[center][h1]Malevolence From Beyond[/h1] [b]An eldritch horror magical girl roleplay[/b] [img]https://i.imgur.com/yhMLe33.png[/img] [/center] The world is far greater than we know. Even as far as humanity has come, there are things beyond understanding, and threats that the police cannot handle. And you just learned a lot about that the hard way. A powerful ritual has gone out of control, and through some quirk of fate, you've survived an ordeal meant for another and bonded with an eldritch symbiont from another dimension. Like it or not, you're now part of the occult side of the world, and are on the front line of a secret war. And so, the curtain rises... [hr] [center][h2]The Setting[/h2][/center] The setting for this roleplay is Kojiki Arcology. The time is 2085. Your home combines architecture and ecology into a single three-dimensional urban structure. The arcology is more sprawling than most, covering several green spaces and temples. Residences, parks, schools, and workplaces are all designed to be close together, and aside from emergency vehicles, few vehicles are permitted aside from bicycles. Most people get around using public transportation monorails, or by walking. Much of the city's architecture seems to take cues from art deco, and overall there is an odd mixture of the old 1920s style and the ultra-modern holographic displays and so-on. Wireless communication access is near-ubiquitous, and everyone has their ultramodern smartphone handy. Like all arcologies, Kojiki is built with security in mind. Scanners and checkpoints at every entrance scan for contraband and undesirables, including inhuman or monstrous infiltrators. Contraband still manages to sneak in and there is a black market for everything from weapons to magic tomes, if one knows where to look. [hider=Current Technology] About fifty years ago, the Ashcroft Foundation shocked the world by going public with the following: magic was real. And they had used it to develop new technology capable of generating steady, clean energy. This Dimensional Engine soon propelled mankind forward by leaps and bounds. Finally, we had the revolution in energy futurists had anticipated would come with the atomic age. Soon after the development of the D-engine, antigravity systems were also developed, and humanity has leveraged them both to usher in a new age of exploration. Powered armor and even larger humanoid mecha have been developed for both peaceful purposes like construction and for war. Additional advances in fields such as cybernetics, nanotechnology, and biological engineering have led to revolutions in medicine and everyday life. One can generate just about anything with a nanofactory...provided one has access to it. Medical cybernetics exist, although far more common are replacement tissues created using a person's own cells and then attached with the help of nanomedicine or beneficial sorcery. [/hider] [hider=The Eldritch Society] Founded by renegades among the Children of Chaos who stole the [i]Ta'ge fragments[/i], The Eldritch Society is a loose society of sorcerers, psychics, and others who know of the hidden truths of the world and act to protect it and humanity from these darker influences. The society has developed the Rite of Sacred Union from information contained within the [i]fragments[/i], a ritual similar to the Rite of Transfiguration that does not force one to lose their mortality. Instead, it calls out into the universe, to bring a mortal and a "higher being" together in symbiosis. However, participants in the rite would be "judged worthy". Tagers, as they have come to be called, are mortals who have undergone the Rite of Sacred Union and survived. They are monsters with the hearts of men, and are the Eldritch Society's greatest warriors. [/hider] [hider=The Chrysalis Corporation and Children of Chaos] The Chrysalis Corporation is one of the world's most influential and largest megacorporations, often chief competitor to the Ashcroft Foundation itself. It is also rotten from the inside. Decades ago, Chrysalis rediscovered the Rite of Transfiguration, a powerful ritual that transforms a human into...something else. This attracted the attention of the god Nyarlatheotep, and it gathered its mortal cult, the Children of Chaos, and silently took over. Most Chrysalis employees are completely unaware of the cult's existence, or any other darker influences, although eventually cult initiation and promotion are one and the same. [/hider] [hider=Dhoanoids] A mortal undergoing the Rite of Transfiguration is changed into a form "more suiting to his masters." He becomes a shapeshifting monstrosity known as a Dhoanoid. Although they walk around like men, their true form lurks just under the surface. Utterly inhuman in body and soul, a dhoanoid is easily discovered by genetic scans or mystical means. [/hider] [hider=The Black Lodge] The Black Lodge is a cabal of sorcerers founded in America that has since spread tendrils of influence across the world. All members of the Lodge are dedicated to the practice of sorcery unrestricted by moral or legal boundaries. Many of its members are powerful maestros of evil enchantment, who have traded away their humanity for even greater heights of power. [/hider] [hr] [center][h2]Player Characters[/h2][/center] You will be playing one of a small group of girls aged 10-16 who are suddenly swept into a secret war between powerful forces. Each of them has encountered an alien lifeform from another dimension, summoned as part of an interrupted ritual, and has managed to survive the experience, overmastering it or making a pact with it to become something more than human. Each character is a tager, and has been granted incredible abilities. Your character can manifest their "divine" powers in an instant, transforming into an armored battle form or even a subtler hybrid form. This allows them to blend into society and operate discreetly until they need to face danger. Shortly after you all become tagers, you are approached by someone claiming to be a member of the "eldritch society," that they can explain what has happened to you, and they need your help. Your characters all attend the same school, although they do not need to be in the same grade or class. The details of their home life are also entirely up to you. If you would like to work with other players to have a common background, you are more than welcome to. [center][h3]Tager common abilities[/h3][/center] Tagers can shift instantly between their human and alien forms, and no physical objects or restraints can stop the transformation. The symbiont simply destroys anything in the way. At least your clothing is instead stored in another dimension, instead of being shredded every time. All tagers enjoy enhanced physical attributes compared to a normal human. Speed, strength, agility, perception, and even mental fortitude are affected. While tagers enjoy a small boost in their unshifted human form, they gain far greater boons when in heir shifted, alien form. The extent to which a tager's attributes are boosted does vary by individual type. Due to your mystical connection to your symbiont, it influences you in subtle ways. Some of its own personality traits, so to speak, might begin to bleed into your own. When you are in a stressful or dangerous situation, your symbiont may try to manifest itself partially or fully, whether you want it to or not. [center][b]Abilities by form[/b][/center] [hider=Human form] In mortal human form, [list] [*]Minor enhancement to strength, agility, and so-on. [*]Regenerate from injury at a slow but steady rate, recovering in only hours or days from most wounds. Any injuries suffered in your mortal form heal at this rate, even if you later change forms. [*]Detect Dhoanoids and other nonhuman beings. This takes about a minute of observation. While dhoanoids are recognizable as such, anything else will simply be registered as something "Other." [*]Communicate telepathically with tagers (shifted or not) within 100m. Sense other tagers within 10m. [/list] [/hider] [hider=Shifted Form] In their clearly alien battle form, all tagers have the following abilities. [list] [*]Full enhancement to strength, speed, agility, etc. [*]Ability to leap great distances with little effort. [*]Stick to and crawl on walls and other sheer surfaces. [*]Life support: your mortal form is mystically protected and you can survive in space or the deep oceans. [*]Armored and more resistant to injuries. [*]Regenerate rapidly from injury. You cannot shift back until any injuries suffered while in your alien form are healed. [*]Every tager has a variety of weapons and other supernatural abilities, although the specifics differ between symbionts. [*]Limit Weapon: A unique and powerful attack that you can use once a day, often to devastating effect. [*]Communicate telepathically with other tagers within 2 km. Automatically sense other tagers within 100m. [/list] [/hider] [hider=Hybrid Form] Tagers can also manifest only part of their symbiont. Although this takes an act of will under most circumstances, your symbiont does appreciate the value of discretion. When active, a tager's still appears mostly human, although their eyes take on a clearly inhuman appearance, such as becoming pitch black, blood red, or segmented like an insect's. You gain access to one of your natural weapons or supernatural abilities, can leap great distances, and can cling to walls like in your shifted form. [/hider] [hr] [center][h3]Character Sheet[/h3][/center] Feel free to pretty up or embellish the sheet below as you see fit. Add extra sections, use code to make it look nice. Whatever floats your boat. [hider=Character Sheet] [b]Name:[/b] Your character's name [b]Age:[/b] Your character's age. Optionally, also include their grade/year in school. [b]Appearance[/b] Your character's appearance. Images are fine, and while artwork, particularly anime-styled is recommended, I will not require it either. Please also provide a good paragraph description of your character's appearance, should you feel the need to elaborate with additional details not present in the image. [b]History:[/b] At least a paragraph about who your character is. Where are they from? What's their family life like? What events have shaped who they are today? [b]Personality:[/b] A very brief sketch about how your character tends to act or see the world. Also consider how their ta'ge symbiont's influence has or will change their mentality over time. [b]Ta'ge Symbiont[/b] [b]Appearance:[/b] The shifted appearance you take on when you fully manifest your symbiont. While humanoid, one is still clearly alien, monstrous, and likely to frighten anyone who saw them. Think the Guyver, or other biological or living armors or just plain old cool looking monsters, really. Images are encouraged, just as before. [b]Natural weapons:[/b] The natural weapons available to you. Be they claws, blades, a powerful bite, tentacles, or even more unusual or mystical ranged attacks. [b]Limit Weapon:[/b] Your signature special move. Make it nice and flashy. Examples would include the Guyver's mega-smashers or similar anime wave-motion guns, an ability to create several illusory copies of oneself, an unstoppable armored charge, the ability to teleport around an area and make multiple attacks from many angles or against several enemies, and so-on. [b]Other supernatural Abilities:[/b] Other supernatural abilities you possess, if any. Some examples could include flight with or without wings, the ability to turn invisible, a sort of displacement effect to appear slightly next to where one actually is, or the ability to phase through solid matter. [b]Personality traits:[/b] The personality traits your symbiont tends to bleed into your own. [b]Hybrid Form:[/b] When you partially manifest your symbiont, what weapon or ability do you gain? What obvious change happens to your eyes? [/hider] [hr] [hider=Expectations] I expect decent writing. As long as there’s a solid attempt at correct spelling and English grammar, I’m happy. Lord knows I make mistakes myself, anyway. I expect reasonable posting times. At least once a week should be sufficient. If you have things happening in your life, I know that can happen. Please let us know if you can, and about when you’ll be back, if you know. I will be doing my best to move the story along regularly, and will not necessarily wait on everyone to post if enough has happened in the current scene. This RP will contain violence, death, foul language, and possibly graphic descriptions of gore and grievous bodily harm. It might also contain alcohol and drug use and even mentions of sex, although I hope that last one is unlikely. [/hider] [hider=Influences] The Cthulhu Mythos Deus Machina Demonbane The Cthulhutech RPG - It’s based on an old campaign in this system, and a lot of the names, and everything about tagers is taken right from there. Bioboosted Armor Guyver - Ctech’s already ripping this off to an obvious degree, it’d be wrong not to list it here. [/hider] [url=https://discord.gg/3rA5TV2]A discord server for the RP[/url]