Let's keep making an adventuring party! (Fantasy Friday #22)

Now that I’ve engaged my “Secret Vice” (as Tolkien called it), I’ve the urge to return to playing with that cartomantic character creation system.  We might as well create a whole adventuring party with this method ~ we’re halfway there already!

Number three has the following spread:
Nature:  Brass 7
Spirit:  Gold 6
Body:  Silver 12
Mind:  The Priest 5
Nurture:  Bahamut 13
Strength:  White 1
Dexterity:  Black 2
Constitution:  Silver 2
Intelligence:  Gold 9
Wisdom:  Silver 6
Charisma:  White 8

This character has three Silver Dragons, indicating a strong just streak, and also Bahamut!!  They were definitely touched by a powerful force for good at some point.  And chromatics are in the minority ~ this just might be an uncomplicatedly good character for once.

Like all good dragons, the brass in Nature indicates a predominance of cognitive talent ~ six of its nine tokens go to the Mind card and three to Body.  It also represents wisdom and perception.  I’m a little worried about the character ending up overly similar to Forsetilafom, with their use of Sense Motive as a primary weapon.  Looking ahead, I note that the Priest card is in the Mind position.  Mayhaps this character is some sort of religious judge?  Like a qadi or something?  Geographically, that would show up in either the not-Maghreb or in Scarhas (the not-Middle East).  The primary religion of Scarhas is the Haćo religion, which is based on the Jedi.  However, Time replaces the Force in their construction, with Destiny and Fate as the Light and Dark Sides.  The idea of a Jedi qadi is rather juicy to me!

A gold dragon sits within the character’s Spirit with her honor and nobility of spirit, gifting tokens to Constitution, Wisdom, and Charisma.  This is central to their personality, but it’s not an indicator of their truest self (which is wise and perceptive).  This is all screaming for the character to be a Haćo knight, probably one focused on the application of the religion’s laws.  Their Body is marked by a silver dragon’s justice and judgment, and each of the three physical ability scores gets an additional token.  What does it mean for a Body to be just?  It seems that, mathematically speaking, it indicates that the character has taken care to equalize their physical development.

Here’s one of the important cards: a Priest’s protection is the mark of their mind.  Wisdom takes a lead in tokens as it receives four (the rest go to Charisma).  A wise, perceptive nature with a just body and a protective mind, all suffused with an honorable spirit ~ this is the very image of a Haćo.  Bahamut’s goodness, generosity, and leadership is the first thing the character improved on.  It functions as a copy of the Mind card, so a Priestly Bahamut gives a token to Wisdom.  It seems the Haćo still practice the childhood isolation of old, gathering Time-sensitive children and cloistering them away to learn their lessons early.

The silver dragon in Wisdom gives one of those tokens away to Constitution.  Some sense of judgment, early on, toughened the character.  I feel like the synergy between the two ability scores is the thing here.  Both are about being tough, one a toughness in the body and the other in the mind.  Something taught this character from a young age that, if they were to see good persevere, it would have to, well, persevere.  Good will does nothing if you can’t survive, if you can’t take a blow.  There was likely an important moment where the character saw some good fail to come to fruition because of its own fragility, some failing of virtue that taught this lesson.  Another character might have allowed the seed of cynicism to sprout therefrom and to leave the way of good by the side of the road like an unwanted child, but not this one.  This character merely promised that they would be better, more committed to the cause of Destiny, would learn from the other’s mistake.

Our first evil dragon shows up in Charisma!  A white dragon represents speed, ferocity, and agility, so I’m imagining the character becoming quite full of themselves, with an inflated sense of their own willfulness and invulnerability, and trying to force good into their home situation.  After all, why build goodness with charity and talking, when ferocity and force are so much quicker?  Bull-headedness can often give one a very persuasive cocky swagger, which is what I see happening here.  Charisma steals two tokens from Wisdom as we begin to enter Anakin territory.

Our descent into the questionable word of midi-chlorians, dodgy pseudo-Hellenic tragedy ethics, and dodgier pseudo-Shakespearean dialog continues as the silver dragon in Constitution gives a token to Strength.  This tells me that the character overworked themselves, pushing to gain the ability to push others into doing good, even when they didn’t want to.  Most nights at this stage in the character’s life bore starry witness to hours of exercise and physical training.  Lack of sleep takes its toll in the end, however.

When bullying the bad for the good didn’t quite work out the way this character suspected, they began their real 40 days in the desert.  Their Fate began to stretch over the All of Time.  The temptation to use underhanded methods rose within them.  The truth began to lose its glitter as it seemed so much easier to tell people whatever words would bend their behavior towards fulfilling their Destiny rather than their Fate.  And since force failed, perhaps stealth could succeed?  The black dragon in Dexterity steals a token from Charisma, as their lies and the seething anger within them are laid bare.

This revelation, no doubt, frightened the character.  Their community showed them what they hadn’t seen ~ that, as dedicated to Destiny as they were, their Fate was the only place this route could lead.  I see them retreating into themself, throwing themself into punishing exercise regimes intended more for self-flagellation and purification than for physical development.  Stress positions and lifting more weight than their body could handle cause the white dragon in Strength to steal a token from Dexterity.