Altera Arcana

QUICK ANNOUNCEMENTS:

@Luma @Neobullseye @Gwazi Magnum @Rax Rosetta @ScreamingWillows @Minerva @AnimeLover_Princess @Eruantien @Rithas

Firstly, I'd like to give another reminder to @Edward and @alaska about their CS's. Namely that they are currently not yet accepted, and that they need to be edited before they can be accepted. Now, I don't want to rush either of you if you simply haven't had time for them, but, given the fact that I haven't been able to accept a single CS yet, and I haven't seen either of these CS's really be edited since I said something about them, I just want to double-check that we're all clear about how CS approval works. @_@

Secondly, it seems that super-fancy CS's will be the norm for this RP -- and, likely, a lot of you will want to use fancy formatting in your IC posts, too, when the time comes. This is all fine and good, so long as you make sure that the things you post are readable on all devices (and themes). Some people are mobile users, and not by choice. There was a period of my life where my main method of getting online was through a Nintendo DSi (and, later, a 3DS, which has a marginally better browser, but it's still shit compared to the average smartphone of today). Still! The point is, even though the DS was incredibly annoying to browse with and I felt alienated in a number of ways, seeing people post giant spaces of blankness that were probably youtube embeds that my browser couldn't process, at least I could see important stuff on my RP sites -- CS's, posts, etc. And I want to make sure no one else is left out of the action just because they don't have a computer that they can use at all times. I know, it's easy to not think about mobile devices if you aren't stuck using one -- even I hadn't put nearly as much consideration into this until my laptop broke, and I probably wouldn't be writing this right now if that hadn't happened -- but, I'd just like you guys to keep mobile devices in mind when you're making your fancy formatting. I will be checking people's CS's with my phone when I can to make sure there aren't any glaring issues. And if there are glaring issues, I will ask you to simplify your formatting. Of course, asking everyone to simplify things to the point where a 3DS can handle it is a bit ridiculous, especially since I assume that people getting online primarily from a 3DS would be quite rare. Smartphones, on the other hand, are a bit more common, and I want to be accommodating of them.

Speaking of which, if you are using a mobile device -- or anything less than a solid computer -- and something doesn't look right to you? Tell me!! I want to make sure that gets fixed. @_@ (Granted, I want to keep this limited to just readability and not things looking slightly awkward... for example, the OP looks weirdly skinny on mobile, but everything on it is still readable and there are no huge formatting issues, so I wouldn't change it.) The same goes for people using colors that don't work on certain themes, too. Me changing my theme all the time to check that everything works isn't exactly feasible, but, if you're using a certain theme and you see that something doesn't work on it? Let me know and I'll try to get that sorted out.

I'm going to edit a note about mobile-friendliness onto the 'disclaimers' part of the OP, with a link to this post.
 
Eruantien said:
Okayyy... I nested another spoiler, "Behavior" into the "Appearance" spoiler, and should have fixed the other action items appropriately. Also, name changed: Neo -> "Nathaniel" (will be "Nathan" for short). I changed mines to 'caves' (presumably there's caves in the wild?) and tweaked the wristguard (the idea is that as a latently magical item, it could be dangerous; thus the priests took it in before Nathan could finally claim it).

I'm not sure whether I can add any effects to any of the items, but if so, I'd just add simple things like "boosts armor protection" to the armor pieces and "increased attack at night" or somesuch. This isn't necessary of course, so the descriptions could just end up being flavor, which I'm perfectly fine with.
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It all looks good now! ^^ Now you just need to add in the "history" part of it.
 
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You know how I was saying that I didn't know what race one of my characters was going to be? Well, now that I'm filling out the CS, literally everything points to him probably being an avian *Shrugs*

Hmm, I dunno yet though.
 
Sorry this took so long. Here I am coming up with all these character concepts and suddenly I ditch them all for something totally different. I still want the scholarly Pyran to be a thing at some point though.

Name: Kiri Lucidil
Age: 18
Gender: Female
Race: Human
Persuasion: Wands
Element: Air
Zodiac sign: Pisces

Kiri is a good bit shorter and thinner than the average human, giving her a fairly small build overall, especially if compared to a Pyran or Avian. For this reason, it's not uncommon for people to assume she's a few years younger than she actually is. Her eyes are an ocean-blue color and her hair dark-chocolate, which comes down from a white beret worn on her head and falls to the base of her neck. Kiri usually wears a black tunic with a thin, blue coat on top and a pair of white stockings underneath, leading into some flat, tan, traveler's boots.

Wind blade
Kiri has learned, by experimenting with raw air magic, to create two extremely concentrated, opposing winds that meet in an arc. This effectively creates a single, sharpened slash of wind that can cut similarly to a sword and then dissipate.

Wind spear
A similar process to wind blade, except that the air is focused on a central point and has the effect of a spear lunge. This puncturing damage is harder to aim, but capable of hitting through tougher materials (especially chainmail).

Air cannon
After channeling her wind magic for a few seconds, Kiri releases a powerful burst of air towards a target, creating a loud booming sound and potentially dealing a hit on par with a weaker battering ram.

High mobility
Kiri's raw air magic allows her to move with astonishing speed. Although her aerial mobility is more sluggish than the average Avian, her smaller size usually makes up for this, making it easier for her to evade attacks.

Lightning bolt (missing artifact)
After several days of listening to Kiri's begging, a passing Avian finally shared a spell to direct bolts of devastating lightning toward a target. Unfortunately, the spell involves a careful mix of air and earth magic. Air magic to direct a path for the lightning (and create it), and earth magic to ensure the caster isn't harmed when released. While possible to cast now, Kiri may potentially deal herself as much, or more, damage than is actually dealt. A powerful earth (or neutral) artifact is required in order to cast this spell safely.

Kiri had always loved stories. Adventure stories most of all. Not the written kind of story though, true stories were told precisely when the moment was right. A horror story told in the darkened woods, a heroic tale told by the campfire, an Aquan love story told beside the sparkling ocean. No matter where he took her, Kiri's father always had the perfect fantasy to tell her, and she hung on every word of it.

As she grew into her young-teen years, Kiri became somewhat of a dreamer; with the way she seemed to be absorbed into the stories, this wasn't surprising. Not only was she obsessed with the tales of others, but she also began to develop fantasies of her own. In fact, these fantasies grew on her so much that Kiri began to desire them as reality. New races, new creatures, new magics. Really though, wasn't reality just the story of the gods? Surely she could find one of them and make a few humbly forceful 'suggestions'.

Although her mother believed marriage was Kiri's chance at a stable future, she sided with her father's views of adventure and left home. Nowadays, she travels the world looking for unique and memorable experiences, just like those in the stories. Her current 'mission' is to see and tame a dragon; an outrageous goal for several reasons, but she really has no interest in reason. Although Kiri does not actively seek out gods like she used to 4 years ago, she still stubbornly holds onto the belief that someday Celeste will grant one of her completely unreasonable wishes.

Personality-wise, Kiri is kind and energetic; much like a child, although her maturity often shows through when the situation calls for it. Valuing uniqueness, she displays some odd behavior, simply for the sake of being different. She is also incredibly stubborn, often refusing to listen to reason when it gets in the way of her dreams. Truthfully, most of her dreams are unreasonable, so she has plenty of opportunities to be stubborn about them. Despite her stubbornness, she will often cater to what other people want. Even so, one can't shake the feeling that they're merely delaying her plans.
 
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@Luma Most of this looks good! There's just one small thing to point out:

Luma said:
Wind blade
A fairly easy air spell is used to create two extremely concentrated, opposing winds that meet at a point. This effectively creates a sharpened slash of wind that can cut similarly to a sword.

Wind spear
A similar spell to wind blade, except that the air is focused on a central point and has the effect of a spear. This puncturing damage is harder to aim, but capable of hitting through tougher materials (especially chainmail).
Click to expand...
Both of these are described as 'spells', but they seem to be more similar to raw magic techniques. But!! Which category they belong in really depends more on how exactly these attacks are performed and how she learned them.

If Kiri learned these just by practicing blowing wind around (bearing in mind that raw magic is most comparable to bending from A:TLA) and seeing what she could do, then it would be raw magic. If she learned it from, say, a book, or had it verbally taught to her, then it would be a spell. (I mean, theoretically she could've created the spell herself, but that seems unlikely when raw magic would've been a much more intuitive way to learn the technique.)

Also, bear in mind that raw magic is easy to perform at a moment's notice, and can even be done out of reflex (though probably not at such a polished level as described here). Point is, it feels as natural as throwing a punch or other physical attack. Spells, on the other hand, require more mental concentration, and usually involve certain actions that need to be performed ahead of time. They can work at a moment's notice if they're memorized, but it still requires a bit more mental effort.

I could see either of these attacks working as either a spell or raw magic, depending on what you were going for -- I just wanted to make the distinction clear, since the two types of magic play by fairly different rules.

Also!! Just wanted to clarify that I'm understanding this correctly -- you described these attacks as "acting like a blade/spear", and what I'm picturing is sort of a gust of wind that can have that effect, but then dissipates after it is used. Is that correct? Or is it supposed to be more like a weapon made of wind that Kiri can hold in her hand and use more like a real sword/spear? Either is doable, I just want to make sure I understand which one it is.

Also, if it is supposed to be a weapon that Kiri can physically hold, then that would definitely make more sense as a spell. :P If it's more like a gust of wind, though, then that would probably make more sense as raw magic.

I sure hope all that made sense. ^^"
 
On an unrelated note, I just went ahead and added a bunch of tags to the RP to help attract players. :3

Is the "zodiac" tag new? I don't recall seeing it before. In any case, it's certainly convenient. XD

Hmm... maybe I can request that they add a "tarot" tag, given all the tarot-based elements in the RP... o3o
 
Kagayours said:
@Luma Most of this looks good! There's just one small thing to point out:


Both of these are described as 'spells', but they seem to be more similar to raw magic techniques. But!! Which category they belong in really depends more on how exactly these attacks are performed and how she learned them.

If Kiri learned these just by practicing blowing wind around (bearing in mind that raw magic is most comparable to bending from A:TLA) and seeing what she could do, then it would be raw magic. If she learned it from, say, a book, or had it verbally taught to her, then it would be a spell. (I mean, theoretically she could've created the spell herself, but that seems unlikely when raw magic would've been a much more intuitive way to learn the technique.)

Also, bear in mind that raw magic is easy to perform at a moment's notice, and can even be done out of reflex (though probably not at such a polished level as described here). Point is, it feels as natural as throwing a punch or other physical attack. Spells, on the other hand, require more mental concentration, and usually involve certain actions that need to be performed ahead of time. They can work at a moment's notice if they're memorized, but it still requires a bit more mental effort.

I could see either of these attacks working as either a spell or raw magic, depending on what you were going for -- I just wanted to make the distinction clear, since the two types of magic play by fairly different rules.

Also!! Just wanted to clarify that I'm understanding this correctly -- you described these attacks as "acting like a blade/spear", and what I'm picturing is sort of a gust of wind that can have that effect, but then dissipates after it is used. Is that correct? Or is it supposed to be more like a weapon made of wind that Kiri can hold in her hand and use more like a real sword/spear? Either is doable, I just want to make sure I understand which one it is.

Also, if it is supposed to be a weapon that Kiri can physically hold, then that would definitely make more sense as a spell. :P If it's more like a gust of wind, though, then that would probably make more sense as raw magic.

I sure hope all that made sense. ^^"
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Right, my bad, those should be raw magic, not spells. They are single, on-the-spot attacks that dissipate, so it's definitely raw. CS edited.
 
Luma said:
Right, my bad, those should be raw magic, not spells. They are single, on-the-spot attacks that dissipate, so it's definitely raw. CS edited.
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Awesome. Looks good to me! I'll add you to the accepted list. :D
 
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I also decided to list things such as race, persuasion, etc next to characters' names on the accepted characters list, so that anyone interested in maintaining a balance of such things (or anyone who's just curious as to how our current cast is divided) can quickly skim over the list and get a pretty good idea of these things. ^^
 
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@Kagayours I've made some more edits to my original CS post, hopefully these will be the last.
OPEN SIGNUPS - Altera Arcana

Notably, another name change (sorry ;-; but it sounds cooler), the relocation of 'behavior' to 'biography' (which was itself moved to replace 'historical'), and an extension of the biography. Also I changed his sign to Aquarius, let me know if I need to write anything about that.
 
Eruantien said:
@Kagayours I've made some more edits to my original CS post, hopefully these will be the last.
OPEN SIGNUPS - Altera Arcana

Notably, another name change (sorry ;-; but it sounds cooler), the relocation of 'behavior' to 'biography' (which was itself moved to replace 'historical'), and an extension of the biography. Also I changed his sign to Aquarius, let me know if I need to write anything about that.
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Everything looks good to me! Accepted! ^^ I'll add you to the official accepted list later.
 
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Is it okay to use real life photos? :s
 
ScreamingWillows said:
Is it okay to use real life photos? :s
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:/ I'm not sure how you could use a real-life photo and make it at all fitting to the setting, so... I would say probably not.
 
Then I'm sorry, but I won't be making a character. I'm here for graphic needs, however~
I'll be updating your painting in the next few days. Thanks!
 
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And now,

For news completely unrelated to the RP,

POKEMON GO IS OUT NOW. POKEMON GO IS OUT NOW. *banging pots and pans* THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
 
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Probably gonna finish The CS tomorrow.

Pokemon GO is out? Let's see how disappointing it is.
 
Kagayours said:
And now,

For news completely unrelated to the RP,

POKEMON GO IS OUT NOW. POKEMON GO IS OUT NOW. *banging pots and pans* THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
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I was waiting for it all day yesterday. JP and AU got it first, so NA people (like myself) were going insane (also like myself). xP
IT'S FINALLY OUT AND I STILL HAVE TO WAIT LIKE TWO HOURS TO INSTALL IT WHAT IS THIS MADNESS
 
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