Since the beginning of time, Paladins have stood in unceasing opposition to the necromantic arts. Most believe these are affronts to nature and the gods, and, as such, seek to stamp them out wherever possible.
Not Sir Eggbert de Verre, however. Certainly, he will hunt down necromancers and dark warlords wherever he finds them, but takes pains not to harm their undead servants. He loathes dark magic as much as any of his comrades in arms, but for a slightly different reason- the rights of the formerly-unliving themselves.
Why, he asks, should one be forced to serve as cannon-fodder in the army of some upstart Dark Lord, or condemned to guard the tomb of some ancient king for all eternity, simply because one's rotting corpse was hauled up from the grave for that very purpose by the darkest workings of the void? Why shouldn't the unconventionally-resuscitated be left free to live out their lives undisturbed by both the cruelties of dark tyrants and the overabundant zeal of adventurers?
An unorthodox approach? Certainly. But what else would one expect from the Knight of the Living Dead? Go to Comment
He has ball and socket joints in his fingers, toes, knees and elbows. Not only is the much greater range of motion really useful for scratching those difficult-to-reach places on his back, but it enables him to walk backwards fairly easily, contort himself into extremely difficult positions, and win countless bets in bars. As a side-note, his knees are almost impervious to pain, having been almost completely replaced with scar tissue from countless falls while learning to walk. Go to Comment
Incurion- a rather devious tmiesian enchantment; Incurion is an unusual, highly specific form of psychic enchantment: it causes the caster to 'forget' a specific sound or syllable- the 'object' of the tmiesis. When reading or listening, they will simply not process the object; when speaking or writing, they will skip over it without missing a beat- think 'Fnord' from the Illuminatus! trilogy.
Incurion is a particularly devious tmiesis, in that its effects, by definition, go completely unnoticed by the individual- very often, the object is one not found in the spell the tmiesis is hidden in; rather, the feeling that something isn't right will only begin to dawn on the caster slowly. Spells will fail or misfire; the enchanter will get odd looks in conversation as he skips syllables in his speech- minor annoyances at first, but enough to unnerve or madden the victim.
Must be removed by a second party, as the victim, even if somehow aware of the enchantment's effect, is completely incapable of determining what, precisely, the object is, and what words it's found in. Easily detected by asking the victim to say a word containing the object- useful in the case of wayward apprentices.
Love it. LOVE it. The Image of the Giant Tortoise, covered in leather satchels, just sort of plodding along, grazing from its gardens; the relationship that he has with the Hanaset; even the sort of Native American feel of the Hanaset themselves- everything just seems to come together on this. 5/5.
BTW- The Hanaset fascinate me- I'm imagining them as a sort of North American Indian-style culture, with limited technology but really complex politics and philosophy, a la the Tlingit/ Haudenosaunee/ Cherokee- that right? I wouldn't half mind seeing a write-up on them, valadaar, if you ever get around to it. Go to Comment
Updated: Updated: Updated: did a little re-organization of the appearance and equipment sections, and a bit of a re-write to the roleplaying notes. Go to Comment
Just discovered this one today- brilliant. Love the image of her doing all the bureaucratic work while Cheleckzar is off cackling insanely and kicking puppies.
Ann Beverly- Mother of sex pistols bassist Sid Vicious. Most famous for acquiring the heroin on which her son overdosed, and (allegedly) knocking over his urn and scattering his ashes in Heathrow Aeroport.
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky- Ukrainian-born Occultist and founder of the influential Theosophical movement.. Traveled to New York and India, and claimed to talk to Ascended Masters, beings of great spiritual knowledge.
Among other eccentricities, kept a stuffed baboon in spectacles to mock Darwinism and, apparently, tried to convert actual Hindus to Hinduism.
Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin- I'm amazed that this guy was only just mentioned. famously hard-to-kill Russian mystic, held considerable sway over the upper echleons of Russian Society, and the Royal Family in particular, in the last days of the Tsarist Monarchy despite his notorious womanizing and alcoholism. Claimed to be able to treat the Tsarevich's hemophillia. Survived being stabbed and having a tree knocked down on him, before prince Felix Yusupov and two accomplaces managed to kill him by a combination of poison, gunshot, beating, and being shoved into a frozen river through a hole in the ice. He allegedly predicted the Bolshevik Revolution if he was assassinated.
Felix Yusupov- Flamboyant Russian nobleman, helped organize the murder of Rasputin. Fled to france after the Revolution, taking the equivalent of millions of dollars in art and jewelry with him. Sued MGM for making a movie about the murder (interestingly, it was for their portrayal of his wife as Rasputin's mistress, rather than Felix himself as a murderer). Claimed to have seduced King Edward VII whilst in drag.
EDITED TO ADD
Edgar Allen Poe- In addition to being famously Drug-addicted and melancholic, the author of short stories was also an accomplished hoaxter, producing at least one fictional autobiography and writing a series of newspaper articles claiming, in all seriousness, to document a trans-atlantic baloon flight.
Ambrose Bierce- famously cynical writer; topographical surveyor for the Union in the American Civil War, rescued a wounded comrade while under heavy fire at the battle of Girard Hill; became a newspaper columnist and got his employer, William Randolf Hearst, in hot water after he (allegedly) called for the Assassination of PResident McKinley in an anonymous poem. Disappeared in Mexico in 1913 after leaving a tour of Civil War battlefields to join up with Pancho Villa's army. Go to Comment
Aaron Burr- American lawyer and politician, famously killed president Alexander Hamilton in a duel, then conspired to found his own empire in what is now the American Southwest.
And a pair of distant relatives of mine,
Red Hugh Roe O'Donnell- Irish chieftain, kidnapped at the age of sixteen by the english. Escaped five years later to lead an Irish uprising against the English, but was ultimately defeated at the battle of Kinsale. Died in spain several years later while attempting to seek aid for the Irish cause, probably of the plague, despite persistent rumors of poisoning.
Niall Garve O'Donnell- cousin of the above, sided with the english when Red Hugh was declared chieftain instead of him. Later fell out of favor with them and died imprisoned in the tower of london Go to Comment
Items (Other) (Magical)
Not Sir Eggbert de Verre, however. Certainly, he will hunt down necromancers and dark warlords wherever he finds them, but takes pains not to harm their undead servants. He loathes dark magic as much as any of his comrades in arms, but for a slightly different reason- the rights of the formerly-unliving themselves.
Why, he asks, should one be forced to serve as cannon-fodder in the army of some upstart Dark Lord, or condemned to guard the tomb of some ancient king for all eternity, simply because one's rotting corpse was hauled up from the grave for that very purpose by the darkest workings of the void? Why shouldn't the unconventionally-resuscitated be left free to live out their lives undisturbed by both the cruelties of dark tyrants and the overabundant zeal of adventurers?
An unorthodox approach? Certainly. But what else would one expect from the Knight of the Living Dead? Go to Comment