Re: OOC thread #1
Heya! Since I don't really think this will come up in-game and I don't want to be misunderstood as a player, allow me to explain my line of thoughts a bit.
The "There are many ways to a hunt" was a hook to stay in the city, implying they could be patient, and search for information in Titan's Gate for both of their hunts (i.e Filimena brother's traces and Marik search for old knowledge). Marik is wise enough to know that in a city such as Titan's Gate they is a lot of people coming in and out, meaning information, and they also now have allies that could help. As Marik said, he has no real lead on where to go outside the city should they depart, which was another hint they could stay. The way Marik has been built overt the years, he's spiritual enough, on top of being a good tracker, to feel confident he'll find good leads whenever he goes. He's more at ease in the wilds than in a bustling city, however, and express that preference.
There is some level of cognitive disconnect between me, as a player, and Marik's character. As a player, I love city adventures as much as dungeons in the wilds, and I love the Waterdeep: Dragoon heist stuff so far. Having a mansion is a first in my D&D career, and as a player, I'm incredibly excited about the RP possibilities it could bring in its management or for the occasional slice-of-life RP of Marik and Filimena character's as unlikely roommates. Just my player's luck to finally have an opportunity for domain management, but with one the characters I've played that is the least interested in settling in somewhere, especially in a city. XD
Again, this isn't a critique of the campaign. I love it as a player and quite enjoy the "fish out the water" aspect of Marik adventuring in a big city.:D It, however, takes some work to slowly adapt this character to the transformation of the campaign. When we started four years ago, I built Marik thinking it would be a roaming campaign across Collabris (like the ones I'm used to in my own games). Thinking this, the ideals and mechanics of the characters were built to shine more in the exploration part of the game (Investigation, perception, Survival), and to experiment with a type of combat I've never tried (Mounted Combat).
Again, I'm perfectly okay with the transformation to a more urban adventure and excited for what is to come. I'm trying to add more and more reasons for Marik to stay, including his lack of leads outside the city, the artifacts they have found and his desire to help Filimena (which comes with other reasons). Also, playing Marik slowly made me realize an aspect of playing elves I often forget in my in-person roleplay and DMing so far, which is their conception of temporalities. Marik is a young elf and will live centuries. Spur-of-the-moment activities can be measured in years for him instead of hours and days like humans. So basically, if I can procrastinate for minutes or hours on a task sometimes (like when I have to write in the summer), Marik can very well do the same for days and years. In this regard, helping Filimena in a chase that could take years or spending an extended stay in Titan's gate basically register as the equivalent of a few hours for him. Being an overall good guy, despite having trouble communicating (and being somewhat racist*), I roleplay him as someone who enjoys fixing things and helping people wherever he goes. For the short term, he would be open to help renovate the Snake Skull mansion for it to be more welcoming, as humans could be willing to lend a hand for people moving out for a few hours.
Sorry for the long winded post. Just found it was a good opportunity to share some of my thoughts, as a player, about my enjoyment of the game, and behind the scenes elements of roleplaying Marik which I doubt would come up in in-game conversations. Again, I trust our DM and I'm excited to see where the campaign will lead, wherever it is. Should things become too much for Marik, I will sooner consider changing characters to better fit the campaign theme than changing the campaign itself.
*Yeaah, it's his big fault, coming from ignorance, pain, youth and isolation. Hopefully he will continue to change in his view across the campaign. His time in Titan's gate already affected him and made him realize people are more diverse and complex than he thought, despite his old prejudices. He also enjoys the company of others more than he thought, thanks to his interactions with Filimena, Raz, Omaron, Disanz and others.