#briel morningstride

[rhetoricalrogue]

It’s Friday night, so more random facts about my various d&d characters!

Dani has several botanical tattoos. She found an artist who does amazing photorealistic work and gave him samples of five different plants native to Antiva. Each one represents one of her family members: she may never be able to go home to see them in peace, but she carries them with her wherever she goes.

Brie’s biological father is a tiefling and it’s very obvious that her mom mixed up the town she hooked up with the blacksmith in (Pinewatch blacksmith was shocked at getting a baby with “I don’t want it, it’s your responsibility now” but wasn’t going to argue with an orc who looked like she could snap him in two like a twig. He also knew the Pinewitch blacksmith could barely look after himself let alone an infant) because even though they’ve never met, they share a lot of similar physical traits. She also picked up speaking fluent infernal fairly quickly, but that may have been because she grew up hanging out with her adoptive father’s best friend, the tiefling who owned the tavern across the street from their workshop. Brie also may or may not be resistant to fire, but her dad doesn’t want to test that theory out and claims she never gets hurt around the forge when she starts apprenticing under him because of his exceptional fire safety lessons.

Sunny falls a little in love with everyone he meets. He’s very much a romantic who sees the beauty in everyday occurrences and considers those moments little gifts from Sune to brighten the day of those willing to see them.

Mouse doesn’t remember much about her birth family. All she recalls is that her mother smelled like lilacs, her father had a soothing voice, and her older siblings cared for her. She doesn’t know that her parents were tyrannical villains who murdered anyone who tried to break free from their rule and often tortured townspeople for sport. The night their home was attacked and her mother screamed for her to run was the night heroes broke through their defenses to put an end to their reign of terror.

Molly’s mother is a goddess of the sea and a patroness of sailors (and pirates.) Molly keeps a vial of salt water with her everywhere she goes so she can keep her connection to the sea even on dry land and often adds salt to her bath water to feel more at home. She often casts Commune and has a shell with her she’ll press her ear up against. She knows it’s a trick with the way air flows through it, but she can clearly hear the crash of the waves and her mother softly singing her to sleep when she gets homesick for the feel of the ocean beneath her feet if she’s away from her ship for too long.

[scottishvix]

299 Days 1: An Explosive Meeting

A few of you asked, so here is session 1 of our D&D campaign 299 Days (I don’t know why it’s called that, you’ll have to ask the DM). So many thanks to @littlesnowarrow, @rhetoricalrogue, and @alittlestarling for creating Valka, Brie, and Meera to play with Elenia. Thank you to @uriellactaea for the wonderful portrait of Elenia. Biggest thanks of all to @novamm66 for creating this sandbox for us to play in and guiding us through it.

Purl is a small seaport, basically a hub or switching point. Boats come in and boats go out. There isn’t much land transport. The town is small, a village really. There’s a general store, a fishing fleet, and about 20 houses. There are two inns in town; the classier inn is The Clipper and the commoner inn is The Sailor’s Anchor.

Purl is where the adventure started.

Briel Morningstride, a half-orc cleric and blacksmith, arrived in Purl travelling with Magistrate Martin Kirkoff as his bodyguard on the road. He took up lodging in The Clipper, telling Brie that he wouldn’t need her until it was time for him to leave again. Until then, she was free to do as she liked, including making her own accommodation arrangements.

Valka Delahunt, an elven Druid, and Meera, a human Paladin, arrived in Purl on the same boat. Valka ran off to sleep on the beach as soon as it docked. Meera, noticing the elf seemed twitchy and troubled on their voyage, followed to ask if she was okay.

“Yes.” Valka’s answer, was short and sweet. She barely looked at the human checking on her.

“Would you like a drink? Maybe a meal?” Meera tried again.

This time Valka looked at her. “If you’re paying, yes.”

“Oh.” That hadn’t quite been what Meera had meant. “Um… sure.”

Valka quickly stuffed the few belongings she had unpacked back into her bag and the pair headed back up the beach.

Elenia Oceanweaver, a half-elf Bard, was performing on her lyre at The Sailor’s Anchor. She wasn’t on her game but she got a meal and a corner of the kitchen to sleep in exchange. It was far poorer accommodation than she was used to, but she supposed it was better than nothing. She should have thought about grabbing more money before leaving home, but life was more expensive than she had anticipated.

Brie, Meera, and Valka all arrived at The Sailor’s Anchor to eat. Valka and Meera talked over their meals. Well, Meera talked and Valka said as little as she thought she could get away with, given that the stranger had bought her a meal. Valka was on a personal quest and wanted to see a sea storm. Meera was on a quest to raise money for her Temple.

Brie, sitting at the next table, overheard them talking and turned her chair to ask Meera about her money raising. Meera explained that she came from the Temple of Helm, who is the God of Protection. The Temple was in need of repair and the priests had sent her out to try and raise funds to pay for it.

Valka snorted quietly to herself. “He can’t be a very good god if he can’t protect his own Temple.”

Brie ignored the elf. “Here,” she told Meera, passing her a silver. “I’m a cleric of Chauntea myself.”

As they talked, Elenia continued to play, improving as she warmed up, fingers flying over her silver lyre. A couple of patrons tossed her 10 copper in tips, and she flashed them a smile, green eyes peering out from dark lashes.

Brie called the innkeeper over and asked her whether there were any blacksmithing jobs in the area.

The woman considered for a moment “None in town, dear, but there might be something at the shipyard.”

Meera gazed curiously at her new companion. “How can a cleric also be a smith?”

Brie smiled warmly. “I was taught by my Da. I’m only an apprentice but I could do with the work while I’m here.”

As they discussed their lack of travel experience. Brie noticed that Meera was very naïve and looked around to see if anyone less kind had noticed she was a potential target. She also offered to share a room with both Meera and Valka. Meera happily accepted but Valka declined, saying she would sleep on the beach.

The inn started shutting down early. Brie asked the innkeeper if this was normal. The innkeeper said yes because people are back at work tomorrow. Brie and Meera rented a room to share. Elenia bedded down in the kitchen nook. Valka found a large flat rock on the beach where she could meditate.

Something woke Brie in the early hours of the morning. There was no noise but something felt off. She lay quietly and listened but couldn’t figure out what was wrong. She crept downstairs to see if she could find out what it was. A fog has rolled in but she couldn’t otherwise see anything.

At the same time, a little further down the bay, something pulled Valka out of her trance. A fog had rolled in and she felt something was wrong. She could hear an unsettling clicking coming from town. She packed up her camp, pulled out her dagger, and snuck towards the town.

Brie opened the tavern door and the fog rolled in. It felt weird, clammy, and icky. She quickly closed the door, shutting out the foul night air.  

As Valka entered town, a couple of boats and warehouses exploded. The whole town was awake in an instant. Meera grabbed her sword and shield and ran downstairs in her nightgown. Brie ran back up to grab her mace and ran back down. Elenia rolled out of bed, grabbing her dagger and dashed into the main room.

Valka seeing fire, her greatest fear, turned and ran straight into an intangible wall. It knocked her out cold.

Elenia met Meera in the main room of the inn. The innkeeper had already blown through and the front door was wide open.

“Is this normal?” Meera asked.

“Do I look like I’m from here,” Elenia replied. “I don’t fucking know!”

Meera and Brie ran out of the door together. Elenia followed more cautiously, peering out the door. All she could see was moving shadows and smoke.

As Meera reached the middle of the street, she saw an armoured skeleton run a woman through and zombies roaming the town. Brie couldn’t quite make out what was happening through the smoke but did see Meera freaking out, so she knew it wasn’t good.

The skeleton turned to Meera and struck her with a rusty sword, cutting her. Meera swung back with her sword but missed. Elenia saw this and used her Vicious Mockery enchantment to shout, “You smell like a corpse that’s rolled in shite!” psychically damaging it. Brie ran up and walloped it with her mace.

Meera heard the nearby screaming stop and as she dodged another blow from the skeleton shouted towards Brie, “There’s more coming!” She swung back at the skeleton, killing it.

As she crept closer, Elenia saw the slash wound on Meera and sang, “And when you get that feeling, you need Bardic healing,” healing Meera and inspiring Brie.

Brie ran up to a pair of approaching zombies and hit the closest one with her mace, injuring it. Meera swung for the other one, hurting it. Brie’s zombie swung its shiv at her and missed her but Meera wasn’t so lucky and reared back in pain from the zombie’s attack. Elenia concentrated and cast her Bane enchantment on them.

Brie swung again at the shiv-carrying zombie, making it hurt. Meera swung and missed again. Both zombies swung and missed. Elenia laughed at them and cast Vicious Mockery, asking the zombie attacking Brie, “How does it feel to always be the ugliest person in the room?” Brie used the distraction to strike the zombie and kill it.

Meera struck the other zombie hard, really hurting it. It swung and missed her but ignored Elenia trying to mock it. Brie also swung at it, killing it, but it stayed standing. Meera sliced through it, knocking it flat.

Brie suddenly remembered her boss, Magistrate Kirkoff and ran to The Clipper, where he had been staying. Meera and Elenia followed her. By the time they arrived the place was in chaos. The upper floor was in flames and there were a lot of zombies filling the courtyard. Brie saw the Magistrate fighting a well-armoured, well put-together skeleton-like creature with burning eyes. The Magistrate was fighting well but was overwhelmed by the creature and Brie cried out as she watched him run-through.

The Thing he was fighting turned and looked at the three women. Everything went black.

Brie woke up in a small 8x8 cell, stripped of everything but her nightgown. She tested the door but it was locked.

Valka woke next, hearing the rattling of bars.

Elenia woke up and looked at her surroundings. “Well, this is shit,” she commented.

“No kidding,” Valka retorted from across the way.

“Owww, my head,” groaned Meera as she woke.

As they all started complaining about their circumstances, Elenia leaned as far forward as she could in her cell. She could see the door at the end of the hall. There was torchlight flickering under the door but no noise.

Brie kicked her lock, making it shake. She asked if anyone could weaken the lock. Valka said she had an idea. Elenia inspired Valka and she cast Frostbite on her lock. She tried to kick it but she wasn’t striping enough. Brie continued kicking at hers until it broke. Meera tried to kick hers but, still disoriented from blacking out, only succeeded in falling over.  Valka tried to freeze her lock again but missed, giving herself an ice burn.

Brie, now freedom helped Valka get her door open, then went to help Meera open hers as she was still kicking at it. Valka moved over to Elenia, freezing her lock. She called Brie over, and the half-orc gave it a kick, freeing the Bard. With one final kick, Meera got her cell door open.

Valka moved to the main door and peeked round it to see stairs and another door. She wanted to leave but the rest of the group wanted to see if their stuff was in the other room. Elenia snuck over and peeked in. Their things weren’t in there but there were other weapons and armour. They all armed and dressed themselves and prepared to see where they were.

[rhetoricalrogue]

OC Profile: Briel Morningstride

Art by @domirine

Name: Briel Morningstride

Nickname: Brie

Motto: Do no harm, but take no shit.

Tags: briel morningstride, inspo: briel morningstride

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Age: 25

Height: 5’8”

Hair: brown

Eyes: dark brown

Race: Half-Orc

Class: Life Cleric, Disciple of Life

Alignment: Neutral Good

Religion: Chauntean, in the loosest sense of the word. Not exceptionally devout.

Hometown: Pinewatch

Stats: STR 14, DEX 13, CON 14, INT 12, WIS 15, CHA 12

Preferred Weapon: mace named Helga, big honkin blacksmith’s hammer of a Spiritual Weapon named Sven

Pre-Campaign Profession: blacksmith’s apprentice, part-time traveling bodyguard, random farm help

Favorite Things: tea, knitting, hanging out in a tavern with a good pint or two of ale

Insecurities: her teeth, being too scrawny for orc standards while being too built for human standards of acceptability

[rhetoricalrogue]

Do what is right, not what is easy.

Briel Morningstride: easygoing half-orc who was raised by a very surprised blacksmith after a case of mistaken identity left him in the role of an unexpected father. While she likes her name well enough, most people just call her Brie, like the cheese, and since she liked the name (and the cheese) she kept it. If you can’t find her at the forge, she’s either in the tavern across the street with a tankard of good ale or at home curled up with a mug of tea and her knitting.

She’s a bit surprised when the goddess Chauntea started sending her signs to serve as a cleric: if any gods were to come calling, Brie would have expected the ones dedicated to smithing or crafting instead of an agricultural goddess. Instead of questioning it, Brie embraced it, figuring an out of the blue adoption by a deity was merely par for the course for her life. One of her favorite ways to show devotion is to plant sunflowers in every location she visits that she feels needs a little bit of divine protection and cheerfulness around long after she’s traveled on.

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I commissioned the super talented @domirine for a portrait of my sweet yet strong gal and I’m so in love with how it came out! Thank you again, she looks amazing!

[rhetoricalrogue]

g & n for briel?

Thanks for the ask!

G: Gorgeous

1. what is their most attractive external feature?

Her hair, for sure. She loves to braid it in different styles, depending on her mood or what she may be doing that day.

2. what is the most attractive part of their personality?

Her generosity. She may have a gruff way of showing it, but if she sees someone in need, she’ll help however she can, be it with her time or her money.

3. what benefits come with being their friend?

As a smith, you’ll always have repairs to your armor or even a shiny new sword. You also have a buff half-orc buddy who has a 50-50 chance of intimidating anyone bothering you, and if she fails at that, you have someone who can back you up in a fight and cast Heal Wounds after an altercation.

4. what parts of them do they like and dislike?

Like: her hair, her talent at making things with her hands, her eyes.

Dislike: her teeth, especially the ones that are usually tusks on other orcs and half-orcs. Hers are too small to be considered true tusks, but too big to be normal human teeth. They point just enough from behind her bottom lip to be noticed but she’s so self-conscious about them that she tries to do anything to take the attention off of her mouth.

5. what parts of others do they envy?

She tries not to be envious of others based on looks or social standings, but she can get jealous of the attention others get for mediocre talent when she believes that she can produce the same or at times even better results while never getting the same level of attention and praise.

N: Never Have I Ever

1. what would they never do?

Kill anyone in cold blood. There has to be a reason that lines up with her morals to do anything, and more so when it’s something as serious as taking someone’s life.

2. what have they never done that they want to do?

Be a prominent person in her guild. Her spot is more on the lines of having a general membership and positive standing with the guild, but she’s like to have her name and her work more well known.

3. is there anything they absolutely can’t believe people do?

Anything mindless and spontaneous simply for the sake of “wouldn’t this be funny, lol”, especially when there are repercussions and punishments that involve her and she really didn’t have a chance to distance herself from things. She doesn’t handle chaotic energy well. At. All.

4. what is the most embarrassing thing they’ve done?

When she was a young girl, there was a boy in her village she really liked. Instead of telling him, she headbutted him and ran off to her father’s workshop.

5. have they done anything they thought they’d never do?

Does joining up with a paladin, a bard, and a druid to try to figure out what sort of curse or spell they’re under count?

ABCs of your OCs

[rhetoricalrogue]

OC Fact: Brie was the first person ever to ask Elenia if she was okay after a traumatic experience and actually care about the answer. She has no idea what to do with it.

Brie knew that had the same happened to her, she would have been having a brief moment of “holy shit, holy shit” before snapping herself out of it and trying to figure things out, and while Elenia looked as okay as anyone would look in the aftermath of that type of thing, Brie thought that it never hurts to check in and see if she was okay.

Her dad always told her “iron can look as sturdy as ever, but if heated improperly, can be as brittle as glass. People are like that too.”