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Thank you for joining, Ulgrath. I'll look forward to hearing from you, soon.
Thank you for your continuing interest, Yukonhorror. I hope that the recently-posted information is helpful to you. For now, let me address your character as he is developing.
"Nomadic primitive people" are difficult to find in the Aucothian Empire, but not entirely nonexistent. Forest-dwelling elves, however, -are- nonexistent (see the Races in the Empire thread), so that can present an obstacle to your background. Please let me know if any of these "closest matches" would work for you.
1. Your people are in fact nomadic and primitive, living in the remote northern tundra. The alliance is with an equally primitive tribe of cave-dwelling elves. Why are you now hundreds of leagues to the south, on a barge in the Yu River? (See the Acqua Alta thread.)
2. Your people are nomadic and semi-primitive, a mixed-race wandering sept that emulates the nearby goliath culture. Based on the season, you wander from campsite to campsite, hunting, foraging, and growing crops that do not require tending. The group is mostly human, but might also include dragonborn, dwarves, goliaths, half-orcs, and halflings. You regularly encounter other septs which you alternatively cooperate with or fight against, and groups often break off from or join the sept at each stop. There was no alliance with any elves. Your father claimed to be an "elf king" but was probably no more than a vagabond. He either snuck away one night or was broken into two pieces by your grandfather, your choice.
3. Your people are nomadic, but not primitive. Rather than a coherent and culturally-separate tribe, you were born into a wandering mercenary company and their permanent camp followers. Their services are paid for in coin and also the right to temporarily settle an area and work the land. Sometimes, rather than fighting, they are actually employed to clear the land, help with harvests, or perform similar activities. The story of your father is the same as in two, above.
4. Your people are semi-primitive, but not nomadic. You hail from a mountain sept village in the highlands of the Yu river system. It may or may not be a mixed-race settlement as described in two, above. Also, the story of your father the same as in two, above.
5. You were born into a trade caravan originating from the Deep Woods and traveling across the Empire. Your human father was a local magnate or a high-ranking official in the Constellation Bureau. Your mother was the daughter of the elvish caravan leader. Everything else proceeds as you suggested.
6. (The bizarre scenario.) You are the first-born son of two half-elven parents. Your mother is a Bone Lancer and your father is a Star Councillor. You spent your youth surrounded by decadent luxury, but also were given intense tutelage. You gained much, physically, but suffered, academically. When it became obvious that you would not be able to join the Bureaucracy, and one of your younger siblings had a better chance to succeed as a Bone Lancer, your mother challenged you to a duel. She did not want you to stand in the way of your younger brothers and sisters, nor did she wish for you to continue on in disgrace. When you lost, she hurled you bodily off of a cliff. Left for dead, the primal spirits of the area visited you, and restored you to health. Their ritual also happened to unleash the arcane power coursing through your blood. Traveling through the wilderness, you at last came to a sept village where the inhabitants had never before seen a half-elf. Living there, you flourished in a way you never had before. The jarl of the village accepted you as the first among his thanes, wise in the ways of both nature and civilization, and one day announced that you will succeed him.
In most of the scenarios, you are the result of an illicit union. I'm curious what befalls your character's mother in such circumstances. You will also need a reason to leave your people behind. I have some suggestions:
1. Your tribe was wiped out, either mysteriously, or through explainable means such as plague, war, or famine. You are either cast adrift in the world, or are attempting to fulfill a dream of vengeance.
2. Your tribe is in critical danger. You need to find the means to save it.
3. You have been sent to explain why your tribe is unable to provide its annual tribute to the local magnate. (Scenarios 2-4)
4. You are on a mission to secure resources and/or allies to assist the tribe against its enemies. (Scenarios 2-4)
5. You wish to negotiate your tribe's integration and permanent settlement in the lowlands. (Scenarios 2-4)
6. You committed a great offense against your tribe, and were cast out.
7. You were framed and cast out.
8. You were overthrown and cast out.
9. You fell under a sign of ill omen and were cast out.
10. You voluntarily left your tribe because it is about to join another tribe and you agreed to renounce your place in the leadership.
11. You are on a quest to prove yourself worthy of marriage.
12. You are on a vision quest.
13. You and/or your tribe have stumbled upon a hideous secret and you need to find a way to warn the rest of the world. However, in order to do that, you realize that you need to make a name for yourself, first.
For the characters you suggested, I think I inadvertently left you with the impression that the current time of troubles is an all-out armageddon. It's not that way...yet. However, for any player who wishes to play a servant of the Raven Queen, there is an important quest to be had. The teachings of the Raven Queen strongly oppose the use of necromancy that is spreading throughout land. However, the official church would quickly be suppressed if they expressed their opposition forcefully. Therefore, a certain amount of subtlety is called for.
Originally Posted by yukonhorror
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