Honor (aka Tazendra)

Sabra La Tau

Battled as Blanks:	Akin Iyapo Shing Kaalnikanjlo aka Curls of Canis (akin2squidrats)
	Tazendra Lavode, Baroness of Davya aka Honor of Corvus (baddecisiondzur)
	Ermillina Curtana aka Snow White aka Merry of Monoceros (noicequeen)
Came Back for Round Two:	Zelgadis Graywords aka Blue Dude of Vulpecula (slateblank)
	Tailmon of Lepus (notacat)
May Have Been Watching from the Enterprise:	Marla Mason of Caduceus (bruteforcemancy)
Their Valiant Player	Becca Stareyes/Zel/Taz (beccastareyes)

Also an DW version -- feel free to ask about the characters there (Tanabe Ai, Georgia Mason, Lafiel I-have-a-fancier-name-than-Tazendra* Abriel.)

* I may have a problem with canons with improbably long names/lists of titles. Send help.

( Tazendra is hanging out on top of a floating building (well, ruins) that she happened to levitate, helping to teleport (a spell she invented) supplies/people to and from Dzur Mountain.  )

Teleportation (and Psychic Communication)
Okay, so Tazendra can teleport things -- bring herself and others to and from familiar locations. Now, I could just say that she's unlikely to do this without the Orb, because it's a lot more delicate than Blowing Things Up. OTOH, if there was an emergency, Honor would totally risk it to get her teammates out of danger and back to Lyvus (probably the only location she could manage -- maybe some of the other dorms, but at that point, Lyvus would be more useful).

And the bracer could restrict it. Canon could go either way -- even gifted sorcerers couldn't teleport using Orb 1.0, and experiments tended to end badly. And the one attempt to teleport something via Elder Sorcery(7) had mixed results, but that was also trying to teleport several things to the Paths of the Dead. OTOH, teleportation quickly catches on such that every city has two-bit sorcerers making a living by sending paying customers from A to B... less than a handful of years after the spell is invented. So it's not the kind of spell only a wizard can use.

Also, teleportation tends to make normal humans nauseous.

Also, I can't figure out if Morrolan gave Tazendra the coordinates she needed via witchcraft or sorcery. 200+ years later, psychically talking to friends is totally doable. OTOH, I don't know if that relies on the fact everyone's mind is linked to the Orb(8), so uses it as a relay as well as a power source. It might just have been easier for Morrolan to do it via witchcraft, in which case, Tazendra learns nothing new about magic from it.

(Tangent: given that Selendis's powers are psionic (and thus, closer to witchcraft than sorcery in Tazendra's mind), I wonder if Tazendra's great esteem for Selendis will make her reconsider her stance on Eastern superstitions. Plus, Honor lacking Tazendra's 'bah, Easterners' bigotry, and being in a place where she couldn't even use Elder Sorcery -- and, she can't create amorphia like Aliera, Adron or Vlad could. (Whether she could contain it... not sure, since only those three seem to do it, and those three are special))

( Footnotes )

So, sketch meme. Because I need more things to procrastinate on draw.

Or, sure, question meme if you want (I play Honor, Akin and Merry).

( Read more... )

I think Honor is four memories behind. Here's hoping she doesn't take all of them at once, because she's got two Neg-Sigs in there -- her death and this one.

( And yet she ran. )

Since Aerich helpfully posted the full text, you can refer to that, though he leaves out the bits before Aerich shows up. This is also the first memory both Aerich and Tazendra have recovered.

( The first thought that crossed Tazendra's mind as she awoke was the reflection that she had been asleep for a long time. )

What Honor Learns
-- I am the most badass wizard ever!
-- ... Also, I'm dead, because last time I checked, most people can't live with holes in their torso.
-- Gains a lot of magical badassery, both attacks and defenses.
-- A bit of how Zerika got the Orb.
-- The Jenoine are scary people, but I can kick their asses!

I wasn't sure where to put this memory in her registry, since Tazendra did die a happy woman, but this is probably the most rageful she ever gets -- so it got shoved into Negative. She also doesn't remember that Aerich is further injured by Grita and dies, but... well, if she remembers Aerich told her earlier indirectly what happened, she'll realize he's dead. Which... that's not fair at all! She killed one of her attackers and was the most badass, so he shouldn't have died to rescue her!

Also, it's a good thing she remembered this well after Lenalee's nightmare, because that hit several of her pings: watching her friends die in front of her is the best way to hurt Tazendra. Before she woke up, Illista said the only way they'd get a satisfying revenge is if they killed Tazendra last and made her watch as they killed Aerich, Khaavren and Pel, because... well, see note above about Tazendra not placing her own life in high priority. Hell, you remember before Aerich showed up, Tazendra is joking with people who want to kill her in pieces and think that summoning the setting equivalent of a Great Old One is a perfectly reasonable way to go about it.

(Also good that she remembered this post Heart-Run. Tazendra normally turns fear into rage, and Mirror's mongoling blocked that pathway. She can cope with it better here.)

I have no clue why I have this as 'want this soon'. Oh, well.

( To Piro's eye, the most remarkable aspect to the appearance of the knobby, sinewy, dark-complexioned Dragonlord before them was that, unlike Piro and his companions, he showed no signs of having been traveling; that is, his uniform was clean, and even showed signs of sharp creases, such as are made by a one that engages in cleaning and pressing of uniforms as a profession. )

Well, I couldn't find a time for everyone, so looks like Sunday afternoon 2 PM Eastern* is the best bet for Honor Heart Run shenanigans. (As a reminder, those not on Lyvus should have a good reason and an offering for Persona.)

* I can go earlier

Okay, so I really want to do a Heart Run (to fix Tazendra, but partly because it's fun). Problem is, I specified a physical change, and Persona's powers do jack and shit for those.

So, I'm altering (with Mirror's approval) what Mirror did. I'm picturing little mirror shards covering Tazendra's DNA, making the changes* not permanent. And Mirror being an ass and making it self-reinforcing; the more Tazendra gives into fear, the more the little things become hard to dislodge; the more she acts like a Dzur, the more she can shed Mirror's influence. Not because Mirror wanted Tazendra to learn how to be brave without it being hardwired, but because it's even funnier to think about how broken things fail to heal even when you allow them a way to do it.

It would make it easier to discover -- a slow shift back would be hard to notice, but Tena's pillarfication just hit Tazendra in the 'I am a useless coward teckla' buttons, which might clue in some of her more observant teammates that there is a mental component. Namely trauma thing happens => Tazendra looks slightly different.

Also, when would be a good time and who wants in? I may kind of already prepared the heart already (I was bored, okay?)... I can do things most evenings (not Tuesdays) American (EDT) time, and afternoons on the weekends if we want to find a day where there is no Sabra event so that the Europeans on Lyvus don't get all sleep-deprived.

ETA: http://www.doodle.com/pvrsb53kx948k2ms Let us solve this with science! (Use your character names, so I know who is who.)

--
* You know, epigentically. Which I'm saying just because it gives me a nerd rush to be able to use the word epigentically in a online roleplaying game.

This is another memory when Tazendra is a young woman in the Phoenix Guard. The four of them -- her and Aerich, Khaavren and Pel -- are hanging around in the house they've rented together in the capital, specifically Aerich's room since he has nice, comfortable chairs.

Khaavren thanks Pel for helping them out with introductions when they first met and asks Pel something about the politics of the court, because Khaavren is from the countryside and this is all so new to him. Tazendra actually seems to be listening to this, so I have to summarize it.

( So, state of the Empire. )

What Tazendra Gets
-- More information on how the Empire works. Good luck getting Honor to explain it in a coherent fashion, but...
-- It is totally appropriate to kill someone for insulting your artwork, but, for legal reasons, it would be best to do it in a duel, rather than cutting off his head and jamming paintbrushes in his eyes.
-- Second mention of normal humans (Easterners). Here there is some sentiment of 'damn barbarians', but it's something Honor can easily file under 'well the Easterners in Sabra are different, since they aren't trying to invade my homeland'.
-- It's better to be decisive than to give into fear of the unknown. Not that Tazendra doesn't already do this. But she'll argue more for doing things than showing caution.
-- You know, Tazendra now knows most of Aerich's backstory, far more than he does.
-- Like I said in chan, she may figure out that El has told her 'we both die, and that's why I regret never acting on my feelings', since he did so in the same way he related his past. Tazendra is occasionally often unobservant enough to fall for language tricks, but she tends to overcompensate for confusion by commenting on things to show she's listening. Especially since Khaavren obviously got more than the surface layer of the story. So either she tuned Aerich out -- which I doubt, since she grasps the point of the story and argues against it -- or she got it.

So, since half (or more!) of Lyvus has no clue what I just did with Tazendra and Mirror, allow me to explain!

Short version. Tazendra's brand of humanity has genetically-set castes. Mirror just took her from one of the pretty damn noble ones down to peasant. Moreover, there's fair evidence that caste influences personality -- and Honor remembers enough of Tazendra's life to care either way.

So, you'll notice some slight changes in her facial features -- a slightly more rounded jaw, eye shape and ears. Most obvious is that normally Honor has a widow's peak, and she doesn't any more. There's also the cultural and personality aspects...

( Longer Version is Long )

( Read more... )

( Khaavren was awakened early the following morning by a remarkably loud sound, in the form of a 'boom' similar to what a heavy log might make when dropped form a great height into a rocky valley of the sort that generals considerable echos. )

Honor Learns
-- So, apparently my bad track record with my uniforms in SLT is something carried over.
-- More magical theory. Given how Tazendra pauses when trying to explain what happened, she's thinking about the magic she does. The spell she used is probably the same as the last memory's ones, with adjustments for the Orb, but she's also troubleshooting to figure out why she blew herself up. At this point, she may not be able to develop new spells off the cuff, but can at least modify the ones she remembers.
-- Clothing repair. Given the sewing minigame some weeks back, Honor knows how to sew, but she got a boost to it. Given time constraints, this was probably a rush job (and/or seeing who had extra layers that she could borrow to deal with the tears and holes).

( It was on a Farmday in late winter of the 264th year of the Interregnum that Piro, Kytraan, Tazendra, and Zerika, accompanied by Mica and Lar, set out from Dzur Mountain, bound to Deathgate Falls and the Paths of the Dead. )

It also occurs to me that this was the most involved spellcasting Tazendra has done in her memories. The other two cases were quick reactions, but it takes actual controlled motion and chanting to get the effects in this memory. OTOH, this is the first time she remembers casting outside of combat -- and in one fight, she had the Orb. So I can imagine a lot of non-attack Elder Sorcery is making sure nothing blows up in your face. Attack Elder Sorcery has a little leeway if you don't care what happens to your opponent as long as it stays contained. Granted, the first time Tazendra uses Orb 2.0, her spell blows up in her face thanks to the gods souping it up, but IIRC, one of the benefits of the Orb is the whole 'idiots less likely to reduce landmarks to raw chaos' thing. (Idiot sorcerers don't last long, but they can at least kill themselves without risking the world.)

Or else she just knew that none of the assembled (besides Mica, and he doesn't count) had seen true magic because of the lack of the Orb, so she was showing off. Which is always a possibility for Tazendra.

But actually getting some of the theory will probably help her refine things. Once she gets a power source, of course.

( Rambings... )

I was wrong. This was not the floating castle memory (That's the Battle of Dzur Mountain). But it does have awesome fighting abilities.

( Tazendra is in the middle of nowhere with Khaavren's son, Piro, Uttrik's son, Kytraan, a Teckla servant (not Mica), five surrendered bandits, and the Empress (who has the Orb circling her head). This is not the setup for a joke. )

( Tazendra and Pel are walking back to Khaavren's place -- she's probably about 600 years old here.  )

Commentary
First combat memory! Honestly, Tazendra probably won't gain much of a boost here, besides in reaction time and aim, since it wasn't a fair fight at all. But she remembers the type of sword she favors, and will probably go ask Ophiuchus for one.

As for magic, she remembers now that she is a sorceress and one sufficiently skilled and knowledgeable to use it in a fight. On the other hand, she won't be able to cast anything in Sabra yet. Basically Dragaeran sorcery takes three things. The first is the knowledge of the spell. The second is a source of power -- Dragaera has seas of amorphia/chaos which serves nicely. The third is the Imperial Orb, an artifact that orbits the current ruler's head and does many useful things, one of which is serve as a filter between the raw power of amorphia and a citizen sorcerer's mind. One can cast without the Orb, but it takes extra knowledge to avoid Bad Things -- knowledge that Tazendra hasn't learned by the time of this memory because a) it's illegal and b) it's dangerous and c) why bother when the Orb is here and lets me blow stuff up really good. One can't cast without a power source, period*.

So as soon as she tries the spell, she'll realize that she can't use it here (yet), but won't really be able to verbalize why besides 'I have no link to the Orb' -- a bit like trying to get on the internet and having Firefox not found. (In this analogy, Elder Sorcery would be using the console...)

* I could tl;dr at you about my theories on sorcery versus witchcraft, but...

What Happened
( This memory is set when Tazendra is around a century old and working for the Phoenix Guard.  )

Commentary
This memory will take the sting out of one of Tazendra's neg-sigs, the one where her parents die without telling her 'we gotta go out and protect the Duke of Arylle's son, instead of going to charge at that army, so be a good girl, mind your nurse and clear our names when you're older'.

This memory also has some second-hand awesome: I'm a soldier in His Majesty's Guard! We stopped an assassination attempt! Aerich regained his title by killing someone who needed killing!

Truthfully, at this point Tazendra should be able to realize that Aerich's little story was about her and him -- she remembers her own house, his house, and that they had two friends who were very close. Tazendra isn't always that prone to introspection.

Owing fealty to Aerich could be a problem, but I anticipate it's one that the two of them can sort out. But it adds even more into the 'Apus = protect', since now only is Aerich her friend, but she owes him her service.

I got time to kill before work, so have an essay. I need to write more of these.

So, bad games does things to people...

( Honor/Tazendra )

( Curls/Akin )

--
* This isn't quite the right word.

So, I'm bored on Sunday, Honor's been here about a week IC (either her week or everyone else's), and Akin just got his heart poked at. Time for a question meme.

(Feel free to ask multiple questions, since I can't always think of good things to ask back.)