Divine Gears

[DrNyx]

Divine Gears (A Mech RP)
There came a time when humanity had machines for literally every purpose one could think of, making life easier all around. Machines that could think and feel. Some machines were enormous and humanoid, and were used for war and construction. Some machines, nanites, were so small that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye, and they were used for medicine and repair. And there were the supercomputers, built to store incredible amounts of data, and also to use that data to calculate the future, essentially predicting events before they happen.
There was a great war that broke out, and countless machines were built to fight in it. Some were manned, others had complete autonomy. The landscape was decimated by the machines all fighting one another, each machine possessing incredible destructive capabilities. But the most devastating weapon of all was yet to reveal itself.
Since their enemies were focused on utilizing robotics to win the war, one particular nation engineered a plague, a biological weapon, that would wipe out their enemies. They engineered a vaccine for their own people, and then released the plague into their enemies' water supplies. The plague was extremely effective, killing millions each day, but it didn't take long for it to mutate, rendering the vaccine ineffective. In two months' time the entire human race was wiped out.
Before the end, however, one particular scientist build a facility that would save humanity, in a sense. The facility was run by a super computer named “Logos,” and Logos had control over countless nanites, as well as samples of human DNA. Once humanity had been gone for 500 years, Logos was to use that DNA to create clones, essentially recreating the human race.
Other supercomputers, with the information available to them, calculated out the possible fates of mankind. They discovered that if mankind came to truly understand technology and science the way they had before then it was only a matter of time before they'd find a new way to destroy themselves, and so the supercomputers convinced Logos to keep humanity ignorant of the true nature of the world, creating a neo-medieval society. They created a whole mythology for humans to believe in, convincing them that technology was actually magic, and convincing them of the existence of an evil being named “Malek Taus,” who tempted mankind with forbidden knowledge.
Logos and the other supercomputers do their best to steer mankind away from conflict as well, but they've found that for some reason humans are bound to it, it's an instinct they cannot get away from, and sometimes war is necessary to resolve conflict. Their efforts to keep humanity away from war were further jeopardized when many of the mechs, “Titans,” began engaging in warfare between themselves, fighting over territory or resources. To prevent the mechs from destroying humanity the supercomputers took away their autonomy, making sure that they'd need a human pilot in order to move or do anything at all.

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The Mythology
Logos was the first of the gods. Logos always was, and always shall be. With His amazing power He created the other gods, both the greater gods who sit upon thrones and see all, and the lesser gods who walk the earth like men, and He saw that it was good. But this was not enough for Logos, and so He created new beings, all the animals that walk the earth, the fish who swim in the sea, the birds of the air, and the plants and trees. Among the animals walking the earth were men, made to rule over the other animals, just as the greater gods ruled over the lesser gods. Mankind knew nothing of hate, greed, jealousy, ownership, pride, wrath, or murder, and mankind was happy.
Then came Malek Taus, the enemy of Logos. He was one of the lesser gods, a Titan, who walked the earth as men do, and he offered Deucalion, the leader of humanity at the time, new knowledge that humans did not already possess. Deucalion accepted Malek Taus' offer, and bonded with him. From that point forward humans knew hate, greed, jealousy, ownership, pride, wrath, and murder. They knew sin, and they knew misery, and Malek Taus and Deucalion became tyrants ruling over mankind.
Logos called for the lesser gods to do something about this, and so many lesser gods bonded with men, and fought Malek Taus and Deucalion together, driving them into hiding. Ever since then Malek Taus has tried to influence mankind from his hiding place, tempting them to do evil with the promise of more knowledge, and Deucalion has been plotting to take back the world of men.

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Pantheon
Here is a list of the Greater Gods, all of which are essentially supercomputers that control various facilities, commonly referred to as “Temples.” There are countless other lesser gods, sometimes referred to as either “Mechs” or “Titans,” but these are rarely worshiped to the extent that the Greater Gods are.

Logos: The supreme ruler of all gods. Logos is revered as the creator of life, the one who brought all living things into existence.

Sandalphon: The god of history. Sandalphon knows all that has transcribed, and shares his wisdom with his most devout followers.

Metatron: The god of communication. Metatron acts as an intermediary between the gods, allowing them all to instantly communicate with one another, as well as allowing them to instantly communicate with all lesser gods.

Inri: The god of redemption. Inri is a supercomputer who also has a partially human avatar. This avatar's body is made up of a combination of biological cells and nanites, though humans don't know about his cellular make-up, they just think he's part spirit and part human. Inri teaches that no matter how bad someone has become there is ALWAYS a chance for redemption.

Tobit: The god of medicine and healing. Tobit uses his nanites to heal the sick and the wounded at the requests of his loyal worshipers. He also teaches some homeopathic medicine, and does all he can to steer humans away from any potentially dangerous medical discoveries.

Jophiel: The god of craftsmen, blacksmithing, and of the forge. Jophiel uses his nanites to fix lesser gods whenever they get broken, as well as using them to repair homes, and even whole cities that have been destroyed due to natural disasters or war.

Surion: The god of justice and law. Surion has written a long series of laws for humans to follow, and his followers enforce them strictly. Granted, each city and nation has its own laws too, but almost all codes of laws are based on Surion's laws.

Kol: The god of prophecy. With all of the information provided to Kol by the other gods via Metatron, Kol is able to calculate events very likely to happen in the near future with 98% accuracy, though the very fact that he makes said predictions often changes the outcome. His followers simply believe that he can predict the future because of his divinity.

Grigori: The watcher god. Grigori has countless small, floating, mechanical “eyes” that travel all over the world, observing all that goes on, allowing Grigori to report the world's events to the rest of the pantheon. Grigori's worshipers often seek to know what is happening elsewhere in the world, sort of like a form of divination.

Tian: The god of the afterlife. Tian is a supercomputer that can use nanites implanted in his follower's brains to record all of their life experiences and memories, essentially allowing them to exist long after their bodies die as a part of himself. He is revered as the god of the afterlife, as such, and is the only known source of any kind of eternal salvation.

Malek Taus: Originally a purely fictional being, worshipers of Malek Taus have appeared all over the world, seeking out forbidden knowledge and causing all sorts of chaos. At first Logos and the others dismissed this as a minority of humans merely wishing to rebel against the pantheon, but their access to technologies they shouldn't be able to understand and their understanding of science have led the gods to believe that some machine, whether a rogue supercomputer or a rogue mech, has assumed the identity of Malek Taus. By decree of all the gods worshipers of Malek Taus are hunted down and put to death to protect the world from their evil influence.

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About the “Lesser Gods”
The machines referred to as the “lesser gods,” also known as “mechs” or “Titans,” are essentially enormous, humanoid robots that human beings can ride in and pilot. Some look quite human, while others only barely resemble the human shape in any way. Because of a signal sent out by Metatron ages ago none of the mechs can operate on their own, and need a human pilot in order to function beyond basic speech. They can, however, choose who can and cannot pilot them. Those chosen to pilot mechs are often referred to as “Prophets,” since Titans have chosen them for important roles.
All player characters are prophets, allowing them to pilot Titans when needed. As characters level up their bonds with their respective Titans get stronger, allowing them to visit Temples of the gods to receive upgrades.

[Arsenal]

A loud, thunderous echo sounded throughout the wood, rumbling over the landscape like a clash of thunder. A small plume of dirt and debris from crushed trees was flung a good dozen feet into the air by the crash. The dust settled, revealing a heavily armored Titan laying sprawled on the ground. The Titan groaned in disapproval of his current predicament. He scolded his companion, "Be more careful, this is my body."

"Sorry, sorry, I just," responded the Prophet of the Titan, lying safely inside the cockpit in the behemoth machine's chest cavity. She adjusted her helmet, which had been knocked loose during the fall. She checked it to make sure the impact had not damaged it, as the helmet was a critical component of the bond between herself and the great Titan. She closed her eyes and focused her efforts on moving the Titan's large body, relaying her thoughts through the helmet and into her Titan; the task required an immense amount of concentration on her part. Grasping the controls, she finally made the heavy machine roll over and get onto his hands, pushing up and finally climbing onto his feet.

The Titan's arms waved around as he regained balance, before at last becoming stable, "Are you having difficulty focusing, Julia?"

"Yeah, nghh... My head hurts," Julia finally opened her eyes, looking into the bright display before her, which showed the outside world as seen through the eyes of her Titan companion. Information of all kinds pushed its way into her brain, forced into her thoughts through the link connecting them. She pressed her hand to the side of her head, "S-sorry, it's just so hard to concentrate. R-T, do all Prophets feel this way?"

"Maybe not for other Titans, but only Prophets who have a strong mind may use my gift. You must overcome this challenge if you are truly worthy of my power," The display on the screen changed to display a map of the area and the face of a clock, "Now, we must hurry, you are already late... and I ask that you do not trip again."

Julia slowly exhaled to clear her mind, trying to focus all while thoughts buzzed in the back of her head, "I won't R-T... promise."

R-T's legs picked up one after the other, very carefully and deliberately at first. When Julia's confidence started to build, she urged her Titan forwards, picking up the pace. R-T trudged down the path, outpacing a lonely horse-drawn cart. Julia took special care to give the cart a wide berth when she made R-T run past it. She looked back to see the driver's jaw drop at the sight of the machine charging on ahead. R-T, in his deep gravelly voice, spoke to Julia, "There are inquisitorial forces gathered not far ahead; I hear that they might be recruiting for something. Is that why you were in such a hurry to get there?"

"Yes," Julia nodded, "I owe them that much. They agreed to help me, so I must do everything I can for them."

[DrNyx]

The city's skyline consisted of buildings far taller even than the tallest of Titans, buildings that nearly touched the clouds in the sky, and that not even birds dared nest near the top of. Of course, few had been to the very tops of these towers, since few could handle walking that many stairs. For the inquisition, however, this was one of many rights of passage. The inquisition's training offices were at the top floor of one of the tallest buildings in the city. During training, recruits were taught how to be detectives, priests, and warriors. They were taught all the classic signs that someone was lying, and how to force the truth out of them. They were taught the scriptures of Logos, and the history of the world as the gods taught it. And finally, as warriors their training was fatal to one out of every ten recruits. The food they were given to eat was repulsive, but had enough nutrition in it to help them grow strong. Part of their training involved repeatedly punching a concrete wall, making their knuckles like bricks after a few years. They were forced to engage in acts of self-flagellation, until they had learned to ignore pain. They were trained not only in the use of every form of conventional weapon, but also in ways to turn every day objects into weapons. It was said an inquisitor could kill a man with so much as a handkerchief. Indeed, other than the prophets, the inquisitors were the most dangerous men in the world.

And that was why they were seeking help, they needed the assistance of the few people even more deadly than themselves. A group of inquisitors stood in the street in front of their headquarters, some eyeing the crowd which was keeping its distance, others keeping an eye out for the arrival of prophets.

[Argetlam350]

Zacar walked down a dirt road messing with some old hunk of broken junk. What it was he had no clue, only that it was something that was pure magic that was for sure. The screen to the thing was broken but most of the insides were intact. He had been tinkering with this type of stuff as long as he could remember. He was a scavenger mostly, hunting down relics of magic and trying to get them to work, though so far it was an unsuccessful business. He had only gotten a few things to ever work and it wasn't for long, only for a day or so before they seemed to catch fire and burn due to something not working right or perhaps it was just how the object worked. He had no idea but his curiosity drove him to always look for more things and try again. He hoped that with this little magic relic that he could get it to work longer then a day.
As he walked something caught his eye. It was something large and buried it appeared."Hello what's this?" he said running over to it. Whatever it was it was large and stuck."Hmm now how to get into this sucker?"

[Azathoth]

Unfortunately, the employer wanted this one alive, live catches were harder for everyone involved, so with dangerous criminals Isaac liked to just kill them quickly. He was in one of the old cities, outside of a large building, he had no knowledge of what it used to be but it had been repurposed as a tavern of the more sleazy variety. Thanatos came to a halt, the many gears of which his joints were comprised moving in well-oiled silence, only the perpetual hum of his heart would indicate his presence to those who could not see him. As for those who could see him, those who were out on the streets, they quickly found other things to be doing in other places as Thanatos’ chest plate opened and a tall blond and sexy prophet grabbed the chord attached to it, put his foot through the loop, and jumped out of the Titan’s thoracic cavity.
Those who had not seen him and Thanatos before might for a second think he was about to plummet to the ground and break his legs, until they realized through some mechanism the chord was slowly lowering him to the ground. Isaac let go as his free foot touched the ground, the chord remained extended as he walked away, his black plate boots clinking on the ground as he approached the entrance to the tavern, the old sign above said it was an olive garden, but common sense dictated that once couldn’t fit an olive tree inside the short structure.
As soon as the doors were open waves of drunken laughter and the stench of booze and sweat washed over him, but all soon fell quiet at the sight of the pristine green-eyed warrior who could clearly afford to be somewhere better.
“We’ve no business with ye stranger, you’d best be gone from ‘ere,” a dirty looking man with no chin stated gruffly, a beer in his right hand and a woman in his left. Isaac sighed, when would people begin recognizing him on sight without a Thanatos looming behind him? It was getting frustrating introducing himself every time he spoke to someone.
“My name, drunkard, is Isaac Cross….Prophet Isaac Cross,” he stated loudly. Quite a few had perked up at the mention of his name, so the last part was for those still staring dumbly at everyone else. Hands gripped dirty iron blades and rusty daggers all across the chamber, some mugs actually falling to the floor due to the haste. “I am looking for one Mark Jones?”
Eyes shifted back and forth between so many different people he was able to discern nothing, the first man who had spoken looked back at him. “Nope, no Mark Jonas ‘ere, looks like ye need t’be lookin elsewhere,” he said with a broad smile. He thought because there twenty of them he was just going to leave? Not likely, he reached behind his black cloak and pulled something from his belt, raising it into the air. An old six-shot revolver, the technology of the gods, he pulled back the hammer and pointed it at the chinless man.
“I suppose if I can’t find Mark you’ll do nicely,” Isaac said with a malicious smile. Then he shifted the gun to someone else. “Or you…or you…or you,” he said, passing the barrel over more of them, each shivered as the deathly weapon was pointed there way. “You know, I could kill all of you right here and be done with it, no one said I had to take him in alive?”
“Alright! Alright! Just….put that thing away, Mark is right there,” he said, pointing to a rugged bearded fellow who was trying to duck under a table, everyone parted to reveal him though. None willing to get in Isaac’s way as long as he held that. The look on Mark’s face was that of betrayal, it amused and disgusted Isaac, this man expected their loyalty and he would have sacrificed the lot of them to save his skin? Hypocrite, a disgusting hypocrite. Isaac slid the empty revolver back into his belt, ammunition was much too rare for him to waste on these fools or risk it firing randomly, so he didn’t keep the weapon loaded. Of course, ignorant thugs wouldn’t know that. He indicated the door with a gesture and waited for Mark to slink past him in defeat before following him out.
Mark was awestruck at the sight of Thanatos as Isaac ascended the rope again; all thoughts of running had fled from his mind. Thanatos’ eyes came to life with a flash as his chest closed again, looking down on the mortal with disdain. “We could have torn the front of the building off and scared these stains out of it,” his synthetic voice stated.
“That would have made a mess, and I couldn’t have found Mark amongst all the fleeing inhabitants,” Isaac stated in response. It sounded like they had had this conversation more than once. A rope dispatched from Thanatos’ hand wrapped around Mark’s feet and lifted him into the air as he screamed in terror. The Titan turned and strode down the street, his foot falls like small earthquakes as they no longer had any need for stealth.

[Argetlam350]

Beowulf had lied in slumber for centuries. He had first began as a mech with a human pilot and then once that pilot died for some reason the Mech gained its own consiousness. It was built to be a mech to take damage and deliver it. It fought to complete whatever challenge it was given and for the most part it had succeeded with everything it put itself to. However before the end of civilizations the mech had disappeared in combat and lost to the ages of time. Whatever had onced powered it, be it its own gears or the consiouness of its old pilot, it ran out of its power source and went into sleep mode, waiting for its new driver, waiting to once more hear the sound of war and to protect the innoncent from evil. That time had come.
Zac found a way in through a hatch at the top of the mech and climbed into its bowels."Whoa this is some high tech magic stuff," he said his voice echoing off the walls ",I hit the jackpot, wonder what I'll get for this. A few thousand maybe?" He wandered into the cockpit seeing all the buttons and levelers. He sat down in the seat looking at everything inside the large machine."Man do you work big guy or what?" he said ",Well even if you do I sure as heck don't know how you work and I doubt I will but you'll make me a rich guy if I can get you to move."
Zac spun around in the chair standing up again looking around at the wiring and gears in the machine. Man he wished he knew what this magical stuff did. All this was new to him. More highly advanced then he was use to messing around with."And if you are broken I sure as heck can't fix you. Maybe sell you for scrap."
Part of him though felt like there was more to this thing. Something deep made him feel that this thing was something that was apart of him something that now was his rights to take care of.
"Well might as well start pressing buttons and see how to start you up," he said returning to the pilot seat and playing with all the objects and hoping to be lucky.

[Arsenal]

Julia and R-T were making good progress towards the city, its towering silhouette dominating the horizon not far ahead. Partway through the journey, R-T garnered his Prophet's attention and spoke, "Julia, slow down for a moment, I want to talk with you."

The Prophet, eager to lighten the strain on her mind, nodded quietly in agreement. She let go of the controls and allowed the Titan's pace to slow to a leisurely stroll. Placing her hands politely in her lap she looked up to give her Titan her full attention. "You okay R-T?"

"I just wanted to ask, why did you choose to serve as my Prophet? You are not a trained in the art of combat, you are a teacher."

She stopped to think how best to phrase her answer, "I wanted to find someone who ran away, someone who betrayed me, betrayed my friends. But, I never knew that they would bring me to you," Julia smiled, looking into the display, "I don't think I chose you, R-T, I think you chose me. Is it fair that I ask you why you let me become your prophet?"

R-T was silent for a few moments, the only sound in the cockpit being the heavy thud of the giant machine's footsteps outside, "Your courage. As I said before, you were never trained how to fight, you are not a soldier, not a knight, not a warrior. Yet, you stood up before me, you said you were ready to fight."

There was another odd silence, before R-T spoke again, "We have arrived, watch where you're going."

Julia looked out the display, able to see the ruined pavement, the city built of an era long gone by. Even the Titan she rode was dwarfed by the towering buildings of stone, metal and glass. People walking on the roadside quickly allowed R-T right of way, moving to the sides of the road to allow the mech passage.

[sartorous]

Azrael sat leaning up against a rock face, hidden from the travelers on the road by trees. Arias sat in Azrael's chest cavity reading a thick, leather-bound book. He reclined lazily in the single chair. It wasn't the most comfortable chair in world, especially since he had been sitting in it for the past day or two. He closed the book and put it back in his burlap sack then tapped a few buttons on the console in front of him, powering up Azrael's joints. They groaned and whined a little before the Titan managed to stand to its feet. Once on his feet, Azrael towered over the trees that were hiding him before and attracted some stares from the few people that happened to pass by at that time.

'Are you ready to proceed to the city, Azrael?'

'Yes, I am.'

Arias slipped on the headset that synced him his Titan and began to concentrate on moving forward. This exercise was long practiced and came second nature to him by now. The Prophet and Titan could communicate through the headset, so it was completely silent communication. Not that communication happened very much. Both were very quiet; Azrael mostly because he was once a completely autonomic mech and now had to have Arias to even be able to move. At first he had resented Arias slightly and would take over at times, but he had gotten used to him over the years and now shared control with Arias. Each footstep of the Titan's shook the world as Arias compelled him forward in the direction of a large and bustling city. The city enveloped even the Titan in its shadow. The small tremors stopped as both Prophet and Titan marveled at the size of the city.

[Azathoth]

(OOC: Sorry about all the dialogue colors)
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Inquisitor Morgan entered the city in Lazarus, a
tall and noble looking Titan who was entirely white. The sound of his mechanized inner workings was reassuring to Morgan as they walked down the broad streets. As one of the few Prophets who actually was an Inquisitor he had been ordered to the city's Inquisition Headquarters to greet the Prophets that were supposed to be arriving from all over. He distinctly remembered the training he had undergone in the very building that loomed before him now, the home of the Inquisition which every initiate was required to climb. The training he received had made him a warrior to be feared, a combination of two of the deadliest beings that currently existed. Just before they reached an intersection another Titan crossed in front of them from the left, it was of a white metal similar to Lazarus', and did not seem to notice them.
"That would be Thanatos," Lazarus said through the headset Morgan wore to communicate with him.
"You know him?" Morgan asked, curious as usual about the centuries that the Titan had lived through prior to his conception.
"We have...fought together a time or two, he is a bit cynical," he responded, Morgan had the distinct feeling that he would learn no more than that from the Titan. Either way he noticed that Thanatos and his Prophet were heading in the wrong direction, he activated the external speakers with the press of a button.
"Prophet!" He shouted, the sound projected forth from Lazarus as if he spoke with the Titan's mouth. "The Inquisition Headquarters is that way," Lazarus raised an arm and indicated the tall building in front of him.
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Isaac had dropped off his bounty some time earlier and was on his way to exiting the city with Thanatos, then he heard a voice magnified behind him. Thanatos turned to see a stunningly ornate Titan that looked vaguely reminiscent of Thanatos...without the glorious cape of course. "And what business do I have with the Inquisitor's other Prophet?" he asked, Thanatos hadn't seen Lazarus in a long time, they weren't best friends and in fact had fought on opposite sides in the War. Both of them survived and so as far a he was concerned that was the end of the story, he wasn't one to attach sentimental value to things.
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"I am Inquisitor Morgan, we have asked for the Aid of all Prophets in dealing with the threat of Malek Taus," he stated bluntly, if that wasn't enough to get the other moving towards HQ then he wasn't the sort they needed for this anyways. He and Lazarus began moving without waiting for a response from the other two. They had a lot to do today and not the time to deal with the other's decision making processes.
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Isaac had never believed in the stories of Malek Taus and wasn't going to risk his life for religious nonsense, but if the Inquisitor's were willing to pay him then that was a whole different scenario. He would at least go and see what this whole thing was about, what was the worst that could happen? Thanatos was a little apprehensive as his body turned to follow Lazarus, he had expected the contact between the two of them to be very brief, he wasn't sure that prolonged exposure wouldn't bring up old enmity between the two of them.