The space between... It was an astounding sight, though you likely had very little attention span to spend on 'looking' at the space outside your ships, given that it seemed to be trying to tear them apart every moment you spent in it, all while careening towards what appeared to be a rocky planetoid that would spell eventual doom... Still it was a surreal display, It wasn't like normal space, where it was just black with starry dots allover.
The Between Space looked as though it was flooded with nebulae, colors every which way you could look, though there 'was' black, and definitely the presence of stars, it was a rarity amidst all the colors, more so than the presence of strange phenomena that made no sense, like a massive flower visible in the distance, growing out of one of the nebulae, or another that produced a mountain the size of a planet, supposedly. There were even strange little gear-forged objects floating around producing light, though it may not even be clear to those in a panick.
One point of interest though, It wasn't unbreathable, though those in ships may not have the focus to notice this amidst the panic, those drifting through on their own may notice... though it also brought with it a sensation of being watched, far too closely, too deeply... though it was at least more merciful on those drifting along... or perhaps not, depending on one's perspective.
It didn't last long though, it was barely a minute before it ceased, though 'how' it ceased may have spurred more panic as well, as a wave of fire was emanated from the approaching planetoid, or more accurately, from the small sun orbiting it, washing over those being drawn towards it, though the sense of impending fiery doom was another anomaly that did not pan out as expected, as it harmlessly washed over hull and flesh alike, bringing with it a sense of protectiveness, along with an absence of whatever had been threatening the ships... though it didn't slow the descent towards the planet, those who'd been drifting free seemed to suddenly find themselves on the surface, as if swept up by some force that sought to save them.
The Arrival
Those remaining would find themselves plummeting towards what 'looked' like a solid wall of stone... and yet, once more expectations were dashed as the ship barreled right through it, revealing it to be an illusion, and continuing to fall straight a short distance through more familiar airless 'Space' and into an atmosphere, one that seemed to, remarkably, resist their fall to a degree... Alas, while this did slow their descent, it did not prevent terminal velocity and resulted in far greater friction pulling at the hull, until it finally touched down... heh, 'touched'
More like cratered and trenched, sending up dirt, rocks, and tree that would scatter for miles from the untold tonnages impacting the land-scape, half burying the ships in question and likely creating whole new land-marks from the scale of destruction. Those involved in the crashed certainly would not bear witness to the panic their arrival had spread around the nation they had landed in, but it would not be long before a reaction was inevitable.
[edited in!]Granted, it was also smack in the middle of the night, A reaction wasn't likely to come until there was enough light to even 'try' to see inside the forest... right?
Captain Cloak's Clunker
I didn't make a CS for it, because's pretty much going to be a slag heap xD
The timing was honestly astounding... To think, several parties subjected to Inter-dimensional anomalies at the same time as a battle in the Zea in the vicinity of the World in question, the context for it was zero, the only relevent detail to those falling would be that one of the ships from it's midst was sent down in a flaming heap in the same direction as those who'd been brought here...
Alas, even though this ship seemed safe from the destructive effects visited on the others, it was in considerably worse condition, given that it was vomiting fire from several places and missing whole chunks of the ship...
That said, when it finally crashed it formed an unmistakable landmark near the middle of the forest, a great spire of metal jabbing up out of the ground, with fires spewing out of it and into the nearby forest, and a plume of smoke rising up into the sky.
ALLLL RIGHTY THEN! I finished up my CSes... granted, the other two are kinda cop-outs full of 'unknowns' XD one is plot relevent for discovering those details, and the other i'm not sure will be a permanent fixture or just present in the starting setting, i'll know by the time we're ready to leave it XD
anyway! Soon as my pizza's done i'll dig into creating the opening post in IC :D
Have we decided on where in Equestria all the characters will crash at and if we will be crashing close to each other or not?
Well! I haven't seen any opinions on the matter yet, so unless some pop up by morning, I have a place in mind, and i'll flip a coin for whether or not they're near eachother of more scattered.
Well, I'm not too fond of EQG personally [twiggy giant headed human things aren't my deal XD especially with the tween highschool musical angle, they could've done better, but could've done worse XD] I tend to use it as evidence of universe crossing potential in some cases XD
Also, only Twilight has actually 'seen' these other mutant human counter-parts, and sunset could be a fun encounter someday... That said >3> Adding a layer of mirror-verses would be a bit redundant in the scope of the RP as a whole, because if we'll be spending a lot of time outside of the world-fragment that has it XD
However, it's still a good suggestion, and the 'concept' can still be of use here, if not with the cartoony human variant XD... which I will keep to myself for the sake of surprise 'if' I ever decide to use it XD
So, I won't be using EQG in particular, but some of the characters from it 'may' be relevent in the future... also, with the mention of shadowplay... I suppose I should warn that some encounters in the RP may bring spoilers, for anyone who watches the show but might not have gone 'that' far.
We must be careful messing around with alternate universes though... else we might land in 'this' one!
@Shoryu question about languages. For rp purpose are we going to be speaking the same language?
hoooo, that's a good question!... I mean, Equestria can have some pretty efficient 'fanon solutions' for language barriers, but that 'could' be an interesting dynamic to experiment with, Plus I also quite like tinkering with unique interpretationns of Equestrian languages...
Granted, English is English, so some of the groups here might be able to understand eachother just fine. Rune's people have also had past contact with humans, so it will likely end up with just one language barrier, Equstrian and non equestrian, but still, could be fun to work with! :D
@Shoryu Alright, I'll fix it when I can. It's just been rather hectic this week with my college studies and all. I still made a 86 on the test though.
Ooof, I know how rough college can be XD careful you don't get brainwashed in there! :D and have fun winding down from the test!
I think it will depend on how far apart we land from each other. Although, I will say that the UED would probably react better to seeing fellow humans than seeing aliens. They are a teensy bit xenophobic, after all. Although they would probably calm down a bit once they realize that the aliens don't want to, y'know, eat them alive.
heheheh, I actually think it'd be funny if the UED met the changelings XD given that i tend to handle mine a bit zergy >3> but you guys can plot whatever ya like there ;3... That said, compared to what those marines are used to fighting, changelings probably wouldn't be that intimidating XD... I mean, when you get into how big an Ultralisk 'really' is, instead of the 'kinda big' unit model they have, hoo boy XD I'd be one hard mother fucker if I survived a fight with a 20 story monstrosity like that which can apparently 'stomp' a siege tank XD heheheheh.... Hmmmmm....
@Jaredthefox92 Could stand for some corrections, like 'foal' instead of 'foul' XD or furred instead of fured, consider some proof reading, and I hope you can keep up with the Casual posting standards of this part of the forums when actually in RP, but still
Officially Accepted :D
@WanderingDragon Hmmm, the stances, are they like, short-term effects that only last for a few moments after using the stance? perhaps based on how long it's held? XD Or is there something else to them?
Either way, he looks like he'll be interesting to have around, also Accepted ;3
Also, sorry I missed your question before XD It's probably we'll meet canon characters from most places we visit, so most likely.
He's looking good so far ^.^ keep it up, lemme know when you've finished ;3... also, I tend to refer to those marks as butt-brands just to be funny XD... I actually heard it first from some story that had a stallion mention his foal-hood where they did things like the CMC, except it was little colts who did it, so they called themselves the 'Butt-brand Buccaneers' XD... It just kinda stuck as something funny to call it [and I tried to ignore that they basically called themselves butt pirates XD]
Correction: OH! You 'are' done! It was posted while I was typing this :D Lemme read!... Yep, looks good! Accepted too!
Also Officially accepted ;3 She looks like she's going to be fun! :D And with the different ships that'll be involved in the crashing, I can see a lot of potential for the future creations >3> heheheh
If i'm not mistaken, that's everyone... but me! XD I'll have mine posted tonight sometime, and we can officially get things rolling tommorrow :D
I'll technically be running Three characters, though one is going to be a plot character necessary for showing the way 'off world' XD
[Disclaimer: Not my image, but it fits the character idea perfectly.]
Name: Chryssocolla Species: Changeling Age:3[33]
Source: MLP [Specifically more Fanonically elaborated interpretations of Changelings, since the ones in canon are practically undefined beyond being love sucking bug things XD]
Appearance Description:
At roughly Five feet tall he's considerably taller than average stallions, and even greater contrast to his own kind who are usually shorter than a mare. Though he looks sleek and smooth, it's actually very short black fur made of an enhanced form of Keratin that's tougher and shined more easily, it often instinctively 'fluffs up' in some circumstances. His mane and tail are made of more jell-like Sea-green strands, a color that is mirrored in his eyes, wings, shell, stomach, and even his tongue.
Otherwise, He lacks the excessive volume of holes that most changelings seem to have, Has a shell along his back to protect his wings, which are comprised of a quartet of longer, sleeker wings compared to his species' norm. His stomach is actually a set of see-through bands of green around his middle, luckily there's no freaky organs visible to gross people out.
While his eyes appear featureless at first, there's a subtle light behind the green layers to hint at where he's looking.
Personality: He's a bit of an enigma to his own kind, though they tend to vary in their own beliefs on other species or how to survive from hive to hive, He is adamant in the belief that he can prove his species doesn't need to survive like parasites who must hide what they are, or to simplify it tremendously, adamant in defying millenia of history.
That aside, he's a shameless prankster, using ignorance of his species and shapeshifting or illusions to play pranks and entertain strangers to create a more harmless reputation for himself. He's notoriously playful and mysterious, though he's not afraid to be up-front and honest about things, it usually requires a serious situation or accurate questions, otherwise it's hard for him to willfully put aside the thrill of confusion and pranks.
Backstory:
In honorable changeling fashion, as a rogue, he will not speak of any details that can be used to identify or track the hive he originates from, for all intents and purposes acting as if they did not exist... at least, that's his reason for refusing to give any clear information on them.
For himself though? He'll happily claim to be born and bred to make others smile with glee or scream in terror, rebirthed in his old hive to give him advantages while trying to survive 'without' a hive. He has successfully eluded or escaped authorities all around Equestria for Three years and counting, he always seems to find a way to evade or escape restraint, whether physical or magical in nature... and yet, whenever he escapes they just find him again in a new location playing pranks or telling jokes.
Otherwise, he is frustratingly unclear about his actual origins or even solid information on himself or his plans for the future... for all anyone knows, he could be plotting to conquer the kingdom and nobody'd see it coming!
power section- I have a habit of being 'too' thorough with things like this when I describe them XD I tried to keep it 'down' a bit to avoid over-working myself, and also to leave some things deliberately ambiguous so they can be discovered IC :D ... I might also inadvertently make things seem grander than they really are.
Skills:
Stealth, Espionage, Infiltration: Such skills are common to changelings as a species, and quite literally a primary source of survival for them for countless generations.
Emotional Recognition and Manipulation: A species that 'lives' off of emotions can easily boast unique skills related to reading emotional beings as well as influencing them, not unlike experienced farmers and their cattle.
Unusual learning potential: It's not precisely a superior learning capability, as it is a different one, a hive-mind, even made up of countless individuals instead of blank drones, learns in different ways from life-long unconnected individuals, not the least of which is the ability to combine the mental capacity of multiple minds over great distances for intellectual pursuits.
Advanced Biological knowledge and Medically applicable Experience: Not 'technically' a medical specialist, but part of imitating another species is knowing how their bodies function, without that any disguise will fail eventually. More importantly, knowledge of a changeling's own biology, as well as it's malleability and how to manipulate it are Required knowledge in the hive. Much of this understanding can be applied in some fashion to learning the biology of new creatures.
Traits:
Strange Biology: Due to the high abnormal biology of changelings compared to... 'most' species actually, they bear immunity to some things that are common threats to those species, such as lack of oxygen, spells or poisons targeting specific organs or fragile biology, and such, while other's may only be resisted better, such as crushing or over-heating. They also have a somewhat tougher hide than an average pony's with more flexible joints, and a special quality in their hooves for climbing most surfaces, as well as their biology being optimized to work well with both their Shape-shifting and Bio-alchemy, necessary both for imitating other species as well as altering their base form... As a side note, for a changeling, a stomach is more for storage than for dissolving foody things.
- Refined Buzz-Flight: Though capable of a high level of forward momentum, A changelings wings are especially optimized for rapid changes in direction without sacrificing speed, up to a certain thresh-hold at least, the range of motion narrows with increased momentum. Chryss' wings in particular are refined for far higher speeds than an average changelings, but this makes his wings much louder, like a buzzing hornet, or more draining when magic is applied to boost it.
- Emotivorous: Changelings do not subsist on solid foods like other species, though they 'can' eat and enjoy them, and can stave off the 'feeling' of starvation for a while with it. Their primary Dietary Requirement though, is Emotional energy, put off naturally by other species who 'feel' things, which is used to power their bodily functions, magic, and even higher brain-functions... Starvation is not pretty, food poisoning though... depends on the food.
- Bio-Alchemy: Not quite shape-shifting, so much as Biological manipulation, their Body-mass is specially crafted to be influenced by the art of Bio-Alchemy, letting them tweak their base forms in a variety of ways, but it is far slower, more costly, and above all more 'permanent' than shape-shifting is, but has been used since their origins to ensure that each generation had a higher chance of survival than the last. It uses a variety of special reagents and facilities though, so it is not prudent to use in places that aren't a more permanent structure.
- Changeling Senses: As a changeling, one of the primary sensory differences from other species is inherently available empathy, every changeling can feel, and indeed 'taste', the emotions of other creatures. Their more common senses are more protected than others, such as the screens over their eyes allowing them less disruption from dust and debris, while they can 'shift-away' their nostrils or mouth to avoid gases or smells. In particular, they are refined to see well in the poor lighting of hives and to recognize scents that could either be signals, or evidence of intruders.
Powers:
Shape-shifting: A Changelings Primary tool of survival, concealing their natural appearance to blend in with their prey, able to take on the form of nearly any creature of 'near' size with minimal cost to their mana and negligible upkeep once applied, they can push it farther for greater cost. It can be used to alter their insides to imitate other species as well, for greater integrity of disguises, though it is always characterized by a colorful flash of fire=like magic, and can be disrupted by sufficient trauma to the head or mind in particular, but great enough trauma to the body can disrupt it eventually as well. On it's own it's not too great a boon in combat aside from disguises, but it can be used to tweak the body's other capabilities so long as disruption is avoided.
- Hive-link: Arguably one of the greater powers of changelings as a whole, the Hive-link connects all the minds of the hive in a sort of Hive-scape, allowing them mental possibilities that other species simply don't have. The most prevalent being communication, a hive is always greater than the sum of it's parts, a changeling can broadcast things to anyone else in the hive, allowing the sharing of information, sensory data, ideas, and so on, though experience can only be shared in-part as physical practice cannot be handed of. It is also used to create forums of interaction, allowing many minds to share their mental capacity towards intellectual pursuits, such as research or analysis. In a way, it can also provide an escape from physical or mental trauma, allowing a changeling to escape from various forms of torture or crippling pain by dispersing it.
- Combat-Shifting: A more intensified application of Shape-shifting, additional mana allows for more solidified transformations, which while they don't require up-keep once completed, are not as fluid or well integrated as Bio-alchemical changes, so while it can be used to make armor, it's usually less refined in 'some' way, similar for weapons it can make. Often Combat shifts are specialized in one way and inferior in others. It can also be used for some internal things, such as thickening the hide, or producing venom glands. While these changes aren't 'disrupted' in the same way as normal shape-shifting, they can be 'broken' in a more literal sense, which carries potential back-fire for the user.
- Magic: Magic! What a wonderful thing! Flexible, Variable, Dangerous or helpful! It can fulfill so many purposes!... But only if you know how to make it perform a certain way, and have the power necessary to carry it out. For changelings, magic is less difficult to learn new methods than other species, with the benefit of the hive-link to share data and teachings, a Changeling can learn a new spell from another's memory in record time, and easily develop and impressive repertoire, though given their dependency on the same power to 'live' they can also burn extra to enhance their body or enhance other natural functions... The catch? Over-using magic can prove more fatal than for ponies, their magic is powers by their internal energy, which is also what keeps their body's healthy and maintains higher brain functions. Even more so, it is what keeps the 'hive' healthy and functioning, and no changeling should be willing to sacrifice the hive for a mere power-boost... supposedly.
- Illusions: Chryss's specialty in particular, He has spent a great deal of time practicing with illusion magic, using it to entertain or terrify ponies into giving him tasty snacks. It has countless uses for the experienced, from befuddling an enemy, to entertaining an ally, Making a fancy entrance, or simply confusing people in general. His preffered combat style, when forced to, is using illusions to make the enemy paranoid and make it impossible to tell which 'attack' is imaginary or real, great for escapes or getting at weak-spots.
- Ring of Fire: The changeling version of teleportation, it functions a bit differently, conjuring a sort of cartoonishly sinister ring of fire with a black void in the middle that swallows whatever jumps into it, and allows them to leave a similar ring conjured somewhere else. It follows the same rules of other teleportation spells though, such as conservation of motion, additional strain over distance or with larger loads, and so on.
Equipment:
Big surprise, changelings don't carry much equipment XD They do however often carry a few unique little tools around, small enough to swallow.
Stomach Contents: Lock-picking set, water-proof of course. 3 x Emotion battery gems, small 3 x Builder Drone eggs 1 Communication Gem
Ship name: Unnamed
Similar to this, except the ship, and flames, would have a sea-green motif.
Origin: Someone in Canterlot... probably. Captain: Captain Sloop Size: Luxury yacht class balloon powered air-ship. 75~ meters long, roughly 30 high and 40 wide.
Source of Long range Travel: Teleportation Engine... 'long-range' for them isn't on an FTL scale yet.
Offensive Modules: It's crew primarily, but it has a single large mana-cannon in it's hold for 'big' targets.
Defensive Modules: Their primary focus, This ship contains quite an array of protective measures, a cloaking array, Distortion ring, teleportation engine, configurable mana shielding array, Thaumic propulsion engines, and emergency systems to over-charge other modules[which predictably strains them with prolonged use.]
Original Crew: 30-50 something Changelings depending on the day.
How any Crew remain:... All of them, this is a native ship.
Name: We're all on the same side ultimately, but your little group might have a different name for it's portion. Origin: Though strangers may join it, it still originated somewhere else.
Important Members: Chryssocolla-Proto-duke:Fulfills the roll of the hive's center, as it is a small hive with very few members, by changeling standards, 'sub-duke' is the suitable title.
Dozer the Behemoth: Chryss' pet behemoth, not exactly sub-sapient, but too large to be fully maintained by such a small hive, so he behaves more like a pet dog.
Sloop The Advisor/Captain: Technically incharge of the air-ship itself, while Chryss is incharge of the hive. Suitable for managing the hive when the center is busy.
Schism The Alchemist: Every hive has an alchemist, period, it is a requirement of being a true hive, though the leaders of a hive tend to be the local experts, the alchemists act as assistants and repositories of alchemical knowledge and experiments.
Resources: Most of what changelings move they make in the spur of the moment, but the hive does possess: 1 x full array of emotional storage gems. A Set of equipment for constructing several important facilities if they find somewhere with enough space, A nursery, alchemy lab, and M Production. A collection of roughly ten thousand bits stuffed into the cargo hold... money always has it's uses.
Knowledge: Extensive Knowledge of Equestria, Biology, alchemical manipulation of biology, and a massive repository of 'information' that may be of use.
Name: Onyx Wing Species: Pegasus Age: Classified
Source: MLP-verse
Appearance Description: He's a bit over four and a half feet tall at the shoulders, though with white fur and a fiery mane, the name he uses doesn't fit at all.
His 'suit' is actually a bit more complex than canon implications.
The first layer is a thick body-suit of unknown material, quite thick, yet flexible enough not to restrict motion, while it covered every inch of the body from the neck to hoof to flanks, with slots to fit one's tail and wings through... 'how' they fit through without assistance, nobody knows!. [What's more similar... latex? Neoprene? Elastic? I'm actually not familiar with that XD]
They wear a flight mask resembling a plague doctor's, primarily for it's aerodynamic design, as well as it's suitability for members who might happen to have beaks instead of muzzles. Presumably it aids in breathing at extreme altitudes or in harsh conditions, and from it's appearance is part of their visible armor, and of course bears the same color pattern as the rest of their outfit.
Unlike more 'show-boat' focused flight teams, the Shadowbolts use portions of armor they can afford to wear without disrupting their flight, similar to below, though assume there is some on 'all' four legs... ignore the scorpion tail though XD
This is a great example of the wings I imagine on them :D otherwise the image is moot XD
Personality: Classified [To be updated]
Backstory: Classified
power section- Classified!... Because Shadow bolts are sneaky little buggers that are extra protective of information! XD... To be more clear, i'll update these sections as things are observed IC :D like learning about a new alien species though experience! :D... If they end up tagging along on the world hopping adventures, They'll probably be a bit more open to sharing details that haven't been observed. [or more clearly, I don't know if they'll be a permanent fixture in the RP, or just a 'local presence', so if they become permanent i'll fill in all the details here XD]
Skills: Classified
Traits: Classified
Powers: Classified
Equipment: Classified, All Shadowbolt equipment details are kept on the down-low for the sake of combat efficiency.
[Much like the Ship CS, this one is also experimental, feel free to tweak as you please.]
Name: Shadowbolts Special Ops, Ace Response Squadron of Equestria
Population: 8 active members, 10 or so civilian service members that act as support [gear maintenance, intel provision, training equipment, and so on.]
Important Members: Onyx Wing - Alpha Leader, Skilled in a variety of techniques that allows him to team-up with any other member, as well as effectively organize each one's specializations, though they are stronger in specific areas.
Pearl Wing - Second in command, Weather Manipulation specialist, and secondary coordinator. Amber Wing - Lightning Specialist Ruby Wing - Fire and heat specialist Lapis Wing - Cloud, Water, and Hydration Specialist Jade Wings - Twins, Speed and Wind Specialists Bronze Wing - Strength specialist, The Tank and Bruiser of the team, also huge... and sometimes a projectile.
Available Gear: Classified!... but anyone who sees them can tell there's at least 8 suits and accompanied armor pieces.
Name: Captain Cloak Species: Human? He claims to be. Age: Unkown
Source: Unclear
Appearance Description:
He's a strange thing, a Man standing Seven feet tall, with a slim shape to his over-all frame. He bends at odd angles as if his joints don't work like a normal man's, and all anyone ever sees of his 'body' are the glowing red eyes that peer from under his hat. His voice does 'not' match his intimidating appearance at all.
If he can help it he is never seen without his full adornment of crimson finery on to conceal his actual appearance.
Personality: It will become clear early on XD
Backstory: Someone will have to get him to talk about it XD... then I'll update it.
power section-In this guy's case, I'm going to leave things a mystery until he's demonstrated or talked about things. I can say it won't likely be as fantastical as my others. XD
Skills:
Traits:
Powers:
Equipment: A cutlass, long-waist bag, and some form of musket.
Well, I'll get up a CS and stuff up tomorrow. Already know what I'm gonna be doing~
I recognize you! It's been a good while xD
yeah there's room XD you might be the last actually, I don't wanna get 'too' big, but anyone else can still be on retainer in case someone leaves, or possibly later on things will hit a status that makes room for additional people to fill new roles >3>
For now! I only need to apply touch-ups to my CSes and I should be ready to go myself. I don't know that I'll be able to start tommorrow [mom's birthday, She's probably going to monopolize my time.] But saturday for certain!
So I've been racking an idea around in my brain about a Crystal Pony to add to this little venture. Why a Crystal Pony? I'll be honest, I just think a Crystal Pony would have a more interesting color palette than a normal one. I had even thought about making them some kind of Astronomer type who maybe lives in an observatory complete with a comically big telescope for star gazing. Would definitely give them the means for spotting the ships falling out of the sky and their fascination with space would motivate them to investigate. But that's where I'm running into problems. I can't think of any other personality traits to give this pony. Maybe they like studying the unknown and possibly solving a few riddles and mysteries along the way? Also, I am totally stumped on species and cutie mark. I'm pretty sure Unicorn makes the most sense for species... but I also don't want to come across as a Twilight clone. The cutie mark is giving me the same issue. Something related to space or astronomy would be appropriate, but again I don't want to come across as a hollow Twilight clone.
oh hai :D You posted appeared just intime for me to miss it because it appeared behind my own XD lesse here!
I think a Twilight Clone would need more similarities than astronomy themed and adores learning, It sounds fine to me :D and it could actually be a really fitting archetype to have while wandering between worlds >3>
I find that people tend to worry 'too much' about 'Is my character too similar to these other ones' instead of focusing on the most important detail, being 'will it be fun for you to play', and secondary one of 'will it break the setting of the RP enough to make it less fun for others.' [I don't think it will XD... I mean, maybe if you popped out 'Princess Mary sue the rainbow alicorn of eternity' or something goofy like that, heheh, but i don't think anyone needs to worry about that. ;3 ]
Rothurage
Nallore
Riddles
