A Few Questions!

[Taru]

Hello there, Mizahar!

I have a matter or two that I'd like to get cleared up before I dive in or go bothering people on the Help Desk, so I'll ask here and see if I can get some help.

First, a bit of a frame of reference. I intend to have my PC be a young Myrian that was born and raised outside of Falyndar, taken in by a mercenary or small mercenary group after they find him abandoned amidst the site of a battle, slaughter or murder, some sort of unfortunate event that ended in blood. In regards to their NPC status, is it acceptable to have an NPC, or handful of such, that would be responsible for training and raising the PC via Flashbacks? I am aware of the fact that NPCs' seasonal expenses need to be provided for with the PC's own coin, but I was unsure if that still applies if the PC is not, from a roleplay perspective, providing for or paying the NPCs?

For instance, say we have the veteran mercenary Jack, and his companions Bob and Mara. The three take in the young Myrian and proceed to train him in the skills necessary to succeed in both life and in the profession of a sellsword, which takes place via a great many Flashback threads. Due to being a child, and thus not the provider for the group, the Myrian would not, from a roleplay standpoint, pay them, but would I still be required to pay their expenses from my ledger regardless?

Would it be recommended to submit only Jack for approval as an NPC, or would it be viable to apply for the mercenary trio as a whole? I'm guessing that it wouldn't be prudent to try to pay the expenses for three NPCs on top of the PC's expenses when only starting off. I intend for them to be Flashback exclusive, with the Myrian having gone his separate way in the present day.

Finally, where would be a good area for a small mercenary group to frequent or call home? The Cyphrus region appeals to me for a number of reasons, but it seems quite unlikely that a small band would survive for long on their own there. Would the Endrykas encampment be amenable to having them stay with them and possibly hire them from time to time? Having a steady source of income as well as a feasible place for them to stay is mostly my concern, but I'm not completely certain on where would be best.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!

[Gossamer]

Hi there.

First off I can tell you are new by your username. We require you guys to pick names that are actual names. Teeth doesn't qualify. You can use that as your nickname and refer to that in your posts as your name, but your actual character needs a real character name, not something that is a noun.

Our NPC policy is clearly outlined in the Lore Wiki.

Basically in a nutshell, any personal NPCs you have that you can utilize you must support with your PC. I know that sounds odd, but its for a very important reason. On other sites and indeed on this one, PC's have abused NPCs and used them as a power base to hide behind in their RP. Things like... "Oh, you don't like my smart mouth? Okay fine... I might not be anything stat wise as a level 5 priest, but here's my 50th level Necromancer to beat you to shit." Obviously this isn't a true Mizahar example, more D&D style, but it illustrates what we've seen happen nicely. Each PC is responsible for their own IC actions and must stand on their own, not behind hired thugs etc. So if you can set your character up to have a merc group that you support by paying, then you are in essence standing on your own two feet. Otherwise, its just fluff. This might not work with your backstory that you've come up with, and I'm sorry for that, but you and I both know that not every player is to be trusted to do the right thing and that's why we have rules that govern everyone and keep everyone equal.

It's the same sort of issue that a player might have who wants to play a 500 year old nuit and argues that they would have more skills than 50 points. That would not be fair to the players that thread heavily to build their pc's up from the starting points we give everyone. We do not, however, grant these ancient nuits more skillpoints just to conform to their backstory. We ask them to tailor their backstory to our rules so it makes sense in the context of our game system.

And in this case, we are going to ask you to conform your backstory to our gaming system here. We don't do it to be asshats. We do it to get everyone started fairly out the gate and on equal footing.

You can apply for only one or all three, but again you must be able to support them in the manor that a merc would get paid (5gm a day I'm guessing without looking?) to make them stay with you and keep your PC safe and train him.

A merc group would only fit into Cyphrus on the Sea of Grass in Endrykas if you were Drykas. Otherwise, I would suggest floating throughout the region doing threads guarding caravans. However, the problem I see with that is a lot of solo work because you'd want to concentrate near a city. If you picked Alakak as your race, you' d be more than feasible to be around Riverfall running merc missions out on the sea of grass against slavers.

I hope that helps.

Goss

[Taru]

Hello there, Gossamer! Many thanks for the prompt and thorough reply, I very much appreciate the time you took to answer.

Ah, I can understand the name issue. I was intending that to be something they called him due to not knowing his name, but I can think something up and change it instead! No worries there.

Understood on the NPC matter! It makes a great deal of sense, certainly. It's unfortunate that people can't exactly be trusted off-hand to not abuse such things, but the rules are there for a reason, and I can abide by that no problem. I definitely do not want to have any unfair advantage or do anything to cause any waves or upset, rest assured on that much, at least.

Hm. Duly noted. I think that would be a bit steep for a fresh character to afford properly, so that idea is out. I'll take a while to think on how to make this work, and where to put him. I'm just unsure where or how to make this particular concept work. I would dearly like to play a young Myrian (Say, 14-15) and over the course of a year or two, have him grow in skill and competency sufficiently so that he can make his way to Taloba and undergo the Coming of Age trial, and the Blooding. The idea of writing out the growth and struggle of trying to become worthy of his people and acclimating to their ways is an appealing one. I'm uncertain how to best go about this in a manner that conforms to the rules and setting, but I'd very much like to try!

Does anyone have any suggestions? Somewhere outside of Falyndar where a Myrian of 14-15 years would be able to stay a while, earn enough to get by and pick up various skills pertaining to combat and surviving the eventual and likely horrendously dangerous trip towards Taloba?

[Gossamer]

You can always take that concept and work on it as an overarching goal, start out at 14 and work your way up. You can say you were part of this system in the past and as long as you aren't writing flashbacks and using the NPC, then its fine if you are on your own now. Also, you could modify it, start in sunberth and be part of a gang. Those NPCs are city NPCs with high skills that you can use. The difference is that everyone can use them and they aren't your personal thugs.

I mean, the possibilities are unlimited.

You can have bonded to a strider as a Myrian and thus got adopted into the Sea of Grass and run out of Endrykas and start your own caravan guarding business and go from there to build up your resources to start a merc band.

Its a good concept, its just awkward out of the gate as a starting concept.

[Taru]

Oh, that's a wonderful idea, actually! I can definitely get behind this. Thank you for the help so far, Gossamer! I'll try to get out of your hair as soon as I can, I promise.

I have to say, the Sea of Grass appeals to me, for some reason, so being able to write there would be lovely. Forgive me, but I've only had time to read bits and pieces about the Drykas and their society, so I'm not particularly confident on the specifics. Say the Myrian boy, Taru, was a part of the little mercenary band for a while, then he bonded to a Strider while they were guarding a caravan in the Sea of Grass. What would be the consequences of such? If I'm getting this right, the Drykas can sense when someone bonds to a Strider, or they at least accept them in the web if they bond with one?

From what I'm reading, it's virtually impossible to survive out on the Sea of Grass on your own for any significant amount of time, due to the myriad dangers that it contains, so I'm trying to figure out how he'd start up and run his little caravan guard business without getting eaten by a Glassbeak. Would he be allowed to travel with Endrykas if he bonded to a Strider and maybe paid a tithe?

And aye, it is a pretty awkward concept to start out with, but I can deal with awkward if I can struggle through it! I'm ever so sorry about the twenty questions, but I don't want to half-ass this if at all possible.

[Mayhem1]

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From what I know, anyone who bonds to a strider is considered a Drykas, regardless of race.
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