Alright, then. I think I've checked in with everyone who needed checking in with. I have the "Chapter 1" post written and ready to go, so let's say we start this weekend, yes? I'll fire the story up proper on Friday/Saturday, depending on where you are in the world. This should give some additional time to get sorted and prepped.
T I T U S " B L I T Z " P H O E N I X ◄ 35 ▎ 6’2 ►
P R E S E N C E Standing 6’2, Titus is a beast of a man with dark hair that flows over his face if not kept in the short ponytail it is almost always kept in at all times, a full beard, green eyes, and a shockingly arrogant personality that really makes one think just how he made it in life this far. He is also reckless and impatient. He is a man who had to survive the shitty hand he was dealt. The environment of his formative years to the reality check when he joined the UDF, he is a true testament of ‘survival of the fittest’.
Like the spirits he attracts, Titus is a volatile man. He has a temper, which typically is kept in check by the prospect of being able to take the overall aggression he has for the world and the circumstances it is under out on those beasts. But he isn’t without his redeeming qualities. He is a team player. Someone who follows the chain of command and surprisingly enough, doesn’t disrespect his superiors past the point of playful banter, but he does test the boundaries on a regular basis. And for first impressions, he comes off strong, not to mention a tad rude. Politeness is secondary to this man.
Unfortunately for some, his mouth is always running. It’s not necessarily in a motormouth way, but he has an opinion about almost anything and he takes no shame in making it known to others. As you might have gathered, this has made life for him a tad difficult and it continues to be the case.
C H R O N I C L E Don’t bother remembering my hometown. It doesn’t exist anymore, or at least not in the way I remember. It is a wasteland, a hub for all things vile and fiendish.
But it wasn’t always like that.
Before the UDF, before the comet, before anything abnormal, supernatural or otherwise happened, the only hell Titus knew was the archaic, sometimes lawless land that he called home. Before the comet, it was a town on the southeastern end of the Cetra continent, but specifically in the Votara territory. It’s name was Licentia.
Titus never knew his birth parents. He didn’t know if they were one of the many suffering under the tyrannical rule of the so-called Anarchy King (as he was dubbed) or if they were just trying to get by. Not long after he was born, he was left an orphanage. The people in charge were…unsavory, to say the least, but they were family. Phoenix Rising Orphanage is what it was called. An odd name for such a run down piece of shit, but it was his home for the majority of his formative years.
As he grew in age, as early as ten, Titus had to fend for himself. The orphanage he came to call home went under attack by some local gangs and a few of his “brothers” (under his natural leadership, of course) got the hell out of dodge. They became street rats, fending for themselves, stealing what they needed to survive, and living anywhere in Lincentia that wasn’t regular targets from gangs and the apparent army of the Anarchy King. It was through this life that Titus fell into petty crime and eventually, the older he got, the deeper into that world he fell into, yet he never lost sight of the vow he made to himself before everything went to shit at the orphanage.
Survive.
And survive he did.
Before the comet…like literally before the comet, Titus had established himself as a prominent figure in the gray area of crime and the side of the ever-resilient Anarchy King. From underground fight clubs where he would beat the ever-living crap out of guys for a living to picking fights with gangs that started fights with him because they didn’t like the way his green eyes sparkled. Naturally it was the biggest mistake of their lives. At this point of his life when he was twenty-two years young, Titus was living as grand of a life as he could.
Then it happened. The comet came and everything changed.
And by everything, for Titus, it was the best thing. Unnatural events were occurring, yet when it did, it was turning a decade-long struggle on its head and for the first time, he saw the light that wasn't the great light. The Anarchy King and his band of merry men fell probably within a month. But that's when things started to get interesting. While the aftermath of the hell he and so many others lived was full of celebrations, beasts straight out of tales of horror began to appear. Only it wasn't just any beasts but some kind of infection and the citizens of Licentia were patient zeroes.
It was as worse case as one could get. Titus tried to fight them off as much as he could. Anyone who couldn't tried to. Whoever remained of the old regime, those who weren't infected, they fought. Titus led a squad of freedom fighters. Some of them were punks he beat up for cash. Some were his friends from the Phoenix Rising Orphanage. No matter how they started, they all wanted one thing: life.
But not all were so lucky. It wasn't long until the infected overpowered them. Titus was the only one who got out alive and he fled Lincentia. Ever since he did, though, he felt strange. He wasn't infected by whatever it was that changed people he knew all his life. The way he felt was like...he had this power inside him. A power that spoke to him. He couldn't explain it, but his need for survival had attracted these...spirits. They empowered him. Granted him abilities he never had before and it for the first time in his life since leaving the orphanage, Titus was actually afraid. Not of the spirits, but of what he was capable of.
Within that month, Titus joined the UDF and has been a mainstay within the group since then. For eight years now, he has been under service, honing his skills -- physical or otherwise. Those eight years earned him a reputation for being a bit of a beast, some calling him an animal. He earned himself the callsign Blitz for his quick style of fighting, his general capabilities, and, of course, a habit of never shutting up and always being the first one to make a comment literally about anything.
F O R C E
blitz-krieg noun An intense military operation meant to bring about a swift victory
And if that isn’t the perfect description of Titus’ fighting style.
Titus is an Aeon who has spirits of fire and lightning. His primary element is fire because it is what he uses for offense and defense. Titus is one who believes in the old motto that a good offense is a good defense and a good defense is making sure your opponent doesn’t get a chance to strike, so you punch them right in their damn face with as much fire as you can muster. On the other end of the spectrum, he utilizes the lightning element purely to augment his physical capabilities such as reaction time, speed, and for that push of adrenaline when he needs to keep going.
Because of his time with the UDF and the training he had received, Titus is capable of highly destructible feats of power such as combining both lightning and fire into a highly volatile battle aura that crackles and rages like the clouds that gather over an active volcano. It is the perfect representation of his style and what he was initially capable of. It is limited in how long he can keep it active, but while active, Titus can fight longer, creating more high-impact blows, and is ideal for the frontlines.
Due to the way he came up and what he had to do to survive, Titus’ main form of weapons comes in the form of a pair of gauntlets and greaves crafted from a special kind of alloy that make his style of close-quarter combat ideal. They are sturdy and light, so each kick and punch done by Titus feels weightless (as it should be). Titus is not a fan of armor. Anything heavier than baseline protection and he feels it compromises his greatest strength which is his swiftness and ability to land decisive blows at the right time. As such, he refuses to wear any heavy armor.
Titus was a diamond in the rough when he first joined the UDF, but he had combat training that most didn’t (especially from where he came from), so naturally, he focused any and all specialized training in the Combat Division of the UDF. Of course, he is trained in firearms (though not his preferred weapon, he is proficient with a gun), his main strength and the largest takeaway from his time in the Warfare Division was all the combat training that molded and compressed the boiling pile of coal into the beast of a diamond on the frontlines.
T R I V I A ★ Meat is always on the menu. Doesn't matter what animal it comes from, Titus will eat it. ★ In the case of steak, medium rare or face his fury! ★ Titus got his surname from the orphanage he grew up in, Phoneix Rising Orphanage. ★ Titus has a tattoo of a firebird on his left shoulder with the lower half of its body decaying as a representation of where he came from and never forgetting. ★ He has many scars along his back and torso as a testament to the life he lived and the grueling training he underwent.
@metanoia Very nice read. The concept is clear and easy to understand, the sections follow each other well (there's a red line), and the character's powers feel strong, yet on point with the concept and backstory—well done. Put the sheet in the character tab whenever you're ready.
When you said "Vetera territory", did you mean 'Votara'? Or is what you mentioned a different place? As I understand it, you mean to say that 'Licentia' is a neighbor country to Votara on the world map, or did I misunderstand?
@Prisk Sweet! I went in with a clear idea of what I wanted, but imma be honest the elements were what stumped me. At one point I had wind and lightning, then just lightning, and even toyed with water and lightning for that storm factor. Ended up going with the fire-lightning combo when I got the idea to use lightning as a physical amplifier.
And yeah you got that right. I must've misread when I was writing the chronicle. Thought it said "Vetera" on the world map. As for Lincentia, I envisioned it as a town, but if you think it works best of it being a country instead, that would still work. All in all, Titus is from the southeast part of the world. I think I went into Votara thinking that it was a country within the continent.
@metanoia Great that you were able to settle on something, very slick combo.
Well, Votara is a country, but I think we can make Lincentia a country to fill out the map a little. I've updated the map. Lincentia now shares borders with Votara and Tenebre—southeast corner of Cetra.
Alright I got up my first post as Liam. I'm leaving it open if anyone else is in Rosestar. Also I should probably claim a part of the world for Liam's parents countries.
I should probably claim a part of the world for Liam's parents countries.
Please do. I didn't ask for that earlier? My apologies.
@Archangel89 Still spelling "Cetra" wrong, huh, Arch? And the code in your post is all over the place, oof, big sigh—and what is this big ass font across the whole thing? Here, I fixed it for you. Maybe I should be called 'mom' around here, yeesh. Click the 'raw' button to see the code and get into the IC. That being said—you're awesome, and I love that you still join my silly games after all these years.
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AARON “ZEPHYR” NYLES — FARHAVEN [Train Station] — 07:15AM — @Prisk@DeadDrop@Salsa VerdeThe lulling sounds of the train in motion did its part in attempting to lull him into a sense of near sleep, the Nakamasa clattering against the wall of his compartment. It was a feeling that he wasn’t used to having since he spent several weeks in a row on assignment on the far end of the country gathering intel and killing the infected. Life was a bit chaotic for the speedy Aeon, uncovering enemy plots, killing infected creatures and people, the constant eye on R&D so for the time to get a little shut eye was something that was a great relief. As he watched trees pass by he felt his eyes begin to drift he began to wonder what the S.W.A.R.G. was going to be like.
FLASHBACK "The Sounds of War" — HALIFAX [Near Obsidia Ridge] — 3 Weeks PriorThe sun had long since left the sky and the night had covered it in a deep thick navy. From just beyond the town's border, Aaron watched the last few people go to their homes and shut down for the evening. He had been given reports of a group of bandits attacking villages using infected wildlife and weapons that seemed beyond the normal means of the populace. The whole thing smelled fishy, it seemed like someone was providing the means for these people to pillage. In the distance he could hear a family laughing and having a good time and it brought a smile to his face bringing back good memories. Aaron had been there for hours just outside the vision of the people and he decided that he would prop himself against a tree and take a moment to rest himself for just a moment. Letting out a sigh of relief he dozed off, just for a moment.
SCREEEECCCCCHHHHHHHHHHHHH
AARON “ZEPHYR” NYLES — FARHAVEN [Inside Train] — 07:51AM — @Prisk@DeadDrop@Salsa VerdeSitting up drenched and a cold sweat the whole compartment was humming with electricity as Aaron’s hand was white knuckled gripped onto the hilt of Nakamasa, his other finger on the trigger of the firing mechanism, and his spirits of electricity crackled around the makeshift room. The shallow rapid breaths began to slow to a crawl as he gently let go of the sword and collapsed into the bench seating. ’This is exactly why you don’t sleep Zeph’. Wondering what on earth disturbed his mildly disturbing cat nap when he peeked his head out of his compartment to see a group of people converging outside another compartment. He didn’t think much of it until he recognized Garuda and made the connection that they must be the other members of the Group. As he took a moment to gather himself, Aaron had to take a moment to remind himself about his number one rule, don’t get too attached. As he wiped the wrinkles out of his pants and took a moment to ruffle out his loose fitting button up shirt Aaron turned on his “dealing with people” facade and knocked on the door of the other compartment.
"Well, well, if it isn’t my fellow members of the Group—and what an illustrious group. Allow me to introduce myself..."
He gave an over exaggerated bow as if he was some vaudeville showman,
"You may call me Zephyr, the fastest Aeon this side of Cetra!"
@Prisk yeh, admittedly I had no idea how to get that code set. I ended up taking another players RAW code and trying to make it work lol. Thanks for the help and of course. This game is the one that I've spent the most with, had the most development and you have such a clear vision that I can't help but join when I see it.
For anyone who is interested: I've used this AI-art app for some graphics. It's really neat how it generates art based on written prompts and different styles. For example, in the one in the hider here my prompt was "The Spirits Within" using the Dark Fantasy-style.
Here's the link to the app: app.wombo.art Show me what you've got! Quite a fun passtime.
