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Subject: "Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
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Conferences Eyrie Miscellaneous Topic #344
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Gryphonadmin
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Jan-21-18, 10:49 PM (EDT)
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4. "Kered character notes 1"
In response to message #0
 
   For the central part of the Kered storyline, I had in mind a triumvirate of principal characters, two of whom would appear from the beginning, to be joined by the third fairly early on (say at the end of act 1, though at the time I wasn't really thinking of it in the those terms).

The first is Dr. Thomas Nemo, consulting wizard. Although he wouldn't describe himself as an adventurer per se, Nemo makes his living primarily by investigating oddities and resolving difficult situations, often situations that call for some knowledge of the arcane. He's also an alchemist and physician-surgeon, skills that come in handy in the field, and indeed his business cards list the medical part first. Relatively few communities in Ostvia have much need of a traveling doctor, though, so the great majority of the telegrams, letters, and other urgent messages that draw him out of his home are to do with magical matters, or at least matters which the people calling him in believe are magical.

Nemo is headquartered in Nolsémic, a small but prosperous mining town in Ostvia's far northeastern province, Ktaadia. The town in fact stands virtually in the shadow of the province's namesake mountain, Amon Ktaad, the tallest peak in that corner of the kingdom (and which is traditionally held to be the seat of the storm god Ktaadr). Unlike many wizards, who make a point of living in towers, Nemo's fastness is largely underground. His cards give the name of his abode as "Old Slate Quarry", a name originally tagged on maps to avoid arousing outside interest; it is in fact the remains of an ancient fortress predating modern settlement of the region, the acquisition of which was one of his first adventures. He's done it up quite nicely on the inside, though one only gets natural light on the uppermost floor, of course.

He's in his mid-thirties, which many (particularly laypeople) think is surprisingly young for a practicing wizard. He's also much more laid-back and approachable than the common perception of wizards. Though clearly very clever, he doesn't revel in his cleverness the way some of his colleagues are notorious for doing (although he does have the odd "damn I'm good sometimes" moment in which he will bask in it somewhat :). He's of average height and build, not particularly imposing but far from frail-looking, and unlike many in his profession he carries a sword, though he rarely employs it.

If Thomas Nemo can be said to have a glaring fault (and there are many in the Ancient Order of the Sages of Herkalion, the Ostvian national fraternal organization of arcanists to which he belongs, who would say he has several), it's that he can't leave well enough alone. This is perhaps a useful trait for someone who makes his living by investigating the unknown, but it is also problematic, particularly when he runs across something mysterious and/or hidden that has no bearing on what he's actually there to do. He feels compelled to look into it anyway, a state of affairs which commonly spirals into a mass of complications he could easily have avoided if he'd just confined himself to the original task at hand.

He's made some... well, not enemies, exactly, but non-fans, to be sure... among his colleagues with his stubborn refusal to accept an apprentice nominated by the Order's governing body, the Council of Magi. Taking apprentices assigned (the Orders charter says "suggested", but, well) by the Council is one of those voluntary-not voluntary tasks expected of anyone possessing a master's degree or higher in an arcane discipline from one of Ostvia's accredited universities, but Nemo declines to do so. Because it's framed as a voluntary thing in the Charter, he can't be thrown out of the Order for it, but he's widely regarded as Not a Team Player within the organization, with all that that entails to anyone who has worked in the academic or private sectors.

(He is also a convicted-in-absentia criminal facing arrest and a long prison term if he ever returns to Aetoria, the floating continent also known as the Skyborn Empire, but that's an... unrelated matter. They aren't pursuing him and he doesn't want or intend to go back there anyway, so Nemo customarily just ignores it.)

In Ostvia, people who can afford it generally travel long distances by rail, but bring their own riding animals along in special cars to carry them on the local legs of the trip. Nemo's preferred ride is his trusty studded horror, Buddy. A studded horror is a large quadrupedal reptile, basically a Gila monster the size of a horse. It gets its common name from the facts that it has pebbly hide that reminds people of studded leather armor, and that it scared the hell out of the first people to discover it. On the face of it, they are fairly fearsome beasts—big, heavy, with formidable claws, sharp teeth, and a venomous bite—but they're so placid and imperturbable that they can hardly ever be bothered to actually attack anything.

Buddy is not a particularly swift steed (though he can shift pretty well if he absolutely has to), but he can carry a lot of stuff, has great endurance, and is smart enough to stay on roads without the intervention of his rider, which is convenient on those longer hauls. Nemo insists that Buddy can even read road signs and follow routes shown to him beforehand on a map, but no one believes him.

--G.
-><-
Benjamin D. Hutchins, Co-Founder, Editor-in-Chief, & Forum Mod
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited http://www.eyrie-productions.com/
zgryphon at that email service Google has
Ceterum censeo Carthaginem esse delendam.


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  Subject     Author     Message Date     ID  
 Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project [View All] Gryphonadmin Jan-21-18 TOP
   RE: Roads Not Taken MoonEyes Jan-21-18 1
   RE: Roads Not Taken MuninsFire Jan-21-18 2
   RE: Roads Not Taken Peter Eng Jan-21-18 3
  Kered character notes 1 Gryphonadmin Jan-21-18 4
      Kered character notes 2 Gryphonadmin Jan-22-18 5
          RE: Kered character notes 2 Verbena Jan-22-18 6
              RE: Kered character notes 2 Gryphonadmin Jan-22-18 7
                  RE: Kered character notes 2 Peter Eng Jan-22-18 8
                  RE: Kered character notes 2 Verbena Jan-22-18 9
          Kered character notes 3 Gryphonadmin Jan-22-18 10
          RE: Kered character notes 2 Peter Eng Jan-22-18 12
              RE: Kered character notes 2 Gryphonadmin Jan-22-18 13
   miscellaneous Kered setting notes Gryphonadmin Jan-22-18 11
      RE: miscellaneous Kered setting notes MuninsFire Jan-22-18 14
          RE: miscellaneous Kered setting notes MoonEyes Jan-24-18 17
   RE: Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project mdg1 Jan-23-18 15
      RE: Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project dbrandon Jan-24-18 18
   Kered character notes 4 Gryphonadmin Jan-23-18 16
      RE: Kered character notes 4 Peter Eng Jan-24-18 19
          RE: Kered character notes 4 Star Ranger4 Jan-25-18 20
   RE: Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project trboturtle2 Feb-12-18 21
      RE: Roads Not Taken: The Kered Project Pasha Feb-12-18 22


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