A Traveller's Tales


Part 1, Trouble at the Inn

“Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls, Beast things...”
The last line brought out a peal of laughter from the audience and the narrator smiled to himself, the peasants that filled this cramped, rural tavern were all Imperials and to a man fiercely conservative. No matter what was stated by governmental edict, Nibenayans had naturally a deep rooted hatred of all things furry.

“I bring before you today, a tale of great deeds, heroic duels and bloody battles. A tale that many of you will have heard before, brought new life with the help of my capable friends back-stage”
He flourished his arm in an extravagant gesture at the threadbare curtain that barely obscured the actors who were hurriedly changing and was awarded with an impressed “ohh” from the audience, they were simple folk and not hard to please. Most of them had probably been here last time the troupe had rolled into town and the time before as well.

“For tonight on this very stage, provided of course by our lovely, exotic host and supplier of ale; Laurenne”
Another cheer, smaller this time. The audience were beginning to get impatient with the build-up.

“Yes ladies and gentlemen, tonight in this very tavern we whisk you back through time to the days of the Civil War”
A couple of village lads who'd been paid beforehand stood up to blow out the candles, leaving the tavern in darkness, save for the lamps set strategically about the stage.

“The tale I am about to tell you is one of the early days of the war, not 5 years after the assassination of the Champion. The Old Empire is in ruin and every lord who can lay his hands upon a weapon is vying for power. The white walls of the Imperial City had been spattered red with blood more than once during this short period as some of the more powerful warlords, mainly former counts, had tried and failed to wrest the city from the equally despotic grip of the remains of the empire. I'm sure you all know of the event that was to follow, when the people of the City rose up and rebelled, taking control for themselves and then standing as a beacon of hope to the oppressed serfs of Cyrodil for nigh on 50 years before sinking once more into mediocrity. What we reveal to you tonight is another side to the revolution”
The narrator's voice dropped to a stage whisper, artfully drawing the audience into his confidence they were all listening now; there was no need to speak loudly over the muttering or clinking of glasses he was speaking into a rapt silence and experiencing that rush that comes from knowing that you have 30 people hanging on your every word.

“Our story begins in the dark, in the cellar of the Merchant's inn; a venue renowned at the time for selling questionable items to shady characters, people who for one reason or another wished to avoid Imperial eyes...”


Introduction

Hi, this is the sign up thread for the first in a series of micro rps hosted by myself known as The Traveller's Tales. http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=1065332 also is a link to the original thread.

The basic idea is that we are following the disparate events of the life of Attilus Facian, a scholar and a man whose influence on the future history of Nirn in this timeline rivals that of anyone who failed to achieve godhood during their lives. They are to be set in a time just following the untimely death of the Champion of Cyrodil, the last great figurehead of Imperial Tamriel. Attilus is on a quest of sorts, the details of which will not be made known at this time, however the story in much the same way as the myths about King Arthur and his knights – disparate yet interconnected. This means that the overall story is very flexible and it can, and will, jump genres and scale a lot to keep things interesting.

Attilus is by no means the main character of the individual rps. The micro rps themselves will be based around your characters with myself playing Attilus and any roles people don't fancy picking up upon.

As other rpers you won't be playing groupies (although some characters might end up forming a party with him... dunno yet)

It's difficult to explain the general idea because every single mini rp will be different. I intended to get a small starting group of roleplayers together before I began so that I could find out their preferences - this really is that flexible, the individual tales can be about almost anything.

Think of the tales like this: If you've ever read Foundation by Isaac Asimov then you'll understand sort of what I'm aiming for. The book as a whole was simply short stories focussing on the great individuals of the time and how they solved the various crises that afflicted the Foundation. The thread connecting them together was the slow expansion and development of the Foundation's empire, this would be the equivalent of Attilus. Aided or abetted by the scholar in some way, we follow the lives of various people as they try to reach their own varied goals. It could be anything from an unsubtle rip off of Romeo and Juliet - two youths tragically manipulated by Attilus from the shadows to fall in love and sacrifice themselves to force and end to some larger civil warring to a group of dungeon delvers recieving aid from a strange man who was seemingly slightly prescient to the assassination of a family of nobles. It depends on the feedback I get from people.


Trouble at the Inn

First thing to note: We aren't continuing directly from the introduction, we are not infact in the tavern. We will be roleplaying the characters of the story, the style of the intro, as with the previous thread is to try to show just how pervasive Attilus' legacy is on future generations

In this roleplay you are, for whatever reason, one of the people within this room below the the Merchant's Inn. We're to be storming the Bastille as it were. The Citizens of the Imperial City have been living in rather dire conditions; constantly under siege by their neighbours, only able to recieve food via ships coming up the river. The government is more concerned with holding onto the small pieces of foreign territory that it has left than with feeding it capital and the people of the City have gotten quite angry about it. There has been no real formal conspiracy to take over the city but the city's desperate population are pretty willing to support any rebllious group that promises them a better lifestyle. You will be playing one of a group of totally random and not necessarily altogether selfless characters who are to instigate things by helping a rather unusual man to retrieve a book.

The reason I chose this as a starter roleplay is that it is suitably epic and differs from the traditional rp styles whilst allowing me to introduce you to the Attilus and the political climate of the world at this time. Though there will be fighting involved during the process, inevitable during a rebellion, this won't be a hack'n'slash killfest, this is about overthrowing a city; political statements and making a scene are effective, rather than simply killing all opposition (after all, the soldiers have families within the city, they aren't mindless drones.) I don't want you to think either that this will be low-action, I'm talking demonstrations; making sure that people witness you breaking unfair laws and standing to the guards, assaulting members of the government, possibly assassinations. It all depends on how you wish the take over to go. (Will work with a DM system, more details as and when people ask for them or before we start the rp)

I won't place any restrictions, besides the standard: No Vampires, No Werewolves and please don't make your character superhuman or able to read thoughts. I want this rp to be a success so I will be quite strict about this. One other thing: I don't need a big group of people for this roleplay and it will be greatly hindered by people leaving after a certain point So please notify me if you're going to be away for more than a few days and don't sign up if you don't think you'll be able to finish.

Character sheets are only required for reference for names, appearance and to make sure that your character has limits but detail is good and, in future roleplays where I'll be relying more on other players to play siginificant roles, I'm more likely to ask you, or give you a role should you ask for it if I have confidence in your ability to roleplay it. This doesn't mean I'm looking for you to be the very best writer in the forum but I won't give you the role if I don't think you can handle it.


Character Sheet
Nothing fancy is required here, put in as much or as little effort as you like. All I ask for is an example post- to show that you can write well in a roleplay, a name and physical details - appearance, skills (don't list, describe what you want you character to be able to do, this isn't an RPG with rules and statistics ) and equipment, everything else should come up during the rp anyway. If you want to put in something special related to what is going to happen in the rp please pm me first so that you don't accidentally throw off my planned the plot line .

Pm Me your sheet before posting it in the thread

Name:
Age:
Race:

Talents: (don't have to be related to existing TES Skills)

Appearance:

Equipment:

Bio \ Example post:

Miscellaneous:

Sorry about not sending my sheet yet, Evil, I honestly couldn't tell what the plot of the first RP was :shrug: Not to say your thread or idea is flawed, but it could use a bit of clarification. All we really know is that we're in an inn basemant, it doesn't really lend much to the imagination. Most of my characters are tailored to fit the current RP, and without really knowing what it will be I can't really think of a character. Once again, sorry, and I hope this goes well :goodjob:

Wow, that was a big oversight on my part, sorry .

We're to be storming the Bastille as it were. The Citizens of the Imperial City have been living in rather dire conditions; constantly under siege by their neighbours, only able to recieve food via ships coming up the river. The government is more concerned with holding onto the small pieces of foreign territory that it has left than with feeding it capital and the people of the City have gotten quite angry about it. There has been no real formal conspiracy to take over the city but the city's desperate population are pretty willing to support any rebllious group that promises them a better lifestyle. You will be playing one of a group of totally random and not necessarily altogether selfless characters who are to instigate things by helping a rather unusual man to retrieve a book...

Ah, much better This unusual man sounds interesting, I'll have my sheet done before the weekend (weekdays aren't good for me, sorry )

Keep up the good work, this is looking good :goodjob:

Fascinating. I will hopefully keep on this.

See original post for a better explained and fleshed out version

Thanks for the replies guys, I really hope I can get enough people to get this thing up and running...

On that note:

Dear people who have yet to join this rp,

Would you mind posting here, seeing as it's a sign up thread, to tell me what put you off joining. The great thing about the story arc I have planned for this series of roleplays is that I can feasibly fit in nearly any possible turn of events or changes I like without ruining it so this rp is still very flexible. The reason I chose this as a starter roleplay is that it is suitably epic and differs from the traditional rp styles whilst allowing me to introduce you to the Attilus and the political climate of the world at this time. Though there will be fighting involved during the process, inevitable during a rebellion, this won't be a hack'n'slash killfest, this is about overhtrowing a city, political statements and making a scene, rather than simply killing all opposition (after all, the soldiers have families within the city, they aren't mindless drones)

Regards,

Evil Pigeon

I am interested, though I think perhaps there might be a little too much freedom compared to what i'm used to. I like pushing boundaries, which is hard when there are none .

I'm willing to give it a shot. Though my exams don't clear up till tomorrow, I should have a sheet done by the weekend.

I'm going to have to think before then on what I can do with this, it's a challenge, but it'll be fun i'm sure.

-----

Nice seeing you again by the way, i've been inactive for a while.

Yeah, I noticed

As to freedom, I'm going to do my best to make sure that nobody will ever lose their sense of direction - this isn't going to be totally free-form. I'm not going to say 'go cause a revolt... good luck.'

If I want to join up, should I PM my character sheet to you? This looks very interesting and, since it looks like TESV is still a ways off, I've been jonesing for a new adventure in Tamriel.

Yeah, that'd be great. I hope this sates your appetite

A man's stomach is limitless. But it'll probably help. I'll get to work on the sheet.

Well, here's my sheet for reference.

Name: Darius Maximus Brutus
Age: 24
Race: Imperial Colovian

Talents: Swineherding, short blade, climbing, speechcraft

Appearance: short and thin, black hair, big nose, scar on his chin from when he fell off a boulder as a kid, blue eyes.

Equipment: Grandad's Imperial Short sword, leather belt, shirt, pants, shoes, two small leather bags on belt, one empty the other contains twenty septims.

Bio: Born in Chorrol to Marius Brutus and Sevellia Brutus. The oldest of seven brothers. when his parents split three days after his tenth birthday he and his father moved to Skyrim, his mother and younger brothers stayed in Chorrol. When he turned sixteen, his father died and he stayed at the pig farm they had set up. When he turned twenty, his mother died. He returned to Cyrodiil to help settle family affairs, but had no money to go back to Skyrim. He works odd jobs in various places whenever and wherever able. When he left his mothers house he took his maternal grandfather's short sword.

Name: Stendarous Rigmor, or as he's more commonly known, 'Sten'.
Age: Forty-Two
Race: Nord

Appearance: Like a typical Nord, Stendarous is a large, well built man. While he isn't as trim as he was in his youth, he's still fairly muscular despite the beer-belly that is starting to form and hang over his belt. He keeps his short, unkempt dark brown hair in place with a grey rag of cloth usually in order to keep it looking even slightly kept and also to hide the grey hairs that are coming through. Around his mouth, a beard is beginning to form. Sten only lets it grow because he can't be bothered to shave. His bulbous nose and stern eyes are probably his most striking features as they stand out the most by far. Despite his age, his eyes are still as radiant as the day he was born. Sten's broad shoulders, coupled with his layers of muscle, make him seem like a rather intimidating figure especially considering most people have to look upwards to even see his face. But when they do look up, they're generally met by a heart-warming smile and that is Sten in a nutshell.

Equipment: Usually, Sten wears a shirt and a pair of breeches with suspenders extending up from the breeches themselves. However, at home, he still possess his old, battered iron cuirass from his mining days when he needed a bit of extra safety encase of bandit attacks or raiders. He's also got his rock-hardened pickaxe up in his attic somewhere as he refuses to throw it out due to it's sentimental value.

Bio \ Example post: Sten was born in Bruma and was named after his father, a very skilled hunter and warrior. His mother was also a hunter and could handle herself in close combat too. Sten was trained up to be a marksman from a very young age, but it was apparant that his skills with a bow left a lot to be desired. He was then trained as a warrior, but he lacked the finesse to fight properly. As a last pitched attempt, his parents sought to make him an intelligent academic but they knew that was a bad idea considering at the age of ten he couldn't spell his own name. Disappointed in their child, his parents sold Sten to a wealthy landowner.

This particular man owned a vast network of mines and therefore set Sten off to work in the mines. As he had been branded a failure all his life, Sten decided he would actually become good at something for once in his life and studied some of the more veteran miners and their techniques. He promised his 'master' he would become the best miner of all times which confused him greatly considering Sten was forced into this job. Aided by his unusual strength, Sten soon became a very skilled miner and even earned the respect of his master. After years of work, his owner decided he would release Sten for his loyalty and skill. He paid the Nord a fairly large sum of money as compensation for his slavery and told him of a cheap house he was selling in the Imperial City. Shocked by this generosity, Sten gladly accepted and now lives in the Waterfront District.

Talents: While Sten is no veteran warrior or explorer, he is a strong man and strength is quite a valuble assesst when it comes to combat. He may lack finesse in his fighting style, but one hit from a Nord of Sten's size can knock a man off his feet with great ease. Also, after years in the dark mines, his eyes have grown more accustom to the dark than most people and therefore he has greater ease seeing in shadow-stricken places.

Miscellaneous: It's a known fact that Sten isn't a big fan of water, nobody knows why, not even Sten himself, but he avoids it at all costs. He also seems to have inherited his father's 'dislike' for the beast races, but not quite to the same degree as his dad.

There's my sheet as well. Can't wait to get started =]

Wow. I feel somewhat unmanned by the magnificent detail here. Looks like I need to drink more coffee and step it up just to keep level with ya! :goodjob:

Haha, don't worry about it. Evil did say they were just for reference, but I went a little OOT as I always do with bios.

Detail is good. I'll just use more of it anyway.

Indeed, I just couldn't force myself to being so vague with my character. I'm glad it wasn't a problem





Looking forward to it :goodjob:

I'm not one for making detailed lists and such, more for detailed area and action descriptions, putting character through that. Just stating character A isn't very easy for me. Well, I'm exited.

Good to have you onboard Darkom, you too of course Lycan. I can't wait till we get this started. We've got a fair amount of variety so far which is good and I hope it'll stay diverse throughout the different 'chapters'.

Oked by Evil Pigeon :

Name: Ashag Gro Durgol
Age: 60 (looks in his 40's thanks to magic)
Gender: Male
Race: Orc
Birthsign: The mage

Class: combat healer
Class description: A more belligerent cousin to the ordinary healer, his job is to support troops in the field with mundane and magical healing. To stay alive in such environment, he supplements healing skills with armor, blunt weapons and a touch of combat magic
Profession: Itinerant healer

Hair: dark grey
Eyes: brown
Height: 6'6"
Weight: 220 lbs
General appearance: A rather tall and muscular orc ? which makes him an imposing brute by human standards. His greying hair and lined face show some of his age, but he has retained an impressive physique. He has several ritual scars and tattoos on his face and arms (which means he's from the Skull Breakers clan, a bachelor, a Malacath shaman and has killed). Usually wearing sturdy leather pants and linen shirt, with heavy boots and leather bracers. Always carries a steel and silver bound quarterstaff and a large beggar"s bag of healing supplies.

Equipment: Legion lamellar cuirass (worn when he's expecting troubles), leather bracers with a steel core, 'mage' staff (seven feet of sturdy oak, bound with steel and silver rings. The staff is enchanted to store magicka to supplement his own), surgeon's kit, simple alchemy kit

Personality: Ashag has a rather calm and caring personality that contrast with his somewhat fierce appearance. But it don't makes him soft or weak ? as a combat medic and a former Malacath shaman he know the best way to keep bullies away is to out-bully them.

Background: Once a tribal shaman from the wrothgarian mountains, Ashag followed his clansmen when they enlisted in the Legion thanks to king Gorthwog's deal with the Empire. There he seized the opportunity to improve his magic, especially in restoration. Which let him gain some protection against aging. As he retired from the Legion he followed some others healers into the cult of Mara ? though as a lay member as he keeps ties with Malacath. As much to protect the well-meaning fools from themselves as out of concern for the needy. He's growing increasingly disgusted with the imperial remnant's politic, which soon got him involved in discussions on how to improve the situation. Being a Legion retiree and a member of the Benevolence of Mara has shielded him from the power-that be, but that shield is getting thin.

Abilities: He's a surprisingly good mage, being mostly skilled in restoration magic, but no slouch with destruction and knowing some alteration and mysticism. He's a decent alchemist. But he's also quite good with blunt weapons and unarmed fighting. Despite his age, he has kept most of the strength of his youth, and while not exactly nimble, he's more agile than one would expect from a big, old orc.

^ This.

Heh... I was actually talking to Darkom about half-breeds the other day... and that reminded me of this older character of mine.

I hope you guys don't mind that I'm not sticking my nose into so many RPs lately. I'm at a slump in my original work, and am out of my mind with creative energy. This is the last one I'll join, I swear. :facepalm:


Name: Nebin
Gender: Male
Age: 24 (Bosmer equivilant of 16)
Race: Imperial/Bosmer (Bosmer is much more prominent)
Birthsign: The Steed

Talents: His most notable abilities involve his speed and agility. He's very good at climbing and acrobatics, and can sneak passing well. He's very energetic, so is good at sprinting, jumping, and other short bursts of movement. Working at an inn has taught him a couple speechcraft tricks, as well as how to use hand-to-hand to swiftly settle a fight.

Appearance: Nebin very much takes after his Bosmer mother, except for his hair. He has the standard slanted eyes, pointy ears, delicate features, and lack of height (about 4'9") of his Bosmer half, and he is still soft with youth. He isn't too bothered to stay neat and presentable. His hair is dark brown and curly, hinting that his father was probably an Imperial. There is a white curl just above his right ear, where he once fell off a wall and cracked his head open. He keeps his hair short and unkept, so the curls tend to be going everywhere at any given time. His eyes are green. He usually wears a contagious smile on his face, a look known to soften the hearts of all but the most hardened of taverngoers.

Personality: Nebin is chaotic in every way. He's a mischievous young mer, prone to pranking and joking. He loves playing around, and it's very difficult to settle him down. His short attention span and constant hyperactivity might be an annoyance... but, the fact is, there is a certain charm about the boy. He has a way of weedling his way into one's affections, and he knows it and takes advantage of it.

However, he has one particular sensitive spot: the matter of his birth. Everyone who knows him can easily pick out the fact that the boy seeks some sort of father figure, and the interracial aspect of his birth doesn't make him any less sensitive about it.

Equipment: Nebin typically wears what he can get away with at the inn: coarse brown hide pants, a loose white cotton shirt, a leather belt, and ratty old shoes that may or may not have been stolen. He has a coin pouch with 7 gp in it, and a white cloth tucked into his belt--used for wiping tables at the inn, and various other odds and ends.

Background: Nebin's mother is Peneli, a Bosmer waitress at the inn (the one where this planning session thing is going on) who has a reputation of promiscuity and insatiable appetite... a reputation that is entirely true. Therefore, no one was really surprised when her escapades resulted in the birth of Nebin. Even today, no one is entirely sure who his father is (not even Peneli!), although there are a couple likely suspects.

As Nebin grew up, he accumulated a reputation as a general mischief maker, seeking to liven up the lives of those around him with pranks and whatnot. Usually, his escapades are mere annoyances, but he has, on occasion, provoked the wrong people. As such, he had to learn how to get away quickly, and can thus climb trees and walls better than most.

Nebin spends most of his time working at the inn with his mother (between the two of them, they just manage to make ends meet). He seems to generally enjoy meeting people and listening to others' stories, but he has an aversion to honest work that often gets him in trouble... with the innkeeper, his mother, and (on a handful of occasions) the Imperial Watch.

i like the sound of this. But boy alot of text there but i guess thats just because i like writing and reading gives me headaches.

yo pidgeon when you gonna accept the new character sheet i sent you.

Sorry for the delays, I've had a busy week. Hopefully I'll be able to start this off tonight.