xD Well, I was always imagining that the characters were actually using a language other than English- like Tolkien did. But, sure, lets say that we all speak English in a world without England
It can be called common tongue or something of the like and its good.
Got some other things to catch up on, so I'm holding back the demon summoner. i do have a long CS that many people wouldn't want to read through about a Runic mage with some social problems, though!
Name:Kaesus Vlantian III
Aliases: ”The Last Runic”
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: A tall, thin and old looking man with gray hair and even a decent sized beard to go with that. He often looks like he isn’t completely sane, or so many of those he has met said when they looked at his face. He has striking blue eyes, with small runes visible in the pupils. Despite the many runes he casts over himself, he cannot hide the fact that he walks slowly, or is very easy to wound if his magic is breached. He wears a long, dark cloak-like robe with gray rune engravings all across every portion of it His boots are long and the ends vanish beneath his other clothing.. At his side is what was once a long blade, broken halfway to be more of a sword on the shorter side, heavily engraved in runes and looking twice the man’s age.
He is relatively clean for his appearance; besides his somewhat scraggly hair, he has a clean looking cloak and sword, and looks normal everywhere else.
Backstory
The Vlantian line was once considered one of the most powerful families specializing in Magic prior to the days of the Primus. Vlantian I was a powerful Runic Mage who assumed control of the First Mage’s Rune-built castle.
The castle and Vlantian I’s authority allowed him to hold a very large amount of influence and power in the world at large, and put him as being one of the top Runic mages of his time. However, when the Primus rose to power over the course of a hundred years, fellow mages began “vanishing”. The enlightenment of others who could wield magic caused a deeply rooted hatred of the dominance of Runic mages to spill forth. Initially, when Runic magic was still young and undiscovered, the first created runes were extremely powerful. Over time, Runic mages became more lax, confident that nobody could match them. This bit them right up in the ass when the lazily built fortresses making use of simple defensive spells fell to a new horde of magic users that outnumbered Runic mages easily 1000 to 1 in just the beginning. Vlantian’s castle was the only one to still hold powerful runes from the early days, and that fact alone kept him safe when all other Runic mages were falling, one by one.
His abandonment of the affairs of his other mages left him isolated, until he finally had an army of mages upon his heavily warded doorstep. Powerful mages, lead by the Primus himself, battered at the defenses. The raw power that the Zod runes (runes of indestructability) were faced with caused them to shatter and the castle walls to implode. The entire outer ring being destroyed, Vlantian himself came out to face the Primus, warded with a combination of the most difficult runes to create and wielding a longsword that contained extremely powerful runes.
This wasn’t enough; many historians detailed the historic confrontation and in particular noted the moment when the Primus shattered the upper half of Vlantian’s longsword. It wasn’t long before the Primus was able to kill Vlantian, causing him to explode. All that remained was his sacred robes, his longsword and scattered runestones.
The castle itself was set upon by the entire horde of mages of all skill levels, and without any supplements, the remaining runic defenses failed. Many rare runestones of very pure material were looted and are sold at extortionate prices underground today. After that, remaining Runic mages either committed suicide or faded into the background, not wishing to face the Purge that had destroyed the most powerful Runic creation known to humanity… and indeed all other races.
The remains of the castle were taken up by Vlantian’s bastard son, who had early one been in obscurity simply because he wasn’t a legitimate ancestor and therefore unworthy of his father’s legacy. Vlantian II, as he titled himself, was also the only remaining member of his family when all the purges were completed. He had escaped because of his lack of worth, and the fact that he did not use any runic magic at the time - the most effective way of discovering anyone who practiced the type.
Taking control of the ruined castle, he discovered some useful things that had not been lost in the looting. The private (but not the open) library of his father was still intact, the Runic-based scrying stone was still functional within the private library, and a perfectly intact sequence of wall section was still up with which he could copy and use to repair other sections.
He never did get far in terms of fixing the castle - he was content with putting up simple wooden barriers and placing some mid-tier runes on them. He eventually used the scrying stone to look upon world affairs, including the Primus and his Tower from the outside. Vlantian II took every opportunity to spit at the side whenever he even thought of the Tower - he didn’t like his father much when he was alive, but he did hold great respect for the man, and always blamed the Primus.
One day, he went into a village, looking like a hobo with his low-end robes and by that time unkempt appearance. He didn’t make it obvious, but when asked he didn’t deny the fact that he lived in the Ruined Castle, as it was called at the time. He did skip over the fact that he was part of the Vlantian family line.
He didn’t have much experience with brothels, but he eventually learned all about them… and on that same line of thought met a very nice lady who he took out on a date with. I need not mention the cause for the woman bringing a baby to Vlantian’s door a year later.
Reluctantly, Vlantian took in the baby, and the woman. He still didn’t know her name, and when he asked, he learned that she was Melissia. If he had asked any further, he would have known that she was Melissa IV, a descendant of a long, well known line of Runic mages. He always wondered how she took the news of what he really was so calmly.
He raised the son to learn Runic magic and officially married Melissa when the son was 5 years old.
Now, at this point, one would think that everything was going perfectly and would end up having a happy ending. Of course, it never works out that way; Vlantian’s wife suffered a classic case of not paying attention and while trying to move a box down an old stairwell that she hadn’t used much, she missed the broken part and completely went down the stairs. She died just a few minutes later, right before Vlantian was able to get to her.
He became a very angry man inside. he used to go to the town once in a while and then completely stopped. He became distant from his 15 year old son and started blaming everything that was bad on the Primus. One day, he acted.
His son spent almost every day in the Ruined Castle, sitting and reading the old books, practicing his Runewords, taking sections out of the wall and elaborately creating medium level runestones. He missed it when his father, then a very old man in look and age, walked out one day.
Vlantian II came to the Tower, a place that he had long looked at in hatred and cursed nightly as his mental condition became worse. he attempted to create explosive runes and place them around the Tower. This he did (what he thought was) discreetly, and surprisingly wasn’t stopped at doing (the Tower was a place that in modern terms, would have 1000 cameras on one side facing the outside of the tower).
When he tried to detonate the runes, he learned a rather unfortunate warding spell the Primus had put on the tower. When the runes detonated, every part of the raw magic that was used came right back to the sender. The explosion drew mages and authorities alike to the location, with everyone wondering what could have happened to make a large crater on top of a large hill.. The Primus knew the truth.
Vlantian III, meanwhile, got his nose out of a book rather too late and noticed his father was gone. It sounds odd - the journey took months - but by this time, Vlantian’s father didn’t even speak to him. Using the Runic scryer, he attempted to find his father and found a rather large crater surrounded by curious folks. He was a rather smart fellow, and deduced that the crater was probably his father. What was left of it.
Vlantian III eventually decided to get his nose out of a book and explore the world. To make a long story short, he went into the black market and using runes and books from his private library was able to get the location of Vlantian I’s robes and sword, as well as the current owners. He got the items at an extremely cheap price - two cut throats.
Wearing his newly acquired robes and with his newly acquired sword at his side, he returned to the Castle and spent the better part of 20 years working on runewords and documenting his travels in books he never published. He went out a few more times and learned the disappearing of the Primus a few years after it had happened. It it was his father, the castle would have been in celebration, but because Vlantian didn’t particularly care and was scornful of anyone who didn’t share his affinity for Runic study, he wrote another book about low end runewords.
One day, he found a message on the doorstep. he almost threw it in the fireplace when he noticed the sender.
He read the message a few times. Then he packed up, put on his robe and sword, stuffed a few runestones into his newly-made coat pockets (the best creation ever imagined, in his mind) along with a spellbook and made his way out to the Tower.
Personality
Vlantian III. A bookworm, an explorer and an aristocrat are terms to describe him in a nutshell. he thirsts for knowledge, loves to see new things and despises the folks that don’t. He’s a wildcard in terms of loyalty; he grew up with the view that whatever works is the best way. If it’s not morally acceptable to others, then the others get to be put in his “special category” of people he couldn’t care less about. He could be interpreted as having OCD, but it is in reality a carryover from the extreme amount of attention he puts into his runes. If he starts ranting… stop him quickly.
Magic School and Skill: His specialty is Runic magic.
He is one of the few of his kind to actually master his art in a way that is effective. In the grand scheme of things, he is potent, but rather old in body and mind (he has not been able to successfully create runes for life extension that are safe).
He specializes in group and defensive runewords, which were required for him to protect what remained of his family mansion. As a result, he is capable of heavily warding places to be almost impossible to enter.
Given time, he is capable of making various other runewords as well; however, the more they deviate from his specialty, the more he must reference books and spend time preparing. It is this preparation that makes the magic inefficient to any who had initially been interested in even knowing about his line.
To supplement his magic, he always carries a runebook and several runestones in his pockets.
Of course! The IC hasn't even started yet (don't worry, it will...promise!) Feel free to look over the magics and stuff, and submit a CS when you're ready.
I loved it. Super-accepted. By the way, you were supposed to add a second "how did you hear about the tower" section, but I won't make you because that question was essentially answered in his backstory.
EDIT: Oh, don't forget to add everything in the characters section.
I loved it. Super-accepted. By the way, you were supposed to add a second "how did you hear about the tower" section, but I won't make you because that question was essentially answered in his backstory.
That was the used logic, yes.
Adding a tale of how he figured it out would be a TLDR, and who needs that when you can read a wall of backstory instead?
@ArenaSnowKaesus looks like he would get along with Irina. She's older than she looks, Runic and Planar magics are both very "Nerdy" relative to other schools, and the two of them share a good deal of personality/ideology similarities. I know that Irina, at least, would be very interested in Runes.
They should become nerd friends and share their research. Then, they can become insane together, squish.
I got down everything except the backstory and how he found the tower; I've got those sections planned out though and I'll get around to adding them soon. For now I figured I'd just show you what I had so far, and gauge your reaction to his weapons.
Name: Wizard Crompter
Aliases: Cromp, Crompy, The Drunkard
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Appearance: Crompter's appearance is not elegant by any means. He looks every bit like your run of the mill pauper, with worn and filthy (but comfortable) clothes, the face of a man down on his luck, and the reek of alcohol so pungent that it can almost mask how rarely he bathes. He stands at about five and a half feet tall, a few inches shorter than most men. His build is far from puissant as well, for while he is not fat or even flabby he certainly wouldn't be described as muscular either. His hair is unkempt and down to his shoulders, mostly light brown but with a good deal of grey beginning to appear. He has short but scraggly facial that's all grey, and his face is slightly wrinkled.
Still, through all of that roughness it's easy to see that he was once a handsome and happy youth. Things have changed, though, robbing him of that allure and giving him a weary look. His brown eyes are wizened if you look closely enough, though of course few people do. In any case, for all the intelligence behind those eyes there is an equal amount of apathy, contempt, and cynicism at the world.
Altogether he appears to be in his mid forties, which is incidentally about as old as he actually is. In an age when most men die young, you could call him an elder, though of course his ragged appearance ensures that he receives none of the respect that most his age are able to command. He looks exceptionally young and robust for somebody with his indulgent and depressed lifestyle and temperament, which is most likely due to his magic being capable of slowing down his age.
Backstory:
Weapons: Wizard Crompter always wears a belt, no matter the outfit, and on his belt he keeps two objects: a wand and a small leather pouch.
The wand's purpose is obvious, being used by many sorcerers to project their magical powers more accurately and easily. Crompter has an especially exquisite one that was crafted from magical wood by elven wood-singers, before being doused in all sorts of strange oils and undergoing various enchantments and imbuements to make it stronger. The result is a rare and effective tool, a remnant from his time as a affluent and prominent members of the Institute.
The pouch that he carries is for a stranger and much more secretive purpose. Inside of it he carries tiny, thumb-sized figurines and dolls made of wood, stone, metal, and all manner of other materials. They would be fine toys for any children, the wildly varied collection sharing the sole trait or being flawlessly crafted with amazing detail and precision. There are savage orcs clutching axes, sly bandits with bows, ferocious bears, and all manner of other things from across the world. While Crompter might keep some as souvenirs, they are certainly not toys. Instead, they are like acorns; tiny seeds that can grow into mighty oaks, or in this case, live monsters and beasts to aid him in combat.
He merely has to open the pouch, toss a few of the figurines onto the ground, and use his magic to grow them to life-size (or bigger) and convert their inanimate composition into flesh and blood. While such a feat is unheard of and considered impossible by the other, narrow-minded and incompetent mages that follow study the art of Alteration, Crompter is in another class entirely. It certainly isn't easy for him to create more than one or two bears or trolls in the thick of combat, and once they are summoned he struggles to control them in even the most basic of ways, but nobody ever sees this trick of his coming. Still, they make a good distraction most of the time. One has to wonder though whether all of those 'toys' stowed in his pouch are just what they seem or if they were once living beings...
How did you find out about the tower?:
Personality: On the surface he is negative beyond belief, a physical and mental drain to anybody within earshot. You could say that his temperament is sarcastic, cynical, mistrusting, spiteful, bitter...the list goes on. Fortunately for the rest of you, he is usually happy to keep mostly to himself and not be the one to engage in any interaction.
Perhaps someone patient and amiable enough (They'd also have to strike him as being a decent person and not a dimwit, of course) could break through his shell and bring out the warm and vibrancy that he once had, but good luck with that.
Magic School and Skill: Alteration. He has never bothered to learn more than most basic parts of any other schools, and much of the little tidbits that he did learn about those he dismissed as rubbish, impractical, convoluted, or otherwise worthless. That, or he got drunk and forgot about them. In any case, Alteration is about all that he works with, but fortunately he's perhaps the most powerful Alterist in history. Primus himself would have been impressed (or perhaps even surpassed) by Crompter's talent in that one field.
Crompter's Alteration magic probably makes him one of the better fighters to begin with because he could shrink you, turn your fancy steel armor into a thick layer of cow dung, or perhaps just be more direct about it and send a blast of magic that turns whatever it hits into stone. I'm hoping that you won't think having his pouch on top of all of that makes him overpowered. I think it's a pretty double-edged sword every time he uses his pouch because it just creates chaos and he has no way of knowing what one of the figurines will do once he revitalizes it.
@Cyclone I like it so far. But, of course, I have some questions about the figurines (who wouldn't?)
Namely, I wanted to point out that the Prince is a super-skilled telepath, and, in conjunction with with our other telepath, could likely mentally control the behavior of the things you let out of that pouch. Also, could he ever create more? I suppose he can. Also also, I demand you turn at least one enemy into pure beer.
@Cyclone I like it so far. But, of course, I have some questions about the figurines (who wouldn't?)
Namely, I wanted to point out that the Prince is a super-skilled telepath, and, in conjunction with with our other telepath, could likely mentally control the behavior of the things you let out of that pouch. Also, could he ever create more? I suppose he can. Also also, I demand you turn at least one enemy into pure beer.
Of course he will turn an enemy into beer at some point (probably several points, actually...). After all, combat is thirsty work, and by the end of it Crompter will most certainly be looking for a drink!
Crompter isn't a necromancer and while he could certainly turn a carving of a bear into a real enough bear, it would be a limp piece of meat. He couldn't animate it to life. So yes, like I hinted at all of those figurines were once living creatures that he crossed and he could make more, though it's not the easiest process.
As in for telepaths controlling the figurines, sure. Provided they don't panic to see a gigantic troll or something suddenly appear next to them, anybody with mind control abilities would be able to synchronize well with Crompter's almighty pouch-powers.
Questions, what are the limits of Alteration Magic in affecting Physics of the physical world?
You can't blow up the earth
Other than that, just go nuts. You'll notice that Cyclone has done a lot of crazy stuff with Alteration, like turning people into figurines, and I'm totally okay with that.
You can do anything with physics that doesn't result in your character being all-powerful or invincible. Just don't try to godmod, and I'll let you do whatever you want. By the way, the more Magic types you know, the worse you are in each. So if you want to be good, you have to JUST use Alteration.
I was planning on starting the IC in 5 hours, but I just received some news that has caused real life complications.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to start the IC for another 17 hours- 12 hours after the original starting point. My sincere apologies to all, I was not aware of this news until just recently.
I was planning on starting the IC in 5 hours, but I just received some news that has caused real life complications.
Unfortunately, I will not be able to start the IC for another 17 hours- 12 hours after the original starting point. My sincere apologies to all, I was not aware of this news until just recently.
No problem man. Just gives me more time to work on my first IC.
Korthul is a middle aged orc who has a muscular build inside his crimson red armor that protects him from a variety of attacks in battle. He reaches up to 6'4 in height and weighs around 217 pounds which means he easily towers over most other races making him a very intimidating person to come up to. His build is fairly muscular due to his constant place in battle and moving around from place to place as a mercenary who is seeking work everywhere. His face is the only part of him that is revealed most of the time and he strangely has ginger hair styled quite nicely and has a blue-ish grey tinted skin color. The rest of his body however is adorned with plate mail that protects him from head to toes with gauntlets and leggings, while he only wears his helmet during battle. His plate mail is his known feature for its crimson color that catches the eye of everyone who sees him whether its bad or good.
While he is an Orc he isn't afraid of showing it and he is sure that people would avoid his intimidating presence and if not he is sure he can fight them off. With his armor all on he could even pass as a bulky human as he holds a relatively well-kept appearance keeping everything he owns clean as possible. He is always making sure to be taking care of his armor and Axe, repairing them if it is needed for them to be in the very best state that they can be in.
Backstory Korthul was born into the world as split between an Orc and a Human, which would of been a confusing relationship. He was born and raised in the company of humans and the occasional elf but other half-orcs were rare for him to talk with. So growing up he spent most of his time alone and reading surprisingly keeping to himself as the other children were scared of befriending the 'strange boy'. During his time growing up he was involved with several incidents of racism and he learned how to defend himself and more or less. He basically told everyone to not to fuck around with him anymore thanks to his natural strength as an orc which made him scary to fight against.
Thanks to his strength he started off getting a job as a lumber gather, chopping trees down easily with his strength and harvested wood easily. Noticing his strength one day, a wounded solider appeared in his villaged and convinced him to be trained. Teaching him to use the Axe properly in battle before asking him a favor to kill a beast nearby. During this time, Korthul's magical abilities were released shocking the soilder that this Orc had potential as a mage. In shock, he kept the new discovery to himself and as a thanks for training him Korthul did the task and slayed the beast easily thanks to his overwhelming strength, ending the beast's life. As payment for his task, the solider gave his own Ax to Korthul as a gift before dying from his wounds.
Deciding to leave his village and use his skills he in the next several years got better and became more well known for his services that came with the price. Slaying beasts and recovering things for his client he made money doing the dirty work that they didn't want to do. With this he was equipping himself better and becoming more skilled in his job, he eventually recruited a team which help him take bigger jobs and basically split the paycheck. Over these years, he honed his magical abilities to suit his needs as a Mercenary and help him basically survive during these missions that he takes and day-to-day life.
Weapons Korthul has a axe made for him by a blacksmith that he uses as his primary weapon which he holds with two hands and can swing relatively easy with his strength.
How did you find out about the tower? Korthul was invited to the tower by Prince Seadus, despite being an Orc or also known as a 'lesser creature' his reputation as a intimidating Mercenary and Magic user has allowed him to be invited to the tower despite it. Outrage has raised question to why an Orc was invited to the tower and negative light was thrown onto him but he brushed it off without a care.
Personality Korthul is a person who is the silent and stern companion of the group while having a intimidating appearance that wards away interaction by others. While he looks to be the leader of any group, he prefers to just be in the back and watch things happens either naturally or he goes in and tries to change it if needed. He, despite being an Orc is a strategic person who calculates and access the situation before acting. In combat he fights ruthlessly his might with the means of winnings by anyway whether its a clean method or dirty one. He honestly doesn't care about the opinions of his allies and remains as a loner in any situation.
Magic School and Skill Korthul has the skill to use both Destruction and Alteration Magic with good proficiency, preferring Alteration magic over Destruction. While not Combat Magic which is a bled of both magics, he uses both branches of magic to suit his own needs depending on the situation. Outside his use of Magic, Korthul is skilled as a warrior who uses his Axe as his primary weapon in battle, while having armor to protect himself. Both uses of the two magics that he uses are purely offensive and combat oriented with little pre-planed defensive moves to fall back on. While his offensive play style is his main form of fighting, however that doesn't work out he can fall to the defensive and incorporate strategy to defeat his opponents Using his experience as both an Magic-user and Warrior he blends the two together to use each skill with one another.
