46. “You’re hurt. Please just let heal it.”

"I'll tear your guts you, you lily-livered son of a shiprat and a pirate!"

Hallifax squirmed and struggled against the hands holding her, but they held firm. She wasn't quite wound up enough to hit a shipmate. Even if all she wanted to do was snap at the restraint.

"He's running scared," Grusha said, once Hallifax had stopped shrieking long enough to get the words in edgewise. "And you're hurt."

Finally wrenching herself out of Grusha's grasp, Hallifax crossed her arms as best as she could while still maintaining a tight grip on the Riverfork. She could feel her head starting to pound as the adrenaline drained away. That was going to be one hell of a shiner.

"I'm fine," she said anyway, aware that she was pouting and unable to stop herself.

"I heard bone crack," Grusha told her. "And it wasn't his. Please, just let me heal it."

Still fuming, Hallifax nonetheless turned her head up towards Grusha, submitting reluctantly to the bard's ministrations. Grusha's fingers settled soft and gentle over the wound, fingers sliding into Hallifax's thick curls, thumb coming to rest right next to her eye, landing naturally in the slight crease of thinner flesh just over the bone. She hummed softly, a few bars of a quiet, soothing tune, one Hallifax felt like she recognized, but couldn't put a name to.

The healing felt like a rush of cold seawater, flowing out from her fingers into the jagged red mess of split skin and rising inflammation between them. It bore the pain away like a wave sweeping debris out to sea, leaving a numb chill behind where the wound had been. As the magic faded, Grusha lifted her hand away. She paused to brush her fingers over the restored stretch of Hallifax's temple, dragging them through tacky, drying blood.

"We need to get that cleaned up, too," Grusha said. "Without the wound, you look like you just stabbed a human in the gut."

"You just don't want me to chase after that bastard," Hallifax said. But with the adrenaline fading away and no pain to goad her, she couldn't manage to sound accusatory. She wanted nothing more than to lean her head into Grusha's hand, and maybe fall asleep.

"I'd rather you didn't," Grusha agreed, pulling her hand away and settling it between Hallifax's shoulders instead. "I've promised to play a set tonight, and it doesn't help my reputation if I show up late."

"Fine. We'll go back," Hallifax said. "He won't be robbing anyone else tonight, at least."

She made herself stand up straight and pay attention as they started off, but she didn't shrug off Grusha's hand on her back. It felt nice. Not that she was going to admit it.

---

42. “Are you flirting with me?”

"That paint's really neat," the man at Yelkha's right elbow said, staring openly at the slashes and circles of red visible through the open front of her shirt. "Is it, y'know, all over?"

Setting her mug down, Yelkha glanced over. He looked orcish, which was rare in the lowlands, though this place wasn't that far from the mountains. A little narrow in the face and shoulders, though, and ears longer and pointier than her own--some elvish blood in there? He was looking at her with honest fascination, his curiosity genuine, though from the flush on his cheeks it wasn't just with the tattoos.

Still, she didn't see any problem with answering him honestly. "Aside from my stomach and chest, it's just where the armor won't cover. There's no point in having warrior-paint where your enemies won't see it."

"Oh, I see," the other half-orc said, nodding vigorously. "What does it say about you? You look like- I mean, you've got all those muscles, you have to have won lots of fights, right?"

"I have," Yelkha answered, grinning at the compliment. "But most of that's it's not about that. It shows what tribe I'm in, and that I'm an auroch-rider. Though I wouldn't be wearing any of it if I wasn't blooded, hey?"

"Yeah, that makes sense," the man said, flushing even brighter. "What about the- the covered paint? I, um, I wouldn't mind a better look, if that's okay.... Can I buy you a drink?"

"Are you flirting with me?"

"I mean, yeah," the man said. "Is it working?"

Yelkha chuckled. "I've got company already, and we're not looking for more."

She nodded to the stage, and the man turned and looked up at Bryn, fire swirling around her as her accordion and her voice rang out across the gathered crowd. His face fell so dramatically that Yelkha couldn't help laughing again.

"Oh, yeah. I'm not competing with that."

"Good, because she'd win," Yelkha said. Then, still chuckling at his crestfallen face, she thumped him on the shoulder. "But I don't mind showing you the paint, as long as you don't get all lowlander about my chest."

"I'll try," the man croaked, flushing all over again. "I mean! I'll be respectful, I promise. I don't know much about orcs other than my father's tribe, my brother knows more, and I'm, I'm used to bare chests with him around...."

"Then let's step outside, hey?" Yelkha finished her drink, thumped the mug down on the bar, and stood. She watched the other half-orc attempt to copy her maneuver and nearly choke on his ale, and thumped him on the back when he started coughing. "Don't die."

"I'm not-!" His protest vanished into more wheezing.

Grinning, Yelkha grabbed him by the wrist and started hauling him out of the bar. If she took the elven heritage into account, he was probably older than she was, but he seemed so much like a stripling boy trying to impress battle-comrades before his first raid that she couldn't help but feel a bit of fondness, behind the laughter. No, she didn't mind showing him the paint. Didn't sound like it was something his father's tribe took as seriously as hers did, but at least he'd be more respectful that way, if he came across other tribes that did.

Bloom

10. Do they like children? Do children like them? Do they have or want any children? What would they be like as a parent? Or as a godparent/babysitter/ect?

Bloom does like children! His philosophy and druidic practice is all about the development of potential, and children have SO MUCH of that. He’s a fierce defender of their potential and their natural right to explore the world, develop, learn–he doesn’t care much about their innocence, but he won’t allow a child in his care to be boxed in, and he’s outright contemptuous of people who care about raising children to be “proper” or trying to restrict their potential. Children generally like him (he is mostly kind to them, though he won’t hesitate to push them when they’re hesitant about things), and he’s a good babysitter/parent/godparent/etc. as long as the other adults in the situation don’t worry constantly about their children being SAFE. Not that he’d deliberately put them in danger, but sometimes burning your hand is the most effective way to learn that fire is hot. He thinks the best way for children to explore their limits is to reach and then push them, basically. As a parent especially he’d be protective as FUCK if external danger threatened, and supportive through internal crises, but he’d always be subtly pushing his children to encourage their ongoing growth.

13. What is their least favourite food?

Anything heavily spiced with hot spices. He can’t deal with peppers, horseradish, etc. Garlic is pushing it. Heavily-spiced food in general wouldn’t be his thing anyway because he likes enjoying the natural flavors of the meats and plants (and he’s suspicious enough of fancy cooking that he wants to taste whether they’ve gone off, which he’s been told is one reason for heavily spicing food).

21. Do they have a temper? Are they patient? What are they like when they do lose their temper?

Bloom is very patient, and does not have an OBVIOUS temper. When he gets mad, it’s a slow-burning, simmering anger, one that often isn’t visible beneath his usual calm demeanour. He holds grudges, but he’s pretty good at rooting out who’s truly responsible for an infuriating situation (I mentioned in his write-up that he would rather confront a stingy noble at his dinner-table than attack poachers trying to feed their families because said noble ran them off their land), and lets his anger build up at them instead. When he does decide to confront someone, though, he’s merciless. Basically, he believes in “don’t get mad, get even.”

24. What is their sleeping pattern like? Do they snore? What do they like to sleep on? A soft or hard mattress?

He can sleep anywhere, but he most likes to sleep scrunched into small places, curled up small and hard to see, with something solid at his back so that he can see, and fight off, anything coming. (It’s really something he picked up from his mother.) He also likes sleeping in his Wild Shape, even though there’s a time limit on that–it’s easier for him to FALL asleep as a red wolf or a stag than it is as a human, especially when he’s sleeping near companions. He doesn’t like matresses at all, and at an inn or otherwise indoors he’s more likely to sleep on the floor or under the bed.

He refuses to believe that he snores, but he definitely snores, especially if he’s in animal form or sprawled out under someone’s bed on his stomach.

36. What are they good at? What hobbies do they like? Can they sing?

He’s good at picking locks! :P An Urchin background feature that tends to startle most people who have met him as an adult in his leather armor and druidic robes and flower-twined horns. Hobby-wise… he’s learned to make all his clothes and armor, and he genuinely enjoys leatherwork, tending to make small decorative additions to all his armor (and all his friends’ armor, when they let him). He sings VERY BADLY and thus chooses not to generally do so, but he does hum absent-mindedly under his breath at times. He also likes weaving grass and pine needles into things–mostly little temporary bracelets and crowns, but he can do one hell of a basket given the time and materials–and playing a complicated sort of card-matching game that his mother taught him as a child.

—

Corric

6. What were they like at school? Did they enjoy it? Did they finish? What level of higher education did they reach? What subjects did they enjoy? Which did they hate?

Corric didn’t go to school as such, though she wasn’t exactly homeschooled either. Her halfling village basically had group homeschooling, where parents taught the basics, but then older kids grouped together to learn different things from the adults in the village with the most expertise. All parents wanted their children to be well-rounded, of course, but if a child disliked something enough to consistently play hooky, they’d eventually get away with not having to learn the thing. Corric was fairly studious because her parents told her that her younger siblings looked up to her (which was true) and she had to serve as an example, but she didn’t actually care that much for most of the higher-level studying. Basic figuring was fine, reading was interesting, but the study of nature didn’t intrigue her much and fine literature and algebra went entirely over her head. Her best subject by far was history, which was also kind of social studies, because she was fascinated by the outside world as described by the uncle who taught her. Her worst subject was absolutely composition and handwriting, because dragonborn hands aren’t meant for halfling-sized books and writing utensils.

14. Do they have any specific memories of food/a restaurant/meal?

Not to betray the memory of her parents’ perfectly adequate cooking, but Corric’s fondest memories of food from home involve an uncle who could do truly magical things with sweetbread and spices. He wasn’t the village baker, because regular everyday bread bored him, but the pastries he could make were one of the crowning delights of every village celebration. Sometimes Corric gets a whiff of raisins and allspice and it transports her instantly back home.

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

Most of the time, Corric doesn’t insult people so much as call them out–SHE thinks it’s far more cutting to be told that you’ve been cruel and unkind than to be told that you’re a jerk or an asshole. Specificity gets to the root of the problem far better. (This has not always proven true, or helpful, but it’s her habit.) When she does end up resorting to insults, they’re usually somewhat awkwardly delivered and mild–“you’re a jerk!” instead of “you son of a bitch!”–but at that point she’s pretty angry that the target didn’t admit fault the first time around. She’ll talk about people behind their back to her friends, to vent, but she won’t say anything that she wouldn’t (or didn’t) say to their face, unless someone impressed on her very firmly before the face-to-face encounter that she has to be polite to them for the Greater Good.

26. How do they act when they’re happy? Do they sing? Dance? Hum? Or do they hide their emotions?

Corric is very open about her happiness! She’s a smily, blushy, chattery happy person, and she’s always generous, but she gets even more generous when she’s pleased–she’s just so expansively happy that she has to try and pass it on, to share it with the people around her by buying them a drink or giving them a trinket or doing them a service. She has been known to do little jigs when truly transported with delight.

38. What do they admire in others? What talents do they wish they had?

Corric definitely wishes she was smarter, and had the talent for study. It’s not, like, a self-worth deal for her, but she is very realistic about the fact that she’s not a natural scholar (Intelligence is one of her dump stats), and she’d like to be more impressive in that respect. She’s got high Charisma because she’s kind and enthusiastic, but she’s not very eloquent either, and she really admires people who are eloquent and clever and world-wise! In a less envious sense, she also admires people who are strong, who have borne up under struggles and tragedies that she as a beloved child and strong-willed woman never faced, and who can still face the world from day to day without giving up. TBH she views her whole party this way, which is one reason she loves and supports them with such intensity.

—

Fsssh

2. Do they have any titles? How did they get them?

Laboratory Assistant, First Class. He worked his way up from Third Class, and he is very proud of that accomplishment.

The guild/association that he keeps in correspondence ranks him as a journeyman due to his travelling and experimentation, but as he’s never met or directly corresponded with the central body that keeps such records, I’m… not sure he realizes that they even have those kinds of rankings.

15. Are they good at cooking? Do they enjoy it? What do others think of their cooking?

He has proficiency with cook’s utensils, so I’d hope so. :P He enjoys cooking very much, especially cooking for others, and has a number of tried-and-true recipes that tend to go over well with those around him. He definitely makes an effort to fine-tune for racial and cultural palates, though he has to find a recipe book for that race or region first.

29. What do they do when they find out someone else’s fear? Do they tease them? Or get very over protective?

Neither of the above! He definitely does not tease–that would be unkind of him, and he does not wish to be deliberately unkind. But he’s not likely to become overprotective, or even protective at all. He’ll give warnings–there are snakes in there, these are people you might not like to deal with, these cliffs are very high–but he’ll always let others make their own decisions about whether or not they want to face those things. It’s their fear and their decision.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

His guilty pleasure is singing. He has to imitate real singers to do so–which is why it’s guilty for him, because there’s a difference between taking someone’s words and taking their ART, essentially forging something that arose from their own talent–so he rarely does it around others, but when he’s alone, he sings to himself quite a lot.

His completely unguilty pleasure is the dad jokes. He doesn’t feel bad in the least, even if you groan.

43. Are they religious? What do they think of religion? What do they think of religious people? What do they think of non religious people?

Fsssh is not religious in the least–he acknowledges that there are gods, and they are greater beings with greater power than any mortal, but while he has a healthy respect for their power he doesn’t respect them out of piety at all. They may move to help their worshippers, sometimes, but often they also do harm (look at the goblin god that he’s most familiar with!), and far too often they simply stand aside and let things happen in the world that they in theory have the power to prevent.

But he does respect the piety of those who follow and have faith in their religion. Everyone needs comfort and hope in this world, and even if the gods don’t regularly provide those things directly, he has come to understand that the act of faith itself gives this to certain types of people. Non-religious people are more his type philosophically, and he can speak more frankly with them, but he disapproves of those who go out of their way to be rude to the faithful just because of their devotion. If it’s because of faith-motivated actions, on the other hand… well, again, he is most familiar with the goblin god.

—

Gruthark

3. Did they have a good childhood? What are fond memories they have of it? What’s a bad memory?

Gruthark had a good childhood, overall, though he felt a bit oppressed by his mother’s helicopter parenting and the omnipresent expectations and pressure of the religious atmosphere all around him. He fondly remembers a lot: playing with his brother, fighting with his brother, getting to know a bunch of the orphans that the temple had taken in. He does NOT fondly remember the assassination attempt upon his family when he and his brother were five years old. (His mother thinks he doesn’t remember, because Thenaril doesn’t, and because no elf child would have remembered. His father knows better, but his father is not going to talk about it unless Gruthark himself asks to. Gruthark doesn’t want to talk about it at all.)

7. Did they have lots of friends as a child? Did they keep any of their childhood friends into adulthood?

As mentioned, Gruthark befriended a lot of the orphans that the temple took in post-rebellion–he was better at making friends than his brother, pretty consistently. Most of them are still his friends, some of them counted among his best friends. He rebelled against his parents, not against THEM.

12. What is their favourite food?

So there’s this sort of curry that he found in an out-of-the-way gnomish place in the lower quarters of Katheray, made with thin slices of perfectly-cooked lamb and cooked in some kind of sauce that he’s never been able to recreate, since he can only guess about half of what’s in it…. It doesn’t cost a ton but it takes about two hours to cook, and it is always, always, worth the wait.

28. What is their biggest fear? What in general scares them? How do they act when they’re scared?

Remember that assassination attempt I mentioned? There’s two things Gruthark knows about it: there had to be someone on the inside for it to come as close as it did, and his parents never found out who that person was. His biggest fear, even now, is betrayal by someone he trusts–though, Gruthark being somewhat insecure, he’s always afraid that it would be because he wasn’t a good enough friend.

After that, he’s mostly afraid of death and injury (reasonable) and being caught in embarrassing circumstances (such as upside-down in a dumbwaiter while trying to steal some asshole noblewoman’s underthings). His fear response is usually nervous laughter, wide eyes, and backing away. “Ahahahaha, that’s, that’s really a scorpion right there, hahahaha….”

47. How do they act in a formal occasion? What do they think of black tie wear? Do they enjoy fancy parties and love to chit chat or loathe the whole event?

Oh god, he hates it. He hates fancy robes, and he tries to muster up his best manners, but he’d really rather throw his arm around someone’s shoulders and laugh boisterously with them than shake their hand and make small talk, and it definitely shows. And don’t get him started on dancing. The only perk of fancy parties is the fancy food, and there’s never quite enough of it.

—

Ryxtlin

22. What are their favourite insults to use? What do they insult people for? Or do they prefer to bitch behind someone’s back?

Ryxtlin would rather bitch about someone behind their back, unless she’s in a position of power, but she sure will mutter under her breath in Draconic the moment they turn away. A lot of her favorite insults are very… kobold-ish, like “egg-bound” for someone acting cranky and “scaleless” for a coward, but when she hears a particularly fancy one like “whoreson” or “varlet” she’ll try and adopt it and likely misuse it terribly, and she’s always fond of a good solid “fathead.” She insults people for being rude to her and for brushing her off and for being in her way when she’s got a goal in mind.

27. What makes them sad? Do they cry regularly? Do they cry openly or hide it? What are they like they are sad?

She prefers not to be sad–she’d rather be angry at the situation than saddened by it–but sometimes she can’t help it. If she starts sniffling she’ll hide it immediately, because she doesn’t want anyone to see her that much of a mess. Most of the time she gets sad when there’s absolutely nothing she can do about a situation she dislikes, and she’s already exhausted herself of anger and frustration. Ryxtlin can sustain her rage for a long time, but eventually it breaks down. Most of her tears are frustrated tears, such as the ones she springs over her struggle with reading, or over the way so-called “civilized” peoples like to treat and talk about kobolds.

She’s cried over personal failures before, too, but she’s even less likely to let anyone see THAT burst of emotion. She’ll just go away until she can get over it.

30. Do they exercise? Regularly? Or only when forced? What do they act like pre-work out and post-work out?

Ryxtlin doesn’t exercise per se, considering her travel enough to keep her in shape. In rough terrain and cities, she tends to travel by back ways and rough ground and rooftops half the time anyway, which maintains the muscles she needs for when that kind of travel is necessary. Otherwise, she does do daily practice with her crossbow, because she has to keep up that aim, and a bit with her dagger but not as much. It’s not something she thinks of as a workout, it’s just part of her morning routine.

35. What’s their guilty pleasure? What is their totally unguilty pleasure?

Her guilty pleasure is chocolate. It’s not good for her digestion, it’s not really great for reptiloids, but she loves it anyway.

Her totally unguilty pleasure is shopping, or, more specifically, wandering through shops and loudly bad-mouthing poorly-made products to anyone around. (Also, shoplifting, which she refuses to feel guilty about at all. She needs it more than some poncy shopkeeper has. But that’s not as much fun as just utterly trashing a shit piece of handiwork to a companion, especially if the companion joins in or seems amused.)

44. What is their favourite season? Type of weather? Are they good in the cold or the heat? What weather do they complain in the most?

Race: Half-Orc (his brother got all the elven blood)

Ability Score Increase: Strength +2, Constitution +1

Age: Half-orcs mature around 14 and rarely live past 75. Gruthark seems to be living up to that despite his elven heritage, but his mother’s parenting standards means he wasn’t let out of the house much before 20, and he’s 23 now.

Alignment: Chaotic without a doubt, Neutral with... more doubts. He doesn’t want to be seen as a goody two-shoes, but he also doesn’t want to be too much of a jerk, you feel?

Size: Medium. He’s 6′3″ and not quite as broad across the shoulders as the shoulderpads are meant to imply. Thanks, Mom.

Speed: 30 feet.

Darkvision: 60 feet.

Menacing: Proficiency in Intimidation.

Relentless Endurance: When dropped to 0 HP without being killed out right, can pop back up to 1 (once a long rest).

Savage Attacks: When you score a crit with a melee weapon, you can roll a damage dice one additional time.

Languages: Common and Orc.

Class: Rogue (either Thief or Inquisitive archtype)

Armor proficiency: light armor

Weapon proficiencies: simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords

Tools proficiency: thieves’ tools

Saving throws proficiencies: Dexterity, Intelligence

Skills: Athletics, Deception*, Investigation*, Sleight of Hand (*expertise)

Sneak Attack: extra 1d6 with advantage or non-disadvantaged flanking (finesse or ranged weapon)

Language: Thieves’ Cant

Guilty Pleasure: A smile from a pretty face. (He’s just goo in seconds, he can’t help it. Especially if that pretty face is attractively tattooed, and attached to a woman who’s good with a sword. He has a Type.)

Adversaries: An art collector who uses illegal means to acquire masterpieces. (Those are historical pieces, and they belong in the Great Hall of the People, not on the walls of some squirmy noble who somehow wriggled his way out of an execution when his parents were sweeping clean the Emperor’s filth. Someday, Gruthark’s going to be good enough to get past Duke Perelion’s security, and when he is....)

Benefactor: A dragon didn’t eat you when it had the chance, and in return you promised to set aside choice pieces of treasure for it. (Okay, the dragon was the Golden Wyrm, head of the Katheray Thieves’ Guild, and Gruthark’s pretty sure that the threat to “devour” him was metaphorical, but she’s a scary lady and he’s not 100% certain on that.)

Background: Acolyte

Skill proficiencies: Insight, Religion

Languages: Elvish and Celestial

Feature: Shelter of the Faithful

Personality Traits:

I idolize a particular hero of my faith (no, not Mom or Dad), and constantly refer to that person’s deeds and example.

Nothing can shake my optimistic attitude.

I have a joke for every occasion, especially occasions where humor is inappropriate. (from Charlatan)

I would rather make a new friend than a new enemy. (from Criminal)

I’m a hopeless romantic, always searching for that “special someone.” (from Entertainer)

There’s nothing I like more than a good mystery. (from Sage)

Ideals:

Change: We must help bring about the changes the gods are constantly working in the world.

Independence: I’m a free spirit--no one tells me what to do. (from Charlatan)

Charity: I steal from the wealthy so that I can help people in need. (from Criminal)

Bonds:

I will do anything to protect the temple where I served.

I want to be famous, whatever it takes. (from Entertainer)

I owe my guild a great debt for forging me into the person I am today. (from Guild Artisan)

Flaws:

My piety sometimes leads me to blindly trust those that profess faith in my god.

Despite my best efforts, I am unreliable to my friends. (from Entertainer)

I have a weakness for the vices of the city, especially hard drink. (from Folk Hero)

I’ll do anything to get my hands on something rare or priceless. (from Guild Artisan)

Ryxtlin

2. How easy is itfor your character to laugh?

Honestly, Ryxtlin ismore of a chuckle-at-someone’s-misfortune laughter than someone wholaughs easily at jokes and light humor. (Not, like, random people’smisfortune, but if she feels they’ve misused her or are generallydislikeable, then it’s amusing.) She gets frustrated by wordplay inCommon, though not in Draconic. And if a joke is aimed at her, she isnot laughing at ALL.

9. Do they swear? Dothey remember their first swear word?

She swears inDraconic, sometimes, but not very often, and not at all in Common.Her first swear word was an untranslatable swear with a literalmeaning of being “egg-bound” but meaning, colloquially,something more like “screw that”.

15. How do theyspeak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do theyrehearse it in their mind first?

There’s usually abrief pause to think over her words, especially in Common or tosomeone in authority. She rarely speaks off-the-cuff unless she’stalking to someone she really trusts, because she knows that peopletake you more seriously if you watch your words.

As far as speechpatterns go, while she speaks closely to traditional kobold style inmost situations out of stiff-necked pride, she’s trained herself touse articles and the “to be” verb a lot more in Common thanshe does in Draconic, and she’ll go a bit further if she’s dealingwith Wizardly Authority or someone else she really needs to have takeher seriously. Inversely, she also drops more and more with peopleshe likes a lot, because knowing that more ornate speech is morepolite in their society doesn’t make it less of a struggle againstthe subconsciously ingrained manners of her youth.

26. What is theirpreferred mode of transportation?

FLYING. Ideally withher own wings, but she abuses the Fly spell a LOT once she gets it,too.

37. Do they have asystem for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that needto go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies,etc)?

Yeah! She needs thatto be able to manage her life, since she’s not super literate (shedoes have her spellbook, but even with that, there’s a lot of otherinformation she has to store and she’s not going through the painfulprocess of writing, or even drawing her pictographs, for anythingthat doesn’t need it as much as a spell does). I’ve mentioned beforethat she’s good at mental math, and she does a lot of those tricksthat are the opposite of what they formally teach you like addingtogether the larger parts of numbers first and then the tail ends;she also associates things with numbers or sequences of numbers inorder to remember those things, because remembering the numbers iseasier for her than remembering the thing on its own. (Basicallyanagrams, but for someone who Hates Letters.) She also relies on oralmemory methods from her tribe, which can include putting things totunes but also certain sorts of recitation-of-lists protocols andputting things into sort of… verbal formulas.

A lot of this isn’teven conscious, she just thinks of it as keeping a lot of stuff inher head, but if you’re watching her externally you might notice her,say, humming a tune or counting on her fingers as she recalls stuff.

A) Why are youexcited about this character?

There are lots ofreasons, but I was actually thinking at work about a week ago aboutold characters and stories I’ve daydreamed about, and had the suddenthought of, “huh, Ryxtlin really is a continuation of thisobsession,” because SO MANY of those old daydreams involve aperson who transforms into a dragon. So it’s probably no surprisethat Ryxtlin has become my favorite. XD;; But I am also excited forher relationships with other characters, both mine and other people’s(I keep wanting to hit you up with more theoretical Ryxtlin andScrape situations tbh, if you’d be open to that, and she has anotherkobold friend, @onopathetically’s Viv, who I also wanna pester more),and for her overall storyline–I love kobolds, I love the idea of herfighting to become something big and powerful and developing friendsand magical power along the way, I just. Love her so much.

Sassafras

8. What were theytold to stop/start doing most often as a child?

She was told to stopexaggerating, and to start doing chores. (Any chore. She had troubletaking initiative because she wanted to keep chatting.)

13. What color dothey think they look best in? Do they actually look best in thatcolor?

Her favorite colorsare gold, red, and blue, and she wears them as much as possible. Shelooks great in them! They are decent colors for her Pidgey coloring,so, yeah, it’s pretty much true.

20. If they wereasked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic orfamilial love, how would they do so?

With flushed naresand ruffled feathers! But once she’d finished squawking anddetermined that you really needed to know, she’d explain that whenyou love someone romantically you want to nest with them, and preentheir crest just to preen it and not for the mundane desire to tidyit, and cuddle together with them, while when you love themplatonically, you just want to spend time with them, and preen theircrest to make them look neat, and hug them without extended cuddling.

32. Do they have ago-to story in conversation? Or a joke?

Sassafras is alwaystrying to improve her story-telling, so she doesn’t have just onego-to, but she pretty regularly boasts about her friends and theirexploits. Same theme, different tale every time.

38. What memory dothey revisit the most often?

Curled up in bedlate at night back home, listening to Fennel snore, feeling contentedand discontented all at the same time.

F. What do you feelwhen you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?

I feel a lot ofaffection for her! Sassafras is a very relaxing, freeing character toplay–she’s one of my go-to happy headspaces when I’m feelingstressed or sad and need to get out of it. She’s like a breath offresh air in that respect.

Fsssh

6. Do they considerlaws flexible, or immovable?

Flexible, unlesssomeone determined to enforce them is watching. Fsssh doesn’t hold tomany codes that aren’t professional in nature, because he’s seenenough other people break them that he doesn’t think they mean much.In his upbringing in particular, the law was made by hobgoblins forthe benefit of hobgoblins, and he saw how hobgoblins could bent andbreak it if other hobgoblins permitted, and so he lacks the faith inits justness or even-handedness to believe in it even outside ofgoblin territory. And if other people are going to bend the law fortheir own benefit, why not Fsssh?

16. What makes theirstomach turn?

Death. He’s seen alot of it, and a lot of that messy (alchemy lab, goblin lab interns,etc.), so he’s developed an appearance of being inured, but on theinside it still makes him queasy.

22. How doesjealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they becomealoof, etc)?

He mostly getsjealous over his teacher’s attention and his own authority andprivileges in the lab, so it manifests most often by him pushingreally hard to impress (and sometimes overdoing it). If he’s jealousof another person, he’ll be very cold and disdainful towards hiscompetition. Fsssh doesn’t get jealous of physical objects veryoften–he only develops attachments to keepsakes given to him byfriends–but he keeps those he does value hidden and secret out offear of losing them.

34. How hard is itfor them to shake a sense of guilt?

He tries not todevelop one in the first place (he knows what a hobgoblin lab isultimately about, he knows goblins are expendable, and there’s somethings he did in his youth that he had to in order to survive), butthat fails pretty often, and it sits deep down in his chest and neverquite goes away. He’s not someone who tries to exorcise it throughactions–you can’t change what happened then through your actionsnow–so he never has a sense of it fading, but it doesn’t grow,either. It’s just there. Something to be lived with, if he’s lucky alesson learned, in any case a thing that he won’t allow to eat him up.

39. How easy is itfor them to ignore flaws in other people?

He can put aside alot. There’s not much that Fsssh lets bother him, in thatrespect–you have to be actively reprehensible for him to develop aloathing. If you just have a few bad traits? Well, people are likethat, and you’re a people.

H. What trait do youadmire most?

Fsssh doesn’t go outof his way to be extra kind or generous, but he tries to treateveryone he meets with basic decency, no matter how they act towardshim. That’s… better than I can do, a lot of days. He is not at allspiteful, and I kind of envy him that.

Thenaril

1. What’s themaximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing todo?

You’d THINK it wouldbe no time at all, but actually, Thenaril does practice meditativecommunion with his god, and in that state he can sit for hours.…But if you define that as ‘something to do,’ then no, he can’tstand still more than a couple of minutes.

11. How do they copewith confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

“Explain to meanother way!” He is downright DEMANDING of clarification. Hedoesn’t always agree with it once he understands, but he wants to becertain what he’s agreeing with, or disagreeing with, or doing, orarguing about, or so on.

15. How do theyspeak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do theyrehearse it in their mind first?

It’s actually one ofhis flaws that he speaks without thinking it through! Thenarilbelieves that speaking what occurs to you as it occurs is the mosthonest and genuine way to deal with other people. Maybe it’s not aspolite as everyone might like, but how can you convince and convertothers if you can’t deal with them honestly?

24. Is sex somethingthat they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom?

For all Thenarilseems intent on showing off his body for others’ admiration, he wantsthem to admire it VERY PLATONICALLY. He gets really flusteredwhenever the subject comes up, blushing and tripping over his tongueand generally struggling to steer the conversation back to othersubjects. It doesn’t help that his brother (who matured more quickly)has always made crude jokes and references to him specifically totease him, so he associates it with that as well.

35. How do theytreat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are theysupportive?

He is SO EXCITEDthat you are SO EXCITED about this thing! And he is so excited andhonored that you shared it with him! He will be the MOST supportiveand uplift his friends and aid them and encourage them and generallybe a really ardent cheerleader, though he understands wanting to do athing yourself and will only offer actual assistance if asked for it.

B. What inspired youto create them?

TBH, I’d just aboutfinished Gruthark and was thinking about other unusual race/classcombos, and then I went, “half-orc barbarian! …oh, I couldmake a zealot barbarian while I’m at it!” and scrolled back upand added him to Gruthark’s backstory.

Gruthark

4. How easy is it toearn their trust?

It’s… not as easyas it seems. Gruthark has that expertise in Deception for a reason,and the reason is that he wants to appear even more physicallybumbling and brutishly friendly than he is. He’ll act like bestfriends with people within five minutes of meeting them, includingpurporting to believe and trust them, but ACTUAL trust is… muchmore slowly earned. He needs time to suss them out.

9. Do they swear? Dothey remember their first swear word?

He swears like asailor, specifically to impress the people around him. His firstswear word was almost certainly “damn,” as in, “damnyou to chains in hell!” (his father’s favorite oath).

17. Are they easilyembarrassed?

Ahahahaha yeah. He’sgenuinely embarrassed by his genuine bumbling (which there’s… a lotof… I wouldn’t actually stat him that high in Dexterity to startout with for character reasons, because he is a clumsy kid startingout), and he’s embarrassed about people getting excited about hisparents, and he’s embarrassed about stammering in front of prettygirls… just about anything can get him blushing, really.

28. Would theyprefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?

Lie. Lie! Lie away,please, don’t rub anything in.

34. How hard is itfor them to shake a sense of guilt?

He’s not real greatat it, but he can eventually. Unlike Fsssh, Gruthark IS the type totry to make up for past misdeeds by doing good back to the person, orin similar situations, and so he can eventually “earn” hisway out of feeling bad, but it always takes longer than an objectiveharm done/good done equation would suggest.

G. What trait oftheirs bothers you the most?

See my answers toCoyote re: how I feel about my characters’ flaws in general! Thatsaid, I think I was at first going for an “undercover” vibewhen I decided that he was exaggerating his bumbling, and I don’treally feel that anymore. I’ve kind of tried to modulate it into himtrying to be more lovable and keep from getting involved in ReallyBad Stuff (since he’d seem too incompetent to bring into it), butit’s still a mismatch I gotta balance.

Naal

3. How do they putthemselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)

…Well, when he’sallowed to by the circumstances and his traveling companions, usingPrestidigitation and little bits of burning stick and straw to makeand then snuff out little tiny fires. Unfortunately, that oftencreeps people out. Then he puts himself to sleep by whispering tohimself (or his quasit or his patron), or, if also forced intosilence, just staring intently into the campfire or the darkness anddreaming about flames.

10. What lie do theymost frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?

Well, if we countout the childhood lies he told himself about how his mother surelyloved him…. He remembers telling the priests and other acolytesthat all his extra time in the library was trying to study the wordsof Rao and his disciples. It doesn’t haunt him in the least.

16. What makes theirstomach turn?

While he makes agood scene about being repulsed by people being over-affectionate,Naal isn’t actually that bothered by it. He’s pretty unbothered re:violent death, but starvation, specifically, horrifies and repulseshim. The strong scent of alcohol and the smell of vomit also turn hisstomach.

21. Why do they getup in the morning?

Can’t burn the worlddown from bed! He has vengeance to get to.

29. Do they usuallylive up to their own ideals?

He’s not always asindependent and as unattached to other people as he wants to be, andhe’s not nearly as strong yet as he wants to be either. But on thefront of continuing occult growth? Definitely living up to them.

C. Did you havetrouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?

I’m still not surewhere he fits in any given story outside his original appearance! Ilike him a lot but lbr he’d probably be a villain, and none of mycurrent stories or daydreams really have room for his particular typeof villainy. But he’ll float around until I can use him someday,maybe in another incarnation.

Nels

4. How easy is it toearn their trust?

Previously answered!Short answer: Nels doesn’t trust like that.

11. How do they copewith confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?

Mostly seekclarification, because she doesn’t like being ignorant. But if she’sreally frustrated with a situation, she’ll throw up her hands andjust let someone else sort it out (especially if it’s related to thequest that Ravi got them sent on, because everything about that isemphatically Not Her Problem). She doesn’t fake understanding unlessshe’s afraid of the consequences of confessing ignorance.

13. What color dothey think they look best in? Do they actually look best in thatcolor?

Also previouslyanswered! Pink clashes with both carrot-orange and ginger.

18. What embarrassesthem?

Being seen with hercrew of idiots? TBH she’s more likely to try and embarrass thosearound her than to be embarrassed herself–shame is one of thoseemotions she has trouble feeling. But publicly failing somethingshe’s advertised herself as competent in, or thinks she SHOULD becompetent in, can embarrass her, if only because she’s worriedthere’ll be consequences for it.

21. Why do they getup in the morning?

In one respect:coffee. In another respect: if you don’t get up you die. Maybe notright away, but you’ve got to work to eat, and eat to live, andyou’ve got to get going in order to get that work started. Nels cantake rest days when that’s formally and officially what they are, butthat’s the most lazing she’s able to do no matter how she feels.

26. What is theirpreferred mode of transportation?

I’m… not actuallysure if they have cars in High Earth? But if so, then definitelyvehicular transport. In contrast to the answer above, she alsodoesn’t want to do more work than NECESSARY, because that effortshould be saved for better useage, and vehicles are less work thanwalking.

Fifth Red Petal

2. How easy is itfor your character to laugh?

Right now she’sunder a vow of silence, and that would break it, but… it would beaccurate to say that struggling not to laugh is the greatest struggleshe usually encounters in upholding her vow, because not being ableto explain things to people is frustrating but laughter is almostinvoluntary. She is, at any rate, easily amused, though she’s learnedto keep it to a smirk or a smile. It’s been hard enough to trainherself to do that, it might carry over after the vow is lifted, tbh.

12. How do they dealwith an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?

Grab a stick! Or thebutt of her weapon, or whatever else is convenient. If it seems likeit would be undiplomatic or embarrassing to do that, though, she’lljust endure.

19. What is theirfavorite number?

It is NOT actuallyfive! Nor three, though that has layers of significance to her bothpersonal and religious and would be runner-up. She likes things thatcome in pairs, so, two.

20. If they wereasked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic orfamilial love, how would they do so?

Romantic loverequires more gentleness, more closeness, and more cooperation tokeep your lives in balance. Platonic love draws from stronger initialconnections, gives forth deeper wells of strength, and requires moreunderstanding and devotion. Both kinds of love can exist for the sameperson, but they are different feelings that require differentarrangements.

29. Do they usuallylive up to their own ideals?