Might as well then.
- Name – Hannelore Taliaferro
- Gender – Female
- Age – Between 100-300(?)
- Race – Human-ish
- Appearance – A tallish woman with short grey hair, fairly nondescript physically (something like an uninspired tutor or money changer) but in good condition for a human of an apparent fifty years or so. Dark brown eyes with hints of gold. Typically wears an unusual suit of clothing made up of a burgundy mid-length skirt with a man's shirt, something she calls a 'waistcoat', and a short jacket.
- Equipment – A variety of strange looking instruments related to her work (see below) in a canvas bag that never strays far from her person. Such things as scales, weights, chemicals, potions, calipers, rulers, protractors, compasses, books, treatises, laws, decrees, stamps, other compasses, writing implements, parchment, official seal, wax, etc. etc. Also carries
- Skills – Hannelore is the head of Cyprilion's Royal Mercantile Weights & Measurement Society, one of the few governmental bodies or societies not dedicated to a field of magic. Instead they dedicate themselves to an odd fields of 'science', as they call it. Originally considered heretics they gained widespread respect nearly a century ago when she managed to save the Kingdom from an impending trade crisis caused by the exact definition of a neighboring country's 'henway' versus Cyprilion's 'leadway'. Needless to say as head of the society Hannelore's skill in all matters 'scientific' is nearly unmatched (as limited a field that is). If you need a lot of grain measured, ore tested, or a boundary confirmed your best bet is to seek her out. She's also one of the kingdom's top bureaucrats (for what it's worth). Has an apparently limited understanding of, but no disdain for, magic; which she considers simply a field of study beyond her reach.
- [[Hellhound Shuck]]/Emilia: A black mongrel dog of indiscriminate origins that doesn't appear to be capable of speech or any other intelligence despite Hannelore constantly talking to her. Alternatively a young teenage girl with an odd accent. Has some sort of charm placed on her since she's been around for at least a century. Usually very tired looking, found laying around her office or outside the Society building or following after her mistress in human form.
- Background – Despite all appearances the best even the oldest residents of Aqui can say about Hannelore is that she is 'pretty damn old' and 'not from around here'. On both counts they would be correct. Originally hailing from the dangerous Autonomous Anarchic Electorate, a nation tragically bereft of magic that would eventually be pulled from the depths of poverty and its chaos replaced by a band of adventuring merchants ruling as its Chief Council. But that's not really all that important since she left her orphanage in Goldman for Cyprilion nearly eighty years before that ever happened. Indeed Hannelore doesn't really say much about her 'youth' other then wax about the adventures in young 'science' to be had and jokes (probably) about the superior quality of Anarchist wenches. Never ask how she's still alive and healthy after at least 150 years if you don't want a full on surprised head tilt and baffled expression (as if living forever was normal). What little is remembered about her recent career is that despite her growing years and foreign birth, Hannelore has faithfully served the crown ever since peacefully resolving the Mutual Weights Crisis. Her strange methods have established a system of regular measurements and standards for trade goods that has helped propel the country to its current position. Other then that no one is too sure what she does with her free time, or even what sort of mystical experiments she conducts in her 'laboratory' during working hours. Travelers always find a place at the Taliaferro table though, in addition to pleasant conversation and good (if somewhat disconcerting) food.
- Personality – Highly inquisitive but lacking any sense of self superiority or pedantry, Hannelore is in 'science' solely for discovery. And making things explode, since without magic chemicals were her only option. Even at her age she's still extremely hard driving, bearing the weight of the country's trade system on her shoulders. Of course spending most of her hard work causes her to overcompensate when relaxing, leading to affairs with her various assistants and property widespread destruction in the theatre district. Is oddly enough not too cautious with her own secrets, probably since most people can't comprehend them or don't care.
- Other – In a fantasy world, science is magic!
edited 1st Jul '11 11:14:06 PM by hotelkilo
Let God do His work, we will see to ours. Bring in the candles.Probably. It's not really the kind of backstory that really fits with a "Lighter and Softer" theme. To be quite honest, from what I know of you this doesn't really seem to be the sort of RP that would appeal to you; you seem to gravitate towards the darker storylines a bit.
Still, I could be entirely wrong, and if you want to attempt a lighter story then you are free to make a signup sheet ^_^
Anyway here's BlackwallHmm, that depends. Make a signup sheet and I'll take a look at it. If he's a fairly distant relative, and if you think you can handle a character who already knows the royal family, then you can definitely give it a shot.
Just don't try to steal my NP Cs or anything
How is stealing adding a fairy-hunting crazy Duke , a Lady Drunk duchess who doesn't care about his husband's antics, and a Dumb Blonde Knight in Shining Armor older brother who only knows how to whack stuff with the sharp edge and rescue damsels in addition to my character? :P
edited 1st Jul '11 5:16:40 AM by AtomicNut
Name: Sibrand of Cire
Gender: Male
Age: 26
Race: Human
Appearance: Standing Five foot nine, with dark, short hair and dark eyes, of caucasian complexion, Sibrand is an average figure, with rather unassuming and boring looks. Not ugly, just... plain. He's somewhat toned, although a bit on the skinny side. It doesn't help that his favored type of clothing seem robes with a hood. He can sometimes be seen in armor, but it looks ridicously big for his size, so he refrains from wearing it unless it's needed. He also wears an arming sword around the waist, with all kinds of pouches, and a wand on the opposite side of the waist.
Skills: Sibrand was born a noble, and he's familiar with politics, administration, and of course poking people's eyes out with a sword. He's not a good swordsman but he can hold his own in a fight. His true talents belong to the arcane, however. Sibrand is a rather talented spellcaster of the arcane kind. Elemental spells, Summoning, circles of protection and binding, alchemy and magical craft... he's got the complete set. Save spells to make himself prettier and more appealing. Those ALWAYS backfire.
Background: Sibrand is the second son of the Duke of Cire, which is blood related to the King of Cyprilion (second cousin). As such, he rules over the most western city, situated right next to the power hungry empire in the borders, being one of the most prominent warriors of the entire kingdom. At least theoretically. Sibrand's father has a maniac obsession to chop down forests and hunt fairies than actually ruling and holding off the empire. His mother isn't better off, however, a sorceress dropout from the Royal Academy who spends most of her time drunk in gleefully denial of his husband's antics. His older brother isn't safe, though. While he inherited the prodigal arm of his father and the looks of her mother, and he's the perfect example of a shining knight rescuing princesses, the man's just an insufferable spoiled brat dim-witted silly blonde. So, Sibrand was greatly neglected, and he didn't even become surprised when he was assigned to the western front to "man up". At age sixteen. Having neither strength nor looks, Sibrand was condemned to be just one of the generic little men who bleed for the kingdom to stay and never get the cut in to the tales. Or at least it seemed at first. Even though he wasn't strong nor pretty, Sibrand had inherited something from his family, on his mother' side. He had inherited the talent of his maternal grandfather, an arch-mage of sorts. With a fair amount of study and a great deal of support from the Academy, soon Sibrand found himself in position to deal a world of hurt to the Empire if need be, thus saving in more than one ocassion his father's hide.
He wasn't recognized, however, because his older brother always managed to save THAT damsel or kill THAT dragon, or monster or whatever, and earn all the glory. In fact, his very presence in Aqui is because his older brother got food poisoning and couldn't come.
Personality: Sibrand has... issues with people in general. He seems to work on a different mindset than most, (that of course being level-headed and reasonable), and as such he finds himself grumpy and hopeless most of the time. He usually likes to put snark each opportunity he has as a manner of venting up. He's also conscious of his service to the kingdom, and he can come as "stuck up" too many times. Lastly, he's not good with girls and can't handle alcohol too well.
Other: He once formulated a wish that accidentally obliterated a fairy out of existence. Getting rid of the world's stupidity can be a little too much of a miracle. Also, pet animals do also hate him.
edited 1st Jul '11 3:48:55 PM by AtomicNut
@ Dragon - Sure! Go ahead! ^_^
@ Atomic Nut - OK, that seems mostly good, but there are a couple of issues with your signup. First of all, the way you have described your character's magic would probably put him into the category of wizard. Wizards don't have familiars. I spoke to Screwloose about this, too; although a wizard or any other character is free to have an animal companion, it won't be able to help the character in quite the same way a familiar would.
For example, Ratt can still breathe fire, which could be quite useful to Zedrick, but he could not, say, communicate with him through a psychic link, and Ratt would not gain any of the benefits that a familiar would have.
Second of all, please be careful how you have Sibrand speak of the empire to the west. For plot-related reasons, I would prefer it if the other characters knew little about it, since the nature of said empire will become a bit of a plot point later on in the story; although I can Hand Wave a few minor details, like I can with most of the rest of this setting, I would prefer to have a greater deal of control over this aspect of the world.
Thirdly, not all fairies would immediately know Sibrand or have heard of the obliterating incident, and some of them probably wouldn't care about his little accident. And why do animals hate him?
Anyway here's Blackwall

Sign up anyways!