An old Tunnels and Trolls character of mine...-

This game was run by my dear friend, Brian Penn, using the Minarian setting of the old TSR boardgame, Divine Right, although using his heavily house-ruled Tunnels & Trolls setup.
---

NAME: H'Yuz Almshare Ki Taanvaaq're
|>Subtlestly Wrought Power, I Proceed from Spirit, a Sylph, not of this earth, but of the Highest Ever-Wise Glory, and dispatched as [His] angel<|

6'8"; female; elf; ash-wood white skin; dark purple hair; grey-blue left eye, right eye: leather patch; thin, cold lips; somewhat disingenuous smile; Piercing gaze. Lean and wiry build.

Taanvaaq is an amazonian elven woman draped in a mottled green tunic with matching breeches. Wears mottled green leather armour; armed with a sword-breaker, and a battered scimitar. An outcast among Elves of Neuss for deviant behavior, Taanvaaq was unable to complete her Wiccan initiations, and now wanders the outlands. Prone to interest in Gunnes and Alchemy rather than vernal traipsings, Taanvaaq blew-up a powder keg she found off a frequently traveled road through the nearby glade. A child was injured, losing her hearing, and Taanvaaq was cast out. She then entered less isolated lands, and began to interact with other kindred. She has heard many snide remarks regarding Elves, and so she has become the opposite. Gregarious, not-overly witty, and has gone out of her way to befriend any willing Dwarf she has met. She has a great love of the outdoors, but is equally delighted with tools and chemicals. Her main goal [was] to become an accomplished Gunnes user, Gunnesmith, as well as an Alchemist. After a very costly trek through the Goblin Mountains, Taanvaaq pursued a warlock who had been supplying the goblins, hobgoblins, and other dark kin with weapons, armour, and bare supplies. As he had been the impetous for the killing in the mountains, Taanvaaq spared no effort in avenging the blood of her lovers and friends.

Taanvaaq launched herself off Djaks and scrambled for a few yards on all fours. By the time she had her footing, she leapt over a fallen tree and did not miss a step upon landing; leaves scattered behind her.

By raven wing I speed my flight; by wheeling hawk I learn to fight; by moon above to give me light; I pass unhindered through the night; to taste the blood of my foe's life; by fire, water, earth and sky lead me through in the Maker's might!

But to others her chant was a ravening howl that receeded into the darkness.

She pursued him into the Eastern Lands, from whence he hailed, and after slaying him in a filthy alley, discovered that he was an official to the Great King. Now with a bounty upon her head, and Immerian charges of dissertation, and possibly murder, she has made refuge in the province of Anatom.

Most recently, she founded the Order of the Blood Star, serving the king of Anatnom to search out the goblin hordes that are infiltrating the walled, mountain pass city.

---

Taanvaaq finally overcame an anti-magical curse that had befallen Anatnom which would have prevented the mystical device, the Dawn Star, from shining over Anatnom and exposing her infiltrators and enemies, had she not succeeded in empowering it through her self-sacrifice.

I later had her appear as a minor divinity who helped those who love the land, but Taanvaaq always had a frightful wild side, and this manifested in a great likelihood of her slaying her petitioner if the cause was unjust or duplicitous.

She is a bitter-sweet character to Brian, due to her suicide through which her blood was used to cast a 'wish'/'prayer' to let the watery blood-red light shine in the darkness --a recurring theme as readers of this blog may have noted.
--To me, she was my only successful player character in nearly thirty years of gaming, insofar that she accomplished her goal.

Her name, and that of her created Magicked weapons, are derived from the Vrun language.

[RPG] I have been to the edge, and back!-

OK, not really that "monumentous" a trek, just reading through the Players' Manual and finding errors, inconsistencies, oddities, and other cool word-like thingies that need a fixin'.

My good buddy, Brian Penn, and I spoke on Sunday and he gave me his very non-D&D (and very Tunnels & Trolls) perspective on how it read and how terms he wasn't familiar with threw his initial perceptions for loops when they were later defined within the text. That was interesting. I think he's planning on posting those findings after he gets through with the Referee's Manual. I'll wait for him to speak for himself.

Beyond the new stuff (Sanguine Elements taking a larger role) I can see tighter editing on the background stuff in the PM, and some more of it being moved to either a Setting Manual, or the RM. Both groakes and Brian have given me great feedback on the Genetic Memory and incorporating it more fully into the low-tech setting of Early Autumn, without having to add rules mechanisms. Whew!

After tomo--, after today's (I'm writing this at 2am) game session, I ought to have the time to pore over the RM and make a list of what wisdom ought to be included. Some topics include city and nation 'building'; common-sense stuff about materials and their susceptibilities; how to make combat cool and exciting by thinking instead of coming up with boatloads of tack-on rules/feats/etc.; and, lots of imagination-inspiring (get the Ref out of a jam) tables to roll upon, from common folk met on roads, to random descriptions of Ancient complexes, etc.

If I have been somewhat more acerbic than usual (in other words, showing my personality rather than keeping this blog on task), I apologise for any wasted time in your blog reading lives. I hate that crap, too, and sadly, I occasionally slide into the cesspool.
--Having broken a toe on Tuesday night; getting into arguments with my father who is convinced I am keeping him from the Internet (although his Mac, too, seems to have been damaged in the lightning strike), and my ex- being diagnosed with Thyroid Cancer, I've been a bit ... stressed out.

So, here's to all of you gamers of all stripes who are going to be gaming this weekend.
--Do It Your Way, and old Blue Eyes will be smiling up from, er-- down from... Well, you catch my drift.