ERode

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance [Isekai/Survival]

@Buzzkill pls, there was no smooth way to incorporate 'power fantasy' into ittttt.

@Burger English pls Glad to have some unfamiliar interest. Just to confirm though, would you be able to post regularly, on a minimum of a weekly basis? Asking cause it looks like a buncha the RPs you joined seem on the slow side and all.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance [Isekai/Survival]

Magic exists. Just no resurrection.

Altera: Of Departures and Deliverance [Isekai/Survival]

Foreword

This is inspired by Grimgar, a fantasy isekai where people from modern day Earth are plucked from their miserable lives, have all but the faintest vestiges of their past memories erased, and are forced into the roles of volunteer soldiers, killing monsters and looting them in order to make money and live. Combat will be gritty and fatal, and there is no guarantee that your character will reach the developments or personal goals that they have established. There is no magic that can revive the dead, and in the right conditions, even the weakest monster can kill you. But bonds forged in adversity are stronger than bonds formed without, and I hope for a RP that’s equal parts survival horror and slice of life.

What I look for in a player is the ability to post at least once a week, as well as the ability to accept that failure and incompetence can easily trail their character’s career as a monster killer. Most importantly, though, is that you accept that permanent character death is definitely possible.

Also, having a Discord account and being able to do collabs is pretty cool. There’s gonna be a max of six players that I’ll be accepting too, and I can totally answer a buncha questions if necessary...but part of why I’ve shared so little is because IC investigations and info-gathering is important too~

Gotta use your brain if you wanna get ahead of the curve~!

In the darkness, the only recollection you grasp is a name.

Your own? Or someone else’s? It’s uncertain.

Your body is your own. Your mind is your own. And yet, you are bereft of all that you once had.

The memories are displaced, leaving you only with a sense of emptiness.

An emptiness soon forgotten, as the darkness is split open by light, and you…

“Awaken.”

Altera ; Of Departures and Deliverance

---

Three generations have passed since the destruction of the King of Corpses by the prophesized hero, and yet, the continent of Altera had not yet been claimed by the Empire of Mankind. Fractured as they are, the demihumans that once banded under the Corpse King’s banner have stayed strong in their respective territories, pushing back all attempts of liberation to this date. Of humanity’s many conquests, only the Seaside Fortress-City of Andeave remains stalwart against the monstrous nations, a frontier town guarded by thousands, housing those drunk on imperial propaganda, those holding delusions of grandeur, those without a home on the fatherland.

But this is not a story about the patriots, the fortune seekers, the outcasts.

This is about those without pasts, without memories, without families, without friends. Those who awoken in the catacombs of a church, who, with no futures to work towards, were conscripted into the Volunteer Army and tasked with the slaughter, the pillaging of the inhuman.

None of them are heroes, and this is not a fantasy.

But no matter how dreadful the circumstances, no matter how painful the departures, how far off deliverance was, life goes on.

And they must live on.

Character Sheet

Feel free to format the CS however you wish. As a note, characters should be young ones. Parts that are denoted with an asterisk should be PMed to me, rather than posted in the Int Chek. In general, I prefer to have all sheets made and players accepted before launching the OOC.

Moniker: What you would like to be called? Does NOT have to be the name that you recall.
Sexuality: Male or Female? Based off genitalia, not what they identify as.
Countenance: If you opt to use an anime picture, slap it on the top of your sheet. Include all easily spottable outward details. Include height and weight.
*Stigmas: Physical marks upon their body that may be hidden by clothing or makeup, blemishes that may have stories or significance attached. Tattoos, scars, birthmarks, etc.
Facade: One paragraph minimum. Your character's outward attitude towards others.
*Depths: Their inner selves, the part that shows when they crack under pressure, when they scream internally.
*Vestiges: Their past. The less you write here, the more pleasant the surprises will be in the future. A common factor in every character's history should be 'unhappiness'.

Competence
These serve as general 'stats' for your characters. Assign each stat with a letter grade from A to E, with A being 'excellent' and E being 'incompetent'. Add + or - as you wish. There is no limit to how awesome or terrible your character is. Be my guest if you want to have a character who has A+ in everything. You'll be judged by the rest of the players.

Vibrance – The brilliance of the soul. Courage and nobility that shines through in the darkest times.
Gestalt – Fragments of otherworldly knowledge guide your hand, even though you know not how it comes about.
Conformity – Adapt and consume. The ability to grow accustom to the horrors and irrationalities that plague this realm.
Physique – The might of meat. Strength, dexterity, and fortitude, united in a single body.
Composure – Poise and confidence. A steady, focused mind, so that one can act with alacrity even under the gaze of a King.

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

---

Toukotan Park, The Asterisk
Spring, SY 3233/UC 233/AY 117

---

They called it a marvel of human engineering. A singularity of how far humanity’s technology had reached. A state birthed from the collaboration of geniuses all over the universe, a metropolis that put the brightest of jewels to shame. With towering skyscrapers and the luxuries of a thousand galaxies presented on every corner of the street, there was no doubt that if it wasn’t an asteroid meant for education and politics, it’d certainly be the greatest shopping and entertainment district in the Neutral Rim. An epicurean world, drenched in riches.

But for Merringo, all that wealth just pissed her off. The air was artificial shit, the lights were too bright, every block on the way to Toukotan High was rife with electronic dickbags trying to sell her crap she didn’t want, the whole color scheme of the place was dreadfully metallic, and most of all, she could hardly hear her own mind amid the constant buzz of white noise that spilled out from every which direction. Not a bird in the air, nor a beast on the ground. Each tree was manicured to uncanny perfection, while artificial turf was a poor substitution for the real deal, no matter how glossy and green it was. Really, it had to be asked...

How the hell were you even expected to stay sane here?

…

Or maybe Merringo’s just being particularly nitpicky and pissy that particular day, considering how some JACKASS decided to start a magical fight with another FUCKBOI and ended up scratching her goddamn BIKE with their bullshit MAIDS. With a twist of the handlebars, she grounded her vehicle before another blast of wind could send it into the side of some restaurant, hissing as the landing gear failed to burst out in time. Metal screeched against the pavement, sparks flying up and burning small holes in the ridiculous black stockings that served as the fetish uniform they made all girls wear, but Merringo was past caring about that.
Fuckers scratched her bike. Fuckers scratched her bike! And they’re still fucking going at it like a bunch of Neanderthals! For a moment, she considered drawing her blade and knocking them out of the park, but the surge of righteous wrath was reined in with a clenched fist.

So instead, Merringo Saljinon, like some 21st century social media addict, took out her phone and recorded the brawl between the redheaded fuckboi and the snobbish jackass, marking the GPS location whilst streaming it to the authorities and verbally narrating off-camera scenes to add to the drama, such as…

“Oh no! That tree just fell down where one of the students were taken cover!”

Or…

“Wow, isn’t this…damn, hope no one was inside the room of that building.”

And maybe some...

“Oh god, those two have sticks sticking out of their eyes!”

A bit extra?

Yeah.

But hell, the less competition she had, the better, and if these saccharine theatrics could cement the expulsion of these bike-scratching punks, then the auburn haired girl was alllllll for it.

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

Merringo Saljinon

Merringo Saljinon

*incoherent internal screams*

_Name

---

Merringo 'Merry' Saljinon

_Age

---

16

_Gender

---

Female

_Birthplace

---

Tobal - The Neutral Union
For every Jotunheim, there is a Tobal, a planet that seems to break off from common sense altogether, instead indulging in the fact that magitech, if properly developed, allows one to actually pursue a more anachronistic life than one would expect. A meritocracy built upon physical might and outdated chivalry, Tobal is a planet that generates much of its wealth as an 'entertainment' planet. On one side, honored guests can enjoy perfectly controlled yet charmingly imperfect encounters with the natural world or receive divinely stress-relieving massages from a collection of lubricated supermodels. On the other side, those with a taste for testosterone can pick any number of exciting, innovative, brutal sports to gamble and cheer on. The top echelon of athletes within Tobal are viewed as heroes and role models, gods amongst men, and mid-level athletes find much success in interplanetary tournaments.

Indeed, in Tobal, they simply make people bigger than the norm, their most ground breaking scientific breakthroughs always revolving around the studies of kinesiology. A land of knights, a land of champions, a land of entertainers, Tobal always puts its best foot forward, a winning smile for each foreign prince and princess to grace its fantastical lands.

_Appearance

---

At 5'7 and 117 lbs, Merringo is a slender lass, plagued by a certain physical condition that makes it extremely difficult to put on weight and muscle while also making her constantly hungry and irritable. Her hands are callused, her body filled with a variety of scrapes and bruises, but for all the pains she goes through, the young girl doesn't have much to show of it. It pisses her off, really, that she can't attain her ideal of being a muscled Amazon, but it's doubly irritating when others think she's 'cute' and someone that they must 'protecc' due to her currently pathetic build. Indifference or irritation is the most common expression on her face, and her current wardrobe of punk rock attire, complete with studded accessories and leather, seems to be more of a way to turn normies the fuck away rather than to truly reflect her musical tastes.

Her ears are pierced, a different earring every day. Her hair is dyed, the natural color being blonde. When studying, she wears glasses, but otherwise pretends that her vision is definitely 100% perfect.

_Personality

---

On good days, Merringo is charmingly direct, a young lady who's straight to the point, quick to help, and has the cool aura of someone who's competent, confident, and doesn't feel the need to show it off. Despite her delinquent-esque appearance, her mind is sharp, her eyes are bright, and she walks with purpose, as if she has a hundred things on her to-do list and plans on doing them all before school ends. Some may think of her as blunt, others may think of her as difficult to approach, and still more may dream of her being some high-functioning kuudere, capable of social interaction but not beholden to filthy social media addictions, but regardless, on her good days, Merringo is a very good girl.

Her good days, sadly, are pretty rare, because she's a neurotically competitive tryhard with a tongue as sharp as razors and an attitude towards others that veers her so hard down the tsun territory that Merringo may as well just be a thorny bush with no petals to speak of (metaphorically). Is it a matter of pride? Is it a matter of expectations? No, it's more akin to an obssession to sprint as far up the staircase as possible, while expecting others to put in the same amount of effort as herself. Oh, but she still gets shit done as well, and does a pretty good job of it, so on those not-good days, Merringo could easily just be summed up as 'a bundle of rusty barbed wire with the functionality of a quantum computer'. Definitely capable and rational, but definitely pissy and bitchy as well.

Of course, Merringo's enough of a disciplined high-functioning psychobitch to at least withold the majority of her asura-like wrath towards the entirety of the universe until she can get back home and scream into her pillow. Most of the time, at least.

_Background

---

Tobal is a planet where athletes are superstars, where physique, not intelligence, matters the most, even in a universe where manual labor and human craftsmanship means almost nothing. In this backwater planet that doesn't matter at all, Merringo was born as the eldest daughter of the Saljinon family...before her younger siblings quickly grew taller and bulkier than her. A defect amongst the genetic demigods of the world-renowned Saljinon 'brand', she was kept out of the public's eyes even as her sisters and brothers were pulling in dozens of medals in their respective sports. Her parents coddled her out of sympathy, her younger siblings did their best not to trouble their physically inferior older sister, and all that sympathy gave birth to a really pissy girl who just wanted to get swole like the rest of them, who wanted to get at least some sense of superiority over every other one of those lucky, seven foot tall gods of might.

So she studied instead. Did lots of reading and writing. Kept up with her gruelling workout regimes instead. Ignored the fact that all the older boys she was interested in were stolen away from her by other, beefier girls. Learned to enjoy the pain of her all but futile efforts. Maybe became a bit of a masochist. Definitely became a super angry tryhard. Probably derived some sick pleasure at seeing herself ascend to the top of her class, academically. Was this the revenge of the nerd?

Yes, this was.

Especially when she was the one out of all those barbaric muscle gods to snatch up the spot to fly off to the Asterisk, representing the backwaters planet of Tobal, where brawn meant more than brains. Haha, fuck them all. How does it feel now?

Her family still sent her off with smiles, kisses, and pleasant platitudes of 'being so proud of her' though. That was certainly a thorn in her gut.

_Statistics

---

STR - ▰▱▱▱▱
DEX - ▰▱▱▱▱
CON - ▰▰▰▰▱
INT - ▰▰▰▰▰
WIS - ▰▰▰▰▱
CHA - ▰▰▰▰▰

_M.A.I.D.

---

Merringo's MAID takes the form of a two handed sword, miraculously balanced to the point where even a flimsy waif such as herself could wield it without much trouble. The entire weapon appears to be forged out of a single block, a claymore chiseled out white stone rather than forged with hammer and flame. It is a truly gaudy weapon, embellished with gold and obviously more fitting for a muscular warrior-king rather than an angry hamster, but it's what her parents got her, and no matter how much of a teenager she was, Merringo has no plans of just throwing it away. No, this oversized sword, the same length as her body, is what she fervently swings over and over again in battle. Every step she takes is small, but every step she takes will build up. And one day, one fucking day, she will be able to ram the full length of her sword down some asshole's throat and claim her glorious, glorious victory.

That wish is what she clumsily engraved in the fuller of her MAID. And by the gods of the cosmic multiverse, she WILL smote someone with this oversized blade one day.

But this nameless sword is not just a sword. It is a MAID.

And, stubborn as it is, Merringo has no intention of drawing out the true manifestation of her power.

_{Miscellaneous}

---

Her voice is cute and high pitched, like one of those Youtubers who appeal to lonely creepy anime nerds. She hates her voice.

Her musical tastes lean towards rap, especially the type that plays during the trailers of sports-centric movies. She also enjoys listening to ASMR featuring young men whispering insults into her ears, but will probably kill anyone who learns of this.

Her favorite foods are high calorie jelly drinks, orange or lemon flavored. She orders those by the boxes, especially when the end of the school year nears.

Outside of being a salty bitch who tries to place first in everything she can, Merringo also enjoys riding a flying motorcycle around. Surprisingly, she doesn't have any road rage at all and the whole experience is quite meditative for her.

星空 不朽 | Hoshizora Everlasting

I have no mouth, but I must scream

Merringo Saljinon

*incoherent internal screams*

_Name

---

Merringo 'Merry' Saljinon

_Age

---

16

_Gender

---

Female

_Birthplace

---

Tobal - The Neutral Union
For every Jotunheim, there is a Tobal, a planet that seems to break off from common sense altogether, instead indulging in the fact that magitech, if properly developed, allows one to actually pursue a more anachronistic life than one would expect. A meritocracy built upon physical might and outdated chivalry, Tobal is a planet that generates much of its wealth as an 'entertainment' planet. On one side, honored guests can enjoy perfectly controlled yet charmingly imperfect encounters with the natural world or receive divinely stress-relieving massages from a collection of lubricated supermodels. On the other side, those with a taste for testosterone can pick any number of exciting, innovative, brutal sports to gamble and cheer on. The top echelon of athletes within Tobal are viewed as heroes and role models, gods amongst men, and mid-level athletes find much success in interplanetary tournaments.

Indeed, in Tobal, they simply make people bigger than the norm, their most ground breaking scientific breakthroughs always revolving around the studies of kinesiology. A land of knights, a land of champions, a land of entertainers, Tobal always puts its best foot forward, a winning smile for each foreign prince and princess to grace its fantastical lands.

_Appearance

---

At 5'7 and 117 lbs, Merringo is a slender lass, plagued by a certain physical condition that makes it extremely difficult to put on weight and muscle while also making her constantly hungry and irritable. Her hands are callused, her body filled with a variety of scrapes and bruises, but for all the pains she goes through, the young girl doesn't have much to show of it. It pisses her off, really, that she can't attain her ideal of being a muscled Amazon, but it's doubly irritating when others think she's 'cute' and someone that they must 'protecc' due to her currently pathetic build. Indifference or irritation is the most common expression on her face, and her current wardrobe of punk rock attire, complete with studded accessories and leather, seems to be more of a way to turn normies the fuck away rather than to truly reflect her musical tastes.

Her ears are pierced, a different earring every day. Her hair is dyed, the natural color being blonde. When studying, she wears glasses, but otherwise pretends that her vision is definitely 100% perfect.

_Personality

---

On good days, Merringo is charmingly direct, a young lady who's straight to the point, quick to help, and has the cool aura of someone who's competent, confident, and doesn't feel the need to show it off. Despite her delinquent-esque appearance, her mind is sharp, her eyes are bright, and she walks with purpose, as if she has a hundred things on her to-do list and plans on doing them all before school ends. Some may think of her as blunt, others may think of her as difficult to approach, and still more may dream of her being some high-functioning kuudere, capable of social interaction but not beholden to filthy social media addictions, but regardless, on her good days, Merringo is a very good girl.

Her good days, sadly, are pretty rare, because she's a neurotically competitive tryhard with a tongue as sharp as razors and an attitude towards others that veers her so hard down the tsun territory that Merringo may as well just be a thorny bush with no petals to speak of (metaphorically). Is it a matter of pride? Is it a matter of expectations? No, it's more akin to an obssession to sprint as far up the staircase as possible, while expecting others to put in the same amount of effort as herself. Oh, but she still gets shit done as well, and does a pretty good job of it, so on those not-good days, Merringo could easily just be summed up as 'a bundle of rusty barbed wire with the functionality of a quantum computer'. Definitely capable and rational, but definitely pissy and bitchy as well.

Of course, Merringo's enough of a disciplined high-functioning psychobitch to at least withold the majority of her asura-like wrath towards the entirety of the universe until she can get back home and scream into her pillow. Most of the time, at least.

_Background

---

Tobal is a planet where athletes are superstars, where physique, not intelligence, matters the most, even in a universe where manual labor and human craftsmanship means almost nothing. In this backwater planet that doesn't matter at all, Merringo was born as the eldest daughter of the Saljinon family...before her younger siblings quickly grew taller and bulkier than her. A defect amongst the genetic demigods of the world-renowned Saljinon 'brand', she was kept out of the public's eyes even as her sisters and brothers were pulling in dozens of medals in their respective sports. Her parents coddled her out of sympathy, her younger siblings did their best not to trouble their physically inferior older sister, and all that sympathy gave birth to a really pissy girl who just wanted to get swole like the rest of them, who wanted to get at least some sense of superiority over every other one of those lucky, seven foot tall gods of might.

So she studied instead. Did lots of reading and writing. Kept up with her gruelling workout regimes instead. Ignored the fact that all the older boys she was interested in were stolen away from her by other, beefier girls. Learned to enjoy the pain of her all but futile efforts. Maybe became a bit of a masochist. Definitely became a super angry tryhard. Probably derived some sick pleasure at seeing herself ascend to the top of her class, academically. Was this the revenge of the nerd?

Yes, this was.

Especially when she was the one out of all those barbaric muscle gods to snatch up the spot to fly off to the Asterisk, representing the backwaters planet of Tobal, where brawn meant more than brains. Haha, fuck them all. How does it feel now?

Her family still sent her off with smiles, kisses, and pleasant platitudes of 'being so proud of her' though. That was certainly a thorn in her gut.

_Statistics

---

STR - ▰▱▱▱▱
DEX - ▰▱▱▱▱
CON - ▰▰▰▰▱
INT - ▰▰▰▰▰
WIS - ▰▰▰▰▱
CHA - ▰▰▰▰▰

_M.A.I.D.

---

Merringo's MAID takes the form of a two handed sword, miraculously balanced to the point where even a flimsy waif such as herself could wield it without much trouble. The entire weapon appears to be forged out of a single block, a claymore chiseled out white stone rather than forged with hammer and flame. It is a truly gaudy weapon, embellished with gold and obviously more fitting for a muscular warrior-king rather than an angry hamster, but it's what her parents got her, and no matter how much of a teenager she was, Merringo has no plans of just throwing it away. No, this oversized sword, the same length as her body, is what she fervently swings over and over again in battle. Every step she takes is small, but every step she takes will build up. And one day, one fucking day, she will be able to ram the full length of her sword down some asshole's throat and claim her glorious, glorious victory.

That wish is what she clumsily engraved in the fuller of her MAID. And by the gods of the cosmic multiverse, she WILL smote someone with this oversized blade one day.

But this nameless sword is not just a sword. It is a MAID.

And, stubborn as it is, Merringo has no intention of drawing out the true manifestation of her power.

_{Miscellaneous}

---

Her voice is cute and high pitched, like one of those Youtubers who appeal to lonely creepy anime nerds. She hates her voice.

Her musical tastes lean towards rap, especially the type that plays during the trailers of sports-centric movies. She also enjoys listening to ASMR featuring young men whispering insults into her ears, but will probably kill anyone who learns of this.

Her favorite foods are high calorie jelly drinks, orange or lemon flavored. She orders those by the boxes, especially when the end of the school year nears.

Outside of being a salty bitch who tries to place first in everything she can, Merringo also enjoys riding a flying motorcycle around. Surprisingly, she doesn't have any road rage at all and the whole experience is quite meditative for her.

Tales of Arcadia - Fantasy, Magic, Monsters, Adventure

@Gobby I'll be adding this ability to Elias.

Lucky - He's a lucky dude. Fortune smiles upon him more often than not.

Tales of Arcadia - Fantasy, Magic, Monsters, Adventure

Hey, Gobby, in your CS template, you stated a max of 2 abilities, but there are a couple now that have 3 abilities. What's up with that?

Hoshizora Everlasting

Offering tentative interest. Out of curiousity, did humans make contact with any sentient alien races?

Tales of Arcadia - Fantasy, Magic, Monsters, Adventure

Elias

Another day, another gray sky. Off in the distance, a tanned Asian man hawked clothing in a foreign tongue, while druggies stood huddled behind a trash can, sharing joints and shivering. It was summer, and Elias felt like wasting away again. Sitting as West on a sickly green mah-jong table, the brown haired man took a drag of the cigarette, before letting out a long, indifferent sigh. White smoke drifted up, and his eyes caught a pudgy toddler standing there in the open, taking a piss in a puddle.

Sucks to be the dude that steps in that puddle later.

Another drag, and he turned his attention to the state of the bored once more. XiaoLang was always a wily bastard, but the clocksmith wasn’t having too much luck with the tiles in the past few rounds. Looked to be frustrated as well. Danielle had a mean poker face, but she liked to cash in on small wins too often. Low risk, low reward, low threat. And good ol’ Akio was sitting nice and prim, the butcher’s thick hands resting on his belly as he smiled. Confidence was nice, and the man did have a substantial lead, but…
Fortune favored the bold. The tiles were lined up, the Arhats assembled. Gray ashes formed at the glowing tip, as Elias placed two hands the side of his row of tiles, a spark of amusement as he watched confidence, apathy, and frustration turn into something else.

“Four Kongs. Shi Ba…”

“Welcome to Arcadia.”

“…Luo Han.”

He pushed the tiles down, and they scattered onto the dirty wooden floor of the carriage.

A bulky midget of a man, looking like a roided up madman, ran past, shouting orders that didn’t make much sense at all, before brandishing a big sword. He charged into a group of similarly short, but much scrawny monsters, green flesh reminding the scruffy smoker of orcs or something. Without missing a beat, a younger lad with a reckless grin rushed into the vicious melee as well, while another lad in green began to…pray?

And others were leaping into action as well. A bookish girl took the reins, claiming that she could turn the sheep around because she read about it. A dyke (wait, no, that’s politically incorrect and sexist or whatever) punched one of the green things pretty hard, and Elias hoped she didn’t break her fist with that punch. Another swung a rusty shield like a baseball bat, leaving a sickly crunch and a mist of blood, while the third…sat there, chewing on gum.

Yeah, that dude had the right idea. After this, Elias was totally going to lay off on cigarettes and beer, get himself a healthier diet of salad or shit like that, and stop having these weird dreams of goblins and muscle freaks.

He took a drag of his cigarette, clicked his tongue at how short it’s gotten, and flicked it away.

It pirouetted through the air, danced in the wind, and struck one of those slimy green bastards in the eye.

Oops.

“Weak against fire, huh?” Elias remarked, the ghastly screech of a mud-demon resounding through the forest, before pocketing his tiles. “Got some more gum, kid?”
@Anders