[OOC] Dark Streets - Urban Fantasy Noir

[Rawk]

Hmm, been a busy few days but I'll try to get mine in before the deadline, otherwise, c'est la vie...

[Rawk]

@Penny, here's my CS draft. Hopefully I have it in on time for your consideration :)

Glyph

Fae Name: Glyph

Mortal Birth Name: Marcus Bellamy

Mortal Aliases: Robert, Alanna, Brian, Crae, Scarlet, Victor, Leigh, Aston, Paul, Alison, and probably several more even he couldn’t remember.

Character Concept: A Changeling trapped in the mortal realm with an identity crisis.

Trouble: Having to disguise himself from his former captors for many years, and grown into each role he’s portrayed, Marcus has all but lost himself completely, never truly remembering who he is.

Scene

Whoever said that it was easy to be different in a world that wouldn't understand was either lying, or was an idiot. And with “different”, meaning something of an abomination, even amongst their own kin. Marcus was born a mortal, only to be pulled into the faerie realm, tumbled about for a good twenty plus years through torture and servitude, only to escape into the human realm from whence he was taken.

As far back as he could remember, Marcus had always been a great actor, which allowed him a natural progression into one of the city’s best performing arts programs straight out of high school. He wasn’t the brightest tool in the shed, barely making it past many of the core academic classes throughout his childhood, but who needed good grades when you could simply deceive your way out of any situation? The only situation he’d been unable to escape from, however, was that of goblin invasion. Yep, they certainly came out of nowhere, quite literally infact, as a small dimensional portal opened in the far end stall of a restroom at the local theatre where he was to perform that night. But what were they looking for? And why? Marcus had no idea, but as the tall, lean nineteen year old walked toward the urinals to relieve himself of a large lemonade he’d gulped down an hour earlier, they waited for him. Waited. Watched. But not long enough, because midstream, the boy was snatched unawares by four of the half dozen little green, hairy creatures and dragged kicking, screaming, and pissing himself through the portal, which promptly closed behind them.

Marcus woke from his dreamlike state laying on the cold floor of a rusty cage, feeling oddly different, as though he’d had too much to drink and his skin was crawling in several directions. It turned out, he’d had nothing to drink, but his skin and muscle tissue was in fact morphing, reshaping into something, or perhaps someone different. The change was uncontrollable, as he tried to escape the cage, only to keel over in pain each time his body decided to transform into a different creature of relative size. Marcus heard only laughs from outside the cage, realizing he was the center of attention in a room full of strange beings. Each attempt he made to escape the cage was futile, and each shapeshifting episode drew screams of agony.

“What the hell is this?!” He eventually exclaimed between gritted teeth.
There was a moment of silence until a low, raspy voice from the dimly lit room spoke. “This is your tomb, boy.” And what followed was the most heinous guttural laugh he’d ever heard.

Years went by, and Marcus -who was eventually named “Glyph” by his masters- had become somewhat of a performer in the Faerie realm known as Arcadia. He wore many faces and personalities -male and female alike- all of which were honed and crafted to his liking, learning to shapeshift his entire body into many creatures that lurked within the land, as well as mortal guises he’d practiced on his own. Through clever use of innate Glamour and physical transformations, he learned to become that which he appeared as, to the point where he’d fooled even himself on many occasions. The Marcus he knew all those years back was but a shadow, and while he knew that he had not always been amongst the Fae, the fact that he had the capabilities to morph into humans was proof that he was himself once human. And with this knowledge, the actor formerly known as Marcus, would devise a plan to escape back into the mortal realm, and hide from his long time captors.

But how?

Oh, it didn’t long for Glyph to put on the show of his life, and while the audience was dazzled by the illusion who appeared on stage near the very end of the performance, it was the physical being who slipped into the dark forest to search for the hidden gateway that would send him back to the human plane. And so it happened. And upon his exit from Arcadia and entrance into an unknown dark urban landscape, he switched to that of a man in his late thirties, which is about where he would have been had he never left the mortal realm to begin with.

It was time for him to reclaim his independence after living under the heel of others. But the one question that seemed to linger in his mind was always the same...

“Who am I?”

[Rawk]

How goes the review process?

[Penny]

Much interrupted by thanksgiving but I should be back in the saddle tomorrow

[Penny]

After painful consideration I have decided to go with:

@Hour Error@POOHEAD189@Fetzen@Sophrus

Everyones character was excellent and I was sorely tempted to expand the RP but I really wanted to keep the group small. Thank you all so much for you interest!

If I picked your character please move it to the character tab. We will start workshoping shortly.

[Hour Error]

My body is ready.

[Penny]

@Fetzen Still with us?

[Fetzen]

@Fetzen Still with us?

@Penny

Yes I am :) I only had (once again...) an overflow of work-related issues this week combined with a mild cold. Thus the delay. I'm sorry :/

[Penny]

No problem, just wanted to be sure before I start the next step.

[Penny]

Workshoping:

Ok so lets get started! Part of the idea for this RP is that we workshop the world and, to an extent, the plot together.

Our city is going to be Detroit Michigan. Each of our characters has come here and plans on remaining here for the foreseeable future. You might have been here decades or days but for whatever reason Detroit is your home for the foreseeable future.

Locations. Other than your own home I would like everyone to put together an interesting location. It doesn't need to be super detailed, just something interesting and flavorful. It dosen't need to personally impact your character, although it certainly can. My example below:

Ambassador Bridge

The Ambassador Bridge connects Detroit to Windsor Canada. While it is an extremely busy route for normal humans in supernatural circles it is beginning to develop a rather sinister reputation. In the past twelve months magical beings which have attempted to cross the bridge have found themselves unable to do so as if blocked by some unfathomable compulsion. Wizards and other mortals who are aware of the supernatural world have attempted to investigate, some of them also felt strange compulsions not to cross, others have vanished entirely. The bar to passage does not seem to apply in the Canada to Detroit direction, but few in the community are willing to push their luck….

[POOHEAD189]

The Michigan Labor Legacy Monument

One of the few still working gateways between what the Norsemen call Midgard and various other planes, most notably the world of Faerie. It has not been used in many centuries however, and the monument itself is not the gateway, but was built around it as a covert symbol of its location.

The Detroit Windsor Tunnel

The tunnel that leads to Canada underwater. Due to its location, it is harmful and often fatal to some denizens of the night like Vampires. It is also reputedly a tunnel to Tír na nÓg, the old Celtic 'Other World,' or Asgard, depending upon your choice of trappings. Imps love to congregate here.

[Hour Error]

I'll commence the plotting.

Having recently found an old VtM rule book, I'm pretty tempted to write up some vampire themed night club.

[Hour Error]

The Bloody Needle

The Bloody Needle is a popular nightclub in Downtown Detroit, owned by Carmilla Krawczyk. Located in a former textile factory, it is a haven for the strange, the supernatural, and the sybaritic. Decorated in a Gothic fashion, the nightclub is a love letter to the Goth subculture of the 1980s. Unproven rumors have persisted since its inception that it is a front for the Russian mafia or perhaps an even more nefarious group of supernatural creatures. However, on any given night, well past the early morning hours, throngs of writhing revelers will be found, dancing within the heavy walls of the Bloody Needle, lost to the music and an innumerable variety of drugs.

Still looking for a suitable picture (happy for any suggestions).

[Fetzen]

St. Agnes Church

Public theory adopted by the more ordinary part of Detroit's population says that this building is hardly any more than a once brilliantly looking, but now very dilapidated building. It has been out of service and left mostly unattended for years, enough for the freeze and thaw cycles to destroy much of its interior. It is known by the police that the church has become a rather prominent place for drug dealing, but surprisingly little seems to be done about the advent of Warp 10, a new concoction that is said to push your mind and imagination to infinite speed -- at the cost of total breakdown afterwards. Rumors have it that its spread started here about a year ago, and by now its publicity is already ramping up at a disturbing rate. The questions are: Who invented this obviously magically enhanced powder ? Where is the equipment located required to produce this substance and who's making the money ?

Detroit salt mine

Detroit's underground is not entirely solid. Hundreds of feet below all the piping, cables and tunnels rich deposits of rock salt have been mined since the early stages of the 20th century. A few years ago a Canadian mining company acquired the entire business for an undisclosed price. Of course access to the mine is officially restricted to the company's employees, but vast subterranean voids left behind by decades of continuous extraction can be considered a tempting site to visit or even establish in.

[Sophrus]

Im still here and brewing up ideas =)

[Penny]

No problem, loving what we have so far!

[Sophrus]

Ok i think this is fun and interesting enough to play with.

Spirit of Detroit statue

The Spirit of Detroit statue looks just like any statue one might find in any park or other city, to those gifted with a sense for the magical can feel a strong force when near the statue. While many have wondered what magic lies within the statue none have ever managed to access its secrets. The current popular theory, though there are many others that are plausible and popular, is that it is an ancient Earth Elemental that has gone into dormancy and was somehow shaped into a statue and coated in bronze after its slumber began. A second common theory is that it is a dormant Golem awaiting a master or a set of conditions to awaken.

Spoiler

Made you look ;) actually i have no firm idea on this. Anything that helps the story really

Northville Psychiatric hospital

The area around the Northville Psychiatric Hospital has largely become an exclusion zone as anyone who treads too closely to the building will be filled with a sense of fear and dread that would turn away all but the most iron-willed. Even being within about a mile of the structure induces anxiety. Several people have gone missing, including a pair of police, though there is no official explanation why the area is off limits. Those in the magical community have attempted to ascertain what is causing the fear but have largely come up with nothing. All that is known is that someone attempted divination before going mad and murdering 3 people in a psychotic rage.

Spoiler

Im thinking Lovecraftian creature like a Shoggoth or something

[Penny]

Alright! A few final questions. You can loop other characters into these but only if they agree.

@POOHEAD189 - Someone broke an important promise to Caber. Who is it and what was the promise?

@Hour Error - Vera is involved in some sort of scheme at the moment. What is it and how is it likely to blow up in everyone's face?

@Sophrus - Who does Thaum run to when he gets in over his head?

@Fetzen - You recently witnessed something strange, unexplained and dangerous. What is it and why are you keeping it a secret?

[Sophrus]

@Penny

That would depend on the nature of 'over his head' and possibly what you mean by 'who'

For example most issues can be taken care of by summoning entities that can solve the problems for him either by being big and mean or knowing about what he wants to know.

So I suppose do you mean a go to summon or more of an ally to give him a safe haven? Or should I just get a hand full of demons he uses and an ally?

[Penny]

@Sophrus When thinks get really bad who does he go to. It dosen't need to be a demon but I suppose it can be. If vampires were burning down your apartment block right now who would be on your speed dial.