Post by skitch on Jul 21, 2016 14:07:10 GMT -6
Hey all!
As an added bonus for those of you in the forums, I took the character background I wrote for Alias, and am making it available for you all to check out. I'll paste the text and such below, but the google doc features some fancier formatting and pictures: Alias's Background (Google Doc)
Alias, like pretty much any Eladrin one might come across, would call the Feywild his home, having spent almost his whole life in that mystical plane. His home, in particular, was the city of Mithrendain, also known as ‘The Autumn City.’
Mithrendain
In the case of the jewelry making, he was able to develop a steady hand to help set precious stones, and a keen eye at evaluating the value of goods. When working for Daerta, Alias became familiar with many of the books held at the library.
Naturally, when left to attend to so many tomes, the eladrin found himself leafing through various books on the shelves. Of particular note to him were works chronicling the antics of great heroes within the Material Plane, as well as interesting writings on the history on the foreign (to him) Plane that existed parallel to his home. However, when he would ask his parents, or even others in the city, about the Material Plane, most seemed to either regard the concept with disinterest, or with a tinge of disgust!
Of course, Alias was aware of how the connection between the Feywild and the Material Plane became more distant due to complications of the Spellplague, which altered modified how the Feywild interacted with other plane.
Another byproduct of the Spellplague was a general aversion towards most Eladrins dabbling in the arcane arts beyond a basic understanding. Only those who were granted permission to ascend into being archmages seemed to be allowed to explore deeper knowledge of magic, while the majority of the denizens of Mithrendain got by using their natural magical gifts. While he applied to be given permission to become an archmage, Alias was unable to get such permission, relegating him to a life working either as a library headmaster, or a jeweler.
Over time, Alias became progressively more interested in leaving the city, and leaving the Feywild altogether, to get a chance to see what the Material Plane might have...and perhaps find a way to explore the art of magic in more detail.. The only problem with this idea was that there were only three known ways to traverse between the Feywild and the Material Plane:
Of these options, the third was the most likely way for Alias to escape to the Material Plane. Only problem is that any rifts that appear within or near Mithrendain tended to be guarded by highly trusted soldiers, in order to protect from people either entering or exiting unless they were specifically granted passage.
Of course, Alias knew he was not going to get permission, so he needed to use evasion to get to the rift when it showed up.
Escape
A few months after his 120th birthday, Alias was mulling through books in the library, when a tingling sense in the air could be felt..something magical was happening it seemed. Alias moved to look outside of the Library, to see a dull, swirling rift against one of the walls of the exterior...it had to be a connection to the Material Plane!
Seeing this as his opportunity to explore the foreign land, the young Eladrin made haste to gather some basic weapons, as well as a tome (containing customs of the Material Plane) and some maps. Before finally making his way to the Rift, Alias left a note, expressing to his parents:
The eladrin barely had enough time to make it to the rift before guards started to shout to him, imploring that he stop. With a final glance to his home city, Alias trekked through the rift, unsure of where it would take him….
He didn’t find himself in a lush forest, or even a bustling city.
Instead, Alias seemed to find himself in what looked to be the ruins of a long abandoned city.
Its size was similar to Mithrendain, but there was nary a soul aside from some strange animals that he would find running here and there.
Adjusting to the Material Plane
It took the eladrin a good day or two of travel before he was able to get out of the forest he landed in, and on his way toward some form of civilization. Getting past the initial awkwardness of the strange looks, the weird food, the fast pace that everyone seemed to go by, there was a lot that Alias needed to learn about what it was like being in the Material plane. Approximately after 3 weeks of travel from town to town, Alias learned how to manage the unusual looks from others to be able to more easily get room at Inns, and the occasional odd job here and there as a catch-all adventurer.
In one particular trek through one of the various forests and swampy regions, Alias came across a most curious creature...a Dryad! Or, rather, someone who looked kind of like a Dryad. The mixture of Dryadic and Human features demanded further investigations from the eladrin.
After finding out the unusual woman’s name was Lavinia, Alias soon realized that having a friend that he could relate with would be useful. In addition, there was something about her that...seemed to demand that he help her out as well as he can.
Among other things, it was quite interesting to find someone who (at least claimed) to used to be human, but now exists as a Dryad/Dryad-Human-Hybrid.
Soon after, Lavinia and Alias were off, traveling as partners, with the eladrin still hoping to both learn more about the Material plane, and perhaps also pick up a thing or two about Magic while he is at it.
Hope you all enjoyed it, as I'm not going to claim that I'm any sort of reasonable author here! Feel free to share thoughts or ask questions.
As an added bonus for those of you in the forums, I took the character background I wrote for Alias, and am making it available for you all to check out. I'll paste the text and such below, but the google doc features some fancier formatting and pictures: Alias's Background (Google Doc)
Alias Valamin
Eladrin Rogue
Age: 120 yrs. --- Height: 6’ --- Weight: 110 lbs. --- Deity: Sehanine Moonbow/Corellon
Alias, like pretty much any Eladrin one might come across, would call the Feywild his home, having spent almost his whole life in that mystical plane. His home, in particular, was the city of Mithrendain, also known as ‘The Autumn City.’
Mithrendain
In his youth, Alias was raised by his father, Daerta, and his mother, Cyldiel, the former being the headmaster of one of the main libraries of Mithrendain, and the latter being a skilled jeweler. Aside from the standard upbringing an eladrin would have, including basic magic, fencing, and other such things, Alias found himself being responsible for assisting his parents at their respective jobs.
In the case of the jewelry making, he was able to develop a steady hand to help set precious stones, and a keen eye at evaluating the value of goods. When working for Daerta, Alias became familiar with many of the books held at the library.
Naturally, when left to attend to so many tomes, the eladrin found himself leafing through various books on the shelves. Of particular note to him were works chronicling the antics of great heroes within the Material Plane, as well as interesting writings on the history on the foreign (to him) Plane that existed parallel to his home. However, when he would ask his parents, or even others in the city, about the Material Plane, most seemed to either regard the concept with disinterest, or with a tinge of disgust!
Of course, Alias was aware of how the connection between the Feywild and the Material Plane became more distant due to complications of the Spellplague, which altered modified how the Feywild interacted with other plane.
Another byproduct of the Spellplague was a general aversion towards most Eladrins dabbling in the arcane arts beyond a basic understanding. Only those who were granted permission to ascend into being archmages seemed to be allowed to explore deeper knowledge of magic, while the majority of the denizens of Mithrendain got by using their natural magical gifts. While he applied to be given permission to become an archmage, Alias was unable to get such permission, relegating him to a life working either as a library headmaster, or a jeweler.
Over time, Alias became progressively more interested in leaving the city, and leaving the Feywild altogether, to get a chance to see what the Material Plane might have...and perhaps find a way to explore the art of magic in more detail.. The only problem with this idea was that there were only three known ways to traverse between the Feywild and the Material Plane:
- A location has enough physical congruence with the Feywild that the two planes collapse and connect on that point.
- An archmage or archfey uses their underlying magical influence to force the planes to connect on a particular point.
- Transient interactions between the Feywild and Material Plane that override any congruence between the two planes. These rifts between the Planes would only happen once every few decades, and last for anywhere from minutes to upwards of 2-3 days in the Feywild.
Of these options, the third was the most likely way for Alias to escape to the Material Plane. Only problem is that any rifts that appear within or near Mithrendain tended to be guarded by highly trusted soldiers, in order to protect from people either entering or exiting unless they were specifically granted passage.
Of course, Alias knew he was not going to get permission, so he needed to use evasion to get to the rift when it showed up.
Escape
A few months after his 120th birthday, Alias was mulling through books in the library, when a tingling sense in the air could be felt..something magical was happening it seemed. Alias moved to look outside of the Library, to see a dull, swirling rift against one of the walls of the exterior...it had to be a connection to the Material Plane!
Seeing this as his opportunity to explore the foreign land, the young Eladrin made haste to gather some basic weapons, as well as a tome (containing customs of the Material Plane) and some maps. Before finally making his way to the Rift, Alias left a note, expressing to his parents:
“Dearest Mother and Father,
I apologize for the circumstances of this letter, but by the time you are reading this, I have already made the trip into the Material Plane. I cannot resist the need to understand this realm for myself, despite everything that you both have taught me over my life. I will try to return home after I get a chance to see things for myself, but I don’t know when that time will be.
I will always keep you two in my thoughts, and look forward to the day when I can return as a more experienced son, better able to share stories of the Material Plane as it is now, and not just how it was described in our tomes.
~ Alias”
I apologize for the circumstances of this letter, but by the time you are reading this, I have already made the trip into the Material Plane. I cannot resist the need to understand this realm for myself, despite everything that you both have taught me over my life. I will try to return home after I get a chance to see things for myself, but I don’t know when that time will be.
I will always keep you two in my thoughts, and look forward to the day when I can return as a more experienced son, better able to share stories of the Material Plane as it is now, and not just how it was described in our tomes.
~ Alias”
The eladrin barely had enough time to make it to the rift before guards started to shout to him, imploring that he stop. With a final glance to his home city, Alias trekked through the rift, unsure of where it would take him….
He didn’t find himself in a lush forest, or even a bustling city.
Instead, Alias seemed to find himself in what looked to be the ruins of a long abandoned city.
Its size was similar to Mithrendain, but there was nary a soul aside from some strange animals that he would find running here and there.
Adjusting to the Material Plane
It took the eladrin a good day or two of travel before he was able to get out of the forest he landed in, and on his way toward some form of civilization. Getting past the initial awkwardness of the strange looks, the weird food, the fast pace that everyone seemed to go by, there was a lot that Alias needed to learn about what it was like being in the Material plane. Approximately after 3 weeks of travel from town to town, Alias learned how to manage the unusual looks from others to be able to more easily get room at Inns, and the occasional odd job here and there as a catch-all adventurer.
In one particular trek through one of the various forests and swampy regions, Alias came across a most curious creature...a Dryad! Or, rather, someone who looked kind of like a Dryad. The mixture of Dryadic and Human features demanded further investigations from the eladrin.
After finding out the unusual woman’s name was Lavinia, Alias soon realized that having a friend that he could relate with would be useful. In addition, there was something about her that...seemed to demand that he help her out as well as he can.
Among other things, it was quite interesting to find someone who (at least claimed) to used to be human, but now exists as a Dryad/Dryad-Human-Hybrid.
Soon after, Lavinia and Alias were off, traveling as partners, with the eladrin still hoping to both learn more about the Material plane, and perhaps also pick up a thing or two about Magic while he is at it.
After all, what’s the worst thing that could happen?
Hope you all enjoyed it, as I'm not going to claim that I'm any sort of reasonable author here! Feel free to share thoughts or ask questions.