The Joybloods

It's six years ago I've written this, and now I just re-found it in the World Wide Web

---

The Joybloods

"I have been asked many times now why I founded this group - or sect, as
people seem to like calling it, for whatever reason. Everytime someone
asks me, I shake my head and wonder what's so hard about understanding
it. The one and only reason is, of course, happiness. It's what life is
about, what EXISTENCE is about.
The Joybloods are yet another attempt at bringing this happiness to
everyone. As I know things in the multiverse aren't as perfect as they
should be, I decided it was important to gather more people working on
right that perfection. I got the idea after a trip to Mt. Celestia.
See, people there tend to be quite happy - they feel safe, and they work
for the good of everyone. Yet, even there things don't run perfect. Heck,
even in Arborea itself things don't run perfect. I've seen two paladins
on Mt. Celestia who nearly killed each other just because of a rather
little difference in philosophical views. And on Arborea, I've seen so
many times that beings were harmed or cursed just because they didn't
pay perfect reverence to a nature spirit. That just ain't right.
Good folk always tell that the creatures of evil are so vile and corrupted,
and want them to get rid of their corruption by following the examples
of the beings of good. But I wonder, if good folk themselves are so
imperfect, how can they truly hope for beings of evil following their
ideals? As hard as it comes to me, I have to say that even good people
are nearly always at least slightly corrupt themselves. And the reason
for this is simple: They lift their own ideals above the one basic thing
that makes life good: Happiness.
That, my friends, is what the Joybloods are about. We want to bring
happiness all across the planes, for that is the only one perfect way
of turning everything in the multiverse to perfect goodness. And no,
I'm not just talking about Arborean happiness. I've seen happy people
in Elysium and on Mt. Celestia, as well as in Ysgard and even Limbo. The
important things are to make sure your own way to happiness doesn't mess
up the happiness of someone else, and that your own way to happiness
doesn't get messed up itself.
Unfortunately, this ideal is extremely hard to reach. Only in a perfect
multiverse, filled with tolerance, understanding and wisdom could this
really be achieved. Until then, there is but one way we can go: Fight those
who try to take other people's happiness away, but attempt to fight them
in a way that eventually makes your foes embrace happiness and goodness
themselves. For example, when fighting tanar'ri (something I have done
many times already), I don't just battle them with all my might. I do
what I can to give them a real challenge, but also leave a chance for
them, even to something as lowly as a manes. And if I win over them, I
don't simply kill them: I let them live, but make sure they understand
how happy - right, how HAPPY - they can be to have survived. I try to
make them understand the value of life.
Of course, in this imperfect multiverse, such an action could lead to
more evil than was intended. After all, a tanar'ri, even one happy to
have survived his last battle, would still go spreading evil afterwards,
right? True, and thus I always make sure that my evil foes don't have
another chance to spread even more evil. As another example, I once
won over a barbazu, wounding him badly but again making clear to him
how barely he escaped true death. I then took him with me and handed
him over to the forces of Mt. Celestia. He was utterly frightened, but
was so aware of how much he treasured his own life that he didn't try
to fight. This was about six centuries ago, and when I asked the archons
of Mt. Celestia the last time, I heard the barbazu slowly started to
learn the lessons of goodness they teach to him.
Trust and understanding, tolerance and hope - that is what the Joybloods
are about. We are a young group fighting for the oldest of ideals. In
the end, everyone searches for only one thing: Happiness. It is our
task to show the multiverse the right way towards it."

- Myharial Blazingstar, Tulani eladrin, founder of the Joybloods

*

Happiness: The basic goal of all life, and the most complex thing in
the multiverse

(Excerpt of Myharial Blazingstar's speech when founding the Joybloods
in Sylvania, hold in the Dipping Dragon Inn)

The Joybloods, my friends, aren't just about partying. I personally
love to party, sure as the Spire, but there's more to life, and other
people like other aspects of the multiverse. If I should say one sentence
to define the Joybloods, I'd choose the following: We've got the task
to battle all things that hinder happiness. This sentence, though, is
far more complex than it seems. No, you don't need to worry, I'm no
Guvner going to analyze every detail now - I just wanna go sure you truly
understand what I mean.
See, many people believe that there can't be happiness without unhappiness,
love without hate or good without evil. It is a quite common concept, but
one that I question. Let's take a love relationship as an example: A
bariaur friend of mine once told me that his first love was strangely
boring, filled with much emotion but little understanding. Only as it
broke up did he realize what he lost, and only now did he truly understand
how much he missed that happiness. Later on, he found another girl, and
he told me that was when he found out about real love. Now, does that
mean that real, deep love can only be achieved after the pain of a broken
love? I say no - I say that it is nothing but insight that lacks here,
true understanding of happiness. It can be achieved by experience, right;
but I ain't no Sensate, and believe that there are also other ways. I'm
convinced that if we truly strive for happiness and joy, working to bring
it to each and every being of the multiverse, we will be able to grasp
its real meaning without the need to lose it first. I believe in the
possibility of true innocence.
Yet, I consider my bariaur friend's experiences very good, as well.
After all, he has felt pain and misery, but instead of giving in to
this, he used it as a key for a greater understanding of goodness and
love. These two concepts are hidden everywhere. We just need to look
for them.
We've got a hard way in front of us, friends. Look at the baatezu; they've
got a whole subrace specialized in torture, the kocrachons. If one falls
into the hands of such a fiend, how shall one still believe in happiness,
how shall one still FEEL happiness? I've experienced that myself once. The
fiend tortured me for about a decade, but he has left not one single scar
on me, be it physical or mental. How did I manage that? By believing, by
hoping. I did not hate the fiend, nor fear it; I just felt pity for it and
its lack of understanding. Every time I could I talked to him about
happiness and love, I made him understand that I would never, ever give
up my hope of getting free one day, and not even my hope that he, too,
would understand one day. Okay, he laughed at me, but half of what I said
already became true. And the more time passed back then, the more I noticed
the kocrachon becoming unsure if he would ever manage to break me.
I realized that the first spark of insight had entered his mind, and that
brought me so much hope that I had a rather easy time standing all the pain
that he brought me. Not to mention that, despite the pain, I enjoyed the
challenge he gave me. It was a test for my physical and mental strength,
and I was delighted to experience I had enough of both not to give up.
I did not enjoy the pain, but I enjoyed that it showed me my own
strength and hope. Oh, and the kocrachon was very confused indeed when
I told him that his torture only strengthened my goodness.
Maybe you've noticed the meaning of my story: What we so often lack for
understanding joy is looking at the details. There is happiness everywhere,
and potential for creating more happiness and joy as well. We have to look
at that, not at the pain and fear. As long as not all is lost - and as
long as we live, we've still got our life -, there is no need for fear,
no need to give up the hope for improvement. Only if the multiverse
might one day blow up all hope is lost; it is our task, our FATE to work
for the opposite extreme. The multiverse WILL not blow up, I'm convinced;
it will become a place so full of joy and happiness that we cannot even
grasp the slightest spark of it nowadays.
There is potential joy in everything; we just need to be able to separate
the dark side of it, and embrace the shimmering white one. And when that
spark of light starts to shine in your eyes, you will be a torch slowly
ablazing all beings in existence with the love and hope that we all
strive for. You will be a real blood, so to say. A real Joyblood.

*

The Dipping Dragon Inn

Probably the most prominent inn of the gate-town of Sylvania, this
inn is also the place where the Joybloods have been officially
founded. Myharial Blazingstar, the tulani founder, simply went into
the inn during a great party (that is, during a normal day in
Sylvania), and put a strange white candle into one corner of a room.
He then cast a spell, after which the candle was consumed by a
beautiful white flame which became larger and larger until it had
the size of two human men standing besides each other.
Getting quite much attention this way, Myharial climbed upon a nearby
table and began his historical speech, explaining his ideas and the
Joyblood philosophy, answering the questions of anyone nearby, and
taking part in the party at the same time.

The Dipping Dragon Inn consists of a more or less regular building
covered in vine, with its upper floors shaped like a 100 feet large
green dragon, mounted on a pivot and tilting forward and back all
the time. This not only gives the impression of the dragon "drinking"
from a nearby pool, but also makes balance quite a problem for those
inside the upper rooms of the inn. Usually, this is a source of much
fun and laughing, and during the speech of Myharial, it was essential
in taking a bit of the seriousness of the whole situation away, so
not to break up the great party mood in the place.

The inn is relatively old for a Sylvanian building - about fifty years,
as far as people remember. It's owned by the bariaur Filyir Fasthoove
(Pl/male bariaur/Ranger 12/CG), a ranger who's seen more often traveling
the wilderness of Arborea than tending his inn. The latter is usually
done by his former adventuring companion and friend, the halfling
Withir the White (Pl/male halfling/Fighter 7/Sensates/CG), aided by a
half-dozen barmaids (two halflings, three humans and one half-elf) as
well as Withir's son, Chandral, one of the most talented cooks in
Sylvania. Chandral, charmed and fascinated by the ideas of the tulani
Myharial Blazingstar, was the first to enter the Torch of Hope, the
strange white flame within one corner of the upper level of the inn.
Since then, it's Chandral who explains all those interested the dark
of things about the Joybloods.

Chandral Whiteson

Male halfling planar
0-level, cook of the Dipping Dragon Inn
Chaotic Good

Str 12 Int 14 HP 4
Dex 11 Wis 16 AC 10
Con 15 Cha 14 THAC0 20

Equipment: Dagger+2 (forged in Arborea), cooking equipment

Special: Chandral has got the typical Joyblood abilities, and has
chosen the Druid Joyblood ability to purify food and water by touch,
up to twice per day. He currently has 157 Hope Points.

What strikes people first about Chandral is his wild blonde curly
hair, even before the Joyblood's spark in the eyes (see "Joyblood
Membership"). He's an extremely friendly person, so convinced of
the Joyblood concepts that even the presence of a fiend would not
affect his good mood, nor make him really afraid.
Chandral wears light brown leather clothes, though these are usually
hidden under his large creamy-yellow apron. He often brings the food
he's cooked to guests personally, especially if he sees a chance they
might be interested in the Torch of Hope, or the Joybloods in general.
Despite all his happiness, Chandral is a bit lonely, waiting for the
day he might meet the love of his life (which he's convinced will
come to him one day). He's convinced that it's a test of his strength,
although he also has thoughts it might be a test of his abilities
to work for happiness: He's already considered leaving Sylvania for
some time, to search for a girl to share his life with.

*

Within the Ranks

Role-Playing the Joybloods

It would be wrong to view a Joyblood as a simple party-lover. They
might be, right, but it doesn't end with that. One could consider the
Joybloods hedonists of most extreme attitude, seeking the spark of
happiness in even the darkest evil, and working to turn it to good.
They want to enjoy everything they do, the more the better, and they
know how to do it. Looking at the details, actively searching for light
where only darkness seems to be, that's what a Joyblood does; that, and
trying to be such a light himself.
Of course, light is what creates shadows, and the Joybloods know. They
are aware the multiverse isn't perfect yet, and that any action, no
matter how good the intention, can lead to horrible evil. Curing the
wounds of a fiend will most probably lead to the fiend bringing even more
evil to the planes, and that's not what a Joyblood wants. The
Joyblood might still go curing the fiend's wounds if he can, but he'd
want to go sure the shadow created by that action of light is as small
as possible - like handing over the healed fiend to Celestial forces then,
so his soul will be healed as well. The Joybloods live by an attitude of
choosing the least evil combined with the greatest good. Sometimes, the
decisions needed would make a Solar stumble, and the (mainly mortal)
members of the Joybloods don't always decide for the right thing. Yet,
they take a great responsibility for all of their actions. As a general
rule, a Joyblood would always try to make up for any evil or misery his
actions have created, no matter if directly or indirectly.
A Joyblood finding out the fiend they healed now travels the Outlands
devastating everything he finds, the Joyblood would again try to dispel
as much of the darkness he brought as he can. He'd travel to the fiend
himself, hoping to stop the creature, and "convincing" it not to continue
with its evil deeds. In a realistic scene, this would most probably mean
that the Joyblood would give the fiend over to the planeborn forces of
goodness, banish the fiend back into the Lower Planes, or, at worst, kill
the creature. That, though, would be something a Joyblood would only do if
there was no other way of defending happiness against that fiend, and it
would still be an action many Joybloods would regret.
"Regretting" doesn't mean becoming a Bleaker, though. Again, it would have
been a choice of the least evil and the greatest good, and the Joyblood
would still see that his action was another imperfect step in an imperfect
multiverse, a step towards the perfection that still lacks. He would hope,
though, that as soon as the multiverse becomes perfect, all the faults
and wrongdoings would be turned towards light and joy, as that is, in
the end, the fate of existence.
Talking of fate, this sentence can be taken literally. They believe it's
the fate of every little thing in existence to ascend to purity, innocence
and goodness one day. A Joyblood might even see aesthetic sparks in a
Blood War battle field; he pities all those murdered, fallen souls, but
doesn't forget the potential of honor and passion that was shown here:
After all, the fiends here have fought for something (even if it only
was their own life), and that action thus consisted a spark of love, a
love for their own existence, or maybe even for their twisted ideals.
A Joyblood on such a battlefield would not be disgusted; he would shed
all the tears he has on the wasted potential, and gather even more strength
from it, hoping to defend such potential whereever else he can.
Now, the Joybloods are not just about happiness and potential, but also
about tolerance. They believe in the absolute truth of the concept of
Goodness; thus, every concept that embraces Goodness holds at least a
spark of truth. A paladin fighting for innocence and truth is as good as
an artist creating a wonderful poem or picture. A great party has as
much potential for happiness and joy as reading a passionate novel or
diving into the experience of understanding when reading a scientific work.
The perfect Joyblood would love all concepts related to Goodness; but as
the multiverse isn't perfect, it is okay for now to embrace as many as
the Joybloods honestly can. But it's important to keep on searching;
if you've not yet found the joy in chaos, you shouldn't just abandon it,
but instead keep on trying to understand; if you've not found the joy
and feeling of safety and strength that law can bring, it again doesn't
mean it's not there.
Don't think now that means no paladin could join the Joybloods, not
being allowed to embrace chaos. A Joyblood paladin might watch a wild
party from a distance, enjoying the happiness of people over there. He
himself would stay away, though, as he knows he's not ready yet for such
a thing. In this imperfect multiverse, we have to chose the least evil
and the greatest good; if you believe the greatest good lies in law and
goodness, you don't have to give in to chaos. Just don't forget there's
happiness in chaos (and in wild partying), and tolerate it with others.

Alignment. All alignments are allowed for the Joybloods. The first few
dozen members that joined were all chaotic good (as the group was
founded in Sylvania), but as time passes, more and more neutral good
members join. Most beings of evil alignment, and many of neutral
alignment, are rejected by the Torch of Hope, though (see "The Dipping
Dragon Inn" in the Joybloods description). To be accepted, a being
needs to have a real spark of goodness and joy inside, a will to seek
understanding of these concepts.
Members of non-good alignment are restricted in several ways; first,
they don't get any abilities from being a Joyblood member. Second,
all other members instantly know their alignment when meeting them,
due to the initiation ritual. Third, if they ever want to become a "real"
Joyblood, they need to return to Sylvania and enter the Torch of Hope,
and if they have become good by then, the Torch's fire purifies them,
but they do not keep the "Hope Points" they have gathered up to now
(see Faction Membership).

Race. There is no race restriction for the Joybloods, but nearly all
fiends are rejected by the Torch of Hope.

Class. As there is happiness and joy in everything, all classes are
allowed to join.

Joyblood Membership

To become a Joyblood, one needs only to travel to the Dipping Dragon Inn
in Sylvania, the Gate-Town to Arborea. There, the tulani founder of
the Joybloods somehow created the Torch of Hope, a flame of purest white
which burns passionately, but harms neither beings nor objects. It seems
to be impossible to wipe out that flame (some sneaking fiends have tried),
and those who step inside for curiosity are struck back by a weird wave of
heat before they even touch the fire.
Those who enter the Torch because they want to become Joybloods, though,
step inside the Torch and vanish. Noone remembers where he has gone,
but they all come back with a smile on their lips. Those who have at
least a spark of good and happiness inside find a strange, passionate
spark in their eyes, a fiery light that can be more felt than seen. If
they ever decide to leave the Joybloods, though, that spark instantly
vanishes.

Membership Abilities. It seems all Joybloods feel they shouldn't talk
about what they get, or maybe they aren't even aware of it themselves.
If asked, they all answer that what they get is joy and happiness, and
that's more than any faction could ever give them.
There's more to it, though. Even members who've just become Joybloods
are completely immune to all effects that drain hope, be it spells such
as a "Symbol of Hopelessness" or even the hope-draining effects of the
Gray Waste.
Further, being so infused with hope and goodness, they've got a
particular resistance to all effects that bring down their morale,
gaining a +2-bonus to any such throw. This would, for example, affect
any morale checks, saving throws against fear (taking their hope away),
command, suggestion, geas and domination (if forcing them to act against
goodness, or to give up), and all alignment-changing effects (even if
only temporal). It wouldn't affect a spell such as "confusion" or
"imprisonment". If no saving throw is allowed, then the Joyblood does
have a saving throw with a -2 penalty now.
One further advantage for the members depends on each individual's
class; characters with more than one class can chose one. The following
abilities are available (note that, still, the Joybloods aren't aware
of it):
Fighter: A permanent hit point bonus; roll a d4 to determine the
exact hit points.
Paladin: Joyblood paladins can use one of their abilities as if they
were one level higher than they truly are.
Ranger: Slowly understanding that their hated enemies still have the
potential of goodness in them, Joyblood rangers are able to keep
their hatred towards their racial enemies down a bit more. Reaction
rolls in such situations are only adjusted with a -2 penalty, or
not at all if the ranger manages his Wisdom check in each such situation.
Mage: A mage can, once a day, cast a spell as if one level higher than
he actually is, and any saving throws against such a spell get a penalty
of two points. This can only be used, though, if the spell is used for
achieving or defending hope, joy and goodness.
Priests: Priests of powers of hope, joy, and goodness are granted one
more spell of the first level to memorize, while all priests are granted
the ability to heal light wounds once every three days as an innate
ability.
Druids: Members of this class have understood the concept of purity
so much that they can purify any food or water (as per the spell "purify
food and water") by touch, up to twice per day. Also, they can achieve
good alignment without losing their Druid class.
Thief: Believing so much in hope, the Joyblood thiefs get a 5% bonus
to each and every check for a thief ability they have to make.
Bards: Gallant bards are the ones that embrace the concepts of the
Joybloods nearly naturally; if they join this group, they permanently
rise by one level. All bards long so much for life that, whenever they
get reduced to 0 or fewer hit points in a battle, they can fight for
one more round before they fall. If they take more damage than they've
achieved levels before the end of that round, they fall suddenly. As
Gallant bards get this combined with their own abilities, this one
works first, then the Gallant abilities start to function (i.e. they
are considered to having been reduced to 0 or fewer hit points a
round later, and can take even more damage before they fall).
Psionicist: Any psionicist who runs out of psionic power points can
keep his abilities up, gaining as many bonus points as he's achieved
levels, once a day.

Those characters who have joined the Joyblood for some time and
embrace their ideals more and more slowly learn that they do gain even
more abilities, and can even become aware of these ones. Any
Joyblood can gather "Hope Points". Whenever bringing hope and happiness
to other beings without any negative results (DM's decision), he
gains such points. Whenever his actions result in hopelessness or
unhappiness, the Joyblood loses Hope Points. A Joyblood who's got
zero or fewer Hope Points feels the need to go to the Torch of Hope,
where he can purify himself again (if he's still of good alignment,
he's "cleansed" and comes up to one Hope Point again). The following
list can be taken as example for which actions could bring how many
Hope Points; the second listed action is always a negative one, taking
Hope Points away:

Helping a weak person carrying something/Screaming angrily at someone:
1-2 Hope Points
Aiding as a guide through a city/Punching someone without the need for it:
5-10 Hope Points
Catching an evil thief/Stealing money from an innocent:
10-50 Hope Points
Overcoming (but not killing) a minor fiend/Killing unnecessarily:
50-100 Hope Points
Turning a Bleaker into a Joyblood/Turning a Joyblood into a Bleaker:
100 Hope Points

No Joyblood should ever get or lose more than 1.000 Hope Points at once.
The Hope Points can be used for various effects, though each such effect
takes a full hundred Hope Points from the Joyblood:
- An ability check failed; the Joyblood can decide to use Hope Points,
so that he has gathered all the Hope and Passion in himself to succeed
in his task. Each missing ability point costs hundred Hope Points, but
the check is considered succeeded if the Joyblood has enough Hope Points
to spend.
- A saving throw failed that would result in the Joyblood's death; the
Joyblood can reroll the saving throw, but only once.
- A spell of negative effects struck the Joyblood; the Joyblood needs
to spend hundred Hope Points for each level of the spell to maybe
overcome the effect. The Joyblood spends the Hope Points first, then
he makes a wisdom check to see if he's got the insight and understanding
to overcome the forces of magic. For a seventh level spell, for example,
he'd have to spend 700 Hope Points; if he then failed the wisdom check,
the Hope Points would still be lost.

*

The Chant

Since the founding of the Joybloods, the tulani Myharial Blazingstar
has disappeared. Chant has it he's been requested to report to Queen
Morwel, the ruler of the eladrin. As a general rule, eladrin are not
allowed to interfere in the lives of mortals, so Myharial might have
had some explaining to do. But as those eladrin who know of Myharial
and his actions still talk about him with great respect, it seems
he's had some convincing arguments. Most probably that's because he's
not set himself up as ruler of the Joybloods - he's just founded this
sect, giving the mortals another option to understand love and
goodness, but not enforcing anything.
Anyway, Myharial still has not been seen since then, and many rumours
spread to what has happened to him. The most common ideas are that he's
either at the place whereever the Torch of Hope leads to, or that
he's on a secret mission for goodness even greater than the founding
of the Joybloods. Fact is, though, noone knows for sure.
His actions already had somewhat of an impact on the planes, though.
Just a few days after the Joybloods have been founded, a group of
good-aligned folks have gathered in the Hive in Sigil, helping the
weak and innocent for the sake of goodness. They seem to be very active
cutters, and have quickly drawn attention of various groups and people -
some of them good, some... not so good.
Even more fascinating is an adventuring group consisting of four
paladins. Being former members of the Athar, these bashers are convinced
that the Torch of Hope taps into the light of the Great Unknown itself,
and have sworn to spread its light in the Lower Planes. Astonishingly,
these paladins have sworn never again to kill any being, but instead
to try to convert the denizens of the Lower Planes to love and goodness.

*

The DM's Dark

Seems Myharial's philosophies hit a wound or two at some fiends. The
pit fiends Jarrach and Mkaron have given orders to execute any
Joybloods that cannot be subdued one way or another in a short time.
Although this order counts only for their direct servants, many
baatezu have taken this order for themselves in hopes of gaining
a good reputation. The Sigilian crime lord Shemeshka the Marauder
also utterly hates the Joybloods, and seems to have started a
campaign to wipe them out before they grow strong. This young sect
obviously will have a hard start, but as Myharial would state it:
This way, they'll become aware of their own strengths, and their
goodness and love will be proved in practice, instead of merely being
a theoretical idea.
The Athar are highly interested in the Joybloods after a couple
of paladins departed their faction for the sect's philosophies. They
seem to be unsure whether the Joybloods have some secrets that
might prove their own ideas, or whether they should be considered
rivals.
Erin Darkflame Montgomery, factol of the Sensates, has got a clearer
attitude towards the Joybloods: Not only is the Torch of Hope where
the faction's strongest outside of Sigil, but the Joybloods also
deny the importance of bad experiences, taking a naive and childish
do-gooder attitude towards life. She doesn't hate the Joybloods,
but she'd definitely like to see them gone.
The Anarchists have a special hatred for this sect. After all, the
Torch of Hope changes the members so much that it's hard for them
to give the impression of a Joyblood while not really being one.
They need spells to give the illusion of the "spark in the eyes", and
actually up to now they haven't found a really good way to simulate
this spark - it just never really fits. Most Anarchists who try to
fight the Joybloods have chosen a more indirect style, not acting
as sect members, but rather assassinating Joybloods or driving them
out of Sigil.