Preface: The following RP is based on a dream I had after watching too much KLK and writing too much for a poly-pantheistic story I've elsewhere. While it's a 'Highschool RP' which some people have distaste for, it's probably still good if you can enjoy the
ham.There is a lot of ham.Tonnes of it.
Long life and good fortune befalls all citizens of the Kingdom of Unconquerable Sun, whose brightness burns away the impurities of a wretched world. The mighty rune embedded white marble walls of the Glorious Western White Wall are the finest bastion against the untamed Western Wilds, where monsters, demons, and beasts most heinous stride unchecked, at the behest of necromancer vampires and bewitched warlocks with dark pacts. Truly, they are fools for standing in the glorious way of triumph that are offered within the majestic borders of the eternally prosperous kingdom.
Beyond the Glorious Western White Wall, within the untamed Western Wilds are every manner of beast and monster. Creatures from the very depths of your inhumane fear, and loathe of utter suffering exist there, twisted and warped by the shadows of the Defiant Spire of Petulant Malice that mars the landscape around it, drawing in all that could be good so as to consume for its insatiable hunger for what is good and true, so that it may then vomit forth monstrosities, falsehoods, and the incarnations of evil.
Standing amidst an outcropping of the wall, jutting into the damned recesses of the Western Wilds, is the White Wall Reach Academy, surrounded on the east by the Glorious Western White Wall, and to other directions by the Reach’s Aegis Wall of Piercing Light, walls striding across the landscape as colossi with nary a blight that can withstand their true divine power. White Wall Reach Academy is a prestigious school for those who have put their stock in with the ever blazing day star to learn how to best serve the kingdom. Students there are trained in all the basic subjects, such as reading, writing, arithmetic, alchemy, exorcism, weapon mastery, hand to hand combat, soul weaving, demonology, gardening, and monster slaying.
Ruling over the school grounds are the eternally awe inspiring magnificence that is the White Wall Reach Academy Student Council, who are overseen by the Academic Standards Division of the Grand Arm of the High King; an organization so powerful that even the most foolhardy of rebellious ne’erdowell knows that they cannot act against them with impunity. The current members of the magniflorious ranks of the White Wall Reach Academy Student Council are each senior students of the Academy itself, and are expected to graduate to begin leading excursions against the very darkness that they have lived in the shadow of for their entire lives, under the one whom they have pledged undying loyalty to in the name of the Unconquerable Sun, the Day Star Without End. Their names are recorded now only upon official records of the utmost secrecy, as they now walk the academy by titles alone.
The Resplendent Empress rules over them with an iron fist for even the loosening of her fingers is said to permit unfathomable darkness to surge forth and crush your very soul and drag you to the deepest reaches of the relentless evils of the wilds. It is said that her still beating heart has been encrusted in white gems, and that there is little she is not capable of doing. Further there are whispers in the dark that her power exceeds that overseeing Academic Standards Division within the White Wall Reach Academy, and the outlying civilian territories. When she stands the truest glory of her form blinds evil and burns away sin in light so bright that even the most ancient horrors cannot recant when they last saw the sun so close. When she walks the academy, a constant marching band follows behind playing her leitmotif, banner bearers fly high her standards and colours at constant attention, and when she decides to make an announcement, whether or not there is a dais for her to stand upon, there will be one sometime before she’s done speaking made by dedicated engineers among her retinue. When she embarks on raids into the depths of evil that encroach from all sides, she is ruthless to those who join the abhorrent, mocking them as she has them executed, their bodies built into lavish stages for her to stand upon while she leads her armies into battle and continue her magnificently worded speeches on the failings of their lives and the inevitability of their deaths. Those that think her simply a powerful leader who cannot stand by virtue of her own might soon find their bodies broken at her feet, for while the other students in the council are mighty indeed, she is by far their better. Even those who could manage to get past their combined efforts will find themselves pushed to the break in a contest of raw power against her.
The Most Tenacious Monk sits upon the campus’ secret service and information gathering collectives. There are few corners of the entire White Wall Reach Academy that have not been laden with magical subterfugal recording devices, secret passageways, and more of the like all laid out and built by the Most Tenacious Monk. Privacy has no accord in his plans, for the vice grip of authority of the glorious shining figure of the Resplendent Empress. For if there were a hole in the defences and the darkness got through, it would be through the Most Tenacious Monk’s efforts that they would be found, the holes in their defences sealed, and any of those responsible publicly flogged at the Resplendent Empress’ behest. The massive arsenals of the security officers, soldiers, commissars, and students are overlooked and produced by the Most Tenacious Monk. While he does not himself mass produce goods, when a lucrative offer is made, or a decree by her most royal student highness, he will produce the utmost quality in goods for the true and utter glory of the kingdom and the school. He is normally shadowed by a selected handful of assassins and spies that have the utmost loyalty to himself, the Resplendent Empress, the kingdom, and the gods, so that their loyalties are true to only those who are good and may not be assailed by wickedness. His assassin attendants are also versed in ominous chanting in dead languages, and when he is called upon for public discussion they will resound the languages far removed from time and memory as his own leitmotif, quiet and hushed in the background of all that he utters. His banner is not hung upon a standard or waved as a flag, but instead finds itself as the long black and purple of his scarf which wraps many times around his neck and mouth and trails behind him. His heliotropic gems glimmer in both the scarf, in his tool-belt around his waist, and in his glasses whose lenses are sheer and finely refined slates of gemstone. Due to the heavy nature of the glasses, he often finds it necessary for him to look down and push them up along the bridge of his nose to adjust them dramatically. As one so secretive and shady, it could be thought that if he was somehow drawn into random combat, that he would be one easy to disable, but while these notions are in theory accurate, the practice of catching him off guard is an almost impossible endeavour. If you are to engage him in combat, then it is already likely that everything around you has been altered to defeat you, with traps, hidden enemies, and more.
The Breathtaking Thaumaturge, she who shines as the stars and has more friends than the cosmos has twinkling light, who is heralded by portents in the celestial vault, is rarely without the comfort and companionship she desires. Fortunately for her, she seems most keen on ensuring that companionship is primarily of the others of the Student Council, particularly the Resplendent Empress whom she values above all confidants. She is a mercurial sort, fond of games of chance, and utilizing her seductive mien for sport. There are few, male or female, regardless of their initial orientation, that can resist her ability to vamp. When her targets are enthralled, there is little they won’t do for her, such has been extensively used on even demons and otherwise marauding monsters, temporarily converting them to her cause before she causes them to self destruct. Common sense and logical understanding goes out the window when she wraps you around her fingers. Less formal than the leitmotif band of the Resplendent Empress, the Breathtaking Thaumaturge has a band and colour guard that followers her around, both playing, and performing. Clubs associated with circus acts and athletics setting up trapeze and animal acts around her. With her almost childlike energy, she will sometimes perform alongside their tricks; doing illusions, magic tricks, and stunts in lieu of normal walking if for no other reason than it would amuse her to do so. She is the centre of attention, a bubbling ball of charisma, and second to none in beauty, if not surpassing the beauty, of the Resplendent Empress. While it could be argued certainly, few would dare do so lest they be thrown into a pit with lions as an expression of her displeasure. The truest of friends, the Breathtaking Thaumaturge takes any insult towards the Resplendent Empress as an insult towards herself even if it’s overtly a compliment to her but at her most cherished friend’s detriment. Her hands have both been implanted with large, crisp, well cut red gems that aid her in her stunts and manipulations, while another one has pierced her spine at the base of her neck, covered by her hair, that radiates sexual attraction and lust. While it would seem that one such as her would not be a threat in combat, that is misleading. Those whose eyes she owns will lay down life and limb to protect her. A wave of her hand in your direction could have you struck by the force of a thousand ballista bolts from her followers, and if she were to actually slap the air in your direction, there are few who could survive the sudden surge of violence that would befall you.
The Gallant Prince Lionheart is the head of the school’s disciplinary committee, town militia, military inspection unit, and is also a tax collector. He lives by a strict unwavering code that knows no rest nor reprieve as the very bindings that hold the series of parchments and scrolls in place have been imbued with golden shards amidst otherwise pure iron. The trim of the parchment and the mixture of the ink are both complimented with silver, for the letter of the law and the nature of the law both repel evil. Perhaps the most ordered of the student councillors, and with good reason; he is the incarnation of law. His footsteps are heralded with the sound of war drums as not simply a retinue follow in his wake with his banners and colours flying high, but a grand armee. Legions of pikemen follow as a deep and heavy instrumental music follows behind as everyone with pikes and flags march on and sing proud the leitmotif. As he marches into combat for the glory of the White Wall Reach Academy, he dons his iron clad regalia of battle, the silver and blackened grey crushing those who would dare stand against him underfoot. While in full battle armour, he may call upon the rank and file legions around him to take on both the aspects of legendary commander skills, and the bloodlust soldiering of a warrior. They drawn in to him and as he launches into the air, and he is swarmed with their forms, merging with their armours as he becomes a colossus, a giant machine of war incarnate upon the battlefield, working in true unison together with them. His true power comes from how effectively he utilizes those around him who are loyal to his cause. They are his weapons, when he does not simply call upon his actual weapons. When he does surge in size with his soldiers, he summons a massive claymore sword, and a kite shield the size of a cottage. The shield is made almost entirely out of highly processed steel coated with bands of iron and silver and an inlay of golden gems, and bound in the centre is a holy manuscript in the eyes of the valiant; an ornately copied set of all rules and regulations of the academy. The claymore has an iron blade upon one side, and silver on the other, with golden crystals down the centre of the blade. Written in text so fine and small that it takes marvellous spectacles or keen eyes to behold them about the entirety of the handle are the listings of punishments for each broken rule of the academy. If he finds himself so disarmed, he will wield one or the other of those massive tools by himself, shrugging off its immense size as he throws his entire body into it.
The Magnanimous Companion of Nature is a regal figure, distinctively a persona from nature as he’s cloaked in fur skins and plants. His clothes are less defined and more naturalistic, wild and uncontrollable. The plants that grow from his outfit are rooted in the soil and fur of his garbs and built into those are azure crystals, empowering the outfit to have the plants grow at accelerated speeds so that he has a steady supply of herbs with which to perform his healing crafts upon man and beast alike. The animal furs have morsels of meat growing upon them too, likewise empowered through crystals. He’s able to take the slowly growing sacks of meat and consume them to gain the powers of various animals, mundane and otherwise, gaining the breath of a dragon, or the glare of a basilisk when he requires it. Where he walks, the very aura of life growing from him causes plants to spring more fully alive, and animals to gather around in friendly comforts to him, unless they are themselves ravenous beasts. Similarly, instead of a band of people to play his leitmotif as he strides through the avenues of the school, birds fly around him and and sing his praises, as any other present animals announce his arrival. It’s a chorus of wondrous nature unleashed upon the world that harkens his presence. Strapped to his back is a bow, but no quiver of arrows, the bow made of fine wood harvested from the dying trees of the ethereal woods that adorn the deepest caverns whereupon the mining operations for the crystals are done, and is streaked with azure crystals as well. The string of it is actually the sinews of a mighty demon that had its ligaments and muscles removed violently in combat by a rampaging swarm of his own creation. When he pulls back the string of his bow ready for an arrow to be notched, the animals around him, birds, squirrels, whatever, will have produced one and slid it into place for him to fire. If duty calls for him to ride into battle, he need not call for a steed, for one will eagerly make itself available to him, and when he seeks to hunt even his prey will find great honour in him having chosen them for either sport or necessity. All of the great war horses and beasts of battle that are at the disposal of the White Wall Reach Academy were in part either captured or trained by him, for few can so honestly say that beasts recognize their master and dominant as quickly as they do to him. In addition to the animalian forces, the Magnanimous Companion of Nature heads both medical research, testing, and application forces, a harbinger of medics, doctors, surgeons, and nurses, legions of their kind flocking to him at the slightest gesture.
It is the goal of the Resplendent Empress to find suitable replacements for herself and the rest of the council as their graduation draws near and they cannot remain students forever. Students that have caught her eye will be tested mercilessly, weeding out the weak while the strong and cunning prevail, until she finds those truly worthy of the power behind the White Wall Reach Academy. Tests will pit students against students within the academy itself, and against the monsters beyond, amongst other mysterious trials and tribulations that put the students’ lives, limbs, friends, loved ones, families, and livelihoods on the line. If they cannot afford to risk everything, then they are simply not worthy.
Ordained by the gods most high, who have eternal understanding and power that require them to shield mortals of their utter brilliance lest they smite them for even the smallest of wickedness in their hearts, the divined shards are crystal mined from the deepest pits of sacred vault mines that reach unto the very underworld rivers that trace the landscape as the pathway of psychopomps and would be heroes. These shards have a touch of legend within them, as they glow with a pure hue depending on the power that created them to begin with, and the purity of the crystal. Brighter gems are more pure, and they come in majestic heliotrope, treasured gold, pulsing crimson, limitless azure, and the rarest colour of them all, purest incorruptible white.
Armours, weapons, tools, and even tattoos are made from shards of these crystals, each imbuing in the one they’re embedded special powers in accordance to its colour and the recipient. Masterwork smiths toil in fiery furnaces with the aid of legions of royal artisan alchemists to ensure that the depths of power extracted from them are to their fullest. Artefact is the official name for something made with such wondrous material, while those that linger on older still, made with iron from fallen stars and within holy forges, are true relics that know no equal.
The purposeful heliotrope gems are normally built into tools, vehicles, or structures, and those who utilize them tend to be seen as Smiths or Sages. They unravel plots and illusions that dare impede their vision, and construct monolithic fortifications and other paraphernalia. They are great thinkers, planners, and builders, and usually the ones behind the creation of artefacts. These gems feed on the body’s Black Bile.
The pounding crimson gems are normally built into clothing or into the body itself, and those who utilize them tend to be seen as Romantics or Reprobates. They beguile or bewitch those around them, tricking them into acting as they shan't, or convincing them to turncoat wholeheartedly to their cause. They are powerful manipulators, charismatic, and beautiful. These gems feed on the body’s Blood.
The luxurious golden gems are normally built into armours or weapons, and those who utilize them tend to be seen as Soldiers or Sovereigns. Their physical strength, endurance, and agility are amplified, their strikes mortally wounding, and their voice carries the heavy weight of authority calling those around them to obey their whims as soldiers and lieutenants would. They are perhaps the most dangerous foes in open combat. These gems feed on the body’s Yellow Bile.
The serene azure gems are normally built into weapons, tools, or into the body itself, and those who utilize them tend to be seen as Healers or Hunters. They speak with the stone, the plants, the animals, and they shape and move them as well. Flesh and bark are mended or burst at their fingertips, and the wilds are their home. They are usually very wily, and immensely important in imbuing living flesh with gems. These gems feed on the body’s Phlegm.
The unassailably pure white gems are only ever put into the body, where they draw upon the reserves of magic and the very soul of their host and grant unique boons to them. These gems will feed on all the humours of the body if necessary to supplement its consumption of other aspects of the person.
Students are chosen as prospective replacements based on one of the following criterions:
-Aptitude: You have astounding test scores, have shown that you are a good learner already, and have mastered some skills at the academy. Perhaps you are a club leader, head of your home-room class, or just make the good marks. Either way, your demonstrated skills have gotten the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Connections: While you are not a poor student, your family or your own deeds have scored you lucrative financial, military, political, or religious connections. Yet, instead of being swept up in them, you maintain the web of persons as one would a garden. Such skill and grace has earned you the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Destiny: Auguries have lit up at your touch as portents in the sky allude to a greatness in your future. You have not yet achieved this greatness, and there is always the chance that the omens have been misread, but no prophecy of greatness should be entirely ignored. This is why you have the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Heroics: Valour is your name for you have strode into the thick of battle as a martyr, sacrificing your flesh and blood to save the lives of your comrades, and the innocent. You have a history of great deeds during excursions that trail behind you. For these magnificent deeds, you have gained the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Inheritance: A great treasure has befallen you, a work that is above your station and gives you powers that should be beyond your control. However, you have tamed your possessions instead of letting them rule over you. Not everyone who is given glory fares well, and those that do have gained the attention of the Resplendent Empress.
-Legacy: Your bloodline is rich with noble ancestors and patrons of great prowess and glory. Your family is a lineage of publicly known skill, that has time and again risen to grab victory from defeat in whatever they are confounded with. While you have not yet risen, this prospect has warranted the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Potential: Unlike those who have already excelled within the fair academy, you have been more relaxed. When time has called for you to move, like a lumbering giant you shift and destroy challenges in your way. While your attitude has been less than stellar, what you could be has itself gained the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.
-Survival: You were not as many in the White Wall Reach Academy, born within the safe confines of the Kingdom of Unconquerable Sun, and yet you still survived and made your way, despite the corruptions of the wilds, to civilizations. Worse for wear, perhaps, but your tenacity has indeed drawn the attentions of the Resplendent Empress.