@Device(PostScript) @Make(Report) @Style(Spacing 1.5, Leftmargin 0.75 inch, Rightmargin 0.75 inch, SingleSided, Font = TimesRoman, Size 10) @comment(Set these values appropriately for each character profile) @string(name="Heather Goldenfield") @string(realname="Heather Sweetroot Goldenfield") @string(playername="Player Name") @string(id="092732") @include (/mit/abstract/Characters/Sheets/cover.mss) @MajorHeading(@value(realname)) By the Goddess Above All, sometimes it gets to be too much. Why does it always have to be @i(you) who has to figure out what's really going on? It's not as if nobody else had any reason to try, but somehow it always seems to work out that way. Maybe it's just your personality. You've always tried to be helpful, caring, sympathetic: a good listener. People come to you with their problems, people tell you things, people ask you about things. You have always had a strict sense of honor, you will not reveal something you've promised to keep secret; at the same time, you've often given people information and contacts that have proved invaluable, and they usually stay in touch. That kind of a reputation, you've noticed, tends to go a long way. On the other hand, your training and devotion probably has something to do with it, even if you do try to keep that quiet. You are Tualoha's High Priestess, through possibly the most unusual chain of circumstances in history. And She is the Bringer of Revelations, after all. You remember with crystal clarity the day, so long ago, when you stumbled into the caves beneath Clearstone Mountain. You had been exploring for the sheer delight of it, but you nearly died of fright when you found yourself face-to-face with an apparition from beyond the grave. His skin was pale, his eyes dark and sunken, and he reeked of death; you were too frightened to move as he approached you. "You are the one," he said, in a voice of death, "the one my Goddess foretold would come. You are here to learn. I shall teach. The prophecy shall be fulfilled." You weren't sure what or who he was, but in a way he was right -- you were exploring the Mountain, and exploration was a sort of learning... in any case, that's how you got to know the being men call the Necromancer. You soon learned he wasn't nearly as bad as everybody thought; but he was pretty scary, and pretty weird. He was also, or had once been, the High Priest of Gaea. You never understood why Gaea's priest ended up teaching you the ways of Tualoha, the Creator, but that's exactly what he did. Whenever you asked, he would respond with some mutterings about prophecies and destinies that you never really understood. After a few years, he sent you away, saying he had taught you all he could, and it was your time to learn on your own. And learn you did. He had given you a white amulet, which you learned was the token of Tualoha's Priest(ess), attuned to her realm and her actions. At least, that's what you were told. You, personally, never managed to use it for that, but you did manage to contact a spirit within the amulet, who taught you much of magic and of the Goddess. You learned the Way of the Ascension, where all forces and beings shall exist in harmony, and of the Dark Lord, who sought to destroy the fledgling race of man lest it achieve its destiny and thus be freed from his power. You learned of the Creation Gate, a portal opened half a millenium ago by the wizard Kiel, who served the Goddess, and sealed away by that same wizard, yet still serving to enhance the power of white magic throughout the world. You learned of the Goddess' binding, three decades ago, through that portal, and of the Time of Darkness that has befallen Tualoha's followers since then. And you learned, through diligence and patience, something your guardian spirit never knew -- the Darktime was in truth a facet of the greater Light. You learned of the Mad Time; you learned @i(why) the wizard Kiel sealed the portal he had sacrificed so much to open. Tualoha is the Creator, that is her power and her nature. The Creator and the Preserver, though sometimes allies and sometimes enemies in the greater nature of things, are indivisibly different beings, and may not share a realm. If the Creation Gate had been opened, as Kiel attempted to do so many years ago, the Lady would have entered the realm of Her daughter Gaea and reshaped it in Her image, an image that has little room for beings such as man. And so Kiel sealed again the Gate, allowing the splendid radiance of Tualoha to shine through but barring Her entrance into the World. So matters stood for centuries, until some mortal mage or dark priest, through what unholy rites you do not know, acted to bind the Goddess thirty four years ago, a heretical feat never dreamed possible. Yet the Gods are not all-powerful, and they too can be victimized by their Children. And so it was that the Goddess was bound, her voice stilled and her power tied to the place of her shackling. And with the silencing of her voice came the era of solitude and fear for her followers known as the Darktime. These occurences are long before your time, but still you know of them. That much is perhaps known to many. Known to many as well, no doubt, is the one command she has given in that third of a century. @b(COME. HELP. BIND.) The compulsion that no doubt has brought many of them here, the the last remaining Castle in the Sky. But you know more, and that knowledge is a bleak fear in your heart. Before the Darktime, the Creation Gate could remain upon the World, and the Goddess remain in her Paradise, and the balance could be maintained. But in her binding, in her dormancy, the Goddess' nature has been too long denied. If the binding were broken, Her nature -- to create, to order, to inspire -- would take hold with a strength mortal minds cannot conceive. Her followers upon the World, such as yourself, would be overcome by what in mortal terms would be madness, obsession. And even that is a pale shadow, a meaningless triviality, compared to the fate that awaits the World if the Goddess is unbound while the Gate remains in existence. For with the Gate still in the World, the Goddess herself would be compelled by Her own nature to pass through it, annhilating both Paradise and the World. This would be but the precursor to the return of the primal chaos. All this you have known, hypothetically, for many years; now, it is no longer a matter for theory or hypothesis. The Goddess is no longer bound. That much you could sense. Paradoxical as it seems, you, the Goddess's High Priestess, must act to limit Her influence upon the World, lest all the inhabitants of two worlds be destroyed. Perhaps it is too late. Already you have seen the signs -- the power of the Castle's magic has become unpredictable, beings of every description have appeared throughout the complex; there is every indication that the Madtime has begun. And yet the Goddess is still quiescent, sleeping her deep sleep -- you may yet have a chance to bind her once again, if you can only determine how. There is perhaps a reflection of the affairs of gods in the affairs of men, for among your own kind, too, you have achieved an unusual position in a war fought for too long. You are the Head of Clan Goldenfield, a rich farming territory that lies along the Clanland's western border, near the Realm. As such you have represented the Clan to the Clasp for many years, but in the last half-decade your influence has waned. With the onset of the Western war, the need for metals and warriors and horses increased the influence of the Greystone, Brightwind and Bluemist Clans, while the brunt of the fighting itself took place in your lands. This was not acceptable, but there was little you could do. When COERCE convinced your fellow Clan Heads to convene for a peace summit, you breathed a sigh of relief; now you must ensure that the war is brought to a close. As with the gods, it is those who are caught in a war who suffer the most, not those who declare it. You have one strong resource within the Clasp, and that is information. Here, perhaps, your contacts and your magic will become useful. Long ago you coined the term "Hydra" to refer to your loosely bound but expansive network of information transfer, a body with many heads operating independantly of each other, but connected to, and feeding, a single organism. Looking over the Castle's guest list, you see many familiar faces... Naptuhim Nahor: An enigma at first, Nahor's betrayal of the Realm became far more understandable when he confided to you his half-Clan heritage and his desire to see the war end quickly, with minimal bloodshed. He is affiliated with the Wizard's Conclave, and as such he had access to a great deal of information regarding the Realm's magical and military maneuvers, information he began to give you after extracting from you two promises: first, that you would never reveal your source, and second, that you would use the information only to achieve a balance between the two nations, not to grant the Clanlands an advantage. Shelaphi Vellad: Also a Realm-Clan cross, but blatantly so (not that he has much of a choice, his metallic steel eyes brand him as a Clansman). You met him years ago while he was doing some work in your Clanlands, although you never quite understood exactly what he was doing. He was full of useful information about the Realm and its affairs, and may yet be in other ways a source of useful information. Rosemary Sweetwater: You really got to know Rosemary when the Clasp agreed to allow the limited use of witchcraft when directly sponsored by the Clasp, for the benefit of the Clans (a decision you strongly encouraged, and continue to). Rosemary is the Clasp's contact to the Left Hand of the Clans, and her communication with various prophetesses, seers, and other practitioners of once-forbidden arts has made her an invaluable source of tactical information for the Clasp and the Clans' armies. In addition, she was the perfect mechanism for you to relay your information to the Clasp through, thereby enhancing her reputation and keeping suspicion from falling on you. Insofar as your Tualohic affiliations are technically illegal, you've always considered this a good thing. In return for your occassional bits of information about Realm military maneuvers, she has provided you with various tidbits of unusual information, sometimes useful, sometimes not. Mercy Anise: One of your fellow Goldenfields, you got to know Mercy in her capacity as a Clan Observer. She also serves as a handmaiden for Joy Greystone, Victor's young charge, and thus spends a great deal of time at the Castle. The two of you became close friends, and lately she's been very worried about Joy's change of habits: cutting her hair, wearing makeup, speaking like a guttersnipe, and a sudden interest in politics. You reassured her that Joy was just going through a phase, but the truth was you had noticed something similar and were beginning to worry. It was as if Joy were trying to rebel from everything she'd grown up with. You've known Joy practically since she was born, and she was aptly named -- a delightful child. A bit naive, perhaps, but that was to be expected given the sheltered life she lived; clever and resourceful, though. Lately, she's been avoiding you completely, which is troublesome for two reasons; firstly, you're worried about her, unsure how she's going to handle the identity crisis she seems to be going through... secondly, you're worried about the effects that will have on her role as Ambassador. Much as you care for Joy, the Clans come first, and it's your responsibility to ensure the war ends. Both with Mercy and with Joy, you get the feeling you're missing something crucial, that you aren't being told the whole truth. Anyway, you promised Mercy you'd do what you could for Joy, and keep her informed. And then there's the puzzling, somewhat disturbing case of Hyacinth Ivy, a farmgirl from the furthest portions of your Clanlands (actually, much of her lands lie in the Disputed Territories). The Ivy family has always been a touch unusual, from everything you've been told, but extremely productive -- at least until the war. Her parents died in the early part of the war, and her sister Charity had run away long before, leaving her completely alone... nonetheless, she chose to stay on her father's land and work it, and so the two of you got to know each other fairly well. Recently, Hyacinth visited the West, along with a Western soldier named Noah. Her sister, Charity, seems to want to take over the family farmlands, and Hyacinth seems interested in moving to the Realm, so it seems you won't be seeing her much longer. This is a shame, since Hyacinth's work with COERCE has finally created an opportunity for you to establish peace -- you feel you owe her one. Maybe there's some way to repay that debt. Of course, you've already got your hands full trying to take advantage of that opportunity -- you have a fair amount of opposition. Lance, for example, who somehow managed to talk the Clasp into that idiotic Primacy policy, is clearly a warmonger... his talk earlier this week about a "new military defense" is just the most recent indication of this. It was Nahor who informed you that a group of mages was planning to attack the Clanlands secretly, during the cease-fire. You told Rosemary, she told the Clasp, and Lance declared himself in charge of the defense. (Well, the attack was coming in through Bluemist territories, so he had some justification.) The rumours you hear tell of a slaughterhouse; but you are uncertain as to the details. Still, if it @i(is) true that the West sanctioned that attack, you may have to rethink your policy towards them. Marshall is clearly pro-war as well, but you could expect that from a Brightwind -- and besides, he is military coordinator for the Clanlands. You were relieved at first when he declared himself unable to attend the conference due to illness, but he ended up here anyway; more's the pity. Rosemary seems a trifle ambivalent, Victor is completely unreadable. The vote could go either way at the moment, but you are the only active proponent of peace. Things got particularly messy when the Guard of the Realm and your Iron Gauntlet both decided to arrive on the Castle as "peacekeeping" forces. Nobody seems to have given any thought to the fact that neither the Clasp, nor the Western Peers, nor either military/law- enforcement branch has @i(any) authority on this Castle. And it had to be those three particular sworddancers. Dirk, one of the old-guard Fist, a military man from way back. Hawk, whom you swear to the Goddess you will kick in the balls if he makes one more pass at you! And Stratus, the most annoying, immature, self- righteous... well, you're being a little unfair. You've got nothing in particular against them besides the fact that they get on your nerves, it's just that they're the only three. Of course, there would have been more if the magic on the Castle hadn't gone berserk. Which brings everything back full circle. The God'sWar drives the cycle of human war, which in turn governs the actions of the gods' servants and thereby of the gods themselves. The problem, it seems, must be solved as a whole. You pray you are up to the task. May the Goddess smile upon you. @newpage @section(Items and Abilities) You have the following abilities: @begin(itemize) Sense of Honor Sincerity Good Listener Detect Lie Priest of Tualoha @end(itemize) You begin the game with the following items: @begin(itemize) The White Amulet A gold ring with a blue mythril stone A scorecard A golden pendant, the Token of Goldenfield A clear crystal lens A hairaku pod, occassionally useful for promoting visions A sack of powdered glowstone @end(itemize) @newpage @section(Spells) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/aura_read.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/aura_read.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/black_protection.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_magic.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/detect_magic.major.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/glow.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/light.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/read_languages.minor.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Lore/Magic/Spells/sense.minor.mss) @newpage @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.creation.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.tualoha.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/lore.magic.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.clans.mss) @include(/mit/abstract/Guides/guide.goldenfield.mss) @section(Organizations) @include(/mit/abstract/Organizations/clansmans.clasp.mss)