The Tower. One of the twenty-one Major Arcana, the largest mage circles and those that have influence on mage society, located all across the world. The Tower is the biggest Mage Circle in England, located in London. The name is perhaps somewhat misleading at first glance, as the Tower itself is seemingly just a small building of no real significance. However, this is magic at work. The secrecy of the supernatural must be upheld, and as such the Tower is hidden. The tower's location is avoided by those without any magical knowledge, for it is enchanted with spells to make it impossible to consider as significant by them. But those who have entered the Tower are able to see it, a tall, black building seemingly without windows that stretches above and below the earth. It was constructed almost two-hundred years ago, and for all of this time its existence has remained unknown to all but the supernatural community. Within, it is a vast facility for the education of magi and the research of magic. The Tower possesses a vast library of magical tomes, one of the largest even among the twenty-one. However, it would be a mistake to believe this is the Tower's only purpose.

Fundamentally, the Tower's existence is like all mage circles: The continuation and preservation of mage society. Each linked together by a larger organization Mage Circles act as the arms of the organization not only to educate future magi, but to track down and eliminate threats to mage society. Whether they be from without, or from within. Magic must be preserved in secrecy, after all.

Among magi there are numerous aristocratic families, as one might expect from a society that holds family bloodlines to such a high level of importance. The Tower's magi are certainly no exception. Indeed, as one of the oldest circles, predating even the structure itself, there are numerous families considered to be nobility among them.

One such family is the Ar-Rynesarte. A very old family, holding a high position in the Tower, and indeed in mage society as a whole, their words are respected and their craft as magi revered. Due to their place in society, they were able to broker many contracts with other mage families, and enjoyed a position of prestige.

Until recently.

The very sudden deaths of Jakobius Taliervenne Ar-Rynesarte and Giselle Vardin Ar-Rynesarte eight years ago left only their young daughter in line for succession. However, as she was only six years old, it was instead left to branch families and household Servants to attempt to conduct their business.

Slowly, the Ar-Rynesarte family's influence waned. Some of their resources were even snapped up by other, ambitious families. Some of the branch families even claimed long-held family treasures for themselves.

But the Ar-Rynesarte name was not forgotten.

And so, when Arinne Velvet Ar-Rynesarte celebrated her fourteenth birthday, finally able to take a position as the head of her family, her announcement to the magi of the Tower caught attention immediately.

"I will find my parents' murderer."

With that, she activated the remaining contracts held by the Ar-Rynesartes, forcing several mage families to send a representative to work in her service until released, in order to find the one responsible for her parents' deaths.

Arinne will stop at nothing to find their murderer.

But what will be discovered in the process?

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An urban fantasy RP! This will center on the Tower, and the magi who have been forced into Arinne's service via magical contract in order to discover her parents' killer. These contracts are strongly binding, enforcing a geas upon those involved when activated. Even though Arinne only has access to some of them, she's used them to build what she believes is a party capable of tracking down the one responsible for her family's killer.

Of course, it won't be so simple. Along the way, all sorts of strange circumstances and villainous magi will be encountered.

Players will play as the representatives from the families contracted to the Ar-Rynesartes, and I may discuss special circumstances with other players as well. But first, a few things to discuss about the setting:

This RP takes place in my urban fantasy setting. Give that a look over, but since it hasn't been updated in a while be free to ask questions, I'm happy to answer!

As for what will be playable in this RP:

• Magi: Capable of magic, invoked by spells and symbols, sometimes in conjunction with one another. Magical prowess is passed through bloodlines, some families having more or less mana(and higher or lower quality mana) then others. Magi will have an affinity, which can range from things like fire to gravity to numbers. Affinities(which are also passed through bloodlines) are not limited to the affinity itself, but also includes things that are conceptually linked to it. For example, a mage with an affinity for fire would also excel at spells involving "consumption", "ignition", and "destruction". Magi can preform spells outside their affinity, though it is more difficult to learn. Affinities cannot be for anything entirely man-made. Playable!
  
  • Note: The most powerful mage(in terms of raw power) in this setting has an affinity for mana. They will not be appearing in this RP, and mana as an affinity is strictly off-limits. Other affinities that are off limits include Death, a totally unique affinity also claimed in this setting and absolutely broken for the purposes of this RP.
  • Magic Traits: Some magi and onmyouji families possess a special "magic trait", an inherent magical ability connected to their affinity. These are quite uncommon, but they still exist. They require no spellcasting, and usually give some edge in ability. The magic trait "Illusion Break", for example, passively destroys illusions as the mage or onmyouji draws close to them. It also enables them to see through illusions.

As well as a couple things likely to appear:

• Familiar: Familiars are beings created by magi from mana. They are existences brought into being by a sustained donation of mana and a reinforcement of existence. Their abilities and appearance are entirely up to the magi who created them, but they must be sustained with mana in order to continue existing. They also require belief in their existence by their creator. Few familiars survive loss of this belief. Magi can support multiple familiars depending on the amount and quality of their mana and the complexity of their familiars.
• Homunculi: Artificial humans created via a union of raw materials and a soul, homunculi are able to be created to a variety of specifications, from creating an ideal assassin to creating someone with the power to boost abilities. They have personalities and thoughts of their own, and a theoretically infinite lifespan. Most homunculi will hit a predetermined point and cease to age beyond that. Homunculi are NOT common, due to difficulties involved in creating them and the inability to simply create souls meaning some kind of sacrifice must be involved.

I may accept homunculi and familiars as player characters, but please discuss with me before attempting to make one!

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• Name:
• Age:
• Gender:
• Appearance:
• Personality:
• Abilities: Magical abilities. Note that mana quality and quantity determine the strength of a mage's spells as well as how much they can cast them.
• Skills: Mundane things your character can do.
• Assets: Anything from magical tools to equipment.
• Brief Backstory:

@Rin@Anza@Aleranicus@Timemaster@Rabidporcupine

Interested. Will work on a character and see if I can come up with a concept I’m satisfied with.

@VitaVitaAR Are all magi capable of reading mana flow passively/without effort?

@Bartimaeus: It's possible to detect mana to some extent, at least.

Here we are! Let me know what ya think - and if I missed any errors. :p



I hope you don't mind my slight format alterations? I can easily change it if you like!

@Bartimaeus: I don't see any issues, accepted!

Should I move it over to CSs, or you wanna? @VitaVitaAR

@Bartimaeus: Post it in the signups tab, and I'll add it to the list.

Done! ^.^

Ok, so brief character concept to claim my archetype so no one else takes it before I'm finished. Young adult who, along with his younger sister, are now the only two members of their family left after an 'accident' killed their parents, and have been laying low on a small island somewhere out in the pacific as just your regular, lower-middle class family to avoid encountering a similar 'accident', which has led to most assuming the entire family was killed. The guy is now technically the clan head, although he is fairly unconventional in his laid back, even seemingly lazy personality, and the rarity with which he takes things seriously, but he'll still choose to go to London himself rather than put his sister in danger.

So far, I'm thinking that his magic allows him to layer concepts around each other by speaking them out loud, and these forms will eventually take a phantasmal/physical form depending on the words he used, along with a little bit of his intent. For example, 'sharp' 'stab' and 'cut' will become a sword. Add 'float' and 'hunt' to that, and it'll become a sword that flies at the intended target. There is no limit to how many modifying words a single spell can use, except for the fact that each additional word means more mana is used, meaning that excessive use can be quite dangerous. This is also blatantly stolen from a Fate/Stay Night fanfic, but a different one to the transferal of concepts.

Also, as if I wasn't being blatant enough, I'm using fisherman lancer for the image, so no stealing him.

@Rabidporcupine: Rather then simply the use of his affinity, that seems more like a Magic Trait, and I do want a little more of an idea of what the limitations are since it has the potential to be on the broken side.

@VitaVitaAR
Yeah, I'm working on trying to power it down a bit, because I think the whole point of it in the original fic is that it is pretty damn OP. I'm thinking of working it so that they take a lot of mana, or otherwise have some different form of negative effect to their use so he can't just spam word blades constantly. Also, just one of a certain word leads to a fairly weak modification in the long run, so more often than not, he is required to repeat words a few times to have the proper effect. Then he'll be forced to rely on pre-enchanted objects, made by attaching the concept words to objects ahead of time with a very similar form of magic.

Along with those, I'm also planning to make it so he has to actually study the words in order to use them in spells and enchantments as they're in some kind of crazy magic language, something which has been very slow going while he has been in hiding, with very little in the way of information sources.

As for it being a Magic Trait, maybe... I was hoping for him to actually not have one honestly, so that way I could have him be just that little bit further separated from the image of an ideal mage family head.

Edit:
Oh, there's also the fact that it has to be an actual thing he's creating with the words, or connecting them too. He can't just say 'speed' and then move super fast, or 'strong' and then be super strong, he'd have to create some kind of phantasmal hand that would be super strong, but that would also take a frankly painful number of words to form properly.
It's almost a little bit like coding, except I'm way less terrible at understanding it.

Done^^

@VitaVitaAR Made a new one. How's she now?

Ok, here's Leo! He probably sucks, but let me know if he doesn't suck enough for you to ignore him and let him through!

Name:
Leonardo Vadris

Age:
Nineteen

Gender:
Male

Appearance:


Personality:
Generally laid back and somewhat snarky, the majority of people meeting Leo for the first time would probably walk away thinking of him as an extremely annoying person. Honestly, they wouldn't really be wrong to think that either, as he is one hundred percent the kind of person who finds the fact that people find him infuriating hilarious, and it often seems like one of the only things he will actually put effort into is finding gaps in peoples armour and teasing them relentlessly with them. And yes, he won't deny that he greatly enjoys his rest and relaxation time, certainly far more than he enjoys hard work.

However, when it comes down to it, Leo always at least tries to be a good person. It isn't rare for him to pick up on whether or not someone is feeling alright, and will sit with them and help them work things out to the best of his abilities, even if that means he has to skip work. Especially when it means he has to skip work. All in all, he's someone who believes in not stressing over the little things, and will help people he sees doing so get over it. Hell, get him in the right mood, and he might even do something constructive!

Abilities:


Skills:


Assets:
Most of the little the Vadris family owns is back at their home on the island, but he has managed to bring a few things with him. These are a small Beretta pistol, a sewing kit, his fishing rod and supplies, and a small ink brush to write runes for enchanting.

Brief Backstory:
Leonardo was born to the Vadris family, who despite their great age had managed to remain out of the spotlight for much of their history. While expectations were high for Leo to master the art of wordcasting as soon as possible, his situation was not nearly as bad as is so often the case with other mage bloodlines. He and his parents were quite close, and he was allowed time to pursue his own hobbies where others might find themselves completely tied down. The birth of his sister Elise seven years later only served to bring the family closer, and his ambition to improve largely focused around making them proud.

However, disaster struck when Leo was just eleven years old, when his parents were both killed in a terrible 'accident'. Leo and Elise were never given the details of the accident, other than the fact that it probably wasn't actually an accident, instead being quickly shepherded away from their home in Ireland to a small, unassuming island in the middle of the pacific ocean, where they have spent the last eight years living as the lower-class McGillis family with their homunculus caretaker Luna. Times have been tough, with Leo having to dedicate the majority of his time to helping raise Elise, and eventually assisting in bringing in an income for the three to live off of. So far he has managed that, but along with the self defense training, it has taken a heavy toll on his magic education, having made very little progress in expanding his magic vocabulary other than a few words he can use to subtly make money. Without revealing the existence of magic, put away the pitchforks...

Honestly, despite life just above the poverty line being a little bit difficult, Leonardo felt like he probably could have kept going with it. He had gotten used to it, he knew what he was doing! And then he was called back to London by their families ancient contract with the Ar-Rynesarte family, meaning that not only would he have to reveal the fact that he and his sister actually survived their parents... 'accident'... but he would also have to put his limited understanding on how to act as the head of a mage family to the test.

@Chi: Accepted.

@Aviaire: I'll reserve judgement until she's more complete.

@Timemaster: That personality doesn't really give too good of an idea of what she's like, and again I do need to point out this is not fantasy, it's urban fantasy taking place in our modern world. Or at least a version of it with secret magic.

@Rabidporcupine: Hmmm, now that I read it written out, the Word magic seems a lot like tracing from the Nasuverse, only word-based, so I think I feel comfortable accepting it.

Finished my CS!

@Aviaire: Accepted.