Editing To Build A Nation: Brutus
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− | + | ==BRUTUS== | |
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PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION | PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION | ||
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'''Early Life''' | '''Early Life''' | ||
− | Brutus was born into the wealthy family of Valenance, with a holding within | + | Brutus was born into the wealthy family of Valenance, with a holding within Bastion and property scattered across the land. One of nine siblings, it was hard to get noticed within the family. The Valenance fortune came primarily from its ownership and commanding of the Virilian Banners, a mercenary company which the family used strategically to better their prospects, amass wealth and generally throw their weight around. Grandfather acquired the Banners and made the families name, pulling himself out of the gutter to slice throats and trample on everyone in his way til he beheaded his Captain-General and took his place and fancy hat. Grandfather always felt the story both hilarious and improved by the repeating, but it did put the Valenance name under a cloud right from the start. Things of course improved with regime change, something Grandfather and Mother cannily anticipated and supported. |
Being a member of the Valenance family was always a cutthroat business - Brutus' older brother Seth was 'accidently' shot in the back by one of his men on campaign, for which one of his other brothers Gerand and his only sister Violet were strongly suspected of engineering. Normally this sort of rivalry would be tacitly condoned, but it was clumsily done and Mother was not pleased. They're now the only ones in the family with a lower reputation than Brutus. | Being a member of the Valenance family was always a cutthroat business - Brutus' older brother Seth was 'accidently' shot in the back by one of his men on campaign, for which one of his other brothers Gerand and his only sister Violet were strongly suspected of engineering. Normally this sort of rivalry would be tacitly condoned, but it was clumsily done and Mother was not pleased. They're now the only ones in the family with a lower reputation than Brutus. | ||
− | + | School was enlightening in all the wrong ways, but Brutus did at least embark on a sorcerous career as a result - book learning being his strong point. Learning enchantment initially, he found that enormously useful in improving his lot after college. He did his customary obligation to the Shadow, serving as a conscript in the regional army as demonstration of the family's willingness to sacrifice for their masters. While his family could have pulled strings to keep him out of it, Mother felt is necessary for him to 'build character.' Two long years of wasted opportunities, he know keeps his old uniform on display and uses it for occasional target practice. At least during this time he did use the long hours to further expand his growing magical knowledge. | |
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− | He did his customary obligation to the Shadow, serving as a conscript in the regional army as demonstration of the family's willingness to sacrifice for their masters. While his family could have pulled strings to keep him out of it, Mother felt is necessary for him to 'build character.' Two long years of wasted opportunities, he know keeps his old uniform on display and uses it for occasional target practice. At least during this time he did use the long hours to further expand his growing magical knowledge. | ||
'''An Uninspiring Career Cut Short''' | '''An Uninspiring Career Cut Short''' | ||
− | It was on one bitter night in the Erethor Forest hunting rebels that never seemed to be found that he was approached by an entity that offered Brutus a path to what he had secretly wanted all along - glory, power and the ability to grind his awful family's faces into the mud. Some sort of fey creature, she taught him many dangerous secrets of the true paths to power | + | It was on one bitter night in the Erethor Forest hunting rebels that never seemed to be found that he was approached by an entity that offered Brutus a path to what he had secretly wanted all along - glory, power and the ability to grind his awful family's faces into the mud. Some sort of fey creature, she taught him the Sundered Tongue and many dangerous secrets of the true paths to power. The madness tradition Saladriel taught him opened Brutus' mind in more ways than one, and he left the Shadow's service a changed man with a soul he'd bargained away in exchange for the promise of power and glory. |
He next took up the dutiful role within the family, getting some more battlefield experience as a mercenary in the Virilian Banners. He found himself better suited to logistics and management than cut and thrust, and wangled a role as quartermaster for the company, a role coming with significant perks. Alas, the life of the mercenary involves ups and downs and somehow he found himself freezing to death in a forsaken valley with a handful of compatriots. Initially well-provisioned, they ended up snowed in to the extent they had to survive the winter without aid. Starvation beckoned, and gradually they ate everything possible until nothing remained. Some died of sickness, the cold, starvation. An awful choice presented itself, but Brutus' fear of death outweighed his moral squeamishness. He and his remaining two companions ate the corpses of their comrades to try to eke out their lives further, but once the bones were picked clean they still had weeks of winter to endure. | He next took up the dutiful role within the family, getting some more battlefield experience as a mercenary in the Virilian Banners. He found himself better suited to logistics and management than cut and thrust, and wangled a role as quartermaster for the company, a role coming with significant perks. Alas, the life of the mercenary involves ups and downs and somehow he found himself freezing to death in a forsaken valley with a handful of compatriots. Initially well-provisioned, they ended up snowed in to the extent they had to survive the winter without aid. Starvation beckoned, and gradually they ate everything possible until nothing remained. Some died of sickness, the cold, starvation. An awful choice presented itself, but Brutus' fear of death outweighed his moral squeamishness. He and his remaining two companions ate the corpses of their comrades to try to eke out their lives further, but once the bones were picked clean they still had weeks of winter to endure. | ||
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'''A New Chapter''' | '''A New Chapter''' | ||
− | In many ways this was a rebirth for Brutus. For good or ill, he had committed, perhaps unwittingly, to a path where only the Shadow could accept him. Impossible to hide his changed nature, many questions were asked when he eventually stumbled back to the winter camp of the Virilian Banners. Anger greeted the change, and Brutus fled | + | In many ways this was a rebirth for Brutus. For good or ill, he had committed, perhaps unwittingly, to a path where only the Shadow could accept him. Impossible to hide his changed nature, many questions were asked when he eventually stumbled back to the winter camp of the Virilian Banners. Anger greeted the change, and Brutus fled. After some weeks adapting to his new and hideous nature, Brutus approached an agent of the Legate and begged for protection and a place in their retinue. Initially dismissive, Brutus eventually proved his usefulness and was eventually taken on as a kind of twisted retainer for the agent. Showing a surprising adeptness at manipulating politics and people, he became an able right-hand man to this agent. |
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+ | The enemies of the Shadow came eventually though, and the agent was murdered. Trapped in an attic while his would=be murderer attempted to bash their way in, Brutus turned to his tutor Saladriel for aid. This time she failed to appear - or perhaps she did, as Brutus discovered a tome the agent owned and had secreted away in the attic. Drawn to it with a feeling of destiny, Brutus opened the tome with trembling talons and poured over it's forbidden contents. He found an incantation to summon otherworldly alien, summoning an unimpressively small demon. The demon proved more able than its size however, and drove off Brutus' attackers for long enough for him to make his escape. The demon went about its own business, but does reappear from time to time to taunt, or sometimes just to chat (it gets lonely). Attempts to capture it have been thus far unsuccessful. | ||
− | + | Brutus made it back to the Legate and reported the attack and killing of her servant. Enraged, the Legate grudgingly appointed Brutus to his dead master's role. However, he had to pay a terrible price as the Legate's magics tore at him and ripped away his left eye, ear and a finger of the hand he tried to shield himself with. The Legate now possess these ruined appendages, using them undoubtably for some fell purpose. | |
− | + | On the other hand, Brutus was promoted! | |
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− | + | Life Event (L3 Courtier): Major Setback - You suffered a terrible injury that took an eye, ear, 1d3 fingers, or even a hand. Reduce your Appearance by one step. When you were | |
− | Life | + | Life Event (L1 Ghoul): Major Windfall - You found a book of spells containing 4 incantations, Necromancy: Bone Armor, Rune: Brand of Doom. This book is very illegal; it's a book, and it casts unsanctioned magic. |
− | + | Interesting Thing (L1 Ghoul): Pets!... so many cockroaches | |
+ | Interesting Thing (L3 Courtier): Tools and Devices... a clockwork ear horn that picks up whispers from the Midnight Lands, the fey demesne of the Queen of Dreams and Shadows. | ||
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We've also established that Brutus carries the assassin's knife that killed Cairistìne, to which she is bound. How and when did Brutus come across that? Was it happenstance, or did Cairistìne lead Brutus to it? Cairistìne's Kicker could have come before Brutus and she knew each other, or significantly after. (If her Kicker happened after Brutus and she started working together, then Brutus' enemy is quite nearby.) | We've also established that Brutus carries the assassin's knife that killed Cairistìne, to which she is bound. How and when did Brutus come across that? Was it happenstance, or did Cairistìne lead Brutus to it? Cairistìne's Kicker could have come before Brutus and she knew each other, or significantly after. (If her Kicker happened after Brutus and she started working together, then Brutus' enemy is quite nearby.) | ||
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I like the idea of Cairistìne leading him to the dagger. Maybe she's tired of being locked up in various arcane vaults until some minion needs a ghost for something; and wants to spend more time on the outside. Instead of following order... let Brutus get the dagger and turn tables on the enemy? | I like the idea of Cairistìne leading him to the dagger. Maybe she's tired of being locked up in various arcane vaults until some minion needs a ghost for something; and wants to spend more time on the outside. Instead of following order... let Brutus get the dagger and turn tables on the enemy? | ||
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+ | I'm thinking that there's a connection between Sugul and Durvan, but it's not yet clear to me. I could also see Brutus or Cairistìne, or both of them, playing a part in Sugul's escape from captivity. | ||
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+ | Any thoughts here? | ||
+ | You know little of this rising threat of internal conflict, Brutus, but you see the effects of the large influx of goblin, hobgoblin, and other creatures from the Northern Marches. Your network of administrators is buzzing with tales of razed villages, whole towns taken over by goblinoids, their human inhabitants displaced as refugees at best, killed outright or enslaved at worst. Your own town has grown crowded with refugees, and the 'secure' little spot you've scratched out for yourself grows less so with every month that passes. | ||
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'''Will''' 9 | '''Will''' 9 | ||
− | '''Perception:''' 16 | '''Defense:''' 15 (16 with leather armour) | ''' | + | '''Perception:''' 16 | '''Defense:''' 15 (16 with leather armour) | '''Health:''' 24/0 | '''Healing Rate:''' 6 <br> |
'''Size:''' 1 | '''Speed:''' 8 | '''Power''' 2 <br> | '''Size:''' 1 | '''Speed:''' 8 | '''Power''' 2 <br> | ||
'''Insanity:''' 2 | '''Corruption:''' 1 <br> | '''Insanity:''' 2 | '''Corruption:''' 1 <br> | ||
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'''Languages:''' Erenlander (speak/read), Iron Tongue, Sundered Tongue<br> | '''Languages:''' Erenlander (speak/read), Iron Tongue, Sundered Tongue<br> | ||
− | '''Professions:''' | + | '''Professions:''' Military | Mercenary, Military | Conscript, Civic | Retainer , Military | Quartermaster |
===Talents=== | ===Talents=== | ||
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Lifestyle: Getting By <br> | Lifestyle: Getting By <br> | ||
− | Worn: Soft leather armour and courtier's clothing, tinderbox, small and cryptically-engraved mirror (magic implement) | + | Worn: Soft leather armour and courtier's clothing, tinderbox, small and cryptically-engraved mirror (magic implement), dagger, cloak, 12ss and 6cp, another 12ss in confiscated trade goods (furs, precious ores) <br> |
− | Lodgings: Conscript Uniform used for target practice, | + | Lodgings: Conscript Uniform used for target practice, crossbow and 10 bolts <br> |
===Background=== | ===Background=== | ||
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===Weapons + Damage=== | ===Weapons + Damage=== | ||
*Talons (finesse), +3 to hit, 1d6+3 | *Talons (finesse), +3 to hit, 1d6+3 | ||
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*Crossbow (long range, reload), +3 to hit, 2d6 - hidden in Brutus' office | *Crossbow (long range, reload), +3 to hit, 2d6 - hidden in Brutus' office | ||
==Notes/Story== | ==Notes/Story== |