Character Creation Part 1

THIS CHARACTER CREATION IS SETTING SPECIFIC AND HAS NOT BEEN COMPLETED. INSTEAD, LOOK AT THE CHARACTER SHEET PAGE

You've made your way through the grand city of Alexander and arrived at The Smoked Oak, a tavern in a crowded part of the city that doubles as the headquarters of The League. Despite the establishment's open doors, the smell of smoke is thick as you enter the tavern. The sound of laughing, shouting, and the clanking of tankards is a heavy constant as you make your way between the tables and up toward the counter near the back. You take an empty stool, and moments later you catch the eye of a small man. He stands on some form of platform behind the counter to stay at eye level with the majority of patrons (he's certainly less than 4 feet tall), but has a booming voice that cuts through the tavern's clamor.

 **Bonesaw:**

"Well, well, what have we here?" He follows the inner edge of the counter on his platform and stops right in front of you, feet spread so that his body makes the shape of an A and a fist planted on each hip. You wonder if he's attempting to be intimidating when he continues. "Don't think I've been seein' your face before, eh? Pleasure to make your acquaintance. They call me the Bonesaw! Welcome to the Smoky Oak my little friend. What can I do for ya?"

Select a response from the options. The option marked "Continue" will progress

 **Bonesaw:**
"Bah! Don't be so quick to judge! I'm larger than life itself, and don't you forget it, peanut head! When it comes to being in The League it's not your height that matters. It's only the size of your heart!" He thumps his chest to emphasize. He put effort into it, but any noise is completely swallowed by the tavern's ambiance.

 **Bonesaw:**
"Of course ya are! You look fighting fit to take on any challenge on behalf of our fair city Alexander! And you've certainly made the right choice to join The League and become an adventurer. Fame and glory await you, friend."  As he talks he begins absent-mindedly walking back and forth, swinging an imaginary sword and you get the feeling he's talking to himself more than to you.  "Before long you'll be cleaving goblins and giants, snatching jobs from the bulletin board, and forming friendships as strong as steel with twice the longevity! The common people will crowd around you begging at your feet to-"

 **Gracie:**
"No, no! No feet." A woman appears behind the counter from the back door, a jug of some sort slung over her shoulder. She's perhaps a foot than this Bonesaw fellow, and her hair the color of dead grass. She reaches a bony arm to interrupt his imminent ascent up onto the counter, causing the small man to stumble out of his monologue. "No walking on the counter dearest. Get it into your head, please."

 **Bonesaw:**
"Goodness, Gracie! You trying to kill me here?" Bonesaw straightens after recovering his footing. He nearly regains his composure before his eyes grow wide again and he calls after her "Oi! Hey! We need the list!" He grins back in your direction and starts to explain. "The list is for the new recruits. I always forget, but you have to fill it all out before you can join."

 **Gracie:**
"I have the list." Gracie sets the bottle down behind the counter, uncorks it, and gives it a pat.  "How about you come serve our guests, love, and leave the list reading to the one of us who can read."

 **Bonesaw:**
"I!.." He stops his protest short, leans in toward you and mutters "Pay Gracie no mind. I can read just fine. At least... as long as the words are as short as I am!" He doesn't wait for a response, laughing heartily at his own joke as he makes his way down the counter to start pouring drinks for the men at the other end. His place is quickly replaced by Gracie, who pulls a notepad from her apron and holds it up as she clears her throat.

 **Gracie:**
"Ahem. Per order from the Circle of Council, all applicants to The League are to be appraised with a line of questioning to... ascer..tain? Ascertain their eligibility and com... comm... Nope. I don't think that's english." She flicks the page over and back and prepares to take notes on the next page. "Basically we, as The League, have been ordered by the Circle to vet anyone who wants to join, so we came up with some very important questions. Feel free to write your own replies down for future reference."

This is step 1 of character creation: **a character concept.**

It's recommended to answer each question and write the answer down.

If you're unsure what the answer should be, feel free to ask Gracie questions.

There will be more information on other wiki pages.

* "1. What is your name?"

* "2. Give me a brief description of yourself."

* "3. What are you good at?"

* "4. Why do you want to join an adventurer's guild?"

* "5. Do you have family or friends?"

* "6. What world are you from?"

 **Gracie:**
"Oh my. Where to start? Hopefully you're aware of the Shuffle?"

 **Gracie:**
"The shuffle was an event 5 years ago that changed everything. After the shuffle seven worlds, or ages as the sages like to call them, were shuffled together. Seven separate worlds, all minding their own business, just overnight were merged into one, chunks of land from one world suddenly adjacent to chunks from another. This new world we all live in is just a patchwork of the original seven. It's colloquially called the shuffle, because it's like seven decks of cards were shuffled together."

"On that day all the gods disappeared. Gods, who used to walk amongst us mortals simply vanished. And that's not even the strangest part. Only one in every few hundred people were aware that it had happened. Some are still in complete denial. To them, they believe the worlds have always been joined, always been the way they are now, and the gods were always relegated to myth."

"Anyway, these are the seven worlds. Well, there were seven. Now there's only one, but we still let folks identify with their home. There isn't a strict agreement on what they should be called, but I'll use the name I'm used to for each. You're standing in the city of Alexander, which was always a part of Luweria. There's Dargo, the primitive world of monsters. Salagaravine is a rather dark world where the people live in dense cities and enjoy fineries. Tapros is where most of the anthropomorphs come from. It's a very animalistic world. Grendle has huge cities, flying carts, and metal men. Pul'aidle also has incredible technology, but it's much more spiritually and aesthetically focused than Grendle. And then of course there's Labyrinth, but I'm sure you're not from that dark, winding underground maze. Nothing good comes from there."

 **Gracie:**
"Luweria's a beautiful world, er, was a beautiful world. Now it's a beautiful part of a much larger world. We had great cities, rolling hillsides, mountains. Really, we ran the gamut. Luweria's also host to a very diverse cast of peoples. Humans are on every world but Labyrinth, but Luweria also has the elves, dwarves, little folk, orcs, goblins, and everything in-between. Of course, I need to acknowlege my bias as Luweria has been my home for the nearly 5 decades I've been alive. I used to enjoy life on a farm in the plains west of here and only come to Alexander city for trade. But the shuffle put a dangerous bog between my old place and the city, so I settled in with my husband here at the Smoky Oak."

 **Gracie:**
"Dargo is a land of monster hunters who use rather primitive weapons, but use them quite well. They hunt creatures that are extremely dangerous and let nothing of the kill go to waste. Most of them live in their own villages with decent enough accommodations, but they're a hardy bunch that don't live in luxury and most of them don't want to. They haven't integrated much with the other worlds, probably because despite having a lot of humans almost none of the people of Dargo are Terran."

 **Gracie:**
"Salagaravine is a mouthful of a name. Sal-a-*Gair*-a-Veen. Their world is arguably more advanced than ours, and they tend to live more mundane lives. I can't say it's too different from Luweria as far as landscapes go, but somehow it always feels more muted, less colorful. You won't see a lot of them here in the Smoky Oak, but that's because they're not as rowdy a bunch. They're also mostly human, and a lot seem to be Terran. They're a bit superstitious, but you can't blame them. They didn't deal with cyclopes and dragons on their world. Monsters from Salagaravine don't stand out in a crowd."

 **Gracie:**
"Tapros is comprised of vast jungles and forests, but the peoples are quite diverse. They're anthropomorphs, or what we would usually call animal people. Depending on where you go they could be very civilized, living in wattle and daub houses and walking cobblestone streets, or completely feral and living in the wilderness like true beasts. I'll admit I don't know a lot about them from before the shuffle. They generally don't seem bothered by the shuffle, but I may only ever be exposed to the ones who really took well to city life, so that sentiment may be far from universal."

 **Gracie:**
"Grendle was a small world where populated areas were dense, and mostly vertical. They had skyscrapers and self-operating vehicles that protected the upper-class from the settled smog down below. Their machines produce smoke, but they're very durable and useful. The efficiency of their mining machines is incredible. Much of their machinery is powered on oil, coal, and a mineral they call "pepper" that ignites and sparks. It's all quite bothersome, though I'm sure I could have stayed on the farm if I'd had access to one of their motored carts. They have robotic people too, though I don't find them good conversationalists."

 **Gracie:**
"Pul'aidle is also a mostly human land. Their settlements are small and far-between, but they know a lot about tech. They have functional machines that are often powered by copper wires and crystals. They're not polluting or dangerous like the machines you'd see from Grendle, but they're not as useful either. Their tech is more focused on very specific tasks, because the people are often very focused on one line of study. You won't meet a lot of folks from Pul'aidle, and honestly they probably haven't met a lot of people from Pul'aidle either. There was enough room on their world that a social life outside of family wasn't a high priority. They seem to value quiet reading and the outdoors, so they don't frequent the Smoky Oak a lot."

 **Gracie:**
"We often wonder what exactly Labyrinth is. The entrances stay fixed, but what you find on the other side seems to change each time the door is opened. Some have described it as a maze, others a dungeon, and others a breathing castle with balconies that open into starry expanses, despite the entrances always leading underground. The only good things that come from Labyrinth are dragged out from its many puzzling chambers by The League or by lucky but foolish adventurers. It seems to live underground, away from the sun, only belching up its monstrous inhabitants every so often to wreak havoc on us up above."

* "7. Are you a Terran?"

 **Gracie:**
"You know how I said that only a few people were aware of the shuffle? Well, those of us who recognized it are called Terrans. Don't ask me who came up with that name, surely one of the sages. It's believed, without confirmation, that the only reason we saw the shuffle for what it was is because we're not originally a part of the seven ages that make up our world. Or at least that our ancestors weren't. Not sure how that works, but there's a reason I represent The League, not the Hall of Chronicles. But the fact is if you woke up 5 years ago the find your world merged and mixed with 6 others and the gods mysteriously gone, you're a Terran. If you woke up after the shuffle and thought this is how the world always was, you're not."

"If you're not Terran, don't worry. The Bonesaw and our girl Aini aren't either. Being Terran is believed to be hereditary, but as always, it seems there are exceptions."

* "8. Are you religious? Do you or did you worship any gods?"

 **Gracie:**
"That really depends on your world, your culture. The gods disappeared and left vacuums where they once stood. My god was once Alexander, the emperor and protector of these lands. But after the shuffle he vanished, leaving an empty throne. Can't say how confused I was when Bonesaw claimed to have only ever known Alexander as the name of the city and castle. It seems most gods shifted into legend and myth, though some are worshipped by very devout followers. There's much to learn about them, and you'll learn more when you speak to the Archons."

* "9. What are your goals for the future?"

 **Gracie:**
"And 10. Do you like... Oh yes." Gracie wrinkles her mouth as she looks at the last question. "There had to be the possibility of rejecting potential candidates per some silly declaration from the Circle, so my lovely husband decided to add one pass or fail question." She slashes a checkbox with the pen in her hand, ignoring the fact that you haven't answered as she reads: "Do you like cheesecake? The correct answer is yes, you said yes. Wonderful! You passed the questionnaire.. test." Gracie unceremoniously stuffs the notepad back into her apron and extends a hand across the counter. "Welcome, adventurer, to The Lea-"

 **Bonesaw:**
"YEA-HE-HAYAH!" The Bonesaw runs back across the counter and shoves his hand into yours before you have the chance to shake Gracie's. "EVERYONE!" You're absolutely amazed that such a small man can make so much noise that it causes the entire rowdy tavern to pause. "This here is the latest member of The League! What say we all give a hand!" You hear a few claps sprinkled around the room as the tavern goers go back to their tasks, and Bonesaw shakes your hand with a tiny but firm grip.

Next up is a trip to the Griffin Inc Research Division for Character Creation Part 2.