alright alright alright let's go with - Ryxtlin: 2, 9, 15, 26, 37, and A; Sassafras: 8, 13, 20, 32, 38, and F; Fsssh: 6, 16, 22, 34, 39, and H; Thenaril: 1, 11, 15, 24, 35, and B; Gruthark: 4, 9, 17, 28, 34, and G; Naal: 3, 10, 16, 21, 29, and C; Nels: 4, 11, 13, 18, 21, and 26; Fifth Red Petal: 2, 12, 19, 20, and 29. (at your leisure and discretion, ofc)
I finally had timeto sit down and tackle these! :D Thank you for all the questions!
Ryxtlin
2. How easy is itfor your character to laugh?
Honestly, Ryxtlin ismore of a chuckle-at-someone’s-misfortune laughter than someone wholaughs easily at jokes and light humor. (Not, like, random people’smisfortune, but if she feels they’ve misused her or are generallydislikeable, then it’s amusing.) She gets frustrated by wordplay inCommon, though not in Draconic. And if a joke is aimed at her, she isnot laughing at ALL.
9. Do they swear? Dothey remember their first swear word?
She swears inDraconic, sometimes, but not very often, and not at all in Common.Her first swear word was an untranslatable swear with a literalmeaning of being “egg-bound” but meaning, colloquially,something more like “screw that”.
15. How do theyspeak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do theyrehearse it in their mind first?
There’s usually abrief pause to think over her words, especially in Common or tosomeone in authority. She rarely speaks off-the-cuff unless she’stalking to someone she really trusts, because she knows that peopletake you more seriously if you watch your words.
As far as speechpatterns go, while she speaks closely to traditional kobold style inmost situations out of stiff-necked pride, she’s trained herself touse articles and the “to be” verb a lot more in Common thanshe does in Draconic, and she’ll go a bit further if she’s dealingwith Wizardly Authority or someone else she really needs to have takeher seriously. Inversely, she also drops more and more with peopleshe likes a lot, because knowing that more ornate speech is morepolite in their society doesn’t make it less of a struggle againstthe subconsciously ingrained manners of her youth.
26. What is theirpreferred mode of transportation?
FLYING. Ideally withher own wings, but she abuses the Fly spell a LOT once she gets it,too.
37. Do they have asystem for remembering names, long lists of numbers, things that needto go in a certain order (like anagrams, putting things to melodies,etc)?
Yeah! She needs thatto be able to manage her life, since she’s not super literate (shedoes have her spellbook, but even with that, there’s a lot of otherinformation she has to store and she’s not going through the painfulprocess of writing, or even drawing her pictographs, for anythingthat doesn’t need it as much as a spell does). I’ve mentioned beforethat she’s good at mental math, and she does a lot of those tricksthat are the opposite of what they formally teach you like addingtogether the larger parts of numbers first and then the tail ends;she also associates things with numbers or sequences of numbers inorder to remember those things, because remembering the numbers iseasier for her than remembering the thing on its own. (Basicallyanagrams, but for someone who Hates Letters.) She also relies on oralmemory methods from her tribe, which can include putting things totunes but also certain sorts of recitation-of-lists protocols andputting things into sort of… verbal formulas.
A lot of this isn’teven conscious, she just thinks of it as keeping a lot of stuff inher head, but if you’re watching her externally you might notice her,say, humming a tune or counting on her fingers as she recalls stuff.
A) Why are youexcited about this character?
There are lots ofreasons, but I was actually thinking at work about a week ago aboutold characters and stories I’ve daydreamed about, and had the suddenthought of, “huh, Ryxtlin really is a continuation of thisobsession,” because SO MANY of those old daydreams involve aperson who transforms into a dragon. So it’s probably no surprisethat Ryxtlin has become my favorite. XD;; But I am also excited forher relationships with other characters, both mine and other people’s(I keep wanting to hit you up with more theoretical Ryxtlin andScrape situations tbh, if you’d be open to that, and she has anotherkobold friend, @onopathetically’s Viv, who I also wanna pester more),and for her overall storyline–I love kobolds, I love the idea of herfighting to become something big and powerful and developing friendsand magical power along the way, I just. Love her so much.
Sassafras
8. What were theytold to stop/start doing most often as a child?
She was told to stopexaggerating, and to start doing chores. (Any chore. She had troubletaking initiative because she wanted to keep chatting.)
13. What color dothey think they look best in? Do they actually look best in thatcolor?
Her favorite colorsare gold, red, and blue, and she wears them as much as possible. Shelooks great in them! They are decent colors for her Pidgey coloring,so, yeah, it’s pretty much true.
20. If they wereasked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic orfamilial love, how would they do so?
With flushed naresand ruffled feathers! But once she’d finished squawking anddetermined that you really needed to know, she’d explain that whenyou love someone romantically you want to nest with them, and preentheir crest just to preen it and not for the mundane desire to tidyit, and cuddle together with them, while when you love themplatonically, you just want to spend time with them, and preen theircrest to make them look neat, and hug them without extended cuddling.
32. Do they have ago-to story in conversation? Or a joke?
Sassafras is alwaystrying to improve her story-telling, so she doesn’t have just onego-to, but she pretty regularly boasts about her friends and theirexploits. Same theme, different tale every time.
38. What memory dothey revisit the most often?
Curled up in bedlate at night back home, listening to Fennel snore, feeling contentedand discontented all at the same time.
F. What do you feelwhen you think of your OC (pride, excitement, frustration, etc)?
I feel a lot ofaffection for her! Sassafras is a very relaxing, freeing character toplay–she’s one of my go-to happy headspaces when I’m feelingstressed or sad and need to get out of it. She’s like a breath offresh air in that respect.
Fsssh
6. Do they considerlaws flexible, or immovable?
Flexible, unlesssomeone determined to enforce them is watching. Fsssh doesn’t hold tomany codes that aren’t professional in nature, because he’s seenenough other people break them that he doesn’t think they mean much.In his upbringing in particular, the law was made by hobgoblins forthe benefit of hobgoblins, and he saw how hobgoblins could bent andbreak it if other hobgoblins permitted, and so he lacks the faith inits justness or even-handedness to believe in it even outside ofgoblin territory. And if other people are going to bend the law fortheir own benefit, why not Fsssh?
16. What makes theirstomach turn?
Death. He’s seen alot of it, and a lot of that messy (alchemy lab, goblin lab interns,etc.), so he’s developed an appearance of being inured, but on theinside it still makes him queasy.
22. How doesjealousy manifest itself in them (they become possessive, they becomealoof, etc)?
He mostly getsjealous over his teacher’s attention and his own authority andprivileges in the lab, so it manifests most often by him pushingreally hard to impress (and sometimes overdoing it). If he’s jealousof another person, he’ll be very cold and disdainful towards hiscompetition. Fsssh doesn’t get jealous of physical objects veryoften–he only develops attachments to keepsakes given to him byfriends–but he keeps those he does value hidden and secret out offear of losing them.
34. How hard is itfor them to shake a sense of guilt?
He tries not todevelop one in the first place (he knows what a hobgoblin lab isultimately about, he knows goblins are expendable, and there’s somethings he did in his youth that he had to in order to survive), butthat fails pretty often, and it sits deep down in his chest and neverquite goes away. He’s not someone who tries to exorcise it throughactions–you can’t change what happened then through your actionsnow–so he never has a sense of it fading, but it doesn’t grow,either. It’s just there. Something to be lived with, if he’s lucky alesson learned, in any case a thing that he won’t allow to eat him up.
39. How easy is itfor them to ignore flaws in other people?
He can put aside alot. There’s not much that Fsssh lets bother him, in thatrespect–you have to be actively reprehensible for him to develop aloathing. If you just have a few bad traits? Well, people are likethat, and you’re a people.
H. What trait do youadmire most?
Fsssh doesn’t go outof his way to be extra kind or generous, but he tries to treateveryone he meets with basic decency, no matter how they act towardshim. That’s… better than I can do, a lot of days. He is not at allspiteful, and I kind of envy him that.
Thenaril
1. What’s themaximum amount of time your character can sit still with nothing todo?
You’d THINK it wouldbe no time at all, but actually, Thenaril does practice meditativecommunion with his god, and in that state he can sit for hours.…But if you define that as ‘something to do,’ then no, he can’tstand still more than a couple of minutes.
11. How do they copewith confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?
“Explain to meanother way!” He is downright DEMANDING of clarification. Hedoesn’t always agree with it once he understands, but he wants to becertain what he’s agreeing with, or disagreeing with, or doing, orarguing about, or so on.
15. How do theyspeak? Is what they say usually thought of on the spot, or do theyrehearse it in their mind first?
It’s actually one ofhis flaws that he speaks without thinking it through! Thenarilbelieves that speaking what occurs to you as it occurs is the mosthonest and genuine way to deal with other people. Maybe it’s not aspolite as everyone might like, but how can you convince and convertothers if you can’t deal with them honestly?
24. Is sex somethingthat they’re comfortable speaking about? To whom?
For all Thenarilseems intent on showing off his body for others’ admiration, he wantsthem to admire it VERY PLATONICALLY. He gets really flusteredwhenever the subject comes up, blushing and tripping over his tongueand generally struggling to steer the conversation back to othersubjects. It doesn’t help that his brother (who matured more quickly)has always made crude jokes and references to him specifically totease him, so he associates it with that as well.
35. How do theytreat the things their friends come to them excited about? Are theysupportive?
He is SO EXCITEDthat you are SO EXCITED about this thing! And he is so excited andhonored that you shared it with him! He will be the MOST supportiveand uplift his friends and aid them and encourage them and generallybe a really ardent cheerleader, though he understands wanting to do athing yourself and will only offer actual assistance if asked for it.
B. What inspired youto create them?
TBH, I’d just aboutfinished Gruthark and was thinking about other unusual race/classcombos, and then I went, “half-orc barbarian! …oh, I couldmake a zealot barbarian while I’m at it!” and scrolled back upand added him to Gruthark’s backstory.
Gruthark
4. How easy is it toearn their trust?
It’s… not as easyas it seems. Gruthark has that expertise in Deception for a reason,and the reason is that he wants to appear even more physicallybumbling and brutishly friendly than he is. He’ll act like bestfriends with people within five minutes of meeting them, includingpurporting to believe and trust them, but ACTUAL trust is… muchmore slowly earned. He needs time to suss them out.
9. Do they swear? Dothey remember their first swear word?
He swears like asailor, specifically to impress the people around him. His firstswear word was almost certainly “damn,” as in, “damnyou to chains in hell!” (his father’s favorite oath).
17. Are they easilyembarrassed?
Ahahahaha yeah. He’sgenuinely embarrassed by his genuine bumbling (which there’s… a lotof… I wouldn’t actually stat him that high in Dexterity to startout with for character reasons, because he is a clumsy kid startingout), and he’s embarrassed about people getting excited about hisparents, and he’s embarrassed about stammering in front of prettygirls… just about anything can get him blushing, really.
28. Would theyprefer a lie over an unpleasant truth?
Lie. Lie! Lie away,please, don’t rub anything in.
34. How hard is itfor them to shake a sense of guilt?
He’s not real greatat it, but he can eventually. Unlike Fsssh, Gruthark IS the type totry to make up for past misdeeds by doing good back to the person, orin similar situations, and so he can eventually “earn” hisway out of feeling bad, but it always takes longer than an objectiveharm done/good done equation would suggest.
G. What trait oftheirs bothers you the most?
See my answers toCoyote re: how I feel about my characters’ flaws in general! Thatsaid, I think I was at first going for an “undercover” vibewhen I decided that he was exaggerating his bumbling, and I don’treally feel that anymore. I’ve kind of tried to modulate it into himtrying to be more lovable and keep from getting involved in ReallyBad Stuff (since he’d seem too incompetent to bring into it), butit’s still a mismatch I gotta balance.
Naal
3. How do they putthemselves to bed at night (reading, singing, thinking?)
…Well, when he’sallowed to by the circumstances and his traveling companions, usingPrestidigitation and little bits of burning stick and straw to makeand then snuff out little tiny fires. Unfortunately, that oftencreeps people out. Then he puts himself to sleep by whispering tohimself (or his quasit or his patron), or, if also forced intosilence, just staring intently into the campfire or the darkness anddreaming about flames.
10. What lie do theymost frequently remember telling? Does it haunt them?
Well, if we countout the childhood lies he told himself about how his mother surelyloved him…. He remembers telling the priests and other acolytesthat all his extra time in the library was trying to study the wordsof Rao and his disciples. It doesn’t haunt him in the least.
16. What makes theirstomach turn?
While he makes agood scene about being repulsed by people being over-affectionate,Naal isn’t actually that bothered by it. He’s pretty unbothered re:violent death, but starvation, specifically, horrifies and repulseshim. The strong scent of alcohol and the smell of vomit also turn hisstomach.
21. Why do they getup in the morning?
Can’t burn the worlddown from bed! He has vengeance to get to.
29. Do they usuallylive up to their own ideals?
He’s not always asindependent and as unattached to other people as he wants to be, andhe’s not nearly as strong yet as he wants to be either. But on thefront of continuing occult growth? Definitely living up to them.
C. Did you havetrouble figuring out where they fit in their own story?
I’m still not surewhere he fits in any given story outside his original appearance! Ilike him a lot but lbr he’d probably be a villain, and none of mycurrent stories or daydreams really have room for his particular typeof villainy. But he’ll float around until I can use him someday,maybe in another incarnation.
Nels
4. How easy is it toearn their trust?
Previously answered!Short answer: Nels doesn’t trust like that.
11. How do they copewith confusion (seek clarification, pretend they understand, etc)?
Mostly seekclarification, because she doesn’t like being ignorant. But if she’sreally frustrated with a situation, she’ll throw up her hands andjust let someone else sort it out (especially if it’s related to thequest that Ravi got them sent on, because everything about that isemphatically Not Her Problem). She doesn’t fake understanding unlessshe’s afraid of the consequences of confessing ignorance.
13. What color dothey think they look best in? Do they actually look best in thatcolor?
Also previouslyanswered! Pink clashes with both carrot-orange and ginger.
18. What embarrassesthem?
Being seen with hercrew of idiots? TBH she’s more likely to try and embarrass thosearound her than to be embarrassed herself–shame is one of thoseemotions she has trouble feeling. But publicly failing somethingshe’s advertised herself as competent in, or thinks she SHOULD becompetent in, can embarrass her, if only because she’s worriedthere’ll be consequences for it.
21. Why do they getup in the morning?
In one respect:coffee. In another respect: if you don’t get up you die. Maybe notright away, but you’ve got to work to eat, and eat to live, andyou’ve got to get going in order to get that work started. Nels cantake rest days when that’s formally and officially what they are, butthat’s the most lazing she’s able to do no matter how she feels.
26. What is theirpreferred mode of transportation?
I’m… not actuallysure if they have cars in High Earth? But if so, then definitelyvehicular transport. In contrast to the answer above, she alsodoesn’t want to do more work than NECESSARY, because that effortshould be saved for better useage, and vehicles are less work thanwalking.
Fifth Red Petal
2. How easy is itfor your character to laugh?
Right now she’sunder a vow of silence, and that would break it, but… it would beaccurate to say that struggling not to laugh is the greatest struggleshe usually encounters in upholding her vow, because not being ableto explain things to people is frustrating but laughter is almostinvoluntary. She is, at any rate, easily amused, though she’s learnedto keep it to a smirk or a smile. It’s been hard enough to trainherself to do that, it might carry over after the vow is lifted, tbh.
12. How do they dealwith an itch found in a place they can’t quite reach?
Grab a stick! Or thebutt of her weapon, or whatever else is convenient. If it seems likeit would be undiplomatic or embarrassing to do that, though, she’lljust endure.
19. What is theirfavorite number?
It is NOT actuallyfive! Nor three, though that has layers of significance to her bothpersonal and religious and would be runner-up. She likes things thatcome in pairs, so, two.
20. If they wereasked to explain the difference between romantic and platonic orfamilial love, how would they do so?
Romantic loverequires more gentleness, more closeness, and more cooperation tokeep your lives in balance. Platonic love draws from stronger initialconnections, gives forth deeper wells of strength, and requires moreunderstanding and devotion. Both kinds of love can exist for the sameperson, but they are different feelings that require differentarrangements.
29. Do they usuallylive up to their own ideals?
She lives by astrong personal code (being a paladin), but she often struggles tomeet her own expectations with all the other circumstances involvedin the way. She believes she could do so much BETTER in othercircumstances, so, by her own accounting, no she does not–but sheaccepts that these are the circumstances she’s in, and the challengesshe’s facing, and so she does her best and hopes it will be enough.