they're masterworks all

FACE & FEATURES

glance: At first glance, what stands out most about your OC's appearance? What's their distinguishing feature?

face: Describe your OC's face. What's their smile like? Are their orbs cerulean? What would someone notice first when looking at them?

stature: What's your OC's body type? How tall are they? Do they wear clothing to accentuate their look or do they try to mask it?

motion: How does your OC move? How does their clothing help or hinder their range of motion? Are they flexible, coordinated, clumsy?

stillness: How does your OC act while still? Are they fidgety? Do they have any common gestures or tics? Does their clothing affect how they hold themselves while at rest?

canvas: Does your OC have any scars, piercings, tattoos, or other markings? Do they display or cover them up at all?

CUT & CLOTHES

night: What does your OC wear to sleep? Do they have a favorite pair of PJs, or are they more the birthday suit type?

day: What does your OC wear on a normal day? Why do they default to those clothes? Do they wear similar things, or do they change it up?

formal: What's your OC's formal look? Do they like dressing up? Do they have different looks for different occasions?

informal: What's your OC's lazy-day look? How do they like to dress when they're winding down?

outerwear: What's your OC's outerwear situation? Jacket, sweater, cloak? What sort of weather do they deal with most and how do they protect themselves?

footwear: What does your OC wear on their feet?

road: What does your OC wear while traveling? Do they have high-quality equipment, or are they making do? What does their gear look like?

armor: What kind of armor does your OC wear? Is it well kept? Bonus: where does it come from? Is there a story behind it?

arms: Does your OC have any weapons? What weapons do they carry, and how do they wear them when they're not fighting?

roots: Is your OC's look inspired by any specific style of clothing or fashion trend? What are the roots and/or inspiration for their look?

texture: Does your OC favor any specific kinds of cloth or textures? Is there anything they can't wear or don't like? What sort of fabrics do they prefer?

wardrobe: How big is your character's wardrobe? Do they wear things threadbare, or can they afford new clothes often? Are they any good at mending and repairing their own clothing?

ACCESSORIES & ACCENTS

bling: What jewelry does your OC wear? Does it have any meaning?

hair: How does your OC wear their hair? Does it have some kind of meaning?

makeup: Does your OC wear makeup? How often? What kind? Why do they wear makeup, and do they like it?

favorite: Does your OC have a favorite article of clothing or accessory? What is it? What's the meaning behind it? Do they wear it all the time or do they wear it sparingly to keep it safe?

change: Has your OC ever drastically changed their appearance? Significant haircuts, big tattoos, complete wardrobe swap, etc? Why? How do they feel about the change?

Are you an asshole Arisen who spits on the poor and needy, throws their Pawns down chasms for them to catch you, and steals candy from kids? Then this informative guide of what to watch out for might be for you!

Now, Emrys isn't actually inclined towards killing most Arisen himself (usually). I like to think there's something intrinsic to being a Pawn that makes that very hard to do, which only adds to his hatred towards Arisen.

He will however find ways to make the lives of Asshole Arisen difficult. And in the cases of extremely shitty Arisen, he does start to flex a bit of that tiny will of his to... try to end their lives. :') Here's a non-comprehensive list of just some of the ways Emrys will be A Little Shit.

Logistician? Starting out Emrys will be a very good and helpful pawn, always organizing packs and making sure weight is evenly distributed. However he will later start sneaking rotten meat into an unsuspecting Arisen's pack, making them Target #1 for wargs and wolves. (Emrys, holding his hand over his eyes watching the Arisen get carried away by wolves "Look at 'em go...")

Chirurgeon? Especially in the event there are no healers or chirurgeons, he will claim to have some familiarity with such matters, enough that you can rely on him. Yes, give him all of your potions... And he will effectively make use of them! At first. He will also discreetly be pouring a portion of them out, chalking it up to 'that one taxing battle'. And then, just when the Arisen needs it most... 🤷‍♂️

Enemy of my enemy... Sometimes the quickest way to deal with an Arisen is simply to whisper word to one of the guards. Whether it's just getting rid of them for a few hours, days, or forevermore, well that depends on the weight of your crimes, doesn't it Arisen?

May accidentally fire an arrow into a nearby saurian nest, or tip off nearby goblins when in the midst of an already taxing battle.

Valuable items disappearing? A loyal pawn would never! (He's also out there picking up wakestone shards on the sly, not informing the Arisen when they're fully assembled, and using them on poor random souls on the side of the road.)

Negligence. Who would blame a simple pawn for being a little distracted now and again? He was just going to gather some herbs, for the Arisen's sake, how was he to know the Arisen was walking into an ambush? How was he to hear the Arisen's call for aid over the din of battle - he's a pawn he would have responded had he heard of course!

Similarly, he will sometimes fail to guide an Arisen who has ticked him off even if he's the only one who knows what to do next.

When opportunity knocks, accidents happen! So there was a truly difficult battle, everyone is scattered, and it's just the Arisen and Emrys for the moment. But it's all right, he's great at reading the lay of the land and is certain he knows where the others are, just follow him, Arisen! ...*

Rare. If they've caught him with actual, more-severe-than-his-norm dragonsplague symptoms, he may just straight up kill the Arisen. If he's already moody and irritable, and the Arisen is showing their own signs of being a dick, he may just pull out his hunting daggers and gut a bitch. He may just snipe them in the middle of a fight. (He may even go a bit dragon-mode, but that's for a different post I think.) It goes without saying that sometimes this results in him dying and effectively being dismissed, but them's the breaks.

As with the above, but in even rarer cases, the Arisen might not even have to be an asshole! If the plague symptoms are bad enough, just by being the Arisen and calling upon him, all they have to do is irritate him a little more - which can be a hair trigger. Again, extremely rare, but it has happened a time or two.

It's worth noting he's been at this a while, he knows not to overplay his hand, and will typically only do these things if he can go undetected/get away with it. He waits, watches, and maintains the image of a good pawn most of the time.

If an Arisen is truly abusive towards other Pawns, he'll generally use one of several strategies to get their attention on him instead, be it 'being a bit of a dumb/ass' to 'outright seducing them' or anything in between. Anything but getting himself dismissed sooner, less he be unable to do anything to help the others.

*I have the very specific scene in my head of Emrys leading a battle-weary Arisen over a ledge, and that Arisen bleeding out at the bottom of a cliff. They reach out towards him and he just slowly crouches down, covering their mouth so they cannot issue any orders, waiting until they succumb to their wounds.

Nikolai Castell: An Arisen of ages long passed, and Emrys's original master. After his parents perished to plague, he raised his younger brother Ambrose alone - though not without assistance from his childhood friend and sweetheart Lorraine. The three were close, and Nikolai was lauded as their villages most talented warrior. Charismatic, good-humored, quick with a joke or to lend a hand, he was much beloved - but he would eventually become bitter and jealous of his younger brothers own growing talents. He recommended Ambrose enlist in the military - and it was due to this he perished in the dragons attack.

Overcome with anguish and guilt, he vowed to kill the dragon, and it was not long after setting out to do so that he was marked as Arisen. The Pawn he summoned only naturally took the form of the visage that haunted his guilt-ridden mind, that of his brother, Ambrose. For a time he was overjoyed, believing some magic had gifted his brother back to him. Being a 'pawn' was simply side note, his strangeness was to be expected and surely in time he would return to normal...

Lorraine Harland: A talented mage from a young age, Lorraine was ambitious and free-spirited - as much a worthy candidate to become Arisen as her beloved. Her greatest regret was that she went to seek tutelage during the time a rift had begun to grow between the Castell brothers, and thus was not there to prevent the tragedy that would unfold. Yet with the skills she had honed, she vowed to aid Nikolai in defeating the dragon and avenging Ambrose.

Though she understood that the pawn Nikolai summoned was not truly Ambrose returned to them, she found it difficult to talk sense into her lover, let alone desire to. In time, she too, would sometimes get swept up in the fantasy of their brothers return, only to herself become despondent seeing Nikolai's mental well-being gradually decay. Their journey was one filled with many hardships, and much sorrow.

Ambrose Castell: A light-hearted, quick-witted young man who had an endless sense of adventure and wonder, it's a tragedy that he was not the one to become Arisen - or perhaps a mercy.

taking @ritens's Lane out trying to help with sorc brain. not a lot of fun stories from this one, but do have some notes about what did under cut.

THERE HAS BEEN A SYLNAPPING.

the first hop down I was like NO! and then I saw she was fine and then.......... 😔 absolutely weeping over here