Isekai Style RP with Characters from the 'main world' finding themselves in Unterland, and juxtaposing magic versus technology in a world that looks and feels anachronistic with the very modern world our player characters come from.
D E F E N D E R S O F T H E E A R T H D E F E N D E R S O F T H E E A R T H
"An athlete, a traveler and a mad desperate scientist. Alone against an empire. But Dale never gave an inch. You had two hands, breath in your lungs. It doesn't matter what changes from there. Whether it takes a few days or ninety years. You keep fighting the fight. And then the next one. Until they're all saved, every one of us." - Doctor Hans Zarkov to and of Flash Gordon. "Magic, my friends, is simply the art of illusions. Of course it's always important to spice up illusions with a little razzle-dazzle." - Mandrake the Magician "You never find the Phantom. He finds you." - Old Jungle Saying "Always figured Prince was just a name. Took a white bloke in purple to tell me I'm actually African royalty. Dear old Dad never had that talk with me, did he?" - Prince 'Lothar' Diallo
C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T C H A R A C T E R P O R T R A I T
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________ Alex "Flash" Gordon _________________________________________________________ King of the Impossible, Saviour of the Universe _________________________________________________________ Pilot, athlete, adventurer | Interplanetary Freedom Fighter Open
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S C H A R A C T E R N O T E S
M I S C E L L A N E O U S ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ► Collegiate All-American athlete Flash Gordon, one of three earthly survivors of a plane crash in the Dark Woods near Bangalla. Upon proving their adaptability and ability to survive, Zarkov incapacitated the other pair for their 'true journey' to travel to the planet Mongo - 'mad' scientist Hans Zarkov desperately sought backup after investigating a signal related to a string of horiffic global natural disasters with strange origins. Alongside of Zarkov, and fellow post-grad academic Dale Arden, herself a cartographer with a strong knowledge in geology and biology, the three stumbled upon the planet and it's authoritarian ruler Ming the Merciless who had his own plans for the trio, as well as horrible designs for the earth.
Aided by three other Earthly heroes; The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and Lothar, as well as a S.W.O.R.D Science team comprised of the expertise of Adam Strange and Adam Brashear. Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Hans Zarkov were able to relocate the planet Mongo to another goldilocks orbit of a distant star, far beyond Ming's allies and vassel states, lost to all he knew and unable to locate the earth to seek vengeance, and escape Mongo's clutches in a ship of Zarkov's design.
Now the trio explore space whilst fleeing Ming's grasp and his seemingly limitless robot army, all whilst trying to find a way home which won't lead the monstrous Ming the Merciless back to earth's doorstep. -
M I S C E L L A N E O U S ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ► Mandrake the great illusionist is a master of a rapid form of hypnotism who can have subjects seeing illusions in moments, with nought but simple gestures and hand movements, and focused force of will.
Being a man with such a focused interest on magic and illusion, Mandrake has a natural curiosity and can seldom see a trick he doesn't want to understand - this interest has seen him move into the field of detective work and crime solving. But given the fact he has also dabbled in actual mysticism and possesses both some degree of actual magical ability, as well as numerous magical items which have possessed remarkable properties and powers, he often finds himself squaring off with actual supernatural sorts and beings foreign either to this planet, dimension or reality.
Mandrake lives in the high-tech mansion Xanadu in upstate New York, with his wife Narda, his friend and co-worker of the stage the strongman Lothar, and his chef and live-in housekeeper who he pried away into early retirement from Interpol, Hojo.
Hojo's intel connections still remain, and were proven of great importance on a specific occasion where Mandrake was able to thwart an attack on the U.N, which threatened amongst other U.N. officers, one Diana Palmer. This was the first occasion Mandrake met Kit Walker, "for there are times when the Phantom leaves the jungle and walks the streets of the town like an ordinary man"#.
Mandrake also owns an upscale apartment in the city of Mawitaan, the capital city of the African nation of Bangalla. This comes in particularly useful when looking into Lothar's heritage, or reuniting with an old friend... -
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________ Kit "Walker*" The Phantom _________________________________________________________ The Ghost Who Walks, Man Who Cannot Die _________________________________________________________ The Bane of Pirates Everywhere | Jungle Protector Open
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S C H A R A C T E R N O T E S
M I S C E L L A N E O U S ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ► In the jungles of the African nation of Bangalla, there is a myth about "The Ghost Who Walks", "The Man Who Cannot Die", The Phantom. Because he seems to have been around for generations, people around the world believe him to be immortal. In reality, the Phantom is descended from twenty previous generations of crime-fighters who all adopt the same persona, the same creed. When a new Phantom takes up the mantle from his dying father, he has to swear the Oath of the Skull: "I swear to devote my life to the destruction of piracy, greed, cruelty, and injustice, in all their forms, and my sons and their sons shall follow me."
Today's Phantom is the twenty-first in the line. Secretly he has no superhuman powers, relying only on his wits, physical brawn, skill with his weapons and fearsome reputation to fight crime.
Two signatures of the character are the two rings he wears. One has a pattern that he leaves on visitors to his region he approves of, called "The Good Mark" which marks the person as under his protection worn on the left hand, closer to the heart. The other has a skull shape and is worn on his favored punching hand, called "The Evil Mark", which leaves a skull-like scar on the enemies he punches. Furthering the myth and legend of the Phantom amongst bad men.
His base is in the Deep Woods of Bangalla. The Phantom lives in the fabled Skull Cave, where all previous Phantoms are buried, and the chronicles of The Phantoms past and present are kept and written. So that each generation may learn the lessons of the past. This written knowledge has also helped continue the myth of the Phantom as an immortal figure. For how could this seemingly ageless man remember facts and details from events so long ago?
The Phantom is also the Unknown Commander of Bangalla's world famous Jungle Patrol, and has been for over a hundred and fifty years. Tying him in to receiving law enforcement information, furthering his ability to fight crime. His written orders are usually delivered to a safe - wired which emits a signal to alert the second in command (currently Colonel Worubu) that orders have been left. He also has the encrypted 'X Band' radio as a form of contact.
The Deep Woods are protected by the local Bandar pygmy tribe, whose proximity have them far more aware of the true nature of the Phantom - not that they would ever tell. The Chief of the Bandar tribe is Guran, Guran has been the current Phantom's friend since childhood, and remains a close friend to the 'Walker' family to this day. Guran was the best man in his wedding to Diana Palmer.
The remainder of the 'Walker' family, consist of the twins, Kit (because of course) and Heloise. They also have an adopted older brother Rex King, who has recently had to spend more time away from the rest of the family learning his own responsibilities - he is the Crown Prince of neighbouring Kingdom of Baronkhan. He struggles with these responsibilities even more than most, having only known the jungle until a later age than children of the Phantom would usually leave for purposes of expanding their education. But whilst he lacks in formal education, he has a great heart and sense of justice, as one would expect in a child of the Phantom. The twins love their older brother and the feeling is mutual, with all three being raised with the same love of their parents.
The Phantom has three animal helpers, a mountain wolf, Devil, who seldom if ever leaves his side, and a horse, Hero. He also has a trained falcon named Fraka, which generally remains with Guran in the Skull Cave.
The Phantom shares a sense of justice with Mandrake, and as Lothar's royal heritage came to light, is one of the people Mandrake knows who is best suited to learning of his responsibilities and expectations from a people he has unfortunately had little connection with, beyond the blood that pumps through his veins from his father.
The Phantom lended Flash Gordon aid when their plane crash-landed in Bangalla, before his forced trip to Mongo with Dale Arden at the hands of Zarkov. -
C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y C H A R A C T E R S U M M A R Y
_________________________________________________________ Prince "Lothar" Diallo _________________________________________________________ Strongest Man in the World _________________________________________________________ Former Performing Strongman | Adventurer and Crime Fighter Open
C H A R A C T E R N O T E S C H A R A C T E R N O T E S
M I S C E L L A N E O U S ▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ ► Prince 'Lothar' Diallo was raised in Liverpool by his father. He was always, less than forthcoming with the details of where exactly they came from beyond the broadest 'Africa'. His father struggled to make ends meet in their new home, but did what he could to put food on the table, with never a complaint.
Young Prince used his schooling as an opportunity to branch out and find his interests. And those interests came in the form of sports and theatre.
He found himself loving to perform, and with a natural ease in putting on muscle he found numerous sports clubs seeking his service.
As he became more time short, he cast aside the sports clubs to focus on his love of theatre, but continued working out for its own sake.
Strangely he found his practical strength just keep improving with the work, regardless of whether he had need for it. His strength almost seemed purely natural... until it seemed virtually supernatural.
Then the serious roles dried up, but he found himself in different areas of demand in the business of show.
He found work as a strongman/muscleman in various travelling shows, and took the paid gigs. But didn't see the purpose until a touring magician explained what service he can provide.
'Misdirection is pivotal in magic. Controlling the audience's focus. The eye naturally wants to gravitate to you, and if given just the smallest nudge by a truly proficient illusionist... Well, with you, my friend, I could hide the Brookly Bridge.'
Mandrake noted that whilst he was working as a strongman, he was a stage-trained actor. And Lothar appreciated it, for most couldn't see beyond the muscles. He'd even taken to developing an accent, to maintain expectations, playing up his African roots, even though he couldn't remember ever being south of London. He had a good scowse down, for parts, but his true voice was more proper than 'proper'.
He became a permanent addition to Mandrake's own show and toured the world with him, and as such he began to become embroiled in Mandrake's own extracurricular pasttimes and distractions. And all the way his prodigious strength became incredibly useful, and proved to be the difference in many cases and situations.
It was just before a tour of Africa, where Prince Diallo finally asked his father where in Africa they came from, and that he might take the time to look old family up, when the whole story came out. In one tearful outpouring.
'Prince' wasn't just a name. His father was the son of the Wambesi Chieftain. And his mother had been the daughter of the Chieftain family of the Llongo and Osi-Wey tribes, in an effort to bring peace after a recent war.
What he left out was that Lothar was 'Prince of the Seven Nations'.
As Lothar attempted to reconnect with his roots and made it too publicly known that he was indeed looking for the tribal lands of his birth, plots and conspiracies began to be formed, as will happen with such power-shifting news.
But no news in the jungle escapes the ears of the Phantom. As he went to meet and warn the newly returned 'Prince of the Seven Nations' he attempted to thwart an assassination attempt.
Only to find that Lothar, with his incredible strength, had thwarted it himself.
He was no less appreciative for the effort however, and formed a friendship with the Phantom in his own right. As well as a special kinship with another who had found themself in a similar position - the Phantom's adopted son Rex.
Lothar generally lives and follows Mandrake around, often calling him 'Mandrake the Mealticket'. But their movements have often been swayed by Lothar's recent need to come to terms with his responsibilities as the 'Prince of the Seven Nations', for people he is struggling to reconnect with despite sharing no lived experience with them, who he must find a way to lead. -
Three Heroic selfless defenders of justice and humanity find that the fight for justice is on an even bigger scale that they never considered.
The boys names were Tim Tyler and 'Spud'.
Mandrake, known as a man who could find justice and someone whose interests in challenges spanned wide, was approached with a request to find the two orphaned runaways. As always, he put the case forward to his friend, former performer and compatriot Prince 'Lothar'.
The trail led them through India and Africa, as the boys last whereabouts put them working for the Ivory Patrol - a small, poorly funded group who task themselves with the destruction of the poaching industry.
As the case delved deeper, and Mandrake used his many and varied means to attempt to find the boys, it looked like they had been taken, as the poachers' paths found themselves delving deeper into jungle, towards the almost untouched and unknown grounds of the Bandar - a little known pygmy tribe scarecly touched by the ever-probing hands of modern civilization.
A tribe with their own interesting lore, myths, legends, and sayings.
The echoes of drums became ever more prevalent as the men reached deeper into the jungle. For the Phantom has a thousand eyes and ears#.
Finding the boys later, unharmed but with a strange story to tell, the natives who had lent them aid and their murmurings of a purple ghost who protected them unseen from the depths of the jungle.
The tale sounded absurd, but with the boys returned completely unharmed, beyond all reason for the dangers of the jungle it left little doubt in Mandrake's mind that indeed some kind of trick was at hand. And nothing piqued his curiosity like a trick he could not yet understand.
With that, his interest in the strange happenings in the Deep Woods of Bangalla began.
But answers were slow in trickling out.
More came his way back home, when Mandrake and Lothar thwarted an attack on the U.N., and the pair met the Bangalla representative to the U.N. and had the barest glimpse at the mysterious visage of her husband from the shadows. Who thanked the pair for their help.
It wasn't until much later that a trip to Bangalla for the pair saw Mandrake and Lothar come face-to-face with the man who would be legend. The myth which somehow had spanned back to the 1500s, yet still stood before them.
The trick's methodology did not get past Mandrake. But true to the magician's code, he never told a soul.
A new friendship borne, amongst allies with shared values, and what would be a very useful resource on the ground in making sense of Lothar's familial past and responsibilities, as his father told a tale which unravelled his own ancestry and revealed him to be 'Prince of the seven Nations'.
This was not the strangest thing to happen that year, however.
A small aircraft crashed in a clearing in the Bangalla jungle; the survivors, a brilliant scientist of questionable stability and notoriety, a collegiate cartographer with a vast knowledge in geology and biology who had been interviewed by many private companies looking into space exploration, and Alex 'Flash' Gordon - collegiate All-American student-athlete, majoring in sociology.
The trio found themselves surviving the depths of the dark jungle, with few questioning how there happened to be a convenient clearing in what otherwise looked like untamed forestry. The scientist, Zarkov, found himself satisfied with the pair's ability to keep themselves safe from the trials and perils of the jungle. Strangely, he seemed to act as if his approval and satisfaction was something they should seek under the circumstances, but 'Flash' was too distracted by another question which plagued him.
It all seemed too easy. The worst of dangers seemed to be cleared. And he could have sworn he saw movement in the shadows.
Under the pretense of foraging, Flash separated himself from the others and waded deeper into the jungle alone. Until a voice held him. A voice which could chill the bones of lesser men. A masked figure clad in purple stepped from the shadows.
Both men had questions.
And as the Phantom explained his purpose as a protector in these parts, and Flash explained how the trio came to be in the jungles of Bangalla, Flash began to discover his own concerns and queries about the scientist amongst them, Zarkov, as he spoke them aloud. Thoughts he hadn't previously given proper mind.
The Phantom agreed that he would lead them from the jungle to Mawitaan, and watch over the trio, paying special attention to Zarkov from a distance.
...but it was in two days that a secret rocketship blasted from the jungle, tearing through the sky and beyond.
Zarkov had brought the pair here to test their abiity to survive and lend support for a theory he had. A theory which would see him build a rocketship with the intention of going to the planet Mongo - for the fate of the Earth!
Upon Mongo, Flash Gordon, Dr Zarkov and Dale Arden came face to face with Emperor Ming the Merciless, a cosmic authoritarian figure of immense power, resources and with vassel worlds all across the galaxy! In this world power and desire reined supreme, and ran the whims of its highest class of royalty.
Upon meeting Dale Arden, Ming was instantly enamoured with taking possession of her, and saw little value in Flash Gordon, sentencing him to death on a whim like discarding rotten fruit - only for his cause to be pleaded for, by Ming's daughter the Princess Aura; who herself wanted to claim Flash Gordon for her own.
These earthlings seemed rich in spirit, and hope, having come from a world ignorant to the ways of Ming the Merciless. Playthings are always more valuable before they are broken... Few things seem more exotic than a plaything from a new world.
The trio discover that, in support of Zarkov's theories, Ming has been setting off a string of increasingly volatile and frequent natural disasters; earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes - in order to annihilate much of the world's population, and making it easier to subjugate it's survivining people into Mongo's new slave class, and stripping the earth of all of its valuable minerals, metals and rare earths.
Ming has come to claim this new world entire.
It is now twelve months later, and with the efforts of the Phantom and Mandrake, combined with the sacrifice of the intrepid three on Mongo, and the efforts of a 'home' contingent of Earth-bound S.W.O.R.D scientists by the names of Donald Brashear and Adam Strange, the threat has now been considered 'neutralised'.
An assault on Mongo headed by Flash's trusted compatriots Mandrake and the Phantom, saw Ming's forces pushed back as they were forced to defend themselves from a revolutionary front led by Flash Gordon and allies he found in strange places upon Mongo itself.
One final sacrifice from Flash, Dale and Dr Zarkov saw Mongo reloacted by newly discovered 'Zeta beam' technology to another goldilocks system, far from earth, adrift from Ming's allies and vassel planets in a corner of the universe unknown to him.
Mandrake and the Phantom broke free of Mongo in time. Flash, Dale and Zarkov could not.
The later trio find themselves hurtling through space, searching desperately for a way back to Earth, pursued endlessly by the vengeful Ming the Merciless.
P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S ) P L O T ( S ) & G O A L ( S )
Why do you want to play this character, what is the driving motivation behind both this desire and the character themselves. What do you hope to accomplish and where do you want the character's story/stories to go?
For Pulpy Space Opera..? Flash Gordon.
For Pulpy Mystery..? Mandrake.
For Historical-Fiction Pulp Action..? The Phantom
For all other face-punching Pulpy fun... there's Lothar.
Possible Plots:
T H E W O R L D ( S ) O F T H E D E F E N D E R S T H E W O R L D ( S ) O F T H E D E F E N D E R S
Abandoned "Haunted" Summer Camp Young Adults, couples trip?, post-graduation (college) friend reuinon catch-up gone horror. Meteor/Artifact/Relic/OOPart? Superpowers ensue? Kaiju monster forest creatures? Lake Zombies, Zombie kids who drowned? Different Wave Spectrum makes monsters invisible to normal humans, our heroes on the other hand, can see things no one else can due to an unhealthy dose of radiation.
Reluctantly retired roleplayer.
Except when I'm not.
Why are you here when you should be writing posts?
You can edit a bad draft, but you cannot edit a blank page.
<div style="white-space:pre-wrap;">Reluctantly retired roleplayer. <br><br>Except when I'm not.<br><br>Why are you here when you should be writing posts?<br><br>You can edit a bad draft, but you cannot edit a blank page.</div>
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