No offense intended. But there's a sweet spot on the sliding scale of realism, and most of the interest checks I usually see skew too far to the realism end for me.
2
likes
9 yrs ago
Can't describe how quickly I go from excited to sad when a mecha premise turns out to be realism wankery.
Awesome. Moved it there, now. I'll be awake a bit longer, but I probably won't be posting in the IC til tomorrow. Have to catch up and it's nearly 4AM.
Skills: Video gamer of the highest caliber, decent tech support, and an avid researcher of her passions. Master of dating sims. Rebekah’s curiosity has led...
@Crimmy, you sneaky bugger. You got that one past us. Well played.
Biography: Rebekah Cross was born in England, though it was not necessarily where she spent most of her time. Her father was a traveling businessman, while her mother was (allegedly) a mafia heiress, and as a result she spent much of her childhood traveling across the globe, visiting other countries and learning about their cultures. She had a particular fascination with their local variations on the supernatural; myth, legend, folklore, religion, all of it was riveting to her. Which is why it isn’t really a surprise that she learned about magic completely by accident, while visiting a small occult shop tucked away in the oldest parts of Yorkshire.
It took a little bit for her to believe it was real, but a demonstration from the (admittedly exceptionally low-level) magician that owned the shop was enough to convince her. It was from him that she obtained several writings on how magic worked, and began expanding her knowledge. Every new place she traveled she would search out the hidden places where such knowledge could be found, and began to test her own limits. Her knowledge was an incredibly weird mix as a result; the theory behind it all was completely consistent, but where she drew her inspiration from varied wildly.
Rebekah was fascinated, as well, with why the use of magic never seemed to catch up with the modern day. Attempting to digitize the production of magic circles. Items that proved useful could be incorporated into more mundane objects. Her experimentation was constant, as she honed both her own style and her own understanding. Magic, in her eyes, was a diverse and fascinating subject. Any group that tried to say there was a “correct” way to make use of it, or that one needed to be affiliated with any particular group, simply… baffled her. She actually found the idea to be quite irritating.
Eventually, her father took her on an extended trip to Japan. His company was establishing a relatively long term relationship with another business in the country, and he was selected to act as a sort of liaison. She attended a relatively ordinary private school for her middle school years, and continued to refine her practice of magic. Her previously Western style began to blend much, much more with the Eastern influences around her during this period. Some of it was intentional, and some of it was her environment bleeding through.
Hybrid Academy, when she learned of it, seemed the perfect place to be. She currently lives alone (with regards to human beings) in Academy City.
Personality: Quiet, and almost closed-off. Rebekah is friendly enough if you don’t earn her ire, but she isn’t particularly forthcoming with information. She’s generally perfectly happy to be left to her own devices. That’s not to say she lacks for social skills; she is perfectly capable in a social setting, she simply prefers not to bother. If she is holding a conversation past small talk and niceties, or genuinely listening to what you’re saying, it’s safe to assume you have succeeded in the rare task of earning her genuine attention. Aside from a few pet peeves, she’s generally a fairly mellow person. Injustice, prejudice, or abuse of power, however, are a surefire way to earn her complete attention in a fashion that tends to leave one wishing they hadn’t.
She is a firm believer that nothing is set in stone. Age old conflicts do not have to repeat, and the pitfalls of the past can be avoided. In fact, she outright rejects the very notion of predestination. Implying that anyone, or anything, controls her life but her is a surefire way to get your own philosophies rammed back down your throat.
Likes: -Food -Tinkering -Video Games -Reading -Interesting conversationalists
Dislikes: -Excessive noise -People who touch her laptop -Factionalism
Skills: Video gamer of the highest caliber, decent tech support, and an avid researcher of her passions. Master of dating sims. Rebekah’s curiosity has led to a highly eclectic accumulation of knowledge, but her skill in research has served her well in school. Beyond that, however, she is surprisingly skilled in armed combat, and passable enough in unarmed combat to defend herself. This stems both from her curiosity, and her efforts to become proficient in her chosen skillsets. Her skill with her choice of magical fields is surprising, given her mostly self-taught background, but it largely stems from an excellent grasp of magical theory. Theory that, through extensive practice, she can apply to her magic to keep it practical and efficient. Also quite adept at card tricks, for both showy and practical reasons.
Ability: N/A
Magic: Sorceress
Rebekah’s magic is, primarily, prepared ahead of time. Each card within her deck of playing cards is a carefully prepared spell, requiring only mana and an incantation of varying length to become active. Each card is single-use, unfortunately, requiring that she take the time to replace one when it is used. The spells draw on various aspects of cultures she has encountered in her travels, particularly the aspects that resonate with her, and carefully correlated to a suite and card number.
Given the amount of mana that her more potent cards require, however, their use is extremely limited. Rebekah is unable to use more than two of her more potent spells, these spells being an Ace or a Face Card, per encounter as well as three of her number cards. Any more than this would be too taxing on her.
Number of Distinct Spells: 14
Spades:
Ace - 5: Drawing from the legendary (and historical) warrior monk Benkei, the first five cards in the Spades suite deal with the summoning of arms. According to legend Benkei confiscated 999 swords in duels with those who wished to cross his bridge, only to be defeated by the thousandth crosser, his future master Yoshitsune. The cards numbered two through five, as well as the same numbered cards of the Clubs suite, permit her to summon forth personal weapons as though from a stored cache. Exactly what she summons is dictated by citing the weapon by name in the invocation.
The Ace of Spades permits her to summon the 1000th sword; the weapon of Benkei’s master, the only weapon he failed to take. An uchigatana of average size, it has only one exceptional trait. The first strike made with it will break through any defense, be it physical, magical, or esper. That effect is not absolute, however. Any effect that outclasses Rebekah’s magic to a sufficient degree will withstand the strike. After that first strike, the blade is simply a normal sword.
6-10 of Spades: A brief hail of arrows at the target, drawing inspiration from the famous Persian boast that they would blot out the sun with their arrows. One direction only, with a limited spread. These cards have the added benefit that, with enough time, they can be infused with mana and left in a location to be activated with the incantation after the fact. This is, obviously, limited to the range of her voice.
Jack: This spell, in addition to its card, requires four objects to denote the boundaries of the arena. These must be deliberately placed prior to the casting of the Jack of Spades. Once cast, the spell creates a boundary around the designated area preventing anyone from entering it, and anyone from exiting it, until she is either defeated or she permits the spell to end. It draws its inspiration from chivalric conduct, specifically, formal single combat.
Queen: A significantly longer invocation than most, the Queen of Spades is a concentrated energy attack. Drawing its inspiration from divine intervention, the Queen of Spades takes several moments to gather sufficient mana from within Rebekah’s stores and focus it into a directed energy bolt.
King: Deriving from Arthurian myth, the King of Spades requires the use of both the King of Spades and the King of Clubs, as well as a lengthy incantation. The spell summons a spectral knight, clad in armor, and wielding a classical longsword. The entity acts under orders from Rebekah, though capable of some independent action, and will fade from existence either after five minutes or she is rendered unconscious. Five minutes is the maximum duration that it can sustain itself off of the energy for its summoning before beginning to draw from Rebekah’s mana, so the spell is designed to ensure it dissipates after that time. It possesses no particularly special qualities, other than that it will not be felled by mundane means and seems primarily dedicated to her protection.
Clubs:
Ace: Deriving from Benkei’s moniker of “Oni Child”, the Ace of Clubs is capable of briefly instilling great fear in a target. Given that this can be resisted, this effect is best used when the target is caught off guard, or remains unaware of its abilities. With knowledge of its effect, or a strong will, the Ace of Clubs is greatly diminished in usefulness.
Otherwise, exact duplicates of corresponding Spades suite cards.
Diamonds:
Ace: The Ace of Diamonds derives from Benkei’s famous last stand. Benkei guarded the only bridge to his master’s castle from those who sought to kill his master, preventing any from crossing. His opponents only realize that their rain of arrows had felled him long after he was dead, as he remained standing even after his demise. The Ace of Diamonds permits Rebekah to continue on through circumstances that should normally have felled her, provided that it is physically possible for her to remain on her feet. Unlike the majority of her spells, the Ace uses her mana for fuel as long as it is active. Additionally it does not heal any of the injuries sustains, merely permits her to persevere through them. Their consequences will impact fully the moment the spell ends.
2-6. Modeled after Lu Bu’s famous escape when cornered, this card requires the briefest incantation and acts in essence as a glorified feint. A brief flash of light emanates from the card to blind the opponent and give her a chance to begin running.
7-10 of Diamonds: Derived from the Arabian Nights, the story of the Ensorcelled Prince, where a sultan finds a boy that is half man half stone. When cast, Rebekah must make physical contact with her target. If she does their movements will be slowed for a brief time, as though their body was heavy and stiff.
Jack: The Jack of Diamonds draws from the Epic of Gilgamesh, specifically, the eponymous hero’s epithet; “He Who Sees the Unknown”. Once cast Rebekah can analyze the next supernatural feat, be it esper or magic, that she witnesses to understand the basic principles of how it functions and from where it draws its strength so that she can try and understand how its user’s abilities function. This is most useful in understanding magic.
Queen: The Queen of Diamonds draws its power from Rebekah’s religious faith to heal a target. This cannot be performed upon herself, and requires time to cast, and is significantly limited in its effectiveness. Bruises and cuts can be fixed without issue, broken bones can be set, but major injuries can only be stabilized long enough to reach a real medical professional.
King: The King of Diamonds invokes Rebekah’s religious faith to protect her from a single injury. Unless her magic is severely outclassed, she will be guarded from injury for one attack, provided she can cast the spell before the blow would connect. Given that the incantation cannot generally be spoken before an attack that is already on the way, this generally must be cast before she expects to be hit by an attack.
Hearts:
Ace: From Benkei’s time in the monasteries comes the Ace of Hearts. Casting it will, with the exception of extreme circumstances, return a level of calm and focus to Rebekah’s own mind.
Otherwise, exact duplicates of corresponding card in the Diamonds suite.
Theme Song(s): (Optional) Is there a song(s) that plays when your character is around? If yes, put it here ^^ (Personally I find non-vocals to be the best theme songs)
Extras: Rebekah is the proud caretaker of a dog that she brings with her as much as possible.
So after a long and arduous process, I finally finished.
Ironically, by the time I was done, someone had taken "Rebecca". So if people feel strongly about not having a Rebecca and a Rebekah, I can change it. I was actually going to, but Snow and Onarax pointed out there can be some great comedy there. And the magic system is... A bit weird. I put in a card-use-per-battle limit in there to keep her from using all of her more potent spells all the time.
Anyway, here she is
Appearance:
Name: Cross, Rebekah
Nickname/Alias: Bekah
Magic Name: Novus999, “A path towards the future”
Position: None
Faction: None
Seat Number: 20
Nationality: British
Age: 16
Gender: Female
Blood Type: O-
Biography: Rebekah Cross was born in England, though it was not necessarily where she spent most of her time. Her father was a traveling businessman, while her mother was (allegedly) a mafia heiress, and as a result she spent much of her childhood traveling across the globe, visiting other countries and learning about their cultures. She had a particular fascination with their local variations on the supernatural; myth, legend, folklore, religion, all of it was riveting to her. Which is why it isn’t really a surprise that she learned about magic completely by accident, while visiting a small occult shop tucked away in the oldest parts of Yorkshire.
It took a little bit for her to believe it was real, but a demonstration from the (admittedly exceptionally low-level) magician that owned the shop was enough to convince her. It was from him that she obtained several writings on how magic worked, and began expanding her knowledge. Every new place she traveled she would search out the hidden places where such knowledge could be found, and began to test her own limits. Her knowledge was an incredibly weird mix as a result; the theory behind it all was completely consistent, but where she drew her inspiration from varied wildly.
Rebekah was fascinated, as well, with why the use of magic never seemed to catch up with the modern day. Attempting to digitize the production of magic circles. Items that proved useful could be incorporated into more mundane objects. Her experimentation was constant, as she honed both her own style and her own understanding. Magic, in her eyes, was a diverse and fascinating subject. Any group that tried to say there was a “correct” way to make use of it, or that one needed to be affiliated with any particular group, simply… baffled her. She actually found the idea to be quite irritating.
Eventually, her father took her on an extended trip to Japan. His company was establishing a relatively long term relationship with another business in the country, and he was selected to act as a sort of liaison. She attended a relatively ordinary private school for her middle school years, and continued to refine her practice of magic. Her previously Western style began to blend much, much more with the Eastern influences around her during this period. Some of it was intentional, and some of it was her environment bleeding through.
Hybrid Academy, when she learned of it, seemed the perfect place to be. She currently lives alone (with regards to human beings) in Academy City.
Personality: Quiet, and almost closed-off. Rebekah is friendly enough if you don’t earn her ire, but she isn’t particularly forthcoming with information. She’s generally perfectly happy to be left to her own devices. That’s not to say she lacks for social skills; she is perfectly capable in a social setting, she simply prefers not to bother. If she is holding a conversation past small talk and niceties, or genuinely listening to what you’re saying, it’s safe to assume you have succeeded in the rare task of earning her genuine attention. Aside from a few pet peeves, she’s generally a fairly mellow person. Injustice, prejudice, or abuse of power, however, are a surefire way to earn her complete attention in a fashion that tends to leave one wishing they hadn’t.
She is a firm believer that nothing is set in stone. Age old conflicts do not have to repeat, and the pitfalls of the past can be avoided. In fact, she outright rejects the very notion of predestination. Implying that anyone, or anything, controls her life but her is a surefire way to get your own philosophies rammed back down your throat.
Likes: -Food -Tinkering -Video Games -Reading -Interesting conversationalists
Dislikes: -Excessive noise -People who touch her laptop -Factionalism
Skills: Video gamer of the highest caliber, decent tech support, and an avid researcher of her passions. Master of dating sims. Rebekah’s curiosity has led to a highly eclectic accumulation of knowledge, but her skill in research has served her well in school. Beyond that, however, she is surprisingly skilled in armed combat, and passable enough in unarmed combat to defend herself. This stems both from her curiosity, and her efforts to become proficient in her chosen skillsets. Her skill with her choice of magical fields is surprising, given her mostly self-taught background, but it largely stems from an excellent grasp of magical theory. Theory that, through extensive practice, she can apply to her magic to keep it practical and efficient. Also quite adept at card tricks, for both showy and practical reasons.
Ability: N/A
Magic: Sorceress
Rebekah’s magic is, primarily, prepared ahead of time. Each card within her deck of playing cards is a carefully prepared spell, requiring only mana and an incantation of varying length to become active. Each card is single-use, unfortunately, requiring that she take the time to replace one when it is used. The spells draw on various aspects of cultures she has encountered in her travels, particularly the aspects that resonate with her, and carefully correlated to a suite and card number.
Given the amount of mana that her more potent cards require, however, their use is extremely limited. Rebekah is unable to use more than two of her more potent spells, these spells being an Ace or a Face Card, per encounter as well as three of her number cards. Any more than this would be too taxing on her.
Number of Distinct Spells: 14
Spades:
Ace - 5: Drawing from the legendary (and historical) warrior monk Benkei, the first five cards in the Spades suite deal with the summoning of arms. According to legend Benkei confiscated 999 swords in duels with those who wished to cross his bridge, only to be defeated by the thousandth crosser, his future master Yoshitsune. The cards numbered two through five, as well as the same numbered cards of the Clubs suite, permit her to summon forth personal weapons as though from a stored cache. Exactly what she summons is dictated by citing the weapon by name in the invocation.
The Ace of Spades permits her to summon the 1000th sword; the weapon of Benkei’s master, the only weapon he failed to take. An uchigatana of average size, it has only one exceptional trait. The first strike made with it will break through any defense, be it physical, magical, or esper. That effect is not absolute, however. Any effect that outclasses Rebekah’s magic to a sufficient degree will withstand the strike. After that first strike, the blade is simply a normal sword.
6-10 of Spades: A brief hail of arrows at the target, drawing inspiration from the famous Persian boast that they would blot out the sun with their arrows. One direction only, with a limited spread. These cards have the added benefit that, with enough time, they can be infused with mana and left in a location to be activated with the incantation after the fact. This is, obviously, limited to the range of her voice.
Jack: This spell, in addition to its card, requires four objects to denote the boundaries of the arena. These must be deliberately placed prior to the casting of the Jack of Spades. Once cast, the spell creates a boundary around the designated area preventing anyone from entering it, and anyone from exiting it, until she is either defeated or she permits the spell to end. It draws its inspiration from chivalric conduct, specifically, formal single combat.
Queen: A significantly longer invocation than most, the Queen of Spades is a concentrated energy attack. Drawing its inspiration from divine intervention, the Queen of Spades takes several moments to gather sufficient mana from within Rebekah’s stores and focus it into a directed energy bolt.
King: Deriving from Arthurian myth, the King of Spades requires the use of both the King of Spades and the King of Clubs, as well as a lengthy incantation. The spell summons a spectral knight, clad in armor, and wielding a classical longsword. The entity acts under orders from Rebekah, though capable of some independent action, and will fade from existence either after five minutes or she is rendered unconscious. Five minutes is the maximum duration that it can sustain itself off of the energy for its summoning before beginning to draw from Rebekah’s mana, so the spell is designed to ensure it dissipates after that time. It possesses no particularly special qualities, other than that it will not be felled by mundane means and seems primarily dedicated to her protection.
Clubs:
Ace: Deriving from Benkei’s moniker of “Oni Child”, the Ace of Clubs is capable of briefly instilling great fear in a target. Given that this can be resisted, this effect is best used when the target is caught off guard, or remains unaware of its abilities. With knowledge of its effect, or a strong will, the Ace of Clubs is greatly diminished in usefulness.
Otherwise, exact duplicates of corresponding Spades suite cards.
Diamonds:
Ace: The Ace of Diamonds derives from Benkei’s famous last stand. Benkei guarded the only bridge to his master’s castle from those who sought to kill his master, preventing any from crossing. His opponents only realize that their rain of arrows had felled him long after he was dead, as he remained standing even after his demise. The Ace of Diamonds permits Rebekah to continue on through circumstances that should normally have felled her, provided that it is physically possible for her to remain on her feet. Unlike the majority of her spells, the Ace uses her mana for fuel as long as it is active. Additionally it does not heal any of the injuries sustains, merely permits her to persevere through them. Their consequences will impact fully the moment the spell ends.
2-6. Modeled after Lu Bu’s famous escape when cornered, this card requires the briefest incantation and acts in essence as a glorified feint. A brief flash of light emanates from the card to blind the opponent and give her a chance to begin running.
7-10 of Diamonds: Derived from the Arabian Nights, the story of the Ensorcelled Prince, where a sultan finds a boy that is half man half stone. When cast, Rebekah must make physical contact with her target. If she does their movements will be slowed for a brief time, as though their body was heavy and stiff.
Jack: The Jack of Diamonds draws from the Epic of Gilgamesh, specifically, the eponymous hero’s epithet; “He Who Sees the Unknown”. Once cast Rebekah can analyze the next supernatural feat, be it esper or magic, that she witnesses to understand the basic principles of how it functions and from where it draws its strength so that she can try and understand how its user’s abilities function. This is most useful in understanding magic.
Queen: The Queen of Diamonds draws its power from Rebekah’s religious faith to heal a target. This cannot be performed upon herself, and requires time to cast, and is significantly limited in its effectiveness. Bruises and cuts can be fixed without issue, broken bones can be set, but major injuries can only be stabilized long enough to reach a real medical professional.
King: The King of Diamonds invokes Rebekah’s religious faith to protect her from a single injury. Unless her magic is severely outclassed, she will be guarded from injury for one attack, provided she can cast the spell before the blow would connect. Given that the incantation cannot generally be spoken before an attack that is already on the way, this generally must be cast before she expects to be hit by an attack.
Hearts:
Ace: From Benkei’s time in the monasteries comes the Ace of Hearts. Casting it will, with the exception of extreme circumstances, return a level of calm and focus to Rebekah’s own mind.
Otherwise, exact duplicates of corresponding card in the Diamonds suite.
Theme Song(s): (Optional) Is there a song(s) that plays when your character is around? If yes, put it here ^^ (Personally I find non-vocals to be the best theme songs)
Extras: Rebekah is the proud caretaker of a dog that she brings with her as much as possible.
My own brain, honestly. I had what I wanted to do figured out, but I managed to get myself good and confused to the point of writer's block. if I'm lucky I'll still finish tonight. If not, it'll be done tomorrow.
Ghosthands
Plank Sinatra
UltimoScorp
The World