Like a low hanging blanket of smoke, the sky hung above the dingy, monochrome city streets. The half gloom of evening coated with the darkened clouds gave an effect of artificial night that made lethargy seem to waft in the air.
The stark, bright cone of artificial blue-white from the detective's flashlight shone in rude contrast to the world around it. Clutched in the man's hand, and aimed down towards where the ruddy pavement met with the chipped brick of a wall, the light illuminated a scene of crimson gore and pale flesh.
"What the hell are those markings?" A policeman said, his face twisting with equal parts morbid curiosity and horror.
On the body--or what was left of it--an intricate, yet brutally animalistic pattern had been carved. The fact that the wounds had not bled meant that they had been completed postmortem. This fact did nothing however to detract from the state of pure agony the dead woman's face had masked itself into upon her passing.
The detective with the flashlight knelt, his mouth yet sealed to the question posited by the policeman. As he drew nearer the body, his nose was assaulted by the metallic smell of congealed blood.
He had seen this before, not long after he had first joined the force. The intricate amalgamation of drawn, puckered skin aligned with a precise and malicious ability with a blade. And, he knew now, as he had learned then, that the police were to be mere spectators to a horror that had only just reached it's inception.
THE WORLD YOU KNOW // ♤
You are an entity of the modern Veiled World; the shadowy reflection of the mortal realm that humans only perceive in their dreams and in the haze of their subconscious. With every manner of creature, from every culture, and every dark corner of the globe, it is a varied and vast realm. In this world--just as in the mortal one--there is business, entertainment, vice, crime, judgment, joy, and sadness.
You are in the employ of the venerated Bain & Hoyle Investigation and Recovery Company. The wheels of fate are turning, and there is much to do. It's time to get to work.
THE CURRENT STATE OF THINGS // ♤
It has been three years since a team from the Bain & Hoyle Investigation and Recovery Co. thwarted the god-wolf Fenris, and stopped the events of Ragnarok. The Veiled World balances in a shaky peace, with the once powerful werewolf clans and vampire covens both shadows of their former selves. Power rests close to the diverse citizenry of the Veiled World, and the innumerable factions represented across the globe find a strange harmony in their equal self-interest.
In Hell, however, it is a different story.
Tensions run high between Lucifer and his dukes. A failed coup during the events of Ragnarok has left the hierarchy of Hell in shambles, with those loyal to Lucifer barely managing to maintain their grasp onto power. In an attempt to build more control over the demonic legions, Lucifer has ordered his loyal lords to begin incursions into the earthly realms. These incursions by the lords and their trusted demons are intended to secure sources of vital ethereal magic, and channel them into Hell for Lucifer’s personal use. If these missions succeed, the rebellious dukes would have no choice but to subjugate themselves once again to the awesome might of the Dark Lord.
Whispers of the turmoil within Hell have wafted to the Veiled World, but they are broken and unsubstantiated rumors. Reports of strange disappearances and brutal rights have increased across the globe, or at least they have anecdotally. For the most part, those in the mortal realm and the Veiled World alike, go about their lives with little concern for what is transpiring below.
IMPORTANT FACTIONS // ♤ -The Lupus Naturae: The governing body of all the werewolf clans. Throughout history they have often been at war with their vampiric counterparts, but have recently enjoyed a shaky peace between the two sides. Though the undeniable leaders of werewolf society, some werewolf clans have not viewed the reign of the Lupus Naturae as legitimate or just. Since its inception, several acts of genocide against rogue clans have been carried out, in an effort to solidify the Lupus Naturae against any firm claim of a rival clan organization.
The most notable of these acts was carried out in the early sixteenth century when the Lupus Naturae hunted down a clan from the highlands of Ireland known as the Teachglach Mac Tíre. To this day there is only two known survivors of that clan, one of them being the werewolf cofounder of the Bain & Hoyle Company, Reginald Hoyle.
-The Court of Cain: The Court of Cain is a group of vampire lords tasked with maintaining the order, the preeminence, and the continued secrecy from humanity or vampire society. The Court was formed by Cain, the father of all vampires, following the mass genocide perpetrated by his first daughter, Decima. After exiling Decima, Cain ordered that the magic inherent in vampiric blood be split amongst eight separate objects, and then distributed for safe keeping to eight of Cain’s most trusted lords. These objects came to be known as the Pieces of 8.
The Pieces maintained their safety and secrecy until the year 2013, when Decima escaped her imprisonment, and began systematically gathering the Pieces in an attempt to absorb all their power. It was only through the daring exploits of a team from Bain & Hoyle that Decima’s plot was thwarted. Reeling from their near destruction, the Court of Cain is now a weakened and disorganized entity, with several smaller factions of vampires trying to rise up to take its place.
THE BAIN & HOYLE COMPANY // ♤
The history of the Bain & Hoyle Company traces its roots to the year 1522, when the vampire Archibald Bain, and his close werewolf friend, Reginald Hoyle, aided the Ottoman Empire in expelling the Knights Hospitaller during the second Siege of Rhodes. With their success and proven skill, the unlikely pair decided to pursue their penchant for subversive and clandestine action full time. After several years of operating with wild success on their own, Bain and Hoyle saw the lucrative nature of their venture, and decided to charter a company to expand their reach to a global scale. It was on September 18th, 1594, that the Bain & Hoyle Investigation and Recovery Company was officially founded with its first public office in London.
Since that time the company developed into the Veiled World’s premier private intelligence and clandestine firm, with offices opening in nearly every major country across the globe. From recovery of antiquities to corporate espionage, the Bain & Hoyle Company operates like a shadow’s shadow, and all the while raking in huge profit margins for their premium service and success rate. Its operators are as varied and unique as the clients the company represents, and its ranks contain the most diverse cadre of supernatural beings anywhere in the Veiled World.
CHARACTER CREATION // ♤
Your character may be any manner of supernatural or mystical being. Let your imagination run wild, and have fun in the search for that unique individual. However, there has to be some limitation when you are creating your character, so here are a few notes that will be important for the process.
1. The Rule of Common Sense: This is just what it sounds like. To be fair to both your fellow players and the GM alike, use your head when creating your character. Obviously if you’re wanting to play as Whatshername: Goddess of Death and God-moding, then there is going to be an immediate issue. Your character can be a powerful being, don’t get me wrong, but let’s be reasonable. It wouldn’t make a lot of sense for Zeus to suddenly want to come work for the Bain & Hoyle Company would it?
2. You may only play as ONE character. I had some issues with this in the past, so just up front, everybody gets just the one. Now, your character can have like a pet, or some kind of magical sidekick or something, but let me be clear that these ancillary beings will be just that—ancillary. No operating your personal dire wolf as an individual character.
3. When it comes to your character’s abilities and traits, again I want them to be fun and unique, but remember the Rule of Common Sense. Stories are made better when characters have flaws and weaknesses.
SUBMIT YOUR CHARACTER TO ME VIA PM FOR ACCEPTANCE
Character Sheet -Name: -Gender: -Type: A succinct classification of your character, i.e. werewolf, vampire, etc. -Appearance: This can be how your character appears naturally, and perhaps how they appear in the presence of humans, or whatever you feel is important to your character. Pictures are very much welcome. -Age: Both apparent and actual age, if applicable. -Powers/Traits: -Background: An explanation of why and how they came to be in the service of the Bain & Hoyle Company, and anything else important or fun you would like to write up about your character. This doesn’t have to be long or all-encompassing; I leave the level of detail up to you.
Current Character Concept: Sal is a mostly-human hedge mage focused on the magical schools of mysticism and conjuration. Following an LSD-fueled journey through the Astral Plane, she has acquired an army of tiny, vaguely monstrous, rowdy, and drunken creatures that largely follow her commands. The creatures are led by a warlord, Gir the Mighty, and appear to be on the cusp of establishing a proper, if exceedingly violent, miniature society.
I'm working on my character as well. I'm deviating slightly from typical lore in not having him act as a pure mindless monstrosity, and not fully committed to these exact details, but my basic concept is as follows :
Ahanu is a Native American who found himself trapped in a cave-in, ate his tribe to survive & became a Wendigo. Spent the last 300+ years searching for a cure for his curse, which is how he found his way into the services of B&H. However, B&H aren't sure they want him cured due to his utility.
I'm super excited that all of you are excited! Makes me proud, for sure. If you sent me a PM today, I'll get back to you as soon as I can--work killed me, and I'm exhausted. I want to give you all the time a reply deserves, so I'll save them for tomorrow. Catch you all later!
Sorry I've been away. Real life just sometimes kicks your ass...
At any rate, thank you all for getting to work on some great characters. However, I'd really appreciate it if the CS's were submitted to me first before you post them. I am totally fine with general discussion of your character, and what you intend to pursue, in the OOC.
I'll have my own character up soon. Hope you all are having a great day!
Will probably post a CS in the early morning/lunch times.
A CS is posted below, I will have to make some proofreading changes, but as I'm heading for the evening I wanted to throw my hat into the ring at last.
Sal the Conjurer
Name: Sally "Sal" Lou
Gender: Female
Type: Human, with a hint of extra-planar blood.
Appearance: Sal stands just below average height, and possess the physique of an unexpectedly active wizard. She enjoys swimming and when not spending an evening on the job, she's never far from a dance floor. Her skin is pale, and together with her features serves to obfuscate her origins, and cloak in her mystery. A fact that she takes great pleasure in, and does nothing to resolve. She keeps her hair shoulder length, and dyed a dark purple bordering on midnight blue, with a single long braid wrapped in red silk reaching to the top of her chest. Sal has meticulously maintained eyebrows, and her amber eyes are framed by tasteful, if vaguely Gothic, use of eye shadow and eye liner.
Restless by nature, the conjurer exudes brash confidence and unwavering curiosity, untempered by age, in equal measure.
Sal is modest dresser, favoring black jeans, black t-shirts, canvas sneakers, and at most a warm sweater, unless the weather or the occasion demands differently. She is rarely found outside without an antique silk and gingham umbrella. Framed with beautiful cherry wood, adorned with silver, and possessing an alarmingly sharp tip in the same metallic material the umbrella protects it's bearer from the elements and unwelcome strangers, although Sal would never admit as much.
Age: Sal is in her early twenties, and looks like it.
Powers/Traits: Sal is a mostly-human hedge mage focused on the magical schools of mysticism and conjuration. Following an LSD-fueled journey through the Astral Plane, she has acquired an army of tiny, vaguely monstrous, rowdy, and drunken creatures that generally follow her commands. The creatures are led by a warlord, Gir the Mighty, and appear to be on the cusp of establishing a proper, if exceedingly violent, miniature society. They have yet to fully master fire, but the diminutive creatures have made excellent progress in regards to animal husbandry, and they have managed to train a small number of rats and pigeons to serve as their trusty steeds.
Background:
"You could have been so much more," Richard said with a slow shake of his head. He was disappointed. He always was. Working for Bain & Hoyle was slumming it as far as the slightly older wizard was concerned. Proper wizards didn't need to debase themselves, they didn't need to sell their services to the highest bidder, and they certainly didn't need to work as a gloried errand girl.
"Sure, but then I'd have ended up like you," Sal said, taking a lazy drag from what remained of the cigarette she held between her fingertips. She'd quit for the better part of a week, but visits from her brother left precious little resolve left to fight off the nicotine devil that perpetually gnawed at her soul. It was fine. It wasn't a problem. She wasn't some mundane mortal. She'd cast so many protective spells that the greatest danger the carcinogenic cigarette still offered was the yellow stains that it would leave on her finger tips. Still, she felt guilty, at least a bit. She'd promised.
"A famous wizard?"
"A miserable person, a right proper c—."
"Ugh. For once, can you show a bit of class?"
"Nah, we can't all be high class wizards that graduated from some fancy arcane university and made friends with the big-wigs of the veiled world," Sal quipped. "We're not all that insufferable."
"You could have gone, you chose not to."
"It wasn't my scene. Magic shouldn't work that way. It's not about a bunch of formal rules and silly theories, it's a feeling, it's about finding something out for yourself," Sal mused losing herself in the glass of whiskey that she was still nursing.
"Do you always have to be such a bohemian? I swear, you're the definition of a magical hipster," Richard countered, chuckling at his own joke.
"I love annoying you too much to change, dear brother," Sal happily replied, withdrawing another cigarette from the packet that she had tossed on the table minutes earlier, and lighting another cigarette with well-practiced ease. Savoring the sweet, sweet nicotine kiss that enveloped her good feels, Sal did her best to pretend her brother wasn't there. They'd had this conversation before, it was a familiar dance. Her brother would mention that her parents were worried. He'd offer to use some of his connections. He'd offer her a job, after a nice vacation of course. She'd say no, of course. Just like she had done every other time. And just like she would do every other time in the future. She wasn't going back, not now, not ever. There was too much to see, too many planes to explore, and too much to discover.
Contemplating the whiskey that she sipped from a dirty enough glass, Sal could not help but notice that Richard watched the small creatures that she had brought with her with palatable disgust, and an ugly sneer on his lips. He was never very good with new people, much less inhuman creatures, she remembered sadly. He was far too conventional. A magical yuppie, a financial district wizard, through and through. Pure torture. Sal had to bury her laughter in her drink as her brother pulled his hand away with a sudden jolt. One of the creatures had moved closer to examine the glass of wine that the wizard had ordered but left untouched.
"Should they really be here?" he fumed. "This isn't some zoo, you know."
"Oh, I wouldn't worry. The bartender is a troll, this is place that uninitiated mortals do not wander into, not even by accident," Sal asserted, ignoring the implication that her new friends had no place in the dive bar. She resented the very idea. What was a dive bar if didn't welcome a tribe of extraplaner monsters, tiny as they were, past it's warded doors? Standards had no place in fine establishments like Gruzgob's Bar and Restaurant. After all, if cockroaches were tolerated, if not openly welcomed, then Sal's new friends deserved at least to be treated like particularly rowdy and dangerous customers.
"Mmm, I don't know," Sal honestly answered, blowing a cloud of smoke in front of her. "Not entirely. I found them. Didn't have time to ask too many question."
"You found them?"
"Yes," Sal grumbled. "That's what I said."
"Where did you find them?"
"No idea," Sal answered apathetically as she carefully handed, Gir, Gir the Mighty as he preferred to be called, what remained of her whiskey. The glass was nearly as tall as he was, but it didn't appear to slow him down. Sal had quickly learned that the warlord and his followers were very amendable to all forms of alcohol-based diplomacy. It was best to keep them drinking. Otherwise they had a nasty habit of finding troublesome activities to occupy their attentions.
"How do you bring creatures into the Material Plane and forget where you found them?!"
"I can't be certain, at least not entirely, but I think it was the two tabs of magically infused LSD I took before I hopped dimensions that did it."
"You what—"
"I had no idea that the acid would be that strong. Last time, they weren't half as potent. Well, whatever," Sal concluded philosophically, waving a hand in the air as kaleidoscope memories of the psychedelic drip rushed over her. "As it turns out, extraplanar travel is much harder when you are completely blasted out of your mind..."
"You're a child."
"You're just jealous, bet you haven't even crossed the planes, yet, Mr. I'm-A-Proper-Fucking-Wizard," Sal jeered. She wasn't going to be lectured by some schoolboy wizard, not this time.
"Of course not, as you know extraplanar travels is heavily restricted," Richard scoffed, sulking. Sal could sense that the advantage had shifted, and she smiled. With the grin still teasing at the edge of her mouth, she watched as one of the small creatures throw a sharpened toothpick it had fashioned into a spear into a cockroach that had crawled onto the bar counter-top. The tiny monster shouted out a battle cry as it pounced on the languishing insect that was impaled against the wood. Sal couldn't help but laugh at the spectacle, and was happy to see that her unwelcome companion recoiled with disgust at the violent scene unfolding on the countertop.
"What vile monsters."
"I think they're cute," Sal countered. "You're paying right?" She asked, blowing a cloud of smoke into Richard's face as she stood without waiting and headed towards the door. She'd had enough of sibling bonding. The tiny extraplaner monsters scrambled after her.
"Wait!"
Sal didn't stop, and once Gir and his followers had made it outside, she let the door shut loudly behind. Alone with the tribe of monsters, a smile played briefly across her lips as she strode down the dark and empty street.
Despite her good mood, she had a terrible, certain feeling that she'd receive a text from Atticus any moment now, asking her to come in to the office, telling her there was work to be done.
She hated working.
It was too bad that she still had the month's rent to pay.
About halfway through writing my opening posts. With any luck, they should be up in a few hours or so. Just a quick note that there is no posting order, just a general commonsense feel for replies. If you want to work with any of your fellow players on formulating any associated backstory between your characters, I highly encourage it. That kind of thing is always fun, in my humble opinion.
