Riven Wight

Rogues and Rulers

Rin: *Reappears, arms crossed, smirking smugly.*
Me: Shut up. It's still polite to ask.
Rin: Politeness is for peasants and politics, love.
Me: I will find a way to shove you in a lamp, or so help me! And don't call me 'love.' That's just creepy coming from you... wait...
Rin: *Grins triumphantly.*
Me: I'm... going to regret that.

Something to bear in mind, too, is their age difference. Calrin is actually 37 (though looks like he did at 23), while Viktor is 24. Thirteen years older. So, he'd probably have had some things to teach him? I'm also going to make him the youngest rather than the second youngest, in that case. Otherwise, it would've made more sense for the one closer in age to Viktor to be in contact with him in that case.

... He's going to have so much fun playing the "I'm your elder" card.

Rogues and Rulers

Glad you approve of the epithet! If Vik would rather something else, go for it, by the by. Was just an idea. (Don't mind me. They have sheets now, so they get to be referred to like they're real upon occasion.)

If you want Blood Tempest to have caught on with the people, then yeah, that would be a part of his reputation!
On-Record would be more that he's known to often work alongside Calrin. Rin would like to spread his epithets quietly, then watch them bloom on their own.

Glad you approve! We have two overly-serious characters. I figured someone to potentially add in some humor could be beneficial.

You'd mentioned them possibly being childhood friends in PMs, so what would you say to them being neighboring territories, and they spent a lot of time honing their fighting skills with each other? I'm thinking that anyone in the Ruling Houses would get trained in whatever magic they have along with in fighting skills from the moment they're capable of using their powers or a dagger, thanks to the competition factors.

Rogues and Rulers

Here's the WIP for that second character. I haven't filled in all the sections for his powers, the weaknesses section needs work, and I haven't written up any bio for him yet. Might do a couple other minor tweaks, too, before putting him up in the Character tab. Let me know if you have any objections to him!

Calrin Ba'alinor

Known Name: Calrin Ba’alinor

Pronunciation: CAL-rin BUH-al-IH-nore

Nickname: Rin

Epithet: Nomadic Prince.
It’s an epithet that he secretly started, and, to is delight, it caught on. He enjoys giving these to people, and has one for basically every Ruling House’s Head and declared Heir.

Full/True Name: Kahal Nacier Ghuldar

Race: Djinn

Actual Age: 37

Appeared Age: Early to mid-twenties.
After djinn hit a certain age (usually between 18 and 25), they’re capable of freezing their aging process. He chose to stop that as soon as he was able to at age 23. While he could let himself age more physically, he has no desire to.

House Type: Ruling House

Rank in House: Unranked/Undeclared.
His House has remained in his direct bloodline for centuries, and it’s the only one that has never had a declared Heir. The Head of House (currently Irahara) goes through a process of mediation and walking the empty Dreamscape to divine who is to be the next Heir. Once known, the Head will not reveal this information, instead sending it out into a small pocket of the Dreamscape to be released in a Death Dream when the Head dies. The whole of the House’s line will receive this dream, and will be bound by the decision.
Because of this, this is also the only one of the Houses where there is no violent internal battle for the title of Heir. While other djinn and dream-walkers have tried to unseat the Ba’alinors, usually right after the rare passing of a Head, none have managed it, solidifying even the people's belief in the djinn's unusual process.
Though no one but Irahara knows who her successor will be, everyone in his House is fairly confident that Calrin is the one she’s chosen. If not the actual Heir, then, at the very least, they’re fairly sure that he’s Irahara’s favorite. Not that she shows that in public.

Relation to Head of House: Second youngest son of the current Head.

Roll in House: As almost the youngest, most of the main duties not covered by their Head fall on his other siblings, leaving him basically free to do as he pleases. As such, he’s chosen to “maintain and strengthen the relations between his and the other Houses.” He meanders about the world, socializing with the other Ruling Houses and its people, and keeping an eye on the Noble Houses, making sure that all their allegiances still remain firmly on the side of their Ruling House—and, in turn, are still doing what they can to keep the everyone in line.
Really, it’s just an excuse for Calrin to experience everything the world has to offer. If there’s any truth in the suspicions that he’s the declared Heir, he may as well enjoy everything that he can before he has to wear the crown.

Racial Diet: Like all of his kind, he needs two things to survive. Normal food to maintain his corporeal body, and dream essence and the emotions that stem from it to sate his incorporeal side. While dream essence from both dreams and nightmares work, Calrin has found that, for him, nightmares and fear work—and ‘taste’—the best.
While he can technically feed off of the dreamstuffs of other supernatural creatures, those of humans always work best, and are far more delectable.

Appearance: He has two different forms—a corporeal form, and incorporeal.

Corporeal Form:

.
Based on the character reference photo of his header.

Height: 5’9”
Build: Lean and muscular.
Eyes: A dark shade of blue speckled with copper.
Hair: Blond, he keeps all but his bangs long, and even those sometimes threaten to brush into his eyes.

Incorporeal Form:

.
This is a spirit form. While when he’s in the minds and dreams of his victims he can take on any shape, when lurking outside it in this form, he takes on a smoky semblance of his corporeal appearance. Only, the most major difference is that his entire ghostly form is the metallic brown of copper, and his eyes glow pure blue—the shade of night chasing away the sun.

Distinguishing Marks: He has a series of ear piercings in one ear that are always filled with some gemstone stud or gold loops. A series of tribal tattoos trail up both his arms in the same shade as his eyes. These tattoos are also likewise mirrored on his incorporeal form, retaining the same shade against his ghostly coppery skin.

Favored Clothes Wear: If he doesn’t have to wear a shirt, he won’t. When he does, he likes soft, flowing fabrics. Countering the flow of his shirt, he usually wears a pair of jeans, and prefers going barefoot, but does own a few pairs of fancy riding boots.
If he’s ever out in the cold, you’d better believe he’ll have about fifty layers of warm clothes on him. And he’ll probably still complain.

Accessories: Besides his earrings and a belt to hang his swords, he always wears a pointed torc around his neck. What was once its opening has been soldered shut, turning it into a single piece of metal. Designed to match his favored weapons, the main metal of it is black, while engravings filled with copper form flowing runes in a dead language. Roughly translated, it reads, “The breath of a soul cannot be chained.”
This torc is more than just a pretty trinket; it’s a ward against the largest threat to his kind: the Entrapment Curse. A curse most djinn thought had been forgotten after the Uprising.
After the death of one of Calrin’s sisters due, in part, to this spell, Irahara spent many years developing something that could ward against this. She worked with quite a few trusted mages to create it, before, at long last, she succeeded. Alas, the materials for these were difficult to come by, and even harder to enchant. As such, she was only capable of making four of them.
As the Head of House, she kept one for herself. The remaining three were to be shared amongst the five living siblings, whoever was to be out for long periods of time to be the ones to wear them. However, with Calrin and Tahari constantly away, theirs became permanent gifts, leaving the remaining one to be shared.

General Personality: Calrin is typically good-humored, flamboyant, and enjoys the occasional practical joke among friends—or at least close acquaintances. As a royal, he always has the nagging knowledge in the back of his mind that he can’t really make any friends; sometimes, it can be difficult to tell the well-trained suck-ups from true friend material.
While “party boy” could almost fit him, it isn’t quite right. Though, he has found that he can hold his own against an orc in a drink-off fairly well. Discovered purely to build a good rapport with the House of giants, of course.
Despite his easy-going personality, he does know there are situations where seriousness is required. While he tends to be slow to anger or otherwise bounces back form it really quick. if you do truly make him mad, you can’t even run from him—he’ll find you in your sleep.
When it comes to humans, he’s a bit on the fence. He’s seen more of how they’re treated than many in the Ruling Houses, seen the kind of squalor most of them have been forced into. A part of him feels bad for the ones just trying to get by, but, as someone who feeds on the nightmares and fear of humans, and thoroughly enjoys being the cause of both of those, he doesn’t have much room to talk.

Public Reputation: In the Supernatural Community: He’s known to be a bit of a chameleon, fitting in just about everywhere he goes. Though there are those who look down on him for his conduct, he’s well liked among a vast majority of the supernatural population, shifting between his usual airy self and the more serious diplomatic prince depending on who—and which House—he’s interacting with.
Since he’s one of the few who don’t just pass through the territories, but actually mingles with the Houses and commoners alike, he’s wound up with a couple small ‘fan clubs,’ of a sort. While he isn’t the only House member with such a following, he certainly isn’t upset to be among the few who do have them.
Despite what some bits of his personality may lead others to think about him, he’s known to be the chivalrous type, and for treating everyone as his equal, rather than like subjects.
In the Human Communities: While he doesn’t treat humans exceptionally well, in public, he typically doesn’t inherently treat them poorly, either. But if he locks his sights on someone to be his next dream-feed, then he’s known to become downright cruel. Though he doesn’t kill humans to feed—as long as he only does it from the same one once or twice in a row—he knows how to play on their fears, to toy with them while they’re awake so their nightmares are genuine.
The most they can do is keep their heads down, and try to not let their fear of him grow strong enough for him to smell it. Because once they’re chosen, it’s almost impossible for them to tell reality from Calrin’s mind tampering.
They’ve heard rumor that it’s not uncommon for those human offerings from his territory who get sent to travel with him or to others of his House to die from sleep deprivation, or even from heart attacks in their sleep—literally dying from fear—no matter how young or healthy they may have been when they arrived at the House.

Weapons: A pair of yatagan swords. The blades are black, and the handles are made of bone with copper-filled inlay. Flowing script of a long-dead language curls over the blades on either side, the engravings again filled with a coppery substance. The text translates roughly to, “Life is but a dream steeped in nightmare.”
While usually only clothes (and usually only lighter ones at that) and small jewelry items will translate properly into his incorporeal form, these are designed to withstand that shift, and will come over into this spirit-like form. Here, while they can’t harm other living creatures, since they exist on that in-between, metaphysical plane of existence, they’re useful against other creatures that can also traverse this plane.

Magic Abilities: What powers he has depends on what form he’s in. Though, there is one thing he has in both: a slight resistance to magic and enchantments. Since his body is technically existing in both planes to some extent (here’s always some part of him tethered to the physical or spiritual world, which is what allows him to alternate between forms at will), this makes it harder for certain types of magic to fully affect him.

Corporeal Form:

Minor Reality Bending – He can change some select fundamental aspects of reality. Like, turning a rug into quicksand, turning something solid into a liquid or something clay-like so he can mold it into something else, etc. He has to be capable of touching what he wants to alter—though he doesn’t have to maintain contact, and only has to touch it once, at any point in the recent past—and can only alter non-sentient things. Meaning he can’t do anything directly to a living person.

Altered Perceptions/Illusions – He’s capable of altering the perceptions of those around him, making them see what he wants them to see. This takes up less energy than full-on reality bending, but is stronger when he pairs it with a bit of reality bending. He is extremely strong in this; only those who are exceptionally good at seeing through glamour or have impenetrable shields around their minds can see past this. While there are a couple rare exceptions, basically, only a small selection of the Ruling Houses and an even smaller amount of Nobles can see past this.

In-Between Form – He can sort of toggle between his forms for a couple seconds, allowing him to burst into coppery smoke before reforming into his more solid form. A downside is that he can’t maintain any reality bending when he does this. Those require a full link to the physical world, so if he’s using that ability, they’ll blink out for the moment that he’s made of smoke. However, any illusions will stay active, since those are also a sort of in-between metaphysical power.

Fear Sense – Though he could have honed this sense to detect any emotion, he inadvertently trained himself to taste, smell, and sense fear above all others. Which isn’t to say he can’t still detect other emotions this way, he’s just best at picking out fear and unease.
Not all fear is created equal; some people’s fear is more delectable than others. Alas, in a physical form, he can’t feed on it, so it’s really an equivalent to someone walking into a restaurant and smelling all the mouth-watering smells, but their mouth is wired shut, so they can’t eat anything. But this lets him admire the smells, and pick out his favorites to poke at until it festers into something grander and feast on later.

Object Summoning –

Incorporeal Form:

Dream Manipulation –

Dreamscape Travel –

Emotion Detection – Unlike with just the emotion’s existence, in this form, he can actually see and hear exactly what it is that someone fears, and why. He can also do the opposite, finding out what would induce “happier” feelings, but, well, he has his preferences. While there are some who can put up barriers for this kind of psychic attack, there hasn’t been a barrier he’s found to be too strong for him to break through.

Emotion/Dream Feasting –

Intangibility – In this form, he can’t be hurt by any physical-only weapons, but likewise can’t do much more than push someone around. While he can create a somewhat solid form of himself, it doesn’t hold as much sway in the physical realm, and he has to concentrate to do it. He is, for all intents and purposes, a form of ghost.

Illusions – This is the only power that carries over from his physical form. However, in this form, it’s stronger, and can affect both planes of existence.

Telekinesis –

Invisibility –

Physical Abilities: Corporeal: He’s light enough on his feet for his size, but his muscles aren’t just for show. He isn’t the quickest on a battlefield, but he makes up for it in strength and precision. Incorporeal: In this form, he is, by definition, non-physical. He retains his physical strength and gains extra speed from not having a physical body to slow him down, which he can use against anything else he may encounter on this plane of existence.

Other Weaknesses: The more he uses his powers, the more he hast to eat—in both forms.
Entrapment Curse – As mentioned earlier, this is the largest threat to djinn. That old genie in a bottle bit? This curse is where that comes from. It’s possible for a djinn to be trapped while in their incorporeal form. This curse enhances their abilities, allowing them to fully alter reality to grant whatever wishes the owner of their cage (it doesn’t have to be an oil lamp) demands. Which, no, isn’t limited to three wishes. Basically, it forces them to trade their freedom for power. But this also means that it limits how often they can feed from dreams, while also syphoning their power and strength quicker. This often means that a cursed and trapped djinn will die within a couple weeks to a month.

Immediate Family:

He has a decently large family, all things considered, so I’ll keep this to just his immediate family.
> Parents – Irahara and Jahoon Ba’alinor
> Siblings – Rafel – Age: 61
Mara’ara – Deceased.
Tahari – Age: 42
Sinra – Age: 39
Thelnik. – Age 25

Other: He absolutely loathes the cold. While the placement of his House’s territory ensures that they have more hot days than cold ones, if he’s ever somewhere where the temperatures drop below fifty, you’re more likely to find him bundled up in front of a fireplace drinking something hot (and spiked) than out and about.

Calrin wants me to ask if he can call Viktor the "Blood Tempest," since Vik is a ruthless killer when it comes to rebels, and his powers and personality are very changeable and stormy.

Okay. He doesn't want me to ask. He's now angry and wants you to know, "SHE'S the one who wants to ask! Blasted human, know your place!"

Me: You're MY brain child! Hey, don't you--!
Rin: *Bursts into smoke and disappears.*
Me: ... I LIKE my nightmares! Remember that! Your tricks won't work on me!
Rin: *Nefarious disembodied chortling.*
Me: Oh, wonderful.

Rogues and Rulers

I'm suddenly of the suspicion that neither of us actually ever sleeps.

Rogues and Rulers

Wanted to let you know that I updated the info section here again to reflect the profile info you sent me, and I tweaked my character sheet--not just her thief name, but her "On Census" name and other smaller details. Our talk about names made me think about it, and I doubt she'd use the same name when out in other cities staking out her next target as what she has on any official record, so that changed. She's still Nyx, she just wouldn't exist under Nyx Noven on paper anywhere.

Rogues and Rulers

Alrighty! I'm sure it'll be great!

And now:

Happy Halloween!

Rogues and Rulers

No, no, I like where you're going with that, so how about we say werebeasts and call it a day? Not necessarily a wolf-mix, but that way it encompasses all the different types of werebeasts out there who may be stronger than werewolves.

Updated that info post to reflect this!

Send your profile however you want. You can do it there, or post it here in a hider before moving it to the Character tab. I'll look forward to reading it! No worries about being busy. I just happen to have the free time and mental capacity for this right now.

Rogues and Rulers

And dragons. We need a House ran by a draconic race. I'd be sad if we don't have a draconic race in a Ruling House.

Rogues and Rulers

I have a spot for a list of the Houses as we establish them. The Nobles will probably be as needed, since they'r not important right now, and there are a lot more of them.

I have it written that there are ten main Ruling Houses, so ten territories each with their own royal city. What races do we want? These are my votes:

1. Elemental Mage (still going with that for your guy?)
2. Djinn
3. Werewolves
4. Vampires
5. Fae (if you're on board, theirs could be set up like their lore regarding who fully rules Faerie being passed between the Summer and Winter courts. That, or both Seelie and Unseelie have a representative)
6. Orcs/Giants
7. Let's leave a spot open for a world-specific race, shall we?
8. Warlocks
9. Some sort of reaper-like race.

I'd want to look up other creatures that actually feed on humans, too, beyond the classics. Thoughts? Suggestions?

Rogues and Rulers

@Arista

I don't want our actual casual conversation to get too buried before I get the gumption to respond to RL-based chatter. Otherwise, I'll completely forget it even exists. That's part of why I like having something more designated for questions and IC-based discussions. Some times I have the mental power to talk story, others RL chatter, but only have the mental capacity to do one. So, I'm moving your question/answer here!

So I have a question about the noble house that will help my guys house. How does naming the noble house work? Or the town they reside in?

Arista

I think that that that was somewhat covered in the initial posts, but remember that there's a difference between the Ruling Houses and Noble Houses. Ruling Houses are the overarching rulers (like the king/queen or president), while Noble Houses are more like Lords/Ladies or governors that work under the Ruling Houses.

The Houses are named after the surnames, along with the regions and territories (like countries for the Ruling Houses, and counties for the Noble Houses). Some have been the same as long as anyone can remember, while some have changed from the Ruling/Noble House getting swapped out. When the surname of a House changes, so too does the region or territory.

The royal city or any other towns are whatever you want. You could have it named after some ancient family dog or something, for all I care. Like, I mention Ironvale and Ragford in Nyx's profile. They have no real significance, just random names I thought sounded like they could be city names. In-story, it's whatever whoever founded the city or town (there is a difference! 🙂) decided to call it. Like the real-world Manitou Springs, Chicago, Austin, etc.