[b][i]The player characters[/i][/b]

[@JavaJunkiexo]: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/186648-persona-antumbra-joker-pandemonium/char#post-5299868]Bianca Momosuke (I - Magician; Shiva)[/url]

[@PrideOfLaplace]: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/186648-persona-antumbra-joker-pandemonium/char#post-5300237]Daniela Dossantos (XIII - Death; Hiruko)[/url]

[@Eldritch Puppy]: [url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/186648-persona-antumbra-joker-pandemonium/char#post-5300259]Daniel Astier (XV - Devil; Mordred)[/url]

[hr]
[b][i]The Velvet Room, allies of the player characters[/i][/b]

[hider=Utasaki Aria (XI - Strength; Euterpe), VTuber and the team navigator]
[b]Name[/b]: Utasaki Aria (唄咲 アリア), the Azure Muse.

[b]Age[/b]: Unknown; physically appears 18.

[b]Gender[/b]: Female.

[b]Appearance[/b]:

As typical for virtual YouTubers that do not have to contend with pesky human flaws, Aria's apparent physique is one of pure artificial perfection. Her angelic doll-like face contains a mixture of European and eastern Asian features, with fair skin, bright azure eyes with faintly glowing circuit-like patterns in them, and long straight hair that flows down to her mid-back, a silvery white color interspersed with sparse strands of blue and violet. A short ahoge sticks out of the top of her head. At 165 cm in height, she of course has a flawless hourglass figure, with breasts that can be called medium-sized only by anime standards; she publicly revealed her bust, waist, and hip measurements as 84 cm, 58 cm, and 84 cm respectively.

Being the fashionista she is, Aria has a wide variety of outfits, all of which are sleek, feminine, and at least a little sexy; she also sometimes experiments with different hairstyles, hair colors, eye colors, and even skin colors. In her most iconic costume, the hair at her temples is pulled into a half-up short ponytail, held together by a large glowing futuristic blue butterfly hairpin that flickers with ethereal sapphire flames; there is also a small silver bell tied to the left side of her hair by red ribbons. Her lipstick and nail polish are both bright red and faintly glittery. She wears a tight-fitting shoulderless top that shows a mild amount of cleavage, detached sleeves that flare out around her lower arms, a pleated miniskirt, and thigh-high boots with three-inch stiletto heels. The outfit is made of a futuristic latex-like material, in shades of white, cyan, blue, and violet, with sparse highlights of bright red, covered in faintly glowing circuit patterns. The center of her chest is adorned with a red butterfly-shaped bow, and above her breasts on her bare skin is a simple red tattoo of [url=https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/393482015464488971/757015466500685884/cnCoComkX1ZkrsuJoG6c6ob30M0n2BlGtNwasZc2B6cdnGRFH1MnJrbTCbTLFjF8D0txz2B1ZH4ZkDHp4TLdeikwnvxyIQJ22lJY.png]nested heart shapes[/url]. On her back is a pair of large futuristic butterfly wings, blue with purple hues, though she often keeps the wings hidden due to their size. Below the wings are a pair of strips that resemble the "tails" of swallowtail butterflies.

[Aria's outfit is heavily inspired by a combination of outfits of two pre-existing fictional characters, and I would be a little impressed if anyone knows both. No, it's not anyone from Vocaloid or Hyperdimension Neptunia; that would be too easy.]

[b]Personality[/b]:

The usual persona Aria displays is bubbly and cheerful, radiating optimism and warmth with every word and movement, motivated by the desire to bring hope and joy to her audience. She is also vain and utterly shameless, showing off her beauty at every available opportunity and basking in the adoration she receives, proudly stating that her body is her canvas for artistic self-expression. She exudes an air of flawless, impenetrable confidence, effortlessly maintaining her composure against the most vicious of insults and never displaying a hint of competitiveness, envy, or self-doubt. Yet when discussing serious topics, she becomes mature and level-headed, always looking at a problem from multiple perspectives with a gentle, empathic, open-minded attitude. She isn't a self-sacrificial saint, and can have a mischievous streak when dealing with people she doesn't like, but she never displays any genuine malice. Even when faced with people who repeatedly attempt cyber-attacks against her for petty reasons, or people who have committed horrific crimes, the worst she shows is sadness and pity toward these people and the circumstances that made them do what they did. Some people make the accusation that this is all an act, but if so then it's an exceptionally solid and durable one, without any lapse or crack as far as anyone has seen.

Aria has a wide range of interests that she has shared with the public. Aside from the obvious music and idol culture, she loves anime, manga, and video games, happily proclaiming herself an otaku. She's obviously bisexual and rather perverted, thinking of herself as a connoisseur of female beauty, both her own and others'. Her other areas of interest include technology, science, math, philosophy, and creative writing, sometimes delving into surprisingly deep discussions with her viewers.

[b]Backstory[/b]:

Aria is an independent virtual YouTuber and idol who made her debut roughly a year ago, which went viral and exploded in popularity due to her magnetic personality, skilled performance, and incredibly high production values. Several media giants had tried to acquire her brand, but she always declined no matter how much money was offered to her, yet seemed to always have enough funding to consistently maintain her top-tier production values; to this day she remains one of the most well-known in the VTuber scene despite having no direct affiliation with any major corporation. This has led to some rumors regarding her true identity and the source of her funding, to which she responds with only amused giggles.

Shortly after the game begins, player characters who have heard of her before will be shocked when she somehow appears in the flesh before those who have awakened their Personas. She claims that it was her who gifted the Arcana to the player characters, then gives them a brief explanation of Shadows and Personas, before dropping a bombshell involving OmniLink and the Saklas Syndrome in a vast global conspiracy. Finally, she invites the Persona users to her secret hideout, a pocket dimension called the "Velvet Room", and asks the player characters to help her investigate the Saklas Syndrome in exchange for helping them master their powers. When asked about her true identity and the origin of all this supernatural knowledge, she states that it is something she can only reveal once the player characters have actualized their true selves, and implores them to simply trust her in the meantime.

[b]Skills[/b]:

[i]Bilingual[/i]: Aria is fluent in both English and Japanese.

[i]Singing[/i]: Aria could not have attained the popularity she had without being an incredibly talented singer. Her voice is cute and high-pitched without sounding childish or squeaky, while also soft and crystal-clear, smooth as velvet and gentle like a spring breeze, yet powerful and resonant when needed. She is highly versatile, capable of singing a variety of genres, including J-pop, rock, metal, techno, power ballads, jazz, classical, and even traditional Japanese enka. Her only major weakness is that she cannot do a deep, mature voice; even her death metal growls sound cute.

[i]Dancing[/i]: The other half of her performance. Her agility and beauty, combined with shameless vanity and confidence, lets her effortlessly pull off dance routines that quickly capture the heart of many an otaku while singing live. She projects the moe aesthetic incredibly well, be it bright and happy, gentle and sweet, cool and elegant, or playful and seductive.

[i]Songwriting[/i]: Aria has covered many songs by other artists, but she has quite a few original songs as well. Their tones vary from bittersweet to upbeat, but all ultimately convey optimistic messages, conveying her desire to bring hope and joy to the world.

[i]Gaming[/i]: Aria often streams gaming in her VTuber career. She seems unreasonably good at just about every skill-based game she plays, leading to accusations of cheating and bot abuse, though she never plays competitive games so it never led to any major problems. Most viewers are content with just watching her having a good time.

[i]Memory[/i]: Aria seems to have a nigh-photographic memory for the names of her viewers and the comments they made.

[i]Knowledge[/i]: Aria seems highly knowledgeable in science, technology, and various bits of trivia, occasionally holding in-depth discussions with viewers who are doctoral students or researchers, though she never divulges where she learned all of this.

[i]Unflappable[/i]: None of her viewers have seen Aria getting anywhere close to losing her composure. She laughs and cries like a normal person, and the emotions seem genuine, yet even when attacked during a moment of apparent vulnerability her responses are quick and efficient as usual. It's subtle, but there's something almost inhuman about how her decision-making capability is not negatively impacted by emotions.

[b]Abilities[/b]:

[i]Remote Persona Projection[/i]: Aria's body that the player characters interact with is actually her Persona that she remotely controls from a secret location, or so she claims. It is a very long-distance connection using incredibly complex micro-portal magic, making it almost impossible to trace in normal circumstances, though it can be jammed or blocked. The avatar is entirely made of magic, but appears anatomically realistic to external inspection, and can even consume food and drink. But it bleeds bluish purple energy when damaged, and can freely shapeshift and regenerate even when seemingly vital organs are destroyed. Its true weak point is a nigh-immaterial core that is resilient against most attacks, but the avatar falls apart if the core is destroyed, and Aria would have to send a new core from her real location to get back to the party. The amount of power Aria can channel remotely through her Persona is limited, which relegates her to a defensive support role to the party. Her true powers are among the things she claims will be revealed to the player characters later.

[i]Movement[/i]: Aria is highly agile, and can levitate and fly at speeds comparable to cars. She can also dash in brief bursts of extreme speed, resembling short-ranged teleportation.

[i]Sixth Sense[/i]: Aria has a very powerful and accurate sixth sense, able to analyze information in a wide area around her, which allows her to act as the party navigator.

[i]Holography[/i]: Aria can conjure elaborate holograms around herself. They have no physical substance, but can make quite convincing sights and sounds. She uses this extensively to enhance her idol performances, and it can be used to distract enemies, though it may not hold up well against those with powerful sixth senses.

[i]Telepathy[/i]: By emitting psychic waves, Aria can telepathically communicate with designated individuals around herself, allowing her to share her sixth sense with them and help them see through her own illusions. The telepathic contact is not intrusive, and can be blocked out with willpower. The contents of her psychic waves are encrypted and difficult to spy on, until received by the intended recipient.

[i]Portals[/i]: Aria is able to create portals from the Velvet Room to a variety of places all over the world, allowing the player characters to go globe-hopping and investigate cases of the Saklas Syndrome. The limitations of this ability are unknown.

[i]Arcana Bestowal[/i]: Aria is supposedly able to grant Arcana to those compatible with them. Her own blue butterfly aesthetics, along with the fact that the Arcana initially took the form of a blue butterfly before transforming into a Tarot card, does lend some credence to this claim.

[b]Arcana[/b]: [i]XI - Strength[/i]. Like the gentle woman who effortlessly tames the lion, Aria's songs bring strength to her allies and calm aggressive Shadows.

[b]Shadow[/b]: Unknown.

[b]Persona[/b]: [i][url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euterpe]Euterpe[/url], the Muse of Song[/i]. As stated previously, her Persona acts as a remotely-controlled avatar for her that the player characters interact with. It has minor resistances to light, psychic, and electricity.

[i]Songs of the Muse[/i]: Several types of omnidirectional auras of nigh-invisible energy that emanate from her, passing through non-magical matter and seeping through the skin to take effect. The name is only thematic, and they do not depend on sound waves or the ability to hear. She has full control over which targets are affected. Their elements are a combination of light and psychic.
- Song of Life: Targets are healed. Missing flesh and bones can be restored, but Aria advises the party to not take chances with vital organs.
- Song of Purity: Negative external influences within the target are weakened or cleansed outright.
- Song of Fortitude: Targets gain increased physical toughness and magical resistance.
- Song of Tranquility: Friendly targets are soothed, reducing their pain and negative emotions. Hostile targets are pacified, weakening their aggressive instincts.

[i]Stunbolt[/i]: A bolt of psychic and electrical energy that delivers numbing paralysis, but minimal damage.
[/hider]
[hider=Fritz (? - ???; ???), lucid Shadow and the team doctor]
[b]Name[/b]: Fritz.

[b]Age[/b]: Unknown.

[b]Gender[/b]: Male.

[b]Appearance[/b]: As a Shadow, it's not surprising that Fritz looks barely human. He resembles a gaunt old man with leathery dark blue skin, sunken round black pits for eyes and tiny glowing yellow motes for irises, long pointed ears, thick flowing eyebrows, shoulder-length messy grayish white hair on the sides of his head while bald at the top, and an inhumanly long, pointed nose. The corners of his wide mouth are always turned downward in a dour, severe frowning expression. He's very tall and lanky, almost two meters, but this height is often not apparent due to his hunched posture. He's usually clad in a tattered white labcoat with nondescript clothes underneath.

[b]Personality[/b]: Cynical, moody, and recalcitrant, as if tired of everything, but otherwise completely lucid and sane. He does his job seriously without complaint, but refuses to open up to anyone or talk about himself.

[b]Backstory[/b]: As Utasaki Aria brings the Persona users to the Velvet Room, she introduces them to Fritz, the other resident of this place who will be acting as the team doctor. Supposedly he's one of those rare Shadows who manage to regain sanity, and Aria assures everyone that he's perfectly safe. His combat power is purportedly low, so he will not be participating in battles, instead taking care of the Persona users' injuries during downtime. It is unknown why he's working with Aria.

[b]Skills[/b]: Fritz possesses extensive knowledge of human physiology and how it interacts with magic, allowing him to treat nearly all ailments that the player characters may come across.

[b]Abilities[/b]: Using a combination of electricity and organic chemistry, Fritz can heal the most grievous of wounds, restoring missing limbs and vital organs. As long as the victim's soul is intact, he can bring someone back to life even if that person's body has died, though recovery and rehabilitation may take longer depending on the severity of the damage.

[b]Arcana[/b]: Unknown.

[b]Shadow[/b]: Unknown.

[b]Persona[/b]: Unknown.
[/hider]
[hr]
[hider=Notable Public Figures]
[b]Dr. Lin Yao-Yu (林遥宇)[/b]: Male, 44 years old. The world's first and only trillionaire. Through a combination of nigh-unparalleled ambition, drive, and technical skill, his company OmniLink Inc. acquired nearly all of the other big tech companies around the globe, establishing a monopoly despite countless attempts to stop him. For obvious reasons, he's currently just about the most controversial person in existence, though the few who have spoken to him at length often get the feeling that he's a true visionary who relentlessly pushes the limits of technological innovation, with the goal of one day uniting all of humanity.

[b]President Shahzad Ibrahim (شهزاد ابراهيم)[/b]: Male, 53 years old. The current president of the United States. A liberal Muslim with incredible charisma and compassion, who managed to win the hearts of many on both sides of the political spectrum. However, his Islamic faith has been causing surges in racist and xenophobic sentiments on the far-right, exacerbated by his harsh climate-related policies aimed at keeping global warming under control. Strangely, he has never made any attempt on reigning in Lin's monopoly or economical power, leading to conspiracy theories that the two are in collusion with each other.

[b]Dr. Ulisses Ruiz[/b]: Male, 42 years old. The CEO of Vitae Pharmaceuticals, one of the most prominent medical research companies in the world. A billionaire philanthropist with a caring, househusband-like aura who works tirelessly to make affordable healthcare for all.

[b]Ricciarda Costa[/b]: Female, 49 years old. The current undisputed leader of the 'Ndrangheta, the most powerful and dangerous crime syndicate in the world. Ruthless, pragmatic, and exceptionally focused, she has imparted rigorous army-like discipline onto the mafia, enforcing her own personal visions of the law in places where the official laws are inadequate. A major presence in keeping various lesser, more chaotic criminal organizations in check.

[b]Bereshith Ayin (בְּרֵאשִׁית ע)[/b]: Genderless (xe/xer), age unknown. Founder and leader of the Deep Kabbalah, a new religious movement that has been rapidly gaining traction in the past decades. Instead of preaching any single doctrine as absolute truth, the movement encourages believers to explore a variety of sources of spirituality and find the common threads in them to eventually arrive at self-discovery. Known for an uncanny gift of peering into one's subconsciousness.
[/hider]