Ardent Dawn

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

Would you like my Doll in a separate post for the character list?

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

VitaVitaAR said
@Ardent Dawn: Okay, um, for your Doll, I'm kind of confused about the appearance thing. They don't create a form upon entering the world, they have it beforehand.

That's fine - it was to show her general attitude rather than to imply anything else. Here's the updated version of my Doll Master:

Name: Donovan Ross
Age: 24
Gender: Male
Appearance: “The world’s just waiting for someone with the audacity to fleece it bare.”

Personality: Living off the adrenaline rush of his extravagant and audacious schemes, Donovan fancies himself as a man of opportunity – sometime living five or ten minutes ahead of the brainless masses and fully willing to exploit his lead. Advocating a reckless and hedonistic lifestyle, he maintains that every person’s life consists solely of the opportunities that they seize for themselves, with no amount of wealth or good fortune being a worthy substitute for the simple willingness to gamble. His jaunty swagger and fast-talking nature have often caused him trouble in the past – it’s hard to remain inconspicuous with that sort of demeanour – but his intermittent moments of spectacular success have been enough to prevent his ego from deflating through times of trouble. Although he respects displays of conviction and daring from others (holding such individuals as kindred souls), Donovan shows little regard for those content to sit on their laurels in life and open contempt for those too afraid to roll the dice and chase their own individual stake in the world.

Backstory: Born into a lower-class family of office clerks and with no intention of leading such a soul-destroying lifestyle, Donovan struck out during his teens as a wheeler-dealer and conman. Although burdened with an unstable income and little in the way of financial security, he scrimped by for several years until his gamble was repaid when he successfully swindled a factory owner into purchasing a set of ‘stolen’ (entirely forged) automobile blueprints and skipped town before he was any the wiser. With the capital to invest into contacts, accomplices and credible front as a legitimate businessman, he soon found himself catapulted into a society of upper-class sophistication beyond his wildest dreams. Overstepping himself almost immediately with his typical gusto, his fortunes abruptly came to an end when he sought to pass off incriminating letters regarding a noble’s marital indiscretions and was confronted at his home by none other than the rapier-armed nobleman in question. Fleeing out of the window and across the street on a wave of glorious adrenaline, Donovan was met at the end of the alleyway by a mysterious creature unlike any that he had ever encountered. Still dizzy with elation at his escape, Donovan accepted the creature’s offer, making the beginning of a glorious partnership.

Skills: Donovan’s main source of income in recent years comes from his thorough understanding of the black market and the web of extravagance surrounding the upper classes – through such means, he can best employ his ability to access and manipulate the whims of the gullible. Although reasonably competent in hand-to-hand combat, he favours more of a ‘duck and cover’ approach to fighting and prefers to extract himself from close quarters at the earliest opportunity.

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

Also, one quick question - have we already bonded with our Doll before the game starts or does that happen in-game? I was under the impression that our characters had to have already undone a suitably high-danger or high-stress event for their Doll to have appeared to them.

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

VitaVitaAR said
Okay, um... I'm sorry to say this, but the Doll Master does not fit the tone I was going for. While this certainly will have plenty of serious moments(and will overall be fairly serious though not without comic relief) and such, an opium dealer/addict is a bit too far. I apologize if I did not make this clear.Also, I will be posting my own Doll Master to give people a bit of an idea of what I expect.

That's fine - I'll edit the backstory and some of the personality traits while keeping the basic concept reasonably similar (maybe taking a little more of a trickster and wheeler-dealer tone than a smuggler). Does the Doll seem alright?

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

Here's the Doll Master that I intend to play as - I'll be uploading my Doll contribution in a little while once I've finished tidying it up (now included).

Doll Master:

Name: Donovan Ross
Age: 27
Gender: Male
Appearance: "There's only one way that I want to live - up to my eyeballs in opium and style."

Personality: Ambitious by nature and manipulative by nurture, Donovan savours the acquisition of status and the accumulation of trophies from his conquest. Advocating a hedonistic lifestyle, he maintains that every individual’s world consists solely of the pleasures that they acquire from themselves and hard-earned reminders of their success (and has been known to support like-minded individuals in escaping from poverty, so far as their efforts can also further his own aspirations). He affects a haughty and self-assured demeanour in public, wearing his persona of untouchability much as he wears his fine clothes and pocket-watch. In private, however, Donovan displays his naked hunger far more openly, his eyes gleaming feverishly and his usually-restrained gestures growing more frequent and violent.

While he respects displays of convictions and assertiveness from others (holding such individuals as his companions and peers), Donovan shows little regard for those content to rest on their laurels and none whatsoever for those too feeble to carve out their own stake from society. His conceited nature often spills forth during hostile confrontations, causing almost as many disasters though his arrogance and overconfidence as he does opportunities.

Backstory: Brought up into a lower-class family and twisted by envy of those born into the trappings of wealth, Donovan sought to ascend the social ladder and escape his ‘shameful’ origins through whatever means proved necessary. After several years of transporting opium and other illicit substances for various crime rings, his accumulated fortunes allowed him to carve out his own niche in the black market, becoming a smuggler and extortionist with enough personal wealth to drape himself in upper-class fineries. However, after he attempted to play smart and undercut the business of a more powerful rival, Donovan’s arrogance got the better of him and he overstepped the mark by seeking to extort his ‘fallen’ rival for a share of his business. Over the next few weeks, his warehouses were fire-bombed, his organisation splintered and numerous attacks launched on his person by street gangs - all of his hard-fought creations laid to waste. At the height of his despair and opium withdrawal, Donovan was approached by nothing less than mythical Doll, seeking him out above all other potential partners. With his crushed ego swelling back in a heartbeat, Donovan now wishes to reclaim his former fortunes, savouring every new pleasure and thrill that life as a Doll Master can offer in the process.

Skills: Donovan’s main skill is his thorough understanding of the black market and its inner mechanisms, which he employs to fuel his illegal enterprises and leverage influence from rival organisations. He possesses no small talent for deception and manipulation, but often less than his ego would lead him to believe (leading him into situations far above his ability to manage). After several years of brawling on the streets, Donovan is reasonably competent at close-quarter confrontation with his staff and fists, considering it to be a more reliable tool for protection than any amount of extravagant fencing.

Misc: Donovan typically carries a hefty steel-capped cane, crafted to be equally useful as a status symbol and as a deterrent to petty thugs.

Doll:

Name: Carmel
Gender: Female
Appearance: “I don’t have time to worry about my looks - there are bigger things happening in the world."

Personality: Carmel is a perfectionist, craving the opportunity to influence the world around her and leave a lasting impact on the lives of others. Holding other people to the same exacting standards to which she holds herself (not least of which her Doll Master), she is exceptionally judgemental of other people’s failings and can often be exceptionally blunt when expressing her opinions. Carmel is extremely maternalistic towards her companions and views herself as responsible for their decisions and wellbeing, which often expresses itself as an overbearing and authoritarian demeanor (most notably during times of stress).

Abilities: While Carmel possesses much of the durability and evasive abilities of other Dolls , her close-quarter capacities are relatively meager compared to other combatants - instead, the majority of Carmel’s strength comes from her ability as a Sculptress. Her power extends outwards from points of physical contact (typically her hands and feet), impregnating inanimate surfaces within a roughly 20-25 radius of her point of contact. While remaining stationary, she can use her power to manipulate the shape of these objects, ranging from smaller, intricate changes (such as sealing keyholes) to larger and cruder transformations (such as producing sinkholes to contain opponents or sprouting columns from nearby surfaces to bludgeon opponents and offer protection) - the more material that she attempts to move simultaneously, the slower and cruder the transformations become. The longer she remains in contact with a surface, the faster and more fluid her transformations become, with her connection gradually waning over roughly 5-10 minutes until her creations return to their original state – to her great frustration, Carmel cannot produce any permanent works of art without remaining in constant physical contact with the surface.

Weapons: Carmel typically carries a naval cutlass that she acquired after bonding with her Doll Master – although blunt and somewhat poorly balanced, her power allows her to reshape it into a range of more desirable forms (typically a rapier or a heftier sabre). Although her sword's transformations are typically exceptionally fluid due to her prolonged contact with the weapon, this familiarity is lost if she is separated from her sword for any great period of time.

Doll Master: A Partners RP Interest Check

I'm interested too - I've thrown a link towards a friend with similar interests, so we might have another player forthcoming :)