[center][h1]Noble Thunder [working title][/h1][/center]
[i][center]A story of clashing schools amidst an inscrutable divine comedy[/center][/i]

[h1]Background - Fiction[/h1]

[i]In the ages of myth, the gods of the world bestowed great gifts upon that of humanity. They used these gifts to rid the world of a profound evil that threatened both the gods and mortals. In exchange for their sacrifices, the gods continued to proffer their gifts generation after generation...[/i]

...Or so history says. In this world, while the influence of the gods and their gifts are clear to observe, direct intervention by any specific god is unheard of. The specifics of the divine cosmology are often a subject of personal belief and philosophy moreso than any one true religion - something people may theorize about but never know the full picture. 

The city of Theia is the most prosperous city in all of the world, and with good reason - it is essentially geographically at the center, at a cultural confluence of many different peoples, and most notably "the place closest to the gods." A city that has roots all the way back to the ages of myth, it is rumored to have survived centuries of tumultuous times, disasters, and evil due to the gods' protection.

While the foundations date back to ancient myth, the modern-day city resembles most others with all the amenities a big city can offer. Perhaps one of the few mythological traditions that remain are the schools that cultivate the mind as well as the gods' gifts - notably through physical clashes at organized tournaments. To these schools, performance in a clash is just as important as any other subject, and would be treated as such. Whether it is subtle guiding by the unseen hands of gods, something in the water supply, or just a deeply ingrained tradition, the reality for most residents of Theia is a high concentration of student-age young adults training and clashing with each other in spectacular fashion.

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[h1]Schools[/h1]

Schools make up the factions of Rhea and players will pick one to be a part of. The larger schools have a lot of variance and perhaps even power struggles, so not everyone has to be buddy-buddy even in the same school, but generally there's some expectation of cooperation since you might end up having to back up a classmate in a fight down the road.

These schools tend to be more autonomous and student-ran, though obviously there are adults that step in if things get too out of hand. Of course, different schools pride themselves on having higher or lower standards of what "out of hand" means.

[b][color=00aeef]Alexandria's Academy For the Gifted[/color][/b]: A historic and upscale school that is said to have been founded by one of the first humans to bear a Gift (though this is completely unverifiable). While its facilities and record are top-notch, it has been known to be sluggish to adapt in the tournament circuit. While the school is at the top, they seem unbeatable, but once behind the curve they take a long time to adapt. Perhaps fresh blood is what they need to fully establish dominance?

Alexandria's Academy is headed by a student council, the president of which is [gigantic name goes here when I think of one that's not just Lise's name again]. She has a claim in a long line of headmasters and headmistresses of Alexandria's Academy, and carries her royal bloodline with great pride.

[b][color=ec008c]Celestine's School of the Forbidden[/color][/b]: A newcomer to the top schools of Rhea, this shady establishment seems to be poorly organized from the outside, yet has snatched up many powerful students... For whatever reason. Despite the sketchy nature of the school, the headmaster seems to have smoothed over things with the authorities and they never get thrown out of tournaments, so maybe it's fine...? This school attracts those who want to eschew traditional organizations and simply let the most powerful rise to the top however they can, practicing what seems to be complete chaos. Whether they win through underhanded sabotage or fund their school through illegal tax fraud, what is clear is that they are a juggernaut on the field.

The questionable practices of this school, and its chaotic nature, makes most outsiders unsure who really is at the head of the student organization of the school. Perhaps their head figure hides their identity in order to protect the school from reprisals, or perhaps the rumors that the school is in a constant state of anarchy is true and nobody is in charge. Only a few within the school's inner circle know for sure.

[b][color=fff200]Theian Association and Conglomerate of Technical Interest Clubs[/color][/b]: This organization is actually a conglomerate of many Theian Technical Schools, which are the government-required schooling available to those that don't make it to more selective or eclectic schools. Normally no tech school has enough strong players to have a presence (since they mainly are just zoned to accept whoever lives nearby), but an enigmatic leader managed to scout and organize enough outliers between the various schools all over Theia to form a formidable group. Given how wide of an area the association can recruit from, their potential is impossible to predict - something this group has used to its benefit to become a top contender in Theia.

TACTICs was organized by a brilliant student who goes by a codename of [chess piece name? it cant just be king]. They organize the group through an extensive communication network, and rarely show their face in-person. Despite that, [name] seems to have eyes and ears in places nobody expects, and uses it to their advantage whenever they can.

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[h1]So what's this all about?[/h1]

This is another take on the classic battling schools theme from anime and various other media. A city seemingly ran by absurdly powerful student bodies that clash in sanctioned (and unsanctioned!) events. Ideally there would be fighting, drama, maybe some shenanigans here and there. My loose plan is to have characters interact amongst each other for brief arcs, then come back together for tournament sets, and work in a pattern like that. Schools will have odd jobs for characters to do, and I'm sure players can also make up some of their own shenanigans to get rolled up into. If anything, I would encourage character makers to think of some fun background conflict with others to work on when they're not in a tournament.

The tone I would want to shoot for is fairly wide, honestly I mainly just don't want it going so dark that murders and heinous crimes are occurring. Let's keep it to drawing blood at the absolute worst. If you're not sure run it past me.

As for character powers, don't make something that's going to give me a headache mainly. Powerful is fine, unbeatable isn't. Tournaments will be varied in how teams compete, and not just be 1v1 cage matches, so don't shy away from having utility that isn't just straight up KOing people. Plus your character ideally will have a life outside of fighting people, so stuff they can use in everyday life is obviously a boon.

As things progress players may gain new aspects of their gift, though this often will be at a "big moment" for them. It won't happen often, but it's not unheard of either.

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Character sheet:

[hider]Basic CS skeleton:
Name: [Feel free to include any nicknames or titles your character would have.]
Age: [Ideally in the young adult area]
School: [School and/or grade. the "big school" units listed above are high-school-ish, but also have more advanced grades for older students similar to a college]
Biography: [Include some form of either personality or background here. It's optional, but there won't be much time to set up characters at the start of this RP, so having something is going to be better than having nothing.]
Powers: [Put your powers here. Do remember, 1 core power and up to 3 other abilities. If you'd like a guideline as to how far you should or shouldn't go, I'll have some example sheets later on. ]
Relationships: [Rivals and nemeses, reputations preceding, perhaps even some special feelings for a special person. This section is optional, but it's nice. Try to at least include other people in your school once rosters are starting to show up.]
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