Leodiensian

Mass Effect: Omega's Finest

Name - Davo'Sallar Nar Forrym Vas Nedas, "Query 31"
Age - 28
Species - Quarian
Gender - Male
Appearance - Davo is tall and burly for a Quarian, though this still makes him a little short and slender by human standards; he stands at about 6" tall and weighing a little under 200 lbs. Outside of a clean room he's never seen without his black exo-suit, which acts as armour and keeps him safe from the various pathogens in the world, especially with Omega's poor environmental scrubbing systems. Under the suit he keeps his black hair trimmed short and his skin is pockmarked with visible cybernetic implants. His eyes are milky white and there is a burn scar on his right cheek.
Occupation - Drug cook/dealer
Class - Sentinel
Powers - Neural Shock, Sabotage, AI Hacking, Throw, Lift, First Aid
Weapons - M4 Shuriken SMG, M5 Carnifex Heavy Pistol w/Sabot Jacketing mod
Armor/Apparel - Colossus VII Light Armour
Equipment - Logic Arrest VI Omni-tool, Gemini VI Bio-Amp, Medi-gel
Personality - Davo is used to spending long periods of time alone and is generally very self-sufficient. He's picked up a lot of skills along the way, making him quite a jack of all trades. He tolerates other people for about as long as it takes for him to get what he needs from them and rarely any longer. He's quite a misanthrope, which might be a natural consequence of having spent so long working in the Omega underworld and seeing the very worst the diverse and varied species of the galaxy have to offer. Like many Quarians, he much prefers the company on machines.

He is probably somewhere on the Asperger's spectrum, or at least the Quarian equivalent of it, due to his unusual neurology. He has a hard time reading facial expressions or picking up on social niceties. His voice is flat, almost monotonous and his emotions rarely come across quite properly. He also has some problems with impulse control and obsessive compulsions, leading him to "fix" things that don't need it or break things when he gets upset. On the other hand it also means that when he's on something, it gets done and he's very unlikely to get distracted.
Bio - Quarian biotics are rare, due largely to their social practice of keeping their suits on even aboard their ships. Davo's birth ship, the Forrym, experienced a problem with it's eezo core that spread the hazardous element throughout the ventilation system and forcing the ship to be evacuated until it could be contained. During this time, his parents were in the ship's clean room - without their protective suits on - and were exposed, causing the young Davo to be conceived with eezo clusters in his nervous system. As he grew, it became increasingly apparent that he was different from other children, not just because of his biotic talents but because of mental and social problems. He was smart but had a hard time learning in traditional educational systems; he would often get into fights by mis-reading social cues. Soon he learned to just keep away from the other children and pursue whatever interested him - a hazardous decision in a culture like the Quarians, where all things must be done for The Fleet. His parents began to talk him around to working in biochemical or healthcare research, something of benefit to the Fleet but that wouldn't necessarily force him to face-to-face encounters too much.

During his Pilgrimage, when he was supposed to bring back something of benefit to the Quarian Fleet, Davo arrived at Omega and began looking for things to bring home. Salvage, business, data or anything that work. This was when he came to the attention of Larrak, a Batarian gangster, who saw a rare talent and decided to take advantage. Davo enjoyed chemistry and Larrak had clients who also enjoyed chemistry, or at least injecting it. This began a prosperous relationship for both parties, with Davo producing high-quality street narcotics for a fraction of the traditional cost. Larrak flooded Omega with cheap, readily available drugs which earned him a lot of money and even more enemies. When Larrak was killed, Davo decided to take his recipes and his lab back to the Forrym. He was met with disgrace and honestly couldn't understand why the Admiralty had an issue with the economic boost he was saying the drug trade would bring to the Fleet.He was exiled, the ultimate punishment for a Quarian. He was named "nar Forrym vas Nedas" - "born on Forrym, crew of no ship" - to show his exile status and ordered never to return to the Fleet.

Davo felt lost and rootless, eventually deciding to return to Omega and his life in the underworld there. Under the "pen name" of Query 31, he worked to restore a small but sturdy crime network distributing his chemical creations, most notably a drug called Free Will. It works to promote neurotransmitters, promoting reflex speed, dulling pain and creating an artificial feeling of confidence; they feel like they have ultimate control, that they can accomplish anything. This has earned Free Will a small recreational user base but a larger and more loyal user base among mercenaries, street thugs and other combat types - especially nervous first-timers. It's not a party drug and it won't make him rich, but it's also not going to earn him any hate from the other vice operators in the area either. Through one of his dealers, word reached Davo that someone was looking to employ Query 31; he accepted the job offer.

Mass Effect: Omega's Finest

Sure, I'd be up for this

Diving into The Abyss - A Shattered World

Sounds interesting to me.

Dragon Age RP?

Name: Count Harrow van Hinterfel Race: Elf Class: Mage (Death/Blood) Appearance:

Hider

Harrow's appearance is striking in contrasts, wearing dark clothes and having black hair but extremely pale skin. In many ways he looks the stereotypical Mortalitasi - death mage - and you would not be surprised to learn of his profession. Unusually for an elf, he has a finely groomed beard, though he has not really groomed himself in a way to hide his elven birth. He certainly does not hide his ears. Personality: Harrow is an educated man and a powerful one, and he is unlikely to ever forget that. But he is even less likely to forget the crushing poverty he was elevated from thanks to his rare talents and the fortune of being at the right place at the right time. Thus he might be pompous and stuffy, but he's far from a stupid arrogant noble. But he is ambitious, willing to do whatever it takes to keep himself out of the gutter he came from. He is well-spoken and articulate, though not the sort who you invite to dinner parties if you can't avoid it. He makes a point of knowing as much as he can about as many people as he can, a deadly skill in politics. Backstory: It is not often that one climbs social ranks within the stolid, static monarchy of Nevarra but it does sometimes happen. Harrow was born in Hunter Fell, a historic town most notable for being where the Third Blight ended. He was a city elf, born dirt poor and with no prospects - until he began to hear the voices. One at first, a whisper near the Memorial. Then two. Soon it was an army, all shouting in his head. Young Harrow was not happy, barely able to sleep for hearing ghosts begging for a chance at life. His parents barely had the coin to feed themselves, never mind find a doctor for their screaming child. Soon he began to hear the voice behind all those other voices, the largest voice ever booming deep in the rock in an inhuman tone. Then the Circle found him. He was a mage. This was a relief, if nothing else to be taken from his home and the whispers of the dead. Now, had he simply been another fireball-tossing mage, perhaps Harrow's life would have never reached such dizzying heights and he would be a fat, happy academic in a tower somewhere. But this is Nevarra, where the dead are as important as the living and Harrow could hear them speak. He was destined for the Mortalitasi, the death-mages who formed a huge part of Nevarran political and religious life. Harrow learned, worked hard, prospered. He learned to shut the voices out, to hear them only when he wanted, to shape the dead and bind them to his will. More importantly, he filtered the dead so that he could hear what they said and learned from them directly, inheriting old and forgotten knowledge. This, he used to begin to climb the ladder, to win patronage and impress those above him. How well he did academically was perhaps less important than how much blackmail material he gathered by communing with the dead. And, though he would never whisper this to another soul, he learned forbidden arts from that loud, ancient voice that echoed in Hunter Fell. Through his status and his secrets, Harrow wound his way to Nevarra City, the capital, and the ear of King Markus Pentaghast. The king was old and failing even during the days of the Inquisition, too feeble and indecisive to properly throw his nation's weight to bear on the conflicts breaking out all over Thedas. But he valued the words of the Mortalitasi and listened to them often. Harrow won Markus' favour by communing with the ancient Pentaghasts to provide Markus with counsel, for which he was rewarded with rank and wealth. A title and a keep that came with it, a keep that overlooked the tumbledown shack in which he had been born. He had left Hunter Fell a sickly, weeping child and returned to it a wealthy noble, ripe with power. Of course, it would be awful (and treasonous) to suggest that he had anything to do with the sickening of the last van Hinterfel, the ancestral rulers of the area, but out of respect he adopted the name - he never had a family name of his own up until then. Harrow has not rested easy at Demonfall, the keep of the van Hinterfels, but has been working to secure his station there before he makes his next step up the ladder. To do that, as not just a Mortalitasi but a nobleman, he must find himself allies, coin - and a wife. To that end he has begun opening up communication with other nations, traveled widely and plays host to many strange and varied folks. All the while listening to the voices in the deep.. Skills:

• Paralyze - Saps energy from a target, preventing them from moving
• Death Magic - Draws on the local dead, healing damage and growing stronger based on how many dead are nearby.
• Drain Life - Steals life-force from a target to heal himself.
• Blood Magic - Use health to fuel spells instead of mana
• Animate Dead - Raise skeletons or zombies to fight for him

Dragon Age RP?

So, I have an idea, let me know if it would be allowed. A red templar; he a novice recruit when the Inquisitor broke the Red Templar's power, so he only had an introductory dose. He's been trying to keep it under control over the last few years, but the red lyrium in his body also gives him great power. It's still whispering and singing in his head, but at the time of play he's still able to keep things under wraps. EDIT: Decided since there were already Templar characters pitched and since we have to use skills from in the game, I decided to make a Nevarran mage instead. He mostly uses Entropy magic, but some Spirit too. The Mortalitasi are politically powerful so despite being an elf he's quite powerful and has a title.

The Dunwall Curse [Dishonored/Dark Souls Crossover]

It's cool man, questions are fair and I'm not perfect so I'll admit in a few places I've messed up or written things a little unclear.

Mikellh Dejax said
First question, what happened to the Whalers (Daud's assassin company), are they in hiding? Are they immune to this new plague?Also what about the seven others, including Daud, Marked (not with the Darksign) by the Outsider? Are they immune too?

1. The Whalers, after the death of Daud, are still in existence in the Flooded Districts of the city, though they've not had quite as lucrative a contract as the death of an Empress since then. They will be a faction PC's could come from, though mostly they serve as hired blades.

2. It's not a "new" plague, the rat-plague was never cured. And no, the Whalers are no more immune to the plague than anyone.

3. Corvo, Daud and the Witch (the three known living bearers of the Outsider's mark in Dishonored) are all dead by this point. As in this game I'm folding in the Darksign with the Outsider's mark, yes they would be immune to the plague because of their status as the Undead.

What does Piero Joplin say about the Hollows? The last time we saw him, he was working with Sokolov to cure the rat plague and even perhaps the Weepers.

Both Piero and Sokolov have attempted to study Hollows and the other Undead scientifically, but of course run into the problem of it being not scientific, The manifestation of the Undead is also taken as a new 'strain' of the plague initially (since it manifests with blemishes and some Weeper-like symptoms when they become Hollow), so quite a few resources are wasted trying to treat them like you would a conventional epidemic when they are anything but. Joplin, being more mentally frail than Sokolov, begins to despair and goes missing in the search for unconventional answers, last seen venturing into the sewers after rambling about a city beneath Dunwall.

Why is Emily still a child after ten years? In the events of the game, she should be 9 or 10, so now, she should be like 19-20

Sorry, ambiguous phrasing on my part. She is currently an adult, when I referred to her as a child-queen I meant because at the end of the game she becomes Empress but, since she's too young to rule at that point, a Lord Regent is appointed. She has recently been 'officially' crowned and begun to rule in earnest as an adult, but is still considered by many too young and naive to be a proper monarch, as well as a puppet of the Lord Regent, Lord Grenwich.

Are there any other deities aside from the Outsider?

Okay, so the Outsider is someone that I've actually enjoyed integrating into Dark Souls lore because he's kind of/kind of not a deity.

Getting into the Lore

The way I figure it is this - the Outsider was originally a mortal who received magical power, possibly the first human to do so, according to Dishonored Lore. From there he becomes a figure associated with darkness and deception. In Dark Souls terms, he becomes a Dark Lord. Because Dark Souls lore is built on the idea of cycles of age, there are many times that a Chosen Undead can choose to either rekindle the First Flame or let it burn out to bring in an age of Dark, with them as the Dark Lord. In DS2, this is what Vendrick does, refuses to kindle the flame and becomes ruler over an age of Man and Dark. I figure that in this universe, the Outsider did the same thing - he was the first Chosen Undead, who chose not to rekindle the flame and become the Dark Lord. The age of Dark does not last forever, just as the Age of Fire eventually dwindles. So a New Age of Fire begins, with the Outsider still around as a figure of great and ancient power still carrying out his agenda.

Alternatively, he could be Manus, the Primeval Man, The Furtive Pygmy, The Fourth Lord and inheritor of the Dark Soul. The Dark Soul is associated with Humanity and the Abyss, which thematically fits with The Outsider. This still fits with the Outsider once being a human who comes to bear incredible power but still being aligned with mortals, though not entirely morally clear one way or the other. Which interpretation I'll end up going with is still up for grabs, I think.

And just some corrections: I'm not absolutely sure, but Sokolov actually believes the Outsider exists, the Outsider even said that Sokolov performs weird rituals for him. He just doesn't appear to Sokolov since, in the Outsider's own words: "But if he really wants to see me, he could start by being a bit more interesting." Although, perhaps we could say that Sokolov is just saying that for the record as to not lose his credibility?

Yes, that was what I was going for. I know Sokolov wanted to summon the Outsider but wouldn't publicly admit to doing so and since the lore I wrote was in the form of a book he was writing, I figured it made more sense that he would pretend not to believe.

What of the four Lord Souls/other deities? Also, the Overseers' religion, the Abbey of the Everyman, is unique in that they only believe in the Void and the Outsider, and believe that the Outsider is evil. They have no other deities included in the religion, no "good" counterpart, so they wouldn't think the disease a punishment, they'd think its just the Outsider.

The metaphysics of Dishonored are quite vague and I will be leaning more on Dark Souls for this. So, yes, the Outsider is real as are the Four Lords, who exert power over the world in unexpected ways. They aren't necessarily going to be overt and literal gods, though they were in the past and have since reincarnated - remember, cycles. Figuring out who/what they are and getting hold of their souls is going to be a part of the roleplay so I won't say who/what they are, of course. But they are in Dunwall and they are mighty, in their own ways.

Even More Lore Musing

This means adapting the Overseers as well, though religion does play a large part of both settings so it's not going to be too disparate. Currently my thinking is fold them into the Way of White of Thorolund from DS1 to form the White Watchers, or the Archdrake Sect of Lindelt from DS2 to become the Archdrake Sentinels. Their religion will still be the dominant one in Dunwall and they will still profess the Outsider to be "evil", but they probably will venerate some form of deity (who may or may not be real, once I've figured out who the Four Lords really are.) I'm thinking they'll still use some tech like those Void-disrupting music boxes, but also miracles since they're holy men and would have Faith to power such spells.

What I'm currently thinking in terms of a pantheon is for there to be The Lord, The Witch, The Warden and The Outsider as these four archetypal figures and to fit in with the Four Lords of Dark Souls. So, to use DS1 examples, the Lord is Gwyn, the Witch would be the Witch of Izalith, the Warden is Nito and the Outsider is Manus. The Lord is likely to be the only one whose worship is publicly accepted, though perhaps the Warden is honored in funerary rights.

I'm also thinking of folding Void in with the DS elements of Dark, Fire, Light and Magic, probably merging it with Dark. Though what I might do is make it a fifth element, since as it currently stands with Four Lords and four elements, it makes sense to assign each Lord and element. DS does have this with Nito governing over Death, but since that is kind of already covered by Dark (which is associated with the Undead) it's kind of unclear what to do there. What I might do is have Void be a FIFTH element, representing the pre-existing grey nothingness that existed in the world before the First Flame divided it into the opposition elements of light/dark, life/death. In that regards, it would make more sense to associate the Outsider with dragons rather than with whales or we could say that whales are somehow connected to/ descended from the primordial dragons.

The Elements

Dark is the element associated with Humanity and the Abyss. It is an element of desire and fear, but also comfort and nostalgia. Its was inherited by Manus / the Outsider. Spells powered by Dark are known as Hexes and are generally considered blasphemous corruptions of Miracles. They are powered both by intelligence and faith equally. Creatures associated with the Dark include wraiths, Hollows and the primordial serpents. Though many fear the Dark, those who know it find it a source of solace and acceptance, strangely warm and homely.

Fire is the element associated with life and the soul, but also Chaos. It was inherited by The Witch. Spells powered by Fire are known as Pyromancy, or the Soul Arts, as they involve the user harnessing their own soul to produce staggering displays of power. As such, they do not require particular expertise in faith nor in intelligence. Creatures associated with the fire include demons, who are born from uncontrolled use of soul arts. Fire began in the First Flame, which bestowed souls upon the world. Thus this could be considered the primal element for all living things.

Light is the element associated with the heavens and order, but also repression. It was inherited by The Lord. Spells powered by Light are known as Miracles, as they are fueled by the user's faith to produce warm healing glows or pulverizing bolts of power. Creatures associated with this power are the gods themselves, but they no longer speak to us, if they ever existed to begin with. Perhaps long ago, the Light truly was a divine power. Now it is the hands of men, who are burned by its very touch.

Magic is the element of the mind and the expression of the will. It was inherited by the Warden. Spells powered by magic are called Sorceries and are powered by the user's intelligence. Many sorcerers are therefore great scholars and students. Magic creatures include strange constructs and golems or chimeric fusions of beasts. Those who study magic in Dunwall once did so in great academies, but the rise of the Church saw a great conflict break out and the practice was outlawed. Now Dunwall sorcerers practice in secret.

The Outsider did not bring the Rat Plague onto Dunwall, it was actually the Lord Regent.

A bit of both, actually. Yes, it was initially cooked up by the Lord Regent, but it was the Outsider who spread it via The Lonely Rat Boy, to whom he gave the Rat Swarm power.

The Dunwall Curse [Dishonored/Dark Souls Crossover]

My thinking there is to merge the rat-plague from Dishonored with the tainted-blood plague from Bloodborne. From what I've heard of Bloodborne's lore, the plague twists people into monsters, which Dishonored sort of has with the Weepers, only Bloodborne's transformations are more extreme. The mechanic (in the game) involves keeping your tainted-blood level down to avoid becoming more bestial and gathering pure blood; both work as healing items but pure blood is rarer and more powerful, therefore much more valuable. It sounds kind of like how in Fallout, non-radiated water is way more valuable than dirty water, but both heal you.

Meanwhile, the Darksign curse is a separate thing, merged in with the mark that the Outsider leaves on Corvo and other chosen individuals. I'm not sure if that makes you immune to the plague or not - I'll have to double-check if it made Corvo immune to the Outsider's rat-plague for instance.

The Dunwall Curse [Dishonored/Dark Souls Crossover]

There is a child on our throne.
There is a plague on our streets.
There is a curse on our souls.

Ten years after the death of Corvo Attano, the assassin of the Empress, the city of Dunwall is as corrupt as ever. The conspiracy that Corvo fought was destroyed, but never made public knowledge and the child-queen Emily was put on the throne, but she has an unpopular figure considered by most to be a puppet of the Lord Regent even after her formal coronation when she turned 18. Corvo himself was found burned to death under the throne room, in a strange secret room filled with ash.

The rat-plague wrought by foul powers still ravages the population, without a cure. Worse still has been the manifestation of the Darksign, cursing those who bear it to a perpetual half-life, dying and dying over and over, eventually losing their sanity and turning to mindless Hollows. Those who bear the mark are considered touched by an outer power, a dark force that wishes to bring about an end to the New Age of Fire.

Strange beasts stalk the streets at night. The old prayers aren't bringing the same warm feelings they used to. The world is winding down, the cycle will begin again.

You bear the mark. You are cursed. Through it, a fell patron speaks to you and whispers of destiny and madness. Through it, you gain power beyond those of mortal men. Death will not touch you, but with each passing day your humanity and your memories slip further and further away.

Soon, you will find yourself in front of a certain pub, the doorway lit by whale-oil, and you can't quite remember why...

On The Hollow

On The So-Called Undead Hollows,
By Anton Sokolov

In researching the rat plague and the Weepers that it creates, I have surmised a connection between those who present aberrant plague symptoms and bearers of a certain dark mark on their breast. These aberrant sufferers seem to suffer the plague's madness but not as much of its physical sores, weeping pustules and other grotesque effects.

While Weepers are very much living, these so-called Hollows have extremely suppressed vital signs. I was hard-pressed to find a pulse on these Hollow infected, while Weeper pulses are clear and rapid. I have noted that in this and many other regards the Hollows are akin to walking corpses, though naturally such an idea is irrational and to be ignored.

The bodies of the Hollows have many old wounds on them, some hanging still open and showing little to no signs of immunological response or healing progress. The more severe the injuries and the more numerous, clearly the greater the mental strain upon the Hollow - the ones who are truly mad have clearly been 'killed' many times. Why they are able to function after such traumatic injuries is something I am still studying. Some samples in my laboratory have been opened by dissection as I study their continued automation and aggression.

Those Hollows still capable of speech have expressed delusions of dying and returning many times, of losing humanity upon death and craving some way to regain it. They speak of a curse - more pagan and puerile nonsense - that has been placed on them by the Outsider, that mythical figure of such childish tales. They point to the blemish as the mark of the curse and its proof. Absurd, to be sure, yet still interesting that so many of them tell the same tale so consistently. There must be some figure in the ghettos spreading such slop, or perhaps it is the word of the Overseers blaming the plague as divine wrath and the work of villainous powers. Fools commenting on fools.

Still, the concept of a test subject who will always survive whatever I put them to is extremely intriguing...

---

So, yeah, like the title suggests I had this idea for a crossover between the game Dishonored and the FromSoftware "Souls" games - Bloodborne but also the Dark Souls games since Bloodborne isn't out yet, even if it is thematically very similar to Dishonored.

Still thinking of ideas for mashing up the metaphysics, but the idea is that while Corvo had the Outsider's brand which gave him his powers, that you as the Undead are marked with the Darksign that will also give you power. Your patron doesn't have to be the Outsider though.

The idea is that PCs are all Undead, bearers of the accursed Darksign, who have lost some of their memories through the process of Hollowing (dying and recovering, losing fragments of their soul). They can hunt and kill people or monsters to earn more souls and keep the Hollowing away. They could use their newfound power to pursue their personal agendas - for as long as they can remember that agenda. They could delve into the sewers, to face the adversity in the cities beneath the city. They might rekindle the flame or bring about the Dark..

Thoughts? Questions?

Royal Hounds ~ (Hunters of the Crown)

A German scientist. Cloak and dagger in a hotel. Black bags by moonlight. It's like the war all over again.

Tinker smiled at everything that was presented to him, inscrutable with that eyepatch muffling his expression. The envelope in front of him was fine stock, which he flipped out to quickly and quietly read the specific mission details - his role, Raven's role, what the conditions were. Well, that was a nice little bit of food for thought - how to do it, the timing of it, the best ways to stay out of sight. Isla turned and mentioned something about regretting having to take him in alive. "My dear, he's not of any value to us if he's dead, now is he? You know what they say about dead men, tales, all that." He nodded respectfully to Disciple and stood to get things ready. "Black Dogs, meet in three hours for more detailed briefings."

First was a quick refresher for his constitution - a power nap, a shower, a pot of strong tea, a full English at the cafeteria. A nice new suit, then out to the Black Dog briefing room, where he laid out the intel the organization had provided. A hotel's blueprint. A convention timetable. Tickets on the next jet to Germany. Legends, fake ID's for them to operate under. And of course a nice hefty grimoire on the topic of shapeshifters. Well, you couldn't have a mission without a grimoire, could you? Wouldn't be quite proper.

When the others got there, Tinker began. "Conrad's going to be in the German town of Hesse for a conference, which is our way in. We pose as attendees and hotel staff, lose ourselves in the noise and clutter. By the time we arrive in Hesse, it'll already be dark. We need to get Conrad into a security black spot, extract him and leave no witnesses. Raven - you're with me on that. We're going in under civilian ID's to make contact with him, draw him out, then bag him. Rune, Striker - it's likely he'll have security. Based on what we know about Conrad, we're probably looking at a small detachment of German ex-military. Since he wants to go undetected as much as possible, they'll be a fairly small group. Your job is to make sure they're neutralized before Raven and I go in. Remember, this is a covert mission - suppressors on any firearms, bloodshed is to be avoided if at all possible. Be discrete, be professional."

"Now, the elephant in the room - Mr. Conrad is a shapeshifter. That means we get one shot at this. The second he realizes something's wrong, he's going to break away and transform, at which point we lose the ability to track him. That means there is no room for mistakes today. Co-ordination will be vital and our timing must be perfect. Questions?"

The Dunwall Curse [Dishonored/Dark Souls Crossover]

So what level would people think is best for this? Casual or Advanced?