Lauder

Halo: Age of Reformation

@Dervish

Halo: Age of Reformation

”Do I take life or give it? Who is victim, and who is foe?”

-The Gravemind

The Covenant, a galactic empire founded on blood, was established by the ‘Writ of Union’ between the San’Shyuum and the Sangheili in 852 B.C. marking the end of the conflict between the two. This led to a rapid conquest through the galaxy with the Sanghieli acting as the military backbone of the newly formed Covenant and the San’Shyuum leading them as prophets and holy icons. It was the will of the Hierarchs and the military prowess of its military leaders that brought further races into the folds of the Covenant. The Lekgolo, the Kig-Yar, the Unggoy, the Yanme’e, and the Jirahlhanae. It was these races that led the Covenant to victory.

Then, the Harvest Skirmish came to fruition, the first contact with Humanity, marking the beginning of the Human-Covenant War that would shake the foundation of both nations. While the first contact had been a peaceful one, the events that started the skirmish, and the war had been by the hands of the Unngoy. However, the Human-Covenant War, declared a crusade by the High Prophets of Truth and Regret made the war into a cleansing of a race that had a larger connection to the Forerunners than many of the Covenant races. Yet, for the first 28 years of the war, with the ascension of High Prophets of Truth and Regret, the Covenant used its technological might to keep Humanity on their heels. Though, in the face of total devastation, a single individual would help lead to utter collapse of the Covenant that had fought tooth and nail in a brutal crusade, Spartan-II John-117. With the destruction of the first Halo ring, the start of the Great Schism, and the loss of High Charity to the Flood, the Covenant collapsed under its own weight with most of its leadership being destroyed along with High Charity.

The Covenant split into many different factions and no longer did they have the galactic power they once possessed, leaving the UNSC to fill the void of power and dominate in their recovery. While many tried and failed to reform their Covenant, there was little the old Covenant supporters could do.

Though, there is one faction still holding the spark of the Covenant, forsaking the pretenders of Jul’Mdama. The true Covenant led by the self-proclaimed High Prophet of Remorse. While small and unknown to the UNSC, the area in which the Prophet of Redemption operates see the remnant group as the closest thing to a Covenant government before the Great Schism, but there is also the poor fact that the space is dominated by human planets, Insurrectionist planets at that. But having a single CSA-class assault carrier, the Warden of the Gods, operated with a near skeleton crew, crewed by only the most loyal who follow the word of the Prophet.

Now, however, it is the Age of Resurrection and the new prophet seeks to stake his claim on the galaxy.

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Hello and welcome to Halo: Age of Resurrection, a new Halo RP set roughly around the same time as the events of Halo 4 with Master Chief still floating through space. The area that will be operated in this roleplay, will be on the fringes of human space with newly colonized human worlds and some systems that operate as dens of insurrection, though pose little threat to the UNSC and ONI. This makes the space rife with pirates as there is little enforcement of law, save for the newly colonized worlds which are guarded by small contingents of UNSC fleets.

Though, if you haven’t guessed by now this roleplay is going to be set around a group still loyal to the Covenant (or not if you happen to be Kig-Yar or human), operating on a the Warden of the Gods. The day-to-day lives of these characters are as what the players want for their characters; engineer, gunner, vehicle specialist, etc, etc. The group will follow under that direction of the High Prophet of Redemption in mission for the Warden to embark on in order to bring back a dying Covenant. Though, it will be a hard task to pull off given the limited resources that the Remnant group has access to, especially considering the rapid rise of the UNSC.

This is not to discourage players though, as while the primary missions follow a set storyline, in between those big, climactic missions, characters can choose to do nearly anything to hearts content. It is important to character development that this happens as I believe that purely focusing on a single plot, with no focus on anything that the characters wish to do outside of that is not very great for keeping interest, though I may just be ranting over past experiences.

At the start of this RP, I will be accepting up to six players to aid in the rebuilding of the Covenant. I will be looking for players that show a depth of knowledge of the Halo lore and quality of their writing through their applications, though of course I will also judge based off player background (basically just making sure someone isn’t a join then drop sort of person). However, in the event we have more applications than spots that I am comfortable, do not worry for I have a plan! Those who remain interested and are not picked with be put on a waiting list for a spot if one opens up through a player drop, or god forbid a kick. The list would be made in a first come, first serve fashion.

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No God-modding or power playing of any kind, simple as that. However, given it is a Halo RP, I know that players may desire to do things that are fairly badass and I will allow, just keep it somewhat realistic. This rule applies to self-insert characters, backstories that would give the character in question skills, or equipment, that would be OP.

The writing standard here is advanced. At LEAST 2 well detailed paragraphs. EZ PZ.

If you plan to be absent for any longer than 14 days, please notify me so that I do not eject you from the RP unjustly. I dislike it when people do not notify the GM and just leave without a word, even if something has come up just let me know if you plan to take off for a bit.

If you are unsure if you can do something or not, do not be prepared to ask in the OOC. Additionally, if somebody does something that you do not agree with, do not turn it into a flame fest. I will warn you if things start getting out of hand and failure to listen will result in expulsion, as unfortunate as that sounds.

Mary/Gary Sues will be glassed from orbit. Viciously glassed beyond all recognition.

Romance is something that will inevitably come up in the RP. Just if it gets into the more *ahem* sexual side. Take it to the PMs before I summon a mod to god smack you with all the throbbing power of the ban hammer. Got it? Got it. Moving on.

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Race

In Halo, there are quite a few races in the Covenant and while I do not like to put restrictions on things, I must. The Mgalekgolo are a no-no, namely due to the fact they are a collection of worms and are night unstoppable when formed in their armor, explosives and Spartans be damned. Speaking of Spartans, they are also a big NO as they are a part of the UNSC and defectors are typically killed rather quickly by ONI. Of course, there are the Huragok, who just mosy around and repair things, nothing against them as I find them adorable, but sadly they have difficulty communicating and are far too single minded which keeps them out. The last restriction, is the Yanme’e, the drones, as they are simple a hive-mind. Nuff said.

As far as that goes, there are no other restrictions on species. Yes, even humans, as there are some human mercenaries on the Warden of the Gods to help keep it running.

Appearance
A thorough description of your character. How do they present themselves? What do they wear outside of the standard covenant attire? Do they slouch often or carry themselves proudly? Be sure to make your character known in how they look!

Equipment
What kind of things does your character have? From weapons to armor to even some sort of other stuff they carry on them, also add things that would be important to your character!

Skills
Simple, what does your character have to bring to the table? In the small skeleton crew, there are still quite a large number of people necessary to make the ship run. How does your character help? Are they a damned good security guard? Or are they an engineer almost comparable to a Huragok. Just make it believable.

Backstory
The Backstory of a character, at least for me, is the single most important part of the CS and I will critique it heavily on quality and if it makes a believable character. As you can see there is no ‘personality’ section so this is the best way to show the mind of your character and how they have grown. This will also help me judge your Halo lore knowledge. However, if you give me a paragraph summary of your character, do not expect to be accepted so please make this a quality section as it may just make your character stand out more than the others.

Character Sheet

[h3][b]Name[/b][/h3]
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Race:[/b]
[b]Sex:[/b]
[b]Appearance:[/b]
[b]Equipment:[/b]
[b]Skills:[/b]
[b]Backstory:[/b]

D&D 5E: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Aurix gets her information from only the most reliable of sources.

D&D 5E: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Aurix

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Skullport.

Aurix registered the name possibly more hostile than she was supposed to, her mind settling that the place would be openly filled with dangers. For a moment, the lizardfolk thought to herself before she rose from her seat after Esvelle had finished speaking and standing silent for a moment as she gazed at the human. With a huff, the reptile turned her back and walked off to gather information about the place they were going to, such preparations being key to survival as these tasks favored the prepared. Aurix was determined that she would survive and that would be her reasoning for leaving the table.

After looking around, Aurix could not find anyone that seemed like a good source of information before she came across an old pirate, his skin old and tough showed that he had seen many horrors and experienced many things. No doubt that he would certainly know more than any of the other soft ones that occupied the bar. Her eyes focus on him as she moved towards the old man, her form finding it hard to navigate in the rather crowder tavern as she moved about with little grace or elegance.

“Hello,” Aurix introduced herself, looking down on the old man before continuing, “Our group travels through maze to Skullport. Can you give knowledge for survival?”

The pirate turned to her, his wrinkled face forming into a bit of a mad smile, showing that his teeth had been replaced with iron fangs, earning a bit more respect from Aurix as this soft-one attempted to make up for what she had naturally. He let out a sort of wheezing sound, something that the lizardfolk could be a sound of amusement, before slamming his drink down and putting a hand on the tough skin of the lizardfolk.

“Skullport is filled cannibal dragonborn! Warring tribes and such! They do sacrifices on non-dragonborn and creatures of shadow serve them!” the old man said, gracing Aurix with his knowledge as he pulled out a piece of pottery. “They use these in their rituals so that the shadows can take people away when they least expect it! Halflings and gnomes better be wary!”

Aurix’s eyes scanned the ground as she thought before she went to speak, “I th-”

“But gnomes swindle too much! They deserve it!” He interrupted before offering the piece of pottery to his knew scaled friend.

“Your words carry much wisdom, old one. May you survive longer,” she said, proud to know of someone who was more lizardfolk than the other soft-skins. She took the pottery and looked back at the old timer who had already had his back as he downed more of his drink.

“I wish ye luck in travels, lizard! Trust not the shadows or the dragonborn!”

Aurix could only nod in respect as she turned away to finally go get rest so that the tired would not bring her down. She would tell the others of what information she had found when they would descend into the maze as such valuable knowledge must be known.

D&D 5E: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

I'll post up something by tomorrow!

D&D 5E: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Huzzah! The dry spell is over! Bless these rains down in Africa as we have a wonderful post where Aurix seems to have scared a noble!

[Jedi] Tython

“We’re almost to the top, keep moving!” Kyla exclaimed as she kept climbing, reaching the top. She grabbed Elav by the arm and pulled him upwards, San Anin and Jaslyn already there. She spoke to Elav as he gingerly rose to his feet alongside her. “Are you alright?”

“No. I don’t feel good at all, my entire body feels like it is on fire,” The twi’lek replied, holding a hand against his temple. Unknowingly feeling the poison from the Terentatek coursing through his veins. “Those things, they aren’t normal. We have to stop them.”

“We need to retreat. Who knows what's going on at the Temple,” She glanced back to the shuttle they had arrived in, noticing someone inside of the cockpit. A stranger, she felt a tinge in the Force as she looked upon them, then started moving towards the vessel, San and Elav following. Jaslyn was way closer to the shuttle than the rest of them were.

As Kyla turned her head back towards the Rift her eyes went wide, the half dozen Terentateks climbed out of the gorge. The fearsome beasts snarling as they slowly stood on even ground with the Jedi. This was a terrible situation. The battlemaster activated her lightsaber, attempting to center herself with the Force. Bathe herself in the calming aura of the light as Elav once more activated both of his own weapons. Pushing through the intense pain.

“What do we do, master?” San Anin asked, turning her head slightly as she held her curved hilt in one hand, her vision jumping from Terentatek to Terentatek. She pointed her saber towards one as she began to step backwards, eventually stopping and steeling her nerves like she had on the ship. In a moment of clarity, she calmed her mind from the fleeing and the hectic chaos that had been brought to the planet. She gazed inward with force, slowing her heart rate and forcing herself to herself. The padawan let out a long exhale as she stepped towards her master, only stopping when she was next to Kyla.

The padawan looked to her master before putting a hand on Kyla’s shoulder to grab her attention before she was hit with the feelings of confusion and uncertainty. It wracked her mind as she felt the repressed feeling of fear, such emotions were not the padawan’s as she had only calmed her mind moments before. Her goggled eyes seemed to stare into her master for a few moments before San Anin decided to speak, knowing that it was not the student that needed to be comforted in the moment, but rather the master. “Master, do not let the uncertainty cloud your mind,” she said simply, retracting her hand to focus on the beasts.

Kyla breathed deep, hearing her padawan’s words. Her eyes dashed around them, searching for any way to escape. They were quicker on foot than those monstrosities, but they were outnumbered by the creatures. A speeder sat to their side, an ideal way to get back to the temple. But only two of them could fit on it at most, and there were three Jedi itching to escape. The shuttle was lifting into the air, with only Daslyn and the stranger onboard. As the creatures charged towards them, Kyla readied herself, centering herself on the light side once more.

Turning back from the Rift as she was getting to the surface Jaslyn pulls herself up to standing. The wind whipped her hair back like a flag as Jaslyn planted her feet and looked over at the shuttle. The lights on the shuttle are on and they weren’t on when Jaslyn had passed it last. Breaking into a run Jaslyn makes for the shuttle to stop the survivor from leaving the rest of them stranded. “NOOOO!!!! STOP!!!!”

Amazingly keeping her feet under her Jaslyn makes it to the shuttle. Diving for the door she manages to get inside just before it closes and the locks are engaged. Pushing up off the floor of the shuttle Jaslyn scrambles to her feet.

Mass Effect: Renegade

Hann'Ceedda

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Kopris’ response to her complaint was as much as she could expect from someone like him, though it still annoyed her a great deal with the oozing sarcasm of his voice. She could not help but dignify him with a rather annoyed and mocking voice, “‘Could you please hand her over?’ At least if we went through the front, I’d already had access to their network.” She let out a huff as she raised the volume of her music and muted the comms of the medic before he could respond to her in kind. The quarrelsome quarian was just as petty as a krogan was, but at the very least she could control her temper, mostly.

There was much in the way of practically wading through sewage and whatever waste happened to be lying within it, merely desiring to spread its sickness to the weakly immune. Luckily enough, Hann could avoid such calamity thanks to her suit, though the worry of a suit breach continued to stick with her as her HUD fed the many, many contaminants that lurked just outside her sanctuary. Additionally, there was the smell, not that she was remotely bothered by it given her suit was an internal environment so she could only imagine what it was like. However, her mind was more focused on merely listening to her music which had since changed from the turian themed to old krogan war chants, mostly songs about killing Rachni. In fact, she probably wouldn’t hear any of the chatter from the comms had her VI automatically lowered the volume of the music so she could know what was happening.

The music and its heavy drums helped to keep her entertained on the rather long and boring walk through the dark sewers, though the music could only help so much and Hann was doing her best not to focus too much on her imagination. This was what was going on long before the message of radio silence had been sent by Koyla. Had the imposing krogan, Vash, not been in front of her, she probably would have walked directly into someone. She had learned from the morning to keep an eye out for others, namely for the sake of not embarrassing herself further within the crew, though it seemed that her distracted nature meant that she would almost repeat it. She stopped mere inches away from the Krogan as a report of Eclipse members being in their way.

Eclipse was a group that she had considered joining when she had sold the Jalazi before, though she had abstained from the idea as they were merely too big of a group for her to enjoy getting on with. Plus, Hann was more comfortable with the smaller close-knit groups, much like how it had been with her old Krogan friends.

However, a rather evil laugh came out of Hann as she saw the words ‘Sentries’ came across her HUD. She was still laughing when Koyla had begun his assault, igniting some of the poor mercenaries with a gas. As Koyla charged, Hann ran up, her fingers swiftly tapping on her omni-tool and as she turned the corner, pointed her orange-enveloped hand at one the sentries. Suddenly, it switched itself around to begin gunning down its handler, continuing to fire until he was clearly dead, turning to another to begin firing at the other turret. Such a sight made Hann giddy as her image faded from view, allowing her to begin moving forward.

>Invisible, right side

Came the text appearance on everyone’s HUDS as Hann ran forwards, predator raised and ready to fire when she had closed the gap between her and the Eclipse.

D&D 5E: Dungeon of the Mad Mage

Doing good! Been keeping myself busy with good ole fun writing and drawing!

[Jedi] Tython

The speeder hummed and screeched as the Jedi battlemaster accelerated over the hills and plains of Tython, causing a roaming pack of Uxibeasts to screech and scatter. Kyla swiveling between the gap in the herd as she rocketed closer to the temple. The disturbance was still evident within the Force, dark storm clouds gathered in the once clear blue skies. As the temple came into view she heard the fierce rumble of thunder, birds screamed in the air as they flew in seemingly random directions. She’d almost forgotten the animals reacted to these fierce fluctuations in the Force just like the Jedi did. It had to be a force sensitive of some sort who crash landed, perhaps not a Sith though that was not yet ruled out.

Around her people darted around in confusion, as lightning into the mountains beyond them. She could sense the oceans churning, the planet as far from peace as she could ever recall it being. Kyle took a deep breath, focusing her mind on controlling and assessing the situation at hand. She slammed on the brakes of her vehicle, another screech echoed as it came to a full stop in the middle of the courtyard in front of the main building. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the Force flow around her as she sensed for her padawan. The young girl must have been terrified, but Kyla had taught her well to compose her fear. San was here, that was something to be thankful for at least.

The battlemaster then jumped off of her speeder, leaving it behind as she jogged towards the entrance. Temple guards brought organization to the confusing, frightening situation, waving any Jedi inside. Two Jedi knights carried around holopads as they did head counts, accounting for all personal in the temple. There were still others in the wilds of the now chaotic planet and all Kyla could do at this moment was hope the Force was keeping them safe. She had to deal with the crash head on, but not alone. She pushed through the entrance, then let out a relief filled sigh followed by a slight smile as she spotted her padawan.

“San! Are you alright?” Kyla asked, placing a comforting hand on her young apprentice’s left shoulder. Care evident in her facial expression.

“Master!” San exclaimed happily as her master reunited with her. Her mask blocked her expression but the sense of ease that Kyla had brought was clear as day knowing her master was with safe. Her mind did not linger upon this happiness, however, as the Kel Dor looked to the mountains with a troubled feeling over taking her. She let out a rather hesitant noise as she thought to speak but failing to find words in order to properly relay what she was feeling at that time. That was merely how San Anin was as she awkwardly fumbled to find the words.

“D-do you know what is happening, m-master?” San asked softly, her reclusive nature coming to her as her hand sank a bit. When her confidence failed, San Anin’s hands began to interlock as her mind attempted to put itself at ease like it had before her master had come. However, it was merely impossible at the moment, there were too many people for her to try such a thing. It was clear that she was more concerned by the crowd of peers than the situation, at least, that was what it had seemed as her body language went inwards. San Anin kept herself closed off, hunching her back as her face went to look around at the crowd.

“A ship broke through orbit and crashed in the Rift beyond the mountains. I’m not sure of what make the ship is. I don’t believe it's a Sith though,” Kyla replied as her small smile at seeing her padawan faded, she kept her hand on San’s shoulder, then led the Kel Dor down a hallway towards her office. “This planet is extremely rich in the Force, you feel it don’t you? Unlike any other world. When there’s a disturbance in the Force on Tython it just causes the planet to go haywire, the environment reacts, the animals react and the Force itself reacts. I fear its only going to get worse, but that's why we’re going to fix this situation immediately.”

She gave her apprentice a firm nod of confidence, trying to word what she said as if not to apply intense pressure on the young girl, or frighten her. As they stepped inside of her office Kyla moved behind her desk, opening a cabinet from which she quickly changed into her Jedi armor. Marked and scarred from the battles it had been through even before San was born, it still was Kyla’s choice when she was called to action. She lifted one foot up, placing it on the edge of her desk as she tied her boot.

“I’m not sure what we’ll encounter in the Rift, I doubt that we’re the only Jedi heading there. Though the Order is advising all Jedi on the planet to stay in the temple. We’re going against that. You’re going to have to be at your wisest, strongest and readiest. I’m going to need your help if we’re going to solve this.” Kyle stated calmly as she finished tying both her boots, then all of her armor on slipped her long Jedi robe on top and walked out of her office with San in tow. They walked towards the front entrance, seemingly going the opposite way of everyone else.

San Anin seemed apprehensive at the idea of going after something that managed to breach through Tython, though her master seemed far more intent on it. “M-master, are you sure this is best idea? I, ugh- it’s just…,” her voice trailed off as she looked at her more confident master before clearing her voice, “I-I am not exactly the best duelist and I w-would suspect whatever we are going after is going to be, erm, stronger than me.”

The padawan lacked the confidence that her master had, partially from the fact that she had been putting off her studies of the lightsaber. San Anin knew that if they were going after whoever had decided to come to Tython then she may have to demonstrate her poor saber skills. Yet, she could not tell her master out of fear of being punished, or worse, finding that she had disappointed her master in any capacity. The teen looked back the other Jedi who retreated into the confines of the temple before her head swiveled back to her master.

“N-not that I doubt your decisions, m-master. I just d-don’t k-,” her voice trailed off again as she spoke, this time not bothering to continue with the worried statement.

“I know that you feel you are lacking with lightsabers, San. Chances are we are only facing one or at maximum a couple of Force users if any. The ship looked small, like a fighter, and it was the only one which fell. Regardless you are strong in the Force, San. Stronger than you believe you are. A Jedi’s strength does not only come from how well they swing a lightsaber.” Kyla said as she turned to give her padawan a reassuring glance.

“Believe in yourself San, and in my advice. I have had an apprentice die on me before and it was my own fault. I will not allow any harm to come to you. I promise you.” She added, firm in her words as they walked now outside of the temple, passing the guards who gave them a confused parting glance.

San Anin stares at her master in silence for a few moments, her previous apprehensions fading only slightly as Kyla promised to protect her. However, her feelings on the whole operation was still keeping her in a more worried state, despite the ease that her master brought. The padawan let out a sigh as she looked to the ground as she tried to clear her mind the best she could.

To their left was a small dropship, a plain grey with no weaponry. The battlemaster flicked a switch and the back began to open up to them. As she motioned for San to head inside Kyla heard a familiar voice behind her.