Oni_

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

I'll start writing up a post now, had mock exams this week so I've not had the chance to start until today.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@AtrophyThat it does!

I'm glad that this is alive and kicking, I've had my fears for the last day or two.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

Ceridwen Phrys

---

To say that Ceridwen enjoyed the voyage from the old world to the new would be a gross misrepresentation of the truth. When someone of her sort - that is to say a bounty hunter - is forced to stay in such a proximity which one would usually only afford to those who they consider as close friends but instead with the scum that they hunted, then there is an undoubtedly high chance of tensions running high.

Ceridwen had spent the past six weeks with an uncomfortable itch on her trigger finger and her magic running hot, with a searing heat throughout her veins. She'd held herself back as best she could, but a fair few of those god damned conscripts had a bone to pick with bounty hunters - even if it wasn't the Firehawk who had wronged them so.

Still, six weeks passed just as fast as they always did and they were soon released to roam free on the New World. If you counted being under extreme scrutiny and regulation as roaming free, which Ceridwen had great certainty that most of those on the boats definitely would.

The city of New Stratton was a remarkable example of Ilyan architecture which gave Ceridwen an odd feeling of Deja Vu. She couldn't put words to the feeling, it reminded her of the cities back in the Old World, but in a way that felt like a long lost dream - or a nightmare. For the city represented a devastated representation of its former self, somewhat like the kind that one might encounter during a feverish dream. And another thing about the city - it god damn reeked. Many people had started to cover their noses while a select few had taken the option of throwing up somewhere towards the edges of the crowds.

The attack on her senses didn't end as they progressed through the base - although it didn't surprise Ceridwen one bit. The perfumes of Old World cities had no hope of making their way out here, and that was most evident in the Bunkhouse. If the to close for comfort layout of the boat ride was uncomfortable then this would be way, way worse. Of course, it wasn't as cramped as the ships were, but unlike the ships, this was a permanent fixture. No getting out of this place in six weeks as far as Ceridwen was concerned.

She hardly had the time to inspect the burlap blankets the kind souls in the army had provided them with before everyone was once again herded like sheep towards the next destination on their tour - a muddy field serving as the main courtyard of the operation. Everyone quickly hushed down while an officer began talking to them, some war hero if you asked Ceridwen, no typical officer out here would be in such clean clothes. That, and he couldn't fight due to his unarmed nature.

His speech was short and sweet as far as they go, with the officer failing even to mention his name - something that higher ups usually enjoyed lording over their soldiers. Perhaps all his time out here had taught him that these conscripts didn't give a damn who he was. He was in such a hurry that when he asked for questions, of which there were some among the ranks, he has pretended not even to see the raised hands.

Next up came the assignment of their squads. Ceridwen didn't recognise anyone in her own save one, an inquisitor. She'd seen their work over the last few years, and she'd heard some gossip about her on the boat. She didn't know too much, though. She glanced over at Ceridwen, and Ceri returned the gesture with a small wave and turned to listen to their assignment.

Trekking through some ruins didn't seem too bad a start, that meant that there were a limited number of places monsters could sprout from. One of her squad members did ask a question, and it was then that Ceri realised that he was another that she knew. Roland Axis. There had been a few bounties on the guy but none that Ceridwen had ever taken up. The guy didn't pay well enough for her - that, and he had some pretty good protection. She wondered what brought him out here; surely the authorities didn't manage to catch him and keep him there?

Shamblers, thats what he was asking about and the Inquisitor was all too keen to explain what they were. The churches of the Old World were forever resourceful, no wonder she was the one to know so much. The inquisitor was also keen to get out there and get started on them - for different reasons than Ceridwen, but she felt the same way, giving only small nod in recognition.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@AtrophyPfft who needs healing? Just don't get hit amiright. _{Oh I specified that Ceridwen gets hurt a lot in her backstoryOhsweetmotherofgod}

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

Ceridwen "The Firehawk" Phrys

Name:
Ceridwen "The Firehawk" Phrys
Age:
29
Race:
Human
Profession:
Mage
Personality:
As people come, Ceridwen is one of the more arrogant ones, especially due to her gift and talent with magic. It's given her the inclination to cut the planning phase out completely and to rush into things - granted it's worked for her so far. Can you blame her, though? They say with power comes responsibility, but Ceridwen says with power also comes a sense of immortality.

When it comes to other folks, Ceri is a conversationalist. She wouldn't go so far as to say that people are what make her tick - sometimes she does appreciate a moment of quiet and solitude. Whether or not her comrades are quite as extroverted as she doesn't particularly matter to her, she'll still try and start up a conversation regardless; a party with no solidarity are no better than bandits.

Now, when it comes to beliefs, be it personal or towards the mission Ceri has an iron will. She won't stray from the mission, whether it is the right thing to do or not. She signed up to complete a task - a contract which she will complete despite the costs. Personal beliefs mean nothing to her, that's not to say she doesn't have them. More that she keeps them to herself. No one has a right to know, and if they don't know, then they won't hold anything against her.

Backstory:
One, two, three... gunshots rang out, not far away. ...four, five, six this was his chance, she was out of ammo. The bandit leapt up from behind his cover, rifle in hand. The bounty hunter greeted him with the barrel of a pistol, and a smiling visage. The bandit was calling her bluff; he aimed his sights at her, she had no hope. A trigger clicked. No shot fired. Half a second later a plume of fire exited the barrel, engulfing him in flame. This bounty hunter wasn't just anyone; this was the Firehawk.

Born in Ilya to a loving mother and father, that's how Ceridwen always begins tellings of her childhood. Is it true? Well, sure it is her, parents loved her a whole bunch. It was each other they couldn't stand. Her father ended up leaving them early on, maybe five years after she was born, leaving her mother to cope with raising Ceridwen alone. Other than that interesting factoid she doesn't like talking about her childhood. It's not what defines her - well that, and it was incredibly standard and boring as far as they go. Maybe the most exciting moment of it all was her skill in using magic. But all that changed was a new need for study and control.

What? Do you want to know about her learning to cope with magic? That's new. No one ever intends to hear about studying. But alright, buckle up, and we'll get back to the interesting stuff as soon as possible.

So how did Ceridwen find out that she could use magic? Well, in the same way as every other damned mage of course! She did it by mistake. In her case, it might have involved freezing the tail of the neighbour's cat. And then everyone else found out when she burned down their shed. Of course, it was on purpose. Mr Jenkins had always looked at her like she was a waste of time.

So what followed was the usual. Lectures on burning down sheds (It had happened before, and no, you can't ask about it) followed by as previously mentioned - studying. Everyone's favourite activity and when it came to magic an absolute waste of everybody's time. You see, Ceridwen became something of a kinesthetic learner when she took up the arcane arts. Textbooks on process became an excellent source of practice with fire. That puddle the school bullies were stood in? Well, what better time to practice cryomancy? And of course, metal fencing became charged with a shockingly large amount of static electricity.

It might surprise you that even with such an adventurous way of discovering magic it took many a year for Ceridwen to become any good at it. It was the same year she left home on her own for the first time. Carrying nothing but the coat on her back, and a hat on her head. Two pieces of clothing which later became synonymous with The Firehawk. You see, travelling to meet a tutor in magic was the last ditch attempt at her completely control her ability. She was slowly becoming more potent but at the same time more reactive. She couldn't control it and what used to be mostly harmless bursts had become a somewhat dangerous affair.

So was it years of studying that helped her control her magic? No, it was the same thing that drove her to such great levels of control and power as The Firehawk. It was a fight. You see, as we'll cover later bandits in Yggdrasil were a problem and even worse than the bandits? The squirts that wanted to join them. Usually had to take some mark to prove their worth if they wanted to join an already established group and Ceri must have seemed like a damn easy target. To be fair to them, she almost was. Until she blew up.

Yes. Blew up. That is what I said. No, I don't mean from anger. Yes, I do mean she was the epicentre of a quite literal explosion. There were three bandits, and two of them were engulfed. What did the third do? Stand there for the most part while the easy target stood up from the flames, coat burning behind her. Looked like a flaming pair of wings to him. Before Ceridwen did the natural thing and rolled the fires out that was, that one kid's account is a story Ceri still remembers fondly to this day.

That explosion was the first step after that magic clicked for her. She needed intent behind it. Every time she tried before it was because she was told to. She didn't want to do it so the magic never really worked. The explosion? Oh, she didn't want an explosion, but it was close enough for a starting. She wanted those bandits to set alight. Just maybe a little too hard.

After the whole flaming girl incident, Ceri decided to follow through with studying for once, it took a few years, but she mastered the control part of the magic. It did what she wanted all the time now just not always as powerfully as she might hope. But everything in it's own time, that isn't even the interesting part of Ceridwens backstory.

No, as far as Ceridwen is concerned, her story begins later on in her life, when she took up bounty hunting.

As much as the nations of Yggdrasil liked to think bandits weren't a problem, you always had a few camps. And even if you didn't criminals were always trying to run from the law. That's where people like Ceridwen came in. Remember her childhood finding of magic? Over the years she became exquisite at using it. She was never one for the fancy pillars of magic that other mages used, though, she was always one to enhance her weapons with it. Flaming bullets were a staple of her arsenal as was using her magic to sling her bullets back into the cylinders of her pistols.

Of course, she didn't start out being the Firehawk. Back in the day, she was a nobody, taking on contracts to bring in people who'd run away from curfews and other menial crimes. Even then people fought back, and even then she came back home worse for wear, bleeding, bullet holes the whole shebang.

Over thew years though the Firehawk became a known name among bounty hunters and their marks alike. Known for swooping in, taking her mark and leaving nothing but flames behind. She wasn't the most legendary bounty hunter to have ever lived, but Ceridwen was happy with the name she'd made for herself. No one knew how mortal she was, how even still she'd return to her life burnt, beaten and bloody. Just like those early days. It was part of the reason why the Firehawk worked so rarely, and in extension why she only took on big targets.

Then she got wind of the New World, how for some reason they were sending out a new expedition there. They'd been doing it for years. They were looking for a new wave, and if Ceridwen told the truth, it piqued her interest. It was kind of like a bounty contract. Only really, really big. Perhaps this was the next step for her, a new frontier. A new adventure.

Skills and Abilities:
Fire Magic: Ceridwens most adept use of magic from years of practice which is typically applied to her guns. It can be used without them, so she isn't wholly useless without her pistols, but it's more of a style choice. Skill level wise? Heck Ceri would consider herself a true expert, but thats only because she hasn't found anyone better than her yet.

Gunslinging: Ceridwen was never good with a rifle, pistols, though? Those she could shoot with; she ain't half bad at it either, but she ain't the best around. Probably just as good as your average Joe, she can hit things, but never in the right places.
Cooking: Ceri can't cook for shit. Simple as, if someone ain't there to help her she won't be eating anything wholesome.
Tracking: Ceridwen is an above average tracker, she needed to be as a bounty hunter. Still, loads of people out there who're better than her.
Close Combat: Close with guns and magic? Ceri will do just fine. Close with knives and sword? Oh, she's certainly screwed.
Gun Manipulation - Ceri never knew what to call it, but she's a dab hand at using her magic to reload and automatically turn her guns should the need arise.

Equipment:
Twin Tri Barrelled Pepperboxes -Not high end enough to be turned using enchantments but still two decent bits of equipment.
Coat of the Firehawk - brown material, just as thick as the standard expeditionary coat, although well worn and in places very charred.
Hat of the Firehawk - Same brown material as the coat, also very burned.
Throwing knives x5
Hunting Knife - Never used, only bought because a melee weapon is mandatory.

Aldarina Has Fallen (D&D Story)

I hope not, I've been checking back every other day hoping someone's posted.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@vietmyke

Ah! I see now. I've edited my CS appropriately with far too much a few paragraphs on the learning bit of magic. I was considering her only being able to shoot from her guns at first but then I liked the idea of an explosion in her backstory I decided if she ever lost her guns she'd be completely useless. So yeah, wrote in that she could use magic fairly freeform, also the implication that she could control more than just fire just not as well.

How good is she? I wanted to be careful with that. In my mind, you don't spend years Bounty Hunting without becoming damn good with your weapon of choice. But of course, I don't want "really good at magic" to become the crux for her. So I think what I wrote leaves room for some skill level adaptation if I need the wriggle room. If your cool with that of course.

Side note: TFW I got a little too into her magic learning and that's now longer than the rest of it.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@vietmyke

Ok, thanks for the feedback. I'll edit in a paragraph or two about learning magic and what I mention here shortly:

Probably my writing style being a bit vague with the whole firearm/magic skill levels. Firearms she'd probably be average, maybe a little above on account of her profession. That being because she can hit her targets, magic gives her no need to hit as well as a standard bullet would I guess, so accuracy isn't an issue like it would be with an actual expert gunslinger.

As for shooting magic, I'd say that fire is a signature thing. The reason I specified was that I was unsure of your magic system, some have elements being inherently different from each other, so a specialization is needed. Others you can do whatever you need. From the sounds of your feedback, it looks like the latter? In which case yes, I'd say Ceridwen probably could shoot ice or something out of her guns she just chooses not to do that most of the time.

Also, I'm not surprised there was a wild west feeling to the whole thing. I've been worldbuilding a bunch for my Lovecraftian Wild West setting so it's in the back of my mind. Might not have helped that I had the same playlist I use to write that on in the background. Glad you don't mind.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@vietmyke

Ok, I made the appropriate changes to my CS, if anything else needs correcting just tell me!

On conventional powder, the idea was always to use the two guns as a deliverance method for Ceri's magic, so they're more of a flavor thing.

Muskets & Magic - Dark Fantasy RP

@vietmyke

Alright, I'll switch the six shooters for three barreled pepperboxes. I'm assuming that magic would be capable of turning the barrels instead of them being hand turned?