The Nebulous

The Wards of The King - A Song of Ice And Fire Roleplay (High Casual)(Reboot)

How'd you find or make all of those? They're quite good.

The Wards of The King - A Song of Ice And Fire Roleplay (High Casual)(Reboot)

Gabriel Martell

@Emma

Gabriel's is missing. D:

The Wards of The King - A Song of Ice And Fire Roleplay (High Casual)(Reboot)

Gabriel Martell

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Being slightly more introverted than most other Martells, the young Gabriel had, for the most part, remained practically glued to his second cousin's side. This had probably caused some grief for poor Toran, though. Earlier that day, Gabriel took the liberty of sneaking off toward one of the Red Keep's many studies, choosing the main library this time for his book reading. He had hoped to both give his cousin a chance to relax as well as seek out some peace for himself. Of course... that whole plan could backfire if he were to give Toran a panic attack. Oh well...

The Martells had arrived in King's Landing three days prior by ship. The journey across the gulf from the shores of Dorne had been long and arduous, with a relentless sun on most days, followed by a whirling storm that seemed to last for the first half of an entire week. The constant rain had forced him to stay in the captain's cabin, where it was warm and dry, in order to keep himself from falling ill. Needless to say, Gabriel was glad to finally set foot on land again and breathe the dry air of a fair and mild climate. If this calling to be a ward of the king had taken them any further north, Gabriel's parents would have reconsidered the very idea; but King's Landing was in a gentle enough place to live, keeping in mind the boy's lungs.

When a murmured ruckus was heard beyond the threshold of the library's main doors, Gabriel peeked over the heavy leather tome in his hands and saw several servants rushing down the corridor in the same general direction. Curious, he set the book on the cushion of the sofa he had been reclining in and made his way over to the door.

"Excuse me," Gabriel said, catching the attention of the one of the servants, who stopped to turn and bow their head out of respect.

"My lor- er- prince?"

Ignoring the common misappropriation of titles, the young Martell asked, "What's all the commotion?"

"More of the wards have just arrived, sir. They're gathering in the common room."

Allowing the servant to be on his way, Gabriel paused and pondered whether or not he should wait before meeting the others and seek out Toran and Reina, or if it was safe to proceed with introductions... Eventually, too eager to stand by on ceremony and find his cousins, the boy took off with a brisk walk through the keep until he found his way to the wards' common area. He could hear the voices of several that had already arrived, but was still rounding a few corners before fully entering the main chamber. When he finally came about, he paused to hide nervously in the shadows and glance around the room from a distance. He didn't know any of them, but he could take some educated guesses based off of the obvious apparel and designs, or by the descriptions of their persons from stories.

Gabriel also noticed the animals, of which there were several. Odd, but also fascinat-

"Is that a bear?!" he exclaimed excitedly. A wide grin appeared on his face and the boy forgot all manners before darting into the room unannounced with a giddy step. Seeing where the bear had chosen to lie down, Gabriel stopped in his tracks and then turned to the man that appeared to hold dominion over the large beast; the one with coal-black hair, a thick shadow, and dark clothes. "Is he yours?" he asked, collecting his bearing. "May I pet him? I promise I'll be gentle."

Judging by the expressions of the others, he was probably the only one in the room that had not been remotely startled, but playfully excited, by the presence of the bear.

Isolation (Island Nations Interest Check)

Sweet! That's 3/5.

Isolation (Island Nations Interest Check)

@rush99999, am I to interpret that as you being interested? :)

Isolation (Island Nations Interest Check)

Thank you! That's 1/5.

Isolation (Island Nations Interest Check)

Nation RPs are becoming more of a thing, it seems, but I've never been intrigued by the over complicated mechanics that go into most of them; so this one is made with simplicity in mind, and it's something to help participants pass the time as a little side-project. It is, by no means, a full-blown RP that would consume your time.

The inspiration for this comes from NationStates, an online nation game created by satirist Max Barry. While the conflicts and scenarios spotlighted in this RP won't necessarily be of a satirical nature, they will--more or less--be constructed and presented in similar fashion to NationStates.

A Brief Overview

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In the not-quite-so-distant future, humans expanded into the cosmos to begin colonizing other worlds. In a remote system on the verge of explored space, a new garden planet was discovered with gravity and atmosphere similar to Earth's. However, most of the surface is actually one giant ocean, with islands (big and small) scattered across the globe. These plots of land became independent colonies of the settling travelers that made this new planet their home.

We'll get into the specifics of creating a nation later in the OOC, if this gains interest; but to explain the general dynamics:

Political Influence Points

The game is played by simply making decisions using "Political Influence Points" (PIP, for short). Each decision made earns you 1 PIP and cost no PIP; but, at the same time, decisions require a minimum amount of PIP (basically, the tougher the problem, the more influence you require in order to resolve it). At the start, a new nation has 1 PIP and they can earn up to a maximum of 12. When problems demand the player to make a call, they will have a set amount of choices. The nature of some possible responses are "authoritarian", "conservative", "liberal", "socialist", "free market", etc., etc. Most situations only have two or three choices, while more complex issues may offer some more freedom.

Viva la Revolución!

If, at any point, the player is no longer satisfied with their nation's standing, they can initiate a revolution. Revolutions reset a nation's PIP to 1, and all decisions to situations that arose before are null and void. Thus, if you're no longer content with your fascist dictatorship or have grown bored with your hippie paradise, you can wipe the slate clean and try something new.

Political Standing

Many situations will always be available to tackle, so long as your nation meets the PIP requirement. Others are only available within a set time frame (determined by the gravity of the situation at hand). Situations don't have to be addressed, however. If no choice is picked, your nation will incur no consequence and its standing will remain unchanged.

A nation's standing is its overall style of governing, based on the decisions it has made in response to situations. A new nation that hasn't responded to a situation (or a recently revolutionized nation) is considered to have a "balanced" government. Standing is determined following a confirmed decision and calculated by points assigned to the choices you've made up to that moment. More details on this will be provided later, but it's not complicated at all (I swear!).

Invoke the Powah!

When players choose to respond, they have the opportunity to play out their government's choice in two parts:

1.) The official declaration of the decision itself (i.e. a presidential press conference, or a crowd-stirring speech) -- In the form of a post that declares the player's action of choosing an available response

2.) The fallout of their decision (i.e. a news story about riots in the streets, or a dramatic change in the nation's GDP) -- In the form of a follow-up post no sooner than 24 hours (real time) later

War!

As of right now, I don't have a solid plan for integrating a fair war system into the game. This is just a relaxing RP that you can do on the side whenever you get time in between the other RPs you might have going on here. However, I'll work on coming up with a system we can use in the future for acting out conflicts between the island nations.

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If you're interested in a nation RP, but don't want to lose yourself in the complexities of traditional setups, then consider giving this one a shot! Post here if you're interested and I'll start up the main threads when we get at least five people (not including myself).

Mass Effect: Brink

Errol Vahn; Infiltrator/Marksman

Appearance and Information

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| NAME |

Errol Vahn

| RACE |

Human

| Age |

30

| CLASS & ROLE |

Infiltrator // Marksman

| APPEARANCE |

Errol Vahn is about five foot seven and of fit, but nothing spectacular in build—he’s seemingly nothing much to scratch at and this has come into useful capacity when he comes into enemies who happen to under-estimate him due to his age, build, or appearance. He does not look like a marine, he does not smell like a marine, and he does not walk like a marine.

| EQUIPMENT |

Devlon Industries Stinger Handgun (x2)
Elanus Risk Control Services Tempest Submachine Gun
Ariake Technologies Naginata Long Range Rifle
Combat Knife
Omni-Tool

“The galaxy isn’t like the wild west, it is the wild west.”

Born to an interstellar businessman by the name of Miles Vahn, Errol was born & raised far from the human home-world of Earth and instead upon one of the vast colonial frontiers that began during this time. Errol’s father was an aggressive businessman who founded ErdeCo after liquidizing his properties on Earth as he believed that the only way to get in edgewise on companies like ExoGeni was to “put all of your cards on the table”. Laughed at by his former partners, Miles Vahn found himself desperate to make an impact on the galactic market that was colonial frontiers. As such Errol was born into a cosmic environment that was as underdeveloped as it was underpopulated. Growing up under the shadow of his father’s obsession to succeed in the galactic market was stressful as Errol found duties were being demanded of him straining the relationship with his parents even more. The immediate threat of hostile aliens, feral wildlife, social unrest, and criminal activity poised trouble to the growing community that ErdeCo had strived to create and one that they not only wanted to succeed—but needed to succeed. This behavior in Errol’s father would only continue to push his relationship with his wife further away at an exponential rate.

A young Errol would spend time at his uncle’s home on the colony— a general agriculture procurement, Alen Vahn, lived much simpler with the only threat being the rare fauna that would get out of hand. Enjoying his uncle’s stories of Earth was entrancing for Errol and he would begin to almost live at the farm during these years. During this time his uncle would teach him how to fire a rifle and to impress his relative he would adamantly strive to be better; for every day he stayed at the farm he shot targets and mended the farm to help his uncle. However, Alen Vahn grew sick and passed on from cancer-related struggles by the time Errol was eleven. A year later, ErdeCo had expanded their operations into a local habitat of violent and fast creatures which resulted in an entire team of laborers to lose their lives due to ErdeCo’s carelessness. The family members of these laborers began to riot while other residents threatened to leave if ErdeCo didn’t get its operations in check. This threat against his livelihood caused Miles Vahn to “protect his investment” and hired a PMC group as “quality control”; this PMC group was in actuality the Blue Suns. This would begin the “dark times” of the colony as the Blue Suns received benefits plus their rate of service and the group began testing how much they were allowed to do without consequences. But Errol’s father only cared about the critical and financial success of his investments and took no shame into admitting it. Stuck out on their own, the citizens were practically stuck in a corporate dictatorship and Errol’s mother snapped. Errol never saw the colony again as he was taken away from its madness to find himself on another planetary hell: Korlus.

Korlus was not much for improvement and the alien-centric world that bustled with crime as well as poverty led Errol to have a much harsher childhood than he would have had if he stayed with his father. But like his mother, he sort of saw the benefit of freedom; any freedom, over what they had back on the colony. As humanity was new to the galaxy, the population on Korlus had so few of them making it an uphill battle to survive as his mother struggled to find work and make ends meet. Errol himself at this time fell in with a bunch of other human youths who found themselves on Korlus in poverty and among racism and thus a sort of gang was created amongst them. It wasn’t long thereafter that Errol and his friends got caught up into something stupid— an alien named Ardot Fek.

Running with Ardot Fek, a self-proclaimed “supplier” of goods led Errol into a life of organized crime. Fek saw cheap manpower in the youths as well as a useful utility in their knack to steal things. At first they weren’t asked to do much outside of pocket a few things or spot competitors (and law enforcement), but eventually as they became more useful (and older) they ended up “graduating” to carrying firearms as Fek’s underpriced guards. Errol found himself killing for the first time no more than a month after he was given a firearm—he was shaken by the experience, but Fek talked him down from his repulsions and convinced him it was only adrenaline that he felt and not any false moral consequences. Soon enough, Errol was making enough credits on the side to help keep himself and his mother afloat despite Fek underpaying him and the other youths. However, as nothing lasts forever and Fek ended up ditching the youths on Korlus after a bounty hunter had been reported to be on his trail from his previous years leaving Errol with a few credits and a different sense of himself. The gang that remained were scattered; some of Errol’s friends fell into drugs or ended up dead and the few that remained grew distant. Errol was seventeen.

With a few credits to his name and no huge skill-pool, Errol found himself at a disadvantage on Korlus and despite his desire to leave the planet he really didn’t have the means or a plan if he even did. However, that’s when luck spun in his favor as a newly established mercenary group by the name of Graymane decided to scout out potential individuals on Korlus as at this point Korlus’ growing human minority became something known. Graymane sported a “humans first” ideal much like the krogan-oriented Blood Pack dealt rarely with anybody but Vorcha and upon recruitment Errol went up to bat and looked around at the other potential recruits and challenged them with a bet, he could shoot better and further than every last one of them; and with his experience of shooting distance at his uncle’s farm and spotting for Fek proved him for the most-part right and the recruiter was somewhat impressed.

Following this Errol operated, learned, and garnered the thing he wanted so badly back when Fek left him on Korlus— a reputation, while small (the PMC company was also quite unknown) brought enough recognition. Often times on jobs he would operate as a scout or sniper as he kept an eye on situations before they turned sour. This is where Errol would learn fundamental combat skills outside of street scenarios, but much like Fek the Graymane PMC group didn’t stick around long enough; after four years the company got accused of criminal activity and began to go under investigation which perceived to have the bulk of its membership scatter and their founder, Robert Torviski went on the run from the authorities leaving Errol on Omega trying to pick his feet back up. But at least this time he had something of a reputation for being a “good shot for a human” as a Turian mercenary once commented.

For a year thereafter Errol attempted a “normal” life as he felt he was a little tired of running and being shot at between the odd jobs he took, Fek, and his time with Graymane. However uneasiness took over him as he attempted to sort out something a little more legitimate on Eden Prime, which was a planet that made him a little nostalgic for the days of the past. Thinking that he needed to be at war with something and on the move he decided to work in the occupation he was used to and returned to the "game". Eventually he fell in with a certain group.

Mass Effect: Brink

Rosa Martinez; Assault Team Member

Appearance and Information

Age: 28
Height: 5'4
Weight: 155lbs
Ethnicity: Hispanic

Powers:

Barrier
Singularity
Telekinetics (Throw/Pull/Lift/Slam etc)
Warp
Annihilation Field
Flare
Biotic Charge

Equipment: Rosa wears a set of Hahne-Kedar Shadows Works Light Janissary armour, which has been modified to sport no forearm armour and wields no weapons, claiming that they serve only to weigh her down. They also feature no shielding systems, as Rosa's incredible biotic power allows her to create her own barriers.

Born in a Cerberus facility to parents whom were both field agents for the pro-human organization, Rosa spent the early years of her life being trained in the theoretical use of biotics, with the Illusive Man making plans to turn her into the pinnacle of Human biotics; Project Morrigan. This of course, much like many of his plans, did not start out, or end as well as well as he'd hoped. With Rosa being a more than difficult child, she would often misbehave and make a general nuisance of herself, which was a trait that persisted into adolescence during her extensive physical and mental training. At age thirteen, she was told the lie that she was born through a cloning procedure and was implanted with a highly experimental version of the old L2 implant, giving her the potential to output almost unmatched raw biotic power. Though the drawbacks were plentiful, in a way, the Illusive Man had gotten exactly what he wanted; A Human as capable as the Asari.

And so her training continued, with her growing more unruly by the day until eventually, she killed her instructor four years later whilst having a fit brought on by the L2 she had received. The replacement was given orders to be far more lenient in his punishments and far less rigorous in her training regimen so as to reduce overall stress and to prevent similar occurrences in the future. At age eighteen, she underwent a highly dangerous procedure to modify her genetic structure, splicing it with the newly discovered Minagen X3, a chemical known to be fatal to most sentient beings. However after years of studying the compound, Cerberus had found a way for them to engineer cells that would mimic a white blood cell, but on steroids; and attack the harmful cells. Thus theoretically resulting in Rosa being able to essentially send herself into biotic overdrive. Theoretically.

Instead, what occurred was a permanent boost to her raw power, and another fit. Though this time, midway through it she regained consciousness and began to use her new-found power against those she had attempted to rebel against for most of her life, warping reality itself as she tore the facility apart piece by piece in search of her 'creator'.

When she recalls the story, she speaks of the calm that she felt the first time she intentionally killed a man. She speaks of the numbness and feeling of helplessness she had, even though she was not out of control for even a moment. Her search turned up no grand creator as she had hoped, but the weak and helpless geneticist whom had conducted these experiments on her. It didn't take long for her to force the truth of her origin from his lips, him 'spilling the beans' almost in an instant in a pathetic attempt to save his own life. He was not met with mercy though, with Rosa slamming him into a nearby computer desk and shattering his spine. There, she used the knowledge she had gained to gain entry to the facility's extranet connection and activated the facility's distress beacon in order to alert nearby Cerberus forces of an attack. They arrived on the scene within the hour, and by posing in one of the guards' assault armour, Rosa was able to board the ship with no resistance and become a stowaway hidden in plain sight.

Fortunately for her, the vessel was then sent on a recruitment mission in the Terminus Systems. There, she made her escape and vanished into the underworld of Omega.

Fast-forward two years and you find a changed woman. One making her living producing knock-off paintings of classical artwork in incredible detail, keeping herself to herself and staying as far under the radar as she possibly can, paying various information brokers off both in an attempt to keep herself hidden, and to find her parents. The ones responsible for allowing her to endure what she did. She continued this life until one day, the Reapers attacked the Galaxy. Then, everything changed. Cerberus started openly flying around the galaxy with not a care, and when the Adjutant outbreak occurred, Oleg Petrovsky and his forces landed on Omega, and took it over. Not much is known about how she survived the incident, only that she emerged as a member of an Eclipse Commando unit, which was part of the band of mercenaries pledged to aid Commander Shepard in the assault on Earth.

She fought side by side with her squad-mates on the ground against Reaper forces, and was fortunate enough to earn the outspoken praise of Admiral Anderson in rallying the Alliance soldiers stationed in Brixton to push towards the conduit and aid Hammer Team in their assault. Eventually though, she put such strain on herself by overusing her powers that she passed out, waking up with her face covered in blood and her body buried in rubble to the sight of what could only be described as a monumental red ball of energy leaking from the crucible, causing the gargantuan Reapers in the sky and on the ground to simply keel over and become inactive, some crushing entire portions of London as they fell. After the war, she used the massive paycheck given to her by the Alliance for her individual valour to wander from system to system, trying to find inspiration for her first original art piece.

It was during this time that she met Captain Declan Calaway. On her travels, what she'd often do in order to save credits and avoid the loneliness that enveloped her after losing the only friends she'd ever known during the battle of Earth, was pay her way aboard vessels transporting goods from system to system. On one particular occasion, the vessel was raided by the Dashers. Taken completely by surprise and comparatively unarmed, the Dashers cut their way through the defenders in minutes, until they encountered Rosa. She put up such a fight that the pirates began to retreat, though in pursuing them Rosa met her match, a Krogan charging straight through one of the bulkheads and knocking her clean out of consciousness. When she awoke, she found herself aboard the Dashers' ship, where Declan and a Salarian named Zik offered her a position on their assault team. Seeing a potential opportunity to fit in with a group once more, Rosa obliged.

Although many see her as cold externally, upon getting to know her even the slightest bit makes them realise just why that is. Rosa is naive about how the galaxy works and ignorant to the good in people, a trait she gained from a life of fighting, though her lack of real maturity and addictive personality takes her standing from an unlikeable outcast, to a loyal friend within but a few sentences.

Mass Effect: Brink

@DirtyDingo and @Gowi, your characters are accepted! I'll move them over to the Characters tab here shortly.

Before we begin, I'll go ahead and explain that the first post in this OOC thread will be amended to host a space for "objectives" that will assist in guiding us through the main plot (as well as "side missions" or "loyalty missions" -- which were a staple of the second game, and one that I wish to incorporate into this RP).

I'll also be editing the first post I made in the IC to include Declan actually arriving on Omega, pushing him into the next couple of scenes. Once I do, everyone is welcome to begin posting IC.

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UPDATE: All set! Extra information in the recently submitted character sheets was retained, but hidden in the spoiler that contains their appearances (I'm a stickler for uniformity :P ). The IC post has also been updated. You DO NOT have to match your average post length to that one! I only made it that long to set the tone for starting everything and build the atmosphere.

Everyone's characters should be starting on or arriving at Omega. You can either have them meet Declan at Afterlife, catch wind of his arrival, or wait for him to seek you out. Your choice. Trish pretty much has a fix on everyone's general whereabouts, so she can guide him to his old crew if need be.