Venefyxatu

~General Description~ There's something odd about this character - I didn't wait with his name until I thought of one that would suit him but rather named him after seeing Pillow's post in the "Adventurers wanted" booth. I've been wanting to do something with a blind ranger for quite some time now, but even though I don't know that much about him yet he's already turning out to be quite different than what I had in mind - and that's not a bad thing. Tanny has created a profile for him which I like very much. Veiled in darkness,bathed in light, prowess coming from sharpened skills... A staff swings - enemies fall Arrows fly - to never miss. A fine humor, a steady friend, the ranger rests (smokes and puffs) feeling from earth what he can't see. ~Tanuchan Name : Hascodem, Stephen (full name : Stephen von Hascodem de Tinservale, but he refuses to use it) Race : Human Age : 34 Gender : Male

General description History (Magical) abilities Items Physical description Personality Relationships Other

~Relationships~ Some of this can be found back in the part describing her personality : she'll act friendly to anyone who hasn't offended her without letting her guard down until she knows them better. Someone who did offend her had better be wary... What I didn't mention yet is that sometimes she likes to play a trick on someone - rearranging the items they are carrying (like moving their purse from one pocket to another, removing a piece of jewellery and placing it in one of their pockets or somewhere else entirely, ...). This side of her only shows up with people she considers as friends, though. Also, she tries to keep her Shade side hidden. When asked about it she'll answer truthfully but either very briefly or in an avoiding way. Her abilities are something she doesn't talk about unless it's necessary for planning something - otherwise the only way to find out about them is by seeing them used. Summing up all the people she knows would take me too far, but I'll include at least the people she started her adventures with. Note that these were all characters created by other D&D players! It's been a while so I'm a bit foggy on the details (e.g. the god the cleric worshipped)... Karptar the Gray : Dwarf. 'Nuff said. He tried to sneak up on her once while she was bathing in the river. Unfortunately, he didn't realize that sneaking through water makes noise... For some reason she still didn't get back at him. Lasumias : Elf with a greedy streak. When he gained possession of a large quantity of gold coins (several thousand) she replaced I believe at least half of them (the lower half...) with stones (so the weight difference wouldn't be too obvious). Most of the part she took became "party gold", some of it went to her own purse. Charles "Caramba" : Human and a magic-user. This is the guy who blew up his master's laboratory so often that the latter was glad to see him leave. The horse the party had when they started off is probably still afraid of him. Poor animal... It'll never chew on a violin again, and it probably still panics at the mere thought of coming near a battle. Someone deserving special mention is her brother. She doesn't know him, doesn't even know she has a brother, and he never knew his parents. It was partly superstition and partly their own wants that drove them to get rid of little Ian not long after he was born. I'm not going to give too many details about him here (he'll get his own thread "when the time is right") but he grew up to be a thief in a big city and doesn't know he has a sister. His name won't give it away either, since he has taken the name Blacktear, but the way he looks like his father just might, one day...

~Personality~ Samantha is actually a very nice woman. She's quick to offer help to anyone needing it and has been known to... "work" (let's be discreet here - apparently it's the better part of valor) for free in cases where it was the only way to deal justice. If she feels that she has a good reason she'll feel no guilt about stealing things from someone who doesn't need them but she'll never take items or money from those who need them. Like most people she enjoys having a good time but she has developed a habit of not letting her guard down whatever she's doing. Her definition of "a good time" varies : one day she'll have fun at a fair in a poor village or enjoy an evening in an inn, either sitting alone or mingling with the locals, the next day she might be dancing and dining at the royal court, carefully gathering information or just pretending to be someone she is not. Yet another night she could be trying to get into the best-guarded place in the city just to test herself. As you might've guessed, honing her skills and putting them to the test are her favoured pass-times. The thing she resents the most is being treated "wrongly". If she's mingling with commoners and a noble looks down on her she'll try to get him or her back somehow. If she is treated like "a woman who should be taking care of her household" she tends to get snapping and if someone treats her as being inferior, unskilled or dumb while that's not her intention then cold and silent outrage comes over her. She can hold a grudge for a long time or she can be extremely forgiving - that depends on the offender and their behaviour.

~Items~ Weapons : 7 daggers, one of which is called Fir'nae, one of which is silver, two of which are treated with poison : one deadly and one stunning 1 covered hand crossbow 10 mouth darts, created to deliver poison through the hollow point without poisoning the user 1 wire garrote Fir'nae (shadow whisper) : Is a sentient dagger that was cursed. Once it accepts someone as its owner, it cannot leave this person for very long – somehow it will always find its way back, whether the owner likes this or not.It has some telepathic ability and the power to increase (or decrease) the accuracy of a strike. It is pretty headstrong about bringing any job to a good end, no matter the consequences. Other than that, she carries some standard adventuring gear, a finely crafted set of lockpicks and some pouches and flasks to store herbs or other potion ingredients. Note : I'm forgetting something here... If only I knew what!

~Magical abilities~ This raises a rather interesting topic : her attitude towards magic. She has long lived with the idea that if she needed magic to accomplish a goal she wasn't good enough to accomplish it. She takes pride in being able to do seemingly impossible or at least very hard things without magic: the words "I don't need magic for that." may have been the last words of many an adventurer, they will not be hers. One of her friends from her hometown (who was one of her partymembers when they set off to go adventuring) was, and probably still is, a mage. The way he kept botching experiments and blowing up his master's laboratory is one of the reasons why the latter was so quick to give him permission to go adventuring. She saw him do some... interesting things (the poor horse...) as well and has never really trusted magic and its users again. Nevertheless, now that she has grown used to her special abilities, she doesn't shy back from using them where necessary. This probably has something to do with the fact that, even though they are magical in nature, they are not true magic requiring spell components, casting time, gestures, ... These abilities come from the fact that Samantha is becoming a Shade. Shades were once human but through a prolonged stay in the Plane of Shadows have become something darker and more evil yet more powerful. Since she is not a full Shade and resisting the change, she doesn't have all of the abilities a full Shade has. Because her resistance is not entirely without success, she did gain some slightly different abilities. Depending on what happens, other abilities may surface, but they will never deviate much from the Shadowdancer prestige class (DnD 3E, DMG p 34 – 36) and the Shade template (Forgotten Realms p 314 – 315) As long as there are shadows near, she can hide She has a limited ability to jump from one shadow to another, as long as she can see her target She is slightly faster and more coordinated when in darkness She can see clearly, though black and white, in total darkness While in darkness, she heals faster than normally, although deadly wounds will take a long time to heal as well. They just aren't as life-threatening anymore. In spite of that : dead is dead, she can't heal that. Those who are sensitive to this kind of thing will know that she is no ordinary human and just might perceive her as evil. Those who are insensitive might notice her slightly grayish skin.

~Abilities~ Samantha is an assassin. She knows how to strike from the shadows effectively and can move without being detected even without using her special abilities (see next post). She is skilled in the brewing and using of poisons as well as beneficial potions and is quite the actress - she has no problems with gatecrashing a noble's gathering and pretending to be one of them. If she wants to withstand close scrutiny, however, she needs to take her time to prepare (research on news, names, etiquette, ...) Quick and agile, she can reach places that not everybody can and knows how to use this to her advantage. Also, from her initial adventures she has learned enough about traps to disarm the more basic ones but when she meets the more intricate traps she either needs to work her way around them or risk setting them off...

~History~ Samantha was raised in a small village that, to the casual observer, didn't have much contact with the outside world. Of course, every now and then some youths would go out and become adventurers, and there were regular trading caravans stopping by, but most of the people there had never left their village. However, the local potion maker, Adam Wilder, had more contact with the outside world than he would let on – apart from brewing potions with various beneficial uses, he was also a poison maker, brewing poisons with effects verying from mild paralysis to quick and merciful or slow and painful death. He made good money from selling these to assassins from various cities and passed on his skills to his only daughter. Samantha herself was always a free mind : she enjoyed going where she wasn't supposed to go, acquiring what she wasn't supposed to have (although only if the previous owner was either rich enough to replace it or didn't really need it anyway) and avoiding trouble by either not being caught or, if really necessary, talking her way out. Her allergy to authority didn't really help out very much... When she was 19, a group of her friends decided they would go adventuring and she decided to join up. After some adventures through which she perfected, among others, her acting skills they ended up in a big city where, through circumstances, a small boy ended up dying in her arms. With his dying breath, he asked her “to accept this gift”. Not one to argue with a dying person, she accepted, without knowing what he meant. When she woke up that night, she felt strange and it took her quite some time to realize that she could perfectly see her room even though there was no light at all. After that, she noticed that she became even more comfortable in darkness than she already was. It wasn't long after that the party decided to split up, everyone having a different goal to pursue. Samantha went on alone, trying to figure out what was happening to her, making a living off her potion and stealth skills, every now and then pretending to be a noble from a faraway country to both stay informed of the latest news as well as to keep her acting skills sharp, eventually becoming an assassin. Despite the image that profession has, she doesn't kill anyone unless there's a really good reason for it.

~Physical Description~ Samantha stands 5ft7 (or is it 8? I hate conversions! either way, it's 1m75) tall and has a skin with a slightly grayish hue. In daylight, or any other light for that matter, she looks at the world with emerald green eyes but in darkness they turn completely white. Her hair is reddish brown hair and she usually wears it loose, falling just below her shoulders. As far as clothes go she prefers a simple skirt reaching down to her feet combined with an ordinary shirt in dark colours for every-day (or every-night...) use. Her feet are protected by soft boots that also serve to hide a few daggers. Whenever she is required to interact socially for more than a stay in an inn along the way she prefers clothes in shades of red - from bright red to a dark bordeaux. Depending on the social setting these clothes can range from simple peasant's garb to the rather more complicated noble's gowns and dresses; she feels comfortable in either style.

A very nice read, Equester - and as Vigil said : everyone can probably relate to this (I know I can... somewhat). A thought that crossed my mind while reading this was how has always been there for him, strengthened him and helped him but when she began to change he wasn't or couldn't be there for her. Now I'm wondering whether this was your intention or not... I like the way you tell an entire lovestory while remaining very vague about the characters - this is probably one of the reasons why it's so easy to relate to. Vigil : you have a point there... what if the ex and the brother were the good guys, and the main character was an obstacle in their way? That raises an interesting perspective on this story... Personally, I am convinced that there is someone for everybody - the person he is waiting for does exist, but might indeed never come. Whether the waiting was in vain is something I wouldn't be entirely sure about...

This does make one think on the might of nature... and how tiny we humans are compared to all this. On a positive note : it is good to see that humans are still willing to help each other out in between having meetings, wars and petty squabbles over power. A question : I believe I have heard it mentioned that India refused help? I overheard just a little of that conversation and might've misunderstood (which is what I'm really hoping), but does anyone know more about this?

I don't know how this is going to turn out or what I'll end up constructing, but that's the fun part Venefyxatu puts his name on the list in a heavy, Gothic font. Oh, and if you don't have a randomizer (yet), I'd love to (try to ) program one for you - I'm sure it'd be a nice exercise for my VB class

*bunny-hops around the room* Yay! Congratulations!

Venefyxatu sat quietly on a chair to recover his breath. When both his breathing and his heart (for he'd discovered that he still had a heartbeat) were back to their normal speeds he looked around. The dome was really impressive but no match for Wyvern's appetite... he'd never seen anyone eat so much ánd order dessert! When he let his gaze wander away from the lizard and through the dome again he noticed something on one of the side tables - a bowl full of small, red berries. Slowly, Venefyxatu got up and approached the bowl. He took a few berries and tasted them, their sour taste immediately spreading through his mouth. Yes... they were his favourite, and of exceptional quality as well! As he stood waiting for the concert to begin and watching some of the other Pennites eat all they could think of, Venefyxatu finished the entire bowl before he realized it...

Finally... I think I got it. I hate number games

Even though Venefyxatu is pretty good with magic, looking into the future is something he cannot do. So because he doesn't know whether he'll have time tomorrow he drops by now to wish everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas - may you all find a huuuuuuuge present full of inspiration under your Christmas trees!

Ahh, but most of you are forgetting someone it would seem! Is it because he is a creature of the night? Or because vampires and their general undead-ness have a bad reputation? Where would a Nether mage be without the Undead? Where would Venefyxatu be without Black9? Probably not at the Mighty Pen, that's for sure. If it wasn't for Black9 and his enthusiasm, the way he kept talking about his ideas for stories and roleplaying projects, about the things he was working on and had written, about the events here at the Pen, I still wouldn't have signed up and I'd be missing out on a great deal of fun, a wonderful place full of acceptance and fantastic people. So, thank you everyone for being the way you are and keeping the Pen for what it is. But, especially, thank you Black9 for passing on your enthusiasm!

As a newcomer to this poem I must say that I enjoyed it very much - it's something ... completely different from the traditional Christmas songs, poems, stories, ... and I can only applaud that. It breaks somewhat with the Christmas spirit as well , but hey, who cares I look forward to seeing it again next year

A man carrying a quarterstaff can be seen making his way through the crowd. His clothes are primarily in shades of green except for his cloak, which is light gray in colour. He holds the quarterstaff he carries slightly ahead of him, as if he is feeling his way through the crowd. Across his back a bow is slung and a full quiver of arrows hangs on his left hip. He doesn't stand out as being very short or tall, nor does he look extremely bulky or thin. His face is clean-shaven and his hair hangs down his back in a long tail. In fact, the only thing about him that might strike somebody as odd are his eyes – light gray, and never moving. He just keeps staring straight ahead of him as he makes his way through the crowd. Just as he comes to Lorne and Scarlot's booth Pilocanci finishes what he was saying. "If you two pair me up with Stephen Hawking, I'm going to be a bit upset." "Upset? I'm sure these people will team you up with someone who will compliment your own skills, sir. Did I hear you mention adventurers?" Pilocanci turned to look at the newcomer. The latter took a cigarette and a match from his pockets and used one to light the other, all without the slightest move of his head. "Yeah. Apparently they need people to go on missions… it seemed interesting so I signed up." "Missions, eh? What kind of missions?" Here, Scarlot spoke up. She'd noticed how the stranger didn't move his eyes or indeed his head and had guessed correctly that he was blind. Even though she'd be wary if she had to fight him, there was a mixture of doubt, wonder and contempt in her voice. "You know… general missions to other worlds that may leave you for dead on these worlds if you're not good enough." "Sounds interesting, sign me up. The name's Stephen… Stephen Hascodem" OOC : Edit : I cna tpyea 300 wdros pr mnutie

A symbolic number! Every important story has a symbolic and very important number Let yours be... hmmm... 42! (Douglas Adams fans will understand ) Good luck, Black. I'm sure you can do this.

Venefyxatu sneakily teleports his comments this way. I'm going to help Gryphon keep his "End of world button" pushed - just to make sure it doesn't end before you finish this story I find it fascinating that I'm still not sure about the voices... do they "live" "inside" Jeral (as in : they're either personified personality traits or creatures residing in his mind), or are they separate entities that are watching him? Don't tell me yet... I want to figure it out for myself

Yes, I'm digging up topics that have vanished from sight... but Gwaihir's quote is too good to pass up "if you haven't been given it until January when I return, then you'll get it then, but I presume you will have."

As Venefyxatu wanders by his attention is drawn by the note. Wondering what Wyvern is up to he stops and examines it, using the occasion to catch his breath as well. Hmm... urgent "vacations"? Special Chef Operations outfit? Looks like the kind of vacation you don't send post cards from... Let's hope he enjoys it anyway." As he is about to continue on his way, two... persons come up to him : one of them a large man in a butcher outfit whose head is, for some reason, shaped like a soup bowl, the other one a woman in a cooking apron whose fingers have been replaced with razor-sharp sporks. Thinking to himself that it's best not to wonder what cooking experiment resulted in the change, Venefyxatu subtly turns to look at them, Wyvern's note hidden behind his back. They come to a stop right in front of him. "Clam Chowder Head of the Special Chef Operations Outfit. Present!" announces the man in a low voice. The woman follows this with an extravagantly presented exclamation : "Metal Lady Fingers of the Special Chef Operations Outfit. Present!" Venefyxatu replies in his soft voice : "Venefyxatu, former Nether Mage of Terra." The two are obviously not impressed, since Clam Chowder says, in a stern voice : "Have you seen a lizard who almost claims to be a dragon come this way?" "Yes, I want to claw him! As in, now!" Metal Lady Fingers is obviously quite eager to get her... sporks on Wyvern. Since they look to be unhealthy for Wyverns, Dragons or any other kind of living beings, Venefyxatu decides that it might be healthier to get rid of them. "Uhh... I think I saw him hurry that way.", he says, pointing down the corridor. The (momentary) complete lack of sounds from Wyvern's office and the fact that they don't see Venefyxatu's subtle finger movements convince the two that the vague sounds they can hear down the corridor (the sounds of a Lizard trying to leave as quickly and quietly as possible) are real and they bolt off. Just to be sure, Venefyxatu waits until they're out of sight before continuing on his way. OOC : Enjoy your vacation!

Venefyxatu can't help but grin broadly as he follows Katzaniel and Kasmandre's actions. This is going to be interesting... , he thought. He puts his ice sculptures aside for a few moments and bends down to make a small pile of snowballs - all of them end up being vaguely skull-shaped for some reason. He tosses one over at Vahktang while he's deciding what to use next on his giant ice-cube-turning-statue to get his attention, and says in a slightly raised voice, "Kasmandre needs you in the maze..." Then, with his weapons (aka snowballs) at the ready beside him, he gets back to sculpting, a larger piece of ice this time... OOC : Not an attempt to create two "It"'s since I do not consider this as an "Official Snowball" I'm trying to attract some attention to this thread and actually participate a little

I'm glad you liked it As for the car pile : I have absolutely no idea where that came from - all I can do is hope that someone has 1) Too much spare time and 2) too much skill with Photoshop