Monday, March 26, 2018

Lux Tenebris: Selne Venestar


SELNE VENESTAR, L17 High Elf Sage (L9 Rogue Mastermind/L8 Lore Bard)

STR 14 (+2)
DEX 16 (+3)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 16 (+3)
WIS 16 (+3)
CHA 20 (+5)
HP 115
AC 14 (Leather armor)

Racial Traits:
Darkvision
Fey Ancestry
Trance
Languages: Common, Elvish, Dwarvish, Primordial, Sylvan, Thieves’ cant

Proficiencies(+6)
Armor: Light
Weapons: Longsword, Shortsword, Shortbow, Longbow, Simple weapons, Hand x-bows, Rapiers
Tools: Cards, Disguise kit, Forgery kit, Lute, Thieves’ tools
Saves: Dexterity +9, Intelligence +9
Skills: Arcana +9, History +15, Insight +15, Investigation +15, Medicine +9, Perception +15, Performance +11, Persuasion +17, Religion +9, Stealth +15, Survival +9

Feats
Researcher
* * *
Expertise (History, Insight, Investigation, Persuasion)
Sneak Attack
Cunning Action
Roguish Archetype: Mastermind
- Master of Intrigue
- Master of Tactics
- Insightful Manipulator
* * *
Spellcasting
Bardic Inspiration (d8/5x)
Jack of All Trades
Song of Rest(d6)
Bard College: Lore
Expertise (Stealth, Perception)
Font of Inspiration
Countercharm
Cutting Words
Additional Magical Secrets

Spellcasting
Spell DC: 19
Atk Mod: +11
Spells Known: 11
At-will (3): Friends, Minor Illusion, Vicious Mockery
L1(4): Comprehend languages, Cure wounds, Detect magic, Expeditious Retreat
L2(3): Enhance Ability, Locate Object, Lesser Restoration
L3(3): Counterspell, Feign Death, Nondetection, Tongues
L4(2): Greater invisibility, Polymorph

Equipment
Rapier; Melee; +9 to hit; 1d8 +3 piercing; Finesse
Shortsword; Melee; +9 to hit; 1d6 +3 piercing; Finesse, Light
Daggers(2); Melee; +9  to hit; 1d4 +3 piercing; Finesse, Light, Thrown (20/60).
Leather armor; Defensive; AC 11 + Dex
Burglar’s pack
Thieves’ tools

The current Chief Archivist of the Adamantine Archive is Selne Venestar. She’s fairly new, having held the position for only 50 years. Many people questioned her selection as Chief Archivist, given her rather ‘colorful’ past.
The illegitimate child of a Goldsun noble, Selne’s childhood was spent being shuffled from one reluctant relative to another before she packed her things and ran away.  She wound up in Darkwater, where she was befriended by a half-elf artist named Oren Zellor. Zellor recognized Selne’s fierce intelligence and helped her develop it, assuming the role of mentor and patron. Among Zellor’s circle of artists and intellectuals, Selne quickly became a bright,effervescent star. And although she felt she lacked artistic ability, she could hold her own in a battle of wits with the best that Darkwater society could throw at her.
Eventually, Selne and Zellor parted ways. She wanted to pursue her intellectual interests; he wanted her to serve as his muse. The parting was unpleasant and Selne seldom speaks of her time in Darkwater.
She left the city and fell in with a band of professional tomb raiders. As the de facto historian among the group, she soon developed a deep and passionate love for history and its mysteries. This led her to betray her comrades when they uncovered a sorcerous weapon from the Dark Times. Her companions sought to sell the weapon to the highest bidder, not caring what happened afterwards. Selne knew what could happen.  She stole the weapon and fled with it to a Temple of Lukrym, entrusting the weapon to the priests and fleeing.
For the first time in years, she returned to Goldsun where she became embroiled in their byzantine politics. Selne played the game well, earning something of a reputation as a wild card among the city’s political operatives.  Her father attempted to reconcile with her at some point, but Selne rejected his overture, sensing an ulterior motive.
Eventually, Selne grew tired of Goldsun and left the city. She traveled south, through the Palatine Peninsula, and ventured east, visiting the Draconic Empire.  She spent some time in the aasimar city of Pax before returning to the West.  Her steps brought her to Fallen Baramir, where she encountered the survivors of her old adventuring group, grown rich and corrupt over the years. The meeting did not end well for anyone and Selne sought refuge in the Adamantine Archive.
This would prove to be a major turning point in her life. The minute Selne set foot in the Archive, she felt a sense of warmth and belonging. She spent hours wandering the complex. No door was barred to her. The Archive showed her all of its wonders and Selne fell in love with the place.
She renounced the world and joined the Order of Archivists and Caretakers. Her affinity with the Archive did not go unnoticed and neither did its affinity for her. Everywhere Selne went in the Archive, the building seemed to brighten.
Recognizing the signs of a potential successor, then Chief Archivist, Alger Neshit, took Selne under his wing.  The two became extremely close and it was not an uncommon sight to come upon the elf woman and the old dwarf sage discussing some obscure fact of history or debating political theory.
When Alger Neshit died, the Archive chose Selne as his successor. The Archive’s choice was not unanimously approved by its archivists. Many felt that Selne was too young or too new to the Archive to have earned the position. Selne encouraged the dissenters to test her, to question her fitness for the position. 
In a public forum, the archivists gathered and each asked Selne a single question. The examination took the better part of a day. When it was done, Selne had convinced the majority of her doubters that she was, indeed, qualified to be the Chief Archivist. Those who continued to object soon found themselves facing the ire of the Archive itself in the form of cold showers, colder bedrooms and stuck doors. Eventually the dissenters either left the Archive or agreed that Selne was the right person for the job.
Nowadays no one doubts Selne’s claim to the title of Chief Archivist. During the Draconic siege, Selne pointed out to the archivists that they were there to serve and protect the Archive, not the other way around. She marched out of the Archive and challenged the leader of the Draconic Legion to personal combat. He refused, preferring to march his forces onto the grounds. It was a decision he would not live to regret, as the invasion triggered the Archive’s divine defenses. The Draconic forces were devastated.
Since then, Selne has been spending more and more time in private communion with the Archive. They are making changes, closing off whole sections of the building, devising new additions and vaults. When asked what she’s planning, the Chief Archivist merely smiles and counters with some question of her own, artfully derailing all inquiries into her plans for the future.


Lux Tenebris: The Adamantine Archive


THE ADAMANTINE ARCHIVE

It rises above the rooftops of Fallen Baramir, a sprawling complex of silvered domes and marbled towers surrounded by green lawns and carefully maintained gardens.  And although there are no walls separating the Adamantine Archive from the surrounding city, it is very definitely its own entity, both figuratively and literally. Because the Adamantine Archive is a living entity.
It was created over five hundred years ago by the decree of Amhog, the God of Knowledge. The first foundation stones were laid by an assortment of elven, human and dwarven scholars. This group eventually evolved into the Order of Archivists and Caretakers who are charged with the maintenance and preservation of the Archive and all its contents.  Describing them as librarian-monks would not be an overstatement.
As soon as the foundation stones were laid, the God of Knowledge imbued them with life and sentience.  The Adamantine Archive actually grew into its current state, extruding new additions and expansions over time, as necessitated by need and, some say, the Archive’s whims.
As the Archive grew and expanded, Amhog went to each of his fellow gods and extracted fearsome oaths and promises from them to ensure that the Archive would enjoy divine protection.  The only deities to refuse were Una, the Goddess of Hate, and Redethal, the God of Destruction.  Still, the Archive enjoys a level of divine protection that no other structure on the continent of Nur can claim.
As the Archive grew, its reputation grew with it, attracting scholars and patrons from across the continent and beyond.  Its vaults contain artifacts that are priceless for their historical and cultural value. Most impressive of all is the fact that the Archive’s resources are open to everyone, from the lowest born commoner to the most exalted noble.  Everyone has equal access.
Over time the Adamantine Archive was enveloped and surrounded by the city of Fallen Baramir. Initially, this caused some conflict as Fallen Baramir’s leaders sought to formally annex the Archive.  The Archive refused and protected its sovereignty fiercely, culminating in an unpleasant incident known as the Morning Gate Massacre.  A group of foreign scholars was accosted at the gates to the Archive by ruffians supposedly employed by the city. Things quickly got out of hand, resulting in deaths on both sides and almost plunging Fallen Baramir into war with the cities of the Palatine Peninsula. After this incident, the city and the Archive came to an agreement wherein Fallen Baramir formally recognized the autonomy of the Adamantine Archive and the Adamantine Archive acknowledged that Fallen Baramir exercised complete authority outside the Archive’s territory. Since then, Archive and city have gotten along quite well.
During the Draconic Invasion, an Imperial Legion was sent to secure the Adamantine Archive for the Draconic Empire.  For the first time in centuries, the Archive’s divine protections were activated. The Legion was utterly decimated, the survivors attempting to flee through Fallen Baramir only to be ruthlessly hunted down and executed by the city militia.
Today, the Adamantine Archive continues to serve as a repository for knowledge and wisdom, freely available to all. There has been talk that the Archive may formally censor the Draconic Empire for its recent invasion, but so far no formal declaration has been made.  Some Archivists claim that, since the attack, the Archive has been acting oddly.  New corridors have appeared and old corridors have vanished. Whole sections are now sealed away behind locked doors that the Archive refuses to open for anyone. There are rumblings from under the gardens, suggesting that new vaults are being created deep beneath the ground.  To what end and for what purpose? No one seems to know.

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Does absence make the heart grow fonder?

If the above is true, then y'all should really be liking me right now.
Sorry I haven't been around much, but life's been kind of crazy. Hopefully, I'll be able to get back to updating this blog on a regular basis now.
So, expect more random updates from your's truly.