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  1. #1
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    Aldritch's Avatar

    GP
    200

    Name
    Aldritch
    Age
    22
    Race
    Half-Elf
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

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    Aldritch of Pale, Bearer of the Black Tongue

    “Part of winning is a deep certainty that, no matter how bad things look, a road to victory will open.”
    ALDRITCH OF PALE
    THEMATICS

    [Genesis][Lament][Close Beyond]
    PSYCHOLOGY
    ISTP | 6w5 | MELANCHOLIC-CHOLERIC
    PERSONALITY
    Direct | Stoic | Forthright | Rigid
    Calculating | Solitary | Rational | Guileful
    TROPES
    • The Anti-Nihilist
    • BFS
    • Combat Pragmatist
    • Determinator
    • Elective Mute
    BASICS
    Male | 22 Years Old | Half-Elf
    6'1 (185 cm) | 170 lbs. (77 kg)
    Black Hair | Gray Eyes | Pallid Skin
    LANGUAGE
    Speaks:
    Gesture
    Understands:
    Tradespeak and the Languages of Corone
    APPEARANCE

    Tall, dark, and foreboding; Aldritch stands out in a colorful crowd like an omen amongst scripture. Slender and intense facial features indicate his heritage, as does a slender frame despite the muscularity of a soldier. Attire choices are decidedly stygian, with most articles being varying shades of black with the occasional highlight of muted color. Thick, midnight locks of hair drape beyond the shoulders, nearly iridescent in their shine. In contrast to his unlighted appearance, bright gray, nigh-white irises regard all with inexplicable frigid intensity.

    PERSONALITY

    If Aldritch was famous, he would be known for his austerity. He is stern, cynical, and bleak though not without an occasional spark of facetious exuberance. His tendencies lean toward being reserved and standoffish. In contrast to all the dourness, when the occasional friend breaks past the silent, brooding exterior they often find a lax and accomdating young man hiding beneath the bricks of cynicism and spite with a capability for empathy and compassion that could raise the dead in a perfect world. ​

    EQUIPMENT

    • Soulcatcher, an iron greatsword, and the only possession left to an infant Aldritch by his absconded parents. The inscriptions along the blade imply that it was once capable of trapping the souls of the slain. However, long periods of exposure to generations of magical null have left it magically inert. A mundane weapon and heirloom, nothing more.

    • Black linens tailored to be travel clothing.

    • A black gambeson intended for lightweight protection.

    • Miscellaneous odds, ends, and trinkets of no practical use or value.

    SKILLS

    Swordsmanship:
    Aldritch is no prodigy, but a talented swordsman nonetheless. Favoring swords of the large variety, he has learned a myriad of applicable techniques from varying sources and teachers.

    Hand to Hand:
    Entirely without knowledge of martial arts, all of Aldritch's knowledge of empty-handed combat comes from experience and necessity.

    Deception:
    There is a place for truth, for it is a deadly weapon. However, Aldritch has never been a stickler for unwavering honestly.

    Intimidation:
    It comes naturally, though less in physical stature and more in choice of appearance and tools. Possessing a gaze that could send the chill down the spine of a phantasm also doesn't hurt.

    Artistry:
    Describing people, places, and things descriptively with finger speech is an inordinate challenge. As a practical skill to overcome this, Aldritch can sketch things with surprising accuracy and realism.

    ABILITIES

    CURSE OF THE BLACK TONGUE:
    Aldritch is afflicted with a hereditary curse that has passed through his lineage for centuries. The exact origins of the hex are hidden in long forgotten annals and chronicles, though much speculation exists amongst the niche circle of scholars and historians who know if its existence. One explanation asserts that a patriarch centuries ago befouled the divinity of a particularly wrathful god. That same deity is assumed to have cursed him and his line with the Black Tongue. Another suggests that a perverse practice of esoteric necromancy brought the curse upon a mage and his lineage as a mishap or tradeoff. Though none are certain of its true origin, they all share in the consensus that the enigmatic curse is a malady of similar abhorrence to the worst plagues known to record.

    When one afflicted by the Black Tongue speaks aloud, regardless of language, intention, or words spoken, as far as the speakers voice coherently carries, (though losing massive amounts of potency after around ten feet) profane magical abberations are evoked. They are unpredictable in nature, entirely uncontrollable, and often detrimental to the speaker though not always exclusively.

    The curse causes objects of worship to blaspheme themselves: holy symbols invert, statues bleed or contort, and scriptures rewrite themselves to nearly incoherent profanities. Inanimate objects not associated with any divinity, or those with more than minor magical properties cannot be directly effected by the curse, but can be caught in the crossfire of its detrimental effects to varying effect based on the object in question.

    Tainted speech can cause spontaneous bodily injury and is overall dangerous to organic life. Although hearing it carries no guarantee of harm, it is unlikely one could perceive it and remain entirely unscathed. These range from minor lacerations to broken bones. The more severe an injury, generally, the less common it is to manifest. Potentially mortal wounds are limited to manifesting upon the speaker with an exception to prolonged and sustained exposure by a non-speaker. However, sustained tainted speech to kill someone is extremely likely to be fatal to the speaker before anyone else. Deaf individuals, or individuals that have hearing protection are effectively rendered safe or moderately protected from tainted speech depending on the level of noise cancellation. Magical wards against harm can also render a person protected from tainted speech even without hearing protection.

    Aldritch has learned a gesturing form of finger speech, or ASL, in order to communicate without the risk of harming himself or others. Although, the former in that equation was the biggest driving factor.

    (Player Characters are only effected by the detrimental effects of tainted speech if explicitly allowed and consented to by their respective writers.)

    THE NULL:

    A reluctance to speak mitigates the effects of the Black Tongue, but is not without its own peculiarities. Prolonged silence causes the unstable properties of the curse to invert, creating a magical null-zone (anti-magic) within the cursed's general vicinity. Extending no farther than personal space, but with the potential to reach a meter in diameter after inordinately long periods of verbal silence. While notably potent magics are only dampened, or in some rare cases entirely unaffected by the null-zone, moderate sorcery fizzles entirely. Though this is temporary for as long as the magic in question remains in the zone for most spells and objects. Weaker and minor wizardry can potentially be permanently dispelled on contact.

    Speaking even once will pacify the null-zone as magical aberrations take place, only to slowly reform as silence persists. A null encompassing the speaker's personal space can take hours, while a fully expanded null can take upwards of half a decade.

    This effectively renders the cursed individual (Aldritch) unable to cast spells of their own volition, use magical items, or receive magical forms of healing or aid. A turbulent tradeoff to having an edge against predatory magics used against them.


    HISTORY (BRIEF & ABRIDGED)

    Aldritch was born in a small settlement known as Pale on a night with particularly nasty weather. He was left upon a doorstep with a inordinately large sword and a note. Do not let the child speak, it implored. His new guardians heeded the warning, thus he was raised as a mute and taught the language of gesturing at an early age. For many years it was a normal, mundane life with little excitement and few promising opportunities. It wasn't enough. It couldn't have ever been enough for the fire of unaimed ambition within a young Aldritch. As resentment grew for his place in the world, he defied the golden rule laid upon him: he spoke.

    The note's intentions became clear that day.

    As years passed, Pale slowly declined into a slummy backwater of less importance than it had possessed to begin with. Speaking would do no good, and neither would acceptance, so Aldritch ran. To battlefields, to coasts, to Radasanth. Anywhere but Pale, to do anything but nothing. That ambition remains aimless, as do his endeavors. A freelance devoid of direction, Aldritch takes what comes his way. An extra body for your formation in a losing battle? Just point him there. A guard to shoo off interlopers like a particularly pale scarecrow? Just show him the coin.

    Far from any lofty pursuit undertaken by a hero, but it's something, and it isn't Pale. That's good enough.
    Last edited by Aldritch; 05-09-2021 at 07:30 PM.

  2. #2
    Ice Ice Baby

    EXP: 22,697, Level: 6
    Level completed: 39%, EXP required for next Level: 4,303
    Level completed: 39%,
    EXP required for next Level: 4,303


    Rehtul Orlouge's Avatar

    GP
    2,028

    Name
    Rehtul Orlouge
    Location
    Corone
    Alright, some notes on the first ability, Curse of the Black Tongue.

    Unfortunately, I cannot approve it as it is, due to a couple of small complications:

    1: The ability has far too many possible effects to draw on. While I understand that the idea is to have a form of magical backlash similar to wild magic in D&D, there's potential for misuse considering the effects are decided by you and not a simple roll of the dice. As such, I'm going to have to ask you to outline some limitations on the ability's power, area of effect, and what can appear. You don't have to be super specific, but a general idea of what it can and more importantly cannot do is mostly what I'm looking for.

    2: As a precaution, a "Player Characters are only affected by this ability directly if allowed by their writers" to avoid any accusations of power gaming.

    Second, a note on your second ability, The Null.

    This one is a minor fix, we need a more specific amount of time Aldritch has to be silent for each of the successive "phases" of The Null to manifest, up until its maximum strength and range.

    Also, it'd be useful to note that magic powerful or concentrated enough that falls within range of The Null has the potential to completely ignore the draining/weakening effects.

    Other than that, i don't see any problems. Please respond when you've made the updates or if you have any questions/concerns about my commentary on the abilities themselves.

  3. #3
    Newcomer


    Aldritch's Avatar

    GP
    200

    Name
    Aldritch
    Age
    22
    Race
    Half-Elf
    Gender
    Male
    Location
    Corone

    View Profile
    I've made some adjustments which I'll list below.

    I cut the magical aberrations down to blaspheming and bodily harm.

    Added a limitation based on how far the sound of speech travels, with unavoidable potency dropoffs after ten feet. (If the sound even gets that far to begin with.)

    I also added a clause that requires the speech to be heard by an individual to affect them, but with no guarantee that it will, and that the less you are able to hear (if not totally blocked out) the more mitigated the effects become.

    I also added your clause about consent, which I should have written down in the first place but I'm a big dumb.

    For the null,

    I added the clause that powerful enough effects can ignore it altogether.

    I specified the time that it takes for the null to grow to a functional size and the time it takes to maximizie.


    If I still need to tweak it around to make it doable just let me know, of course. I realize this all has the potential to be busted so I'm willing to work it into something acceptable.

  4. #4
    Ice Ice Baby

    EXP: 22,697, Level: 6
    Level completed: 39%, EXP required for next Level: 4,303
    Level completed: 39%,
    EXP required for next Level: 4,303


    Rehtul Orlouge's Avatar

    GP
    2,028

    Name
    Rehtul Orlouge
    Location
    Corone
    Looks good. Approved!

    GP added. Welcome to Althanas!

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