[OOC] Shadow Contract: A Demon-Slaying Action RP

[VitaVitaAR]

Aiming to start by next week!

[Emeth]

It's pretty funny that one of the Asura was apparently infamous for such vile acts as giving food to sinners, and engaging in wrestling. Sounds like a swell guy.

Azazel really started to grow on me, though, so I took a crack at it.

Federica Simonova

• Name: Federica Simonova (Nickname: Rika)
• Age: 23
• Gender: Female
  
• Personality: Willfully accepting the "weird and loud" foreigner stereotype, she makes zero effort to hide her Russian accent, securing her role as the oddball of the group. She likes to think that binding herself to this role lets other, shier people feel more free to express themselves a little more. Breaking the ice with extreme prejudice, she wears a smile that could melt the ice caps, lives to spite the concept of personal space, and makes it her mission to make others smile, or even better, laugh. She can't resist the call to help others in need; she's the type to buy a sweater for a friend just because they said they were cold. Though she dislikes conflict, especially between friends, she is no pacifist; she has a strong sense of justice and difficulty holding her tongue about it. Firmly believes the old proverb that the fastest way to a person's heart is through the stomach. Loves giving food and receiving food—preferably sweets. A bit openly jaded about romance—and secretly a cynical person in general, though few would ever suspect it.
• Skills: A beautician by trade, occasionally dabbling in embroidery. Played basketball and did judo in high school, but can no longer do either. Loves cooking and running (and when no one is looking, DDR). Quick on her feet and has lots of stamina and endurance. Decidedly not muscular, but thanks to her Shadow Contract, she's far more durable than her frail-looking frame would suggest.
• Contracted Shadow: Azazel, the Scapegoat
• Contract Type: Possession
• Contract Rank: B
• Contract Ability - Chôshek Rethuqah (Chains of Darkness):

"Bind Azazel hand and foot and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert – which is in Dudael – and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there forever, and cover his face that he may not see light. The whole earth has been corrupted through the works that were taught by Azazel: to him ascribe all sin."

The Book of Enoch

Me'od: By possession of Azazel, Rika's body gains a modest increase in her general combat capability, but the biggest change to highlight is her endurance. She can take a lot of punishment, and use her other skills to dish some of that right back. The state of mind brought upon her during it also dulls her emotions and facial expressions, making it easier to blend in with her summoned decoy dolls.

Semikhah: By laying her hand on an ally, Rika can heal their injures and remove maladies from them, turning them into a curse engraved on her hand. This curse can then be placed by her summoned spirit hand onto enemies, who will then suffer instead. If she does not do this quickly enough, Rika will instead suffer a lesser version of her ally's former injury or malady. She can also heal herself, but if she fails to pass the curse along, her condition will instead get worse every time.

Yad Châshab: Rika can summon a forearm-shaped protrusion of spiritual energy from her left arm. It can vary in size and length to grapple with enemies, place curses on them, and do anything else a giant fist should be able to do, like use an oil barrel as a stand-in for a roll of quarters, and pound cars into scrap. It also comes adorned with black chains, with jagged rocks stuck in its links. These can be used to whip, bind, or constrict enemies until death.

Azazel: Summons autonomous, sacrificial decoy dolls of Rika or any of her other allies that might be targeted. When the decoys are attacked, they explode, dealing heavy damage to their attacker, and negligible damage to Rika. Multiple dolls can be summoned, but as more of the same type are summoned, the less convincing they become. The tactic remains extremely effective against large crowds of unintelligent Beasts.

• Brief Backstory:
  Grew up in an under-served area of Tokyo, populated mostly by foreigners like her. This is the cause attributed to the tragedy that took place there. A Devil appeared at the same time that a Titan had appeared in Shibuya, headed towards Aoyama—in the opposite direction of her home. Both were accompanied by scores of Beasts for minions—the local DDF simply didn't have the resources to manage both disasters, and gave it their all to stop the one. Many of Rika's friends and neighbors would die in the ensuing chaos. Rika used everything she had available to defend herself and her mother: a crowbar, the fire extinguisher—and a desperate gambit with a propane tank—but it was all very nearly useless. Her mother would barely survive and spend the rest of her life bound to a wheelchair. Rika herself was hospitalized, losing an arm to the propane explosion, partial movement of her other hand to nerve damage, and spent four days in a coma.
  
  

  ---

  
  During her slumber, many beings would visit her in her dreams, drawn by the desperate fury that still lingered in her mind, knowing that help had never come, and that Devil that had destroyed her life had gotten away with it. Believing falsely that she was at death's door, she would refuse them all; she wouldn't make a deal with a Devil. However, one creature would catch her eye—one bound in chains of darkness—the fallen angel, Azazel. As Rika's life flashed before her eyes, the angel watched, and had pity. All the days of her life, she had been a scapegoat; the weird, shy girl everyone made jokes about, the punching bag of the school bullies, the token Russian girl at the workplace mixer—and now, on what could have been her deathbed, a sacrifice to save her mother.
  
  "Does your compassion for these undeserving creatures have no end?" Azazel would ask her. "Why have you done all of this?"
  
  Rika shrugged. She had no good answer to the angel's question. "The way I was raised, I suppose."
  
  "Ah. Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it. Proverbs 22 I believe."
  
  "I don't suppose demons quote scripture much, do they? Fine, I'll bite. What did you do to end up like this?"
  
  "I married a human woman," Azazel said simply.
  
  "Oh," Rika replied, nonplussed. "Kinda seems like disproportionate retribution."
  
  "On this, we can agree—and relate. Your fate, too, is undeserved. I shall preserve your life. You require a hand, and power to destroy your enemies. I will give you both. Only this will I require in return: you shall be my eyes, that I might see the world once more."
  
  

  ---

  
  When next she woke up, Rika learned the full extent of the damage to her body. She tried to move her hand, to reach for a nearby glass of water, but couldn't quite get it to work. The feeble grasping motion she was able to do wasn't enough to confidently hold it. Her other arm was gone from the elbow down. Her other arm, though, was able to lift the much-needed water to her lips.
  
  "Pffpptt!" Rika coughed, as the grogginess lifted and the whole "third arm" thing settled in her mind.
  
  Later that day, Rika would learn of the carnage left behind by the Devil—who died, and what happened to survivors like her—but she refused to be broken by the news. Unlike her mother, she could still walk—at least, that's how she thought at first. It would take months for her body to heal, and additional weeks of physical therapy before she could actually do it. She pushed through, with just one thing on her mind. "I'll kill them... I'll kill them all," she'd tell herself as she struggled, from hospital bed to shower and back again, relying on her phantom limb only to save herself from falling, in the hopes of regaining the use of her legs as soon as possible. She refused a prosthetic arm, for the simple practical reason of not really needing one, and not wanting to have to remove and clean it all the time just to look a bit more "normal." She was a foreigner living in Japan; how "normal" could she be?
  
  The local DDF had been informed of her new abilities, and almost as soon as she was discharged from the hospital, they offered Rika a job with them—but she refused. Unwilling to trust the DDF, believing that their negligence was responsible for what happened to her life and community, she hunted demons on her own for a few years, looking for the Devil that destroyed her home. The understaffed local branch was, approximately, happy to have her unofficial assistance in covering the area, but the locals who witnessed her work firsthand were a bit more notably unenthusiastic about the creepy girl with the bloody spirit-hand and exploding dolls. Some said her presence there was just one more reason why the DDF wouldn't come to help them, if such a thing ever happened again. A few encouraged her, but not enough to drown out the negative voices. Despite the lack of appreciation, she continued her hunt for the Devil. In the end, it hardly mattered. Her final solo mission was a botched job involving several Monsters that resulted in significant damage to the district's infrastructure, and would have cost her life if the DDF hadn't shown up to save her from succumbing to her injuries after the fact. The DDF then offered her a choice: join them, and be trained properly, or be forced to stop. She still hasn't found the Devil who killed her friends, so she chose to join.

[Raineh Daze]

Kind of wondering, what sort of take on Azazel is this meant to be? Like, what is he?

[VitaVitaAR]

@Emeth: I kind of want to echo @Raineh Daze's question, since that's important lore-wise.

[Emeth]

Fair question. The interpretation I chose is that he was one of the Watchers from the Genesis 6 conspiracy, which is expanded on in the Book of Enoch. The group of fallen angels tried to usurp the children of Adam's dominion on earth by claiming to be gods, and marrying the daughters of men in exchange for forbidden knowledge which the humans of the time were trying to learn. This gave rise to the nephilim (giants) which ruled the earth from human thrones for a while until the flood wiped them out. These were "mighty men of old, men of renown," analogous to Greek heroes. The Watchers were pretty high ranking angels. Power wise, he should be on roughly the same level as an Asura or Titan.

Edit: the abilities are based on a combination of the punishments of the Watchers, the Hebrew rituals surrounding Azazel (imputing the sins of the Israelites onto a goat for sacrifice), and the theme of "scapegoat" in general.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Emeth: In that case, accepted.

[Emeth]

Thanks for having me! This turned out to be a bit of an adventure. I hope it wasn't a bother for you.

[VitaVitaAR]

@Emeth: It's fine, it's my job as a GM to get things sorted out.

Anyway, as mentioned, we'll be starting this on the coming week! Most likely either Monday or Tuesday!

[LuckyBlackCat]

This looks good and I have a character concept, are you still accepting?

[VitaVitaAR]

@LuckyBlackCat: Yep! Still open!

[Emeth]

This looks good and I have a character concept, are you still accepting?

@LuckyBlackCat

We meet again, for the third time. Can't wait to see what you have up your sleeve!

[VitaVitaAR]

Alrighty, probably going to be starting tomorrow!

[VitaVitaAR]

Hey, I'm sorry for the delay, just really not up for a successful IC launch today. ^^;

However, I will ask if anyone's interested in a discord server. I tend to prefer them for OOC talk, but I'll ask first before I get one made.

[Emeth]

Hey, I'm sorry for the delay, just really not up for a successful IC launch today. ^^;

However, I will ask if anyone's interested in a discord server. I tend to prefer them for OOC talk, but I'll ask first before I get one made.

@VitaVitaAR

Seconded on the Discord. Also it's all good, take your time!

[Rune_Alchemist]

I'll take a discord too

[Rune_Alchemist]

I'll attempt getting something in the next few days
Monday at the latest

[LuckyBlackCat]

Apologies for the delay, work's been super busy, then I had to go and get the worst summer cold. Finishing the CS now though!

[VitaVitaAR]

@LuckyBlackCat: Alrighty! Looking forward to it.

[LuckyBlackCat]

@VitaVitaAR Here you go! I know we have mostly girls, but considering this kind of anime is usually male-dominated, it's a nice change.

Draconic Magical Girl

• Name: Hamasaki Kaida
• Age: 24
• Gender: Female
• Appearance:
  
• Personality: It's difficult to imagine that this brash and lively young woman was ever a shrine maiden. She often butts heads with the stricter members of the DDF, wanting to do things her own way. At times this can be useful, as it means she's good at thinking outside of the box, but at others it lands her in trouble. If someone's acting uptight, she'll try to break through their shell with jokes and a playful attitude, which more often than not has the opposite effect. Despite her seemingly childish tendencies, at heart she's an idealist who takes her role seriously, and just wants to bring as much positivity into a hellish world as possible.
  
  What she doesn't admit, even to herself, is that she's something of a perfectionist due to how she was raised. She hates the thought of letting anyone down in any major way. With lives on the line, this is understandable, but it extends to anything she perceives as failing others, right down to putting up a less-than-stellar ritual dance routine as she thinks it dishonours the gods, despite her contracted kami's reassurances to the contrary. She knows it's hypocritical because she doesn't like uptightness, but it's a tough habit to break.

• Skills: Kaida is skilled at dancing, having participated in several kagura dance rituals, which translates to a graceful fighting style. She's also a strong swimmer, even while not possessed. Good at playing the flute, specifically the kagura-bue (bamboo flute used in Shinto music) - while this may not help with DDF work, it helps her calm down after stressful missions, and she sees it as honouring the gods.
• Contracted Shadow: Kazemi the Dragon. Calm and level-headed in contrast to her host, she gives advice that Kaida doesn't always listen to. If you manage to piss her off, however, for example by harming her comrades... Well, let's just hope for your sake that you don't.
• Contract Type: Possession
• Contract Rank: B
• Contract Abilities: When in regular form, she has minor cold resistance, able to swim outside or wear summer clothes in midwinter without suffering. While fused with Kazemi, Kaida's appearance changes drastically, with silver-blue skin, a tail, fins, gills and horns. Whatever she's wearing turns into her battle outfit, for ease of movement. (Unlike in the picture, the bodice has a low back to it, the skirt is slightly longer, and she has shorts underneath with a hole for her tail - no pantyshots while flying, sorry pervs ;P) Her passive abilities consist of resistance to extreme cold, underwater breathing, and enhanced agility/flexibility.
  
  Her active abilities, since they come from a sea dragon, centre around water and wind. She can pull water from the air or other nearby non-living sources, and create powerful jets with it. Kazemi's blessing gives it a holy water effect - contact with it weakens demons, but slowly heals the wounds of other beings (the latter won't work on allies possessed by demons). As for wind manipulation, she can use it to knock back several enemies at once with fierce gusts, and fly short distances.
  
  Lastly, she can combine the two to put walls of fog in front of/around enemies to obscure their vision. The fog has a more "diluted" version of the blessing and acts as a mild demon repellent, but sufficiently strong enemies can brush it off as a mild inconvenience.

• Brief Backstory: Born into a traditionalist family living near Tokyo Bay, Kaida was expected to serve the local shrine as her parents did. "People need faith and hope," her mother would say as the news reported more and more demon attacks. The other reason was they wanted her to be the ideal daughter. Perfect grades, perfect graces, perfect representation of their values. And if she fell short, they'd let her know. As a teen, Kaida quickly gave up trying to fit such a narrow mold. If life was so short, shouldn't she make the best of it? She reluctantly did her miko duties whenever she had to, but the rest of the time, she'd goof off and hang out with friends.
  
  Until one day, when Kaida was 17, a demon attack broke out in her neighbourhood. All Kaida could think to do was run to the shrine and beg the kami to help her protect her friends and family. To her surprise, the kami responded in her head, offering to make a shadow contract. Desperate, Kaida accepted, and her body morphed into a new form as the dragon spirit fused with her. With the dragon's guidance in her mind, she was able to fend off beast-class demons long enough for the DDF to arrive.
  
  She joined the DDF shortly afterwards, training and battling her way up the ranks, although her issues with the organisation's military-like discipline became an obstacle, too uncomfortably close to her upbringing. Even so, she realised her parents were right about something - people did need hope. And she's dedicated to helping the DDF bring that hope about.

@Emeth I feel Kaida and Rika are going to get along great, to everyone else's annoyance (especially Emi's).

[VitaVitaAR]

@LuckyBlackCat: Accepted.