Lovejoy

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@deathbringerok we’re all set!

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@deathbringerpic is fine! And yes they can choose the tattoo. :)

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@The Angry GoatCool. Oh one last thing, can you give his rifle a different name? You can just make up anything that sounds vaguely Russian, if the rifle is Varyan-made anyway. :p

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@SisyphusAccepted. That's all I have to say. :)

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

Sorry for the double post, but I'll get to addressing everyone else now!

@Lovejoy I noticed, but I already have a beast tamer running around in a few different places and didn't wanna do demons. It's a /great/ idea, though! I'm thinking...hm. Actually, I'm toying with a few ideas. I know this gal's a strong mage, and a good fighter. Possibilities include nullification/antimagic, some sort of ability to use /other/ people's ether, force (pushing/pulling things), fire (thematically it'd fit her, but ehhh, not sure I want to)...actually, force as combat magic would be fun and I have a new weapon set I wanna use it with, but the really *interesting* ones are nullification or the ability to manipulate the ether of others. I'd need to keep it from getting too powerful, of course...but I can put limits on it easy. Offensively it'd put her at a huge disadvantage, and that doesn't seem like something the Seminary does...then again, just draining power doesn't work, you have to /put/ it somewhere. *flails around in the ideas*

@shylarah

@shylarah That all sounds cool, except for the bit about fire magic. After the Fire Titan's death all those eons ago, "fire" as a tangible force within the natural world no longer exists. For much of what we use fire for, the people in this world use ether instead. Think of ether as like fire, but not really. More like a divine energy that exists in people's blood that can burn like fire and give life like fire. What ether really does is not really warm or heat, but shrouds lifeforce from the deadly cold that permeates the world, so its more like a magical veil that keeps blood from freezing, if that makes sense.

Ordinary ether that comes from people is blue, but Omestrian ether is gold and more potent. With but a liter of Omestrian ether you can power an entire household for several months, but it is very rare for the common person to obtain (since most people don't own slaves or can afford to buy the ether that is harvested from them). Everything from ammo cartridges/magazines to batteries contain ether in them. Most of the ether that's used to power weapons and everyday objects is white ether, which comes from beasts and animals, and is more common but less potent. There is also red ether, which comes from demons, but it is highly volatile and there hasn't been enough research done on it to see if it can be used in any form.

Now, your character can have the ability to use ether in a weaponized form. It'd probably manifest as like, colored waves of energy (depending on the kind of ether they used to power it).

@The Angry GoatAwesome character! Loving the full pedal-to-the-metal bruiser thing you've got going on! I only have a few corrections:

- I think 7'5 is kind of pushing it. Would it be cool to put him down to like, 6'10? When I included Varyans being tall as a thing, I wasn't picturing like, giants :p

- Seeing as how we're lowering his height a bit, could we make his shield a tiny bit smaller as well? Also, I don't think it should be nearly indestructible, but it could be able to withstand a ton of damage (say, a straight tank shell, as well as lower-level magic spells?) and he'd have to have it repaired from time to time. The mechanism that allows his shield to extend is pretty cool! About the aegis being an actual physical object that exists in his shield, that isn't really how the aegis works. The "personal" aegis is more of a constant-effect magic spell that an Inquisitor in a warband maintains for the safety of their companions and the soldiers under their command. So think of it as like, the Aegis Inquisitor (also known as The Protector) being a very important member of the group who has trained specifically to be able to maintain this aegis for an extended period of time. So basically, they'd be like a beacon that needs to be protected at all times, so they'd stay at the center of the group. Owing to that, I don't think it'd make sense for Stina to be the Protector, as the bursts of super-strength and superspeed would require intense concentration and would probably interfere with him casting the aegis at all times. Seeing as how you fashioned your character to be more of frontline tank, maybe you can abandon the aegis idea since it doesn't seem to fit with Stina's MO. Just a suggestion.

- I didn't make this clearer before, but kids generally are taken to the Red Seminary when they are 7-10 years old and the training lasts for 12 years. So the part about him "training his whole life" should be changed to "training his entire childhood".

- Oh, this one's my fault. But I decided to change the symbol of Varya to something more thematically suitable. Instead of a red phoenix, it's now a solitary red circle, to signify His emptiness and well, I just think it fits better.

Besides that, I think we're good!

@BingTheWingYes, you can be an Omestrian Inquisitor, and no, their race wouldn't matter if they were a priest or soldier. Yes, you will be discriminated against by certain people but it wouldn't affect your ranks or treatment by the Church, as long as you showed your worth, strength and devotion to Lord Varya (or at least managed to convince them enough)

About the culture analogue, I'm honestly not sure. I pictured the Omestrians as being multi-cultured, so they would be kind of a mishmash and wouldn't conform to any set naming or cultural conventions or anything. They were, after all, about freewill. I would think the Omestrians would have a multitude of skintones, from pale skin to black skin, the only thing they have in common would be the color of their pupils, which is gold.

Like I mentioned to Angry Goat, kids are accepted into the Red Seminary when they're 7-10 and graduate 19-to-22. Not just any child off the street is accepted, they need to possess some form of potential, and thus they are usually brought in by common priests who could recognize the child's budding ether ability, soldiers , or recommended by people of high social standing, like a former master or something of the like.

The life of Omestrian slaves is a brutal existence, some more than others. Most common Omestrian slaves live in squalid ghettos in the lower depths of Magnagrad, where they're put to work doing menial tasks (aka maintaining infrastructure, cleaning streets, digging tunnels, ect). Others live as house slaves, and live their day to day lives serving rich families. The worst, are those judged to have potent ether running through their veins. These unfortunate souls are then taken from the ghettos and from then on live only to have their ether siphoned from them for use by the military and church. They live in cages like animals, their humanity stripped from them because all they are is oil to the Varyan people, and exist in a state of perpetual weakness-- as having ether harvested from your blood brings one to a state of near death, and medical attention is immediately required else one falls into a coma they won't wake from.

As for how they're harvested, I'm not really sure! I was thinking some kind of horrible needle-like device is used and then it sucks the ether out into vials? I don't know, any ideas?

@deathbringerGoddamn! I knew you wouldn't disappoint! What an awesome character! I think it all fits, though there are only a few minuscule things I'd like you to change.

I thought it'd be interesting if all Lanostrans eyes were bright green, like... pines reflecting off ice? Sort of. I made Lady Lanostre's power a bright emerald color in the bit about the Black Glacier, so maybe this could be the color of the eyes of her people. If you'd rather her eyes be blue, then that's cool.

I love, love, love the idea about a secret Lanostran sect aiming to bring her back to power. I had an idea of doing something like that, so it's cool that you got in front of me on this. One thing though, it's been twenty years since Lanostre surrendered to Varya, so I'm not sure if the bit about "they are at a similar crossroads to the Lady's own quandary over 200 years ago" to be reflective of this, but yeah, it's only been 20 years since the Lanostran War.

The last thing is just a suggestion. I added the bit about the demons and how Lanostrans fight them as a kind of sport, so maybe youy can include a bit about how this affected Astraia as a child. Was she successful in hunting a demon? Does she have the title of "R'heon" and a cool tattoo? Let me know!

@OppositionJI forgot to mention this, but feel free to come up with any ideas about demons and how they function/what they look like/ect. I was thinking there were different "orders" of demons, and maybe your character can start off as having captured one of the weaker varieties, but please, go ahead and get creative with this!

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@OppositionJ Here you go! Sorry for the wait!

The Black Glacier of Lanostre

Centuries ago, primitive Lanostran explorers came across a strange shelf of black ice rising up from the snow. Not knowing what lay beneath their feet, they began to dig. After many long decades they fully unearthed the mysterious object, and to their surprise, the tip of the object ended up being just that, the tip. What lay entombed within the ice was something unlike the resurrected human world had ever seen.

A monstrous black object, humming with an unknown crimson ether, lay alien on the earth. This dark arcane glacier, which stretched for miles across the frozen Lanostran sea and into the bowels of the ancient earth itself, didn't so much as suffer a scratch when struck with their most powerful weapons. Its dark visage across the western horizon of Lanoste would cause it to become a staying monolith throughout the history of the warrior nation, a sight as familiar as home to every child born on the Lanostran subcontinent.

The Black Glacier, as it would be known for the ensuing centuries, would pulse with its red ether like a beating heart, and the machine-like hum of its breathing could be heard from miles away on the Lanostran mainland. Its purpose and origin were unknown to the warrior people until many generations later when a corps of T'saraen scientists, upon hearing word of the strange alien-like monolith, braved the journey to Lanostre and crossed the stretch of frozen ocean (which would become known as the Wounded Sea after the bloody war between Varya and Lanostre several hundred years later) on primitive steam ships in order to glimpse the monstrous colossus with their own eyes.

Upon reaching the Lanostre border and being confronted by the Lanostran guard, the T'saraen science corps immediately dropped their weapons, threw themselves at the feet of the guards, and begged for an audience with the Lady of the Trident, claiming that they were there to uncover the secrets of the Glacier. In an instant, The Lady appeared before them and judged them true. Leading them to the black glacier, she bid them to study it and learn.

"Study and learn".

Those three words alone, spoken to them by the Lady herself, became their life's creed. The T'saraen scientists, swearing an oath to "get the job done by any means necessary and uncover the secrets of the Glacier", denounced their homeland, swore off all their lands, titles and research grants, and became honorary Lanostrans. And so it became that a small scientific enclave was founded on the Land of the Trident, and research on the Black Glacier proceeded with the help of native Lanostrans.

The ordeal to uncover the truths behind the Glacier would last several generations, with the children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren of those original ten T'saraen scientists taking up the task. Finally, after decades of work and sacrifice, the descendants of the Original Ten published their findings in a formal report to the Lady.

In truth, the black glacier first existed as a comparatively small shard of the Frost Titan that broke away during its apocalyptic battle with the Fire Titan. Unlike the 12 Remnants who would later become the Broken Pantheon, when this "shard" fell to the world, it didn't adopt a living, moving form but was instead entombed within the earth, where it remained for eons. Most fascinating of all, the Glacier possessed a sort of half-sentience, and its own breathing and the pulsing of the red ether that cascaded across its glassy black expanse like a beating heart were the key to understanding its language. Through the long decades of research and study, the Ten and their descendants were able to decipher its "speech", and as a result, were able to accomplish something truly miraculous. They were able to communicate with a piece of the Ice Titan that wasn't an actual part of the Broken Pantheon.

What they learned from it however, filled them with a dark dread.

Filled with power but without the means to use it, the shard had lived in silent solitude for countless ages, watching by as the dead world around it froze and was in turn resurrected, with no purpose but to seethe with rage at its imprisoned state. It continuously spoke one word to the science corps.

"Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate. Hate."

Upon hearing this, the Lady smirked.

She appeared before the Glacier, and spoke these words to it.

"You are naught but a speck upon the world, a splinter of our Father's might. You will act as you resemble, an iron anvil to forge my people into the weapons they needs become."

With that, The Goddess Lanostre placed her gauntlet-ed hand on the mirrored black surface of the Glacier.

"I can feel your malice, little one. Stoke your hatred. Unchain your wrath upon my people. They will fight back and sharpen their steel against you."

A brilliant emerald glow then flashed from her palm, resonating across the monstrous expanse of the Glacier in calm ripples of jade light.

"Tis' my Will."

The Goddess then disappeared, leaving the shard alone once more.

From then on, to this present day, the Queendom of Lanostre has been beset by periodic invasions of strange magical beings. These strange, inhuman entities, known as "demons" by the Lanostrans, were first pitifully weak, taking the form of small imp-like creatures. But as the decades have marched on, they have become steadily stronger and more vicious and cunning.

It has become a Lanostran tradition for children to slay one of these demons as a rite of passage, and though not many are successful upon their first encounter with a demon, those that are victorious are christened with the title "R'heon" (Lanostran for "demon hunter") and are then branded with a unique tattoo to mark their triumph.

After Lanostre's annexation by Varya, imperial Inquisitors have toyed with the idea of subjugating demons for use as soldiers, but this experiment has not been widely successful. In order to truly enslave a demon and be able to summon it to serve at will, an Inquisitor's ether pool must be extremely deep and their skill in its manipulation must be greater than normal as well. Because of this, "summoners" are nigh unheard of the Church, with only one Inquisitor, the legendary Mother al Sayed, having mastered the skill.

Still, the ability to summon demonic thralls is highly appealing to the Church, and thus the Red Seminary has introduced the Demon Pilgrimage to its curriculum. On the tenth year of training, young pupils who have shown the potential for having exceedingly great ether pools are given the choice to go on a harrowing journey to the Black Glacier, where they attempt to enslave a demon. Though they may bring three trusted companions along with them, the act of subjugating the demon must fall to the would-be summoner alone. Since the practice was introduced fifteen years ago by Mother al Sayed, no more than three pupils out of hundreds have successfully managed to capture a demon, and many more have perished in the attempt.

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@OppositionJHaha, I included that bit of info in there hoping that someone would use it, so yeah, your character can be a summoner. As you stated, you have to be careful with making this ability too powerful at the onset though. I'd rather our characters grow and become more skilled with their magical abilities as the story progresses.

I'll write up some info about demons for you tomorrow. Right now it's pretty late here and I need to go to bed!

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@SisyphusThat's a perfect way of addressing my concern with that power. I think it can work that way, sort of like the "power word" thing from D&D. Maybe your character can be like the group's main interrogator and stealthy person? Looking forward to seeing your CS!

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

@Sisyphus I love the trickster idea but I'm a bit weary about players being able to control other players' characters through mind control (if that's what your building this power up to), so I'm not sure how comfortable I'd be with that. Not to say that that's what your character would do, but the possibility alone makes me question if it'd be fair to other people's characters. Could you tell me a bit more about how it would work?

The Last Embers (Dark Steampunk/Fantasy)

Put together a world map image to show a general look at where everything is located.