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The woman before you has aged gracefully: with only the thinnest of
wrinkles apparent. Her form no longer shapely, her skin thinly wrinkled as
well. Her previously deep red hair now fades, and has gray streaks adorning
parts. Her old eyes are still bright blue with intelligence, though their
fierceness has all but left them. It is also apparent that...
You slump over and stop breathing.
You have died of natural causes.
Your disguise wears off.
sc
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o [Scores] Tristala, D'Tatsumaki. o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Status: Grand Master(1) Race: Half-elf Class: Bard o
o Kingdom: Zhenshi Cabal: Independent o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Coins: zero o
o Carrying: 0/19 items Load: 0.0/255.0 pounds o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Health: Excellent Mental: Lively Physical: Fresh o
o Attribute points: 0 Wimpy: 0 percent Mode: Kill/aggressive o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o You are standing. o
o You are over one-third of the way to the next level. o
o You have played 1590 hour(s) so far. o
oOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOoOOOo
att
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o [Attributes] Tristala D'Tatsumaki. o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Status: Grand Master(1) Race: Half-elf Class: Bard o
o Age: 155 Sex: Female Size: Medium o
o Alignment: Unprincipled Handiness: Right handed Religion: Sadal o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o STR: Powerful INT: Brilliant WIS: Wise o
o DEX: Nimble CON: Healthy CHA: Dynamic o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Carrying capacity: 19 items with a maximum weight of 255.0 pounds. o
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> skill
Amateur - dagger (mastered) sling (good)
staff (superb) sword (mastered)
whip (mastered) dance (mastered)
swim (mastered) taslamaran tongue (mastered)
uxmaln tongue (mastered) zhensh tongue (mastered)
empire tongue (mastered) aghelian tongue (mastered)
sylvan tongue (mastered) firmyrn tongue (mastered)
deep tongue (mastered) taslamaran writing (superb)
uxmaln writing (mastered) zhensh writing (superb)
empire writing (superb) sylvan writing (very good)
firmyrn writing (very good) deep writing (very good)
Novice - dodge (mastered) trip (mastered)
haggle (mastered) sneak (superb)
Initiate - dirt kicking (mastered) tumbling (superb)
second attack (mastered) pick lock (very good)
Apprentice- crossbow (superb) parry (superb)
self defense (mastered) endurance (mastered)
Journeyman- disguise (superb) disarm (mastered)
fast healing (mastered) lore (mastered)
Veteran - brawling (mastered) third attack (mastered)
Expert - enhanced damage (mastered) plant (superb)
scrolls (superb)
Mentor - persuade (superb)
song
Amateur - songs of protection (mastered)
Bind Me In Music's Safety Unaffected By Thy Hand
Dark Shall Rule The Realms The Miner's Saint
Oh, Guardians Of Old Fear Not The Flame
Armor Of Song And Might Pointy Things
songs of war (mastered)
From The Shadows To Live In Gloried Song
Away! Away! Beat the Drums!
Slash, Stab, Rend, Smash The Crash Of Battle
Soldier Go
c major (mastered)
Novice - songs of healing (mastered)
We Have Need River, O River
Truest Wealth Flesh And Bone
All Yon Childe The Gift Of The Song
Initiate - songs of death (superb)
When Death Comes In That Solitude
Mock of Death Through The Night
The Hammer Falls Shorten Their Time
Tale of Jason Alavern Solemn Shade
Apprentice- f minor (mastered)
songs of antimagic (superb)
Playing With Fire Eldritch Blight
Journeyman- countersongs (superb)
The Traveller's Song A Curse To Rhythm
When Songs Do Battle The Arrogant Bard
Lute Strings Snap
Veteran - songs of dancing (superb)
Hi Dee Ho Di Hi Dee Hay The Madness Of Music
Dance Again Before The End
Expert - b augmented sixth (superb)
songs of magic (superb)
Mystical Energies Mistress Magic
Spells Of Power
Mentor - songs of sleep (mastered)
Slow Moon Over Zhenshi The Soothesayer
Relentless Sleep This Idyllic Scene
Powers of Song
Master - songs of silence (superb)
Hush, Hush, Hush With But A Word
Silence Surrounded Fall On Deaf Ears
I Hear Widows Crying Of Chattering Sparrows
In A Quiet Library All Is Quiet
As far as spells go, she only had spells when she was a harlequin, all of those spells were mastered, as was the neat skill they get.
Before I share her story, I'd like to share my inspiration for her: I had made a one-time warlock, and that character sat in on a portion of the bard tournament Tyna won. I met Jaegyr Lynde and loved that character (I wanted to interact with him, so I wrote stories about him into Tristala's background story). I also met Kura, who was beautiful, but took many paragraphs to say it. I remember a part of it saying that “men would destroy priceless masterpieces to apease her” or something along those lines. I thought to myself .o0(I could make a character just as pretty, but with a description short enough that people could read it.)
I had never gotten a character past journeyman before, I had no reason to think that this character would last til age-death. When I chose her adjective (beautiful), I actually thought to myself .o0(What if she gets old enough to be really old and wrinkly and not beautiful?) I dismissed the thought with ease. After all, I've had characters with more inspiration, and they didn't last that long...
Alright, she aged to death, and has a long story. I will tell everybody who asks any part of her story, from my viewpoint or hers, but here's the story in a nutshell:
She was born in Teron, her parents did what many Teronian parents did, and died (hers just did it really early). Begging for copper and scraps, an old man takes her in and gives her food and a roof. She cleans his house and listens to his stories, her favorite story was about the bard Jaegyr Lynde, and how he defended villages against Dragon Necromancer Harlequins.
Eventually, this man dies of old age, and she's picked up by a man who sells women overnight. She was very young at this point, only ten years old, and it lasted four years until her employer was killed due to some bad debts. The man who killed him looks at her and gives her two choices: become a gladiator, or help them relieve their stress after their fight. The malnourished girl who had never held a sword before didn't really have two choices.
When she turned seventeen, she asked her new employer (manager and cook of the old Teronian arena) if she may leave, as is the traditional age of half-elves to leave their families. The chef laughs and tells her to get back to work. She looks at the knife, stuck in the cutting board near him. She takes it and attempts to stab the man.
Having no experience with a blade, and the nerves of trying to take a life (when not used to it), she missed. From that day til the day she died, she isn't sure if she missed on purpose or not. Well, the chef wasn't so forgiving. Him and a few of his gladiators chased Tristala out of the building and through the streets of Teron, and into the crossroads Inn. Jaegyr Lynde was there, and the pursuers were not (though according to Tristala's memory, Jaegyr defeated them in one swift action).
After making my character, I went straight to the Inn. I didn't do any training, fighting, or even armor purchasing. All I did was make her description and adjective. I imagined that I would work my way up to Jaegyr... I was pleasantly surprised for him to be the first character I interacted with.
Jaegyr smuggled her out of Teron, and into Nerina. She started her training, and learned some to speak the native language. Masami was an elven swashbuckler who had just became mentor ranked, and Tristala was her first student. She taught Tristala how to use a sword. Time goes on, and Jaegyr teaches Tristala little, then leaves. Tristala and Masami get closer, to a point where Masami falls in love.
Switching between Junieper and Tyna as her teachers, Tristala gains prowess as a bard. She does not necessarily stay loyal to Masami, who, when she is disloyal to Tristala, has a breakdown. (In her youth, Tristala was a heartless, manipulative [REDACTED]. This changes after Looruna's second arrival.) In this period of her life, four important events happened (since there are so many events, I'll only focus on the biggest ones):
The first was that she looked for religion. Tristala was almost one of Lord Achernar's followers, which was Masami's faith, but the priestess (a griffoness... I can't remember her name, so sorry!) who interviewed Tristala asked her to go to every faith she had interest in and speak to a representative. Well, Tristala went to a representative from every faith, from Dulrik to Thuban, and she found a kindred soul in both the Thubanites and the Sadalites. She decided on worshiping Lady Sadal because Nosephthyki is one of the most three-dementional characters I've met.
The second was the end of Emet. She never met the man, but her wronged her friend, so she decided that she wanted him to die, so in random conversation, she spread rumors about him and spread unrest. Eventually, the character was deleted, and Tristala started on her path to insanity.
The third was that the Harlequins found her, through her close friend Krista. She was enthralled with the entire organization, loving most of the people in it, and the aspect of what it does and how it's broken up.
The fourth was the birth of Amarie, the elven girl she considered her daughter. Masami cheated on Tristala with an elven man to conceive a child. If this hadn't happened, I may have deleted Tristala long before age-death.
Time goes on, Tristala adventures, and joins the black rose. One of the black rose members of the Harlequins was helping her train when she got her final level at exactly 500 hours. Masami has disappeared, Amarie is being raised in the Harlequin Manor, and every suitor that Tristala meets she harshly turns down, decides that she wants them dead, and the characters are deleted. This happens time and time again, eventually giving her a full-blown derangement. Tristala, from that point on, believed herself to be some sort of divine chooser or the slain. She goes on to stabbing people in the back, playing both sides, selling information, and being a helpful person.
Four big things in this part of her life: She becomes a leader of the Harlequin Court, she meets Aethus, whom is the only man she felt she could actually love, seeing as he was as backstabby and information-selly as she was. He was also a member of the Sadal faith.
The third thing was her well timed obsession of ancient tomes, including the story of Looruna, the Leviathan. Then she saw signs of Loroona's return, brought by the Crucible. She went to the leaders of the different Cabals and Tribunals and revealed herself as the Leader of the Harlequin, and demanded an audience. This was Tristala in her prime. She undid two wars and prevented two others in her diplomacy, and convinced all tribunals and cabals, save two, to ride under the same flag and bring down Looruna. The two she was not able to convince was the Crucible and her own: the Harlequins. This caused those under her to lose a bit of faith in their leader.
The fourth thing was soul dice. It was a game in which characters roll dice and the other ones in the game demand a truth or a favor. Tristala was an avid player of this game.
Tristala finds out, through Aethus, (since they were close, and business partners) that the Talons have a full list of harlequins, and about an attack on the manor. She did not realize that Aethus was lying to her about these things. Another Harlequin comes in, and though Aethus forbade (he had her swear on her god before telling) her from telling the Harlequins, he allowed her to tell this person. Tristala told her, and had her pass on the word to the rest of the Harlequins. Because of the strange way the message arrived, and the fact that Tristala was known for playing soul dice, one of the leaders led her into a trap, attacked and killed her. Tristala manifested and did her best to explain, though her position was taken from her, and a few years later, her membership. Before the attack on the manor, Aethus helped Tristala smuggle Amarie out of the manor and into his village (which is in a specific spot, but not coded in).
Tyna had said, at one point, that Tristala was another faceless name that would disappear in the books of history. If it weren't for that taunt, Tristala wouldn't have lasted til age-death.
Tristala tried to join the Druids (she made her own grove), and tried to join the fist, at different points in her life, but it wasn't until she betrayed her friend Nytomi and did some political finagling did she get enough status to play diplomacy on the realm-wipe scale again. After she took over the Talons, she annuled all the alliances and ended all the wars, and used the position in a selfish way. She used the power of status to bend the realms to her will, though she thought she was doing it for her daughter, making the realms the best they could be, but she was doing it for the thrill of causing change.
Tristala wanted to be the only one in the talons, and not have any power-hungry or blood-thirsty subordinates who would mess with her diplomacy. Well, the council of blossoms told her to accept some of the wide-eyed youngsters who were so eager to fight for Zhenshi. Tristala did so, and Syn's character (whose name I forgot) was a bit too rambunctious, and Tristala was only able to salvage her reputation by leaving the talons.
After Amarie turned 101, I tried playing her (elven sorc), but it wasn't the same, plus with timing, Tristala became more stale to play. I took several long breaks, logging on just long enough to have her tell some stories, make some friends with young people, change her description, and wait for her to die. Tristala was 121 when Amarie turned 101.
Tristala tried again to join the Fists, but I didn't log on often enough to actually get in (I had them on the ropes, though! They really REALLY wanted me in!)
This last time I logged on to Tristala, she was alive long enough to disguise herself to “aged”, recall to the Zakami Inn, and have Nosephthyki walk in. As soon as she does, Tristala age-deaths. It was followed by a very touching scene between Nosephthyki and Tristala, along with some of Tristala's youngster friends. It took place in Tristala's grove, in storming weather. The perfect send off to her spirit.
All the time I spent playing, all the great moments, all of the people, I can't really list off my favorite people or places or things, and there were pleanty of events I didn't mention in this story (the hero tournaments, many interactions between leaders, all of her students, the times she was brought on adventures, her rivals (I didn't even mention Syrina!), her self made bardic hypnosis power, the black rose things, etc). If you'd like to hear about any of them, let me know, I'll get back to you eventually. Or if you remember something that Tristala was a part of, and you want to know why she did what she did, or how she was involved, or what she would have thought, let me know.
I cannot make a list of people to thank. I would be unable to remember every person I would want to thank, and I'd feel too bad for forgetting them, so thank you, every single person who plays. The world of Shattered Kingdoms and the Realm of Pyrathia feels like such a real place, thanks to all of you.
Can't wait to start again.
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