The apocalypse. The end of the world. That was the only way people who witnessed the days of the Old One, as it cut a swathe of destruction across the world. A hideous incarnation of primal destruction that rose from the depth of the earth to bring about the end of the world.
There had always been vague stories of the apocalypse, the coming of some ancient avatar of destruction that was prophesied to one day set upon the earth. For the religious men it had always been just a little way away. Each generation was the end times. And each generation passed without incident. Technology grew and people lost interest in much of that old fear and mysticism.
That was until the day the earth split and the great cities of man burned.
When the moon shone red in the smoke-choked sky and humanity faced the summation of its most old and primal fears.
It had no name. They called it many things. After the dust had settled, generations after the burning times, people would refer to it in hushed voices as The Old One.
A god of destruction and death and infinite malice, charged with taking apart the world and returning it to the days before light and life.
And it very nearly succeeded. So many died in those times. And so much progress was lost forever. Armies set loose their greatest and most advanced weapons in hopes of destroying this horrifying thing, and in doing so they would seem to blast it apart, only to watch in dismay as it reformed, unharmed.
Humanity stood on the verge of extinction when a man stepped forward with nothing but an ancient book in one hand.
The man's name was Gabriel Herne, and he would be responsible for saving the world. A man of mystic knowledge and power, Gabriel knew that The Old One could not be killed. It was a force of nature, a constant that the world could never be rid of once awoken. Something like that could not simply cease to exist. The man had pored through every source, every old text he could find until the solution had present itself before him.
The Old One could not be killed.
But it could be split.
He faced the horrific thing, looked into the face of madness and death, spoke the words he'd spent years of his life searching for, and tore the Old One apart.
That is the story told to near any child when they are young. The story of Gabriel the magician and how he saved the world from this walking death. Of course a century has passed since then. None live who remember the burning times, and even even if they did, few who could say they knew anything about what transpired in the epic battle that took place.
That said, it was true enough that Gabriel Herne did manage to save the world.
What was left of it anyway.
The world is far from what it could have been.
They say that once mankind had all sorta of wonderful technology that every man, woman and child could make use of. These days tech is a luxury. Unless you are a Lord or Lady, have cosied up to the latter, or are obscenely wealthy, the level of advancement would be little better than medieval times.
The land it split up into provinces that the Lords and Ladies rule over. For all the regal titles, these people are essentially warlords. Either they were vicious enough to hold the lands their mothers or father took after the burning times, or they were vicious enough to take it from someone else. They range from the fair but unspeakably tough, to the out and out psychopathic.
People aren't just more medieval in their technological level...but medieval in their attitudes. People are highly adherent to new gods and cults. They're wary of strangers. They hate and fear things that are strange or unnatural.
Which makes the occurrence of the Witch Gene even more tragic.
The influence of the old one, the dark energy it left in its wake, had a lingering influence, not just on the land itself, but the people.
A few years after the burning times children began being born with horrifying deformities. Claws, sharp teeth, single wings protruding from their shoulderblades. Progressively these things also manifested as strange, dark abilities.
People were disgusted by these tainted creatures, and shunned them. Most 'witch children' will not live past infancy, and those that do can anticipate a dangerous world.
And then, you have the Fragments. From time to time the reports filter through of death and destruction. Entire towns levelled and dozens of soldiers torn to pieces in the most horrific ways.
And if those stories are true then those who tell them might have run into something else. The people with guns and armour, and the silver badges that resemble a hunting hound. The hunters and jailers on whom the fate of the shattered world now rests. For it's known enough that the pieces of the Old One will seek to re-unite one day, and when they do, everything will be consumed with fire and darkness. The Wilde Jagd.
The time of year has once again arrived. The last of the snow has started to thaw from the foothills of Mount Koan where Hunter's Court, the fortress of the Wilde Jagd, stands. A intake of trainee hounds has arrived to begin the first steps of their gruelling training.
But this year, it's possible that not all are completely human..
A small cabal of Fragments have a plan to destroy the Wilde Jagd from the inside.
Wilde Jagd
Wilde Jagd (lit 'Wild Hunt) was founded by the family of Gabriel Herne in the time following the escape of the fragments of the Old One as a means of retrieving them and returning them to indefinite confinement. With the burden proving too great to keep within the family, Wilde Jagd was a creation partially funded by the wealthy Lord Rodin, one of the more powerful, and relatively more benevolent, feudal lords.
Wilde Jagd operates out of one of Rodin's fortresses in the hills north of the province's main city, and, as a result of its funding, has access to old technology most would give their right arm in order to see. Computing devices, communication, advanced medical facilities, and working firearms.
A field agent of the Wilde Jagd is known as a Hound.
Hounds come from all walks of life and sometimes from far provinces, with Wilde Jagd proving a surprisingly unbiased employer, to the point that they are one of the few people who will take on Witches in their ranks. A Witch is treated with no less respect than his or her peers, and as such for the often reviled class of people, it is a very attractive prospect, to the point that many young Witches that would not see adulthood otherwise and up as trainees under Wilde Jagd.
Their kind treatment of their Hounds inspires a fierce loyalty as a result. Most Hounds have no problem putting themselves in danger in pursuit of the greater good, and that greater good is capturing the Fragments and returning them to imprisonment. This job is, of course, an extremely hazardous one. Death or severe injury on the job is a know and accepted risk.
However with so few prospects left, and the potential of fame and respect in the eyes of the people drives many to sign up for the arduous training.
Fragments
Fragment is the term given to the pieces of the Old One, the ancient god of death. Upon its split it was turn apart into a large number of individual entities which, left stunned by being forced suddenly into existence, were easily collected up and locked away from the world. Kept in isolation from each other, and from the outside, studied relentlessly, it's unclear if that was made some of them into killers, or whether they had always been that way.
Regardless, one day, the fortress once used to contain all of the Fragments, experienced the chaos of a mass break-out. People were killed, the places burned, and these pieces scattered across the world.
For ten years they've been free and walking amongst the human population.
A few have been recovered by Hounds in that time, and a great number of Hounds have died in pursuit of them. Whilst not all Fragments are inherently evil or malicious, some far from it, their destructive capacity alone has made them hugely dangerous.
And there are plenty of Fragments who more than live up to their name as Monsters.
A Fragment:
Appears human at first glance, but this form contains small flaws. Pointed teeth, or slitted eyes, or some other subtly monstrous trait.
Have a secondary, horrifying appearance that they will often revert to in order to fight.
Will not naturally age, however can die of near any other cause that a mortal can (albeit a fragment tends to be considerably more durable than the average man).
Retains one unnatural ability, even as a 'human'. This is near exclusively something frightening and destructive.
Can kill and consume other Fragments in order to gain their power. This is what Wilde Jagd fears the most, as it not only makes them far harder to fight, but also brings the Old One one step closer to returning.
If a Fragment is killed, their power will dissipate and spread out between all remaining living Fragments. This is similarly unwanted for Widle Jagd.
OOC Stuff
Wilde Jagd is a dark post-apocalpytic medieval-ish modern-ish fantasy focusing around the Wilde Jagd, a group trained to hunt and capture the pieces of a god of death that have taken living form.
A new intake of trainees have brought new faces to the ranks, but also potential infiltration.
The events will involve the training, the missions, and the potential betrayals that take place within them. There are a few wider plot ideas, but the general idea is to make it heavily character-driven and focus on developing the relationships between this group, both in their day to day lives, and faced with terrible dangers.
Please submit characters on the OOC thread for review before putting them on up in the characters tab. Place aren't really limited or anything but I like to check everything makes sense first.
Be polite in the OOC thread. Leave the bickering to the characters, lord knows they need the space.
Take as many characters as you can handle, but only if you're comfortable with juggling them.
Please be aware that for things to work out, the ratio of humans/witches and fragments needs to be at least even, preferably weighed toward the former. With that in mind, I will end up cutting off apps for fragments if it starts getting too weighed the other way.
If you want your character to do something that will have a major effect on the group, please talk it over with me first. I like to try and keep things adaptable and loose, leaving way for people to have their own sub-plots, but I often have my own unspoken stuff running through out so it's good to check nothing might clash. =)
A Fragment is a being that was created by the fracturing of the Old One at the end of the Burning Times by a spell cast by the famed mystic Gabriel Herne.
After their creation in those times, the Fragments created were placed in Saltmaw, an offshore spike of sandstone about half a mile from the coast, serviced by the family of Gabriel Herne, and some guards hired in from the general population.
This, for many years, served as sufficient containment for the Fragments, if not a very pleasant place to spend you time locked away in solitude. The Fragments trapped within the dark, dank spire became more restless and more aggressive as time went on.
They also gained greater control of their own inherent abilities. Eventually something was bound to give.
One day, a Fragment tore its way out of its confinement and began killing guards.
As the rest of the forces rushed to try and subdue the thing, others took the chance provided by no longer being under watch to escape as well, and an irreversible gunpowder reaction started.
Within and hour the place was burning and bodies were scattered all over the structure. Very few survived the carnage, and nearly all the Fragments (who hadn't been consumed by others) escaped from the island onto the mainland.
In the meantime there have been many clashed between Fragments and Hounds of the Wilde Jagd.
Some have been killed (not entirely favourable) and some have been confined within the Wilde Jagd's fortress, Hunter's Court. These who have been recaptured in the last ten years have been subject to intense interrogation, scrutiny and study at the hands of some of the organization's researchers, and they've determined numerous additional information regarding Fragment biology.
They've determined so far that:
- A Fragment does not age, and will remain the same apparent age it was upon creation indefinitely.
-A Fragment is notably more durable than the average human and can survive damage a human might not, but can be killed by most anything that kills a mortal, aside from age.
- A Fragment has a small mutation even within their human form.
-The second form of a Fragment differs wildly in its nature and is subject to change as it 'grows' through the consumption of others. A second form will often adopt traits of other Fragments it has consumed.
Known Fragments are prioritised in Wilde Jagd's records by a classification system, based on power, and aggression, these are as follows.
Class 0 - Unknown, records missing.
Class I - Consumed no other Fragments, low aggression.
Class II - Consumed no other Fragments, high aggression.
Class III - Consumed no other Fragments, known Hound killer.
Class IV - Consumed small number of other Fragments (<10), low aggression.
Class V - Consumed small number of other Fragments (<10), high aggression.
Class VI - Consumed small number of other Fragments (<10), known Hound killer.
Class VII - Consumed high number of other Fragments (>10)
Hounds use this system to prioritise work. A class VII, regardless of aggression, is always highest priority.
Wilde Jagd, or Wild Hunt, is the organization set up by the family of Gabriel Herne following the disaster at Saltmaw. Gabriel's grandchildren sought out sponsorship and received it in the form of the generous patronage of Lord Rodin, a ruler of a large province near the centre of the continent, known colloquially as The Core.
Rodin regarded the organizing of a force for fighting the Fragments and averting the potential crisis to be a great way to retain his image and to reassure a frightened populous, and as such was happy to pour money and resources into Wild Jagd and their home, Hunter's Court, a fortress near the northern border.
As such, the force formed and began to grow in its size and strength.
Wilde Jagd hire from all walks of life, discriminating little between province, faith, or even status as Witch, but their training is tough and unrelenting, and the tests that recruits need to pass to reach the much-coveted status of 'Hound' involves a lot of dedication...or, from time to time, so very special abilities.
An as-yet unqualified recruit is known formally as a Trainee, but more commonly and colloquially as a 'Pup'. They undergo training at the fortress under the supervision of more senior Hounds, and will often shadow qualified fighters on missions in order to test their reaction to real situations. In between this they're expected to aid with mundane tasks throughout the place, like cooking, cleaning, assisting in the infirmary, and running things back and forth.
A qualified Hound may work field missions and pursue Fragments, though may also specialize in other fields. Medicine, Research, Training, Diplomacy, Information Gathering, Guarding the Cells, numerous fields beyond simply fighting, though all are expected on some level to be able to hold their own in an emergency.
Beyond Hounds are the Hunters, the head of the organization, made up mostly of the Herne family. They're rarely seen often outside of official business, tending to be busy working on the level with local nobles to try and keep the organisation in check.
Hounds in the field tend to work in small field teams.headed up by a more senior Hound. Members are sometimes swapped in or out for sake of skills, but often teams are kept similar in order to encourage groups that trust one another and can work cohesively. Teams tend to have names for easy identification.
The Witch Gene began to take prevalence around the end of the Burning Times, as the world was struggling to recover from the horrific destruction.
Children started to be born with disturbing deformities.
Later this began to manifest into similarly disturbing abilities as well. Stories of children who set themselves alight, burning their houses to the ground or an infant whose very touch turned its mother to stone.
Of course, there was no certainty of these things truly taking place, but such things aren't hard to believe.
Witch powers range from the very minor to the alarmingly destructive, and as such they're often cursed by both the sporadic and volatile nature of their own abilities, and the fear and hatred a frightened world heaps upon them.
The reaction a Witch can expect to receive depends largely on the province. In some of the more settled areas they may live their lives and only face morbid curiosity from the locals. In the more brutal and more fervent districts a Witch child can be expected to be abandoned out in the woods at birth to perish of cold or starvation. That that reach adulthood might count themselves lucky.
Wilde Jagd is distinct is one of the few organized forces that will gladly take Witches among their members, and dedicate time an specialized trainers to help youngsters manage their own abilities. This seems to have worked in their favour so far, with their strange powers proving a useful tool against their targets.
As they've discovered, it is often more the brutal treatment their charges have experienced on the outside that has made them difficult to handle, far moreso than the powers themselves
Hm... I might try for a Witch or a Fragment character, but I wanted to ask first. Do the Fragments need to consume other fragments, or is it that they simply can to become more powerful?
Hm... I might try for a Witch or a Fragment character, but I wanted to ask first. Do the Fragments need to consume other fragments, or is it that they simply can to become more powerful?
They don't need to to survive as such, no, a Fragment can just keep on indefinitely without doing so. Some, though not all, feel a strong urge or instinct to do so.
Appearance: Selva has a fairly average height for a girl her age, somewhere around 5'6". She is unnaturally pale and quite thin though curvy, especially quite top heavy. Selva has a pointed narrow face with thin small lips, a small pointed nose, and thin eyebrows which she covers with brown eyebrow pencil. Her eyes are the largest feature on her face, they a deep blue with thick mascara coated lashes in order to hide the strange naturally light blue lashes underneath. Selva has long, flowing straight yet unnaturally blue hair that reaches her lower back, it also having straight bangs. Because of her mutations, Selva also adorns sharpened teeth and pointed claw like nails on both her hands and feet. She usually wears a sort of mage-like outfit (shown in image.)
When she uses 'Ultimate Devil', Selva takes on this appearance. Her facial features, body structure, and the like are mostly the same besides her glowing white eyes. Her hair also becomes an inky black color, the tips sharpened like knives. On her head are two large curled horns, and on her shoulder blades sprout two small black feathered wings which can expand at will in order to allow her to fly. Her clothes become a black shadowy covering over her body, similar to clothes yet at the same time, not, as it is in fact a part of her skin. It extends from her knife like fingertips to the middle of her bicep, from her bikini line up to a v-shape on her chest, and from the heels of what appear to be spiked heels up to her mid thighs. There is also a band of it around her neck like a choker. Each of the tops of these sections are blurry and ink-like. (I attempted to draw it. Please ignore my terrible drawing skills, you get the idea:)
Witch Mutations: Selva has unnaturally pale skin, as well as her characteristic bright blue hair. People think she dyes it, but it is her natural hair color. Her teeth are very sharp, even her molars have pointy edges, and her nails grow in pointed as well.
Skills: Selva is an ice witch. She manipulates ice and can form it whenever she wishes. This can be in order to strike her enemy with a shard of ice, or to create a barrier of ice between her and her allies from the enemy (list of spells can be created upon request.) Her most well known ability is "Ultimate Devil." This turns Selva into a demonic being (described in appearance.) In this form, Selva loses her ice powers in favor of a great boost to her physical aspects such as speed, strength, endurance, agility and more. It also gifts her the ability to fly, as well as blade like nails and 'heels' in order to attack and slash up her opponent. This form earned her the nickname 'Shedevil' which she adopted to create a name for the transformation.
Preferred Equipment: None. Her only equipment is her powers, and as her devil form, her body. However, in her normal form, this does cause an issue if she is attacked for she has nothing to protect her.
Weaknesses: Of course, Selva's ice affinity makes her weak to heat, so that she cannot even walk in the sun during the summer time. At the same time, she is highly resistant to any cold weather, and easily can walk in a snowstorm half-naked without being the slightest bit bothered. Fire-users are a big problem for her as well as close combat fighters, for Selva also is a ranged attacker and cannot fight up close— at least, not in her normal form.
Persona: Selva, surprisingly, is a very carefree person. She likes to tease people and play games, often considered very childish and immature. She loves candy and a lot of people like her. On the battlefield, Selva is ruthless, and very aggressive which is a very dramatic shift in character. Otherwise, she is quite calm, and doesn't really have a temper. Selva is considered patient, but also doesn't really complete her work unless reminded due to her forgetfulness. In general, she is a very kind person, unless you attack her or those close to her. She is extremely loyal to Wild Jagd, and will have no qualms hurting anyone who turns against them. Though she has an affectionate and puppy-like demeanor, people often say she's a bit too friendly, and doesn't quite understand the meaning of 'shy.' Selva will be the first to greet someone and become their friend, especially if they seem to be on the outskirts of the group.
Known History: From what Wild Jagd has gathered about her, Selva's story is very similar to most Witch children. Her family noticed her demonic fanged teeth and nails, as well as her nearly translucent skin and bright blue hair, and quickly got rid of her. Selva can't remember her family at all or where she comes from, her earliest memory is being with a Witch who had took her in— an elder woman who lived out in the forest away from civilization because of her horrible mutations of a crooked broken horn and one hoof instead of a foot. The elderly Witch told her that she had found Selva on the edge of the forest, left to be eaten by wolves or simply starve to death. The elder, Margaret, had heard crying and picked up the strange looking child, quickly understanding what had happened. Selva was raised by Margaret, who she called 'Mom', for nearly 19 years. When she heard about Wild Jagd, a place where they accepted her kind, Selva was ecstatic. She tried to get Margaret to go with her, but the elder just gave a small smile and sent her off, saying "I'm too old to chase down Fragments. Go for me, child. I know you'll make me proud." Margaret waved her off, Selva running off to Wild Jagd to apply with tears welled up. She just got in today, a month after her 'birthday'— the day Margaret rescued her.
Anddd done! I-I'm not crying from writing the history, nope, just have dust in my eye, yup...
Darn notifications caused me to land in the characters tab instead of the OOC tab, but anyways...
I'm sorry, but I've lost interest in the RP. I've lost all the hype I had for it in the long period before the OOC came up. Best of luck to all the RPers in this RP and may this RP live a long, interesting story.
Adopted Name: Lily Monroe. Aliases: N/A. Apparent Age: Early twenties. Gender: Female. Classification: IV.
Appearance (Human): She is a fit and healthy looking woman with seemingly perfect complexion. She is closer to pale than she is tan. She has long flowing raven black hair that extends down near her knees; the dark colored hair only brightening the other aspects of her features. She has soft red lips and piercing yellow eyes; probably the only sharp looking thing on her otherwise softly curved figure.
Appearance (Monster): Her true form isn't really something that anyone has really ever seen. She is more an ethereal absence of light and form. Looking upon her form nothing can be seen except a faint outline within the outreaching darkness that shrouds her. Though there is not only darkness, strange tendrils of light seem to draw into her darkness only to fade; as she were a vortex swallowing up the light around her.
Skills: Natural strength and fighting prowess. Seemingly as quick as a ray of light.
Special Ability: Light Manipulation - Lily has an attunement with light; able to pluck it's energy out of the air and utilize it to her desires. Often she will use this manifested energy to create objects of her imagination. She is able to pull this light based energy into apparent solid forms; or even destructive blasts of condensed, pure energy. Though her structures and abilities are beautiful to behold - given their rainbow-y apperance - it is most dangerous to encounter.
Weaknesses: Dark rooms. Not only does she control light it also seems to feed her in a certain sense. Restrict her access to light and she will become noticeably weaker.
Other Fragments Consumed (If Known): One.
Persona: Despite her sharp, piercing eyes Lily is rather sweet and calm; almost motherly with her affection towards others. She doesn't care at all for the harm of humans or even witches for that matter. She tends to see the best in people, knowing there is a small flickering light of goodness within every living being; even fragments. But she knows how dangerous some Fragments have become, she even knows there are dangerous witches and even humans. She knows there is a time to kill, and she will do her job; she just simply hates it.
Lily isn't exactly much of a joking around person though she understand the importance of humor to humans. Their laughter actually warms her heart, or whatever beats inside a fragments chest. She just simply doesn't really know how to tell jokes and creating a joke is near unheard of from her. Though that doesn't stop her from trying at times of jovial social encounters; they're just usually terrible.
Known History: Lily was found alone at the containment sight after the escape. Those who happened upon her couldn't figure out why she stayed. Through some interrogation she finally told her story.
At the beginning there was chaos, echoing screams of death muffled only by the sound of shattering concrete. It startled Lily awake from her weak slumber - having been kept in a dark cell to keep her weak. She placed her ear to the cold steal door only to hear the same, but far more clearly. It twisted her insides, made her sick. Hearing them out there screaming for help only to be silenced with a splatter of blood. It wasn't long before her cell door was torn from its hinges and she was beckoned out. The light from the hall felt euphoric against her pores. She felt drench her like a warm waterfall. It was weak, but it was light. She stepped out into the hall only to see the carnage left behind. She was one of the last freed and the rest were well on their way. Still not up to her full power she stumbled down the halls, over bodies and staining her feet red.
She didn't know how to feel. The light filled her with joy but her eyes wrenched at her stomach. Once she made it outside she realized it was night and the moon was covered by clouds. Tears cleaning lines down her dirty cheeks. She was so weak, so hungry. So saw a fallen Fragment sprawled across the field; he must have been taken down as he was retreating. She didn't want to eat him.
The hounds found her when they finally came to examine what had happened. Lily was curled up under a flickering lamp, holding her knees to her chest. Tears and blood staining her tattered prison clothes.
