Obscene Symphony

𝓘𝓷𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓽𝔀𝓲𝓷𝓮𝓭

Mandatory disclaimer that we don't know shit about history so we're pulling a lot of this out of our asses

Obscene's Scratchpad

Name: Feliks Shvets
Age: 23
Bio:

• Mother was one of the palace seamstresses to the Romanovs, father was a brief fling, never seen again
• Grew up in a servant house near the palace, spent his days there keeping busy doing odd jobs while his mother worked
• As a ten-year-old he goes looking for his mother one day, finds her doing a fitting for an extravagant gown with princess Katerina. Sees Katerina in the dress, with her blonde hair, and thinks she's an angel.

Siege:
Siege happens when Feliks is 11 and Katerina is 9, the Bolsheviks storming the palace in the middle of the night in winter. Feliks' mother was staying at the palace that night, working hard with the other seamstresses to complete a set of new ball gowns for the princesses for an upcoming Christmas ball; Feliks, meanwhile, sleeps on a pile of fabric in the drafting room. Amidst the chaos of the siege, Feliks is separated from his mother. As he searches for her he sees Katerina running and Bolshevik troops chasing after her and he follows, scared that they might hurt her despite only having met her up close that one time. When Katerina is cornered, he intervenes by kicking out the knee of the guy chasing her; the shot the guy was going to fire at Katerina misses as a result, breaking the window behind her. The guy turns and hits Feliks on the head with his gun to knock him down, shooting him quickly, but this gives Katerina enough time to escape out the window, getting cut on the leg on the way out by a shard of glass in the frame. Meanwhile, the shot fired at Feliks had been poorly aimed, hitting him in the leg near his hip. The blow to his head knocked him out, and he bleeds from his gunshot wound; Bolshevik troops find him in a final sweep looking for Katerina. Thinking him dead, they haul him out and pile him up with the other bodies, where a commoner finds Feliks still breathing and takes him to a hospital.

Meanwhile, Katerina has fled into the city slums, and passes out in an alley after having a bit of a breakdown. She's found in the morning by a worker at a local orphanage, who finds her practically frozen and takes her in. The Bolsheviks had seen evidence of a gunshot and blood trailing off in the snow, and assume Katerina was shot and bled to death wherever she went. Satisfied that there's no way she could have survived a frigid winter night with a gunshot wound, they presume her dead and do not search for her. When Katerina wakes up in the orphanage, her mind has blocked out her trauma, leaving her with no memory of who she is or where she came from. Her nightgown is tattered from the window, and embroidered with the name "Katya" on the sleeve, so the orphanage assumes she is a street child who took the nightgown from somewhere and, with nothing else to call her, dub her Katya.

Weeks later, when Feliks has finally recovered enough for the hospital to let him go, he immediately returns to the castle in desperate hope that he might find his mother. He searches the whole place, but there is no sign of her aside from a bloody smudge on the floor of the corridor leading to the drafting room. Elsewhere in the palace he finds another former servant, a teenaged boy, who tells Feliks that he saw his mother get shot dead. Utterly shocked and feeling guilty, thinking he might have been able to save her had he not chased after Katerina, Feliks wanders the palace in a daze, eventually coming upon the room where he had helped Katerina escape. He sees the stain of his own blood on the floor, the broken window and the blood on the glass. On the floor near the window, though, he sees a necklace; the pendant is in the motif of a jewel-encrusted Faberge egg on a long gold chain. Fascinated by it, he keeps it.

Plot:

• Feliks grows bitter and cynical over the years, never getting over his guilt surrounding his mother's murder and regretting helping Katerina in lieu of finding her; he considers selling the necklace multiple times, as it is a painful reminder of his mistake, but he can never bring himself to do it. He never tells anyone about what happened that night, instead always saying that he was at home in the servant house during the siege.
• He gets a job as a tailor's apprentice to honour his mother's memory, and by the time he is an adult he is a skilled tailor. However, the communist regime left the people poor, so the market for tailoring is very bleak; needing money, he figures out that while tailoring is dead, forgery is a booming business, as people are desperate to escape the bleakness of communist Russia.
• Hates the Bolsheviks and what they've done to Russia, but won't join any dissidents because he thinks nothing will come of a revolt but bloodshed.
• On the same day the rumour starts to spread that Grand Duchess Katerina might still be alive and that her grandmother, the Dowager Empress, is offering a reward to find her, Feliks happens upon a woman named Katya, who is looking for papers to travel to Paris. Seeing that she looks remarkably like the Katerina he remembers and surprised that she has no memory of her own past, Feliks has an idea that he could pass her off as the Grand Duchess for the reward money.
• He takes her back to the palace, where he hasn't been since he went back that day after the siege, and shows her around; when they pass by the section of the palace containing the drafting room and the room where Katerina escaped, Feliks gets emotional and says there's nothing down there for them. The pair continue on past and find archives about the Romanovs, deciding to study up so Katya can pass as Katerina. They decide to set up a little encampment there, Katya having no place to live and Feliks currently wanted and more or less in hiding, and stay there for some time, Feliks teaching Katya everything he remembers about royal manner.
• At some point he shows Katya the necklace, and she immediately opens it, revealing that it's actually a locket containing pictures of Katerina and the other Romanovs.
• At some point Katya decides to explore the part of the palace that Feliks has been avoiding, finds the room where she escaped and it triggers memories of her trauma and she freaks; Feliks comforts her and distracts her by telling her the story of when he saw Princess Katerina and thought she was an angel. Katya puts herself in Katerina's place in the story, thinking she's making up the details until she realizes she's actually remembering them, recalling a part of the story that Feliks hadn't told her. Feliks realizes she really is Katerina, and doesn't know what to do.

Misc:

• Feliks has a thin scar on his forehead above his left eyebrow from where he was pistol whipped during the siege, and he walks with a bit of a limp, his leg never having returned to full function after the gunshot wound. His injured hip hurts him when he gets up in the morning (feeling better once he gets moving) and if he has to walk a lot, or if it's cold or rainy (it's got hella arthritis but he doesn't know that).
• He's a smoker, and drinks when his leg is really bothering him
• Secretly misses tailoring
• Still sometimes thinks about Katerina even though he resents her (despite thinking her dead)
• While Katya is so focused on her past, Feliks claims to have forgotten the past and only care about the future, even though he's been dwelling on the past his entire life and still hasn't gotten over it
• The tailor he apprenticed under was a former tailor to a member of the imperial court, and he retained his stuffy high-society mannerisms out of spite for the Bolsheviks. He required that Feliks learn to be a proper man ("You must be a man of class to dress one") and taught Feliks proper poise and manners, and also how to dance. Feliks was never a good dancer, impeded by his limp, and hasn't danced since he first learned, though he'll find that he does remember how.

Obscene's Scratchpad

handwriting

Aaron:


Feliks:
hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

^^ homemade apple, 30 (shvets) 31 (vasiliev)

Obscene's Scratchpad

On the far bank of the lake sit five large guest houses, all sharing a central boat house jutting out over the water. Each is identical, two storeys tall with a finished basement and a panoramic sitting room making up the third story. The main living area features a two-storey vaulted ceiling with a floor-to-ceiling window facing the lake, and the second story loft open to the area below. A diagonal portion in the south houses the kitchen and behind the living room are five bedrooms. To the north of the living area is a spiral staircase leading up the turret into the third storey, which houses a sitting room with glass walls overlooking the mountainside to the east and the lake to the west.

Upstairs are

Of Blood and Magic

_{Interacting with: @Achronum}

I am my Master's servant and I will endeavour to use my critical thinking skills to his advantage.
I am my Master's servant and I will endeavour to use my critical thinking skills to his advantage.
I am my Master's servant and I will endeavour to use my critical thinking skills to his advantage.

A knock at the door pulled Aaron from his focus, and no sooner did he look up than did Varis rise and take his lines away, looking over them.

“Better than last night. Slow down on the upstrokes on the loops. I can see how thin the ink is.”

There was no time to respond before Varis had locked the lines away and fled the study, leaving Aaron to simply wonder why Varis cared so much about his handwriting as he moved to answer the door. Opening it, he found the same delivery woman as before, holding the same packages and the same clipboard. Aaron signed quickly, not bothering with small talk tonight, and quickly brought the delivery to the kitchen. The smell of danishes was already apparent, and soon the scent of coffee joined it as Aaron got the machine running. He did it all more or less on autopilot, a little out of focus from his lines. The words still ran through his head, and his eyes were a little glazed over; Who knew an hour of writing the same thing over and over would make him so… out of it?

Aaron ate quickly, doing everything with his left hand as he stretched out his right. There was some residual stiffness in his hand and wrist, presumably from his line-writing last night, and it was all the more apparent now after another session. A wholly unexpected little detail, but apparently writing non-stop for an hour at a time each night was going to take some getting used to in more ways than one; he hadn’t considered it before, but he couldn’t really remember the last time he’d had to write by hand for so long. He was sure what he was writing was no help either, his hand going through the same exact motions over and over and over again.

Soon enough breakfast was done with, Aaron making quick work of the dishes and leaving the kitchen as pristine as he’d found it. He was a little surprised Varis hadn’t called him for feeding, but he supposed the Count had had an unusual start, and figured that he would be called when he was needed. Satisfied with that reasoning, Aaron returned to his room to change into a proper shirt while he had the chance; if Varis wanted to feed, he could always just take down his collar. After all, Aaron remembered with a slight turn of the stomach, it wasn’t as if Varis had a problem with disrobing.

He felt immediately better once he had his dress shirt on, the high collar and the done-up buttons bringing him some measure of comfort. His mind cleared as he deftly tied his tie, practiced hands making quick and neat work of it. Finally he slipped into his suit jacket, put on his watch, and actually remembered to fasten his medical alert bracelet around his ankle before giving himself a final once-over in the mirror, feeling much more comfortable now that he looked appropriate for public view.

He had actually prepared his bag before he arrived at the Academy, a few notebooks, writing utensils and his laptop already neatly inside, so there was little to do except grab it before he was ready for the night. But he paused as he double-checked the contents, pulling out the box with the tuning fork from where he’d tucked it away earlier and considering it. Shelving the weirdness of the thing aside for the time being, he was sure he wouldn’t need it during the school night, but for whatever reason, he wasn’t entirely comfortable just leaving it in his room, remembering how Varis had been going through his cabinets and had apparently rifled through his drawers for his medical file. Aaron bounced the box in his hand as he considered what to do with it, looking around the room before his eyes fell on his closet. Sure, no door made it a little less secure, but he supposed a door probably wouldn’t have made much of a difference anyway.

He decided to stash the box and note away inside his empty luggage, slipping them into a zip pouch and leaving the suitcase on the upper shelf of his closet. He doubted Varis would go looking through an empty suitcase; even if he did, Aaron wasn’t sure the tuning fork was even worth hiding. He got some measure of comfort from it, though, and finally returned to the kitchen. A glance at his watch showed 8:40; with nothing better to do than wait for Varis, Aaron pulled out his phone, leaning against the counter.

Somehow he’d missed the unread message in his notifications, and when he opened it he found it was Lilie, asking him at some unreasonable hour whether he was awake. He’d spoken to her since then, so he felt no need to respond, but he couldn’t help but be a little amused. She really was quite the day jay, though of course he couldn’t blame her.

Expecting to get called for feeding any minute, Aaron couldn’t get into anything as he waited, opting instead to check the scores of a couple of races from the nights prior. He flipped between his browser app and his notes, jotting down scores and figures and the occasional equation, and before he knew it Varis was calling him, apparently ready to leave.

The Count’s words, however, gave Aaron pause. A chance to redeem himself? Aaron had honestly been surprised that the Count had spoken to him so civilly this evening, after what he’d done the night before, and he certainly hadn’t expected to be given a chance to win back some modicum of favour so quickly. Varis had his rapt attention, Aaron ready to enthusiastically jump into the task, until he heard the details.

So, he was meant to spy on Salem? Aaron would be a liar if he said the idea sat well with him, remembering how Salem had deflated at the news of the investigation, and how even after they’d had their disagreements, they’d seem to have come to some kind of friendly understanding. The poor man had momentarily lost everything, and was clearly lonely; even with the suspicion regarding the Red Hand, Aaron held no malice for Salem. In fact, he doubted he had any affiliation at all. And now, what, Aaron was meant to kick him while he was down, pretend to be his friend, all the while betraying him?

Varis asked him if he understood, and Aaron mentally slapped himself. What was he thinking? He’d known Salem all of what, eighteen hours? What did he know about him? He’d been spewing practically revolutionary ideas to the Queen’s face, throwing accusations at Lady Sinnenodel (true or not - and who could tell - it was reckless all the same), not to mention how brazenly he’d gone toe to toe with Count Varis himself. For all Aaron knew, Salem fit the rebel bill perfectly; in any case, the man was a mage - Lucan’s mage, yes, but a mage nonetheless - whom Aaron didn’t know, who might be affiliated with rebels, and who his master thought was enough of a threat to warrant closer inspection. Most importantly, though, Aaron was being offered a possibly rare chance to redeem himself for his mistakes, curry some favour with the master he’d be serving for the rest of his life. What kind of an attendant would he be to let sympathy for a stranger get in the way of performing his duty?

“Understood, Master,” Aaron replied, swallowing his lingering discomfort and following Varis out the door.

Obscene's Scratchpad

As long as you can remember, you've known you were different.

Don't worry, everyone else did too; the mark around your wrist made sure of that. Some of them looked at you with envy and fascination, others with pity. Maybe a few even shunned you. Maybe the attention bothered you, but you were probably more concerned with that feeling in your chest. That bizarre tug. That longing. That feeling of desperately missing someone. But who?

Maybe you've been searching for them; maybe you're not holding your breath. It's tough, right? Unless you live in a massive city you've probably never even met someone like you, and even then your chances were slim. You probably saw people like you on TV though, in movies, online. Talking about it. That feeling you're missing. About being complete, finding their other half. The movies probably tell you how great it is; celebrities on talk shows might say otherwise. Maybe you've read up on your condition, learned the boons it can grant when things work out. Learned what can happen if they don't.

Are you scared? Excited? Have you been looking at the moon each night, wondering if your other half is looking too? Are you holding out hope that by some miracle your paths will cross? After all, it happens to some people. Why not you?

Well, your chance – probably your only chance – may well have just arrived. You got a letter, in one of those fancy envelopes made out of thick embossed paper, addressed directly to you. It's got one of those cool old-fashioned seals on the back, pink and blue wax swirled together and imprinted with the shape of a lotus. The letter inside looks hand-written, written by people like you, inviting you to attend an event that may well lead you to your other half. Seems sketchy, right? Maybe, but something made you send back your answer, and now you've got all-expense-paid tickets to go spend a week in luxury and take that chance. Think you'll find your destiny?

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People

The Intact

The Intact make up the vast majority of the world's population. They have a whole, "intact" soul and no soulmate. For all intents and purposes, they are completely normal and unremarkable.

The Fragmented

The Fragmented (also known in some places as the Torn or the Marked) are individuals born with only half of a "fragmented" soul. The other half of their soul is borne by another Fragmented somewhere in the world, often referred to as their "soulmate". Despite technically only having half a soul, they're perfectly functional, developed people, with the caveat that for as long as they can remember, they've felt like they're not quite "complete". The Fragmented feel a longing for something they can't describe, and many are driven to wander in search of someone they miss desperately, but whom they've never met. They are all born with an identical mark, a black band around their right wrist.

Public opinion of the Fragmented varies. Some idolize them, either fascinated by or jealous of their bonds with their soulmates, while others shun them under the impression that their partial soul curses them as anything from incompetent to evil. Owing to their rarity, however, most Intact will likely never come into contact with a Fragmented, and thus many have no opinion on them. Fragmented and Reunited often feature in film and television, usually quite romanticized, and some people have taken to getting tattoos of the Fragmented wrist mark, to varying reception from the Fragmented themselves.

The Fragmented bear some psychological and physiological differences from the Intact. See the "Lost" section for more detail.

The playable characters in this RP will be Fragmented.

The Reunited

The Reunited are those Fragmented who have found their other half. Having "reunited" the two halves of their shared soul, the Reunited enjoy better health (both physical and mental) than their Intact counterparts, routinely living to ages upwards of 100; the oldest Reunited pair ever recorded lived to the age of 135. Regardless of their soul bond type, the Reunited are more physically and mentally robust than the average Intact and generally lead happier and more productive lives with their soulmate.

Aside from improved health, Reunited pairs also enjoy more interesting abilities, for better or for worse. Being that they share a soul, Reunited individuals are able to sense the emotional state of their soulmate. This effect weakens with distance, but also strengthens over time. Aptitude varies among pairs from a general sense of the emotional state of one's soulmate to feeling one's soulmate's emotions as strongly and clearly as their own.

What's more, again owing to their shared soul, Reunited individuals are able to communicate with their soulmates telepathically. This usually begins as bursts of shared thought in times of heightened stress, but will evolve over time into coherent communication at will. Some pairs use this ability liberally to the point that they become two individuals with an essentially shared consciousness, while others use it for convenience and nothing more, not unlike sending mental text messages. Many antagonistic pairs have lamented the fact that their soulmates can force their way into their minds given enough practice and resolve.

The Lost

In order to understand the differences between the Fragmented, Reunited, and the Lost, we must do a little theorizing.

If you think of souls as having "sizes", then a Fragmented person's soul, while being half of a whole, is roughly 3/4 the "size" of an Intact person's. As a result, when they find their other half and their soul fragments reunite, they have a sort of shared soul that's "bigger" than an Intact person's. Translating a soul's "size" into something like life force explains why the Lost and Reunited have such different life expectancies and vitality than the Intact.

Now, put simply, the Lost are Fragmented individuals who have either lost or never reunited with their other half. Seeing as their part-souls are less stable than either an Intact soul or a Reunited soul, the Lost suffer physical and mental health issues at much higher rates than their Intact counterparts. They are generally less healthy and more susceptible to premature aging and illness, many leading their lives sickly and frail. The Lost suffer mental illnesses such as chronic depression at much higher rates than the Intact, and generally lead shorter, less fulfilling lives. Lost routinely die of natural causes around the age of 65 or younger, and suicide rates among the Lost are disturbingly high at around 50%.

Fragmented and Reunited individuals can become Lost in a few ways. The most common Lost are Fragmented individuals who never found their other half. Fragmented are usually considered Lost either when they have gone a considerable portion of their adult life without finding their soulmate, or if they have stopped searching altogether. In cases such as these, the symptoms of the Lost set in gradually in a process similar to aging, only accelerated.

Some Lost are Reunited who have been separated from their other half, either by distance or by death. In both cases, the symptoms of the Lost will strike a Reunited much faster than a Fragmented; as of yet no Reunited has lived beyond a year after the death or disappearance of their soulmate. This has posed problems for antagonistic pairs, who often lament that they can't murder or live on the opposite end of the world from their soulmate lest they suffer the consequences (more on that in Soul Bonds).

Marks and Reuniting

Upon finding their other half, Fragmented will become Reunited. For some, this happens the first time they touch; for others, it has happened the first time their eyes met. In that moment, whatever it may be, they experience a near-indescribable euphoric rush as the two halves of their shared soul mend together. The marks on their wrists, formerly identical to every other Fragmented's, will disappear, and a new mark will appear somewhere on their bodies. Both individuals in a Reunited pair will bear this mark in the mirror image of their soulmate's. These marks are unique to every pair and vary wildly in size and colour, though there is no indication that either quality has any meaning beyond aesthetic.

Soul Bonds

A soul bond is the connection between the souls of a Reunited pair (that is to say, the connection between the two halves of their shared soul once it's been fused back together). There are three categories of soul bonds: romantic, platonic, and antagonistic. While there is no external way to deduce a soul bond type, the partners who share it will be able to tell; for some, the soul bond type is evident at their first meeting (antagonistic pairs especially have reported combative feelings toward their partner at the moment the soul bond was made), but most Reunited pairs will have to figure it out amongst themselves. In some cases it can take up to a year for a pair to pin down their soul bond, but they will recognize it eventually.

The specifics of each soul bond type are as follows:

Romantic - "If I had to, I'd rather lose all five of my children than lose my husband. Does that make me a bad person?"
Romantic bonds aren’t as simple as they sound, and can manifest in a lot of ways. Some pairs do become the idyllic power couple who are totally compatible and embody all that the media plays up about the romantic bond, but that's not always the case. Sometimes a pair can be so close that they become cripplingly codependent, with all the consequences that come with that; others might be less than compatible on the surface, but need and desire each other just as much as those who get along. This can lead to the second most popular depiction of romantic bonds in media, the mismatched pair who keep coming back to each other because they can’t stand to be apart. Many romantic pairs, however, fall somewhere in between, dealing with the trials and tribulations all couples face with the assurance that they truly are “meant to be.”

Platonic - "I don't think either of us has done anything without the other since we met. It would just feel... wrong."
Platonic bonds are generally as one might expect, a bond akin to that of close siblings or very dear friends. Reunited who share a platonic soul bond will often love each other like family, but will never experience romantic or sexual attraction to one another (though one amusing anecdote involves a pair who met through online dating only to realize they’d found their soulmate, just not the type they had expected). Platonic soulmates often excel at cooperation, problem-solving and creative endeavours, feeding off each other’s energy to great effect.

Like every bond, though, a platonic bond has its downsides. For example, it’s common for platonic Reunited to struggle with romantic relationships, as often no matter how compatible they are with the people they date, they can never feel as close to them as they do to their platonic soulmate. Similarly, many spouses of platonic Reunited sometimes feel as if their spouse cares more for their platonic soulmate than they do for them or even their children, adding tension to relationships.

Antagonistic - "Eternally fated to find each other through time and space just to say 'fuck you.'"
Contrary to popular belief, those who share an antagonistic soul bond don’t necessarily have to hate each other; while this is certainly a possibility, the true crux of an antagonistic bond is that each half of the Reunited soul is destined to be somehow at odds with the other. This conflict can manifest in many ways, including mutual disdain (by far the most commonly represented manifestation in media, if not the most common in real life), rivalry, and jealousy. Intensity varies wildly, from a relationship as tame as being otherwise cordial but utterly unable to cooperate, to as explosive as violence. Scholars will note, however, that antagonistic soul bonds are one of the most difficult to categorize in general terms because they can take on the widest variety of characteristics by far.

GM Note: I made these purposefully vague because I want you guys to have fun and get creative with your soul bonds! All you have to do is stick to the general themes of each bond type and then you can really make your bond your own. As always, I invite you to talk to your partner when you get one and ask me questions if you have any!

___________________________________________

This RP takes place in the near future of our world, with a few little changes. For one, the existence of souls has been generally accepted by all but the most insistent of skeptics as the only currently viable explanation for the Fragmented phenomenon. Afterlife theories, however, remain as varied as ever.

Miraculously, the world hasn't fallen into anything like nuclear war or environmental ruin, so there are no apocalypses, looming or otherwise, to be concerned about. As well, since we won't be too worried about the state of the outside world, you're welcome to mess with it a little. Want to create a small island nation for your character to be the prince of? Go for it! Fictional huge corporation to inherit one day? Feel free. If you have any inquiries or just want to see if what you have in mind is feasible, I'm all ears.

Technology

Technology hasn't moved past recognition, but some useful and interesting inventions have become commonplace in recent years. For example, it's common for large businesses and high-end shops to make use of holographic displays, fully three-dimensional and shockingly lifelike. Likewise, the second generation of universal translation devices have hit the market for those who can pay; you'll be listening to an AI voice, but the translations are fairly accurate and they process in real time, making them popular among business representatives and politicians for visiting and negotiating with their foreign counterparts. Accessibility devices such as hearing aides have advanced greatly in efficacy and discretion, voice-operated guide sensors for the blind are affordable to the general populace and prosthetic limbs have made great strides in comfort, function, and style, often imperceptible to onlookers and easier than ever for the wearer to operate.

Mythology

The mythos of this RP setting are the same as the real world, with one notable exception. Alongside the mythical figures everyone knows (ex. Hercules, David and Goliath, Sun Wukong, those other household heroes you kinda mostly know the stories of from when you learned them as a kid) were another set of extraordinary people, universally known as the Paragons.

They don't tend to have names in their stories, but everyone knows them. Some were merciful healers, or wise oracles consulted by kings; others perhaps were friends of nature, who could grow entire forests to keep them company. You've probably also heard the old myth of Alta, the paradise city somewhere in Mesopotamia laid low in a single night by a Paragon hellbent on rending untold destruction. Of course, no one has ever found the wreckage, but that didn't stop the endless film adaptations from blowing up box offices all over the world. Some ancient cultures revered the Paragons, some feared and reviled them, but all shared one interesting thing in common: No matter which myth you read, or which culture it came from, the details on the Paragons themselves never change, describing them as tall, long-lived people who wielded power beyond human capability.

Conspiracy theories and History Channel documentaries on the Paragons abound, many trying to argue that the Paragons were more than mere legend. Of course, these arguments usually come from people who also claim to have seen Bigfoot or been abducted by aliens, so...

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Rules ★

General

No god-modding, no metagaming, be civil OOC, take explicit content to PMs, GM word is law, you know the drill. If there is anything at all you're not sure about, just ask me. I don't bite!

I reserve the right to refuse acceptance for any reason. Don't stress though, I'm a reasonable girl. There is a possibility I'll have to restrict character submissions of certain genders or orientations down the line so I can get pairings worked out; I'll make an announcement if this happens.

Put your character sheet in the OOC first. Once I give you the go-ahead, you may post in the character tab. Pretty standard. I recommend using the same post for all your sheets if you're doing multiples.

This RP is largely going to be character-driven, and there's some fun plot in store as well! As a result, despite the lighthearted premise, there is a possibility for darker content down the line. Please contact me if there are any subjects you do not want to breach and I will gladly adjust things accordingly.

Talk! An active OOC is always fun, and as a bonus, makes RPs last longer! Please join the RP discord server (coming soon!) to stay updated on RP happenings, chat, meme, and whatever else you want!

Posting

The partnered nature of this RP requires dedicated players. If you don't think you can commit, then I thank you for your interest but recommend you look elsewhere. Any dropped characters will be puppeted by me until such a time that they can make an organic exit. Thank you for understanding.

Whew, sorry, just needed to get that one out there! I'm not going to jump down your throat if you lose interest later on (it happens to the best of us) but I implore you, if that happens, tell me! Now:

The posting standard for this RP is high casual. 3rd person, past tense, you know the drill. I value quality over quantity and a lean post here and there is no big deal, but do try to give people something to work with. Don't worry if your posts get long; write as much as you feel you need to.

Do your best to use proper spelling, grammar and formatting. We all make mistakes now and then, but at the very least I ask that you proofread your post. It only takes a few minutes and it's an easy way to catch most mistakes -- I make stupid mistakes every other word and proofreading is my saving grace. As with everything in this RP, if you would like help or advice, I would be more than happy to talk to you.

All characters must be posted for at least once a week or they will risk being removed. Due to the paired-up nature of this RP, this is a must. Nobody likes getting stuck because their partner hasn't posted. You don't have to post a novel, but do put out something. If you foresee a problem with this, please bring it to my attention ASAP. To that end...

A weekly update of some kind will be posted by me every Monday. This could be anything from a time skip or event update to a simple benchmark post. You do not have to post every 7 days on the dot, but you must post at least once per update cycle for all of your characters. Speaking of which...

You may have multiple characters, but be prepared to post for all of them. To keep the cast a little leaner, I'll instate a 2-character limit for the time being. I won't accept being swamped with characters as an excuse for inactivity, so make sure you only play as many as you know you can handle.

Please don't include pictures in the headers of your posts. Fancy text headers from places like 1001fonts and fontmeme are welcome and encouraged, but no character images please. To be perfectly honest, this is just a pet peeve of mine. But this time I'm the GM, so I make the rules!

If you have read these rules, please put a star ★ into the "Other" section of your character sheet.

Character Sheet

NOTE: Please do not alter the character sheet. Don't add things, don't subtract things. This is just a basic template so you’re welcome to fancy it up all you want, but just make sure you use all the sections that are listed. Please don't add extra sections; you can add additional info in the "Other" section all you want. As well, because my eyes are stupid, I'd appreciate it if you'd put all your images in hiders. If you have questions, comments or anything else, please don't hesitate to contact me!

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Character image: Non-anime artwork please!

Name: Full name, titles if you have any, include nicknames if you'd like

Age: 20-25 please

Gender: Male or female

Sexuality: I’ll need this to make pairings, so please don’t skip!

Appearance: Extra reference images should be linked or in a hider please! Make sure to include anything we can't see in your image and details like height, weight (this is a good website for figuring out an appropriate weight for your character's height and build!) identifying marks (tattoos, scars, piercings) and general style of dress, as well as any differences from your character image. You know, the standard.
***This RP takes place in the vaguely near future, so it's totally safe to say that fashion has evolved a bit. That is to say, if you want your character to have a wardrobe that's a little more extra than the modern day-to-day, that can be arranged! Don't worry, I'll tell you if it's too much.

Personality: A short rundown of your character's personality. Don't stress too much over this section, there will be plenty of time to demonstrate your personality IC!

Biography: Here's where you're invited to get detailed if you'd like. Your character can be from anywhere in the world and have any background you want, so get creative! Travel, lodging and everything else will be provided and there will be accessibility and translation devices at the manor, so don't worry about expense or communication.

Other: Trivia, miscellany, and anything else you'd like to include goes here! I also recommend sticking your text colour code in here.

Of Blood and Magic

_{Interacting with: @Hero @Achronum}

Evening didn’t come without a fight. Just getting to sleep was challenging enough, Aaron not having realized just how much the small amount of light coming in from the hallway would bother him. He tossed and turned half the day, only finally passing out somewhere around 1pm. What little sleep he did get was marred with confusing nightmares, flashes of things that could have been memories or imagination, all tinted with anxiety and fear, and repeated sensations of a hard, icy hand around his throat. When 6pm finally rolled around, tired of trying and failing to sleep, he decided it was late enough at last to acceptably get out of bed.

A shower helped to clear his head and it seemed like the early rising was a blessing in disguise, giving him some time to shave. Aaron couldn't do it quickly like some men could; the only way he knew how to shave was with a straight razor, and rushing with one of those was a recipe for disaster (a lesson he’d learned well as a teenager). He didn't mind, though; the careful process was therapeutic, giving him a chance to turn off his mind and focus on the task at hand. He'd be the first to admit he was a perfectionist, and being able to concentrate on doing a thorough job did wonders to distract him from the images that had been plaguing his mind all day.

Shaving done and the rest of his hygiene routine out of the way, Aaron moved to the closet, flipping through the hangers on autopilot. He knew what he wanted to wear, he just needed to choose colours; fortunately, not a difficult feat when one's wardrobe consisted almost entirely of grey and black. Tonight he opted for a textured grey, pulling a pair of slacks and matching jacket from a hanger and grabbing a crisp white shirt and dark slate tie in the way out. After everything that happened the night before, Aaron was all too eager to button up well within his comfort zone again. But as he pulled on his shirt, he paused, remembering what the Count had said about feeding the night before. Not wanting to risk ruining more of his clothes, Aaron opted for a long-sleeved black crew neck instead; it wouldn’t get in the way of feeding from the neck the way a collared shirt would, and blood, should there be any, wouldn’t show up against the fabric. He’d change once feeding was done, of course. He’d look like a fool otherwise.

A glance at his phone told him it was 6:50, and he figured there was no point in waiting any longer to get the mail. In any case, it would give him a few minutes to sort through it, take care of his own if he got any and leave anything for Varis on his desk when he went in to do his lines. The slacks and crew neck combo was a little odd for going out in public, but he'd only be out for a second; he doubted anyone would be out and around at this hour anyway. Certainly no one important, seeing as the sun was still up.

He padded down the hall on the balls of his feet and went out the door as quietly as he could, not wanting to risk waking Varis, but moved more purposefully once outside, looking around at the subdivision as he strode down the walk. The sun was still up, of course, the light warm and golden as it prepared to set, but a dark mass of clouds loomed on the eastern horizon; Aaron recalled the weather widget on his phone predicting some rain, and it looked like it would probably arrive by nightfall. He didn't particularly mind, though he did absently wonder if the Arena would be safe from the rain as he opened the mailbox.

He pulled out a few things, shuffling quickly through three letters and finding they were all for Varis, but what caught his attention was the fourth: a thin black box with a note attached, addressed to him. He looked at it curiously as he lowered the mailbox indicator, turning it. Despite its size, it had some weight to it, and his name looked to be written in Princess Ryner’s handwriting.

Looking up at the sound of footsteps, Aaron was greeted with the entertaining, but wholly unexpected sight of a girl walking atop of the stone wall separating the Sinnenodel and Eve properties, looking very focused on her task. He immediately recognized her as Lilie (as if he’d forget) and he couldn’t help but smile as she walked over, a little prick of childlike joy infecting him as he watched her balancing act. And she was coming his way!

He followed her with his eyes as she jumped off the wall, reflexively reaching out to catch her when she stumbled, though she recovered just fine on her own. He couldn’t help but survey her clothes, just quick enough to be polite, though he had to admit it was difficult to tear his eyes away. She was wearing some kind of denim vest over a grey t-shirt, a pair of uncomfortably cute white thigh-highs peeking out from under a blue skirt. Apparently she was continuing the trend from the night before, but as different as it was to him, Aaron certainly wasn’t complaining.

“Good morning, neighbor!” She greeted him happily.

Aaron couldn’t help but chuckle at her odd greeting, though there was no malice in it. “Good evening!” he replied, mirroring her posture and grasping his mail behind his back. “You’re up early!”

Lilie laughed a little at herself, shaking her head. “Getting used the time change will be the first of many challenges here. I've actually been up since...I think two? I've never slept in so late, it was weird!”

She paused a second, hopping in place, before adding more sincerely, “Um, thank you for last night. I really needed that,”

“Oh, that’s right, this is pretty much all new to you isn’t it?” Aaron asked, admittedly fairly curious. He’d never met… well, he hadn’t met many people if he was being honest, but certainly no one outside of the noble circuit until coming to the Academy. The thought of someone who stayed up all day and slept during the night was just so odd, though he supposed he shouldn’t be so surprised. That was how mundane humans lived, after all, and many mages born outside a vampire’s service. Still, it seemed so… archaic, like living how humans did before the Treaty, though he couldn’t help but be intrigued. “I’m sure you’ll get used to it soon, I think you’ll find the nighttime plenty stimulating.”

At her next comment, though, he softened considerably, remembering how insecure she seemed about the whole situation. “Oh, that’s not necessary,” he waved off her thanks with a shrug and a smile. “We all do what we can, right? I’m happy to help.”

Lilie averted her gaze for a moment, her hand combing through her bangs. “If everyone is as nice as you are, then I won't have to be so nervous about all this,” she said before returning her eyes to his, giving him a somewhat bashful smile. “Still, don't sell yourself short. A little kindness goes a long way.”

Aaron glanced down, a bashful smile of his own creeping over his face as he tugged on his ear with his free hand. “Yeah, I suppose you’re right,” he admitted, glancing to his dorm and back. “But I mean it, I imagine this is all a lot to take in if you’re not used to it.” He gestured with his mail to the Eve dorm. “Especially serving nobles. I grew up around them, but I imagine some of the rules can be confusing. That’s not to say that you can’t handle it yourself, I mean…” he trailed off for a second, tugging ever more insistently on his ear. What was it about this girl that made him trip over himself? “I just mean I can probably help if you think you need it.”

“You grew up around nobles?” Lilie repeated, absentmindedly brushing a stray hair behind her ear and looking a little stunned. “That's...well, then you know way more than I do, I bet.” Shifting her weight from one foot to another, Lilie crossed her arms before hanging her head, letting out a defeated sounding sigh. “I'm going to need all the help I can get.”

Aaron smiled gently, taking some pity on the girl. “I’m sure you’ll do fine,” he reassured her. For some reason, he checked his phone, seeing that the time was 6:55. Damn, he had to get back in, he needed to do his lines soon. Groaning inwardly, he looked between his dorm and Lilie. “I’m sorry, I need to get back. I’ll see you in class though, right?”

Perking up, Lilie nodded as she hopped in place.  “Yes! And we'll get to learn real magic today, too!” She replied excitedly. “I told you, it's going to be a good day! So we just need to hang in there!”

“Yep!” Aaron nodded, happy to oblige Lilie’s enthusiasm, even if he wasn’t quite so sure. But she was right, it was best to stay optimistic. “See you later, then,” he added, offering a wave and turning back up the walk, a slight spring to his step that hadn’t been there before on the way back to his dorm.

The box he’d received in the mail had Aaron’s attention again when he got back inside, making a beeline back to his room to open it. He laid Varis’ letters aside for the time being, eyes glued to the note on the box.

When the snake grows too venomous, find him and ring twice to escape and thrice for help.

Aaron read it over a few times, flipping the note over to see if there was anything else, but that was all he was given. A cryptic message, excellent. And a foreboding one at that. As if he didn’t have enough to agonize over.

Shaking that little spike of sleep-deprived sarcasm from his mind, Aaron moved on to the box itself, carefully tucking the note into his pocket. His brow furrowed when he lifted the cover, examining the contents for a moment. Inside, held carefully in place by a black satin ribbon, was a silver object, made of thick metal with two long prongs on one end. A tuning fork, apparently middle C.

What?

Slowly sitting on the edge of his bed, Aaron kept his eyes glued to the fork, carefully untying the ribbon and holding it up. Heavy, probably steel… yeah, a tuning fork. Why would the Princess send him this? He was tempted to ring it, but the message in the note gave him pause; mundane an object as it seemed, one could never be too careful.

While he would have loved to sit and ponder over the thing for a while longer, a habitual glance at his phone told him it really was time to get to his lines. He tucked the box and tuning fork, along with the note, into his bag for the time being, snatching Varis’ letters and leaving his phone on his vanity before finally crossing the hall to the study. When he opened the door, though, he had to do a double-take; there, fast asleep in his desk chair with his laptop open, was Varis.

Aaron might have laughed had it not been so strangely shocking. There was Count Varis, intimidating presence that he was, clocked out at his desk like a child who stayed up too late. For a moment Aaron simply stood in the doorway, letters in hand, deliberating. He should wake him up, right? Surely he wouldn’t want to be left sleeping in his chair, especially if Aaron was going to be doing his lines in there. Figuring Varis might be embarrassed to have been found asleep at his desk, Aaron closed the door again and knocked a few times sharply, loud enough to hopefully wake the vampire up.

Varis startled at the sound, a fully prepared reprimand on the tip of his tongue in a matter of moments. The surrounds stopped him however. He blinked down at his computer screen and around at the room. The open event plan still blinked at him and Varis dutifully filled it out, finishing off the half of the notice before clicking it away. It took him another half a moment to realize someone must have knocked and a brief glance at the time made him realize the boy must be awake. He rolled his eyes. Falling asleep at his desk and then immediately dealing with the boy’s behavioural issues was not a pleasant way to wake.

“Come in boy.” Varis snapped and he opened up another email he’d apparently received during the day. “And you may as well get used to this. With the damnable extra chore of teaching imbeciles and still juggling both mine and my house’s responsibilities, I’ll likely sleep in this room more often than not.”

Aaron entered quickly, closing the door gently behind him and generally trying not to take up too much space as he crossed over to his desk. He held out the letters for Varis to take, offering a bow of the head.

“Mail this evening, Master,” he reported, noticing that there was a pad of paper waiting for him with his line written at the top. Interesting that Varis apparently didn’t think he’d have it memorized by now. “If you’d prefer, I can make sure to wake you so you don’t have to spend the day in a chair.”

“That will be fine.” Varis glanced at the letters and turned back to his laptop. “Who are those from?”

Aaron hadn’t looked at the letters any more closely than to see who they were for, so he quickly shuffled through them, looking at the return addresses on the backs. “...Count Illios Astorio, Countess Lavintra Eve, and…” he frowned at the last one, quickly turning it front and back. “The last is unmarked.”

“Destroy the Astorio, leave the Eve on my desk, and I’ll take the unmarked one.” Varis didn’t bother waiting for Aaron to obey, taking the one he wanted and ignoring the rest. He opened the letter and pulled out a heavy card covered in illuminated lettering. Varis rolled his eyes and dropped it on the desk as well.

“Now get to your lines.” Varis nodded at the boy’s desk, where the paper sat. “Once the hour is up, I’ll take them back and lock them away. A rushed punishment is a failed one.”

An odd request, but Aaron did as he was told, leaving the Eve letter on Varis’ desk and putting the Astorio one aside to be burned. At Varis’ command, he simply nodded, replied with “Yes, Master,” and set to his task.

Obscene's Scratchpad

Title Colour Code: a2798f title font fontmeme cursive "precious" size 65, subheader size 40

Colour Code: ADDBD8 -- Isaac
Colour Code: DBADB0 -- Raphael

The Twins

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Attributes:

• Both are 6'5
• Slender, lithe builds
• Fair skin, blue-grey eyes
• Identical aside from Isaac's white hair
• Dress kinda like Alphinaud from FFXIV

TESTTEST
TESTTEST
TESTTEST

T H E . I S L A N D ⟶ [ murder mystery | psychological thriller ] Looking for 1-2 people to jump in!

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Of Blood and Magic

_{Interacting with: @Trainerblue192 @Hero}

Aaron let out a breath he hadn’t known he’d been holding as soon as he slid the door shut behind him, only realizing how tense he’d been when his muscles started to relax, shoulders complaining painfully as he stretched out his neck. He paused only to make sure all the curtains were securely drawn before making a beeline to his room, moving to shut his door behind him. But when he reached for it, his hand found only air.

Right. Hopefully he’d have the chance to ask about that tomorrow.

He put his shoe shining kit away and began his morning routine on autopilot, avoiding the line of sight to the living room as he changed even though he knew the Count was still outside. Briefly he examined his pants, the knees of which were hopelessly tattered and bloody from the glass. He frowned at them. Normally he would have fixed them, but they were too torn up in too small a space to repair without butchering them further. A shame.

Varis’ words echoed on loop through Aaron’s head as he showered for the third time that night, eager to wash away the blood on his legs and the product in his hair and the feeling of the Count’s hand around his throat. Although, all things considered, Aaron thought he’d gotten off pretty easy. His punishment, humiliating as he was sure it would be, was nothing compared to the horror stories he’d been imagining as he waited. Varis wasn’t going to put his eyes out, he wasn’t getting caned, or otherwise mutilated, and despite his earlier comment, it looked like Varis was keeping him around. He counted himself lucky. He wasn’t looking forward to his punishment by any metric, but considering he had been directly disobedient, he supposed he should be grateful that the Count had been so merciful.

Still, he couldn’t quite shake the things that Varis had said about their Lady - ugh, he was never going to get used to that - from his mind. Would she really take an interest in the people in his memories? He couldn’t imagine why any of them would be worth her notice, or at least her efforts, and he hoped he wouldn’t have to find out. Was there even anything he could do at this point to protect them, or had the damage been done?

It was only after several minutes of scrubbing at his eyes to get the last of that pencil off that Aaron finally made himself get out, going through the rest of his routine on autopilot as he fell deeper and deeper into thought. He was about to get into bed, in pajama pants and shirtless as always, when another wary look at the empty door frame and the house beyond made him throw on a t-shirt as well. He was deliberating filling out his journals when a ding from his phone caught his attention, a notification from an unknown number popping up on screen.

> Hey, You still up?

Oh, that must have been Salem. Aaron read the message a few times, turning the lights off and climbing into bed before replying. He cast a weary look at the door, and the light coming in from the rest of the house. That was going to be annoying, he could already tell. He rolled away from it, focusing on his phone.

Texting Salem

> Yeah, why?
> No reason I guess
> Say, um. I can't seem to sleep, dorms a bit eerie when you're by yourself.

He was still by himself? Aaron would have thought that with the business at the Marivaldi dorm concluded, he would have returned by now.

> Oh, is Lucan still not back?
> Haven't seen him since his match. Hope he's ok.

Aaron’s thumbs hovered over the keyboard, wondering if he should tell Salem what he figured Lucan was doing. Luckily, another text came in before he had the chance, a welcome change of subject.

> Speaking of the match, have you seen Lilie?
> I was talking to her, but I haven't seen anyone. Came straight back.
> Oh so she's up to?
> Well, mind adding her to a group chat or something? I was hoping to ask you two something
> ...if that's ok that is…

Aaron frowned at the messages. Salem was sounding a lot more like he had at orientation now, the indignance from dinner long gone. Maybe the night’s events had chastened that rebellious streak he apparently had in him.

> Oh, I mean I can, but I think she might be sleeping.
> I can give you her number at least, though.
> What did you want to ask?
> Well I figured maybe
> If you guys wanted
> We could…
> Hang out?
> What, tomorrow? I think she wanted to find you anyway, I think she wants to apologize for leaving you.
> Apparently her night was pretty eventful too, heh.
> Well, I was hoping for tonight?
> Figured you could come down to my dorm since I've got all this free space.
> Oh

Aaron’s brow furrowed, sympathy for Salem suddenly gripping him. The poor man was in a new place, couldn’t contact his family, and on top of it all, Lucan was apparently nowhere to be found. Of course he was lonely. Who could blame him? Unfortunately, given his predicament, there was nothing Aaron could do to help.

> That’s nice of you to invite me, but I'm afraid I can't.
> Count Varis

He stared at the blinking cursor for a second, remembering what Count Varis had told him. Even in his messages. Aaron sighed, deleting the name.

> Master is
> Well
> He’s not very happy with me, heh.
> Oh. That's ok then...Maybe Lilie still can?

Thank goodness, a way out of that depressing line of inquiry.

> Maybe!
> Here, why don't you ask her?

He pulled up Lilie’s contact in his phone, sending it to Salem.

> Sure, thanks! 💚

That conversation was over, and Aaron took a moment to enter Salem’s number into his contacts. Spellman was his last name, right? He also made a contact for Varis’ number, entering it simply as “Master.” He wasn’t a huge fan, but it was best to play it safe in case the vampire looked through his phone again. Whatever, he’d get used to it. Realistically, he chided himself, it wasn’t as big a deal as he was making it.

While he was taking care of things, Aaron opened up his alarms, doing some quick math in his head. Breakfast would be delivered at eight, and he was meant to write lines for an hour before that; but he couldn’t just roll out of bed and start writing, so he needed an alarm for… he’d say 6:30, just to be safe. Maybe he’d get the mail before writing his lines, and catch a bit of the evening sun. Good thing he was going to bed so early; he realized only then how the night’s events had exhausted him, and it looked like he’d be having an early evening tomorrow. Hell, with 1,000 lines to get through, he’d probably be having quite a series of early evenings. He nearly groaned at the thought.

His messenger app told him he still had one unread message, from Lilie. When he opened their conversation, he was surprised to see not just one, but three messages he hadn’t read. Upon closer inspection, it looked like the first two had come in while Varis still had his phone.

> sounds complicated
> but the good part is that its over! And then tomorrow is going to be a good day!

> If you ever wanna talk or anything just let me know, okay? I have to keep my first friend close! :D

Despite the somber conversation with Salem and the night’s events still weighing heavily on him, not to mention the thought that Varis had seen every message between them except the last one, Aaron couldn’t help but smile. He wasn’t sure if he’d take advantage of her offer - he had never been much for that sort of thing - but it was just so kind, he had to accept. Not to mention the thought that she already considered him a friend lifted his spirits immensely. She was his first friend too, he supposed, though he was pretty sure she didn’t mean it the same way he did. He thought on his response for probably longer than he should have, a million different options circling his mind until he settled on a simple one.

> I will! See you tomorrow :)