It had been a good day in the Kirin village, as the birds were chirping and the sun was out, something that caused each and every member of the community to head outside of their homes, since it had rained for the last couple of days and this was the first normal day since it started. Many of them started chatting with each other as they went about their days, all while many could see that the clouds were clearing, meaning that they didn't have to worry about another rainstorm happening, not unless the pegasi believed that more hours of rain were required. While they did that Rain Shine, the leader of them all, glanced out of her own residence with a smile on her face, as the rain had been good for them and every plant and tree that surrounded their village, even if they had been forced to do less than they were used to doing. The smile was also due to the fact that she was pleased to see that the rest of her kind were no longer bound by her foolish decision to enforce silence on all of them, in fact it looked like it had been completely forgotten.
Such a thing made her grateful to Autumn Blaze, the kirin who had accidentally undid the binding on herself, along with Applejack and Fluttershy, ponies who came to assist them, for rectifying her mistake and uniting them with ponykind once more, even if they stayed here for the most part.
"Lady Rain Shine, it's... it's Autumn!" one of the other kirin exclaimed, rushing up to where Rain was standing as she walked out of her residence, though at the same time she was able to tell that some of the others were worried, meaning that the good day they had been experiencing, even for a few moments, was over.
"What is it? Is something wrong?" Rain asked, because usually, back when they could talk, this happened when one or more of their kind was in some sort of danger, such as some sort of creature attacking or the kirin in question being hurt by one of the natural disasters of the world, but it didn't stop her from being concerned.
"I... we don't know. We checked her residence and found that she's not there!" the kirin replied, while the others stood off to the side as they wondered what to do next, where Rain recalled that Autumn had lived in a cottage that rested on the very outskirts of their village, during her banishment anyway, and realized that the small group must have checked her cottage that was closer to everyone else.
It did strike her as strange that they hadn't heard anything from Autumn yet, since she was the most energetic out of them all and she loved to talk, causing Rain to realize that something was definitely wrong and that she might be in danger, as a rainstorm like this could have affected the rest of the surrounding area.
"I'll go check her old cottage and see if she went there to collect some of her things." Rain stated, because that was the only thing that made sense, that Autumn hadn't fully packed up her outskirt cottage and had gone back during the storm to get something she deemed to be important to her, to keep it safe from harm, before she turned to the others, "If I'm not back in an hour I want you to remain calm and go about your days as if nothing is wrong... if I'm not back by nightfall, well, I want you to send someone to the ponies and get help. I doubt I'll be gone too long, but, in case something happens, I want all of you to be prepared, just in case."
As the rest of the kirin nodded their heads, and started to go about their days despite some of them looking worried, Rain departed immediately, because she wanted to find Autumn, make sure she was okay, and then return to the village so they could go about their day in peace. Rain found that nothing in the village looked out of place or damaged, though that was due to them being built to endure any weather they got, so since Autumn's outskirt cottage had been built the same way, to ensure no harm came to her, it made her wonder why the kirin in question would have gone there in the first place. While that thought crossed her mind Rain left the village and started the trek to the cottage that was her destination, finding that the ground hadn't suffered too much, so it was unlikely that any holes had formed for someone to slip into or trip over, if one was in a hurry anyway. Such a thing confused her and made her wonder if this might be an elaborate joke on Autumn's part, as she knew that the kirin had played a joke on Applejack and Fluttershy upon their arrival, pretending to be silent like the rest before revealing her true colors to them, but this seemed a little much to her.
When she finally reached the cottage, however, Rain stopped in her tracks and brought her hoof to her face, as she recalled that Autumn had told her that she was heading to Ponyville for a time, likely to meet up with her pony friends and meet the rest of the group, and was only now remembering the conversation.
"Of course we'd forget that she went to visit Ponyville... she's so important to us that we forgot that." Rain commented, as Autumn had many friends before everyone had been silenced and it was made evident when they undid the binding since many kirin rejoiced, welcoming her back into the village, apologizing for their actions, and returned to being friends with her, so this just meant that they missed her more than they realized, "I better head back and inform the others... wouldn't want them to think I've gone missing as well."
As she turned around, however, Rain was suddenly overcome with exhaustion, like she had come down with something that instantly sapped her strength or something, where she staggered for a moment before hitting the ground, the world going black around her as she slipped into unconsciousness.
It was a dark night in Baldur's Gate, one that was much gloomier than the others that had come before it since the moon couldn't been seen, though that was how Karne liked it, since it meant that he and his men would have better cover while they robbed people of their goods. He was the second-in-command of the thieves guild that operated in the city, a guild known to only a select few as 'Xantam's Guild', and they stole from everyone, either taking whatever gold a person or even a group had, their goods to sell them for much more, or even took their lives to take everything. Of course there were a few targets that couldn't be killed, otherwise it would draw unwanted attention to the Guild, but everyone else in the city was fair game for him and his thieves right now, especially since the guards couldn't do anything to stop them. In fact the last few times they had run into the Watch they had been able to get away with ease, escaping with their treasure before the guards could do anything, meaning that when it happened again they would be able to escape with no problems and without any worries.
As he thought about that, however, there was a flash off to his left and he turned his head slightly, because he wore an iron helm over his head and it forced him to turn if he wanted to see something, though it did help keep his face a secret since all his men saw were his eyes and mouth. He also wore a dark brown and deep red jacket and pants, as he almost never got in a fight and didn't need to wear armor, along with some knives attached to a shoulder strap that his sword's scabbard was linked to, but he kept his hand off his weapon for now. Karne glanced around for a moment and found that none of the guards seemed interested in this, or maybe they hadn't noticed yet, causing him to walk over to the alley he had spotted the flash in, where his men followed after him without delay. A flash like that meant someone must have used magic, that much he was sure of, though as he approached the area he was interested in he discovered something that he wasn't expecting to see and was sure that his men were surprised as well.
Karne found a woman, probably between twenty to thirty years old by his reckoning, resting on the ground, though in that moment he discovered that her body was more like the mythical faun, as in she had legs that looked like a cross between a human's and a horse's, or maybe a pony's, since both ended in hooves. As he looked over her body he found that her skin was a grayish color, with what appeared to be goldish gray colored scales on the sides of the waist and upper body area, an unusual color for the races of the world, even though the scales were incredibly out of place. Following that he discovered that she had long moderate opal colored hair, another odd and extremely unusual color, before noticing what else she had, there was a thin tail, possessing her body's color, that had hair the same color as her hair on it, only to notice the moderate crimson curved horn on her head. That was when he noticed that she had pointed ears, more like a horse's or pony's given what he had seen so far, and both of them seemed to be pointing at the sky, though to wrap it all up she also had a muzzle, making her look like a human or elf crossed with a pony creature.
He had no idea who she was, where she had come from, or what in the world she was, but he could tell she was magical in some nature, as that flash must have been a teleport spell of some kind due to the lack of clothes on her, to which he took a nearby piece of cloth and threw it over her before his men got any funny ideas.
"Karne... what do we do with her?" one of his men asked, though as he said that Karne knew what was going through his mind right now, while at the same time the other three were focused on the surrounding area and the main gate, which was their actual target in case travelers showed up.
"Quiet. I'm thinking." Karne replied, where he wondered if his master would enjoy having a new soldier to mold into one of his faithful followers, especially one with such untamed magical powers, since the lady had to have some due to the magic that brought her to this city, which might give them more power over the city in due time.
"Karne, we've got newcomers... three of them: an elf, a human, and a dwarf." another said, where Karne turned his head for a moment and found the trio in question, finding that the female elf looked like she was a sorceress due to the staff in her hand, the human had a quiver and bow, and the dwarf had a battleaxe, causing him to realize what they were as soon as he noticed the packs on their backs, adventurers.
As he started to form the order he wanted to give, however, the lady moaned as she started to come to, getting over the shock of her transportation spell, though as she started to stand up one of his men to step forward and struck her right in the back of the head, knocking her down once more. Such a thing caused the adventurers to notice that something was up and moved to investigate, which was fine with Karne since the other thieves were in the path they were taking and those three emerged from the shadows when they were passed. As the trio started to get ready to deal with them the thieves struck each of them from behind and knocked them to the ground before they could do anything, causing Karne to walk over to where his targets were laying, finding that each one, while having no armor or trinkets, had some decent weapons in their possession. With that in mind he ordered his men to relieve the adventurers of their weapons, and even the quiver that the archer had since he had some good quality arrows that could make them some good gold once they were sold, but to be sure they were actually sold he had them handed to him for the time being.
"Easy pickings, eh Karne?" one of the trio asked, the supervisor over the group that he was currently working with, who had come to the Guild to make some gold and had stayed after discovering what they were capable of, while the others in his group continued to look the adventurers, taking their gold to add to the Guild's coffers.
"Indeed. Our little ambush has won us some gold and some odd items." Karne replied, though at the same time he took a moment to glance back at the alley that the lady was resting in, either with a concussion or a split skull, where the latter would likely annoy his master when he learned what had happened, but before he could do anything he heard the sound of the Watch coming, "Quick, take the rest of their gold and leave everything else for the Watch... we'll come back for the strange lady when the coast is clear."
His men nodded before they scurried off for the shadows, to use secret entrances that only the Guild knew about, and of course none of them would use them if the Watch was waiting, not that it mattered since he found that the two guards had stopped to tend to the fallen adventurers, with a third near the fallen lady.
"Damnable thieves... they grow bolder with every passing day." one of the guards commented, where his companion took a moment to nod his head in agreement, neither of them were too pleased with the thieves who had run off, since more and more people were being attacked every day and there was nothing the Watch could do since they were spread thin at the moment.
"I'll say, they robbed her blind." the third guard stated, as he had lifted the cover for a moment and found that the group of thieves had stolen everything from the odd lady that was under it, though he counted themselves fortunate that they had arrived when they had, otherwise all four of them would have been slain, "They also, um... took her undergarments as well, as odd as that sounds."
In the next moment the three adventurers regained consciousness and found that that were alive, in fact they had heard of thieves killing their prey once everything of value had been stolen, before focusing on the fact that someone else had been hurt by the same individuals who knocked them out. They found the same thing that the guards discovered, she was without clothing or possessions, the thieves must have stolen everything before they walked through the door and had carted it off before they could even see whatever she had been wearing. It came as a shock that the thieves would steal all of her clothing, unless she was some sort of noble and her clothing had all sorts of gems and gold lining, but, since all of the guards had never seen her before, it was unlikely that she was a noble. In the end the adventurers decided to help her out, even though most of their gold had been taken, causing one of the guards to offer up a few pieces to ensure that they got a room at the Elfsong Tavern, where they could rest and get their bearings, and help the unconscious woman when she finally woke up.
As the trio moved towards the tavern, the human carrying the lady, who had been wrapped in the cover that had been put over her, they thought of how they were going to get back at the thieves for attacking them, the lady, and everyone else in the city, unaware of the great adventure they were going to be embarking on in the very near future.
I wonder what class she is going to take, this is a D&D adventure after all.
it is interesting indeed, i would assume 'Variant Human' as a race...possibly a Ranger? it would give her access to the best healing spell in D&D, Goodberry. she would also be able to get Spike Growth as a Ranger, an excellent Control spell...
11463951 The thing is that Vahn, the human in the first game, is an arcane archer, so that would give them two archers.
11463788 I have yet to decide on such a thing.
11464001
Gloomstalker Ranger, very strong...
11464001
do not let her pick up Horizon Walker or Monster Slayer though, those things are basically subclassless Rangers...
11464022 I'll take your word for it. I was just saying that having two rangers might be redundant or unnecessary.
11464093
yeah, Arcane Archer is not a Ranger, its a Fighter Subclass. it has spell like effects, but it in and of itself is not a Caster, its a Martial. anything an Arcane Archer can do, a Ranger can do better and it can do more. so from the party composition thus far, you have a Fighter, the Dwarf is probably a Cleric and Heal-bot, a Sorceress and a Kirin. quite frankly, i would seriously re-spec the Heal-bot into something far more useful as healing potions are not that hard to get ones hands on and they heal way better than most Cleric healing spells. and as i said, as a Ranger, Rain Shine would get access to Goodberry, the best healing spell in the game...and, depending on stats, she could even Multiclass into a full Caster rather than a Gish...
11464093
oh, and heres someone who knows a lot more than i do explaining why Horizon Walker and Monsterslayer Rangers suck...
11464104 Actually, Kromlech, the dwarf, is a warrior. So a fighter sub-class, a warrior, a sorceress, and an unclassed kirin for the first game. In the second game she would have a barbarian, a cleric, a rogue, a monk, and a necromancer as her allies.
11464113
im going on D&D 5E as to what these things are, not the old video games
11464134 I'm just saying that deciding on a good class for Rain might be a challenge, given who she'll be traveling with.
I remember DA2 being one of my favourite ps2 games. That said, this ought'a be interesting.
11464141
well, you essentially have two Martials (Fighter) and one Caster (Sorcerer). a Gish or another full Caster would optimize the party at least a little. given Rain Shine being a Kirin, a Ranger or a Druid would probably be best, as im guessing that your other Caster is going to be going the way of the 'Boom Mage' more than anything else, probably Dragonblood Sorcerer and showboating with Metamagic...something that deals insane amounts of damage at low levels by the way. now, if it was me? i would go Ranger for five levels, taking Hunter as my SubClass. its basic, but it really works well and you can have a lot of fun with the extra damage dealt to injured enemies, as well as being able to cast Spike Growth, Goodberry and Pass Without Trace. after five levels i would multiclass into Rouge, probably Arcane Trickster SubClass, that way i get Sneak Attack to add to any damage rolls, that extra 1D6 at Rouge Level One can be devastating, as well i get access to Wizarding spells for taking the SubClass...
11464183 The two Dark Alliance games were favorites of my family in the early years of the PS2... played them as much as the two PS2 Champions of Norrath games. I usually played either the dwarf, for gold/price reasons, or the sorceress, because magic!
11464187 I see. That's a lot to take in.
That would be "sapped" her strength.
11464203 You would be correct. Not sure how I didn't catch it, but I'll correct it.
11464192
thats just what i would do, personally. u could also play Rain Shine as a straight Druid, and u would still get access to a lot of the same spells, except for Pass Without Trace, which is a shame since it would allow the entire party a +10 to Stealth checks in addition to leaving behind no trace of their passing (heh) until the spell ends. in exchange though, u could get to use the most broken spell effect in all of D&D, the spell (which can be gained at 5th level) is called Conjure Animals, and the strategy is called 'The Unstoppable Raptor Swarm', AKA 'How to Break D&D in Under One Minute'...
11464277 Huh. I had no idea.
11464300
oh it gets better, as a Druid, Rain Shine would have access to a somewhat evil but still very amusing spell, Heat Metal.
11464464 Would certainly help control a horde of enemies if things got out of hand.
11464582
theres near limitless option for character builds that can pull some fairly wacky stuff, as well of plenty of shenanigans that one can get up to with even simple spells...for example, you can have zero levels in Rouge but be a better thief than a Rouge, all by casting two simple spells, Find Familiar is a first level Wizard spell that can summon a small spirit in animal form. as an Action, you can banish your Familiar to a pocket dimension or call it back to a space within 30' of your position. you can also see through the Familiars senses in place of your own with another Action, though this leaves you Blinded and Deafened while you do it. this spell, combined with Misty Step which lets you teleport to a space you can see within 30', can get one into places they perhaps are not supposed to be...here, i will allow Gator to fully explain, as he likes to steal Kobolds money all the time...
Gator gets up to a lot of crazy stuff, take a look at what he gets up to with Conjure Animals...
11464682 It may seem crazy, but he does a good job explaining things.
11464735
eh, Kobold is the one who does all the actual maths and thinking stuff, Gator mostly just messes around...i mean, he pulled a brand new lawnmower into his watery home just because, and somehow made the thing come to life and attack people...dont ask, i dont know how myself, nobody does...
11464737 I see. Well, I'll take your word for it.
11464682 I know my original idea for Rain was more along the lines of a paladin, but the druid idea does seem to be more her style since kirin seem more in tune with nature... maybe that's what she'll develop into.
11464831
well, heres a sample Druid u can use as something of a base, this is a character i made using the Point Buy system
Laila Crusch, Druid 1
STR 11 (+0) INT 12 (+1) DEX 12 (+1) WIS 16 (+3) CON 12 (+1) CHA 13 (+1)
Hit Dice 1D8, AC 14, Prof +2, Speed 30'
Skills:
STR
* Athletics (2)
Dex
Acrobatics (1)
Slight of Hand (1)
Stealth (1)
INT
* Arcana (3)
History (1)
Investigation (1)
* Nature (3)
Religion (1)
WIS
Animal Handling (3)
Insight (3)
* Medicine (5)
Perception (3)
* Survival (5)
CHA
Deception (1)
Intimidation (1)
Performance (1)
Persuasion (1)
Attacks
Shortbow, 80/320, +3 To Hit. 1D6+1 Piercing
Quarterstaff, 5 feet, +2 To Hit, 1D6 Bludgeoning
C Level 1, Spell Attack +5, Spell DC 13
Level 0
Mending
Thorn Whip
Level 1 (2/2)
Detect Magic
Entangle
Goodberry
Ice Knife
Features
Lizardfolk Features:
* Your AC is 13+DEX mod unless your worn armour would be greater
* You can swim at a speed of 30' and hold your breath for fifteen minutes
* You can bite as an unarmed attack for 1D6 Piercing Damage
* You can construct weapons and shields from fallen foes during a short rest (see rules)
* Once beteen rests, you can make a bite attack as a Bonus Action, gaining CON mod Temp HP on a hit (min 1)
Barbarian Tribe Member Feature:
* You can forage for twice as much food and water white in the wilderness and have knowledge of Barbarian lands
Druid Features:
* Understand a secret Druid Language
Armour Proficiencies
Light and Medium Armour, Shields
Weapon Proficiencies
Clubs, Daggers, Darts, Javelins, Maces, Quarterstaffs, Scimitars, Sickles, Slings, Spears
11465040 Very interesting.
11464831
she could multiclass, it would be tricky though...starting in Druid for five levels would help, as the ASI hits at Level 4, and she would need at least a 13 in both STR and CHA to become a Paladruid...like i said, difficult...but doable...
11465940 Given the layout of the first game, and who her allies are, starting with druid skills might not be possible, as Rain would likely learn some weapon skills from Vahn and Kromlech while getting an idea of magic from Adrianna. Any awakening of her powers might come later on, like when they head into the crypts or when they fight the Orb of the Undead.
11466036
not necessarily, Baldor's Gate is a very prosperous trade city on the Sword Coast, all kinds of people come there since the city is the last major port before trade caravans hit the Fields of the Dead on the Coast Way bound for Waterdeep. in fact, the Lords Alliance (of which Balder's Gate is a member) maintains contacts with a number of major Druid Circles in the area, known as the Emerald Enclave. the Harpers have also been known to stick their noses into matters all along the Sword Coast...
11466060 Mind you that fighting the Orb is what brings the Harpers to the players in the first place... or at least it should, if my memory is right about the game... so it would still be some time before Rain finds someone to mentor her in the art.
11466065
ah, actually, its likely that the Harpers did have at least one agent in the area before that, but more to the point...the Emerald Enclave and the Harpers...very rarely see eye to eye...the Enclave tries to maintain balance between the natural world and the needs of civilization...most of the time, they, and a lot of others, tend to view the Harpers as meddling busybodies...they do good work, aye, but they mess up a great deal of the places they try to help more often than not...also, the Harpers tend to attract for Bards, Rangers, a few Rouges...maybe the odd wondering Sorcerer or Wizard...Druids? not so much...
11466119 Well, they're still her best bet to find someone sooner, rather than later.
11466137
not if you really want to go Paladin or Druid...the Harpers don't really attract those kinds of crowds. for a Paladin, i would think that the Order of the Gauntlet, a relatively new organization, would be the better option. the Order tends to be a lot more blunt and straight forward than the Harpers, but they do attract more Divine Casters and Gishes like Clerics and Paladins. that being said, Baldor's Gate is still a trade city, folk from all over come to trade cities to, well, trade...it would make a great deal of sense that there could be a Druid or two running around, probably in the Outer City though, they dont really like being in towns that much. about the only other place on the Sword Coast that i can think of where you would for sure find institutions for both Classes would be in Waterdeep...theres a saying in the Realms, 'all roads lead to Waterdeep'...
11466169 I'll have to take your word for it, since my knowledge comes from the two games and nothing else.
11466184
well, if you do make Rain Shine a Druid, and i think that would be the best choice for her as your party needs at least one more Caster, might i suggest the Circle of Wildfire as her SubClass? it matches what i have seen of the Kirin, both the actual myths and what comes out of FIM. vengeful flaming destruction for the wicked, healing for the just... she would gain her Circle at second level.
11466360 Interesting. I'll consider it.