#Ismark started in Normal Guy

[the-mist-striders]

Episode 7: Party Bonding

So we made it to Vallaki, the City Ismark wanted us to deliver Ireena to. Our quest was to drop her off at the church, however we stopped by the inn to hang out and have some character bonding ✨️

Fauna buys Kai a drink; it's water because she refuses to drink alcohol the reason given being "I was born because of alcohol"

After some confused silence she elaborates that her mother was drunk when conceiving her.

Kai then says "ok, so we'll be traveling together a lot so I should tell you guys to never let me go anywhere alone with a guy. I am asking you all to be the biggest cock blockers in all the land"

"Second, if my hole gets bigger..” she pauses, realizing that sounded dirty “-I mean if my face hole gets bigger- I will start losing self control and may need you to restrain me."

Meanwhile at the same table Sofya is drinking the booze™️

Lucerian is there too and Fauna. Amahlia is passed out on the table. Probably tired from all the fake smiling and forced friendly demeanor she's been having to do for the -checks watch- last 5 minutes

Fauna starts talking up Lucerian to Kai. Saying that he's strong, reliable, and a provider

Kai: my curse makes me super fertile 

Fauna: he'd make an excellent father 

Kai (deadpan): if I have a child I will die

Nobody asks to elaborate they just go #oh

Lucerian does first try to make a pass at Kai, and while Kai is interested in him, she is on a mission to not get fucked.

She see's Sofya sitting next to Lucerian

She has the galaxy brain moment of "if those two got together he'd be easier to resist"

Kai then nudges Lucerian to go hit on Sofya.

Lucerian is flirting with Sofya now, she's nervous and is clearly into Lucerian but doesn't know he's flirting with her.

Uses her telepathy to speak into Sofya's head "he's flirting with you btw"

Causing Sofya to blush and start to drink a bit more to get herself tipsy, unable to flirt unless drunk

Sofya while drunk is like (Slurred @ Lucerian) "Youu stabbed me"

This would be confusing if everyone at the table didn't already deduce that Sofya has Cinderell’s memories.

Kai asks Fauna what was up with the fortune teller talking about "self discovery" when going over Fauna's fortune

So back story time for Fauna and Lucerian✨️

So a thing in elvish culture is that there's a ritual they do to earn their second name. Their original is the name given at birth, the second name by some kind of rite

Fauna never got hers, because their entire clan was wiped out while Lucerian(the older brother) was out hunting for his ritual. He came back with everyone dead and a baby Fauna laying in a tree trunk. Because of this Fauna never got her ritual because the clan is dead

Lucerian is driven by rage and revenge, while Fauna is self discovery

"And that's how my entire clan died" is the line Amahlia wakes up to from Fauna, followed by Kai saying in deadpan "my dad killed my entire family"

to which Fauna's player said "trauma bonding!" And we all clanged our glasses together

At some point Lucerian and Sofya are making out at the table.

Kai is like "fuck yeah girl. Make him unavailable to me" as she streams "careless whisper" into Sofya's mind

#an excellent use of Psionic power

Fauna does ask Amahlia about what her deal is and Amahlia says she doesn't really know who she is either. We all failed our insight checks so we all are just like "Yeah that checks"

Anyway Amahlia starts trying to hit on Fauna and it's fuckin weird

Amahlia is like "wuzzuppp"

"I normally want to kill things, but you I don't want to kill"

peak pickup lines

Kai is still at the table btw

Fauna expresses some interest in Kai and Amahlia gets weirdly competitive and it's the most one sided thing ever 

Amahlia:  "ok but I don't have a weirdly shaped head"

Kai: "Ouch. That's a low blow"

Amahlia: "I atleast have eyes" 

Kai: "Why are you being so competitive, I'm not taking Fauna from you" 

Lucerian and Sofya start getting up from the tavern and Fauna- not having it- grabs Lucerian's sleeve

"Don't do it." Fauna says with a stone cold glare at a drunken Sofya, Lucerian himself is also pretty inebriated. He opens his mouth to protest, but stops himself, agrees its a bad idea and sits back down.

Fauna is like "I'm going to take a bath, if you want to help wash me ;3" At Amahlia, Amahlia however has 1 brain cell and doesn't realize she's hitting on her

Kai slips into Amahlia's mind like "Hey idiot, she's flirting with you"

Amahlia- who was previously sitting there confused screams “OH SHIT” before taking off after Fauna.

Kai goes to her single person room like “woo i successfully failed to get laid. Now it's just you and me mammoth tusk :)”

They reconvene in an hour to head to the church to drop off Ireena

The party observes that they seem to be setting up for a festival, and they seem tired of festivals. Apparently the Duke is throwing festivals twice a week or some shit. The people are tired as fuck of festivals

Even more odd, whenever a city guard walks by-the people tense up and fake a smile

Implying that happiness has become mandated here 

They find the church that they would drop Ireena off too. The church looks like shit, as if a single attack would probably knock the bitch down.

Priest asks to speak privately with the cleric, apparently the church had some holy relics stolen and the church was no longer being protected by their deity fucking gods man.

Sofya wants to- after mass - go investigate who took the relics so that she can peacefully leave Irene there. Otherwise she will attract Strahds attention and he will likely burn that church down

But while mass happens we go shopping

Kai is like "I want a helmet. -looks around, sees a ton of wolf heads on spikes- ah. Perfect." -takes it off the pike and calls Fauna over to help make a wolf skull helmet-

#just girly things

Got us some silver weapons, and some warm clothes. We go to a apothecary (potions shop) whose clerk doesn't seem to know anything about alchemy or what the potions do- but god damn he's going to upsell it

The party decides to haggle for it, Fauna decides that this by itself isn’t enough so she sleight of hands some extra gold.

Afterwards they then for funsies go to the toy shop because why the fuck not

Meet Blinksy

It’s Him

A heavy set man who's speaks in a heavy Russian accent with a pet monkey

He also sells the weirdest fuckin toys

We got a toy executioner +guillotine

A marionette of Strahd (whom Kai looks at and goes "ehe. See I knew he was ugly")

The dolls all look uncanny, realistic with their mouths and eyes stitched closed

There also a doll that has a striking resemblance to Ireena

Apparently someone keeps commissioning the doll, he makes one for each month and probably had an obscene amount of Irene dolls

He does it because he's singly handedly keeping his shop open. His toys don't sell well for some reason :(((

Fauna requests a top hat for 3B

He takes the executioners hood off of the execution toys set and gives it to her

Fauna keeps rolling to successfully put it on the bats head. He's loudly complaining in a jersey accent (that only Fauna can hear) like "why are you doing this to meee"

Amahlia commissions a 3b plushy

oh Amahlia is feeling sofft

They do commission an actual top hat

We also try explaining to him that he could in bulk make plushies of 3b and his own pet monkey Piccolo

He's like "oh I make piccolo with an executioner's mask?"

Sofya : noo. Uh. Make it look just like Piccolo. Nothing else

Blinksy: ohhh so I make him like this? *gestures at the dolls that have their mouths and eyes stitched shit

Kai: no no no, make it look cute. Children love cute things

Blinsky:

We single handedly revolutionize how this man makes toys

They do buy Kai the Strahd marionette so that they can burn it later 

Lucerian gets a bat-mobile

By that I mean a mobile like the ones above baby beds. It's all bats flying in a circle

We tip him handsomely and agree out of game that we would burn the world for Blinsky

Blinsky also is going to make toys of us, asks us what the name of our band is

They all put their heads together and come up with a name

“The Mist Striders”

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[xmoriartea]

Sometimes killing an aboleth you didn’t know existed in a polluted lake was the highlight of your day. Other times you drag your butt out of said lake and immediately get news of fratricide and have to kill some family friends, so that sort of takes priority in the highlight reel. At least when you’re Arabelle.

Welcome to Barovia, everything’s just fine here.

Nothing like a little trauma to liven up the game. While trying to help the gal cope with that back in town, Tanner discovered something fascinating about the village’s church and we had to go hunt down some bones and deal with our first vampires! RIP that coffin maker though, the vampires didn’t agree with my whole “leave him for later” bit.

But we managed to chase down the vampires after they fled into the village and, with some... unique problem solving, got the holy bones back to their bed, thus eliminating the last standing vampires in the church!

(NGL, campaign is over and done with and this is still one of my favorite bullshit moments from that game)

But rather than stick around too long (people were starting to pay us Too Much attention after all that) we decided to bounce out the village and head back to Barovia Village to pick up some weird siblings we’d been chatting with prior. On the way, we dropped Arabelle and Mina off at Tser Pool to chat with Madam Eva so Arabelle could do some seer training? Vague, but so are seers. We’d pick them up on the loop back with the siblings.

Tanner and Alkali then returned to the village, spent the night at the inn, and... made choices.

But it’s fine. He made himself body molding armor that seeped into his skin with the bits he kept for himself. Totally normal team bonding guys. But at least Alkali's venomous now.

They picked up Ismark and Ireena, buried their father, made a promise to a priest about saving his vampiric son potentially, and then started a... campaign+ long obsession. See, Alkali asked for divine guidance on how to cure a vampire and... she got determined. Kill a vampire and resurrect it and the curse would be undone. Easy game for a death cleric. She’d just need to go... level grind some monsters in the valley and get back to Doru later.

But it’s fine, it’s fine. We got the siblings to Vallaki, left them safely at the church, and after Arabelle started getting dream-hunted by her uncle, we decided we’d have to go have some family counseling. And by that I do mean aid her in avenging her father’s death by taking out a servant of Strahd’s. 

Which. Totally wouldn’t piss of Strahd right? Right?

Who could have foreseen the consequences of these actions?

BUT we got out, got away, and picked up an earless elf who seemed to know somethings about these amber doors we were looking for. So. One week in Barovia, at like LEVEL FUCKING SEVEN we decided to go to the Amber Temple.

(Knowing what I know now, I want to throw bricks at us.)

Too many fire creatures, fox bastards, and amber golems later, we managed to stumble on a room of vampire spawn ex-adventurers which went well...

...until it didn’t...

But it’s fine, it’s fine. Who needs all that blood? We put them down, Alkali nabbed a journal off the body of the vampiric triton, and we continued on our way. All the while encountering weird knowledge creatures, tombs of amber with vicious deals, and our earless elf bastard Kasimir who Alkali quickly wanted to make suffer. See they didn’t get along to begin with.... but when she found out HE was responsible for the death of the sister he was trying to rez... she got a little feisty. 

To the point she spitefully divined with her goddess to figure out his dead sister was fucking with him, but he refused to listen to the little sea hag and stormed away from the Amber Temple to save his sister himself.

I’m sure that will be fine with no repercussions now that he made some DEVIL PACT and looks like a corpse himself.

And certainly no more repercussions than TANNER ALSO MAKING A DEVIL PACT IN THIS HELL and acquiring two hellhounds.

But at least we found the Sun Sword and armed our good good rogue/wizard Arabelle with it? 

Certainly helpful after we leave the Temple and then casually break bread and wine with these HuNtErS on the road who are totally not werewolves. Yes, we were stupid. Yes, we did kill them.

And then headed on down to a winery with a hell of a lot of ravens and a druid infestation. We managed to chill with them for the night before going off to deal with their druid problem which totally led to another absolutely normal and safe encounter with the lord of the land.

Totally normal.

Said teammate might have been the sea elf Mina whom Alkali was... sort of... becoming... friends... with?? Weird. No. Never.

Unless?  ┬┴┬┴┤ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)├┬┴┬  

But the vampire hunting train never stops because we had a fortress to go find which led us to the very not at all haunted doors of Argynvaustholt where we found an EXTREMELY lost elf who’d been looking for Arabelle for -checks watch- over a week and met some chill ghosts.

We also found out there was a skull SOMEWHERE we needed to return to the castle to get the dead dragon’s blessing. Cause that’s not vague at all. From our new ghost friends we found out the dragon was killed by Strahd so likely he or one of his supporters in the valley had the skull and isn’t that just WONDERFUL.

Unfortunately, the high of that little success with the ghosts was short lived because we returned to Arabelle’s old camp, hoping to commune with some of the dusk elves there still, only to find out every remaining elf had been murdered and the remains of their homes and the camp set ablaze... 

So we took Savid with us after burying his father, headed back to Vallaki, and managed to stumble our way into a wounded fire genasi lad named Rowan who told us some Shit Had Gone Down in the village while we were gone.

Turns out a noble woman we briefly met, Lady Wachter, had moved to overthrow the government, but support had sOMEHOW been in Ismark’s favor as another Burgomaster heir in the all out fucking scuffle of Vallakian politics. So now Ismark was the new shiny Burgomaster with a council of Vallakians (Lady Wachter, the innkeeper who was totally not a wereraven, and a questionably divine artificer noblewoman named Kalina Frostwhisper) supporting him.

So things were going well?? We made moves to figure out where the fuck that left us in all of this (still considered heroes for killing those vampires, so that’s good) and went about town to PREPARE I GUESS for a ball that was happening in the next day or so? To celebrate the new burgomaster aND the heroes of the town??

But in the process we met the world’s best apothecary

It was a potion sales pitch but Faraga please, that’s terrifying. 

But hey, we had a ball hosted by a Strahd supporter to go to. So. Every little bit would help, right?

[galaxa-13]

My DM gave me free reign, so here’s a thing I wrote for D&D.

Randal followed Escher up to the fourth floor. He was fairly certain following this strange man to be alone in his room wouldn’t lead to him dying. Strahd said no harm would come to them, he had a job for them to do, and if this guy did anything then Strahd would probably punish him. On the other hand this could go sour in a completely different way. He could start hitting on Randal.

He could handle it if it came to that, though. Being mildly uncomfortable was basically his neutral setting since arriving in Barovia. Putting up with that would be easy if it meant he could get any more information. Already he was being allowed into parts of the castle he had been barred from. He did his best to keep a mental map of where Gertruda had lead him earlier and where Escher was leading him now.

When they finally got to Escher’s room Randal immediately noticed that there was no bed. Two loveseats, but no bed. Internally Randal couldn’t help but be disappointed. No matter what happened here he wasn’t going to sleep in a bed like the others. Either he’d be sleeping on a loveseat or. . . Not sleeping at all.

He sat down on one of the loveseats and Escher joined him. Then Escher started complaining about how Strahd had been ignoring him and he had been feeling sooo lonely. This was cool, Randal was fine. If he could pretend to care about Gerturda and her problems he could pretend to care about Escher and his. He listened and nodded, thankful for all the whine he had been drinking because it was making it easier to deal with this drivel.

He tried to ask Escher questions about Strahd. What was he normally up to? Anything he seemed particularly bothered by? What was Escher’s relation to him exactly? Unfortunately his charisma failed him (probably a little too much wine) and Escher wasn’t very forthcoming with details. He continued to blather away about things Randal didn’t really care about and putting his hand on Randal’s knee or shoulder.

Randal had to finally admit to himself that this whole plan had been a bust. He wasn’t going to get anything useful out of this. He still remained attentive to Escher’s woes, however, because he felt like it would never do wrong to have someone on Strahd’s side who liked him. That’s why he had put up with Gertruda (partly, but also because deep down he felt bad for her). He let Escher be as flirtatious as he wanted, even brushing his own hand against his a couple times and a smile here and there as they talked. Keep up the act, just keep up the act for the night. Man, how much wine had he drunk at this point?

Then the march of the dead began outside. Randal quickly took it as an excuse to leave the loveseat and go look out the window at the ghosts approaching the castle. He had to confirm that it was the same event he had witnessed back when the party had first come to Barovia and were staying with Ismark and Ireena. That seemed ages ago now. His life before Barovia seemed even farther away. He had a lot of different emotions swirling around inside him as he stared out at the ominous march below. Would he one day be part of that march? Would he actually become free of this terrible place? Would he succeed or fail in saving Ireena from Strahd? Would Strahd send his own army of undead to his home plane? He might not have anyone left back home to care about, but that didn’t mean he wanted Strahd invading.

[ferriskilldeer]

from this ask meme

What does your character typically keep in their pockets? nothing. pockets must be free in case he wants to put things in them later :)

Do they consider themselves an optimist? Pessimist? Realist? What are they like in actuality? considers himself a realist. he’s mostly a pessimist, with some optimistic ideas about the people of barovia.

How do they carry themselves around strangers? Friends/Lovers? Family? always polite. a bit less sincere, more ingratiating around strangers. shy and mild around friends. tired around family.

If your character was a work of art, how would you describe them? oil painting -  tenebrism - isolated - articulate - cavernous despair

How does your character express they're comfortable? willing to close his eyes or at least lower his lids, relaxing his posture, asking personal questions of someone else

How does your character express that they're uncomfortable? wide, unblinking eyes and a rictus grin, quiet voice with less inflection. whats quickly becoming a catchphrase: “dont say things like that”/”oh x you shouldnt say things like that”

How impulsive is your character? not too much, but in the heat of the moment he makes some dumb decisions

What is something they cannot resist? cleaning and wine

What is their favorite scent? fresh laundry or fresh water, fruits

If they were in a rock band, what role would they play? bass guitar or keys

How does your character blow off steam? he decompresses a little by fussing over his companions’ appearances

Physically, does your character feel warm or do they always feel cold? cold-natured, but heats up quickly with drink or embarrassment

If they were a body of water, what would they be? pond

Does your character value promises? Are they good at keeping them? yes and yes

Describe their ideal date. something quiet and respectable--a public place where they can enjoy a private conversation. a quick but interesting meal before or after. escorting them to their home and bidding them goodnight. laying awake and giddy for hours afterward

What keeps them going? he’s not built for anything else

Does your character swear? What's their favorite phrase/word? he tends to swear because i do, and “fuck” slips in as a sentence enhancer a lot. if i played it completely straight he wouldn’t swear as much, especially in front of people he thinks are his social “betters”

How does your character act when they want to seem inviting? pleasant, servile, and charitable

How does your character act when they want to seem threatening? he hasn’t tried this yet. probably gets cold, toneless, and petty

Can your character flirt? Are they aware they're flirting? How do they do it? he flirts through compliments or friendly gestures, but gets embarrassed and immediately backs down from it 

If they were a potion, what would it look like? (Color, glass shape, smell, etc.) something light and translucent, maybe green or pink, in a fine-cut clear glass decanter sealed with red wax. smells of soap and blood.

What kind of person would they never side with? the ruthless, the hungry, the unrepentant, the narcissistic

Would your character want to be famous? Why or why not? hell no--he must never be in the spotlight

What's a controversial food opinion they would have? he loves weird combinations. totally a “x on pizza” or “dip your nugs in y” type

How does your character feel about spending money? he’s frugal for himself, but generous when it comes to spending on others

What would they want for their funeral? he wants everyone he knows to come, he wants no one to come, he wants to be cremated, he wants no speeches, he wants a thousand tears, he wants no one to notice he died at all.

If they were a ghost, how would they haunt in the afterlife? funny: would clean up after the living and help out around the house. less funny: plaintive scratching at closed doors, cold spots, sounds of pacing, banging cabinet doors in a bid for attention

Why do they keep secrets? he’s ashamed of being alive

What does your character have too much of? shame and anxiety

What never gets old for your character? Something your character can't get enough of? new food and external validation 

Can your character visualize actual concepts in their head? Or are they just vague thoughts? yes, strong third eye

Does your character daydream? What do they usually keep their mind occupied with? he doesnt daydream often. often goes over lists of supplies, chores, sensations to occupy his mind if he starts to get too anxious

How do they feel about the unknown? frustrating and scary, but cant be helped

How do they respond to condescension? part tight, teeth-grinding fury, part resignation/agreement, self-loathing

Do they consider themselves childish/mature for their age? he’s always thought himself mature. but actually, his self-denial and black-and-white judgment of himself is a bit childish

What makes them blush? impropriety of any kind, and being complimented in any way

What are some ways your character acts silly? makes weird offhand remarks about birds, responding seriously to the overly creepy things others say

What fairytale/myth suits your character the best? the nightingale and the rose prob

What does your character believe their party lacks? power and, if hes honest, a fighting chance

Describe a corruption/redemption arc version of your character. the letter opener demands more and he gives more because hes always been a servant, and himself for the chance at beating strahd and saving ireena+barovia is hardly a price at all. i guess the letter opener eats his soul or something and he becomes cold, driven, and megalomaniacal. probably scares the others and eventually they part ways--perhaps violently, since ismark and marceline dont suffer any sort of disrespect or threat lightly. could only be redeemed if someone can convince him that he doesnt have to bear all the responsibility, and that theyd rather have their normal squishy ferris over an insane powerhouse. hed have to sacrifice himself/his power in some important way to make up for it though, if he did something really bad

What's a texture/sound your character cannot stand? dislikes ripping+scraping sounds, and chunky gloopy textures

Is there something your character isn't very good at, but enjoys doing nonetheless? talking about wine

Is your character good at apologizing? Why or why not? yes because hes very tactful

How do they hold onto people? physically? clasp a shoulder, grab an arm with one hand, or hold on to the fabric at the small of their back. 

What would they never forgive themselves for? killing an innocent person or doing something purely selfish

How does your character feel about growing old? fine, he just wishes hed wasted less time

Do they consider themselves funny? How do they use humor? he doesnt think hes especially funny, but gets a big confidence boost when someone laughs at his jokes, which he uses to defuse tension or establish a rapport

What do they want to leave behind? he just wants to forget his time at cobblepot manor. and he doesnt

Do they talk to themselves? sometimes mutters when hes annoyed

What is their native language? If they know multiple languages, how do they speak/act differently? he knows a lot, but the further they get from elvish or common, the more formal and archaic they get

What makes them a hypocrite? though he holds high standards for himself and others, he relaxes his standards for others quickly (“oh what did i expect anyway, im the responsible one here”). also will decry needless violence or murder, even though he murdered his boss brutally in the guy’s sleep

If your character was under quarantine, what type of quarantine person would they be? (Productive? Hobbyist? Lazy?) very productive. flits to new hobbies quickly

What does freedom mean to them? confusion, terror, excitement. its the only thing that would make him really happy, and he doesnt want it

What is something they currently look forward to? What is something they dread? look forward to getting a reward from the burgomaster. dread seeing strahd again

How has your character's mental health been recently? not great! but hes been holding it together because marceline is already upset and ismark is volatile. theres not room for his feelings.

If your character had wings what would they look like? sleek, pointy, fast-flying, well-preened, earth tones. falcon for efficiency, owl for discretion, or towhee for smallness

How does the way they act seemingly contradict their ability scores? very high cha abilities that he rarely uses, since marceline and ismark are more assertive. notably an intimidation score higher than marceline’s and equal to ismark’s that he would probably never use

What's a habit that needs to be broken? he needs to learn how to aim eldritch blast (i need to roll better)

What's something your character has realized? hes fucked

Who do they go to when they need to bounce ideas off of someone? suggests things to marceline and ismark (the other PCs), but makes a point to ask ireena (DMPC) what she thinks

Who do they go to when they've had a nightmare? nobody

Who does your character think is the most put together in the party? marceline or himself

Which party member would they pull a prank on? Who would they plan a prank with? ismark; marceline or ireena

What is one thing they want each party member to know? marceline: no matter where you come from or what youve done, youre a precious ally and friend to me. we are all unhappy here, so please just try to play along. ismark: you need a goal beyond protecting ireena and killing strahd because if you achieve those goals then youll be left adrift. and you deserve better. please stop yelling at, lying to, or trying to fight everyone we meet. ireena: you deserve more than life dealt you. as long as you live, there is hope for you. youre loved and protected by a lot of people, and its a happy burden.

Which do they value more?

65. Adoration or Intimidation? adoration

66. Outward Passion or Quiet Rebellion? quiet rebellion

67. Selflessness or Self-Preservation? selflessness

68. Objective or Subjective? objective

69. Journey or Destination? wishes he could say journey, but its destination