World of Warcraft - Interbellum (OOC Thread)

[Feathersnow]

These RP scenes are all pretty cool! I have enjoyed mine and reading Mor'Lag's in particular.

Thanks! I really like Mor'Lag and RPing her bonkers moral system.

[WindStruck]

Strange. I don't remember writing in a "flirt" flaw...

Though I guess Isaera has been acting the part, hasn't she? Hmm...

[BananaPhone]

Hah, she doesn't, it's one of Marion's flaws, but the one time she got to use it was on that elf guy in Dustwallow Marsh who wildly misread her signals, causing her to go on a sarcasm rant and storm off. I'll repost her WiP sheet here as I had to go hunting for it.

This wasn't finished and I remember I had to add in an alt-power for her warlock magic being a device set (Basically a rifle and some grenades/utility devices), and I remember MrAbdiel wanting me to reduce wealth from 4 to 3 or something.

Spoiler: WiP Sheet

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Spoiler

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Marion Mordis

Name: Marion Mordis
Race: Human
Homeland: Former Kingdom of Alterac
Profession: Warlock, Proprietor of Mordis Trading Company
Age: 19


Abilities: (14pp))
Str 0, Sta 0, Agl 0, Dex 0, Fgt 0, Int 4, Awe 2, Pre 1

Defenses: (18pp)
Parry 5
Dodge 5
Toughness 0/5
Will 5

Skills: (26pp)
Expertise (Mining) +7, Expertise (Business) +14, Expertise +14 (Magic - Fel), Insight +6, Perception +6, Persuasion +11, Technology +14.

Advantages: (10pp)
Attractive 1, Benefit (Status - Minor Noble) 2, Ritualist, Inventor, Move-by Action, Benefit (Wealth 4 - Multi-Millionaire), Move-by Action

Powers: (38pp)

Summon Demon(Enhanced Trait 5pp)
Enhanced Trait: Inreased Duration (continuous), Heroic, Distracting, Mental Link, Sacrifice, Noticeable, Check Required (DC 16 Expertise: magic), Quirk (Requires 1 Soul Shard as created by Artificer), Activation (Create Summoning Circle via Ritualist)

Minion - Voidwalker - Varghast

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Abilities: 0pp (Straight zeroes.)

Defenses: 0pp. Zeroes across the board except toughness, which is 8 because of the Protection power.

Skills: (10pp.)

Insight +5, Perception +5, Intimidation +5, Close Combat +4, Expertise: Demonology +1.

Advantages: (2pp.)

Uncanny Dodge and Interpose.

Powers: (37pp)

Immunity: Interaction Skills - 5pp

Demonic Regeneration (Array) - 11pp
Consume Shadows: Regeneration 10 (1 Toughness Penalty Removed per Round)
Alternate Consume Shadows: Regeneration 20, Persistent, Source: Nether Energies, Limited: Only when Unsummoned.

Torment ("Mass Taunt" Weaken:Attack) - 9pp
Weaken:Attack - 4 Ranks
Selective +1 Per Rank
Area Burst +1 Per Rank
Quirk (Penalty Removed if attacking the Void Walker) -2 Flat
Activation (Move) -1 Flat.

Protection - 8pp
+8 Toughness

- Alt. Power: Felhunter

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TBA

"Demon Armour" (Multiple Effects 10)
Protection 5: Toughness 5
Regeneration 5: Regeneration 5, every 2 rounds.

"Destruction and Affliction" (Array 23pp)
Main Power:Corruption (Blast 5, 20pp)
Perception range, DC 20, Secondary Effect, Increased Duration (Sustained)

- Alt. Power: Shadow and Fire (Blast 5, 19pp))
Accurate 2, Range 400 ft, DC 20, Homing 1, Multiattack, Variable Descriptor (Fire or Shadow)

- Alt. Power: Death and Decay (Cylinder Area Damage 4, 15pp)
Area (Cylinder) 30ft, 300 ft range, DC 19, Contagious, Increased Duration (Concentration), Increased Range (Range)

- Alt. Power: "Blast Wave" (Blast: Cone Area Damage 5)
400ft range, DC 20, Cone Area 2: 120 feet cone, DC 15.


14 Abilities + 37 Powers + 10 Advantages + 26 Skills + 18 Defenses = 105/105pp


Complications:
Motivation: Thrills:

Motivation: Knowledge Accumulation:

Motivation: Restoration of Family Name:

Motivation: Restoration of Family Prominence and Wealth:

Reputation: Alteraci Minor Noble:

Reputation: Warlock:

Quirk: Flirt:

As for her goals over the coming time:

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- Make an excellent impression in Orgrimmar, thus working towards a complication goal. (Restoring family name)
- Expand her trading company size by investing and entering new markets, thus working towards a complication goal.
- Politely pester Jaina again about buying a chunk of Theramore, using her 'atta girl job with Wailing Caverns and making good impression in Orgrimmar, thus working towards a complication goal.
- Be on the look out for a fit, strapping young fellow with some intelligence who doesn't mind changing his last name to hers, thus working towards a complication goal. (Also that he doesn't mind that she's an aspiring Azerothian Jeff Bezos who's also a dark wizard with pet demons, but you know how young men are when an attractive friendly lady is interested in them, those type of considerations sink in priority)

[MrAbdiel]

Oops! Ahaha. All this carefully considering Marion and Isaera's "Prom Queen" challenge I have started allowing their flaws to run together. This is my bad.

All the same, I'll offer a VP for the action and be more mindful to doublecheck flaws next time. It could be in relation to the Manabread for the Family Flaw, if we spin it a little (reluctance to 'support' Matthean who is partaking in the fel mana she fears is afflicting her family) or perhaps seeking knowledge (unfairly disregarding Zalael, who can offer no magical cooperation at all?)

[WindStruck]

Well I guess, sometimes you can put a character in a tough spot and if they do the tough, they deserve a VP anyway!

[MrAbdiel]

Well I guess, sometimes you can put a character in a tough spot and if they do the tough, they deserve a VP anyway!

Thanks for being a good sport! :D

[BananaPhone]

Yeah, 3 Wealth is still pretty boss. And if it's tied up in off-screen, non-adventure stuff, I won't charge you for that 'phantom' extra point of wealth because it's not really in play. Wealth 4 is just a monumental amount of leverage in a world in which money means plenty; having it but not using it would make Marion kind of dull! Better to not have it, and for it to exist ethereally is already leveraged wealth.

Edit: So you're limiting her magical expertise so she knows very little about non-Fel magics? This is acceptable.

Just thought about it, given Azeroths current situation IC, this is kinda a hilarious power.






"What did we lend King Wrynn, 50,000 gold? So what? Earning every copper back only took me a month!"

(Bonus points for getting the reference.)

[MrAbdiel]

Just thought about it, given Azeroths current situation IC, this is kinda a hilarious power.






"What did we lend King Wrynn, 50,000 gold? So what? Earning every copper back only took me a month!"

(Bonus points for getting the reference.)

Points for ERB reference granted.


And Windstruck, you're right - but rest assured the consequences will not be extremely socially injurious; just mildly distressing in a narrative way. You know, the drama we're all here for. :D

I'll try to move the scene on tomorrow night, since I'm about to hit the hay! I enjoy reading your characters' inner reflections and stuff a lot; and populating the world with disasters and challenges for them. If I were a man overburdened with cash, I would have a commission drawn of your characters.

But to do that, Marion would need to settle on a hairstyle.

[BananaPhone]

Points for ERB reference granted.

Now I have to put PP into her strength/stamina for her to hit the gym and earn a 'slick orc physique' lol.

But to do that, Marion would need to settle on a hairstyle.

Settling on 1 hairstyle is for peasants.

[MrAbdiel]

Well ACTUALLY settling on one hairstyle is Azeroth Standard until the invasion of Northrend! ;D

Also Plaids! In noticed your placeholders in your post (which I enjoyed). For your edification, I dug up the references from the flashback.

High Chieftain Ukorz Sandscalp (Nominal high chieftain of all Farraki, but realistically chief of Zul'Farrak and speaker for the northern villages in the domain of Zul'Farrak [3/6 of remaining Farraki]. Bombastic, Might-Makes-Right Revivalist.)
Shia'ha Stonecaller (Shamanic Peer; Political Natural)


Chief Sasani Ut'ongo (Chief of Ut'ongo village and speaker for the Western, deep-desert villages of the Farraki [2/6 of remaining Farraki]. Reasonable, Means-Justifies-Ends Pragmatist.)
Sul the Sandcrawler (Shamanic Legend; Political Enigma)


Chief Haja'rra Shakar (Jakk'ari's chief, and recently appointed speaker for the coastal Eastern Farraki villages [1/6 of remaining Farraki]. Reformer, Come-What-May Idealist.)
Jakk'ari (One of our four protagonists!)
Lasha'nah (Witchdoctor. Jakk'ari's wife of 16 years and mother of his 4 children).

I'm working on the new scene now.

[BananaPhone]

Just wanting to make sure I'm not missing/misinterpreting anything, but Marion is asking for recognition of her family name/title still being alive - in her. She's not asking for land, or entry into a social circle, or money etc nothing, she wants nothing physical, just that her family's name is restored to the registry of nobles because they have a living, legitimate heir, her, that's it.

[Feathersnow]

And that's a cultural disconnect with Mor'Lag. An aristocrat is such because they have the things aristocrats own. A hedgeknight or a powerful commoner don't meaningfully exist in her worldview. Might grants rights, and weakness is proof of unworthiness. That said, you have a castle, subordinates, and money. So failure to acknowledge your claim could only mean a veiled insult.

(That only Mor'Lag thinks you are the leader and the Opal Convocation owns the castle are points of little interest to Mor'Lag. )

[BananaPhone]

Hehe the castles and land etc can come later. One of her directives is "restoring her name", because it's all that's left of her mother, dad, sisters and brothers. They're all dead, and that name that was once theirs and their generation before them, is all that's left of them in her. So in Marions mind, her house name being returned to the registry is like a spiritual restoration of her family that was lost to the scourge. It also helps alleviate the guilt she felt at being expelled from Dalaran, thus bringing shame to the family name, but ironically she's the one who restores it to life because she was the only survivor of the Scourging. She's carried around the harrowing thought that the last news her family had of her was that she got expelled for studying the dark arts, and next the Scourge come along, so they might even thought she was a necromancer and with them.

So, imagine thinking your parents died believing you were a murderous traitor in league with a civilization-destroying horde. That's basically what she's carried around for the past couple of years.

[MrAbdiel]

I understand the request! But Marion will have to struggle a little longer to make that ambition manifest. There is no registry of nobles, perse - that existed as a cultural phenomenon in the Kingdom of Alterac and, after it fell, was preserved in parts by Dalaran, Gilneas, Lordaeron and Stromguard bickering over whether to divide up the traitor nation completely or permit to it exist in some diminished form. Your family's legacy persisted under an umbrella of cooperation (and an abuse of that cooperation) by the surrounding powers, but when the Northern Kingdoms collapsed, so what remained of Alterac, and the remnants were swept through by the Scourge, and Ogres, and sundry invaders.

It will take a substantial appeal and social leverage to have any powers in the world that remain recognize House Mordis. To do so would be to legitimize Alterac again, and that would create potential political difficulties. House Mordis is a Taiwan, or a Tibet; the reality may be known, but the real politik is the thing you need to make a dent in for lasting legacy.

TLDR: You might just have to continue your adventures in ignominy until more people who matter owe you favors.

[WindStruck]

Seems to me that maybe the hint is, Marion is petitioning the wrong people. If she wants to be recognized as a noble.. go to Sylvanas Windrunner!

She might just have an arrangement that is to die for!

[BananaPhone]

I understand the request! But Marion will have to struggle a little longer to make that ambition manifest. There is no registry of nobles, perse - that existed as a cultural phenomenon in the Kingdom of Alterac and, after it fell, was preserved in parts by Dalaran, Gilneas, Lordaeron and Stromguard bickering over whether to divide up the traitor nation completely or permit to it exist in some diminished form. Your family's legacy persisted under an umbrella of cooperation (and an abuse of that cooperation) by the surrounding powers, but when the Northern Kingdoms collapsed, so what remained of Alterac, and the remnants were swept through by the Scourge, and Ogres, and sundry invaders.

It will take a substantial appeal and social leverage to have any powers in the world that remain recognize House Mordis. To do so would be to legitimize Alterac again, and that would create potential political difficulties. House Mordis is a Taiwan, or a Tibet; the reality may be known, but the real politik is the thing you need to make a dent in for lasting legacy.

TLDR: You might just have to continue your adventures in ignominy until more people who matter owe you favors.

She's already got the Benefit (Noble) to 2 ranks, I paid for it! Gimmie my refund .

Very well then. If that's how they're going to be, Marion might change her attitude then to 'what's mine is not yours to give me' and establish her own little Barony after buying some land around Theramore. House Mordis of Theramore, headed by Baroness Mordis.

And after she secures some weapon contracts in private, of course, we'll not rock that boat yet ^_^.

Seems to me that maybe the hint is, Marion is petitioning the wrong people. If she wants to be recognized as a noble.. go to Sylvanas Windrunner!

She might just have an arrangement that is to die for!

Har har .

[MrAbdiel]

She's already got the Benefit (Noble) to 2 ranks, I paid for it! Gimmie my refund .

Very well then. If that's how they're going to be, Marion might change her attitude then to 'what's mine is not yours to give me' and establish her own little Barony after buying some land around Theramore. House Mordis of Theramore, headed by Baroness Mordis.

And after she secures some weapon contracts in private, of course, we'll not rock that boat yet ^_^.




Har har .

She does! But she also has a Complication to do with her being an Alterac noble, which is presently complicating her life for sweet, sweet VP.

I didn't force you to be from Traitor Kingdom! You just saw those orange syndicate bandanas and thought "I gotsa have it".

[BananaPhone]

Pfft, she doesn't need their recognition anyway. She'll start her own Barony. With blackjack. And hookers!

[BananaPhone]

@Feathersnow

Marion will probably offer to help Mor'Lag with her painting.

[WindStruck]

All I'm suggesting is, as the sole surviving heir .. perhaps the last of any nobility from that kingdom, you might be able to make an offer to come and help "rebuild" that area... as a vassal of the Queen Windrunner, of course. But still, nobility all the same!

Then again, I think we would all have our hands full with the Opal Collocation stuff.

[MrAbdiel]

@Feathersnow

Marion will probably offer to help Mor'Lag with her painting.

Ah, the Warlock and the Ogremage. A classic combo.

[Plaids]

Well ACTUALLY settling on one hairstyle is Azeroth Standard until the invasion of Northrend! ;D

Also Plaids! In noticed your placeholders in your post (which I enjoyed). For your edification, I dug up the references from the flashback.

Spoiler: Farraki important Jakk'ari's backstory

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High Chieftain Ukorz Sandscalp (Nominal high chieftain of all Farraki, but realistically chief of Zul'Farrak and speaker for the northern villages in the domain of Zul'Farrak [3/6 of remaining Farraki]. Bombastic, Might-Makes-Right Revivalist.)
Shia'ha Stonecaller (Shamanic Peer; Political Natural)


Chief Sasani Ut'ongo (Chief of Ut'ongo village and speaker for the Western, deep-desert villages of the Farraki [2/6 of remaining Farraki]. Reasonable, Means-Justifies-Ends Pragmatist.)
Sul the Sandcrawler (Shamanic Legend; Political Enigma)


Chief Haja'rra Shakar (Jakk'ari's chief, and recently appointed speaker for the coastal Eastern Farraki villages [1/6 of remaining Farraki]. Reformer, Come-What-May Idealist.)
Jakk'ari (One of our four protagonists!)
Lasha'nah (Witchdoctor. Jakk'ari's wife of 16 years and mother of his 4 children).

I'm working on the new scene now.

Thank you for digging up those names. I was able to remember that character attitudes and demeanors as well as their position in the Farraki power dynamic but was unable to remember the names. I will replace the placeholders soon.
If there is any free time, I'm planning on having Jakk'ari chum it up with some other trolls to find some allies who would be willing to help the Farraki and join some mutually beneficial defense pact or something like that. If that fails, then other ambassadors would be sought ought. Perhaps furbolgs or draenei.

All I'm suggesting is, as the sole surviving heir .. perhaps the last of any nobility from that kingdom, you might be able to make an offer to come and help "rebuild" that area... as a vassal of the Queen Windrunner, of course. But still, nobility all the same!
Then again, I think we would all have our hands full with the Opal Collocation stuff.

It would be an interesting turn of events for Marion to petition for Sylvanas' help in restoring the kingdom exchange for her loyalty. But given how ruthless Sylvanas was, I wouldn't be surprised if Sylvanas first promised to "restore House Mordis" in exchange for Marion's loyalty. But then once all the land was secured and treaties signed at the coronation ceremony Sylvanas would reveal one of Marion's recently unearthed and completely obedient forsaken siblings and give them the noble title and deeds instead.

[WindStruck]

For the life of me I can't even remember when Jakk'ari found a mysterious key! He probably should have shown it to Isaera to see if she could sense anything magical about it.

I have a few expertise rolls I might try regarding Pandarans:

Expertise (history): (1d20+10)[27]
Expertise (literature): (1d20+8)[23]

I may or may not know a lot, but there is a complication Isaera has: "Motivation: Seeking Knowledge". I'm sure there's always some lore or interesting questions she could ask about Pandaria, or Brewmaster Chen himself. Her curiosity may not actually lead to bad things which I get a VP for, but I'd still like to play up to it.

[WindStruck]

Very great posts, Bananaphone. While I'd go out on a limb and say MrAbdiel has done a lot of heavy lifting regarding Isaera's background, it really feels like you are completely carrying your own, and doing splendidly. It's enjoyable reading all that pride and angst and sometimes the sarcasm.

[Feathersnow]

I'm sorry, I feel like a weak link, and I totally lost track of where I am.

[BananaPhone]

Very great posts, Bananaphone. While I'd go out on a limb and say MrAbdiel has done a lot of heavy lifting regarding Isaera's background, it really feels like you are completely carrying your own, and doing splendidly. It's enjoyable reading all that pride and angst and sometimes the sarcasm.

Thank you Windstruck, that's a very kind thing to say .

[WindStruck]

I'm sorry, I feel like a weak link, and I totally lost track of where I am.

You're.. at the armistice ball. Mor'Lag are as prepped up as you want them to be. Enter the scene looking as you want, and go ahead and rub shoulders with any of the famous folks here! ..or not, that works too.

[BananaPhone]

I'm sorry, I feel like a weak link, and I totally lost track of where I am.

Marion gave Mor'lagh a hand getting prepped too.

[MrAbdiel]

Yeah, you’re all good, Feathersnow. Basically this “phase” of the ball is an opportunity to engage with a number of alliance/horde power players, whether you have an angle to work, a question to answer, a bone to pick, or if you just think it would be funny to try to agitate my simulacra of Warcraft dramatis personae.

If you think Mor’Lag is more likely to uncomfortably wallflower near the horsdourves at such a shindig, this is also an acceptable post! But some of the most powerful people in Azeroth are here, and Mor’Lag does have a healthy respect for power.

[Feathersnow]

I will try to get a post up soon. I am pretty blarrgh irl, and it is effecting my pbp. Thanks for your support.