Io had only managed to pick off a few enemies before she was blindsided by someone who had managed to flank her in the chaos of the fight. The enemy was clearly smart enough to recognize her as a threat, but Io was far from out of options even when grappled from behind. If they weren't in the middle of a tense battle, she might even find the situation a little exciting. Of course, the legionnaire taking her to the ground was less exciting, and if anything a bit of a deal breaker.
The magical circle behind her flickered out of existence as she diverted her incantation. It wasn't pretty, but she needed to convert the spells into something to defend herself in close range - and without use of her arms. As she began chanting under her breath, something interrupted the Legionnaire's grapple on her. Something had struck him, the sudden attack interrupting his grip on Io. That was more than enough of an opening for her. She managed to shift her palm flat against the Varjan's stomach. As it turned out, she didn't need to change her incantation much at all. The pinpoint of light spell she chose would be just fine at close range, with the opening she had to direct it point-blank.
The spell punched through the Varjan's armor and had enough force to knock his body off of Io. As she got back to her feet she briefly glanced at the exit wound. 'Perhaps too much strength.' Io nearly chided herself for the magical inefficiency, though she reasoned that the extra force was necessary to physically push the enemy away as well. One could never be too sure in such close quarters.
Before another enemy could get the chance to ambush her, Io thankfully found herself grabbed by Kerry and flown to a more advantageous position. From her new position, Io could clearly see the battle was about to reach a turning point, and the Task Force just needed to turn the tide. Before Kerry could fly off, Io curtly let her know of a plan. "Keep them busy. I'll support everyone from here." Io gave a nod of appreciation to the Hornet who saved her as she left.
Taking no time in enacting her plan, the lich pulled a scroll that was wrapped around her clothing free, letting it unfurl in the air and fall to the ground around her feet. "With something strong..." Io muttered, beginning a complex incantation in her secret language. The spell itself was simple: It would grant a magical regeneration and strength to those within it. The complexity came from selection and size. To select just Io's allies, and to make it wide enough to reach them from her position... Io closed her eyes to focus, first picking the chaotic energy of the fight apart and finding her allies within it. She had to factor in energy for undead and living, as well.
Her robe, no longer tied by this particular scroll, fluttered in the storm's breezes, revealing glimpses of Io's bare skin and even the magical tattoos usually hidden by her robe. The scroll she used as a base began to glow around her feet as she formulated the spell, a magical circle starting within the scroll and growing.
Chanting the spell would take a longer amount of time than a widespread destructive spell, but Io chose this to prevent any friendly losses (either from a destructive spell directly, or simply being worn down by enemy attacks). She trusted that the enhanced Task Force and allies would likely be more powerful than something like a giant fireball anyway.
90% done, need to get an image for my contact and maybe clean up a few sentences here and there. Added in a portrait with her and her sister. Also not sure where to put the mech design that doesn't screw with the formatting by bloating the box with images so just click here for the mech and click here for the mech with my silly notes about functions.
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B A S I C I N F O [Name]Mina MacLean [Callsign]Foxtrot [Gender]F [Age]31 [Rank and Designation]E-7 [Place of Birth]Emerald, AUM-3 [Official Statement]-"Foxtrot on station. Get behind me and let's finish the mission."
C O M B A T A B I L I T Y
[Mech Model]Calamus [Type]Assaulter [Size]40ft, 175 tonnes with shield included [Core]Epsilon [Armaments]
Blackjack Canister Gun - Assault gun capable of firing canister rounds with varying payloads of shot. Loadings include high explosive, armor piercing darts, incendiary payloads, as well as other novel loadings depending on mission. Adjustable choke to disperse or focus shot placement depending on the engagement. Can be fired while braced against shield.
Vanguard Shield - Heavily armored shield designed to be the focal point of an assault and let a team cut through an enemy line. Physical shield is extremely resistant to attacks and an in-built shield generator further augments its protection, and allows the user to project a larger energy shield to protect nearby teammates as well. It is also a gigantic piece of metal for less sophisticated maneuvers using the Satyr drive.
Satyr Drive - Overclocked boosters allow the Calamus to gain extreme bursts of speed for rapid repositioning, evading, and offensive manuevers.
Profile
[Surface-level Impression] Mina is a professional soldier. She tries her best to be the strongest Pilot she can be. Not a sensitive type. Pragmatic. Can be abrasive, but usually well-meaning with criticism. Harshest on herself, though she often won't let it show.
[Personal History] Mina has a history of military service in her family. As she rose to the rank of pilot she was offered the chance to be a squad lead. After a disastrous operation she swore off leadership roles and had a very successful career as a pointwoman in pilot squads.
Home World
[Planet Description] AUM-3 is a planet that is unremarkable other than its location along an important supply chain for military logistics. As the sole habitable planet in the system, AUM-3 hosted a large military and logistical presence, but not much else.
[Culture] Being essentially a military colony, Emerald hosted very little in the way of culture other than what was easily rolled out to fleece enlisted out of their living stipends when they were off duty. The high concentration of military personnel led to a very stable, but also rigid living environment. Military shrinks recommend rotating personnel assigned to Emerald to a more hospitable area after five or more years of living there.
Notable Contacts
The most recent photo of them together. Lilia is the taller one on the right, despite being the younger sister.
[Name] Lilia MacLean
[Relation to Subject] Mina's younger sister
[Analysis] Lilia took an opposite path to her sister, despite their similar upbringing. Her schooling records labelled her a potential prodigy, and she had constant pressure to join the MHA from her parents. With no desire to fight, she fled from her family in her late teens, with her only family contact being with Mina since. Since then, she has spent her time building a career as a musician and artist - her true passion in life. The two sisters are on good terms, and they both respect the others' choices though they ended up being in such diametrically opposite fields of work. Even now they keep in contact with each other, each being the others' most trusted confidant since childhood.
B A S I C I N F O [Name]Mina MacLean [Callsign]Foxtrot [Gender]F [Age]31 [Rank and Designation]E-7 [Place of Birth]Emerald, AUM-3 [Official Statement]-"Foxtrot on station. Get behind me and let's finish the mission."
C O M B A T A B I L I T Y
[Mech Model]Calamus [Type]Assaulter [Size]40ft and rly heavy [Core]Epsilon [Armaments]
Blackjack Canister Gun - Assault gun capable of firing canister rounds with varying payloads of shot. Loadings include high explosive, armor piercing darts, incendiary payloads, as well as other novel loadings depending on mission. Adjustable choke to disperse or focus shot placement depending on the engagement. Can be fired while braced against shield.
Vanguard Shield - Heavily armored shield designed to be the focal point of an assault and let a team cut through an enemy line. Physical shield is extremely resistant to attacks and an in-built shield generator further augments its protection, and allows the user to project a larger energy shield to protect nearby teammates as well. It is also a gigantic piece of metal for less sophisticated maneuvers using the Satyr drive.
Satyr Drive - Overclocked boosters allow the Calamus to gain extreme bursts of speed for rapid repositioning, evading, and offensive manuevers.
Profile
[Surface-level Impression] Mina is a professional soldier. She tries her best to be the strongest Pilot she can be. Not a sensitive type. Pragmatic. Can be abrasive, but usually well-meaning with criticism. Harshest on herself, though she often won't let it show.
[Personal History] Mina has a history of military service in her family. As she rose to the rank of pilot she was offered the chance to be a squad lead. After a disastrous operation she swore off leadership roles and had a very successful career as a pointwoman in pilot squads.
Home World
[Planet Description] AUM-3 is a planet that is unremarkable other than its location along an important supply chain for military logistics. As the sole habitable planet in the system, AUM-3 hosted a large military and logistical presence, but not much else.
[Culture] Being essentially a military colony, Emerald hosted very little in the way of culture other than what was easily rolled out to fleece enlisted out of their living stipends when they were off duty. The high concentration of military personnel led to a very stable, but also rigid living environment. Military shrinks recommend rotating personnel assigned to Emerald to a more hospitable area after five or more years of living there.
Notable Contacts
[Name] Lilia MacLean
[Relation to Subject] Mina's younger sister
[Analysis] Lilia took an opposite path to her sister, despite their similar upbringing. Her schooling records labelled her a potential prodigy, and she had constant pressure to join the MHA from her parents. With no desire to fight, she fled from her family in her late teens, with her only family contact being with Mina since. Since then, she has spent her time building a career as a musician and artist - her true passion in life. The two sisters are on good terms, and they both respect the others' choices though they ended up being in such diametrically opposite fields of work. Even now they keep in contact with each other, each being the others' most trusted confidant since childhood.
If we're dropping questions, the "pilot" term gives me Titanfall related ideas, so my questions would mainly be what's the scale of pilot's equipment? Are these mobile suits/armored exoskeletons or full-on building sized mecha (or is it anything goes?)?
I think I could probably cook up an idea for pilot or constellation since they both have fun angles to play.
Io had barely managed to catch up before the initial fight had ended. And even after that, she had barely managed to pivot towards healing the task force members before her incantation was interrupted by the sudden attack from siege weapons. Though she had always wondered it, she couldn't help but return to her thoughts on the living world being far too fast to deal with. She would need quite a sabbatical after this island's business was wrapped up.
Io could only regret leaving behind a field of fresh corpses as she relied upon a momentary burst of dexterity from her personal scrolls to evade the siege weapons and chase the Varjan down. Though it was likely any raised zombies would end up being literal cannon fodder, Io would have liked to even the odds at least a little. Especially since they were clearly being led into a trap.
Io was sizing up the opposition when the lightning cracked, and in turn had the task force once again descend into the chaos of battle. Io hadn't much time to prepare, but the first move was obvious - the archers would get the first attack in the moment the battle started, and their attack needed to be stopped. Io could trust Skar to handle the archers after the initial wave of arrows were loosed - there wouldn't be a second wave.
Io quickly swept her arms in an arc, using the gesture to cast a magical barrier. It would be strong enough to deflect the arrows from above, and let the task force focus on the enemies in front of them. Io would only need to sustain it for long enough to disrupt the volley of arrows - and then she would turn her attention to Gringor's charge (who gave a roar that, by Io's approximation, could in fact wake the dead). As she expected, Skar's summation of Gringor's tactics was correct: He would take the most direct way to the leader.
Io would help clear a path. Whispering an incantation at a rapid rate, she levelled her arms at the legionnares and students that might try to intercept Gringor's charge. The only sign that her incantation was finished was the sudden flickering of a magical circle behind Io, and the sudden razor-thin beams of deadly magical energy that she directed to dispatch anyone attempting to get between Gringor and his target.
Io remained silent when asked how she felt. It was a difficult question to answer, all things considered, but she managed to shake her head when offered breakfast. "That won't be necessary..." Eating seemed like more trouble than it was worth for the lich, at least right now.
Despite her awkward entrance, the others seemed to brush it off without much issue. Io hadn't noticed it in the past, but these two male mamono seemed to be anything but friendly with each other... Was this a natural clash of personalities, or perhaps something more primal between the two? Io mulled it over in her head. 'Perhaps the presence of a worthy female has caused them to become competitive.' Io knew that she could have that effect on a room of males. 'I should be more cautious in the future.'
Io wasn't sure how she could really de-escalate the impending argument between the two, given her lack of way with words, and perhaps it was best if they did become ready to fight in their own way. Plus, if they did get a little rowdy with each other... Io's face flushed ever so slightly as she considered the sight (with a healthy dose of imagination added in). Though the lich was hardly expressive, anyone paying attention could tell she was keeping her attention on the two with less-than-admirable thoughts on the mind.
The slowly shifting mist of knowledge swirled around Io as she meditated. It was in disorder. There wasn't supposed to be any movement, or flow to it. It was supposed to be completely static, unchanging, crystalline. Each mote of experience in lockstep, equidistant to the previous and next.
This chaos vexed Io.
It had to end.
Io 'awoke' against the cool earth. 'How long has it been?' She had lost track of time with her meditation. It was perhaps no fabrication to assert that Io had needed time to rest - perhaps not exactly in the same way as a living thing would, but in an approximate fashion.
She rose to her feet. Given the impression she had left on the soft ground, she must have began thinking and became engrossed enough in the task to fall to the ground, where she must have laid for at least a whole night. She dusted herself off with a simple cleaning spell, getting a bearing on her surroundings - and a letter rolled from within her hood.
Nobody had bothered to carry her body anywhere, or perhaps even worse, bury her (as she likely appeared and felt like a corpse as she was lost in thought). Io mused that a letter was a positive outcome as she opened and read it.
'Ah. This...' Io had just sorted her mind out, and yet she had a foreboding sense that she would need another stretch of meditation after this new event was done. She clasped the invitation in her hand as a cool, humid wind blew across her. 'Well. It could have already started, for all I know.' She set out for the temple grounds where the Task Force had met up before setting out previously, hoping to find someone there.
The weather had seemingly no effect on the residents, and they were as busy as ever preparing food - apparently for the Task Force before their mission. She had no appetite for the food - but a surprisingly appealing topic had cropped up on magical armor. Io barged in on the dining area in the most dynamic way a petite mage such as herself could manage.
"Enhancing armor for channeling magic is an extremely interesting topic. Which approach does this armor take? Attuned metal? Inscriptions? Electrum plating? Artificial gates? Mana contacts? It couldn't possibly be micro-leylines?!" That arm of her research was hotly contested... when she was still alive, that is. Just the thought of it had excited Io.
After a moment, Io remembered the initial reason why she had come to the temple. "Ah. And this." Io held the invitation up. "It must have been delivered when I was busy... thinking." She eyed the other task force members that were already present - which happened to be... The majority of the males on the task force. She doubted her entrance would look great to any of them, but the allure of channeling mechanics had proven too irresistible.
An inscrutable divine comedy in a battling city of academies
City - Opis
Background - Fiction
In the ages of myth, the gods of the world bestowed great gifts upon that of humanity. They used these gifts to rid the world of a profound evil that threatened both the gods and mortals. In exchange for their sacrifices, the gods continued to proffer their gifts generation after generation...
...Or so history says. In this world, while the influence of the gods and their gifts are clear to observe, direct intervention by any specific god is unheard of. The specifics of the divine cosmology are often a subject of personal belief and philosophy moreso than any one true religion - something people may theorize about but never know the full picture.
The city of Theia is the most prosperous city in all of the world, and with good reason - it is essentially geographically at the center, at a cultural confluence of many different peoples, and most notably "the place closest to the gods." A city that has roots all the way back to the ages of myth, it is rumored to have survived centuries of tumultuous times, disasters, and evil due to the gods' protection.
While the foundations date back to ancient myth, the modern-day city resembles most others with all the amenities a big city can offer. Perhaps one of the few mythological traditions that remain are the schools that cultivate the mind as well as the gods' gifts - notably through physical clashes at organized tournaments. To these schools, performance in a clash is just as important as any other subject, and would be treated as such. Whether it is subtle guiding by the unseen hands of gods, something in the water supply, or just a deeply ingrained tradition, the reality for most residents of Theia is a high concentration of student-age young adults training and clashing with each other in spectacular fashion.
Schools
Schools make up the factions of Rhea and players will pick one to be a part of. The larger schools have a lot of variance and perhaps even power struggles, so not everyone has to be buddy-buddy even in the same school, but generally there's some expectation of cooperation since you might end up having to back up a classmate in a fight down the road.
These schools tend to be more autonomous and student-ran, though obviously there are adults that step in if things get too out of hand. Of course, different schools pride themselves on having higher or lower standards of what "out of hand" means.
Alexandria's Academy For the Gifted: A historic and upscale school that is said to have been founded by one of the first humans to bear a Gift (though this is completely unverifiable). While its facilities and record are top-notch, it has been known to be sluggish to adapt in the tournament circuit. While the school is at the top, they seem unbeatable, but once behind the curve they take a long time to adapt. Perhaps fresh blood is what they need to fully establish dominance?
Alexandria's Academy is headed by a student council, the president of which is [gigantic name goes here when I think of one that's not just Lise's name again]. She has a claim in a long line of headmasters and headmistresses of Alexandria's Academy, and carries her royal bloodline with great pride.
Celestine's School of the Forbidden: A newcomer to the top schools of Rhea, this shady establishment seems to be poorly organized from the outside, yet has snatched up many powerful students... For whatever reason. Despite the sketchy nature of the school, the headmaster seems to have smoothed over things with the authorities and they never get thrown out of tournaments, so maybe it's fine...? This school attracts those who want to eschew traditional organizations and simply let the most powerful rise to the top however they can, practicing what seems to be complete chaos. Whether they win through underhanded sabotage or fund their school through illegal tax fraud, what is clear is that they are a juggernaut on the field.
The questionable practices of this school, and its chaotic nature, makes most outsiders unsure who really is at the head of the student organization of the school. Perhaps their head figure hides their identity in order to protect the school from reprisals, or perhaps the rumors that the school is in a constant state of anarchy is true and nobody is in charge. Only a few within the school's inner circle know for sure.
Theian Association and Conglomerate of Technical Interest Clubs: This organization is actually a conglomerate of many Theian Technical Schools, which are the government-required schooling available to those that don't make it to more selective or eclectic schools. Normally no tech school has enough strong players to have a presence (since they mainly are just zoned to accept whoever lives nearby), but an enigmatic leader managed to scout and organize enough outliers between the various schools all over Theia to form a formidable group. Given how wide of an area the association can recruit from, their potential is impossible to predict - something this group has used to its benefit to become a top contender in Theia.
TACTICs was organized by a brilliant student who goes by a codename of [chess piece name? it cant just be king]. They organize the group through an extensive communication network, and rarely show their face in-person. Despite that, [name] seems to have eyes and ears in places nobody expects, and uses it to their advantage whenever they can.
So what's this all about?
This is another take on the classic battling schools theme from anime and various other media. A city seemingly ran by absurdly powerful student bodies that clash in sanctioned (and unsanctioned!) events. Ideally there would be fighting, drama, maybe some shenanigans here and there. My loose plan is to have characters interact amongst each other for brief arcs, then come back together for tournament sets, and work in a pattern like that. Schools will have odd jobs for characters to do, and I'm sure players can also make up some of their own shenanigans to get rolled up into. If anything, I would encourage character makers to think of some fun background conflict with others to work on when they're not in a tournament.
The tone I would want to shoot for is fairly wide, honestly I mainly just don't want it going so dark that murders and heinous crimes are occurring. Let's keep it to drawing blood at the absolute worst. If you're not sure run it past me.
As for character powers, don't make something that's going to give me a headache mainly. Powerful is fine, unbeatable isn't. Tournaments will be varied in how teams compete, and not just be 1v1 cage matches, so don't shy away from having utility that isn't just straight up KOing people. Plus your character ideally will have a life outside of fighting people, so stuff they can use in everyday life is obviously a boon.
As things progress players may gain new aspects of their gift, though this often will be at a "big moment" for them. It won't happen often, but it's not unheard of either.
Character sheet:
Basic CS skeleton: Name: [Feel free to include any nicknames or titles your character would have.] Age: [Ideally in the young adult area] School: [School and/or grade. the "big school" units listed above are high-school-ish, but also have more advanced grades for older students similar to a college] Biography: [Include some form of either personality or background here. It's optional, but there won't be much time to set up characters at the start of this RP, so having something is going to be better than having nothing.] Powers: [Put your powers here. Do remember, 1 core power and up to 3 other abilities. If you'd like a guideline as to how far you should or shouldn't go, I'll have some example sheets later on. ] Relationships: [Rivals and nemeses, reputations preceding, perhaps even some special feelings for a special person. This section is optional, but it's nice. Try to at least include other people in your school once rosters are starting to show up.]
Xiro Zean
Izurich
Dion
Sp00ki
Hitman
Nallore
Crimson Flame
PaulHaynek
KillamriX88
Lewascan2
