[center][b][i]Noble Arms: The ASEAN War - Thread Three, Intermission Four, Darkest Hour[/i][/b]

[i]The days of easy victories have ended; we have been mauled as never before.

First Lieutenant Noel is gone, kidnapped by the enemy for... reasons I do not want to think about. Special Liason Qingshe is dead; we saw her head tossed at us like a football. Even if she somehow cheated [b]that[/b], she hasn't returned to us yet, meaning we lack the benefit of her advice and her Noble Arm's power - I deeply miss her. 

Callie has returned to us, and so has Cristina, but whether the others - Nico, Aoi, and Marta - will be staying with us is up in the air. I don't blame them; the fighting at Phnom Penh was some of the hardest we've gone through and it makes sense that they don't want any more of it. We're now crippled, though - Task Force Obsidian, ASEAN's main source of hope in the ongoing Chinese Invasion, is down to a small band huddled in an evacuated Academy that trained those privileged enough to manifest a Noble Arm.

Trinidad Academy, or if you prefer, La Trinidad de Manila Academy, was the beating heart of Southeast Asia's resistance against Chinese influence even before the ASEAN War started; its Director was the main backer of the Philippine Government of National Salvation when it fought against China's would-be puppet. Even now, Chinese Bombers do not go near its tall roofs out of fear of his wrath - [b]Jose Bathala[/b] is not one to be tifled with.

He is a Noble Arm that gained sapience, after all - Imagine that, a magic weapon with its own mind and soul...
- Special Inspector Myron Makraig, Provisional Leader of Task Force Obisdian.
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[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5584652][b]The Main Thread[/b][/url]
[url=https://discord.gg/4MzUvkTpan][b]OOC Discussion Discord[/b][/url]
[url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189961-noble-arms-lore-thread-letter-bee-version/ooc][b]Background Lore Document[/b][/url]
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It is December 2022, Christmas is nearing, and the world is darker than ever - All because seven decades ago, one man made a mistake.

The secret backstory, unproven for decades, was that on the verge of Allied Victory in World War II, the British Scientist Alan Turing, one of the fathers of computer science, fed captured Nazi occult research into a prototype computer and accidentally [i]made it work[/i], leading to the manifestation of Noble Arms - Magical weapons that symbolize their user's inner selves, manifesting when a person undergoes great change and development in their lives, for good or for ill. 

Taking the form of obsolete weapons and tools such as swords, spears, muskets, books, and even flying wooden ships, the Noble Arm can possess devastating powers that defy the known laws of reality.

[list][*] Many can manipulate the elements to the user's will.

[*] A few can control forces that can reduce matter to atoms in seconds.

[*] The rarest have the strength to withstand the explosion of a nuclear missile.[/list]

The People's Republic of China, trying to recover from perceived humiliations from a different past, a different 1988 against the smaller countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), has entangled itself in multiple, simultaneous, 'special military operations' against its neighbors, a state of affairs encouraged by the Downward Descent, a cult that believes Humanity's desire for progress and advancement is a lie that ignores its dark, but true, nature.

Now the People's Liberation Army is bleeding a death of a thousand cuts in a dozen warzones, with its greatest success being the defection of Laos and the northern parts of Cambodia to its side after a botched peace conference in Phnom Penh. However, this, as well as signs of increasing coordination with North Korea, Russia, and Iran has brought a reluctant United States into the war after two years of attempted withdrawal from the world stage.

You are part of Task Force Obsidian, a mix of Arms Masters, people who can manifest Noble Arms after surviving what changed their lives, and Normal People, who paid for their normalcy by lacking magic, but make up for that by being skilled in guns, vehicles, and aircraft, as well as primitive mechs that in the right circumstances, can take down an unprepared Arms Master.

Right now, you and the others of TFO are back in the Philippines, where the Chinese have resumed their attempt at invasion. You have been given housing in the evacuated ‘Trinidad Academy’, a School for Arms Masters and Normal folk whose students are either fighting the enemy on other fronts, fled, or are dead. There, you are either a veteran member trying to lick your wounds, or someone new assigned to fill up TFO's ranks.

Many of your comrades are missing or somehow inactive. China, once on the back foot, has resumed its offensive. Your previous leader has been captured and his replacement is unsure if he has what it takes to lead the group to survival, much less victory. 

But the hours are darkest before the dawn, right?

[hr]

This is an interest check for an ongoing RP, Noble Arms: The ASEAN War, which is now in its fourth intermission (the fourth [i]mission[/i] just ended) and eighth story arc, where the OCs are trying to rest, recover, and eventually strike back, empowered by new knowledge and secrets. 

Antagonists need special permission from all three members of the GM Council (Being Recruited).

The details of the Intermission are listed below:

[hider=Detailed Intermission Four Summary]
[b]Intermission Four: Darkest Hour[/b]

Laos and portions of Cambodia have defected to China's side after the Downward Descent caused talks between the Chinese and ASEAN to collapse, taking a lot of the latter's secrets with them. Now Thailand and Vietnam are cut off from each other, even as the PLA Navy embarks on a new major offensive. Task Force Obsidian have escaped but at the cost of their First Lieutenant, who is now in the hands of their enemy.

Now, after finding refuge in Trinidad Academy, Manila's prime institute for training Arms Masters to fight alongside normal cadets (no, it's not a Spartan Training Program), the Task Force has to make a decision: Rescue their commanding officer from enemy captivity, tackle one of the many fronts in the ongoing war... Or give up and disband, falling apart in grief.

If they choose to stay, they will receive various revelations about the nature of Noble Arms and Alan Turing's role in their creation, as well as the functioning of OPL.
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You can find the Lore in the [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/189961-noble-arms-lore-thread-letter-bee-version/ooc]Noble Arms Lore Thread[/url] and the Character Sheet Skeleton in the [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/194653-noble-arms-the-asean-war-thread-three-the-darkest-hour/ooc]The OOC Thread[/url]. The OOC Thread also has copies of the parts of the lore relevant to actually playing the game.

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[hider=Rules]
1.) Cooperative storytelling comes first; prospective players should not seek to game or break the system to make themselves as powerful as possible. One should also not use one's PC's powers to brute-force all obstacles the GM brings before them, or use sophistry, psychological tricks, or 'mental influence magic' to win every diplomatic confrontation. This is not an RP where 'storygaming' is an ugly word.
2.) Nor does an angsty backstory that fits various 'story beats' make one's character good if their purpose is to defeat everyone and establish themselves as the 'top dogs' and otherwise make it an arms race with the GM on who can god-mode more. If one won't use their angsty backstory to make a good story, this is not the RP for them.
3.) That said, powerful characters and angsty backstories [I]are[/I] permitted, as long as they are made by players who are willing to cooperate and the GM to make a good and dynamic story that isn't just 'X overpowers Y' by bending the rules so far they break, violating the spirit of said rules and (to quote Dave Brookshaw of Onyx Path publishing) [I]common sense[/I].
4.) The first three rules are the most important; let's just say that people who cannot follow them have proven problematic before, and we should have people who can follow the first three rules in this RP.
5.) Do not be an asshole.
6.) Post length is five sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.
7.) Characters are supposed to start no higher than B-Rank in statistical average on their Noble Arm. Note that exceptions can be made for one (two at the most) players who can be trusted to control themselves and not power game when it weakens the story.
8.) 1 US Dollar is 55 Philippine Pesos - Remember this when you spend money.
9.) Reminder: The more powerful you are, the lower your Potential stat is. If you want high Potential, you need to make a weak Noble Arm that can get stronger later.
10.) New Rule (October 12, 2024): Sexual content, including situations where one finds themselves shirtless or otherwise unclothed by force, is now forbidden in the thread itself (willing shirtlessness is still allowed, especially if on the beach or a public bath). RPGuild Private Messages, however, is an option for those who want to do it, and if situations that may disgust most people are necessary for the advancement of the plot, players who give their consent to witness or write out such situations will be allowed access to special RPGuild PMs upon giving their permission.
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