Just a regular university student, majoring in hospitality and tourism. Also a history and trivial knowledge nerd, aircraft aficionado, occasional trekker and a D&D player.
And I would make a writing prompt to everyone: try to write a nation. How it was formed? How about economy or military? Is it centralised or decantralised? How about political situation? Does the monarch answer to a parliament, or does he rule by the grace of the gods? How about towns? Remember, towns were often small, housing a few thousand at most, and most people got their living off the land. Is it a feudal, an imperial society? A republic, a princibality, a duchy, a kingdom? A city state? A free city within a latger nation? How about religions or cults? How about enviroment? Is it mountainous or flat country? How rich is its farmland? How about rivers, lakes and streams? How do they affect travel? Is there dangerous wildlife, like bears or cougars? Is there prey? Study medieval examples and take a few pointers. And I don't want to see extremes, where everyone is a mage or whatnot. Magic is like Tabasco - not everyone likes it, but it spices life nicely when used wisely.
Ps. These are just some guidelines and questions to help forming a nation.
@BingTheWing I often like fantasy worlds that have down to Earth feel - magic and gods are fine, as long they don't become the main enteinment. My favorite series include The Witcher and A Song of Ice & Fire. In both, politics and scheming play a major role. Human affairs are in the forefront. And I dislike descpribing a fantasy race in just few adjectives. Cultures, nations and life in general are much more complex and diverse than that. You can't do that in real life, as it is too deeb an ocean to measure with only few words. It's like saying "All Americans like baseball." It might hold true to some Americans, but not evryone is interested in baseball. Human lige is complex.
@shylarah Take your time. I don't mind if you use the siblings, but I wouldn't import them without changes. How they got to the US? How were they inducted to the Task Force Sentinel?
@Bright_Ops A good question. I would say, that there has superpowered people before, but during the 20th century, more "supers" have born. And the supers have always affected the history, but the main course of history hasn't radically changed from our own. The Civil War was fought between the North and the South, the WWI happened, and even if I dislike it, Napoleon still lost at Waterloo in this timeline.
@Shylarah Well, I'd like to have a fresh beginning, and of course, you can submit the Stormbreakers (with proper refines and edits), but I'd like to see new faces.
Name: Captain David Stevens, also known as the Sentinel.
Gender: Male.
Age: 25
Appearance: David is a tall and board-shouldered man. His hair is short and coloured dark brown, bordering almost black in dim light. His jawline is strong and his eyes are light green. David is a lean and muscular man, resembling a decathlete.
Personality: David is a man a duty. Ever since he was a child, he has wanted to be a soldier.
Background history: Born in Manhattan, New York into a middle class family on 1st of January, 1917 to John and Elisabeth Stevens, David spent most of his childhood playing games with the other kids and going to school. Always the good-natured child, David didn't want to pick a fight. Until one day, when a couple of older boys started to bully him on a constant basis for this or that reason.
The bullying lasted for weeks, and after a month, David took the matter into his own hands. He was skinnier and smaller than the other boys, but it didn't deter him. He had always been quick on his feet and to think. The boys beat him, and left David badly bruised. David recovered, but the experience left some marks on him. David started to exercise more, running, lifting weight and training boxing during his teens as his school allowed.
After the Great Depression began, the cinema that John Stevens owned, went bankrupt. John tried quite a few oddjobs and temporary work, trying to keep his family fed. As years passed, the family's dire situation became more pronounced, and finally, John started to do illegal work to a local gangster, mostly smuggling suspicious containers and boxes to the gangster's partners. One day, John was arrested and taken to jail, where he died after contracting pneumonia.
Elisabeth was struck with grief, and she became depressed, leaving David in a way alone. In 1937, David joined the National Guard and worked in construction sites as a handyman. As the war in Europe started, David followed the news and watched the newsreels with a keen eye, unlike the most of the audience. In 1940, David tried to join the Army.
Superpower and how the character got it: Super-strength, resilience, endurance and speed. David is much more stronger, agile and faster than the average human. He is stronger than a Olympic-level athlete, but in the end, he is still a human. David wasn't born with his superpowers, but he took part in a secret program, Project Abraham, that tested a new substance. The substance could "awaken" a person's latent superpowers, if he had one. David was taken into the program as one of the test subjects, and was subjected to many tests.
Finally, David was injected with the substance, and it woke his powers. He became the first super-soldier of the American military.
Jean Calvert might come back to the RP as a member of the French Resistance. Who knows, if we get that far...
Name: Jean Calvert
False ID Name: Louis Cambronne
Nationality: French
Age: 23.
Height: 184 CM
Weight: 75 kilograms
Appearance: Jean is a lean man with an athletic build, and tall for a Frenchman. He has strong, coal black hair and green eyes, and a plain face. He has grown a black stubble.
Other Appearance: Jean has small scars all over his body from different accidents and military training.
Superpowers: Camouflage.
Jean has the ability to camouflage himself, his clothes and equipment to suit his surroundings. It doesn't make him invisible, but a much harder target to detect. Jean is like a human chameleon. He also seems to have keen senses, especially eyesight, but not extraordinarily high. Continuous camouflage can leave Jean exhausted, and he eats more than a regular man, as his metabolism works more efficiently.
Skills: Jean has been trained by the British to act as a commando during his stay on the British Isles. He also served in the French Army during the Invasion, and thus has a wide knowledge on explosives, different weapons and tactics. He can speak French, German and English fluently thanks to his upbringing.
Jean is a competent hand-to-hand combatant, having learned primarily boxing, few grapples and chokeholds while in service.
Jean has good knowledge of history, especially European history.
Personality: An easy going man and a gambler by an outside observer, but a thoughtful and serious man inside. He might joke when stressed, but also often focuses on the mission at hand.
Jean has been educated in many good schools, and as such can appear to be quite smart and appreciative of information. He is curious and perceptive. Thanks to his sniper training, he is a calm person and cool nerved when laying an ambush.
History: Jean was born into a upper-class French family with long military traditions going all the way to the Hundred Years' War, on June 6th, 1918, Jean was given the best education available at the time. Jean's father Jacques Calvert served as an infantry captain on the Western Front, leading a company in the battle for Verdun. Jacques continued his work as a travelling businessman after the war. Jean had unremarkable childhood, but during his teens, Jean started to find himself able to camouflage himself. At first it wasn't very practical ability, but as the time went on and he got older, the ability grew stronger. He was using the skill to pull pranks on his friends. He has lived most of his life in Paris.
During his late teens, Jean became romantically involved with a Parisian singer named Emma d'Anjou - the surname being her stage name, but they shared many an afternoon in the Parisian cafes nonetheless. Emma and her family were secular Jews, and her parents were humble barkeepers. She often sang in the family's bar and in a couple other establishments. Emma was a pretty brunette with blue eyes, who dreamed of travelling one day to America, to start acting and singing in New York, but as her family wasn't very wealthy, she continued singing in Paris, hoping that some manager or agent might someday pick her for a musical or something similar. The couple broke up after an argument over Emma's dream to become a famous actress.
Some days, Jean passed his time playing cards with his friends, becoming good in a few card games and mastering a couple magic tricks. He also gained a taste for Calvados in his youth.
Before the war, Jean became a Corporal in the French Army, serving as a sniper. He could use his camouflage skill to blend with the environment and sneak upon his fellow soldiers. The officers were amazed by the skill of Jean, who didn't share his secret ability. Jean left the army in 1938 after his two-year service period. Jean attended university, studying history and archaeology for a year before the war broke out, and he was called back to the army. He took part in several battles and skirmishes, often working alone behind the enemy lines and evading capture multiple times Jean made a few friends in French Foreign Legion during the invasion. As France was invaded by the Germans, Jean managed to escape France by boat from Dunkirk as the BEF (British Expeditionary Force) was evacuated. He was able to capture a Parabellum pistol, but had to leave his French sniper rifle behind.
After arriving the British Isles, Jean revealed his power to an intelligence officer, and was ear marked for a special unit that was on the talks on highest levels of the government - the Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, better known as the Special Operations Executive. He was trained in sabotage, explosives, radio transmission and other fields of ungentlemanly warfare. In 1941, Jean was transferred to the Westminster League. After the League was decimated, Jean stayed behind the enemy lines and started to organize a resistance movement.
Equipment:
A 7.62x39 mm Winchester Model 75 carbine with a scope, folding stock and ammunition. (Basically, an ahistorical carbine model of the Model 70 I made up.) A 9x19 mm Parabellum 1908/Luger pistol, holster and ammunition. Flashlight with batteries. A small notebook serving as a sniper's memo.
Important NPCs
George is a famous industrial tycoon and inventor, who inherited a business empire from his parents. A man interested in sciences and arts, he is going to make an important business deal on a manufacturing method with the military that could revolutionize logistical warfare.
John Kellerman, aged 23, is a son of an industrialist tycoon George Kellerman. John has been labelled as a "possible" trouble by the FBI for his right wing views and scandals, but without a crime, there cannot be a punishment. John can be arrogant and self-centered man with too much money and confidence.
A middle-aged special agent of the FBI, Richard has worked hard on different cases, and for the past weeks, he has been tailing John Kellerman to find prove for his possible crime connections. Richard is a balding man, but is a lean fellow, gaunt faced and black haired, and fit for a man of his age. He served in the Army in the 1920s, and likes to drink whiskey. Mostly a by-the-books agent, he knows when to apply pressure. He wear big aviator-styled sunglasses most of the time for a reason or two.
The commanding officer of the "enhanced" Task Forces within the OSS. He is a middle-aged man, who started serving in the Army during the First World War as an officer, and was assigned to intelligence during the 1920s. He is often viewed as tough but fair leader, and holds a lot of experience as an intelligence officer.
James Emmerich is a young Democratic senator from the state of New York in his early thirties, and a lawyer by education. He is the son of James Emmerich the Senior, who was a big name in the government in his day. James is a ambitious senator, who wants to do the right thing for the country, and can seem idealistic and slightly naive by his views, but is also seen a potential presidential candidate in the future. He has a wife named Caroline and three children and a golden retriever as a pet. He is brown-haired, strong jawed and tall, and while not muscular, he takes care of himself by running, boxing and lifting weights. He likes to read of ancient Roman history. He's going to arrange a charity and war bond meeting with the New Yorker elite soon. George and John Kellerman are invited to come, and Richard Hanks has some suspicions on their motives...
Wars may be fought with weapons, but they are won by men. It is the spirit of the men who follow and of the man who leads that gains the victory.
General George S. Patton
The year is 1942 - and the most destructive war known to mankind still continues. The Germans have devastated the Soviet Union for almost a year, and the Japanese have started their campaign in the Pacific, seizing territory from the Europeans nations. The Italians and the infamous Afrika Korps are holding out in North Africa. Since Pearl Harbor, the United States has been on the defensive, training and compiling its forces, attacking the enemy whenever they can. This year will change the war - in 1941, a small SOE (Special Operations Executive) unit of super-powered commandos destroyed one of the Germans' super-powered units during a secret mission in France, the Hydragruppe and its leader, SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Dassler. Many commandos were lost during the mission. Now, the newly-founded OSS (Office of Strategic Services) with the help of SRPD (Special Research and Projects Division) has formed a new unit of enhanced individuals. They will attack the enemy by any means necessary as special forces, saboteurs and guerrillas.
Preface
This RP will act as a reboot for the Westminster League of Extraordinary Individuals. Set in early to late 1942, the Axis powers are still fighting against the Allies with all of their military might. Over the course of the year, though, they are going to be attacked by small teams of enhanced individuals and meta-humans - in layman's terms, superheroes. Taking part in missions on different fronts, the RP will follow the exploits of OSS' Task Force Sentinel, led by the eponymous Captain David "Sentinel" Stevens.
As a rule of thumb, I want to have characters with personality and a distinct superpower, that is not overpowered. Often, great drama and challenge can come from the fact that your character faces a situation that isn't easy or ordinary of him or her. Think of "Saving Private Ryan", "Eagle Has Landed", "Fury" or "Inglorious Basterds, and you get the scale of the RP - small team fighting behind the lines against the Axis.
As the Nazi threat rose in Europe and rumours of German super-powered individuals leaked to the American intelligence offices, an initiative was decided on the highest levels of government and military: a new agency was founded in 1937 to find and study super powered individuals and induct them to serve American military. The work was done in secret, as the American public was indifferent on meddling European affairs. The agency became known as the Special Research and Projects Division. It was tasked of studying emerging super powers in people and to gather practical data to combat such people. David Stevens was one of the people taken into the Division when the war started in Europe.
When Roland heard the Imperial greeting the group, his sword went instinctively for his sword's handle, gently grasping it, before turning towards the newcomer. He was a young man, about his height and looked exhausted. He had malnourished look on him, and could be a bait. Or he could be a member of this troupe of heroes, Roland ran in his head.
"Well, greetings to you, fellow Imperial" Roland said, moving his hand away from the handle softly. He had a flagon of red wine strapped to his backpack, and Roland would hate himself if he let it go sour. Perhaps I can try to relieve some of the tension.
"As our fellowship grows", Roland started. "I suggest a drink before our voyage onward." Roland took his backpack and detached the flagon, opening it and letting the wine breathe. It wasn't an expensive vintage, but it would do the trick. "When I fought in Skyrim, me and my men shared one habit, and that was drinking together. As we travel together, we will share everything and anything, even our drinks. Only then we can truly triumph."
Roland took a sip of wine and passed the flagon around. He didn't doubt that it would come back to him empty.
Shortly.
Just a regular university student, majoring in hospitality and tourism. Also a history and trivial knowledge nerd, aircraft aficionado, occasional trekker and a D&D player.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Shortly.<br><br>Just a regular university student, majoring in hospitality and tourism. Also a history and trivial knowledge nerd, aircraft aficionado, occasional trekker and a D&D player. </div>
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