Living in the world of Alrest isn't easy.
In all directions it stretches—the endless Cloud Sea. Though of a similar density to a water ocean, and serving many of the same functions, it differs in one key respect: no land rises from its surface. Instead, there are the Titans. While these beasts come in all shapes and sizes, the largest colossi among them form the ground upon which mankind survives. Whether in the plains or forests of deer-shaped Gormott, within the body of Uraya, atop the pristine heights of Indol, across the warm wastes of Mor Ardain, or any one of the other titans, people make their settlements and eke out a living as best they can, all while their continents circle the legendary World Tree in an endless death march.
While some technologies are incredibly advanced, many nations lack the resources to expand civilization, realize ambition, or even sustain themselves, leading to a world of worry and strife where the threat of war is constant. For instance, Mor Ardain's Titan is dying, hence the slow but worryingly steady rise in its core temperature turning its surface into arid badlands. The Empire has therefore turned its sights outward, acquiring what is now known as the Imperial Province of Gormott, and creating much anxiety in Uraya.
Titans are not, however, the only subject of fascination on Alrest. In addition to humanity and the diminutive Nopon, there exists the Blades. Though little is known about their origin or why they exist the way they do, it is well-documented that Blades are weaponized life forms that are summoned by an individual of another race on Alrest from a Core Crystal through a process called resonance. Once given form, the immortal, fantastical Blades endow their partners -called Drivers- with abilities and a weapon, and live alongside them until the Driver's death returns the Blade to its Core Crystal, able to be awakened anew, but without any memories of its past life.
However, political struggles and Blade mysteries seem far away indeed on the serpentine Titan called Vennligh. Daily life is uneventful, travelers come and go, and any notable matters are attended to by the esteemed, oligarchic Council. Yet, unbeknownst to the populace of Vennligh's largest city, Attica, a beleaguered Ardanian Core Crystal transport is bound for its shores, pursued by an unknown assailant, and on the very day of Pasholm Academy's field trip to Vennligh's tailtip, no less. The winds of fate are poised to kick up a tumult of coincidence, and what happens next is anyone's guess.
Welcome to Xenoblade Encounters. While just an interest check for now, I hope to find enough support to make this idea into a fully-fledged, narrative and character-driven RP. The RP's setting is a fictional world from a property known as Xenoblade Chronicles 2, but one needs no particular familiarity with that world beforehand; everything important will be explained, and I think you'll find there's a lot of freedom in terms of character-making.
Something I hope to accomplish is giving every character an important role in the story. Players aren't limited to entering a teenager as one of the five students of Pasholm Academy about to stumble onto a strange and exciting adventure; you could just as well apply as the teacher leading the field trip, or the sheriff accompanying them for security, or one of the soldiers aboard the Ardanian vessel on collision course with the Vennligh titan, or even as a member of the mysterious group attacking that vessel. Of course, you could also give to and play as one of those character's Blades. Once the story starts, I can present different scenarios to different groups to keep multiple storylines going separately or to let them collide.
For anyone interested in brainstorming a character, here are the playable races. May they, and the Blades in particular, present you with unique opportunities for crafting intriguing and engaging personalities, appearances, and backstories.
Races
Humanity
Ardanian – bearing no dissimilarities from humans, the technology-oriented Ardanians are versatile and hardy. Hailing from the dying bipedal titan Mor Ardain, they can be found most anywhere in Alrest, particularly in regions where the expansionist Empire of Mor Ardain has a pronounced presence, but no Ardanian would deny that the Empire's capital city of Alba Cavanich is where his heart belongs.
Gormotti – notable for their feline characteristics, including ears and some behavioral traits (though never a tail) the inhabitants of the lush, quadrupedal titan Gormott are kind and peaceful, living in harmony with nature and bearing a lively culture most evident in the Gormott's largest city, Torigoth.
Indoline – with bluish skin and pointed ears, the tall, slender inhabitants of the beautiful draconian titan Indol experience far longer lifespans than other races. Often characterized by reservation, politeness, and pious titan worship, they constitute the vast majority of the Indoline Praetorium, Indol's theocratic governing body, from the capital of Goetius.
Leftherian – indistinguishable from humans, the Leftherians tend to be good-natured and laidback, perhaps due to the peace that's held over their native Leftherian Archipelago, a great chain of jellyfish-like titans, since long ago. Their small towns, like Fonsett Village, are predominantly agricultural, with little in the way of technology.
Tantalese – though ostensibly human, the Tantalese are set apart in two ways. The first are their appearances, namely the symmetric markings on their faces, cross-shaped, in any number and position, as well as their predominantly red hair. The second, more literally, is the isolationist attitude of the Kingdom of Tantal, kept away from the outside world inside the body of the frigid turtle-shaped titan Genbu. As a result, most Tantalese -even those in the capital of Theosoir- have known their fair share of suffering and want, including occasional starvation, and few have much knowledge of the outside world or its customs.
Urayan – most unique among the people of Alrest, the Urayans tend to be darker of complexion and have pointed, almost finlike ears as well as scales scattered across their faces and bodies. They also boast the only naturally unnatural hair colors in Alrest, mostly greens and blues, but on occasion also sport multicolored hair. Under the rule of Queen Raqura the Kingdom of Uraya lives with a deep respect of nature inside the vast, whale-shaped Titan of the same name, where they foster advanced biotechnology and artistic culture, particularly in the capital of Fonsa Myma.
Vennlighn – said to be the bearers of 'giant blood', Vennlighns once stood the tallest of Alrest's races, but over the generations they have mostly lost that old, hereditary claim to fame. Nevertheless, a few bloodlines continue to stand unusually tall, though otherwise the Vennlighns are not especially distinct. On their remote, peaceful, welcoming serpentine titan Vennligh they live in scattered farm villages or industrial Attica, with its great highrises, on Vennligh's spine. Vennlighn society is an old one, priding itself on honorbound customs and ancient architectural traditions, and they continue to hold the secret toward artificial titans called golems that are put to everyday tasks like hauling and building. Distinguished citizens may be selected to join the oligarchical Council based in Attica that oversees nation-wise concerns.
Nopon
Nopon - small, round, fuzzy, and utterly adorable, Nopon can be found throughout Alrest but have the largest presence in the Argentum Trade Guild, the giant barge that rests beneath the floating titan Goldmouth. Most Nopon stand about two feet tall, though some get as high as three feet, and a few -like the brilliant Chairman Bana of Argentum Trade Guild- are twice that, though such lofty heights are for Nopon the result of genetic mutations rather than heredity. They have three sets of limbs: stubby little arms, stubby little legs, and a pair of prehensile, short-feathered wings coming from their upper backs that rest around their necks when not in use. These wings, better served as arms, grant extremely limited flight. It is not considered taboo or improper for Nopon to not wear clothes, but all adults do both as a show of status (wealth, occupation, et cetera) and to help others discern their gender; other than clothing, a Nopon's voice is the only way to tell if one is male or female.
Nopon are friendly and outgoing, and often try to avoid conflict, but are seldom as harmless or dumb as they might appear. All Nopon have gluttonous and greedy streaks of varying strength, not nearly significant enough to qualify as obsessions but certainly present enough to make food and especially money common topics of conversation. Indeed, while their mechanical skill is not to be derided, many choose to become merchants and salespon. They possess an unusual pattern of speech, which uses the third-person primarily, refers to strangers as 'friends', attaches the suffix 'pon' to familial terms, occasionally eliminates articles, and sometimes repeats words.
Nopon have an extremely low resonance rate, meaning that very, very few ever become Drivers.
Blade
At the heart of every Blade, both literally and figuratively, is a core crystal, a blue octahedron of a material akin to lapis lazuli, inscribed with unknown patterns and symbols. For a Blade to exist, a living being must resonate with its core crystal. Not everyone can resonate; it takes a certain aptitude that one must have, and those without it who try to resonate face dire consequences. A single Driver can, however, have multiple Blades, though fighting with more than one at once becomes increasingly impractical.
Once a core is resonated with, the Blade is formed. A core crystal that's resonated before forms the Blade just as it was before, but a fresh crystal creates one entirely new. It's a common assumption that a Blade's appearance and personality, on first resonance, are influenced by its new Driver—sometimes mimicking the Driver's, sometimes being molded by and embodying their thoughts, dreams, or desires. Either way, Blades can take practically any shape, from people to machines to animals to monsters to anything in between.
Blades are unique in that they alone of all the living beings are capable of taking in and using the versatile energy that pervades Alrest's atmosphere, ether. They can alter and express this energy in different ways, most often elemental powers but occasionally abilities more unique. All, however, are capable of generating a distinctive weapon that embodies the Blade, which the Blade itself can wield but is more effective in the hands of the Blade's Driver, to which the Blade channels energy. Without ether, a Blade weapon is inert, no better (and oftentimes worse) than a conventional weapon. While Blades are often thought of as living weapons, the weapons are products of the Blade rather than vice-versa, and if a Blade's weapon is destroyed, they can create a replacement from ether.
Blades are effectively immortal, never physically aging or changing, and they heal from injuries very quickly. However, a when a Blade's driver dies, the Blade returns to its core crystal, which remains gray and inert for a while before regaining its luster and ability to resonate. If awakened once again, a Blade retains no memory of its past life, and even with its previous appearance and personality can develop into a very different person. It's not just a Blade's character that can change, either; a Blade's powers grow in strength, utility, and usability overtime, and different Drivers can coax out different strengths from the same basic skillset
Character Sheet
Name:
Sex:
Race: Either a human (one of the races listed under 'humanity'), a Nopon, or a Blade
Class: A name that acts as a general descriptor of the character's talents, abilities, and/or fighting style. For civilians this may just be their occupation, but any fighters or group members should have something that describes his or her role
Faction: There are four available: Pasholm (one of the five students on the field trip, their teacher, and the sheriff, caught up in events beyond their control), Marauder (one of the three members of the organization that attacked the Core Crystal transport, who may be with the organization for any number of reasons, to whose players secret information will be sent) or Detective (local law enforcement or half of the pair investigators from abroad, trying to protect the people of Vennligh from the Marauders or figure out either who they're working for or what their goal is)
Personality: Since every person is unique and infinitely complex, go into some detail. A character's personality is ordinarily tied to his or her backstory
Backstory: The character's life so far, including why they are where they are at the start of the story. For instance, a student at Pasholm Academy certainly is staying somewhere behind, perhaps with parents or guardians, and a Marauder should have the events leading up to joining with the dark organziation. Keep in mind preexisting relationships; it's only natural for both people from the school and members of the Marauders to be familiar with and have opinions of one another. You may wish to edit or add to this section as other characters are submitted for the RP. This section may include past lives lived by Blades
Appearance: Look to the Races section to get an idea of the suite you have to work with, though if you've chosen a Blade, the sky's basically the limit. If you've chosen a Blade, include his or her weapon
I'm planning to allow up to two characters per person. If a character is a Blade, he or she is irreparably tied to his or her Driver. While it would make sense to control both a Driver and a Blade, you could very well work with another player to establish a Blade-Driver duo. If you do this, however, keep in mind that you're dependent on one another, so choose someone you can depend on, and be aware that to avoid inundation with small posts you'll be expected to make collab posts with your partner very often
If you have any questions, I'd be more than happy to answer!
