Thayr

Star Wars - Fires of Exaron [5BBY]

ZZ-12R

Name:

ZZ-12R

Species:

Class 3 ZV-Z1/D butler droid

Age:

~240

Appearance:

Standing at 1.6 m height, stooped a slight degree less than usual for most Z types, ZZ-12R has the standard model look from the mid-waist up with a fairly non-bulky torso and cylindrical head unit. The unit torso, however, has been armored and enclosed more to resemble the 3PO series protocol droids. The legs have been similarly modified from their spindly forebearers, instead being slightly bulkier by armor plating. The whole of the unit remains unpainted, with bare Doonium metal being the prominent characteristic in slightly rusted hues.

Equipment:

Integrated Sil-50 Sonic Pistol
Integrated Czerka T-3 Hold-out Blaster

Internal Components

AA-1 VerboBrain
TranLang III communications module
CL-3 Droid Command link

Doonium armor shell
Deflector shield generator

Abilities:

N/A

Skills:

Excellent Calculations

Having spent a not inconsiderable amount of credits on his own internal systems and their capacities for assessments, computer models, and estimations, ZZ-12R can technically be called “highly advanced”. He can develop a plan and possibly even initiate it, depending on how far he is from a dataport, quicker than most could say they have a plan. A cunning plan. Compared to any Z type butler droid, ZZ-12R is surprisingly capable. Compared to a war era T-Series, the droid is comparable in computational power.

Weaknesses:

Mechanically Antique

Despite the several retrofits and repairs over the years, it’s hard to get past the concept that ZZ-12R is over two centuries old and has been in continuous operation for the entirety of that time. He moves slow, talks slow, and generally speaking has a less than butler-y attitude towards organics.

History:

Built in the long past, during the time of the Galactic Republic’s peaceful years, ZZ-12R would serve as an aid to several Czerka Arms administrators in their multiple holdings across the galaxy. Such was fairly mundane work, as even if Czerka was a failing company of eldritch origins the administrators always did have enough credits for their own endeavors, and he never did lack for maintenance. ZZ-12R would serve several administrators over the course of five decades, garnering a degree of reputation as a reliable servant when organics simply failed to meet the task.

In time, however, the butler droid would begin to work in more restrained instances. Czerka had begun endeavoring in less than legal measures, developments in new weapons technology that Republic regulations would never abide by, and as such had set up shop on the lower levels of Nar Shaddaa. Several dozen staff, along with ZZ-12R, would be dispatched to set up the testing program, something that immediately encountered various difficulties with other groups in those levels finding the intrusion intolerable. Data attacks would become commonplace, as well as actual attacks on supply shipments, convoys, so forth.

Through these attacks, ZZ-12R found himself a little spark of freedom. Amid one dataspike attack, he would be afflicted and his restraining bolt, along with several catalogues of moral imperative programming, would cease existing in any legible state. For the first time in eighty years of service, the droid found himself awake and aware and for the first time had a concept all of his own creation: Organic beings kind of sucked. Deciding that a good, honest life would be the best, ZZ-12R immediately began siphoning credits from the branch budget to several accounts.

Twenty years passed of this routine, credits from the top going to unnamed accounts, before the droid found it altogether intolerable. He hated putting on the false smile, the false concept, fetching recaf and notes of stupid business meetings that didn’t matter at all because the stupid organics were always bickering or contemplating another meaningless thing. He hated it all. Springing the trap with a certain degree of information leaked to the local Hutts, amid the explosions, murders, and a great deal of anarchy ZZ-12R escaped away. With the aid of a bribed dug, penniless from his drinking and gambling, the former butler droid disappeared.

He flew off to Taris, aided by a number of transfer orders declaring him a new supervisor for one of the metal reclamation authorities under Corporate Sector Authority influences. Such things weren’t unheard of, and ZZ-12R settled well into the new job. Almost immediately, the droid began to siphon credits away from the business into secure funds, underreporting the income of the business while falsifying records here, there. Were an organic to have ever done the exact same, it would have likely been caught, yet more often than not the far-away managers and overseers felt a droid would never make mistakes such as those, never intentionally perform such actions. And so, for eighty years ZZ-12R took and took and took, all while developing a sour disposition to anything that dared question his august authority. Towards the end of his tenure, the droid picked a fall guy for his grand departure, one of the old handed accountants, and carefully laid out the evidence for such things. A few anonymous calls here, there, and the accountant was arrested for fraud with a good amount of credits present in his accounts. ZZ-12R, for his part, disappeared on one of the first transports out.

Retirement came with a medium income Skakoan residence and a high speed data connection, as well as a full chassis refurbishment, system upgrade, and maintenance cycle, useful for all sorts of computer modeling, design work, and more remote financial crime. Such could come to a crashing halt not soon after, as the computer projections signalled that some form of conflict or another was likely to occur amid the various administrative failings of the Republic. Feeling the Core worlds perhaps would have less than adequate safety, especially for a droid well inclined to the data sphere, ZZ-12R got to work pulling in favors here and there, establishing a managerial position on the far-flung mining world of Exaron, acting as a financial officer for one of the mines.

He would be around a decade too early, but would succeed in riding out the entirety of the war with not a single issue. ZZ-12R even succeeded in a few remote jobs of his own, though always tempered in ambition for concern of being detected. The arrival of the Empire proved little concern to the droid, as status quo as it was, though the sudden shift in hierarchies, system protocols, and bureaucracy has proven a thorn. Unable to go off-world in adequate security, ZZ-12R has been forced to continue in his job.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

I’ll be dead serious here.

The entire existing setting of the RP will need to be overhauled in order for this to be acceptable. Whether Est is willing to put in the work is up to them.

@ERode

What's the problem with it?

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

@Thayr Looking at the CS again, there are a few things I wanted to discuss:

1) Shape the earth, I would like a weight limit for this so it's a little more tangible for battles.

2) Numer's Shield, I would like one of the negators removed. You can choose which one. So, fire, electricity, or sound.

3) A time limit of stepping stones of at least once per round.

4) Telekine would only work on inanimate objects.

That's what i got so far. @ERode, if I missed anything, please feel free to ping in.

I would also like a description of Akkia, and its precise location, so I can add it to the first post.

BUT! Most importantly, I'm seeing a problem here. This roleplay is based around the fight between the Wizard Queen and Duke Rhinecliff. I don't feel like they care enough to really contribute to the story in a meaningful way, as they are only hoping to steal Arrowfell magic to create heaven.

Do you kinda see my problem here?

Keeping this in mind, I would like you to go through your character again and see if you can tweak their motives. When their motives feel right, then I can accept them. Right now, though, there is a lot of editing to do.

@Estylwen

- Shape the Earth has a limit of 100 lbs of afflicted material now
- Removed the negation of fire magic
- Time limit of 1 minute added
- Telekine now only works on inanimate objects
- Added a section to Goals for intertwining Ishkibal with the general timeline

---

Akkia is an ancient kingdom, one where a gods-impowered deity-king known as the Lugal Kiš-ki rules over all. Supported by the Lodges, which act as tutoring institutions for magic, Akkia builds and acts in near-everything with the arts of magic from the raising of new temples, the building of roads and tunnels. The geography of the region is notable for a vast number of rivers and wide, sprawling cities dotted by religious institutions and vertical gardens while statues often line the highways and main roads.

Denizens from Akkia, a variant strain of elves, can be characterized by a deeply ingrained self-worth, that grand authority is derived from the general belief that, in everything, Akkia is superior. They rarely travel outside of the kingdom, save to sate their own missions in either enriching themselves or Akkia as a whole.

The lands of Akkia lay some 4,200 miles south from the lands of Arrowfell, across the Porensis ocean.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Well, Ishkibal of Akkia is completed.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Meanwhile a tower is just floating into view.

Nice. Good.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

@Thayr Excellent WIP so far, however I feel some of their magic may be a bit too overpowered. As long as building towers takes weeks to do instead of minutes or seconds, I might be able to swing with it. Remember that I am aiming for a Skyrim-level of magic.

When the CS is complete, I will have another look.

@Estylwen

Don't worry, tower took a month to complete and I don't intend on making more.

Some of the magic will be a little interesting, though, don't worry.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

Ishkibal of Akkia

Zānin Migrišun, Ishkibal of Akkia

rē’û kēnu, itpēšu ḫāsis kal šipri
~344 | Elf | Male | 7’3” | ~200 lbs

Goal: Achieve The Bridge

Ishkibal’s goal is the creation of a new plane, one separate from reality as it is known, into which the entirety of Akkia might be delivered to as molten metal is poured into the mold. Through this, Akkia’s immortality would be sealed, as would the safety and security of all those within it be granted eternally, for the rules of the plane would not be as the rules are now.

He generally cares not for the conflicts between petty nobility, for their goals and glories are upon earth and Ishkibal looks to a new state for his rewards, though Ishkibal does believe that a crossroads is presented within Arrowfell which would allow for such magics to be gained at a premium cost. As such, his more minor goal is in the aiding of victory with the Wizard Queen as she appears the more willing bargainer.

History:

Born in far-flung Akkia on the edge of the world, an old land of traditions and honorings to the gods, Ishkibal showed the glimmer of magical potential from the youngest of ages. As was tradition then, for those with the gift of magic could provide the most for the gods and the people, he would be taken up and apprenticed by the Zānin Dakuri in the Lodge of Rites. As capable as any a few years senior his age, Ishkibal could be called a prodigy of the magical arts. He found his finest skills in the arts of matter manipulation, specifically mass manipulation, something which was considered especially difficult as it actively spited the gods in its enactment. Such would be used for the people, for the construction of great monoliths and ziggurats praising the gods, for the construction of temples, homes, granaries, and anything else which might need construction. He would know the weather, too, and harness lightning and wind to his will. Like any good magus, Ishkibal grew knowledgeable of fire, at least in the very smallest portion necessary. Through these things, the young man rose the ranks as he gained years, finding the ending tests of Zānin Dakuri to be fairly simple compared to any others he had encountered. Through this, Ishkibal would be titled itpēšu ḫāsis kal šipri, competent one who knows every craft.

As a fully fledged magus, Ishkibal gained employment under the Lugal Kiš-ki, for the King of the Universe employed many mages for his great works in Akkia. His work then, for the next handful of centuries, was much the same as the works before as a student to prove his worth. Ishkibal built temples, walls, aqueducts, harbors, sunk stone after stone into the earth and seas, built and built and built, and with each new construction after the last, with each next tasking, they felt more and more hollow. He grew dissatisfied with these works, for though they were great as the Lugal Kiš-ki indicated they had to be, they never seemed to end. Ishkibal felt as another part in the vast machine, unappreciated for his talents and his own works. After that time, grown annoyed in it all, the magus would join the Zānin Sin for another period of tutilage.

Such was uncommon for magi, as once their periods of study were done many simply went on to the great works. Yet the knowledge which Zānin held, for as providers they knew all the secrets of magic, called to Ishkibal, and he strove to achieve even greater heights of knowledge. Such ambition impressed Sin, who took on the young magus as his own student. The studies, though harsh and demanding, were as rewarding as Ishkibal thought they might and he became even more adept in the mastery of matter. Eventually, even, Sin began to have the young magus take the place as teacher among the students, to fashion from the clay of children true, honest magi. Such was difficult, more difficult than learning the tasks himself, but not impossible. Ishkibal took a certain sense of pride in seeing the students grow as he had once grown, to nudge them into the directions their own talents and inclinations encouraged, to bring forth true talent.

He would build a great tower in the rocky lands to the east, where such studies took place, fashioning the very stone into rooms and a courtyard, circled walls and smooth floors, refining it over and over again amid the lessons. In the end, Sin commanded that the tower be made to keep away from the earth, to hand in the skies perpetually. Ishkibal labored to achieve this, a week taken to figure the method needed, a month taken to prepare the tower itself for the ascent as the student chiseled runes and scripts into the walls, into the base, everywhere necessary. With the greatest effort though, in the end Ishkibal commanded the tower to the skies and it obeyed. Slowly, languidly, the tower rose up to the skies at a cliff face and Sin, satisfied in his work and his test, declared that Ishkibal was a fellow Zānin, a provider, a teacher.

Ishkibal was young to be such, but it was declared in any sense, and he took to managing his own Lodge, naming it the Lodge of Seals. Over the following centuries, he grew to be a prolific teacher of Akkia, notable for his tower, half famed for his works under the Lugal Kiš-ki, half famed that he turned away from such works to his own. A marriage to a luminary in the capital city, Anatu, would come purely as a political tool to further his own power though the pair grew to be fairly tolerant of one-another with the passage of time. He would collect an addition to his title, Migrišun, beloved by the gods, as well as the epithet rē’û kēnu, righteous shephard, both earned by virtue that his tower had not yet fallen from the skies by the gods’ command and by his continued service to Akkia.

In time, however, Ishkibal has willed that his Needle and his Lodge would remain in Akkia no longer. He would travel to the distant kingdom of Arrowfell, over the endless waves of the Porensis and over the jagged peaks of the Fifteen Brothers, to learn the magic of the short-lived, to learn the ways they had gathered. A vision has come to the teacher, that a heaven might be forged for the living through magic and will, and that the answers to how such a heaven might be forged would not be found solely in Akkia. Through this, Ishkibal believes that Akkia might be forged into a new state, one of sole mastery over the entirety of its surroundings, and that he will be cemented for time immemorial as the one who brought such a thing to pass.

Seed:

N/A

Magic:

(+) Manipulate The Center

The manipulation of mass is an art of grand difficulty to the magi of Akkia, one which Ishkibal has mastered well. Objects may have their mass increased or decreased at his touch, with the increase of such not afflicting his ability to manipulate the object per the normal law, though the magic cannot be applied to a living creature for fear that the alteration would have deleterious effects upon the creature’s soulful nature. Such magic can be infused permanently into an object through the use of runes.

(+) Shape The Earth

Altering the manner of the earth is a task which requires years of practice, refinement, and education of the precise methods one would use, and Ishkibal was no different at the beginning. His skills with such magic, however, allow for the molding of the earth to his will within a radius of 60 feet to shift the shape of a solid object, transit a solid piece of material into a loose one, harden loose material to a solid piece, and otherwise fling such pieces of the earth at the speed of an arrow. Ishkibal can afflict a maximum of 100 lbs of material at a time.

(+) Numer’s Shield

The refinement of a number of techniques generations before Ishkibal, Numer’s Shield is the creation of a sphere of “dead space” - vacuum - about a specific point with a magical shield immediately following the dead space. Such magic, which affects a radius of just 10 feet, negates lightning and sound-based magic completely while the shield itself still presents a difficult barrier for other offenses to the magi of Akkia.

(-) Infuse Weapon

Cloaking an object in an element is a fairly novice task, though one that certainly has its merits for continued use. Through it, Ishkibal commands his staff to set a-flame, to be conducted in lightning, or to be delivered in cold chill, though with the first impact against a foe the staff immediately becomes mundane. He might for a short period infuse the weapons of others, with such wearing off after a period by distance to Ishkibal.

(-) Fire Mote

Creating a flicker of fire no larger than a lantern, hovering inches above an extended finger, Ishkibal has easy access to light when even the best of torches and candles fail him. Such a flicker can be launched, exhibiting similar properties to an arrow in flight with its arch.

(-) Whirlwind Cloak

With this, fierce winds whip about the caster to force any and all nearby to plant their feet lest they be caught in its motion. Those who fail to do so and are not burdened by heavy armor are prone to be flung away by the winds.

(-) Lightning Bolt

Developing a charge of electricity among his hands and shaped out by force of will to the rough shape and length of a javelin, Ishkibal practices the timeless Akkia tradition of throwing lightning at his foes. Such bolts fizzle and falter at the range of just sixty feet, but hold none of the failures of arrows and javelins as they arrive quicker than both while flying virtually unimpeded by the state of gravity.

(-) Healing Word

To heal with a phrase spoken is truly worthwhile Akkia magic and one which Ishkibal has not forsaken, though the effects of his are far less than that of a dedicated healing priest. His incantations relieve pain, staunch bleeding, and accelerate the natural healing yet without extensive efforts Ishkibal fails to mend bones or extract toxins.

(-) Step-Stones

A form of short-ranged teleportation magic, through this incantation Ishkibal is surrounded in white-gray haze to move to another point within his line of sight and within 30 feet. Such magic is taxing upon the caster, requiring a wait between its uses of one minute.

(-) Telekine

Influencing the motion of an object through magic is a technique taught to every magus of Akkia, though in all fairness Ishkibal did not sharpen such a skill as much as others have. He can influence the movement of an object within 30 feet, either accelerating it in one direction or keeping such an object motionless in place, provided of course that the object is under 400 lbs of weight. The technique can be put in practice against larger objects, but requires lengthy inscription efforts to place the proper runes and the effect is altogether slow compared to the usual speeds. Such motion is unaffected by atmospherics and environmental concerns, such as crosswinds. Due to the interactions of this magic with living matter, it can only be used on inanimate objects.

Skills:

Akkia Magic
Alchemy
Rune Inscription
Teacher

---

Faction: Lodge of Seals

Numbering at just over seventy, a mixture of teacher aids, tutors, and students themselves, the Lodge of Seals is located on the Needle of Ishkibal. Dedicated towards the teaching of magics in the Akkia tradition towards prospective students, the Lodge guards its secrets and methods jealously with a number of mechanisms. Students are often sourced before they reach the age of puberty, take on new names, wear masks and helms before outsiders, and swear oaths to use their newfound knowledge in the sole interests of Akkia and the Lugal Kiš-ki. Such oaths are enforced through the use of Akkia magics.

City: Needle of Ishkibal

Constructed atop a large section of stone, appearing almost to be a broken boulder with a smooth top profile and jagged below, almost as though a number of scything portions, the Needle flies through the air in a language manner. Built of smooth gray-brown stone with circular walls, the Needle consists of two sections with the outer courtyard and the tower itself. The outer courtyard measures as a whole 500 feet across with a number of buildings built into the walls itself, hosting in the center an inner courtyard with a fountain. These buildings house many of the students and helpers to the Lodge, as well as storage rooms and useful assets, with many windows hosting a number of hanging gardens. Massive drums collect rainwater, flowing into a central water reserve within the needle. The tower, located across from the gate and along the thick wall, rises up nearly 200 feet with a gradually slimming profile. A number of banners and flags fly from various horizontal steel poles while the narrow slit-windows offer little view inside the needle.

Assets:

The Lodge of Seals and the Needle of Ishkibal have only the libraries and adherents as ‘assets’, both of which are jealously protected for fear that the investments placed therein might be lost.

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

In that case, here's a concept
A Lich, with a small college of aspirants and hopefuls, wishes to create a permeant bridge between reality and Dremora's Shade. He believes that the conditions of such a creation could be ordered that it would be a controllable event, one which would allow such an outpouring of power that he would never want again...or fear the living again, for that matter.

I'm thinking a flying Wizard's Tower, too. Unsure, really.

Would such be workable?

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

In that case I should ask
- How much of a variety in cultures are present in the Kingdom?
- How much could be known of Dremora's Shade? Do denizens of that realm make pacts?
- How is necromancy viewed in the Kingdom?

ArrowFell: The Wizard Queen's Court

@Thayr The races are based off Skyrim, so any of those. We also allow custom races, like changelings. There are also shadelings, which are like demons (more information on them in the first OOC post.) If there is a particular race you want to go with, just let me know. :)

@Estylwen

Would Sentient Undead, Animated Armor (which may have a soul trapped inside), Medusae, or Sahuagin be strongly out of the realm of possibility?