The Broken Road: Dramatis Personae.
Sep. 19th, 2011 12:49 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
matt_doyleSo, tonight I run the first session of The Broken Road. I've discussed what I was doing with the game here, but as a short summary: 5 rookie members of the Royal Guard and their officer-mentor go on a long patrol through the hinterlands of their kingdom. Bad Things happen.
PCs
Lord Guardsman Eustacious Searoad -- Lord Eustacious is a snobby, foppish swordsman extraordinaire with a hedonistic streak, a neurotic fear that peasantry might be contagious, and a tendency to start duels at the drop of a hat. His family has gently nudged him into the guard, suggesting that it's a career where his talent for violence with edged weapons might be put to productive, socially acceptable uses. While in many ways a caricature of an effete, self-centered decadent noble, Eustacious' shallow surface has the potential for some surprising depths and currents.
Lady Guardswoman Justika Cradlegate -- a magically talented Madrigal orphan adopted into a noble family, Justika is a combination of useful tool and potential embarrassment to her adoptive family. Her talent for telepathy makes her an ideal spy... as long as she doesn't hear too much. And they never expected her talent to outstrip that of her adoptive brother, the heir-presumptive of the Barony. A career in the guard should either shuffle her out of sight long enough for her brother to become impressive, or gain enough respectability to become an acceptable heir despite the disadvantages of her common birth and bloodline.
Lady-Calator Guardswoman Vitenthia Willowwhite -- daughter of a cadet branch of a noble family, Vitenthia suffered lasting brain damage after her near-drowning as a child. Since then she has exhibited an unwholesome fascination with water, and with water fey, one of whom may have been responsible for her injuries. The anxiety and distress she caused her family were manageable, but her need for constant supervision was less so, and so she was sent to a career in the Temple of the Winged Ones, to study religion and the healing arts. While her gifts were prodigious, her vocation was repeatedly questioned -- was her affinity for water truly the same thing as devotion to the Winged Ones who oversee the waves and storms? A chaplaincy in the Royal Guard was secured for her, and Vitenthia was sent off yet again. Cheerful but emotionally vulnerable, never quite perceiving or understanding the world the way those around her do, it remains to be seen whether Vitenthia can channel her energies in useful directions and maintain discipline, or whether she will end up drowning herself and her companions.
Lord Guardsman Adrastus Brokenhill -- The Brokenhill family are reclusive, secretive, and cliquish, maintaining certain family traditions since before their exile to the Allotment. Adrastus certainly lives up to his family's reputation for unarmed martial talents and a withdrawn mystique, but it is rumored that his sudden admission to the guard was his family's way of deflating some potential political embarrassment he caused. Thoughtful and intense but seemingly apolitical, almost hiding within a suit of heavy armor, Adrastus has yet to make either close friends or committed rivals with his fellow guard.
Lady Guardswoman Anthia Thornrose -- A beloved daughter of a cadet branch of this powerful, politically savvy family, Anthia is charming and friendly. Her admission to the guard seems, on the surface, to be a canny career move -- a way of teaching her about the people and nuances of life in every barony in the Kingdom, an invaluable networking opportunity. In contrast to Eustacious', she is approachable despite her rank, and shows both an over-active social life and a keen interest in nature -- she keeps a domesticated fox as a pet, and has studied woodscraft enough to be a major asset to any far-ranging patrol. While Eustacious is a genius with a rapier, and Adrastus with a mailed fist, Anthia prefers a whip -- an atypical choice for a guardswoman, but she is more than talented enough with it to justify the eccentricity.
NPCs
Lord Ensign Inomin Richgrave -- an aging officer, with conflicting reputations -- said to be too honest to rise higher in the ranks, but also known for his impeccable discretion and attention to detail. Horseman, archer, healer, detective, and chaplain himself, Inomin has been a training officer in the capitol for years -- because an old injury to his leg pains him constantly, tires him swiftly, and makes him unable to travel at any reasonable speed except on horseback. This will be his final Long Circuit Patrol before retirement, and the cranky old perfectionist will most likely spend most of it in the nearest inn, directing his subordinates to bring their cases and findings back to him, rather than riding out in search of mystery himself.
Lipol of Fingershoals -- Eustacious Searoad's valet and musician. While the Crown provides the guard with a stipend for room and board on their travels, it does not stretch to accomodate personal servants, but Eustacious dipped into his own pockets rather than be without his long-suffering manservant. Lipol is deliberately a cipher -- while he certainly has a life beyond his master's whims and pretensions, he is very careful to be an impeccable professional when around his social betters, and keep himself to himself.
I am very interested to see how this will develop.
(Note to PCs -- if you feel my summary here has done any of your characters an injustice, let me know and I will amend their description to suit).
PCs
Lord Guardsman Eustacious Searoad -- Lord Eustacious is a snobby, foppish swordsman extraordinaire with a hedonistic streak, a neurotic fear that peasantry might be contagious, and a tendency to start duels at the drop of a hat. His family has gently nudged him into the guard, suggesting that it's a career where his talent for violence with edged weapons might be put to productive, socially acceptable uses. While in many ways a caricature of an effete, self-centered decadent noble, Eustacious' shallow surface has the potential for some surprising depths and currents.
Lady Guardswoman Justika Cradlegate -- a magically talented Madrigal orphan adopted into a noble family, Justika is a combination of useful tool and potential embarrassment to her adoptive family. Her talent for telepathy makes her an ideal spy... as long as she doesn't hear too much. And they never expected her talent to outstrip that of her adoptive brother, the heir-presumptive of the Barony. A career in the guard should either shuffle her out of sight long enough for her brother to become impressive, or gain enough respectability to become an acceptable heir despite the disadvantages of her common birth and bloodline.
Lady-Calator Guardswoman Vitenthia Willowwhite -- daughter of a cadet branch of a noble family, Vitenthia suffered lasting brain damage after her near-drowning as a child. Since then she has exhibited an unwholesome fascination with water, and with water fey, one of whom may have been responsible for her injuries. The anxiety and distress she caused her family were manageable, but her need for constant supervision was less so, and so she was sent to a career in the Temple of the Winged Ones, to study religion and the healing arts. While her gifts were prodigious, her vocation was repeatedly questioned -- was her affinity for water truly the same thing as devotion to the Winged Ones who oversee the waves and storms? A chaplaincy in the Royal Guard was secured for her, and Vitenthia was sent off yet again. Cheerful but emotionally vulnerable, never quite perceiving or understanding the world the way those around her do, it remains to be seen whether Vitenthia can channel her energies in useful directions and maintain discipline, or whether she will end up drowning herself and her companions.
Lord Guardsman Adrastus Brokenhill -- The Brokenhill family are reclusive, secretive, and cliquish, maintaining certain family traditions since before their exile to the Allotment. Adrastus certainly lives up to his family's reputation for unarmed martial talents and a withdrawn mystique, but it is rumored that his sudden admission to the guard was his family's way of deflating some potential political embarrassment he caused. Thoughtful and intense but seemingly apolitical, almost hiding within a suit of heavy armor, Adrastus has yet to make either close friends or committed rivals with his fellow guard.
Lady Guardswoman Anthia Thornrose -- A beloved daughter of a cadet branch of this powerful, politically savvy family, Anthia is charming and friendly. Her admission to the guard seems, on the surface, to be a canny career move -- a way of teaching her about the people and nuances of life in every barony in the Kingdom, an invaluable networking opportunity. In contrast to Eustacious', she is approachable despite her rank, and shows both an over-active social life and a keen interest in nature -- she keeps a domesticated fox as a pet, and has studied woodscraft enough to be a major asset to any far-ranging patrol. While Eustacious is a genius with a rapier, and Adrastus with a mailed fist, Anthia prefers a whip -- an atypical choice for a guardswoman, but she is more than talented enough with it to justify the eccentricity.
NPCs
Lord Ensign Inomin Richgrave -- an aging officer, with conflicting reputations -- said to be too honest to rise higher in the ranks, but also known for his impeccable discretion and attention to detail. Horseman, archer, healer, detective, and chaplain himself, Inomin has been a training officer in the capitol for years -- because an old injury to his leg pains him constantly, tires him swiftly, and makes him unable to travel at any reasonable speed except on horseback. This will be his final Long Circuit Patrol before retirement, and the cranky old perfectionist will most likely spend most of it in the nearest inn, directing his subordinates to bring their cases and findings back to him, rather than riding out in search of mystery himself.
Lipol of Fingershoals -- Eustacious Searoad's valet and musician. While the Crown provides the guard with a stipend for room and board on their travels, it does not stretch to accomodate personal servants, but Eustacious dipped into his own pockets rather than be without his long-suffering manservant. Lipol is deliberately a cipher -- while he certainly has a life beyond his master's whims and pretensions, he is very careful to be an impeccable professional when around his social betters, and keep himself to himself.
I am very interested to see how this will develop.
(Note to PCs -- if you feel my summary here has done any of your characters an injustice, let me know and I will amend their description to suit).
