After much headbanging, I am... still kinda stumped. Is a complete rewrite or different character entirely in order here? Nothing else seems to come to mind.
If that's how far you feel you need to go, then sure. If your current concept just can't be adjusted no matter how much you try, then maybe starting fresh will be the key to making headway.
I think I've worked out an idea for a fresh character. It'll be a pair of characters, a brother and sister who wield a sword and shield respectively as their Noble Arms.
I think I've worked out an idea for a fresh character. It'll be a pair of characters, a brother and sister who wield a sword and shield respectively as their Noble Arms.
Yay, another pair of siblings! I like the concept too.
After much headbanging, I am... still kinda stumped. Is a complete rewrite or different character entirely in order here? Nothing else seems to come to mind.
I'm kinda inclined to just having someone other than the Seven Virtues be your character's 'former employer'?
Name: Alain Justis, born Alain Lancaster; Ariana Justis, born Ariana Lancaster
Age: Alain-25; Ari-19
Nationality: Austria
Alain - Claimh Solais (pictured above)
Noble Arm Rank: B+
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Melee. Close/Mid Range. Light/Dark.
~Noble Arm Abilities~
Oathsworn: Gives the blade a bluish-white glow around its edge. Believed to empower the blade with holy light for the purpose of vanquishing darkness. Mainly it also gives the blade a lighter weight allowing its Master to swing it with greater ease than the sword's size would suggest, in addition to empowering the strikes with the element of Light. The sword's light also appears to gives it an edge over darkness, giving it the capability of taking or deflecting dark energy with only minimal effort.
Cleansing Light: An appropriately named ability that comes from charging the blade with more Light, followed by thrusting its tip into the ground. Upon impact, the sword's light explodes outward for a light elemental blast covering a roughly 10 meter radius around the point of impact.
Mending Light: A unique power that channels light not through the blade, but through the wielder's hands. They can use this light to heal minor wounds and injuries of any person they touch.
Oathbreaker: A dangerous power in which the Arms Master forsakes Light in order to embrace Darkness. The bluish-white glow is replaced with a deep, dark purple one. Although only temporary, this converts all previous abilities into Dark versions, capable of greater damage and destructive power. Cleansing Light becomes Veil Of Darkness and its radius is doubled, while Mending Light becomes Devouring Darkness and the hands no longer heal but instead harm those they touch with burning dark energy that can also be hurled as a projectile.
Ari - Adamantius
Noble Arm Rank: B+
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Support/Defense. Close/Mid/Wide Range. Light/Dark.
~Noble Arm Abilities~
Oathsworn: Gives the shield a bluish-white glow around its edge. Believed to empower it with holy light for the purpose of reflecting darkness. Mainly it also gives the shield a lighter weight allowing its Master to carry it with greater ease than the shield's size would suggest, in addition to empowering its ability to defend against other Noble Arms.
Wall of Light: A purely defensive wall of Light summoned by the Arms Master, creating a nearly impenetrable domed barrier around themselves. The size of the barrier is controlled by the Arms Master, and has been known to encompass vast areas, such as entire neighborhoods or small villages. The larger the barrier, the more taxing it is to maintain for long periods, and it weakens over time as the Arms Master grows tired and fatigued.
Mending Shield: The Wall of Light is given an enhanced shine, allowing those within to slowly slowly regain lost stamina and even slowly heal injuries. This does however increase the strain of maintaining the barrier.
Oathbreaker: A dangerous power in which the Arms Master forsakes Light in order to embrace Darkness. The bluish-white glow is replaced with a deep, dark purple one. Although only temporary, this converts all previous abilities into Dark versions, capable of greater damage and destructive power. Wall of Light becomes Wall Of Darkness and its protective barrier instead becomes a prison entrapping those within, while Mending Shield becomes Decaying Darkness, no longer healing but instead inducing fatigue and even rust and decay on any equipment that isn't a Noble Arm.
Misc Abilities (Alain): Has an impeccable poker face. Years of wielding Light and Darkness have made him pretty resilient to both when they are used against him. Also rather adept at fighting unarmed, seeing as how the Claimh Solais becomes impractical in close quarter settings.
Personality (Alain): Alain puts on a stoic face, usually casting himself as a straight man as a result. He also has an unyielding determination, making it rather difficult to talk him out of doing something once he's made up his mind. He does have a certain softness underneath though, particularly toward kids and pets, and he tends to be instinctively protective of them when either are around. His more stoic side didn't develop until after Dorian's death, probably as some form of coping mechanism.
*Likes (Alain): Horseback riding and falconry (probably due to his softspot for animals), dogs (or just pets in general), camping outdoors, and wood carving.
*Dislikes (Alain): Tyrants, Dictators, false kindness, liars, any meat that isn't cooked well-done.
Fears (Alain): That everything he's fought for will be for nothing. Losing Ari.
Misc Abilities (Ari): Rather good at cooking and drawing. Has a nice singing voice but is too embarrassed to ever actually sing in front of anyone. Also seems to have a knack for party games.
Personality (Ari): Ari is almost the opposite of her brother, more than happy to smile and socialize with others. She does however channel a bit of his stoicism when its time to go into battle. The nature of her Noble Arm has given her quite a maternal extinct, often resulting in her being cast as the the team mom in most scenarios. Despite being the one with a literal shield, Ari is ironically the one more willing to lower her guard around people she's close to.
*Likes (Ari): Reading, cooking, meeting and helping people.
*Dislikes (Ari): Bullies, liars, pranks, cleaning, and spicy food.
Fears (Ari): Losing friends and family.
Bio: The Lancaster siblings lost their parents at a young age to a house fire. Alain is the only one with any real memories of their parents, as Ari was too younger to remember them. The two would have simply grown up in an orphanage, but Alain refused to let anyone separate Ari from him. So much so that at ten years old he took the then-4-year-old Ari with him and ran away. He tried to resort to stealing in order to feed them, but only to mixed success. One night he attempted to sneak into a local mansion believing that they wouldn't miss any food he stole. Unfortunately he was caught by the old gentleman who lived there. But the man felt for sorry boy and rather than turn him and sister in, asked them where they were staying. When they couldn't answer he gave a gentle smile and offered them the guest rooms for the night.
The children awoke the next morning to the smell of breakfast. During the meal, they spoke to the old man a bit more. His name was Dorian Justis, he had told them, and no one else lived in this house apart from himself and a small staff of servants. He said it had been quite a while since the last time he had entertained guests, but also inquired as to why the boy was stealing. Hearing their story, he certainly sympathized, but told them that stealing like that would only get them into trouble. He told the children they were welcome to stay a while if they wished, perhaps it would do the place some good to liven up a bit. The rest is history, over time he gave them permanent residence and effectively adopted them.
When he was 12, Alain accidentally summoned his Noble Arm for the first time. The large sword was too heavy for him to even lift at the time, much less wield. Yet Dorian was not shocked, but rather intrigued. This didn't seem to be his first experience with an Arms Master, though he also didn't say why that was. He had once been a bit of a fencer a long time ago, and was able to teach the boy how to properly hold the weapon and eventually swing it. Along the way, the Noble Arm's other powers were discovered, and it was largely Dorian who helped Alain understand them. A couple more years later, Ari summoned her Noble Arm, a tower shield as large as she was tall. But like with Alain, Dorian was able to help her understand the shield's power and its potential. Eventualy Dorian revealed that he once had a son who was a Arms Master, but that he was no longer alive. Helping the siblings understand their power inspired an idea: What if they could do this for other Arms Masters as well? And so Dorian began investing in transforming his mansion into a place where Arms Masters could come and learn and have a place to call home if needed.
Dorian did indeed find other Arms Masters over the years. And just like with Alain and Ari, he offered them a home and place where they could learn to understand their power and just belong in general. This didn't last forever, though. Dorian fell ill, and having always had heart issues, died of heart failure thereafter. The Arms Masters who came to the mansion gradually left one after another, until only the siblings were left. During this time, the Big Three also rose up, only put the final nail in the coffin. In fact, the Paragons of Science were able to swoop in and claim the Arms Master training equipment for their facilities. Dorian's servants also left, as he was no longer alive to continue employing them. And eventually all that was left was a dusty mansion and the two siblings living there alone.
They didn't know what to do, and eventually even the house would get foreclosed if they didn't think of something. Dorian had left his remaining wealth to them, but that wouldn't last forever. Eventually Alain and Ari agreed that they should find some way to carry on what Dorian was doing. But since they couldn't do that with the mansion, they hit upon the idea of going out into the world and simply helping people who needed it? There was a lot of injustice out there and they could certainly use their powers to fight some of it, surely. They decided to make their way to Southeast Asia, where conflicts involving the ASEAN countries was beginning to brew. They also adopted Dorian's name as their own, out of love and respect for the man that had been their father.
*Current Goal: Helping people where they can, for now.
@MagusDream Squints at final ability. Approved. Let's see where you're going with this.
@Double I see no issues here. Looks neat! I see you too are a cultured appreciator of tower shields! As I'm the third and final approval needed, go ahead and pop them in the CS tab. Oh yeah, for sanity's sake, just edit your Alain post and replace him with the new ones.
"Mou~~! It's a shame really. I gave them everything, you know? The keys to the future, to pull themselves from their filthy rut of pollution and stagnation! They had so much potential, could have revolutionized the world and salvaged their reputation... Instead, they would pervert my work? Use it for war and decimation, rather than creation and advancement? Well, if that's how it is... then they should know they deserve every bit of what's coming to them~." Appearance: A tall, shapely woman with a distinctly unnerving air to her, her gaze almost hungrily taking in everything around her. Her emerald-green hair and oddly colored eyes are "natural", and her demeanor gives off the distinct impression of a predator surrounded by prey. Even when affecting a friendly air, she seems like an opportunistic viper, ready to strike. Dresses extremely eccentrically -even salaciously- in a rather combat-impractical green and black cyberpunk dress, almost as if bragging about her A-Rank status visually, despite not doing so verbally. Rain or shine, formal or informal, she seems unbothered by the conditions and boldly flaunts her body as though she were her own magnum opus... a far from incorrect assumption. Her form is inhumanly "perfect", to an uncanny degree that often sets other humans on edge, ironically imperfect in its perfection. The observant may pick out the utter lack of blemishes on her skin, the way she never needs to bathe for cleanliness except as a luxury, the way she takes far fewer meals than needed, and more besides. Height: 5'10" Weight: 147 lbs. Build: Shapely, but strangely toned.
Name: Lei Qingshe (Jormungandr (black ops codename), The Snake - 6th of The Zodiac) Age: 21 (appears 18) (Born 2001, Year of the Snake) Nationality: Chinese (defector)
Noble Arm Name & Appearance: [Ouroboros], a 5 foot tall green and black cyberpunk tower shield with bladed edges and spikes.
Noble Arm Rank: A
Noble Arm Type, Element, and Range: Variable-Range Electric Support-type.
Modified -using its own powers turned against it- from its original state as a mere dated tower shield into a cyberpunk construct of the future, Ouroboros is far more resilient than the average Noble Arm, its biotech structure making it capable of withstanding ludicrous force and even visually repairing itself if damaged. It can hover independently of its user's grasp, utilizing a magnetic force to orbit the user, often trailing just behind them. It has basic light-bending cloaking, allowing the user to keep it discreetly summoned. However, that cloaking doesn't hold up under combat conditions where it must physically obstruct an attack. Due to its modifications, it provides basic access to its powers even when not summoned at all.
Considered to potentially be the true core of her Noble Arm's power, Qingshe seemingly possesses some manner of "shadow world" formed of green-black biotech "fluid". Accessed through her malleable shadow, she can seemingly drag targets into it or expel them. It seems to be some manner of extradimensional plane, as teleportation experiments have thus-far failed to take others to or from it. Qingshe seems to have full control of what and who can pass through her shadow when and where she desires, but it is closed and impassable by default. She is known to be one of the most capable of The Zodiac at taking live prisoners, along with being able to transport large amounts of equipment and materials with ease. Those that have reported on their experience within the shadow world have only been able to describe a single room with no exits, furnished most often as either a prison or lab, but there was no sign of the other objects she was known to possess at the time. It is conclusively clear then that Qingshe has some level of control over the shape of her shadow world and that she can it is both larger than expected and able to "sort" targets she drags into it into separate sections of itself.
The functionality of it is also unknown, but swallowing targets into her shadow also seems to allow Qingshe to rapidly reverse engineer them and the principles behind their creation, her scientific knowledge and talent expanding at a rate that boggles the mind.
In the outside world, Qingshe's primary public usage of her ability is through shaping the green-black biotech "fluid" of her shadow, expanding and shaping it into a multitude of forms limited only by her technical, practical knowledge and personal experimentation. It can take on any material composition she understands in any quantity, shape or size permitted by the size of her shadow. Spears, blades, spiked walls, barriers and other more mundane and utility objects alike, she can shape her shadow any way she likes and never seems to run out of the "fluid" used to create workings. The shadow can be shaped in the blink of an eye, acting at the speed of thought to do her bidding.
Any fluid that becomes separated from the whole either dissipates if it was unshaped or becomes in truth the object it was shaped into, entirely free of Qingshe's domain unless she should swallow it again. Most formless constructs take on a similar green-black cyberpunk look as her shadow, but Qingshe can just as easily form objects with entirely normal appearances. The "fluid" cannot be reverse engineered, as it simply "becomes" in truth what it was shaped into once separated from the whole. The "fluid", both unshaped and not, remains under Qingshe's psychokinetic control until separated from the main mass.
Further, with her "understanding" of targets comes the ability to both repair and "innovate". Beings inside (or partially within) her shadow world can be healed through converting the "fluid" into new mass that then becomes independent of the whole. With the right level of understanding and the right subject, she can perform genetic modification to allow inhuman biological base capabilities or even add cyborg enhancements to those that either cannot be healed otherwise... or desire to become more than human.
As her shadow grows, she can both more rapidly expand it and create larger and more complex objects. Or, at least, this is what she allows others to believe. While it has a grain of truth to it, her shadow can at any time travel speeds in excess of hundreds of feet per second, able to transform vast swathes of land into her personal playground in moments. This is hardly hyperbole, as expanding her shadow is akin to transforming the surface of the world around her into a facsimile of her shadow world. She has a basic awareness of anything in physical contact with her shadow and can hear through its surface and exit her data world at any location it covers. With sufficient widespread coverage, she can thus act as a makeshift teleporter for herself and others.
While the durability of her constructs depends on the material she transmutes them into, her growing shadow itself is effectively a space-time gap and is thus generally impervious to anything that cannot pierce such things, allowing her to ward large areas against collateral damage.
List of Creations (to be expanded):
Holder.
Qingshe's magnum opus, her own body, heavily genetically, biologically and technologically modified. It is hard to say if she can truly still be called human. Although she would argue that the answer is not just "yes", but that the same would hold true for anyone else that underwent similar or divergent modifications to become what she truly believes is the next step in human evolution, one where humanity takes things into their own hands, rather than any "god".
Qingshe's body is now formed of the same biotech fluid that comprises her shadow world, malleable in unnatural ways and divorced from humanity except by the barest technicalities and most outward appearances. Visually, the primary signs of her transhumanism are now "naturally" green hair and slitted, reptilian eyes that seem to shift between green, yellow, blue and red as her mood shifts. Less obvious is the smooth hairlessness of her body below the neck, devoid of blemishes and "flaws", becoming distinctly unnervingly imperfect in its perfection. Her hair and body retain an almost shine of health even without maintenance.
Beyond the visual level, the changes are far more severe, as Qingshe sought to become a "perfect lifeform" and even today continues to tweak and modify her alterations as improvements present themselves. The extent of these modifications are unknown to either the public or intelligence, but they are confirmed to be drastic.
Tech Wiz: An effective super-genius in many scientific fields (especially biochemistry and genetics) Intrigue: Skilled in deception and navigating social environments. Inhuman Mentality: Has an incredible mental resilience and pain tolerance. Cook: Can cook edible and safe food, despite any rumors to the contrary. Though taste is... debatable. Polylingual: Knows most major languages (English, French, Chinese, Russian, Japanese etc.). Soldier: A former -and current- soldier of sorts, she has undergone standardized martial training. It's nothing she's particularly passionate about, but she's not useless in CQC, and her unconventional methods of fighting tend to even the odds. Despite being a creature of modern lab comforts, she's no slouch in survival skills, and she can handle a gun with... well, not the best of them, certainly. But she won't fall behind.
A snake in more than one sense of the word, Lei Qingshe is manipulative, sly and proud of her power, yet restrained enough to avoid megalomania. Analytical and introspective, she has a powerful grasp on her own nature and desires, along with the will to see them through at any cost. To the public, she is simultaneously caring to those under her care, often with a strangely motherly bent... while also being horrifyingly ruthless to her enemies, willing to casually commit abject atrocities for the sake of the slightest sliver of progress in her research and victory as a whole. This juxtaposition often makes it difficult to tell where her "lines in the sand" are, assuming she has many at all, and it is further unclear whether she holds any true morals or if she simply puts on airs of civility so as to not be treated as an uncontrollable threat.
Qingshe can oft be described as "married to her work" with both little interest or time to dedicate to other pursuits, a state of affairs she is satisfied with... or so she tells herself. She seems to find no greater joy in anything but advancing her knowledge, ravenously gorging her mind on any biological or technological subject she can grasp. Driven to an admittedly obsessive degree, she is an avid transhumanist, and were her definition of a potential "humanity" not so broadly inclusive, she'd likely be a shoe-in for the interests of the likes of the Paragons of Science. Despite her loose morals, she is never cruel for cruelty's sake and, in fact, despises such things as being "wasteful" of "human resources". Self aware as she is, she acknowledges that her beliefs and attitude are in opposition to the widely held "common sense". As such, she lives by the adage of "faking it till you make it" as a social chameleon, often affecting a playful and mildly seductive air... Genuine or not, despite her disdain for the current "weakness of the flesh" that is "plaguing" humanity, she admires humans as a whole for their will to survive and capacity to evolve mentally... and especially physically.
When she cares to be, she is bold in her opinions and unrepentant in her views. She believes that she is correct and that others will inevitably understand her way of thinking or be outgrown by her, and that is all that she needs to feel validated. She believes that in the face of Noble Arms upending peace and disturbing prosperity, the core concept of humanity must evolve to meet them to once more manifest a world where "all men are created equal". In her mind, once all humans are supernatural beings in their own right, Noble Arms will be mostly obsolete or equalized. In other words, at her core, she seeks to bring humanity peace again... but most would perhaps disagree on the price that is reasonable to pay for that future.
Likes: Research, progress, small animals, useful things, staying up late, The Paragons of Science, junk food, spicy food.
Dislikes: Stagnation, ignorance, waste (resources, time, etc), obstacles to her studies, getting up early, The Downward Descent, excessively sweet or sour food.
Fears: For such a feared monster, one wonders what they fear in turn.
Enter: Lei Qingshe. Codename: Jormungandr. "A monster in the shape of a human", they call her. Something "beyond". The next step in Arms Master evolution. It certainly doesn't help that she is known to those with an ear to the ground to have been a key figure in the rapid military advancement of China in the past half decade. Her origins and recently acquired lack of firm loyalty to any cause or nation make her intentions suspect, and yet, her power and willingness to -at least ostensibly- use it for good in the present day make her aid impossible to deny, given the stakes.
To the majority of the public, she is known as The Snake - 6th of The Zodiac, China's most well-known and public group of "superheroes", acting as blatant -if effective- PR for the nation to both its citizens and the world at large. The group, composed of all A-Rank Arms Masters or the equivalent in some manner, handles large-scale disasters and crimes. To those with more access to far more sensitive intelligence, however, they are also known to be a ruthless nigh-unstoppable black-ops hit-squad that do China's dirty work seemingly without qualms. It is also known to such intelligence operatives that Qingshe was heavily and seemingly unashamedly involved in many of the worst of China's concealed biological war-crimes and human experimentation. In fact, she was at the forefront of those advancements, seemingly leading the charge with a frightening zeal.
While she isn't exactly blasting it on the airwaves, there are many -often suppressed- clips from Q&A's, other private or public conversations and classified leaks that clearly demonstrate Qingshe has a zealous belief in advancing and further accelerating the evolution of humanity, even partially agreeing with the ideals of The Paragons of Science and The Seven Virtues on occasion. Her dedication to "progress" is to the point that there are rumors that she was mad enough to test her human experiments on herself... resulting in her becoming something more.
Thus, with her track record of loyalty and unwavering dedication, her abrupt disappearance a month ago came as a shock to the public in large. Behind far more secure closed curtains, however, a different worry has sprouted in light of the fact that she has violently defected and gone AWOL from China's grasp. The reasons are unknown, but she did do great damage to their research facilities and classified data on her way out. The only thing left of Qingshe's former lab complex is an unnervingly smooth crater...
Current Goal: Short Term: To acquire more "materials" and further her research... Hmm? Oh yes, and to save the Philippines. Sure, that too. Long term: The human condition is weak... but it could be less weak.
Military or Civilian Rank: Civilian? Volunteer Arms Master Soldier and Field Medic.
Lewas' Commentary from Discord: Alrighty! So, got some more details on the state of things, specifically the scale of the battlefield. While Lingayen Gulf on the whole is the location of the conflict, the specific municipality of Lingayen and its beaches are the segment of the battle that you've all been called to. That's approximately 7 miles of beach and a city at your backs.
The rest of the gulf is also under threat, but it's also being defended by NPCs, who are... at least not losing outright, so for the time being, it's not your concern. After all, there's a good reason why so many Arms Masters are being hurled at this particular location.
@SkyHresvelg, your edits are approved by me, and I'm waiting for @Lewascan2 to post his formal approval here too (as he was the one who suggested the edits).
