BCTheEntity

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Hey, so when did we go back inside the inn? I thought we were all standing just out front?

JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Verum Autem Ex

“As you may already be aware, the world is not what it seems. Throughout history things have always been shaped by the unseen, the unknown, the weird. Saved by great people, threatened by dark forces.

“Unfortunately, it would seem the cycle has come around again. The world needs your skills... this is why we have contacted you. To travel to the heart of the American government, Washington D.C., and help us. You will, of course, be compensated for your troubles.”

Signed: Mr. L. S. Armstrong - S.W.F

---

The year is 2018, and you have been contacted by the Speedwagon Foundation for assistance in very delicate matters. News has spread of mass sickness within the district, an unexplainable illness that kills most of its victims, and grants both the survivors and seemingly unaffected individuals in its path strange abilities, what the majority of Americans might even refer to as “superpowers”.

You, of course, know them as “Stands”, whether or not you possess one yourself - hell, perhaps you’re already a valued and valuable member of the Speedwagon Foundation, or even one of the empowered survivors of this strange sickness. That is why you are here to begin with: your awareness of the supernatural, not to mention your mundane skillsets, make you perfect candidates for this investigation. With any luck, you will be able to address these concerns accordingly, and once again make the world a safer place.

---

For those who are new to Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure...

The world of JJBA is, frankly speaking, one of oddity even in the mundane. Ridiculous antics abound, dramatic posing is frequent, and the characters have a tendency to make a big impression, even when they are being subtle.

No wonder the adventures of the Joestar family are so bizarre, then. It’s very difficult to explain the series in detail without sounding like a crazy person or putting people off at first glance, but the style inherent to JJBA, its ability to offer the insane without departing from the sensible, is evidently addictive to a great number of people - much like a certain Stand power, It Just Works. Speaking of Stand powers...

Regarding Stands

Stands are, in essence, the equivalent of psychic powers in the world of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure, entities which “stand by” their user, either literally or otherwise, in humanoid and non-humanoid forms, or even bound to physical objects. Not everyone can develop a Stand, as most lack the strength of will to control one, and each Stand user can only possess a single Stand, but they are rather potent: only Stand users can see Stands, only Stands can harm Stands, and each typically possesses physical abilities beyond what the user themselves bears, not to mention powers unique to the user, ranging from those as simple as transformation into string or manipulation of the elements, to the more complex abilities such as enhancing one’s own abilities in some way, to more abstract control over the world and its constants, and occasionally interacting with the fabric of space-time or even fate itself.
However, not everything is peaches and cream. Most Stands, with few exceptions, need to be directly controlled or given orders by their user in some way or another, can only be in one place at a time, and any damage a Stand takes directly correlates to damage taken by the user and vice versa. In other words, a user’s death or unconsciousness will result in their Stand dissipating, whilst a Stand’s destruction will kill the user accordingly. Equally, plenty of Stands may or may not appear to perfectly follow some of these rules, though most will adhere to them unless their power somehow affects their interaction with the world.
For more detailed information on Stands, as well as access to the JJBA wiki as a whole, please follow this link, though note that spoilers are present on the wiki.

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Game Rules

• Please follow the rules of the website - most notably, don’t be a jerk, and be sure to write to the expected standards of the Advanced section.
• Please try to post within a reasonable timeframe. Beyond the initial posting frequency, once every week is more than sufficient, but I can’t help you if you’re consistently days behind everyone else. If, of course, you have a good reason to be delayed, do tell me before I choose to move on, and I’ll take that into account.
• Please write down who you think the best JoJo is in the Other section of the character sheet.
• Please be aware that the nature of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure means that character death is an inherent risk throughout the RP. I will not hold back when it comes to NPC action, nor will I avoid killing player characters off if it is a logical outcome. Not every fight will result in death, but any fight can result in death, especially if you aren’t smart about defeating your opponents.
• Equally, the nature of Stand battles tends to skew in favour of larger groups. Thus, I will likely only be accepting a small number of players on an invitational basis, and it may well be that not every player character will be directly involved in every Stand battle, depending on when and why the party splits at any given time.
• Please be ⁂FABULOU~~S~⁂
• No, seriously. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is one of the most off-the-wall settings in existence without going into the realm of nonsense, and in that regard, the Rule of Cool is in full effect - feel free to utilise even very specific facts about the world to bolster the logic behind your moves and attacks, and note that even the most ridiculous plans might succeed if they’re presented dramatically enough.

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The Sheets

Character Sheet

Name: The character’s name, typically derived from one or more famous singers, bands, or other sources of significance. As a rule, I don’t intend to allow players to derive their character from significant bloodlines in canon; if you’re that desperate to show off a Joestar or Zeppeli or what have you, PM me so that I can discuss it with you.

Gender: The character’s birth sex. Sexuality and self-perceived gender are separate matters; discuss these in their personality.

Age: The character’s age. Simple enough.

Stand: The name of the character’s Stand, if they have one. Be aware that you don’t need to give your character a Stand at all, though they will be aware of the existence of the supernatural either way, and will have the potential to develop a Stand later on nonetheless - write down “N/A” if this is the case. Despite the disadvantages against them, it is entirely possible for a perfectly normal human to defeat most Stand users with the right mix of technical skill and planning ahead.

Appearance: Describe the character’s physical appearance, including their height and build and their clothing, which should of course be suitably fabulous. Note that despite the game being set in the United States of America, there is no requirement that your characters be American by nationality; Stand powers don’t discriminate by race, after all.

Personality: Describe the character’s personality, including any quirks they exhibit and philosophies they live by. Again, here’s the place to discuss the character’s sexuality and gender, as well as any other aspects of their persona they may or may not consider important, such as likes and dislikes, religion, political stance, mental illnesses and psychological conditions, hopes and fears, and even prejudices - assuming any given topic is pertinent, of course.

Skills: Mundane physical and mental skills your character possesses, like knitting, jogging, boxing, speed-reading, cooking, or observation. This section also covers supernatural powers they possess that are not Stands, which don’t specifically have to be derived from what is known to be canonical; to wit, whilst I won’t deny anything like vampirism, the Spin, or the Ripple “just because”, do discuss these and any other supernatural abilities with me if you want to include them.

History: Write down the character’s backstory here, including significant past events. A minimum of two or three decently-sized paragraphs would be appreciated; otherwise, feel free to be as brief or as detailed with it as you like.

Other: Anything else that may optionally be worth noting about the character, including what their name references.

Stand Sheet

Stand Name: The Stand’s name, typically derived from a famous band, album, or song, which frequently also has a significant relation to the user’s personality and/or history through the name or lyrics happening to describe them, rather than as a direct part of their life experiences; feel free to encase the name in 「hook brackets」 or not at your leisure.

Stand Parameters: The Stand’s stat layout, with C representing roughly human ability in that area. There are no ranks beyond A or E, respectively the strongest and weakest a parameter can get, and I won’t be allowing ranks of None or Infinite. Other than this, a reasonably balanced layout would be preferable; explanations for the Stand’s parameter layout are optional, though I reserve the right to ask for an explanation if I feel it is appropriate or necessary.
Power: A-E. A.K.A. Destructive Power. Represents a Stand’s potential to deal damage and cause destruction, either through their direct strength or their ability. Note that a low-Power Stand is not necessarily ineffective in a battle, merely unlikely to cause large amounts of physical harm to a target or to the user’s surroundings on its own.
Speed: A-E. Represents how fast a Stand can move and react, and occasionally how quickly their ability takes effect. A low-Speed Stand may not literally have less speed that the average human, but will nonetheless have difficulty in acting quickly somehow, such as changing its physical momentum or accounting for a change in situation.
Range: A-E. Represents a combination of the range of a Stand’s manifestation area, ability influence, and spatial mobility. Typically, but not always, inversely proportional to Power - generally speaking, a low-Range Stand might only act within as little as a couple of meters of the user before losing power exponentially, whilst a high-Range Stand might be able to function hundreds or even thousands of meters away from the user without any loss in effectiveness at all.
Staying: A-E. A.K.A. Durability. Represents a combination of a Stand’s physical durability, susceptibility to damage and attacks, and its drain on the user’s stamina if relevant. For reference, most Stands that lack a body or are bound to the user or another object will have an A rank in Staying, representing the strength of their binding to the appropriate canvas.
Precision: A-E. Represents a Stand’s physical accuracy and focus, as well as how effective their abilities are against specific targets rather than groups. A low-Precision Stand may or may not be good at targeting crowds, but will likely lack the ability to strike a particular point or utilise its ability on the same target repeatedly nonetheless, and it will have trouble with agility too if its Speed or Range are also low.
Learning: A-E. A.K.A. Developmental Potential. Represents a Stand’s ability to improve its current parameters and abilities, as well as its potential to develop new abilities with practice. Generally speaking, this has some connection to the user’s own mentality to a greater extent than other parameters: low-Learning Stands have either discovered most or all of their potential via the user’s own experience and training, or simply couldn’t make much or any extra progress to begin with, often but not always as a result of how the user’s psyche functions.

Stand Description: Describe the Stand’s appearance and personality (if any) here, including any physical quirks it might have, and how much independence and self awareness it has. Most Stands lack their own personality, being adept representations of the user’s psyche already, but some situations can lead a Stand to be more of an individual than usual; if you’re unsure, feel free to ask me about it.

Power Description: Describe the ability of the Stand as completely as possible, including an example of how its power may function against its intended targets and its weaknesses. Bear in mind that whilst exceptionally powerful abilities will be vetoed outright, most battles in JJBA are decided based on who is the more creative fighter, and thus I am more likely to allow powers with many creative uses. You may also name the ability itself if you so choose, with or without 「hook brackets」 encasing it.

Other: Anything else that may optionally be worth noting about the Stand, including what the Stand’s name and the name of its ability references.

One Piece: New Horizons!

Dirk Messir - BA DE YA, SAY- No. We're Not.

Oh the gah, there it is! There is the best boye's best attack boye! He's doing a cool time today, for sure. Then he's fine for now, so he can go there. Divine Purpose? Yes, it agrees. That is the true truth.

'Okay, we're going right, because right is the right way to go,' Joke dirked, and then laughed with hearty dignetiy.

I said, he laughed wiuth heatryrt tdiengeierjg.

No you didn't. You only thought that. What you actually said was 'I am a worthless coward, and I deserve nothing more than to kill myself.'

'...so it is, Derek,' Dirk realised, realising that he'd realised what he'd really said, which was that. But the Divine Purpose didn't actually say to do that so he didn't, and instead he decided to decide to go to the right, and go to the return of Cannon. The big real deal, for real.

'Okay, you enter the gun, by which I mean break the guns, and by guns I mean guns,' Dirk extrapolated, jabbing verdantly in the correct direction of the gun cannons, 'meanwhile I will snake to the tower.' And he did start to do this, for real deals. There could be true real deal meals in that place. He'd see them, and remain where the Divine Purpose said he had to to to to hide.

Like a coward Weakling! You're such a little wimp Loser!

Nuh.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Sorry if it seemed like I was pressuring you or something with what I was saying, @The Fated Fallen, I just wanted to know where everyone's characters stood story wise.

@Mortarion

Sett stands on his own two feet. Sometimes inside a ritual circle.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Alessa Heather: Charity Fundraiser

Damn. Damn, damn, damn. It seemed like everything had been going well. Certainly, some were injured, Overlook most notably, but that was rarely not the case when it came to somebody as dangerous as Shatterpoint, and given how exceptionally well Hermes’ plan had turned out, it seemed like Ceramix had wound up being the sole remaining threat.

Which was the problem, now. He was still a threat, and having excised himself of the majority of his golem suit, he now had hostages in hand - literally, in the oversized stone hands still attached to him. If they didn’t free Shatterpoint, people were going to die, and even as Ceramix made his threats, Alessa could not come up with a way for her power to assist there. If she superheated the stone arms to melting point, they’d fall and crush the hostages; burn off Ceramix’s real arms, or just simply burn a hole in his head, same problem; melt the hands, yeah, very funny. Shit, shit, not again, not again, why did she make promises she couldn’t keep-?!

A loud crack of some bone or another brought her back to her senses. No, this wasn’t going to be like the warehouse again. No blood, no gore, no... focus focus focus! She couldn’t help directly; so, she would help the only way she could in this case: buying the others time.

‘I’m going to draw his attention,’ she murmured into her communicator, thanking the stars that she was still hidden behind a barrier of shrapnel. Quiet enough that Ceramix ought not to notice, more than loud enough to hear when projected directly into one’s ear canal by a communication’s device. ‘I’m trusting you guys to come up with something to stop him.’

‘I ain’t playin’, fools!’ They were out of time to react; drawing herself upright, Alessa stepped out from behind cover, calling ‘Wait, wait! We’ll do it, we give up!’, putting as much of her own fear into her voice as she could. She did, after all, really want to make sure the hostages survived, even if they were villains in their own right.

‘We can get him out of the foam, Ceramix,’ she began to explain, subtly moving around him in a way that drew his attention off of the bulk of the other heroes - or that was the thought process, at least. ‘There’s solvent outside the building, and that’ll dissolve what’s got Shatterpoint surrounded. Just please let the hostages live if we go get it, okay? It’ll literally take maybe half a minute. Nobody... nobody has to die,’ she concluded, a bit of sadness in her tone. If her face were visible, she’d be making puppy-dog eyes at Ceramix right now; as it was, she’d just have to hope her voice conveyed her begging sufficiently. Maybe it’d even throw him off his game enough that he’d let them go of his own accord. Either way, she hoped it’d draw his attention long enough to give others a chance to undo his threat.

Capes of Denver: A Worm RP

Raymond Haywood: The Cruise Room

Everyone seemed to go about their methods reasonably peaceably once the kerfuffle with Benito was done with, asking for or declining vials as appropriate. Indeed, it seemed the newly-established parahuman could return the objects he disappeared as handily as disappearing them in the first place. Useful to know - if he ever needed to fight him, of course. Not that he ever would.

And then, with some dramatic forewarning and flickering lights, along came Xolotl, bragging about his superiority, and his plan to steal the vials, and how everyone at the meeting was going to die. This, then, would be the Community’s spy at their meeting- well, one of them, at least. It could easily be he was alone, or perhaps that he had backup for just such an occasion as this. Either way, since he knew he could take the maniac out with contemptuous ease given half a second to direct the shot properly, Raymond drew his weapon from its holster, standing up and moving into the aisle to aim the weapon as Xolotl made a dramatic leap toward “the Broker”...

And promptly fell in an awkward heap in front of the man. Hmm. He’d expected more resistance than that. Then again, when he knew the real Broker’s powers had something to do with manipulating the powers of others almost freely, it wasn’t that surprising after all. He didn’t put his pistol away or sit down, though nor did he shoot, now that he knew his power would be unnecessary to secure the target - no need to risk revealing it by knocking him out with a bullet, after all.

Instead, as the so-called Broker bragged right back at Xolotl (and announced a decent reward for knocking him out), he approached the Meso-American-themed villain from behind slowly, only to sprint the last couple of meters and attempt to crack the would-be God across the back of the head with the gun, an effort to daze rather than directly knock out. If that worked, he’d actually take the odd step of placing his gun behind himself - out of reach of Xolotl, for the time being - as he knelt down and attempted to put the man in a blood choke, ideally leading to a quick and easy knockout, at the same time jerking his head to indicate that the “bartender” ought to bring some rope to tie him up once all was said and done. He focused on being a sniper, true, but it wasn’t like his army training wasn’t still useful in cases like this, even if he was no longer at quite his physical peak.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Post made, fellas. For reference, if we want to speed things along, @POOHEAD189 is free to make Sett finish up the ritual and grant the blessing once everyone is back in one spot, mostly Nicademus.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Sett's sleep was rather fitful, though it calmed as the night went on. Good, then, that nobody else had shared a room with him to be disturbed by his motions. By the time he awoke, roused by the odd noises rattling around the Madame Alice's quarters, he was feeling much calmer. Indeed, he was more able, as he took care of basic amenities that morning, such as prayer, and for the first time in a little while bathing, to think back over what Nicademus had said the previous evening with a clear mind.

In the first instance, he remained annoyed at how readily the guard captain had just brushed off his honeyed words. He'd put quite some effort into that speech, after all. However, the annoyance was not that of mere offense, he realised, but rather it combined with how impertinently sharp Nicademus was. He had to be especially careful around him; he rather felt some of the other members of the party were already too suspicious of him, and he'd hardly done anything worth drawing suspicion to begin with. Nothing stolen from anybody, only items pulled from their place when he'd been sure nobody was looking... honestly, he wondered whether Fineki was annoyed with him for not taking more chances.

And in the second, it struck him that perhaps he'd been a bit too cruel in his mind toward the guard's plight. Even if he hadn't technically been "tortured" as a prisoner- and that was a debate for a church, whether whipping and chains yet counted as torture, or whether such pains needed to be more protracted than that- he had indeed lost both his home town and his family to the Dark Elf scourge. To discount that merely because he portrayed himself as too much of a victim...

...yet, in the third instance, he found he could not forgive how he merely ignored the possibility that others had also been tormented by their foul clutches. Not that sympathy fell more handily on Aeryn for any reason of race or gender, nor that Nicademus' credibility was in question, but unlike the guard, she'd proven without doubt she was a victim to the group. They'd encountered her, in chains, about to be executed simply for being half-breed. Was he perhaps letting some aspect of her being reach him where Nicademus had failed to reach with his first impression? Well, maybe. He reiterated to himself that his first impression hadn't been the best, then resolved to try and find some spark of goodwill toward the guardsman.

Breakfast found itself a simple affair, fruits and bread and a small amount of meat. He wasn't used to exceptionally heavy meals, even whilst he was still ensconced at the Church of Fineki, for despite everything that branch of the cult remained only middling in wealth; his rations were about the richest thing he'd ever consumed in large quantity, to an extent reserved for the most action-intensive days of his trip thus far. And truthfully, whilst he was at least forced to shift his weight when it came to assisting the settlement, he didn't intend this day to be too rough on himself.

Well, at least until the message reached him about their meeting out front. Apparently, they were to go on a hike in search of any nearby Dark Elf settlements - or, perhaps, at least signs that they might be poised to strike back against the party, with the town as consequent collateral damage. Though Alice's statement made sense, Nicademus' next action was simply weird - pleading, nay, literally begging on hands and knees that they help the people of the town, for they didn't deserve to be enslaved simply because those who had fought the Dark Elves before rested there. And that, despite his foul attitude just the day before!

I... don't think I can read him at all, at least not yet, Sett wondered, frowning despite himself. What was he supposed to make of that sort of attitude? Incensed by their mere presence one day, fearful that they'd fail to help the next? Though, both could be explained by the common trait that was "protective of those he cared for", which was at least a positive aspect of Nicademus' persona. Even then, Sett rather felt the urge not to follow after him. Remaining in his presence seemed like it could well end in disaster, depending on how they turned out.

It turned out Aeryn was his saving grace there, citing very emotionally why she really, really didn't want to ever encounter another Dark Elf again, at least not on their home turf. Where one set a precedent, then, the second merely made the option more viable - and unlike her, he could in fact expand with a logical argument for leaving some behind at the village, based on something she'd said probably as an afterthought to her main point.

'Actually, Aeryn does make a fair point,' he began to speak, minding his phrasing just in case somebody had the gall to tell him off again the way Nicademus had previously - though in truth, the man had already vanished, seeking arms and armour for himself in preparation. 'Think ill of me as you will for saying so, but I believe it's fair to state that I am but a priest, and thus the least helpful in a combative situation... directly, that is. I can, of course, offer divine assistance, but there is only so much I can offer to a small group when the gods see fit to offer but a limited portion of their strength.

'On the other hand, of course,' he explained most reasonably, 'with quite a fixture of guards present in this town, one ritual cast can potentially go much further, distributed among so many. Enhancing their speed, their strength, their durability, their agility...' Their luck and fortune he did not say out loud. 'And of course, it could well be, as Aeryn stated, that the Dark Elves are waiting for us to leave before enacting a strike against a village they then perceive to be poorly defended, maybe even specifically to spite somebody like Nicademus. I say again, the effect of these rituals expands more effectively amongst many fighters than few, and there are very many guards within this village.

'That said, of course I would never deny anyone here a long-lasting blessing of divine favour...' At this, he grabbed a nearby stick and began crafting such a ritual circle in the ground immediately, though technically the ritual was for Fineki-granted luck, rather than general divine favour. He lacked his ritual daggers at the moment, so the stick would have to do - and it wasn't doing so badly, after all. Really, any point did a decent job, though the daggers had special symbolic significance that he hoped Fineki would overlook a lack of just this once. He could only assume Captain Nicademus would want to receive this blessing, too, once he returned.

@POOHEAD189@Gardevoiran@The Fated Fallen@Fetzen@Stormflyx@Mortarion

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

@Stormflyx Okay, cool. In that case, I'll be able to write my own post reasonably soon, I think.

Into The Dark: Tales of Maroleth

Excellent post, @POOHEAD189. I like it very much. @Stormflyx, do you want us to get started on that collab now, or after people head out on this scouting trip?