I want to run character creation as if we are sitting around a table, cracking the book for the first time, and going through the steps together. I understand you all have ideas of what you want to play, and that is great, but I ask is keep that idea a bit vague at the start. This is an opportunity to see what everyone is thinking of playing, and is the first step of weaving our story together.

We're going to start off with step 1, Ancestry.

1. Pick an ancestry.
2. Answer one of the questions in your ancestry. Keep it to around 2 paragraphs. Hit important points, but leave space for surprises.
3. Roll twice for your trinkets and keepsakes. And give me a sentence or two on what it may mean to your character, or where you got it, or a more elaborate description.
4. Character name.
This message was last updated by the GM at 12:54, Sat 17 Feb.

I'll pick Human as ancestry and, since I don't have the rules yet and can't find the questions anywhere, I shall answer the third question. What is the third question for the human ancestry?

HUMANS
In this part of the world, humans have a reputation for digging into the ground to uncover ancient relics, and it’s not entirely inaccurate.
They have emerged from their scattered island nations in the Eastern Kingdoms bearing retro-engineered technology, and are eager to sell it to the highest bidder. Humans live brief but bright
lives in the eyes of the elves, passing away at 60 or so, often from illness or injury.

The discovery of spireblack processing and the resulting rise in arms manufacture is almost entirely their doing. They have become prominent enough to gain a seat at the Council that rules the City Above through their shrewd politics, the vast sums gained from their discoveries and the
way that they will do anything if the price is right.

Answer one of the following questions when you
make your character:
• You are from the Eastern Kingdoms. You came
to Spire with nothing but the clothes on your
back and a dream, looking for excitement and
profit. What went wrong?
• You were kicked out of a retro-engineering or
magical college thanks to your unorthodox
beliefs and practices. What did you do?
• You’re third-generation Heartborn, and not at
all like the humans on the surface. What
incorrect assumption do people most often
make about you?

Example human names: Whent, Raffid, Dolwyn,
Urwain, Josef, Ingwyn.

When you generate your character, roll or pick twice
to create some trinkets and keepsakes they’ve
brought with them into the City Beneath:
1. Grail charm made of wyvern-bone
2. Bullet with your own name carved on it
3. Broken pocket-watch with a picture of your
mum in it
4. Arcology shard necklace
5. String of flickering coloured magelights
6. Votive image of a deceased Wanderer-King
7. Dog-eared Whitecross travel documents
8. Long-stemmed pipe and pungent tobacco
9. Feather-tokens to Luxulyan, Duke of Air
10. A single mechanical finger (in place of your
own)
11. Battered and oft-repaired green coat
12. Custom scrimshaw kit, well-used
13. Sporadically-updated travel diary
14. Hard-to-clean drinking horn
15. Matching shell-casing charm bracelets, variety of calibres
16. Three slim unopened cans of cooked eels
17. Once-colourful mercenary fatigues
18. Harmonica inscribed with “SUMMER‐
COURT”
19. Pop-arcana book about humanity’s ability to
ascend to godhood, and how YOU can do it
20. Brightly-coloured fish in a jar (name him)
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:04, Sat 17 Feb.

I love Spire-Heart gnolls and select that as ancestry, and will go with the name Zuvyd.

Zuvyd fled the Spire
He was captured after a pitched battle with the aelfir and forced into slavery. Dragged in shackles to the sprawling mess of farms and foundries that feeds the Spire, his choice was simple: work or die. He worked. Gnolls were treated even worse than the drow, but at least they didn't suffer from the light of the sun. At night, Zuvyd fantasized about throwing off his chains and wreaking bloody slaughter among the enemies of his people.

He managed one of those things. There was no mass uprising, but he had an opportunity to "misplace" himself during a slave transfer. Zuvyd would have much preferred fleeing south toward home, but even fleeing into the City Below was an improvement on his situation. He misses the sun, misses the hope of getting to Al'Marah and living free among his own people. That hope is gone, but there are plenty of things in the Heart that can replace it.

Keepsakes
08:42, Today: Player 5 rolled 7,16 using d20,d20 ((7,16)).
Nujabian military fatigues and a tacky lenticular image of the Source Pyramid in Al'Marah.

The uniform isn't entirely Zuvyd's--the trousers belonged to a shorter soldier--but he managed to keep it secreted away and intact through his captivity (largely because his captors didn't care). The cloth is frayed and ripped enough that Zu seldom dares to wear it.

The image of the pyramid was actually a later acquisition, a gift from one of the first gnolls he met in the City Below. The other gnoll, far more concerned with the Heartsong than with Al'Marah, gave it to Zuvyd simply for the asking.

I said I would answer the third question and so I shall.  I am third generation heartborn and nothing like the surface humans. People keep on making false assumptions about me simply because I am human.  They assume for example that I am some man's chattel because I am a woman. They assume that I am half drow because my hair and skin are dark.  They assume, and this is the worst, that I am only down in the heart to trade in retroengineered gewgaws and weapons. This is untrue.  I am here because I live here.

That said, I do know a little about retroengineered. I don't do it but I know a little.  What I do instead instead is a little forward engineering.  I build machines from clockwork and gear. These machines are not retroengineered, they are made by my own hands from nothing

I am Bloddwyn ni Josef and I am proud.