@PandaBradyDropping an OOC post here to state my interest.
I've always been fond of playing rival characters in mecha-themed RPs, so maybe making an enemy pilot would be fun, like someone from Westeria. Not sure how much relevance I'd have, though - especially if nobody else joined for me to interact with.
The character concept I had would probably be some kind of test pilot for prototype Arcana frames as part of an experimental unit or something. Could make for a neat subplot of the main cast discovering a new unit being field tested and trying to lure it out and destroy it - kinda like early episodes of The 08th MS Team, if you're familiar with that show.
For the unit, could I ask to be allowed to design a prototype for a Type-18 "The Moon" magech? It might be based more on, say, a defensive controller type of role - using illusion magic for the equivalent of electronic warfare and sensors, testing new barrier technology, etc. Basically meant to isolate and blind opponents while giving intel to and protecting squadmates, maybe even amplifying their weaponry? Could also be designed to work in a team of three with more combat-focused partner frames designated as The Sun and The Star, if we wanted to get really ambitious with a whole "rival squad" type of setup. I dunno. Just spitballing at this point.
Awesome! Then in that case, I have a couple of questions about magic, Westeria and how Iron Arcana work in general. Brace yourself for a wall of text, because I kept having more and more ideas as I wrote this.
Firstly, the intro says that magic is based on the user's Pneuma, and everybody has some level of Pneuma. However, I was wondering if there are limits on what types of effects people's Pneuma can create - like elemental affinities, or some such. For example, could there be a person who could manipulate flames, but not water? Or, expanding on that, could there be somebody who could only do really weak magic that has no outward effect on the world - like, say, sending information telepathically - and who had no affinity for physical magic? Or does everybody have the same set of abilities they're working with provided that they know how to do it? Also, is there any kind of "ritual" spellcasting system where you can draw on the Pneuma in the world around you rather than your own Pneuma by, say, drawing a magic circle and allowing it to build up power slowly until the effect is complete?
Secondly, magic is heavily regulated in Westeria, and the intro mentions that they've been undergoing an industrial revolution to try to wean themselves off of their society's dependence on magic. Does this mean that magic has somehow become scarce there and they need an alternative, or is it just that they're afraid of the power of magic to subvert governmental authority, so they restrict its usage to only those working with the system? I thought it was the latter at first, but since they're building machines specifically to be used by non-mages and Stern's character was doing research to create artificial Pneuma sources, it seems more like they're running out of people who can actually do magic to me, so I'm a little confused now.
Thirdly, what is Westerian society like? I have my own mental picture of it since it seems to be the designated "antagonist faction," but that might be completely different from what you envisioned. Given the heavy regulation and militarization, and the potential lack of magic to provide the luxuries and comforts of day to day life enjoyed by other countries, my impression is that it's a hyper-nationalist empire kind of in the vein of a crossbreed between Soviet Russia and Imperial Japan - I.E. a cross of "we are more intelligent and advanced, and must spread our glorious civilization to enlighten the barbarous savages around us," further justifying their war by saying stuff to the effect of "other nations are greedy and are hoarding the resources and magical power our people need to prosper, so we have to conquer them because it's them or us" - which is potentially also misrepresenting other kingdoms as being tyrannies of the magic-wielding elite dominating the lower class, who thus need to be "liberated," when in reality it's exactly the other way around, and the aristocrats and officials with magic are just whipping the un-sorcerers into a patriotic fervor with fascist-style propaganda and a policy of "bread and circuses" to grow their own power. So like, the closer you get to the heart of the empire and of its industry, the more luxurious and opulent everything is, but hiding just beneath the surface are slums, starvation, and squalor.
Fourthly, what exactly is their technology like? Is it actually modern-style science with like, electrical reactors and circuits and motors and engines? If so, is it full-on science fiction level, or is it more steampunk-ish? Or does their technology run on them converting physical energy like heat, electricity, and light into magical power to charge the magic cartridges mentioned in the intro and to run the systems of things like Iron Arcana which are specifically stated to use magic-based weapons and systems? If so, how does it work? Are they channeling light/electricity into some kind of magical Lacrima crystal or ritual circle that converts that directly into natural Pneuma?
A brief explanation of why I asked so many questions. Basically, my character concept is a "true believer" in the sort of hyper-nationalist ideology I mentioned above, who's been effectively indoctrinated to overlook the flaws in her own country, and to believe that she's fighting for the people and the well-being of the poor and downtrodden, when really she's just a puppet of the system. Her character arc could be something like slowly realizing the flaws in her patriotic zealotry and coming to appreciate that the enemies she's fighting are human like her, and probably have reasons for fighting that are just as valid, which might ultimately lead to her defecting - or just rejecting this realization and dying in battle for what she still wants to believe is a noble cause.
As for her backstory and powers, she's a result of the Child Soldier Project mentioned in Stern's bio, and the direct product of some of Sartorius' research of Heart Extraction bastardized by other scientists after his disappearance. My idea was that if magic was scarce in Westeria, they might be trying to create artificial mages to bolster their military forces by implanting the Pneuma Hearts of other living beings into them in order to strengthen their magical potential. However, I was hoping that there would be some sort of "affinity" system in place which ended up making this process difficult, since even if they strengthened a subject's Pneuma, they wouldn't gain any new "affinities" for different types of magic from it, just more energy to work with. So, they had to settle for just dramatically boosting the power of people who already had weak magical abilities.
My character, to begin with, only had an extremely low-level and commonplace magical affinity of "Sending and Receiving," allowing her to transmit information back and forth via Pneuma - effectively, just a psychic short-range communication/clairvoyance ability. By having her Pneuma dramatically amplified, however, not only was the distance she could send/receive info over increased, but the amount of information she could send/receive was boosted dramatically. This increased capacity lets her not only send messages and scan things remotely, but also create illusions, mess with enemy scanning abilities, and potentially hack into magic-based systems.
The reason I wanted to use this kind of limited affinity was because I was going to make The Moon's weapons systems based on using specially constructed "Receivers," which are basically magically charged stakes that it fires which she can activate using "Sending." Their basic use as a weapon is to allow her to Send and Receive information to and from a target. So, by laying out stakes in an area, she can scan it to determine the locations, designs, and armaments of enemy units in that area, while also flooding them with false information so any scrying magic they're attempting to use to see the area around them or communicate is heavily disrupted. The form taken by this disruption is determined by the kind of information she sends, which is in turn limited by what she actually knows. For example, she couldn't perfectly copy someone's voice saying something they never said to give false orders over communications networks. However, she could just cut those communications entirely by flooding them with white noise, or just use audio editing to swap around words to change the meaning of an order - like turning "Don't retreat!" into "Retreat!" Visually, she can only make illusions of things she can see, since there's too much information required for her to be able to make a convincing illusion of just anything she might want to. So, usually, she scrambles visual inputs by leaving afterimages of The Moon and its allied units to make their numbers appear greater, or to use as decoys, since enemy sensor magic can't tell which is the real one. Finally, if she hits a target with several Receivers, she can also scramble its control inputs to shut down systems, or even hack the unit to take control herself by replacing its pilot's control inputs with her own.
The reasons I asked about ritual magic is that, outside of her own affinity, she's basically powerless to do traditional magic-y stuff like attacking or defending. As such, to create barriers or field effects, she has to rely on improvised magic circles imprinted into the terrain with her Receivers to draw on the energy of the terrain area and resonate with one another to amplify it. By charging these stakes with elemental cartridges, she could cause large-scale field effects, like using Recievers attuned with fire to create improvised landmines, or using a water and earth attuned circle to turn the terrain into a mire of mud that Magecha can't easily move through. Since these take a lot of time to complete the ritual, she obviously couldn't lay these down in the middle of combat and expect them to work, but they could be used for tactical purposes to lay traps and make things difficult for an advancing enemy force.
Why I asked about Iron Arcana functionality is just because I'm not really sure what kind of systems would actually be acceptable. Since it's very lightly armored and doesn't have much in the way of weaponry, I was thinking of giving it a flight pack to increase its mobility, fitting with its role as a scout and skirmishing focused unit meant to disrupt enemy formations with the magical equivalent of Electronic Warfare. However, I don't know if Westerian technology would allow for such a thing as a flying Iron Arcana, given the necessary amount of thrust and power consumption involved. I'm also not really certain how well IAs perform relative to Pneuma-powered Magecha, so would a mobility-type IA even be a match for a Magecha in performance - responsiveness, maneuverability, speed, etc.? Or is their only advantage just thanks to longer operating times and superior numbers?
Another system I was wondering about was some kind of high-yield energy barrier to compensate for lack of armor and serve a squadron-protective role against heavy arms fire. But since IAs run on technology rather than magic, unless there's some kind of conversion system between electrical power and magical output, obviously that wouldn't be possible. The justification I had in mind was, as mentioned above, some kind of ritual circle based around a special crystal that converts electricity or light into magical power, where these crystals would then be the output vector for the unit's shield system, but I'm not sure if that's anything like what you had in mind.
Sorry for the wall of text, and doubly sorry if none of this even makes any sense. I'm just kind of throwing ideas out and seeing what sticks and what needs editing for now.
Firstly, the intro says that magic is based on the user's Pneuma, and everybody has some level of Pneuma. However, I was wondering if there are limits on what types of effects people's Pneuma can create - like elemental affinities, or some such. For example, could there be a person who could manipulate flames, but not water? Or, expanding on that, could there be somebody who could only do really weak magic that has no outward effect on the world - like, say, sending information telepathically - and who had no affinity for physical magic? Or does everybody have the same set of abilities they're working with provided that they know how to do it? Also, is there any kind of "ritual" spellcasting system where you can draw on the Pneuma in the world around you rather than your own Pneuma by, say, drawing a magic circle and allowing it to build up power slowly until the effect is complete?
A person's Pneuma can have an elemental affinity. Usually this means that certain types of magic come a little easier to wield than some for that person. This means that the opposite affinity can be more difficult to control i.e. Fire and Ice, Water and Lightning, etc. Schools throughout the nations do teach a certain curriculum of magic, but there are "undocumented" spells out there. Telepathy is a spell that one could learn, but usually difficult to learn, since it broadcasts the immediate thoughts of the caster. Ritual spells are not something that has been used outside of secret. This HAS been used by the Human Monsters during the war, and it had been implemented once by the Emperor of Truscan. But outside of that, it's almost never heard of. I suppose you could use it, granted you give enough reason.
Secondly, magic is heavily regulated in Westeria, and the intro mentions that they've been undergoing an industrial revolution to try to wean themselves off of their society's dependence on magic. Does this mean that magic has somehow become scarce there and they need an alternative, or is it just that they're afraid of the power of magic to subvert governmental authority, so they restrict its usage to only those working with the system? I thought it was the latter at first, but since they're building machines specifically to be used by non-mages and Stern's character was doing research to create artificial Pneuma sources, it seems more like they're running out of people who can actually do magic to me, so I'm a little confused now.
It's a bit of both. The king believes that the amount of Pneuma used by the people of the world is affecting the world in negative ways, making monsters stronger, making scarce the natural resources, and draining the planet of it's life force. So he began to regulate the use of magic to only those in the system, effectively cutting the amount of magic used down by 60%. He creates the Iron Arcana so that the use, even by those in power, will lower as well, and only be used as needed.
Thirdly, what is Westerian society like? I have my own mental picture of it since it seems to be the designated "antagonist faction," but that might be completely different from what you envisioned. Given the heavy regulation and militarization, and the potential lack of magic to provide the luxuries and comforts of day to day life enjoyed by other countries, my impression is that it's a hyper-nationalist empire kind of in the vein of a crossbreed between Soviet Russia and Imperial Japan - I.E. a cross of "we are more intelligent and advanced, and must spread our glorious civilization to enlighten the barbarous savages around us," further justifying their war by saying stuff to the effect of "other nations are greedy and are hoarding the resources and magical power our people need to prosper, so we have to conquer them because it's them or us" - which is potentially also misrepresenting other kingdoms as being tyrannies of the magic-wielding elite dominating the lower class, who thus need to be "liberated," when in reality it's exactly the other way around, and the aristocrats and officials with magic are just whipping the un-sorcerers into a patriotic fervor with fascist-style propaganda and a policy of "bread and circuses" to grow their own power. So like, the closer you get to the heart of the empire and of its industry, the more luxurious and opulent everything is, but hiding just beneath the surface are slums, starvation, and squalor.
Yes, pretty much. Though the industrial revolution here does not leave the people in so much squalor. They are currently in the "Patriotic" state of mind. Some believe it's for the betterment of the planet, some believe that by proving they can live without magic they can show themselves superior, and others simply want to climb the ranks so they can be on top with magic. It's kinda like the Fire Nation in Last Air Bender. We know the leader is doing something bad. We know that the military usually follows orders. We know they think they are in the right. But they aren't all bad people.
Fourthly, what exactly is their technology like? Is it actually modern-style science with like, electrical reactors and circuits and motors and engines? If so, is it full-on science fiction level, or is it more steampunk-ish? Or does their technology run on them converting physical energy like heat, electricity, and light into magical power to charge the magic cartridges mentioned in the intro and to run the systems of things like Iron Arcana which are specifically stated to use magic-based weapons and systems? If so, how does it work? Are they channeling light/electricity into some kind of magical Lacrima crystal or ritual circle that converts that directly into natural Pneuma?
The technology is something similar to modern day, given how long they've had to meld magic with their technology. The Magic Cartridges are basically batteries, which the Kingdom has recently recreated for less intensive use by using other methods of generating electricity (Windmills, Lightning Rods, Hydroelectric powers). Occasionally they will use Pneuma to create these forces, which they've found to be very effective, so the "other methods" I mentioned earlier are not as reoccurring as they would be in real life (i.e. Using Electricity Magic to charge several dozen "New Cartridges" at once). However, unlike the New Cartridges (which only allow for pure magic energy to be released), the old Cartridges could be given specific types of magic to perform differently (Ice magic could be charged into an old Cartridge and placed into a Fridge or Freezer to allow for cooling, or Fire Magic to fuel a vehicle.) So the New Cartridges act as power sources for the new technology, while the Old Cartridges could do the effect that was missing. If that makes sense. Sometimes I worry I can't get my words across via text.
As for her backstory and powers, she's a result of the Child Soldier Project mentioned in Stern's bio, and the direct product of some of Sartorius' research of Heart Extraction bastardized by other scientists after his disappearance. My idea was that if magic was scarce in Westeria, they might be trying to create artificial mages to bolster their military forces by implanting the Pneuma Hearts of other living beings into them in order to strengthen their magical potential. However, I was hoping that there would be some sort of "affinity" system in place which ended up making this process difficult, since even if they strengthened a subject's Pneuma, they wouldn't gain any new "affinities" for different types of magic from it, just more energy to work with. So, they had to settle for just dramatically boosting the power of people who already had weak magical abilities.
Gonna stop you there and answer that one in PMs.
The reason I wanted to use this kind of limited affinity was because I was going to make The Moon's weapons systems based on using specially constructed "Receivers," which are basically magically charged stakes that it fires which she can activate using "Sending." Their basic use as a weapon is to allow her to Send and Receive information to and from a target. So, by laying out stakes in an area, she can scan it to determine the locations, designs, and armaments of enemy units in that area, while also flooding them with false information so any scrying magic they're attempting to use to see the area around them or communicate is heavily disrupted. The form taken by this disruption is determined by the kind of information she sends, which is in turn limited by what she actually knows. For example, she couldn't perfectly copy someone's voice saying something they never said to give false orders over communications networks. However, she could just cut those communications entirely by flooding them with white noise, or just use audio editing to swap around words to change the meaning of an order - like turning "Don't retreat!" into "Retreat!" Visually, she can only make illusions of things she can see, since there's too much information required for her to be able to make a convincing illusion of just anything she might want to. So, usually, she scrambles visual inputs by leaving afterimages of The Moon and its allied units to make their numbers appear greater, or to use as decoys, since enemy sensor magic can't tell which is the real one. Finally, if she hits a target with several Receivers, she can also scramble its control inputs to shut down systems, or even hack the unit to take control herself by replacing its pilot's control inputs with her own.
Again, I shall answer this in the PMs.
The reasons I asked about ritual magic is that, outside of her own affinity, she's basically powerless to do traditional magic-y stuff like attacking or defending. As such, to create barriers or field effects, she has to rely on improvised magic circles imprinted into the terrain with her Receivers to draw on the energy of the terrain area and resonate with one another to amplify it. By charging these stakes with elemental cartridges, she could cause large-scale field effects, like using Recievers attuned with fire to create improvised landmines, or using a water and earth attuned circle to turn the terrain into a mire of mud that Magecha can't easily move through. Since these take a lot of time to complete the ritual, she obviously couldn't lay these down in the middle of combat and expect them to work, but they could be used for tactical purposes to lay traps and make things difficult for an advancing enemy force.
I like your thinking. Very out of the box. I'd say that is a decent enough reason to do these Minor Ritual spells. (Normally Ritual Spells would take days to cast and end up being something along the lines of Summoning a Demon, or Shooting a giant beam of Pure Magic Energy).
Why I asked about Iron Arcana functionality is just because I'm not really sure what kind of systems would actually be acceptable. Since it's very lightly armored and doesn't have much in the way of weaponry, I was thinking of giving it a flight pack to increase its mobility, fitting with its role as a scout and skirmishing focused unit meant to disrupt enemy formations with the magical equivalent of Electronic Warfare. However, I don't know if Westerian technology would allow for such a thing as a flying Iron Arcana, given the necessary amount of thrust and power consumption involved. I'm also not really certain how well IAs perform relative to Pneuma-powered Magecha, so would a mobility-type IA even be a match for a Magecha in performance - responsiveness, maneuverability, speed, etc.? Or is their only advantage just thanks to longer operating times and superior numbers?
With IAs, they have been tested and can hold their own against most regular Magecha, even some Monster Enhanced Magecha (MEM). A flight pack would be difficult to allow, however given that Moon, Star, and Sun are prototypes/testbeds, I believe I can allow for this. (Some IAs need to transform for flight)
Another system I was wondering about was some kind of high-yield energy barrier to compensate for lack of armor and serve a squadron-protective role against heavy arms fire. But since IAs run on technology rather than magic, unless there's some kind of conversion system between electrical power and magical output, obviously that wouldn't be possible. The justification I had in mind was, as mentioned above, some kind of ritual circle based around a special crystal that converts electricity or light into magical power, where these crystals would then be the output vector for the unit's shield system, but I'm not sure if that's anything like what you had in mind.
Sorry for the wall of text, and doubly sorry if none of this even makes any sense. I'm just kind of throwing ideas out and seeing what sticks and what needs editing for now.
No reason to be sorry, these are all valid points. High Yield Energy Barrier... Hmm... Well I suppose at the cost of functionality, this could be implemented. These 3 units are testbeds after all. For a Electricity-Magic/Magic-Electricity conversion rate, it is very tricky. While the energy expended from creating a Pneuma based bolt of lightning could charge several dozen New Cartridges, these New Cartridges last longer in the big picture. Magecha can only run as long as their Pilot has Pneuma. This means on average a pilot of a Magecha giving their Pneuma to the machine could last around 1-4 hours depending on the difficulty of the battle. MEM run as long as their Pilot and the Monster Material continue to sustain it with Pneuma. Depending on the monster and pilot, this could vary greatly. A Slime's Core for example would only add about 30 minutes of extra power, while a Dragon's Heart may be able to sustain it for days. The longest a MEM has run was 12 days, which was thousands of years ago in a battle with the Truscan Empire's outlawed MEM which merged a Phoenix's Feather with a living Demon possessed Emperor. IAs can run from 12-20 hours with their 12 New Cartridge power source.
Seems interesting enough. I'll need some time to do a full lore research but here are a few questions I have in terms of character ideas.
My character is going to be a female human, or whatever would be a "normal" race if humans don't exist. I imagine that she's primary a range/stealth type who specializes in espionage and stealth. That is to say, she's really good at noticing people and avoiding them. I bring this up because usually when I try to make a character like this, a lot of GM's end up nerfing me because I tend to do things like subvert ambushes, kidnappings, or people lying to me. Just as well not a lot of people enjoy characters who don't stay and fight but drag things out with hit-and-run tactics that isn't just being a fast dodger. A different idea that also doesn't always work out is a combat support type who utilizes a variety of nonlethal but potent crowd control (Things like limiting or even stopping movement or creating barriers) and healing, generally ones powerful enough to undo massive amount of lethal damage though not specifically bring back the dead.
Another thing I'd like to know if you'll allow me to play two characters who are related to one another, but one has equipment/skills from a different faction different from the one they're currently working for. For example, I have two characters working for the Kingdom of Westeria but one of them uses an advanced and maybe even rare Monster Magecha instead of the Iron Magecha. These two characters also tend to work together and/or are the character archetype I mention above.
Sorry it took me so long to finish this! I finally completed my bio! Hope you enjoy!
Also, a note to anyone creating Westerian characters. If you want to play as a child soldier, I'd be happy to welcome anyone who wants to join as one of the other two as-yet unnamed members of the Aiga Pack and the pilot of either The Sun or The Star.
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{"Now that the time has come to wield that strength, I will not hesitate. I am yours to command - use me as you see fit."} - Dialogue || #A2F0FF ||| Thoughts || #D00505 ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
Gisela stands at 5 feet, 3 inches and weighs 121 pounds. She is a short, doll-like albino girl who, despite her sickly complexion and small stature, has an intense sort of air about her. Her features are rather gaunt and angular, with prominent cheekbones, a sharply defined jawline, and a high brow. The mature and rather grim sort of look this gives her is only accentuated by the crimson eyepatch strapped over her right eye, which, if one looks closely, appears to be surgically wired into her eye socket, with faint bluish-gray patterns of what appear to be circuits extending outward from around its edges and into the surrounding skin. The surface of the patch is, upon a closer examination, split diagonally across the center seam, which can fold back to reveal a red, crystalline lens beneath it, rimmed with runic symbols chiseled into the metal. Her visible left eye is only slightly less unsettling, as it is a deep crimson in color, and is frequently both bloodshot and framed by dark bags that are only partly concealed by her long, gray-tinted eyelashes. She seldom, if ever, wears any sort of makeup, and as such shows all the slight flaws and imperfections that other women her age would doubtless spare no expense to hide. Although she does at least go to the effort to keep her long, silvery hair clean, it is nevertheless perpetually messy and unkempt, with its slightly curly, matted locks often found clumsily strained into a loose, flowing braid.
Nevertheless, her face also hasn't entirely lost some of its more childish aspects. Her cheeks, in particular, are rather round, still clinging to some of their old baby fat. There are even slight dimples in them that would no doubt draw more attention to themselves, if only she'd smile just a little bit. Her lips, likewise, are rather full and red, hiding behind them rows of pristine white teeth. All in all, despite the ruin wrought upon some of her features by the treatments she has been subjected to, Gisela still retains a mysterious sort of appeal, although calling her a beauty - even if an unkempt or ruined one - would perhaps be too much of a stretch. Regardless, however, this mix of youthful and adult features does make it rather difficult to place her exact age at a glance, since she looks like she could be anywhere between her early teens and her early twenties.
Her build is somewhat thin and wiry, and could charitably be called "dainty," or uncharitably called "scrawny." Most of what little mass she has is made up by her limbs, but she does have some meat on her bones - a more recent addition to her once famished physique, by the look of it. And, although late to bloom, she does have some more feminine curves, albeit more focused around her thin waist and wide hips than on her rather petite bust.
Her usual attire is rather eye-catching in the same way as she herself is - which is to say, it looks entirely strange and uncanny in normal society. She tends to favor light, simple clothing she can move easily in, and consequently is almost never seen outside of her pilot's suit - a form-fitting, aqua-colored sleeveless jumper made of some sort of compact, durable polymer, devoid of ornamentation save for a protective metal harness around the chest, a few green crystalline Pneuma regulators meant to interface with cockpit systems for channeling energy through a Magecha, and a protective plate over the crotch. She usually couples this garment with a set of matching arm warmers which end in fingerless gloves, but curiously, prefers not to wear the reinforced boots customarily found with the uniform whenever possible, leaving her feet bare. Even more curiously, despite her evident distaste for cosmetics, all of her nails are usually seen painted a dark blue. However, these fashion choices are not, as it happens, the sole manifestation of some kind of repressed femininity, but rather, are simply a practical consideration. The compound she uses to paint her nails is a Pneuma-receptive substance that helps her Analytical Magic and Scrying Magic to scan the flow of Pneuma through the area by drawing it into her body. By remaining barefoot, she can more precisely track the flow of energy through the ground, using this to obtain information on her surroundings through clairvoyance and psychometry. Nevertheless, to those not familiar with her spellcraft, this apparent dislike of footwear only makes her seem even more abnormal.
Her most recognizable accessory is not part of the standard pilot's uniform, but rather, was specially designed for use by Gisela herself. It is a long, ankle-length white and blue cloak, with its end split into three distinct tails, and with its front marked with two slits to allow her arms freedom of movement. All over this garment, red cloth seals are hung from iron loops, numbering ten in total. The function of these seals is to siphon her overflowing Pneuma and re-purpose it, serving as vectors for a shielding spell that reduces force applied to her person. Originally a defensive tool used by combat magicians, it has been modified for use in reducing the tremendous G-Forces she would otherwise experience while piloting her unit, so as to reduce the strain on her body and prevent her from being crushed when performing particularly strenuous maneuvers.
Gisela is, as a general rule, a very calm, quiet individual who takes a great deal of time to think before speaking. If something doesn't need to be said, then, more often than not, she keeps it to herself. If she must say something, she will say it objectively, albeit politely if at all possible. She seldom makes jokes, as it is seldom her place to do so. She is rational, businesslike, and direct, doing what she is told without cutting corners, and attempting to resolve difficulties as efficiently as possible, without hesitating or beating around the bush.
These traits, however, are only partly inherent to her nature. Rather, much of her emotionless attitude is a cultivated persona that is the result of the years she has spent training in the Young Magus Project. Although she was always dutiful - perhaps to a fault - she was not born a perpetual stoic, nor was she always so conscious of her words that she will, more often than not, prefer not to speak. Wanting to please her teachers, wanting to be praised, she tried her best to become what they wanted her to be: a perfectly efficient human tool, suited to accomplish any task it might be given without complaint. Since she was lauded for her composure and cool-headedness, and criticized for speaking out of turn or behaving in an overly emotional manner, she came to view her temper and her own personal feelings as being merely liabilities, and so tried to ignore them to the best of her ability. Unless absolutely necessary for her objective, there is no reason for her to draw attention to herself - doing so, she has concluded, is merely a distraction and a nuisance for more important people. It is her work, and not her person, that she should strive to have appreciated, causing her to avoid almost any form of self-expression when in the company of superiors, instead focusing solely on her orders and on her mission.
However, no matter how hard she tries, Gisela is only human, and, in fact, may not even be wholly that anymore. Beneath her facade of composure, emotions and impulses may suddenly flare up that she cannot seem to fully control. As a rather insidious side-effect of the Pneuma augmentation process she underwent, the foreign energy within her oftentimes will attempt to resist sublimation. Emotions not her own can lash out within her unexpectedly, causing sudden mood swings and outbursts of mania, anger, or depression, which can afterwards cloud her memories so she can't clearly remember what she was doing or why, leading in turn to increased stress that thus brings on more episodes - a vicious cycle that leaves her prized facade of stoicism hanging by a thread, and contributes to her withdrawal from talking entirely as a means of controlling herself.
Furthermore, as a human fused with the Pneuma Hearts of beasts, she is also closer to her animal instincts than one otherwise would be. Rather than the "next evolution of humanity," she is more like a human reverted to a more primal state for the sake of survival. Sudden loud noises, unexpected movements, or flashes of light immediately provoke a fight-or-flight reaction. This is good when she's in the middle of a fight, as it lets her react more quickly to danger. But outside of combat, it becomes rather problematic when her first reaction to a tap on the shoulder or a slight, accidental bump is to immediately retreat. She can't handle physical contact well at all, and, when alarmed, oftentimes becomes emotionally unstable, leading to outbursts like the ones mentioned above. Because of this, she's chemically dependent on several mood-regulating drugs to keep her calm in and out of combat, but those take their own toll on her, too, oftentimes making her nauseous or giving her debilitating headaches.
Nevertheless, despite the simmering cauldron of insecurity and instability lurking just beneath the surface, Gisela prides herself on her "maturity," and thus works tirelessly to master herself and perform at the level that is expected of her, not wanting anyone to see how unsightly and vulnerable she really is. Above all else, she is driven by a fear of being seen as unreliable, and by a desire to be useful to and be praised by others - exactly the sort of give-and-take that one would expect from a person whose very root is "Sending and Receiving."
However, this isn't to say that she has completely lost touch with who she is in the process, either - she has simply learned to what extent she can enjoy herself without causing a disruption, and keeps herself strictly within those confines. Nevertheless, she is still insatiably curious, despite seldom being able to pursue or fulfill this curiosity to any degree that exceeds the boundaries of her mission. Even if she does not show it externally, she indulges in a quiet appreciation for new places, things, and people, and never feels entirely confident - despite her outward front of control - unless she has thoroughly reviewed all data relevant to her situation at least three times. And, although she has done her best to settle for merely being praised and appreciated, she is not an antisocial person. She does have a certain need for some level of interaction with other people. While she seldom has much to say herself, and often hesitates to definitively state her opinion for fear of confrontation (particularly with superiors) and for fear of saying too much and having an emotional episode, she is nevertheless a tremendously good listener, and can sometimes be coaxed into being surprisingly personable and talkative despite her softspoken attitude and reclusive nature.
In particular, she's very fond of and sometimes is even openly affectionate with her "siblings": two other child soldiers with whom she was assigned as a squadmate ever since her initiation into the Young Magus Project. With the other members of the "Aiga Pack," Gisela - or rather, Gila, as they often call her - takes on the role of a somewhat strict "big sister," working to keep the others in line and doing her best to protect them from danger. Despite this sternness, though, she also encourages them to succeed and takes great pride in their shared accomplishments together.
Despite her constant attempts to appear knowledgeable and mature, Gisela is actually rather naive. She has been conditioned since childhood to trust her instructors unquestioningly, after all, and to view their teachings as the final word on any and all matters. As such, she has no doubt that the Kingdom of Westeria is everything that it claims to be - a citadel of knowledge and culture, and the final bastion of enlightenment and freedom that stands against the "religious extremists" of the Egriffin Empire, the "barbarians" of the Zifrin Alliance, and the "old-fashioned and backwards elitists" of the Eastern Dragalia Federation. She believes thoroughly that the "corrupt elites" of the Federation and the Empire are misusing their magic and destroying the very life of the planet in so doing, and that the Alliance are consorting with monsters to the detriment of humanity. If war has been declared, then that war must be just and necessary to protect the well-being of the people and bring prosperity to Westeria. While she is, admittedly, afraid of dying on the battlefield, nevertheless she is utterly convinced that she is doing the right thing by fighting, and thus will do whatever it takes to ensure victory.
Gisela was born a sickly girl with too little Pneuma to influence the world around her. As such, she has little to no innate affinity for any of the traditional elements of magic. However, due to the procedures she underwent as a subject of the Young Magus Project, her innate Pneuma has been dramatically augmented with the life force of beasts, and she thus "developed" an entirely new affinity not at all based on the manifestation of a connection with the outside world, but rather based on her own internal desires for human connection, experience, and understanding. As such, her Magical Affinity is not focused on a particular element such as Fire, Water, or the like, but rather upon the abstract concepts of "Sending and Receiving." Due to this, she has become a prodigy of sorts in the fields of Scrying Magic, Analytical Magic, and Communications Magic, and is capable of combining these different spell forms in a variety of different ways to create new and unique effects.
Scrying Magic: Fundamentally, this is a magic that observes things at a distance by "seeing" through Pneuma. It pulses a fragment of the user's power through the surrounding landscape, gathering data based on the other types of Pneuma it encounters in order to create a picture of the area in question. Functionally, it is like a form of clairvoyance, but can also be used to determine the raw concentration of Pneuma in an area and get some idea of its ambient currents. Frequently used in Magecha as a "camera."
Analytical Magic: Similar to Scrying Magic, but focused entirely upon one object through some sort of sensory contact. By smelling, hearing, seeing, tasting, or touching an object, one can determine its structure and properties. The closer the observation, the more accurate and detailed the results. (Hearing/Smelling < Seeing < Touching/Tasting) At high levels, the user can grasp the entire design of an object, its material composition, the different affinities and relative balance of its Pneuma, its function, and even, in some cases, its history. Functionally, then, it is like a highly detailed "scan" coupled with Psychometry. Frequently used in Magecha as a "sensor" or "sonar" of sorts.
Communications Magic: Used to send information from one person's mind to another, or from the caster's mind to a pre-designated object, which in turn relays the signal to another point. This communication is not only limited to spoken or written messages, but can also include images, scents, tastes, or even, with enough power, the necessary Pneumatic invocation to activate a spell remotely, provided the message's recipient has the necessary Pneuma to do so. Gisela, given her affinity, can use this to remotely activate a Scrying or Analytical spell using a pre-established Receiver as a reference point. A normal user of this school of magic would be limited to short range communications of a mile at most, but Gisela's particular affinity for this form of spellcraft allows her to pass decently complex signals even over distances of several miles. Frequently used in Magecha as a "radio."
As an added note, Gisela's "eyepatch" - in fact a complex cybernetic implant coupled with a Pneuma regulator and amplifier - is designed in the same way as a Magech's "radio" formula would be, and is specifically linked to the "Receivers" Gisela employs for her magic. This dramatically increases the speed and efficiency of her Communications Magic, and the fidelity of any information returned by a remotely activated Scrying or Analytical spell, dramatically increasing her analytical and sensory capabilities, even at great distances. Furthermore, when piloting, the "eyepatch" can establish a communications link with her unit, beaming all of its Scrying and Analytical data directly up her optic nerve and into her brain, allowing her to react to outside stimuli much more quickly. However, regardless of the way in which it is being used, as of yet, the implant is still an imperfect prototype, and has a tendency to flood the user with information faster than their mind can process it. This can lead to intense amounts of mental strain if the device is overused, causing intense migraines, dizziness, disorientation, heightened states of stress and emotion, seizures, fainting, and possibly even death. Consequently, unless she absolutely has to, Gisela seldom uplinks with her unit for very long, regardless of the advantages it provides her.
Special Magical Art - Ritual Magic: By combining Scrying Magic and Communications Magic, Gisela is capable of creating entirely unique "ritual" variants on existing forms of magic. First, she scans the terrain to find a suitable nexus of ambient Pneuma. Then, by placing a receiver connected with some source of elemental magic there, she can use Communications Magic to send a signal to that point, activating the elemental magic remotely using the Pneuma of the land rather than her own energy. This also bypasses her own inability to control traditional elemental magic, since it is the land and not she herself that is serving as the vector. However, even though not on the same scale as a traditional "Ritual" - a forbidden sort of magic that perverts the flow of Pneuma through an entire area rather than simply giving it a new affinity - this sort of magic does take time to prepare, as the ritual point must "charge" until it has a sufficient concentration of Pneuma to unleash the spell.
Special Magical Art - Spirit Hacking: The culmination of all of Gisela's magical prowess, and a unique manifestation of magic which only she can utilize to its fullest. Using Scrying Magic, she can trace the flow of Pneuma through a living magus, or through any kind of magical device, particularly Magecha. Next, she uses Analytical Magic to pinpoint specific elements of its structure, and the affinities and Pneumatic invocations involved in actualizing any spells that are being channeled through that device. Finally, using Communications Magic to transmit directly to some kind of Receiver attached to the target, she interferes with the inputs controlling that flow and replaces them with her own. Using this art, she can intercept and alter the contents of messages being sent via enemy Communications Magic and interfere with the results of their Scrying and Analytical Magic, displaying entirely false images and things which are not there, altering the locations and properties of real objects, or concealing those real objects entirely. Given proper preparation and a great deal of power, she can even briefly take over the controls of enemy Magecha, locking their pilots out of the system and shutting them down, or else having them momentarily turn on their own allies, sowing confusion and chaos. It is her creation and mastery of this art that has earned Gisela her reputation as a prodigy, and it was with this particular trait in mind that her most recent prototype Iron Arcana was designed.
The girl now known as Gisela Aiga remembers almost nothing about her past. She was told that she, as a child, suffered from a crippling deficiency of Pneuma that would have surely resulted in her death if left untreated. As such, her family sent her to the Young Magus Project, hoping that they could treat her sickness. For this reason, she was augmented with Pneuma as part of an experimental procedure that saved her life. However, since this technique was new and entirely untested, she had to be left in the care of the project in order to ensure that there were no unforeseen side-effects.
To make a very long story short, there were, as the unstable energy she had been infused with ravaged her psyche with increasing frequency. She remembers almost nothing from this period, or from the time before it - "an unfortunate and entirely unforeseen result of her body rejecting its new Pneuma," as she was told. She was proscribed a series of drugs to keep her mental state stable, and subjected to a few more procedures to correct the Pneuma imbalances in her body in as much as that was possible. And, when the testing was finally done, it was "coincidentally discovered" that the treatment had unlocked latent magical powers hitherto unheard of and made her "quite accidentally" into a prodigy. This being the case, her parents were "humbly requested" that she be admitted into the "prestigious project," which would put her on the fast track to a high position in her country's service. They agreed - or at least, she was told that they had agreed. It hardly mattered, however. The erasure of her memories was so complete that she would not have recognized her parents' faces, voices, or names even had they met face to face. Without a past to return to, there was no point in questioning the kind people who had so generously offered her so prestigious an opportunity. After all, even had she refused to go along with the project, it wasn't like she had any knowledge of the outside world, or any idea what she would do instead. So, she accepted, and her training began.
Alongside other "volunteers" who all seemed to have lost their pasts as well, the amnesiac girl was given a new name, and with it, a new "family." The students were divided into "packs" - cohesive squadrons selected for the synergy of their magical affinities. Each of their talents could compensate for another's weaknesses, maximizing their effectiveness when working in tandem. They would always be kept together, living, eating, training, and playing as a group to encourage mutual reliance and bonding. They were also encouraged to treat each other as siblings, and given a shared family name. The girl now christened Gisela was assigned to the Aiga Pack - a group of three, including herself - as its communications and information specialist.
So it was that, along with her siblings, her training began. She was taught the glorious history of the Kingdom of Westeria, and was instructed how to use her magic and encouraged to innovate in its use alongside her siblings and to discover its unique properties and applications for herself. Most importantly, however, she was also taught the basics of operating military technology. From the time she was 10, she began a regimen of constant simulations meant to hone her abilities as a pilot, and by the time she was 12, she was already capable of operating a basic "Fool" exoskeleton with the level of proficiency expected of a junior officer in the Iron Arcane Force. From this point forward, she and her siblings were moved out of the basic Young Magus Program, and into the Westerian government's top secret Research and Operations Division, where they worked as test pilots for prototype units combining elements of traditional Magecha design with the new, wholly mechanized technology of the Iron Arcana.
With the long-awaited declaration of war against the Egriffin Empire, these special projects have been rushed into their final stages. In order to complete the production of new units to counter the Empire's Monster-empowered Magecha, the Research and Operations Division has spared no expense on the development of three special units incorporating the most cutting edge technology the Kingdom has to offer, and, after extensive testing and modifications at home, has at last deemed them ready to be deployed, so as to test their capabilities in live combat with the enemy. Attaching them as special units working alongside the regular Iron Arcane Forces, the Aiga Pack have been chosen to pilot these new Iron Arcana Frames.
The Type-17 "Star" and Type-19 "Sun" have each been assigned to her "siblings." As for Gisela herself, she has been assigned the new Type-18 "Moon" prototype.
The time has come. Westeria calls for its children, thirsts for their strength. For the glory of King and Country, and for the future of humankind, the next generation shall gladly stake their lives.
I was actually thinking of joining your group, though I'll be using a pair of twin sisters myself so I'll be filling up two slots on the team.
Ooh! Sounds like fun! Although, I will warn you that if you do join the Aiga pack, you may need to revamp your character concept a bit, since Gisela is already a stealth/shielding/support focused specialist, so there would likely be some redundancy there. Plus they're also specifically testing Iron Arcana units. But, if you can make it work and enjoy yourself, then I'd love having you on board! :D
Hmm. Well then we could still be an overall stealth/recon type group. My sniper character would have more emphasis on spotting, identifying, and marking key targets while my combat support would have more emphasis on combat with some healing tech too. I’ve always wanted to run a ya key type of character who tanks by healing.
A sniper would work amazingly well with Gisela, actually! She's all about scanning the area to locate enemies and assess their capabilities, then shutting down their sensors/communications so they can't locate the squad or coordinate movements against them, so she could serve as a spotter for a dedicated sniper unit. If the combat support then had more of a "suppressing fire" focus, or a close-quarters combat specialization in addition to repair capabilities, that would round out to a really versatile and dangerous team.
That’s more or less what I had in mind. A sniping sister that takes out threats from long range and a close-quarter/melee sister to handle anyone that comes close.
I love it. If you can get approval from the GM, then I'd love to have you in the squad! :D
Although, Riegal did say that they were interested potentially in joining, too, so we may have to settle who's doing what where. Not sure. We'll see. Anyhow, it's late and I need sleep, so goodnight!~
@Ryonara Two characters is allowable, granted you give valid enough reason (siblings is a pretty good reason). I kind of imagine the whole Blue Oni-Red Oni trope with them, but it is totally up to you. I'm also fine with an espionage character, so long as you PM me in order for me to check that nothing is being derailed, or in the realm of impossibility.
@Feyblue Well done. This level of writing and formatting I would personally expect from an Advanced Player. I enjoyed reading your character's full bio as well as the IAs abilities. Welcome aboard, post in the Character tab when you have the chance. I'll be waiting for one more CS posted before I post in the IC. That doesn't mean the RP will be closed, but it does mean that it will be starting, so whenever someone wishes to join, they can simply ask for a drop in point.
A little worried that my characters are the only ones currently in the 'protagonist' group. If this keeps up and Westeria's Secret Ops is more popular, I might have to consider having my characters not defect just to have players to interact with.
@Stern Algorithm yeah. Haha. But we do have a Zifran as well. Plus, I can always work around it. You guys may be Antagonists for now, but may defect. Allegiances may shift, and values may be broken. It is war. No one is truly the bad guy, no one is truly the good guy. Each faction has their ups and downs. While Westeria is written like an Antagonist right now, it could be different for those living their. The whole everyone is the hero of their own story.
Name: Hibiki and Shizuka “Karla and Irene Aiga” Age: Both are 16 years old. Hibiki is the slightly older one. Gender: Females Nationality: Westerian Appearance: History: Hibiki and Shizuka are inseparable, even in birth; the two sisters were born together as twins and their histories are connected even when they’re apart. Their parents were simple folk just trying to make a living in one of Westeria’s farming colonies, doing well for itself thanks to the lack of monster activities in the area. But because of the lack of danger, there was also a lack of attention from Westeria’s military, so much that there wasn’t even a single Magecha, just a rudimentary police force to keep the peace. The village had only it’s isolation to protect it from attack, and that alone wasn’t enough when the two sisters were five years old.
Suddenly their village was approached by armed soldiers from an unknown faction. No one from the village, not even the town guard, knew who or where these soldiers came from. They made their demands simple: they wanted all the food supplies available, and any young man or woman under the age of sixteen to join them. Any resistance would be met with immediate violence. These soldiers were far better equipped than any of the guardsmen were, but no one wanted to give up their children. Hibiki and Shizuka’s parents were one of the first to try and flee before their village was razed to the ground. However during the chaos Hibiki and Shizuka were separated, both being taken away by their parents when soldiers nearly gunned them down. Their father, who was carrying Shizuka, was killed not long after and Shizuka herself was taken by the soldiers. Hibiki and her mother managed to escape but never forgot that tragic day.
Hibiki and her mother managed to seek refuge in one of Westeria’s cities. They waited and hoped that after reporting the attack to the military there, Shizuka might have been saved. But by the time the soldiers came back, they told the two that they did not find Shizuka, and only managed to recover the body of Hibiki’s father. Distraught, Hibiki’s mother fell into a deep depression. Hibiki on the other hand did not lose hope. Though she mourned her father, she knew in her heart that her sister was alive. And that Hibiki would save her no matter the cost. At the young age of eight years old, Hibiki worked as hard as she possibly could through school and desired to join the military to become stronger. When she heard of a project seeking out young children to volunteer for a very special project.
At this point Hibiki’s mother was barely a hollow shell of her former self. Lost in the haze of drugs and alcohol, she was barely capable of signing the volunteer papers that Hibiki had presented her. For Hibiki’s mother, she thought she had lost all of her family years ago when their village was attacked. But at that moment, Hibiki knew that she lost her mother, and the only person she would have left is her sister Shizuka. Hibiki was then taken away to have experiments done on her, forgetting nearly all of her memories. All of except one vague memory, the memory of someone she needs to save.
As for Shizuka, when she was taken away by the soldiers she was quick to learn and adapt. She knew when she needed to be silent and obedient, but schemed and worked against them in whatever way she could. They too took children for the purpose of training and indoctrinating them. They were abused, mentally and physically, in order to crush their spirits and make them obedient to the soldiers. Shizuka was given an especially hard time after they discovered her treachery, often leaving her for dead only to find her later when she regains enough strength to try and escape. She often wondered why they didn’t simply kill her when they had the chance, but they never had that chance. One day during practice the soldiers were ambushed by Iron Magecha, overwhelmed by sheer firepower. However Shizuka and the other children were not specifically saved either; many who haven’t already died due to the brutal conditions of their training ended up as mere casualties to the explosions and attacks by the Iron Magecha. Those who survived were taken by the Westeria soldiers, and not to reunite back with their family.
As fate would have it, Shizuka was taken to be one of the “volunteers” for the same project as her sister. Of the surviving children, Shizuka was one of the few who had a workable level of Pneuma as well as physical ability. She didn’t consent but it didn’t matter. She wasn’t strong enough to resist, and her memory was wiped out as they conducted their experiments to make her into a super soldier. Only one memory remained in Shizuka’s mind; a memory of someone she’s been wanting to meet again.
Perhaps because it was luck, or maybe it was destiny. Maybe it was just because the two have changed so much since they were seperated, neither they nor their handlers realized that the girls once known as Hibiki and Shizuka became part of the same pack along with one other. The two quickly made a rapport with one another, with Hibiki becoming the self-elected leader and eldest sibling of the pack while Shizuka supported from behind the scenes. Along with their third sister, the trio were raised and worked together for the glory of Westeria.
When the Kingdom of Westeria declared war on Egriffin Empire, the three girls were willing and ready to lay down their lives for each other and their nation. To ensure their utmost ability and strength for the coming war, each member of the pack was given unique Iron Magecha utilizing the best weaponry and technology that the kingdom had to offer. For Hibiki, she was assigned the Type-18 Sun, and with it given the callsign “Nova”. Shizuka piloted the Type-17 Star and took the name “Stella” as her callsign.
The time had come. All of their life’s training, both remembered and forgotten, had lead up to this moment of war. The Kingdom of Westeria has called upon its strongest and greatest to come to it’s defense, and the twins have answered. They would prove the world of their abilities or die honorably.
Hail Westeria.
Magic: Hibiki’s main roll is the group’s Sniper, and many of her magic abilities augment that ability. Either to make it easier for her to strike her enemy, do more damage, or provide other effects that will lead to the enemy’s defeat. She also knows a few utility spells to ensure that herself and her allies are safe from retaliation and attack, either by providing camouflage or protection.
Alter Bullet - This spell adds or changes traits to Hibiki’s bullet to provide different effects to suit her needs. At the moment she can choose four separate traits: Vanishing, Arcing, Illuminating, and Waning. Vanishing causes the bullet to activate no senses aside from the damage inflicted; the bullet would not make any noise, displace no air, nor be seen by any means either technological or magical, even bypassing scrying or future vision. Arcing causes the bullet to travel at improbable trajectories and angles, making it possible for the bullet to curve so much that it moves backwards. Hibiki has full control over the movement of the bullet and can even make it do sharp right angle turns to hit the target. Illuminating does not appear to have any notable effects at first until it hits the target that HIbiki designates; when it does the target is brightly illuminated to make them easily spotted and struck down by others, and this illumination does not cease until the target is destroyed or at least thirty minutes pass. Finally Waning causes the bullet to corrode and age a large surface area wherever the bullet strikes, causing immense and often unrecoverable damage to whatever is struck.
Illusionary Terrain - This illusion spell creates a large visual illusion that creates a terrain feature such as a formation of rocks, trees, or even ruins and buildings in the eyes of observers, including magical or technological identification. Once this spell is cast a new feature cannot be made or moved until the spell is casted again, and doing so will dismiss the previous terrain. Using this spell Hibiki can easily hide herself and a few others near her. She can designate specific people when she casts this spell to be able to ignore the illusion.
Glyph of Warding - Runic sigils visible only to Hibiki or anyone with a sufficiently powerful magical sensor looking for them. These glypse can contain the power of spells either from Hibiki or others when the Glyph of Warding spell is casted, or it can simply be charged with powerful magical energies that will explode when specific conditions are met, such as someone coming to close proximity, saying certain commands, or after a duration of time.
Shizuka’s role is close-range combat and support, providing healing and repairing even in the midst of battle. Her abilities focus on survivability to outlast the enemy and force them to expend as much resources as possible to bypass her near unbreakable defenses.
Recovery - This spell mends the damage done to physical bodies, be it flesh or steel. The effects are instantaneous and can often undo debilitating conditions such as poison, diseases, and other forms of damage over time, especially if those conditions are fairly recent. More severe or older injuries need to use a higher level of Pneuma to have any effect, with severe injuries requiring less Pneuma compared to older wounds.
Domain Control - Shizuka conjures a glowing white force that she can manipulate freely. She can cause this force to take a shape and solidify, becoming a barrier, or manipulate something within the force as a form of telekinesis. Domain Control can be used offensively as well by launching it at foes as a projectile or used to grapple and bind them at no risk to Shizuka, however stronger Magecha can force their way out of the Domain Control or have armor strong enough to withstand the attacks. Shizuka’s mastery of this spell is so fine that she can easily function in a chaotic melee and still control her spell with expert precision and timing.
Doppelganger - A powerful spell that allows Shizuka to create multiple copies of herself, and by extension her Magecha. Higher levels of Pneuma allows her to create more copies of herself. Though the copies themselves have little to know defensive or offensive ability, at any moment Shizuka can switch positions with any of her Doppelgangers, allowing her to confuse her enemies with a vast amount of clones or escape by sending a doppelganger away and switching to it once it’s safely away.
Magecha: Type-18 Sun “Nova” and Type-17 Star “Stella” Magecha Appearance: Magecha Weaponry: Nova’s primary weapon is it’s custom Heavy Rod Launcher code named Impact Spiral, having a more conventional sniper-rifle appearance for sheer raw damage and ability. It does not use conventional ammunition, but instead fires solidified and condensed Pneuma. Low charges allow her to shoot multiple bullets rapidly like a machine gun, but a long charge will cause the most damage. It has enough power to bore through mountains with a maximum charge and even less charges is more than capable of punching through all but the most stalwart of Magecha. It’s main advantage however it’s the sheer length of its range which allows it to fire a bullet up to eighty kilometers (That’s close to fifty miles away). If needed the stock of this weapon can also be used as warhammer, utilizing the sheer recoil from such a weapon to cause massive amount of concussive damage to anyone caught by the gunstroke.
Secondary weapons for Nova include two Vibroblades hidden within the leg compartments and chest mounted autocannons capable of shredding Magecha armor at a short range, however these cannons do require full chest exposure which leaves the Nova vulnerable to counter attack.
Stella’s main weapon is a highly advanced modular spiral spear called the Spiral Edge, capable of changing ti’s length or even changing the direction of it’s blade to become a needle-like drill point, or bloom into a flower shape to create a shield. Though primarily in spear form it can also shrink to a smaller sword form in compact areas, or change into a longsword when force is needed more than finesse. The main sellpoint of the weapon is it’s spiral engine that can cause the weapon to rotate at powerful speeds to use friction to destroy or disarm the enemy’s equipment or just the enemy itself. It also has a built in retrieval system to allow Stella to throw the spear at an enemy and have it return to her hand before the enemy can recover it. Should it ever be in an enemy’s possession, Stella can choose to have the spear operate erratically so that it could damage the enemy, or simply self-destruct.
In addition to Stella’s modular spear, she also carries multiple smaller versions that can only transform between a javelin mode or short swords, however they also possess a spiral engine and thus they can serve as weapons as dangerous as her primary spear as well. Stella’a large shield-like pauldrons also serve as magical foci allowing her to extend the size, shape, and even amount of magic she can manipulate, allowing her to do such things as cause her Recovery spell to affect a wide area, create up two domain controls with more definite shapes and functions such as additional arms or wings, or create more doppelgangers with more notable abilities so that they could be a threat against her enemies.
Both the Nova and Stella are equipped with an experimental weapon attached to their heads known as the Radiant Wave Exhaust, which appears to be luminance flames that take on a hair-like appearance. However they do serve a functional purpose; these flames react to debris and danger that move towards the head of Magecha, serving as an automated defense system for those who would try and directly attack the cockpit. While incredibly short range these flames can be controlled manually for more specific patterns and attacks, and their short range allows them to move with astonishing speed and precision, so much that it’s not uncommon for it to intercept projectiles before the pilots realize they’re being fired upon. These flames can also be shrunken down should stealth be prioritized over protection.
