WHAT 1st Encounter – Part 2, The Party

With Warrior Heroes Adventures in Talomir (WHAT), I have a new game, a new campaign, a new encounter – all begging for new miniatures. These figures are all 3D Printed from BrushFu Studios. I don’t own a 3D printer, so I purchase figures from boutique 3D printing service companies found on Etsy, eBay and other on-line outlets. When I began thinking about painting these Amazon figures, I wanted to do something a little different from the usual Classical Greek inspired Amazon. A few things popped in to my little mind: in WHAT, Black Moon Casters seem more powerful; in the old Warring Fleets, Kurinthia like Valkae has a formidable navy; and finally, I have very few dark skinned fantasy humans in my collection and with events over the last year, it is time I celebrated black lives by including more black characters. So I decided this band of adventurers would be primarily Kurinthian. Besides, it is time I really learned to paint good dark skin tones.

Yasmu’s Furies

A short description of the furies is they are “chaotic goddesses of vengeance.” That description could very well fit Bhoma Yasmu and her followers. If you have a score to settle, these are the ladies you want to hire. Bhoma has come up with a scheme – she is known as an honorable captain in the Kimean Sea, Western Ocean and Southern Ocean, but she would like to dabble in some piracy, so she has hatched a scheme to travel to Mare Tropilii, the inland sea controlled by Tropilium and engage in piracy for Entoich. They’ve made it as far as the Clemency River valley where the river serves as the border between Imperial Tropilium and Entoich before running out of money. Here on the border, they’ve taken jobs to replenish much needed resources before moving on to the coast.

Bhoma Yasmu

Bhoma Yasmu was born at sea, her parents were Kurinthian pirates. She wasn’t quite eight weeks old when her parents perished in a sea battle against a squadron of Amazonian ships from the Valkae city state of Asteria. The squadron commander, Captain Hipponike Yasmu, fell in love with the orphaned infant and adopted Bhoma as her daughter.

Like every Amazon, she was raised with a proficiency in riding and archery, but Bhoma really excelled in seamanship and at an early age earned her first command.

Despite being a competent naval officer, Bhoma wanted more out of life. Asterian ships seldom left sight of Valkae and never sailed out of the Kimean Sea. She began to wonder about Kurinthia, soon the wanderlust was too strong and she left Asteria for a life of adventure.

Here are her game stats for WHAT:

• Star or Grunt? – Star
• Race? – Men
• Nationality? – Valkae/Kurinthia
• Alignment? – Twilight
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 5
• Class? – Knight
• Skills? – People 5, Savvy 4
• Attributes? – Swordsman, Terrifying
• Weapons? – Sword
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – Yes

Shashah Uinhir

A marine on a Nycenaean warship, Shasha was facing the prospect of slavery. Shashah Uinhir’s ship was sinking and under the rules of war defeated combatants could be held for ransom or sold into slavery. The male rowers were granted freedom if they would hire as rowers for Asteria. The officers were to be held for ransom. The rest of the crew, including Shashah, were to be sold in one of Asteria’s slave markets.

She was astonished to find the Asterian Captain, Bhoma Yasmu, had skin as dark as hers. She was even more astonished when Bhoma bought her and immediately set her free. She felt a kinship to the Asterian officer and chose to serve on Bhoma’s ship as a marine. The two women became close friends and when Bhoma quit the Asterian navy, Shashah went with her.

Her game stats are:

• Star or Grunt? – Grunt
• Race? – Men
• Nationality? – Valkae/Kurinthia
• Alignment? – Twilight
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 5
• Class? – Warrior
• Skills? – People 4, Savvy 5
• Attributes? – Wary, Agile
• Weapons? – Spear
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – Yes

Emini Jam

Emini Jam met Bhoma and Shashah in Ironwood Forest. Bhoma had gone to her family’s estate and said her goodbyes to her mother after she had decided to travel to Kurinthia. The shortest route from the estate to Clearport, Asteria’s most southern port city was through the Ironwood Forest. In the forest, they met Emini and her brothers.

They are Wood Elves who are smaller in number to the Elves of Lothgolin and the Dark Elves of Gorath. Wood Elves do not have a nation, but instead live in forest enclaves throughout much of Talomir. They say where Wood Elves are found, places of Fey magic such as portals and magic springs are near by.

After listening to Bhoma’s tale, Emini’s own sense of wanderlust awoke and she decided to join the adventure. Emini’s keen eyesight and skill with a long bow makes her a valuable member of the band.

Her game stats:

• Star or Grunt? – Grunt
• Race? – Elf
• Nationality? – Wood Elf
• Alignment? – Twilight
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 4
• Class? – Shooter
• Skills? – People 3, Savvy 4
• Attributes? – Slippery, Agile
• Weapons? – Longbow, Dagger
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – No

Neshi Shafi

Neshi Shafi was a slave to a fish monger in Clearport, when she was spotted by Bhoma Yasmu. Bhoma Yasmu couldn’t bear to see a fellow Kurinthian in slavery and she offered to buy Neshi. However, Neshi’s owner wouldn’t sell, so under the cover of darkness, Bhoma stole Neshi the night their ship left for the mainland.

Under Bhoma’s tutelage, Neshi has become a formidable warrior. A young woman of striking beauty, Neshi Shafi shaves the left side of her head which has the effect of striking fear in her opponents.

Neshi’s game stats:

• Star or Grunt? – Grunt
• Race? – Men
• Nationality? – Kurinthia
• Alignment? –  Black Moon
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 4
• Class? – Warrior
• Skills? – People 3, Savvy 4
• Attributes? – Wary, Hard as Nails
• Weapons? – Spear
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – Yes

Denia Brightshield

Born in a small village on the Naminpo River, Denia is an inquisitive young woman who ventured to the Kurinthian capital city, Busra, where she met Bhoma Yasmu and joined her band working up and down the Naminpo.

Denia Brightshield, like most Kurinthians, is a Black Moon adherent. Alone, she will have nothing to do with anyone aligned with the Red Sun, but as a member of Bhoma’s band, she works with whoever the band works with.

Game stats for Denia:

• Star or Grunt? – Grunt
• Race? – Men
• Nationality? – Kurinthia
• Alignment? – Black Moon
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 4
• Class? – Warrior
• Skills? – People 3, Savvy 4
• Attributes? – Wary, Nimble
• Weapons? – Spear
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – Yes

Svona Dawngleam

Svona Dawngleam is a rare sorceress in Kurinthia. Most Kurinthian Casters practice voodoo, a person oriented system of magic which also includes necromancy. Svona practices elemental magic, particularly spells manipulating weather. These Casters are prized throughout the fleets of Talomir, the common sailors call them “storm callers.” The lack of storm callers is a weakness in the Kurinthian fleet.

Bhoma keeps Svona well paid. While there is little use for spells changing wind direction in dungeons, a well placed lightning bolt spell is invaluable.

Svona’s game stats:

• Star or Grunt? – Grunt
• Race? – Men
• Nationality? – Kurinthia
• Alignment? – Black Moon
• Male or Female? – Female
• Reputation? – 5
• Class? – Caster
• Skills? – People 5, Savvy 4
• Attributes? – Cast Spells, Magic Resistant, Lucky
• Weapons? – None
• Armor? – AC2
• Shield? – No

Well that does it for my party of adventurers. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention – blue was a favored color in ancient navies, even though they didn’t have a word for blue. In most languages before the seventeenth century, there was no specific word for blue. To our ancestors, blue was a shade of black. Anyway, I decided on a uniform approach to painting Bhoma and her band and chose blue clothing to tie the models together. Svona, the sorceress, being a bit of an outsider, wears a blue that leans toward gray.

In the next post I’ll show the denizens of the dungeon and how to load PEFs in the final preparation for the encounter.