Hello friends!
I’m in the process of writing up a backstory for my new character (E2 being my first Empire event, and I’ve only done 2 crewing weekends before).
I’d like some advice on my backstory and how to best fit within Empire lore. I’d also like advice on steadings.
I am joining Navarr as a citizen (no archetype) with no lineage. The flavour I’m going for is “been in barbarian lands for most of my life, escaped back to the Empire and here to trade”.
Idea I’m trying to build on:
I was taken from (Liathaven probably?) as a slave many years ago (by who?). I lived a long time in barbarian lands (where?), before I escaped my mistress (probably in the last year or so - could there be an in game reason?) and made it back to the Empire. Liathaven being gone, I moved to Miaren. I only had what I stole from my mistress, and I sed these items and coin to trade as I made my way through the lands, eventually reaching Anvil to (re)connect with the Navarr.
During E2 I hope to join a steading. My long term goals include Apothecary skills and Day and Night magic - think divination herb witch. Is there a steading that could fit well who I could talk to at E2?
*Polite note - I don’t need advice on archetypes or what to do on my first event. I have read up a lot and met up with people to discuss already.
Firstly, welcome along: to the forums, and the game!
Now, you could feasibly have been born into a nation, but not formally joined it as a citizen when you were taken (the citizenship test is something the Academy runs in play for our younger players). So that would make you a child of Navarri parentage… grown to adulthood as a slave, escaped and rejoining the Empire.
Liathaven would have been raided by Jotun and/or Lasambrian orcs. Neither of whom, I think, really go for slaves. But you could have given oath as a thrall (honorbound servant) and then bided your time, until it was time to run off. That would be quite Navarri, “you can’t betray your enemies”. And oaths made under duress likely don’t count for much.
Both these groups of Orcs have been very busy recently, invading, retreating, launching missions, fighting with human allies… plenty of chances to make your getaway…
And so if you then decided to head for the Navarri capital, that’s be Miaren. Presumably you’d have passed your citizenship test, been accepted into Navarr, and now be looking for a steading to settle in. Given that Anvil is likely the only place where the far flung Navarri stridings and steadings all come together, it might be a good place to do so.
How does that sound?
General theme is fine, as is the skill balance. I would caution you that Apothecary and Ritual magics are both rather “points-hungry” skill trees. But PD are very understanding of “aaargh it’s my first event and I fluffed my choices and I need to rebuild this character”.
Welcome to Navarr!
(Navarr, Navarr, best nation by far!)
Of possible interest to your backstory, while the Jotun orcs aren’t ones to take slaves, the Thule up north certainly are and took the Navarr settlement of Treji in Hercynia just over 10 years ago (373YE). In fact they’ve just “finished” (some former victims dispute this) returning all their imperial slaves to the Empire as part of a treaty.
Now this repatriation wouldn’t stop you having escaped in your backstory. Perhaps you escaped, were recaptured by other Thule and were surprised to be taken to the border and released instead of handed back to your owner. Maybe you made it all the way to the edge of the Empire under your own steam, reaching Skarsind (Imperial Orc territory) or one of the Varushkan territories on the border. There are also working trods in eastern Thule lands, established by the Navarr and stridings are permitted across the border to varying degree so you might have encountered one of those after escaping who then smuggled you across. Or if your owner were involved in the recent Thule expansion into Ossium in partnership with the Empire, that could provide another (possibly harrowing) tale of escape.
Alternatively if you would prefer to have travelled into the Empire through Liathaven, the same ancient forest extends out through Hordalant (west of Liathaven) and would be an excellent place for an independent settlement and their slaving ways to stay hidden. The advantage there is that you could then know nothing more about Jotun culture than any other player would have access to. The group behind the LarpNoobs podcast I think had a backstory involving lots of time over the border and I seem to recall mention of PD being clear that they couldn’t start with extra knowledge. Emailing PD backgrounds@profounddecisions.co.uk lets you discuss your background with them - it isn’t just a simple denied/approved result without feedback.
I’m not involved in the ritual game to be able to suggest covens or steadings that deal in both Day and Night realms. The Prominent Steadings and Stridings page of the wiki mentions The Eternal Family as known for Day magic and The Umbral Path for Night rituals; both are listed as stridings but the Eternal Family have a wayhouse in Miaren.
If you’re on facebook then finding the Empire LRP: Navarr group is likely to get you the fastest responses for steadings not listed on the wiki. If you don’t use facebook then I’m happy to post there asking people in the know to come chime in here. Lore-wise books on magic get passed around the whole nation so you needn’t be in an existing coven to learn rituals and finding a group of people you get along with is usually more important.
Hope some of this helps and I’ll hope to meet you at Anvil.
Hi and welcome to the game.
I would personally avoid the whole “lived in foreign lands which is why I don’t know much about the system” trope like a plague. Its not very compatible with the system (look up the egregores and foreigners on the wiki).
9/10 people will recognize the trope for what it is roll Thier eyes and gloss it over.
That 10th one however will turn out to be obsessed with the people that enslaved you and ask you a hundred questions which you simply won’t be able to cannonicaly answer without making stuff up, which will inevitably spiral out of control.
It is entirely acceptable to be from a remote steading in Miaren or anywhere for that matter and know nothing of the world outside of your home. "This is my first time to anvil since leaving my remote village " excuses alsmost any gap in your in game knowledge “this is my first time to anvil since the Jotun enslaved* me” will raise questions your not ready to answer.
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Yeah the escaped slave background is very very common on the field so I’d advise steering away from that, orphans are also so common that people joke about it.
The common tropes in fantasy books and games don’t work as well for LARP games as they rely on people playing “standard” characters to make the world real. I always recommend people read the brief and play as stereotypical character that they can, as then you’re a “load bearing” character for the rest of the world 
. And everyone else is holding each other up so to speak in making the world real.
The other good reason to play a national stereotype is that as there are 2000+ players at an event, the organisers have to create plot and situations that draw in groups of people who’ve got reasons to interact with it. And most of those are targeted straight in the center of the national briefs, like “Vates have to decide what to do with heralds offering x” . If you’re playing someone who is an outsider and not connected then you’re going to miss out on all of this.
I know the Empire Wiki is initimidating but seriously no one is going to grill you on your knowledge, try and pick up as much as you can of your national brief and then pick up the rest as you go along. People love answering questions and just saying that you’ve not been to Anvil before will get people to help you out without dropping OOC.
Saying you’re one of the few surivors of a recently (3 years ago) destroyed steading in Liathaven would connect you to everything that’s going on around Liathaven.
And you honestly don’t need to worry so much about backgrounds tbh they’re best used to sketch out a starting point for a character and give them a few things to care about, if you leave plenty of space you can fill it in later as you find stuff out about the character as you play them :). Occasionally they’ll suprise you and end up going in a very different direction to what you planned.
Character wise a Vate who’s into apothecary and divination magic is absolutely a solid concept and you shouldn’t lack things to do. Only thing I’d say is try and focus on either Day or Night magic as spreading yourself too thinly will leave you less able to do stuff. Apothecary (2) Magician (2) Lore 2 (3) and 1 point spare is a decent set up and you can save that point to see if you might want to take Battle Mage with the XP you get after your first event. You can then pick up a staff, rod or wand that lets you cast a specific useful spell in battle, you can probably find new players selling items that only have a season or two left on them at a price you can afford. Oh yes your choice of resource does dictate what you’re able to do with your skills a bit, Apothecary needs Herbs and Ritual Magic needs Mana, they’re your “fun tokens”, personally I’d pick up Mana Site and trade for herbs but YMMV.
Best of luck
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Pretty much echoing what everyone else said. You can easily excuse OC lack of knowledge with something like “I’ve spent my life as a backwoods Vate casting Purify on people after run-ins with vallorn. I’ve never been anywhere outside my village, and the only people I tend to meet are other local Navarri”
Something worth remembering is that some of the most iconic fantasy characters don’t have an epic backstory. Frodo Baggins was… Actually I can’t remember what he did. Sam was a gardener. The Hero’s Journey is a classic narrative for a reason, and that reason is “everything important happens during the game”
Your PC entering play is the “Answering the call” bit. Just making it to Anvil means they left a familiar place behind and have come to find knowledge, power, a fight against their enemies… or possibly to buy cake and gossip. All of these are good.
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