I'm fine with that for these purposes. I'd probably suggest them picking up something that can sustain themselves long-term in the multiverse if they're going to branch out to Existence proper after that point.
My plan was that, like the Sol Cooperative and DARPA team, the Varroi would be hunting Lucy across the multiverse themselves using their own transdimensional travel methods. The Sol Cooperative uses a modified warp drive, DARPA a prototype wormhole generator, and the Varroi an airship modified with void-protection magic, similar to the Spelljammers from D&D.
My plan was that, like the Sol Cooperative and DARPA team, the Varroi would be hunting Lucy across the multiverse themselves using their own transdimensional travel methods. The Sol Cooperative uses a modified warp drive, DARPA a prototype wormhole generator, and the Varroi an airship modified with void-protection magic, similar to the Spelljammers from D&D.
I can't say I'm familiar, but a technoboost qualifies as far as I'm concerned.
I can't say I'm familiar, but a technoboost qualifies as far as I'm concerned.
Yeah, the hunters are, for the most part, kind of just people. They're extremely skilled people, sure, but they don't have much other than skill, mettle, and technology/magic to fall back on, whereas Lucy has near-godlike intrinsic power. It makes the fight inherently an uphill battle.
Name: Pilus (Commander) Halcius Aureva II Affiliations: Imperia Varrona Pieta (Empire of Sacred Varro), Cohort XXII Alchymista (leader), Imperial League of Alchemists (temporary member) Age: 21 Sex: Male Species: Human
Physical Description: Born of pureblood Varroi stock, Halcius is short and stocky, as Varroi tend to be. His skin is supple and sun-kissed, the wage of an active youth, and his golden hair, the mark of the Aureva, is shorn to shoulder-length. His eyes, too, are gold, a mark of Avenic descent. He is rarely seen wearing anything other than his armor and his officer’s uniform, a deep red overcoat and trousers with riding boots and a peaked cap, vaguely resembling the European general’s dress of the early 20th century on Earth.
Abilities:
Composure - As part of the training given to members of the Aureva, Halcius is conditioned never to lose face. He has an extreme tolerance for pain and near-total control over his emotions. Near-total.
Dueling - Varroi noblemen are expected to defend their honor, be it in the forum or on the field. Halcius’ skills in this manner include swordfighting, gun dueling, and marksmanship. He is, by any metric, a quite passable fighter, though not as much as a dedicated soldier.
Mechanical Alchemy - To the Varroi, the term “Alchemy” refers to any discipline of magic that deals with inanimate matter. Mechanical alchemy is thus the study of making machines that run on magic. Halcius is quite the engineer, and can, given the correct materials and time, devise magitechnological solutions to a variety of problems.
Equipment:
The Metatron - The Metatron is an Dominion-class planar voidship, an airship modified with powerful magic that not only protects it from the hazards and horrors of the Void, but allows it to ascend beyond the planetary atmosphere and navigate there. Out in the Void, where the barrier between worlds is thin, voidships use the Figurehead, a specially-designed prow with a magical blade so sharp it cuts through spacetime itself. With this, voidships can travel between dimensions, an extremely rare, supremely dangerous, and unfathomably lucrative affair. The Metatron, alongside all other Dominion-class ships, boasts a coal-fired engine, a battery of super-heavy guns, and space to fit a squadron of ornithopters for reconnaissance and combat support.
War Alchemist’s Armor - War Alchemists are the combat engineers and enchanters of the Legions, and their armor reflects this. They possess some of the heaviest armor in the Varroi armies, second only to the Cataphracts; segmented plating covers the entire body, with the face protected by a reinforced human or animal mask. The armor is wrought from steel with a lattice of mithril underneath, the whole thing alchemically treated to prevent hazardous liquids or gases from breaching it. The armor of Cohort XXII, to serve their spacefaring mission, has been enchanted to continually generate breathable air, regulate temperature, and remove waste, allowing it to act, effectively, as a spacesuit.
Model 1021 - The Model 1021 is a new invention, only recently introduced to the Imperial Legions. It’s a breech-loading rifle, using pre-loaded metal cartridges instead of the paper ones used by the older Model 970. This allows it to have a much higher rate of fire than muzzle-loading rifles. The rifles used by the League of Alchemists benefit from improved gunpowder concoctions and sigil-carved bullets, granting exceptional lethality.
Model 998 Army - A cap-and-ball revolver used by officers, the somewhat outdated Model 998 is slow to reload, but can fire six shots in rapid succession. Its short range means it’s rarely used outside of close combat or “disciplining” deserters and mutineers.
Spatha - A long, slightly curved, saber-like sword used as both a status symbol and a personal defense weapon by high-ranking Varroi officers. Halcius’ sword has been specially forged from adamantine, a gift from his wealthy family.
Weaknesses:
Nepo Baby - It’s a known fact that Halcius was given this job by his uncle, Emperor Laertes, for military experience. He’s not an experienced soldier or commander, and is liable to make mistakes.
Cynical - Varro is a deeply religious land, one that worships Aven, the son of the tyrannical Laughing God (Mr. Lucy) who banished his father to rule as a god of justice and wisdom. Halcius, despite his own descent from Aven, holds no love for the god. The Divine is nothing more than a political tool to him, a way by which he can legitimize his own rule when he inherits the Tenfold Throne, and he ultimately believes in nothing more than his own self-interest. This leaves a weakness in his heart and soul that Lucy can exploit.
Background: Halcius is the scion and heir of the Aureva dynasty, the current holders of the Tenfold Throne and the position of Emperor. Allegedly descended from Aven Himself, the Aureva have dominated Varroi politics for the last century and a half; they are wealthy beyond imagination and command a continent-spanning, space-faring empire whose subjects number in the tens of millions. Halcius is to be the Emperor of all of it one day.
Unfortunately, Halcius really ought not to be.
He’s a cruel man, Halcius. He doesn’t care about people beyond what they can give him. He’s domineering, vindictive, and sadistic; he loves holding his rank over people’s heads, and reveling in the misery of anyone who isn’t smart enough to give up after he does so. His composed exterior is just that, an exterior, and what is within him is deeply, deeply unclean.
So, when word came about that the priests of Aven were receiving visions of the Laughing God’s return in another plane of reality and His Imperial Majesty dispatched the voidships to investigate, it was a great surprise that Halcius was made the commander of one, with over 1,500 souls at his mercy. Some called it madness; it was foolish to place the heir to the Empire at the head of an expedition into another world. On the other hand, some call it very, very reasonable; after all, what better way to get rid of a troublesome heir than to have him die a hero?
Name: Pilus (Commander) Halcius Aureva II Affiliations: Imperia Varrona Pieta (Empire of Sacred Varro), Cohort XXII Alchymista (leader), Imperial League of Alchemists (temporary member) Age: 21 Sex: Male Species: Human
Physical Description: Born of pureblood Varroi stock, Halcius is short and stocky, as Varroi tend to be. His skin is supple and sun-kissed, the wage of an active youth, and his golden hair, the mark of the Aureva, is shorn to shoulder-length. His eyes, too, are gold, a mark of Avenic descent. He is rarely seen wearing anything other than his armor and his officer’s uniform, a deep red overcoat and trousers with riding boots and a peaked cap, vaguely resembling the European general’s dress of the early 20th century on Earth.
Abilities:
Composure - As part of the training given to members of the Aureva, Halcius is conditioned never to lose face. He has an extreme tolerance for pain and near-total control over his emotions. Near-total.
Dueling - Varroi noblemen are expected to defend their honor, be it in the forum or on the field. Halcius’ skills in this manner include swordfighting, gun dueling, and marksmanship. He is, by any metric, a quite passable fighter, though not as much as a dedicated soldier.
Mechanical Alchemy - To the Varroi, the term “Alchemy” refers to any discipline of magic that deals with inanimate matter. Mechanical alchemy is thus the study of making machines that run on magic. Halcius is quite the engineer, and can, given the correct materials and time, devise magitechnological solutions to a variety of problems.
Equipment:
The Metatron - The Metatron is an Dominion-class planar voidship, an airship modified with powerful magic that not only protects it from the hazards and horrors of the Void, but allows it to ascend beyond the planetary atmosphere and navigate there. Out in the Void, where the barrier between worlds is thin, voidships use the Figurehead, a specially-designed prow with a magical blade so sharp it cuts through spacetime itself. With this, voidships can travel between dimensions, an extremely rare, supremely dangerous, and unfathomably lucrative affair. The Metatron, alongside all other Dominion-class ships, boasts a coal-fired engine, a battery of super-heavy guns, and space to fit a squadron of ornithopters for reconnaissance and combat support.
War Alchemist’s Armor - War Alchemists are the combat engineers and enchanters of the Legions, and their armor reflects this. They possess some of the heaviest armor in the Varroi armies, second only to the Cataphracts; segmented plating covers the entire body, with the face protected by a reinforced human or animal mask. The armor is wrought from steel with a lattice of mithril underneath, the whole thing alchemically treated to prevent hazardous liquids or gases from breaching it. The armor of Cohort XXII, to serve their spacefaring mission, has been enchanted to continually generate breathable air, regulate temperature, and remove waste, allowing it to act, effectively, as a spacesuit.
Model 1021 - The Model 1021 is a new invention, only recently introduced to the Imperial Legions. It’s a breech-loading rifle, using pre-loaded metal cartridges instead of the paper ones used by the older Model 970. This allows it to have a much higher rate of fire than muzzle-loading rifles. The rifles used by the League of Alchemists benefit from improved gunpowder concoctions and sigil-carved bullets, granting exceptional lethality.
Model 998 Army - A cap-and-ball revolver used by officers, the somewhat outdated Model 998 is slow to reload, but can fire six shots in rapid succession. Its short range means it’s rarely used outside of close combat or “disciplining” deserters and mutineers.
Spatha - A long, slightly curved, saber-like sword used as both a status symbol and a personal defense weapon by high-ranking Varroi officers. Halcius’ sword has been specially forged from adamantine, a gift from his wealthy family.
Weaknesses:
Nepo Baby - It’s a known fact that Halcius was given this job by his uncle, Emperor Laertes, for military experience. He’s not an experienced soldier or commander, and is liable to make mistakes.
Cynical - Varro is a deeply religious land, one that worships Aven, the son of the tyrannical Laughing God (Mr. Lucy) who banished his father to rule as a god of justice and wisdom. Halcius, despite his own descent from Aven, holds no love for the god. The Divine is nothing more than a political tool to him, a way by which he can legitimize his own rule when he inherits the Tenfold Throne, and he ultimately believes in nothing more than his own self-interest. This leaves a weakness in his heart and soul that Lucy can exploit.
Background: Halcius is the scion and heir of the Aureva dynasty, the current holders of the Tenfold Throne and the position of Emperor. Allegedly descended from Aven Himself, the Aureva have dominated Varroi politics for the last century and a half; they are wealthy beyond imagination and command a continent-spanning, space-faring empire whose subjects number in the tens of millions. Halcius is to be the Emperor of all of it one day.
Unfortunately, Halcius really ought not to be.
He’s a cruel man, Halcius. He doesn’t care about people beyond what they can give him. He’s domineering, vindictive, and sadistic; he loves holding his rank over people’s heads, and reveling in the misery of anyone who isn’t smart enough to give up after he does so. His composed exterior is just that, an exterior, and what is within him is deeply, deeply unclean.
So, when word came about that the priests of Aven were receiving visions of the Laughing God’s return in another plane of reality and His Imperial Majesty dispatched the voidships to investigate, it was a great surprise that Halcius was made the commander of one, with over 1,500 souls at his mercy. Some called it madness; it was foolish to place the heir to the Empire at the head of an expedition into another world. On the other hand, some call it very, very reasonable; after all, what better way to get rid of a troublesome heir than to have him die a hero?