Kederan XIII - Heroes Hope
Mar. 16th, 2009 12:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzKederan is an event that I've never visited before and it was frequented by a lot of people I didn't know. A couple of the few familiar faces I saw around were busy in roles I had nothing to do with, and as such I was forced to roleplay with some people I didn't know yet. This was by no means a problem.
Fridaynight after an hour's worth of make up I finally had a chance to go into character. The costume for Maretak is elaborate, and so is the make-up. It requires planning. First the turtleneck, then doing the face and neck. Then comes the coat and headdress, as well as the corset. When all that's done, the hands can be made green, for I don't want any green smudges of residual make-up on a piece of clothing that can't be washed.
All pictures thanks to Josianne!
Friday
I started in the woods, across the street. I walked a bit cross-country, and took some time to get in touch with my surroundings. There was a very dark bit of recently planted forest nearby, and I waited a while there to familiarise myself.
Soon I heard some noise, and a man came walking up to me, carrying a wolf-pup in his arms. The man was an elf with very long ears, and he introduced himself as Zilverblad, and the pup as Bruno. Bruno the wolf was a little scared of me, as he had once been bewitched by a dryad.
We spoke for a little while and then walked out of the forest, towards where humans had built a large community house.
I was looking for Vuurdoorn, my sister and a dryad also, but Zilverblad said he only had just arrived himself. When we approached the people, I noticed a flair of blonde hair that looked familiar. As I came closer, my pulse quickened and I sang out a line of song we both knew.
Vuurdoorn's head whipped around and she came walking towards me, faster and faster, until she stopped in front of me. I bowed my head down to her shoulder as we hugged.
Vuurdoorn introduced me to her love, a druid known to me as Melandenvia. Snake had told me to tell Melandenvia that he was the cause of two dead trees in his forest, and so I relayed the message to Melandenvia, who was taken aback at this cold greeting.
As for the other message, I found the recipient later that night. Vuurdoorn chose to introduce me to Eric inside the building the humans had erected, after I had marveled at the roof structure. Eric turned out to be a nervous man, not quite unlike a squirrel or a mouse. He was startled by my tall posture and often chewed his glasses nervously. His eyes skitted back and forth from my rooty fingers dangling in the glass of water he had procured for me, to my face in its alien hues and complexion.
When Eric realised I also knew Dawn and Snake, he blinked rapidly and asked nervously "You know Dawn?" and started to suck on the rim of his glasses again. I told Eric he should work with the book, and Eric nodded and was lost in deep thought not long after. Later on I learned he was a mind-mage, a wizard focusing mainly on the workings of the mind.
It wasn't long after that, when I was asked to help make some antidotes. Maretak (lit: misletoe) is a poisenous plant, and the only antidote I could create was a very mild poison which would urge the body to purge itself of any impurities.
Three portions were needed, but after the first antidote was administered, people came up to me to thank me, and I was distracted from my work. Luckily the GM that was monitoring my brewing skills, Vince, could only laugh when I said to him "Did I add the Allheale yet? I can't quite remember...". Poor Eric was the next one to receive an antidote, and fluids were leaving his body at all sorts of odd angles.
Saturday
In the morning, I joined Vuurdoorn and her human companion (whom I call Mel) for a foray into the forest. Sadly, we were attacked by some rabid squirrels. I noticed the animals approaching, but thought they would not harm us. When they jumped on Vuurdoorn, I reasoned that a Charm Animal spell could not persuade them to leave us be. I got away, thanks to a nearby tree that allowed me to move into it. The squirrel that had been about to strike me turned back and did not see me leave a nearby tree. I went back to the building to get Mallus, who had bound one of my wounds the night previous. By the time he arrived, the squirrels were occupied with pestering others.
I was asked to accompany Zilverblad, Do, and Vinnie into the forest. Do wanted to walk under the Eye of Jade, whatever that might mean. Maretak has lived in Snake's forest all her life, and doesn't know what many things mean, things like "a letter to the emperor" or money, or how to deal with humans. She is more at home with natural things: packs, animal attraction, and the circle of life. She does not care for Gods and certainly has no idea why these beings should use such complicated names to name themselves.
But Maretak acquiesced to Vinnie's request -how could she not?- and went into the forest with them.
I halted at a beautiful pine tree - Grandfather Pine I named him - and we spoke to it. Do was very willing to do weird things like treehugging. We continued shortly afterward, and found a wounded wolf pup. Do had to decide what to do with the poor creature, and found healing powers he did not know he had. I softly spoke to Vinnie about his decision, and we agreed that such a young, lone wolf, cast out from its pack, would have a very hard time surviving.
The last test was to help cleanse a piece of forest that was tainted by a necromancer. I spoke to the trees, and we each took a tree, forming a human-animal-dryad circle, centered on Do, and pushed the wickedness deep into the earth, where it was burned away. This last mission was quite a trip for me, and sent my head spinning.
I talked some more with Mallus, who was a funny guy, and he asked me about what I could do. When he found out that I, like him, could use the magical powers of nature, he asked about the spells I could do. I in turn asked him, and finally dared ask him to teach me Insect Swarm. It is a spell where insects distract someone, which would give me enough time to commune with a tree and hide in one. My question was prompted by the redcaps watching a man teach another man something. The pupil was pelted with throwing weapons, in the hope he would muster his strength to divert the objects, but instead nearly collapsed from his wounds.
Sadly, our lessons would have to wait, as Vinnie the polar bear had been struck dead...or near enough. He was in bad shape, and when Zilverblad came to his side, the elf insisted Vinnie was moved into nature, or near a tree in the courtyard anyway.
As we stood idly by and poured potion after healing potion into the giant bear's beak, I decided to act. Vuurdoorn started to sing a song, and I unrolled a green ribbon around the table that Vinnie was lying on top of. We continued singing, giving our strength to postpone Vinnie's death, but none gave more than Zilverblad, who offered up his own strength, his own life force, to keep Vinnie alive.
Vuurdoorn and I kept circling the tree and the table, until finally after nearly twenty minutes, help arrived, and Vinnie was healed.
After dinner, Mallus and I finally got around to working on the Insect Swarm spell, and he grilled me about what insects lived at night, how I could attract them, and what they could do to distract anyone. His teaching lasted well into the next day. It was disturbed that night by an attack of undead, just like the night previous. Many people were struck down and I tried to get help for Mel and Vuurdoorn, who had nearly been killed. The situation was dire, and I could not lift a leaf to help them. Luckily the healing powers of Maysha stretched far enough to get them back on their feet.
Sunday
This morning started again with a foray into the woods. Zilverblad had once again asked for my help, and though he was not clear on what exactly he wanted I followed him anyway, along with Vuurdoorn and Mallus, who was continuing his teachings. Zilverblad, Brandarius, Vinnie and Do were busy with some sort of ritual, and Mallus and I stayed to the side.
When I returned to where I had briefly put my staff down, I noticed the thing was crawling with little bugs. I looked around, and saw that Mallus was sitting on a nearby log, his lips moving in synch with the crawling of the insects on my staff.
He had urged me to distract people ever since he started teaching me the night before, and now was as good a time as any to try and distract him. I wove my hands like I was about to cast a Charm Animal but implored the bugs to distract Mallus. They listened, though not all of them, and with a squeal Mallus toppled off the log, his legs flying through the air.
It was not until we returned to the dwelling that I finally mastered the spell for the first time. I had distracted Maysha by calling her, and Mallus once more urged me to use more power. Poor Maysha was nearly attacked by dozens of small insects, buzzing around her head.
And then there was a big battle. There had been trouble with the Graveyard of Heroes all weekend, but this did not concern me much. This time I waded in the fray, trying to help with a Return to Circle spell that would help send undead's spirits to the next world (or the primordial soup of souls, whatever). Suddenly I heard Bruno bark "Maretak! Noooo!" and he leapt onto the undead that hurt me.
In this final battle, Maysha and Zilverblad both gave their lives to vanquish a big bad necromancer. By the time I was up and about again, I asked Vinnie where Zilverblad was, and we found his clothes and gear lying next to Bruno, who whined softly. Vinnie carried these last remains to a peaceful place nearby, where we spoke our goodbyes and I sang songs to remember Zilverblad. We rolled boulders onto the spot, burying what was left of our once long-eared friend, and then we left, the victory saddened by the loss of a dear friend.
Though the event was fun, a lot of talk is now occurring on the forum about the Dreaded Plothammer. One GM even deigned to say that players were stupid enough to sell their potions to NPCs, which struck the wrong chord with me. Luckily other people, Raymonn among them, are doing the discussing, so that I won't have to. I trust that what I want to say will be said by other people more eloquently than I can.
Fridaynight after an hour's worth of make up I finally had a chance to go into character. The costume for Maretak is elaborate, and so is the make-up. It requires planning. First the turtleneck, then doing the face and neck. Then comes the coat and headdress, as well as the corset. When all that's done, the hands can be made green, for I don't want any green smudges of residual make-up on a piece of clothing that can't be washed.
All pictures thanks to Josianne!
FridayI started in the woods, across the street. I walked a bit cross-country, and took some time to get in touch with my surroundings. There was a very dark bit of recently planted forest nearby, and I waited a while there to familiarise myself.
Soon I heard some noise, and a man came walking up to me, carrying a wolf-pup in his arms. The man was an elf with very long ears, and he introduced himself as Zilverblad, and the pup as Bruno. Bruno the wolf was a little scared of me, as he had once been bewitched by a dryad.
We spoke for a little while and then walked out of the forest, towards where humans had built a large community house.
I was looking for Vuurdoorn, my sister and a dryad also, but Zilverblad said he only had just arrived himself. When we approached the people, I noticed a flair of blonde hair that looked familiar. As I came closer, my pulse quickened and I sang out a line of song we both knew.
Vuurdoorn's head whipped around and she came walking towards me, faster and faster, until she stopped in front of me. I bowed my head down to her shoulder as we hugged.
Vuurdoorn introduced me to her love, a druid known to me as Melandenvia. Snake had told me to tell Melandenvia that he was the cause of two dead trees in his forest, and so I relayed the message to Melandenvia, who was taken aback at this cold greeting.
As for the other message, I found the recipient later that night. Vuurdoorn chose to introduce me to Eric inside the building the humans had erected, after I had marveled at the roof structure. Eric turned out to be a nervous man, not quite unlike a squirrel or a mouse. He was startled by my tall posture and often chewed his glasses nervously. His eyes skitted back and forth from my rooty fingers dangling in the glass of water he had procured for me, to my face in its alien hues and complexion.
When Eric realised I also knew Dawn and Snake, he blinked rapidly and asked nervously "You know Dawn?" and started to suck on the rim of his glasses again. I told Eric he should work with the book, and Eric nodded and was lost in deep thought not long after. Later on I learned he was a mind-mage, a wizard focusing mainly on the workings of the mind.
It wasn't long after that, when I was asked to help make some antidotes. Maretak (lit: misletoe) is a poisenous plant, and the only antidote I could create was a very mild poison which would urge the body to purge itself of any impurities.
Three portions were needed, but after the first antidote was administered, people came up to me to thank me, and I was distracted from my work. Luckily the GM that was monitoring my brewing skills, Vince, could only laugh when I said to him "Did I add the Allheale yet? I can't quite remember...". Poor Eric was the next one to receive an antidote, and fluids were leaving his body at all sorts of odd angles.
Saturday
In the morning, I joined Vuurdoorn and her human companion (whom I call Mel) for a foray into the forest. Sadly, we were attacked by some rabid squirrels. I noticed the animals approaching, but thought they would not harm us. When they jumped on Vuurdoorn, I reasoned that a Charm Animal spell could not persuade them to leave us be. I got away, thanks to a nearby tree that allowed me to move into it. The squirrel that had been about to strike me turned back and did not see me leave a nearby tree. I went back to the building to get Mallus, who had bound one of my wounds the night previous. By the time he arrived, the squirrels were occupied with pestering others.
I was asked to accompany Zilverblad, Do, and Vinnie into the forest. Do wanted to walk under the Eye of Jade, whatever that might mean. Maretak has lived in Snake's forest all her life, and doesn't know what many things mean, things like "a letter to the emperor" or money, or how to deal with humans. She is more at home with natural things: packs, animal attraction, and the circle of life. She does not care for Gods and certainly has no idea why these beings should use such complicated names to name themselves.
But Maretak acquiesced to Vinnie's request -how could she not?- and went into the forest with them.
I halted at a beautiful pine tree - Grandfather Pine I named him - and we spoke to it. Do was very willing to do weird things like treehugging. We continued shortly afterward, and found a wounded wolf pup. Do had to decide what to do with the poor creature, and found healing powers he did not know he had. I softly spoke to Vinnie about his decision, and we agreed that such a young, lone wolf, cast out from its pack, would have a very hard time surviving.
The last test was to help cleanse a piece of forest that was tainted by a necromancer. I spoke to the trees, and we each took a tree, forming a human-animal-dryad circle, centered on Do, and pushed the wickedness deep into the earth, where it was burned away. This last mission was quite a trip for me, and sent my head spinning.
I talked some more with Mallus, who was a funny guy, and he asked me about what I could do. When he found out that I, like him, could use the magical powers of nature, he asked about the spells I could do. I in turn asked him, and finally dared ask him to teach me Insect Swarm. It is a spell where insects distract someone, which would give me enough time to commune with a tree and hide in one. My question was prompted by the redcaps watching a man teach another man something. The pupil was pelted with throwing weapons, in the hope he would muster his strength to divert the objects, but instead nearly collapsed from his wounds.
Sadly, our lessons would have to wait, as Vinnie the polar bear had been struck dead...or near enough. He was in bad shape, and when Zilverblad came to his side, the elf insisted Vinnie was moved into nature, or near a tree in the courtyard anyway.
As we stood idly by and poured potion after healing potion into the giant bear's beak, I decided to act. Vuurdoorn started to sing a song, and I unrolled a green ribbon around the table that Vinnie was lying on top of. We continued singing, giving our strength to postpone Vinnie's death, but none gave more than Zilverblad, who offered up his own strength, his own life force, to keep Vinnie alive.
Vuurdoorn and I kept circling the tree and the table, until finally after nearly twenty minutes, help arrived, and Vinnie was healed.
After dinner, Mallus and I finally got around to working on the Insect Swarm spell, and he grilled me about what insects lived at night, how I could attract them, and what they could do to distract anyone. His teaching lasted well into the next day. It was disturbed that night by an attack of undead, just like the night previous. Many people were struck down and I tried to get help for Mel and Vuurdoorn, who had nearly been killed. The situation was dire, and I could not lift a leaf to help them. Luckily the healing powers of Maysha stretched far enough to get them back on their feet.
Sunday
This morning started again with a foray into the woods. Zilverblad had once again asked for my help, and though he was not clear on what exactly he wanted I followed him anyway, along with Vuurdoorn and Mallus, who was continuing his teachings. Zilverblad, Brandarius, Vinnie and Do were busy with some sort of ritual, and Mallus and I stayed to the side.
When I returned to where I had briefly put my staff down, I noticed the thing was crawling with little bugs. I looked around, and saw that Mallus was sitting on a nearby log, his lips moving in synch with the crawling of the insects on my staff.
He had urged me to distract people ever since he started teaching me the night before, and now was as good a time as any to try and distract him. I wove my hands like I was about to cast a Charm Animal but implored the bugs to distract Mallus. They listened, though not all of them, and with a squeal Mallus toppled off the log, his legs flying through the air.
It was not until we returned to the dwelling that I finally mastered the spell for the first time. I had distracted Maysha by calling her, and Mallus once more urged me to use more power. Poor Maysha was nearly attacked by dozens of small insects, buzzing around her head.
And then there was a big battle. There had been trouble with the Graveyard of Heroes all weekend, but this did not concern me much. This time I waded in the fray, trying to help with a Return to Circle spell that would help send undead's spirits to the next world (or the primordial soup of souls, whatever). Suddenly I heard Bruno bark "Maretak! Noooo!" and he leapt onto the undead that hurt me.
In this final battle, Maysha and Zilverblad both gave their lives to vanquish a big bad necromancer. By the time I was up and about again, I asked Vinnie where Zilverblad was, and we found his clothes and gear lying next to Bruno, who whined softly. Vinnie carried these last remains to a peaceful place nearby, where we spoke our goodbyes and I sang songs to remember Zilverblad. We rolled boulders onto the spot, burying what was left of our once long-eared friend, and then we left, the victory saddened by the loss of a dear friend.
Though the event was fun, a lot of talk is now occurring on the forum about the Dreaded Plothammer. One GM even deigned to say that players were stupid enough to sell their potions to NPCs, which struck the wrong chord with me. Luckily other people, Raymonn among them, are doing the discussing, so that I won't have to. I trust that what I want to say will be said by other people more eloquently than I can.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 03:34 pm (UTC)Margriet
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 05:43 pm (UTC)