Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps (Action/Mys. Urban-Fantasy RP about dead people. Anime Inspired)

[Art of Fun]

Egregoroi: Action Psychopomps

Everybody dies. That's the unavoidable truth of life, and if by some miracle you manage to find a 'loophole' in the system to make yourself immortal in some description, then you're still going to die. Sorry. It really is inevitable, not matter how hard you try. If you're one of them, though, it's not about when you die - it's about how you die. The Egregoroi, hand picked agents of the Earth its self and its idea of death, enforce this universal truth. The Immortal who thinks it has it all worked out, hidden away quietly in some backwater and living out the rest of its eternal days might just find its self being paid a visit by one or a few of these morbid beings.

An Egregoroi is born when a person dies. That person then finds them self not quite dead, near the spot they died, with an odd creature which only they can seem to see lingering over their shoulder. That thing is their death, their Momento Mori, the face of how they died made manifest. Its appearance, personality and mannerisms all indicate what kind of death it was, some aspects more than others. For example; you got caught up in the world of crime and ended up gunned down by a cop, and when you were brought back you ended up with a Mori that resembled a police officer with a skull for a face and flame surrounding its head, with an indomitable personality and driven to keep its 'partner' in check - Death by harsh justice.

So you've just been brought back from your death, which you're certain was not that long ago, and then this spirit friend of yours gives you the run down: For now, you're back and you've been brought back for a specific reason - to hunt. You can feel it as well, an invisible force urging you to go somewhere, to find something and then fix it. You can consider resisting this urge, but the longer you do the more maddening it becomes. Eventually, you cave or you go mad.

You, though. You're being urged to a city, somewhere. All you know is that something is there, and it does not belong. You body and instincts tell you to go, and you can only fight it for so long. That thing that's been lingering around you - the Mori - seems eager to convince you as well.

Best get to it, before that whole madness thing starts.

---

Thanks for reading that (very) short introduction to Egregoroi! After a hiatus brought on by university life, I figured I'd try my hand at an RP I've been thinking of for a while. In short, as an Egregoroi you're a psychopomp. You guide things that have lingered on the Earth for too long to the afterlife, but your mission is a bit more difficult than that. The Egregoroi are created to deal with powerful instances of these 'things', among them being Level Graded Spirits and Immortal Beings.

Here's some

Terminology and Definitions

Egregoroi - Psychopomps. Their mission is to guide level graded spirits and other such creatures to final death. They are initially created to complete one hunt, and after that initial hunt they are given the choice between being reborn as a new life, passing on to the after life, or remaining an Egregoroi to serve the greater powers. They are bound to a Mori. Old age is never a reason for becoming an Egregoroi, there is usually an exceptional/odd reason which would not constitute a 'normal' death in the same way dying of age is.

Momento Mori - Simply called a Mori. An immensely powerful being created specifically for the Egregoroi based off of how they died. They funnel their powers through the Egregoroi so they may do their work. The form, personality, attributes and powers of a Mori can vary heavily. Some can be humanoid, others animal like and even geometric. They often communicate with their Egregoroi, as well as with other Egregoroi and their Mori's, but they generally do not do the latter two unless required. As a Level Graded Spirit, they fall ambiguously between levels 5-7, although the full extent of their abilities can rarely ever be drawn upon by an Egregoroi.

Level Graded Spirit - Within the global magic community, there is a general model to help categorise spirits. Ungraded spirits are weak, mostly just fragile memories which cling to places and cannot impact the material realm to any degree, while a Graded spirit can have influence over the material realm and even greater power over the supernal realm. These grades go from 1-10, with 1 being something like a self-aware poltergeist and level 10 spirit being beyond manifestation, more akin to an 'aware concept' than anything else.

Earthmind - Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis wasn't too off the mark. The Earth its self is quite literally a living being, and it can in a sense 'think', although it is more akin to a regulated body than a mind. There is an order that it seeks to maintain, and anything that disturbs that order will attract the attention of the Earthmind. It is suspected that the Egregoroi are a specialised form of 'white cell' to the Earthmind, made specifically to deal with the disruption of death. Over the years, the Earthmind has become more and more strict on what constitutes order and disorder, resulting in a decline of the wondrous. The Earthmind would constitute a Level 9 on the Level Grade model.

Magic - It exists in this setting, as you can imagine, but it's generally kept very well hidden from the public. Muggles, and so on.

Immortal Beings - It's in the name. This classification is about as broad as the Level Grade model for spirits, powerful vampires and magic users being among them. The only clear definer for what makes an Immortal Being target worthy for the Earthmind is that they are, in some form, physically immortal and have amassed enough power in order to be noticed. The latter is not required, but the more power and influence an Immortal Being gains, the more likely it is they will be hunted by the Earthmind and the agents that serve it.

Example Character:

Name: Erica Bergland

Age: 19

Appearance: An image or text description, both if you're feeling adventurous

Nationality: Swedish

Personality: Ever the outgoing sort, Erica sought challenge after challenge in her short life, resulting in her taking up the likes of rock and mountain climbing and other sports on the side. She is not the most book smart person out there, nor does she have any desire to be, but it would be incorrect to call her unintelligent; there is defiantly a creative and 'outside-the-box' method of thinking to this girl, contributing to her success in her chosen sport.

Even unknown to Erica, she has a natural gravity which seems to draw people to her, usually resulting in her becoming the 'leader' of a group of friends. She's sociable, friendly and an overall pleasant person to be around...most of the time. The off-side to her can be impatient, defiant to lectures or being boxed in and sometimes insensitive in her bluntness. Exploration, risk and danger, these are the things she brings to her friends and those around her.

Background & Death: Ever energetic as a child through to her teens, Erica found more in physical activities than the classroom. She never directly failed anything, but academic excellence was a far cry away for her. Instead, Erica turned her focus to mountain climbing. At the age of 16, she climbed to the peak of the Helagsfjallet. Her next big climb took her to Canada's Northern Rocky Mountains, the peak of Mount Ulysses being her goal. It was there that she eventually died.

Erica

Name: The Fimbulvinter

Represents: To be killed by the wilds and the weather, the biting cold.

Appearance: Again, text or image is fine. Some Mori's may require text, others wouldn't. Up to you.

Abilities: [These are what the Mori grants the user, and they can gain access to more power or increase what's already there through time, experience and experimentation. In general, there is a 'primary' cause, that being the immediate cause of death, that would grant the majority of their initial power, and a 'secondary' cause which would compliment the primary cause, and serve to flavour the Mori's abilities some more.]

Feral Form - Something common among those claimed by animals. Erica gains distinctly wolf-like features, including a set of fierce icicle claws, teeth and grey fur along her forearms. This ability increases the capabilities of her senses as well as those of her physical body, making her stronger, faster and more durable.

Unforgiving Cold - A secondary power based on the cold conditions which lead to her death by the wild. It is not uncommon for secondary cause abilities to be more utility based, and this is the case with Erica. Unforgiving Cold gives Erica limited control over cold temperatures, allowing her to freeze small areas and make the air around her uncomfortably cold. An application of this ability allows her to move on water by freezing it under her, and to increase the sharpness/length of her ice-based claws.

Interest? Thoughts? Let me know! I'd give it a bit before posting up any CS', just to make sure there's enough interest to start, but feel free to post whatever idea you may have anyway. Once the main thread is put up, more light will be shone on the key players of the story. If anyone wants to talk something over on Skype, give me a shout through PMs.

As a note if you consider making a character: Keep in mind that, while Egregoroi may be potentially very powerful, fresh Egregoroi are not at the top of this settings foodchain or anywhere near it. Think of a good, basic starting place which could then develop into something more in-depth and unique. In the example of Erica, she is starting as 'kinda tough and shit with a bit cold', but she could eventually turn into a real physical monster with the ability to manifest cold weather phenomena, blizzards and stuff. Basically, just keep a sort of progressive story narrative in mind.

[Raijinslayer]

I like this. A lot. You can sign me way up, can't wait to hunt down some immortals. Do I have to but a Character up now, or when the actual RP thread is made.

[Art of Fun]

Thanks for the interest! You can put it up either now or when the thread gets made, it's up to you. As long as it shows up at some point, I'll leave it to your discretion.

[Raijinslayer]

Okay, cool.
What inspired this RP, as it seems really original to me, Concept-wise. I especially love the idea of Mori, they seem awesome. Gonna be hard to sync up what I've got in my head with a type of death, however, but still awesome idea here.

[Art of Fun]

Nothing too direct other than Persona, I suppose. I'm a fan of the Nasuverse, but I'm not savvy enough to run anything in it, so there's some inspiration drawn from concepts in there (notably the Earthmind/Gaia expy). The death aspect of it just seemed like an interesting approach, to look at the way something/someone died as part of their abilities rather than 'Yes I am dead and now I have some unrelated abilities because of it'. There's bits and pieces of inspiration from other work if you squint, like Soul Eater a friend pointed out.

[Raijinslayer]

I've never watched or played Persona, but I do see where Soul Eater could be interpreted, but by a large, I say this is mostly your on thing, and it's awesome. Are you going to be using the character in the example?

[Art of Fun]

Probably not, to be honest. Erica was someone I threw together in the moment as a quick example of a Egregoroi starting out with their power, and to show that a group of them can be rather international. I'll probably make a character to loosely act a 'guide' if things get a bit stuck, but otherwise I'll be focusing on NPCs and characters within the city and so on. Don't want to divide my attention too much and such.

[Raijinslayer]

Makes sense.

[chukklehed]

*plays the panpipes of interest*

And now I am here

I actually have a character I played LONG LONG ago that would fit into this with a little tweaking. She was the heiress to a wealthy family who committed suicide after killing her boyfriend in self defense. Strangely it wasn't a dark RP...

[Raijinslayer]

Doesn't have to be Dark RP to have a dark backstory. If that happened in the RP however, then that raises some questions.

[chukklehed]

Nah, it was just backstory. But the RP was actually a little like this one, except instead of having powers based on how you died, you had powers based on what you never got to do in your life. Like I said it should be easy to change.

[Raijinslayer]

Interesting premise in the same vein. I might use something like that, or like this, in one of my stories. I'll have to put my own spin on it of course. Inspiration is one thing, plagiarism is another.

[MarshiestMallow]

This does indeed look interesting. Mmm it would be interesting i think to try out a character I've had ine development for some time, I think for this.

[The Narrator]

Awesome Idea!
Definitely interested.

[Rinnee]

Throwing my interest in as well!

[Naut]

I'm interested too!

[Art of Fun]

Alright! Thanks for the interest, guys. I'll work on getting the OP/OOC up ASAP.

[Naut]

Bit of trivia, Wallace Hartley was a real person and really did die on the Titanic! If you want me to change anything or add detail, I'll be happy to.

Wallace Hartley

Name: Wallace Hartley

Age: 23

Appearance:


Nationality: English

Personality: Having been dead for so long you might imagine Wallace to be a stuffy old sack but this, “Centa-trentagenarian” certainly doesn’t act his age. Though he can’t physically interact with it, Wallace has embraced technology and he often likes to watch television in electrical department stores or peer over the shoulder of smart phone users. He remains the same in death as he was alive. Able to accept things as they are and go with the flow with a happy-go-lucky attitude.

If you were to peel away the layers and get to know him on a deeper level you would begin to wonder about the genuineness of his disposition. Is it going with the flow? Or is it self-defeatist? Why is it that he gives up so easily?

Background & Death: Over one hundred years ago, Wallace, an accomplished violinist, lead a band aboard the maiden voyage of the RMS Titanic, bound to New York City from Southampton. Disturbingly, he was at first reluctant to accept the role as bandleader as he had only recently proposed to the love of his life and the time it would take to return to her seemed a tad extreme but ultimately he decided that in the long run it would be better for them as a couple if he had consistent work and accepting this contract would solidify his name in the industry. This was of course the worst decision he had ever made. The ship collided with an ice berg and sank into the ocean, killing all but a small percentage of the crew and passengers.

Many people could have been chosen to become an Egregoroi that night but Wallace stood out. He and his band amongst the chaos chose to calm the terrified passengers by continuing to play long before their fates were sealed. Consequentially, they were all pulled into the depths of the ocean but they became legends and people today still speak of the band that played to soothe the Titanic’s passengers as it sank.

Levi

Name: The Leviathan

AKA: Levi

Represents: To be ravished by the sea. Overwhelmed by the truly titanic strength of the ocean, pulled and pummelled by salty water.

Appearance:


Levi is confined to a clear glass jar, sealed by a cork. He rolls the jar like a hamster ball to get around, scurrying from A to B. He’s amphibious/reptilian in aesthetic but humanoid in shape and tremendously tiny. He wears a little hat tilted to the left, akin to a party hat but meant to signify an iceberg.

Abilities: Levi grants Wallace aspects of the sea.

Wallace can materialise and manipulate copious amounts of salt, crystalline white sea salt. He produces beautiful geometric shapes that act as both offence and defence, battering rams and sturdy shields.

Wallace can summon an incredibly dense fog that allows him to act somewhat stealthier in combat.

[The Narrator]

Jimmy Meyers

Name: James "Jimmy" Meyers

Age: 20

Appearance:


Nationality: American

Personality: Jimmy is actually a very nice young man, he cares deeply about his friends, since they are the only possessions he ever had. He is however incredibly lazy and always up to no good. He lives in the today and never even thinks about tomorrow.
Their is a side to Jimmy that is incredibly dark, he is willing to go incredible lengths to get what he wants, and could not care less if someone might get hurt. He feels left alone in the world and mostly blames his failures on society, he can be self-ironic however.

Background & Death: Jimmy was born to a poor family in Queens. His mother loved him dearly but died when he was 9. Then his father started drinking. There where only a few times when Jimmy's Father was abusive but being at home was still a torture for the young Jimmy. The first time he took drugs was with 12. It started with alcohol and weed, later LSD, Meth and Heroin. Jimmy took them all. He dropped out of school with 15, because he never showed up there.
From then one Jimmy lived on the street. He abandoned his home and his father, who never really searched for his son after that. Jimmy did odd jobs for everyone who would be willing to pay, he sold his body, cleaned buildings, begged and stole money. All to get the next hit.
It was a wonder he even made it to 20. Jimmy was a wreck he died of an fatal syringe of Heroin.

Black Tar

Name: Black Tar

Represents: To give up one's own live just to have a moment of euphoria. The slow and self inflicted death by addiction and drugs.

Appearance:


Abilities: Poisonous Touch- Jimmy's veins seem darkly, even black when he touches someone and fills them with all the pain drugs can do to someone. A single, short touch, of one or two seconds can give the victim strong symptoms comparable to drug withdrawal. Up to five seconds severely paralyze the victim and weaken him. He might not even be able to hold himself on his feet. Over ten seconds of exposure to this ability will kill a person. Like a overdose.

No place like home- The only thing that has always accompanied Jimmy in his short live was the street. Now a city can be Jimmy's strongest companion. He can go into one smelling dark back-ally and come out of another in a matter of seconds. Street-dogs and rats that live from the garbage of the humans will flock to Jimmy and defend him. Doors of old, abandoned buildings seem to appear and open just for him.

[MarshiestMallow]

Prudence Peabody

Name
Prudence Peabody

Age
23

Gender
female

Nationality
Irish

Personality
Dutiful, cool and unperturbed. Just some of the words one might use to describe Prudence's personlity. Dependable and efficient. Enjoys companionship and affection. She is kind, and caring, duty bound and determined. She is stubborn to a fault, and follows through with what she believes in.

Background and Death
Kidnapped, beaten and abused from the age of Four, Prudence can not remember anything before that time. She cannot remember the love her parents care her, not how she came ot be in the hands of a vicious man. For three years, she was held captive, beaten. Abused. Broken, until one day when she was rescued. She witnessed the killing of the man who had imprisoned her, and the first person she saw was the cop who had done the killing. She was small for her age, weak and underweight, and thus was carried out by the cop.

Needing that law, that responsibility and order, she set herself on the path to becoming a cop, and at the age of twenty, had entered the force She rose quickly, and had a reputation for closing cases and finding those responsible.

And then she died. Shot, and in a building that was on fire, she was unable to escape, and burned to death.

Inferno

Name
Inferno

represents
To be trapped in a furnace, burning to ash with no escape.

Appearance


Abilities
Fire Storm This gives Prudence the ability to control fire, in a storm of flames. Ever here hell hath no fury like a woman scorn? Pru lives up to that saying.

Fire Form Flames engulf Prudence, a defense as well as an attack enabling her to burn everything in her path and be protected