The Lovely Amber Rose

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Basic Information
Name: Amber Rose
Aliases: None
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Age: 18
Profession: Arcane Student
Languages: Common, Elven, Celestial
Accent: A slight, soft southern accent.

Physical Information
Height: 5’9”
Weight: 135
Body build: Slim, athletic
Skin type: Caucasian
Hair style: Worn in a simple ponytail
Scars: None
Tattoos: None

[b]Hair:[/b] Rich auburn [b]Eyes:[/b] Dark brown [b]Skin:[/b] Tan, smooth and flawless [/li]

Mental Information
Alignment: Neutral Good
Philosophy: "Love everyone brilliantly, laugh often, and eat chocolate!”
Deity/Beliefs: Yes.
Personality:

[u]Encouraging[/u] [i]Often speaks words of encouragement to those around her.[/i] [u]Bright[/u] [i]Extraordinary positive, especially in challenging situations.[/i] [u]Free-Spirited[/u] [i]Often care-free, very fun-loving, and sometimes downright silly.[/i] [u]Sensitive[/u] [i]Easily hurt by harsh words or criticism.[/i] [u]Warm[/u] [i]Strives to be kind and appropriate to everyone she meets.[/i] [/li]

Additional Information
Gear: Amber travels very light, but keeps a small assortment of weapons with her in case situations become difficult.
Jewelry: Amber's jewelry and clothing style tend to be simple and beautiful.
Habits/hobbies: Eating fresh fruit, picking flowers, playing with her bunny, watching waterfalls, listening to music, singing, reading books, shopping, and good conversation with friends.
General Health: Excellent.
Favorite Drink: Green tea with honey and soy milk.
Weaknesses: Dark chocolate, protective men, and people with manners.

Other Characteristics
Arcane Manifestations: As a sorceress, magic has always flowed naturally and effortlessly from Amber Rose. With that in mind, people who spend time with her will immediately notice a handful of curious cantrips spontaneously manifesting on and around her. For instance, it is quite common for shimmers of gold dust to appear from her eyes when she smiles, or wisps of colors lifting from her hands into tiny butterflies that swirl and fade. Curiously enough, her presence sometimes affects the elements around her as well, with steam from her tea shaping into hearts or campfire flames dancing lightly with dragonflies. Oftentimes the tone of her manifestations will reflect her mood. When she is angry, for instance, fierce blue-light white flashing from her eyes is not uncommon. When sheÂ’s feeling carefree, however, warm colors are usual seen.
Spell Shaping: Amber has a very unique type of spell shaping where her magic spontaneously takes wondrous forms and brilliant colors. For instance, it is not uncommon for her magic missiles to form into fiery pixies, her protective wards to be scattered with hearts and stars, or her firebrands burst into small stallions. Though occurring frequently this is almost never done consciously, but more the result of her emotions, spirit, and personality manifesting in her magical gifting.
Casting Language: All of AmberÂ’s casting is spoken or sung in elven. She knows the language fluently and has always found a bond between the elven language and how easily it taps into the arcane.

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

General Background of Amber Rose

Daughter of a Harmonium Mover (Officer) and a grammar school teacher, Amber Rose is the eldest of two daughters. She grew up in the LadyÂ’s Ward among the upper class and nobility of the Sigil, strongly focusing on her education, athletic training, learning the elvish language and slowly developing her arcane powers.

As a sorceress, AmberÂ’s magical powers are innate. Her grandmother was a sorceress of minor power (mastering third tier spells), as was her grandmother before her, their arcane gift seemingly skipping generations. When Amber was twelve years old, her arcane abilities first showed themselves by spontaneously heating up cup of hot chocolate that had cooled late one evening (her grandmother later suspected it to be a modified flare cantrip). Mentoring her through her early teen years, AmberÂ’s grandmother helped her show her first cantrips and minor evocations. Knowing her skill was limited in how much she could focus AmberÂ’s abilities, she encouraged her parents to further AmberÂ’s skills in magic.

As a daughter of a Harmonium officer, Amber grew up learning and hearing about basics of weaponry and tactics. Though have no military vocation herself, she quickly learned how to adapt her swordplay and spellwork together. It is not uncommon to see spells leap from her weapons as well as from her hands, or have the flames on her sword swirl to hearts or dragonflies in combat. She soon developed a love for great swords, halberds, and longbows, though she can wield a range of different weapons if necessary.

Though her father is not a well-decorated or specifically influential Mover in the Harmonium, many members of the militia are familiar with who Amber is. This makes sense, of course. A strikingly beautiful young woman whose eyes flash arcane light and whose hands spontaneously shimmer with golden dust is not inconspicuous by any means. It is therefore quite common to have Harmonium patrolmen nod in passing to Amber on the streets of Sigil.

Both AmberÂ’s parents are still alive and living in Sigil, along with her younger sister and grandmother. She lives with them in their home in the LadyÂ’s Ward, not far from the Harmonium barracks.

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Common Spell-Shapings of Amber Rose

Though AmberÂ’s spell-shaping takes various forms depending on her mood and environment, below is a list of commonly seen forms of her magical ability. This is not an inclusive list, as her spell knowledge is continually shifting and maturing.

[i]Magic Missiles, Isaac Missile Storms: Bright pink hearts, white fiery pixies, or a rainbow of colors. Scorching Ray: Steams of fiery rose petals. Mage Armors and Protective Spells: Often reflective of her environment, though floral patterns are most commonly seen, often humming as they circle around her. Firewalls, Firebrands: Rearing stallions of various sizes. Lighting, Chain Lightning Spells: Brilliant shower of blue-white stars or thorny rose stems. Shadow Shield: A globe of purple and dark red rose petals. Orbs of Acid/Electricity: Brilliant globes of swirling colors often forming into hummingbirds before contact. [/i] [/li]

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[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Regarding Necromancy Spells

People are often surprised when they witness Amber Rose using a necromancy spell or two in combat (most commonly seen are Horrid Wilting, False Life and Ray of Enfeeblement). Because Amber is of good alignment, they often find this in clear contradiction to her nature.

In their response, however, is an assumption that must be addressed: that death is inherently evil by nature. Death, however, is not specifically good or evil, just like life is not inherently good or evil. A paladin sacrificing his life so his companions can escape the Hells by standing against an unbeatable devil is, in a sense, a “good” death. A wicked wizard living greedily for himself and maliciously toward others can be viewed as having an “evil” life. Death, then, simply is, with no defining morality attached to it.

A second point to consider is that Horrid Wilting specifically causes magical damage, not negative energy damage. It simply sucks mostuire out of the air (which is particularly damaging to water-based creatures in PNP D&D). Also, PNP D&D it does not have the death descriptor in the spell as it does in the game.

It is also important to note that Amber never uses necromancy spells (or any other damaging spells for that matter) against anyone unless they are threatening her life or the lives of those she loves. Also, the vast majority of her spell knowledge is protective or evocative, not necromantic by nature.

When used, however, her small of pool of necromancy spells often shape into beams or clouds of deep purples, cool blues, and dark reds.

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Thoughts Regarding Playing Amber Rose

<span style='font-family:garamond'>Amber Rose is and always has been my key character on Neverwinter Nights. She’s been on five different servers over the course of four years, and I love role-playing her over any other character I’ve made (runner–up being Amycus Thorne).

Amber is a unique character in some of the most uncommon ways. Early on in my gaming, I noticed that many people chose to make characters from challenging or disadvantageous backgrounds: Orphaned from birth, victims of rape, pasts with emotional abuse, forced into slavery, grew up in poverty, lost a lover, etc. For whatever reason, that challenged me to attempt to create someone with a healthy background and unscarred past. Can I create an interesting and dynamic character that has loving parents and a healthy family? Can I create an interesting and dynamic character that comes from a middle to upper-middle class background with no major trauma or emotional issues in her past? Amber Rose was the result.

Curiously enough, IÂ’ve never had a character that gets more response than Amber. SheÂ’s innocent, free, fun-loving, caring, beautiful, encouraging, sensitive and warm. No major scars, no significant issues, no haunting past. Most people will say that sounds like a boring story, so letÂ’s get on with something more dramatic. But she is always tends to draw a response from other players. There are four that seem to be the most commonÂ…

One of the most common responses I get from male players is that they are going to “corrupt” Amber. It’s been four years strong and no one has been able to do so. This, of course, is intentional on my end: I wanted to distinguish Amber is by making her unconquerably good. The priest who doesn’t believe in God or the faithful spouse who gave into his one moment of temptation is cliché, old, tried, and done. So another challenge is created: How do I continue to make an unwaveringly good character remain both faithful and interesting? I doubt I’ll ever break Amber’s goodness or morality. There’s a steadfastness to her that is quite refreshing to me.

Another common response from male characters is to attempt to control or manipulate her. This happened just the other day on Sigil, all two days into playing Amber. I’ve seen it time and time again. “I know how to deal with a woman,” or “You’re going to learn your place when you interact with me,” or “You’ll learn to respect me one way or another!” Most of the time, I believe, this is a cry for significance on the part of the other player. Many people wrapped up in having false power over another are often saying, essentially, “Don’t I matter to you? Am I significant to you? Am I important to you?” When relating to Amber, they are now faced with the reality that someone beautiful and pure can be free, complete, satisfied, and whole without them (a terrifying thought to many men who find their self worth in having some sort of influence or power over others, particularly women). The irony is that Amber does care for them, truly is for them, and wants their best. She, in a sense, loves them more but needs them less.

A third common response from male characters specifically is to be protective or over-protective of her. As a character she likes this very much, as it is reflective of her protective father. Though appreciative of this stance, Amber has never dated another character and may very well never date. This does not diminish the fact that she truly does care for others; it simply emphasizes her love of freedom, passion for advancing her magic, and her desire to continue to explore other planes and places.

The fourth response is that people find her bubbly and annoying. This, of course, if very understandable. Amber is a bit bubbly! SheÂ’s also positive, encouraging and free. ItÂ’s part of her and one of the things I love about playing her.

Whatever the response, I love playing Amber Rose. ThereÂ’s something brilliant about her presence and life-giving about her encouraging spirit that keeps me coming back to her again and again. My hope is that she continues to bless other players by her words, her actions and her heart.
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[*jasonpauldegraaf]

To the Hall of Records: Meeting Abraxas

Harmonium Mover Nathaniel Rose walked alongside his teenage daughter, headed down the streets of Sigil toward the Hall of Records. He walked rhythmically and orderly, a habit after years of serving in the militia. He turned to his daughter, Amber, and spoke, “Your grandmother says Abraxas is an excellent teacher, my dear.”

Amber bit her lip gently and pulled a strand of her dark, auburn hair behind her ear. “I still don’t understand why I have to get trained in magic, father? I mean, my spell work is coming along just fine, isn’t it?”

“That’s all well and good, dear,” Nathaniel said, now looking straight forward, “but my daughter will receive the best education available to her. Your mother and I didn’t raise you and your sister to complete grade school and become wash women, you know.”

Amber nodded, her hands burned lightly with white fire, swirling to tiny hearts and fading. A long pause grew between her and her father. She turned to him and smiled, “So, is he fun?”

“Who, Abraxas?” Nathaniel asked, looking to his daughter.

She nodded.

He laughed deeply. Amber smiled and a shimmer of arcane light wisped from her eye. She always loved her father’s laugh. It was deep, echoing, booming, and profound. It could dispel the darkest mood or most potent seriousness. A flash of memories of her dad’s laughter sounding through her home warmed her spirit. “I’ve never known a wizard who wasn’t in one way or another. Though perhaps he’ll take to your demeanor and lighten up a bit.”

“Well, I hope so.”

A moment later they were at the Hall of Records. Amber had been there before, amazed at shelves of books and the richness of knowledge that the Hall contained. Races of every sort were busy and quiet, pouring through tomes, scribbling notes, and shuffling through the aisles. AmberÂ’s father took her hand and they walked toward the back of the building, her footfalls chiming ever so faintly as she stepped. They came to a plain, wooden door.

“Ah, here we are,” Nathanial Rose stated, rapping precisely on the door.

An older man opened the door dressed in dark brown robes and wearing spectacles. His hair was graying and he smiled warmly to Nathaniel. “Mover Rose, good day, good day! Do come in. I’ve been expecting you.” He turned to Amber and smiled brilliantly. “And this must be Amber Anne…”

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

A Trip to Minauros

A recent trip to the plane of Baator and that challenges that came with fighting the devils therein.

Amber Rose stepped through the open portal to Minauros with her other companions: Talin, Teir, Davion, Valeria, Cerul and two others. After a flash of pale green light she found herself up to her knees in foul swamp water. A horrendously acrid smell rose from the dank land, causing her to heave and lean on her enchanted halberd for support. The sky was scorched with rushing, low clouds, and for miles around her stretched a forsaken, desolate plane of Baator. Crooked trees, tainted water, and putrid smells set an awful, twisted tone to the hellish wasteland around her. The low buzzing of devilish insects and bubbling marshlands filled the air.

She looked herself over and then glanced to her bunny, which nervously peeked out of her traveling satchel. “Pockets, I have a feeling this place is going to absolutely ruin my dress. “ Pockets twitched his nose and scurried back inside her bag, shaking in fear.

“Amber, this way!” one of her companions beckoned. They had begun advancing, and Amber could make out the colors of their wards through the low fog that shrouded the swamp of Minauros. A quick haste spell and she had caught up with her companions who were all trudging through mud and low waters. “This devil blood we’re looking for is quite rare, and we can’t get separated. When you get lost here, you get ‘lost,’” Cerul stated.

“Dogai, to the east!” Valeria shouted. She effortlessly carried her massive shield and was fully armored, her profound strength clearly pointing to her draconic lineage. In seconds the sky was filled with dozens of fiery pink and white missiles from the three mages. Amber’s missile storm shaped to brilliant pixies, humming faintly in the air and burning fiercely on impact. The devil was hurt, but didn’t fall. Talin, Teir and Valeria charged, cutting it down quickly. Three more appeared out of nowhere, breaching their invisibility spells and leaping toward them with jagged blades.

“Hells!” Valeria cursed.

“That’s where we are,” Talin said with a grin. “Keep on them!”

Amber let out a chain of lightning into the melee, flashing brilliantly into shower of blue-white stars. The Dogai dodged them effortlessly. “Drat! No fair!” Amber exclaimed, her eyes narrowing with a glint of arcane light.

“Keep to the missile storms, Amber,” Davion said, sending another barrage of white projectiles from his staff into the fray. “They’re much more effec----behind you!”

Amber turned around to see a Dogai a few paces away, creeping up on her. She spun her halberd quickly and spoke a single word in elven. A ball of electricity leaped from her weapon, swirling to shape a crackling dove before impact. The spell hit it dead center, burning a hole through the devil’s rotting chest. It staggered some, but didn’t fall. Amber stepped forward and swung, taking advantage of the moment and felling it with swift cut of her pole arm. “Gotcha!” she said, slicing its neck and watching the devil slump lifelessly into a pool of low marsh water .

They quickly regrouped. “Any retrievable vials yet?” Teir asked, holding his rapier lightly.

“Not from these,” Davion said, examining the bodies. A moment later he looked up, peering in the direction of a dark cave in the distance. The others looked in tandem. A hollow silence fell over the party as the severity of going deeper into the wasteland of Minauros settled on their hearts. The mouth of the cave gaped open like a beast waiting for foolish prey to naïvely wander inside.

Valeria finally spoke. “We should check in there.”

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

The Challenges of Playing a Sorcerer

Often times people who play sorcerers on servers get accused of being power-gamers (and sometimes wizards as well). This is mainly due to the fact that a sorcerer can dish out a disgusting amount of damage in a very short amount of time at higher levels, haste around happily with the persistent spell feat, and cast ethereal visage to get out of bad situations when things get messy. So their accusation, to an extent, is true. There are, however, some unique challenges that come when playing a sorcerer on a live server.

Limited spell choices. One of the challenges of playing on a live server is, of course, that sorcerers have a very limited number of spells to choose from when compared to a wizard. At first glance, this may not seem like a problem at all. However, the challenge presented is truly knowing the server. Chain Lightning is a great spell, but if the server is filled with enemies who have improved evasion or who have electrical immunity perhaps thatÂ’s not the best pick. BigbyÂ’s Grasping Hand is an excellent choice that can render most enemy bosses useless, but if the server those same enemies with outrageously high AC, well, youÂ’re out of luck, cutter. Scratch that toon and give it another go. So not only are sorcerers extremely limited on selecting their spells, now players must precisely pick those spells in response to the uniqueness of a server. A poorly picked spell, even at very low levels, can ruin a casterÂ’s entire spell bar and make the sorcerer fall far short of his potential.

Casting in melee. In the OC, players had the option of adjusting the games difficulty settings. Put it on normal and congratulations, lightning bolts all around with no damage to the party! How effortless? On live servers, however, this is not the case. Now spell picks must be even more precise. Greater Fireburst may be a very tempting to learn because of the massive damage it does to a very large range. Firebrand, however, is easily a better choice because it only targets enemies.

Accuracy.Speaking of casting into melee, who here has had the unfortunate experience of being the target of friendly fire from a party caster? The battle is going along smoothly until you, of all people, get hit with a maximized missile storm! Ouch! One of the challenges of playing a caster on a live server is targeting accurately in the heat and speed of battle. This can get very messy, especially in harder areas where the stakes are much higher. A poorly disciplined player who has a higher level sorcerer is a significant danger to a party.

Lack of, well, a lot. Hit points, low. Skill points, low. Base attack bonus, low. Saves, low (though many people choose to take warlock or paladin levels to counter this). Sorcerers have a lot going for them, but they have a lot going against them as well. Low skill points are killer on live servers. Making a HIPS wizard is cake, they have more skill points to throw around than they know what to do with and extra feats on top of that. Not so much with sorcerers. Low AC is fairly brutal also. Unless a Sorc/Paly/EKnight/ASoC wants to take a total of four feats to cast most effectively in armor (Still Spell, Auto-Still Spell 1,2, & 3), sorcerers are at a disadvantage here as well. Now, some servers offer armor that reduces spell failure, others do not. Combat expertise and a light Zalantar shields are another option, but those are precious feats used, cutter, and could easily be put elsewhere.

That all being said, I love playing sorcerers. They will most likely be my favorite class of all time. I find them brilliant to roleplay and endlessly challenging to build. I hope to get many more hours online playing the lovely Amber Rose.

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Wildflowers and the Beastlands

A recent scene of Amber taking some time with Pockets to collect a basket of wildflowers from the Beastland Forest.

A teenage girl with long, auburn hair slipped silently into the thick labyrinth of forests in the Beastlands holding an empty basket under her arm. A round and somewhat unimpressive bunny hopped steadily beside her, twitching his nose curiously. Ancient trees, thick and towering, stood as natureÂ’s sentinels around her, casting wide shadows that added to the mystery of the hallowed woods.

In the distance, a lone Ent marched clumsily along the forest path. “We best stay out of sight, Pockets,” Amber said. She bowed her head slightly and sang a simple melody in the elvish tongue. Seconds later she and her familiar vanished. “Now try not to make a lot of noise! And don’t be fussy, either.” Her rabbit twitched his nose in her direction agreeably.

Amber walked as silently through the woods, concentrating so to not let her footfalls sound with their usual, faint chimes. She breathed deeply, taking in the scents of the forest and loving the fresh air. A warm smile moved slowly over her face, and a small flash of arcane, white light from her eyes swirled to shape the tiniest of butterflies, fading quickly into an ethereal mist. They continued on.

“There!” Amber whispered with excitement, taking her basket in hand and walking toward a beautiful patch of wildflowers. Pockets followed suit, sniffing the array of flowers curiously. The patch was hidden in a small grove a few paces off of the main trail. Moving closer she saw they were colored brilliantly with purples, blues, reds, oranges, whites and yellows. Their floral scents lingered enticingly in the air, adding to their tone and mystique.

“Perfect!” she said, kneeling and taking out a small pair of gardening scissors. Gently she cut a handful of flowers from the patch, making sure to leave many more behind compared to how many she was taking. Gathering them in her basket, she worked for another few minutes until it was full.

Finishing, she looked to her bunny, satisfied with her find. “Ready, Pockets?” The bunny blinked a few times. “Great!” she said, “Let’s head back. A little floral arranging, a few fancy cantrips and these may catch a nice price is the bazaar."

Stepping back onto the forest path, Amber and her bunny headed toward the direction of the portal leading to Sigil Main.

[*jasonpauldegraaf]

Early Training in Abjurations

A scene from early in AmberÂ’s time as a sorceress when she first began learning basic protection spells.

Vlen Valmorri stood with his great sword drawn to Amber Rose. She stood opposite him, her sword drawn as well. The tips of the two weapons touched as they paced slowly around each other. VlenÂ’s brilliant blue eyes stood out sharply against his tan skin and black hair. Amber smiled warmly, not taking her eyes off her opponent, the frost from her sword shimmering into a rainbow of snowflakes and fading upward. A glint of arcane light chimed softly out of the corner of her eye.

“It was kind of your father to let us use this room in the militia barracks for training,” Vlen said, his holy symbol of Selune hanging loosely over an expensive leather jacket.

Amber nodded slightly. “Vlen, you shouldn’t talk so much when sparring, you never quite know when---!” Amber quickly lunged at him with an overhead strike of her courtblade. Not far behind, however, he parried it and deflected the blow to the side.

“You’ve always been quick to strike, Miss Rose,” the paladin said, “ever since we were young. Perhaps learning a little patience would do you well in combat.”

Amber took one hand off the hilt of her sword; it lit with a startling pink and white hue that hummed two different tones in perfect harmony. “Perhaps we need to spice up this sparring some?” She grinned, an evocation clearly forming in her off-hand.

Vlen took the same instant to quickly put up a two wards. Two globes formed around him, shimmering with a golden and silver light. Amber launched her spell a second too late. Arcing low and singing through the air, her missiles absorbed into his arcane shield, splashing into a wisp of ethereal rose petals.

“Hey, no fair!”

He grinned, quickly eyeing his wards, and then looked back to her. “Amber, do you even know any protective spells?”

She blinked, gripping her sword again with both hands. A pause lingered between them. “Um, well…”

Vlen laughed. “That would be a no. Perhaps it’s time we took a break from dueling and worked on your abjurations.”

She sighed lightly. “You’re starting to sound like Abraxas, you know?”

“The wizard knows well the value of guarding oneself, Amber. I doubt you’ll get far in your explorations hurling arcane missiles at everything you see.”

“I have rays of ice as w---!”

Vlen closed his eyes and shook his head, his action bringing her to silence. “Come, we need to work on a basic mage armor spell. It came to me not long ago, and I have a feeling if you see me cast the protection, the abjuration will come to you soon as well.”

Amber held her blade out in front of her and smoothed her hand over it. The frost quickly dispersed and she sheathed it over her back. She looked to Vlen and crossed her arms somewhat defensively. “Okay, but if I learn this, you have to at least pick up on a magic missile evocation. All I’ve seen you cast are defensive spells and protection wards!”

Vlen laughed and put up his great sword in turn. “I’m a paladin, Miss Rose, sworn to guard and protect. So I’m afraid I cannot make you any promises in that regard.”

Amber shook her head and huffed. “You’re so frustrating sometimes, you know?”

The paladin smirked some. “How kind of you for noticing, m’lady. ”