King Cosmos

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

Hoga Nao - She kinda deserved to be cursed

Hoga Nao

• Name: Hoga Nao
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: At around 5’ 6” Nao is taller than average and has a slim build. Her black hair is cut into a messy bob that stops just below her ears, which is dyed with purple highlights at the tips. Black and purple are her dominant colour scheme in fact, the shade of her hair matched by the black and purple jacket she wears; the dark colours only broken up by its white stripes. The rest of her clothing varies, but is usually similarly dark.
• Personality: Nao carries herself with a self-assured cockiness mostly seen in people who have yet to be taught that they are not as good as they think they are; the arrogance of someone who has not been proven wrong. Her attitude towards others is combative and challenging, quick to put others down and push them to do something.
  
  However, this confident attitude is quick to turn into indignation and outrage when it is turned back on herself and Nao has a quick temper that can flare up suddenly at any perceived slight. Furthermore, Nao is a person who holds long grudges and isn’t shy to seek vengeance.
• Backstory: Originally from Osaka, and still carrying a strong Osaka-ben accent, Nao moved to Tokyo in the final year of middle school. Showing up halfway through the year, lacking in confident and being kind of loud and abrasive compared to her classmates, Nao had a hard time fitting in and didn’t make any friends by the end of the year. The following year she attended a high school nearby, as did a number of her middle school classmates, and things were not much better; in fact, they were considerably worse as rather than just being a loner, Nao’s attitude led to her getting involved in a lot of fights (with her classmates) and arguments (with her teachers) and soon found herself with a reputation as the “loud mouthed trouble maker” of her school.
  
  It didn’t take her long to get fed up with this and it was near the end of her first year that she began to skip school entirely, instead spending her days wandering Tokyo by herself. Her parents were aware of this and tried to confront Nao, but this just led arguments at home instead and only served to further push her away. It was out of boredom, more than anything else, that led her to shoplift the first time; stealing some junk food from a konbini because she was too lazy to pay for it. When nothing bad happened she did it again, finding that the thrill of maybe getting caught at least alleviated her tedium a little, until it became a regular habit.
  
  One day she bumped into someone on the street, or maybe they intentionally bumped into her, and found herself confronted by an angry young man who demanded an apology and payment for a feigned injury; a shakedown via intimidation. Nao gave him neither, instead kicking him somewhere painful and running off with his full wallet which he had foolishly been waving around. Once safely away she laughed herself hoarse as her heart beat wildly and the next day she escalated from shoplifting to pick pocketing for the first time. This did not go nearly as well and more often than not she had to run from her targets; she got quite good at sprinting through busy street and cramped alleyways as a result, as well as quickly learning how to climb her way out of dead ends. With enough practice, Nao found herself running away less and less.
  
  The money she acquired this way went mostly unspent; aside from occasionally spending it on food and entertainment during the day most of what she took was hoarded away, stolen just for the sake of stealing it. After a couple months Nao even began to teach herself how to pick locks, though never found the nerve to do anything with her new skill.
  
  It was during the break between her first and second year of high school that Nao saw possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Why she was the most beautiful, why she caught the eye as much as she did, Nao couldn’t exactly explain; she just kind of had the feeling that this woman was the most attractive person alive. Regardless, the woman’s appearance didn’t capture Nao’s attention quite as much as the large jewel she was carrying did. It looked like an oversized pearl, glittering white and almost glowing with some kind of inner light.
  
  The jewel must have been far more valuable than the wallets she normally pickpocketed, valuable enough that taking it could get her into a lot more trouble than she knew how to deal with, but as the woman walked towards her Nao couldn’t stop herself from reaching out a deft hand to swipe the jewel from the woman’s hands before taking off down the street at a sprint.
  
  Minutes later, when the sounds of the woman’s anger had faded and her blood was pumping loud enough in her ears to deafen her, Nao stopped to examine what she had taken. It was unlike anything she had seen and for a moment Nao wondered if it was even a jewel at all; it seemed too large, too unreal, to be genuine. Maybe she’d stolen some worthless trinket instead of anything valuable?
  
  “Give that back!” The sudden shout almost had her dropping the ball in shock, but Nao managed to recover and grip it tight to her chest as she turned to find the woman, out of breath and furious, behind her.
  
  Moving the ball behind her back as if it would hide the fact she had taken it, Nao smirked at the woman’s desperation, now half convinced that the ball was junk but willing to have some fun with it. “Eh, give what back?”
  
  “The ball! Give me back my ball!” The woman’s shoulders were hunched up to her ears in rage, face contorted into something decidedly less beautiful than it had been before.
  
  “Ah, this?” The ball reappeared in front of Nao and though the woman clearly wanted to leap for it, something held her back. “How do I know this is yours? Things like this are a dime a dozen aren’t they? I can’t just give this back without proof.”
  
  “It’s useless to you! Even if you take it, you don't know how to keep it. It’s worth far more to me, so give it back if you don’t me to be your enemy forever!”
  
  Nao’s smirk turned more mocking. “It’s worth a lot huh?” She began to pass the ball between her hands, throwing it back and forth and ignoring the growing sound in the back of the woman’s throat as she did so. It sounded a lot like an animal’s growl. “Want to put a number on that?”
  
  The growling seemed to continue even as the woman next spoke, as if her mouth was making two sounds as once, but if there was anything unusual about this Nao didn’t notice it. She did notice when the growling suddenly stopped and the woman’s mouth lifted into a smirk of her own. “Oh, I see. You want to make a deal? Fine, it is very valuable to me after all. Let’s make a deal.”
  
  Nao smiled like someone who had no idea they were about to lose.
• Skills: Pickpocketing, lock picking, free climbing, running
• Spiritual Energy Grade: A
  
  
  • Contracted Being: Kitsune – The many tailed fox
  • Contract Rank: B
  • Contract Abilities: Kitsune’s are known primarily for one thing; trickery. They can change their shape, often taking the guise of beautiful women and can create illusory sights and sounds to vex people. They are thieves and pranksters and Nao’s contract with one allows her many of the same traits.
    
    Having made a contract with the Kitsune after stealing its Hoshi no Tama, the magic of the Kitsune allows her to create visual and auditory illusions; creating phantom sights and sounds that are visible or audible to as many or as few people as she wants. The form of the illusion, the shape of it or the way it sounds, will be exactly as Nao imagines it to be, meaning it will take constant concentration and imagination to maintain an illusion and will contain any flaws she includes or blank spots she forgets.
    
    It also allows her to take on different forms, shape shifting in other people or even the form of animals or other yōkai. There is a limit to how much she can change her size however; she can become slightly bigger or slightly larger but cannot take on the form of a giant or a bird for example. The transformation also does not include any knowledge on how to move in her new form, should the form be drastically different from her own.
  • Cost: As payment for using the contracted power, Nao must make regular offerings of some kind to Inari shrines. The offerings should be proportional to how much she has drawn on the contract and cannot be stolen, or even given to her, and must be her own.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

@VitaVitaAR Okay, let's give this another shot.

Hoga Nao - She still deserved to be cursed

Hoga Nao

• Name: Hoga Nao
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: At around 5’ 6” Nao is taller than average and has a slim build. Her black hair is cut into a messy bob that stops just below her ears, which is dyed with purple highlights at the tips. Black and purple are her dominant colour scheme in fact, the shade of her hair matched by the black and purple jacket she wears; the dark colours only broken up by its white stripes. The rest of her clothing varies, but is usually similarly dark.
• Personality: Nao carries herself with a self-assured cockiness mostly seen in people who have yet to be taught that they are not as good as they think they are; the arrogance of someone who has not been proven wrong. Her attitude towards others is combative and challenging, quick to put others down and push them to do something.
  
  However, this confident attitude is quick to turn into indignation and outrage when it is turned back on herself and Nao has a quick temper that can flare up suddenly at any perceived slight. Furthermore, Nao is a person who holds long grudges and isn’t shy to seek vengeance.
• Backstory: Originally from Osaka, and still carrying a strong Osaka-ben accent, Nao moved to Tokyo in the final year of middle school. Showing up halfway through the year, lacking in confident and being kind of loud and abrasive compared to her classmates, Nao had a hard time fitting in and didn’t make any friends by the end of the year. The following year she attended a high school nearby, as did a number of her middle school classmates, and things were not much better; in fact, they were considerably worse as rather than just being a loner, Nao’s attitude led to her getting involved in a lot of fights (with her classmates) and arguments (with her teachers) and soon found herself with a reputation as the “loud mouthed trouble maker” of her school.
  
  It didn’t take her long to get fed up with this and it was near the end of her first year that she began to skip school entirely, instead spending her days wandering Tokyo by herself. Her parents were aware of this and tried to confront Nao, but this just led arguments at home instead and only served to further push her away. It was out of boredom, more than anything else, that led her to shoplift the first time; stealing some junk food from a konbini because she was too lazy to pay for it. When nothing bad happened she did it again, finding that the thrill of maybe getting caught at least alleviated her tedium a little, until it became a regular habit.
  
  One day she bumped into someone on the street, or maybe they intentionally bumped into her, and found herself confronted by an angry young man who demanded an apology and payment for a feigned injury; a shakedown via intimidation. Nao gave him neither, instead kicking him somewhere painful and running off with his full wallet which he had foolishly been waving around. Once safely away she laughed herself hoarse as her heart beat wildly and the next day she escalated from shoplifting to pick pocketing for the first time. This did not go nearly as well and more often than not she had to run from her targets; she got quite good at sprinting through busy street and cramped alleyways as a result, as well as quickly learning how to climb her way out of dead ends. With enough practice, Nao found herself running away less and less.
  
  The money she acquired this way went mostly unspent; aside from occasionally spending it on food and entertainment during the day most of what she took was hoarded away, stolen just for the sake of stealing it. After a couple months Nao even began to teach herself how to pick locks, though never found the nerve to do anything with her new skill.
  
  It was during the break between her first and second year of high school that Nao saw possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. Why she was the most beautiful, why she caught the eye as much as she did, Nao couldn’t exactly explain; she just kind of had the feeling that this woman was the most attractive person alive. Regardless, the woman’s appearance didn’t capture Nao’s attention quite as much as the large jewel she was carrying did. It looked like an oversized pearl, glittering white and almost glowing with some kind of inner light.
  
  The jewel must have been far more valuable than the wallets she normally pickpocketed, valuable enough that taking it could get her into a lot more trouble than she knew how to deal with, but as the woman walked towards her Nao couldn’t stop herself from reaching out a deft hand to swipe the jewel from the woman’s hands before taking off down the street at a sprint.
  
  Minutes later, when the sounds of the woman’s anger had faded and her blood was pumping loud enough in her ears to deafen her, Nao stopped to examine what she had taken. It was unlike anything she had seen and for a moment Nao wondered if it was even a jewel at all; it seemed too large, too unreal, to be genuine. Maybe she’d stolen some worthless trinket instead of anything valuable?
  
  “Give that back!” The sudden shout almost had her dropping the ball in shock, but Nao managed to recover and grip it tight to her chest as she turned to find the woman, out of breath and furious, behind her.
  
  Moving the ball behind her back as if it would hide the fact she had taken it, Nao smirked at the woman’s desperation, now half convinced that the ball was junk but willing to have some fun with it. “Eh, give what back?”
  
  “The ball! Give me back my ball!” The woman’s shoulders were hunched up to her ears in rage, face contorted into something decidedly less beautiful than it had been before.
  
  “Ah, this?” The ball reappeared in front of Nao and though the woman clearly wanted to leap for it, something held her back. “How do I know this is yours? Things like this are a dime a dozen aren’t they? I can’t just give this back without proof.”
  
  “It’s useless to you! Even if you take it, you don't know how to keep it. It’s worth far more to me, so give it back if you don’t me to be your enemy forever!”
  
  Nao’s smirk turned more mocking. “It’s worth a lot huh?” She began to pass the ball between her hands, throwing it back and forth and ignoring the growing sound in the back of the woman’s throat as she did so. It sounded a lot like an animal’s growl. “Want to put a number on that?”
  
  The growling seemed to continue even as the woman next spoke, as if her mouth was making two sounds as once, but if there was anything unusual about this Nao didn’t notice it. She did notice when the growling suddenly stopped and the woman’s mouth lifted into a smirk of her own. “Oh, I see. You want to make a deal? Fine, it is very valuable to me after all. Let’s make a deal.”
  
  Nao smiled like someone who had no idea they were about to lose.
• Skills: Pickpocketing, lock picking, free climbing, running
• Spiritual Energy Grade: A
  
  
  • Contracted Being: Kitsune – The many tailed fox
  • Contract Rank: B
  • Contract Abilities: Kitsune’s are known primarily for one thing; trickery. They can change their shape, often taking the guise of beautiful women and can create illusory sights and sounds to vex people. They are thieves and pranksters and Nao’s contract with one allows her many of the same traits.
    
    Having made a contract with the Kitsune after stealing its Hoshi no Tama, the magic of the Kitsune allows her to create visual and auditory illusions; creating phantom sights and sounds that are visible or audible to as many or as few people as she wants. The form of the illusion, the shape of it or the way it sounds, will be exactly as Nao imagines it to be, meaning it will take constant concentration and imagination to maintain an illusion and will contain any flaws she includes or blank spots she forgets.
    
    It also allows her to take on different forms, shape shifting in other people or even the form of animals or other yōkai. There is a limit to how much she can change her size however; she can become slightly bigger or slightly larger but cannot take on the form of a giant or a bird for example. The transformation also does not include any knowledge on how to move in her new form, should the form be drastically different from her own.
  • Cost: As payment for using the contracted power, Nao must make regular offerings of some kind to Inari shrines. The offerings should be proportional to how much she has drawn on the contract and cannot be stolen, or even given to her, and must be her own.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

I did like the Dodomeki angle, but are you alright playing a more support-based character?

@VitaVitaAR

Support-based characters are fine, I've got no problem with that. Though, in this case I guess it will just amount to standing there and looking at enemies all the time. Which doesn't exactly make for the most dynamic posts.

I'll give it some thought, but I'm leaning more towards the Kitsune for now.

Fate/Dark Heritage

Berserker

It was decided then; for this first night of the war they were to go on the offensive. That approach suited Hang Jebat just fine; even if he were not in his current form he would have approved of a direct approach over a more passive one and he appreciated the fact that his master could be decisive when presented with a division. But the Servant couldn’t help but wonder whether or not the young mage truly knew what he was getting himself into and whether he would hold up once the fighting began in earnest.

The sword that Shou carried at his side was a good sign, but carrying a sword did not necessary come with the attitude or the willingness to use it. Berserker’s knowledge of this era told him that it was a relatively peaceful one and there were many young men Shou’s age that had never experienced combat, never seen death, or dealt it themselves. Perhaps Shou was an exception, he had entered a war of his own accord after all, or perhaps he was just naïve and optimistic.

Time would tell.

“Let us get the lay of the land first; scouting can be useful even if it does not reveal the enemy.” Acquiring first-hand knowledge of landmarks and the terrain would be useful when it came to setting up or escape ambushes. If they were lucky, they would stumble across one of the more conspicuous Servants while they were at it. “Once we have our bearings, we can move with less subtlety and see if anyone notices.”

@Iamme

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

On one hand I do like the idea of the stacking effects on a target, but on the other I'm still a little concerned it's too potent of an autohit to work around when GMing a fight scene with her.

@VitaVitaAR

I'm in the camp of "probably not workable if not tuned more towards utility/ability unlock at 9s" over "9s autohit burn until all LoS is broken"... Y'know, on top of the 15s poison application that makes it even easier to force the DoT...

@PKMNB0Y

Alright, a line-of-sight based ability that can actually kill enemies doesn't really seem viable; unless there are so many restrictions on it that it ends up never being used anyway. So I guess there's two ways I can approach this.

1. I remove the fire entirely and just design the power around applying a poison-based debuff/crowd control/hindering effect and have Nao play a supporter role alongside the rest of the case.

2. I ditch the Dodomeki concept and go with something else. Probably give her something with a kitsune and say she stole one's Hoshi no Tama without realised what it was and unknowingly strong-armed one into a contract.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

Not a GM, but doesn't that run into the same fundamental problem that any opposition that doesn't have super speed to constantly break line of sight or a hiding focus won't be able to avoid or contest the end result in any way without significant metagaming?

@Raineh Daze

Maybe I'm overestimating these Grudges, but I don't think it's that difficult to break line of sight in an urban environment and a total of nine seconds for the full effect to come into play is a long time in a fight; I don't think you need super speed at all. Even accounting for the fact that the Grudges wouldn't know to avoid the eyes at first, that's still nine seconds where Nao has to not get herself killed by the thing attacking her with no real method to defend herself and being attacked is probably going to force her to break line of sight herself anyway.

I just didn't want to do something a basic as "shoots fire and has eyes", but if a line-of-sight based power doesn't work then I'll come up with something else.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

@Zeroth I think I'm going to take the skill rank point and, assuming I can allocate it, put it into Akeno's martial arts skill.

After that I think she would just spend the rest of her time that night finding a relatively isolated spot to sleep for the night (not outside the camp, but somewhere out of the way) and then do as many sit-ups, push-ups and squats as she could managed before falling asleep; the exercises are in that order, so if she can't do all of them before getting worn down she's starting with the sit-ups.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

Lighting fires on eye contact is a bit too much, since it's a pretty potent ability that'll immediately handle most threats. I'd say try and figure out a different effect or find ways to make it a little more restrained so it's not an inescapable autohit.

@VitaVitaAR

That's fair. I've amended her power to be far more convoluted and make it less of an instant win.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP

I present to you my terrible child. Feel free to bully her.

Hoga Nao - She kinda deserved to get cursed

Hoga Nao

• Name: Hoga Nao
• Age: 16
• Gender: Female
• Appearance: At around 5’ 6” Nao is taller than average and has a slim build. Her black hair is cut into a messy bob that stops just below her ears, which is dyed with purple highlights at the tips. Black and purple are her dominant colour scheme in fact, the shade of her hair matched by the black and purple jacket she wears; the dark colours only broken up by its white stripes. The rest of her clothing varies, but is usually similarly dark.
• Personality: Nao carries herself with a self-assured cockiness mostly seen in people who have yet to be taught that they are not as good as they think they are; the arrogance of someone who has not been proven wrong. Her attitude towards others is combative and challenging, quick to put others down and push them to do something.
  
  However, this confident attitude is quick to turn into indignation and outrage when it is turned back on herself and Nao has a quick temper that can flare up suddenly at any perceived slight. Furthermore, Nao is a person who holds long grudges and isn’t shy to seek vengeance.
• Backstory: Originally from Osaka, and still carrying a strong Osaka-ben accent, Nao moved to Tokyo in the final year of middle school. Showing up halfway through the year, lacking in confident and being kind of loud and abrasive compared to her classmates, Nao had a hard time fitting in and didn’t make any friends by the end of the year. The following year she attended a high school nearby, as did a number of her middle school classmates, and things were not much better; in fact, they were considerably worse as rather than just being a loner, Nao’s attitude led to her getting involved in a lot of fights (with her classmates) and arguments (with her teachers) and soon found herself with a reputation as the “loud mouthed trouble maker” of her school.
  
  It didn’t take her long to get fed up with this and it was near the end of her first year that she began to skip school entirely, instead spending her days wandering Tokyo by herself. Her parents were aware of this and tried to confront Nao, but this just led arguments at home instead and only served to further push her away. It was out of boredom, more than anything else, that led her to shoplift the first time; stealing some junk food from a konbini because she was too lazy to pay for it. When nothing bad happened she did it again, finding that the thrill of maybe getting caught at least alleviated her tedium a little, until it became a regular habit.
  
  One day she bumped into someone on the street, or maybe they intentionally bumped into her, and found herself confronted by an angry young man who demanded an apology and payment for a feigned injury; a shakedown via intimidation. Nao gave him neither, instead kicking him somewhere painful and running off with his full wallet which he had foolishly been waving around. Once safely away she laughed herself hoarse as her heart beat wildly and the next day she escalated from shoplifting to pick pocketing for the first time. This did not go nearly as well and more often than not she had to run from her targets; she got quite good at sprinting through busy street and cramped alleyways as a result, as well as quickly learning how to climb her way out of dead ends. With enough practice, Nao found herself running away less and less.
  
  The money she acquired this way went mostly unspent; aside from occasionally spending it on food and entertainment during the day most of what she took was hoarded away, stolen just for the sake of stealing it. After a couple months Nao even began to teach herself how to pick locks, though never found the nerve to do anything with her new skill.
  
  It was during the break between her first and second year of high school, as she was counting her illicitly obtained money, when it found her. Some woman with really old fashioned clothing and weirdly long sleeves that fell to her knees appeared in the corner of her eye.
  
  “You have long arms.” Startled, Nao looked at her arms in confusion and didn’t think to question why this strange woman was talking to her or where she came from.
  
  “Eh, do I? Don’t think they’re as long as yours though.”
  
  Ignoring her response, the woman shuffled forward soundlessly. “That’s no good. Those long arms will get you in trouble. You should return what you stole.”
  
  Smirking, Nao didn’t look up from her counting, only pausing briefly before continuing to flip through the paper notes. “Stole? Ah, no, I just found a lost wallet. Think I’ll get a reward if I turn it in?”
  
  The woman shuffled forward again and if Nao had bothered to look she might have noticed her unnaturally pale skin or the fact that she couldn’t quite make out the woman’s face. “Do you want a reward? Will you give it all back if you do?”
  
  With another mocking smirk, Nao pocketed the money and stood, still refusing to actually look at what she was speaking to.
  
  “Yeah, sure. Why not?”
• Skills: Pickpocketing, lock picking, free climbing, running
• Spiritual Energy Grade: A
  
  
  • Contracted Being: Dodomeki – The many-eyed demon
  • Contract Rank: B
  • Contract Abilities: Due to her contract with the Dodomeki, a demon known for the hundreds of bird-like eyes on its arms, Nao is able to manifest those same eyes on her own arms and hands; the upper limited seems to just be however many she can fit on the available area. She can somewhat see through these eyes, but it is not as clear as her own vision and it can be a little different to interpret what she is seeing through multiple vantage points at once.
    
    By keeping a living target within view of one of her eyes for a minimum of three seconds, Nao is able to apply a number of effects in sequence, with each additional eye adding another effect to the target;
    
    • The first eye tags the target and give Nao an awareness of where they are; the eye will automatically track the target to keep it in view and if it escapes her view she will know where in went. The target is able to escape this effect if they can remain out of view for 30 seconds.
    • The second eye afflicts the target with debilitating poison, which causes pain and nausea and slows the targets movements. The symptoms will be reduced if they can escape the view of both her second and first eye and will disappear if they can remain out of view for 15 seconds.
    • The third eye will cause the target to spontaneously combust, bursting into flames for as long as they remain in view. The fire will quickly extinguish itself if the target is able to escape the view of all three eyes, but will immediately resume as soon as any of the three eyes can see it again.
  • Cost: As payment for using the contracted power, Nao must make offerings of some kind; to shrines, to charities, to random people, she must give something of value away to someone else. The offerings cannot be stolen, or even given to her, and must be her own. Money works best, but donating goods and volunteer work does count too.

Shadow Contract: An Urban Fantasy Action RP Interest Check

Yokai, contracts and urban fantasy? I'm interested.