[OOC] Ghost Complex: Integration

[Anima]

Ghost Complex: Integration



In the year 2045, as diplomacy failed, the world plunged into the third world war. The northern hemisphere of the world formed the North American Trade Federation, Europe subjugated Africa and created the Greater European Empire, while Asia and Russia formed the Empire. Cities were decimated as millions upon millions answered the call to war. Bombs flew the airs indiscriminately killing civilian and soldiers alike. For an ensuing three years, the war raged on. It was only when nuclear bombs filled the sky and scorched the Earth did the three great powers call for a ceasefire.

Leaving a greater part of each continent unfit for life, humanity escaped to the last habitable places. In the years following, many starved while governments were unable to maintain order within their borders. While many citizens all cried out for justice, protection, and revenge, their cries were often left unheeded as the world continued on its path of degradation.

Order finally returned on the third month of 2055 when a group known as the Council — shrouded in mystery — took on the task of doing what the governments could not. The former leaders of each nation having been usurped from power, the Council quickly sunk their roots deeply into each Green zone. Criminals were quickly dispatched of and production of the basic necessities continued once again. The great famine began to decrease as normality soon returned to the world.



With the limited space available, unscathed cities expanded as many took shelter within these bastions of humanity. Buildings were built on top of one another. The poor remained at the bottom with the pollution and abysmal conditions while the the affluent and wealthy clung to the top. Thus marked the period of disparity. While many opted to live in small towns in the country, commerce and technology favored the behemoth-like cities that eventually became city-states under the guidance of the Council.

Not wanting another war to occur, a proposition was set forth by a team of psychologist and scientist. Their proposition, before the war, would’ve been preposterous, but the situation had changed. Hence, the introduction of the virtual reality game, Dust, was instated. With physical money deemed unworthy of materials and labor and advancements in the social structure was considered significant to prevent domestic rioting, the Council turned to this. Giving each person their own logic pad and Immersion Dive headgear, the ability to live, to eat, to thrive was centered in the world of Dust.

The year is 2065. Reality and virtual integrated, humanity continues to survive against the horrors it unleashed.

---

Welcome to the World of Dust



Set within the world of Evanesa, Dust's setting is a fantastical variant or a medieval era world. The world of Evanesa is split into five major kingdoms: Maras, Plutarnos, Apollinis, Diamorra, and Florinia.

Development and Operations

Modeled after the pre-war cities with added aesthetic beauty, Dust constantly evolves. Thousands of staff members constantly keeping track of each character, warding against hackers, upholding the rules, maintaining a fitting difficulty, and ensuring that the transfer of in-game tokens to real life runs seamlessly. To make the system more efficient, Dust's infrastructure is broken down into the following categories:

Overseers

The position of the overseers resides exclusively with the Council and select advisors. These individuals regulate the guardian, evolver, and Exchanger branches to ensure everything is running and kept accountable. Council members the most powerful players within the game of Dust given their real world status.

Guardians

To ensure all the rules are enforced, administrators assume the role of guardians as these characters act as the police force whom are responsible for rotting out hackers and those breaking the system. Paid by the Council, these individuals seldom participate in the tasks and other menial tasks normal players do. More often than not, guardians are equipped with higher quality gear to ensure they have the advantage whenever a 'red player' or other disputes unfold.

With a comfortable living standard outside the world of Dust, many actively seek recruitment into this branch. However, the acceptance rate to become a guardian is set so high, that it proves impossible for normal players and civilians. The Council specifically seeks hackers caught or those with high aptitudes to combat cybernetic invasions via an assessment given to all at the age of eighteen.

Evolvers

The primary role of the evolvers is to constantly adapt the world of Dust to reduce players finding patterns to the world. They update NPC behavior as well as monster patterns. Environmental changes caused by seasonal elements also are at the discretion of the evolvers.

Exchangers

Exchangers handle the in-token and real world credit exchange. This branch is regulated strictly to dissuade insider trading and other 'stealing' behaviors.

Combat Mechanics

Dust makes use of affliction meter. Similar to the traditional health bar used in pre-war titles, instead of decreasing upon damage taken, the meter fills upon each strike. Each enemy has its own unique affliction meter and its own weakness, nullify, and strengthening buffer. An example of this system has been provided below:

Scenario
Minotaur

Affliction meter: 0/2500
Weakness: Fire
Nul: Poison
Strength: Normal Physical Attacks (Things listed here will either raise the affliction bar slowly and will affect the condition of the enemy in question. A description of its effects will be listed here to further clarify. In the case of the minotaur, normal attacks will make the beast go berserk.)

How the affliction meter is filled is entirely up to the players. Feel free to write about how your warrior charged the beast and impaled it with your sword, a rogue firing an arrow into a soft spot on its hide, or even a mage enveloping the creature in an inferno. Let your words write out each action; I shall determine from reading how far the affliction meter rises based off of what I read.

This system has been implemented to shy away from instantaneous deaths of storyline enemies that the group encounters together. If you want to write a scene of your character fighting non-story enemies, feel free to do so at your discretion. I won't be controlling an affliction bar for those.

Gear

Immersion Dive Headgear



The I.D.H is the only way to connect into the world of Dust. Linking up via satellite towers located frequently throughout each city, the headgear plunges the user into unconsciousness but immerses their senses and mind into their Dust character. Within the world, players can hear, taste, smell, and touch as if they were touching something in real life.

In case of an accident, the headgear is linked to the Dust development center where staff regulate each character. If irregularities arise, the staff can eject the individual from the game. This would cause the character to wake up to reality and save their progress within the game. Depending on the nature of the ejection, the players may or may not be penalized.

Logic Pad



Small enough to fit into a pocket, the Logic Pad are small holographic computers that streamline all contacting and news functions into one. Namely, these devices have replaced computers and cell phones. While there are many practical uses for the Logic Pads, their main use is keeping track of the credits each individual possesses. Thus, these devices act as credit cards as well. Vendors sends bills to the buyer, which subtracts said total via the Exchangers.

To ward off thieves, each Logic Pad is binded to an individual user. If DNA - scanned by the device upon contact, doesn't match what it was registered to, the Logic Drive ceases to work as the authorities promptly lock down upon the unauthorized user.

Races

Two primary races exist within the world of Dust: Humans and the Enlightened.

Humans



Humans are generally the more common races chosen within the game of Dust. Having stats that immediately favor a warrior and rogue class, humans typically have a much easier time at starting out in Dust. However, the race lacks magical aptitude that the Enlightened possess. However, having warlock humans is not uncommon.

Enlightened



Similar to humans, the Enlightened are humanoid beings that are narrower in build and posses luminescent eyes, which has become their trademark trait. While Enlightened do field stalwart warriors, this race has a much higher affinity to warlocks and rogue character types. Inherently, the Enlightened are much more dexterous than humans.

Character Sheets

Real World

Name:
Birthday:
Appearance: (Words or pictures or both will suffice for this section)
Occupation: (None of our characters will be in the noble class. So they will still have a real world job)
Biography:

Dust Persona

Alias:
Style of Play: (Are you a warrior? Perhaps a cunning hunter? Or perhaps an arcane warlock? Describe how your character will play his or her character within Dust. There is no class system - save for Warlock, which entails its own penalty or benefit.)
Appearance:

Rules

1). As the section this has been placed in, this is an advanced standard storyline. However, I'm going to ask you adhere to my definition of standard as well as the guilds. Advanced, to me, is all about the quality versus the quantity. Don't ever feel the need to write 2,500 word posts and above every single time. Adapt to what feels right and just go with it. We're here to have fun, not write a novel.

2). I'm no grammar nazi. However, some spellchecking and editing makes for an easier reading experience.

3). While I won't be expecting posts everyday, please keep active and let the group know if you're going to be away. Real life takes precedence, just give us a heads up. However, if a month goes by without a squeak from you, I will send out a PM asking how you're doing. If I don't here back at that point, I will assume control of you character and use him or her until a opportune moment to exit him or her arises. Same deal goes for if you're active and have not replied to my PM. Communication folks.

4). Feel free to bend the world to your liking. Though this will have an overarching story, this storyline will have an immense amount of freedom with regards to the world. Think of a sandbox setting but with more direction.

5). Have fun. This is why we're sinking hours into our fantasy lives on the guild. If at any point you wish to introduce an idea, please talk to me. Actually, talk to me about anything. I'm more than happy to bounce off ideas with folks.

[Arlear]

Here. Have an Arlear character, Celest~.

Real World

Name:
Alexander Praelor

Birthday:
January 13, 2025

Appearance:

Standing at 5'9" and built lightly, Alex seems to be... Well, your average, normal, every-day kind of guy! While he isn't particularly bad looking, and has eyes about as green as a peridot gem, he also goes to lengths to go un-noticed in the real world, often dressing in completely unremarkable clothing, walking with his hands in his pockets and his head tilted down, just another unremarkable soul in the city, not to be thought about twice. While he'd never admit to it, he has to dye his hair to keep it at the dark brown it was in his younger years, having gone salt-and-pepper fairly early in life... And nearly all grey in these days. Without the dye, at least. If one were to -actually- catch him without a shirt, they would find him to possess a surprising tone for his size... And a large number of scars, big and small. Kind of takes away from the attractiveness.

Occupation:
Musician, WWIII Veteran.

Biography:
Alexander lived a fairly normal life up until his twenties. He was born in a nice town in Canada in the middle of January, during a blizzard. He tends to joke that he was then forced to walk home as an infant. Up hill. In ten feet of snow. Naked. Both ways. Twice. In truth, all went without complication, and despite power-flickers in the hospital during the storm, he came into the world without a problem, and two days later was taken to the home that he would live in for the next eighteen years. Elementary, middle, and highschool all went fairly well for him- He was a smart individual. No genius, certainly, but he managed mostly A's and B's, a C popping up here and there. However, early in Middle School, he discovered his talent for music and language- Learning French, German, and even a bit of Latin in his free-time for fun, and focusing on learning to play the base guitar, guitar, and piano through highschool. There were no traumatizing events- His parents are still alive, he was never bullied, he had friends, he had rivals.
He was normal.

And then, inevitably, disaster struck. Just before he went south into the U.S.A to attend a prestigious musical college program, WWIII broke out, and he made a different choice- He enlisted in the military. With the sudden massive need for troops, he didn't have a hard time getting in. And yet, unlike some, he had no delusions of glory in this matter. He didn't climb the ranks and become a hero, nor did he hide in a corner for the entire war. No, he fought to protect his home and his family, putting his survival down to raw -luck- through those years. However, he did not come out unscathed. Injuries were plentiful, leaving him scarred both physically and mentally. But, those were things he could move past. He was still young, he recovered quickly, there was no real lasting damage- Therapy for his mind and body solved those problems, over time.

But what left a truly lasting mark was the initial nuclear fallout from those first bombs that scorched the skies before a ceasefire was finally called. While he was lucky enough to not be close enough to one of those first bombs to be completely obliterated, he didn't manage to outrun the fallout, radiation poisoning blackening his blood and weakening his body. All the therapy in the world couldn't completely erase that damage from him, even if medication did keep it at bay and allow him to live a, mostly, healthy life. Occasionally, he still finds the headaches to pound at his skull, blood running from his nose and body going weak, practically helpless lest he downs his emergency medications. On the worst days, he ends up hospitalized, blackened blood from nose and ears a definite sign that the poisoning was catching up with him that day.

And yet, he forced himself to live on. Only doctors and close friends ever learned from him what his ailment was, and he worked for his living as a musician in the post-war times. He felt he'd lived for that reason, to use his gift of music after the nuclear warfare and lift what spirits were left with various forms of music, from country to blues to old school rock. He made his living with music, and felt that he was keeping others from the depths of despair with the same.

And then came Dust.

Dust Persona

Alias:
Muse

Style of Play:
Bard-sassin. The most epic fusion of assassin and bard! First he rains debilitating magic music upon foes and lifts his allies up... Then draws his daggers and wreaks bloody, gory havoc from behind.

Appearance:

Standing slightly taller than Alex himself, his avatar is 5'11" and just a bit more noticeably toned, clearly human in nature going off the broad shouldered build. And lack of pointy-ears. Tends to wear a hooded cloak and light armor beneath it, a flute hanging at his belt... Right next to a pair of cruelly twisted daggers, perfect for shredding flesh of monsters... And other players, if the need arises. Unlike his down-cast, if wary gaze and stature in the real world, he walks with his head high and stride proud as Muse, light and airy as if he didn't have a care in the world.

[SrslyAnArtist]

Hey...This seems right up my alley.

Real Life
Name: Jinx Whiteriver

Birthday: November 12, 2040

Appearance: Jinx has long black hair down to her waist that she keeps in a tight braid, eyes as blue as the night sky. People have often referred to the color as what they imagined the sky in hell would look like. A jagged scar runs from her right ear down ti her chin from an unfortunate event in high scholl. While not exceptionally short, she isn't a gaiant either, standing at 5'7 & 1/2. She has a small frame like that of a dancer. She may look delicate, but she's tough as nails. Jinx tends to wear dark clothes and boots, those being the things she's most comfortable in and rarely wears dresses. Like maybe once in a blue moon.

Occupation: Jinx is a freelance artist and professional rollerblade derby girl.

Biography: She has led a fairly normal life, wuth the exception of a few odd times in her life when things were chaotic and during WWIII. She was born in a small coastal town in Ireland and stayed there until she was about ten years old when her family moved to Seattle in Washington. She went through elementary and middle school uneventfully until she was in 11th grade in high school. It was dark, and she was on her way home from art club when she was cornered by a gang of thugs. She was pushed up against the wall with a knife to her throat while they went through her backpack looking for money.

She was silent for a few minutes before she kneed the guy holding the knife in the nuts. The other guys tried to maul her but she was too quick for them, although the right side of her face got caught with a blade. It cut her from her ear down to her chin in a jagged line. She ran home to her mom and dad where they called the police and took her to a hospital to clean her cut. The thugs were found and arrested for attempted theft and assault and Jinx was determined to learn to defend herself. She learned Wushu and moved on.

A few years after graduation, her parents died in a car crash and Jinx had no more family as she was an only child. She moved on and took more art classes and eventually did drawings and sculptures for money and got into roller derby competitions which she really enjoyed. One time, during a competition, she broke her foot and had to heal before she could rollerblade again. She got bored and was going insane with the inactivity.
And then Dust came along.

Dust Persona
Alias: Maddin

Style of Play: She is a sort of Mad Hatter like warrior who confuses her enemis by shouting obscenities and nonsensical phrases and then takes advantage of their confusion by turning into a deadly wgirl of steel.

Appearance: Her stands a few inches taller than Jinx at 5'8 with long wine red hair and blue eyes with flecks of hazel in them.She is noticeably more slender than herself in the real world and has more muscle tone and felixibility. Tends to wear a black button down long sleeve, dark blue denim jacket and jeans, a dark blue scarf tied around her head and under her hair and calf high boots. Twin katanas rest in sheathes on her hips and asmall dagger strapped to her upper right arm. a blue mask covers most of her fac, except for the middle of her cheeks and down.

[Anima]

Bunnita said
Hiiiiiiiii~~!!Wows. Likes it. ;DK, so like before the bunny hops on over, I have a few questions:How is posting going to work? Like is there gunna be: err'body has to post in the "really real world" phase until we get to the "la-la gamer land" phase or vice-versa? Or like are we gunna just go bonkers-like and login/logout as we please- type of deal? How does criminal activity work in the "really real world" nowadays? Cuz like I can still see lots of crime going on? Maybe? Like scammers, cons, thieves still doing 'marks'? Is Organized crime gone underground, like maybe literally? Just wanna know, cuz I thinks I have an idea for like a criminal type of charrie!!^-^!!Oh! And foods! I like foods! Eating! How is food and water distributed in the city-states nows? 'Cuz like I have an idea for something there for muh charrie to do there too...Right. I'm sure muh bunny brain will think of more, but that's all for now, k? Thanks ya! ;D~Edz~ Urms. Should I have posted questions OOC? If ya wants, like maybe I could like re-post muh questions over there?

Hello Bunnita!

I mentioned this briefly within the OOC, but this is a very free flowing roleplay. I will be posting story progressions when the timing seems right for all of us. Namely, your character will have the liberty to log in/log out as much as he or she pleases. I plan to engage writers within the real world and game world, so you'll have something to do. Furthermore, I'm having all of our characters start out in the same city. With this, you're free to interact with one another in the real or virtual world as well. Just talk to the other writer before hand.

Crime is still very a much a part of this city as with everything else. The two major crimes are identity snatchers and traffickers. Of course, normal crimes and organizations exist as well - particularly the black market, which sells things the Council has either confiscated or banned.

As for food and water. I'm still considering how I want to play these things out. So once I've ironed out the details, I'll post them to the initial OOC post. However, expect a rationing system of sorts. Namely, the simplest dish would cost a good deal of credits.

---

Arlear and IrishAngelQueen. Welcome the both of you! I shall give my thoughts for your CS and post mine later today.

[Girlie Go Boom]

Hi Anima~~!!^^!!

K so thanks ya for answering. Sooooooo... yush. I'm still at muh dads place so just have phone. Like hopefully ill have a charrie to submit later tonight when I gets back home k? Thanks and happy Thanks giving! ! ;D

[SrslyAnArtist]

Thank you Anima. Bunnita do you know how cute your posts are? They make me smile.

[Girlie Go Boom]

IrishAngelQueen said
Thank you Anima. Bunnita do you know how cute your posts are? They make me smile.

Hiiiiii, IrishAngelQueen~~!!^-^!!

Wulp, i dunno if your all serious-like or not but... k fiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine ~BOING!!!~ Thanks ya!!! ;D LIke I know that it can be annoying but whenever I gets all excited like i type like a crazy bunny. Actually I type like that cuz wut evs comes out of my brain I like to type it out.

But know what? IrishAngelQueen~~<3!!! I thanks ya too cuz ya made my day for letting me knows I can actually put a smile on someone's face(if yer not lying that is O,O!) Right. So I'm finally home, but drunks and all sleepy-like nows. I can actually say that I had a good time this year at Daddy's Great Turkey Bash! He didn't try to turn the turkey into a giant raisin for Thanksgiving this year! Yays! K so yush, will have to do up charrie tomorrow. Niiiiiiiiiiiiiite~~<3!!

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

This is...definitely something I'd like to join. I'll post up a character sheet in time. About to head for home now.

Also, feel like I have to mention that the enlightened woman you found is...quite attractive.

*cough*

[Anima]

Well welcome aboard Albireo Dreamweaver! Always great to welcome another person to the fold.

I was pretty happy when I found her picture! It was definitely the look I was going for when I envisioned a typical Enlightened person.

Now, I've got to stop being lazy and post up my character. Sorry for the delay folks! Also, the information in the initial thread will constantly be updated. So, check there periodically as the story progresses.

[SrslyAnArtist]

I was very sincere Bunnita. They are very cute and that says something about you I suppose. Why would I lie about something that makes me smile? I wouldn't have a reason too. I get so sad sometimes, so it feels good to feel good. I must warn you though, I'm a bit of a Mad Hatter and I get offended at myself If I make sense 9/10 times.

Do you have any idea why a raven is like a writing desk? Oh look, there's a dirt mark in the shape of a rabbit on my screen. Shoo bunny dirt!
I wanna lose my mind, like a maniac and cross the line, cause I've gone cuckoo!

[Anima]

Oh I totally forgot to acknowledge your super unique replies Bunnita! Like IrishAngelQueen, it's entertaining to read them. Seldom do I ever see anyone type like that let alone bunny-esque words being thrown in here and there!

IrishAngelQueen, though I'm having trouble following that last paragraph, go crazy :D! Also, I approve of your signature. The one Marilyn Manson song I like!

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

I'll admit I'll go insane if you post like that IC, though...

[Arlear]

*Drops into chat spidey-style, all upside down and shit*

Hello, fellow people!

I like pie.

This was a post to remind Celest that I am still here for whenever we start. I just don't have a comment. *Nod*

That will be all.

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

Important question: What is the current date at the beginning of the RP?

[Anima]

I think that's how she speaks outside the IC Albireo. If Bunnita's posts are like that, then I may go a tad crazy as well!

Anyways, the current date 2060. I should have made that much clearer. With that, people who have submitted CSes already, you can go back and change the birthday to better fit the timeline, if you so wish.

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

Err, that sucks. I was trying to make a post-war character...and well. Assuming the war lasted a few years, that would force him to be like...11.

I guess I can make that work, lol.

[Anima]

Hmmm ... well then, why don't we just set it late into the 2056 era? Would that work out for folks more so? I just wanted to give a bit of space for technology to reinvent itself at the green zones.

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

Did you mean 2065? Because moving the date up certainly doesn't help matters. I wanted to play a child basically raised with the intent of being good at Dust, and I can..sort of do that with an eleven year old. A seven year old...well that's a hard sell.

[Anima]

I'm really tentative to push the current year past 2060, for I'd like the immediate repercussions of the war to still be felt by society - which I'll write in great detail within the IC to give folks an idea. Could you make your character work with a 2056 - 2060 range? If not, let me know. I'm very flexible with our starting year.

[Albireo Dreamweaver]

Well, in the context of "still felt the effects of" You're talking about a global nuclear war. We would be feeling the effects of that for centuries, quite literally.

Ideally, for me, let's say that my proposed character's parents fought in the war, and raised their son to succeed in a post war society. Seeing as I wanted to put them on the asian side, having the parents be in the late teens during the conflict is not implausible, perhaps being 21 by it's end. Then, let's assume that they had him right after. Ideally I'd want such a character to 15-19 to have them be in an age range where their not creeping up on being a spooky child. Assuming we go with say, 17, that makes his parents 38. considering the entire world is now integrated into this game, it really doesn't prclude people from playing characters who literally lived through the war, while opening up the ability to play characters who have grown up in a post-war society, for whom Dust is not an intruder on reality, but rather reality itself.

I honestly think that gives us more room to be diverse, because as it is it's basically impossible to play a a character who wasn't involved in the war. I suppose I could make him have been quite you during the war. That would be an ok compromise, but it still wouldn't have the same social elements. Think about that sort of disparity, a generation who fought the most devastating war in the history of man followed immediately by a generation who don't even subscribe to the same reality.

Just food for thought. I'm ok with making him have been born pre-war and just not remember anything about it.