Obsidian: Wyverns
"It is not power that corrupts but fear. Fear of losing power corrupts those who wield it and fear of the scourge of power corrupts those who are subject to it."
~Aung San Suu KyiObsidian was a shining leader in technology and biochemical engineering. It was they who made massive developments in the international community, bringing ground-breaking technology to the world. They had strong ties with the American defense forces, outfitting the military with top-grade core manufacturing and weaponry. Obsidian was met with astounding success for years, but behind their big logos and sleek headquarters lay a sinister secret. Eventually it was their ultimate undoing.
You see, beneath their headquarters was a massive underground facility that never existed on any of the floor plans. It was here they housed their most advanced weaponry -- their top secret, most classified information. If you knew even a sliver of what happened underground, Obsidian had agents authorized to kill you. They called them Operatives, and their creation was mostly a curse. Humans erased from all legal records were screened, rigorously trained and pushed to the limits, then given the Quartz serum. After that, the subjects that survived were no longer considered human. Obsidian did with their Operatives as they sought fit, reveling in their ultimate weapons.
After running their new weapons through more training, Obsidian sent them out to fulfill their true goal. Organizations around the world would pay top coin for an elite bodyguard, assassinations, espionage, and volatile crowd control. The list was endless and ranged from mediocre to evil. Operatives had no say and little to no rights as Obsidian went as far as placing a micro kill switch in each of them.
They had enough of this abuse. On a strategically planned day, all the Operatives banded together and sabotaged their underground facility. Despite all Obsidian's efforts to shut them down, the Operatives escaped just before the headquarters exploded in a bright plume of fire. The wreckage smoked and burned for hours despite firefighters trying their best to tame the flames. Obliterated in the explosion was all Obsidian's research, kill switch remotes and dampening collars. It would take many years to rediscover the Quartz serum to create new bio-weapons.
The Operatives were free, and they blended into society as quietly as they could. Obsidian's secret got out and the company was disbanded permanently, and a manhunt was called for all the Operatives. Somehow the world saw their explosive escape as a big threat. Governments and secret agencies tried their hardest to track down, in their own words, 'super terrorists'. The world knew about the super humans living among them, and people quickly grew fearful. In their fear the media had full sway on them, shaping society's opinion of these evil terrorists into something truly terrifying.
Living in extreme fear of being found out, the Operatives went their separate ways into hiding. Society would literally rip them apart if they only knew, and heaven's knew what the government would do to them. Quietly, they waited for the fear around them to abate, both externally and within. Two years passed with little to no activity related to the super terrorists. Two moderately peaceful years.
Then shit hit the fan, again.
***
Obsidian: Wyverns is the sequel to the previous Obsidian roleplay and takes place a couple years after the destruction of their headquarters. The entire world knows about genetically enhanced Operatives, and many shady organizations would go to extreme lengths to get their hands on one. This roleplay will have a balance of high action and character interaction/development, both with each other and the environment.
You will be playing as an Operative escapee from Obsidian who's been in hiding for the past two years. All Operatives are acquainted, or at least recognize each other. The open-world USA will react to your choices and give quick consequences. People will easily grow suspicious of you, making it easier for government agencies to find your door. If they catch you it's game over. For now, the general public is fearful of the 'super terrorists'. Throughout the story this fear may increase or decrease.
Operatives were once human, but using an injection called Quartz they have become something much more advanced. Quartz, developed by scientists working for Obsidian, not only enhances a person's speed, reflexes, stamina and mental capacity, but allows the subject to harness unique powers that humans have only dreamt of. Our subjects are similar to the Superheroes portrayed in popular culture. However, they are far from heroes. Our subjects, called Operatives, are essentially hired guns of extremely high caliber. They will only save the world if someone is paying a exorbitant fee for them to do so. Obsidian accepts extremely wealthy clients on an international scale who have demands ranging from espionage to assassination. Operatives must possess a very flexible moral compass, as many of the missions they are assigned lay outside of the law.
Very few people meet the qualifications to undergo the procedure to become an Obsidian Operative:
Condition One: You must have nothing left in the world to lose. You must be desperate and alone. Becoming an operative means you must give up your entire life. Your identity will be erased and you will be assigned a code name. You will cease to exist in the outside world and thus you can never belong to it again.
Condition Two: You must be deemed physically and mentally strong and between the ages of 18 and 34. The procedure requires that you have extreme strength of mind and body as the changes you undergo can be lethal to anyone unprepared.
Condition Three: This condition is more holistic and a careful study of the subject is required before they are deemed well suited to the procedure. In fact, once determining a potential subject, our Recruiters will track this person for a period of three month to determine whether or not they pass this condition. It is that you must be able to fit into a team dynamic and be able to succeed living the life of an operative. Though recruits have a variety of backgrounds, personalities and ideals, they must possess skills already suited to the kind of work they'll doing - something that can show itself in a variety of ways. Our recruiters have tracked people who are anything from hackers, physicians, soldiers, and even teenage prodigies. A wide range of recruits are pursued but you must display trainability and potential. Obsidian invests a lot of money into their operatives and their investment must promise a return.
If you are recruited by Obsidian it is because they recognized the above qualities in you and, intrigued and desperate, you agreed to the terms. If you rejected their offer, you would have been eliminated as you would then have possessed sensitive information. You will most likely begin your procedure in a large group of people. However, this group will eventually shrink to a much smaller sample. You are put through rigorous physical and mental tests to determine whether or not your body can handle Quartz. Once we determine that the probability of your survival is above 99.7%, you will undergo the procedure. If you survive, you will come to your senses to discover that your entire body has changed. You do not only possess advanced strength, stamina, durability and intelligence but you also possess a superpower. None of the scientists can predict how Quartz effects you as it has different results on different people. However, brain scans have shown that these powers are often related to subjects' varying personalities and strengths. A subject with an extremely volatile nature, might be able to produce flames from their hands while an extremely perceptive subject may find themselves hearing the thoughts of others.
Of course, how could Obsidian control an Operative with such advanced abilities? A Kill Switch (On documents it was called the Kill Switch Protocol, or KSP). Each injection of Quartz contains a microchip that, if activated, would promptly stop your heart. Also, for certain subjects, a dampening collar will be used to stifle the effects of Quartz, returning their stats to that of a normal human.
Credit to Dmytra.
These are characters essential to the story and have a designated player to play them.Laraxis Valco
Rules:You must refer to yourself and other Operatives with your respective codenames.This roleplay is less about abilities and more about being the pawns of a political power struggle (oops, giving the story away), so be creative without going overboard. Aka Mary Sue-ing.I will also mention that although rules of science can be bent, all powers must make some form of sense.We're in Advanced, but I just want to stress the importance of Character Flaw and Development. Don't be afraid of character death as it brings a unique aspect to roleplaying. You can always make another Operative.Feel free to give suggestions and ideas. Most of all, you must have fun and enjoy the story with me. This one is not optional. :)All character submissions must be posted to the OW Character Deposit,
NOT the OOC. Reviews of your submission, however, will be posted in the OOC.
Character Skeleton:
Name:
Age:
Gender:
Codename:
Power:
Appearance:
Personality:
Strengths and Weaknesses:
History:
Other:
Accepted Characters:Estylwen (GM)CitrineJazzy (Co-GM) Hannibal Apokalipse Arsenic DrewccappCheshireKorbanjaroAlterThe Roman07RookLydynEidyiaPsychomachyGhost
Credit to Dmytra and his original idea of Obsidian.
