Lurking Shadow

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

@Lord Wraith A quick question that occured to me as I was writing my first IC post, is the whispering woods populated with animals such as deer or owls and such? or would my character, Gavin, need to venture into the city for food?

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

Fear agus Beithíoch

---

^{Gavin O’Brien ◼ Januray, 1982 ( 35 ) ◼ Male ◼ HyperHuman}

^{"If you see something going down, and you can stop it. But can also inadvertently make it worse easily, should you intervene?"}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

---

^{"I may not look like much, but that is because I don’t feel like killing anyone right now."}

//STATS:

◼ HEIGHT | 5’ 10”

◼ WEIGHT | 173 lb.

◼ BUILD | Muscular, slightly malformed.

◼ HAIR COLOR | Black.

◼ EYE COLOR | Iris and Pupil is same shade of black.

◼ OTHER | Due to the genetic alteration caused by the Hype-Gene, all of approx. 100,000 miles of Gavin’s blood vessels are illuminated orange at different intensities depending on context. This varies from 30 to 60 lumens (bright enough to be noticeable through skin, but not bright enough to read something in the dark)

//DESCRIPTION:

Due to the luminous blood, Gavin opts to cover his entire body. Typically he wears boots, cargo jeans, a pair of work gloves, long-sleeved t-shirt under a hoodie, and a mask covering the face.
While his entire blood has a soft glow, normally, only blood in the superficial veins/arteries will be noticeable.
Gavin is slow to trusting others and tends to reveal little about himself. Preferring solitude, he can on occasion be prodded into working in small groups.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

---

^{"Sometimes I can still hear the screams."}

Gavin was born in central texas to a 5th generation military family. So it was just natural he continued the tradition and enlisted shortly after turning 18. Since Gavin wanted to help his fellow soldiers and preferred small teams, he decided being an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) technician would be the best fit. After a few years of training he finally got certified and shortly thereafter got deployed overseas.

Nothing really notable happened until his second deployment in the Middle East. In 2011, while clearing a route from Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs, basically bombs made from junk) his team tripped one connected to several tanks buried underneath the road filled with mustard gas. The last thing he remembers before blacking out from the pain was insurgents storming out of a nearby building and gunfire.

When he woke up, he found himself the only one alive, knee-deep in the dead, covered in blood, and some of his bones were dislocated. Gavin then developed nightmares in which he killed the insurgents and even his own squad mates with his bare hands. He later realized, to his horror, that this was actually a repressed memory as he could not come to grips with what he had done. He just went berserk and killed everyone near him and seemed to gain increased strength. That was his first experience to what he calls a ‘Ríastrad’ as it shares similarities to what fabled hero Cú Chulainn could do in Irish Mythology.

Gavin starts to become mentally unstable as he is crushed by what he did and gets honorably discharged before he can hurt anyone else. For the rest of his life until this point, he became more distant to his family and friends as he fears of harming them or anyone else. He opts to live alone at least half a day’s travel from any point of civilization. Over time his Ríastrads progressively got more intense, though due to his distance from population centers, he usually never killed another human. Instead, sating his bloodlust on various animals near him until the Ríastrad passed. Around this time his skin began to show an orange glow along his blood veins, perhaps an Omen of the danger he is becoming.

About a week ago, he started traveling towards Crescent City. Gavin is unsure exactly why he decided to make this spontaneous decision, attributing it to the idea that maybe he could help the progressively worse situation. A way to redeem himself from the atrocities he did before. regardless of the reason, he just feels an urge to go there.

▼ M O T I V A T I O N / O B J E C T I V E:

---

^{"uhhh, Wit is one letter away from Twit?*fits pumps, ‘Nailed It!’*"}

Ultimately, to learn to control his Ríastrads before it controls him.

▼ A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

---

^{"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Likewise, sometimes all I see is prey."}

//ABILITIES:

◼ Ríastrad | Gavin undergoes one of three stages of his Riastrad based on how much stress he is undergoing. Inactive, Passive and Active. Inactive is a neutral state in which he is no more exceptional than a particularly hardy mundane. Passive: Gavin gain an extraordinary amount of strength and resilience. He can exert an amount of force equal to roughly fifteen grown men and can shrug off light arms fire.Active: Gavin’s Strength and resilience further increases, but he mentally decays into his base animal instincts and becomes increasingly aggressive to anything nearby. Friend or Foe. He becomes immune to conventional methods of harm and while there is no upper limit to his strength, the maximum he has ever achieved is equal to roughly 150 grown men. I should also note that his blood glows in intensity relative to which stage he is in.

Whenever he has a Ríastrad his body acts like a battery. The amount of strength he has is directly proportional to how much energy he has. A specialized organ in his body produces astatine and distributes it through his blood stream (the amount produced is proportional to how much stress he has). The astatine undergoes radioactive decay and emits energy absorbed by his blood cells for distribution to the musculature system. Due to half-lives of radioactive elements, his body will still absorb energy even after astatine is no longer being produced. Typically Gavin’s Ríastrad will last no more than thirty minutes after combat or other high-stress situations. However, Excess energy can be absorbed by the consumption of sources of energy to extend the duration of his Ríastrad. Particularly notable sources of sustainment would be animals (including humans) and most radioactive materials.

◼ Increased healing | Gavin has greater than normal rate of healing. While by no means can he shrug off death or grow tissue immediately, it is still notable. The rate is tied to which stage he is in and can grow, say, an arm in four to forty-eight hours.

//SKILLS:

◼ Adept with light arms | While by no means a master marksman, he can be effective with nearly any low cal weapon. Particularly handguns.
◼ Survival | Years of living away from civilization has trained him for living off the land, establishing shelter, tracking animals to hunt, and several other skills related to surviving alone.

//LIMITATIONS:

◼ Self-Control | Not only is his strength tied to how much energy he has, it is also tied to how strong he is willing to become. Fearing what he can potentially do, he rarely surrenders control to his animal instincts

//WEAKNESSES:

◼ Mentally Unstable | Past trauma has created an alternate persona he ‘Beithíoch’ or animal in Gaelige. This idenetity assumes control whenever he enters the active state of his Ríastrad. Beithíoch is hyper aggressive and has an insatiable bloodlust and seeks only to kill. Perhaps Beithíoch is a part of Gavin, the part that doesn’t care about mundanes. A part that feels like it is a wolf among sheep and should not abide by their laws. When not in an active state, Beithíoch may still occasionally try to get Gavin to do things he would not do.

◼ Exhaustion | After a Ríastrad, Gavin will need a period of rest before he can have another. This is proportional to the intensity and amount of time spent in a Ríastrad.

▼ N O T E S:

---

//SUPPORTING CAST:

▼ ALLIES

◼ Traveler-59 | The callsign for an old friend of his from his army days. Traveler-59 is the only one Gavin trusts enough to tell him of his abilities. Traveler-59 occasionally supplies Gavin with resources or intelligence…. And to make sure Gavin does not suddenly become Jack Torrance*points if you know the reference*

▼ FRIENDS

◼ None…yet | Test

▼ ENEMIES

◼ None…yet | Test

//STOMPING GROUNDS

◼ The Whispering Woods | Forests are usually rife with creatures to hunt and are generally unpopulated by humans. This makes the area the best place to rest during his visit. Gavin has established several camps he can move between to remain hidden.

//PARAPHERNALIA
◼ Howdah pistol | Gavin’s preferred sidearm is a Howdah pistol which he has normal and specially made pellet rounds for. Of course it generally is unused because of the Ríastrad , but damn if it isn’t an ego boost to have a mini shotgun/hand cannon.

◼Iron Mask | Nothing notable about this, just a human face shaped mask with holes for breathing and vision. It shows signs of aging and scratches reminiscent of scars.

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

@Lord Wraith Finished CS. On previous page, updated with a little extra info and character pic. Hopefully this one'll be more acceptable than the previous. I am more open to altering than the previous one though.

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

Fear agus Beithíoch

---

^{Gavin O’Brien ◼ Januray, 1982 ( 35 ) ◼ Male ◼ HyperHuman}

^{"If you see something going down, and you can stop it. But can also inadvertently make it worse easily, should you intervene?"}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

---

^{"I may not look like much, but that is because I don’t feel like killing anyone right now."}

//STATS:

◼ HEIGHT | 5’ 10”

◼ WEIGHT | 173 lb.

◼ BUILD | Muscular, slightly malformed.

◼ HAIR COLOR | Black.

◼ EYE COLOR | Iris and Pupil is same shade of black.

◼ OTHER | Due to the genetic alteration caused by the Hype-Gene, this all approx. 100,000 miles of Gavin’s blood vessels are illuminated orange at different intensities depending on context. This varies from 30 to 60 lumens (bright enough to be noticeable through skin, but not bright enough to read something in the dark)

//DESCRIPTION:

Due to the luminous blood, Gavin opts to cover his entire body. Typically he wears boots, cargo jeans, a pair of work gloves, long-sleeved t-shirt under a hoodie, and a mask covering the face.
While his entire blood has a soft glow, normally, only blood in the superficial veins/arteries will be noticeable.
Gavin is slow to trusting others and tends to reveal little about himself. Preferring solitude, he can on occasion be prodded into working in small groups.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

---

^{"Sometimes I can still hear the screams."}

Gavin was born in central texas to a 5th generation military family. So it was just natural he continued the tradition and enlisted shortly after turning 18. Since Gavin wanted to help his fellow soldiers and preferred small teams, he decided being an Explosive Ordinance Disposal (EOD) technician would be the best fit. After a few years of training he finally got certified and shortly thereafter got deployed overseas.

Nothing really notable happened until his second deployment in the Middle East. In 2011, while clearing a route from Improvised Explosive Device (IEDs, basically bombs made from junk) his team tripped one connected to several tanks buried underneath the road filled with mustard gas. The last thing he remembers before blacking out from the pain was insurgents storming out of a nearby building and gunfire.

When he woke up, he found himself the only one alive, knee-deep in the dead, covered in blood, and some of his bones were dislocated. Gavin then developed nightmares in which he killed the insurgents and even his own squad mates with his bare hands. He later realized, to his horror, that this was actually a repressed memory as he could not come to grips with what he had done. He just went berserk and killed everyone near him and seemed to gain increased strength. That was his first experience to what he calls a ‘Ríastrad’ as it shares similarities to what fabled hero Cú Chulainn could do in Irish Mythology.

Gavin starts to become mentally unstable as he is crushed by what he did and gets honorably discharged before he can hurt anyone else. For the rest of his life until this point, he became more distant to his family and friends as he fears of harming them or anyone else. He opts to live alone at least half a day’s travel from any point of civilization. Over time his Ríastrads progressively got more intense, though due to his distance from population centers, he usually never killed another human. Instead, sating his bloodlust on various animals near him until the Ríastrad passed. Around this time his skin began to show an orange glow along his blood veins, perhaps an Omen of the danger he is becoming.

About a week ago, he started traveling towards Crescent City. Gavin is unsure exactly why he decided to make this spontaneous decision, attributing it to the idea that maybe he could help the progressively worse situation. A way to redeem himself from the atrocities he did before. regardless of the reason, he just feels an urge to go there.

▼ M O T I V A T I O N / O B J E C T I V E:

---

^{"uhhh, Wit is one letter away from Twit?*fits pumps, ‘Nailed It!’*"}

Ultimately, to learn to control his Ríastrads before it controls him.

▼ A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

---

^{"When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Likewise, sometimes all I see is prey."}

//ABILITIES:

◼ Ríastrad | Gavin undergoes one of three stages of his Riastrad based on how much stress he is undergoing. Inactive, Passive and Active. Inactive is a neutral state in which he is no more exceptional than a particularly hardy mundane. Passive: Gavin gain an extraordinary amount of strength and resilience. He can exert an amount of force equal to roughly fifteen grown men and can shrug off light arms fire.Active: Gavin’s Strength and resilience further increases, but he mentally decays into his base animal instincts and becomes increasingly aggressive to anything nearby. Friend or Foe. He becomes immune to conventional methods of harm and while there is no upper limit to his strength, the maximum he has ever achieved is equal to roughly 150 grown men. I should also note that his blood glows in intensity relative to which stage he is in.

Whenever he has a Ríastrad his body acts like a battery. The amount of strength he has is directly proportional to how much energy he has. A specialized organ in his body produces astatine and distributes it through his blood stream (the amount produced is proportional to how much stress he has). The astatine undergoes radioactive decay and emits energy absorbed by his blood cells for distribution to the musculature system. Due to half-lives of radioactive elements, his body will still absorb energy even after astatine is no longer being produced. Typically Gavin’s Ríastrad will last no more than thirty minutes after combat or other high-stress situations. However, Excess energy can be absorbed by the consumption of sources of energy to extend the duration of his Ríastrad. Particularly notable sources of sustainment would be animals (including humans) and most radioactive materials.

◼ Increased healing | Gavin has greater than normal rate of healing. While by no means can he shrug off death or grow tissue immediately, it is still notable. The rate is tied to which stage he is in and can grow, say, an arm in four to forty-eight hours.

//SKILLS:

◼ Adept with light arms | While by no means a master marksman, he can be effective with mearly any low cal weapon. Particularly handguns.
◼ Survival | Years of living away from civilization has trained him for living off the land, establishing shelter, tracking animals to hunt, and several other skills related to surviving alone.

//LIMITATIONS:

◼ Self-Control | Not only is his strength tied to how much energy he has, it is also tied to how strong he is willing to become. Fearing what he can potentially do, he rarely surrenders control to his animal instincts

//WEAKNESSES:

◼ Mentally Unstable | Past trauma has created an alternate persona he ‘Beithíoch’ or animal in Gaelige. This idenetity assumes control whenever he enters the active state of his Ríastrad. Beithíoch is hyper aggressive and has an insatiable bloodlust and seeks only to kill. Perhaps Beithíoch is a part of Gavin, the part that doesn’t care about mundanes. A part that feels like it is a wolf among sheep and should not abide by their laws. When not in an active state, Beithíoch may still occasionally try to get Gavin to do things he would not do.

◼ Exhaustion | After a Ríastrad, Gavin wil need a period of rest before he can have another. This is proportional to the intensity and amount of time spent in a Ríastrad.

▼ N O T E S:

---

//SUPPORTING CAST:

▼ ALLIES

◼ Traveler-59 | The callsign for an old friend of his from his army days. Traveler-59 is the only one Gavin trusts enough to tell him of his abilities. Traveler-59 occasionally supplies Gavin with resources or intelligence…. And to make sure Gavin does not suddenly become Jack Torrance*points if you know the reference*

▼ FRIENDS

◼ None…yet | Test

▼ ENEMIES

◼ None…yet | Test

//STOMPING GROUNDS

◼ The Whispering Woods | Forests are usually rife with creatures to hunt and are generally unpopulated by humans. This makes the area the best place to rest during his visit. Gavin has established several camps he can move between to remain hidden.

//PARAPHERNALIA
◼ Howdah pistol | Gavin’s preferred sidearm is a Howdah pistol which he has normal and specially made pellet rounds for. Of course it generally is unused because of the Ríastrad , but damn if it isn’t an ego boost to have a mini shotgun/hand cannon.

◼Iron Mask | Nothing notable about this, just a human face shaped mask with holes for breathing and vision. It shows signs of aging and scratches reminiscent of scars.

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

You've allowed me to gorge on a new Twilight Princess playthrough guilt-free so we're even.

@Roman

One of the few good things with 'twilight' in the name. I still shudder when someone mentions Tiberium Twilight. (you want to hear my rant, feel free to PM me.)

Likewise, I got a bit of a reprieve so I can practice Wargame: RD. Steepest learning curve I've ever seen in a game. I mean the one guide I read that is for noobs is 200 pages. On the bright side I feel like an adept tactician (though I have a long ways to improve).

@Lord Wraith I'll be starting on the other CS today and prob finish it tomorrow evening.

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - A Superhuman Roleplay (Always Open)

Took me a while, but I finished. I want to note that this is a character I have had in my head for a few months. Though I originally planned it for a collection of short stories I was writing at the time, I scrapped it for a more sinister character, so this is the first time I put thought to... er, digital paper(?). The Skill part is somewhat vague right now, but when I get enough time, I will put a more concrete list. Submitting this now as early feedback.

The Assimilator

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^{Current host: Walter Simmons ◼ Current Host : January 5th, 1989 ( 28 ) ◼ Current Host: Male ◼ Celestial}

^{"Host organism no longer resisting. Assimilation Sucessful. "}

▼ A P P E A R A N C E:

---

^{"This Shell moves unseen."}

[indent]//STATS:(for current host)

◼ HEIGHT | 5’ 10”

◼ WEIGHT | 143

◼ BUILD | slim

◼ HAIR COLOR | Black

◼ EYE COLOR | Hazel

//DESCRIPTION:

Walter Simmons refers to the Human form the alien displays to blend in, having no name it refers itself as ‘This Shell’ when communicating to others about itself. The alien species consists of sentient amorphous blobs of grey flesh capable of altering their shape to form various tools for various purposes. In addition, they are capable of absorbing genetic material through physical contact and subsequently altering their own genetic makeup to imitate a target host. This allows them to gain the triats or abilities of a species while also inheriting their weaknesses. In addition, they can also harden or soften their bodies and blend in with the background so as to be able to ambush prey and render them docile for assimilation.
Shells travel in groups (called Cells) from planet to planet looking for a suitable host species to start a Cycle. What a Cycle exactly means, is currently unknown, but it occasionally results in the extinction of a species. All Shells share the common goal of completing a cycle repeatedly. This is not a desire from will but born of instinct. A infinite hunger temporarily satiated when a Cycle succeeds.
The method of interplanetary transportation is usually crude, generally ends up in basically flinging themselves from planet to planet on an asteroid or other small celestial body to a planet they detect intelligent life. When a Cell eventually arrives in a planet, the Shells separate from each other in order to cover more ground until they find an ideal spot where they may catch a lone (hopefully sentient) creature. They typically dig a hole in the ground a bit larger than themselves and reside in the hole changing appearance so as to resemble solid ground. When a sufficiently large creature wanders upon it, the Shell quickly opens up to envelop the creature and partially absorb it. The process is painful, and allows the Shell to learn a little about the creature and determine if it is sentient and will be sufficient to begin a cycle. If the creature is not determined to be fit, it will either be ejected or consumed if the Shell needs sustenance. The Shell will signal other Shells on the planet (with a sort of mental link) if a sufficiently intelligent creature is found so the others can search for one and replicate them.
When a sufficiently determined intelligence is found, they will be the host species for the cycle. Most host organism will not be killed, but gathered together in one or several areas where they will be induced into a comatose state and hidden by some of the Shells to prevent discovery by the host species. Other host organism will be completely absorbed by a Shell in order to gain a more accurate understanding about the species.
Lastly, with each Cell, there is one who acts as the human equivalent of mission control or high command. Typically this would be the largest of the Shells and is referred to as The Cell. The Cell takes in information received by Shells and makes major decisions and decided secondary objectives for the cycle.
Due to natural ability to adapt to any climate or situation (assuming relevant genetic material has been acquired) they do not develop any technology and have an aversion to using foreign technology if possible.

▼ B I O G R A P H Y:

---

^{"The Cycle will begin anew."}

[indent][indent][i]
*When I write ‘The Shell’ I am referring to the character, I do not plan on other Shells making an appearance and at most would be mentioned only, they will be referred to as ‘sibling shell’.*
Earth, a planet with a variety of climates which each boasts a collection of lifeforms. Previous cycles indicate multiple advanced lifeforms would evolve and yet there is only one dominant lifeform and it is weak. Humans have no claws, dull teeth, nothing natural that would let them thrive and yet, they have plagued the lands. They are Qwel’ok, a race that uses tools to survive. They are not fit to host a Cycle. The Cell must have seen something in them to decide to come to this miserable Zrk’tul. Planet. The Shell is bound to follow The Cell however and cannot disobey. Upon arrival the Shell landed in a forest, perfect for the initial moments as the Shell can explore a little with little likelihood of being discovered by the Humans.
Eventually it picked a spot (as good as any other nearby really) and waited. After several planetary rotations and many insignificant prey, A lone human finally fell susceptible to the trap. This particular specimen was not very resilient, full assimilation achieved in just a few hours. Throughout the process, the Shell sorted through the knowledge and memories of the host to try to glean any useful information as to why this species is targeted for a cycle. Then the Shell learned of Hyperhumans. The Shell than understood why the Cell has targeted this species. If the Shells can find sufficient biomass with the gene, it could be replicated and potentially alow for a diverse range of abilities in a single form. They could gain the power to rival the N’Kai
Luckily the Host is a loner. The Shell can learn to emulate other humans. Learn to blend in. Learn who has the ‘hype-gene’. Won’t have to worry about anyone noticing the disappearance of this human. Situation excellent. Hard part first, how does one use these ‘lungs’ to communicate verbaly? It has been several cycles since this was necessary.
[i][/indent][/indent]

▼ M O T I V A T I O N / O B J E C T I V E:

---

^{"May the past, at last, catch up to the present"}

The Cycle. The mysterious event that all Shells participate in upon finding a suitable host species. Initially passive, observing but not acting so as to gain information. The Shell has little concern for the wellbeing of Humans and will not actively to to protect or harm someone unless it would further the Cycle. The Shell will keep a low profile above all else as being discovered could endanger the success of the Cycle.

▼ A B I L I T I E S / S K I L L S:

---

^{"Why make a hammer when you can be the hammer?"}

//ABILITIES:

◼ Shapeshifting | Able to disguise self as anything by merely observing it. This replication is imperfect as it only alters the outer appearance. Should any wounds arise, the gelatinous mass of the Shell will be revealed.

◼ Genetic alteration | Can alter it’s own genetic material to effectively become another species as long as it has acquired the genetic material (which can be gained by physical contact. The longer the contact, the more perfect the replication.) The Shell inherits any applicable strengths and weaknesses of the host’s genetics.

//SKILLS:
[indent]◼ Determined by current form | [i] varies [i][/indent]
[indent]◼ Natural resiliance | [i] The Shell by default is immune against any physical attacks by things like blunt objects, ballistics, or explosions. Being amorphous, it would merely knock off a portion of the Shells mass, which could be regathered and heal any injuries sustained through these methods. [i][/indent]

//LIMITATIONS:

◼ Determined by current form | Every species has at least one thing they are weak to.

//WEAKNESSES:

◼ Genetic breakdown | Anything that would alter or damage cellular regeneration would have an adverse effect here. Particularly extreme heat or corrosive material.

◼ Socializing | Being complexly foreign to the ideas of feelings, facial expressions and the like, the Shell will initially be very awkward in communicating and will have trouble discerning between truth and lies. Eventually the Shell may overcome this if given enough experience

▼ N O T E S:

---

//SUPPORTING CAST:

▼ ALLIES

◼ Sibling Shells and the Cell | Likely will not make an appearance. Especially the Cell who will be mentioned only, so as to communicate orders to the Shell.

▼ FRIENDS

◼ N/A | Shells don’t make friends with their prey, at least usually they don’t…

▼ ENEMIES

◼ Probably | If you don’t like being assimilated, you probably have a few words to say here.

//STOMPING GROUNDS

◼ The Whispering Woods | Somewhat secluded, close to the city. Could be an excellent place to hold individuals awaiting assimilation or to dispose of corpses too damaged to be assimilated.

VIGILANCE: Blood & Justice - Advertisement Thread (Always Open)

I'm interested, I should note I am new to forum RPs so I may stumble a bit initially. I have two ideas but for the first one, to double check, a celestial slot is still open right? eithor way, I'll post an application (or whatever the term is) on the OOC(that one right?) in at most, two days. likely tomorrow though.

New to text-based RP

Hey everyone. I am not new to RPs, but I have not done Text-based in a few years. Recently I’ve doing my RPs in a videogame engine mod. Usually did a Sci-Fi (as the game’s base files were Sci-Fi) setting but occasionally a fantasy, I personally prefer at least modern era as far as technology available (by modern era I mean starting around the 1900s when machinery started coming into focus.) As the mod lost players, and thus compatible RP ideas, it started to get harder to have an enjoyable experience. So I faded out of RPing for a while (think it’s been about 7 months since). Recently I got engaged in a spontaneous RP session on a YouTube comment that kind of reignited my interest so I stumble here.

The Typical experience I had was a few guys had factions like Colonists or say a military expedition unit (two or three main characters maybe a few minor and a load of generic guys for side conversations or mindless death depending on the case) and a few would have just one or two guys (These one were typically characters with an extensive backstory and took a more active role in the RP compared to others)
I was more on the factional side. What I did exactly varied for each session but at first it typically was a heavily fortified military research installation, don’t remember the name I gave for the faction but they were adept at mass fabrication (building things quickly and in large quantities), so naturally the bulk of the faction consisted of war machines armed with limited A.I. I would have several characters that were prototypes and generally they were the focus in my sessions. Usually along the lines of another player having problems with another player’s faction or whatever and would request my aid, and I would go along the lines of ‘this would help me evaluate the efficiency of these new weapons, I shall aid you other guy!’. That was my main for a while, eventually I started trying some new concpets and found another that stuck.

The one I did more recently consisted of an abandoned research facility plagued with odd growths and desolate structures, usually had growths on them too. There would be a odd ooze or slime covering the facility and expanding a little bit outside. Near the very end of the facility was what appeared to be an egg and odd machinery hooked up to it, which appeared to be pumping something into the growth. So player would send a few guys to stumble upon the place or investigate the strange growth, typically nothing happened the first visit…as far as the characters are aware. Unknowingly they awakened a dormant organism (not the thing in the egg but a lesser being. Can’t recall the name but for the sake of this let’s call him Jerry, of course he actually had a sinister name but I would have to find my dusty old files again). This character was a servent of Jerry and was hidden from others, acted as a scout of sorts and spawned these timed creatures (Formless Spawn) that could resemble another character (usually generic foot soldier because having two Admiral Bob would be suspicious). The Spawn would just up and murder people whenever they can while being hidden from view and would give the biomass/soul/whatever I figured would fit RP best to Jerry as he gestates in the egg to give him more strength. So depending on what everyone else did, they could destroy the gestating egg (the process varied, and obviously had obstacles), preemptively awaken Jerry while he is relatively weak, or Jerry awakens at full strength. I liked this one as I could change some things around and have a Cult of humans instead. Kinda liked the variability I had with this one.

For these forums I have two guys in mind I want to do a little bit with. My favored, is a bit… unorthodox. I don’t want to spawn a few extra pages of text for someone mildly interested, but if someone experienced wants to PM me, I have three or four pages worth of information about this character, and let me know if it’ll work here. I figure he can work adequately in nearly any genre of RP. The other guy is a loner, prefers small parties or to be by self. Adept at engineering and typically has a small cadre of robots/constructs.

Being new to this kind of RPing, I plan on just reading around for a week or so. See how casual/advanced/the others look like to best determine the one I would be most comfortable in See how exactly interest checks or whatever work.
A few questions though (numbered for convenience of response)
1) National RPs, does it have to be a country/empire/etc. or could I have a relatively small faction that is more nomadic than having concrete boarders

2) Interest Checks
a) Starting: using this to check who’ll bite- what all should I include when making one?
b) Joining- Typically do I announce my interest or would I typically have to provide character(s)?

3) What is the typical time period on these forums

4) If someone lists in title ‘open to new players’ or ‘always accepting’, does this mean I can join in right in or as I presume, pm them expressing interest in joining?