TheWizardLizard

Malfunction -- The RP Where Having Superpowers Sucks (New Thread! Now with added friendship!)

April Cooper

April Cooper | 18 | Female

Appearance:

April is a short, thin, and generally disheveled young girl. Almost always seen wearing some manner of jeans and a sweatshirt slightly too large for her, everything about her appearance indicates a girl who doesn't really care how she looks, at least not enough to put undue effort into it. She has long black hair that she'll usually tie up into a pony tail, though if she's in a hurry she's not above leaving it where it is. She pretty much never wears makeup, not out of any particular dislike or objection but because she never has a reason to.

At 5'5, April isn't the tallest girl in Freak Camp, and she has a generally skinny build to match her height. It's also noticeable that her entire body is almost constantly covered in bruises, big and small - it's a rare sight to glimpse her without at least one black eye, and she's constantly sporting a new set of glasses that already are covered in cracks and fractures. Overall (aside from the damage), April is a sort of plain, sort of pretty young girl who has never bothered to clean up for anyone a day in her life.

Powers:

FRICTIONLESS: April has the power to disable the effects of friction on her entire body, causing her to be governed almost entirely by inertia and enabling a mode of transportation that looks somewhat like totally out of control skiing. This isn't to be confused with intangibility - she can't pass through solid objects, she just doesn't slow down as she moves by them. Skintight clothes she wears such as t-shirts or skinny jeans also lose friction, though anything baggy does not.

Weaknesses/Limitations:

(1): Out of Control April has very poor control over her power, and is prone to activating it without meaning to, causing her to drop what she's holding, cannonball into a wall, or slip and crash to the floor. Added to that, it's also very hard for her to control her movements when she's in 'frictionless mode', as she can't really touch anything that would help her steer. It would be possible for her to dip in and out of being frictionless so she could turn without losing speed, but with her level of control, that's pretty much out of the question.

(2): Breakable April is, physically, a normal 18 year old girl. This means she is very prone to being injured when moving at high speeds and crashing into things, hence why her face and body are so constantly bruised and damaged.

(3): Gravity/Wind April is immune to friction, not gravity, which means her power of 'turning into an inertia-fueled human cannonball' doesn't really work uphill and travelling up is a major drain on her momentum. Likewise, she's not immune to the force of wind pushing in her face, which will also slow her down, though not as much as it might a normal person because the air moving around her generates no friction.

Personality:

April is, fundamentally, an introverted, sarcastic girl with a love of computers and a deep fear of her own destructive power. Though she very much enjoys taking the piss out of others, especially those she perceives as behaving stupidly or incompetently, this isn't born from any real malice or rudeness, and she'll just as quickly laugh with someone as at them. She enjoys being on her own when possible, though she's not incapable of making friends.

Ever since she passed the Test, however, there's been a small part of her consumed by a fear of what she's become, which isn't helped at all by the fact that she is constantly hurting herself. She tends to flinch at loud noises, as being startled can cause her to activate her powers, which combined leads to the fact that her nerves are basically shot. She approaches mundane tasks with the utmost care, well aware that a mistake on her part could lead to something breaking and someone (probably her) getting injured. Again.

Backstory:

April had a cozy suburban life in District 3 as the child of local officials of the NWO. Although her world was troubled, none of those troubles ever reached into her home, and she was denied very little growing up. From a young age, she excelled in school, particularly in the more rigorous disciplines of math and science. She was never the most popular kid in school, but she had all the friends she wanted, and she was set to go on to study Computer Science at one of the finest schools in the world. April had been lucky, but that luck ran out two days before the Test.

When her powers manifested, she fell down the stairs, broke her arm crashing into a wall, fell to the floor and lay there for two hours screaming for help, unable to turn her powers off so that she could get enough purchase on the ground to rise. Two days later she tested positive, and was shipped off to freak camp for her new life to begin.

Talents/Skills:

(1): Computer Whizz April's very good with computers and coding, and probably could have made a future out of that if she wasn't a human pinball of destruction.
(2): Musician April's a pretty decent guitar player, and tried to learn to play piano once, with limited success.
(3): Writer April's actually an okay writer, though she never translated that into anything other than writing fanfiction about TV show characters.

Quirks/Habits/Other:

April's allergic to peanuts, needs to wear glasses in order to see, and used to play a Level 100 Blood Elf Paladin.

TL/DR:

A nerdy girl who can turn off friction and move really fast, which mainly translates to injuring herself and breaking things. A lot.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

Okay. I'm ready. First round of CS reviews incoming. Before I go on, I should say this - don't fuss too much about power levels, guys. Some characters are going to be more powerful than others, but that's the way of these things; the Avengers has its heavy hitters and its Hawkeyes, but that doesn't mean Hawkeye is a worse character (okay, bad example.) Every character will have something to do and the ability to be useful, so don't fuss if you feel like yours couldn't hold up in a fistfight with the others. Don't get me wrong, all the characters should be powerful, but power doesn't have to mean being a big scary monster or having a big pile of spells: to quote everyone's favorite stick-figure lich Xykon, 'Power is power.' Power can be knowledge, or influence, or skill, or craftiness - you don't have to be a huge monster to catch the eye of Kil'threx, you just have to be very evil and very powerful; whatever that looks like.

@dragonmancer: Nidhoggr! May I say sir, you have excellent taste in Dark Souls bosses. I like what you've done with him - he feels both unique and a like a good old-fashioned 'Smaug' archetype. He's very powerful, of course, and I can easily see him being one of the heavier-hitting Harbingers, but I don't think he's too far over the top. Spelling and grammar a little rough in places, but I'm not a super hardass about that - just keep it readable and we're good. All in all, I'd say he's good to go - except one tiny problem preventing me from accepting him at this time, *cough* check the rules again *cough* validate me *cough*. All in all, pretty well done.

@TheWindel: Aesir, the Apotheosis of the Court! A very nicely executed Evil Overlord type, cool Myth, awesome lair, very well-written sample post. No real problems here, so. Accepted!

@MauveMarauder: Okay, while I don't hate the idea of a simple mass-murderer becoming powerful enough to gain the eye of the God of Evil, I've got a couple sort of big notes for this one. First and foremost, it doesn't totally jive with the 'fantasy theme' that we're going for here, and while y'all are encouraged to worldbuild, that's provided you stay within the genre, so... mentions of bike shorts, wet floor signs, warheads, glass trophy cases, that doesn't fit. Wizard academies do exist, but they're a lot more old-timey than a high school. Also the tone is sort of weird and stilted - she sort of seems like, without the occasional references to mass murder, she'd fit more in a teen slice of life story? If that makes sense? And her personality doesn't appear to jive with her being crazy evil at all - her pyschopathic tendencies should definitely be played up. All in all, while the concept of a teenage girl with way more power than sense and a deep mean streak isn't a bad one for a Harbinger, she currently doesn't seem like the type of person who'd turn the eye of the God of Evil when he's looking for lieutenants. Also, I'm going to have to veto the 'explodes with the power of a warhead' thing, just because a lot of the fun of this RP will be in big badass war sequences and any such detonations would probably solve a lot of problems a little too easily and quickly.

EDIT: Oh god, another one has appeared! I have accomplished nothing!

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

Alright, I'm still working through both CS's, and I like what I see so far! This isn't my final comments on either, as I haven't really gotten to going over the myths and stuff in detail, however one thing that I noticed in both is that the 'Holdings' section should contain, like, real estate and servants as well as items - so a description of both character's lairs should be in there. As well, I got the sense that Aesir has a not-insignificant body of servants/soldiers/what have you, and if that's the case they should be included in holdings as as well. All in all though, well done, and I'll get more detailed thoughts up in a bit.

@TheWizardLizard

I'm doing a Chaos Angel that's related to @TheWindel's character, she should be ready in no more than a couple hours.

@KoL

I look forward to seeing what you guys've got for me!

Oh, and since we're getting more interest than I was really expecting, I should say that I've upped the maximum number of people I'm willing to take to eight - because plus my character (who I will start working on soon as well - without spoiling anything, necromancer pirate) that makes nine, which is like a cool, symbolic evil number. Or something.

I don't know, I'm playing this by ear here.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

I have a character concept. Basically a barbarian warlord, but also a master of monsters and manbeasts and such. He believes himself to be the reincarnation of "the Wyrm," the destruction-god of his druidic religion, and has taken it upon himself to scour the world of civilization so that it may be cleansed and reborn anew. Likely he sees Kil'threx as being an avatar of Gaea (the queen deity of his religion), under the aspect of the Wyrm.

Here's the real kicker though; he's called the Dragon King, and is the sacred leader of all skin-changers. He's the last true Weredragon.

@Dead Cruiser

That is rad as fuck, my dude. I like what you got.
And yes, I do realize that I explicitly called out half-werewolf half-dragons in the main post, but this is a take on the concept that I actually like. As far as overlap with the CS already submitted, I think you're still in totally fine shape - a druidic barbarian Weredragon King of Skinchangers seems very differentiated from a huge psychic dragon. And hey, it seems to me like his mythology implied that some serious outside magic affected him, so that could explain the difference in your dragondom. Just a thought, you do you.

I have a corrupt kinsman of King Dowling's in mind for this.

@Orlan

Cool beans, I'm really looking forward to seeing where you go with that. Just a heads up, though, since King Dowling and Melaron are pretty important to the story, I may have more notes for your character than I will for others just to make sure he fits in with the established stuff, but if you're down to clown with that then get cracking.

I have a rock... (Sorry, just had to make that joke.)

@Deathsong12

More power to you, dude. You own that rock.

I just have generic evil overlord dude....

@TheWindel

Hey, that's good too. Nothing's generic if it's written well enough.

@dragonmancer Holy shit, someone got busy. I'm gonna start reading that now, I'll hopefully have my comments ready tonight.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

I'm gonna go ahead and say just one at the start. There may be a period after the first story arc where the forces of evil go on a bit of a recruiting drive, so I'll probably let anyone who wants to introduce a new one then.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

Alright, so I know I SAID I was gonna put up the CS skeleton before anything else. But then, well, I made the skeleton and I thought, 'I should include some tips and rules and stuff'. So I did. And then I thought 'I should include some background stuff.' So I did. And then I thought...

Well, the point of this is that I've made the OOC, which you can find here. Enjoy!

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

The Lord of Black Seas

Name:
Trenton Baker
Title:
The Lord of Black Seas

Three-word description:
Mystical Necromancer Pirate.

Appearance

Trenton is a man of average height and muscular build, with the strong arms and weathered skin of an experienced seaman. At all times his eyes glow with a dull green light the color of sea-foam, an effect that becomes more pronounced when he uses his powers. He wears his matted black hair down on his shoulders, and no matter where he is or what he's doing, it is always damp with sea foam. His face wears a goatee and often a cocky grin or an outright snarl, and his body has only ever been witnessed wearing one thing - a tattered overcoat over a grey tunic and trousers, with a cutlass sheathed at his belt and all manner of belts slung around his waist.

The air around him is heady with the stench of the sea - salt water and seaweed and dead fish and brine. There is no warmth in his flesh - his chest can never be seen to rise or fall with a breath, and where the beating of his heart should be there is only silence. Any mortal who looks upon him comprehends his nature almost immediately, instinctively. Trenton is not a corpse, but nor is he a living man; he is a man who stopped living one day without ever dying.

Magic/Skills/Abilities

Trenton has enormous power over souls - living, dead, and everything in between. He can call the souls of the living back into their bodies and force them to serve him, but this is no resurrection - this is undeath, because the existence of one soul is one of tortured unlife. He can feed on souls to sustain himself, and has to if he wants to make constant use of his powers. Most frighteningly, however, he is even able to rip particularly weak souls straight out of his victim's bodies, killing them instantly and binding them forever to his will. Oh, he's also an exceptional swordfighter and sailor, but that all seems a bit less important when you can create undead armies en masse whenever you want. Finally, he is capable of traveling very, very quickly wherever there is the ocean, for he is intimately familiar with the strange seas of the next world, and often dips in and out of them to speed his travel.

Inventory/Holdings

Trenton's most prized possession is, of course, his ship - The Hangman. This massive warship is thoroughly haunted, crewed by spirits enslaved by its Captain and boasting a hold full of plunder from this world and the next, some of it living and screaming to be set free. She sails all across the outskirts of the world, for she is far faster than any natural ship and needs no wind to glide across the waters.

The effects Trenton keeps on his person are more limited - his cutlass, an old blade forged in bygone times, bears a powerful enchantment - the power to rip the soul from any man slain by it. This is, of course, entirely superfluous, as Trenton is more than capable of doing so on his own, but he wields it anyway (mainly because he is fond of it). In his pocket he keeps a chunk of black obsidian about the size of a knife blade, which he categorically refuses to answer any questions about.

Myth

There are many stories about what lays beyond the edge of the world. Some say that off the far corners of the map there is only an endless sea, a vast expanse of rolling waves that extends forever. Some speak of a strange land where the sun never rises, where the stars burn with green and black fire and the sea churns with all manner of serpents and stranger, fouler things. Still others claim that this is the land of the dead, where the souls of saint and sinner alike languish in eternity, staining the water like blood.

The stories all agree about one thing, at least - only one man has ever sailed those waters and returned. His name has been lost to time, but every sailor in the world knows his tale by heart. He was a humble sailor, a deckhand who always did as he was told. His ship was off on an expedition of exploration, a noble quest to discover what lay beyond the western edges of the map; a fool's errand, of course. They sailed for months, through driving rain and baking sun alike. The crew all begged the captain to turn from this course, return home before they all starved, but he had gone mad with his hunger for glory, and could not be swayed. The crew began to talk of mutiny, but by then it was too late.

The tales all differ as to what happened next - perhaps they found the edge of the world and sailed straight off it, or maybe a storm came upon them and blew them into the next world. Maybe they came upon some stranger passageway still. Whatever happened, the sailors had found what they sought, but it brought them no joy. Time left them; sanity left them. They might have drifted in those black seas for a hundred years or maybe just for a day - they breathed the air of this land, they counted its stars, they wept in fear of the things that swam in its waters. At long last the ship struck land - a towering mountain of black obsidian that stretched up to rend the heavens. It was here that the sailors heard the song of the next world, and it was here that they were unmade by it. All except one, that is.

It is unknown if this sailor was an evil man before he touched the shores of the dead, or if the unholy powers that possessed him made him so - either way he had gone mad with hatred and cruelty, and refused to die. The vessel that had borne him to this place was unworthy of him, so he raised a mighty warship from the black seas and sailed away with a crew of dead men. It is said that he still haunts the seas of both worlds, preying on any vessel unlucky enough to run afoul of him, feasting on their souls and enslaving their corpses to become fuel for his dark desires.

Or so the stories say.

Personality

Trenton is more than a terrifyingly powerful necromancer and scourge of the seven seas; he's also a sneering, petulant jerk. He lives only for amusement and the fulfillment of his every whim, and will happily kill or enslave anyone who opposes him on any level (as well as a lot of people who don't). He is deeply sadistic and hedonistic, and enjoys tormenting people and keeping them as his 'playthings'. Easily bored, he'll almost always throw his toys out the second they stop amusing him; the plunder in his ship's hull exists only to please him, as he'd much sooner take what he wants than pay for it.

Trenton, unlike many of his villainous contemporaries, has no delusions of eloquence. He is a coarse talker, a childish bully, and a generally wholly unpleasant man. He treats the lives of his minions, his slaves, and pretty much everyone as being wholly disposable, worth only what they can provide to him in the immediate short term. It is very difficult, if not impossible, to find anything to like about him whatsoever.

Sample Post

The moon was full as the battle raged across the decks of the two ships that had pulled up alongside each other. One was a resplendent warship that bore the orange colors of the port city of Geldren; the other was ragged, and sailed under no banner. The night air rang with the sound of flying spells and crashing steel as the two forces engaged each other - one made of warm flesh and iron will, and the other of bone and meat and foul magic.

Trenton Baker, Captain of The Hangman, kicked open the door to his quarters and strode out on the deck to see what all this commotion was about, his blade in one hand and a half-empty bottle of Melaronian wine that was, it had to be said, fairly disappointing.

A sailor armed with a trident and undue bravery roared a war cry and charged the captain, aiming to run him through. Trenton tossed the bottle off the side of the ship and stuck his hand out, eyes pulsing green, and his attacker stopped in his tracks, twitching and sputtering at the mouth. A green mist leaked out of his eyes and floated towards the captain, who grinned as he inhaled the feeble soul. The man fell to the deck, convulsing, and a moment later was still.

"Thought you could take me in the dead of night?" Trenton roared at nobody in particular. "I am the feckin' dead of night!" On his right a rotted zombie tackled a sailor and began to tear at his flesh, filling the sea air with screams. Trenton's eyes pulsed again as the corpse found the man's throat, and the mangled body rose a moment later, sword still clutched in its hand, and immediately rounded on its former allies.

Trenton dove into the fray, hacking and slashing with his blade, cutting his enemies limb from limb and soul from body. The battle had been going poorly for the would-be heroes when it was just living against undead - with Trenton himself involved, it quickly turned into a slaughter. It wasn't long before those remaining alive threw their weapons on the deck, and Trenton ordered them all lined up on their knees.

The pirate captain strode up and down the deck, reviewing each of his captives silently. A mass of dead flesh walled the men in on every side, all perfectly still, their dead eyes radiating with his power. At length, Trenton paused in front of one man, more of a boy, really, who was shaking and almost mewling in terror. "What's your name, lad?" He asked, bending over so his visage was a mere inch away from the boy's face.

The youth recoiled and gagged with fright, bringing his hands over his eyes as though that would make the world go away. "I said," Trenton repeated slowly, "What's your name?!" He grabbed the boy by the collar and threw him to the deck, kicking wildly at his head in a sudden fury. "I asked you what your name was! Not gonna look at me, not gonna talk to me, huh? Gonna cut you up and feed you to your friends, snotty little..." His rant trailed off into indistinct yelling, the blows still raining on the lad's head and neck as he rolled and begged and tried to swap away the kicks, until at last he fell still. Trenton strode away, and the boy rose to his feet a moment later, stepping back to join the mass of the dead.

"Where's your captain? I didn't already kill him, did I?" Trenton asked the captives, and with a quivering hand one of them pointed down the line.

"H-he's over there, sir," the pointer said and Trenton strode in that direction, stopping only to shove over a random prisoner with his foot and let out a laugh as he did so. He stopped in front of the man who looked like the captain, a grizzled old seaman clad in an officer of Geldren's dress uniform. The pirate crouched down to look at him face to face, and to his credit the other man showed no signs of fear.

"Hi," Trenton offered, and cocked his head as he stroked his prisoner's weathered cheek. "So. Who the shit are you?"

"I am Captain John Feldrich of the Royal Geldren Navy-" was all the man got out before Trenton struck him across the chin, a sneer on his face.

"Blah, blah, Captain Arsehole. Let me guess, sent to kill me by your king or your queen or some big shit because something that 'belonged' to them belongs to me now, yeah? Well," he spread his arms around the scene, "That didn't go too well, did it? Laugh with me!" Trenton tilted his head back and howled with a deep belly laugh, and around him dozens of dead jaws sagged open and emitted a groaning, clattering sound that was something like laughter.

The prisoner's head stayed high. "I do not fear you, creature. I am an honest man and I say my prayers each night, and your unholiness holds no terror -"

Trenton giggled at that, rising to his feet and patting the man on the head. "Oh, you're a fun one. I think I'll keep you," he announced as he turned his back on the prisoners. "Throw him in the brig with the others. Kill and eat the rest."

The sound of screams and curses rose in the night air behind him as Trenton strode back to his quarters and slammed the door behind him.

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

The Harbingers Roster

Trenton Baker, Lord of Black Seas, Harbinger of Death

Aesir, The Apotheosis of the Court, Harbinger of Conquest

Niddhog, The Blackscale Tyrant, Harbinger of Dominion

Khata Nyarlith, The Faceless One, Harbinger of the Unknown

Iona, Ahwaan's Ash, Harbinger of Chaos

Zhystrexas, Lord of the Jaria, Harbinger of Hunger

Vortigern, He of Whisper and Shadow, Harbinger of Magic

Deos Risleth, The Sovereign of Eternal War, Harbinger of Battle

Aborath, the Bloody King, Harbinger of Slaughter

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

The Harbingers; It's Good to Be Bad

Hello villains and villainesses and edgelords of all ages, and welcome to The Harbingers; an RP about being the bad guys. Are you like me - do you like stuff like Dungeon Keeper, Overlord, or any game that allows you to be a cackling, hilarious, bona-fide villain? Did you maybe see the most recent X-Men movie and think it could have been more interesting if it were about the Four Horsemen just wrecking house? Do you want a chance to write about kickass villains and over-the-top action sequences? Do you want an RP where the players will be free to come up with their own plans and solutions for problems? Are you sick of defending and rescuing generic fantasy worlds, and spoiling for the chance to maybe, just maybe, bring one to its knees? Don't worry, you're in good company.

Background Information (Read this! I mean it!)

The World of Lutum

Lutum is a world of heroism - of might and magic and mystery. It is a world of fairies and secret places, elves casting spells in their wooded groves, dwarves forging great weapons in their halls of stone. A world of great cities and untamed wilderness - a world ripe for adventure. But for all that there is wonder in the world of Lutum, there is also danger. Dark magic and dangerous spirits abound, demons and even fouler things lurk at the edges of reality, beasts of the night hunt in the shadows, monsters and criminals and evil hordes prey on the innocent. There are heroes aplenty in Lutum, but so too are there villains.

Basically, it's the most generic-ass fantasy world conceivable, and it's like that for a reason - you guys are going to help me build it. You can add anything - if your character hails from a frigid land of barbarians far to the north, there's a frigid land of barbarians far to the north. If you want your character to be the scorpion-goddess from a desert city made of clay far to the east where people sacrifice hundreds of teenagers to you each year, that's cool too. We're going to build this world together, and then we're gonna rip it apart together.

There is one part of the world that is going to be a sort of fixed point, however, because it's where the story begins. And it's called...

Melaron

The most powerful kingdom in the world, Melaron is a diverse nation of both great cities and Arcadian farmland. Its territory covers a massive area, absolutely dominating the central continent, and though it consists mainly of humans, it has forged strong alliances with the elves of the south, the dwarves of the north, and just about every other 'civilized' nation in the known world. The seat of its power, where the venerable old King Dowling rules, is the city of Melaron, a sprawling metropolis home not only to a massive civilian population, but also a heavy military presence. Melaron's greatest strength lies in its three famed orders: the Order of the Stars, the academy of wizards and magi who seek to better understand the arcane arts; the Order of the Moon, its secretive intelligence agency rumored to have tendrils in every seedy bar and dark corner of the world; and the Order of the Sun, the brotherhood of holy warriors who serve as the most powerful fighters in the entire kingdom. Melaron's people are noble and their cause is just, and under their leadership, civilization has succeeded in pushing back the darkness of the world for generations.

Basically, fuck these guys.

Kil'threx, God of Evil

Now this guy gets it. The story of Kil'threx is literally as old as time itself, so there's no need to get into the details, but here's the gist; Kil'threx is the actual embodiment of evil. When the gods were shaping the world, it was Kil'threx who filled it with monsters and misery and evil men, just to make things harder for the creations of all those other, goody two-shoes gods. It is not exaggeration at all to say that all the evil in the world springs from him, but this did not sate his malice - Kil'threx hated the other gods, and he hated the beauty of their creation, and he hated the Whos down in Whoville world that fought and loathed and shunned his creations. And so the God of Evil took physical form and raised a mighty host of monsters and fiends of all shapes and sizes, and sought to conquer the world of goodness forever. He was nearly victorious, but in a massive battle that took place on the site of what would one day be Melaron, the forces of the light broke the back of his army and banished him from this world.

But you just can't keep a good bad guy down, and after ten thousand years, Kil'threx has gained the strength to return. But he can't quite do it alone...

The Players

In this RP, players will play as Harbingers - powerful villains and forces of evil that have been called by Kil'threx to assemble in a secluded meeting space, where he will present them with an offer they cannot refuse. The Harbingers will be Kil'threx's most powerful servants, and as they succeed he will provide them with a variety of gifts; even before this, however, each one will be a respectable, powerful villain in their own right. You can play pretty much anything you want, from a frost demon to a hill giant to a witch who lives in a cottage and eats children. As long as it can be called a 'fantasy villain', it is 100% fair game, though I reserve the right to reject any half-werewolf half-dragon immortal witch children. See below in 'Character Makin' Tips' for the difference between cool and complicated.

Locations

Lands of Evil

The Lair of Nidhogg, Written by @dragonmancer
Nidhogg's lies within a massive volcano, the mouth of the cave being large and wide enough for his size. Inside is a city of dwarven design, ruined by time and his own destruction. The ceiling is very high, with a large opening that leads to the summit of the volcano and has full view of the sun in midday. Volcanic vents and pools of lava run through this city, carving through it molten streams. Beyond that is a massive lake of magma that serves as his resting area, and past that is an even larger cavern though not built by dwarves, a large natural cave instead. This cave houses his treasure hoard, which floods the cavern near the brim of it.

The Realms of Nyarlith

Written by @Rune_Alchemist

The Drazir Wastes

Night falls on the sands, Starlight beckoning towards Nyarlith.

It is said the sands were once more hospitable, but after the fall of Azair the water in the desert dried up, filling a giant pool in the center of the once great metropolis where the Palace of the old King once stood. The dried earth split, great fissures forming leading to the depths of the earth...


Existing on the southern edge of the continent, The Drazir wastes are, well, as one might expect from the name; A vast, endless ocean of sand, ancient stone ruins and fissures that lead far into the earth, swallowing travelers who lose their footing close to their edge. The desert is incredibly hot, the harsh sun beating down upon the sands making it reach temperatures that would make most men stay as far away as possible throughout the day. The clear, cloudless skies don't help, letting the sun fall unfiltered through.

One should keep in mind, the desert is not lifeless during the day. A variety of beasts roam the sands that call the place home, waiting to prey upon those who would brave the desert. They tend to take refuge within desert ruins or the sandy caves that have been carved into the walls of the crags that litter the region. Some of these beasts, are some of the horrid experiments that have found their way out of Nyarlith, and should not be taken lightly.

However, at night the desert takes a much more...peaceful looking form. It cools to a much more reasonable temperature, the large moon illuminating the desert in its pale light. Starlight shines from above, twinkling like little gems embedded in the sky. It is probably the time someone would wish to travel through the desert as the cooler temperatures make it much more tolerable to travel through. However, some nocturnal creatures come out at night, beckoned by the moonlight. It is by no means completely safer to travel.

The various ruins that dot the sands, are always of interest to scholars and wizards, hoping to stumble upon some artifact of great power. A way to commune with the same gods that the old kingdom Azair possibly had contact with before their fall. One should be careful though, quite a few of Nyarlith's faithful call these ruins home. Stumbling upon them will often not go well for the unprepared...

A few sparse oasis exist through the region which are safe enough, but for the most part it is completely devoid of flowing water, save for underground springs.

Ruins of Azair

The gates of Azair still stand watch over the ancient city, time only adding to their wondrous splendor and beckoning the curious inwards with promise of treasure and knowledge.

Some say on the night of the Pale Moon, you can still hear the frantic calls of the citizens, pleading for their gods to same them from the monstrosities that were unleashed upon them.



The ruins of the once great civilization still stand to this day, a defiant opponent to both sands and time. The ancient monolithic stone walls of the city have eroded with time, but not faltered in their tasks of keeping out sands and invaders. The city itself is a surprisingly...green place. An ancient waterway runs from under the central gate into the giant pool in the center of town where the Palace once stood. Plants seem to have flocked to this source of water, and have taken root within the city. The ruins themselves hold many magical and arcane secrets, should one be brave enough to find and brave them.

And of course, make it past the plethora of creatures living here. Most, are discarded remnants from Nyarlith. Failed experiments, guards, or even some indoctrinated humans seeking for a way to enter the tower.

Tower of Nyarlith

All manner of obscene, abhorrent experiments that only one as mad as Nyarlith could come up with take place within its halls.

Many a foolish wizard seek the tower and the ruined land of Azair, if only for some insight into the arcane mastery of the realms master. The master is a fickle thing, and if you entertain them you may be granted a boon of insight. People who manage to leave the tower, often go on to become powerful wizards until the end of their life draws near, and they are beckoned to return to Nyarlith.



Erected so long again, the tower has remained in pristine condition thanks to otherworldly influences and magic. It currently exists on an otherworldly plane, in a realm caught eternally between sunrise and sunset, with the sun setting in the east, and the moon rising in the west. Clouds fill the sky, moving at an unnaturally swift rate as an unseen wind carries them to their destination.

In this realm, the tower does not exist in a sea of sand as one might expect...but an actual sea. It stretches as far as the eye can see. An endless abyss, where all manner of eldritch creatures have taken refuge and live. The tower extends far into the heavens, all the way past the swift moving clouds above, and into a cool crisp night air where the silver, pale moon shines brightly and illuminates the roof of the tower, where all manner of obscene rituals take place under the amused gaze of Nyarlith.

The only way into the tower is to beckon the Blood Moon, and step through the revealed portal that has been revealed. Pray the guardian doesn't awaken, however. It is a ravenous beast, that will let no trespassers through without its masters permission.

The contents of the tower are vast and seemingly endless. Indeed, the tower almost seems to be bigger on the inside at times. A few notable locations within:

-The Study Halls located on the upper floors, where scholarly pursuits are shared between the Enlightened
-The Archives, located at the second highest place in the tower where all manner of magical tomes and research documents are kept
-The Labs situated in the middle, where magical experiments are conducted.
-The Communal room, located just below the archives, where one can attempt to commune with the elder gods.
-The Lower halls, where abominations and experiments lurk.
-Above the lower halls, are where the Indoctrinated rest.
-The Beckoning platform, where rituals to beckon the gods to this realm are performed.
-The throne Room, where Nyarlith grants audience to those who wish it.
-Many, many, more unnamed rooms exist, their purposes many.

The Indoctrinated

The indoctrinated of Nyarlith have lost all sense of free will, unable to disobey orders from the creature that calls themselves their master. To be certain, they retain their desires, wants, former personalities from before but they can not do anything against the will of Nyarlith. I had the...opportunity to meet one once. I expected a mindless husk, but was surprised. They appear just as you or I. Completely normal. I wouldn't have even known, had they not told me.

Its frightening. It makes you wonder just how many have been lost to that creatures influence and we have no way of telling.

Slaves, or the 'Indoctrinated' as some call them, make up most of the population within and outside Nyarlith. Those who have had their minds dominated by Nyarlith and have lost all sense of what one might call 'free will'. Not that many would ever wish to do anything other than what their master tells them too. Such thoughts have all been wiped from their minds. These creatures come from all number of races that have existed. They are fairly easy to tell, as most will be dressed in simple robes or armor, depending on their own chosen specialty. They are as numerous as stars in the sky, and it is difficult to gauge the actual number of them.

They are currently led by a general, a powerful man who was once a part of a group of paladins that sought to bring an end to Nyarlith, but who was instead given insight into the arcane knowledge, who then pledged loyalty to the creature.

Those outside the tower, carry out special tasks. Reconnaissance, bring back information about the state of the world, bring back useful materials for experiments, etc. Those inside the tower, often cater to the wants and desires of their master. It is no secret they take great pleasure in indulging in mortal sins with their indoctrinated or Enlightened.

Eldritch Experiments

The lower halls of Nyarlith are home to all manner of creatures. Experiments conducted by Nyarlith in order to achieve some greater purpose...or simply to sate the creatures sadistic pleasures.

The experiments conducted at Nyarlith produce all kinds of abominations and creatures. There is no set explanation or classification for these monstrosities. Most cannot be controlled, tamed,or spoken too, even their masters have trouble with it. Most are kept within the lowest parts of the tower as insurance and guards. Some though, manage to slip through the veil and into the desert.

Most, used to be human of some sort. Some though, appear to be chimeras. Animals fused with other things, most often things that seem to come from beyond the veil or other aquatic creatures. Slugs, octopi, fish, etc.

The Enlightened

Not all who seek Nyarlith are those indoctrinated. Not all of them are mages either. Simply someone the creature has taken an interest in, and have given them a choice. Come to Nyarlith and gain their own insight into the world without his aid, or go on living as ignorant, sightless beings. Those who accept, are whisked away to the tower where they may commune with the great ones themselves, find their own path of Enlightenment.



Differing from the Indoctrinated, since they still retain all forms of free will, thought, and in fact, some in the past have actively worked against Nyarlith at times. They are easy to recognize, all wear masks similar to Nyarlith in reverence to the one who granted them such insight into otherworldly knowledge. Not all of them are mages, in fact some do not have the ability to cast magic at all. Some are simply special warriors or those born with a natural talent for seeing things.

These Enlightened few, make up the higher ranks of Nyarlith's people. Whereas the indoctrinated are simple servants, guards, keepers, and general soldiers, the Enlightened are able to conduct their own experiments and travel between the tower and the waking realm. They are often the leaders, generals, and otherwise those of power within the tower.

Of Nightmares and Dreams

Dreams. All men have them, but few are able to master and understand what they truly are. Dreams are a time when human minds are open to the most insight. Able to hear the eldritch mutterings of those greater than them.

Dreams, is an Area Nyarlith is quite well acquainted with. Often times, they will find a mortal they've taken an interest in and show them a nightmare. Such nightmares often will end with those afflicted seeking the tower and her. Depending on how they handled the nightmares and how much of the eldritch things they can see, they will either be turned into one of the Enlightened or one of the Indoctrinated.

One of her lesser known abilities, however, is the ability to create peaceful seeming, lucid dreams for a few. A rarely used skill, but it allows communication, sharing of ideas and for him to see into a persons psyche. Often times, their form in this dream is vastly different than what the legends and myths state. Most often, the dreams take place under the bright light of the moon on a balcony, overlooking the sea.

I'Zhystana, The City of Thousand and One Endless Pleasures

Written by @The Grey Dust

A legendary metropolis which sits brilliantly in the desert like a radiant gem to scatter the sunlight for miles. It is a city built by the Jaria Clan, a desert people who serve and view Zhystkrexas as their God-King. Zhystkrexas himself rarely manifests his presence in the public eye, and thus the city itself is ran by its elite citizens, governing itself with its false-utopia to mask the corruption which has taken the very city. Every sort of pleasure and vice can be found within the polished stone walls, but the city itself has loose regulations, and developed magical defenses which essentially maintain a semblance of order. The entire city is self-sustaining, and requires no outside support, yet invites visitors from afar to experience what it has to offer. Most travelers stay however and become permanent additions to the city. Either willingly or worse. I'Zhystana also holds two secrets: the two sources of Zhystkrexas' powers.

Secrets of I'Zhystana

The First Secret: The Oasis of Acrid

Named after an ancient Jaria Chief, this sacred water source created the entire city through its powers, and is guarded by the Jaria Clan as their protected wellspring. The Oasis of Desire is a product of Zhystkrexas' power, as a vast amount of the entity's essence was invested into the creation of the black pool. It is said those who wish to harm Zhystkrexas must first drain or corrupt the pool, a task impossible as the temptations of the waters seem to affected the mind of all those who seek to destroy it. For unless one only has a desire to destroy the Oasis itself and only that one singular desire in all the world, then it shall rise up once more to fulfill the desires of those who thought the sought to destroy it.

The Second Secret: The Vault of Kings

Deep Beneath his Grand Palace, Zhystkrexas hides his legendary collection of bits and baubles under the desert sands locked away behind an curious door. The Vault is warded against forms of magic and hardened against physical attempts to destroy it, as the only guaranteed way to enter is through the Smiling Door. Called so as it features an usual bust of Zhystkrexas' monstrous head which claims the contents of the vault as his possession. The jaws open ever so slightly as to admit a trembling hand to twist and pull the handle unlock the doorway. But beware, for just as the pool was guarded by one's desire, so too is the vault as the Smiling Door bites off any hand which fails to prove its worthiness to enter Zhystkrexas' true horde. And the smiling bust shall serve as a remind that only a Heart as twisted and wicked as Zhystkrexas may enter.

For within his well-guarded secret is the other source of his power: all his magical contracts. The only way to undo a deal and release the soul bound to it is to either negotiate with Zhystkrexas himself, or to steal the original document from his possession and then destroy the contract. The former is usually unwise, and the latter is generally impossible. Yet for the hundred upon thousands of souls empowering him, what would one soul be?

Realms of Goodness

WIP!

CS Outline

Name: This one should be easy.
Title: Give us something cool; what's a good villain without a good title?

Three-word description: Are you a dragon, a vampire, a necromancer, a pirate king, what? Sum it up for us in three words or less.

Appearance: What do you look like? 1-3 paragraphs. Feel free to use a picture, but even if you do, please provide a written description as well.

Magic/Skills/Abilities: What is your character capable of? Are they a brilliant fighter with a battle-axe? Can they summon a host of eldritch monstrosities to fight for them? Are they a heinously powerful battlemage? You get the gist.

Inventory/Holdings: What does your character own? This ranges from magic items that grant them powers to an army of slaves at their beck and call to any land or castle or whatever they have to your name. If it's indisputably, 100% yours, it goes in here.

Myth: Now, we're going to do something a bit different here. Rather than providing the actual, completely true story of how your character came to be, give us one or several prevailing stories about their origins, the kind of thing the pathetic peasants might try to scare each other with on a dark winter knight. It can, of course, be completely accurate, or it can be as full of misinformation as your little heart desires (though I recommend having some idea of what REALLY happened).

Personality: Basic. What is your character like? How do they treat their minions, if they have any? How do they act around other people? What do they like doing? What makes them mad? You know the drill.

Sample post (put this in a hider please): Alright, you're almost done, buddy. One last thing I'm gonna need: A sample of your writing, doesn't have to be more than two paragraphs long. Your prompt: Give me a snippet (or hey, the whole story) of your character's last encounter with some heroic do-gooder who tried to get in their face and mess up their plans.

Character Makin' Tips

1. Worldbuild. Seriously, you have a vast and mutable world to make stuff happen in. Go crazy. Make up a nation, a continent, a species. Do whatever you want.

2. Be the Big Bad of another story. Try and think of it like this - each Harbinger could have been the main villain of a smaller-scale story, whether they'd be the final boss or the evil conspirator or the crimelord pulling the strings. But this is the biggest scale story of them all - the destruction of the world - and they're going to need to work together as best they can to pull this off.

3. Complicated does not equal cool. Vampires are cool, and demons are cool, and fire is cool, so a flaming vampire demon must be three times the cool, right? Wrong. A basic concept, written well, can be far more fun, creepy, or kickass than the most overcomplicated and cluttered character. If you're worried that your character concept might be 'too much', feel free to PM me about it before you make your sheet - I'm a super chill dude, I swear, we'll work something out.

Rules

1. Don't be a dick.

2. All the usual Guild stuff.
This is a dark RP and it'll doubtless have some pretty mature content, being about destroying/conquering the world. Even so, the normal Guild rules about explicit content and stuff like that still apply. If your witch character absolutely, positively must get freaky with someone else's immortal mummy, more power to you, but take it to PMs.

3. Have some fun with it.
The point of this RP is black comedy, badassery, and enjoying being evil for a change, so have fun! Make your fights over-the-top. Don't be afraid to crack a joke. Engage in puppy kicking just cus you feel like it. Just don't take things too seriously.

4. IC fights don't equal OOC fights, guys.
I wish this didn't bear repeating, but sadly I've seen it happen enough that I feel like I have to. Evil's not always a big happy family, so some inter-villain headbutting is inevitable; don't take it personally and think someone's attacking you personally, because they're probably not.

5. Post your CS in the OOC or PM it to me, I don't care. I'm easy. That being said, all CS's do need to be approved by me before they're posted in the character tab, so make sure you get that done. Furthermore, to prove you've read the rules, please include in your CS the means by which Kil'threx contacted your character (ghostly messenger, black raven, prophetic dream - it'll be different for everyone). I know, I know, I hate when GMs do that too, but gosh darnit I spent like, ten minutes on these rules, everyone better validate that by reading them.

6. Just don't be a dick. It's not that hard. I have absolute faith in you.

Alright, I'm done typing your proverbial ear off. Have a naughty day, evil-doers, and get cracking!

The Harbingers (High Casual Fantasy Villain RP)

It's great to see so much interest already!

I tell you what: Tomorrow, I'll make a CS skeleton first thing so y'all can have something to work on while I write up the OOC and all the world stuff and make it look pretty and everything. For now, I sleep.

Feel free to PM me if you have any specific questions about character concepts between now and then. Or post it here in the thread, I'm not your dad.