Resolve

Chord Resolution

Redemption
"All that I have to my name is the resolve to face my destiny; to give it my all and redeem who I once was."

In a past life Resolve ascended Aurem to godhood. That bird, realizing the weight of her actions, betrayed Aurem and in her last moments sought redemption. Resolve bears that bird's last desire and the burden of her crime. She seeks to redeem herself and the person she once was by aiding the gods in defeating that abhorrent false deity by any means necessary. At every turn it seems that the odds are against her; even the gods themselves seem to lack faith, but with the aid of the legendary sword Cinder-Garl and countless allies made across the planes coupled with the determination one would expect from such a bard, there is yet a glimmer of hope for this world ravaged by Aurem's deadly trickery.

Symphony Movement I
"I will give my all to aid the people of these planes, not in search of redemption, but because I know that it is the right thing to do."

Things have changed... Her deity, Iris, may have good intentions, but her methods are flawed; to follow orders blindly, to act out the will of another without question... to do so would be to follow the same path that ascended Aurem, to begin with. 'Embrace your freedom,' Zeta spoke in her message. And Resolve will do just that, acting upon her beliefs for the greater good, for the people that the gods serve, and for herself. No longer is her path about seeking redemption for a past crime; now, she seeks to resolve a problem that even the gods seem to shy away from.

The lines of good and evil blurred, her path shrouded in doubt. Her destiny behind her, freedom grants uncertainty, risk. What is she willing to do for the greater good? If that even IS the greater good. If there even is such a thing... Her loyalty to people above all else persists. To the very end, one might say.

Climactic Resolution
Success. Failure. The future lies in their hands.

Holy shit they didn't die.

Symphony Movement II

Theres still plenty of work to do. Joker... Uniting planes...

Finale and Epilogue

Time to face the future.

----------------

My bird became more birds. Guess what, this one's a bard too!
This bird quite literally broke free of the destiny that my DM and I had written for her. Now that is something that Songbird would be proud of!

Appearance 

An oddity among the Aarakocra that raised her, Resolve is short (~3'ft tall, size small), lacks wings, and is covered in pure white feathers. One eye is gray, and the other is golden; plus, there's the signature third eye of the Aur'Ku, located on her chest, which is the standard dark blue color. Despite her size she lacks any and all dexterity, and instead is surprisingly strong and fairly tough. Her strange appearance always draws attention, some citing her as 'cute,' or even 'pretty' and other still are content to settle for 'just plain weird,'

Fully decked out in armor, with her divine nonsense going on, and her glamour bard hyper charismatic aura, she's... quite something to behold.

Complete Appearance: Addresses all additions; will remain up to date.

Wings granted to her by the wings of flying blessed by Iris, her third aur'ku chest eye is now rainbow colored, a rainbow halo with a golden gleam floats at an slight angle above her head, small (female) Ibex horns protrude from her head, and she had sprouted a fluffy, white cat's tail with some orange tabby markings as well as some patches of white or tabby fur instead of feathers. she is missing a toe. Or, a toe on each foot? Iiii dont remember.

Redemption __ and Onward

Redemption - Symphony II

Symphony II and onward

Symphony III and onward

Symphony VIII and onward

Attire

Wears custom enchanted plate armor from Claircivic which accommodates her wings, stature, and other various quirks.

Underneath her actual equipment, she wears a long, fairly nice embroidered tunic and sports bright colors. The tunic is collared and hides her chest eye; annoying, but Resolve has long gotten used to it.

Wings of Flying (Cloak Appearance): A gorgeous white cloak blessed by the goddess Iris. The outside of it has a magical rainbow sheen to it, while the inside is highlighted with purples and blues. It radiates a soft light.

Holy Symbol Pendant: What the hell's this thing look like??? It's her focus, you'd think it'd be more important.

Cinder-Garl (Appearance): Greatsword. Bone hilt, functional red cat's eye in the hilt. Runes etched into the blade spelling out his name.

Divine Lyre (Appearance): Golden strings, light birch wood. Fairly simple, elegant design overall.

Rod of Understanding (Appearance): Acacia wood rod, two glass orbs. One is a swirling deep purple energy, the other emits a golden radiance.

Personality

Determined, realistically optimistic, kind, somewhat distant, more than willing to spend (waste?) time on minor side quests to help people she comes across. Friendly, yet can come off as somewhat secretive and closed off from anything genuine. sometimes too trusting of people. Stubborn in her beliefs and views; the sort of person that can be difficult to argue with. Selfless, fairly patient.

On Destiny, Responsibility, and Doubt: In contrast to Crescendo wishing she could be normal, Resolve never was normal to begin with. From birth she was different, suspected to have a special role in life. She is, naturally, determined to right the wrongs of her past life, to take down Aurem for the greater good and, like everything else, she will give it her all. But time and time again her abilities are doubted; the gods themselves question her capabilities, Ra, head of the pantheon, even going so far as to ask Resolve whether she deserves what's been given to her. "Then show me how resolute you are." He demanded, but in the end, all she gained was more doubt. "Why isn't your sword the one being sent on this quest?" Even her father inadvertently added salt to the wound; "Good luck. And, I'm not just saying that because the entire multiverse is at stake." She's under a lot of pressure to preform admirably, perfectly, even, but no performance is without error, and one only improves through repetition and error. No matter what others think, she will try her hardest to face her destiny and accept the responsibility of the actions of a past life. That is her purpose and her burden to bear.

"I don't know if I can be the person that they think I am, and think that I can become..." "But what have I done? Aside from stumbling from one quest to another, relying on others to help me...?"

Determination; Perfection: Like all iterations of Songbird, Resolve is determined. But, she also understands that there are limits to her abilities. 'No performance is without error; the most she can do is try her best.' Despite her idealistic tendencies, she is fairly reasonable when it comes to what she is capable of. Typically she remains realistic, but it is the doubts of others that weigh her down. Deities and adventurers alike questioning her capabilities, but none the less, she carries on, casting such doubt in herself to the corners of he mind. This is a direct contrast to Crescendo, who, due to her perfectionist nature, is hyper critical of her own performance and abilities despite any praise she may receive.

Idealism, Optimism, Trust, and Kindness: Plays into her paladin ideals.

Roguish Calling: Resolve is a rouge by blood. Sometimes, the glint of some shiny thing catches her eye and the idea to simply take it for herself comes to mind. "I am NOT a rouge!" and she adamant about that fact. She's suppresses such impulses to the best of her abilities. 

Under Stress: She gets.... quiet. Usually she's unwilling to act out on anger towards a person, and again, not likely to share her frustrations with people. (Crescendo being an exception.) She ends up getting frustrated over the fact that she is frustrated to begin with. She's unlikely to snap at people, but these frustrations can linger for a while, at least until she can sort through them or her allies can aid her.

That doubt that she banishes to the back of her mind could rear it's head and take it's toll on her... Amid countless voices questioning her- "Why you and not your sword?" "What makes you deserve the gifts that I have given you?" - and the consequences of failure- "Good luck... and, I'm not just saying that because the entire multiverse is at stake." - the pressures can become overwhelming, breaking down her resolve, and instilling doubt in herself. 'Maybe they're right...' But in time, determination will kick back in. Reminded of why she's even trying.

Given a stressful enough circumstance it's possible that her patience shatters, allowing frustrations and anger to cloud her judgment; the very thing she tries to hard to avoid, even in the worse of times. In such a case she may very well act uncharacteristically, and at least once, this resulted in an act of violence going against her belief that violence should always be a last resort.

She attacked Rouge Cinder when under a fair bit of pressure. Write in the segment of that occurring, mimicking the quote.

Symphony

A Test of Faith: Everyone teling her to understand. To kniow the full picture. But when she asked questions... she was betrayed. How different are Iris and Aurem, really? Does being good or evil really even matter in the end? Her beleifs- her oath- remained true, but her allegiance to iris was shattered. Not by her hand, but by the goddess who attempted to kill her "champiomn" the moment she learned too much. The moment she began to question her role in the god's plan. 

Resolve was never free. Resolve was betrayed by her own god; not the other way around. And nopw she can never return home. At least Aurem didn't LIE to her followers. At least she only punished those for what they had DONE rather than what they have said, or asked. At least Aurem was willing to offer those who had strayed from her another chance. At ;east she seems to have learned from the past.
Aurem may not be evil, but she has done evil things.
Iris may not be good, but her goal seemed just.
Resolve may not be good.... but none the less, she will TRY to be.

Guilt; Cinder-Garl: But no regrets. Just a burden she will forever carry.

Symphony II 

Soul Bond Break: Seemingly given a glimpse of what it would be like to have the universe recognize her as her own person, no longer partially Crescendo, or Song, and yet.. it wasn't right. She's always had Crescendo to all back on, and to trust. A sort of obligation or calling to help change Crescendo for the better, or at least, offer. And if not to make her a 'good' operson, then to at least make her 'better'; aid in her perfectionist nature, be there for her in turn. And in this dream, facing her own reflection in a mirror rather than Crescendo, She looked back on the past, on her counterpart.

And the DM questioned: what does she envy/admire most about Crescendo? Her drive, her skill, her confidence; she doesn't care what others think. She's determined, driven.

Oath of Redemption Aligned Beliefs: 

• [Peace: Violence is a weapon of last resort. Diplomacy and understanding are the paths to long-lasting peace.]
  • Resolve would much rather use words than action, and rarely makes the first move in a fight. When fighting people, she tries to keep damage non-lethal, and would always prefer to subdue them with a spell, such as sleep, command, or suggestion, if she can.
• [Innocence: All people begin life in an innocent state, and it is their environment or the influence of dark forces that drives them to evil. By setting the proper example, and working to heal the wounds of a deeply flawed world, you can set anyone on a righteous path.]
  • This extends to a disbelief that things are inherently one alignment or the other; this is notable in the case of Aur'Ku, drawn to be lawful evil, and the color-coded alignment of dragons. 
  • Through eventual dialogues with Crescendo, Resolve begins to question if the same can be said of some good people- namely, herself. It's something of an eerie thought to imagine that she and Crescendo could easily replace one another in their respected roles if only the circumstances of their births were reversed...
• [Patience: Change takes time. Those who have walked the path of the wicked must be given reminders to keep them honest and true. Once you have planted the seed of righteousness in a creature, you must work day after day to allow that seed to survive and flourish.]
• [Wisdom: Your heart and mind must stay clear, for eventually you will be forced to admit defeat. While every creature can be redeemed, some are so far along the path of evil that you have no choice but to end their lives for the greater good. Any such action must be carefully weighed and the consequences fully understood, but once you have made the decision, follow through with it knowing your path is just.]
  • Cinder-Garl's actions brings this one up after he totally wrecks things. Should he, a person wronged and warped by circumstance, be punished for his crimes? 
  • [Her (predicted) destiny, intertwined with Crescendo's, is evident of this. Such an act will always weigh heavily upon her, but she has the resolve to see it through.

As a Child: More optimistic, naive. It took longer for Resolve to mature than Crescendo for... fairly obvious reasons.

Voice and Dialogue

Her voice is kind of childish, but distinctly female. Her word choice is fairly nice and she knows how to abuse her charisma. She tries her best to be polite and respectful. Her tone is usually calm and well put together making for an overall confident disposition in most cases.

She uses mimicry mostly to repeat key phrases, say people's names, and to copy sounds; most often of the musical variety.

Habits

• When saying someone's name Resolve likes to use their voice. Unless it's a god, of course.
• Knows better than to say certain names. This is mostly in regards to deities; saying their name could attract unwanted attention.
• When repeating a story, song, or poem, Resolve puts extra effort into citing the original creator or source. She wants to be more than a 'hopeless plagiarist.'
• Ignoring her problems until the very last moment.

Hobbies

• Music; She writes her own songs, picks up new ones form other musicians, and shares those that she had heard.
• Storytelling; Sharing the heroic exploits of herself and others, the moving tragedies of those both known and forgotten, and legends both true and fabricated is simply a must for a bard such as herself.

Likes

• Music, pastries.
• The stories of other adventurers.
• Appreciates beauty; architecture, nature, art. Will happily sit somewhere and watch the sunrise.

Dislikes

• Being angry or frustrated. Cinder's Rage counts.
• Unnecessary violence.
• Being alone (Phobia- as of Symphony)

Goals (Redemption-Duet)

• Redeem both herself and the person that she once was. 
• Make the world a better place, even if only for one person, and only for a little while.
• Gain the favor of the gods across multiple planes by doing quests for them.

• Free those under Aurem's influence by slaying that abhorrent deity.
• Try to guide her Aur'Ku companions down the right path.
• Make the world a better place, even if only for one person, and only for a little while.

Stats [Level 12]

Strength: 18 [+4]
Dexterity: 6  [-2]
Constitution: 16  [+3]
Intelligence: 12 [+1]
Wisdom: 12 [+1]
Charisma:  22 [+6] (+2 from Cloak)

HP: 125
Proficiency: +4
Initiative: 0
AC (Plate +2): 21
AC (With shield): 23
Spell Save DC (Charisma): 18
Passive Perception: 13

Languages, tools, proficiency and expertise:

• Instruments: Lute/mandolin, drums, and lyre
• Languages: Common, Auran, and aarakocra
• Proficiency: Acrobatics, deception, insight, intimidation, religion
• Expertise: Performance, Persuasion

Spells
Four 1st, three 2nd, three 3rd, two 4th

Cantrips

• Dancing lights
• Mending
• Minor Illusion

Level 1 Spells

• Dissonant Whispers
• Disguise Self
• Unearthly Chorus
• Charm Person

2nd Level Spells

• Hold person
• Suggestion

3rd Level Spells

• Leomund's Tiny Hut (R)
• Sending

Commonly Prepared 1st Level Paladin Spells (9 to Prepare)

• Always Prepared (Based on Oath): Sleep, Shield.
• Usually Prepared: Command, Cure Wounds, Heroism, Searing Smite
• Occasionally Prepared: Purify Food and Drink, Thunderous Smite, Shield of Faith

Commonly Prepared 2nd Level Paladin Spells (9 to Prepare)

• Always Prepared (Based on Oath): Hold Person, Ray of Enfeeblement
• Usually Prepared: Lessor Restoration, Zone of Truth, Aid
• Occasionally Prepared: Branding Smite

Dream Spell: Resolve has attained an innate understanding of the dream spell, and through shenanigans, she can actually cast the thing.

Meld Cantrip: Not actually magic, but considered a cantrip. 5d3 lightning dmg top one target, +2d3 per S/L, con save, if fail take damage over time.

Divine Intervention Dice

Having been granted a shard of divinity, Resolve is capable of calling upon her deity and manipulating fate itself. AKA, she has a 20 and a 1 that she can replace any roll with. These refresh after a real-world hour.

After Symphony II she gains a third divine die which can take the form of an expended die; eg, if she has used the 20 she can use the 20 again, but if she hasn't used the 1 then she can't change the third die into a 1.

After sympnghy VIII she looses two of ehr divine dice b/c iris is a lying bitch.

post Climactis resolution she has her second die back.

Secret of Magic: Prismatic Aura

BA: create an aura 120ft radius, conc, in which she can give an ally who casts a spell a meta magic option of her choice. its neat stuff, man.

Knowledge

Crescendo's Life in the Airy: Thanks to Crescendo, Resolve actually has a fair bit of information on how an aur'ku typically lives their life, elbiet limited to Crescendo's own perspective. The harsh nature or their upbringing, the normalcy of their pillaging of the elves, bits of their hierarchical system, and some of their specialized tools.

Songbird; Devotion and Duet: Resolve was informed of Songbird by Iris... Ascended Aurem and was betrayed, killed by her... Resolve is Song's shot at redeotion...

Songbird(s); Symphony: What they gained from Zeta's message and the Legend Lore done by Resolve shortly after. Multiple iterations, Zeta betrayed Aurem, Angel was bullied into submission, Snow at Phoenix Feather, that was done to Savior...

Songbird(s); Symphony Movement II: The rest of the tale; Snow's curses and current state, A sprinkle of Aurem's side of the story. Thanks to the mkst woods, has mroe detaiols than she'd like on what was done to Savior.

The Many Planes of Existence; Planes walking: varying effects, differeing mana colors, etc...
     Known planes (In rough order of appearance):

     Known Planes walkers (And sparks?):

Melds, The Process, and Understanding: In-depth telepathy, psionically active crystals- usually in chest, all have it. removing causes either death or removal from the understanding. prolonged exposure can have bad effects. can drag other into if teporarily. and forcefully if so desired. Electircity "cantrip." Can hurt you if you're stupid.

The Sundering; the World of Old: The planes were once one, long ago, the colors of magic (likely) combines as one. Everyone could cast can trips, most lv 1 spells, and mysticism was as common as magic is now. The kenku were uncursed, then called tengu, and fell under Aurem's care, who in turn served a greater deity (The Overdiety?) Fearna acted as Aurem's rival during this time.

Arcane Understanding: Magic is colors (Meanings), relationships are tangible (Chains binding characters), belief has power (Gods, music). Can take advantage of the color of a plane to better cast spells. Resolve's knowledge of the secret of magic is put to goo use in her Prismatic Aura ability.
     Colors and their meanings:

The Divine; Gods: Gods are powered by the belief in them. folowers vchange their god, divine sparks can be gained through ascension. If a gd for  aplane is killed, bad things happen. A diety can sort of become another- iris and ember.
     Known Gods and their Known Portfolios and Planes:

Alignment: There is no such thing. Alignment is merely perspective and Resolve has accepted the fact that people are more complicated than simply being good and evil. 

Aurem's side the story; of Zeta's message, Savior's act of defiance, the the fall of Phoenix Feather: Betrayal, an ungrateful follower. She had to do it.

Soul Conundrum: Lycanthropes might not have souls.

Equipment

Weapons, armor, and tools:

• Cindergarl (+3 Longsword)
• Dagger
• Shield (+2 AC)
• Plate Armor +2
• Wings of Flying (Semi-permanent)
• Aarakocra instrument, divine lyre
• Holy symbol pendant, component pouch
• Deck of Many Things, Rod of Understanding

• Sheet music, blank papers, blank sheet music, ink and ink pen
• Rations and water skin
• Quiciss' journal, Claircivic ID, Claircivic Library card, Crude map to Phoenix Feather

In Her Bag of Holding:

• Consumables: Greater healing potions (7), oils of sharpness (3), holy water (Some)
• Components: Incense (A fuckton), ivory strips (Worth 50G), diamond powder (Worth 200G), diamond (Worth 1,000G), a bit of sponge
• Extra Strings: None.
• Seashells, silver dagger, rose quartz cube, pomegranate charm, 2 meld crystals, locate object scrolls

• 15 CP
• 57 GP
• 10 PP

Aur'Ku Features

• Third eye can be used to see magic.
• Third eye can be used to shoot lasers probably but I never use this.

Cinder-Garl (Future me update this shit please)

A blade of legend crafted by a gnomish god of innovation and law which contains the soul of the folk-hero adventurer, Cindergarl, who was in life a great-sword wielding tabaxi badass, though also a bit of an arrogant dick.

Cinder-Garl as a Character: Driven mad by isolation, this once chaotic good adventurer has long since shed his moral standings. He's experienced, confident, and kind of a jackass, though gradually Resolve has managed to make a good impression on him.

Wielding Requirement; Backfire: To even hold the thing the wielder has to have mental stats over ~35. If you don't, you take a bunch of damage.

Wielding Cinder-Garl:

• The Weapon itself: Cindergarl can change the form of the blade to basically whatever weapon he wants, though he prefers a great sword, whole Resolve prefers wielding a long sword, seeing as its a bit more.. well, suited to her stature. Any weapon he becomes has a +3 to hit and a +3 to damage.
  • Has an eye on it now. Cinder can see shit. And have the sword move around a bit.
  • The sword 'levels' with the wielder.
• Mystic Abilities: Cindergarl was a mystic in life, and those abilities can still be channeled through the sword.
  • Telepathy: Resolve can telepathy people. But, so can Cinder.
  • Lethal Strike: expend HP into Psi points and use those points to add psychic damage to the next attack. Stacks well with divine smite.
• Rage: Cindergarl was a barbarian in life, and those abilities can still be channeled through the sword.  Rage, 5ft AoE fire to everything; Resolve included!
• Planes Walking: Cindergarl is a planes walker, so, Resolve can be too.
• Override: Cindergarl's in charge now, bitches!! Using psionic shit and then dropping to zero causes some... crazy shit to happen.

Divine Lyre

A lyre imbued with divine magic. It's strings are crafted from the hair of deities. There are eight strings, each imbued with a different school of magic. Breaking one of these strings can result in one of two powerful spells of that school. Breaking all of the strings at once results in a wish spell. One broken, the user looses access to that string's school of magic until the string is replaced and the user goes through a sort of ritual that involves a good bit of holy water and someone deemed as 'pure; in the party's case it's their resident virgin elf girl. 

If the spell requires a spell component, then that material is required.  Some spells are altered via the lyre.

Spell Effects:

One with the Process; Rod of Understanding

Miscellaneous

Soul-Bound: Potent magic seems to do... strange things, to her and Crescendo. Dreams, the barrier... ya know, all that weird soul shit.

Meld: Has a crystal in her... er, like, riiight under and to the side where a boob would be? not chest, but er... its there.

Story

Overview

In a past life Resolve ascended Aurem to godhood. That bird, realizing the weight of her actions, betrayed Aurem and in her last moments sought redemption. Resolve bears that bird's last desire and the burden of her crime. She seeks to redeem herself and the person she once was by aiding the gods in defeating that abhorrent false deity by any means necessary. At every turn it seems that the odds are against her; even the gods themselves seem to lack faith, but with the aid of the legendary sword Cinder-Garl and countless allies made across the planes coupled with the determination one would expect from such a bard, there is yet a glimmer of hope for this world ravaged by Aurem's deadly trickery.

Redemption

overview

Childhood and Background

Resolve's egg was found by Quiciss, who claims to have been instructed by the gods to care for it. Despite Resolve's odd nature, she was given a fairly standard childhood, raised with only minor references to destiny and expectations. She was no musical prodigy, but she did take to the art very well, even bringing to the table a song that no one seems to have taught her, yet she can recall having heard for her entire life.

Slice of Life

Destiny's Call

The Capital (On-Screen)

The Capital (Off-Screen)

Quest for a Legendary Blade

Dragon Quest

A Moment of Peace

Journey to the Temple of the Gods

Duet

Overview

Welcome to Amphlesia

It's About Time

The Technological City, Claircivic

Emissary of Peace (Test of Faith)

Symphony Movement I

Overview

Pheonix Feather; a Quest Concluded

Party Split: The Journey Home

Betrayal and Reunion

Climactic Resolution

Symphony Movement II

Cursed Blade

Someone's Savior

A Month in Claircivic

Fellow Paladin

A Link Between Planes

The Mist Woods (Dragon Queen)

Mnemonic Bindings

The Wild Card

You'll Never See it Coming

An Ally in Need

The Final Straw

Short-Lived Respite

Loose Ends

War of Tonto

Dragons and Birds

Soul-bound

Finale

Epilogue

info

Whirlwind

A Destiny Challenged

The alternative plan... AKA what we thought was gonna happen.
Discuss all the alternate paths and ideas... their different end-game builds... The overall theme shift...

A Sorrowful Victory; a Virtuous Loss.

There Was Only Ever Meant to be One

Alternative

Relationships

Crescendo

Early On: The strange bird that Resolve has spoken to in dreams since late childhood. 

Amphlesia: Crescendo is just as tricky to deal with as in dreams. Stoic, closed off, but remarkably skilled. Resolve enjoys her company and is willing to aid her in her quest despite the ties to Aurem. Surely, its alright if it's this bird. Seeing her in action really puts into perspective the skill and experience she has, but also the toll it seems to bring.

Symphony: Things have taken a drastic turn...

Cinder-Garl

A legendary sword crafted by a god to kill gods, housing the soul of an equally legendary adventurer... there is, however, a problem. The sword has a mind of it's own, and isolation has taken it's toll on the once Chaotic good tabaxi wanderer...

Rouge Cinder:

Sword Cinder:

Wolf's Howl

Finally, she gets to meet Crescendo's brother. She wasn't kidding when she spoke highly of his arcane knowledge.

Ava

little elf girl

Silver

dragon

Jalil

Her asimiar-ish angel guide. He isn't very exciting, but can be useful as far as getting information goes. Seems to only be availablew to help when she's on her home plane, though its more likely to just be planes that iris has enough influence over.

Miscellaneous Party Members and Characters

Her adventures lead Resovle to meet lots of people, but only stick with them for a while. Here are some.

From the Cloud City:

From Her Early Adventures: (Pre-Cinder-Garl)

From the Dragon-Quest: 

From Amphlesia (Claircivic, Phoenix Feather):

Gods and Pseudo Gods:

Trivia

• As a child, Resolve looked up to Crescendo when they were able to speak within their dreams. Crescendo was knowledgeable, confident, and collected (For the most part.) Much of Resolve's early knowledge (What Aur'Ku are, tidbits of how that 'society' functions, etc...) came from Crescendo herself. There was certainly an aspect of childish wonder and curiosity at play, and the simple fact of neither bird knowing any better.
• Resolve, as a child, once investigated a door only to find that it was locked. It was not locked; it was a pull door, and she had never seen one before. Her Asimar-guardian-angel didn't think anything of it, assuming that Resolve had already tried to pull the door open. This folks, is why creativity is important. Not even the gods (Or rather, the gods that give a shit) seem aware of her lack of creativity (At that moment, and a bit of the foreseeable future.) which is pretty funny.
• Resolve and Crescendo started with the same stats.
• As a child, she got stuck on floating clouds a lot. It's hard to get around without wings! She had to memorize the finicky schedule of clouds and rely on the kindness of strangers if she messed up. It took her forever to get from place to place. Luckily, her kenku memory and pattern recognition helped her.
• Isn't biologically related to Wolf or Crescendo.

Resolve's Impact on Synethesia, the Golden Pantheon(?), and the Nine Planes

setting info.

Quotes and Excerpts

"All that I have to my name is the resolve to face my destiny; to give it my all and redeem who I once was." Resolve spoke up to the god with profound confidence and a determination that should be all too familiar, and in response, Ra ushered in his own champion, "Then show me just how resolute you are."

- Resolve had to prove herself by fighting Ra's champion, a level 15 paladin. Resolve was level 6 at the time. Despite the odds and being told to yield, she persevered with Cinder's help. They still lost, of course, but they put on quite a show.

Author's notes

• Parallels and comparisons between Resolve and Crescendo:
  • Crescendo's background is marred by failure, her learning from mistakes and earning every bit of what she's gained (For the most part.) Resolve in contrast is granted divine guidance (In the form of probability manipulating dice) and copious amounts of help (at least at first.)
• Resolve can do a lot of damage. Here's a calculation I did for fun at level 14 to investigate the mechanics at play:
  • • Round 1 Bonus Action: She casts the concentration spell Searing Smite with a 5th level spell slot, granting her an additional 7D6s of radiant(?) damage to her next melee attack. She has a +9 to con, and advantage on concentration if someone tries to stop her.
    • Round 2 Bonus Action: Through Cindergarl, she expends 14-ish HP to use the Mystic ability Lethal Strike, which grants 7D10s of additional psychic damage to her next melee attack.
    • Round 2 Sword Attack: Using Cindergarl as a great sword, she has disadvantage on the roll, but with a +13 to hit, she should be fine. On a hit, she does 2D6+8 damage. Not that rolling well on this matters...
    • Round 2 Divine Smite: She expends a 5th level spell slot to perform Divine Smite with her melee attack, dealing an extra 7D8s of radiant damage.
    • Divine Intervention: Using the DM-granted divine D20 to replace her attack roll, she crits on this attack, and all these dice get doubled as they are all attached to the actual attack roll. Current damage dice count:
      • 14D6+8 for the great sword hit, 14D8 from Divine Smite, 14D6 from Searing Smite, and 14D10 from Lethal Strike.
    • Round 1 Attack 2: She gets a second attack as part of her action. Assuming she crits (for shits and giggles) she rolls another 4D6+8 for the great sword and expends a 4th level spell slot for Divine Smite to deal an extra 12D8.
    • Conclusion: When we rolled, she did 286 damage. The minimum is 81, and the maximum is 456.
      Now, just think: imagine if she has Bardic Inspiration given to her, preferably by a Valor bard. Or, Guidance from a cleric. Or, if she was a higher level and her hits did more damage, and she had higher level spell slots. Or, she broke strings on her divine lyre to maximize her damage, or simply add damage, or cast at absurd spell levels.
  • And here's what she managed to do at level seven, IN a session!!
    • Rouge Cinder was being an ass at a really bad time; the whole party was pretty stressed. He spoke Aurem's name, pissed off Sword Cinder, and frankly,, Resolve was angry at him too. Everything added up, and... she snapped. She put everything into one attack.
      BA Thunderous Smite spell: +2D6 thunder DMG to next melee attack. STR save else pushed back and prone. Costs LV 1 spell slot.This was to bypass Cinder's resistance to fire.
      Great sword Swing:  2D6+7 slashing dmg, magic weapon, re-roll 1s and 2s. This bypassed Cinder's resistance towards non-magic attacks.
      Divine Smite: +4D8 radiant damage added to melee hit. Cost 3rd LV spell slot.
      Lethal Strike: +7D10 Psychic damage added to melee hit. thanks to Cinder. Cost 14 HP. THIS is what makes this sword broken.
      Divine Intervention: Replaces her attack with a 20. Replaces Cinder's STR save with a 1. So, she crits. All dice are doubles since they're all attached to the melee attack.
      Conclusion: 4D6+7 slashing, 4D6 Thunder, 8D8 Radiant, 14D10 psychic dmg which totaled to Resolve doing 149 DMG to Rouge Cinder, pushing him backwards onto the floor and leaving him at 9 HP. 
      This is made all the better by the fact that earlier the rest of the Symphony Party (Minus the dragon) had just barley been able to bring Cinder down in a sparring match. This DID however kinda break her 'violence is a weapon of last resort' belief, which bothered her for a while. But, now they know that they have quite the card that they can play...
• Sessions where Crescendo and Resolve interact extensively are called "Duet."
• If ever it comes down to a final battle between them, that session will be called, "Climactic Resolution" As a play on their names.
• The DM's half-joke head cannon: Resolve is a masochist. I mean, her sword lights her on fire and saps HP to use mystic abilities, she can (and does) take damage for others even for more trivial matters; both with paladin abilities and just in general, higher level spell slots hurt her to use, and her ultimate trump card- breaking the strings of her divine lyre- quite dramatically cuts her soul off from particular schools of magic for a time. It's certainly an amusing thought, in any case.
• She really picked up really potent items, doesn't she? Cinder, Divine Lyre, Rod of Understanding- Ava even gave her the Deck of Many Things!!

Music

• The King of Hearts (A Shell in the Pit, from Wandersong): It's befitting a fight with Crescendo, especially the 'I wanna be the hero theme' that's embedded into the song, which could easily represent their own parallel goals and Zeta's song which binds them both. Symphony: Tag-team combat theme song.
• Even the Tiniest Bugs (A Shell in the Pit, from Wandersong): Optimistic and pretty, and the bard's theme could be seen as a nice callback to Song.
• Divinity (Porter Robinson): info

• World Revolution (from Chrono Trigger): Theoretical music for a fight with Aurem.
• Thunderstorm and Hurricane (from Wandersong): Theoretical fight with Coo or really aur'ku in general.