Letter Bee's Character Sheets

[Letter Bee]

Name and Age: Ariel Fitzherbert, 21

Physical Appearance:



Personality: Right now, Ariel's current mood is anger and resentment at getting passed over by Sleekswift Incorporated, as well as a certainty that this was because of the strength of her competitor's connections instead of actual ability. This feeling of being 'cheated' also dovetails with her feeling that she was passed over because she was a local of the town, even though that should have been an advantage. Though aware of her talents and clearly not humble, Ariel possesses a strong civic loyalty towards the place she was born in and returned to after long years of international study, loyalty only strengthened by her absence from it.

Mundane Skills: Ariel is experienced in computer programming and cyber-security, able to lead an IT team to secure entire companies' mainframes, design websites, and provide tech support to consumers. Unlike most other people of her professional class, she is also good with a gun and has hunted Feral Pigs along with her father in her youth, and knows how to drive rougher vehicles like tractors and SUVs as well as the sleeker sort of car. She also knows the basics of Art and Architecture, as some of her prospective clients wanted good-looking website art and 3D models of planned buildings.

Arcana: Fool.

Persona: Burroughs



Elemental Strength: Bless.
Elemental Weakness: Curse.

Memetic Wild Weapons: Hunting Rifle, Plasma Saber.

Short Bio: Ariel Fitzherbert was born in Breezeton itself, to loving parents who ran a small restaurant together. Her intelligence was noticed from an early age, leading to isolation from other children from the start, isolation lightened by the presence of her father and frequent hunting trips to eliminate the local meneace of feral pigs. Her father was a shining beacon in her life, and she later regarded him as the most important person in her upbringing. But nevertheless, as she grew up, her skill and experience with computers grew, and it eventually drew the attention of a prestigious NGO that searched for young talent everywhere they can find it.

Leaving was hard, especially as it was at sixteen, when people like her should be enjoying life, but Ariel knew the benefits by now. Her parents' restaurant was failing and so was the town, and she knew that whatever happened, she was going to need a way to help it. And so she left for the East Coast, and later Britain and Japan, expanding her horizons at prestigious universities as she learned the pleasures of the educated and professional life. Part of her was glad to finally have peers, to be part of a world that was sophisticated and subtle, intelligent and worldly. News of what was happening in her town reached her, but she began to worry less and less.

Then her father died, reminding her of her obligations to home. She returned home for the funeral, during which she saw what was happening to Breezeton firsthand. An increase in drug abuse, less-safe streets, young people fleeing, it was a disaster. At least Big Tech and Information companies like Sleekswift were setting up shop thanks to declining property prices, though. Wasn't that a boon? Either way, perhaps she should seek a job in it after she finished her education.

And Ariel did just that, but after taking a few job interviews, during which she behaved as professionally as possible, Sleekswift decided to give the job she wanted to another person from out-of-state, Ephraim Thompson. It was then that she realized that the local Sleekswift HQ chose to hire people as far away from Breezeton as possible, as well as socially-pressured its employees from mixing with 'the locals'. More damningly, Sleekswift was driving up property prices and driving out people she'd known since childhood, with her mother only being safe because Sleekswift had not gotten to her block yet.

This town was dying and Sleekswift seemed ready to profit from that. She would not take it lying down.

[Letter Bee]

Noble Arms: Restoring Hope - With Gratitude to TheHangedMan

In the twilight of World War II, a mysterious power surfaced among select humans. This power, the Noble Arm, was the ability to conjure up a paranormal weapon that can defy the laws of physics, a weapon innate in the user's mind and summoned by their will into reality. For reasons that still cannot be explained despite years of research, Noble Arms only take the form of weapons from before the First World War, however, despite the antiquity of these forms, the power they bare to the battlefield is unlike anything modern technology has been able to produce.

The ability to manipulate the elements to the users will.

Force that can reduce matter down to atoms in seconds.

The strength to withstand the explosion of a nuclear missile.

All of these powers and more still have surfaced along side Noble Arms, and the ones who bear them, the Arms Masters, are sought after by countries all around the world. Where once the strength of a country was decided by the technological strength of their Army, it is now judged by the power of their Arms Masters.

But this state of affairs has produced sadness and strife; the world was not prepared for the possibility of superhumans, people who just by existing, challenge the notion of equality between men. And so Arms Masters and Normal Humans live in an uneasy state of coexistence, with radicals on both sides wishing to shatter the peace and dominate one another.

The year is 2020, ten years since the Union of Arab Republics was shattered by the Hammer of Masters, an organization which believes that Arms Masters are not part of humanity, but a 'master race' destined to dominate the world. The Hammer, relying on the immense power of their Noble Arms, broke the governments and armies of Syria and Iraq (Egypt is fine; it regained its independence from the UoAR some decades ago), establishing the 'State of Masters', a regime dedicated to the supremacy of those who held Noble Arms. But in the moment of their triumph, their 'Malik', Yusuf Al-Kindi, was poisoned by a discontented slave, and their state fell apart.

Now was the turn of the second group of radicals, the Disablers, to emerge. Normal humans who believed that Arms Masters were a seperate race of monsters and freaks, the Disablers felt vindicated in their genocidal creed and with help from volunteers from the United States, Europe, and Russia, sparked an armed revolt where guns, bombs, and poison proved the bane of many members of the State of Masters. Exterminating even innocent children, the Disablers brought down the remnants of the State of Masters, plunging the centre of the Middle East into an anarchic void.

Enter Operation: Symbiosis. An armed force funded by multiple nations, corporations, and the two rival organizations called the Arms of Nobility and Organization for Disarmament, Operation Symbiosis is a numerous, well-funded, but fractious force divided in its goals. Should it restore order to the region, or just be content with dismantling the remnants of the State of Masters and the more radical Disablers? Should it ally with local forces to do so, even those that profess religious radicalism (like that has ever worked in other worlds)?

And if it did both of those things, should it attempt a utopian vision in which Arms Masters and Normal Humans cooperate with one another instead of conflict, and if so, does it have a chance?

Only time and your involvement will tell.

------

Basically, unlike previous versions of Noble Arms, Restoring Hope is a semi-sandbox RP where (almost) every faction is playable, although Operation: Symbiosis (see below) members are preferred. You can play adult military or civilian personnel as well as the usual 'child prodigy' characters. In fact, adults are more encouraged in this setting for obvious reasons. You can also play normal people, people who do not have any Noble Arms and have to rely on technology.

Membership in a faction allows one the perks and privileges that each organization (see below) has; for example, an Operation: Symbiosis member has decent rations, medical care, and access to the latest technology, but also risks the hatred of the local population and the wrong side of a roadside bombing if they're not careful. PCs are limited only to the rank of Colonel or the equivalent (unless with special permission from the GM) but can get promoted up to Faction Leader if they are careful. They can also increase the power of their Noble Arm (if they have any) or gain access to more sophisticated technologies in time.

PCs can also start at multiple places in the region, within reason - We don't want PCs being too far from each other. The general direction of the plot will be guided by 'Region Events', such as the Operation: Symbiosis deployment, the resolution of the war against the Hammer of Masters (see below), and Kuwait and the Gulf's attempts to undermine the Aishanids of Barsa (see below). PCs are expected to react to these 'Region Events' and even start their own once they grow powerful and influential enough.

Note again that Operation: Symbiosis members are preferred for the first few applications...

Noble Arms

Noble Arms:
Noble Arms take the form of weaponry that were created before World War I; each Noble Arm posses powerful abilities beyond normal human capacity, however they can only be used if they are released into reality by their user. Noble Arms exist in a kind of 'hyperspace' that is unique to its user and can be called from there - in essence, an Arms Master is always armed.
Noble Arms have an astonishingly versatile ability pool, from calling down fire, to strengthening the body, etc., and more often than not, possess more than one ability. However, similar to physical activity, using a Noble Arm is draining physically and moreso mentally - extended use of ability is much akin to overexerting yourself on both fronts, and as such, so much more fatal to overdo.

Noble Arm Ratings:
Noble Arms are rated according to how valuable they are, and that value is determined using to factors: Rarity of effect, and military usage. The strength of a Noble Arm is thus determined by how many military and police countermeasures are in place. The rankings go from F to A. There exist Noble Arms that change strength depending on the situation, and are added with the additional "+" symbol.

Examples of determining rank and its effects is:

A Noble Arm Capable of strengthening its user is common, and can easily be countered by police officers with proper ordinance, and thus, merits an E rank, its user is not notable to the government and subsequently ignored.

On the other hand, a Noble Arm capable creating explosions in the atmosphere is uncommon and dangerous, as such, the user must undergo a government registration form and placed under mild scrutiny. The Noble Arm in question will merit a C or B rank.

Finally, there are Noble Arms that can achieve effects akin to nuclear explosions. Such Noble Arms are both rare and extremely dangerous to countries at large. Its user will be under constant surveillance and limits will be placed on the usage of their Noble Arm. Such Noble Arms are always rated A.

Global Organizations

Arms of Nobility

An organization bent on pushing the importance of Noble Arms and Arms Masters, and is the chief backer of their rights globally. Many of its supporters are wealthy and well known, however, they often face strong opposition from non-Arms Masters due to the agenda's they push and the number of benefits they desire for Arms Masters. In a reluctant truce with the Organization for Disarmament to back Operation:Symbiosis.

Organization for Disarmament

An organization determined to limit the use of Noble Arms and the suppression of Arms Masters. Their main goal is to abolish schools and facilities dedicated to Noble Arms and to limit the occupation of Arms Masters to the military only. Often, they are supported by many labor unions and social media outlets. In a reluctant truce with the Arms of Nobility to back Operation Symbiosis.

The Hammer of Masters

A terrorist organization bent on creating a world were Arms Masters are the rulers. Their ideology is that Arms Masters are not, in fact, human, but a new superior race that deserves to be in power. The current number of members is unknown, however, they have 2 confirmed A ranked Arms Masters in their ranks, a fact that worries many countries.

In the former UoAR, the Hammer holds the cities of Raqqa in Syria and Mosul in Iraq, as well as the central portions of each country (contested with the DIsablers).

The Disablers

A terrorist organization bent on erasing or otherwise oppressing Arms Masters. Their ideology is that Arms Masters are not, in fact, human, but a race of monsters born with nothing but the ability to bring misery and destruction and as such must be culled or otherwise strictly controlled. A cause that many have joined and more have supported, and because of the support they have garnered from the masses, they are able to move through countries and city with relative ease.

The Disablers hold Baghdad and Tikrit in Iraq, as well as Damascus and Homs in Syria.

Local Organizations

Operation: Symbiosis

Arms Masters and Conventional Forces working together in order to restore order to Syria and Iraq, Operation: Symbiosis is either the last and greatest hope for peace and order in the region or a foreign force using those concepts as a smokescreen for seizing the area's resources. Numbering 150,000 strong (including 1,500 Arms Masters of varying strengths), Operation: Symbiosis is technologically sophisticated, with its backers calling on old favors (and it is rumored mind control) to acquire access to American, Chinese, and Russian weaponry. But these advantages can only win them the conventional war, not the battle for Hearts and Minds...

The Democratic Forces of Syria and Iraq

Formed by the Kurdish people as a 'self-defense force' in the years before the Hammers' coup, the Democratic Forces of Syria and Iraq gained mass appeal due to the 'State of Masters' and Disablers' oppressive policies, which drove Yazidis, Armenians, Assyrians, Turkmen and Zororastrians into the DFSI's grasp, along with masses of ordinary Arabs. The most powerful force in what was once the north of the UoAR, the DFSI is one of the most interested in allying with Operation: Symbiosis, and has hinted that only they can prevent the international forces from being chewed up by local insurgents... Or ensure it. They number 75,000, and are simulteanously besieging Mosul and Raqqa, the twin Capitals of the State of Masters.

Al-Nursa Front (Not Playable)

Islamic Fundamentalists who control Idlib Province in Syria.

Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (Not Playable)

Islamic Fundamentalists and radical terrorists who rule over the city of Fallujiah in Iraq, but have cells all across the former UoAR, including Independent Egypt.

The Aishanid Caliphate of Barsa

Barsa, Iraq, was under siege by the Hammer of Masters and their enslaved mortal minions, while suffering bombings and assassinations by the Islamic State day in and day out. Then one day rose an Arms Master by the name of Aisha, who claimed to be the Aisha, the favorite wife of Muhammad, who had returned from death to restore the true spirit of Islam which had been distorted by evil men after the Battle of the Camel in 656 AD. Normally, this would be a ridiculous claim by anyone, even an Arms Master, but 'Aisha Returned' was able to manifest powers only the most powerful Noble Arms had shown, marking her as powerful enough to back up her words. Taking up arms against the 'State of Masters' and ISIS, 'Aisha Returned' was able to liberate Barsa by herself and was acclaimed ruler by the relieved (or terrified) population. She then declared the liberation and equality of Woman beside Man and transformed Barsa into a prosperous and fertile oasis city with her Noble Arm's powers. Is another potential ally of Operation: Symbiosis.

Neigboring Nations

Turkey - Hates the Democratic Forces of Syria and Iraq and wants to take pieces of both northern Syria and Iraq for itself; is in an economic depression due to bad economic policies. Might be discreetly backing Islamic State against Disablers and Hammer of Masters.

Saudi Arabia - Is concerned about the Hammer of Masters and the Disablers and is openly backing Al-Nursa Front and the Islamic State.

Lebanon - Small country allied to Operation Symbiosis.

The Twin States of Israel and Palestine - Israel has very good Arms Masters, but Palestine has twice as many, and the Hammer of Masters wants to dismantle them both. Therefore, in 2010, Israel decided to concede everything to the Palestinans, including withdraw from West Bank settlements, give them East Jerusalem as their capital, and allow Palestinian refugees to return to Israeli territory. These decisions were controversial (to put it mildly), but bore fruit as the Hammer of Masters brought down an asteroid on both nations soon after, an asteroid as large as the one that killed the Dinosaurs and would have driven the rest of humanity except for Arms Masters extinct if it had hit. To halt the asteroid, Israeli and Palestinian Arms Masters had to work together, with many of them dying due to the strain of shielding the world. And after that, more Palestinian Noble Arms wielders survived than the Israelis (though not so much that they would simply have been able to overwhelm the latter), forcing further cooperation lest the Hammer and Disablers destroy them both.

Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar - Aligned with Saudi Arabia in foriegn policy, including backing Islamic State. Tried to attack Barsa to depose 'Aisha Returned', and got thorougly beaten. Are afraid of the Hammer of Masters.

Iran - Supporting the Disablers despite having Noble Arms wielders as part of its armed forces. It does not have Nukes as it already has Arms Masters, and it is using the disorder caused by the collapse of the UoAR to expand its influence and power, with the goal of invading Iraq and Syria and forging a new empire that would reach the Mediterranean.

Egypt - Glad it is independent of the former UoAR.

Character Sheet

[center][b]Appearance:[/b] (Picture preferred, although written descriptions are good too. Also, please included miscellaneous information such as height and weight.)[/center]

[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b] (13 is the minimum age; even Operation: Symbiosis employs 'child geniuses' or child Arms Masters in strictly [i]non-combat[/i] roles.

[b]Nationality:[/b]

[b]Noble Arm Name & Appearance:[/b]

[b]Noble Arm Abilities:[/b] (No maximum number, however, try and be sensible about this. Just because you [i]can[/i] doesn't mean you [i]should[/i], also be as detailed as you can, especially on its strengths, weaknesses, and effects.)

(As a clarification, no A-ranked Noble Arms; Noble Arms that can cause the equivalent of a nuclear explosion. B-class Noble Arms, which can explode city blocks, are also severely restricted; they will only be allowed if the user can be trusted not to use them too much [i]and[/i] if they have to pay a cost to their body and mind.)

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]*Likes:[/b]

[b]*Dislikes:[/b]

[b]Fears:[/b]

[b]Bio:[/b]

[b]*Current Goal:[/b]

[b]Military Rank:[/b] If a member of Operation Symbiosis.

*Optional

Rules

1.) Cooperative storytelling comes first. You are not here to godmode by gaming/breaking the system to make yourself as powerful as possible. You are not here to use your powers to brute-force all obstacles the GM brings before you, or use sophistry, psychological tricks, or 'mental influence magic' to win every diplomatic confrontation. If you find 'Storygaming' an ugly word, this is not the RP for you.
2.) Nor does an angsty backstory that fits various 'story beats' make your character good if their purpose is to defeat everyone and establish themselves as superior top dogs and otherwise make it an arms race with the GM on who can godmode more. If you're not going to use your angsty backstory to make a good story, this is not the RP for you.
3.) That said, powerful characters and angsty backstories are permitted, as long as they are made by players who are willing to cooperate with each other and the GM to make a good dynamic story that isn't just 'X overpowers Y' by bending the rules so far they break, violating the spirit of said rules, and (to quote Dave Brookshaw of Onyx Path publishing) of course, common sense.
4.) I am not as lenient as TheHangedMan. If you cannot obey the prior three rules, you don't need to respond to this thread at all; there are other games for you.
5.) Do not be an asshole.
6.) Post length is five sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.

Differences from the Original and IRL Life

- Joshua Bannings, the Champion of the Noble Arms Summit, has been replaced by 'William Ascot'.
- The Iraq War did not happen in this timeline, although Afghanistan did. Operation: Symbiosis is the first intervention by international forces in both Syria and Iraq in this timeline.
- Grace Poe is this timeline's President of the Philippines and not Rodrigo Duterte.
- Jim Mattis is this timeline's President of the United States instead of Donald Trump or Hilary Clinton.
- More to follow.
- Syria and Iraq are (nominally) united into one country, with Egypt being part of said union as well until 2010.

[Letter Bee]

Iliad City: A Magical RP in an Original World

I. Intro

In another universe, seperated from ours' by impassable barriers, lies the planet of Historia, inhabited by Humans much like us, but blessed with impossible powers that we think of as 'Magic'.

Magic is a daily part of life, existing alongside technology just as advanced as ours', although some integrate magic with science to create advanced inventions. But it is a widely held belief among the people that the highest form of Magic is Storytelling, and that The One Deity, the Creator of the Multiverse, gave Humanity the power to warp reality through the telling of stories.

Three thousand years before the present day, when the greatest storyteller of that time, the Illuminated Poet, sang of the grief and joy of Humanity, appealing to The One Deity to provide a way through their sufferings. In response, The One himself came down and sang his own song, the Epics of Making and Unmaking, by which Humanity and whatever sapient beings lived beyond Historia was granted freedom from the will of the divine. From the Epic of Making were instructions for the casting of Magic, allowing Humanity to better their lives and that of others' at will, while the Epic of Unmaking allows one to reset the Universe itself back to the beginning, with the person or people who use it given power co-equal to The One Deity himself, but without infinite intelligence or wisdom.

And so the Illuminated Poet taught pieces of the Epic of Making to those who followed him, turning them into the first Magi. The Epic of Unmaking, however, was transmitted directly into the souls of his own children, the Twenty Sons and Thirty Daughters, who each inherited a fragment of the Epic. He then prophesied that the more descendants they have, the more the Epic of Unmaking will be shattered and its pieces spread out among each scion and that the Epic will only be completed once more when the descendants of the Illuminated Poet are reduced to one person, who will then have the decision to reset the universe.

The intention, of course, was to make sure that the universe will be reset only if Humanity becomes irredeemably corrupt and/or the amount of suffering in existence multiplies to an unbearable level. Despite the risks involved with the existence of such a power, a 'contingency plan' for Humanity was still regarded as necessary by all parties, including The One.

Fast-forward to the present, and the majority of the descendants of the Illuminated Poet have suffered purges, slaughters, genocides and massacres from the various nations of the world due to ignorance and misunderstanding, or even outright lies spread by their enemies. Their one safe refuge is Illiad City, an independent city-nation founded by the freethinkers and outcasts of the world, people dedicated to artistic and philosophical pursuits, as well as worshippers of The One Deity. Despite the hostility of other nations towards it, its access to a greater portion of the Epic of Making makes it equivalent to the great empires of the world in Magical might.

But now, a feud is brewing in the two prime Magical Academies of the city, a feud brewing from how to deal with the world's hostility towards them. Ironically, this feud might be the one thing that brings down the metropolis...

II. The Factions of Iliad City

Marduk Academy for The Mystic Arts Holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Heroic' Magic - The Magic of Light, the Elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth), and the power to heal the wounded and the sick with mystic energy alone. Their students are the champions of the defenseless, the honorable knights-errant and the wise wizards. But confronted with the hatred of other nations towards them, they seek a 'muscular' foreign policy, asking that Iliad City use its magical might to conquer the neighboring empires and repressive states that wish to destroy Illiad before they grow too strong. However, whispers are being heard that push for more than that - That Marduk Academy should attempt to rule the world so that no nation would exterminate the descendants of the Illuminated Poet once again.

And Professor Gilgamesha, its Principal, is beginning to listen...

Ishtar School for Creative Minds, on the other hand, holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Black' Magic - The Magic of Darkness, Entropy, Blood and Death, as well as the power to inflict agony and weaken their enemies. Their students are the spies and assassins, the dark knights whom monsters and criminals fear. Despite this, they used to work alongside Marduk Academy, until Professor Nergal, it's principal, began urging for the casting of the Spell of Otherworldly Travel, which will transport Iliad City onto another dimension where its people can live in peace. Problem is that 1.) This requires the pieces of the Epic of Making that Marduk Academy does have, and 2.) Marduk Academy considers Ishtar's solution cowardly. And so the feud begins to simmer...

The Cassandra Club is the newest faction in the block, a small band of students from both Academies and a larger group from other schools who believe that the brewing feud between Marduk Academy and Ishtar School is being engineered by a 'sinister force' outside the city as part of a grand plan to conquer Iliad City and acquire the Epics of Making and Unmaking. Not merely that, but they believe in asking the question: Why do other nations hate us? What are the lies they've been fed in order to kill off the descendants of the Illuminated Poet? Do they even know that they are completing the Epic of Unmaking? And if so, who is trying to do so and is he someone who can take advantage of the power to rewrite the universe?

However, the fact that they are led by Professor Gilgamesha's younger son, William Ascot, means that their warnings and questions are ignored as childish rebellion (Marduk) or a power play by Gilgamesha (Ishtar).

III. Interesting Places in Iliad City

WIP, to be added in the game.

IV. How Magic Works

All Magic comes from instructions given in the Epic of Making, which in turn is a long poem or song that details the transference of a part of The One Deity's power to mortal Humanity, and the basic mental exercises used to 'pull' magical power from the depths of one's own soul to make what you imagine real.

The various 'types' of Magic come from concepts common to humanity, concepts that you either come up with or you are taught. If you can imagine a 'type' of magic, you can use it as long as you can come up with enough energy to do so. However, you cannot take magical energy from the surrounding environment, because of the fact that only Humans (or fully sapient aliens, if they exist) have magical energy.

Anyone can learn Magic, but few have the combination of strength of heart and imagination to be truly good at it. Therefore, Magical Academies are important so that what existing Magi already imagined before can be taught to other people. Basically, magical systems exist, but they are merely shortcuts for the human mind - You can totally make up your own magic system if you have energy and imagination.

But for those who cannot make up their own system or 'type' of Magic, here are the common systems that the Magical Academies teach:

Marduk Academy:

Elemental and Light Magic - Elemental Magic can directly control Fire, Water, Wind, Air, and Light, or create them out of nothing. This type can make fireballs, divert streams, lift the earth, cause gusts of wind, or smite people with blasts of pure energy. However, it cannot heal, enhance people, or predict the future unless mixed with another type of magic.

Healing Magic - Healing Magic can close wounds and replenish blood, cure diseases and heal cancer. However, only a few take it without mixing it with Elemental and Light Magic so that they can defend themselves or attack in turn.

Enchantment/Enhancement Magic - This covers Magic that strengthens the user, making them stronger, faster, and tougher, as well as Magic that can make mystic items and artifacts. By combining this school with the above two types of Magic, one can create swords that light up with fire, shields that are as light as cloth, and potions that when drunk, close wounds...

Ishtar School

The Combat Arts - Ishtar School thinks differently than Marduk Academy and does not divide Magic according to what it creates/controls, but rather according to the intent they are used for. In short, it doesn't matter that Magic used for fighting uses the elements, darkness, or even candy canes (although that last part is not encouraged), what matters is that the magic is used to fight.

The Kind Arts - This covers any use of magic meant to heal, protect, enhance and generally do positive things. As Ishtar School is still dedicated to what they think is Good, the Kind Arts are not discouraged, but those who learn them are encouraged to use Darkness, Ectoplasm, or just 'invisible waves of energy' to heal and never be too blatant about it.

The Dark Arts - Causing Agony. Disturbing the Dead from their rest. Draining magical energy from other human beings. All of those are regarded as necessary evils in Ishtar School, and they are taught to those students whom the faculty thinks can be trusted with their secrets. Darkness or 'invisible waves of energy' are mostly used as a 'conduit' for such powers, but some few use the Elements or even Light to give shape and range to their dark purposes. Beware of those.

Unnamed Schools, Mentors, Secret Societies, Etc.

Ex. Miscellenia - Anything you can think of as long as it's not too powerful or too gross. Candy Magic, Magical Girl Transformations, Exorcisms, go wild!

V. Rules

1.) Do not be an asshole.
2.) Take NSFW to PMs.
3.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without a magical shield.
4.) This game is friendly to m/m and f/f romance.

VI. Character Sheet

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Bio:[/b]
[b]Mundane Skills:[/b]
[b]Magic:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Faction (Marduk, Ishtar, or Cassandra):[/b]
[b]Are you a Descendant of the Illuminated Poet?:[/b] Simple yes or no question.

[Letter Bee]

Mercenaries of Olivenland - Fantasy RP set in the same world as Intrigues of Venedig

I. Intro

Intro

At the very edge of the Great Western Continent, divided between the Inland and Outer Seas, is the strife-torn region of Olivenland, so-named after the precious olives that grow close to its coasts, olives which are worth their weight in gold.

Divided between two dozen petty duchies, counts, and the occassional merchant republic, Olivenland offers as many opportunities as Venedig, opportunities for wealth, fame, land and luxury. But what Olivenland can give an enterprising person that Venedig cannot is the chance to be free of the laws of the Reich des Goldenen Ghrales, the Empire that stands strong over the Great Western Continent and the Inland Sea for better or worse.

But the cost of freedom is high - Olivenland is a place where without friends and allies, you are as likely to die in an alleyway as you are to rule your own castle, and be enslaved as likely as you are to own slaves. Where in Venedig, you are safe from petty criminals, in Olivenland, no street or crossroad is free from bandits and desperate men, such is the lawlessness of the times.

Enter the Primefire Battalion. Newly-founded by Rote Kaufmann, the Hero of Venedig, this mercenary company was formed in the aftermath of the Electrum Amnesty, where the enslaved members of the Nobles' Rebellion were freed and restored to their old ranks by Emperor Karl Maximillian XV Schwanhueter. The Emperor had been manipulated and misled by an evil cult (which had tricked the Nobles into starting the Rebellion in the first place) into sentencing them into slavery in the first place, and the evil cult had nearly brought the world into ruin by almost summoning Mansbane, most bloodthirsty of the Old Gods, in Venedig itself.

Now vindicated, Rote has reconciled with the Emperor in full, but many of the people in both the Reich and Venedig aren't as accepting of the resolution of the crisis as they were. So Rote decided to use the connections he had formed in Venedig in order to form his own mercenary company: Its goal, to gather the re-ennobled ex-slaves who were still furious about the Emperor's actions into an enterprise worthy of their fury - The foundation of a new kingdom in Olivenland, and the restoration of order there!

------

Welcome, one and all, to yet another RP set in the world of Erde. Unlike Intrigues of Venedig, this will not be a 'Semi-Open World RP', but rather a more linear story, albeit where the players can still make decisions as to what plot hooks to tackle and what the main direction and ending of the plot is.

II. Interesting Countries that Trade with Venedig

Reich des Goldenen Grahles

The overlords of most of the Great Western Continent, the Reich des Goldenen Grahles was born from a boy's broken dream, a dream whose end resulted in a new beginning for the men of the north.

A long, long time ago, the Gods and Goddesses empowered Heroes to fight for them, all except their Queen, the Keeper of the Golden Grahl, from whose cup all magical energies flowed. One day, a young man, Phillip, went to the Holy Vale, where Kaiserstadt now stands, to wonder why this was so. Passing through the Three Trials set by the Keeper, Philip faced the Goddess, who answered his question thus:

"As you have come through my tests, you deserve the truth. The reason I do not raise up heroes and heroines is because I am no Goddess, nor are my family Gods. We are but men and women who have drunk from this Grail," she would present the cup to him, "which in turn draws its power from Existence itself. Therefore, Existence is the only True God."

Outraged at this answer, Philip snatched the Cup away from the woman, and drank from it. And so he became a 'God' himself, and the most powerful of all.

After this, Philip exiled from Erde the Keeper of the Golden Grahl and her brethren, the Gods and Goddesses, before casting the cup into a chasm deep within the world. And this is the reason why anyone with the right knowledge can tap into the earth for magical energy at need. Philip then looked back at the world, and saw his younger brother, Peter, who was learning how to be a healer. Deciding that the age of warrior-heroes was over, he empowered Peter as the first Hero of a New Age, commanding him to unite the people of the Northwestern Continent in worship of Existence, which they are also a part of...

The next few centuries were of expansion and innovation, as Philip, from his realm in the Higher Planes, empowered more 'non-warriors', artisans, thinkers, and even traders, to increase the development and sophistication of the empire founded by his Brother, an Empire that saw the Golden Grahl as the symbol of Existence itself, and who spent every waking moment trying to discover more about the laws that guided it, and how to reshape said laws to their liking.

And so, life was good...until the last direct descendant of Peter, Wolfram the High, tried to conjure up the Grahl from the center of Erde so that he can become a God himself. He failed, and the calamity broke the Northwestern Continent in two, creating the Great Inland Sea, and turning the future site of Venedig into a set of isles in a lagoon.

However, the Holy Vale had enough lingering magic to save a great multitude of people, and from this was continued the Reich des Goldenen Grahles, now ruled by the Schwanhueter dynasty, descendants of Wolfram's Keeper of the Swans, Karl Maximillian I. But not all believed in the legitimacy of this new ruler, and others believed that the Reich as a whole had been a mistake and that the disparate peoples of humanity should go their own way. But Karl Maximillian I and his descendants managed to regain the allegiance of huge swathes of land, including the nascent city of Venedig.

One Millenium Later, the Reich has yet to restore the full extent of Wolfram the High's Empire, and its current ruler, Karl Maximillian XV, was content to let it be so, but less content to bow to the demands of his own nobles, who had been given many privileges by his father and grandfather, so that they would help them snatch up the 'Rebellious Provinces'. And so, after matters came to a head, the nobles rose up in rebellion, which was crushed by the Emperor with the help of a new weapon: Gunpowder.

After this, Karl Maximillian XV was the unquestioned master of the Reich des Goldenen Grahles, but his eldest son, Otto, was stabbed to death with shivs while visiting a cell filled with imprisoned rebels in order to reassure them of clemency. Needless to say, the Emperor was outraged, and promptly issued the infamous Iron Decree, which ordered that all the imprisoned nobles and their families would be sold to slavery in Venedig. And so it was done.

Update: Thanks to the Church of Existence proving that the entire Noble's Rebellion and Civil War was an attempt by an evil Cult to undermine faith in the Reich as a nation in preperation for said Cult's summoning of the Old Gods back to Erde, the Iron Decree was replaced with the Electrum Amnesty, which restored the freedom and noble ranks of the enslaved members of the Noble's Rebellion. But many of the ex-noble ex-slaves weren't willing to live under the reign of an Emperor who can allow himself to be advised to such cruelty, and so left the Reich entirely, exiling themselves. This was not wholly regarded as unhappy by the people of the Empire, as in other respects, Karl Maximillian XV was proving a wiser ruler than before...

Celestial Empire of Tian

"People say the Gods are Uncaring, and that is a general truth. But as it is a general rule, there must be an exception," this was the words of the first traveler from Tian to reach Venedig.

Once, there was a Dragon, who was also a God. This Dragon reigned over a mild land, and watched over its people with a pleasing eye, appreciating the way that they formed societies and organizations. One day, to see them up close, the Dragon took human form, in order to find out more about these creatures.

And what he saw was this: They smiled, they laughed in joy, they cried, they lived and they loved. And he loved them back. But when he turned back into a dragon and went back to the heavens, he saw that no matter what he did, great and small, he would always harm those who looked up to him, either by not doing enough or by doing too much. After that, he cried, and the tears of the Dragon fell down into human lands, dispersing into magical energy, and empowering the first Magi.

And that is the real reason why humans are able to do magic...

With myths and legends that contradict the Goldenen Grahles' and the Confederation's, the Celestial Empire of Tian believe that Love is the true moving force of the universe, and that all pain, all suffering, will be ended once everything in existence, from the lowest insect to the highest God, are united in one harmonious whole. Disunity and Separation, they believe, is an illusion, or at best, a wound, a wound that can only be healed by communion with others, a communion that recaptures, at least for a moment, the greater unity with Love.

But despite this, the citizens of the Celestial Empire do not eschew individuality altogether, or at least, the majority doesn't. Everyone must find their own ways of communing with other people, their own paths to unity, and true harmony comes from realizing that people can change roles, lives, and characters, and yet still remain part of the whole.

Thus, under a good Emperor, chosen from among the descendants of the Dragon, the Celestial Empire of Tian is a good place to live, where food is plentiful, medicine and literacy are widespread, and the roads and borders are kept safe by large, well-organized armies of professional troops. Under a good Emperor.

The current ruler of Tian, Emperor Gao Ming, is anything but 'good'. In the interests of spreading harmony and love across all corners of Erde's globe, Gao Ming had delved into forbidden arts, conducting experiments on blood and souls in hopes of 'condensing' people into raw magical energies, which he considers to be the purest manifestation of Unity. Crushing dissent using an aborrhent artifact of immense magical power, the Whip of Chainbringer, God of Slavery, Gao Ming has sent his armies to expand in all directions, and even sent spies and emissaries to Venedig, hoping to find a way to take control of the city...

Update: Gao Ming's Agents in Venedig failed, but in such a way that ties with Tian were not too seriously disrupted. But realizing that the Reich was too strong, the Celestial Empire sent more agents further afield, in order to look for opportunities in the region of Olivenland...

The Confederation of the Xul Warrior-Artisans

The Xul Warrior-Artisans are a race of natural survivors and warriors, the most prominent sapient nonhumans on the planet Erde. With a rich store of lore and legends, they have a unique origin myth that emphasizes the importance of mortals in the world:

Long ago, in the Age of Creation, the God Mansbane was exiled by his brothers and sisters so that the latter can claim the rich plains and forests of Erde. Raging at being forced to live in a desert waste, Mansbane sought revenge by seeking to lay waste to the world, and so extend his domain to the areas he had been denied. And so he created his own race, a species of fighters, siege engineers, and tacticians, who would exterminate the other races from the land. With skin and hair the color of the sand, sharp teeth for tearing apart flesh and plants, cat-like eyes that can see in the dark, and strong arms that tire less quickly than most humans', these 'First Xul', our ancestors, would have made a fine instrument for the destruction of life.

However, Mansbane did not realize that his creations had their own hopes and dreams, and when he told the First Xul, whom he had given axes meant to shed the lives of other Gods, of his plans, they turned their weapons against him, realizing that if Mansbane expanded his domain, everyone would suffer in the end, including them. And so, in the first rebellion against the first tyrant, the 'First Xul' threw off their shackles, and in defiance, added the 'Warrior-Artisans' to their name.

And they had lived alongside the other races, as equals, ever since.

Millennia later, the Xul pride themselves on making the unlivable livable, using their knowledge of irrigation and engineering to create gigantic reservoirs and wind traps to collect water so that they can live, no, thrive, in the deserts of the Southern Continent. Pioneers of the Druidic arts, the Warrior-Artisans are also masters of using grasses and plants to hold back the dunes of their desert home, preventing said desert from advancing. But make no mistake, they are still fierce soldiers, and their axes are the nightmare of hardened warriors.

Following a matriarchal culture based on the 'Great Mothers', female Xul who have endured the pain of both battle and childbirth, or followed the alternative path of Druidism, the tribes of the Confederation live in relative peace, with disputes being settled through non-lethal, but still fierce, duels. However, this peace has not dulled the edge of the Xul's axes, for the Great Mothers hire out thousands of mercenaries and engineers to Venedig, some of them bringing the Creed of Survival, whose prime commands can be summed as such:

"The proper response to suffering is to use tools to remove the cause of suffering. When you thirst, dig a well. When you hunger, plow a field. When you have an enemy - that's what an axe is for!"

Note: Xul look like brown-skinned Orcs.

Update: The attempt to summon Mansbane in Venedig itself failed miserably, but the Xul were awakened to the clear and present danger the Old Gods, Mansbane's family, present to the world. Now, their Druids and Axefolk (as Xul practice Gender Equality) roam the region in greater numbers, seeking out Cults dedicated to the Old Gods and any vestiges of the latter's influence on the world. These Xul 'Zealots', acting in concert with the Inquisitors of the Church of Existence, could be great allies - Rote himself has good relations with them...

III. The Factions inside Olivenland

Factions

The Church of Existence - The Church of Existence is the most common Religion of the Empire and the lands beyond it, and has been proven to be both factually true yet somewhat compatible with the Tian and Xul teachings. Its main belief is that as Existence is the only True God, and Sapient Beings are capable of consciously altering Existence, then Sapient Beings are the most divine parts of the Universe. This, in turn, spurs a belief in the essential dignity of every person, although a few local bishoprics still allow the practice of slavery and even fewer are slaveowners themselves (although they proclaim that all of their slaves will eventually be free).

*The rest is to be filled in either later on in the game, or by the players.*

IV. Magic System

Magic

There are six disciplines of Magic:

High - There are many theories that try to explain High Magic. Some say that it is the power of The Divine, it is the power of positive emotions, channeled through the human soul. Nevertheless, High Magic is the power of controlling Magical Energy itself, allowing for the ability to see all Magic, to draw available magical energy from the sky and earth, create constructs of condensed Mana, create and fuel magitech and enchanted items, ward people and places from magic, and finally, the ability to create bolts of silver-white light that cause damage that cannot be healed by magic to Mages and Magical creatures... But not ordinary targets, whose burns can be healed as normal.

Note: High Magic has been nerfed; the last sentence has been edited so that only other Mages and Magical Creatures, as well as magitech, receive damage that cannot be healed by Magic.

World - World Magic is control over the physical elements of the world. You want to create Fire? World Magic. You want to alter Gravity to make yourself float? World Magic. You want to use lightning to electrocute a person? World Magic. Basically, if it has nothing to do with changing one thing to another, or controlling something that isn't wholly of this earth? World Magic is your key. Basically, Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but without healing or spiritual arts and with control over gravity.

Change - This is the magic that deals with changing one thing to another. This magic can knit wounds and reverse aging, cause trees to grow fists and turn vines into whips. This magic can change one substance to another, turning lead into gold, earth into acid, and fire into water. What it cannot do, however, is affect stuff protected by High magic, or mess with things that are already dead. That belongs to another school, the magic of the Underworld.

Underworld - Death is all around us, and the old laws against disturbing the ghosts who chose not to pass on are gone, cast into the wind. Nevertheless, the souls of the departed have to be treated with respect...but it is not the same for their bodies. Underworld Magic is the magic of Necromancy; it is the magic you wield when you want to raise an army of the dead, to control the shadows of the world, to speak with ghosts, and to strike people dead with one blow (this is a high-level spell). You can even use this to transcend death, allowing you continued existence in this world without the need for food, drink, and sleep...

Timespace - The magic of traveling vast distances in a single bound, of teleportation, portals, and scrying. The strongest Magi can even control probability, making a person luckier or unluckier, sometimes to absurd levels. But what it can not do is reverse the past; basically, no time travel. Bullet Time and Time Stop are also possibilities for incredibly strong practitioners but have certain requirements that limit their effectiveness in combat.

Bullet Time and Time Stop Nerfs: Bullet Time can only be activated defensively when confronted by attacks too fast for the mundane body to dodge normally. And by that, it only works when people are shooting bullets at the guy and it can only be used to dodge bullets and other attacks - it cannot be used to attack in turn. This keeps what I want - PCs being able to dodge bullets - without making them overpowered in offense, as well as giving PCs the choice not to shoot bullets in the first place.

As for Time Stop, not only can the 'time bubble' be cut apart by Ex. Swordsmanship, but it doesn't work on sapient beings; it can still be used to stop bullets, explosions, crashing trains, rampaging animals, and lightning strikes, but not melee strikes from sapient beings - neither the user or his opponents can use ranged attacks in a Time Stop. The in-universe reason for this is that having a Soul protects you from unauthorized changes to the timeline.

Mind Magic - This magic deals with controlling minds and altering emotions of both humans and animals, as well as creating illusions, mental compulsions, and even erasing or editing memories. A very powerful magical discipline, but strong willpower can break its effects...

Basically, each PC is supposed to mix and match effects from multiple sources of magic, although specialization is a thing.

Counterspell/Dispel Magic rules.

Countering and Dispelling Magic

Making Anti-Magic spells is a bit complicated, but basically, you first need three High Magic spells, including the Anti-Magic rote, and one spell of the School you want to dispel. For example, if you want to dispel Underworld Magic, you need three High Magic spells and one Underworld Magic spell. As you have six starting spells available, you can theoretically be able to counter or Dispel three schools maximum. You can only counter or dispel High Magic if all six of your starting spells are of that school.

Enchantment Rules

Enchantment Rules

Enchantment requires High Magic and a spell that you or another party member knows, along with an item to be enchanted. Note however that the weaker and less durable the material is, the magic you can put into it is more limited; for example, oak can be enchanted to emit laser beams, birch cannot. This is the same for metals, and the strongest of spells can only be enchanted into 'Perfected Electrum (more below)'.

Perfected Electrum

Perfected Electrum

Electrum is a mix of Gold and Silver that occurs naturally but can be made by artificial means. This material, if treated by High and Change Magic by four different Magi (see 'Group Spells' below) can be 'perfected', aka transformed into metal as hard as a diamond yet not as brittle, and whose lightness is that of cloth. But the most valuable property of Perfected Electrum is that it can contain very, very strong spells, except for Resurrection (see below under 'Group Spells'). Thus, Perfected Electrum is made only in very small quantities, under the watchful eye of the most powerful states...

Group Spells

Group Spells

Basically, multiple spell-casters with different Schools can do things that would strain a single Mage. This also helps in compensating for single Magi's weaknesses in specialization.

Example Spell:

Resurrection (High, Change, Underworld + materials for a new body) - Three Magi, or alternatively, a single Magi who has six High, Change, and Underworld spells each, can bring back a dead person. High Magic is used to supply magical energy for the permanent return of the Soul (they must always be willing), Change is used to turn inorganic material into organic matter, and Underworld is used to tug back the Soul from wherever it's been. Resurrection cannot be Enchanted into Items.

V. What if I don't want to play a Mage?

Exceptional Skills

Any PC can replace a spell from their spell list with an 'Exceptional Skill', which is basically a talent that counts as completely mundane as far as Erde is concerned, even if it would be supernatural in our world. All Exceptional Skills can resist the magical equivalent, or even counter them; for example, Exceptional Swordsmanship allows you to cut through magical barriers or attacks, while Exceptional Medicine can cure wounds caused by High Magic and normally unhealable by any spell, provided one has the right materials. Exceptional Skills can be anything you want, as long as 1.) it does not have an obviously magical effect, and 2.) It is an enhanced version of something a normal human can already do, just boosted to implausible levels.

This is an incomplete list of examples:

- Exceptional Swordsmanship
- Exceptional Archery
- Exceptional Unarmed
- Exceptional Endurance (can resist even magic)
- Exceptional Bureaucracy
- Exceptional Trading
- Exceptional Diplomacy (stuff done with this can resist the effects of Mind magic, even if the target is weak-willed)
- Exceptional Medicine

Exceptional Skills can also be stacked, aka doubled or even tripled in power. For example, you can use up three spell slots to gain Exceptional Swordsmanship x3, which allows you to cut through a two-story building made up of granite, and tear apart a Time Stop with a slash. More on stacking in the Rules section.

Note that Exceptional Skills are intended to be specialized, but at the same time, lack the versatility of Magic. And yes, you can have both Exceptional Skills and Magic; Exceptional Skills replace individual spells, not the entire spell list.

V. Rules

Hider

1.) No godmodding, powerplaying, metagaming, etc. etc.
2.) Any mature scenes, aka anything above nudity, must be taken to PMs.
3.) No OOC feuding! If you must argue, be respectful. IC, meanwhile, you can hate each other as much as you like as long as it doesn't seep over to OOC.
4.) You can control NPCs when I explicitly say that you can control them or if they belong to your Custom Faction.
5.) That said, you are allowed to create three PCs each, but only one Custom Faction per player.
6.) Please notify me if you will be gone for more than a week, I myself will let you guys know if I will be gone for that same amount of time.
7.) It's a fantasy world; you can learn Magic - two new spells of any School per City Event/Story Arc, more if you find a willing mentor and time. New Exceptional Skills, on the other hand, are easier to stack, harder to learn - You can double the power of two Exceptional Skills every first arc, and select a new exceptional skill every second arc. Venedig will have Eight Arcs, so you get to stack two skills on the first, add one skill on the second, stack again on the third, and so on.
8.) The primary races are Humans and Xul (brown-skinned Orcs). Elves are a minor civilization and not superior to Humans, and need GM Permission to play. Same for Dwarves and Gnomes.

VI. Character Sheet Skeleton

Character Sheet Skeleton

[b]Name:[/b] What’s your characters name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character?
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[b]Starting Faction:[/b] If you're creating your own faction, please describe it here or in a separate post
[b]Spell List:[/b] 6 Spells overall.
[B]Exceptional Skill List:[/b] Replace any number of your 6 Spells with an Exceptional Skill

[Letter Bee]

NCQuest: A Mecha RP - The Relief of Cape Town



The Lore Thread

The year is 2577, 500 years after a Nuclear War that ended the Age of the Nation-State. Now, the world is split between Independents; settlements and towns living a hardscrabble life in the wastelands, and the Ruling Corporations, eight large organizations that have seized large portions of the planet and its people for themselves. The majority of the Ruling Corporations' personnel are tyrannical and arbitrary, twisted by long isolation from the masses whose work supports their way of life. The average person in Corporate territory lives in fear, bowed down by heavy burdens in a soulless environment, before dying quickly and painfully.

Complicating the picture are the Neural Combatants (NCs), giant humanoid machines left behind by the nations of the world before everything burned in nuclear fire. Using technology that binds together brain and machine, all NCs have Cores that cannot yet be duplicated by even the most advanced Corporation; these Cores, when attached to a body, allow the pilot to conduct feats of strength and speed that borders on the supernatural. In essence, Neural Combatants use technology that makes Mecha work; the impractical made practical. The more NC Cores a Corporation has, the better they are in the constant warfare that covers the planet today.

But now, that balance is changing. With the help of stolen research from the other Ruling Corporations, Tshwane Mining Inc., the rulers of Sub-Saharan Africa, have done the impossible: Rediscover how to create new NC Cores. This gives them the potential to manufacture legions of new Mechs, and thus disturb the finely held balance between the Ruling Corps.

Now, Cape Town in South Africa, where the initial research was done, is being besieged by the Denver-Vegas, Fairbanks, and Paragon Corporations; all three have invested in a gigantic army to conduct said siege, while Volkov, the very strongest Ruling Corp has pressured Tshwane's ally, Al-Amir Group of Companies, to stay in the Middle East lest it face total destruction from the north.

So Tshwane's CEO, Katlego Kgosi, has resorted to desperate measures: He has called upon Haven, the collection of Independents that still rule Australia, to provide the help other Corporations would not provide; Haven, despite concluding a recent war against Red-Star, still has forces to spare for a relief expedition - particularly as Katlego has offered a tantalizing prize; a copy of the research on creating new NC Cores!

Consult the Lore Thread linked above if you want more info.

Rules

1.) No godmoding, metagaming, or mary sues.
2.) Be civil.
3.) Do not be an asshole.
4.) Post length is five sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.
5.) Antagonists (Paragon, Denver-Vegas, and Fairbanks) need special GM Permission to be allowed.
6.) Consult the Lore Thread (linked under the picture) if you want to know more about how NCs, Independents, and Corporations work.

-----

And yes, Inkarnate permitted this.

Here are the rules on characters and NC's: (last rules, I swear.)

You can have more than one character, with the limit being as many as you can take without stressing yourself out.

Character Sheet Template

[b]Pilot Character Sheet[/b]

[b]Name:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b]

[b]Age:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Backstory:[/b]

[b]Tactical Preferences and Skills:[/b]

[b]Notes:[/b]

------

[b]NC Character Sheet[/b]

[b]Code-name:[/b]

[b]Appearance:[/b]

[b]Body Type: (Bipedal, Hover, Tank-Tread, .etc)[/b]

[b]Type of NC: (General-Purpose, Interception, Assault, .etc)[/b]

[b]Equipment & Armaments:[/b]

-----

Character Types needed (Note that these are not set in stone; as long as all roles are filled, I am happy):

Field-Captain (Jack of all Trades - 1 Slot):

Long-ranged Specialist (Sniper/Light Artillery - 2 Slots):

Utility (Field Repair/Hacker/Medical and Scout Drones - 1 Slots):

Support (Anti-Aircraft/Machine Guns/Attack Drones 2 Slots):

Assault (Melee/Assault Rifles/Flamethrowers/Shotguns 2 Slots):

Heavy (Heavy Artillery/Heavy Melee and Armor 1 Slot):

[Letter Bee]

Foes and 'Foes'

General Julius Lee

Pilot Character Sheet

Name: General Julius Lee

Appearance:


Age: 58 (but looks much younger due to transhuman upgrades).

Personality: General Julius Lee is the usual sadistic prick that ends up hired by the MegaCorps due to their cost-effectiveness and perceived skill in battle. His employers, however, disregard the fact that while Colonel Julius Lee is somewhat competent, he steals from the achievements of his subordinates more often than not, in order to build up his own reputation. An exception to this are operations to capture as many prisoners of war as possible, as Julius sees capturing potential slaves of all races as an art form - Unlike his ancestors, Julius believes that slavery should be blind to matters of race.

Backstory: Colonel Julius Lee was a descendant of Virginian survivalists who were the first to swear fealty to Denver-Vegas when they proclaimed themselves the continuation of the 'Old US Government'. Because of this, many of his family received high rank, some due to nepotism, others due to skill. And so, Julius Lee had high expectations going for him growing up, although he had nothing to lose by disappointing them. Joining in slaving operations in the regrown Amazon Forest at the age of 18, then shifting to attacks on Fairbanks (where he was part of an operation that briefly sacked the Massachuets Institute of Technology) and Tshwane.

Eventually, he was promoted to the rank of General, where he participated in the War of the North Pacific against Red-Star, where in the closing months of the conflict, he turned against the Japanese Rebels he was supposed to be supporting and carted them off as slaves to Denver-Vegas when the peace treaty between them and Red-Star was signed. He thus got the hatred of Natalie DuPoint, one of his own ace pilots, because of that, but the General didn't mind her feelings. Instead, he deepened the wound by taking credit for her achievements in an operation against rogue bandits in the Andes.

Then one day, it was discovered that Tshwane Mining Inc. was on the verge of rediscovering NC Core Technology, and seeing a chance to gain glory for himself and more slaves of all races, Julius got himself the plum position of leading not just the Denver-Vegas force, but the Paragon and Fairbanks ones going to besiege Cape Town. There, he will either get glory, infamy, or both.

He has not considered the possibility of defeat.

Tactical Preferences and Skills: General Julius Lee is almost like his Red-Star Foes in that he prefers the use of flanking manuevers, EMP weapons, sleeping gas and intimidating the enemy into surrender in order to capture as many people as possible.

Notes: Julius Lee has a Sync Ratio of 50%, making it easier for him to use Non-Humanoid NCs.

------

NC Character Sheet

Code-name: Intimidator

Appearance:


Body Type: (Bipedal, Hover, Tank-Tread, .etc) Tank Tread

Type of NC: (General-Purpose, Interception, Assault, .etc) Heavy.

Equipment & Armaments:

Twin-linked Railguns - Intimidator can fire hyper-accelerated metal shells that, like Natalie's Mecha, can pierce through an entire 21st-century Aircraft Carrier from bow to stern, even if fired from half a kilometer.

Giant Resonance Cannon - Intimidator's third main gun was once another railgun, but Colonel Julius Lee has replaced it with a Sonic Gun that fires concentrates sound waves that can shake apart most metallic objects, including NCs.

Anti-Air Autocannon Side Platforms x3 - Three side platforms with 'conventional' chemical-propelled guns which thanks to a unique, hard-to-produce explosive compound, can propel bullets at equivalent speeds to a railgun. Though mainly used as Anti-Aircraft defense, these guns are also useful against infantry, mowing even the power-armored elites down in huge numbers. However, the price for this is that these weapons explode when shot, causing 'Sync Pain' to Julius...

EMP Missile Side Plantforms x3 - Three side platfoms with EMP Missiles.

Natalie DuPoint

Pilot Character Sheet

Name: Natalie DuPoint

Appearance:


Age: 18

Personality: Natalie is a brash, fun-loving girl who loves her twin brother a lot; this love has resulted in a grudge against people who had previously hurt them, like Alexander Sky and Haven as long as they keep the former within their ranks. This grudge, however, does not prevent her from treating her enemies with honor, including Alexander if he ever falls under her power; Natalie is aware that this makes her the better person. Note however that her sense of honor clashes with Denver-Vegas and the common corporate ideology except when it makes for good PR, but Natalie does not really care; she feels that her ability to pilot well benefits the executives more than her 'unruly' behavior.

Backstory: In a small town on the Great Lakes were born two twins, Nathaniel and Natalie, who lived happily in said town and grew up watching the Reality Games together. Despite being normalized to accept violence and death as part of their entertainment, it seemed as though they'd grow up 'normal'; stuck together as humble farmers and fisherfolk... Until a local privately-ran hospital discovered that they had an average Sync Ratio (55% for both), enough to operate the man-machine interface of an NC. They were 13 then, and were promptly packed off to an NC Pilot Academy; their parents were promised millions of dollars for handing them over.

Three years later, Nathaniel and Natalie were deployed to support a rebellion in Japan against Red-Star, the Chinese-Controlled Corp that was controlling the archipelago. It was a disaster, as Nathaniel was captured on his first engagement by Alexander Sky of Red-Star and his Phoenix Inferno, and promptly taken to their torture rooms. Natalie, in her grief and rage, killed many Red-Star conventional forces herself, and also took down several of the enemy pilots. Nevertheless, Denver-Vegas was forced into a draw against Red-Star, and was barely able to demand its captured pilots back. But what did it matter? It meant Nathaniel would be given back!

However, Nathaniel was no longer the same person he was before. Due to his low Sync Ratio, Red-Star saw no value in Nathaniel beyond turning him into a mining slave, and he had been worked to the brink of death before the news arrived that he was to be given back to Denver-Vegas. Outraged at how the enemy had literally broken her brother, Natalie was one of those who argued that Alexander needed to be punished for his crimes, and she was surprised that Red-Star actually followed them up on the recommendation, publicly humiliating and flogging Alexander before Denver-Vegas' ranks as a sign that they were willing to do anything for peace.

She remembered turning to Nathaniel then, hoping that the latter would smile, that it would be like the old days when they watched the Reality Games. But there was nothing, nothing but brokenness.

In time, Nathaniel recovered some of his will to live, but he was forever changed by his experiences. "All of us are mere tools, even Alexander Sky," he would up saying to his sister, and Natalie was surprised at that. She was even more surprised when he said, "I want to forgive him; he didn't know what he was doing."

Nathaniel then entered a seminary afterwards, a seminary ran by loyalists to the Pope-in-Exile in Independent Fortress Switzerland. But Natalie was aware that he was happy, that he had achieved a happy ending. Not so for her; she still needed to fight for Denver-Vegas and one day, confront Alexander Sky about what he did.

Said confrontation did not have to end in death...

Tactical Preferences and Skills: Outside of her NC, Natalie prefers to hit fast and hit hard, using carbines, assault rifles, and even a light flamethower before beating a quick retreat. In her NC, however, she prefers to wade into the middle of battle, searing infantry and conventional vehicles alike with a Flamethrower whose heat barely skirts the restrictions on Energy Weapons, before engaging lighter Mechs in Melee, crushing them with her claw.

Notes: N/A

------

NC Character Sheet

Code-name: Firestarter Charlie

Appearance:

Yes, it's a Contemptor-Pattern Dreadnought from 40k.

Body Type: (Bipedal, Hover, Tank-Tread, .etc) Bipedal

Type of NC: (General-Purpose, Interception, Assault, .etc) Assault

Equipment & Armaments:

Twin-Linked Railguns (Left Arm) - Twin-linked Railguns that propel hyperaccelerated bullets against a close-by enemy; these giant 'slugs' can pierce through an entire 21st century Aircraft Carrier from bow to stern, even if fired from half a kilometer. In NC-to-NC combat, their purpose is to deter Melee-inclined NCs from approaching Firestarter head-on, forcing them to try and flank it.

Close-Combat Claw (Right Arm) - A giant claw-like device built for close-combat that can grab enemy NCs and tear off their limbs, and which also carries a Flamethrower attachment in the middle of the 'palm' (See below).

Flamethrower Attachment (Also Right Arm) - This flamethrower attachment vomits out flames so hot that it is rumored that its builders used an illegal Energy Weapon; a Fusion Gun, to be exact. This rumor is true but no one dares confirm it out of fear of reducing Natalie's effectiveness.

Head-Mounted Jammers (To each side of the Head) - To prevent missiles and drones from coming near Firestarter, an ECM Suite is installed in Firestarter's head that causes most forms of electronic communication to go haywire for 30 seconds, with a cooldown of 5 minutes. This does not work against other NCs or her own missiles (see below).

Back-Mounted Missile Launchers (Back) - Two sets of four long-ranged incendary missiles filled with chemical compounds that produce toxic smoke as well as fire; these are used to preceede Firestarter's approach and cover it with chaotic environmental hazards.

Concealed Heavy Machine Railguns (Inside Armor) - Two sets of weaker railguns (able to only pierce one-third of the way through a 21st Century Aircraft Carrier) that extend from the front armor of Firestarter and fire a steady stream of shots against a distant enemy.

Colin Summer - Spoilers

Name: Colin Summer

Appearance:


Age: 18

Personality: Colin is a kind and compassionate person who is easily appaled at the callousness and brutality of the Fairbanks Corporation, or all Corporations in general, but manages to hide it beneath a veneer of lies and omissions as well as his own usefulness to Fairbanks. Due to the discovery of his unique 'gift', he can afford to question or even cross Fairbanks and the Anti-Tshwane Coalition more than the usual NC Pilots, as Fairbanks is aware that he is in a position to suddenly rebel against them if they mistreat him.

However, Colin knows this; that despite this relatively fair treatment, Fairbanks will not stop creating new races of man to live as slaves, Paragon won't stop enslaving the old races of man, and Denver-Vegas will just explot old and new equally. So, he has secretly pledged himself to Theodore Narra and Haven in exchange for a world where all sapient beings can live in harmony and symbiosis; mutual aid and support in an uncaring universe. But if Theodore is just another exploitative would-be master, he will turn against the General Commander and Haven.

Backstory: Born in an Independent Settlement close to Fairbanks territory, Colin was given over to Fairbanks at the age of 13 as part of the town's tithe of 'volunteers'. His unprecedentedly high Sync Ratio (100%) was discovered, but psychological exams showed that while he was no pacifist, he was not a born killer either, and trying to turn him into one using training and drugs would destroy his psyche, his brainstem, and with the latter, his Sync Ratio. In short, making him just another NC Combat Pilot was a waste of his potential.

Fairbanks being Fairbanks, however, they found another use for him. Noticing the correlation between Virtual Reality and NC Piloting, as well as having gotten some Red-Star Resarch Papers about the Neural-Net, the head of the Massachuets Institute of Technology decided to create a new type of NC that was just a core, an armored chassis, and an anti-gravity system. This new NC will use a combination of Neural-Net and Virtual Reality to enter computers and the minds of humans 'hooked' onto man-machine interfaces, like Virtual Reality Pods and Neural Combatant/NC/Mecha systems. However, unlike a certain Red-Star Artificial Human, this NC cannot control other Mechs; merely hack them for information.

But when Colin was hooked up to the NC, the results were not what he expected, he tapped not into computer networks and NC Cores, but inside another part of the Universe entirely; a compedium of all knowledge of the past, present, and possible futures. But due to such knowledge being too much for any human mind to comprehend, he was only able to return with bits and pieces. Not just that, but he knew that Fairbanks was going to misuse the knowledge he had, so Colin decided to lie to his superiors, saying that he was able to access several computer systems ran by other Corporations, but only acquired some information due to their firewalls.

He then gave Fairbanks' Professors several tidbits about their enemies' plans, which satisfied them enough to allow him to be the sole pilot of the NC. And he promptly began trying to contact Haven...

Tactical Preferences and Skills: He knows basic marksmanship and how to punch, but is otherwise unprepared for violence.

Notes: No, I have not watched Natusme's Book of Friends.

------

NC Character Sheet

Code-name: Panopticon

Appearance:


Body Type: (Bipedal, Hover, Tank-Tread, .etc) Other.

Type of NC: (General-Purpose, Interception, Assault, .etc) Utility.

Equipment & Armaments:

Akashic Reader - Colin Summer can tap into the Akashic Records, a plane of existence containing information about past, present, and multiple possible futures. Not just that, but he can communicate, but not control, with any mind hooked up into Virtual Reality or an NC Core. However, the Akhasic Records are not a public library; much of the information within is incomprehensible to a single mind, meaning that Colin only has bits and pieces of important information. Not merely that, but should he spend too long in his NC, he can go into a comatose state where he forgets to eat...

------

Allies

Havenite General Commander

NPC Character Sheet

Name: Theodore Narra

Appearance:


Age: 58, but looks 21 thanks to Anti-Aging treatments.

Sex: Male.

Skills: Theodore's foremost skill is administration and logistics, as the brains behind Haven's attempt to expand its holdings on the Surface, he is a master at ensuring that supplies, money, and arms get to wherever it's needed - not an easy task considering Haven's need to keep itself secret. Though generally open and honest, Theodore knows how to govern his image, and what he projects is the aura of a benevolent leader, one who cares for the city and his people...which makes it easy to forget that he can and is able to kill, whether with guns, knives, or even his own, mysterious NC.

Short bio: One of the first 'Adventurers' from Haven to make it to the surface, Theodore made his first appearances as a mysterious NC Pilot who saved Independent settlements and villages in exchange for information and supplies, and was strangely ignorant of how things worked aboveground, although he was clearly a vagabond, albeit one with an amazingly good salvaged NC. Making it to the ruins of Darwin, Australia, Theodore encountered Red-Star for the first time, but managed to pass himself off as a new mercenary, and thus found himself serving them in exchange for money and more information. Finding Red-Star's methods and ideology distasteful, Theodore took the first opportunity to defect to Denver-Vegas, then Volkov, before finding his way to Al-Amir Group of Companies.

There, he found a way back to Haven again, through another secret tunnel, where he immediately became a celebrity, with his experiences providing valuable information about the world outside. He was 24 then, and two years later, he would depart again to search for more information about the surface, as well as help build a network of proxies that would increase Haven's land-bound wealth. Various Independent settlements, outlaw bands, mercenaries, the Adventurers from Haven bound them together to create a force capable of taming the Australian Outback...and catching the ire of Red-Star in the process.

For although the rule of that corporation was largely nominal, it could not tolerate a rival power taking advantage of the island's still-immense natural resources, and so it sent a force to destroy the nascent 'Confederation', still not knowing that Haven was behind all this. The expeditiona involved a relatively small flotilla, composed of cruisers, transports, and a couple of light carriers. But it was technologically superior to the alliance that Theodore had helped build, and Red-Star was confident of victory. They were soon to be proven wrong.

In several months' time, Theodore had lured the enemy force into the Australian Outback, isolated whatever allies they found and began dealing them a death of a thousand cuts, using tactics learned from Al-Amir, as well as constructing hidden factories and supply depots in Australia's wasteland. He then, with a small squad of Haven NCs, which were secretly as advanced as the corporates' but managed to hide it, devastated Red-Star's own supply lines and patrols. before, in an ambitious amphibious strike, turning against the Red-Star Fleet, disabling most of its ships, but careful not to destroy so many that the Corporates stopped underestimating them.

And so Red-Star withdrew, allowing Australia to be the first large region freed from Corporate Control (not including the various Independents and virtual Nation-States in the Middle East and Africa, as well as the Latin American Warlords). This was something that Red-Star would have continued to do something about, if not for a series of renewed skirmishes with Volkov, Denver-Vegas, and Fairbanks; at the end of the day, 'Oz', for now, was just too much of a 'backwater' to focus much attention on.

But in the midst of triumph was a tragedy, for several of Theodore's teammates had died in the final strike, and in operations before that. This included close friends and even a lover, and Theodore was eager to get back to Haven, where he can rest and recover from the ordeal of combat...and begin the next round of plans to liberate more of the surface.

He knew that the 'Big Bad MegaCorps' were not going to tolerate any more territory out of their hands, especially not ones that were actually valuable in their eyes. But at the same time, Australia was not enough; the region of Oceania was not enough. It would take years, centuries, even, but the MegaCorps had to be brought down before there can be peace before Haven can have peace. And so, he proposed a risky plan: Include outsiders in Haven's plans; there was only so much that can be done with Havenite 'Adventurers'. No, outsiders were needed in order to provide the information and experience needed to actually make 'World Liberation' work.

And so, Theodore sent agents to the surface, agents whose goals were to build more networks aboveground, as well as find people, malcontents, and mercenaries, who were willing to work for his city, for a cause 'like none other'...

Bio Update (Applies only to RPGuild NCQ Canon): Theodore was instrumental in conducting the grand strategy that drove off Red-Star's largest assault on Australia yet, where the main thrust of their attack, the 'Darwin Offensive', was broken by a combination of his spy work and the incompetence of the enemy forces. However, quarrels with the rest of his command staff have given him a bitter taste in his mouth despite his victory, same for his own sub-par performance on the tactical level.

Cape Town will be a moment of reassessment, a moment where Theodore feels he has to redeem himself and his reputation as a commander...

Notes: Music

NC: Perfect Qamishlo, Capabilities Unknown.

[Letter Bee]

A Song of Ice And Fire - The Bleeding Years

It is 74 years since the Doom of Valyria, and Westeros and Essos are still dealing with the consequences of the disaster.

In the North, the Starks of Winterfell fend off attacks from the Wildlings and rival kingdoms. King Edric Stark, the Spring King, is blessed with a seemingly-able son, Torrhen, and a realm in good order except for the occasional Wildling raid. Through him and his son run the blood of the First Men, which would not brook submission to those mixed with the blood of the Andal Invaders. Facing them are the Arryns of The Mountain and Vale, whose hostility towards him and his line are absolute. Tracing their lineage to the very foreigners of Andalos the Starks are opposed to, the Arryns strive to maintain a beacon of chivalry and martial might that honor their lost homeland, forever gone. But their King only has a daughter, the ten-year-old Sharra Arryn, and thus his house's hold on the throne is endangered.

To the south, the Riverlands are under the control of interlopers from the Iron Islands, who are spending blood and treasure to build the Castle of Harrenhal in order to glorify King Harren Hoare, their oppressor. King Harren intends to make this castle last forever, a testament to his glory and that of his family. The growing power of the Iron Islanders is opposed by Argilac Durrandon of the Stormlands, whose strong arm, backed by fierce and loyal men, is spent trying to fend off raids from all nations around him. The strongest of these nations are The Reach, where the Gardeners reign in great prosperity after a series of good harvests. Their King rejoices at the birth of a son, Mern Gardener, and sees no troubles on the horizon except the Lannisters of Casterly Rock, whose great wealth allows them to equal The Reach in all but numbers.

To the furthest South, Princess Meria of Dorne has reached her middle age but shows no sign of diminishing vigor - Far from it, she looks at events east of Westeros with interested eyes. For Volantis, or as they prefer to call themselves, New Valyria, is showing signs of strain. As her realm enjoys a period of modest prosperity, Meria watches as the Volantenes deal with rebellious sentiments from Lys and Myr, as well as alliances between Norvos, Qohor, and as it is rumored, Braavos and Pentos, the two age-old enemies. Nothing would please her more than to see Argilac 'The Arrogant' sail over to the Disputed Lands to try and prevent the Volantenes from solving their problems, but that is a distant prospect.

But in Dragonstone, a birth occurs that would shake the very foundations of the Seven Kingdoms. A birth not of a Dragon, but of a baby boy, one Aegon Tarageyen...

-------

Basically, this is a Game of Thrones NRP set during the birth of Aegon the Conqueror, with entire houses and dynasties ranging from the Kings in the North, the Sealords of the Braavosi, and the Triarchs of Volantis being playable. Rules are below:

1.) Do not be an asshole.
2.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without an enchanted shield.
3.) Do not make your nation overpowered.
4.) Do not ignore Logistics or Economics.
5.) By the same token, only a few nations can have a 'High' or 'Very High' Economic Strength (see below).
6.) Most Rulers will be OCs. Do not make them Perfect.
7.) Multiple characters are allowed, while as for multiple nations, one player can control one Westerosi country and one Essosi country as long as they are sufficiently distant from each other (aka not right across the Narrow Sea). For example, the Volantis player can take the Starks if they want, while the Mallister player can take New Ghis if they want.

Character Sheet

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Bio:[/b]
[b]Mundane Skills:[/b]
[b]Magic (If Any):[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Kingdom:[/b]
[b]Is he/she a Ruler?[/b] (Yes or No.)
[b]Heir(s):[/b] (Merchant Republics like the Free Cities can name a non-family member as their heir.)

Kingdom/Free City Sheet

[b]Canon Name:[/b]
[b]Canon Flag/Badge:[/b]
[b]Canon Military Strength:[/b] (Up to 10,000 to 50,000 men.)
[b]Canon History:[/b] (Optional.)
[b]Headcanon History:[/b] (Include stuff you made up to fill in the blanks in Canon, like OC Kings and Nobles and the policies they pursue.)
[b]Economic Strength:[/b] (Very Low, Low, Average, High, Very High, Absurdly Rich - Only Volantis/New Valyria and Braavos can be Absurdly Rich.)

Vassal/Custom House Sheet

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Coat Of Arms:[/b]
[b]Motto:[/b]
[b]Location:[/b]
[b]Vassal of:[/b]
[b]Military Strength:[/b] (Up to 2,000 - 10,000 men maximum)
[b]Economic Strength:[/b] (Low, Average, High, Very High)
[b]History:[/b] (2 paragraphs minimum)

[Letter Bee]

Iliad City: A Magical RP in an Original World - Reboot

I. Intro

In another universe, separated from ours' by impassable barriers, lies the planet of Historia, inhabited by Humans much like us, but blessed with impossible powers that we think of as 'Magic'.

Magic is a daily part of life, existing alongside technology just as advanced as ours', although some integrate magic with science to create advanced inventions. But it is a widely held belief among the people that the highest form of Magic is Storytelling, and that The One Deity, the Creator of the Multiverse, gave Humanity the power to warp reality through the telling of stories.

Three thousand years before the present day, when the greatest storyteller of that time, the Illuminated Poet, sang of the grief and joy of Humanity, appealing to The One Deity to provide a way through their sufferings. In response, The One himself came down and sang his own song, the Epics of Making and Unmaking, by which Humanity and whatever sapient beings lived beyond Historia was granted freedom from the will of the divine. From the Epic of Making were instructions for the casting of Magic, allowing Humanity to better their lives and that of others' at will, while the Epic of Unmaking allows one to reset the Universe itself back to the beginning, with the person or people who use it given power co-equal to The One Deity himself, but without infinite intelligence or wisdom.

And so the Illuminated Poet taught pieces of the Epic of Making to those who followed him, turning them into the first Magi. The Epic of Unmaking, however, was transmitted directly into the souls of his own children, the Twenty Sons and Thirty Daughters, who each inherited a fragment of the Epic. He then prophesied that the more descendants they have, the more the Epic of Unmaking will be shattered and its pieces spread out among each scion and that the Epic will only be completed once more when the descendants of the Illuminated Poet are reduced to one person, who will then have the decision to reset the universe.

The intention, of course, was to make sure that the universe will be reset only if Humanity becomes irredeemably corrupt and/or the amount of suffering in existence multiplies to an unbearable level. Despite the risks involved with the existence of such a power, a 'contingency plan' for Humanity was still regarded as necessary by all parties, including The One.

Fast-forward to the present, and the majority of the descendants of the Illuminated Poet have suffered purges, slaughters, genocides and massacres from the various nations of the world due to ignorance and misunderstanding, or even outright lies spread by their enemies. Their one safe refuge is Illiad City, an independent city-nation founded by the freethinkers and outcasts of the world, people dedicated to artistic and philosophical pursuits, as well as worshippers of The One Deity. Despite the hostility of other nations towards it, its access to a greater portion of the Epic of Making makes it equivalent to the great empires of the world in Magical might.

But now, a feud is brewing in the two prime Magical Academies of the city, a feud brewing from how to deal with the world's hostility towards them. Ironically, this feud might be the one thing that brings down the metropolis...

II. The Factions of Iliad City

The Big Three

Marduk Academy for The Mystic Arts Holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Heroic' Magic - The Magic of Light, the Elements (Fire, Water, Air and Earth), and the power to heal the wounded and the sick with mystic energy alone. Their students are the champions of the defenseless, the honorable knights-errant and the wise wizards. But confronted with the hatred of other nations towards them, they seek a 'muscular' foreign policy, asking that Iliad City use its magical might to conquer the neighboring empires and repressive states that wish to destroy Illiad before they grow too strong. However, whispers are being heard that push for more than that - That Marduk Academy should attempt to rule the world so that no nation would exterminate the descendants of the Illuminated Poet once again.

And Professor Gilgamesha, its Principal, is beginning to listen...

Ishtar School for Creative Minds, on the other hand, holds power over the pieces of the Epic of Making that govern 'Black' Magic - The Magic of Darkness, Entropy, Blood and Death, as well as the power to inflict agony and weaken their enemies. Their students are the spies and assassins, the dark knights whom monsters and criminals fear. Despite this, they used to work alongside Marduk Academy, until Professor Nergal, it's principal, began urging for the casting of the Spell of Otherworldly Travel, which will transport Iliad City onto another dimension where its people can live in peace. Problem is that 1.) This requires the pieces of the Epic of Making that Marduk Academy does have, and 2.) Marduk Academy considers Ishtar's solution cowardly. And so the feud begins to simmer...

The Cassandra Club is the newest faction in the block, a small band of students from both Academies and a larger group from other schools who believe that the brewing feud between Marduk Academy and Ishtar School is being engineered by a 'sinister force' outside the city as part of a grand plan to conquer Iliad City and acquire the Epics of Making and Unmaking. Not merely that, but they believe in asking the question: Why do other nations hate us? What are the lies they've been fed in order to kill off the descendants of the Illuminated Poet? Do they even know that they are completing the Epic of Unmaking? And if so, who is trying to do so and is he someone who can take advantage of the power to rewrite the universe?

The Cassandra Club is led by the Anonymous Council, a group of 'concerned students and teachers' (PCs have the option to be part of this circle, also, certain characters of mine - William and Shah - will not be members of it) whose goals are to find out exactly who is profiting from the extermination of Descendants and stop them before its too late.

III. Interesting Places in Iliad City

Interesting Places

The Leviathan Port - Iliad City's port is where most of its foreign trade comes from, due to the Hermannreich's on-and-off hostility. A bustling structure where great cargo ships dock and depart, the Leviathan Port is watched over by great ranged guns from two coastal forts that guard the entrance to the bay, as well as Ishtar School for Creative minds, whose campus is only a few miles away.

Artisan Coffeemakers United Branches - A set of coffeehouses spread all throughout Iliad City dedicated to the production of quality artisan coffee, tea, and pastries at a fair and affordable price. Both Ishtar and Marduk have cafes of ACUB in their premises, with secure internet lines to each other, and it is rumored that students who wish to establish forbidden contacts with each other are allowed to use said lines... For a price.

Enchanted Mountain - Iliad's prime amusement park, with a large Ferris Wheel, magitech roller coasters, and virtual reality simulations of any environment one can think of, as well as various restaurants catering to every palate. It is also a 'truce zone' between Iliad and Marduk, due to Professor Gilgamesha having spent time there in better days and not wanting to let the place be stained by the current inter-school conflict.

Kaleidoscope Arcades - A series of arcades filled with the latest games mundane science and magitech can supply, and are thus destinations where both Marduk and Ishtar and students from other schools can be found competing against each other in a halfway-friendly manner.

Paradise Spa - The place everyone who is anyone in Iliad goes to relax, Paradise Spa is filled with treatments both mundane and magical which rely on pleasing every sense possible, from sweet aromas to soft coats of mud, to serene sounds and calm colors, along with filling yet tasty smoothies and juices, Paradise Spa is where the troubles of the world fall away, even for a while.

Players can submit new places if they want to.

IV. How Magic Works

The Workings of Magic

All Magic comes from instructions given in the Epic of Making, which in turn is a long poem or song that details the transference of a part of The One Deity's power to mortal Humanity, and the basic mental exercises used to 'pull' magical power from the depths of one's own soul to make what you imagine real.

The various 'types' of Magic come from concepts common to humanity, concepts that you either come up with or you are taught. If you can imagine a 'type' of magic, you can use it as long as you can come up with enough energy to do so. However, you cannot take magical energy from the surrounding environment, because of the fact that only Humans (or fully sapient aliens, if they exist) have magical energy.

Anyone can learn Magic, but few have the combination of strength of heart and imagination to be truly good at it. Therefore, Magical Academies are important so that what existing Magi already imagined before can be taught to other people. Basically, magical systems exist, but they are merely shortcuts for the human mind - You can totally make up your own magic system if you have energy and imagination.

But for those who cannot make up their own system or 'type' of Magic, here are the common systems that the Magical Academies teach:

Marduk Academy:

Elemental and Light Magic - Elemental Magic can directly control Fire, Water, Wind, Air, and Light, or create them out of nothing. This type can make fireballs, divert streams, lift the earth, cause gusts of wind, or smite people with blasts of pure energy. However, it cannot heal, enhance people, or predict the future unless mixed with another type of magic.

Healing Magic - Healing Magic can close wounds and replenish blood, cure diseases and heal cancer. However, only a few take it without mixing it with Elemental and Light Magic so that they can defend themselves or attack in turn.

Enchantment/Enhancement Magic - This covers Magic that strengthens the user, making them stronger, faster, and tougher, as well as Magic that can make mystic items and artifacts. By combining this school with the above two types of Magic, one can create swords that light up with fire, shields that are as light as cloth, and potions that when drunk, close wounds...

Ishtar School

The Combat Arts - Ishtar School thinks differently than Marduk Academy and does not divide Magic according to what it creates/controls, but rather according to the intent they are used for. In short, it doesn't matter that Magic used for fighting uses the elements, darkness, or even candy canes (although that last part is not encouraged), what matters is that the magic is used to fight.

The Kind Arts - This covers any use of magic meant to heal, protect, enhance and generally do positive things. As Ishtar School is still dedicated to what they think is Good, the Kind Arts are not discouraged, but those who learn them are encouraged to use Darkness, Ectoplasm, or just 'invisible waves of energy' to heal and never be too blatant about it.

The Dark Arts - Causing Agony. Disturbing the Dead from their rest. Draining magical energy from other human beings. All of those are regarded as necessary evils in Ishtar School, and they are taught to those students whom the faculty thinks can be trusted with their secrets. Darkness or 'invisible waves of energy' are mostly used as a 'conduit' for such powers, but some few use the Elements or even Light to give shape and range to their dark purposes. Beware of those.

Unnamed Schools, Mentors, Secret Societies, Etc.

Ex. Miscellenia - Anything you can think of as long as it's not too powerful or too gross. Candy Magic, Magical Girl Transformations, Exorcisms, go wild!

V. Rules

1.) Do not be an asshole.
2.) Take NSFW to PMs.
3.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without a magical shield.
4.) This game is friendly to m/m and f/f romance.

VI. Character Sheet

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b] The usual age for a student is 13 to 18, but characters older than those are permitted.
[b]Bio:[/b]
[b]Mundane Skills:[/b]
[b]Magic:[/b]
[b]Personality:[/b]
[b]Faction (Marduk, Ishtar, or Cassandra Club when it's founded):[/b]
[b]Are you a Descendant of the Illuminated Poet?:[/b] Simple yes or no question.

The OOC Discord

[Letter Bee]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus/Constantine
Title: Emperor
Class: Ruler
Gender: Male
Alignment: Lawful Good
Height / Weight: 5’8/197.9 pounds
Source: IRL History
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Personality: Constantine genuinely believes that the faith he brought to the Roman Empire was a net benefit to it and the world, and does not regret his actions, which one might point out, did include banning infanticide and providing aid to parents so that they do not have to sell their children to slavery. Though he regrets the pain and suffering brought by errant members of the faith, as well as rolls his eyes at his Master’s own lack of devotion, Emperor Constantine maintains a strength of belief which others lack, a strength of belief which borders on arrogance.

Bio: Will his IRL life do?

Weapon: Roman Spatha Longsword.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Parameters: E-! stats usually.
Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: C
Luck: B
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Class Skills:

Revelation (C) - As someone who has been given a Revelation from God, especially one which led him to victory, Constantine has an instinct for whichever action would lead him and those under him to an optimal outcome. This instinct has no rational explanation, as it comes at the most unlikely of times, but rejecting the whispers and messages from it can only lead to a damning failure.

Saint (B) - As a Ruler blessed by God who changed the course of history, and is commemorated as a Saint by the largest denomination of Christians, Constantine the Great was seen as a paragon of virtue by many Medieval scholars, and it shows in his Servant form. Constantine gets a rank up to Charisma, raising it to A.

True Name Discernment (European) (B) - Constantine can discern the True Name, Skills and Parameters of a Servant he directly encounters, but this skill is more effective on Servants who are rooted in Christian and Hellenic Pagan legend, meaning that veiling skills and phantasms made by those folk are less effective than those used by Servants rooted in Far Eastern and Mesoamerican Lore (an exception is Shirou Amakusa Tokimune because he is Christian).

Personal Skills:

Baptism Rite - Constantine generates a set of blessed javelins, which launch themselves against an opponent. These javelins, when piercing an opponent, fix them in place as Constantine says a prayer to God for the purification of their soul and the destruction of their body. This prayer, when finished, causes the enemy to erupt in white flames which consume them entirely, leaving only ashes in their wake.

Military Tactics (B) - Constantine is adept at planning the logistics, strategy, and actual tactics of a large number of people, although one should note that his knowledge might be obsolete in many places thanks to developments past his death. Not just that, but this is situational and is best-partnered with his Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, which in turn is also situational.

Charisma (B) - One does not gain the loyalty of the Legions, reunite the Empire, legalize Christianity, declare infanticide a capital crime, and found a new Capital of the Unified Roman Empire without having both charm and talent. One also forgets that historically, Constantine was a tactful convert who kept using Pagan symbols throughout his reign and was only baptized in his deathbed. Either way, Constantine can gain the affection of, and fire up the fighting zeal, of entire armies and populations.
_________________________________________________________________

NOBLE PHANTASMS

Noble Phantasms

Title: The Host at Milvian Bridge.
Rank: B
NP Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 60
Maximum Number of Targets: 25,000 individuals.
Description: An army marched with Constantine to the Milvian Bridge, an army painted the symbol of the Chi-Rho on their shields, and an army won a great victory under the symbol. As a Noble Phantasm, Constantine can summon his loyal troops to his side once more as phantasmal soldiers, the legions of Heaven itself. Though his armies are individually weaker than Iksander’s Ionoi Heitairoi, they can manifest in the normal world in greater numbers due to the strength of their faith and the faith of the hundreds of millions who follow the Church in the present-day - However, even this is temporary, four to eight hours at the most.

Title: The Blessed Nails
Rank: A-
NP Type: Anti-Unit (Self) Noble Phantasm
Range: 1 - 10
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: Constantine the Great’s mother, Helena, gave him two nails from Christ’s crucifixion order to grant him God’s protection. As long as the two nails are together, they grant Constantine protection from ranged attacks, with arrows, bullets, ranged Magecraft and Noble Phantasms avoiding his body. However, Constantine does not gain the effects of this protection if the projectile were to explode on impact, if the attack was performed in a manner where range would be considered a non-factor, or if it was performed by a weapon that has simply long reach, such as a spear (Copied with permission from another Fate RPer’s CS).

If the nails are separated through theft or gift, the protection is split among the holders of said nails, lowering its strength by one rank.

Title: The Church of the Holy Apostles
Rank: A
NP Type: Barrier
Range: 30
Maximum Number of Targets: 300
Description: One of the many Churches Constantine built, and the one he wished to be buried in, the Church of the Holy Apostles was the resting place of the relics of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy, and also many Eastern Roman/Byzantine Emperors, including Justinian and Heraclius. Lasting for a millennium or so, it was eventually abandoned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate some years into the Ottoman conquest and eventually demolished. As a Noble Phantasm, the Church manifests once more in its full glory, the relics, and Emperors buried inside its crypt acting as an anchor for the righteous dead and a beacon for those who still live.

In essence, the Church heals those whom Constantine deems righteous, including those whom he grudgingly concedes to have lived an honorable life despite their ignorance of the True Faith, restoring their health as long as they are within sight of the soft light given by the Church. Not merely that, but the Church feeds energy to The Host at Milvian Bridge and Christian Servants whose Masters have been killed, allowing them to stay in this world longer as long as they are within the Church’s grounds or within sight of them.

Fighting Style: Constantine is a decent melee fighter and horseman and often fights with a lance, sword, and shield on top of a summoned steed.

[Letter Bee]

Innocence Lost: An RP of Child Soldiers and Science Fantasy

Official Discord Server

I. Intro

Intro

We were just children, albeit ones of exceptional mind and body. Then the Ascendancy of Man took us from our families, our friends, and our homes; they said we were needed to fight the 'Alien Menace' that was threatening our civilization. In the name of 'survival', they changed us, pumping our bodies full of impossible substances that defied the laws of reality. It was a miracle we all lived to see the horrors of war, they said, but was it really?

After being altered and trained, we were thrown into the meatgrinder that the war against the other species of the sector had become. With new powers given to us by the impossible compounds that were flowing through our veins, our battalions slew huge numbers of the enemy. But it wasn't enough; in the Battle of Proxima, the Ascendancy's fleets and armies finally fell to a sustained assault by the Aliens, and we, the supernatural child soldiers that had wreaked such havoc against the foe, were captured and taken to a prison camp in one of the enemy's holdings.

Despair overtook us as we awaited our fate. What abuse was coming? How will we be treated by those whom we had slaughtered in droves? But when our enemies, the Aliens known as the Rau've, showed pity on us instead, we wept in joy. They saw that we were just kids, and gave us mercy.

We were offered new homes, new families among the Aliens, and most of us accepted. But I didn't, same for a handful of others. I thanked our former captors - former, for the war had ended with a peace treaty - but I told them that I and the others with me wanted revenge on the regime that had betrayed us, used us, and were crueler than the enemy they fought. They sighed, and gave us coordinates to the Galactic Bazaar, a space station where jobs and ships can be found to start our revenge; they wouldn't help us directly.

And so we, with magic, combat skills, and what few peaceful talents we remembered before we were 'drafted' by the Ascendancy of Man, we went to the space station where almost anything can be bought and sold. But one must be warned; the Ascendancy of Man was also there, and will not tolerate their former tools turning against their 'masters'.

------

I fought in the Ascendancy's Fleet. I believed in their propagandistic drivel. I did work dirty and clean for them, and what did I get? Thrown away without pay, without a pension, just tossed out like last day's trash. And to add insult to injury, they blamed us for their own butts getting kicked on Proxima, said that us frontier-worlds didn't fight hard enough and so they got defeated. Well, I've had enough of them stomping on the little guy, so I joined the dime-a-dozen rebels - I mean, Moonstrike!

My name is Natasha Zhang, and I lead a crew of humans, aliens, and even a robot or two in missions of piracy and smuggling against the Ascendancy. Moonstrike is the rebel network we belong to, and they give us jobs to do to bring down those Ascendancy morons. And this latest mission is the sweetest yet - A bunch of renegade Ascendancy Supersoldiers is coming to the Galactic Bazaar to rendezvous with us!

Wait, what are these children doing walking about on the hangar bay? What, they have special powers normally seen only in those Crystal Aliens? Oh, no, those are the Supersoldiers Moonstrike One mentioned, aren't they?!

God Almighty, why am I stuck in a babysitting job?

------

Basically, this is an RP set in a Science Fantasy world with both lasers and (limited to some people) Magic. You have two options of player character:

- Child soldiers that had been taken from their homes and used by the Ascendancy of Man in their war against Aliens, were spared by said Aliens when they lost, and are now looking for revenge against their former abusers. You also have Magic. (3 permitted besides an NPC)

- Natasha Zhang's Crew, a motley crew of humans, aliens, and robots who fight as privateers for Moonstrike, a resistance group opposing the Ascendancy of Man. You don't have Magic (unless you have a crew member of the Kaisoken species) but have more skills, experience, and technology. (4 permitted besides an NPC).

II. Alien Species

Alien Species

The Rau've - The prime leaders of the Coalition against Humanity, the Rau've are a race of plant people who are able to nourish themselves through photosynthesis, enabling them to mostly sidestep the agricultural stage of development. Highly philosophical and compassionate, the Rau've can still be savage in war, as their organic warships and crystal-based energy cannons show. But they were deeply horrified at their enemy's use of children in battle, and were the prime advocates of letting the child soldiers go unpunished after the peace treaty was signed.

The Kaisoken: A race of sentient crystal-like minerals bound by quantum pathways and transcendant intelligence. Floating gently, the Kaisoken communicate through impulses translated into audible speech, and are proficient in the control of magic, though they are limited in a straight fight. They were traditionallly enemies with the Rau've, who had used their nonsapient crystal 'cousins' in their tech, but allied with them against the Ascendancy of Man, who had used ground Kaisoken dust in the experiments that eventually led to their child soldier program. Because of this, they broke off relations with the Rau've after the war for letting the child soldiers get off 'freely'.

The Gill: Combining reptilian and amphibian features, the Gill are evolved to live primarily in water, with long, slender limbs for powerful strikes ending in webbed hands. Hardy against poisons and extreme terrain, on account of the noxious swamps on their homeworld, they have moved to colonize other oceanic places, and are proficient skirmishers. Like Humans, they need Kaisoken dust infused into their bodies to use Magic.

The Korta: Diminuitive beings resembling pachyderms, the Korta are highly intelligent and analytical, mostly serving as engineers and bureaucrats. Computer systems, locks, and riddles tend to fall quickly before them. They also need Kaisoken dust mixed into their bloodstream to use Magic.

The Tayanen: Clusters of sentient amorphous material locked into massively armored shells, the Tayanen deliver heavy firepower with high resistance to shock, heat, or trauma, having little vulnerable area. Nevertheless, they are slow to react, though their decision making ability when in a group can be very fast. Cannot use Magic at all unless grafted with a willing Kaisoken 'host' through an unknown process.

III. Magic System

Magic

There are six disciplines of Magic:

High - There are many theories that try to explain High Magic. Some say that it is the power of The Divine, it is the power of positive emotions, channeled through the human soul. Nevertheless, High Magic is the power of controlling Magical Energy itself, allowing for the ability to see all Magic, to draw available magical energy from the sky and earth, create constructs of condensed Mana, create and fuel magitech and enchanted items, ward people and places from magic, and finally, the ability to create bolts of silver-white light that cause damage that cannot be healed by magic to Mages and Magical creatures... But not ordinary targets, whose burns can be healed as normal.

Note: High Magic has been nerfed; the last sentence has been edited so that only other Mages and Magical Creatures, as well as magitech, receive damage that cannot be healed by Magic.

World - World Magic is control over the physical elements of the world. You want to create Fire? World Magic. You want to alter Gravity to make yourself float? World Magic. You want to use lightning to electrocute a person? World Magic. Basically, if it has nothing to do with changing one thing to another, or controlling something that isn't wholly of this earth? World Magic is your key. Basically, Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but without healing or spiritual arts and with control over gravity.

Change - This is the magic that deals with changing one thing to another. This magic can knit wounds and reverse aging, cause trees to grow fists and turn vines into whips. This magic can change one substance to another, turning lead into gold, earth into acid, and fire into water. What it cannot do, however, is affect stuff protected by High magic, or mess with things that are already dead. That belongs to another school, the magic of the Underworld.

Underworld - Death is all around us, and the old laws against disturbing the ghosts who chose not to pass on are gone, cast into the wind. Nevertheless, the souls of the departed have to be treated with respect...but it is not the same for their bodies. Underworld Magic is the magic of Necromancy; it is the magic you wield when you want to raise an army of the dead, to control the shadows of the world, to speak with ghosts, and to strike people dead with one blow (this is a high-level spell). You can even use this to transcend death, allowing you continued existence in this world without need for food, drink, and sleep...

Timespace - The magic of traveling vast distances in a single bound, of teleportation, portals, and scrying. The strongest Magi can even control probability, making a person luckier or unluckier, sometimes to absurd levels. But what it can not do is reverse the past; basically, no time travel. Bullet Time and Time Stop are also possibilities for incredibly strong practitioners but have certain requirements that limit their effectiveness in combat.

Bullet Time and Time Stop Nerfs: Bullet Time can only be activated defensively when confronted by attacks too fast for the mundane body to dodge normally. And by that, it only works when people are shooting bullets at the guy and it can only be used to dodge bullets and other attacks - it cannot be used to attack in turn. This keeps what I want - PCs being able to dodge bullets - without making them overpowered in offense, as well as giving PCs the choice not to shoot bullets in the first place.

As for Time Stop, not only can the 'time bubble' be cut apart by Ex. Swordsmanship, but it doesn't work on sapient beings; it can still be used to stop bullets, explosions, crashing trains, rampaging animals, and lightning strikes, but not melee strikes from sapient beings - neither the user or his opponents can use ranged attacks in a Time Stop. The in-universe reason for this is that having a Soul protects you from unauthorized changes to the timeline, and yes, AI have souls here as well.

Mind Magic - This magic deals with controlling minds and altering emotions of both humans and animals, as well as creating illusions, mental compulsions, and even erasing or editing memories. A very powerful magical discipline, but a strong willpower can break its effects...

Basically, each PC is supposed to mix and match effects from multiple sources of magic, although specialization is a thing.

Counterspell/Dispel Magic rules.

Countering and Dispelling Magic

Making Anti-Magic spells is a bit complicated, but basically, you first need three High Magic spells, including the Anti-Magic rote, and one spell of the School you want to dispel. For example, if you want to dispel Underworld Magic, you need three High Magic spells and one Underworld Magic spell. As you have six starting spells available, you can theoretically be able to counter or Dispel three schools maximum. You can only counter or dispel High Magic if all six of your starting spells are of that school.

Enchantment Rules

Enchantment Rules

Enchantment requires High Magic and a spell that you or another party member knows, along with an item to be enhcanted. Note however that the weaker and less durable the material is, the magic you can put into it is more limited; for example, oak can be enchanted to emit laser beams, birch cannot. This is the same for metals, and the strongest of spells can only be enchanted into 'Perfected Electrum (more below)'.

Perfected Electrum

Perfected Electrum

Electrum is a mix of Gold and Silver that occurs naturally but can be made by artificial means. This material, if treated by High and Change Magic by four different Magi (see 'Group Spells' below) can be 'perfected', aka transformed into metal as hard as a diamond yet not as brittle, and whose lightness is that of cloth. But the most valuable property of Perfected Electrum is that it can contain very, very strong spells, except for Resurrection (see below under 'Group Spells'). The Ascendancy of Man has a monopoly of Perfected Electrum; not that it helped them win the war.

Group Spells

Group Spells

Basically, multiple spell-casters with different Schools can do things that would strain a single Mage. This also helps in compensating for single Magi's weaknesses in specialization.

Example Spell:

Resurrection (High, Change, Underworld + materials for a new body) - Three Magi, or alternatively, a single Magi who has six High, Change, and Underworld spells each, can bring back a dead person. High Magic is used to supply magical energy for the permanent return of the Soul (said soul must always be willing), Change is used to turn inorganic material into organic matter, and Underworld is used to tug back the Soul from wherever it's been. Resurrection cannot be Enchanted into Items.

Note: Other ways of tapping into one's Magic besides the above Magic System are possible, but the Child Soldiers would use said system at first before developing in other directions.

IV. Non-Magical Options

Exceptional Skills

All PCs have access to 'Exceptional Skills', which are basically a mundane talent that can be boosted to extraordinary and unnatural levels. All Exceptional Skills can resist the magical equivalent, or even counter them; for example, Exceptional Swordsmanship allows you to cut through magical barriers or attacks, while Exceptional Medicine can cure wounds caused by High Magic and normally unhealable by any spell, provided one has the right materials.

Exceptional Skills can be anything you want, as long as 1.) it does not have an obviously magical effect, 2.) It is an enhanced version of something a normal being can already do, just boosted to implausible levels, and 3.) You can justify it with cybernetics, biotech, or even drugs. Stuff like Power Armor also works as long as it's treated as an essential possession of the character. Same for Alien/Robot biological traits.

This is an incomplete list of examples:

- Exceptional Swordsmanship
- Exceptional Archery
- Exceptional Unarmed
- Exceptional Endurance (can resist even magic)
- Exceptional Bureaucracy
- Exceptional Trading
- Exceptional Diplomacy (stuff done with this can resist the effects of Mind magic, even if the target is weak-willed)
- Exceptional Medicine

Exceptional Skills can also be stacked, aka doubled, or even tripled in power. For example, you can use up three spell slots to gain Exceptional Swordsmanship x3, which allows you to cut through a two-story building made up of granite, and tear apart a Time Stop with a slash. More on stacking in the Rules section.

Note that Exceptional Skills are intended to be specialized, but at the same time, lack the versatility of Magic. And yes, Child Soldiers can have both Exceptional Skills and Magic, but they have to replace one Spell from their spell list with one level of Exceptional Skill.

Natasha Zhang's crew automatically has 8 Exceptional Skills, except for a Kaisoken member if there is one.

Technology

Tech Level is...variable, thanks to the effects of widespread upheaval. Automation is common in the more civilized portions of the Sector, as well as lasers, railguns, EMP emitters, and plasma throwers. The main method of FTL is the use of a 'wormhole system' that links most planets, but Kaisoken, Rau've, and Ascendancy of Man use Spacewarpers, spaceships that either uses Magic (Kaisoken and Rau've) or Super-tech (Ascendancy) that can turn a hundred light-years' worth of distance to one day's trip.

Cybernetics exist, but are taboo in the inner levels of the Ascendancy of Man, where biotechnology is preferred as 'it does not mar the pure human form'. Cybernetics can be used to justify possession of an Exceptional Skill, the same for Drugs, Powered Armor, and other pieces of technology.

V. Rules

Rules

1.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without a magical shield.
2.) Any consenting relationship between people of the same age group is allowed, whether it's Homosexual or Heterosexual. If you cannot stand such things, don't post here in the first place.
3.) Be polite to others.
4.) Please notify me if you will be gone for more than a week, I myself will let you guys know if I will be gone for that same amount of time.
5.) It's a fantasy world; you can learn Magic - two new spells of any School per Story Arc, more if you find a willing mentor (another PC, another Magic-user, a Kaisoken who doesn't hate your guts) and time. New Exceptional Skills, on the other hand, are easier to stack, harder to learn - You can double the power of two Exceptional Skills every first arc, and select a new exceptional skill every second arc. The story for this RP will have Eight Arcs, so you get to stack two skills on the first, add one skill on the second, stack again on the third, and so on.
6.) New Rule: GM Updates are weekly - if you don't respond to two updates in a row, and you don't give a good reason, you are regarded as dropped.
7.) New Rule: The GM reserves the right to control inactive PCs as NPCs in order to keep the plot moving.

VI. Miscellaneous Lore and Worldbuilding

The Battle of Proxima (Also in the Char Section

The Battle of Proxima Centauri

The Rau've/Kaisoken Alliance were lured to the Proxima System, only 4 light-years from Earth itself, and the Ascendancy immediately redeployed much of its remaining forces to crush the Nonhuman coalition once and for all. Their plan was to use the smaller ships of the Ascendancy (Cruisers and Frigates) to lure the Alliance as close to Proxima's Sun as possible. The Sun would then cut off the Alliance line of retreat as the Dreadnoughts hammer them with walls of fire; the Carriers would remain in reserve.

It was a viable strategy; not inherently stupid, but the Kaisoken contingents of the combined fleet caught on to it and sent their ships to envelop the Ascendancy's flotilla from above and below, snapping like a ferocious raptor's jaws. The Carriers under Kherol were unable to do anything (or unwilling, as Kherol saw the strategy as stupid and wanted to save as much of the Ascendancy Fleet as he could from said stupidity) as the Dreadnought Fleet of the Ascendancy was well-nigh destroyed.

Nevertheless, although Kherol's non-interference was controversial, none can dispute that it was the survival of the Ascendancy's Carriers that prevented the Rau've and Kaisoken from visualizing or annexing the Ascendancy outright, and even allowed the Humans to retain most of their territory, albeit under heavy requirements for war reparations. And it was after the Ascendancy's defeat that Emmanuel Thoreau began to build and focus more on Carriers and Carrier-based space doctrine; the days of the Dreadnought were over.

The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet

The first two centuries of the Ascendancy of Man were of construction, colonization, and exploration, as the 'Spacewarpers' of the Human Fleet opened up new horizons. Over time, autonomous trading companies grew in the fringes of Human Space, pushing the frontiers of expansion. But when the Rau've and Kaisoken were finally discovered, along with their equivalent or greater power to the Ascendancy, the first President-for-Life, Corrin Herbert, began to move towards centralization, nationalizing several trading companies and forcing those left to consolidate underneath Henry Windsor, one of the leading explorers and merchants of the fringe worlds.

Together, these trading companies formed a formidable fleet, well-armed against Space Pirates (mostly Aliens and renegade Humans) and enough to endanger the Ascendancy itself if it came to war. And so Corrin Herbert was forced to make concessions: The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet will be allowed to continue its operations, provided that it provide a large payment to the Ascendancy of Man and logistical support to its future wars. This was resented by Corrin's two successors, Elijah and Emmanuel Thoreau, but neither of them made any move to withdraw said concessions, being enmeshed with their own plans.

Even the coming of the Rau've/Kaisoken War did not endanger the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet, as the latter paid a large payment to the Ascendancy in order to avoid giving logistical support. This was a good thing, as the Windsors had already decided that the future lay in economic cooperation with Aliens (albeit with Humans on top) instead of making war with them. So they stood by, consolidating their power on the Southern Fringe of Human Space, well away from the Kaisoken and Rau've territory. And the war ended with the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet more powerful than ever, with only the Ascendancy's Carrier Fleet able to contest them.

Now, the Windsors cannot avoid a collision with the upper levels of the Ascendancy; money can no longer overcome the fear that the Trading Fleet, made up of Xenophiles and immensely rich and powerful, would conduct a coup. And the Windsors knew it, so they decided to conduct a coup for real, contacting disaffected elements among the fringe worlds and other dissidents only to find they had already been contacted by a new organization, Moonstrike, an organization that seemed to have access to Ascendancy tech and military hardware. And so all activity from them stopped. Was it jealousy, or were they biding their time for something else?

VII. Character Sheet Skeleton

Character Sheet Skeleton, Child Soldier

[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character?
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[b]Spell List:[/b] 6 Spells overall.
[B]Exceptional Skill List:[/b] Replace any number of your 6 Spells with an Exceptional Skill

Character Sheet Skeleton, Natasha's Crew

[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character? Possessions can also be used to justify Exceptional Skills.
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[B]Exceptional Skill List:[/b] 8 Skills.

Character Sheet Skeleton, Kaisoken Member of Natasha's Crew

[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character? Possessions can also be used to justify Exceptional Skills.
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[B]Special Spell/Ex. Skill List:[/b] Unique Rules are that you get 8 Spells which can be exchanged for [i]some[/i] Ex. Skills, but you are locked out of anything that requires arms and legs, such as Exceptional Swordsmanship or Exceptional Running. You also can't use guns unless you move them with telekinesis.

Exceptional Endurance (Is free at Character Creation)

[Letter Bee]

NCQuest: A Mecha RP - The Defense of Darwin (BeeNCQuest)



The Lore Thread

The year is 2677, 500 years after a Nuclear War that ended the Age of the Nation-State. Now, the world is split between Independents; settlements and towns living a hardscrabble life in the wastelands, and the Ruling Corporations, eight large organizations that have seized large portions of the planet and its people for themselves. The majority of the Ruling Corporations' personnel are tyrannical and arbitrary, twisted by long isolation from the masses whose work supports their way of life. The average person in Corporate territory lives in fear, bowed down by heavy burdens in a soulless environment, before dying quickly and painfully.

Complicating the picture are the Neural Combatants (NCs), giant humanoid machines left behind by the nations of the world before everything burned in nuclear fire. Using technology that binds together brain and machine, all NCs have Cores that cannot be duplicated by even the most advanced Corporation; these Cores, when attached to a body, allow the pilot to conduct feats of strength and speed that borders on the supernatural. In essence, Neural Combatants use technology that makes Mecha work; the impractical made practical. The more NC Cores a Corporation has, the better they are in the constant warfare that covers the planet today.

But NCs are also what allow Independents to maintain their fragile autonomy, and Mercenaries to operate without excessive restrictions from the MegaCorps. The largest alliance of Independents is Haven, a democratic federation that covers the whole of Australia and New Zealand after the successful ejection of Red-Star, the tyrannical Ruling Corporation whose yoke spreads all over the Far East.

Founded on the principles of sustainable development, direct democracy, and federalism, Haven has bettered the lives of its component settlements by promoting local development and introducing clean technology, as well as a tolerant policy as regards minorities like Australian Aborigines, Maori, and Asian-Australians, who are encouraged to participate in political and economic life. But this approach has provoked the ire of various 'Cultural Purists' who despise the fact that Haven is led by the Hidden Burrow, an underground city populated by the descendants of Kurdish refugees who are unapologetic about mixing Kurdish and Australian cultures.

These 'Purists' then conducted a series of bombings and murders bent on bringing Haven into Civil War, Civil War prevented only by the revelation that the 'Purists' were supported by Red-Star as preparation for an invasion of Australia. Now, said invasion has been launched, with the heaviest blow about to fall on the city of Darwin, where the rebuilt settlement had experienced riots over an attempt to rename it to 'New Afrin'. But due to the revelation of Red-Star malfeasance, the citizens of the city rally around the Havenite flag in order to prevent the fate of the Original Afrin from repeating itself, and Mecha Pilots from all over the world volunteer to protect this bastion of freedom from the oppression of the MegaCorps...

Consult the Lore Thread linked above if you want more info.

System:

The System we are using is Battle Century G (Copy leads to Free SRD) and its supplement, Battle Century Z (Link leads to Free SRD as well).

Rules and Houserules

Rules

1.) No godmoding, metagaming, or mary sues.
2.) Be civil.
3.) Do not be an asshole.
4.) Post length is four sentences minimum, but longer posts are encouraged, of course. GMs are also bound by this rule.
5.) Consult the Lore Thread (linked under the picture) if you want to know more about how NCs, Independents, and Corporations work.
6.) Post at least once a week.

House Rules

1.) No Miracle Skills.
2.) All Grunts are Squadrons and not Mecha.
3.) PCs start out as Talented, giving them 30 extra XP (and thus 30 extra CP and MP) to add to the 100 they already have at starting creation, plus one Genre Power.

[Letter Bee]

Name: Alexander Sky

Appearance:


Age: 20

Personality: To all appearances, Alexander Sky is fanatically loyal to Red-Star and wishes to prove himself worthy of overcoming his European blood in order to become a 'True Comrade' of Red-Star. In order to accomplish this, Alexander captures other NC Pilots and their machines, believing that he is bringing said pilots 'to the light' by giving them over to be tortured and enslaved by Red-Star. He frequently makes much of being the perfect Slave-Pilot who merely wishes to join his comrades in the higher ranks, and perfectly accepting his place in life.

All of this is a lie. Through means outlined below in the Backstory, Alexander has seen the rottenness of the Red-Star Corporate Government and wants it brought down as deeply as possible. But whether this translates to sabotaging his own faction's invasion of Darwin City, or if he sees this as merely another opportunity to convince Red-Star of his continued loyalty, remains to be seen...

Backstory: Alexander Sky was born to Volkov Prisoners of War that the Russian MegaCorp had abandoned to Red-Star's 'Human Breeding Camps'. At the age of six, his high Sync Ratio was discovered, thus prompting him to be trained as a pilot; his loyalty was to be secured with indoctrination, drugs, and the promise of freedom for himself and his parents should he prove himself to the Red-Star hierarchy. After doing well in his training and what studies were permitted to him by his masters, Alexander found himself with a golden opportunity to show his worth; Denver-Vegas had invaded the Red-Star territory of Japan, where the locals were rebelling against the Beijing-based Corporation. And so the pilot, given his first NC at sixteen, came, saw, and conquered, destroying several battalions of D-V soldiers and capturing several of D-V's aces.

But just as he was on the verge of being hailed as a hero and being given freedom as a 'Comrade', D-V and Red-Star signed a peace treaty in which D-V decided to end its invasion of Japan in exchange for its pilots being returned unharmed. Problem is, Red-Star had already broken a few of them through torture, thus putting the peace proposal in danger. So the Denver-Vegas general proposed an alternative; they would be allowed to flog Alexander half to death in exchange for peace. Red-Star unsurprisingly agreed.

And as Alexander was exhibited before the Denver-Vegas ranks and publicly tortured, it was then that his faith in Red-Star was put under serious strain. Then, as he was recuperating from the flogging, he found out that his parents had vanished from their slave camp; Red-Star's secret police had taken them away when they had protested against their son's treatment. This broke his loyalty to the Corporation, but he managed to hide it under a mask of continued obedience. Nevertheless, it was then that he began to be more curious about the world, to try and find ways around Red-Star's propaganda and control of information. And with that, no more can be revealed about his story; suffice it to say that he has his own plans now...

Tactical Preferences and Skills: Alexander Sky prefers a quick and forceful strike meant to destroy the enemy's defenses, closing in with energy weapons and submachine fire before closing into melee. Despite this, he does not like fragile machines and takes care to make sure he has a mech that balances out defense and offense. He also believes in using flying NCs whenever he can in order to get in and get out of situations as much as possible.

Outside of his Mecha, he can use Railgun/Coilgun Assault Rifles and a Chinese Jian Sword, plus is decent with computers and Virtual Reality games and simulations (it is speculated that his mastery of Virtual Reality is tied to his High Sync ratio, as well as the reason he was able to gain information unaltered by Red-Star propaganda).

Notes: Alex is bisexual.

------

NC Character Sheet:

Code-name: Phoenix Inferno

Appearance:


Body Type: (Bipedal, Hover, Tank-Tread, .etc) Bipedal-Hover

Type of NC: (General-Purpose, Interception, Assault, .etc): Heavy Assault

Equipment & Armaments:
- Right arm-mounted Claw with an Ion Pulse Projector.
- Two shoulder-mounted Fusion Cannons that shoot superheated gas.
- Plasma Dagger (held in left arm).
- Missile Launchers (loaded with electrified nets).
- Energy Shield.

[Letter Bee]

From Sick Man to Savior - An 1847 Nation Roleplay


Muhammad Ali establishing a Modern Navy

The Discord Server (None Yet)

The IC Thread (TBA)

In 1840, history diverged when the British offered Muhammad Ali of Egypt, the great modernizer of his country, independence and continued rule of the territories he had conquered in his rebellion against the Ottoman Empire in exchange for one major concession: The construction of an earlier Suez Canal. As the European Navies' guns were staring down his metaphorical throat, the ruler of Egypt agreed, and sweetened the concessions by ceding Crete, which he held at the time, to the nascent Greek state. Thus, the newly-founded Sultanate of Egypt found itself in control of the Levant, Cicilia, and the Hedjaz, becoming the hegemon of the Middle East almost overnight.

Using this opportunity, Muhammad Ali continued his modernizing reforms, establishing a professional bureaucracy, introducing modern technology and agricultural methods, and even sowing the seeds of industry in Egypt, all the while keeping friendly relations with the European powers, relations made friendlier by his abolition of slavery a few years after consolidating his rule over his new lands. Diplomatic ties were also formed with the Muslim states of Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as the Christian nation of Ethiopia, where he formed an unlikely alliance with one of the claimants to its Imperial Throne, Sahle Dingil (The future IRL Tewodoros II), an alliance dedicated to modernizing both their nations in the face of European Expansion.

As for the rest of the world, China is trying to recover from its stunning defeat and humiliation in the First Opium War, with reactionaries and reformists beginning to clash over what reforms their Empire needed, if they needed any at all. Hatred for the foriegners who forced drugs into their country and threaten their way of life simmers among the citizenry and peasants, but above all, the latter despise the ruling Qing Dynasty for trapping them in oppression and poverty. This is the year in which Hong Xiuqan, who would later start the Taiping Rebellion, was refused baptism by Western Missionaries, a foreshadowing of how his revolution will have to rely mostly on domestic support...

In America, the United States is handily beating Mexico in the first and only war between their two nations. Founded on principles of Freedom and Democracy, the United States is brimming with ambitions to turn itself into a world power, although it has to deal with the cancer of slavery which still exists in its southern parts. Will its future be as bright as it was in History, or will the American Dream flounder in this alternate world? For that matter, what of Brazil, Peru, and the other nations of 'Latin America'? Will they be able to rise up and industrialize, attaining unheard-of strength, or will their dreams crash and burn?

And while Ireland suffers under the Great Famine, and Britain sits in 'splendid isolation' to build an empire while not involving itself in Continental Europe, where the forces of Revolution and Reaction stir, with nationalists and liberals formenting rebellion against the Old Guard. Italy and Germany call out for Unification, with would-be revolutionaries in the former prepared to confront the Papacy itself, while in the latter, plans are made to influence Prussia, the hegemon of North Germany, to unite the other German-speaking peoples by force. In Hungary, intellectuals plan to agitate for the self-determination of their people and equality with the Austrian crown, while France's last King, Louis-Philippe of Orleans, is losing popularity to the point where his downfall seems inevitable.

In the Real World, these will become the unsuccssful rebellions of 1848, but who knows what the seeds of discontent will flower into in this world? Or will the forces of reaction succeed instead?

-------

Co-GMs:

-------

Rules are below:

1.) Do not be an asshole.
2.) The Point of Divergence is 1840. Before that, your nation's history must be as IRL.
3.) Do not make your nation overpowered.
4.) Do not ignore Logistics or Economics.
5.) By the same token, only a few nations can match the British Empire's economy.
6.) Do not make your nations perfect.
7.) Technological Development must be plausible - I do not want people developing Dreadnoughts in the 1840s. That said, this is an era of advancements in Science and Technology, so don't overly gimp yourselves either...

Nation Sheet

Nation Sheet

[b][u]Government[/u][/b]

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Flag/Badge:[/b]
[b]Head of State:[/b] (Who rules your nation, either as a figurehead or in truth).
[b]Head of Government:[/b] (If your Head of State is a figurehead, list the real ruler here. If he isn't, type 'Same as Head of State').
[b]Ideology:[/b] (Is your nation Liberal, Conservative, or some radical version of both?)

[b][u]Military[/u][/b]

[b]Army Numbers:[/b] (Copy Wikipedia if you are not using a Point of Divergence. If you are, use common sense and reason - No absurd numbers).
[b]Navy Numbers:[/b] (Copy Wikipedia if you are not using a Point of Divergence. If you are, use common sense and reason - No absurd numbers. Also, if you have multiple fleets, list each one's ships seperately, do not bunch them up).
[b]Army Equipment:[/b] (What sort of guns and cannons does your army have?).
[b]Naval Ship Types:[/b] (What sort of ships does your navy have?).

[b][u]History, Expansion, and Economics[/u][/b]

[b]History:[/b] (Optional unless you are using a Point of Divergence.)
[b]Territory:[/b] (Describe Verbally or show on map.)
[b]Economic Description:[/b] (Elaborate on your Economy. What natural resources, manufactured goods,and crops do you produce?)
[b]Historical Claims:[/b] (What land [i]outside[/i] your territory do you want? If using a Point of Divergence, do not claim the rest of the world).

[Letter Bee]

Formal Application:

Hider

Government

Name: Sultanate of Egypt

Flag/Badge:


Head of State: Sultan Muhammad Ali Pasha
Head of Government: Sultan Muhammad Ali Pasha
Ideology: Conservative.

Military

Army Numbers: 75,000 - 80,000 (After Point of Divergence.)

Navy Numbers: (Copy Wikipedia if you are not using a Point of Divergence. If you are, use common sense and reason - No absurd numbers. Also, if you have multiple fleets, list each one's ships seperately, do not bunch them up).

Mediterrenean Fleet (After Point of Divergence):

-8 Ships of the Line
-20 Frigates
-30 Corvettes
-10 Schooners
-20 Brigantines

Red Sea Fleet (After Point of Divergence):

- 3 Ships of the Line
- 8 Frigates
- 10 Corvettes
- 5 Schooners
- 10 Brigantines

Army Equipment:

-Springfield Model 1842 (Rifle).
-Colt Walker 1846 (Pistol).
-The Harpers Ferry Model 1841 (Rifle).
-Aston Model 1842 (Pistol).
-20 Smoothbore Cannons (Field and Siege Guns).
-15 Rocket Artillery.

Naval Ship Types:

-Ships of the Line
-Frigates
-Corvettes
-Schooners
-Brigantines

History, Expansion, and Economics

The Point of Divergence began in the year 1840, where the British offered Muhammad Ali, then merely the rebellious viceroy of Egypt, a deal - Keep his military conquests, his navy, and gain independence from the Ottoman Empire in exchange for an earlier Suez Canal. Muhammad Ali agreed, and once the deal was signed, he found himself the new Sultan of Egypt, and ready to create a new modern nation which nevertheless did not lose its continuity and attachment to the Past. With a free hand to continue his reforms, and relations with the independent Greek Kingdom repaired by his' ceding Crete to them, he now had almost unlimited power in his nation.

His modernizing reforms involved improving education and fostering literacy, encouraging foreign business and trade, while at the same time making use of the Western Powers' current goodwill (extended by legally abolishing slavery) to foster trade with the parts of Africa which were still unconquered by European powers. Not just that, but he also founded a Military Academy in order to lessen his dependence on European specialists, as well as extended medical education to women in order to improve the expertise of midwives and women's doctors so that his pool of potential soldiers and workers can grow.

While these all came with a cost, economic growth was high due to investment in Egypt's agricultural economy, as well as the workshops and small factories the Sultan ordered built all along the Nile. Gold mining in Sudan was also a vital source of funds, especially when new methods of resource production were brought in from the West. And of course, there was Egyptian Cotton, which grew into a viable competitor against the American South's products. While taxes were still high, wages grew, and the standard of living in Egypt began to improve, although it was still poor by European Standards.

As for foreign affairs, Muhammad Ali chose to eschew intervention into Ethiopia as he grew older, knowing full well that he had to focus on building Egypt's economy. So in a surprising move, he chose to aid the would-be uniter of the Ethiopians, Sahle Dingil/Tewedoros II, in ascending to his nation's throne in exchange for preferential access to the coffee plants of said nation. At the same time, defenses are built up all across the Cicilian border with the Ottomans, where the local Armenian population is given tax exemptions in exchange for helping build fortifications and serving as soldiers and sailors.

Nevertheless, some touch of the old ruthlessness remains in the elderly, successful, Sultan of Egypt, as he is speculated to have secretly ordered the death of his most incompetent nephew, Abbas, in order to have an heir who would not scrap his modernizing policies (his competent eldest son, Ibrahim, is currently dying from tuberculosis). For now, however, despite the absolute nature of his rule and his insistence that it continue, Egypt's future looks bright...

Territory: Cilicia/Lesser Armenia, The Levant, the Hedjaz region of Arabia including the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina, Egypt and Sudan.

Economic Description: Egypt makes most of its money from agriculture, whether of food crops or cash crops, with cotton making up most of the latter. It has also built up a proto-industrial economy of workshops and factories for local consumption of goods, as well as the production of guns, artillery, and ships. Mining in Sinai and Sudan is also a source of wealth, with gold and iron ore being important resources to the domestic and foreign economies. And finally, a Western-style Bank has been set up in Cairo itself, one which heralds the arrival of more 'sophisticated' financial institutions.

Historical Claims: None, Egypt is satisfied.

[Letter Bee]

Daniel Palaiologos

Name: Daniel Palaiologos

Title(s): That Kid!, The Atoner.

Appearance:

Originally David Garcia Martinez from Lalin’s Curse, a Webcomic by Isaky on Webtoons. Used with her consent.

Gender: Male.

Age: 16

Previous Alignment(s): Independent, then Clock Tower

Motivation for the Holy Grail: Daniel's wish is to replenish all of Humanity's resources except for Fossil Fuels, as well as mass regrowth of forests and coral reefs, along with the removal of excess Co2 and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This is not because Daniel is an eco-geek or a fanatic about the environment, but rather to prevent Humanity from destroying itself through resource conflicts and climate change and taking Magus-kind down along with it, ending all Magi's search for The Root permanently.

Personality: Idealistic to the point of naivete, determined to the point of arrogance, and only now reluctantly admitting ignorance of his circumstances, Daniel is someone who regrets past gullibility and seeks to learn from it even though his idealism and arrogance prevent him from learning as quickly as he should. This regret makes him want to atone for his actions against the Clock Tower, no matter how ultimately minor, by serving them loyally but not as blindly as he had served his grandfather, who had caused the troubles of the family in the first place. But despite seeking The Root like the rest of the Clock Tower's Magi, Daniel has a larger-than-normal love for Humanity as a concept and a desire to give it one last gift before he or his descendants reached The Root. This gift would either be a Wish on the Holy Grail which benefits billions of people or his own efforts to get rid of threats to Humanity if they rear their ugly heads...

Biography: A long time ago, there was the Palaiologos Family, overlords of Modern Athens, Salonika, and Sparta's magical communities. They were Independent Magi who resented any form of oversight, including the Magus Association's, and though powerful for a while, their arrogance and lack of alliances with the wider network of Magi led their vassal families to slowly peel off and join the Clock Tower and even Atlas Academy, slowly chipping away at their strength. The lowest point was when the seventh child of the family, Deuel Palaiologos, left their ranks and married Maria Adamos, an ordinary woman and a scientist to boot, and chose to live a humble life as a restaurant owner, free from the burdens of Magus politics and seeking The Root.

Daniel was born from that marriage, and for a while, he was left alone to be raised in love by his parents, going to school, making friends, and reading books of all kinds, which he understood and absorbed from a young age. A genius, smart enough that it counted as a curse, especially when coupled with a natural talent for Magecraft, which his father reluctantly taught him. This, however, was noticed by his grandfather's spies, who were still watching Deuel and his family. And it became worse when all of a sudden, all of Deuel's siblings, Daniel's uncles and aunts, died in mysterious circumstances, and so did their children, Daniel's cousins.

This left Deuel, Maria, and Daniel as the only way for House Palaiologos to continue, and Anastasios Palaiologos, Daniel's grandfather and the Head of House, came directly for Daniel with a large detail of bodyguards - Deuel and Maria were damaged goods and so he wanted Daniel as his heir. Because of the threat of force, there was no choice but to let Daniel be taken away 'for training'. Daniel was ten then.

The training was hard and unforgiving, and to keep Daniel motivated, Anastasios began fudging the truth, saying that the Palaiologos Family was surrounded on all sides by enemies such as the Clock Tower and the rest of the Magus' Association and that Daniel was being trained to be a hero who will eventually bring them down. Being an impressionable kid, Daniel believed his grandfather and willingly threw himself harder into his studies, which included diplomacy, etiquette, and the use of firearms and swords.

Four years later, Anastasios gave Daniel the family Magic Crest, and to all appearances, died of natural causes. Daniel was now Family Head at fifteen, inheritor of a large fortune in the mundane world but with declining respect and deference from other Magi and Spellcasters alike. And after meeting once again with his parents and childhood friends, Daniel began dutifully working to fulfill his Grandfather's will, which was to gather the misfits and outcasts of Magus society together into a 'Resistance' to fight the Clock Tower.

The first sign things were wrong was when Daniel saw that these misfits and outcasts were no saints, and a few were actually scumbags who deserved to be cast out, being the child-sacrificing louts who worshipped cosmic horrors and embodiments of metaphysical tyranny which he thought the Clock Tower was. The second sign was that when Daniel became too vocal with this sentiment, one of these 'oppressed misfits' instead reported him to the Clock Tower, who promptly sent people to arrest Daniel and nip his conspiracy in the bud. Despite being a 'prodigy' with more experience than a kid should have, he was still a teenager and was thus easily lured out and captured.

For a brief moment, Daniel considered blowing himself up rather than being subjected to the enemy's alleged cruel tortures, which included removal of one's magic circuits entirely. Then he was knocked flat by a punch to the stomach before he can do so, and woke up in a surprisingly comfortable cell. After that, he found out that not only had his Grandfather fed him lies, but that said Grandfather was still alive - He had created a unique form of Magecraft, based on Life and Necromancy Magics, which allowed him to add other people's lifespans to his own, tricking death itself into thinking he was supposed to still be alive. This magic was best-cast in a Bounded Field, and the real reason Daniel's uncles, aunts, and cousins died was because Anastasios had tricked them into a place with such a Field and transferred their lifespans to himself.

And yes, there was a recording of Anastasios gloating about his plans, as well as other pieces of supporting evidence showing that his endgame was to use Daniel to found an organization to fight the Clock Tower and the rest of the Mages' Association, manipulating said organization to acquire power and knowledge for himself.

After taking a while to absorb the information, Daniel allowed the Clock Tower to exact a fine from him of his Family's most powerful Mystic Codes, as well as give him an official reprimand. He would eventually join the Clock Tower itself, for, despite its amorality, it was a net benefit for Humanity. And it was in a mission for its interests that he ended up in [Insert City Here]...

---

Elemental Affinity: Average One.

Magic Circuit Switch: Not listed in roll results, so I'll just wait for the GM to give it.

Number of Magic Circuits: D

Quality of Magic Circuits: A

---

Magecraft: Magecraft: Heroic Iconography Magecraft - The Palaiologos Family's signature Magecraft, dating from Greece and Rome and adapted to the Christian and Secular Eras, Heroic Iconography Magecraft uses Jewelry shaped into a form resonant in the collective subconscious (stars, planets, swords and rings) as a catalyst for a Ritual of Transformation (nowadays as simple as lifting up one's badge into the air and letting it catch the light of the sun, moon, and stars), combined with self-hypnosis to push one's physical and mental capabilities to the limit...

Magic Crest: 600 years.

Equipment: Jewel Star Badge and Uniform - A badge of electrum (a naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver) and diamond which when held aloft, transforms Daniel's current clothing into a miniature version of this uniform, which acts as lightweight armor with decent resistance to physical and magical force (think the Chaldea Uniform from FGO).

Electrum and Emerald Ring - A ring of electrum with an emerald set in its front, this ring carries basic Reinforcement and Healing Spells which allow for Olympic-level feats and basic regeneration (also based on the Chaldea Uniform from FGO).

Orbis - A crystal orb which contains several smaller jewels which represent a Heliocentric Solar System instead of the usual Geocentric cosmology followed by most Magi. This allows Daniel to see brief glimpses into the past, present, and future, as well as act as a Mana Compass which glows bright red when he meets with a danger too powerful to handle.

Telos - A modified Azoth dagger which can extend into a crystalline longsword which conducts Daniel's Elemental spells.

[Letter Bee]

Osamu Akiyama's CS and my work as him.

Name: Osamu Akiyama

Age: 18

Appearance:


Powers:

Demon Summoning Program - A special kind of programming code that duplicates a summoning ritual.

Osamu is skilled in Negotiation, Superscience and, since meeting Naoki for the second time, Sorcery. He is also an expert in making Magitech Weapons. To compensate for this, though, Osamu lacks any fighting ability whatsoever, and has to rely in Horus for battle.

Horus' Stats

Weaknesses:

Flunky Dependence - Osamu, as mentioned, lacks fighting ability and overrelies on Tech, Magic, and Horus for battle. He also is reluctant to face his opponents head-on, because he knews they can beat him easily. Rather, he's a good-guy version of that person who sends out constant waves of minions/subordinates at you until you get to their lair and stomp them.

Preperation Requirement - Osamu needs time in order to prepare any game-winning gadget or magical ritual, as well as protection from anyone who might sneak up on him, as interrupting his gadget-building/magical ritual would make said processes useless.

Bio: The son of Ryo Akiyama and Ruki Makino/Rika Nonaka, Osamu was a genius like his unfortunate namesake in another universe. Interested in the 'Digital World' that his parents would tell him stories about, Osamu would begin doing research on how to link the two dimensions back together from a very young age, although he saved time to play with his friends, Rai Matsuki/Matsuda and Lucy Lee/Wong, who, unlike him, disbelieved in their parents' stories of the Digital World. Finally, at the age of 10, Osamu Akiyama discovered, with help from the organization HYPNOS, the secret to interdimensional travel...and that was when things went wrong, for Osamu didn't find a way back to the Digital World.

Rather, he found a Tokyo riven by an apocalypse, where creatures similar to Digimon, called 'Demons', roamed the ruins of this once-great city. In this world, the only hero was a person called the 'Demi-Fiend', a human with the powers of a Demon and the ability to call them to his side. And the opening of the gate between his world and 'Ruined Tokyo' was a surprise to both Osamu and the Demi-Fiend, as well as HYPNOS, who tried to close the gate, but too late - the Demons of the Shin Megami Tensei universe were preparing to invade!

Realizing the threat, Osamu Akiyama allied with the Demi-Fiend, repurposing Hypnos' former weapons (intended against Rogue Digimon) in order to combat Demons, and the Demi-Fiend was able to return his version of Tokyo to normal.

But Osamu was frightened now; who knows what horrors lurked in the Multiverse? He also knew this, though; that only Digimon can give his world an edge against other Universes. And so, he tried again, and this time, succeeded in reunifying his parents, as well as Rai and Lucy's, with their old Digimon Partners. But...there was another disappointment; even though the Digital World was open, no Digimon would choose to be partners with him.

So, the boy, 13 now, resumed his dimensional research, trying to find out why he can't have a Digimon Partner. And, cautiously, this time, Osamu opened a portal to another universe...the Pokemon one. It was a wonderful place, although the hobby of 'Pokemon Battling' distubed him. Nevertheless, it was time to seek out allies. He found them in three people, one of them an idiot of the lowest caliber - Ash Ketchum/Satoshi.

Making his own journey, Osamu found that while he can make friends with Pokemon, he lacked the gift of making a lasting partnership with them, meaning that he had to rely on his technology to defend himself from Wild Pokemon attacks and Team Rocket. Finally, however, he found the allies he needed; the Pokemon League itself. After signing a treaty between them and HYPNOS, Osamu went back to his own world...and found the Demi-fiend waiting for him there.

Once the shock faded from Osamu's face, the Demi-Fiend, introducing himself as Naoki Kashima, then handed the boy a 'Demon Summoning Program', as well as a contract with Demon of his own, Horus*. After some more surprise, Osamu asked Horus what he thought of the transfer of contractors, and after the Demon replied that he had no objections to it, the boy accepted the program, contract, and his new partner with open arms...

*megamitensei.wikia.com/wiki/Horus

Theme Song: youtube.com/watch?v=fN76fqrTqcM

Team of Mons: Horus.

Other: Osamu is Bisexual.

[Letter Bee]

Originally David Garcia Martinez from Lalin’s Curse, a Webcomic by Isaky on Webtoons. Used with her consent.

_____________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Daniel Palaiologos
Title(s): That Kid!, The Atoner.
Gender: Male
Age: 16
Alignment: Red Faction
Rank: Frame (Average Magus in the Magus' Association)
Purpose for the Holy Grail War: Along with stopping his Grandfather, Daniel's wish is to replenish all of Humanity's resources except for Fossil Fuels, as well as mass regrowth of forests and coral reefs, along with the removal of excess Co2 and other greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. This is not because Daniel is an eco-geek or a fanatic about the environment, but rather to prevent Humanity from destroying itself through resource conflicts and climate change and taking Magus-kind down along with it, ending all Magi's search for The Root permanently.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Command Seal: Three Pairs of Phoenix Wings

Personality: Idealistic to the point of naivete, determined to the point of arrogance, and only now reluctantly admitting ignorance of his circumstances, Daniel is someone who regrets past gullibility and seeks to learn from it even though his idealism and arrogance prevent him from learning as quickly as he should. This regret makes him want to atone for his actions against the Clock Tower, no matter how ultimately minor, by serving them loyally but not as blindly as he had served his grandfather, who had caused the troubles of the family in the first place. But despite seeking The Root like the rest of the Clock Tower's Magi, Daniel has a larger-than-normal love for Humanity as a concept and a desire to give it one last gift before he or his descendants reached The Root. This gift would either be a Wish on the Holy Grail which benefits billions of people or his own efforts to get rid of threats to Humanity if they rear their ugly heads...

Bio: A long time ago, there was the Palaiologos Family, overlords of Modern Athens, Salonika, and Sparta's magical communities. They were Independent Magi who resented any form of oversight, including the Magus Association's, and though powerful for a while, their arrogance and lack of alliances with the wider network of Magi led their vassal families to slowly peel off and join the Clock Tower and even Atlas Academy, slowly chipping away at their strength. The lowest point was when the seventh child of the family, Deuel Palaiologos, left their ranks and married Maria Adamos, an ordinary woman and a scientist to boot, and chose to live a humble life as a restaurant owner, free from the burdens of Magus politics and seeking The Root.

Daniel was born from that marriage, and for a while, he was left alone to be raised in love by his parents, going to school, making friends, and reading books of all kinds, which he understood and absorbed from a young age. A genius, smart enough that it counted as a curse, especially when coupled with a natural talent for Magecraft, which his father reluctantly taught him. This, however, was noticed by his grandfather's spies, who were still watching Deuel and his family. And it became worse when all of a sudden, all of Deuel's siblings, Daniel's uncles and aunts, died in mysterious circumstances, and so did their children, Daniel's cousins.

This left Deuel, Maria, and Daniel as the only way for House Palaiologos to continue, and Anastasios Palaiologos, Daniel's grandfather and the Head of House, came directly for Daniel with a large detail of bodyguards - Deuel and Maria were damaged goods and so he wanted Daniel as his heir. Because of the threat of force, there was no choice but to let Daniel be taken away 'for training'. Daniel was ten then.

The training was hard and unforgiving, and to keep Daniel motivated, Anastasios began fudging the truth, saying that the Palaiologos Family was surrounded on all sides by enemies such as the Clock Tower and the rest of the Magus' Association and that Daniel was being trained to be a hero who will eventually bring them down. Being an impressionable kid, Daniel believed his grandfather and willingly threw himself harder into his studies, which included diplomacy, etiquette, and the use of firearms and swords.

Four years later, Anastasios gave Daniel the family Magic Crest, and to all appearances, died of natural causes. Daniel was now Family Head at fifteen, inheritor of a large fortune in the mundane world but with declining respect and deference from other Magi and Spellcasters alike. And after meeting once again with his parents and childhood friends, Daniel began dutifully working to fulfill his Grandfather's will, which was to gather the misfits and outcasts of Magus society together into a 'Resistance' to fight the Clock Tower.

The first sign things were wrong was when Daniel saw that these misfits and outcasts were no saints, and a few were actually scumbags who deserved to be cast out, being the child-sacrificing louts who worshipped cosmic horrors and embodiments of metaphysical tyranny which he thought the Clock Tower was. The second sign was that when Daniel became too vocal with this sentiment, one of these 'oppressed misfits' instead reported him to the Clock Tower, who promptly sent people to arrest Daniel and nip his conspiracy in the bud. Despite being a 'prodigy' with more experience than a kid should have, he was still a teenager and was thus easily lured out and captured.

For a brief moment, Daniel considered blowing himself up rather than being subjected to the enemy's alleged cruel tortures, which included removal of one's magic circuits entirely. Then he was knocked flat by a punch to the stomach before he can do so, and woke up in a surprisingly comfortable cell. After that, he found out that not only had his Grandfather fed him lies, but that said Grandfather was still alive - He had created a unique form of Magecraft, based on Life and Necromancy Magics, which allowed him to add other people's lifespans to his own, tricking death itself into thinking he was supposed to still be alive. This magic was best-cast in a Bounded Field, and the real reason Daniel's uncles, aunts, and cousins died was because Anastasios had tricked them into a place with such a Field and transferred their lifespans to himself.

And yes, there was a recording of Anastasios gloating about his plans, as well as other pieces of supporting evidence showing that his endgame was to use Daniel to found an organization to fight the Clock Tower and the rest of the Mages' Association, manipulating said organization to acquire power and knowledge for himself.

After taking a while to absorb the information, Daniel allowed the Clock Tower to exact a fine from him of his Family's most powerful Mystic Codes, as well as give him an official reprimand. He would eventually join the Clock Tower itself, for, despite its amorality, it was a net benefit for Humanity. And when news arrived that his Grandfather had re-emerged, in his homeland of Greece, he vowed to hunt down the old man...

---

Magic Circuit Switch: (Optional)
Number of Magic Circuits: D
Quality of Magic Circuits: A

---

Elemental Affinity: Average One
Magecraft: Heroic Iconography Magecraft - The Palaiologos Family's signature Magecraft, dating from Greece and Rome and adapted to the Christian and Secular Eras, Heroic Iconography Magecraft uses Jewelry shaped into a form resonant in the collective subconscious (stars, planets, swords and rings) as a catalyst for a Ritual of Transformation (nowadays as simple as lifting up one's badge into the air and letting it catch the light of the sun, moon, and stars), combined with self-hypnosis to push one's physical and mental capabilities to the limit...

Crest: 1000 years old.

Mystic Codes: Jewel Star Badge and Uniform - A badge of electrum (a naturally-occurring alloy of gold and silver) and diamond which when held aloft, transforms Daniel's current clothing into a miniature version of this uniform, which acts as lightweight armor with decent resistance to physical and magical force (think the Chaldea Uniform from FGO).

Electrum and Emerald Ring - A ring of electrum with an emerald set in its front, this ring carries basic Reinforcement and Healing Spells which allow for Olympic-level feats and basic regeneration (also based on the Chaldea Uniform from FGO).

Orbis - A crystal orb which contains several smaller jewels which represent a Heliocentric Solar System instead of the usual Geocentric cosmology followed by most Magi. This allows Daniel to see brief glimpses into the past, present, and future, as well as act as a Mana Compass which glows bright red when he meets with a danger too powerful to handle.

Telos - A modified Azoth dagger which can extend into a crystalline longsword which conducts Daniel's Elemental spells.

[Letter Bee]

Fate/Novus Apocrypha - The Ends Justify the Means!

Disclaimer: While the Type-Moon Wiki isn't the best source, it is the most accessible one. So do look it up for when you find some terms difficult to understand.

Summary

There was a story of an ambitious Magi who stole the manifestation of the Holy Grail and transported it to Romania, where sixty years later, he declared his secession from the Magus' Association and revealed his possession of said Grail to provoke a war which will shake the heavens and the earth. That man was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia... And this is not his story.

For in this timeline, he who stole the Grail was stolen from, throwing off his plans for vengance upon his fellow Magi. Darnic the Thief found that it was his turn to suffer theft, and all he can do was fume, for the Grail disappeared so perfectly that he could not find out who had stolen it. Several years later, in 2021, a new faction arose in the south of Greece, in where Sparta once stood - These men and women proclaimed themselves the Philosopher Kings, harbingers of a world where Magi ruled over Mortals, and the Supernatural ruled over the Mundane.

And they had the Holy Grail - All they needed was a Holy Grail War to power it. And so Anastasios Palaiologos, leader of the Philosopher Kings, sent out a challenge to the Magus' Association and Yggdmillenia, telling them in simple terms that if they wanted the Grail, to 'come and get it!'.

Long story short, Anastasios and the Servant he summoned, the Rider Iskander, massacred the initial forces Yggdmillenia and the Magus' Association sent, before activating the 'reserve system' of the Greater Holy Grail, allowing for the summoning of a whopping 21 Servants, allowing seven masters from the Magus' Association, Yggdmillenia, and the Philosopher Kings to fight it out to win the Spartan Holy Grail War!

---

Yes, I, Letter Bee, am running a Fate RP. And yes, 21 Servants and Masters is very ambitious, which is why the game only needs 3 Master-Servant Pairs from each side to actually start, with the rest being filled by NPCs until more players join. Here are the rules:

Rules:

1.) No Gilgamesh.
2.) No Powergaming or Godmoding. Metagaming is allowed only if you have Divination Magecraft or other forms of 'flawless' info-gathering.
3.) Be nice to others as well as the GM and Co-GMs.
4.) Players who leave or drop out will have their characters controlled by the GM and Co-GMs.
5.) Dead Apostles and Half-Demons exist in this setting but only the Philosopher Kings can have them as participants.

Servants and Master Applications

Servant Sheets

[center]Character Image Goes Here, if not, add under Source.[/center]
_________________________________________________________________________________________
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Title:[/b]
[b]Class:[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Alignment:[/b]
[b]Height / Weight:[/b]
[b]Source:[/b]
_________________________________________________________________________________________
[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Bio:[/b]

[b]Weapon:[/b]
_________________________________________________________________________________________
[b]Parameters:[/b] E-A stats usually.
[i]Strength:[/i]
[i]Endurance:[/i]
[i]Agility:[/i]
[i]Mana:[/i]
[i]Luck:[/i]
_________________________________________________________________________________________
[u][b]Class Skills:[/b][/u]

[u][b]Personal Skills:[/b][/u]
1-3 Personal skills is an average.
_________________________________________________________________

[b]NOBLE PHANTASMS[/b]

[hider=Noble Phantasms]

[b]Title:[/b]
[b]Rank:[/b]
[b]NP Type:[/b]
[b]Range:[/b]
[b]Maximum Number of Targets:[/b]
[b]Description:[/b]
[/hider]

[b]Fighting Style:[/b] Fight style is here for any information on their fighting style that might not fit into a skill easily. For example 'Their general range of attack' if they're an archer, or their general element of focus if they're an elemental mage servant.

Master Sheets

[center]Image goes here[/center]
_____________________________________________________________________________________
[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Title(s):[/b]
[b]Gender:[/b]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Alignment:[/b] (Red/Mages' Association, Black/Yggdmillenia, or Imperial Purple/Philosopher-Kings?)
[b]Rank:[/b]
[b]Purpose for the Grail War:[/b] (Why do you want to be part of the Grail War?)
_____________________________________________________________________________________

[b]Command Seal:[/b]

[b]Personality:[/b]

[b]Bio:[/b]

---

[b]Magic Circuit Switch:[/b] (Optional)
[b]Number of Magic Circuits:[/b]
[b]Quality of Magic Circuits:[/b]

---

[b]Elemental Affinity:[/b]
[b]Magecraft:[/b]

[b]Crest:[/b]

[b]Mystic Codes:[/b]

[Letter Bee]

Fate/Novus Apocrypha - The Ends Justify the Means (Reboot)!

Disclaimer: While the Type-Moon Wiki isn't the best source, it is the most accessible one. So do look it up for when you find some terms difficult to understand.

Summary

There was a story of an ambitious Magi who stole the manifestation of the Holy Grail and transported it to Romania, where sixty years later, he declared his secession from the Magus' Association and revealed his possession of said Grail to provoke a war which will shake the heavens and the earth. That man was Darnic Prestone Yggdmillenia... And this is not his story.

For in this timeline, he who stole the Grail was stolen from, throwing off his plans for vengeance upon his fellow Magi. Darnic the Thief found that it was his turn to suffer theft, and all he can do was fume, for the Grail disappeared so perfectly that he could not find out who had stolen it. Several years later, in 2015, a new faction arose in the south of Greece, where Sparta once stood - These men and women proclaimed themselves the Philosopher Kings, harbingers of a world where Magi ruled over Mortals, and the Supernatural ruled over the Mundane.

And they had the Holy Grail - All they needed was a Holy Grail War to power it. And so Anastasios Palaiologos, leader of the Philosopher Kings, sent out a challenge to the Magus' Association and Yggdmillenia, telling them in simple terms that if they wanted the Grail, to 'come and get it!'.

Long story short, Anastasios and the Servant he summoned, Lucius Tiberius, massacred the initial forces Yggdmillenia and the Magus' Association sent, but not before those forces succeeded in activating the 'reserve system' of the Greater Holy Grail, allowing for the summoning of a whopping 21 Servants, allowing seven masters from the Magus' Association, Yggdmillenia, and the Philosopher Kings to fight it out to win the Spartan Holy Grail War!

---

Yes, I, Letter Bee, am running a Fate RP. And this time, we have a plan for how the plot goes, backup plans for if that goes awry, and we are not going to fill up all 21 Master-Servant Pairs right away - Instead, we will first fill up the Red Team with 7 Master-Servant Pairings, and when those are full, new Master-Servant Pairings can be applied for the other teams (which will also be staffed with 6 NPCs each (3 Masters and 3 Servants each) because there's no way in heck we'd ever get 42 PCs). Here are the rules:

Rules:

1.) No Gilgamesh (except as Caster as he is nerfed in that class), Enkidu, Karna (Except as a Rider or Archer), or Heracles. No King Hassan, Alcides, and Quirinus, either. Or Merlin. Basically, if it's as powerful as any of the listed Servants, it is forbidden for Players' PC choices.
2.) No Powergaming or Godmoding. Metagaming is allowed only if you have Divination Magecraft or other forms of 'flawless' info-gathering.
3.) Be nice to others as well as the GM and Co-GMs.
4.) Players who leave or drop out will have their characters controlled by the GM and Co-GMs.
5.) Dead Apostles (aka Vampires) exist in this setting but only the Philosopher Kings can have them as OCs/PCs when the Red Team has filled up and applications for the Philosopher Kings and Yggdmillenia are open. Every faction, however, can have Mixed-Bloods (people who are Half-Oni or some other magical creature), even the Red Team.
6.) Shielders, Rulers, Savers, and Foreigners are allowed but are still covered by Rule#1.
7.) Edited Rule: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Servants will get a staging ground bonus from being summoned in Greece.
8.) From now on, all New Character Sheets require 3 Approvals from the Main GM and Co-GMs to be fully permitted to play. Also, Co-GMs can override or put a moratorium on Main GM decisions if they feel like they are bad for the game itself.
9.) The game is now set in 2015 instead of 2021.
10.) Canon!Artoria and Arthur (From Fate/Prototype, an alternate universe) can be summoned together at the same time, like in Fate/Grand Order.
11.) NPCs don't count for Red Team slots (there will always be 7 slots each for Masters and Servants), but they do count for Yggdmillenia and Philosopher Kings slots (meaning that there will only be 4 slots each for Masters and Servants for those teams).

Servants and Master Applications

Servant Sheets

[indent][indent][indent][center][h3]Put Class and image here [/h3][/center]
[b]ᴺᴬᴹᴱ[/b]
[indent] Servant's Name[/indent]

[b]ꜰᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ[/b]
[Indent]what is their faction?[/indent]

[b]ᴀᴛᴛʀɪʙᴜᴛᴇ[/b]
[indent]Upon legend and GM decision [/indent]

[b]ʟᴇɢᴇɴᴅ[/b]
[indent]Link if you're using a canon servant, write if you're making a servant that's not established yet, this servers as their bio[/indent]

[b]ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀ[/b]
[indent]List positive and negative characteristic traits here, show how it's done on the IC while you list their bits in bullet form in this section of the sheet[/indent]

[b]ᴡɪꜱʜ[/b]
[indent]What is their wish [/indent]

[b]ᴘᴀʀᴀᴍᴀᴛᴇʀꜱ[/b]
[indent]STR:
END:
AGI:
MNA:
LCK:
[/indent]

[b]ᴄʟᴀꜱꜱ ꜱᴋɪʟʟꜱ[/b]
[indent]Refer to [url=google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&… link[/url][/indent]

[b]ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟ ꜱᴋɪʟʟꜱ[/b]
[indent]Like Class Skills, same wiki link reference [/indent]

[b]ɴᴏʙʟᴇ ᴘʜᴀɴᴛᴀꜱᴍ[/b]
[indent]what are your servant NPs? List and put it under spoiler tags.
Title:
Rank:
NP Type:
Range: 1
Maximum Number
Description:[/indent]

[/indent][/indent][/indent]

Master Sheets

[indent][indent][indent][center]image of Master[/center]
[b]ᴺᴬᴹᴱ[/b]
[indent]Name of OC[/indent]

[b]ꜰᴀᴄᴛɪᴏɴ[/b]
[indent]What[/indent]

[b]ʀᴀɴᴋ[/b]
[indent]Ranks can be biased upon Mage Association, choose your rank by referring to wiki [/indent]

[b]ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀ[/b]
[indent]bulletin form, show in the IC, not tell here[/indent]

[b]ᴡɪꜱʜ[/b]
[indent]Their backstory why they want grail and their wish[/indent]

[b]ᴄᴏᴍᴍᴀɴᴅ ꜱᴇᴀʟ[/b]
[indent]what[/indent]

[b]ꜱᴡɪᴛᴄʜ[/b]
[indent]Explain how and what activates their magic[/indent]

[b]Qᴜᴀɴᴛɪᴛʏ[/b]
[indent]of magic circuits[/indent]

[b]Qᴜᴀʟɪᴛʏ[/b]
[indent]of magic circuits[/indent]

[b]ᴀꜰꜰɪɴɪᴛʏ[/b]
[indent]refer to wiki[/indent]

[b]ᴍᴀɢᴇᴄʀᴀꜰᴛ[/b]
[indent]refer to wiki[/indent]

[b]ᴄʀᴇꜱᴛ[/b]
[indent]how old[/indent]

[b]ᴍʏꜱᴛɪᴄ cᴏᴅᴇ[/b]
[indent]what[/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]

The OOC Discord

[Letter Bee]

_________________________________________________________________________________________
Name: Flavius Valerius Aurelius Constantinus/Constantine
Title: Emperor
Class: Ruler
Gender: Male
Alignment: Lawful Good
Height / Weight: 5’8/197.9 pounds
Source: IRL History
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Personality: Constantine genuinely believes that the faith he brought to the Roman Empire was a net benefit to it and the world, and does not regret his actions, which one might point out, did include banning infanticide and providing aid to parents so that they do not have to sell their children to slavery. Though he regrets the pain and suffering brought by errant members of the faith, as well as rolls his eyes at the modern age's own lack of devotion, Emperor Constantine maintains a strength of belief which others lack, strength of belief which borders on arrogance.

Bio: Will his IRL life do?

Weapon: Roman Spatha Longsword.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Parameters: E-! stats usually.
Strength: B
Endurance: C
Agility: B
Mana: C
Luck: B
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Class Skills:

Revelation (C) - As someone who has been given a Revelation from God, especially one which led him to victory, Constantine has an instinct for whichever action would lead him and those under him to an optimal outcome. This instinct has no rational explanation, as it comes at the most unlikely of times, but rejecting the whispers and messages from it can only lead to a damning failure.

Saint (B) - As a Ruler blessed by God who changed the course of history, and is commemorated as a Saint by the largest denomination of Christians, Constantine the Great was seen as a paragon of virtue by many Medieval scholars, and it shows in his Servant form. Constantine gets a rank up to Charisma, raising it to A.

True Name Discernment (European) (B) - Constantine can discern the True Name, Skills and Parameters of a Servant he directly encounters, but this skill is more effective on Servants who are rooted in Christian and Hellenic Pagan legend, meaning that veiling skills and phantasms made by those folk are less effective than those used by Servants rooted in Far Eastern and Mesoamerican Lore (an exception is Shirou Amakusa Tokimune because he is Christian).

Personal Skills:

Baptism Rite (A) - Constantine generates a set of blessed javelins, which launch themselves against an opponent. These javelins, when piercing an opponent, fix them in place as Constantine says a prayer to God for the purification of their soul and the destruction of their body. This prayer, when finished, causes the enemy to erupt in white flames which consume them entirely, leaving only ashes in their wake.

Military Tactics (B) - Constantine is adept at planning the logistics, strategy, and actual tactics of a large number of people, although one should note that his knowledge might be obsolete in many places thanks to developments past his death. Not just that, but this is situational and is best-partnered with his Anti-Army Noble Phantasm, which in turn is also situational.

Applies a + modifier to a single Anti-Army Noble Phantasm of oneself and allies and a rank down or - modifier to the enemy Anti-Army Noble Phantasm. Note that if not in a siege or last stand, this merely applies a rank up to up to a single Anti-Army Noble Phantasms with their rank not exceeding A of oneself and allies and a rank down (as long as it is not A rank or higher) or - modifier (as long as it has a +) to enemy Anti-Army Noble Phantasm.

Charisma (B) - One does not gain the loyalty of the Legions, reunite the Empire, legalize Christianity, declare infanticide a capital crime, and found a new Capital of the Unified Roman Empire without having both charm and talent. One also forgets that historically, Constantine was a tactful convert who kept using Pagan symbols throughout his reign and was only baptized on his deathbed. Either way, Constantine can gain the affection of, and fire up the fighting zeal, of entire armies and populations.

Increases the ability of allies during group battles to B.
_________________________________________________________________

NOBLE PHANTASMS

Noble Phantasms

Title: The Host at Milvian Bridge.
Rank: B
NP Type: Anti-Army Noble Phantasm
Range: 60
Maximum Number of Targets: 25,000 individuals.
Description: An army marched with Constantine to the Milvian Bridge, an army painted the symbol of the Chi-Rho on their shields, and an army won a great victory under the symbol. As a Noble Phantasm, Constantine can summon his loyal troops to his side once more as phantasmal soldiers, the legions of Heaven itself. Though his armies are individually weaker than Iksander’s Ionoi Heitairoi, they can manifest in the normal world in greater numbers due to the strength of their faith and the faith of the hundreds of millions who follow the Church in the present-day - However, even this is temporary, four to eight hours at the most.

Title: The Blessed Nails
Rank: A-
NP Type: Anti-Unit (Self) Noble Phantasm
Range: 1 - 10
Maximum Number of Targets: 1
Description: Constantine the Great’s mother, Helena, gave him two nails from Christ’s crucifixion order to grant him God’s protection. As long as the two nails are together, they grant Constantine protection from ranged attacks, with arrows, bullets, ranged Magecraft and Noble Phantasms avoiding his body. However, Constantine does not gain the effects of this protection if the projectile were to explode on impact, if the attack was performed in a manner where range would be considered a non-factor, or if it was performed by a weapon that has simply long reach, such as a spear (Copied with permission from another Fate RPer’s CS).

If the nails are separated through theft or gift, the protection is split among the holders of said nails, lowering its strength by one rank.

Title: The Church of the Holy Apostles
Rank: A+
NP Type: Fortress, Anti-Injury, Anti-Army.
Range: 60
Maximum Number of Targets: 25,050
Description: One of the many Churches Constantine built, and the one he wished to be buried in, the Church of the Holy Apostles was the resting place of the relics of St. Andrew, St. Luke, and St. Timothy, and also many Eastern Roman/Byzantine Emperors, including Justinian and Heraclius. Lasting for a millennium or so, it was eventually abandoned by the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate some years into the Ottoman conquest and eventually demolished. As a Noble Phantasm, the Church manifests once more in its full glory, the relics, and Emperors buried inside its crypt acting as an anchor for the righteous dead and a beacon for those who still live.

In essence, the Church heals those whom Constantine deems righteous, including those whom he grudgingly concedes to have lived an honorable life despite their ignorance of the True Faith, restoring their health as long as they are within sight of the soft light given by the Church. Not merely that, but the Church feeds energy to The Host at Milvian Bridge and Christian Servants whose Masters have been killed, allowing them to stay in this world longer as long as they are within the Church’s grounds or within sight of them.

Title: Constantinople, the City of the World's Desire
Rank: A++
NP Type: Bounded Field
Range: 100
Maximum Number of Targets: 500,000
Description: A Bounded Field which transforms the area into a replica of the city of Constantinople at its height as a Christian, Greco-Roman City, and which thus contains several buildings which did not exist in Constantine’s time like the Hagia Sophia (built a century or two after). This city, populated by artificial constructs analogous to NPCs in a video game, can provide for every mundane need (food, water, clothing, antique weapons), and should the Church of the Holy Apostles be summoned in the same area, the latter's range and the maximum number of targets are boosted to the Field's.

Fighting Style: Constantine is a decent melee fighter and horseman and often fights with a lance, sword, and shield on top of a summoned steed.