As far as my vision of how the UK looks here... it's just anime steampunk Victorian Britain. Less strict gender roles, women's clothes that are cuter and less stuffy that it was historically, for sure. Y'know, think Princess Principal, like ERode mentioned. The UK's probably flexing on the Continent as usual, but probably more low-key meddling than what we saw historically since the Orient and the New World are big players now too.
Also, the Royal navy, can't forget that. Big. Powerful. Superdreadnoughts. In the sea and in the air. See my signature.
I dunno about the empire and colony situation though, since there isn't the new world to grab land from, or even Australia.
Ah, it's already giving me the whole Princess Principal vibes of London. So yeah, I can see what you mean I'm pretty sure I want this kind of UK too cause it's very close to what I was envisioning.
I think in terms of the colony situation, I'm thinking perhaps they had initial gains, and then lost them after the Futile War. However, this does give incentive to spy on the bigger players such as the New World and Orient.
I'm thinking on the Orient situation, perhaps we could draw inspiration from the opium wars and perhaps trying to subvert control through that through more low-key means.
The idea I had for the nation my character idea was from took a lot of inspiration from world war 1 and 2 eras of nations like persia, japan and ofcourse the republic of china. With them having been pretty peaceful before the futile war kicked off, going through some internal strife as one of the few nations that wasn't swole enough to really stalemate the european invaders until they realized this massive stone deposit that they'd used for more peaceful things like purifying their lakes and defending against harsh weather could be used to basically glass massive areas. The realization was to be their idea of the nuke and the fear of it grew into an appreciation of raw power basically. The initial idea was that the character was gonna be adjusted to handle the stone better(i guessss it's still on the table with the egotism) and serve as a showcase for their power in combat, for the sake of restoring their clan's name. Like it'd be the country basically saying. 'We can make more, hire us to slay your enemies and we can be rich with an endless wartime economy' kinda deal. Kinda like some msg type beat.
Also @ERode, I did more research and got an even better idea that more simplistic scientifically. The stone magnifies sound that gets trapped in it with light. Basically I had no idea until now, but the more hertz sound has, the higher its decibels will be. Decibels is intensity and hertz is frequency(like how many waves are in that space), and when the decibels get past like 7000, they start vibrating enough to burn things. I was thinking of decibels when I had the idea for the polymathy through the stone. The stone would basically only be able to help someone trap and control dangerously loud sounds as it is now, so I'll probably scrap the sound idea since it was specific to the character's branch of the country's royal family, and not the country's weaponry as a whole. It would take an incredibly massive crystal(bigger than I'd initially assumed, like the top being the tip of a small mountain, while the shaft extends into the ground, past the base sized) for them to glass anything. And I think that's a cool idea, but beyond that, I'll be back to the drawing board on the individual character's polymathy.
@RoboCatStalemating the Occident would only really be an issue if they were at the borders or at the coast, so just keep that in mind when figuring out the geographics of your place. As a point of historical inspiration, they could probably have come stories of ancient Egypt's Sun Disc Death Beam Pyramids and realized that maybe they weren't stories, and maybe they could do the same.
@SilverPawYes. Only Polymaths can use advanced protheses as a perfect/superior replacement for their normal limbs though (normal folks who buy those things can only use them for rudimentary activities, as they didn't figure out a way to link brain signals to objects n shit). The only thing they haven't figured out is how to get replacement eyes working. Egoists can just regrow body parts though.
Ah, it's already giving me the whole Princess Principal vibes of London. So yeah, I can see what you mean I'm pretty sure I want this kind of UK too cause it's very close to what I was envisioning.
I think in terms of the colony situation, I'm thinking perhaps they had initial gains, and then lost them after the Futile War. However, this does give incentive to spy on the bigger players such as the New World and Orient.
I'm thinking on the Orient situation, perhaps we could draw inspiration from the opium wars and perhaps trying to subvert control through that through more low-key means.
Hmm, sure. Sounds good. Dunno on the Orient situation though, I guess that depends more on what others have in mind for the region.
@ERode Speaking of Egypt... Does history generally diverge at 1537? Or is the entire timeline altered from what we know, as in Rome never conquers Egypt, etc?
History generally diverged from the 1500s, yeah, though with the caveat that most mythologies have more than just a single grain of truth in them. Religion doesn't have as big of a traction right now, because while people've basically confirmed the existence of all almighty Creator, they're also aware that said Creator wasn't even kind enough to give them a whole ass universe to live in.
Oof, here goes. The very first character sheet draft I've ever made. Ended up going with an Egoist instead of Technologist after some brain storming. I took references for the format from the example provided and also from Izurich(Thank you! And sorry for kind of copying the format! Not even sure if this is acceptable to do ahaha). Please review it and correct me as necessary. I think I might have confused my character's nation among other things. I hope I didn't make too many mistakes but sorry in advance if I did, haha...
Higashiakemi Ryuuko
15 y/o | Female | 160cm/5'2 | 92kg/203lbs The Empire of Blazing Sun, Japan | Egoism | Pyrokinetic Chimera
Design Details & Expression Showcase
In Action
Teeth = Real Sharp
Tattoo Design
Higashiakemi Ryuuko was a child of the influential Higashiakemi family of Sendai, Japan. The family, whom members were almost all Polymaths, was also renowned for being ardent traditionalists. It was hence unsurprising that most of the Polymaths within the family were Egoists proud of their Oriental heritage regardless of how niche Egoism can be seen as compared to Technologism.
Ryuuko herself was an extremely talented person when it came to being an Egoist. From a very young age she dedicated herself to the craft, showing great potentials that would have done her family proud. That is to say, if only she didn't wholeheartedly despised her own family. The truth of the matter was that despite her love of the Egoism craft, she hated most of the traditions of the family and by extension of the country. While not as bad as how it were in the past, women were still seen as somewhat of lesser social status than men in the Empire of Blazing Sun. Add to that the strongly enforced culture of seniority and compliance, and it became just way too much for the progressive minded Ryuuko.
To that end, everything that Ryuuko did tended to go exactly the opposite of what her family would approve of. She deliberately dressed herself in fashions that her family found distasteful, deliberately learned languages that her family deemed pointless to learn, and even deliberately ate foods that her family seen as affronts to the Japanese cuisine. Of course, she didn't stop with only such petty little things. As the biggest deliberate offense, Ryuuko geared her entire Egoist craft toward transformations that her family saw as absolute horror and disgrace. With her script carved on to her stomach instead of her back(because of course she'll never went with the traditionalist way), Ryuuko used all of her talent to turn herself slowly but surely into a being best called as a draconic Chimera. This, she achieved at the tender age of 12 years old. As expected her family were absolutely flabbergasted and revolted at what she had became, to the point of threatening to disown her for her "transgression".
Unfortunately for them, Ryuuko's talents didn't end with only her incredible skills in the Egoism craft. She also possessed a significant degree of intelligence, enough to plan her moves far in advance. Thus, to rub salt into the family's wound, Ryuuko had already arranged for herself to be a member of the Kaiser Institute; an organization of highly talented and progressive Polymaths based in Germany. Before her family can even officially disown her, Ryuuko was instead the one who left her family behind. Furthermore, as her last parting "gift" to the family she kept the family name just because she knew that it will bring even more shame to them.
Years had passed since then. In a new chapter of her life, Ryuuko had secured an enrollment into the Academic City of Bermuda as an agent of the Kaiser Institute. On the surface, the Institute was seemingly just one of the countless institutes of Polymaths focused on furthering their respective crafts. In truth, the Institute was one of the secret society with the mission of ensuring the Occident's supremacy in the war that never truly ended. And for Ryuuko, she could not have found a better way than this to smear even more dirt to the face of all those traditionalists back home.
Ryuuko's transformation had turned her into a draconic chimera. The following is a list of the abilities she possessed due to her transformations: - Horns: She possessed a pair of horns on the side of her head above the ears. As tough as a rhino's horn, these are capable of both protecting her and also as weapons due to their toughness. - Night Vision: Modifications to her eyes enabled her to see in the dark clearly. As with all forms of natural night vision capability, light must still be present. Thus, this ability cannot function in complete darkness. Additionally as a tradeoff of the transformation, she suffered from myopia which necessitated her to wear prescription eyeglasses. - Fangs: Her teeth are razor sharp like a shark's. Also like sharks, she had the capability to replace lost teeth seemingly infinitely. It took her around a single day to fully regenerate her teeth regardless of the number. - Armored Carapaces: Hard carapaces covered Ryuuko's hands and her legs below the knees, functioning like durable armor. Additionally, these also provided her with sharp claws that can be used for offense. - Tails: She possessed a pair of tails on the back of her waist. These are not prehensile. Instead, she can use them for additional balance, and if necessary she can also use them as whips. - Enhanced Physical Capabilities: Ryuuko possessed noticeably higher physical capabilities than the typical human, clocking at around twice that of peak human capabilities. - Fire Breath: Perhaps the most defining of Ryuuko's abilities. She possessed the capability to launch a stream of intense fire breath from her mouth. She achieved this by expelling flammable venom from venom sacks on the inner walls of her throat, then igniting the venom with a spark made by the grinding of her teeth.
Mmm, that tattoo definitely looks like one that someone going through their rebellious phase would slap on.
Anyways, most of it sounds good. Just got a couple of questions for ya to answer.
Considering her roots to her family, will she have basically exposed as much of her family's secrets/history/businesses to the Kaiser Institute as she could? Or does she still have reservations about being that blatant a traitor?
How long does it take for her to replace her teeth? Is she at the elephant-tossing levels of strength that your standard martial-inclined Egoist would be, or is her personal ideal something different (and thus she's not THAT much of a living weapon)? Which nation has she been an immigrant of since being taken in by the Kaiser Institute? I'm guessing Germany?
Hmm... On that end however, since this is somewhat an alternate reality, why not have it be someone like Queen Victoria? Just a thought, since events here have transpired so different from our world that perhaps even who's in power may have changed.
You know... Since they're from an Otome game... I can picture that if I put myself in the shoes of a fangirl. I've only got one word to say to it all... Hawt.
I'm totally fine with alternate history shenanigans causing some people to name their kids after others who shouldn't exist until centuries after. After all, the Scientific Revolution is basically two centuries before the Industrial one, and the Futile War is basically WWI except four whole ass centuries earlier.
By all rights, Valeriya had little place in her current position compared to all the noble lineages and respected bloodlines she was surrounded by. She was born a girl of low birth in a newly-established industrial town in Siberia, and only the hand of fate delivered her into the clutches of one of Imperial Russia's least-known agencies: the Imperial Ministry of Intelligence.
An accident in the factory Valeriya's parents toiled in rendered the girl an orphan when she was barely three years old. Not two weeks later, erstwhile """relatives""" from out of town sauntered into the local orphanage and pulled her out, taking the young girl all the way to Moscow. In truth, these were agents of the Ministry pulling in more fresh blood to be raised in the Tsar's service. Valeriya became among the first batch of imperial agents to be raised from a young age to be spies and Polymaths abroad, as the Futile War had shown that Polymaths were ever more essential towards even intelligence work, and that it was best to reel them in young before such trifles as familial loyalty or ingrained learning created unwanted traits in potential agents.
Thus, she spent her youth being taught the arts of Formula and fieldcraft. What none expected, however, was that this girl from the ass-end of Siberia turned out to have, at the very least, a true knack at being a Polymath. By the time she was a teenager, Valeriya was at the top of her class among the Ministry's youth, and so she was to be given the crucial assignment to be inserted into Bermuda. A cover was established for her background, and her genuine achievements granted her recognition enough to legitimately qualify for entrance to the Academic Island. For Tsar and country. God save the Tsar.
Among Technologists, Electroartifice refers to the use of Formulization to craft works powered by and utilizing electricity. In Valeriya's case, she specializes in personal tools of war: arms and armor alike. Her education in history impressed a single theory on her that became applied to her Formula: the tactics of old had been on to something. The problem lay in the tools. In order to match the Egoists of the Orient, the equipment used by the Occident had to be on par.
Valeriya's Electroartifice revolves around two primary projects: powered armor to match an Egoist's speed and strength, and a weapon to surpass their durability. Some would say that this was too much of a division of resources in otherwise separate fields. Valeriya would respond by saying that one wasn't complete without the other. And so were revealed her two works: electromagnetic railgun firearms to harm Egoists where mundane equipment couldn't, and armor using electrically-powered servos to increase the wearer's agility and might.
Of course, Valeriya doesn't promote her achievements in public as being anti-Egoist technology. Rather, she claims to simply wish to usher in the next generation of weapons and armor, regardless of target.
I feel like the background's a little vague or too much of a sketch, but i don't want to write a full, long personal history either, so whatever.
Yun Hana 14 | Female | 156.4 cm | 50.2 kg Korea | Egoism | Drug Factory
Hana’s past is something she keeps mostly to herself, although the picture she paints isn’t one of any lineage of greatness nor that of singular genius. She’s just one of many among her peers to get the nod for the academy. Her family was relatively well off, and tied to Korea’s imperial government, working in Seoul. She’s part of a fresh generation who is growing used to some of the conveniences of from foreign powers brought in after the Futile War. Her hometown was the first to benefit from electricity, after all.
Influenced by the opening of Korea’s borders 50 years ago, Hana’s school of egoism has taken to experimenting with a technologist influence, leaning toward mad science, or adapting technologist principles to their own bodies. She adapted her body to enact a rather literal approach to internal alchemy: she’s essentially turned herself into a living chemical plant. These sort of activities did catch the attention of the Ministry of Rites, mostly because it showed a marked break from well-established tradition. The implications of Hana’s own approach didn’t go unnoticed, either, and soon, she was encouraged to continue, under the auspices of a very small and specific branch of the ministry’s diplomacy department.
She seems to play up the “mysterious oriental” angle more than some, if only to entertain herself. Nothing quite like either confirming everyone’s most bizarre misconceptions, or suggesting the reality’s even stranger. Setting any ulterior motives aside, she’s definitely excited to be here and see what everyone else is bringing to the table (and take careful notes, of course).
Hana’s tattoos take an artful form, spiraling away from a central core at her back to flow across the rest of her body, spiraling around her limbs like vines. Much of Hana’s skin is smooth, hairless, and appears glistening with moisture, like some sort of amphibian's. Some patches even show bright color patterns reminiscent of poison dart frogs, notably along the back of her neck, and (blending in with the tattoos) her back. Some (or all) of her hair is also an unnatural color, and she dyes it black to remain inconspicuous. Hana’s sweat and salivary glands have been extensively altered to help her emit the various substances she produces within her body. Her internal organs have also changed extensively; should one cut her open, they’d probably find all manner of strange, altered, or new bits.
Hana can create chemicals in her body, and can apply them internally to herself, or emit them as a liquid or gas. While she is more agile than a normal person, most of her focus on her egoism is in developing new drugs to make or uses for the ones she can manufacture, and not on improving her sheer physicality.
She can generate the following: A drug to temporarily enhance strength and reaction time. A chemical that accelerates healing by increasing cellular regeneration. A universal antidote that can stop the action of poisons or other drugs. Hallucinogens Neurotoxin Anesthetic Pheromones that arouse specific emotions
