Sorry for the double post, but I'll get to addressing everyone else now! [quote=@shylarah] [@Lovejoy] I noticed, but I already have a beast tamer running around in a few different places and didn't wanna do demons. It's a /great/ idea, though! I'm thinking...hm. Actually, I'm toying with a few ideas. I know this gal's a strong mage, and a good fighter. Possibilities include nullification/antimagic, some sort of ability to use /other/ people's ether, force (pushing/pulling things), fire (thematically it'd fit her, but ehhh, not sure I want to)...actually, force as combat magic would be fun and I have a new weapon set I wanna use it with, but the really *interesting* ones are nullification or the ability to manipulate the ether of others. I'd need to keep it from getting too powerful, of course...but I can put limits on it easy. Offensively it'd put her at a huge disadvantage, and that doesn't seem like something the Seminary does...then again, just draining power doesn't work, you have to /put/ it somewhere. *flails around in the ideas* [/quote] [@shylarah] That all sounds cool, except for the bit about fire magic. After the Fire Titan's death all those eons ago, "fire" as a tangible force within the natural world no longer exists. For much of what we use fire for, the people in this world use ether instead. Think of ether as [i]like[/i] fire, but not really. More like a divine energy that exists in people's blood that can burn like fire and give life like fire. What ether really does is not really warm or heat, but shrouds lifeforce from the deadly cold that permeates the world, so its more like a magical veil that keeps blood from freezing, if that makes sense. Ordinary ether that comes from people is blue, but Omestrian ether is gold and more potent. With but a liter of Omestrian ether you can power an entire household for several months, but it is very rare for the common person to obtain (since most people don't own slaves or can afford to buy the ether that is harvested from them). Everything from ammo cartridges/magazines to batteries contain ether in them. Most of the ether that's used to power weapons and everyday objects is white ether, which comes from beasts and animals, and is more common but less potent. There is also red ether, which comes from demons, but it is highly volatile and there hasn't been enough research done on it to see if it can be used in any form. Now, your character can have the ability to use ether in a weaponized form. It'd probably manifest as like, colored waves of energy (depending on the kind of ether they used to power it). [@The Angry Goat]Awesome character! Loving the full pedal-to-the-metal bruiser thing you've got going on! I only have a few corrections: - I think 7'5 is kind of pushing it. Would it be cool to put him down to like, 6'10? When I included Varyans being tall as a thing, I wasn't picturing like, giants :p - Seeing as how we're lowering his height a bit, could we make his shield a tiny bit smaller as well? Also, I don't think it should be nearly indestructible, but it could be able to withstand a ton of damage (say, a straight tank shell, as well as lower-level magic spells?) and he'd have to have it repaired from time to time. The mechanism that allows his shield to extend is pretty cool! About the aegis being an actual physical object that exists in his shield, that isn't really how the aegis works. The "personal" aegis is more of a constant-effect magic spell that an Inquisitor in a warband maintains for the safety of their companions and the soldiers under their command. So think of it as like, the Aegis Inquisitor (also known as The Protector) being a very important member of the group who has trained specifically to be able to maintain this aegis for an extended period of time. So basically, they'd be like a beacon that needs to be protected at all times, so they'd stay at the center of the group. Owing to that, I don't think it'd make sense for Stina to be the Protector, as the bursts of super-strength and superspeed would require intense concentration and would probably interfere with him casting the aegis at all times. Seeing as how you fashioned your character to be more of frontline tank, maybe you can abandon the aegis idea since it doesn't seem to fit with Stina's MO. Just a suggestion. - I didn't make this clearer before, but kids generally are taken to the Red Seminary when they are 7-10 years old and the training lasts for 12 years. So the part about him "training his whole life" should be changed to "training his entire childhood". - Oh, this one's my fault. But I decided to change the symbol of Varya to something more thematically suitable. Instead of a red phoenix, it's now a solitary red circle, to signify His emptiness and well, I just think it fits better. Besides that, I think we're good! [@BingTheWing]Yes, you can be an Omestrian Inquisitor, and no, their race wouldn't matter if they were a priest or soldier. Yes, you will be discriminated against by certain people but it wouldn't affect your ranks or treatment by the Church, as long as you showed your worth, strength and devotion to Lord Varya (or at least managed to convince them enough) About the culture analogue, I'm honestly not sure. I pictured the Omestrians as being multi-cultured, so they would be kind of a mishmash and wouldn't conform to any set naming or cultural conventions or anything. They were, after all, about freewill. I would think the Omestrians would have a multitude of skintones, from pale skin to black skin, the only thing they have in common would be the color of their pupils, which is gold. Like I mentioned to Angry Goat, kids are accepted into the Red Seminary when they're 7-10 and graduate 19-to-22. Not just any child off the street is accepted, they need to possess some form of potential, and thus they are usually brought in by common priests who could recognize the child's budding ether ability, soldiers , or recommended by people of high social standing, like a former master or something of the like. The life of Omestrian slaves is a brutal existence, some more than others. Most common Omestrian slaves live in squalid ghettos in the lower depths of Magnagrad, where they're put to work doing menial tasks (aka maintaining infrastructure, cleaning streets, digging tunnels, ect). Others live as house slaves, and live their day to day lives serving rich families. The worst, are those judged to have potent ether running through their veins. These unfortunate souls are then taken from the ghettos and from then on live only to have their ether siphoned from them for use by the military and church. They live in cages like animals, their humanity stripped from them because all they are is oil to the Varyan people, and exist in a state of perpetual weakness-- as having ether harvested from your blood brings one to a state of near death, and medical attention is immediately required else one falls into a coma they won't wake from. As for how they're harvested, I'm not really sure! I was thinking some kind of horrible needle-like device is used and then it sucks the ether out into vials? I don't know, any ideas? [@deathbringer]Goddamn! I knew you wouldn't disappoint! What an awesome character! I think it all fits, though there are only a few minuscule things I'd like you to change. I thought it'd be interesting if all Lanostrans eyes were bright green, like... pines reflecting off ice? Sort of. I made Lady Lanostre's power a bright emerald color in the bit about the Black Glacier, so maybe this could be the color of the eyes of her people. If you'd rather her eyes be blue, then that's cool. I love, love, love the idea about a secret Lanostran sect aiming to bring her back to power. I had an idea of doing something like that, so it's cool that you got in front of me on this. One thing though, it's been twenty years since Lanostre surrendered to Varya, so I'm not sure if the bit about "they are at a similar crossroads to the Lady's own quandary over 200 years ago" to be reflective of this, but yeah, it's only been 20 years since the Lanostran War. The last thing is just a suggestion. I added the bit about the demons and how Lanostrans fight them as a kind of sport, so maybe youy can include a bit about how this affected Astraia as a child. Was she successful in hunting a demon? Does she have the title of "R'heon" and a cool tattoo? Let me know! [@OppositionJ]I forgot to mention this, but feel free to come up with any ideas about demons and how they function/what they look like/ect. I was thinking there were different "orders" of demons, and maybe your character can start off as having captured one of the weaker varieties, but please, go ahead and get creative with this!