Aberration - An oddity among the Extra-Normal beings as they were created by Apparitions. Which isn't supposed to happen.
Abscised - A form of Aberration that either had their body taken over by an Apparition or were otherwise removed.
Abstraction - The term for an otherworldly and fantastical ability that all Extra-Normal beings possess in one way or another.
Adept - A type of Extra-Normal being from Glint that uses their abstraction similar to a wizard.
Adjoined - A form of Aberrant when a person is fused with an Apparition and is permanently fused or capable of transforming.
Affinity - An Adept's preferability to learn certain spells that correspond with them.
Affixed - A type of Extra-Normal being that has an Apparition bonded to them that they can control.
Afflicted - An Extra-Normal being that was cursed by an Extra-Normal Being.
Agent - An Agent is created when a Blind comes in contact with an Apparition that has been sealed and are allowed to use their power.
All-Verse - The multiverse, a collection of infinite worlds.
Ancient - A God-Like being that embodies a different type of Lux. They're rarely seen other than the Hound, but each of them have their own motives.
Apparition - An ethereal being created by Luminscience that is created and powered by belief and emotion.
Aura - An invisible field that surrounds all people and objects that Extra-Normal beings can sense to discern information (such as health, hostility, etc).
Awakened - A being from Shimmer that had strong emotion within them and during their Awakening event gained extra-normal abilities.
Awakening - An event where a normal person gains fantastical powers - usually a moment of intense emotion such as dancing with a lover or almost getting killed.
B
_______________________________________________
Blind - Someone who possesses no Extra-Normal abilities or even the slightest affinity towards it.
C
_______________________________________________
Casting - The act of an adept using their ability.
Channeler - A tool an Adept uses to use their abstraction.
Collective-Awakening - The phenomenon when a group of people Awakens in the same area where they share a piece of each other's powers. Each collective has their own "mechanics" which dictate how their abstractions interact with each other.
Counterpart - The phenomenon of there being another version of a single person from another universe. They can be drastically different or more or less the same.
E
_______________________________________________
Emotional Field - An invisible barrier that exists between all Extra-Normal Beings that protects them from each other's abilities.
Extra-Normal - The term used to refer to anything supernatural.
F
_______________________________________________
Farmer Hill - A place in Montana where the Glutton was originally sealed. After the Glutton's defeat the place was destroyed by an earthquake.
G
_______________________________________________
Glutton - An eldritch abomination that consumed countless worlds and was sealed and eventually defeated at Farmer Hill. However, a small fragment of the Glutton remained.
H
_______________________________________________
The Hound - The grim reaper of the setting and an Ancient. A black wolf that claims lives and takes them to the other side. Likes to make deals that are impossible to keep.
J
_______________________________________________
Joint-Casting - An act where two adepts combine their Lux to perform stronger Casting.
K
_______________________________________________
Kindling-Event - An event where an Adept experiences a vision of either the future or one of their ancestors having to experience emotions that correspond with their Lux.
L
_______________________________________________
Luminescence - The alternate term for magic, it's separated into eleven different lights.
Lux - The terms for each of the eleven colors of Luminescence. They are known as Rage, Fear, Love, Happiness, Pride, Anticipation, Nostalgia, Sadness, Hope, Apathy, and Courage.
O
_______________________________________________
One-Eye-Open - The state of a Blind gaining more of a sensitivity to the Extra-Normal and can perceive them.
R
_______________________________________________
Recollection - A flashback that can be experienced by Extra-Normal beings under certain situations.
S
_______________________________________________
Sealing - The act of sealing an Apparition into an object by drawing a symbol you believe in around an object.
Severance - The act of an Adept willingly cutting their connection to their Lux or their Ancestor doing it for them.
Shimmer - The universe in which the story takes place.
Sigil - A tattoo-like brand that appears on an Awakened somewhere or appears when an Adept casts.
Subsequent-Awakening - After undergoing great personal change, an Awakened's abstraction can completely shift to something completely new after being exposed to strong emotions.
T
_______________________________________________
Traveler - A being that has traveled from their original world into another one.
Welcome to Recollections: Magnanimous, another RP set in the supernatural horror/urban fantasy universe known as the Recollections universe. Set in a strange and unique urban-fantasy where the magic returned merely a year ago.
In Magnanimous, it's all about the Vanburen family. An illustrious family that is set in Araminta, Pennslyvania. The Vanburens were lead by their patriarch, James Vanburen, who various different children from past relations and adopted orphans and street rats out of the kindness of his heart. He was known as the world's greatest man; he was venerated by many as the kindest, self-sacrificing, generous man in the world - doing anything for his home city of Araminta. And then he died due to mysterious circumstances on Christmas day. However, a year after his death, a curse activated that would turn his children (by blood or not) into stone if they left Araminta. So now his children have to put aside their differences and solve the curse. However, James was not as great as he seemed to be as his many crimes, sins and past mistakes come back to haunt the family. It's up to them to set things right.
This story will be an urban-fantasy story that will cast a certain light on "magic" while leaving it ambiguous whether or not it's truly magic or not. The storyline will have elements of superpowers, urban fantasy, horror, and more. The primary thematic of this RP will be Idols or Magnanmity. The Vanburen family idolized James for his kindness, but they'll quickly find out that he wasn't that perfect. Tension will rise as they try to come to terms with the problems he left for the family. The secondary theme will be Secrets as every member of the family has their own secrets they've been hiding from each other - which will also have to be faced. Above all else it's thematic will be Connection, Emotion, and Memories.
RULES & NOTES
_______________________________________________
1. First and foremost I reserve the right to reject anyone from the RP and boot them out at any time. I hate to do this and I will try to avoid it but sometimes some people are too disruptive to the RP or aren't a good fit and have to be removed.
2. Please try to be respectful towards all other players.
3. The Recollections Universe is a dark off-urban fantasy set in the real world, so it'll be relatively realistic. This means I want all characters to make sense, have a realistic (or real) faceclaim, etc. You can pretty much go crazy with any type of character of mostly any sexuality, gender, race, religion, etc, etc. Just stray away from sociopaths/psychopaths.
4. The tone of the RP will be fairly dark and brooding... not like super gritty or edgy (only a little). It'll have plenty of dark moments and probably some pretty graphic moments. However, it'll be offset by the absurdist humor inherent to the setting.
5. Please no "wip" sheets on the OOC. Post a complete sheet or don't post anything at all. If you need something looked over, feel free to private message me. Speaking of which, the character tab is for accepted characters only.
6. Keep in mind that your character can totally die. If they make the wrong move it can result in their death and I will not jeopardize the story to save them.
7. You're allowed to have as many characters as you can handle... just don't go too crazy. I'd like to keep it about three characters max per person, but if you got a real good idea I'll allow more.
8. Keep in mind that this RP isn't quite a regular superpower RP (even though you'll ignore this). It's honestly a weird blend of like thirty different genres but that's beside the point. I want the abilities in this setting to be more grounded in magic, the fantastical, and the thematic over everything. I like abilities that reflect the user in some way, but I'd appreciate seeing how you interpret it. I would prefer if you stray away from scientific abilities like gravity/magnetism manipulation, but I will allow it if you insist.
9. I intend for most of the cast to be James' children and relatives, either by blood or adoption. However, if you can provide a valid reason for an outsider to be apart of the story then I will allow it. I just want a majority of the cast to be his children.
10. I only describe the essential lore for making a character. That is because I like doing stuff from top-to-bottom, meaning I like to explore the supernatural world in-character. If you want any details about the lore for making a character please let me know.
11. The following abilities are banned: Power Replication/Negation, "instant death" powers, reality-warping, anything with "Omni" attached to it, and complete defense/indestructibility.
12. This is optional, but I can write a power for your character. It'll be a fun little thing for both of us.
13. Also, don't fill out the weaknesses/limits section of the character sheet. I'll fill that out for you!
14. This RP will strictly be "first come, first serve." Meaning I will not reserve any powers/character roles/etc, and they will go to whoever finishes their character sheet first. If there's a conflict over it, I will decide the outcome.
15. All I ask for is one post a week. If it's been a week since your last post, your character will be placed into the inactive section until they are written off (mostly by death). Please be aware that once your character is inactive they can be killed off.
16. The RP is set in late 2015, but it runs off of Ambiguous Time Period. Basically meaning the rp will have aspects from different time periods so it'd be ambiguous.
17. There are the rules that are so beaten into your head that it should be obvious.
"The world of the Extra-Normal is the gateway to infinite possibilities." ____________________________________ . . . There out there exists a force, a force like no other. One that allows a person to go further beyond the limits of what is considered natural and become something more... or less, depending on how you look at it. The simplest word for it all is Magic, and it's the gateway to infinite possibilities. Magic returned in December, 2014 and has remained a closely kept secret since then - a "if you know, you know" type deal.
The collective term for it all is Extra-Normal, and there are many different types of Extra-Normal beings. Each of them gets their abilities depending on mere circumstance. Some get their abilities from a moment of powerful emotions, others inherit it, some are phantasms of the deceased or spawned from belief and emotion, and others are the result of a chance encounter with those phantasms.
Each of them has innate abilities that each of them has across the board. To begin many magical abilities are completely invisible to those who aren't Extra-Normal (Known as Blind). Only the Extra-Normal can perceive them but there are certain abilities that can be seen by all. The Extra-Normal can read the auras of things that they have a connection through walls and over distances, have a barrier around them known as an Emotional Field which protects them from each other's abilities (but some abstractions can bypass it), and can experience a Recollection, a vision of the past that is somewhat related to them.
However, these are merely sub-abilities, and every Extra-Normal being has an ability that is unique to them known as an Abstraction. Abstractions are the collective term used for a magical ability of any time and it's determined by the type of being. However, Abstractions are vast, strange, and no two abstractions are ever the same. However, abstractions are fueled and connected to the very soul and emotions of a person. If you were to take the soul out of an Extra-Normal being's body and put it in another, the abstraction would follow. Removing their emotions would remove their abstraction but an abstraction that can not only negate emotions but bypass emotional fields is extremely rare.
AWAKENED
________________________________________________________________ "Open your mind, heart, body, and soul to the universe..."
The Awakened are the most common and versatile type of Extra-Normal beings. They open their minds to the greater universe via a moment of powerful emotion, and it doesn't necessarily have to be a negative emotion. The abstraction they gain reflects them in some way or another (Such a person who desires control would get a telekinetic power or an angry person would gain pyromancery) and they have a brand on them known as a Sigil on them that denotes their ability. However, they would never get a biological or physical ability such as super strength or regeneration, they would get a spiritual, elemental or psychic one. Sigils are invisible to the Blind and the Awakened have their own set of abilities. The Awakened are capable of transferring their abstractions amongst other Awakened (or to Blind that they have a particular connection to), either wholly or bits and pieces. However, once an Awaken dies their abstraction is up for grabs.
An Awakened can have several abstractions but they can only use one at a time. In addition, they have to replicate and understand the emotions behind that abstraction in order to use it to its fullest potential... unless they're in a Collective-Awakening. Which many people Awaken at the same time and they each get a piece of everyone's ability in the Collective along with a mechanic in which their abstractions interact. A member of the Collective can use every ability at the same time. However, there's something known as a Semi-Awakening in which a person changes enough so that the finer details of their abstractions shift - while still retaining the core abilities and possibly gain or lose new sub-abilities. They won't have a shell of their former abstraction, however. Finally, there's the Subsequent-Awakening, in which, after great change, an Awakened can manifest a brand new ability to reflect them. It's possible for a Subsequent-Awakening to be a Collective.
The bread and butter of the setting and probably the most common and simplistic of the types. All I ask for is that the abstraction reflects some part of their character, I'm pretty loose about that. Just don't be lame and say something like "Likes running so has super speed". I'm thinking stuff like somebody gets the ability to launch people because they were attacked, someone with kindness gets healing, etc. The Collective-Awakening can also be interesting.
ADEPTS
_______________________________________________ "Transcend the limitations you have placed on your mind and soul."
The Adepts are a long line of people who passed down a connection to magical lights known as Luminscience granted to them by beings known as the Ancients. The Adepts are more in line with traditional wizards and mages, and they use an object known as a Channeler to cast their spells. A channeler is an object in which the Adept has an emotional connection to and it's possible to use an object that they don't have a connection to but the casting is far weaker.
Each Adept is connected to a different light known as Lux which unlocks different magical abilities, the more kinds of Lux an Adept is attached to, the less powerful they are overall. Each light of Lux corresponds with a particular emotion and when the Blind carrying Adept genes experiences that emotion they undergo a Kindling Event. A Kindling-Event is when the Blind receives a vision of their ancestors who tells them about their heritage, or alternatively a vision of the future of them using their spells. An Adept can in fact have several Kindling-Events and interact with their ancestors whenever they go through a high-stress situation. However, it's possible for a Severence to occur during one of these events. A Severence is when an Adept cuts their spiritual connection to the Lux during a Kindling Event or their ancestor severs it when they feel sufficiently disgraced.
In any case, an Adept has a collection of Spells they must learn and practice before they are able to utilize them - Adepts find it easier to learn spells that correspond with their personality. This is known as an Affinity. Older Adepts are among the most powerful due to practicing a wide range of different spells. It's possible for an Adept to seal an Apparition within their channeler for a power boost if it corresponds with their color. This will grant an increase in all the current spells, however, the Apparition inside can cause some problems. They can make the casting unstable, dangerous, and there's a risk for the Apparition to break free. There's also such a thing as Joint-Casting. It's the event where two Adepts of the same and different Lux put their minds together and cast a powerful Spell. It usually requires an emotional bond with each other and some practice in order to pull.
Red (Rage/Hatred): Elemental Lux, the most common type of Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Bull. Examples: Fire, ice, electricity, earth, plant manipulation, and similar abilities.
Green (Happiness): Biological Lux, the second most common type of Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Deer. Examples: Healing, shape-shifting, wing generation, etc,
Yellow (Fear/Caution): Stealth & Defensive Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Spider. Examples: Invisibility, barrier generation/forcefields, dumbing sound down, etc.
Pink (Love/Lust): Mental & Emotional Lux, and the fourth most common type of Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Dove. Examples: Emotion manipulation, mind control, telepathy, illusion creation, etc.
Gold (Pride): Summoning & Minion Creation Lux, the third rarest type of Lux - allows an Adept to create or summon a minion. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Lion. Examples include: Creating minions of choice, summoning a defeated monster, etc
Purple (Anticipation): Movement Lux, the third most common type of Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is The Owl. Examples include: Teleportation, Portal Creation, telekinesis, etc
Cyan (Nostalgia): Sight & Sensory Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is the Mustang. Examples include: Observing locations remotely, seeing into the past/future, enhanced vision, etc.
Orange (Courage): Infusion Lux, the ability to infuse objects and people with Extra-Normal properties. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is the Tiger. Examples: Creating a magic sword, making an object levitate, etc, etc.
Blue (Sadness): Curse-Lux, the rarest form of Lux. The ability to cast curses, but needs a stipulation to be broken - synergizes often with Black and Gold Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is the Swan. Examples: Cursing someone to turn into a monster, creating a deadly illness, cursing someone to be haunted by the dead, etc
Lavender (Hope): Purification and Strengthening Lux. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is the Butterfly. Examples: Boosting other Extra-Normal beings power, removal of curses, removing diseases, etc
Black (Apathy): Necromancery Lux, the ability to manipulate the dead. The Ancient that embodies this Lux is the Hound. Examples: Creating zombie minions, manipulating apparitions and spirits, etc
Adepts are probably my second favorite out of the types so I'm biased. They're probably the most complex given how Lux n' shit works. I should note that newer adepts (aka what should be most of the cast) should only have access to three or five spells at a time - and I demand a list of spells they can cast in their abstraction section. Keep in mind the more types of Lux they have access to, the overall weaker their abilities should be. Also please run any new spells by me first.
APPARITIONS
________________________________________________________________ "They emerge from a world that shouldn't even exist."
Ghosts, Phantasms, Demons, whatever you call them, they are strange beings. Apparitions are likely the vaguest and esoteric of all the Extra-Normal beings but are among the most impactful. They are in line with ghosts as they are not comprised of flesh and blood, but instead, magic. They are beings that were created a particularly powerful emotion or belief or they're the phantasm of a deceased with strong emotion in them. The Awakened are more likely to become Apparitions just from their nature. They are powered by the same emotions/belief that created them and can grow exponentially powerful depending on how great it is.
However, on the flip side, they can fade from existence if it wanes - this is why some Apparitions are ancient in age. Apparitions can have any type of abstraction reflecting their belief or the person they once were when they passed - but their abstractions can shift in time. If an Apparition is destroyed they'll merely regenerate in time, which is why a technique known as Sealing is used to imprison them in an object. Apparitions are invisible to the Blind unless they choose to be visible.
It's simple to seal an Apparition. First one needs an object to seal them inside of, something small preferably so it can be easily hidden. Then a person has to draw sigils, or any symbol that they truly believe will seal the Apparition into the object. Then they must battle the Apparition, damage it enough, and get it to the sigils. Then they can activate the seal and trap the Apparition inside the object. Larger and other more powerful apparitions require bigger sigils to be drawn or for them to be far weaker, but all an Apparition has to do is be in the area to be sealed.
Apparitions are going to be heavily restricted for a number of reasons, you can only make an Apparition if you get permission for me. Apparitions apart of an Aberration are fully allowed.
ABERRATION
_________________________________________________ "Freak, monsters, predators, prey, Aberrations. Do not take them lightly."
Aberrations are what are considered to be "outside the lines". Aberrations are people who have had contact with the Extra-Normal and gained either a blessing or a curse from their abilities. Almost all Abberattions are created from Blind interacting with Apparitions in one way or another but there are cases of Aberrations being created from other Extra-Normals. Unlike the other types of Extra-Normals; Animals and humans alike can become Aberrations due to their strange nature. Aberrations are considered to be extra-normal beings, so they can use all of the baseline abilities, but only the Blind can become an Aberration. Due to the odd nature of the Aberrations, they are separated into five subclasses:
Affixed: Are those who have an Apparition attached to their soul and utilize their abilities. Either the Apparition uses their own abstraction or the Affixed is allowed to use it - or both.
Afflicted: A person who gained an abstraction through being cursed by an Apparition.
Agent: A person who has contact with an Apparition that has been sealed inside an object and can use their abstraction by proxy.
Adjoined: A person who has been fused with an Apparition on a physical or mental level. Is either capable of shifting into the Apparition's form, mentally combined and can use their abstraction, or is a full fusion.
Abscised: An Abscised is an Apparition that has taken over somebody's body and can use their abstraction through them. The Abscised are varying amounts of undead.
My favorite type of Extra-Normal beings. They'll require a bit of thought as you'll have to come up with how they'll become an Aberrant (mainly running into an Apparition). But with Aberrants you aren't limited by belief or personality or whatever and can come up with anything.
OTHER.BEINGS
_________________________________________________ "They live blissfully unaware of the bigger picture."
The Blind: The term used for people who do not have an Extra-Normal ability of any type. After coming in contact with the Extra-Normal enough a Blind can become One-Eye-Open and perceive the Extra-Normal.
Traveler/Counterpart: A person from one of the many strange universes out there. In proximity to their counterpart, they'll gain a mental link that'll allow them to share thoughts/memories and possibly see each other's auras.
You can be a Blind or have One-Eye-Open along with being a Traveler (If you're making a traveler run the universe they're from by me first; certain things are out the question). Just know that your character won't have an Emotional-Field and will be susceptible to the wide range of powers!
ANCIENT
_________________________________________________ "Their power eclipses whole worlds."
When the universe was born the twelve lights of Luminscience were created, and with them, they each got an embodiment. A God-Like entity that embodies that type of Lux, and eons ago they came and granted certain groups of humans access to Lux. They are the Bull (Red), the Dove (Pink), the Lion (Gold), the Deer (Green), the Spider (Yellow), the Hound (Black), the Butterfly (Lavender), the Swan (Blue), the Owl (Purple), the Tiger (Orange), the Mustang (Cyan), and the Child (White). They are extremely powerful and not even the strongest Extra-Normal can hold a candle to them. Though certain abilities can affect them (abilities that interact with magic itself), but they are few and in between. They are all infinitely strong and durable, can teleport (even to other dimensions), are capable of telepathy, can manipulate themselves near limitlessly, can warp reality, in addition to their own personal abstraction. However, in the battle against the Glutton, they heavily wounded and went in to rest and they are scattered throughout the universe. After the destruction of the old timeline and the creation of the new one, they've been awakening one by one and getting to know this new timeline. They generally stay out of the affairs of the mortals, but they can be swayed.
The Hound: The strange and mysterious Ancient of black Lux and death, but takes the shape of a black wolf as both a form that people can comprehend. The Hound is ancient and anyone who has more than the barest experience with the Extra-Normal should know about him. The Hound is there when people die and he leads them to the other side, the Extra-Normal can comprehend him. The Hound cannot be defeated through conventional or Extra-Normal means, but he's restricted by laws that stop him from taking souls freely... which he can circumvent by making deals, which are known to be in his favor most of the time. When the Hound speaks he is quite sarcastic, however despite his insurmountable power the Hound willingly holds back to make things interesting for him.
No one can play as an Ancient, they are strictly NPC.
"After turning a blind eye to the carnage going on around them for so long; they really had it coming." ____________________________________ .
Farmer Hill, Montana.
A place few people have heard of, being a small town in the middle of nowhere. However, it couldn't have been more important. Eons ago, all the magic in the universe was used to seal a powerful God-like being known as the Glutton. This thing was an incomprehensible ball of orange light that tortured countless universes and then devoured them and has feasted to the point where it was near invincible. Its rampage was brought to an end in the universe of Glint where combined forces brought the thing down and sealed it in a mountain in a different universe. That different universe is the world where the story takes place, and that mountain was Mount Ever Reaching in Farmer Hill.
It was where the Glutton lied dormant for ages upon ages - the League of Luminscience manipulated Farmer Hill to keep the citizens away from the mountain and the existence of magic a secret. However, it all changed when the seals that kept the Glutton dormant were broken by somebody's foolishness and it was allowed to feast off of what sustained it: emotions. The Glutton's first action was attacking a campsite full of people by corrupting one powerful minion and inadvertently Awakened the people that would defeat it. It tormented this group as they tried to find a way to defeat it; ultimately knocking them into a coma for a few months.
In this few months, the Glutton turned Farmer Hill upside-down - mind-controlling countless people and turning the town into a chaotic warzone. Anyone who entered Farmer Hill was enthralled as well and in this chaos; the Glutton slaughtered any Awakened or Extra-Normal beings that it could with impunity and tortured them endlessly in its domain. However, the Awakened that was put into a coma, well, awakened from it and rebelled against it. Ultimately, they engaged in one final battle against the Glutton in the mountain, and, out of desperation to escape, the Glutton broke the seals that were binding it. However, by doing this the Glutton injured itself to the point where it was eliminated and the multiverse was free from it.
However, these events were reversed as a new timeline was born from the "death" of the Glutton. A new timeline where Farmer Hill was destroyed in a catastrophic earthquake and the Awakened that the Glutton killed were resurrected. However, with the death of the Glutton, the magic was returned.
The Vanburen estate is a massive building that's on the outskirts of Araminta. It's a mansion that's in its own little field once you pass the massive gates to keep the commoners out. The first thing you'd see when you approached was the Statue of a kneeling World War II soldier. This is strange given that the Vanburens seemingly has no relations to WWII, but James had it made. Surrounded by woods, and hidden in the forest: it was the perfect place for the young Vanburens to grow up. It had many pathways and fountains and fields, and all gated off to keep the outside world out. The estate itself is two stories tall and was stocked with everything the Vanburens needed. Food, water, entertainment, everything they ever could have wanted to keep them happened. Whatever they didn't have James would get. However, what's peculiar is that the estate had many, many, strange artifacts and other items that James stipulated that they explicitly do not touch. Some of these things have strange powers in fact.
The Vanburen Family got its wealth from mysterious means - James said that they inherited the wealth, but from whom? However, they maintain that wealth by owning many businesses in Araminta and beyond and investing. Apart from James' kindness is that he saves family businesses by buying them and only stipulates that they give him a cut of their wealth. This is one source of income, but one cannot find out just how James got his money. He just up and appeared one day! Few try and find out how, but only to come up at a dead end... or at the business end of Jame's rifle.
The Family has a wide range of different people apart from them. James seemingly wanted to have a massive amount of children, but it didn't exactly make his wives happy. He had a wide number of failed relationships and other mishaps that ended with him jumping to the next wife or woman to have his kids. There was a strange lack of... passion in the relationships. Like he just wanted children to continue his lifeblood - which shows in how he usually dumps the children on his wives. James gave his children all the love he could and did it with a smile. He encouraged the children to follow all of their dreams while trying to groom his successor to the business. He also tended to adopt a wide range of orphans and street rats... whatever catches his ear it seems. Because of this, Vanburens are a diverse amount of people in terms of gender, sex, and personality.
However, all the Vanburen children and anyone who bears the Vanburen name has been afflicted with a mysterious curse after his death - it was known as the Curse of the Vanburns and it triggered around one year after his death. Slowly, they realized that, as they left Araminta they were slowly turning to stone (if they were gone from Araminta for more than a week they'd almost be completely stone). When they got back within the bounds of Araminta they reverted to their human flesh. They're unsure of what would happen if they fully transformed into stone, but they figured that it would be death.
A few weeks ago; somebody broke into the Vanburen estate and stole some sealed Apparitions.
James Vanburen is an older (62), a rugged British man with a big heart and a sense of morality like no other. They don't call him magnanimous for anything, after all. He did all he could to improve Araminta by funneling money into the drug problem, adopting orphans and street rats, and helping other people in need however he could. He's a man of few words, usually quick to the point but he liked conversation. He was a father to his children, making sure they all grew up well and moral people like him. James, however, had his flaws - he seemingly was obsessed with siring as many children as he could and being quite dismissive of his wives. Still, he did what he thought was right... however, much of his duties were by proxy. He used servants and other such people to raise his children. He was an exceptional alcoholic who always had a glass of whiskey or wine on him at all times but still could function.
Had one last Christmas party with his family before he died on Christmas day.
FATHERS THINGS
_______________________________________________
James, throughout the manor, had a wide variety of different artifacts for some reason that is unknown to the children. He told them never to touch it, but now that he's gone they're reluctant to follow that rule. Some of these artifacts are discovered to have supernatural properties that make them crucial to finding the truth about James Vanburen and breaking the curse.
FATHER'S RIFLE Perhaps the strangest of father's collection and his most prized possession it seems. The Lee–Enfield Rifle with a bayonet attached that has obviously seen quite a lot of use if one were to take it apart. Father's Rifle can still fire, but that's not the strange part about it. It seemingly has a supernatural ability; if one were to slash at the air, they could make portals to alternate universes, and portals to destinations in their own universe. It seems that only Vanburens can use the rifle to its full effects.
SEALED APPARITION COLLECTION Many of the artifacts and other things within the Vanburen estate have an Apparition sealed inside of them. Hundreds of different Apparitions are vying for a master... or a way out. Some time ago someone came in and stole some Apparitions that were sealed.
. Father's Library isn't exactly like a conventional library, it's a collection of information detailing James encounters with the supernatural. Not just in this universe but beyond, and the room was originally locked off until James' death. Inside of it is a treasure trove of information that many would love to have.
Extra-Normal Beings - "I thought that magic was the stuff of legends, but now I've seen things most people couldn't believe. Adepts, Awakened, Apparitions, Aberrants..."
The All-Verse"Apart from opening my eyes to the greater universe was learning about the existence of parallel worlds. I could drop a pin and it'd cause a universe where I didn't drop a pen to spawn into existence. These universes are infinite in... potential."
The Hound - "Throughout my travels throughout other universes there's one constant; the Black Hound. This thing is the agent of death in its rawest form, acting as the grim reaper that transports the dead to the other side. He's mighty, and of all the times I've fought the thing I never even done more than drive it off. I feel like he's toying with me... that he has the power to destroy worlds. He seems more concerned with going after those who "cheat death" than anything, but worst-case scenario, never challenge or deal with the Hound. He possesses The Black Fog of Apathy... a substance that can do many things. Most importantly you need to know that it can negate your ability to feel. Which means he can negate your abstractions."
The Ancients - "I found out about the Ancients after I discovered the Hound, they're his kin... a collection of eleven twelve God-like entities that represent each color of Lux. I've encountered a hand full of them, but they each have a trait consistent with each other; they're far more powerful than anything I've ever seen. I can't even tell what they are, but they are dangerous. I can't decipher their motives but do not make deals or engage them if possible."
The Glutton - I've never seen this thing with my own two eyes but I've seen Recollection after Recollection of the slaughter. It takes the appearance of a vast ball of orange light, formed out of sparks and embers powered by emotions. It can do many things but subsumes the mind and can eat worlds. This thing... it almost brought all life to an end but it was sealed in Shimmer and eventually destroyed. Everything that has happened so far was because of it.
The Hands - "I... I don't know what to put here. This thing is the Apparition of some groper and appears as a mass of hands. Its abstraction allows it to grow hands on any surface... that it uses to grope people's backsides. Please don't let it out."
Shimmer - "Look to your left, then look to your right. Guess what? You're in Shimmer. I would advise against leaving because you may never find your way back."
The Triple Goddess & The Horned God - A pair of Apparitions that take the appearance of Pagan deities... they usually form two separate cults and gain power from them. They're, together, an insanely dangerous threat but fortunately for you all, the Horned God is sealed. The Triple Goddess cut and run before I could seal her but she's likely going to be after her counterpart. They have similar abilities; elemental control over natural elements like water, lightning, fire, earth... and they can gift their followers with knowledge or strength. On their own, they're incredibly dangerous but together they are unstoppable.
Mayor Crest - "Do not trust her."
The Swan - "The Ancient of sadness that I came across... or matter fact, I found her. I think-" The rest of the entry is awkwardly scribbled out of his journal. Seemingly recently.
The Teeth - "The first of the "Primal Fears", a group of apparitions based on humanity's basic fears. In this case, it's predation by animals, and by far it's the most powerful. A massive vaguely humanoid creature that has massive claws and has floating teeth in the face of its head. The Apparition's abilities are simple but dangerous - it's immensely strong, durable, fast, and its senses are impeccable - what makes it dangerous is that these abilities scale depending on how many people fear it at one single instance. It's to the point where it took on the Jaws at his peak... the peak where I anticipate that he was nearly as strong as the Hound."Stolen.
The Forgotten King - "The second Primal Fear... and not as dangerous as the Teeth it's still incredibly dangerous. The Forgotten King represents the fear of the unknown and darkness and takes the appearance of a smooth and nearly featureless humanoid with a red crown hovering above his head. Nearly featureless due to the needle-like claws that tip his fingers. His ability is difficult to explain, he can create constructs in shaded areas - not completely illuminated or dark - and these constructs can bypass an Emotional-Field so be extra careful when facing him... if you face him."Stolen.
The Many Eyed One - "Harmless on her own, but she's definitely a tricky one to deal with. As her name suggests she's an Apparition with many, many, different eyes and, as you may have expected, she has the ability to scry in different locations. I don't know the exact distance but she's capable of spying on many different places, from a far radius. Her reflexes are also fast enough to dodge anything that doesn't move faster than sight... or you can just think outside the box. She's fond of abscising people, so keep that in mind. "Stolen.
The Housekeeper - "A very... fickle, Apparition to deal with. In a direct fight, she's absolutely defenseless and can easily be dispatched by even the most basic of all magic users. However, in the right circumstances... she's more or less invincible. I don't know how exactly her ability works but it seems to be a form of long-ranged automatic telekinesis that fulfills a command that she sets out. In my confrontation with her (which was in a castle) she barricaded herself behind wall after wall. Moving objects and setting up traps all over the place... I don't believe she can directly injure you, but give her time and the right circumstances; you're better off leaving and reassessing. However, I've discovered her weakness: she loves cleanliness and you can use that to distract her."Stolen.
Babylon - "When I first laid eyes on her, I could tell she was a great evil in the world. I don't use that word lightly... because that's her nature. She's an Apparition that is the physical representation of all sin in her home universe and some dumbass had the great idea to shunt her into another world. All this did was make her think bigger... she has terrorized dozens of worlds in her attempts to become all-powerful and rebuild her empire of sin across all the universes. Babylon's abstraction is incredibly dangerous, as she has the ability to summon hellfire that burns far hotter and brighter than regular flames. She can also cast many, many, different curses - one that can cause you to compulsively make love to whoever you see, and other nasty things - but due to your emotional fields, you are immune to it. The Blind on the other hand doesn't have that luxury. Fortunately, I sealed her and she's staying in the mansion unless some fool lets her free."
The Fragile Goddess - "An Apparition that deemed itself a God, it's from one of the many alternate worlds out there where Apparitions have taken the appearance of Gods. This Apparition was the weakest one, hence her name, being the offspring of several larger, more powerful beings. Her intentions are benevolent, but her actions make her a threat. Her abstraction allows her to create glass on any surface, turn objects into glass, cause glass to shatter, and manipulate glass in general, but she can pass an affliction off on other people that gives them a weaker version of her abstraction. That makes her dangerous but... useful. She's staying sealed in a statue behind the mansion and I would keep her there. Unless the situation really calls for it; do not let her loose. Just be prepared for the fight of your life."
Shade - "Honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen, honor the fallen..."
The Jaws - "The All-Verse's greatest predator and (formerly) one of the most dangerous and feared Apparitions out there. The Jaws is an Apparitioned spawned from the death of dinosaurs that used to be the guardian of a certain something before his universe was destroyed. I was probably one of the few people to survive these hunts. You couldn't beat the Jaws with brute strength alone because he could take a lot more than anyone could dish out - and he was easily strong as an Ancient. You had to outsmart him, exploit his strange line of thinking, to survive. However, the Bull erased his universe and his power began to fade. I couldn't let such a proud creature go out without a whimper, especially since I knew he was noble, kind, and benevolent deep down. I sealed him inside of a key chain, but I gave it to a friend. Now I don't know where he could be."
The Nightmare - "One of the most dangerous Apparitions out there, I've seen this thing completely wipe out entire worlds. The Nightmare is an Apparition that feasts on blood and to accomplish this, it creates The Breed. A unique brand of vampire that is a mixture of man, mosquito, and tick... they are individually physically formidable but pained individuals. They collect blood for the Nightmare and infect whoever survives and turns them into more of them. The Nightmare on its own is fragile but possesses immense telekinetic abilities, but it always flees. I don't know where the Nightmare is, it's not in my collection. You need to find the Nightmare as soon as possible and seal it, I'm begging you."
The Swarm - "This one is probably the most powerful apparition I've seen; it's a mass of several hundred different insect Apparitions that act as a unison. The Swarm has several dozen different abilities that make it near unbeatable in a direct fight - however, I found a way to seal it. By taking it apart piece by piece and sealing each Apparition in a different object I've rendered it inert. However, if it comes back together... I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop it again."
Thornton Walters - "Stop him at all costs, I am begging you."
The Rage of Dying Animals - "He used to be benevolent. He used to be good. Keep him sealed if you know what's good for you, he's his greatest ally. Also extremely dangerous as the Rage of Dying Animals can reanimate animals that have been killed and summon them from throughout the All-Verse. Which is not something you want. He has a limitless supply and he will win a battle of attrition, you can't even destroy his body as he'll just use one of the animals he'll summon. To seal him: you will have to force him out of his body and then seal him before he jumps into another one. The problem is that you'll probably have to deal with getting mauled by reanimated animals."
The Child - "The kindest and most generous being I ever meant... originally I was under the impression there were only eleven Ancients, but as it turns out there is another. They are the creator-God that are above the other Ancients... and they opened my eyes to the bigger picture."
Lihua Zhao - "Someone that got roped into all of this... she was a beautiful moral. albeit vain and prideful woman. Her abstraction, the ability to open portals in other dimensions, was crucial... She settled down in Shimmer and had some kids, I'm glad. But, I heard someone killed her, I hope it wasn't him."
Mary Roberts - "An old friend of mine from my childhood... she unfortunately died but she returned as an Apparition. She was one of Thornton's allies, but she turned against him and joined me. Mary's a very difficult one to work with, but she's a very cunning woman don't underestimate her."
The Bull - "The counterpart to the Hound... where the Hound represents death the Red Bull represents rage and vengeance. And thus his domain is the Red Lux, and he has near limitless elemental abilities, even if it prefers using fire. I've seen his rage first hand... he cannot be contained. Nor stopped. That thing... burned it all, drowned my home in rage and blood."
Farmer Hill - "It's the only place that has magic. I've vowed never to go here and neither should you."
My rifle - "My Rifle is a very useful object, it can teleport you anywhere long as you carry my blood. It'll take a bit of practice, but I know you'll get the hang of it. Take care of it. You'll need it."
The Oasis - "The most beautiful place I've seen... you must stop him from getting here."
There's a treasure trove of other information on the Extra-Normal and his adventures.
Araminta, Pennslyvania is a small city set in Williams county, it's in the northern-centermost part of the state. It's merely a stone's throw away from New York state. In the 1700s a man named Richard Williams discovered the land that would be called Araminta. He mapped it out, brought his people there, and eventually named it Araminta after his beloved daughter. It functioned as a military base during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary war - afterward the base was defunct and is now a tourist attraction. The city's main claim to fame is its railroad system, Araminta's railroad system is the nexus of various railroads in Pennsylvania that connect it to other cities. However, many of them have been retired, and you can barely walk a few blocks without stepping over some railroads. The city has a large train yard that is the hideout for various dredges and degenerates.
Araminta is a suburban city first and foremost - the most urban part of the city is its downtown area. That isn't to say that there aren't businesses every stone's throw away for everyone to get their decorations. The city is full of very nice houses that people flock to if they want to escape the droning city life, whether they are retired or not. Araminta is known for its very nice houses, but the whole city isn't kittens and sunshine. Like the rest of Pennsylvania, Araminta has a heavy drug problem. They flock to the more decrepit areas of Araminta, but those houses may look nice but the people inside of them are not perfect. A large portion of Araminta's city limits is woodlands and inside of those woods are the more remote houses and areas. The train tracks in the woods are known for being the hangouts for drug addicts and other misfits of Araminta. However, the woods contain many secrets.
Araminta isn't an extremely urban city. As stated before it's primarily suburban houses and woodlands, but it's right next to the Williams River. A massive river that was also named after the founder of the city that breaks off from the Schuylkill and Delaware River. As far as demographics go, Caucasians are the primary sight in Araminta with Asians and African-Americans being the second most common sight. Hispanics, Middle-Easterners, and Pacific Islanders are a very rare sight in Araminta.
Despite the drug, problem crime is relatively low. Most arrests are for petty crimes and being caught with drugs and murders were few and in between. However, lately, the town has been changing.
DOWNTOWN: The Heart of Araminta, this is where all the big businesses, clubs, and other places are located. Mostly it's where the tourists come, but it's where the town hall, police department, and more, are located. Famously, this is where the old military base was located before it was retired and turned into a tourist attraction.
NORTH: North Araminta is primarily woodlands, but it's the part of the city that is attached to the Williams River. North Araminta is where the most secluded and expensive houses are located.
SOUTH: South Araminta is the most suburban part of Araminta, and it's where all the nice houses and schools and mom and pop businesses are located.
EAST: East Araminta is like North Araminta, but worse. It's the most run-down part of the place and it's where all of trailer parks, methheads, and other strange things are located. If you go further out east, Araminta is woodlands... and you don't want to know what lurks in those woods.
WEST: West Araminta is where the trainyard is located and it's where most of the train tracks are located. It's also another place for the dredges of society to the hideout. This is where all of the factories and warehouses are located.
FORT GOODMAN: A former United States Army base that hasn't been used since the Revolutionary War. Due to the fact that it was in a tactically insignificant location after that conflict, it has been more or less converted to a neighborhood slash tourist attraction. Which is funny given that most of the original buildings were torn down and rebuilt.
SPECIFIC LOCATIONS _______________________________________________
"The Rails": The unofficial name for the massive and defunct trainyard that the city is more or less famous for. It contains hundreds of different train cars and various little camps set up by the methheads.
The Woods: The massive woods that make up the outskirts of Araminta, and are unofficially apart of the north and eastern parts of the city. It was once said that you can find all sorts of adventure in the woods. However, with the return of magic, they have become a lot more dangerous... you can find anything in the woods.
The Williams River: The Williams River is the small river that Araminta is attached to. It's about fifty miles long and twenty-two feet deep. Back in the days of old, it was a major method of travel, but since then it's used more for recreation. There's plenty of riverside parties.
University of Araminta: The famous university of Araminta that attracts many prospective youths to Araminta. It boasts an impressive science and technology classes, but it also offers other degrees at this college. It's located in Downtown Araminta.
The Serenity Library: The famous Library in Araminta that's towards East Araminta. It's known for having a comprehensive collection of books (even on the occult) even if people just primarily go there for the computers. They rent rooms.
Galaxy Island: An old amusement park in the North that went into bankruptcy not too long ago. It was known for being outer space-themed with rocket, planet, space, themed rides. Now it's known for being a crackhead den.
Note: This is not a guide or anything like that. You're free to come up with symbolism and your own interpretations of what's below and I've probably gone against it a few times myself. This is just how I interpret mechanics n' shit about abstractions.
Elemental Abstractions:
_______________________________________________ In general: Connection to the world, creativity, focus on the outside, being outrospective, desire to build/shape, change.
Fire: Passion, rage, raw and destructive emotion.
Water: Calmness/Peace, easily influenced, having multiple states.
Telepathy: Invasiveness/lack of boundaries, desire to communicate, wanting information/secrets.
Inventor/Gadgeteer Desire to find a solution to a problem, having a singular goal that cannot be solved with the present tools.
Intelligence/Minds: Lack of knowledge, perceived worthlessness, presented with problems that cannot be physical solve.
Dreams: Imaginative, wishes, interpretiveness.
Memory: Stress/past grievances, desire to forget/inform, desire to change things, looking to the past, external struggle.
Emotion Compassion, understanding people (or lack thereof), closer connection to people, internal struggle.
Mind Control: Desire to control, feeling out of control, social isolation/exile.
Illusions: Deception (on both sides), belief/thought being proven wrong, desire for something that cannot be gained.
Other Abstractions
_______________________________________________
Animal: Noticeable lack of connection to people, outcast, connection to nature/love of nature. (This was going to be its own section but I was like nope fuck that lol)
Summoning/Minion Creation: Desire for companionship, social isolation/exile.
Transformation/Shape-Shifting: Issues involving identity, self-hatred/wanting to be different.
Teleportation: Feeling trap/stuck, desire to escape, needing something.
Speed: Impatience, desire to get to goal instantly, has problem approaching, a problem that can be ran from, down to earth.
Flight: Needing to reach goals/expectations, freedom, idealism.
Strength: Being faced with situations that can't be mentally solved, violence/rage, perceived lack of strength/desire to grow stronger, authority.
Healing/Repairing: Desire to help people, compassion/kindness, other people's mental scars/past trauma, seeing beauty in something, restoring something else.
Regeneration: Desire to fix self, fixing own mental/physical wounds, a goal that they need to see through, self-restoration.
Time: Past/Future mistakes, pressure of time, having limited time, lack of management
Shields: Protection/desire to protect, danger/damage, caring, imminent threat to self.
Creation/Building: The need for something, wanting to build up something new, creativity/self-expression, having problems.
Close-Range: Immediate up in your face issue/question, close and personal problems/struggles, problems/solutions being in reach, single or few problems/threats.
Long-Range: Looming/upcoming problems, threats approaching/attacking from a distance, multiple threats/problems, things being out of reach.
Enchanting/Imbuing: Inadquency, current tools not being sufficient.
Beam: Focusing on one thing/task.
Enhanced Senses: Desiring awareness or understanding of environmental/task.
For the aesthetic. _______________________________________________ Georgiana Elizabeth Vanburen
She/Her | 20 | British & African-American | 5'4 | 185lb _______________________________________________ Detached _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Passion and hobbies are important in life. Keeps the crippling emotions away." ___________________________________
ART HISTORY ⫻ If it was an artistic movement Georgie knows the ends and outs of everything, even the movements she doesn't particularly enjoy.
GARDENING ⫻ Her favorite hobby that's one of the few ways she can express herself without saying what she's feeling in so many words. Know how to speak her language and anyone can speak to her.
EMBROIDERY ⫻ She's not the next Vera Wang, but she does like to embroider flowers into plain outfits to make it original and unique to her.
OBJECTIVITY ⫻ Georgie can look at most situations from an objective and logical point of view to the point that empathy doesn't play a part in her decision making. Sometimes the hard choices are the ones that don't give much of a fuck about a person's feelings and sensitivities.
Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I'm perfect no matter how you look at it."
Georgie has never thought of herself as someone other than perfect. Every time she looks in the mirror it's a reminder that no one can tell her different. She has smooth golden brown skin she takes care of with face treatments, lotions, and skin corrector. There's freckles concentrated under her eyes and across her nose and a few dot her chin. If she had to choose her best features her captivating brown eyes, long lashes, bow shaped, full lips, and her dark curly hair would be in the running for number one. She's a few inches from average height and a little chubby. She's curvy, has DD breasts, and she has to fit her pants to her butt so they're always big in her waist. She wears her naturally curly hair freely or pulled back into little ponytails when she's gardening. Her ears were pierced and her sense of style are dresses, skirts, and flower aesthetics. If there' a flower on it she'll wear it. Sometimes she adds flower designs to clothing she thinks is cute, but plain. She wears a golden carnation flower ring on her pointer finger. Why flowers? Because they're beautiful and mean different things; most people are none the wiser about hidden meanings when they think getting flowers is a nice gesture.
Psychology ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Sorry I'm not emotionally available. Let me pencil you into my schedule to make time for your concerns."
MAIN GOAL ⫻ Georgie wants to be an art curator, especially at the Louvre. Georgie loves art movements that came before the 1920s and most of those works are at the Louvre. Art was elegant then and had interesting historical events at that sparked the movements. Now a piece of tissue stuck to the wall with gum can be called art if there's a contrived enough meaning attached. She's well aware that art movements during the 20s and afterwards are influenced by social issues at the time, but she could careless about anything involved with WWI and after.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Georgie believes that objectivity and logic are the keys to life. It's human nature to get attached to someone or something and it could easily ruin a person's life goals. However, if people were to take a step back and consider what they'll gain without certain attachments they're more likely to get what they want. Useless things lead to useless ends.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Asexual with a side of aesthetic attraction. Some days Georgie wants to vomit just thinking about swapping bodily fluids with someone else, and on others she can't think of a less stimulating experience than sex (no one could do better at pleasing her than her own hand). She'd rather listen to WWI enthusiast. There are times when she sees someone that makes her heart flutter. It could be the way they wear their hair, or their outfit is just right, or maybe a physical feature is absolutely beautiful. Bring aesthetics to the table and she'll wanna flirt.
FEARS ⫻ Georgie fears attachments that lead to failure. For every goal she's set in her life she had to sacrifice personal relationships to get there. She couldn't be close with her friends, because she used her free time to study. England had one of the best schools for art, so she didn't live with her family growing up and as consequence doesn't know them well nor do they know her. She broke up with her boyfriend, because they were going to different universities in different countries and she wouldn't make the commitment to try long distance if it interfered with her studies. Her sacrifices will not be in vain for people that aren't permanent.
REPUTATION ⫻ Georgie is James's foreign child that Araminta citizens tend to forget exist. She's only around during the summer and some Christmases if it isn't too inconvenient. She doesn't see it as home. More of a vacation spot if anything. In the family she is the sister her siblings don't really know anymore. She used to be the annoying little sister that followed them anywhere, but she grew out of that when she went away. Any attempts to get to know her are met with superficial answers and general disinterest. It's not hard to be away year after year if she doesn't truly know who they are and vice versa. However, she does leave a bouquet of flowers from her garden every Monday morning, during the summer, in each of their bedrooms. She may not know them well, but she does still care in her own half-heart way.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ James is more so a sponsor that funds her education at private schools and university, than a father. She ask for monetary support for her goals and he gives it freely with the stipulation that she comes to spend her summers in Araminta every year. Two months out of a year of her time isn't a big sacrifice on her part. She threw in a personal garden she can tend to and is well kept by a gardener when she's not there as part of the deal. She resents him a smidge of a bit for not coming to see her in private school. She doesn't think it's genuine for him to want her around once a year just to leave on some escapade when she's around. Whatever. Vaguely wanting the attention of a man she hardly knows doesn't pertain to her goals.
FLAWS ⫻ Georgie's unwillingness to have emotional attachments keep her from fully experiencing love the way normal people do. It's always business, 'What can you do for me?' and 'What can I do for you?' Anything that's not gainful isn't worth her time. She misses out on birthday parties, vacations, real human connections. She thinks logically when she's emotionally overwhelmed. She's prone to shutting down, resetting herself, and using logic to solve her problems. People tend to thing she's a heartless robot with a pleasant smile, but she's not. She buries negative emotions deep. She'll express positive emotions, because that means something went right. Achieving goals makes her happy. She doesn't know if anything else can. Things that should make her happy don't. Not birthdays, holidays, her family, friends, and lovers when she has them. Here and there thoughts of whether she's broken slips through and she pencils in when she's available for her next breakdown.
Backstory ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Quite simple. Nothing to kick up a fuss about."
Georgie can say with confidence she doesn't know her mother. She was some woman from somewhere that stayed with James at the Vanburen estate at sometime. James couldn't tell her anything other than Georgie looks like her and that she was set on naming her baby some iteration of George. Georgiana is the name she settled on, before leaving her with James. She'd nearly forgotten there was something James could tell her. Her mother was hellbent on a goal she had to complete. As much as she talked about it at length with James it went in through one ear and out the other. Money exchanged hands, Georgiana was born, and her mother was off in the wind. She's not surprised. Up until she left she's seen plenty women come and go from James's life. Whatever he wanted from them at the time, they gave it, then they left. Georgie played with her siblings when they had the time for her. Tyler and Shane were almost a teenagers by the time she was old enough to keep up, she and Oscar didn't share the same interest, and Trisha didn't like her so much. There was a disconnect, but she was still the annoying little sister that wanted her big brothers' attention.
Georgie got into art when she was five. James, on the occasion he wanted to bond, would take her to the art museum in downtown Araminta. The portraits were beautiful, the sculptures magnificent, the most visually gratifying thing she's ever seen. James, taking an interest in Georgie's interest, read her books that explained different art movements throughout history. Her favorite was the Classical period. Everything was crisp, clean, and perfect. Georgie likes perfect. Around the time James sent Tyler to boarding school in France he got the idea to send Georgie to England to study at a prestigious art school. Only children with rich enough parents and an aptitude for the arts could get in. That wasn't an issue for Georgie. She passed the interview with flying colors. Of course she did. There's no doubting her knowledge on art, even as a child.
The first year Georgie had a hard time adjusting to British culture and their way of speaking. While she was a well spoken child, she was still too American, so she adapted. Catching onto the accent was easy, she's heard James's accent all her life. The posh way of speaking was the hard part. She had to broaden her vocabulary, pronounce words the Southern English way, she even had a tutor that taught her RP English, though she doesn't have a practical use for it if she's not meeting the Queen. She doubts that's ever going to happen. Slowly, but surely anything she was like at home shifted into a new girl that wasn't annoying and in her siblings' faces. She was posh, proper, darling Georgie. She was afraid of going home during her first year for fear that being in America would ruin all the hard work she put into being acceptable in the eyes of her British peers. For three years she didn't come home and James had to bribe her with continuing to pay for her school and a personal garden to get her to come back. Gardening was a hobby she picked up at school. There was a club that did arrangements out of the flowers they tended to and they were an aesthetic Georgie was attracted to.
In the three years she was away, Georgie learned bullies were starved for emotional reactions, so she stopped reacting. If they said anything about where she came from, her family, or anything to insult her she'd smile and politely insult them, then go about their day. Most of the time she'd forget their name. No better way to hurt a bully's pride than to ask "Who are you again?" She became known as a steel wall at her school.
When she came home for the first time in three years she wasn't expecting Tyler to be Sabrina. It was a change she hadn't seen coming. Quite jarring actually with England's anti-trans stances. Not that she bought into bigotry. Like anything she adjusted. It'd been so long, since she'd last seen Tyler that he would've been just as much a stranger as Sabrina is if she didn't transition at all. Georgie still kept her distance, even though it ate at her little by little not to have the relationships she used to with her siblings. She sucked it up and dealt with it. She didn't put in all that work to become Americanized. She did what she could to show she cared from her corner of the manor. She tended to her new garden and made flower arrangements she left in her sibling's bedrooms every Monday morning to show off the skills she learned in club.
Through the years, Georgie excelled in her classes and when she graduated from Secondary school James was ready to bring her home, but England was her home now. It'd be too weird to permanently be around people she didn't much care to be around minus the obligatory presents during Christmas and birthday cards. She'd built up an outline of her life to succeed in becoming an art curator: - Further Education - University of Edinburgh for a History of Arts degree - Internship at the Louvre - Louvre art curator
Her life of art was set and James's wants to bring her "home" weren't going to derail her plans. James relented and got her a condo to stay in while she took her A-level classes in art, history, and design.
During her two years of study, she established a relationship with a boy from secondary school. Lucien was nice, he had floppy blond hair, and baby blue eyes that twinkled when he smiled at her. He treated her well, even during arguments about not spending enough time together, ones she shut down every time. He even accepted her when she blew him off to study. Lucien wanted to be a patisserie, she loved that he had a dream for himself. He was her first everything. They had sex whenever he was in the mood, but she didn't enjoy herself. It got to the point she didn't want to anymore, because it was gross or she was bored. Heavy petting was good on occasion. Other than little hiccups their relationship was fine. The downside was that she was going to university in Scotland after she passed A-levels and he was going to France. She couldn't get distracted from her goals by splitting her attention between university work and a long distance relationship. Lucien didn't want them to be over, but it wasn't up for discussion. She promptly broke his heart, then forgot he ever existed.
University was much the same as all her education exploits, best grades, brightest future, each goal checked off the list. Everything changed when James dropped dead. She was home for Christmas that year, sipping her wine, and ignoring the argument between James and Oscar. She didn't care what it was about. Had nothing to do with her, ergo not her business. Oscar stormed from the house like an upset maiden and she retreated to her room when she finished her food. She didn't know that'd be the last time she'd see James alive. The news was shocking and she cried not for his death, but not knowing the content of his will. What if she didn't get a dime for being away for so long? That wasn't a problem after the reading of the will stating most of the money went to the biological children along with ownership in the family business, and the orphans got the scraps. Good. She can continue her goals without disruption. She had gone out to her garden to take care of her winter flowers and found a gold carnation ring in the dirt. When she touched it a spirit whispered in her ear, said that it watched her take care of flowers for years and that it thought her garden was perfect. She put the ring on and spoke to it every day for the duration of her visit. She didn't think about it too hard. James exposed her to supernatural artifacts and happening young. She said she's take care of it always if she could bring it with her everywhere. The spirit agreed with her. Before she left back to Scotland, a dimension opened in her ring and sucked it in.
After his death she had no intentions of ever stepping into Araminta again, unless someone else died, but her joints stiffen up around the anniversary of James's death. At first she thought it was arthritis, which was weird. She wasn't aware that it was a medical condition James suffered, then again it could be from her mother's side, but the next morning she couldn't move her right hand. It was solid stiff like stone. She felt it had something to do with James and magic, so she booked a flight home. The moment she stepped foot on the Vanburen grounds her hand healed. She learned she couldn't leave the estate and had to request her school to put her education on hold for medical purposes. This is not perfect.
Abstraction ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "My power is as beautiful and deadly as a flower itself."
TYPE ⫻ Aberration: Agent
ABSTRACTION ⫻The Garden is a dimension of Georgie's own creation with all the flowers she can control or summon for attack and defense.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ Georgie moved the personal garden James made for her to a different dimension after his death, so she could have it with her always. It's her way of grieving, but she hasn't processed it yet. The Garden is accessed through her gold carnation ring. She can summon a big portal to fit people through or a small one the size of a sunflower. If anyone gets caught in her dimension they're in a spot of trouble. She can control all the flowers there to do her bidding, such as root and petal manipulation, size manipulation, and petal imprisonment. Outside the dimension she can't control her flowers the same way. The flower petals she summons shoot out from the small portal like razor sharp bullets. Bigger portals release a blizzard of razor sharp petals. Anyone in the path gets cut up. She can escape through the portal to get out of a situation, but she'll come back in the same spot she left. And she can summon a giant flower that's as hard as steel to protect her.
LIMITS ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)
WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)
Other ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Always Georgie, even in your dreams."
Georgiana is a terrible name. Quite dreadful. For someone as magnificent as her she could've been an Alexandria, Victoria, or Olivia. Something pretty and strong sounding. Georgiana is what she's stuck with, so she settled for at least making it cute. Georgie is what she prefers to be called. Not Georgiana, George, Geordie or Geor, a cheeky boy called her that once. Georgie.
@The Ghost Note Narrowed down her abstraction from when I last showed you her.
_______________________________________________ Patricia Malaya Vanburen _______________________________________________ She/Her | 21 | British, Filipino, Saudia Arabian | 5'5" | 115lb _______________________________________________ Bitterness _______________________________________________ Skills & Talents "Imagine being good at something you weren’t ashamed of." ___________________________________
Computer Programming ⫻ The kind of thing that Trisha used to scorn, she discovered her talents for the field when she went to college. She had to take it as a course and found out she had a natural talent in it (which was a first). However she found it embarrassing considering the stereotypes and how nerdy she’d always called it to her friends, so it’s something she’s been learning in secret. She’s gotten quite good over the last three years through various online courses and late night coding sessions.
Bilingual ⫻ Trisha is technically bilingual, since she was taught Filipino in her formative years and it stuck. She’s quite rusty because she only ever uses it on the rare occasions that she visits her mother. She also speaks basic conversational Arabic.
Appearance ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "The one good thing my mother gave me is her looks."
Considering her mixed heritage, Trisha always says that she’s surprised that she turned out so pretty. Of course her proclamation about her looks comes from her own self confidence along with many compliments from guys (and girls) she’s been together with. Her natural look is one of annoyance or grumpiness and this is something that is rarely broken out of when around her family. However when she is away from them, around friends or people she doesn’t know, she adopts a much more friendly if flirtatious persona.
Without makeup Trisha has a soft face, albeit with a clear jawline. However she is always found with makeup on to help define this and bring a bit more shape to her rather small face. Her hair is long and naturally wavy, a dark brown almost black in colour. Her skin is a tanned gold and freckles dash across her wide, button nose and cheeks when she gets the sun. Her wide lips are often left with just a bit of lip gloss on them. Her eyes, clearly showing her Asian side, are probably one of her most unique features: seemingly changing colours with the light. They are actually hazel in colour, with a warm brown towards the centre and green at the edges. However under a lot of lighting they just look medium brown, if not darker brown. Trisha has three piercings in both ears: two lobe piercings and one helix.
Now, while Trisha is lucky to have a slim if average height stature that she can keep up very easily, she didn’t luck out in other departments (in her opinion). She’s flat to the point where in anything but form fitting clothes she doesn’t have any curves. But that’s something that can be fixed with a push up bra when she wants to. She’s a bit more curvy behind and at her hips, with a slim waist. She has long, slender legs that half make up for it. She’s not particularly fussy on clothes, normally wearing t shirts, crop tops or sweaters along with shorts or cropped jeans. On occasions she’ll wear a dress.
Psychology ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "What have other people ever done for me?"
MAIN GOAL ⫻ Surprising considering how she generally acts, but Trisha ultimately wants to find something to get married to and settle down to start her own family. She wants to have kids and treat them right, unlike how she was as she grew up. Along with this, she secretly wants to change her degree and instead pursue computing since she discovered she was talented at this… which would require her getting over her shame at that fact.
PHILOSOPHY ⫻ Trisha first and foremost believes that you have to look after yourself, and that no one else will bother. Ironically she thinks that everyone has their purpose and it’s perfectly fine to discard them after you’ve used them. You should use whatever skills you have, whatever they are, to benefit yourself and your life. Along with all these you shouldn’t show others how what they say affects you, but instead remember it and make them regret it.
SEXUALITY ⫻ Pansexual, Trisha has been with many people with no care for gender. Though she often questions how much she actually likes boys beyond the attention and easy compliments they give her.
FEARS ⫻ Trisha fears that she will never be good enough. She fears being alone, even when she is often the one that causes herself to be alone. Most of all she fears that she will live the rest of her life constantly in the shadow of others and never find anything, or anyone, that is truly her own.
REPUTATION ⫻ Within Araminta Trisha doesn't have a great, or widely known, reputation. As one of the Vanburen kids she was always in the shadows - never making any big noise, negative or positive. Those who went to school with her (or know of her school results) would think of her as one of the less impressive Vanburen. Within the family, her reputation is negative. Trisha has always been incredibly standoffish at best and mean at worst, especially to certain people. What didn't help was her bad reputation with James himself which soured her reputation with many of her siblings.
THOUGHTS ABOUT FATHER ⫻ Trisha is one of the few Vanburens that views James negatively. At a young age her opinions were twisted by her mother, who’s relationship was ruined by his affair, and this continued into a bitterness towards him as she grew up. Still, she is upset that she never had a chance to fix their relationship even if it was unlikely to happen.
FLAWS ⫻ Trisha is quick to anger and blame, with her rage coming in a cold and scathing manner. Unlike others she doesn’t blow up but instead resorts to incredibly harsh, biting words. When something goes wrong she is one of the first to point fingers as she’s grown up being taught that someone is to blame for what happened in her life (namely her father’s affair). Trisha is very bitter and holds a lot of resentment towards certain family members, and very much is one to hold grudges. Aside from this she tends to close herself off when it comes to sharing anything but the surface level of herself - even to those she would call her closest friends. Along with all this she’s very quick to jump between relationships, quickly dropping one person for the next all with the aim to get validation. As much as she outwardly projects confidence and don’t give a fuck attitude, she has crippling self confidence issues in relation to other people which have lead to her heavily relying on her looks to get her through situations.
Backstory ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Fuck everyone that made me who I am today."
Trisha was born to James Vanburen and his wife at the time, Maria Mendoza. The two had met while James was on one of his trips outside of Araminta and “fell in love”. Or, more accurately Maria one sidedly fell head over heels for James. So much so that she put her career as a Professor at MIT (in Mechanical Engineering) on hold to marry him and move to Araminta. Shortly afterwards, she was pregnant with Trisha and happily gave birth. Sadly this happiness was short-lived as it was only a year later that James had an affair with another woman (that she found out about, he undoubtedly had more as well), resulting in her pregnancy. The events that followed ruined any love Maria had for him and completely destroyed their marriage.
This ended with Maria leaving Araminta, and her daughter there in the Vanburen Estate. She went back to the job she’d had previously. Trisha spent most of her early years in Araminta. She would visit her mother for around a month a year during various holidays, which involved minimal time spent together around her research. Even in these short times Maria was sure to tell Trisha who was at fault for the situation: her father and his wife afterwards. As a young and impressionable girl it wasn’t hard to influence her and instill a bitterness towards those that stopped her from having a mother that was around. Even with the short time spent together, Trisha was incredibly attached to her mother. There was always a hope that once she got older she would be able to move out of Araminta and into her Mother’s in Massachusetts. On the other hand as soon as she could think for herself she did her best to avoid her father, which wasn’t exactly difficult.
There was one thing that Maria wished for when it came to Trisha: that she would excel in school just as she had. So Trisha started learning young from her, and kept this up when she started school. Most of her time was spent locked in her room trying to learn and completely ignoring the family she lived with.
Trisha wasn’t good at school.
No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t wrap her head around the most basic concepts. She was near the bottom of the class for learning to read and write, the only thing she was slightly above average for was mathematics. None of it was good enough to satisfy Maria - who even at a distance kept a constant check on how she was doing. It was obvious by the time she reached highschool that she wasn’t academically gifted. It didn’t matter that she went above and beyond when it came to effort. She had a whole folder of “tried the hardest” awards but nothing important came of it.
With her daughter not improving, Maria gave up. The already short visits Trisha got to her mother got shorter and their relationship quickly grew tenuous. Suddenly she was blamed for everything that went wrong. Because the least she could’ve done was be smart enough to make up for what had happened.
This left Trisha going into her teenage years already full of anger. She was ridiculed by her mother, basically shoved aside by a father she’d always disliked for her better siblings. She felt angry towards everything and would often lash out with sharp, cold words towards her siblings and parents that got her in trouble more than once. Still, she didn’t give up and continued to try even when it didn’t yield results. There was only one thing that kept her going: the small number of friends she’d made at school.
It was when she turned 16 that she realised she did have something. She had her good looks, something that may not help with her family but drew in friends and those interested in her for other reasons. She quickly began to use this for some form, any form, of validation. It wasn’t extreme throughout highschool, just making loads of friends (especially boys) and dating a few of them. It never went anywhere. Somehow she managed to get into college, a below average one doing Mathematics.
Trisha was glad to finally escape Araminta and the Vanburens. While she didn’t excel academically at college, she did when it came to friendships. Along with this she delved deep into the world of romance… or more accurately, short flings and one night stands with no feelings from her part. She found it was easy to feel good about yourself when you had people complimenting you for your looks among other things. She no longer tried her hardest as she had, instead spending her time with friends, partying and doing… other things.
Christmas Eve of her second year came, and Trisha reluctantly went home because she wasn’t allowed to stay in her dorms. To her it was a horrible time spent with people she wanted to avoid the most. But that didn’t mean she wanted to wake up the next morning to find out that James was dead. She was conflicted with how to feel, grieving in her own way and suddenly realising there was no chance to fix their relationship now that he was gone. She didn’t stay long in Araminta, returning to college immediately after the funeral.
During the next year she pretended it didn’t happen. She didn’t know about the world of the Extra Normal until just a few months ago, while she was in the computing department of her school she found an old looking laptop hidden in a closet when poking around. She was shocked when it talked to her and introduced itself and after talking, it explained that it was an Apparition sealed inside the laptop and that it could lend her its powers through that. Not quite believing this Trisha took the laptop and spent all her spare time, outside of socialising, learning how to use it.
Then almost a year after James’ death she was forced to go back to Araminta, because she suddenly started to turn to stone.
Abstraction ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "Finally, something I can do well."
TYPE ⫻ Aberration (Agent)
ABSTRACTION ⫻ The Trojan, an Apparition that allows Trisha to create multiple "workers", minions to do small tasks for her.
ABSTRACTION DESCRIPTION ⫻ With the creation of the computer, computer code and viruses came the Trojan, an apparition that is the embodiment of that which makes technology run (and destroys it). He’s lent part of his power to Trisha in exchange for a price. This gives her the ability to perform a specific ability through the use of computer code. The basis of this is that Trisha must first write the code for the specific thing she wants to do, in the laptop that the Trojan is sealed in, and “run” it to have the effect come into place. While she can write a basic code framework in advance, saving it to be pulled up later, all the specifics need to be filled in at the time she wants to use the abstraction. Under time pressure this could be difficult without causing errors in the program. The Trojan has given her access to one program.
Master / Worker ⫻ Based on a pattern used in Parallel Programming, Trisha can create up to 5 “workers”. These are little creatures that are essentially two blobs on top of each other, with dinky arms and large eyes (kinda like this). Through the code that Trisha wrote when creating them, they can perform basic tasks for her. This could be collecting something, sneaking in somewhere, listening to a conversation, cleaning, seeing far away for her ect. They can communicate with very basic words to her and more complicated information they get is shown through the computer terminal, which she would have to figure out. Each worked can do something different assuming she codes it correctly and are all controlled through the 'master', her computer. They will follow what is written out in the code, nothing more and nothing less.
AURA SENSING ⫻ Trisha can sense the auras of people using a device connected to the internet within around 50 metres of where she is, assuming that she also has a device connected to the internet.
LIMITS ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)
WEAKNESSES ⫻ (DO NOT FILL THIS OUT, I WILL PROVIDE IT FOR YOU)
Other ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ "I never wanted to come back here."
LIMITS ⫻ Emotional-Fields prevent Georgie from closing her portals on people, however, she doesn't have too many limitations from Emotional-Fields. Opening a portal to her Garden isn't an instant process, however, it's still fairly fast. She can open a portal in about a few seconds, however, the process strains Georgie. She can have the portal to the garden open for about five minutes straight and afterward, she'd have to take a break. Once Georgie opens a portal, it's completely static and she can't make it turn or change its size. Meaning if she has a portal opened parallel to the ground and there's an opponent above her, she'd have to close the portal and open a new one facing that direction or size. The issue would be that rapidly opening and closing portals exhausts her and is not something that she ideally wants to do. Now, as far as growing plants in the Garden goes, she can manipulate all plant-life in her field of vision and cause it to grow rapidly. However, if she's not present in the Garden the ability is greatly limited and she can't manipulate plants as she normally could.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ Fire is a huge weakness for Georgie's ability, as fire can destroy even the pedals that are hard as steel easily - The portal can also be destroyed by fire and extreme heats. Now, when Georgie grows plants, she's putting a bit of herself into it - literally. She uses her life-force to cause plant growth and it'll run if she uses it excessively. It replenishes in time but overuse can cause exhaustion, hair-loss, starvation/dehydration - and even kill her if she goes too far.
LIMITS ⫻ Trisha can create up to five Workers and they can travel around a hundred meters away from her. They are limited in what they can do by what code Trisha writes for them, and in order for Trisha to give them a different command, she'll have to change the code.
WEAKNESSES ⫻ The Workers are frail and not suited for combat, even a Blind can easily handle them. Other than that, due to the low power nature of the ability, it doesn't have a whole lot of drawbacks or weaknesses.
_________________________________________________
