[OOC] Secundi Lux

[Inedible]

Secundi Lux

GM: @Inedible
Discord
Status: Closed

- - -

One hundred years ago the First Void appeared. A towering beast made of darkness itself, no one knows where it came from, but its goal quickly became apparent: The destruction of humankind.

From the First Void came Nox, the rawest form of what humans now call magic. Deadly in large quantities, Nox quickly spread and covered most of the planet, warping and twisting everything that it touched. Humanity was scattered, forced to retreat to higher elevations and behind hastily erected walls.

Until they learned to harness magic for themselves.

The Twelve Heroes were the first individuals born capable of harnessing raw magic. Together with the first magitech weapons they destroyed the First Void, ending the immediate threat to humanity.

In the aftermath of the Dark War the Novus Orbis Imperium was established by the first of the Six, an organization that would quickly take charge of the remains of civilization. They established, help fortify the Sancum Cities and became the unifying government.

However, though the First Void is gone the threats it left behind still remain. Where Nox gathers other, smaller Voids manifest. The Sanctum Cities are still threatened by periodic Void attacks, and not even the technomagic shields can always prevent the buildup of Nox.

That's where you come in. Ars Magi, transforming soldiers with the power to fight the Voids. Selected to be trained at Nova Lux Academy, you are the brightest hope for the future.

The Novus Orbim Imperium

Known more commonly as the Imperium or the NOI, this organization serves as the new government in the wake of the Dark War.

The Imperator is the ultimate authority of the NOI, able to pass laws and allocate technological and military resources. They are assisted and balanced by the Duodecim, 12 noble families that oversee the Sancum Cities. The Duodecim have, in theory, the power to veto and pass laws if they are able to reach an agreement between them.

The Duodecim

Formed in the wake of the Dark War, the Duodecim trace their ancestry to the twelve heroes of that conflict. All families oversee at least one Sanctum City, with the most powerful controlling multiple.

Each family governs itself in different ways and holds different values. One family may emphasize bloodline purity, while another is willing to adopt exceptional individuals into the house.

The Duodecim families are named after the twelve central Roman gods: Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Mercury, Neptune, Venus, Apollo, Diana, Minerva, Ceres, Vulcan, and Vesta.

23 Sanctum Cities

For a complete political/city map, please visit:

Here!

Magic

‘Raw’ magic, called Nox, blankets the earth. Outside the Sanctum Cities it exists in large amounts that become visible to the naked eye as thick black clouds, but in smaller quantities it tends to be invisible and (supposedly) harmless. Inside the Sanctum Cities magic is regulated by shields to prevent excessive buildup.

Humans interact with magic mostly through technological interfaces. This like airships and rail systems are powered by magitech, as well as some military weapons. Those unfortunate enough to absorb too much raw magic are twisted and corrupted into Voids, hungry and violent monsters.

Notably Ars Magi can use elementary magic in their untransformed state, but they’ll find that they can only pull off maybe one notable feat before the ambient magic around them is depleted. Transformed, however, is a different story...

Ars Magi

Ars Magi are magical girls created at Nova Lux Academy. Their creation entails a technomagical procedure where an Ars Armagus, a magic core, is implanted inside of them. This gives them the ability to transform into warriors capable of fighting Voids and resisting infection from Nox.

Ars Magi have enhanced strength, dexterity, and magical ability. They act as the speartip of the Imperium military, and often as bodyguards for the Duodecim and important leaders.

Candidates who show some magical ability are typically invited to Nova Lux at the age of 16, where where will begin their training.

A typical Ars Magi is made up of these elements:

• Ars Armagus - The ‘core’ of the Ars Magi. Typically a gemstone inlaid in the stomach.
• Gladius - The weapon manifested during transformation. Not always a literal sword.
• Parma - The armor manifested during transformation.
• Elementum - The magic element the user manipulates. For example: Ice, Fire, Metal, Darkness. Ars Magi can manipulate their Elementum to do things like shoot bolts of ice, cover a room in darkness, etc.

Terminology

Ars Magi - A Magical Girl. Created and trained at Nova Lux Academy.
Dark War, The - The war against the First Void, approximately 100 years ago. Humanity won (yay!) at significant cost.
Duodecim - 12 Noble families that control various Sanctum Cities.
Nox - A large amount of raw magic. Appears as dark clouds. Currently blankets everything outside the Sanctum Cities.
Sanctum City - A megacity protected by a magic stabilizing field. Humanity lives in the remaining 23 Sanctum Cities.
Void - A violent, corrupted entity. Voids can come in many forms and possess various malevolent powers. Humans exposed to large amounts of Nox will become Voids.

Character Sheet

The Mundane
Name: What’s your character's name?

Age: Should be between 16-17.

Sanctum City: Where do you come from?

Description: What does your character look like?

If you have a picture, anime art is probably the most appropriate.

Personality: What's your deal?

Background: Who are you? What’s your life like, pre-Nova Lux?

The Magical
Armgaus Name: The name of your Ars Armagus. Generally |Adjective| |Color| |Gemstone|. Burning Yellow Pearl, Vicious Black Emerald, etc.

Gladius: What weapon do you manifest?

Parma: What does your transformed self look like? Though hair/eye/etc color may chance, you’re still recognizable as yourself.

Elementum: What is the element you can control?

Elementum Abilities: What kind of things can you do with your element?

[HereComesTheSnow]

Second joke, same as the first joke

Selma

The Mundane

Name: Selma Rosmarie

Age: 17.

Sanctum City: Hasta, Venus

Description: Selma stands out without really trying. As one of the most statuesque young women you could ever meet, her tall and robust frame likens her more to a tree walking around than a teenage girl, but her goofball demeanor quickly undercuts any potential intimidation that stature may induce. Her speech patterns are more "coarse" than "rough", and a genuine frown is hard to find on her gentle features. More often it's simply the terse, grunted scowl of hard work than true displeasure. Her straight shoulder-length hair and eyes are both the color of the pines of her ancestral home, and her casual attire consists of a seemingly endless supply of loose work shirts in dark colors and long jeans. Her most prized accessories are the small, unassuming black ribbon perched in the back of her hair, and the silver pendant upon her neck.

Rosmarie

Personality: Selma Rosmarie is first and foremost a throwback. A traditionalist raised by traditionalists, her pointedly rustic upbringing produced a girl all but convinced she'd be most at home in the thick forests and surrounded by nature rather your usual cityscapes. The family business of contributing to Hasta's agriculture is, unfortunately, as close as the towering young woman could hope to get. Her appreciation for a hard day's work, an honest character, and deep respect for innocent life permeate her to the core, plainly expressing themselves in (almost) faultless integrity, unassuming candor, and drive to protect people from any foes, be they from without or from within. While not well-read, and at times admittedly simple, she also carries with her a folksy wisdom that can only be cultivated by long days tilling what little fields mankind has left, alone with one's mind and the greenery. While technological integration is impossible to escape, she's definitely below par when it comes to utilizing it.

Her honesty is the source of her unshakable self-assurance, completely willing to speak her mind and open about all that she is. Hers is the uncomplicated pride of refusing to lie to herself, or anyone else. She likes what she likes, talks as she talks, and thinks what she thinks. You have to be strong and resilient, sure, but you also have to be true to your heart. Simple pleasures like dancing to a pleasant tune, making a friend laugh, and the rush of fighting for the good of the world are food for the soul. They deserve to be shared with any who'll have them.

Background: Selma was born at the outskirts of Hasta, to a humble family of farmers that emigrated during the First Void from the heavily wooded mountains of the Black Forest. Devastated by the loss of their ancestral home, the Rosmarie clan clung covetously, perhaps even desperately to every tradition they had— while they could no longer exactly be people of the countryside, they could remember it as dearly as possible. They dove into the role of agriculture as a means of both living off the land humanity had left, and recapturing what they could of their lives deep within the woodlands of what was once southern Germany. They did everything they feasibly could by hand, passed on old stories left behind in a single book of fairy tales, and spoke reverently of the old country, accounts from the past known by heart to each member. It was not easy to transmute a family from a forest of wood to the outskirts of one built from concrete, but they were mountain folk: hardy, rugged, and resilient enough to weather it.

In this environment, Selma was introduced very early to work on the fields, picking root vegetables come time for harvest, sorting them by hand, and resting beneath the shade of the family oak, planted and nurtured as an acorn by the first generation of Rosmaries to find safety behind the Sanctum. Her respect for these traditions is healthy and unwavering, even in the face of the confusion of her more normal peers and friends. Over the years, the family had become just about comfortably middle-class again by a combination of frugal living and a few exceptionally good harvests after a begrudging "modernization" of their equipment. This coincided with Selma's first purchase of a phone, and perhaps more importantly her discovery of magical aptitude. Within this hardworking young woman was the potential to become one of the Ars Magi.

Her family could afford to let her take this to Nova Lux Academy now. She could go out and fight for what they had lost. Their land. Their home. The ground where they were meant to live and die. They gave her their well-wishes and unconditional support. This was bigger than them all. The big girl barely hesitated.

The Magical

Armgaus Name: Verdant Moss Emerald

Gladius: A heavy, robust axe, cheekily named 'Kleinbruder'. Its weighty head is bearded, and equally suitable for chopping down trees and Voids alike, whilst its sturdy wooden handle is curved to maximize force delivery in either one or two-handed grips. Etched into the sides of the head are fullers that form a runic pattern.

Parma: Very much the same unmistakable Douglas Fir of a girl. When transformed, Selma's mistletoe eyes gain a faint, arcane luminescence, and her hair grows a truly vibrant green. As for her attire, it hearkens to an idea of almost barbarism, tanned leathers and steel replacing the usual loose work shirts.

Pine Barrens

Elementum: Earth

Elementum Abilities: Ripper of soil, breaker of stone, maiden of mountains. The first thing about Selma is that she is strong, large frame and a lifetime of labor bolstered by the very earth she strikes. As indomitable and everlasting as the Black Forest range her family hails from, the girl's force of will and connection to the earth manifest as seismic tremors, effectively the ability to create crevasses, violent upheavals, and even the odd localized earthquake on contact. Her bones are hard, her skin tough, and her spirit endless, she's about as easy to knock down as the Alps even when not transformed. A lifetime of feeling soil beneath her feet has given her a good sense for how it vibrates, allowing her to pick up on most land movements larger than those of a vole. Seems to have some form of kinship with all but the most violent beasts of the wild. That, or errant birds genuinely do mistake her for a tree.

[The World]

Hoping this goes well.

Mundane

The Mundane
Name:
Crystal von Caelestis

Age:
16

Sanctum City:
Norba

Description:
Crystal stands at 5 feet 7 inches and weighs 143 pounds. She has above-average musculature, built from good genes and rather extreme physical training. She has black hair usually tied in twintails and hazel eyes that seem to pierce through what they look at. She tends to be slouched somewhat when she's not taking something seriously, which is most of the time.

Image

Personality:
Crystal is a mixed-bag of personality traits, according to the psychologist she visits on a monthly basis. She is not shy, but is quiet and keeps to herself. She is not outgoing, but can become overexcited by the things she enjoys. She is usually calm, and often confident, but the times when she's not she tends to reach the other extreme of hyperactive or pessimistic, respectively. She tends to spend her free time drawing or reading, often both being based around manga, though she also enjoys drawing more realistic styles as well. She is also almost always preoccupied with writing stories to go with her art.
Crystal has the bad habits of chewing gum and, strangely, blowing air up from her mouth towards her forehead, usually messing up her bangs. She has the affliction of obsessive compulsive disorder, though with her medication one would never know it. When she is unable to take them, however, she becomes a nervous wreck and her habits explode in severity.

Background:
Crystal von Caelestis is a part of the extended family of the Jupiter family of the Duodecim. That is to say, she is a cousin of the heir to the family. Or rather, she would be if her uncle had a child. As it stands, she and her cousins are all later in line than a nonexistent relative for purposes of succession. Once her uncle marries and has children, they will be the next generation of the Jupiter family line. As such, she was raised in a very noble-esque environment in which she was given great freedom to pursue her interests while also being taught and trained at a higher level than most. She is skilled in the arts not because she wished to be, but because she must be in order to properly represent the Caelestis family. She is in good physical shape and skilled with weapons not because she has passion for it, but because she must be able to defend herself and others if necessary.
She only recently discovered that she has access to magic, and was very quickly enrolled in Nova Lux Academy. As such, she feels rushed and out of place.

Magical

The Magical

Armgaus Name:
Frozen Blue Sapphire

Gladius:

Hiems

Parma:

Transformed Self

Elementum:
Ice

Elementum Abilities:
Crystal can both form ice from nowhere and remove heat from an area, causing coldness to form. She is able to freeze things with a touch, or with some effort do so without physical contact. While she cannot do things like throwing spears of ice telepathically, she can certainly create them in such a way as to pierce a target without needing to be moved. Her ability to remove heat from an area usually manifests as control of the temperature surrounding her, and a distaste of heat means that she often uses this trick when she is able to use magic at all to help keep her cooled off. Somewhat strangely, her magic has minor purifying properties; freezing water with her magic will also remove most impurities from it.

[Sylvan]

Sadie Mercury

The Mundane
Name: Sadie Mercury

Age: 16

Sanctum City: Siscia

Appearance

Personality: Sadie is an unrepentant trickster, who enjoys helping others better themselves with a trick or a prank to turn them in the right direction. She is fiercely protective of her friends and her people, and will square up against anyone who messes with them. She doesn’t try to actually hurt or injure others with her pranks, and when that does happen, she fesses up and does what she can to help the unfortunate person. She also acts wise beyond her years; and sometimes, she’s even right.

Background: As the 3rd, and youngest, child of George and Diana Mercury, Sadie grew up wanting for little, and with perhaps too much free time. Since shortly after the young girl figured out walking, aggrieved cries echoed in her wake as she toddled back and forth between interests, tricks, and exploration. As she grew older, her curiosity, and the complexity of her machinations, grew quickly, to the horror of the household at large. The saving grace is that her tricks rarely left any lasting damage, on object or person, though when something did go wrong, she went out of her way to fix things immediately.

The curiosity that led to all of her voracious learning and trickery also led her to follow every rabbit hole, to try and find every secret, every hidden tidbit about anything and everything around her, from her house, to her family and friends, to the world at large. While this curiosity did lead to good things, such as the discovery of her magical potential and subsequent enrollment into Nova Lux, it also got her into trouble more times than she could count.

When she got her acceptance letter to Nova Lux, Sadie was practically bouncing off the walls with excitement! She couldn’t wait to find out everything there was to know at, and about, the Academy.

The Magical
Armgaus Name: Shining Steel Kyanite

Kyanite

Gladius: Magitech gauntlets (pictured in the Parma image)

Parma

Elementum: Metal

Elementum Abilities: Sadie has the ability to manipulate and reshape any metal within her area of control to augment the offensive and defensive capabilities of herself and nearby allies, by modifying weapons and armor and creating floating shields, alongside other more creative applications.

[Krayzikk]

Rivka Sokolov

Age: 17

Sanctum City: Baeterrae, Vesta

Description: A little above average height with a fit, limber build and long, long hair. The last is the first thing anyone will notice considering her tendency to dye it whatever color strikes her, most recently a deep purple. It hangs down past Rivka’s back and she keeps it neat and styled despite how much maintenance it takes her. Her skin, despite their necessary emigration, reflects her northern ancestry; a pale starting point that is hard to miss regardless of any given month's tanning. Despite her vibrant hair her attire skews towards the darker, more muted end of the color spectrum; blacks, maroons, navies, and such. Rivka has a dark jacket she wears as soon as the air is cold enough and even sometimes in stubborn defiance of the heat.

It’s uncommon to see Rivka in her own time without a firearm case or an instrument, both belonging to pastimes that she greatly enjoys.

Personality: Stoic and resolute, with a contrasting penchant for the arts and a disposition that borders on lazy. A mix that seems at once abrasive and contradictory becomes much more understandable if you persevere past her standoffish exterior. The decline of humanity to a handful of cities is a tragedy, one to be endured, but not to be endured without release; art is a way to process the world, to bolster the spirit, and to defy the monsters that would burden humanity. Music is her own preference, but she enjoys the expression found in all the arts. But the world is a harsh place too, and competitive shooting gives her another outlet. One that makes her much, much harder to take out than the average danger manages.

Endure, she says, but never in silence.. To suffer in silence is to suffer alone, and that path is simply a longer road to madness. To speak of your experience is to be a beacon of strength for others, and what is an Ars Magi but a beacon of strength?

But that doesn’t mean she can’t take a break, either. Nothing recharges the soul like a day off with some close friends. If she can manage to make any.

Background: The Sokolovs, many years back, hailed from the northern reaches of the continent. When the Sanctums were established they traveled south, taking their name, language, and many of their customs with them. It was a hard journey after the First Void, and a harder life adjusting to their new home. But they were Russian, when there still was such a place, and they endured. They left behind anything they could not carry, they sold much of what they could, and in the end they clung only to the clothes on the back and their instruments. To leave them behind would have been to surrender, and that was unthinkable. They arrived in Baeterrae penniless and took generations to claw their way to the meagre finances they now possess. But they had their talent and their experience and in their art they found solace. Music kept them sane, and volunteering their services to defend the fledgling city kept them sheltered and fed.

That has been their lot since, and the life to which Rivka was born. She mastered her art, she worked the jobs that she could find, and on her own volition she took up sport shooting. A skill that at once made her more capable and gave her a chance to pad the family coffers with prize money. And she got very, very good at it. The art of a rifle proved just as natural to her touch as an instrument, and she loved it. It was an empowering thing to excel at and her admittedly pessimistic demeanor tilted, just a little, towards hope.

And when she found out that she had the potential to be an Ars Magi she didn’t hesitate to apply. It was a chance to provide hope that she could never match on her own.

Gladius: A semiautomatic, over-under double barreled magitech rifle with flip up leaf sights and a detachable bayonet. A gleaming, ornate weapon in blued steel with red-hued opalescent inlay.

Parma: A stylized uniform with a royal purple shoulder cape on her right. A pair of shooting glasses with lenses like opals appear over her eyes, and the highlights in her hair take on a similar hue. These points, and the inlay of her Gladius, begin to fluoresce faintly red when using her Elementum.

Elementum: Fire

Elementum Abilities: Fire, combustion, and general heat are aspects of the Elementum at Rivka’s disposal. She can fire or control flame, heat objects, and generate some lift with these flames. In time she might learn some degree of flight with them. More directly she can channel her Elementum through her Gladius, firing rounds equivalent to truly incredible HE or HEAP shots depending on whether precision or sheer force is more important. She can also superheat its bayonet, be it attached or in her hand, to cleave and pierce much more easily. The lenses of her Parma help protect her eyes from the light produced by the extreme ends of her Elementum.

[Ammokkx]

-

[Vega7285]

Still looking for another player? Because this looks interesting enough, from the int check. Though I don't have time to immediately read up all the lore and such. Still, posting here because that's what said int check told me to do.

If someone beats me to it and gets the spot, no big deal.

Also, I swear this reminds me of BlazBlue. This isn't a bad thing.

[Inedible]

@Vega7285 sorry for the late reply, but yes, we're still looking for one more player.

Feel free to read up when you can and submit an application if you're interested.

[Vega7285]

Will do.

[Write]

Hey there! I think @Krayzikk or @HereComesTheSnow mentioned me, but I heard there was an open spot and I thought I’d try my hand at applying for it. So if you’d allow it here’s my bid:

Aoife

The Mundane

Name: Aoife Sturmgaard

Age: 17.

Sanctum City: Danaster, Jupiter

Description:

Aoife

Personality: An easygoing and extroverted girl, Aoife is most well defined as fairly well adjusted. She's generally content, athletic and fairly charismatic if a bit apathetic to the opinions of others. A flaw for Aoife is that she does not feel much motivation nor drive. She lives each day happy and generally without regret, and yet there is something missing from her life. A destination, perhaps a goal. And yet, above all else, Aoife is content. She does not want for much - nor does she lack pride in the work she does. She does not fear conflict nor battle, for what does it mean to be an Ars Magi if not to stand tall when others cower? To lord over the darkness, and demand once more that it is thrust back into the breach from which is leapt?

Background: The Sturmgaard house is a noble one, or, they were. During the first void they thought themselves unsung heroes, poachers of evil – until that fallacy was made apparent. The patriarch of the Sturmgaard family and Aoife’s grandfather was struck down unceremoniously while defending a small ensemble of aristocratic cowards. Though, Aoife’s mother had told her that they weren’t really cowards at all. In fact, they were quite brave for the time. The first void made cowards of humanity, pushing themselves ever further into their spires of humanity, biting back at the darkness which each opportunity like a caged rat. The Sturmgaard’s, lacking a leader, fell significantly to a place of humility. They did what they could to make ends meet, often making busy work of Aoife and her three siblings as they were raised to make ends meet.

That was, until one day when one of those cowards came to pay the Sturmgaard family a visit. He was a young man, no greyer than Aoife’s eldest brother. He bore a sickening scar leading form somewhere below his collar all the way to his forehead. He did not come to pay homage to a dead man, nor to honour the family in particular, but to good on a promise he once swore. This man carried with him a blade he claimed had belonged to Aoife’s grandfather once, it was a beautiful thing. When Aoife saw it glistening in the candlelight, it was as if seeing one’s self for the first time. Her life, clarified in a single sentiment, this was what she was made for. She reached out to the blade without asking nor thinking, but to her surprise, no one stopped her.

They watched in silence as she took the blade in her hands, its beautiful azure ribbon lazily dangling from the pommel. Her mother said something like ‘you’ll have to work hard at it’, but, in fact, she was wrong. Aoife had extraordinary magical aptitude untapped and ready to be explored. Nothing had ever come to easier to her than her training to become one of the Ars Magi.

It took her family a few years of saving until they could afford to let her walk the path she now saw before her. Her goodbyes were all oddly unspectacular. As if she was simply running out to pick up some food for tonight’s dinner. Aoife didn’t mind. The time for tears had long since passed. In front of her Aoife could see that there was a simple road that she would walk until she could no longer. The path of the Ars Magi.

The Magical

Armgaus Name: Lazy Spring Lazulite

Gladius: A sword with an extending ribbon with a half-moon blade. named 'Joyeuse' after Charlemagne's weapon of myth. Aoife is able to use the ribbon as a whip of sorts, swinging the half-moon blade with deadly precision, while the Jian straight sword is honed to a razor's edge. Both ends are immediately deadly, and allow for off-kilter attacking patterns, Aoife relies on enemies only needing to make one misstep to end the fight.

Parma: While Aoife's clothes and demeanor shift dramatically she physically stays almost exactly the same. Save for her eyes which look like swirling pools of navy. Aoife's demeanor shifts from that of a lackidasical part-girl to one of utmost confidence and unerring charisma. Even in the most dire of circumstances it is the unholy belief in herself that allows Aoife to push further than most. Her attire changes to something of a mystic's features. She wears black tights with the constellation of aquarius imprinted onto them. Her light blue bodice is wrapped delicately with silk gloves that stretch the entire length of her arms, though it's a much more durable material. A large witch's hat completes the outfit, casually flopping from one side to another, with no bearing on direction.

Violent Riptide

Elementum: Water

Elementum Abilities: There are many wise men who have commented on the tumultuous, often violent nature of the sea, ocean and water as a whole. Aoife takes those words to heart when she fights. Water is bending, but unbreakable, a steady stream blocked will erode even steel over time. Aoife is able to take powerful blows and shrug them off with minimal effort. She can manipulate any liquid element from water to blood. She can compress it to create a high powered jet, drain plant life of all its moisture, or use it to soften attacks. Aoife cannot control hydrogen or oxygen separately, however. Likewise, she cannot control water in its solid form, ice. Aoife is also capable of swimming at speeds far surpassing boats, as well as breath underwater. One techique she's grown quite fond of are creating bubbles that act as shields or cushions, by manipulating the water she can create extremely durable bubbles capable of catching a person falling from a building or absorbing a dangerous blow. Her highest feat of strength is that with some level of concentration she is capable of making thunderstorms by manipulating the clouds themselves. Though, this is not simply done at a whim and requires a good deal of careful exertion.

[Inedible]

@Write sorry it took some time to get back to you, I missed the notification on your post.

Anyway, I like it! The only note I really have is that Aoife's family wouldn't have to save up to go to send her to Nova Lux, it's basically mandatory as long as you test magic positive.

Other than that I don't think there's anything to mention. If you're still interested I'd be happy you have you join us. You can drop in to the discord server here when you get a chance.