Lugubrious

World of Light: the Endless Now

I'm already a demon. (WIP)

Name: Venom Snake

Origin: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain

Appearance:

Personality: Prior to his hypnotherapy, Venom Snake was extremely loyal to Big Boss, and never loses his composure under pressure. During his days in MSF, Big Boss considered him the group's "best man" and held great respect for him. Before signing and during his enlistment with MSF, Logan was noted to be stoic, sociable and outgoing; able to switch at the drop of a pin into a hyper-lethal killer if the his life or the lives of his men were threatened. The rank of 1st Lieutenant didn't fill his head with ego, as he ensured to be just as a capable and effective leader as he was a soldier.

Despite being an imperfect body-double, Venom Snake was nearly indistinguishable from the real Big Boss by his men and those who encountered him. To those who have heard of him in rumor, it would be akin to seeing The Legend himself.

After receiving hypnotherapy and plastic surgery, Venom Snake came to share many mental and physical aspects with Big Boss. He was a strong-willed figure with a somewhat grim, realistic outlook on the world. He prefers to work alone, but still cares for those around him. There are moments where he displays compassion toward his opponents and prefers righteous acts of justice, as he chose not to kill Quiet or Huey despite being in an advantageous position to do so. Believing that he was the original Big Boss, Venom Snake also shared many of Big Boss' habits, including his habit of smoking. Although not sadistic like Ocelot, and not as vengeful to the same degree as Miller, Snake does display a wrathful side. Most notable, however, is his selfless nature; treating anyone he grows close to, or anyone under his Command, as if they were his own soldiers. However, those that take the time to bond with him off the battlefield will see a side of Snake that, to date, only one other person has.

Venom Snake is largely observational, preferring to listen to everything before speaking, if speaking at all. He is methodical in approaching missions and avoids taking unnecessary risks; opting to maintain stealth for as long as he can before going loud. Being an opportunistic combatant, Venom never underestimates his enemies and always tries to stay one step ahead when he can; using the environment to his advantage whenever possible, and sees retreating as a last resort should he become outmatched.

Lastly, Snake is generally understanding and receptive to the concerns and opinions of others, but harbors a dislike of egotistical and selfish individuals. He views those who place themselves ahead of the greater picture to be nothing short of a liability, and may outright refuse an order if such places him or his companions in needless danger. Snake is never quick to anger or have a hair-trigger temper, but if he is pushed around enough, he won't hesitate to strike back.

Background: Prior to 1975, the MSF soldier known as Logan Woods served as a member of the 75th Ranger Regiment, 1st Infantry Division during the Vietnam War. Following the war's conclusion in 1973, Woods signed onto a contract with a Private Force (PF) known as Blackwatch. Logan had served with them for several months before being deployed to Costa Rica to thwart Peace Sentinel operations, as the organization had tracked the mysterious activities of an agency known as CODESA operating in the region since the early 70's. On a quiet night during a patrol, Logan was ambushed and quickly subdued by an unknown assailant, waking up hours later in a darkened room and interrogated by Big Boss himself. Initially discouraged to abandon his team, Logan ultimately accepted and was assigned as a combat medic; dispatched throughout various operations as Mother Base sought to liberate the region from Peace Sentinel and KGB activities.

During the Ground Zeroes incident, Logan was on the Boss's helicopter during his rescue of Paz and Chico; having to remove an implanted bomb within Paz after noticing the abdominal wound. When the attack on Mother Base forced an emergency diversion, Logan provided covering fire from the inside of the chopper as Kazuhira Miller was only able to be evacuated. With the helicopter in retreat, Paz awoke and revealed herself to have a secondary bomb planted inside her; throwing herself out of the helicopter as Logan quickly moved to shield the Boss from the resulting explosion.

Awakening from a medically induced coma nine years later in a Cyprus hospital, the now codenamed Venom Snake escaped the hospital's assassin sent to kill him (along with its subsequent destruction) with the help of a fellow patient who called himself Ishmael; later encountering Revolver Ocelot as the two men journeyed into Afghanistan to rescue Miller from the Russians. From there, Diamond Dogs slowly built up and emerged as a leading PF from the network of established mercenary companies. Snake succeeded in rescuing Code Talker, capturing and bonding with both Quiet and DD, and encountering Skull Face; the latter of which was defeated alongside Sahelanthropus before being mercilessly maimed by Snake.

Weeks after Diamond Dogs became crippled from the second parasitic outbreak, along with Quiet's exit from Diamond Dogs, Venom Snake, Diamond Dogs, and the entirety of Mother Base were swept away in a tidal wave of light. Venom Snake would have never learned of who he was originally, and his legacy is lost to all but unknown to himself.

In the Now: Venom Snake operates within Mafia-Town; safeguarding the island where he can from threats as they appear.

Job: Commando

Specialty: Infiltration, Tactical Espionage Opeartions

Inventory:

AM MRS-4LS: This 5.56mm light carbine is renown for ease of use, with a balance between stopping power and accuracy. It comes with a suppressor, foregrip, laser/light attachment and a medium Red Dot scope. Typically, this weapon's rounds can penetrate through Kevlar weave at moderate to close ranges, yet will bounce off of medium to heavy armor from long engagement distances. In addition, the 5.56mm rounds fired from a moderate distance can have the ability to penetrate up to 15mm deep within Level Four armor. Slung across his chest.

BRENNAN LRS-46: High-caliber sniper rifle boasting incredible power and penetration, though its bolt action gives it a slow rate of fire. Fires 12.7mm rounds. Slung across his back, will replace AM MRS if selected before mission.

Wu-S Pistol: A bolt-action handgun with a suppressor, this pistol fires tranquilizer darts. As such, the rounds fired won't even penetrate glass fixtures. However if a dart gets imbedded into flesh, the cocktail of narcotics administered will be delayed in incapacitating the target (or ineffective at all) unless a headshot or neck shot is made, and even then depending on the target's resistance does it have a high possibility to fail outright. Against augmented humans and whatever have you, this weapon may have little to no effect and will require multiple, successful hits to be able to knock a target out. Fitted on his right holster.

AM D114LB-9: A customized .45 semi-automatic handgun with a black tactical conversion kit, extended magazine, under-barrel laser/light combo device, and suppressor. Fitted on his left holster.

IntScope: This black rangefinder-like device serves as a pair of binoculars, capable of 'marking' targets and their position and direction on the Idroid's display. Capable of a x20 zoom, this device pairs with the iDroid's remote functionality to call in precise pinpoint strikes. Additionally, it contains a built in parabolic microphone in order to listen in on conversations and other miscellaneous sounds.

iDroid: This handheld data terminal is capable of calling in support, providing encrypted communications, scanning documents, and can project a flat holographic map of the area in addition to monitoring the user's vitals.

Service knife: A standard-issue serrated black combat knife.

x6 Phantom-Cigars: Arguably possessing more medicinal properties than carcinogens, these electronic cigars are used to calm nerves, relax muscles, increase metabolic healing, and generally unwind without interfering with the user’s combat performance.

Sneaking suit (Diamond Dogs): The Sneaking Suit manufactured by Diamond Dogs during this time prioritized shock absorption and resistance. It was made of high-strength aramid fibers and has sound absorbing boots, and a shock absorbent and resistant vest that likely suppressed any type of damage that could stunt the user for a second. While not as armored as the Battle Dress, it is Venom's preferred armor type.

Lv: 1 (You start with 5 level-upgrades you can split between Powers and Skills)
EXP: 0/10

Abilities:

Bionic arm: A red bionic-myoelectric arm prosthesis was utilized by Venom Snake in 1984. The prosthesis replaced his right arm, as it had been lost in the aftermath of the Ground Zeroes Incident in 1975, although he was originally fitted with a simpler 'hook' prosthesis.

Ability Name - Ability Description (This will largely involve the bionic arm's later upgrades; utilizing the in-game abilities such as the rocket punch and taser feature- despite belonging to a different 'arm' entirely.

Skills:

CQC/CQB: Rumored to have been trained by CQC by Big Boss himself following his recruitment, Venom Snake is an expert in hand-to-hand combat alongside close combat with a personal defense weapon/sidearm. Snake's CQC uses a blend of fast brutal strikes and momentum-based throws aimed to quickly disorient, disarm, and neutralize his opponents.

Gunfighting: Venom Snake is proficient in engaging hostiles with all manner of weapons, though keeping in mind things around his universe will be far easier to handle in battle compared to something from the future.

Crackshot marksman: While not as talented as Quiet, Venom Snake can hold his own in providing sniper support and engage well off in counter-sniper situations.

CLS/Field Surgery: Venom Snake is a talented battlefield surgeon and combat medic; able to stabilize combat casualties and perform light field surgeries in the event that proper medical support is unavailable.

Athletic: Despite pushing his mid forties, Snake is not quick to tire out and can sustain long periods of physical activity.

Hyper-reflexive: Venom Snake possesses a greater than average reaction speed during an adrenal dump; allowing him to see the world as if it was 'slowed' for a very limited time.

Weaknesses: (Practical limitations, detrimental ‘stats’, and deficiencies. Include three)

Close shave: Logan had thrown himself in the Boss's path just before Paz's secondary bomb detonated; losing his right arm below the elbow, and ending up with 108 foreign bodies embedded into his body as well as blinding his left eye. Several fragments had landed close to his heart, with one prominent metallic sliver lodging itself in his cerebral cortex. Consequently, a carbide-titanium 'horn' was placed as a cover around the protrusion. Although capable of withstanding light impacts, Venom Snake suffers from faded colors shortly after waking, PTSD episodes, hallucinations, and can even be brought into a fugue-like seizure state if the horn is struck hard enough.

Phantom: Being a 'clone' of Big Boss in all but genetics, Venom Snake shares many personality traits with the Legendary Soldier. As a result, Logan's previous personality, traits, and mannerisms are either blurred or overridden due to the extensive hypnotherapy. This makes him appear subdued or stoic, and he can be often seen coming across as grim, cynical or overly pragmatic. He also lacks Big Boss's wit and detailed knowledge of weapon systems, and cannot interpret foreign languages.

Human: Venom Snake may be a legendary soldier, but that doesn’t mean a burst from a 20mm auto cannon can’t cut him in half. Sustained gunfire, heavy calibers, magical manipulation, or exploitation of weakpoints are all acceptable means of defeating Venom.

Spirits: (Any spirits your character possesses should be listed here with their type)
Spirit name - Type (I'm still understanding how this works, so any feedback would be huge in clarification to Snake's character.)

Rapport: (You can keep track of your Rapport here. As you level up Rapports, consider linking the posts here and listing what they give you) (Gonna leave this here for reminder purposes!)

Misc: [THEME] https://youtu.be/FKwVFWwA_x8

Posted, and SUPER STOKED! Also I'm gonna work for Instacart today, so I'll be back in 4-6 hours or so to address any changes or inconsistencies that y'all find- I think I filled this out well but things are liable to slip through, heh. Anyhow, I shall return! Can't wait to explore this world with everyone.

@DisturbedSpec

I commend you for all the effort and meticulous detail you pit in. In fact, I didn't actually know his name was Logan. Overall the sheet is very good, but there is one thing we should discuss. As is, Snake here comes fully-kitted, bordering on overloaded. For one, new sheets are supposed to have just five powers/skills total, while this seven, as well as a leftover ability placeholder. Plus, isn't the prosthetic arm just equipment? Comparing the descriptions, the sneaking suit would be more of an ability.

On the subject from equipment, he has a rifle, a sniper rifle, two handguns, and two support devices. Considering that everyone starts in a weakened state, maybe we could cut that down to just the pistols and one support device to go with the knife, sneaking suit, arm, and the cigars? The more high-power equipment could be manifested with level-ups later for the sake of progression.

World of Light: the Endless Now

@DisturbedSpec Hello and welcome. We sure are, and I'd be happy to have you!

World of Light: the Endless Now

mk 2, updated inventory,in the now, powers, skills and weaknesses

Edward Portsmith

The Last Dreadnought

Edward Portsmith

Origin: Age of wonders 3

Appearance: Edward is a middle aged human with brown hair, sandy skin and a chiseled complexion that is all angles.
He wears the armor of a commonwealth Dreadnought: dark gray armored plate mail with epaulet adored shoulder pads, a red sash, and red pantaloons.
His steed is a brown stallion adorned in a red cloud and gray metal horse armor that menaces with spikes.

Personality:
A resourceful, honest, and a highly trained and distinguished military commander. Once a bit of a stickler to the rules, and still very much able to quote them, and blind to the excesses of his nation due to believing firmly in what it stood for, Edward has long since put that aside in the name of living up to the egalitarian spirit of its ideals and doing what is right. Even now when the Commonwealth is dead and buried. Perhaps more so. Especially after a stint of horrors beyond the void madness caused him, for a time, to twist those principles into an engine of brutal and bloody conquest.

He is generally well spoken, be it delivering orders or rousing speeches, as well as fairly personable when the time allows. He also has nerves of steel, and is a true professional even when under immense stress. However, as a man of (magi-)science he has a tendency to turn his nose up at mysticism and traditions that exist purely for tradition’s sake.

Background:
Edward Portsmith was once a Dreadnaught of the Commonwealth Empire, a nation situated next to the valley of wonders on the blessed continent of the world of Athela.
Said Empire began as a joining of the many species of the world for mutual protection and the sharing of knowledge. Though it set out with benign intentions, ambition and technological development quickly outgrew the concepts of the original charter, resulting in strife, both internally between competing factions, and externally with the other major power in the land, the elven court.
A group known as the Shadowborn sought to take advantage of this strive to file all out war, weakening them both in order to make the realm easy pickings for their extradimensional masters. However Edward, along with his childhood friend Leana and a group known as the Torchbearers managed to unpick the conspiracy, though not before much blood and death was sown in its name.
Despite their efforts, it was not enough to save their nation, nor their world. Across Athela worldgates, portals to other worlds in the multidimensional space known as the astral sea, opened, and from them came Godir, all powerful sorcerer kings styling themselves as gods, who had been banished long ago for crimes committed against the world. Edward and Leana stood at the head of the commonwealth’s defenses, but in its weakened state, and against the ancient magics of the Godir, they stood little chance as entire armies were sent plummeting through rits and the astral sea, where they were left adrift in a realm of maddening chaos.
Through Leana’s magic and Edward’s ingenuity they and some of their forces survived this intended death sentence, eventually crashing on a distant world. There they rebuilt, but, haunted by their travels through the astral sea, something went wrong in many of their minds. Including Edward’s.
He led his fellow madmen on a crusade across the worlds of the astral sea, slashing and burning any who might bow to a Godir, even those who served the more benevolent Godir that had not invaded his home realm, or even stood opposed to those that had.
Concerned about her friend, Leana reached out to the very people he sought to destroy, and, with one of their help, tracked down the source of Edward’s madness. In studying ancient lore she came to find out about the ancient evil known as the Urrath, that the Shadowborn had truly served, and how had gripped his mind. With this knowledge in hand, and with the Godir’s help, she managed to free him from the Urrath’s tendrils before he destroyed either himself or everyone else.
Sickened by what he had done and what had been done to him, Edward turned himself and his forces against the Urrath’s servants whose existence had been unveiled by the investigations of his condition. He began an invasion of the umbral abyss, a tainted realm of floating islands filled with corrupted men and monsters, seeking to stop their spread into the waking world. Alongside him fought Godir he had been pitted against, only for Galeem’s light to strike and capture them all in a snapshot with it's brilliant light.

In the Now:
Edward has found himself fighting a different corruption on a different set of islands alongside a different set of divine beings. Without the backing of the commonwealth or its even lesser successor, he has found himself acting as an independent mercenary, providing flaming armaments and disposable spear walls to augment the angel’s forces. On a more personal level however, he is interested in the various Maker and Zonai constructs that dot the islands, and how he might be able to claim that magitech for himself, despite the dangers of the corruption infesting some of them.

Job: Dreadnaught

Specialty: Edward brings a small army to the field, as well as party wide buffs, and long ranged magical support. He’s also not a half bad fighter either, though while a fair cut above the rank and file, he is no one man army.

Inventory:

• A horse: Edward has ridden many the exotic steeds over the years, but when it comes down to it there’s nothing quite as dependable as a horse. Particularly this one is christened ForgeHeart and has been with him for a while now. Its saddle bags provide some extra local storage space.
• magelock rifle: a magical high power musket with unlimited ammo, excellent range and the ability to ignore half the armor and magic resistance of the target. It is, however, too bulky to be fired mounted, has a poor rate of fire, and has a 60% accuracy rate . That last can however be addressed if the user activates a stabilizing spell that anchors them in place for a few moments, boosting the accuracy to 140%.
• Sword and magelock pistol: much more suitable for mounted combat and skirmishing than the above. What the pistol lacks in range and raw damage it matches in penetration power and exceeds in terms of accuracy, while the blade can be used to put down foes who close the pistol's limited range. Pistol and blade can naturally be used separately, but they make for quite the effective team.
• Soldier's supplies: Rations, water flask, a bed roll, shaving equipment, spare cloths, writing supplies, a journal, soap, and everything else a professional soldier would need out on campaign.

Lv: 1
EXP: ////////// 0/10

Abilities:

• Tome of the Reavers
  
  
  
  • Designate Target (tier 1 Combat Spell): surrounds one target in a blood red aura that makes them count as flanked and take 25% more damage for 3 seconds, as well as adding 2 stacks of the marked debuff for 9 (which help guide the aim of those trying to strike/shoot the target, decreasing their evasiveness by 10% by each stack). Can target anything as long as Edward can see it.
• Tome of Pyromancy
  
  
  
  • Searing weapons (tier 1 enchantment): melee and ranged physical attack of the caster and their allies are ignited, doing 10% less physical damage, but 20% extra fire damage, as well as being able to inflict a burning debuff on their foes on 60% of their strikes (weak fast attacks only have 30%, strong slow attacks have 90%, and magic resistance reduces the chance). The burning debuff deals a small amount of fire damage over 10 seconds, but can be stacked up to 5 times on a single target to give them a proper roasting.
• Tome of Enchantment
  
  
  
  • Bronze and Copper (tier 1 and tier 3 units): Edward can animate squads of 6 human sized copper golems or squads of 2 far more durable and dangerous bronze golems who tower twice the height of their lesser kin. As golems, they are heartless machines entirely at the beck and call of their summoner.
    Both kinds are armed with caverly/monster slaying polearm, with which bronze golems are capable of making aoe cleaving attacks with their helbards that can hit multiple foes.
    They are reinforced against physical ranged attacks, fairly durable to physical melee attacks, but weak to magical strikes and especially electricity. Generated by a singular spell as the squad is, they are unable to split into smaller units. While this seems inconvenient, one upside of this is that excess magical healing done to the squad can be used by the spell to resurrect destroyed members of it.

Skills:

• Martial Expertise: From horseback riding and gryphon piloting to wielding swords, bows, guns and lances, Eward was trained in every martial art practiced in his commonwealth before it was destroyed, making him very adaptable to different equipment.
• Mana Fuel Cells: Without an empire to mine mana crystals to fuel his magical warmachine, Edward relies of a set of megi-mechnaical devices that can compress ambient mana into volumes he can actually use.
  Tier 1/2/3/4/5 unit squads and enchantments require the allocation up 1/2/4/7/12 cells each to maintain, while un-allocation cells can be used to cast Tier 1/2/3/4/5 tome spells, draining 1/2/4/7/12 each cast. The cells expended to cast spells can be recharged using a simple ritual, though it is one that is easily disturbed and thus only really usable outside of combat.
  Edward has access to 6 at level one and gains 2 more every subsequent level

Weaknesses:

• Preparative magic: Tome enchanting and summoning spells are rituals, and are therefore not viable for using on the fly. Instead Edward needs to come into a fight with a pre-prepared and buffed squad, rather than forming that toolkit on the fly. It also means that his losses will not be replaceable unless he can get out of a fight and get space to rebuild his forces.
• Breached mental fortress: his dip into the astral sea and mental manipulation by the Urrath has left cracks in his mind, ready to be exploited by more direct assault, making him a 50% vulnerability to psychic attacks and effects.
• Science over superstition: Believes in cold hard facts and is liable to ignore tradition or superstition based wisdom or warnings about forbidden places or powers.

Spirits:

• N/A

Rapport:

• ForgeHeart
  
  
  
  • A dependable steed if ever there was one, though Edward has been de-horsed enough to know to not get too attached to any individual steed.

@DracoLunaris

Approved!

World of Light: the Endless Now

oh look, pulled out of that game series you love when I include it

Edward Portsmith

Edward Portsmith - the Last Dreadnought

Origin: Age of wonders 3
Appearance: Edward is a middle aged human with brown hair, sandy skin and a chiseled complexion that is all angles.

He wears the armor of a commonwealth Dreadnought: dark gray armored plate mail with epaulet adored shoulder pads, a red sash, and red pantaloons.

His steed is a brown stallion adorned in a red cloud and gray metal horse armor that menaces with spikes.

Personality:
A resourceful, honest, and a highly trained and distinguished military commander. Once a bit of a stickler to the rules, and still very much able to quote them, and blind to the excesses of his nation due to believing firmly in what it stood for, Edward has long since put that aside in the name of living up to the egalitarian spirit of its ideals and doing what is right. Even now when the Commonwealth is dead and buried. Perhaps more so. Especially after a stint of horrors beyond the void madness caused him, for a time, to twist those principles into an engine of brutal and bloody conquest.

He is generally well spoken, be it delivering orders or rousing speeches, as well as fairly personable when the time allows. He also has nerves of steel, and is a true professional even when under immense stress. However, as a man of (magi-)science he has a tendency to turn his nose up at mysticism and traditions that exist purely for tradition’s sake.

Background:
Edward Portsmith was once a Dreadnaught of the Commonwealth Empire, a nation situated next to the valley of wonders on the blessed continent of the world of Athela.

Said Empire began as a joining of the many species of the world for mutual protection and the sharing of knowledge. Though it set out with benign intentions, ambition and technological development quickly outgrew the concepts of the original charter, resulting in strife, both internally between competing factions, and externally with the other major power in the land, the elven court.

A group known as the Shadowborn sought to take advantage of this strive to file all out war, weakening them both in order to make the realm easy pickings for their extradimensional masters. However Edward, along with his childhood friend Leana and a group known as the Torchbearers managed to unpick the conspiracy, though not before much blood and death was sown in its name.

Despite their efforts, it was not enough to save their nation, nor their world. Across Athela worldgates, portals to other worlds in the multidimensional space known as the astral sea, opened, and from them came Godir, all powerful sorcerer kings styling themselves as gods, who had been banished long ago for crimes committed against the world. Edward and Leana stood at the head of the commonwealth’s defenses, but in its weakened state, and against the ancient magics of the Godir, they stood little chance as entire armies were sent plummeting through rits and the astral sea, where they were left adrift in a realm of maddening chaos.

Through Leana’s magic and Edward’s ingenuity they and some of their forces survived this intended death sentence, eventually crashing on a distant world. There they rebuilt, but, haunted by their travels through the astral sea, something went wrong in many of their minds. Including Edward’s.

He led his fellow madmen on a crusade across the worlds of the astral sea, slashing and burning any who might bow to a Godir, even those who served the more benevolent Godir that had not invaded his home realm, or even stood opposed to those that had.

Concerned about her friend, Leana reached out to the very people he sought to destroy, and, with one of their help, tracked down the source of Edward’s madness. In studying ancient lore she came to find out about the ancient evil known as the Urrath, that the Shadowborn had truly served, and how had gripped his mind. With this knowledge in hand, and with the Godir’s help, she managed to free him from the Urrath’s tendrils before he destroyed either himself or everyone else.

Sickened by what he had done and what had been done to him, Edward turned himself and his forces against the Urrath’s servants whose existence had been unveiled by the investigations of his condition. He began an invasion of the umbral abyss, a tainted realm of floating islands filled with corrupted men and monsters, seeking to stop their spread into the waking world. Alongside him fought Godir he had been pitted against, only for Galeem’s light to strike and capture them all in a snapshot of brilliant light.

In the Now: Edward has found himself fighting a different corruption on a different set of islands alongside a different set of divine beings. Without the backing of the commonwealth or its even lesser successor, he has found himself acting as an independent mercenary, providing flaming armaments and disposable spear walls to augment the angel’s forces.

Job: General
Specialty: Edward brings a small army to the field, as well as party wide buffs, and long ranged magical support. He’s also not a half bad fighter either, though while a fair cut above the rank and file, he is no one man army.

Inventory:

• A horse: Edward has ridden many the exotic steeds over the years, but when it comes down to it there’s nothing quite as dependable as a horse. Particularly this one, christened ForgeHeart which has been with him for a while now. Its pack provides some extra local storage space.
• magelock rifle: a magical high power musket with unlimited ammo, excellent range and the ability to ignore half the armor and magic resistance of the target. It is, however, too bulky to be fired mounted, has a poor rate of fire, and has a 60% accuracy rate . That last can however be addressed if the user activates a stabilizing spell that anchors them in place for a few moments, boosting the accuracy to 140%.
• Sword and magelock pistol: much more suitable for mounted combat and skirmishing than the above. What the pistol lacks in range and raw damage it matches in penetration power and exceeds in terms of accuracy, while the blade can be used to put down foes who close the pistol's limited range. Pistol and blade can naturally be used separately, but they make for quite the effective team.

Lv: 1
EXP: ////////// 0/10
Abilities:

• Imperial Armory: the user can designate a place to be his armory, and can make it so that anyone in his confidence can gain instant access to anything found therein from anywhere in the world. However, putting things back is a more involved process, requiring a small ritual that the armory itself can avoid due to the power invested in it. This makes it better for retrieving the tools specifically needed for the job than hot swapping out equipment on the fly, unless the person using it is willing to throw away the team’s shared supplies.
• Tome of Enchantment
  
  • Bronze and Copper (tier 1 and tier 3 units): Edward can animate squads of 6 human sized copper golems or squads of 2 far more durable and dangerous bronze golems who tower twice the height of their lesser kin. As golems, they are heartless machines entirely at the beck and call of their summoner.
    Both kinds are armed with caverly/monster slaying polearm, with which bronze golems are capable of making aoe cleaving attacks with their helbards that can hit multiple foes.
    They are reinforced against physical ranged attacks, fairly durable to physical melee attacks, but weak to magical strikes and especially electricity. Generated by a singular spell as the squad is, they are unable to split into smaller units. While this seems inconvenient, one upside of this is that excess magical healing done to the squad can be used by the spell web to resurrect destroyed members of it.

• Tome of Pyromancy
  
  • Searing weapons (tier 1 enchantment): melee and ranged physical attack of the caster and their allies are ignited, doing 10% less physical damage, but 20% extra fire damage, as well as being able to inflict a burning debuff on their foes on 60% of their strikes (weak fast attacks only have 30%, strong slow attacks have 90%, and magic resistance reduces the chance). The burning debuff deals a small amount of fire damage over 10 seconds, but can be stacked up to 5 times on a single target to give them a proper roasting.

• Tome of the Reavers
  
  • Designate Target (tier 1 Combat Spell): surrounds one target in a blood red aura that makes them count as flanked and take 25% more damage for 3 seconds, as well as adding 2 stacks of the marked debuff for 9 (which help guide the aim of those trying to strike/shoot the target, decreasing their evasiveness by 10% by each stack). Can target anything as long as Edward can see it.

Skills:

• Martial Expertise: From horseback riding and gryphon piloting to wielding swords, bows, guns and lances, Eward was trained in every martial art practiced in his commonwealth before it was destroyed, making him very adaptable to different equipment.

Weaknesses:

• Champion without a kingdom: Without the dedicated infrastructure and assistance of entire cities at his beck and call, Edward is considerably more limited in his capacity to wage war. Instead of armies of miners stripping mana crystals from mana nodes, the Dreadnought’s magical war machine is fueled by a battery of small mana fuel cells that can only support a limited amount of troops and enchantments.
  He starts with 2, gaining two more per level. Tier 1/2/3/4/5 enchantments/unit squads take up 1/2/4/7/12 cells each.
• Preparative magic: Tome enchanting and summoning spells are rituals, and are therefore not viable for using on the fly. Instead Edward needs to come into a fight with a pre-prepared and buffed squad, rather than forming that toolkit on the fly. It also means that his losses will not be replaceable unless he can get out of a fight and get space to rebuild his forces.
• Combat Casting Points: Tome spells draw from a limited casting point pool that are recharged outside of combat via a short but easily disrupted ritual, making him less effective in dragged out engagements. As with the above, Edward starts with 2 CCPs and gains 2 per level, and Tier 1/2/3/4/5 spells expend 1/2/4/7/12 points each.

Spirits:

• N/A

Rapport:

• ForgeHeart
  
  • A dependable steed if ever there was one, though Edward has been de-horsed enough to know to not get too attached to any individual steed.

@DracoLunaris

That's pretty neat! I would probably guess without looking the game up that it's an RTS based on how his kit's set up. I have three notes:
-Would you mind turning the image in the backstory section into an hyperlink image?
-Could we be more specific about the 'place' that can be designated an armory? Does this mean a chest? A room? A whole building, of any size? A city? And so on
-This one's tricky. For any ability, its limitations should be included in the power. IE if the Arbiter has energy shields, the fact that they can be depleted and will let him take damage until they recharge should be in the energy shield description and not at weakness. The fuel cell weakness for his units and casting point weakness for his tome spells should be included in their descriptions, something like 'Casting this spell subtracts from his total combat casting points, which is currently 2' could be added to all the tome spells. Of course, this means he'd need two more weaknesses.

World of Light: the Endless Now

Cold Open

Very early Monday morning

Until a few minutes ago, the night sky above Edinburgh MagicaPolis had been overcast, shrouded in thick, moody clouds as tumultuous as the arctic sea that enclosed the city of eternal winter. Fresh snowfall filtered down from the heavens, and the black waves lapped thirstily at the city’s seawalls. Neither heavy sky nor relentless sea could hope to swallow the floating metropolis, however, so long as the sorcery of its citizens endured. The pleasant light of fire magic shined from Edinburgh’s windows, keeping countless homes cozy despite the polar climate outside, and arcane streetlights ensured that no pedestrians need wander in darkness. Of course, tonight the shadowed avenues also glimmered with the pale blue fire of ghostflame, stronger than ever before. For the past week or so the setting sun had preceded the return of the living dead, skeletons who wandered the city streets in their dozens and hundreds, often causing panic and mayhem. With the parting of the clouds, pale light shone down from the ravaged moon onto the well-worn cobbles and frosty shingles of an Edinburgh MagicaPolis alight with warm orange and spine-chilling blue.

It was a beautiful sight, especially from the apex of the tower that crowned the immense hat of the staggeringly huge pumpkin that formed Edinburgh’s centermost and most iconic feature. From way up here, civilians were totally invisible, the magitech vehicles that glided slowly across the city’s streets canals might as well be ants, and the buildings minuscule tiles in a vast, snow-dusted mosaic. One could see well past the limits of Edinburgh itself, across the inky waters and to the fathomless glaciers to the north, or to the Frozen Highlands to the southeast, where the mountain called Dragonspine towered over the landscape. The winds howled, and it was bitterly cold, but this pinnacle offered a breathtaking view nonetheless.

Unfortunately, its charms were lost on the woman who arrived in a burst of swirling purple particles, gasping at the frigid high-altitude air as she clutched the wound in her stomach. Though her futuristic gray bodysuit boasted an impressive set of cherry-red armor on top of it, it didn’t protect her completely, and her black velvet cape had done little to defend against a swordblade delivered from behind. Such pain at this height was dizzying, but with a groan the masked woman steadied herself, then reached her other hand up toward her head. For a moment she fumbled at the switch before resorting to ripping her helmet clean off, allowing an enormous quantity of knee-length blonde hair to tumble down as the winter winds bit at a mature face filled with unquenchable rage.

“I’ll kill you,” she hissed through her teeth. “All of you! Every time. Every time you rear your ugly heads, I’ll kill you, over, and over, and over again. My children…my beautiful pets…how dare you…how dare you!”

Her scream quickly faded into the blustering winds. After a moment she turned with a huff, walking away from the tower’s edge. Before her, suspended within the tower’s open-lattice wrought iron, hung an enormous metal gauge one-third full of purple fire. She stopped in front of it, staring into the blaze, then held out our hands. “I’ll keep coming as long as it takes,” she hissed as glowing red particles began to filter out from the huge device into her body. “I’ll drain the Flame Clock dry if need be. You’ll never win, and you’ll not get away…”

Suddenly, a sphere of spectral energy slammed into her, eliciting a yelp of pain and surprise as the woman slid away. “What!?”

When she looked up, she spotted three figures emerging from their hiding places behind the metal pillars. One was a monster hunter, formerly a fresh-faced recruit now outfitted with all kinds of arms and armor, as well as an uncharacteristically serious expression. After him stomped an enormous detective with a bell-shaped body beneath a beige trench coat, a bronze contraption shaped like the neck of a saxophone protruding from his back. Finally, a short superhero with a black mask and red outfit walked beside them, his hands already balled into fists. After a moment, the perpetrator of the attack floated down in front of the Flame Clock from above: a sleek, almost alien creature with a long purple tail.

<CONSUL!> a voice roared, formed not of a voice but of pure psychic energy, and thrust like a lance directly into the woman’s mind. <In vengeance for the people of Alcamoth, and all the Pokemon you’ve treated like playthings, we’ve come to put you down.>

The Consul’s lip curled as she looked between her four enemies, still panting and disheveled. Then she straightened up, composing herself. “Oh. I see. You sent your little friends to my home to bait me out, then set up shop here to try and finish me off once I flew the coop.” She smirked darkly. “Clever. Though it’s a shame your friends died thinking their sacrifices would make a difference. Because I’m afraid your run ends here.” She stretched out her hands as her core began to glow, purple energy gathering deep within her. “You see, my power, Import, gives me complete and total access to the marvelous realm known as Ultra Space, in all its sublime glory. It was enough to take care of your friends as-is, but since you’ve gone to all this trouble, I think you deserve…”

Her power surged, consuming and transforming her body. When the swirling purple energies converged, they left behind a twelve-foot biotech monstrosity with purplish-red armor over fused black flesh, cyan energy flowing through its cable arteries like blood. In her belly whirled a true Moebius core, an engine emblazoned with the lemniscate symbol of infinity. When she spoke, her voice bore demonic distortion. “...the full treatment. The power of Ultra Space, distilled and perfected by Moebius.” Around the Consul’s Moebius form, space itself began to rip and tear, dark light and alien appendages breaking through.

<Struggle all you want,> Mewtwo declared as his teammates readied themselves for battle. <What you do with the gift of life determines who you are.> He held up his hand, pure psychic energy gleaming between his fingers. <And you…are dead.>

Deep Blue Seaside: Mafia Town

@Yankee @Zoey Boey @Double
Monday evening

Click for music

Located off the World of Light’s southeastern shore, at perhaps the southernmost part of the region known as the Deep Blue Seaside, a certain island town offered a climate of tropical warmth and humidity, with palm trees and white sandy beaches. It stood out as the largest and most developed by far of the islands that together formed an atoll surrounding the ecological marvel known as the Blue Hole, a deep basin whose contents transformed with every high tide, its terrain and wildlife inexplicably swapped. One day its shallows might be home to colorful colors, and the next a kelp forest, while the lower reaches accessible through pits and tunnels in the underwater landscape could be polar, volcanic, or even prehistoric. A source of near-unlimited livelihood, the Blue Hole was a natural -or perhaps supernatural- treasure coveted by all and jealousy guarded by the denizens of Mafia Town.

Unlike its precious Blue Hole, though, Mafia Town was mostly man-made, paved over and built up into a densely-packed, multi-level maritime fortress of orange mosaic tiles, stone bricks of milk-white or chocolate-brown, and roofs of dazzling silver or shingles as azure blue as the sea itself. Each layer of buildings became the ‘ground’ for the one above, creating a winding upward path from the docks and shipyards past bustling markets up through narrow lanes between tall apartment buildings with hanging laundry lines and flower boxes on their windowsills. Toward the top things evened out and opened up a bit more, offering rooftop greenbelts among fountain plazas, poolhouses, and clock towers. Even that wasn’t the limit, though. At the very top and middle of Mafia Town there existed a seemingly unlimited source of freshwater, not just feeding the high-speed aqueducts and cascades and that washed down through the town’s channels to the sea, but a spiraling geyser that somehow held up a massive plate like a support pillar. The Mafia Headquarters on top of it couldn’t be seen from down here, but like an umbrella it cast a great round shadow over Mafia Town that traveled throughout the day, offering its many residents -including the plentiful but mostly harmless (not to mention identical) Mafia goons- a little reprieve from the beating sun.

Most remarkable, perhaps, were the smells. Thanks to the Blue Hole and its dominance over regional trade, Mafia Town boasted an abundance of eateries, and with the evening well underway all the restaurants were in full swing. It wasn’t just the briney tang of seafood on the wind, either. The aromas of fresh baked crust from Possum Pizzeria, savory sauces from Seaside Spaghetti, and so forth all filtered their way through the streets on the breeze, tantalizing the citizens’ taste buds as they wrapped up work for the day.

Of course, not everything was one hundred percent food-oriented. Even down by the water there were seaside plazas alongside all the wharves, where one could find things like a lovely flower shop or a art display. Beyond the town itself, hot air balloons and sailboats lent both sky and sea a wealth of color, while the assertive billboards and hand-painted graffiti of the Mafia made sure that few public walls lacked decoration.

Down on the water, the fishing boats were making their way back to port one by one. The Mafia was very selective about who could harvest from the Blue Hole, and many of these vessels worked for them, but among the handful of Mafia-approved enterprises that didn’t there was a distinctive boat with a purple hull that had yet to get moving. On its deck, a well-tanned man with a shock of white hair, scars, sunglasses, and a red Hawaiian shirt with bananas paced back and forth, his manner impatient but not necessarily troubled. He glanced at the water every so often, expecting something any minute, and before too long his vigilance was rewarded with the sight of familiar shapes swimming upward. Both were navy blue, and one much larger than the other, so Cobra didn’t need to think twice. By the time the pair breached the surface at the back of the boat, he was already ready and waiting to receive the waterproof yellow crates the divers thrust into his hands. “Took you long enough!” he greeted them, flashing the two a smile until he tried to heft the precious cargo in his arms. “Whoa, this is heavy!” He settled for dragging it onto the boat. “Stuffed to the brim again? You two don’t know when to quit!”

“I do: an hour ago!” The first diver, Dave, gasped as he climbed up from the water, hauling himself out like a seal on an ice floe. He was a rotund man with a brown goatee, and though typically cheerful he looked red in the face right now, exhausted and practically panting from his efforts. After collapsing onto the boat’s deck, his chest heaving up and down, Dave just lay there while Cobra retrieved the other box. “But she keeps swimming off the minute she sees anything interesting,” he complained, his tone affectionate. “I swear, she’s gonna be the death of me.”

After climbing aboard, the second diver immediately unzipped her wetsuit and let it hang around her waist, revealing a mint-green swimsuit underneath, tall cat ears, and a head of calico-colored hair in a fluffy bob cut that she shook to air out. Ms Fortune’s electric-blue eyes were full of mischief as she grinned down at Dave, her hands on her hips. “Well, good thing I’ve got you around to bail me out when I get in trouble. Where you see danger, I seafood! Plus, you’re great at finding the extra oxygen down there, so it’s all ‘tanks’ to you!” When Dave just rolled his eyes, the catgirl known only to her closest friends as Nadia turned to the other man, pleased with herself for her puns and not out of them yet. “Whaddya think, Cobra? Our e-fish-iency is off the charts!”

After finishing his inspection, Cobra stood up from her crate with a huge grin. “Good haul, Fortune. Chances are we break our profit records again tonight.” As Dave sighed in exasperation, his contributions downplayed like always, Cobra he headed over to the ship’s helm and began to spool it up. “Let’s find out.”

A few minutes later, he brought the boat to a stop at the trio’s destination: a floating restaurant docked at one one Mafia Town’s smaller wharves. Though essentially a glorified raft kept afloat with the help of tires, Bancho Sushi was solidly built and barely rocked beneath her feet. It also looked nice, with a clean traditional wooden style supplemented by elegant cherry blossoms. While Cobra moored the boat, Dave and Nadia worked together to haul the boxes over to the holding tank, where they dumped the live-caught sealife while putting the carvings from larger creatures on ice. Then Nadia made a beeline for the opposite end of the long counter to stroke the black-and-white cat that always lounged there. After a full week of feeding and petting the kitty, she and Nadia were basically best friends, even if Chucho didn’t approve. As one might expect, the interior of Bancho Sushi had no customers right now, but that was about to change.

Already the sushi chef, a serious-looking man with black spectacles and a light blue kimono, was getting prepped, and the two other employees were running around setting things up. Bancho could tell just from today’s haul -and the hungry customers beginning to gather outside- that tonight was going to be a busy night. “You’re late,” he stated matter-of-factly.

“Whoa, don’t have a tempura tantrum,” Nadia joked, holding her hands up as in surrender. “So what’s on the menu tonight, boss?”

“Hmm.” Bancho peered deep into the holding tank, identifying its contents and what could be made of them in an instant. “Quite a variety. In addition to sushi and sashimi, I can make Fried Onion Cuttlefish, the Tropical Fish platter, Wrasse Curry, Deep Fish Tempura, and Trevally Kombu Ochazuke,” he assessed before looking at the ice box. “Is that…Megamouth Shark?”

Nadia nodded, grinning. “Mm-hmm! Now that was a fun fight. Poor Dave was just about pissing himself, though.” Imagining the menu, the catgirl sighed. “Man, I never thought I’d like sushi, but the stuff you make is something else. If swimming wasn’t such good exercise, I’d be as big as Dave by now.” She shrugged and turned to go. “Well, guess I’ll get outta your hair be-fur the customers show up.”

“Wait a moment.” At Bancho’s voice, Nadia turned on a dime. Her eyebrows shot up when she spotted the knotted blue headband in his hands. “You wanted to try working up front, didn’t you? Tonight’s your chance.”

He barely got the chance to finish before the catgirl snatched it out of his hands and started tying it around her head. “Hell yeah! Just you wait, Bancho. I’ll make you proud!”

The chef cracked the faintest of smiles. “Just don’t drop anything.” He then narrowed his eyes at her attire–or lack thereof. “And get changed, would you? I know you’re feral for tips, but I’m not letting anyone serve sushi in a swimsuit.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” Nadia was already dashing away when she slid to a sudden stop, her head turned one hundred and eighty degrees. “Wait, was that a pun!? From YOU!?” By then he’d already turned his back, though, so the catgirl couldn’t do much but run off, snickering to herself.

After another minute she was back, dressed in her usual fur-lined jacket, shorts, and unbuttoned shirt. With Bancho Sushi about to open, Nadia took a deep breath to steel herself, and looked out across the water. Since she and the others arrived here last week, life had been good, but she hadn’t done a great job collecting information. Only fleeting rumors reached her ears about red-clad Consuls, or entities powerful enough to be considered Guardians. Plus, it seemed like the Mafia had been getting bolder ever since she arrived. Nadia rubbed the bruise on her chin. She bet they had Juri to thank. They’d met -and, of course, fought- several times already, and while Nadia generally got the better of her rival, Juri sure hadn’t made it easy. Hopefully the overgrown delinquent wouldn’t show up today, but it was shaping up to be one hell of a night either way.

Nadia took a deep breath, then put on her best smile. At a nod from Bancho, she jogged over to throw open the front door. “Welcome to Bancho Sushi!” she sang, giving the crowd an eyeful as she bowed with a playful expression. “Where we always let the good times ‘roll’!”

Sandswept Sky: Skyworld

@DracoLunaris @Archmage MC @Yankee @Double @MULTI_MEDIA_MAN
Monday evening


Click for music

Floating high above the Sandswept Sky’s eastern coast, the airborne realm of Skyworld took the form of a gargantuan array of interconnected sky islands, sprawled out both horizontally and vertically, their mountainous landmasses of pale stone contrasted against the rich yellows and oranges of lush, perennially autumnal foliage. A number of the islands featured a more natural appearance, with pools of pristine water, golden grasses, and placid herbivores interspersed among their untouched deciduous sentinels. Most, however, featured at least some semblance of deliberate masonry, and many of the largest islands featured architectural achievements of astonishing size and grandeur. Holy spires, breathtaking cathedrals, and lovely temples could be found all over, surrounded by elaborate monuments and serving as the centerpieces of angelic colonies of a uniform Greco-Roman style. Over everything towered several minor erdtrees, the most massive of which could be found on the centermost and largest sky island of all, Eden, surrounded by concentric rings of idyllic waterfall terraces.

The outlying forested islands, where the high-altitude winds sang through birches decked out in fall colors and past all manner of intricately-carved monuments, offered plenty of diversion for a wandering eye. Their inhabitants included curious egg-shaped paissa, mischievous gaelicats, two-faced remlits, eerie seraphaces, and moody bansheep, all going about their business in beauteous harmony beneath a slow sprinkle of falling golden leaves.

As divine as it all looked, especially that immense tree with its luminous boughs, this was no perfect paradise. Its many fortified bastions, ramparts, and winged soldiers spoke of plentiful turmoil, and nowhere seemed more active than the acropolis stronghold of Palutena’s Temple, sheltered beneath the wings of the goddess of light herself. The reason for this militance could be found just by looking around, for not all of the archipelago’s islands were autumnal parks or angelic townships. In sharp contrast, some of them -on the far side opposite Eden and Palutena’s Temple- were stained pitch-black and sickly yellow-green, infested and overgrown by some form of inky, oozy corruption with a tendency to form crystalline deposits and eye-like growths. So vile and virulent were these organic structures that one could scarcely imagine what might lurk deep within the throbbing hearts of those infected zones. From afar it could be hard to make out the details, but even at a distance this corruption inspired a strong aversion in anything healthy and/or holy.

Such was the danger posed by this pitch-black contagion that its presence redefined Palutena’s forces, demanding a drastic overhaul of the army to combat the plague’s monstrosities. Every thoroughly-drilled, well-armed squad featured at least one formidable Feathershield, each possessed of brawn as grand as his sterling silver armor and a towering greatshield polished to a mirror sheen. In their company one could find a selection of gallant Featherswords, keen Featherbows, and slight Featherstaffs, all wearing either helmets or silvery masks, while cherubim filled out the ranks. Rarer but more impressive still were the elites, the Storm Wardens with wings of light and heavy cannons, as well as the Champions so heavily armed and armored that they might as well have been holy mechs. Captains like the stern, unflappable Fodoquia and the honorable but formidable Nathaniel commanded entire battalions of winged soldiers, and oversaw the operation of holy siege weapons like ballistae at tactical positions around the quarantine zones. Of course, nobody was busier than Palutena’s direct subordinates, the dutiful, fearless Uriel and the energetic, dependable Pit, even if the young angel wasn’t quite as his goddess remembered him.

Tonight, as the colors of sunset began to stretch across the boundless sky, tensions were especially high among the cohorts and contractors of Palutena’s Army. Since the arrival of a handful of capable warriors last week, the goddess of light had spurred her forces forward in an aggressive initiative to push back and cleanse the corruption, and they’d managed to gain a lot of ground. Now, only a handful of the sky islands remained in the plague’s ink-black grip. Unfortunately, the corruption was reacting like a cornered beast, stoked into a frenzy by the threat of extirpation. New kinds of horrors had been rising from the depths of the murky more, each more powerful and twisted than the last. Most worrisome of all were the corrupted angels, some former soldiers fallen to the evil taint, and some that had never once been something holy–just fleshy abominations hidden within bodies of gleaming gold and pure-white marble, each one capable of triggering a new outbreak if its deception went unnoticed. Given the threat posed by these new false angels, the decision came down from Palutena to push forward in an all-out offensive to eliminate the corruption and its horrors once and for all.

With a fully manned defensive perimeter already established around the infested islands, the main assault force now congregated at a checkpoint, that being the foot of the majestic Crystal Spire just beyond the Coliseum. Ahead of this point of no return floated the ominous Ivory Citadel, first of the infected islands, but any bridges connecting it to more wholesome landmasses had long since been destroyed.

Forbidden Kingdom: Meridi-at-Han

@Yankee @Archmage MC @Drifting Pollen
Monday evening


Click for music

In the northern reaches of the World of Light mainland, further still than the Forbidden Kingdom that lay between the frigid winterlands or Midgar’s wartorn valley, lay a wild and untamed borderland of jungles and giants that only ended where the mind-numbing Transmission began, giving way to the bleak dereliction of the pale city’s hinterlands. There, beyond the Forbidden Kingdom’s fields of rolling gold and temperate forests sprawled the arid Tyrannian Plateau, home to mammoth monsters of prehistoric origin, and untamed tropical forests richly sustained by the faintest aftershocks of the monsoons that pounded the Garbage Wastes.

Of course, even in a wilderness such as this, bastions of civilization still stood, and none stood taller than the acropolis city of Meridi-at-han. Equal parts fortified citadel and flourishing city-state, it towered above the land of jungles and rivers atop its central mesa, connected to a handful of outlying spires by bridges of astonishing scale. The city’s colorful buildings dared to rise even higher, stacked atop one another like a child’s building blocks, and over it all reigned the grand pink parapets of the Palace of the Sun, from which the Satrap and his Sun-Court ruled. After being denied access to the elevators and instead climbing up the interminable staircase from the port at the river’s edge, newcomers could pass beneath the hot and piercing gaze of the all-seeing eye that adorned the city’s main gate, and step into a fragrant haze of sweet incense and acrid smoke. Within lay dense, noisy, and colorful market streets, alive with the shouts of merchants and lively melodies accented by the patter of dancers’ feet that, like the silken tapestries that hung overhead, swayed to the rhythm of the winds.

After losing track of time in the city’s bustling heart, a visitor could climb higher to the balconies and hanging gardens of the upper district, where they could be enchanted by the movement of countless kites that schooled and darted like so many fish, and the flight of pink flamigos over the sparkling waters.

As with most nights, a certain man could be found in an open-air tavern overlooking Meridi-at-han’s mercantile center, leisurely seated at a corner table and watching the steady procession of cityfolk through the marketplace below. Standing at six foot eight and weighing almost five hundred pounds, with hairy forearms thicker than many folks’ midsections, he was a giant of a man with a strongman’s physique despite the age evident in his creased features and graying blonde beard. He wore somewhat militaristic formal attire with a rustic flair, such as metal skulls and horseshoes in place of typical accessories, and the contents of the huge coffin that laid by his feet was a topic of much debate among the regulars here, although few dared to disturb him. Even if the locals didn’t feel inclined to talk to him, though, Goldlewis Dickinson was happy just to listen–that was why he was here, after all.

Over the course of his stay in Meridi-at-han, Goldlewis had kept his ear to the ground in order to try and ferret out certain details of the surrounding region, and he’d managed to learn a great deal. For one, no living soul could head too far north without succumbing to the eerie Transmission that emanated from the City Without a Name, which struck him as the perfect defense mechanism for hiding something -or someone- of vital importance. Meanwhile, rumors suggested that the Guardian of the Frozen Highlands to the west roamed his region freely, fearless thanks to what seemed to be complete invincibility. As for the Forbidden Kingdom to the south, all signs pointed to Esaka, the Tiered City, where it was said that talented martial artists gathered to do battle in spectacular tournaments.

Of course, in addition to all those tasty nuggets of information, Goldlewis took the chance to savor local cuisine. For dinner today he’d ordered a gilded tajine, a simmer stew of spiced meat flower petals, and herbs hidden beneath the hat-like lid of a peculiar pot. It went well with a strong beer, so it was shaping up to be a nice evening.

That said, the army veteran kept a wary eye on one part of the scene down below. With the sun beginning to set over the Tyrannian Plateau, an infamous band had seemingly emerged from the shadows to begin setting up shop in an open plaza, sending excited whispers flying amongst the populace, and for good reason. Even in the relatively short time Goldlewis had been staying here, he’d heard plenty of rumor about a traveling caravan of masked but clearly inhuman performers who arrived in various towns and villages when night fell, speaking strange tongues and strumming strange instruments as a circus tent took shape amidst their mysterious wagons. Some looked forward to the arrival of the Grimm Troupe as an invitation to a night of enchanted revelry, while others warned of it as an omen of imminent calamity, citing the darkness left in the wake of the itinerants’ departure. Already a handful of spear-wielding guards in intricate blue outfits could be seen not-so-subtly hanging around the area, watching the enigmatic insects as they worked, but without any wrong committed so far they could not take action. At one point a guard captain had approached and demanded to speak to the troupe’s master, giving Goldlewis a very brief view of the grass-cloaked, scarlet-eyed Grimm himself, though he was much too far away to hear anything. With plenty of eager bystanders nearby, the guard captain couldn’t reach a conclusion, and Grimm vanished again as suddenly as he came. At this point it looked inevitable that the Troupe would get to perform, though what that might entail Goldlewis hadn’t the slightest idea.

He looked away, drinking deep from his glass. If it wasn’t going to be a nice evening, at least it would be an interesting one.

World of Light: the Endless Now

In other news, I've wrapped up the OP and gotten us started! If you're still mulling over character details don't fret, there's never any deadline for applications and we're always open and accepting. If you're already accepted, though, you're clear to get started. I can't wait to start another jaw-dropping adventure in the World of Light!

World of Light: the Endless Now

World of Light: the Endless Now

The show must go on

Name: Grimm
Origin: Hollow Knight
Appearance: Though quite large for a bug, Grimm stands at a meager 4'10", and his pitch-black exoskeleton is extremely spindly. He is practically featureless save for his black horns and his glowing scarlet eyes, though a white heart-shaped mask gives him some semblance of a face. He wears a cloak of tough black grass, their undersides dyed red, over a simple cuirass composed of a polished dark red carapace
Personality: As the master of a traveling circus, Grimm has a flair for both mystery and theatrics, always seeking to awe and entertain. He is cunning and manipulative, with no sense of morality to speak of, but he is never needlessly violent or malicious, instead acting polite and respectful. Though seldom one to engage in conversation, and not really someone with a casual side, he sees the act of combat as a sort of dance through which individuals can truly communicate, and he delights in the cheers and admiration of the crowd
Background: Grimm, like all his troupe, was a thrall of the Nightmare Heart, a being born from the nightmare realm that exists as the shadow of his world's dream realm. He led his troop on a never-ending voyage across his world, showing up wherever the flames of the Nightmare Lantern are lit. There, while the members of the circus performed and entertained the locals, the Troupe's acolytes would enact a ritual to feed their eldritch master by stoking a Grimmchild with nightmare flames, nourishing it until Grimm could be born anew, and the cycle forever continued.
In the Now: Rumor have circulated through the Forbidden Kingdom, from backwater villages all the way up to the big cities, of a strange wandering troupe that arrives by night and vanishes by sunrise. Some see its arrival as an eerie portent of catastrophe, or cultists preying on hapless victims through acts of profane ritual, while others see it nothing more than a guaranteed night of dreamlike revelry. Its traveling performers, none of which are human, are all elusive as they are fascinating, and none more so than the troupe's master. Both excitement and tension mount as the Grimm Troupe's next destination becomes clear: the acropolis city of Meridi-at-han.

Job: Troupe Master
Specialty: Fiery spectacle, slippery movement, and a versatile mix of unrelenting attacks to keep guests guessing until the curtains fall
Inventory: Nothing

Lv: 1
EXP: 0/10
Abilities:

• Teleport - Grimm can vanish in a blast of red mist and reform a second later up to 20 feet away, with a cooldown of 2 seconds between uses. If used in the air, the blast ignites and rains down four fireballs
• Firebats - As long as he's on the ground, Grimm can open his clock to launch up to four scarlet firebats that poorly track targets. He can teleport once at any point in a salvo without interrupting it, and whenever he launches a firebat, a flare goes off from his eyes that blazes directly above him. However, he can only launch a firebat salvo once every ten seconds or so
• Hangtime - If Grimm so chooses, he can hang in the air, whether silent and motionless, or to launch physical attacks. His most notable technique that uses this ability is wrapping himself in his cloak in order to dive like a drill

Skills:

• Close Combatant - Grimm's claws and teeth both work very well as natural weapons, inflicting high slash and pierce damage, respectively. Combined with surprising speed, accuracy, and agility, he's dangerous up close, especially to targets with low defense
• The Night was Long - Despite his frail appearance, Grimm has plenty of health and is difficult to stagger, making any fight with him a battle of attrition that favors his style of confusion and methodical destruction

Weaknesses:

• The Nightmare Lantern - His existence is sustained by a brazier that burns with scarlet flame. If the Nightmare Lantern takes enough damage, it can be broken, and both Grimm and Troupe will be banished
• Gone to Pieces - Whenever he loses a third of his health, up to three times per fight, he will explode into a swarm of bugbats, one of which glows with scarlet flame. In this form he can't use any abilities or defend himself, just flit around in a panic for a couple seconds, allowing attackers a chance to rack up free damage until the bugbats coalesce back into Grimm
• Unarmed and Dangerous - Grimm has no proficiency with weapons or armor and won't use them

Spirits:

Rapport:

Eyes of Heaven

Name: Sandalphon
Origin: Dragalia Lost
Appearance: In her current state, Sandalphon is a humanoid angel with a businesslike aesthetic and a touch of wild western flair. She stands at 6’0”, with pronounced curves but very little muscle. Her skin is pale and her short hair light gray with a handful of large, long curls. Her eye bags are the same color as her lipstick, and her eyes are dark blue with bold turquoise power symbols as pupils. Above her head floats a large yellow halo with a smaller halo attached to either side, all embellished with golden ornaments. Her outfit consists of a blue button-up shirt split into two pieces at the chest, the top with the collar, black tie, and sleeves and the bottom more like a tube top. She wears black slacks with a couple black belts and bands, and white flared longboots that match her off-the-shoulder fringed longcoat
Personality: Sandalphon is typically calm, polite, temperate, and professional. Extremely observant and astute, she possesses a high degree of mental acuity and is good at multitasking. As an Archangel, she does have a natural flair for the dramatic, and strives to uphold a certain holy dignity. Valuing efficiency and speed, she does not hesitate to offer constructive criticism, even to her enemies. She is largely unexpressive but can be comically serious, with her pupils changing into different symbols that betray her mental state. When it comes to the well-being of her allies she takes her job extremely seriously, assuming full responsibility over operations she directs and the information she distributes. In fact, she’s a severe workaholic who gets very little sleep, and can oftentimes exhaust herself without realizing. Perhaps due to this, she’s highly addicted to sugar and caffeine. After several fusions, cracks are beginning to show in her unexpressive facade, and new emotions seep through
Background: In the northern reached of the continent of Grastaea lay the grand and prosperous city of Grams, home of the Northern Ilian Church under the leadership of its Pope and Aqueous Auspex, Origa. Within that vast organization there existed no more capable servants of the church than the Apostles, the nation’s elite team of peacekeepers paired with powerful dragons known as Archangels. Time and again, the duos of Nevin and Ramiel, Basileus and Michael, Pinon and Gabriel, Faris and Uriel, Ryszarda and Raphel would take the field to keep their country safe, whether that meant repelling invaders or quelling monsters. None of it would’ve been possible, however, without the Apostles leaders: the legendary pairing of Regina and Sandalphon. Working alongside her sigil-bound human, Sandalphon would direct countless operations, quickly efficiently coordinating and communicating amongst her allies to ensure that the Apostles never knew defeat.

Her career would be sorely tested, however, by the progression of a vile conspiracy. After learning that Xenos the all-powerful Progenitor would eventually escape his eons of imprisonment to erase the concept of possibility, Origa became convinced by the demon Loki that only the revival of Satan, as a demonic being of pure chaos, would be able to stand against the Progenitor’s absolute order. And so she hatched a scheme, working with the power-hungry Graht and vengeful apostle Basileus, to free demons while searching for the Sacred Shard that sealed Satan away. Origa would eventually orchestrate the capture of the Apostles, including her sister Regina after she and Sandalphon began to investigate Basileus, the only ones who would be able to challenge the demon lord. While the apostles ultimately managed to escape and challenged a resurrected Satan alongside their pact-bound dragons, the Archangels were ultimately forced to sacrifice themselves just to slow Satan down enough for Prince Euden of Alberia to arrive with his army and finish the job. Only Sandalphon, among all the Archangels, survived the ordeal. In the aftermath of the conspiracy, she worked with Regina in the hopes of reviving the others until Galeem’s apocalypse.
In the Now: In the World of Light, Sandalphon’s story began in the Dystopiascape, specifically Midgar’s Sector 01 Plate, Piltover, where she came to be alongside a number of Sankta within the Lateran Church, the primary organized religious establishment within the city. With a unique laid-back attitude and culture with an emphasis on desserts, the Lateran Church also formed the Sector’s (and perhaps the city’s) leading manufacturer of firearms, with all its members mandated to own a patron firearm. Though extremely capable serving as the communications director for the Apostolic Knights, Piltover’s primary defense force, Sandalphon always felt like something of an outcast among the Sankta, owing to her lack of the angelic race’s shared ‘empathy’ ability that allowed them to sense one another’s emotions. Sandalphon would eventually roam beyond Piltover, seeking to take a more proactive role in Midgar’s defense against the Ever Crisis. Distrustful of the Administration and lacking psychic potential, she ended up joining DespoRHado, where she assumed her previous role. A growing familiarity with the PMC’s dark side, however, drove her to try and reform the organization aware from indentured cyborg soldiers and toward sophisticated androids. She would continue this endeavor until armed conflict broke out between DespoRHado and Vandelay Technologies, seeing it -and the Seekers- as a way to dislodge the ineffective and inhumane systems currently in place. Afterward, she joined the Seekers in order to expose and eliminate Midgar’s Guardian, then signed on for the long-term in order to see their mission through.

Job: Support Sniper
Specialty: Observing the battlefield from afar to coordinate allies’ efforts, then lay down crucial bursts of damage or healing wherever most needed

Inventory

• Gunstaff - An integrated staff-rifle weapon that serves as both a firearm, when held like a rifle, and a casting catalyst when held upright. In rifle mode it fires high-velocity ether bolts. In staff mode it can be planted to create a small Healing Field that heals allies inside it over time. Using the Gunstaff charges Sandalphon’s SP, allowing her to use skills, and she can stock up enough to use three skills
• Eye of Sol - The sun took my sight; thus, the sun became my eyes. A futuristic sniper rifle that fires bullets with high stopping power. It has a magazine of 4 shots, high recoil, long range, and an excellent scope. Its adaptive range makes it well-rounded, reliable, and sturdy. Aiming down sights for 1 second grants 35% flinch reduction. Reload, range, and accuracy are increased when no targets are in close proximity
• Aether Lance - a high-tech staff designed for use by the Skywave exosuit. Requiring no ammunition or power, it can be twirled to lob energy orbs that explode in an AoE with a 3-foot diameter on impact, doing minor damage to enemies and restoring a little health to allies
• Canteen (filled with coffee whenever possible)

Lv: 7
EXP: 11/70
Abilities:

• Angel of Information (Support Sniper) - Sandalphon is able to create two-dimensional magical projections that essentially form a multi-screen computer system for her personal use, visualizing the information cataloged in her head to make readouts, graphs, maps, and more. She can bestow these screens to allies in the form of sigils and open two-way communicate with them over long distances. Lastly, she can teleport to anyone linked to her in this manner, and back to her original position afterward, once per mission per person
• Angelic Praise (Support Sniper) - a skill that sends out holy ripples through the ethereal current to all allies within a few hundred feet, healing them all for 51% of their maximum health and healing them an additional 13% ever 3 seconds for the next 15 seconds. If in Coordination Protocol, those allies’ strength is boosted by a 15% of her own. If in Concentration Protocol: Grants the user "Rapid Analysis", which can stack up to 3 times
• Angelic Wings (Support Sniper) - a skill that forms four curved screens that quickly rotate around Sandalphon, building up a circular area of glowing blue lines around her, before the screens launch outward. This divine reconstruction heals all allies within a twenty-foot radius for 120% of their max HP. If in Coordination Protocol, any such allies with status ailments will be cleansed and have their max HP boosted by 20% for 3 minutes. If in Concentration Protocol, Shapeshift will be charged by 33%
• Vault (Exo-sniper) - allows the host to launch herself high into the air with a somersault. 11-second cooldown
• Shapeshifting (Support Sniper) - After building up enough power through use of her skills, particularly Angelic Wings in Concentration Protocol, Sandalphon can transform into Heavenly Wings. While in this sixteen-foot-tall stronger form her role and skills changes to close combat, but skills from a Job other than Support Sniper cannot be used. Her screens can be used as blunt projectiles. Angelic Praise is replaced by Celestial Skewer, which creates an eruption of divine water spears around her and can consume a Rapid Analysis stack to hear nearby allies for 42%. Angelic Wings is replaced by Celestial Castling, which creates a divine star above her that rains down seven rays of frostbite-inducing light. It can also inflict either poison, burn, paralysis, stormlash, flashburn, shadowblight, or scorchrend randomly. It can also consume a stack of Rapid Analysis to heal nearby allies for 42% and refresh Celestial Castling for use
• Frost Lock (Exo-sniper) - Casts an icy cluster that moves about as fast as a thrown softball. On hit, it detonates in a small area, freezing enemies and machines for 3 seconds. Larger targets take two usages of Frost Lock to be frozen. Large targets also take triple the amount of previous Frost Lock usages to be frozen again. This power has a cooldown of 12 seconds
• Process Optimization (Model Employee) - Sandalphon can draw out silvery razor wires which can be set or cast and then tightened. Inflicting slash damage with them increases her skill recharge 30% more than normal
• External Information Network (Benevolent Detective) - Every 30 seconds, Sandalphon can scan enemies within a few hundred feet to get their vitals. When she scans enemies, her allies gain a small buff to evasion, elemental resist, and damage reduction for 30 seconds
• Headquarter Support Request (Benevolent Detective) - A skill that manifests a laser targeting device that can be used to designate an area. After a brief delay, a cluster bomb will be dropped on the area that deals pretty good damage, and inflicts the following debuffs: attack -10%, elemental resist -30%, status resist -30%, and damage taken +10%, all for 20s
• Cerulean Mirage - Allows her to create a holographic double anywhere within her line of sight and walkable distance, including directly on top of her, once every 10s. If she shoots this Mirage, it will detonate to deal double the shot’s damage in a diamond-shaped area, which is even bigger if the Mirage is on something blue. The host can also instantly dispel the Mirage to turn a square foot of the ground beneath it blue

Sandalphon's Covenant

At the start of trials, inflicts "Locked Sigil" on the host for 300 seconds, but grants them "Preservation Protocol". The user can change which Protocol is active (Preservation, Restoration, or Purification) by announcing its name. These Protocols activate when a Skill is used and provide a defense buff, a health burst, and a status cleanse respectively. These effects will target the host if an offensive skill is used, or the target if a support skill is used. Locked Sigil's remaining time will be reduced by 6 seconds each time the user uses a Skill and by 18 seconds each time the host removes an affliction from an ally. When the Locked Sigil effect expires, the user will be granted "Sigil Released." Sigil Released grants the host all three Protocols at once, marked by the appearance of a halo above the host’s head. This covenant is currently established with Zenkichi Hasegawa

Skills:

• Mental Switch - Sandalphon is able to adapt to any situation on the fly, going from backline supporter to frontline fighter in just a moment of mental readjustment. While supporting her allies, she’s using Coordination Protocol, and when going on the offensive, she’s using Concentration Protocol. While this just represents her current mental state, her state of mind does automatically change some of her skills’ effects
• Combat Coordinator - Sandalphon is able to perceive and keep track of much more than the typical person, including parsing multiple conversations at once, and has an excellent memory. It’s more difficult to escape her notice, effectively distract her, or take her by surprise, and she’d completely resistant to stuns
• Heavensent - As an Archangel, Sandalphon can fall very slowly if she wants, and not take fall damage

Weaknesses:

• Delicate - Sandalphon’s defense is very weak, her physical defense especially, so she takes a lot of damage from all sources when not in her angelic Heavenly Wings form
• Windbane - Being Water-attuned, she takes extra damage from wind-aspected attacks
• Dragonbane - Being a dragon, she takes extra damage from any attacks or weapons noted to be effective against them
• Prehistoric Nemesis - All dinosaurs / special reptiles hate her with a burning passion to the point where they’ll attack her on sight
• Firebane - Reduces her fire and burn resistance by 30%
• Human After All - Reduces her ability to push herself to her bodily limits and work herself like a machine, making her much more easily physically and mentally overwhelmed
• The Blues - Unless her whole team sees her as their leader, her trigger is locked if she’s not on something blue

Spirits:

• Vigilant - Fusion, gave the Exo-sniper job
• Parvati - Fusion, gave the Model Employee job
• Leanne - Fusion, gave the Benevolent Detective job
• Azure - Fusion, gave the Sky-blue Sureshot job
• Hammering - A Striker with a 10s cooldown that is good at hitting things with her hammer, dealing heavy blunt damage that ignores a little of the target’s defense
• Annabella - A Striker armed with a rifle that’s basically a railgun, accelerating superheated payloads to dangerous speeds. She can appear to fire three rounds at a time while standing or in the air, weaker than sniper shots but dealing fire-aspected damage. By taking aim, she can also charge up a stronger shot over a couple seconds, though she’s vulnerable during this time. 20s cooldown. Finally, she can lob a canister that explodes when shot

Rapport:

• Goldlewis - Rank C, 5/10 REXP
  
  • The two fought as allies during the Seekers' time in Midgar, both officially joining the campaign against Galeem for the first time. As results-oriented workaholics their casual time together has been limited, but their forced partnership during Connected Climbing Chaos gave them a chance to talk. They share a mutual professional respect
  • Tag Team: Skyfall - A devasting combo between Burn it Down and Headquarter Support Request that involves the orbital laser holding targets down in a barrage of cluster bombs
• Pit - Rank D, 3/5 REXP
  
  • Being angels, the two had enough in common to hit it off. While Sandalphon wasn’t the authoritative holy lady Pit wanted to see, she believes that the two of them should get along, and would like to see him flourish
• Zenkichi Hasegawa - Rank B, 16/10 REXP
  
  • The two worked for opposing sides in Midgar, but when the Seekers’ campaign brought them together they happened to cooperate in Quarantine Valley. Their first actual conversation revealed him to be a thoughtful and compassionate man, and after learning that Zenkichi had a daughter who’d also lost her mother, Sandalphon resolved to repay his kindness and ease his burden. In Everdream Valley, the three of them forged their bonds in and beyond the port town, enjoying lunch, conversation, and the pastoral scenery. After a little misunderstanding, their venture culminated in a pact between them established Sandalphon’s Covenant, linking the two together. A week later, they were reunited aboard the Avenger, where the detective gave the overworked and exhausted angel a hand (or two)
  • Tag Team: Unknown
  • Skill Share: Vampiric Strikes - regenerates a small amount of life/health from each successful non-ability attack on an enemy

World of Light: the Endless Now

How does your system handle creature capture characters? Like Pokémon. I was thinking about Rallen from Spectrobes.

@Randomness

We do have some characters that own Pokemon already, so we're definitely accommodating. There are often opportunities to get creature-capturing supplies, especially when I'm setting up areas where such characters will be hanging around, and I can include specific creatures when worldbuilding for your areas. In terms of progressing captured creatures, like getting Pokemon new moves and evolving them, I'm pretty laissez-faire. You can progress them pretty loosely, with them learning new moves every few fights if you want, or evolving after a big story event. If you wanted you could level them up like mini-characters, too, so really, whatever makes sense and feels fair.

World of Light: the Endless Now

<Snipped quote by Lugubrious>

I guess keeping in theme, this game runs like a video game. The daunting part is all the stuff the game does for you, you’re doing yourself.

@Randomness

That's fair, but there's no need to interface with systems like spirits or rapport if you don't want to, or you could ease into it. The only thing that the players really need to worry about is keeping track of their own EXP earned from writing, and writing up the new powers and such that you want whenever you get a level to spend, which hopefully shouldn't be too hard. It's typical to keep the tally of how much EXP we have in our post headers, which we update once per week.