[img]http://i.imgur.com/px90uJy.png[/img] Allo there. Figured I'd plop a revised, revamped and remade version of the very first RP I ever did on RPG. [Hider=Synopsis] Broken Circle; Arcana Americana The world is full of hidden, terrible places. Of secrets arcane and twisted. Gods exist and so does demons. Every myth you can think off exist in one form or another. How it all works? Nobody really know. Parallel to our world exist many much weirder, stranger realities. Some of these realities house creatures who feed of our worship: Gods. Other are realms of untold powers, arcane streams or elemental forces unleashed to its full potential. Humanity have always known this, deep inside. We search out these things, looking for answers, protection and guidance. Today, most of us have forgotten this connection. Magic is now replaced with Science. Our answers can be seen, they can explained. But there are those of of us who know more exist beyond the law of physics. We are magicians. From the Vodoo Priests of Haiti, to the Shamans up in coldest Europe. Most magicians are just street performers, slight of hand tricksters. Some however, have stepped into the dark underbelly of the world and made pacts. Some have tracked down ancient ritual texts and found it trough forbidden books. Some of us are brave enough to directly tap into the Arcane. As a rule. Most of us live short, spectacular lives. This is the story of a loosely connected bunch of practitioners from different walks of life, who made New York their home for the past year, finding themselves travelling trough America, hunting a mysterious man who plagues their dreams. This trip will snake across all manner of places and locations, many which will have a personal connection to the characters. The magic in this is powerful but subdued. Its not a matter of summoning fireball and being a badass. All magic comes with a price and the way to go about it differs. You either got your powers from a pact, in which you are already contracted to some other being to lend their power. Or you draw it from the Arcane realities, risking everyone and your own life every time you draw on it. Or you are using ceremonial magic, which is safe but time consuming. [/Hider] Rules: [i]Do not treat the magic like a "super power." Magic is not a bunch of named "attacks" in the vein of most animes and videogames. There are guidelines in place as to how magic works. PM Me your Applications. Follow the site rules.  Take up any complaints with me, the GM. Enjoy yourselves.[/i] [center]Prologue[/center] Within a darkness so thick it might just be tangible and hidden beneath endless dead catacombs rests a giant. This hulking mass of malice has no name that human tongues could ever twist into words. His presence is like a malignant tumor on all of magic. He is a Giant, the anti-thesis of godhood. And he was angry. His two red eyes flung wide open and stared down at another presence before him. A creature smaller then the bright suns that passed for for the giants eyes. Yet it stood unflinching under its unforgiving gaze. The other presence was shaped lie a man. His clothing a a suit and tie, expensive and oddlooking on his near skeletal frame. His smile cleaved his face in the most disturbing way. And his eyes burned with brimstone while his teeth are that of needles. He observes the chained giant before peering into a book that rested in his hands. As his lips moves his voice seem sweet and sickly, like that of rot. “You sleep in the abode of gods, where devinity go to die. You lie among the bones of celestial might, forgotten by all but the most ancient of existence.” This earned him a roar that shook the very dimension they stood within. ”You predate creation. You were never named, so in truth, your power is endless.” The creature shifted restlessly as it settles on its hunches. The man closed his book. ”I name you. End of All Things.” --- [b]You[/b] saw this dream. You belong to a group of magicians, loosely connected trough common contacts or hangout places, New York is a big place but there are only so many places a magician can go to be among his peers. You have your own secrets, your own dark places you wish not go. Magic does not come cheap, and learning its secrets, be it trough family tradition or chancing upon a magical being, is learning of a world best left alone. Each of you now share the same dreams. You know that world is full of hidden, terrible places. Full Of secrets both arcane and twisted. Gods exist and so does demons. Every myth you can think off exist in one form or another. How it all works? Nobody really know. Parallel to our world exist many much weirder, stranger realities. Some of these realities house creatures who feed of our worship: Gods. Other are realms of untold powers, arcane streams or elemental forces unleashed to its full potential. Humanity have always known this, deep inside. We search out these things, looking for answers, protection and guidance. And somewhere among these worlds something terrible is unraveling. And somehow you know you have to chase this strange man down. [i]Vital Setting Info Below[/i] [b]Magic is real, But let's not tell the masses shall we?[/b] Magics a latent ability that most people ,if taught or guided, can draw upon. It was common in old religions, prominent in darker, less enlightened times. These days people turn to science for answers, and they are right in doing so, as Magic hold very few answers. Magic is a constant riddle, a metaphor given power. Laws of nature bends to it, using it comes with rules that constantly shift and grow ever more complicated. It demands a concentrated and calm mind, but draws on raw emotions and the energies of various cosmic and mythical sources. But in turning to logic and science, magic no longer exist to the mundane. It is considered fantasy and nothing more. To the new enlightened humanity, Magic now belong with old folklore, and the magic they see is but slight of hand and trickery. But this world harbors secrets. Practicioners still exist. Some hide, some live in the limelight as stage magicians, disguising their talents with that of parlor tricks. In the north there are still people who worship the Norse gods, who still know the runes, in the Not to mention the many creatures who work for or against humanity, the old ancient horrors, the biblical beasts and the genies of old Arabic folklore. They exist, they live within their own realms but crosses into our world every now and then. Not often, and often twarted by those in the know. But as of late, things are slowly taking a turn for worse. Human agents of said beings have been growing more impatient, more careless in their secrecy. Their summonings have grown more frequent as if they are lost in their ways. And Magicians from all over the world have been having the same dream. A giant being who chill them to their very soul. And the man with the book, naming the creature. [b]-The Realms of magic-[/b] Magic isn't as simple as summoning fireballs or shooting lightning out of your fingertip. Forget all you were taught by fantasy wizards in pointy hats. No, these forces are living entities, powerful in their own rights even without a wielder. Vibrant energies you have to weave and bend to your will. And they all come from different places, different worlds. The ways you can use magic and its sources are diverse and infinitely complex in nature. The worlds beyond ours do not mirror our own, they have their own laws of physics. Their own rules. Ours is the realm of mortals, known as Earth, Terra, Gaia and any number of other names. It is governed by the laws of physics, it can be understood and tamed by human science. Our world can only manifest magic from extremely driven minds and powerfull emotions. And even then, mostly by tapping in to one of the other realms. There are still places of power, where leylines intersect. Here, the veil between our world and others is thinner, and the Arcane leak into our world. Aside from our world there are atleast nine different versions of what we reffer to as the biblical version of hell and there appears to also exist the four hellish plains of Gehenna among many other underworlds, such as the Hellonic Hades and Norse Hel. There is believed to exist 7 realms that make out different forms of what the Abrahamic religions refer to as 'heaven'. But don't think your soul will go there if you are a good christian just becouse a version of heaven appears to exist. Nobody knows how the celestial planes work. None has ever ascended from those to speek to us, nor has anyone tapped into them, unlike how Demons of all kinds seem to really enjoy humans. In midst of all this exist the Undying Realms. They are places of negative, necrotic energies. Tapping into them is suicide, the energies there devour magic and eats away all living things. These are the places of eternal darkness where gods go to die. Each Undying Realm is ruled by a forsaken god that's older then earths history itself. There is the Realms of Elements, four in total. Here fires, water, air and earth are in constant shift, vying for dominance. One of the most well known is the Stream. Among magicians of any calibre, this is the name given to the dimension of pure arcane energy. A constant, never running dry, source of magic. Like a powerline. There are the Fey Lands where the folklore of old have retreated to. There are the Fields of Ulysses, where the old pantheon of the Greeks supposedly reside. There is Asgard, where the old Norse gods now sleep, supposedly dead from Ragnarok, of them only Balder seem to lend any power. The amount of worlds is seemingly endless, and it is all about finding a creature, ritual or other manner of connecting to them. Each able to lend unique strengths to those that opens its doors. There is a price however. Power always has a price. One does not strike deals with the powers that be without paying their dues. Every magician have to deal with the consequences and backlashes of their choices. Magic demands sacrifices, personal or trivial. They demand dedication and rituals. Be it carving runes into wood or making summoning circles with salt. Magic is flexible and amazing but it's also risky and wild. Some magic is gotten trough actual deals with entities such as demons and fey. These deals are the basis to contract magic. [center][b]Types of magic.[/b][/center] People categorize magic into three groups, divided by the source of magic. They are Contract, Arcane Purity and Ritual magic. They each provide different strengths and weaknesses. They all hold different prizes and tributes. [Hider=Contracts] [b]Contracts:[/b] Trough contracts with mystical beings a magician may achieve great powers. Its a two way street however. Contracts are with a price, and the contractor might find the price a bit to steep at times. A good example would be Faust, selling his soul to a devil. Envoking contract magic usually means you have to summon the power in words or symbols. Such as calling upon the fires of hell or the spirits of the dead. If you are contracted, your faith is also at the mercy of your patron. There are many who have used their power only for [/Hider][Hider=Arcane Purity] [b]Arcane Purity:[/b] The riskiest is Arcane Purity. These are the mages that take directly from the Stream. They dont have to deal with rituals or contracts and thus skirt having to give up something in turn or to take careful preparation. But the trade off is the fact that Arcane Purity is a bomb , set to explode at any given moment. The pull of the Stream is great, the euphoria of power incarnate is more addicting then any drug. And Mages may find them self so bristling with power that they actually explode. In order to use Arcane Purity, one need a powerful focus such as a rare jewel or carefully prepared talismans. These wither and break in time and being seperated from it means you have to draw the magic raw. [/Hider][Hider=Ritual Magic] [b]Ritual Magic:[/b] Most common Ritual magic mostly safe but slow. Ritual magic draws on the power of the different realms as well as surrounding energies. Its a way of building connections with other planes or your surroundings without signing a pact or bruteforcing trough the stream. The results are all depending on the effort, the people and the ritual itself. Its wide spread and seen in common fashion within old world, pre-christianty religions. While most modern day rituals are watered down and practiced by people who do not believe or understand their power, many magicians rely heavily this kind of magic. [/Hider] [Hider=Magic Glossery] [b]True Name:[/b] In magic there is such a thing as your True Name. Its intimately tied to your very essence, it embodies you. Names have always held importance in religions as well, such as Drudism and Neo-Pagan Wickans and Voodoo. Even in Christianity, the name of a Demon is vital to exorcise it. To let creatures and magicians know your name is to give them full control and forfeit your life and freedom. As such, most magicians have at least three names. Their Given Name, given at birth. Their True Name, found within themselves during their life of arcane and mysticism. And there Taken Name, the name they wish to go by among other magicians. [/quote] Profile skeleton. Name:  [b]True Name:[/b]  [b]Taken Name:[/b] [b]Given Name:[/b] [b]Age:[/b] 19 at the lowest. The older you the more sense it makes that you know a fair bit of magic. 45 as the oldest. The younger you play the less respected, powerfull and the experienced you are. Withing the world of magic experience is power. Keep this in mind. [b]Nature of magic:[/b] (see magic section.) [b]Magic practice:[/b] (What are you? Voodoo priest? Witch doctor? Priest? Illusionist, necromancer? Any magic practice goes as long as its not to High Fantasy. Magic in this taxing and tricky. It is a matter of intelligence and wit, will and planning.) [b]Brief bio:[/b] Keep it condensed. I don't ask for much. I need to know what makes your character unique. What define him. A little back story.