Necroes

Magik Ther Was

Great, now Smith's finger is vibrating...

And no, that's not innuendo. His ring contains an artifact which detects the presence of magic users and vibrates in response to their proximity. It's going to start sounding like a phone on vibrate once every shows up >.>

Magik Ther Was

Well, my post is up. Questions, comments, and concerns, as always, are welcome and appreciated.

Magik Ther Was

'Joy to the World, the Lord is Come. Let Earth, Recieve, Hi-'

"Hello?"

There was no response from the basic nokia track phone. Not at first, anyway. Then, a string of numbers sounded from the phone, followed by another long pause, then four more numbers. Fairly standard procedure for a job offer, though one of the more annoying methods. The first string of numbers was a one use call-in voice mail, while the second was the password needed to receive the message inside. Of course, the numbers would only play once, and if there was no pen or paper handy, he would just have to remember them. If he hadn't been an accountant, he probably would have just refused any job offered to him that way. They generally ended up being the most risky, but his internal number-cruncher told him they also yielded the highest rate of return for time invested.

Dialing the number and entering the password took no time at all. The message, delivered from what sounded like a voice-simulator, was short and to the point. 'Meet in central park, at nine tonight, come alone.' That they knew he was in New York was less than surprising. His general location when he wasn't on a job was a well known among his clientele, as he made no effort to hide that he lived in the Big Apple. What was surprising was that they knew he wasn't on a job, as he'd only recently gotten back, literally three hours prior, and that without giving him other information on when and where to meet, if he was not able to make it there would be no other way for him to take the job.

But, even that wasn't really surprising. Having dealt with mages for nearly a decade, he'd gotten used to people knowing more about him than they should. It came with the territory. If nothing else, he'd managed to find ways to keep what he didn't want known private, so no major concerns when someone tried to impress him with a divination spell.

Finishing his beer, he stood and made for the door, leaving a twenty on the bar. The trip to his place took roughly thirty minutes, and the ride to his warehouse from there took only about fifteen. He had a few hours yet, but there were some things that he needed to check.

Walking into the large complex, he looked around, waiting. When a huge shimmer began coming towards him, he spoke a few words in Latin, then kept walking. Moving forward, he takes a deep breath, before stepping into a circle drawn on the floor. The thing had cost most of his second take, but it was worth it. The warehouse was empty, save for the guardian and the circle. Anyone who found it would either die in the attempt to get to the circle, or be very disappointed when they made it through.

He was suddenly floating in a very narrow, but very deep, pool of luke-warm water. Knowing better than to go up, he instead swims down, heading for the secret compartment that opens the drain. After all the water drains out of the small tank, he is free to open the second compartment, which the water pressure had kept sealed before then. Stepping out into the large, underground bunker, he looks around, then walks towards the glowing sphere in the middle. Once there, he pulls out his phone, nodding at what he expected to find. The phone shimmered in the light of the orb, letting him know that it had been touched by magic. When he was in the bar, no one but him had seemed to respond to the phone ringing, which had made him suspicious. Whoever had contacted him had used a spell do to it, but disguised it to seem like a more mundane approach. That alone filled in a number of gaps in the question at large.

Going over to a storage locker, Smith retrieved a number of items, his sword among them. Other than the standard weaponry, ranging from a number of small explosives to a few small but powerful handguns, he also collected a number of small trinkets whose purpose he alone would know on site. Seven in total, two of them were protection against magic in general, with another that prevented people from accessing his thoughts specifically, while the others were more offensive in nature.

Finally certain he was ready, he turns and walks back to the door, exiting through the teleportation circle just as he came in, the tank filling with water again once he leaves. After getting back, he speaks the Latin phrase again, heading for the car outside. He had just enough time to make it to central park, even accounting for New York traffic. Though, as per the usual, when he arrived, he was the first. Taking a seat on a park bench near by, he pulls out a newspaper, content in the knowledge that one of his baubles would keep the various magical auras he had hidden on his person from being detected via magic, while his own human nature would only reveal itself to be the completely magicless entity that he was. To anyone who didn't know better, he would just be a man sitting in the park, reading the New-Yorker.

Magik Ther Was

The concept works extremely well for Smith. I mean, that exact scenario makes up basically 80% of all his transactions.

And, hey... he wouldn't say no to some money for bantering... >.>

Magik Ther Was

If he just killed a magic user with it, then no. However, the sword can be used to gather information, but it is somewhat of a tricky process. As soon as someone takes possession of the sword, the information that all past possessors had at the time they took possession of it is imparted onto them, while the sword in turn takes the information the new possessor has and imprints it into itself, either creating a new 'record' of sorts, or updating an old one if the current possessor had been one before.

So, could he use the sword to acquire new information on magic? Yes. However, it would require someone with that information to take possession of the sword, and then for Smith to take it back from them. Also, what counts as 'possession' can be a bit of a gray area, as the person taking possession of the sword has to consider it his before the information exchange occurs, so just holding it isn't enough.

Does that make sense?

Magik Ther Was

Amalvi: While his primary weapon is the sword, the ten years he's had as a mercenary has given Smith a lengthy period of time to amass a number of other weapons, both mundane and magical. While he certainly does not have anything extremely advanced technologically, as far as weapons are concerned, he does have a number of weapons that would allow him to engage a wide range of enemies. Some of these are just standard weapons of varying flavors, while others are magical items he's picked up over the years, by exploiting knowledge gained from the sword.

Think of him as a sort of magical batman, except his expertise and experience in the field comes mostly from the knowledge the sword gave him, as opposed to Bruce Banner being trained and having natural talent.

Kissshot: That would be something we could discuss to keep people interested while we wait. From what I have read, each of them would have some reason to take part in a magical adventure. Perhaps they all meet up in a restaurant, where they were called together by a mysterious benefactor. A bit cliched, but tropes make for a good starting point for more elaborate concepts later on.

Magik Ther Was

Personally, I've always found that the best way to encourage people to stay in a slow-starting RP is by having discussions about the RP, either in the OOC or via PMs between two or more players about their characters and how they'd interact with each other.

Pre-writing is a very important part of any writing process, even with just one person. The fact that it tends to be completely passed-over by the majority of RPs on here, where you've got four or five people writing together, just confounds me.

So, anyone have any ideas they want to discuss? Anything they'd like to get hammered out? Questions, comments, concerns, etc.

This is the place to talk about them, now, before we start. And if anyone has any questions about my character, or how he's going to interact with the other characters, please, feel free to ask me here or through a PM. I love working with others to help develop a better story.

Magik Ther Was

Hmm... I'm ready to begin, if everyone else is. Honestly, everything I want to add to my CS feels like it would fit better in an introductory post.

Magik Ther Was

So, are we going to be aware of each other before this starts, or no?

Because, if not, then I may refrain from reading other's character sheets too indepth-ly.

Magik Ther Was

Name: Rudolph Thomson (Smith)
Age: 32
Gender: Male
Occupation: Accountant/Mercenary
Appearance: 6'4", 240 lbs. All around, he's a big guy. He's white in the extreme, with blond hair and blue eyes. His features are rough, he has perpetual five o'clock shadow, and a large assortment of scars ranging in size, shape, and location.
Personality: He's a smart-ass, a skeptic, and most people find him pretty obnoxious. He's cautious, to an extent, but always ready for a fight, whether or not he actually wants one.
Magic/Abilities: He has a huge amount of experience in almost every field, but mostly in combat. He has access to a small arsenal of weaponry, some of which is magical. The most notable of which is a sword he always carries. The most notable features of the sword are that it's so far proven indestructible, and it's extremely sharp. The hidden aspect of the weapon is that it can absorb the memories and knowledge of those who wield it, as well as impart that knowledge to its wielder. This exchange occurs every time someone new takes possession of the weapon, and the results are permanent.
Bio: Until about ten years ago, Rudolph was a normal guy. He had gone to college, gotten his degree, and found a job in a field he thought he could stand for long enough to make it to retirement. He had a few relationships, had friends, and a number of hobbies. One of those hobbies was collecting weapons. One of those weapons turned out to be a sword which looked like a prop from '300.' In reality, it was the legendary sword of Arise, god of war.
After it became his, things changed. A lot.
He became aware of the existence of magic within the world, as well as a fairly knowledgeable expert on its workings. It tried to use this information to his benefit, but ended up getting himself involved in the magical world at large, and ended up becoming a mercenary for anyone who could find him and offer him a reasonable sum of money. He took up the title 'Smith' because no one took him seriously when he used his real name.
Extra: While most experts agree that the sword has no effect on the personality of a person, imparting only knowledge and not personal habits or the like, Smith is absolutely convinced that he was a much more normal person before he picked up the sword, and without it, would never have made any of the choices he did.

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That's a decent rough draft. I can add more, and intend to, but I wanted approval for the over all idea before moving forward.