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.
A story of clashing schools amidst an inscrutable divine comedy
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.]
Their combined efforts had defeated Na-Kratz, and through a clever play, they had even caused the remaining soldiers to flee. Io stayed in the back of the Task Force as they were lauded by Ayu, taking some moments to clean her face of blood and adjust her robe. She didn't want the spotlight, and the more friendly faces were already front and center, so it was a win-win for her.
After she had let the others draw the attention of the newly liberated Shizuyaman locals enough, she edged back to the group as they discussed the battle. Io returned just in time to hear Liliana vividly recreating the sounds of Ayu's fighting, and summoning a minotaur. Once again, the fairy's magic only seemed to make a mockery of logic, considering the significant differences between a cow and a minotaur, but Io knew better than to try to make sense of it by now. 'At least she made it out unscathed.' Io thought, noting perhaps the slightest bit of relief.
As the sun rose over the bay, Io pulled her hood further down to block the light from her eyes. "Returning quickly with the new information might be best... Even though the bodies so beautifully decorate the bay now..." A slight listlessness colored Io's deadpan voice at the thought of leaving behind so many corpses. She paused briefly in self-reflection, then added, "Perhaps it is better for everyone else if I don't stay here, after some thought..." Io deemed it better for the sake of the Task Force to not be tempted to do anything out of hand. She would handle some minor preparations, then be ready to set off with any other Task Force members planning on returning.
Oooh, okay then, in that case: - Sam: Samuel or Samantha? - Alex: Alexa or Alexandria? - Ash: Ashley or Ashton? - Theo: Theodore or Theophania? - Vic: Victor or Victoria? - Yuri: Yuri (Russian, Masculine) or Yuri (Japanese, Feminine)? - Will: Wilhelm or Wilhelmina? - Pam: Pamela or Pamphilos?
The answer to all those questions is: Who knooows~?
As for last names, since it's a last name, gendered vibe isn't really an issue: - Hawthorne, Cornwall, Belrose, Smith, Northridge, Wagner, Hawkins, Blackwell, Collins, etc.
I think I like Ash the most of them all, so I might work off of that. Thanks for the help! Hopefully I'll get a sheet together soon
Funny story, I had another RP character running the Alex as gender neutral name in the past. Small world.
Izurich
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