Post by zipp on Mar 9, 2009 6:56:42 GMT
If your character discovers any secret information, I'll post it here. Let's start with your history and goals.
You are a citizen of Oasis. Like many of the citizens, you've never left the city's walls, though as a higher citizen of Oasis you've been taught much about the world's politics and economies. One day you will be sent outside Oasis to deal with foreigners, and you have been prepared to better serve Oasis with your knowledge.
The city of Vassagonia in particular has always interested you, as it is the city of your parent's birth. Though lowly born themselves and only base merchants, they were part of the exodus that originally formed Oasis, thus their high standing as White class citizens, the third highest standing behind Yellow and Citadel class. While it was their dream that you would one day rise above them to Yellow class (Citadel seemed too much to hope for), your own dreams were filled with visions of sandy dunes and beautiful Vassagonian maidens. The title of nobility in Oasis is a decent goal, yes, but to be a prince of the dunes! That would be a true wonder!
Sadly, it is one you full well realize may never come to pass, and so for most of your life you've pushed this dream aside and focused on serving Oasis and the ruling council. To this end, you joined the guard two years ago, and brought honor to your family just a week ago when you successfully fought off a persistent group of bandits (the council had cleared most of them out of Raider's Road years ago, but a few remained). You personally captured their leader, a whelp named Barraka. This distinction bought you a place on the Citadel guard, an opportunity for jubilation cut short when plague struck your city.
The plague seemed to strike at random, and spread rapidly through those who had contact with the victims. Because leaving Oasis is forbidden for its citizens, except under special appointment by the Council, things quickly escalated. The plague travelled swiftly through the trapped populous until the dead began piling in the streets.
With such chaos around them, it was no wonder that the citizens turned to rioting. The guard had their hands full dealing with citizens gone mad and beserk. Rumour spoke of monsters in the city, as well, but you imagined this the ravings of minds that had succumbed, no doubt, to the plague themselves.
Of course, you hadn't seen anything with your own eyes. You were now part of the Citadel guard, and spent your days inside the Citadel's walls, where the plague had not reached. From within this safe haven, life went on in a bizarrely normal fashion. You were informed that your parents had died from the plague, but the news bothered you little. Your whole life had been spent preparing you to be a citizen of the Citadel, and from within its walls you viewed the world in a different light. Your parents would be replaced by new citizens. People were always wanting to be allowed inside the richest city on Magnamund. The only ones who mattered, truly, were those important enough to be allowed inside Citadel. This message is very clear, and you have quickly adapted to embracing it.
In the safe haven of Citadel, the remaining citizens watched with calm ease the destruction of the rest of Oasis. You watched with them, secure in the knowledge that the city would be rebuilt better than before. Then, yesterday, you were given the greatest honor of your life. You were asked to attend upon Valentine Ross, the head and founder of the council. Very few had ever set eyes upon the man, and some had rumoured that he had died long ago. Yet, when he received you in his simple chambers in Citadel's lower chambers (the tower that gave Citadel its name not only extended into the sky, but also below the earth), he seemed very much alive, if old in a sort've timeless way. With kind eyes and a soft voice he questioned you about little matters, which you answered in the way you deemed most respectful.
After a time, the talk turned to business.
"We would be fortunate if all our citizens were as eager to serve the cause of Oasis as you are," Valentine Ross says to you, sucking on the end of a hookah and releasing coloured smoke into the air with each annunciation. "Your capture of the raider's leader and the dedication you have shown during this test of our faith and endurance are commendable. Now she calls to you again, this lovely city. It is you who will put an end to this plague."
A twinkle is in Ross' eyes as he asks you the next question: "Have you ever heard of the artifact called The Hand of Kai?"
You catch your breath in a gasp. You'd heard rumours your whole life of a gift given to the founders of Oasis by Kai himself. The legend went that a Vassagonian prince had turned against injustice by the nobility and had turned to a life of crime in order to work away at the nobility's foundation. The gods, among them Kai, appeared to him to warn him against his chosen path. But Augri, the Vassagonian god of spite and trickery, convinced the prince that his actions were just, and so he ignored the other gods.
Eventually the prince was caught, and the Zahkan personally cut off one of his hands as a lesson to all thieves. Then he was made example of, kept in the hot public square during the day for people to ridicule, and thrown in the cold dungeons at night to think on his wrongs. Though he prayed and begged Augri for salvation, the spiteful deity didn't appear to him, having abandoned him. Kai heeded his call however, and offered the prince freedom if he would build a city far from Vassagonia where people could live properly without fear of the noble classes. When the prince agreed, Kai freed him from his bonds and showed him the way through the Zahkan's palace. He changed the prince's appearance to that of an old man and gave him strength of voice so that he could spread his message of salvation.
For months, the transformed prince preached to the public. When again the palace took notice of him, Kai sent him warning, and he and his closest followers left the city and walked the desert, following Kai every day as he travelled across the sky to the west. At night they followed his brightest star, and in such a manner, they were led North West to the hills around Moytura pass. They reached the spot where Oasis was to be constructed on the night of a full moon, and Ishir shone brightest on the hill which would become their new home.
Of course, to build such a home would not be easy, and so Kai gave the prince a gift. Cutting off one of his one hands, Kai affixed it to the prince's stub. It was a reward for the prince's hard work and faith. Many had died upon the road to Oasis, but the prince had led his people nonetheless, telling them no lies or false promises, just asking that they trust to Kai to bring them to a new home.
With the power of the Hand of Kai, it is said that Oasis was built in three days. It is also said that the prince died minutes after the city was completed, and that the Hand had been guarded as a treasure of Oasis ever since.
A fanciful legend, you had thought.
Now, Ross explains to you that the artifact is indeed real, and has been the guiding force of Oasis for its thirty years of existence. Or rather, it HAD served as a guiding force, for a week ago it was stolen. That the plague began at the time of the theft is no coincidence, Ross explains. Someone in the city still has the Hand, he is sure of it. Furthermore, he knows who it is. The woman Sera Veshin, once a member of Citadel who turned on the council when they refused to let her join them, now seeks the downfall of the council so that she can rule Oasis herself. To this end she stole the Hand of Kai and is plotting the city's downfall.
You are to ride out of Citadel and into the depths of the city. You are to find this woman and the Hand of Kai. Bring back the artifact. And bring back Sera Veshin's head. No doubt she has set herself up as some kind of leader in the chaos of the city, duping her followers into loyalty. Remember, she is high bred and extremely intelligent. She should not be reasoned with, nor trusted. She can see through any bluff, and her own bluffs will be impenetrable. Consider her extremely dangerous. Kill her, but make sure you know the location of the Hand first, and that killing her won't endanger your more important mission of retrieving the artifact for the council. Be aware that the city is full of crazed citizens, and who knows what other horrors Sera has unleashed. Demons and monsters, citizens made insane... but you must fight your way through to victory.
Do this, Ross says, and he will make any dream of yours come true. As if guessing your thoughts, Ross smiles at you when he tells you this and repeats:
"Any dream."
To summarize your goal: you must find and kill Sera Veshin. You must retrieve the Hand of Kai and bring it to the council. Any help you find along the way is good, but remember the rules of Oasis: outsiders are not to be trusted, and certainly can't be allowed inside the Citadel.
You are a citizen of Oasis. Like many of the citizens, you've never left the city's walls, though as a higher citizen of Oasis you've been taught much about the world's politics and economies. One day you will be sent outside Oasis to deal with foreigners, and you have been prepared to better serve Oasis with your knowledge.
The city of Vassagonia in particular has always interested you, as it is the city of your parent's birth. Though lowly born themselves and only base merchants, they were part of the exodus that originally formed Oasis, thus their high standing as White class citizens, the third highest standing behind Yellow and Citadel class. While it was their dream that you would one day rise above them to Yellow class (Citadel seemed too much to hope for), your own dreams were filled with visions of sandy dunes and beautiful Vassagonian maidens. The title of nobility in Oasis is a decent goal, yes, but to be a prince of the dunes! That would be a true wonder!
Sadly, it is one you full well realize may never come to pass, and so for most of your life you've pushed this dream aside and focused on serving Oasis and the ruling council. To this end, you joined the guard two years ago, and brought honor to your family just a week ago when you successfully fought off a persistent group of bandits (the council had cleared most of them out of Raider's Road years ago, but a few remained). You personally captured their leader, a whelp named Barraka. This distinction bought you a place on the Citadel guard, an opportunity for jubilation cut short when plague struck your city.
The plague seemed to strike at random, and spread rapidly through those who had contact with the victims. Because leaving Oasis is forbidden for its citizens, except under special appointment by the Council, things quickly escalated. The plague travelled swiftly through the trapped populous until the dead began piling in the streets.
With such chaos around them, it was no wonder that the citizens turned to rioting. The guard had their hands full dealing with citizens gone mad and beserk. Rumour spoke of monsters in the city, as well, but you imagined this the ravings of minds that had succumbed, no doubt, to the plague themselves.
Of course, you hadn't seen anything with your own eyes. You were now part of the Citadel guard, and spent your days inside the Citadel's walls, where the plague had not reached. From within this safe haven, life went on in a bizarrely normal fashion. You were informed that your parents had died from the plague, but the news bothered you little. Your whole life had been spent preparing you to be a citizen of the Citadel, and from within its walls you viewed the world in a different light. Your parents would be replaced by new citizens. People were always wanting to be allowed inside the richest city on Magnamund. The only ones who mattered, truly, were those important enough to be allowed inside Citadel. This message is very clear, and you have quickly adapted to embracing it.
In the safe haven of Citadel, the remaining citizens watched with calm ease the destruction of the rest of Oasis. You watched with them, secure in the knowledge that the city would be rebuilt better than before. Then, yesterday, you were given the greatest honor of your life. You were asked to attend upon Valentine Ross, the head and founder of the council. Very few had ever set eyes upon the man, and some had rumoured that he had died long ago. Yet, when he received you in his simple chambers in Citadel's lower chambers (the tower that gave Citadel its name not only extended into the sky, but also below the earth), he seemed very much alive, if old in a sort've timeless way. With kind eyes and a soft voice he questioned you about little matters, which you answered in the way you deemed most respectful.
After a time, the talk turned to business.
"We would be fortunate if all our citizens were as eager to serve the cause of Oasis as you are," Valentine Ross says to you, sucking on the end of a hookah and releasing coloured smoke into the air with each annunciation. "Your capture of the raider's leader and the dedication you have shown during this test of our faith and endurance are commendable. Now she calls to you again, this lovely city. It is you who will put an end to this plague."
A twinkle is in Ross' eyes as he asks you the next question: "Have you ever heard of the artifact called The Hand of Kai?"
You catch your breath in a gasp. You'd heard rumours your whole life of a gift given to the founders of Oasis by Kai himself. The legend went that a Vassagonian prince had turned against injustice by the nobility and had turned to a life of crime in order to work away at the nobility's foundation. The gods, among them Kai, appeared to him to warn him against his chosen path. But Augri, the Vassagonian god of spite and trickery, convinced the prince that his actions were just, and so he ignored the other gods.
Eventually the prince was caught, and the Zahkan personally cut off one of his hands as a lesson to all thieves. Then he was made example of, kept in the hot public square during the day for people to ridicule, and thrown in the cold dungeons at night to think on his wrongs. Though he prayed and begged Augri for salvation, the spiteful deity didn't appear to him, having abandoned him. Kai heeded his call however, and offered the prince freedom if he would build a city far from Vassagonia where people could live properly without fear of the noble classes. When the prince agreed, Kai freed him from his bonds and showed him the way through the Zahkan's palace. He changed the prince's appearance to that of an old man and gave him strength of voice so that he could spread his message of salvation.
For months, the transformed prince preached to the public. When again the palace took notice of him, Kai sent him warning, and he and his closest followers left the city and walked the desert, following Kai every day as he travelled across the sky to the west. At night they followed his brightest star, and in such a manner, they were led North West to the hills around Moytura pass. They reached the spot where Oasis was to be constructed on the night of a full moon, and Ishir shone brightest on the hill which would become their new home.
Of course, to build such a home would not be easy, and so Kai gave the prince a gift. Cutting off one of his one hands, Kai affixed it to the prince's stub. It was a reward for the prince's hard work and faith. Many had died upon the road to Oasis, but the prince had led his people nonetheless, telling them no lies or false promises, just asking that they trust to Kai to bring them to a new home.
With the power of the Hand of Kai, it is said that Oasis was built in three days. It is also said that the prince died minutes after the city was completed, and that the Hand had been guarded as a treasure of Oasis ever since.
A fanciful legend, you had thought.
Now, Ross explains to you that the artifact is indeed real, and has been the guiding force of Oasis for its thirty years of existence. Or rather, it HAD served as a guiding force, for a week ago it was stolen. That the plague began at the time of the theft is no coincidence, Ross explains. Someone in the city still has the Hand, he is sure of it. Furthermore, he knows who it is. The woman Sera Veshin, once a member of Citadel who turned on the council when they refused to let her join them, now seeks the downfall of the council so that she can rule Oasis herself. To this end she stole the Hand of Kai and is plotting the city's downfall.
You are to ride out of Citadel and into the depths of the city. You are to find this woman and the Hand of Kai. Bring back the artifact. And bring back Sera Veshin's head. No doubt she has set herself up as some kind of leader in the chaos of the city, duping her followers into loyalty. Remember, she is high bred and extremely intelligent. She should not be reasoned with, nor trusted. She can see through any bluff, and her own bluffs will be impenetrable. Consider her extremely dangerous. Kill her, but make sure you know the location of the Hand first, and that killing her won't endanger your more important mission of retrieving the artifact for the council. Be aware that the city is full of crazed citizens, and who knows what other horrors Sera has unleashed. Demons and monsters, citizens made insane... but you must fight your way through to victory.
Do this, Ross says, and he will make any dream of yours come true. As if guessing your thoughts, Ross smiles at you when he tells you this and repeats:
"Any dream."
To summarize your goal: you must find and kill Sera Veshin. You must retrieve the Hand of Kai and bring it to the council. Any help you find along the way is good, but remember the rules of Oasis: outsiders are not to be trusted, and certainly can't be allowed inside the Citadel.