Stern Algorithm

Noble Arms: Restoring Hope - With Gratitude to TheHangedMan

@Bob the Grunt @Letter Bee @Nimbus

Ishaq listened as the commanding officer explained what forces the enemy was expected to have, and shared Robert's cynicism. There would likely be casualties. But then again, tactics was not his strong point. Looking around the room, it seemed that Callie also functioned more as support and transport, making Robert the most likely target of Ishaq's Noble Arm. "I've always just followed orders, and let others use my ability as they saw fit," Ishaq said with some resignation, "so I should explain fully how I can help. I can support a high-priority target. If the target dies, they return to my side, alive and well. This has two main uses. It allows the target to engage in a suicide mission, without the permanent loss of the target. It also allows the target to complete one objective and immediately begin on another objective in a separate location. That is, if upon completing their objective, the target terminates himself, and I am at the site of the second objective. Essentially, teleportation, the only cost for the target is experiencing the pain of death, but I doubt something like that will bother someone like you, will it?" Ishaq looked at the other man, implying that Robert would likely be his target. "We seem...understaffed for an operation like this, so we'll need to capitalize on making the most of what we have."

My Hero Academia: Chaos Age | Open

Ebisugawa Hyouka

@liferusher

While Hyouka was still posing, someone suddenly came up to her and began poking her in the claws, belly, and cheeks, causing Hyouka to flail back in surprise and putting her claws up in a comical defensive posture. "Wha-wha-what are you doing? Y-your favorite? What?" Hyouka called out, embarrassed and flustered, but as Emi soon slinked off to ruffle someone's hair, Hyouka just pegged it as an overly-friendly demeanor. While slightly invasive, friendliness was a good attribute for a hero, and Hyouka silently approved.

But was this friendly girl a fellow classmate, or another of the quirkless, come to welcome her class? Hyouka suddenly straightened up and pounded her 'fist' into her 'palm' again, making a 'clack' sound, as she realized that there were many quirks that were not immediately, visibly obvious. Perhaps she had made a crucial mistake, though the people preceding her had not made an effort to correct her. Maybe they were just shy. Or maybe...they wanted to keep it a surprise! That's good showmanship, also a great attribute for a hero! But as if to answer Hyouka's desire to see more people with obvious quirks, soon there arrived a girl with orange eyes, but the whites of their eyes were black, a boy with dog ears(!), a girl who looked to be made of some pink, translucent semisolid, and a girl who was a walking cactus. MY FAMILY! Hyouka wanted to greet each and every one of them in turn, but a sudden onset of social timidity followed by indecision on who she wanted to greet first, caused her to gesture and mutter indecisively until the teachers called everyone to follow them to quirk demonstrations.

Hyouka followed excitedly, realizing that everyone who was standing around all followed the teachers. That means they all had quirks! Intrigued and curious, Hyouka's desire to see other quirks in action made her forget for a time that she was supposed to demonstrate as well. As it was, she threw her claws up and shouted "BANZAI!" whenever a particularly showy display occurred, but at least one banzai for every student that went, though for Mitsuo, she shouted, "TAMAYA!", the classic shout for viewing fireworks. So many fire quirks! Fire was the classic element of Red Rangers, so these were definitely heroes. And the Chinese girl could extend her punches and kicks with...Qi? Like a Kung Fu fighter? Knowing martial arts was a Super Sentai staple! And some water quirks! Classic Blue Ranger element! Then there was kage bunshin no jutsu! And bodily possession!

Then there came a bit of a lull in the mood during Lacara's demonstration. But it was another fire quirk! A bit explosive, but explosive passion was a heroic attribute! Hyouka could understand Lacara's rage, but it was a part of the hero's journey to struggle through it. Seo's demonstration also soured the mood a bit, resulting in a minor altercation with the one female teacher. While the attitudes shown were not very hero justice of them, Hyouka could empathize with their rage, or the walls they may have built to protect themselves. besides, the very fact that they were here trying to be heroes, instead of becoming villains, meant their heart was in the right place, and that was half the battle.

Finally, Nadeshiko went up, the first mutant to demonstrate her awesome physiology, but also breaking Hyouka out of her quirk-admiration daze. So when Nadeshiko left, Hyouka got up on the stage. "I'm Ebisugawa Hyouka!" she introduced herself, bowing, causing her antennae, like before, to flip around and slap the ground in front of her. "My quirk is called, 'Shrimp'." She lifted her mismatched claws and clicked her pincers to demonstrate, and turned around to wag her big shrimp tail. "I have very powerful grip strength..." She headed over to the concrete spike/pillar farthest from the audience, gripped it at the base where it was narrow with both claws and cracked the concrete, causing the pillar to fall over like a stone tree. She ran back to face the audience to continue her demonstration, and in her excitement and fluster, she hadn't at all considered that she was damaging school property. ...my shell is extremely durable..." Now, with her claws crossed in front of her, she clumsily ran towards the pillar nearest the audience, colliding with it and falling over from the force of the impact. Getting up she continued, ...See? I'm not hurt! And finally..." she looked at Zhao-sensei and Emiko, hoping to show off her understanding of Chinese from watching kung fu movies with her dad. She crouched down and lifted her tail up. Then she simultaneously straightened her legs while slamming her tail down, and launched herself ten feet into the air, shouting, "WAI FAI BAT PO!" However, she made the mistake of using the Cantonese dialect, which is commonly used in kung fu movies which started in the city of Hong Kong, and can sometimes be incomprehensible to those who spoke Mandarin, the common dialect of China. The statement means 'only speed is unbreakable', and was something Hyouka liked to say when performing a quick and audacious action. She landed, sending a shock into her ankles and knees, the pain bringing tears to her eyes. Soldiering on, Hyouka concluded with, "These are the things I can do on land. Underwater, I'm a great swimmer. I can even breathe underwater. Thank you!" She bowed again, and walked off stage. All in all, Hyouka's demonstration looked like a scene from the movie, Jackass, where drunk idiots try to hurt themselves on camera.

Mori-sensei was quite visibly and audibly impressed by the demonstration, despite Hyouka's childlike demeanor she displayed very impressive strength. When one of the pillars fell simply from the crushing strength of she yeeped in surprise, it was a good thing that the quirk use areas were quite literally built with the knowledge that it would be destroyed and rebuilt countless times. The vertical leap renewed her cheers, and being reminded that she could breathe underwater made her regret not having a water feature for the arena itself. When the student stepped off of the arena, Mori-sensei was waiting for her to give comments and praise.

"Hyouka-kun, that was fantastic! I read up on your quirk details but seeing it in person is such a treat! I will advise you though to be more careful with yourself. I know your shell is tough, but we don't want to see you get hurt here. We'll have to work all that energy off together during my classes, okay?"

"Ah! U-understood, sensei!" Hyouka replied, awkwardly giving a salute. She walked back into the crowd, beaming with joy and anticipation.

Intrigues of Venedig - High Fantasy Mature RP

Dr. Shen LinMu

Name: Shen LinMu (森 林木)

Age: 33

Physical Description:

LinMu has fair skin, long, silky raven hair that goes down to his waist, and pointed yet welcoming golden eyes. He has an effeminate air about him, lightly perfumed and dressed in delicate fabrics, with a confident, elegant strut. yet he only barely approaches opulence, though his wealth is readily apparent, it is not visually oppressive, staying just humble enough for people to see him as relate-able and charitable.

Important items:

• Apothecary's desk -
  A desk with plenty of paper, ink, and quills for writing important missives. Mounted on the desk are shelves and shelves of tiny drawers full of powders and bottles of ingredients, and bags of seeds. Beneath are bookshelves containing ledgers and receipts that record his business transactions.
• Alchemy table -
  Table with mortars, pestles, crucibles, flasks, burners, distillers, etc. for preparing medicine.
• Wood and silk folding fan -
  Used to gesture and to fan himself during hot, Venedig summers.

Short Bio:

LinMu calls himself a merchant and trader from Tian, but that is only because he has a very loose definition of what constitutes as trade. In actuality, he is a spy and dealer of information. His father was a pharmacist, like his father before him. Being humble and poor, LinMu bristled against his life of poverty and simplicity, soon learning about more lucrative, and less legal, applications of his skill. He soon found himself embroiled with the criminal underworld, but due to his talent for earning the trust of people, he soon found that not only were corrupt officials involved, but that it went all the way up. His people skills and prowess with his craft soon caught the eye of those in the intelligence division. Recruited as a spy, he was sent to Venedig, the city of trade, to gather information. There he established Dr. Shen's House of Healing, an apothecary storefront that traded in medicines, but also served as front for seedy operations, such as the manufacturing of poisons and recreational drugs, as well as slave trade, human trafficking, and prostitution. And all this was a front for the trade of information. Of particular note was Dr. Shen's willingness to allow slaves to buy their freedom from him if they provided him with useful information. This makes his establishment a tantalizing destination for escaping slaves, but also a bit of a trap, because if the information is not worth enough, they become his chattel, to do with as he pleases. And Dr. Shen's House of Healing is not the kind of place an unprepared slave would want to be.

Starting Faction: Celestial Empire of Tian

Spell List:

• Wood manipulation -
  A world spell, LinMu has a strong affinity to wood, allowing him to bend and shape plant matter, living and dead, to his whim. His understanding of plant-based toxins and the plants which produce them allows him to use this spell to deadly effect. That coupled with the fact that almost all the furniture, and the entire building of his establishment is made of wood, means that his store is his weapon.
• Merge with wood -
  A Change spell, LinMu can turn his body into wood and merge with plant matter. This makes him extremely difficult to kill and can be used as an escape. It also allows him to merge with his store. In conjunction with wood manipulation, his control is greatly increased, abolishing the typical sluggishness that is often associated with animated plant matter.

Exceptional Skill List:

• Exceptional Aesthetics -
  LinMu carefully dresses and decorates his store to appear as welcoming as possible, offering him a high degree of charisma and charm, and creating an uncanny level of trust towards him in those who seek to do business with him.
• Exceptional Alchemist
  Dr. Shen's store's success is based off of his high-quality medicines, poisons and drugs. Not only does he have access to the finest ingredients, he knows how to extract their essences flawlessly, and if confronted with the unknown, can superbly deduce much information given enough time to experiment.
• Exceptional Persuasion
  LinMu has been trained to speak and negotiate, exuding a willingness to hear out what the other side needs, while providing acceptable justifications for his own desires. This coupled with his use of mild, opiate incense allows him to accentuate this trait.
• Exceptional Businessman
  LinMu has a good head for finances, and is not afraid to make a risky investment. Though he has profited and exploited others, it has never gotten to the degree that his reputation as an honest financial partner has been harmed. He preaches the Tian principle of Love in all his dealings, and many leave Dr. Shen's table feeling like they've struck a fair deal.

Intrigues of Venedig [Reboot, Lore-Rich, Mature]

Name: Shen LinMu (森 林木)

Age: 33

Physical Description:

LinMu has fair skin, long, silky raven hair that goes down to his waist, and pointed yet welcoming golden eyes. He has an effeminate air about him, lightly perfumed and dressed in delicate fabrics, with a confident, elegant strut. yet he only barely approaches opulence, though his wealth is readily apparent, it is not visually oppressive, staying just humble enough for people to see him as relate-able and charitable.

Important items:

• Apothecary's desk -
  A desk with plenty of paper, ink, and quills for writing important missives. Mounted on the desk are shelves and shelves of tiny drawers full of powders and bottles of ingredients, and bags of seeds. Beneath are bookshelves containing ledgers and receipts that record his business transactions.
• Alchemy table -
  Table with mortars, pestles, crucibles, flasks, burners, distillers, etc. for preparing medicine.
• Wood and silk folding fan -
  Used to gesture and to fan himself during hot, Venedig summers.

Short Bio:

LinMu calls himself a merchant and trader from Tian, but that is only because he has a very loose definition of what constitutes as trade. In actuality, he is a spy and dealer of information. His father was a pharmacist, like his father before him. Being humble and poor, LinMu bristled against his life of poverty and simplicity, soon learning about more lucrative, and less legal, applications of his skill. He soon found himself embroiled with the criminal underworld, but due to his talent for earning the trust of people, he soon found that not only were corrupt officials involved, but that it went all the way up. His people skills and prowess with his craft soon caught the eye of those in the intelligence division. Recruited as a spy, he was sent to Venedig, the city of trade, to gather information. There he established Dr. Shen's House of Healing, an apothecary storefront that traded in medicines, but also served as front for seedy operations, such as the manufacturing of poisons and recreational drugs, as well as slave trade, human trafficking, and prostitution. And all this was a front for the trade of information. Of particular note was Dr. Shen's willingness to allow slaves to buy their freedom from him if they provided him with useful information. This makes his establishment a tantalizing destination for escaping slaves, but also a bit of a trap, because if the information is not worth enough, they become his chattel, to do with as he pleases. And Dr. Shen's House of Healing is not the kind of place an unprepared slave would want to be.

Starting Faction: Celestial Empire of Tian

Spell List:

• Wood manipulation -
  A world spell, LinMu has a strong affinity to wood, allowing him to bend and shape plant matter, living and dead, to his whim. His understanding of plant-based toxins and the plants which produce them allows him to use this spell to deadly effect. That coupled with the fact that almost all the furniture, and the entire building of his establishment is made of wood, means that his store is his weapon.
• Merge with wood -
  A Change spell, LinMu can turn his body into wood and merge with plant matter. This makes him extremely difficult to kill and can be used as an escape. It also allows him to merge with his store. In conjunction with wood manipulation, his control is greatly increased, abolishing the typical sluggishness that is often associated with animated plant matter.

Exceptional Skill List:

• Exceptional Aesthetics -
  LinMu carefully dresses and decorates his store to appear as welcoming as possible, offering him a high degree of charisma and charm, and creating an uncanny level of trust towards him in those who seek to do business with him.
• Exceptional Alchemist
  Dr. Shen's store's success is based off of his high-quality medicines, poisons and drugs. Not only does he have access to the finest ingredients, he knows how to extract their essences flawlessly, and if confronted with the unknown, can superbly deduce much information given enough time to experiment.
• Exceptional Persuasion
  LinMu has been trained to speak and negotiate, exuding a willingness to hear out what the other side needs, while providing acceptable justifications for his own desires. This coupled with his use of mild, opiate incense allows him to accentuate this trait.
• Exceptional Businessman
  LinMu has a good head for finances, and is not afraid to make a risky investment. Though he has profited and exploited others, it has never gotten to the degree that his reputation as an honest financial partner has been harmed. He preaches the Tian principle of Love in all his dealings, and many leave Dr. Shen's table feeling like they've struck a fair deal.

A Guild Adventure: An RP with Monster Girls! (ENDED)

@Lmpkio Jus' gonna give a quick bump.

Noble Arms: Restoring Hope - With Gratitude to TheHangedMan

Ishaq sat through the briefing quietly and pensively, looking at the others present and trying to gauge their mission-critical-ness. The Blood of the Martyrs was no cheap gift, so either he'd have to determine who was most deserving, or whoever was planning the operations would have to give him an order. As their objectives were laid out, Ishaq saw that he could do little to help with the first objective, that of mine detection, unless they intended to test for miens by having people swim into them. Sure, he could bring the poor saps back, but it just seemed like a sick joke if that's really what they were going to attempt. Of course, Ishaq knew that to express these thoughts out loud would be in poor taste. Instead, he just sat there, smiling at his 'comrades', hoping to at least build rapport with them. He did however say, "There's not much I can help with in the first objective of clearing mines, unless the operation involves a high likelihood of grievous physical harm. I'm Ishaq Alkhawaja, by the way. Arms master. Support-type."

World of Light

Din

Level 3 - (24/30) EXP
Location - Peach's Castle: Garden
Word Count: 320

As the feast wound down, it seemed the team was in agreement to not split up, though the idea of the two groups connected via teleporters was a surprisingly elegant solution that could be tried in future excursions. As it got dark, Din pondered her first night in a strange world, and kept mostly to herself, though she did walk the gardens looking up at the alien stars, and wondering how it could be night when the source of light, Galeem, didn't set. But tomorrow would be a long day, so Din took to one of the rooms and slept.

When morning came, she was woken up by one of the toads and hurriedly ate her breakfast, still having not formed a particularly strong bond with her allies, save maybe for the Courier. In the courtyard, Peach's announcement took Din by surprise. The princess looked more delicate than herself, yet she seemed to be a more capable fighter. Although in a world where short plumbers could regularly defeat giant dragon turtles, perhaps the princesses were made of tougher stuff. The introduction of the carts worried Din, despite Tora showing everyone how to drive them. She still felt more comfortable riding a living, breathing creature, though Din was surprised to see Linkle immediately go for one of the less properly balanced, two-wheel machines. Instead, the idea suggested by Steven Stone seemed more palatable. Din had been averse to collecting the souls of the fallen, but she did feel a need to pull her own weight. Having domesticated animal friends seemed like a good idea, and perhaps she would get a suitable mount instead of having to pilot one of these machines. So she followed the Courier towards the Pokemon trainer, witnessing his capture of the Heracross. "This is amazing, and there are so many of these wonderful creatures in the garden. Mr. Stone, is it possible to ride one of these...er...Pokemon?"

One Piece: The Scarlet Pirates (Reboot!) [Chapter 1 END]

@EnterTheHero @Jerkchicken @Noodles @Savato @BladeSS4 @vancexentan

Handel noted Coyote's concern for the smoke. "...yyyeeeaaaahhh...crew's probably responsible for that. I mean, we could check it out, but part of being a good crew member is not to abandon the post you've been assigned." Handel pulled out a cigarette nonchalantly, lit it and began smoking, making her explanation come off sounding like an excuse to not get off her ass. Also, it wasn't like the captain told her to stay at the ship, Handel had volunteered for that important job all on her own. But as luck would have it, Flint soon returned with word of the crew, verifying that the Black Dragon had indeed joined, just as Arafael had surmised. Speaking of the dog, "Oh yeah, friendly fellow, took an immediate liking to me. Came right on board. But if you're carrying out one of the Captain's hare-brained whims again, sure you can have him. As long as you call him 'Scruffy'."

Handel had to chuckle though, as Flint introduced himself to 'Kurt', expressing confidence that Handel had already vetted the newcomer. She just invited him on-board as collateral against the Marine Lieutenant in wolf's clothing. But soon the oppressive wingspan of Bakuto covered the sky, as the captain and the rest of the crew descended. "Welcome back, Captain, Ship's all in order, and we're ready to sail whenever you'd like. Kurt here wants to go to the Grand Line, or just Loguetown if we're not crossing over just yet. And I see you've already met the dog Flint got for you." Did she intend to reveal that they were harboring a marine Lieutenant on board at some point? Maybe. Did it make matters worse that she was making this more tangled by getting Flint involved? Probably. Was it fun to keep spinning this ridiculous web of lies? Definitely. But considering that they flew back instead of walekd back likely meant that time was of the essence, so Handel set to preparing the ship to sail, ready to unmoor from the dock and unfurl the sails. Calling to Erizala and Coyote, "Just don't accidentally give him chocolate. Shitting your life away is a bad way to go."

Power Play

As Eileen scanned the area, she picked up a trail, honing her drones to zero-in on the unique energy signature, and began attempting to find other signals that displayed heavy correlation with said energy signature. However, the alert that the data protection software sent to her by one of her drones drew her attention. She looked up at the source of the alert, seeing another vigilante on a hoverboard above her, and hearing the message patched through the drone. The drone that Lightning Bug had tossed away flew back to land on Lightning Bug's shoulder and began to speak in Eileen's voice, though Eileen's mouth wasn't moving. "Impressive! Thank you for exploiting this weakness in the system. It means my idea to have the encryption of my devices mapped to the neural network of my own brain is an idea worth pursuing. As well as completely switching to quantum optronics, which was in the works anyways. I hope you didn't find out too much information you're not supposed to, teehee! Anyways, you're definitely in! Come see me after all this is over, and I'll get you initiated."

Eileen smirked to herself. This fire was a gold mine, and she couldn't wait until the others involved here revealed themselves. She turned to Professor Devil and explained the trail that she was following and that she'd keep him updated. She also expressed that if he'd rather not deal with the inevitable slew of vigilantes that would approach him to either give a status report on the situation, attempt to make a name for themselves by schmoozing with him, or both; that she, as government liaison, would gladly handle it for him. After all, he was busy and couldn't be bothered by every vigilante out to get their fifteen minutes of fame.

Noble Arms: Restoring Hope - With Gratitude to TheHangedMan

Ishaq sat on the bunk in his living quarters on the ship. A cell phone placed in a cup made for decent sound amplification as one of his favorite songs played. He leaned back and closed his eyes, letting the soothing vibrations of the cello wash over him. He had no doubt that he would meet God soon and that this would likely be his last mission. He had lived to see the day that Israel and Palestine made peace, albeit tense and tentative, and for him, that was enough. All this conflict between arms masters and normal people was not something he felt had a foreseeable end. Yet here he was, on a mission to find that end, offered up by the Israeli-Palestinian coalition as an 'asset'. Once again, he would have to place greater value on some lives over others, offer his gift of life to a limited few, and potentially watch the others that he had abandoned die. Perhaps it might be easier to just listen to orders and let those in command be responsible for making since decisions. But for that to happen, he'd have to advise them how to best utilize the power of his noble arms. He glanced over at his wheelchair, folded up and secured to a wall. It wasn't that he couldn't walk, just that he was often too weak to support himself, so he relied on it to get around to conserve his strength. It wasn't that his usefulness required him to be mobile anyways. But the wheelchair was folded up because in the ships cramped hallways, the thing was just too cumbersome to maneuver. He sighed, remembering that he had heard that some of the other 'assets' were children. If only the world would leave all the fighting to the old people, who upon dying, would take all the violence of the world with them to the grave.