"By Therassor's Blessing, I've managed to survive military service and a few adventures using what I learned of strategy in the corps." Adjusting the position of his armor to a more comfortable sitting, he continues. "My experience did not serve Kith well last night and I fear that I will be even less effective in our future endeavors. But I will do my best to deliver what further blessings the Battle Lord deems us worthy to receive."

Aranwen nodded, and her eyes grew distant as she recalled the previous night. The start of that horrific battle, where everything seemed against them. Her training was as much on reflection as it was on the act of battle itself. Only by reviewing the past could mistakes be prevented in the future. Of course, that sentiment was intended to be limited to the scope of her posture, her blade, her movements. It took great effort to extrapolate to the wider world, and time as a whole, effort that she wished she were better at.

Crinkling his nose against a particularly foul odor that drifts past, he glances at the Bladesinger. "I'll strive not to fail you in my counsel again, Aranwen."

Aranwen shook her head, "Your counsel was sound, based on what you knew, and your past experiences," She told Gib, "It is not your fault that the situation was not as you had foreseen. My own dealings with these kinds of creatures are sparse, even with the number of years I've seen. Those with dull, empty eyes - I cannot lead them with my blade; I cannot truly predict their movements as I might with a creature with sound mind," She spat with annoyance in recollection, "We can do naught but adapt and learn, concepts that I pray are beyond these creatures."

She offered Gib a gentle smile, "Don't wield the sword of your spirit against yourself," She spoke softly, recalling the same words spoken to her before, a long time ago.

If only I could truly share that knowledge, she thought solemnly, so many don't know the blade that they carry beside them.

This is what I end up visualizing when I see the group travelling into the cavern system

From front to back

Aranwen wants to be near the front so she may be able to shield Kithran with her body should a giggler be set upon us, prevent a repeat of the prior night. Aranwen's natural dexterity may be sufficient to tread lightly in this position, and she does have good awareness I believe.

Kithran at point makes sense, watch where we're going, and most importantly watch for traps

The middle group is more nebulous, but starting with Garn and Cedric being backup to Kithran and Aranwen - another martial force to back up the front line, and Cedric able to directly support

Midge and Davena next, with the very important torch. From this position, Midge and Davena have visibility front and back. (also: "wizard in the middle, where he can shed some light"... )

Rear we have Gib and Ch'dau. From what I gather, Gib is more martial inclined than Cedric, and his heavier armour would be suited to block an ambush, while simultaneously supporting Ch'dau and our casters as needed.

As she travelled in the vanguard, Aranwen made certain to stay a few paces behind the rest of the others. As they walked, she continually looked from side to side, silent and listening. She trusted in Ch'dau and Kithran to fall back and provide warning if an enemy were found ahead. That left her to be the front line for the others, so to speak. She did not doubt the martial skill of either cleric with her, but if they were suddenly attacked, she opted to be the one to weather the attack rather than the others.

Thankfully, no such attack happened.

As report of the cave reached her ears, and the group approached the trail, she heard Gib beside her.

"Are we truly ready for this?" Gib asks quietly as he steps up next to Aranwen. "We'll need light... I'm not even sure what precautions we should take."

"There is a lot that is not known," Aranwen admitted, "Light in the darkness is a double sided blade, as one of my... rivals liked to say. She imagined herself something of a poet as well as a Bladesigner. But there is truth to it, light reveals the carrier, just as it reveals what is around them."

Aranwen's eyes seemed distant as she tried to remember. What year was it when that happened? So long ago. Nearly forgotten.

With a shrug of her shoulders, she looked back to the cleric of Therassor, "Before we gather everyone to discuss our options I wanted to ask, is anything weighing on your mind, Gib?" She asked, her voice gentle, "You seemed withdrawn during breakfast."

As she thought about it, she realized that Cedric, too, seemed withdrawn at the time. Had Cedric even spoken that morning? Aranwen resolved to see the cleric of Solanis as well.

* * *

(( later on ))

With everyone gathered, Aranwen considered the facts, "We must be cautious," Aranwen resolved, "This is familiar ground to our adversaries, not to us. The more light we use, the bigger a target we may become; the less light we use, the more we hinder ourselves. A problematic paradox. Also of concern is the ground. Damp stone is trecherous, as many a child can attest to trying to run on such after a rain."

After a moment, Aranwen nodded to herself, "I think we should continue much as we have been so far. Kithran and I will be the forward eyes, Ch'dau to watch behind and above, in case they try to circle around us through some unseen passageway. As for the light sources," She paused, "Is there any way we may be able to cover the light we bring?" She mused, "I've still a torch or two, but the open flame would be sure to dance on the walls around us, and only announce our presence. What other options do we have?" She asked of the others

I had more or less the same thought, keep the light in the middle, and those with dark-piercing eyes acting lookout both ahead and behind.

I see torches on Aranwen's character sheet, but do we have any lanterns? Partially covering lanterns with spare clothing would limit the amount of light they project upward, reducing our light signature greatly while not hindering the aid of light at the ground to find sure footing, particularly if there are damp slippery stones

Also how good are we overall at sneaking? I can see that Aranwen doesn't have the skill specifically, what of everyone else?

You're all too kind, I'm just happy that I'm making good performance checks

Slight edit on the post to add to it; it's been a while and I definitely need to remember that it's possible in this format to preemptively provide responses to foreseen comments or queries

PS. So what you're saying Olan, is that those rumours of party wipes in other games wasn't exaggerated? 

Aranwen looked around at the assembled group, gauging what she could see in the faces of the others. In Gib she thought she saw hesitation. She tilted her head a bit in query, but didn't ask. Not in the full group. If something had weighed on his mind, perhaps it was best to ask about it if they had a quiet moment. And Ch'dau, she could see the tightening of the muscles around his jaw. Something was setting him on edge. She had a suspicion what it might be.

I hope these suspicions are unfounded, she thought solemnly, but they have given us aid, and I must return the favour.

Davena's gaze falls to Aranwen. "Tell me, brave warrior... I hear that your folk are immune to the grave paralysis of these ghouls. Is this true?

Aranwen lifted her arm, withdrawing the protective bands of leather to reveal the skin underneath. For being Sylvari, her skin still seemed a good sheen and almost unmarked. Almost. The scars of battle lingered on even a Sylvari's body, and she traced one in particular with a fingertip, where one of those giggling monstrosities had landed a sure blow.

"In training, we are taught about the limits of our bodies," Aranwen spoke finally, "Or more accurately, we are taught of the importance of being fully aware of ourselves. The awareness of body and blade together, limits, strengths, and those undefined traits that make each of us unique. In learning of our own potential, we learned of those that came before. There was the occasional odd tale of a bladesinger having fought ghoulish creatures, their corruptive touch unable to bend Sylvari body to their will..."

She paused before she nodded slowly, "Well, I have taken numerous strikes from those creatures. That I have yet to succumb to their touch after so many blows, I can only presume that the story I heard was true."

(( If anyone expresses surprise/curiosity at Aranwen's wording that implies she didn't believe what she had been told she also adds these lines ))

"It's not that I had reason to disbelieve these tales," Aranwen chuckled, "But I remember, at the time, feeling like this learning of others' tales served a different purpose, to ignite within us the resolve to become just as if not stronger than those we learned about. That certain things may have been exaggerated for the sake of having that effect."

"And yet, here I am, standing here on the remnants of battle on a scale I wouldn't have imagined in my younger years. I know this path ahead will lead us to more battles, and a more cautious soul would be well inclined to shy away from it. However, the danger is there, and not just to us, but to whomever gets caught in its wake. And we are here. I would sooner drop my blade than let what befell us fall upon others who would not survive."

Two questions, do Sylvari resistances including paralysis, and has it been tested with a giggler yet?  

One month early too

San

It was mentioned in the summary of events Olan passed to me as I started getting a feel for the character.  

Hmm... hrmmm... so for record, given that she went down in combat, what's the status of her sword?

Also if anything that's more cause for nervousness; I don't want to let you down!

It's rather funny how this all works out, too. I just recently had an itch to make some form of blade dancer character.

I know a bladesinger is not the same, but in themes they are related, and I've generally had an affinity for Elven/Sylvari characters.

Happy that she's making a good impact so quickly I can't help but feel nervous stepping in to fill in an already existing character. Though, incidentally, that's exactly what I did when I first started on the Inn.

P.S. You are scarily fast Eol

Before dawn, Aranwen stood awake near the edge of camp, one hand upon her breast as she looked out upon the wilderness, the other upon the tree next to her to keep her steady. She looked towards the flickers of the pyre burning in the distance. Her gaze was distant, and those distant flickers of orange and red glinted in her viridian eyes. Her hand shook as she replayed the battle in her mind's eye, following her movements and those she remembered of the foes surrounding them. Doing her best to recall her form, and the song of her blade at the time. Up until she succumbed to her wounds, and fell.

If things had been even just a bit different, might she have been on that pyre as well? That was one thing that never changed over all her years. That delicate dance with death.

But the battle had been won, and she had put all she could into her blade, that she might keep safe her allies. She couldn't ask herself of more, so she smiled, and breathed. Stagnant though the air was, it couldn't completely hide the morning dew she came to enjoy in these early hours.

"Adaron, make good what good there is left to take of these worldly forms," She prayed, "That death may give way to renewal, and see life flourish again."

She kept watch until the day broke proper.

* * *

"So, will you be joining us?"

Aranwen nodded, "This is certainly not something we can afford to ignore," She gave a warm smile to Davena, "And if anything, I welcome the opportunity to repay the aid lent by you both."

"Normally, for scouting I'd suggest we cover more ground to quicker understand our adversary," She mused, "But given recent experiences, we place ourselves in greater danger splitting up, even should we keep to groups of two or three. They lose nothing throwing the dead at us should we give them the opportunity, while we stand to lose far more. Naturally, staying together has its drawbacks as well. Those lighter on foot can't make good on their agility, and we're easier to spot. So I feel a blend of the two is more appropriate here - Gib, Cedric, Midge and I will be part of the supporting guard, while Kithran and Ch'dau as the advance lend their eyes to scout and examine the nearby area. We travel together, close enough so the advance can comfortably fall back to the support should they encounter anything, or should anything encounter the support."

(( Making some assumptions here because I'm not completely familiar with everyone's capabilities ))

"Any questions, observations, or suggestions?"

Thank you very much, Eol and Olan. I just figured I was going to start as is with Aranwen from my post forward; I certainly didn't have this in mind when I said 'retcon' 

Given it's 2E and customized setting I can't be entirely certain and don't trust my memory - do Sylvari require the same amount of 'sleep' as normal for most species? Or is it the shorter trance?

Not to mention you might clobber some poor Aranwen in another game on here, if there was one

I've seen SQL databases. I know how easily they're clobbered!

Ahead of you there, Olan; according to the name generator you have, 'Aran' is a first part that is used in both male and female names. So the easist thing to do is switching the second part.

If I go by second parts I see the generator using, Aranwen seems to be the most visibly similar to Arancon.

Butterfly present,

And happy to be here

For the record, I may have to swap Arancon's gender, just because one of my limitations I've found is getting into the headspace of a male character. It's like trying to use a zip disk in a cd drive for me.

Easiest thing to do might be to just do the 'character was always this way' retcon, unless Olan would like an opportunity to have Aranwen claimed by something spooky and replaced by his counterpart in the same event (mirrors and shadows come to mind...) I imagine that doesn't fit in this flavour of spookiness though.

All these I've made have been carved out of extruded polystyrene foam (insulation board). I do the carving with exacto blades and other knives. Once the basic shape is done, I have the option of either using a layer of cheesecloth glue/water and a layer of plaster to harden the prop (which is more important for the larger ones given their fragility), or sealing with a coat of glue. Last step is painting with acryllics, and I use outdoor-use acryllic paint for good measure

Item: The Dagger of Time

Source: Prince of Persia, the Sands of Time

FFXIV Dancer Soul Stone

FFXIV Gunbreaker Soul Stone

FFXIV Dancer Chakram (custom)

And, a Halloween project preview

I have been neglectful in time keeping. My job's responsibilities have grown, and I have additional things beyond that job, leaving one burnt out butterfly. 

I sincerely apologize to everyone. I should have known this would occur.

Needless to say, I'm just not in a position to return properly yet, and I am sorry for taking up people's time and hopes.

Please take care, 

Reralae

Sorry about that, 

Meant to check in earlier but I had work to do for my job on the weekend. I'll review where we're at later today  

First thing, Silent Pluto is not orbiting Pluto

The name is more in regards to the station's remote location relatively close to the edge of the galaxy in the typhon (I think that's the name... I'll check the map later...) region.

Secondly, engineering and science is significantly larger on the Hexatris than typical steamrunner vessels. It's fighter allocation is probably reduced to 2/3, maybe even half normal capacity for the additional labs, one of which being an engineering lab for making adjustments to prototype shuttles and equipment (good to do small scale tests before increasing scale after all)

Once I check what we're at in terms of the roster, we might be good to get started and if so I'll see if I can kick us off this weekend. 

I could have sworn I had the correct date when I typed that

I'd be happy to have you as TAC

Looks like we're getting close...

Please feel free to add your character profiles to the Hexatris roster (hopefully the character addition should work now... while logged in, if you mouse-over the roster link, it should provide an 'add character' link)

In addition, feel free to add some minor characters under your command, within reason. As senior officers, they'll certainly be doing things a fair amount of the time, but they'll also have a team to delegate work to as appropriate. I'd suggest adding at least a couple 'seconds' depending on your position, to be able to accomodate for the Starfleet standard three shift schedule between the characters.

They'll need to sleep some time after all. Unless they're a hologram. But we're not Voyager

Let's see

Multiple science officers would be preferred, but not strictly necessary. At least one though.

Tactical Officer as well as Helmsman will both be very important.

As far as the easiest to fill as an NPC goes, I'm feeling that'd probably be ops.

(darn it picture, stop becoming a broken picture link)

So, let me break down the positions and prospective players I've received word from so far

We have crowe with a concept for Chief Engineering Officer

We have Keeper with a concept for Chief Medical Officer

We have MagicMan65 with a concept for Counsellor

And might also have Pencilneckgeek for a member of security/tactical

Work's been keeping me busy, but let me try to get back to everyone so far.