[OOC] Symphony of Espers

[SilverPaw]

@SilverPaw Pry is a pretty interesting feature, but it's too strong at B rank. We'd like to see it scaled back to D rank. That will make it work on virtually every mundane target you find, and bars easy disarms on other espers, tough monsters, etc. Aside from that small correction, this agent can report to the character tab!

@BrokenPromise

Thought it might be, yeah. Does it work like this: "the user can pry that object free of wherever it’s stuck or from whomever holds it as long as that thing’s or person’s sentinel rank isn’t higher than D."

To clarify, that means that Pry doesn't scale with any pre-existing stat.

@ERode

As in, it's separate from the damage, speed, or sentinel stats?

[ERode]

Yeah. Beforehand you had it scale with Damage stat of your weapon, which happened to be B. The change here is specifically that the Special is set to a static value now...which is D.

Your wording's otherwise good though. With that change in place, yeet it on over to the tab.

[BrokenPromise]

So, just an update on a few things.

-The discord is almost done. With any luck it should be up for your rapid-fire chatting pleasure in a day or so.

-I will not be available to look over sheets or answer questions for part of Thursday, as that's the day the boys and I get together for table top. So please be patient if you happen to submit a character sheet tomorrow. you still have plenty of time to work on your characters.

[BrokenPromise]

The discord is up!

You can now join and discuss things with others to your hearts content. If you don't feel like using discord, all the important announcement stuff will still get posted to the OOC, so you won't be missing anything important should you decide not to use discord.

[Izurich]

Yo, I made a thing.

Silmeria Magnusson, Valkyrie

FULL NAME:

Silmeria Magnusson

NICKNAME(S):

Sil, Merry

AGE:

20

SEX:

Female

APPEARANCE:

Visual Reference

Standing at an average 165cm (5' 5"), the young brunette possesses rather generic physical features, an almost forgettable run-of-the-mill American citizen if not for her esper-related gear and accessories. Fortunately, that's just how the introverted girl prefers it, staying out of the spotlight, out of trouble. That said, perhaps it shouldn't be surprising that absolutely nothing changes from her looks whether she's in or out of esper form. She's one of those espers that exclusively manifest 'equipment' and nothing else as far as outward appearances go.

GRIMOIRE:

A palm-sized badge with a glowing orange core rimmed by an opaque black outline. It possesses weak magnetic properties, primarily used to stick onto metal surfaces.

INSTRUMENT: Teslic Gauss

Silmeria's signature instrument and primary tool of combat engagement. Teslic Gauss takes the form of a gauss rifle often depicted in sci-fi serials. A set of coils accelerate ferromagnetic sabots along the barrel before launching off the rifle at breakneck speed, eclipsing the velocity of most standard firearms of equivalent size. The magnetically-accelerated projectile carries enough force to punch through mundane armor and monster hide alike, and if said armor or hide is weak enough, outright penetrates it and continues to hit whatever is behind them. The rifle is supernatural in nature and uses Sil's mana to reload itself, shaping new ammo seemingly out of thin air. Capable of switching between two firing modes: single-shots or 3-round bursts.

In a pinch, it can also be used as a bludgeoning melee weapon, not ideal but better than nothing.

GRADE: Silver
KEYWORD: Long Gun
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
DAMAGE: B
SPEED: E
SENTINEL: C
SPECIAL: Nibelung Valesti - The rifle's bullets are able to penetrate targets possessing a DEFENCE value up to E while still carrying enough momentum to damage a secondary target behind them, inflicting at most half of its original damage value.

STYLE: Northern Sentinel

A simple dark brown hooded jacket, prioritizing function over form, it provides both protection and comfort.

GRADE: Bronze
PHYSICAL: D
ARCANE: E
CHAOS: D
SPECIAL: Government Agent - Displays GEMINI's insignia on its left and right shoulder.

GENRE: Electromagnetism

Silmeria exerts supernatural control over natural electric and magnetic fields or conjure her own to achieve various purposes.

GRADE: Bronze
ELEMENT: Lightning
NOTES: [Paralysis (4), Speedster (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Push (2), Pull (2), Piercing (2), Bend (0)
SPECIAL: Static Shock - All electric sparks produced by this genre possess an orange hue.

LEITMOTIF: The Faceless

Whether it's due to her appearance, personality, or both, Silmeria seems to passively blend with the environment, out of sight, out of mind. Especially effective in crowded locations.

GRADE: Bronze
SPECIAL: People, animals, and monsters alike tend to not notice her until she does something that grabs their attention. Doesn't work in situations where there aren’t enough subjects and/or objects to serve as attention fillers.

FACTION:

G.E.M.I.N.I.

TRIVIA:

Personality

Timid, docile, and quiet, Silmeria makes the perfect fit for a stereotypical wageslave employee that does their job purely for paychecks and nothing else. Being born to a lower-middle class family, she understands how important it is to manage your finance wisely, shaping her to be a frugal young woman who rarely spends on non-essential goods. She makes no secret that her primary reason for joining GEMINI as a field agent was because the pay is good despite its dangers. Nowadays, there's not really much prospect for a college dropout who also needs to support her aging parents. Since she was somehow 'blessed' with a grimoire, might as well play the cards given to her.

If one examines the behaviour of a convenience store clerk, one won't find them much different than Silmeria, except the latter risks life and limb for higher pay. Punch in, do your job, punch out, and stay out of trouble, rinse and repeat, that's her motto and it has worked fine for her so far. Besides, the government has always preferred their employees to not ask questions anyway.

Among the classic Seven Deadly Sins, if she has to pick the one she identifies the most, it'd be Envy. The brunette has a surprisingly deep capacity for envy for such a seemingly stoic girl and she's self-conscious of that. She resents the rich and the powerful for the boons they have, she wants to eat wagyu instead of canned beef, melons instead of apples, and not having to worry about food and medical budgets. Most people might admire the Bates siblings, but their existence only serve to remind her that no matter what path she takes in life, there's always be someone much better than her. She's afraid of herself in that if pushed enough, she might even consider going into very, very dark places to get what she wants. To that end, even though she doesn't necessarily love her job, she's still thankful to GEMINI for providing her with a stable income through honest work. She fights for cash so the innocents can sleep peacefully at night, what's not to like?

During the times where she has the time for herself, Silmeria's drone-like facade recedes somewhat, revealing the vocally-expressive girl beneath. In a perfect world where there are no suffering, poverty, and hunger, she'd fancy herself an opera soprano. People have always said that her singing voice betrays the disillusioned, almost-monotone speech she usually employs.

Biography

Born in Boston, Massachusetts to a family of Norwegian descent, Silmeria is the middle child of three siblings, smackdab in the middle between an older brother and a younger sister. Her family wasn't exactly wealthy, but doing well enough to support three children and even sent their eldest to college. While Silmeria had always been a rather quiet girl who preferred to keep to herself, she had a perfectly normal childhood, a group of close friends, and a loving family, she wouldn't have it any other way. However, just like the saying goes, all good things must end, so did her idyllic middle-class life by the time she's in the 2nd semester of university.

One day, Sil's father was taking her little sister home from school when disaster struck. A group of otherwordly creatures - those so-called 'monsters' from the elemental chaos - attacked the area. In their rampage, Sil's father was crippled from the torso down due to spinal injuries, but he was fortunate enough to live, the same couldn't be said for his youngest daughter. He tried to protect her - of course, as a father should - but he was knocked out sometime after and by the time he woke up in the hospital, his daughter wasn't there. They never found her body either. The general consensus was that she was eaten by one of those beasts, just like the rest of the victims.

That day marked the point where Sil's life turned for the worse. Not only she just lost her little sister, her father's disability meant he had to retire. With her mother focused on being his caretaker and her older brother having his own family to support, the family's finance took a nosedive. Corners needed to be cut and SIlmeria's college fund was one of those corners. She dropped out and tried to do her part to make end's meet by doing odd jobs here and there, it was quite hard to nab a truly fulfilling job without a degree and she didn't exactly have friends in high places either. Silmeria at that moment would never expect she'd eventually be working for GEMINI out of all places, yet it happened... it was all thanks to this strange badge.

During one of her stints as a convenience store janitor, the brunette was doing her usual after-work dumpster-diving, searching for anything edible or useful, you'd be surprised just how wasteful people are, might as well turn that trash into treasure. It was in one of those days when she found a peculiar item, a badge of some sort, opaque black with a central orb that glows orange, it certainly looked like an electronic device, she might be able to turn a pretty penny at the pawn shop with it. However, upon grabbing it, her whole body was jolted with a sudden burst of electricity and what happened next was so surreal that it made her believe she was dreaming for a second. A rifle of some sort spawned out of thin air in her hands and it didn't look like anything sold in stores either.

Understandably confused and playing it safe, she let the coiled weapon go, only for it to vanish without a trace. Heart beating and skin sweating, she hurried home, trying to pretend that nothing had happened. Well, at least that was the plan as during the way, she was stopped by a group of people clad in crisp dark suits and practically forced into a nondescript van. After a moment of rising panic, they quickly explained to her that they were from G.E.M.I.N.I... and that she just had been identified as an esper. Huh...?

More than a year passed since and here she was now, working as one of GEMINI's esper operatives. She had been given combat training to hone her newfound powers and had seen her share of combat against those monstrous menace, the very same creatures that killed her little sister, crippled her father, and destroyed their livelihood, she couldn't say these savages deserve any less than extermination, a sentiment shared by her employer.

Recently, she was assigned to the GEMINI's local branch in Pax Septimus, under Dr. Fritzi Moller and alongside fellow operatives such as Su, Jacqueline, and others.

Banner

20 | Female | G.E.M.I.N.I. | The Faceless
Teslic Gauss | Long Gun | Physical | Nibelung Valesti
Northern Sentinel | Government Agent
Electromagnetism | Lightning | Static Shock
[Paralysis (4), Speedster (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Push (2), Pull (2), Piercing (2), Bend (0)

DAMAGE: B | SPEED: E | SENTINEL: C | Max Mana: 500

PHYSICAL: D | ARCANE: E | CHAOS: D | Current Mana: 500

[BrokenPromise]

@Izurich Your leitmotif is kind of like Regina Smith's. it's cosmetic grade, so I won't urge you to change it, but you may wish to take a different "upgrade path" down the road.

Only crtique we have is Teslic Gauss's defense debuff is too easy to proc, and isn't "situationally useful" like silver glamors should be. But if you are going for an anti-material gun, you could beef up the pierce angle and make it peirce anything with E grade physical defence. This would make it a great crowd controll weapon as it would cut through almost all forms of cover and mundane targets with ease. Other than that, she's character tab ready!

[Izurich]

I see Regina’s leitmotif as more of a tiger or panther, actively being stealthy like a, well, hunter.

While Silmeria’s is like a chameleon or octopus, passively being stealthy by not doing anything.

These look different enough to me. Chameleons are nothing like tigers.

Good advice tho, I’ll make sure not to stray into the active-type stealth ability down the line.

For the instrument’s special, now that you put it that way, it is kind of OP for a silver-grade special.

I’ll leave the leitmotif alone, make the changes to the instrument, post the edited version to the character tab, then join the discord.

Thanks, broskis.

[ERode]

The deal is that Regina’s Leitmotif used to be worded almost exactly like yours. The whole ‘weak presence so easily forgettable and passively stealthy’. That’s why we commented on it this time around.

So long as you’re aware that it doesn’t make Silmeria any stealthier than the average Esper though, we’re good.

[BrokenPromise]

Public applications are closed for the time being. If you showed interest in the interest check or were specifically invited by me, You may still submit a character sheet for review.

Going to be working on some sheets and the first post over the weekend. Barring any acts of god, it should be up around Monday, if not earlier!

[OwO]

testosterzone

Apollo Greit

^{24 y/o | Male | 6'7" | 260 lbs | Freelancer
↕}

APPEARANCE:

At 6'7" with a mountain of muscle to fill out his clothes, Apollo draws attention wherever he goes. It doesn't help that he has a sharp face and clear skin. His dark hair is rough, but gives him a wild sort of look.

When in his esper form, an extra layer of skin covers his body. He appears as though someone forgot to sculpt a face on his chiselled body. While quick, his transformation looks as though an extra layer of skin spreads from the origin of his earring.

GRIMIORE:

A simple and small diamond earring worn on his right ear.

INSTRUMENT: Restraining Order

A mancatcher designed to latch onto limbs, necks, and other important features to prevent movement. When that fails, Apollo just hits them with it. With a wooden haft and steel spiked catcher, there is very little distinguishing features that the weapon has save for its innate uniqueness.
GRADE: Bronze
KEYWORD: Spear
DAMAGE TYPE: Physical
DAMAGE: E
SPEED: C
SENTINEL: D
SPECIAL: Unenforcable - The catcher does not open if it collides with Apollo.

STYLE: Second Skin

A thin extra layer of skin covers Apollo and all of his discernible features. One could almost say he looked like a super hero, save for the blank face, lack of cape, and flesh colourway.

GRADE: Bronze
PHYSICAL: E
ARCANE: D
CHAOS: C
SPECIAL: Regrowth - Superficial wounds, grazing hits, and other light external injuries that would have no real effect rapidly regenerate.

Genre: God Complex

Apollo holds the power of life and death over others. Though in his case, the majority of that is life.

GRADE: Silver
ELEMENT: Light
NOTES: [Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Heal (16), Stabilize (0), Purify (6), Reflect (4), Damage X(6), Powerful (0), Trap (0), AoE (2), Full Extend (4)
SPECIAL: Give Him Thanks - Thanking Apollo after being afflicted by one of his healing melodies restores 10% of his melody's cost.

LEITMOTIF:

GRADE: Bronze
SPECIAL: Bastard - Apollo's face seems to be an extra attractive target.

TRIVIA:

There is no reward without effort. For Apollo, that applies for everything in his life. His brutal physique was the result of hours spent daily at a gym. His success in life had been a mixture of the extra hours he put in compared to other people and his willingness to crush other people. Of course, someone who works as hard as him has to play even harder. He's a raging bull likely to die before old age destroys his body. He's a shallow womanizer whose relationships all end in lust and abandonment. He drinks so much that the only thing preventing him from becoming an alcoholic is the damage it would do on his physique. In the end, he's an unlikable bastard who can't stop winning.

Of course, Apollo was never born this way. In fact, the young child was unrecognizable to his current self. He was a dainty ward of the state. He could barely make eye contact with other people. He bounced around homes and cities often and never really found family. The kid was alone. He only had himself he could trust and rely on. Every adult left him. That cowardly boy realized something. If everyone threw him away, couldn't he just return it in kind?

The boy began to use other people. That fearful attitude he possessed as a young child vanished as he made relationships that better served him. He used people around him. If they had something he wanted, he got close to them. As the boy slowly became a man, this aspect of him never changed. Every relationship was based on value to himself. He spent more time working out and working. His fosters didn't care, even as he left the house. One less mouth to feed and all.

Soon, the man was unrecognizable. A meteoric rise in his job from knowing and using the right people. His body had shifted from that of a thin adolescent to that of a well-toned man. He got what he wanted and was on the rise to being king of his own little world.

His final promotion came a transfer to a larger city. Pax Septimus was an interesting place. Certainly bigger than his old home. More interesting nightlife, more expansive gyms, and more shallow people. He fit right in.

It was on a whim that he picked up those earrings. He bought them as a gift from a pawn shop in an alleyway. They were cheap, but looked expensive. A used box and fake card would make them look like a thoughtful, if generic, gift. Still, it was surprising that those earrings were there. At that price, they should have sold the second they touched the store shelf. He just had a feeling that he needed to buy them.

With them in hand, he left the pawn shop. It was a surprise that there was an abomination right outside the door. The monster was definitely not human. No amount of scars and defects could give someone a maw that consisted of head-sized gaping hole with a blender of teeth. With earrings in hand, he instantly went to for a devastating hook aimed at the inhuman monster in front of him. As he did so, the earrings seemed to vanish. Instead, another layer of skin covered his body as he struck the monster.

Blow for blow, Apollo punched the shit out of that thing. He ignored the weapon that seemed to appear alongside his new skin. When the beast cut him, he instinctively healed himself. It was a brutal blow for blow fight that should have ended faster. With the last of his strength, he tossed a punch clad in light. As he had done so, the monster's head practically vanished as a red mist took its place. He was exhausted and confused as the skin retracted back into a single earring, the other one probably lost during the fight. That was the most alive he'd ever felt.

With that experience, he couldn't go back to his normal life. No, he couldn't stomach it anymore. He quit in order to follow the path of that night. Since then, he's been freelancing. After all, it's been something to actually challenge him.

24 | Male | Freelancer | Bastard
Restraining Order | Spear | Physical | Unenforceable
Second Skin | Regrowth
God Complex | Light | Give Him Thanks
[Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Heal (16), Stabilize (0), Purify (6), Reflect (4), Damage X(6), Powerful (0), Trap (0), AoE (2), Full Extend (4)

DAMAGE: E | SPEED: C | SENTINEL: D | 750

PHYSICAL: E | ARCANE: D | CHAOS: C | 750

[ERode]

@OwO Remember that this is a PG-13 RP. So no bathhouse scenes with Fable.

Also Genre special should be specified to healing magic only. Otherwise this is good. Toss him in.

[Majoraa]

@ERode

The boi in question: *F e a r*

[BrokenPromise]

Alright lads, first post is up. Move out, espers!

G.E.M.I.N.I. Agents: Veronica has assigned you to the mission to reclaim PSPD #11!

Mavericks: Are there any of you guys? Uh, just, just show up outside the warehouse where Billy and Tetrad are waiting.

Freelancers: You've got a bit of a choice to make. You can join either faction's assignment.

To those of you still working on your sheets: You have about a week left to make your characters AND get them into one of these assignments before things really take off.

[ERode]

Also Broken:

IC will go up on Monday.

[BrokenPromise]

Also Broken:
"IC will go up on Monday."

@ERode

if not earlier!

@BrokenPromise

[FamishedPants]

Samuel Howard

S a m u e l H o w a r d

_{30 y/o | Male | 5'9 | 163 lbs | G.E.M.I.N.I}
🗡️

APPEARANCE:

Samuel would not generally stand out in a crowd. He stands at an exceptionally plain height of 5'9 and owns what appears to be a slim build. His one saving grace, a handsome face, is far too often obscured by raven-black locks that stonewall attempts at grooming them to matter significantly. His attire while at his job had always consisted of appropriate suits, but he chooses comfort over style on the rare chances he gets to laze about. Since he obtained his grimoire and began to affiliate himself with G.E.M.I.N.I, he has taken to wearing flashier attire whenever he works with them. Still mostly suits.

Normal Attire

G.E.M.I.N.I Attire

In Stark contrast to his human form, his esper form does anything but blend in with a crowd. When in this form, he assumes a frightening and demonic visage complete with glowy-red eyes and a twisted, perpetual smile. Though not a one for one, the clothing it wears takes inspiration on what Sam is wearing at the moment of transformation. The attire is always fashioned a crimson red and has no true effect other than cosmetic.

Esper Form

GRIMIORE:

A white domino mask with a thin black outline around the eyes. It would look right at home on a caped crusader or even a villain. Despite the lack of string to hold it up, it has no problems staying on the face of one who wears it. It gives off eerie vibes if you stare directly at it for too long.

INSTRUMENT: Stab, Slash

A sword with an extravagant design paired with an equally audacious dagger that is used primarily for parrying. Power resides within both that escapes with each attack, arcane in nature.
GRADE: Bronze
KEYWORD: Dagger, Sword
DAMAGE TYPE: Arcane (dagger), Arcane(sword)
DAMAGE: D
SPEED: D
SENTINEL: D
SPECIAL: The area directly around the blade of each weapon seems to dim, much like the effect around Sam.

STYLE: Paranoia

Samuel forgoes his human form and adopts a demonic appearance that stands a couple of feet taller than him, lightly alters the sound of his voice, and subtly distorts the light around him. Nothing resembling skin can be seen, as anywhere his clothes wouldn't obscure is pitch-black. He may even just be the clothes pulled together by magic of some sort, though he still experiences pain and the like.

GRADE: Bronze
PHYSICAL: E
ARCANE: C
CHAOS: D
SPECIAL: Hullucinate - When he is not in their line of sight and is aware of them, Samuel's voice has a very faint echo and sounds as though it is coming from a person's own mind, though instinctively they still know where it is coming from. Visual confirmation or his obliviousness to your presence removes this effect.

GENRE: Malice

Samuel's magics intend to mask his presence, strip away his opponent's defenses, whittle them down, and force them into disadvantageous situations he can make use of while they can't properly fight back.

GRADE: Silver
ELEMENT: Darkness
NOTES: [Obfuscate (4)] [Intangible (4)], Damage X (6), Pull (2), Dispel (6), Mana Burn (6), Restrain (4), Extend (2), Trap (0), Piercing (2), Full Enhance (4)
SPECIAL: Devious Intent - Enemies recently affected by Sam's Control notes are assaulted by visions of violence, making it hard to concentrate. A delay note with a duration of 1 second is added to the start of their next melody or arcane ability.

LEITMOTIF: Creeping Anxiety

Light around his form dims ever so slightly, just enough to be noticable.

GRADE: Bronze
SPECIAL: Proximity to Samuel in his esper form causes one to feel as though something is amiss, even when there is not. It can be ignored rather easily and does not affect coherent thought.

TRIVIA:

Biography

Samuel was born to a wealthy couple who never seemed to run out of money but was always lacking in affection. He was given any material goods he wanted and was tutored in an instrument but was left under the care of a nanny more often than his parents. His parents expected much of him, though they treated him more like an asset than a child. Because of this, he was rather haughty growing up, thinking himself better than others.

He used his parent's money to buy gifts which he used to obtain friends, made other people do his work for him, and generally acted just like you would expect a spoiled brat to.

Shortly after he entered high school, a few friends of his got together with him and had a movie night. Samuel became enthralled by the ending of a sports movie they watched. He saw the protagonist, in a final game, score an impossible play that let them win the game. He was treated like some sort of hero, with everyone jumping in excitement, singing his praises, and even getting a kiss! Oh, that was the sort of attention he wanted for sure, so he thought it wise to try out for a few different teams in his school.

...They didn't go as planned. He was never too athletic in the past and it came back to bite him in the ass as he underperformed. So he thought about taking on his studies. Someone like him should be the smartest person in the school if he puts his mind to it, right? He ended up struggling to even have passing grades when he removed the people who had been doing his work up to this point.

Being the spoiled rich kid he was, he couldn't just admit that the problem was him, so he lashed out against everyone, including his own friends. One even ended up getting into a fight with him, if you could call it that, and left Samuel both on the floor and a bit more humble. He was left alone and even then he did not receive respite. A tragic accident took his parents and his life turned completely upside down.

He was taken in by his grandmother and the combined stress of everything happening plus a lowered standard of living made their relationship rocky at the start. She put him through a hellish training regime that involved taking out the trash when it was full, cleaning up after himself, and learning how to cook. He could swear he was going to die at first, but somehow he pulled through. He settled into the new lifestyle and began to open up a little more. He formed a strong bond with his grandmother over time.

The Samuel that entered his junior year was a completely different person than the one on freshman year. He became a lot more quiet, reserved, and infinitely more polite. He focused hard on his studies and practiced his instrument of choice (bass guitar) and graduated with no problem.

As an only child, Samuel's eighteenth birthday was a very important date. His parents' deaths left him with a sizable inheritance, more than enough to live off of if he didn't do anything stupid with it. But he didn't want it. He hadn't really earned it, and he was afraid that he might lose this progress as a person if he took it.

So he gave it to his grandmother, who was far more worthy of it than he. He then told her about his intentions of moving out and earning things for himself. While his grandma respected the character needed to make the decision, she made it quite clear she wasn't leaving him out to dry entirely. She would send him a package every year with a bit of fund and a present.

Biography, but this time it's more relevant

Since then, a decade and a couple of years passed and Samuel has a relatively stable job as an office manager and frequents a local nightclub where he plays his bass. Pax Septimus was not his first choice to live, honestly, but he saw an opportunity to progress up the ladder and took it.

Lamentably, Sam was an OC not allowed to stay that way forever. On his thirtieth birthday, Samuel received a package similar to the ones he had received over the years, only this one was on the smaller side. He left for work before opening it, deciding that it made the most sense to open it while he was celebrating. So, he worked the day away and went drinking with a few coworkers at night at the nightclub. He opened his package to find a strange domino mask alongside the money and raised an eyebrow. He felt a chill when his gaze lingered too long, so he threw it back in one of his suit pockets and laughed it off.

By the time he and his coworkers were done, it was well into the AM. Nobody was in a proper state of mind, not even himself, but he called a cab for the others and then began to walk home, citing the short distance between his place and the club for why. This turned out to be a mistake.

Samuel Howard felt a pair of eyes on his back and the wind began to get chillier as he walked, but he couldn't spot anyone when he looked around. Yet he still could swear someone or something was watching him. He tried his best to fight off the looming dread, recalling all the wonderful things about Pax Septimus. Like how it was a safe place and everyone was happy...!

Of course, such delusions do not make for reality, and as if offended by his shoddy attempt at mentally retreating, his stalker revealed itself! It was difficult to see at night, especially as the lights around it began to dim and flicker. Its shape was vaguely humanoid, covered in what appeared to be a living shadow, and held an object of some sort to its side. Its eyes appeared to be made of hellfire and it oozed hostility.

Beyond that, Samuel couldn't see as it suddenly lunged forth to attack him!

Despite his inebriation, he somehow managed to roll to the side and decided immediately to escape, running as fast as he could away from it. But it wasn't long before it caught up and he was forced to avoid another attack. He wasn't quick enough to evade it entirely and took an attack to the side, which sent him tumbling to the floor as the package containing the mask slipped out.

Samuel wasn't in pain, but seeing the blood pour out of his side had caused him to freeze. He looked up at the figure that began to approach him, raising its arm as if to finish the job, mere seconds away. Time seemed to crawl to a close in what he was sure to be his last moments. Overwhelming despair began to claim him as his life flashed before him, reminding him of the life he had lived so far.

...It was sad. He couldn't deny it. How he was. And how he had become. Neither of them would be remembered for anything significant after they passed, and they had never achieved anything of worth. What else could that be but sad?

He understood deep down what had become of him. He was just a coward. The thought of returning to the old, arrogant Samuel was terrifying. He was so scared of returning to those old ways that he confused ambition for greed and rid himself of it. It was so safe to work in an office instead of pursuing an actual career with his bass guitar. He could've stayed and helped his grandma but he fled the home to avoid the responsibility, figuring money he gave her would do the work for him.

The only thing that had changed about him was that he was now driven by fear instead of pride! It was pathetic! And even now, about to die, he would do so because he was too scared to move!

...Damn it! Now just isn't the time to be dead! Grandma slapped the quitter out of me years ago! There's gotta be something...!

His eyes fell upon the mask. It looked unremarkable, compared to what Samuel felt when he observed it. The eerie feeling he had before was amplified far beyond what it exuded earlier. And it was nothing but...

Fear. Unmatched by any other. The assailant standing before him couldn't compare. His impending death was nothing before it. He saw a vision of his life once again crumbling into ash as he lost everything he held dear. Everyone he ever knew dying painfully, cursing his name as they did, including his grandma. It tore him apart.

He concluded:

It was pure evil. Malevolence was given form in the shape of a domino mask. No good should come from it. The day this was removed from the world would be cause for celebration.

...but still, he grabbed for it. Even as terrified as he was, he wasn't about to go back on what he decided! Quitting was out of the question. Quivering in fear just because he was about to be murdered for no reason or because Satan dropped some demonic artifact in front of him wouldn't stop him. He'd at least die trying! And besides, if he didn't, the person trying to kill him might!

Samuel successfully grabbed the mask before he could be finished. He began to 'feel' shadows, owned an unnatural understanding of them, and knew he could now use them. Silhouettes in the shape of hands came from the ground and towered above him, before crashing down on him, dispersing into a dark haze that hid his form.

But when he emerged?

His devilish appearance was more than enough to send his attacker into a full-speed retreat into the shadows, though Samuel wasn't graced with his terrified screams as he did. Considering the emotional rollercoaster that they caused, didn't they earn a whole lot worse than a simple scare? Much to what he felt to be the mask's dismay, Samuel did not choose to pursue the attacker, and instead, his body chose to collapse right then and there as a result of the mix of stress and blood loss. Someone found him and got him to a hospital, and he made a full recovery.

Samuel was strangely confronted by G.E.M.I.N.I before the police could get to him, though that was probably for the better. They introduced him to this new and magical world, and after spending a couple of weeks deciding on how he should approach the situation, he ended up siding with G.E.M.I.N.I and becoming one of its agents.

[Crusader Lord]

Return to Monke

Lilliah Vergoldet

------------

NAME:

Lilliah Vergoldet

AGE:

19

SEX:

Female

APPEARANCE:

-Casual (Untransformed)-

https://i.imgur.com/yepjN3H.png

-Transformed-

https://i.imgur.com/L86GSz8.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6Hu6sxl.jpg

GRIMOIRE:

A golden bracelet she wears at all times on either her left wrist, literally so, one using the same style of design as the crown/circlet/headband of the legendary Sun Wukong from the Chinese tale “Journey to the West”.

INSTRUMENT:

Cherrywood Sage’s Staff - A crimson red, nine foot long quarterstaff capped on both ends with golden metal and a round golden metal ball at each tip. Two golden rings are attached on the shaft near each end of it. It is a weapon well balanced for use in various moves like spinning, swinging, clubbing, and swiping, etc, a great weapon for agile movement but likewise can pack quite the punch. A weapon that is not good in very close quarters cramped spaces, where there is too little room to make use of it fully, but is still ultimately generally versatile and useful in anywhere from open wild spaces to jungle-like urban sprawls and suburban neighborhoods and the like.

Grade: Bronze

Keyword: Quarterstaff

Damage Type: Physical

Damage: D

Speed: D

Sentinel: D

Special: The quarterstaff thrums with an unknown power.

STYLE:

Blooming Crimson Peach - A silken soft, highly flexible set of clothing that both evokes the clothing styles of the Far East and fuses it with a sort of modern stylishness and a surprisingly rather comfortable fit for the wearer. Red and gold and black and a bit of white combine to form a style that seems to scream ‘hot blooded yet serenely elegant’.

Grade: Bronze

Physical: D

Arcane: E

Chaos: D

Special: The wearer’s mobility and combat capabilities remain fully unhindered by the clothing, no matter what place or situation they are in.

GENRE:

Tao - The altering of the self and reality around one’s self, performed via inward reflection on and the use of the practitioner’s own spiritual energy (or “qi”).

Grade: Bronze

Element: Wind

Notes: [Flight (6), Storm (4)], Push (2), Pull (2), Restrain (4), Summon (4), Trap (0), Damage X (6)

Special: Oneness - Spells and magic from this genre are minutely harder to notice, blending a bit into the 'background' of the world around them. (Want something to this effect at least.)

LEITMOTIF:

Wisdom At Journey’s End - The wisdom at a great and long journey's end, the culmination of various experiences and trials and hardships coming together to ensure one's survival. The ability to survive the worst and survive, giving one a chance to come out on top once more.

(Quote: "Probably doesn't protect you from getting instagibbed, but protects you from getting coup de graced.")

Grade: Silver

Special: A leitmotif encapsulating the essence of one's own survival, a magical state entered at this level only when she reaches a 'certain HP threshold'. In effect it is treated as a one post-round of invulnerability after she reaches said 'certain HP threshold'. This 'certain HP threshold' is defined as, quote: "When getting hit by a normal Damage spell will kill her."/"[Where] she's still in the state where she can take mundane attacks, but not in the state where she can get blasted again."

FACTION:

G.E.M.I.N.I. Agents

TRIVIA:

To wit and all known knowledge, the Vergoldet have always been a family involved with the supernatural. The family has always been led by an esper as a rule of thumb, and they have sought out to strengthen their bloodline in the vain hope of creating more espers within the family. Anything to gain greater power within the supernatural community, anything to build up their prestige. Shady business dealings and mundane investments to accrue wealth, supernatural closed-door dealings and trading, they’ve delved into it all and any means they feel would potentially place them closer to the top. Such as the nature of the Vergoldet at their core, and such was the family Lilliah was born into.

A product of generations of eugenic work and strategic marriages within the supernatural community, Lilliah was born the fourth of five siblings in her family to a powerful esper father and a strong esper mother. It was, as with past generations, expected of Liliah and her siblings to be trained and prepared for the work of dealing with the supernatural and becoming an esper...or at least such was her family’s intent. To push their children and train them and drill them in various mundane and supernatural matters, as well as to take them once every few years to areas with heavy mana concentrations to try to try and outright endanger them to by some slim chance ‘maybe’ trigger a bond with a grimoire. The strongest of any who might succeed in becoming an esper would be married off strategically to ‘strengthen the bloodline’ and one day lead it, whilst the remainder would be married off or used as ‘useless material’ for the family’s mundane or supernatural dealings to further their cause and gain any ground and resources they can make use of in their pursuit. All these things have been the Vergoldet way for a long time indeed, and Lilliah and her siblings were no different in their own treatment by their father.

It was a vicious childhood from the start, her parents holding nothing back in the pursuit of their bloodline’s unclear but determined goal. It was a path that led her second oldest sibling to have a full mental break after seeing the youngest sibling perish in the claws of a monster, and her oldest brother to eventually be chosen by a grimoire after losing an arm and achieving the admiration of their parents. Lilliah and her third oldest sibling would be pushed harder to ‘succeed’, which only made things worse on them as their oldest sibling was beginning to be prepared and groomed to take the place of their father one day.

Then one day, Lilliah and her remaining sane non-esper siblings were thrown into another high-mana concentration area on the day of Lilliah’s eleventh birthday. Her third oldest sibling would be devoured by a monster several hours later, even as her parents observed from the sidelines, seemingly giving up going on right there and then in front of her. Lilliah herself would flee deeper, trying to escape the same towering beast that had just slain her sibling and tossed them around a bit like they were nothing. The one thought in her mind at that point was ‘not wanting to die’. Raw, pure, primal survival instincts drove her to run with all she had. She wanted to escape, to become as light as the wind and get away. Fly like a bird if she could. Anything to get away from her parents, even if it meant running deeper into the hellhole she’d been dropped into. Even if it meant at least dying on her own terms.

And then it happened. No sign, nor any warning.

She tripped over a root and crashed onto the dirty ground.

The monster was approaching.

She scrambled backward on her hands for a moment of panic, until she noticed a golden glint on the ground next to her.

For a moment, time seemed to almost go still as she reached out for it.

It felt warm in her hand, like the driving heat of the sun on a summer day.

It felt light to the touch, as if nothing could hold it down.

She felt like the wind was at her back, even though not even a breeze was present.

Knowledge rushed into her, and she without batting an eye slapped the bracelet on her wrist as it magically adjusted itself to better fit her.

She transformed into an esper in that moment, and would manage to preserve her own life through a hard-fought battle that came to still be a near-death experience.

Her parents approached to try to take her home, smiles on their faces as they congratulated her, and yet she did not even pause to take it in. She ran. She spat in the face of everything she’d known, rejecting the hell that had been her life thus far, and simply ran. She ran like the wind, like an ape swinging through the trees, until she could run no more. She ran until her esper form stopped, and even until her very body gave out underneath her. She lied on the road where she collapsed, passed out even, until by chance a GEMINI esper came across her battered and unconscious body in the road.

From there, life changed for Lilliah. She woke up in a GEMINI facility, attached to IV’s and her savior sitting there next to her bed. She would be taken in and raised within the facility after debriefing and investigation, before being trained, rehabilitated, and provided therapy and a spot to live out of. Six years of rehabilitation, therapy, and proper esper training later, she would begin field work as a proper GEMINI operative on top of it all.

To her, it has been a new life far from the hell of her childhood. A path of her own to take. A means to discipline herself and put her capabilities as an esper to use helping others and keeping them safe. To what end her career as an esper will end up at, well, she has no idea. All she knows is that the journey ahead is one that won't be easy...

@BrokenPromise@ERode

It is done. Finally. Stuff like the Leitmotif might need balancing better, but that is one reason I am happy to submit the app for GM review. Yes. XD

Whew.

[BrokenPromise]

@FamishedPants That works, you can post edgy orphan boy in the character tab.

@Crusader Lord I'm extending the time in which you can make a character since you notified me of your work load this week. but I'd really like to see her finished by Wednesday next week. Maybe spend less time shitposting.

To everyone else still working on sheets: I fully plan on making my next post over the weekend. We would really like to see your character sheets before then, as it will be nigh impossible to get you into the current events otherwise.

[BrokenPromise]

Alrighty, there seems to be some confusion regarding casting melodies and what can be done during a single post, so it's gunna go here before getting added to the pile of things that the DoCs needs to be updated on.

-During operations like this, each post grants about 6 seconds of meaningful action, give or take a few seconds. Your actions are limited by what you can reasonably do in such a time span. non-critical actions like spitting banter or observing developments in the situation are free.

-Preparing a melody takes about a second, but can be longer for special casting notes like [Spawn].

-Only one melody can be cast on a single post, as it takes roughly 5 seconds to cool down after casting a melody.

-Using the [Multi-melody] note lets you cast more than one melody on a post. this is significantly more expensive, but does let you use more melodies.

-If doing a collab, you can cast a note on every add, within reason.

[BrokenPromise]

I don't feel like I did a great job of describing the staircase near the back entrance in great detail, so if anyone has a hard time picturing it, it's shaped like this, only far wider, and the steps themselves are made out of thick slabs of concrete. Though the picture demonstrates how there's kind of a "half floor" that two sets of stairs meet at. Anyway, all of the posts thus far have been fine, just wanted to clarify as more action is happening inside the staircase presently.