Perhaps unsurprisingly for someone who had said they needed to focus, Captain Goodhope pretty much ignored Olivia’s continued ramblings. Incidentally, the maritime maiden wasn’t the only Magical Girl to respond to Olivia’s greeting, as Lumiere also addressed the azure-clad beauty. However, in a somewhat ironic twist, Olivia herself was unable to hear the angelic girl’s words, as they were drowned out by the clamorous cacophony of the surrounding battle. A battle that now seemed to have reached a pivotal stage.
Olivia gave voice to a sharp gasp as a truly enormous Pageless made its appearance, but contrary to what one might think, it was not a gasp of fear, but delight. Indeed, while the other Pageless had been cute, this new arrival was positively adorable! Olivia simply loved its spiked wheel, the crossbow-cannon-thing at the end of its arm, and the aesthetically pleasing asymmetry of its three spindly legs. Then there was the way its black orb of a head, with its glowing, almost sad eyes, fit so snugly into the dramatically upturned “collar” of its “neck”. And let’s not even get started on its menacing, spiked crown-thing… In fact, the elegant maiden was so enthralled by the sight of the twisted construct that she almost didn’t hear Lumiere’s urgent call to destroy it. Indeed, the angelic maiden’s hastily conjured barrier was even now being chipped away at by the monstrosity’s powerful blows, while the the other Magical Girls raced to her aid.
“Very well…” Olivia sighed, her lovely visage momentarily marred by a despondent frown as she watched her fellow Magical Girls assault the towering creature. One managed to slice off a leg, while Captain Goodhope herself conjured even more of her ghostly crew, their spectral muskets peppering the monstrosity with enchanted gunshot. “Xolys, darling,” Olivia called to her consort. “Would you please be so kind as to assist them?”
Of course, dearest, the eldritch horror replied, giving a rough approximation of a respectful nod.
However, before the Master of Xhar’doth could take even a single action, the construction site was rent by a massive expulsion of mystic power. Even a relative novice like Olivia knew there could only be one explanation for such an occurrence: the Grimoire had been found, and a new Magical Girl had been born.
“Oh wow…” Olivia marveled aloud as the dust cleared, and she was able to catch her first glimpse of the latest addition to their ranks. “She looks like a witch! I wonder what her powers are like?” she wondered, her features taking on a thoughtful, yet still excited expression. “Maybe hexes? Or perhaps potion brewing?” Whatever they were, the new girl would need to employ all of them if she hoped to survive the massive Pageless looming over her, poised to strike. Unless, of course, she received a little help…
As it transpired, that help would come not from the dark and imposing form of Thyerg’Xolys, but rather a blindingly bright missile, one whose glorious radiance made the sun itself seem to pale in comparison. Like a blazing comet, it shot down from the heavens to strike the gargantuan Pageless’s raised appendage. Once again, there was a massive burst of power, and in its wake, the source of the radiant attack was revealed to be… A sword?
Someone had thrown a sword? Olivia’s mind raced with questions. Where had the still-glowing blade come from? Who had thrown it? Were they now without a weapon of their own, and thus utterly defenseless against any other Pageless that might still remain? Would they be her friend? And what horrendous damage had their weapon’s cataclysmic arrival inflicted upon the massive Pageless? Unfortunately, the answer to this last, and most pressing question soon turned out to be “not nearly as much as she had initially imagined”. Yes, one prong (claw?) of the crossbow-thing (or was it perhaps a pile driver-thing?) at the end of the Pageless’s appendage had been sliced off, but, although a little battered, the rest of the weapon was still very much intact and ready to be employed against the newborn Magical Girl.
And that’s where Xolys stepped in.
Having finally gotten close enough to the colossal Pageless, the eldritch horror opened his tentacled, lamprey-like maw and unleashed a blast of otherworldly power. It was a rare occurrence for the Master of Xhar’doth to face a foe that rivaled himself in size. Normally, he could destroy any opponent in just a single shot, but in this case, he would have to limit himself to one aspect of the gargantuan gestalt. Naturally, he chose what remained of the crossbow-pile-driver-thing. The space between the two imposing monstrosities seemed to twist and warp as a whirlwind of deep blue, ethereal lightning and flame spewed forth. Crashing against the beweaponed appendage with all the force of a pressure hose, the mind-numbing torrent of unreality swiftly began transmuting and reassembling it in a mad, kaleidoscopic frenzy. Flowers of luminous crystal seemed to blossom, before shifting into masses of writhing, slime-covered tentacles, followed by clusters of bulbous, pulsating boils and excessively veined, unblinking eyes, from which poured streams of prismatic, alien blood. After what seemed like an eternity to those who had the misfortune of watching, but was actually only a few seconds, the entire, rapidly shifting mass exploded in a sickly, wet, and crunchy sounding detonation, leaving only a handful of writhing, worm-like tendrils to fall to the ground before swiftly dissolving into viscous, black smoke.
“Ooohh~! So pretty~!” Olivia cooed, her eyes taking on a very dreamy look as she clasped her hands over her chest. “Isn’t he just the greatest~?!” she inquired of Goodhope, blissfully oblivious to the fact that the maritime maiden was concentrating so intensely that her eyes were squeezed shut and her tightly clasped, trembling hands had begun to take on a rather concerning pallor. “Oh, but don’t worry!” the azure beauty hastened to add. “I think all your ghost sailors are pretty amazing, too! Oh, goodness!” she gasped as she finally turned her focus towards something other than Xolys. “There are so many of them now! They’re like a little army!” she added with a giggle, which abruptly stopped as a thought occurred to her. “So, um, if you’re a captain, does that mean you have a ship, too? Does it fly?! It probably doesn’t, because if it did, you could have it show up now and blast that impressively-sized Pageless with its cannons! I imagine that would be quite the sight to see! Oh, but maybe it can fly, but it just requires too much mana? You know, you look a little unwell,” the babbling beauty observed with a slight frown. “Are you feeling all right?”
As you can see, Connie has an average body for someone her age, and as the Empress of Nightmares wears a flowing robe in the style of a kimono.
Specialization: Oddball (Nightmares)-
Has the power to give people nightmares, as well as increase said nightmares' strength and realism. In a way, she can conjure up illusions and hallucinations for people in the waking world, but they are (normally) nowhere near as strong as those created by someone with the Illusion power set. They essentially tap into the fears and phobias already present in the individual and make them real. Connie has very little (if any) control over what form they take or what they do after being created, which can sometimes be a problem, since if they are tied to/powered by strong enough fears, the illusions can have a tangible effect on the physical world (in this way, they act rather like spirits as described by the Spirit specialization). Finally, in times of danger, Connie can surround herself with something resembling a pocket dimension, somewhat akin to a witch's barrier from Madoka, albeit nowhere near as powerful. It simply amplifies her nightmare aura and the strength of her illusions in its small area of effect.
Weapon: The Mask of the Endless Nightmare (Mystic)-
This is the terrifying artifact through which Connie was imbued with her dark powers, and which now amplifies these already considerable mystical abilities.
Power: Tendrils of Eternal Darkness (Tentacles)-
They manifest as inky black tendrils that can appear from any nearby surface, including Connie's outfit, and even small portals in the fabric of reality itself.
Perks:
Enhanced Weapon- The Mask of the Endless Nightmare is imbued with all the reality shattering power of The Lord of Nightmares. As such, it provides a greatly amplified level of power to its chosen wearer.
Power Artifact- The Diadem of Eternal Horror is an amethyst gemstone set upon the forehead of the Mask of the Endless Nightmare. If a strong enough fear is detected, it empowers Connie's illusions enough to solidify them into tangible entities.
Mystic Artifact- The Eye of Fear is a small pendant that Connie keeps hidden in the voluminous folds of her robe. Resembling a creepy crystalline eye glowing with sickly energies, it permits the user to peer into the psyches of nearby targets, allowing her to view traumatic events in their pasts, their presents, and even events they fear may come to pass in their futures, so as to better mold suitable nightmares for them.
Ally- Mia Cooper (Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth) See attached character sheet.
Interdimensional Home- Ostensibly a small place where Connie can relax and recuperate, unbothered by the usual unpleasantness of her unusually unpleasant life, in actuality, since this space was created by the powers of the Lord of Nightmares, it is far too terrifying for someone like Connie. Thus, it is seldom visited. Or, at least, it was, before it got upgraded during a Christmas Party gift exchange. Now it has expanded into a full-sized house, which appears however Connie wishes it to (usually something excessively cute and cozy).
Patron: The Lord of Nightmares (Lesser Force)
Patron Benefits:
Focused- The Lord of Nightmares is the embodiment of Connie’s specialization and is only too willing to aid her in getting the most out of it. Her magic flows easily, and, with her patron’s guidance, she has the potential to wield her element with great efficiency. Spells cost her less mana.
Mental Link- Some Lesser Forces know spells or have abilities to communicate in subtle ways. The Lord of Nightmares is one of them. It can always communicate with Connie, at any time. This may not always constitute a benefit (Connie certainly hates it…), but means that she won’t be caught off guard if it discovers new information, and it is able to notify her if it requires her assistance immediately.
Hidden Death- As it is linked to a universal constant, if the Lord of Nightmares is somehow killed, it will come back in time. Connie won’t be called on to fight in heavy combat to defend it, instead her task will be to ensure it will return.
Mana Font- The Lord of Nightmares is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to its chosen champion. As such, Connie has more mana than normal.
Mystic Might- The Lord of Nightmares has drastically improved Connie’s mystic abilities.
Patron Drawbacks:
Alien Mind- The Lord of Nightmares does not think in ways that make sense to a human mind. It has little to no understanding of the human experience. While it desires Connie’s well being it does not understand why she find its requests objectionable, and will not always know how to help her.
Formless- Since its essence is contained within the Mask of the Endless Nightmare, the Lord of Nightmares has no physical body. It cannot speak to Connie without employing its Mental Link with her, indicate things via pointing, or affect things directly without her aid.
Rival Force- Sweet Dreams are the antithesis of the Lord of Nightmares. Thus, it holds great animosity towards any beings who promote/are empowered by them. For her part, Connie will have to defend her patron often, and will likely be called on to make attacks on the agents of this rival.
Clueless- The Lord of Nightmares doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. It can’t offer Connie any meaningful advice on these topics.
Fighting Style:
Due to her timid and gentle nature, Connie tried to avoid combat, if at all possible. However, if her friends or innocents are in danger, she won’t hesitate to defend them. This mainly involves using her “Nightmare Barrier” to amplify the fear hallucinations produced by her opponents into tangible threats for them to face, allowing the conjured horrors to overwhelm her foes with sheer weight of numbers. Her tentacles can also assist in this regard, as well as helping to pull others to safety.
A gentle, kindhearted, and incredibly shy girl, Connie has always been easily frightened and embarrassed. Indeed, a list of her various phobias could easily stretch for half a mile. Having long been the victim of frequent bullying, she hates violence and wishes people would just get along. Even when she has to employ somewhat violent methods herself, she always feels bad about it and frequently apologizes to those she attacks or gives nightmares to.
Being more than a little naive, Connie is a big believer in the idea that the power of friendship can conquer anything. Thus, she deeply cherishes every one of her friends, although she holds a particularly special fondness for her best friend, and unofficial big sister, Mia. In contrast to Mia’s pragmatism, and in spite of her own fears and insecurities, Connie will always rush to help a friend in need, no matter the danger, a trait that Mia finds both admirable and more than a little concerning…
Despite appearances, Connie’s personality stays exactly the same in her magical girl form, something those who've encountered her often find quite incongruous.
History:
Connie never knew her parents. For as long as she can remember, she has lived in the Penrose Orphanage, bereft (with one notable exception) of family or friends. Often teased mercilessly by the other children because of her fragile and easily frightened nature, "Cowardly Connie the Crybaby" had only one small respite from this torment in the form of her best friend, and fellow orphan, Mia Cooper. Mia was always swift to jump to her defense, and provided poor Connie a much-needed source of care and encouragement in her otherwise bleak and miserable life. But Mia wasn't always around, and it was on one of these occasions that a group of Connie's most vicious tormentors decided to play their cruelest trick yet.
Dragging her to the orphanage's cellar, they shoved her inside and locked the door. Connie was completely terrified, but despite her sobs and desperate pleas, the door remained firmly secured against her escape. Beginning to hyperventilate, she franticly began searching for some other way out of the nightmare she found herself in. It was then that she saw it, an eerie glow emanating from the farthest depths of the cellar's suffocating confines. Hesitantly approaching it, she soon discovered that its source was an old mask. Being particularly terrified of them, she gave a shriek and fell over backwards, but before she could attempt to crawl away, a deep and sinister voice sounded within her mind. It announced itself as the Lord of Nightmares, and since she had discovered the mask within which its essence resided, she would be its new champion. Connie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She tried to protest, but before she could get out more than a feeble whimper, the mask launched itself at her face, and upon clamping tight upon it, flooded the pitiful girl with unimaginable quantities of dark power. Mere moments later, the horrifying transformation was complete. The shrinking violet Connie was no more, in her place stood the imposing Empress of Nightmares.
Connie's tormentors were in the midst of laughing at their pathetic victim's plight, when the Empress appeared before them. Not uttering a word, she spread her arms wide and unleashed a torrent of horrors dredged up from the darkest recesses of their minds. Once they had all been reduced to quivering cationic wrecks the Empress departed. While it seemed as if a wicked tyrant had been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world, nothing could have been further from the case. Even as the Empress of Nightmares, Connie was still the same timid girl she had always been. Utterly horrified by what had happened to her (and by what she had inadvertently done to the bullies), she went to the one place she felt safe- the room she shared with Mia. The room was empty, so she waited. When her roommate returned, she was initially taken aback by what her friend had become, but after quelling her shock, she gently helped Connie to get her bearings. It didn’t hurt that Mia herself was also secretly a magical girl and had been one for several years, a fact she now revealed to Connie. After telling her friend all she knew about life as a magical girl, and helping her change back to normal, Mia worked with Connie to develop a plan for navigating this new phase of her life.
In the relatively short time since she became a magical girl, Connie’s life has drastically changed. Rather ironically, these changes have been almost entirely for the better. She has made several new friends, gained increased confidence and control over her powers, and has even, along with Mia, been adopted by a veteran magical girl/woman and given a home of her very own. Of course, that’s not to say there haven’t been any problems, but Connie has been doing her very best to overcome each adversity, and become stronger as a result. For far too long now, she’s seen herself as little more than a burden to those she cares about, and so she has firmly dedicated herself to conquering her fears and further improving her control over her magical abilities. In this way, she hopes to become someone her friends can rely on, someone who can help to make her small corner of the world a better place.
We’ll see how it goes…
Incantation:
From the pitch black obsidian depths of your feverish and tormented minds I come! Phobias and lamentations are my gifts to all! Let your hands claw at your eyes and your wails deafen the multitudes! Tremble O World, for the Empress of Nightmares is upon you!
Note- This is said in a deep, imperious voice, with notably sensual undertones, as though she is clearly reveling in the power coursing through her. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, this incantation is spoken completely unwillingly on Connie’s part. She can’t help herself. She simply HAS to say it at the culmination of every transformation, whether she wants to or not, and she REALLY doesn’t want to. It creeps her the hell out.
Additional Info:
Connie is an aspiring artist who likes to paint pictures of cute and happy things, although her powers tended make these paintings turn out somewhat creepier than she intended, much to her disappointment. Thankfully, and to Connie’s immense joy, with her increased level of control, this is no longer the case. She also likes cute stuffed animals and frequently cuddles with her small collection when she's feeling particularly depressed/frightened (which was sadly quite often, but now happens significantly less).
As one might suspect, Connie absolutely HATES being the Empress of Nightmares. Even when transformed, she prefers to go by her real name. Of particular note, she is extremely terrified of masks, and since she wears a mask in her magical girl form, one of the weaknesses she’s trying (and failing) to overcome is being confronted with her own reflection (the first time she saw herself as the Empress, she nearly gave herself a heart attack).
Magical Coins:
Rave Event: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Kobold Removal: 2 Silver
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
Gave nightmares to several low-level monsters/minions during said event: 2 Bronze
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Wendigo Battle Event: 1 Gold
Gave nightmares to several wendigos during said event: 1 Silver
Battle of Bolorton Event: 1 Gold
Rescued civilians during said event: 2 Silver, 1 Bronze
Stopped magical vandal: 3 Bronze
Into the North Hunt: 1 Grief Seed (given to Kayli for study and safe keeping)
Helped drive off/gave nightmares to Dark Magical Girl during said hunt: 1 Silver 5 Bronze
Killed/gave nightmares to Mint Coin Broker during said hunt: 1 Gold
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 17, 1 Gold to increase MAG to 18, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 22
Tyrannical and demanding, the Lord of Nightmares is single-minded in its pursuit of eternally increasing the quantity and strength of intelligent beings’ nightmares. In this way, it is less of a thinking being and more of an elemental force.
History:
Not much is known about the Lord of Nightmares. It reveals its history to no one, not even its chosen champion, although, admittedly, Connie has never dared to ask it.
Resources:
Although staggeringly powerful in its focused area, the Lord of Nightmares’ resources are virtually non-existent. Despite what one would think regarding such a being, the Lord of Nightmares has no army of monsters or web of agents (other than Connie), and has very little presence in, or effect on, the world outside the realm of nightmares. On the other hand, since every creature has dreams, and thus nightmares as well, this has the potential to be a very mighty realm indeed.
Goals:
Give crippling nightmares to multiple (over twenty, at once) mundanes: Low?
Give crippling nightmares to a magical/dark magical/monster girl: Medium?
Give crippling nightmares to multiple magical/dark magical/monster girls: High?
Additional Info:
Bonded to the Mask of the Endless Nightmare, the Lord of Nightmares manifests itself to Connie as an inky black wraith-like being. Its form is amorphous and constantly shifting, but sometimes, on particularly unpleasant (and thankfully quite rare) occasions, Connie has seen what appears to be a face emerge from the darkness. What that visage depicts only Connie knows, but since it takes several hours of Gaia’s comfort to even begin to calm her, it’s probably best if we don’t find out.
Name: Mia Cooper (Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth)
Age (Magical Girl): 15
Age (Before Magical Girl): 14
Gender: Female
Gender (Before Magical Girl): Female
Appearance:
Mia has an average body type for her age, and as Gaia, wears an extremely skimpy outfit, usually consisting of little more than a skimpy bikini made of leaves and vines. On certain occasions, she might also wear a verdant flowing silky robe, but it is so thin, and it clings to her body to such a degree, that it still leaves very little to the imagination.
Specialization: Wood
Weapon: Nature’s Blossom (Mystic/Ranged)-
This is a green staff wrapped in leafy vines and small flowers. The leaves grow larger the closer they are to the top of the staff. It is here that a large multicolored flower blooms. Nature’s Blossom not only aids in focusing Gaia’s mystical power, but also serves as a ranged weapon, capable of shooting emerald beams of potent magical energy.
Power: Nature’s Fury (Barrage)-
Gaia can put out a staggering volume of offensive magical power. This mostly takes the form of swirling whirlwinds and surging torrents of vines, branches, and tendril-like beams of pure life energy. She can even cause roots and vines to shoot up from underneath her foes as well, assailing them from all angles.
Perks:
Dual Weapon- As noted above, Nature’s Blossom is a Mystic Weapon whose power is so great, that its normally weak magical beam is amplified into something far more impressive.
Enhanced Weapon- Nature’s Blossom is an extraordinarily powerful nexus of natural life energies. It is Mother Earth’s generous gift to her daughter, and it is Gaia’s great honor to wield it.
Purification Artifact- The Orb of Spring is a verdant, flower covered sphere that greatly amplifies Gaia’s already prodigious ability to purify an area of both pollution and unnatural entities. While it can keep an area clear of monsters, Gaia still needs to charge it and it only works in a fixed radius around the Orb itself. It also doesn't force monsters to leave an area they are already in, but it will make them uncomfortable and they’ll likely want to leave.
Big Red Button- Received during the Christmas Party gift exchange, pushing this button allows Gaia to teleport far outside the area of any danger, much like the Retrieval patron benefit. While it prevents her from being easily followed, it also prevents her from easily returning, and so must be used with care. It is not currently known if others in physical contact can be transported as well.
Patron: Mother Earth (Deity)
Patron Benefits:
Blessing- Gaia is capable of bestowing Mother Earth’s blessing on a person or place. This requires a special rite, but will have subtle but real effects, like purifying air and water, as well as promoting thriving and abundant plant life. In particular, this blessing is capable of Cleansing a person or place of unnatural energies, as described in the MG Rulings DOC, as well as Purifying an area of unnatural energies, in much the same way as a Purification Artifact. The effects of this second ability become even more pronounced when channeled through Gaia's own Purification Artifact, The Orb of Spring.
Divine Competence- Gaia is competent in several areas of skill and study associated with the natural world, especially plant life. This is no substitute for proper training and experience, but even in her untransformed state, she can be expected to manage without complete failure.
Mana Font- Mother Earth is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to her chosen champion. As such, Gaia has more mana than normal.
Mystic Might- Mother Earth has drastically improved Gaia’s mystic abilities. She is truly a force of nature.
Gifted Item- Mother Earth has gifted her daughter with The Orb of Spring, a powerful Purification Artifact, described above.
Patron Drawbacks:
Rites- Gaia is the daughter of Mother Earth, thus there are rituals that she is expected to observe. Some are relatively easy, like tending a garden. Others require her to do things rather bizarre for modern society, like performing somewhat suggestive fertility dances.
Arrogance- While Gaia is undeniably precious to her, Mother Earth does regrettably tend towards arrogance. She frequently overestimates what her daughter is capable of and dismisses what her enemies are capable of. The demands she makes of her daughter may not actually be achievable for Gaia on her own, or even with help.
Big Brother (Overbearing Mother)- Mother Earth will often poke her nose into her daughter’s personal life, and be constantly checking up on her and observing.
Clueless- Mother Earth doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. She can’t offer Gaia any meaningful advice on these topics.
Fighting Style:
When Gaia needs to engage in combat, she employs every aspect of the natural world around her. From the tiniest blade of grass to the mightiest tree, all come to her aid in battle. Using her considerable command over plant life, Gaia can mold these allies into fearsome monstrosities. Coupled with magical blasts from Nature’s Blossom and barrages of branches, roots, and vines, the Daughter of Mother Earth can easily make short work of her would-be opponents.
A brash, short-tempered tomboy, who always seems to be getting into trouble. Tough, abrasive, and holding a low opinion of pretty much everyone (and authority figures in particular), Mia usually isn’t a very pleasant person to be around. Her one soft spot is for her best friend, and fellow orphan, Connie Williams. She cares for her deeply, always offering talk with her about any and all of her myriad problems, and fully prepared to help her in any way she can.
When she becomes Gaia, her personality drastically changes. Gone is the flippant, tough talking tomboy, replaced by a serene, refined, elegant and unfailingly polite nymph-like demigoddess. She speaks calmly in this form, her voice sounding like a blissful sigh. As Gaia, it takes a lot to truly anger her, but if this is accomplished, her roars of displeasure have been known to take on the tone of a raging hurricane. Also, her affection for Connie is massively increased in this form, and she often cuddles with her friend, caressing her, giving her frequent hugs, gently stroking her hair, and even providing full body massages to help her relax.
Note that this affection is purely platonic. She thinks of Connie as a little sister, not as a romantic interest.
Since Connie’s induction into the magical world, Mia has mellowed considerably, with her mundane and magical selves increasingly blending into one another. Where once they might have seemed like two different people, now they are more like different facets of the same individual.
History:
An orphan, like Connie, Mia has known the former ever since they were little kids. Seeing how frequently bullied her friend was, Mia was always quick to leap to Connie’s defense, serving as her protector and the orphanage’s most feared bully hunter. Several years ago, while in the midst of a particularly vivid dream, she was visited by a being claiming herself to be Mother Earth. This being warmly informed Mia that she was the chosen recipient of her power, and that she would not only become her champion, but her daughter as well. Now, one might think an orphan would leap at the opportunity to have a kind and loving mother, but not Mia. She basically told the absurdly powerful goddess to go screw herself. Mother Earth, however, would not take “no” for an answer. Heedless of Mia’s increasingly stronger worded protests, the goddess flooded the unwilling girl with every ounce of her staggering power. When she had finished, Mia had been utterly transformed into the embodiment of nature’s power and beauty. The mouthy tomboy was no more. In her place was an otherworldly beautiful demigoddess, Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth.
Although Mia hated being Gaia, she didn’t really have much choice in the matter and so grudgingly resigned herself to her fate, performing her missions for Mother Earth, while still trying to maintain some semblance of her former life. This continued for several years, until one fateful day, when she discovered that her best friend had also found herself in a similar predicament. Now, Mia helps Connie to acclimate to life as a magical girl as best she can. It has certainly been a bumpy ride so far, but not one bereft of benefits. Thanks to Connie’s desire to make new friends, Mia has found herself with a few of her own (including a boyfriend!), as well as a new home and family.
Perhaps becoming a magical girl wasn’t so bad, after all…
Incantation:
Nature’s beauty! Nature’s grace! Nature’s power! Behold! I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth!
Additional Info:
Initially, Mia hated everything about being a magical girl and was greatly embarrassed by her magical girl persona (especially the outfit, or lack thereof). Nowadays, she is increasingly thankful she ended up becoming Gaia, as it allows her to keep watch over Connie and make some new friends in the process. She still gets a little embarrassed when she turns into Gaia, though. Mia also has a somewhat resentful relationship with Mother Earth, seeing her as highly annoying and controlling.
As Gaia, however, Mia absolutely loves Mother Earth, carrying out her wishes without question and eagerly striving to be the best daughter she can be. In this form she is not at all embarrassed by her skimpy outfit, viewing it as an opportunity to show the beauty of Mother Earth to all who gaze upon her. Also, as Gaia, Mia never goes by her civilian name, for various reasons. Even if the individual addressing her knows her civilian identity, she insists that they refer to her as Gaia, or sometimes even “Lady” Gaia. The only exception to this is (unsurprisingly) Connie, who she allows to call her Mia for old times sake (and because she often simply forgets Mia’s magical girl name in the first place).
Magical Coins:
Rave Event: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Bonus Coins for Completed Patron Goals during said event: 6 Silver
Fairy Diplomatic Visit: 2 Silver
River Cleanup: 2 Silver
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Wendigo Battle Event: 1 Gold
Killed several wendigos during said event: 1 Silver
Flower Retrieval: 3 Bronze
Battle of Bolorton Event: 1 Gold
Helped defeat OZ unit during said event: 2 Silver
Killed/destroyed multiple tanks/squads of card soldiers during said event: 2 Bronze
Into the North Hunt: 1 Grief Seed (given to Kayli for study and safe keeping)
Defeated Dark Magical Girl during said hunt: 2 Silver
Helped drive off Dark Magical Girl during said hunt: 5 Bronze
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 17, 1 Gold to increase MAG to 18, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 22
Kind, loving, warm and generous, but in an overbearing, smothering, highly controlling way. Mother knows what’s best and others will simply have to endure it, whether they like it or not.
History:
Apparently the sentient consciousness of Earth itself, she is the personification and protector of the natural world. Due to reasons too complex to note here, she is unable to exercise the totality of her vast power herself, but must instead imbue a chosen young woman with her massive mystical might. This “Daughter of Mother Earth” then acts as her agent, carrying out her bidding in the world.
Goals:
Cleanse/Preserve the natural world from mundane pollution: Low?
Cleanse/Preserve the natural world from magical pollution/corruption: Medium?
Mother Earth’s resources are as vast as the Earth itself. All of nature is hers to rule and command, and this authority now extends to Gaia as well. Of course, with pollution, deforestation, and various other environmental ills at an all time high, Mother Earth’s powers are not nearly as strong as they once were. Nevertheless, they are still not to be taken lightly.
Additional Info:
Mother Earth is quite pleased that her daughter has decided to take her friend Connie under her branches, so to speak. She is a goddess who seeks to nurture growth, after all, and what better growth to nurture than the potential of a dear friend?
Hmmm... This situation with the Mint is quite the perplexing conundrum. How to proceed?
Wowie Zowie~! Like, Oh Em Gee~! Magical Dream Princess is, like, sooo super duper cute~! (giggle!)
Specialization: Oddball (Sweet Dreams)
Has the power to give people sweet dreams, as well as increase said dreams' strength and realism in order to inspire/comfort the dreamer and help them overcome nightmares. In a way, she can conjure up illusions and hallucinations for people in the waking world, but they are (normally) nowhere near as strong as those created by someone with the Illusion power set. They essentially tap into the hopes and, well, dreams already present in the individual and make them real. Violet has very little (if any) control over what form they take or what they do after being created, which can sometimes be a problem, since if they are tied to/powered by strong enough hopes, the illusions can have a tangible effect on the physical world, although, bering fueled by positive emotions, the effects are never all that bad (in this way, they act rather like spirits as described by the Spirit specialization). Finally, in times of danger, Violet can surround herself with something resembling a pocket dimension, somewhat akin to a witch's barrier from Madoka (a "Dream Barrier", if you will), albeit nowhere near as powerful. It simply amplifies her Sweet Dream aura and the strength of her illusions in its small area of effect.
Weapon: The Wand of Sweetest Dreams (Mystic/Ranged)
This incredibly cute and sparkly wand greatly amplifies Violet's already impressive mystical abilities. It can also fire powerful blasts of raw dream energy over a not inconsiderable distance.
Power: Deluge of Cuteness (Barrage)
In times of great danger, Violet can go all-out with her dream magic, expelling it in a mighty barrage of swirling, sparkling energy and a dizzying array of cute and whimsical objects and creatures. It is quite overwhelming, but Violet is left nearly exhausted afterwards. Or, as she likes to say "Magical Dream Princess needs a nappy wappy time..."
Perks:
Wealth and Resources- As heiress to a multi-billion dollar megacorporation, Violet has no lack of wealth or resources. Whatever she requests, her doting father quickly lavishes upon her. Thus, she effectively has access to all of Covington Industries' advanced (including experimental) technology and highly trained personnel. Although, with her recent investigation into supernatural concerns, she must be careful on how she phrases these requests. After all, she won't make any progress from inside a padded room. Note- Only usable when untransformed.
Enhanced Weapon- The Wand of Sweetest Dreams is an extraordinarily powerful nexus of dream energies, imbued with all the reality shattering power of The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. As such, it provides a greatly amplified level of power to its wielder.
Dual Weapon- As noted above, The Wand of Sweetest Dreams is a Mystic Weapon whose power is so great, that its normally weak magical beam is amplified into something far more impressive.
Power Artifact- The Sphere of Happy Thoughts is a shimmering crystal pendant Violet wears around her neck. If strong enough hopes and dreams are detected, it will empower Violet's illusions enough to solidify them into tangible entities. Violet loves the pendent, because she thinks it's the "super duper pretty wittiest~!" She also likes how it draws attention to her chest...
Natural Aging- One of Violet's dreams is to be able to succeed her father as both head of the Covington family and CEO of Covington Industries. To permit her to do this even as a magical girl, Violet has been given the ability to continue aging like a normal human. Of course, when she is in her magical girl form she will always be a vivacious sixteen year old. After all, no one wants to see an old woman magical girl (or maybe they do, but Violet sure doesn't want to be one).
Money- As heiress to a multi-billion dollar megacorporation, Violet has no lack of wealth or resources. Still, she has always secretly wished to have her own source of income, separate from what her father lavishes upon her. Income she can use for her own secret endeavors that would be untraceable to him or to Covington Industries. Upon becoming a magical girl, this wish has been granted. Thus, Violet now has access to $3000 USD every month. The money is deposited into a secret bank account and adjusts for inflation.
Intuition- After reading through a book of wisdom she received during the Christmas Party gift exchange, Violet has gained the ability to sense the true motives of others, especially if they are harboring dark thoughts or ill intentions. This is extremely helpful for someone like Violet, who becomes so very naive and childish in her magical girl form.
Patron: The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams (Lesser Force)
Patron Benefits:
Focused- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is the embodiment of Violet's specialization and is only too willing to aid her in getting the most out of it. Her magic flows easily, and, with her patron’s guidance, she has the potential to wield her element with great efficiency. Spells cost her less mana.
Mental Link- Some Lesser Forces know spells or have abilities to communicate in subtle ways. The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is one of them. As long as Violet possesses The Dreamscape Almanac, it can communicate with her at any time. This may not always constitute a benefit (Violet is rather ambivalent about it), but means that she won’t be caught off guard if it discovers new information, and it is able to notify her if it requires her assistance immediately.
Hidden Death- As it is linked to a universal constant, if the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is somehow killed, it will come back in time. Violet won’t be called on to fight in heavy combat to defend it, instead her task will be to ensure it will return.
Mystic Might- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has drastically improved Violet's mystic abilities.
Manna Font- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to its chosen champion. As such, Violet has more mana than normal.
Patron Drawbacks:
Clueless- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. It can’t offer Violet any meaningful advice on these topics.
Rival Force- Nightmares are the antithesis of the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. Thus, it holds great animosity towards any beings who promote/are empowered by them. For her part, Violet will have to defend her patron often, and will likely be called on to make attacks on the agents of this rival.
Alien Mind- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams does not think in ways that make sense to a human mind. It has little to no understanding of the human experience. While it desires Violet's well being it does not understand why she might find some of its requests objectionable, and will not always know how to help her.
Formless- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has no physical body. It cannot speak to Violet without employing its Mental Link with her, indicate things via pointing, or affect things directly without her aid.
Fighting Style:
When she needs to fight ”meanie weanie nightmares" and the beings who cause them, Magical Dream Princess primarily relies on the might of her magic to win the day. A mystic powerhouse, she can craft all kinds of dream constructs to suit any situation. She usually lets these do the bulk of the fighting, while she backs them up with blasts from her wand. If her enemies get too close, she will form her dream barrier around herself, within which her dream manifestations are even more powerful. Finally, in times of last resort, Magical Dream Princess can let loose a massive barrage of raw dream energy, but such an enormous expulsion of power is very draining for her, leaving her exhausted and vulnerable.
Violet is calm, cool, and refined. She is always perfectly poised, always in control of her emotions and actions, as is expected of the daughter of Thane Covington and heiress of the respected Covington family. She is very smart and calculating, deeply invested in fully preparing for her future role as CEO of Covington Industries, and Head of the Covington Family. Incredibly mature, she has no time for games or other childish foolishness. She often comes across as haughty and arrogant, but she likes to think of herself as simply confident in her own abilities, and mindful of the respect she should be afforded due to her high station.
In her Magical Girl form, however, Violet's personality changes completely. She becomes incredibly childish and ditzy, acting like a sickeningly sweet and cutesy valley girl. Staggeringly bubbly and hyper, she goes from being rigidly focused to having the worst case of ADHD imaginable. She finds it almost impossible to concentrate, never thinks before she speaks, and often forgets things mid sentence. Even her voice changes from her usual deep and mature tone to a high-pitched girly one. She also often speaks in the third person in this form. Her usual seriousness is replaced by an upbeat, carefree, and extraordinarily playful attitude. When she's in this form, she just wants to have fun and it's almost impossible to get her to take anything seriously (her father's wellbeing is a notable exception to this).
Since becoming a magical girl, Violet has slowly allowed small traces of her transformed persona to influence her mundane self. In particular, she has been making a determined effort to treat others with greater respect and kindness.
History:
Violet is the daughter (and only child) of Thane Covington, CEO of Covington Industries, a powerful corporation involved in a myriad of pollutive industries (pollutive not only in the sense that they damage the natural world, but also in the negative effect they have on quality of life/international relations. In particular, since they manufacture a LOT of weapons they are always on the lookout for ways to increase the market for them). In her efforts to help Connie make the best use of her powers, Gaia had her plague the elder Covington with horrific nightmares about the results of his environmental destruction. Seeing her father continually plagued by them to the point of insomnia, Violet sought out ways for dealing with the unusually vivid and persistent nightmares. Possessing an abundance of resources as a wealthy heiress (including a recent deal with the Ebon Mint), she soon found what she was looking for-The Dreamscape Almanac, an ancient tome, said to contain the secrets of dream magic. Tasking a pair of Mint agents to retrieve the book from Mariette Pedersen, the ancient tome was soon delivered into her possession (although not soon enough for Violet's liking). Opening the book, she was amazed to discover that its pages held the power to communicate with a powerful mystical being, trapped within its pages. This "Sovereign of Sweet Dreams", as it called itself, informed the heiress that it could imbue her with the power to help her father, if she would only agree to become its new champion. After some intense deliberation, Violet agreed to the being's terms and was flooded with powerful energies, until she had been utterly transformed. Gone was the haughty, refined heiress. In her place was the bubbly, hyperactive, and incredibly ditzy Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess! Happily thanking her Patron for her new abilities, Violet set out to "Save Daddy Waddy from those meanie weanie nightmares~!”
However, that task turned out to be a fair bit more complicated than it had initially seemed. For one thing, Violet soon discovered that Connie was just as much a victim as her father, and, in addition, she was forced to confront the truth of the elder Covington’s less than noble actions. There was also the revelation that the Ebon Mint were a far more sinister force than she had initially believed. Now, with her father recovering from a curse secretly placed upon him by the Mint itself, Violet finds herself leading a double life, walking a treacherous tightrope between serving as the interim head of Covington Industries (and secret partner of the Mint), and being an idealistic magical girl, who wants everyone to live in peace and love.
Fortunately, Violet is not without friends (including a girlfriend) to lend a helping hand. She still must be cautious, of course, but now she has the opportunity to beat the Mint at their own game of deception, while restoring the hopes and dreams of her beloved city in the process.
No matter what the future may hold, one thing is certain- she has a lot of work to do...
Incantation:
"Hearts, Candy, Sparkles, and Balloons~! Sunshine, Glitter, Unicorns, and Rainbows~! Taaa daaa~! Magical Girl Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess is here~! (giggle!)"
Additional Info:
Violet has always been aware of the mystical nature of the world. She can "peer behind the veil" and perceive supernatural occurrences where others would just see some mundane analogue.
She also has a photographic memory, although only when untransformed. As Magical Dream Princess, her memory can sometimes be compared to that of a goldfish...
One might think that Violet would completely despise her magical girl persona, but they would be wrong. In reality, Violet absolutely LOVES being Magical Dream Princess, since it lets her finally be free to express all the parts of herself she had been forced to keep hidden all her life. It's the ultimate form of stress relief for such an uptight and emotionally repressed girl, and she is loving every minute of it!
Magical Coins:
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Ghost Banishment: 1 Gold
Wendigo Battle Event: 1 Gold
Gave sweet dreams to several wendigos during said event: 1 Silver
Battle of Bolorton Event: 1 Gold
Gave sweet dreams to several townsfolk during said event: 3 Bronze
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 20, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 24
*** 1 Silver was also used to change her power from Regeneration to Barrage ***
Type: Lesser Force
Name: The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams
Personality:
Fun-loving and carefree, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is nevertheless single-minded in its pursuit of eternally increasing the quantity and strength of intelligent beings’ sweet dreams. In this way, it is less of a thinking being and more of an elemental force.
History:
Not much is known about the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. It claims to have no knowledge of its past. It has simply existed, and will continue to exist, as long as people continue to have sweet dreams.
Resources:
Although staggeringly powerful in its focused area, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams' resources are virtually non-existent. Despite what one would think regarding such a being, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has no army of cutesy creatures or network of agents (other than Violet), and has very little presence in, or effect on, the world outside the realm of dreams. On the other hand, since every creature has dreams, this has the potential to be a very mighty realm indeed.
Goals:
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from multiple (over twenty, at once) mundanes: Low?
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from a magical/dark magical/monster girl: Medium?
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from multiple magical/dark magical/monster girls: High?
Additional Info:
The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams manifests itself to Violet as a colorful mixture of whimsical creatures and objects. Sometimes it is a unicorn rainbow with butterfly wings. At other times, it might resemble a cupcake with cat ears and a tail. Regardless, it is always something sickeningly cute.
It should also be noted that, although Violet freed it from many of its shackles, the Sovereign is still bound to The Dreamscape Almanac. If Violet were to lose possession of the book, the Sovereign could potentially be sealed away once more. If this happens, Violet would completely lose all her magical power, until such time as the Sovereign could be freed once more.
Name: Angela Rei Sakatori (The Angel of Hope)
Age (Magical Girl): 16
Age (Before Magical Girl): 16
Gender: Female
Gender (Before Magical Girl): Female
Appearance:
As you might be able to tell from the above image, in her magical girl form, Angela is Overdeveloped and wears a Skimpy outfit.
Specialization: Reinforcement
Angela chose this because she's always been one to think outside the box. Not only did she see how it would give her stat boosts in more categories than any other Spec, but she was also aware of how creative individuals (like herself) could use the Spec to boost her own capabilities even further as well as to create weapons and armor to help her attack enemies directly. Of course, as the Angel of Hope, she uses her Spec in a more traditional, if still overpowered, way. Chiichuu likes this choice because it means his operative will need to work with other magical girls in order to be most effective, thus granting him the opportunity to attempt to recruit them.
Weapon: The Celestial Staff of Radiant Empowerment (Mystic)
Angela wanted to be a magical powerhouse, so she chose a Mystic Weapon. She had hoped it would be a dark and edgy scepter, but she got this instead. It has no offensive abilities whatsoever, but it does greatly enhance her magical power (for purely defensive spells, of course).
Power: Third Eye
Angela has the Sight, allowing her to see the flows and after effects of magic. Her sense of magic is extremely precise - she can pierce illusions, trace the effects of faded rituals, or know the type of magic being used at a glance. Most helpfully, her highly attuned magic sense allows her to predict incoming spells. If she is quick enough (which she almost always is), this can let her dodge attacks or counter them with her own. She can also easily tell when an Overcity entrance is nearby, though it will take her some time to determine exactly how to activate it. This works even out of costume.
Perks:
Enhanced Weapon- Angela figured the best magical girl should have the best weapon, and so the Celestial Staff of Radiant Empowerment has been enhanced to it's fullest potential.
Enhanced Outfit- Same goes for her outfit. It provides even an even greater boost to her agility than it would normally.
Enhanced Sustenance- Angela mainly chose this so she could stay up all night to play video games. Being able to go on longer missions was a cool side benefit, and not needing air to breath was always nice, too.
Wings- Angela was initially planning on a demoness aesthetic, so wings were a necessity. Unfortunately for her, they came out a lot more angelic in appearance than she was hoping for.
Gifted- An obvious choice. Her barriers are stronger than normal and she can create more of them. She can also heal others much faster than normal and her healing and augmentation abilities can affect multiple people at once.
Patron: Chiichuu (Puchuu)
Patron Benefits:
Job Satisfaction- This manifests itself as far more than a simple joy in defeating monsters. Rather, Angela's entire attitude and outlook is drastically altered. Upon transforming, she goes from a selfish, obnoxious brat to someone who is utterly selfless, humble, and heroic. Angela is not a particularly large fan of this, although she does enjoy the feeling of rapturous bliss she receives when she completes her objectives.
Chatty- Chiichuu is quite the amiable little fellow, at least most of the time. He will happily tell Angela all sorts of tales about magical realms and treasures, but his own personal history, and especially the events leading to the death of his old team, are completely off limits. Also, the tales he loves to tell are often complete bullshit. They're simply ways to motivate Angela to go to the places and do the things he wants her to.
Mystic Might- As his only magical operative at the time of her empowerment, Chiichuu wanted to make Angela the best magical girl she could be, so he greatly increased her already substantial mystical abilities.
Manna Font- In the same way, he has also granted her an increased supply of mana.
Patron Drawbacks:
Cagey- While certainly talkative, there are some topics Chiichuu will simply not discuss under any circumstances. In addition, much of what he says often fails to convey the full picture of a situation. Other times, his "information" is just complete bullshit.
Expendable- While Chiichuu's pool of agents numbers a mere two, the furry creature still sees Angela as expendable, especially if there's an opportunity to contract with more fitting girls. As far as Chiichuu is concerned, Angela is little more than a placeholder until he can put together a proper team once more. For her part, Angela is so full of herself that she has a hard time believing any opponent would be too much for her to handle, and as the Angel of Hope, she is only too willing to give up her life for the sake of others.
Big Brother- Chiichuu was once the supervisor of a very active squad of girls, and he expects the same level of activity and training from Angela. He's often close by, advising her, admonishing her for her poor attitude and mistakes, and pressuring her to perform more training and go on more missions.
Fighting Style: She's a Reinforcement Specialist. Thus, she mainly assumes a support role, healing her allies, enhancing their abilities, and providing barriers to shield them from even the strongest attacks. If Angela had her way, she would use her Spec to boost her own combat abilities and create weapons and armor for herself, but as the Angel of Hope, she finds herself utterly incapable of performing any offensive or aggressive actions whatsoever, refusing to directly harm even the most threatening of monsters.
In her mundane form, Angela is loud, obnoxious, and completely full of herself. She thinks that she is the greatest magical girl ever, and loves to tell people that fact, whether they want to hear it or not. An avid video gamer, she treats being a magical girl like a game and constantly brags about her exploits on chatrooms like Glimmer.
As the Angel of Hope, Angela is kind, motherly, modest, and humble, always trying to help others to the best of her ability and constantly offering words of encouragement. She will happily offer advice but is reluctant to take charge of a situation, preferring a supportive role. She has the appearance, attitude, and demeanor of a guardian angel. Despite her power and experience, she is highly submissive around others and obeying nearly every command issued to her.
History:
Not much is known about her. She appears before other magical girls when things are at their worst and does her best to protect her new allies (as well as any civilians, of course) and turn the tide of battle in their favor. After victory has been attained she disappears as mysteriously as she arrived.
Although she constantly fills the chatrooms and message boards of Glimmer with her loud boasts and obnoxious self-aggrandizement, no one really seems to know too much about her. In fact, it seems that no one has ever even seen her in person, and many believe that she isn't even a magical girl at all. Not that such accusations really bother her. Despite the low opinion everyone else seems to have of her, she keeps on telling all who will listen how much better she is than them, and how lucky they are that she decided to grace their humble chatroom with her illustrious presence.
Our story really begins a few years ago, in the prosperous city of Hydrangopolis on the west coast of the United States. A major hub of biotech research, the city was on the cutting edge of advances in environmental restoration and genetic engineering. One corporation in particular, Eden Enterprises, was on the cusp of its greatest breakthrough yet, the development of a true panacea, a cure for every ailment known to humanity. Naturally, they kept the project under a veil of the strictest secrecy, but despite all their precautions, someone, or rather, something did take notice. And it was not at all pleased by what it saw. The eldritch entity known only as The Blight could not allow such a creation to come into existence, and so it took drastic steps to prevent this.
An army of its monstrous minions descended upon Hydrangopolis, and the Eden Enterprises research complex, in particular, causing untold destruction. Every magical girl and heroic magical being in the area rushed to the city’s defense. Some of these defenders came from even farther afield, including Gaia, who helped defeat an infernal behemoth in the process of igniting the volcano within nearby Mount Folkelin. However, this was but a prelude of what was to come. Just as the monster threat seemed to be under control, The Blight itself made its grand appearance. None could stand against its power, and all seemed lost, but then, like a ray of purest sunlight, a squad of the city’s greatest magical girls charged forth to deliver a final, desperate, last-ditch attack. Every last ounce of the quartet’s power was put into that single combined strike, and even then, it almost wasn’t enough.
Almost.
Ultimately, The Blight was annihilated for all time, but, sadly, so were the ones who had slain it. Not even dust remained. It was as if every trace of them had ceased to exist. No one, magical or mundane, even remembered their names. No one, except for Chiichuu. The girls’ Puchuu had watched with both sorrow and admiration as his charges had performed their heroic sacrifice. They had been his best, the best he had ever known in all the long millennia of his life. And now they were gone. Now, as the city of Hydrangopolis began the long, slow process of recovery, so would he. He knew he would never find anyone as capable as his former team, but there had to be a worthy candidate somewhere amongst the surviving inhabitants of the city, and so he began his search…
Unfortunately, after days of looking, he had come up empty-handed. It appeared as though every potential candidate had already been claimed by one Patron or another in a mad dash to replace their fallen champions. Chiichuu, being the calm and methodical creature that he was, had simply been too slow. Now all that were left to him were the dregs, people completely unsuited to the role of magical protector. One such person was a teenage girl named Angela. At the end of his proverbial rope, Chiichuu had decided to test out the admittedly dubious idea that an exceptional video game player might also make for at least a decent magical warrior, and so, he had researched the various leader boards to see if any locals were in the top spots. To his surprise, someone was, and on multiple games as well. Angela Rei Sakatori.
Traveling to her house, he was disappointed to discover a mouthy, self-obsessed brat, who only seemed to care about stroking her own hyper-inflated ego. She was a far cry from the members of his previous squad that was for sure… Still, he could work with this. Since she was so interested in being the best, he told her that she could become the best magical girl. This, and the fact that she would have magical super powers, was quite appealing to someone like Angela, so she smugly accepted the furry creature’s offer. However, although she was told that she would have complete control over the transformation process, this was only true up to a point… While she would pick the options, he would choose how they were implemented.
For instance, while Angela wanted to appear like an ultra-edgy and super-sexy demoness/dominatrix, Chiichuu had something a bit more angelic in mind. And so it went. The biggest change would be the affect the transformation would have on her personality. Normally, the benefit of “Job Satisfaction” would simply make the recipient more amenable to their task of slaying monsters, but Chiichuu decided to go a bit further, giving Angela a complete change in outlook and behavior. The obnoxious and self-centered girl would now become someone far more selfless and heroic. When the transformation was complete, Angela, or rather the Angel of Hope, as she now called herself, still wasn’t a match for any of the Puchuu’s former champions, but she was close enough.
Staggeringly kind and submissive, the Angel of Hope profusely thanked “Master” Chiichuu for his “wondrous gift”, and immediately set out to help those in need. Naturally, when she returned and changed back into Angela, she was none too pleased by what the Puchuu had done to her. But there was no going back now, Chiichuu informed her. She was a magical girl, and that was that. Since then, the ever-competitive Angela has strived to be the best magical girl possible, despite the annoying problem of her massive attitude change when she enters her magical form. She constantly brags about and over inflates her exploits on every Glimmer chatroom and message board she can find, to the great displeasure of everyone who has misfortune of encountering her. Meanwhile, the Angel of Hope continues to be a mysterious savior to all those in need, whether mundane or magical, never seeking praise, but simply disappearing after the battle in her usual humble fashion.
Chiichuu, for his part, is still looking for prospective candidates to fill the vacancies remaining in his team. Fortunately, a recent (and, in Angela’s case, incredibly embarrassing) visit to Penrose actually led to the recruitment of a second magical girl, one whom Angela utterly despises. Unfortunately, despite her constant desire to beat the crap out of her smug new teammate, she has found herself completely unable to lay a hand on her. Indeed, life has recently become so intolerable for poor Angela that she frequently finds herself wishing that she could leave annoying, insipid Hydrangopolis behind and go somewhere, anywhere, else. Little does Angela realize, but her wish is about to be granted…
Incantation:
“Radiant power of the celestial heights, fill every fiber of my being! Remake my mortal shell into a fitting vessel for your splendor! To all those in despair, take heart and fear not! For I, the Angel of Hope, have arrived!”
Additional Info:
Loves video games and is obsessed with being the best at them. Hates her magical girl persona, but tolerates it for the sake of having magical powers.
Magical Coins:
Wendigo Battle Event: 1 Gold
Battle of Bolorton Event: 1 Gold
Coins Spent: 0
Total Coins Remaining: 2 Gold
Type: Puchuu
Name: Chiichuu
Personality:
Polite to those he feels deserving, otherwise he can be very snide, condescending and rude to those beneath his respect (especially those he considers to be failures).
History:
Having been in the business of supervising magical teams for several centuries, Chiichuu reached his pinnacle about a decade ago, when he recruited what was, in his humble opinion, the greatest squad of magical defenders in this, or any other universe. Those were glorious days indeed, but, sadly, they have faded into history. Now begins the time of Chiichuu's decline, as other, more influential powers eclipse his once mighty influence and prestige. Although perhaps his luck may be returning... after all, a recent trip to Penrose provide the opportunity to recruit a powerful and skilled magical girl ( who came with the added bonus of having a much more tolerable personality than Angela). Perhaps his dream of a return to glory may soon be attained…
Resources:
Once Chiichuu's resources were many and vast. Now they are few and greatly restricted. He currently has only two agents, although he is constantly on the look out to increase that number, and in a stroke of supernaturally bad luck, all of his former contacts, friends and associates cut off all ties and refuse to even chat with him. All very distressing... For his part, Chiichuu believes that The Blight cursed him in a final act of defiance just before his former squad vanquished the horror for all eternity.
Based on his current situation, it certainly seems that way...
As befitting the Monarch of Mad Science, Nykannis’s twin specializations enable her to create all kinds of strange super-scientific ultra-magitech inventions and other experimental creations that break all known laws of reality. She can also employ swarms of technomystic nano assemblers to enhance and modify the weapons and equipment of nearby allies (or sometimes even the allies themselves, if she’s in the mood for some genetic engineering or bionic augmentation), along with the capabilities of her own bizarre Ultratechnomagimechanical Combat Form. Although her two specializations tend to blur together, they are, in fact, quite distinct. At least, according to Nykannis. What those distinctions are, on the other hand, is anyone’s guess.
Such is the level of Nykannis’s staggering super scientific genius that her various ultramagitech inventions (which range from small gadgets and gizmos to massive technomantic biomechanical constructs) are fully capable of exhibiting abilities indistinguishable from those expressed by other Magical Specializations (freeze rays, lightning guns, and gravity beams, for example). In addition, any monster, artificial construct, Perk, Power, etc. Nykannis encounters can, with sufficient analysis, be replicated.
Weapon: Super-Scientific Ultra-Magitech Arsenal (Melee/Ranged)
At any given moment, at least three pairs of appendages (and often half a dozen more) protrude from Nykannis’s enormous technomagimechanical form, each covered in a plethora of bizarre technomantic armaments. The vast majority of these are ranged weapons, and while Nykannis’s exact load out is constantly changing, they are certain to be the most eclectic collection of death rays one can possibly imagine (Including, but by no means limited to: neutrino particle cannons, polyphasic penetrator beams, polycyclic plasma blasters, mega magitech magneto cannons, and multiphasic transdimensional hyper homing lasers).
These are supplemented by a slightly smaller (but no less impressive) array of melee weapons, from slipstream swords and biphase buzz saws to quantum hammers and monomolecular blades, for those rare times when Nykannis has to engage an enemy up close.
Powers:
1)- MAXIMUM OVERLOAD!!! (Nyahahaha!)
As one might guess just by looking at her weapon-covered form, Nykannis can put out a lot of firepower. A LOT. But sometimes, she needs to unleash even more… When it’s time to really get serious, she can override what few limiters she has to massively overload her already dangerously overpowered arsenal. Or, as she likes to say, “crank it up to 1123 out of a possible five!” When this happens, reality itself weeps, as its very fabric is rent asunder by inconceivably powerful forces unleashed by weapons too impossible to describe. Not only is her arsenal’s destructive power and rate of fire drastically increased, but her weapons are also given secondary (and in some cases even tertiary) effects, mostly of an explosive nature. The downside, of course, is that this drastically depletes her mana reserves and can only be sustained for a short time.
This overcharging can be employed in one of three modes-
Alpha Mode 1- Barrage
Alpha Mode 2- Killing Blow
Omega Mode- Killing Blow Barrage (When Nykannis REALLY wants something to die, she can go beyond even the apex of her Super-Scientific Ultra-Magitech Arsenal and reach previously undreamed levels of apocalyptic annihilation, essentially creating a massive, AoE Killing Blow. However, this is limited to once per event.)
2)- Advanced Hypermagitech Target Acquisition Array (Enhanced Third Eye)
Nykannis’s various spy rays, finder beams, and other super-scientific scanners grant her the benefits of enhanced magnification, infrared, and X-ray vision, along with the ability to perceive magical trails, cloaked/stealth targets, hidden portals, and any other detection ability necessary at that precise moment.
3)- Rapid Restorative Nanites (Regeneration)
The trillions of nanites completely suffusing Nykannis’s Ultratechnobiomagimechanical body are fully capable of regenerating any injury she may sustain in a matter of seconds, both in and out of her combat form.
When sufficiently threatened, Nykannis can drastically enhance (or “plus ultra the shit out of”) her already formidable defensive capabilities, activating multi-layered Infinity Reflector Screens, Nth-Space Negation Shells, Omni-Phasic Hyperion Veils, Polymorphic Protective Portal Clusters, Numinospheric Neo-Neutrino Ultra-Aetheric Transposition Fields, and Chronometric Retroactive Reversion Quantum Singularity Shields.
Passive- Each post cycle, Nykannis can completely ignore any one attack directed at her and can survive decapitation, dismemberment, lack of food, oxygen, etc, without experiencing any pain or discomfort.
Active- Nykannis can completely ignore ALL attacks/harm for an entire post cycle.
Additionally, one or more of these attacks can be redirected back to their original source, or at another enemy.
Regardless of whether or not she’s currently in her combat form, Nykannis is capable of deploying over two dozen tentacular mechadendrites for use in a myriad of applications, from research and construction, to offense and defense. Although they normally take the form of purely mechanical constructs, they can also appear more techno-organic in nature, to the point where they are indistinguishable from “traditional” tentacles.
Perks:
Dual Weapon- Described in detail above.
Enhanced Weapon- As befitting the personal arsenal of the Mad Scientist Supreme, Nykannis’s various ultramagitech armaments are constantly being upgraded and enhanced to the highest possible degree.
Enhanced Outfit- Nykannis’s body is covered with dozens of technoarcane supplementary power accumulators of various sizes and shapes, granting her increased technomystic power for use in her super-scientific sorcery.
Gifted- As the Queen of the Mad Scientists, Nykannis is undeniably gifted in her chosen fields of expertise. In addition to her vast proficiency in all manners of SCIENCE! (both Weird and Mad), this unique brilliance is best exemplified by the peculiarities of her magical abilities and monster girl nature. Even when untransformed, Nykannis is still able to wield a substantial amount of her vast technomystic power, and her transformation itself is quite unlike those of most monster girls in that her human form is her default appearance.
Techno Thralls- Nykannis possesses five weapon and sensor covered drones which she can detach from her massive technomantic body and use as scouts or additional attackers in combat. Although heavily armed with an array of ultratech melee weapons, ray guns, rotary beam cannons and missiles, they are particularly useful for locating hidden enemies and discovering blind spots in a target’s defenses, uploading all their findings to Nykannis’s own advanced targeting array. They are also capable of combining into a single, massive construct, with substantially increased capabilities.
Size and Scale- Nykannis’s monstrous combat form is exceedingly large, towering over most other magical and monster girls. This grants her an increased level of vitality and protection, due to the additional layers of nanofluidic hyperalloy armor covering her body and the multiple energy shield generators protruding from it.
Interdimensional Lab- Nykannis’s personal sanctum is the sprawling pocket dimension she simply refers to as her Lab. A bizarre blend of ultratechnomantic mega city and eldritch living organism, it is surrounded by vast gulfs of purply green nebulosity, through which floats a dense cloud of stupendously powerful omnidimensional warships, along with their various caretaker constructs. Although accessible anywhere via the quick opening of a portal, it is possible to create permeant links between the Lab and any other, lesser, labs the Monarch of Mad Science may have established in various corners of the omniverse (themselves merely offshoots of the Lab itself, much like roots extending from a plant). However, due to current circumstances, only one such link remains in existence- the one connecting to Demiris Defense Systems’ secret R&D facility, just outside of Silverburg.
Patron: Herself
Patron Benefits:
Free Agent- As befitting a Queen, Nykannis is beholden to no one. Well, no one other than her current employer... But it’s not like he’s a Patron, or anything, and she can leave his employ at any time, so it doesn’t really count! At least, that’s what she keeps telling herself…
Ultratechnomystic Power Accumulator Pocket Dimension (Ultra Enhanced Mana Font)- Attached to the heart of Nykannis’s Lab is a dimensional pocket filled to bursting with countless ultratechnomystic power accumulators of the most esoteric types, from omni-phasic zero-point infinity colliders to quantum singularity hyperflux cores, which whir, spin, glow, gurgle, and hum, as they grant the Monarch of Mad Science an unlimited supply of eldritch energy, with which to fuel the creation of inventions too impossible to describe.
Mad Scientist Supreme (Technomystic Mastery)- Doctor Nykannis’s Technomystic Mastery is utterly unparalleled in this or any other reality plenum, possessing powers far beyond what even the most gifted technomancers could ever dream of attaining.
Magical Overload- Like any good Mad Scientist, Nykannis doesn’t believe in half measures, safety measures, or basic sanity. As such, when whatever caused her to become a magical girl took place, she unsurprisingly decided to go all out and dangerously overload the process. She’s quite pleased with the results.
Super-Scientific Ultramagitech Army (Minions23)- Nykannis once possessed one of (if not the) strongest armies in the omniverse, and although her forces are but a pale shadow of their former glory, they are slowly, but inexorably, being restored to their rightful majesty. Even in their diminished state, the various legions of biomechanical titans, ultramagitech super tanks, and countless lesser war machines are still more than a match for nearly every military force in this reality plenum. That said, they must be employed sparingly, so as not to evoke the Grand Magistrate’s ire…
Superscientific Ultramagitech Armada (Transportation23)- To complement her ground forces, Nykannis has an equally impressive armada of super omninoughts, hypernoughts, meganoughts, gigganoughts, and other ultratechnomantic transdimensional warships. Most are currently undergoing repairs, but those that are active are typically employed for transportation purposes, and to support artifact acquisition operations.
Patron Drawbacks:
Alone- Nykannis is all alone, only having herself to rely on. And she wouldn’t want it any other way. As the greatest Mad Scientist that has ever, or will ever live, she’s more than capable of taking care of herself. Plus, she’s made plenty of interesting friends (in some cases quite literally) in her travels that may be persuaded to lend her a hand (or tentacle) should she need it.
Monstrous Form- Due to dangerously overloading her body with technomystic energies, Nykannis at her full potential is now something far more than human. The various key facets of which are enumerated below.
Centaur Layout- In her transformed state, Nykannis’s lower body resembles that of a segmented metallic serpent. Several pairs of legs often protrude from it in a manner similar to that of a caterpillar or centipede. These are useful for finding purchase when climbing, or for anchoring herself in place when employing weapons with considerable recoil.
Nonstandard Limbs- The vast majority of Nykannis’s various supplementary appendages are tipped by weapon clusters, and thus are unusable for any forms of manipulation, while her “original” pair of limbs become much larger, their fingers ending in wickedly sharp metallic claws. Even so, this does not completely preclude the good doctor from performing detailed work, as she can easily create smaller, more refined appendages for such tasks. Indeed, with their array of built-in tools they are far superior to human limbs in every respect.
Mental Mutation (Builder)- This manifests not so much in the construction of traps (although Nykannis likes to build those too), but primarily in the creation of new inventions, and the building up of additional knowledge. Nykannis is constantly working on one bizarre creation or another, while simultaneously researching some new theory or phenomenon. Currently, with her research into the local reality plenum’s monsters and magicals nearing completion, she has begun to turn her attention towards its Magistrates…
Second Specialization- Due to the overwhelming amounts of technomystic energy flooding Nykannis’s massive cybermagitech body, she is capable of making use of not one, but two Magitech Specializations! (Nyahahaha!) Of course, this is only to be expected of the Monarch of Mad Science, and she makes use of them so interchangeably that they might as well be a single Specialization.
Fighting Style:
Nykannis rarely takes part in combat, preferring to work in her lab and observe her creations’ performance in battle from a safe distance. On the exceptional occasions when she takes to the field herself, she likes to engage her opponents at range before finishing them off in hand to hand combat (in the unlikely event that there’s anything left of them after her initial bombardment, that is).
Nykannis is a typical Mad Scientist, in that she is extremely egotistical, highly focused on her work, and very, very insane. Aside from that, though, she can be rather personable, and if you take an interest in her current projects/obsessions, she can happily talk with you for hours on end (that said, Nykannis’s social skills are sorely lacking, and if you don’t have an intellect or level of enthusiasm close to hers, it will be a very one-sided conversation).
History:
Hailing from a far distant reality plenum, several hundred millennia more advanced than this one, Nykannis once held superscientific powers vast enough to rival an eldritch horror. She could travel anywhere and do anything. All the knowledge of the infinite omniverse was her’s for the taking! All she imagined could be accomplished! Nothing could stop her! Until something did. At some point she stepped too far, crossed some inviolable boundary, and THEY took objection to it. Even with all her inconceivable ultratechnomystic abilities, Nykannis was as nothing compared to THEIR power. All she could do was flee for her life, while her ten trillion-strong armada of galaxy-sized ultra omninoughts bought her the precious nanoseconds needed to make her escape to her only possible place of refuge- a reality plenum ruled by an amenable Grand Magistrate, for within its confines THEY would have no power. Just as the last omninought was erased from existence, Nykannis finally found a Grand Magistrate who was sympathetic to her plight and allowed her entry.
Of course, in order to keep from disrupting his realm’s carefully maintained equilibrium (such as it was) the Grand Magistrate insisted that some rules would have to be followed, which would serve to limit Nykannis’s actions and activities. Bereft of any other choice, Nykannis agreed. It didn’t hurt that she was still permitted to do things “behind the scenes”, as it were, just nothing overt. Wasting no time establishing a place for herself in her new home, she was pleasantly surprised to discover an old acquaintance, in the form of Lodovico Demiris, and quickly entered his employ as the head of his R&D program. This provided a stable base from which to rebuild her power and carry out her revenge. Still, the Monarch of Mad Science was well aware that such a project would take no small amount of time, and so she set to work finding ways to stave off the soul-crushing boredom that living in such a “Neanderthal nightmare” would inevitably bring. Thus, the Mad Scientist Supreme set about work on a series of lesser projects, from locating and unlocking the secrets of The Artifact to learning all she can about the reality plenum in which she now finds herself. While the Grand Magistrate’s restrictions continue to be an annoyance, recently, Nykannis has found a few intriguing loopholes in their structure, and she wouldn’t be the Mad Scientist Supreme if she didn’t exploit them…
Incantation: “Incantation? Who has time for that shit?! There’s SCIENCE to be done! Nyahahaha!”
Additional Info:
Like all Mad Scientists, Nykannis is prone to unleashing cackling peals of laughter for no readily apparent reason.
Although Nykannis is not, nor has ever been, a member of The Gourd, she shares their twisted sense of humor when it comes to inventions, as her friend, Kate Carson, has discovered…
Magical Cosmic Omniversal Infusion Numinosphereic Synthesizers: As many as she needs.
You wouldn’t understand them.
Name: Kate Carson
Age (Magical Girl): 16
Age (Before Magical Girl): 16
Gender: Female
Gender (Before Magical Girl): Female
Appearance:
Specialization: Oddball (Photography)-
Kate’s Specialization is the direct result of her Camera, itself the source of all her magical power. When Kate is untransformed, the Camera is limited to “only” being able display an exhaustive amount of information about whatever she takes a picture of (this includes secret things like weaknesses, along with more mundane things like age, occupation, favorite color, personality, etc). It can even reveal invisible things like spirits. In this way, it basically functions the same as the Snapshots Perk, although it’s a bit more powerful and can be used while untransformed.
When Kate transforms, she is able to unlock her Camera’s full power, granting her an array of impressive (and not so impressive) abilities. The foremost among these is the ability to create “negative copies” of anything she has already taken a picture of. They fight on her behalf, and have access to all the powers and attributes of the original, albeit at a slightly reduced level. The downside to this is that any copies created in this way are erased from the Camera’s memory, meaning all the info on them is lost, and the image can never be copied again, unless Kate takes a new picture of it (which, depending on the image in question may be exceedingly difficult, if not downright impossible). Unless they are destroyed in battle, the copies usually last for about an hour, before fading out of existence.
Other abilities include the almost never used “Freeze Frame” feature (which places the target in a stasis field, while also draining their mana, but can only be used on targets that are standing perfectly still), changing the Shutter Speed (which can either briefly speed up a target or slow it down for a significantly longer period), and modifying the Depth of Field (either focusing on a target (usually an ally) and making it become blurry, indistinct and harder to hit in combat, or blurring the area around a target (usually an enemy), causing it become greatly disoriented and vulnerable to attack), as well as the fairly mundane Flash (which, as the name suggests, produces a blinding flash to stun enemies).
As a special note, while The Camera can record video, it cannot gather information on what it records. That feature only works when taking still images. At least, that’s how it works when Kate’s not transformed…
Weapon: The Camera (Mystic)
Kate’s Camera, or, to give it’s proper title, Nykannis’s Hyperdigienchantech Photographic Implement 3000, is the source of all her mystical abilities. Without it, she’s pretty much just an ordinary human. As it’s name suggests, it is the creation of Dr. Nykannis, and as the self proclaimed “Queen of the Mad Scientists’” greatest invention, it is fittingly a magitech device of extraordinary power. Unfortunately, to unlock the majority of that power, Kate is forced to undergo an incredibly embarrassing transformation, a source of great frustration for Kate, and great amusement for Nykannis. When Kate is untransformed, it resembles a normal, albeit quite advanced, digital camera. Upon assuming her full magical girl form, it gains a much more ornate appearance, in keeping with her outfit’s elaborate aesthetic.
Power: Third Eye
A Power she was innately born with, Kate’s Third Eye allows her to perceive the flow of magical energies around her. This is useful for tracking potential subjects of interest (as long as they have a strong magical signature), as well as locating hidden magical objects, dimensional portals/gates, and Overcity entrances. It also has the benefit of alerting her to incoming magical attacks. This is usable even when untransformed.
Perks:
Enhanced Weapon- As befitting the greatest invention of the Monarch of Mad Science herself, Kate’s Camera possesses abilities far beyond those of a typical magical weapon.
Enhanced Outfit- Despite its embarrassing and highly impractical appearance, Kate’s magical girl outfit provides a staggering amount of supplementary magical power for her Camera to draw upon.
Gifted- This applies not so much to Kate herself, but rather her Camera. As the greatest creation of the Greatest Mad Scientist of Them All (at least, in said Mad Scientist’s own not-so-humble-opinion), Kate’s Camera is far more powerful than a normal magical device or weapon. Most notable is the fact that she can use some of its abilities even when untransformed.
Big Backpack- Kate has a large backpack full of useful items that she can conjure at any time, even when untransformed. The items in question range from food and clothes, to some extra cash and an unbreakable laptop that can get an internet connection anywhere (even across dimensional barriers).
Super Maps- Kate has a small locket that can display an array of incredibly useful maps. These show surrounding areas, special features and topography. It also displays the positions of Kate and her allies, as well as many enemies that are in the nearby area. It can be used anywhere, even in the Overcity, but the rapidly changing features of that realm often make the maps confusing to read. As a special note, the maps cannot detect the locations of portals, but that’s not really a problem for Kate. After all, that’s what her Third Eye is for.
Minor Magic (Sorcery)- Kate possesses both innate mystic talent and several decades worth of trained magical skills in a variety of subjects, from summoning to transmutation, although they are only applicable in universes with an abundant concentration of ambient mana.
This is not one of those universes.
Polychronal Reality Shard (Enhanced Mystic Artifact)- Received as payment from legendary polymathamagician Xozooth the Xorcerer, this powerful artifact can enable Kate to, in the words of Xozooth “perceive several pertinent facets of the Micro and Macrocosmic ALL in relation to any query posed to it”.
Or, as Kate likes to say, it’s a magic 8 ball on steroids.
The Golden Whistle of Gorelionthis- Kate received this seemingly innocuous item from the infamous horror known as Father as payment for services rendered. Two APEX-Grade Armored Gorelions are bound to the whistle, and can be called forth by blowing it.
Kate has named them Twinkles and Gary.
Patron: Solo
Patron Benefits:
Free Agent- As a freelance photographer, Kate’s a free agent, happy to work for anyone, as long as the pay’s good.
Mana Font- Kate’s Camera has access to a massive supply of mana, allowing her to make use of its impressive abilities long after its mana reserves should have run dry.
Patron Drawbacks:
Alone- Kate’s all alone in the great big multiverse, but she doesn’t mind. In fact, she sees it as a benefit. With no one tying her down, she’s free to go and do what she chooses. Sure, she doesn’t have a safety net, but she’s always been a resourceful girl. Plus, she’s made no small number of friends (some of them quite influential) during her travels that are always willing to help her out (with or without a little “persuasion” on Kate’s part).
Fighting Style:
Kate usually tries to avoid combat if she can help it, preferring to keep a low profile and only transforming when absolutely necessary. If she needs to assume her magical girl form, it almost always means that something has gone very wrong. In such situations, she mostly relies on her Camera’s ability to create copies of various monsters to take care of whatever might be threatening her, or at the very least, give her a chance to escape (which is a very good chance, thanks to her Third Eye and Super Maps). Above all else, Kate is a pragmatist, and she won’t hesitate to trick her foes, or use their weaknesses against them.
For the most part, Kate is a very laid-back and easygoing person, and although she still can get excited, angered, or flustered by things, such occasions are usually quite rare. Most of the time, Kate does her best to avoid attracting undue attention to herself, blending in with the background and unobtrusively observing. When she chooses to interact with people, she is actually quite personable and friendly, always making an effort to cool tensions and put others at ease. That said, she does have a bit of a mischievous side to her, and she’s only too happy to prank people if she thinks she can get away with it.
On a darker note, Kate is not above using blackmail to achieve her goals, and since she likes to take pictures of everything and everyone she encounters, she has a lot of secret and sensitive information to work with.
History:
Kate doesn’t like talking about her past. When asked, she’ll just say that she’s “been around the block more times than you’d expect”, and after getting to know her, it’s easy to see that she’s a LOT older than her sixteen-year-old appearance would suggest. Interestingly, she’ll freely admit that she no longer ages, but that it’s due to something other than the magical girl process (after all, she only got her Camera a few years ago). When pressed she simply states that it’s a little souvenir she picked up from taking a dip in the Fountain of Youth (or one of them, at any rate), but whether or not that’s true is anyone’s guess. She’s known Nykannis for quite a long time, and has gone on many trips across the multiverse with her, but despite all that, she still insists she’s just a simple freelance photographer and an ordinary down-to-earth girl. An ordinary down-to-earth girl who has blackmail files on several interdimensional tyrants and even a few eldritch horrors…
Incantation: “Picture Perfect!”
Additional Info:
If it wasn’t clear by now, Kate absolutely HATES her magical girl appearance, and as such is extremely reluctant to transform, only doing so as a last resort.
As you can see, Connie has an average body for someone her age, and as the Empress of Nightmares wears a flowing robe in the style of a kimono.
Specialization: Oddball (Nightmares)-
Has the power to give people nightmares, as well as increase said nightmares' strength and realism. In a way, she can conjure up illusions and hallucinations for people in the waking world, but they are (normally) nowhere near as strong as those created by someone with the Illusion power set. They essentially tap into the fears and phobias already present in the individual and make them real. Connie has very little (if any) control over what form they take or what they do after being created, which can sometimes be a problem, since if they are tied to/powered by strong enough fears, the illusions can have a tangible effect on the physical world (in this way, they act rather like spirits as described by the Spirit specialization). Finally, in times of danger, Connie can surround herself with something resembling a pocket dimension, somewhat akin to a witch's barrier from Madoka, albeit nowhere near as powerful. It simply amplifies her nightmare aura and the strength of her illusions in its small area of effect.
Weapon: The Mask of the Endless Nightmare (Mystic)-
This is the terrifying artifact through which Connie was imbued with her dark powers, and which now amplifies these already considerable mystical abilities.
Power: Tendrils of Eternal Darkness (Tentacles)-
They manifest as inky black tendrils that can appear from any nearby surface, including Connie's outfit, and even small portals in the fabric of reality itself.
Perks:
Enhanced Weapon- The Mask of the Endless Nightmare is imbued with all the reality shattering power of The Lord of Nightmares. As such, it provides a greatly amplified level of power to its chosen wearer.
Power Artifact- The Diadem of Eternal Horror is an amethyst gemstone set upon the forehead of the Mask of the Endless Nightmare. If a strong enough fear is detected, it empowers Connie's illusions enough to solidify them into tangible entities.
Mystic Artifact- The Eye of Fear is a small pendant that Connie keeps hidden in the voluminous folds of her robe. Resembling a creepy crystalline eye glowing with sickly energies, it permits the user to peer into the psyches of nearby targets, allowing her to view traumatic events in their pasts, their presents, and even events they fear may come to pass in their futures, so as to better mold suitable nightmares for them.
Ally- Mia Cooper (Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth) See attached character sheet.
Interdimensional Home- Ostensibly a small place where Connie can relax and recuperate, unbothered by the usual unpleasantness of her unusually unpleasant life, in actuality, since this space was created by the powers of the Lord of Nightmares, it is far too terrifying for someone like Connie. Thus, it is seldom visited. Or, at least, it was, before it got upgraded during a Christmas Party gift exchange. Now it has expanded into a full-sized house, which appears however Connie wishes it to (usually something excessively cute and cozy).
Patron: The Lord of Nightmares (Lesser Force)
Patron Benefits:
Focused- The Lord of Nightmares is the embodiment of Connie’s specialization and is only too willing to aid her in getting the most out of it. Her magic flows easily, and, with her patron’s guidance, she has the potential to wield her element with great efficiency. Spells cost her less mana.
Mental Link- Some Lesser Forces know spells or have abilities to communicate in subtle ways. The Lord of Nightmares is one of them. It can always communicate with Connie, at any time. This may not always constitute a benefit (Connie certainly hates it…), but means that she won’t be caught off guard if it discovers new information, and it is able to notify her if it requires her assistance immediately.
Hidden Death- As it is linked to a universal constant, if the Lord of Nightmares is somehow killed, it will come back in time. Connie won’t be called on to fight in heavy combat to defend it, instead her task will be to ensure it will return.
Mana Font- The Lord of Nightmares is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to its chosen champion. As such, Connie has more mana than normal.
Mystic Might- The Lord of Nightmares has drastically improved Connie’s mystic abilities.
Patron Drawbacks:
Alien Mind- The Lord of Nightmares does not think in ways that make sense to a human mind. It has little to no understanding of the human experience. While it desires Connie’s well being it does not understand why she find its requests objectionable, and will not always know how to help her.
Formless- Since its essence is contained within the Mask of the Endless Nightmare, the Lord of Nightmares has no physical body. It cannot speak to Connie without employing its Mental Link with her, indicate things via pointing, or affect things directly without her aid.
Rival Force- Sweet Dreams are the antithesis of the Lord of Nightmares. Thus, it holds great animosity towards any beings who promote/are empowered by them. For her part, Connie will have to defend her patron often, and will likely be called on to make attacks on the agents of this rival.
Clueless- The Lord of Nightmares doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. It can’t offer Connie any meaningful advice on these topics.
Fighting Style:
Due to her timid and gentle nature, Connie tried to avoid combat, if at all possible. However, if her friends or innocents are in danger, she won’t hesitate to defend them. This mainly involves using her “Nightmare Barrier” to amplify the fear hallucinations produced by her opponents into tangible threats for them to face, allowing the conjured horrors to overwhelm her foes with sheer weight of numbers. Her tentacles can also assist in this regard, as well as helping to pull others to safety.
A gentle, kindhearted, and incredibly shy girl, Connie has always been easily frightened and embarrassed. Indeed, a list of her various phobias could easily stretch for half a mile. Having long been the victim of frequent bullying, she hates violence and wishes people would just get along. Even when she has to employ somewhat violent methods herself, she always feels bad about it and frequently apologizes to those she attacks or gives nightmares to.
Being more than a little naive, Connie is a big believer in the idea that the power of friendship can conquer anything. Thus, she deeply cherishes every one of her friends, although she holds a particularly special fondness for her best friend, and unofficial big sister, Mia. In contrast to Mia’s pragmatism, and in spite of her own fears and insecurities, Connie will always rush to help a friend in need, no matter the danger, a trait that Mia finds both admirable and more than a little concerning…
Despite appearances, Connie’s personality stays exactly the same in her magical girl form, something those who've encountered her often find quite incongruous.
History:
Connie never knew her parents. For as long as she can remember, she has lived in the Penrose Orphanage, bereft (with one notable exception) of family or friends. Often teased mercilessly by the other children because of her fragile and easily frightened nature, "Cowardly Connie the Crybaby" had only one small respite from this torment in the form of her best friend, and fellow orphan, Mia Cooper. Mia was always swift to jump to her defense, and provided poor Connie a much-needed source of care and encouragement in her otherwise bleak and miserable life. But Mia wasn't always around, and it was on one of these occasions that a group of Connie's most vicious tormentors decided to play their cruelest trick yet.
Dragging her to the orphanage's cellar, they shoved her inside and locked the door. Connie was completely terrified, but despite her sobs and desperate pleas, the door remained firmly secured against her escape. Beginning to hyperventilate, she franticly began searching for some other way out of the nightmare she found herself in. It was then that she saw it, an eerie glow emanating from the farthest depths of the cellar's suffocating confines. Hesitantly approaching it, she soon discovered that its source was an old mask. Being particularly terrified of them, she gave a shriek and fell over backwards, but before she could attempt to crawl away, a deep and sinister voice sounded within her mind. It announced itself as the Lord of Nightmares, and since she had discovered the mask within which its essence resided, she would be its new champion. Connie couldn't believe what she was hearing. She tried to protest, but before she could get out more than a feeble whimper, the mask launched itself at her face, and upon clamping tight upon it, flooded the pitiful girl with unimaginable quantities of dark power. Mere moments later, the horrifying transformation was complete. The shrinking violet Connie was no more, in her place stood the imposing Empress of Nightmares.
Connie's tormentors were in the midst of laughing at their pathetic victim's plight, when the Empress appeared before them. Not uttering a word, she spread her arms wide and unleashed a torrent of horrors dredged up from the darkest recesses of their minds. Once they had all been reduced to quivering cationic wrecks the Empress departed. While it seemed as if a wicked tyrant had been unleashed upon an unsuspecting world, nothing could have been further from the case. Even as the Empress of Nightmares, Connie was still the same timid girl she had always been. Utterly horrified by what had happened to her (and by what she had inadvertently done to the bullies), she went to the one place she felt safe- the room she shared with Mia. The room was empty, so she waited. When her roommate returned, she was initially taken aback by what her friend had become, but after quelling her shock, she gently helped Connie to get her bearings. It didn’t hurt that Mia herself was also secretly a magical girl and had been one for several years, a fact she now revealed to Connie. After telling her friend all she knew about life as a magical girl, and helping her change back to normal, Mia worked with Connie to develop a plan for navigating this new phase of her life.
In the relatively short time since she became a magical girl, Connie’s life has drastically changed. Rather ironically, these changes have been almost entirely for the better. She has made several new friends, gained increased confidence and control over her powers, and has even, along with Mia, been adopted by a veteran magical girl/woman and given a home of her very own. Of course, that’s not to say there haven’t been any problems, but Connie has been doing her very best to overcome each adversity, and become stronger as a result. For far too long now, she’s seen herself as little more than a burden to those she cares about, and so she has firmly dedicated herself to conquering her fears and further improving her control over her magical abilities. In this way, she hopes to become someone her friends can rely on, someone who can help to make her small corner of the world a better place.
We’ll see how it goes…
Incantation:
From the pitch black obsidian depths of your feverish and tormented minds I come! Phobias and lamentations are my gifts to all! Let your hands claw at your eyes and your wails deafen the multitudes! Tremble O World, for the Empress of Nightmares is upon you!
Note- This is said in a deep, imperious voice, with notably sensual undertones, as though she is clearly reveling in the power coursing through her. This could not be further from the truth. In fact, this incantation is spoken completely unwillingly on Connie’s part. She can’t help herself. She simply HAS to say it at the culmination of every transformation, whether she wants to or not, and she REALLY doesn’t want to. It creeps her the hell out.
Additional Info:
Connie is an aspiring artist who likes to paint pictures of cute and happy things, although her powers tended make these paintings turn out somewhat creepier than she intended, much to her disappointment. Thankfully, and to Connie’s immense joy, with her increased level of control, this is no longer the case. She also likes cute stuffed animals and frequently cuddles with her small collection when she's feeling particularly depressed/frightened (which was sadly quite often, but now happens significantly less).
As one might suspect, Connie absolutely HATES being the Empress of Nightmares. Even when transformed, she prefers to go by her real name. Of particular note, she is extremely terrified of masks, and since she wears a mask in her magical girl form, one of the weaknesses she’s trying (and failing) to overcome is being confronted with her own reflection (the first time she saw herself as the Empress, she nearly gave herself a heart attack).
Magical Coins:
Rave Event: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Kobold Removal: 2 Silver
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
Gave nightmares to several low-level monsters/minions during said event: 2 Bronze
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 17, 1 Gold to increase MAG to 18, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 22
Tyrannical and demanding, the Lord of Nightmares is single-minded in its pursuit of eternally increasing the quantity and strength of intelligent beings’ nightmares. In this way, it is less of a thinking being and more of an elemental force.
History:
Not much is known about the Lord of Nightmares. It reveals its history to no one, not even its chosen champion, although, admittedly, Connie has never dared to ask it.
Resources:
Although staggeringly powerful in its focused area, the Lord of Nightmares’ resources are virtually non-existent. Despite what one would think regarding such a being, the Lord of Nightmares has no army of monsters or web of agents (other than Connie), and has very little presence in, or effect on, the world outside the realm of nightmares. On the other hand, since every creature has dreams, and thus nightmares as well, this has the potential to be a very mighty realm indeed.
Goals:
Give crippling nightmares to multiple (over twenty, at once) mundanes: Low?
Give crippling nightmares to a magical/dark magical/monster girl: Medium?
Give crippling nightmares to multiple magical/dark magical/monster girls: High?
Additional Info:
Bonded to the Mask of the Endless Nightmare, the Lord of Nightmares manifests itself to Connie as an inky black wraith-like being. Its form is amorphous and constantly shifting, but sometimes, on particularly unpleasant (and thankfully quite rare) occasions, Connie has seen what appears to be a face emerge from the darkness. What that visage depicts only Connie knows, but since it takes several hours of Gaia’s comfort to even begin to calm her, it’s probably best if we don’t find out.
Name: Mia Cooper (Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth)
Age (Magical Girl): 15
Age (Before Magical Girl): 14
Gender: Female
Gender (Before Magical Girl): Female
Appearance:
Mia has an average body type for her age, and as Gaia, wears an extremely skimpy outfit, usually consisting of little more than a skimpy bikini made of leaves and vines. On certain occasions, she might also wear a verdant flowing silky robe, but it is so thin, and it clings to her body to such a degree, that it still leaves very little to the imagination.
Specialization: Wood
Weapon: Nature’s Blossom (Mystic/Ranged)-
This is a green staff wrapped in leafy vines and small flowers. The leaves grow larger the closer they are to the top of the staff. It is here that a large multicolored flower blooms. Nature’s Blossom not only aids in focusing Gaia’s mystical power, but also serves as a ranged weapon, capable of shooting emerald beams of potent magical energy.
Power: Nature’s Fury (Barrage)-
Gaia can put out a staggering volume of offensive magical power. This mostly takes the form of swirling whirlwinds and surging torrents of vines, branches, and tendril-like beams of pure life energy. She can even cause roots and vines to shoot up from underneath her foes as well, assailing them from all angles.
Perks:
Dual Weapon- As noted above, Nature’s Blossom is a Mystic Weapon whose power is so great, that its normally weak magical beam is amplified into something far more impressive.
Enhanced Weapon- Nature’s Blossom is an extraordinarily powerful nexus of natural life energies. It is Mother Earth’s generous gift to her daughter, and it is Gaia’s great honor to wield it.
Purification Artifact- The Orb of Spring is a verdant, flower covered sphere that greatly amplifies Gaia’s already prodigious ability to purify an area of both pollution and unnatural entities. While it can keep an area clear of monsters, Gaia still needs to charge it and it only works in a fixed radius around the Orb itself. It also doesn't force monsters to leave an area they are already in, but it will make them uncomfortable and they’ll likely want to leave.
Big Red Button- Received during the Christmas Party gift exchange, pushing this button allows Gaia to teleport far outside the area of any danger, much like the Retrieval patron benefit. While it prevents her from being easily followed, it also prevents her from easily returning, and so must be used with care. It is not currently known if others in physical contact can be transported as well.
Patron: Mother Earth (Deity)
Patron Benefits:
Blessing- Gaia is capable of bestowing Mother Earth’s blessing on a person or place. This requires a special rite, but will have subtle but real effects, like purifying air and water, as well as promoting thriving and abundant plant life. In particular, this blessing is capable of Cleansing a person or place of unnatural energies, as described in the MG Rulings DOC, as well as Purifying an area of unnatural energies, in much the same way as a Purification Artifact. The effects of this second ability become even more pronounced when channeled through Gaia's own Purification Artifact, The Orb of Spring.
Divine Competence- Gaia is competent in several areas of skill and study associated with the natural world, especially plant life. This is no substitute for proper training and experience, but even in her untransformed state, she can be expected to manage without complete failure.
Mana Font- Mother Earth is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to her chosen champion. As such, Gaia has more mana than normal.
Mystic Might- Mother Earth has drastically improved Gaia’s mystic abilities. She is truly a force of nature.
Gifted Item- Mother Earth has gifted her daughter with The Orb of Spring, a powerful Purification Artifact, described above.
Patron Drawbacks:
Rites- Gaia is the daughter of Mother Earth, thus there are rituals that she is expected to observe. Some are relatively easy, like tending a garden. Others require her to do things rather bizarre for modern society, like performing somewhat suggestive fertility dances.
Arrogance- While Gaia is undeniably precious to her, Mother Earth does regrettably tend towards arrogance. She frequently overestimates what her daughter is capable of and dismisses what her enemies are capable of. The demands she makes of her daughter may not actually be achievable for Gaia on her own, or even with help.
Big Brother (Overbearing Mother)- Mother Earth will often poke her nose into her daughter’s personal life, and be constantly checking up on her and observing.
Clueless- Mother Earth doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. She can’t offer Gaia any meaningful advice on these topics.
Fighting Style:
When Gaia needs to engage in combat, she employs every aspect of the natural world around her. From the tiniest blade of grass to the mightiest tree, all come to her aid in battle. Using her considerable command over plant life, Gaia can mold these allies into fearsome monstrosities. Coupled with magical blasts from Nature’s Blossom and barrages of branches, roots, and vines, the Daughter of Mother Earth can easily make short work of her would-be opponents.
A brash, short-tempered tomboy, who always seems to be getting into trouble. Tough, abrasive, and holding a low opinion of pretty much everyone (and authority figures in particular), Mia usually isn’t a very pleasant person to be around. Her one soft spot is for her best friend, and fellow orphan, Connie Williams. She cares for her deeply, always offering talk with her about any and all of her myriad problems, and fully prepared to help her in any way she can.
When she becomes Gaia, her personality drastically changes. Gone is the flippant, tough talking tomboy, replaced by a serene, refined, elegant and unfailingly polite nymph-like demigoddess. She speaks calmly in this form, her voice sounding like a blissful sigh. As Gaia, it takes a lot to truly anger her, but if this is accomplished, her roars of displeasure have been known to take on the tone of a raging hurricane. Also, her affection for Connie is massively increased in this form, and she often cuddles with her friend, caressing her, giving her frequent hugs, gently stroking her hair, and even providing full body massages to help her relax.
Note that this affection is purely platonic. She thinks of Connie as a little sister, not as a romantic interest.
Since Connie’s induction into the magical world, Mia has mellowed considerably, with her mundane and magical selves increasingly blending into one another. Where once they might have seemed like two different people, now they are more like different facets of the same individual.
History:
An orphan, like Connie, Mia has known the former ever since they were little kids. Seeing how frequently bullied her friend was, Mia was always quick to leap to Connie’s defense, serving as her protector and the orphanage’s most feared bully hunter. Several years ago, while in the midst of a particularly vivid dream, she was visited by a being claiming herself to be Mother Earth. This being warmly informed Mia that she was the chosen recipient of her power, and that she would not only become her champion, but her daughter as well. Now, one might think an orphan would leap at the opportunity to have a kind and loving mother, but not Mia. She basically told the absurdly powerful goddess to go screw herself. Mother Earth, however, would not take “no” for an answer. Heedless of Mia’s increasingly stronger worded protests, the goddess flooded the unwilling girl with every ounce of her staggering power. When she had finished, Mia had been utterly transformed into the embodiment of nature’s power and beauty. The mouthy tomboy was no more. In her place was an otherworldly beautiful demigoddess, Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth.
Although Mia hated being Gaia, she didn’t really have much choice in the matter and so grudgingly resigned herself to her fate, performing her missions for Mother Earth, while still trying to maintain some semblance of her former life. This continued for several years, until one fateful day, when she discovered that her best friend had also found herself in a similar predicament. Now, Mia helps Connie to acclimate to life as a magical girl as best she can. It has certainly been a bumpy ride so far, but not one bereft of benefits. Thanks to Connie’s desire to make new friends, Mia has found herself with a few of her own (including a boyfriend!), as well as a new home and family.
Perhaps becoming a magical girl wasn’t so bad, after all…
Incantation:
Nature’s beauty! Nature’s grace! Nature’s power! Behold! I am Gaia, Daughter of Mother Earth!
Additional Info:
Initially, Mia hated everything about being a magical girl and was greatly embarrassed by her magical girl persona (especially the outfit, or lack thereof). Nowadays, she is increasingly thankful she ended up becoming Gaia, as it allows her to keep watch over Connie and make some new friends in the process. She still gets a little embarrassed when she turns into Gaia, though. Mia also has a somewhat resentful relationship with Mother Earth, seeing her as highly annoying and controlling.
As Gaia, however, Mia absolutely loves Mother Earth, carrying out her wishes without question and eagerly striving to be the best daughter she can be. In this form she is not at all embarrassed by her skimpy outfit, viewing it as an opportunity to show the beauty of Mother Earth to all who gaze upon her. Also, as Gaia, Mia never goes by her civilian name, for various reasons. Even if the individual addressing her knows her civilian identity, she insists that they refer to her as Gaia, or sometimes even “Lady” Gaia. The only exception to this is (unsurprisingly) Connie, who she allows to call her Mia for old times sake (and because she often simply forgets Mia’s magical girl name in the first place).
Magical Coins:
Rave Event: 1 Gold, 2 Silver
Bonus Coins for Completed Patron Goals during said event: 6 Silver
Fairy Diplomatic Visit: 2 Silver
River Cleanup: 2 Silver
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 17, 1 Gold to increase MAG to 18, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 22
Kind, loving, warm and generous, but in an overbearing, smothering, highly controlling way. Mother knows what’s best and others will simply have to endure it, whether they like it or not.
History:
Apparently the sentient consciousness of Earth itself, she is the personification and protector of the natural world. Due to reasons too complex to note here, she is unable to exercise the totality of her vast power herself, but must instead imbue a chosen young woman with her massive mystical might. This “Daughter of Mother Earth” then acts as her agent, carrying out her bidding in the world.
Goals:
Cleanse/Preserve the natural world from mundane pollution: Low?
Cleanse/Preserve the natural world from magical pollution/corruption: Medium?
Mother Earth’s resources are as vast as the Earth itself. All of nature is hers to rule and command, and this authority now extends to Gaia as well. Of course, with pollution, deforestation, and various other environmental ills at an all time high, Mother Earth’s powers are not nearly as strong as they once were. Nevertheless, they are still not to be taken lightly.
Additional Info:
Mother Earth is quite pleased that her daughter has decided to take her friend Connie under her branches, so to speak. She is a goddess who seeks to nurture growth, after all, and what better growth to nurture than the potential of a dear friend?
Hmmm... This situation with the Mint is quite the perplexing conundrum. How to proceed?
Wowie Zowie~! Like, Oh Em Gee~! Magical Dream Princess is, like, sooo super duper cute~! (giggle!)
Specialization: Oddball (Sweet Dreams)
Has the power to give people sweet dreams, as well as increase said dreams' strength and realism in order to inspire/comfort the dreamer and help them overcome nightmares. In a way, she can conjure up illusions and hallucinations for people in the waking world, but they are (normally) nowhere near as strong as those created by someone with the Illusion power set. They essentially tap into the hopes and, well, dreams already present in the individual and make them real. Violet has very little (if any) control over what form they take or what they do after being created, which can sometimes be a problem, since if they are tied to/powered by strong enough hopes, the illusions can have a tangible effect on the physical world, although, bering fueled by positive emotions, the effects are never all that bad (in this way, they act rather like spirits as described by the Spirit specialization). Finally, in times of danger, Violet can surround herself with something resembling a pocket dimension, somewhat akin to a witch's barrier from Madoka (a "Dream Barrier", if you will), albeit nowhere near as powerful. It simply amplifies her Sweet Dream aura and the strength of her illusions in its small area of effect.
Weapon: The Wand of Sweetest Dreams (Mystic/Ranged)
This incredibly cute and sparkly wand greatly amplifies Violet's already impressive mystical abilities. It can also fire powerful blasts of raw dream energy over a not inconsiderable distance.
Power: Deluge of Cuteness (Barrage)
In times of great danger, Violet can go all-out with her dream magic, expelling it in a mighty barrage of swirling, sparkling energy and a dizzying array of cute and whimsical objects and creatures. It is quite overwhelming, but Violet is left nearly exhausted afterwards. Or, as she likes to say "Magical Dream Princess needs a nappy wappy time..."
Perks:
Wealth and Resources- As heiress to a multi-billion dollar megacorporation, Violet has no lack of wealth or resources. Whatever she requests, her doting father quickly lavishes upon her. Thus, she effectively has access to all of Covington Industries' advanced (including experimental) technology and highly trained personnel. Although, with her recent investigation into supernatural concerns, she must be careful on how she phrases these requests. After all, she won't make any progress from inside a padded room. Note- Only usable when untransformed.
Enhanced Weapon- The Wand of Sweetest Dreams is an extraordinarily powerful nexus of dream energies, imbued with all the reality shattering power of The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. As such, it provides a greatly amplified level of power to its wielder.
Dual Weapon- As noted above, The Wand of Sweetest Dreams is a Mystic Weapon whose power is so great, that its normally weak magical beam is amplified into something far more impressive.
Power Artifact- The Sphere of Happy Thoughts is a shimmering crystal pendant Violet wears around her neck. If strong enough hopes and dreams are detected, it will empower Violet's illusions enough to solidify them into tangible entities. Violet loves the pendent, because she thinks it's the "super duper pretty wittiest~!" She also likes how it draws attention to her chest...
Natural Aging- One of Violet's dreams is to be able to succeed her father as both head of the Covington family and CEO of Covington Industries. To permit her to do this even as a magical girl, Violet has been given the ability to continue aging like a normal human. Of course, when she is in her magical girl form she will always be a vivacious sixteen year old. After all, no one wants to see an old woman magical girl (or maybe they do, but Violet sure doesn't want to be one).
Money- As heiress to a multi-billion dollar megacorporation, Violet has no lack of wealth or resources. Still, she has always secretly wished to have her own source of income, separate from what her father lavishes upon her. Income she can use for her own secret endeavors that would be untraceable to him or to Covington Industries. Upon becoming a magical girl, this wish has been granted. Thus, Violet now has access to $3000 USD every month. The money is deposited into a secret bank account and adjusts for inflation.
Intuition- After reading through a book of wisdom she received during the Christmas Party gift exchange, Violet has gained the ability to sense the true motives of others, especially if they are harboring dark thoughts or ill intentions. This is extremely helpful for someone like Violet, who becomes so very naive and childish in her magical girl form.
Patron: The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams (Lesser Force)
Patron Benefits:
Focused- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is the embodiment of Violet's specialization and is only too willing to aid her in getting the most out of it. Her magic flows easily, and, with her patron’s guidance, she has the potential to wield her element with great efficiency. Spells cost her less mana.
Mental Link- Some Lesser Forces know spells or have abilities to communicate in subtle ways. The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is one of them. As long as Violet possesses The Dreamscape Almanac, it can communicate with her at any time. This may not always constitute a benefit (Violet is rather ambivalent about it), but means that she won’t be caught off guard if it discovers new information, and it is able to notify her if it requires her assistance immediately.
Hidden Death- As it is linked to a universal constant, if the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is somehow killed, it will come back in time. Violet won’t be called on to fight in heavy combat to defend it, instead her task will be to ensure it will return.
Mystic Might- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has drastically improved Violet's mystic abilities.
Manna Font- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is capable of channeling massive quantities of energy to its chosen champion. As such, Violet has more mana than normal.
Patron Drawbacks:
Clueless- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams doesn’t know how other magic, monsters, or mystic phenomena in general work. It can’t offer Violet any meaningful advice on these topics.
Rival Force- Nightmares are the antithesis of the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. Thus, it holds great animosity towards any beings who promote/are empowered by them. For her part, Violet will have to defend her patron often, and will likely be called on to make attacks on the agents of this rival.
Alien Mind- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams does not think in ways that make sense to a human mind. It has little to no understanding of the human experience. While it desires Violet's well being it does not understand why she might find some of its requests objectionable, and will not always know how to help her.
Formless- The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has no physical body. It cannot speak to Violet without employing its Mental Link with her, indicate things via pointing, or affect things directly without her aid.
Fighting Style:
When she needs to fight ”meanie weanie nightmares" and the beings who cause them, Magical Dream Princess primarily relies on the might of her magic to win the day. A mystic powerhouse, she can craft all kinds of dream constructs to suit any situation. She usually lets these do the bulk of the fighting, while she backs them up with blasts from her wand. If her enemies get too close, she will form her dream barrier around herself, within which her dream manifestations are even more powerful. Finally, in times of last resort, Magical Dream Princess can let loose a massive barrage of raw dream energy, but such an enormous expulsion of power is very draining for her, leaving her exhausted and vulnerable.
Violet is calm, cool, and refined. She is always perfectly poised, always in control of her emotions and actions, as is expected of the daughter of Thane Covington and heiress of the respected Covington family. She is very smart and calculating, deeply invested in fully preparing for her future role as CEO of Covington Industries, and Head of the Covington Family. Incredibly mature, she has no time for games or other childish foolishness. She often comes across as haughty and arrogant, but she likes to think of herself as simply confident in her own abilities, and mindful of the respect she should be afforded due to her high station.
In her Magical Girl form, however, Violet's personality changes completely. She becomes incredibly childish and ditzy, acting like a sickeningly sweet and cutesy valley girl. Staggeringly bubbly and hyper, she goes from being rigidly focused to having the worst case of ADHD imaginable. She finds it almost impossible to concentrate, never thinks before she speaks, and often forgets things mid sentence. Even her voice changes from her usual deep and mature tone to a high-pitched girly one. She also often speaks in the third person in this form. Her usual seriousness is replaced by an upbeat, carefree, and extraordinarily playful attitude. When she's in this form, she just wants to have fun and it's almost impossible to get her to take anything seriously (her father's wellbeing is a notable exception to this).
Since becoming a magical girl, Violet has slowly allowed small traces of her transformed persona to influence her mundane self. In particular, she has been making a determined effort to treat others with greater respect and kindness.
History:
Violet is the daughter (and only child) of Thane Covington, CEO of Covington Industries, a powerful corporation involved in a myriad of pollutive industries (pollutive not only in the sense that they damage the natural world, but also in the negative effect they have on quality of life/international relations. In particular, since they manufacture a LOT of weapons they are always on the lookout for ways to increase the market for them). In her efforts to help Connie make the best use of her powers, Gaia had her plague the elder Covington with horrific nightmares about the results of his environmental destruction. Seeing her father continually plagued by them to the point of insomnia, Violet sought out ways for dealing with the unusually vivid and persistent nightmares. Possessing an abundance of resources as a wealthy heiress (including a recent deal with the Ebon Mint), she soon found what she was looking for-The Dreamscape Almanac, an ancient tome, said to contain the secrets of dream magic. Tasking a pair of Mint agents to retrieve the book from Mariette Pedersen, the ancient tome was soon delivered into her possession (although not soon enough for Violet's liking). Opening the book, she was amazed to discover that its pages held the power to communicate with a powerful mystical being, trapped within its pages. This "Sovereign of Sweet Dreams", as it called itself, informed the heiress that it could imbue her with the power to help her father, if she would only agree to become its new champion. After some intense deliberation, Violet agreed to the being's terms and was flooded with powerful energies, until she had been utterly transformed. Gone was the haughty, refined heiress. In her place was the bubbly, hyperactive, and incredibly ditzy Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess! Happily thanking her Patron for her new abilities, Violet set out to "Save Daddy Waddy from those meanie weanie nightmares~!”
However, that task turned out to be a fair bit more complicated than it had initially seemed. For one thing, Violet soon discovered that Connie was just as much a victim as her father, and, in addition, she was forced to confront the truth of the elder Covington’s less than noble actions. There was also the revelation that the Ebon Mint were a far more sinister force than she had initially believed. Now, with her father recovering from a curse secretly placed upon him by the Mint itself, Violet finds herself leading a double life, walking a treacherous tightrope between serving as the interim head of Covington Industries (and secret partner of the Mint), and being an idealistic magical girl, who wants everyone to live in peace and love.
Fortunately, Violet is not without friends (including a girlfriend) to lend a helping hand. She still must be cautious, of course, but now she has the opportunity to beat the Mint at their own game of deception, while restoring the hopes and dreams of her beloved city in the process.
No matter what the future may hold, one thing is certain- she has a lot of work to do...
Incantation:
"Hearts, Candy, Sparkles, and Balloons~! Sunshine, Glitter, Unicorns, and Rainbows~! Taaa daaa~! Magical Girl Super Cute Pretty Pretty Magical Dream Princess is here~! (giggle!)"
Additional Info:
Violet has always been aware of the mystical nature of the world. She can "peer behind the veil" and perceive supernatural occurrences where others would just see some mundane analogue.
She also has a photographic memory, although only when untransformed. As Magical Dream Princess, her memory can sometimes be compared to that of a goldfish...
One might think that Violet would completely despise her magical girl persona, but they would be wrong. In reality, Violet absolutely LOVES being Magical Dream Princess, since it lets her finally be free to express all the parts of herself she had been forced to keep hidden all her life. It's the ultimate form of stress relief for such an uptight and emotionally repressed girl, and she is loving every minute of it!
Magical Coins:
Raid on Mariette’s Mansion Event: 1 Gold
End of Season Bonus: 1 Ruby
Spent: 1 Gold to increase MAG to 20, 1 Ruby to increase MAG to 24
*** 1 Silver was also used to change her power from Regeneration to Barrage ***
Type: Lesser Force
Name: The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams
Personality:
Fun-loving and carefree, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams is nevertheless single-minded in its pursuit of eternally increasing the quantity and strength of intelligent beings’ sweet dreams. In this way, it is less of a thinking being and more of an elemental force.
History:
Not much is known about the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams. It claims to have no knowledge of its past. It has simply existed, and will continue to exist, as long as people continue to have sweet dreams.
Resources:
Although staggeringly powerful in its focused area, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams' resources are virtually non-existent. Despite what one would think regarding such a being, the Sovereign of Sweet Dreams has no army of cutesy creatures or network of agents (other than Violet), and has very little presence in, or effect on, the world outside the realm of dreams. On the other hand, since every creature has dreams, this has the potential to be a very mighty realm indeed.
Goals:
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from multiple (over twenty, at once) mundanes: Low?
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from a magical/dark magical/monster girl: Medium?
Give sweet dreams/banish nightmares to/from multiple magical/dark magical/monster girls: High?
Additional Info:
The Sovereign of Sweet Dreams manifests itself to Violet as a colorful mixture of whimsical creatures and objects. Sometimes it is a unicorn rainbow with butterfly wings. At other times, it might resemble a cupcake with cat ears and a tail. Regardless, it is always something sickeningly cute.
It should also be noted that, although Violet freed it from many of its shackles, the Sovereign is still bound to The Dreamscape Almanac. If Violet were to lose possession of the book, the Sovereign could potentially be sealed away once more. If this happens, Violet would completely lose all her magical power, until such time as the Sovereign could be freed once more.
Name: Angela Rei Sakatori (The Angel of Hope)
Age (Magical Girl): 16
Age (Before Magical Girl): 16
Gender: Female
Gender (Before Magical Girl): Female
Appearance:
As you might be able to tell from the above image, in her magical girl form, Angela is Overdeveloped and wears a Skimpy outfit.
Specialization: Reinforcement
Angela chose this because she's always been one to think outside the box. Not only did she see how it would give her stat boosts in more categories than any other Spec, but she was also aware of how creative individuals (like herself) could use the Spec to boost her own capabilities even further as well as to create weapons and armor to help her attack enemies directly. Of course, as the Angel of Hope, she uses her Spec in a more traditional, if still overpowered, way. Chiichuu likes this choice because it means his operative will need to work with other magical girls in order to be most effective, thus granting him the opportunity to attempt to recruit them.
Weapon: The Celestial Staff of Radiant Empowerment (Mystic)
Angela wanted to be a magical powerhouse, so she chose a Mystic Weapon. She had hoped it would be a dark and edgy scepter, but she got this instead. It has no offensive abilities whatsoever, but it does greatly enhance her magical power (for purely defensive spells, of course).
Power: Third Eye
Angela has the Sight, allowing her to see the flows and after effects of magic. Her sense of magic is extremely precise - she can pierce illusions, trace the effects of faded rituals, or know the type of magic being used at a glance. Most helpfully, her highly attuned magic sense allows her to predict incoming spells. If she is quick enough (which she almost always is), this can let her dodge attacks or counter them with her own. She can also easily tell when an Overcity entrance is nearby, though it will take her some time to determine exactly how to activate it. This works even out of costume.
Perks:
Enhanced Weapon- Angela figured the best magical girl should have the best weapon, and so the Celestial Staff of Radiant Empowerment has been enhanced to it's fullest potential.
Enhanced Outfit- Same goes for her outfit. It provides even an even greater boost to her agility than it would normally.
Enhanced Sustenance- Angela mainly chose this so she could stay up all night to play video games. Being able to go on longer missions was a cool side benefit, and not needing air to breath was always nice, too.
Wings- Angela was initially planning on a demoness aesthetic, so wings were a necessity. Unfortunately for her, they came out a lot more angelic in appearance than she was hoping for.
Gifted- An obvious choice. Her barriers are stronger than normal and she can create more of them. She can also heal others much faster than normal and her healing and augmentation abilities can affect multiple people at once.
Patron: Chiichuu (Puchuu)
Patron Benefits:
Job Satisfaction- This manifests itself as far more than a simple joy in defeating monsters. Rather, Angela's entire attitude and outlook is drastically altered. Upon transforming, she goes from a selfish, obnoxious brat to someone who is utterly selfless, humble, and heroic. Angela is not a particularly large fan of this, although she does enjoy the feeling of rapturous bliss she receives when she completes her objectives.
Chatty- Chiichuu is quite the amiable little fellow, at least most of the time. He will happily tell Angela all sorts of tales about magical realms and treasures, but his own personal history, and especially the events leading to the death of his old team, are completely off limits. Also, the tales he loves to tell are often complete bullshit. They're simply ways to motivate Angela to go to the places and do the things he wants her to.
Mystic Might- As his only magical operative at the time of her empowerment, Chiichuu wanted to make Angela the best magical girl she could be, so he greatly increased her already substantial mystical abilities.
Manna Font- In the same way, he has also granted her an increased supply of mana.
Patron Drawbacks:
Cagey- While certainly talkative, there are some topics Chiichuu will simply not discuss under any circumstances. In addition, much of what he says often fails to convey the full picture of a situation. Other times, his "information" is just complete bullshit.
Expendable- While Chiichuu's pool of agents numbers a mere two, the furry creature still sees Angela as expendable, especially if there's an opportunity to contract with more fitting girls. As far as Chiichuu is concerned, Angela is little more than a placeholder until he can put together a proper team once more. For her part, Angela is so full of herself that she has a hard time believing any opponent would be too much for her to handle, and as the Angel of Hope, she is only too willing to give up her life for the sake of others.
Big Brother- Chiichuu was once the supervisor of a very active squad of girls, and he expects the same level of activity and training from Angela. He's often close by, advising her, admonishing her for her poor attitude and mistakes, and pressuring her to perform more training and go on more missions.
Fighting Style: She's a Reinforcement Specialist. Thus, she mainly assumes a support role, healing her allies, enhancing their abilities, and providing barriers to shield them from even the strongest attacks. If Angela had her way, she would use her Spec to boost her own combat abilities and create weapons and armor for herself, but as the Angel of Hope, she finds herself utterly incapable of performing any offensive or aggressive actions whatsoever, refusing to directly harm even the most threatening of monsters.
In her mundane form, Angela is loud, obnoxious, and completely full of herself. She thinks that she is the greatest magical girl ever, and loves to tell people that fact, whether they want to hear it or not. An avid video gamer, she treats being a magical girl like a game and constantly brags about her exploits on chatrooms like Glimmer.
As the Angel of Hope, Angela is kind, motherly, modest, and humble, always trying to help others to the best of her ability and constantly offering words of encouragement. She will happily offer advice but is reluctant to take charge of a situation, preferring a supportive role. She has the appearance, attitude, and demeanor of a guardian angel. Despite her power and experience, she is highly submissive around others and obeying nearly every command issued to her.
History:
Not much is known about her. She appears before other magical girls when things are at their worst and does her best to protect her new allies (as well as any civilians, of course) and turn the tide of battle in their favor. After victory has been attained she disappears as mysteriously as she arrived.
Although she constantly fills the chatrooms and message boards of Glimmer with her loud boasts and obnoxious self-aggrandizement, no one really seems to know too much about her. In fact, it seems that no one has ever even seen her in person, and many believe that she isn't even a magical girl at all. Not that such accusations really bother her. Despite the low opinion everyone else seems to have of her, she keeps on telling all who will listen how much better she is than them, and how lucky they are that she decided to grace their humble chatroom with her illustrious presence.
Our story really begins a few years ago, in the prosperous city of Hydrangopolis on the west coast of the United States. A major hub of biotech research, the city was on the cutting edge of advances in environmental restoration and genetic engineering. One corporation in particular, Eden Enterprises, was on the cusp of its greatest breakthrough yet, the development of a true panacea, a cure for every ailment known to humanity. Naturally, they kept the project under a veil of the strictest secrecy, but despite all their precautions, someone, or rather, something did take notice. And it was not at all pleased by what it saw. The eldritch entity known only as The Blight could not allow such a creation to come into existence, and so it took drastic steps to prevent this.
An army of its monstrous minions descended upon Hydrangopolis, and the Eden Enterprises research complex, in particular, causing untold destruction. Every magical girl and heroic magical being in the area rushed to the city’s defense. Some of these defenders came from even farther afield, including Gaia, who helped defeat an infernal behemoth in the process of igniting the volcano within nearby Mount Folkelin. However, this was but a prelude of what was to come. Just as the monster threat seemed to be under control, The Blight itself made its grand appearance. None could stand against its power, and all seemed lost, but then, like a ray of purest sunlight, a squad of the city’s greatest magical girls charged forth to deliver a final, desperate, last-ditch attack. Every last ounce of the quartet’s power was put into that single combined strike, and even then, it almost wasn’t enough.
Almost.
Ultimately, The Blight was annihilated for all time, but, sadly, so were the ones who had slain it. Not even dust remained. It was as if every trace of them had ceased to exist. No one, magical or mundane, even remembered their names. No one, except for Chiichuu. The girls’ Puchuu had watched with both sorrow and admiration as his charges had performed their heroic sacrifice. They had been his best, the best he had ever known in all the long millennia of his life. And now they were gone. Now, as the city of Hydrangopolis began the long, slow process of recovery, so would he. He knew he would never find anyone as capable as his former team, but there had to be a worthy candidate somewhere amongst the surviving inhabitants of the city, and so he began his search…
Unfortunately, after days of looking, he had come up empty-handed. It appeared as though every potential candidate had already been claimed by one Patron or another in a mad dash to replace their fallen champions. Chiichuu, being the calm and methodical creature that he was, had simply been too slow. Now all that were left to him were the dregs, people completely unsuited to the role of magical protector. One such person was a teenage girl named Angela. At the end of his proverbial rope, Chiichuu had decided to test out the admittedly dubious idea that an exceptional video game player might also make for at least a decent magical warrior, and so, he had researched the various leader boards to see if any locals were in the top spots. To his surprise, someone was, and on multiple games as well. Angela Rei Sakatori.
Traveling to her house, he was disappointed to discover a mouthy, self-obsessed brat, who only seemed to care about stroking her own hyper-inflated ego. She was a far cry from the members of his previous squad that was for sure… Still, he could work with this. Since she was so interested in being the best, he told her that she could become the best magical girl. This, and the fact that she would have magical super powers, was quite appealing to someone like Angela, so she smugly accepted the furry creature’s offer. However, although she was told that she would have complete control over the transformation process, this was only true up to a point… While she would pick the options, he would choose how they were implemented.
For instance, while Angela wanted to appear like an ultra-edgy and super-sexy demoness/dominatrix, Chiichuu had something a bit more angelic in mind. And so it went. The biggest change would be the affect the transformation would have on her personality. Normally, the benefit of “Job Satisfaction” would simply make the recipient more amenable to their task of slaying monsters, but Chiichuu decided to go a bit further, giving Angela a complete change in outlook and behavior. The obnoxious and self-centered girl would now become someone far more selfless and heroic. When the transformation was complete, Angela, or rather the Angel of Hope, as she now called herself, still wasn’t a match for any of the Puchuu’s former champions, but she was close enough.
Staggeringly kind and submissive, the Angel of Hope profusely thanked “Master” Chiichuu for his “wondrous gift”, and immediately set out to help those in need. Naturally, when she returned and changed back into Angela, she was none too pleased by what the Puchuu had done to her. But there was no going back now, Chiichuu informed her. She was a magical girl, and that was that. Since then, the ever-competitive Angela has strived to be the best magical girl possible, despite the annoying problem of her massive attitude change when she enters her magical form. She constantly brags about and over inflates her exploits on every Glimmer chatroom and message board she can find, to the great displeasure of everyone who has misfortune of encountering her. Meanwhile, the Angel of Hope continues to be a mysterious savior to all those in need, whether mundane or magical, never seeking praise, but simply disappearing after the battle in her usual humble fashion.
Chiichuu, for his part, is still looking for prospective candidates to fill the vacancies remaining in his team. Fortunately, a recent (and, in Angela’s case, incredibly embarrassing) visit to Penrose actually led to the recruitment of a second magical girl, one whom Angela utterly despises. Unfortunately, despite her constant desire to beat the crap out of her smug new teammate, she has found herself completely unable to lay a hand on her. Indeed, life has recently become so intolerable for poor Angela that she frequently finds herself wishing that she could leave annoying, insipid Hydrangopolis behind and go somewhere, anywhere, else. Little does Angela realize, but her wish is about to be granted…
Incantation:
“Radiant power of the celestial heights, fill every fiber of my being! Remake my mortal shell into a fitting vessel for your splendor! To all those in despair, take heart and fear not! For I, the Angel of Hope, have arrived!”
Additional Info:
Loves video games and is obsessed with being the best at them. Hates her magical girl persona, but tolerates it for the sake of having magical powers.
Magical Coins: 0
Type: Puchuu
Name: Chiichuu
Personality:
Polite to those he feels deserving, otherwise he can be very snide, condescending and rude to those beneath his respect (especially those he considers to be failures).
History:
Having been in the business of supervising magical teams for several centuries, Chiichuu reached his pinnacle about a decade ago, when he recruited what was, in his humble opinion, the greatest squad of magical defenders in this, or any other universe. Those were glorious days indeed, but, sadly, they have faded into history. Now begins the time of Chiichuu's decline, as other, more influential powers eclipse his once mighty influence and prestige. Although perhaps his luck may be returning... after all, a recent trip to Penrose provide the opportunity to recruit a powerful and skilled magical girl ( who came with the added bonus of having a much more tolerable personality than Angela). Perhaps his dream of a return to glory may soon be attained…
Resources:
Once Chiichuu's resources were many and vast. Now they are few and greatly restricted. He currently has only two agents, although he is constantly on the look out to increase that number, and in a stroke of supernaturally bad luck, all of his former contacts, friends and associates cut off all ties and refuse to even chat with him. All very distressing... For his part, Chiichuu believes that The Blight cursed him in a final act of defiance just before his former squad vanquished the horror for all eternity.
Based on his current situation, it certainly seems that way...
Dana listened intently as Garnier informed them of the drones’ various armaments. “I’ll keep that in mind!” she noted with a giggle when the cadet advised them to avoid getting stepped on. Cordelia proceeded to follow up on Penny’s plan by suggesting that, in the event they came under attack, the “least effective” member of the team should remain behind to keep the drones occupied, while the rest continued on to the objective. Nicole then followed that up by volunteering herself for that role, should the need arise. This caused the usually upbeat Dana to frown slightly. The thought of “sacrificing” one of their own didn’t particularly sit well with her, especially when the “sacrifice” in question was their unofficial leader. She was about to say as much, when the ever-astute Vanna spoke up, offering some much needed words of wisdom. The young noble went on to address Dana personally, advising her to remain focused on the closest threat at all times. “Roger that!” the energetic Ars Magi confirmed with a nod, while giving her refined teammate a confident grin. Holst then stepped up beside Dana and offered her services as a spotter. “Thanks!” the cheerful Norban replied with a big grin. “My elementum can really improve my vision, but two sets of eyes are always better than one!” she added, her brilliant smile seeming to shine all the brighter as lightning split the sky overhead.
While the current weather conditions might have been viewed as unpleasant by most people, Dana Noel wasn’t most people. The buffeting wind and torrential rain only served to amp up her already irrepressible enthusiasm to maximum power. Focusing that power within her small body, Dana’s eyes seemed to glow as her vision was enhanced tenfold. Imbued with the power of her elementum, her awareness expanded to take note of every aspect of the battlefield before them, every piece of rubble, every drop of rain. Thus, she was the first to notice when Nicole employed her own elementum to redirect that rain towards where the drones lay in wait, hopefully befouling the machines’ optics enough to conceal their presence. And if that wasn’t sufficient, Cordelia was quick to provide her own contribution, in the form of a swiftly constructed mirror. Moving with a balance of speed and caution, the small team of officers and Ars Magi made their way down the rubble strewn street. Dana herself stuck close to the officers and joined Holst in keeping a sharp eye out for any unpleasant surprises. It took them nearly half an hour, but eventually, they had made it within sight of their destination, while remaining completely undetected. Unfortunately, that was about to change, as a pair of drones appeared to block their path.
As the imposing machines drew nearer, Garnier suggested that if the pair was taken out fast enough, they might not even have time to signal the others. Not wasting a moment, Nicole was quick to issue orders, which basically boiled down to “have Penny smash the crap out of them”. An instant later, Team 3’s pint-sized powerhouse proceeded to do just that. In short order, the two machines had been reduced to piles of sparking scrap, curtesy of Penny’s rocket hammer, and a few supporting shots from Dana’s own gladius to finish them off. The only question now was, had their little “demolition derby” attracted the attention of the other drones in the area? With that thought at the forefront of her mind, Dana’s piercing gaze swiftly scanned the surrounding area, the energetic Norban on high alert for any sign of approaching danger.
Ashley was filled with a mixture of eager excitement and nervous trepidation as the van made its way through the streets of Pax Septimus. Although she had run through a training course under Binky’s supervision and recently taken part in her first field mission, alongside Agent Silhouette, this would be the first time she would be participating in an operation as part of a full G.E.M.I.N.I. team. Looking around the somewhat cramped van, Ashley glanced at each of her fellow agents in turn. She was already familiar with the green-haired Binky and the nightmarish (and endearingly studious) Silhouette, but she only knew the others from what she had learned from their personnel files.
On the more experienced side, there was the tough, no-nonsense Dragon Breacher and the equally imposing armored woman beside her, Agent Leroux, one of the rare few agents that didn’t use a codename. On the more youthful end of the scale were Agents Wukong and Valkyrie, an interesting pair, to say the least. Where the former, simian-themed young woman looked like a bundle of fidgety energy waiting to be unleashed, the latter seemed to be taking a nap, as though she were utterly unbothered by the impeding mission. Perhaps the enormous gauss rifle propped up against her was the source of the young agent’s lack of concern, Ashley reflected. It was a truly fascinating weapon, to be sure, and Ashley made a mental note to ask her teammate about it once the current operation had safely concluded.
That was about when the van hit a bump, and Binky used the attention-grabbing event to initiate a small pre-mission briefing. It was little more than a recap of what they already knew, but Ashley was thankful for the additional reminder. After all, one could never tell when an important detail might be forgotten. They had quite the challenge ahead of them, that much was abundantly clear, but dealing with threats like Justin von Carnage was the reason Ashley had joined G.E.M.I.N.I. in the first place. Thus, the Knight of Tomorrow was determined to support her teammates to the very best of her ability.
Binky concluded her briefing by offering to answer any questions, at which point Valkyrie and Silhouette spoke up, both agreeing that a bold assault upon the front door was the best way to apprehend von Carnage in a timely manner. “That sounds like the most logical course of action to me, as well,” Ashley chimed in, before Leroux inquired what all this talk of ‘votes’ was about. Yeah, that was a bit odd, Ashley reflected, but she didn’t feel that this was the right time to address such an admittedly minor bit of confusion. There were far more pertinent matters she wished to have some additional clarification on. “Um, what sort of barrier will this ‘blood mage’ be providing?” the Knight of Tomorrow inquired. “In particular, can our own ranged melodies and weaponry be fired through it? And can it be walked through, by us, or our adversaries?”
18 | Female | GEMINI | Vision of Tomorrow Implements of Tomorrow | Wand, Shield | Arcane | Tune of Tomorrow Raiment of Tomorrow | Stride of Tomorrow Light of Tomorrow | Light | Power of Tomorrow [Reveal (2), Purity (4)], Damage (2), Damage X (6), Shield (4), Reflect (4), Heal (6), Major Heal (18), AoE (2), Powerful (0), Piercing (2)
I'm working under the assumption that the new Pageless either hasn't appeared yet, or that it isn't currently visible from where Olivia and Wilhelmina are standing.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Olivia’s friendly greeting was drowned out by the din of battle, thus no reply was immediately forthcoming, and when one was offered, it was simply the girl in question apologizing for not having heard her. “Oh, that’s quite all right!” Olivia called back. “A battlefield probably isn’t the best place to hold a conversation, after all!” she added with a giggle. She was about to turn her attention back to Xolys, when she noticed the spectral sailors the nautical-themed Magical Girl had conjured. “My goodness!” Olivia gasped in amazement. “Those ghosts of yours are simply fascinating! Pardon my asking, but are you perhaps a necromancer, of some sort?” Although she had heard the girl say that she needed to concentrate, Olivia simply couldn’t help herself. She just had to know more about this girl’s abilities! Were the sailors simply magical constructs, or were they summoned, semi-corporeal supernatural entities, or maybe even the actual spirits of deceased individuals? And was she just limited to sailors, or could she also conjure other maritime aid, such as a ship’s cannon, for instance?
As all these myriad possibilities swirled around her brain, Olivia was still cognizant enough to realize that her nautical-themed ally appeared rather vulnerable to attacks from the swarming Pageless, especially with her trio of ghostly sailors seemingly heading off on their own mission. Thankfully, this was a problem the enchanting beauty knew she could assist with. Moving to stand beside the maritime maiden, Olivia placed a reassuring hand on the girl’s epauletted shoulder. “There, now we can converse without fear of being rudely interrupted,” she explained with a smile, her voice serene and soothing. Meanwhile, Xolys continued to slaughter all the Pageless within a roughly fifteen meter radius of his consort, making a special effort to clear a path for Captain Goodhope’s spectral sailors. Looming up behind the ghostly trio, the horrific monstrosity lashed out with two of its largest spiked tentacles, plunging them deep into the tide of Pageless, before spreading the writhing mass apart like some nightmarish Moses at the Red Sea. However, if Captain Goodhope wished to focus, she would regrettably find that to be rather impossible with Olivia in such close proximity…
“Isn’t he just the sweetest~?” Olivia sighed as she watched her consort with dreamy eyes. A moment later, the beautiful maiden’s reverie was shattered as a shocking revelation occurred to her. “Goodness me!” she exclaimed, whirling around to stand in front of her new friend. “I’ve been so dreadfully rude! After all this time, I have yet to introduce myself! Magical Maiden Ethereal Rose, at your service,” she announced with an elegant curtsy. “And that handsome creature,” she added, gesturing to the massive monstrosity that had caused the maritime maiden such mental anguish, “is my consort, Thyerg’Xolys, Master of Xhar’doth. It is a most sincere pleasure to make your acquaintance, and I truly hope we can become the closest of friends!”
If one were to look in just the right direction, at just the right moment, they might perhaps catch a glimpse of a horrific monstrosity as it leapt across the London skyline. And if said hypothetical viewer were granted a closer look, they would no doubt notice that the creature held in its grasp an attractive young woman with flowing, blonde hair and wearing a very elegant gown. Such a viewer, especially if they were a Magical Girl, would be forgiven for thinking that this was obviously a Pageless, racing off into the night with its latest victim. But, were they to look even closer, they would likely be shocked to discover that, instead of keeping its captive restrained, the nightmarish beast was actually cradling the beauty gently, and that said beauty seemed to be enjoying herself a great deal…
“Isn’t this exciting, darling?!” Olivia inquired, her voice filled with exhilaration as her long golden tresses fluttered behind her. “Our first night in London, and already we have an assignment from the Grand Ministry! They must really think highly of us to send us out before we’ve even gone through orientation!”
Perhaps, my sweet Rose, Xolys replied, his calm and polite voice echoing in her mind. Then again, the Pageless seem to be growing ever more restless of late. It may well be that the Ministry has deigned to alert every Magical Girl in the area as a means of effectively curtailing this latest threat, before it grows too strong.
“Hmm…” Olivia mused. “I suppose that does make more sense… Oh, you’re just so smart, darling!” she told her monstrous companion, while nuzzling him affectionately. “And if that’s the case, then we’re sure to meet some other Magical Girls when we get there! Finally, I’ll have a chance to make friends with people just like me!” she gushed, before giving voice to a delighted giggle. “Oh, I simply cannot wait!”
The unlikely pair had been chatting in Olivia’s (otherwise unoccupied) dorm room, when they’d received the Ministry’s alert. Not wasting a moment, Xolys had scooped his fair maiden up and darted off towards the construction site at which a worrying number of Pageless were said to be gathering. Now that they were almost there, Olivia could see that a battle was already in progress, with no less than five Magical Girls facing off against a far more numerous swarm of Pageless. Although, now that she took a closer look, said Pageless appeared to be on the losing end of the engagement, with the monsters perishing by the dozen at the hands of the Magical Girls, while their would-be victims were guarded by barriers of both flame and steel. Not only that, but a fair number of the dark creatures appeared to be in full flight, sprinting away from the battle and deeper into the construction site as fast as their misshapen legs could carry them.
Olivia couldn’t help but be enthralled by the sight. During their relatively short time together, she and Xolys had only encountered mere handfuls of Pageless, and to see such vast numbers falling before the might of her fellow Magical Girls brought great joy to the fair maiden’s heart. The only question now was, how best to assist them? The Ministry’s alert had listed three main objectives: Find the new Grimoire that had appeared nearby, protect the civilians present, and, of course, destroy all the Pageless. Olivia knew she and Xolys weren’t particularly suited to searching for things, and it seemed that the civilians were already fairly well protected, which left…
It appears that no one has yet noticed that cluster of fleeing Pageless, Xolys observed as they descended upon the construction site. Shall I attend to them, dearest?
“Yes, darling,” Olivia nodded. “Please do.”
Dropping out of the sky above above the unsuspecting Pageless, the terrifying monstrosity spun it lower tentacles like a blender, the spiked appendages slicing several Pageless to ribbons before even reaching the ground. Once he had finally landed in their midst, Xolys employed the scythed talons of his other limbs to cut down several more. Meanwhile, Olivia was gently lowered to the ground, where she stood back to admire her companion’s prowess. However, despite her love for watching Xolys work, the fair maiden’s attention couldn’t help but be drawn to the other Magical Girls present, each of whom were dealing with the Pageless in their own unique, but no less impressive, way.
“Greetings, fellow maidens!” Olivia called out to her allies. “May we join you this fair evening?”
BrokenPromise
RPM
Majoraa
Shadow Dragon
Dezuel
Ravion the Red
AtomicNut
Ariamis
