[Callista] Birthday

[Throndir]

A peculiar item was found in Callista's sleeping quarters. An item that looked like a pair of bracers had a ribbon tied to it, at the end of the ribbon was a small note attached. It read:

To Callista, From the Guild of Galas'nor

Freeform exp counted for this thread with a modifier of x2.

Please update your character sheet when able.

Callista Receives:

Bracer's of Armor +1
These items appear to be wrist or arm guards, sometimes etched with symbols of protection or depictions of vigilant-looking animals.

Bracers of armor surround the wearer with an invisible but tangible field of force, granting him an armor bonus of +1 to +8, just as though he were wearing armor. Both bracers must be worn for the magic to be effective.

Alternatively, bracers of armor can be enchanted with armor special abilities. See Table: Armor Special Qualities for a list of abilities. Special abilities usually count as additional bonuses for determining the market value of an item, but do not improve AC. Bracers of armor cannot have a modified bonus (armor bonus plus armor special ability bonus equivalents) higher than +8. Bracers of armor must have at least a +1 armor bonus to grant an armor special ability. Bracers of armor cannot have any armor special abilities that add a flat gp amount to their cost. Bracers of armor and ordinary armor do not stack. If a creature receives a larger armor bonus from another source, the bracers of armor cease functioning and do not grant their armor bonus or their armor special abilities. If the bracers of armor grant a larger armor bonus, the other source of armor ceases functioning.

[Ella]

Callista Fae

"Huh? What's this?" The faerie asked herself upon finding the loops. They looked like some of the things her fellow guild members wore on their arms. Had someone crafted some small enough for her? What exactly were such things used for, anyways? Decoration, right? Callista wasn't sure they matched her dress very well, but she put them on anyways. Ha! Now she had pretty wrist loops! Ohhhh~ She couldn't wait to show Annia and the Dwarf!

[Annia Siadon]

Annia Siadon

Knock knock. The rapping noise came from the door. Even if they were all girls, Annia had a habit of always knocking first when entering someone's sleeping quarters. There were many times neither Aria or Callista were home, off in their own adventures, or wandering out and about in the guild hall, but the force of habit wasn't an entirely bad thing. At the very least people inside would know she was coming in. It wasn't a large thing to anyone else's standards, but courtesy to her room-mates who she very much respected and admired was something Annia wanted.

The knight rarely visited her quarters again after leaving, but there was something specific that she wanted to get out hidden in their room. It was a gift of course. A gift for one of her very roommates. It was Callista's birthday today and she had been doing her best not to make any mentions of it to the fairy - it would have been more of a surprise after all. Though, technically it would be her joining-the-guild anniversary date. Annia wasn't sure if Callista knew her exact birthday, as she had heard Callista mention different dates.  Would it then be best then to choose the date of her joining the guild? Birthdays are meant to celebrate the day that person came into being, and at least to the point of view of the guild and to the knight, the day Callista first joined the guild would be when she first came into their lives.

Gifts were always exciting, and Annia was already imagining how the fairy would act. Too excited was she, that instead of the usual customary wait she would do after knocking on the door, instead she barged in. Instead, she saw Callista.

Callista! You're here, out of all the times to be in the room... How will I get the gift now? Would it be too obvious I was getting her something? I'm not usually in our quarters at this time of day. Annia's mind raced with thoughts, but she stopped herself.

"A-ah Callista..." Annia said, unsure how to go about retrieving the gift she had hidden.

[Ella]

Callista Fae

She was still admiring the bracers when the knock came at the door. Oh! Who could that be? Before the faerie could fly down to open the door, Annia burst in. Woah! Callista started. Annia didn't usually do that, did she? Eh, who cared? Callista did it all the time, so it really shouldn't have been much of a shock.

"Annia! Look!" She called out, flying down from her little nest of a room in the rafters and showing off her arms. "Someone left me some pretty wrist loops! I'm not sure how they got them all the way up there, but they had my name on it and said they were from the guild!" She pointed up at her little space when mentioning where she had found the bracers. Whoever had put them up there must have gone through a lot of trouble. She wasn't even sure why the items had been given to her. She hadn't participated in any contests recently, though she thought that they normally announced when they were giving prizes to people in this realm.

"... Now that I think about it, I'm not sure why the guild is giving me these wrist loops..." It wasn't any sort of holiday in which you give gifts, was it? Was she supposed to pick a random person to give a gift to and leave it in their sleeping quarters? Ah~ What should she give? Who should she give it to? Did she have anything amusing to give at the moment? Maybe she should go shopping for something. "What holiday is this called? What are the rules?" She asked. She had to make sure she did it right. Like with Christmas, two of the rules were to wrap the gifts up in fine paper and ribbons and put them under the three. This holiday might have other rules that she could not figure out just from receiving one.

[Annia Siadon]

Annia Siadon

"B-bracers?" Annia said as she examined the so-called "wrist-loops" that Callista mentioned. The knight sighed. She had hoped that she would have been the first to give her friend a birthday gift, but it looks like she had been beaten. By the guild of all things too. She thought it would be wonderful if the first gift on the day would be the one she had picked out for her.

So the rumors of the random gifts given to guild members are true... When did they even get a chance? There was no response from Jin, the spirit residing in her sword. True, someone could have sneaked inside, but to go all this length... She shook her head, but eventually Annia pointed to the bracers that Callista dangled in front of her.

"These are called bracers. And today is your birthday! But... not quite at the same time..." She thought about her next words, explaining something like birthdays and how some holidays worked might be too much all at once. Besides, Callista would eventually understand how it works. However, knowledge is always better, and Annia knew that the world outside the feywilds is completely different than the world Callista had known for most of her life. Holidays are common knowledge, but to Callista it may very well be another page that adds to her knowledge of the mortal world.

"Specifically, its tradition to give people gifts to celebrate the day they came into the world... Since we don't know your exact birthday, it was decided that the day you came into guild would be your birthday... at least until we find out if there's a real date."

[Ella]

Callista Fae

Bracers? Birthday? Huh? The faerie examined the wrist loops again... She guessed she could call them "bracers". What a weird word. What were they bracing against? Why would someone give her such a thing for a... no, wait, Annia had said that it was for 'her' birthday, not 'a' birthday. But what was a birthday? Callista did not even know she had one.

"Birthday?" She listened to Annia's explanation intently. The day one came into the world? Oh, that was silly. No one knew the exact day they came into the world. How could they, when they did not even know there was a world until the flower bloomed and released them from its womb? Unless they counted the time when the flower seed came into the world. Callista never bothered to ask her parents, considering no one ever really kept track of all their seeds. Most never even grew. Or maybe they counted the day the flower released them? But no one ever kept track of that, either. They just waited until the last flower bloomed, then held the Life and New Life Celebration all in one big community party. Maybe birthdays were Life and New Life, but spread out between individuals instead of made into a big community celebration of everyone.

She began to wonder how humans and other beings came into the world. The faerie had never really thought about how Annia might now have been released from a giant flower... Then again, she had never seen a giant flower big enough to hold Annia, even if she was the size of one of the little humans Callista saw in the town when she came to the world.

"So... where is the flower field you were released from? How do they know when you came into this world? Do they count it from the day your flower released you?"

Callista kind of liked the idea of a birthday all to herself, but at the same time, she still was not sure what to think about them. She still did not understand all the rules. If people give her a gift on her birthday, then did she have to give a gift to everyone on their birthdays? She began thinking of how many people she knew, had seen, and had not yet come across. The faerie could only assume she did not have to give gifts to people she had only seen or had never seen before, since if that were the case, more people would probably have given her gifts. But that did not rule out the people she did know. Did everyone in the guild pitch in to get her these wrist loops bracers? Was there a community pool? In which case, it would make individual Life days into a sort of community celebration, wouldn't it? But did she still have to know everyone's birthday? How many birthdays had she not celebrated with people?

"I... I... I still don't understand these individual Life days." She finally said, before proceeding to ask all the questions she could about birthdays.

[Annia Siadon]

Annia Siadon

The faerie's confusion on the matters were expected, and Annia couldn't help but feel even more drawn to her small friend. Callista was very much curious about the human world, and it was a trait that Annia shared. Her own curiosity stemmed from things new, and she very well knew what it would be like to learn new things, and even better, experiencing them first hand. This was Callista's first set of gifts and and likewise it would be Callista's first set of experiences with it. That was special and Annia was glad to share it with her friend.

The knight sat on the edge of her bed, smiling as she listened to Callista's questions. The questions themselves giving Annia hints of how the faeries come to being. The faerie's own experiences in life were so vastly different than what Annia was familiar with, and even as Callista finished, Annia couldn't help but have her mind wander and picturing large and extravagant flower fields, littered with gigantic buds each holding a person inside. It was almost unbelievable, yet fascinating at the same time. Moments later she shook her head, willing her curiosity away, and answering Callista's questions.

"There are no flower fields where humans come from." Annia replied, trying to think of how best to explain it. "We come from parents. Family who love and take care of us. The day of our birthday is when our mothers give birth to us. So in that way, your birthday would be when you were released from your flower. Birthdays are special, that particular day is yours, and its to celebrate that day when you came into the world for the first time."

[Ella]

Callista Fae

No flower fields where they came from? They came from their mothers? Then it sounded like they counted it from, in comparison to the faeries, when the mother faerie "laid" the seed. Except it seemed as though, from Annia's telling, that they were already alive and kicking when they came out, rather than in seeds like faeries or eggs like birds and some animals. That meant humans were like live-bearing animals, which was definitely nowhere near as beautiful as the flower fields.

"I came from parents, too!" Callista said, not understanding why Annia seemed to think otherwise. All the flower seeds had to come from somewhere. They were not like flowers seeds here, which were released from the flowers themselves. She wondered if she should call the flower seeds faeries came from something else... Like Faerie Seeds or something. Since they were definitely different from the regular, non-magical flowers. Yeah. She was gonna call them Faerie Seeds, and call the non-magical seeds regular flower seeds from now on.

"I don't know when I was released from my flower... We don't really keep record of that kind of stuff." On that note, Callista did not even know exactly how old she was. She could probably guess a general age range, but even that might be off. There was never really any reason to keep track of such things. "I guess we can just keep using my day of joining the guild as my birthday."

It still bothered her that she did not know all the rules for birthdays. Annia's description of them had been rather vague. Perhaps she was so used to following them that she did not realize they were rules, and so found it difficult to explain them. Callista would just have to wing it and hope she did it right.

"When is your birthday?"

[Throndir]

2014: Callista
2015: Callista
2016: Maeve
2017: Callista

For 2015, 2017

A peculiar item was found in Maeve's sleeping quarters. It was a bag with a ribbon tied to it, at the end of the ribbon was a small note attached. It read:

To Callista, From the Guild of Galas'nor

Freeform exp counted for this thread with a modifier of x2.

Please update your character sheet when able.

Callista Receives:

Ruff, Mummer's
Aura faint illusion; CL 5th
Slot neck; Price 3,500 gp; Weight —

DESCRIPTION

Usually fashioned from brightly colored silk, a mummer's ruff is a favored accoutrement of performers and con artists alike. The wearer of a mummer's ruff gains a +10 bonus on Bluff skill checks when attempting to imitate another's voice. In addition, once per day, the wearer of the mummer's ruff can throw his voice as if using ventriloquism for up to 5 minutes.

CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS

Craft Wondrous Item, sculpt sound, ventriloquism; Cost 1,750 gp.

Callista Receives:

Pearl of Power
Aura strong transmutation; CL 17th (see FAQ below)

Slot —; Price 1,000 gp (1st), 4,000 gp (2nd), 9,000 gp (3rd), 16,000 gp (4th), 25,000 gp (5th), 36,000 gp (6th), 49,000 gp (7th), 64,000 gp (8th), 81,000 gp (9th), 70,000 gp (two spells); Weight —

Description

This seemingly normal pearl of average size and luster is a potent aid to all spellcasters who prepare spells (clerics, druids, rangers, paladins, and wizards). Once per day on command, a pearl of power enables the possessor to recall any one spell that she had prepared and then cast that day. The spell is then prepared again, just as if it had not been cast. The spell must be of a particular level, depending on the pearl. Different pearls exist for recalling one spell per day of each level from 1st through 9th and for the recall of two spells per day (each of a different level, 6th or lower).

Construction Requirements

Craft Wondrous Item, creator must be able to cast spells of the spell level to be recalled; Cost 500 gp (1st), 2,000 gp (2nd), 4,500 gp (3rd), 8,000 gp (4th), 12,500 gp (5th), 18,000 gp (6th), 24,500 gp (7th), 32,000 gp (8th), 40,500 gp (9th), 35,000 gp (two spells)