Driving Park

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

OMG I'm so excited to finally jump in

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Vikki

Vikki had been watching the mayhem unfolding in the square below here in relative peace from her hotel room...until she noticed a swarm of demons bashing down the doors on the ground floor of her hotel. "Time to go!" she said to herself as she quickly gathered her weapons and headed for the door. Before she could even reach the door, however, a demon broke it down. "Oh, so we're going to play this way," she muttered, and shot the demon a few times with her Lugers until it went down. As she ran out the door, she pulled out one of her katanas.

It was time for a stair run.

As Vikki reached the top of the stairs she met two demons and jumped straight over them in a front flip, bringing her katana down clean through the middle of one of the demons' skulls. The other demon turned to give chase after she flew over it and landed on the stair landing, but Vikki was not interested and vaulted off the drop in the middle of the staircase. Once she had cleared the railing she sheathed her katana and produced two modified TEC-9 auto pistols, holding them facing 180 degrees from one another - one for each set of stairs on either side of her. As she fell she held the triggers and unloaded a dizzying number of rounds into her surroundings, taking out several handfuls of demons as she did so. When the clips emptied simultaneously she tossed the guns without care and prepared to land, tossing a rope on a banister near the bottom and using the trajectory it provided as she passed to bleed speed and gain a shallower angle of approach, allowing her to successfully roll out of the fall.

Once she had come to a stop she observed her surroundings. She was in the lobby - she had successfully made it to the ground. However, she was not out of the woods yet. As some of the corpses from her work on the stairs slumped into view, many more live demons approached her from every side. "Doable," she said as she assessed the situation. She wished she had her bullpup or some other automatic rifle on her, but her Lugers and katanas would suffice.

She began by dispatching several of the oncoming demons with her pistols, making an attempt to stay out of reach for as long as possible. Once that was no longer an option, she grabbed both of her katanas this time and got to work.

Carmen (and Mizuki)

Dark clouds began to rapidly form.

This made Carmen worried, but not for the same reasons it made everyone else worried.

"My merchandise! I can't let any of that get wet!" she exclaimed as she ran back to her booth. Fortunately she had sold nearly everything she brought so she only had to fill her purse, but that didn't make her any less exasperated about it. "The forecast was completely clear! Ugh...Koran weather is always so unreliable!!!" The skylark frantically packed everything of hers into her purse. "Thank goodness it all fit...I just hope none of it wrinkles...!" Sarastrea's queen of drama swiftly exited the square. However, she didn't make it very far before she heard screams. Her head snapped around and she beheld a scene of mayhem: everyone was running for their lives from the square while spiraling red clouds circled a skyscraper.

"Oh. Uh oh."

Then the red thunder came.

Up until this point Carmen had been thinking maybe she hadn't needed to bring her trumpet. Now she was very glad she had.

She placed the bell on the ground as quickly as possible and blew into it, erupting a spherical force field that enveloped her seconds before the thunder reached her. Fortunately it bounced off the shield and Carmen was safe...for about three seconds, at which point the demons began to show up. "Well," she said to herself, "a minute ago I remarked that it's been quite a long time since I played this trumpet in anger. I suppose it's time to see if I still can." She picked up the instrument, pointed the bell at the demons, and delivered three Kicks in rapid succession. They hit their targets in center mass, violently slamming the demons back and compressing their abdomens. They each slowly got up only to be met with a second volley that caught them in the head, ending them. A couple of demons reached Carmen, but were dispatched with excessive blunt force trauma via trumpet bell.

I guess some things never change, thought Carmen. People trying to destroy the world is apparently one of those things.

Nearby, the unmistakable sights and sounds of demons getting burnt to a crisp by a certain hot-tempered kitsune's fox-fire could be experienced.

Eris

Eris heard screams. She turned and saw people frantically running. She looked up and saw the red swirling clouds. "What's this?" she said to no one in particular.

She walked outside. People were running for their lives, and Eris ignored them. Military and police were trying to get her to run, and she ignored them too. She paced back and forth in the street, watching the clouds and the top of the skyscraper they seemed to be focused on. Then, the red thunder came, and Eris brushed it aside as those around her turned to ash.

Someone was causing industrial-grade chaos and Eris wanted to know who. Her turf was being impeded on...who could produce an attack like this? It was very distinctive and not at all like Eris' dark events.

Then Eris saw the demons and any doubt in her mind was removed.

"Duatos."

She saw throngs of demons begin to appear, chasing anyone still alive. Throngs that soon turned to her. The Goddess of Chaos grinned. "More," she beckoned. Ten, 20, 30 demons came into view and were headed straight for her as everyone else had fled. As the demons got close she stomped her left foot hard into the ground and it sheared apart, sending a massive, jagged wave through the ground in all directions. She was almost disappointed when none of the demon batch survived.

She looked up and easily found what she assumed to be Duatos descending from the skyscraper with a red halo. She continued to track the diety as it descended, not even looking down as she took out another batch of demons coming for her with another stamp of the foot. She was determined to deduce the diety's motives.

The Maple Neighborhood (Invite-Only)

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Chronicles of Sarastrea

Edric and Carmen

---

Edric was beginning to notice that this Expo had a lot of lines. It had taken him twenty minutes of standing behind other people before he'd even been able to get his table at the diner. And now that he'd left the diner and stumbled across a Calandra Couture booth, he was waiting in line yet again.Granted, this was less structured. Less of a line and more of a crowd, really. People who wanted to take pictures and get autographs and ask for advice or questions about the company. All he wanted to do was catch up with an old teacher of his.

"Woah, is that, like, hobo chic?" Some wire-thing bearded guy that couldn't have been taller than 5' 2" asked him. Edric looked down and cringed. Rough travel clothes, with threadbare spots. He supposed it looked well-enough put together, though.

"Uh. Totally." He smiled. "Fashionable pragmatism."

"Nice." The guy nodded, seemingly impressed, and then he turned away.

You're a master of deception.

You know it.

Meanwhile, at the front of the line...

"Nonono, you can't have that color dress with these color shoes! Can't you see how much these clash?? Hold on, let me go get you a more suitable pair."

The skylark whose presence had caused the line Edric was stuck in now turned her back to it to look through her inventory for a moment before quickly finding a pair of shoes she deemed suitable. As she turned around she quickly scanned the line and thought she might have seen someone she knew. Unsure but fairly confident, she yelled out "ANYONE WITH A SURNAME OF D'KARST COME TO THE FRONT OF THE LINE PLEASE" while handing the pair of shoes to the woman waiting for her. As the woman's face brightened at the sight of the footwear, Carmen returned her attention fully to her. "See what you think of those, they should match your dress beautifully." The woman began taking off her existing shoes while Carmen turned again to the line in front of her, assuming that if Edric was actually in the line he would follow her order. He was her student, after all.

"On it!" Edric said, almost instinctively. He stepped out of the line and briskly made his way toward the front. There was some grumbling, and Edric ignored it. Soon enough, he was in front of the skylark. "I keep forgetting that you're famous." He looked around, at the crowd the sign, the camera flashes.

How?

Because-

-You're an idiot? You finally realized it? I wasn't gonna tell ya.

"God, it's been, what, five years?" Edric said, shaking his head in disbelief. "It feels like five days. Or, maybe ten years. I can't decide."

Carmen smiled as Edric allowed himself to walk to the front of the line.

"Maybe. I haven't been counting," she replied. "In any case, it has been quite a long time."

While talking to him she was simultaneously handing the woman from earlier her bag with her new pair of shoes in it, and motioning for the next person to come up. It was an autograph request - simple enough to multitask, so she did.

"And you? What have you been up to all this time? I would quite like to know what everyone from the dear Academy has been up to, now that I think about it."

Some cameras flashed on Carmen as they had been doing with some regularity, but at this point some were also flashing on Edric. "Looks like you're famous now too," she said with a smirk.

"Uh." He smiled, awkwardly, at the cameras. His father would probably break a vein. Edric hadn't called him in ages, but Jon'd see in the tabloids that he'd had time to rub elbows with Carmen Calandra.

That'll be a fun phone call.

I'm looking forward to it already.

"I've been doing a lot of travelling. Much of it alone. I was in Oasari, recently, but I was all over Okarlai, and Kora intermittently. I was planning on headed west but then I heard about the Expo, couldn't help myself." He thought for a moment. "I'd imagine that Aileen Deckard is here, as well, but I can't speak for any of the others. Have you kept in touch with anyone?"

"Can't say that I have," Carmen replied. "I've been very busy, and I somehow neglected to get people's contact information while I was in Athalia. It just didn't seem necessary I suppose."

She thought for a moment. "I'm not sure I remember Aileen, but I didn't get to interact with the students not in my classes or those who were there when I was a student. Anyway...have you been in contact with any of the others? I'd love to know how some of them are doing. Maybe some of them will turn up here?"

"No, I haven't. I took off in a hurry, I'm afraid. I only knew about Aileen because we traveled together for a time." Edric said. "I'd say that's possible, the Expo attracts all kinds." He looked back at the line, and the cameras, and gulped. "Listen, I know you're busy, so I won't take too much more of your time. But, uh, if you happen to see anyone from the Academy, tell them to meet, uh..." He looked around until his eyes settled on a bar and grill at the edge of the street. He pointed to it. "That place looks good, yeah. What's that, 'Malibu Bar n' Grill?' Yeah, that place."

Carmen smiled. "I'll be sure to do that. Hopefully someone else shows up that we both know, hmm? I'll probably pop over there myself when I have a break." She looked at the long line waiting for her. "...which doesn't look like it will be any time soon," she said with a chuckle. "Nice catching up with you though, Edric. Hopefully it won't be five years until the next time, yeah?"

"Here's hoping." Edric said, smiling lopsidedly. "I'll catch you around. Can't be too hard." He turned and started to walk away. "I'll just follow the cameras."

Chronicles of Sarastrea

~ Carmen Calandra ~

Being the center of attention can be exhilarating or exhausting. For Carmen, it was currently both. Her booth, with its large fancy "Calandra Couture" logo, was drawing all kinds of attention. Between criticizing customers' fashion choices and setting them up with something she deemed more suitable from her clothing line, taking selfies with fans and formal pictures with celebrities whenever a photographer asked her to, hastily signing autographs on brochures, and socializing with whoever was lucky enough to catch her in a moment she wasn't already talking to someone, Carmen had her plate very full. Still, the expo had gone smoothly so far and on her breaks Carmen enjoyed walking around and taking in Riesling and all the the attractions that currently inhabited it. The Expo was always a fun event for the skylark, and this was her second year as a featured vendor. With her signature sunhat on she was very easy to spot in the crowd, and that's how she liked it.

~ Mizuki ~

A woman with extraordinary silver hair that sprouted both from her head and from her nine huge fox tails filtered into the Expo along with a long line of people. It was midday and she was just arriving; she couldn't help that she enjoyed the night and stayed up for most of it. Besides, the night to come was what she was really looking forward to. The Expo was legendary for having an epic night scene, as people from all corners of Sarastrea mingled and partied into the early hours of the morning.

But for now, Mizuki would have to wait, and hope that she didn't get bombarded with people taking pictures of her and asking her obnoxious questions. She elected to sit in the shade at one of the restaurants in the expo and slowly eat her afternoon breakfast.

~ Vikki Miller ~

Vikki sat on the balcony of her hotel room looking down at the Expo through a pair of high-powered binoculars. People-watching was one of the more useful things she could do when off work, and she just so happened to have a few days to herself during the Expo. So, rather than get herself lost and compromised in the throngs of people enjoying the Expo, she bought a high-rise hotel suite overlooking everything. Plus, it made business sense - if someone started something, she would be able to see it happen and be able to identify a potential target.

---

Meanwhile down below, a slender, extremely tall woman arrived at the entrance to the Expo. She walked around for a bit and then disappeared into a building. Nobody thought anything of it (apart from her height), but a few people turned to each other and mentioned how something didn't feel right.

Chronicles of Sarastrea

GUYS I'M SO EXCITED

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Chronicles of Sarastrea

Eris

Eris

Basics

Gender || Female
Species/Race || Unknown
Age || 2,743
Height || 6'5" (not a typo)
Weight || 167 lb.
Hair Color || Reddish Brown
Eye Color || Coral
Skin Color || pale unblemished tan
Figure || slim and well-proportioned, as per usual
Occupation || Goddess of Chaos and Discord

Powers

Strength in Numbers - Eris' defining feature is that her strength scales with the number of people she is around on an exponential curve. Eris feeds off the aura and emotional charge (especially aggression or fear) of nearby individuals to gain strength. This means that while she loses strength for small numbers of opponents (and especially in duels), she gets stronger when fighting a group of adversaries or fighting in a large crowd. Eris is thus in more danger fighting one opponent than 10 or 100. If Eris were to fight a large enough group of enemies, her power level would stretch to unfathomable levels thanks to the exponential nature of her power scale.

GoldenEye - With a flash of gold enveloping her eyes, Eris is able to see things eyes can't normally see. How far she can focus her vision is limited only by how much energy she uses, and she is able to detect any living thing within her cone of sight. Eris can also project her mind's eye and voice to a target in her sight, in a jarring mental arrest not unlike a long-distance Vulcan mind meld.

Tower of Power - Eris wields an advanced form of Apocalypse Manipulation (Apocakinesis) - the power to create and manipulate apocalyptic events. Natural disasters such as meteor showers and volcanic eruptions are all under her control, and she can extract the individual abilities necessary to initiate them (Lava Manipulation, Water Manipulation, etc.) to use more traditional combat abilities. However, only these non-apocalyptic attacks can be used at will; a large scale event cannot be triggered without charging up. The severity of the catastrophe scales with how long she charges it for, and if she charges uninterrupted for 24 hours, the resulting event can end civilization. This is almost certainly impossible though, because Eris charging an apocalyptic event emits a massive ray of blinding light straight up into the air that is easily visible. Even from the early stages it is noticable for miles, and towards the end it generates more light in a localized area than the sun.

Weaknesses

One is the Loneliest Number - As explained above, Eris' Strength in Numbers ability is both incredibly powerful against many opponents and limiting against few. In duels, particularly, Eris operates far below her maximum power level due to the low amount of energy she has available to extract. For this reason, Eris avoids 1-on-1 conflicts as much as possible, which is problematic as she works alone. If she was fighting an extraordinarily strong single adversary she would have more power to work with, but it would still be far below even nominal power levels. SiN's exponential curve crosses 100% power at ten opponents.

Exposed Elemental - As all of Eris' offensive abilities are elemental and she has no spell/magic-based powers, Eris is weak to most types of non-elemental spells.

Eris Can't Read Roman Numerals - Eris can't read Roman numerals.

Personality

"Fear? What use do I have for fear? I have no one to be afraid of."

Unlike many villains who use their chaotic minds and extreme tempers to their advantage, Eris is serene in her ruthlessness. Her default state is unnervingly calm, and her silence can be far more intimidating than words. She knows that she is immortal, has nobody to answer to, and wields immense power that few can match, so she views opponents as playthings more than real threats. She knows that nobody knows her weakness and is virtually invincible when facing large enough numbers,

Background

In Greek mythology, Eris is the goddess of chaos, strife, and discord, who is also sometimes identified as being the same being as Enyo, a Greek goddess of war and destruction. In the Sarastrean universe she was banished from Mt. Olympus on Earth for (surprise) causing too much chaos. To Sarastrea she went, leaving the pantheon (including her children) behind. On arrival to Sarastrea she discovered that her banishment was a blessing in disguise; she had a whole world all to herself to play with and wreak havoc in. With no family and no higher gods to answer to, Eris has nothing to lose and nothing to do - a deadly combination.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Iona Murasaki

Name: Iona Murasaki

Age: 19

Gender: Female

Race: Faunus (Urocyon cinereoargenteus (gray fox))

Weapons:

Eminent Domain: Iona's pride and joy, this LMG emphasizes brute force per round over fire rate, firing large-caliber bullets that pack a devastating punch. Its advantage is its commanding firepower; its disadvantage is its restrictions on the Iona's mobility when in use, as well as the copious amounts of belt-fed ammo required to fire it.

Hornets: Two dual-wielded submachine guns that have a very high rate of fire, the Hornets are designed to be used firing in different directions to cover enemies closing in from all sides. When the enemies get close, the SMGs can transform into their alternate melee form: one-handed combat sickles. As sickles these weapons are excellent for melee combat, and still have a decent reach via the extended, mini-staff handle and large diameter head that give them the same reach as a longsword. Iona always uses the Hornets in either form in tandem, unholstering both simultaneously after slinging the Eminent Domain on her back.

Specialty: Iona excels at close to mid-range firefights, focusing on damage per second with her machine guns. She is useful for dispatching swathes of smaller Grimm as well as individual larger ones with sustained fire. Also a good source of suppressive/cover fire and a formidable melee combatant, Iona prefers to be in the thick of battle rather than assisting from the outskirts.

Semblance: Sleight - Iona's speed at performing very short tasks, such as reloading, aiming, and evasive maneuvers, is drastically increased to superhuman levels. To the observer, her reload speed would be nearly instant, allowing for minimal fire interruption. This does not also increase her stamina however, and performing sleight manuevers repeatedly will wear her out.

Personality: Iona is not a soft-spoken individual. She doesn't speak too much, but when she does her voice carries. This is partly because she has a naturally projecting voice and partly because she is a confident, competitive individual. Not enough to alienate her classmates, but enough for her to have a constant aura of having her eye on some prize that she needs to beat everyone else to get. She believes in herself, perhaps too much, which can cause problems when diving headfirst into dangerous situations. Fortunately she has learned to quell her Leeroy Jenkins tendencies...for the most part. Conversations with her are typically fast paced and devoid of small talk, as she would rather stick to her own thoughts than participate in idle banter. She has difficulty admitting fault, but is the hardest on herself when the fault is rightfully hers. In serious situations she demands perfection from herself more than anyone else, and whether or not that is because she believes she is the most capable of attaining it is anyone's guess. Her driven nature means she will beat herself up more readily than scold others, but if she knows she's carrying her weight...everyone else knows she knows as well.

Color: Eminence (purple)

Emblem: A mugshot-angle fox head flanked by diagonal sickles forming an X behind it.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Yo!

I'm a friend of @NarayanK. I've been hearing about Heroes of Beacon forever, and now that there's some open spots, I figured I'd check out what all the noise is about.

@Nevix

Hey guys I am ALSO a friend of both @NarayanK and @Nevix.

Basically NK was like "hey dp" and now I'm here. I'm currently on the discord but uh

HI

Chronicles of Sarastrea

Kali Rana

Younger:

True Form:

Kali Rana

(Mira Kaur)

Basics

Gender || female
Species/Race || unknown
Age || ~10,000
Height || 5'9"/1.75 m
Weight || 134 lbs./60.78 kg
Hair Color || black
Eye Color || hazel
Skin Color || fair/unblemished tan; wrinkled brown in true form
Figure || beautiful, but not overtly so
Occuption || being a near-deity and attempting to maintain order in the world (and particularly Lavanya).

Powers

Dualikinesis (Yin & Yang Manipulation) - Mira possesses the ability to control all types of duality in herself and others. With this ability she can temporarily alter one's morality, effectively heal others, and counter against attacks.

Chrono-Hyalokinesis (Hourglass Manipulation) - a combination of glass manipulation and time manipulation, Mira is able to weave a path through time via glassblowing.

Psammokinesis (Sand Manipulation) - Mira can manipulate sand.

Weaknesses

You Only Live Twice - When Mira is "killed" and her true form appears, she is susceptible to mortality and being killed for good.

Mage Ya Look - Mira has a balanced (offensive vs. defensive) ability set, but possesses no magical defense. Although she can cause a magic assailant to flip morality, there is no polar opposite to magic and thus she cannot manipulate duality to counter it. Her body has gained resilience against physical/elemental attacks, but nothing against magic (as she rarely encounters it).

Dependence Day: Desert Edition - Unlike many abilities which seem to be able to generate out of thin air, Mira's sand abilities require sand in the vicinity to be used. For this reason, she always carries around a handful of sand somewhere on her person, but were she separated from it in a non-desert or beach climate, she would be unable to use her psammokinetic abilities. Naturally, the opposite is also true - her sand potency in desert and beach climates is significantly boosted.

Strength in Numbers - Mira technically possesses four different ability sets, but although she is a very advanced user of all of them, none of them are capable of dealing OP damage on their own. She is thus much less effective in a 1x1 brawl than other forms of combat.

Personality

Mira is a philosopher, a teacher and a cleric (of sorts). Deeply rooted in a large collection of traditions, she is calm and reserved, sometimes to the point of intimidation. Her eyes offer a window into her long journey and every emotion she has felt along the way.

Background

Kali Rana is the name of a hallowed state of being from a collection of ancient Sarastrean religions that originated in the Sarolai. Spoken of in reverent tones, it was the ultimate goal of faith for many tribespeople throughout the Sarolai, and devoted monks spent their whole lives trying to achieve it. The Kali Rana was said to break free from the endless cycle of birth and rebirth to roam the universe for rest of time maintaining balance and peace. The belief among the commonfolk was that bad things didn't happen to people because the gods were angry at them; they happened because there was no Kali Rana. This was, of course, not accurate, but a more pressing problem was that as decades passed many began to believe that the concept of the Kali Rana was a hoax and nobody could ever achieve it.

Mira Kaur grew up in ancient times as a tribal girl in the unforgiving desert sands of the Sarolai, and soon devoted her life to the monastery. 96 long, diligent years after she was born (already a superhuman feat at that time), she successfully ascended to the mythical plane of existence that had been all but removed from the religious practice, becoming the Kali Rana. Immediately she began on a long journey to travel the world. If she was to maintain balance in Sarastrea, she needed to understand all of it as best she could - and now that she had been freed from the shackles of aging and death she had plenty of time to do so. For the next millenium she travelled all over the globe, assimilating herself into local cultures and learning all she could while discovering new things she was capable of. So profound was her effect on the cultures she spent time in that she quickly became legend the world over. By the end of the millenium she had already learned enough about the world and herself to have been fulfilling her duties as the Kali Rana for quite some time.

Ever since then she has continued to roam not only Sarastrea but the universe around it, and is exceedingly rare to witness. She is however written about in cave paintings, ancient texts, and other various historical sources all around Sarastrea, and her name carries significant weight historically and in popular culture. Yet, in a repeat of history, many people denounce her existence as nothing more than a myth.

Further Information

Mira is able to time travel via a combination of all four of her abilities, the catalyst being sand. This ability, referred to as the Sands of Time, is able to cause irreparable damage to the universe and its timelines if used without caution (as is true of any form of time travel). It is primarily for this ability that a Dark Mira would be a massive threat to everyone else.

Mira possesses an ability called Amita Nirvana that has not been performed in at least 2,000 years. Claimed eyewitness accounts of its last use have been retold through generations, and the ability has become one of the most widespread legends of Sarolai culture. Many have concluded that Mira is a prophet or even a diety specifically because of this ability's legend, and that the ability can only be activated when Mira is killed.

Upon her ascension to the Kali Rana, Mira was gifted with a beautiful, youthful form that never ages. However, her true form is still accessible at will, and may also be connected with Amita Nirvana.

Mira carries but one tool, a glassblower's blowpipe. She handcrafted the long, skinny tube herself millenia ago, and it is the most exquisite tool imaginable.

As her pictures indicate, Mira is known for always wearing elaborate lehenga choli - the traditional marriage ensemble of Indian women.

While Mira is universally known as the Kali Rana from legends, she has also been referred to as "The Seamstress of Time" and (more simply) "Mirage".

Kali Rana is both a name and a title. Made up of a Hindi first name followed by a Hindi last name, it could conceivably function as a birth name. However, in Mira Kaur's case, it functions as both, and is usually said/written in legends as "the Kali Rana".

Mira's given name means "prosperous princess" in Hindi, while Kali Rana means "ruler who devours time".

Mira's entire existence is a mystery to many. Due to her existence in legends dating back thousands of years to the present day, people who know the legends have varied opinions on what she is. Some believe she is a prophet, sent down to this world and kept there to preserve the ancient Sarolai tribal religions and their dieties. Others, particularly those who know the legends of Amita Nirvana and other such ability-related legends, think she is actually a diety or semi-diety herself. The reality is somewhat of a combination of the two. Others think that she was normal woman and died after a normal human lifespan, with subsequent legends being fairy tales. Still others believe that her entire existence is a myth.