The Imperial fleet has discovered a new land across the ocean, one which is wild, as the Imperial lands once were, and full of creatures good and evil. As dangerous and untamed as it is now, though, only the military is allowed to travel to the New Continent. We all joined the military recently, and went there as part of the advanced forces. We just arrived at the only Imperial settlement on the New Continent, the walled Fort Narselis, named for Emperor Narselis himself, and must set out into an unknown land to prepare it for colonization.
In the lands of the Empire, all intelligent races live together in peace, as citizens of the Empire or its territories. Humans, Elves, Dwarves, even Orcs and other creatures that were once considered evil like Lycans and Vampires live together is relative harmony. All major settlements of evil beings are far from the towns, cities, and roads, where only serious adventurers and the military have seen them.
Rules: 1) No godmoding, etc. 2) Auto-hitting/killing will only be allowed once I think you are used to the creature's relative strengths and weaknesses. This is to guarantee that you aren't mowing through something that's supposed to be tough to kill. Any creature that this can be done to will be added to an "autokillable" list in the RP's OP. 3) IC drama is allowed, but keep it IC. We shouldn't be fighting OOC, especially about IC stuff. 4) Keep sexual stuff to PMs if you are going to do it. 5) You just graduated training and were put on a ship. This means you won't be a bad-ass, though you might have a few months of practice, so you'll be comfortable with your relatively weak abilities. 6) Have fun. Your characters don't have to be super serious, though if you want them to be, that's fine. Just play whatever seems fun to you.
Name:
Age:
Race:
Appearance:
Common skills: Basic skills you have, such as cooking, hunting, smithing, etc. If you were well enough off, say as a merchant or noble's child, you may know how to read/write/do math/chemistry/etc.
Fighting skills: The fighting skills you were taught in basic training. Everyone, including priests and other pacifist types, were required to learn at least one fighting style so that they could hold their own in a fight.
Magical skills: There were magical trainers in the military, though studying it wasn't mandatory. Magic is divided into five types, Divine (from devotion to a deity), Demonic (from service to a Demon), Shamanistic (from a deep study of nature), Arcane (from an academic study of science and magic), and Elemental (From learning to draw on the power of an element, fire, ice, light, lightning, etc, usually with the use of a crystal that can store some of it. You can also merge your energy with the element to enhance or better control it.) Arcane is usually only found among the rich, and Shamanism is hard to teach and practice at sea.
Languages: Imperial is the official language of the Empire. Other languages are usually named after the race that speaks them. The natives of the continent will speak languages derived from ancient forms of the racial languages, so knowing the modern form will help you learn their form.
Personality: What kind of a person are you? Sure, the military is desperate for cannon fodder recruits for the new land, so they would take some pretty shady people, but you need to be able to work as part of a team at least.
Bio: What do we know about your past? If you want to keep it a secret (say you killed a man in a bar fight), either put it in a hider or PM it to me so I can review it.
Equipment: Basic gear you have with you. Should be 16th century level at most.
Why did you join?: After all, you are going to a hostile land where you will never see your family again and most likely die. What's reason do you have to risk that?
I decided to go in a different direction. Let me know if there is anything I need to change @TheUnknowable
Name: Zane Kardon
Age: 24
Race: Human
Appearance:
Common skills: Tinkering, Reading, Writing, Engineering, Basic Smithing, and Chemistry
Fighting skills: Trap Setting, Crossbow usage
Magical skills: Zane understands the basic theories and practice of elementalism though he cannot use any elemental magic himself. However, working in a magic workshop and further training when he joined the Imperial Military, he has learned the art of Enchanting and some Arcane abilities in order to imbue objects. At the moment, he can only consistently enchant objects with Light. Arcane Spells: -Light: causes an object to glow -Push: pushes a targeted object or person with a small burst of force. Not strong enough to cause permanent damage but may cause an enemy to fall or become unbalanced.
Languages: Imperial, Dwarvish
Personality: Zane is overwhelmingly curious about the world, but usually displays it in a friendly enthusiastic manner. During downtime, he is usually upbeat and enjoys explaining what concepts he is currently working on or another subject he has knowledge of. He could be referred to as naive, and while that is somewhat true, he sees it as being more optimistic for the future. However, once he has had an idea he focuses all of his attention upon his project until it is complete usually forgetting to eat or sleep for long periods of time and hates to be interrupted.
Bio: Zane is the son of newly wealthy merchant, previously a working class man who teamed up with a group of dwarven smiths to create high quality goods. His father thought his son should be educated as any nobleman in order to make his own way in the world so Zane was tutored from a young age in most subjects, though Zane preferred the sciences. He grew a penchant for tinkering, spending most of his free time with the dwarven smiths who taught him the basics of their work. As he grew older he sought out and gained apprenticeship in magic workshop where he spent his time learning his basic magic skills before finally joining the military to satisfy his curiously about this new world.
Equipment: Medium Crossbow, Quiver with 10 Bolts, Knife, Leather aprons and gloves, basic enchanting military gear, key to Fort Narselis smithy, small bag of stones used for enchantment practice (several have light enchantments), various bits and pieces of materials such as twine, slightly melted boots, uniforms and basic clothing, a well worn cloak with plenty of pockets on the inside, and a book titled On the Arcane and Enchanting (going away present from Father).
Why did you join?: The Imperial Military are currently the only ones to travel to the New Continent. The lands are filled with new discoveries just waiting to be found and Zane wants to be one of the first ones to work with any new materials found. In addition, the Imperial Military has fantastic access to materials that he will need cost-free.
@EurmalEyeMy only issue I saw, which wasn't a big one, was that he had a key to the fort's smithy. Does he know the base's Smith or does he work there or something else?
@TheUnknowable I had thought it would be likely he would be given access to create certain parts he needed. Though it probably makes sense that he also works there part-time as skilled laborerers are probably in high demand at the moment.
@TheUnknowable I had thought it would be likely he would be given access to create certain parts he needed. Though it probably makes sense that he also works there part-time as skilled laborerers are probably in high demand at the moment.
Yeah, it takes quite a while to bring in workers. The closest thing to a store is a supply warehouse that is run by a quartermaster that came on the first military ship. The closest thing to an Inn is a bunkhouse across from the mess hall, which is the closest thing to a restaurant. Both are run by old friends that were near retirement and decided to retire here. The fact that you need to bring in troops with the appropriate skills means that it's hard to find people to do it. Which is why they don't have any farmers and the only hunters/fishermen are guys that used to do it for fun or work before they joined the military. They need to hire locals in my opinion, though that's a decision for the group to try and change if they want to.
@EurmalEyeSure. I assume he's arrived on an earlier ship and has just been working as a smith up until now, and maybe with an enchanter or some other tradesman? I was planning on starting the RP when the ship carrying most of the people docks at the Fort.
@TheUnknowable Yeah that makes sense most likely splitting his time between the smithy and the enchanter, but probably no more than a week or two ago as I do not want to have any other knowledge the other PC's don't about the New Continent.
@EurmalEyeI thought about something that might be a problem. What do you mean by: "small bag of stones used for enchantment practice (several have light enchantments)" Do you mean rune stones or something similar, or do you mean elemental crystals? Crystals will be pretty expensive (9 months wages at your level for a 2 kt elemental crystal), so having multiple of those would be difficult. His father might have one for every element, as he's much better off, but that's a very expensive gift. More of an inheritance.
Everyone: I'm going to add a ring with a small (2kt) fire gem in it to my cs and a minor spell to try out/light flammable materials. If anyone has a reason I shouldn't do that, tell me, but I seem a bit less powerful than my companions and forgot to add a tender box or flint & steel. My character is basically a geek with a varied and fairly high knowledge of magic theory, but little practical knowledge. I think him having a very minor elemental ability could fit that.
@TheUnknowable I literally mean rocks I have picked off the ground to carve runes into. The way I imagined them is having them glow like a candle flame once the enchantment was completed. Maybe tied to a keyword for activation. I figured enchantment was pretty powerful that's why I only gave him one weak spell he could do it with at start. Elemental stones Zane understands but cannot use.
I don't see any reason you couldn't have that ability!
Finally finished! Sorry this took so long, Easter Sunday and then a long drive back to college hoo boy
Name: Kerl
Age: 35
Race: Human
Appearance: Kerl is short (5'4), and so he wears borderline ludicrously thick-soled boots to add an extra inch and a half to his height. He has tanned skin from a life spent outdoors, and his face is dappled with fading freckles. He has curly, sandy-brown hair that falls in a mess around his ears, and he generally wears a loose, light brown coat that doesn't quite look like it was made to fit him. His unkempt appearance, however, is put off by the warmth of his face; he has a wide, genuine smile, and he often looks like he's on the verge of laughing, but in a way that makes you feel like you're in on the joke. His eyes are hazel, but seem to shift between brown and green in different lights. He has a muscular build and thick, calloused hands.
Common skills: Kerl is a rather exceptional cook, and knows how to work with humble ingredients and make them into something that the pickiest of eaters could stomach. He also knows how to sew, although it is difficult for him because his hands are far from delicate. He knows some basic things about construction, and can build small, safe shelters on his own, but that's about where his knowledge ends. He also has a strong affinity for theatre and loves to quote his favorite playwrights; and he has some knowledge of reading and writing, but not much.
Fighting skills: Kerl knows how to fight with a broadsword and a spear, but he is best when fighting with his bare fists.
Magical skills: Because Kerl is firmly religious, he made an attempt to learn Divine magic; but he failed lost interest and didn't learn much beyond basic healing spells. So he can heal minor wounds and numb some of the pain from more severe injuries, but anything worse than that makes him extremely nervous and he generally avoids the wounded person.
Languages: Kerl mainly speaks Imperial, and any knowledge he has of other languages comes from exposure; so he knows basic phrases like "Hello," and "It costs (x amount)" in several languages, but that's about it for Kerl.
Personality: Kerl doesn't always know when to turn his personality off. He makes jokes often and will laugh at just about anything, and his avoidance of all things sad or emotional makes him a not-so-great listener when you have a problem, but he'll do his best to make you laugh and forget about what's bothering you for at least a second. Kerl expresses himself with his body, and makes wide, sweeping hand gestures whenever he speaks. He's a hard worker, able to dedicate himself completely to a single task, but only when it holds his interest. His faith is important to him, and he becomes visibly uncomfortable around people who don't believe in anything. In spite of his faith, he doesn't seem to be the most morally upright person, but this seems to stem more from his lack of impulse control than a bad personality.
Bio: Kerl is married, with two daughters and a son who was on the way when he left to join the military. His life is a bit of a mess. He was born into a middle class family, but lost any standing he had when he ran away with a peasant woman (his current wife) and tried to make it as an actor. Long story short, he failed. He decided to settle down with his wife and start a family, earning wages through a combination of honest and not-so-honest labor. Buried in debt and cut off from any inheritance money he would have received from his parents, Kerl decided his only option left was to join the military and explore the new world, in hopes of finding a place where his family could start over. He doesn't talk about any of this, though; and his copious flirting with the women on the ship has led people to believe he was never married at all.
Equipment: Kerl carries a bag of equipment that's almost as tall as him on his back. It contains spices (for cooking), non-perishable food items, a quilted blanket, an extra change of clothes (for when people start to complain about his smell), an expensive-looking comb that he almost never uses, bandages and gauze, a folded up letter from his family, and some simple, lightweight tools. He carries a knife at his side, and a flask of "water" in his coat, and a broadsword that he seems to hate carrying around with him.
Why did you join?: It's mentioned in his bio, but basically he joined so that he could get a fresh start for his family and escape his debts.
And here's my second one--I wasn't quite sure what race I wanted him to be, but I think that elvish works for him.
Name: Vanimon
Age: 23
Race: Elf
Appearance: With a name that literally means "beautiful", it's understandable why Vanimon is so concerned with his appearance. He has naturally good looks, but he is also severe; he is tall, fit, with flaxen blond hair that he keeps neatly groomed back, and the symmetrical features that are typical of the elven race, but his blue eyes are like little beads of ice, his sharp cheekbones and pointed nose give him a haughty expression, and his expression is best described as impassive. He likes to wear light blue clothing, but for practicality he has settled for a standard army uniform, wearing only a light blue amulet around his neck to keep his personality in tact. He also wears tall boots that tend to click when he walks.
Common skills: Vanimon has had the luxury of an in-depth education, and is therefore well-versed on mathematics, sciences and literature. He is a gifted hunter and has an odd knack for crafting jewelry.
Fighting skills: Vanimon likes to fight at a distance, so bow-and-arrow is his weapon of choice. He prefers to use a crossbow, but he will sometimes use a longbow for the sake of "looking impressive." He has been trained in martial arts and will use it if forced to fight in close quarters, but he prefers not to.
Magical skills: Vanimon took a strong liking to Elemental magic, specifically fire, and takes great satisfaction in using magic to light his arrows on fire while practicing archery. His powers are still weak, and he can do little more than light flames in the palm of his hand or increase the temperature of the room he's in, but he practices often and has been incrementally growing stronger. He wears three rings on his right hand, embedded with gemstones, that he uses to store his elemental magic. He also stores some in the amulet on his neck, but avoids using it too much for fear that the fire magic will "make it lose it's perfect blue color."
Languages: Elvish is his native language, but he is fluent in Imperial and near fluent in Dwarfish. He speaks a good deal of most other languages that exist in the Empire, but his knowledge of them is simpler and he often confuses words between them. While he was receiving his education, he focused heavily on learning ancient languages that no one speaks anymore, and while this is virtually useless to him, it gives him a better understanding of the modern ones.
Personality: Vanimon is actually rather shy and lives more in his head than in reality. His quiet demeanor comes across as standoffish and disdainful, but the truth is that he just doesn't really know how to talk to people. He keeps everything businesslike and practical, and beyond that he doesn't know how to have meaningful conversations. This can lead to people being uncomfortable around him (there have been more than one occasions where a group he was in became collectively worried he was plotting to kill them), but Vanimon prefers to prove his loyalty through actions rather than words. He has a very deep voice that somehow manages to cut through whatever other noise is in the room, being perfectly audible despite his seemingly putting no more effort into it than a mumble. He uses this power sparingly.
Bio: Vanimon was born into a wealthy family and had just about anything he could have wanted or needed growing up. He got tired of it very quickly. At the age of eighteen, having learned all that he cared to learn from his high-end education, he decided to leave home and travel the Empire for a few years. He lived off of his parents' money for most of it, but they slowly started to refuse spending any more on it, saying he was wasting his education and his potential. Vanimon saw it differently; he felt his first eighteen years had been a waste of time, and it was only when he experienced the world for himself that he truly learned anything. So he started working odd jobs to earn meals and places to stay, and near the end of his fourth year of traveling he ran into Kerl--or rather, Kerl ran into him, quite literally, while trying to run away from some shady debt collectors. Vanimon decided to help Kerl out by paying the collectors with what was left of the money his parents had given him, and after that they parted ways. A year later, Vanimon decided to join the military, and was surprised to find Kerl on the same ship. Kerl latched onto him, as he often does with quiet people, and they've been forming a friendship ever since.
Equipment: Archery equipment, clothing, food, a knife, and a small pouch of shiny things that he collects like a weird dragon.
Why did you join?: Despite five years of traveling, Vanimon has never felt a strong sense of belonging to any place or group of people, so he figured, maybe if I go to this brand new place I'll finally find my home. He doesn't really understand how difficult this job will be, because nothing in his life has ever really challenged him; he expects things to just magically work out for him. We'll see how that works out for him in the new world.
Having read 'Just play whatever seems fun to you.' and something about characters not having to be too serious, here's my application:
Name: Agmundr
Age: 23
Race: Human revenant
Appearance: Agmundr is a large-sized and very bulked-up man with a long red mane of hair. For being a revenant, he's in pretty good shape: A medic won't require more than one quick and educated look to discover clear signs of death, but there's nothing an average person would instinctively find disgusting about him. There's a glow apparently coming from inside his eyes, but it can only be seen when it's dark.
Common skills: Agmundr died as a poor man, at a young age and a long time ago. He can't read or write since these arts were restricted to the more wealthy people even in his days. He's fairly adept in pickpocketing and stealing (yet no lockpicking, if he had to get through a door he waited for the right moment and then brute-forced it).
Fighting skills: The military had a close look at him and decided that for someone with no precursory experience with weapons, yet a very respectable amount of strength and corresponding body weight, something like a sword would do no good. He recieved training in using a spiked mace - a cheaper and less delicate weapon - in combination with a round shield and simple armor not prone to hinder movement in an unexpected way.
Magical skills: In pure theory there is a lot of magic in him, but comparable to the way an ordinary human being can't ask the own brain to unroll any of those automatic algorithms it uses for thinking, Agmundr is not capable of willingly invoking any of his inherent magic in order to achieve any additional effect. One of the 'passive' effects of his inherent magic is a slow but steady self-regeneration that is a bit faster than the healing capability of a living body and that also prevents the onset of decay. On the other hand his body is just plain dead in the biological sense, so he can't expect conventional healing magic to be much of an alleviation...
Languages: He has a bit of a trouble in adapting to the recent Imperial language, but his familiarity with the old ways might help him just as well when it comes to learn a new language that actually is a derivative of what he knows.
Personality: He was shady in his days. One should definitely not leave one's money unattended if he's nearby and doesn't know you. Stealing definitely did help him, but that was because he didn't have much support from his parents that already died when he was a small child. The question is if he will lose this habit if he's embedded into a more stable social structure for a prolonged time or not. Aside from that he does have a slight lack of self-confidence. What he definitely does appreciate are good friends - he didn't have many of them in his days either.
Bio: His (so to speak) first life ended several hundred years ago at an age of 21. At no point in his former existence he was close to being a distinguished person, so probably the only thing you can find are entries of birth and death in the chronicles - given they have survived that long. There is a number of persons who have doubts concerning his claims about who he is. The grave he had been buried in had been fitted with a very cheap gravestone: There was nothing intelligible left of it when he came back to 'life' and left the site, so there's hardly anything left to clearly identify him.
Equipment: Morning star (one-handed), robust round shield, heavy scale armour covering his body, a spangenhelm. For satisfying the needs not associated with combat he has got a backpack filled with brawn, a few bandages (mechanical fixation does help even him), a set of simple civilian clothing, small knife.
Why did he join ?: A whole new continent is an opportunity only few people can experience in their lives. It would be a waste to miss that. Perhaps there will be something valuable to discover or a nice strip of land to settle down ? Since the military currently is the only organization having made landfall it's quite obvious that there will be trouble, but it's worth it. And he hasn't got much to loose on the old one anyway.
@EurmalEyeNow that I think about it, you would have learned about the natives and the fort. The natives are basically just primitive versions of races you'd know, with no more than simple iron age tech and no cities.
Still wonderning if there's something I've missed on the 'non combat'-equipment list for a prolonged journey. Just asking out of interest: Will the characters travel by foot or will they be provided with horses ?
Common skills: Identifying native plants and creating medicine from them, climbing, and tracking. It’s also worth noting that Mizzie’s tail is prehensile, allowing her to use it like a third hand, and that her wings allow her to hover a bit.
Fighting skills: Knows how to handle a knife or a staff to protect herself in a pinch, but that’s about it.
Magical skills: As an individual of demonic ancestry, Mizzie possesses a remarkable proficiency in the use of demonic magic and a surprising amount of magical energy. Mizzie’s use of demonic magic currently manifests itself in two major forms:
Mizzie has the ability to afflict people or objects with debilitating curses to turn the tide of battle or cause mischief. The severity of these curses depends almost entirely upon how much time and energy Mizzie puts into fashioning them, which means that, in the middle of a fight, she can only slightly hinder an enemy. It is worth noting that the effects of her curses are mitigated quite well by cloth armor, especially if it's enchanted, while metal armor does the opposite.
In combat, Mizzie usually aims to reduce the enemy’s speed so that she can run away, though she’ll reduce their strength if she has allies that are involved in the fighting.
Mizzie possesses the ability to conjure up hell fire, which she can use offensively by hurling it at enemies or defensively by fashioning it into a wall to deter enemies. As of right now, this is her only offensive use of her innate magical talent. The downside is that it takes quite a bit of energy to do anything more complicated than hurling it, especially because it’s something that she just recently started practicing with.
Languages: Common Native, used in official correspondence between the various tribal groups that occupy the continent, and Infernal/Demonic
Personality: Despite her demonic heritage, Mizzie is actually a fairly warm-hearted person that usually has a smile plastered to her face, which is probably one of the major reasons why the Imperial citizens of the outpost don’t seem to mind having her around. Though unfamiliar with Imperial customs and technology, Mizzie is a rather intelligent individual, able to learn quickly and think on her feet. She can also be rather naive, however, which makes it somewhat easy to take advantage of her, especially concerning Imperial customs or technology.
Bio: Mizzie was raised on the New Continent as a member of the Xatzlopi tribe after a hunting party found her in the forest near the village and took her back with them. After several days of deliberation, the village’s Council of Elders determined that she would be accepted as a member of the tribe if a family would accept her, much as they would for any other individual. Fortunately for her, a barren family in the tribe was eager for the chance to have a child and snatched her up.
For the most part, Mizzie’s early life was fairly typical for a child in the tribe, even if she did look quite a bit different from the others. The exceptions to this rule were the occasional outbursts of demonic magic that she gave off while growing up. They made it pretty clear to her parents, and the other adults of the tribe, that it would be best for Mizzie to become the Wise Woman’s apprentice when she reached the appropriate age. And so, at the age of twelve, she began receiving an education that would one day allow her to replace the current Wise Woman.
Most of her training was non-magical in nature, consisting of subjects such as crafting medicines from plant and animal parts found in nature, interpreting omens, and how to read, write, and perform basic arithmetic. Because the Wise Woman was a shaman, it turned out she was largely unable to really assist Mizzie in learning to control her latent abilities, although she was still able to provide a little bit of guidance concerning the general principles of magic. Still, Mizzie was expected to practice frequently in order to refine her control over her abilities so as to avoid the kind of accidents that occurred when she was growing up.
Shortly after her twenty-first birthday, Mizzie and her master went out to sea in order to perform the ritual that would guarantee their village a good harvest, although Mizzie’s primary purpose in tagging along was learning how to perform the ritual. While her master was performing the ritual, a storm struck suddenly and with great ferocity, rocking the little boat they were in violently. Before Mizzie could really react, she hit her head on the side of the boat and fell unconscious.
When she came to, the sun shining almost directly above her, she was alone in the boat and there was no land in sight. Fortunately, they had prepared some rations in order to have a meal after the ritual, so she had enough food and water to last for several days if she was careful. And survive she did, floating in the endless blue for a couple of days before a large ship, far larger than anything she had ever seen in her life, floated by. Somehow, the people on board had noticed her and managed to get her on board after sending a lifeboat down.
After it became clear to everyone involved that they didn’t speak the same language, the people on the ship, whom Mizzie would later know as “Imperials” began trying to teach her their language while she helped out onboard in order to repay their hospitality. By the time they reached their destination a few days later, Mizzie had learned a few words (mostly names) and the Imperials had come up with the idea of using her to help reach the natives around Fort Narselis. And so, they continued her instruction of their language and customs, planning on having her tag along the exploration group that would be arriving in several weeks as a diplomat or translator.
Equipment: A short knife, a mortar and pestle for preparing medicine, clothing, a walking stick.
Why did you join?: Helping the Imperials develop strong ties with the Native tribes would be good for both groups, and it would be a good way to repay the debt I owe them for rescuing me. Also, they’ve told me that they will help me get home.
Let me know if anything needs changed, particularly the magic. :3 I tried going for a more magic-focused character instead of being an all-around character (hence why my character has virtually no fighting skills), but I wasn't entirely sure what to use for demon magic, so I'm open to corrections there.
Still wonderning if there's something I've missed on the 'non combat'-equipment list for a prolonged journey. Just asking out of interest: Will the characters travel by foot or will they be provided with horses ?
There aren't any horses at the fort. They are too short on supplies, especially food, to spare them for animals. The carts they have are basically wheelbarrows or carts designed for people to move. Great PT for the trainees at the fort.
So you'll be moving by foot, at least for now. And yes, he's approved.
@TaliPaendragSounds good to me. I was considering whether having both sets of magic made you a bit OP, but because you can't do any strong curses in battle it's fine. Approved.
