[center][b]Innocence Lost: An RP of Child Soldiers and Science Fantasy[/b]

[img]https://i.imgur.com/m1olNR6.jpg?1[/img]
[url=https://discord.gg/Tf5FKXJ][b]Official Discord Server[/b][/url][/center]

[b]I. Intro[/b]

[hider=Intro]We were just children, albeit ones of exceptional mind and body. Then the Ascendancy of Man took us from our families, our friends, and our homes; they said we were needed to fight the 'Alien Menace' that was threatening our civilization. In the name of 'survival', they [i]changed[/i] us, pumping our bodies full of impossible substances that defied the laws of reality. It was a miracle we all lived to see the horrors of war, they said, but was it really?

After being altered and trained, we were thrown into the meatgrinder that the war against the other species of the sector had become. With new powers given to us by the impossible compounds that were flowing through our veins, our battalions slew huge numbers of the enemy. But it wasn't enough; in the Battle of Proxima, the Ascendancy's fleets and armies finally fell to a sustained assault by the Aliens, and we, the supernatural child soldiers that had wreaked such havoc against the foe, were captured and taken to a prison camp in one of the enemy's holdings.

Despair overtook us as we awaited our fate. What abuse was coming? How will we be treated by those whom we had slaughtered in droves? But when our enemies, the Aliens known as the Rau've, showed pity on us instead, we wept in joy. They saw that we were just kids, and gave us mercy.

We were offered new homes, new families among the Aliens, and most of us accepted. But [i]I[/i] didn't, same for a handful of others. I thanked our former captors - former, for the war had ended with a peace treaty - but I told them that I and the others with me wanted revenge on the regime that had betrayed us, used us, and were crueler than the enemy they fought. They sighed, and gave us coordinates to the Galactic Bazaar, a space station where jobs and ships can be found to start our revenge; they wouldn't help us directly.

And so we, with magic, combat skills, and what few peaceful talents we remembered before we were 'drafted' by the Ascendancy of Man, we went to the space station where almost anything can be bought and sold. But one must be warned; the Ascendancy of Man was also there, and will not tolerate their former tools turning against their 'masters'.

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I fought in the Ascendancy's Fleet. I believed in their propagandistic drivel. I did work dirty and clean for them, and what did I get? Thrown away without pay, without a pension, just tossed out like last day's trash. And to add insult to injury, they blamed [i]us[/i] for their own butts getting kicked on Proxima, said that us frontier-worlds didn't fight hard enough and so they got defeated. Well, I've had enough of them stomping on the little guy, so I joined the dime-a-dozen rebels - I mean, Moonstrike! 

My name is Natasha Zhang, and I lead a crew of humans, aliens, and even a robot or two in missions of piracy and smuggling against the Ascendancy. Moonstrike is the rebel network we belong to, and they give us jobs to do to bring down those Ascendancy morons. And this latest mission is the sweetest yet - A bunch of renegade Ascendancy Supersoldiers is coming to the Galactic Bazaar to rendezvous with us!

Wait, what are these children doing walking about on the hangar bay? What, they have special powers normally seen only in those Crystal Aliens? Oh, no, those are the Supersoldiers Moonstrike One mentioned, aren't they?!

God Almighty, why am I stuck in a babysitting job?

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Basically, this is an RP set in a Science Fantasy world with both lasers and (limited to some people) Magic. You have two options of player character:

- Child soldiers that had been taken from their homes and used by the Ascendancy of Man in their war against Aliens, were spared by said Aliens when they lost, and are now looking for revenge against their former abusers. You also have Magic.

- Natasha Zhang's Crew, a motley crew of humans, aliens, and robots who fight as privateers for Moonstrike, a resistance group opposing the Ascendancy of Man. You don't have Magic (unless you have a crew member of the Kaisoken species) but have more skills, experience, and technology.[/hider]

[b]II. Alien Species[/b]

[hider=Alien Species]
[url=https://stellaris.paradoxwikis.com/images/6/6a/Plantoid_06.png][b]The Rau've[/b][/url] - The prime leaders of the Coalition against Humanity, the Rau've are a race of plant people who are able to nourish themselves through photosynthesis, enabling them to mostly sidestep the agricultural stage of development. Highly philosophical and compassionate, the Rau've can still be savage in war, as their organic warships and crystal-based energy cannons show. But they were deeply horrified at their enemy's use of children in battle, and were the prime advocates of letting the child soldiers go unpunished after the peace treaty was signed.

[b]The Kaisoken[/b]: A race of sentient crystal-like minerals bound by quantum pathways and transcendant intelligence. Floating gently, the Kaisoken communicate through impulses translated into audible speech, and are proficient in the control of magic, though they are limited in a straight fight. They were traditionallly enemies with the Rau've, who had used their nonsapient crystal 'cousins' in their tech, but allied with them against the Ascendancy of Man, who had used ground Kaisoken dust in the experiments that eventually led to their child soldier program. Because of this, they broke off relations with the Rau've after the war for letting the child soldiers get off 'freely'.

[b]The Gill[/b]: Combining reptilian and amphibian features, the Gill are evolved to live primarily in water, with long, slender limbs for powerful strikes ending in webbed hands. Hardy against poisons and extreme terrain, on account of the noxious swamps on their homeworld, they have moved to colonize other oceanic places, and are proficient skirmishers. Like Humans, they need Kaisoken dust infused into their bodies to use Magic.

[b]The Korta[/b]: Diminuitive beings resembling pachyderms, the Korta are highly intelligent and analytical, mostly serving as engineers and bureaucrats. Computer systems, locks, and riddles tend to fall quickly before them. They also need Kaisoken dust mixed into their bloodstream to use Magic.

[b]The Tayanen[/b]: Clusters of sentient amorphous material locked into massively armored shells, the Tayanen deliver heavy firepower with high resistance to shock, heat, or trauma, having little vulnerable area. Nevertheless, they are slow to react, though their decision making ability when in a group can be very fast. Cannot use Magic at all unless grafted with a willing Kaisoken 'host' through an unknown process.
[/hider]

[b]III. Magic System[/b]

[hider=Magic]There are six disciplines of Magic:

[b]High[/b] - There are many theories that try to explain High Magic. Some say that it is the power of The Divine, it is the power of positive emotions, channeled through the human soul. Nevertheless, High Magic is the power of controlling Magical Energy itself, allowing for the ability to see all Magic, to draw available magical energy from the sky and earth, create constructs of condensed Mana, create and fuel magitech and enchanted items, ward people and places from magic, and finally, the ability to create bolts of silver-white light that cause damage that cannot be healed by magic to Mages and Magical creatures... But [i]not[/i] ordinary targets, whose burns can be healed as normal.

Note: High Magic has been nerfed; the last sentence has been edited so that only other Mages and Magical Creatures, as well as magitech, receive damage that cannot be healed by Magic.

[b]World[/b] - World Magic is control over the physical elements of the world. You want to create Fire? World Magic. You want to alter Gravity to make yourself float? World Magic. You want to use lightning to electrocute a person? World Magic. Basically, if it has nothing to do with changing one thing to another, or controlling something that isn't wholly of this earth? World Magic is your key. Basically, Bending from Avatar: The Last Airbender, but without healing or spiritual arts and with control over gravity.

[b]Change[/b] - This is the magic that deals with changing one thing to another. This magic can knit wounds and reverse aging, cause trees to grow fists and turn vines into whips. This magic can change one substance to another, turning lead into gold, earth into acid, and fire into water. What it cannot do, however, is affect stuff protected by High magic, or mess with things that are already dead. That belongs to another school, the magic of the Underworld.

[b]Underworld[/b] - Death is all around us, and the old laws against disturbing the ghosts who chose not to pass on are gone, cast into the wind. Nevertheless, the souls of the departed have to be treated with respect...but it is not the same for their bodies. Underworld Magic is the magic of Necromancy; it is the magic you wield when you want to raise an army of the dead, to control the shadows of the world, to speak with ghosts, and to strike people dead with one blow (this is a high-level spell). You can even use this to transcend death, allowing you continued existence in this world without need for food, drink, and sleep...

[b]Timespace[/b] - The magic of traveling vast distances in a single bound, of teleportation, portals, and scrying. The strongest Magi can even control probability, making a person luckier or unluckier, sometimes to absurd levels. But what it [b][i]can not[/i][/b] do is reverse the past; basically, no time travel. Bullet Time and Time Stop are also possibilities for incredibly strong practitioners but have certain requirements that limit their effectiveness in combat.

[i]Bullet Time and Time Stop Nerfs:[/i] Bullet Time can only be activated defensively when confronted by attacks too fast for the mundane body to dodge normally. And by that, it only works when people are shooting bullets at the guy and it can only be used to dodge bullets and other attacks - it cannot be used to attack in turn. This keeps what I want - PCs being able to dodge bullets - without making them overpowered in offense, as well as giving PCs the choice [i]not to shoot bullets[/i] in the first place.

As for Time Stop, not only can the 'time bubble' be cut apart by Ex. Swordsmanship, but it doesn't work on sapient beings; it can still be used to stop bullets, explosions, crashing trains, rampaging animals, and lightning strikes, but not melee strikes from sapient beings - neither the user or his opponents can use ranged attacks in a Time Stop. The in-universe reason for this is that having a Soul protects you from unauthorized changes to the timeline, and yes, AI have souls here as well.

[b]Mind Magic[/b] - This magic deals with controlling minds and altering emotions of both humans and animals, as well as creating illusions, mental compulsions, and even erasing or editing memories. A very powerful magical discipline, but a strong willpower can break its effects...

Basically, each PC is supposed to mix and match effects from multiple sources of magic, although specialization is a thing.[/hider]

[hider=Counterspell/Dispel Magic rules.]
[b]Countering and Dispelling Magic[/b]

Making Anti-Magic spells is a bit complicated, but basically, you first need [i]three[/i] High Magic spells, including the Anti-Magic rote, and [i]one[/i] spell of the School you want to dispel. For example, if you want to dispel Underworld Magic, you need three High Magic spells and one Underworld Magic spell. As you have six [i]starting[/i] spells available, you can theoretically be able to counter or Dispel three schools maximum. You can only counter or dispel High Magic if all six of your starting spells are of that school.[/hider]

[hider=Enchantment Rules]
[b]Enchantment Rules[/b]

Enchantment requires High Magic and a spell that you or another party member knows, along with an item to be enhcanted. Note however that the weaker and less durable the material is, the magic you can put into it is more limited; for example, oak can be enchanted to emit laser beams, birch cannot. This is the same for metals, and the strongest of spells can only be enchanted into 'Perfected Electrum (more below)'.[/hider]

[hider=Perfected Electrum]
[b]Perfected Electrum[/b]

Electrum is a mix of Gold and Silver that occurs naturally but can be made by artificial means. This material, if treated by High and Change Magic by four different Magi (see 'Group Spells' below) can be 'perfected', aka transformed into metal as hard as a diamond yet not as brittle, and whose lightness is that of cloth. But the most valuable property of Perfected Electrum is that it can contain very, very strong spells, except for Resurrection (see below under 'Group Spells'). The Ascendancy of Man has a monopoly of Perfected Electrum; not that it helped them win the war.
[/hider]

[hider=Group Spells]
[b]Group Spells[/b]

Basically, multiple spell-casters with different Schools can do things that would strain a single Mage. This also helps in compensating for single Magi's weaknesses in specialization.

Example Spell:

Resurrection (High, Change, Underworld + materials for a new body) - Three Magi, or alternatively, a single Magi who has six High, Change, and Underworld spells each, can bring back a dead person. High Magic is used to supply magical energy for the permanent return of the Soul (said soul must always be willing), Change is used to turn inorganic material into organic matter, and Underworld is used to tug back the Soul from wherever it's been. Resurrection cannot be Enchanted into Items.
[/hider]

[b]Note:[/b] Other ways of tapping into one's Magic besides the above Magic System are possible, but the Child Soldiers would use said system at first before developing in other directions.

[B]IV. Non-Magical Options[/b]

[hider=Exceptional Skills]
All PCs have access to 'Exceptional Skills', which are basically a mundane talent that can be boosted to extraordinary and unnatural levels. All Exceptional Skills can resist the magical equivalent, or even counter them; for example, Exceptional Swordsmanship allows you to cut through magical barriers or attacks, while Exceptional Medicine can cure wounds caused by High Magic and normally unhealable by any spell, provided one has the right materials. 

Exceptional Skills can be anything you want, as long as 1.) it does not have an obviously magical effect, 2.) It is an enhanced version of something a normal being can already do, just boosted to implausible levels, and 3.) You can justify it with cybernetics, biotech, or even drugs. Stuff like Power Armor also works as long as it's treated as an essential possession of the character. Same for Alien/Robot biological traits.

This is an incomplete list of examples:

- Exceptional Swordsmanship
- Exceptional Archery
- Exceptional Unarmed
- Exceptional Endurance (can resist even magic)
- Exceptional Bureaucracy
- Exceptional Trading
- Exceptional Diplomacy (stuff done with this can resist the effects of Mind magic, even if the target is weak-willed)
- Exceptional Medicine

Exceptional Skills can also be [i]stacked[/i], aka doubled, or even tripled in power. For example, you can use up three spell slots to gain Exceptional Swordsmanship x3, which allows you to cut through a two-story building made up of granite, and tear apart a Time Stop with a slash. More on stacking in the Rules section.

Note that Exceptional Skills are intended to be specialized, but at the same time, lack the versatility of Magic. And yes, Child Soldiers can start with both Exceptional Skills and Magic, but they have to replace one Spell from their spell list with one level of Exceptional Skill.

Natasha Zhang's crew automatically has 8 Exceptional Skills, except for a Kaisoken member if there is one.[/hider]

[hider=Technology]
Tech Level is...variable, thanks to the effects of widespread upheaval. Automation is common in the more civilized portions of the Sector, as well as lasers, railguns, EMP emitters, and plasma throwers. The main method of FTL is the use of a 'wormhole system' that links most planets, but Kaisoken, Rau've, and Ascendancy of Man use Spacewarpers, spaceships that either uses Magic (Kaisoken and Rau've) or Super-tech (Ascendancy) that can turn a hundred light-years' worth of distance to one day's trip.

Cybernetics exist, but are taboo in the inner levels of the Ascendancy of Man, where biotechnology is preferred as 'it does not mar the pure human form'. Cybernetics can be used to justify possession of an Exceptional Skill, the same for Drugs, Powered Armor, and other pieces of technology.
[/hider]

[b]V. Rules[/b]

[hider=Rules]
1.) No Godmoding or Powergaming, aka no controlling other players' actions, no defeating your enemy in one shot, and no shrugging of all hits without a magical shield.
2.) Any consenting relationship between people of the same age group is allowed, whether it's Homosexual or Heterosexual. If you cannot stand such things, don't post here in the first place.
3.) Be polite to others.
4.) Please notify me if you will be gone for more than a week, I myself will let you guys know if I will be gone for that same amount of time.
5.) It's a fantasy world; you can learn Magic - two new spells of any School per Story Arc, more if you find a willing mentor (another PC, another Magic-user, a Kaisoken who doesn't hate your guts) and time. New Exceptional Skills, on the other hand, are easier to stack, harder to learn - You can double the power of two Exceptional Skills every first arc, and select a new exceptional skill every second arc. The story for this RP will have six Arcs, so you get to stack two skills on the first, add one skill on the second, stack again on the third, and so on.
6.) Clarification on #5, every level up, Child Soldiers have to choose between Spells and new/stacked Ex. Skills.
7.) GM Updates are weekly - if you don't respond to two updates in a row, and you don't give a good reason, you are regarded as dropped.
8.) The GM reserves the right to control inactive PCs as NPCs in order to keep the plot moving.
[/hider]

[b]VI. Miscellaneous Lore and Worldbuilding[/b]

[hider=The Battle of Proxima (Also in the Char Section]
[b]The Battle of Proxima Centauri[/b]

The Rau've/Kaisoken Alliance were lured to the Proxima System, only 4 light-years from Earth itself, and the Ascendancy immediately redeployed much of its remaining forces to crush the Nonhuman coalition once and for all. Their plan was to use the smaller ships of the Ascendancy (Cruisers and Frigates) to lure the Alliance as close to Proxima's Sun as possible. The Sun would then cut off the Alliance line of retreat as the Dreadnoughts hammer them with walls of fire; the Carriers would remain in reserve. 

It was a flawed strategy, as the Kaisoken contingents of the combined fleet caught on to it and sent their ships to envelop the Ascendancy's flotilla from above and below, snapping like a ferocious raptor's jaws. The Carriers under Grand Admiral Alexander Kherol were unable to do anything (or unwilling, as Kherol saw the strategy as stupid and wanted to save as much of the Ascendancy Fleet as he could from said stupidity) as the Dreadnought Fleet of the Ascendancy was well-nigh destroyed.

Nevertheless, although Kherol's non-interference was controversial, none can dispute that it was the survival of the Ascendancy's Carriers that prevented the Rau've and Kaisoken from vassalizing or annexing the Ascendancy outright, and even allowed the Humans to retain most of their territory, albeit under heavy requirements for war reparations. And it was after the Ascendancy's defeat that Emmanuel Thoreau began to build and focus more on Carriers and Carrier-based space doctrine; the days of the Dreadnought were over.
[/hider]

[hider=The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet]
The first two centuries of the Ascendancy of Man were of construction, colonization, and exploration, as the 'Spacewarpers' of the Human Fleet opened up new horizons. Over time, autonomous trading companies grew in the fringes of Human Space, pushing the frontiers of expansion. But when the Rau've and Kaisoken were finally discovered, along with their equivalent or greater power to the Ascendancy, the first President-for-Life, Corrin Herbert, began to move towards centralization, nationalizing several trading companies and forcing those left to consolidate underneath Henry Windsor, one of the leading explorers and merchants of the fringe worlds.

Together, these trading companies formed a formidable fleet, well-armed against Space Pirates (mostly Aliens and renegade Humans) and enough to endanger the Ascendancy itself if it came to war. And so Corrin Herbert was forced to make concessions: The Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet will be allowed to continue its operations, provided that it provide a large payment to the Ascendancy of Man and logistical support to its future wars. This was resented by Corrin's two successors, Elijah and Emmanuel Thoreau, but neither of them made any move to withdraw said concessions, being enmeshed with their own plans.

Even the coming of the Rau've/Kaisoken War did not endanger the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet, as the latter paid a large payment to the Ascendancy in order to avoid giving logistical support. This was a good thing, as the Windsors had already decided that the future lay in economic cooperation with Aliens (albeit with Humans on top) instead of making war with them. So they stood by, consolidating their power on the Southern Fringe of Human Space, well away from the Kaisoken and Rau've territory. And the war ended with the Windsor Autonomous Trading Fleet more powerful than ever, with only the Ascendancy's Carrier Fleet able to contest them.

Now, the Windsors cannot avoid a collision with the upper levels of the Ascendancy; money can no longer overcome the fear that the Trading Fleet, made up of Xenophiles and immensely rich and powerful, would conduct a coup. And the Windsors knew it, so they decided to conduct a coup for real, contacting disaffected elements among the fringe worlds and other dissidents only to find they had [i]already[/i] been contacted by a new organization, [i]Moonstrike[/i], an organization that seemed to have access to Ascendancy tech and military hardware. And so all activity from them stopped. Was it jealousy, or were they biding their time for something else?[/hider]

[b]VII. Character Sheet Skeleton[/b]

[hider=Character Sheet Skeleton, Child Soldier]
[code]
[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character?
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[b]Spell List:[/b] 6 Spells overall.
[B]Exceptional Skill List:[/b] Replace any number of your 6 Spells with an Exceptional Skill
[/code]
[/hider]

[hider=Character Sheet Skeleton, Natasha's Crew]
[code]
[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character? Possessions can also be used to justify Exceptional Skills.
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[B]Exceptional Skill List:[/b] 8 Skills.
[/code]
[/hider]

[hider=Character Sheet Skeleton, Kaisoken Member of Natasha's Crew]
[code]
[b]Name:[/b] What’s your character's name?
[b]Age:[/b] How old is your character?
[b]Physical Description:[/b] What does your character look like?
Place any photo’s here.
[b]Important items:[/b] What possessions are important to your character? Possessions can also be used to justify Exceptional Skills.
[b]Short Bio:[/b] Tell us your character's story up to this point.
[B]Special Spell/Ex. Skill List:[/b] Unique Rules are that you get 8 Spells which can be exchanged for [i]some[/i] Ex. Skills, but you are locked out of anything that requires arms and legs, such as Exceptional Swordsmanship or Exceptional Running. You also can't use guns unless you move them with telekinesis. 

Exceptional Endurance (Is free at Character Creation)
[/code]
[/hider]