Lugubrious

Protea - No Ordinary Interest Check - Help me!

Alright, how's this for a combined entry on the germina? If you like 'brotherhood', I reasoned, you'd like 'cabal' more. Was it your intention to make this race almost completely similar to humans except for the pods? Not much else makes them more special as a 'plant race'.

Germina - vaguely vegetable

A subcategory of humanity, one confined to a very small part of Protea. Germinas are indistinguishable from humans but for a seed pod located on the backs of their necks. When germinas perish, their bodies wither and decompose quickly, leaving only the seed behind. In the space of two to ten weeks, depending on the fertility of the soul, the pod will grow in size and then peel away to reveal the reborn germina, effectively resurrected at the exact age at which she perished. If at any time the pods of living germinas are destroyed, by way of fire crushing, natural degeneration, ect., the germina dies immediately. Funnily enough, germinas sport a natural disinclination for Herba magic, instead being slightly more inclined to Lux, Venenum, and Terra.

Germina Cabal - this is our oasis

Tucked away in a valley in Feldspar is the reclusive tribal civilization of the Germina. It came to be several centuries ago when a group of pilgrims, stricken with magical affliction and fed up with the pitiable conditions on Spinel, emigrated from the dark continent. En route to Feldspar, they lost their way in a storm, and landed on an uninhabited coast. Inland they wandered, slowly dying of starvation and thirst, until they happened upon the oasis valley the Cabal calls home today. The Cabal is condemnatory of magic, outright banning many affinities and requiring permits for magical use in the valley. In terms of culture, the Germina Cabal is aggressive and territorial, more than happy to keep what few visitors there might be in their desolate region away. While known for their fighting ability, the germinas prefer to abstain from engaged conflict. Any members of this society who fail to uphold it are mercilessly banished. Recently, a desert drake called the Sacert, having angered the Cabal with its repeated raids, was captured and subdued, beginning a flowering practice of beast-taming.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Given that Lug is the GM, does the 'GOD' bit refer to him in person?

Also just for clarification, I am unsure what I can throw at people on an A-rank. A heavily entrenched riesen-class? Old booby traps some hunters forgot to disarm? Ratotosk?

That does remind me that I need to set up a sewer cleaning mission at some point as punishment work.

@Agent B52

We do already have an extermination mission. As for A-rank, Riesen is a good option. Perhaps a situation that doesn't require a ton of force, a la fighting an Ogdoad in the open, but something that requires teamwork and special objectives.

Also, we are not going to have a mission-creating contests. If anyone has any ideas for missions, just put them straight onto the conference document.

Later today I'll set up a new contest.

MetaOps - Project: God Complex

Revel

Honestly, knowing everything made situations in which restraint was necessary such a bore. Revel sat lopsided in his chair, getting by in a half-daze of sleep. With his goggles around his neck, it was obvious he was dozing to any observers, but not as obvious as everything else going on around here. Forty minutes ago, Revel had been mildly surprised to learn that a group of metas had infiltrated what was undoubtedly one of the most secure locations in the United States and made off with a tool capable of turning a country into a very large boneyard. Above all else the string-puller wished he could have been there, so that he might have been able to congratulate them firsthand. Anyone who could pull off such a stunt with such magnificent impunity was worth getting your hooks into, both literally and metaphorically. Unfortunately that time had passed, and now Revel had to content himself with listening to the other people assembled in the room.

Technically, his power was limited precognition and not omniscience, though, so there were some stimulating things to be found out while he blatantly ignored the man called Crosscut. Having used nothing but his alias for so long, Revel very easily accepted the paradigm of using codenames. In particular, like the man whose codename Revel just knew to be the elementalist, even before he became the first person to introduce himself, Revel found himself looking at the teenagers, the girls in particular. One of them was a mere seventeen years, a laughable age to be assigned to what amounted to a government hit squad. Though he hadn't the fortune to have predicted her name, Revel was reminded by one of them of a bamboo shoot, so slender and green was her visage. To be of anything but cannon-fodder meant to bring vengeful tears to the eyes of her teammates, he reckoned, she would have to possess a very noteworthy power. Then there was the blonde girl, who looked especially braindead, and failed to impress him whatsoever.

By the time Revel refocused on the people getting up, Alex had gotten up. “My name is Alexander, but you can call me Alex, especially the ladies,” Revel muttered, rolling his eyes. His little game was no fun when he couldn't see the stunned reaction on others' faces. After MicWiz had finished, the string-puller pushed himself out of his chair, saying, “That's my cue then,” and strode to the front.

“I know at least one of you is going to have a chuckle at what I'm wearing, but that's to be expected, really,” he recited boredly, hands behind his back. He then pointed at the brown-haired sniper Michelle, who seemed about as pleased to be here as he. “When you get up in a minute to do your intro, try not to step on that water bottle. It's not got a cap on, and the carpet will get mildew.” It was tough to resist showing off by saying the words of the person to come after himself, but Revel managed. Besides, it you predicted too far in advance, he knew that people would change to spite him. He addressed the rest of the group next. “My name is Revel. I am here to redeem myself. I hope to become familiar to each any everyone one of you, not just as a comrade, but as a friend.” Revel bowed slightly, smiling, and returned to his seat.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Mission time

Here is who's going to be playing the antagonists on the missions:

Agent B52 for Combat Recon
NarayanK for Patrol
Multi_Media_Man for Protesters
Guess Who for Underground Casino
Yours Truly for The Shelter
PrinceOfSeraphs for Convoy Escort

If any of you do not want to do that, let me know, and I'll shift the responsibility either to me, Hari, or Forsythe. Being the 'antagonist' doesn't necessarily mean that you're out to get the others, but if means you're in charge of the setting, the NPCs they meet, and the enemies they encounter. For instance, in the old RP, the Irish Tree was the antagonist for the entirety of the Initiation Ceremony. Antagonist players are able to take the mission in whichever way they choose, within reason of course, able to add in twists if they like. If you're wondering what sort of twist to make, holler at me. These missions can be handled either as five-player collabs or normally, the play-by-post method. Whether the team of students in questions fails or succeeds is a group decision.

This is going to be so much fun!

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Sarina Tala Dei

Sarina was walking down the hallway carrying her Saxophone case. Then she saw Paron walking down the opposite direction of her. Even more so than usual, the boy sported an expression of mixed dejection and surliness. It was not unusual to see Paron playing around with his yoyo in his spare time, but his favorite toy-turned-weapon lay untouched in a pocket. More interesting were his two teammates, walking behind him in single file, only visible to Sarina now that she had grown closer. When the fancily-dressed senior spotted her, he abruptly paused, then cast an expectant yet seemingly insecure glance back at Kitty, who waited a moment before nodding. Paron turned back and held up a hand as if he were hailing Sarina--which he pretty much was.

"Hullo," he greeted softly, moving out of the way so that he teammates could continue moving. His oddly rustic northern accent tended to make conversation with him either endearing or annoying, but he forged ahead regardless. "Listen, I know we've ne'er been the best of friends, but afta three years of squabblin' an' fightin' I think it's time ta move on. Now, this weren't my idea, but Kitty's asked me ta ask you if you wouldn' mind helpin' ol' team Catapult with a little gig? Some work together ta mend the gap."

Sarina spoke. "Indeed" as she nodded and made a small half smile "though a little gig you say? I am going to need to require info about this "gig" you speak of."

The shadow of a grimace passed over Paron's face, slighter than a feather and no longer-lived than the fleeting shadow cast by a cloud overhead. In its place was a smile that matched Sarina's own. After sporting melancholy for so long, his features made the smile look -while somewhat alien- that much brighter. He clasped his hands and brought them together, holding them in front of his chest in a plaintive gesture. “Cool. Thanks. The thing we're plannin' is...well, ta be perfectly frank, it's a raid on Missus Goodwitch's office. Nothin' serious, jus' a li'l goofin' around. I know ya respect the woman, and that's fine by me, but you know as well as I how aloof she is. I doubt if she's ever even spent an evenin' in town with ya, jus' talkin' and bein' friends. We figured that, A: this'd be fun fer us, and B: it'd give you an' Goodwitch somethin' ta laugh about together. Everyone wins! 'Cept the toilet paper, o' course. Whaddya say, dearie?”

"I tend to keep my relationship with teachers more as teacher-student relation. But interesting" as she went somewhat into a meditative state thinking about their prank. It is too vague for me... "It doesn't sound so bad but when do you plan on executing this prank and are you just TPing her office?"

"Thess very evenin'. And o' course it's just the paper. If we got nabbed doin' anythin' more serious, we'd get kicked out fer sure. Come by at seven-thirty on the dot. We'll see ya there!" With that, Paron waltzed off, moving in the general direction of the dorms. At Sarina he did not look back, meaning that she couldn't see the grim frown on his face, utterly in contrast to the promise of merriment in future hours.

It did not sound so bad to Sarina but you could say it was an event that she was reluctant to do though if it meant getting close to Paron to help him, she would do it for that sake. Even then as she walked to her dorm, a blank expression was on her face as she was never raised to be rebellious against authority figures…though that was the case for every offspring of the Dei’s. It was not common for them to be rebellious, and independent-desiring individuals, a lasting legacy of a dying family since the War.

--

It was afternoon not time yet for tonight as usual with her friends. Instead Sarina sat in front of a terminal in the CCT talking to a figure on the screen from Mistral.

“…I really think you should have stayed here since you had a high position within Haven. Many people miss you but also many hate you to the point some want to beat you up in when the Vytal Festival occurs.”

“Well that’s if they can beat me. I’m still strong as ever” said Sarina with a prideful tone.

“Well…don’t let your narcissism get in your head. Seriously, ever since you left, a lot of people that hated you have become strong… It is to the point that I have heard rumors that those that want to teach you lesson will only pick one person for the Vytal Festival to fight you and I do not know who it is.”

Sarina thought processed the info and spoke more seriously. I see… Need to start training more… “Is there anything else I need to know” said Sarina asking for more questions ever since her departure from Haven.”

“Well…despite the hate some people have due to you due to they see you switching to Beacon is betrayal to Haven, that is all…I have to say” said the male figure.

“All right then dude. It was nice talking to you!”
“You too, have a great day!”

--

Sarina entered the office of Ms. Goodwitch with…reluctance. Not immediately noticing the presence of team CPLT, she went ahead and strode right in, pulling out a toiler paper roll from her purse as she did. She was already several meters inside the office when she froze, shocked, at the sight that lay before her. Glynda Goodwitch's office lay in utter disarray. Drawers had been pulled out and their contents scattered, books thrown from their shelves, lightbulbs smashed, chairs turned over, and even a table flipped. Throughout the horrendous mess, however, there was no sign of Kitty, Paron, or Thistle. Anger built up in Sarina's brain as she beheld the scene and realized that she had been deceived. As her fury mounted -how had she not expected this from the surliest, most dubious bunch of scoundrels in the school!?- she vaguely knew that the rage coursing through her veins was uncharacteristic of her. Under normal circumstances, she might have calmed down with a deep breath and left to inform someone about what had happened. Instead, however, Sarina growled beneath her breath and slammed a fist on top of Goodwitch's desk. She was going to make those vandals pay--especially Paron, for tricking her!

"Oh my."

The wrath snapped out of Sarina in an instant, replaced by fear. She whirled around to see none other than Ms. Goodwitch herself standing in the doorway, eyes wide. It was a moment before Sarina could find her words. "Uh, ma'am, it's not what it looks like. It was Paron! And the others! They did this and tricked me into coming here!" You know I wouldn't do this.

Goodwitch eyed the roll of toilet paper clutched in Sarina's hand and sighed heavily. Her eyes were sharp, totally unsympathetic. "Miss Dei, I haven't the slightest idea why you would so something like this, but rest assured that you will be disciplined for it. Come with me to the headmaster's office immediately. You can repeat your little tale there."

-=-=-=-=-= Four Days Later =-=-=-=-=-

At last, the day of pounding hearts and rushing blood had arrived. If the first day of school had been tough on the students, the first week had been no easier. Those who still harbored illusions as to the nature of a full-blown combat academy were quickly put in their place. Over the course of Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, the teachers were able to adapt to the needs of their students somewhat, and determine a curriculum that would bring out their best. Professor Ni Rensa Ryou, for instance, implemented a hands-on engineering portion of the Computer Science class, where he was aided by the good-natured but forgetful senior Rika Thorn. Always over these classes, however, had been a cloud of something truly engaging: not more instruction, but a chance for all students to prove themselves. Friday, it had been rumored, was Missions Day, and now that it had come, the students found themselves assembled in the auditorium hall in which the naming ceremony had been held six days prior.

Professor Port and Glynda Goodwitch, one looking exceedingly trim in hunting garb and the other even more dour than usual, stood upon the stage. On the massive holographic display behind them were clustered headshots that represented all eleven freshman teams: BAST, RWBY, JNPR, SASG, MODA, RPGD, CRDL, CFVY, RJCM, KESS, and PHGM. For a while now the students had been gathering, some alert, some sleepy, and all intrigued, but now Port began to speak.

“Congratulations for surviving your first week at Beacon, noble hunters and huntresses!” He cried theatrically, holding his arms wide. Clearly, 'subtle' didn't exist in his otherwise expansive vocabulary. “No thanks to Professor Vorosky, I am sure! Hah hah hah!” There came a brief pause, in which not one person laughed alongside him. Port cleared his throat and continued. “Regardless, it is today that you all will be given your first assignments! You may consider what you are imminently going to undergo akin to the field trips of your high-school years, but with substantially more slaughter! Of evil, that is! Hah hah! Look no further than our enormous screen here and your fate will be revealed!” He looked off to the side of the stage and shouted, “Commence the assignment!”

First to appear was the mission Protesters, to which team RPGD –Robert, Priscilla, Greyson, and Daniel- would be assigned. Next of importance was the mission Underground Casino, which was to be completed by Rayna, Jack, Cerulean, and Mokuren of team RJCM. Following that came the simple mission Patrol, given to team KESS's Krysanthe, Ebon, Sepia, and Seilber to complete. On its heels was The Shelter, entrusted to Sapphire, Abel, Shiro, and Gren of team SASG. Then, team MODA was allotted Convoy Escort, as requested by Diamond and concurred upon by Marcus, Oswald, and Aurellius. Lastly was BAST, Benjamin, Amaranth, Sangue, and Trad, who would be performing Combat Recon with none other than Port himself.

“Delightful, simply marvelous! I know that all of you will represent our prestigious Beacon Academy with every word you speak, every cut you make, and every hole you shoot! Come on, then; the airships, and our destinies, await!”

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

Is SirBeowulf still with us? Because I'm pretty much just waiting on him right now.

@Agent B52

I've seen him lurking around.

Only a few hours left for posts in the evening, folks.

@New people, none of you have posted yet even though you have clearance. What's up?

Protea - No Ordinary Interest Check - Help me!

Rather than 'Ebb City' I was thinking just 'Ebb'. There's the obvious connection to tidal waters, but there's also an ever-so-slight allusion to the Lovecraftian city of Ib, where primitive peoples worshiped the water lizard god Bokzug (or something similar), which later brought doom to the mighty Sarnath.

Reddy, we probably wouldn't end up having more than two player characters each if we so wanted, but one thing I'm always very in favor of is a lot of interaction with NPCs. If you've ever seen Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, in the first part there are four big characters: Jojo and Dio, the protag and the villain, Zeppeli the mentor, and lastly E. O. Speedwagon. Speedwagon doesn't accomplish very much and he isn't very interesting (just like an NPC might) but he is nevertheless an integral part of the story. Having characters other than players to interact with means that more can be written on one's own, and that your player character can be developed in a way you like. Bottom line is, please do keep creating. Whoever you decide to be the hero, anyone else you create can still be involved in the story.

Your impression of Nocnitsa is pretty spot-on, Beth. Because the Nocnitsa pantheon is strengthened not only by belief but also by want of their aid, their strength is greater when Nocnitsa has more territory/members, and when their gods' strength is greater individual practitioners can better use their magical powers, thereby doing more in the name of Nocnitsa and likely persuading others to hop on the bandwagon. It's quite the cycle. Only problem is, Nocnitsa members also undergo soul fray (a sort of magical insanity) more quickly. I'm liking your ideas for Ebb as well, though if you have a better name for it, please let me know!

Spookysquid, thank you very much for your interest! This new race you've got going on is quite intriguing. I think a fitting name for it might be Germina, as in germinate. If the race is very much like humans, I'd rather them be an offshoot of the human race (like the parilis) than their own original race that happened to look just like humans except for their seeds. Naturally I expect the 'germinas' to have an inclination for the Herba and Lignum affinities. I very much like the idea of a plant race that's not meek and down-to-earth but strident and honor-bound. Perhaps instead of staying isolated thanks to secrecy, they keep themselves isolated by being aggressive and territorial? As for history of how this race came to be, we could easily say that long ago a group of pilgrims from Spinel afflicted with a lethal case of raw Herba magic immigrated to Feldspar, where they managed to get their affliction under control. After a many generations, the germinas are as we know them today. And of course, since they try to keep themselves separate, they'd have their own faction as well. Something like the Germina Nation. What do you think? Any better ideas?

Perhaps the sacert could be a creature domesticated (or at least tamed) by the germinas, bluemoon?

Phoenix Wing (A Fairy Tail RP-Always Open, Open)

So who are we waiting for to get our party started? Are you trying to have Lucas say something to Jamie, Brod?

Protea - No Ordinary Interest Check - Help me!

Very glad to have you aboard!

You've made it sound very exciting, Reddy. Among other ideas for interesting places to be in, I was also thinking of setting a story in the Lepers, in the midst of a city filled with sickness, wherein Nocnitsa butts heads with the player characters as they try to figure out what exactly is keeping the city in its perpetual miasma.

Regardless of where we go, I always thought it would be awesome for Nocnitsa to become more of a presence. In the course of their adventures, the PCs would find that not only is the creed of Nocnitsa true, but the godlike personifications of the magical affinities exist as well, and we meet several of them. Though the gods claim benevolence or indifference, with mortal affairs beneath them, they turn out in fact to be beings orchestrating events on a massive scale, from Bestia on Tourmaline to Tenebris, Venenum, and Praecantio on Spinel, Motus in Agate, Aqua in the aforementioned watery city (what's a good name for it...Ebb?), and so on. A bunch of them might be abominable monsters in actuality, preying on the races of Protea.

I get the feeling that this might be what @Prince Of Seraphs is working on.

Of course, that is only one idea, and based on what you guys feel would be fun, we could do something completely different.

Heroes of Beacon - the Next Chapter

I was under the impression the player of the Music Teacher character left, but that could be incorrect.

@Agent B52

Shadow remains. We're wrapping up a short collab.