@Themerlinhawk I read the premise of the OoC a few times—mostly I meant a summary for all ten characters currently involved. XD I may very well have missed many a detail, but correct me if the gist of things below is wrong.
Relationship Tree
Toki (tried to help Mary) | Elenei Mary Andri / (Helping Andri) (student of magic) Ian (trying to kill Lucien) | | (angel hunter) / | Tatiana FranLucien (arms dealer for Lucien) (saved Mary & Toki) (angel renegade) /
The main plot feels like it's Andri taking out Lucien (who took out two fellow students while in pursuit of Hazumi). There's a lot, and I mean a lot of other side stories going on, from Elenei's underground brothel/organization to Lazarus' angel hunting and Fran saving two other main characters. As much as I love collab posts, it is admittedly quite difficult to follow each character's separate story arc as it weaves in and out of other players' posts, especially as exits and entrances aren't clearly labeled and it's sometimes not even clear how some characters arrived at a specific destination in another person's post.
Case en point, the last post with Andri. The last thing I remember reading about him was his meeting with Elenei, and the most recent post begins with Andri bleeding on the concrete of some unknown location. I most definitely missed something, so if I managed to skip the entirety of what happened there, go ahead and point me to the post, since I'm super confused.
That being said, there's some pretty decent writing here, and I'm excited to jump in. Roanne, being a 'good of the people' sort of vigilante, probably won't mix too well in a brothel or anywhere remotely close to a rocket launcher wielding angel hunter, so the two best jumping points seem to be either running into Andri's slowly growing group of allies or party crashing the Toki trio.
There's still some work I need to be doing on Roanne's CS, though, so I'll post updates as I make corrections and such.
EDIT: @Wind Wild So I've added another picture to get an idea of what Roanne looks when she's not all armored up (which would be exceptionally rare, actually). I've also made adjustments to the following sections:
-The Bond: I've added more detail about the individual bonds to clarify the points we discussed and hopefully they're better suited to the RP.
-The Ward: I've added more detail and removed the part about her being able to sense death.
-The Sword: I've simply removed the extra features from her weapon. It's a regular ol' thing now.
-History: I took some creative liberties again, so feel free to tell me if it's not a good direction for implementing reincarnation and her wide array of angelic abilities. There's just a few notes on reincarnation and some clarification of her earth-born nature and work.
There's also the question of guardian angels being able to see auras. I wasn't sure what that meant, exactly, but I would like to implement it into her abilities.
@Wind Wild No worries! Promise. Real life always takes precedence over RP, and as a working university student I understand completely when things get busy. I appreciate your time as it is, so no need for apologies.
You make a fair point with Point 2--I can edit that in easily enough. Her charges likely change on a daily basis (she's seriously your friendly neighborhood spidey-angel), so I'd interpret that as being an awareness of personal friends or more formal bonds so long as they're in range of a ward. It also gives some interesting potential for Roanne to know or have a bond towards someone without them being aware of her angelic nature.
On point 3, I'm totally fine waiting. It'll be a while before I can think up a way to introduce my character in the first place, so no sweating getting that taken care of.
Once you've got some time on your hands, I would love talkin' Toki and Roanne. Roanne's a pretty irreverent and bold personality, so whatever relationship they may end up having should be pretty fun out the gate.
EDIT (Ninja'd!) @Themerlinhawk Throw things at me! Seriously, I'm reading through the IC still, so I could use a basic summary of what's goin' on in the now and any ideas you have for what we should do with Roanne.
Happy to to be here an' writin'! I had a feeling I was leaning in a few different directions, so I don't mind making corrections. A number of the PC's pack a serious punch, so I admittedly had difficulty balancing the abilities of a young-ish angel with a guardian that could actually hold her ground.
Bond of the Word
She can’t literally manifest because we don’t have teleportation in Essence but she could get the call telepathically.
That was poor wording on my part. She can't actually teleport to someone who bonds with her. It's best described as a brief mental link that makes Roanne able to hear thoughts directed at her. Ideally, it would also include some sort of honing sense so she can reach that person's location. It was also a large part of why speed in flight is so important to her. xD She'd be insanely frustrated in any circumstance where she can't fly to someone in need of help.
“Besides the ability to speak to Roanne, the ward also makes her aware of death that happens within a mile of the ward.”
Unlikely because angels don’t usually see or sense essence. We can stretch the limits if you insist but it’s been highly unusual for angels so far. Their own essence is naturally so strong and bright that it overshadows everything else around.
I'm fine eliminating that part of the ward power. Mostly I was trying to give it a useful feature outside of contacting an angel, such as warning of danger or the presence of demons (or death). If nothing like that is practical in angelic application, I'm fine with removing that part and may just rename the power to a more fitting "Beacon."
“So long as she has the blade in hand, it protects her from essence drainage by other creatures.”
Again something that doesn’t make much sense if the rules so far are considered, but you could say a human enchantment was placed on it?
This protection was meant to be a special part of her angelic essence. It's not her angelic nature or power that protects her so much as the unique bond it allows with her charge. Essentially, it's the hope, strength, and as corny as it sounds, love of those she protects that in turn shields her through the blade. If that's still impractical, I can give it a human enchantment or eliminate it for simplicity's sake.
Also I notice she’s quite versatile spanning in abilities from purely guardian ones to the resistance of a battle, the mind-reading of tamers (like reading violent thoughts) and miracle angel (the ability to use her essence offensively). I’d say that to be able to do those she should be able to remember a past life or two if you want those things to come natural to her.
I'm all for dealing with past lives and wouldn't mind complicating her history a bit with them. And I do admit, those abilities are fairly paladin inspired--I just shied away from using things like "holy" and "magic." Again, though, in theory, these abilities have less to do with being an angel and more to do with her bond. She isn't made aware of what violence others have committed, rather, it's a defensive mechanism to use mortal empathy against those who would harm her charge, a power unlocked through the will and needs of said charge (which is why a few of these powers actually require that a charge be present or otherwise consciously focused on her--she literally cannot use them when defending only herself, which is arguably what separates these powers from any other angel type).
Lastly I just wanted to point out she doesn’t need to be born in Heaven as that’s been decimated since the Great War and only a handful of angels repopulated it during Judas’ War. If she is though, it’s very likely she knows Toki.
I should have been more specific, but I wasn't sure of the exact date when the Great War started and ended. She isn't supposed to be born in Heaven (I just had no idea how old I could make her before she became born pre-war), but her parents would supposedly have been a part of The Council--not necessarily as arcangels so much as guardians and supporters of the angelic cause.
xD But now I'm torn! It would be nice to have some connection to another PC starting off.
I assumed the Dubois family would be based in Gleivnir Kingdom. Lacking a map and more climatic/geologic features of the kingdom, I'm not sure how to specify it further. I imagine a barony in a fairly fertile region with lots of farming.
I read the first post here and the first post in the OoC. Then I read through the characters and some of the IC posts, which I intend to catch up on soon. There's no denying that what I've come up with here is pretty raw, but feel free to take a look at it and see if it's going in a direction you like. I don't have a clue as to introducing this character unless someone's in need of a guardian to come crashing down from the sky.
Wing Size: 16ft Wing Color: Pure White Type:Falcon
Social Status: Lone Guardian (little known by humans, angels, and demons)
Relations:
What are the Wings of Faith (TWoF)?
TWoF is a benevolent secret society, very small in number but large in purpose. It does not answer to Peacekeepers or any other authority of law, making it a renegade organization by definition. Instead, it is dedicated to the poor populations of Loom incapable of defending themselves or paying for proper care and protection. Thus, it works mostly to protect humans, but angels are sometimes involved as well, as they have long since become a part of the mortal sphere. Bonds of the Word and the Earth are not capable of distinguishing the race of people who utilize them, but it is more common than not for a guardian to abandon demons who gain use of these wards once their identity is discovered.
Members of TWoF take on a vow to protect the people of Loom. Each individual claims a precinct of the city and forms a small group to look after it. With the use of their ability to bond, they may perform a variety of actions, from rescuing folks in danger to curing the sick and injured who can't afford care. Outside these small groups, they don't formally communicate with other members of TWoF (meaning it is leaderless, and no one knows its exact numbers).
How does TWoF function?
The group in charge of a precinct spread word of their presence in two major ways--through churches and poor intercity communities. Pastors are provided with the sacred 'first' names of serving angels and pass around the incantation needed to activate the angelic wards of their precinct. Similarly, word of these incantations are spread through humanitarian centers and poor schools. Thus, the community in general is made aware of rune locations and how to access them, though the community also tends to guard this information from outsiders (like Peacekeepers).
When a person activates a bond, the angel basically drops everything to come and assist. They don't strive to conceal their identities (so they don't wear masks and things like that), but tend to blend so well into human society that not everyone who has activated a ward knows what human identity an angel may be attached to.
How do other organizations interact with TWoF?
TWoF is an organization “for the people,” and thus does not formally attach itself to any other group. However, isolation is impossible, and so TWoF does run into the agendas of other organizations at times. Although TWoF abstains from fatally harming those who attack its wards, death has been utilized as a tool for protection on rare occasions and thus members of TWoF occasionally appeared on the radar of Peacekeepers. It has no relations outside of this interaction, which is avoided as much as possible.
TWoF is seen as too small to be of great consequence, and because its objectives never spread from beyond helping poor and defenseless humans, it doesn't have a large role in the overall politics of the city. Even so, humans tend to have a high opinion of TWoF because of the selfless acts from angels it demands, and the organization could be blamed for giving some humans a higher opinion of all angels, promoting a not-entirely-true notion that all angels care for the well-being of humans.
Who are members of TWoF?
Adrian, Deorwine, and Malvina form the group of their precinct. All three of them are friends who share both duty and their 'human' lives. The runes of their precinct resemble graffiti, large cursive letters that spell “M.A.D.” The phrase to activate it, as rumor goes, is “absit iniuria.”
Physical Description: It's a small American cafe with lots of old Coke ads, license plates, city signs, and other miscellaneous memorabilia tacked to the walls. The structure of the place varies from brick and wooden siding to a black-and-white tiled floor and hanging lamps between small windows. It has its own bar with several seats and that section remains open until the wee hours of the morning. Most of the upholstery is a deep red, and the restaurant sports more cozy family booths than individual tables on the floor. As necessary by tradition, there's an old jukebox near the receptionist area where customers can insert coin for their own old tunes. There's only one main entrance/exit, with the other at the back of the restaurant where the kitchen is. The establishment even prides itself on its clean bathrooms—each with two separate stalls.
Menu: Darlyn's Cafe is mostly focused on gourmet burgers with everything from pastrami to avocado. As a true cafe, however, it also offers salads, desserts, and various ethic foods, such as tacos and surprisingly good orange chicken. What the cafe is known for, however, is its unique s'mores cake in a jar.
History: Established about 30 years ago, Darlyn's Cafe has always done relatively well. Its well prepared food with decent prices makes it a favorite of blue and white collar workers alike, and its barista drums in business for late night partiers. When Eloise's mother (Darlyn) died, she left the restaurant to be split between her four children. Given her siblings' disinterest in owning a business, she decided to buy off the other portions from them and runs it as its sole owner today.
General Activity: When not working at a human establishment, she calls her defensive acts for humans “patrolling for the Wings of Faith.”
Abilities: Guardian Angel
Roanne's power comes directly from the bond she shares with those she protects. Unlike virtually any other discipline regarding essence, hers requires faith. Without trust, compassion, and dedication, she is unable to use her angelic essence to channel her abilities. In older days, this bond was potent enough to create miracles, but with recent conflicts and demonic subversion, channeling this power has never been more difficult. Once a bond is active (i.e. when Bond of the Heart, Earth, or Word is invoked), Roanne attains a homing sense that guides her toward the location of that charge. Once danger is averted, the bond becomes inactive and this homing ability no longer exists.
Types of Bonds: Bond of the Heart: The strongest possible connection an angel can make. It requires consistent interaction and strong emotions and functions as an ongoing Bond of the Word. A charge with a Bond of the Heart doesn't need to know Roanne's true name, and the ability to mentally call her and for her to locate the charge with a homing sense is available at any time with some mental concentration. Bond of the Earth: This bond relies on groups of people within a geologic area, typically a small town or a precinct of a city (see "Ward" under Abilities below). Bond of the Word: Anyone in possession of a guardian angel's true name (their first name, i.e. the name of their first life before reincarnation) has the ability to focus on that name and telepathically call the angel (which is basically synonymous with prayer).
The Wax and Wane of a Bond: Bonds are strongest when an angel is trusted to act. Thus, a guardian angel's bond is strongest when she acts to fulfill the needs of those she serves. Times of desperation are usually when a bond is strongest, as the person being protected is naturally forced to have faith in the angel's ability to carry out the task at hand. This nature of the bond makes it impossible for an angel to use guardian abilities if the use of those abilities are not in line with the desires of whomever the guardian acts for.
Smite: Roanne can physically and psychically burn a target. This appears as a concentrated ray of light from her blade, effectively igniting the target with flame and causing them to relive the pain they have given to others. This naturally isn't as powerful against benevolent beings who haven't hurt others, which also diminishes the strength of the physical flame. The strength of the ray is also dependent on the angel's charge rather than the angel herself--her charge must actively have the desire for the angle to injure or stop her opponent from acting.
Empathy: Roanne can absorb the wounds of her bond, which in turn makes her more resilient to harm. The limit of damage she can absorb is limited to what she can physically survive, but the harm she takes upon herself is halved (or in the case of mortals, divided even further, as their essence tends to be less potent). For instance, taking a broken bone for another person would give her a bone fracture. She can even take disease into herself to remove it from another person, relying on her angelic stamina to sort out the disease in what may take anything from an hour to a week depending on its severity.
Shrug it Off: Roanne can heal her own physical wounds by channeling the faith of others to reinforce her essence. This requires active focus from her charge and its ability to heal minor or serious wounds in seconds relies heavily on that charge's trust and willpower. This can similarly be used to counter mental pain and domination, which makes guardian angels typically bad prey for such abilities.
Shield: Roanne can manipulate her essence into a shield of force that surrounds her body. This naturally reduces the power of physical blows she may come into contact with. Most often used to defend another person from massive trauma in a pinch, this shield can repulse the equivalent of a 2300lb car hitting an object at 40mph. Anything beyond that can bend the 'shield,' slowed but not stopped before it hits Roanne. This shield is a burst that lasts for only 5 seconds, and can't be used in successive bursts.
Holy Ground: Roanne can cast a circle of her angellic essence onto the ground (up to 10ft in radius). Any foe that steps into the circle with violent thoughts against Roanne or her charge is exposed to a psychic burn that causes intense pain all over the assailant's body. It similarly rebounds magic and projectiles aimed at harming those within the circle. Because it is largely a faith-powered spell, its duration depends entirely on the will of the person(s) it protects.
Ward: Roanne can carve the first letter of her true name into any particular object. After being given a specific phrase, anyone can speak to her through the rune by using that phrase to activate it. Without frequent use, however, the ward will fade until it disintegrates, usually within a month of not being used.
The ward effects people under different bonds differently. Bond of the Earth makes Roanne able to sense the danger a person is in as well as their location up to 1 hour after that person activates her rune. When those who have invoked a Bond of the Word are in danger, Roanne can sense that they are in danger and their location so long as they are within 3 miles of the rune. If a person has not invoked a Bond of the Word again after a week, the ward no longer has this effect on them. Finally, a person with a Bond of the Heart will always alert Roanne of their danger and location so long as they are within 5 miles of a ward.
Aura Sight: Roanne can distinguish angels, demons, humans, chimeras, animals, and so forth via the color of aura she sees surrounding them. The brighter the aura, the stronger the essence. Weak auras can be seen from 30ft and the strongest can be seen up to 200ft away. This is a passive effect that Roanne can disable mentally.
Sheathe: Roanne's wings are a direct form of her essence, and thus can be drawn back into her body, or 'hidden.'
Strengths: Roanne is a fierce and fast opponent, aiming to overwhelm foes in precise and unexpected maneuvers. Her defensive techniques lend her ample support against demons and other threats, and when the goal is to get people out in a rush or protect them from harm, her powers are difficult to contest against.
Weaknesses: Roanne's tactics aren't meant to be used in sustained combat, as they take a heavy physical toll. Even some of her strongest rush techniques are weak against foes who are prepared or equally fast. Bereft of those surprise charges, her ability in combat wanes even more, as she is trained to fight defensively and her angelic abilities also lean heavily on defense. Above all of this, she is unable to use her defensive powers at all when lacking a charge to protect.
Equipment: Aderes—The tempered blade Roanne uses in combat.
Armor—Y'know, the regular angelic stuff. It resembles steel, but her pure essence reinforces it to defy things like bullets and swords.
Spice Collection—Roanne is legitimately concerned with collecting every kind of herb, spice, and infusion recipe she can get a hold of. She keeps it at home, which is nothing more than a modest apartment.
Personality: There is nothing cold about Roanne. When she's stern, it's the motherly kind of stern to keep those she cares about out of trouble. When she fights, she does so with a fiery grit that easily leads her to overextend, thus leaving herself vulnerable. In her line of angelic duty, there is no room for questions, no time to ask whether or not she will survive whatever encounter she is asked to endure for the sake of others. Her view, then, on those who harm humans is fairly black and white. Any being that would harm or kill mortals with no regard for their lives is worth giving her life several times over to stop. Vengeance isn't part of her protective creed, but she engages in it more often than she should.
When she isn't engaging as an angel, however, she leads something of a double life. She doesn't know much about what Heaven once was and doesn't really care—what's better than the fun and food to be had around humans? To say she is passionate on the subject of food is an understatement: outside of saving lives, she wants nothing more than to try every kind of dish and flavor for herself. This natural curiosity and geniality leads her to naturally form bonds with humans without putting much effort into the task.
Biography: Roanne was born from the union of two angels—both, incidentally, who were guardians in the service of an angelic clairvoyant. She was raised to be a guardian just like them, stout of heart and loyal to the core to their charge. Swordplay, advanced flight, and manipulation of her own essence were taught to her from a young age, and she excelled at the practice. There was just one issue.
She didn't like the clairvoyant. In fact, she disliked angelic society and The Council her parents were a part of in general. Being still and quiet when not needed bothered her, and the mortal lives angels were forced to mingle with seemed so much more interesting. The more she went off on her own to observe and participate in the society of humans, the more determined she became to serve them instead. It was only a matter of time before she told her parents of her decision, which she did proudly and boldly.
Her parents were naturally offended and angry at the suggestion, but after defeating her father in a duel to settle the matter, there was no debating her choice. She ultimately broke contact with her parents, falling in with other guardian angels with interests more invested in humans. Over the years, she adapted seamlessly into human society, though her work as an informal guardian vigilante caused her to have a bad work history. Constantly leaving work to answer the bonds of her charges caused many issues until she finally found work at a cafe willing to accept her unpredictable absences. The owner was none other than a former human charge of hers who supported her efforts.
Roanne has a notorious history through her reincarnations as well, though at present she only remembers her original name and a number of fragments scattered throughout centuries of time. She's under the impression that she has served as a guardian throughout many, if not all of her lives, and deep bonds with other angels during those lives seem to have influenced what her essence is capable of achieving as a guardian. It's a reverent and personal (though not necessarily accurate) thought she treasures--that the memory of loved ones has remained in her angelic essence through reincarnation despite her inability to remember details about those people. The thought that they may still be giving her strength to help the world gives her hope she hasn't admitted to anyone.
This looks like fun! Here's to throwing my character into the ring.
Name: Estelle Caelestinus Class: Maid Height: 5'6'' Weight: 110lbs. Hair Color: Blonde Eye Color: Blue Complexion: White Age: 24
Appearance: Estelle is a slight creature, all willowy limbs with girlish curves. There is nothing girlish about her face, however, the curve of her nose and chin sharp and her bright blue eyes piercing. She carries herself with proper poise and exhibits a seemingly easy grace in the way she moves, which is always with purpose and dexterity. Along with this formality, she almost always sports her uniform--a plain black dress with tight, long sleeves and a fluffed skirt that runs just below the knees. The uniform also includes a lacy headband too keep back long, curly hair, and black leggings with sleek, ankle-length boots.
Special Abilities: = Extra Pockets (Passive) - Increase Equipment slot by one. = Pick (Active) - Unlock a lock at will.
Equipment List = Iron Knife > Heal - Restore a nearby player from incapacitation. > Mend - Revive a nearby fallen NPC. Cast immediately after death. Body must be mostly intact. Once per battle. > Warp - Teleport a faraway person to the near vicinity. Five per battle.
History: Estelle was born to a family of servants and brought up to work like one. To this day, she still serves Lord Dubois, a noble loyal to Gleivnir and its monarchy. Though she has worked hard to gain the common title of maid, her position within the Dubois family is not taken lightly. Like her mother, she was trained from a young age to cook and clean, but the Dubois family required other unique skills. Healing the family's knights when they returned from battle was one such thing, and another was playing bodyguard and assistant when family members left home.
Estelle was not guaranteed the position of maid, and she hardened over time to achieve her family's goal no matter what challenges arose. For this reason, she tends to have a cool and competitive demeanor. She never lived with the privileges of a noble woman and thus learned to keep a constant firm and formal demeanor, which entailed hiding all emotion her superiors deemed inappropriate for one of her station.
@ViolentViolet I'm still around! What were you thinking about arranging? xD I'm also not sure if Everett is officially approved or not so I can move him to the character tab.
The Asvirials have an interesting position in relation to the Jurans, so I'm game for cooking up some intrigue. I do have some basic predispositions regarding the plot based on the characters that have already turned up, though.
One idea I had, for instance, was the Asvirial family throwing a big party for the youngest sister's 100th birthday. Since it'd be the first time the youngest Asvirial sibling, Whitney, is introduced into official vampire society, it would open up an opportunity for everyone's characters to be present, to mingle and connive. The vampire slayers are a little bit harder to tie in immediately, given the whole... hunting thing.
But I have ideas for that, too! The Asvirials have a series of clubs with each one aligned with a certain tier. Vampire slayers and those wishing to spy on vampires could fit into one of these tiers (middle-class humans at the bottom, human donors at the second-to-bottom, and rich humans at the third tier). One idea is for there to have been some conflict recently, one that resulted in a vampire slayer killing one of the vampiric employees. This would naturally garner interest from the Asvirial family, who would respond by capturing and disfiguring said vampire slayer. The end result is a who dunnit sort of plot, with more vampire slayers sneaking into the ranks to find out what happened and vampires watching the slayers for further signs of trouble.
On a more general note, the Asvirials don't have a lot of plot secrets to keep, since all the fun is in coordinating with everyone else. Right out the gate, I guarantee Everett will have issues with @Apoalo's Alacai. Everett's far from a defender of humans, but turning children/young adults bothers him greatly and is a powerful reason he doesn't want to align himself with the Juran family. I imagine they're not on friendly terms, though Alacai wouldn't be barred from using the top tiered clubs owned by the Asvirials.
@ViolentViolet's Viridiana may also have a difficult time earning respect from Everett, who sees naivete and softness as a weakness, especially in vampiric leaders. She'd have more luck in negotiating with Everett as head of the Asvirials, but find it difficult to win enough of his respect for him to trust her.
@ScarletQueen's Tristan probably has the best chance of having something more than neutral relations with Everett and thus, his corporation. The social savvy guy would find a lot of friends in the Asvirial's circles, so if you want to work on something there, ScarletQueen, I'm all ears!
@McHaggis's Alistair would also have a great chance of befriending Everett and his circle of aristocrats. As much as the Asvirials strive not to garner too much attention as potential rulers, they welcome allies, numbers, and houses that have values like the Queen family. If you want to flesh out actual relations between Alistair and the members of that family, I'd be happy to chat!
@HalfofLancelot's Thomas, as I mentioned, would have a lot of issues ever getting close to the pure bloods themselves, so there's two ways to go about relations if you want to have them. One, if Thomas's standards would allow (or the vampire slayer community as a whole), would be for him to have a contract with the Asvirials to hunt other vampires. Otherwise, I can provide NPC's within the Asvirial's clubs if he feels like infiltrating vampire society that way.
@Everyone Rania is generally much easier to connect to other characters. She tends to be more understanding and open as a vampiric aristocrat, so if any of you guys have interest in starting relations between her and your characters, I'm all ears.
