City of Fortune OOC

[Buio DiAngelo]

OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
Main Thread Here
Character Submission Here

GM
Buio Diangelo

Co-GMs
Valerium Therme
babbies23
aisherlock

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Plot

Seven hundred years ago, angelic beings possessing demigod-like powers descended upon earth. These beings called themselves the Heirarchs. Seeing humanity currently plunged in an age of darkness and decay, they offered them the opportunity to experience cultural, medicinal and technological growth and prosperity the likes of which they could only have dreamed of, in return for their eternal servitude towards the Heirarchs. Though many monarchs opposed the idea of handing over their power to unknown beings, the light of the Heirarchs drew the impoverished and struggling people away from the greedy despots and towards the promise of happiness the divine beings offered them. As such, the kingdoms of man quickly fell one after the other and soon the Heirarchs had seized control of nearly the entire world save for a few backwater corners populated by wary and spiteful humans with too great pride to bow down to them. The Heirarchs paid them no mind, those who did not want to submit were not to be forced to do so.

Once their world-wide kingdom solidified, the Heirarchs made the first display of their grandiose powers. Within a single night, just south-east of the french city of Nancy, they rose a great, magnificent city spanning nearly fifteen miles across at it's largest point. There they invited all of their disciples to remain so that they could prosper in security and comfort under their rule. The Heirarchs leaving the naming of the city to the humans, the thriving metropolis, soon populated by millions of human immigrants, came to be called Fortuna, for it was as a promised land of dreams and new beginnings where good fortune rained onto all who were sheltered within its walls.

It was there that the Heirarchs bestowed upon humans their greatest of gifts, the knowledge of Magic and the magical arts. Slowly the Heirarchs lifted their loyal humans from the primal forms of life they had been used to up till now and taught them how magic could be used to improve all aspects of life. And thus humans experienced an unprecedented boom in technology, science, medicine, culture and art, just as had been promised.

The humans, however, were not the only ones to benefit from the presence of the Heirarchs. Thanks to their appearance, and the subsequent acceptance of magic as a natural force no different from the wind and the rain in the eyes of humans, magical creatures from all over the world, who previously were forced forced into hiding by the ignorant humans who hunted them on sight, were now also able to come out of hiding and grow and thrive alongside humanity, many of them eventually immigrating into Fortuna as well.

Though the development of culture, society and ideals revolving around magic, Fortuna itself was eventually separated into three districts. The east belonged to the Order of the Winged Blade, a knighthood that served as the guardians of Fortuna and defended its lands against the foolish barbarians who refused to submit to the rule of the Heirarchs and often launched raids on Fortunan soil in their rebellion against magic. The order grew to dismiss the practice of channeling magic through one's own body in order to cast spells, labeling it as inefficient and time consuming on the battlefield, and eventually growing to consider it a perversion of the natural human body and soul the Heirarchs worked so hard to elevate from their primal ways. Instead the order opted to rely on magical machines to challenge the magical energies around them instead. As a result they developed a great deal of incredible magi-tech ranging from magical cannons, to enchanted swords, to blessed armor, to flying magical vehicles, to magical holograms and magic-powered instantaneous long-range communicators.

In the western part of Fortuna, however resided the Mages of The Brotherhood of Arcane Wisdom. They fully devoted themselves to every teaching of the Heirarchs and hungrily pursued knowledge on all magical arts, some of them even turning their bodies into living conduits of magical energy in order to bring themselves closer to their Heirarch masters. They researched mama, the source of all magical energies, and its every possible application with fervent passion. As a result, the Arcane Academy they have constructed now houses over fifteen different schools of magic and studies countless variations, combination and sub-applications to each kind of magic, new discoveries on its possible applications and fundamental workings being made every day.

The last district was a great ivory fortress in the middle of the city, named The Citadel, inaccessible to all but the winged Heirarchs themselves. No one truly knew what happened within The Citadel, they only knew that it was the most sacred of places, never to be defiled by the presence of humans, and that it generated more magical energy than any other structure found anywhere in the world.

Save for the great chasm and high walls surrounding The Citadel, however, the districts were not separated by distinct lines, and, as such, the two areas north and south of the citadel, were the eastern and western districts met, evolved into residential sub-districts as well, aptly named Northton and Southton.

Northton was where the elite Fortunans resided. The most beautiful works of architecture, both magical and mundane, outside of The Citadel would come to be built there. Bourgeoisie, Chivalry, and all codes of living setting a higher standard for its inhabitants were the norm in Northton. The borough was also where the great Fortunan Colosseum, the absolute epicenter of all fine arts, was eventually constructed.

Southton, on the other hand, was more of an urban center. It was inhabited by the less wealthy residents who weren't too keen on staying too deep with either of the two main districts. It was also the main entertainment district where all sorts of bars, clubs, restaurants, theaters and what-have-yous were constructed for the pleasure of it denizens

This, was Fortuna, the Utopian city of the Heirarchs in its golden age.

Ten years ago, without warning, the Heirarchs all suddenly disappeared, leaving behind no clue of where or why the had gone, leaving only one message painted in glowing glyphs upon the high walls of their citadel. "We leave our greatest creation, to our rightful successors."

Immediately, it was unanimously assumed hat the 'greatest creation' the Heirarchs spoke of was The Citadel. The point of discussion, however, were the 'rightful successors' it was supposedly left to. There had always been friction between the Brotherhood and the Order due to their different views on how to best utilize the teachings of the Heirarchs. When the Heirarchs left, each faction naturally assumed that they were the ones most suited to inherit The Citadel. This became a point of extreme friction between the two. Negotiations were increasingly strained, and the option to 'share' the citadel was very soon completely discarded due to childish squabbles and old grudges between the Arcane Academy's Council of Wands and the Shining Hall's Table of Paladins.

Within a year negotiations had all but broken down and it was clear that both factions were preparing for war, however, neither wanted to strike first for they knew that all-out war between the two would cause severe, perhaps irreparable, damage to the city. What was the point of seizing the Citadel, if Fortuna itself was destroyed in the process? This tenuous cold war state was, however, completely shattered approximately two years after the disappearance of the Heirarchs.

One night, a group of highly dangerous and wanted criminals from all over the world suddenly launched an assault on Fortuna. Possessing incredible numbers, advanced technology and Led by a Mysterious man known only as "the king" this new terrorist group operating under the name 'the black monarchy' tore into the very lightly inhabited Northton and launched a blitzkrieg assault onto Fortuna as a whole. Though both the Brotherhood and the Order mobilized to stop them, they had been too unprepared for such an eventuality and were caught off guard. As such, The Black Monarchy was capable off grabbing a foothold within Northton by seizing the coliseum and expanding from there. Within a matter of days they had pushed their assault into the northern sectors of both the western and eastern districts, taking hold of both a chimera research facility and a large amount of weapons and munitions depots respectively. Now armed with the war beasts of the Brotherhood, and the shiny weapons of the Order, the Monarchy saw fit to change its tactics. They realized that they could not continue to push into the territories of two magical armies at once while keeping their momentum. Instead they began building magical fortifications Around the areas they had already taken hold of while lancing continuous urban guerrilla raids onto important Brotherhood and Order facilities to prevent them from retaliating effectively. The speed, precision, and efficiency in which they carried out their tasks was not befitting of what should have been a ragtag group of bloodthirsty criminals from the magical world. It was, instead, attributed to their leader. The elegant and frightful young man whom had brought them all together in the first place. His tactical mind was quite simply incredible, seeing ahead of every movement made by the Order and the brotherhood and organizing all those under him into a powerful machine of war.

To make things worse he'd planted several agents within both faction a long time before his initial assault, and through several assassinations and payoffs ensured that the hatred between both only grew so that they never could agree to unite against their common enemy.

Within a month of the initial blitz, the monarchy had solidified it's control over nearly all of the north of Fortuna, and the city was divided into three factions now engaged into an all-out three-way war for the citadel.

Realizing they had been caught at a huge disadvantage with the Monarchy's sudden appearance, the Order and Brotherhood were desperate to regain control over the city, as such, they began enlisting outside help through a small mercenary guild that had been situated in Southton. Contracting the guild as an intermediary agency, they began hiring various groups of mercenaries to help them push back the assault. The guild itself, however, refused to take sides in the war and began to accept job postings from The Monarchy as well. As a result, mercenaries from all over the world were attracted to Fortuna as a battleground of riches, and the Jackal Mercenary Guild grew into one of the most wealthy establishments in the world, standing neutrally on the front lines, profiting from the conflict of others.

As the war dragged on, however, Fortuna's influence across the world began to wane. As the Order and Brotherhood both kept drawing more and more of their troops out of foreign land and into Fortuna in order to effectively fight the war, they became less capable of defending their territories from the Barbarian countries. In recent years this has become a major problem and many Fortunan kingdoms have fallen to barbarian invasions. As a result a large amount of refugees have had no choice but to fall back deeper into Fortunan territories, some even forced to come in as far as settle within Fortuna itself despite the danger, either because of lack of space within other cities or because they now had no monetary means with which to live anywhere else.

This has turned Southton into a fourth district, an overpopulated slum city filled with refugees both from those who lost their homes in the Monarchy's invasion and from those now penniless paupers who lost their lands to the barbarians. What little order there is in the district is maintained by the Jackal contractors, as the guild has become the de facto governors of the slum, but as they do not like being held to the role of peacekeepers, crime and violence is still rampant in the slum-city.

As it stands now, all four districts are completely walled-off from one-another, access between the four only permitted by special checkpoints. The majority of the fighting occurs within the heart of the city

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Rules

As I'm sure you can all tell, this RP isn't quite like the other ones on the board, so it comes with a few extra rules that are set up to ensure everything goes by smoothly.

General Rules

1. If you consider your own RP level below mid-casual, this is not the place for you: Really, we want this role play to be enjoyed by the most people possible, but there is a certain standard to playing in these threads, we want experienced, comfortable role-players, and while we certainly won't start barking at you for not making a novel out of every post, those who consistently make one-to-three liner posts, will be hampering the creative flow of their partners. A good indication of if your skill level is too low to participate in this is the character creation process. If you find that after several attempts (3-4) to make a character, you fail to meet the requirements of the GMs, that is a good indication that you are not yet ready to join us.

2. If you can not post on a regular basis, this is not the place for you: Again, this is all about enjoyment of the group. We are not asking that our players make this roleplay their entire lives. We are fully aware that real life will (and should) always take precedence over internet pass-times. However, It is never fun when you start a roleplay with someone and they suddenly start posting only once every few weeks, it ruins the experience for all the other players. So, if you know that you have a busy schedule that will only allow you to post two or three times per moth, we are afraid to inform you that you should simply find another role play, as that posting frequency does not meet our requirements. If, on the other hand, you are the kind of person who usually can post at a decent rate but know that something in your life is coming up that will make you unable to post for an extended period of time (11 days or more), then we suggest you simply wait. The role play will not be going anywhere, so we suggest you simply join us when your real life circumstances allow you to return to your regular posting frequency.

3. Life circumstances are sometimes unexpected, but not insurmountable: We realize that you do not always have warning before life puts you in a situation where suddenly you are unable to post (computer crashing, death of a close friend or family member, etc.). However, it is important to remember that there is still a small level of respect that every roleplayer is owed. In the event that it suddenly becomes impossible for you to post, you must find a way (friend's lap top/phone, library/school computers) to inform us of why and, preferably, approximately how long it will take before your return. No one likes to be stuck because someone stopped posting suddenly and without warning. of course, it's understandable that one can't always immediately reach an alternative source of internet connection when these misfortunes occur, so you will be given 5 days after the last post before the character people are waiting on is declared an NPC (and thus controllable by any other player) until such time as you return.

4. Be respectful to your fellow players: This will obviously be a very combat-centric roleplay, tensions are bound to get high, people are bound to get pissed off if their character dies. but remember, this is first and fore-most a game, meant for enjoyment. While a little friendly trash talking is fun now and again, we're not 12yos on Call of Duty here. Verbally(or technically literally) attacking and demeaning someone just because you don't like them or they do something in rp that you disapprove of is strictly forbidden. If you find another player breaking the rules, you can approach them about the issue calmly and respectfully and discuss things with them. If they persist in breaking this rule after discussions, or become hostile during discussions, it is not your place to retaliate with force. Leave the issue be and inform GMs bout the situation. we will deal with troublemakers.

5. Rules will subject to change: As the threads progress, rules will be added, changed and disposed of under the discretion of the Gm and Co-GMs. Do not ask us to change a rule for you or your friends, we will not, rules will be changed or subtracted only if we see that they are interfering with the smooth and pleasant progression of the roleplays. Suggestions on new rules are always welcome but it is at our own discretion whether we will follow said suggestions or not.


OOC Rules

1. No posting in the IC threads before having your character accepted: Really, this one should be obvious to any experienced roleplayer, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Until your character is given full approval by myself or a co-GM and uploaded in the Approved Character's section, you are defended from posting anything at all in the IC section

2. Characters must be accepted by a GM or co-GM: Again, i know I'm stating the obvious here, but it's imperative that people realize that simply having others say 'your character looks good' does not constitute as approval. one of the designated leaders of the roleplay must give you full approval himself, these are myself (Buio DiAngelo), Valerium Therme, Aisherlock and babbies123.

3. Characters are to be submitted in the Character Submission/Discussion thread ONLY: there is to be NO player posting in the accepted characters/introduction thread. Posting in there reserved for GM and Co-GM use only.



IC rules

1. No one is invincible: There is a war going on your characters CAN (and some WILL) die. I don't want anyone constantly pulling Determinators and surviving on willpower alone. Nor do I want a plethora of Badasses out of Hell running around. Whilst we will try to keep deaths at a minimum, they are, in fact, permanent (the only exception would be a Demonologist coming back from the nether realm as someone else's daemon companion)

2. No one is the Grim Reaper: Just because deaths happen, you should not make it your sole purpose in life to kill as many other characters as possible. People can (and will) run away under many circumstances. No one likes having to constantly restart the rp with new characters, or losing a character they have been playing with for months. Going out of your way to needlessly kill players weaker than your own will surely make you detested and, if it is reported, you can face suspension or banning from the rp for becoming too excessive in it.

3. Not all characters are created equal: not everyone will start at level 1. Certain characters (for the most part, OSCs controlled by GMs and moderators and that have much influence over the world of fortuna) will be inherently harder, better, faster and stronger than the rest. Similarly, as the rp will progress, players will be able to purchase upgrades for their characters, making them 'level up' as it were and rendering staring characters weaker than they are.

4.No bullying the newbs: This works hand in hand with no one is the Grim Reaper. We want to make this game fun for everyone, old players and new ones alike. If a newbie hotshot comes to you and picks a fight you have every right to hand their ass to them and show them their place, but I don't want to catch anyone using a powered-up player to pick on weaker ones for no reason. If your character is an asshole, then that's fine, play him as an asshole. But he can;t be an asshole who constantly sends weaker PC characters to the hospital or steals their money just because he can.

5. You must start off your post by stating in bold and underline in which sector you are in (and what location you are in if it applies): This RP will eventually play host to a very large number of players, to avoid confusion, at the top of each post, players must identify which sector, their characters are in. example, if you are playing in the Southern District IC and are located within the southton slums then you will write Southton Slums ([B ][U ]Southton Slums[/U][/B]) at the top of your post. If your character is within The Den in the entertainment district then you simply write Entertainment District (The Den) at the top of your post. Similarly, if you have several characters within the same district but within different sectors, you must identify which sector they are in at the beginning of the individual sections of each character's posts. there is no need to identify the sector again if both characters are within the same sector, however, outlining the separation between the two characters in some way (such as writing their names at the top of their sections, colored text, ect) is highly recommended.

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Economy

Fortuna's economy is based on a standardized universal currency named schell (abreviation:Shl), named for Victor Schell, the banker who spearheaded the installation of the system 400 years ago. Soon, players will be able to earn schells through certain means such as either turning in a bounty, completing a contract and/or mission, or even from a monthly salary. Players can then spend these earnings on several items at shops that we will open in-rp. Districts as a whole will also generate income on a monthly basis. This money will be used by the district leaders to improve the state of their districts, offering better protection against other factions and unlocking better items in the shops.

The Economy thread will be where everyone can observe how much their district/characters is making and why, as well as take a look at the shop lists to figutre out what they want to buy in-rp, so keep your eyes peeled for further developments in this section ^^.

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Groups

HQ: The Shining Hall

The order of knights that was sworn to protect Fortuna and its masters. Led the Table of Paladins, it is by far the most technologically advanced group of the four. It employs a variety of war machines and golems into its tactics to make up for its relatively small force, something that it is now suffering for due to the harshness of the selection program it used over the past 700 years. None of its members can use any form of magic, which makes it an almost exclusively human organization, even if there is no rule against non-humans joining. As a result of the nearly completely human state of the army however, some discrimination against the non-humans has been known to happen in the past. They also reject Orientals since they are born with the ability to control their chi, which they consider a form of magic, and they largely consider Mutants abominations to the natural order. If even a paladin is known to have contracted a mutative disease, he is to be immediately expelled from the order.

The order makes up for it lack of magic with enchanted suits of armor that increase the strength and speed of their wearers substantially, as well as provide defense against physical attacks and magical spells.

Though they have discovered, and are known to frequently employ, firearm technology, they are first and foremost knights, and are thus trained in the use of medieval weapons. If ranged support is necessary, they will simply add turret golems to a squadron of humans. However, knights specializing in the use of firearms are not completely unheard of, especially since the indoctrination of Paladin Rhodes, the former Paladin of Wings who was known for going into battle armed solely with firearms.

The order, however, is not completely composed of combatants. A special class of knight called squires serve as engineers for the machines and golems. since magical constructs such as battle golems lack the intelligence necessary to operate efficiently in the field, squadrons will usually employ up to three engineers that will directly control whatever magical constructs are being used through arm terminals which can also be used to repair fallen constructs or a squad mate's broken armor. Engineers are usually more lightly armored as they have a tendency to stay in the back, away from harm, and control golems from their. There armor is also enchanted with maximum mobility and agility in mind, rather than high defense against magic. As such they are rather vulnerable and depend on the golems they control and the knights for protection against enemies.

The Order creates all of its magical constructs within factories, using enchanter golems, thus eliminating the need for them to learn enchanting magic themselves.

Available Occupations

Paladin of Wings - Leader of the order, most powerful of the Paladins

Paladin of Swords - Most powerful Knight
Paladin of Shields - Most powerful Squire
Paladin of Lances - Second most powerful Knight
Paladin of Armors- Second most powerful Squire

Knight - Front line combatants (class 2-3 power armor)
Squire - engineers who control/repair the constructs (class 1 power armor)

Available Specializations

Warrior - Knight focused on offense
Guard - Knight focused on defense

Priest - Squire focused towards repairing
Templar - Squire focused towards controlling constructs

Scout - Knight or Squire trained in the operating of light vehicles
Cavalier - Knight or Squire trained in the operating of heavy vehicles

Available Tech

Power Armor
Light Constructs
Heavy Constructs
Firearms
Light Vehicles
Heavy Vehicles

Available Magic

Symbology

The brotherhood is the long time sworn rival, and recently arch-nemesis, of The Order. They devote themselves completely to every teaching of the Heirarchs and have embraced the magical arts in full. Every member of the brotherhood is a mage studying under a different school of magic and they are constantly expanding on their knowledge of magic, developing new applications or discovering new combination every day. They despise the arts of enchanting that give birth to magi-tech. They believe that complete unity between one's own soul and the world's mana is the highest state that can be achieved by living beings. Due to The Brotherhood' focus on magic it is greatly populated by magical creatures. Elves and Faeries especially are very common within the halls of the academy. They even accept Mutants into their midst, however, since chi is not part of the teachings of the Heirarchs, they do not consider it a 'real' form of magic, and thus do not open their doors to orientals save for very special exceptions.

As a necessity of war, the academy has had to loosen it 'no magi-tech' policies for the sake of practicality. Though they still reject all golems and forms of magical vehicles, they have invested time in building several Heavy Constructs such as Barrier Generators and magical cannons so that their district would not be at a strategic disadvantage in comparison to the others in terms of defense. They still, however, mostly rely on purely magical means to protect their territory, only employing the magical constructs as support in high-danger areas.

Available Occupations

High Councilor - Headmaster and most powerful mage in the Academy

Councilor of Words - Master of the school Wordweaving
Councilor of Symbols - Master of the school of Symbolmancy
Councilor of Ethers - Master of the school of Alchemy
Councilor of Blood - Master of the school of Sanguinemancy

Mage - Pure spell-caster, physically weak but has the most powerful spells
Spellsword - warrior/spell-caster hybrid, gives up magical power for battlefield diversity

Available Specializations

Wizard - Mage focusing more on offensive magic
Healer - Mage focusing more on defensive and regenerative Magic
Mystic - Mage focusing more on illusionary and buff/debuff magic

Warlock - Spellsword focusing more on offensive magic and abilities
Cleric - Spellsword focusing more on defensive and regenerative Magic and abilities
Shaman - Spellsword focusing more on illusionary and buff/debuff magic and abilities

Available Tech

Heavy Constructs

Available Magic

Wordweaving
Symbolmancy
Alchemy
Sanguinemancy

The invading criminal organization that has terrorized the war-torn Fortuna for nearly a decade now. Though not quite as numerous as The Order and The Brotherhood, being unable to summon reinforcements from other countries like they, The Monarchy has maintained its position within Fortuna for eight years by a steadily increasing force of criminals from all over the world, seeking riches and haven from the law under it banner, and the incredibly shrewd mind of its leader "Lord King", who claims to be the only rightful heir to the glory of the Heirarchs. Its members are ruthless and shrewd, as well as brutal and merciless. The Monarchy is also the force which is most proficient in infiltrating other districts unnoticed. As such they can often cause internal turmoil within the district by staging assassinations, spreading rumors, stealing important information, or launching small-scale surprise attacks on important facilities.

Though their front-line military force, while still substantial and dangerous, can not compare to that of The Brotherhood's and The Order's, they make up for it y being absolute masters in the dark and underhanded sides of war. It is also worth noting that they are perhaps the most diverse group of united soldiers. Like the mercenaries, they hail from many different lands and thus have many different skills and abilities. On top of this, they have stolen the secrets to power armor manufacturing and chimera breeding from The Order and Brotherhood respectively. Different from the mercenaries, though, is that they all work under the same banner and with the same objectives, despite often differentiating motives. Making them lethally unpredictable and versatile during assault missions.

Available Occupations

Lord King - Leader and undisputed ruler of the entire Monarchy

Queen of Chaos - Mistress Wastesayer
Duke of Destruction - Master Deathbringer
Lady of Lies - Mistress Shadowcrawler

Wastesayer - Mage or Spellsword of the Monarchy
Deathbringer - Knight or Squire of the Monarchy (wears power armor)
Shadowcrawler - Shadow operative for the monarchy (total access to other districts)

Available Specializations

Beastmaster - Wastesayer specializing in the control of chimera
Sineater - Wastesayer specializing in the control of demons

Plaguebearer - Deathbringer specialized in speed and stealth (class 1-2 power armor)
Night piercer - Light Deathbringer specialized in firearms (class 1 power armor)
Kingslayer - Heavy Deathbringer Specialized in firearms (class 3 power armor)
Horserider - Deathbringer specialized in light vehicles (class 1-2 power armor)

Throatcutter - Shadowcrawler specialized in assassinations
Mindstealer - Shadowcrawler specialized in espionage/rumor-spreading
Gearbreaker - Shadowcrawler specialized in sabotage

Available Tech

Power Armor
Light Constructs
Firearms
Light Vehicles

Available Magic

Wordweaving
Alchemy
Sanguinemancy

HQ: The Den

Originally a relatively small group of skilled mercenaries that would mostly help out The Order in matters of warfare or body guarding when The Order was too busy with other matters. The Jackals ,et unprecedented growth when their latest leader took the reigns, allowing them to take advantage of the state of chaos Fortuna fell into nearly a decade ago by taking a strong stance of impartiality, offering their services to anyone willing to hire them, taking no sides in the war. As a result, while the rest of the city fell into disarray, they profited and grew. Eventually, when other mercenaries came to Fortuna, rather than fight them for contracts, they decided to play the game of the middle man. They opened the doors of their personal bar and Headquarters 'The Den' to all and began publicly posting up unused mercenary requests and bounty bills. In this way they turned potential competition into another source of income. The warring factions would come to them with mercenary contracts, their leader Grey would chose which ones to actually sign his men onto, and the rest would be open for the public to chose from. an unassociated mercenary would then pay a small fee to buy the contract from the Jackals, and they would put him or her in contact with the clients.

This way their position as the leading mercenary group was never threatened. Even when another group tried to settle themselves down in Fortuna, they would be hard-pressed to find any valid contracts since The Jackals had made a reputation for being the best of the best, and as such the factions did not want to take a risk giving important jobs to anyone else.

However, despite their status as mercenaries, The Jackals abide by a strict code of conduct. They are strictly warriors and body guards, and occasionally bounty hunters when business is slow. They want to as much as possible prevent casualties to their own, so they have a policy against delivering shady packages of unknown contents or, worse, to unspecified recipients. They also wish to avoid Pissing off the wrong people so they never kill anyone outside of the battlefield, covert assassination contracts get passed off to the public. Lastly they want to be able to keep track of their own men at all times to ensure their safety, so undercover contracts that require them to disappear from the grid are also immediately passed off to the public. They will also not post up any bounty bills on their own member's head and Jackal contractors are expected to look after one-another if one of their own has a bounty placed on him/her.

In the early years of the war, the Jackal contractors would accept jobs from any client indiscriminately, but after a few too many of their men were killed working for the monarchy, and a ,thankfully unsuccessful, assassination attempt on Gray, they have decided to adopt a policy against taking contracts from the Monarchy. Out of professionalism, however, they still post all of the monarchy's contracts and bounty bills within The Den for freelancing mercs to pick them up.

As of two years ago, Due to an increase in demand for hired personnel with more diverse talents, they have also started posting contracts for desired medical practitioners and parcel/shipment delivery personnel.

Available Occupations

Leader - Bearer of the name Gray, boss of the JMG

Fang - Second in command of the JMG
Claw - Third in command of the JMG

Contractor - An official member of the Jackals. Benefits from their protection but has to take orders from Gray. Cannot take jobs from the Monarchy.
Freelancer - Someone using The Den to find work, completely independent and bound by no rules but susceptible to being put on the bounty boards if they get too famous.

Available Specializations

Body Guard - A contractor given the job of protecting a certain political figure or individual

Mercenary - A contractor or freelancer acting as client helping any of the factions on the battle field
Bounty Hunter - A contractor or freelancer who hunts anyone with a bounty on their heads
Medic - A contractor or freelancer hired to tend to wounded soldiers either on or off the battle field
Courier- A contractor of freelancer hired to deliver packages of known contents to specific recipients

Smuggler - a freelancer hired to deliver secret packages to sometimes unknown recipients
Assassin - a freelancer hired to kill a certain political figure or individual
Spy - A freelancer hired to go undercover within one of the factions


Available Tech

Light Constructs
Firearms
Light Vehicles


Available magic

Wordweaving
Alchemy
Sanguinemancy
Chi Control

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Tech

Power Armor Suits (often abbreviated to PAS) were the Order's answer to Chi Control. Whereas oriental warriors stored mana within their bodies through meditation, and then spend that mana during battle to increase their bodies' natural abilities to superhuman levels, the order developed suits of armor that would use use absorb ambient magical energies and turn it into pure mana, which would then be used as an energy supply by the suite to provide the exact same benefits to the user, and eventually more as the technology progressed.

Originally the Power Armors could only be worn within relatively close proximity to Fortuna considering how dependent they were on the constant supply of magical energies radiating from The Citadel in order to power themselves, eventually however, with the invention of Magicells, and later Magic-Containing Circuits, the armors could maintain function even in completely magically deprived areas, if only for a limited time before needing to recharge. Out of fear that the knowledge on how to manufacture the Power armors may fall into barbarian or criminal hands however, the specialized golem factories that could produce the armors were never built outside of Fortuna herself, the armors instead being shipped out from the city all across the world.

Due to the fact that they suck up ambient mana for their own use and project anti-magic fields when they feel magical spells forming within or approaching their vicinity, it is impossible for a mage to wear power armor and still use his spells.

All Power Armor suits, even those not tailored to the control or repair of golems, posses a G-Terminal enchant activate able at will, located in the right gauntlet. The codes in these terminals are encrypted and unique to each soldier, they are what allow military golems to tell friend from foe and the Terminal's enchant crest, located within the suit's gauntlet, serves as a dog tag, letting anyone who recovers the armor identify its owner in case the body was mutilated beyond recognition during combat.

Power Armors function based on the enhancement (or, in some cases, impeding) of several of the wearer's combat statistics, they are classed as follows.

STR: the STR rating indicates how much the armor increases the user's lifting and pushing strength. a rating of 1 is equivalent to increasing the user's muscle strength by approximately 60% and the rare rating of 10 will increase a user's muscle strength by 600% (for visualization, an average military man with a 10 STR rating power armor could toss a stove (which usually weighs about 200lbs) approximately 100ft away)

MOB: This statistic measures how much the armor affects the user's ability to move around. this is the only stat that is not measured from 0 to 10 but rather -5 to 10, as some armors will actually impede movement. as usual 0 simply does not affect the user's base abilities. -5 will reduce maximum mobility by 75% (in other words, cut it down by 3/4) and a rating of 10 will increase it by 300% (in other words, quadruple it).

DEF: The DEF rating of Power armor denotes it's physical durability and ability to shield its wearer from physical harm of any sort both through simple armor durability and through a force-magic-based kinetic shield projected by the armor that activates whenever any projectile traveling above a certain speed enters its range. When activated, the shield uses repelling force to deflect the projectile, or at least slow it down to minimize the transfer of kinetic force to the armor body. A rating of 1 will provide limited defense against standard bullets, a rating of 5 will provide ample protection against body shots from a sledgehammer and armor with a perfect 10 DEF rating could withstand multiple ballistic tank rounds before showing signs of breakage to the armor itself (though of course the sheer kinetic force of the slug, even after passing through the repulsing field, would still be enough to cause considerable damage to the wearer as it was transferred from the durable armor to him.)

RES: The all-important RES stat denotes the armor's resistance to non-physical damage. More specifically, damage sustained by magical spells. the RES is calculated by the efficiency of the Anti-magic generator system within the suit. When the Power Armor detects any magical spells being targeted against it, it will analyze its magical composition and disperse a field of the opposite magical energy composition that will counter-act the spell and dismantle it, shielding the wearer of the suit from damage. Generally, a higher level and more destructive spell will have more complex composition and will require a more powerful field be generated. Armors with higher tier RES stats are also capable of generating multilayer fields that can stop many simultaneous spells being cast on the wearer. RES ratings of 1 will provide single-layer fields capable of blocking only the most basic elemental spells. RES ratings of 10 will provide fields with up to 7 layers that can dismantle nearly any magic save for time-space spells which do not have a known counter composition yet.

CTRL.: This stat enhancement is a Templar Squire's best friend. It denotes the efficiency of their G-terminals at efficiently controlling large golems or, conversely, several smaller ones. The stat rating is simply a maximum for the sum CTRL.REQ. of each golem under a user's control. In other words, Power Armor with a CTRL rating of 2's G-terminal will allow its user to either safely use one golem with a CTRL. REQ. of 2, or two golems with a CTRL. REQ. of 1.

RPR.: The Priest Squire's equivalent of the CTRL stat. The RPR stat denotes an armor suit's G-terminal's efficiency at repairing broken-down magical constructs or power armors. A rating of 1 will provide a user with a G-terminal capable of only repairing the slightest scratches and slowly replenishing a suit's spent energy. A rating of 10 will enable a user to repair any but the most critical armor failures highly, provided there are enough materials with which to do so and enough ambient or in-suit mana to draw on in order to re-start the suit's magical functions.

TRGT. SYSTM.: A statistic rarely valued by The Order but a definite favorite of The Monarchy, the targeting system stat denotes the efficiency of the auto-correct firing systems linked into the power armor's visor. The auto-correct feature will analyze what targets are being perceived from the visor and aligns the barrel of whatever firearm the user is wielding based on distance, altitude and, in the case of more advanced systems, detected crosswinds. A targeting system enchant will never have a suit lock its user's arms in the position it believes aligns the barrel the best for shooting the target at which the user is looking. instead it simply provides a very subtle but still functionally noticeable resistance against arm positions that t calculates decreases the probability of hitting. Targeting systems can also be shut off at will by turning a small knob at the back of every power armor suit's helmet which disrupts the magical circuit feeding the magical program. The higher a targeting system's level, the faster and more accurately it can deduct optimal shooting positions, and do so for more and more difficult shots, making high ranking targeting system a sniper's best friend.

NAV. SYSTM.: The final and newest feature in Power armor technology, one on any but the newest models. The navigational system enchant works by projecting transparent holographic images onto the inside of the power armor's visor when the user is aboard any vehicle. These images can be anything from a map of their surroundings, denoting detected allies and enemies, to the status of the vehicle being operated, to warning signs of oncoming hazards. Navigational systems were designed to help pilots and drivers better handle the Lost Town ruins, whose many roads and passages have been altered, blocked off or laden with traps. any Power Armor wearer specialized in operating vehicles will be wearing a suit featuring a navigation system unless they desire to be in a dire disadvantage. The higher the rating of a navigation system, the more detailed and accurate the maps it and information it provides will be.

The highly advanced and constantly upgraded armor worn by 'Fortuna's finest (non magical) soldiers'. They are usually well-enough balanced but have a tenancy to put emphasis on protection against magic, physical strength, and at least rudimentary competence with golems.

Paladin Armor

Legion class, AGA-3: Excalibur

Spoiler

The absolute peak of current Power Armor technology. The Excalibur provides maximum protection against both Magical and Physical damage as well as an advanced Auto-specialization feature that adapts the armor's parameters to both cover the wearer's natural weaknesses and optimize their abilities to maximum efficiency. The armor is also enchanted with the most up-to-date self-repairing metal enchantment that, in the event the armor does get damaged, can absorb virtually any metallic alloy with which it comes in contact and return the condition of the armor well within acceptable boundaries, until proper maintenance can be carried out. Considering the already astounding amount skill required to be even considered for the position of Paladin, the proven remarkable battlefield performance enhancing capabilities of the Excalibur suit make those who have earned the privilege of wearing it nothing short of a one-man equivalent to a strike legion in terms of destructive force.

Stats
STR: 10
MOB: 8
DEF: 10
RES: 10
CTRL.:10
RPR.: 7
TRGT. SYSTM.: 10
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Class 3 Armor

GOA-7 Claymore

Spoiler

The Claymore is the standard 'heavy' type Power Armor Suit. Sacrificing mobility, it boasts impressive defensive capabilities and increases the user's muscle strength a great deal, allowing him or her to march into battle carrying the heaviest available weaponry with ease, as well as absorb a great deal of damage before needing to retreat. The lack in mobility can be compensated for by grouping several Claymores together so that each soldier can cover the others' flanks.

STR: 7
MOB: -2
DEF: 5
RES: 6
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 3
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Class 2 Armor

SIWA-12 Longsword

Spoiler

The standard P.A.S. supplied to all Order members upon becoming Knights and the one largely preferred by even veteran warriors for its versatility. Indeed the Longsword aims to strike an even middle ground with mele-based power armor technology, not specializing in any one area, but never leaving its user with any glaring weakness either.

STR: 4
MOB: 1
DEF: 5
RES: 6
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 2
TRGT. SYSTM.: 2
NAV. SYSTM.: --

SIRS-1 Sabre

Spoiler

The most recent model of Power Armor technology, the Sabre responds to the Monarchy Deathbringers' fondness of firearms by also specializing in ranged combat. It largely sacrifices strength and some defense for an improved targeting system and mobility. Though not quite catching up to the Monarchy's technology in firearm based suits, it has considerably lessened the gap, making the Order less vulnerable to the Monarchy's snipe storms in recent years. It is also one of only two Order suits to posses a navigational system.

STR: 2
MOB: 2
DEF: 4
RES: 5
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 6
NAV. SYSTM.: 3

Class 1 Armor

TOSS-8 Kris

Spoiler

Quite possibly the most common armor type after the longsword, the Kris has always been a favorite of squires for its great ability to control high-level golems. They must make use of this, and its high mobility to stay away from danger since the armor grants only rudimentary defense and negligible boosts in both ranged and close quarters defense.

STR: 1
MOB: 4
DEF: 2
RES: 3
CTRL.: 7
RPR.: 3
TRGT. SYSTM.: 1
NAV. SYSTM.: --

POSA-3 Scimitar

Spoiler

Another relatively new addition to the Order's repertoire of Power armors, the Scimitar is by far the best suited for vehicle control and is also incredibly efficient at performing repairs on any kind of magical construct, making them well-suited to maintaining the vehicles they pilot or drive. They also come equipped with a basic targeting enchant, making them more suited for light guns than melee weapons

STR: 1
MOB: 2
DEF: 2
RES: 2
CTRL.:3
RPR.: 6
TRGT. SYSTM.: 3
Nav. SYSTM.: 5

The PASs The Monarchy originally stole from The Order and then subsequently upgraded throughout the years. They tend to be less balanced than the order suits, favoring to be tailored to a specific role. Their favorite stats are generally mobility, physical defense, and (in specialized cases) targeting systems. Golems are largely ignored.

Special Armor

Erebus

Spoiler

The Monarchy's secret weapon. The Suit was originally a prototype for the next Paladin armors and has been constantly upgraded throughout the years to be the monarchy's first defense against the order paladins, and trusted only to the Duke of Destruction, the monarchy's finest warrior. As the Duke prefers the fighting style of Plaguebearers, the Erebus has been optimized for speed and stealth, exceeding the Excalibur models in the former, and possessing a specialized Illusion enchantment that bends light around the armor to achieve invisibility. The enchant can only be used for up to 10 minutes at a time before needing to be recharged, but this has proved to be more than enough for the Duke so far. The enchantment actually should have a maximum duration of 30 minutes, but the suit is constantly using energy to reflect light energy (note, light energy, not actual light), so that that Michel-André can walk around even during a sunny summer day without his powers being sapped or risking slow and painful death.

The energy blades are part of the suit itself and are composed entirely of pure, sustained, magical energy drawn from the suit's own reserves. As such, there are very little materials through which they can not cut through.

STR: 8
MOB: 10
DEF: 9
RES: 9
CTRL.:1
RPR.: 4
TRGT. SYSTM.:1
NAV. SYSTM.:--

Thanatos

Spoiler

The monarchy's new project. Thanks to data gathered from Erebus, they are now experimenting with trying to upgrade normal armors to at least near-paladin-like levels. Currently Thanatos is the only model of these, and though it currently fails to catch up to Erebus, it has definitely shown to already be decisively above the norm in performance tests. So far, however, attempts to implant a specialized enchant such as the regenerative attributes of the Excalibur or the cloaking spell of the Thanatos have ended in failure.

The current owner of Thanatos model is the Duke's protege and apprentice.

STR: 9
MOB: 6
DEF: 7
RES: 6
CTRL.: 4
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 1
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Class 3 Armor

Gargoyle

Spoiler

The basic heavy infantry suit of The Monarchy. The Gargoyle is the only class 3 type suit that does not hamper mobility, so though it does not offer quite the same amount of protection as other class 3s, it makes up for it by not slowing the wearer down either, making it perfect for the Monarchy's frequent guerrilla attacks.

STR: 7
MOB: 0
DEF: 6
RES: 5
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 1
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Dragon

Spoiler

The gem of The Monarchy's PAS technology. The Dragon is the only class 3 ranged-specialized suit, and though its mobility is easily the worst among all Power Armors, it makes up for it by being able to accurately rain hell on enemies afar with large anti-apparel rifles, mini guns, rocket launchers, ad other manner of heavy weaponry, all with the same accuracy a Sabre provides an Order Knight wielding a light assault rifle.

STR: 7
MOB: -4
DEF: 5
RES: 5
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 6
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Class 2 Armor

Hellhound

Spoiler

The Monarchy Equivalent to The Order's Longsword. A very balanced piece of machinery, the Hellhound again puts more emphasis on Mobility and a better Targeting system than its Order counterpart, sacrificing strength and repairing ability. Still, it remains a very versatile suit that allows many Monarchy death bringer initiates to jump into a fray and go as wild as they want with relatively little risk.

STR: 3
MOB: 2
DEF: 6
RES: 5
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 3
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Wraith

Spoiler

STR: 4
MOB: 6
DEF: 4

RES: 4
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 1
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Class 1 Armor

Fiend

Spoiler

The Fiend plays an important role in the Deathbringer arsenal. Not only is it the only monarchy suit capable of controlling higher level golems, it possesses the most advanced targeting system amongst any current PAS used. It is a favorite of snipers, and the Golem control offers extra protection in case the user i forced into close quarters combat, though the suits inability to repair the golems past superficial wounds still leaves its user at a disadvantage versus other golem users.

STR: 2
MOB: 1
DEF: 2
RES: 2
CTRL.: 6
RPR.: 1
TRGT. SYSTM.: 8
NAV. SYSTM.: --

Banshee

Spoiler

The Banshee is quite simply the only reasonable choice for a Monarchy Horseman. Its navigational system is impeccable and it possesses a greater aptitude at repairing than any other monarchy suit. It also possesses a basic targeting system enchant which makes it easier for a horseman to use ranged weaponry from their vehicles.

STR: 1
MOB: 2
DEF: 3
RES: 2
CTRL.: 1
RPR.: 5
TRGT. SYSTM.: 3
NAV. SYSTM.: 8

The magically powered robots that have revolutionized life in magical society. Originally little more than men sculpted of clay and made to follow very rudimentary directives, golem technology has evolved to create autonomous constructs of all shapes and sizes capable of accomplishing a multitude of tasks from household chores, to exploring areas too dangerous for living beings to enter, to working as controllable military 'personnel'. Like PASs, golem technology has evolved to allow them to absorb an store magical energy from their surroundings, eliminating the original requirement of a mage to be nearby in order to regularly supply them with energy so that they could continue to function. Though the level of intelligence possessed by golems is still very limited, making them require regular supervision and maintenance from sentient beings, golems have, over-time, none the less become a vital part of Fortunan every-day life and largely remain as such even in this period of struggle.

Golems readily available to the populace. Typically possessing only the most basic intelligence enchantments, they are usually miniature, compact, and used to perform one specific task without fault. In the past it was uncommon to see any but the poorest households in Fortuna lacking even one basic cleaning golem, and most had at least two since each could only perform a single specific task. In these times of turmoil, however, domestic golems have become more of a rarity due to the fact that golem crafting companies have shifted the majority of their production output towards military models. People talented in the repair and maintenance of golems have also largely been drafted by The Order to work for them, and those still offering their services to the public are often out of the majority's price range. As a result, the possession of these golems, especially several of them, has become a mark of (relative) wealth in modern society.

Basic surface cleaning Golem.

Spoiler

A simple Golem whose sole purpose is to clean up flat surfaces. Comes in different sizes and models tailored to different cleaning needs (moping, wiping, vacuuming, dusting, etc.) and surfaces (walls, windows, carpets, hardwood, ceilings, etc.). They make very little noise and the floor-based ones can recognize the feet of over 20 different species and will adjust their cleaning trajectories to avoid collision with them. when their waste collection compartments re full they will go back to a specific area to await for someone to empty the compartment before continuing their task.

Waste Collection Golem

Spoiler

A floor-based golem, it's duty is to collect all waste too big to be cleaned up by the surface-cleaners. In essence, something of a mobile, self-filling trash bin. Upon initial activation it can be presented with several items (such as loose money, jewelry or small baubles) that it is to ignore should it encounter it, so that the owner does not lose misplaced precious items to it in the future. Like the surface cleaners, the waste collection golems will return to a designated spot once their collection compartments are full, and remain there until such time as it had been emptied.

Advanced Cleaning Golem

Spoiler

A more advanced (and costly) cleaning golem. The Maid model golems can perform more complicated tasks such as doing the dishes, laundry, and the preparing of simple meals, but are, again, limited to only being able to do one task. They are still considered the most helpful of domestic golems available and, at one time, many were glad to spend the extra money in order to acquire their services.

Child Companion Golem (loli/shotacons will be disappointed)

Spoiler

The most expensive and advanced domestic-class golem, and also the most useless in terms of services. Little more than a children's toy in utility, this golem type has been enchanted to follow numerous behavioral patterns making it very similar to a small dog, even going as far as to 'bark' and 'growl' at strangers.

despite its blatant uselessness as a domestic helper, this model Golem, affectionately nick-named 'Spiky' due to the sharp design and (harmless) dorsal spikes protruding from it's back, became an instant hit with Fortunan children and sold incredibly well. Due to their high durability and low maintenance needs, many are still around even today, though most have lost their masters and simply roam the Fortunan streets, growling adorably at anyone who passes by.

Commercial golems are higher-class golems that are still available to the public but often require a license to own or are incredibly expensive in comparison to domestic class golems (often times both). Generally they are the most humanoid-looking,often even covered with synthetic skin to increase life-likeness (especially with female models) and have intelligence enchantments almost rivaling that of Military-class golems.

Performer Golem

Spoiler

One of the most popular types of Commercial Golems, Performer Type golems are designed to dance and sing for an audience under direction of their owners, and come in several variations of clothing, hair, and body type. Often used as stock back-up dancers for sentient performers in the past, these days they are more frequently used for commercial purposes as a means to attract customers to the businesses of those who own them, whether it's by providing entertainment within the establishment, waving in customers outside, or doing promotion in a separate location entirely. The simple fact that a businessman not dealing in arms trade would be wealthy enough to still have a properly functioning Performer Golem is often enough to make potential customers interested in whatever they are selling. Male models are somewhat of a rarity.

Entertainer Golem

Spoiler

An inevitable side effect born of the popularity of Performer Golems, the slyness of shady businessmen, and the natural desires of sentient races. 'Entertainer' golems are, in effect, little more than highly advanced sex toys. A technically legal alternative to prostitutes, Entertainer golems are specifically designed, both physically and in their enchantments, to satisfy the sexual desires of anyone using them, enchanted with basic speech responses and knowledge of several different sexual acts. There are, of course, both male and female models and countless variations tailored to a different sexual preference. 'Hostess Bars' offering the services of these golems have always been incredibly popular due to the fact that, being nothing more than inanimate objects simply imitating sentience, the golems could not fall under the legal restrictions real women of any race did concerning the selling of their bodies.

The bars have become especially wealthy ever since the war, since the despair brought by it has made many a desolate man and woman more than willing to throw away what savings they have for a few drinks and the company of someone (or rather something) they can pretend cares.

Though many have pushed for their availability to the public, Entertainer Golems still require a license to legally own, ensuring they stay securely in the hands of the bar owners.

Body Guard Golem

Spoiler

The only kind of commercial golem still commonly seen in parts of the city other than the southern district, and my far the most expensive of them all. Body Guard golems are constantly pushing the envelope on commercially available lethal force. The only thing separating them from military golems is their inability to handle weapons of any sort, their inability to channel magical energy, and their inability to initiate combat. strictly speaking it is illegal for a civilian to own a Golem capable of attacking someone without proper cause. This is the only thing that stops many body guard golems from becoming assassin golems because they are every bit as fast and physically durable as military-grade golems and have knowledge of several different martial arts enchanted into them. They are frightening hand-to-hand combatants and will use the maximum force possible in eliminating anything they identify as a significant threat to their owner.

It has been said that the are deliberately enchanted to be polite and amiable at all times as a psychological tactic, since many have reported how terrifying it was to see them pummel a man nearly to death, never once letting that cheerful smile fade.

Military golems are the most expensive breed. They can only be legally owned either by authorized military personnel or people whom have bought privileged (and extremely expensive) licenses. They posses the most developed intelligence matrices within their Anima, making them capable of preforming several tasks simultaneously. However, they are still nowhere near he level of sentient beings and can become painfully predictable in combat if not controlled by an engineer of some sort. Military-class golem are ranked by their CTRL. REQ., which denotes how difficult they are to operate in the battlefield. Generally, golems are more difficult to control because they possess more functions, making them much more efficient in battle when their CTRL. REQ. is met

REQ 1 - Watchers

Spoiler

Watchers are the smallest kinds of golem. They come in either flier or walker models and have only one major purpose, espionage. Their small size makes them perfect for spying on enemy locations and scouting ahead since whatever they see can be relayed to the visor of whomever controls them.

All Watchers are also armed with simplistic turret mountings, the walker types usually packing more heat as they are not as constrained by weight management. However, regardless of the model, these are very low-power weapons, incapable of even scratching most power armor models and the incredibly basic targeting systems in their Anima makes it almost impossible for them to hit moving targets. The only advantage watchers have in terms of offense is the fact that many of them can be controlled at the same time due to their incredibly low CTRL. REQ., allowing for several to gang up on one enemy and shower them with bullets from all sides. This, however is still a very limited edge, as any decent kinetic barrier will completely stop their bullets in their tracks, making a watcher group's offense useless.

REQ 2 - Healers

Spoiler

Small, dwarf-sized golem, healers are the only kind of military golem without any weapons on them what-so-ever. Instead, what they possess is the ability to repair Power Armor and other golem as well as provide basic medical assistance to Organics. Healer golems are thus a highly useful tool to any designated 'medic' in any squadron of PAS users.

REQ 3 - Troopers

Spoiler

Basic, human sized, infantry golems. Troopers are the most common types of soldier golem, capable of handling most tasks at least decently when in the hands of a capable engineer. Not built for durability, Troopers are mass-produced agents meant to serve as proverbial meat shields for the squad members as well as provide basic cover fire for soldiers accomplishing more important tasks such as providing medical support or sabotaging enemy equipment.

By far and large the highest concentration of Trooper-type golems however can be found in the streets and buildings of the eastern district where they are set to patrol certain areas under their own basic Anima programing, serving as robotic law enforcement, set to apprehend anyone caught breaking any law set by the order and shoot down anyone proving to show too much resistance.

REQ 4 - Casters

Spoiler

First of the middle-tier golem, Casters are golem armed not with guns but with magic. Casters serve both as support mages for PAS wearers and as a means to further protect a squad from magical retaliation as they naturally emit a basic anti-magic field that grows stronger as more Casters are within a certain radius of each other.

REQ 5 - Smokers

Spoiler

Possessing long, lean, powerful legs that make them stand about three feet above a regular human, smokers are among some of the fastest-moving and most agile Golem. They possess a much more basic version of the invisibility enchantment found in the Erebus Power Armor Suit that allows them to become nearly invisible while standing still (as the enchantment is not perfect you can still see a slight tell-tale distortion of lights and shapes where they are hidden if you look at them). This, coupled with they fast movement speed and highly enhanced visual detection Anima programing makes them perfect scouts and even better snipers. Generally, Smokers are used by engineers as aids to regular snipers when heavier ordnance is required in order to take out heavily armored soldiers or equipment/vehicles.

REQ 6 - Spitters

Spoiler

Essentially bipedal cannons, Spitters are exclusively long-range Golems that stand on equal height with Smokers. Their mounted cannons can be outfitted to fire a wide variety of projectiles, both physical and magical. Their most common use however is as siege artillery. They attack by standing in the back lines and shower enemies with cluster-bomb-like which can be anything from standard explosives, to ballistic rounds, to poison gas emitters, to illusionary field projectors, all dependent on the outfitting of the specific Spitter. Since, however, they can make use of magical artillery rounds they are not always an offensive weapon, and as such are sometimes used to spread water or light based health generators over a widespread area to help allied soldiers recuperate lost energy and recover from minor wounds.

REQ 7 - Hunters

Spoiler

Standard Top-tier infantry units, hunters stand nearly twice as tall as Troopers and are armed with much more powerful weaponry. Fast, durable, and possessing basic anti-magic barriers and kinetic shields, well-controlled hunters can be every bit as efficient and lethal on the battle field as a trained PAS user

REQ 8 - Boomers

Spoiler

Top-tier heavy infantry golem. Boomers lack the speed and maneuverability of Hunters, and possess inferior primary weapons. They make up for this, however, with thicker armor, better magic barriers and kinetic shields and powerful explosive-based secondary weapons.

REQ 9 - Berserkers

Spoiler

Golems designed specifically to counter War Beast types chimera and Daemons. Berserkers are incapable of being outfitted with any form of ranged weaponry, they instead fight using energy-blades that protrude from their forearms, elbows and kneecaps. They are the fastest Golems beside reapers and sacrifice all kinetic shields for powerful Magical barriers that make all but the most poweful spells nearly useless. When it comes to avoiding physical damage, their quick reflexes and thick armor is nearly always enough. Provided their user has the skill to properly handle them

REQ 10 - Reapers

Spoiler

A golem type crafted exclusively for Paladins as only the Excalibur model PAS has the CTRL level needed to properly operate them Reapers are hands down the strongest, fastest, most durable and best-protected golem types, nearly rivaling the paladins who control them themselves in all these aspects. Anything short of another paladin, a councilor or a member of the court is advised to simply retreat if ever faced with a Paladin and his Reaper.

Currently there are only two models of the Reapers actually completed though, one belonging to the Paladin of Shields and the other to the Paladin of Armors, a third one is in production however and is rumored to be intended for the Paladin of Wings

Golem prosthetics are artificial limbs that are attached onto the bodies of those whom have had their natural limbs amputated. Their magical circuits mirror the body's natural chi network almost perfectly and they are endowed with very specific Force-based movement enchants that allow the limb to react to the impulses of the brain and move in the same way a real limb would. Their craft, however, is an incredibly delicate and complex process requiring complete mastery of alchemy and enchanting. As a result they are very expensive, a single hand or foot would cost upwards of ten thousand Schells, thirty thousand for chi users that do not want to lose use of their arts.

These are most commonly seen on high-ranking Order officials who have lost their limbs in the line of duty. Some, however, have simply replaced their own limbs because they find the prosthetics far superior as they never get tired, are more durable than flesh and bone, and can not be hurt (i.e. you feel no pain from them).

Spoiler

Modern Fortunan weapons have recently taken a great turn in their development. Up until recently they relied on crude steelwork mechanisms where metal hammers would strike the butt of bullet casings, making the primer and gunpowder ignite, propelling the bullet inside out of the casing (which was then ejected from the chamber) and out of the gun's barrel. These disturbingly barbaric weapons in nature had long since been rejected by Fortunan military for the utter lack of magic found in them and were only seen widely used either by mercenaries, or the occasional barbarian that got his hands on them and traded it for his pressure-based weaponry.

Thanks to the recent advent of higher-grade, miniature enchantments that kept their power, Guns were revolutionized. Rather than wasting so many resources to fire a single projectile, guns were outfitted with powerful force-based enchantments within the bullet's chambers and the barrel itself that would accelerate the bullet to ridiculous speeds as soon as it entered the chamber. This produced a much more elegant, much more precice (as teh bullts should never actually touch the inside of the gun anymore,simply be propelled along it), and far less noisy generation of firearms, much more embraced by the military population.

The mechanics of each type of weapon also changed. Rather than using the trigger to simply activate the hammer, they started serving as purposes of 'release switches' that would slide open a small 'door' compartment within the gun that would allow bullets to be pushes from their clips into the chamber, since the constantly-effective enchantments prevented bullets from idly sitting behind or at the beginning the barrel, waiting to be fired. the triggers on automatic weapons would keep the 'door' ope until released, allowing a continuous spray of projectiles, whilst pistols and 'burts fire' weapons were designed to only allow the door to be opened for a certain amount of time before shutting back down and requiring the trigger to be squeezed again.

Shotguns are designed with a special ring at the mouth of their barrels that possess an extra force enchantment. This one separates the several rounds that are exiting the barrel at the same time so that the spread fire aspect of previous generations is not lost. However, the force enchantments within the barrel itself are not quite as strong as those in other models, to allow the ring to be as effective as it needs to be. This reduces their maximum range of effectiveness in comparison to other firearm types (whilst still extending it much further than previous generations were capable of).

Whilst some old firearm models are still around, mostly anyone with the means to do so will have re-stocked his or her inventory with the superior new-generation models.

Airboard

Spoiler

Airboards are the most popular form of transit for the youth of Fortuna. Aerodynamic, light boards constructed from metallic alloys, they are enchanted with Wind and Force magics that allow them to hover above the ground as well as glide gracefully through the air. Whilst they are incapable of actual flight, Airboarders can safely jump from great heights without worry since their boards will guarantee a descent at a safe, even if exhilarating speed. Airboards also use basic force enchantments to generate an attraction field on their surface that ensures they will not slide out from under their rider's feet.

Though generally Airboard are seen under the feet of young civilians, the Order possesses a special Military brand that is designed to be much faster and powerful, capable of sustaining fully armored soldiers save for he extremely heavy paladins and class 3s. These seem to be most popular with squires and helipod drop troops.

It should be noted that the repulsion fields generated under the boards are, naturally, only effective on solid surfaces. They will sink if ridden over water.

Powercycle

Spoiler

One of the only exclusively ground-based vehicles left, powercycles have a faster acceleration and greater top speed than any other vehicle out there. Though they do poorly off beaten roads powercycles are hands down the easiest and fastest way to get from one point to another in urban centers, as such, they are equally as used by civilians as they are by law enforcement officials and military personnel. Military grade powercycles even come with guns mounted on the sides.

Their great speed is not always a good thing however. It is easy for some to get too excited or distracted while riding one and push the cycle too hard during a turn, making it lose traction and slide out of control, often resulting in severe injury or even death for unarmored civilians.

Gliderbike

Spoiler

A combination of airboard and Powercycle technology, the Gliderbike is a military-issue vehicle not available to the public. The enchantments on gliderbikes are much more powerful than those that can be found on airboards so, unlike them, they ARE capable of flight, at least at low altitudes. While not possessing the raw speed of powercycles, they are much faster than even military grade airboards and can be taken on a much wider variety of terrains.

It should be noted that they are incapable of gaining altitude from the ground, only when already in mid-air. They require a ramp, ledge or cliff from which they can jump off of to take flight. As such, if they are hovering on the ground, driving them over water can still be very dangerous, though flying over water has no consequences.

Hovercar

Spoiler

The most common form of civilian transportation. Hovercars use the most powerful types of Force and Wind magics to float above the ground while they move. They come in several brands and models. some light sportscar models can only transport two passengers and beat out all others in speed and maneuverability while bus models can hold up to ten and are generally slower but more powerful. The most commonly seen kinds are 'passenger' models however and they can seat up to four people.

Generally hover cars are not used by the military as they tend to prefer helipods, but those used are thick armored convoy trucks designed to go into heavy fire zones and traverse treacherous terrains. They generally seat up to six passengers and one driver, and are equipped with boosters in the back in order to power through steep cliffs and make short-distance jumps.

Helipod

Spoiler

Large, multi-passenger, aerial crafts. They are used almost exclusively by military personnel. They can seat up to three passengers and one pilot in the cockpit and six more armored soldiers can be hooked up to the underside of the craft. Helipods are often flown low over battlefields and drop infantry into hot zones. Class 1 and 2 armored soldiers are equipped with airboards to descend over the battlefield without injury. Class 3s can simply be dropped, as their massive armors will absorb all the impact for them. Helipods can also be used to drop supplies and equipment to support fighting soldiers.

Tanks (event only)

Spoiler

ground-based, manned, heavy artillery. Tanks are slow moving, cannon mounted lumps of thick armor, impenetrable shields and powerful barriers. Simply invaluable to any major confrontation, there are very few things on the battlefield that can pose a threat to tanks save for other tanks.

Will be up soon

G-terminals

Spoiler

The g-terminal is what allows wearers of Power Armor to control golems so efficiently. Through holographic displays the soldier can access various statistics on the golem and control them through vocal commands.

Magicells

Spoiler

A somewhat outdated form of magical containment, magicells were created in order to store magical energy for transportation. Magicells would be inserted into various forms of magi-tech and used to provide energy when these pieces of equipment entered no-magic zones where they could not draw power on ambient energy sources and their magical energy would bleed out into the air around them. Magicells were something like reserve batteries that would allow the pieces of equipment to keep operating for multiple hours even in environments completely devoid of magical energy. These days they have been replaced by magic-containing circuits that do not allow energy to bleed out when not used and are much more efficient in the spending of energy, but are still used frequently with Magical cannons, being used somewhat as ammunition, cutting down the charge-up time of the cannons by allowing all the energy they have stored inside them to be fired off instantaneously and then being replaced with another, fully charged magicell.

Magi-cores

Spoiler

Magi-cores are something along the lines of portable enchantments. Once inserted into specifically designed slots built into modern weaponry, they connect themselves to the magical circuitry of an item and use it to modify the weapon (or sometimes, in the case of firearms, the ammunition in the weapon itself). Magi-cores come in many different types designed for different purposes. Magi-cores also come in varying qualities and strengths, those imbued with a more powerful enchantment tend to be much more expensive.

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Magic

Mana

Spoiler

Pure, unaltered, magical power. Sometimes referred to as 'Life Ether', Mana is the core of magic, and one of the rarest and most potent sources of energy yet discovered. To this day, mana can not be created, or harvested, only produced, and then, only by a certain number of magical monoliths found throughout the world. The citadel is one such monolith, and has the highest known output of Mana. Mana, by nature, can not exist for a long period of time as simply being in contact with mater makes it undergo a change. Mana is the combination of every single kind of magical energy found throughout the world and, as it is generated, it separates back into magical energy and the streams formed from it flow in every breeze, every rock, every object, every drop of water, every living organism. Everything draws its own kind of magical energy from Mana, and it is through this magical energy that the magical arts are even possible. To date, only the Heirarchs have been shown capable of generating and manipulating pure mana at will and it is speculated that this was the key to their miraculous powers.

Magical Energy

Spoiler

Magical energy is, as stated above, the very essence of all that is. Everything in the world, both living and inanimate, possesses magical energy flowing within it, and it is from the understanding, and manipulation of the natural laws under which these energies operate that magic is possible. Though there are technically countless thousands of different magical energies, there are 16 major types commonly used and recognized by the arcane academy today. Eight elemental energies, six non-elemental energies, and two 'non-categorical' energies. they are as follow.

Fire - The first primary elemental energy, Fire magical energy is what gives birth to every spark and every flame in the world. Magic centering around fire energy is called Pyromancy and it is hilly offensive in nature. There are no healing or defensive Pyromanic spells and fire spells generally require both a strong, passionate soul and a cal, determined mind to be successfully cast. Lack of passion will draw away from the spell's power, and lack of concentration and levelheadedness introduces the risk that the magician burns himself or his allies

Ice - First of the secondary Elemental Energies, this is the energy found within every frozen body of water from the smallest snowflake to the mightiest iceberg. Ice is a naturally very stable energy but isn't quite as 'stubborn' or hard to manipulate as earthen energies. ice balances offense and defense well, whilst lacking any healing capabilities. In fact, the specialty of ice is to do the opposite, slowly wear the opponent down with continuous attacks and iron defense, rather than most offensive spells that attempt to destroy their target as quickly as possible. Ice also draws on its relation to water by possessing many spells capable of changing terrain. Ice-based magic is known as Cryomancy

Water - The second primary element. Water is the basis of all life and is naturally a very gentle element. Water possesses the most healing spells out of any magical energy from simple soothing energy waves to live-saving full-body heals, to multi-target rejuvenating spells. Water possesses no defensive spells but surprisingly a few very effective offensive spells. they are, however, all in the higher echelon of spells and all affect a wide-range. Water magic can also easily change the terrain of the caster (summoning thick mist, filling the area with water to some degree) in order to make it more favorable for him or her. Water-based magic is referred to as Hydromancy

Nature - Second secondary element, Nature energy is, like metal, a very indirect energy. It is the energy that flows within all organic matter and as such is very hard to control willfully, as it is usually found within living organisms. Biomancy, the control of these natural energies, is a complex art with many abstract rules to follow. Now, while a master Biomancer may be capable of controlling the simple flow of energy within organisms such as vines in order to manipulate them to his will, the true purpose of Biomancy is potion-making. Without knowledge of how to weave together the energies found within the components of a balm, serum or poison, an alchemist will not be able to create a sufficiently potent enough solution for the potion to have the desired effect, and thus will have wasted the, often expensive and rare, ingredients that were mixed together.

Earth - Third primary element, earth is the most stubborn of all energies, requiring a strong and determined mind to shift it. Where Fire rules offense and Water rules healing, Earth lords over defensive magic. A master of earthen energies can create walls and fortifications, as well as shape his surroundings to his liking, and making the terrain hazardous for his enemies. Earth's offensive prowess lies in setting traps; quicksands, pitfalls, erupting spikes and the like are all at the disposal of anyone mastering earth magic making these mages some of the worst opponents to face if they have had time to alter their surroundings beforehand. Earth-based magic is called Geomancy

Metal - Third secondary element, metal and its energies are some of the more complex to manipulate. This is because by nature, metal is very hard and unchanging, but also binder, it will join itself with others, or act as a relay between opposites, as such, there are next to no spells that will draw solely on metallic energies in order to create defensive, offensive or healing magics. Generally, Metal energy's best application is in Enchantment , where manipulation of the metal energies allows the relaxing of the substance so that other magics can be woven into it to give it special properties, followed by the hardening of the object in order to solidify the bond of the magical weave. Metal energies are also used to aid in the forging of weapons, armor and golems, as to create purer alloys and generally hasten the process, though it is not a prerequisite. The magical manipulation of metal is, unsurprisingly, refereed to as Metalmancy

Wind - Final of the primary elemental energies, wind is the element of chaos and creativity, it is ever shifting and swaying, and exist both without and within us. Most frequently it is a very indirect element, examples of its uses are to cast a wind spell on your projectile so that they home in on their targets, or to make your body as light as a feather so as to make you more agile and to prevent damage from great falls. The offensive spells it possesses usually involve the creation of razor-sharp vacuums that will cut through targets by ripping them apart molecule from molecule. Its defensive spells focus more on evasion and deflection rather than blocking. wind-based magic is called Aeromancy

Lightning - Last of the eight major elemental energies. Lightning energy is often symbolized as pure destructive force. Unlike fire which is the apex of offense, however, lightning is very hard to manipulate into offensive magic. Whereas fire is a wild and passionate energy that will consume all if not handled properly, Lightning is often seen as a sleeping dragon, to summon it alone is difficult, and to manipulate it to your will once it has been made incarnate is an even greater challenge. Someone attempting to cast lightning-based magic without proper focus will find the bolts simply arcing in whichever direction they please. As such, despite having the potential for dealing out the most damage, Lightning spells are only rarely more than single-target. lightning based magic is called Electromancy.

As an interesting aside, it has been proven that the electric energy found in lightning magic could be harvested in small quantities in order to power certain all-mechanical motors. However the amount of energy required to run them, when compared to simple arcana-based constructs, is so grand, that the simple inefficiency of an electric-based industry would make it infinitely obsolete in comparison to the magical industry currently in place. That being said, works of fiction depicting a 'what if' world where magic had never been discovers and instead electricity was the main energy source are common enough and have secured a niche fanbase. Works or fiction or art belonging to this sub-genre often go by the classification of 'Lightning punk'.

Light - Light energies house he powers of the sun and of daytime. Light rules over Healing, the creation and dismissal of illusions. Light is also the only element capable of being used to empower the self and allies with beneficial blessings (buffs, positive stat effects) in order to elevate them to greater physical and magical heights. Light-based magic is called Photomancy.

Dark - Neromancy (not to be confused the the hedonistic Necromancy) is the manipulation of the energies inherent in darkness and the night. Neromancers can not heal others, but instead posses the ability to drain the life and magic out of enemies in order to bolster their own. Darkness' true specialty, however, is in casting powerful curses (debuffs, negative ailments) onto enemies to cripple their abilities to properly attack and defend themselves, making the battle much easier for the Neromancer.

Time - Chronomancy is the control of the energies that dictate the flow of time. Only discovered twelve years ago, Chronomancy is a very young and basic art. Travel through time is still impossible, the only things Chronomancers can do currently is affect the present flow of time, in other words, speed it up, slow it down or stop it completely within certain areas.

Space - The control of the energies that dictate the laws of space and distance is called Telemancy. The control of these energies only having been discovered a short time after Chronomancy, Telemancy still only has one practical application, the bending of space between two points in order to permit instantaneous travel between the two. In other words, teleportation.

Force - the only non-elemental magic capable of direct offense. 'Force' refers to the kinetic energy behind movement and the manipulation of the magical energies that control kinetic energies is called Vectormancy. Thus, a skilled Vectormancer can use his magic to augment or slow down the speed of any moving object, a master Vectormancer can completely stop the movement even high velocity projectiles by dissipating it's vectors into the air surrounding it, or alter its trajectory enough so that it won't hit no mater what. Vectormancy can also allow one to move objects without needing to touch them. This is great for moving things that would normally be too heavy to lift on strength alone, or that are too dangerous to handle directly.

Ether - Ether is what alchemists use to bind things together. One could call it the 'essence' of whatever object or creature one are manipulating. Alchemists will rob the Ether of two or more items, destroying them down to their molecular state in the process, then bind the multiple Ethers together to create something new from the separate parts (like combining the essence of an arrow with that of a block of metal to make a spear). Living creatures also posses Ethers, but these are much more complex and difficult to manipulate than the ones found within inanimate objects. Alchemists capable of binding together the Ethers of living creatures end up creating Chimera. Tough it should be theoretically possible to create chimera out of sentient life-forms as well, their Ethers are simply too complex and uncontrollable for anyone to properly manipulate them. All attempts at creating sentient chimera to this date have thus ended in absolute failure.

Anima - Anima is, quite simply, something akin to 'false life energy' or 'false chi'. It's what allows a golem to move. Animating inanimate objects, and giving them instructions on how to operate, is the only purpose of Anima. Anima is crafted in large part by the ideas and will of the Enchanter who built the golem and is sometimes Referred to as a type of 'thought ether', identifying it as the very essence of the ideas of the enchanter. Originally, even a perfectly crafted Golem would be useless if the Anima that powered it was flawed, and the golem would be no more than a pile of junk. As magical technology advanced however, techniques on altering, and then removing Anima already present in a golem were discovered, thus, Makers of high-quality Anima were more and more sought out by golem-smiths who wanted their golems enchanted with Anima superior to what they themselves could create. Now, Anima can even be copied and stored, so it is not uncommon for golem shops and companies to sell Anima capsules, ones designed for golems capable of performing complex tasks selling for much higher. Mass-produced military golems also tend to be enchanted with copies of a single Anima per model as to ensure consistency in their performance.

Chi - Chi is the spiritual energy present within all life forms. Orientals have evolved to be capable of amassing great quantities of Chi within their bodies and then use that energy to cast their own kind of magic which mostly center around empowering the physical body. Unlike magical energy, chi is not separated in different types, it is instead the person's own heart, mind, body and techniques that will affect what effect the manipulation of his chi has on his body. Thus chi techniques are theoretically as numerous and varied as there are combination of all the emotions, with all the states of mind, with all the body types of all races, and with all the fighting styles in the world, though it is estimated that not even 5% of them have been discovered, and only a few of those have been practiced ad developed enough to be considered martial art forms. Thus, despite the wide range of martial art techniques, the presence of a few popular schools make it common enough for practitioners of the same Chi techniques to meet on the battle field

Magical Circuit

Spoiler

Magical Circuits are the invisible pathways implemented within objects during enchantment that permit the magical energy of the enchantment to flow within the object itself and take effect. Study of the flow of chi within Orientals' spiritual network has affected the crafting of magical circuits greatly over the years as to make them much more efficient.

Magical Crystals

Spoiler

Magical Crystals are gems found naturally in the world that absorb and contain a certain kind of magical energy. Incredibly useful for mages of all trades, magical crystals allow them to draw upon greater stores of whatever magical energy they require, even when none or very little is available to them naturally (like fire energy when out at sea). It was study of these crystals that led to the development of magic capsule technology, and later energy-containing magical circuits and magi-cores.

Alchemists have learned to create artificial crystals, which can then be taken to enchanters for recharging. these crystals, however, though commercially available, are almost always of inferior quality to those formed naturally. Up until the outbreak of the war, it was still a very common practice for classical mages to go onto a pilgrimage after earning their title in order to find a natural crystal to affix onto their staff. This was not only very practical, but was also seen as something of an unofficial, final rite of passage. These days, however, it is much more common to see mages affix artificial gems to the to of their staffs, and do it in a way that the crystals can be switched out very quickly and easily when they run out of power, rather than the very permanent bindings performed traditionally.

The Schools of magic are the different ways in which magic can be cast. Each magician is specialized in the use of a certain school. However this does not mean he or she is incapable of practicing the arts of the other schools, simply that they will not be able to do so very efficiently. Each school comes with its strengths and weaknesses in comparison to the other ones and, in the end, it is largely the skill and creativity of each magician that will determine the victor in a magical duel, not which school one studies in. it should also be noted that it is not at all uncommon for high-ranking magicians to cut-down on casting time by combining their different schools to cast the same spell. Some spells can actually only be cast by the combination of two different arts.

the different schools are as follow

Western Magic

Spoiler

Wordweaving - Wordweaving is the art of casting spells by chanting out magical incantations. Simply reading out certain word, however, is not sufficient to actually cast the spell, intonation and tempo are very important and as such, incantations must be recited in a very specific manner for them to be effective. Needless to say, reciting the same words in a different language is useless.

The casting time required for word weaving spells varies greatly. Spells with small, simple effect such as creating small flames to light candles can take as few as one or two syllables (the Latin word Ignis is especially popular for this particular example). Conversely, the most powerful spells will require several repetitions of long poem-like incantations. The most powerful recorded spell cast through Wordweaving took the current Head Councilor at the time no less than six full days of chanting to cast, with each repetition of the incantation taking no less than four full hours to complete. The result of the spell was Mt Firesteed, which was named after the head councilor who'd created it. It is currently situated off the western coast of South Africa and it highest point of elevation stands several kilometers taller than Mt Everest despite its underwater birth.

Wordweaving can be used to cast any kind of spell without any penalties or affinities.

Symbolmancy - Symbolmancy is the manipulation of magical energies through the inscription of shapes, letters, glyphs and symbols upon the surface of objects. Symbolmancy is one of the more time consuming arts and it is difficult to use effectively on the battlefield. Firstly, every line and stroke must be perfectly placed. If there is a single error within the composition of symbols then the spell will suffer in effectiveness. Secondly, symbol compositions will degrade over time. If a magical circle is drawn and not activated within a certain amount of time, the spell it will cast when it is activated will be less potent. Some magicians have tried to curb this through the use of talismans. By drawing simple symbol compositions onto strips of paper they have a large amount of readilly available (if rather weak) spells that they can cast instantaneously, and making symbols out of the talismans themselves can combine their power to restore them to their former glory. This is, however, not a perfect solution. The talismans must still be created relatively soon before their use or else they will degrade until they become completely inert. Also, the more powerful the spell trying to be cast, the more talismans will be required to be placed down before hand for its activation, resulting in some spells requiring dozens of fresh talismans be sacrificed to them.

as a result, Symbolmancy is generally ill-suited for offense, however, it is great for defense as symbols cast magic by altering either their surroundings or the surfaces on which they have been inscribed. As such Symbolmancy goes perfectly with water and earth spells, as well as illusions, Chronomancy and Telemancy. Symbolmancy is also the cornerstone of Enchanting

Alchemy Alchemy is the manipulation of Ether in order to create new objects and cast spells. Alchemists will rob the Ether of two or more items, destroying them down to their molecular state in the process, then bind the multiple Ethers together to create something new from the separate parts (like combining the essence of an arrow with that of a block of metal to make a spear). Living creatures also posses Ethers, but these are much more complex and difficult to manipulate than the ones found within inanimate objects. Alchemists capable of binding together the Ethers of living creatures end up creating Chimera. Tough it should be theoretically possible to create chimera out of sentient life-forms as well, their Ethers are simply too complex and uncontrollable for anyone to properly manipulate them. All attempts at creating sentient chimera to this date have thus ended in absolute failure. Alchemy's actually is an art descendant of potion making, but the later is now considered a sub-school of alchemy rather than the other way around. Alchemists are also the only ones capable of creating artificial magical crystals, even if it takes an enchanter to power them.

Potion makers create their potions by taking parts of plants and animals and mixing them together, whilst also weaving together their magical properties in a specific way. it is only through the combination of both the physical and magical properties of the ingredients that potions can be successfully concocted. Though the art is largely over-looked by many modern Alchemists, the usefulness of healing potions and balms in modern day life is still undeniable, and many assassins still use classic poisons since the blend of physical and magical nefarious properties makes them much harder to treat than simple curses. Certain high-level potion makers can even create potions that act as elemental grenades by combining certain rare items (such as, for example, mixing together a salamander's tongue, dragon scales and harpy blood to create an explosive fire-based potion). As there is a potion, serum, balm, or poison recipe for nearly any eventuality, the art if far from becoming obsolete

Chimerology is the study of using Alchemy to combine, not objects, but rather living creatures. The art has always been subject of controversy. Many feel that it is cruel to alter the natural state of living creatures in such a way especially as any single chimera requires the death of at least two creatures for one to be born and failed chimera experiments often create horrendous abominations whose very existence is clearly nothing but pain and anguish. Some races, particularly the elves, even consider chimera to be abominations unto nature and will not touch the art. However, chimerology is condoned by the Heirarchs, thus very many magicians pursue the art in the names of science and magic. seeking to better understand it so that they can perfect life, believing it to be the key to end all diseases and genetic imperfections.

These days, however, such noble ambitions are much rarer, Chimerology has largely been degraded to an art in which the products are nothing more than ruthless beasts of war are created with the sole purpose of harming others.

Sanguinemancy - Sanguinemancy takes advantage of Blood's natural properties as a powerful conduit for magical energy to quickly channel surrounding energies into near-instantaneously cast spells. Sanguinemancy is doubtless the school of magic most suited for direct combat as it possesses the lowest casting times. However, it is not without its limitations. Chief among these is the very same thing that is the source of all its power, the use of blood. The blood of a dead creature quickly loses its channeling properties, thus sanguinemancers are forced to draw blood from their own bodies (usually by cutting open their palms) to ensure maximum spell efficiency. This brings another problem. More powerful spells require more blood to be cast. Often being limited to only using the blood in their bodies, sanguinemancers will be forced to chose between casting a few very powerful spells, or many weak spells during battle, needing to be conscious about how much blood they are loosing in the process. Though it is possible for sanguinemancers to use the blood of others to cast spells, they must first inject some of their own blood within the other's bloodstream and wait for it to do a full cycle before this is possible. Sadly, very few allies will be willing to offer up the control of their very bloodstream to a sanguinemancer and any enemy worth his salt will know to avoid getting some of the Sanguinemancer's own blood on an open wound.

To somewhat circumvent this major drawback, sanguinemancers will often do two things. Firstly they will bring a pet with them into battle. this pet will usually be completely useless in terms of actual combat efficiency, and instead will be used as a 'blood reserve' drawing on their pets blood instead of their own. Another thing they will do is study from a second school (usually either wordweaving or symbolmancy) and combine this into their sanguinemancy (like yelling out basic incantations while cutting themselves or drawing simple magical symbols with their blood). The most powerful of spells would still require so much blood that the sacrifice of dozens of lives would be required to actually cast them. This tactic is still only ever seen used by the monarchy, and even with them, it is not often.

Demonologists are sanguinemancers who perform a blood pact with a daemon from the nether realm in order to gain said demon as a companion in battle. The blood pact seals the fate of the magician to that of the daemon. In exchange for the power that the magician gains from the contract, any damage dealt to the demon is transferred to the magician. Upon the duo's death, the magician must forfeit his soul to his Daemon, who brings it back to the netherworld where the magician becomes a daemon himself, eternal slave to the daemon overlord (until he himself is called upon to make a pact with a magician). It should, however, be noted that all but the lowest Daemons grant their pact partners immortality in the form of putting a halt to their aging process and the degradation of their organs and cell tissue, thus many demonology figure that if they can simply avoid being killed, they can simply enjoy eternal youth for the rest of forever. Of course, things rarely go as planed.

Oriental Magic

Spoiler

Chi Control - Chi Control is the manipulation of the chi within one's own body in order to perform sorts of self-enchantments that endow the body with supernatural traits and abilities. Unlike magical energy, chi is not separated in different types, it is instead the person's own heart, mind, body and techniques that will affect what effect the manipulation of his chi has on his body. Thus chi techniques are theoretically as numerous and varied as there are combination of all the emotions, with all the states of mind, with all the body types of all races, and with all the fighting styles in the world, though it is estimated that not even 5% of them have been discovered, and only a few of those have been practiced ad developed enough to be considered martial art forms. Thus, despite the wide range of martial art techniques, the presence of a few popular schools make it common enough for practitioners of the same Chi techniques to meet on the battle field.

Though most Chi techniques center around the empowerment and enchantment of the body, techniques that fire blasts of condensed chi also exist. these are, however, not usually used very often as these power waves consume chi very quickly.

Arcane Magi - Arcane magic is the name given to all spells intent to harm others. Arcane magic encompasses both regular offensive spells and the majority of status hampering curses.

Holy Magic - Holy magic is the opposite of arcane magic. Holy magic focuses on healing and defense. Any healing spell or cast blessing falls under this category.

Mystic Magic - Mystic magic rules over any spell that affects the mind. Illusions take up the majority of this category but spells that give psychological status ailments like Blind, Confuse and Berserk, also fall under this category, as do the counter-spells for any illusion or psychological status.

Terra Magic - Terra Magic focuses on changing the terrain around the caster to his advantage, whether that is by summoning a flood, changing the level of the ground, setting everything on fire, affecting the progression of time in a certain area, or whatever other terrain-altering application one can think of for magic. It should be noted that, while considered a type of magic in its own right, Terra magic tends to over-lap with the other kinds very often.

Chimera are alchemically created beasts born of the fusion of two or more animals, magical or non. Though they used to serve multiple purposes they have largely become mere beasts of war. The different classifications of chimera are as follow.

Pet

Spoiler

a bit of a rarity these days, pet-type chimera are non-combat chimera meant to be owned as nothing more than animal companions. Apprentice chimerologists are often tasked with creating these simplistic creatures as their first real chimera. They tend to be quite popular with children so it is not uncommon for a chimerologist to have the spiritual binding of his chimera to him removed magically so that the beast can be given in present to another owner.

Travel

Spoiler

Travel-type chimera are still non-combat type chimera to their ore but are often seen on or near battlefields. Be it through land, water or air they can transport soldiers, cargo and riders across vast distances with generally great speed. Though transport Chimera are often outdone by vehicles in pure speed and often times the distance they can travel, Chimera make up for it with much greater mobility. Chimera can go into dense forests or, for the single-rider types, eve into large buildings that would leave a vehicle stranded out in the streets. Chimera also do no have to worry about wandering into no-magic zones that would sap the energy powering vehicles at an alarming rate. Though of magical birth, chimera will not be even phased by these zones as they are living beings. Many chimera are also tailored for certain terrains that would leave many vehicles at a disadvantage (like a land-based running bird would far much better in an open field than a powecycle would, and a sand snake can travel through deserts at greater speeds than any hoverbike).

Also, though they are not combat types and this fair badly as fighters, chimera owners using their transport beasts for cavalry-based fighting is very common and has proven quite effective in the past.

Recon

Spoiler

Reconnaissance Chimera are small combat-type chimera that are focused more around detecting enemy traps and ambushes than actual frontline battle. A wolf-lynx hybrid will be perfect to warn their sniper master if any enemies are approaching. A bird type can survey a whole battlefield, revealing important enemy locations before an important battle, etc.

It is not to say that reconnaisance types are incapable of defending themselves, they are still beasts bred for the battlefield. however their specialties simply lie in a more diverse range.

War Beast

Spoiler

Hands down the most popular type of chimera these days, War Beasts are hard, vast, strong, vicious and bloodthirsty monsters created for the sole purpose of being sent into battle and ripping through enemy soldiers like they were blood-filled rag dolls. War Beasts completely lack the generally docile temperament of most chimera and require very experienced chimerologists to properly control them, even with the spiritual bond denoting their creator as their master in place. It is not uncommon to see foolhardy and inexperienced chimerologists lose control of a War Beast they created to be far too powerful in the middle of battle, and end up getting themselves and their allies ripped to shreds along with their enemies. Some war beasts are created exactly with the intention of making them completely uncontrollable and are released in battles where the enemy numbers are higher in order to thin them out quickly, without concern for the few allies that may be lost to their insatiable rage.

Daemons are creatures who reside within the Netherworld or 'Nether realm', a plane of existence separate from our own similar to the Japanese Yomi. Daemons can only enter our world when summoned here by sentient beings practicing demonology. Summoning a Daemon binds the demonologist into a blood pact in which the daemon becomes a faithful servant to the one who has summoned them, even oing so far as establish a permanent telekinetic connection with their 'master' so that they may be given orders to follow at all times, and granting them immortality. This lasting until such a time as the said master's physical form is destroyed and/or damaged beyond repair by a source of outside origin, at which point the Daemon collects payment for its services in the form of their master's soul which they bring back with them to the netherworld. In the netherworld, the soul becomes a new daemon and is bound to eternal servitude in the name of the Daemon Overlord.

In fact, a daemon is so strongly bound to the Overlord that they will completely refuse their contracted master's commands if following the order would result in them going against the overlord, even if only directly. This is, of course, the only condition under which a daemon may ever refuse their master's command. In all other instances they are bound to obedience.

Daemons are also not all created equally, some are much more powerful than others and, typically, weak or undeserving mages will be unable to call upon the daemons they intended to summon, often receiving a weaker substitute with similar abilities instead. Daemons will also grow stronger the more powefull their master becomes, so even an initialy weak daemon can become a mighty daemon lord if their master lives long enough and accumulates enough power.

Daemons also come in different types, six to be exact. these types are all distinct from one another and are best suited at serving their masters in a different way. The types are as follow.

Avatars

Spoiler

Avatar types are Daemons with two forms, a 'hidden' form where they emit absolutely no presence of life (usually they look like children or small animals) ad a 'true' form where they take on their real shape and have access to all their abilities. They are most magically inclined type of daemon and also the most intelligent.

Though they often support their contractor in battle by casting magical spells, their true purpose is to act as a magical generator. When they take on their 'true' form they will constantly radiate one single kind of magical energy that is the base of all their attacks. This makes the magic of the demonologist they are paired with much more potent.

This, however, is also their failing. as they are a support-type daemon, they have trouble fighting for themselves and thus can become a great liability to their summoner if left unchecked in the middle of battle.

Beasts

Spoiler

The most physically inclined daemons, beasts are powerful and brutish as well as the most half-witted type of daemon and are dwarfed only by defenders in size. They are also the type of daemon that requires the least amount of direction from their masters. A perfect example of balance between offense and defense, a beast only need be told to attack and it will do so until no more enemies are present, leaving the sanguinemancer free to focus on his own affairs without having to worry about the actions of his companion.

Beasts are nearly all elementally inclined, becoming more powerful when surrounded by their element, but posses no magical skills to speak of and instead rely on their speed, strength, agility and resilience to take down enemies. They are also healed by spells of their elemental affinity even if such spells were meant to harm them. The only Beast's that are not elementally inclined, are those born from either light or darkness. Like the elemental beasts, they are healed by their spells composed of magical energies familiar to them, but, will be empowered, not by their surrounding, but instead the time of day.

It should also be noted that the beast's low intelligence leaves it susceptible to traps and trickery.

Slayers

Spoiler

Very lightly armored, or completely armored Daemons, Slayers, as their name implies, focus entirely on offense, whether magical or physical and often a combination of both. Slayers embody the phrase "the best defense is a good offense" and make up for their lack of defensive abilities by constantly attacking furiously and always attacking first. On top of their strength, they posses great speed and generally posses a small, humanoid stature (some say they often resemble elves or faeries as far as body dimensions), making for a small target to hit.

Slayers and their masters are generally badly seen by the public seeing as slayer-type Daemons tend to have a very sadistic personality to match with their somewhat berserker-like fighting style.

Deffenders

Spoiler

The complete opposite of Slayers, Defenders are Large, slow and the most heavily armored kind of Daemon, though they often wield large weapons their real purpose is defense, not attack. They will stand in front of any attack and soak up great amounts of damage for their summoner (something that would be a fatal blow for the demonologist will usually be little more than a scratch for the daemon). Most are even capable of erecting both magical and physical barriers in order to make up for their lack of speed, letting them protect their masters even when they themselves can not get in front of the attack in time.

Knights

Spoiler

Knights are Daemons without actual physical form, instead they come to life by taking possession of a suit of armor. They are offensive types but differentiate from Slayers by not throwing away defense completely. In fact, most physical attacks on them will be completely ineffective (unless their core, situated where their heart should be, is destroyed), magic is the only effective weapon against them, they are, however, just like the beasts, elementally inclined and while most offensive magic will be MORE effective on them than others, magic of their own elemental inclination will only make them stronger and heal them. Knights also, while still very proficient in magic for the most part, are legendary weapon masters and much of their offensive capabilities comes from their large array of flawless techniques rather than a Slayer's raw power.

Knights are usually about the same size as a human, and lacking an actual body, they are all completely mute, being able to communicate only with their master through their telepathic connection.

Guardians

Spoiler

Guardians are, like the Knights, immaterial Daemons that take possession of a suit of armor. They are, however defensive types and do not make use of weapons at all, fighting only with their fists. They are a bit larger than knights and are more magically proficient, much of that proficiency goes into making magical barriers which they use to counter-act their weakness to magic as well as protect their master, though they are unable to form physical barriers like the Defenders.

Guardians are also elemental daemons and share the knight's invulnerability to all physical attacks save for those that target their core.

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Races

The races of sentient beings belonging to the western world. Westerners evolved with an affinity for bending and manipulating the magical energies that surround them in order to cast different spells. Their magical abilities are limited only by their own energy-manipulating capabilities, and the energy present in their surroundings. They have a tendency to be built much more ruggedly than the orientals.

Humans

Spoiler

The most wide-spread and populous race on earth. Humanity is often seen as the middle-man race. They adapt to and thrive in all environments, letting them spread, colonize and multiply wherever they please despite not having any 'home field advantage' anywhere in the world. They are also very ambitious and naturally power-thirsty, this thirst only growing the more power is bestowed upon them. they are also naturally curious and seek to understand all things, which made them a prime candidate for receiving the blessings of the Heirarchs, since it pushed them to understand the very workings of magic. Western Humans are also very logico-mathematical in thinking, thus they have developed an affinity for Symbolmancy, which requires fine geometric calculations to be the most effective. Their ambitious, and thus easily corruptible souls are also favorites of daemons, making it easier for humans to enter into blood pacts with them than it is for any other race.

Talents: Summoning, Symbolmancy

Powers: none

Weaknesses: none

Dwarves

Spoiler

Possibly the race of beings most closely related to humans, Dwarves look just like humans save for their much smaller and more muscular (even for the women) stature. Dwarves as a race are a simple people with simple pleasures. They love alcohol and festivities, and are seemingly born with a vast repertoire of drinking songs. Not typically ones to spend long hours thinking, studying and calculating, and blessed with both a notoriously short temper along with a great sense of pride and honor, Dwarves have always preferred the arts of iron and steel to spell and sorcery. Since time immemorial they have forged only the best weapons and armor and this continues even today. They still produce the only the finest and most durable Weapons, Firearms and Armors and have honed special enchanting techniques since before even the time of the Heirarchs. the one down-fall of Dwarves is that they are notoriously terrible swimmers, many of them in fact naturally stricken with hydrophobia, making them terrible at naval warfare, and particularly susceptible to water magic.

Talents: Enchanting, Melee-combat, Weapon, Armor and Golem Forging

Powers: None

Weaknesses: Water

Minotaurs

Spoiler

The undisputed power-houses of the western world. looking like a mixture of man and bull, Minotaur folk are king of raw, brute strength. Once confused with chimera, Minotaurs are actually very intelligent despite the unjust reputation they have earned as mindless beasts of war. Perhaps playing into the stereotype that they all dream to live in labyrinths, Minotaurs, despite lacking any affinity for magic what-so-ever, posses a keen ability to solve puzzles of all kinds and generally love being presented with new and challenging puzzles and riddles on which to bend their minds. It is said even, that the most effective way to pull Minotaur warrior out of his blood rage, the state they all enter during battle and for which they have earned their aforementioned reputation, is to present him or her with a chess board with some of the pieces already moved. While, the validity of this claim remains to be officially proven or unproven, Minotaur in general seem to take no offense to this rumor, generally accepting their puzzle-loving as a simple part of their nature. Perhaps due even to this puzzle-solving affinity of theirs, minotaur are notoriously difficult to put under an illusion, when when they enter into their battle frenzy.

As an interesting aside, minotaur are actually one of the shortest lived sentient races, it is rare to see a minotaur reach sixty years.

Talents: hand-to hand combat, melee-combat

Powers: high Illusion resistance, super strength

Weaknesses: loss of rational thought when adrenaline levels rise, terrible magical skills

Centaurs

Spoiler

The original 'horsemen', Centaur folk are the proud guardians of the plains and the forests. Proud, wise, and alert, Centaur have always prided themselves on being great poetic warriors. Though their raw physical strength does not match that of a minotaur, they are capable of carrying the most weight due to their build. In times of war, they are often the ones tasked with carrying excess equipment and supplies. As mentioned before, Centaur are naturally incredibly proud. This is a great virtue of their, but also a great fault. Being tasked to carry equipment and supplies through the field is already something they do simply out of necessity, and they will also help in the transport of the wounded out of the battlefield. However, unless you are critically injured, a centaur will only consider it the greatest dishonor to allow you to ride on their back and is likely to kill anyone attempting to use him or her as a steed without their permission.

On the battle field, Centaur are very mobile, but not very agile and are susceptible to attacks from the side and rear, as a result, they are often uncomfortable with leaving one hand empty. Unless they are wielding a lance or a heavy artillery piece, it is not uncommon to see a centaur dual wielding anything from Dao blades to long swords to guns, anything that can let them properly defend both flanks at a time. Needless to say, they are not fans of daggers, hand axes or short swords. Centaurs also have notoriously good eyes developed through centuries of riding and hunting in the woods, and are experts at ranged combat.,

Talents: dual wielding, ranged combat

Powers: incredible stamina

Weaknesses: none

Elves

Spoiler

The beautiful woodland race of scholars, poets and artists, elves are naturally attuned to quiet beauty and grace. Humility and gentleness are values they prize highly and find it very distasteful to openly display violent emotion, as a result they tend to look down on the loud and brash Dwarves and, to a somewhat lesser extent, the easily frenzied Minotaur.

Before the arrival of the Heirarchs, elves were the sentient race with the deepest understanding of magic and its natural laws, especially the alchemical arts of potion-making. Even today, elves are masters in the field of combining herbs, minerals and certain beast parts in order to make powerful salves, remedies and poisons. They are also gifted in alchemy as a whole but tend to look down on the creation of chimera for both ethical and aesthetic purposes. It should also be noted that, being naturally at home in the forest, elves are naturally attuned to Nature magic, something that further helps in their potion-making when using herbal ingredients. Elves are also a very long-lived race being capable of living up to five centuries on average. They pay for this, however, by aging very slowly. To compare, it will usually take an elf approximately 35 years to reach puberty, something that seems like an eternity to the short-lived, quick aging humans and dwarves.

Being of slightly smaller stature than humans, elves do not posses as much physical strength or stamina as the humans, as such they tend to disregard heavy weapons and armor. With their natural grace, they tend to prefer short swords, daggers, combat knives and pistols when fighting. Elves also posses the best eyes out of all the races, being able to see as perfectly in the night as in the day and as far as a hawk. their pointed easy are also notoriously sharp. As a result of these traits are by far the best bowmen and riflemen one will ever see, making for great snipers, and are usually very hard to sneak up on.

Talents: Ranged combat, dual wielding, Alchemy, Nature Magic, Painting, Poetry, Sculpture

Powers: Night-vision, fine hearing

Weaknesses: poor stamina and strength

Faeries

Spoiler

Spirits of the forests, Faeries are agreed to be the most beautiful sentient creatures in the world, surpassing even the elves, to whom they are distant cousins. Standing taller than dwarves but shorter than elves, a Faerie's feet will practically never touch the ground as they are always magically gliding through the air on intangible currents.

Faeries, unlike every other bigendered race, do not engage in mating in order to reproduce. They are, in fact, born of the trunks of old trees that have adsorbed much magical energies in their lives. As such, there are as many different types of faeries as there are kinds of trees. Typically, however, males tend to be much more grounded and, in some cases, depressing than females born of the same kind of tree. This is due to the fact that males are only born during Fall and Winter and thus they represent the death and decay part of the cycle of life, while females, who are born exclusively in spring and summer, represent birth and life and are generally more cheery and outgoing than their male counterparts. this is also reflected in the color of their wings and, subsequently, the clothes they wear (a Faerie wearing clothes that clash with the color ad style of its wings is often considered crazy by its peers), A male Faerie's wings will usually be much more darkly colored, following shades of gray, brown, black or, conversely, will be completely white. Women will tend to have brighter and more diverse colors in their wings.

Faeries are also divided by what magic they have an affinities for. Males are absolute master sanguinemancers, their blood being the most magically potent of any other creature. The women, on the other hand are unparalleled in Golem-crafting, having invented the practice in the first-place, along with enchanting in general. They can control low-leveled golems without even the use of a G-terminal. Faeries of both sexes have also always had the ability to turn invisible at will, a skill the usually mischievous women have used to play pranks on other races, and the reason that males are hardly, if ever, seen (a fact that briefly led to the belief that faeries were a single-gender race comprising only of women.)

It should be noted that rarely, during he transitional period between summer and fall, and winter and spring, a single tree bark will give birth to twin Faeries a male and a female. These Faeries, on top of being rare, are incredibly powerful, both possessing the magical abilities of both sexes. however, their souls are inexorably bound together, some even say that they are forced to share a single soul between the two of them. As a result, the faeries will weaken if they are separated and eventually die if kept that way for too long, or if their twin is killed.

Faeries have been rumored to be immortal, but in fact, will only live as long as the tree they were born from, which is why faeries tend to become very hostile when they see or hear of deforestation.

Talents: Sanguinemancy (males), Enchanting (Females)

Powers: Flight, Invisibility, low-level golem control (females)

Weaknesses: being separated (twins), the death of their tree, Inability to weild all but the lightest weapons.

Mermaids

Spoiler

Sometimes called 'the faeries of the sea', Mermaids are a technically immortal, but usually short-lived, amphibious, single sex race consisting only of females. Mermaids are also born asexually from eggs that are formed in bodies of water possessing great magical energy and/or exceptionally pure water, and in/by which two hearts are united. The unison of the hearts can be anything from lovemaking, to a successful marriage proposal, to true love's first kiss. As long as the hearts of two sentient lovers are able to touch each other for even an instant, there is a chance of a mermaid egg being formed in whatever lake, river or ocean they may be nearby. A body of water that is home to mermaids is known to have exceptionally pure water possessing potent healing properties.

Due to the romantic nature of their coming into being, Mermaids are naturally benevolent creatures, known for their incredibly soothing voices and incomparably beautiful songs. Unlike the harpy-esque sirens who would sing to passing ships in order to lured them to dangerous rocks so they could feed on the dead passengers after the shipwrecks, Mermaids would sing to sailors in order to soothe their weary souls. They would also regularly hunt and chase away sirens attempting to lead sailors astray, or would chase them way after they had successfully sunken a ship, and sing for the souls of the recently deceased. Sadly, due to many witnessing this mournful act, there was for a long time a false assumption that it was the Mermaids themselves who were leading sailors to their deaths.

When a mermaid reaches adulthood, generally after seven years of life, it is common for her to leave her 'birthwater' and seek out romance. Though Mermaids are incapable of sexual reproduction, they posses an instinctive craving for it. They yearn to experience the feelings which originally gave birth to them. Thus, through the shape-shifting abilities they earn upon maturity, Mermaids will change their tail into a pair of legs and climb out of their native body of water in search of romance. Due to this practice, a mermaid who has just reached maturity will often be said to have 'earned her legs'.

Generally, after having found and lived her romance for a few years (anywhere from 3 to a decade), a mermaid will feel an irresistible call that pulls her back to her birthwater. Often leaving behind the life they have made for themselves without a single warning in order to return to their birthplace and look over it as a Mermaid matron. There can only ever be one matron at a time, when a new one arrives, the old one will pass away peacefully and her body will become one with the waves of her birthwater once more. As a result Mermaids do not see this as a sad or regrettable thing. They see all deaths as the souls of the departed returning to their birthplace and becoming one with the earth, the water and the air. It is impossible for a mermaid to die from old age, however, so while some Mermaids live only to see two or three decades, others are centuries old, having been the only mermaid to be born in their birthwater.

Mermaids that live to such a long life tend to feel the same craving for romance and sensuality that draws them away from their birthwater every sixty years or so. Considering Mermaids stop physically aging only a few years after they have reached adulthood, it is never especially hard for them to find another mate with whom they can spend a few happy years.

As far as their natural abilities are concerned, Mermaids are naturally powerful Wordweavers specializing, of course, in water-based magic due to their simply unparalleled singing voices and magical birth, and, though that bestows upon them powerful healing abilities, they are also the race most adept at unleashing the ocean's fury on the rare occasion that someone angers them. They also generally have the trident as a weapon of choice, which they use equally as a weapon and as a magical staff. Mermaids can breathe underwater, turn invisible when submerged, and swim at incredibly fast speeds,however, they require constant hydration and an not survive for very long in dry and hot places if they have nothing to drink. As a result, they are especially weak against fire magic.

Talents: Wordweaving, trident wielding, water magic, Singing

Powers: invisibility (while underwater), swift swimming, water-breathing

Weaknesses: hot/dry places, fire, fire magic, quickly dehydrates

The races having grown and thrived in the eastern hemisphere. Orientals evolved differently from Westerners in that they lack the ability to easily control the magical forces around them the same way Westerners can. Instead they are blessed with the ability to control the magical life-energy that flows within them Chi, or Ki. Through the manipulation of this inner energy they can endow their bodies with incredible properties. Making themselves harder faster and stronger are the basics of these self-enchantments, but more advanced practitioners of the art have developed practically limitless applications for it, from stealth techniques rendering themselves invisible, to making one's skin take on the properties of steel, to condensing the chi from their bodies and releasing it into destructive waves of power.

Some Chi masters are capable of synchronizing the flow of their own chi with the energies of the world surrounding them, and thus affect the world around them much like a mage would with magic. However, this requires that the user posses at least one sexagenary (the amount of chi that can be stored within the body after 60 years of training) and, while devastating, can not be maintained for very long.

typically, the only races seen using chi techniques that will affect large areas are Japanese Yokai who, on top of being long-lived, thus allowing them to earn earn multiple Sexagenaries, are often naturally attuned with certain climates (such as how a Yuki-Onna will naturally synchronize with snowy mountains and blizzards).

Humans

Spoiler

The Humans that have grown and evolved in the orient, taking on the traits of the beasts native to it. Whether they be the Shinobi of japan, the Shaoiln of China or the Muay fighters of Thailand, all have Oriental human warriors strive to perfect their techniques and control over their Chi. Meditation is standard for all of them, as it is the fastest way other than sleep (and even more effective than sleep when perfected) to gather surrounding magical energy within their bodies and convert it in order to restore their Chi stores. As a result, most Oriental warriors tend to be more level-headed than their western counterparts.

Generally speaking Oriental humans are less fond of heavy weaponry and armor, preferring to use traditional weapons that require skill and grace to use effectively rather than strength an endurance.

Talents: Hand-to-hand combat, Melee-combat, Chi control

Powers: none

Weaknesses: none

Oni

Spoiler

The great Japanese demon-ogres. For a long time Oni were considered too dangerous and wild by nature to allow in Fortunan society, and with just cause. Over most of recorded history, Oni were known to dine exclusively on humans, especially children, and would kill any man they caught wandering along their mountain. Being a monogedered, sexually reproducing race, Oni depended on females of other races to reproduce. Human females were their favorites as they tended to be incapable of defending themselves, unlike the typically very capable and dangerous Yokai women. As a result, for hundreds of years, nearly all Oni were born of captured human women who were forced to become unwilling mothers to a new generation of bloodthirsty monsters, nearly all of whom, of course, died during childbirth, and would be later served as the newborn Oni's first meal.

It was later discovered, however, that the reason for the Oni people's savage and monstrous way were born not out of a natural evil that came inherently to them, but out of a deep hatred for humans, whom had stolen their lands and nearly wiped out their race in a war long past and lost to the annals of time.

After the first few hundred years since the Heirarchs came to earth and started building bridges between humans and the magical races, relations between the Oni and the Humans slowly began to mend and the Oni were eventually understood simply as a vengeful, prideful, and hurt race, rather than the demonic monsters they had been thought of as before.

Still to these days Oni are typically more brutish and barbaric in habits than the typical Fortunan citizen, but are generally cooperative and productive members of whatever society they are part of. They have a predisposition for warfare, more so than any other race, but it is not uncomon to see them doing manual labor either. Their skill with heavy cast-iron clubs is legendary and their skin is notoriously difficult to pierce of cut through, unless one is using the highest quality blades.

Oni typically come in three varieties. The most common kind are red Oni. They are smart and agile and have a natural skill in bartering. It was not uncommon for a red Oni to spare the life of a human they encountered in exchange for a valuable item or a great (and often terrible) service in the past. Red Oni also possess a natural skill at appraisal and would quickly lop off your head if you attempted to cheat them out of a deal before.

Blue Oni are the much huskier and more powerful kind, born only to women who had not already given birth to children. Blue Oni are generally the dumber of the three kinds and are susceptible to trickery. The one thing they never forget, however, is the face of one they hold a grudge against, and will exact punishment on a man in the final days of his life even if he wronged the Oni when he was still a young boy. Blue Oni are master smiths and are typically the ones in charge of forging all the over-sized clubs and katana that the other Oni would wield, generally preferring to fight bare-handed themselves however.

Gray/Black Oni, sometimes called Oni Lords, were a rarity until recent years. Oni Lords would only be born when an Oni successfully mated with another Yokai. Black Oni, perhaps due to the fact that Yokai nearly always have the ability to disguise themselves as humans, look much more humanoid that their red and blue cousins. They are also the only ones capable of using Chi control and are the most proficient with weapons. They are faster than the blue Oni and Stronger than the red, and have earned their name of 'Oni Lords' because if ever usually solitary Oni group together, it will be because a Black Oni has brought them together under his rule.

At the very least, this was the case when Oni were all spread out and hermetic. These days, Oni are getting used to living together and do not need a black Oni to lead them. Also, seeing a Yokai women are the only ones capable of safely delivering Oni children without the risk of dying in the process, the birth of Black Oni has become more common that that of the human-born red and blue types. As a result, the dominating impact that a single black Oni will have on a group of red and blue ones has substantially diminished.

Oni are generally considered a long-lived race, usually living for up to three and a half centuries.

Talents: Melee-combat (heavy weapons)

Powers: Super strength, Iron Skin

Weaknesses: can't use chi or magic (red and blue)

Kitsune

Spoiler

The infamous vixens originating from Japan. Another monogendered Yokai race, Kitsune are simply female foxes that have obtained magical powers and sentience after living to a hundred years. The mark of a Kitsune as in the magical being, rather than a simple fox, is the number of tails it has. Every hundred years it grows a new tail. Thus, a Kitsune with two tails is over a hundred years old, one with four tails is over three hundred, etc. Kitsune will grow up to nine tails, it is at this point that they are at the height of their power, nearly goddesses in sheer magical strength. Upon their 900th birthday, they will split their power into 10 equal parts be reborn as 10 foxes with fur of the purest white and sapphire eyes. These new foxes are already endowed with magical properties, but will not gain sentience or control over those powers until their hundredth birthday, they do, however, have the ability to see ghosts and their presence alone will ward off evil spirits.

The most basic of a Kitsune's powers is the ability to shape-shift. Kitsune can switch between a fox form, a human form, and any combination of the two at will. Kitsune also tend to keep their extra tails hidden unless they feel like showing off their powers. Kitsune are also powerful illusionists. By the time they receive their second extra tail they have already amassed over three Sexagenaries and can easily manipulate the appearance of their surroundings, especially if they are situated in their native forest.

Generally speaking, however, their great talent in chi control and, later, magic, leads to a surprising lack of physical strength. When forced to fight Kitsune must rely on a special skill called foxfire, it allow them to create ephemeral flames from their own chi that has several different effects depending on the Kitsune's will and personality. Some Kitsune will posses a foxfire that is simply a literal flame that will not extinguish once it has caught on to something unless the wielder wills it or the target has been burned to a crisp. for others, the foxfire is n fact a source of healing that can banish illness, lift curses and/or heal wounds. For others, foxfire is simply an extension of their illusionary powers that allows them to further seize control of or fool someone's mind, whist others still posses a foxfire that allows them to peer inside the minds of others. Whilst the variations of foxfires are not unlimited (there have only been thirty of so recorded) they are varied enough that each Kitsune usually feel her form of foxfire is accurately tailored to her personality.

Talents: illusions,

Powers: Foxfire. Shape-shifting

Weaknesses: inability to properly wield melee or ranged weapons (can only equip magic weapons like staves, talismans, charm bracelets, etc.)

Jorogumo

Spoiler

Another all-female race, the Jorogumo, or 'spider whores', were sometimes considered the female equivalent of Oni in their treatment of humans. The Jorogumo also require the seed of a male from another race to procreate. And though it was not uncommon for them to charm Tengu or even Kappa on occasion, their favorite partners were most certainly humans, probably because of the tradition that dictates a Jorogumo woman must devour her partner after having taken his seed.

The true form of a Jorogumo is somewhat reminiscent of an arachnid centaur. They have the body and legs of a giant spider, but the torso and head of a beautiful human woman. Jorogumo, as with many Yokai, are also shape-shifters and thus can freely transform either into a full human, or a full spider when they so wish, and are also very long-lived by human standards, often seeing a full half-millennium before passing away.

Jorogumo naturally posses a dominion over all spiders and can control and speak to them whenever they wish. If two Jorogumo are present, it will be the elder Jorogumo that possesses control over any nearby spider. This makes a Jorogumo's very adept at gathering information as she can simply send a spider to spy on whomever she wishes.

Unlike a typical spider, who possesses spinnerets (the organs with which a spider weaves her silk) only on the under side of her abdomen, at the rear, Jorogumo posses spinnerets in several places over her body; specifically, in the classic location, at her finger tips and at the ends of her legs (as an aid for climbing and clinging to ceilings). On top of making webs, cocoons, and nests, Jorogumo are also known to traditionally weave the clothes they wear with their incredibly tear, magic and fire resistant silk. Jorogumo also have a love for music, in particular string instruments. Traditionally a Jorogumo would be expected to craft her own shamisen, using her silk as the strings and the bones of her first mate as the pick, before being considered a fully-fledged woman(usually around 10-12 years old, which is when they reach full physical maturity). It is with these shamisen that Jorogumo developed their signature art, the auditory illusion. Where as most illusionists use the visual spectrum (usually a play of light or use of spirals in a way) to take control of and fool their target's brain, Jorogumo are one of the only (and the first) recorded species to do so using sounds. Specifically, when their silk strings are struck or made to vibrate quickly ennough to produce sound, the magical properties within them reverberate through the air. Jorogumo have learned to manipulate this aspect in order to cast illusions and mind-control spells on whomever listens to them playing their shamisen. Jorogumo can also mix a paralyzing venom in their saliva, making their kiss quite dangerous.

As a more direct form of offensive in the event that their illusions fail, Jorogumo can spin a special type of steel-strong silk from their fingertips, whose movements they can then control through the air by running their Chi through it. This serves as an incredibly effective garotte wire with which they can capture enemies and either strangle them to death or, if ennough tension is applied, sever their limbs.

In modern times Jorogumo have typically given up the tradition of devouring their mates, but strong independence from males is still an important value to them; it is rare to see them stay with the same mate for too long, and in the rare event that they get maried, they always act as head of the household. Since they typically no longer engage in the murder of their mates, they also no longer craft the picks of their shamisen from bones. In fact, though Jorogumo retain their love for string instruments, it is rare to see any play the shamisen anymore, most have instead crafted guitars and violins. Some more ambitious Jorogumo have even used their silks in the construction of pianos, though these are even rarer to see than the ones still playing shamisen.

Talents: Illusions (auditory), clothes making, the use of garotte wires.

Powers: Silk Spinning, Poison Kiss

Weaknesses: none

Apsara

Spoiler

Nomadic Indian water spirits, Apsara are born when women of virtuous souls die from drowning. The women are reborn as these benevolent spirits who walk the land seeking to heal others. Apsara are natural born dancers and are completely mute. They can naturally turn their Chi into a clear water-like substance that often comes out of their arms and flows with their bodies in the air as they dance. 'Apsara water', though not truly 'water' at all, but rather liquefied spiritual energy, is one of the most potent healing balms that can be found, being known to cure many illnesses and rejuvenate the mind and spirit. It can not, however, be harvested by the Apsara (or anyone else for that mater) and then sold or given away because it will dissipate back into pure energy only a few minutes after it has been produced if it is not consumed. Apsara are also known to be able to heal injuries simply by placing their hands upon them and willing it. Apsara are generally good natured creatures who seek peace and benevolence. If they come upon a conflict of any kind they will usually try to end it by drawing attention to themselves and dancing for those who are fighting. for a long time it was said that an Apsara's dance held a powerful magic that soothed the hearts of those who looked onto it, but this is false. Other than the 'water' they control while dancing, there is nothing supernatural about an Apsara's performance and if they soothe hearts with it so often, it is due to nothing other than their great talent.

It should also be noted that Apsara are very selfless and refuse to practice their healing arts for a fee, though they will accept compensation in forms of food and lodging. As such they are deeply loved by paupers who do not posses the means to seek out doctors for medical aid.

Surprisingly, Apsara are also much more capable in combat than they are usually given credit for. They have mastered unarmed and non-lethal combat. While they adamantly refuse to kill anyone, even at the cost of their own lives, going so far as foregoing any kind of weaponry, they are more than capable of defending themselves against people that would wish them harm, often in a very graceful and smooth fashion reminiscent of their dances.

Talents: Dancing

Powers: Healing touch, Chi-water

Weaknesses: none

Asura

Spoiler

Six-armed, three-faced, Indian spirits of war and fire. Asura are born of the souls of valiant warriors who fell in battle and were later cremated. Asura are generally very noble and honorable warriors, never striking a downed opponent or from the back. They seek out anyone capable of matching their strength in combat and fight as a furious storm of blades and strikes. Asura consider fire-arms and shields dishonorable and refuse to touch them.

Despite their love for battle, Asura are not typically warmongers or chaos seekers. In fact it is quite the opposite, for an Asura it is considered a mark of weakness to kill during a duel, they believe that a truly splendid warrior should be capable of over-powering any adversary he faces without needing to end their lives. Of course, this code of conduct only applies to honorable duels, not the battlefield. Asura are also natural guardians, it is very common for one to end his search for worthy adversaries when they find a person or place they wish to protect. It is said that when an Asura fights to protect something, his power grows three-fold.

Being spirits of fire, Asura are unharmed by flames and can even cover their fists, feet, and weapons with pure white flames born from their Chi at will. Asura are capable of wielding all manner of weaponry with great skill and are just as deadly using their bare fists. The manner in which they fight is dependent only on each Asura's preference.

Talents: Hand-to-Hand combat, Melee-combat

Powers: Super strength, Chi-Fire

Weaknesses: none

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Mutations

Mutative Viruses are diseases that will alter the victim's genetic code and give them different attributes, some positive, some negative. People afflicted with these mutations were, for a long time, considered abominations onto the natural order and either rejected from civilization completely or hunted like beasts. Though this sentiment still prevails in some parts and groups all over the world, the general populace is generally much more accepting of these individuals as people with a disease and support groups helping the newly afflicted adjust to their new lifestyles and reintegrate into society are common.

There is yet no cure for the mutative diseases, but, as something of a blessing within a curse, once someone has been infected with one of the viruses, it is impossible for him to be infected with the other. In fact, blood from one Mutant is highly poisonous to another, making Vampires and Lycanthropes unable to feed on either each other or members of their own mutative species.

The disease that turns one into a Vampire. Vampires are natural-born killers, the ultimate predators. They stop aging completely, all their senses are multiplied by four, they become twice as strong an as agile as they once were, and they are now powerful sanguinemancers. Vampires can recover from any wound by drinking fresh blood save for wounds to the heart and to the brain and the loss of limbs.

Their blood, now super-charged with magical energy, is the source of all their powers. However, they have no means of re-charging the magical energy they spend simply by living, instead they must drink fresh blood in order to absorb the energy found within, lest they eventually perish from 'magical starvation'. Also, vampires are deathly allergic to sunlight, being bathed in its rays for any amount of time will drain away their powers and if they are left in it for any more than ten minutes, they will die from it. As natural born killers, their predatory instincts are also greatly enhanced and when they are hungry, it is very difficult for them to resist attacking whichever living being happens to be near

However, the affliction that is perhaps most crippling to many a vampire's re-integration into society is that they become completely sterile. Vampires as a whole can not reproduce sexually; instead, over a period of one month each year, their saliva becomes infectious and anyone they feast on is later turned into a vampire provided they were left with enough blood to survive the attack. As a result, when someone of a sexually reproducing race becomes a vampire they will chose to become partners either with a member of a non-sexually reproducing race, or another vampire that knows not to expect children.

Vampires who seek help through official support groups are provided with arcana-injected blood packets that simulate the energy-restoring and wound-healing effects of fresh blood. They are also allowed to posses a 'familiar', a close friend or family member who is a willingly registered lifeline on whom the vampire is allowed to feed during an emergency. Feeding on anyone else is a severe crime as well as feeding on a familiar during their 'hot month' where the bite would turn their familiar into another vampire. Rehabilitated vampires are also made to wear dog tags that identify them as such in the event that they must be examined by medical professionals or authorities.

Rogue Vampires who refuse treatment and rehabilitation, instead choosing to embrace their predatory instincts, are considered highly dangerous criminals and are apprehended on sight.

It should also be noted that, while they become potent sanguinemancers, vampires also lose the ability to practice any other type of magic, and while they can from nearly any wound by drinking blood, healing magic is either inefficient (water/nature based) or harmful (light based) to them. Their weakness to magic found in Light spells also makes them more susceptible to light-based illusion.

Powers: augmented speed(x2), augmented strength(x2), augmented senses(x4), augmented Sanguinemancy(x2), high-speed regeneration (upon drinking blood)

Weaknesses: Powers all canceled when in sunlight, inability to use magic (expect for Sanguinemancy), Powers lost when not regularly fed (at least twice a day), dies after 3 days without blood

Lycanthrophy is the disease that turns one into a Lycan or 'werewolf'. Unlike Vampiracy, Lycanthrophy is not a constant mutation. Lycanthropes are not constantly shifted in their Lycan form. A Lycanthrope's mutation manifests itself in response to a certain level of adrenaline in the blood or the chemicals released in the brain when one experiences the desire to kill. When a Lycanthrope transforms, they take on wolf-like characteristics on top of their own, Fur, claws, fangs, an elongated muzzle-like jaw and a hunched posture are the typical traits. A Lycanthrope's Lycan form and how easily he can control it is, also, quite inconsistent. It is, in fact, dependent on the phases of the moon. As the moon waxes, the form is more and more powerful and gives the afflicted more wolf-like traits, but it also becomes harder to restrain. On nights of the full moon, there is absolutely no way to resist the transformation and the afflicted looks more wolf-like than ever. As the moon wanes the reverse occurs. The form becomes increasingly weaker and the urge to transform is easier to resist. On nights of the new moon it is impossible for a Lycanthrope to enter his Lycan from even if he tries.

Another waxing and waning aspect of a Lycanthrope's transformed state is how easily it is controlled. A few days before or after the new moon, a Lycanthrope entering his Lycan state will feel mostly as himself, if not a bit more on edge and more easily angered. on days of, or surrounding the, full moon, a Lycanthrope will lose himself completely to his instincts and become a mindless killing machine.

A Lycanthrope is always contagious, but can only transmit the virus when in his Lycan form, and only through the exchange of blood or the introduction of saliva in the victim's bloodstream, except, of course, on nights of the full moon where his claws also become laced with the virus.

A Lycanthrope's weakness is silver, however, his allergy to it is not as severe as a Vampire's, simply being in contact with silver will not kill a Lycanthrope (though it will cause an acute burning sensation when the full moon draws near or just passed), it will only weaken his powers. As such, Lycanthropes have taken to wearing several pieces of silver (such as collars, chains, bracelets, necklaces, etc.) as accessories in order to help them better control and prevent their transformations, and during the week of the full moon (staring 3 days before and 3 days after), they will sleep in a cage coated in magically purified silver that will keep their transformations too weakened to move, let alone break free. If, however, a piece of silver finds itself within the body and is not quickly removed, it will dissolve into a lethal poison that will strip away a Lycan's powers and bring them to an early and painful grave if the silver is not magically separated from their bodies.

Lycanthropes also posses a regenerative ability whilst in their Lycan form that, during full moons, even surpass that of Vampires, however, they are unable to heal from wounds inflicted to them by silver weapons until they revert back to their natural form.

A Lycan's real power comes from his incredible speed, it is the only aspect of their transformation that is constant and at any time a Lycan will be twice as fast as a vampire of the same race. Lycans are also, surprisingly, nearly completely blind. They make up for this with increased hearing and smell, but the benefits do not equalize until the moon is at least half-full.

Powers: augmented speed (x4), augmented strength (x1.5-2), augmented hearing (x1.5-3), augmented smell (x1.5-3)

Weaknesses: Silver (being near it alone weakens them, being in contact with it weakens them further, having it inside the body kills them), near blindness, loss of rationality when transformed (minor-total).

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Important Characters

Original Story Characters are the most important and influential citizens of Fortuna. Controlled by a single player, they are often much more powerful (in every sense of the word) than regular PCs. However, they often have several limitations imposed on them which prevents them from simply godding through an RP, chief of these being that OSCs cannot be used outside of events and missions. The progression, development and demise of these characters is what will have the largest influence on the city as a whole.

District Leaders

Spoiler

Lord King - Alexander King(Valerium Therme)

Personality: Alexander is an eccentric and secretive man. Only a handful of people in the Monarchy have ever met him or seen him outside of his secret sanctuary inside the Monarchy's main base. In the early days of the Monarchy he had a far more public appearance but disappeared into the shadows as his armies made their way to Fortuna. Eventually his face was forgotten by all those following him except for the select few that were chosen to take his place as the public faces of leadership for the Monarchy, namely the Duke and Queen of the Monarchy.

History:

Spoiler

The day the Heirarchs first arrived on the planet Alexander was only a toddler and thus could not fully comprehend what was taking place. His family was a stubborn and terrified bunch who refused to take the gifts the Heirarchs offered upon their arrival and instead sat watching the foolish people who accepted the strange gods into their lives so willingly.. So as the Heirarchs city of Fortuna first begin and people started flocking to the citadel Alexander's family sat back and watched from their home thinking they had done the right thing by not going. Only five years passed before they had realized the mistake they had made. The world had already been decaying before the arrival of the Heirarchs, slowly but surely it was collapsing before the Heirarchs ever appeared in the world. But after the arrival of the Heirarchs and only a few years after people flocked to the City of Fortuna the world fell apart completely into full blown chaos. Some people attempted to hold together what was left of their world before but most embraced this new world before them and turned to committing horrible atrocities to survive. Alexander's family was one of the many victims of these horrible atrocities as they were brutally murdered around him during a turf war with a barbarian tribe seeking to expand their land across the wastes of old society.

Alexander survived this attack only because one of the Barbarians decided to take, the then 8 year old Alexander, back to their camp and induct him into their tribe as one of their young slaves. From then on Alexander grew up in chains until at the age of 19 a recently turned vampire entered the camp feasting some of the barbarians dry and leaving Alexander a deep bite on his arm. After the remaining Barbarians dispatched the young Alexander hid his bite to keep himself from being executed by the Barbarians under the suspicion of being infected with Vampiracy. As the bite became infected and Alexander himself turned he went into a frenzied rage. Breaking free from his chains and feasting upon the Barbarians well he slept before escaping into the wastes.

Two hundred years passed since then and Alexander had started his own tribe within the wastes of world. This nameless tribe of him forged themselves a name in the wastes, cutting through the other tribes and expanding their land with Alexander at the front lines. They used tactics uncommon for Barbarians at the time, they used sneakier tactics such as espionage and infiltration to overthrow other tribes leaders before assimilating or massacring the remaining Barbarians. Here was where the Monarchy first as Alexander led his nameless tribe to victory after victory. Alexander having survived in the world for the passed two hundred years through stealth and secrecy had proven himself to be a naturally skilled strategist and proved it with every battle. As his tribe grew there became more and more talk about invading the prosperous city of Fortuna. Many of the barbarians involved in Alexander's tribes had been thrown out of their homes by Fortunan soldier's who expanded more and more into the wasteland around Fortuna. Alexander heard the cries of his tribe and ignored them knowing that a war with Fortuna was to dangerous to risk. Alexander had hated those that resided in that city since he was young, seeing them as cowardly and greedy as they hid and flourished behind the walls the Heirarchs had built for them and left the rest of the world to suffer as they did. And though Alexander did hated them he had no intention of risking everything he had built in a war that they would easily lose.

Despite Alexanders decision not to attack Fortuna his tribes growing size drew the attention of those inside Fortuna's walls. As Alexander led a small contingent of Barbarians to destroy another small Barbarian tribe in the area Fortunan soldiers surrounded Alexander's tribes encampment and wiped out all that remained their. Taking the camp for themselves and pushing out or exterminating all the Barbarians inside who had not left with Alexander on his war mission. When this news reached Alexander he was devastated and quickly went into hiding. There he stayed for another four hundred and fifty years vowing revenge on those that had taken everything from him.

After these four hundred and fifty years Alexander suddenly reappeared back in the world, fueled with his anger and his hatred he begin rebuilding the empire he had lossed. This time his expansion was far more brutal as he used the worst criminals he get to join his cause and found the cruelest of the barbarians that he could force to submit to him. Together they fell together under a new banner, unlike before this one had a name and a purpose. They were called the Monarchy. Alexander's years in exile had been spent watching the city of Fortuna from the outside and envying the life he never had a chance to live. He didn't understand why the Heirarchs allowed such filthy, greedy, pompous, and cowardly individuals to run their glorious city. And to Alexander those that resided in Fortuna were scum who had no idea what the real world was like outside their walls and sat back in comfort as others suffered. And what did they do with the gifts of such an easy life given to them? They squandered it. Because of this Alexander decided they truly had no right to reside in their any more. He intended to throw them out and force them to live in the world they had hid away from for the past six hundred and fifty years. His tribe grew fast and as they expanded Alexander kept a keen eye on the city waiting for his chance to strike them when it would hurt most. Then the time came, fourty years after Alexander's return from exile the Heirarchs disappeared leaving only one message behind. "We leave our greatest creation, to our rightful successors."

This message spread far and wide passed the walls of Fortuna and eventually reached the ears of Alexander who finally saw his chance to strike. The Heirarchs had left and to Alexander they had left in disgust of those they had allowed to stay within the walls of their city for so long. They had left because they had realized those within those walls had no right to own the glorious city of Fortuna. Their disappearance from the world had left a perfect opening for Alexander and his firmly built Monarchy which could only mean one thing. The rightful heir was Alexander, the rightful heir to the thrown was the Monarchy, and those within those walls were meant to be thrown from their lives of squandered so that the creation of the heirarchs could go to those that earned it. Those who bled, fought, and did horrifying things just for their own survival. The citadel was to be given to the Monarchy.

High Councilor - Faith(Aisherlock)

Personality: She is a very headstrong and pragmatic woman, who deals with things sensibly and realistically in a way that is based on practical rather than theoretical considerations. She is also a very... 'straight to the point' type of woman who talks sense rather than burying her true meaning or intentions in a ramble of useless words. She also has quite an aggressive tone to her voice that adds to her stature of being above everyone else, not that she does this intentionally, it is mainly from stress of the job and the ongoing events.

History: (Working on it)

Paladin of Wings - Nathaniel Levin(babies123)

Personality: Nathan has two personalities. One, which is a front he puts on when dealing with the order and all his 'acquaintances' reacting to it, is the purest image of order and efficiency. He is serious about everything, and harbors a deep hatred for the brotherhood of foolishness and the pink monarchy of girlishness.
The other personality, shared with only his closest and most trusted associates, is a hugely eccentric, rather insane wine and cheese living madman, who simply cannot resist a bit of laughter and tomfoolery. Although he never says tomfoolery, or any such words.

History: Nathan's father was a member of the order, and a very high ranking one too, meaning he underwent rigorous training to become a master in power armor based combat, politics, and various other disciplines. He quickly learned to suppress his more wild side in the company of order members, to appear professional. He found that by regularly going absolutely crazy, he could channel his orderly side into an effective and productive order member. He used this ability to quickly rise through the ranks. His skills continued to improve right up until exactly two months after his 39th birthday, when it was time for the new paladin of wings to come up to the post. He was the only candidate really even considered for the post at the time, or so he likes to say. He had had access to Excalibur armor for three years already, so he was ideal in that respect. He was also a very good friend of the last POW, and had proven his loyalty on many occasions. The last POW felt that, with the leaving of the hierarchic, and the invasion of the monarchy, someone with tactical prowess like Nathan had would be perfect for the job.

Leader of the Jackals - Fox "Gray" Silver(Buio DiAngelo)

Personality: An old hardass, Gray has very little patience for those who would waste his time and is a strict and stern leader for his jackals. This being said, however, he's not a brash man by nature, decades of fighting men both on the battlefield and in economic negotiations has taught him the importance of tact and secrecy. He does very few things if they do not profit him in the long run but is hardly blinded by greed. He sees money as a means with which too accomplish many goals, and as a many of many goals and ambitions, makes sure to always have a decent amount of money in his back-pocket. However he keeps a strict policy of honesty and fair play in all his dealings. He's never tried to swindle a man out of his propertied and strongly expects the same respect be showed to him. He is also an unbiased Businessman, creed, ethnicity, morality and social status mean nothing to him. Any man's money is as good as the next's in honest buisiness transactions.

Somewhat surprising for a man who has made his living from the conflict of others, Gray prefers times of peace to times of conflict, regardless of how much better for business the latter is. It is largely thanks to his efforts that the southern district has not fallen into complete chaos.

History:

Spoiler

An old war veteran, Fox first picked up a rifle at the age of 15 when he accompanied his father James Silver on the battlefield. His father was the previous and insofar seventh leader of the Jackals, at that time simply known as the Jackals Mercenaries Band, rather than a guild. The group had in fact been led by the Silver family since it's inception. The name Gray is also an heirloom Fox inherited from his father. It had become an unspoken tradition since the passing of the third leader, Gray Silver, to take on this new name when one took control of the group.

More than the Jackals and his name, however, Fox inherited everything he knew from his father. His morals, his code, his ethics, all come from him, and it is through them that Gray has survived countless battlefields and led the Jackals to countless victories. The one thing that Fox developed on his own was his ambition. Up until this point the Jackals had remained a relatively small group, numbering no more than forty or so at a time and almost each member being related in some way to one of the original Jackals . Fox, however, knew this manner of existence could not continue. There were other mercenary groups out there, some much more affordable and closer to the barbarian lands where most of the contracts were dealt out. The jackals were good, maybe even the best, but in a world of peace they couldn't rely on skill and reputation alone to earn them their wages. They needed to become an organization.

It was under Fox's leadership that the group experienced unprecedented growth. Fox began scouting talented mercenaries working either alone of in very small groups, he began establishing information networks that gradually expanded farther ad farther outside of Fortuna so that he could always be a step ahead when he needed to be. Whereas the jackals had been nearly exclusively at the request of The Order of the Winged Blade in the past, Fox now worked to forge friendly relationships with The Brotherhood of Wisdom and other political factions and embassies as well.

With the quick, steady, organized growth of his of his group into a powerful guild, Fox established himself as a very influential, well-liked, and deeply respected individual both on the Fortunan upper class and in its underworld.

When the Monarchy struck Fox was the quickest to respond, he had been expecting them. Word had already reached his ears about several anti-fortunan movements gaining in power and momentum with the disappearance of the Heirarchs and, though he'd never found any hard evidence backing their existence, the words 'Black Monarchy' came up too often for him to ignore them. He was, however, in no position to face a force powerful enough to challenge both the Order and the Brotherhood at the same time, so instead he had plans set up to aid the evacuation of Fortunan civilians from likely war-zones in the event if an all-out war. It was largely thanks to his and his guild members' efforts that the entire civilian population of Northton was not massacred in the monarchy's invasion, though he made sure to avoid conflict with the monarchy as much as possible during this period as to avoid making unnecessary enemies.

With the subsequent eruption of the war, Fox used his money, friendships, favors and connections to essentially buy out the southern part of the city so as to make it a safe haven for the refugees not wanting or incapable of being part of the war. Also foreseeing the waves of incoming guns for hire, he set up his guild to double as a stable middle-man between bounty hunters and mercs and the people who would want to hire them, so that he could keep his position of power in the southern district, and also carefully keep track of the amount of foreign talent entering the city.

Now, his guild has grown from a measly forty soldiers to well-over three hundred, all of varying abilities but exceptional skill in their respective fields. He is without a doubt the richest man in fortuna at this time and uses his influence to keep the southern district safe both from external forces and internal conflict.

These days he has stopped going out to fight by himself, letting the younger generation have their death and glory on the battlefield, letting his Fang, his Claw, and his daughter manage the guild in the public sense while he spends more time buying and setting up contracts, as well as serving as a mentor for his adoptive son Yukimura.

That being said, he is far from becoming decrepit in his old age as he knows full well that money and power attracts assassins and enemies, having been hired to kill many a rich man himself back in his younger years.

The Black Court

Spoiler

Queen of Chaos - [open]

Duke of Destruction - Michel-André Lafontaine (Buio Diangelo)

Personality: Silent and mysterious, Michel-André rarely says more than needed. He is incredibly devoted to his lord, Alexander, and would follow him to his grave if need be. Similarly he does not tolerate treachery in the Monarchy and eliminates any potential malcontents with extreme prejudice. He is very serious about his training, pushing his immortal body to its limits every day in order to ensure he never grows careless in his service to his master.

He has a deep, if tempered, love for oriental culture, something that comes out in both his mannerisms and sense of fashion when he is not wearing his suit or armor.

History:

Spoiler

A sixteenth century french-born soldier's son, Michel-André's family had been proud members of the order for generations, gallantly defending the Fortunan Union against any Scotland-born barbarian threat that presented itself. Michel-André as well would have probably followed into his father, and his father's father, and his father's father's father's footsteps if it it had not been for The Delacroix vampire clan's intervention.

The Delacroix, former masters of the Lafontaine family whom had lost a great deal of social status when the Heirarchs came and toppled the human kingdoms to instill their own, has been bitter enemies of the Lafontaine family ever since their fall from nobility due to the fact that they had turned to vampiracy in order to fight the Heirarchs from within the shadows own territories and offer secret aid to the Barbarians. As such, though they were first and foremost proud supporters and members of the Order, the Lafontaine family also doubled as skilled vampire hunters; taking it upon themselves to end the wicked line of their former masters.

One night, however, when Michel-André was yet only 20 and had only recently graduated from the local Order Hall, The Delacroix launched a vicious attack on the Lafontaine family estate. The raid was led by none other than Argent Delacroix, patriarch and elder of the family, a then 250 year old vampire who still remembered the days before the Heirarchs. Michel-André saw the old monster tear his father apart and dove into a cold rage, his mind focusing on nothing more than cutting down the man before him despite being armed with only a simple sword and no power armor.

That night every member of the Lafontaine main branch family was brutally murdered, all save for Michel-André. Argent seemed to have take an interest out of the young boy who 'seemed so vampiric for a human'. Instead of killing the young man he drank of his blood and infected him with the virus then left him with a lethal wound, beaten within an inch of consciousness.

As expected, in his weakened state Michel-André's instincts took over and he fed on a living man who found his body soon after the vampires retreated, sucking him dry of his life's blood in order to survive. Realizing what he had done immediately after, Michel-André fled the burning estate, knowing he would be prosecuted as the monster that he now was.

Vowing vengeance against the Delacroix, Argent in particular, Michel-André used the powers that he had obtained through his curse to systematically hunt down any Delacroix he could find, this hunt taking him across the entire globe as he gradually discovered that the wretched beasts had been all too liberal in converting innocent humans and turning them into servants in order to expand their influence right under the order's nose. It was during these travels that he discovered two things. The first was his fascination with oriental culture and tradition. Everything from their forms of art, to their styles of warfare and combat was simply so exotic and interesting to him.

The second thing he learned was that the glorified vision he had of the Order had been grossly undeserved. Both through the observation of magical creatures under their jurisdiction and through being a victim of a magical virus himself, he saw how the order's prejudice and elitism caused as much suffering and hatred within the lands of Fortuna as there was on the battlefields bordering the barbarian lands. slowly but surely he began to give up his secret dream of going back to them proudly with Argent;s head in hand so as to ask them to take him back despite his condition. His revenge quest became solely personal.

When he did, eventually, find Argent though, the confrontation went nothing as what he had imagined. Michel-André knew that he had not seen Argent's full power on the night where he was turned, but his near-constant success in hunting down the Delacroix vampires had made him over-estimate his own power in comparison to a true vampire elder. Once again he was pitifully crushed by the old monster despite having had almost a full century to prepare for the battle. It was then revealed to him that Argent had been aware of his every movements since the very beginning. His every battle, his every victory. All had been sacrifices Argent had willingly paid in order to make Michel-André stronger, to bring out his potential and make him into a true vampire, all so that Argent could make him one of his own brood.

Michel-André was then subsequently captured by the Delacroix and forced into a life of servitude to them, just as his ancestors had been, becoming Argent's unwilling new apprentice.

It was after two centuries of this pitiful existence that Michel-André first met Alexander King, a vampiric tribal king from the barbarian countries. Though young and unimposing in appearance Michel-André could tell he was at least as powerful as his own master, and probably just as old. He was awed by him from the moment he met the charismatic elder. Argent was powerful, wise, cunning and iron-fisted, perfect to rule a family composed of thousands of bloodthirsy monsters. But Alexander had something more about him. He had the aura of a true leader, possessing all of Argent's qualities and more.

Argent needed fear, politics, intelligence and treachery to maintain his position of power. Alexander, on the other hand, seemed as he would need only walk forward for men to follow behind him.

As the friendship between Argent and Alexander grew, Michel-André also got to know the charismatic new elder as well and grew to respect him more every day.

Eventually, Alexander offered him the chance to serve under him as his right hand and help him in his quest to rebuild his decimated forces and lay waste to the evils of the Fortunan Union, promising him the chance to take Argent's head for himself if he did so.

Michel-André had for a long time thought he had accepted his defeat at the Delacroix's hand, but hearing Alexander's words instantly re-lit the cold flame of hatred that burned so brightly in his heart before. He accepted without question and left the Delacroix with his new master, helping him build his new clan, the Black monarchy.

A week before the assault on Fortuna, he returned to the Delacroix and challenged Argent himself. The battle was ended in a single stroke. Michel-André decapitated the elder vampire before he had even had a chance to draw his sword and claimed the Delacroix family under his rule from further on. The few who contested him were swiftly dealt with.

It was with this clan of vampires following him that Michel-André, now the Duke of Destruction, stormed Fortuna at his master's side. Though they served their purpose as soldiers well, Michel-André ensured that they all died by the end of the week, leading them into impossible, suicidal assaults on both the brotherhood and the order which he led personally, and was the only one to come out of alive of.

His revenge complete, Michel-André now dedicated himself completely to Alexander's service as his most loyal Deathbringer.

In recent years, he has taken one of his former captains as his personal apprentice. Though he is brash and his allegiance questionable, his skill is undeniable and the young man is perfect to control the powerful Thanatos suit. If nothing else, he likes having such a dangerous man close enough where he can see his every movements and knows that if he can be made to truly believe in Alexander's magnificence that he will make a fine replacement should Michel-André ever fall in battle.

Lady of Lies - [open]

The Council of Tomes

Spoiler

Councilor of words -[open]

Councilor of Symbols - [open]

Councilor of Ethers - Marcus Fletcher (Buio DiAngelo)

Personality: A stern, proud and dignified elf of questionable motives and values. Marcus holds little love in his heart for the order and is much more ambitious about their annihilation than the rest of the council. He detests people of weak psychological constitution and will promptly expel them from his sight. That being said, he is a devoted follower of the Heirarchs and an honorable military commander deeply respected by those who do meet his harsh requirements to serve beneath him.

History:

Spoiler

A native Fortunan born to a wealthy family, Marcus always had the pride of highborn elfkin drilled into his psyche by his parents. However, it was not enough to know he was the best, he always needed to display it. He was enrolled in the school of alchemy when he entered the academy, his father, uncles and grandfather having all graduated from it as valedictorians, and was constantly expected to be leader of his class, a challenge he took to with pride and arrogance. He became a leader figure in the student body quickly, his views on life and society being engraved in stone within his mind, his talent and confidence drawing others to him quickly despite his elitist nature.

As he grew older his personality developed in two ways. He eventually learned some humility when exposed to the talents and abilities of other races. Most impressive of all in his eyes was the High Councilor at the time, a mere human who stood head and shoulders above even elves and faeries in his knowledge of both magic and Hierarchic scriptures. Not only this but, even as he was growing old and reaching the later years of his life, he showed none of the fear so commonly expressed by humans when faced with their inevitable doom. He did not stoop so low as to resort to Demonology of Vampiracy in order to try and cheat death. He was facing his final years with gentle pride and infinite wisdom, a show of strength that Marcus grew to respect deeply.

Simultaneously, however, Marcus' elitist nature only became more pronounced. Rather than losing it and looking to everyone as equals, his definition of those whom he considered naturally superior simply changed from the narrow-minded 'highborn elves' to a more philosophical view of 'those who are strong', in the sense of inner strength and willpower rather than brutish might. And in his eyes, none were weaker than the wretched members of the order of the winged blade. Cowardly fools who refused to embrace the gifts of the Heirarchs and instead let soulless machines do all the work for them. He could never consider them true followers. Their every practice was a perversion of the art of magic, and when the Heirarchs disappeared, he was the most outspoken figure whom demanded that the order be eliminated so that they not risk tainting the halls of the citadel once the mysteries to accessing it would be unlocked.

when the war erupted, he was all too happy to lead the Mages and Spellswords of the order to the front lines and finally seize the opportunity to cruse the heretics as he had so greatly wished he could do in the past. When the previous Councilor of Ethers was slain in a counter-offensive raid on the monarchy in order to attempt and take back the chimera laboratories they had stolen two years prior, Marcus's great talent and already numerous military accomplishments made him the only sensible candidate to fill the empty council seat, despite his less-than-friendly relationship with the newest High Councilwoman.

Also, though he is morally against the creation of chimera, the brutality of war has made him realize that the days where such idealistic luxuries were gone and has put his alchemical talents to use in forging dozens of war beasts for the brotherhood. However, he still adamantly refuses to let one accompany him in battle and instead fights solely with his alchemically created weapons and spells.

Councilor of Blood - [open]

The Table of Paladins

Spoiler

Paladin of Blades - Francis Levin (Buio DiAngelo)

Personality: An arrogant, self-righteous, mean-spirited son of a bitch, and one of the most brilliant tactical minds seen in the order for a long time. Francis scoffs at all who are below him and holds great disdain for anyone who believes himself superior to him, but he wholeheartedly believes in the glory of the order, if for no other reason than the fact it makes him, one of the Paladins, yet more glorious by being at the head of such a magnificent faction. Despite his astonishing military track, record, however, his blatant displays of arrogance and racism make him widely hated by those who serve under him, even if the would not be caught dead disobeying one of his orders.

History:

Spoiler

Cousin of the current Paladin of Wings and son of the previous Paladin of blades, Francis has the same amount of open disdain for his eccentric cousin as his father had for his own lack luster older brother. Francis fully believes that the seat of Paladin of Wings should have been his own, and blames nothing but his own youth. Had he been born earlier and been in a position to properly impress Paladin of Wings Rhodes that 'insane son of a nameless bum officer', as Francis refers to his cousin (despite the fact that Nathaniel's father was in fact very highly ranked despite never attaining the position of Paladin), would have never been promoted as he was.

However, due to the strict values of the order having been hammered into his head by his own father since he was a young child, Francis would never dream of betraying or disobeying his cousin due to the fact that he is still his superior officer. Instead, he relentlessly tries to discredit him in the eyes of the other paladins, knowing full well that if he can get the three others to stand against Nathaniel, that he can lose his position as paladin of wings and be forced to give it up to the most deserving officer, and in this time of war, only someone with Francis' brilliant military mind would be a logical choice.

sadly, despite Nathaniel's private eccentricities, he is proving to be an all-too capable and charismatic, if somewhat unorthodox, leader and thus Francis is forced to bite his lip and patiently wait for his cousin to slip up.

Paladin of Shields - [open]

Paladin of Lances - [open]

Paladin of Armors - [open]

Fang and Claw

Spoiler

Fang - [open]

Claw - [open]

NPCs are something along the lines of 'free' characters. They are minor important people in the world of Fortuna that are not owned by any player and can be used to advance the plot of roleplays if needed. They usually serve an important role in Fortuna's social world and thus will be locked down to one district, sector, or location. They can not be killed (unless by GMs) but similarly can't be used to fight against other players.

List of NPCs will come shortly

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Titles

Titles are names given to your character in recognition of a deed they have done, or a position they have reached. Different titles will come with different benefits and/or penalties. Titles come in two types, Permanent titles, that once earned will stay with your character forever, and Secondary titles that can be exchanged for others and/or lost/stripped away under certain circumstances. A single character can carry with him up to three titles, one permanent, and two secondary.

List of Titles will come shortly

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Character Templates

Name: (self explanatory)
Title**: (any official title your character may have earned)
Alias*: (any other name/unofficial title your character is known by)
Age: (how old your char is)
Gender: (Male, Female, Hermaphroditic, Neutrois(genderless creature) )
Race: (What sentient race of beings your character belongs to)
Height*: (self explanatory)
Weight*: (self explanatory)
Appearance: (A description or [preferably] picture of your character)
Pet*: (any non-combat-related creature or golem that accompanies your character)
Vehicle*whatever vehicle your character may own and pilot)

Starting Location: Regiel Way

Power Armor: (what power armor model your character uses)

Weapon(s) of Choice: (Which weapon your character prefers to fight with.)

Golem*: (an image of your character's golem if he/she has one)

Fighting Style*: (A small description of how your character and/or their golem fights, along with the strengths and weaknesses that come with that style)

Powers*: (any supernatural/superhuman powers your character possesses from Racial inheritance. It should be noted that even racial magical abilities are nullified by Power Armors, only physical abilities apply.)

Weaknesses*: (any specific weakness your character may posses)

Occupation: (is your character a knight, a squire, or one of the paladins)
Specialization*: (what further specialization they've taken in their occupation)

Personality: (a short description of how your character acts, what their likes and dislikes are, and what their general dispossession on life is)
History: (A relatively sort resume of the important aspects of your character's past that led him/her to be in their current situation in The Brotherhood of Wisdom and provide a rough explanation for their personality traits.)

Other*: (any important trait or fact about your character unmentioned above)

Theme song*: (any song or musical piece you find describes your character very well)

Name: (self explanatory)
Title**: (any official title your character may have earned)
Alias*: (any other name/unofficial title your character is known by)
Age: (how old your char is)
Gender: (Male, Female, Hermaphroditic, Neutrois(genderless creature) )
Race: (What sentient race of beings your character belongs to)
Mutation*: (any mutation from the natural order your character may have suffered)
Height*: (self explanatory)
Weight*: (self explanatory)
Appearance: (A description or [preferably] picture of your character)
Pet*: (any non-combat-related creature or golem that accompanies your character)

Starting Location: The Shimmering City

Magical School: (What school of magic your character studies under)

Magical Specialization: (what type of magic your character is most proficient with)

Magical affinity: (what magical energy your character draws on the most)

Companion*: (an image of your character's daemon or chimera if they have one)

Weapon(s) of Choice: (Which weapon your character prefers to fight with.)

Fighting Style*: (A small description of how your character or their daemon/chimera fights, and the strength and weaknesses that come with that style)

Powers*: (any supernatural/superhuman powers your character possesses either from Racial inheritance or mutation.)

Weaknesses*: (any specific weakness your character may posses)

Occupation: (Is your character a Mage, a Spellsword, or one of the Councilors?)
Specialization*: (what further specialization they've taken in their occupation)

Personality: (a short description of how your character acts, what their likes and dislikes are, and what their general dispossession on life is)
History: (A relatively sort resume of the important aspects of your character's past that led him/her to be in their current situation within the walls of Fortuna and provide a rough explanation for their personality traits.)

Other*: (any important trait or fact about your character unmentioned above)

Theme song*: (any song or musical piece you find describes your character very well)

Name: (self explanatory)
Title**: (any official title your character may have earned)
Alias*: (any other name/unofficial title your character is known by)
Age: (how old your char is)
Gender: (Male, Female, Hermaphroditic, Neutrois(genderless creature) )
Nativity: (Is your character Western or Oriental)
Race: (What sentient race of beings your character belongs to)
Mutation*: (any mutation from the natural order your character may have suffered)
Height*: (self explanatory)
Weight*: (self explanatory)
Appearance: (A description or [preferably] picture of your character)
Pet*: (any non-combat-related creature or golem that accompanies your character)
Vehicle*whatever vehicle your character may own and pilot)

Starting Location: Old Northton

Power Armor: (what power armor model your character uses; available only to, and mandatory for, Deathbringers)

Magical School*: (What school of magic your character studies under; available only to, and mandatory for, Wastesayers)

Magical Specialization*: (what type of magic your character is most proficient with; available only to, and mandatory for, Wastesayers)

Magical affinity*: (what magical energy your character draws on the most; available only to, and mandatory for, Wastesayers)

Weapon(s) of Choice: (Which weapon your character prefers to fight with.)

Companion*: (an image of your character's golem/daemon/chimera)

Fighting Style*: (A small description of how your character and/or his golem/daemon/chimera fights, and the strength and weaknesses that come with that style)

Powers*: (any supernatural/superhuman powers your character possesses, this includes any ability they may be granted by their Chi Control if they are from the orient or any ability inherent to their Race or Mutation. It should be noted that even racial magical abilities are nullified by a Deathbringer's power armor, only physical powers apply to them.)

Weaknesses*: (any specific weakness your character may posses)

Occupation: (Is your character a Wastesayer, Deathbringer or Shadowcrawler)
Specialization*: (what further specialization they've taken in their occupation)

Personality: (a short description of how your character acts, what their likes and dislikes are, and what their general dispossession on life is)

History: (A relatively sort resume of the important aspects of your character's past that led him/her to be in their current situation within The Black Monarchy and provide a rough explanation for their personality traits.)

Other*: (any important trait or fact about your character unmentioned above)

Theme song*: (any song or musical piece you find describes your character very well)

Name: (self explanatory)
Title**: (any official title your character may have earned)
Alias*: (any other name/unofficial title your character is known by)
Age: (how old your char is)
Gender: (Male, Female, Asexual)
Nativity: (Is your character Western or Oriental)
Race: (What sentient race of beings your character belongs to)
Mutation*: (any mutation from the natural order your character may have suffered)
Height*: (self explanatory)
Weight*: (self explanatory)
Appearance: (A description or [preferably] picture of your character)
Pet*: (any non-combat-related creature or golem that accompanies your character)
Vehicle*whatever vehicle your character may own and pilot)

Staring Location: The entertainment district

Magical School*: (What school of magic your character studies under)

Magical Specialization*: (what type of magic your character is most proficient with)

Magical affinity*: (what magical energy your character draws on the most)

Companion*: (an image of your character's daemon or chimera)

Weapon(s) of Choice: (Which weapon your character prefers to fight with.)

Fighting Style*: (A small description of how your character and/or their daemon/chimera fights, and the strength and weaknesses that come with that style)

Powers*: (any supernatural/superhuman powers your character possesses, this includes any ability they may be granted by their Chi Control if they are from the orient and/or abilities granted from Racial inheritance or their mutation)

Weaknesses*: (any specific weakness your character may posses)

Occupation: (Is your character a Freelancer or a Contractor)
Specialization*: (what further specialization they've taken in their occupation)
Talent: (What their talent is as military personnel, are they Mages, Spellswords, Warriors, G-terminal using Engineers, Doctors, Healers, or Shadow Operatives?)

Personality: (a short description of how your character acts, what their likes and dislikes are, and what their general dispossession on life is)

History: (A relatively sort resume of the important aspects of your character's past that led him/her to be in their current situation within The Southern District and provide a rough explanation for their personality traits.)

Other*: (any important trait or fact about your character unmentioned above)

Theme song*: (any song or musical piece you find describes your character very well)

* Optional points
** Official Titles are earned, not made, most of you will be receiving one later over the course of the rp so leave this space open. (there will be very few characters that will be able to start off with titles such as the paladins, councilors, etc. a list of available titles and their effects will come shortly)

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Map

(props to TimmyTheVampire for actually drawing it)

Spoiler

The war-torn center of the city where all four factions are engaged in bloody combat over the shining Citadel, which to this day remains as beautiful and tantalizing as ever, despite the poor state of the city that surrounds it.

The Citadel

The inaccessible magical fortress which holds the secrets of the Heirarchs. In the decade since it lost its masters, its beauty has not faded in the least and it is still the greatest source of universal magical energy in the world

Citadel Gorge

The barrier that has always protected The Citadel from the unworthy. It is an impassable bottomless pit protected by powerful curses which destroy all that attempt to cross it. Only the Heirarchs knew how to pass through it safely.

Lost Town

What has become of the area around the citadel. Originally the political center of the world, it was where leaders and representatives of every nation and people of Fortunan soil would come to discuss political maters on neutral ground. The sector was greatly damaged in the initial outbreak of the war due to everyone rushing to claim the citadel first, and the resulting Battle Royal. Only after all attempts to breach the gorge ended in failure did the armies retreat back to their sectors, leaving everything behind them ruined and destroyed, husks of destroyed buildings, the only testament left to the glory of the past, and harsh reminder of the brutality of the present. Today it is a barren no-man's-land and confrontations between factions happen here more than anywhere else. There is, however, no base of operations situated within Lost Town, only very few and small outposts situated near the entranced to each district. So, though it is by far the most dangerous part of the city, if one knows how to avoid the patrols and countless traps set in it, Lost Town can become an effective way to quickly and silently move from district to district undetected, provided one knows some creative ways to get past the gates to each.

The wretched gathering of scum and villainy that has become the district now occupied by The Black Monarchy. Home to raiders, thieves, brawlers, smugglers, murderers and all kinds of criminals serving under the Lord King's banner.

The Imperial Coliseum

Headquarters of The Black Monarchy. Once the epicenter of all fine arts, it now plays host to evil games of murder and bloodshed, sadistic orgies and he become both training grounds to the Monarchy's finest, and where the Black Court, leaders of the Monarchy, all reside.

Chimera Lairs

The, previously brotherhood-owned, alchemical chimera research facilities captured by The Black Monarchy during their initial blitz nearly a decade ago. They have made full use of the (mostly underground) facilities and, disregarding all manner of codes of morality, created hellish beast after hellish beast to serve them in their dark plans for conquest. They have yet, however, to find the key to successful sentient transmutation and thus are not yet in a position to create alchemical super-soldiers.

While most facilities were expanded and improved over the years, a few have also been converted to non-alchemical purposes, in order to make valid training halls for the all-but-insane Monarchy Wastesayers.

Old Northton

The Area of Residence to nearly all Monarchy members. Once luscious gardens and mansions, belonging to the Fortunan high-class, it now serves as a stomping ground for the dogs of the earth to bare and sharpen their fangs in their thirst for blood and war. Fighting, Murder, Theft and rape are all as common as night an day, by far exceeding what one would find in the slums, and the Deathbringers maintain some order by beating down anyone who would get any idea about revolting against Lord King with an iron fist, but by far an wide there are only three laws that matter in this sector, that of the jungle, the gun, and the blade.

the best Shadowcrawlers are those born in this place who come to learn that stealth, discretion and deception, are much more lethal weapons than addle-brained brute strength.

Warehouse Sector

The magi-tech Warehouses where the Monarchy procured themselves all the pieces of equipment (such as power armors, golems, etc.) they needed to effectively fight against the Order. After capturing the warehouses and fortifying the sector against a counter-offensive, the Monarchy turned its greatest scientific minds to modifying the warehouses for research and repair purposes. Each warehouse is now either a makeshift research facility which works to constantly improve the technology available to the Monarchy, or a garage where old pieced of equipment and tech come to be upgraded, and busted up pieces come to be fixed. The monarchy still lacks the ability to properly mass-produce magi-tech in the same way the Order can, so they are very particular about making the pieces they do have as hard to destroy as possible, and improving their ability to repair them when they do get damaged.

This sector is also where Deathbringers receive their training, which is to say, a lethal physical exercise course in which 60% die and where any kind of empathy or kindness for the enemy is severely beaten out of them, and a series of mental brainwashing sessions designed to make them completely loyal to the Monarchy.

The district belonging to the knight of The Order of the Winged Blade. It is a district populated nearly entirely by humans and dominated by a very 'holier than thou' sentiment. The knights of the Order largely believe they are the last bastion of justice and light in a world filled with darkness, and will crush anyone attempting to stop them from bring order and civilization back into this broken world.

The Shining Hall

The hall in which all high-ranking Order officials reside and the meeting place of the Table of Paladins. The shining hall is the most militarily secure building in all of Fortuna and a testament to The Order's might and prestige.

The Gauntlet

Quite simply an impassable labyrinth filled with traps, turrets, vicious golems and more traps. The gauntlet was constructed over-time to ensure that a direct invasion from the monarchy was completely impossible either from land, air or underground. The entire sector is like a giant machine, pathways and passages changing periodically. Only the engineers responsible for it maintenance know which passages are safe at which time and it is their duty to escort Order detachments through the maze of death during assaults on the monarchy. These safe-ways are changed every week and in the occasion that an engineer is absent for any length of time, ensuring that knowledge of how to navigate The Gauntlet never falls into enemy hands.

Regiel Way

Named after the first Paladin of Wings, Regiel way is the only part of the city nearly completely unchanged since the war. A shining example of the utopia-like future the Order strives for, crime is literally nonexistent with Regiel Way. What few non-knight, civilians that live there are all orderly, efficient and fully functioning, law abiding members of society. 'To live in Regiel Way alone is a privilege. To do so without being required to enlist in service to the Order, that is nothing less than the highest of fortunes'. This is the message drilled into the citizens daily. In order to earn their place in such a peaceful and safe sector full of technological commodities, the citizens of the east district are held to a very high code of conduct, anyone found breaking this code too often is promptly expelled from the district into the slums.

Industrial Sector

The Sector in which all Golems, Vehicles, Power Armors, and any other kind of magi-tech found in the eastern sector is researched, developed and manufactured. 85% of it's output if for military purposes.

Home of the Jackal Mercenary guild and an astonishing amount of Fortunan refugees, the district has become 3/4 slum and has a crime rate surpassed only by the northern district. Life has become a struggle for survival for the inhabitants of the southern district, with only a select few wealthy figure heads monopolizing all the money coming in, out and circulating throughout the district. This way of life has brought out both the worst and the best out of the people in the district. though crime rates are high, there is also a sense of unity within each sector. People have banded together for survival and selflessly reach out to help those even less fortunate than they. Even this, however, is not completely good, ad this has led to a sort of gang mentality spread out over the slum districts and violence between the members of the Southton slums and Squatter slums is frequent.

The Den

HQ of the Jackal Mercenary guild, and hub of all contract work to be handled in Fortuna. Thanks to the Jackal's stance of impartiality and open business, The Den has become by far the most wealthy establishment in all of Fortuna, making its owner Gray, leader of the Jackals, indisputably the most wealthy man in Fortuna as well, though one would not think so by looking at him. The Den turns away no patrons and no mercenary. Anyone looking for work or looking to give work is welcome within the rather large establishment and The Den has a strict 'don't ask, don't tell' policy. 'Any contracts given out within The Den not officially endorsed by its proprietors were given out without the knowledge of said proprietors and thus the jackal mercenaries can not be held accountable for any illegal activities associated with said contracts'. By keeping a foot on both sides of the law and hands in each side of the war, the Jackals and their Den have earned one of the most secure positions in Fortuna.

Entertainment Sector

The entertainment sector is where all the money in the southern district is located. Originally a place of mostly innocent entertainment, home to movie theaters, music concerts, restaurants and indoor amusement parks, nearly all of this has been today replaced with the more sinful diversions of life such as bars, nightclubs, gambling halls and sex parlors. The place is mostly populated by mercenaries, freelancers and bounty hunters of all types, attracted to the sector by the den.

Southton Slums

The Southton Slums plays home to all the people originally from Fortuna who lost their homes in the war's outbreak, or have been exiled from the eastern district. The more spacious and comfortable of the two slums, the residents of this sector tend to look down on the squatters who live in the other slum. They consider them parasites leaching off an already weakened Fortuna city and strongly oppose the ideas of any of them becoming official citizens when the war ends and the reconstruction efforts begin. Southtoners also tend to be hostile towards Orientals, simply for the fact that there were very few orientals in Fortuna city before the war began, and most will assume that any oriental they meet is, or at least once was, a squatter come to 'steal their homes and jobs'. Orientals who originally WERE Fortunans tend to be overly-patriotic towards the Southton 'cause' as to not be confused with the immigrants and thus be subject to the same exclusion.

Squatter Slums

The squatter slums are the section of the slums that stretch out beyond Fortuna's natural walls. Those who were victimized by the barbarian invasions and turned away at every other city came to Fortuna seeking a final form of refuge. They did not find it but as they had no where else to turn, they formed a settlement outside the walls of Southton which eventually became the area known as the Squatter slums. The Squatters Feel unjustly turned away by the Fortunan slummers who look down on them as if they were insects, simply for having the misfortune of not having anywhere else to go. To avoid having both slums erupt in violent combat while Fortuna was already dealing with one civil war, the Jackal Mercenaries stepped in and destroyed a large section of Fortuna's south gate and then expanded the walls of Fortuna to encompass the squatter slums as well, though they were obviously hastily and sloppily built walls that stood in stark contrast to the majestic architecture of the Heirarchs. still, they claimed the Squatters as honorary citizens and opened the entertainment district to them if ever they wanted to spend their money there, an area they would have to cross the Southton slums to get to. under the protection of the Jackals and, by extension, Gray himself, the squatters have been able to etch out a living in their new home and, out of respect for the jackals, try to avoid confrontation with the Southerners as much as possible, or at least, they aren't the ones who go pick the fights, most of the time.

Domain of the Brotherhood of Wisdom, it is the most secluded of the 4 districts. Nearly entirely self-sufficient, the West district is the center of the brotherhood's secret activities and research. Impregnable for all save the brothers and sisters themselves, it has seen the most change in landscape since the war, having lost 70% of its urban area.

The Arcane Academy

The greatest domain of magical learning and research in the world, the Arcane academy is part school, part research facility and part temple. The Heirarchs are greatly worshiped here and it is with the goal of uplifting their souls closer to that of the Heirarchs that they pursue knowledge on he magical arts. The academy is divided between four houses, each specializing in a different school of magic and each possessing a Master Mage that oversees it. Each master has a seat on the Council of Tomes which is over-seen by the head-master of the academy.


Hell Gorge

The Brotherhood's method of ensuring that the north district can no longer expand. Inspiring themselves from their Heirarch masters, the mages of the brotherhood dug up a giant canyon separating themselves from the Monarchy and then laced it with curses. However, they knew that this alone would not be enough to keep out the monarchy forever, so they erected a large barrier on their side of the canyon, placed automated magical turrets around its perimeter to shoot down anyone attempting to fly above the gorge and filled the canyon with all matter of ferocious and uncontrollable chimera that would rip to shreds anyone attempting to pass through the gorge itself and avoid the turrets' fire.

Twilight Field

The eastern districts second and most important line of defense. Twilight Field was once a collections of small fields and gardens, separated by a rural network of small and beautiful houses and few facilities dedicated to the training of Academy mages when the closed-in walls of the academy itself were not sufficient. Now, nearly everything that was once there has been razed to the ground and the whole mass of land subject to innumerable illusions. As such the fields always seem to be shifting and swaying in color and shape as if the lade was imitating the sea, like a great astral mirage, thus the name. It is a beautiful spectacle to observe from afar, but stepping carelessly into the field where dreams become reality and reality no more than fantasy, is sure to guarantee a swift death, if not by the illusions breaking one's mind, then by the magical traps and beasts that roam the fields, having been adapted to the illusionary environment.

The Shimmering City

The sector in which all off the eastern sector's inhabitants reside. Named after how the Twilight Field's ephemeral glow makes the walls of the small city within a city shimmer and glow beautifully, especially at night. Though space is a bit lacking due to the great number of inhabitants versus the relatively small amount of space available, life within it is relatively peaceful as communication and cooperation between the different races has always been a great value found in the eastern district. it is also the only sector where there are more non-humans than there are humans, the latter only making up a quarter of the population. There are still, however, more humans than there are of any other single race.

[babbies123]

Woah. Jesus. On a stick. Dipped in barbeque sauce. Made of bacon.

This is quite possibly the best RP I've ever seen. And it's yet to have a full first post!

If, as i can only presume, you are still accepting, i shall have to use this spot to reserve my CS and to give me a reason to subscribe.

[Buio DiAngelo]

thank you very much babbies, i have been working on this for several days already and it is starting to wear me a bit thin (especially when i realize just how much is still left to do ^^; )

your encouragement is incredibly appreciated

[babbies123]

Well it looks great. And from the looks of what you already wrote, you've already got most of it down.

Also, a lil' home-brewed tip. If you're finding it hard to sit down for a while and type, try putting a mildly interesting thing on in the background on your computer, like a TV on demand thing, but something that you don't really need to look at to enjoy. That way, you can listen to it, and keep your attention mainly on the typing. Plus, if you look at it occasionally so as to understand a visual reference, it interrupts the monotony of pressing buttons.

[TimmyTheVampire]

It's looking awesome!
And now the Map will add to it and my and cramp will all be worth it :3

[Buio DiAngelo]

lol that's actually not my problem. once i sit down i can write for hours on end. I once spent 7 hours writing on this. lately my problem is others distracting and interrupting me while i work (family mostly) and getting the motivation to actually sit down and start working.

[Glitchybugger]

Awesome to see an ooc up mow dude, however lacking in content compared to the finished thing.

[Buio DiAngelo]

lol, well, like i said, this is really just to show you guys that i'm actually working on this and to give you a little taste of what things are gonna be like.

[babbies123]

The, uh, map isn't showing for me.

[Buio DiAngelo]

>.<

---------- Post added at 07:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:55 PM ----------

there, that should be better. it's an old version of the map that has an error in the legend (Old Northton and The Chimera Lairs should be switched) but it's better than nothing