Plotnotes: Skill Acquisition
One needs the ability to make change before said change is made.
One needs the ability to make change before said change is made.
Aspirations
Primary Skills
Primary Skill Aspirations
In the case of Tydus Tempest, there are a variety of skills that I could consider primary skills. However, for the sake of simplicity, they will be stated in the order of greatest priority. Where additional entries regarding skill acquisition ambition will all be measured from a * to ***** basis, this section will omit that. The simple reasoning behind that is that a primary skill can be assumed to have a ***** skill prioritization. And so, with that out of the way, here it is.
Persuasion
Persuasion, for someone like Tydus Tempest, is a skill of utmost importance. He is a businessman, so to speak. However, it is not in his nature to own a stationary business and thus, cannot be considered a businessman in the traditional, and perhaps Mizaharian definition of the word. Merchant could be closer. Privateer is the most accurate. He would be most closely associated with a privateer who has been hired by a personal business owner. Persuasion is by far the most useful skill to have in this sort of business scenario.
This is due to the fact that rather than having a listed product and one's wares visible to behold, Tydus Tempest is, in essence, selling himself. His name, his reputation, and his good word that what will be done will be done. This requires persuading others not to believe in his personal opinions (which would fall under the skill category of Rhetoric), but to sway to his banner. Persuasion, from what I gather, is the skill used to sway others in believing what one says in the very most direct manner of speaking. It is not opinionated, not meant to sway in the sense of academic debate, bur rather intended to be a skill in which people extend their trust to another person and their well (or not!) intentions.
Negotiation
Like the skill of persuasion, Negotiation is an absolutely vital tool in Tydus' skill set. unfortunately, it has not been a skill that as of Autumn of 514 that I have been able to use to a great extent with him, but that is meant to change. Negotiation is part of who Tydus is in the realm of his pod. He is a haggler, a trader. Negotiating for supplies at the dock and overseeing its placement into the ship was his primary task in the pod due to the lack of natural born sailing ability. This skill, moving forward, is one that Tydus will very likely be using quite often in his encounters with Dynasty members, Riverians and the Svefra denizens of the Suvan Sea.
Sailing
And of course, sailing. This is obviously the most important skill for any Svefra. I think this is as good of a time for me as a player to mention why I did not assign Tydus more points in Sailing, as it's rather distinctive for any real Svefra PC. The primary reason that Tydus Tempest found use in the Tempest pod as a negotiator rather than a sailor was specifically because he lacked natural talent in sailing as a child. This festered into a frustration for quite some time until his fateful encounter with the merchant of Avanthal, who introduced him into the far more emphasized skills of Persuasion and Negotiation into his mindset.
Paired with Tydus' fledgling knowledge in Hypnotism (self-initiated with the guidance of the Merchant of Avanthal), Tydus made an able negotiator as the years went on with the pod. However, given that the Tempest pod is decimated, Tydus is forced to change himself in that he must now be both sailor, sword, and tongue for his personal crew of one (until the day comes that he assimilates into a pod).
In the case of Tydus Tempest, there are a variety of skills that I could consider primary skills. However, for the sake of simplicity, they will be stated in the order of greatest priority. Where additional entries regarding skill acquisition ambition will all be measured from a * to ***** basis, this section will omit that. The simple reasoning behind that is that a primary skill can be assumed to have a ***** skill prioritization. And so, with that out of the way, here it is.
Persuasion
Persuasion, for someone like Tydus Tempest, is a skill of utmost importance. He is a businessman, so to speak. However, it is not in his nature to own a stationary business and thus, cannot be considered a businessman in the traditional, and perhaps Mizaharian definition of the word. Merchant could be closer. Privateer is the most accurate. He would be most closely associated with a privateer who has been hired by a personal business owner. Persuasion is by far the most useful skill to have in this sort of business scenario.
This is due to the fact that rather than having a listed product and one's wares visible to behold, Tydus Tempest is, in essence, selling himself. His name, his reputation, and his good word that what will be done will be done. This requires persuading others not to believe in his personal opinions (which would fall under the skill category of Rhetoric), but to sway to his banner. Persuasion, from what I gather, is the skill used to sway others in believing what one says in the very most direct manner of speaking. It is not opinionated, not meant to sway in the sense of academic debate, bur rather intended to be a skill in which people extend their trust to another person and their well (or not!) intentions.
Negotiation
Like the skill of persuasion, Negotiation is an absolutely vital tool in Tydus' skill set. unfortunately, it has not been a skill that as of Autumn of 514 that I have been able to use to a great extent with him, but that is meant to change. Negotiation is part of who Tydus is in the realm of his pod. He is a haggler, a trader. Negotiating for supplies at the dock and overseeing its placement into the ship was his primary task in the pod due to the lack of natural born sailing ability. This skill, moving forward, is one that Tydus will very likely be using quite often in his encounters with Dynasty members, Riverians and the Svefra denizens of the Suvan Sea.
Sailing
And of course, sailing. This is obviously the most important skill for any Svefra. I think this is as good of a time for me as a player to mention why I did not assign Tydus more points in Sailing, as it's rather distinctive for any real Svefra PC. The primary reason that Tydus Tempest found use in the Tempest pod as a negotiator rather than a sailor was specifically because he lacked natural talent in sailing as a child. This festered into a frustration for quite some time until his fateful encounter with the merchant of Avanthal, who introduced him into the far more emphasized skills of Persuasion and Negotiation into his mindset.
Paired with Tydus' fledgling knowledge in Hypnotism (self-initiated with the guidance of the Merchant of Avanthal), Tydus made an able negotiator as the years went on with the pod. However, given that the Tempest pod is decimated, Tydus is forced to change himself in that he must now be both sailor, sword, and tongue for his personal crew of one (until the day comes that he assimilates into a pod).
Magical
Magical Aspirations
To say that my aspirations for Tydus magically are ambitious are grand may be correct, but it is never the intention to turn Tydus into a wizard. In this aspect, world magicks are completely out of the question, as they are the far more intellectually involved side of magic and I have little intention of having him delve into research and development or any sort of 'mage' mindset. Tydus uses magic intrinsically. His experience with both gnosis and Hypnotism has taught me this.
And because of that, I can safely assume that Tydus will not actively rely on magic in order to 'save' him from any sort of direct, life-threatening situation. Magic as employed by Tydus is entirely evasive and preventative of nature. Meant to both manipulate perception and situations rather than actively counteract something, magicks revolved around combat or meant for the 'hardcore' wizard are to be entirely avoided. This includes Reimancy entirely. Voiding, as well. It's not a magic he'd take interest in. Included in this list is also Shielding, Leeching (although being forcibly initiated would be interesting), Familiary and the Flux. This leaves four possible magicks. Hypnotism (obviously), Morphing, Projection, and Auristics. I'll talk about these now as well as rate them by utility (from * to *****).
Another important note to mention is that due to the nature of Tydus' upbringing with Hypnotism, Ty was guided into initiation into the art, then subsequently left to learn it on his own to learn it. This, by the very nature of learning, has deprived Tydus of a great deal of central education regarding the practice of magic and has left him, in layman's terms, with a rather infantile grasp of what magic really is. He knows Hypnotism purely by instinct that has been tempered with his own analysis of what he has and can do. This happens at both a conscious and unconscious level.
Hypnotism *****
Being the first and, as of yet, the only magic aside from gnosis that Tydus has been directly exposed to, Tydus takes great pride in his abilities as a Hypnotist. Learned at the cusp of adolescence from a Vantha merchant that the Tempest pod had met, Hypnotism has been a very large part of Tydus' adult life. He has learned to, firstly, control the power. Then he learned how to use it economically. And as he continues to explore the use of Hypnotism, Tydus both discovers how to use it and his proficiency in the battlefield of conversation to engage in mindgames at a caliber that suits his interest of obtaining control of his existence. Tydus seeks to master Hypnotism, though his ultimate ambitions with it as, are of yet, unknown.
Morphing ***
Tydus is not yet aware of the existence of Morphing. However, if he did, he would immediately become aware of its potential uses in his profession.
Projection **
Projection is very much sought after, as well. However, like Morphing, he is unaware of its existence and the need for an Expert Wizard to perform the initiation makes it improbable that Tydus will acquire this magic.
Auristics **
Auristics is being debated. It is incredibly useful for almost every single scenario, but whether or not Tydus is compatible with its use is yet to be decided. Most likely, he has had exposure to the magic already, but flashbacks and present day threads must come to fruition before this is completely certain.
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