Guild-itizations – Part 3
Howdy-ho, folks! We’ve got 6 more Guild-itizations to show off today and tomorrow, a spotlight which these most generous of backers so richly deserve. Chapter 28 begins on Monday with the cover and new avatars, wallpapers, and all that jazz! Without further ado, here’s some backstory to go along with these fine adventurous folks:
“To many adventurers, Astoria Troy is a tagalong, a wannabe. With parents in an acting troupe, she was raised to fake her way through many roles. A cynical mind might say she’s faking her way through this role, but that would probably be doing her a disservice. Though a master of no one discipline, she’s a quick learner and probably more talented as an assistant than a master. Combining low-level illusions and basic student magics with acrobatic brawling taught by her childhood, she can go unseen or blind somebody with a blast of color, or just swing a properly dramatic fist.
She originally quietly rejected the acting tradition of her family on account of being ‘Too honest,’ as she put it, but the defining moment for her was during their troop’s travels when they came across not just one, but several villages devastated by war. Though the things she saw left her feeling helpless, all of her conflicting feelings crystallized with the formation of the Adventurer’s Guild. There was a way to become an adventurer at last! She could make a difference!
… even if most of the jobs she’s involved with seem to involve cleaning giant spiders out of basements and gathering potion ingredients and retrieving stolen velocipedes, every little bit counts, right? Or so she hopes, anyway…”
“The Order of the Bloodsoaked Egg is founded on the notion that only through bloodshed and strife can Avians hatch into who they were truly meant to be. They have a baptismal tradition of spilling the blood of the infirm, the elderly, and violent criminals to baptize Avian eggs just before they hatch, in ascending order of the supposed importance of the egg being hatched. Meaning, the egg of a prince would likely be bathed in the blood of an usurper, whereas the egg of a pauper would be bathed in the blood of a leper.
Avidro was the hatchling of a renowned general. His egg was bathed in the blood of a captured Savasi warlord, whom the Avians once fought for control of the mountains. While everyone expected him to hatch into a great military leader, he instead chose the life of a monk of the Order of the Bloodsoaked Egg. Eventually, he rose to the coveted position of Harvester, whose duty is to hunt down criminals, heathens, and enemies of the state, and bring back their blood for the baptismal rites. Alive or dead, it matters not, as long as the blood is fresh.
Avidro is completely devoted to his faith. His entire genealogy and history is painted in blood. Many of his victims, or what his faith call the Chaff, attempt to appeal to his sense of mercy, but find no purchase in his steely gaze. However, he is no mere pawn, and is able to think for himself. If a Chaff shows him or herself to fully live up to the ideals of the Order, that of achieving purpose and identity through constant struggle and sacrificing others for the greater good, Avidro would consider sparing their life. So far, that has not happened.”
“Bink is a self-made adventuress. She’s sassy, smart, and comes from a good family but struck out on her own early and cut ties because she just can’t. sit. still. Ended up with the ironic title of ‘Reverend’ after joining the clergy on a lark because someone told her she couldn’t.”
Hey, guess what? Ask An Adventurer is still on schedule to premiere the first weekend of January, and so the time has come to publicly release the submission form for that feature. Click here to get in on it! The sooner you submit your question, the more likely yours will be answered. Or something. I don’t know, just do it!
Avidro looks like he would be an awesome boss for the Guildies to encounter. Astoria is pretty cool too, might be a cool side-story character. =)
What egg of a demi-god is waiting to be covered in Frigs blood so it can hatch?
Avidro reminds me of Morpheus from ‘The Sandman’.
It’s the hair, right? It’s totally the hair :P
i was thinking david bowie, preferrably as he is in venture bros
Did we change avvies for the Axemas story?
H…
stands for HUMAN ?
I was wondering that as well. It’s like she’s on some sort of “human” sports team. :P Give me an H, give me a U…!!!
Perhaps I am misunderstanding the Order of the Blood Soaked Egg, but by becoming a monk instead of a warlord isn’t Avidro going against the religion he is “completely devoted to”?
He’s embracing bloodshed and strife (especially bloodshed) to become what he was truly meant to be. I don’t see how that’s going against his religion. The baptism in blood is a symbol of the struggle one must engage in throughout their life. Simply accepting one’s station in life and doing what is expected of them is the opposite of that strife. Our true purpose in life is never what others expect of us when we are young. It is something we must discover ourselves and grow into. Through bloodshed. And strife. Perhaps he could have been a great general, but his religion in no way demands it simply based on his parentage, rather it compels him and all of it’s followers to seek what is best, not what is expected or what is easiest.
wwlaos has the right of it. The Order of the Blood-Soaked Egg emphasizes the struggle of self-discovery and finding one’s true calling. While the hatching ceremony has some influence, it’s often subtle. If he had been baptized in the blood of, say, a merchant, he may have ended up collecting tithes rather than harvesting Chaff.
Astoria Troy is amazing! I’ve played similar characters in the past and they’re a ton of fun.
Avidro’s pretty freakin’ cool, too, and I love the backstory.
Bink… eh… I can’t get past that hat. It’s just too fancy. And I personally have… difficulty… with characters or people who do things just because some told them they can’t. Not a fan of that.
And also reading the magnificent passage of text that is Avidro’s only to reach Bink’s and it’s a little blurb… I wasn’t impressed. ._.
well those sure look interesting
but for whatever reason the last one makes me think of that sarah palin in a way
…Am I completely seeing things, or does Astoria Troy had a very ‘Shanna’ vibe about her?
Itsthenose.The avian looks pretty neat. And Astoria is interesting – though for some reason I expected an entirely opposite personality based on the pic
Astoria Troy is interesting. Totally different from what I expected first looking at her. She’s small-time. She doesn’t have any grand adventures. Instead she’s very down-to-Earth. She helps when and where she can. She doesn’t seek glory; she only wants to help. She may not have bards singing of her greatness when she’s gone, but every person she helps is no doubt extremely grateful to her for any assistance she can provide. Great characterization. Avidro is not only a great piece of characterization, but also a great piece of world building. He is a being born into a violent culture, who in turn breeds more violence. He doesn’t merely follow blindly, though. He has ambition and goals. His backstory adds a great piece of depth; another facet to the plethora of races inhabiting the world. These two make it disappointing to come down to Reverend Bink. She seems very one-dimensional. It’s just kind of a “Boy, I sure am kooky! Who knows what zany antics *I’ll* be getting up to, huh?” There’s nothing really there, is there? It would be great to see Astoria as a background character. Maybe in a town torn apart by a battle, just trying to help put things back together. She doesn’t help everyone at once, but focuses on one person at a time. Avidro would be great opponent to encounter at some point.
Reverend Bink was a little known preacher who soon found that people would pay to listen to her sermons. She became rich off of her many book sales and tour revenues. One of her most famous quotes is “If you have to give an arm and a leg, make sure you have a cleric nearby afterwards.”
Avidro’s great because he looks like he could actually be a part of the main storyline.
Bink is rather underwhelming compared to avidro.
Perhaps if backer Rob Perdue could have known ahead of time what all the other backers would write, then perhaps Reverend Bink would’ve gotten a bigger and better blurb?
Nah, she probably wouldn’t have sat still for that.
Thanks for the kind words, everyone! I was frankly terrified every time a new Guild-itization page went up, so it’s an immense relief to see that people actually like Avidro.
(*reads alt-text* *immediately makes Avidro into a gravatar* Just remember Phil… I’ll be watching you.)