Legend of Zelda: Those Who Remain [OOC]

[Bad Wolf]

THE STORY

For seven long years, Ganondorf ruled Hyrule as an Evil King. He demanded loyalty from all citizens of Hyrule, but there were those who resisted him. For their disobedience and to make an example to the others who may oppose him, Ganondorf had filled the forest with monsters, set a dragon on the Gorons, and froze the Zora's Domain. Other towns and villages suffered his wrath in one form or another, and hope had begun to fade before the Hero of Time awoke in the Temple of Time.

The Hero of Time awoke the Sages and worked to undo the damage that Ganondorf had done. He set into motion the mending of Hyrule, and he just about guaranteed the revival of the kingdom when he fought and defeated the Evil King. Princess Zelda sent the Hero of Time back where he belonged, and this damaged Hyrule continued on without him with Zelda as its new Queen.

After the fall of their leader, the Gerudo Thieves fell into disarray. Their commander under Ganondorf, Nabooru, could not be among them due to her new responsibilities as the Sage of Spirit. The only other potential leader of the Gerudos, Twinrova, had been defeated by the Hero of Time as well, leaving the thieves without a leader to keep peace in their desert stronghold.

Ganondorf's defeat had also caused his forces to scatter to the winds. Most monsters returned to their places of origin, whether it be in the depths of the Lost Woods or the far reaches of the desert. Those of the main races of Hyrule who had sided with Ganondorf joined with the Gerudos in the desert, further destabilizing the normally all-female society.

It has been nearly ten years since Ganondorf's defeat, and the thieves have continued without a respected leader. The temporary leaders have quickly lost the loyalty of the thieves and have been murdered in their sleep or otherwise removed from their position. It seems that without someone the Gerudos can fully respect in charge, they are in danger of disbanding completely. Some believe they should assimilate into Hyrule and truly join with the kingdom as Ganondorf had originally said they would. Others believe they should remain a separate society, as they always have. This has caused a further rift between the thieves. They need a leader to rally them all together once again.

Luckily for the Gerudo Thieves, an individual who claims to be the Evil King's only heir has emerged from the desert, accompanied by one of Ganondorf's most loyal of servants. This heir could be exactly what the Gerudo Thieves need to return to their former strength. Or will this heir be rejected under accusations of being a fraud, and the thieves will be worse off than they were before? And if they look to this heir for leadership, what future will this heir lead them toward? Will the heir seek revenge against the Queen and the Sages? Will the heir seek a way to return Ganondorf to this world?

THE RULES

- Respect the GM (me) and the players.
- Follow the RPG ToS.
- No power-playing, God-moding, auto-hitting, etc.
- Violence, romance, and language are fine. Just don't go overboard.
- This is casual/high casual. Posts should be two paragraphs or longer. Correct spelling and grammar are expected, though I understand that typos occur. Just don't hideously distort the English language. If your posts need someone to take a decoder to them, then you are doing something wrong.
- Make an effort to post at least once per day. If you are going to be unable to post for a period of time, let me know so we can work around your character until you return.
- No killing another character without gaining permission from the character's player first.
- Post character sheets in the OOC topic for approval.
- You may have up to three characters. If you have multiple characters, be active with all of them.
- These rules may be changed.

THE CHARACTER SHEET

Name: (first will suffice)
Alias/Nickname: (if you have one)
Gender: (self-explanatory)
Race: (Hylian, Gerudo, Deku, Goron, Zora, or monster race)(if a monster race, PM me for approval first)(no Kokiri, since they cannot leave the forest)
Age: (self-explanatory)
Alignment: (good, evil, neutral, or some combination thereof)
Appearance: (picture or description)
Personality: (be descriptive)
History: (be descriptive)
Weapon of Choice: (one primary, can have one secondary)
Magic: (if you have it, specify an element that it is affiliated with)(if you wish, describe specific abilities your character has that pertain to that element)(don't be too powerful)
Goals: (if you have any)
Weaknesses: (relating to weak points in your fighting style, or other weaknesses)
Inventory: (non-weapon items)(include rupees)
Likes: (optional)
Dislikes: (optional)
Other Information: (optional)

THE ACCEPTED CHARACTERS

- Malik, the Gerudo Heir (Craythey)
- Shigai, the Loyal Guardian (Bad Wolf)
- Mirella, the Fiery Gerudo (Ghirahim101)
- Lara Bronwyn, the Merchant's Daughter (Craythey)
- Marcos, the "Crusher" Goron (Bad Wolf)
- Ocorin, the Zora Warrior-Ambassador (whitestallion)
- Saburo, the Gerudo Healer (Craythey)
- Illiador, the Hylian Summoner (exploiter)

THE ANNOUNCEMENTS

5/26/12 @ 6:50pm EST - Now accepting characters!
6/4/12 @ 7:26pm EST - Still accepting characters, but the IC topic is up! Begin posting if your character has been accepted!

THE SUMMARY OF EVENTS

Spoiler

Malik, Shigai, and Illiador have all three arrived at the Gerudo Fortress from the desert, the former two coming a little earlier than the latter. While Illiador attempts to swear allegiance to Malik, Malik and Shigai are trying to convince Saburo and the other guards at the gate to let them in.

Meanwhile, Ocorin is on his way to the desert as an ambassador from Zora's Domain, and Marcos is destroying practice dummies in the Gerudo Fortress's training grounds.

[Buio DiAngelo]

i take it your character will be this new 'heir'?

also, should all of our characters be gerudo as well?

[Bad Wolf]

Actually, my character will not be the heir. It'll be the servant who accompanied the heir to the fortress. Someone else is potentially thinking about being the heir, but that spot is open if they don't want to take it.

All of the characters will have been associated with Ganondorf and/or the Gerudos in some way. The easiest way for that to happen is for the characters to be Gerudo, yes, but in the case of this roleplay, there will be others who had sided with the Evil King before his downfall. By "others," I mean Hylians, Gorons, Zoras, and Deku who have, since Ganondorf's defeat, taken refuge in the Gerudo Fortress. So any race--except Kokiri--is open to be played. So long as the race was in OoT.

[Buio DiAngelo]

hmm, can't very-well see the zora surviving in the gerudo desert man. Issues with heat and all.

and wasn't it repeatedly stated that during the imprisonment war, ganon led a force of monsters to fight the many peoples of hyrule? seems unlikely he had any non-gerudo supporters.

anyways, ignoring all-that, what direction do you have in mind for this rp? it seems like it has a good base but it's not really a completed idea yet.

[Bad Wolf]

I'm talking about Ocarina of Time, Buio. The Imprisoning War took place in an alternate timeline when Ganondorf defeated Link. This roleplay has absolutely nothing to do with the Imprisoning War since Ganondorf was defeated in this timeline. So yes, Ganondorf could very well have non-Gerudo supporters.

As for where this goes, I'm leaving it open-ended. I'd rather see the goals of the characters and let them decide where things go. In essence, I'm not railroading the plot. This can turn into a campaign against Zelda and Hyrule if the characters decide to try to take command of Hyrule again. Or the other characters might turn against the heir. Or they might try to forge an actual treaty with Hyrule. It's up to the characters and what they want.

[Lady Ghirahim]

Sweet, an OOC thread! I'll try to post a CS, maybe two, by tomorrow night.

[Bad Wolf]

Coolio. And I'll work on my CS today. Might not get it up until tomorrow, but we shall see.

[Lady Ghirahim]

Name: Mirella
Alias/Nickname: Elle
Gender: Female
Race: Gerudo
Age: 18
Alignment: Largely neutral, with a tendency to lean towards good.
Appearance: Paler than the average Gerudo, short and slim, waist-length hair very near to orange in color worn in a high ponytail. Typically goes barefoot, has golden eyes with tints of violet, and tends to dress more simply than most Gerudos (without many jewels and adornments)

Personality: Mirella doesn't say much. She's not evil, in fact she's quite neutral about things; rather, she just looks out for herself before others. However, she doesn't agree with evil causes. Most people know her as a quite and intelligent Gerudo, nothing more, because she rarely opens up to anyone. She is very observant, especially when it comes to people. She's the type to sit back and watch the action, and to act in secret later. She prefers peace over fighting, but if driven to action, she's very adept in battle.

History: Mirella has little. She has no knowledge of her parents and has always been at the Gerudo fortress. She was eight years old when Ganondorf was defeated and understood little of the matter; now, however, she knows everything after having lived through the turmoil that followed. She has never sided with evil.

Weapon of Choice: Primary: Long black scimitar, secondary: dagger
Magic: Mirella has mastered basic control over fire, but is still in the process of learning. She uses fire-attacks in battle along with her weapons.
Goals: To keep out of the way, but also to prevent evil from ruling at the Gerudo fortress if necessary.
Weaknesses: She tends to strike light, leaving room for enemies to overpower her.
Inventory: A few bottles with Heart Potions, usually a few Rupees, not much else
Likes: Animals, especially horses
Dislikes: Socializing
Other Information: None

I might make a few revisions later, but for now this is what I've got.

[Bad Wolf]

Mirella looks good.

[Bad Wolf]

And now for my character, the heir's faithful servant and guardian...


Name: Valken, though he doesn't know it.
Alias/Nickname: Shigai
Gender: Shigai identifies as male.
Race: Redead
Age: Unknown for sure, but it is somewhere in the range of 200 years.
Alignment: Complicated. Shigai runs the spectrum from good to evil, depending on if he's acting on his instincts or if he's listening to his conscience.
Appearance: Shigai looks like a Redead, with the usual dark skin and emaciated appearance. He is 5'9" in height, though often seems to be shorter when he slouches. His face is unlike other Redeads, though, because he doesn't wear the typical wooden mask of his kind. Underneath the mask, his face is very much like a skull. A fleshy skull. His eye sockets are empty, but he is still able to see through a sort of sixth sense. This sense doesn't include color, though, so Shigai is completely colorblind.

To protect himself from sunlight and to hide what he is, he wears clothing which covers every inch of his skin. This includes boots, long pants, a long-sleeved shirt with a high neck, a mask, gloves, and a heavy cloak with a hood. His mask is not wooden, but is instead made out of a thin black fabric that he is able to see through, though it lacks eyeholes.
Personality: Shigai's personality has dulled considerably due to being a Redead. He is slow to feel particularly strong emotions, nor does he easily feel them to a large extent. That being said, he is capable of feeling the entire spectrum of emotions. It just takes time, in some cases.

Emotions aside, he is a fiercely loyal servant of Ganondorf's heir. He has been protecting the heir for the past ten years, and he remains at the heir's side even after returning to the Gerudo Fortress. His loyalty extends to others of his kind and undead at large. He finds it a travesty when undead creatures are killed, and he will fight to defend them when the occasion calls for it.

He is old-fashioned in many ways, reflecting the time period he had lived in as a Hylian. He is able to speak Hylian, though he does so with an archaic accent and doesn't always understand some of the newer slang. His word choice is often indicative of his age, though he has been getting better about sounding more modern.

His instincts as a Redead drive him to act in monstrous ways, and those instincts are at constant odds with his resurfacing conscience. Because of this constant struggle with himself, he often acts unpredictably. He could take the high road or the low road, depending on how loud his conscience is any given day. This correlates rather closely to when a memory of his has resurfaced, or when he is trying to pass himself off as a living person.
History: Not much is known about Shigai's past. Even he doesn't remember much from his time as a Hylian. His memories from that time are few and far between, often coming in brief flashes. What he does remember is that he had some connection to Kakariko, he was a skilled duelist with a rapier, and on his last night as a Hylian, he was kidnapped by a group of bandits and sealed into a tomb. The bandits had been intended to hold him for ransom, but the tomb they'd stashed him in wasn't empty. It was inhabited by Redeads, and soon after being thrown in there Shigai had ended up a Redead himself. No one ever found out what exactly happened to him.

Shigai spent about a century and a half in that tomb, losing nearly all sense of his former humanity. If he'd been in there for longer, perhaps he would have become fully mindless. But the Goddesses work in strange ways, and after the tomb he was in had been raided, he escaped from it and began to wander through Hyrule once again. He could think more clearly when outside the tomb, and he slowly started to regain pieces of his former self. Hearing Hylian being spoken reminded him of how to speak it, and he was able to do so again. A rapier felt familiar in his hand, and in time he remembered how to use it with much of his former skill.

No matter where Shigai went, he was met with fear and hostility. The living attacked him on sight--prompting him to wear those clothes--and he only felt comfortable when around other undead. The Shadow Temple was particularly home-like for him, and he would have gone back there permanently if he hadn't encountered Ganondorf when traveling through the Gerudo Desert.

Ganondorf was like no one Shigai had ever met before. Instead of making some manner of attempt on Shigai's unlife, Ganondorf was fascinated by him and even gave the Redead the name "Shigai." They met on several occasions, Shigai staying near the desert to continue those interactions with him. In time, Ganondorf offered Shigai a place to belong. Shigai, surprised by the offer, took it without question. This was shortly before Ganondorf began his attempts to get the Spiritual Stones, and not long after that he had become the Evil King of Hyrule, with Shigai as his Undead General. With Shigai as an interpreter, Ganondorf was able to add legions of undead to his forces. It was more than enough to keep Hyrule under his thumb for the seven years before the Hero of Time awoke in the Temple of Time.

One of Shigai's duties was to help care for Ganondorf's son, quite often making the commute between Hyrule and the village where this heir was being raised. After Ganondorf's death, Shigai moved to the village somewhat more permanently to ensure the survival of the heir.

For the past ten years, he has protected and served as the son's guardian. The time has come, though, for the heir to travel to the Gerudo Fortress and claim what is rightfully his. Shigai would lay down his own unlife for the heir, and he will stay by his side to whatever end.
Weapon of Choice: rapier
Magic: Only the racial abilities of Redeads. Namely, the paralyzing scream. He uses that only as a last resort, though, and using it disorients him, making him move more slowly while it is in effect. And this does not count as magic, exactly, but Shigai is able to control other undead. This is because he can adequately communicate with them, seeing as he is undead, himself. The commands are always verbal, and other undead are compelled to obey him if their willpower is weaker than his own. That includes Redeads, Gibdos, and Stalchilds. Stalfos may listen to him, but they are under no compulsion to obey him. Undead like Dead Hands just plain ignore him.
Goals: - Protect and serve Ganondorf's heir.
- Recover his lost memories.
- Protect other undead beings.
Weaknesses: - Shigai's skin is highly vulnerable to sunlight. The cloak protects him adequately, though it is still uncomfortable for him to be out in the sunlight. Being outside during the day without the cloak could cause him serious harm.
- Shigai moves slowly right after using his scream. The effect radius of the scream is limited, so if someone from outside that range attacked him after he used it, he would have difficulty defending himself.
- Shigai sometimes gets flashbacks. During such times, he pays little attention to what is currently going on around him. They tend to be short, though, so the window of opportunity is small.
Inventory: Some rupees and a couple red potions. Not for himself, though. He carries them in case the heir needs them.
Other Information: Shigai owns an undead horse that he can call for much like Link calls for Epona. The horse erupts from the ground when he calls for it, which can be very surprising when one isn't anticipating it.