol's greatest fear is losing herself to her unexpected bargain with one of the Kingfolk's protector spirits. Despite her banishment, Urzhol's dream remains unbroken and she admires the strength, ferocity, and savage purity of the raiders she once longed to be. She dreads waking up one day and realizing she's become little more than a human woman in an orc's skin, thinking the same weak, rotted thoughts as the soft folk of the warm lands in the South and agreeing with her accursed angel-boss when it tells her the raiders are evil and must be expunged.
* * *
Hopefully that should do! Details are negotiable, a'course, but I've had this concept burning a hole in the back of my head for a few weeks now. This seems like a good place to try it out. Here's hoping I get to. Good luck to the rest of everybody else, and thanks for the consideration Kazuha.
These are looking really good. Just to clarify, for the reason to go to Chult, this should ideally be an achievable personal goal that your character wants to complete that will happen as you are doing the rest of TOA. You will all be given a pretty good reason to want to explore the death curse as well while you are in Chult. This campaign has a lot of exploring and Chult has a lot to offer so having some side goals as we are going through will help
These are looking really good. Just to clarify, for the reason to go to Chult, this should ideally be an achievable personal goal that your character wants to complete that will happen as you are doing the rest of TOA. You will all be given a pretty good reason to want to explore the death curse as well while you are in Chult. This campaign has a lot of exploring and Chult has a lot to offer so having some side goals as we are going through will help
Added some secondary goals in my post as goals/tasks to be done apart from the main mission.
These are looking really good. Just to clarify, for the reason to go to Chult, this should ideally be an achievable personal goal that your character wants to complete that will happen as you are doing the rest of TOA. You will all be given a pretty good reason to want to explore the death curse as well while you are in Chult. This campaign has a lot of exploring and Chult has a lot to offer so having some side goals as we are going through will help
Brief backstory - Leika was the daughter of adventurers. They often traveled during her childhood to fight monsters and keep the local area safe. When they returned from their excursions they always enchanted Leika and her siblings with their tales of heroism, and all of their children wanted to be like them. Their parents encouraged them, except for Leika. Leika was small and lacked strength, causing her to struggle with weapons, and her parents feared she would only be hurt if she tried to adventure. They discouraged her, and focused their attentions on training her siblings instead. Unwilling to give up on her dream, Leika joined the clergy of Tymora, hoping that some magic would make up for a lack of fighting skill. She learned how to cast spells, and dreamed of one day using them for heroic purposes.
Reason for traveling to Chult - Leika is traveling to Chult to help out one of her siblings who may have run into trouble while exploring. The sibling was sending messages back home every so often, but it has been a while since the last message. Leika is determined to find out what has happened, and possibly show her sibling how capable she is.
Personality - Leika is cheerful, excitable, and compassionate, but also longs for respect and admiration. She gets frustrated when no one takes her seriously or views her as weak.
Fear - Too many tales of eerie monsters have given Leika a fear of the dark.
These are looking really good. Just to clarify, for the reason to go to Chult, this should ideally be an achievable personal goal that your character wants to complete that will happen as you are doing the rest of TOA. You will all be given a pretty good reason to want to explore the death curse as well while you are in Chult. This campaign has a lot of exploring and Chult has a lot to offer so having some side goals as we are going through will help
Is my reason ok? I think it's a good reason to go to Chult, although I know that scrying isn't necromancy. If not, I have another idea for going to Chult
Backstory: Rus is a bit of a loner, even among his own but deeply connected to the rhythm of the earth mother. Though uncomfortable in the outerlands, Rus has been tasked with a mission for his tribe. A mission to help heal his homeland. Deep in the forest swamp that Rus calls home, his tribe has lived quietly for so many generations it is difficult even for a Firbolg to contemplate. But lately, the forest seems… sick. The elders are concerned and whatever is causing this issue has yet to be identified by the tribal masters. The community was abuzz with talk of the problem. Russ tracked his grand uncle one night to an elder council meeting where he overheard the elders discussing sending emissaries into the outerlands to search for clues or tales of such sickness as they were seeing in their forest. Leaning in to hear as much as he could, the softw peat of the ground gave way a bit and Rus lost his footing, falling headfirst into the circle of elders. He quickly brushed himself off, blushed a bit and began to retreat when one of the elder mothers grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the circle. All agreed, someone with such qualities could do well in the outerlands and tasked Rus with going out into the world. This mystery was new to their home, but something about it seemed “old”. They hoped that some cure or magic could be found that would help them heal their beloved forest.
Reason for traveling to Chult - He heard in one of the coastal downs that there was a dark magic in Chult and that others were seeking its source. Rus hoped that it could offer a clue to a cure for their homeland.
Personality - Use to being alone Rus is socialy awkward. And while he is very comfortable with wild animals and creatures he is very inquisitive about everything. He likes touching and examining things even when that may not be appropriate.
Fear - The dark cannibalistic demons from the north that he's heard stories about since he was a child. They haunt his dreams. but... Rus' eyes look to the distance and the terrible thought rushes over him, It's really a broken heart. I suppose that's why I travel the woods alone. I couldn't face her rejection.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Though not currently a member, seeking admission to the really long and important signature club. Please consider this as a current CV.
Backstory - Rus is a bit of a loner, even among his own but deeply connected to the rhythm of the earth mother. Though uncomfortable in the outerlands, Rus has been tasked with a mission for his tribe. A mission to help heal his homeland. Deep in the forest swamp that Rus calls home, his tribe has lived quietly for so many generations it is difficult even for a Firbolg to contemplate. But lately, the forest seems… sick. The elders are concerned and whatever is causing this issue has yet to be identified by the tribal masters. The community was abuzz with talk of the problem. Russ tracked his grand uncle one night to an elder council meeting where he overheard the elders discussing sending emissaries into the outerlands to search for clues or tales of such sickness as they were seeing in their forest. Leaning in to hear as much as he could, the softw peat of the ground gave way a bit and Rus lost his footing, falling headfirst into the circle of elders. He quickly brushed himself off, blushed a bit and began to retreat when one of the elder mothers grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the circle. All agreed, someone with such qualities could do well in the outerlands and tasked Rus with going out into the world. This mystery was new to their home, but something about it seemed “old”. They hoped that some cure or magic could be found that would help them heal their beloved forest.
Reason for traveling to Chult - He heard in one of the coastal downs that there was a dark magic in Chult and that others were seeking its source. Rus hoped that it could offer a clue to a cure for their homeland.
Personality - Use to being alone Rus is socialy awkward. And while he is very comfortable with wild animals and creatures he is very inquisitive about everything. He likes touching and examining things even when that may not be appropriate.
Fear - The dark cannibalistic demons from the north that he's heard stories about since he was a child. They haunt his dreams. but... Rus' eyes look to the distance and the terrible thought rushes over him, It's really a broken heart. I suppose that's why I travel the woods alone. I couldn't face her rejection.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Though not currently a member, seeking admission to the really long and important signature club. Please consider this as a current CV.
Brief backstory - A part of The Order of the Golden cup. The son of a relationship between a paladin of the Noble heart and a cleric of the Golden cup he struggles in his current role. He seeks to do more than just protect while others purge evil, but he also values the work to help victims.
Reason for travelling to Chult - He has heard of this Death Curse through his order and he desired to do something about it, especially since it seemed like standing by wouldn't help anyways. He heard rumors that his father already began a journey here, and he fears the worst.
Secondary goal:
The Iron Helm of Heroes is rumored to have been lost in the south of the inner sea, but recent scholars of the faith have speculated that the helm could have been lost on an island in the southern sea... Near Chult. This prospect plays at the back of Wynn's mind as he looks over the ocean horizon.
Personality - Kind and helpful, not one to tolerate evil or harm to others. He wants to help as much as possible.
Fear - he doesn't know if he will even measure up to the Noble Heart like his father, nor the patience and care of the Golden Cup like his mother. He need to do something to prove to himself that is worthy, and his fear is that he is not.
Character Name - Illispa (Lispy for short) (Color)
Race/Class - Yuan-Ti Pureblood / Fighter
(Not so) Brief Backstory -
Born in the jungles of Chult, Illispa spent the nascent years of her life in a Yuan-ti settlement, surrounded by the unforgiving snake people. However, when she began to speak, the rest of her people realized that she had a horrible disfigurement. While there was nothing physically wrong with her, the young girl had a speech impediment that prevented her from pronouncing the sibilants that her people often preferred using in names and speech. Horrified by this weakness, the rest of the tribe shunned her, and Illispa was quickly forced out as her lisp in tandem with her pureblood nature made her mostly worthless to her people. Unlike most purebloods, who would be able to still provide use to the serpentine people through the form of spying and infiltration, Illispa's lisp made her stand out in a crowd and her voice was off-putting to most people.
Unfortunately for her, being shunned by the tribe meant that she had no way to survive. Still just a child, she was carted off to Port Nyanzaru where she was sold into slavery to a pirate captain who had taken an ounce of pity on the girl. The captain on the ship raised Illispa and gave her the nickname Lispy for her speech impediment. However, unlike her people who shunned her for her voice, her strange style of speaking entertained the pirates, and even at a young age, Lispy was able to make friends with many of the pirates on that ship. Not knowing any other life, Lispy stayed on the ship, with the captain for most of her childhood and adolescence. The captain taught her to navigate the seas, wrestle against a stronger man, and steer a ship. But beyond the practical, he also taught her to never lose sight of one's goal (which was usually treasure) and to always respect those around her.
As fate would have it, around the time that Illispa was finally becoming an adult, the pirate captain that had taken her in died. There was no great battle that he died in or a tragic disease that stole him away. It was simply old age that finally claimed the pirate's soul. But without the captain to keep the crew together, the crew of the ship quickly dispersed to various other ships. Finding jobs on a variety of merchant or pirate vessels, the captain's ship was sold and the money was distributed among the crew. With what little portion of the money that she was given, mostly out of the kindness of a few pirates that she had grown close to, Lispy decided to find another job as well. Taking her skills around the docks of the Sword Coast, the snake-looking woman spent a few months looking for work and living meagerly off of the few coins that she could scavenge from working odd jobs around the docks.
Just as she was giving up on finding a job on a ship, Illispa managed to convince a captain that she was deserving of a position on his/her ship and her dreams of returning to sea were renewed. Thrilled to finally be getting her sea-legs back, Lispy agreed to the terms of the agreement without even questioning the captain or even really paying attention. It was only after she signed the contract that she realized exactly what she had agreed to. A one-way ticket back to Chult. The captain wasn't offering Illispa a return ticket on his/her ship, and the former pirate didn't have the coin to purchase a return trip of her own, so she would likely be stuck in Chult for the foreseeable future when they arrived. However, the more she thought about it, the more that Lispy realized she wanted to return to Chult. She wanted to confront her people. She wanted to see them pay for the way that they had treated her. She wanted to show them why they couldn't just abandon a child at such a young age. She wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but a small part of her serpentine heritage reawoke in her that day, and as the ship set sail, Lispy began to scheme.
Reason for Traveling to Chult - Lispy was originally just planning on going to Chult because it was where the ship that she had gotten a job on was going. However, after a day or so on the ship, the yuan-ti realized that this could be an opportunity for revenge on the people that had caused her so much pain. Thus, when she arrives back in Chult she plans on finding a way to find the yuan-ti community that she was from and punishing them for abandoning her.
Personality - Lispy, is an outgoing person. Her time on the pirate ship taught her that if she didn't speak up for herself, she would be overlooked and overrun. Thus, she became quite the talker and although she can sometimes be a bit blunt and her comments might seem inappropriate to the situation at hand, she is never afraid of saying exactly what is on her mind. Unfortunately, given that she was raised on a pirate ship, she was never given any formal education and doesn't know how to read. But while she might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, she makes up for it with a sharp wit and quick tongue. The former pirate also has a very strong sense of honor and camaraderie. Once she decides that a person is an ally, she will trust them to the ends of the earth and back. Although this is contrary to her nature, because of the way that she was raised, she never developed some of the key personality traits of the yuan-ti including the ability to lie easily and frequently. One of the personality traits that she did get from her heritage, however, was her manipulativeness. Her boisterous nature belies the scheming mind that lies beneath Illispa's smiling face. Being a very vindictive person, Lispy is not one to let grudges go unanswered, and anyone that wrongs her should expect a cold fist to the back of the skull. She prefers to deliver her vengeance up close and personal with her own two hands, but she understands the need for scheming, and when it comes to larger plans like the one to take revenge on her people, she knows better than to rush in and start punching things. Finally, once Lispy sets her mind to a goal, she will overcome any obstacle to achieve the goal, or die trying. The biggest lesson that she learned from the pirate that became her mentor, was that persistence is the key to success and she does her best to live by that dogma each and every day.
Fear - Lispy has a few fears, but the biggest ones are her feelings of inadequacy. After being abandoned by her people, Illispa was left with a lingering feeling that she was unworthy of even being alive. It took many years on the pirate ship before she began to start to realize her worth, but to this day she still wonders sometimes if she should have died that day when she was sold into slavery. Her other existential fear is that she will end up liking her people when she ends up meeting them and will therefore be unable to exact her revenge. She greatly wishes that they are purely evil people so that she can have no remorse in punishing them, but a small part of her also wishes for them to welcome her back with open arms and tell her that it was one big mistake. As far as generic fears go, Lispy does have a slight issue with very tight spaces (claustrophobia) as she much rather prefers to be up on the deck of a ship where she can see the vast blue ocean that extends for miles.
RP Sample (I know you didn't ask for this... But I thought it would give you a better idea of my style of posting and playing in general. It also helps set the scene for Lispy's backstory and abilities better than just describing it.):
Lispy grinned as she stepped up onto the boarding plank of the ship. She swayed for a few seconds before she got her legs back under her. "Thith ith going to be wonderful," she breathes to herself as her sea legs return. It had been months since she had last been on a ship, and the pirate was longing to see the open seas beneath her and feel the rocking of the boat. Finding out the boat's destination yesterday had just been an added bonus.
Lispy takes a deep breath as she smells the salty cool breeze coming in from the sea. She has already come up with a few ideas on how to exact her revenge, although nothing could be final until they arrived in Chult and she learned more about the area. Lispy had never really gotten to see the land of Chult, as she had been quite young when she was sold away. The yuan-ti found herself silently excited for their arrival to the strange but familiar land.
As she steps on deck, the young woman introduces herself to some of the crew. Extending a hand she gives a broad smile and says, "Hey there! I go by Lithpy. You got a name?" After getting herself acquainted with the crew, the yuan-ti finds a place to put her stuff down and reports to the captain to see how she can help. When she is working on whatever work she is assigned, she touches a bruise on her cheek and her mind begins to wander to the events of the day before.
After signing her contract, Lispy had gone to the bar to celebrate with a few drinks. She hadn't been sitting for long until she noticed another man trying to swipe her drink, she snatched it back quickly and downed the rest of the liquid in one gulp. Alcohol never had much of an effect on her, which was unfortunate because she had heard it was amazing from her friends back on her old ship. Giving the man a wink she grinned evilly and said, "Don't worry, better in my thtomath than on the ground. You don't look like you could hold your alcohol anywayth." The man hadn't taken the insult well, and hence the bruise. But Lispy chuckled to herself as she remembered the beating that she had given the other guy. If anyone commented on her bruise, she already had her comeback line ready to go, "You thould have theen the other guy!" she thinks to herself. He had been forced to go see a cleric for his wound because Lispy had knocked him out cold with one punch.
Now with a smile spanning the whole of her face, the yuan-ti pirate grins broadly as she continues to work on the ship and bide her time until they arrive in Chult.
These look really good. I'm gonna take a day or two fully read over them and decide. Thank you everyone for offering up your characters to this madness
Brief Backstory: Sia grew up on the farthest outskirts of Neverwinter, where more of her time as a child was spent flitting through the Neverwinter woods than anywhere else. She developed a natural sense for direction, nature, and how the forest grew and flowed throughout the valleys at the base of Mount Hotenow. As she came of age, she joined with the city watch as a Farstrider, responsible for bringing accurate reports of threats to the city and scouting out the surrounding lands, developing the talent for mapmaking and slipping through the trees like a wind through leaves. Things changed, though, when she met Howe Lysander deep in the woods just after her twenty-fifth birthday. A veteran adventurer and all-around charmer, he had been injured fending off orcs. Sia helped Howe survive the night and recover, and over the course of a few weeks Howe swept the young woman off her feet. Married within a year, Sia looked forward to the adventures she would have with her husband, having separated from the Farstriders. But, then, he got sick. Real sick. She watched her husband waste away... and found out after he passed that this event was his second time at death.
Reason to Travel to Chult: Grief replaced by determination to discover why, Sia came across rumors that souls were being drawn to the distant lands of Chult. She put some of her last coin to the passage aboard the ship, hoping to leverage her skills as a pathfinder once on those distant shores. Perhaps she can find answers. Perhaps she is just fleeing pain. Time will tell, as it usually does.
Personality: She has a love of exploration, of seeing something new and beautiful that can almost be infectious. She spends spare moments sketching natural wonders, adding drawings to her maps that her old handlers called unnecessary. There's pain in her eyes, sure, but a grit of the teeth and a determined stride to the next hill keeps her from falling apart. Rub some metaphysical dirt in the metaphysical wound, and walk it off. Failures and holdups, she can grow impatient with, and frustrated if they are her own.
Fear: Open Water. This ship voyage has been terrible for her. She doesn't even like swimming in deep lakes.
Character name: Storm on the Horizon (Storm)
Race/Class: Tabaxi / Rogue (swashbuckler)
Brief backstory: Curiosity and wanderlust are the driving forces of Storm’s existence. Shortly after reaching adulthood he left his clan to begin his travels and see what wonders the world had to offer. Among his first stops was a small port town along Maztica’s eastern coast. While sitting in a tavern one evening and sharing stories with a group of sailors, Storm became enthralled with the thought of all the new and interesting places he could visit by traveling the sea. The next day he joined a ship’s crew and left his homeland.
The past several years of Storm’s life have been spent taking jobs on various ships that were heading to any new location he heard about that piqued his interest. Arriving at new ports, meeting new peoples, exploring, and generally bouncing from one curiosity to the next before joining up with a new crew and heading on to his next adventure. He last landed somewhere along the Sword Coast where he spent several months traveling with a merchant caravan along the coastline. After hearing stories of Chult, a jungle covered land to the west that is quite similar to his homeland, Storm once again finds himself on a ship heading across the sea.
Reason for traveling to Chult: see above
Personality: Storm is a charismatic, lighthearted, and chaotic individual with an extremely curious and adventurous spirit.
Fear: loss of freewill
Edit: I will write more of a backstory if selected, just did this quick at work today.
Why not? Been pondering adding another pbp game to the rotation, and always been curious about Tomb of Annihilation. Lessee here:
Name: Urzhol
Race/Class: Fullblooded orc, Celestial-patron warlock
Backstory: Urzhol was born to the orcish raider tribes of the Northlands, and wanted nothing more than to join the tribe's warband in their raids against the soft folk of the South. Unfortunately for Urzhol, her slender, scrawny stature (for an orc) kept her out of the glory of the raids. Instead she was left home, taught to tend to the wounds of the raiders, and otherwise ignored. Determined to claim her place and her glory, Urzhol sought out the shadowy demon-gods of their superstitions, deciding that dark magics would suffice where muscle and steel had failed her. She stole one of the tribe's ceremonial skull trophies and enacted a ritual to summon such a being to it, speaking to her would-be patron through the medium of her enemies' remains and swearing to offer service in exchange for power and glory. The being accepted, and Urzhol swore her Pact.
..****y to discover, after her 'demon-god' had accepted her oath of service, that the entity she'd summoned was a Celestial, not the Infernal spirit she'd been expecting - and to this entity, 'service' meant protecting the civilized lands of the world from the many threats that assailed them. Including orcish raiders plundering their resources. 'Glory', to this creature, was earning a splendid afterlife amongst the gods of Light through a lifetime spent battling the Dark - to Urzhol's new patron, there could be no greater glory, and to be given the chance to offer such glory to a savage, godless raider like Urzhol was a magnificent twist of Fate, indeed.
Urzhol was absolutely outraged...but she had sworn an oath. Her tribe's laws were ironclad - those who swore an oath to the Spirits of the Skulls were to obey, or their soul is forever stained as an oathbreaker. The tribe's elders berated Urzhol and swore to use her tale as a warning against seeking the Skulls frivolously and ruining one of the tribe's prized totems with her piss-poor ritual casting, and then promptly banished her from the tribe's lands forevermore. She would uphold her oath as tribal law demanded, and if Warboss Gharryk or any of the warband ever met her again, they would know her as their enemy.
And so Urzhol left her ancestral lands and began her travels, protecting the thin-hided fops of the South wherever she could as her patron demanded. Complaining about it the whole time.
Reason for Traveling to Chult: Urzhul's patron caught wind of the death curse and commanded their servant to seek its source and crush it. Left with little choice, Uzrhol follows the rumors towards the continent of Chult.
Edit: Expanded as requested
Urzhol's immediate personal reasons for traveling to Chult are as much to escape as they are anything else. Putting an ocean between herself and painful memories, and between herself and any potential conflict with her warband. Beyond escape and satisfying the demands of her obnoxious patron, Urzhol hopes the dense, unexplored jungles of Chult holds secrets that may allow her to undo her mistake. Failing that, she hopes to find a way to turn her situation back to her advantage, or to seek a legendary trophy of the Kingfolk she can try to bring back to her clan as tribute for conciliation.
Personality: Urzhol is alarmingly brash, aggressive, and abrasive. Despite the Sword Coast's dismal opinion of orcs, she is not stupid or ignorant, but she is savage. Urzhol prefers to settle trouble with her fists, the blades of her axes, or the searing fire of her patron's gifts and has little patience for diplomacy. Or in general, really. "Patience" is not a word much of anybody would use to describe Urzhol from day to day.
Fear: Uzrhol's greatest fear is losing herself to her unexpected bargain with one of the Kingfolk's protector spirits. Despite her banishment, Urzhol's dream remains unbroken and she admires the strength, ferocity, and savage purity of the raiders she once longed to be. She dreads waking up one day and realizing she's become little more than a human woman in an orc's skin, thinking the same weak, rotted thoughts as the soft folk of the warm lands in the South and agreeing with her accursed angel-boss when it tells her the raiders are evil and must be expunged.
* * *
Hopefully that should do! Details are negotiable, a'course, but I've had this concept burning a hole in the back of my head for a few weeks now. This seems like a good place to try it out. Here's hoping I get to. Good luck to the rest of everybody else, and thanks for the consideration Kazuha.
Please do not contact or message me.
These are looking really good. Just to clarify, for the reason to go to Chult, this should ideally be an achievable personal goal that your character wants to complete that will happen as you are doing the rest of TOA. You will all be given a pretty good reason to want to explore the death curse as well while you are in Chult. This campaign has a lot of exploring and Chult has a lot to offer so having some side goals as we are going through will help
Added some secondary goals in my post as goals/tasks to be done apart from the main mission.
Added a bit more based on this. =)
Character name - Leika Greyriver
Race/Class - Human Cleric (Trickery)
Brief backstory - Leika was the daughter of adventurers. They often traveled during her childhood to fight monsters and keep the local area safe. When they returned from their excursions they always enchanted Leika and her siblings with their tales of heroism, and all of their children wanted to be like them. Their parents encouraged them, except for Leika. Leika was small and lacked strength, causing her to struggle with weapons, and her parents feared she would only be hurt if she tried to adventure. They discouraged her, and focused their attentions on training her siblings instead. Unwilling to give up on her dream, Leika joined the clergy of Tymora, hoping that some magic would make up for a lack of fighting skill. She learned how to cast spells, and dreamed of one day using them for heroic purposes.
Reason for traveling to Chult - Leika is traveling to Chult to help out one of her siblings who may have run into trouble while exploring. The sibling was sending messages back home every so often, but it has been a while since the last message. Leika is determined to find out what has happened, and possibly show her sibling how capable she is.
Personality - Leika is cheerful, excitable, and compassionate, but also longs for respect and admiration. She gets frustrated when no one takes her seriously or views her as weak.
Fear - Too many tales of eerie monsters have given Leika a fear of the dark.
Is my reason ok? I think it's a good reason to go to Chult, although I know that scrying isn't necromancy. If not, I have another idea for going to Chult
To apply, please fill this out:
Character name - Rus
Race/Class - Firbolg / Ranger
Backstory: Rus is a bit of a loner, even among his own but deeply connected to the rhythm of the earth mother. Though uncomfortable in the outerlands, Rus has been tasked with a mission for his tribe. A mission to help heal his homeland. Deep in the forest swamp that Rus calls home, his tribe has lived quietly for so many generations it is difficult even for a Firbolg to contemplate. But lately, the forest seems… sick. The elders are concerned and whatever is causing this issue has yet to be identified by the tribal masters. The community was abuzz with talk of the problem. Russ tracked his grand uncle one night to an elder council meeting where he overheard the elders discussing sending emissaries into the outerlands to search for clues or tales of such sickness as they were seeing in their forest. Leaning in to hear as much as he could, the softw peat of the ground gave way a bit and Rus lost his footing, falling headfirst into the circle of elders. He quickly brushed himself off, blushed a bit and began to retreat when one of the elder mothers grabbed his wrist and pulled him back into the circle. All agreed, someone with such qualities could do well in the outerlands and tasked Rus with going out into the world. This mystery was new to their home, but something about it seemed “old”. They hoped that some cure or magic could be found that would help them heal their beloved forest.
Reason for traveling to Chult - He heard in one of the coastal downs that there was a dark magic in Chult and that others were seeking its source. Rus hoped that it could offer a clue to a cure for their homeland.
Personality - Use to being alone Rus is socialy awkward. And while he is very comfortable with wild animals and creatures he is very inquisitive about everything. He likes touching and examining things even when that may not be appropriate.
Fear - The dark cannibalistic demons from the north that he's heard stories about since he was a child. They haunt his dreams. but... Rus' eyes look to the distance and the terrible thought rushes over him, It's really a broken heart. I suppose that's why I travel the woods alone. I couldn't face her rejection.
Though not currently a member, seeking admission to the really long and important signature club. Please consider this as a current CV.
Other personalities... Burgee , The Colorless Knight, Fiorello, RW Goodbarrel, Dred, Evrik - Out of the Abyss & Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Site Rules & Guidelines || Tooltips || Homebrew FAQ || Snippet Codes || Syllvva's Guides
Though not currently a member, seeking admission to the really long and important signature club. Please consider this as a current CV.
Other personalities... Burgee , The Colorless Knight, Fiorello, RW Goodbarrel, Dred, Evrik - Out of the Abyss & Dungeon of the Mad Mage
Site Rules & Guidelines || Tooltips || Homebrew FAQ || Snippet Codes || Syllvva's Guides
Character name - Wynn Locke
Race/Class - Human Paladin
Brief backstory - A part of The Order of the Golden cup. The son of a relationship between a paladin of the Noble heart and a cleric of the Golden cup he struggles in his current role. He seeks to do more than just protect while others purge evil, but he also values the work to help victims.
Reason for travelling to Chult - He has heard of this Death Curse through his order and he desired to do something about it, especially since it seemed like standing by wouldn't help anyways. He heard rumors that his father already began a journey here, and he fears the worst.
Secondary goal:
The Iron Helm of Heroes is rumored to have been lost in the south of the inner sea, but recent scholars of the faith have speculated that the helm could have been lost on an island in the southern sea... Near Chult. This prospect plays at the back of Wynn's mind as he looks over the ocean horizon.
Personality - Kind and helpful, not one to tolerate evil or harm to others. He wants to help as much as possible.
Fear - he doesn't know if he will even measure up to the Noble Heart like his father, nor the patience and care of the Golden Cup like his mother. He need to do something to prove to himself that is worthy, and his fear is that he is not.
Edit, secondary goal added.
Character Name - Illispa (Lispy for short) (Color)
Race/Class - Yuan-Ti Pureblood / Fighter
(Not so) Brief Backstory -
Born in the jungles of Chult, Illispa spent the nascent years of her life in a Yuan-ti settlement, surrounded by the unforgiving snake people. However, when she began to speak, the rest of her people realized that she had a horrible disfigurement. While there was nothing physically wrong with her, the young girl had a speech impediment that prevented her from pronouncing the sibilants that her people often preferred using in names and speech. Horrified by this weakness, the rest of the tribe shunned her, and Illispa was quickly forced out as her lisp in tandem with her pureblood nature made her mostly worthless to her people. Unlike most purebloods, who would be able to still provide use to the serpentine people through the form of spying and infiltration, Illispa's lisp made her stand out in a crowd and her voice was off-putting to most people.
Unfortunately for her, being shunned by the tribe meant that she had no way to survive. Still just a child, she was carted off to Port Nyanzaru where she was sold into slavery to a pirate captain who had taken an ounce of pity on the girl. The captain on the ship raised Illispa and gave her the nickname Lispy for her speech impediment. However, unlike her people who shunned her for her voice, her strange style of speaking entertained the pirates, and even at a young age, Lispy was able to make friends with many of the pirates on that ship. Not knowing any other life, Lispy stayed on the ship, with the captain for most of her childhood and adolescence. The captain taught her to navigate the seas, wrestle against a stronger man, and steer a ship. But beyond the practical, he also taught her to never lose sight of one's goal (which was usually treasure) and to always respect those around her.
As fate would have it, around the time that Illispa was finally becoming an adult, the pirate captain that had taken her in died. There was no great battle that he died in or a tragic disease that stole him away. It was simply old age that finally claimed the pirate's soul. But without the captain to keep the crew together, the crew of the ship quickly dispersed to various other ships. Finding jobs on a variety of merchant or pirate vessels, the captain's ship was sold and the money was distributed among the crew. With what little portion of the money that she was given, mostly out of the kindness of a few pirates that she had grown close to, Lispy decided to find another job as well. Taking her skills around the docks of the Sword Coast, the snake-looking woman spent a few months looking for work and living meagerly off of the few coins that she could scavenge from working odd jobs around the docks.
Just as she was giving up on finding a job on a ship, Illispa managed to convince a captain that she was deserving of a position on his/her ship and her dreams of returning to sea were renewed. Thrilled to finally be getting her sea-legs back, Lispy agreed to the terms of the agreement without even questioning the captain or even really paying attention. It was only after she signed the contract that she realized exactly what she had agreed to. A one-way ticket back to Chult. The captain wasn't offering Illispa a return ticket on his/her ship, and the former pirate didn't have the coin to purchase a return trip of her own, so she would likely be stuck in Chult for the foreseeable future when they arrived. However, the more she thought about it, the more that Lispy realized she wanted to return to Chult. She wanted to confront her people. She wanted to see them pay for the way that they had treated her. She wanted to show them why they couldn't just abandon a child at such a young age. She wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but a small part of her serpentine heritage reawoke in her that day, and as the ship set sail, Lispy began to scheme.
Reason for Traveling to Chult - Lispy was originally just planning on going to Chult because it was where the ship that she had gotten a job on was going. However, after a day or so on the ship, the yuan-ti realized that this could be an opportunity for revenge on the people that had caused her so much pain. Thus, when she arrives back in Chult she plans on finding a way to find the yuan-ti community that she was from and punishing them for abandoning her.
Personality - Lispy, is an outgoing person. Her time on the pirate ship taught her that if she didn't speak up for herself, she would be overlooked and overrun. Thus, she became quite the talker and although she can sometimes be a bit blunt and her comments might seem inappropriate to the situation at hand, she is never afraid of saying exactly what is on her mind. Unfortunately, given that she was raised on a pirate ship, she was never given any formal education and doesn't know how to read. But while she might not be the sharpest tool in the shed, she makes up for it with a sharp wit and quick tongue. The former pirate also has a very strong sense of honor and camaraderie. Once she decides that a person is an ally, she will trust them to the ends of the earth and back. Although this is contrary to her nature, because of the way that she was raised, she never developed some of the key personality traits of the yuan-ti including the ability to lie easily and frequently. One of the personality traits that she did get from her heritage, however, was her manipulativeness. Her boisterous nature belies the scheming mind that lies beneath Illispa's smiling face. Being a very vindictive person, Lispy is not one to let grudges go unanswered, and anyone that wrongs her should expect a cold fist to the back of the skull. She prefers to deliver her vengeance up close and personal with her own two hands, but she understands the need for scheming, and when it comes to larger plans like the one to take revenge on her people, she knows better than to rush in and start punching things. Finally, once Lispy sets her mind to a goal, she will overcome any obstacle to achieve the goal, or die trying. The biggest lesson that she learned from the pirate that became her mentor, was that persistence is the key to success and she does her best to live by that dogma each and every day.
Fear - Lispy has a few fears, but the biggest ones are her feelings of inadequacy. After being abandoned by her people, Illispa was left with a lingering feeling that she was unworthy of even being alive. It took many years on the pirate ship before she began to start to realize her worth, but to this day she still wonders sometimes if she should have died that day when she was sold into slavery. Her other existential fear is that she will end up liking her people when she ends up meeting them and will therefore be unable to exact her revenge. She greatly wishes that they are purely evil people so that she can have no remorse in punishing them, but a small part of her also wishes for them to welcome her back with open arms and tell her that it was one big mistake. As far as generic fears go, Lispy does have a slight issue with very tight spaces (claustrophobia) as she much rather prefers to be up on the deck of a ship where she can see the vast blue ocean that extends for miles.
RP Sample (I know you didn't ask for this... But I thought it would give you a better idea of my style of posting and playing in general. It also helps set the scene for Lispy's backstory and abilities better than just describing it.):
Lispy grinned as she stepped up onto the boarding plank of the ship. She swayed for a few seconds before she got her legs back under her. "Thith ith going to be wonderful," she breathes to herself as her sea legs return. It had been months since she had last been on a ship, and the pirate was longing to see the open seas beneath her and feel the rocking of the boat. Finding out the boat's destination yesterday had just been an added bonus.
Lispy takes a deep breath as she smells the salty cool breeze coming in from the sea. She has already come up with a few ideas on how to exact her revenge, although nothing could be final until they arrived in Chult and she learned more about the area. Lispy had never really gotten to see the land of Chult, as she had been quite young when she was sold away. The yuan-ti found herself silently excited for their arrival to the strange but familiar land.
As she steps on deck, the young woman introduces herself to some of the crew. Extending a hand she gives a broad smile and says, "Hey there! I go by Lithpy. You got a name?" After getting herself acquainted with the crew, the yuan-ti finds a place to put her stuff down and reports to the captain to see how she can help. When she is working on whatever work she is assigned, she touches a bruise on her cheek and her mind begins to wander to the events of the day before.
After signing her contract, Lispy had gone to the bar to celebrate with a few drinks. She hadn't been sitting for long until she noticed another man trying to swipe her drink, she snatched it back quickly and downed the rest of the liquid in one gulp. Alcohol never had much of an effect on her, which was unfortunate because she had heard it was amazing from her friends back on her old ship. Giving the man a wink she grinned evilly and said, "Don't worry, better in my thtomath than on the ground. You don't look like you could hold your alcohol anywayth." The man hadn't taken the insult well, and hence the bruise. But Lispy chuckled to herself as she remembered the beating that she had given the other guy. If anyone commented on her bruise, she already had her comeback line ready to go, "You thould have theen the other guy!" she thinks to herself. He had been forced to go see a cleric for his wound because Lispy had knocked him out cold with one punch.
Now with a smile spanning the whole of her face, the yuan-ti pirate grins broadly as she continues to work on the ship and bide her time until they arrive in Chult.
EDIT: Readability
“The mark of a successful DM is when you have caused more player deaths with doors than dragons, demons, or devils.”
These look really good. I'm gonna take a day or two fully read over them and decide. Thank you everyone for offering up your characters to this madness
Gotchagotcha, sure thing.
Any idea how you're handling Session Zero discussions for those folks who end up chosen?
Please do not contact or message me.
Name: Sia Lysander
Race/Class: Variant Human / Rogue (Scout)
Brief Backstory: Sia grew up on the farthest outskirts of Neverwinter, where more of her time as a child was spent flitting through the Neverwinter woods than anywhere else. She developed a natural sense for direction, nature, and how the forest grew and flowed throughout the valleys at the base of Mount Hotenow. As she came of age, she joined with the city watch as a Farstrider, responsible for bringing accurate reports of threats to the city and scouting out the surrounding lands, developing the talent for mapmaking and slipping through the trees like a wind through leaves. Things changed, though, when she met Howe Lysander deep in the woods just after her twenty-fifth birthday. A veteran adventurer and all-around charmer, he had been injured fending off orcs. Sia helped Howe survive the night and recover, and over the course of a few weeks Howe swept the young woman off her feet. Married within a year, Sia looked forward to the adventures she would have with her husband, having separated from the Farstriders. But, then, he got sick. Real sick. She watched her husband waste away... and found out after he passed that this event was his second time at death.
Reason to Travel to Chult: Grief replaced by determination to discover why, Sia came across rumors that souls were being drawn to the distant lands of Chult. She put some of her last coin to the passage aboard the ship, hoping to leverage her skills as a pathfinder once on those distant shores. Perhaps she can find answers. Perhaps she is just fleeing pain. Time will tell, as it usually does.
Personality: She has a love of exploration, of seeing something new and beautiful that can almost be infectious. She spends spare moments sketching natural wonders, adding drawings to her maps that her old handlers called unnecessary. There's pain in her eyes, sure, but a grit of the teeth and a determined stride to the next hill keeps her from falling apart. Rub some metaphysical dirt in the metaphysical wound, and walk it off. Failures and holdups, she can grow impatient with, and frustrated if they are her own.
Fear: Open Water. This ship voyage has been terrible for her. She doesn't even like swimming in deep lakes.
Aldrik Reinholdt in Dragon Heist
Daventry in The Candlekeep Mysteries, and her bag
Thank you all for taking the time to apply for this campaign, there were a lot of really good characters. I have chosen five and sent out pms.
Thanks for the opportunity!
Have a blast!
Panic is a mechanism that strengthens the gene pool.
Good luck with the game folks..