Art of Fun

Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps (Action/Mys. Urban-Fantasy RP about dead people. Anime Inspired)

Nothing too direct other than Persona, I suppose. I'm a fan of the Nasuverse, but I'm not savvy enough to run anything in it, so there's some inspiration drawn from concepts in there (notably the Earthmind/Gaia expy). The death aspect of it just seemed like an interesting approach, to look at the way something/someone died as part of their abilities rather than 'Yes I am dead and now I have some unrelated abilities because of it'. There's bits and pieces of inspiration from other work if you squint, like Soul Eater a friend pointed out.

Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps (Action/Mys. Urban-Fantasy RP about dead people. Anime Inspired)

Thanks for the interest! You can put it up either now or when the thread gets made, it's up to you. As long as it shows up at some point, I'll leave it to your discretion.

Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps (Action/Mys. Urban-Fantasy RP about dead people. Anime Inspired)

Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps

Everybody dies. That's the unavoidable truth of life, and if by some miracle you manage to find a 'loophole' in the system to make yourself immortal in some description, then you're still going to die. Sorry. It really is inevitable, not matter how hard you try. If you're one of them, though, it's not about when you die - it's about how you die. The Egregoroi, hand picked agents of the Earth its self and its idea of death, enforce this universal truth. The Immortal who thinks it has it all worked out, hidden away quietly in some backwater and living out the rest of its eternal days might just find its self being paid a visit by one or a few of these morbid beings.

An Egregoroi is born when a person dies. That person then finds them self not quite dead, near the spot they died, with an odd creature which only they can seem to see lingering over their shoulder. That thing is their death, their Momento Mori, the face of how they died made manifest. Its appearance, personality and mannerisms all indicate what kind of death it was, some aspects more than others. For example; you got caught up in the world of crime and ended up gunned down by a cop, and when you were brought back you ended up with a Mori that resembled a police officer with a skull for a face and flame surrounding its head, with an indomitable personality and driven to keep its 'partner' in check - Death by harsh justice.

So you've just been brought back from your death, which you're certain was not that long ago, and then this spirit friend of yours gives you the run down: For now, you're back and you've been brought back for a specific reason - to hunt. You can feel it as well, an invisible force urging you to go somewhere, to find something and then fix it. You can consider resisting this urge, but the longer you do the more maddening it becomes. Eventually, you cave or you go mad.

You, though. You're being urged to a city, somewhere. All you know is that something is there, and it does not belong. You body and instincts tell you to go, and you can only fight it for so long. That thing that's been lingering around you - the Mori - seems eager to convince you as well.

Best get to it, before that whole madness thing starts.

---

Thanks for reading that (very) short introduction to Egregoroi! After a hiatus brought on by university life, I figured I'd try my hand at an RP I've been thinking of for a while. In short, as an Egregoroi you're a psychopomp. You guide things that have lingered on the Earth for too long to the afterlife, but your mission is a bit more difficult than that. The Egregoroi are created to deal with powerful instances of these 'things', among them being Level Graded Spirits and Immortal Beings.

Here's some

Terminology and Definitions

Egregoroi - Psychopomps. Their mission is to guide level graded spirits and other such creatures to final death. They are initially created to complete one hunt, and after that initial hunt they are given the choice between being reborn as a new life, passing on to the after life, or remaining an Egregoroi to serve the greater powers. They are bound to a Mori. Old age is never a reason for becoming an Egregoroi, there is usually an exceptional/odd reason which would not constitute a 'normal' death in the same way dying of age is.

Momento Mori - Simply called a Mori. An immensely powerful being created specifically for the Egregoroi based off of how they died. They funnel their powers through the Egregoroi so they may do their work. The form, personality, attributes and powers of a Mori can vary heavily. Some can be humanoid, others animal like and even geometric. They often communicate with their Egregoroi, as well as with other Egregoroi and their Mori's, but they generally do not do the latter two unless required. As a Level Graded Spirit, they fall ambiguously between levels 5-7, although the full extent of their abilities can rarely ever be drawn upon by an Egregoroi.

Level Graded Spirit - Within the global magic community, there is a general model to help categorise spirits. Ungraded spirits are weak, mostly just fragile memories which cling to places and cannot impact the material realm to any degree, while a Graded spirit can have influence over the material realm and even greater power over the supernal realm. These grades go from 1-10, with 1 being something like a self-aware poltergeist and level 10 spirit being beyond manifestation, more akin to an 'aware concept' than anything else.

Earthmind - Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis wasn't too off the mark. The Earth its self is quite literally a living being, and it can in a sense 'think', although it is more akin to a regulated body than a mind. There is an order that it seeks to maintain, and anything that disturbs that order will attract the attention of the Earthmind. It is suspected that the Egregoroi are a specialised form of 'white cell' to the Earthmind, made specifically to deal with the disruption of death. Over the years, the Earthmind has become more and more strict on what constitutes order and disorder, resulting in a decline of the wondrous. The Earthmind would constitute a Level 9 on the Level Grade model.

Magic - It exists in this setting, as you can imagine, but it's generally kept very well hidden from the public. Muggles, and so on.

Immortal Beings - It's in the name. This classification is about as broad as the Level Grade model for spirits, powerful vampires and magic users being among them. The only clear definer for what makes an Immortal Being target worthy for the Earthmind is that they are, in some form, physically immortal and have amassed enough power in order to be noticed. The latter is not required, but the more power and influence an Immortal Being gains, the more likely it is they will be hunted by the Earthmind and the agents that serve it.

Example Character:

Name: Erica Bergland

Age: 19

Appearance: An image or text description, both if you're feeling adventurous

Nationality: Swedish

Personality: Ever the outgoing sort, Erica sought challenge after challenge in her short life, resulting in her taking up the likes of rock and mountain climbing and other sports on the side. She is not the most book smart person out there, nor does she have any desire to be, but it would be incorrect to call her unintelligent; there is defiantly a creative and 'outside-the-box' method of thinking to this girl, contributing to her success in her chosen sport.

Even unknown to Erica, she has a natural gravity which seems to draw people to her, usually resulting in her becoming the 'leader' of a group of friends. She's sociable, friendly and an overall pleasant person to be around...most of the time. The off-side to her can be impatient, defiant to lectures or being boxed in and sometimes insensitive in her bluntness. Exploration, risk and danger, these are the things she brings to her friends and those around her.

Background & Death: Ever energetic as a child through to her teens, Erica found more in physical activities than the classroom. She never directly failed anything, but academic excellence was a far cry away for her. Instead, Erica turned her focus to mountain climbing. At the age of 16, she climbed to the peak of the Helagsfjallet. Her next big climb took her to Canada's Northern Rocky Mountains, the peak of Mount Ulysses being her goal. It was there that she eventually died.

Erica

Name: The Fimbulvinter

Represents: To be killed by the wilds and the weather, the biting cold.

Appearance: Again, text or image is fine. Some Mori's may require text, others wouldn't. Up to you.

Abilities: [These are what the Mori grants the user, and they can gain access to more power or increase what's already there through time, experience and experimentation. In general, there is a 'primary' cause, that being the immediate cause of death, that would grant the majority of their initial power, and a 'secondary' cause which would compliment the primary cause, and serve to flavour the Mori's abilities some more.]

Feral Form - Something common among those claimed by animals. Erica gains distinctly wolf-like features, including a set of fierce icicle claws, teeth and grey fur along her forearms. This ability increases the capabilities of her senses as well as those of her physical body, making her stronger, faster and more durable.

Unforgiving Cold - A secondary power based on the cold conditions which lead to her death by the wild. It is not uncommon for secondary cause abilities to be more utility based, and this is the case with Erica. Unforgiving Cold gives Erica limited control over cold temperatures, allowing her to freeze small areas and make the air around her uncomfortably cold. An application of this ability allows her to move on water by freezing it under her, and to increase the sharpness/length of her ice-based claws.

Interest? Thoughts? Let me know! I'd give it a bit before posting up any CS', just to make sure there's enough interest to start, but feel free to post whatever idea you may have anyway. Once the main thread is put up, more light will be shone on the key players of the story. If anyone wants to talk something over on Skype, give me a shout through PMs.

As a note if you consider making a character: Keep in mind that, while Egregoroi may be potentially very powerful, fresh Egregoroi are not at the top of this settings foodchain or anywhere near it. Think of a good, basic starting place which could then develop into something more in-depth and unique. In the example of Erica, she is starting as 'kinda tough and shit with a bit cold', but she could eventually turn into a real physical monster with the ability to manifest cold weather phenomena, blizzards and stuff. Basically, just keep a sort of progressive story narrative in mind.

Maou and Mayhem

The fact that Karla was plummeting through the sky registered instantly, her fear of heights [/i]and[i] falling making damn well sure of that. Anyone who could handle being taken from the safety of their room and into a freefall without panicking was a better person than poor Karla, who could only scream at the approaching ground. She crashed into the ground front first, a painful thump coming from the unceremonious impact. Lucky for Karla, she actually passed out just before hitting the ground.

She rolled over onto her back, her short ginger hair comically spiking backwards still from the fall. There was no groan or cry of pain, just the skyward squinted and cynical gaze of a young girl who didn't really know what she was expecting by answering yes to a text box. Karla slowly moved to stand, first sitting up then getting onto her feet, taking in her surroundings. The sight of other people having seemingly gone through the same experience both pleased and worried Karla.
.
Although both in pain and shaken from the fall, Karla smiled pleasantly to Shujiko and then to the rest - not letting the sight of Tamara and Miranda's... predicament distract her at all.

"Hello. I assume you all also accepted a rather strange offer?" Karla said, her voice being something that could only be called siren-like in its majesty. She wasn't all too pleased with their current condition, but that was not betrayed in her tone in the slightest. If anything, she sounded somewhat amused by the situation they found themselves.

That [Charisma] ability was a subtle thing, most of the time.

She opened her mouth to speak once more, but was forced to stop by a surge of pain from her shoulder, wincing rather suddenly.

"Ow..." Her hand clamped down on her shoulder, trying to pressure the pain away.

Dragonslayers: A Fantasy RP

"'d be more than happy to. Have yet to venture out that far, myself. I'd suggest waiting until we have one or two more people to join us, though. From my impression of the place, there's a lot of dragons out there. Don't want to get jumped by a group of them and not have the fire-power to get out of there alive, after all."

Hypatia nodded at the other Dragonslayer, returning her focus to the now-helmetless Alexandria. There was an instant of doubt that a girl this young was a knight, but that doubt was quelled. She was barely a teenager when she started trying to kill dragons, after all. She'd take this girl as seriously as she would any other knight.

"No need to worry about not being taken seriously, Alex - can I call you that? I know the feeling of being underestimated because of youth all too well.. Not so much these days, of course, but at least I still look the part."

It was either a joke or Hypatia simply failed to notice the only increasing signs of maturity on her features, most notably the stress lines under her eyes, giving her a permanently 'didn't-have-enough-sleep' look.

"I'll definitely keep an ear out for your father when I'm out and about. Have you asked anyone else around town? Guards maybe?"

Maou and Mayhem

Today had not exactly been a good one for Karla. As far as fathers went, she drew a short stick. Her relationship with the man was one of business rather than family, rarely encountering him outside of the occasional chance-meeting in their Dubai-based home or when attending some sort of event with him.

Their uncommon meetings rarely went well. The ethical and moral divide between the two was insurmountable, unmendable by familial relation alone. To say they argued sometimes would be like saying water is sometimes wet. Today was no exception, and the man even had the gall to laugh at his daughter, calling her 'adorably naive'.

Was there something wrong with wishing to conduct ones self with some standard of human decency? Apparently her father thought so. Of course, she was more than a little bit experienced in the ways of being criticised for her ways, but it still got to her when it came from her father.

Frustrated, she retreated to her 'study' (which was just what she called her rather large room), opting to do what she did whenever she was upset - retreat into the wonderful world of books. Human Understanding and the Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus would not be so eager to call her a fool and a child!

She was perfectly happy to sit and read in peace, but that was far too ideal of a situation.

A simple interactive blue text box, like that out of a video game, nagged at her peripherals, mistaking it for the heat and frustration playing tricks on her. It didn't take long for her to start considering the text. A yes or no question, asking her if she wished to be something she'd never heard of in her life. The red haired girl leaned back in her chair with a pout, weighing the three options before her: Wait it out and see if it goes away, or answer with one of the options.

"...What was it the Romans used to say? Audaces fortuna iuvat?" She asked, as if the text box could hear her in some way.

In a moment of uncharacteristic brashness, the pampered intellectual teenager picked the option that would change everything.

"Yes."

Maou and Mayhem

Can't find anything which feels appropriate for 'Maou-mode' Karla. Hmm.

Dragonslayers: A Fantasy RP

"Your father sounds like an interesting man! If he can do that, then I've got a thing or two to learn from him."

Hypatia let out a light laugh, treating the conversation casually. She appraised Darvyn, her smile fading as she listened to him and the subsequent exchange with the armoured girl. She waited until either side had said their part before continuing.

"As for your father, can't say I've seen him. I'll keep an eye out, it's the most I can do. Literally." She tapped her eyepatch, flashing the Knight a toothy smile. "But as for how you kill a dragon, that's entirely situational. You should be able to discern that from the observation stage, or at least get an idea. But everyone has their own way, I'm not a fan of hefting around giant weapons."

"You know, one time, a group I helped out came up with a pretty smart trap. It was basically a battering ram suspended between two trees with a sharpened end - staked a pretty big dragon. Interesting, yeah?"

Dragonslayers: A Fantasy RP

"I can't be."

Hypatia simply shrugged at the armor-clanned knight, giving her unnamed inquirer a knowing smile. This knight had come a long way from the capital, and so young sounding as well! It was not all that surprising - knight orders took squires early, and Dragonslayers were trained even earlier. If she was of the latter, then of course she'd be willing to travel from Maison to this town.

"But I am certain that charging a dragon without any 'gifts' is suicide. The reason I suggest a trap is because it's indirect confrontation of a greater force. I am also certain that, despite the variety found in the dragon, they are animals as much as you and I. Like you and I, they have patterns and quirks, little routines they go through which even they are not completely aware of. Identify those, become familiar with them, and then use it against them."

The Hunter paused for effect, offering a nod to Feron in recognition. She elaborated some more.

"I wouldn't call it 'falling' for a trap, more they'd be walking into a trap. I think 'falling' implies an ad hoc, on the spot element to it. The only thing humanity has over dragons is numbers and brains...mostly. Better to use those bodies and brains productively, rather than throw them into a furnace, mh?"

"Of course, not all of them are so easily defeated by nets, pits, poisons and rocks. But that's a sad reality, I'm afraid. There's always Dragonslayers for those types, though."

Maou and Mayhem

[Justice Intensifies]