Flipz

I'm not 100% sure I've been consistent with this, but Miirym can't speak common, she can only "speak" it through telepathy. Her physical speech is always Draconic.

OOC: Repeating here since I don't expect people to scroll back to my earlier edit: I'm adjusting Miirym's speech formatting. Speech in between <> brackets without quotation marks is her standard telepathic speech that anyone can comprehend, while speech between brackets inside quotes "<like this>" is spoken in the Dragons' tongue. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Right, and originally that's what I used them for (Draconic speech), but I guess with the yellow text as well, people seem to miss them, so I just gave up around the time 139 started. I think there's also some confusion over it since Vipera uses <> but without quotation marks for her telepathy-speak. I guess I can follow the Vipera example--<> without quotes for telepathy, "<>" with the quotes for Dragon-speech? I'll be honest, it's kind of hard to maintain a consistent standard to match both Vipera and the regular Animal Talk-style stuff.

Ah, that's my bad, I think, I've been using the "<>" for Miirym's telepathy-speak business. I tried for a while to consistently use formatting to indicate what was Draconic and what was telepathy, but I've kind of given up at this point and just started saying "Miirym speaks to [person] in the language of the Dragons" instead. Unless you're in Spesialia, where plain old walking takes you to 1 HP for literally no reason.

OOC: That is correct, yes, though Miirym is a youngling, not a hatchling. Miirym maintains a conversational tone as she follows Arx and the rest of the party. "<Immortalis did not make the choice to flood the residences in the name of expediency. The burden of that decision rests on our shoulders as much as his. I believe the human phrase is 'two wrongs make not a right', yes?>" Arthur moves near Karie, attempting a somewhat soothing tone. "Don't beat yourself up, Karie. With this group...I mean, what are we, a team? No, no, no. We're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're... we're a time-bomb. Best-case scenario, we get it to blow up someone who deserves it, rather than someone who doesn't."

"<Point. But they have been wronged, and we were the ones who wronged them. As poor as the Black Knight's timing is...these people do deserve our apology, even if it is just a brief one before we depart.>" "...wait, back up a sec, Pretzel was working with Baba?! The Hel did I miss the past year I was gone??" <...Father. Timing. We can discuss it while we move.> "...right. Sorry." Arthur eyes Lind warily, but does not dismiss the Black Knight outright. It was the first time since he'd set off from the rest of the party that he had not pointedly ignored the Munchkin entirely.

"<Perhaps is is simply the time I have spent outside of Heroica, cousin, but this party has never felt united to me. Or rather, it has only been united by the thin thread of necessity, rather than anything more. You are right in that facing Immortalis is more important than our own disputes. But we cannot afford to ignore the damage we cause. We are creatures of the ages, cousin Arx. To act without consideration is to reject our responsibility towards the world in which we live. Our successes and failures both are things with which we must eternally live.>" OOC: I just noticed, Miirym and I never got our experience from solving the puzzle, so we should have leveled up. Looks like Siercon didn't get the puzzle exp, either, though it looks like Jinnipher did.

OOC EDIT: For the sake of consistency, I'm starting here with Miirym's new formatting. Speech in between <> brackets without quotation marks is her standard telepathic speech that anyone can comprehend, while speech between brackets inside quotes "<like this>" is spoken in the Dragons' tongue. Sorry for the inconvenience. "You're one to talk. Every so-called 'Hero' in this room is a failure. This whole time, we've all had the choice between what was right, and what was easy, and I think we all know which way this party skews. Half of us are failures for taking the easy way out--and the other half are failures for not stopping you." <And in the end, the 'easy' route accomplished nothing. Charon and the angels still waited for us, and would have even if we'd taken the harder path. You sacrificed these people's homes for nothing.> "These obstacles aren't just roadblocks between us and Immortalis. They're tests. And Heroica has been failing each and every one of them. Good job." Arthur steps forward to Solon, speaking Diplomatically--and loudly enough to be heard over the crowd's din. "For what it's worth, Regent, I'm sorry. Sorry for the path they chose, sorry Miirym and I failed to stop our allies, Hel, sorry you and your people got dragged into Immortalis' wrath in the first place. If I knew some way to fix this, I would, and I will. Remember, as I stated when we were first offered the choice, I am an engineer. With your permission, once we've defeated Immortalis I'd like to come back here and try to undo some of the damage my allies have wrought." <In the meantime, however...let us go deal with the eldest of my kind.> Arthur and Miirym are ready to move on.

OOC: Sorry I haven't been active recently, I've been a little under the weather. "...oh." In truth, Arthur did not know what to say. While he had shared some of Karie's dislike of the man ever since their mission together, enough time had passed that he'd almost dismissed his past grudge. Now, Arthur felt his contempt for the man rising once more, and his faith in Heroica crumbling just that little bit further. He drinks a Mead to soothe his fraying resolve, a vain attempt to drown the doubts growing within him.. "<I may well be dead by night's end...or, I may have to live with my choices for a thousand generations. In either case, I wish not to have any regrets.>" Miirym allows herself a faint grin of satisfaction at Gabriel's own self-ignorance. "<Mortals. So reliant on sight, you oft forget scent. As far as Dragons go, anyone with a nose can see you two are bonded.>" She frowns. "<Anyone. Hmm. ...Remain in alertness, Gabriel. For all her armor, I fear your mate's weak point is grievously unguarded, save by your own vigilance.>" Miirym moves back to Arthur, as the others begin to complain of the prices of the Toxiproggs' wares. Throughout their whining, she and Arthur both grow visibly more angry, culminating as the Toxiproggs and Solon and Fydelle confirm their own thoughts. "<I should think so!>" "With damn good reason!" Arthur and Miirym practically shout, in near-unison, almost at the same time as Karie lets loose her own verbal jab. Both lapse into a few seconds of silence at their own outbursts, before Arthur speaks to Anemos. "It's fine, Anemos. We appreciate your assistance anyway, I'm just sorry things had to turn out the way they did, especially considering how it all came to naught in the end." Arthur resists the urge to scowl at the rest of the party, instead stalking onward in an extremely foul mood. And despite her being nothing but helpful, the Dragoon's coldest shoulder is clearly towards the Falconer. "'Heroes'. Hmpf." The two words are all he can be heard to mutter, but in context they speak volumes.

I don't really have a lot of advice for you, Zeph, sorry. With Arthur's former chaos-worship and even now how his past affects his present philosophy, I've always tried to respect what you built over the Wren saga and then build onto it with my own perspective. Purpearl's take on Zoot did not, so I'm not sure how or if you should build off of it. I will say that Interesting Things might happen if Bobby interacts with Arthur at all. I'll be honest here, I think it's because Hoke and Thormy were both Dragoons with silent Dragons. And I mean, it's a valid choice and all, but I didn't really get a feel for Torc's non-verbal characterization until 139 (ironically, the first time she spoke, even if that was only in a PM side-Quest; side note, are you planning on posting those, Zeph, now that 139 is finally completely over?), and Arx...I feel like Arx had a lot of characterization early on, but now he's sort of regressed into a useful class feature and little else. I had really hoped for Arx and Miirym to get to interact a bit more, but I suppose there's plenty more time for that, especially as we get closer to more interaction with Immortalis. (Who knows, maybe he'll turn out to be related to Immortalis, too? ) It's just something that's come to mind upon seeing this comment, especially now that Hoke has given up his Dragon companion.

No, I don't think that's quite right. For something like "1/2 chance of dealing Hexed" you'd roll per enemy, but for something originating from the Hero I'd think it'd run more like the Pheles Kris. Heck, now that I think of it, running it that way would make it be rolled for only once for Marauders and Mystic Knights, too.

"Here, Thormy, heads up!" Arthur gives Thormanil his Noxious Venom and Crumbling Venom. "I don't exactly have the cash for any of this stuff, so you'll make better use of what I've got than I will."

"<Is that so? Then perhaps I might have a better idea of what lies behind them than any human...even Arthur.>" Miirym looks like she wants to say more, but in light of the mixed company--and especially the increasingly violent Heroes among them--she holds her tongue. No sense upsetting her adoptive father when he already had so many things of which to remain mindful. "...?" Arthur cocks his head at Masson. "No, you didn't...I had assumed some accident...whether in the workshop, or when you killed...well. Our common enemy." Even now, having come mostly to peace with his hidden, inky form, Arthur did not like thinking about The Regret, and the extremes to which his feud with the villain had driven him. Nevertheless, he begins to brood slightly as the party moved onward, unable to completely repel the more unpleasant memories. "I'm game. Although, given the sheer volume of venom you seem to be working with, I'd hazard a guess you're more than experts...I don't suppose you'd be able to permanently infuse existing venoms into a weapon? I have two right here I've been saving for a rainy day--no pun intended--but if I could get more mileage out of them, I'd be much more likely to use them." With both Arthur and Jinnipher distracted by the venom-green Proggs, Miirym returns her attention to Gabriel, projecting her words only to him. "<Look. Between you and me--and I mean between you and me--I have a suspicion you're right. But...>" She sighs mentally, the sound somewhat strange as the mental projection was, unlike usual, not accompanied by a physical counterpart. "<There's more to beating Immortalis than just beating Immortalis. For me, anyway. I want--no, I need to prove, if only to myself, that one day I'm not going to just end up on the same end of that handcannon as he's going to be. My father--that is, Arthur--doesn't understand. He tries, heavens bless him, but he thinks...well-->" At this point, she scans the room cautiously, even though her conscious mind knows she won't be overheard. "<--he thinks that I need a family like he found with the Ziegfrieds. By my relatives aren't a big happy bunch of humans living in a magic manor. We're Dragons, a dangerous race on the best of days. And unlike my adoptive father's family, my blood's proven dangerous enough to need execution on two separate occasions...three, counting tonight.>" Miirym levels her gaze stoically at Gabriel, her eyes filling in the missing words she refused to even think. "<It's not exactly comforting to learn that first your father, then your grandfather turn out to be tyrants. So you'll forgive me for trying not to descend to their level.>" Her gaze grows dangerous, an azure glare the sniper had almost surely seen before. "<But again. Not a word of this to anyone. Not even Arthur. It's none of the Munchkin's damn business, and I don't trust your mate or the Paladin not to try and execute me on the spot. And the rest...well, I doubt they'd be good with secrets. Not ones this big. But you...you seem like you've kept a fair few in your lifetime. And as for Arthur...>" Miirym's gaze momentarily softens, briefly showing the vulnerability beneath the facade. "<I don't know if you'd understand this, but he made an enormous sacrifice following me back into Heroica. His problems with the organization are...not insignificant. But he made that sacrifice so I could learn about my father and uncle...even if I don't exactly like the answers I got. So, publicly anyway, I'm going to support him on this, even if I think he might have it wrong. When push comes to shove, and my grandfather refuses to stand down, Arthur will have my back--and, assuming they haven't turned on us, the rest of the party's as well. In the meantime, playing things the hard way is a small price to pay...especially if I can prove to that smug bastard that I'm better than him, that I won't grow up to be his perfect little heir.>" Despite her mental words, it was clear that Immortalis is not the only Dragon of her line she is trying to prove herself to. With a little huff of her wings, Miirym settles back in to wait for the others, as if she'd said nothing at all.

Eh, it's not too bad on Raider, it's still only a 1/6 chance on a SHIELD. Like you mentioned, it's Mystic Knight and Marauder SHIELDs you'd have to watch out for.

IMO, Jinnipher's "Brine Blade" would be better off as the "Bilge Blade", which would fit better with the idea of poisoning/infecting someone. Just my two cents, though.

Arthur nods silently, his relief and gratitude palpable. He hoists Corvis a little higher upon his shoulders, ready to move on. Miirym, meanwhile, watches the party's Knight and Paladin quite nearly coming to blows. She flies near to Arx and Thormanil and the Falconer, murmuring quietly in the Dragons' tongue. "<This isn't a team. It's a time bomb.>" She glances nervously towards her caretaker, who for his own part was trying with difficulty not to snap something savage in response to the Black Knight's provocation. "<And it's only a matter of time before something sets it off.>" She looks back at the allied duo once more. "<You know, on our last quest, Arthur and I came into much conflict with our allies. At the time, I attributed it to our not being Heroes, resulting in our allies distrusting us and our opinions. But that was like a candle compared to this bonfire of bravado. The Veterans have chosen an unusually volatile mixture. I only hope that the aftermath brings harm to those deserving of it, and not the innocent. But then, that is the nature of an explosive, is it not?>"

Grogmas, IIRC.

Miirym affixes Vindsval with an appraising gaze, but on balance decides he is telling the truth. "<Then it seems there is honor in the Elder bloodline after all. And perhaps not all of Heroica's own has been lost, either.>" The Dragon frowns at the rest of the party, who on the whole seems determined to slaughter the helpless angel she carries. "Look, we are not killing them, period. Even if I thought they deserved to die, I will not stand for the execution of the helpless. We fought them, they lost, that doesn't mean their lives are forever forfeit. People should earn their fates, and aside from Vaermina and the footsoldiers, none of the angels fought fatally, so we're extending them the same courtesy. I mean, Hel, everything else aside, it's as basic as 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you'." "<We are headed for Eschaton, are we not? We will deposit them there after we ourselves have arrived. If that is not possible, the Shackles of War Arthur carries from his Town Watchman days should be more than sufficient to restrain them under the Veterans' watchful gaze.>" Arthur nods, lending his Shackles of War to The Falconer before affixing Karie with a hard, concerned look. "Be careful, Karie. Right now, this party reminds me a lot of the last time we Quested together...and in particular a certain Paladin we both know. I'd prefer we play our cards carefully, so that this night turns out as well as--or with luck, better than--that one." Miirym seems somewhat doubtful of Arthur's assessment, but does not contradict her caretaker. Instead, she simply adds, "<We are not just fighting the Dragon and his allies. We are fighting their ideas. It is vital we win a complete victory, not merely a partial one.>"

Miirym clears her throat loudly. It appears that she does not appreciate Vindsval's not answering her question.

"Speak for yourselves. Miirym and I can carry them just fine, and if we're going to beat Immortalis I want to do it on all fronts." "<Right now the enemy thinks he's better than us. I intend to shatter his misconception.>" "Why just beat him when you can beat him and do it without unnecessary bloodshed?" "<Precisely.>" "Flowers of Sybil. They grow in Ether-rich areas and absorb memories. I've used them before. That's why I wanted to hang on to them--I've got plenty of experience with this sort of blossom." "<If I had to guess,>" Miirym speculates haltingly, "<that was a very young Lethauros, many aeons in the past.>" She had long since warmed up to the thought of her uncle, unlike her still-conflicted emotions towards her direct lineage. "<It seems a wonder that a Dragon so small, so innocent, so good-hearted, would one day have to die at the hands of Heroes.>" She affixes Vindsval with a piercing gaze. "<He did have to die, correct? He truly earned his fate? Or have I misjudged Heroica yet again?>" "Miirym--" "<No. I wish this answer for myself. What I know--what I've heard, what I saw when we met, what we just saw now--does not match with what events have come to pass. I am missing something. I intend to rectify that discrepancy.>"

It's in his inventory, he got it and 7 Silver Ore with his SHIELD early on. Angel Helmet (Headwear; Power +13 when using a weapon or spell that is light elemental.)

OOC: Siercon should have 22 health from Natural Respite, not sure if you should waste a potion for just 8 HP, especially since we have a Paladin in the party. "Vaermina was incredibly overpowered powerful, she managed to briefly knock me out as well. I would have advocated your revival, but she fled before we got an opportune moment--we didn't want to revive you only to lose you immediately after." "<She worries me.>" "Yes. Something tells me this isn't the last we'll see of her...I can only hope that next time she will not be as formidible. But in case she--" "Vindsval, what the HEL--?!" Arthur checks to see that Corvis is still safely secured upon his shoulders, as Miirym does the same with Glaz between her front talons as she soars circles above Arthur to keep him from the rain. "<I dearly hope,>" Miirym says carefully, "<that it was only the dead you carried as we ran. To slay the living but helpless...it would be no better than that which Immortalis himself now does to Eubric.>" Arthur locks eyes with the Falconer, a mixture of concern and vindication upon his face. Do you see now? Why I believed this life to be unhealthy for her? The Dragoon does not voice his questions, of course, but his doubts are still evident. Miirym, for her part, seems to be debating whether or not she could intercept an attack on Arthur and the still-unconscious Corvis while still carrying Glaz, should the need arise. She flies a tad lower, just in case. Arthur clears his throat, trying to change the subject. "What happened to the helmet Corvis had? I think it and the blade together might make a potent combination for someone to wield. Just a thought, of course."

So, I just pictured Warlen and Miderun both in the same battle, and I am legitimately terrified now...

"Are those...Flowers of Sybil? Hmm...I have a bit of history with them. I'd like them, if no one minds." Miirym directs her attention to the Falconer. "<Better the angels stay with us, where we can keep an eye on them, than letting them go off and prepare more traps for us like they did in the tunnels. And better they remain alive, to rob our enemy of his self-superiority.>" "If only the third angel could have been spared..." Arthur sighs sadly. "Her death was not just tragic, but pointless." "<I am more concerned with the angel who fled. I could feel her power...she is dangerous. And she nearly killed you...it is fortunate for her that I am unable to deliver vengeance for that transgression.>" "I'm fine now, Miirym. Let's focus on the present." Arthur, too addresses the Falconer. "Anemos got us here, through the Proggs' tunnels. We almost didn't make it, but we need you--the other Veterans need your help to create a portal to Eschaton. Are you up to the task?"

I'd argue that mages are a tad harder to play; the stereotypes are both weaker and more difficult to play with in the "playing with a trope" sense (as opposed to, say, a civilized barbarian or a generous rogue). The vast majority of Mages we've gotten have tended to follow the "careless and/or power-hungry" stereotype, differentiating themselves mainly through external means (i.e. exotic races, exaggerated personality traits, sidekicks, etc.) rather than by turning the core concept of a mage on its head; even Arthur is no exception.