(This is a specific interest check, targeting writers who are capable of and comfortable with writing 4-5+ paragraphs per average response, if not more. I specify this so that we can both have a fun experience and be well matched in writing style :). Additionally, I want to thank @Arista for helping me with some of the major details on it! Couldn't have done it without you! ;) Apologies for how long this is going to be, and how possibly error-ridden. I'm a bit tired.)
Competition Breeds Excellence
At least, it always had at the Hillsdale University for The Naturally Gifted, where students with an array of unique abilities are trained for the betterment of humanity. The Hillsdale a charming establishment, keeping even the most outdated of traditions alive from when it was founded, hundreds of years ago (including formal balls, hand-to-hand combat, and uncomfortable uniforms).
Young adults, upon graduating from secondary education (typically the time in their lives in which these unique powers begin to develop), are ushered to the wonderful estate of the institution, far from civilian cities and nestled in the northern part of Wales. It is here where the defenders of mankind are raised from simply humans that have been saddled with extraordinary gifts to masters of their supernatural abilities.
At the university, they are sorted into one of three ranks, and then one of three corresponding dorm arrangements. This initial sorting is primarily based on the rarity of their abilities, their performance on the entrance exam, and their academic performance (thanks @Arista!). Students can also ascend in these ranks to become leaders of their particular student faction or change from one rank to another based on major changes in ability.
Below, I will list the ranks, rank statuses, and potential superhuman abilities that a student at Hillsdale might possess.
Student Ranks: Elite: Students with very rare abilities and/or students that scored highest on entrance exam only. These students have the most luxurious dorms, and most opportunities to be selected for post-graduate employment at the school. Medietas: Students with fairly rare abilities and/or students that performed around average on the entrance exam. These students share a building with the Communia. These comfortable dorms are conveniently equidistant from the school library and the dining hall. Communia: Students with common abilities and/or students that performed poorly on the exam. These dorms are smaller than those of the Medietas, despite sharing the same building, and students in this rank have larger class sizes and therefore less specialized training. Titles Within Ranks: Alte: Student dorm supervisor, one per student class (one elite alte, one Medietas atle, and one Communia alte). Based on academis preformance and university standing. Probationis: Students that are in poor standing with the school for academic or disciplinary reasons. All other students are officially without titles.
Exceptionally Rare: Death-Handed: Can suck the life from organic beings with the touch, and the creatures they kill nor they themselves can be revived by a necromancer. Their power is weakened or strengthed by the cycles of the moon: when there is a small moon, they have limited power, and during a lunar eclipse, they have no power). They can speak to the dead in dreams. Immunitas: The ability to stay immune to all invasive powers, a person with this power's mind cannot be read and cannot die from the death-hand. They can also not be poisoned, die from asphyxiation or from bleeding out. To kill a person with this power, the brain and heart must both be destroyed.
Rare: Divine Sight: Minor telepathic abilities, general ability to manipulate surroundings with the mind, in special cases able to sway non-magical beings to do their bidding. People with this power live exceptionally long. Transmutation:: Shape-shifters, true forms can always be exposed using silver mirrors. Necromancy: Can communicate with spirits, call troubled souls back to intact bodies, and is occasionally granted visions of their own, or another person's, potential death. Divination: Similar to the necromancer's powers, can get mostly patchy visions of the future, on command through certain rituals. Empty Shell: Immunity to bodily harm, regardless of how fatal it may appear.
Uncommon: Teleportation: Ability to travel to any location within a radius (which increases with an individuals skill) in seconds. Shadows:The ability to manipulate and travel through shadows. Synesthesia: Ability to control individuals moods, inclinations, and behavior with music (however, this ability takes years to master and even when mastered, the effect is never so powerful that the strong-willed cannot break free). Healing: Ability to heal your own body, and the bodies of others. Also applies to shallow emotional damage (the amount that can be repaired coincides with individuals skill. Pyrokenises: The ability to manipulate fire. Pentacost: Ability to understand and speak in all languages, and have strong abilities to persuade others with words. Eden: Ability to manipulate plants, vegetation, and their growth rates.
Common: Familiar: The psychic link to a single magically endowed animal (i.e: a cat that can warn of disasters, or a snake that can change in size on command as it's partner's power grows) and the ability to control, understand, and train the animal. Aquarius: The ability to manipulate all forms of water. Midas: Ability to chance precious metals and stones into any shape, as well as turn organic objects to gold on command. Animal Telepaths: Can communicate to all animals telepathically. Ice: The ability to manipulate snow and ice, as well as to drop temperatures quickly and freeze any organic material. Enlightenment: Exceptional understanding, and quick learning abilities of all scholarly material. A person with this power, in very rare cases, can learn and master other powers. Holy light: The ability to manipulate light, and create healing crystals by trapping light. They can also create light with no resources.
Our roleplay would begin likely on the first day of a new academic year, although your character does not need to be a first-year student. Playing multiple characters is completely acceptable as well, and each character will have roughly two powers each. The plot of our roleplay will center around a looming threat to the University or its students that must be addressed, however, we can discuss details about that over PM as I am not even 100% sure what this main plot point should be yet. Perhaps no one will be interested in this, but I wanted to get the idea out there. Thanks for reading :D!
**Also, although this is a fantasy idea, please come with the intent to use a detailed description and/or realistic art/a faceclaim for your character (no cartoons please)! I find that usually without realistic characters, fantasy ideas have no anchor :). PM me if you are interested. Thanks! :)**
