The room was dimly lit, and it stunk of cigarette smoke. The only light source seemed to be from a single lamp, hanging from the ceiling, and the light of day shining through the blinds behind the desk. This was enough light to see the state of the room.

Papers occupied nearly every flat surface, including the floor around desks and tables. The top of a small TV was covered in them, and an old-fashioned turn-dial phone looked threatened to be overwhelmed by them. However, your attention was drawn to the desk in front of you. For behind that desk sat your possible employer.

She was a woman, who appeared to be in her mid twenties insofar as you could guess, though being in her early or late twenties was not entirely out of the question. Her red hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she wore a white shirt. Her skin was pale, and she leaned back in her seat as she surveyed you. An ash tray sat on her desk, issuing smoke from a recently-discarded cigarette. The ash tray itself was much like the rest of the room: filled with clutter.

The woman's eyes, which matched her hair, regarded you behind thin-framed glasses. She was neither tall nor short. Her appearance certainly was not unattractive, she was rather pretty to be truthful, but her expression was a focused, almost harsh one. She took a deep breath, and the cigarette in her mouth burned down further. She took it from her mouth and blew out smoke, then raised an eyebrow at you.

"You don't have to look so worried, " she began, cracking a smile, "I'm not going to eat you. I guess you're here for the openings?"

Nod.

"Well then, let's see your credentials..."

You offered her a paper, and she took it from you. She looked it over, her expression becoming serious once more. "Hmm... interesting, interesting... you think you'll make a good detective, then?"

Nod.

"Well..." she shrugged, "I was asking for new employees, and now you're here. It's not as if I see any reason to turn you away, your skills look pretty useful."

She took another drag on her cigarette, then blew the smoke out. "So, you're hired."

---

Unexplainable crimes that defy human ability.

A detective agency that only some people can see.

Deep in Kawa City, there lies what appears to be an empty lot. For some reason, this lot has been left untouched by builders. Some go to survey it, but they always dismiss it for some reason. It's simply ruled to be a place that's impossible to build on, for one reason or another. However, there are some people, some people with... gifts, that are capable of seeing what lies in this supposedly empty lot. Anyone considered supernatural is capable of piercing the veil that hides what lies there.

The Fu Sonzai no Gensō detective agency deals strictly in cases beyond the realm of local law enforcement. Those who are able to see it go to it to have cases of an unusual nature solved. Cases that someone with mere human capability could not possibly have perpetrated.

And now, it's hiring.

---

For starters, there's some information about the setting that's kind of important.

Magi: Capable of magic, invoked by spells and symbols, sometimes in conjunction with one another. Magical prowess is passed through bloodlines, some families having more or less mana then others. Magi will have an affinity, which can range from things like fire to gravity to numbers. Affinities(which are also passed through bloodlines) are not limited to the affinity itself, but also includes things that are conceptually linked to it. For example, a mage with an affinity for fire would also excel at spells involving "consumption", "ignition", and "destruction". Magi can preform spells outside their affinity, though it is more difficult to learn. Affinities cannot be for anything entirely man-made.
Note: The most powerful mage in this setting has an affinity for mana. They will not be appearing in this RP, and mana as an affinity is strictly off-limits.
Onmyouji: Magical practioners utilizing onmyodo as opposed to western methods of magic. They are similar(magic is passed through bloodlines, they have the same affinities), yet their methods are fundamentally different. Effectively they use the same magic, but with different methods. Onmyouji use ofuda to cast spells, which can be applied to objects or even bodies for a variety of effects. Onmyouji are also adept at preforming exorcisms.
Magic Traits: Some magi and onmyouji families possess a special "magic trait", an inherent magical ability connected to their affinity. These are quite uncommon, but they still exist. They require no spellcasting, and usually give some edge in ability. The magic trait "Illusion Break", for example, passively destroys illusions as the mage or onmyouji draws close to them. It also enables them to see through illusions.
Homunculi: Artificial humans created via a union of raw materials and a soul, homunculi are able to be created to a variety of specifications, from creating an ideal assassin to creating someone with the power to boost abilities. They have personalities and thoughts of their own, and an infinite lifespan. Most homunculi will hit a certain age and cease to age beyond that. Homunculi are NOT common, due to difficulties involved in creating them and the inability to simply create souls meaning some kind of sacrifice must be involved.
Vampires: Rather straightforward, vampires are human in appearance, and must drink blood to survive. They are faster and stronger then humans, and capable of regenerating from any damage that does not destroy either the heart or the brain. The sun weakens them and causes them to fall unconscious, but they will recover when out of the sun. Vampires are frozen at the age they were turned, and cannot die of old age.
Yokai: A variety of supernatural creatures dwelling in Japan. These include kitsune, tsukomogami, oni, and many more variants. Their powers and appearances vary greatly. Some yokai have human or very humanoid appearances, (note: Ones played in this RP should be of this kind). Others can shapeshift to take such an appearance(Note: Also acceptable). They are universally possessed of a longer lifespan then most humans(barring things that can cause immortality or lengthen lives).
Familiar: Familiars are beings created by magi from mana. They are existences brought into being by a sustained donation of mana and a reinforcement of existence. Their abilities and appearance are entirely up to the magi who created them, but they must be sustained with mana in order to continue existing. They also require belief in their existence by their creator. Few familiars survive loss of this belief. I do not expect many characters to be familiars, and it must be discussed with me beforehand if you desire to create one.
Assassins: The Assassins are not intended to be a usual presence in this RP, though a mage or other figure can be a part of them. They are a highly secretive organization that operates from the shadows, recruiting orphaned children(giving them a home in exchange for training them to kill) and volunteers. The training methods lead to even the assassins who lack supernatural abilities being capable of collapsing a man's ribcage with their bare hands, or firing a rifle with their feet. While members of the organization may have their own motives, as a whole their the organization's desire is very simple: There are people who want other people killed and will pay to have them killed. Someone needs to collect that money.

Now that that's over with, this RP is based heavily upon solving mysteries. And magic. Both will feature extensively in the RP. Player characters are to be employees of the Fu Sonzai no Gensō detective agency. This means that, by default, they must have some kind of supernatural ability. There is a Masquerade in place, so normal people won't know about the supernatural.

---

Bios:
Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Abilities:
Weapons/Equipment:
Brief Backstory:

---

Name: Ando Toshiko
Age: 27
Appearance: She's a bit of a blatant expy. ^^;
Personality: Toshiko enjoys spending life with people she cares about, and generally makes for fairly pleasant company. However, she will change her behavior depending on the situation. When talking to employees, she is friendly, calm, and kind. When speaking with a perpetrator, for example, she makes a drastic change, approaching cruelty. In addition, it is not difficult to rouse her to anger and she has a remarkable lack of patience for someone who has taken a profession as a detective. When sufficiently angered, she will remove her glasses and and begin taking things extremely seriously. She enjoys cigarettes and seems to have something against organizing her office. Toshiko's ultimate goal is to attain immortality, as well as ensure no-one causes too many problems that interfere with having a pleasant life. Toshiko is terrible with money and spends incredibly frequently, sometimes on magical items and other times on things she simply thinks are interesting.
Abilities: Toshiko has Fire as her Affinity. As such, she is highly skilled in spells relating to fire. She is capable of casting spells by "carving" symbols in the air using a lit cigarette. Notable among her spells is an Instant Ignition spell. While it requires a full magic circle to be "carved" in the air, it will instantly ignite a target. As Toshiko's affinity is fire, she is also skilled with spells involving "consumption", "ignition", and "destruction". In addition, she has learned spells outside of her affinity. These spells are primarily wards and illusions, which she uses to conceal the Fu Sonzai no Gensō building from the eyes of regular humans.
Weapons/Equipment: Toshiko has a great deal of cigarettes with her at almost all times. Not only does she like them, but they aid her casting. She also has a suitcase, though she doesn't actually use it to store any important items... She says it houses something interesting and leaves it at that.
Brief Backstory: Toshiko was born into the Ando family, a family of magi with the goal of accessing the plane of existence the gods dwell on. Early in life, Toshiko was mentored in magic by her grandfather. When she reached her late teens, she was sent to a Mage Circle in London to train. It was here that she chose to abandon her family's goal, firmly believing it to be unattainable. While her family was initially outraged by her decision, they eventually relaxed and came to accept their daughter. This was, in part, because Toshiko's sister had not displayed the same desire to give up. Deciding to pursue the goal of immortality, Toshiko returned to Japan and founded the Fu Sonzai no Gensō detective agency in an effort to ensure pleasant life wasn't disrupted. Also to make money.

---

Approved Profiles:
Ando Toshiko, head of Fu Sonzai no Genso
Amjad Mār Ummiānu
Yukimura Chikane
Iwajima Jun
Tachibana Sokichi
Jeffery Fajardo
Enoch Roswell
Tybalt Pierce
Tomoe Akihiko
Eika
Nex Akiza

Awh yiss, is this a Garan no Dou-inspired RP?

Well, given that I absolutely love the Kara no Kyoukai films I can safely say it was one of the sources of inspiration.

The setting itself is one I've had for a while now, inspired by a few sources including the Nasuverse. ^^;

I suppose Toshiko's appearance made it really obvious though.

Aaactually, I might be interested. I'm not familiar with (some) of the inspirations, though I know others, but I find the concept intriguing. It'll depend on if I can get a decent idea, though. XD

You don't need to know the inspirations. ^^; Just pay attention to the information in the signups. Um, as in the race information and that stuff and all.

Oh wow, this looks really interesting. The mention of 'gravity' as an example affinity got me thinking of a character, so I'll see if I can get a CS up soon.

Looking forward to it!

Affinities, as stated, can be a whole lot of things.

Do the symbols have to be concretely written? Like with ink, smoke, dust, etc.?

It depends on the kind of magic you're doing. Or spell. Or a lot of things.

Words are important to any spell, though.

I had a hard time writing up his personality, for whatever reason, but here it is.

Name: Nathan Patel
Age: 22

Personality:
Nathan tends to seem like an aloof person who's always kind of out-of-it. This is because he's always visualizing the room he is in from every possible angle, due to his magic.
This constant focus on his surroundings means he'll often miss bits of conversation, giving others the impression that he's an airhead. He's kind to his colleagues, and is always willing to help them out.

He's also quite competitive, a result of all the time he spent with his older brother. If he had his way, he'd be the one to solve every case the agency got. Receiving praise and recognition from his colleagues and superiors is one of the things he lives for.

He strongly believes in the law, and will get violent and angry with criminals no matter their reasons for doing what they did. You commit a crime, you're considered scum in his book. He does everything he can to keep innocent people safe, but if he has to endanger lives to catch a criminal, he will if he feels it's worth it. Above all though, he will listen to a superior's orders, no matter how he may feel about them.

Abilities:
Nathan's affinity is Gravity, specializing in 'control' magic. His spell repertoire is extremely limited, as he is only capable of using two spells effectively. And even those two spells are just variations of the same thing.

Both spells involve placing 'seals' on any object. When placing a seal, Nathan decides how to change the way gravity pulls on it. Will up be down? Will it go shooting forwards? Alternatively, he can give the object it's own gravitational pull, though this requires far more magic. The more seals he places on an object, the stronger the effect.

When touching an object, he can place a seal on it instantly. As the distance between him and the object grows, however, the length of time needed to place a seal on it exponentially increases.

Finally, he can place seals and leave them dormant until he wants them to activate. This allows him to set traps and the like.

Despite only having two spells, he can hold his own in a fight by getting creative. His favorite thing to do is to place seals on himself, as he can do so quickly and without a second thought. For example, in a hand-to-hand fight, he can place a seal on his first and change it's gravitational pull to give his punches extra strength and speed. He'll also change his gravity to help him move out of the way of oncoming hits, jump higher, and survive high falls, among other things.

Weapons/Equipment:
Nathan always has plenty of coins on him that he'll place seals on to turn them into surprise projectiles. He also has a basic magazine-fed handgun.

Brief Backstory:

Nathan was born in London, England to a family full of magi, the second eldest of five children. As his father was always away due to his job, Nathan and his older brother, Isaac, were the only boys in the house. The two stuck together and spent a lot of time with each other as a result of this.

After turning 18 and graduating, Nathan joined the local police force and began to study part time at a nearby college, majoring in accounting.

During this time, Isaac developed an obsession with Yokai, and went to Japan to see them in person. Soon after, the family lost contact with him, and eventually believed him to be dead, though no body could be found.

Unable to accept that Isaac was gone, Nathan quit his job and schooling, leaving for Japan to search for him. His family was opposed to this, but he largely ignored them.

He soon found out about the existence of Fu Sonzai no Gensō, and immediately applied, as he was low on cash and the prospect of being able to use his magic to keep peace excited him.

Okay, it's a bit late so I might be missing something, but it doesn't look like his spells involve actual spells. More just touching the objects. There needs to be some kind of spell there, even if he recites it in his head. It's how Western Magic(and onmyodo sort of) work.

---

Name: Amjad Zulqarnain

Age: 16

Appearance: Apprentice Investigator & Creator of Mystic Items

Personality: Initially Amjad comes across as an uncaring lad with little qualms in voicing his thoughts on a matter, with no regard to how appropriate those thoughts really are. Sometimes this aspect of him can actually be pretty useful, kick-starting a stagnant thought process or offering a perspective on a matter that was not considered before hand. Most of the time it's just weird and/or annoying. Unfortunately, things like jokes and metaphors more often than not go over him the first few times until he finally 'grasps' what they mean, in which case he'll probably find them unfunny or silly. On top of this, Amjad actually has a difficult time telegraphing and identifying his own emotions, all of it being tell tale signs of some degree of Alexithymia. While this would undoubtedly be the clinical conclusion, the source of this personality disorder is linked to his practice of Severing magic and an overuse of it while learning his magecraft.

When it comes down to it, Amjad is a very logical person who excludes emotions when it comes to making decisions - although not due to his lack of trying. It wouldn't be inaccurate to say that his magic affinity and his dedication to his craft have ruined him on some levels. But you could also see how similar things are inevitable for most mages, they operate on a different wavelength than most and Amjad just happened to tune into it earlier. Despite all of this, he's eager to try and please others in the face of his...quirks.

Abilities: Amjad's affinity is the idea of 'Binding'. This Affinity lends its self to Amjad's craft as a 'mystic artisan', a creator of objects and items with magic endowments. Most of Amjad's spells revolve around this craft, with little application beyond it other than the odd exception. Amjad has spent years refining his bloodline magic, using 'Severing' in tandem with his Binding affinity. While Severing is not his affinity, it is the only other area of magic he has invested significant amounts of time into, and the one which makes the most sense to study outside of Binding. There are many ways for Amjad to go about casting his spells, some more effective than others, but common aspects of his spell-casting are gratuitous amounts of spoken words, symbol drawing and alchemy. The average ritual for Amjad takes about about an hour, with fifteen minutes being a 'quick' spell. Evidently, the more 'powerful' an item is, the more time consuming and difficult it is to actually cast the appropriate spell. As a result of his craft Amjad has a very keen eye for details, as well as being a skilled metalsmith, calligrapher and alchemist who has a large selection of languages at his disposal (something which also plays a large part in his spell-casting), both written and spoken.

The affinity of Binding also gives Amjad some skills in spells falling under the parameters of 'Illusion'. With Amjad's abilities he certainly isn't fit for anything like direct combat, but he has been shown to be incredibly astute for his age - a lot of potential for an apprentice investigator.

Weapons/Equipment: Engraving tools, a variety of hammers and alchemy kits, a curved knife.

Brief Backstory: What if one day a kid came to your office, looking for some sort of apprenticeship in investigation work and then claiming he was part of a bloodline of magicians going back as far as when the Fertile Crescent was still a thing? Well, that's pretty much exactly what happened with Amjad. The bloodline of which Amjad is part of actually has no real 'name' as such, and so they were given the title Mār Ummiānu; artisan in Akkadian. The title persevered as did the bloodline through their trade and secrecy. Mystic artisans were far more of a presence during that era of ancient history but their work was always impressive, usually employed in the services of a monarch of some kind. It is in the past millennia that the old ways of mystic artisans, Mār Ummiānu included, began to die out. Amjad carries ancient secrets of the craft in his blood, but his mana reserves are average at best. The Mār Ummiānu bloodline has become so old and stagnant it reached the point of steady degeneracy in its mana quality.

Amjad is highly secretive of his origins and how he came to learn the Mār Ummiānu crafting magic, but his young age implies there could be more than one of them out there - somewhere. As for why he's in Japan of all places? Amjad, in his eyes, has a very simple goal in premise; He wishes to create a legendary item, something that will go down in history alongside the likes of Excalibur, Kavacha, Ascalon and so on. He believes that Japan is the place to find the correct ingredients, and investigation work is the way to find them. There's an issue with this story he tells, though; he seems unsure specifically what he's actually looking for in Japan. This just begs the question - what is he really there for that requires such a flimsy cover?

Notes:
Makes a damn good coffee.
Has a decent enough understanding of electronics to fix basic household appliances.
Can actually bind ghosts and other incorporeal creatures to objects.
His surname is a cover, as not to rouse any unwanted attention.
tl;dr mystic code crafting weirdo

Question: Would an affinity with force be okay? Like, force fields and just pure energy? I'm not quite sure how to put it.

He would be able to summon blasts of force, create force shields, etc.?

@Art of Fun: Okay, let's see...

I don't mind any of this honestly. ^^; Severing and Binding sounds pretty neat and magical items are totally a thing in the setting and all.

However, given what he does, I feel like I might need to give a brief rundown of exactly how supernatural artifacts work in this setting and what kinds there are. Since there are multiple different types and all. Though I don't want to get too into it so I'll ask if you want to hear it first. ^^;

@Maki Casanova: Hmm. Um, well, to start with "Force" as an Affinity would probably pertain to the actual physics sense of the word. Meaning spells allowing blasts of force work, while force shields not so much. There's defensive spells though.

I'd like that! Glad it's all okay.

Okay, well. There's magical objects, which are created through... a lot of ways really. Then there's alchemical devices, which are magical items created via alchemy Then there's conceptual weapons, which are very rare and include some incredibly scary things(for example, the Futsu no Mitama no Tsurugi is a conceptual weapon in this setting. It embodies the concept of death, and as such it is the absolute death of everything that kills even that which has no concept of death). Then there's blessed items, which are the result of the acts of a Saint or other high-ranking representative of a deity blessing an item to imbue it with holy power and enhance its capabilities, especially against vampires and demons(who are not in this RP as playable mostly because they tend to be pretty strong). Then there's holy items which are basically holy from the start and therefore more powerful...

The biggest one to bring up is Saint's Tools, since you mention Ascalon which is a Saint's Tool in this setting. Saint's Tools are items that only a Saint(basically a person chosen by a god of any religion) can wield. They are incredibly powerful and impossible for humans to create, though weaker replicas can be produced. Saint's Tools can range from things like Ascalon to in one notable case the Saint's own body. There's holy protection on Saint's Tools keeping them from being altered or changed in any way unless it is by something on their level or higher.

Holy Protection can be broken but that's by extreme levels of power that we won't be seeing in this RP(or the Futsu no Mitama). Not that we'll be seeing it in this RP. Or Saint's Tools, for that matter.

Basically, what would be possible for magi to create is magical items, which are very very versatile and come in a lot of different kinds.

... Hopefully that did not go on too long or get too complicated. ^^;

Makes perfect sense, don't worry about it. Thanks for the rundown.

Right, eh-heh.

Looking forward to the characters, Toshiko is going to have some interesting new employees.

If you're still accepting players, could a character with no natural supernatural abilites be given supernatural abilities by an outside force, like a small oni that follows him around and acts as a master/teacher/guide. Obviously, the giver of the powers would have his own agenda (determined by the GM) that I would have to work towards or lose my powers.

Someone with no supernatural powers would have to be given an object or something like that. You can't simply develop them, they have to be in your blood(if you're a mage or onmyouji, at least).

Well... people have tried, I suppose, but those were unpleasant people doing unpleasant experiments and it ended unpleasantly.

I'm still accepting, though.