" For some offenses . . . There is only retribution "
Key Points: {} Co-GM - Noxious {} Wide Linear Narrative featuring "Pass The Baton" system {} A mature, dark fantasy set in a modern world where the heroes have already won {} A roleplay following a group of unabashed villains {} Magic and all of its wonders abound {} Character-focused with player contributed lore {} A vengeance fueled tale that will explore the limits of morality
" This is how the world came to an end "
" Humans have always been a resilient kind. Even though the species is prone to war and a constant struggle for superiority, they always seem to be able to come together when the threat proves great enough. At one time, this situation came to pass. And, as is their wont to do, humanity came together to repel the threat of self-proclaimed god-beings which, in turn, brought them a unity the likes of which had not been seen before. Seemingly a gift from fate, it was the sudden appearance of magical energy that allowed the world of humans to succeed in protecting their planet and it would be that same magical energy that would spur the creation of the largest peace-keeping organization ever established. Humanity prospered and with the addition of magic, life became easier and much smoother for all. This was not a way of life that was meant to last, however.
As time passed, the conglomerate that called itself the Executives Consortium grew larger and more influential. And as time passed, those born with the innate ability to use magic became more divisive in their intentions. The Consortium established branches in every major country of the world and, alongside regular governments, they made decisions that would impact the needs of the many. One of their primary roles became to police the members of the magically inclined community, or more specifically to punish the criminals who sought to use magic in a way that harmed the safety and stability of others. Under their purview, magically inclined criminals--Casters--were subject to a range of punishments spanning from imprisonment, to exile, all the way to the death penalty--that's when it started. Everything began when they executed that group. Back then, nobody knew just how everything would change after that fateful execution day. I'd say that's when they doomed us all, even if they didn't know it yet.
This is how the world came to an end. "
Welcome to your tale of vengeance
Hey everyone and welcome to my roleplay! I've created an array of group roleplays over the years, but this one is a culmination of all my favorite aspects. As is stated near the top, this will be a mature narrative set in the uncommonly used dark fantasy genre. What's more important is that this is a story where the protagonists are actually the villains of the plot. Now, we're not talking about mustache-twirling supervillains, but flawed characters that have decided to take their vengeance against an organization that actually saved the world from the usual grand threat years prior. In this story, you, the players, have been executed. For varying reasons that you will create, the Executives Consortium captured and sentenced you to death. However, a mysterious force resurrects this cast and sets them on a path in which chaos follows their every step.
Although the narrative is a linear one, I have implemented a system that I call Pass The Baton. After a certain point, the players will be able to actually become temporary sub-GMs and lead the group in a sub-plot of their own creation. This will not only allow the cast to add meaningful story to the world, but it will also allow everyone to get a deeper look at the characters that come to be. This is a character-focused story where three dimensional, sophisticated people are the stars of the show. While there will be action and there will be set-pieces, good storytelling featuring equally well-made characters is the focus. In addition to this, players will also be able to contribute to building the world and adding to the lore as well. I want this to be a true collaborative effort and though I've laid the groundwork for the universe, I want everyone to feel involved in making this as successful as it can be.
This will be a small group roleplay. Me and my co-GM are only looking for four to five interested parties who will be here for the long haul. It will not be first come, first serve either; we will be judging who to add to the group through the character sheet submissions so everyone has a fair chance at making it in.
For character submissions, please go ahead and submit your characters within this OOC thread. Do not post them under the Character tab until myself or my Co-GM, Noxious, has approved the sheet. Posting submissions on the thread should help everyone being able to see how their fellow potential players are faring.
Finally, if you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask. We will try to answer all questions to the best of our ability and sometimes I honestly miss a bit of information when I'm writing up an OOC, so asking helps me to remember to add things every now and then.
Submissions will remain open until we get the number of characters we need for the group approved, but we will be looking at all submissions for a few days at least so you've got some time. Thanks for considering our roleplay and happy character creation!
Magic
Nobody knows how magical energy began to permeate Earth's atmosphere, but historical records claim that it was discovered just before the god-beings arrived. The energy exists as a naturally occurring phenomenon in the atmosphere and is absorbed by the human body in trace amounts. At first, these trace amounts had no effect, but it was not long before humans began to produce unbelievable and impossible feats due to this energy. However, it was discovered that only some bodies could actually convert the energy into a state ready to manifest; in laymans terms, only some people could actually use magic while others were not as lucky. After the threat to the world was quelled, magic was studied in more depth and as time passed, people learned how to manifest this magic by way of spells. Spells cause specific effects and was determined to be the best way to utilize magical energy because it was also learned that this same energy is dangerous to human beings in large amounts. The body is basically being poisoned over time, but the natural absorption amount is so small that most people can live a normal, full life if they limit their magical use. The problems arose when some tried to become the wizards they had read about in their favorite novels and upon attempting to completely manipulate aspects of elements with magical energy, they developed a disease that severely shortened their lifespan or outright killed them.
Presently, it is a worldwide known fact that magically inclined humans--or Casters, as they are called--are only able to manifest two spells naturally. Any more would cause more energy to be absorbed and the threat of magical poisoning to become a reality. Coincidentally, because outright manipulation of fantastic power is extremely dangerous, there are no potential threats of sorcerers or highly proficient casters who would have used magic for something as petty as world domination. The Consortium sees this as a fine trade-off for only being able to use two spells with energy manifested from the body.
Talismans To combat magical poisoning--and to provide normal people a way to benefit from magic--the Consortium developed means to use spells without using the human body as a medium to manifest the energy. They created and mass produced talismans that crystallized specific spells and allowed people to enjoy the ease of life that magic brought without the hidden dangers and provided they could pay for the spells they wanted. The introduction of talismans curbed the rate of magical poisoning due to absorbing too much energy and the majority of the magically inclined lived in relative peace. On the flip side of this coin, there were those who decided to use their innate magical ability and even the talismans for criminal means. All in all, the world eventually returned to a normal state of being with law-abiding citizens living alongside those who had less savory machinations and those who could not use magic naturally were still able to use the talismans alongside those who simply wished to avoid poisoning. Both communities are protected by a combination of regular law enforcement and law enforcement supplied by the Consortium to go after criminals with innate magic ability or who used talismans to aid in their crimes.
Spells Spells are the manifestations of concentrated amounts of magical energy. They vary greatly and can literally manifest as anything the caster desires as long as they absorb enough energy. The problem lies in the fact that absorbing too much energy can bring about the disease of magical poisoning which results in a slow shutdown of organs at the least and outright death at the most. Due to this, it is a general rule amongst the caster community to avoid attempting to completely manipulate any element or force because absolute manipulation leads to outright death as proven in historical record. Instead, spells that have a specific use and effect are employed.
In addition to this method of harnessing magic, it is also generally accepted that a caster should only ever hone two spells to use consistently. Developing a wide array of different spells results in magical poisoning because the energy absorbed to use them all is too much. As such, even those in the Consortium are relegated to two major spells in the name of safety and a long life. It is also because of these reasons that guns and other standard weaponry did not fade from the world. With magic being as restrictive as it is and highly destructive talismans not existing due to the same safety concerns, standard weapons remained as prevalent as they were since before magical energy existed. It is just as likely, if not more likely, that crime would still be committed with a gun versus a constant barrage of spells. No one wants to die the painful death that magical poisoning affords.
The Executives Consortium
The Executives Consortium is the worldwide conglomerate that was formed after the victory against the invasion of the god-beings. For all intents and purposes, they are the actual heroes of this plot. When the invasion began, the governments of the world deadlocked themselves in pointless arguments about how to handle the threat. It would be multiple large corporations that actually came together to find a way to fight back against the inhuman assailants. They brought together a group of some of the first casters and together this group was able to push back and eventually seal the beings through unified use of their various spells. After the victory, the world's population praised the group and they decided to form a peace-keeping organization composed of casters in order to prevent something like this from ever happening again. Considering their roots in business, they named themselves the Executives Consortium.
As only 3% of the population is born with the innate ability to harness magical energy as spells, the Consortium runs a fierce marketing campaign advertising voluntary recruitment and promises those who join the potential to make much more than a living wage while also serving their fellow citizens and protecting them from the threat of those who would use magic in a less savory manner. On a larger scale, the Consortium became so large and so influential that the world's governments willingly allowed their various branches to interact with them on a variety of political subjects. This is how the role of Executives became so famous in the present times. Executives are the law enforcement agents of the Consortium that are sent after criminals who participate in crimes affiliated with magic in some way. They are instantly known by their uniforms which are comprised of black business suits, in-ear comm pieces, and professionally styled hair. Executives receive training equivalent to military standards and have jurisdiction over any and all crimes involving magic. With the Consortium having set up branches in every major country of the world, there are always Executives available to mete out punishments as the need arises.
With their reputation in such good standing, the Consortium was even given the power to prosecute the criminals they catch as they see fit. Special prisons were set up all over the world for those that are sentenced to imprisonment or exile, but the Consortium is not above the death penalty. Though the world's governments all have differing views on executing criminals, most send even their regular human prisoners to the Consortium when they wish for them to receive death as a punishment. Though not all agree with this method, it has resulted in the world becoming more peaceful than it has ever been and major wars have even been abandoned. Like the true heroes they are, the Executives Consortium have achieved the closest thing to world peace possible and, unlike the conspiracy theories would have you believe, they have not succumbed to their overwhelming influence by becoming an oppressive superpower or subjugating anyone. That is not to say that every single government and country in the world views an organization with this much power in a positive light, but they've avoided becoming the stereotypical type of conglomerate that has an ulterior motive in the shadows while they wear a false persona in the light.
The Executives Consortium truly is on the side of the world at large and their main objective these days is convincing the skeptical ones that this indeed a true statement and a true intention.
The Setting
I mentioned above that this takes place in the modern world. The setting for this roleplay is a more fantastical, fictionalized version of Earth. What I mean by that is although this is indeed Earth and all the present locations exist on it as they should, there are also fictional locations (which you can create) and fantastical beasts that exist on it as well. I felt like this would ground the roleplay in a semblance of realism while also providing a nice fantasy slant as well. To that end, the technology level mirrors our present reality as well. Guns and projectile weapons, like in real life, are going to be better weapon options than anything melee-oriented and even a martial arts master can be killed by a bullet or two. Cars exist and still drive on the road with four wheels and smartphones and computers are as prevalent as they ever were. This is pretty much the world of today that also adds magic and fantastical beasts into the mix.
You'll see it in the character sheets, but as a player, you will be able to create locations for this world as well and using the Pass The Baton system, we might even be able to visit that location and run through a sub-plot within it if you choose to become a temporary sub-GM and take on that mantle for a little bit. This is why I have provided no map of the world or anything because it's literally just the world we already live in. You're free to find a globe or atlas though.
Osiris, Maryland
The city of Osiris is where the first few acts of the roleplay take place. No matter where your character ends up being from or what they did in their previous lives, this is the city they were transferred to and executed in. It is a large, sprawling metropolis that is not unlike New York or Las Vegas in the fact that it's a city that truly never sleeps. Like other major cities, Osiris is also home to a branch of the Executives Consortium alongside the usual city government. The city is known for it's night life and many recreational ventures coupled with the fact that a few of the more wealthy companies call Osiris home for their main headquarters. It is a prosperous place where one can lead comfortable life or a very tough life depending on their circumstances and choices. It is split into districts and each as distinctive as the people within them. The city is policed by the Osiris Police Department and The Executives Consortium. However, a few private military and security organizations also exist here as well.
Pass The Baton System
This is a system I developed in order to allow players to add meaningful story to the roleplay. As I said above, the story created for this is a linear one, but it is also one I refer to as "wide" linear. What that means is that even though the beginning and end are solidified, there can be any number of sub-plots during the course of the overarching narrative that focus on other aspects of the world. Rather than create those sub-plots myself and dictate every single story thread, I've implemented a way for the players to contribute to the plot that could result in a number of positive outcomes--character development is just one of the many good things that can come out of this system when used correctly.
The way the system works is pretty simple. After a certain point in the narrative, the world and plot opens up in a major way. At that time, I'll allow players to send myself and my co-GM a brief outline which will summarize a sub-plot idea. Once we've discussed the submission, we'll allow that player to become a temporary sub-GM and lead the entire group through the story they've created. As temporary sub-GM, this player will have complete creative control over the direction of the story they've created and as long as nothing specifically contradicts the rules of the universe--which we would determine while discussing the submission--the sub-GM is free to move their plot however they see fit. Having everyone involved in that plot allows us to bond as a group and explore the depth of our characters as they encounter new events created by your fellow cast. This is not something we will force upon the cast, rather it is an optional experience that we encourage everyone to try out.
It is important to note that submissions will not be chosen in the order they are sent to us. We will allow the sub-plot ideas in an order that flows best with the narrative, but we do not guarantee that yours will be allowed first just because it was sent first. However, as long as the sub-plot does not contradict the rules of the universe we do guarantee that we get to all the ideas submitted. This is not going to be a short roleplay so there will be plenty of time to get to all the various ideas I'm sure everyone will come up with.
At this time, the outline will not be posted because we have not reached the point in the story where it is ready to be implemented. Once we do get close to that point however, I will post the outline right here and make an announcement allowing everyone to submit the ideas they have.
Character Sheet
This is the character sheet you will use to submit your characters. You'll notice that it is a bit more involved than the usual sheets and it was done purposely. This is a character-focused roleplay and to that end, we want everyone to well and truly consider their characters and really bring some depth and potential to them. Although I denoted them as villains, they are also flawed people that still have families and interests and the like. However, I will say that they should all carry a measure of darkness within them. I won't dictate how you bring that to the table, but to help inspire you, I'll say that these are not good people--not by any stretch of the imagination. The reasons you come up with for their capture and transfer to the Consortium to receive the death penalty was fully deserved. These are the kinds of people you think you would never see in real life and only hear about on the news or some such.
With all that said, let's also try to avoid the stereotypical supervillain type. If you focus on creating a three-dimensional human being, you'll surely be successful. Here is the skeleton for you. The last thing I'll say is that I appreciate character sheet formatting. I don't usually include a coding skeleton with my sheets because I like to allow people to format the sheets as they see fit and see how much effort they put into that aspect, but I have provided a code skeleton this time just in case people would like to copy the formatting I used on my own sheet instead of doing something on their own or maybe even to save time.
Name Age (Every character should be at least 18 years old) Height Weight Ethnicity Nationality Birthplace (As this roleplay takes place in a fictionalized version of the real world, your character can be from a real life place or a location of your own creation as long as it fits within the universe)
Former Occupation (What did your character do in their previous lives? Or did your character work at all before they were executed?)
Appearance (Please describe your character's physical appearance in words as well as a picture. No anime pictures, however. Stick to real life or realistic art at the least)
Personality (Describe your character's personality)
Hobbies / Interests (What are some hobbies your character had in their previous life? What are their interests?)
Skills / Talents (What were some things your character is good at? Everyone is good at something. You can have multiple, but don't go too crazy)
Motivation/Crime Committed (As I said in the OP, every character has their own reasons for wanting vengeance against the Consortium beyond being executed. What are your character's reasons and what crime did they commit in order to be transferred to the Consortium for death?)
History (What was your character like before being executed? What was their life like? You can also use this section to highlight some of their flaws or broken traits.)
Relationships -Family Relations (Everybody has a family. Give me a brief look at some key members of yours and how their relations are with your character)
-Significant Others (This is an optional section. If your character was married or had a significant other of some kind, give us a brief look at them here. If they had no one, you can state as much)
Magic (Describe the two spells your character becomes capable of producing after their resurrection. Remember that these are specific spells and not a general manipulation of any element or anything like that.)
Other (Anything else we should know about your character)
I usually try not to implement too many rules because this is the advanced section, but I do have some guidelines.
.001
This is the most important thing, to me. Once you're character is approved, we take that as a commitment to the roleplay. Communication is the most important aspect of a roleplay, so please let us know via PM or the OOC if you need to disappear or will be gone for a while. We would like players that want to see this through to the end and a communicative cast makes everything smoother and much more enjoyable.
.002
As far as posts are concerned, we value quality over quantity. We do not expect novel-length posts for everything written in the IC. However, we can't really work with one sentence posts either, but as long as you put effort into what you write, we should all get along swimmingly.
.003
The posting pace for this roleplay will be once every 7 to 10 days. This is the best speed for moving the plot at a steady rate and with the group being relatively small, it should be easy to maintain. You can post more than once within that time frame if you desire, but we do want at least one post within those parameters before plot movement. We're open to working with people on this as emergencies and general life comes up.
.004
I said this already, but I'll cement it here. This will be a dark, twisted, and mature roleplay. There will be disturbing imagery and characters can and will be pushed into the depths of the darkness. Swearing, graphic violence, and amorality will also be featured within the narrative. If you dislike these kinds of things, this is not the roleplay for you.
.005
We reserve the right to add more to this section as the need arises. Most everything else is common sense amongst the advanced section. The last guideline is really to just have fun and enjoy the roleplay. We encourage general chatter within the OOC so even if it's not about the RP itself, feel free to converse about what you want within our OOC thread.
This is certainly an intriguing and ambitious-seeming project—the emphasis on the "Passing the Baton" mechanic itself has me vying to make time to sort through most of the reading material. Of course, I can't guarantee that I'd apply at this current time, but hopefully when I'm of the right composure to peruse, I can make a solid decision, maybe even offer some feedback? Anyway, Schwarzenegger style, I'll be back.
@Juicy - That's fair, I can get with that. I'll say though, we're looking at a little bit of time before this thing starts. We're in no rush to begin because we want to give people time to come up with quality submissions, characters they can be proud of rather than products of a rushed deadline. Of course, that doesn't mean the submission process will drag either, but you get my point; if you want, you've got plenty of time to make a decision on creating a character or not. I appreciate the consideration though.
So that you're not left wondering, I've decided not to join Collusion. The other RP I'm involved in tends to keep a dark atmosphere and I'd prefer to mix it up a little in regards to that.
@Snagglepuss89 - Thanks for letting me know, I appreciate it. Best of luck to you as of well.
@GreenGoat - Nice to hear. We're in the submission phase right now so go ahead and work on a character and we will see how it all shakes out when the time comes to look over everything.
Former Occupation- Public Speaker, Writer. (Terrorist Leader)
Appearance- A fit man with coifed black hair and light brown eyes, all of Julius's clothing is bespoke, and some items cost more than some peoples monthly wages. His otherwise handsome face has been marred with a recently broken nose, and dark, yellowing bruises circle his intense dark eyes. His startlingly white smile has a dark spot where a tooth had been knocked out.
Personality- A total Type A personality, Julius is confident to the point of domineering, self assured to the point of narcissistic, Julius has spent so much time cultivating his outward appearance so that it's hard to see behind the smile and the booming voice. What does exist behind the facade is fear, anger, and a rapacious desire to control, fueled by a desperate fear of losing power.
Hobbies / Interests- Reading political and historical texts. Julius jogs, wrestles, and swims. Julius has run numerous blogs, many of them for personal enjoyment.
Skills / Talents Rhetoric, writing, wrestling
Motivation/Crime Committed- Julius agitated for the establishment of a Magocracy, and was tried and sentenced to death when he was discovered to have been the head of a terrorist group that had been responsible for the assassination of several Consortium leaders who refused to comply with his demands for creating a magician controlled society. When the Consortium came to bring Julius to justice, he resisted arrest in a magical firefight for over 16 hours, killing 4 Consortium agents and 3 non-magical soldiers by himself. He has gone from being admired as a handsome intellectual dark horse to being reviled as the next Bin Laden
History: Born to two lab techs working in a Consortium hospital, Julius grew up around magic users, and, growing up with two parents that served magic users, came to believe early on in the superiority and importance of magicians over ordinary people. When he was 12, he discovered his magical talent, much to his own delight. Joining the Consortium, Julius became distraught when he discovered the fact that the Executive Consortium, despite it's (to him) obvious superiority over non-magical forms of government, never acted on it's power to rule the world. As a charming and well spoken young man, he courted the favor of wealthy and powerful magicians who saw him as an excellent public face for those pushing to create a magocracy of the Consortium while he was in college. Upon graduation, Julius began a career of working at numerous think tanks and publishing controversial papers 'proving' the superiority of magic users, and used the success of the Consortium itself to encourage the creation of a magocracy, leading to him going on a speaking tour that had him being banned from several college campuses. As he got older, Julius became more and more frustrated with his lack of actual accomplishment of a magocracy, and began a covert war against the Consortium, forming the Thelemic Dawn, a terrorist organization that had first tried to threaten and blackmail Consortium leaders into supporting the Magocracy. When that failed, the Thelemic Dawn began assassinating members of the Consortium, planning to replace the now empty positions with their own members. When an undercover agent discovered the attempted coup, Consortium and military forces all converged on the Thelemic Dawn headquarters. For the next 16 hours, the Julius Thiel and other Thelemic Dawn members resisted arrest, exchanging both gunfire and battle magic, resulting in causalities on both sides. When a fire started in the hideout drove out the terrorists, Thiel surrendered, and was arrested. He was quickly sentenced to death.
Relationships- Julius' parents had passed away together in a car accident 3 years prior. Other than some cousins he had living in Germany, Julius didn't have a family.
Family
Significant Others- The last person Julius had been close to was his ex-girlfriend, Chloe. They had been in an on again off again relationship for 6 years, and she was probably the only person he had ever cared about completely. Julius had been sure to isolate Chloe from any connection to the Thelemic Dawn, especially since Chloe isn't a magic user.
Magic- Object Possession Julius is able to magically 'bring to life' inanimate objects, controlling and moving them. The limits to his control is determined by distance, weight, complexity, and number of the objects. Julius has begun to discover his control over electronics, although he has a very fragile grasp of what he is able to do.
Mists Creates and controls mist and fog. The fog can be manipulated to hold various properties, making it acidic, toxic, flammable, etc. When focused, the fog can quickly fill up and obscure a room in a matter of moments. The fog lasts for a few minutes after summoned, and eventually fades away unless replenished.
@Sypherkhode822 Just took a peek at the coding for your sheet via the handy-dandy "quote" mechanism - you just need to end the [ / sup] tags right after the titles of the sections. You currently have them located at the end of the paragraphs, making all the words in the text as tiny as the title should be. Try that and it should fix the problem!
@GreenGoat If ya need to bounce some things around, my PM box is happily open.
General note to the thread; I've started sketching out my character sheet, and it'll hopefully be done tomorrow night after my exams.
- A fit man with coifed black hair and light brown eyes, all of Julius's clothing is bespoke, and some items cost more than some peoples monthly wages. His otherwise handsome face has been marred with a recently broken nose, and dark, yellowing bruises circle his intense dark eyes. His startlingly white smile has a dark spot where a tooth had been knocked out. He wears an expensive metal wristwatch that's covered in a spiderweb of scratches. On the back of the watch is engraved- 'You cast a love spell on me.-C'
Personality
- A total Type A personality, Julius is confident to the point of domineering, self assured to the point of narcissistic, Julius has spent so much time cultivating his outward appearance so that it's hard to see behind the smile and the booming voice. What does exist behind the facade is fear, anger, and a rapacious desire to control, fueled by a desperate fear of losing power. Julius as invested so much of his own self worth in the idea of his being a magic user that oftentimes his entire assessment of a person begins and ends with their ability to spell cast. When it suits him, he is incredibly courteous and charming, which had won him much in his life. One of the easiest ways to send him flying into a rage is to bring up his ex-girlfriend, Chloe.
Hobbies / Interests
- Reading political and historical texts. Julius jogs, wrestles, and swims. He occasionally picks up his guitar and noodles around with it.
Skills / Talents
Rhetoric, Writing, Wrestling, Guitar playing
Motivation/Crime Committed
- Julius agitated for the establishment of a Magocracy, and was tried and sentenced to death when he was discovered to have been the head of a terrorist group that had been responsible for the assassination of several vocal Consortium members who decried his efforts for creating a magician controlled society. When the Consortium came to bring Julius to justice, he resisted arrest in a magical firefight for over 16 hours, killing 4 Consortium agents and 3 non-magical soldiers by himself. He has gone from being admired as a handsome intellectual dark horse to being reviled as a monster.
History
Born to two lab techs working in a Consortium hospital, Julius grew up around magic users, and, growing up with two parents that served magic users, came to believe early on in the superiority and importance of magicians over ordinary people. When he was 12, he discovered his magical talent, much to his own delight. Joining the Consortium, Julius became distraught when he discovered the fact that the Executive Consortium, despite it's (to him) obvious superiority over non-magical forms of government, never acted on it's power to rule the world. As a charming and well spoken young man, he courted the favor of wealthy and powerful magicians who saw him as an excellent public face for those pushing to create a magocracy of the Consortium while he was in college. Upon graduation, Julius began a career of working at numerous think tanks and publishing controversial papers 'proving' the superiority of magic users, and used the success of the Consortium itself to encourage the creation of a magocracy, leading to him going on a speaking tour that had him being banned from several college campuses. As he got older, Julius became more and more frustrated with his lack of actual accomplishment of a magocracy, and began a covert war against the Consortium, forming the Thelemic Dawn, a terrorist organization that had first tried to threaten and blackmail prominent members of the Consortium into supporting the Magocracy. When that failed, the Thelemic Dawn began assassinating members of the Consortium, planning to replace the now empty positions with their own members. When an undercover agent discovered the attempted coup, Consortium and military forces all converged on the Thelemic Dawn headquarters. For the next 16 hours, the Julius Thiel and other Thelemic Dawn members resisted arrest, exchanging both gunfire and battle magic, resulting in causalities on both sides. When a fire started in the hideout drove out the terrorists, Thiel surrendered, and was arrested. He was quickly sentenced to death.
Relationships
Family
Julius' parents had passed away together in a car accident 3 years prior. While he does have an extended family across the country, he's rejected them for being nonmagical, and hasn't spoken with any of them for years.
Significant Others
The last person Julius had been close to was his ex-girlfriend, Chloe. They had been in an on again off again relationship for 6 years, and she was probably the only person he had ever cared about completely. Julius had been sure to isolate Chloe from any connection to the Thelemic Dawn, especially since Chloe isn't a magic user. Julius deeply loves Chloe, but has constantly rejected her for not being a magic user, breaking things off with her numerous times. The conflict between loving Chloe as the intelligent, caring, and funny woman she is, while simultaneously considering her to be inferior simply because of her inability to cast spells, has caused him much pain and self reflection.
Magic
Object Possession Julius is able to magically 'bring to life' inanimate objects, controlling and moving them. The limits to his control is determined by distance, weight, complexity, and number of the objects. When Julius harnesses an almost deadly amount of energy, he can control electronics, however briefly.
Mists Creates and controls mist and fog. The fog can be manipulated to hold various properties, making it acidic, toxic, flammable, etc. When focused, the fog can quickly fill up and obscure a room in a matter of moments. The fog lasts for a few minutes after summoned, and eventually fades away unless replenished.
@GreenGoat - Same as what @corneredbliss said, if you need help hashing out details or even some inspiration, you can PM myself or @Noxious and we'll be glad to see what we can help with.
@Sypherkhode822 - I'll take a look at the sheet tomorrow considering the time on my side of the world (Eastern Standard US) and compose some thoughts along with Noxious. We won't be outright giving out approvals yet because we want to wait for the submission period to end, but we will give our impressions if we see things you can improve on or things that need to be edited and what not.
I just got out of the Ghost in the Shell movie. As a person who has watched both the anime movie and TV series, I thought it was pretty good. I like Scarlett Johansson though, so maybe I'm a bit bias lol.
Madam of one of Isola's leading escort services. More bluntly put: she ran a brothel.
Appearance
Andromeda is a woman of luxury. Her honey-golden locks fall at the middle of her back when they're loose, but more commonly she wears it half-up/half-down, making sure that it's voluminous and mane-like. That's a pretty accurate parallel to make; Andromeda can be best described as a lioness. Her figure is full and unapologetic, yet fit. Most of her outfits consist of high-end dresses and heels sharp enough to carve with. She is usually adorned with tasteful jewelry, the only constant being a thin, simple, silver ring she wears around her pinky.
Personality
The whole lioness metaphor is applicable to her personality, as well. To work in her field, one cannot be a sheep; Andromeda is an exceptional example. She is strong-willed and silver-tongued, yet it takes a lot for her to get angry for petty reasons. It's a quiet yet piercing confidence she possesses; one that assures everyone knows of her presence and character even if she doesn't make a sound. In spite of all this, however, she's not much for small talk, and really keeps to herself unless it's necessary for her to engage another. The one thing Andi is quick to do is defend herself or her principles, and if there's even a whiff of threat to either, she will pounce.
Hobbies / Interests
As a woman of luxury, Andromeda's hobbies include rolling in sheets of silk and drinking champagne in a bubble bath. Cleanliness and organization are both important to her, so she spends whatever energy needed making sure her possessions are in order, and that the house never falls below her standards. She also enjoys reading historical texts, as well as those that explore the psyche; mostly to educate herself on the human condition. With knowledge comes power, after all.
Skills / Talents
Make no mistake; while Andi - as only a rare few know her - has cravings for the finer things, she also knows how to get her hands dirty. As a Madam, she's had to learn how to assert herself from the more uncivil characters that slip into the rooms and foolishly try to cheat their bills or take advantage of her. She is passable at hand-to-hand combat and is definitely not afraid to deliver a swift kick between the legs. She also has a particular knowledge of how people tick, and therefore can charm people to her way of thinking.
Motivation/Crime Committed
Andromeda dealt with the most classified clientele that passed through the house. Surprisingly - or perhaps, unsurprisingly, really - a good percentage of those VIP were members of the hallowed Executive Consortium. One such Executive had a particularly promiscuous daughter, who began working on Andi's team of girls under a different identity. Unfortunately for the girl's poor father, he found out after having accidentally been brought to her room for the night. As one can imagine, all hell broke loose - the Executive raged on and on about the immorality of the place and eventually managed to shut the entire operation down, claiming that Andi was using magic to trick the girls into working for her. The other major clients, not wanting to have their names tarnished by multiple visits to the brothel, supported the claim. This of course was not the case; all the girls that worked at Miss Neela's were there voluntarily, either for pleasure or for profit.
Andromeda was consequently arrested for human trafficking and illegal use of magic, but since the Consortium couldn't prove that she had done anything to deserve a heavier sentence, she remained in a general correctional facility with Jaemy. Still, she was furious. The house was the only remaining memory she had of her mother, and the only family she had were the women in it; and it had all been taken away from her by selfish hypocrites. This, coupled with the abuse she was experiencing from the guards who prattled on about how "she should be used to this after working in a whore house", was enough to warrant a festering need for vengeance. She got her hands on a small, sharpened piece of metal fashioned from an old razor blade, and when the guards invaded her cell for their weekly fun at her expense, Andi stabbed their smug grins right off their faces. This earned her a sentence of death.
History
Raised by a single mother who had really only used her biological father to produce a child, it was no wonder Andromeda turned into the resolute woman she was. Neela Bair, the original inspiration for the person Andromeda molded herself into, was the creator of Miss Neela's - the brothel her daughter would eventually inherit, if she wanted it. Contrary to what one might think of having a Madam as a mother, Neela dutifully kept her daughter from the house and made sure Andi had a good home away from business. Of course, she made sure to be honest with her daughter, and told her little tidbits of her occupation as she grew older. Andi absolutely admired her mother, and absorbed everything the woman had to teach her like a sponge.
Other than her mother's unconventional job, Andromeda (who wasn't really magically inclined) was just like any other girl. She sang to herself, played with dresses, and had a best girl friend; Jaemy Galland, who, interestingly enough, was born to a woman who worked closely with Neela in the bordello. Andromeda's mother promptly offered to have the child stay at the Bair residence during work hours, and Andi was more than happy to have a friend. Being a few years older than Jaemy was, she took lead and cared after the girl, simultaneously a mother and a sister.
In school, she was intelligent and keen to learn - regardless of the disapproving looks, and sometimes words, she received from teachers and parents who had hunches of what her mother did. While all this negativity probably nestled itself somewhere deep in Andromeda's psyche, she refused to let it touch her and instead became incredibly excited to join her mother in the business. Only when Andi turned sixteen did Neela finally allow her to step foot into the workplace, and after years of having taught her that it was not anything to be ashamed of, Andromeda welcomed the house and its girls with open arms. She began learning the ropes of the business in terms of how to run such a place, with the most important rule being that there should never be a woman under that roof that didn't want to be there. The place was a sort of sanctuary for girls that needed or wanted to be there, and the Bairs treated it as such.
It was around the tail end of Andromeda's seventeenth year that her mother developed lung cancer from the years of smoking. Neela Bair passed away on Andi's nineteenth birthday, and she promptly dropped out of college to tend to the only remaining link she had with her mother. Business flourished thanks to Andromeda's proactivity, although she herself was never involved in anything behind closed doors. It was her job to get paying men in and out, and so she swooned and sweet-talked clients into spending evenings in their rooms. Eventually, hushed word carried up into the big leagues, and her rooms began filling with Executives from the Consortium. All was going swimmingly until the incident, and the rest is history.
Relationships
Family
N/A
Significant Others
Jaemy Galland - Andromeda's right-hand woman at Miss Neela's, and possibly the only person she trusted aside from her mother. The two were basically sisters; Jaemy's mother worked for Neela, so she was a frequenter at the Bair residence for playdates with Andi while their mothers worked. Jaemy was also arrested during the incident, but the two were separated after Andromeda was sentenced to death.
Magic
Sway - This spell allows Andromeda to alter or plant thoughts, ideas, or memories into another's psyche by way of direct eye contact. The receiver of this influence will think these new pieces of information are facts, and will not be able to differentiate between the altered/planted thoughts from their own. The duration of this spell depends on how big or notable the change in memory is; the bigger the change and the longer it needs to be planted, the more magic it requires.
Dissolve - This spell allows Andromeda to turn objects of solid matter into ghostly forms of themselves, allowing for safe passage through them. For example, if Andi casts this on a section of wall, she, and whoever is touching her at the time, will be able to walk right through into the next room. This spell has a short duration and will only last for a few moments unless Andromeda recasts it.
Other
- In another life, light-years from this one, Andromeda would have loved to have children of her own.
Hey guys, I'll be reading over the presently submitted character sheets and sharing my thoughts on them later tonight or tomorrow at the latest. The impressions will mostly include ways to improve the current sheet if that needs to be done or editing changes that should be made. Rather than deny people, I'd rather help reach an acceptable status.
In the meantime though, hope everyone is having a great week! Persona 5 just released so my rest of the spring is pretty much made lol.
