Posts from Black Ice

Okay :-(. No problem.

Torvar

Theohar

Damien Gry de Crepuscule

Nerguy

Ferrus

David

Lugus

Aurora Skylight

Sirhan

He said that armor reduces dodge, not speed. =[br][/br]How can you trust him after that?!

Tournament of Nine
Once there was a time when every kingdom had its own protector — a great warrior possessing immeasurable strength, unwavering courage, unprecedented insight, extraordinary wisdom, and other distinguishing qualities. Such a person served as an example to their fellow citizens and as a deterrent to the enemies of the kingdom. However, that time has long since passed, and the protectors have vanished. Nevertheless, several centuries ago, the kings of that era desired to revive this tradition, albeit in a slightly different format. Since then, every fifteen years, the Tournament of Nine is held — an event where the best warriors from all kingdoms gather. Usually, the winner could demand whatever they wished from the king who organized the tournament (reasonably, of course). Furthermore, the next tournament was necessarily held in the winner's kingdom. Since the commander-in-chief of Helligkait's army, Metzger, won the previous tournament, this year's tournament was held on the territory of the Lion Kingdom. Many believed that the winner would be the same this year; however, rumors said that Metzger declined to participate, notifying the king that his duties required his presence elsewhere. Perhaps if he had not declined, this tournament would not have ended in deep sorrow for the king...
The rules of the duels in the tournament do not oblige participants to kill one another, yet a lethal outcome is quite common practice. Because of this, reigning kings never participated in them, and their closest relatives, while appearing at the event, did so rarely. Nevertheless, Vironis VII was not deterred and became one of the participants of this year's tournament.
Like an unrestrained storm, the King of Vyronia defeated all his opponents one by one, and after a few days, the nine best blades of the nine kingdoms were determined:
I. Vironis VII (Vyronia)
II. Uriel (Cloud Country), posthumously (died in the final battle with the winner).
III. Beatrice von Helligkait (Helligkait)
IV. Emeric du Boucher (Catarian)
...
When it came time for the award ceremony, the King of Helligkait addressed the winner, congratulated him, and asked what the best warrior of the nine kingdoms desired as a reward.
— I desire the hand of your daughter Charlotte.
The spectators, both aristocrats and plebeians, fell silent. Silence enveloped the tournament grounds. Almost everyone knew Vironis's reputation; however, denying the winner such a request would have tarnished not only the king's name but the entire kingdom.
— I... I am very flattered that the winner of the Tournament of Nine wishes to honor my daughter with the privilege of becoming his wife, but is this truly what your heart desires? There is so much in Helligkait...
— I assure you, — Vironis interrupted the king and smirked wickedly, — this will be the best reward for me.
— Very well... — The king's heart was torn between fatherly duty and his responsibilities as a ruler; however, it seemed to him that he had little choice. — So be it.
The joyful roar of the crowd broke the silence.
Prince Reksev did not change his cold nature even in such a moment. — A wise decision, father. — His sisters, including Charlotte, remained silent, and the younger brother Friedrich, consumed by rage, forced himself to leave in silence.
Upon completion of the tournament, Charlotte von Helligkait married the winner, and he took her north — to Vyronia. Prince Friedrich could not accept his father's decision and left Mondnacht, not knowing that it was the last time he would see him.

Illumination

Threshold of Hell
The events of the Illumination had a great impact on the whole world, and in particular, the Children of the Sun and Helligkait suffered from this. Queen Luna, who arrived in Helligkait to ask for help in the war against the Chosen of the Moon, died at the hand of an unknown assassin. Her death proved to be a fatal factor for the Children of the Sun — they lost the war, and their settlements are falling under the onslaught of the lunar clans like overripe apples.
And what news reached the ears of Prince Friedrich von Helligkait?
His father was killed in his own chambers, and the members of the Order of the Golden Finger, who had sworn to protect him, either deserted or defected to the enemy. A Catarian assassin's arrow took the life of his eldest brother, and his sister also perished in a battle with one of them. In such a short time, he lost those closest to him. But it was not this that terrified him. During his absence, many subjects of the kingdom switched to the side of foreigners and adopted the faith of strangers. His kingdom, his people, were literally under the power of a foreign force. Friedrich, after the death of his father and brother, proclaimed himself King of Helligkait and swore to expel the invaders from the kingdom and bring those responsible to justice. To unite the fragmented lands that had not yet fallen under the enemy's power, and moreover — to create an army capable of opposing
the Ataraxian Empire in the current situation, when the kingdom was engulfed in chaos, seemed impossible. Nevertheless, the young king succeeded.

His goal is the absolute liberation of the state from external control, but he must do this before the main forces of the Ataraxian Empire arrive; otherwise, it may already be too late.
Friedrich's closest advisors are his sister — Alisa, as well as General Metzger. The great warrior always believed that the king's youngest son would turn out to be a weak-willed boy incapable of becoming a ruler, and therefore he was glad when he realized he was mistaken on this point. Seeing him in action, he saw how charismatic and talented the young king is, both in military art and diplomacy. Metzger confessed that he and Prince Reksev had planned to overthrow the king, and to his surprise, Friedrich forgave him and asked for help in liberating Helligkait. Metzger, naturally, agreed.

The other rulers of the nine kingdoms are also not thrilled by the appearance of the empire on the political arena; nevertheless, none of them are in a hurry to provide aid to Helligkait. The Free People, Corania, Vyronia, and Cloud Country maintain neutrality, while Queen Catherine's position remains unknown. The Dungeon is bogged down in a war with Khan Oktai Naranbaatar.

...
The order's headquarters are on neutral territory and are managed exclusively by the leadership of the order, reporting to no one else. Undoubtedly, the order has other outposts in every kingdom, but it is at the headquarters that the main problems are solved and where the bulk of Black Ice members reside.

Grand Master of the Order Richard Grey

This man has held the post of head of the order for over fifteen years; during this time, he has proven himself to be a competent and prudent leader. He prefers peaceful solutions over violence, but at the right moment, he will never hesitate in what needs to be done. He is tolerant toward mages and considers their use acceptable as long as it is used for good intentions.

First Warden Hartmann von Liebenberg

Cousin of the infamous Count of Red Cliff.
The title of First Warden is granted to the best warrior whose skills and abilities in fighting the order's enemies have proven invaluable. It is easy to imagine what this man is capable of on the battlefield.
He shares Richard's views and, like him, is characterized by a calm and rational nature. He trains new recruits and often accompanies them on missions (can train first level warden or weapon skills).

Chief Scout Waymond Lancaster

Any information regarding problems of a magical nature or the location of unregistered mages and other targets of the organization reaches the order through this man.
He considers the use of magic in the order unacceptable and, moreover, wishes to put every wizard to the sword.

Mentor of Wizards Athelstan

A powerful sorcerer in the service of the order. He is engaged in deciphering magical texts, determining the nature of magic, and helping the order solve problems that could not be resolved without the use of magic. He is friendly toward both wizards and ordinary people. He is understanding toward those who fear magic and try to limit it in every way; nevertheless, he will never allow an innocent wizard to be harmed. It is not hard to guess what his relationship with the chief scout is like. He monitors the order members' compliance with rules regarding the use of magic, as well as teaches basic knowledge and skills.

The castle contains living quarters, a dining hall, and all other ordinary things.
There is an armory where almost any weapon and armor can be found. They are issued free of charge to any member of the order; however, in case of loss (in reality, this was intended so that order members would not abuse such generosity), a fine is imposed.
In the library, almost any information related to the activities of the order can be found.
On the lower level — in the dungeon — there is a prison, and even further down, a vault. Various magical artifacts obtained by the order during its existence but not destroyed for one reason or another are kept there.
In the hall, records of wanted criminals can be found, as well as the Ice Book, in which all tasks assigned to order members are recorded. They contain only brief information and serve primarily to immortalize the names of those who completed a particular task. Usually, after receiving a report, the master writes about how everything happened and how it ended.
At the moment, only four fresh entries could be found there:
— Problem with the empire.
Information received by the chief scout confirms the presence of an imperial emissary on the territory of Vyronia. According to the Emissary, the current ruler of this state has come into possession of the Emperor's own old sword, which disappeared over a thousand years ago. The Emissary states that this weapon poses a threat to the lives of ordinary mortals and therefore should not be in their hands.
More details can be learned from the Grand Master.
— Disappearance of people in Tyria.
Vampire activity is suspected. Details will be provided by the chief scout.
— Contact with the Khanate.
The order has long wished to establish contact with the horde of the east, and now it has become possible. Khan Oktai Naranbaatar agreed to cooperate in exchange for knowledge on opposing magic.
More details can be learned from the Grand Master.
— Escort.
The order needs a talented mage currently residing in the Academy.
The Mentor of Wizards will explain the details.

I'll finish and add to the first post with the characters tomorrow. The numbers and everything else there are in a preliminary version.
There won't be any briefing; in short, each of your characters has been in the order for some time, at least a month. Accordingly, you either know each other to some extent, or you have simply crossed paths in the corridors and living quarters.

Consequently, you either know each other to some extent, or you have simply crossed paths in the corridors and living quarters.

I think it's obvious that the part of Sirkhan's biography related to demonology is unknown to any of the other players. Otherwise, they would have killed him long ago.

Stats
Strength. High values are needed to wear heavy weapons, armor, and shields. Increases damage from using melee weapons, ranged weapons, and longbows.
Dexterity. Determines accuracy and speed. +2 to accuracy, +1 to dodge, +1 to speed.
Constitution. Each point of this characteristic increases health by 5-10 units, determines the speed of natural health regeneration, healing of wounds, and also determines the character's chance of surviving a fatal wound.
Willpower. Necessary to resist any form of suppression, most importantly, resistance to magic.
Magic. Used only by wizards. A value of zero indicates that the character is completely incapable of magic. One is needed to use basic spells. Two allows the use of more powerful magic and doubles the effectiveness of basic spells (the sequence is preserved as the value increases).

Can you provide more details about speed?
a) There is a certain minimum required to wield a weapon, I understand that.
b) Will there be any saving throws based on speed?
c) Does it affect anything else? [dodge chance, unit movement speed]

Only shields have durability; everything else won't break, right? :)

Black Ice
The order's headquarters is located in neutral territory and is managed exclusively by the order's leadership, without reporting to anyone else.

Just kidding. The order should operate on the principle of democratic centralism, and report to its lower-level cells; otherwise, the leadership will become corrupt.


p.s. And yes. Let's start the demon hunt!

I think it's obvious that the part of Sirkhan's biography related to demonology is unknown to any of the other players. Otherwise, he would have been killed long ago.

I didn't say that the characters know each other's biographies by heart. It is assumed that you have either met or simply seen each other a couple of times, possibly without even mentioning names. There are a lot of people here. You should almost certainly already know the characters mentioned in the message above.

Can you elaborate on the speed?

Initially, I wanted to make the speed parameter part of agility, but then I decided that agility would again be much more powerful than the other parameters, so I made speed a separate item. It affects initiative and the number of attacks made.

Only shields have durability; will nothing else break?

Yes. I added shield durability only so that it would not be possible to gain complete immunity to magical damage by fully upgrading the shield skill tree.

The Order should operate on the principle of democratic centralism and report to its subordinate cells; otherwise, the leadership will become corrupt.

Perhaps, but in this case, it is not so. The words of the Grand Master are law for all subordinates. By the way, the successor is also chosen by the Grand Master. However, if he dies before naming someone, the successor is chosen by vote.

The game has already started, by the way. I'm already here and will soon edit the posts on the first page; they are not so critical right now. You can sit there, discuss the latest events in the world over a mug of beer and a piece of meat, or immediately gather to complete quests. In the Order, people gather in groups and then go to ask the people mentioned in the quest description to approve their squad and allow them to begin the quest.

Should we post here, or create a separate thread? Mixing it with discussions might not be very convenient.

I think most of the questions directed at me will be resolved in the next couple of days, and discussions/comments about the game can, as before, be highlighted with a gray font color, and that will be fine.

If there are multiple teams, will there be separate threads for each of them?

I don't understand this eagerness to create separate threads, but since two players in a row mentioned it and you think it would be more convenient, we can do it.

I only suggested one, and it's up to the majority to decide. We don't need many.

I’m fine here too.

How do you imagine two or even more groups posting in the same thread? In my opinion, it would create a terrible mess and wouldn't be very convenient.

It used to be that way, when the team would split up for a while. But only in the Mentov expansion did separate threads appear.