[OOC] Seishun Academy of Swords, a sword forging RP!

[RoflsMazoy]

Seishun Academy of Swords

The Seishun Academy of Swords, a prestigious academy dedicated solely to training new generations of swordsmiths in the art of forging swords. A rich, 400 year old history, carefully raising and crafting master sword-smiths since the very start of it all. The Academy does not have a very strict curriculum. Mostly the students are free to create swords as they please. However, there is pressure from various sources outside of the school for its students to excel.

Various events in the surrounding city require swords for display, and anything less than a masterpiece would bring shame to the school. To hunt monsters in the nearby forest to obtain advanced crafting materials will require a well made sword to make up for a general lack of expertise. Dealing with pressures from family and peers as well is just another part of the curriculum. Whether or not it shows in the swords you make is up to your skill and will to succeed.

Do you have what it takes to become the best swordsmith in the world?

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Intro

Seishun Academy of Swords is an RP about forging swords. The academy issues challenges every so often to create certain swords for certain purposes and the students can also forge swords in their spare time to increase their skill. Base materials are provided by the academy but rarer metals and things like gemstones must be acquired either by gaining credit from certain faculty staff via the challenges or by finding them yourself in the Field.

In the Field you can find monsters as well as raw materials to make alloys for advanced crafting. Slaying monsters can also give you monster materials to create swords from, and additionally higher level raw materials might sometimes be guarded by monsters.

Mounting a Field Expedition can be quite dangerous for inexperienced students. Supplies will need to be taken on longer expeditions and increasing sword quality is a must for higher risk expeditions. Expeditions do not have to be taken alone but the Academy doesn't regulate the distribution of whatever is found by the students on an Expedition.

Excess swords can be sold on the market for a tidy profit. Students will have to bring their swords to the market themselves, and the market owner will set up a stall for them. If their swords sell quite well, then there is a chance people will request swords specifically from them. Selling swords will be one of the only other ways to gain materials via getting money and buying new materials.

Character Sheet

Name: Self Explanatory
Age: 13-18, unrealistic as that is
Appearance: Preferably an anime picture, but I'm not going to be picky

Bio: Personality and History, can be separate sections for both if you prefer
Specialty: Specialties in terms of smithing. Feel free to add any misc ones like washing stains out of clothes. That'd be a pretty sought after skill, actually.

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Tech

• Posting

  Post limit

  
  When a post limit is issued on a challenge it means that students will have a limited amount of posts in order to complete the forging of a sword in a challenge. Not every challenge will have a post limit but it may be imposed in order to keep posts flowing well. A limit of 2 combined banter or smithing actions are allowed per post before you have to wrap it up.
  
  Banter actions include asking someone for advice, going over to another student's workshop to steal ideas, or something along those lines. Conversations unless collaborated will take their own individual posts. A smithing action is any single action during the smithing process such as smelting the metals, or hammering the sword etc.
  
  Be comprehensive with your questions, and be exhaustive with your insults. Aim to get something with every line in order to maximize your time.
• Sword Crafting

  Sword Crafting(NEW!)

  
  In order to create a sword, 10 units of combined material must be used in order to forge the blade. Other metallic parts such as the handle can be included in the 10 unit cost depending. Embellishments such as gold trim or chains and whatnot won't usually even take up one unit of material but still need to be mentioned as taking something.
  
  Creating a scabbard takes 5 units of any particular material which includes its embellishments, depending on how overboard you want to go with the decorations.

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Materials

Materials currently known/available. Most materials will only be provided by the academy during challenges, the rest you'll have to order in game or find out in the field.

Tier 0

Tier 0 materials are the basest materials a student will ever use. Things like Iron and Copper, relatively very low level materials which a smith of Seishun Academy wouldn't normally use unless there was a specific order for it.

• Iron: The most basic material, mid way in everything. Often a baseline, there's not much to say about this material. Due to the lack of special features means that to be used at a high level practically requires using a lot of iron to make an extremely heavy blade. There's not many other angles that you can really go for with Iron.
• Copper: Another base material, but unlike Iron it has special features. Copper conducts magical energies quite well, and combined with a low melting point it makes for one of the easier materials to create magical swords with. That being said, copper swords generally have low durability which makes the material ill-suited for anything not a pure magical sword. Out of the tier 0 metals, Copper is the one most commonly used in higher level advanced crafts because it mixes well with other materials.
• Steel: Steel was first created by directly adding coals into molten iron during the forging process. Doing so increases the durability of Iron exponentially, however it makes it more brittle. Where as taking a strike with an iron sword would have dented it before, Steel will hold, making it a harder material to work with. While technically being a higher tier than iron, Steel belongs in the tier 0 category because of its incompatibility with advanced crafts. There's not many things a steel sword can do that some other sword can't do better.

Tier 1

• Silver: Silver is a light-weight material normally not suited to creating swords. Its durability is fairly questionable, but it conducts magic well and is well suited to making Exorcist blades for dealing with spirits. In general, Silver is a good medium for spirits and spiritual energies, but swords created using Silver are generally weak.
• Bronze Bronze is created by mixing Copper and Tin together. Bronze swords have an equal level of magic conductivity with Copper but are more durable. This does mean however that bronze can't be further mixed with something else due to already being an alloy. Bronze is commonly used to create ceremonial swords over copper as it is just a better material overall.
• Gold: Gold's magical conductivity is amongst the best of any material. However, it makes for a terrible material to make a whole sword with. Gold swords bend very easily and aren't reliable in the slightest. Creating a sword entirely out of gold even if it's a magic sword is heavily impractical. It is mainly used in ornaments and is very expensive to purchase because of how difficult it is to get a substantial amount of gold.
• Tamahagane: Tamahagane is created by placing iron sand in a clay furnace and adding charcoal during the forging process in order to give it hardness. To create a blade using Tamahagane is a complex process involving folding together several layers of metal to create a thin, but strong blade. Mostly suited for creating eastern style swords, its full potential is realized when creating a Katana or a Jian. When creating a Tamahagane sword, the most important component is its core. The edge can be made of different metals but the core must be Tamahagane as it doesn't make too good of an edge without its core.

Tier 2

• Black Steel: Black Steel can be considered the final evolution of Iron. Black Steel is created using 100% purity steel and 100% purity coal in a 9-1 steel-coal ratio in order to strengthen the steel to the maximum without compromising the durability. What results is the extremely hard Black Steel which has the greatest durability out of any material Tier 2 and below. Even though the production of Black Steel costs exponentially more than normal steel, compared to higher tier materials it is still a much cheaper alternative, and can even be forged yourself if you get your hands on the right materials.
• Cobalt: Cobalt is a blue metal which has the ability to hit spirits, similarly to Silver. Where the two materials differ is that Cobalt only has the ability to hit spirits, while Silver has many more applications on the spiritual realm. Cobalt does not have the natural affinity for exorcism Silver does, and it is not suited for hosting spirits either. It does however make for a far better sword material being decently strong and still relatively light.
• Mithril: Mithril is a light, almost glowing material, and the most difficult to work with amongst the tier 2 materials. It has good magical conductivity and good durability, making it generally just a good material. It can act as a conduit for spirits, like with Silver, and generally has more 'room' than silver does. Mithril is procured from special veins deep inside the earth, very rarely it can be found in aboveground caves as well. As a result, Mithril is very expensive and hard to obtain in large quantities. And while Mithril is just generally good, it can not be a specialist material. It serves a purpose as one of the best base materials but it serves little else.

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Current Challenge - God Sword Creation

There is a certain tree in Seishun Academy that has been around for something close to a century. It used to bloom beautiful cherry blossoms year-round but only when there were very few people to see it. Very few students knew the real reason the Sakura tree had lasted for so long; but with the announcement of this new challenge issued to the entire student body, everyone had found out the true reason for the tree's strange nature.

The Sakura Tree was hosting a God. Not a very powerful or old one by any means, but still a god all the same. When this fact had been initially found out, there were plans to seal off access to the tree, but the God itself expressed that it wanted to see how the world was. Time passed, many faces came and went, but now the tree was dying. It couldn't hold the power of a god forever, and the principal has finally managed to convince it to move hosts.

This challenge is a schoolwide challenge aimed at the best swordsmiths to create a God Sword for the God to reside in. The winner of the challenge will be decided by the God itself as well as Kasumi, the spiritual realm instructor.

The challenge will begin with all of the students standing in front of the tree which has been ritually prepared for the ceremony, complete with an altar in front ready to accept a sword. A stockpile of metals to be used is also there. The only materials that can be used are the ones from the stockpile as part of the challenge.

The list of metals are as follows:

• Iron - 30 units 13
• Copper - 30 units 17
• Steel - 30 units 10
• Bronze - 20 units 11
• Gold - 20 units 11
• Tamahagane(NEW!) - 20 units 1
• Mithril - 15 units 10
• Black Steel - 15 units 0

The Winner of the Challenge is given the right to be able to talk to the God on occasion. Even though it won't be able to directly intervene with anything, it is a good informant that has been gathering information on Seishun Academy for almost a century. The God will appear only to the person who smithed the God Sword unless there is some kind of emergency.

[Uno]

I think I'm gonna go with a dude who knows nothing about actual smithing; the idea of principles and technique don't really mix well with him. Instead, he enters a trance-like and just forges stuff until he's done. Would that work?

[RoflsMazoy]

I think I'm gonna go with a dude who knows nothing about actual smithing; the idea of principles and technique don't really mix well with him. Instead, he enters a trance-like and just forges stuff until he's done. Would that work?

@Uno

Yeah, it probably would be fine. Sounds like the design phase would be pretty important to the guy.

[KOgaming]

What about weapons made out of bones? Or rocks? Or plastic?

[TheWendil]

I was thinking of using a sword made of bandages or flowers of some sort.

[CGinger]

Writing up my guy now!

[CGinger]

Markus Kajiya

Name: Marcus Kajiya
Age: 16
Appearance:

Bio:
Specialty: Specialties in terms of smithing. Feel free to add any misc ones like washing stains out of clothes. That'd be a pretty sought after skill, actually.

[Jurassic Weeb]

Ryuuji Drake

Name: Ryuuji Drake
Age: 16
Personality: Ryuuji is the quiet type, seeming to fade into the background at will, and sees and hears more than he lets on, despite having only one eye. Despite his appearance he is studious, and quite intelligent; Ryuu is able to learn things quickly, if it interests him. He is quite fond of his creations and weapons, to the point that touching one without permission may result in a swift slap upside the back of the head. Often gets mistaken for a girl, which has resulted in fights.
Backstory: Ryuuji comes from a long line of both swordsmen and swordsmiths (the former on his mother's side, the latter on his father's side), and both traits showed themselves in him at an early age. Ryuu lost the use of his left eye as a child, and in order to make sure that whatever affected his left eye didn't infect his right eye, his parents had it removed. While his ability to fight took some time to adjust after losing his eye, Ryuuji's smithing ability wasn't affected in the slightest. While he would prefer to go to a school devoted solely to slaying monsters, he caved to his father's wishes and enrolled at Seishun Academy.
Specialty: Jack of all trades, master of none... can being completely average at fighting and smithing be called a specialty? o.0

[RoflsMazoy]

@KOgaming @TheWindel
I mean, if you want to make swords out of those then you could probably finagle it some way or another but they might just suck is all. Bone or rock could be decent depending on what you do with it, but I doubt plastic would exist.

@Otaku95
Ryuuji looks pretty good, though are you sure you don't want him to have any specialties? It's going to help when I introduce some fancier materials later on down the line.

[TheWendil]

@RoflsMazoy

I might just go for a plain sword with some magic attributes then. What's the range of magic?

[RoflsMazoy]

@TheWindel
Well, you guys won't be starting with a sword just yet. As soon as all the characters get done though I'll be issuing the first challenge.

[Uno]

@RoflsMazoy Will special abilities that we start with be limited to actual techniques or can we have some magical aspects mixed into them?

[Blight Bug]

The Templar with Multitudinous Monikers

Name: Nathaniel 'Nate' Mason aka The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles
Age: 16

Appearance

Personality: There are two distinctive personalities for the man known as Nathaniel Mason or the Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles. It isn't that these two personality facets are wholly separate as some form of mental disorder, but rather just different parts of the same coin. And he can be somewhat quick

In regards to Nate Mason, he is a kind, easy-going, but socially awkward lad. In the presence of those who don't share any of his interests or status, he is a fairly milquetoast and nervous individual who tries to avoid as much contact as possible. The only times he does engage with these groups are if have actively engaged him, or if they are messing with others who are more like him. To those who do share some traits with him, he is a friendly, loyal and somewhat boisterous fellow who is quite eager to talk about subjects he enjoys at length. While he does mean well, he tends to misunderstand the emotional temperature of the room and those around him. He is an individual with a curious and inquisitive mind and if not yapping on about his own likes and dislikes among his peers, he is quick to question.

In regards to Solomon, he is an esteemed man of the realm. He follows a knightly code of conduct, and is heavily interested in the welfare of the common man. The Templar despises acts of evil and unjust and is quick to act in order to smite them down. He is a well spoken man, who is eager to speak with lengthy monologues of heroic intent, fond of the works of academia, and especially the theology of his Patron God. Each and every action this templar performs is full of a rigorous spirit that refuses to yield!


Biography: The story of The Exile, Apostate of the Pact of the Blue Quill, Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles is one full of adventure, glorious heroism, defiance in the face of adversity, and woe! His journey is a great epic which cannot be given justice through a mere written or oral history. However before the surface of the legacy of Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles can even be scratched, one must delve a bit into the story of Nate Mason.

Nathaniel was born and raised in a cosmopolitan city near the coast. While various subjects of Nate's life could be brought up, they are not as important or as eventful as one particular day and the events that followed. That one day of the most importance was when Nate was inside the local games and hobby store alongside his dear friend Saul Fischer. During some discussion over a card game, Saul brought up the Realm of Ebyrea and the champions and heroism involved with it. He enthusiastically spoke of the great fun he had in the realm, and how one of the game shop employees was one of the high ranks in the Pact of the Blue Quill. Saul continued one explaining some game rules and how they constructed weapons and spells that were fun to use, but safe so nobody got injured while playing.

Nate was hesitant about playing, as he would prefer to stick to the board games and didn't really know anyone involved with it apart from Saul, but he was convinced otherwise by his friend. So Nate decided to join Saul and play in the Realm of Ebyrea.

So began the tale of the Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles, armed with his light one handed trust boffer blades, and cloth garments. The templar managed to enter the Pact of the Blue Quill due to a writ that was written on his behalf by the Scholar Burrows. Solomon found employment as a bodyguard. Solomon had a kinship with Scholar Burrows and gladly assisted him in treacherous tasks for the mage's research.

The templar was assigned on many quests, from the lowly orders to fetch the tonic waters for the established members of the order to more grand adventures such as slaying dragons that terrorized the land. There were many other adventures he and the Scholar went on, however despite their heroism they soon noticed a great injustice present in the Pact. Other people who were closer friends to the leaders got far more experience, rewards and status even if they entered much later than other members.

It wasn't a fair game, and despite throwing in time, effort and resources into the Realm of Ebyrea, the scholar and the templar were lower class citizens compared to those in the inner circle of the Pact of the Blue Quill. This is when Templar Solomon Doveheart of the Stormbearer Isles gathered up other low and green members of the Pact to overthrow the order and demand justice.

This noble band of rag-tag rebels fighting against injustice were soundly stomped out, stripped of their valuables such as the boffer weapons as most of the rebels did borrow the ones from the organization, and exiled from the realm for not playing according to the tune of the ruling classes.

While he may have been defeated Solomon still had his spirit burning brightly and knew he needed to search for a new promised realm, free from the tyranny that plagued Ebryea. During the search for new realms, Nate discovered the Seishun Academy of Swords. He applied to it and was ready to begin a new adventure.


Specialty: Blunted Weapons

[RoflsMazoy]

@Uno
It is just your character's smitihing specialties but if crafting magic swords is a specialty of your character that's something you could list. Like, in terms of things magic could be applied to in sword crafting it'd pretty much just be making a magic sword.

[RoflsMazoy]

@Blight Bug
I feel like your character might really have some trouble making a good sword, I guess. I mean, the thing about this school is everyone's supposed to be pretty good at forging swords. While there is still stuff outside of challenges and they aren't really everything, this RP might just end up being 40% challenges so I'm a little concerned, I guess? >.<

[Jerkchicken]

Name: Tao "the comeback kid" Mbembe
Age: 18
Appearance:

Bio: Tao was actually from a long illustrious line of meat roasters specializing in seasoning their meat with a mix of powdered ingredients and cooking it over a fierce wood fire. Tao quickly learned from his family the various secrets to cooking a good piece of meat over fire. He learned of the secrets of wood cutting and selection, how to choose an herb at its peak and grind it in a way that its essence does not seep, to also look and cut up a choice piece of meat. However what his real talent was one the skill that was hardest to master, and that is the secret of fire control. To control the fire is everything in an art that relies on heat. You need it strong to cook it thoroughly and some say a good fire also infuses a certain type of essence into the meat itself. However if a fire blazes too high it'll burn out as well as risking overcooking or burning the food.

It was Tao's control of the fire which let him shift careers as during a festival between other meat roasters he caught the eye a mysterious alchemist who needed a helper who could artfully control the fires for his various works. Tao liked his pay offer and took the job and managed to apply his earlier skillsets in assisting the woman. He learned some more but would drift to the academy as he gained an interest in working with materials and crafting with them especially with more exotic materials. He would promptly join the academy to win more

Specialty:
Organic distillation: By imbibing ingredients Tao can harness the true essence of those ingredients into a liquid which can then be used to imbue properties to another item. He learned this from the alchemist.

Cooking

Washing out the smell of smoke

[TheWendil]

I'll work on my character tomorrow.

[sassy1085]

WIP

Honoka Shizuka

Name: Honoka Shizuka
Age: 13
Appearance:

Bio: Personality and History, can be separate sections for both if you prefer
Specialty: Specialties in terms of smithing. Feel free to add any misc ones like washing stains out of clothes. That'd be a pretty sought after skill, actually.

[Blight Bug]

@RoflsMazoy It's not like actual metallurgy is being used here, since you just want to handwave the crafting process. So it probably won't matter about following the actual crafting of a good sword. The character's technique would follow a different path and have a different progression. The sword might as not as good for poking in things but it's nice at swinging. Lots of ways to use a sword.

[Uno]

W.I.P.

Hider

Name: Lee Hikoshiro
Age: Fifteen

Bio: Long ago, the Hikoshiro household was renowned throughout the land for their exceptional skill in sword crafting. Their abilities were second to none and the blades they produced were of top quality. The reputation they garnered not only stirred up curiosity among the public, but also envy and ill-will from their rivals. What couldn't be solved with bribery and petty threats, was swiftly dealt with by bloodshed. As quickly as they appeared, the once proud Hikoshiro clan was no more. Or at least, that's what most had thought. Those who had survived chose to live in seclusion, hoping that a prodigy would appear to restore their clan's former glory.

Years had passed and as they wished, they were blessed with a genius. Lee was without a doubt gifted; a diamond in the rough whose potential was still miles from being reached. However, what most had considered a talent was eventually treated as a curse by Lee. The repercussions that came with the use of his ability and the burden he had shoulder, all of it was too much for him to handle. His passion for smithing was something he previously embraced, but with time, grew to despise it. Now carefree and outspoken, he tends to neglect the whims of his family and does what he pleases. News of the Seishun Academy of Swords came rather late to their household, but they knew that this was their last chance to rekindle whatever spark that was left in Lee. The only issue about this idea was Lee's willingness to actually listen to his family. Suprsingly, he had not qualms in accepting his parents' request. For him, it was merely a decision between living the remainder of his life confined within the mountains or leaving home. Clearly, Lee was aware on what the better choice was.

Specialty:

• Soul Forge - Lee has the capability to enter a trance-like state where his mind and body becomes completely attuned to his skills in sword crafting. When used, Lee's hair turns pale grey while his eyes become featureless white irides with his pupils no longer visible. The pre-requisites of using this ability include prior knowledge to what he would create, the concepts behind it (either concrete and/or abstract) and the materials needed to create it. During this state, all Lee's focus is directed towards crafting. He becomes non-receptive to any form of stimuli and only regains his senses upon finishing whatever he had started; things such as fatigue and hunger usually take their toll on Lee during this time.
• First Aid - Lee tends to suffer from a myriad of injuries and conditions after he uses his ability. The need to rely on others to tend to his wounds was becoming irksome, so he was forced to learn to do it by himself.