WAR!

The year is 1808. Europe is a continent awash in blood! The automaton armies of Napoleon Bonaparte have marched across the continent from Spain to Prussia for nearly a decade, burning and butchering soldier and civilian beneath their mechanical heels. The tactics of the Prussians, the political maneuverings of the Austrians, and the mass of human might that is the Russian Empire have all met defeat at Napoleon's hands. Only Britain has not felt the scourge of war upon its shores, thanks to the Royal Navy's victory in the skies over Trafalgar only two years ago. While the Emperor of France is trapped on the continent England is safe, but the coalition of kings the British Crown has kept together is beginning to fray beneath the constant defeats...

Entering the skies over the English Channel is the Pegasus, a newly completed Brig added to the English air fleet. She lacks the firepower of the great HMS Victory and other Man o' Wars that duel in the skies across the world, but her new iron sides and heavy sails make her a quick and enduring vessel added to the navy.

Her mission... none of the crew knows for certain. They are heading north-east, but no one aboard knows where exactly they're going. To Prussia? Denmark? Norway? Moscow? Or to the heart of the dreaded French Empire itself- Paris?

Only the captain knows, and he isn't talking...

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Before the Industrial Revolution, Europe was awash in supernatural creatures. Humans, werewolves, banshees, faeries, vampires and other creatures fought one another after the collapse of Rome- and mankind often found itself shrinking back into its cities and castles when faced with the strength of their magical neighbors. With the coming of gunpowder from Asia and steam from man's universities, humans have successfully fought back and tamed the wild things, driving many to the New World of the Americas after the Crusades and Reconquistas that exterminated the Centaurs, Djinn and many other magical races.

This alternate timeline shares a lot in common with the historical Napoleonic wars, though Napoleon's armies are mostly made up of automaton machines driven by coal and steam. While England has kept dominance of the skies with the Royal Navy, the war on land is going even worse than ever. Unable to beat the French in battle, England has blockaded the French skies, keeping American coal from supplying the Emperor's endless armies. Now, Napoleon is literally and figuratively running out of steam. The newspapers in London say that by the end of the year, the French armies may collapse. If the allied armies of Prussia, Russia, Austria and England don't collapse first.

The Pegasus is a newly commissioned brig, an iron-side of the American design with 28 guns not counting the swivel-mounted Gatling guns on her forecastle and crow's nest. Aside from a small complement of automaton marines, she has a sentient (though not completely human) crew. She is equipped with a small underside bay for landing craft and a trio of experimental "fighter" craft the Royal Navy is keen to experiment with. Capable of making extraordinary speed on the high winds, she is fast as a sloop and sturdy as a frigate- a new breed of vessel for the Royal Navy's future.

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The following positions are open on board the ship. I'm taking the position of Captain by default to keep the overall plot going, but please rest assured that the plot will be driven equally by you, the writers. I will determine where we are going. YOU will determine how and in what shape we get there!

Positions marked with a * can be NPC'd. You are welcome to take them, but the other positions may offer more opportunities for interaction.

Captain - Sir Alexander Lorraine
First Mate - Miklós Puskás
Gunnery Officer(s) - Hamish "Digger" Graham
Doctor -
Nurse* -
Navigator/Helmsman -
Engineer - Engineer Briggs
Magician - (Engineer's assistant)
Gunners* -
Scout/Landing party* - Richard Dennis York
Chef* -
Deck Captain - Emmet Reilly "Chief Flynn" O'Flynn
Fighter pilot* - Garrett Ulman

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Name:

Age:

Sex:

Race: (Human, werewolf, fairy, etc.)

Nationality:

Occupation:

Biography:

Weapon of choice:

Orientation/Relationship Status:

Audition: (Please write a short, 1-3 paragraph audition explaining how your character found themselves boarding the Pegasus and under what circumstances- are they a career sailor, a military officer, or an impressed (drafted) crewman?)

Name: Hamish "Digger" Graham

Age: 30

Occupation: Gunnery Officer

Biography: Hamish Graham was born in December 1772, related to the Stewart Clan through his mother's side of the family. He had a fairly easy life as a child, but was educated at some of the finest schools in the United Kingdoms of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland. He was trained to speak French, Latin and Italian and studied the following subjects: mathematics, Reading, Writing, Physics, Rhetoric, European History, Modern economics, alchemy, biology, geometry, and Poetry.

When he arrived at age 12, he was educated in the conduct of naval operations for both sail and steam. He learned how the various systems worked and understood the chain of command. He was disciplined in naval tactics as well as the conduct of shore parties to include the use of standard muskets and flintlocks. He has been fencing with either the rapier or the cutlass since he was 12 years old and prefers the cutlass over the rapier, but is skilled with both.

At age 16, he went to see as an Ensign and made his way up through the officer ranks to Second Officer aboard the Pegasus. During his 19 year career with the Royal navy, Digger has served as Officer of the Watch, Navigator, Ship's Engineer, Gun Division Commander and his current position as Ship's Gunnery officer. In this position, Digger coordinates the activities of all gun divisions aboard ship. There are several Gun divisions which contain three or more batteries per division with four to six guns per battery.

Weapon of choice: Cutlass and pair of "Sea Service" flintlock pistols.

Orientation/Relationship Status: Terminal bachelor

Audition: Hamish previously served aboard the HMS Royal Sovereign, a 100-gun first rate ship of the line that saw action at the Battle of Trafalgar. Due to extensive damage during the engagement with the French and Spanish fleets, the Royal Sovereign was decommissioned soon after the British victory in the skies over Trafalgar. Of the ship's 850 human and automaton crewmembers aboard ship, only175 humans and 48 machines survived the battle. Hamish, who was the highest ranking survivor had served as a Division Commander of four starboard batteries; a total of 24 guns. After recuperating from injuries in Portsmouth for six months, Hamish was reassigned as Gunnery Officer aboard the Pegasus. He has found his new assignment to be fulfilling for him, yet is a bit off-putting due the size of the smaller Brig. Afterall, the Pegasus is no First Rate ship of the line. Regardless, Hamish is happy to be serving His Majesty's Ship aboard the 28-gun Pegasus.

Name: Captain Alexander Lorraine

Age: 29

Sex: Male

Race: Human

Occupation: Captain of the HMS Pegasus, Landowner in the vicinity of Aylesbury, England.

Biography: Captain Alexander Lorraine is the third son of his father, Robert Lorraine. On paper he is listed as the child of Robert's wife Elizabeth, but it is an open secret that Robert is the issue of their Irish cook, Mary Wallpoole. Such fiery red hair does not come naturally to English nobility, after all. As a consequence, the was raised as an afterthought, a placeholder for Robert's line in the event both of his other sons, Martin and Johnathon, both perished.

Martin caught cholera in the outbreak of 1797 and Johnathon sadly fell and broke his neck while riding his horse in 1803. Meanwhile, Alexander survived the battle of Trafalgar and was noted for his bravery, seizing command of the HMS Hurricane, a third-rate Man o War, after a cannonball killed both the captain and first mate. He has since been given orders to report to the docks of London to assume command of the HMS Pegasus, and command her crew in order to complete her mission.

Weapon of choice: Captain's cutlass, clockwork pistol (four rounds).

Orientation/Relationship Status: One can only guess...

Audition: As he stood at the forecastle of the HMS Pegasus, Alexander could not help but recall how long he had been waiting a long time for this moment. Not with anticipation or dread, but with a desire for the moment to arrive so the next could come. He was a man of action, and to be tied up in hospital after taking a shot to the gut had delayed the launch of the vessel by three weeks. English sailors were not keen to risk their necks in the skies over the Atlantic, and he would not blame any for moving on to better fortunes.

Still, he was hopeful that the ship would have a successful launch. He'd seen the letters from the Admiralty concerning their mission, and it wasn't looking like the delay of his hospital stay may have doomed them already. But there was still a chance to make it work, to stop the Emperor before the Coalition fell apart in the fields of Prussia.

"Well," he mumbled, looking to the docks beside the Pegasus, "Let's see who has remembered their duty to King and Country..."

Name: Engineer Briggs

Age: 27

Race: Human/ African American

Gender: Female

Occupation:Engineer

Biography: Briggs wasn't born of nobility or taught her skills, she learned them over time from both her parents and from studying, both of them served on ships as engineers before her and while she was a kid she would ride along with them and watch them from time to time learning how ships would work and picking up on their skills while she was 8, when she turned 14 she was one of the survivors of an attack on the ship both her her parents worked on, her parents didn't survive and a couple others did.The remaining crew dropped her off when they were close to a city.

Briggs went into deep sorrow and became a thief stealing things to get by in life, this went on till she was 18 and was caught stealing and taken to prison, while in prison she thought about her actions and felt that what she was doing was horrible and her parents would be spinning in their graves if they were alive, while she was incarcerated she studied up on engineering learning how ships worked. When she was let out of prison the first thing she did was visit her parents grave and left a rose on it before she went out to find decent work.

Personality: Well it may not need to be said but Briggs is very skilled in engineering and understanding technology, she is smarter than she looks, Briggs is also a very formidable hand to hand combatant. While in prison she gotten tougher and stronger than she originally was, she also swore that she wouldn't be going back to prison or commit a stupid crime as stealing. Even though she looks like a violent person she'd rather handle most problems the peaceful route and choose to take the violent route if things go south or if she needs to defend herself, she also plays a mean trumpet.

Weapon of choice: 2 Sawed off Double barrel shotgun, Large two handed wrench

Orientation/Relationship Status: Single

Audition: Briggs felt that she wouldn't be able to serve on a ship due to her going to prison, but she didn't let her past get in the way she still auditioned to serve on a ship when she was turned down a couple times from different people she felt she needed to take another route, when she auditioned to serve on the Pegasus, she used some of her old connections from her past to strong arm her way into being the only person showing up to the audition, soon she became the engineer of the ship,

Appearance: Briggs has a bronzed skin tone, with a beautiful face and complexion but it can be intimidating, she has bright jade green eyes, she has short purple hair that stops just past her ears but doesn't reach her shoulders, some thin strands of hair sometimes get in her face and constantly get moved back by her hands. Briggs stands at the tall height of 6'2, and has a muscular build to follow up with it she weighs 240, along her body she has several scars of cuts from her past life.

Clothes:She wears a large light brown button up, duster coat with dark brown gloves, under her brown coat she wears a collared button up long sleeved shirt, with a red tie and suspenders, she wears a pair brown pants with two thigh holsters for her shotguns, on her feet she wears a pair of lace up boots, she had a pair of black sunglasses that she puts on whenever shes outside during the day.

Name: Garrett Ulman
Age: 26
Sex: Male
Race: Human
Nationality: British

Occupation: Fighter Pilot

Appearance (normal): Garrett is a lightly-built man, that way he may easier fight into the tight cockpits of planes. However, he is not weak, as he has noticeable muscles as well. He is of white-skin color. He has brown-ish hair and hazel eyes. He has no facial hair to speak of, as he keeps it clean-shaven (so that it doesn't get itchy in his helmet). He usually wears a casual pilot uniform consisting of a white undershirt, brown pants, and a brown leather vest. He is also known to wear brown gloves most of the time.



Personality: Garrett is anything but a serious man. He is optimistic, and tends to make a joke out of even the most dangerous situations. However, he is not careless, as he is fully aware of the consequences of failure. His personality is more of a defensive mechanism of his to help him manage stress and fear. It is not uncommon to hear him spout out light-hearted banter in the middle of a fight, much to the dismay of some of his fellow soldiers. When in person, he is very sociable and always takes the time to know his allies beyond a professional level, most of the time trying to become friends instead of just co-workers. In the pilot seat however, his personality seems to take a shift. He blocks out everything except for the controls and view in front of him. He treats dogfights like a playful game, and seems to have no qualms with shooting enemies out of the sky. "It's either them or me, and I don't plan on dying just yet" Is his philosophy, and he is not disturbed by seeing any form of death. However, his casual views on the topic of death (even towards allies), often makes him look like a psycho who doesn't care whether people live or die, but this is not the case. He is simply aware that in a fight, one side must eventually go down, and a man can only do their best to make sure it's not their side.
.
Biography: Born in Great Britain as the son of an Airship Captain (Ripley Ulman), Garrett is not a stranger to the skies, as his father often brought him along for safe trips. From a young age, he was allured by the prospect of being a captain of the clouds, much like his father. He studied basic engineering during his school days to become familiar with the different aircraft used by the British, with the intent of one day commanding his own airship. However, in the year 1793, his father's airship, the HMS Retriever, was shot down by French forces during a scouting mission. Very few survivors were found, and they all told of how Ripley managed to save them at the cost of his own life. Shaken by the tragedy, Garrett began believing that perhaps the responsibility of running an Airship was not for him; he could look out for himself but he wasn't sure if he could ensure the protection of others. Hence, upon enlisting into the Royal Navy, he signed on for the new plane pilot position. That way, he would only be concerned with his own safety, while still being an asset to a crew.

The adrenaline rush of piloting the newly created aircraft appealed to Garrett, and he was one of the first few Royal Navy soldiers to be assigned to the plane squadron divisions. Their original purpose is to act as support for the, more widely used, airships.

It was during his time in service that he meet Hal Carson, a fellow pilot. The two would turn out to be best friends, with Hal acting as his co-pilot and rear gunner. Garrett and Hal served in two different squadrons stationed aboard different carrier ships (The HMS Thunder and HMS Orca), fighting in the skies above both the Atlantic ocean and the European countryside. They are experienced dogfighters with the nickname of "Psycho Duo" among their fellow troops, for their lack of remorse and joking attitude in gunning down the enemy. When the Napoleonic Wars broke out in 1803, Garrett and Hal were assigned aboard the HMS Pegasus (along with being given a brand new plane) as part of its special fighter escort for its secret mission.

Weapon of choice: On the ground, he is usually equipped with a pair of twin flintlock pistols and a large knife. However, he prefers tackling enemies using his experimental fighter plane: "The Bronze Albatross" (nicknamed due to it's custom bronze and copper alloy plating and design)

Orientation/Relationship Status: Single (Garrett and Hal are NOT gay for each other, I swear!)

Audition: After their service underneath the Royal Navy, and their participation in aerial battles against the French Navy as members of squadrons of the HMS Thunder and HMS Orca, Garrett Ulman and Hal Carson were strong candidates for the position of members of the HMS Pegasus' fighter escort. While they are not exactly the ideal image of pilots , their skills in eliminating planes and airships will be important in defending the Pegasus as it sails through hostile skies. Their ability to improvise and remain calm in dire situations also make them ideal for testing out the experimental fighter planes aboard her, and seeing their full use in actual combat. It is the firm belief of the Royal Navy airplane division that the performance of the two (along with their fellow pilots) will prove once and for all the tactical advantages of light aircraft.

"This is the first time we won't be operating as part of a squadron..." Hal said, scratching the back of his black hair. "You're not getting nervous on me, are you? I swear I'll drop you out of the plane if you piss yourself in the gunner seat." Garrett replied jokingly. The two of them took a look at the HMS Pegasus, the magnificent American vessel. To the side of the shipyard, their plane (The Bronze Albatross) was being loaded into the underside hangar of the airship. "She's a beautiful example of an Iron-Side, isn't she? Can't wait to cover her pretty hull from enemy fighters with our Bronze Bird" Garrett complimented. Hal looked at Garrett with a pitying smile. "Remind me again why two trigger-happy pilots like ourselves are being assigned to a ship, whose mission is said to be of grave importance?" Hal asked.

Garrett shrugged. "All they said was that our piloting skills would be an asset to the mission, never mentioned anything else. Much less what the Pegasus is supposed to be up to. All we can do is hop aboard, and do what we do best." He said with some enthusiasm, as he pat Hal on the back. Hal simply shook his head; "Just try to not get us killed in the process...." He said with a small grin.

The Bronze Albatross' arsenal:
-Twin rapid-fire machineguns on both wings (For use against other planes)
-Capacity to carry up to four bombs (For swift bombing runs)
-Two rocket-propelled bombs mounted at the end of each wing (Missiles. For bringing down airships)
-Rear-mounted high-powered rifle (For sniping enemy pilots and critical parts of planes)

Let me know if there's anything wrong with my application. Such as the weapons, their plane, etc. Anything at all, and I will correct it as soon as I can =)

R: Everything looks great! The plane design is a bit advanced for my tastes but that's ok. I do want to say that, going forward, fighter craft are still very experimental in this universe. So while Garrett may have served with a squadron by this time, I would like to establish a tone of the Royal Navy not sure if the fighter craft are worth the investment of, say, a frigate. Garrett's job is to prove that he's worth it :D

Everyone: Please feel free to post in the main thread with your characters arriving. I would like to have at least one post with Alexander meeting each of you so we can establish the tone of their interactions going forward. Also, I'm adding one more minor section to the CS (nationality). Happy posting!

What do we post ? like do we just board the air ship and look for the captain ?

Noted, and edits were made to the application (In Biography and Audition) =). If it the tech of the plane is too much, I can tone it down if necessary. Just give me an outline of what level of tech is acceptable.

@Spriggs: I think we just look for him. I mean, we ought to be given instructions as to how to find the HMS Pegasus. So all we need to figure out is who the captain is and report in.

R: Tech level is acceptable, but I think I'll let you use your discretion. An experimental fighter craft may or may not be able to carry all of those weapons, but it doesn't mean it can't have the capability to USE all those weapons.

Spriggs: All crewmembers will have been given instructions on where to find the ship on the Thames and a time to report in. The captain is on the forecastle near the helm, in his dress uniform. Feel free to arrive in whatever fashion you like- since you're the engineer, I don't think it'd be too much to say you're already aboard making last minute tweaks to the engines. I definitely envision writers pairing up so that we can constantly have interactions going.

So like Garrus, making Calibrations Alright I'll make a post then.

Just a question but... what do the automaton soldiers look like? Would they be designed to be humanoid, like this. Or are they built to be grotesque machines, like this

I imagine the "modern automatons looking like the second image. Original automatons (say, made in the late 1700s) would be almost skeletal, front line troops immune to musket fire but still clumsy and requiring assistance. Of course, war has sped up research and development, as it often has...

Did anyone take the first mate slot ? Just asking

I haven't read through all the posts I missed while I was sick, so I can't really say :-/ And alas, heading to bed for work in the morning. I'll check this when I wake up!

Night T

(Richard will Be the Ship's Scou which would be the Commander of Marines)t

Name: Richard Dennis York

Age: 23

Occupation: Junior Officer Marines (Lieutenant)



Weapon of choice: Twin Saber, Rifle

Orientation/Relationship Status: Straight/Single

Name:CWO Emmet Reilly "Chief Flynn" O'Flynn

Age: 52

Sex: Male

Race:

Occupation:

Biography:





Weapon of choice: Chief Flynn was a skilled boxer and wrestler in his youth, and still prefers to fight with his hands. However, he does carry a sizable ivory handled knife. The knife is intended for cutting rope and similar tasks, but is more than capable of serving as a weapon.

Orientation/Relationship Status: Chief Flynn is the model of the phrase 'A girl in every port,' He has children in most locations he has visited, and acts as a fairly good father and 'husband' when he returns to those places.

Rumiko, Toska: Accepted! Welcome aboard!

moving mine over from the Interest thread

Name: Miklós Puskás

Age: 26

Gender: Male

Race: Human

Nationality: Hungarian

Occupation: First Mate



Weapon of choice: A pair of double barrel flint lock pistols


Orientation/Relationship Status: Straight/Once engaged, believes his lover to be dead. Currently Single.

Audition: (was kinda hoping my Biography could cover this. It pretty much explains it. If more is required I'd have no problem making one if you're looking for for a "RP sample")

I probably won't be able to have a post up today, if i do, it's late in the evening today, as I have a whole bunch to catch up with, but I'll definitely be fully active by tomorrow. (if I'm accepted that is XD)