This past Saturday, I gathered together my four latest victims, I mean players, at my apartment to begin a grand new adventure in the world of Eberron, using the old 3.5 D&D rules system. It was a relatively short session, as a couple of the players needed to finish properly equipping their characters and I took the time to help all the players develop some background ties to each other, to encourage teamwork and respect for each others' abilities. I've also had the characters start at 3rd level to both reflect prior experience in the war or other events and because I don't want them to die too quickly. Here is a quick sketch of my players and the characters they are inflicting on me:
First is Jay, mainly because his character is the most amusing. Jay is portraying Bombard, a Warforged Artificer manufactured in the last few years of the Last War. Originally trained as a battlefield medic for whatever warforged unit he would be assigned to, he was purchased by the Cyran military and sent to a provisional unit assigned to test experimental magical/alchemical field artillery. He was quickly snapped up by the Major commanding the unit, a human artificer by the name of Thaddeus Viron. A notable eccentric, Major Viron had been assigned to this unit in an attempt to both make use of his undeniable talents, as well as keep him out of the hair of anyone important. One of Major Viron's conceits was that his delusion that Officers were Gentlemen, and his persistent attempts for enforce this view on everyone around him. Hence, upon grabbing Medic 1-Alpha for his adjutant, Viron proceeded to instill in him all the qualities of a Gentleman, the first being an appropriately Gentlemanly name. In keeping with recent fashion, but with a strangely adroit precision, he dubbed his new adjutant Bombard, and proceeded to regale Bombard with tales and reminiscences precisely calculated to change Bombard from an automaton into a proper officer and gentleman. He both failed and succeeded. While he successfully ingrained in Bombard that an officer must be a gentleman, and instilled in him all the little bits and pieces of behavior that a gentleman engages in, he failed to make Bombard understand the pseudo-logical process that connects all those behaviors to gentlemanly conduct. Therefore, Lieutenant Bombard smokes a pipe, belongs to a gentleman's club, engages the company of an escort for evenings at his dining club, and maintains proper dress, not because he enjoys such things, but because these are the things gentlemen do, and because he does these things, he is a gentleman. Bombard's unit survived the Day of Mourning due to being posted on the Karnnathi border. After the war, despite Bombard's desire to stay with Viron, Viron gently nudged the young warforged out into the world. Bombard drifted for a time, but eventually washed up in Sharn, as so many adventurers do. He's opened an armorer's shop in the Clifftop Quarter, signed on with the local adventurer's guild, and has spent his days training his apprentice, Percy, taking his meals at expensive restaurants, and working on his academic credentials at Morgrave University. One of his recent treatises on planar mechanics attracted the odd attention of a small publisher of speculative fiction, and though Bombard's later attempts at fiction were substandard, they've spawned a slew of imitators, telling stories of adventurers sailing to other planes on elemental airships of strange design. (If you can't tell, Jay was one of the first to finish his character, and was the one I did the most character development with. Couldn't be helped; Bombard just struck me as one of the most entertaining concepts I've come across in a long time.)
Shawn will be portraying Leland Underwood, Cliffwalk Shifter Scout. A veteran of the Last War (like so many adventurers), Leland grew up near the Eldeen Reaches, but not quite close enough to be included in that new nation when they seceded from Aundair. He put his talents to use for the good of his nation, however, and spent several years in the Aundairan army before the war ended. He spent a good amount of that time assigned as a scouting element to groups of mercenaries hired through House Deneith. Surprisingly enough, he wound up becoming friendly with a group of hobgoblin mercenaries out of the rogue nation of Darguun, and after the Treaty of Thronehold, traveled back to Darguun with them. He found the goblinoid nation not quite to his taste, however, and if not for his friends, would have probably wound up enslaved. However, he did meet one person he rather liked: Ilyria d'Thuranni, a young scion of House Thuranni. The two became fast friends and traveled together to Sharn; Ilyria because of her House duties, and Leland because he didn't really have anything better to do. Since arriving in Sharn, Leland has spent his time playing bodyguard for Ilyria, taking short-term contracts with House Deneith, and assisting Ilyria in her own, shadowy assignments. Through his work for House Deneith, he's met another veteran of the war, an elf named Thal, and found that they work well together.
Zach is playing Thal (a diminutive, damn elf names being what they are), an Elven Fighter. Thal is also a veteran of the Last War, serving with the Cyran army as part of their heavy cavalry. His last assignment was as part of the security force for an experimental artillery unit on the Karnnathi border, which is the only reason he survived the death of his nation. After the war, he wandered Breland for a while, even staying in New Cyre for a few months, before deciding that he wasn't ready to settle down, even though he was approaching middle age. He traveled to Sharn with his old friend, Bombard, who had been sent out to gain experience in the world by his mentor. He contributed some of his savings to help Bombard open his armor shop, and has supplemented his income by taking short-term contracts with House Deneith. He's worked a number of contracts with a shifter by the name of Leland, and has found him to be a competent fellow.
Debbie is playing Ilyria d'Thuranni, an Elven Swashbuckler/Rogue and scion of House Thuranni. The only non-veteran in the group, Ilyria has spent the past decade or more undertaking missions for her family, opening contacts with wealthy patrons and building alternate identities for her soon-to-be illustrious career. Having already undertaken missions to such disreputable places as Darguun and the Lhazaar Principalities, Ilyria arrived in Sharn about a year ago, and quickly built a reputation that would do her family proud. As an up-and-comer among the city's high class courtesans, she's made many contacts in the upper classes. Her more shadowy activities have benefited from the assistance of Leland, the shifter she struck up a friendship with in Darguun. On a number of occasions, the shifter's dab hand with the longbow is the only thing that kept her from getting caught in her snooping. Out of all of this, however, the most interesting thing she's discovered in Sharn is Bombard, who is likely the only warforged ever to engage the services of an...escort. His existence was reported to her by the group of escorts her family has given into her charge, and the entire group tends to pass assignments to him around for anyone who needs a break. After all, all he does is take you out to dinner and a show. It's almost a vacation.
Ilyria does have one problem, however. She remembers quite clearly the schism between her house and House Phiarlan, and she still carries a grudge against that House that dwarfs that of her older relatives. She believes that her family was set up, most likely through the plotting of the other families of the House, and burns for justice. Though considered a valuable member of the family, Ilyria is closely watched, and her elders hope she manages to control her temper if she ever ends up in close proximity to her foes.
Finally, to make up for the absence of proper arcane fire support, I will be portraying Lisa of Kubia, Human Sorcerer, a young Brelish woman who's idyllic village life ended 11 years ago when her family was herded out of western Breland as refugees due to an uptick in monster attacks that led to the birth of the nation of Droaam. Her father had died in a monster attack prior to their flight, and her mother died on the long trip to safety. Lisa survived, and is determined to prove that even if it no longer exists, the small village of Kubia still has a mark to make on the world. Having finally made her way to Sharn, Lisa has become a frequent visitor to Bombard's shop, more out of fascination with the gentleman warforged than due to any interest in armor she can't wear. She's also been an occasional guest of Bombard's during his outings, as that's probably the only way she'll ever see how the upper crust live. Despite her youth, she is determined to be a useful part of this nascent adventuring party.
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