For all points relating to Dr. SchadenFreude Character Creation.

If you are leaning towards Corsair, go for it, but if you want to go the other way, that's cool too.

I'm currently giving it some real thought. I'm throwing the numbers about to see how I might want to stat this character up and in turn how that informs/supports their background. We'll see how I feel after that.

No problem ^^ Never feel that you have to go one way or another with me.  I will (within reason) try to make most things work.

After some thought - quite a bit more than I expected - I've definitely decided to go with the Corsair.

---

NAME: Nirva Tidebreaker
ARCHETYPE: Black Ark Corsair

ATTRIBUTES:
Body: 3
Mind: 2
Soul: 2

DERIVED ATTRIBUTES:
Melee: Good (+1 step when dual-wielding melee weapons, +1 step when fighting beasts and monsters of size Large or greater)
Accuracy: Average
Defence: Good (+1 step against ranged attacks)
Toughness: 7
Wounds: 4
Initiative: 6
Natural Awareness: 3
Mettle: 1

RACIAL ABILITIES:
Long Lived:
You gain an additional 2 XP to spend on Skills during character creation. This XP must be spent on the same Skill.

SKILLS:
Athletics: Trained [1] Focus [1]
Awareness: Trained [1]
Guile: Trained [2]
Intimidation: Trained [1]
Intuition: Trained [1]
Reflexes: Trained [2]
Survival: Trained [1]
Weapon Skill: Trained [2] Focus [1]

TALENTS:
Ambidextrous: When you are dual wielding and make an Attack, add 1d6 to your total dice pool before splitting the dice for each weapon.

Fearless: Whenever you would become Frightened due to failing a Test or are magically influenced to act against your will, you can immediately make a DN 6:1 Mind (Determination) Test to resist the effects.

Relentless Assault: While wielding a melee weapon in each hand, your Melee increases one step.

Silver Tongue: You have Advantage on Opposed Tests when attempting to persuade, deceive, or seduce others. Additionally, you are quick to make friends and people often remember you fondly after you’ve gone, and greet you warmly when you return.

The Bigger They Are: Your Melee is considered one step higher when fighting beasts or creatures whose size is Large or greater.

EQUIPMENT:
Corsair armour (Medium Armour)
Two cutlasses
Sea-dragon cloak
A waterskin filled with strong alcohol
A trophy from a beast you've slain
45 drops of Aqua Ghyranis.

Cutlass (sword):
Damage: 1+S
Traits: Slashing

Sea-dragon cloak:
Defence increases one step against ranged attacks

GOALS:
Short term: Slay a beast worthy of story and song.
Long term: [currently under revision]
This message was last edited by the player at 21:42, Sun 24 Jan 2021.

Which deity sanctioned Nirva's Soulbinding and why?

Why did (s)he choose to be Soulbound? [What is in it for them, basically]

What is Nirva's greatest achievement?

What, in their opinion, is their greatest failing?

Name at least one person that they considers their greatest ally and why?

Name at least one person who they consider their greatest enemy and why?

Tell me about the Ark you served on. It's name, it's captaincy (if not you), and how did others react when you chose to be Soulbound.  If you were the captain, who did you leave in your place?

Slowly working my way through these.

---

Which deity sanctioned Nirva's Soulbinding and why?

Prior to becoming Soulbound Nirva was based out of Ghur. While I’m not totally sure at this time whether I’d want to connect her to Excelcis, Izalend or somewhere of my own creation, I’m definitely of the mind that she’s one of those among the Scourge who fostered strong ties with the Cities of Sigmar and came to the attention of the powers that be through that association. As such it’s something of a given that her patron would be Sigmar.

Nirva stands out by virtue of being a member of a rather insular and self-interested culture who threw herself wholeheartedly into a cause with considerably greater risk than reward, and I feel like there’s something in that which resonates with Sigmar. His Stormcast Eternals were forged from individuals who stood up in desperate times, and there’s a kernel of that in Nirva too. For all her failings she’s someone willing to show true heroism when pushed.

All she needed was a push in the right direction.

Why did (s)he choose to be Soulbound? [What is in it for them, basically]

Taken at face value her motivations are really quite simple. Working in a dangerous field and facing somewhat regular brushes with death makes gifts of power and endurance appealing, and immortality gives ample opportunity for a glory-seeker to carve their own legend across the realms. It’s an opportunity to keep chasing the most exciting parts of the life indefinitely.

While all the above is true, the full truth is inevitably more complex than that.

Nirva was very active in the wake of the Shyish Necroquake. While the Scourge already had arrangements, and their own vested interests, in dealing with the aquatic beasts of Ghur that threatened travel and trade routes, the Necroquakes raised long-dead leviathans from their watery graves. With these new threats present that were remorseless in their predations and damnably hard to put down, those who prided themselves as hunters of monsters were in greater demand and danger alike than ever. The triumphs were fewer and the losses more numerous.

Accepting the binding is an escape. A reset. She might have emerged from those darkest of days as someone who had won no small amount of renown for herself, but in the months and years that have followed she’s been left with a certain sense of emptiness. It’s a bitter blend of survivor’s guilt, boredom and fatigue, and exhaustion with the sort of attention and expectations that come with minor celebrity. It’s not the same any more.

For all its costs, becoming Soulbound is a chance to see other realms, get away from a life she’s more than a little sick of, and try to rediscover the same thrills and drive that propelled her to where she is today. She wants a real challenge, and what greater challenge could there be than this?

This is magnificent. Really rising the bar here.

Nice character :)

Thanks guys.

---

What is Nirva's greatest achievement?

Nirva is most famed for putting an end to a beast known locally as The Maw as Wide as the World. Originally slain in an earlier age, it returned in the wake of the Necroquake and effectively closed a number of shipping lanes through its presence alone. Multiple expeditions were launched to fell the monstrosity but all fell short. Between its sheer bulk and ability to endure grievous wounds, even those which might cripple a living creature, it presented a seemingly insurmountable threat.

There are a number of different and conflicting accounts of quite how the beast was killed a second time (several of which Nirva herself is responsible for) but they all agree on the most important detail: The Maw as Wide as the World was torn apart when Nirva’s own wolfship, Syrenscythe, delivered a cargo of Duardin-made explosives deep within its cavernous jaws, consigning both vessel and rotting hulk to the depths once more. There was no coming back from being blown into a million pieces no matter how powerful its binding.

As for how the captain lived through such a thing … now that is where the tales truly diverge.

What, in their opinion, is their greatest failing?

Quite some time ago, when she had far less experience in command, Nirva was baited into pursuing a pirate vessel that seemed to have abandoned its efforts to harass her civilian escort. She returned empty-handed to find that find that other ships laying in wait had seized the opportunity to make off with cargo and captives in her absence. She had no defence for her actions and still bears the, very literal, scars earned in consequence.

Name at least one person who they consider their greatest enemy and why?

While not an enemy in the most literal of senses, Nirva has a long standing adversarial relationship with her ultimate superior, Kagan Aestrythe. Despite having been successful enough to warrant herself a minor position of command, Nirva’s most significant failing left her reputation badly wounded and gave those holding her leash little reason to offer her much trust. One could argue there’s a clear logic in that, especially in a line of work where reputation bears such weight, but she never regarded as anything more than spite. A desire to never let her live down her mistakes.

Even after a solid career and a true standout moment of triumph things hardly thawed. Mastery of a Black Ark gave Kagan a great deal of control over those who wished to trade and dock aboard their vessel, and when Nirva found herself without a ship it only added leverage to that equation. She found herself offered lacklustre contracts and postings or those from insufferable individuals explicitly demanding her, more for reputation and prestige than actual ability. This led to Nirva spending as much time apart from the Ark once she finally had a ship to her name again … and naturally with that came another reason to see her pushed to the back of the line.

Finally all done. Still haven't decided which city/cities she was attached to though.

---

Name at least one person that they considers their greatest ally and why?

Selthyn, her Second. Stuck with her for a long time. Previously tried to unseat her at a time of perceived weakness and failed, but they’ve both mostly moved on from that and, if anything, it’s strengthened their relationship. Has her back, even if it’s only because they want to be the one to eventually take her down rather than letting someone else do the honour.

Gerrid Merryfire, her duardin contact. Nirva has some friends in their corner of [city’s] trade community, especially in the wake of her little moment in the sun, and has done runs and tested equipment for them in the past.

Tell me about the Ark you served on. It's name, it's captaincy (if not you), and how did others react when you chose to be Soulbound.  If you were the captain, who did you leave in your place?

For the captaincy, see the Greatest Enemy question.

For much of her life Nirva has been engaged with a Black Ark by the name of The Iron Crown. This vessel laid claim to a large area of territory, forging compacts and trade deals with coastal cities to provide both protection and an off-shore venue for trade and resupply. This gave the Scourge a great deal of power and influence in the region. Anyone who got on their bad side risked being blacklisted and denied access to markets or security necessary to their bottom line. Obviously this relationship wasn’t always in the locals’ best interests, but it suited them very well to have someone else willing to bear the brunt of playing bodyguard against monsters and pirates alike.

While it tended to hold its position, more stationary sea fortress than ship, The Iron Crown re-positioned a number of times across the years, sometimes pursuing opportunities or others simply to drive bargains all the harder on its return. Much like his relationship with Nirva, Kagan wasn’t above punitive or merely strict responses to offences and wielding his power to make others regret them. He ran a tight ship and it functioned the better for it, not that there wasn’t a certain amount of resentment and mutinous whisperings against his command. Generally though those with real quarrels with his style of leadership were forced to move on and look elsewhere for opportunities.

Nirva herself had a bit of an awkward position on the Ark. On the one hand she’d proved herself capable enough to claim a wolfship and crew of her own, but on the other her poor standing with the Master left her a bit of an outsider. There was a genuine, if naturally subdued, swell of respect for her in the wake of her decision to sacrifice her own ship for the greater good, but even that was  tempered by efforts to capitalise on opportunities created by her new position of weakness. Very much the sort of situation where you have someone who most people openly regard with scorn for the sake of the party line but rarely actually feel less than ambivalent towards.

The offer for Nirva to join a Binding blindsided just about everyone. Ironically as the closest to the action the Scourge had overlooked the waves she’d made, and the work and relationship-building Nirva had done on her own time had gone largely ignored. Her principal moment of glory was in the past.

As for her acceptance … I think most people would be rather mystified by that. Most of her peers are people who have spent their rather long lives building up a secure and profitable position, and the thought of dropping all that in a heartbeat is night unconscionable. I’m sure some of them might have had an inkling that she wanted out or to try for pastures new and see this as a rather extreme way of doing that, but for the most part I think she’d be regarded as either a bit crazy or as someone jumping at a play on her ego without considering the consequences.
This message had punctuation tweaked by the player at 21:40, Sun 24 Jan 2021.