Another story From the Thing that is Icky and colored in an unsettling
shade of White? Why, yes, it is! The imagination tends to run rampant
occasionally, and the only thing to settle it is to let it free of it's
leash of normality, unceartainty and sanity for a little while to calm
down. This is a fic in wich my roleplay character and his band of mates end
up, unlikely though it seems, in the Ranmaverse. Fun all around, that is!
Yay! Btw, this is Good old D&D 3e we're talking about here, and the current
campaign setting is Faerûn (fay-ROON), on the planet Abeir-Toril (Ah-BEER
Tor-RILL), or just Toril for short. If you have no idea what I'm talking
about, don't worry, no real knowledge of the world is needed to enjoy this.
First up is the cast of characters, and this part will explain the people
in some small detail. Refer to this page if a person's personality seems
confusing. (Again, not really necessary.) The story proper begins in the
NEXT chapter, this is just a lot of information, so if you want to skip
this, go ahead.
Faerûnian cast
Koja Ikari, (My character!) Half-Elf fighter lvl 5, Traveller of the silken road lvl 10 (explained later), Darting blade lvl 5 (Again, explained later)
Age: 31
Alignment: Neutral Good
Primary statistic: Dexterity (22)
Belief: Shaundakul, the traveller god
Preferred wepon: Chinese-style Longsword (Koja's Edge of the Soul)
Koja is a gloomy person indeed. Rarely cracks jokes, rarely smiles even while laughing (difficult to do, but possible) and is full of sarcastic remarks, particularly to the sorcerer Blackbite, who he calls Badbreath. This may be because he used to be an assassin, but it is unconfirmed. He was an assassin since the age of sixteen through to his twenty-first year, and hasn't been the same since. (Rumor has it that he killed a thousand people during this time. The truth is closer to a hundred and fifty, but it's still a substantial amount.)
He learned the sword art of a traveller from his foster-father, his real father having been killed in a caravan raid when he was an infant along with his mother. He never knew the man's real name, but got the name Koja from him (As a pun on the word Koji, meaning orphan.) Gods know where the Ikari part is from. The art this old man taught emphasizes flexibility, giving the wielder of a sword a great amount of choice in a battle that others do not have. Also, the immense focus on a single weapon taught by this school has made his longsword immensely magical, to the party's mage great envy. However, this style prohibits the use of armor, so he is never armoured at all- not even a shield.
After his assassin days, in which he had been forced to kill his foster father, he turned to adventuring, and two years later met the party known as the "Fowlblades", referring to an unfortunate incident with a large amount of chickens in the party's past, which has emotionally scarred the party's priest, Nodrog. One encounter with dark elves later, he had been officially accepted as part of the band, no matter his opinion. He travels with them to this day.
Later, while travelling in Kara-Tur with Quarion G'Kar, he met a weapon master who taught him the "Darting Blade" school of swordsmanship, an art focusing on movement. He is further developing the school on his own, and hopes one day to be able to teach others this art.
He fears nothing but himself, and does so with reason. His assassin half has an annoying tendency to go berserk at unfortunate moments.
Typical saying: "they say that duty is heavier than a mountain, death is lighter than a feather. But I´m in no hurry to find out if this is true. Do you want to find out?"
*
Quarion G'Kar, Half-Elf Fighter lvl 15, Weapon Master lvl 5
Age:35
Alignment:Lawful good
Primary statistic: Strength (20)
Belief: None
Preferred Weapon: Bastard Sword (Any he can get his hands on), pretty much anything which can be used offensively, including the forceful application of the party's mage (pick up and throw)
Large, blustering and clumsy big-mouth who is never satisfied after eating (which includes an incident with two roast oxen which no one had been looking after.) And, even with this, he is lean, though incredibly muscular. He is fond of drinking, carousing and performing pointless (though impressive) Feats of strength. He is cheerful at all times, thus making Koja (Who's sarcastic and gloomy to the extreme) his natural counterpart: They balance each other out in nearly every way. Where Koja is fast, Quarion is strong. Where one is without armour, the other is approximate to an entire armoury. Where Koja relies on speed, Quarion relies on strength, and so on and so forth.
His parents were killed by a blue dragon, but he holds no grudge. This may be because he also had an artisan carve a drinking horn from one of the the dragon's horns after killing it. This remains one of the greatest victories the party has ever experienced, and also led to the destruction of the tavern known as "The whistling halfling" in the post-adventure party. The inn was later rebuilt and renamed "The adventurers' binge."
He has a small phobia of the spell Telekinesis, due to the amount of times it has been cast on him by both friends and foes (which total over 89 seperate cases).
Typival saying: "FOOOOOOD!" or, when being lifted through telekinesis, "You'd think I be used to this by now-oof!"
*
Estefan Galadrien, Elf Mage lvl 19
Age: 167
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Primary statistic: Intelligence (28 !!!)
Belief: Mystra, the lady of magic
Preferred weapons: Fireball spell, Throwing Quarion at opponents with a well-placed Telekinesis spell, Imp the talking short-sword of annoyance
This one... well, in word, Estefan is a snob. The biggest one ever, according to his friends (This is his friends we are talkin about here) and even bigger to everyone else. Hates dirt, hates fighting, hates his shortsword (Imp) for backtalking and badmouthing him, and hates having to kill things without a reason. Why, then, is he an adventurer? Well, when one is snobbish, one needs money, right? And where else can you get large amounts of money but in a dragon's hoard, as well as the opportunity for a new spell or two?
I rest my case.
Needless to say, he always pushes for killing the really big guys with lots of gold in their treasuries. More usual, actually, is making Quarion and Koja (especially Quarion) do it for him. He also hates the sight of blood.
He is mortally afraid of rodents. (Screams at the sight of a mouse, in fact.) Also fears Blackbite the sorcerer, though he would never admit it.
Typical saying: "You uncouth barbarians!"
*
Nodrog Nameerf, Human Cleric lvl 19
Age: 54
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Primary statistic: Wisdom (25)
Belief: Tymora, the lady of luck
Preferred weapons: A mace, a barstool, his head in a pinch, big flashy clerical attack spells, insults.
Getting a bit bent with age, Nodrog is still no less a fighter than he ever was. His long, white hair and beard, covering a set of plate mail emblazoned with the symbol of tymora, is actally a good description of his personality in a fight. Wisdom and strength in equal measure.
Outside a fight, he likes to get drunk. And then, naturally, brawl a bit. And getting even more drunk. And fighting. And getting drunk, and...
Well, you get the picture. This explains why he has never managed to open a shrine or a temple anywhere. This does not put him into disfavor with his goddess, because he is known throughout Faerûn (and a bit beyond, in such places as the nine hells) as a force to be reckoned with, both when drunk and when sober. Most of the people he has converted have been former barflies, impressed with his skill in a fight.
He fears only one thing. Ch-ch-ch-Chickens. He also hates them with a passion. He knows not why, nor how this came to be. He was forced into a pit full of transformed wolves (transformed into chickens, of all things) in one of his adventures, and has blocked out the memory. Therefore, if a chicken is around, he will run. When that is impossible, he goes insane and blasts everything in sight with holy flames of Tymora.
Typical saying: "Right, we've killed the dragon, been to hell and saved the world twice. Now how does a trip to the pub sound?"
(Here's an easter egg- reverse the name of this character and you get a hero from a certain computer game! I didn't get this joke for two years!)
*
Blackbite the nameless, Drow/half dragon sorcerer lvl 10 Dragon Disciple lvl 10 (Black dragon)
Age: 185
Alignment: Chaotic good
Primary statistic: Charisma (23), Strength (22)
Belief: None
Preferred weapons: Acid breath, Claws, Bite, and lightning bolts. Nasty bastard.
Blackbite, you ask? Well, dark elves (or Drow) are ebony black, He happens to be a black half-dragon and even before his eventual transformation into a half-dragon he had a tendency to bite in a fight. He has never revealed his true name, and Koja has reason to believe that the elf has forgotten his name in some fight or another; he's been hit quite often on the head. At least, that's the story according to Koja, to Blackbite's displeasure. He met the party just as the fowlblades were leaving the Underdark, habitual home of the dark elves. Koja dragged him outside and he has travelled with them since then.
He always speaks in a serious manner, but doesn't really mean it- it's all an act, really, designed to gain attention. Koja knows this, and constantly teases him about it. (How much more attention does a black half-dragon dark elf sorcerer need, anyway? -Koja) (Shut up, Koja –Blackbite)
He has no history that anyone knows of, no enemies and the transformation into a half-dragon happened slowly in the sight of his fellow adventurers. (and was, in fact, Koja's fault. He should have been watching where I was going, anyway! -Blackbite) (are you saying that you were blind before transforming, Badbreath? –Koja)
He was kidnapped once by a dragon cult, for use as a sacrifice in a ritual, but the ritual failed, and it awakened the dragon within the sorcerer, so to speak. He´s big, he´s black and he´s got wings now. How's that for a failed ritual?
He doesn´t really fear anything. If you were a black elf/dragon who can rip pretty much anything apart and has the choice of using either his claws or his spells to do it, you wouldn't fear anything either.
Typical saying: "Koja, shut up." Also, "Cool! I gotta remember that one!" And, when casting spells, "Oops."
Many others have travelled with them, but most have retired for other pursuits, and thus will not be included. Anyway, on to the story!
Faerûnian cast
Koja Ikari, (My character!) Half-Elf fighter lvl 5, Traveller of the silken road lvl 10 (explained later), Darting blade lvl 5 (Again, explained later)
Age: 31
Alignment: Neutral Good
Primary statistic: Dexterity (22)
Belief: Shaundakul, the traveller god
Preferred wepon: Chinese-style Longsword (Koja's Edge of the Soul)
Koja is a gloomy person indeed. Rarely cracks jokes, rarely smiles even while laughing (difficult to do, but possible) and is full of sarcastic remarks, particularly to the sorcerer Blackbite, who he calls Badbreath. This may be because he used to be an assassin, but it is unconfirmed. He was an assassin since the age of sixteen through to his twenty-first year, and hasn't been the same since. (Rumor has it that he killed a thousand people during this time. The truth is closer to a hundred and fifty, but it's still a substantial amount.)
He learned the sword art of a traveller from his foster-father, his real father having been killed in a caravan raid when he was an infant along with his mother. He never knew the man's real name, but got the name Koja from him (As a pun on the word Koji, meaning orphan.) Gods know where the Ikari part is from. The art this old man taught emphasizes flexibility, giving the wielder of a sword a great amount of choice in a battle that others do not have. Also, the immense focus on a single weapon taught by this school has made his longsword immensely magical, to the party's mage great envy. However, this style prohibits the use of armor, so he is never armoured at all- not even a shield.
After his assassin days, in which he had been forced to kill his foster father, he turned to adventuring, and two years later met the party known as the "Fowlblades", referring to an unfortunate incident with a large amount of chickens in the party's past, which has emotionally scarred the party's priest, Nodrog. One encounter with dark elves later, he had been officially accepted as part of the band, no matter his opinion. He travels with them to this day.
Later, while travelling in Kara-Tur with Quarion G'Kar, he met a weapon master who taught him the "Darting Blade" school of swordsmanship, an art focusing on movement. He is further developing the school on his own, and hopes one day to be able to teach others this art.
He fears nothing but himself, and does so with reason. His assassin half has an annoying tendency to go berserk at unfortunate moments.
Typical saying: "they say that duty is heavier than a mountain, death is lighter than a feather. But I´m in no hurry to find out if this is true. Do you want to find out?"
*
Quarion G'Kar, Half-Elf Fighter lvl 15, Weapon Master lvl 5
Age:35
Alignment:Lawful good
Primary statistic: Strength (20)
Belief: None
Preferred Weapon: Bastard Sword (Any he can get his hands on), pretty much anything which can be used offensively, including the forceful application of the party's mage (pick up and throw)
Large, blustering and clumsy big-mouth who is never satisfied after eating (which includes an incident with two roast oxen which no one had been looking after.) And, even with this, he is lean, though incredibly muscular. He is fond of drinking, carousing and performing pointless (though impressive) Feats of strength. He is cheerful at all times, thus making Koja (Who's sarcastic and gloomy to the extreme) his natural counterpart: They balance each other out in nearly every way. Where Koja is fast, Quarion is strong. Where one is without armour, the other is approximate to an entire armoury. Where Koja relies on speed, Quarion relies on strength, and so on and so forth.
His parents were killed by a blue dragon, but he holds no grudge. This may be because he also had an artisan carve a drinking horn from one of the the dragon's horns after killing it. This remains one of the greatest victories the party has ever experienced, and also led to the destruction of the tavern known as "The whistling halfling" in the post-adventure party. The inn was later rebuilt and renamed "The adventurers' binge."
He has a small phobia of the spell Telekinesis, due to the amount of times it has been cast on him by both friends and foes (which total over 89 seperate cases).
Typival saying: "FOOOOOOD!" or, when being lifted through telekinesis, "You'd think I be used to this by now-oof!"
*
Estefan Galadrien, Elf Mage lvl 19
Age: 167
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Primary statistic: Intelligence (28 !!!)
Belief: Mystra, the lady of magic
Preferred weapons: Fireball spell, Throwing Quarion at opponents with a well-placed Telekinesis spell, Imp the talking short-sword of annoyance
This one... well, in word, Estefan is a snob. The biggest one ever, according to his friends (This is his friends we are talkin about here) and even bigger to everyone else. Hates dirt, hates fighting, hates his shortsword (Imp) for backtalking and badmouthing him, and hates having to kill things without a reason. Why, then, is he an adventurer? Well, when one is snobbish, one needs money, right? And where else can you get large amounts of money but in a dragon's hoard, as well as the opportunity for a new spell or two?
I rest my case.
Needless to say, he always pushes for killing the really big guys with lots of gold in their treasuries. More usual, actually, is making Quarion and Koja (especially Quarion) do it for him. He also hates the sight of blood.
He is mortally afraid of rodents. (Screams at the sight of a mouse, in fact.) Also fears Blackbite the sorcerer, though he would never admit it.
Typical saying: "You uncouth barbarians!"
*
Nodrog Nameerf, Human Cleric lvl 19
Age: 54
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Primary statistic: Wisdom (25)
Belief: Tymora, the lady of luck
Preferred weapons: A mace, a barstool, his head in a pinch, big flashy clerical attack spells, insults.
Getting a bit bent with age, Nodrog is still no less a fighter than he ever was. His long, white hair and beard, covering a set of plate mail emblazoned with the symbol of tymora, is actally a good description of his personality in a fight. Wisdom and strength in equal measure.
Outside a fight, he likes to get drunk. And then, naturally, brawl a bit. And getting even more drunk. And fighting. And getting drunk, and...
Well, you get the picture. This explains why he has never managed to open a shrine or a temple anywhere. This does not put him into disfavor with his goddess, because he is known throughout Faerûn (and a bit beyond, in such places as the nine hells) as a force to be reckoned with, both when drunk and when sober. Most of the people he has converted have been former barflies, impressed with his skill in a fight.
He fears only one thing. Ch-ch-ch-Chickens. He also hates them with a passion. He knows not why, nor how this came to be. He was forced into a pit full of transformed wolves (transformed into chickens, of all things) in one of his adventures, and has blocked out the memory. Therefore, if a chicken is around, he will run. When that is impossible, he goes insane and blasts everything in sight with holy flames of Tymora.
Typical saying: "Right, we've killed the dragon, been to hell and saved the world twice. Now how does a trip to the pub sound?"
(Here's an easter egg- reverse the name of this character and you get a hero from a certain computer game! I didn't get this joke for two years!)
*
Blackbite the nameless, Drow/half dragon sorcerer lvl 10 Dragon Disciple lvl 10 (Black dragon)
Age: 185
Alignment: Chaotic good
Primary statistic: Charisma (23), Strength (22)
Belief: None
Preferred weapons: Acid breath, Claws, Bite, and lightning bolts. Nasty bastard.
Blackbite, you ask? Well, dark elves (or Drow) are ebony black, He happens to be a black half-dragon and even before his eventual transformation into a half-dragon he had a tendency to bite in a fight. He has never revealed his true name, and Koja has reason to believe that the elf has forgotten his name in some fight or another; he's been hit quite often on the head. At least, that's the story according to Koja, to Blackbite's displeasure. He met the party just as the fowlblades were leaving the Underdark, habitual home of the dark elves. Koja dragged him outside and he has travelled with them since then.
He always speaks in a serious manner, but doesn't really mean it- it's all an act, really, designed to gain attention. Koja knows this, and constantly teases him about it. (How much more attention does a black half-dragon dark elf sorcerer need, anyway? -Koja) (Shut up, Koja –Blackbite)
He has no history that anyone knows of, no enemies and the transformation into a half-dragon happened slowly in the sight of his fellow adventurers. (and was, in fact, Koja's fault. He should have been watching where I was going, anyway! -Blackbite) (are you saying that you were blind before transforming, Badbreath? –Koja)
He was kidnapped once by a dragon cult, for use as a sacrifice in a ritual, but the ritual failed, and it awakened the dragon within the sorcerer, so to speak. He´s big, he´s black and he´s got wings now. How's that for a failed ritual?
He doesn´t really fear anything. If you were a black elf/dragon who can rip pretty much anything apart and has the choice of using either his claws or his spells to do it, you wouldn't fear anything either.
Typical saying: "Koja, shut up." Also, "Cool! I gotta remember that one!" And, when casting spells, "Oops."
Many others have travelled with them, but most have retired for other pursuits, and thus will not be included. Anyway, on to the story!