ladyInKateing

Off the Map (High Seas Adventure RP)

This looks like fun!

Estermere Academy - Military School RP

Avery Harper, wizardly urchin, spent most of her trip to the illustrious Estermere Academy grinning like an idiot.

She'd been on it once before, of course, sent up into the mountains on a wagon to try her hand at Estermere's admissions test. But this was a trip that took weeks, with a whole lot of the wider world to behold, so there was still plenty of gawking to do along the way at plants and animals and people she hadn't noticed on the first round-trip. Besides, during that first journey she'd been too worried about the upcoming examination to pay much attention -- and now there were all sorts of new and exciting things to worry about.

Anxieties aside, though: wow! Avery could still barely believe the whirlwind of events that had led her onto this path. She had wondered more than once if it was an especially elaborate hallucination, but no, this was the reality of her situation. Avery Harper: tactician. Avery Harper: leader of men. Avery Harper: who used to swipe copper pieces from drunks to buy heels of stale bread. That was magic for you. At times she wondered who she was meant to be becoming an officer for in the first place: certainly not the good city of Rhyl, the goodwill of whose lazy patrol guards she'd worn out long ago.

In addition to paying for her carriage, to prepare her for the trip, Avery had been saddled by the mages' guild with probably more books than she could carry -- histories, biographies, tomes of dull literature that seemed a hundred years old but were probably only ninety. She found buried among them one short volume of impressively salacious romance and, of course, her spellbook. It was a comforting presence, although she'd long since figured out most of the nuances of the handful of tricks contained within. If this academy was all it was said to be, there would probably be spells there that'd make hers seem like child's play. Avery wasn't sure whether or not she liked that fact.

Either way, all thought of reading went out the window when her carriage reached the mountains. On the first trip to Estermere, Avery had been utterly dumbstruck by them, chattering in disbelief to the less-than-interested wagon driver about the sheer scale of those towering summits. This time she was better-prepared, but still spent most of that leg of the journey transfixed by the sweeping vistas and distant snowcapped peaks. They had a way of making all her fears -- woe is me, what if the rich snobs don't like me? -- seem insignificant in a very comforting way.

Estermere Academy, on the other hand, had a way of making Avery feel insignificant in a way far from comforting. It was undeniably beautiful, nestled there in the mountains, but the fortress's very walls seemed to judge her as her carriage passed through their gate. It was as if she was walking right onto some emperor's dais as he gave a speech. You don't belong here! Well, she'd prove those old stones wrong. Somehow.

And not a moment too soon, because now she found herself disembarking, fishing in her new coin purse for what seemed like a small fortune but Avery had been informed was standard carriage fare for a trip of this distance. To that she added another silver piece, and in exchange managed to get the driver to agree to unload her belongings and hand them off to the local guards. Then it was off to the great, lavish hall this place considered a dining room, and from there a new and bizarre life.

Avery murmured a brief prayer of thanks to whatever bemused gods might be listening as she managed to find the hall without any difficulties, then went hunting for a place to sit among the more wide-eyed of what seemed to be her fellow students.

Estermere Academy - Military School RP

Avery Harper

Name

Avery Harper

Age

16

Gender

Female

How did they get onto the Officer Programme?

Noble | Buying In | Scholarship | Promoted

Prefered Weapon

Magic!

Appearance Details

Lean and relatively tall at about 5'8, Avery has fair skin and a slim build lacking in much physical bulk. She has medium-length, slightly unkempt blonde hair, usually worn in a loose braid over one shoulder, and sharp hazel eyes. Her facial features are overall somewhat angular, but their intimidating potential is mostly undermined by the easy smiles and friendly expressions they're usually occupied making.

Avery dresses generally in functional, practical clothing, with a fondness for long jackets and sturdy boots, although it's possible that that's just because she's never been in a position to purchase much else. She is agile and nimble, with a good mind for stealth and footwork.

Personality Traits

Avery is bold, personable, and cunning, with a keen mind and an even keener sense for getting into trouble. She is deeply resourceful and fond of mischief, with few moral sensibilities when it comes to subverting the rules of tradition or authority. She makes friends easily and rarely holds grudges. Normally easygoing and possessed of little discipline, she can be laser-attentive on the rare occasion that something truly important catches her eye, although this overall intermittent style of focus doesn't lend itself too well to a soldier's discipline.

Common-born, Avery lacks a fair deal of "traditional" knowledge, although the very worst parts of that failure of education have been addressed sternly in the past several years -- unlike personal combat or self-defense, both of which she knows essentially nothing about beyond the basics of "trip them and run away." Somewhat paradoxically, in spite of this, she has an excellent intuition for military strategy and tactics, a skill that secured her entry into the academy.

As one of very few at the academy not possessed of some prestigious noble heritage, Avery is very self-conscious about her place in the program, and determined to demonstrate her worth.

Biography

Avery was born inauspiciously in a large city on Lorholt's western coast, her father entirely unknown and her mother a household servant for a local merchant. When Avery was ten years old, her mother was accused of pilfering valuables from said merchant's household and promptly tossed into prison, after which Avery began her illustrious career as a street urchin. Working with a local gang of n'er-do-wells, she developed into a skilled child pickpocket.

At thirteen, now confident in her skills at theft, Avery picked a particular mark on a busy street and managed to abscond with a valuable-looking book that had been on his person. Discovering the book to actually contain dozens of complex glyphs and magical incantations, she spent several weeks transfixed by the learning within, and actually managed to figure out a few spells before eventually being tracked down by the mage she had stolen it from. In trying to escape, she successfully managed to cast those spells, a feat impressive enough that once well and truly cornered she was offered an apprenticeship -- the mark, it turned out, was a master at the city's local mage's guild.

Avery spent the next three years under the tutelage of the wizard she had stolen from, and proved a quick study at both magic and the many fundamentals she'd missed in her book-learning-free childhood, although she routinely frustrated her teacher with shortcuts and lack of discipline. After one particularly annoying antic, she was assigned to the study of military tactics, partially as punishment (there aren't many drier subjects compared to learning to cast spells) and partially in the hopes that it would improve her self-restraint. Surprisingly, Avery turned out to be something of a prodigy at the subject, finding many of the battlefield's maneuvers to essentially just be large-scale versions of the ploys she had executed as a common thief. Soon, Avery found herself sent to a distant, intimidating fortress to take a battery of tests on the subject -- and then, shortly afterward, extended an invitation to Estermere Academy.

Misc.

Color code: #5b8a7f
Avery tends toward spells that manipulate the world around her -- for instance, raising pillars of earth (for climbing into high-up windows or positioning archers on high ground), opening snares and pitfalls in the ground (for escaping after a theft or twisting the ankle of the knight bearing down on you), or changing the surface of terrain (for hiding your footsteps or miring down enemy cavalry in thick mud).

Estermere Academy - Military School RP

Avery Harper

Name

Avery Harper

Age

16

Gender

Female

How did they get onto the Officer Programme?

Noble | Buying In | Scholarship | Promoted

Prefered Weapon

Magic!

Appearance Details

Lean and relatively tall at about 5'8, Avery has fair skin and a slim build lacking in much physical bulk. She has medium-length, slightly unkempt blonde hair, usually worn in a loose braid over one shoulder, and sharp hazel eyes. Her facial features are overall somewhat angular, but their intimidating potential is mostly undermined by the easy smiles and friendly expressions they're usually occupied making.

Avery dresses generally in functional, practical clothing, with a fondness for long jackets and sturdy boots, although it's possible that that's just because she's never been in a position to purchase much else. She is agile and nimble, with a good mind for stealth and footwork.

Personality Traits

Avery is bold, personable, and cunning, with a keen mind and an even keener sense for getting into trouble. She is deeply resourceful and fond of mischief, with few moral sensibilities when it comes to subverting the rules of tradition or authority. She makes friends easily and rarely holds grudges. Normally easygoing and possessed of little discipline, she can be laser-attentive on the rare occasion that something truly important catches her eye, although this overall intermittent style of focus doesn't lend itself too well to a soldier's discipline.

Common-born, Avery lacks a fair deal of "traditional" knowledge, although the very worst parts of that failure of education have been addressed sternly in the past several years -- unlike personal combat or self-defense, both of which she knows essentially nothing about beyond the basics of "trip them and run away." Somewhat paradoxically, in spite of this, she has an excellent intuition for military strategy and tactics, a skill that secured her entry into the academy.

As one of very few at the academy not possessed of some prestigious noble heritage, Avery is very self-conscious about her place in the program, and determined to demonstrate her worth.

Biography

Avery was born inauspiciously in a large city on Lorholt's western coast, her father entirely unknown and her mother a household servant for a local merchant. When Avery was ten years old, her mother was accused of pilfering valuables from said merchant's household and promptly tossed into prison, after which Avery began her illustrious career as a street urchin. Working with a local gang of n'er-do-wells, she developed into a skilled child pickpocket.

At thirteen, now confident in her skills at theft, Avery picked a particular mark on a busy street and managed to abscond with a valuable-looking book that had been on his person. Discovering the book to actually contain dozens of complex glyphs and magical incantations, she spent several weeks transfixed by the learning within, and actually managed to figure out a few spells before eventually being tracked down by the mage she had stolen it from. In trying to escape, she successfully managed to cast those spells, a feat impressive enough that once well and truly cornered she was offered an apprenticeship -- the mark, it turned out, was a master at the city's local mage's guild.

Avery spent the next three years under the tutelage of the wizard she had stolen from, and proved a quick study at both magic and the many fundamentals she'd missed in her book-learning-free childhood, although she routinely frustrated her teacher with shortcuts and lack of discipline. After one particularly annoying antic, she was assigned to the study of military tactics, partially as punishment (there aren't many drier subjects compared to learning to cast spells) and partially in the hopes that it would improve her self-restraint. Surprisingly, Avery turned out to be something of a prodigy at the subject, finding many of the battlefield's maneuvers to essentially just be large-scale versions of the ploys she had executed as a common thief. Soon, Avery found herself sent to a distant, intimidating fortress to take a battery of tests on the subject -- and then, shortly afterward, extended an invitation to Estermere Academy.

Misc.

Color code: #5b8a7f
Avery tends toward spells that manipulate the world around her -- for instance, raising pillars of earth (for climbing into high-up windows or positioning archers on high ground), opening snares and pitfalls in the ground (for escaping after a theft or twisting the ankle of the knight bearing down on you), or changing the surface of terrain (for hiding your footsteps or miring down enemy cavalry in thick mud).

Estermere Academy - Military School RP

This seems neat. It's been about a century since I did a forum RP; god knows I have the time these days. A few questions:

- The post mentions magic a couple of times. How common and powerful is that magic? Would the average person be surprised to see a spell cast? Does an army have entire regiments of spellcasters, or are there only a few on any given battlefield? Is magic common enough to have an impact on everyday life?
- Should all characters be in the officers' branch?
- Should every character be new to the academy, or are students entering their second or third year fine?