Okay, I've got character sheets from Falas and Utan, some information from Kaelyn, and Grugg is waiting on race information from me before he gets his sheet done. But...where is everybody else with their sheets? Not that there is any rush; crap has gone down with work so now I'm getting more hours in. Furthermore, I lost a lot of my world information from my hard drive, so I'm having to locate my old notebooks and re-write it, which is taking time in itself. But still, let's try to keep this moving forwards

The Krosan (Rock Dwarves)
The Krosan are the distant ancestors of even the earlier Duskarn families. Some say they live as long as the mountains themselves, while others say they are spiritually tied to the stone beneath which they live, and will erode and die as the earth crumbles. The latter is purely folk tales, but the Krosan do possess exceptionally long lifespans compared to most other sentient – and even many non-sentient, beings of Delmaria. The average Krosan lifespan is between six and eight hundred years, and there have been stories told of a select few even achieving the one-thousand year mark.

Settling in the mountain ranges of the world, as opposed to their Duskarn kindred who occupy the hilly regions, the Krosan have established gigantic vaults and underground cities within which they reside, isolated from the rest of the world when possible. They rarely change settlements unless a collapse occurs, or something capable of forcing them out moves in on their territory. In the case of the latter, they tend to merely relocate, muster a group or a plan of reclaiming it, and then go back and retake their home by means of axe and hammer.

Callous, even for dwarves, the Krosan dislike almost everybody outside their own peoples, aside from perhaps Gnomes, who oftentimes share the mountains with them. As such, be it from their seclusion or from their simple intolerance, Krosan are exceptionally racist, making interaction with outsiders exceedingly difficult. Almost everything they use in their daily lives, be it clothing, tools, food, and drink, is domestic from within their mountain halls. It is uncommon for them to trade with other Krosan from different mountains, as well, but not unheard of.

Appearance
Krosan are roughly the same height and size as their Duskarn kin, though they most often bear a look of strength that only many years of leading a rugged lifestyle can bring. Though rarely larger in stature, their much longer lifespan provides them with a very weathered look that would suggest a life of hardships, which is most often the case.

Their eyes bear large pupils from spending much time below ground, and are often an unusually light colour. Their hair is usually grey or black, or commonly white, even at a younger age. The beard remains common to the dwarven blood, growing in thick and full, and is still focused upon as a sign of status. Their hair grows in thick, and is often worn long, but much unlike hill dwarves, Krosan skin is very pale due to the lack of exposure to the sun, though it still attains that leathery look throughout the years.

Style of dress ranges depending on status in society. Lower-class wear simple, yet efficient garb to go about their daily duties. Much of it is made from the skins of animals hunted in the mountain ranges, generally goat hides and mountain sheep wool. Those of the upper echelons of society tend to wear more ornate outfits, often in deep brown and grey colours, and their clothes often have rich strands of metal woven in to embroider, generally in the form of their clan emblems. As is typical of dwarves, craftsmanship is exceedingly important, and many will go out of their way to obtain well-made items forged of the most beautiful ores mined from their homelands.

Features +2 Constitution, +2 Wisdom: Krosan are durable as stone, and gain a great understanding of life and the world throughout their long years.
-2 Dexterity, -4 Charisma: Not a particularly deft peoples, and distrustful because of their seclusion, Krosan tend to shun others in favour of their own type, often going so far as to throw out racial slurs when the chance presents itself.
-Darkvision up to 90ft. Krosan spend most of their lives in the dark halls of their homes beneath the earth, and have accordingly developed proper retinal receptors to deal with it.
- Size: Medium
- Base Speed: 20ft.
- +2 on all Craft or Profession checks related to stonework, metallurgy, forging, and gemcutting. Krosan are particularly talented artisans, and their social structuring involves many guilds related to such practices.
- +2 to detecting hidden doors when crafted from stone.
- +2 bonus to attack rolls when combating Orcs, Goblinoids, Troglodytes, and Minotaurs, due to specialized battle training.
- +4 bonus to attack rolls and AC when combating Delvers and Bulettes, as specialized training is mandatory to repel these frequent invaders of their mountain halls.
- Bright Light Stun: Since Krosan are so used to seeing in the dark, the sudden introduction of bright light will cause them to be Dazed for two rounds while they clear the stars from their eyes. Once their eyes adapt, they are immune to this until returning to the darkness once more.
- Extreme Racism: Partially incurred by their chosen seclusion from the world, Krosan are exceptionally racist towards most other races, excluding Duskarn and Gnomes. While cooperation with others is generally possible, a group of rock dwarves in the company of those of different races will almost always speak their native language to shut out the others, and generally do not listen to suggestions. Furthermore, their natural gruff tendencies tend to cause them to speak what they think of others without hesitation, which generally contains a plethora of racial slurs.
When an exchange of ideas takes place between a Krosan and a member of another race, the Krosan must pass a will save to hold his tongue, or he’ll throw down a racial remark in contempt. This almost always turns the debate bitter, and will generally result in hostilities shown towards the dwarf (And often his party!). The DC adjusts accordingly based upon the situation. Furthermore, a Krosan is generally reluctant to make use of products produced by members of other races (Armour and weapons, drink, jewelry, etc.), though depending on the situation, this may be ignored.

Some new information has been added into the Q/A thread. Feel free to take a look to start getting a better feel for the world of Baelenoa. I'm still adding more, so its far from completed. But...maybe we can get things rolling again. I just need a minimum of four people to get a move on things.

While we're waiting for our "issue of equipment", Falas' character and mine can engage in a game of chance called "go-dice".

It consists of nine (9) dice each marked with characters of the Baelenoan alphabet, some having all consonants, some having all vowels, and some having both consonants and vowels.
The object is to roll all the dice and have a number of the dice spell the Baelenoan equivalent of the word "go" (i.e., "go", or "jond", or "alu", etc.).

1 __ Starting bets are placed, raised, and/or matched, until all players have an equal amount in the pot.

2 __ Then all players roll -- once.

3 __ If one gets the dice to spell "go",that player wins the pot.
___ If more than one player spells "go", all have to match the pot, thereby tripling the amount (or more).
___ If no player spells "go", then wagering, raising, and matching begins again, all adding to the existing unclaimed amount. (no winner, go to step 1.)
____ If a player cannot match a current wager or raise, that player is considered a "token", and may roll in the current round, but is out of subsequent rounds unless he (or she) can find another source of funds. All wagers to that point are forfeit. Any raises or matches that player is not able to "fade" (cover or match), must be paid back to the other players from any won pot or "windfall source of funds". ( again, if no winner go to step 1.)

4 __ If one player manages to spell "go" twice in the same roll (each on completely diffferent dice), that player (or the first player to do so) wins the pot AND an amount equaling the pot from all players. That game then ends for the duration of the day for, by cultural tradition, the gods have favored the dice-wielder and none may take more from him, nor may he take more from the other players. However another game may begin again -- but without the "favored one".

Needless to say, wagers are usually small or at least conservative. And, of course, the game DOES require the ability to read ...

And well thought out, too! Have fun!

One thing I'd forgotten to request, and have recognized due to a helpful contribution from Utan the Orange...

Every character will automatically have five monsters they know and understand (To an extent, anyway!) I've found this to be rather useful in preventing metagaming the impossible:

Level two Ranger: Okay guys, watch out for that Beholder's eye rays! They can... *such and such*)

Quite unrealistic, right? Haha. Anyway. Its preferred that they be more local to your character's growing up environment, unless the backstory explains it. Just another little add-on sought out by your DM, Tek

Anyway. We're almost set to go. I can likely have an introductory post done up this weekend, and sufficient information moved over to the Q/A thread. Then we're off!

Reuban proudly dons the garb of his faith, the white steel of his breastplate emblazoned with the feathered sword of Liris across its breast. From broad pauldrons covering his shoulders to inches shy of the earth beneath steel plated boots hangs a yellow robe, with feathered accents across the shoulders, the thick hood hanging freely behind him to rest upon his knapsack. A mighty greatsword lies in a sheath affixed to the back of the knapsack, where an over the shoulder draw might free the blade without risking injury or damage to his pack. The mighty blade is fashioned and formed like a large series of overlapping feathers, each joint between them a jagged outcropping of tempered steel. Around his neck hangs yet another symbol of his faith, the holy symbol of Liris, the Angel of Mercy. Standing in at just over six feet, and with a healthy weight of almost two hundred pounds of toned muscle, Reuban is an imposing sight to behold; but beyond the strength of his arm or the stoutness of his frame was the unfettered might that was visible in his eyes, a piercing medium blue with hints of grey that seemed to bare the weight of some great burden upon them wherever they looked. Reuban, while an eloquent man, raised for many of his last twenty-two summers in finer living was often direct and to the point when able. His voice is strong and clear of doubt when he chooses to voice his opinions, and for a warrior he possesses a compassion about him that would deign him naive to the eyes of all the gods save his patron Liris and perhaps his twin sister Mirros.

Do we pick the monsters we know well?

According to the DM:

Quote:
... Its preferred that they be more local to your character's growing up environment, unless the backstory explains it. Just another little add-on sought out by your DM ...

I took that to mean that we provide the list based on our character's upbrining, training, and/or experience "to date", and sent in my list accordingly.
And no fair adding yourself to the list!

Grugg and Utan, that's correct. Unless its something where pretty much every member of the family is the same (Goblinoids, for example) they are to be chosen individually.

Kaelyn, I'm really liking this concept you sent to me. An effort to match Atharam, huh? Haha. This should be fun. Especially with what I've got in mind.

You know, I thought if it last night, Kaelyn, but I just know that the entirety of this game now, I'm going to be thinking back on that time we searched everywhere and finally champed what is quite possibly the most delicious sandwich I'd ever eaten (Since moving to Ottawa, anyway)

Secret staff meeting to throw a coup and take down Super chef, ending in an adventure across the city and ending with the mother of all reuban's was a fond journey in my life. Sharing it with my best friend only compounded such pleasure.

Next time we cross paths it shall be the elusive Monte' Cristo of Splendor we track!

That definitely was a fun outing, as was the entirety of your time here.

And holy crap does a Monte Cristo ever sound good right now...

Okay. Just so people know, I do still have fullest intention of getting this on the road. This is one of those dreaded weeks where you walk in, look at your schedule at work, and see that you suddenly have way more hours than normal. Haha. I'll try to do what I can in the meantime I've got, okay? Thanks to everybody for being patient. You'll all champs.