[OOC] The Four Cardinal Protectors

[Stern Algorithm]

Introduction:
Ancient legends speak of the four Cardinal Protectors, magical beasts that could be evoked to guard a central location from outside threats, an honor usually reserved for the capital city. Each beast was said to command one of the elements and has been assigned not only a cardinal direction, but also constellations in the sky. They are the Eastern Azure Dragon of Wood, the Southern Vermilion Bird of Fire, the Western White Tiger of Metal, and the Northern Black Tortoise of Water. These have now been relegated to the stuff of legends, traditional geomancy, and astrology. However, soon a handful of young people will become the stuff that legends are made of.

Setting:
Hanatani is a quiet suburban community within the greater Tokyo region. It has its fair share of rich history but has gone through some recent modern renovations making for a clean, green, and convenient place to live. Less than half an hour away from natural areas, and the urban powerhouse that is downtown Tokyo, residents of Hanatani have a lot of freedom to choose their lifestyle, whether it's outdoor recreation, fast-paced city life, or anything in between. The new and experimental Hanatani Education Center is an award-winning institution combining High, Middle, Elementary, and Pre-school into one massive campus, though other public and private schools exist as alternatives.

Major NPC's:

Kouryuu

Name: 黃龍 Kouryuu
Appearance:

Kouryuu is a small, golden eastern dragon with two legs
Age: Ancient
Personality:
Immature, bratty, and arrogant, Kouryuu believes he is superior to humans and has a fairly strong savior complex. He is friendly and nice to those who cooperate and obey him, but very antagonistic to those who do not.
Background:
As far back as he can remember, he has been guarding mankind from those who would abuse magic, alchemy and geomancy. His domain had originally been East Asia, but with modernization, he went into slumber. He has reawoken as those who would abuse magic have returned.

The Plot:
So this is a Mahou Shoujo/Shounen (Magical Girl/Boy) RP where your character will meet Kouryuu, the cute pet, and become a magical girl/boy and fight to protect Hanatani, Tokyo, and perhaps the world. You have all already reserved your animals, so follow the CS below. Your characters should be between the ages of 10-16. Your characters will grow stronger over time but for now, you can decide your first two abilities that will be based off the element of your chosen animal. You may create: an attack spell and a utility spell, two attack spells, OR two utility spells. Also, feel free to research your animal and draw inspiration from other motifs associated with that animal.

Positions:
Azure Dragon: VitaVitaAR

Azuma Haruko

Name: Azuma Haruko
Age: 16
Appearance: "Aquariums are so soothing to watch, I love seeing all the different fish!"
Personality:
Haruko is a very friendly, bright, and sociable girl. She is not one to act irritable or standoffish, and instead she is liable to immediately start trying to talk to new people. She enjoys meeting new people and finding new, nice places to play around. Haruko is also quite energetic, and while she's not incapable of being relaxed she enjoys moving around and being on the go. At least if it's not school or something. Haruko is very much not a fan of homework. But if it's a game, or something with her friends, she loves being up and energetic. Haruko cares a great deal for her friends and would do absolutely anything for them, as well. She is nearly always on the lookout for new people to befriend regardless of if it is logical or sensical to attempt to do so, as well.
Background:
There's really not much to say. Haruko has had a pretty normal life, though she's spent a lot of it, ever since she was a little girl, befriending others in any way possible.
Abilities:

Sunflower Shield:
A large, round barrier that forms in front of Haruko's hand, closely resembling the "face" of a sunflower, minus the petals. While it can be used as a standard defense, it can also be used to ram opponents. This is how Haruko prefers to use it.
Daisy Chain:
A series of chains made out of daisies, rather obviously. They can sprout from the ground and bind enemies to keep them from moving, so they can be more freely attacked. They're not too strong, though, and can be broken out of.

Vermilion Bird: Raineh Daze

Minami Natsumi

Name: Minami Natsumi
Age: 16
Appearance:

I has magical girl appearance!
Personality:
Polite, easy-going, and always eager to try new food. She is, however, terribly squeamish around (living) fish, reptiles, amphibians... basically anything scaly or slimy will have Natsumi keeping a safe distance. Even though she demonstrably has a large selection of western clothing, Natsumi seems to go through a selection of more traditional wear... for some reason. She can get strangely passionate about the oddest of activities.
Background:
A rather traditional girl from Nara. Her family is both expansive and bereft of money troubles, so when it came to moving into high school, the new educational centre seemed like a good choice. Since the journey time from Nara to Tokyo is rather... long, even taking the quickest options, she's got a flat in Tokyo proper. Rather than let her duties as a shrine maiden be ignored, she also tends to go home at the end of the week--which means she's regularly either tired or slightly late for classes on a Monday.
Abilities:

Fujiyama Volcano: It's essentially a fireball. Throw it, it explodes. Straightforward, no?
Immortal Fire Bird: Definitely more stylish: it creates a rather... large bird out of fire, which then streaks straight towards the target. Good for being thematic. Good for being dramatic. Not so good for anyone with dodging ability. Natsumi's spells are pretty straightforward.

White Tiger: Rin

Akiko Weston

Name: Akiko Weston
Age: 15
Appearance:

She has ginger hair and green eyes, and is a rather short.
Personality:
At first glance, Akiko comes off as loudmouthed, egotistical and positively overflowing with self-confidence... And to be honest, that sums her up rather well. Simultaneously, her best and worst trait is her ego. Whilst it makes her rather outgoing and willing to take risks, it also makes her come off as kind of arrogant initially, as she's far too quick to praise herself. In the event that she doesn't succeed in something she's attempted, she'll either dismiss it as something below her anyway or simply say that she failed on purpose so as to not make everyone else look bad.
She's not all ego, though; she does in fact care for those around her, even if this is partially because... Well, if anything happened to them, who would be left to bask in her radiant glory? It can just be a little difficult to see beside her ego, as the stars are to the sun. She is nowhere near as perfect as she believes herself to be, though... Her grades are mostly average, she's something of an impulse buyer, and her sense of direction is truly abyssmal; Akiko easily gets lost even if she has a map, clear directions and is supposed to be walking in a straight line.
Background:
Born into a rich family, Akiko has always seen herself as being above all others due to her wealth and status. However, this coupled with her arrogant persona has left her somewhat isolated from others her age; she has very few real friends, although this doesn't really bother her. She sees all of humanity as her friends, after all, treating even complete strangers with a somewhat obtrusive level of familiarity. Unknown to Akiko, though, her family's fortunes are not as high as they once were, and whilst she still believes herself to be rich the truth is that her family is actually slowly nearing bankruptcy...
Abilities:

Beast King Howl: With a mighty roar, Akiko unleashes a sonic attack that, whilst doing no real damage, causes all enemies who hear it to flinch in terror. Some weaker willed enemies might even run off in a panic. However, the stronger willed the target is, the less effect this will have on them; truly strong willed opponents won't even be affected by it at all.
Byakkoshinken: Utilising the White Tiger's affinity for metal, Akiko creates a single sword (specifically a shamshir, with a stylized tiger's head for a pommel) for herself to use. Other than being a surprisingly well-crafted and sturdy weapon, the sword has no other special properties for the time being. Akiko is currently only able to have one sword summoned at a time, although this number may increase at some point in the future.

Black Tortoise: Dblade26

Kitagawa Touya

Name: Kitagawa Touya
Age: 14
Appearance:

in western dress to attend a family business meeting.
Personality:
Touya is polite, standoffish and reserved for the most part, but gets surprisingly fired up in battle, especially against strong opponents. Once he really gets to know people he warms up considerably, but until then will just be polite if cold. He practices and trains himself relentlessly in order to be a better fighter and martial artist generally and wants to be the very best he can even at risk of his own health, and more than likely sees fighting monsters as just another way he can prove his strength to himself and others, rather than wanting to be any sort of hero. Being raised to be a perfect gentleman and representative of his clan and being mostly home-schooled, he speaks in a very odd, faux-archaic manner most of the time.
Background:
Touya was born into a very respected and well-known zaibatsu that also has a long history of martial arts, and has been groomed from day one to be their heir. As such he's been mostly isolated from other people, home-schooled in between attending business meetings to learn his family's trade and endless hours of practicing their traditional martial arts styles. Other than that he mostly read books on various different subjects and was forced to study calligraphy, tea ceremony, business tactics and many other 'gentlemanly pursuits' As well in order to be 'the perfect representative of his family' living a rich but incredibly disciplined life.
Abilities:

Tortoise Destruction Wave!: Despite its' name, actually just forms a small, high speed wave of water and a tortoise shell of ice under Touya's feet, allowing him to surf on a miniature wave at high speeds for fast maneuvering. The wave can knock back enemies in it's wake occasionally, but can't deal damage.
Ice Shell Impact: A stylized tortoise shell that forms on his wrist, while it can be used as a weak shield or to increase the impact of his strikes, its real use and power is as an ice-firing hand cannon using the tortoise's retractable head as the barrel of a gun. Touya detests using it's real ability as it goes against his nature as a martial artist.

CS:

Name:
Age:
Appearance:
Personality:
Background:
Abilities:

Spell 1 Name: Spell Description
Spell 2 Name: Spell Description

[VitaVitaAR]

Will try and have my signup up soon!

[Raineh Daze]

I shall try and work something out. : D

[Rin]

I will start working on mine... Tomorrow, since it's kind of late. ^^;

Also I had a feeling the mascot would be the yellow dragon. XD

[Van]

I came from the False Dichotomy thread and kinda wanted to join, saw it was turned into this and I still kinda want to join, but you're already playing the part of the last roll OP and I don't really want to come in and kick you from your spot, you know?

Like, if I did take that last spot, what character would you be? Unless you're planning to like, become Kouryuu.

[Gumshoe]

Name: Jack Spades
Age: 14 years old
Appearance: Ashen-Cobalt hue eyes, dark brown hair, and olive complexion. Usually wearing an orange tank-top and black shorts.
Personality: Asocial, Cynical, and Witty. Likes to be alone and play competitive games.
Background: A hikikomori usually hanging out in his room playing fighting games ( Especially MartialRealm ) if he is not gaming he is training his Shaolin Shoriniji Kempo with his grandfather.

Abilities

Arbiter's Cry: Cause all hostiles to yield, abscond, or become friends with the user with a mighty shout.
Subtle Suffocation: Using the choking odor of sulfur, Spades can suffocate somebody.

I'm going for the White Tiger

[Rin]

...Did you even read the OP aside from the character sheet? The slots are all taken, and tiger was already claimed a while back by me.

[Gumshoe]

Rin said
...Did you even read the OP aside from the character sheet? The slots are all taken, and tiger was already claimed a while back by me.

I thought there were characters playing and we had like.. Guardians such as the White Tiger. I was choosing skills and the White Tiger as my guardian kind of person. Sorry I misunderstood.

[Stern Algorithm]

@Van - You can reserve the Black Tortoise spot. As the GM, I can make as many characters as I want (Mwahahaha!) Although if you don't mind, could you click the link in my signature and read through the post that is linked? My standards and expectations are in there. But yeah, it seemed the False Dichotomies premise wasn't going to fly so we switched gears.

@Gumshoe - Yeah, sorry about that, I realize my description wasn't super clear because pretty much we all hopped over from another thread and knew what was going on. I should have mentioned that this was sort of invite only, but all spots have been filled.

@All - Anyone actually going to make a magical boy character, I wonder? It's not that uncommon, Li Syaoran from Cardcaptor Sakura and Tuxedo Mask from Sailor Moon are prime examples. No pressure though, do what you're comfortable with.

[Gumshoe]

Stern Algorithm said
@Gumshoe - Yeah, sorry about that, I realize my description wasn't super clear because pretty much we all hopped over from another thread and knew what was going on. I should have mentioned that this was sort of invite only, but all spots have been filled.

It's alright.

[Van]

Gumshoe can have the Black Tortoise spot if that's cool with you guys.

[Gumshoe]

Van said
Gumshoe can have the Black Tortoise spot if that's cool with you guys.

No, no Van it's okay you can take it. I don't mind :3

[Van]

Well I'll have to insist, because realistically even though I'm slightly interested, I've decided I'll opt out from joining for multiple reasons. So you can try for the spot in my stead.

[Raineh Daze]

Name: Minami Natsumi

Age: 16

Appearance:

I has magical girl appearance!

Personality: Polite, easy-going, and always eager to try new food. She is, however, terribly squeamish around (living) fish, reptiles, amphibians... basically anything scaly or slimy will have Natsumi keeping a safe distance. Even though she demonstrably has a large selection of western clothing, Natsumi seems to go through a selection of more traditional wear... for some reason. She can get strangely passionate about the oddest of activities.

Background: A rather traditional girl from Nara. Her family is both expansive and bereft of money troubles, so when it came to moving into high school, the new educational centre seemed like a good choice. Since the journey time from Nara to Tokyo is rather... long, even taking the quickest options, she's got a flat in Tokyo proper. Rather than let her duties as a shrine maiden be ignored, she also tends to go home at the end of the week--which means she's regularly either tired or slightly late for classes on a Monday.

Abilities:
Fujiyama Volcano: It's essentially a fireball. Throw it, it explodes. Straightforward, no?

Immortal Fire Bird: Definitely more stylish: it creates a rather... large bird out of fire, which then streaks straight towards the target. Good for being thematic. Good for being dramatic. Not so good for anyone with dodging ability. Natsumi's spells are pretty straightforward.

[Stern Algorithm]

@Gumshoe, if you want to join, then click the link in my signature and read through that post before making a formal request to join.

[Raineh Daze]

Actually, what sort of thing/level are you after for the spells? Otherwise, I will gravitate towards this.

[Stern Algorithm]

Small scale spells,1-to-5 target, point blank-to-line of sight, no damage-to-mild incapacitation, and others that I might have left out.

For Suzaku (Vermilion Bird) more along the lines of this as a starting spells level of power:

[Raineh Daze]

I will be honest that your description has left me even more confused, as it seems to flatly contradict the video you posted.

[Stern Algorithm]

Er, I don't see the contradiction, let me be a bit clearer:

Basically, keep the power within certain ranges

# of targets: between 1 and 5, or a small, well-defined area of effect
Range: between point-blank range to line-of-sight if it's a projectile or beam. No hitting things you can't even see or infinite range, or the ability to penetrate any number of barriers.
Damage: your spell shouldn't be able to guarantee a kill. One-hit-kills on mooks and monsters can happen, but it cannot be guaranteed.
Rapidity: spells should not be able to be fired endlessly, there should be some sort of cooldown or recharge associated with them. You can have 'spray' type attacks that can be fired for an extended period of time, but you have to stop eventually, and it should be offset by either low damage, or something.

I think Sailor Mars' attack fits because it is a single target, line-of-sight attack that does decent damage, but is not fired in quick succession.

EDIT: Whoops, I guess I didn't watch to the end of the video, I hadn't noticed how large the pillar of flame got towards the end.

[Raineh Daze]

Spells added.