[OOC] The Spirits Within/Aeon

[Mirandae]

@Krash
The size of the cast will most likely trail off a fair bit beyond the first-to-second/third posts. It almost always happens—people see the actual product and it isn't for them, something in life happens, or any other reason. Whatever happens, everyone here is always welcome back at any time.

<Snipped quote by Krash>
honestly i feel larger groups take some of the pressure off

@nodogs

Interesting. I'm the same, in a way. How does it do that for you?

[skidcrow]

<Snipped quote by nodogs>

Interesting. I'm the same, in a way. How does it do that for you?

@Prisk

for me it's just that there are more people to split the responsibility of pushing things forward and it reduces some of that mental pressure to write perfect posts all the time. i feel more like i have my own space and can do things on my own time while obviously still being part of a group and posting regularly. if there's a time where you can't post there's less of a lull because there's more people to fill the gap

[skidcrow]

doubleposting like its my fuckin job, baby

i had so many ideas in my head for this guy it was actually impossible to get them all down and if i didn't stop working on him now i was never going to stop

Zemat

_{I F A N " Z E M A T " F R A N K S
◄ 34 ▎ 5'8" ►}

_{P R E S E N C E}

---

Years of service and his previous lifestyle have refined Ifan's routine to an art. His hair is cut to two inches long, grown to three, then cut back to two. His clothes are generic, bulk-bought and in various shades of greens, greys, blues and sandy browns. He keeps his options limited; cargo and cordura pants, crew neck and v-neck t-shirts. Everything he does is in the spirit of self-reliance whilst fulfilling his role as part of a larger working machine. Ifan values independence and privacy, but he also values his team's mission. Sometimes one must be sabotaged for the other, and he will always prioritise the latter. His pride and his personhood are tied to the UDF.

Some people might describe Ifan as a bit of a hard-ass. He speaks briefly and literally, and entertains banter very little, though his knowledge and expertise as part of the Navigation Division showed he has no challenges intellectually. Given this role, he is driven on getting from point A to point Z and dislikes detours and disruptions. He has a very calm temperament, but knows when and how to draw a line with people. Most of his intimidation comes from his set jaw and sober expression, as well as his physically built build. Ifan isn't a gym rat like others in the UDF but enjoys working out to relieve frustration and remind him of the progress he has made in life. It's meditative to think about the level he can reach physically now he has the resources available to him.

_{C H R O N I C L E}

---

Ifan was born in a sprawling coastal city in Spiera. Elstad was dirty and unforgiving, with class division, crime and gang violence rampant. Years ago, politicians and the rich all but sealed themselves off from the lower class, building tall footbridges and elevated plazas across the congested streets and polluted roads, resigning themselves to their skyscrapers; castles of glass. It wasn't illegal to enter the 'upper levels', not even for the grimiest and most destitute, but the Elstad City Protection units always found something to book you for.

The message was received. Children were born into understanding that this was the way of life—the rich above, the poor below. There were politicians that tried to go against the order, to bring Elstad back to life, but the broadcasted speeches would stop as quickly as they came. Nobody saw what happened up in the sky, and so it never happened. With every generation the hope of change died.

After the comet arrived, things deteriorated further. Several pieces of debris hit the outer areas of the city, sinking them. Surrounding areas began to crumble away. With the flood barriers all but destroyed, waves of water ravaged the streets, demolishing anything they could. Elstad was drowning. Thousands flocked to the inner city, crowding the streets more than ever before. People would look up to the glass buildings towering above and pray for salvation that never came. The water level kept rising. Soon, the rest of them would be swept away too.

Something had awakened in Ifan. He had been homeless since his mother was killed when he was 19 years old, jumping from squat house to squat house. In the recent years he had turned to drinking and brawling, fighting for money and spending that money on more booze. When the tidal wave hit, it should have swallowed him whole. Ifan struggled and panicked, thrashing in the water when he slammed into something, winding him. The city seemed to sink and sink, then Ifan realised he was moving upwards—there was something beneath him, and it was moving fast. He shot above the water level, waves thrashing around a pillar of rock he was now laid on. When he stood up, more pillars rose to meet him. He walked to the crumbling edge of the inner city completely unharmed.

Months passed and tensions were the highest they'd ever been in Elstad. There were thousands of survivors, now homeless, desperate to reach the upper levels. ECP units instigated mass violence to keep them subdued, and riots became a daily occurrence. Debris had demolished most of the roads on the outskirts of the city—the only way out was by foot, and most didn't survive the journey. People who caught the Stigma were executed and their bodies burned in mass piles on roads.

Eventually, the infected outnumbered the City Patrol forces, and most weren't killed in time to prevent mutation. The recently formed UDF stepped in, establishing quarantine zones and initiating mass testing. Ifan had never gotten the sickness, but if a man is taken from the streets with no one to miss him, was he ever really there? He was, of course, less than cooperative, and when scientists at the testing facility noticed his resilience to use of force, and the force he himself had managed to hit several people with, he was immediately transferred to a more secure research facility.

In spite of himself, Ifan began to cooperate, even with the scans and needles and constant surveillance. When his withdrawals were bad, he witnessed terrifying visages. These were his spirits, he was told. He was an Aeon. How was a drunk host to such power? The UDF, begrudgingly, presented a lifeline. There were plenty other men of Ifan's age who were already combat-ready, or had less work to go than he did. But with his offensive capabilities, and knowledge that both parties needed the other, Ifan was conscripted to the Warfare Division.

The first two years were less of a struggle than anticipated. After five years homeless, Ifan was not going to jeopardize having four walls and a bed, nor the ability to eat and train and improve himself. His street-brawling experience, while messy, aided him. He responded well to tutelage. On the battlefield, his locational awareness and straight-forward thinking earned him a move to Navigation four years into his service. He was typically a driver for Warfare squadrons, tasked with getting a group of grunts to their destination and maintaining the vehicle that got them there. He is known for never saying no to a job and has travelled far and wide.

_{F O R C E}

---

Ifan's affinity is in the earth. Green was a colour unseen in Elstad, so his proficiency favours the rocks, stone and clay of the mountains rather than the dirt and grass of the forests. His channelling of the element allows him to tear pillars, barriers, spikes and boulders of rock up from the ground. The latter two he can launch towards targets, though only at a direct velocity from the point at which they originate.

At close range, Ifan can reinforce his fists with stone to put even more power into his punches. This technique can also be used defensively, reinforcing different areas of his body with stone 'plating' to reduce the impact of enemy attacks or even protect him from falls and crashes. It's not comfortable, but it works.

One of the key factors in Ifan's acquiring by the Navigation Division is his passive ability to detect targets and traverse his surroundings by sensing seismic vibrations. He can also use this to get an idea of a building's layout without even entering it, as long as he has access to one of the walls to create vibrations through it.

The firearms training all Warfare Division soldiers receive as standard has made Ifan comfortable enough to work with whatever is available to him, and he has no real preference in what he arms himself with for ranged combat. His brawling experience does mean he will try his luck more with hand-to-hand at shorter ranges, carrying a standard issue dagger with him in the cases where fists aren't enough.

_{T R I V I A}

---

★ Despite earning the money to buy himself a reliable apartment in Castral, Ifan rarely takes R&R and spends the majority of his time on base.

★ From the little she told him growing up, his father was a corporate who impregnated Ifan's mother when she was sixteen, and threatened her family when he discovered the pregnancy. Ifan resents anybody in a corporate position.

★ The name "Zemat" is a traditional Spieran word, for whom their Aeon is a symbol of national pride, which describes the feeling of witnessing Spiera from the peak of the towering Dinius mountain. It symbolises national identity and hope.

[Mirandae]

@nodogs
Oh yeah, triple it up next time.

Very nice character composition. Clear cut, to the point, easy to read-and-understand concept. Please check the world map and put all your created locations where you imagine them to be, so that I can add them proper.

Here is your character image edited for the character tab: i.imgur.com/ZBJHkSV.png
Put it up there whenever you're ready.

[skidcrow]

@Prisk very crudely cobbled together on my iphone

[+]

[Mirandae]

Added @Aeolian's lore notes to a new hider next to the Codex. I'll add more from all players whenever you want something specific to be recorded there.

[Krash]

@Krash
The size of the cast will most likely trail off a fair bit beyond the first-to-second/third posts. It almost always happens—people see the actual product and it isn't for them, something in life happens, or any other reason. Whatever happens, everyone here is always welcome back at any time.

<Snipped quote by nodogs>

Interesting. I'm the same, in a way. How does it do that for you?

@Prisk

Oh I know that much, it's a constant of RP lol. It was just my hope to join a lighter RP in the 'casual' section to get my chops back up. Then the mounds of IC text hit hahaha it'll be ok. Just gonna have a reaaaal sore RP muscle.

[Mirandae]

@Krash
One step at a time, love. A little bit of writing today, a little bit tomorrow, and then you'll have a nice post ready in no time. You'll be ripped and shredded out of your mind coming back to it all with this, no worries.

[Mirandae]

@Salsa Verde
Hehe, 'google', huh? It's a real world reference, so we'll have to change it somehow. It can still be a famous search engine and I'll put into the lore, but what should it be called? It doesn't have to be super different from 'google'—Moogle?

[CaliforniaState]

@Prisk

Oof forgot about that one. I’m not used to being able to rewrite lore as a player haha, Aeolian did it so flawlessly. Yeah Moogle sounds good!

[skidcrow]

@Prisk

Oof forgot about that one. I’m not used to being able to rewrite lore as a player haha, Aeolian did it so flawlessly. Yeah Moogle sounds good!

@Salsa Verde

consider it like greeking on a tv show where they change brand names or block out some of the letters so they dont get sued

[CaliforniaState]

[AlteredTundra]

@Salsa Verde
Hehe, 'google', huh? It's a real world reference, so we'll have to change it somehow. It can still be a famous search engine and I'll put into the lore, but what should it be called? It doesn't have to be super different from 'google'—Moogle?

@Prisk

KUPO!

[skidcrow]

@Salsa Verde

can't wait until later when a lab tech is having issues with their michaelsoft binbows 73

[Mirandae]

@Siber
Glad you're still with us! You seem to be a busy bee all over the forum in different games. That's nice to see.

[CaliforniaState]

@Siber
Glad you're still with us! You seem to be a busy bee all over the forum in different games. That's nice to see.

@Prisk

Excuse me ma’am are you stalking?

[Mirandae]

@Salsa Verde
Oh yeah, big time. I log out, too, so there's no trail.

[Archangel89]

Hey guys I'm still here I'm getting my post together shortly

[Mirandae]

@Krash
That post of yours made me hungry! I wouldn't call that post rusty for a come back.
I added the locations you mentioned on the local map. Hopefully I interpreted it correctly.

Also, you don't need to do the "quest steps". It's just something that I'll do as GM to easily communicate and make clear how everyone can respond and move forward. You could rename it to "summary", though. We've used post summaries in my games before to make reading things back a bit easier.

The character image in your post leads to someone else's character sheet, though. Go to the character tab, check the character cast banners at the top, click the "raw"-button the in top right corner, and then you'll find yours there. Might have to test a little to find your banner code there. My explanation here is a bit wonky, hope it made sense.

[Siber]

@Siber
Glad you're still with us! You seem to be a busy bee all over the forum in different games. That's nice to see.

@Prisk

Only in...uhm...how many forums have I subbed to now? Shush!