Fantasy Godsword - OOC, BIO TEMPLATES & Lore Repository

[MrReaves]

Blackrose7 I like her concept! I do have a few issues with her backstory, though, and I apologize because I can see you put a lot of effort into it. Mainly, this RP is set 27 years after the Totality Wars (that's probably on me for not making it very clear outside of naming the date). So it wouldn't make sense for Zaria to have fought in those wars. You can pretty easily adjust it, though!

Try something like, "The kingdom of the Serrano family was one of the last holdouts after the Wars, going into hiding and trying to hold onto power by striking at the Assembly's forces from the shadows. The king, desperate for loyal and effective soldiers, pushed his own daughter into the fight after she turned out to have potent poisonous magic. She has since been rescued from this fate and is taken care of at Ivermore, though her trauma persists."

It'd be really interesting to see how she deals with fighting again, especially using a similar weapon! It may open old wounds, but it may also end up helping her cope, because this time she's doing good!

Shotgunpenguin Sounds good! Look forward to it. ^^

 

[Blackrose7]

Well, it said past, so I put what happened in the past.
I like your version though.

 

[MrReaves]

Well, it said past, so I put what happened in the past.
I like your version though.

I realize, but what I mean is that if she fought in the Totality Wars, she'd have to be anywhere from, say, 39 to 45 years old.
If she's 15 she had to have been born 12 years after the end of the Wars, and her backstory would be very different in the way I described.
If you need any further help let me know!

 

[Blackrose7]

Oh.

 

[MrReaves]

Oh.

If you roughly follow the alternative I gave you, you'll be totally alright! Or if you have a different new idea, I'll gladly help out too.

 

[spacepirate]

Hey! Posted my interest before in the recruitment thread, but I've finally put together my character! Let me know if anything seems amiss and I should edit it.

Spoiler: Character Submission

Name: Jaro Yangero
Gender: Male
Place Of Origin: Gelwave, the Haven over Waters
*Additional info: Once nothing but uninhabitable swampland and jungle, the archipelago rose to prominence in the Totality wars, where giant fortresses were constructed by the Arcane Assembly to serve as protective bases from the many nearby maritime states. In addition to serving mages, however, the area soon became somewhat of a safe haven- refugees, doctors, and healers from around Naedria flocked to the archipelago seeking sanctuary, and as it held no longer held real strategic value in housing rebels, soldiers, or otherwise, it was largely left alone. After all, it wasn't a real city- just a shelter constructed by people from around the world fleeing the war. In the postwar, however, Gelwave rose to prominence as a global medical center. The grand Hospital District is known for producing some of the most knowledgeable and adaptable healers in the known world, and during the rebuilding process, Gelwave served as a massive training center and medical production facility, distributing doctors, medicine, and treatment as best it was able. Even today, the healers of Gelwave are sworn to assist any who enter their city or wards requiring treatment, earning its name as the 'Haven over Waters'.
Age: 16
Height: 5"11
Physique: As an aspiring cage fighter, and one who has spent many grueling years in the ring, Jaro is muscled and lean- it's not about being bigger than your opponent, it's about being alert, fast, and knowing the importance of balance and basing. He doesn't stand too tall or imposing, and hasn't seen real exploration or combat outside of simulated environments, but Jaro is a decently muscled and dextrous buck of a young man, with softness in his cheeks despite having being beaten many times.

Spoiler: images

Hair: Dark Grey/Black
Eyes: Charcoal
Clothing: Not one for fancy threads, Jaro opts for things that are comfortable and dark-colored, so that it won't matter too much if he splashes stains or dust on them. He does prize his cage belt, though- a leather strip that anyone who has fought in the arena wears as a badge of honor. Still, he's only ever gotten second place in a junior tournament, but there are lots of other notches from minor fights he's won.
Identifying Marks: Not many of note- he always appears bruised from his fights, but he doesn't hold too many distinguishing scars. Most of the time he does wear a set of magnetic earrings, though- they were a birthday present supposedly augmented to improve his balance. So far, they haven't done much, but ah well.
Personality: Surprisingly friendly and personable for one who dreams of being a professional fighter, Jaro is usually smiling and laughing, almost never visibly upset. Truthfully, cage fighting as its known in Gelwave is as much about performance as it is combat, and Jaro loves to put on a good show. He's honestly a bit of an asshole, loving to get under people's skins, but tries to remain professional about it- that is, insult things that are apparent, and don't hit below the belt, unless the other person did first. Someone's broken nose or fizzled fragment failure would be fair game, but mocking one's blood status or dead relatives would be far too much, even for a grade-A pain in the behind like Jaro. It's hard to get him upset- more than likely, it's easier to just get him carried away with his showboating or peacocking. He certainly loves to jest as much as he loves a few well-placed jabs to the jaw. Still, what he loves about fighting is the joy and exhilaration it brings to others- off the cage, he still loves teasing others, but won't do so just for the sake of being cruel. Rough jokes and taunting are the friendliest exchanges he understands, much to the chagrin of some of the classier individuals he's met before.
Fragment: (Not yet constructed. Although he's shown a potential for magic, Jaro wouldn't know how to construct his own Fragment prior to attending Ivermore)

Spoiler: Future Fragment

Skills: Healing, healing, healing. Jaro hates the damn word. From the time he was revealed to have any kind of above-average propensity for magic, the schooling system of Gelwave put him into specialized classes where he'd learn anatomy, the flow of magic through the human body in hopes of healing it, and all other sorts of head-bashingly boring skills that he couldn't hate more if he tried. Despite his distaste and disgust for using it, however, Jaro was never actually too bad at it- while most students took awhile to attune to regenerative magics, Jaro, ironically, was able to seal wounds and purge toxins rather naturally. Naturally, this irritated him even further.

If there's anything he's lovingly retained from his years in healing school, it was the principles of alchemy. He'd only ever made tonics and antidotes, but he's always dreamed of entering a cage match with his skin soaked in poison, as a frog might, and win using those quite dirty tactics. In practice, though, the worst he's ever made was a pungent stink bomb.

If there was any tests demonstrating his proficiency with magic, Jaro would have no choice but to showcase his aptitude for the healing arts, even if it caused him to seethe with rage. In practice, though, he's been trained in the damn arts from a very young age- he can channel regenerative magical waves from his hands like many Gelwave healers, and even uses rings or other small metal pieces at times as foci.
Past: Ah, Gelwave. The peaceful, protected city along the waves of an inland sea, home to the world's greatest healers and doctors... a profession that Jaro finds extraordinarily boring. Most of the children who live in the city are trained as herbologists, apothacarians, naturalists, and of course, all the magic users as remarkable healers. In fact, his own parents are toxicologists of no great reknown, but providing a vital service to medicine production nonetheless. It was assumed that Jaro would do the same, especially once he had demonstrated a proficient talent for channeling magic. He was supposed to be overjoyed! Healers in Gelwave were essentially the new ruling class, enjoying the privilege, wealth, and prestige as any old-world aristocrat did.

Such a life, surrounded by sick people and their coughing or bitching, held absolutely no appeal to Jaro, even as a child. He thought about running away, but didn't have the toughness for it. There were some who would likely use their magic to cause harm, but he didn't really wish ill upon anyone, just didn't want to work in a hospital every day of his damned life and come home smelling of corpses and concoctions.

It was a miracle, really, discovering cage fighting. Ironically, given Gelwave's reputation as a healing hub, a city where none shall stay injured, there developed a rather lucrative subculture that spread based on pre-war traditions: the mighty cage fight! While martial and physical combat were preferred, some fighters were able to freely wield magic, using it as a great weapon of show and violence within the cage. All injuries, no matter how bloody or terrible, were often healed immediately after by the city's many specialists. In spite of the rigorous training he was subjected to, Jaro would cut healing class to watch matches, eventually wanting to participate himself- of no real success, mind, but he loved the rush.

Jaro wanted nothing more than to leave his medicinal classes once and for all and commit to cage fighting, but couldn't break his family's heart any more than he already had by renouncing healing magic. He knew that there was little future for him in Gelwave outside of that- the magics taught weren't at all related to combat, only healing and other such remedies. Joining the Artifice Knights was a difficult decision, but the only one he saw that gave him the freedom he needed.

 

[MrReaves]

Hey! Posted my interest before in the recruitment thread, but I've finally put together my character! Let me know if anything seems amiss and I should edit it.

Spoiler: Character Submission

Name: Jaro Yangero
Gender: Male
Place Of Origin: Gelwave, the Haven over Waters
*Additional info: Once nothing but uninhabitable swampland and jungle, the archipelago rose to prominence in the Totality wars, where giant fortresses were constructed by the Arcane Assembly to serve as protective bases from the many nearby maritime states. In addition to serving mages, however, the area soon became somewhat of a safe haven- refugees, doctors, and healers from around Naedria flocked to the archipelago seeking sanctuary, and as it held no longer held real strategic value in housing rebels, soldiers, or otherwise, it was largely left alone. After all, it wasn't a real city- just a shelter constructed by people from around the world fleeing the war. In the postwar, however, Gelwave rose to prominence as a global medical center. The grand Hospital District is known for producing some of the most knowledgeable and adaptable healers in the known world, and during the rebuilding process, Gelwave served as a massive training center and medical production facility, distributing doctors, medicine, and treatment as best it was able. Even today, the healers of Gelwave are sworn to assist any who enter their city or wards requiring treatment, earning its name as the 'Haven over Waters'.
Age: 16
Height: 5"11
Physique: As an aspiring cage fighter, and one who has spent many grueling years in the ring, Jaro is muscled and lean- it's not about being bigger than your opponent, it's about being alert, fast, and knowing the importance of balance and basing. He doesn't stand too tall or imposing, and hasn't seen real exploration or combat outside of simulated environments, but Jaro is a decently muscled and dextrous buck of a young man, with softness in his cheeks despite having being beaten many times.

Spoiler: images

View attachment 870778
View attachment 870777

Hair: Dark Grey/Black
Eyes: Charcoal
Clothing: Not one for fancy threads, Jaro opts for things that are comfortable and dark-colored, so that it won't matter too much if he splashes stains or dust on them. He does prize his cage belt, though- a leather strip that anyone who has fought in the arena wears as a badge of honor. Still, he's only ever gotten second place in a junior tournament, but there are lots of other notches from minor fights he's won.
Identifying Marks: Not many of note- he always appears bruised from his fights, but he doesn't hold too many distinguishing scars. Most of the time he does wear a set of magnetic earrings, though- they were a birthday present supposedly augmented to improve his balance. So far, they haven't done much, but ah well.
Personality: Surprisingly friendly and personable for one who dreams of being a professional fighter, Jaro is usually smiling and laughing, almost never visibly upset. Truthfully, cage fighting as its known in Gelwave is as much about performance as it is combat, and Jaro loves to put on a good show. He's honestly a bit of an asshole, loving to get under people's skins, but tries to remain professional about it- that is, insult things that are apparent, and don't hit below the belt, unless the other person did first. Someone's broken nose or fizzled fragment failure would be fair game, but mocking one's blood status or dead relatives would be far too much, even for a grade-A pain in the behind like Jaro. It's hard to get him upset- more than likely, it's easier to just get him carried away with his showboating or peacocking. He certainly loves to jest as much as he loves a few well-placed jabs to the jaw. Still, what he loves about fighting is the joy and exhilaration it brings to others- off the cage, he still loves teasing others, but won't do so just for the sake of being cruel. Rough jokes and taunting are the friendliest exchanges he understands, much to the chagrin of some of the classier individuals he's met before.
Fragment: (Not yet constructed. Although he's shown a potential for magic, Jaro wouldn't know how to construct his own Fragment prior to attending Ivermore)

Spoiler: Future Fragment

View attachment 870783

Skills: Healing, healing, healing. Jaro hates the damn word. From the time he was revealed to have any kind of above-average propensity for magic, the schooling system of Gelwave put him into specialized classes where he'd learn anatomy, the flow of magic through the human body in hopes of healing it, and all other sorts of head-bashingly boring skills that he couldn't hate more if he tried. Despite his distaste and disgust for using it, however, Jaro was never actually too bad at it- while most students took awhile to attune to regenerative magics, Jaro, ironically, was able to seal wounds and purge toxins rather naturally. Naturally, this irritated him even further.

If there's anything he's lovingly retained from his years in healing school, it was the principles of alchemy. He'd only ever made tonics and antidotes, but he's always dreamed of entering a cage match with his skin soaked in poison, as a frog might, and win using those quite dirty tactics. In practice, though, the worst he's ever made was a pungent stink bomb.

If there was any tests demonstrating his proficiency with magic, Jaro would have no choice but to showcase his aptitude for the healing arts, even if it caused him to seethe with rage. In practice, though, he's been trained in the damn arts from a very young age- he can channel regenerative magical waves from his hands like many Gelwave healers, and even uses rings or other small metal pieces at times as foci.
Past: Ah, Gelwave. The peaceful, protected city along the waves of an inland sea, home to the world's greatest healers and doctors... a profession that Jaro finds extraordinarily boring. Most of the children who live in the city are trained as herbologists, apothacarians, naturalists, and of course, all the magic users as remarkable healers. In fact, his own parents are toxicologists of no great reknown, but providing a vital service to medicine production nonetheless. It was assumed that Jaro would do the same, especially once he had demonstrated a proficient talent for channeling magic. He was supposed to be overjoyed! Healers in Gelwave were essentially the new ruling class, enjoying the privilege, wealth, and prestige as any old-world aristocrat did.

Such a life, surrounded by sick people and their coughing or bitching, held absolutely no appeal to Jaro, even as a child. He thought about running away, but didn't have the toughness for it. There were some who would likely use their magic to cause harm, but he didn't really wish ill upon anyone, just didn't want to work in a hospital every day of his damned life and come home smelling of corpses and concoctions.

It was a miracle, really, discovering cage fighting. Ironically, given Gelwave's reputation as a healing hub, a city where none shall stay injured, there developed a rather lucrative subculture that spread based on pre-war traditions: the mighty cage fight! While martial and physical combat were preferred, some fighters were able to freely wield magic, using it as a great weapon of show and violence within the cage. All injuries, no matter how bloody or terrible, were often healed immediately after by the city's many specialists. In spite of the rigorous training he was subjected to, Jaro would cut healing class to watch matches, eventually wanting to participate himself- of no real success, mind, but he loved the rush.

Jaro wanted nothing more than to leave his medicinal classes once and for all and commit to cage fighting, but couldn't break his family's heart any more than he already had by renouncing healing magic. He knew that there was little future for him in Gelwave outside of that- the magics taught weren't at all related to combat, only healing and other such remedies. Joining the Artifice Knights was a difficult decision, but the only one he saw that gave him the freedom he needed.

This is excellent! I think we've got enough submissions now that I may end up having to pick some people, but this is a very, very strong contender! Love the amount of effort and thought you've put into it.

 

[spacepirate]

This is excellent! I think we've got enough submissions now that I may end up having to pick some people, but this is a very, very strong contender! Love the amount of effort and thought you've put into it.

I think Jaro would love being called a 'strong contender', even though it's not exactly in a WWE-style cage fight context haha. But that sounds good, I'll look forward to the verdict.

 

[TheAmbiguousStoryteller]

fingers crossed

 

[Blackrose7]

Fingers crossed

 

[Blackrose7]

The list of magic:
1. Poison
2. Healing
3. Fire
4. Wind
5. Sound
6. Energy
Well, this is going to be interesting.

 

[King Crimson]

Name: Millia "Milly" Jamrock
Gender: Female
Place Of Origin: Valley Edge.
A village of catacombs and tunnels built into the walls of the ravine surrounding the Godsword.
Valley Edge began as a simple mining outcrop, where miners and prospectors would dash their hammers and picks, bodies and wills upon the harsh, unyielding walls of the canyon, and upon the massive slab of otherworldly weaponry that had lodged itself deep within it's heart.
All in the pursuit of finding tiny veins of slick, ebony black rock that withstood even the harshest of pressures, or queer ores and crystals that reacted to even the faintest traces of mana.
Something, anything, within that could change themselves, or the world around them for the better.
However, soon came the advent of the Totality War, and with it, came a massive explosion of industry, as drakeglass and fragments became hot commodities in supplying the war effort.
Miners recruited their like-minded comrades and brothers into massive coalitions and guilds to increase their workforce. Prospectors seized claim to whatever land they could, and used their accrued wealth and resources to create housing, sustenance farms, and infrastructure.
Nearly overnight, the humble network of tunnels and shafts, home to none but the beasts who lurked in the tunnels, had transformed into a bustling city built upon the rocks.

Valley Edge's growth has not stymied in the slightest, even well after the war's end, becoming the world's largest repository and manufacturer of drakeglass, fragments, and other precious materials.
The city beneath the rocks is a far cry from a utopia however, and danger lurks within every nook and cranny.
The constant mining, digging and forging has left deep scars within the earth's crust. Earthquakes have come to be so common as to be expected, and a thick, fog of toxic miasma, a byproduct of the endless processing of raw materials, is ever-present within the city, carrying with it hazardous and deathly illnesses, such as the dreaded "frag lung."
The great many factions of crafting guilds feud with one another endlessly over claims of land, resources, and trade, their clashes occasionally spilling into bloodshed, and even into all-out wars, all while the governors who employ them enjoy having immense power and sway within the city, growing fat and living in the laughs of luxury as the common man working beneath them endures back-breaking labor to feed their families.


Age: 15
Height: 5'3"
Physique: Short for her age, but lean and deceptively strong from an overactive lifestyle.

Spoiler

Hair: Orange-blonde
Eyes: Blue
Clothing: A practical pair of thick slacks, and a white shirt. A hero on a budget doesn't need much!
Even in uniform, she's never seen without her goggles or beige-brown tartan scarf; treasured gifts left to her from her father, which served him well in his days working the mines.
Identifying Marks: Some burns, some scrapes, some bruises, almost always sporting a bandage or two from some experiment or adventure gone awry.

Personality: A girl with a boundless optimism uncommon among the people of Valley Edge, with an insatiable thirst for knowledge to match.
The amount of common sense she holds, however, is...
Debatable.
To her, any failure is but a setback. Any literal bump, just a metaphorical bump on the road to progress, and as long as something was learned, and nothing was lost, any experiment a success.
She'll always attempt to help others with their problems, if not only for the sake of charity, but to see what matter of solution she can find.
She has a rather romanticized view of life outside of the valley where she was born, having never been there herself, and an especially romanticized view of artificers, which borders nearly on obsession.
Aside from hurting the weak and poor, and comments about her height, insulting the artificers, the artificer knights, or the code of chivalry that they follow is the quickest way to get on her bad side.
Now able to see it for herself, Milly sees the world with earnest, hopeful eyes, and a mind ready to respond with earnest, hopeful ideas.

Fragment: First and Second Law: A pair of large, bulky gauntlets, made from a specialized drakeglass alloy surrounding a thin, fragment skeleton, and adorned with a pair of retractable, godsword-tipped stakes.
The true source of the fragment's destructive power is the small, hollow chamber hidden behind the stakes, where a small, replaceable 'shell' of highly treated drakeglass, surrounding a small tachyon-shaped godsword foci can be stored, which adds an extra degree of magnification to her spells.
The extra attack power does come at a price; the recoil created by such attacks can be overwhelming, and shells can only endure up to three uses before they shatter, and need to be replaced.
Skills: While it could easily be mistaken for a form of fire magic, Milly's specialty is actually a form of telekinetic metamancy that pressurizes surrounding gases into a tight bubble, which can then create small, self-contained explosions of force when released.
In conjunction with her gauntlets, Milly can utilize her magic to propel her stakes forward, and through the foci lying within them, send the explosive force directly into whatever is unfortunate enough to be in their way.
Milly has developed a unique hand-to-hand fighting style through vigorous study of Naedrian pugilism, and equally vigorous trial-and-error facing off against the dangerous flora and fauna, and the occasional guild malcontent, lurking within the Tunnel Edge catacombs.

Milly's greatest talent, however, is her natural-born knack for the noble art of artifacy; her own fragment, and the modifications made to it being proof of her own ingenuity.
Whether it's a common self-heating tea kettle, or an industrial excavator, she will stop at nothing to understand it's inner workings, and to experiment ways to improve upon them, an obsession that has gotten her into trouble a great many times, and has lost her more than a few eyebrows.

Past: They say that the cloud of smog coating the city of Valley Edge is so thick, that none of it's denizens will ever know the stars above their heads, and they would be right, if not for young Millia Jamrock.
Milly lived the poor, but typical life of a Valley youth, playing outside on the village scaffolding or in the mine tunnels with the other children when the fog thinned, studying indoors when it thickened, helping around the house when the need for her arose, and sneaking off to all of the places she wasn't supposed to when she wouldn't be noticed.
Change came abruptly, however, when her father died in a sudden tunnel collapse, leaving her, her four brothers and her bedridden mother to fend for themselves.
Her older brothers joined the workforce as miners, as their father did before them, while young Milly took on an apprenticeship at a stiff part production factory.
There, she found her true love, her calling: the complexity! The intracity! The majesty of artifacy!
The secrets lying within those glorious machines sang to her, and like a fish to water, she dove to find them, plundering any source of information she could get her hands on.
As time grew, so too did Milly's knowledge of the art, and in her spare time, she plied her trade, using leftover scrap to craft her own rudimentary machines, financing her passion with commissions to repair or craft various things for whoever asked, to middling success, which eventually earned her a reputation with the locals.
"Need a crank fixed? Milly can take care of it."
"Trouble with a leaky valve? Milly can take care of it."
"Want a machine to wash your laundry? Milly can take care of it...maybe."

It was during one of those commissions that Milly received the chance of a lifetime; an artificer of the Arcanist Assembly had come down to the valley on business, and unfortunately, had lost his compass, leaving him terribly lost within the dark, dangerous city. Having heard of the young girl from the locals, the mage approached Milly, and offered her the task of crafting him a new one.
More than eager to accept a request from a bonafide artificer, Milly set to work immediately, and within an hour, created the best compass she'd ever made in her life.
The old man inspected the compass for a minute or two, before turning towards the young craftswoman that had been staring at him with bated breath, flashed her a warm smile, filled with knowledge of something that and reached into his pocket, placing it's contents into the palm of her hand, something that she could only ever dream of getting; a generous sum of gold, enough to finance herself for months, far, far more than she would have charged him.

With the arcanist's leave, Milly zealously took to using his gift to the fullest; the world of artifacy that she had only ever dreamed of was open to her, and she had plans to throw it's gates wide and delve herself in like never before.
Many things came about due to her experiments, (mainly explosions, broken walls and trips to the town healer), but among her greatest accomplishments were an excavation tool that could split open even the hardest of bedrock by driving into it with a large, iron spike, and blowing it open from within with a concentrated burst of force, and a mechanical glove, which could be used and manipulated to carry heavy cargo, or protect a wearer working with harmful materials.
During one of her field tests, excavating a tunnel with her newly created tools, however, she ran afoul of a vicious monster that had, for months, been prowling the mine shafts, preying upon any unsuspecting miners or innocent Valley residents it could get it's claws on.
Milly remerged from the tunnel some days later, battered, beaten, covered in blood both her own and the creatures after a lengthy struggle for survival.
In the end, her tools, her cunning, and her luck won out over the fiend, who now laid pulverized within it's lair, much to the joy of the denizens of the Valley.
Seemingly inspired by what many would consider a traumatizing event, Milly repurposed the tools that had saved her life, realizing that their potential as weapons far exceeded their usefulness as digging implements, and from them, she jury-rigged her first fragment.
Word of her exploits spread quickly, and soon people came to ask her to deal with things far more lively than broken tea kettles, and creaking doors;
"Need a man-eating worm nest cleared out of your tunnels? Milly can take care of it."
"The Hardy Boys being a bit too aggressive trying to sell you some coal? Milly can take care of it."
"That laundry machine is running amok and has taken over your living room? Well...you'll be talking to Milly about that anyways, won't you?"

Eventually word of her deeds reached far above the bog, and into the ears of the Arcanist Assembly, who had, some time ago, heard from one of their senior members about a fascinating young girl who had helped him during his journey through Valley Edge...

 

[Shotgunpenguin]

Please let me know if anything seems out of place, or if there are any problems with what I have written.

Name: Yuki Ming

Gender: Female

Place Of Origin: Vale, the "City of Fallen Dreams"

Spoiler: Description

Ahh the city of Verukt, a shining symbol of all of the dreams of those who visited it. You can find anything you want in Verukt and you can be anyone in Verukt, all it takes is some effort and a little bit of luck. And below that city lies Vale, the place where those who's dreams lie broken subsist on scraps. Vale is what can generously be considered a city considering the state of it, it's residents spending their days sorting through the refuse of those above them in order to survive and desperately hoarding any wealth that they can get their hands on. Food is scarce, restricted to those at the top of the food chain and whoever end up below them. The kind of place where might makes right, and those with might had a way of staying in the right. Those blessed by gods with luck eventually manage to get out by the time they turn forty, but most people don't believe that. If they were really that lucky, why would they be stuck in this dump?

The city is divided between three factions. The first and largest of the factions was the Bloody Axes, run by a man named Junior. They provided the muscle for the town and acted as enforcers, all for a profit of course. The second was run by a man only known as the alchemist, a tall and bony man who produced tinctures and potions that supposedly would cure your ills. The side effects however would kill you more often than not, but for most it was worth the risk. The final faction was the Crimson Elks, a collection of pickpockets and thieves that offer services that fall beneath the Bloody Axes. Between them is a shaky agreement to share the city, each providing a necessary service that kept the city running.

Age: 16

Height: 5'3"

Physique: Slim, weathered and rather stunted, Yuki's years of malnourishment have stunted her growth in more ways than one. Despite this, she had built up a rather impressive well of stamina from years of fleeing from angry travelers and scaling buildings. Her hair is dirty and rough, her face covered with small nicks and cuts from close shaves and her hands rough and calloused from manual labor. Although she herself may look dirty, she does make it a point to keep herself clean when she can. Disease spreads faster on a dirty body, something that Yuki learned early in her life.

Spoiler

Hair: Brown, short and cropped

Eyes: A murky grey

Clothing: In Yuki's experience the simpler an outfit is the better, for multiple reasons. First it helps you blend into the masses better, second you don't have to worry about it getting stained with muck or blood, and finally you can keep it from falling apart much easier than any of those complex outfits that she had heard those in Verukt wear. As such worn pair of leather pants, a cloth tunic and a sturdy pair of boots is Yuki's go to outfit. Add in a pouch or two on the sides, a pair of thin cloth gloves, a dusty looking cloak with a hood, and a knife hidden underneath and you too can look like you've been picking through pockets and trash all your life.

Identifying Marks: As far as identifiable marks goes, Yuki does have a scar running along the back of her right hand. It starts around the knuckle of her pointer finger and runs diagonal to just after the wrist from when her hand was almost split in two during a particularly nasty encounter.

Personality: Throughout her whole life, Yuki has lived with the ironclad idea of being as inconspicuous as possible. Standing out draws attention, attention means that more people start watching what you manage to pull in, and if people like what they see they may just end up taking it from you by force. Because of this she can come off as cold and indifferent to others, most of the time brushing them off or ignoring them until they leave her alone. She is initially weary of those she comes into contact with, going over their words and actions to try and sense out any ulterior motive. Once you get past that awkward first stage though you'll find that she is like any other teen, she enjoys talking about hobbies and things that interest her as much as anyone else. She isn't afraid to call someone out on their shit when she needs to, and her attitude can be considered a bit crasser than it needs to be, but she also knows when to keep her mouth shut. She usually let's most things roll off of her, but the one thing that she can't ignore is insults to her family. It's one of the surefire ways of getting her attention, although that attention is usually accompanied with a dagger in hand.

Fragment: Although the shortsword on her hip is on full display for all to see, and a dagger on the opposite hip draws the attention of a wary individual, the true weapon of Yuki Ming is the dagger hidden behind her back that subtly juts out at her right hip. A simple blade, the true trick of the blade lies once she pours her magic into the curved hilt of the weapon. Once prepared, the magic filled hilt allows Yuki to produce illusory copies of the dagger itself and allows her to manipulate them at will as if connected by an invisible thread. This includes the actual dagger itself, although one who knows the trick may be able to sever the connection between blade and user and she is currently limited in the number she can create.

Skills: Learning how to defend yourself is a necessity when living in Vale, and the most common form of defense is a knife. Small, easy to carry and conceal yet deadly in the right hands meant that it was a perfect weapon for Yuki. To her a fight isn't about being honorable or being in the right, it's all about dishing out as much damage to your opponent in any way you could. From throwing fistfuls of ash into their faces to blind them, breaking fingers in order to get out of a hold and even the classic low blow, anything that could give a person an advantage was used. Outside of combat, Yuki knows how to keep herself and others out of sight, be that by taking to the roofs of structures or slinking in and out between the crowd. Deception and slight of hand are also a skill that she picked up, and she's willing to step in and do things that other's may balk at.

Spells: While limited in her selection of spells, Yuki found that like many things in life the simplest was often the most reliable. Visual illusions are her area of expertise, conjuring small objects to serve as distractions, extending the shadows so that they cover more than they would, and sending out quick copies of herself to disorient would be aggressors before striking.

Past: The city of Vale is not a place where one would want to find themselves, let alone try and raise any semblance of a family. Yet that's exactly what Yuki's mother and father tried to do after they were tossed out of Verukt for their lack of funds. Yuki's parents had traveled to Verukt from their hometown of Patch in order to realize their dream of living the good life, the softest of silks and the juiciest of meats at their beck and call every day. They had sold everything from their old lives, their homes and even their spare clothes in order to finance their dream. This dream had lasted exactly two weeks before the city had taken them for everything that they had and spat them out into the under-city of Vale. With no money to speak of and only the clothes on their backs, the married duo were stuck trying to eek out a living as "dredgers" as those above would call them. It was four years after they had arrived that Yuki's older sister Sandra was born, and another four years before Yuki herself was born.

Her parents tried hard to support their now growing family, and for ten years they were able to do so most of the time. Until the day that Yuki's mother had contracted an infection from an open wound and was forced into bed-rest for months. Her only hope was a tincture from a man only known as the alchemist, a strange man who sold potions and tinctures for various ills. Their family tried to save enough to afford the tincture, her father even going as far as working underneath the Crimson Elk in order to earn more funds. Her sister found work underneath the Bloody Axes as a courier, and Yuki spent her time picking the pockets of the more fortunate. After working their fingers to the bone they were finally able to afford the tincture that they needed. For nearly two weeks her mother spent in the throes of the tincture, shouting at all times of the day and begging for the visions to stop. In the end she succumbed to the disease, and soon after their father fell into a depression. He wandered off a week later and was never seen again, leaving Yuki and her sister to fend for themselves.

In some ways their parents death made it harder for them, two young kids with no one to lean on made for easy targets. The two of them would have to show that they wouldn't be easy targets from that point on. And in some ways their parents deaths made it easier for them. Less mouths to feed meant that they could get by on less food. Regardless of that though, Sandra had to step up and find a way to provide for her and Yuki. She joined the Bloody Axe's as an enforcer and collector, and in exchange the two of them would be under the protection of the gang. Yuki preformed courier services along with collecting from the less risky clients, and with that the two of them eked out a living for the next five years. Five years of scraping by, five years of dodging the sticky fingers and jagged blades of the other residents. While Sandra may have been fine living that kind of life Yuki yearned to become more than a dredger digging through the scraps of those above. She wanted out, and the only way for that to happen was with enough money. Junior had trusted them by that point, convinced that they weren't desperate enough to try anything against him and have the whole town as their enemy. He thought wrong. In the dead of the night Yuki awoke her sister, with a sack full of stolen money the two fled away from the dump that they called home.

The siblings fled for what seemed like weeks, days melding together as their hearts jumped at every snapped twig and sudden sound. But together they made it to the town of Patch, the town where their parents had previously lived. The money allowed for her to set Sandra up in a small cottage and provide enough food for a month if properly saved. Her sister had looked after her, provided for her when their parents had passed away. Yuki would make sure that she repaid her kindness in full, no matter what or how long it would take. But in order to support her sister she would need to find an occupation that would compensate her heavily. The people in Vale always talked about the heroic deeds of the knights, those who would rush into battle to protect the meek and innocent. A position like that must have come with a rather large pay to offset the risk, and that pay was what Yuki was after. So with a few greased hands with the money she had leftover and a falsified transcript painting her as an above average student, Yuki Ming slipped herself into Ivermore, intent on earning more money than she could even hope to spend in her life.

 

[Shadowfall]

Name: Valerie Casanova
Gender: Female
Place Of Origin: Sycaria
Age: 17
Height: 5'11
Physique: Lithe, yet athletic.
Hair: Auburn, short. Usually kept in a tight bun for ease of movement and not worrying about it getting too messy.

Eyes: She has none, but keeps a pair of magically enchanted glass eyes in her sockets. Their corneas are stylized to the symbol of her house.

Clothing: Often, she is seen wearing a quilted vest, a gambeson if you would, with a loose fitting long sleeved shirt and well fitted pants. Usually, they don't have holes in them.

Identifying Marks: She wears a dark red blindfold most of the time with the symbol of her house printed in the middle of it. It is velvet, and very soft. Otherwise, her cane she always carries with her is a notable feature, especially since upon closer inspection, the rounded head is made from the pommel of a sword. That is because it is a sword, and the bottom half of the wooden cane can be taken off like a sheath to reveal the rapier within.

Spoiler: Family Symbol

Personality: All of her life, Valerie was her father's little rose, and for good reason. She'll prick you with her words, and if you try to pluck her, she'll draw blood. She has always been arrogant and self-directed, always pushing herself to become better than she was the day before. She defined herself by her ability to fence, and believes that if anyone were to pick a fight with her, she would win handily with a few deft maneuvers and clever footwork. That has changed since, and after losing her sight. Now, after being forced to eat a heaping load of humble pie, she finds that she needs to often times rely on others for help. She still is sharp with her words when her feathers get ruffled, and still believes herself to be the best duelist to ever live, but knows deep inside, that she's not invincible, and that winning a few fights against drunkards for money doesn't even remotely prove any skill or worth.

Fragment: Valerie wields a thin rapier, fashioned to be sheathed into a walking cane for dual purpose use.

Skills: Valerie has always been an excellent duelist, able to take most people in a straight fight with her rapier, pushing a strong offensive with quick thrusts, skillful parries, and easily predicted ripostes that edge her way into her opponent's swift surrender. This was before her eyesight was lost. Now, she fights defensively, listening to her opponent's footsteps and waiting for them to strike at her, only to meet her countering blows. Because of her adapted fighting style, she has found that she has stepped into the field of psionism. Illusion and mental trickery are a few of the things within her purview of an expert fencer, using them to gain the upper hand on the enemy. In specific however, she has delved into the field of detection magic, finding her opponents before they strike at her, even in the dark or through walls. Of course, using illusions to displace her image, swapping an opponent's left side hearing with their right, or even simply creating the illusion of "functioning" eyes can distract an opponent enough for her to capitalize on their mistakes. The rapier itself finds use in a number of things, asides from channeling her illusion magic as many as three times with a single cast. It can also render foolish opponents blind when they are struck, and even finds use when sheathed through the ability to echolocate when tapped against any surface. However, the blinding effect appears to prove useless against opponents with any extrasensory awareness, or anyone that wears halfway decent armor, as it only works on skin contact.

Past: House Casanova used to be one of the foremost houses in the creation of weapons. Expensive, graceful things enchanted with all manner of things made to slice through the air faster, hit harder, and perforate easier than any other weapon out there. Each craftsman was able to create such a blade with perfect precision, and wield it just as deftly. Swords were in their blood, it was their family craft after all. Sycarian Steel, they called it, named after their home city. However, as the Totality Wars came winding down with the rapid expansion of the Arcanist Assembly, whose numerous stiffs could overwhelm a skilled swordsman, it seemed that their unique blades were nothing but a novelty, a relic of the past. The Assembly could develop cheaper, more numerous options for warfare and combat than Casanova's secret family techniques could create in an 1/8th of the time.

Two generations pass since, and young Valerie finds one of these ancient blades in the attic, one of what was once of many, but the last since an auction to pawn off the family relics. Their craft is of fine things, and competitive pricing and the amount of time and cost of materials doesn't make their craft as immensely profitable as it once was. The head of the Casanova family was selling their belongings just to keep their once grand estate, and this particular sword wasn't extravagant enough or had enough powerful enchantments to sell at all, so in the attic it was kept, until the next auction.

This one blade sparked inspiration for young Valerie that would light a fire that would burn for the rest of her life. The family fortune, though dwindling, was slowly siphoned away to a second fund, one just for Valerie's ambition and interest in the art of swordplay. She would be taught by the servants of the estate, then her father, and then the best swordsmen they could buy at the time, until at the age of 15, she had entered her first tournament and won. It wasn't for the sake of winning though, it was for the prize money for being first place. The Casanova family did not live in their grand family estate, and they had but one faithful servant to their name. Valerie did not know any useful trades, and her father now only sold swords as a luxury item, not a grand craft fit for war.

It was during an impromptu duel that a savage opponent hailing from a kingdom forgotten bested her. As custom, they were to take an amount of money or a volunteered personal belonging of agreed value. This opponent, with a crooked grin, pointed at her face and stated that there was only one thing that she could give him of hers. Fear was not something that she had experienced often, not with her blade in hand, but after the man drove her to the ground and kicked it out of her grip, the last thing she saw was the flash of the man's dagger as it poked out both of her eyes.

Though this did stop her from fencing, this didn't stop her fighting spirit. Over the course of a few months, she grew used to the darkness, taking this as a challenge, not quite accepting the fact that she could just take off her blindfold and seeing as she would normally. Even as she was given a magical pair of glass eyes that she could use to see normally, they were straining to use and required a lot of concentration. She decided that in order to become stronger, to rebuild her family honor, and to get revenge on the man who took her sight, she would become what her father always warned her about: an Artifice Knight. Her sight would have to wait, it was only magic that could save her now.

 

[King Crimson]

Apologies for the delay in finishing my CS, what with the site going down, and my meatspace responsibilities.
Hopefully everything so far is up to snuff, and if so, I can finish it later tomorrow.

If you don't mind me asking, why did you condense the OOC in with the CS and Lore chat?

 

[ach1lles]

In the same vein as Crimson, sorry about the delay! I'm 98% done my CS, just editing a bit, so hopefully, I can pop it up by tomorrow morning. Or, uhhh... morning in EST.

(Also, a side note. There are some references to Christianity in my character's history, mostly with the prodigal son, so hopefully that doesn't clash with lore that much?)

 

[MrReaves]

Whoops, I seem to have missed out on a bunch of notications! I'm going to say we have enough biographies now, so I won't be taking any more on!

With that said, though, I want to thank you all for the interest you've shown! I originally had a hard time getting this RP off the ground in other places, so it's heartwarming to see so many of you enjoying the premise enough to take part.

Unfortunately we have so many submissions now (9 in total, if I count the one I'm waiting on for ach1lles!) that I will have to trim it down to a few! I'd be most comfortable with 4-5 players, though there are so many good ones that I may consider stretching it to six...

I do want to state that if you end up not being chosen, please don't take it as a judgement on my part of your work! I enjoy and appreciate everything you all have done, and who I pick will depend on a multitude of factors. If I don't get to play with some of you this time, I look forward to possibly doing it in a future RP!

I'll spend a bit of time mulling it over, and announce my picks shortly!

 

[MrReaves]

Edit- both Ach1lles and King Crimson's I'm still waiting on, so a total of 10 before I fully commit.

To your question, Crimson- It's just the most efficient. Better to manage 2 threads than 5

 

[King Crimson]

CS is done! I hope it's as enjoyable to read as it was to write!

 

[MrReaves]

Thanks for your patience, everyone! After a lot of careful reading and weighing, I've selected the five people I think would work best;

- TheAmbiguousStoryteller
- Fred Colon
- spacepirate
- King Crimson
- Shadowfall

Thanks so much for your interest, everyone! And sorry again to those who didn't get selected, I hope to see you another time.

The first post will be up shortly! Either today, and if not, definitely tomorrow (that's on European time)!

 

[MrReaves]

Quick update; I have made a Discord server for easier & faster communication! You can also message me personally on Discord with questions or feedback ^^

Discord - A New Way to Chat with Friends & Communities

Discord is the easiest way to communicate over voice, video, and text. Chat, hang out, and stay close with your friends and communities.

discord.gg

 

[MrReaves]

The introductory post has been published!

Have fun!