Quote:
Magical energies swirl about your spirit...
...but you are too weary to return to the living.
Well, she's finally dead for good. I can't say what future holds for her ghost or if there even is one.
Here are that stats first.
Quote:
[Hum Swa] [COUNCIL] Aliquada Karmartin, The Star's Sovereign Blades of Wrath.
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o [Scores] Aliquada, Karmartin, The Star's Sovereign Blades of Wrath. o
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o Status: Grand Master(1) Race: Human Class: Swashbuckler o
o Kingdom: Wastes Cabal: Council of Necromancers (Leader) o
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o Coins: zero o
o Carrying: 0/21 items Load: 0.0/265.0 pounds o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Health: Massacred Mental: Pulsating Physical: Fresh o
o Attribute points: 0 Wimpy: 0 percent Mode: Kill/aggressive o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o You are standing. o
o You are at the half-way point of your journey to the next level. o
o You have played 971 hour(s) so far. o
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o [Attributes] Aliquada Karmartin, The Star's Sovereign Blades of Wrath. o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Status: Grand Master(1) Race: Human Class: Swashbuckler o
o Age: 91 Sex: Female Size: Medium o
o Alignment: Diabolic Handiness: Left handed Religion: Dabi o
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o STR: Powerful INT: Smart WIS: Naive o
o DEX: Acrobatic CON: Durable CHA: Influential o
o===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===-===o
o Carrying capacity: 21 items with a maximum weight of 265.0 pounds. o
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There is so much that I always wanted to put in this thread, though I doubt I'll have the energy to sort through it all.
It may ruin some of the majesty to say this, but she was actually inspired in part by me listening to too much Korn. For a while when I was playing Vladmire, I had a nagging image of a sweet looking girl with wide eyes and covered in blood. I had every intention of fitting her into that creepy, crazy little girl. I didn't know much about her, but some of what I heard of Jiin actually fed the desire to create her.
For a long while I couldn't decide what I wanted to make her. I knew I wanted her to be obsessed with her 'pretty little toys' (blades), and in the end it came town to either making her a rogue or a swashie. I knew I wanted to be in hate, and I figured the sacred weapon would be a neat to try with either class. In the end, it seemed like darkies needed more tanks, and I was certainly ready to play an 'easier' class after being stomped with Vlad. So, swashie won.
I loved and hated playing this character. She was intended to be a sort of art project or experiment into how complicated an SK character could be. The image her almost became haunting, and I couldn't really think of playing anything else, but the complexities became overwhelming. I'd hate sitting around inns and chatting simply because I didn't feel like it was my in my character to do so. I'd often end up idling simply out of the confusion over what I should be doing. If I did have a good interaction, I'd want to log out right away just so I wouldn't screw it up.
Whether or not I succeeded in making her as complex, interesting, creepy, and downright crazy is really up to everyone else. Success or not, I'll be getting back to more simple characters. Trying to make them too intricate just makes it feel like work, and I'm definitely ready to play something that I can relax with more.
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Now, for the story:
Aliquada Karmartin was born an imperial slave. Like most of her lot, she did not know her true birthday, only that she was born in the winter. For a long time she did not know who her father was, only having semi-regular contact with her mother and half brother. She hated seeing them, however, because their sympathy for her reminded her of reality which she succeeded at escaping from with the monotony of her work. She was kept to housework for much of her childhood.
Eventually she found out that her master was, indeed, her father. As with many slaves, she was begotten out of the lust he had for one of his subjects. Ali's mistress knew of the affair and demanded that Ali's mother be traded away. Every day Ali paid for her father's weakness, as her mistress would take any excuse to verbally or physically abuse her. Ali would later use similar language in her inane ramblings.
'Little girls should remember to be polite, oh yes.'
Eventually the Empire told the world that it was getting rid of its slavery. This announcement came as no relief to the slaves however, as they quickly learned they were not being freed in the conventional sense. Their Emperor, being the son of an adept, was working with the blood path to solve their problems with the orb. Ali never learned of any of it, but the consequences meant all the difference to her. Being shipped off to an undisclosed camp set deep in the ocean, she was held captive with the other slaves, listening to them scream in terror of the oncoming doom. There the slaves were sacrificed. Some sang an eerie tune, one which she hummed until the day she died, but most either stayed silent or howled as they were slowly tortured.
With the help of her brother, she barely escaped, taking an opportune moment to stow away inside the corpse of a giant which was being taken back to the mainland to feed the Midnight Council's Necromancer's dark desires. Her brother would later be killed by trolls as they made their way away from the Empire.
Eventually she made her way to Krychire, still hearing the screams of those who died and still feeling the weight of helplessness on her. She remembered every time she called out to the gods of light and was left wanting, and she began to hate everything they and their followers stood for. Over her early days in the North, she heard many priests and paladins speak of how they would save the weak from the wretched, but what she saw was only bloodlust and excuses to kill. Knowing only slavery, she was blind to these supposed heroes. Finding them after her freedom, she saw them only as hypocrites who ignored every sign and opportunity to save someone in lieu of killing the enemy and creating vainglorious stories.
So there, in the North, as her mind became warped and twisted with rage and hatred, she learned how to truly wield a weapon. Scaroth was the first to mentor her, and she learned as much as she could from him before he died. She despised the title of bladedancer, as her way of fighting was much more meticulous and calculated. She did not wildly swing her weapons around in a flurry of attacks. She slowly broke her opponents down by slipping past their guard. She tried to use this slow, methodical method in everything she did, and she truly thought it was worth more to destroy a person's spirit and perception.
Though she always hated those of the Empire and often spoke ill of them and plotted against them at times, she understood their way of life, considering it much more honest and natural. She hated as many women do, using her mind and words rather than physical aggression. She did, however, return to slay much of her house. In taking her vengeance, she also took her surname, Karmartin, her great, great uncle on his knees, still cursing her as he died. In dominating him, the eldest and most powerful of the family, she stole what was kept from her as an illegitimate child and slave.
She was happy to find that the Star agreed with her methods, stating, 'What my father promised to do in a day, I will do over a millennia.' She found her religion through Nunnomit, who eventually told the Star's messenger that she should be favored to bring back the church of hatred. Ali did her best, but she unfortunately was unable to maintain the church as her mind slipped further away and death approached.
During her younger years, she spent most of her time either killing or in Teron. It was during one of her 'play times' that Vorak tempted her down the blood path. She gave her oath to the five, promising double to the Star, and for a long while she killed with them, enjoying every minute of it. However, she saw an opportunity for more. Somehow she got it into her head that the council of necromancers, weak as it was, could be turned into a standing army for the five and the interests of the blood path. She asked Vorak for the opportunity to creat this army, but as with many things concerning the path, she was forced to take what she desired.
She gave her powers back in order to further her goals and plots. She truly thought she could build the army that would destroy the realms, which is what she sought more than anything else. It was very soon after this that the path fell, but she stayed devoted to it until the very end. She built her army, but found that even once it was built, the task was not so simple. She enjoyed taunting her enemies and causing them to break down and succum to their rage and hatred. She took the small victories, eventually realizing that she would not see the very end herself. Whether or not her work will live on past her is yet to be seen, but she undoubtably left the council in a far stronger possition than she recieved it.
Her final death came at the hands of one of her most devious creations.
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The list of people that I would need to thank is far too long to even attempt to type out. I'd certainly end up forgetting someone and offending them. Suffice it to say that if I interacted with you I enjoyed it on some level and thank you for that. I hope those who made this character the most fun know how much I appreciate them without needing to say so.
This is my first age dead character and probably my best PK character. I always hated the odd-man fighting, but it seemed like it was either two big groups smashing together or an unfair fight either way. I did try and succeed at some solo PKs, but they were few and far between, mostly due to the fact that banishment all but eliminates the possiblitiy of one on one fights. It was very hard to balance a sadistic character with the OOC tennants of a fair fight. Often I was dragged into fights that I'd rather not have been a part of, either having no excuse out of it or thinking that the odds would be more fair. I have never made it my intention to make the game any less fun for someone else, and I do apologize if this character did so through killing.
If you have any confusion over anything my character did, said, or otherwise, feel free to ask. I did my very best to keep a lot of her actions as cryptic and mysterious as possible, and I know there are some people who were utterly confused by her nature. Often they would just call her stupid out of frustration.