Deus ex Machina

By the hand of God. Often referring to a situation so impossible, so coincidental, so perfect, that it can not occur without the help of a greater being. These greater beings have power. Terrible power. And just like humans, they too fight for the supreme power. However war leads to destruction. If human quarles lead to such destruction, the wars of the Gods would be enough to end far more than the puny Earth that humans reside on. That did not stop these Divine Beings from destroying one another. Perhaps the most notable war was between Zeus and Cronus. They fought with each other face to face, causing havoc and destruction in their wake. This was the last war to be waged. After this horrid display, something had to be done. The major deities came together and devised a more... Civil plan to settle disputes. A game. Played by the Gods. Their pieces? Humanity. A contender in the game recruits a single human to be their vassel. This can be done only with the human's consent. However, a God will merely have to give them one wish, and they will obey without question. That is the greedy nature of humanity. The God then blesses his Vassel, and a contract is formed. The Vassal now has a small piece of their Contractor's power. The game ends once only one Vassal remains. He is rewarded for his efforts by his patron God, now the supreme ruler of the cosmos until defeated in the games. After the game ends the current Vassal is relieved of his contract, and the game begins anew, immediately. Normally these conflicts have little effect on the world. However there have been times where they have lead to massive wars. This is not one such occasion. This game takes place in Paris. The Vassals may come from all over the world, but they for some reason all met in Paris. You can say by... The Hands of a God

Characters

The main characters of this RP are the Vassals. Only Two Vassal per player. However, the Vassals Contractor is an important character, and will be treated as an important NPC, often informing your Vassal of what to do, what is at stake, etc. They may also end up speaking to other Gods in the game. The gods never should engage any other being in combat. If that should happen "Justice" will smite them. Justice was created with power from all the Gods when the game was established, to prevent the Gods from getting directly involved. If you wish to play a second real character, or there are no more Vassal slots/Don't want to play one, feel free to do so. Adding in some bystanders will allow for more drama in this RP.

This is not a comedy. This is a Drama. Characters will die.





Rules

-Be relatively active

-When it comes to combat don't be that one asshole who never gets hit

-I do not currently have a death situation quite yet, but once I have one that works, I would rather not have anyone complaining. Thats why you have the extra bystander option (And why the games are so... open-ended...)

-If you have a question please ask me(This one is important!)

-Add a little extra somethin' somethin' to your CS if you have read this. Let's say... Pickleperks. Put that somewhere in your CS

-I'm no hard ass, and I do like an innovated character, but so long as the character fits into the rp. Please don't try to import a character you had in a previous RP without editing it. Make sure the character fits in the world provided.

-Sexy times are fun. Just remember to take it to private messages. Just the site rules.

I will be working on a dice system
For this rp
Begin. I will likely expand on this Opening post as time wears on

Just looking for interest right now, but feel free to make a cs or ask questions

Name: Arthur Geoffrey Shepherd

Age: 30 years old

Gender: Male

Nationality:

He hales from Phoenix, Arizona, until he hailed from a rain cloud.

Vassel of:
I'm not sure but I think you mispelled Vessel. Arthur is the Vessel/Vassel of Cernunnos

Equipment:
A Shotgun, I don't know anything about guns, so let's just say it's a triple gauge.

Powers:
He can understand the magic from any grimoire, any spellbook, and learn them instantly.

He can brew magical potions which are superior to any mortals.

He already knows the basics of magic just by having Cernunnos as his superior. So he can use any magic at it's basic level, even without requirements met for the lower level magic. (Like, causing things to move just through his sheer will is easy. Trying to lift a Mach Truck will take heavy strength and concentration) He isn't a magician though, so he has to learn better magics through studying.

He can speak with animals, or even plants and they can grant him effective information.

He has premonitions which can be a gift of opportunity, a warning against danger, or a prompting to strike first against an enemy.

Once he marks someone in his mind as "Prey", he gains mystically granted advantages against that person in order to track them down and take them out. This is when he gains the power to fight, master every weapon, and way to hunt and enemy down by using his circumstial powers.

He has remote viewing/clairvoyance of the present time, meaning he can view areas from a great distance away with his mind.

He is supernaturally strong and can grant higher strength to any man. Women don't receive his power of strength since Cernunnos's purview is more focused on the male. (Namely testosterone). Although he can focus to gain higher strength, if he overloads he can enter a dangerous berserk state.

Lastly, he can shape raw magic into a shield around him or a blast of energy against his enemies. He needs concentration to do this, and isn't experienced.

He is instinctively extremely gifted with all archaic fighting, with swords, bows and arrows, spears, axes, swords, etcetera, in a way that no one can be just born knowing how to fight. He is a better swordsman than Zorro, is capable of firing a bow and arrow one thousand meters, blind folded, somehow, can fight like a Samurai Master with Medieval Japanese weapons, and knows the Human and animal anatomy so good he can fight like a born Master assassin.

**This is circumsantial, for instance**

Personality:
He's happy, introvertive, but pleasant, smart, respectful and capable of great awareness of his surroundings through focus. He usually doesn't have that focus and loses concentration to anything. He can be very charismatic if he tries, however.

History:
(Important. What was your character's reason for forming the Contract)

Appearance:

While it does seem like that, and Google reuses to refer to it as a word, Vassel is indeed a word... though I misspelled that. It's Vassal. It refers to a person in medieval times in service to a Lord in exchange for something. They are a vessel, yes, but I went with Vassal because of the nature of their agreement

What time is this set in?

Also, I would like to play a vassal to one of the primordial Greek gods (Nyx to be precise), one of the gods that was born of Chaos rather than another god. Would that be accepted?

Modern times. Modern physics. Powers come from Gods. And you can make up your own deity so sure, Nyx is great

Age: 25

Gender: Female

Nationality: French

Vassal of: Nyx, the Primordial Goddess of the Night

Equipment:

The clothes she wears. Clever Lilith is terrible in a fight.

Powers:

Illusions: Lilith Ames has the ability to create powerful, realistic illusions the minds of those around her. This is limited by her concentration, and is more difficult to sustain if the target realizes that it is an illusion.

Dream Walking: The ability to enter and influence the dreams of others. This power is significantly weaker in day dreams than when the target is fully asleep.

Persuasion: The ability to push a target towards a particular view point or decision. Not exactly mind control, but it has its pickleperks.

Detection: The ability to tell truth from lie.

Personality: Cat-like and unpredictable, Lilith is an intelligent, well spoken young woman who is prey to her moods. She is untrusting and skeptical of people she does not know. Sarcastic rather than funny, loyal to a fault once her loyalty is won, and given to worry. Her abilities would undoubtably be more fun if she wasn’t plagued with a moral conscience.

History: Lilith is the first daughter born to a dentist and a surgeon, who defied her parents plans for her life by majoring in art rather than medicine. To pay her tuition she worked as a tattoo artist in the Bronx, and was at work there when her younger sister gave her the news. Elle Ames, age 19 had been diagnosed with inoperable stage 4 pancreatic cancer. In a dangerous trade with the Goddess of the Night, Lilith became Nyx’s vassal in return for her sister’s health.

Appearance:


Lilith is five foot, two inches tall and weighs about a hundred pounds. Hey eyes are a pale grey, her hair black. The vassal’s left shoulder, right arm, back, sides, and left thigh are covered in a swirling black tribal tattoo made of thousands of tiny ravens

If you have any questions or would like me to fill out any of the sections, jut let me know.

Age
17

Gender
Female

Nationality
En Francais

Vassel of Arduinna
Gallic: Goddess of the Forest and the Hunt

Equipment
Always has a few knives on hand, and a silenced pistol.  However in at the convent she takes residency in, she has an arsenal full of the tools of an assassin.  They are hidden in the gardens.

Powers:
-Chameleon: Not invisibility, however Claire has this strange ability to blend into her surroundings. It doesn't require her to change her appearance.  It just simply... happens

-Presence Canceling:  Claire can conceal her presence.  Cancelling her breath, footsteps, body heat.  She can still be seen with this ability, but that would be the only way to tell she is nearby.

-Marksman:  Blessed by the Goddess of the Hunt, Claire is perhaps the best marksman in the world.  She can account for wind speed, movement speed, and trajectory with minimal thought required.  She will only miss when something does not follow the norm. (i.e. target has speed and can dodge in time, suddenly being attacked by the time she strikes.)

-Sensory Augmentation: Claire has heightened senses, allowing her to scan her surroundings, and an increased reaction speed.

-Superhuman Speed:  Claire is far more agile and flexible than the average human, allowing for quick getaways, and dodges.  She also has slightly boosted strength, but it is one that is possible to obtain naturally.

-Favor of the Forest:  Allows for plant manipulation, minor earth control, and an affiliation for animals.

Personality
On the surface, Claire appears to be a normal girl.  She is a good student, and attends Church regularly, as is mandated by the Convent that has taken her in. She attends to her duties there, after study hours of the convent.  She is a fine student and a hard worker.  She is friendly enough.  But underneath is a broken girl.  One who longs for vengeance.  She is a political assassin, and an anarchist.  She cares for little else in the world, save another young orphan in the Convent.

History
"Guilty."

The word still resonates in her head, shortly followed by the judges gavel pounding out the sentence.  That was the moment that started it all.

It all started years before now.  She was a privileged child.  Her father was a politically active man.  Her mother was a frail woman, who could not take much stress.  However they were a fine family.  Her father often held parties, and she was shown off to the mass of rich folk and politicians.  However, at one such party, tragedy struck.  One of the help was discovered dead in one of the bedrooms.  Due to his sudden disappearance, during the party before the body was discovered, he was one of the prime suspects.  Later, it was discovered that he was having an affair with the women.  This only raised suspicion of his guilt.

The ruling passed, and he was sentenced to life in prison.  Well he would have none of that.  He killed himself only six months into his sentence.  At that point his wife lost her mind.  She believed he was still alive.  She was sent to a Clinic to be cared for.  Just like that, her family had collapsed.  She ran, before she could be taken into custody.  It was then that she was blessed by the presence of a God.  She promised the young girl the power to seek revenge, if, and only, she would fight for her when the time should arise.  She was only 10 at the time.

All records of her existence had disappeared.  She was given a new name: Claire Blanc, and taken in by the Convent. She had done little with the power given to her until 4 years after.  She had discovered that the judge that had given her father the sentence.  She did not care whether his father was innocent or not.  She wanted the man who destroyed her family dead.  That was the first time she had killed a man.  She discovered that he was bribed to give the sentence.  By a rival politician, no less.  She shot him.  A few drops littered her face.  But she did not care.  This government was corrupt, and evil.  She was the one to cleanse it completely.



I have an inspector and the aforementioned orphan in the workings

@Sonatina
Looks good. Just a little curious as to why she agreed to the pact

@ActRaiserTheReturned
You might want to change up the style of his abilities. I like the idea of ancient magics, but maybe explain what they are.

And feel free to add more skills both of you

@Sonatina
Looks good. Just a little curious as to why she agreed to the pact.

She became a vassal in order to save her sister rather than out of a desire to use the power that came with the position. Her sister was beyond the help of modern medicine, but not beyond the help of the gods.

I apologize for posting twice. The forum is more difficult to work on my phone.

You have my interest, unfortunately I won't able to start on a CS till morning.

tis fine tis fine
and accepted you two

@Reanimator Bob

Basically, Arthur can use any magic that a Witch, Warlock, Sorcerer or Wizard can use as long as it's at it's lowest level, without learning it, at will. For instance, if there's a wizard who could cause a blizzard of ice to cover all of New York, Arthur could freeze a large house hold, maybe a manor or rich guy's home at most. Or less, perhaps, maybe he could just send a chill wind at his enemies that make it very difficult and frigid for them to move.

For more powerful magical abilities, things that take people hours, days, maybe weeks, months or even years to learn, Arthur actually learns them in an hour. He might still have to use the right objects and movements with hands and the use of spoken magic words to make a spell work, but he could use them effectively almost instantaneously. However, even then, he can use this magical power at it's weakest basic level at will.

So Zeus'es thunderbolt, if it were written down in a Grimoire, might be more like a jolt of electricity strong enough to knock someone out instead of being capable of vaporizing giants and titans. As for his ability to just shape energy into magical abilities, he can conjure a magical shield made of unexplained energy to protect him, and fire a very strong projectile bludgeoning attack that could easily blast through a cutting edge military bunker in one hit. Like wise he could defend against extremely powerful spells with his forcefield, but the more powerful the magic he has to use, the more concentration it takes.

Finally, even his concentration has limits, and he can fail. IF he has an enemy that he marks as prey, he mystically learns of their fears and weaknesses so he can track them down and destroy them. Finally, if he's suspicious that magical abilities can't help him, he still has the power to channel super human strength and physical power great enough to astonish anyone who is new to the supernatural world. He's not as strong as the Hulk, but he is stronger than Spiderman who can lift up to ten tons. . . He can physically empower himself to lift up to seventy tons as per physical strength, but he would lapse into a berserker rage where he would have to be restrained or incapacitated somehow.

In gaining power from Cernunnos he can demonstrate up to ten tons without any loss of control. Up to twenty tons, he starts to become just slightly less in control of his mental faculties. Thirty tons, he is still only a little more foggy than usual, but he might accidentally land an unfortunate blow on a comrade. Forty tons, he could start to lose control as he tries to destroy his enemy, and could end up harming an ally severely when he's only trying to to fight. At fifty tons, he is in danger of lapsing into a berserker rage where he doesn't care if he starts to suffer bodily injury. At sixty tons, he's forty percent likely to succumb to a berserker rage and could very easily wind up doing something like throwing cars, tanks, and trucks, ending up with the unintended deaths of innocent bystanders. At seventy tons, he is sixty five percent likely to lose control of himself and needs to be put to sleep with a spell, some kind of technological tranquilizer, exotic techniques, etcetera, or if necessary, even death.

I like the idea. Just understand that this is still the modern world in its current state. So things like magical grimoires would not really be a very easily uncovered thing, and most would disregard it as phony and medieval superstition, and that their powers derive from their contractor, and as such their powers would likely reflect the God they serve

I like the idea. Just understand that this is still the modern world in its current state. So things like magical grimoires would not really be a very easily uncovered thing, and most would disregard it as phony and medieval superstition, and that their powers derive from their contractor, and as such their powers would likely reflect the God they serve

There are places throughout the world that have museums with real grimoires, and some people actually use them. For example, the Raudskinna still exists.

Of course, but his ability to use these grimoires and understand them so easily comes from his god

We're probably on the same page, just wanna confirm

@Reanimator Bob

I would try to make a character, with a technology god but eh... its an iffy idea

@Reanimator Bob

That's right. It's a passive ability that he has with him at all times. Like Sailor's Repose or other powers from Skyrim. (Google if you want).

@WanderingSpirit Technology would likely fall into several kinds of categories. God of the Forge, God of (Insert form of energy), and God of Knowledge. You can make one of your own though, in a different form though, so don't worry. The powers are what matter really

@ActRaiserTheReturned Cool! Accepted. Feel free to give it a name for flavor though